constantly on the watch—constantly striving to extract its poisonous fangs—or it will ultimately destroy us.
But the means by which we strive may be mistakenly, or only partially, exercised, unless we constantly act under the conviction that our sufficiency is of the Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ; and our striving must not be by the exercise of one religious virtue, but by all. The removal of evil from our wills is not to be effected by the exercise of piety alone, faith alone, charity alone, or holiness alone; but by the combined force of all. The grace of prayer is considered by some, as an all-sufficient act of striving; and to excel in prayer, particular meetings are often held, where, one after another, a long effusion of words is poured forth, and many think they shall be heard for their much speaking, and this is often called striving, or wrestling, with God in prayer; and so powerful is such wrestling supposed to be, that not unfrequently it is believed sufficient to remove the deepest guilt, and avert the greatest calamities.
Faith is another Christian grace, and has long been considered as having peculiar power with God, because it implies an absence of self-dependence and self-righteousness; but it is not sufficiently reflected upon, that the power of faith with God only exists where it is a faith which worketh by love. Yet how many among us consider that, by believing in the Lord, or having faith in His name, we possess sufficient title to enter the strait gate, forgetting that this is seeking, not striving. Again: many of us think that charity, and that, too, of an external kind, is all-sufficient—bestowing goods to feed the poor; building schools to instruct the ignorant; erecting hospitals to receive and
