thoughts many times were made to ease my anguish, and free me from the determination of self-murder. But my distress of soul would return again with additional weight, and I have said, 'I cannot nor will I live under such distress.'

6

“One night I plotted that I would leave my bed, and just as I was about to rise stealthily, fearing my wife might wake up and want to know what I was going to do, the words came with power, Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Oh, the words 'nevertheless' and my loving-kindness,' these words to me were soul-ravishing words; they filled me with astonishment, wonder, love, and praise. Oh,' I thought, I must rise from my bed now, but not to go and destroy myself; no, but to see if I could find these words anywhere in the Bible, and that I might be sure the words read exactly as they had been applied to me; and,' I said, 'if they do read as I think they do, then shall I be satisfied they were spoken by the Lord.' I had not searched long before I found the words, and saw to my joy that, as the words were left upon record in the book, in the same order they were spoken home to my heart.

“Mỹ tears are not surface tears, but then tears of love, admiration, and gratitude, flowed in streams; and my wife came down to me to inquire if anything was the matter; but I was obliged to turn away from her, and walk out into the barton. I wanted no person then to be present with me; I had the Lord's presence, and that was all I wanted. Nay, the presence of a fellow-creature, be it who it may, was a burden to me; it interrupted that soul-delight which I found in looking to and upon the Lord, speaking to Him, telling Him how I loved Him, blessed Him, adored Him, wondered at His long-suffering towards me, and wanted to be with Him, where night and darkness shall never come.

“By what I have passed through, I now see that in the covenant of grace there is a Third Person, as well as God the Father and the Son; and that Third Person is God the Spirit. And God the Spirit has, according to covenant settlements, a work to do in earth, even as Jesus had a work to do on earth. And the Holy Ghost begins and carries on His own work in earth, or in the soul, by quickening into life; then by working over again in me, by way of revelation, and witnessing the sealing applications of what Jesus has meritoriously in His life, death, righteousness, and blood, done for me, without me: then I know what it is experimentally—

"To be steadfast in believing,

Yet to tremble, fear, and quake; Every moment be receiving

Strength, and yet be always weak.

To be fighting, fleeing, turning,
Ever sinking, yet to swim;
To converse with Jesus, mourning
For myself, or else for Him.'

“I hope I know now that the Lord hath set the day of prosperity and the day of adversity one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.” "OLD PILGRIM."

special and peculiar means which the Lord, in an unseen but most effectual way, adopted for restraining the tempted, in connexion with some of His most awful and deadly temptations. And what was this, even at such a juncture, but jealousy for His Lord's honour, and love to and interest in His dear family ?-ED.

Sermons and Notes of Sermons.

THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

OUTLINE OF A SERMON PREACHED BY THE REV. J. A. WALLINGER.

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church: and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing."-EPH. v. 22—24. BUT there is a more wonderful marriage than this-the marriage between Christ and His Church; the only indissoluble union. Christ has a Church with which He is in union; and the most important inquiry is whether you belong to that Church, and so are in union with Christ. The Lord prayed in John xvii., "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee." What a blessed union is this! Believers are "bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord God." And what does this mean? That all the rest are left out. But how is this binding together in the bundle of life realized? By getting life out of Him; by finding life in Him. And "when Christ, who is your life, shall appear, you also shall appear with Him in glory;" and "when He shall appear, you shall be like Him, as He is :" so are you now, for He says, "Because I live, ye shall live also;" "As He is, so are we. As He fared in this world, so shall we; as He was, so must we be; and as He was bound in the bundle of life, so are we-united in everlasting bonds.

Now I would draw your attention to the context. Christ as the Husband is the Head of the wife, and Christ is the Wisdom of the Church. If y you have any wisdom, it lies in your head; and it is your head that guides, directs, and governs your body. The head is the great teacher and director of the body, and, right or wrong, the body is under the influence of the head. Now, is this the nature of your union with Christ? Does He direct you, govern, guide, rule, and deliver you? Do you look to Him as your Wisdom, your Counsellor to lead you in all things? Do you live in communion with Him? Do you fly to Him to receive out of His fulness all you need? Do you pray to Him, and find your prayers answered, and thus prove Him to be the living God and your living Head? Ah, this is experimental proof as to what Jesus is! This is heart-teaching. I know the letter of the word, God's record is very valuable, very precious; but it is only one witness; you must bring two witnesses into court-there must be God's record in His Word, and God's record in the heart, for God gives His people a feeling religion.

But we have here not only Headship but Subjection. "Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands." Very comprehensive words. Wives, think of this! "In every thing be subject to your husband." Now the Apostle asserts the point here: "Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ." This is as much as

to say, Christ is the Ruler and Governor of His Church, however things may appear to contradict this. Some wives are very rebellious: they have not learned obedience, they do not submit to their husbands. Carry this up to the Church of God; there are some very rebellious members who rebel against the Headship of Christ, and who cannot submit to His will in all things; who pray, "Thy will be done," but want their own all the time. Then see what God has to do for you. He must bring you

down, humble you, teach you submission and subjection, and bring you into union with His will-"Not my will, but Thine be done." When the Lord puts forth His power He will make you submit to Him. No rebellion then. God's people, when left to themselves, soon go astray, soon fall into mischief, soon rebel against His authority. My dear hearers, I know it from my own heart. I know what you are by what I feel. A man that does not know his own heart is not fit to speak to others—not that I speak of my own fitness in any respect. The Church of God is a rebellious wife; and, though a subject of Divine grace, yet His people are often found in heart-rebellion against Him in many things. Now, have you been brought here, where our dear Lord was, to say, "My meat and my drink is to do the will of my Father ?" "Ah," say you, "this cuts me off. I am wayward, sinful, earthly; it is not 'my meat and drink to do the will of my Father."" Friends, I know it! You love your ease; you love self; you have little heart for God. "Well, there you are, rating again," say you "at us!" But don't you deserve it? And what says my Lord to me? "Show my people their transgressions." Yea, I must, whether people like it or not. Man by nature does not know himself. God must show him what he is, and then what is the result?-Fall down on your knees, and confess yourself a wretch under a feeling sense of sinfulness. This is to be brought into subjection to Christ, the Husband of the Church. But what is your spirit? I speak to the children of God. You say, "Thy will be done," yet want your own all the time; hence the conflict within. But as to you who are unregenerate, you want your own will, and never care about having the will of God done in you and by you. You have a religion of your own that satisfies you, and you want none other. But God must make you sick of your religion. He must show you what a wretch you are, and make you cry out for pardon. Ah, this is God's religion. It makes people humble and honest; it sends them to Jesus; it sickens them of self; and such a religion, begun by Him, He will carry on and perfect. Now this is true subjection. The Lord bring you to it, and give you to realize Jesus as your Husband, Brother, Friend, your and then your hearts say, "Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth I desire beside Thee."

all;

Now come to another point-Christ's love of the Church. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church. Here is the extent of His love—the Church, not the world. And what is a Church? A body of people separated from others. A Church signifies a shutting in and a shutting out: a separation. It also means a gathering together in one place; an assembly of persons united for worship. Now a Church is strictly illustrated by the ark: there was a shutting in and a shutting out; a gathering together of one family, all related by ties of blood. This family alone shut in, and all the world shut out. This is the Church of God. The family in the ark did not shut themselves in. We read God shut them in. You cannot shut yourself into Christ; nor, blessed be God, can you shut yourself out. When did He shut this family into Christ? Before all worlds in eternity. Chosen in Christ, implanted in Christ, and given to Christ to be saved with an everlasting salvation; one with Jesus. The Church of God is not alone; no, His Chuch was ever with Him. Jesus in union with His Bride is the Church of God; and thence she is called to know Him and love Him and enjoy Him through a blissful eternity. Now, if you have been called to know and see something of vile self and of a precious Christ, you can trace back all this to the shutting

in before all worlds. It is not a matter of time, but of eternity. God did it when the covenant of grace was planned by the Eternal Three; and you, who have fled to Christ for refuge as a poor hell-deserving, feelinglylost sinner, were thus shut in. Poor broken-hearted sinners, who see and feel their helplessness, are all shut in by God as securely as Noah and his family were shut in the ark. What a mystery it is that poor humbled sinners, tormented with fears about the love of God and their acceptance, who think it impossible God could ever love such wretches, should be the very people whom God has shut in! the very people God loves and has determined to save! "We have known and believed the love of God to us," said the Apostle; and this is the work of God. But you cannot receive it: you think God is displeased with you on account of your sins, and that He can never love a wretch like you. Now, the love of God implanted in your soul would turn out these fears, and teach you to say, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath loved us!" But even after that, you would be the subject of fears. Never till you get above will you be out of the reach of temptation; never till then will you be satisfied. Evil will be too mighty for you here, but there you will have no drawbacks; the elder brother, old nature, shall then be turned out for ever; but while here grace and nature must conflict it together all the way. Nature is really the younger, because grace is a heaven-born principle and before all time; as the occupant, it is the younger because the last given to the believer, and nature comes before grace; "But the elder shall serve the younger." Jacob shall get before Esau, and prove God's first-born at last. But many are the sinkings and fears and doubts of the children of God; often is it low-water mark with them, but the tide flows again, and grace springs up, and the soul triumphs in a delivering God. Oh, how all this sickens us of self, and loosens the hold of the world, and draws the heart to the home where the strife will be no more. "Christ loved the Church." In that song of songs, Canticles, you have these words: "Many waters cannot quench love." This refers to the love of Christ; and those whom He loves He implants His love, and nothing shall quench it. The two disciples going to Emmaus, said, "Did not our heart burn within us," &c. Why, when the Lord draws nigh and talks now to His people the same effects are wrought in the heart, and many waters cannot drown the sweet remembrance of it; and, if a man were to give all his house for this love, it would be utterly despised. But Christ gave more than His house, He gave Himself. He loved with an everlasting love, and a love that shall last for ever. He gave Himself up to men and devils. He stopped at nothing to save His Church. That was the sponge that absorbed all the love-the chosen family, the election of grace. Are you one of the elect? "Oh," say you, "what a question to put to us !" Well, the Apostle Paul said, "Make your calling and election sure;" and I suppose it is no harm for me to put the question to you as to what experience you have of it. But whether you think it harm or not, I tell you this upon the authority of God's Word, you will never be saved unless you are God's elect. He saves none else. Then say you, “I am lost, for I don't know whether I am one of the elect; indeed, my feeling is that I am not." Stop, now! There are many degrees in experience and in knowledge. There are steps in grace; and as we ascend the ladder, and as God reveals His truth, so we take in the Gospel to our soul's peace, till at last we get so high as to say, "Abba, Father, my Lord and my God!" and this is to know our election of God.

But have you ever had your foot placed upon the first step, the first round of the ladder of grace? And what is that? To see yourself a lost, ruined, hell-deserving sinner. That's the first round; all the elect of God, all the Spirit-taught family begin here. They don't begin with the knowledge of their election, but with the knowledge of their sinnership. It is then God begins with the soul. Now, almost all acknowledge that they are sinful; but all are not sensible sinners, made feeling sinners, as to abhor themselves. This God works in the heart of all His elect, and all such are brought at last to see that peace and pardon are theirs. This is not man's teaching, but God's; and this God works in the soul when He regenerates it. Once your sins gave you no trouble; bound hell-ward, full of the world, and in love with all God hated, the enemy blinded your eyes to think you were all right, and so you loved your sins; but God comes into the soul, and sets us at war with all we were once at peace with, and then He turns out the great power of Satan, and sets up His kingdom in the heart, and all this because "Christ loved the Church.” Here lies the secret of the drawings of the Father, and all the teachings of the way; and then the time appointed of God comes when the poor sinner is enabled to say with the Apostle, "Who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Many get healed of their wounds without this; but now, if this is your state, a sensible sinner-see that you are not satisfied short of this-the testimony of the Spirit, by which you will be enabled to say, "Who loved me, and gave Himself for me."

cross.

"FOLLOW THOU ME."-JOHN XXI. 22.

JESUS loved Peter, and Peter loved Jesus; but Peter's love had been eclipsed and called in question by his three sad denials of Jesus; and, as Jesus loved him freely and unchangeably still, and plainly showed it, so Jesus would have Peter to show the reality of his repentance, and the reality of his love, by three distinct and public professions of his love. Before the three denials, Peter had said that so great was his love for Jesus, that he was ready even to die for Him or with Him. Jesus now tells him that he shall die for Him, declaring that the mode of Peter's death would resemble that death which He himself had endured on the Thus informed as to the way in which he should die, curiosity moved him to ask for information about the manner in which John, his fellow-disciple, should close his earthly career. At once, however, Jesus repressed this prying curiosity by an appeal to His own sovereign will, teaching us that the Prince of Life, having the keys of death and hell, it will ever be our wisdom and consolation to walk by faith rather than by sight. Jesus showed, moreover, that as the future is, for the most part, wisely concealed from us, we are to leave that future with God, and to attend to the plain and important injunction addressed, not to Peter only, but to each disciple-"Follow thou me!" And, beloved, there is nothing harsh or unreasonable in the injunction. Our dear Lord and Master does not require us to tread the appointed path alone. From first to last, through all the way, He Himself will lead, and we are simply to follow. He will thus be not only with us, but will also go before us. The Shepherd goeth before the sheep, and leadeth them out. He leads them out of the bondage of sin and Satan, out of the regions of darkness and death, out of the deadly snares and delusions of a sinful world. Nay, more, He

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