these cords of men, to him whom they acknowledge as their God. They sympathise with his sorrows, and read the history of his hard and afflicted life, with all the tenderness and pity of a common nature. They behold their Saviour, exposed to the scorn, a victim to the injustice and cruelty of the world. They see him, of whom the world was not worthy, destitute, afflicted, tormented. They see him oppressed, despised, and rejected of men. They see his agony in the garden, and his pangs upon the cross. And while tears of sorrow and of pity flow from the believer's eyes, for one who was bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; and while gratitude, of the deepest kind, mingles with that pity, from the consideration that it was for his sake, and for his salvation, that this Lamb was led to the slaughter-this being of spotless purity, became a sin-offering, a curse, and an outcast from God's favour: these, I say, are the powerful attractions which draw the soul to Christ; which conform it, by the principle of assimilative transmutation, into the image of that Saviour, whom to resemble is to pass from death unto life, and from the power of Satan unto God.

It is, then, God thus brought near in his humiliation, that becomes the great principle of salvation here. And it is to behold that same Saviour,

once a child of sorrow for our sakes, now exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high, which will constitute, I firmly believe, the crown of the blessedness of ransomed souls, in heaven. "These are they which came out of great tribulation; and have washed their robes, and made them white, in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him, day and night, in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." It is the remembrance of what their Saviour was, compared with the glory in which he now shines forth, as the God and Sovereign of all worlds: yes-this will be, to them that love him, the subject of the new song, spoken of in the fifth chapter of this book :—a song never sung in heaven, till the Son of God came down, to seek and to save a lost race, and added to his many crowns that which he wears as the great Captain of our Salvation: for which he endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is now set down on the right hand of God. “I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four

beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb, as it had been slain." "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests." "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever."

307

SERMON XX.

ST. MATTHEW, vi. 28.

"CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD."

Ar this delightful season of the year, it cannot, even in a religious point of view, be considered unsuitable, to turn our thoughts to the fertility and beauties, which lie scattered every where upon the face of nature. Providence has, doubtless, placed them there for some gracious purpose. Of this reason itself would sufficiently assure us. But we are not left to our own conjectures in this matter. The Scriptures constantly invite our attention to these soothing and interesting objects. They ground their best instructions, and their most useful lessons, upon the materials which these afford, and the illustrations which they supply.

The Psalmist, in particular, while he dwells upon these pleasing themes, leads the mind through all the varieties of nature, and all the scenes of pastoral life. He points our view to the

* Preached in the month of May.

cattle upon a thousand hills; and to the flocks feeding upon their green pastures. He conducts us through valleys, smiling with plenty, and standing thick with corn, to cooling and refreshing streams, and under the shade of trees planted by the rivers of water. A greater than the Psalmist, also, was wont to employ this engaging method of instruction. On this account, as well as from its accordance with the purity of his own heart, he, doubtless, made the garden of Gethsemane his frequent place of converse with his disciples. From the rising sun, the descending rain, and every natural object which, therein, met his view, he drew his lessons of heavenly wisdom. That such was his mode of teaching, appears from various passages of Scripture. But in none is it more beautifully displayed, than in that from which the words before us have been taken. "Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And

why take ye thought for raiment? lilies of the field, how they grow.

Consider the

They toil not,

neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."