from thy prayers, thy hopes, and thy inquiries. Canst thou hope for deliverance, whose sins have caused thee to be given up to blindness, who art too wicked to be regarded by God? Thus the world derides, conscience intimidates, the adversary terrifies. But a sense of his dangers and miseries, and confidence in the power and mercy of the Saviour, will render the sinner importunate and persevering in his prayers. The pressure upon him of his miseries and danger, together with his apprehension of the power of the Messiah to set him free, will not suffer him to remit his importunity. He will supplicate so much the more earnestly as God the longer deferreth to deliver him. Like the blind man in this gospel, whose perseverance is recorded for our instruction, obstacles and delay will add strength to his cries; he will continue to call till Jesus hears him.

The success and happiness of such perseverance are taught us in the fourth thing we have to notice, concerning the subject of this miracle, the wonderful recovery of his sight. "And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight; thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God." Who can forbear to picture to himself the joy which now rushed as a torrent over the blind beggar's heart? The sun in the heavens he saw with delight and wonder; the face of nature transported him with its beauty and sublimity, and the relations and proportions of all its parts. He gazed upon the fair colours of the flowers which had refreshed him with a fragrance that came from objects which he could not behold. He lifted his eyes with admiration to the source of that heat, which had sometimes imparted to his impoverished frame a genial warmth, with the origin of which and its transcendant glory, he was unacquainted. He felt, too, free. He saw the face of man. He walked without a leader. What wonder that he clung to the being who had given him such independence, and opened to him such views and hopes? Well might he "follow Jesus, glorifying God." This is but one of many instances in which our Lord seemed not to hearken to

the prayer of the poor destitute, till their earnestness had been proved, and their faith and perseverance manifested. And as the importunate widow overcame by her continual supplications, even the unjust "judge, who feared not God, nor regarded man," so God will help the needy who cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them. Nor will their joy and the sources of their happiness be less than the blind man's, when he turneth him unto their prayer, and granteth their desire. His reconciled "countenance" they will behold pleasant and glorious "as the sun shining in his strength." Faith, and hope, and charity, and all the objects of the moral world, will be seen in all their beauty and grandeur; their proportions and relations to each other. The source of the good feelings which, while yet they were blind, occasionally warmed their souls, will be seen; and the fair complexions of the graces, with whose benevolent deeds they were occasionally refreshed. They see man in his true character and destiny. They feel their spirits free. They lift up their eyes, and a heaven is seen above, ethereal, unbounded, glorious; and beyond the reach of their spiritual vision, they imagine regions of immortality, where God dwells. To these regions they hope Of the joys of this immortality, the restoration of their sight is a pledge to them they shall one day share. And how shall they forbear to follow him to whom they owe this LL great salvation ?”

to come.

From Bartimeus we turn to Jesus of Nazareth; from the conduct of the blind beggar to the conduct of the Son of God, who gave him sight. Three things here deserve our consideration the extent of his benevolence, his gracious condescension, and his ascription to the blind man's faith of the salvation which he found.

The extent of our Lord's benevolence is worthy of remark. It embraces the whole human race. The rich and honourable counsellor of Arimathea, and the blind beggar on the way from Jericho, are alike observed by him, and have his regard. In like manner, his redemption embraces all mankind. The

penitent Magdalen shares it with faithful Abraham. No sinner is so far removed from God, that he may not be brought nigh by the blood of Christ. Poor blind man by the wayside, despair not to call upon Jesus if he come in thy way. He died for thee.

Another thing remarkable in the conduct of our Lord is his gracious condescension. He "stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him; and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight; thy faith hath saved thee." The Son of God, the heir of all worlds, stops on his way to hearken to the prayer of a blind beggar; he calls him to him, and enters into an inquiry concerning his wishes and his wants, and this for our instruction; that when awed by the greatness of our Creator, and overwhelmed by the distance between him and us, we may be encouraged to call upon him and hope in his name. The blind man put confidence in his goodness, and obtained his desire.

It is important to be observed, that the faith of this suppliant procured him his relief. The Scriptures give us no example of any blessing obtained from our Saviour without this quality. "If thou believest." "All things are possible to him that believeth." And, again: "O, woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee, even as thou wilt." And here, in the case before us, Jesus said unto him: "Receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee." Awakened sinner; wouldst thou share the mercies, and come unto him, believing that thy God hath sent him into the world for thy redemption? Have confidence in his goodness, and the sufficiency of his power to save thee. If there were no other reason why faith should be required of thee, it were a sufficient and an awful one which St. John hath given: "He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

Brethren, the application of this interesting portion of Scripture is to yourselves. God has placed you, though blind and poor, in the way in which you may hear of his Son the Redeemer. When you hear the voices of the prophets, and the movements of the types and the sacrifices are set before you, do you ask what it meaneth? "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." When the Church calleth you to joy in a Christmas, to keep a Lent, to solemnize a Good Friday, to observe an Easter, to celebrate an Ascension, do you ask what it meaneth? "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." When the altar of God hath upon it its white covering, and there are placed thereon bread and wine, and the priests stand by it in deepest humility and highest adoration, do you ask what it meaneth? "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." Are your desires to go to him for the salvation you need, restrained by your fears, or the opposition of the enemy, or the cavils of an evil world? Rise, he calleth you. Are you guilty? He calleth you to pardon. Are you feeble? He calleth you to grace. Are you afflicted? calleth you to consolation. Are you mortal? He calleth you to eternal life. "Come unto me," saith he, "all ye that travail, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Be not deterred, then, by the difficulties in the way. Lay aside the upper garment of your own sufficiency. It may entangle you in going to Jesus. Think not of your claim to his help. Regard not your inability to compensate him for your cure. Have faith in his character. Have faith in his pity and his power. His name is Saviour. Contemplate him by his name and cry to him perseveringly, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." He standeth still when the poor calleth; "he also will hear their prayer and will help them."

He

SERMON XLIV.*

THE RICH AND THE GREAT BEGGING THE BODY OF JESUS.

THE

MATTHEW, Xxvii. 58.

"He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.”

HE fate of the body of our blessed Lord, after his crucifixion, is a very interesting part of his history. You have often heard that it passed from the cross into the hands of Joseph of Arimathea, and by him, being affectionately embalmed with spices and wrapped in clean linen, was deposited in a sepulchre in his garden. Many a pious Christian has, doubtless, envied this Arimathean his felicity, in possessing the body of his Lord. You all, when reading the narrative, have admired the constancy of his affection, his resolution, and his pious fidelity. But there are circumstances of this transaction, in the reading of which, it may be, the uses they give it have not been noticed, nor the instructions they suggest regarded. About to go up to the table of the Lord to receive that which he hath left us as his body, these circumstances may be well brought to our recollection, and made subjects of our meditation. They relate to the event we are to commemorate. They are instructive, some one or other of them, to all.

In the first place, he whom we here find begging "the body of Jesus," was rich. "There was a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple." It is

* Preached on a Communion Sunday. VOL. II.-26