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when they were fainting by the way side, and falling under the effects of raging thirst, a fountain was discovered; " but they could not drink of its waters for they were bitter. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet 1." And so let us cry unto the Lord, and he will show us a tree by which all our spiritual wants and losses may be repaired and supplied; even that tree on which He was hanged, who died to free us from the punishment of sin, and rose again to endue us with grace, by which to resist its power.

"The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw." Are we not prepared to join in this petition? Are we not eager to pray," Lord, give me this water in such free and abundant supplies, that I thirst no more after the vain and empty

Exodus xv. 25.

joys of this world, those delusions of the desert which promise refreshment, but disappear as the fainting traveller draws nigh; but that I fix my desires on those rivers of pleasure which are at thy right hand for evermore, and as a foretaste and help to the fuller enjoyment of which, the dew of thy blessing descends upon us while yet upon earth. Lord, give me this water, that I draw not any longer at springs which are at one time choked by passion, at another poisoned and polluted by Satan and sin; but grant that their source within me may be so purified, their supply so abundant, and their course so secured, that they may really be in me, and in all who partake of them, “a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Grant this, O Lord, for the sake of Him who is the only fountain of all grace and goodness, thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

SERMON II.

SINS OF THE THOUGHTS.

MATT. xii. 25.

And Jesus knew their thoughts.

It is generally supposed, I believe, among men most capable of forming an opinion, that there is no substance, however close and solid, which is not in some degree pervious to light. The beams may not penetrate in such quantity as to be perceptible to our organs-the body may be to our eyes altogether dark and opaque, but still, though unperceived and unrecognized, the subtle ray is there. Even thus it is with "that true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was, in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world

knew him not '.'

darkness, and the

He "shone in the darkness compre

hended him not." And yet his deep powers of penetration were declared, his clear insight into the hearts of all men was manifest, when he pronounced Nathanael an Israelite indeed, pure and guileless, from having read his thoughts while he sat beneath the fig-tree. And the same faculty was often exhibited, by his answering those injurious things which his enemies only "said within themselves," and removing those doubts and hesitations to which his friends had not given utterance 3.

4

When Nathanael found that Christ possessed this power, he exclaimed at once," Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel +." Does it convey to us any evidence of divinity? Let us see in what terms the Scriptures speak of it, and to whom they attribute it. In the excellent advice which David addresses to Solomon (you will find it,

1 John i. 10. 2 Matt. ix. 3.-Luke vii. 49. 3 Vide Luke ix. 47. 4 John i. 49.

my brethren, in the xxviiith chapter of the 1st book of Chronicles), he speaks thus, "And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and a willing mind, for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts." This same David addresses the Lord as the Being who has searched him out, and known him, and understood his thoughts long before they were uttered'. Job says, that from God no thought can be withholden. And the prophet Amos writes, "Lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, is the Lord, the God of hosts is his name "."

2

The knowledge of the thoughts, then, is an attribute of the supreme Deity. But here in the Gospel, every statement of which is true, we find Jesus Christ searching all hearts, and understanding all the imaginations of the thoughts, we

1 Psalm cxxxix. 1, 2.

2 Amos iv. 13.

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