God. No doubt Abraham saw Christ's death in that beautiful incident, when he brought his son to the mount a willing sacrifice. When Isaac was delivered, what did he say? "The place shall be called Jehovah-jireh"-"The Lord will prepare," or, "The Lord will provide "-" as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." It is very remarkable to notice here how one part of the Scripture becomes the echo of another. Simeon's song, when he took Jesus in his arms, relates to Abraham's words: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared" - Jehovah-jireh, "The Lord will prepare.” As if Simeon had said, "Here is the promise, between which and the performance have elapsed a thousand years, gloriously and really fulfilled." Abraham saw there and then Christ's birth, and he rejoiced while he saw it. But while he saw Christ's life and death in that day, he saw also, not the least signal consummation of it, his resurrection. It is Easter day. Every sabbath is Easter Sunday; and truly did the ancient Christians think so, that on weekdays, when they met for religious worship, they knelt, but on Sunday they stood at praise and prayer, because they said it was not a fast-day, but a festival; and though it be perfectly proper that Christians should regard Easter Sunday as specially connected with Christ's resurrection from the grave, yet we must never forget that other Lord's days are always to have in them a ray from that resurrection, and running through them like a sweet and ceaseless chord, "the Lord is risen indeed." Abraham saw Christ's resurrection; and though at times we are prone to forget it, the fact of Christ's resurrection is as precious as the fact of Christ's death. If he had died, but never risen, no atonement had been made. If he had not risen, the grave would have still its bolts and its bars, death would still have its

sting, and to die would not only have been, by a natural instinct, a terrible thing, but it would have been, to the spir itual apprehension, an untrodden and unilluminated and desolate pathway. But because Christ has lain in my grave, it is no strange place to me; and because he broke through it, the grave taking him as a captive, unconscious that it had in him a conqueror, its chambers never can permanently contain me; and as the same body that was laid by Joseph of Arimathea, and by Nicodemus and others, in that tomb in which man was never laid, rose again, so that dust, the living efflorescence of which accompanies and constitutes man, long after the body is buried, shall rise again, the very identical body, so that the mother shall recognize her child, and the child the mother, and the brother the brother- a mutual recognition, but as real and as lasting as our resurrection from the dead. We bless God for Good Friday, we bless him for Easter Sunday, we bless him that Him whom our sins dragged to the dust of death, his mercy, his love, his power, raised from the dead, and set in the heavenly places, a Prince and an Intercessor for ever. For what purpose is Christ risen from the grave and ascended into heaven? He is now ever living to make intercession for

us.

The high-priest first made the sacrifice without, he then went into the holy place and made intercession; and whilst the high-priest was in the holy place, making intercession, all Israel was waiting with expectant and trembling hearts without, till the high-priest should come forth and pronounce the benediction upon them. This is our position

now.

Christ has finished the sacrifice without, he is now in the true holy place, making intercession for us, and we are waiting outside until the great High-Priest come forth, and pronounce that last and lasting benediction, which shall descend into the depths, and ascend into the heights, and make earth the reflection of heaven, and heaven and earth

the lasting and unchanging paradise of our God. Abraham saw, we may well suppose, such things in Christ's day, and as he saw them he rejoiced. It may be that God at intervals withdrew the veil, and enabled the ancient patriarchs to see even more clearly than type, and prophecy, and promise could enable them, and that one of these favoured ́ones was the friend of God, to whom he not only drew nearer than he did to the rest of mankind, but to whom he made known things that were hidden to the rest of his contemporaries.

This is a day of light. It is the day-the true Light has come, the Sun of righteousness has arisen. I admit he is not yet at his zenith, but he will soon reach his meridian throne, and let down the full flood of his splendors. At present he is above the horizon, it is the grey dawn of the everlasting day, advancing steadily, in spite of the opposition of his foes, the treachery of his professed friends, to that everlasting noon, when in his clear light we shall see, without cloud and without suspension, all things clearly. But yet there is enough to save us, enough to make us responsible, in that light which now shines from the Sun, still horizontal, I admit, casting great broad shadows, but shining plainly and distinctly notwithstanding. When the sun is in his meridian, there is no shadow - your foot covers the whole breadth of your shadow; but where the sun is not vertical, but horizontal, there you have a shadow, and in proportion to the degree which the sun has reached above the horizon, is the depth, the length, the breadth of that shadow. At present there are deep shadows, deep broad shadows, projected from every truth, and over every soil; but notwithstanding the shadow, we can see the soul, how precious its salvation, how sufficient the blood of Jesus, how loving the bosom of our Father, how open to give welcome to the chiefest of sinners who may flee to him for mercy and for pardon.

This day that Abraham rejoiced to see is not only a day of light, but of liberty-"If the Son shall make you free, shall be free indeed." What we call liberty is comparaye tively a sham what the world calls slavery is comparatively a fancy; make man's great soul free, emancipate it from the bonds of sin, from the fears of death, from the curse of a broken law, from terror in approaching Deity, and when the soul is thus made free, chains hang loosely, and burdens weigh lightly, and all things are beautiful, because the soul is put in its right relationship to God, and made free with the freedom with which Christ makes his people free.

-

It is not only a day of liberty, but eminently of life. What is the want of the visible church? Not more form, nor more ceremony, nor more eloquence in the preachers, nor more liberality in the people, — though some of these things may be wanted, but life. Many men have got a totally wrong idea on this; they think, if they can only raise a splendid and majestic edifice, it will so charm people, that they will crowd as worshippers within it; and others think, if they can have this or that thing made very firstrate, crowds will come. People who are attracted by such things are satisfied with such things, and thus such attraction has its own merited reward. But it will be found that the first attraction is a living man in the pulpit, and then living men will come to listen, or dead men will be quickened till they wait to listen; and until we have this, all will be but as a tinkling cymbal and as sounding brass. Sensible and reasonable persons know well, when a man speaks upon a subject, whether he is in earnest or not. There is no fear that hypocritical or untrue men will get many followers; wherever there is a listening, a devoted, and an affectionate auditory, we may depend upon it there must be a real, living, bonâ fide speaker. It is reality that tells in

upon

the

the long run; it is the pretence of a thing that sparkles for a day, and sets in a darkness the more dark by the momentary light that preceded it. This is a day, especially, of life. A wave from the ocean of life breaks upon the shores of time. a breath of God, it may be, for a little season, sweeps through the hearts of them that are spiritually dead the Better than the brass serpent is raised pole; the dying may look, and they shall be healed; the dead may hear, and they shall live. And there is no reason in this day of light, of liberty, of life, that any one soul should perish without a Saviour, or one sinner be lost except from something in that sinner's own heart and conscience which he himself knows best. It is the most awful feature in this blessed gospel, that it brings salvation to every man's door; and that the reason why any are lost is that they will not accept it — there is no other reason. There is not an individual within hearing of Christianity, living without real religion, who does not know that the only reason why he is not a decided Christian, is because he has something else to mind, something else to think about; and that never yet has it been impressed upon his heart and conscience with all the solemnity with which it should be felt, "What shall it profit me if I gain the whole world, and lose my own soul?" It is a day of light-why are any in darkness? -a day of freedom-why in chains? life-why dead in trespasses and in sins?

a day of

It is a day, too, of hope and of joy. The very first effect of the preaching of the gospel is, to make sad men happy, and weeping men glad. The first direct effect of the gospel is, not to make men holy - this is not the first, but second effect. We judge of an effect by an analysis of its cause. What is the gospel? Good news. What is the effect of good news? To make men happy. If I were to tell you, dear reader, that there are £5,000 waiting for you in the Bank