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selves before the Lord; no more to behold His countenance in bliss, in whose presence there is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore! Such was the state into which man was brought by the fall; the sentence of death passed upon him; the gate of heaven shut against him; the wrath of an offended God hung over his head. Το persons in this state, what consolation would it bring, to hear of an immortality beyond the grave, if it was to be an immortality of misery and torment? To hear of heaven, and be cast down to hell; to be told of the rivers of pleasure, which are at God's right hand, while they were doomed to drink the unmingled cup of his wrath!

But the Great Restorer of our race, the Redeemer of mankind, not only as a prophet discovered to us a future state, but also as a Priest, purchased for us eternal happiness in that future state. 'It was the guilt of our sins that shut the gate of heaven against us, that subjected us to the wrath of God, and to misery in the world to come. But Jesus Christ, as our Surety and Redeemer, fulfilled that law which we had broken; endured that wrath which we had deserved; made an atonement for those sins which we had committed; and by the righteousness of his life, by the efficacy of his sufferings, by the merit of his death, he satisfied the justice of God; he blotted out the sins of the world; he abolished death; he purchased life; he quenched the fire of hell, and opened the heavens for the righteous to enter in. Thus, what the first Adam, the man of the earth, had lost, the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, restored again. By the sacrifice of himself, which we are this day to commemorate, he ransomed us from destruction; by his death upon the cross, of which we are tl is day to renew the memorials, he purchased the life of the world.

Yes, O Christian! the ransom was paid. While thousands of rams, and ten thousand rivers of oil

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were insufficient, a price of higher value was given while the blood of bulls, and of goats, and the cattle. upon a thousand hills, were unavailable, a sacrifice of greater efficacy was offered up. The fund of heaven was exhausted; the treasures of eternity were bestowed; the blood of the Son of God was shed upon the cross. Yes, O Christian! the ransom was paid, Liberal to you is the divine benignity; free to you the blessing of life flows. But the anguish which thy Redeemer felt, when his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; the groans which he uttered ; the tears which he shed; the fears which came upon him in the hour of darkness; his bloody sweat during his agony in the garden; the earnest prayer which he offered up, that the cup of wrath might pass from him for a time; his complaint of dereliction upon the 'cross, when he cried, My God, my God, why hast thou "forsaken me?" These testify at what a price the blessing was bought. Yes, O Christian! the ransom was paid. When this awful event was transacting; when the great hour of sacrifice was solemnizing, astonishment seized the world. All nature laboured in expectation, when the eternal life of her children was procuring. An earthquake rent asunder the rocks, and shook the earth from its foundations. The sun, beyond the course of nature, suffered eclipse in the heavens; unusual darkness, at noon, overspread the nations; the invisible world, through all its mansions, felt that tremendous hour. The dead arose from the grave. With astonishment the host of heaven looked down. Man alone, for whom these wonders were wrought, man alone was an unconcerned spectator of the event. Yes, O Christian! the ransom was paid. Behold the victim led to the sacrifice, patient, uncomplaining, marking the way with his own blood. Who is it they drag like a murderer to Mount Calvary? Who is it they are stretching on a cross, and nailing to the accursed tree? Prince of life! Lord of glory! Saviour of men! Great High

Priest of the world! we cannot call upon thee to come down from the cross, for thou art now purchasing eternal life for us!-Yes, O Christian! the ransom was paid. The sacrifice which was offered up, was accepted by God. Jesus, before he bowed upon the cross, cried out, " It is finished." As a full confirmation that the merit of his sacrifice was available to purchase everlasting life, he rose from the dead on the third day, and is now ascended up on high, to take possession of those heavens he hath purchased for his people, and is now preparing a place for thein in those mansions which are in his Father's house.

In the third place, As the King of the world, he sets before us the path that leads to life eternal.

Having, as a Prophet, opened up a future world to mortal view; having, as a Priest, purchased life etenral in that future world, as a King he marks out the way by which we may ascend to take possession of that eternal life which he hath purchased for us. The gate of heaven is set open by his blood; but they alone who walk in the path which he hath pointed shall enter in. You come to these tables, not only to receive instruction from Jesus as a Prophet, not only to profess your faith in him as a Priest, but also to recognize his authority as a Legislator, and tọ vow obedience to him as a King.

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One of his first appearances on earth was in his le gislative capacity. One of the first acts of his minis try was to publish a system of laws for regulating the life of his disciples.. Moses is celebrated for having been faithful in his house, and for having ordered every thing in his tabernacle, according to the pattern shewed him in the mount. No less faithful in his house was the Prophet like unto Moses, the Minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. He hath given us, the purest and most ef fective precepts, for the regulation of our life: He hath pointed out our duty in every instance with such clearness, that he that runneth may read. The King 3 K

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of that future world which he hath purchased by his death, hath made the path that leads to it, not only plain, but luminous.

It shall come to pass in those days, saith the Prophet Isaiah, (describing the times of the Messiah), that the "eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears

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of the deaf shall be unstopped; the lame shall leap "as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing: For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and "streams in the desert.--And a highway shall be "there, and it shall be called the way of holiness; "the unclean shall not pass over it; but the redeem"ed shall walk there, and way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein." Such is the perfection of the Christian law; such the purity of those morals which Jesus delivered, such the beauty of the Gospel as a rule of life, as to have gained the love and admiration of many who have disbelieved its doctrines. But he gave them a still higher lustre by his example. The perfection of the Christian law, the purity of those morals which Jesus delivered, the beauty of the Gospel, as a rule of life, appeared nowhere to such advantage as in the life of our Lord. There you contemplate holiness, not as a dead letter, but as a living form; substantial, present, speaking to the world. He trode before you the path that leads to heaven. It is pointed out by his precepts; it is marked by his example; it is consecrated by his blood.

Would you learn what virtue is, would you be in love with virtue, would you practise virtue, contemplate the life of Jesus; study the life of Jesus, imitate the life of Jesus. He to whom the Jews preferred a robber and a murderer, was fairer in his life than the sons of men, and purer in his heart than the angels of God. That head which they crowned with thorns, was ever intent on benevolent deeds, and at that very moment of time meditated their good. Those feet which they bound to the cross, went about on errands of mercy. Those hands which they nailed to the ac

cursed tree, were lifted up in devotion to God, or stretched out in beneficence to men. Jesus, through his whole life, marked out the path which leads to the heavens. Walk in that path, Christians! You shall arrive at heaven; and be of that happy number, who are to inhabit the mansions prepared for you, by m who is, "the resurrection and the life.

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