gone;-none of these things are thine. Nothing without thy will is thine, or will be imputed to thee. It is not the mere presence with thee of what thou hatest; it is not the recurrence, again and again, of what thou loathest, which will hurt thee; not even if it seem to come from thy inmost self, unless thy will consent to it.

But the more good God is to thee, in thus not imputing to thee that to which thy will gives no assent, the more diligent thou must be, not for a moment to give way, or to will what God wills not. All this evil is against the Holy Will of God. "The law of sin" which would assault thee and bring thee captive to itself, does rebel against the law of God. Only so long as thou hold it down, it rebels against thee as well as against God. Do thou submit thy own will to God, and God will subject this contrary will to thee. Yea, thou wilt the more be of the same mind with God, the more thou art opposed by what is contrary to thee, if thou yet subduest it. Each unlawful motion of the soul does, in truth, dispute the wisdom and goodness of God, Who forbids it and makes it unlawful. Every motion of envy is against His love; all anger is against His gentleness; all pride is against His greatness and thy dependence on Him; all unholiness is against His holiness; all foul thoughts are against His purity. But though these or other things boil up out of the muddy lake of thy corrupted nature against the brightness of His Serene and Holy Nature, give not way, in the very least, and though they take place in you, they will not be done by you.

Thou canst not have victory unless thou be as

saulted. The thickening of thy temptations may be the very favour of God, Who permits Satan to try and "sift thee like wheat," yet wills that thou shouldest not fall. Even then, though fierce temptation should come on thee in thy holiest moments, when thou art most earnest in prayer, or after thou hast received thy Lord in Holy Communion, or when thy will is strongest, thy soul humblest, thy love most self-forgetful, fear not. Rather thou mayest take it as a token of God's love, Who sets thee in the conflict. He will uphold thee by His Hand, when the waves are boisterous. So shalt thou have the victory through His Spirit; thou shalt, in His Might, trample on the Evil One, the more he assaults thee. So shalt thou hate sin the more, the more thou art tormented by the sinfulness of thy mortal nature; and be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, Who willeth to crown thee, and to be crowned in thee. Only hold fast to Him; grasp His Hand the tighter, by Whom thou art held. He will refresh thee when wearied; He will meet thee, as the King of Righteousness, and will recruit thee with spiritual Food, His Body and Blood; He will forgive thy sins; He will heal thine infirmities; He will renew thy decays. He will hear thee, when thou criest; He will answer thee when thou prayest; He will have compassion on thy afflictions; He will loose thy bands; He will uphold thy feeble knees; He will make straight paths for thy feet; He Himself, thy Redeemer, will be thy Way unto Himself, thy God.

Resist the very first motions. first motions. It is then that thou art most in thy own power. Be not weary of resisting, although the temptation come again and again.

Be not off thy guard, although it go away for a time in order to come again. Each such resistance is an act of obedience to God; each, done by His grace, draws down more of His grace to thee; in each, His good pleasure will the more rest upon thee; by each, thou wilt become more a vessel of His grace and love, more fitted and enlarged for His everlasting Love. Christ, Who is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, will dwell in thy soul, as in His own abode. He will rule thee, He will teach thee, He will speak with thee, He will fence thee from the assaults of the enemy, with the helmet of salvation. He will direct thy senses within, He will guard thee without.

And through all this conflict, the more thou art tossed here, the more thou wilt learn to long for thy Heavenly Home, the home of His rest and love. Thou shalt learn to long lovingly for that day when the remaining corruption shall be put off, and this body of sin have died through the body's death, but the body itself shall be instinct with new life, and conformed to the glorious Body of thy Lord. Death shall be to thee the gate of Life, the end of woe and conflict, the beginning of eternal refreshment, the entrance into thine eternal dwelling-place, where thou shalt have all thou now longest for, shalt rest in the sight of God, joy in His love, be enriched by His imparting of Himself. Thou shalt then see what thou now believest; thou shalt have what thou now hopest for; thou shalt attain to what thou now canst not conceive. For thou shalt be one spirit with God, united with Him, dwelling in Him, beholding Him, encircled with His love, share His, and what is His shall be thine for evermore. Amen.

SERMON XIX.

VICTORY THROUGH LOVING FAITH.

EASTER.

1 S. JOHN V. 3, 4.

"This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

THE Gospels, in this our Easter Season, set forth what Christ has done for us, the Epistles what He wills to do in us. The Gospels speak to us of continued, familiar presence with His disciples, His gifts of peace, forgiveness of sins," the love of the Good Shepherd for all His sheep, the joy which no man shall take from us, the joy of the Comforter Whom He sends in His stead, joy amid tribulation, and the unbounded fulness of His goodness, which knows

a First Sunday after Easter.

d

b Second Sunday.

e

• Third Sunday.

d Fourth Sunday.

e

Fifth Sunday.

no measure, save that of our asking. The Epistles are full of earnest teaching, and plain rules for our lives. S. Paul, S. John, S. Peter, and S. James, preach to us, Sunday after Sunday, take up the same solemn notes of death to sin, and life to Christ, victory over the world through faith in Christ, treading in Christ's steps, that we may be acceptable to God in Christ, abstaining from fleshly lusts, becoming a kind of first-fruits of His creatures, looking into the perfect law of liberty, and continuing therein.

So would the Church work into our souls, by God's grace, the solemn thoughts of wondering love at our Lord's Blessed Passion, and the triumph of the Resurrection. She would not have us feel only, but live and act in faith, and obedience, and love. The Son of God died for you. The very sun, as he shines in heaven, tells us of that scene of shame from which he hid his face. That Holy Body was handled as lifeless, and laid in the tomb, as the body of a deceiver, its wounds livid and swollen as if awaiting corruption; His soul deigned to go, accompanied by the restored malefactor, to the common abode of the dead. And then what followed? The grave stands open and empty; death and hell have been conquered in their own kingdom, Satan cast down; our sins are atoned for, our chains loosed, our pardon sealed, our Father reconciled to us, and our enmity to Him, Whom we had offended, extinguished, the wrath of God turned away, the kingdom of Heaven is opened to all believers.

And for what? What is the end of this? what the object of recalling it? That we should have a little passing thankfulness, some shifting April gleam