require benevolence towards our fellow-men? Before him was presented disease in every form, and he removed all by a word. There was no affliction too great for him to console, and no wound too deep for him to cure. 'He went about doing good.' His benevolence was untiring and inexhaustible, 'insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.'* Did our Master, even Christ, require resignation amidst the storms and tempests of affliction? Behold him in the garden of Gethsemane ! Hear his prayer in the midst of his agony, when 'his sweat was as it were great drops of blood:' 'Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.'t How amiable does our Master appear in this agonizing scene! What resignation! What fervent devotion! What a perfect conformity

to the will of the Father! What a blending of the Father and the Son! We feel almost as though we could say here, that the Father was the Son, and the Son was the Father! There was such a mingling and such a blending of characters that we begin to understand, and learn, seemingly, for the first time, the meaning of the declaration of the Master, 'I and my Father are one.'‡ But human language cannot present this subject. As well attempt to paint the rainbow! The heart only has a language. To see, to know the real character of this Master, there must

*Matt. xv. 31. † Luke xxii. 42—44.

John x. 30.

be a conformity to his precepts, a purity of life. 'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.'* Ah! I can now see why our Master is so often rejected. The world is too corrupt. I understand now the scoffs of the infidel. He has never experienced the love of the great Master, and therefore he derides his holy name. But it will not be always so, for it is written, 'They shall look on him whom they pierced.'+ Blessed be God for this consoling promise. Did we believe that sin and infidelity would reign forever, we could feel no ardor to go forward in the great Master's cause, but having the mighty promises to rest on, we 'thank God and take courage.'. Do we want a kind and compassionate Master? Then look to Jesus. Such gentleness, such compassion, never before met in a single individual. Hear his gentle, his pressing invitation, 'Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' This is what the sinner has long sought for. This Master comes, and not only calls, but knocks, and kindly invites you to receive him into your house as your friend and Saviour. And he not only knocks, but he stands there waiting, and yet you are backward and unwilling. And not only so, but he makes promises what he will do, if you will admit him: 'If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.'§ Though you may be ever so poor, ignorant or blind, yet this

Master will receive you. In the language of Martha then, though employed on another occasion, we may say, 'The Master is come and calleth for thee.' 'Come, for all things are now ready.' The fatted calf is killed, and the best robe is prepared.

In conclusion, we must remember, that 'no servant can serve two masters.'* He who is our Master, even Christ, must have our undivided affections. 'He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.' This is the first lesson in his school. It was proposed in the days of his flesh to all those who would become his disciples. 'Go,' said the great Master to the young man who proposed to become one of his disciples, 'go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow me, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.' But he could not even bear the first lesson in the school of this Master, and therefore 'he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.' And how few of our race, from that age to the present, have been able to receive this lesson! It is the door to the kingdom; it is the great initiatory truth. It is the first rudiment. Wealth, fame, and power have engrossed the attention of the world, and few, very few, have been ready to renounce them all, and enter the school of our Master, even Christ. And yet this Master has unsearchable riches; his yoke is easy, and his burden is light! Finally, let us remember, that we have 'a Master in heaven,' and therefore we should 'continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.' What a blessed state of society

*Luke xvi. 13. † Matt. xix. 16-22. + Col. iv. 1, 2.

there would be on earth, if all would consent to be governed by the lessons of this Master! Now Christendom is rent into a thousand sects, and each one is striving for the mastery! Oh! may the love of the Master be shed abroad in all our hearts. Then 'the works of the flesh' would cease: 'adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.' Then would all possess 'the fruit of the Spirit,' which is 'love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain-glory, provoking one another, envying one another.'*

But we must close, and we feel that we ought once more to go back to the point from which we started; and we hope that the lesson will not fall lightly upon the ear of the reader: 'Neither be ye called masters, for one is your Master, even Christ.'

* Gal. v. 19-26.

LIV. MEDIATOR.

'For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.' 1 Tim. ii. 5.

THIS word occurs seven times, and is applied to the Saviour in four instances. It seems rather to designate an office of the Redeemer than a title, though it may be considered in either light with propriety.

There seems to be something in the human heart that leads man to look for a Mediator. Such are our imperfections and our guilt, that we seem to be deterred from coming immediately into the presence of an Omnipotent and Omniscient Being. We like some medium through which we can offer our homage. The mind loves to ascend gradually to a Being whom it is said the heaven of heavens cannot contain.' Such has been the feeling of man throughout the whole earth. Both Jews and Gentiles have a notion of a Mediator. The Jews call the Messiah, the Mediator or Middle One. The Persians call their God Mithras, a Mediator; and the demons, with the heathens, seem to be, according to them, mediators between the superior gods and men. Indeed, the whole religion of Paganism was a system of mediation and intercession. 'Among the Sabians, the celestial intelligences were constituted mediators; among other idolaters, their various idols; and this notion