the Lord Jesus was upon the cross, he said "It is finished." Would that have been the case had he not accomplished all that was meritoriously necessary ?

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It is true, that we must repent of sin; that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord; but this is a part of the salvation: for no one ever really repents till he looks to the Saviour. It is said, They shall look on me whom they have pierced, and mourn." Not till then. They may, indeed, like Judas, have some remorse of conscience; but till they see that by their sins they have pierced the Lamb of God, they never will possess that godly sorrow which leadeth to "repentance not to be repented of."

We therefore bless God for that encouraging motive, LOOK AND LIVE. Surely such a motive cannot but affect the heart. What! is it all true? Will the Lord, without any merit of mine, save me upon coming to him? Surely these glad tidings cannot but rejoice the heart, and make it willing in the day of his power.

And yet this is not the only motive: another, contained in the text, is the pleasantness of the way.-If God had seen right, he might have some hateful object before us. How hideous are the idols the Heathen worship! Who has not heard of the horrible appearance

set

of the idol Juggernaut? The Mexican gods, as they are profanely termed, are equally terrifying. One of them is of a most gigantic size, seated upon huge snakes, and expressly denominated Terror. But on whom are we directed to look? Upon the Lord Jesus Christ; even upon him of whom the great and glorious God says, "Behold my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." If we can conceive any one pleasure greater than another, it is this; for the highest part of heavenly bliss is to behold Him" eye to eye and face to face." Here we are called by faith to the same privilege, for obtaining salvation. It is astonishing that any should object to so delightful a mode. Surely it is pleasant to behold grand and sublime prospects; but where shall we see such sublimity as is manifest in the Lord Jesus? "How great is his goodness! how great is his beauty!"

But there are still other motives in the text for attending to this proclamation: for such is the love of our Redeemer, that it is not by one, or even many motives, that he would engage us : line upon line is written, and blessing upon blessing is promised, to allure us to be happy. The next motive, therefore, that the text mentions, is the extent to which this salvation may be obtained. "Look unto me, and be ye saved,

ALL YE ENDS OF THE EARTH."-No man can be acquainted with sincere Christians, without knowing the difficulties felt by many on account of some of the higher doctrines of the Gospel-of that one more particularly which makes known that God has a chosen people. When we consider the infinite foreknowledge of God, or study the Holy Scriptures with simplicity, or read the Seventeenth Article of our Church, we cannot imagine that God was unacquainted with the work he was about to undertake; that he had not a settled plan, as to the persons who would finally be benefited by the death of his Son: for it was by far too important a plan to be conducted upon an uncertainty. But whilst this is the case, with the secret decrees of God we have no concern. Our blessed Saviour's command is general: "Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." His offer is without exception: "Whosoever will, let him come." And here his proclamation is most extensive : "Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth.” Yes, if we had a voice which could sound from Pole to Pole, or reach from the western coast of America to the eastern point of China, we might proclaim this word,―That every one in those distant countries was included. And this not in a general way, but in the most particular

manner we might come to every city, town, village, hamlet, yea, to every cottage, and say, "Look, and be ye saved." Surely this is a most encouraging motive, That if any heart feels an inclination-and the Lord is willing to give that inclination--there is no exclusion; but whosoever will, may come and take the water of life freely.

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This encouragement depends upon a most important fact our text presents us, as a still further motive,-the Deity of Messiah: "FOR I AM GOD."-Who, my brethren, with a teachable spirit, could for a moment doubt the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ? Does not our text plainly direct us to look to the Speaker, because He is God? But to whom does St. Paul, in the xiith chapter of the Hebrews, desire the whole Christian church to look? To Jesus of Nazareth: Laying aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us; let us run with patience the race which is set before us, looking unto JESUS." How can we look to two objects at the same time? Or what servant of the Most High would command us to take off our eyes from God, and fix them upon a creature? No; the Old and New Testament speak of the same Person. And we bless and praise God for this clear proof of the Deity of our Lord Jesus: for it is upon his Godhead

that his preceding declaration depends. If he were not God, how could he save all the ends of the earth? But if he be, as he is, GoD, then all things are possible with him; then he has power to forgive all sin, to change all hearts, and give strength for every time of need.

The Lord mentions but one more motive for attending to the precept, but this one of the last importance: it is this; "For I am God, and there is NONE ELSE."-No; if we reject him, we shall in vain seek for salvation from any other. To suppose that God had two ways to his kingdom, would be to lower him to the weakness of man. This is the cause of their numerous schemes, that, if one plan fails, they may have recourse to another. But who can suppose the plans of God can fail? No one: since He has declared, that "His counsel shall stand, and that he will do all his pleasure." And his plan is this; Looking unto Jesus." “ I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." "There is salvation in no other; there is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved." "This is the record, That God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."

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