"Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." That this may be the happy case of every one of you, may God of his infinite mercy grant for Christ's sake!

CHRIST APPEARING TO MARY MAGDALENE.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.-JOHN xx. 16, 17. [1793.]

WHILE discoursing lately on the subject of our Lord's resurrection-a fact foretold by prophecy and confirmed by a cloud of witnesses-we have seen that special honor had been conferred upon Mary Magdalene by being made one of the first messengers to carry to the disciples the news of this joyful event. We have seen this gracious woman standing weeping at the sepulchre, inconsolable at the loss of her Lord and Saviour; let us now consider her joyful meeting with her Divine Master. While she was speaking, as she supposed, with the gardener, saying, "Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away, Jesus saith unto her," with such an expression as convinced her who he was, "Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not.” Here may seem some obscurity. Why say this to her in the warmth of her affection? It could not be that he objected to render sensible evidences to Mary that his body was really raised, for this he granted, not long

after, in order to meet the unreasonable demand of unbelieving Thomas:-"Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but believing." It could not, therefore, be that our Saviour was averse to grant Mary sensible evidences of his resurrection but it is as if he had said, Mary, in so critical a moment as this, touch me not: you are now surprised with an appearance which you little expected: your heart overflows with affection and gratitude, and you would fain detain me: but give not way to anxiety: think not to embrace, and hold me, as if I could stay here your regards must be more spiritual; I must go on in my Father's business till it is finished: I am not yet ascended, or, I do not yet ascend. I shall not go yet; I have more to do: and therefore, do not seek to hold me, as if you were afraid to lose me again immediately; but go, and take a joyful message to my disciples; tell them, I ascend unto my Father, and their Father; to my Father by nature, and to their Father by adoption.

I. Consider THE READINESS THAT IS HERE SET FORTH IN CHRIST TO MEET THEM THAT DESIRE TO MEET HIM— the nearness of Christ to the humble and inquiring "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon

heart. him."

Mary's anxiety was the result of that love which Christ had implanted in her heart. The soul that truly loves Christ, cannot be satisfied with any thing short of him: so, nothing could satisfy Mary but finding her Lord, whom she was seeking. "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" Though the Lord is nigh unto them that seek him, he is yet often hidden from them by appearances: he is behind some providential dispensa

tion; or behind some friend. But he will soon show himself, and teach us, as he did Mary, that they who wait for him shall not wait in vain. Though the clouds obstruct the sun, it shall soon break forth again. Christ is ever ready to meet his people. See him meeting his disciples at sea, when they were toiling in rowing: see him meeting Daniel, when he was mourning, fasting, and praying near the river Hiddekel: see him meeting John in the isle of Patmos : nay, he is so nigh, as to be present where only "two or three are gathered together in his name." Like this gracious woman, they shall receive more than they expect: Mary only desired the dead body of her Lord; but, lo! the Saviour presented himself alive! to the astonishment and joy of her heart.

II. Consider THE DIRECTION CHRIST GIVES TO SUCH

AS SEEK HIM.

The spirit and substance of this direction is given in many parts of Scripture; and it seems to be this: Do not seek Christ any more after the flesh; do not live by sense but by faith: look from earth to heaven: "Touch me not;" i. e. do not fix your attention on my body. Mary seems to say, when she found him to be her Lord, whom she took for the gardener, It is enough. But Christ says, "Touch me not,"-there is something better than my bodily presence: look to Christ risen from the dead: look at his ascension and intercession; go, and tell my brethren that I am a risen and glorified Saviour.

The method which the Enemy takes is exactly the reverse of this. He endeavors to fix our eye on something present: he takes pains to draw our attention from heaven down to earth: he bids us look at the world, which he varnishes over with the fairest colors:

he is ever bringing the mind off from spirituality, and presenting to the idolatrous heart gaudy trappings: he prepares gewgaws, and then says, Look here! Look there! but he never says, Look up. The world is an idolater. Like the Israelites, it says, "Come and let us make ourselves gods to go before us," gods that we can see. We are apt to be astonished at them, but forget that we are disposed to act in the same way. It is the sensual heart, the gross element, which is ever leading us to live by sight. But, let us remember, that if this is nature, it is opposite to grace; for this calls us to live by faith, and tells us that this is not our rest. The religion of Christ is to call us off from the things of earth to something higher, something nobler; to fix our eyes upon a risen Saviour, and to let our hopes rest on rising with him. Our disposition is to linger: we would be like Lot's wife: Hasten me not let me stop and taste of the fruit of the land! If we see something to strike our little minds, we are ready to say, with the disciples when they beheld the Temple, "See what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" But Christ turns away their eyes, and seems to say, You are looking upon dust: "There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." So he says to us, I show you "a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." In the thirty-second chapter of Deuteronomy, God explains to us the meaning of his dealings: "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him," i. e. he would have us soar as an eagle, above the earth.

III. Consider THE ENDEARING RELATION IN WHICH

CHRIST PRESENTS HIMSELF TO US, AFTER HIS RESURRECTION: "Go to my brethren."

We see here the relation in which our Lord stands to the gracious heart. He was now no longer the "Man of Sorrows," he was "the King of Glory." But he seems to say-I do not forget my relationship: I think of my brethren: they are still weeping, as if I had forgotten them-as if they had lost their only friend. "Go to my brethren," tell them, we have one Father, one spirit: for "he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit:" tell them, that I still remember them: that I shall intercede for them, that they may be kept through my name; "that they all may be one." John xvii. 21. Tell them, that I am their elder brother, born for adversity; able to meet all their wants and necessities that I am risen for them: that I ascend for them, "unto my Father and their Father:" tell them, that I am risen a great conqueror over death, having led captivity captive; and that they shall be made conquerors too that I have prepared a place for them. Tell them, that this relationship is so permanent, so comforting, that I am not ashamed to call them brethren that I am flesh of their flesh, and bone of their bone.

Christ calls all that fear and love him his brethren : he says, "My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." If, then, you are conscious of being believers in Christ, take it for granted. that he does not forget it, whoever does. Though you can only stand, weeping, before an empty sepulchre, yet, it is your privilege to know, that though such "weeping may endure for a night, yet joy cometh in the morning." It is your privilege to make use of this