not observing this institution! Has Christ ordained this as an important channel of communication to his people? Is he wont, through its instrumentality, to bless them abundantly with an increase of faith, and hope, and love; filling them with joy and gladness; strengthening them with might by his Spirit in the inner man, and empowering them to discharge the various duties connected with their high and holy calling? Then are they blind to their best interests who refuse the tokens of his love. They despise the most exalted mercies, dash the cup of salvation from their lips, and expose themselves to the assaults of Satan, and become an easy prey to their enemies. O, how will such lament their folly, when it will be eternally too late! Their repentance will be bitter, their mourning deep-darkness will cover them, and they will weep with great lamentation. The recollection of their unfaithfulness will sting, as the sting of a viper, and scorch, as the scorching of a flame; their remorse will be intense, and their loss incalculable. God grant that we may, by attending to our duty, avoid such a fate!

2. How exceedingly great is the guilt of those who willfully and repeatedly neglect to attend this ordinance ! There is no precept more explicitly laid down—there is no commandment more authoritatively put forth than this, "Do this in remembrance of me." It is founded on the same authority as, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." And is there no guilt contracted in the omission of a known duty, and in disobedience to an express precept? Is it sinful to desecrate the Sabbath? So is it sinful to treat this ordinance with contempt, by neglecting to attend it. Nay, more than this, it is a virtual disowning of Christ, by refusing to acknowledge him. And will such. perverse rebellion, such base ingratitude, be overlooked? Did the violator of the Sabbatic law incur a penalty-was he stoned without the camp? How much severer the

penalty-how much heavier the curse incurred by the violation of this, as imperative, and, indeed, more sacred law? Let all those, then, who have been careless and remiss in obeying this injunction, remember that they cannot be thus negligent with impunity. They will assuredly meet with condemnation from Christ, who will shortly say, "Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Let them now bewail their past negligence and folly, and let them, for the future, scrupulously observe this momentous obligation, that so they may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of man, and to enter into that glory which he has prepared for them that love and obey him, that they may ascend and dwell with him in light, and love, and fellowship, for ever. May God give us wisdom to discern, and strength to attend to all the divine requisitions, and ultimately save us, for his mercy's sake! Amen!

SERMON XV.

BY THE LATE REV. WILLIAM B. CHRISTIE.*

THE SOURCE OF JOB'S COMFORT.

"For I know that my Redeemer liveth," Job xix, 25.

IN discoursing upon these words, we shall offer a few remarks upon

I. THE OBJECT OF JOB'S KNOWLEDGE.

II. THE GROUND

OF

ENCOURAGEMENT

AND COMFORT,

* It is proper to say, that the following sermon was not prepared by the author for the press, or for reading in the pulpit, but merely for his own private use. But little attention, therefore, was probably paid to style in its composition; and in the delivery, the portions not strictly argumentative were undoubtedly much more full than found in the manuscript. It will, however, be read with much interest; and the fact stated will lead all to make proper allowance for any imperfections which may be observed. M.

WHICH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS OBJECT AFFORDED IN CIRCUMSTANCES OF PECULIAR AFFLICTION.

I. The object of Job's knowledge: "My Redeemer." The leading points of discussion here are two: the person intended, and that act which constitutes him the Redeemer.

1. The person who is this Redeemer. The current opinion, so far as our information extends on this point, is, that the word is to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Two things determine this to be the true interpretation. The phrase, "He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth," which phrase usually means the days of the Messiah. The other is, " Yet in my flesh shall I see God." These being sufficient to determine the application of the text, it will be found, upon examination, to afford a striking and clear proof of the pre-existence of our Savior, Christ. Mark the strength of the expression, "I know that my Redeemer liveth"-liveth, in the present tense. The argument may be thus given: Job lived many hundred years before the Christian era; but our Lord, as the Redeemer of Job, was then living; consequently, he must have existed before his manifestation in the flesh. Had Job believed in the doctrine of the present self-styled “Rational Christians," whose glory it is to degrade the Son of Godthe Redeemer of the world to a mere man, he might have spoken in the future: "I know that my Redeemer shall live;" but he could not have said, "He liveth, or is now living." On this doctrine, which it is the fashion of the day most strenuously to deny, a few additional remarks and authorities will here be in their proper place. "No man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven;" “I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me;" "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before;"" Again I leave the world and go to the Father." Here let it be

noticed, "That he came down from heaven"-that he "descended from heaven." He speaks of "ascending where he was before," and determines the meaning of the whole to be a literal descent, by the phrase, "Again I leave the world, and go to the Father." How, then, are these most express testimonies to be evaded? How? Why by this most singular interpretation, that the phrase "to ascend into heaven," means to be instructed in the counsels of God, with a commission to teach them unto men; and "to descend from heaven," means bringing and teaching them to men. The whole meaning, then, of all these and similar texts is, to learn and teach the purposes of God. To this interpretation we object, first, that it contradicts the plainest facts, and is, therefore, false. Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, and all the prophets were admitted to a knowledge of the Divine purposes, with a commission to teach them to mankind. All the prophets, according to this interpretation, came down from, and ascended up into heaven. To this, perhaps, it will be replied, that they were not admitted to so full and perfect a revelation of the Divine will. But this removes no difficulty. The case is not stated comparatively, but positively. "No man hath ascended up into heaven." Strong as this reasoning may appear, with it we are not satisfied. If to "ascend into heaven," mean to learn, to descend from heaven, being its opposite, must mean to unlearn; for by whatever figure the first is interpreted, the second, if the figure be maintained, must mean its opposite. We have, then, this accession of light: that our Lord Jesus Christ, being ignorant of the will of God, or, in other words, having unlearned it, came to teach us what he did not know. To our neighbors, all this may appear exceedingly rational. Let him believe this who can; we envy him not his understanding.

Again: "Before Abraham was, I am." Whether the phrase I am mean the same as the incommunicable name

Jehovah, we need not now inquire. But suppose the clause to mean, before Abraham was, or existed, I was, or existed, it will be sufficient for our present purpose. Surely Abraham existed many centuries before the Christian era, and, consequently, many centuries before his incarnation, or manifestation in the flesh; and that the text must be thus literally interpreted, is clear from the connection. "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" This shows that they understood him to speak of priority of existence. But to this it has been replied, that the text may mean, before Abraham becomes what his name imports, "The father of many nations," I am, or exist; or it may mean, before Abraham was born, I am he; that is, the Messiah, in the foreknowledge and appointment of God. Both of these absurdities are well exposed by Bishop Pearson:"" 'Do ye look upon me with astonishment, and wonder how I could have seen Abraham? Attend to what I now say. Think not that, I would contribute to your mistake, which makes me preface it with this asseveration, Verily, verily, I say unto you. Before Abraham shall become perfectly what his name imports, The father of many nations-before the Gentiles shall come in, I am. Nor be ye troubled at this answer, as though I magnify myself; for what I speak is equally true of yourselves-before Abraham be thus made Abraham, ye Doubt ye not, therefore, nor ever make that, as ye did, again a question but that I have seen Abraham.' The second makes a sense of another nature, but with equal impertinence. Do ye still continue to question, and that with so much astonishment? Do ye look upon my age, and ask, Hast thou seen Abraham? I confess it is more than eighteen hundred years since the patriarch died, and less than fifty since I was born in Bethlehem, but look not upon this computation; for before Abraham was born, I But mistake me not. I mean in the knowledge and

are.

was.

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