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are, comparatively, of little value and interest, excepting to those on whose immediate account they were written; but if we examine those of our Lord, we shall find them of far more extensive application. With the single exception of that striking prediction, glanced at in this chapter, and fully opened in another part of his history, that of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman power, not one of his prophecies were of a local or temporary nature. They were equally interesting to every nation, to every country, and to every human being; they were upon a grand scale, unbounded, unlimited, unconfined.

4. Christ is entitled to our reverence, as he alone is the Lamb of God, appointed to take away the sins of the world.

After all the controversy which has existed, respecting the person of Christ, I scruple not to deliver my opinion with great plainness and simplicity. Many are the expressions throughout the New Testament, which favour this view of our Lord's mission.

If it is said, that Christ used these sacrificial expressions, in order to conform to the prejudices of the times, and to conciliate his Jewish converts, I would simply ask, Why are the very same expressions made use of in the Epistle to the Romans, and in that to

the Ephesians? The church at Rome had been Jews; that at Ephesus had been Heathens. I would also ask, Why are such expressions repeated in the account given of the Lord's Supper, which was undoubtedly designed for general use? It is, I think, a proof, that the words were intended to convey a fuller meaning. The only view in which many, in the present day, regard the character of our Lord is this:-He taught the truth, and died a martyr to the cause. I admit that he did so; and Paul and Peter did the same. They also taught the truth, and sealed their instructions with their blood; but there is no sense in which they can be said to have suffered for mankind. This can only apply to the ever-blessed Son of God: He suffered "the Just for the unjust, to bring us unto God." He has entered into the holy place once for all, and has made atonement for the whole world. Through his obedience unto death, we have received eternal redemption; and shall we refuse him the tribute of reverence so justly his due?

5. He is constituted Head over all things unto his church.

He is appointed our King, as well as our Saviour; our Master, and Lord, as well as our compassionate High Priest. To his au

thority all are commanded to submit; by his precepts to be regulated, by his laws to be governed, by his example to be guided, and by his grace, to be directed into the paths of goodness and of truth. "Call no man master upon earth," says the Apostle Paul, "one is your Master, even Christ." In matters of faith, and of conscience, let his authority be the sole standard and rule; let no one presume to intrude rites and ceremonies on any church, which are not enforced by his command, and sanctioned by his practice.

6. He will be our final Judge.

Scripture assures us, that he will descend a second time to our earth; but, how different will then be his appearance! "He will come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." He will come with the heavenly hosts as his attendants. They will gladly quit their seats of glory to grace his triumph, and to join with saints below in celebrating his praises! When we reflect on the station he occupied, the difficulties he encountered, and the sufferings he endured, while on earth, how are our hearts filled with gratitude, how do our bosoms glow with devout admiration!

View the Saviour of mankind, a poor, helpless infant, nursed in a manger, educated in

poverty, accustomed from his earliest years to labour for his subsistence, and living in obscurity and meanness.

When he entered upon his public ministry, how many dangers did he encounter, how many hardships did he undergo? Driven from city to city, and from town to town ; persecuted and rejected by the very people to whom he was immediately sent; his precepts despised, his miracles slighted, and his instructions neglected. When we trace his last sufferings, how is every painful feeling roused! See him in the garden of Gethsemane, praying earnestly to his Heavenly Father to remove the bitter cup, and enduring the severest agony, in the prospect which awaited him. In a few moments, we find him betrayed by one of his own disciples, into the hands of the Romans, and carried by them into the hall of justice; arraigned before one tribunal, then hurried to another, and treated with all the insult and indignity which the most deliberate malice could invent;-arrayed in the garments of majesty, and by way of mockery, a sceptre, formed of a reed, put into his hand, and that very reed employed to drive the thorns platted around his head, still deeper into his sacred temples. We view him in this garb, brought before Herod, his own followers fled, and false witnesses suborned to

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convict him; we hear his sentence pronounced by Pilate, and we see him dragged to Calvary, there to suffer a death, which was only ordained to the vilest malefactor.

Contemplate this scene, and then carry your thoughts forward to the end of time, when this injured Saviour will again visit our earth. Think of the multitudes who will then be convened before his bar. There Pilate and Herod must appear, and He, who once stood as their prisoner, will pass sentence upon them. Think of the millions who lived before our Saviour's appearance upon earth; think of the numbers who then existed; compute, if you can, the multitudes who have entered the world since that period; all of these, and all those who now people the earth, (which are computed at four hundred millions,) as well as all those who may hereafter be born, to the end of time,-all shall stand before his dread tribunal, to receive their final sentence from him, whom God has constituted Judge over. all!

Thus have I endeavoured to point out, under six divisions, some reasons, why we should reverence our Saviour Jesus Christ. The consideration of the second branch of the subject, namely, How we should show our reverence to him, I must reserve to another

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