you did but tell the whole truth, some of you that hear me-you may have your likings and your dislikings of the world, the pleasures and pains of the world, the books of the world, the associates of the world, the amusements of the world; but your hopes are from the world. Oh! it is a solemn thought: if you are not in Christ-we know nothing of secret purposes; we bless God for it; we know that all His shall be taken out of the world and gathered from it; but at this moment let me tell you-God tells you that "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is none of His." Awful words! "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." You are of the world; and therefore you are not of Christ! Not of Christ! Oh! that you were led for five minutes this day, to turn over that thought in deep and prayerful consideration! Not of Christ? Why, I had my Bible, I had my hymn book, I attended the ministry, I liked it in some measure; and 1, not of Christ?' All these things may be so; and you are not of Christ! And, if you are not of Christ, what are you of? You are of nature; you are of nature's darkness, of nature's condemnation-for there is all condemnation for that man that is out of Christ, but "no .condemnation" to those that are in Christ.

Ah! dear hearers, if any of you like not my addresses to sinners, I would say, I do not envy you your state of mind; and God forbid that you should indulge that state of mind! If you have a brother or a sister, a nephew or a niece, you do not know how to speak to them-if you have some dear friend, though he be not your relation, still dead in his sins,—remembering how soon you are to appear before God, and how some word of occasional address spoken to your ears, was, by the Spirit of God made "the power of God" to your souls! And they, out of Christ! Awful words! Blessed be God, He has given us His Word; we know nothing of apostolic succession we know nothing of such phantasies and dreams, but we have got God's doctrine and command entrusted to us, that we should go throughout the whole length of the land, and say to the east, west, north and south, that "he that believeth, shall be saved, and he that believeth not, shall be condemned." And although at this moment thou turnest thy back upon the ark of refuge, yet if thou art now now led as a poor sinner to Christ, there shall be as broad a welcome given to thee, as ever was given to

poor perishing soul on earth. This is the Gospel motto-" Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." This it was God's glory to proclaim; it were well, if we said, 'It is our glory to preach it.'

But, beloved, how many are there, who still go on professing the Gospel, professing to love Christ, and yet there is so much of the world in them, that one knows not what to say of them! Now, the true believer is "not of the world;" yet how indistinct is the testimony of some! When you enter their families, you see as much of show, as much of expense, as much of pampering the flesh, as much of sacrificing to the lower nature, as in those who love the world. You see it in their mode of education--you see their children brought up in the principles of this world; listen to their conver sation-it is dry, it is unctionless, it is Christless. I am not speaking of my own personal observation, lest I should be found wounding some of your minds on whom I have lately called-it is not so that I speak-but I speak of it generally; and ask any minister of Christ if it is not the great besetting sin of this day, conformity to this present evil world." There are vast numbers, I know, that dare not go that length, and yet they go a good way; they dare not go all the length, but yet they go as far as they can. An abscess may not absolutely destroy life, yet it will most fearfully impair healthfulness; and if that abscess in a man's body is not dispersed and removed, what will be the consequence of it?

But oh! beloved, it is not enough, that you have family prayer; it is not enough, that you read your Bibles; it is not enough, that you pray by your bedsides; it is not enough, that you sometimes invite the saints of God, and welcome them to your homes; Judas did all this, and Judas went far beyond it; and what was Judas in the midst of it all? Do not you think that he was as blameless in his outward walk as any of the apostles? If it had not been so, they never would have said, "Is it I?" but they would at once have said, It is Judas?' If you love Christ, you will not only love the cross of Christ, but you will love so to live as if He were present with you; and I would say, that the very presence of Christ never can be enjoyed, but as we realise this, that the people of God are a separate people. It is not enough, that you talk religion; it is not enough, that you write religion; it is not enough, that you

look religion; what you want is, religion itself. It is to be with God, and to feel that you are with God, never to be satisfied till you are with Him; and then to walk before Him, to live for His glory, to aim to please Him, as part of the ransomed family of God.

And for this end, my brother, seek, oh! seek, prayerfully seek, of the Spirit of God seek, that your eye may be kept fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ! Be ye assured that true acquaintance with Christ is the great world-expelling power. Study Christ; study His person: "He was rich, and yet for your sakes He became poor." See the spirit of His Gospel-it is all unworldly. Study Christ-He is the great crucifier of the world. -they are all full of opposition to the world. the most spiritual of them. If you love Christ, you will love those that are most with Him; you will never love your half-hearted ones -you will never love your half-lovers of the world.

Study the precepts Love His people

Remember, my brother, how much there is of the world in thine own soul. How helpless is thy position! As a lamb, in the midst of wolves; as a sheep, in the midst of lions; as a dove, amongst vultures-this is thy position. Though thou hast no strength, no might, no power, no sufficiency, though thou art weak in thyself-look to Jesus; He is thy sufficiency, and look to Him alone. Perhaps thou askest me, 'What! am I to leave my position in life, because it is pregnant with and full of danger? Am I to leave my station, because I find I can never move in it, but I am certainly exposed to evil in it?' I would only answer, who placed thee there? If the Lord placed thee not in it, then leave it; but if the Lord placed thee in it, receive His command before thou dost dare to leave it. Soldiers have no right to change their position; and there may be much criminality in giving up my place, where the Lord hath situated me, instead of looking to Him for grace to fill it up, to fill up the obligations that belong to it. It is much easier to say, 'I will retire from it,' than to look to the Lord to be enabled to glorify Him in the midst of it. Perhaps you say, 'My discouragements are very great'—yes, but the intercession of Jesus! He never can intercede in vain; His intercession is infinite, He must prevail.

Beware of the abuse of this truth. Would that I had more time to enlarge upon it; one can only throw out material for thought and

prayer, and for deep consideration of the subject. Observe, that the intercession of Jesus did not preserve His people from the exposure to temptations in the midst of the world. The world is full of them; and if you watch not, if you go on in carelessness, if, when they are detected, you fail to take them-not to the world, but to the good Physician; if you heedlessly look to that intercession for what it was never intended to give-(for it never was intended to break the connection between cause and effect; and was, therefore, never meant to break down that wondrous truth, the operation of the renewed free-will of a child of God-that wholesome truth, which you and I have to learn out day by day)-if you are carelessly running into needless danger, saying, I am one that He intercedes for,' I would say you are not only on the point of falling, but you are already fallen. But oh! beloved, that truth itself is safety; for those for whom He intercedes are safe. The true believer interceded for is safe, because His intercession never can fail of prevailing.

One word more, before I conclude. Oh! it is matter of great joy and thankfulness to you and to me, when we see how many tokens we receive of the power of the prevalent intercession! How often, when we have been brought to the dust, hath an unseen hand lifted us up! And how, oftentimes, when the spark has seemed to be almost extinguished, has the spark revived! How often, when our hands have hung down, we have been again lifted up! And how often either the sore temptation has been removed, or strength in the hour of temptation has been administered, and so, in a sense, the temptation has vanished! "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Oh! blessed Intercessor! Thou hast a large family, and a weak family, and Thou carest for each as if there were but one; and the weakest of Thy weak and feeble ones Thou canst make to be conquerors in Thee and by Thee! Oh! that you and I may trace up all our perseverance to this present moment to the intercession of Jesus, the sovereign, electing love of God, and the upholding of the indwelling Spirit. Thus shall we unite in our song of praise, and say

"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow."

CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR OUR SANCTIFICATION.

A SERMON,

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

PREACHED AT JOHN STREET CHAPEL, KING'S ROAD, BEDFORD ROW, ON SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 14, 1846.

"Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth."—John xvii. 17.

OUR blessed Master had already prayed for great blessings for His apostles, His disciples, His people everywhere. He had prayed, in the eleventh verse, that the Father would keep them: "Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me." He had prayed that they might be kept in order that they might be one: "that they may be one, as we are." He had prayed more especially, in the fifteenth verse, that the Father would keep them from the evil of the world: "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” And now He prays more directly and positively for their thorough sanctification,-that they might be filled with all good; become more entirely consecrated and dedicated to God.

The apostles must be considered both as ministers of the Gospel, and as God's children, placed in the midst of a world that hated them to speak of any as successors to them in the present day, seems to me an awful delusion; let me see their gifts, the signs of their apostleship. And it was in view of all this, that their heavenly Master prayed "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth." And here I would merely remark, that whatever the service be, whether it be high or low, important or unimportant in the eyes of others, the great preparation for it is sanctity: "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth."

There are two points, beloved, for our consideration this morning.

VOL. XIII.-No. 449.-August 6, 1846.

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