V. But now, my young friends, come and see Jesus on the cross. This is a dreadful sight; but you and I must tarry a little at the cross before we part.

This cross was fixed on Calvary, a little way out of the city; and it consisted of a large piece of timber, several feet longer than a tall man, with a piece of wood across it, to which the hands were nailed. Your Savior was nailed to the cross; and when it made the blood gush out, instead of complaining of the soldiers for being so cruel as to nail him there, he uttered this prayer-"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Do you see those three women standing near the cross? I will tell you their names. The name of the first is Mary; and the name of the second is Mary; and the name of the third is Mary. All their names were Mary; and that word signifies bitterness. There was Mary, the mother of Christ; there was Mary, the wife of Cleopas; and there was Mary Magdalen. And there was a young man standing beside Mary the mother of Christ; and his name was John; and sobbing bitterly, because of the agonies of Jesus her son. And at three o'clock in the afternoon, a wonderful event took place; your Lord was nailed on the cross at nine o'clock in the forenoon, and at three o'clock in the afternoon (called, in Jewish calculation, the ninth hour,) when Jesus gave up the ghost, the whole sky became dark. What would be your surprise now, if all on a sudden this afternoon the sky were to become black, and the darkness so great, that you could not so much as see one another, sitting in your pews. Oh! I think I hear the children screaming, and exclaiming, Surely the end of the world is come. So great was the darkness, that the boldest men among the Jews fell upon the ground in terror. And the very earth shook; and the graves were torn open; and the veil of the temple was rent in two. But yet there is a sweet voice from the cross; and it is addressed to every little child. And the voice is this:

VI. Next, my young friends, come and see Jesus in his grave.

There was a funeral procession that evening; and it was the funeral of Christ. There are many that keep a certain day, called Good

Friday, to commemorate it; that was last Friday. There was no hearse with six beautiful black horses, and no undertakers by the side with their black rods tipped with brass, and there was no coffin. There was Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, and some of their servants or attendants, and some pious women; and they washed his body, and applied precious ointment to it; and they wrapped it gently and affectionately in a beautiful web of linen, that Joseph had purchased at one of the shops in Jerusalem; and they took another piece of linen, and wrapped it round his precious face; and then they carried his body to a beautiful garden belonging to Joseph, where there was a grave, that Joseph had prepared for himself, dug out of a rock. It was a beautiful place, probably more beautiful than the Cemetery at Highgate, which I greatly admire; it was adorned with citron trees and orange trees; and a large stone was rolled to the mouth of the grave, and some of the friends of Jesus watched the tomb. Oh! children, look at those lips which proclaimed the gospel, now silent in death; those hands which performed miracles, now motionless; those eyes which beamed with such love and compassion, now silent in darkness; that side, with an open wound, inflicted by the cruel spear.

But I have another sight to show you, and it is lovely and glorious; come and see Jesus rising out of the grave. Who is that flying through the skies, brighter than the morning star? It is an angel. Watch his course. He comes down with his golden wings, and he lights at the door of the grave, and in one moment he rolls the great stone from the mouth of the sepulchre, though it is so heavy that it would require a great many men to lift it. And then the blessed Jesus rises. I think I see him coming out of the grave; oh! what a lovely, placid, glorious countenance! Then is fulfilled that wonderful prediction"O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction." And now join with me, my dear little children, in the following lines

"Our Lord is risen from the dead,
Our Jesus is gone up on high;
The powers of hell are captive led,
Dragg'd to the portals of the sky."

VII. Now, lastly, come and see Christ in Heaven.

Children, if you have the eye of faith, (and some of you have,) look at him. See him on his throne a throne higher than the highest of heaven's thrones; see him in robes, brighter than the sun; see him with his crown, crowned with many crowns of glory. See him with his attendants, millions of angels, myriads of saints, falling prostrate in his presence. Oh! what a sight! Should you like to see

Christ in heaven? If you have any desire to see him in that glorious place, you must receive him; by the Holy Spirit you must give yourselves up to him, you must love him with all your hearts. Then you will be able truly to join in those beautiful words, that you have often sung

"Oh! how happy we shall be,
For our Savior we shall see,
Exalted on his throne:

Oh! that will be joyful,

When we meet to part no more."

And now, my beloved children, before we part, I have a gift to present to you in the name of Jesus. I have not a purse of gold, to give to each of these dear little boys; I have not a beautiful necklace, to give to each of these dear little girls. I once saw a necklace, consisting of brilliant diamonds, and valued at £70,000; I have no necklace to give you, nor bracelets for your arms, nor any earthly honors, or riches, or title deeds of estates, nor any cup of carnal pleasure. But in the name of Jesus, I have something to present this afternoon, more valuable than the heavens themselves. It is a "Pearl of great price;" it is an "unspeakable gift;" it is a Savior - Christ the Lord.

Little boy, Christ says, Receive me; Little girl, Christ says, Receive me. Christ says My son, receive me; My daughter, receive me; Teachers, receive me; Ministers, receive me; Visitors and hearers, receive me; Parents of these children, receive me. Receive me as your Savior; I gave myself to death for you, and I now give myself to you as your Savior from sin and from hell.

Oh! my beloved young friends, answer-(may God the Spirit enable you! Holy Spirit, give them thy grace!)-Jesus, lovely, Jesus, mighty Jesus, merciful Jesus, glorious Jesus, we now receive thee; thou art ours, ours wholly, ours only, ours for ever.

304

SERMON XXV.

MAN'S HAPPINESS DEPENDANT ON HIS COMING TO CHRIST.

BY REV. TIMOTHY EAST.

"Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.”—JOHN v. 40.

You have read, I have no doubt, the memoirs of many wise and good men, and I will venture to say that while reading them you never had suggested to your mind any conception that they were anything more than wise and good men, wise and good men compassed with infirmities, who, with all their excellencies, had corresponding defects. Now if Jesus Christ had been only a man, as some say he was, we ought to be able to go through his memoirs without receiving even the slightest impression, from anything that is said of him or by him, that he was anything more than a wise and good man, who, with all his excellencies, to be human should have had some corresponding defects. But this is not the case; and I feel myself under no moral obligation, much as I respect the claims of justice, to believe any man who can tell me that he has gone through the history of the Savior's life with attention, and never had an impression that he was anything more than a mere man. But how is this? There is either some grand error in the writer, or the Son of God occupies a rank higher than a mere son of man. Indeed, my brethren, without dwelling on particular words, is it possible that such language as that which I have now read, could have fallen from the lips of a mere man? Eternal life dependant on an application to him!

an implied condemnation of eternal woe against every man who does not come to Jesus Christ for everlasting life! Did ever man speak like this?

In illustrating, my brethren, the words of my text, allow me to notice two things: first, that the final happiness of man is made dependant on his coming to Jesus Christ; and, secondly, strange as it may appear, men will not come to him that they might have eternal life.

I. I remark, then, in the first place, that THE FINAL SALVATION OF MAN IS MADE DEPENDANT ON HIS COMING TO JESUS CHRIST.

Jesus Christ is unquestionably a unique being, diverse from all others, possessing the essential attributes of humanity without the least tinge of imperfection, and the essential attributes of divinity without

any abstraction from their greatness or glory. He is, my brethren, a being who exists in a condition unlike that of any other being, not a condition either of simple humanity or of simple divinity, but one that combines the attributes of the divine and human nature in his own person. He is thus constituted a Savior able and willing to "save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." Hence eternal life is made dependant upon a personal application or coming to him. Now this expression" come" is synonymous with believing in him, trusting in him, depending upon him. To sustain the character of a Savior it was necessary that he should suffer, the just for the unjust; it was necessary that he should give his life a ransom for men, it was neces sary that his blood should be able to cleanse from all accumulated guilt, and that he should be invested with power to remit the guilt of sins, and to confer the gift of eternal life. To obtain these benefits the sinner is required to come to Christ. It is not a corporeal act; it is not, my brethren, a mere bowing at the name of Jesus whenever that name is uttered; it is not a mere speculative assent to the truth of what is stated respecting him; but it is a personal application in the exercise of an enlightened faith, trusting to him to fulfil the promise on which faith is founded for the hope of acceptance and eternal life. And you will allow me ere I proceed, to ask you a few plain questions in reference to this coming to Christ. My hearers, have you ever felt the guilt of your own sins pressing heavily upon your conscience? Have you ever perceived that awful abyss of danger to which they have so justly and inevitably exposed you? Have you ever been brought to feel deep and ingenuous contrition of soul for having sinned against your own conscience, sinned against your own social and spir itual interest? Have you ever adopted the piercing language which once fell from the lips of those who were in conscious danger, "Lord save or I perish?" Have you ever felt every other foundation of acceptance moving from beneath your hold, and been convinced that there is no salvation save through faith in the name and mediation of Christ? These are preparatory convictions, and preparatory convictions qualifying a sinner to come to Christ to be saved. Can you adopt the language, with which I have no doubt you are familiar,

Do you

"Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on thee."

trust in Christ?

Now the incidents which are recorded in the history of our Lord's life, are recorded for some other purpose, than that merely of instructing us in what he did and how he acted. The incidents to which I am