ence of the heavenly Gospel, which heals the diseases of the soul, and fits it for the kingdom of God.

I. We are first to inquire, "for what end God may "have been pleased to institute the miracle of the heal"ing waters at Jerusalem ?" The fact recorded in this place by the Evangelist, has been but seldom noticed; but to me it seems to involve considerations of much interest, and is itself a subject of instructive contemplation.

For a period of nearly four hundred years, there had been now no prophet in Israel; and the prophecies concerning the Messiah had not been fulfilled. There was no open vision," nor other symbol of the divine presence, and the people were gradually declining to infidelity. In these circumstances it may have pleased God to arrest the attention of the nation by a new evidence of his presence, and to sustain the hope of those "who waited for the consolation of Israel," by affording a new proof that he had not forsaken his people. This new evidence may also be considered as an emblem of the Gospel itself, which was soon to appear, being at once a manifestation of power and of mercy; and it further resembled the same Gospel, in its being open to the view of all, and accessible to all; the place selected for its exhibition being in the very midst of Jerusalem.

"Now there is," saith the Evangelist, "at Jeru"salem, by the Sheep-market, a Pool, which is called "in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda." Bethesda signifies The house of Mercy; a name which had been given to it in consequence of the merciful cures effected by its waters. "For, at a certain season," continues the Evangelist," an angel went down and troubled the water; and whosoever, first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."*

The Pool of Bethesda was supplied with water from the foun tain of Siloam, the before-mentioned type of the Messiah's kingdom. It may be proper to observe that the fountain of Siloam is not the same as the pool of Siloam. "Upon the very highest point "of the hill of Jerusalem, and from whence it had a fall either 66 way, there sprang the sweet and gentle fountain, Siloam; from "which two streams descended, one to the pool of Bethesda, and the other to the pool of Siloam."-Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 1054.

This, then, was the kind of evidence, by which it may have pleased God to shew his people that he had not forsaken them, and to confirm their faith in the certain fulfilment of the evangelic promises by the mouth of his holy prophets.

But again, the Gospel was a dispensation of such transcendent dignity and excellency, that it was wor thy of a prefiguration, or typical representation of its nature and effects before its arrival; even as the person of its great author had a harbinger or precursor "to prepare his way," and to direct the eyes of all men to wait his approach. There was a famed prediction of the prophet Zechariah, which would probably be often contemplated by the pious Israelites about this period, with great solicitude: "In that day (viz. the day of "the Messiah) there shall be a fountain opened to the "house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "for sin and for uncleanness." These words referred to the diseases of the soul. And now, behold, a fountain is opened to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the diseases of the body. What a lively prefiguration this of the fountain which was soon to be opened by "the blood of Christ which cleanseth from "all sin "1 John i. 7. And so well known was this public interposition of the divine power at Bethesda, that suitable buildings were erected at these waters of mercy, for the reception of those who were diseased; and “five porches" or porticos were built around the pool for the accommodation of the people. "In these porches," saith the Evangelist, "lay "a great multitude of infirm persons, of blind, halt, "and withered, waiting for the moving of the water."

Our blessed Saviour, who went about doing good, visited this recess of misery. He came to the pool of Bethesda, and in its porches beheld a just representation of the world, into which he had descended, filled with beings languishing under the various spiritual diseases which sin hath introduced. And having

Josephus relates that the fountain of Siloam was flowing in his time, but that it failed during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus. Its failure, which was attributed directly to the divine interposition, added much to the distresses of the besieged city."-Jos. de Bell. lib. v. cap. 26.

surveyed the various cases of misery which presented themselves, he selected one of the most helpless objects for the exercise of his mercy.

"A certain man was there which had an infirmity, "thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and "knew that he had been now a long time in that case, " he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The "impotent man answered, Sir, I have no man, when "the water is troubled, to put me into the Pool; but "while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. "Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. "And, immediately, the man was made whole, and took ་ up his bed and walked."

Jesus did not say unto him, "Go down to the water "and wash;' for this institution of mercy at Bethesda was now to be superseded by a new dispensation; and the ministry of angels was to be succeeded by the ministrations of the Son of God.

II. We come now to the important part of our discourse, which is, to consider these waters at Bethesda which healed the body, as an emblem of the divine effects of the Gospel in purifying the soul, and fitting it for the kingdom of God. So just is this emblem, that Baptism by water was afterwards expressly appointed by our Saviour himself, as the initiatory rite of his religion.* By this institution of Baptism our Lord would signify to us, That the soul must be cleansed and purified by the influences of the Holy Spirit, even as the body is washed with pure water. The import of this sacred rite is well explained in the following words: "After that the "kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man "appeared, not by works of righteousness that we "have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us "by the WASHING of regeneration, and RENEWING of "the Holy Ghost."-Titus iii. 5. Here we see that these expressions, The washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, are synonymous.

Jerom, on this chapter (John v.) observes, that "By these "waters of Bethesda, the Lord exhibited the waters of baptism." Chrysostom in his 35th Homily on John, saith, "This pool of "water setteth forth the waters of baptism, curing all manner of "diseases of sin, and making those that descend to it dead, to come out alive."

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And this beautifully illustrates the whole doctrine of Baptism, shewing it to be a spiritual washing, typified by a bodily ablution.

The soul of man requires to be purified by a heavenly influence.

But are we to understand that the soul of man is in such a state by nature, as to require such ablution? So hath the great author of our religion declared; "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born "of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the "kingdom of God."-John iii. 5. And again he saith to Peter, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me."—John xiii. 8. And with this corresponds the doctrine of our own church. In the service of Baptism we pray that God would "sanctify the water to the mystical washing away of sin; "that he would grant "to the person now to be baptized therein, THAT "THING which by nature he cannot have; that he may "be regenerated by water and the Holy Spirit, and re"ceive the benediction of the heavenly washing, that so " he may come to the eternal kingdom which God hath "promised by Christ our Lord." It is moreover asserted by our church, that men are, “by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath."

But if such be the state of man by nature, how are we to understand what is sometimes asserted of the dignity of human nature? There is a sense in which we may speak of the dignity of human nature, which we shall now explain. This is an important subject, and we ought to have just conceptions respecting it.

Of the dignity of human nature.

The Scriptures declare that man was "created in the "image of God;" that is, he resembled God in those moral and intellectual qualities which a'created being could possess. But man fell from his high estate, like "the angels which sinned," and he thus lost the divine image. And after his fall, the state of his heart is thus described by God himself; "Every imagination of the "thoughts of man's heart is only evil continually."

Gen, vi. 5. But though man's moral qualities were depraved, and he no longer resembled God in purity of heart, certain noble faculties remained with him ; even as we may suppose that high intellectual powers remained with the angels that sinned. His reason approves those things that are excellent, though he follows the worse. He has a longing after immortality. And we know that his soul is immortal, and that a happy immortality has been offered to him.

Thus far then, and no farther, can we speak of the dignity of human nature. Some noble faculties remain with man, and some noble privileges; the chief of which is, that though he sin against God, he is an object of mercy; "While God spared not the angels that sin"ned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them "into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judg"ment."-2 Pet. ii. 4. High intellectual powers remain with man; but his heart is depraved; and, in his will and affections, he is alienated from God. Now our Saviour hath declared that man being thus depraved by nature must be renewed, and, as it were, "born again" before he can see the kingdom of God. And this change of heart, and the grace which produces it, are the subjects of the glad tidings of the Gospel.

Man's chief dignity then is, that he is a subject of mercy a candidate for a new nature; an heir of immortality. Man lost the image of God by the fall; and the Son of God hath descended from heaven to restore that image: that is, to restore it to such a degree of righteousness in this life, that God shall look upon it with complacency and receive it to himself to be perfected in glory. That the image of God is restored to man in this sense, is manifest from almost every page of the New Testament. The apostle Paul addresses believers in these words; "Ye have put off the old man "with his deeds and have put on the new man, "which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of "HIM that created him."-Colos. iii. 10. And again it is written (in Eph. iv. 24.) that "the new man is "created, after God, in Righteousness and true holi"ness." Further the children of God are said "to be "conformed to the image of his Son."-Rom. viii. 29.