Redeemer. To-day, we present this Redeemer to you, not as he shall appear when he shall come to "take vengeance on those who know not God, and obey not the gospel of his Son," terrible in his indignation, and armed with thunders; but as he is now held out to you in the gospel, the refuge of the penitent, the support of the feeble, the consolation of the desponding. Listen to this subject, so intimately connected with the peace and everlasting happiness of your souls, ye confirmed and assured believers, and retrace your obligations to that Saviour whom you adore. Listen, ye trembling penitents, ye "tossed with tempest and not comforted," and let the grace of Immanuel cause hope to beam upon your souls. Listen, ye lambs of the flock, that your apprehensions may be dissipated, and a full confidence be fixed on that heavenly Shepherd, who knoweth his sheep, who layeth down his life for them, and who will permit no one to pluck them out of his hands.

And do thou, compassionate Redeemer, make us to experience thy grace while we are meditating upon it. We ask not to speak of it as it deserves; this is beyond the power of angels; but may we have such a touching and tender sense of it, of its preciousness, of its freeness, of its extent, that our hearts may burn within us, and our souls rise with adoring gratitude to thee.

These consolatory words, together with the context, are quoted from the prophet Isaiah, and form one of the many striking representations of Messiah, which were given to support the faith and confidence of the Jewish church. In the preceding verses, in order to uphold the trembling spirit and cheer the desponding penitent, the whole sacred Trinity are represented as engaged in the redemption of man:

the Father, choosing, commissioning, delighting in the Mediator; the Son, joyfully undertaking the office assigned to him; and the Spirit, poured out upon him without measure, to qualify him for its discharge. "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles." Lest guilty men should still be terrified at a messenger from heaven, or lest they should form false ideas of the nature of Messiah's kingdom, or the manner of his advent, the inspired prophet declares that the execution of his office should be marked by meekness, benignity, and peace. "He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. Instead of bearing in his hands thunders to crush the rebellious; instead of coming as a proud and haughty temporal conqueror, subduing nations by the force of his arms, and exhibiting "the battle of the warrior, and garments rolled in blood," he shall not "strive," except by the secret and invisible influences of his Spirit; he shall aim at no conquests but those that are unbloody. He shall not "cry" out in the accents of wrath, of contention, of fury; "his voice shall not be heard in the streets," clamorously pronouncing woes, tribulation, and anguish upon the children of men. If he cry, it shall be only to invite the weary and heavy laden to rest; if he lift up his voice, it shall be only to point the perishing to everlasting glory, to give the most precious consolations to the wretched and forlorn. Ah, brethren! do not your hearts begin to melt within you, and flow out in thankfulness, in joy, and in love to such a Saviour? What, then, must be their emotions, when this new trait of his character is added, "A bruised reed shall

he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory ?”

The bruised reed beautifully represents the charac ter of the penitent sinner. He regards himself, not as the firm cedar of Lebanon, nor as the stately "palm tree flourishing in the courts of the Lord:" but as the poor, feeble, shaking reed; and even this not in its best condition, but crushed and broken. Such bruised reeds are all who are humbled under a sense of guilt, mourning over their weakness and misery, "poor in spirit," feeling themselves wounded, afflicted, and distressed by that sin in which they have indulged. Such a bruised reed was the poor prodigal, crushed not so much by the burden of his afflictions as of his sins; was the dejected publican, smiting upon his breast, and scarcely daring to lift up his eye or his voice to heaven for mercy; was the weeping Mary, detesting herself for her iniquities, and bending at the feet of her Saviour; was the fallen David, pleading for the life of his soul; was the penitent Peter, pierced to the soul by the silent but intelligible reproach which the look of Jesus conveyed to him, and "weeping bitterly" for his base denial of his Master. Such a bruised reed wast thou, my Christian brother, when the Spirit of God convinced thee of thy true character, caused thee to look upon him whom thou hadst pierced by thine iniquities, and to mourn as one mourneth for a first-born.

Are there any such persons now in the house of God? The Lord speaks peace unto you; Jesus has compassion on you. He will surely, and he may suddenly, give you a sense of pardoning love. Were there no other promise of mercy, or declaration of grace, in the word of God, besides that contained in

the text, it alone ought to encourage and cheer you; for it is the declaration of him, "one jot or one tittle of whose words shall not fail till all be fulfilled."

I urge you not to a blind and presumptuous reliance upon the promise. There are many who appear to others and themselves to be these bruised reeds, who are not penitents; many who have some sudden terror or short grief, which causes them to tremble, to shed tears, and, in the language of the prophet, "to bow their heads like the bull-rush," who have yet no proper sense of sin. Search then deeply into your own souls. The more accurate and profound this examination is, the more will it prepare you for a stable peace. Have the proud and self-righteous thoughts of your hearts been humbled; and have you, feeling yourselves justly condemned sinners, been brought on your knees to the throne of grace, there to plead for mercy? Does this mercy appear to you more valuable than all the world? Have you been so bowed down by your iniquities, and been so convinced of your misery and helplessness, as to consider sin the bitterest, and Christ the sweetest, of all possible objects? Do the gospel and salvation by grace sound as music in your ears? If these things be indeed so, notwithstanding your lamented coldness, notwithstanding the weight and burden of your sins, notwithstanding your doubts and apprehensions, " be of good cheer; the Master calleth you." He says to you, "The bruised reed I will never break." Mourning, trembling, dejected soul, instead of crushing thee by my power, as unworthy; instead of rejecting thee with contempt, as beneath my regard; the treasures of my compassion, the riches of my grace, shall be opened to thee. O thou of little faith, wherefore then dost thou fear?"

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Go then, humbled sinners, with confidence to your Redeemer. Distrust not his compassion; disbelieve not his promise. He is a "high priest, who has been touched with a feeling of your infirmities;" for "it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief." He who was bruised for sin, will not reject you when bruised by sin. For such as you, he received his commission and his unction. Hear his own words. "The Lord hath anointed me to bind up the broken-hearted." Know you not that "a contrite heart is a sacrifice which God and the Redeemer will never despise ?" Know you not that the heart of Jesus is more full of sympathy than you conceive? If he died for you when you were rebels, will he reject you when you come to him as suppliants, pleading the merits of his blood? Let not Satan then, and an unbelieving heart, and a reproaching conscience, longer rob your souls of the comfort that Christ is willing to bestow, and the Saviour of that glory which his grace will receive from your songs of praise. Say not, poor dejected soul, "I am unworthy." We know it; but was it for the worthy that Jesus bled? Is it only to the fertile olive, or productive vine, that promises are made? Shaken, shattered reed, is it not also made to thee? Say not, "It would be presumptuous in me to rely upon the Saviour." Ah! is it presumption to believe that his word is everlasting truth; that his grace is ineffable, infinite, and worthy of God; that the merits of his death can reach even to thee? No; it is glorifying his truth, his goodness, and the fulness of his atonement. Only believe, and it shall be unto thee according to thy faith; and thou shalt find, as all the redeemed in heaven, as all the saints on earth have found, that "the bruised reed he will not break."

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