The Lord of hosts-will destroy, in this mountain, the In whom we have redemption through his blood, the for- giveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.. 155 I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost wit- nesseth in every city, saying, that bonds and afflictions abide me. count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And, now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all SERMON I. THE GOSPEL FOR THE POOR. LUKE VII. 22. To the Poor the Gospel is preached. THE Old Testament closes with a remarkable prediction concerning Messiah and his forerunner. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Accordingly, at the appointed time, came John the Baptist, in the spirit and power of Elias, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In his great work of preparing the way of the Lord, he challenged sin without respect of persons. The attempt was hazardous; but, feeling the majesty of his chaVOL. I. 2 racter, he was not to be moved by considerations which divert or intimidate the ordinary man. Name, sect, station, were alike to him. Not even the imperial purple, when it harbored a crime, afforded protection from his rebuke. His fidelity in this point cost him his life. For having reproved Herod, for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, he was thrown into prison, and at length sacrificed to the most implacable of all resentments, the resentment of an abandoned woman. It was in the interval between his arrest and execution, that he sent to Jesus the message on which my text is grounded. As his office gave him no security against the workings of unbelief in the hour of temptation, it is not strange, if, in a dungeon and in chains, his mind was invaded by an occasional doubt. The question by two of his disciples, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? has all the air of an inquiry for personal satisfaction; and so his Lord's reply seems to treat it. Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. The answer is clear and convincing. It enumerates the very signs by which the church was to know her God, for whom she had waited; and they were enough to |