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or no fruit from his ministry he experienced a degree of mental distress from which nothing could relieve him at the time but a renewed consecration of himself to God, accompanied with a fresh determination to increased diligence and the hope of future success. Before he left his closet, the inquiry was, How many souls may I expect from this sermon ? And after he left the pulpit his anxious mind again inquired, What amount of good has been accomplished? He could think of nothing but the salvation of souls; he could be content with nothing as a substitute for this blessed result. Crowded chapels, weeping eyes, and demonstrations of approval, were to him of no avail unless God was glorified in the conversion of sinners or in the sanctification of believers.

Mr. Waller sincerely loved the community of which he was a minister. While he cordially assented to all the doctrines of Methodism, as those which he believed are taught in the sacred volume, he regarded the great principles of religious freedom, embodied in the government of the Methodist New Connexion to be most accordant both with the rights of our common nature and the Holy Scriptures. He gave the Community both his warm affections and zealous exertions; identified himself with all its interests; mourned over its seasons of depression, and rejoiced in its prosperity, and evinced his attachment to the body in every way of which he was capable.

Our limited space forbids us to enlarge. When our beloved brother came to die he was found ready. Like the wise virgins and the faithful steward, he welcomed the coming of his Divine Lord, and in peaceful triumph entered into eternal rest.

O may I triumph so, when all my warfare's past;

And dying find my latest foe, beneath my feet at last.

When Mr. Waller died he had just completed his thirtyseventh year.

THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

AND the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 1 Thess. v. 23, 24.

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THE gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ not only makes known a system of wonderful doctrines for our contemplation, admiration and belief, and enjoins a code of laws for the government of our lives; but also proclaims salvation to sinful, dying men. Its design is to save man from sin, the abominable thing that God hates, the evil which degrades, pollutes, and ruins the soul; and to dignify, ennoble and bless him, by raising him from the ruins of the fall, and restoring him to the favour and image of God. Hence when the angel announced the advent of our Lord, he proclaimed to the shepherds, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke, ii. 10, 11. And when the angel appeared to Joseph to make known his incarnation, he said, "And thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." Matt. i. 21. So that God is not only our ruler and governor; he has also become our Saviour; and his throne is no longer one of autho rity and dominion merely; but also of mercy and of grace,

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from whence pardon and salvation are dispensed. In fact, the arrangements of his government under the present dispensation, have reference to man in his fallen, guilty, and condemned state. God has devised means whereby his banished should not be expelled; whereby the guilty may be pardoned, the polluted become holy, and the miserable be made happy. In this administration of his government, the justice and holiness of God are manifested and exalted as well as his mercy and love. In the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ all the claims of justice are met, and all the ends of government are answered; while the designs of mercy in the salvation and restoration of fallen man are accomplished.

This work of salvation, provided and proclaimed in the gospel, is perfect and complete. It is the work of the “Great God, even our Saviour:" and his work is perfect. 66 He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." Tit. ii. 14. When he was on earth, he declared, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John x. 10. So that there is nothing restricted, or contracted, or imperfect in the work of the Saviour, No, it is the work of a divine person, and is, like himself, perfect and complete. Hence the apostle prays, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Heb. xiii. 20, 21. Again, he declares the design of the gospel of Christ to be, to bring us to "know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (mark how extensive the terms employed,) and what is the exceeding greatness of his power

to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power." Eph. i. 18, 19. Many may stagger at these statements, but they are the statements of God's word; and shall man's un-belief make the promise of God of noneffect, and the work of the great God, even our Saviour, vain? or shall it prevent the full operation of that mighty power, which raised Christ from the dead, to the accomplishment of this great salvation? nay. Many may live without it, or come short of it, but is that any reason why we should do so? and why we should not seek and obtain it? No, brethren, let us not look at what others teach, but at the statements of the holy scriptures; not at what others enjoy, but at what is purchased by the Saviour and promised in the gospel; and instead of measuring ourselves by ourselves, and comparing ourselves among ourselves, let us look at the provision of mercy, at the mighty power of God, and at the great and glorious example of the Son of God which we are called to imitate; and let us endeavour to advance till we come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Eph. iv. 13.

That we may do this; that we may leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and go on to perfection, is the object designed by the counsels, exhortations, cautions, and prayers contained in the New Testament, as it is also of the apostle in his epistle to the Thessalonians. He begins this chapter by reminding the church of the shortness and uncertainty of life, and of the solemn and important events connected with eternity; and by these considerations he urges them to seek, and to maintain a constant state of preparedness to meet the Lord. However numerous and pressing may be our engagements in the world, however fascinating and attractive the pleasures of life, however diverting the temptations and influences by which we are surrounded, we should never forget that death is ever at

the door, and that any hour he may enter and execute his awful summons on us. In all our labours and journeys, in all our recreations and pleasures, in all our exercises and engagements, we are moving on the margin of the grave; on the verge of eternity, and any step, yea, the next, may remove us hence, and fix us in an unchangeable state in the eternal world-in everlasting happiness or misery. Surely such considerations should have a powerful influence upon us in all we think, or purpose, or do. Hence, the apostle says, "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." Verses 2, 4.

Then the apostle reminds them of the character they sustain and the profession they make as the followers of the Lord and members of his church: "Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day." Verse 5. By these solemn considerations he urges them to watchfulness, sobriety, and diligence, and to the faithful performance of all the duties of their Christian profession: that thus they might be in readiness when their Lord should come. "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober-putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet the hope of salvatiou. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their works' sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men; see that none render evil for evil,” &c. verse 11.

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