He not with Him also freely give us all things ?" He that has given us the greater, how can He withhold the less? The greatest of all gifts is the gift of Jesus; and therefore, to ask for any addition to that love, is to deny that such love is in Him. Oh! blessed truth! If your souls and my own were kept in the hallowed possession of it, we should rise above the trials and sorrows of this world, and the inward temptations of our spirits, and should triumph in the midst of them, by triumphing in Christ Jesus our Lord, in hope of eternal blessedness.

But observe what it was the apostle prayed for. That this grace in all its freeness, fulness, sanctifying energy and abundant supply might be communicated to them, enjoyed by them, and displayed by them. May the Lord lay these things upon our souls continually.

My dear hearers, I have been four years, or nearly so, going through this epistle. And now one of the questions I would ask you this morning-and I ask it as a poor, fallen sinner, travelling on to a long eternity-is this: Do you love Christ" in sincerity ?" You observe, the Holy Spirit condescends to the very lowest grade of spiritual love. He does not say Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ with a seraph's love,' but, "grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." You mourn over your love; you mourn over your short comings and misdoings; you mourn over your poverty, your little spirituality, your little devotedness; when you enter into the inner circle, you do so. You get out of the world, the professing Church, and your families, and stand alone before God, and find yourselves to be but little creatures indeed; and as you look at your love, you seem ashamed of it. But what! do not you love to be with Him? When you find Him not in His Word or His ordinances, can the open window satisfy you? Are you satisfied with the breaking of bread, if you find not your Lord in it? Are you satisfied with bending the knee in prayer, if you find no

sprinkling of the blood upon your conscience? You know you cannot be satisfied. And whence is the true secret of our loving the saints of God? The Lord knows, there are many of them we never should love, but that we see them to be the saints of God. There are many

Their manners are unlovely and

things in them, that are unlovely. uncouth. Yet we see Christ in them. And where we think they are the most deficient, the Lord shines upon His own work, and makes us see that it is the work of God in them. Ah! my dear hearers, do you love a close walk with God? Is sin your great burden? Have you been brought to Christ as poor sinners? Have you left your own righteousness? Do you count yourselves lost and ruined, and as nothing before God? Have you come to His cross, and received Him as a Saviour? Have you welcomed Him as a prophet and priest? and when you come to Him as a king, would you "have Him to reign over you," and subdue your evil nature? Is it so? Who taught you the lesson? Oh! be assured that the soul that experiences that

truth, has been taught it of God the eternal Spirit.

Behold the diffusive nature of brotherly love. The apostle first of all prays for his Ephesian saints-for those whom he knew and loved; then he prays for those whom he knew not, but whom he loved; and then he prays for the whole Church. He widens out. The circle gets wider and wider; he prays for "all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."

Observe, beloved, the true nature of discipleship is not union in ordinances, in Church fellowship or in views of Divine truth; but it is union in this—"loving the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Wherever we so see the work of God, and the fruit of the Spirit, we see at once a disciple; and we ought to mark our love to him as a disciple because he is interested in all the privileges of his Father's love.

Ah! my dear hearers, we have many things from time to time that are sources of trial to us, passing through this trying world. I

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confess that few things on earth ever give me greater pain than differing from those I love. I see the work of the Spirit in them; I see them gracious, honest, sincere persons; I honour them, and sit at their feet; and yet I am constrained to differ from them. It is one of our trials-it will only be a trial here; it is one of our sorrows-i -it will only be a sorrow here; and we should meet it with meekness, and humility, and forbearance and love.

But observe, here, that all is traced up to grace, as the spring-head of all these mercies-" Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."Ah! my dear hearers, the longer I dwell upon earth, the more I feel this truth, that if I am saved at all, I am saved by mere grace. Grace shall have all the praise: grace in redemption, grace in election, grace in justification; the very faith that I have, graciously bestowed, and all my hopes of heaven springing from grace, from first to last. And if we have received it, we always want to receive more. We are thankful to God for any measure of spiritual love; but we our souls, we want more of inward peace in our spirits, we wan more of devotedness of life in our conduct, and we want an increase of spiritual communications from the Father of our spirits.

want more of the love of God in

What shall I say to those who hear me, that "love not the Lord Jesus Christ ?" Ah! my dear brethren, we have gone through our epistle; and perhaps some of you have heard me from the first, may have heard me for years, and yet love not Christ. Ye love the world, ye love sin, ye love pleasure, ye love yourselves, ye love your friends, ye love your families; but ye love not Christ. Ye love not Him, whom angels love, whom devils obey, whom the Spirit glorifies, whom the Father honours, who came into the world to save sinners, who never rejects poor sinners, but who invites poor sinners, and never casts out one that comes; you love not Him. What a state you are in at the present moment! Is it not a fearful state, to see a man going on to the brink of a precipice blindfold? Is it

not a solemn thing, to see him take the last deadly fall, and to see him struggling in the agonies of death?

I leave one word with you-it is the word of a friend, and of him who must soon appear before the bar of God. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema"-let him be accursed, It is the Word of God; it is the Word of truth; it is the Word of life. Oh! that this might be the means of leading you to your homes abased, humbled, penitent, seeking that God whom no one can ever seek in vain; whom thousands sought just as you, and seek. ing Him just as you are, found.⠀

May the Lord bless His Word, accompany it with the power of the Spirit, pardon all defects; and a Triune God shall have all the glory.

A SERMON,

BY THE REV. J. H. EVANS, M.A.

PREACHED AT JOHN STREET CHAPEL, KING'S ROAD, BEDFORD ROW, ON SUNDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 12, 1845.

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription,-To the unknown God."—Acts xvii. 22, 23.

Ir has ever been among the master-pieces of Satan's duplicity and cunning, to hide God from the face of His creatures, and, as far as in him lies, to dethrone Him from their hearts. He knows full well, that if he can hide Him, he doth much; and he thinks it much. We see this in his treatment of our first parents. He first maligned the character of God; he then denied His veracity; he then took His place in their hearts, and was as God to them. We see the same principle in heathen nations-the six hundred millions that at this present moment, even in this day of the world's history, have their thousands and millions of gods, and who bow before them, or who may profess to believe in the one God under some beastly representation. We find the same principle among Mahometans, who, though they acknowledge one true God, deny Him in the plurality of His persons; and truly deny Him all His glory in His character of God. We see the same principle when a fallen woman takes His place, and a wooden saint receives that true devotion, which belongs to the only true God. We see the same principle, even when there is a true form of worship-true views of God, in some respects-and yet, with such notions of His character, as leave Him but the semblance of God; some denying Him the providential direction of His own works, and some with high sounding words as to His mercy and benignity, yet with no views of His purity or His just dominion upon the earth.

All this shows great subtlety on the part of Satan. It shows that he esteems it his master-piece, to hide God from His creatures; and, as far as in him lies, to dethrone Him from their hearts.

My dear hearers, real religion has its foundation in true views of

VOL. XII.-No. 407.-Oct. 16, 1845.

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