although the providence of God still orders all things, for the eventual good of those who love and serve him, yet, worldly weal and worldly woe are no longer, as formerly, the criterions, by which to ascertain, the favour, or the wrath of Heaven.

Such being the case, our Lord, at the commencement of his new dispensation, only did, what we might expect him to do, in addressing his followers to this effect:..

When, hereafter, ye shall be exposed to weariness and painfulness, to watchings often, to hunger and thirst, to fastings often, to cold and nakedness,..let not your faith fail; nor vainly imagine, that God hath withdrawn his favour: but remember what was done for you, when I sent you forth, without purse, scrip, or shoes, to convert your countrymen. The same God ever liveth to protect you, though his protection may, henceforward, be evinced in a different manner. For, the new covenant in my blood has reference, not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are not seen. My injunction, therefore, now, is different from what it was in the former part of my ministry. Instead of exhorting you to expect, like Moses or Elias, bread from heaven,.. I tell you, to provide for the necessities of nature, and to guard against temporal dangers, like other men; and to do so, by recourse to all such means

and measures, as wisdom may suggest, and virtue may approve."

In this, and in all that he said at this trying time, our blessed Saviour appears to have had a twofold object in view: first, to lead his disciples, to a more minute investigation of the prophetic Scriptures; and, secondly, to awaken their attention, by the assertion of what might, at first, appear paradoxical, but which events would fully explain, so as to impress upon their minds, indelibly, those truths, on which, when afterwards recurring to them, they might profitably meditate.

But, instead of inquiring what the prophet might mean, when declaring of the King of kings and Lord of lords, that he should be reckoned with the transgressors, the Apostles received our Lord's word, he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one, literally, .. and exclaimed, Lord, behold, here are two swords, expecting, perhaps, that he would miraculously multiply them. But it was no part of his system, to instruct, where ignorance was the result of wilfulness or carelessness; where blindness of understanding proceeded, from want of will to inquire, or want of care to reflect. He perceived, that they would not, as yet, understand him spiritually; and, therefore, by saying, It is enough, he dropped the conversation.

The whole narrative, my brethren, is a warning to us, that, although our Lord be still nigh unto all such as call upon him faithfully, yet he will not enlighten our minds, when we neglect the ordinary means of improvement; nor confirm the faith, which we do not labour to cultivate.

The mention of a sword seems to have revived the spirits of Simon Peter, whose courage was ever active, and to whom one of the swords belonged. He now ventured boldly to ask, Lord, whither goest thou? * thinking, probably, that when his Master had spoken of his approaching departure, he had alluded only to some steps he was about to take, preparatory to the assertion of his power, and the establishment of his dominion. Whither I go, was the reply, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, I assert it now more strongly than before, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

The solemnity of our Saviour's manner, quelled, for a time, the impetuosity of mistaken zeal; and

* John, xiii. 36.

the authority with which he spake, precluded remonstrance. Peter, therefore, was silenced, but not convinced.

When the Lord Jesus had concluded these exhortations, warnings, and reproofs, he took the bread that was before him, and, acting as the master of the feast, he brake it, according to custom, and gave it to his disciples: but, lo! instead of the words customary on such occasions, he said, Take, eat, this is my body which is given, or broken, for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise, according to custom, he took the cup, but here, also, instead of the customary words, he said, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many: this cup is the new testament, in my blood, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins. This do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.*

Now, in order to understand our Lord's meaning, we must observe, in the first place, that he had not summoned all who believed in him, to this supper; nor had he even admitted the Seventy. He addressed himself to his eleven Apostles, and to them only. To them he gave

* Matt. xxvi. 26-28. Luke, xxii. 19, 20. Mark, xiv. 24. 1 Cor. xi. 25.

commandment, that they should do to the others, as he had done to them: namely, that they should take bread, and bless it, and distribute it as his body; and take wine, and bless it, and distribute it as his blood. The whole of which ceremony, superseding the passover, was to be performed, not in remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt, but as a memorial of that greater redemption from sin and death, by his meritorious obedience, and expiatory sacrifice.

"This," as Bishop Taylor, following the ancient fathers, observes, "was the first delegation of a perpetual ministry, which Jesus made to his Apostles; in which, they were to be succeeded, in all ages of the church." (4) He now commissioned his Apostles, as the stewards of his mysteries, and the dispensers of his grace. And the commission was perpetual, because, to use the words of Bishop Beveridge, "it was made, not so much to the persons of the Apostles, as to the office apostolical; or, at least, to those persons, only as vested with that office, and, by consequence, to all persons, to the end of the world, that should ever have that office conferred upon them;" (5) the apostolical and episcopal office, being, so far as the commission is concerned, one and the self-same thing. That the bishops of the church have power, to delegate a portion