decline, when the rays of light, few and feeble, the keepers of the house trembling, the loosening of the silver cord, the chillness of your blood, and the languor of your spirits, shall indicate that your connection with the world is dissolving, let the exercise of your faith, hope, and love, be such as will evince that you are heirs of heaven. Then, while survivors shall say as you have departed, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," Jesus will acknowledge you as his in the other world, and present you to his Father as the children whom he hath given him, and whom he hath formed to righteousness.

ADDRESS XXVI.

JOHN XIX. 34.

"But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water."

THE bodies of the dead are generally treated with all suitable care and respect. Surviving friends linger by their side in pensive tenderness. With decent usages they are attired for the coffin, and prepared for the grave; and the place of their repose is guarded with watchful care. The most savage natures seldom do an indignity even to the corse of an enemy, and no injury which a man may have done to others during his life, is thought to justify the abuse of his remains by any human being.

How different was the case with the body of our Lord Ere it was committed to the care of his friends,

one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and blood and water issued from the wound. This horrid outrage was committed by the soldier without any au thority from his superiors, and was designed to gratify his own barbarous humour, or the malignity of the Jews; but the most important ends were accomplished by it under the direction of an overruling Providence. If what is called by the Evangelist "water," was the fluid which surrounds the heart, the certainty of our Lord's death is demonstrated; for, to a person alive, such a wound must have been fatal. On the fact of our Lord's death the salvation of man depends; for if the Messiah did not die our guilt is yet unexpiated, the justice of God is still unappeased, and the penalty of the law is still to be endured. The death of Christ is the life of your hope, the price of your redemption, and the source of your courage in the prospect of dissolution. If it was water in the literal sense of the term, it was a miraculous testimony to the glory of the sufferer, and to the acceptance of his sacrifice, and was worthy of being recorded with all that solemnity and precision which mark the narrative of the Apostle John, and of being numbered with the prodigies which signalized the Saviour's death. It is remarkable that while John passes over in silence the external wonders which attended the crucifixion, he expatiates on this, and appears solicitous that his testimony to it should be credited. It was a display of power far more glori ous than that which, in the days of old, brought water from the flinty rock, and points out the death of Christ as an abundant and perpetual source of spiritual blessings

Meditate, Christians, on that which was represented by this stream of blood and water. It is the justifying. merit and the sanctifying grace of the blessed Jesus, and you know that both are absolutely necessary.

Man was guilty, liable to the divine vengeance, and utterly unable to give satisfaction for the least of his offences. In vain shall men surround God's altar with floods of tears or with streams of blood, for it is not possible that these can take away sin. Of what avail are the criminal's professions of sorrow, or his offers of his most valuable possessions, to stop the procedure of public justice against him; and can we suppose that they will appease the wrath of the Judge of all? If repentance cannot bring back to the prodigal the health he has lost, and the money he has squandered in his excesses, it is foolish to imagine that it can regain the peace he has forfeited, and avert the doom he has incurred. But behold the Saviour dies, his blood is shed for remission of sins unto many, and all that trust in it have peace with God. Such is the efficacy of this atonement, that the most aggravated offences may be forgiven for its sake, and the most powerful of all motives to holiness are those which it suggests. Do your hopes of pardon rest on the sacrifice of Christ? I trust this is your answer, "I have fixed my confidence there, and I will never withdraw it.”

But man also was polluted, his nature and life were depraved, and how shall this be removed? It is in vain to attempt it by palliating human depravity, or talking in swelling language of the dignity of our nature. The softening epithets applied to many vices prove only the low state of moral perception and feel. ing in those who employ them. The wisdom of this

world is foolishness with God, its splendid donations, the parade of vain glory, and the exploits which it celebrates as the noblest display of courage and pa triotism, are often the triumph of pride, cruelty, and revenge. It is the sanctifying grace of Christ which alone can renovate our nature, destroy its evil propen

sities, and form in it those principles and affections in the exercise of which we become assimilated to the divine image, and rise to the destined perfection of our being. Have you, Christians, experienced this sanctifying grace? If this is the case you will be shocked at the criminality of many things which you once regarded with indifference, your moral feelings will be quick and powerful, your low attainments in virtue will fill you with grief and shame, and your object in attending on the Lord's Supper will be to derive new influence from his death, in the advancement of his glory, and in the fulfilment of his will.

After the Service.

Contemplate with suitable emotions the amazing scene before you. The heart of the dead Saviour is to you a fountain of life. That heart is now laid open, it is the last discovery which is made of it before it is committed to the tomb, and you see that it is full of grace and truth. Often had it melted, and sorrowed, and groaned for you, now it weeps and bleeds, and still it is for you. Let your minds be filled with wonder at his grace, who, having loved his own in the world, loved them to the end, and made even his breathless body to suggest to you the lessons and the blessings of grace and consolation. The cross of Christ was a tree of life, and its healing balm drops without ceasing.

Your indignation is glowing against this ruffian soldier; direct it against the evil passions of your own hearts. You have wounded Christ in the house of his friends, by your folly and carnality, and there are aggravations in your conduct which are not to be found in that of this man. You are conscious of Christ's

innocence and dignity, which he was not; you have received proofs of regard which he did not, and have given pledges of serving him which he never made. Let such thoughts humble you. Look to him whom you have pierced, and mourn for him.

Say not, "I cannot look to him, for I am unable to bear the frown of anger and abhorrence with which he must survey a wretch like me ;" but you forget that "he waits to be gracious, and takes pleasure in them that hope in his mercy." When we turn our eyes to one whom we have injured, we may find him implacable. There may be something in his face which tells us more decidedly than can be done by words, that he can never forgive us; but when the penitent soul looks to Jesus, there is a mildness and a pity in his countenance which assure us that all is forgiven, and that it is his glory and his delight to save us. O generous Redeemer, it shall be my delight to love thee and to serve thee, and my grief while I live that I have offended thee so often, and hated thee so long. There is no frown on his face, and on his lips no sentence of exclusion from his presence and mercy. It is less injurious to him to question his Almighty power, than to doubt of the riches of his grace, and of the tenderness. of his compassion.

Implore clearer discoveries of the sufficiency and merit of the sacrifice of your Lord, and beseech him to give you a pledge that peace has been made by the blood of the cross, in his saying to you, ❝ I am paci.. fied to you for all that ye have done." O how delightful is it to hear the Father, whom we have offended, declaring himself reconciled to us, and the greatest and best of beings assuring us that he will be our God for ever! What a privilege is it to be thus warranted to hope that peace shall attend us in all the circums