and the dying love of a crucified Redeemer. | the severest of all which he was now exWhile the hour revolved that spread forth all these things before his eyes, we need not wonder that he began to be in agony, and that he sweated as it were great drops

of blood.

periencing. From him came the cup of trembling, which he was now doomed to drink, and the vials of vengeance which were now poured upon his head. Abandoned and smitten, and overwhelmed, he cried out, "My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?"

On the cross that agony returned, and was redoubled. Judge of what he felt, by the expressions of the Prophet in the The measure of his woe was now full: mystical psalm, "My God, my God, why the sufferings of Christ were completed. hast thou forsaken me, why art thou so Before he bowed the head and yielded up far from helping me, and from the words the ghost, he looked up to the heavens, of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the and saw the darkness disappearing from day-time, but thou hearest not, and in the before the throne of God. Filled with night-season I am not silent. Our fathers celestial satisfaction, "Father," said he, trusted in thee; they trusted, and thou" into thy hands I now commit my spirit. didst deliver them. But I am a worm, There was but one pang more. The last and no man, a reproach of men, and de- cloud was vanishing from the sky, and all spised of the people. I am poured out was to be serene for ever. like water. My heart is melted like wax in the midst of my bowels; thou hast brought me to the dust of death."

This constituted what the ancient church called the unknown sufferings of Christ. In the cup which the Father gave him to drink, there was something sharper than the vinegar, and more bitter than the gall. The darkness which at that time covered the face of the earth, was but a faint emblem of that blacker cloud which overwhelmed his soul. What the degree of these unknown sufferings was, how they were inflicted, or how they were sustained, we cannot tell. But the complaint of dereliction which the Saviour then uttered, the sense which all nature had of its Creator rising in wrath, when the earth trembled, the rocks were rent asunder, and the grave gave up its dead, testify that they were such as God only could inflict, and the Son of God only could sustain.

Never was there sorrow like unto this sorrow wherewith the Lord now chastened him in the day of the fierceness of his anger. Upon his agony in the garden, an angel from heaven strengthened him. But in this hour, when he bore the sins of his people, when the pangs of death took hold of him, when the sorrows of hell encompassed him; in this hour of unutterable woe, where were the heavenly messengers, and where was the countenance of his Father, which used to comfort him, and to smile upon him? Alas! from his Father proceeded those very sufferings,

From such a subject, Christians, what sentiments arise in your breasts and what reflections ought we to conclude with? How is the condition of our Redeemer now changed! From a scene of terror and distress, he is exalted to the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. As the sun broke out from the eclipse which it then suffered, so did the light of his Father's countenance upon his soul. Shame, and sorrow, and suffering, were succeeded by glory, and victory, and triumph.

What consolation does not this yield to Christians in all their afflictions! The high-priest under the Law was taken from among men, that he might have compassion on the ignorant, and on those who were out of the way; for that he himself was also compassed with infirmity. So likewise "we have not a high-priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, but without sin." hoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high-priest, in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people: for in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."

"It be

I shall conclude with another reflection. Persons of humane and compassionate feelings, when they hear the account of their Saviour's sufferings, are apt to be moved with pity for his distresses,

breaking of bread. He shall say unto your souls, "Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee;" and inspire into you the well-grounded hope of sitting down with him at his table above, where in his presence ye shall rejoice for evermore. Which may God grant, and to his name be the praise !-Let us pray.

SERMON XXXIV.

and to be actuated with indignation against his enemies. But these passions, in the present case, my brethren, are misapplied. Weep not for me, ye daughters of Jerusalem," said our Lord, when in the midst of his sufferings. These sufferings were not intended to excite the sighs of sensibility, and the tears of distress. Sympathy is not the proper return for his love. His sufferings are the objects of your faith, and ought to awaken your gratitude. Neither vent your wrath against the enemies and the crucifiers of your Saviour. Look inwards, O man! search thine own bosom: there dwell the murderers of thy Lord. Thy sins, thy crimes, thine unhallowed desires and unmortified passions MATTHEW XXVIII. 6.-"Come, see the place were the actors in that dreadful scene. The Jews and Romans were but instruments in their hands: but the feeble executioners of that wrath which they provoked and drew down. On these, there fore, exhaust thy vengeance: bring forth those enemies of thy Saviour, and slay them before his eyes.

How will it affect the mind with contrition and godly sorrow, when, on this solemn occasion, you call up your past sins to your remembrance! How will it grieve you to think, as one by one they pass before you in review, that each of them added a pang to your Saviour's agony, and formed the bitter ingredients of that cup which he drank! Will not this consideration break your covenant with death, and disannul your agreement with hell? Can you ever again cherish those sins in your heart, which not only crucified the Lord of glory upon Mount Calvary, but which even now crucify him afresh, and put him to open shame ?

But, Christians, I hope better things of you. On this occasion, let me beseech you, by the sufferings of your crucified Redeemer, to break off your iniquities by repentance. Resolve sincerely, by the grace of God, to live no longer in sin. Finally, implore the assistance of the Divine Spirit, to renew your wills, and purify your souls. Then may ye rejoice in this the day of your solemnity, and be welcome guests at the table of the Lord. Then shall ye be joyfully invited to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Then shall Jesus manifest himself to you in the

ON THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.

where the Lord lay."

WHEN our Saviour expired upon the cross,
the cause of Christianity seemed to be
lost. Rejected by that nation to whom
he was sent, condemned under the forms
of a legal trial, and crucified as a male-
factor before all the people, an effectual
bar seemed to have been put for ever to
all his designs. It then seemed that all
was over. A people whom their prophets
taught to look for a king, did not look for
him to come down from a cross; a nation
who expected the appearance of a Messiah,
did not expect him to appear from the
grave. His followers were few in num
ber, and feeble in spirit. Although he
had frequently foretold his death, the idea
of a temporal prince was so strong in their
minds, that they could not reconcile them-.
selves to the thought of a suffering Sa-
viour; and though he had also on various
occasions foretold his resurrection, they
were so much under the power of preju-
dices, deeply rooted, that they either did
not understand, or did not believe, his
predictions. When he was apprehended
by a band of soldiers, they forsook him
and fled; they had not courage to attend
him in the last hour of his life; to go
with him to the tribunal and to the cross:
afar off only, they followed with their eyes;
and beheld with tears, him whom they ex-
pected to behold no more.
gave up all for lost. The sun, which was
soon after darkened by a preternatural
eclipse, and the rock which was rent asun-
der by an earthquake, appeared to be the

Then they

sad tokens of a glory that had departed, I desire to look." Much more then doth it and of a kingdom that was to be no more. Dark and dismal were the shades of that night which descended on the Saviour's tomb: the hearts of the disciples were troubled, and their Comforter was gone. All the scenes of their past lives, the miracles they had seen, the discourses they had heard, the hopes they had entertained, were like a dream; they abandoned themselves to despair, and, as we learn from the evangelist Luke, they were about to leave Jerusalem, and betake themselves to their old employments.

become us to contemplate the life and death and resurrection of our Lord; for he took not on him the nature of angels, but of the seed of Abraham. Christians! you have this day beheld your Saviour set forth crucified among you; let us now contemplate him as arising from the dead, and appearing in glory: you have already sat at the foot of the cross, and I hope reaped benefit from the commemoration of your Redeemer's passion; let me now carry you to the tomb, to behold "the place where the Lord lay."

Behold then, in the first place, in the resurrection of your Lord, the proof that the redemption of the world is accomplished.

Our salvation is every where ascribed in Scripture, to the death and passion of our Saviour. As our great High Priest, he made an atonement for the sins of the world upon the cross; his death was our redemption, and his blood the ransom that was paid for the soul: but his resurrection was the proof, that the sacrifice which he offered up was accepted by God, and that the price which he paid, was available for our recovery. By his suffering unto death,

While the enemies of Jesus triumphed, and his friends lamented, the counsels of heaven were executing, and the operation of the Almighty was going forward. We read in the Gospel of Matthew-" In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. we were freed from condemnation; but And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: For I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: For he is risen, as he said: Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

Thus the pro

our freedom was not made manifest till he arose from the grave. His resurrection then is the basis of the whole Christian institution, and the ground of our faith and of our hope in him. That Christ appeared on earth as a Great Prophet; The nativity of our Lord had been an- that he passed his days in instructing and nounced by an angel to the shepherds reforming the world; and that after a life of Bethlehem. "While they were abid- of eminent and exemplary goodness, he ing in the field, and keeping watch over died the death of a malefactor, was comtheir flocks by night, Lo, the angel of mon to him and others, whom God had the Lord came unto them, and the glory raised up to be the lights of the world, of the Lord shone round about them; and and patterns to mankind. the angel said unto them, Fear not, for be- phets of old were persecuted and destroyhold I bring unto you glad tidings of great ed by sundry kinds of death; thus the joy, which shall be unto all people; for martyrs, since the time of our Lord, were unto you is born this day, in the city of cut off in a cruel and ignominious manDavid, a Saviour, which is Christ the ner: but in their deaths there was no exLord." In like manner, his second nativ-piation for sin; the blood of the prophets ity, his resurrection to a new life, was here announced by an angel. What emotions would arise in the minds of these ministers of heaven, who had attended him through his life, we cannot tell this only we know, that "into these things they

and of the martyrs spoke no such language; their blood cried, indeed, to hea ven-not for mercy, but for vengeance against a guilty world. If Christ had died like one of them, and been heard of no more, how should we have believed that

His first appearance was not distinguished by marks of greatness or splendor. The wise men who came from the east to worship the King of the Jews, ex

his death had atoned to the penitent, for | demption of the world. The wrath of God all the blood that had been shed from the is atoned; the guilt of sin is taken away; foundation of the world? How should peace is made between God and man; and we have believed that the whole earth had there is joy in heaven over the world of obtained remission of sin from God, by de- the redeemed." That this sacrifice was stroying one prophet more? Although he acceptable and meritorious in the sight of had declared, that he was to be offered up God, he hath testified unto all men, by as a sacrifice, and to give his life a ransom raising his Son from the dead, by exalting for many, if he had never appeared again, him to his own right hand, and commitHow should we have known that the sacri- ting to him the sceptre of Providence, to fice was accepted, or that the ransom was rule and govern for the good of his Church. paid? The natural conclusion then to be In the second place, Christians, behold drawn was, that his labors had been in your Saviour at his resurrection, entering vain. Then might we have said with the into his glory. disciples, who were going to Emmaus, "We trusted that it had been He who was to have redeemed Israel;" but now all our hopes are buried in his grave. When he burst the bands of death, and rose victo-pected not to find him a babe at Bethlerious from the tomb, then it was manifest to all, that he had finished the work which the Father gave him to do. For if he had not accomplished his undertaking, and expiated the sins of the world, he had never been released from the prison of the grave. When he arose, therefore, and brought back with him the pardon which he had sealed with his blood; when, instead of executing wrath upon his enemies, he sent again the offer of peace and reconciliation, and took upon himself to be their intercessor, as he had already been their sacrifice, what room was there to doubt of the efficacy of his death, the efficacy of which was so undeniably confirmed by his resur-sition to him increased, and every act of rection?

Here, therefore, we hail the completion of that plan by which the world was to be redeemed; here we rejoice over the finishing of the new heavens and new earth, wherein righteousness is to dwell, and come to the close of the celestial song, which ascribed glory to God in the highest, peace upon the earth, and good will towards men. Now we may join in the triumphant language of the apostle, "It is God that justifieth, Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." As if he had said, "Who can condemn those whom God hath justified, and for whom Christ hath died? Our great High Priest hath now offered up the sacrifice which was requisite for the re

hem, lying in a manger. Descended of humble parents, and born in a mean condition, he passed his early life in obscurity, and in the labors of poverty. What the Prophet calls the "stem from Jesse,' was, at its first appearance, but a root out of a dry ground; it had no form nor comeliness, for which it could have been desired. Hitherto it had been only unknown and obscure; and at the time of his appearing unto Israel, he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. But even while he stood forth in the power of the Lord, and confirmed his mission by the miracles which he wrought, the oppo

charity he did to others, became a new source of misery to himself. During this time in which he went about doing good to all the sons of men, he had not where to lay his head. When he cast out devils, he was immediately charged with being in league with the prince of them. When he sat with publicans and sinners, he was called a glutton and a wine-bibber. When he healed the sick of their infirmities, and forgave their sins, then was he called a blasphemer, and an encroacher on the prerogative of God. When he restored the withered hand, and cured the blind or the lame on the Sabbath-day, then is he no longer fit to live. These were such offences as nothing but his death could expiate. And to death at last they brought him. He is betrayed by one of his own disciples, and carried to judgment. He

In the third place, Christians, behold in the resurrection of your Lord, your nature restored to its original dignity.

is charged with the most opprobrious | has all power committed to him in heaven crimes. In cruel sport they pay him the and in earth. mock honors of a prince; they crown him with thorns; they put a reed into his hand; they bow the knee before him, and, with profane and impious derision, cry, "Hail, King of the Jews." And that nothing might be wanting, to show how much he was despised and rejected of men, the question was put between him and a murderer, which should be released; and with one voice, the people answered, "Release unto us Barabbas." He was then nailed to the accursed tree, and died the death of a malefactor.

Man was at first made after the image of God, clothed with the robe of innocence, and crowned with the honors of immortality. There was no discord among the principles of his frame; no darkness in his mind, and no disorder in his heart. Happy and harmonious was the temper of his soul. Order, the great law of heaven, was also the law of man. He had a paradise without, and a fairer paradise within. And is this the Messiah whom the Jews But by his disobedience and fall he beexpected, and whom the prophets had fore- came a different person: his nature was told? Is this He, concerning whom degraded, and his dignity was lost. He Isaiah had prophesied, "Unto us a Son is who was the Lord of the inferior world, born, unto us a Child is given, and his and was invested with dominion over the name shall be called Wonderful, Counsel- works of nature, was now sunk into a state lor, the Mighty God, the everlasting little superior to the beasts that perish. Father, the Prince of Peace?" Is this This change was the death of the man he who was to raise up the tabernacle of whom God had created; the divine life David; who was to repair the desolations was no more; the image of God lay buof many ages; who was to sit upon the ried under the ruins of iniquity. Hence throne of Zion, extend his dominion from the human form in Scripture is called a sea to sea, and from the river to the ends" body of death; " and the world is said of the earth? Yes, it is he! But, as the to be "dead in trespasses and sins." But Scriptures foretold, he must suffer before as by man came death, by man came also he enter into his glory. Hence, saith the the resurrection to life. As in Adam all same prophet, when he shall be stricken for die, so in Christ all are made alive. "The the transgression of the people, and make creature was made subject to vanity, not his soul an offering for sin, then he shall willingly." We consented not to the deprolong his days, and the pleasure of the gradation of our nature; and he who subLord shall prosper in his hand. At his jected us in hope hath restored us again. resurrection, the prophesies of the Old Christ rose as the representative of all his Testament are understood, and the scan- people; as the Leader of an innumerable dal of the cross is wiped away. The his- multitude who shall follow him into the tory of the man of sorrows ends, and the heavens. Hence we are said in Scripture Lord of Glory appears. A brighter train to be begotten again by the resurrection of years begins, and a new era of happy of Christ from the dead; to be made alive time revolves. From the cloud which had with Christ; to be risen with him; and concealed him long, he now issues forth sit with him in heavenly places. Here in the beauties of immortality; from the then you behold your nature rising anew veil which had obscured him in the days from the tomb of Christ; fair as when it of his flesh, the splendor of his divinity first came from the hands of the Creator, now shines forth; celestial rays circle and when he saw his own image, and pronoundistinguish his head; and he appears to ced it good. Here you behold it rising be the Son of God with power, when he with additional honor; made at first a litcomes in triumph from the tomb, having tle lower than the angels, it was assumed subdued the powers of death, and leading by one who was greater than they, and is captivity captive. He now sees the tra- now dignified in heaven by him before vail of his soul, and is satisfied; he enters whose throne the angels of God worship. on the joy that was set before him; and In the last place, Christians, behold in