amidst the numbers of those to whom God will "give in his house, and within his walls, a place and a name better than of sons and daughters." Remember, for your eternal consolation, the promise of the great Father of a fallen and disquieted world; "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed. No weapon formed against thee shall prosper.... This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."-May these promises, my brethren, be yours! May you enjoy in its fullest measure the testimony described in the text, till you exchange faith for sight, in the glorious presence of your Father and your God!

SERMON IX.

THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS.-ON DECAY IN RE

LIGION.

REV. ii. 1-7.

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which

say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen; and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

THE Saviour, of whom so sublime a description is presented to us in the verses which precede the text, is introduced by St. John, in the

words now read, as conveying his first message to the seven churches of Asia.

The church of Ephesus, to which the Apostle is thus commissioned, in the first instance, to address himself, is perhaps thus distinguished on account of its extent and importance. Ephesus was a city of Ionia; was celebrated for a temple of the heathen goddess Diana; and was called by a distinguished ancient geographer the "Light of the Earth." There St. Paul had resided for some years, and had founded an extensive church. To the elders of that church the affecting address recorded in the 26th chapter of the Acts was delivered; and to its members in general he directs one of his most valuable Epistles. Let us proceed, in dependence upon that blessed Spirit by whom these words were dictated, to consider,

I. THE COMMENDATION CONTAINED IN THE TEXT.
II. THE REPROOF.

III. THE COunsel.

IV. THE THREATS.

V. THE PROMISE WITH WHICH THE TEXT

CLOSES.

I. In the first place, I am to consider THE COM

MENDATION BESTOWED IN THE TEXT ON THE CHURCH OF EPHESUS.

And, first, it is said of it, in one part of these verses, "I know thy works and thy labour;" and, in another, "for my Name's sake thou hast laboured and not fainted." The church of Ephesus, it would appear then from these words, had been for a time fruitful in good "works." Although, it is to be hoped, not looking to be justified by works, or offering them as the price of pardon to God, they had yet felt that a faith unproduc

tive of works is dead," and altogether worthless in his sight.

These "works" and "labours," says our Lord in the text, "I know."-Every prayer, every act of zeal, of benevolence, or love, is familiar to the compassionate Saviour of the world. Thy prayer is heard," it is said in one place, "and thine alms are had in remembrance before God;" and, in another, "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me."

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It is next added in the text, "I know thy patience." The servant of the Lord, my Christian brethren, has need of patience as well as of activity. Much is to be suffered as well as done in the service of the Master he loves. He has to bear with his own infirmities, with the inconsistencies of the friends of religion, with the injustice of its enemies, with the slow progress of truth in the world, and the occasional triumphs of ungodliness. "Ye have need of patience, that ye might receive the promises." And resignation such as this, it appears the Ephesians, for a season at least, had manifested.

"I know," it is also said in the text, "that thou canst not bear them which are evil," and "hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." The Ephesians, therefore, had not merely avoided sin themselves, but had resisted it in others. Indifference to the sin of those around us, is, generally speaking, a strong evidence of its power in our own souls. Let not Christian "patience" be confounded with insensibility such as this. Our Lord himself made a scourge to drive from the temple those who profaned it. And, as Christians, you are bound not merely to hate sin,

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but to manifest your hatred of all contempt of the Saviour, and resistance to his will. You are commanded to "withdraw yourselves from such as "walk disorderly." You are to "have no concord with Belial." You are to "come out" from the wicked, and " be separate." You are not to reduce that difference to a mere line here, which is to be a great" gulf" in eternity.

The Ephesians are next commended for their conduct towards the Nicolaitanes. It is difficult to ascertain who these Nicolaitanes were. Some have imagined them to be the followers of Nicholas, a corrupt deacon of the church of Christ. A distinguished Hebrew scholar has, on the contrary, conjectured that the word is derived from the Hebrew nicolah, to eat;' and that the term Nicolaitan is, therefore, a mere name of reproach, bestowed upon those wretched sensualists who make their appetite their god, and consume their lives in making "provision for the lusts of the flesh." But, whatever be the class of men to whom this name applies, it is evident that they were enemies to the Cross of Christ; and that, as such, the Ephesians had resisted and condemned them, and now received, as their recompense, the commendation of Christ.

It is added by our Lord in the text, "I know that thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not; and hast found them liars." In other words: the Ephesians, in some stage of their Christian profession, had carefully adopted the scriptural rule of " proving all things," and "holding fast" only "that which is good." They had not fallen into the error of confounding the appearance with the reality of religion-its shadow with its substance. That species of liber