by faith in Christ, how necessary the cultivation of that sanctification which is the fruit of faith! The time past has surely sufficed to follow our natural course, which leads to destruction; and if we have not hitherto turned to God, and begun to practise the duty and enjoy the privileges of willing dedication to our Creator, let us now at length lay the subject to heart. And while we use our earnest endeavours, let us not forget humbly to pray to Him who alone can direct and strengthen them to any effectual purpose. As a prayer suitable for this occasion, I shall conclude with that employed by our Church as the Collect for the Second Sunday after Easter, and which briefly combines the two-fold scriptural view of our blessed Saviour, as our justification and our sanctification. Almighty God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; give us grace, that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

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SERMON XXIV.

THE MERCIES OF GOD IN CHRIST.

EPHES. ii. 4-7.

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

THE Apostle, in the foregoing verses, had

described the fallen and wretched condition of mankind by nature. He had spoken of the Ephesian Christians, as "in time past dead in trespasses and sins, wherein they walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." And then, as if to shew that this corruption of nature and habit was not confined to the Ephesian converts, who had been heathens, degraded by superstition and idolatry, and immersed in gross vice and igno

rance, he adds, "Among whom also," that is, among these unhappy slaves of sin and Satan, "we all"-all mankind; the Jew as well as the Gentile, even the Apostle himself in the days of his unconversion,-" we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath even as others." Such was the universal condition of the world we all like sheep had gone astray; we had turned every one to his evil way; we had come short of the glory of God; we had exposed ourselves to eternal punishment by our transgressions; and in this condition we were unable of ourselves to help ourselves, and no natural means of escape were open to us from the wrath to come. "But," adds the Apostle, "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus."

This full and impressive passage teaches us, First, the blessings which God bestows on his servants; and, Secondly, the fountain from which they flow.

First. Let us consider the inestimable blessings here mentioned. These are, being quickened with Christ; being raised up together with him; and being made to sit in heavenly places in him. In the former chapter, the Apostle had spoken of "the exceeding greatness of the power of God to us-ward who believe," in other words, the converting and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit on the heart of the Christian, as a power similar to that "which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places." The same allusion seems to be continued in the text. Our new creation, our spiritual privileges, our growth in holiness, our hopes of glory, and our final admission to the bliss of heaven, are spoken of in reference to the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. In baptism, we were buried with him; and, as he rose from the grave, so by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, we are raised from the death of trespasses and sins, to a life of righteousness, the prelude to an eternal life of glory in heaven. By means of the union which exists between the Christian and his Saviour, the resurrection and ascension of Christ become pledges as well as emblems of that spiritual resurrection and ascension which are the privilege of all true believers.

The blessings here mentioned will appear the more exalted, the more closely they are examined. Some blessings are universal; such as creation, preservation, and the gift of God's beloved Son for the redemption of a lost world. Others are more limited in their operation; such as many temporal mercies, and those outward religious privileges which are afforded to different ages, nations, and individuals in very various degrees, and for which each person will have to account, according to his opportunities of knowing the will of God. But the blessings mentioned in the text are the peculiar privilege of those who receive the Gospel in faith and obedience; they alone, either in possession or in prospect, are quickened with Christ, raised with him, and made to sit in heavenly places. All other persons are, as the Ephesians once were, dead to God, and without any wellgrounded hope for futurity. The blessing is indeed freely offered to all; but it actually belongs only to those who have earnestly sought after it in the divinely revealed way of God's appointment.

1. The Christian is "quickened."-Spiritual life is breathed into his soul. He is made alive with Christ by a new and heavenly birth: he opens his eyes on new prospects; he is influenced by new principles: he is no longer insensible to his own sinful and perishing state