A SERMON,

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

PREACHED AT JOHN STREET CHAPEL, KING'S ROAD, BEDFORD ROW, ON SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 1, 1845.

"Your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace."Ephesians vi. 15.

THE Christian soldier has not only his outward enemies, but his secret foes; he has not only the open attack, the broad assault, but the sly ambush. According to the mode of warfare formerly pursued, the enemy came not only upon them with their masses, but they came on one another by subtlety; placing in the way spikes, traps, gins, and other devices, to take them, and cause them to fall. And this especially required a peculiar mode of armour, a peculiar supply for that hour of need. And we find, therefore, in the seventeenth chapter of the first book of Samuel, and the fifth verse, when Goliath is described, it is not only said he had an "helmet of brass upon his head; and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass;" but he had also " greaves of brass upon his legs"-sandals, or brazen boots, to protect his legs. This was a common mode of defence. It tells us a great truth. The saint of God has oftentimes before him those snares, those trials, those difficulties, that lie beneath his feet. In the every-day transactions of his life he has not only the open assault, but the secret stratagem; and therefore he needs peculiar preparation of heart to meet it, a preparedness of spirit, always ready. And we find, too, that the Gospel is that preparation, when really received by the power of the Holy Ghost, which does give him that preparedness of spirit that can alone enable him to meet it.

Such is the subject before us. May the Lord help us truly to feel its importance; and, above all, may each of us pray for himself. And, if there is one near you, whom you think unconverted, pray for that one; for it is an awful thing to be surrounded by all these, and to be unconscious of one of them.

Here are two points, beloved, for our consideration this morning. The Gospel is here spoken of as the "Gospel of peace;" that shall be our first consideration. Next, I shall endeavour to show in what sense it is, that the Gospel may be compared to these sandals, or greaves; how, and in what sense, it protects the child of God, and when it protects him.

VOL. XI.-No. 389.-June 12, 1845.

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I. With regard to the first point, the Gospel is the " Gospel of peace." It is implied, one may say, in its very nameglad tidings;" for how could that be "glad tidings" to a poor sinner, that did not contain in it the message of peace? Its very name requires it; its very nature, proclaims it; "glad tidings of great joy" to every soul that believeth. How could it be otherwise, than the Gospel of peace? It comes from His heart, who is a "God of peace, and the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort." The great subject of it is the revelation of the Prince of peace; peace by His blood, peace to poor sinners through His great atonement. It is applied to the heart by the Spirit of peace, whose very fruit is peace, and whose very name is "the Comforter." The great subject of its proclamation, is nothing less than peace: "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.' I should feel vastly perplexed, in preaching upon that text, if I could not go to every man and preach peace by Jesus Christ to him. Into whatsoever house the disciples were commanded to enter, they went with His message of peace: "Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, peace be to this house." It seems such a poor, meagre, spiritless interpretation, to tell me that it was merely a common mode of speech. I know it was the eastern mode of address; but we come to the marrow and the substance; we see a great truth unfolded by it, that the very first aspect of the Gospel to the sinner is peace: "into whatsoever house ye enter." And the great legacy that our Lord bequeathed to His Churchwould that we were concerned to have the whole of it-was peace; "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." Wherever the disciples and apostles went, they preached peace by Jesus Christ; peace to the chief of sinners. And wherever we go we must preach peace, though we do do not affect to consider ourselves successors of the apostles-would that there were more real succession, and less contest about the name! If there were more of truly following them, there would be less talking about the name. Wherever they went, they preached peace to the vilest of sinners. True, none but the broken-hearted ever value the Gospel, and none but they whom the Father draws, will ever come to Christ; but we are not permitted to detain our hearers by such limitations; it is one command given us, to go and "preach the Gospel to every creature." All the wounded Israelites were commanded to look; those who did not look, as much as those who did. When the invitation to the Gospel feast was sent out, it was sent out as much to those who came not, as to those who came; they were commanded to come, but they did not come. Wherever the sound of the Gospel comes, God commands the soul that hears it to believe; and as He hath commanded "all men everywhere to repent," so He hath commanded "all men everywhere to believe."

We leave systems to men; we preach the Gospel of God. The invitation is the warrant; it is a broad invitation ;-not only to the

broken-hearted, but to the hard-hearted, and (if there were such a word in our language,) to the no-hearted. And so far from any unwillingness to receive all those that do not come, they are upbraided because they do not come : "Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life."

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My dear hearers, this leads one to a solemn point-that because "they will not come," they will eternally perish; for it is the great condemning sin. What a thought! It is not all the sins that they have ever committed; it is not all their pride, and vanity, and worldliness, and hardness; it is not all their sensualitythough some of you are conscious of having been the subjects of it; it is not their proud denial of a God, or of their awful responsibility -for they are virtually living as if there were no God-all this is not the condemning sin. But this is the condemning sin-that "men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil;" and because they "hate the light, they will not come to the light." "This is the condemnation-that men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” Oh! what a solemn thought! The Gospel is the Gospel of peace. It opens a way of peace. tells a poor burdened soul how he can be saved; not by his tears, or his prayers, or his alms-givings, or his humiliation, or his words, or his works, or his thoughts, but by believing in Jesus. He that "died, the just for the unjust;" He who, having "finished transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity, brought in and worked out an everlasting righteousness," has declared in His Word, that all that believe in Him, without distinction, are equally justified, and that "from all things." And as the Gospel opens the way of salvation, it opens it to the heart, and brings salvation to the heart. It is by this Word of free-grace salvation, that the Holy Ghost works. A man hears it; he has never thought of it before; he has never regarded it; he has been a trifler; the Holy Ghost lays him low in the dust; he is brought to the very lowest. By that Word of holy, precious welcome, the Spirit works, and subdues him. His doubts and his fears subside; it works faith in him-simple faith, real child-like faith, unreasoning faith, undoubting faith, unhesitating faith; he takes God at His word, rests in His promise, and in one moment-if I may use the word, remembering that God's movements on the mind are usually gradual -I can suppose that all his doubts and his fears vanish; the conscience is quieted by the precious blood of sprinkling; the heart is peaceful, through a view of God's character; the will is peaceful, submitting to God; the spirit is peaceful, for when God brings peace into the soul, He makes a man have a peaceful spirit towards those around him. He is of a peaceful spirit, because he has been led into peaceful paths.

My dear hearers, all the paths of the Gospel are peaceful. Obedience in God's way is a happy way; you may write over it, 'hap

piness is in this way.' Submission to His will in trying dispensations-happiness is here; reliance on Jesus-happiness is in this way. Nay, beloved, we may go further, and say, though repentance has its bitters and its sorrows, yet there is more happiness in repentance, than all a thoughtless world ever knew of happiness. Oh! how a worldly man looks at this!-he thinks it impossible to be true. 'Happiness in self-denial! happiness in submission to painful providences! happiness in obedience, though oftentimes, as you have said, it costs a man the cutting off a right hand, or the plucking out of a right eye! Happiness in tears!-it is absurd.' I might ask such an one, Do you know what happiness is? May I ask another question ?—do you know what the happiness of heaven will be? He might answer the first question; but in this country, professedly Christian as it is-(oh! that it were called by its right name!-I believe, the days are hastening when we shall see how much Christianity we have)-I believe there are numbers, who have no more idea of a spiritual heaven than Mahomet had. Eating and drinking, enjoyment, rest from labour, carnal pleasures; or if not gross animal pleasures, yet something very like it. But, beloved, surely if this be the answer any one gives to such a question, it proves how sunk he is, how degraded and debased by sin and a corrupt nature. Surely, the happiness of heaven must consist in nearness to God, delight in God, communion with God, likeness to God. And if it be thus, then it follows, as a necessary consequence, that we have just so much happiness, as we have of that in this world; because man is essentially the same now as he will bea reasonable and intelligent being; and that which forms the happiness of heaven, must, in its measure, form the happiness of man upon earth. For what is this earth, but a scene of preparation for heaven? Is it not the education time, the training time? Is it not the beginning time? Who shall dare to deny it? And in the common business of life, in scientific life, in mercantile life, is there not a necessity for preparation? and yet no preparation for an endless eternity! How absurd is the reasoning! Then, if it be so, the question is answered; and our happiness can only be true and solid happiness, just so far as it resembles, in its measure, that happiness that shall be to all eternity. Whatever brings me near to God, whatever causes my soul to delight in God, whatever causes my spirit to trust in God, and whatever conforms me to the image of God, must be my happiness, because it forms the very element of heaven's happiness. Therefore, whatever it be-whether it be submission, or whether it be obedience; whether it be reading God's Word, or hearing God's Word; whether it be prayer or praise-whatever it may be, even though it be deep and bitter repentance, yet, inasmuch as I, by the blood of Christ, draw near to God, have access to God, find God, see God, live in nearness to God-just so far as that prevails, I have heaven begun in my soul.

it unfolds peace.

See, then, this Gospel is a Gospel of peace; And, moreover, let me say-so truly is this the case that where persons are strangers to the Gospel, they do not know what peace means. That always appears to me a solemn passage in the book of Job-" He shall hear a dreadful sound." "A dreadful sound !" Ah! some of you have had that "dreadful sound" in your ears before now!-when the thought of eternity has come on; the thought of the judgment being set, the books opened, and you standing before God. Ah! ye must have felt it; ye have known something of this “dreadful sound." How comes it to pass, that ye like not the subject of eternity? Ye know why it is ; it is because ye have no ground to stand upon. Oh! the throes and anguish of a troubled conscience! Mark that passage in the sixth of Micah and the sixth verse : "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ?" What! my Isaac? What! my firstborn? What! my best-beloved, my truly beloved-shall I give him for my transgression? What must be the anguish of such a man's conscience! And I believe there are hundreds at this moment in London, that know what an anguished conscience is; and there may be scores that know what it is at this moment, within these walls. Oh! there is no peace, till we find it in Christ; there is no peace, till we find our rest in God.

II. But a few remarks on our second head. In what respect is it, that the Gospel, when realised, and known, and felt in the power of it, is that defence to the soul and to the spirit, that it acts upon it as feet act upon the body-giving it motion and movement? In what respect is the Gospel such a defence to the Christian soldier?

This preparedness, perhaps, we shall find, may receive some light, by just looking at the same word or not exactly the same word, but of the word from which it is derived. It is in the twenty-first of Acts, and the thirteenth verse. "What ! mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart? -for I am ready" (I am prepared)" not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus." Here was a prepared spirit. This was the preparation of the heart. And just what the greaves, or sandals, or brazen boots did to the legs, in the midst of all the spikes, and thorns, and briars, and roughnesses of the road, that the Gospel does, when realised by the power of the Holy Ghost in the soul of a man.

What a fixedness of spirit it gives to a man, when realising the great truths of the Gospel in his soul! When he walks with God as one accepted, as one pardoned, as one redeemed, as one adopted, as one beloved, what a firmness it gives to him! I ask not what his