ness of the benefits they impart. Hence the Spirit of God, speaking by Moses, calls upon the Children of Israel again and again to remember the wonderful deliverance they had experienced at his hands. It might scem, from the pains taken to impress this circumstance upon them, that all other events of their national history were comparatively of small importauce. God founds his right to dictate particular injunctions to them, on the very ground of his redemption of them. "Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence; therefore I command thee to do this thing." By this redemption he took them to himself, and they became, in a peculiar sense, his people, and this gave him an acquired right and interest in them, independent of the laws and obligations of nature.-But if the deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh's bondage was an event so interesting that it ought never to be forgotten, how much more is the deliverance of mankind from Satan's yoke and the ruin of eternal death. If Moses achieved a mighty work of infinite importance to his countrymen, what has not the Saviour of the world performed for the whole human race.

II. The next point of resemblance between Christ and Moses is to be traced to their respective offices of Lawgivers and Governors.

Moses was admitted to the closest intercourse
He spake

with God of any man merely mortal.

with God face to face, received from him the Law

by the ministry of angels, when the mountain on which he stood trembled with the divine presence; established the great Covenant between God and his countrymen by virtue of which they became a chosen generation, a peculiar people, a blessed inheritance; was appointed their Ruler and Judge, the Captain of their armies and the Administrator of their laws; God's Representative among them; and finally conducted their affairs with so much prudence, as to acquire the approbation of men, and the rewards of Heaven in testimony of his uprightness.

But Jesus Christ in all these and other particulas, was a Prophet of higher character and more spiritual dignity. He lay in the bosom of his Father; knew his Father's mind; was one with him; and shared in full equality the honour due to his Father. For him the heavens were opened, and the earth shook, and the words which he spake were his Father's words. He published to mankind a clearer and more perfect revelation of God's will than either Moses or any other Prophet had done before; and he carried the views of his followers beyond the confines of this visible world, unfolding to their enraptured sight the glories of eternity, and instructing them to build their hopes on a spiritual foundation. He went beyond the simple unity of God, lifting up the vail which hides the Divinity from his creatures, and teaching us to infer, that there is in that unity, a mysterious combination of persons, of equal attributes in one undivided essence. He inculcated the doctrine of rewards and punish

ments on eternal instead of temporal principles, refer ring the conduct of men to a future life, both for the recompense they must expect, and for a solution of the inequalities and hardships of this; and he placed the incentive to good actions, not on the fear of men who kill the body, but after that have no more that they can do, but on the fear of him who hath power to cast both body and soul into hell. He preached a far stricter morality than Moses, declaring with respect to marriage, that nothing but adultery could justify divorce; and that chastity did not consist in a mere restraining of the outward act, but of the inward desire,—the eye, and the mind. His maxims of justice, instead of resting on mere abstract principles of right and wrong, were founded upon rules of equity, teaching us on all occasions to do unto others as we would have others do unto us. In short, his whole law was designed to fit men, not merely for social happiness and usefulness in this world, but for the presence of God and the society of his holy Angels in heaven.-Christ, therefore, in this particular was a Prophet not only like unto Moses, but far superior to him; and though as a Governor he might seem to be inferior, because he did not exercise temporal sovereignty, yet it is to be remembered, that his government extended over the minds of men, was spiritual in all its functions, and embraced every son and daughter of Adam who should call upon his name.

III. But there is yet another striking feature

of resemblance between the great Jewish and the great Christian Prophet. They were both of them Mediators and Intercessors with God for their brethren. They both stood in the gap to turn away his wrathful displeasure lest he should destroy them.

The appointment of Moses to this high office was made at the time of the delivery of the Law from Sinai. Then the Israelites were brought near unto God, and he spake to them directly from out of the mountain, delivering with his own voice the Ten Commandments for them to keep. But the people were so terrified at the sound of his voice, and so unable to bear the awful symbols of his presence, that they requested Moses would go near, and hear all that the Lord their God should say, and rehearse it to them, lest, if they heard the voice of the Lord their God any more, they should die. And God said to Moses, "They have well spoken that which they have spoken;" that is, I approve of their request of a Mediator between me and them. And I will not only assent to this, but "I will raise up a PROPHET from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." Thus the commission of Moses, as a Mediator, was solemnly established at the earnest request of his countrymen, and at the same time it was announced, that the Prophet who was to be like him, should particularly resemble him in this respect.

Now, in virtue of this commission, we find Moses, on several occasions both applying to God for advice in their behalf, and making earnest intercession for their transgressions. His interpositions in this latter respect seem to have been of great avail. Their frequent murmurs and sad apostacies, their stubbornness and disobedience, showed how much they stood in need of a powerful advocate to save them from the indignation of an offended God, and the ruin they would otherwise have drawn down upon themselves. It was on these occasions that the character of Moses appeared particularly amiable. Himself, too often, the object of their reproaches and discontent, his temper might have been soured against them, and his patience failed; but he still retained, in the midst of all their opposition, the meekness for which he was so remarkable, and twice declined to have his own name ennobled at the expense of their ruin and disgrace. A regard for their happiness was the leading feature in his conduct, and he never ceased to devote himself to this object whilst life was continued to him. He. died, at length, when "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated," and left to his countrymen the recollection of virtues which can never perish.

But whatever efficacy there was in the mediation of Moses, and whatever excellence in the administration of his office, he was in these respects but a type of the Messiah. "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." And "by him all that believe are