Ps. civ. 1-19. A meditation on God's providence

and works, calling forth praise.

Meditate on the attributes and character of God; and praise him for the goodness they manifest.

21. Sun. Ps. civ. 20-35. A meditation on God's providence and works, calling forth praise.

Consider the minute and continual watchfulness of God's providence; and praise Him for the wisdom and mercy it displays.

22. Mou. Ps. cv. i-22.

Israel incited to praise her story

from Abraham to the possession of Canaan.

Remember God's faithfulness to his promises; and praise him that you have a better covenant than that with Abraham.

23. Tues. Ps. cv. 23-45. Israel incited to praise-her story from Abraham to the possession of Canaan.

Remember God's faithfulness to his promises; and praise him that you have a better covenant than that with Abraham.

24. Wed. Ps. cvi. 1-23. Call to praise-confession of Israel's provocation, and God's mercies-prayer.

Consider the many provocations of your own conduct towards God, and acknowledge His great forbearance towards you.

25. Thurs. Ps. cvi. 24-48. Call to praise-confession of Israel's provocation, and God's mercies—prayer.

(See Wednesday.)

26. Fri. Ps. cvii. 1-22. The redeemed exhorted to praise, in contemplation of God's manifold providences.

Consider the wonderful works of God towards you, and heartily praise the Lord for His goodness.

27. Sat. Ps. cvii. 23-43. The redeemed exhorted to praise, in contemplation of God's manifold providences.

(See Friday.)

28. Sun. Ps. cviii. The Church stirs herself up to praise, and predicts her future triumphs.

Pray for a settled purpose in living to the praise of God, whatever may be the trials to which your faith is exposed.

29. Mon. Ps. cix. Prayer-in which Christ, complaining of his enemies, denounces them in Judas-a Hymn of the Passion.

Consider the great privileges against which Judas sinned; and compare your own offences with your own advantages.

30. Tues. Ps. cx. Christ addressed as ascended on high, the eternal ruler, priest and judge.

Consider the certainty of the final triumph of Christ over all his enemies, and examine yourself whether you are on the Lord's side.

VOL. III.NO. XXVIII.

I

CHRIST OUR PASSOVER. No. XIX.

(Continued from page 88.)

THIRTY-THIRD PORTION.

(Read Matt. xxvii. 32. Mark xv. 21.

John xix. 17.)

THE CROSS BEARING.

Luke xxiii. 24-32.

THE sentence of crucifixion passed upon Jesus, required that he should carry his cross to the place of execution; and accordingly, as he was led forth, the heavy piece of timber was placed upon his shoulders and bleeding back. The human nature in which he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. ii. 8), was unable, after all the severity of suffering he had already endured, to support the weight thus put upon him; and, as the officer saw him fainting under it, he found it necessary to give him some assistance. The soldiers therefore laid hold on the first man they happened to fix upon from amongst the crowd, and pressed him into the honourable service of bearing the cross after Jesus. This man's name was Simon : he belonged to the distant city of Cyrene; and, happening to be coming into Jerusalem out of the country, he was passing by that way just as the Lord was led forth with the cross upon his shoulder. What effect the sight of the suffering Saviour had upon the heart of this Cyrenian we are not told; but we have reason to know that the members of his family became the disciples of Christ; for St. Mark, in writing an account of this transaction from Rome, refers to Simon's sons Alexander and Rufus, as persons known in the church and St. Paul, in writing afterwards to the "saints in Rome," sends christian salutations to Rufus, as one chosen in the Lord, and to his mother. (Rom. xvi. 13.)

As Jesus was supporting that part of the cross which may be called the head of it, and was dragging the principal beam behind him, the soldiers made Simon take up the other end and so share the burthen with him, bearing it after him. There were two other condemned criminals whose sentences were to be executed at the same time; these, carrying their crosses, formed with him the mournful procession of death through the streets of Jerusalem.

The crowd which followed the procession was very great; and amongst them were a number of women, inhabitants of the city, who must often have observed Jesus going about and doing good" (Acts x. 38); and now seeing him in so distressing a

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condition, gave way to the natural feelings of their sex, and lamented over him with evident signs of grief. But Jesus addressed them, and bid them not weep for him, but for themselves and for their children: for he warned them of the dreadful times which were coming upon their nation; when, in consequence of the wretchedness and misery that would abound, those women who had never been mothers would be considered more happy than those who had borne children only that they might perish miserably. He bid them look forward to the days, long ago foretold but now near at hand, when the Jews would have to suffer for the dreadful crime then about to be committed in his crucifixion, and would desire to be crushed by the mountains rather than bear what was inflicted upon them;-referring them also to the still more terrible day of judgment hereafter, when they would ،، say to the mountains, cover us, and to the hills fall on us." (Deut. xxviii. Hosea x. 8. Rev. vi. 14-16.) And he applied to the case the proverbial expression "if it fare thus with the green tree, how will it fare with the dry;" as though he would have said, if this is the way in which they treat the innocent Jesus, how dreadful will be the outpouring of the wrath justly due to the Jews, whose hardened state makes them fit subjects for vengeance.'

REFLECTIONS.

Our Lord has shewn us how to apply the expression of bearing our cross; and he has taught us that if we would follow him we must not only bear our cross, but willingly take it up. (Matt. xvi. 24. Luke ix. 23; xiv. 27.) When any matter presses hard upon us and seems to be an insupportable trial, we have but to look to Jesus, who in bearing his cross truly bore ours; and whatever affliction his providence may appoint to us in the way of chastisement, is but putting the honour upon us of calling us to bear the cross after him. A watchful self-examination is necessary while we consider the painful story of the Passion of Christ; for our foolish hearts are too often apt to be moved by the distressing nature of the circumstances themselves, without considering our personal interest in the cross and its consequences. It would be a sad waste of tears to weep over the agonies of Christ as if they were a moving tale, unless at the same time we weep for our sins which caused him to stand in that suffering situation, and which will bring the most awful condemnation on those who receive not the Spirit of Christ to wash them in his blood, even though they may be moved by the tale of his atonement.

THIRTY-FOURTH PORTION.

(Read Matt. xxvii. 33, 34. Mark xv. 22, 23. Luke xxiii. 33, 34. John xix. 17, 18.)

THE NAILING.

THE procession arrived at the place of execution. This was a spot outside of the city of Jerusalem which was called the place of skulls (Calvary, or Golgotha), probably from the number of human bones which were to be found there; as many bodies were left on the crosses after death; and, being devoured by ravenous birds, the bones were scattered about. It was the custom to give a stupifying mixture to the wretched criminals who were about to be put upon the cross; intending, with a kind of inconsistent mercy, to render the poor creatures insensible to the cruel torments about to be inflicted on them. Such a mixture was made ready for Jesus, and offered to him when they were preparing the cross to receive his body. He did but put it to his lips, and then refused to drink it-He had undertaken to bear the whole wrath of God against sin; and the object of this potion was to relieve him from a part of it. The cup which His Father had given him to drink, he was prepared to empty, even to the very dregs (John xviii. 11); but this cup which was offered to him was to soften the bitterness of the other, therefore he refused it.

Then the soldiers laid the three crosses upon the ground, and proceeded to strip the bodies of those who were to be crucified. They tied the feet of our Lord, and spread his arms upon the beam, and drove the large nails which were to support the weight of his body through his hands and feet, fastening them to the wood. While this cruel act was being performed, the self-denying Jesus was less occupied about his own sufferings than with the future and eternal torments of the wretched men who were tearing his flesh; and, in the midst of their hammering, he put up a petition to His heavenly Father on their behalf" Father forgive them, they know not what they do." As soon as this work was completed, the soldiers (being four to each cross, under the command of a Captain, or Centurion) lifted up the crosses erect, and letting them fall into the holes made to receive them, filled up the earth so as to support them, and left them standing upright with the living bodies hanging on them by the nails.

REFLECTIONS.

The self-denial of our Lord cannot but strike the mind upon reading this part of his sufferings. In such circumstances who would not have been too fully engrossed with himself to have

thought upon the most touching distresses of any other being upon earth? And who were those for whom he found feeling at such a moment to intercede ?-His murderers !-those who were brutally occupied in inflicting his agonies, and who had found pleasure in going beyond their appointed duty, by mocking and insulting him whom they had only been commanded to execute. At such a moment the eternal condemnation due to their wickedness was in our Lord's sight so terrible a prospect, that he forgot himself in searching to find an excuse for bringing their case before God; and instead of urging their conduct to him in aggravation of their punishment, he found out a reason for seeking for their pardon, by urging their ignorance in mitigation of their offence. If we belong to Christ we must by his Spirit partake of his character-be of the mind that was in him-and be conformed to his image. Does our habitual self-denial resemble this? Is our forgiveness of injuries after this model? Do we thus search for pleas to bring our enemies before the throne of grace, in an attitude that may propitiate pardon? These are searching questions; and if we put them close to our consciences, they ought to act upon us as the nails did upon the body of Christ-piercing us sharply indeed, only to make us take more fast hold of His Cross.

COMPENDIUMS OF SERMONS. No. XLII. '

(Twelfth of the course on the opening of the Apocalypse: see page 91.) TEXT-Rev. iii. 22.

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." It is extremely important to be able to collect, out of the seven different portions, a clear understanding of the several points of character which our Lord describes in his message to the churches. By doing this, we may compare ourselves with each and every part of the whole character; in order to take due warning from the exhortations and threatenings of Christ, and to find the way to attain the promises and blessings; knowing how to use the grace given to us, that we may be of the number of those who

OVERCOME.

In passing through the trial produced by a comparison with each of the characters of the seven Churches, a Christian will find his own heart put very closely to the proof, and sifted each time more finely, as every epistle brings forth a different point of character: these are so arranged that each appears more strikingly by contrast; and there is a connection from one to the