plish that: and thus it was that the God-man, Christ Jesus, vouchsafed to achieve this mysterious undertaking. Oh! it was the depth of condescension that the Son of God should bow himself down to the dust, should dwell in the midst of sinners; wash the defiled in his own blood, and thus become the Redeemer. Oh! it was the depth of condescension to enjoin sinners to offer up their prayers in his name, that he might catch them, as it were, from the lips of the polluted, purify and present them to his Father, as a sweet smelling savour, and thus graciously assume, also, the character of the Intercessor. For when he commanded his people to offer up their prayers in his name, it was not to augment any glory of his own, but solely to render them efficacious; himself being the bearer of them to the throne of the Father. As the High Priest stood in the holy place, and offered up incense for the people, so Christ is the great High Priest in the gospel. He stands in the gap between the dead and the living; he presents the incense of prayers which have been breathed through his name, and thus "he ever "liveth to make intercession."

The doctrine of our text, then, with reference to the character of God as the hearer of the suppliant, is this, that wherever prayer is offered up, at whatever time or place, whether by one or ten thousand petitioners, if it be faithfully breathed through the name of the Intercessor, Christ is in the midst, and he graciously wafts it to the throne of the Father.

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But still the text dwells particularly upon the efficacy of united prayer: “Where two or three are gathered together." It seems to intimate, that, although Christ would never refuse to be the bearer of a single prayer from a solitary suppliant, nevertheless, he is more peculiarly in the midst of an assembled number. A special blessing seems to be pronounced upon social prayer. It is the gathering of ourselves together which appears to be highly acceptable.

But let us remember, brethren, not to make a mistake upon this point; for we have already laid it down as a principle of the gospel, that God is equally ready to hear one as well as a thousand. It is not that the gracious Hearer is affected more or less by the united or separate prayers of the petitioners, but that the petitioners themselves are benefited by the gathering together, by the effusion of the same supplication, the same melody and praise, with the same voice, with one breath and spirit, in harmonious concord. We know, by experience in worldly concerns, how much a cause is advanced, and how much more zealous become the supporters of it, both in point of energy and increase of numbers, by a regular system of union. By concentrating our separate forces, we become tenfold stronger. When we have all one common end and object in view, and when we lay aside the petty differences which may exist among a variety of parties in accomplishing it, and come together with

the same good will, the same zeal and fixed determination, and contribute each man his every nerve and energy; why, if the amount of each, in a separate ratio, be ever so little, the accumulation of them in the aggregate becomes a tower of strength. And you are equally aware that, in a cause to which we are deeply attached, when numbers assemble and communicate their ideas to each other, the one catching the flame from the other, and kindling the next, there is a natural power of sympathy, a spreading of the zeal which expands and multiplies as each additional individual falls into the ranks of the assembly. And is it not then wisely and graciously designed by a merciful Providence, that the sympathies which are implanted in our nature should be turned into instruments to increase our spiritual zeal, and stimulate our exertions, and thus, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, (which, let us ever remember, controls all,) to make us more prayerful, and therefore holier and fitter candidates for that place where the energies of angels are employed in hallelujahs to God and the Lamb? And is it not a cheering announcement of the gospel, that whilst God bent his ear to the solitary publican, smiting his breast, and breathing but a single sentence, Christ is in the midst of the assembled congregation, and that, if it should be a large one, the Holy Spirit will direct our sympathies, and wield them as instruments in the cause of our immortal souls; and if it should be, perchance, but

a small one, then the text, the very words of Christ, will come in to our aid, and when our zeal begins to languish, because only a scanty few are found in the temple to worship the Lord, we may feed upon the promise" Where two or three are gathered together " in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

And it cannot be said that we are thus confusing the office of Christ with that of the Holy Spirit ; because where the Holy Spirit is present as God, there is Christ also present as God. There must be the same power of omnipresence to each person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit is represented sometimes in the character of an Intercessor -"The Spirit maketh intercession for us with

groanings which cannot be uttered." But he does not thus exclude Christ from his peculiar office of intercession; and just in the same way, therefore, Christ may be dwelling in the hearts of his faithful people, and energizing a congregation by his presence, without infringing upon the peculiar office of the Holy Spirit. Believe it in your hearts, brethren, Christ can be as effectually present amongst us, in a spiritual sense, as when he trod the earth and poured forth benedictions upon the mount, or stood in the midst of his favoured disciples, breathing peace, and bidding them receive the Holy Ghost.

We have been anxious, dearly beloved, to fix your attention to the doctrine of the text, first, considering God the Father, as the hearer of prayer; and secondly, Christ in the midst, as the immediate receiver and

bearer of the spiritual incense.

But from this

doctrine, there are practical branches springing forth, which claim your most serious regard. May the Holy Spirit entwine them around every heart.

Whilst we have been contemplating God as the great Hearer of Prayer, has the thought instantaneously flashed across our minds, that we ourselves are the suppliants? Has each individual amongst us connected himself as an interested party in this subject? Do we believe in the fact, that God is so august and stupendous a Being, that the explosion of a world to him would be less than the extinction of a little taper to us, and yet, that he watches over each of us with a Father's eye, that he is literally about our path and about our bed, and listens to every sigh, and opens his ear to every breathing of our souls? And can we be said to believe this, and, at the same time, be careless whether we pray to him in earnest, or pray to him at all? Do we believe that we are sinners,-that we have estranged ourselves from God, and snapt asunder the chain of heavenly communication,—and yet that the love of God was so strong for us that he sent his own Son to repair the breach-to stand in the midst of sinners -to hang upon the cross between the polluted, to breathe into our hearts the Holy Spirit, and that Christ and his Holy Spirit still continues to be in the midst of us, the one Blessed Person to communicate the desire and power to pray, and the other Blessed Person to receive it, and to present it, as