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a ground of their pardon. Hence it is, that many a person of an excitable disposition can easily persuade himself of the forgiveness of his sins, without having any such adequate views of the Saviour and his work as would warrant such a convic tion; whilst many a broken and contrite heart is sunk in "the slough of despond" from not clearly seeing the truth which meets us at the very threshold of Christianity, that all manner of sin and blasphemy is instantly forgiven to all who plead nothing but the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me have the happiness as well as the exalted privilege, my friends, of openly declaring to you, that there is no blessing that the Gospel can impart to any, which you may not now fully receive, no matter how strong the objections which may be urged against you by a tempting malicious devil, a censorious world, or your own self-righteous deceitful hearts. Are you afraid that you are not worthy enough? The more reason you should come to Him who alone is worthy-worthy, because he was slain slain, and slain for you. But we have not felt deeply enough our lost condition. And would you therefore stay away from the source of feeling? Must Jesus again and again implore of you to come as you are, and meet no other reply than, at some future time I will come, when I think I shall be more fit to come, more worthy of being received," and, of course, let me add, less grounds for being thankful? No, no, dear friends, what matter what you either feel or do not feel, if this is to be only a ground for staying away a little longer from Christ? Believe me rather believe the Lord you are quite bad enough to come-you never will be good enough to come; and if you were, in your sense, good enough, humbled enough, determined enough on a future good course of life, and persisted to the end in thinking that you had therefore a warrant to come boldly, which any other sinner did not possess, God would have nothing to say to you but to consign you over to Satan-and for ever! But examine a little more closely the parallel with which our subject furnishes

us.

What a strange infatuation would it have been in the Israelites to have boasted that they had done the meritorious work of gathering the manna! The fact is, that they were simply commanded to gather it, that all boasting might be excluded. They had not to till the ground, to water the seed, to watch over it with

care, to reap it, and finally to trust to their own industry, against all the chances of the weather, and the dangers of a wilderness life. It was ready to their hand; hunger might have inclined, but it was only the free bounteous grace which provided it, could have entitled them to gather it. They were starving; food was furnished their table was spread: was there then a merit in partaking of its stores? How preposterous is such a notion! Yet precisely similar is the error of those who would say there was anything in faith itself of the nature of a meritorious work? Man is regarded in scripture as in a lost condition, and is told that a Saviour is provided for him so fully able to meet his wants, so willing to bestow on any the benefits of his free salvation, that whosoever will, may come to Him and be saved. Is there any room for boasting in his consenting not to be miserable for ever? or rather is not all the glory due to him whose grace hath thus richly abounded?

VI. THE MANNA WAS TO BE GATHERED EARLY, AND OUTSIDE THE CAMP. Although the Manna was altogether God's free gift to the people, yet he would have it seen that they were thankful for it, and acknowledge their want of it, by going forth in the morning to gather it.God does not so force his favors on any, as to make them be received against their will-if any are made willing, the praise must belong entirely to Him, seeing that the pride and obstinacy of the natural heart revolts from the idea of being under any obligation to Him, of whom, nevertheless, it cannot be independant; yet, if any will reject his mercies, the responsibility is entirely their own. It can, however, be hardly necessary here to insist on a truth, which I cannot suppose any to disbelieve, though it is too painfully thrilling for the unconverted to wish to think of. Let us examine, therefore, what was intended to be taught by the Manna requiring to be gathered early.

Although the command of God was that when all had gathered, those who had been more active, and perhaps had not as many necessary domestic duties as others, should share their superfluity with them, so that "he that gathered, (i. e. could gather) little might have no lack," yet it is by no means to be supposed that if any person, without such just cause, were to have neglected the means of providing for himself and family, he could expect, or

slothful Israelite, who went to seek the Manna after the sun had waxed hot; and tremble lest you should only be aroused from slumber in that place which has never been cheered by the faintest gleam of the taper of hope-where all is the blackness and darkness of despair for ever!

"But," you may say, "I do not yet feel hungry enough; I have not an appetite to give a relish to the food"To you I would say, "taste and see that the Lord is gracious," as long as you stay away from Christ, you cannot hope to acquire a relish for him, but the instant faith apprehends him, he is appreciated things in which we before saw no form or comeliness, become the delight of our eyes-new tastes and appetites are acquired, which nothing but Christ can satisfy. Nothing could have excused the Israelites for not gathering Manna-and equally true is it that no ingenuity or casuistry can frame a just excuse for not partaking of the Bread of Life,-if you fear you are too unworthy, believe it not-if you think you are worthy, go and compare your worthiness with his, and your own will soon be lost sight of—if you have not an appetite for him, taste his goodness, and it will create one. The Israelite might not have been hungry while gathering his portion, but he laid up a store for the day-so you may not feel all you would desire, but "follow on to know the Lord;"these feelings are founded on principles, and principles are formed by contemplating Him "who is the brightness of the Father's glory," in all the relations in which he stands to his Father, to the sinner, and to the believer.

would be permitted to live upon the | deliver"—remember the fate of the industry and exertions of others were such an instance to have occurred, as very probably it did, we may fairly suppose that the individual would be made to suffer the privations to which his own sloth had exposed him. Let us further remark, that the loss of one day's food might have exposed him to imminent danger, by inducing some disease-he might have escaped, yet still he ran the risk, and could blame no one but himself for the consequences. To apply the case who will be bold enough to take on himself the fearful responsibility-who, in his moments of calm reflection would not censure as the excess of infatuation or fool-hardiness, the conduct of one who would trifle with eternity? of one who, assured that each opportunity might be the last, (and each opportunity neglected brings the sinner so much nearer to, and makes it so much the more probable that each may be the last) will sport upon the brink of the grave with what strikes angels mute with awe-with what fills hell with the screams of despair! yet is not this the conduct of a sinner who rejects the Gospel, time after time? where is his warrant for supposing he ever may hear it again? and if not, what must be the result of his indifference, his enmity to it? what can it be supposed to end in but the loss of his soul? Yes, too true," you will say: "but then he may repent; as long as he lives, the door of hope is not closed against him"-Grant it-far be it from me to say there is not hope for all of you, howsoever often you may have rejected the Gospel. But this comfort of a future repentance which you propose to yourselves, amounts to neither more nor less, than a determination to sin, because grace aboundsbesides, can you say positively that at a future time you will certainly repent ?-Is it true that continuing a little longer in sin will make you more desirous of forsaking it? has the experience of the past warranted such a conclusion? is there no such thing as a person being "given over to a reprobate mind?" no such thing as being judicially blinded? no such thing as a "hardened and impenitent heart treasuring up unto itself wrath against the day of wrath ?" and all these fearful states commencing with the good hope and good resolution of repenting at a future time, i. e. a determination not to repent now, and never if it could be avoided? "O consider this, ye that forget God, lest He pluck you away, and there be none to

VII. THE MANNA WAS SWEET TO THE TASTE WHEN GROUND AND BAKED. It is evident that the manna was a constant miracle before the eyes of the people, both in the regularity of its supply, and the wholesome nourishment it yielded to all of every age, every variety of constitution. It is more than probable that the article itself was not any natural production known at that time; and nothing since seen in that or any other region has answered to the description given of it by Moses. One of the most remarkable of its properties was, that though if it were left on the ground till the sun had waxed hot, it melted and disappeared, yet, if gathered in the proper time, it was so hard that it could be beaten in mortars, and even bear the heat of an oven.—

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Further; as all the people dressed it in the
same manner, it is most likely there was
but one way in which it could be con-
verted into food, which would be at the
same time both wholesome and palatable.
Nor do I think there is anything forced,
in carrying on the very remarkable pa-
rallel which can be drawn between the
manna which fell in the wilderness and
Him who said, "I am the bread of life."
It is the glory of the Gospel, that it
sets forth a crucified Saviour. There is
to the world much that is offensive in
such a truth. The natural man, when
the evil within is stirred up by a partial
apprehension of the assertions to be vin-
dicated by such a doctrine, sees in it
nothing but what attaches to it shame
and unnecessary reproach; but an Apos-
tle would say,
"God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ;"
yea, doubtless, and I count
all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."
What benefit would or could the Lord
Jesus have bestowed upon man, had he
not been "delivered up into the hands
of wicked men," and by them been cru-
cified and slain? Would the world have
been advantaged by his example, how
ever holy; or would it have been a whit
more inclined to follow his steps, how-
ever surely they might have conducted
his followers to happiness? By no
means. An example, to be influential,
must ever be accompanied by some
sacrifice in the individual affording it,
where it is intended that that example
should warp us from practices to which
we are enslaved. In such cases, example
has its effects, and these will generally
be found to be very much proportioned
to the sacrifice made by the individual
who sets his example forward to stem the
course of opposite principles, and habits.
My friends, I put it to your observation,
to your knowledge of human nature, to
answer me, if anything has ever yet
effected any change in the moral world
but the exhibition of the glories of the
cross of Christ? Have not morals been
most lax, where infidelity or paganism
have been the religion of a people? Is
not the cross of Jesus an antidote to the
indifference of one party, and the licenti-
ousness of the other? Let me for a
moment introduce you again to some of
those excellencies by which in the only
rational manner, yet with a full acknow-
ledgment of the necessity of the influ-
ence of the Holy Spirit, this change is
effected,

What is exhibited to us in the history of Jesus? The love of the Father, whose displeasure we dread, because we know how justly merited it has been. And what love? An only Son given up to agonies indescribable, for the sake of enemies, who, "when they saw him, said, "this is the heir; come, let us kill him."The love of the Son, who could "endure the cross, despising the shame;" who in his woes could only say, "Father forgive them!" "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me!" for "mine eye only runneth down sore because the Lord's people are carried away captive!" The love of the Spirit, who, though he loved the Son equally with the Father, yet could anoint the Son to his work and carry him through it, though he ever was resisted, mocked and grieved! Oh! talk no more of the virtues, the amiabilities, the tenderness of human nature, if this cannot constrain you to yield yourselves unto God! Can you really, as professing disciples, behold the Son of God in an agony-the Creator of worlds given up to the powers of darkness;-can you witness him in the restlessness of grief, walking to and fro in the garden, whilst the bloody sweat poured down upon the earth, whose curse he was then taking upon himself casting himself on the ground, and in the travail pains of Redemption-delivery, exclaiming, "Oh ! my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me!" Can you behold his sacred temples pierced with the thorns which crowned him " King of sorrows," "his visage marred more than any man's," spat upon, buffetted—“ his form more than the sons of men," scourged, transfixed with nails, impierced with a ruthless soldier's spear-can you, I say, and I demand an answer which shall be recorded against or for you, and which either Christ or the devil shall urge in your name at the great day of judgment,

can you hear these truths can you profess to believe them-can you have any well-founded hope for hereafter, or can you plead in behalf of human nature, and yet go away, cold, indifferent, unmoved!-be engrossed by the first vain pursuit, or be hurried away by the first remarks of levity with which the subtlety of Satan will tempt your friends to assail you! Ah! no, my friends. But would that I had safe grounds for "hoping better things of you, and things that accompany salvation!" Oh! come to this Saviour. There is nothing in Him repulsive every thing attractive. Others

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may be cruel enough, or inexperienced enough, to make no allowances for you; but not so with him. He is all tenderness-he "can have compassion on them that are ignorant and out of the way." You may have many a bitter sarcasm from others; but none from the meek, the mild, the patient, long-suffering Saviour. He was bruised, but it was for you; he is ascended but it is to prepare a place for you. Follow him, and though you may, and ought, and will, repent of having so grieved him, you will never repent of having trusted him too fully.

VIII. NONE OF THE MANNA WAS TO BE KEPT TILL THE MORROW. Alas! how many even of true disciples are overtaken by the snare of Satan, who tempts them to believe that former views of Christ will avail them in seasons of present temptation, tho' Christ be not then present to the mind! My friends, you may have been favored with revelations as great as St. Paul had; your past experience may have been of the most elevating character, but it will avail nothing in the hour of trial, if the power of the Gospel be not then realized in the soul. Manna kept till the second day, putrefied, i. e. became unsuitable as an article of food-was detrimental, rather than otherwise,-in the same manner, he who depends upon any happiness he has had in times past, any quickenings of spirit, any of what he has conceived to have been bright manifestations of truth, as sufficient to carry him through coming temptations, will find them to be as ineffectual barriers against the power of Satan, as was the Manna insufficient to support, if kept till the next day. The putrefied Manna of past experiences has been the ground of dependance of thousands, but it has been the ruin of all who ever depended on it-tis true, that in the absence of other motives, habit, and habit alone has kept a person in some degree of consistency-yet only for a time-but habit, unsupported by principle, quickly fails; and if the supply of oil to the lamp in the soul be cut off, it will soon be found that there will be no light within to illumine itself-no light without to be a beacon to others. Never then, dear friends, congratulate your

selves on what you have been-be thankful to God, that by his grace, you were what you were take shame and confusion to yourselves that you were not what you should have been; and above all things, never think yourselves proof against the power of temptation, when you cannot realize the presence and support of your God in those views of the Gospel which at that particular moment you may be enabled by his Spirit to call into exercise.

There were other points which I had intended bringing before you, viz.-the Continuance of the manna till the arrival of Israel in Canaan, showing the unceasing faithfulness of God towards his people-the circumstance of a pot of manna being laid up before the Lord in the ark, as a memorial of his past goodness a type of His people having, in the world to come, a recollection of his goodness in the world through which they have been led; and lastly, the object of the children of Israel being fed with manna-to teach them the habit of constant dependance on the Lord--but these, time does not allow me to enter on. would only say in conclusion, never doubt the love of God-He will give you any thing, even his own Son. Never trust yourselves--you will be treacherous, unfaithful, in spite of the strongest motives. Look, not to the world for comfort,'tis at best but a wilderness, and you have a better before you, even an heavenly. Tamper not with your souls, for they may be put beyond the possibility of change in a moment. Resist not the Spirit for great as is his patience, (far be it from me to limit it,) God hath said, "it shall not always strive with man."Depend not on what you have felt of the power of the Gospel, but seek to feel it always; and may God give you to drink of the new wine in his kingdom,

to "

eat of the fruit of the land" that lies before you; "to hunger no more, neither thirst any more," because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed you, and shall lead you unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes.AMEN.

DUBLIN NEW IRISH PULPIT OFFICE, 1, ST. ANDREW-ST. J. ROBERTSON, Grafton-street, and all Booksellers.

THE NEW IRISH PULPIT,

OR

GOSPEL PREACHER.

"We preach Christ crucified

"Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."-1 COR. 1. 23. 24.

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PREACHED IN THE EPISCOPAL CHAPEL, UPPER BAGGOT-ST. DUBLIN,
ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1840,

ON BEHALF OF THE SOCIETY FOR PENITENT FEMALES,

BY THE REV. WILLIAM CLEAVER, A. M.

Rector of Delgany.

ZECHARIAH Xii. 10th verse to end, and xiii. 1.

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upou me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."

THE allusions and illustrations in this pas-, sage are sufficiently familiar and intelligible to us. We know what is the sorrow of a mother, bereaved of a darling child ;— -we can picture to ourselves the state of Egypt, when all the first-born were struck dead: nor have we any difficulty in understanding the universal grief of Israel at the great national calamity referred to, when that best of kings, Josiah, was slain in battle at Megiddo-according to what we read in 2 Chron. xxxv. that "Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel."

But the mourning, which these allusions are employed to illustrate, is not so familiar. While the sorrow of a VOL. V.

bereaved mother, or sorrow for any loss of this world, will be responded to universally, that which is occasioned by "looking upon Him whom we pierced," is, to the great mass of those whom it concerns, utterly unintelligible. Nay, they do not even look upon him. Their eyes are turned away from him. They "look at the things that are seen. The objects which "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and the pride of life," present, fill their whole sphere of vision. It is as though you heard from them what the demoniacs cried out, "what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?"

Yet there is such mourning: and the subject presented for our consideration in this passage is, what is the source of it. And while we are thus engaged, let

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