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His love, to lead you, in self-denial, to give up yourselves for the good of your wives. Ah! my dear hearers, nothing less than this should be our motto; nothing less than this should be our end. We should endeavour, looking to the Lord for strength, in all things to prove, that we count this the tenderest of all bonds this side heaven; of all earthly bonds the strongest, the most powerful, the most influential. And I will even dare to say, that if to prove the sincerity of our love, the life of the husband is called for, he ought to be willing to lay it down for the sake of his wife.

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But observe, too, the constancy of His love. This is the copy your imitation; it ought to be perpetually before you: "husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church." How oftentimes do we find in many a bosom the chill of winter to succeed to the warmth of summer! When the bloom was on the cheek, when life was young, love was, fervent, strong and powerful; now we see it chilled into a decent regard, a kindness of manner, a consciousness of dependence on the object for comfort. Ah! ye have lost your copy-" Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church." Jesus loved the Church through all her changes, and Jesus has loved you through all your changes; and He commands you to love your wives the same. He commands you in the midst of all her changes to love her still; and He who commands, can alone help you to obey that command.

But do not forget, beloved, the tenderness of His love. In this, too, ye may imitate Him. If your earthly hand suffers, does not your whole body feel it? Ye want not rhetoric to persuade yourselves to feel it. If you hurt your foot, your whole body feels it: ye want not arguments to convince you that ye have been hurt and injured. Do not smile at it-ye are but in a wrong frame if ye are ready to do it. He that touches the Church, touches the apple of His eye. This is your motto' Wound not your own selves, wound not your own flesh.' A look can do it; a word can do it; a wrong tone of voice can do it; a very little action can do it. And, let me say, that undue attention to another can do it. How much of abomination there may be in that undue attention to another! and how much that wrong attention to another can inflict wounds in a heart of tenderness, in the heart of a wife, that never ought to be inflicted in her heart! Remember, "even as Christ." One sometimes sees faithfulness in love, one sees costliness in love, but there is a want of tenderness. Now, the Lord commands all tenderness, because He has himself all tenderness. But, beloved, am I an advocate for a mere fondness, a mere

doting fondness? The Gospel knows of no such thing in the way of commendation, as that mockery of love, not the reality of it. True love seeks the happiness of the beloved object, and true happiness is never found dissociated from true holiness. If any of you are seeking happiness in any other way, if God is true, you will be disappointed. True happiness is only to be found in the path-way of holiness. Therefore it is not mere fondness. True love can sometimes deny-it ought to deny; it can refuse-it ought to refuse ; and if God and conscience demand it, it ought to refuse determinedly, yet tenderly; with great gentleness, with great meekness, and with great forbearance.

The great object in the married life, when the true principles of Christianity prevail, is the sanctity of both parties; and especially ought this to influence him who is the appointed head of the wife. It ought to be the object of his most fervent desire; and nothing is so Christ-like, as when that shall influence our spirits and our conduct towards those we love. But oh! how much is there that passes for true love, that is not real love before God! It is like the false coin, that oftentimes passes for the true coin, but it is not sterling gold. And, I would say, there is oftentimes more love displayed in refusing that which the Lord commands me to refuse, than shall be found in all the fond looks, and fond words, that were ever found in the manner or in the heart of man. It is not, then, the attractions of female society, (do not suppose I undervalue it; I should think little of that man who did not value female society,) but it is not the fond welcome of the fireside, it is not the endearments of domestic comfort, it is not the mere associating of kindred spirits, that form the great object in the married life. The great object is to promote the life of God in each other's soul. The true Christian has a higher motive. Here are two beings united together in God's eternal purposes for a definite object; it is but a little time they shall be together, it is but a span long, a fleeting vapour, and the bond shall he broken. What is their grand object while here together? promote as far as in them lies the life of God in each other's soul; to lead each other forward; to be as instruments in the hand of God of deepening His work, drawing forth graces, reproving corruptions, endearing a throne of grace, of weaning from this world, and preparing for a better.

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What a solemn subject this is! How much it embraces in its consequences! What a multitude of domestic jars and contentions would be avoided, and, how many a pleasant garden in place of a

desert would be presented, if this were acted out in all its sanctifying tendencies! In one respect, beloved, the apostle Peter mentions a point that is not touched on in this epistle. It is in the third chapter of the first epistle—“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge;" it is "according to knowledge" of God in Christ, according to the knowledge ye have of your own hearts, according to the knowledge ye have of your wife's character; " giving honour unto the wife," showing her respect and reverence; "giving honour" to her-one hates the lordly manner of some husbands; it is offensive and odious-" giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." See to how high a point the apostle leads us; he leads us to this conclusion, that if I treat not my wife as an "heir of grace," and view her not as a "vessel of honour," lent to me for a time-if there be not due honour given to her, if there is not the paying her due respect, the consequence will be that our prayers will be "hindered," when she prays for me, and when I pray for her, and when we pray together. Oh! nothing can be a greater hindrance to prayer, than the jars and contentions and bickerings, that are sometimes found in the midst of those that profess to be the servants of the living God. Well might the apostle say, "Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.” All angry retorts, all unkind words, all harsh phrases avoid; "be not bitter against them." Remember, "lest your prayers be hindered." Oh! the vast importance of the subject connected with all our domestic relations! If there be not the love of the husband to the wife, and if there be not the loving obedience of the wife to the husband, what an exhibition to my children! How shall I talk to them of the principles of the Gospel? They will say, 'you yourselves exhibit how little this principle influences your souls.' How shall I exercise controul over my servants, if this be not acted out? Why, beloved, when relatives come up from the country and visit, and a man puts on his best looks, and his best manners, how do the children draw the conclusion of his hypocrisy, if his conduct differs then towards his wife, from what it was when his relatives were not from the country! Ah! does this precept, like those providences that I touched on last Tuesday evening, those searchers-does it search us? If we had not to look to the atoning blood and the perfect righteousness of the Son of God, we should find enough of blameworthiness to make us hide our face in the dust, and call on the mountains to fall on us, and the hills to cover us.

Let me not conclude without a word of tender advice on one point, that is much upon my heart. If love, mutual love, Christian love, be the great principle of all domestic happiness amongst men, of what vast importance is it, that, no marriage should ever be formed upon any other principle Ah! that detestable principle of self-interest; a 'comfortable home'-a sort of sanctified prostitution one might call it! Oh! let those that love Christ manifest it; and let them undertake this most solemn engagement for Him and for His glory. And above all, I would give a caution against the union of a godly man with an Oh! ungodly woman, or of a godly woman with an ungodly man. if ye did but know the effect of it, if ye did but trace out the true principle of it in all its consequences, ye would start from it as ye would start from putting a viper into your bosom.

But, beloved, one word I would say of tender admonition, and of solemn exhortation too. In order to work out this principle, you and I must realise our union with Christ. There are, beloved, in the married life, so many trials, so many little trials, so many trials of temper, so many trials of spirit, so many trials of principle, so many trials of practice, that in order to exhibit obedience to this precept, As I see myself in Him and we must realise our union with Christ. live on Him as my all, as I view myself in Him and find His name to be precious, as I am led before all creatures to love Himself— as I said before, in His love I see the face of God, so in His blood I see my own face, I see what a sinner I am, I see what a poor creature I am, this makes me tender to others. I see what He has been to me, and this draws me out in desires to yield myself to obedience to Him, in body, soul and spirit.

So far as I have preached the truth, (and I believe it has been preached according to the principles of God's Gospel,) I pray that His blessing may attend it. I do not ask you, beloved, whether you like the sermon; but I ask you, whether you can say, these are not the principles of a holy, self-denying Gospel? And I estimate your views of doctrinal truth as little as I should estimate, if I were a medical man, what my patients thought of my medicine; I should not value your opinion one single rush; but believing it to be of God, I pray and I believe, that He will work by it. And to the praise of God's glory shall be all the praise for ever and for ever.

A SERMON,

BY THE REV. J. H. EVANS, M.A.

PREACHED AT JOHN STREET CHAPEL, KING'S ROAD, BEDFORD ROW, ON SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 23, 1845.

"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men : knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free."-Ephesians vi. 5-8.

WE have considered the solemn tie that binds the wife to the husband, and the husband to the wife; and the deep obligations that are laid on them by the Lord. We have considered too that tie that binds the child to his parent, and that which binds the parent to his child; and the duties which the Lord expects of His children in both these respects. And we now come to the last of these ties, namely, that which exists between the servant and his master. We are to understand by this, that tie which includes all that are dependent upon us, all over whom we have controul, all who are entrusted to our carewhether it respects the king and his subjects, the governor and those who are governed, the tradesman and his dependents, or the parent and his children. It takes in the whole obligations of them all. May the Lord the Spirit direct us; may He direct me, and direct you, to a holy consideration of this important subject.

First of all, I would endeavour to lay before you the truth as it is generally stated in these four verses: then I shall draw from it, if the Lord shall help me, some particular and special considerations from each part and from the whole of the subject; from each of its parts, and from the whole of them.

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I. First, with regard to the general truth contained.

Observe, first, that the parties that are here addressed are servants." There were in those days hired servants, as there are in our days; and, perhaps, many of these were nothing more than

VOL. XI.-No. 376.-March 13, 1845.

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