life unholy; and yet each and all be following their own devices and desires, which can lead only to their own confusion, disappointment, and destruction. There is but One SAVIOUR-there is but One Bread of Life. May we be taught to come to that SAVIOUR! may we be enabled to take and eat of this Life-giving Manna!

But, though God gave the Israelites no bread besides the Manna, this food was abundant in quantity, and good in quality: it was sufficient, and it was savoury. It is said, that "the taste of it was like wafers made with honey." CHRIST, likewise, is an allsufficient SAVIOUR: "He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him." Not merely such a compauy as were fed by the Manna in the desert, but "a great multitude, which no man can number," will at length unite in grateful and endless praise for the abundance of grace, righteousness, purity, and felicity, which He hath provided for their souls. Whosoever, in this wilderness world, feels the craving of spiritual hunger, and is anxiously alive to the necessity of his condition as a miserable sinner, may come and " eat of this Bread," and "live for ever." There is righteousness in CHRIST, sufficient to justify all who seek justification: there is virtue in the blood of CHRIST, sufficient to atone "for the sins of the whole world." He is a great and glorious REDEEMER, "rich unto all that call upon Him :" and no one need to fear, that after so many millions have

taken and fed upon the Heavenly Manna, enough does not remain for his sustenance and salvation.

And oh, consider how precious (as well as plentiful) is the Bread of Life! It is sweet to the spiritual taste, and refreshing to the weary and hungry soul. David compares it to the richest food: "My soul," says he, “shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness :" (Ps. lxiii. 5.) And he declares, that the spiritual provision made in the Covenant of Grace was to him "sweeter than honey and the honey-comb:" (Ps. xix. 10.) Such is CHRIST to the soul of the believer. He experiences an inward satisfaction, a real, pure, and permanent gratification, while he receives into his heart by faith, the spotless righteousness, the complete atonement, the sanctifying strength, and the sure promises of his LORD and SAVIOUR; and he knows and rejoices in these blessings, as the life-giving and life-preserving food of a Father's love and grace, prepared for him in the midst of the desert, that he may eat and be filled with all that can make him happy in time and in eternity.

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Fourthly, (and lastly,) Consider THE WAY IN WHICH THE MANNA WAS TO BE GATHERED. This is laid down in Exodus xvi. 16: This is the thing which the LORD "hath commanded, Gather of it every man according "to his eating, an omer for every man, according to "the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents." They were to take

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and eat, according as every man had need. It was not enough to go out of their tents and look upon "the small round thing which lay upon the face of the wilderness after the dew was departed," and to talk to each other about " what that might be, or whether it would be salutary and nourishing :" no, but they were simply to gather what the LORD had provided, and to eat it, as the Divine food for their support. And this is what we must do with respect to "the Living Bread." GoD requires us to " gather of it every man according to his eating." We must go forth, out of every refuge and shelter of self-righteousness, as the children of Israel went out of their tents; we must stoop down low, in the consciousness of sin and unworthiness; we must grasp the Bread of Life in the hand of faith, and receive it into our hearts, as the Israelites did the Manna into their mouths, depending wholly and entirely upon " this Bread" for the life, and nutriment, and strengthening, and comfort, and satisfaction of our souls. Every man of Israel, without distinction, was to eat of the Manna; and so, every one of us, each for himself,-whether high or low, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, moral or immoral―every one without exception is required to eat of this" Living Bread." It is a matter of personal concern. The faith, the piety, the prayers of others cannot save you. Each one must himself lay hold of CHRIST with the hand of faith; each one must for himself feed upon the Heavenly Manna, or eter

nal death must ensue from his negligence, inattention, or perverse refusal. The command is to you and to me," Believe in the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and thou shalt be saved."

And the Manna was to be gathered daily. So, faith is to be exercised continually. We are taught to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." This means not only "the bread which perisheth," but much more, "the Bread that cometh down from Heaven." We are to live and walk by faith, and to receive, according to our continual need, out of the fulness of CHRIST, "grace for grace." The portion of grace which we received yesterday, will not serve for the wants of to-day, and we must therefore seek a fresh supply, suited to our fresh duties and necessities.

The Israelites had no reason to fear or complain. With the dew of each successive morn, the Manna invariably descended; and the congregation never went out to gather without finding a daily supply. So the promise is sure, (and the people of GOD have found it so in every age,)" He that seeketh findeth." JESUS is ever near to His people, like the Manna which "lay round about the host." He is about the path and about the bed of His redeemed; and in every circumstance, and in every trial, it is their privilege to ask, that they may receive-to gather and enjoy by faith a fresh portion of peace and satisfaction, consolation and encouragement. "Faithful is He that hath promised, who also will

"do" for His seeking people" exceeding abundantly "above all that they can ask or think."

But where are the thousands of Israel who were miraculously fed in the desert during forty years? They" did eat Manna, and are dead." Not so those who feed by faith upon the Heavenly Manna. "Whoso "eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal

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life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (v. 54.) "This is that Bread which came down from Heaven: "not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead; he "that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever." (v. 58.) The believer is passed from a state of spiritual death to a state of spiritual life. He is justified and "accepted in the Beloved." The sentence of condemnation is blotted out: he is free-he is forgiven. He is made "alive unto God through JESUS CHRIST;" and the life that he lives by faith shall never end, but shall continue in all the vigour and in all the bliss of a glorious immortality, in the presence and Kingdom of his GOD and SAVIOUR. Reflect upon this, my Christian brethren. Every act of faith which you are enabled to perform, is the evidence of your being made alive unto God, and the pledge and earnest of your being on the way to live with GoD in glory. The spiritual Manna is the fruit of the Tree of Life ; and he that hath tasted thereof shall live for ever. Receive, therefore, the free gift of a GoD of Love. Take daily of the abundant, precious, and lifegiving provision, made in and by CHRIST, and set