delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.'

It may be probable, indeed, that the temptation which so easily besetteth us is utterly unlike St. Paul's. It may not be pride or cruelty which would bring us into captivity. Still, he is no less an encouragement to us: the Spirit of Christ would equally prevail, if it were sought for and cherished by us, against any other sins.

Love of money makes many captives; wicked, unholy curiosity makes many captives. Yet, how must both of these passions have been triumphed over by those Ephesians who burnt their sinful books, and found the price of them to be fifty thousand pieces of silver! In the Epistle to the Ephesians, perhaps St. Paul was speaking of these very persons, when he said, 'Amongst whom we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. . . . But God hath raised us up .. that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Jesus Christ.' No doubt, in that idolatrous city, all manner of evil passions had their bondsmen; all manner of fetters had been broken, all manner of hearts converted and sanctified by the power of the Holy Ghost. And the Apostle says of them, 'We all in time past had' such and such 'con

versation,' to show that he expected and hoped for the transformation of any fellow-man, by the blessed evidence supplied to him through his own experience.

It would be a great and happy advance in the spiritual life of most of us, brethren, if we could be always thus impressed with the power of the Gospel. Let us depend upon it, that is an enviable state of heart, in which a man never sees a victim of sin, without a strong and active belief in Christ, that such an one may, possibly, be yet an entirely new creature ere he quits this world. Happiest of all for us, if we were convinced of it as St. Paul was, by our own experience. And the difficulty seems to be, not in believing that sinful habits may be changed to pious ones, but in believing that we can come to take delight in things from which we once were

averse.

This is the very essence of a life of faith,with every little self-conquest and transformation which the Gospel calls for, to be confident that new desires and new avenues of joy will open themselves to our obedience. For this is the testimony which St. Paul's life affords us, the more we study it. We are sure that he had springs of inward happiness continually pouring refreshment on his soul, such as an unconverted life would never have known; and so conscience

tells us, that, if we listen to the calls of Jesus, we may be sure of new, untasted, perhaps, unimagined, comforts and pleasure, which He was waiting to shed on us.

Only, whilst we are anxious to believe sincerely, and to our blessing, the power of God's grace, that we may try and prosper in new paths of holiness, let St. Paul's conversion remind us, likewise, not to be secretly presumptuous in neglecting the means.

Though Paul was a chosen vessel, separated by God to his high destiny, called by a miracle, and taught from heaven itself, he humbly accepted the ministry of Christ's servant; he bowed his head to the blessing of Ananias, and received baptism at his hand. And so should we, though confident that God will mercifully enable us to be changed in the spirit of our mind from every defect and sin, keep humbly in recollection the necessity of using those means which He Himself has supplied to us. We shall search His Scriptures for self-knowledge; we shall examine ourselves thoughtfully; we shall confess our errors humbly before Him; we shall pray diligently; we shall live watchfully, and then we shall have a humble reliance of the exercise of God's merciful hand, to change us through life from one step of innocence to another; or, in St. Paul's own words, 'from glory to glory, even as

by the Spirit of the Lord.' Surely, brethren, if we can but attain to make this progress, we never shall despair of our fellow-men. If we see a drunkard, we shall think, The day may come when that man will esteem it the greatest happiness to be denying himself for his wife and

children.

If we meet with a reviler of the Scriptures and of our religion, we shall recollect that worse enemies of it have been won over to love those pages, and to glorify that religion by their lives.

If some one is hostile to ourselves, we shall not pray for him as a mere duty, but with a lively hope, that one day he may be, in reality, and in Christ, a friend. That hope, which has begun in our own experience, will go forth to our fellow-men. Perhaps there may be some who will, when the Lord returns, be bidden to lead us by the hand into Everlasting habitations.

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XVI.

WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE.

'The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.'-2 Cor. x. 4.

THE

HE warfare here spoken of is the course of daily efforts and self-denials with which a Christian endeavours to get the mastery of his sinful nature.

The weapons which he uses are, belief in God, reflection upon His promises and warnings, prayer, watchfulness, penitence, and the like; along with a variety of smaller, and more outward habits, which the example of others, or the experience of his own life, has taught him.

And in the case of a sincere Christian these weapons are mighty. They do, by degrees, overcome the worst dispositions, and enable him to pass unharmed through great temptations, because he is with God, and God with him, in the use of them.

Now, brethren, it is the purpose of this