whom the divine power preserves through faith for that salvation, which is going to be made manifest in the latter time.

This it is that fills you with joy, notwithstanding the various tryals, which still necessarily afflict you,

that your faith being put to a more advantageous proof, than that of gold, which loses by the essay, may redound to your praise and highest honour at the appearance of Jesus Christ:

and were answer'd, that it was not they, but we, who were concern'd in the events which they predicted, events which have been now represented to you by those, whom the holy spirit from heaven inspired to preach the gospel to you: a secret which the angels desire to penetrate into.

as obedient children be no longer influenc'd by those passions, which were the effects of your former ignorance.

You that have purified your souls by the holy spirit, in obeying the gospel, which obliges you to an undisguised benevolence, let your hearts be mutually affected with the most disinterested ardour;

but the word of the Lord remains for ever: and that is the gospel, which has been preached to you.

which is without any mixture, and will make you thrive. Since you have tasted how good the Lord is,

which however rejected it is by men, is the precious stone, which God has chosen: and

trusts thereon shall not be confounded. it will prove an honour to you, who believe; but to the incredulous, the same stone, which is the chief of the angle,

and which the architects rejected, will be an occasion to the incredulous of their stumbling, and bruising themselves thereby:

but in the internal qualities of the mind, in that purity, in that mild and dispassionate temper, which is so acceptable to the divine being.

by which he went with guardian spirits to preach to

those antient rebels in the time of Noah, when the divine forbearance waited, till the ark was quite finish'd, in which only eight persons were saved by means of the water.

thus baptism, which corresponds to the deluge, does now save us, not as it is a cleansing from external filth, but as it is an engagement to lead a divine life, from the belief of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

to exhort you to feed the flock of God, which is among you: to take care of it, voluntarily, without reluctance, not from any view to sordid gain, but out of real affection;

I formerly writ to you a short epistle, by Silvanus, I think, a faithful brother, to declare and testify to you, that the true dispensation of God is that to which you are attach'd.