I.

The POWER OF THE CROSS.

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die."-JOHN xii. 32, 33.

T was not mere presentiment, but a foreknowledge, that enabled him to speak in such precise terms of the manner of his death. Our death lurks in that dark future, advancing with a firm step, but we know neither the time when, the place where, nor any of the attendant circumstances of its appearing. Not so with the Saviour of the world; death was mentally present to him in every step of life. The shadow of the cross followed him from Bethlehem to Calvary. As death was the consummation of his life, especially his obedience to the divine will, it must not be absent from his thoughts, but lend a realizing power, and an intense interest to his sermons, his miracles, and his works generally. By this, I do not intend to convey the impression that his soul was perpetually enveloped in the gloom of dying, but I do wish to convey the thought that his life was stretched at every point to its utmost tension that it might become worthy of the cross. To the thoughtless death is an accident, and the life which precedes it, "Vanity of vanities." To the gloomy and pensive death is a dire necessity, and the life which pre

B

cedes it a chain of regrets. To the thoughtful, however, death is the goal, and the life which precedes it is a pressing "towards the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." The Saviour thought, and spoke, and wrought under this high pressure; hence his life is more real and more substantial than any other. "And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone, but, if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Death was the crowning act of life; life in death found a resurrection. That life, which appeared then so barren of results, contained a vital germ that required the dissolution of death to unfold its powers. Christ on the ! The grain has fallen into the ground, and we have already reaped an abundant harvest. "This he said, signifying what death he should die." All was known and felt beforehand. The treacherous kiss had imprinted itself on his cheek; the ruffian band had seized his sacred person; the barbarous treatment of the courts had prostrated his strength; the wild cry-" Crucify him!"-of the infuriated mob had rent the air; his head had been crowned with thorns, his hands pierced with nails, and all the painful scene had passed through his mind already. No wonder that he cried, "My soul is sorrowful, even unto death.

cross

This short verse I will dismiss with one other word. That important condition-our death-which we have yet to realize, hides its painful details under the covert of an unfolded future. This is a merciful arrangement. But the eye of him who saw the Crucifixion from the Mount of Transfiguration, sees between the thick folds of that future. He can point to the spot where the last battle of life shall be fought. He has already entered the moment in the Book of His Remembrance when the vital spark shall quit the mortal frame. "Thou hast beset me behind

and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." But there is a comfort in the thought that your guide is fully acquainted with every step of the road, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."

66

I will now ask your attention to the subject of the 32nd verse, viz., THAT THE GOSPEL, WITH THE CROSS OF CALVARY AS ITS CENTRE, IS DESTINED TO EXERCISE AN INFLUENCE OVER THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." A more sweeping, and, looking at the circumstances of the case, a more improbable assertion, could never have been made. To human minds it is more credible now than then, and as the ages roll on its consummation becomes more probable. This influence will be for good—He will draw all men to Himself. The positive end of the magnet of divine love will be applied to human hearts to attract them to virtue and to salvation. The subject presents two aspects the Universal and the Particular, the first of which affects the life of communities at large, and the second draws the individual heart under the saving influence of the cross.

I. WHEREVER

THE GOSPEL IS PROCLAIMED IT CREATES A GENERAL INTEREST, AND IT EXERTS UNIVERSAL INFLUENCE OVER MANKIND.

The obscure circumstances of the founder, and the common life of his immediate followers, have disappeared as hindrances to the spread of the Gospel. "There shall be an handful of corn in the earth in the top of the mountains; the fruits thereof shall shake like Lebanon." It is a grand sight to see the forest of cedars on Lebanon's heights shaking in the storm, for the more violently those gigantic old trees are assailed the more firmly they grip the mountain with their roots. The raging storms of