On no occasion did he discover the feebleness usually attendant upon a divided heart, or the selfish pride which, under the garb of zeal for God, so often seeks its own glory:--not like Jehu, who, it is admitted, exterminated the family of Ahab at the command of God, yet was actuated by a spirit of vain-glory; and as what he did was not to please God, so the ambitious cruelty from which he acted was avenged on his posterity:--not as the Jews, who, in keeping religious fasts and feasts, did it to themselves and not to God. The apostles could say, "Whether we live, we live to the Lord; and whether we die, we die to the Lord." So that the one universal rule of action which gave simplicity to their aim and unity to their efforts, was, "Whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, we should do all to the glory of God." From the important nature of this branch of armour, we may infer its extensive usefulness. To compact together the various graces of the Spirit; and to strengthen the soul under great and long-continued conflicts. Thus the Lord strengthened David, and prepared him for conflict, Ps. xviii. 39: "Thou hast girded me with strength to the battle." Alluding to this, he expected preservation in the evil day, Ps. xxv. 21: "Let integrity and uprightness preserve me." In prophesying of the Messiah, he employs a similar expression, Ps. cxiii. 1: "The Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith He hath girded himself." The worth of this may be learned by the want of it. How many "faint in the day of adversity," showing that "their strength is small!" For want of this, Peter and Luke were carried away with dissimulation; and were recovered by means of a painful exposure, and public rebuke. Through insincerity the children of Judah carrying bows turned back in the day of battle; and Demas forsook the apostles, and returned to the bosom of the world. Unhappy man! For a time he appeared to give up earth for the hope of heaven, then turned from the holy commandment for the sake of the world; and, for aught that appears, was finally cast away!