fitted for our future destiny. As prayer is essential in the beginning of the work of grace, so it is no less essential to the subsequent progress and the ultimate completion of that work. Prayer brings down to our help the mighty power of God. It is that master-key which unlocks the treasury of heaven's grace. It is that electric chain which, piercing the skies, sends flashes of celestial light into the dark soul, and refreshes God's weary heritage with copious showers of blessing. It is mighty through God, for it moves the hand which moves the world; and there is no mountain of guilt which it cannot throw down, no corruption which it cannot subdue, no sorrow which it cannot soothe, and no spiritual blessing which it cannot secure. "Verily, verily," says Christ, "whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you." If, then, we desire to be freed from the burden of sin, or to bear patiently the trials of life, or to overcome its temptations, or to surmount its difficulties and dangers, we must let our requests be made known to God; and then, receiving power from on high, we shall be enabled boldly to say, like Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me."

And let us learn from this subject the great lesson, that our salvation, though impossible with men, is possible with God. No doubt there. are great obstacles in the way, and the greatest of them are to be

found in ourselves; in our pride of heart, in our selfrighteousness, and in our love of sin; and these we have no power to overcome. We cannot subdue our pride, so as to make ourselves willing to be saved by free and sovereign grace. Neither can we renounce our self-righteousness, so as to constrain us to rely on Christ's righteousness alone for our justification. Nor can we overcome our inveterate love of sin, so as to devote our hearts and lives to the service and glory of God; but all these things we shall be able easily to do "through Christ strengthening us." Let no one say, as the apostles once said, when they were told of the difficulty of a rich man entering into the kingdom of God, "Who then can be saved?” For Christ says, Every one who comes to me shall be saved. And if you ask, How can I come, for I am weak and helpless? the answer is, You can come, through the power of the given to all that ask Him. are (and the more that we face them and realise them so much the better), still, "is anything too hard for the Lord?" If any man really wishes to be saved, let him offer up in sincerity such a prayer as this: "O Lord, I cannot save myself, but Thou canst do it, and Thou hast said that Thou art most willing to do it, by the blood of atonement and by the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire. Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief; draw me, and I

promised Spirit, who is Great as the difficulties

will run after Thee; turn me, and I shall be turned; save me, and I shall be saved."

In our next chapter we shall speak of "Paul the aged," and the continued evidence which he gave, in the closing years of his life, of his possession of those graces by which, as we have seen, he was so eminently distinguished. "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age."

D

E have endeavoured to analyse the character of

Paul, and to present in combination its more

prominent features, as these are exhibited. incidentally in his own epistles, and partly, also, in the history of his life, contained in the Acts of the Apostles. That history, however, terminates about five years before his martyrdom in the year 68; and we naturally wish to know, not only what he said and did afterwards, but also whether he maintained the same high character to the close of his life. Not a few who have long borne a Christian character have subsequently fallen away. Having put their hand to the plough, they looked back, and drew back;having apparently begun the Christian race, they stopped short and missed the prize. Was Paul then one of these? Did his faith fail, and his love wax cold, and his zeal decay, in the winter of old age?

Or did he realise the beautiful description of the Psalmist, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; they shall still bring forth fruit in old age?"

The answer to these questions we hope to furnish in this and a subsequent chapter. But have we any reliable materials to enable us to do so? There are many to whom his history, after his first imprisonment in Rome, is almost an utter blank; and there are others whose knowledge of it is very imperfect and confused; and yet that history, though not recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, is, in some respects, the most interesting and instructive chapter in his eventful life. It shows us that, amid the growing infirmities of old age, and the rigours and solitude of imprisonment, and in the immediate prospect of a bloody death, he "held fast the beginning of his confidence, steadfast unto the end." It shows that his gracious Master did not forsake him, when his heart and flesh were fainting and failing; but that, through abounding grace, his Christian excellences shone with increasing splendour, and that, like the sun, he was most glorious at his setting.

We propose, therefore, to endeavour to fill up the gap in his history between the years 63 and 68; and the materials, for enabling us to do so, are to be found in those of his own epistles which were written during that period. On this subject, much light has been. thrown by Paley in his "Hore Paulina," in which