hearts will speak to your hands, and your hands, thus spoken to, will know where to go, and what to do, (for the heart is intimately connected with the hand,) and then we shall have a noble collection, and glory will redound to the name of the Lord.

SERMON XXIV.

AN ADDRESS TO CHILDREN.

BY REV. A. FLETCHER, D. D.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."-JOHN xii. 21.

I Do not know if there is a child present, who has ever read the whole of the Bible, from the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Revelation. It is probable some of you may have done so; I cannot tell but some hundreds of you may. Now you know, my dear young friends, that in the Bible there is an astonishing number of names, both in the Old Testament and in the New. But I ask you, did you ever meet in the whole Bible so beautiful a name as that of Jesus? I never did. You may read the whole of the Bible through, and you will not find in it a lovelier, a sweeter, a more blessed, a more comforting name, than the name of Jesus.

Do you know the meaning of the name Jesus? It signifies a Savior. It is a Hebrew name, and it corresponds with the name Joshua in the Old Testament. You recollect the noble captain of the Lord's host captain Joshua. He was a wonderful man, a very holy man as well as a great captain and a great general, and his name Joshua signifies a Savior; he got the name because he led the children of Israel through the river Jordan into the land of Canaan, and conducted them in all their battles, and succeeded in getting possession of the land, and delivered it up to the Israelites; therefore he was called Joshua, because he was their Savior. Now this name is given to the Lord Jesus Christ because he is a Savior. Joshua was a great savior; but Christ is a Savior infinitely greater. Joshua saved the Israelites from temporal enemies; but our Jesus saves his people from spiritual enemies. Joshua saved the children of Israel from the giants-the Anakim, as they called them; great tall men, of such extraordinary size, that if one of them stood in this middle aisle, his head would be as high as that clock

in front of the gallery; Joshua fought with them, and destroyed them. But the Lord Jesus Christ delivers his people from three greater giants; their names are Sin Satan - and the World. And Jesus is such a mighty Savior that he delivers from hell. Joshua led the children of Israel to a most beautiful country called Canaan, the loveliest spot upon the face of the earth; oh! it was beautiful-beautiful for its mountains and its lovely green hills and its valleys and its meadows and plains, beautiful for its lakes and its streams and its rivers, beautiful for its noble cities, and the chief of them was called Jerusalem; but Christ gives to his people, and to little children that love him, a far better land than Canaan; he gives them the heavenly Canaan, he gives them heaven, he gives them the heaven of heavens

but

"the land of pure delight,

Where saints immortal reign;
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain."

Now, my dear young friends, I have to ask friends, I have to ask you this question-a very serious one, a very plain one and I ask all the teachers too: do you love the name of Jesus? Every pious child does. You that have loving fathers and mothers, do not you love the name Father, and the name Mother? and the name Sister, and the name Brother, you that have loving brothers and sisters?—and the name Minister, and the name Teacher, you that have loving ministers and loving teachers? The very names are pleasant to your ears. But if you are the children of God, the name of Jesus will be more delightful to your ear than any of these, or the name of the nearest and the dearest friend on earth. Oh! I hope that a great many of these dear little children can join with their hearts in the following beautiful lines:

"Jesus! I love thy charming name;

'Tis pleasure to my ear;

Fain would I sound it out so loud,

That heaven and earth might hear."

I must explain to you, before I enter upon the illustration of the text, that these words - "Sir, we would see Jesus" were spoken by some Greeks, who came to Jerusalem to observe the feast of the Passover. They came a great many hundred miles; for if you have got in your school the map of Palestine or of the journeys of Paul, you may see that Greece is a very long way off from Jerusalem. Now you know, strangers from the country, when they come to London, are anxious to hear the news that is to be heard in this great city; and one day somebody told these Greeks, while they were in Jerusalem, that there was a very wonderful person about, called Jesus; that be opened

the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, made the dumb to sing and the lame to walk, and healed all diseases, and a little while before had gone to a village called Bethany, (about the same distance from Jerusalem that Islington is from London,) and there he went to the burying ground, where a friend of his, of the name of Lazarus, had been laid in the grave, and he stood beside it with the tears running down his cheeks, and he actually raised the dead man to life. But, said the Greeks, is this true? we never heard such wonderful things. Oh! yes, says one, it is true, for I have a friend that saw the very man that was raised from the dead. Perhaps one comes up at the time a most respectable man, of excellent character and piety, and says, I saw the man yesterday; I went to his house to see him, and there was a crowd of people round the door, and at last he came out and showed himself. Oh! said the Greeks, we should like to see this Jesus; where can we get a sight of the performer of these mighty miracles? Then there was just passing by a plain, decent looking man, and some one said - Do you see that man? that is Philip, one of his disciples. Oh! said the Greeks, let us go and ask him; and they went up to him, and said, " Sir, we would see Jesus." We are not told whether they did see him, but there is every probability that they did; and I trust they saw him, not only as a wonderful man, but as God and man in one person. Oh! remember, little children, he was not only a man, but he was God and man man and God; his humanity was not his divinity, nor was his divinity his humanity, but both were united in one person God and man the Savior of lost

sinners.

Now, my dear young friends, I want to show you Jesus to-day. Do you not know he is in London? A great many saw him yesterday; hundreds, if not thousands. But they did not see his body; that is in heaven, and they will not see it till they get there; they saw him with the eye of the understanding and the eye of faith-saw him in his divinity. And the Lord Jesus in his divinity is here in this chapel- the very Jesus, whose body was nailed to the accursed tree. And I have come this afternoon expressly to show you Jesus; that is all my business; I have nothing else to do; and when I have given you a sight of Christ, I will leave you in his blessed hands. Then you and I shall part; but I hope, if we do not meet again on earth, we shall meet in heaven.

I hope you desire to see him. If I were to ask you, Do you wish to see Jesus?—I hope you would exclaim with one voice, — Sir Minister" we would see Jesus." Then, my dear young friends, I say to you, come and see him. Come and see Jesus in Beth

lehem; come and see Jesus in Egypt; come and see Jesus in Nazareth; come and see Jesus in the temple; come and see Jesus on the cross; come and see Jesus in the grave; come and see Jesus in heaven.

I. My beloved little children, come and see Jesus in Bethlehem.

Do you know the meaning of that word? It is a Hebrew word, and it signifies the house of bread: beth the house, lehem of bread. Is not that an extraordinary name to be given to a town? I believe that name was given to it, because the Lord Jesus Christ was to be born in that town, and he is bread. Little child, whenever you see a loaf, remember that Jesus is bread. When I see the little lambs going along the street, I say to myself, Ah! Jesus is the lamb of God; and when you see bread, remember Jesus is bread the bread of life. Bethlehem was called by this name, because he was to be born in it; it was prophesied that he should, many hundreds of years before, by the prophet Malachi, and therefore it was even then called Bethlehem -the house of bread and is called so to the present day.

Bethlehem is six miles south of Jerusalem; and it is the town where king David was born, and therefore it was also called the City of David, or David's Town. And now let us, in our meditations, take a walk to Bethlehem, and go and see Jesus.

Suppose we have passed through the gate of the city, and got into one of the main streets; how shall we proceed? If we ask where it is that Christ is born, the person we ask very likely cannot tell. Perhaps some little child present is ready to say, Oh! surely Jesus, the Son of God, must be born in some great palace, more splendid and magnificent than the queen's palace, where she receives her nobles and her ministers of state. Ah! my young friend, that was not the case; Jesus was not born in a palace, though he made the heavenly palace. Suppose we go to the chief hotel of the town, and ask if Jesus is born there; and the porter answers "No, I do not know such a person; but I did hear this morning that a poor woman from Nazareth is lodg ing in that stable with her husband, Joseph, and that a little child has been born there." Then we enter the stable; I think I am now walking up to the manger; and there, in the manger that holds the food for the horses and oxen, while they eat it, we see a beautiful babe, and his name is — Jesus. And there by his side sits his mother Mary a humble, unassuming, pious individual, not the fine lady represented in Popish pictures in the shop windows, dressed out in fine clothes, but a poor woman in coarse attire, though with meekness and gentleness and humility beaming in her eye. There is Joseph too, the supposed

father of Christ; but he was not his father- he was only his protecting father, raised up to watch over the dear child, during the early years of his existence. Oh! what a sight, my beloved Jesus, the babe, lying in a manger.

young friends! There were a number of shepherds that evening conversing together, and praying, and singing hymns, in a beautiful field in Palestine, not far from Bethlehem; and on a sudden they thought they heard music. The sun was set, and the stars were sparkling in the sky; but said one, "I think I hear music ;" and said another, "I think I hear it too;" but so sweet as they never heard before. Then it became louder, till at last there was a full chorus; and when they lifted up their eyes to the heavens, they saw a multitude of angels, and heard them singing this hymn to the most melodious music "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." of the angels alighted down upon the earth, and came up to them; the shepherds were all pale with fear, and ready to faint, but the angel said to them," Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy."

"Ye shepherds go,' the angel said,

To Bethl'em's city fly;

The promised infant, born to-day,
Doth in a manger lie."

There are some venerable looking men going to the stable, with long robes and long beards, and turbans on their heads, and parcels or bundles in their hands. I do not know how many there were of these wise men, but they came from a distant part of the earth, and they went softly and gently up to the manger; and when they saw the babe, probably upon Mary's knees, they fell down and worshipped him, and they opened their parcels, and one poured into Joseph's lap. a quantity of silver, and another a quantity of gold, and others frankincense and myrrh and precious ointment; and in one moment Joseph and Mary were put in possession of great property. And the reason was this. Joseph and Mary had a long journey before them; they must fly out of the town as quickly as possible, for there is a great murderer the throne murderer Herod — and he will send his men of war, his blood-hounds of death; and if Joseph and Mary do not escape at once, his messengers will soon enter the stable, and plunge the dagger into the bosom of the infant; so God sent these wise men, with the gold and the silver and the spices, to defray the expenses of a long journey to a country I am about to mention, where they must remain till the murderer is dead.

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