"to save those which are lost." The first step, therefore, in the regeneration and salvation of a sinner, is a deep conviction of sin. This conviction alone can excite him to look to Christ, that he may be saved.

The second observation is, that we must look to Jesus, not so much as the Son of God, the Creator of the world, the heir of all things, and the other high characters in which he is described in Scripture; but chiefly as the Mediator between God and man; as a crucified Saviour, and the great sacrifice that was to finish transgression, and make an end of sin, and as he who is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him. Had not the wounded Israelites been fully convinced of the healing virtue ascribed to the brazen serpent, they would never have directed their eyes to it, in expectation of a cure.

Having premised these two observations, I go on, first, to shew in what manner we are to look to Jesus Christ. Second, I shall mention some considerations to enforce the duty enjoined in the

text.

H

First, We must look to him with an eye of faith. We can no longer behold Jesus in this world with our bodily eye. We cannot look to him in the same manner as the Israelites looked on the serpent of brass. We must, therefore, look to him with the eye of the soul,— through the medium of that faith, which is the evidence of things not seen. The operations of the mind are often expressed by terms taken from external objects. Faith, in particular, which is an act of the mind, is often represented in Scripture by metaphors taken from the body. Sometimes the metaphor is borrowed from the ears; and to believe in Christ, is to hear his voice. "Incline your ear "and come to me; hear, and your soul "shall live." And sometimes, as in the text, the metaphor is taken from the and faith is described by "looking "to Christ."

eyes;

The words before us, therefore, are to be understood in the same sense as if he had said, "Believe in me;" according to another passage, "Believe, and thou

"shalt be saved."

Simply to look to Christ, that is, to di

rect our thoughts to him, in the same manner as to any other person, is not sufficient. A medicine will not lessen the violence of a disorder unless it be taken. Food cannot satisfy the cravings of hunger unless it be eaten. It was not enough that the serpent of brass was lifted up. The remedy thus provided must be used and applied, and, as it were, brought home, by every one to his own case. Every Israelite that would be healed must look on the serpent ere he could expect a cure; and thus it is with the salvation provided for sinners. It is not enough that it has been provided: It is not enough that Christ has been crucified, and has thereby offered a sufficient sacrifice for sin. Sinners must secure to themselves an interest in that sacrifice; they must make the blessings purchased by it their own. And how is that to be done? By a lively faith in Christ as a Saviour. What multitudes beheld Jesus stretched on the cross, pouring forth his peace-speaking blood, and offering salvation to mankind, and yet derived no benefit from his death! And what multitudes, in every succeed

ing age, have in like manner looked to Jesus, and yet remained in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity? How many have been familiar with their Bibles, and with the sufferings of Jesus; how many have contemplated a crucified Saviour as exhibited to their view by his servants; how many have not only heard and seen, but tasted and handled of the word of life, and yet died in their sins! Astonishing this!-to be so near salvation, and not to reach it; to have in their hands the sovereign remedy for their distemper, and to derive no benefit from it! What can be the cause of this? Or, rather, is it not obvious? They were never thoroughly convinced of their dangerous situation; they lived careless and secure, and though Christ crucified was often exhibited to their view, though they often looked to him like the Jews of old, as they passed by; yet they never looked to him as a Saviour. They never, from a sense of the grievous disease under which they laboured, looked to him that they might be healed.

It is not enough, therefore, my brethren, that Jesus sometimes occupies your thoughts. Your thoughts of him must

be to the last degree real, serious, and believing. You must behold sin in all its malignity. You must view your condition by nature in all its horrors. You must be ready to cry out, "What shall I "do to be saved!" Thus, surrounded on every side with danger, you must be convinced of your need of a saviour;-that you are dead in trespasses and in sins, and cannot make a single effort to save yourselves. You must also be convinced that Jesus alone can save you ;-that "there is none other name given under "heaven by which you can be saved, but "the name of Jesus." Some of you may perhaps be ready to say, "Will he think "of me? Surely he did not die for such "a sinner as I am; surely even his blood "cannot wash away the stain of my "guilt!" How delightful, O Christians, in such a situation, will be the words of Jesus? 66 Look unto me, and be ye "saved, all the ends of the earth." Look unto me, sinners of every country and of every age,-look unto me ye who are farthest removed in hope, as well as in place,―ye who are the ends of the earth, who deem yourselves the meanest and most polluted of mankind,

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