Parochial and Plain Sermons

FTER thcse words thc Evangelist adds, "And this Itc said fo prove him, tbr He tIimself knew what tic would do." Thus, you see, out Lord had secret meanings when IIe spokc, and did hot bring forth opcnly all tIis divine scnsc at once. Ho knew what tIe was about fo do from the first, but Hc wished fo lead forward His disciples, aud fo arrest and open their minds, bcfore tte iustructcd them: for all cannot receive His words, and on thc blind and dcaf the most sacred truths fidl without profit. And thus, throug-hout thc course of IIis gracious dispensations fi-om the beginning5 if nmy be said that the Author and Finisher of out fifith bas laid things from us in mcrcy, and listened to out qnestionings, while IIc Himself kncw what Ho was about to do. Ho bas hid, in order aflerwards to reveal, tlmt then, on looking back on what IIc said a.nd did belote, we may sec in it what at thc aime we did not sec, and thereby see if fo more profit. Thus IIe hid Himsclf from the disciples as tIe walked with them fo Emmaus: thus Joseph, too, under diffcrent and yet similar circumstances, laid himself froln lais brethren. VTith this thougqt lu out minds, surcly we scem to see ca new and ftarther meaning still, ila thc narrative bcforc us. Christ spokc of buying" brcad, whcn He intcndcd fo creatc or make bread; but did tic uot, in that bread which Ho ruade, intend further that IIcavenly brcad which is the salvation of our souls?for IIc goes on fo say, " Labour hOt for the meat" or food "which perishcth, but for that food which endureth unto everlasting lire, which thc Son of man shall give unto you." Yes, surely the wilderness is the world, and the Apostles are His priests, and the multitudes are His people; and that feast, so suddenly, so unexpectedly provided, is the Holy Communion. IIe alonc is the saine, IIe the provider of the loaves then, of the heavenly manna now. All othcr things change, but He remMneth. And what is that Heavenly Feast which we now are vouchsafed, but in ifs own tun the earnest and pledge of that future fcast in His Father's king'dom, when "the marriage of thc Lamb shall corne, and His wife hath ruade herself ready," and "holy Jerusalem cometh down from God out of heaven," and "blessed shall they be who shall eat brcad lu the l<ingdom of God "? And further, since fo that Feast above ve do lift up our cycs, though if will hot corne till thc end; and as wc do not makc rcmcmbrance of if. once only, but continually, in the sacred rite which foreshadows it; therefore, in likc manner, hot i thc miracle of thc loaves only, thoug'h in that especially, but in all parts of Scripturc, in history, and in prccept, and iii promise, and in prophccy, is it given us fo sce thc Gospel Fcast typified raid prcfig'urcd, and that immorta] and ncvcr-failing Suppcr iii the visible presence of the Lamb which will follow upon i af the end. And if they are blessed who shall eat and drinl of that table in the lingdom, so too blessed arc thcy who mcditate upon it, and hope for if now,who rend Scripture with it in thcit" flmug'hts, and endeavour to look bêncath thc veil of the literal text, and fo catch a sight of the gleams of heavenly light which arc behind it. "Blessed are yor e3es, for they sec; and your cars, for they hear; for verily I say unto 3-ou, that many prophcts and righteous men havc dcsired to sec those things which ye sec, but have hot seen them; and fo hear those things which ye hear, and have hot hcard them." "Blessed are they which have not secn, and yet bave believed." Blcssed they who sec in and by belicvin,, and who h.vc, bccause thcy doubt hot.:Let us, then, at this timc of year , as is fitting',  Easer.

follow the train of thoughç thus opened upon us, and, looking baek into fle Sacred ¥olume, çraee the intinmtions and l»romises there givet of çhat saered and hlessed Feasç of Chrisç's J3ody and ]31ood whieh if is out privilege new te enjoy till the end corne. New the Old Test.amcnç, as we know, is full of figures and types of the Gospel; types various, and, in their literal wording, eontrary te eaeh othcr, buç all nxeeting aml harmoniously fulfillcd in Christ and His Church. hus the histories of the Israelites in the wilderness, and of the Israelites when settled in Canaan, alike are ours, representing out present state as Christians. Out Christian lire is  state of thith and trial; iç is also a state of enjoyment. If has thç riehness of the 1)re - mised Iand; iç bas the marvcllousness of the desert. It is a "good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that swing ouç of rallies and hills; a land of wheaç and barley, and vines, and tîg-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eaç bread withouç seareeness; thou shalç noç laek any thing" in iç;  land whose sçones are iron, and ouç of whose hills thou mayesç dig brass." And, en the other hand, iç is still  land which te fle natural man seems a wilderness, a "'reat and terrible wilderness, wherein a.re tîerv serpeRs, and seorpions, and droughç, where there is no watcr;'" where faith is still m eessa.ry, and where, sti]l more forcibly than it the case of Israel, the maxim h,olds, that "nmn doth

I64 Thc Gocl I:«ast. hot live by bread only, but by every word that proeeedet.h out o2 the mouth 02 the Lord doth man lire." OEhis is the state in whieh we are,a state of faith and of posssion. In the deser the Israelites lived by the signs o2 things, without the rcalities: lnanim was to stand for the eorn, oil, and honey, of the good land promised; vater, for the vine and milk. It was a time for fifith to exereise itself; and when they came into the promised land, then was the rime of possession. That was thc land of milk and honey; they need hOt any divinely provided eompensations or expedients. Manna was hot needed, nor the pillar oç the eloud, nor water ri'oto the rock. But we Christians, on the eontrary, are at once in te wilderness and in the promised land. In the wilderness, because we live amid wonders; in the promised land, beeausc we are in a state of enjoyment. That we are in the state of enjoyment is surely certain, unless all the propheeies have failed; and that we are in a state in whieh faith ah, ne has ¢hat enjoyment, is plain from the faet that God's great blessings are hot seen, and in that the Apost.le says, "We walk by faith, hot by sig'ht." In a word, we are in a supernatural state,—a word whieh implies both ifs greatness and ifs seeret.ness: ibr vhat is above nature, is af once hot seen, and is more preeious than what is seen; "the thins whieh are seen are temporal, the things whieh are not seen are etcrna].  And i£out state altogether is parallcl fo that of the

Israclites, as an antitype fo ifs type, if is natural to think that so great a gift as I[oly Communion would not be without ifs appropriatc figures and symbols in the Old Testament. All that our Saviour has donc is again and again shadowed out in the Old Testament; and this, therefore, if is natural to think, as well as other things: IIis miraculous birth, Ilis litb, His teaching, IIis death, IIis pricsthood, IIis sacrifice, IIis rcsurrection, IIis.a'lorification, Ilis kingdom, arc again and again prefigured: if is not reasonablc fo suppose that if this so grcat gift is really g'iven us, if should be omitted. He who died for us, is Ho who feeds us; and as His dcath is mentioned, so we may bcforchand expect will be mentioned the fcast I[e givcs us. Not openly indeed, for neither is IIis dcath nor IIis priesthood taught opcnly, but covertly, under the types of David or Aaron, or other favored servants of Go'l; and in like manner wc might expect, and we shall find, the like reverent allusions to IIis most gracious Fcast,allusions which wc should not know to be allusions but for the event; just as we should not know that Solomon, Aaron, or Samucl, stood for Christ a.t all, except that thc event explains thc figure. Vhen Abraham said to Isaac, " God will provide IIimself a lamb for a burnt offering," who can doubt this is a prophecy concerning Christ?—yet we are nowhere told if in Scripture. The vase is the same as regards the Sacrament of ]3aptism. Now that it is given, we cannot doubt that the purifica- tions of the Jews, Naaman's bathing, and thc prophecy of a fountain bcing opened for sin and all uncleanness, have refercnce fo it, as being thc visible fiflfilment of -the great spiritual cleansing: and St. Peter expressly • affirms this of the Deluge, and St. Paul of the passage of the Red Sea. And in like manncr passages in the ]3iblc, which speak 1)rophetically of the Gospel Feast, -cannot but refer (if I may so speak) fo the IIoly Sacrament of the Lord's Sul)pcr, as being, in fact, the Feast given us under the Gospel. And lct it be observed, directly we know that we bave this great gift, and that the Old Testament histo W prefigures if, we have a light thrown upon what otherwise is a difiâculty; for, if may be asked with some speciousness, whether the Jcws were not in a higher state of privilege than we Christians, until we take this gift into accourir. It may be objeeted that our blessings are all future or distant,—the hope of eternal lire, which is o be fulfilled hereafter, God's forgiveness, who is in hcaven: what do we gain nov and here above the Jews? God loved the Jcws, and He gat'e them something; Hc gave them present gifts; the Old Testament is full of the description of them; IIc gave them "the precious things of heaven, and the dew, and the deep that coucheth beneath, and precious things brought fooEh by the sun, and by the moon, and the chief things of ¢he ancient mountains, and the precious things of the lasting hills, and the prec[ous things of the earth, and file flllness thereof," "honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, butter of kine, and milk o[' sheep, with fat of lambs, and rares of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the iht of kidneys of wheat, and the pure blood of the grape'." These were present real blessings. What has tic given ris.2—totlti»g in possession? al1 in promise? This, I sy, is in itself hot likely; if is hot likely that IIe should so reverse/[is system, and make the Gospel inferior to the Law. But the knowlcdge of the great gift under consideration clears up this perlalexity; for every passage in the Old Tesfamet which speaks of the temporal blessing's given bi}" God fo IIis aneient people, insfead of conveying fo us a painflfl sense of destitution, and exciting" out jealousy, rcminds us of out greafer blessedness  for every passage which belongs fo them is fulfilled now in a higher sense fo us. We have no need to en T them. God did hot take away their blessings, vithout giving us greater. The Lav was hot so much taken;way, as the Gospel given. The Gospel supplanted the Law. The Lav went out by the Gospel's coming in. Only out blessings are hot seen; lkerefore they are higher, becattse they are unseen. Higher blessings eould hot be visible. How could spiritual blessing's be visible ones? If Christ now feeds us, hot with milk anti honey, bnt "with the spiritual food of His most precious Body and ]31ood;" if "out sinfifl bodies are ruade elean by Itis Body, and out souls  I)eut.. xxxil. 13; xxxiii. 13—1.

 6 8 The GoseI F««st. washed through His mos preeious Blood," truly we are no withou out preeious hings, nny more than Israel was: bu they are unseen, beeause so mueh g'renter, so spiritual; they are g'iven only under the veil of wha is seen: and thus we Christians are both with the Chureh in the vihlerness as regards fifith, and in the Chureh in Cann,n as re,rds enjoyment; hnving" the fifltïlmen of the words spoken by Moses, repeated by our Iord, to whieh I jus m,v referred, "Mnn shall no live by bread only, bu by every word whieh proeeedetl ou of the mouth of God." Nov, then, I will refer o some passages of both the Old Testamen nnd the New, whieh both illustrate and are illustrated by this grea doetl'ine of the Gospel. 1. _And, firs, le i be obsei'ved, ri'oto the beginning, the greaest rite of religion has been a feast; he parta.king of God's bounties, in the way of nature, has been consecrated fo a more immediate communion with God Himself.:For instamce, when Isaac was weaned, Abraharo "ruade a great feast i,,, and tlcn if was that Sarah prophesied; "Cast out this bondwoman and ber son," she said, prophesying the introduction of the spirit, grace, and truth, which the Gospel contains, instead of the bondage of thc outward ri)tins of the Law. Again, if was af a feast of savoury mcat that thc spirit of pro- 1)hecy came npon Isaac, and he blessed Jacob. In like manner the first bcginning of our Lord's miracles was ai 1 Gen. xxi. 10.

The Go,e! Fcas!.  6 9 a marrig'e feast., when IIe ehang'ed water into wine; and when St.. Matthew was eonverted he entertained our Lord aL a feasL. AL a. feasL, too, our Lord nllowed the peniten wonmn o wash with tears and anoin His fee, and pronouneed her forgveness; and a  feas, before IIis passion, IIe allowed Mary to anint them with eostly ointment, and fo wipe them with her hair. Thus with our Lord, and with the Patriarehs, a feast was a rime of graee; so mueh so, that IIe vas sald by the Pharisees to eome eating and drinking, fo be "a wlnebibber and gluttonous,  fi-iend of publieans and 8Ilnl'S . » 2. And next, in order fo make this feastin still more solemn, if had been usual af all rimes fo preeede if by a direct aet of religion,by  prayer, or blessing, or sacrifice, or by the presenee of  priest, whieh implied if. Thus, when Melehizedek came out fo meet Abraham, and bless him, "he brought forth bread and wine ;" fo whieh it is added, "" and he was the priest of the [ost High God." Such, too, was the lamb of the Passover, whieh was eaten roast with tire, and with unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, with girded loins a.nd shoes on, and staffin hand; as the Lord's Passover, being a solemn religious fcast, even if hot  sacrifice. And sueh seems to have been the eommon notion of communion with God all the world over, however if was gained; riz. that we arrived af the possession of His  iatt. xi. 19. Luke vil. 34. « Geu. xiv. 18.

invisible g'ifts by participation in Ilis visible; that there was some mysterious connexion between the seen and thc unseen; and that, by setting, aside the ehoieest of Itis ea.rthly bounties, as a specimen and representative of the whole, presentinif fo IIim for His blessin, and then takin, catins, and appropriating if, we had the bes lu,pe of g'ainin those tmknown and indefinite gifts wbieh human nature needs, q_'his the heathcn praetised towards tbeir idols also; and St. Paul seems fo aeknowledg'e that in that way they did eommtmieatc, thouh most lniserably and fearfully, with those idols, and with the evil spirits whieh they represented. "The things whieh the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice fo devils, and hot fo God; and I would nog that ye should hold communion with devils ." IIere, as before, a feas is spoken of as the means of eommunieating with the unseen world, thoug'h, when the feast was idolatrous, i was the fellowship of evil spirits. 8. And next let this be obscrved, that the deseriptions in the Old Testamen of the perfeeg state of religious privilege, ri_'. that under the Gospel whieh was then fo corne, arc eontinuall ruade under tl'.e image of a tbast, a feast of some speeial and ehoiee goods of this vorld, eorn, wine, and the like; gocds of this world ehosen from fle mass as a speeimen of all, as types and means of seeking', and lneans of obtaining, the unknown spiritual blessings, whieh "eye hath no seen nor ear  1 Cor. x. 20.

The Gçsfid '«ast. t 7 I heard." And these speeial goods of nature, so se? apart, are more frequently than any thing" clse, eorn or bl'ead, and wine, as tire fiffures of wha was greater, though others are mentioned also. Now the firs of flwse of which we read is fle frui of the tree of lire, the leaves of whieh are also mentioned in the propheIs, q'he tree of life was tha tree in the garden of Eden, the eating of x'hieh wouhl hure ruade Adam immortal; a divine gift lay hid in an outward form. The prophet Ezekicl speaks of it afterwards in the following words, showin that a similar blessing was in store for the redeemed: "By the rive5 upon the bank thereoÇ on this side, and on that side, shall row all trees for meat., whose leaf shall hOt fade, neiflwr shall the fruit thereof be eonsumed. It shall brin forIh new fi'uiIs aeeordin to his months, beeause their waters they issued out of the saneIuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the ]eaf thereof for medieine ." Like to whieh is St. John's aeeount of the tree of lire, "whieh bure twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her ri-uit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations ." And henee we read in the Cantieles of the apple-Iree, and of siIting down under ifs shadow, and its ri'uit being sweet fo the faste. Ilere then in t3qe is signified the saered  of whieh I ara speaking; and yet it has hOt seemed good fo the g'raeious Giver literally o select fruit or leaves as the means of His  Ezek. xlvii. 12.  ev. xxii. 2.

1 7 Z The Gose! invisible blessins. IIe might have spiritually fed us with such, lmd IIe pleased—for man liveth hot by bread only, but by the word of Ilis mouth. Ilis Word mih lmve ruade the fruit of the tree Ilis Sacrament, but IIe has willed otherwise. q'he next selection of gifts of the earth which we final lu Seril,ture, is the very one which IIe at ]enffth fixed on, bread and wine, as in the history of lclehizedek; and there the record stands as a propheey of what was o be: for who is [elchizedek but out Lord and Saviour, and what is the Bread and Vine but the. very feasc whieh IIe has ordained? Next the great if was shadoved out in the descrip- Iion ot' the promised land, which was said fo flow vith milk and honey, and in ail those other precious thing's o" nature which I have already recounted as belonging to the promised land, oil, butter, corn, wine, and the like. '/'hese ail may be considered fo refer fo the Gospel feas typically, because they were the rarest and most exquisite of the 1,1essings ffiven to the Jews, as the Gospel Feast is the most choice and most sacred of ail the blessins given to us Christians; and what. is most precions under the one Dispensation is sig'nifled by wha is most precious under the other. Now ]et us proeeed fo the Prophets, and we s]mll find the like anticipation of the Gospel Feast. For instance, you recollect, the prophet Hosea says: "I shall corne fo pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord,

The Gosbcl Fcast. 173 I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear Lhe earth, and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, a.ud they shall hear 3ezreel. And I will sow lier unto Ie in the earthl. '' By 3ezreel is meant the Christian Church; and the Prophet declares in God's naine, that the time was fo tome when the Church would eall upon the eorn, wine, and oil, and they would call on the earth, and the earth on the hevens, and the heavens on God and God should answer the heavens, and the heavens should answer the earth, and the earth should answer the eorn, wine, and oil, and thcy should answer fo the wants of tlie Chureh. 1Now, doubtless, this may be fulfilled only in  general way; but eonsidering" Ahnighty God has appointed corn or bread, and wine, fo be the special instruments of Ilis ineffable graee,—IIe, who sees the end from the beginnin, and who views all things in zll their relations af onee,—He, when He spoke of corn and wine, knew that the word would be fultilled, hot generally only, buL even literally iu the Gospel. Again: the prophet doe] says, " If shall eome to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall tlow with milk, and zll the rivers of Sudah shall flow with waters, and  founain shall corne forth of the bouse of the Lord, and sha]] water the valley of Shittim"." How strikingly is this fulfilled, if we take it to apply to what Goal bas given us in the Gospel, in the feast of the Holy Communion!  IIos. ii. 21—23.  Joel iii. 18.

 7"1- T/zc Gae! Ag'ain: the prophe Amos says: "]3ehold, the days corne, saith the Lord, -laen the ploanan shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of rapes him tha soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop swee 'ine, and ail the hills shall mel ;" tha is, with God's marveHous grace, whereby IIe gives us gifts new and wonderful. And the prophet Isaiah: "In this mountain shall the Lord of Itosts nmke uuto nll people a feast of t rhino, a fbast of wines on the lees; of fat things fidl of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." And ag'ain: "Surely I will no more give thy eorn fo be mea for thine enenfies, and the sons of the stranger shall no drink thy wine, for the whieh thou has laboured; but. they that have afllered i shnll eat if, and praise the Lord, and they ha have brought, if totlaer shall drink i in the courts of My holiness." And ngain: "Behold My servants shall eat, bu ye shall be hunlT; behold y servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirstyï. '' Ain: the prophet fferemiah says: "They shall eome and sin in the height of Zion, nnd sha]l flow together fo the goodness of the Lord, for wheat., and for wine, and for oil, nd for the young of the flock and of the herd; and their soul shnll be as a wntered arden, and they shall no son'ow.any more af ail... And I 11 satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shnll be safisfied with My goo¢ess, saith the Lord. ''  Amos ix. 13.  Isa, xxr. 6; lxii. 8, 9; lxv. 13. z der. xxxi. 1214.

Thc GosSe! '«asî.  7 5 And the prophet Zeehariah: "IIow g'reat is IIis goodness, anti how grea is His beauty[ eorn shall make the youn men eheerfifi, and new wine the maidsk" And under a di8kren ironie, bu with the saine eneral sense, the prophe Malaehi: " From the risiu of the sun even unto the goin down of Ihe saine, My Naine shall be grea amon the Gentiles; and in every place intense shall be oflbred unto My Naine, and a pure offcrin, for My Naine shall be great among the heathcn, saith thc Lord of IIosts=. '' Furthcr, if the Psahns are intendcd for Christian worship, as surely they arc, the Prophetie Spirit, who iaspired them, saw thaL they too would in various places deseribe that sacre¢l Christian feast, which we fecl fley do deseribe; and surely we may rightly eall this coincidence between the ordinance in thc Christian Church and thc form of words in fhe Psalms, a mark of design. For instance: "Thou shalt prepare a Table belote me aainst them tha.t trouble me. Thou has anointed my head with oil, and my Cup shall be flfll." "I will wash my hands in innoeency, O Lord, and so will I go fo Thine Mtar." "0 send out Thy l]ght and Thy truth, that they may lead me, and brin me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy dwelling; and that I may go uuto the Altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and g'ladness." "Thc ehildren of mon shall put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. Thcy shall be satisfied  Zeeh. ix. 17.  Mal. i. ll.

 7 6 2/e Gos:d Fc«st. with the pleuteousness of Thy house, and Thou shalt give them drink of Thy pleasures as out of the river. For with Thee is the well of lire, and in OEhy light shall we see light." « Blessed is the man whom Thou ehoosest and reeeivest unto Ïhee; he slmll dwell in Ïhy court, and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of Thy house, evec of Thy IIoly Temple." « My soul slmll be satisfied, cvcn as it wcrc with narrov and fitness, when my mouth praiseth Thee with joyfifl lips.., because Thon hast been my helper, flwrefore under the shadow of Thy wing's will I rejoicc ." The saine won¢lcrfitl feast is put belote us in the book of Proverbs, whcre Visdom stands for Christ. "Visdom hath builded her house," that is, Christ has built tIi.s Chureh; "she hath hewn out her seven pillars, she hath killed her beasts, she hath ming'led her wine (that is, Christ bas prcparcd His Suppcr), shc lmth also furnished her table (that is, the Lord's Table), she hath sent forth ber maidens (that is, the priests of the Lord), she erieth upon the highest places of the city, Vhoso is simple, let him turn in hither; as for him that wanteth understandin., she saith to him, Corne, eat of hIy:Brcad and drink of the Vinc which I bave mingled "," whieh is like saying, "Corne unto hle all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will refresh you." Like which are the prophet Isaiah's words: " Ho, every  Ps.,xiii. ri; xxvi. 6; xxxvi. 7—9; xliii. 3, 4; lxv. 4; lxiii. 6—8. z Prov. ix. 15.

The Gos_pc! Fcast.  77 one Umt thirsteUb corne ye fo Ue waters, and he that hath no money, corne ye buy and eat; ye, corne, buy wine and milk without money and withou price ." And such too is Ue description in the book of Canticles: "OEhe fig tree putteU forth ber g'reen figs, and the vines with the tender g'rapes give  g'ood smell".... " UnU1 the day bre,k and the shadows flee away, I will gel me fo the mountain of myrrh, nnd fo the hill of frankinceuse"... cci bave -athered ly myrrh with l?y spice, I h,,«e eaten l?y honeycomb with l?y honey, I have drunk [y wine wit.h My milk; e,l, O friends, drink, ye, drink abundnnt.ly, O beloved !" In connexion with such passages as these should be observed St. Paul's words, which seem fi-om the antithesis fo be an llusion fo Ue saine mos sacred Ordinance: "Be nol drunk wiU wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spiri," wRh Um new wine which God Ue Holy SpirR ministers in the Supper of the Greal King-. God g'rant that we may be able ever fo corne to this Blessed Sncra.ment with feeling-s suilable to the pnssa-es which I have read coneerning" il! l?ay we no regard if in a cold, hearUess way, and keep af  dist.ance from ear, when we should rejoieet l?ay the spirit of the unprofitable servant ne,cet be ours, who looked a his lord as  hard master instead of a gracious benefactor! I,y we not be in the number of those who go on year after year, and never approach Him a all! lay we  Isa. 1-. 1. -" Cant. il. 13; iv. 13; v. 1.

noL be of flmse who wen, one fo his farm, anoLler to his merchandise, whcn they were callcd to the wedding! Nor leL us bc of those, who corne in a formal, mechanica.1 way, as a mere nmtter of obligation, without revcrence, without awc, without wonder, withouL love. .or leL us £fll inLo the sin of those who complained thaL they bave nothing- to gathcr but the manna, wearying" of God's g'ifts. But let us corne in faith and hope, and let us say fo oursclvcs, May this bc thc beg'inning fo us of evcrlasting" bliss! May these be the first fruits of that banqueL which is fo last for ever and ever; ever new, ever transporLing', inexhaustible, in the city of our God!

"If we 5e dead with Christ, we 5elleve that we shall also lice witÆ

O be dead with Christ, is fo hate and turn flore sin; and fo live with IIim, is fo have out hearts and minds turned towards God and Heaven. To be dead to sin, is to feel a disgust at it. We know what is meant by disgust. Take, for instance, the case of a sick man, when food of a certain kind is presented fo him,—and there is no doubt what is meant by disgust. Çonsider how certain scents, whid are too sweet or too strong, or certain fastes, affect certain lersons under certain circumstances, or always,—and you will be af no loss fo determine what is meant by disgust at sin, or deadness fo sin. On the other hand, consider how pleasant a meal is to the hungry, or some eflivening odour to the faint; how refreshing the air is fo the languid, or the brook to the weary and thirsty;—and you will understand the sort of feeling which is implied in being alive with Cln'ist, alive to religion, alive fo the thought of heaven. Out animal powers eannot exist in all atmospheres; certain airs are poisonous, others life-giving. Sois if with spirits and souls: an unrenewed spirit could hot lire in laeaven, he would die; an Angel eould hot lire in lell, q'he natural man eannot lire in heavenly eompany, 'and the angelie soul would pine and waste away iii the eompmay of sinners, unless God's saered presenee were eontinued fo it. 'robe dead fo sin, is fo be so minded, tha.t the atnaosphere of sin (if I my so spe;k) oppresses, distresses, and stifles us, that it is palaN1 and unn.tural fo ls fo remain in if. To be nlive with Christ, is fo be so minded, that the atmosphere of leaven refreshes, elflivens, stimulates, invigorates us. To be alive, is hot merely to bear the thought of religion, to assent fo the truth of religion, fo wish fo be religious; but fo be drawn towards if, fo love if., to delight iii it, fo obey it. Now I suppose most persons ealled Christians do hot go firther than this, to wish fo be religious, and fo think if right fo be religions, and fo fcel a respect for religious men; they do hot get so far s fo have any sort. of love for religion. So fiir, however, tley do go; not, indeed, fo do thelr duty and to love if, but to have a sort of wish that they did. I suppose there are few persons but, ai the very least, now.nd then feel file wisli fo be holy and religious. 'rhey bear witness to the excellence of virtuous and holy living, they consent fo all tha.t their teaehers tell them, what they hear in Çhureh, and read in reli- g'ious books; bu all this is a very differen thing fi'om aeting eeording fo their kuowledge. They eonfess one tshinN, they do another. Nay, they eold)SS one ¢hing" t]i[e they do another. Even sinners,wilful, abandoned simwl's,if they would he hones enough o speak as they really in tlteir hearts feel, would OWll, while they l-tre indulgin iii the pleasnres of sin, while they idle away the Lord's Day, or while they keep bad eompany, or while they lie or eheat, or while they drink fo exeess, or do any other bad thing,—they would eonfess, I say, did thêy speak their minds, tha i is a far happieï flting, even ag present, fo lire in obedienee fo God, than in obedienee to Satan. No tha sin has no ifs pleasures, sueh,as they are; ï do not mean, of course, o deny tlmt,—I do no deny tlmt Satan is able o give us something" in exelmnge tbr future and eterlml happiness; I do no say tha irreligious men do no g'ain pleasures, whieh reliious men are obliged fo lose. I know they do; if t.hey did no, there would be nothin fo temp aud try us. ]3ut, after all, lhe pleasures which the serxTauts of Satan enjoy, though pleasant, are always attcnded with pain too; with a bitterness, which, though it does not destroy the pleasure,)'et is by itsclf suttlcient fo make it far less pleasan, even while if lasts, than such pleasures as are without such bitterness, riz. the pleasurcs of religion. This, then, alas! is the state of multitndes; not to be dead fo sin and alive fo God, but, while they are alive to sin and the world, to have just so much sense of heaven, as not tobe able fo enjoy cither. I say, whcn any one, man or woman, young, or old, is conscious that he or shc is going wrong, whether in grcater mattcr or lcss, whethcr in not coming to church whcn therc is no good excuse, neglccting privatc prayer, living carelcssly, or indulging in known sin,—this bad conscience is fi'om rime to lime a torment fo such persons. For a little whilc, perhaps, they do not fcel if, but thon thc paiu cornes ou aR'ain. If is a. keen, harassing, disquicting, hateful pain, which hinders sinners from being happy. They ta havc pleasures, but they cannot be la2)]) . They know that God is angry with thcm; and they know that, af some titne or other, He will visit, Ho will judge, Ite will punish. They try fo get this out of their minds, but the arrow sticks fast therc; it keeps its hold. Thcy try fo laugh it off, or to be bold and daring, or to be angry and violent. They are loud or unkind in thcir answers to fhose, n-ho remind fhem of if cither in set words, or by their example.:But if keeps ifs hold. And so it is, that all men who are hot very abandoned, bad men as well as good, wish that thcy wcre ho]y as Goal is holy, pure as Christ n-as pure, even though they do hot try to be, or pray to God to make fhem, holy and pure; not fhat they li/«e religion, but that fhey know, thcy are con- ineed in their reason, they fcel sure, that religion alone is happiness.

Love of.t?el«ion, a 2Vew 2Value'c. 1 8 3 Oh, what a dreadful state, fo have out desires one way, and out knowled.e and eonseienee another; to bave out lire, out breath and food, upon the earth, and out cycs upon Him who died once and now liveth; fo look upon Him who onee was piereed, yeç hot fo fise with Him and live with Him; t feel thaç a holy lil'e is out only lmppiness, yet to bave no heart fco pursue it; fo bc certain that thc wages of sin is death, yet to practisc sin; fo confess that the Ange]s a]one are 1)crfectly happy, fi)r thcy do God's will perfcctly, yet to prepare ourselves for nothing else but the company of. devi]s; to ackuowledge that Christ is our ouly hope, yet delibcrately fo let that hopé go! 0 miscrablc state! lniserablc they, if any there are who now hear me, who. are thus circumstanced! At first sight, if might seem impossible that any such persons could bc round in church. At first sigh¢, one might be tempted to say, "" AIl who corne to church, af least, are in earest, and have giron up si; they are imperfect indeed, as all Christians a.re at best, but they do not fall into wilful sin." I should be very g'lad, Iny Brethren, to be]ieve this were the case, but I cannot indulge so pleasant a hope.:No; I think if quite certain that some persons af ]east, I do hot say how many, to whom I am spea]dng, havc hot ruade up their minds fully to lead a religious lire. They corne to church because they think it right, or from other cause. If is very right that they should come; I am glad thcy do.

This is good, as far as it goes; but it is not ail. They are hot so far advanced in the kingdom of God, as fo resist the devil, or fo flce from him. They canno command thcmselves. They act rightly one day, and wrongly the next. They are afi-aid of being laughed af. They are attractcd by bad company. They put off religion fo a future day. They think a rcligious lire dull and unpleasant. Yet thcy have a certain sense of religion; and they corne to church in order fo satisfy this sense.:Now, I s;ty itis right fo corne fo church; but, O that they could be persuadcd of the simple truth of St. iPa.ul's words, " He is hot a Jcw which is one outwardly; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, and no in the lctter, whose praise is hot of men, but of God ;" which mav be taken to mean:—He is not a. Christian who is one outwardly, who merely cornes to church, and professes fo desire fo be savcd by Christ. t is very right that he should do so, but if is hot enough. He is hot a Christian who mcrcly bas not cast off religion; but he is the true Christian, who, while he is a Christian outwardly, is one inwardly also; who lives to God; whose secret lire is hid with Christ in God; whose heart is religious; who not only knows and fcels tha a religious lire is true happiness, but loves religion, wishes, tries, prays fo be religious, begs God Almighty to give him the wili and the power fo be religious; and, I Rom. ii. 28, 29.

as time goes on, grows more and more rcligious, more fit for heaven. We ean do nothing, rig'ht, unless God gives us the will and the power; we eannot please Him without the aid of Itis Holy Spirit. If any one does hot deeply feel this as a first truth in religion, he is prepariug for himself a dreadfid fall. IIe will attempt, and he will rail sig'nally, utterly, llis own miserable experienee will male him sure of it, if he will hot believe it, as Scripture declares if. But if is hot Ulflilcly that some persons, pcrhaps somc who now hear me, may fidl iuto an opposite mistake. They nmy attempt to excuse their lukewarmness and sinflflness, on thc plea that Goal does hot inwardly move them; and they may argue that those holy meu whom they so much admire, those saints who are to sit on Christ's right and left, arc of diffèrent nature fl'om themselves, sanctified fl'om their mother's womh, visited, guard<l, renewed, strengthened, culightened in a peculiar way, so as to makc it no wonder that they are saints, and no fault that they themselves are not. But this is hot so; let us not thus ufiserably deceive ourselves. St. Paul says exprcssly of himself and the other Apostles, that they were "mca of like passions" with the poor ignorant heathen fo whom they preached. And does not his histo T show this? Do you hot recollect what ho was befçre his conversion? Did he hot rage like a beast of prey ag'ainst the disciples of Christ? and how was he converted? by the vision of our Lord? Yes, in one sense, but hot by it alone; hear his own woMs, "Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was hot disotedie;tl unto the hcavenly vision." His obedience n-as necessa.ry for his conversion; he could hot obey without grace; but he would have received grace - iu vain, had he uot obeyed. And, after-rds, n'as he af once perfcct? No; for ho says cxpressly, "hot as though I had already attained, cither 'crc already pcrtcct;" and c|sc-hcrc he relis us that he had a "thorn in the flcsh, the messcngcr of Safari fo buffet him;" and he was obliged fo "bruise his body and briug if into subjcction, lest, aftcr he had 1)rcachcd fo others, he should bc himself a castaway." St. Paul conqucred, as any oue of us must conquer, by "striving,," struggling, "fo enter in af the strait gare;" he "wrought out his salvation 'ith fear and tremblhlg'," as we must do. This is a point vhich must be iusisted ou for the encouragement of the fcarful, the confutation of the lyl)ocritical, and the abasement of the holy. In this 'orld, cven the best of men, tlmugh they are dead to sin, and have 1)ut sin fo death, yet have that dead and corrupt thng" 'ithin thcm, though they lire to God; they have sti]l an cncmy of God rcmahdng in ¢heir heurts, tho.gh they kce 1) if in subjcction. This, indeed, is what all men now have in common, a roof of evil in them, a principle of sin, or ,hat may become such;— what they differ in is this, hot that one man has if, another hot; but that one lives in and fo if, another hot;

one subdues if, another not. A holy man is by uature subjeet to sin equally with others; lmt he is boly because he subdues, tramples on, elmius up, imprisons, puts out of the way this law of siu, and is ruled by religions aud spiritnal motives. Of Christ alone ean if be said that He "did uo sin, neither was huile fouud in His mouth." q_'he prince of this world came and round no{hilg in IIim. IIe had no foot of siu in IIis heart; IIe was hot born in.kdam's sin. Far different are we. He was thus pure, beeause IIe was the Son of God, and born of a ¥il'gin. Bu we are couceived in sin and shapen in iniquity. And sinee that whieh is born of the flcsh, is flesh, we are sin%l and corrupt because we arc sinNlly beg.ottelt of sinners. Even those then who in the end turn out fo be saints and attain fo lire eternal, yet are hot born saints, but bave with God's regenerating-.and renewing" graee to make themsclves saints. I is nothing" but the Cross of Christ, without us and wifhin us, vhieh changes any one of us fi'om being" (as I may sa5") a devil, into an Ang'el. re arc all by birth ehildren of wrath. We re at best like good olive trees, whieh have beeome g.ood by being. grafted on a good tree. ]3y nature we are like wild trees, bearing- sour and bitfer fruit, and so we should remaiu, were we hot grafted upon Christ, the g.ood olive tree, ruade members of Christ, the rightcous "and holy and well-beloved Son of God. Hence if is that there is sueh a change in a saint of Goal ri'oto what le was at

18 8 Love of Rclio«, a Arcw 2Valure. le firsl. Consider whal a differeul man SIs. Paul was afler his eouversion and before,nging, as I jus now said, like some wild beast, with perseeutin fury agains6 the Chureh, belote Chris appeared o him, and meekly suffering persecution aud g']Ol'yin in if afterwards. Think of St. Peter dcuyin Christ belote the resurreetion, and eonfessing, suffering, aud dyiug for Ilim afferwards. Aud so now many an aged saint, who has good hope of heaven, may reeollcct things of himself when young, whieh fill him with dismay. I do not speak as if God's saints lcd vicious and ilnmoral lires whcn young'; bnt I mean that their lower and evil nature was hot subdued, and perhaps from rime fo t.imc broke out and betray« them into deeds and words so vcry different from what is seen in them af present, that did their friends know of theln what flwy themselves know, they would hot think them the saine persons, and would be quite overpowered with astonishment. We never tan guess what a man is by nature, by seein wha self-discipline bas ruade him. Yet if we do become thcreby ehanged and prepared for heaven, i is no praise or merit to us. If is God's doingglory be fo IIim, who bas wrouht so wonderfu]ly with us! Yeb in this lit, even to the end, there will be enouh evil in us to hmnble us; even to the end, the holiest lnen have remains and stains of sin whieh they would fain gct rid of, if they could, and which keep this lire from being to them, for all God's raee, a heaven upon earth. No, and holy days are but shadows of eternfly. But hereafter it will be otherwise. In heaven, sin will be ntterly destroyed in eve T elee soul. We shall have no earthly wishes, no tendencies fo disobedienee or irrelig'ion, no love of the world or the flesh, fo draw us off from supreme devofion to God. We shall have our Saviour's holiness fulfilled in us, and be able fo love God without drawback or infirmity. Tha indeed will be a full vward of all out longings here, to praise and serve G)d eternally with a single and perfect heart in the midst of His Temple. What a timc will that be, when all will be perfccted in us which aS present is but feebly begun! Then we shall see how the Angels worship God. We shall see the calmness, the intenseness, the purity, of thcir worship. 'e shall see that açul sight, the Throne of God, and the Seraphim 1)efore and arouud if, crying, " Holy" % attempt now fo imitate in church what thcre is pcrformed, as in the beginning, and ever shall be. In the Te Deum, day by da.y we say, "Holy, Holy, IIoly, Lord God of Sabaoth." In the Creed, we recount G's mercics to us sinners. And n'e say and sing Psalms and Hymns, to corne as ncar hcavcn as we can. hay these attempts of os be blest by Almighty God, to prei)are us for Him! may they be, hot dead forms, but living services, living with life from G the Holy Ghost, in those who are dead fo sin and who lire with

 9 ° Love of Rdigioz, a New Nat«trc. Christ! I dm'e say some of you bave heard persons, who dissent fron the Chureh, say (af any rate, they do say), tiret out Prayers and Services, and Holy days, are only fonns, dead forms, whieh ean do us no.ood. Yes, they are dead fonns fo those who are dead, but they are living forms fo those who are living'. If you eome here in a dead way, hot in faith, hot eoming" for a blessing', without your hearts being, in the service, you will g'et no benefit ri'oto if. But if you eome in a living way, in faith, and hope, and reverenee,.and with holy expectant hearts, then all that takes place will be a living" service and full of heaven. Iake use, then, of this Holy ]aster Season, whieh lasts forty to fifty days, fo beeome more like Him who died for you, and who now liveth for everlnore. He promises us, "Beeause I lire, ye shall lire also." He, by dying" on the Cross, opened the King'dom of Heaven t all believers. He first died, and then He opened heaven. We, therefore, first eommemorate His death, and then, for some weeks in succession, we eommemorate and show forth the joys of heaven. They who do hot rejoice in the weeks after Easter, would hOt rejoice in heaven itself. These weeks are a sort of beg'inning" of heaven. Pray God fo enable you fo rejoice; fo enable you to keep the Feast duly. Pray God fo make you better Christians. This world is a dream,you will get no g.ood from if. Perhaps you find this dittlcult to believe; but be sure so if is. Depend upon it, at the las, you will confess i. Young" people expec good from the world, and people of middle age devoe flemselves o i, and even old people do no like o give i up.:But the world is your eneny, and the flesh is your enemy. Corne to God, and beg of Him gracc fo dcvote yourselves fo Him.:Beg of Him the will fo follow tIim; beg of Him the power t) obey IIim. 0 how comfortable, pleasant, sweet, soothing, and satisfyiug is if to lead a holy life,—thc lift of Angels! It is difi]cult af first; but with God's grace, all things arc possible. 0 how pleasant fo bave done with sin! how good and joyful to flee temptation and fo resist evil! how meet, and worthy, and fitting, and right, fo die unto sin, and fo live unto riihteousness!