Calvary, saw every type illustrated, every shadow substantiated, every attribute harmonized, every prediction accomplished; and then, and not till then, he cried, "It is finished, and bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." The words may be rendered, " And I, when I am lifted up from earth ;”— when this great event shall have taken place, such are the consequences that will ensue ;" and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

There are two things that demand our attention in these words. In the first place, the great event to which our Redeemer refers-his being lifted up. And in the second place, the glorious results that should ensue-" And I, if I be lifted up from earth, will draw all men unto me."

Let us, in the first place, dwell for a few moments, on THE GREAT EVENT TO WHICH Our RedeemER REFERS HIS BEING LIFTED UP FROM THE

EARTH. There are many liftings up of Christ to which reference is made in Holy Scripture, of which it may behove us to speak in the course of the present sermon; but that which he especially refers to in the passage before us, is, undoubtedly, his being lifted up on the cross. In that wondrous scene, he was nailed to the accursed tree, as a wretch not fit to live, and lifted up between earth and heaven, as unworthy of either; though he was the divinely appointed intercessor between both worlds, and is the only way by which guilty and rebellious man can rise from earth to heaven. It was not the simple fact of a mortal's crucifixion that was to fix and rivet the attention of mankind-others have died by crucifixion as well as he. There were two who hung by his side on Calvary, but their case excites no interest, and awakens no sympathy-save, indeed, that one of them, in the scenes of the Redeemer's deepest degradation, became a striking illustration of the declaration which he makes in the text; he felt the strong attraction of His cross by whose side he suffered; his heart was subdued to penitence, and won to love; and as his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth, he turned to the expiring Saviour, and said, "Lord, rememember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." The

Saviour stretched out his arm, strong even in death, and he snatched that brand from the burning just as it was sinking into the flame, and took him from the cross on which he agonized, to the throne on which he reigns. Oh, my brethren, if there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, what must have been their transport, how must they have struck their harps in tones of sweeter harmony, when they saw the Redeemer enter into the celestial world, amidst the conflicts and conquests of Mount Calvary, bearing with him the dying thief, as a sample and a spectacle of his ability and willingness to

save.

But there are circumstances connected with the lifting up of Christ upon the cross, and the consequences resulting from it, such as are connected with, and such as result from, no other event of which there is a record in the history of the universe. Did ever the universe witness so illustrious a sufferer? The great and the mighty have fallen in every age; and other mountains besides the mountains of Gilboa, have lamented their illustrious men slain upon their high places: but never was there such a victim as this we contemplate to-day. I might tell you of his spotless life-I might tell you of his restless benevolence-I might recount to you his sublime discourses-I might remind you of his miracles of mercy-I might tell you how he poured the light of day on the sightless eyeball—I might tell you how he bade the tide of health to flow through the veins of the diseased-I might tell you how he gave strength and vigour to the lame and impotent-I might tell you how he ejected the demon from the distracted frame-I might tell you how he gave back an only son from the jaws of death to his widowed mother's arms

I might tell you of his confident appeal to the bitterest of his enemies"Which of you convinceth me of sin ?"

and of the horror that seized on his iniquitous judge, conscious that he had condemned to an ignominious death, an innocent and spotless being.

But, oh, my brethren, the chief circumstance of wonder, and that which shall never cease to excite the astonishment and adoration of all holy beings

to whom its contemplation is submitted, is, the union of the divine and human natures in the person of the glorious Redeemer-that mystery of godliness that was developed and realized when he became incarnate, God manifest in the flesh. Be astonished, O Heaven! give ear O earth! it was Jehovah's equal-it was the Almighty's fellow-it was the man of his right hand, against whom the sword of his justice came on Calvary. It was the Lord of Glory who died on the crossit was he that spake and it was done, who commanded and it stood fast-it was he who poured the light of day on primeval chaos, and elicited from its gloom and silence, the harmony and beauty of these spheres-it was he who stood amidst the rolling deep, and pitched firmly the foundations of the everlasting hills-it was he who reared the exquisite structure of the human frame, and breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life when he animated the living soul-he it was who cried in desertion, and agony, and horror, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me."

Did ever universe testify so deep a sympathy with the sufferer as it testified with him? All nature, animate and inanimate, rational and irrational, seemed anxious to express its sympathy with the suffering Son of God. The daughters of Jerusalem bewailed him with tears and unaffected sorrow, as he pursued the path to Calvary: and multitudes, who came together to behold that great sight, smote upon their breasts, in token of their anguish, and returned. The sun could not behold that spectacle, but veiled his glories in blackest midnight at high noon. The solid ground heaved as with the throes of an untimely birth. The

veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom, by an invisible hand and the rending of the rocks, and the raising of the dead, seemed to complete that expression of sympathy, in which both the seen and the unseen world combined.

of which all others were but the dim shadows and imperfect emblems. This was the sacrifice for man to God-for the rebel to the sovereign against whom he had rebelled-for the guilty to the justice he had awakened by his crimes. In this wondrous transaction Jesus Christ appears as the surety of his people; and pays, down to the utmost farthing, the debt they had contracted. In this wondrous transaction Jesus Christ appears the Redeemer of his people, and pays the mighty price of their redemption in his own most precious blood. Jesus Christ appears as the scape-goat of his people, and bears away their transgressions to a land of eternal oblivion. Jesus Christ appears as the advocate of his people, and pleads, successfully and triumphantly, their cause. Jesus Christ appears as the great High Priest of his people, and offers up the sacrifice that justice demands on their behalf. Jesus Christ appears as the victim of his people; he becomes a curse for us, that he may deliver us from the curse of the law. Oh, my brethren, it is the great atoning sacrifice offered up on Calvary. It is the harmony of the divine attributes, and the great scheme of human redemption, secured and accomplished at Calvary. It is the triumph of justice at Calvary, in connection with the triumph of mercy; and the triumph of mercy in connection with the triumph of justice. This it is that throws around the cross its glory, and gives to it its greatest attraction, its irresistible charm. Oh, yes; mankind required such a sacrifice-divine justice demanded such a victim. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto

holden of it. It behoves us deeply to ponder the great fact of the Redeemer's resurrection from the dead, with all its attendant circumstances, because it is the token, and the pledge, given to the universe, of his heavenly

Father's perfect acquiescence in his mediatorial undertaking, and of the certain accomplishment of every prediction he has uttered, with regard to the spread of his Gospel, the triumphs of his cross, and the establishment of his kingdom in the world. Moreover, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we have the pledge, and pattern, and prelude of our own. "Because I live, you shall live also." "I am the resurrection and the life," saith the Lord; he that believeth on me, though he were dead yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth on me shall never die." "This is the will of him that sent me, that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." The ashes of the dead are in Christhis eye is on their sleeping dust; and whether it be scattered by the winds of heaven to the remoteness of the untrodden desert, or whether it lie deeply buried amid the abysses of the ocean, or whether it slumber peacefully amid the hum and bustle of the crowded city, not one particle essential to the identity, to the sameness of the body, of the meanest of all his followers, shall ever be lost; but, at the trump of the archangel, he shall gather it all together again, and rebuild it in magnificence and glory like unto his own glorified body, and that by the manifestation of the Almighty power which he displayed, when he collected into the various systems of this fair and stupendous universe, all the countless myriads of atoms of which that universe is composed. How he will do it is a matter that never troubles me. It is only the fool that asks," How are the dead raised up, and with what body will they come?" The declaration that he will is a sufficient warrant, and the firm foundation of my hope. If I had never seen the loveliness and the vitality of spring bursting from the coldness and torpidity of winter -if I had never seen the ripe ness of the harvest waiting for the reaper's sickle, rising from the grain cast into the ground, and to all appearance perishing in the clod-if I had never contemplated the structure of my own brain-if, in short, I had any doubt as to the divinity of Christ, or the being of a God, I might look

with trembling apprehension, perhaps, with hopeless despair, to the day of death, and the promised resurrection morn. But, as it is, I know that he who built this body at first, can be at no loss of power or skill to rebuild it from the ruins of the sepulchre, or bring it again, in loveliness and beauty, from the desolation of the tomb.

Forty days after he was lifted up from the earth, when, as in converse with his own disciples, the opening heavens received him, ever more to retain his glorified humanity, the first and brightest ornament of the celestial world; then, my brethren, were realized the hymns and hallelujahs, the greeting and shouting of cherubim and seraphim, of the morning stars, and the glorified spirits of the just made perfect. Thus it is in the songs of Israel's inspired bard; "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." He entered with the form of majesty upon his brow-the mediatorial diadem studded with precious gems, the souls of his redeemed: from his girdle hung the keys of hell, and death, and the dark abysses of the invisible world: on his thigh, and on his vesture, a name was written-" King of Kings, and Lord of Lords:" while beneath his feet, the powers, and princedoms, and thrones, and nations of the infernal world, were seen writhing in anguish from their recent overthrow. Oh, with what calmness and serenity he advances through all the radiant throng: he presses his way to the holy place not made with hands, and sprinkles the mercy seat with his own most precious blood; and an odour and a fragrance, and an awful rapture, and an unutterable joy, were diffused through all the regions of the blessed, such as they had never known before.

Not long after, his disciples being assembled together in an upper room at Jerusalem, waiting for the promise of the Father, the firm foundations of the house in which they were convened were shaken; and the noise of a mighty rushing wind was heard throughout the assembly; and the Spirit descended upon them, and sat upon each of them in cloven tongues like as of fire; and they spake with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utter

ance.

Then, the heralds of salvation being endued with power from on high, according to their master's high command, went forth into all the world, to preach the gospel to every creature. Then, my brethren, Christ being thus lifted up in a faithfully preached gospel, by the first heralds of salvation, gave a pledge of the final triumphs of his cross, in the victories achieved in the earliest ages of the history of the church. So he has been lifted up ever since, from that period to the present hour; so he shall be lifted up from the present hour to the end of time; and it is chiefly in connexion with this lifting up of Christ in a faithfully preached Gospel, that the prediction of the text is to receive its full accomplishment:-" and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

Let us then ponder in the second place, THE GLORIOUS RESULTS PREDICTED BY THE REDEEMER IN CONNEXION WITH HIS BEING LIFTED up.

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Not every individual of the human race; we cannot, in the exercise of the largest and most extended charity, contemplate this. In every age there have been, and there still are-oh, how long shall it be?-millions and millions that know not Christ, that never hear his name. "It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him on whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach except they are sent? as it is written, How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of them that bring glad tidings, and publish the gospel of peace."-The Jewish nation, as a body, despised and rejected him, and embrued their hands in his blood; and their posterity are consenting to his death to this present hour. It is a lamentable fact, that, in countries where the name of Christ is named, and where he is lifted up in a faithfully preached gospel, by far the larger portion of men reject him, and turn from the overtures of mercy with disdain, and trample his blood beneath their feet. True it is, that at the

name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall speak, whether of things in heaven, in earth, or things under the earth; and shall confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father: and the time may not be far distant when this shall be the case. But we see not yet all things put under him: every knee does not yet bow at the name of Jesus. Does every knee in India? Does every knee in China? Does every knee in Africa? Does every knee in Europe? Does every knee in Britain? Does every knee in Bristol? Does every knee in this assembly? No, my brethren. Look abroad on the face of the earth, and what do you behold? Here and there, a country under the partial influence of the truth as it is in Jesus. Here and there, a Christian church planted in a pagan land. Here and there, a solitary Hindoo sitting beneath the shadow of the cross. Here and there, a lonely Chinese pondering over the pages of the book of revelation. Look at the followers of Christ-they are as a handful of corn on the top of the mountains, shaken by the wind. As yet the Redeemer's cause in the world is as a grain of mustard seed; it is the smallest of all seeds: but the day is coming when the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and that tree shall become great and mighty, and shall fill the earth with its fruit, its foliage, and its shadows.

The predictions of the text shall receive its full accomplishment. You may say that the ideas suggested are trite and common place, but they are such as the signs of the times-they are such as the spirit of prophecythey are such as the history of the church-they are such as the circumstances of the world, warrant us to indulge. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

(To be continued).

London: Published for the Proprietors, by T. GRIFFITHS, Wellington Street, Strand; and Sold by all Booksellers in Town and Country.

Printed by Lowndes and White, Crane Court, Fleet Street.

The men of all dispensations feel and acknowledge the attractive influence of the cross; the antediluvian-the patriarch-the prophet-the apostle. Take Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and David, and Isaiah, and Paul, and Peter, and Luther, and Latimer, and Wesley, and Whitfield; and regard them as types and dispensations of the church of God. They all feel alike the attraction of the cross; they all derive from it the foundation of their confidence; and it supplies each and every one with the theme of his everlasting song. "To

him that loved me," says Enoch "To him that loved me," says Noah"To him that loved'me," says Abraham" To him that loved me,' says Isaac-"To him that loved me," says David-"To him that loved me," says Isaiah"To him that loved me,' says Paul-" To him that loved me," says Peter-"To him that loved me," says Luther-" To him that loved me,' says LatimerTo him that loved me," says Wesley -"To him that loved me," says Whitfield-"To him that loved me,' says every one," To him that loved me, and washed me in his blood, to him be glory, for ever and ever." The men of all ages, and of all periods, shall feel the strong attractions of the cross. My brethren, the attractions of the cross were as strong in Saul of Tarsus, when he felt its power on his journey to Damascus, as they were in the martyred Abel; and they shall be as strong in the least disciple who looks to it by faith that he may live. The blood of Christ is equally precious in all ages; the sacrifice of Christ is equally valuable in all ages: the intercession of Christ is equally prevalent in all ages. Time and the revo

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lution of ages cannot impair it. Oh, no. What millions-oh, what millions have fled to the refuge from the wrath to come, to the shadow of the cross ; and yet there is room. Oh, what millions have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb: and the fountain is open still.

"Dear dying Lamb! thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,

Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved to sin no more."

The men of every country, of every clime, of every dialect, shall feel the strong attractions of the cross-the black-the brown-the olive-the yellow-the white. They shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south. They shall come from the Eastern Brahmins-they shall come from the Western Savages-they shall come from the beautiful isles that stud the bosom of the South Pacific-and they shall come from the shivering Esquimaux; and they shall sit down-all drawn by the same mighty influence, all attracted by the same interesting object-and they shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.

Now, my brethren, we have already stated that the instrumentality by which these triumphs of the cross are achieved, is, the preaching of the Gospel, the lifting up of Christ in a faithfully preached Gospel. This instrumentality Jesus Christ himself appointed immediately before he ascended up into heaven, when he gave it in charge to his disciples, saying"Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." There are two important considerations obviously suggested in connection with

I