Another resembling circumstance in the condition of the people was, that they appeared penitent. They confessed their sins and implored forgiveness. As soon as these symptoms of contrition appeared, (and nothing could be done before,) God ordered the remedy to be presented. In like manner the Saviour is revealed to none but to those who are humbled. He came to preach good tidings only to the meek, to bind up none but broken hearts.

2. The brazen serpent had the form of the fiery serpents, but not their poison. So Christ, though he came "in the likeness of sinful flesh," and possessed both the body and the soul of a man, had none of our depravity.

3. The bite of the serpents must be cured by the lifting up, not of an eagle, but of a serpent. So Christ must take upon himself, not "the nature of angels, but—the seed of Abraham." "In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren." It must be man that is lifted up to atone for the sins of man.

The serpent must be lifted up conspicuously in the midst of the camp, where all the eyes of Israel might centre upon it: and the Son of man must be lifted up in the centre of the world, on the top of Jerusalem, environed with proofs drawn from heaven and earth, brought in from the whole body of the Old Testament and confirmed by the miracles of the New; and there, in the midst of the world, in the centre of light, where all nations might see the reality and the divine appointment of the sacrifice, he made expiation for the sins of the world.

This is the chief meaning of his being lifted up. The phrase is twice used, in this sense, in other parts of the same Gospel. "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he." "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, [for they understood him,] We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever, and how sayest thou, the Son of man must be lifted up?"

There is another sense in which the Son of man was to be lifted up in order to be the Saviour of the world. He was to be raised from the dead, and thus openly acquitted and accepted, that in his justification we might be acquitted and accepted. He "was raised again for our justification."

There is yet another sense in which he was to be lifted up. He was to ascend into heaven, there "to appear in the presence of God for us ;" there to receive and distribute the whole inheritance; there to rule the universe and complete the salvation of his people. Thus he was to be exalted "to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."

Had not the brazen serpent been lifted up, all who were bitten must have died. Not all the physicians in Israel could have brought relief. Had any caviller been disposed to say, "What is a brazen serpent? and cannot God heal his people without it?" yet, when bitten himself, he must have died if he had not looked to that remedy. And although the cross of Christ is to some "a stumbling block”

and to others "foolishness," yet without it no child of Adam could have been saved; and without a believing application to it, all must perish still.

4. The serpent being thus erected in full view of the camp, the people, when bitten, had only to fix their eyes upon it and they lived. Wounded to death and racked with pain, they had only to cast their languishing eyes on this serpent of brass, and all the fire within them was quenched,—all their anguish relieved. Precious symbol of a precious Saviour! When the soul, under conviction of guilt, sees hell naked before it and destruction without a covering, let it then catch one view of Christ atoning for the sins of the world,-of Christ exalted to the seat of intercession and rule; let there be opened upon it one sun-shine of God's mercy and truth; and all its anguish and fear are soothed, and the dying sinner lives: his sense of guilt and wrath is changed to a sense of pardoning love,-his midnight darkness to a morning without clouds. Instead of lying, weak and helpless, under the feet of trampling foes, he feels omnipotence growing up within him, and he can march boldly against earth and hell combined. All that is wanting to bring everlasting relief to the most abject guilt and wretchedness, is to fix a believing eye on Christ,-is to embrace him as a complete Saviour, and to take, with him, all that God has tendered to men,-is to rely on him as the great High Priest appointed by God to atone and intercede, and whose offering God has sworn to accept,—is to confide in the sincerity of God in this appointment and oath. When

these great truths open on the soul, and the glory of God is seen shining in the face of Jesus Christ, the believer sees that were his guilt doubled ten thousand times, he might easily be forgiven, and feels that if he had ten thousand souls he could venture them all upon a precious Saviour; that there is a fulness in him for the necessities of all the lost children of Adam: and he wonders why a whole world do not come to him and partake.

It is a great thing to believe these sublime realities. The heart of man is prone to unbelief. For God to pardon sins so enormous, and be so kind to enemies and rebels, is so unlike the human heart, that it is hard for men to believe it. And under the glooms of guilt it seems too good news to be true. And then they have but little confidence in God, and fear to trust him for so much. They are not in the habit of ascribing to him any great desires to make his creatures happy. But when the wonders of his love open on the soul, and Christ is seen as a lamb upon the altar and a lamb in the midst of his father's throne, then the sinner forgets his pains; his glooms are fled; his conscience, purged "from dead works," is filled with peace,-with joy unspeakable and full of glory. The vilest sinner has a warrant thus to believe, thus to receive the Saviour, and thus to rejoice in him. For the offer is to all; aud in believing all this he only believes the word and oath of God,-an oath sworn by himself and attested by miracles: he only believes Christ to be what he really is, a highway paved to the throne of mercy, by which a whole world may go

abreast. Such a view, attended, as it will be, with a willingness to receive him, and which will bring an instant consciousness of its own existence, cannot fail to produce a sense of safety. Christ is seen to be a rock on which the soul may rest, and on which it is conscious of resting. It knows that it has not a phantom in its embrace, but the very God of Israel.

One look at the brazen serpent was enough to relieve the most desperate case. Nothing in the patient,-nothing which he had done, or had been, or then was, could prevent his cure, provided it did not prevent him from looking. No merit was required for an efficacious look. The bad and the good might equally enjoy the privilege. That they were bitten was no prevention, but the very reason why they ought to look. In like manner faith in Christ will heal the vilest sinner that ever descended from Adam. There is nothing in any man,nothing which he has done, has been, or is, which can prevent his cure, provided it does not prevent him from looking. No merit is required, nor any one virtue but what is involved in an operative faith. That men are sinners is no prevention. It is the very reason why they ought to look. All that is necessary to fit the vilest sinner for heaven, is faith in Christ; not a dead faith, but that faith which includes repentance, love, and good works; not a belief that Christ died for me in particular, without any thing above a selfish temper; but a holy approbation of all that appears of God in his law and works,-of all that appears of Christ in his gospel