life, or death unto death.

Here a feast is

spread; here special blessings are freely bestowed; here, as we partake of these elements of bread and wine, we may by faith feed upon Him who is the Bread that came down from heaven, of which, if any man eat, he shall live for ever. If we do truly partake, we cannot surely remain in a state of spiritual indifference, we must be drawn upwards in our strongest affections towards Christ and towards all who bear His holy name. We must be more like unto Him in our walk and conversation, forgiving as we would be forgiven, kindly unto the sorrowful and the suffering, ministering gladly unto the necessities of the brethren, living in the world with large - heartedness, as men who have duties to perform therein. May God so enlarge our hearts; may He, as we celebrate the dying love of the Lord, and eat of this spiritual feast provided, grant unto us that we may enjoy His holy presence throughout the course of life. May He unite us as members of the same family, and prosper us in the works of our hands; and

His work done with us here—may we be privileged to meet at that feast at which the Lord shall preside where all shall bear His image, and where sin shall for ever have disappeared.

CHRIST THE KING.

"Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."-MATT. xxi. 9.

HE scene described in this verse

TH

took place upon Christ's entry into Jerusalem to accomplish the final act of His life, making His soul an offering for sin, that thus He might accomplish the redemption of the Church. A few days before, He had stood by the grave of Lazarus; and not now in a corner, as in Galilee, where he had on two occasions raised the dead to life, but in the presence of men of high position and authority, who had come to mourn with Mary and her sister, He had called forth from among the dead one who had lain in the grave four days. This act was the

means of extending far and wide His fame; it was known to the high priest and the chief rulers; it had probably excited much interest among the people, whose hopes of the revival of the kingdom of Israel were roused by it.

Making use of His divine foreknowledge, He sent His disciples before Him to prepare for the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Though in His sufferings, as His hunger, thirst, and weariness, and dependence upon the bounty of the devout women who ministered unto Him, and exposure to the laceration of the wounds of the cross, He voluntarily laid aside the use of His divine power, that in all things He might be like unto His brethren, yet. He exercised that power not only for the working of miracles, but for the penetrating into the depths of the thoughts of men, and for bringing to view the future. Thus, here, He directs them to the place where they will find the ass upon which He is to make His entry into Jerusalem; He prepares the mind of the owner to comply with their request; and He even prepares in part the multitude for that enthusiastic recep

tion they were to give Him, though the event to which we have referred may have been the chief motive conscious to their own mind And now, all being ready, He passes along under the trees of the Mount of Olives, on the winding road to Jerusalem, receiving a royal ovation, the people strewing their garments in the way, cutting down the branches of the trees, hailing Him, with one enthusiastic shout, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" while all nature around seems to join in the anthem of praise, so that He says that if these were to hold their peace, the very stones would cry out.

We would now inquire into the meaning of this extraordinary episode in the history of our Lord on the very eve of His death. We would consider it under three aspects;first, as showing unto us the truly human character of that kingdom which He, the Son of David, had come to establish; secondly, as asserting His claim, though He appeared in such humble position, to the lordship of the kingdoms of this earth; thirdly, as signifying His ultimate entire subjugation of the world to Himself.