have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for Thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth." The end was accomplished in the chastisement, and the Lord shows His pitiful kindness to Ephraim. "Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him, I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." The Lord acts like a kind parent who will not always be using the rod. If the Lord chastens Israel in Egypt by the hand of Pharaoh, it is that He may throw the rod into the Red Sea to perish for ever. If Babylon be the rod which He uses for chastising, He will break it in pieces when it has answered His purpose. He throws the rod away. To His own, "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide; neither will He keep His anger for ever." will not contend for ever, neither will He be always wroth, for the spirit would fail before Him, and the souls which He has made." The Lord may chasten us sorely, but He will not give us over to the destroyer. O Lord, chasten me not in Thy hot displeasure, but have mercy upon me, and heal my soul for Thy Name sake.

"He

In conclusion, let me impress upon you, that the Lord will plead face to face with all His people, and will cause them to pass under the numbering and marking rod, and so bring them into the bond of the covenant. He has declared how he will deal with His Israel:-"I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. . . And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. (Ezek. xx. 35-37.) Here you have the sovereign work of God. Read the "I wills" in these verses, and

then, I think, you will exclaim, "THE LORD GOD OMNIPOTENT REIGNETH." He will bring every child of His under the electing, redeeming, and marking rod of the Gospel of the Spirit of God, in order that he may feel its power and obey its precepts. And He will bring him under the correcting, directing, and training rod of Divine chastisement. He will bring him vitally and experimentally into the bond of the covenant. Yea, All believers shall be brought to enjoy the blessings and privileges thereof. They shall taste its sweetness and rejoice in its security, for the bond of this covenant of grace is the everlasting and unchangeable love of our Triune Jehovah. Now every disciplined and welltrained child of God, is compelled by experience to say with the Psalmist of old, "Before I was afflicted I went astray"-and that, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." The Apostle learned contentment under the chastening rod of God. He could say, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." He knew what it was to be abased and to abound, to be full and to be hungry, to have plenty and to suffer need. He had been instructed in all these things, and had learnt the lesson, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." O God, make us apt scholars in the school of Thy Christ, and to Thy Name shall be ascribed all the honour and glory both now and for evermore. Amen! and Amen!!

SERIES VIII. No. 5.

"YE ARE MY FRIENDS."

A SERMON

PREACHED BY THE

Rev. J. BATTERSBY

(Vicar of St. James', Sheffield),

AT VERULAM MISSION CHURCH, KENNINGTON ROAD, LAMBETH, LONDON,

THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH IST, 1883.

In the 15th Chapter of St. John's Gospel, and at the 14th verse, you will read :

I

"YE ARE MY FRIENDS, IF YE DO WHATSOEVER

I COMMAND YOU."

Our Lord addressed these words to His disciples only a very short time before His death. We have just read that most interesting, instructive, and comforting chapter which precedes the one whence our text is taken. In the opening of our chapter, we have the parable of the Vine which sets forth the union betwixt Christ and His professing members. The reason why say His professing members is this, because we read of two sorts of branches. There are the fruit-bearing branches which represent the true disciples of our Lord who are vitally, spiritually, and manifestly united to Him. And there is the fruitless branch which is withered, and then gathered and cast into the fire to be burned. It strikes me that this fruitless branch refers to Judas and then to all of his class. Fruitfulness is the sign of vital union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and

in bearing much fruit the Father is glorified. He then describes the measure of His love to His disciples, and exhorts them to continue in His love. "As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love." He gives them a practical test in the next verse:" If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love," openly, and manifestly, as you see. "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full," which is really the case when the Holy Ghost reveals Christ Jesus as the " All in All" in the child of God. There is one commandment which He calls upon them to be very particular in observing :-"This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." Christ's love to His disciples is great, and everlasting. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Let us notice :

First, our Lord's disciples under the endearing title of friends." "Ye are My friends." And secondly, the test, proof, and evidence which the Lord gives of true friendship. "If ye do whatsoever I command you." May it please God to help us both to search and to understand His blessed Word. May He give you the hearing ear to hear aright, and me the tongue to speak wisely upon this very practical subject. Consider :

First, our Lord's disciples under the endearing title of "friends." I am about to speak to you of those who are the true and real disciples of Christ. I I say this at the outset, lest any person should, at the close of my sermon, go away with a false impression. Several eminent servants of God have borne this affectionate appellation, "friends." Abraham was called the friend of God. John the Baptist was called the friend of the Bridegroom who stood and heard and rejoiced greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice. And Lazarus, though dead, was a friend beloved of Jesus, for He says, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I

may awake him out of sleep." And in our text, the Saviour speaks most affectionately of His disciples, saying, "Ye are My friends." He is not describing them in their alienation and ruin, but in their restoration, communion, and fellowship with Him.

Naturally, none are friends of God, but enemies. St. James makes the distinction between those who are the friends of the world and those who are the friends of God. "Ye adulterers and adultresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?" (iv. 4, 5.) The lusting spirit in us, the carnal mind, and the corruption of our nature, is the enmity. In the words of St. Paul, "It is the carnal mind which is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom. viii. 7, 8.) Persons cannot be friends of God and friends of the world at the same time, this is altogether out of the question. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." What does St. John say about this matter? Now, hear his own words: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." What teaching can be more distinctive than this? But what is the world of which the Apostle speaks? He explains himself in the following words:" For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." And what has to become of this lustful, proud, and wicked world? "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof." Now, notice the contrast:-"But he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

Naturally, the separation between God and man is very great. The gulf is impassable by any fallen creature. The distance is infinite between God and ruined human nature. The one offence of Adam has made havock of all mankind. Now, let us endeavour to be careful in