what fear ; yea, what vehement desire ; yea, what zeal ; yea, what revenge. In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter f." Thus will repentance manifest itself in every upright soul. It will not only mourn for sin, but will put it away, and most especially the besetting sin. Has a man been addicted to worldliness, or intemperance, or impurity ? if he be a penitent, he will cut off occasion for the indulgence of his evil propensities, and shun the company, the scenes, the very thoughts, that would be likely to kindle in him a desire after his unhallowed gratifications. He will put far from him the incentives to sin ; and as carefully avoid the becoming a snare to others, as the indulgence of sin in his own soul. Nor will he be content with this : no ; he will enter his protest against the lusts by which he has been led captive; and will endeavour, by his public deportment, to undo all the evil which, by his example, he has countenanced in the world. O, brethren, tell me whether this be the habit of your minds; and whether it can be said of you, that " in all things ye are proving yourselves to be clear in this matter."]
From hence we may see,
1. What a blessing the Gospel is to the world —
[This is its true and genuine effect, wherever it comes : this is its operation on individuals and kingdoms, so far as its influence extends. Truly, it will destroy the reign of Satan, and establish the authority of Christ throughout the world. Think what it did in the apostolic age : think what it has done even in this place. Say, has it not wrought on many of you, my brethren, as it did on those at Ephesus ; so that you have not only " cast your idols to the moles and to the bats ;" but you would, if it were possible, annihilate the very existence of sin within you? Well: the time is coming when these effects shall be seen over the face of the whole earth ; and all those nations that are now under the dominion of Satan, shall " be- come the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ5."]
2. How to judge respecting our reception of it — [The calling of ourselves " believers " will not prove us to
belong to Christ. Of those in our text many are said to have " believed," whilst yet they were far from possessing saving faith. Till their faith wrought by works, it was no better than the faith of devils : for " faith without works is dead." Take, then, the conduct of these Ephesians as a test whereby to try yourselves. Are you filled with the same holy zeal that
f 2 Cor. vii. 9—11.
e If this were the subject of a JMission Sermon, the habits of the Heathen might here be depicted.