Faith being "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," (Heb. xi. 1,) and this faith the characteristic of those who are heirs of the kingdom of heaven, the devil's devices are mainly turned against this, and those who are partakers of this precious faith. To prevent this faith from being extended in the world, and oppose, tempt, traduce, and keep out of sight those into whose hearts the light of the Gospel has thus shone, that, if he cannot withdraw them altogether from their steadfastness, he may mar as much as possible their personal enjoyment, diminish their influence, disunite their exertions, and prevent their numbers from increasing, is the devil's ambition, and employment, and delight in the world. Those who have the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, are the living members of the living Head of the Church, who having with him died unto the flesh and the world, have risen with him to newness of life, and set their affections on the things that are above, where Christ is seated on the right hand of God. "By the resurrection of Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved for them in heaven, they have been begotten again to a living hope." "Their life is hid with Christ in God." They do not consider worldly pleasure, or the indulgence of worldly lusts, to be their life, or their highest good. Christ is their life, and "when Christ who is their life shall be revealed," they, although hidden now and despised in the world, "shall be revealed with him in glory." That glory is their hope that revelation or manifestation of Christ and

of the children of God in glory, by the realization of which they overcome the present world; and while "they love Christ whom they have not seen," while “in Christ though now they see him not, yet believing, they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," they know what it is to have the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, receiving, as they do, the end of their faith, the salvation of their souls. This is the only faith that overcomes the world, and therefore this is the only faith which the god of the world is opposing. A faith which does not overcome the world, a faith which is not the substance of things hoped for, which is not the realized knowledge of things not seen, so far from opposing, he makes one of his greatest instruments in opposing the kingdom of God, and blinding the minds of his votaries in the world. For where the Gospel is preached, the wicked one, who quoted Scripture in the temptation of our Saviour, shews himself to be the wicked one by making a perverted Gospel, which turns the grace of God into licentiousness, the means of preventing men from receiving the Gospel of the grace of God in truth. He persuades them, therefore, that the mere acknowledgment of certain truths respecting Christ as the only and the all-sufficient Saviour, and themselves as sinners, or hell-deserving sinners, is faith, while through the cross of Christ the world is not crucified to them, nor they to the world. Accordingly, you see men and women persuading themselves that they are Christians, believers, while they are avowedly loving the world and the things of the world, and seeking and finding their

happiness in the gratification of the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Worldliness is the spirit which the devil is fostering in the world, and by which he is preventing men from beholding or receiving Christ. We deceive ourselves, my brethren, if we imagine that the devil is so weak, in a land where a certain portion of Gospel light shines, and where the consciences of even unrenewed men are partially enlightened, as to seek to drive all men into scandalous sin, that he tempts the Christians of Britain, or the Presbyterians of Scotland, as he does the heathens of India or the savages of Africa. If he can occupy their time, and their thoughts, and their hearts, with the world, he will be contented to allow them to make a profession of faith. He will persuade them that they are Christians. He will allow them to engage in the work, ay, even in the ministry of Christ. His sole object is to keep them from that faith which is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, by which alone they overcome the world; to prevent them from having the faith of him who said, (Gal. vi. 14,) "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world." Worldliness, therefore, as the spirit the opposite of Gospel faith, is the spirit which the god of the world is cherishing. He is putting the things that are seen into the place of the things that are not seen, and substituting the things of the present world for the things that are hoped for in the world to come.

But it is against those who have come out from the

world and are separate, that the devil aims his fieriest darts. He knows that the Church, which is fighting the good fight of faith, is the antagonist power to his kingdom in the world. To pervert the character of that Church is therefore his principal aim; and it is by producing conformity to the world that he principally seeks to accomplish his aim. It is by destroying the distinction between the Church and the world, and removing the Church from the position which she should ever occupy, as the witness for God against the world, that he is successful. A worldly Church is the devil's most effective agent for the destruction of immortal souls; a Church of which the members are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; a Church in which those who have the form of godliness are denying its power; a Church, the members of which, instead of being living epistles of him who was meek and lowly in heart, of him who said, "Love one another as I have loved you," instead of being distinguished by "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," are distinguished by all that is most characteristic of the world, pride, covetousness, supreme love of money, and that wrath of man that worketh not the righteousness of God but division and confusion, aversion to spiritual duties, such as prayer and communion with God, and dread of death, from want of heavenly hope. We thus learn five great truths respecting those who are lost,

1st, That they have not, as they suppose, the knowledge of God. The opinion is a delusion which is so prevalent, that men know the truth, but do not walk

according to the truth; that they see the light, but do not walk in the light; that they know the love of God but do not love God. The lost are "blinded."

2d, You see that unbelief is that which is preventing men from enjoying the peace, and possessing the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, inexcusable unbelief.

3d, That the devil is at work in producing unbelief, and that he is the enemy by whom the lost are over

come.

4th, That the world is the devil's great instrument in blinding the eyes of the lost, and ought to be viewed with suspicion, as the grand enemy of souls, by those who are on the side of God.

5th, That nothing can overcome the world but the faith and immediate hope of the kingdom of heaven, which the lost do not see, and do not believe to be 66 at hand."