Him that sent me, that of all whom He has given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day?" Is not that security enough, that the Father is pledged to the Son, the Son is pledged to the Father, and that He Himself, retiring from the battle-field, and ascending to glory, says, "I will pray the Father to send you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth, which shall abide with you for ever." If He does not send the Comforter to take possession of the heart, then He has misled us--I had almost said we could not confide in His word. Blessings on His name, He does send the Comforter, and therefore the salvation which is in Christ Jesus is, says the apostle, “revealed with eternal glory," and all the powers of darkness cannot frustrate the designs of God.

One word more upon this point. It is accomplished, as I said, by the Prince of Peace. Did I say one word? we want a great many words to enter at all into what the accomplishment of that salvation is. The holy law of God to be perfectly obeyed, its handwriting to be blotted out, all the wrath of Deity against sin to be endured and drank up, vindictive Justice to avenge itself of transgression: sacrifice and offering to be made on behalf of the whole Church of God, the powers of darkness to be vanquished, principalities and powers to be spoiled, and a show made of them openly upon the cross, triumphing over them; the old serpent's head to be bruised, a righteousness to be wrought out and brought in, perfect and complete, without spot, or blemish; the objects of eternal love to be discovered and found out all over the world, and made to bow to the sceptre of King Jesus; ascension to glory in the Person of our precious, glorious Christ, the representative of all His Church, there not only to resume His throne as the eternal God, but ever to live to make intercession for His Church-all this accomplished. I pray you to mark that the accomplishment of salvation is without creature aid, or you and I had not been the better for it. "He trod the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with Him." "His own arm brought salvation unto Him." Therefore, while passing through the scene of obedience, and the scene of suffering, and the scene of conflict, and the scene of death, there could be no helper. Even His disciples forsook Him and fled; it must have been so, for he was to "tread the winepress alone." And when our precious Christ was alone in the garden, and was sweating great drops of blood, falling down to the ground, He was but accomplishing your salvation and mine. Can we fail to love Him? Does He not demand our whole heart? Can any affection be withdrawn or withheld? God forbid. See Him meeting the powers of darkness, and vanquishing them single handed-see Him going to the very end of the law for righteousness for every one that believeth Him-see Him alone, under the frown of His Father, the very deepest of all His sorrows; earth and hell had been but paltry foes for Him to conquer, comparatively speaking, had it not been for the frowns of His Father; and then listen to His cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Ask what all this meant-ask why all this suffering-ask why all worlds are thus moved. Hark! the reply from heaven is, "Salvation." The groan in hell is, " Salvation, but not for us." The echo through earth is, "Salvation unto God." Jesus is accomplishing all. Oh, poor sinner! pay thy first visit to Calvary -gaze upon a bleeding Christ by faith; and then exclaim, "Salvation for me-salvation wrought out-complete, accomplished, entire."

Moreover, He was not only thus atoning, but in His accomplishing salvation there is the acquitting; and consequently, in the days of His ministry on earth, He gave us some beautiful specimens of this: "Son, daughter, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee." The Pharisees murmured among one another, and said, "This man speaketh blasphemy; who can forgive sins but God?" Certainly they were nearer the truth, and more rational than Socinians are, for if He had not been truly and properly God it would have been blasphemy for Him to have forgiven sins. And I count all those to be blasphemers who pretend to give absolution to fellow-sinners. It is the work of Christ only, and it would not be His if He were not truly and properly God. For He gave us several specimens when upon earth; and even now He is enthroned and seated on high it is His prerogative to send down the Spirit to seal forgiveness to the heart, and to speak to the conscience of the awakened sinner. 66 I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thine iniquities." Blessings on His name that He accomplished all this, and directed His apostle to set it down: "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus; and then their character is described, "who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit."

Moreover, our precious Christ is not only atoning for, and acquitting, but He is advocating the cause of His Church on high at the present hour. He ascended there on purpose to accomplish a grand object, which He is now carrying on. He is a Priest on His throne, and there, I am told by Divine inspiration, He "ever liveth to make intercession for them that come unto God by Him;" and that He is consequently" able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him."

Now, you see, beloved, in all this I have not said one word about the creature's repentance, or the creature's believing, or the creature's praying. "What," say you, "do you mean to set these at nought?" No, no; but, I must not have them as contingencies, I must have them as certainties; I must not have them as proposals, I must have them as fruits and effects of the Redeemer's work, and not as conditions of the creature's acceptance. I scorn the latter-I embrace the former, to my soul's rejoicing. I know we are sometimes charged with counting nothing of repentance, and believing, and praying, and the like. It is a false charge, though in the sense they mean I own it to be true. For if they mean to lay any stress on repenting, or any stress on believing, or any stress on praying, or anything else in the sinner as a matter of merit, as a matter of condition, as a matter of proposal, as a matter of contingency, you may just as well close the Bible, and take farewell of Christianity altogether, for there is not a child of Adam who ever did, can, or will meet such terms or conditions. But when I come to the point that my God, who has made everything in salvation quite perfect and secure, has promised to pour out a spirit of grace and supplication on the poor sinner, he cannot help praying. When I come to view the matter as the Psalmist has it, "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek," we are sure to begin to pray when God gives repentance; I cannot make it a condition of mine, because it is a gift of God. Moreover, when I look at the faith which is generally called saving faith, my Bible tells me it is "the gift of

God." How can that which is a gift of God be an act of nature? Consequently, if He first came into my heart by the power of the Holy Ghost, and then pledged His honour to carry on the work, it is all certain, and there is not a single contingency about it. I might, if I had anything to do with it, throw it to the ground and destroy it after all; but when it is God's own gift, and His Spirit calls it into exercise, I see such securities and certainties in the whole matter of salvation, that I have nothing to do but receive it and rejoice in it.

A word more. God's salvation is a lasting one, and leads to the realms of peace. I borrow this idea from the Holy Ghost's statement by Isaiah. The nations, and kingdoms, and all the great kings around are declared to be eaten by the moth as a garment. "But," He says, my righteousness shall not be removed, and my salvation shall be for ever."

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II. I have hurried through this part of the subject as fast as I could, and yet have not said half I wished to say upon it. Let us pass on, in the second place, to notice the nature of the sight. "Mine eyes have seen" it. We must here be a little more explicit, because there are men, such as Balaam, who see it, but not savingly for themselves. There are men now in the professing Church who see clearly with the mental vision, but without faith; who see clearly God's salvation, and that to attempt to dilute it and mingle it with man's doings is an awful corruption, travelling rapidly towards Rome. I was once told by an avowed Infidel who had read the Bible a great deal, but whose eyes the god of this world had blinded, “Well, Sir, I am brought to the full conviction, that if the Bible be true, your view of it is the right one." Now, he " saw it." I merely name this to show you that there is such a thing as seeing it without its being a saving sight. I wish my hearers to come to an investigation of this. When Simeon said, "Mine eyes have seen it," it was not a desultory, nominal statement of things, as if his eyes had seen a babe only. He saw beyond that. You may have seen, perhaps, the crucifix in some places with your bodily eyes, but that did you no good. You may have seen some volumes of theology very clearly written, and setting forth the salvation of Christ Jesus with scriptural accuracy; you may say that its arguments are quite irresistible, and be brought to see that they are so ; but that is quite a different thing from the sight intended in my text, "Mine eyes have seen." This is the view which faith takes of Christ. And the view that faith takes of Christ implies that faith exists. And faith nowhere exists but where Jehovah has bestowed it; and where Jehovah bestows it, there is a vast deal of work to be done by Him, in tearing the veil and covering from off our face, and getting our eyes anointed with eye-salve. And before the soul can look forward with sufficient clearness, and open his eyes to the noonday sun with sufficient strength, he generally sees a great deal that is in himself; and that leads him to see his need of a precious Christ, to see his real misery and ruin, and to discover that he must have help from afar, or he must perish. Then, when the Lord leads the poor sinner on with this new discernment, this new eyesight, this spiritual aspect of things, faith views in the Person of Christ "the brightness of His Father's glory and the express image of His Person; views the official character of Christ, and can no longer contemplate His doing and dying, as a promiscuous matter, as an uncertain thing. Faith views all He did as done officially,

as done under covenant bond, as done by stipulation, as done for His Church, for His Bride: as done under solemn substitution and suretyship; as done for the express purpose of glorifying all the attributes of Deity, and saving His Church everlastingly, having bound Himself to this under solemn oath.

Moreover, faith views in the official character and work of Christ the relationship that renders the Head and the members one; proves to demonstration that we are one body in Him; at once takes away isolated individuality as regards merit and acceptance before God, and shows that while individuality leads to individual enjoyment, yet that individuality is lost sight of when the whole of the members are seen to be one in Christ; and Christ's official Headship, Christ's official character, Christ's official responsibility, render the salvation which He has completed a matter of holy joy for the whole election of grace.

Moreover, while faith views this precious glorious Christ in the dignity of His Godhead, in the perfection of His manhood, and in His official character, it goes on to gaze, saying, "Since mine eyes have seen-I may see much more," and examines minutely into the mystery of godliness. It examines the mysteries of the Most High, the oracles of Jehovah, in order to find out what they say; and participates in the fulness of covenant blessings by seeing that He has blessed us with a saving sight of Christ. And in that gazing upon Christ the sinner feels, by faith, the smiling approbation of Jehovah, and his acceptance in the Beloved. Then what follows? The commission given to the Holy Ghost in His name to come down and carry on the work of grace in the sinner's heart; so that faith has something to plead, something to appropriate, something to accept of, something to admire, something to render it bold, intrepid, active, and persevering, enabling it to lay hold of eternal life in Him. Oh the preciousness of viewing Christ thus! "Mine eyes have seen."

Again, it is not only the view which faith thus takes, but this view is by attraction. "I, if I be lifted up," according to the passage just cited," will draw all men unto me." And whenever faith is indulged with a vision of Christ so as to behold in Him all that the poor sinner needs for time and eternity, there is a drawing, a mighty attraction, a desire to come closer to Him, just as in nature, when we are attracted by an object at a distance which appears very beautiful, but scarcely discernible, we desire to approach nearer, and the more clearly we see the object, and the more beautiful it appears, the more vigilantly we draw near to have clearer and clearer views of it. O beloved! it is this that I want for my soul respecting Christ. I have seen something of Him for these forty years and more. There has been the power of attraction. Oh! to be drawn nearer, to follow hard after Him, to run with patience towards Him-yea, to gird up my loins agreeably to those words of the apostle, "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." So that this power of attraction wins the heart, calls forth affection, which has first been implanted there; then satisfies the desires of the soul. And we approach and draw nearer; we gather promises, and comforts, and precepts, and privileges, and knowledge, as we press on, until we reach by-and-bye "the fulness of the stature of Christ," become absorbed in His preciousness and filled with His love, as well as sprinkled with His blood. "Mine eyes have seen" Him, and I

want to see a little more of Him. The result we shall, by-and-bye, have to speak about; only dwell for a moment longer upon the attraction. Hath Jesus any charms for thy soul, my brother? Is there something attractive in Him? When you read your Bibles, do you look for Him? When you come to His house, is it to inquire for Him? When the preacher lifts up his voice, is it your desire to know what God says by him? Are you anxious to say of Him, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee?" My hearers, the very marrow of experimental godliness is the attraction of Christ for your soul; and if He has no attraction for your soul, your Christianity is not worth a straw.

Pass on to mark that the teachings of the Holy Ghost are essential to this. Hence our beloved Lord said, "The Spirit of truth shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you; and "He shall testify of me." These precious words would lead us to expect that the Lord the Spirit, the third Person in the glorious Trinity, is continually ministering in His Church. And may I not hope and believe that He is present among us this morning, that He is really captivating your souls with Jesu's charms? Are you not ready, by His teaching and constraining influence, to cry out, "He is the chiefest among ten thousand and the altogether lovely?" And can you say, or are you longing to say, "This is my Beloved?" Pause a moment here. "This is my Beloved." I will take the lead, if you please, and for myself say, "This is my Beloved and this is my Friend." In silence are you saying, "Mine," and "Mine," and "Mine?" Is He more precious to you than rubies? Is there an attraction in His Person, and official character, and perfect work, as well as in His relation to you, that warms your heart and calls forth your most ardent desires to behold more of His glory? Nay, beloved, even our little children can put us to the blush; for if we show them any object, however paltry in itself, but somewhat sparkling and attractive, they will say, "Show it me again, father; let me see it again." And shall not the child of God say so too? Beloved, have you seen any beauty in Jesus, and will you not cry, "Let me see Him again; let me see Him in His sanctuary; let me hear His voice; for 'sweet is His voice, and His countenance is comely?""

III.-I hasten, in the third place, to say a few words respecting the effects which follow. Now, you know that there are some spectacles we are called upon to see, the effects of which are very gloomy and lasting; spectacles that frighten us, and dismay us, and fill us with sadness, and make us wish we had never seen them. That is an effect of regret. But there is never any regret in a sight of Christ. Just mark effects which may fall short of what my text intends. Beautiful objects, curious objects, engaging objects, which are new to us, we love to gaze upon, whether in nature or in art. And the first effect is wonder, astonishment; the second is admiration, and the third is a disposition to talk about them. All this may take place, and yet no real good follow. However, I have no objection to these effects, providing you do not stop there.

I am sure that every poor sinner who gets a glimpse of Christ will wonder; wonder at the provision and gift of such a Saviour; wonder at the very name He bears; for His name is "Wonderful; "wonder that he should not have been permitted to sink to hell without having