Christ might well observe, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."

Nor was he less a King than a Priest and a Prophet. "Our Lord Jesus Christ," says St. Paul to Timothy, "who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords." David also called Him his Lord-"The Lord said unto my Lord."-And Daniel, when imploring God to hearken to his prayer, entreats it "for the Lord's sake. "Now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake;" which is precisely similar to our own practice. We ask always in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ; and here the words can only be understood of Christ. Therefore the Saints of old prayed, as we are commanded to do, in His

name.

There are many places in the Old Testament which speak of Christ's Kingdom as existing at that time. For instance, in the Psalms it is said,

Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of Thy Kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." This passage, St. Paul tells the Hebrews, was spoken of the Son; and it could be spoken of no other, because He is said to be anointed by God-by

His God, who had elevated Him so much above his fellows, and whom Christ Himself frequently speaks of as His.

Again, when three persons appeared to Abraham, he addressed them all as one-saying, "My Lord, if now I have found favour in Thy sight, pass not away, I pray Thee, from Thy servant." That he addressed the true God appears from His being called JEHOVAH, or "THE LORD;" and because Abraham asked, in the urgency of his entreaty-" Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" But then we are told by Christ Himself, that "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Therefore it was God the Son, who then as a righteous King, executed judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah. It was the same Christ also, whom the Israelites tempted in the wilderness, and who, as a king, destroyed them. For St. Paul warns us not to "tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents."

From what has been said then, we may perceive the exact accordance which there is between the Old Testament and the New; and from hence deduce the infinite reason with which the Articles of our Church declare, that "they are not to be heard which feign that the old fathers did look only for transitory promises "-since, throughout the Scriptures, everlasting life has been offered to mankind through Christ.

Lastly, we may collect from hence the unshaken basis of our belief in Him for salvation. Being an Almighty Saviour, He is able to save all that come unto Him-all that labour and are heavy laden and would have rest. Let each of us avail himself of these mighty benefits; let us trust on Him alone for grace and pardon; so that, with the twelve thousand of every tribe in Israel, and with the innumerable companies of glorified Saints of other nations, we may be qualified to join in the triumphant chorus of the Apocalypse-" Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever."

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SERMON XV.

THE TEARS OF CHRIST.

Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.-JOHN xi. 34-35.

THE mystery of death, the human mind bewilders itself in vain to unravel. In vain the mute and anxious gaze fastens itself upon the rigid countenance-traces the well-remembered similitude of the living to the dead-and wonders, in its own despite, that the difference of its condition is so vast and unintelligible. Whether moved by curiosity or affection-whether prompted by the restless longings of an inquiring mind, or by the anguish of a dissatisfied and rebellious heart; all our efforts to grasp the causes of that strange combination which seats an immaterial and immortal spirit within a mortal and material abode; or to comprehend the manner of its existence here-of its separation from the body, and of its final end and aim hereafter, are as ineffectual as our anxiety is eager. All that we can safely do, is to weep. "Jesus wept: " and the tears are sacred which He has sanctioned.

Amid the vast amount of this life's miseries,

we may rightly imagine, that there are none of a more pungent description than those which rend away the finest ties that nature has woven about the heart of man; which break up all its innocent affections-its dearest hopes-its most treasured blessings. Man indeed was created for social life, and endowed with those generous susceptibilities which receive pleasure chiefly by communicating it to others. This was one object of his existence. And though evil propensities -the rank and baneful weeds which belong ever to an abundant soil, have crept into his composition-though selfishness and vanity have corrupted, and pride has warped it from its original purity and heat; yet man in every condition of life-under every constraint of circumstanceis still a social being. Remark the Misanthrope -see him in all the diversitudes of his hatred towards mankind; and you will find his chief satisfaction to be derived from the appearing hostile to his race-from the notoriety and consideration which his bitter invectives may excite. It is a trick to create that attention which he affects to despise. It is disappointed pride-it is an overweening avarice of public opinion. It is unbounded vanity, claiming for itself that share of social regard, which society deems it meet to withhold. Even the Recluse feasts his solitary hours upon the remembrance of that community which he has forsaken; and whether he be led by