ms BRETHREN; that is, he passed through every class of human suffering. 1. Ther, were _the sufferings which came through human frailty. Christ had no sin, but he experienced thos~ forms of suffering to which innocent human nature is exposed, such as poverty, weariness, dependence, pain, fear of death. We get through our trials more easily because we do not foresee them; but Christ foresaw his, and they were intensified as he drew nearer his end. His life was a conscious advance into deeper gloom. 2. There were the sufferings which came through his holy nature. 'J'hirty-three years in a world of sin must have been continuous pain to the Holy One of God. Suffering in the presence of evil is in proporlion to Olli' holiness and our aversion to evil. Christ not only saw a world wandering away from God, but he knew what was in Lnan; be not only saw the malice on men's faces nnd the guilt in their lives; he read the thouahts and intents of the heart. .And, still worse, he felt the hot breath of the aroh-te~pter on his cheek, and heard the whispering of his hateful suggestions. 3. There were the suffering.~ which came through his love to man. 'l'he pain of sympathy. If Love bas her deep joys, sbe has, too, her deep i,;riefs ; if she wears a crown of triumph, she wears, too, a crown of thorns. Love is afflicted in all the afflictions of her beloved. What must have been the suffering of immeasurable Love in witnessing the woes ot man! II. THIS EKDUBANCE OF OUR TRIALS PROVES THAT CHRIST WILL BE MERCIFUL AND F.UTHFUL IN ms POSITION AS HIGH PRIEST. 1. <Jhi·ist making propitiation holds the position of High Priest. Christ's high priesthood is only glanced at here, stated to rest something on it. As the high priest alone could offer the sacrifice on the Day of Atone- ment, so Christ, offering the one atoning sacrifice, showed himself to be High Priest. And the main idea in that is that the high priest was essentially the mediator between God and man. As God's representative he acted for God toward the people; as the people's representative be acted for them toward God. Christ, then, holds this position. He conveys the Father's gifts to us, and our need to the Father. It depends entirely on him whether we receive the gifts of Heaven. 2. If, holding that position, he would deal with us in mercy, all we need is assured. There is nothing he cannot secure for us, if he will. The question depi;nds on whether he bas sympathetic feeling towards us in our grief. Is Christ the Mediator compassionate ? 3. The great proof of his compassion is that for our succour he endured so much more than was necessary for mere propitia- tion. Our Lord's incarnation ar:d death were necessary for atonement, but he endured much beside that, going down to the lowest state of innocent human experience. Much of his suffering was an extra burden voluntarily assumed with a view to man's comfort in sorrow. He cared so much about our griefs that in order to allay them he passed through them himself. We cannot doubt his heart after that. III. Tms PBO0F OF HIS HIGH PRIESTLY C0Hl'ABSION IS ABLE TO SUCCOUR HIS PEOPLE WREN THEY ARE TRIED. 1. It enables them to trust his sympathy, for he has experi- enced their pains. Christ's suffering has not made him more sympathetic. His know- ledge and sympathy were perfect before; but it gives us more confidence in going to him for succour. 2. It enables them to expect aid from him,for lie suffered that he might aid. Why, his poverty, bereavement, weariness, loneliness, shame, being misunder- stood, but that he might succour us I '£hen, will he not succour us? 3. It enables them to anticipate victory through him,for he conquered in all his woe. Who can aid us in our difficulties, like him who has already trodden these difficulties underfoot? What aid can be more satisfactory than his who wears the laurels of victory over those very evilB which assail us? Our foe will fly when he sees hie Conqueror on ourside.-0. N.
Vere. 1-4.-The glory of the Gospel. I. HEBE ARE TO BE BEEN THE SUPElUOB GLORY OF THE GOSPEL TO THE LAW IN THE PERSON OF 1TB HEVEALER. '!'here are frequent proofs of the wisdom ~f ~od ~n the adapta_tions of means and ends ?Oth in the spheres of providence and the mstltutions of worship. When Jehovah pubhsbed the Law from Sinai the angels were mediators between himself and the tribes of Israel; as it is written in D~ut. :nxiii. 2 "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from 'Mount Paran, and he. came with ten thousands of his saints or angels." Stephen remarks that "the people received tho Law by the disposition, or ministry, of angels," who probably, by vocal utterance, proclaimed the commands which required and shaped the obedience of the Hebrew race. This was e.n august and sublime ministry, an<l raise<l the giving of the Law above the great events and important crises of earthly OH, ll. 1-18,] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 77