of the Spirit of God. Our Lord says, "sanctify them through Thy truth :"—unfolding this to us, that it is by the truth that we are sanctified; and that diligent readers, and prayers, and men that wait upon God, studying His Word, meditating on His Word, honestly reading His Word with much prayer for the teaching of the Holy Ghost, these are the men that shall be sanctified by the Spirit. Observe the mode of the intercession of the Son of God; it by no means supersedes the mode of the operation of His Spirit. Our Lord interceded that His joy might be fulfilled—are you willing to have that removed that hinders your joy? How many are just moved by a sermon! I oftentimes think that I am thankful that the Lord has not given me the power of an orator; because I have seen so many affected by mere natural feelings, and they have run away under the influence of mere effect. But I would just ask, are you and I seeking earnestly to have that removed that hinders our spiritual joy? As long as there is love of this world, as long as there is sin tampered with, as long as there is a mass of duty neglected, as long as you are cumbering yourselves with the creature, and resting in the creature, and forgetting that you are strangers and pilgrims upon the earth-then, I would say it in tenderness and in love, faithfully and honestly, according to my creed you may go on for fifty years asking for more joy, but it would be as great a miracle as when the Lord stayed the sun at the bidding of Joshua, did you receive it. You are not to expect it out of the order of grace; and by no means to look for it till you have been made willing to "lay aside every weight," that you may run with patience the race set before you." Oh! happy, happy state, when you are brought to this, "I come to Thee," I shall soon be with Thee, I am a poor sinner, vile and worthless, but I am chosen and accepted, and redeeme by the blood of the Lamb, wrought upon by sovereign grace; my hands hang down and my knees are feeble, when my hands ought to be lifted up and my knees straight and strong—but I

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love Thy ways, and I have walked in them, and they are the joy of my soul; and the desire of my heart is, that I may walk in them unreservedly; but my confidence is this, "I come to Thee," in Jesus, in His blood and righteousness and in that alone; but in that I come-" now come I to Thee!"

My dear hearers, there may have been those of God's saints that have dreaded the parting pang-that thought, how can I leave that dear object of my heart's affection?" Yet instance upon instance has been found of those who, when brought to that issue, have been enabled to say with simplicity, "I come to Thee"-" even so, come, Lord Jesus; come quickly!"

May God graciously grant it to me and to you so to say, you that have fled to Jesus for refuge; and the glory shall be His.

HATED BY THE WORLD.

A SERMON,

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

PREACHED AT JOHN STREET CHAPEL, KING'S ROAD, BEDFORD ROW, ON SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 7, 1846.

I

"I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."-John xvii. 14-16.

THESE three verses come in close connection with our last subject. Here are the additional causes or reasons wherefore the Lord Jesus did intercede for His people's joy. The one was that He knew infinitely well that His apostles, His disciples, and, after them, all His, were especially hated of the world, had been hated of the world, and should be hated of the world; and He therefore more immediately interceded that “His joy might be fulfilled in themselves." It was as much as if He had said to His heavenly Father, 'Give them abundance of joy in Thyself, in realizing Thyself as their portion, and in the blessed anticipation of soon being with Thee for ever; then shall the hatred of the world be to them as nothing; and whatsoever sorrow they may have, "it shall be turned into joy." And then He adds, as if to comfort them still more-for these words were uttered in their hearing-He did not pray that they should be taken out of the world, He did not pray that they might be taken quick to beaven, but that they might be kept and "preserved from the evil" of the world, and that because "they were not of the world, even as He himself was not of the world."

There are many points in this prayer for our deep and prayerful consideration. I would reduce them to these two. First of all, the

hatred of the world, and its causes; and secondly, the prayer or intercession which the Lord Jesus Christ offered up for their encouragement and their security.

VOL. XIII.-No. 447.-July 23, 1846.

I. In the first place, let us consider the hatred of the world as here depicted:" the world hath hated you." This was especially true of the apostles, pre-eminently so of them: their whole life on earth was but a comment, and a full comment upon this truth. What a picture that passage which we have lately read gives to us of this truth! It is in the tenth chapter of Matthew; time will not allow me to read much of it now, but just take to your homes this truth and pray over it. From the sixteenth verse to the end of the thirtieth, He speaks of nothing else than the anticipated hatred, anticipated opposition, prospective trial; and He does not conceal this from them, He does not place a flowery path before His disciples, but He reminds them of what their fate would be, and tells them of all its painful details. He did not think that would discourage them —I would say, if there be any brother here who is a minister of the truth, do we not all err on this point? Why do we affect to be more wise than our Master? He told His young disciples just at their beginning, what a disciple must expect; but we are afraid to do it, lest it should discourage them. We are afraid, as it were, of putting this heavy burden on young shoulders; yet, why did our Lord do it? He prepared His disciples for the fight, and we have our fight, and there is no disciple of Christ without it. Therefore, I would say, may we not err here, in not pointing out clearly and distinctly, even at the commencement of the life of God, at the beginning of the walk with Him, how strait and narrow the path is in which a true disciple must walk, and for which there is abundant supply of grace treasured up in Christ for the very weakest. Turn over this point, and pray over it, beloved.

The cause of this hatred here spoken of, is twofold. Our Lord says "He had given them the Word." "I have given them Thy Word, and the world hath hated them." We are not to be too nice in the definition of the expression "the Word." "Thy Word" here means Thy doctrines, the doctrines of the Gospel, which flow out of Thine own loving heart; the proclamation of a free grace salvation to the chief of sinners-oh! how we love to preach it!-the proclamation of salvation to the chief of sinners, through the atoning blood of the incarnate God; a broad welcome given to all that come in Jesus; a salvation to the uttermost by the precious blood of the incarnate God. This was called God's "Word," "Thy Word;"

because the doctrines did flow out from His own loving heart, and did emanate from His own nature and His own name of love, that true spring of all Gospel blessing. And because He had given them that Word to preach, and to enable others to preach, and to live it, to live for it, and, if called, to die for it, because He had so given them this Word," the world hated them.

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My dear hearers, the world loves not the Gospel of Christ. Some love the doctrines, but love not the precepts; some love the precepts, but love not the doctrines; and some love both doctrines and precepts, but they love not experimental teaching. I am quite aware that a worldly man may sit out a Gospel sermon, and that many worldly men have there continued for many years. It is no proof of a man's grace that he is addicted to a ministry-the five foolish virgins attended, or they had not had lamps in their hands; it is implied that they did use the means, but they had no real grace in the heart. They used the means, but they went out as foolish virgins, going to meet the heart-searching Bridegroom, with no oil in their vessels. It is no proof of a man's grace, that he can listen to a sermon. God forbid that you should deceive your souls by that. But for the most part the close, experimental, doctrinal, preceptive preaching, that comes up close to a man, that cares not whether it offends him or not, but speaks the truth in love, speaking it faithfully, leaving all consequences with the Lord,—that for the most part wears out great numbers of hearers: and by-and-by, as one sometimes has read, (especially in America I have read of it,) first they find out the minister has no talent; then, that he has no unction; then, he has no attractiveness; then, he has no power; and then, he is nothing. But the secret is, that they are not willing to be lowly, humble, close walkers with God; and thus it ceases and comes to an end. The Gospel is a blessed provision made for deep poverty; it is a large room, but, as Augustine says, it has a low door, and some cannot bend low enough to enter by that door. They are full of themselves, and full of their own righteousness, and they will not come to Christ that they might have life. Some object to its freeness; because it is to the sinner without a work: because it is "to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness." This offends them, and they are displeased. Then it is too strict for some: be