friend towards St. John particularly?

To St. John, above

others, HE showed HIMSELF in His glorified state; as you may read in the Book of Revelations.

Then see in how gracious and condescending a way He ordered all His appearances to them; eating with them, and blessing their food, as He had been used to do; repeating over again the miracle of the extraordinary draught of fishes, at nearly the same place, and with nearly the same company, as if on purpose to prove HIMSELF unchanged in affection. These and many more gracious signs He performed, that neither His Apostles nor we might ever doubt His being the same merciful Son of Mary, the same true Brother to us, now HE is so highly exalted, as HE was in His manger and on His Cross.

Think not that our MASTER'S condescending grace in all these things was confined to those Disciples only. Oh! surely it reaches to us, and to as many as believe on HIM through the Apostles' word. Though HE be at the right hand of God, His human Body and Soul are there with HIм, and all His brotherly love and pity for the lost children of men, and tender fellowfeeling towards those who stand afar off, and smite upon their breasts.

ance.

All these blessings of our LORD's Presence are sealed and made sure to us with the Promise of the HOLY GHOST, which makes us members of HIM, in His Baptism first, and afterwards in the Holy Communion. There, if not outwardly in our own flesh, yet under the shadow and veil which HE HIMSELF ordained, we may see GoD as often as we draw near in faith and repentThen and there He grants unto us to be partakers of the same blessing as those first communicants were, when after His Resurrection, as on this day, more than eighteen hundred years ago, He made HIMSELF known to them in breaking of bread. For it is not one SAVIOUR, One Eucharist, to them, and another to us, but to them, and us, and all from the beginning, it is the same SAVIOUR, the same Baptism, the same Communion, the same merciful GOD; and upon HIM, one and the same JESUS for ever, we shall all look, when with one and the same voice He shall have raised us at the last day.

Try and labour, my brethren, for love and for fear's sake; for love of HIM and for fear of Hell;-try and labour to have

this thought steadily present and without all question in your minds that as surely as He rose again this morning from the dead, with a true Body, which He showed to His Disciples, and took up with HIM into Heaven, so surely shall we all behold HIM with those very eyes of ours. Hitherto we have seen HIM as it were with other men's eyes; with the eyes of His holy Apostles and Martyrs, who have told us how He appeared to them, either in Heaven or in earth. But the hour is coming, and now is, when we shall see HIM for ourselves; our eyes shall behold HIM, and not another's. Upon one and the same JESUS, one and the same GoD, we shall all look, but He will appear to each one of us with a different countenance, according as we have behaved to HIM here. As we see HIM then, in wrath or in mercy, such HE will be to us for ever and ever; and His countenance will be according to our works.

SERMON CCL.

EASTER A HELP AGAINST TEMPTATION.

EASTER DAY.

ROMANS viii. 31.

"What shall we then say to these things? If GOD be for us, who can be against us?"

66

THUS exclaims the great Apostle, after earnest meditation on that course of miraculous mercies, which the Holy Church has been rehearsing to us during all the time from Christmas, or rather from the day of CHRIST'S Incarnation, until now. GOD spared not His own Son, but delivered HIM up for us all;" gave HIM up, first of all, to be Incarnate, made Man in the womb of a poor simple virgin; next to be born into the lowest condition of life, to be born in a stable, lodged in a manger, bred up in an ordinary trade, lowly and despised for thirty years; then to go about doing good and suffering evil, bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows, without a home, in reproach and danger, for three years more; then to be betrayed by His own disciple to His cruel enemies; to be scourged, spit upon, buffeted, crucified, killed, and laid in the grave. Thus GoD spared not His own SON, but gave HIM up for our sake, who were His enemies; and now He hath raised HIM from the dead, in token that with HIM HE will freely give us all things. What shall we say to these things, to these wonders of unspeakable mercy? If GOD be for us, who can be against us?" Who can harm us, if we be indeed followers and disciples of HIM that is good? "The LORD is on my side, I

will not be afraid what man, nor yet what evil spirits, can do unto me."

So cries out holy St. Paul, and with him St. Peter and the Prophet David, meditating on these Easter wonders. And, indeed, when those blessed women came to the grave early this morning, and found HIM not there, they indeed thought only, as true love would cause them to think, of the seeing their Divine MASTER again, alive and in joy, after His unspeakable pangs; but in truth, it was that great declaration which the whole world had been for so many ages waiting and longing for,—that God is on the side of goodness and against sin. It was the seal of the ALMIGHTY set for ever to such old prophetic sayings as the following: "Say ye to the righteous, That it shall be well with him, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him!" Hitherto, more or less, good men had been grieved at seeing the ungodly in prosperity; had felt as if they had cleansed their heart in vain, and washed their hands in innocency; had been perplexed at finding themselves chastened, while the wicked were not in trouble as other men: but now the sanctuary of God was opened, and the end both of those men, and of the children of God on the other hand, was understood by all who would look that way. Now, the meaning of the first Psalm, and of all the Psalms, was made plain to the whole Church. Now for ever "blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, whose delight is in the law of the LORD." There is no doubt about his lot now, whatever there may have been in times past; to the end he shall be like "the green tree planted by the rivers of water, whose leaf shall not wither, and whatsoever fruit he beareth shall prosper." While the ungodly, on the other hand, know their portion to be like the chaff which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth. Now, the righteous look on with confidence to that final congregation of all, where they shall stand, but the ungodly shall perish for ever. In short, the whole world is now made aware, that if we are with CHRIst, GOD is for us; and if God be for us, who can be against us?" 'If God be for us, who can be against us ?" If it please HIM to send His angel and roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, what avail the sealing of the stone by the chief Priests,

and the setting of Pilate's soldiers to watch? If CHRIST, whose members we are, be risen, what shall hinder our arising with HIM? If the grave cannot hold HIM, who is our surety, how should it hold us? If He, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, what dominion can sin have any more over us? If HE have bruised the serpent's head, whose fault must it be if we any more permit that evil power to do us a mischief?

"If God be for us, who can be against us?" It is true, that wicked one is still against us, as active, as malicious, as crafty as ever. And though he have received his death wound, yet is he permitted to go about the fold, seeking whom he may devour of CHRIST'S flock. He is still against us, but here is our refuge and salvation, that since CHRIST is risen, we know God is for us, and nothing that the enemy may say or suggest need do us any harm.

For example, when we read or hear of high and bright examples and rules of holiness, when we think of the sermon on the mount, the thought will sometimes come into our minds. Who then can be saved? or at least, How can I ever be saved, I, whose nature is so corrupt, and who have been guilty of so many grievous sins? and we are tempted to give up the matter in a kind of despair, and quite leave off watching ourselves. Such thoughts are direct temptations of the Devil; but faith can put them down at once-— faith in the Cross and Grave of JESUS CHRIST. Faith can say to the Evil One, "Get thee behind me; I know I was born in sin, but my SAVIOUR died to wash me from it, and He rose again to send down His Spirit, and make me partaker of that washing in Holy Baptism;" and again, "I know too well that I have marred my Baptismal Holiness more or less with inexcusable actual sins, but my SAVIOUR died to wash me from this also, and rose again to send down His Spirit, and make me partaker of that washing by true and deep penitency. Thus by virtue of CHRIST's death and resurrection, I trust to be forgiven both the sin of my birth and that which I have so miserably brought on myself; and therefore, though I am ashamed and sorry, yet I am very far from despair." Thus let our faith speak, and the Evil One will not be able to gainsay it.

If he whisper to our hearts, "It is all very well for you to go on flattering yourself, but depend upon it you are but like many others; you may seem now to repent indeed, but you are sure to