not any or all of these things prevent the humble and believing approach of your souls to Him, who is your only REDEEMER, your only Refuge. Now, He is waiting to be gracious. Now, the Bow of peace encircles the gloomy cloud of care, of conviction, of dread, and of misery. Every token of Divine goodness is afforded. Every evidence of Divine power and willingness to save and pity, to pardon and bless you, is offered, to encourage your faith, your confidence, your hope, your gratitude.

Behold, then, the signs and tokens of the Covenantmercy of your GOD! The Bow is placed in the firmament for the observation of mankind; and is become a token of safety to those who look to it. So it is with that MEDIATOR Whom it typically represented. He requires us to look unto Him, that we may be saved. Lift up, therefore, beloved, the eyes of your minds, and fix your hearts and your hopes upon the LORD, your Righteousness, your Atonement, your Redeemer, and your Saviour. And view with faith all the appointed evidences and means of grace. Let the Scriptures dwell in your hearts by faith. Let believing confidence be mingled with your public and your private devotions. Let humble reliance upon JESUS for wisdom and righteousness, for sanctification and safety, be cherished in your souls, while the daily duties and trials of life are fulfilling their course. Thus will your darkest hours, and your

of

every

cloud.

most afflicting trials, bear the cheering token of Divine favour; and the Rainbow of the Covenant shall be seen in peace Each season of affliction shall leave behind a fresh proof of a SAVIOUR'S grace and power; and shall thus conduce to your establishment in the faith and hope of the Gospel. But, oh, turn not now away from the offered mercy of the REDEEMER! for " a day of clouds and of thick darkness" is coming; and they upon whom it shall fall, will see no rainbow in that storm —will have no hope in that dread hour. Defer not, beloved, the acceptance of CHRIST for your SAVIOUR ; "lest that day come upon you unawares," and death and judgment envelope you in "the blackness of darkness for ever!" Be wise in time. Repent. Believe without delay; for "behold, NOW is the accepted time; NOW is the day of salvation." "Boast not thyself," therefore, "of to-morrow;" for to-morrow may find you lifeless, hopeless, and numbered among those, concerning whom God hath sworn in His wrath, "They shall never enter into My rest.”

SERMON II.

(PREACHED AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.)

MANNA.

JOHN vi. 48-I am that bread of life.

IN that discourse of our BLESSED LORD from whence the text is taken, our attention is directed to the Manna which God gave the Israelites in the desert; and to the spiritual food which the Manna represented, and wherewith God nourishes His true Israel unto everlasting life. Let us, then, in dependence on the Divine teaching, consider and compare the type and the antitype-the Manna, and the Salvation which is in CHRIST JESUS.

Notice, first, the CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ISRAELITES, when the Manna was promised and provided. The account is recorded in the 16th chapter of Exodus. Brought forth from the Land of Egypt by the Almighty arm of JEHOVAH, the Children of Israel came into the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. It was a barren desert. All the provision which the Israelites had brought forth out of Egypt was consumed: one vast plain of burning sand

lay before them; and, hungry and thirsty, they were ready to perish. They were in a state of absolute want and of imminent danger. And thus all the Children of Adam are wanderers in a desert. Sin has changed the aspect of all things. It has turned Paradise into a wilderness, where the whole human race spend their strength in vain; and labour, without finding bread to satisfy the immortal spirit, and prevent the horrors and the agonies of everlasting want.

But how did the Israelites act in that emergency? They had been delivered from Egypt by the miraculous interposition of GOD. They had only a short time before experienced His great and glorious power, when the Red Sea was dried up for them to pass through safely, while their enemies, having followed, were overwhelmed in the depths of the returning waves. It might have been thought, that, with such instances of Almighty Power fresh in their memory, they would at once have sought the LORD in their new difficulty, and called upon Him in the time of their trouble. But such was not the case. They murmured against Moses and Aaron; and declared, that it would have been better for them to have died in Egypt, than to perish of hunger in the wilderness. Their conduct plainly shewed their utter unworthiness of any fresh manifestation of Divine goodness and might on their behalf. If God had left them to die of want amidst their murmuring, rebellion, and

C

ingratitude, He would have acted with unimpeachable justice and equity. Similar is the case in spiritual things. When Adam became a sinner, he reduced himself, not only to a state of danger, but also to a state of demerit. He fled from the presence of the LORD; and proved his vileness and unworthiness, by adding sin to sin. His children walk in his steps. Murmuring, pride, preference of the flesh-pots of Egypt, (i.e. of the provision for carnal appetites and desires offered by the world,) to humble dependence upon God and His promised blessings, characterize the perishing race of mankind, and declare their utter unworthiness of every thing but God's wrath and indignation.

The Israelites, in their distress, neither remembered the LORD, nor sought His aid; but, on the contrary, acted so as to deserve His condemnation. The provision made for their relief was therefore entirely independent of any goodness or any desire on their part; and resulted solely from the sovereign love and abundant pity of JEHOVAH. Thus it is in relation to the Bread of Life. So far from man having merited such a gift, he was actually without any desire after it; and, instead of thinking upon GOD, or looking to Him for help, he was, like the prodigal, wandering over the world, and striving to supply and satisfy himself "with the husks that the swine did eat." The Heavenly Manna, like that which was supplied to Israel in the desert, is a free, unmerited, unsought