in the silence of the dumb,-an eloquence in the circumstances of those who can demand no rights, and vindicate no wrongs, which will raise up for them, in each of you, an advocate, a friend, and a protector. They cannot recompense you but have pity on them, for their Saviour's sake; and you shall be recompensed at the Resurrection of the Just. You shall have your abundant reward, in that world where the ears of the dumb shall be unstopped, and the tongue of the deaf shall sing. Yes: : many who cannot now give utterance to their thanks, will then have a voice to tell you what you have done for their souls. Brought by you to the knowledge of a Saviour, those ears which were closed to mortal sounds, shall hear the loud Hosannas of the Blessed. And that tongue which had no voice for human converse, shall pour its accents into the ear of God, and join the eternal song of praise, "to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever."

430

SERMON X.*

1 CORINTHIANS, X. 4.

"FOR THEY DRANK OF THAT SPIRITUAL ROCK THAT FOLLOWED THEM AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST."

FROM this, as well as from other passages of Scripture, it appears, that the effects of that stupendous miracle, by which Moses brought forth water out of the rock at Horeb, continued with the Israelites, during the greater part of their sojournings in the wilderness. There are some who imagine, according to the strictly literal meaning of this passage, that the rock itself, out of which the water flowed, was, by the exercise of a continual miracle, always present in their camp. Others, with more probability, that, by a common figure of speech, the rock is here put for water which issued from it; and that a constant stream flowed from the original source, and followed, or rather accompanied, (for so the original word imports,) the Israelites, through their various wanderings.

* Preached in St. Peter's Church, Dublin, on Sunday, May 23, 1830, for the Female Orphan House.

In what strict sense that rock was Christ, I do not undertake to explain. But considering how, from the commencement, the entire system of the Old Testament, in all its institutions, its sacrifices, its ceremonial observances, its history, and its memorable characters,-how all prefigured and centered in Christ; there is something very remarkable and significant, in the declaration of my text.

It shews how, even under that darker dispensation, Christ was embodied in the whole economy of the Jews; how sensibly he was brought near to them; how he entered into the system of their daily habits; how his presence was around them and amongst them; how the place on which they stood was holy ground; how every ordinary action had, in some sense, a sacred and religious character. Even their daily food had something sacramental in it: "They did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ."

If Christ was thus all in all, under the older covenant, it follows that he must be so, with still brighter manifestation, under the more perfect dispensation of the Gospel; and that we, upon whom the Sun of Righteousness has risen, are still more immediately and intensely acted on,

encircled, and pervaded, by his presence, and his Spirit.

The whole system, then, in which we live has this sacred stamp upon it: so much so, that often, in our dealings and intercourse with the persons and objects that are around us, we are really and virtually concerned with, and acting, though perhaps unconsciously, in relation to Christ.

Thus, for example, when our Saviour sends forth his Apostles, he addresses them in these words: "He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me." And to so awful an extent is the majesty of his presence embodied, as it were, in their commission, that he thus fearfully denounces those who will not receive them: "Verily, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than for that city." Again, in the instance of St. Paul's conversion while, in ignorance and unbelief, he made havoc of the church, and thought that he was doing God service; in the midst of this career of bigotry and false zeal, he hears a voice, saying unto him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" His eyes are then opened, and he perceives, for the first time, what had been the real object of his hostility. The whole system he was vainly labouring to put down, bore the marks

of the Lord Jesus. Every wound he inflicted, was inflicted upon Christ. Every contempt he poured upon the truth, every trembling sufferer he haled to prison and to death, all was persecution of the Son of God.

built upon the prophets, Jesus

The whole church, of which we are, at least, visible and professing members, is, in Scripture language, described, in some peculiar sense, as Christ himself. Thus, in Eph. i. 22, 23, God is said to have given him " to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." And in the second chapter, it is declared, "Ye are foundation of the apostles and Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord." Again, in the fifth chapter: "No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church." Many other passages might be quoted from the same apostle, in which the church is termed the body of Christ: meaning thereby, that it is a society of which he is the head; through which his vitalizing influence flows, distributed, as from the natural head, throughout the whole body; a society bearing the same relation to Christ, that the branches do to the vine; that is, essentially connected, incorpo

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