you profess to be, this enviable situation is yours. If you would enjoy all its advantages, you must pray unceasingly for increasing faith, since the supplies which you obtain from the fulness of Christ will be in exact proportion to the strength and constancy of your faith. And if you wish your faith to be strong, you must look not at your own emptiness merely, but at his fulness; not at your poverty, but at his riches. You must contemplate him as he is exhibited in our text. You must endeavor to obtain enlarged views of what is meant by all the fulness of the Godhead. You must remember that he loves to impart it, that he has promised to impart it, that he cannot but impart it to all who believe in him ; and that his language to every believer is, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in thy weakness. And remember too, that when you approach his table, if you come in a proper manner, you come to Christ himself; if you receive these sacramental symbols in a proper manner, you will receive Christ himself, and of course will receive a portion of that fulness which dwells in him. If you do this, you will know experimentally the truth of his declaration, My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Finally, does all the fulness of the Godhead reside in Jesus Christ? then let every one present, who has not already done it, be persuaded to apply to him for a share of this fulness. That you may be induced to take this step, let me ask, is there nothing in all this fulness which you need? Have you all the spiritual wisdom and knowledge which you need? Have you no sins to be pardoned, no sinful propensities to be subdued, no temptations to overcome? Is your preparation for death, and for heaven completed? Have you provision made sufficient to supply your wants through eternity? If not, I invite you, in Christ's name, to come to him for a supply. I invite you to a friend, a brother, in whom all

the fulness of the Godhead dwells, and who will take far more pleasure in imparting to you this fulness, than. you will in receiving it; for he says himself, It is more blessed to give than to receive. But why do I invite you. Let me rather set before you his own invitation. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely.

SERMON IV.

Christ and his Harbinger compared and distinguished.

MATTHEW III. 11 12.

I INDEED BAPTIZE YOU WITH WATER UNTO REPENTANCE; BUT HE THAT COMETH AFTER ME IS MIGHTIER THAN I; WHOSE SHOES I AM NOT WORTHY TO BEAR; HE SHALL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE

HOLY GHOST AND WITH FIRE; WHOSE FAN IS IN HIS HAND, AND HE WILL THOROUGHLY PURGE HIS FLOOR, AND GATHER HIS WHEAT INTO THE GARNER; BUT HE WILL BURN UP THE CHAFF WITH UNQUENCHABLE FIRE.

THESE words were uttered by John the Baptist with reference to Christ. On many accounts they richly deserve our attention. John was raised up, commissioned, and sent to be the harbinger of the Messiah. He came, as we are told by the apostle, to bear witness of Christ the true light, that through him all men might believe. He was the morning star which preceded and indicated the approach of the Sun of Righteousness. In the language of the prophet who foretold his birth, he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a high way for our God. In a word, as it was in those days customary for monarchs to be preceded by a herald, who proclaimed their titles, their approach, and the object of their coming, so Christ the Prince of Peace the King of Kings, and the Lord of lords was preceded by John the baptist, as a herald, who announced his approach, and turned the attention of them that heard him from himself to his divine Master. This being the case, the testimony which he bore in favor of Christ

is fully entitled to belief, and well deserves our attention. This testimony is principally contained in the passage before us. Let us then attentively consider the import of the passage, that we may learn from it what we are to believe respecting Christ.

The great object of John the Baptist, as it will be of all who preach Christ, appears to have been, to give his hearers high and exalted conceptions of the transcendent worth and dignity of his Master. With this view he describes in the most energetic language Christ's superiority. He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. To unloose a person's shoes or sandals and bear them after him, was considered by the Jews as the most servile and degrading of all menial employments, and fit only for the meanest slaves. Yet John considered the performance even of this service for Christ, as an honor of which he was utterly unworthy. If we would feel the full force of this language and learn what conception it should lead us to form of Christ, we must recollect by whom it was uttered. It was the language of no common person. It was uttered by one who was by birth one of the chief priests, an order of men who sustained a high rank in the estimation of the Jews. It was uttered by one whose appearance in the world had been repeatedly predicted for some hundreds of years, whose conception was foretold by an angel and accompanied by miracles; who was born contrary to the common course of nature; who was filled with the Holy Ghost from the moment of his birth, who was favored with the gift of prophecy, after that blessing had been withheld from the world almost four hundred years; who was admired, followed, and applauded, in an unexampled degree, by all classes of men from the least to the greatest, and who by many was thought to be the promised Messiah himself. To say all in a word, it was uttered by one of whom the Son of God, the faithful and true witness has said, he is a prophet, yea I say

unto you, and more than a prophet; for among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist. Yet even this illustrious personage, so favored, so honored, so distinguished, publicly declared himself, in the presence of his followers and admirers, not worthy to perform the most servile and degrading office for Christ. What then must he have thought of Christ? Did he view him only as a man, as some others have done? To have used such language respecting any man, would have been the grossest flattery; and surely he who boldly dared reprove the tyrannical Herod in his own court, would never have stooped to use flattering, words respecting a fellow creature. Is it not then evident, or at least highly probable, that he must have regarded Christ as divine? The prophèt who foretold his birth represents him as saying, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Another prophet represents him as going before the face of the Lord to prepare his way. Now if these predictions were fulfilled, it is evident that John must have considered Christ, whose harbinger he was, and whose way he came to prepare, as the Lord God who was to come as a shepherd with a strong hand, whose reward was with him and his work before him. On this supposition alone can we rationally account for the manner in which he here speaks of Christ.

With a view to convince the people still farther of his inferiority to Christ, he next proceeded to shew them how far the baptism administered by Christ would exceed his own. I indeed baptize with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Though the church of God had been favored, from its first establishment in the world, with the influences of the divine Spirit, yet under the Old Testament dispensation these influences were communicated, comparatively speaking, but in a small degree. Even after the coming of Christ, but