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ostentatious display of unreal feeling, for "he never knew guile." Though he no longer is accessible to grief; though no sorrow enters into the kingdom of unmingled bliss; though no tears are shed upon the throne of glory, yet he still urges you not to neglect the day of your visitation.

Can you doubt of this, when you remember the names "full of grace" which he bears, the intent of his incarnation, the tender invitations and encouraging promises he has given you, the sufferings that he underwent for your salvation, and the welcome reception which he has given to every sinner, who has fled to him for safety.

Listen also to the language which he uses as God. When he beholds sinners scorning his proffered grace, and obstinately rushing on to destruction, what is his conduct? Does he instantly dart forth his thunders, and sink them in despair? No! he affectionately cries, "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end:" (Deut. xxxii. 29.) "Oh that my people had hearkened unto me :" "Turn ye, turn ye from your will ye die" (Ezek. xxxiii. 11.) "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned

(Ps. lxxxi. 13.) evil ways; for why

within me; my repentings are kindled together :". (Hos. xi. 8.) Hear again the solemn assurance of God's holy word, that the Lord "is not willing that any should perish; but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth :" (2 Pet. iii. 9.)and lest this assurance should not satisfy us, confirming it by his oath, saying, "As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live:" (Ezek. xxxiii. 11.) It is true that these expressions are to be understood in a sense worthy of infinite perfection, and so as to exclude from the divinity any disappointment or sorrow. But even with these limitations, do they not convince you that the Redeemer, who now appears as "the mighty God," having "all power committed to him in heaven and on earth," desires not the sins or the miseries of man?

Do not suppose however, that because he entertains such sentiments towards you, he will save you, though you continue impenitent. His compassion is not a weak sorrow which interferes with the claims of justice. He pities you as he pitied Jerusalem; if you like it remain impenitent, the sword of vegeance shall descend upon you as it did upon this city; and the remembrance of your Saviour's compassion shall only aggravate your torment, and shall constitute the very hell of hell.

O then in time, weep with your weeping Saviour. Be not insensible to the tears of Immanuel. Let them not find the same hardness in your hearts as they did in those of the Jews. Let the terrors and mercies of the Lord, both of which are presented you in this event, urge you to turn to him. If these motives do not affect you, religion has no others to offer you, and all that we can do is to mingle our tears with those of our Saviour, in weeping over your destiny.

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But if on the contrary, you are now resolved to renounce your sins, and instantly to devote yourselves to the Lord, the church will receive you with transport; angels will rejoice at your repentance; the compassionate Jesus will bestow upon you a "peace which passeth understanding," and will at last bear you to the Jerusalem on high, where all tears shall be wiped from your eyes, and an everlasting peace dwell in your soul. There you shall forever fix your grateful view upon your Redeemer, and see him surrounded, not as on Mount Olivet, by a company of weak disciples, but by myriads of triumphant saints, with whom you shall join, while they swell the song of adoring praise, and cast their crowns before his throne.

SERMON V.

JESUS LEAVING PEACE TO HIS DISCIPLES.

JOHN xiv. 27.

"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."

THERE is no single event in the life of our compassionate Redeemer, which is not calculated to interest and instruct us. Whether we view him when the people hailed him as the promised Messiah, and shouted hosannas to the son of David, or when they covered him with reproaches, and pursued him with curses; whether we listen to him uttering the severest denunciations against the proud Pharisees, or giving the most tender assurances to the humble and broken hearted; whether we behold him mingling with the rude populace of Judea, that he might reclaim them, or retiring to the mount that, aloof from the world, he might hold sweet converse with his Father; whether we contemplate him clothed with the power of divinity and commanding all nature at his pleasure, or invested with our purest affections, taking little children in his arms and blessing them: In a

word, at whatever part of his conduct we look, we behold a character uniformly bright and glorious; admirable for its perfect combination of every virtue, attractive for its overflowing benignity and love.

But though all his conduct is godlike, nevertheless the last scenes of his life shine with peculiar splendour. In proportion as he draws nearer to its close, his charity appears to burn with a warmer flame, his divinity to shed forth brighter beams through the clouds which enshrouded it. This sun of righteousness, now that it is about to set, emits its mildest lustre, and collects, thus to speak, all its fires. The chapter whence my text is taken, and those immediately succeeding it, confirm this observation. They present to us Jesus surrounded by his dear disciples, on the evening before his crucifixion. He is not ignorant that in a few hours his soul will experience agonies unutterable, and the ground of Gethsemane be smoking with the blood gushing from his tortured frame. He looks at his disciples professing their attachment to him and foresees that before they sleep, one of them will betray him; another deny him with execrations, and all of them timidly abandon him to sustain his misery alone. He fully knows that he just touches that period, when he is to be scourged, buffeted, spit upon; loaded with curses; when his body suspended between heaven and earth is to be

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