Thomas, in that simplicity and slowness of heart which characterized him, saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way? Thou art going to leave us, and we would follow Thee, even unto death; but we know not whither it is, nor how, nor in what way all this is to be. Jesus saith unto Him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him. They that have been with Christ, who behold Him in the Gospel, and look to Him habitually in prayer and a holy life, they know far more than they think they know; it is not afar off, that they should ascend into Heaven, or go down to the deep; but very nigh, in their mouth, and in their heart: for faith is even now far more blessed than it knows.

Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Having heard our Lord speak so much of the Father at all times; as of His own strict union with the Father; of His coming from Him, and going to Him; and of our heavenly Father Which hath such love for us, St. Philip thus replies; hardly knowing perhaps what he said, like St. Peter on the Mount; or as Moses when he asked to see the glory of God. But nevertheless it was from a deep voice beneath the soul of man, which ever asks to see God, its only home and rest; to behold His countenance which alone "sufficeth," and can satisfy all its wants. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?

And then after speaking to Philip, He thus addresses

all the disciples in the plural number. The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the very works' sake. Oh, how great this blessedness of faith which knoweth both the Father and the Son; the pearl of great price; the light of true wisdom; the treasure hid in Christ; the wisdom revealed from above! But even unto us, weak in faith, how great the privilege of reading the miracles of Christ in the Gospels, and thus to "believe Him for the very works' sake;" and so to go on from strength to strength, coming to know Christ better, and in Him to know the Father!

Verily, verily I say unto you, as by the solemn protestation of God to respond to the full assurance of our faith; He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. Faith in Christ when unseen hath the greater blessedness, and therefore hath the greater power; when Christ Himself was manifested in the flesh, it was, as it were, in great weakness, as bearing sin, and circumscribed by the laws of suffering humanity; but now in Heaven, He is "on the right hand of power," with all power given Him in

Heaven and in earth;" and therefore faith in Him can do greater things. Hence the works of Christ in the flesh were in great measure the healings of the body soon to perish; but now they consist rather in healing the disorders of the soul which is to live for ever. "Doth he not," says St. Augustine, "do greater works who worketh out his own salvation with fear and trembling, which in him, but not without him, Christ worketh? I should say this were certainly greater than Heaven and earth, and

whatever things are beheld in Heaven and earth. For Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the salvation and justification of the predestined shall not pass away.”

This power, and the working of this faith is by prayer, the golden chain that connects Heaven and earth, whereby man is united unto God, and God through him worketh miracles. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it. How can we think sufficiently of these words, and dwell on them, and put them to the proof, praying and watching in prayer, and watching to observe how far, and when, and in what ways our prayers are answered!

To conclude; we are reminded by this Festival, that the Apostles we commemorate, St. James the Less and St. Philip, were both present when these most gracious and memorable words, and many others no doubt of the like import, were spoken. They heard these words so full of Heaven; they gazed on the sacred countenance of Him that spoke as never man spake." Independently of their testimony as Apostles, of their subsequent acts and their martyrdom, this circumstance of itself endears them to our memory, and gives them a peculiar sanctity in our eyes; the rays of their Master's countenance ever rest upon them; it is good for ourselves to be thus brought into company with those who were admitted into that close fellowship with Christ; it greatly adds to our power of realizing the history of our Lord Himself, and the things spoken by Him; it is one of the means we have of approaching Him: while remembering them we seem in a manner to see with their eyes, and hear with their ears; and this brings us, as it were, with them into the company of Him Who is our Lord and God. And oh,

how invaluable is everything that can do this! How poor is all converse with mankind compared with the recollection of Thee!

This circumstance, I say, of our being brought into nearer contact with Apostles, and through them into closer intercourse with Christ, is of itself of no little value in observing appointed Saints' Days.

SERMON LXXXI.

Saint Barnabas the Apostle.

Acts xi. 22-30. St. John xv. 12-16.

GO AND DO THOU LIKEWISE.

The FATHER of mercies, and the GOD of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of GOD..—2 Cor. i. 3, 4.

THESE

THESE words of St. Paul seem especially suited to describe the character of his fellow-labourer and companion in tribulation, whom we on this day hold in memory, the Apostle St. Barnabas. The very name Barnabas was, we are told, given him by the Apostles, as signifying "the son of consolation." And whence did he derive this character? It is said in the Scripture for to-day, that he was "full of the Holy Ghost," full of Him, that is, Whose name is "the Comforter." Hence it was that he had the singular gift of comforting them which were in any trouble, being himself comforted of God, Who is the God of all comfort, and the Father of mercies. And it is remarkable, that whatever is recorded of St. Barnabas partakes of this character, such as marks the