and worldliness. He says to the tumultuous sea of passion raging within, "Peace, be still." To him who is palsied by the influences of degenerate habit, he cries, "Take up thy bed, and walk!" and to him who is dead in trespasses and sins, "Arise!" Wherever he comes, he comes in the power of his truth and his commandments, in the glory of peace and true holiness. He cannot come without manifesting his presence in the joy which is experienced within the soul, and the beauty of deportment and conduct which is exhibited outwardly. Where humility, and charity and piety are not, there Christ cannot be, though the cry of "Lord, Lord!" may be loud and constant. But where these are, there he has come, for these are the signs and proofs of his coming, and there he dwells, and there is his kingdom, and there is heaven.

So

So let him come to us, now in the time of this mortal life; for if he comes not so, his first coming was useless to us, and his last will be fearful. let him come to us, in his own spirit of love and devotion, in the heavenly and radiant cloud of grace and truth; that we may know him as our friend, and regard him as our deliverer, as well as judge, in the final advent. Even so, our souls cry to him,

even so, in power and glory, in righteousness and

truth, come, and come quickly, Lord Jesus!

SERMON V.

PROOFS AND PURPOSES OF THE MESSIAH'S COMING AND KINGDOM.

ART THOU HE THAT SHOULD COME, OR DO WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER? Matthew xI. 3.

THIS very remarkable message of inquiry was sent from John the Baptist, who was then in prison, by two of his disciples to Jesus. The first question which naturally presents itself to our minds, is, why John sent such a message. It appears at first sight very strange that the forerunner of the Messiah, who had publicly, and unreservedly, declared Jesus to be the Christ, and the Lamb of God, should now seem to be doubtful of his own accuracy and his own inspiration, by sending a deputation to ask whether Jesus really was the personage whom he had before announced him to be.

But this message loses its appearance of strangeness when we consider the circumstances of the case; and we shall see that the feelings of John

which dictated it, were much more those of wonder and impatience than of doubt.

John was a preacher of righteousness, and a bold and honest man, as every preacher of righteousness should be. In the discharge of his duty, he had incurred the displeasure of Herod, by reproving him for his criminal marriage with Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and had, in consequence, been thrown into prison. This had taken place some time ago, and, since his imprisonment, Jesus had performed many miracles, had chosen his twelve disciples, and had declared the things of the kingdom of God. All that he had done was calculated to affect John with sentiments of surprise and disappointment. Though an inspired man, he was still a man, and inspired for a particular purpose only. His notions of the office of the Messiah and the purposes of his mission, were, in all probability, like those of the disciples of Jesus themselves, the same which his countrymen generally entertained. He looked, as they did, for splendor, for conquest, for sudden and wonderful effects and revolutions. He looked to see the destruction of the Roman power, and the overthrow of Herod's authority, and of course his own deliverance from prison, and appointment to some conspicuous place in the new kingdom. When, therefore, from time to time,

tidings were brought to him where he lay pining for liberty, that the person whose herald he had proclaimed himself, instead of being surrounded by a sparkling ring of the greatest in the land, had selected as his companions twelve men without fame or influence; that in his preaching he only exhorted to piety, humility, charity and righteousness, and that although he had performed miracles, they were not at all of a wide and national character, but unconnected works of benevolence in favor of undistinguished individuals, he was greatly surprised and disappointed. He did not precisely doubt, for in such a case he would hardly have applied to the person concerning whom he doubted. But he had waited long for such signs of the Messiahship as he and all expected, and had waited in vain. He had waited long and in vain for deliverance, for action. Hope deferred made his heart sick and his chains heavy. He could not forbear the intimation of his impatience. He determined to urge the Messiah to what he conceived to be his real work. He thought that the voice which had been heard crying in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!" would be heard now by that same Lord, when it cried to him from the walls of a prison, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

And now let us mark the answer of Jesus. He neither directly affirms nor denies. He gives no excuses, and makes no promises. He points to the proofs on which his claims rested, and leaves it with John, and I may add, with the world, to consider and decide upon them. "Go," said he to the two disciples, "and show John again those things which ye do hear and see; the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them ; and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me."

"Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see." Could these works be done by any man unless God were with him? Believe me then for the works' sake. Believe that unless I were really endued with power by him who created the eye, I could not thus restore sight to the blind; that unless I received my commission from him who created the ear, I could not thus cause the deaf to hear; that if I had not come from the Source of health and strength, I could not make the lame active and the leper clean; that if I were not the Son of the living God, I could not say to the dead Arise! and be obeyed by the reluctant tomb. These are things which ye do hear and see.