+IV. The apostle took a high standard of excellence: he took as his model the law of God and the character of Jesus.+--All actual excellence, whether earthly or spiritual, has been attained by the mind keeping before it and dwelling upon the ideas of the great, the good, the beautiful, the grand, the perfect. The tradesman and mechanic reach the highest eminence by never allowing themselves to rest till they can produce the most finished specimens of their particular craft. The painter and sculptor travel to distant lands that they may see and as it were fill their eye and mind with the sight of the most beautiful models of their arts. Poets have had their yet undiscovered genius awakened into life as they contemplated some of the grandest of nature's scenes; or as they listened to the strains of other poets the spirit of inspiration has descended upon them, as the spirit of inspiration descended on Elisha while the minstrel played before him. The soldier's spirit has been aroused even more by the stirring sound of the war-trumpet than by the record of the courage and heroism of other warriors. The fervour of one patriot has been created as he listened to the burning words of another patriot; and many a martyr's zeal has been kindled at the funeral pile of other martyrs. In this way fathers have handed down their virtues to their children, and those who could leave their offspring no other have in their example left them the very richest legacy; and the deeds of those who perform great achievements have lived far longer than those who do them, and have gone down from one generation to another. Now the believer has such a model set before him in the character of Jesus, which as it were embodies the law and exhibits in it the most attractive and encouraging light. We may copy others in some things; we should copy Christ in all.--_Dr. J. McCosh._ Ver. 8. _Paul's Humility._ +I. In what it consisted.+--1. In the unreserved submission of his reason to the authority of revelation. He was a great thinker, and he was a great scholar. 2. In the unwavering reliance of his heart on Christ for the salvation of his soul. Self-righteous by constitution and education. 3. In ascribing to God alone the glory of all that he was and of all that he did. He could not but be conscious how far he stood above the ordinary in point of Christian excellence and supernatural gifts and ministerial usefulness. He never took any part of the praise to himself: "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me." 4. In cherishing a sense of his unworthiness and guilt: "Sinners, of whom I am chief." 5. In forming a lowly estimate of his own comparative standing: "Less than the least of all saints."