their eyes were opened; were they covered with leprosy? they were cleansed. He turned none away. Would we apply to Jesus now, he is still the same, and our petitions would be no less availing. Those who neglected the Son and worshipped only the Father, were not relieved in that day.— We must go to Jesus. Renounce every other hope; put your life in your hands, and go up and "touch the hem of his garment."

Ah, when we look to heaven and behold him on the throne, the Being who moves every wheel of providence, who fills the Church on earth, who fills all heaven with his influence, his admiration, and his fame; when we view him the Governor, the glory, the life of the universe; and then look around and behold some of our brethren who believe not that he ever existed, and others who own his being but reject his grace; our hearts are ready to bleed their life away. But it will not avail. They must hug their misery and their ruin; but we will cleave to Jesus our Saviour. I would rather be that bruised, dying Stephen, than to fill the throne of Nero. Had I but one wish to offer, it should be this, to possess at last the views of this holy martyr. My God, when I lie gasping in death, may my faith behold, (though in a far humbler sensc,) "the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God;" and may I breathe my last breath in saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

SERMON XII.

SELF-DENIAL.

GEN. XXII. 2.

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Abraham was now dwelling at Beersheba, a town near the southern extremity of Canaan. The land of Moriah was the country in which Jerusalem afterwards stood, about fifty or sixty miles to the north. The place where the altar was to be erected for the sacrifice of Isaac, was on Mount Moriah, -the mount on which the temple afterwards stood, where all the sacrifices were offered from the days of Solomon to the advent of Christ; and to which Mount Calvary was appended, where, in the fullness of time, the Seed of promise, the antitype of Isaac, was to be offered for the sins of the world. An interpolation in the 14th verse, which seems to have been inserted after the temple was built, and probably by Ezra, informs us particularly where the

place was.

"In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." And we are told that Solomon built the temple on Mount Moriah; the mount retaining the name after the surrounding country had lost it; the name being indelibly stamped upon it probably by this transaction of Abraham.

Abraham had been called out of Mesopotamia, and had left all his native scenes, led by the promise that in his seed all nations should be blessed. Notwithstanding this, he had lived until he was a hundred years old before his wife bore him a son. In this time his faith and patience were put to a severe test. At length his heart is gratified by the birth of the long expected seed. The little son in whom all the blessings are wrapped up, grows up by the side and grows fast to the heart of the doting parents. With what pleasure,-with what pious delight, do they watch his opening virtues. How often do their fond eyes, as they follow him about, glisten with the tender tear. At length the dreadful summons comes, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." What shall the father do? With what words shall he support the sinking mother? How can he lose his only son? But this is not half. How can he shed the blood of his Isaac with his own hand? What then will become of the promise that in Isaac his seed shall be called? But none of these things stagger the faith or retard the obedience of the pious patriarch. Confident that

God is "able to raise him up even from the dead," he makes no delay. He vents none of his cares either to the mother or the son. Hc arises early in the morning, takes his son and some servants, and puts the wood for the burnt offering on an ass, and sets off on foot for the place. "On the third day" he lifted "up his eyes and saw the place afar off;" and leaving there the ass with the servants, he laid the wood on the unsuspecting Isaac, and proceeded toward the place. "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" This affecting question did not shake the father's purpose. "And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood; [the pious youth making no resistance, although of sufficient age to carry the wood for the burnt offering.] And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son." The deed was intentionally done. The knife was on the point of entering the palpitating heart; when he who in future days was to die on the same mount to save ten thousand Isaacs from death, called suddenly out of heaven and stopped the father's hand. The trial was complete, and the proof was obtained that Abraham loved his God better than his son. This done, the God

whom he served forbade the human sacrifice. And although the fame of this affair, and the great credit of Abraham for piety, introduced the practice of human sacrifices among the neighboring nations, yet God declares that such a practice never "cameinto" his "heart." His only design was to try his servant, to see whether he would deny himself for him. And he was found willing to a degree that appears to us selfish creatures truly astonishing. A greater instance of self-denial was never witnessed, save when a greater Father laid his hand on a dearer son in the tragic scene of Calvary.

Abraham is called the father of the faithful, and the religion of all his sons must resemble his.But in this specimen we discover what his religion was. It was a principle of supreme love and unreserved obedience to God, which was ready to make any sacrifice which God required. He loved his God better than his Isaac; and would rather his son should die, nay die by his own hand, than break a command of God. This is the same religion that was taught by the Founder of the Christian Church: "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." Self-denial lies at the foundation of all practical religion, as supreme love to God lies at the foundation of all the religion of the heart. If we are to judge from the practice and avowed sentiments of men, the easy, liberal world do not make self-denial a constituent part of their