of men, but in the praise of God. And the Spirit of God, besought in earnest, will grant this spiritual boon to a fervent and petitioning faith. The heart will undergo a change, and the prayer not return unto the petitioner void. In the soul will be mercy and peace, and with the spirit "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." And, “walking according to this rule,” the Christian will still be diligent in externals, for his heart will stir him up to be diligent. He will still find favour with man, but give all the glory to God.

But lastly, there may be those amongst us, who are actuated in all that they do by the most godly motives, and desire not to escape from any taunt, ridicule, or persecution, to which an avowal of such motives may expose them. Like the Apostle, they "glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," and in every relation of life, in every occupation or calling, will endure for Christ's sake, provocation, injustice, oppression, or any other evil that befalls them, with the most righteous long-suffering and patience. Bearing these spiritual "marks of the Lord Jesus," they are truly and in every sense his people; they turn whithersoever he wills them to turn; they do his bidding, even if it be painful, and take his part, even if it be fraught with danger. Yea, they glory in visitations in which others take no delight, even in afflictions, in necessities, in the heaviest trials, knowing that they minister to growth in grace, are real badges of Christian discipleship, and undeniable proofs of a Father's love. They care not what they suffer for Christ's sake, and feel sure that for all that they lose on earth, they have more than a gain in heaven.'

And what must be still their course, what their aim? They must "watch and pray" continually, "that they enter not into temptation'," the temptation of thinking much of "the form" of godliness, but little of "the power." And like Paul, they must stir up others to the same vigilance when they have the opportunity, reminding them of the spirit of their religion, and assuring them of the peril of formality. And if they thus walk, as new creatures, in that newness of life which never grows old, never needs renewal, never finally dies, which gathers fresh strength as the body decays, and reaches its highest perfection when life is gone, "peace will be ever on them and mercy" in that eternal abode, where he who has taken up the cross obtains the crown, and he who has made experiment of the spiritual, inherits the eternal life.

1 Matt. xxvi., 41.

THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

THE EPISTLE. Eph. iii., 13 to the end.

13 I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness

15 Of whom the whole family in of God. heaven and earth is named,

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man ;

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

The Apostle took an interest in the Ephesians. He loved them exceedingly. There are evidences of it in his Epistle'. There are evidences of it in his history. And none more fully repaid the care bestowed on them than the converts at Ephesus. And although at a subsequent period, when the Apostle was no longer among them, and St. John addressed them in the Revelations, they had somewhat "departed from their first works," yet were they still deemed worthy of honourable mention for their labour, their patience, their abhorrence of evil men, their detection of false apostles.

Such were the Ephesians; and in the true spirit of love and brotherly communion, does the Apostle here address them. He had planted their church-worked many miracles among themlaboured to spread abroad in their city the true doctrine-spent much of his valuable time in their cause-made many converts to the faith of those that heard him-and lived to see, after the lapse of many years, abiding fruits of faith, and permanent effects of conversion. Dear to the Apostle as the Ephesians had at a former period been, this stedfastness in the faith must have made them still dearer, and he could not but pour out his soul in prayer for those whom he had found so faithful, in whose spiritual fruitfulness he was more than rewarded, and in whose 1 Chapter i., 13—16; v., 1; vi., 21–24.

2 Acts xviii., 19, 20, 21; xix. and xx., 17 to the end.

3 Rev. ii., 4, 5.

Paul came to Ephesus for the first time A.D. 54; and this Epistle i supposed to have been written A.D. 68.

eternal welfare he was now constrained to take, if possible, an increased interest. They were still, as men, within reach of temptation. They were still, as Christians, in daily danger of persecution. And at the time when the Apostle wrote, and under the circumstances in which he was then placed, it would not have been a matter of wonder, if they had somewhat wavered and doubted. The Apostle's imprisonment1, and the many perils and trials to which he had been exposed, might very possibly have lessened him in their esteem as a teacher, and brought his doctrine and principles into disrepute. And the Jewish enemies of Christianity might have taken advantage of the opportunity, to discourage these promising converts still farther, and to insinuate that the Lord was no longer with the people, whose minister he had abandoned to his enemies. Lest, by possibility, these temptations should prevail, and the converts be corrupted or discouraged, the imprisoned Apostle exhorts his beloved Ephesians to be regardless of all the difficulties in their way, and rather to rejoice and glory in the strong confirmation of the faith, and the evidence of sincerity in their behalf, which his stedfastness in suffering afforded. "I desire," says he, "that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory."

He then offers a most earnest intercession in their behalf at the throne of grace, beseeching the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ to grant unto them a most abundant supply of all those spiritual gifts, which would enable them to endure temptation, and bear discouragement. This intercession is given at length in the Epistle for the day, and is indeed a most earnest appeal to the indulgent Father of the great spiritual family, in behalf of his helpless children. It is truly the appeal of a brother for brethren, of an heir for co-heirs, of a member of a family for the other members. Full, but not tedious; importunate, but not presuming; warm, but not irreverent; it is a model of intercessory prayer, and both for matter and manner is worthy of close imitation. The Epistle ends with an animated offering of thanks and praise to God for all that he had done and would do for the souls of men. From its main feature then, the form of intercession which it presents to our notice, let us now learn the duty and true method of interceding for one another.

The Apostle, as a disciple and minister of Christ, interceded for his Ephesian brethren. It must be the duty, then, of all

This Epistle is supposed to have been written towards the close of the Apostle's first imprisonment at Rome.

Christians to intercede for one another-ministers for peoplepeople for ministers-brethren for one another. Scripture abounds in exhortation on this subject. It preaches what it exemplifies, and exemplifies what it preaches. Our Lord himself, the great example and preacher of intercession as well as of every other duty, prayed for his disciples and brethren, that they might be "one" on earth, and "be glorified together" in heaven'. He prayed for the heedless Peter. He prayed for the persecuting Jews3. And he “ ever liveth in heaven to make intercession" for his people. "Pray," says St. James, "for one another." "Ask," says St.John, "for him that sins not unto death,” “and the Lord will give life." Our Apostle often asks the prayers of his converts, and assures them that he gives them his in return". And must not we do the same? Must not we pray for one another? Must not we pray for all, even for our enemies; and especially for our neighbours, relations, families, children, superiors, inferiors, but above all for our ministers and believing brethren? There must however be the principle in the heart which induces intercession, before intercession can be made. And that principle is love. We must first love our brethren, before we shall have the will to remember them in our prayers. It was so with our Lord. His love for his disciples constrained him, and still constrains him, to be their Advocate with the Father. Our Apostle proved his love for the Ephesians by the interest he ever took in their spiritual affairs, and this strong and lively interest prompted him to pray, as well as exhort, that they might "not faint at his tribulations for them, which was their glory."

Such, then, must be the spirit of intercessory prayer. It must be offered in love; it must spring from love; it must tend to love; and unless there be this principle to give the impulse, it will do no good, possess no sincerity, yea, most probably not be offered at all. Has this love been established in our hearts, this love by which faith worketh, Christ constraineth, peace abideth, this love, without which we are as nothing, even "less than nothing and vanity?" Let us diligently and speedily ascertain this, and upon the issue of the inquiry let us act. Be it remembered, more particularly, that if this love is not in us

1 John xvii., throughout. 3 Luke xxiii., 34.

2 Luke xxii., 31, 32.

4 James v., 16. 5 1 John v., 16. * 1 Thess. v., 25; 2 Thess. iii., 1; Heb. xiii. 18. 7 Rom. i. 9; Eph. i., 16; 1 Thess. i., 2.

and abounds, we shall have occasion to pray for ourselves, before we can pray for others; yea, and we shall have occasion to ask the prayers of others, for we shall greatly need them.

And what further does the Apostle teach us in this form of intercession? He teaches us the chief subject of intercessory prayer, grace; grace which will effectually "strengthen the whole of the inner man with all might," and implant in it a strong faith, an overflowing love, an experimental knowledge, and a fulness of satisfaction and enjoyment, even beyond what we can ask or think, in all spiritual things. He sets not the chief value in prayer on what too many set the chief value in life,-temporal prosperity. Yea, temporal prosperity, or any temporal want, he not even so much as mentions in his intercession, deeming, doubtless, that God would give it, if necessary, even without asking, and making it his main principle to seek first for himself, and hence most naturally first for others, "the kingdom of God and his righteousness."

But finally, not only do we hence gather, that intercessory prayer is a most important and necessary spiritual duty; that it must spring from great interest taken in those interceded for; and bestow primary attention in its supplications on subjects of a spiritual kind; but also that they who use intercession, should be men that will avail much. "God," we are assured, "heareth

not sinners1, but the righteous man's prayer he heareth." And the Apostle, we know, was a man of this kind, a man truly converted to God, an exemplification in himself of all the things he desired in prayer for others, and a spectacle, at that very moment, in his imprisonment at Rome "for the defence and confirmation of the Gospel," of most stedfast faith and love.

And what must we be, to be fit to pray for others, and, praying for others, to obtain? Not self-righteous-not formalists-not wilful sinners—but men already experienced in the eternal and unspeakable value of the things to be sought for others-anxious to assure to our brethren what we ourselves at present enjoy-pure at heart as well as in appearance—humble in the extreme, although "having somewhat whereof to `glory”— making Christ the inhabitant of our souls by faith-rooted and grounded in love-possessed of an experimental knowledge of the Gospel-full of all the other gifts and graces which the Spirit 1 John ix., 31; Job xxvii., 9.

2 Prov. xv., 29; James v., 16, 17, 18.