Must not much that He heard have pained Him?

Yes: undoubtedly He suffered daily, from the great contrariety between the spirit of the world and His spirit: the state of those around Him was so opposite to His holy, heavenly state, that if he had had no other suffering to endure, this alone would have been great beyond our conception.

We have endeavoured, in some faint degree, to trace the daily sufferings of Jesus: now turn to the account of His latter sufferings, recorded by each of the Evangelists.-Read these passages repeatedly, in private, with earnest prayer.

After having borne His cross for about thirtythree years, we behold our Lord approaching the scene of His last Passion. His crosses became heavier towards their termination in the great Sacrifice. (John xii. 27.) We may remark His exquisite feeling for the sins and punishment of Jerusalem, at the moment when the multitude were shouting Hosanna. (Luke xix. 41.) We see Him denied by Peter, betrayed by Judas, forsaken by all the disciples. We may follow Him to the garden of Gethsemane but here we pause-His sufferings from this time, till the moment when He expired upon the cross, are not to be traced in any human description. The extremity in which

He cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me❞—was probably the bitterest of all: in enduring our guilt, it would seem that He had passed into a gulph of suffering, in which His Father could be seen no more.

II.

Now let us again ask-what effect should the consideration of the Cross produce in us? What should we feel with respect to the evil of sin?

Can we behold the Cross, and indulge sin?
What may we learn of the Remedy of sin?

In another point of view-where do you read of our daily cross? Luke ix. 23.

What does it mean? [A daily portion of suffering.]

Who are to take up their cross? Read again Luke ix. 23.

Now read Luke xiv. 27; likewise Matt. x. 38; xvi. 24; and Mark viii. 34.

Why must the cross be taken up?

It cannot be too deeply impressed upon our minds, that we have fallen into a state so different from that in which we were created, that we must necessarily suffer in our way to regain this state. The whole process of our life in this world, is a curative, a restorative process, and many of the remedies we must take are painful to our corrupt nature and perverse will.

Our will and affections have been turned from God to other objects: in the work of our sanctification, they must be more and more turned to God, and weaned from created things. If our will were wholly resigned to God, there would be comparatively little suffering. *

How will the view of the Cross of Christ, enable us to take up our daily cross?

We are apt to think much of our sufferings; and perhaps, at times, we may be tempted to regard our burden as intolerable. If such be our case, let us, in connection with the view we have been taking, remember these words of the Apostle, "Looking unto Jesus."-The believer, by means of the Cross, will be drawn nearer to Jesus Christ, and may by degrees experience something of what the Apostle meant, when he desired to know the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, and to be "made conformable to His death."

* Let us however constantly bear in mind the grand distinction between our sufferings and those of our blessed Saviour. His were solely propitiatory; they were endured for US. He made a full, perfect, and sufficient oblation, satisfaction, and atonement, for the sins of the whole world. The victim has been offered, the sacrifice is complete. Our sufferings, on the other hand, have not the smallest efficacy in the way of atonement -The full conviction that Christ has borne our sins, that they are pardoned, blotted out, taken away through the efficacy of His sufferings, will be the only ground of the believer's hope the view of the cross and sufferings of Christ will be the strongest motive to the believer's practice.

GLORY.

You have heard of glory: do you know what it means? [Splendour, brightness, the perfection of light.]

Are there in this world, manifestations of glory?

What are all the works of creation? Read Ps. xix. 1.

Where do we read of heavenly glory?

Is there a glory of the holy city?
Is there a glory of the saints?

Who is the fountain of all glory? [It is God who communicates glory to the holy city, and to the saints.]

Do we read in Scripture of any manifestations of the glory of. God?-We will consider a few of them.

God manifested His glory to the Israelites. Ex. xix. 16-20. To chosen persons among them. Ex. xxiv.

9, 10.

To Moses in answer to His request. Ex. xxxiii. 18; xxxiv. 5-8.

In the Tabernacle. Ex. xl. 34, 35.

To Isaiah. Isa. vi. 1-5.

To Ezekiel. Ezek. i. 26-28; x. 1—5;` xi, 22, 23; xliii. 1-5.

These appearances seem too high for our minds: they dazzle our spirits by their bright

ness, as the strong light of the sun dazzles our eyes; yet they are but faint beams in comparison of the essential glory. Our souls—in this state at least-could not bear the full view of the glory of God.-The seraphic spirits cover their faces, while they cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts."

Can you think of One in whom God has manifested His glory, so that men may behold and approach it? Heb. i. 3; John i. 1-14.

We are invited to behold "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Cor. iv. 6.)

In Jesus Christ, glory shines for us.

Were there occasions in which the glory of God in Christ, was outwardly manifested?

[It was manifested in a multitude of miraculous works of mercy:-it was manifested at the baptism of Jesus; Matt. iii. 16, 17:-it was manifested in answer to His prayer; John xii. 28.]

And when did our Lord, during His abode on earth, give a peculiar manifestation of His glory?-See Matt. xvii. 1-5.

These were occasional glimpses of the divine. glory shewn forth in our blessed Saviour: but when we say that the glory of God was manifested in Christ, we mean in the whole process of His incarnation, sacrifice, and victory.

Is there a place of glory? Where?
Is there a crown of glory? 1 Pet. v.
Is there a state of glory?

What?

4.