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Our apostle concludes his epistle with an exhortation to the duty of fraternal correction and Christian admonition: "If, says he, any one among you, who hath made an outward profession of Christianity, shall, for fear of persecution, or otherwise turn aside from the rule of the gospel, whether in matters of faith or practice, such a person, either Minister or private Christian, as shall be instrumental, by prayer, reproof, or counsel to recover him out of that wandering and backsliding condition, shall have the honour to save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins; that is, he shall be a means of bringing him to a sight of his sins, and to seek a pardon of them, which is the only true and happy way of hiding and of covering of them."
Learn hence, 1. It is not sufficient that every one takes care of his own soul, but he must also watch over the souls of others; there is no brother so mean in the Christian church, but the care of his salvation belongeth to all in the Christian communion.
Learn, 2. What great honour God puts upon the creature, in calling him a Saviour to a restored and converted brother, he shall save a soul from death: but when God puts the glory of his own work upon the head of the creature, what cause has he to lay the crown of his excellency at the foot of God? When the honour of the supreme Cause is put upon the instrument, the instrument ought to ascribe all the efficacy and efficiency to the first cause, saying, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name be the praise. Amen.