followed Jesus through his whole course of sorrow, and suffering, and death; could I show you the anxious haste with which God rolled away the stone from the sepulchre while it was yet dark, for he would not leave his soul in hell, neither suffer his Holy One to see corruption; could I show you the ecstasies of love and joy that beat in the bosom of the infinite God when Jesus ascended to his Father and our Father; how he welcomed him with a fulness of kindness and grace which God alone could give, and God alone could receive, saying, "Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee; thou art indeed worthy to be called my Son; never till this day wast thou so worthy to be called mine; thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool." O sinner, will you ever doubt any more whether God the Father be seeking thy salvation, whether the heart of Christ and of his Father be the same in this one grand controversy? O believer, consider this Apostle of God; meditate on these things; look and look again, until your peace be like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea, till the breathing of your soul be, Abba, Father!

III. Consider Christ as the High Priest of our profession. The duty of the High Priest was twofold-1st, to make Atonement; 2d, to make Intercession.

When the High Priest slew the goat at the altar of burnt-offerings, he did it in presence of all the people, to make atonement for them. They all stood around gazing and considering their High Priest: and when he gathered the blood into the golden basin, and put on the white garments, and passed away from their sight within the veil, their eye followed him, till the mysterious curtain hid him from their sight. But even then the heart of the believing Jew followed him still. Now he is drawing near to God for us, now he is sprinkling the blood seven times before the mercy-seat, saying, Let this blood be instead of our blood; now he is praying for us.

Brethren, let us also consider our great High Priest.

(1.) Consider him making Atonement.-You cannot look at him on the cross as the disciples did-you cannot see the blood streaming from his five deep wounds-you cannot see him shedding his blood that the blood of sinners might not be shed. Yet still, if God spare us, you may see bread broken and wine poured out, a living picture of the dying Saviour. Now, brethren, the atonement has been made, Christ has died, his sufferings are all past. And how is it that you do not enjoy peace? It is because you do not consider. "Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." Consider: has Jesus died in the stead of guilty sinners, and do you heartily consent to take Jesus to be the man in your stead? then, you do not need to die. O happy believer, rejoice evermore. Live within sight of Calvary, and you will live within

sight of glory; and, O rejoice in the happy ordinance that sets a broken Saviour so plainly before you.

(2.) Consider Christ as making Intercession.-When Christ ascended from the Mount of Olives, and passed through these heavens, carrying his bloody wounds into the presence of God: and when his disciples had gazed after him, till a cloud received him out of their sight, we are told that they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. What! are they joyful at parting with thei blessed Master? When he told them he was to leave them, sor row filled their hearts, and he had to argue with them and comfort them, saying, Let not your heart be troubled; it is expedient for you that I go away. How, then, are they changed! Jesus has left them, and they are filled with joy. Oh! here is the secret, they knew that Christ was now going into the presence of God for them, that their great High Priest was now entering within the veil to make intercession for them.

Now, believer, would you share in the great joy of the disciples? Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. He is above yon clouds, and above yon sky. O that you would stand gazing up into heaven, not with the bodily eye, but with the eye of faith. Oh! what a wonderful thing the eye of faith is: it sees beyond the stars, it pierces to the throne of God, and there it looks on the face of Jesus making intercession for us, whom having not seen we love, in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Oh! if you would live thus, what sweet peace would fill your bosom! And how many droppings of the Spirit would come down on you in answer to the Saviour's prayer. Oh! how your face would shine like Stephen; and the poor blind world would see that there is a joy which the world cannot give, and the world cannot take away, a heaven upon earth.

Dundee, 1836.

SERMON III.

"As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet unto my taste."Song of Solomon ii., 2, 3.

Ir an unconverted man were taken away into heaven, where Christ sits in glory, and if he overheard Christ's words of admiring love towards the believer, he could not understand them, he could not comprehend how Christ should see a loveliness in poor religious people whom he in the bottom of his heart despised. Or again, if an unconverted man were to overhear a Christian at his

devotions when he is really within the veil, and were to listen to his words of admiring, adoring love towards Christ, he could not possibly understand them, he could not comprehend how the believer should have such a burning affection towards one unseen, in whom he himself saw no form nor comeliness. So true it is that the natural man knoweth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. There may be some now hearing me who have a rooted dislike to religious people, they are so stiff, so precise, so gloomy, you cannot endure their company. Well then, see here what Christ thinks of them, "As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." How different you are from Christ! There may be some hearing me who have no desires after Jesus Christ, who never think of him with pleasure; you see no form nor comeliness in him, no beauty that you should desire him; you do not love the melody of his name; you do not pray to him continually. Well then, see here what the believer thinks of him, how different from you-" As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. 1 sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." O that you would be awakened by this very thing, that you are so different from Christ, and so different from the believer, to think that you must be in a natural condition, you must be under wrath!

Doctrine. The believer is unspeakably precious in the eyes of Christ, and Christ is unspeakably precious in the eyes of the believer.

I. Inquire what Christ thinks of the believer-"As the lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters."

Christ sees nothing so fair in all this world as the believer. All the rest of the world is like thorns, but the believer is like a beautiful lily in his eyes. When you are walking in a wilderness all overgrown with briers and thorns, if your eye falls upon some lonely flower, tall and white, and pure and graceful, growing in the midst of the thorns, it looks peculiarly beautiful. If it were in the midst of some rich garden among many other flowers, then it would not be so remarkable; but when it is encompassed with thorns on every side, then it engages the eye. Such is the believer in the eyes of Christ. "As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters."

(1.) See what Christ thinks of the unconverted world. It is like a field full of briers and thorns in his eyes. 1. Because fruitless. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" So Christ gets no fruit from the unconverted world. It is all one wide, thorny waste. 2. Because, when the word is preached among them, it is like sowing among thorns. "Break up your fallowground and sow not among thorns." When the sower sowed, some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them; so is preaching to the unconverted. 3. Because their end

will be like that of thorns; they are dry and fit only for the burning. "As thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire." "For the earth, which is often rained upon and only bears thorns and briers, is rejected, and nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned." My friends, if you are in a Christian state, see what you are in the eyes of Christ-thorns. You think that you have many admirable qualities, that you are valuable members of society, and you have a hope that it shall be well with you in eternity. See what Christ says-you are thorns and briers, useless in this world, and fit only for the burning.

(2.) See what Christ thinks of the believer. "As the lily among thorns so is my love among the daughters." The believer is like a lovely flower in the eyes of Christ. 1. Because, justified in the eyes of Christ, washed in his blood, he is pure and white as a lily. Christ can see no spot in his own righteousness, and therefore he sees no spot on the believer. Thou art all fair, my love, as a lily among thorns so is my love. 2. A believer's nature is changed. Once he was like the barren, prickly thorn, fit only for burning; now Christ has put a new spirit in him; the dew has been given to him, and he grows up like the lily. Christ loves the new creature. "All my delight is in them." "As the lily among thorns so is my love among the daughters." Are you a Christian? then never mind though the world despise you, though they call you names; remember Christ loves you, he calls you my love." Abide in him, and you shall abide in his love. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. 3. Because so lonely in the world. Observe, there is but one lily, but many thorns. There is a great wilderness all full of thorns, and only one lonely flower. So there is a world lying in wickedness, and a little flock that believe in Jesus. Some believers are cast down because they feel solitary and alone. If I be in the right way, surely I would not be so lonely. Surely the wise, and the amiable, and the kind people I see round about me, surely, if there were any truth in religion, they would know it. Be not cast down. It is one of the marks of Christ's people that they are alone in the world, and yet they are not alone. It is one of the very beauties which Christ sees in his people, that they are solitary among a world of thorns. "As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." Do not be discouraged. This world is the world of loneliness. When you are transplanted to yon garden of God, then you shall be no more lonely, then you shall be away from all the thorns. As flowers in a rich garden blend together their thousand odors to enrich the passing breeze, so, in the paradise above, you shall join the thousands of the redeemed blending with theirs the odor of your praise. You shall join with the redeemed as living flowers to form a garland for the Redeemer's brow.

II. Inquire what the believer thinks of Christ.-" As the apple

tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste."

1. Christ is more precious than all other saviours in the eye of the believer. As a traveller prefers an apple-tree to every other tree of the wood, because he finds both shelter and nourishing food under it, so the believer prefers Christ to all other saviours. When a man is travelling in eastern countries, he is often like to drop down under the burning rays of the sun. It is a great relief when he comes to a wood. When Israel were travelling in the wilderness, they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and seventy palm-trees, and they encamped there by the water. They were glad of the shelter of the trees. So Micah says that God's people"dwell solitarily in the wood ;" and Ezekiel promises "they shall sleep in the woods."

But if the traveller be hungry and faint for lack of food, then he will not be content with any tree of the wood, but he will choose out a fruit tree, under which he may sit down and find nourishment as well as shade. He sees a fair apple-tree-he chooses it out of all the trees of the wood, because he can both sit under its shadow and eat its pleasant fruits. So is it with the soul awakened by God. He feels under the heat of God's anger; he is in a weary land; he is brought into the wilderness; he is like to perish; he comes to a wood; many trees offer their shade; where shall he sit down? Under the fir-tree? alas! what fruit has it to give? he may die there. Under the cedar tree, with its mighty branches? alas! he may perish there; for it has no fruit to give. The soul that is taught of God seeks for a complete Saviour. The apple-tree is revealed to the soul. The hungry soul chooses that evermore. He needs to be saved from hell and nourished for heaven. "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons."

Awakened souls, remember you must not sit down under every tree that offers itself. "Take heed that no one deceive you; for many shall come in Christ's name, saying, I am Christ, and deceive many." There are many ways of saying peace, peace, when there is no peace. You will be tempted to find peace in the world, in self-repentance, in self-reformation. Remember, choose you a tree that will yield fruit as well as shade. "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons." Pray for a choosing faith. Pray for an eye to discern the appletree. Oh! there is no rest for the soul except under that Branch which God has made strong. My heart's desire and prayer for you is, that you may all find rest there.

2. Why has the believer so high an esteem of Christ? Ans. (1.) Because he has made trial of Christ. "I sat down under his shadow with great delight." All true believers have sat down under the shadow of Christ. Some people think that