no burden, never seek Christ at all: and so die in their sins. And other miserable ones there are, who, even feeling the burden of their sins, nevertheless do not seek Him who alone can remove it, but fly to the world and its excitements, in the vain hope of finding that peace which it cannot give.

But it will be said, How are we to come unto Christ? That Christ is now ascended into heaven; that while He was in the world, when He was seen with the eyes, when He was looked upon, when He, the Word of life, was handled by the Apostles with their hands,— then, indeed, it was possible to come unto Him; but now He is far away-He has left the world, and is gone back to the Father. How, then, are we to come unto Him? We cannot now go and fall at His sacred feet, nor touch the hem of His garment, nor sit at meat with Him, nor eat and drink with Him, nor question Him and receive His reply; for He is gone into a far country, and will not return till the end of the world.

To this I answer, Consider, after all, that although Christ is gone into heaven, He nevertheless is "not far from every one of us." Even while He was on earth, He, the Son of Man, was in heaven, according to His mighty power as Son of God; much more, then, at this present time, although in His divine body He sitteth at the right hand of God, yet as having "all power given unto Him in

1 Acts xvii. 27.

heaven and in earth," is He marvellously present throughout the world, observing every one of us, yea, dwelling within us, according to His mysterious nature, if so be we abide in Him.

We must, then, regard it as a certain fact, that although we cannot now with our eyes behold Christ, yet is He really in a wonderful manner amongst us, even more entirely than in the days of His flesh; and that at any moment, to any person, He could shew Himself if He willed. But He would have us live by faith, and not by sight. And it is but a little thing to us to have lost the power of beholding Him with our carnal eyes, if only in the faith of our souls we acknowledge His invisible presence, and purify our hearts here, according to His commandment, that hereafter we "may see Him as He is."2

How, then, are we to come unto Christ? We are to come unto Him by considering that, although unseen, He is continually present; by, therefore, often lifting up our hearts to Him, feeling certain that He knows our every thought. We are to come to Christ by praying to Him as often in the day as we can find time; knowing that in some wonderful way He is close by, and hears our prayers, and can fulfil them to us. We are to come

to Christ by the constant habit

of reading the

holy Gospels, and meditating upon His life, His wonderful deeds, His words, His sufferings, His

1 Matt. xxviii. 18.

2 1 John iii. 2.

blessed example, His crucifixion, resurrection, and glorious ascension. We are to come to Christ by obeying His holy laws, and walking in His steps, in the denial of ourselves, and the taking up of our cross. We are to come to Christ by frequenting those holy places of worship in which He more especially manifests Himself, and there, in the ordinances of His Church, worshipping and glorifying Him.

Christ Himself, indeed, shews us, in the text, one especial way in which He would have us come unto Him. "Take My yoke upon you," He says, "and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Rest is that which all mankind more or less desire and seek after; and as the rest of the body is a great good, so the rest of the soul is the greatest of all goods; and such a state is in the gift of our Saviour. But on whom does He bestow it? On such as take His yoke upon them; for He Himself says, "Take My yoke upon you, and ye shall find rest for your souls." We may therefore be persuaded, that unless, and until, we take His yoke upon us, we shall never find true rest. And this is the reason why the souls of so many Christians are restless and disquieted; namely, because they do not strive sincerely to take upon them the yoke of Christ. A yoke implies entire submission: a yoke is that which man puts upon inferior animals to make them do him service. To take the yoke of

Christ, then, is to hold oneself under submission to Christ; to suffer oneself to be constrained by the love of Christ; to count oneself as belonging to Christ; to do service to Christ; to consider oneself as not one's own, but His. Now most persons, on the other hand, look upon themselves as their own, and able to do as they please. But Christ would have us not do our own will, but His will, even as He Himself did not His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. And to such as take His yoke, and do His will, He promises rest. They shall no longer labour and be heavy laden with either inward or outward burdens, but shall enjoy an enduring repose in Him.

Neither must we pass over those other words of our divine Saviour, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” Here you see the beginning of all true peace, and the only way of finding it; namely, humility. A proud disposition can never be at rest. Pride is in itself a restless thing; but humility is ever at peace with itself and with the world. This was the mind of Christ, and what He would have in us: a meek and lowly heart. This alone it is which truly exalts the Christian; for "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." This, then, is the temper at which we should aim if we ever 1 Matt. xxiii. 12.

2 James iv. 6.

3 Matt. v. 5.

SERMON XXIII.

DISAPPOINTMENTS IN LIFE.

EXODUS XV. 23.

"

And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah; for they were bitter. . And the people

murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet."

It is needless for me to remind you of the causes which, under God's providence, moved the Israelites to quit Egypt. Suffice it to say, the predestined hour had now arrived; and after the exhibition of wonderful miracles, Moses, in the face of the sovereign and armies of Egypt, had led forth God's chosen people, in search of the long-promised land, crowning their deliverance from bondage with the overthrow of their enemies in the Red Sea.

"The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil... . . Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters: Who is like unto Thee, O Lord?" Such was the triumphant song of Moses,

1 Exod. xv. 9-11.