curse which you deserved to have borne. Come then, sympathise with your sorrowing Master in his sufferings. Come and look at this great sight, till sin appears above all things hateful, till Christ appears most precious and lovely, till your hearts are broken with sorrow for sin, and the love of Christ constrains you to feel and live to him who died for you. And while you look, lest you should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow, remember that he who is here set before you crucified as the Lamb of God, is now at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high; and hear him saying, Fear not. I am the first and the last.

A word to those who are now about to depart, or as the prophet expresses it in our text, to hide their faces from Christ. You have heard, my friends, of the sufferings of Christ. You now see him set forth crucified before you in the symbols of his body and blood. And have you no concern in these sufferings? Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Nothing to you, that the Son of God has appeared on earth as a man of sorrows, and suffered and died for the sins of the world? Yes, my friends, it is something, it is much to you. Whether you are interested in the benefits of his death or not, you are in some measure the occasion of it. He was wounded for your transgressions, he was bruised for your iniquities; and if you will now come and believe in him, you shall all by his stripes be healed. Will you view his sufferings unmoved? Will you persist in despising and rejecting him, and render his sufferings for you of no avail? Will you become accomplices with the betrayers and murderers of Christ, and by continuing to reject him, crucify to yourselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame? O be not so cruel to Christ, so cruel to yourselves. Listen to us, while in the name and as the messenger of this man of sorrows, we attempt to plead his cause, and persuade you to receive him. See him for your sakes dragged as a lamb to the slaughter. Hear him praying for his murderers, and for you who neglect him, Father, forgive them. Hear him saying, O sinner, did I suffer all this for thee, and is this the return you make? Do ye thus requite your Lord, your Saviour, O foolish people and unwise? O for your own sakes, for my sake, for the sake of all my sorrows and agonies, I beseech you not to destroy yourselves. My friends, do not your hearts begin to relent? Can you resist the pleadings of this man of sorrows? Do not your

sins begin to appear hateful? Do you not wish that you had confessed him ere this, and that you could now come and weep before him at his table? Do not your hearts begin to say, Lord it is enough. I will reject thee no longer. My hard heart has stood out against thine anger, but it cannot resist thy sorrows and thy love. If it is not too late, if thou canst receive such an ungrateful wretch, take me; for from henceforth I am wholly thine.

SERMON LVI.

CHRIST A KING.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power; for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.-1 CORINTHIANS XV. 24, 25.

NOTHING can more powerfully tend to give us just and exalted conceptions of Christ, than a due consideration of the various names, titles and characters by which he is described in the word of God. These names and titles, which are more than two hundred in number, include every thing which is great or glorious, amiable or excellent in the estimation of mankind. It would not be easy, neither is it necessary on the present occasion, to enumerate them all, but we wish to direct your attention particularly to one of them, viz., that of Ruler or King.

By this title he is very frequently described in both the Old and New Testament? Under this character it was predicted that he would make his appearance in the world, many years before his incarnation. Unto us, says the prophet, a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called the Prince or King of Peace. A similar prediction was uttered by Gabriel, to the virgin Mary, respecting him, previous to his birth. The Lord God, says he, shall give unto him the throne of his Father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and

of his kingdom there shall be no end. Numerous predictions to the same purpose may be found scattered thoughout the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms of David, and the prophecies of Isaiah and Daniel. In perfect conformity with these predictions, we find our Saviour, while on earth, using the language and exercising the authority of a king. I appoint unto you a kingdom, says he to 'his twelve disciples, even as my Father has appointed a kingdom unto me. Similar language he used when arraigned at the tribunal of Pilate, though he knew that death would be the consequence. My kingdom, says he, is not of this world. Then said Pilate, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest I am a king; to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world. The same truth was taught by the apostles after his resurrection and ascension to heaven. They represent him as being seated on the right hand of the throne of God, upholding all things by the word of his power; acting as head over all things to his church. To the same purpose are the words of our text: He must reign, till all enemies are put under his feet and then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, after he shall have put down all other rule, authority and power. This is confessedly an important and instructive, but at the same time a very difficult passage. In attempting to explain it, we shall aim to avoid being wise above what is written. Our design is, to describe, so far as the Scriptures enable us, the nature, origin, progress, and termination of that kingdom, which Christ is here represented as delivering up to the Father.

I. With respect to the nature of this kingdom, we may observe, that it is not a temporal or earthly kingdom! Here lay the grand mistake of the Jews. The prophecies of the Old Testament had taught them, that the promised Messiah was to be a king; and as they could form no conception of a spiritual kingdom, they fondly imagined that he would make his appearance on earth as an earthly monarch, and not only deliver them from the Roman yoke, but reduce the whole world under their authority. Even his own disciples fell into the mistake, and continued in it till after his resurrection; for at that period we find them saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? It was not till the Holy Spirit, who was to

guide them into all truth, had been poured out upon them on the day of Pentecost, that they began to form more correct opinions respecting the kingdom, which their Master came to establish. They then learned that his kingdom was to be erected in the hearts of men; that it consisted in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and that he was enabled to be a king and a Saviour, that he might give repentance and remission of sins to his people, and deliver them, not from temporal, but spiritual bondage.

The kingdom which Christ is here represented as delivering up to his Father, is not that which he originally possessed as God. You need not be told, that he is God and man in one person, and that as God he is equal with the Father, and shares in that eternal, underived and uncontrollable authority, which he exercises over all the works of his hands. In this respect, he and his Father are one, and possess the same kingdom; and this kingdom he neither will nor can resign, though he may for a time suspend the exercise of his divine authority.

What then is the kingdom, which Christ is here said to deliver up to his Father.

I answer, it is the Mediatorial kingdom, or kingdom of grace, that kingdom which, he holds as God and man united, and which he received from his Father in consequence of his undertaking the office of Mediator. That we may form clearer ideas of the nature of this kingdom, we must consider, as was proposed,

2. Its origin and design.

We are told by the apostle that in the beginning, that is, before the world was formed, or the plan of redemption laid, the Word was with God, and that the Word was God. The Word then dwelt in the bosom of the Father, and shared with him the throne of the universe. As the apostle expresses it, he was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God. God was then all in all: The names of Father, Son, and Spirit were unknown, though that mysterious distinction, on which these names are founded, then existed in the divine nature. There was no Mediator between God and his creatures; for all creatures were then holy, and consequently needed no mediator to interpose between them and God. Sinners only need a mediator. Holy beings may approach God in their own.