away,

distress once went to the prophet Elisha, and when his officious servant Gehazi came near to thrust her the man of God said, "Let her alone, for her soul is vexed within her." In both instances, it was a case of deep distress. Who but God can tell the pangs of a mother's heart! In both cases it was an appeal to compassion, and in both cases wisdom administered instant relief. Should such a person "be hid ?" Thanks be to God, it is impossible! This woman forbids silence; her daughter, her family, her neighbours, all others, who had been relieved by Jesus Christ, prophets, apostles, christians of all ages, and of all countries forbid a concealment of him: he himself will justify the conduct, and to every Pharisee, who saith, "Master, rebuke thy disciples," he will reply, "I tell you, that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out."

Christians, let us feast our souls this afternoon with this heavenly manna; and, in order to give our meditation a kind of form, let us remark . . . that Jesus Christ is not hid... that Jesus Christ ought not to be hid... and that Jesus Christ cannot be hid. O may that God, "whom we serve with our spirits in the Gospel of his son," preserve us from being "ashamed of the Gospel of Christ!"

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I say, Jesus Christ is not hid. Have you observed, my brethren, one word of the apostle Paul in his speech to king Agrippa? "The king, before whom I speak freely, knoweth of these things; for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him, because this thing," the resurrection of Christ from the dead, was not done in a corner." This is one argument for the truth of the resurrection of Christ, and so of the whole of revelation, which we are taught by our apostle to use. This is a "tried stone,” upon which we may build our faith with all possible safety, and in defiance of every attack. When "the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hidingplace," this "precious corner-stone" shall support the whole Christian Religion.

The prophet Isaiah defended the Jewish religion on

this principle, and reproached false prophets, who pres tended to call up and consult the souls of departed men, in this descriptive manner: "Seek not unto them that peep and mutter. Should a people seek for the living among the dead? Should not a people seek unto their God?" How much like a servant of the God of the whole earth doth he look, when he steps forward and saith, "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth;" I say "Look unto me, and be ye saved, alt the ends of the earth!" The prophet saith more; In the name of God, "hear ye this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning." This was very true, for Moses published his commission in the court of Pharaoh, and confirmed it by miracles in the land of Ham. Hence he informed the Jews in the wilderness, that the "commandment, which he commanded" them, was 66 not hidden from them, neither was it far off. It is not," said he, "in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." A passage quoted by the apostle Paul, and applied by him with equal force to the Christian religion, and from which he made this just inference, "Whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus, shall not be ashamed."

There is not in the Christian Religion a single article of faith or practice unpublished to the world. The Jews knew, the Greeks knew, and we know, the time and the place, the family and the circumstances of the birth of Christ. His doctrine spoken at first "in the ear in closets," hath been, according to his express order, "proclaimed upon the house-tops." This remarkable charge he gave to his friends, "Be not afraid of them that kill the body. He that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; for there is nothing hid that shall not be known." Herod saw him, the multitude heard him, Nicodemus consulted him, the

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doctors in the temple conversed with him, the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees questioned him, Pilate and Caiaphas tried him, the Roman soldiers saw him die, and beheld him also rise from the dead; "Jerusalem was filled with his doctrine," his fame was known at Rome, and the faith of that church was spoken of throughout the whole world;" and one single messenger preached his Gospel fully from Jerusalem unto Illyricum, that is, through a compass of two thousand miles. Jesus himself "spake openly to the world; he ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resorted, and in secret he said nothing." Observe the remarkable words of our Lord, "Behold! they know what I said." Yes, they understood him, the devils knew he came to destroy their empire, and they hated him for it; and the wicked Jews knew he meant to subdue their passions, and they crucified him for the attempt. So true is this expression of Paul, "This thing was not done in a corner!"

Hence we reason thus: if Jesus Christ was thus publicly known; if he was put to death, and rose from the dead in a great and populous city; if his iniquitous judges with all the power of government in their hands, with the most violent inclination to make use of it, and with actual repeated trials in open courts, could not discover any fraud; and if, on the contrary, his judges were compelled against their will to pronounce him innocent; and if forty days after his death his crucifiers were "pricked in their heart" with shame and remorse for what they had done, and became his disciples and followers; then "Christ is risen from the dead," our faith is firm, not vain, and" he must reign till he hath put all things under his feet." Jesus Christ" is not hid," he is ascended to God, and at his right hand he will sit, till he "shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Brethren, Jesus Christ ought not to be hid; for if ever any person had no reason to blush, if ever any one had reason to look the world in the face, our Divine Saviour is that person. I am always moved with pity and astonishment when I see a sneaking Christian, afraid if

not ashamed to own his Lord. We forgive Peter, for his master was then on trial, and he himself was fiercely attacked by desperate Jews: but what excuse can be made, timorous Christian! for you, who, now that Christ hath risen from the dead, and is "declared to be the Son of God with power," blush among Christians to be accounted "one of them?" What are you afraid of? Make full proof of the character you assume. Follow your guide. "Curse and swear," and say, "I know not

the man.

There is more truth in the profession of such a Christian than he is aware of. He saith, "I know not the man. True, you do not know him as he is to be known, and your ignorance occasions your fear. O! did you know the dignity of his person and the eminence of his love; did you know the worth of his doctrine and the excellence of his example; did you know your obligations to him and his intentions of goodness to you; you would say to him, "O Lord, I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant! Let me not be ashamed of my hope! How sweet are thy words unto my taste! I will speak of thy testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed."

Such a Christian affects honour. I commend him. Such a Christian would have nothing in his religion to be ashamed of. I admire his disposition. There are assemblies, and even assemblies called religious, of which sense of honour ought to make each of us say, 66 O my soul, come not thou into their secret: unto their assembly, mine honour! be not thou united: instruments of cruelty are in their habitations." There is many a pilgrimage, and many a path travelled by men under pretence of religion, to each of whom it may be truly said, "The journey that thou takest is not for thine honour;" it neither does honour to thine understanding, nor to thine heart. I repeat it again, all men, even the meanest of mankind, ought to regard their reputation, and, especially in an affair so public as that of the profession of a religion, should believe nothing, and do nothing to be ashamed of. Let "walking in craftiness, handling the word of God deceitfully," and all other things of dis

honesty be hidden :" let Achan say of his Babylonish garment, his two hundred shekels of silver, and his wedge of gold, "Behold I coveted them, and took them, and they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent:" let the deceitful tradesman, who "goes beyond and defrauds his brother in any matter," let him conceal the art by which he gets, the book in which he sets down, the place in which he hides, and the use to which he applies his "wages of unrighteousness" let the " "eye of the adulterer wait for the twilight, saying, No one shall see me," and let him "disguise his face :" all these men 66 are of those that rebel against the light, for the morning is to them even as the shadow of death," and they are always, if one know them, as they ought to be, “in the the terrors of the shadow of death." But is Jesus Christ one of this midnight band? Is his Gospel a talent for a "wicked and slothful servant to hide in the earth?" Let us understand our religion better. Let us paint, if we can, the fire and the force of that angel of a man, who in open court, in the place of hearing, before the principal man of a large city, in the presence of chief captains, governors, and gods upon earth, cried, "At mid-day, O king! I saw a light at mid-day, O king!"

Consider, bashful christians! consider the dignity of the person of your Divine Master. Strictly speaking, Christ hath a dignity of person, and a dignity of office; he is the wisest and the best of persons in the highest of all possible preferment. He is not merely what Job wished for, a days-man betwixt God and man, that is, an umpire for a day to settle one difference: but he is a "priest forever, the Son," who is "consecrated for evermore to make intercession for us. Is there any thing in this noble office, so worthy of the justice and goodness of God to institute, so honourable in Jesus Christ to execute, so necessary to the religion of mankind to receive, to be ashamed of? Let those, who have "lords many and gods many," be ashamed and confounded; but, let us, who have "but one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him;" let us glory in our God and Saviour. Christians