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blage, which had yet to be accomplished, and to take measures for its being accomplished before he breathed his last! What collectedness, what superiority to suffering, yea, what command over death!

For it is evident-and this is the most remarkable thing-that Jesus determined that he would live until the prediction were fulfilled, and that he would die so soon as it were. The Evangelist tells us, "When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished; and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost." He waited till the vinegar had been given him, till, that is, the only unaccomplished prophecy had been accomplished, and then immediately, as though it were quite optional with him at what moment he would die, "gave up the ghost." This is amazing; this is unlike death, though it was actually the separation of body and soul; for where is the necessity of nature? where the ebbing away of strength? where the gradual wearing out of the principle of life? Christ evidently died Just when he chose to die, and only because he chose to die: he had the spirit in his own keeping, and could retain or dismiss it as he pleased. You find that Pilate and others wondered at finding him so soon dead; he died sooner than a crucified person could have been expected to die; and herein too he had reference to prophecy, for had he lingered the ordinary or natural period, his legs would have been broken, as were those of the malefactors executed with him, whereas there was a typical prediction, in the paschal lamb, that not a bone of him should be broken.

less than shall be ordained by a Being who is immeasurably beyond our control. But what resemblance is there between this and the death of Jesus Christ on the cross? Though dying what would be ordinarily a lingering death,-dying, to use a common expression, by inches, and therefore certain to be, at the least, exhausted and spent-we find him, in the few moments preceding dissolution, with every power in full play, the mind all in action for the accomplishing his mission, and keeping, as it were, the vital principle under its orders, ready to be suspended so soon as prophecies were fulfilled.

Call ye this death? Yes, men and brethren, this was really death: he who hung upon the cross died as actually as any one of us will die; for death is the separation of the soul from the body; and the soul of Christ went into the separate state, whilst his body was consigned to the grave. But call ye this the death of a mere man? can ye account for the peculiarities of Christ's death, except by supposing him the Lord of life and glory! Martyrs, ye died bravely, and beautifully; but ye died not thus. Saints of God, ye went wondrously through the last struggle; but ye went not thus. Oh, it is a noble thing, that we can go to the scene of crucifixion, and there, in spite of all the ignominy and suffering, discover in the dying man the incarnate God. The Jew and the Greek may taunt us with the shame of the cross; we glory in that cross: at no moment of his course has the Deity shone more brightly through the humanity of the Mediator: not when his voice was heard in the grave, and the buried So that, with Christ, to die was strictly returned to the living, did he more cona voluntary act-"I lay down my life: spicuously show divine power over death, no man taketh it from me, but I lay it than in the releasing, when he would, down of myself; I have power to lay it his own soul from the body. Come down, and I have power to take it again" with us and gaze on this mysterious i --it was an act of which he could fix the person dying, "the just for the unjust.” precise moment, which he could hasten Seems he to you to be dying as an oror delay at his own pleasure, which no dinary man? Can ye find no difference pain, no disease, no decay could effect, between him and those crucified, the one but which was wrought, altogether and on his right hand, and the other on his at once, by his will. Death was not left? Nay, in them you have all the with him what it will be with one of us. evidence that life is being drained out We shall die through necessity, with no drop by drop, and that they are sinking power over the soul, whether of retain- beneath a process of painful exhaustion. ing or dismissing; exhausted by sick. But in him there are no tokens of the ness, or broken up by accident, unable being overmastered, enfeebled, or worn to make the pulse beat one more or one, down. In that mangled and bleeding

body, there seems, to all appearance, as much animation as though there had not been going on, for hours, an assault on the citadel of life. Let us watch his last moments, let us observe his last act. But those moments are over, whilst we thought them yet distant; he has suddenly expired, though an instant ago there was no sign of death. How is this? how, but that he has indeed proved the truth of his assertion, "No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself!" an assertion which could be true of no one who had not an actual lordship over life, who was not in fact, his own source of life, who was not in fact the Author of life. He has retained his spirit whilst he chose; he has dismissed that spirit when he would; and thus, though in the form of a creature, he has exercised the prerogative of the Creator.

The cross, then, with all its shame, the act of dissolution, with all its fearfulness, bears as strong attestation to the essential Deity of Christ, as the most amazing miracle performed, or the fullest prophecy accomplished. And we bow before a Being, as more than human, as nothing less than divine, who died by his own act, though nailed to a cross; by an effort of his own will, though beneath the hands of fierce executioners; we hail him, even in the midst of ignominy, as "the image of the invisible God," seeing that he could forbid the departure of the soul whilst there remained a prediction unfufilled, and command it into paradise the moment that he saw that all things were accomplished. Now they have not, we think, been either uninteresting or unimportant truths which we have thus derived from the fact that Christ complained of thirst on the cross, on purpose "that the Scripture might be fulfilled." But we have yet to fix your thoughts more particularly on Christ as an example, exhorting you to observe how engrossed he was with the work of redemption, how intent up to the last moment of life, on performing the will of the Father who sent him. You must not think that, because Jesus had such power over his own life as we have just now described-a power which made him inaccessible to death, except so far as he chose to give death permission—he did not suffer acutely as be hung upon the cross. It is true that

crucifixion never could have killed him, and that he did not die of the torture and exhaustion thereby produced; but nevertheless it is, on this very account, true, that his sufferings must have vastly exceeded those of the malefactors crucified with him. So far as the natural effects of crucifixion were concerned, he was not necessarily nearer dying when he died than when first fastened to the tree. But what does this prove, except that, retaining from first to last all his sensibilities, he must, from first to last, have endured the same exquisite torments? whereas, had he been dying, just as the thieves on either side of him were, he would gradually have become faint through loss of blood and excess of pain, and thus have been less and less sensitive to the pangs of dissolution.

Thus, in keeping the vital principle in undiminished vigor up to the moment of the departure of the soul, Christ did but keep undiminished the inconceivable anguish of being nailed to the cross; crucifixion, as it were, was momentarily repeated, and the agony of each instant was the agony of the first. Yet even to this did the Mediator willingly submit : for had he allowed himself the relief of exhaustion, his faculties would have been numbed, and he had full need of these, that he might finish in death what he had been engaged on in life. What an example did he thus set us, that we decline every indulgence which might possibly incapacitate us for doing God's work and submit cheerfully to every inconvenience which may attend its performance! Oh, never were the Redeemer's love, and zeal, and patience so conspicuous as throughout those dark hours when he hung upon the tree. He might have died at once; and we dare not say that even then our redemption would not have been complete. There would have been equally the shedding of precious blood, and equally perhaps the expiatory offering, had he sent his soul into the separate state the instant that his body had been nailed to the cross. But he would tarry in tribulation, that he might survey his vast undertaking, gather up the fragments, anticipate every possible objection, and bequeath the material of conviction to all who were not obstinately bent on infidelity.

What hearts must ours be, that we can

naturally of "a dry and barren land," might have access to the river of life, which, clear as crystal, pours itself through the paradise of God.

look so coldly on the sufferer-suffering | melting wax "--that we, inhabitants "for us men and for our salvation! His last thoughts, as his earliest had been, were on our deliverance, on our welfare. Even the words which he uttered, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled," were as expressive of his mental as of his bodily feeling. Indeed he did thirst: "the zeal of thine house hath consumed me:" he was parched with longing for the glory of God and the safety of man. "I thirst:" I thirst to see of the travail of my soul: I thirst for the effects of my anguish, the discomfiture of Satan, the vindication of my Father, the opening of the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

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Shall our last end be, in any measure, like this? Would that it might! Would that, when we come to die, we may thirst with the thirst of the Redeemer's soul! "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." My soul thirsteth for thee," is an exclamation of the Psalmist, when declaring the ardency of his longings after God. And our Savior endured thirst, that our thirst might be quenched. His tongue clave to the roof of his mouth-" my heart," saith he, "in the midst of my body, is even like

Who does not thirst for these waters ? Ah, brethren, there is nothing required but that every one of us should be able, with perfect truth, to declare, "I thirst," and the Scripture shall be fulfilled in that man's drawing water out of the wells of salvation. For the invitations of the Bible presuppose nothing but a sense of want, and a wish for relief. "Ho! every one that thirsteth "-there is the summons, there the description. Oh, that we may now thirst with a thirst for pardon, a thirst for reconciliation, a thirst for holiness. Then, when we come to die, we shall thirst for the joys of immortality-for the pleasures which are at God's right hand we shall thirst, even as Christ did, that the Scripture may be fulfilled: and the Scripture shall be fulfilled for, bowing the head and giving up the ghost, we shall be in his presence with whom is "the fountain of life;" and every promise that has cheered us here, shall be turned into performance to delight us for ever.

SERMON IX.

THE SECOND DELIVERY OF THE LORD'S PRAYER.

"And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him. Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.-LUKE XI. 1.

There were two occasions on which our blessed Savior delivered that form of prayer which is known by his name. The first was in the sermon on the mount, about the time of Pentecost; the second was in answer to the request

made him in the text, about the Feast of Tabernacles, many months afterwards. You are not to confound the two occasions, as though the Evangelists St. Matthew and St. Luke had but given different accounts of one and the same

delivery. The occasions were wholly versed in Jewish antiquities, may trace, dissimilar, separated by a considerable at every step, a designed conformity to interval of time: on the one, Christ gave the rules and practices of devotion the prayer of himself, with nothing to which were at that time observed. lead to it but his own wish to instruct; Without attempting generally to prove whereas, on the other, he was distinct- this, it will be worth our while to consily asked by one of his disciples, who der what was the Jewish custom as to probably did but speak in the name of the conclusion of their prayers, whether the rest. public or private.

We cannot suppose that these disciples had forgotten the Lord's Prayer. Whether or not all now present had been present at the Sermon on the Mount, we may justly conclude that they were all well acquainted with the comprehensive form which Christ had delivered for the use of the church. Why, then, did they ask for another form of prayer and what are we to learn from Christ's meeting the wish by simply repeating that before given These are not mere curious questions; you will presently see that they involve points of great interest and importance. Without advancing any conjectures, let us look at the Lord's Prayer as given in the Sermon on the Mount, and as here again given in answer to the request of the disciples: the comparison may furnish some clue which will guide us in our search.

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We find, that in the solemn services of the Temple, when the priest had concluded a prayer, the people were wont to make this response; "Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever." Public prayer-prayer, that is, in the Temple, finished with a doxology very similar to that which concludes the Lord's Prayer. But this doxology was never used in more private prayer, prayer in a synagogue, or in a house. Observe, then our Lord gives his prayer on the first occasion with the doxology, on the second, without it: what may we infer from this? Surely, that he wished his disciples to understand that the prayer was designed both for public use and for private.

In the Sermon on the Mount the

prayer had concluded with the doxology; and the disciples, we may believe, had thence gathered that the prayer Now we have spoken of the prayer was intended to be used in the Temple. delivered on the two occasions, as though But they still wanted a form for private it had been altogether the same: this devotion, and on this account preferred however is not strictly the case; there the request which is contained in our are certain variations in the versions text. Our Lord answers the request which should not be overlooked. Some by giving them the same form, but with of these, indeed, are very slight, requir- the omission of the doxology; thus ing only to be mentioned, not examined; such as that, in the one, the word "debts" is used, in the other, "sins;" St. Luke says, "Give us day by day;" St. Matthew, "Give us this day, our daily bread." Such differences are evidently but differences in the mode of expression.

There is, however, one remarkable variation. On the second occasion of delivering his prayer, our Lord altogether omitted the doxology with which he had concluded it on the first. He quite left out, that is, the words, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Ameu." Now there can be little doubt, that, in constructing his form of prayer, Christ had respect to the religious usages of the Jews. It is said that a serious student of the Gospel, and one at the same time Vo

teaching that his prayer was adapted to the closet as well as to the church. If regard be had to Jewish usages, nothing can seem less objectionable than this explanation of the insertion of the doxology in one place and its omission in another. The prayer was delivered twice, to prove that it was to serve for public use and for private. Christ showed that it was to be a public prayer by giving it with a doxology; a private, by giving it without; for a doxology was that which was then used in the Temple, but not in a house.

And this further explains why our Lord did not add " Amen," in concluding his prayer on the second occasion. It was usual amongst the Jews not to

*Lightfoot, Talmudical Exercitations upon St. Matthew.

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add the Amen to prayers which were only petitionary, but to reserve it for expressions of thanksgiving and benediction; whereas, the doxology being omitted, the Lord's prayer, you observe, Decame purely petitionary. There is evidence of this in the Book of Psalms: the book is full of prayers, but the prayers do not end with Amen. If the psalmist use the Amen, it is after such an exclamation as this: "Blessed be the Lord for evermore." You may trace just the same custom in the writings of the Apostles. Thus St. Paul asks the speaker with tongues, "How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen, at the giving of thanks?" and it is generally after some ascription of praise, or expression of benediction, that he adds an Amen: "The Creator, who is blessed for ever, Amen:" "Now the God of peace be with you all, Amen.”

for the devotional meetings of the family, or for your own secret communion with God? Then you resemble the disciples, who, having heard the Sermon on the Mount, yet imagined a need for a different form of prayer in their religious retirements. But surely it should teach you, that, at one time as well as at another, the Lord's prayer should find its way from the heart to the lip, to know that our blessed Savior-omitting only the doxology, and thus consecrating to the use of the closet what he had before consecrated to the use of the churchgave precisely the same form, in answer to the request of these disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

But hitherto we have made no way in commenting on the text, except that we may have explained the request of the disciples-a request which has, at first, a strange look, as though Christ had not already delivered a form of prayer, or as though what he had delivered were already forgotten. We remove this strange look, by observing our Lord's answer, and inferring from it that what the disciples now solicited was a form of private prayer: what they had previously received passed with them as designed for public occasions; and the second delivery of the same form, but with certain alterations, both shows us the want of the disciples, and teaches us how such want might best be supplied.

Now it is a fact of very great interest, which thus appears fairly established—namely, that the second delivery of the Lord's prayer, as compared with the first, goes to the proving that the petitions in this prayer are equally adapted to private and to public devotion; that we cannot find a more suitable or comprehensive form, whether for the gathering of" the great congregation," for domestic worship, or for the retirement of our closet. Our Lord did not indeed mean to tie us down to the use of this prayer, as though we were never We will now, however, endeavor to to use any other, or never to expand in- bring before you certain other and very to larger supplication. But he may interesting truths, which are involved, certainly be thought to have given this more or less prominently, in the stateprayer as a perpetual, universal model; ments of the text. And, first, as to the and to have asserted its containing an employment of Christ when the disciples expression for every want and every de- approach and prefer their request. There sire which may lawfully be made the is nothing to show distinctly whether our subject of petition unto God. There blessed Redeemer had been engaged in ought to be no debate as to the suitable- private prayer, or had been praying with ness of this prayer for all places and his followers. But we learn, from many seasons, after you have remarked the statements of the Evangelists, that he peculiarities of its double delivery. Do was in the habit of retiring for purposes you doubt whether it be a form well of private devotion: "He withdrew into adapted to the public assembly? then the wilderness and prayed;" he "went observe that its petitions were first ut-out into a mountain to pray, and continued tered by our Lord, with such a doxology appended as was never then used but at the solemn gatherings in the temple of God. When you have hereby convinced yourselves of its suitableness for public worship, will you hesitate as to its fitness for more private occasions ?

all night in prayer;" he was "alone praying." And perhaps it agrees best with the expressions in our text, that we should suppose our Lord to have been engaged in solitary prayer: "As he was praying in a certain place." The disciples had probably been absent from him, as when

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