Observe, secondly, the affection of the Saviour to his members. When labouring under distress, we are sometimes tempted to think that the Lord hath absented himself forever, and that Jehovah hath forgotten to be gracious! Remember, in such an hour of trial, that the Lord is at hand, and that it is the weakness of our faith which obscures our view of his presence. Never was the Almighty more sensibly present with the three faithful Hebrews, than when they were committed by their enemies to the flames. He was with them in the furnace, and preserved them unhurt in the midst of the devouring fire! The bush was in a blaze, yet it escaped without injury. Never was the blessed Jesus more beloved by his Father, than in the moment in which he was on his knees in Gethsemane, sweating, as it were, great drops of blood, and crying out in agony of spirit, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" "Trust, then," I entreat you," in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."

Finally; reflect for a moment upon the different situation of those who love God, and of those who live in disobedience to his laws. To those who have bowed themselves before the sceptre of divine love, Jehovah will be as a wall of fire, to protect and shield them from every evil; for "I will be unto Jerusalem, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." Not only a hedge, such as he raised around Job; not only walls and bulwarks, which may be battered down and destroyed; not only a mountain, which may be gotten over; but he will be a wall of fire, which can neither be broken through nor undermined; a wall which cannot be approached without danger to an assailant; and God himself will be that wall, not only on one side, but round about on every side. To those who refuse to submit to his righteous authority, and will not have the Almighty to rule over them, our God will prove a consuming fire, for "the wicked shall be turned into hell," "where the worm dieth not, and the fire never shall be quenched." Seek then, I beseech you," the good-will of him who dwelt in the

bush," and though the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, and the elements melt with fervent heat, you will be secure amidst the general conflagration, and be advanced to that region of happiness where sorrow and sighing find no admission, and where every tear shall be wiped from your eyes.

SERMON IX.

"He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."-ST. LUKE, iv. 18.

WHEN We seriously and attentively reflect upon those benevolent principles which constitute the Christian dispensation, in how amiable and commanding a light does the gospel of Christ Jesus appear. The Almighty, instead of pouring upon a guilty world the vials of his wrath; instead of arising in awful majesty to take vengeance upon the disobedient, he appears to our view in the attractive tenderness of a parent, commiserating our blindness and perverseness, and providing a remedy for our relief. By him an immaculate lamb hath been prepared to make an atonement for transgression, in whom "mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other."

Animated with the glowing subject of redemption, the inspired prophets struck the lyre of celestial joy. When proclaiming to a ruined world the appearance of the Son of God, they represent him as the Saviour of the penitent; the friend of the distressed; the physician of the sin-sick soul. To secure the confidence of mankind in his wisdom, and to call their attention to those dispositions of mercy which would mark his life, they represent him as "a wonderful counsellor," "the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." They speak of him as the light of the world; that Being

through whose sacred influences the wilderness of the world should be divested of its moral darkness, and the desert of the human mind be made to blossom as the rose. "Behold," says Isaiah, "my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench." "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom." "I will bring the blind by a way which they knew not, I will lead them in paths which they have not known." (Jeremiah, also, animated with the same sensations, thus introduces the Saviour to our view: "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his day Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.) In perfect agreement with the language of prophecy, Jesus, the Redeemer, descended from the courts of heaven to preach peace on earth and good will to men. To emancipate our ruined race from the dominion of sin and hell formed the object of his mission. To open a way for our escape from the ruin of the fall, and to conduct us to glory, he took our nature upon him; he atoned for our transgression by an offering of his own body on the cross, and irradiated the world with the light of divine instruction. Yes, with the language of reconciliation upon his lips, the messenger of the covenant of grace and mercy appeared :-"He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovery of sight to the blind." At such a declaration of mercy the heart of man should dilate with gratitude, and in a burst of joy should welcome hissapproach. "Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus. Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever."

That truths of the most important nature are contained in the specific declarations of the text, must appear evident to all who are disposed to reflect. That there are

certain situations in which man may be involved, to which those declarations are peculiarly appropriate, is a self-evident truth; a truth known to all who are acquainted with the divine life, and who have experienced the exercises of mind to which they immediately refer. I shall, therefore, endeavour, with that aid which I shall derive from the sacred writings, to explain each particular feature of my subject ; and may God, in infinite mercy, sanctify it to us all, and render it conducive to the comfort of the sincere inquirer.

"He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted." It frequently occurs that the human mind, when first convinced of sin, becomes so oppressed with a sense of personal transgression (and in the expression of personal transgression I include the omission of our duty to God) that all the assurances of mercy with which the page of revelation abounds, fail in communicating that relief which they are intended to convey. The soul, under such circumstances, becomes exceeding sorrowful; involving the individual sometimes in the most extreme distress. As the convinced sinner knows that he hath offended God, and as God has declared himself the avenger of sin, his mind becomes tremblingly alive to his situation, and his distress bows him to the earth. It was this part of religious experience to which David alludes in the fifty-first Psalm, in which he speaks of a broken and a contrite heart. From the general tenor of that portion of sacred writ, it is evident that the light of the divine countenance was withdrawn from the mind of the Psalmist, and that he was involved in the deepest darkness. "I acknowledge my transgression," said the royal sufferer," and my sin is ever before me." It is recorded of Philip, the renowned king of Macedon, that in order to prevent the victories he had achieved from inspiring his mind with pride, he commanded his page to address him every morning with this salutation, "Philip, remember thou art a man." In the same way, when the Spirit of God exercises its power upon the soul, that power evidences its existence and presence, by giving the individual who feels its influence, a humiliating view of himself, and by