but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." We shall be like Jesus in the spirit of our minds; we shall be as He was, "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners:" the prince of this world will have no part in us. The best condition of the most advanced saint in the present state is described in the words of the apostle-" So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." The life of the believer is now a continual conflict "striving against sin," denying himself, taking up his cross daily, crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts, groaning within himself, "waiting for the adoption," longing and hoping for the promised deliverance. While under the painful pressure of indwelling sin, he cries out, "Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" But in the future state their warfare will be ended: no striving then; all their renovated powers will flow on in a deep and unbroken stream of holy service. It is true, that' even in our present state of imperfection, there are brief seasons when our corruptions seem to be stunned; and when we can say that it is our meat and drink to do the will of our Heavenly Father;" but even these favoured moments are but a small earnest of the unbroken enjoyment which will be realised in the perfection of obedience to the Divine will, when grace shall have perfected its work in Christ's people. Yes, Christ's people shall be like Him clothed in glorious bodies like unto the Lord's glorious body, perfect in holiness and happiness, for ever with the Lord. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection, on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with them a thousand years (Rev. xx. 6); yea, for ever and ever. (Rev. xxii.) "These things write we unto you that your joy might be full.” We have little faith and sympathy with the melancholy moping Christian, always mourning. No doubt, the Christian has his seasons of depression, cast down by reason of manifold trials and temptations; but these are written that your joy might be full. Not only is the Christian to have joy, but to be full of joy. "These things," said the Lord Jesus to His disciples when taking final leave of them before His crucifixion, "have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full, John xv. 2. The Apostle Paul writes-"We glory in tribulation;" and in his Epistle to the Thessalonians, he exhorts them to rejoice evermore. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy," &c. And every one that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself as Christ is pure. The more Christ-like we become, the more will our joy be full. Let us then, dearly beloved, rejoice evermore. Even in the agonies of death -the last enemy-though to the Christian a conquered enemy, the Christian believer may be full of calm, holy joy. I was privileged, lately, to be present at the deathbed of a Christian sister, who, though grieved to part from her beloved husband, child, parents, and relatives, who surrounded her bed sobbing and weeping, and though suffering much from the pains of death, was yet enabled by the grace of God to rejoice in the hope of meeting her Lord and Saviour, that her spirit "absent from the body, would be present with the Lord," and that she should have part in the First Resurrection. a About three months préviously, I was called to visit Mrs. young married woman. I found her labouring under bronchitis, or in flammation of the bronchia or air tubes, with acute pain in the left side of chest, harassing cough, &c. The disease had existed for some time, and had either been neglected or misunderstood. I formed a very unfavorable opinion of her case, and I am sorry to state that my opinion proved too correct. She was much relieved from time to time by repeated application of leeches, blisters, and the administration of appropriate medicines. From the first I spoke to her of the Saviour, and lent her some numbers of the Sunday at Home, &c. I was thankful to find that she knew and loved the Lord Jesus. During a three months' painful affliction, Mrs, manifested the graces of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, and meekness; but when death approached she shrunk from dissolution, she found it hard to part with them she so dearly loved: she could not say "Not my will, but thine be done!" Like our Lord Jesus Himself in the garden of Gethsemane, she prayed "Father, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me." At length her earnest, fervent prayer for resignation was answered; and as death approached, she was enabled to say, "Father, not my will, but thine be done." The minister of the parish was very attentive, and she had praying friends and praying relatives. I visited her for the last time on Friday morning, about ten o'clock. When I entered the chamber of death, Mrs. was sitting up on the bed, propped with pillows, for she could not lie down; the cold hand of death was laid upon her, but she was quite calm, her joy was full. She had been singing hymns of praise the previous evening, and was now enjoying that peace which the Lord Jesus alone can give. I the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me, was frequently repeated by her. All her relations and friends surround ing the bed were bathed in tears; my own heart was deeply moved and my eyes filled with tears. I was asked to engage in prayer, but I was so much affected by the scene, that I could hardly pray; but the Lord helped me. We all knelt down; the chamber seemed filled with the glory of the Lord. I felt something like St. John in Patmos, we experienced the gracious fulfilment of our blessed Lord's promise"Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst, and that to bless them; the Lord Jesus was in our midst,—the Lord was comforting His dying child; she could say— Jesus protects,-my fears begone, I felt like St. Peter on the mount of transfiguration. It was good to be there. Mrs. responded to the petitions I presented; we rose from our knees weeping, grieved to part, yet a humble holy joy was mingled with our grief. Thanks be to God who gave her the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. She shook hands with me affectionately and said, "Good bye. Be faithful unto death, and the Lord shall give thee a crown of life. Follow Jesus fully, and we shall meet again in heaven." She then fell back on her pillow quite exhausted, earnestly praying" Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." She kept repeating this from time to time; and as I was told afterwards, in about an hour-and-a-half after I left, she fell asleep in Jesus quite happy, with a well grounded hope of having part in the First Resurrection. The hour of my departure's come, I hear the voice that calls me home; I bow before thee in the dust: I leave this world without a tear, Ponteland, Newcastle-on-Tyne, July 13, 1867. JOHN MASON. The Gigantic Powers of Sin. SERMON BY E. J. SILVERTON, TRINITY CHAPEL, BOROUGH, Sunday MORNING, MAY 12TH, 1867.... (Concluded from page 200.) "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ."-1 Cor. xv. 57. II. We have in the text THANKS PRESENTED TO GOD FOR VICTORY GIVEN. It is like when you have been talking of the danger of your losing your life, of your being drowned, of your having been burned to death, and after you have told the tale from first to last you say, "But thank God I was spared." When you have been giving an account of some dreadful sickness you have had it generally closes with "But thank the Lord I was spared, and He has raised me up again." This is a very important word, this "but," a very important word here, for if the apostle had not been able to say that God hath given to the church the victory, how direful a state should we have been in with sin, more mighty than we, dragging us down, and then at last condemning us to everlasting wrath, "But thanks be to God," &c. Under this second heading I shall notice five things and shall speak of them in order. I. What was obtained by this victory? Jesus Christ did not simply obtain a mitigation of sin's power, but he obtained an entire, complete, everlasting, extensive victory over sin. Christ was sin's conqueror, Christ tramples sin beneath his feet. In the early part of the old Scriptures we find it written that the devil was to bite the heel of Christ, now I see the serpent about to bite Christ's heel, and I see Christ lift his foot, stamp on his head, and crush the monster to death so far as it concerns them to whom God has given the victory. Sin cannot ruin you, sin cannot destroy you, for God has given you the victory. Sin may hurt us inasmuch as it may damage our reputation, wound our feelings, and mar our happiness; but sin cannot affect our destiny, cannot affect our glory, cannot affect our arriving safely in God's eternal home. Victory, beloved, over sin is ours; and think you that the apostle did not know something of this when he said "Therefore there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus?" The victory which Christ obtained was over sin and Satan, so that thy most mighty enemy is vanquished, and Christ Jesus having obtained the victory is pleased to hand it over to you. the II. Who obtained the victory? The Lord Jesus Christ. He fought the battle and won the victory. When David slew Goliath in presence of the armies of the Philistines and the Israelites, Goliath personified sin and David going forth with his simple instruments of war, personified Christ. I behold the armies of the Philistines standing aside from their champion and I see the armies of Israel standing aloof from their champion. David the shepherd boy is the representative and personification of our Lord Jesus Christ, who goes forth to slay the monster sin, he goes forth to give him his death-blow, and as David slew the giant with a stone slung from his hand, laid him to the ground and sawed off his head, so the Lord Jesus Christ has cut the throat of sin, taken away its power, robbed it of its sting and as a proof of the same he has given victory and liberty to the people of God, having obtained it by his death, crucifixion, and resurrection. Thanks be unto God, &c. III. TO WHOM HAS THIS VICTORY BEEN GIVEN? To us. Christ won it and He has given it to us, Christ fought for it, obtained it, and then gave it to us. He went into the thick of the battle, and took away from Satan his power, took away as it were the golden key that would have locked us out of heaven, and gave that key into our hand. Bunyan tells us in his Pilgrim's Progress that "the golden key was in Christian's bosom all the time, and he might have let himself out but did not know he had the useful article with him. Christ has given us the victory. I think the stress should be made here upon the us; the little word us. These little words in Scripture are wonderfully important; they make it specially interesting to us. Now, the Scriptures do not here speak of everybody; everybody is not included; all the world is not included in this text, no one has any right to feel or think that the victory over sin is given to him unless he has reasons to believe and can give reasons for believing that he is included among the people of God. When the apostle said these words he was writing to the saints at Corinth, and not to the whole world. "Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth," &c. Not to all the world, but to the saints of God, and here it is our mercy if we can specially lay claim to this little word "given unto us." O my hearer, has God given you the victory over sin, or is sin your conqueror, and leader? Does sin lead the way and you follow it? or do you resist sin, struggle against it, and pray against it? If you do, though it be a mighty battle, you shall be victorious through God's grace; and then it is true concerning you, though you are here in the body, yet, "thanks be to God," &c. If Christ descend not to you, my dear hearers, the victory over sin and Satan on the Cross, and the death of Christ, will affect you in no way whatever, nor will it be of any earthly or heavenly use to you, but you will die and be lost just the same as though Jesus had never lived or died. I ask you, as a minister of Jesus Christ, whether God in his mercy has given you reason to believe that you are to trample sin and Satan underneath your feet, and that Christ having obtained the victory gives it to you? IV. BY WHOM IS THE VICTORY GIVEN-By God. Now you have to distinguish Jesus Christ from God. Some persons hold the idea that God died, that God bled, and that God was crucified. I do not. I cannot understand how God died, or how God was crucified, or how God bled; but I can understand Jesus Christ in His perfect manhood the Son of God died, He was crucified, He shed blood, the Godhead sustained Him in this world: and hence, you have Christ, the darling Son of God, obtaining the victory and God, spoken of in the Old Testament as Jehovah, God the Father, or as the apostle puts it-"Thanks be unto God," &c. &c. God has given the victory to us, therefore, we have a right to it; you need not be afraid if God has given it to you. Now here observe, that if we have taken this ourselves,-if we have presumed in the matter,—if we have taken it up, we have no right to all we profess to hold. If I were to walk into your house, and your little boy were to offer me a book, and tell me I might have it, I of course would refuse to take it, knowing that it was not right for him to give it to me; but if the master of the house came in and said, "There, Mr. Silverton, I present you with that, keep it in remembrance of me;" I would say, "Thank you, I will hold and value it for the giver's sake." So if you have taken upon yourselves pardon, if you have presumed to be a saint, the victory is not yours; but if God has given it to you,-if you feel sure that He has bestowed it on you, then, "thanks be to God," &c. I believe the Apostle means something of that when he says “I am what I am by the grace of God," as though he said the grace of God has made me what I am. Who hath made you to believe? Why, God, of course, and the grace of God, therefore, "Thanks be unto God," &c., &c. I always like things from head-quarters; I cannot do with secondhanded things. If I hear a story and think it to be a story in a two-fold sense, I keep very clear from it and say you don't lodge here, I will send you off somewhere else. If I am going out to preach or lecture, I like the invitation to come from head-quarters. Sometimes about the country, good sisters have said, "Will you come and preach for us?" "Some day," I answer. "But when will you come?" "Have you a minister? Well, if you want me to come and preach, you must talk to your minister about it, and then he will talk to his deacons, and they will then concoct a letter and send it to me by the penny post, and I shall have a direct invitation." I never like to go to a place to please |