leads me in the paths of righteousness," by the power of His Holy Spirit.

I am addressing myself, it may be, to some who may be quite conscious at this moment, that this is their case. And there may be some here, to whom these words do not belong. We cannot say to them, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;" for they never knew what the joy of that salvation was. Oh! there is something deeply touching in the thought, that there are numbers here who cannot make use of the words of the text; the true source of joy is hidden from them; they know nothing of God as their joy. They know nothing of godly sorrow; their joy must be turned into sorrow, and their laughter must be turned into heaviness. As yet they know not what the joy of the Holy Ghost is. A whole-hearted sinner and a full Saviour never can have any intercourse with each other; and until that be the case, their souls never can find any joy in God. But if there be any hearing me at this moment, who once walked with tenderness, who once walked softly, closely, and prayerfully with God, but by little and by little the wall of separation hath come in-ah! my brother, my brother, I have been led to choose this text for theeand I never yet preached a sermon for one, that I did not find applicable to many-it was for thee that I chose the text; it was for thee this text was laid upon my heart. And is it so? What! canst thou look back on happier days, holier days, tenderer days? canst thou look back on days when thy heart walked softly with God, when thou didst know the prevalency of prayer, when thou didst not open thy Bible without finding it a lamp and a light to thy feet, when thou didst say, "I found Thy words and I did eat them, and they were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart? and canst thou not say so now? Oh! that thou mightest be led to retrace the cause! Did it not begin in thy secret transactions with God? Was there not the pressure from without, that hindered the calling within upon the Lord thy God? Has there not been something that did lead off thy spirit? Has there not something come between thy soul and its best happiness? Ah! my brother, is it not enough to break thy heart at this moment, to know, that there is in God that which causes Him to stretch out His hand to thee, at the instant I am speaking to thee? Oh! if the power of the Holy Ghost

did but make thee to feel it, and know it, I believe thy heart would melt; it would break thy heart, and lay thee in the dust, and thou shouldst bless God for it to all eternity.

Oh! I would say, who can restore man, but God himself? And consider whence it was that He restored thee; and observe what it is that produced it. Was it a high mind? was it a lofty spirit? was it carnal security? was it worldly contamination ? Oh! look well to the cause that led to it. There are numbers,-they urge it on me in their writings, but I cannot agree with them-that say, 'when I fall, I am to rise up out of the ditch, and go on :' with me, the first business when I rise up out of the ditch, is to see the cause that led me into it, to see the cause that produced it; otherwise the same cause will produce the same effect again. Oh! did it not begin in thy closet? May it lead thee to thy closet! Did it not begin with neglect of God? did it not begin in the neglect of reading His Word? Oh! betake thyself to

the reading of that Word, and seek a broken spirit there.

Ah! brethren, it is not crying out, "Lord, Lord," that proves a man to be a child of God; and it never can prove a man to be a penitent soul, that he says, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." But oh! to cast all upon the Lord Jesus! There can be no access for return, but through the precious blood-shedding of an incarnate God; until we are laid low at His feet, there can be no real restoration by the power of the Spirit.

One word let me say to the children of God that hear me. You have been kept to this present moment from any peculiar departures from God; you have, on the whole, been led to watch and pray, and pray and watch; and yet you are conscious of ten thousand departures, that no one knows anything of but God himself. Oh! beware of the first departure; beware of long departures; beware of distrusting that God who stretches out His hand; beware of undervaluing the glory of the atoning blood of the Son of God. Remember, that the same power that keeps thee, is the power that must restore thee; and that thou dost want the same almighty energy of the Holy Spirit to keep thee, as to restore thee. And I would say, whatever leads to departure in thy case, whatever leads thee away from God, avoid it. Let not this man, nor that man, be thy rule, but let God's

Word be thy rule. That which may be a cause of departure in thee, may be no cause of departure in me; and that which may be the greatest cause of departure in me, may be no cause of departure in thee. Study thy natural constitution, study thy circumstances, study thy whole position, and take it all to Jesus. Avoid the first approach of that which is offensive to Him. Avoid long departures: oh! to be kept from them-but to say, 'Lord, when I do depart from Thee, through my sin and sinfulness, let me not go away long from Thee, let my departure not be for long.' Oh! that the strength and power of the Spirit may be put forth to thy restoration, and that thou mayest betake thyself to the same remedy as at the first, even the precious blood-shedding of the incarnate God!

May the Lord keep us, and preserve us, and bless us!

A SERMON,

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

PREACHED AT JOHN STREET CHAPEL, KING'S ROAD, BEDFORD ROW, ON SUNDAY MORNING, FEB. 1, 1846.

"As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal: that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."-John xvii. 2, 3.

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We have in the first verse of this chapter a sort of introduction to the prayer that comes afterwards, this remarkable prayer which follows our Lord's solemn address to His disciples, after His breaking bread with them, and just before His own sacrifice. It seems to be a sort of anticipation of that intercession which He is now carrying on in heaven. "He lifted up His eyes to heaven:" as much as if He had said, 'There is no hope on earth; all hope below is at an end for ever.' See Him; He flies to God His Father. How frequently the title occurs in this very chapter! "And now, O Father" -in the fifth verse; and in the eleventh verse-" Holy Father;" again in the twenty-first verse— as Thou Father, art in Me;" and again in the twenty-fifth verse-" O righteous Father." Beloved, it is the power of prayer, when you and I can so plead with God. Then, observe, He speaks of "the hour being come;" the hour settled and appointed before all worlds, the hour fixed and determined, the hour of My desolation, when all will forsake Me.' And what does He plead for? "Glorify Thy Son;" as much as if He had said, 'support Me in tha trying hour, give Me all needful comfort in that trying hour, bear Me up in My approaching hour of conflict, raise My body from the dead, give the promised Comforter in the midst of My Church and people, and let all the blessings of Thy salvation flow down to them in consequence.' "That Thy Son also may glorify Thee;"-' that I, the appointed Victim, may

VOL. XII.-No. 428.-March 12, 1846.

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glorify Thee; that in every perfection of Thy nature, I may manifest Thee, and display Thy glory.'

We have then the words to which I shall immediately call your attention:-" As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh," for this end, "that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal: that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."

There are two points that I would especially direct your minds to this morning. First of all, that our blessed Lord has power given Him over all flesh; and then, the great end for which it was given"that He should give eternal life to as many as were given Him;" 'which eternal life is this, "that they may know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."

I. Now to the first of these points let us direct our minds; and may the Holy Spirit direct our hearts and consciences.

In the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew we find our Lord rather enlarges upon these words; "All power," says He, "is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." Here it is," Thou hast given Me power over all flesh;" there it is," all power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." What a grant! what a wondrous grant is this! No one but Himself could have received it, and no one but Himself could have administered it, if they had received it.

We have in this passage, as we have in multitudes of others, an indirect proof of the Deity of the Son of God. May I be enabled to direct you to that mode of reading your Bibles;-not merely to look at the direct proofs that Jesus is what we believe Him to be, but at the indirect proofs of it. You shall find thousands of such indirect proofs; there are abundant instances of the direct proof, but innumerable instances of the indirect proof, that He is what we believe Him to be. If our Lord had not been God and man, He could not have received the unlimited grant-the power of Deity; and if He had received it, He could not have administered it. If He had been mere man, as they assert who deny His Deity, then if He had received it, He never could have administered it. "All power in heaven and earth," administered by a creature !-monstrous absurdity! It required Him to be both God and man before He could receive as well as before He could administer this large, this wondrous gift.