from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life; for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

SERMON V.

ON THE LORD'S SUPPER.

1 Cor. v. 7, 8.

"For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

THE children of Israel were about to go forth from the bondage of Egypt, and journey towards the land which had been promised to their fathers; when the Almighty instituted the feast of the Passover, to be a memorial of that His abundant mercy, when He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, but smote the Egyptians.

And lest with the fulfilment of the blessing, the memory of it should fade, He commanded them to keep that day "a feast to the Lord throughout their generations; to keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever." The paschal lamb, without spot or blemish, was to recall perpetually to their thoughts the bondage under which they once had groaned, the hand that had wrought their deliverance, and the mercies which had been showered upon them. Contrasting the blessings they enjoyed in the land of Canaan, with the evils from which they had been rescued in the land of Egypt; with grateful hearts they were to teach their children on each returning feast, what great things the Lord had done for them. They were never to forget, that the glorious change which they enjoyed, was not owing to their own power, nor the might of their own hand; but that the Lord their God was He, who had brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

A temporal deliverance of greater magnitude, or more surpassing wonder, had

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never been experienced by any nation. For centuries they had groaned under the yoke of slavery. Enfeebled in body, broken in spirit, and bitterly oppressed by a mighty people; they were left, humanly speaking, without any possibility of escape. And when by the mighty hand, and stretched out arm of the Lord, their deliverance was wrought; there could seem but little fear the remembrance of it should cease. But He to whom all hearts are open, and who knows whereof we are made, foresaw that the very generation among whom this miracle was wrought, would forget God's works, and the wonders which He had showed among them. That the remembrance of it, therefore, might be kept alive in ages yet to come, divine wisdom established a solemnity which should imprint it for ever on their minds.

With the same benign purposes in view, when the hour was at hand which was to witness the redemption, not of a peculiar people, from an earthly bondage; but of every nation under heaven from the bon

dage of sin our Saviour instituted the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The lowly followers of Jesus were partaking of their last meal with their afflicted Master; when, with the calm dignity, and affecting simplicity which had been His distinguishing characteristics through life, He "took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to His disciples, and said, take, eat; this is my body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins." "This do in remembrance of me."

Human wisdom might have thought, that no visible token could be necessary to keep alive the remembrance of what was then to be wrought in Israel. The remembrance of an earthly blessing might pass with the occasion; but, surely, there could be no such evil heart in man, as to forget a redemption which extends through the endless ages of eternity. No human foresight could have seen the wisdom of symbolically presenting to our view, the