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nourishing ordinance, which he instituted for the benefit of his church the same night in which he was betrayed. (1 Cor. xi. 23.) So tenderly did his love for them prevail when his heart was full of his own sorrows! May we always consider to what purposes this holy rite was ordained; and as we shall see the wisdom of the appointment, so we shall also be both awakened to attend to it, and assisted in that attendance !

It is the memorial of the death of Christ, by which we represent it to others, and to ourselves. May we be ever ready to give this most regular and acceptable token, that we are not ashamed to fight under the banner of a crucified Redeemer ! It is also the seal of the new covenant in his blood. Let us adore the grace that formed and ratified that everlasting covenant, so well ordered in all things, and so sure. (2 Samuel xxiii. 5.) And whenever we approach to this sealing ordinance may we renew our consent to the demands of that covenant, and our expectation of those blessings which are conveyed by it! a consent and expectation so well suited to the circumstance of its being ratified by the blood of Jesus. Thus may every attendance nourish our souls in grace, and ripen them for glory; that at length all may be fulfilled and perfected in the kingdom of God.

In the mean time may God, by the influences of his Spirit, give to all professing Christians right notions of this ordinance, and a due regard for it; that, on the one hand, none may, under the specious pretence of honouring it, live in the habitual neglect of so plain and important a duty; and that, on the other, it may never be profanely invaded by those who have no concern about the blessings of that covenant it ratifies, and impiously prostitute it to those secular views, above which it was intended to raise them! And may none that honour the great Author of it encourage such an abuse, lest they seem to lay the very cross of Christ as the threshold to the temple of those various idols to which ambitious and interested men are bowing down their souls!

SECTION XCIII.

JOHN XIV. 1—14.

LET not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye

may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest: and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father: and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall be do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

We see in the beginning of this section that care of Christ over his servants which may engage us cheerfully to trust him for providential supplies, when employed in his work; so we see in the remainder of this, and in the following discourses, the most affectionate discoveries of the very heart of our blessed Redeemer, overflowing in every sentence with the kindest concern, not only for the safety but the comfort of his people. We see a lively image of that tenderness with which he will another day wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Rev. vii. 17.) Surely when he uttered these words he was also solicitous that our hearts might not be troubled: and therefore has provided a noble cordial, the strength of which shall continue to the remost ages, even faith in his Father and in him. Oh may that blessed principle be confirmed by what we have now been reading !

Let us observe with what a holy familiarity our Lord speaks of the regions of glory; not, as his servants do, like one dazzled and overwhelmed with the brightness of the idea; but as accustomed and familiarized to it by his high birth. In my Father's house are many mansions; (delightful and reviving thought!) and many inhabitants in them, whom we hope through grace will be our companions there, and every one of them increase and multiply the joy.

It was not for the apostles alone that Christ went to prepare a place he is entered into heaven as our Forerunner, (Heb. vi. 20); and we, if we are believers indeed, may be said, by virtue of our union with him, to sit together in heavenly places in him. (Eph. ii. 6.) Let us continually be tending thither, in more affectionate desires, and more ardent pursuits. We know the way; we hear the truth; oh may we also feel the life! By Christ, as the true and living way, may we come to the Father; that we may have eternal life, in knowing him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent ! (John xvii. 3.) In Christ may we see him, and have our eyes and our hearts open to those beams of the Divine glory which are reflected from the face of his only-begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth! (John i. 14.) Has he been thus discovered to us, as our Father, and our God, let it suffice us. Let it diffuse a sacred and lasting pleasure over our souls, though other desirable objects may be veiled or removed; and engage us to maintain a continual fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John i. 3.)

To this we are invited by every declaration of his readiness to hear and answer our prayers: and though those miraculous powers of the Spirit are ceased, whereby the apostles were enabled to equal, or even to exceed, the works of their Master, yet as we have so many important errands to the throne of grace, in which the glory of God and the salvation of our souls is concerned, let us come with a holy boldness to it, in dependance on Jesus, that great High Priest over the house of God, who is passed into the heavens, and amidst all the grandeur of that exalted state regards his humble followers on earth, and ever appears under the character of their Advocate and their Friend.

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SECTION XCIV.

JOHN XIV. 15—31.

If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more: but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for

my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

Surely, if we are not entirely strangers to the Divine life, we cannot read such discourses as these without feeling some warm emotions of love to Christ; and if indeed we feel them, let us consider how they are to be expressed. Our Lord directs us to do it in the most solid and the most acceptable manner, by a constant care to keep his commandments; and surely such commandments as his cannot be grievous to a soul that truly loves him. (1 John v. 3.) The more we live in the practice of them, the more cheerfully may we expect the abundant communications of his Spirit to animate and strengthen us.

If we are Christians indeed, let us not, in any circumstance of life, look on ourselves as helpless and abandoned orphans. Human friends may forsake us; but Christ will come to us; he will manifest himself to the eye of faith, though to the eye of sense he is invisible; and his heavenly Father will love us; and watch over us for good: yea, he will come and dwell in the obedient soul by the gracious tokens of his intimate and inseparable presence. And do we any of us experience this? We have surely reason to say that by way of admiration which the apostle said by way of inquiry, Lord, how and whence is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not to the world! What have we done to deserve these gracious and distinguishing manifestations? Nay, how much have we done to forfeit them! even more than many, from whom they are withheld!

With unutterable joy let us review this rich legacy of our dying Lord peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you, Lord, evermore give us this peace with God, and with our own consciences! for if thou wilt give quietness, who can make trouble? (Job xxxiv. 29.) How serenely may we then pass through the most turbulent scenes of life, when all is quiet and harmonious within? Thou hast made peace through the blood of thy cross, (Col. i. 20); may we preserve the precious purchase and inestimable gift inviolate, till it issue in everlasting peace! In this let our hearts be encouraged; in this let them rejoice; and not in our own happiness alone,

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