398 CONDITIONS AND REWAR13S. panion was a conditional punishment. He had made no use of what was com- mitted to him. Why is that bright varietyof promises, " to him that overcometh," repeated with such unwearied iteration,- in the sublime visions of the saint at Patmos ? What is it but a beautiful concatenation of con- ditions and rewards, closed with that joyful climax, " he that overcometh shall be a pillar in the temple of the Lord, and shall go no more out." If language more clear can be found, if assurances more explicit can be given, if .promises more distinct can be produced, we confess we know not where to look for them. Did not Moses himself, the most disinterested of men, look to the recompence of the reward ? And did not a greater than Moses, " for the joy that was set before him endure the cross, despising the shame ?" Promises like these were the support, and joy, and triumph; of his immediate apostles, and of their remotest successors, 5
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