It was the day when the Lord Jesus arose from the dead, and re-appeared to his disciples. (Mark xvi. 9.)

It was named accordingly; and the name has, in the original, every appearance of having been a term in common use, generally employed for the purpose. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day” [εν τη κυριακῇ ἡμερᾳ.] (Rev. i. 10).

It was the day chosen a second time by our Lord, for a subsequent appearance to his disciples (John xx. 26).

It was a day when the disciples met, from the very first. That is, they met on the first Lord's day (John xx. 19); they met on the second (ver. 26); and so they went on; for example, a few weeks after. (Acts ii. 1. Compare Lev. xxiii. 16.)

It was the day when the Lord the Spirit first descended. (Acts ii. 1-4.)

It was the day when his gracious influences were afterwards especially imparted. (Rev. i. 10.)

Let us then keep holy this sacred day, with due reverence and solemnity, as being the Lord's ("This is the day which the Lord hath made"); with joy of heart (" we will rejoice and be glad in it"); expecting an especial blessing thereon ("Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord! O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity"); looking for our Lord's presence, especially in his house ("Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord"); proclaiming his Divinity ("God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light"); trusting in his atonement ("Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar"); calling upon his holy name, with blessings and thanksgivings ("Thou art my God, and I will praise thee; thou art my God, and I will exalt thee"); and encouraging each other to this service ("O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever").

LXXIV. When passing, at a late hour, through the streets of the metropolis, we may observe that, at particular periods, some of those who are still abroad and moving about, begin, as by a sudden impulse, to run. What is the cause of this? Is it some alarm of fire? Is there some midnight disturbance or broil? No. The watchmen are calling the hour.

Thus they are reminded of the time of night. Probably it is later than they supposed. Their arrival is looked for with displeasure, or anxiety; they quicken their pace, and hasten home.

These persons have no new reason for increasing their speed. The night would be just as far advanced, if there were no watchmen, to tell them so. Yet they hear the hour, the admonition is of service, and they profit by it.

Let not then our spiritual watchmen cease. Let them lift up the voice, and make themselves heard: and, however some may object, and complain of the disturbance, still let them go on through the night, and cry the hour.

LXXV. I believe in the holy Catholic Church. This is a kind of faith which, I fear, I have at times very little exercised. We must believe that there are Christians, and many of them;-a people created by the Lord, and by him preserved and maintained in the world; and that too, even when we see them not, or see but little of them. It is an article of faith.

LXXVI. At the hour of death, men call on Jesus.-The regular mode of Christian prayer, is to call upon the Father through the Son, approaching, by the appointed way, through that Mediator. But sometimes we call directly upon the Lord Jesus, especially in urgent circumstances, and obtain a speedy answer. For this practice we have full example and authority in his first followers.

It may suitably be done, for instance, in times of pressing danger; "Lord, save us; we perish: " when we are suddenly convinced of our sins or shortcomings ; “Increase our faith :” when made strongly conscious of his greatness, and of our own insensibility, ingratitude, and unbelief; "My Lord and my God!" and when about to depart and rest in him; Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

If prayers addressed to the Father through the Son are not always found availing, the reason may be, that we are not properly sensible of the dignity of the Mediator through whom we draw nigh, and who has said, "Whatsover ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." He has also said, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me: "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the

Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." Hence it is necessary that we should feel our dependence on him; and as Pharaoh referred the Egyptians who came to him to Joseph, so the Father refers all applicants to the Son. Hence, also, when we call upon the Father, it may sometimes seem that we call in vain, and that there is none to answer; which is occasionally the experience even of believers. But it may be questioned if this is ever our experience, when we call on Jesus. In him we have God always nigh, and his ear always open to us. And in him is fulfilled the promise," Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." We call upon the name of the Lord, in calling upon Jesus Christ; are delivered from all our troubles, and glorify the Father in the Son.

LXXVII. We may observe, that, when an animal is about to be slaughtered, its drivers will sometimes lay aside all shew of compassion towards it, urge it roughly forward, strike it with sticks, and beat it about the head, with shouts and aggravated violence as if their thought was, "What matter? It will soon be killed."-This may help to explain the nature of our Lord's last sufferings. Surrounded by fierce looks and ferocious cries, deserted, bound, dragged a prisoner, rejected, mocked, smitten, scourged, crowned with thorns, bleeding, spitten upon, exhausted, silent, blindfolded, and buffeted, truly he is led-" as a lamb to the slaughter!"

In these last sufferings of Christ, previous to his crucifixion, let the Christian find a defence against the last assaults of terror, pain, distress, and anguish, previous to his decease.

LXXVIII. "And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison; but Rebekah loved Jacob" (Gen. xxv. 28). Isaac's reason for loving Esau is here expressly stated; "because he did eat of his venison." Rebekah's reason for loving Jacob will be found in the first clause of the verse.

So, again, "Isaac spake to Esau his son ;" and "Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son" (xxvii. 5, 6).

LXXIX. "He KNEW that for envy they had delivered him.” If we act from spiritual and religious motives, we must not expect to have them acknowledged or appreciated by the world. "He that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." But if, on the contrary, we act from worldly motives, use what disguise we will, the world sees through it with ease. Thus the enemies of Christ alleged plausible reasons for wishing Pilate to crucify him; but Pilate saw through them all. "He KNEW that for envy they had delivered him."-Too often an envious, a selfish, a covetous, a sordid, a treacherous, a vindictive motive, for dealing harshly with a brother, when duty is the plea. And when so, the world is sure to find it out. "He KNEW that for envy they had delivered him.”

LXXX. We may consider the subject of repentance under twenty-seven heads, each head containing three particulars : and if a man fail in any one of the three, under any one of the twenty-seven, he is lost. Ah, my dear brethren, this, after all, is not preaching the Gospel.

LXXXI. It is of faith, that it might be by grace.

LXXXII. The true secret of evangelical religion is, to see the Son, as he is seen by the Father. In other words; there is in Christ all excellency, beauty, loveliness, and perfection: He is the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his

person; the expression, transcript, manifestation, counterpart, fellow, and equivalent, of all that constitutes the Divinity of the unseen Father. Christ therefore is the object on which the Father has looked and will look, from eternity to eternity, with infinite satisfaction, as the image of his own perfections. Such is Christ in all his characters: in his Godhead, in his incarnation, in his eternity, in his life on earth, in his performances, in his sufferings. As to all these, he is excellent, perfect, and entirely satisfactory and well-pleasing, in the Father's sight. The invisible Godhead, which is the Father, sees in the manifested Godhead, which is the Son, where alone he can see it, what is perfectly satisfactory to himself.

The Father, then, tells us this. He says, "This is loved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

us.

my beIt is for us, then, to believe what the Father says, and to take the same view which he takes in other words, to see the Son as he is seen of the Father. This is the Holy Spirit's work. It can only be effected by a perfect change of heart in For naturally we discern no beauty, no excellence, in Christ naturally we are not disposed to discern any naturally we have not that in us, which can discern any. But when the Holy Ghost takes of the things of Christ and shews them to us, by the twofold work of presenting the view, and disposing our hearts to receive it in joy and faith and love, then is it that our minds are brought, as to this matter, into conformity to the mind of God: we take the same view of this only good and glorious Object which he takes: we feel, in our measure, that which with infinite complacency He feels; namely, that in the Eternal Son is all beauty, loveliness, and perfection: and, beholding, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. This is salvation.

LXXXIII. There are many troubles in life that we must pass through: there are many others, that we might pass over. To be able to do this, however, and to know when, is a fruit of Divine grace and wisdom which is not always attained to. Certain it is, that our great deliverance from trouble lies in the trouble which the Lord Jesus Christ endured for our sakes. And great occasion have we to believe, that his care carries us clear of many ills and sorrows, without our being conscious of it at the time. He leads us, as it were, at times, by a highway, a raised path, which carries us over the troubles which otherwise we should have to pass through. He appoints our course through a higher element, which trouble cannot reach.

LXXXIV. St. Mark seems to intimate to us a reason for

an ordained ministry; or for the appointment of certain persons, selected, commissioned, and set apart, to preach the Gospel. Many are forbidden by our Lord to declare his name, and then he appoints a certain number for this express purpose. Thus, when the man was cured of the leprosy, our Lord saith to him, "See thou say nothing to any man:" when unclean spirits fell down before him, and cried, saying, "Thou art the Son of God," he straitly charged them that they should not make him known. Then it is added, in the next verse but one, "And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." (Mark iii. 14.)

LXXXV. The holiness of our Lord's sacred person communicated a purifying influence to others, and prevented his contracting defilement from them. In general, if a Jew touched any unclean thing, he himself became unclean. But the leper, whom our Lord touched, was cleansed. The general principle, under the Law, is laid down in the second chapter of the Prophet Haggai. If the skirt of a garment containing holy flesh touched any common object, no holiness was imparted. But if, on the contrary, the same object were touched by an unclean person, a communication of uncleanness took place. That is, uncleanness was imparted from the unclean, but not holiness from the holy. But with the holy garments of our great High Priest, the case was different. The afflicted sufferer said, "If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole." And so it proved. Virtue passed from the Lord to her: no defilement passed from her to him.

LXXXVI. Have you courage to proclaim a truth from the pulpit, that would make half your congregation leave you ? LXXXVII. Answer to the above question." I should feel it my duty to them, to think twice before I did it. Nevertheless

LXXXVIII. The absurdity of some attempts to explain away passages of Scripture, will appear at once by extending the false principle of explanation to the context: for example, in the passage, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." This, say some persons, merely means that the Son of Man had no fixed abode, but went about from place to place. But let us explain the whole sentence on the same principle. It will then stand thus: "The fox is a stationary animal, and the birds never stir from home; but," &c.

LXXXIX. As to our miseries, we wish to be delivered; but as to our sins, we are too willing to keep them. It is observable, that persons afflicted with bodily maladies, such as leprosy