his daily care, and of his nightly dreams. He thus "walketh in a vain shew," and is disquieted in vain. "He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.""

Such labour, which reason alone would disapprove, our Lord condemns. Labour not thus for the meat which perisheth: but rather labour for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you. The means of so labouring are afforded us by Christ. His invitation still is “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters: and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat: yea, come buy wine and milk, without money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Incline your ear and come unto me: hearken and your soul shall live." The means of knowledge, by his Scriptures; the means of grace, by searching those Scriptures, and partaking of his holy ordinances; the means of justification and sanctification, by the merits of his death, and the influence of his Holy Spirit-all these are freely bestowed upon such as labour earnestly for the bread of life. Still, our own endeavours, our constant, persevering exertions, are indispensable. We must work out our own sal

b Psalm xxxix. 6.

с

Isai. lv. 1, 2, 3.

vation; with fear, indeed, and trembling; for we have frailties and errors, and sins innumerable to contend with; but still with humble confidence in the support which we are promised from above: for it is God which worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. If a man labour for the meat which perisheth, he often but sows the wind and reaps the whirlwind. His toils are great and incessant, and often all ultimately fail. But he that earnestly labours for the meat which endureth for ever, shall assuredly not labour in vain. He relies upon a wisdom which can foresee all things, and upon a power which nothing can resist. He knows in whom he has trusted; for he has read the sure word of the Gospel of truth; "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."f

d Phil. ii. 12, 13.

e Hos. viii. 7.

f Matt. v. 6.

LECTURE XIV.

THE PASSOVER A TYPE OF CHRIST.

LUKE Xxii. 14, 15, 16.

And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

EVERY believer in revelation well knows, that the sacrifice of the paschal lamb prefigured Christ our passover, who was sacrificed for us. But the assertions in Scripture, which prove this fact, are principally such as were made. after the death of Christ. The inspiration, therefore, of Scripture, must be assumed, before any reasoning can be founded solely upon them. Accordingly, the consideration of this remarkable type would properly be deferred till we come to discuss those, the proof of which presupposes the divine authority of the Scriptures, did not the words of our Lord, in allusion to the rite, while distinctly intimating his own death, connect the prefiguration with a pro

phecy, the completion of which immediately authenticates his exposition. The type is thus brought within the present division of our subject.

In confirmation of the accuracy of the resemblance, briefly alluded to by our Lord, we may refer to other parts of the New Testament, the divine authority of which is to be considered firmly established upon other grounds. The necessity of thus anticipating what should, strictly, be reserved for a more advanced period of the investigation, might render the present instance less adapted to furnish independent proof of the authority of Scripture, if the resemblance rested solely upon an assertion. But the close coincidence, which no unprejudiced mind can deny, between all the circumstances observed in celebrating the Jewish passover, and the corresponding events in the death of Christ, is one of those historical facts, which alone render in the highest degree probable the designed connection of the Jewish with the Christian dispensation, and, consequently, the divine origin of both. The assertion of Scripture is, to us, a full confirmation of that, which observation alone might have pointed out: and is the sole foundation of the doctrinal instruction which may be built upon the resemblance.

The prophetic assertion of our Lord, respecting the passover, was made immediately before its fulfilment. But the fact, upon which it is founded, was often before disclosed in the course of his ministry. Every one who has read, with attention, the narratives of the evangelists, must have been struck with the calmness which characterizes all the discourses of Jesus respecting his own death. There is nothing vague, or indefinite, in his expressions respecting an event, which, of all others, is usually regarded by man with the greatest uncertainty, as well as with aversion, while it is yet distant. But to the mind of Jesus, the time, the manner, the causes, the consequences of "his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem," were all present with the precision, with which the most retentive human memory contemplates past events.

Jesus displayed this knowledge on various occasions; at first, by obscure intimations; and

a Luke ix. 31.

b

Seven distinct prophecies, or allusions, are enumerated ;

1. John ii. 19.

2. Luke ix. 22.

3. Mark ix. 12.

4. Matt. xvii. 23.

5. Luke xvii. 25.

Mark ix. 31. Luke ix. 44.

6. Matt. xx. 19. Mark x. 31. Luke xviii. 32.

7. Matt. xxvi. 2.