human worthiness, and plead with him only for his name's sake. This is a plea which has never failed of success.

Thirdly: The petitions of which the prayer is composed: That he would grant you—to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, &c. By reviewing these petitions, as quoted above, we shall perceive that the first three are preparatory to those which follow. The import of them is, that believers might be girded as it were for an extraordinary effort of mind. He prays for their being possessed of certain things that they may be able to comprehend other things. Such is the weakness of our souls for contemplating heavenly subjects, especially "the breadth, and length, and depth, and beight" of redeeming love, that without grace to prepare us for it, it would be utterly beyond our reach.

The first thing prayed for, is, that we may be strengthened with might by his Spirit in our inner man. We may possess strong mental powers, and by cultivating them may be able to reason high, and imagine things that shall fill our own minds and those of others with agreeable amazement: yet without that might which is produced by the Holy Spirit, we may be mere babes in true religion,

or what is worse, without God in the world. It is being strong in faith, in hope, and in love, that enables the mind to lay hold of eternal life.

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To this is added, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. For one to dwell in the heart of another is the same thing as to be the object of his intense affection; and as all that we at present know of Christ, and consequently all the love that we bear to him, has respect to his character as revealed in the gospel, it is " faith" that he is said to dwell in us. Did not Christ dwell in the hearts of the Ephesians then already? He did but the object of the Apostle's prayer in this instance was, not that they might be saints, but eminent saints; not that they might merely love Christ in sincerity, but in the bighest or most intense degree, And as this prayer is preparatory to what follows, it shows that the more intensely we love him the more capable we are of comprehending his love to us. We may talk of everlasting love, and fancy ourselves to have a deep insight into the doctrines of the gospel; but if his name be not dearer to us than life, it will be little or nothing more

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than talk. The deeds of David would appear abundantly more glorious to Jonathan than to those cold-hearted Israelites who had no regard for him. Of all the disciples none were so loving as John, and none have written so largely on the love of God, and of Jesus our Lord.

Once more: He adds, That ye being rooted and grounded in love. If Christ's dwelling in our hearts be expressive of love to him, it may seem as though this part of the prayer was a mere repetition but the emphasis appears to lie upon the terms rooted and grounded. They are both metaphorical; one referring to a tree or plant, and the other to a building. Now, seeing it was the desire of the Apostle that believers should soar upwards in one respect, he is concerned that they should be prepared for it by descending downward in another. If the tree be not well rooted, or the building well grounded, the higher it rises the greater will be its danger of falling. And what is that in love to Christ, it may be asked, which is analogous to this? It may be its being accompanied in all its operations by a knowledge of his true character. One is greatly enamoured of a stranger who has saved his life, and thinks at the time he should be happy to spend his days with him; but as he comes to know him, he finds they cannot live together. He regards him as a deliverer, but dislikes him as a man. Another in similar circumstances not only feels grateful for his deliverance, but is attached to his deliverer. The more he knows of him, the better he loves him, and wishes for nothing more than to dwell with him for ever. The regard of the former we should say, is not rooted, or grounded; but that of the latter is. It is easy to apply this to the love of Christ, and thus to account for the fall of many fair and towering professors, as well as for the growth of true believers.

But what is the object of all these petitions? They are only preparatory, as before observed, to what follows. And what is this? That ye may be able to comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. The love ascribed to Christ is that, no doubt, which induced him to lay down his life for us, and which still operates in the carrying into effect every branch of our salvation. But whe

can ascertain its dimensions? Whether we consider the extent of his designs, the duration of its effects, the guilt and misery from which it recovers us, or the glory and happiness to which it raises us, we are lost in the boundless theme. How should it be otherwise, when it passeth knowledge, even that of the most exalted creatures?

The perception which we have of this great subject, however, is termed "comprehending," or taking hold of it. It is not peculiar to sublime and elevated genius to soar above the skies. The Christian borne on the wings of faith, may adopt the language of Milton, and in a much more real and interesting sense.

"Up-led by thee

Into the heaven of heavens I have presum'd,

An earthly guest, and drawn impyreal air."

One more step remains ere we reach the top of this divine climax. In proportion as we comprehend the love of Christ, we are supposed to be filled with all the fulness of God. If there be a sentence in be Bible expressive of ultimate bliss, I say again, surely it is this. To be filled with God, with the fulness of God, with all the fulness of God,-what things are these? Yet our being strengthened with might by the Holy Spirit in our inner man, by Christ's dwelling in our hearts by faith, and by being rooted and grounded in love, we are supposed to be able, in measure, to grasp the mighty theme of redeeming love, and so to partake of the divine fulness.

There is a perceivable and glorious fitness in God's imparting his fulness through the knowledge of the love of Christ.-First: It is through his dying love that the fulness of the divine character is displayed. Much of God is seen in his other works; but it is here only that we behold his whole character. Great as were the manifestations of his glory under former dispensations, they contained only a partial display of him. No man hath seen God at any time, said John: but the only begotton Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath DECLARED him.-Secondly: It is through the dying love of Christ that a way is open for the consistent communication of divine blessedness to guilty creatures. God's fulness is a mighty stream; but sin was a mountain which tended to impede its progress, and so to prevent our being filled with it. This

mountain by the dying love of Christ was removed, and east into the depths of the sea. Hence the way is clear: all spiritual blessings in heavenly places flow freely to us through Christ Jesus. God can pour forth the fulness of his heart towards sinners with. out the least dishonour attaching to his character as having connived at sin. Thirdly: It is as knowing the love of Christ that we imbibe the divine fulness. To be filled with the fulness of God, it is not only necessary that the object be exhibited, and a way opened for its being consistently communicated, but that the soul be emptied of those impediments which obstruct its entrance. There is no room for the fulness of God in the unrenewed mind; it is pre-occupied with other things. All its thoughts, desires and affections are filled with the trash of this world. If it assume the appearance of religion, still it is so bloated with self-sufficiency, that there is no place for a free salvation. But knowing the love of Christ as revealed in the gospel, all these things are accounted loss, and the fulness of God finds free access.

And as it is in the beginning, so it is in the whole of our prog ress. If we prefer the study of other things to the doctrine of the cross, even of those things which in subserviency to this are lawful, we shall pursue a beaten track. We may feed our natural powers, but our graces will pine away. It is by the study of Christ crucified that our souls will be enriched; for this is the medium through which God delights to communicate of his fulness.

Having considered something of the nature of the heavenly blessedness, our next object of meditation is ITS PROGRESSIVE CHABACTER. By the manner in which some have spoken and written of the heavenly state, it would seem not only as if all would possess an equal measure of blessedness, but that this measure would be completed at once; if not on the soul's having left the body, yet immediately on its re-union with it at the resurrection. But such ideas appear to me to have no foundation in the holy scriptures, There is no doubt, that salvation is altogether of grace, and that every crown will be cast at the feet of Christ: but it does not follow that they shall be in all respects alike. Paul's crown of rejoicing, for instance, will greatly consist in the salvation of those among whom he laboured: but this cannot be the case with every other inhab

itant of heaven. And with respect to the completion of the bliss, there certainly will be no such imperfection attending it as to be a source of sorrow, but rather of joy, as affording matter for an endless progression of knowledge, and consequently of love and joy and praise. There is no sorrow in the minds of angels in their present state yet they are described as looking with intenseness and delight into the doctrine of the cross; which clearly indicates a progressiveness in knowledge and happiness. God is perfect, and immutably the same: but it is as he is revealed, or manifested to us that we enjoy him as our portion. If, therefore, he be gradually manifesting himself through time, and thereby causing the tide of celestial bliss to rise higher and higher, it may be the same to eternity. Nay more, if heavenly bliss consist in knowing the love of Christ, and that love, when all is said and done, passeth knowledge, it must be so: there must either come a period when the finite mind shall have perfectly comprehended the infinite, and therefore can have nothing more to learn, or knowledge and happiness must be eternally progressive.

I might here consider the doctrine as proved; but other evidences will appear by examining the causes of it, as taught us in the scriptures. That the happiness of saints and angels is now increasing, is abundantly evident from the progressive state of various things from whence it rises. Our Lord assures us that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth: but if so, the gradual progress of his kingdom among men, from it first beginning, must have caused a gradual influx of joy to the heavenly world. The same might be said, no doubt, of other things which are working together for the accomplishment of the divine designs. But I shall select two great events as having an influence in this way beyond any thing else with which we are acquainted. These are, THE FIRST AND SECOND APPEARING OF CHRIST. The one will give us some idea of the increase of heavenly blessedness during the separate state, and the other after it.

The person and work of Christ, as we have seen, is the grand medium by which the divine character is manifested. Every stage of his undertaking, therefore, may be expected to exhibit it with increasing lustre, and so to augment the blessedness not only of VOL. IV.

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