since I have believed in him. Now, my friend, if you believe in him too, if it be but five minutes ago that you received faith, you are just as safe in the hand of Jesus as those of us who have been in him for years. If by an act of trust you do but accept what God has set forth, fleeing to it and laying hold upon it, the "strong consolation" of which the text speaks belongs to you. I pray God of his mighty mercy to lead many to believe in him now. Did you notice that the apostle speaks of laying hold upon a hope? This does not mean that we are to lay hold by imagination upon something which we hope to obtain in the dim future, for the next verse goes on to say "which hope we have." We have our hope now, it is not a shadowy idea that possibly when we come to die we may be saved. We know that we at this moment are safe in our refuge, and we lay hold on our confidence as a present joy. Yet that which we lay hold upon is full of hope, there is more in it than we can now see or enjoy. What is the hope? The hope of final perseverance, the hope of ultimate perfection, the hope of eternal glory, the hope of being with our Lord where he is that we may behold his glory for ever-a hope purifying, elevating, and full of glory; a hope which cheers and delights us as often as we think of it. This we have laid hold of by a simple act of faith, believing God to be true. This laying hold upon the hope which God sets before us is a very simple matter, and yet there are some who do not understand it, for they ask us again and again, "What is faith?" Well, it is laying hold, but if you want to know more about it lay hold at once, and see what it is by practice. Lay hold at once, sinner, it is all thou hast to do, and the Spirit of God enables thee to do it. As I said before, black-handed sinner, do not stop to wash thy hands, but lay hold. That which you lay hold on will wash you and cleanse you. And thou, poor, feeble, trembling, paralysed soul, Jesus bids thee stretch out thine hand, and as thou layest hold thou shalt find peace and consolation. III. For this is our last point, WE ENJOY "STRONG CONSOLATION." I have not time to speak upon this as I should like, and therefore will just throw out a few hints. Many of our fellow-men have no consolation; when trouble comes woe is unto them. There are many others who have a weak consolation; they depend upon the "absolvo te" of a priest. That must be a very poor thing, I should think, for anybody to get consolation out of-to know that you have been to mass, have confessed, and have been assured of forgiveness by a poor, mortal man who is no better than yourself, except that he has had his head shaved. What ground for consolation poor beings can see in this I cannot tell it must be a very poor support when sin and Satan assail the soul. Many have a very insufficient consolation, for as soon as trial or trouble arise they faint, and when they have the prospect of death before them their consolation vanishes like the dew in the sun. But we have a strong consolation. We call that liquor strong of which a very few drops will flavour all into which it falls: how wonderfully the consolation of Christ has affected our entire lives! There is such potency in it that it sweetens everything about us. It is so strong that it masters all our fears, and slays all our scepticisms. Though there are many teachers busily engaged in suggesting unbelief, yet our strong consolation flings a thousand doubts aside, as Samson slew a thousand Philistines. It conquers all our trouble too, for it makes us feel that, being called according to the eternal purpose, all things work together for our good: yea, this consolation is so strong that it vanquishes death itself and makes us descend into the chill precincts of the sepulchre without a shiver, joyfully triumphant because Christ has promised us life, God has sworn it, and the promise and the oath must be true. What I want you to note is that the consolation of the Christian lies wholly in his God, because the ground of it is that God has sworn, and that God has promised. Never look, therefore, to yourselves for any consolation; it would be a vain search. Flee from yourselves, and lay hold upon the hope set before you. Oh Christian, you lose consolation when you look away from your God. Fasten the eye of faith on him and never let it glance elsewhere. His promise, his oath, himself, a true and faithful God, this consideration alone can sustain you. Remember, too, that your consolation must come from what God has spoken and not from his providence. Mind that you do not look to the Lord's providential dealings for your springs of joy, for he may chasten you with the rod of men, and beat you with many stripes, but his promise smiles when his providence frowns. See how the apostle dwells upon the promise and the oath as the two immutable things, and not upon temporal blessings. Outward providences change, but the oath never changes, hold you on to that. Your comfort must not even depend upon sensible realizations of God's favour, nor on sweet communions and delights. No, but upon-he has said it and he has sworn it-those are the two strong pillars upon which your comfort must rest. Not upon what you think he says to your heart, nor upon what you may believe you have felt to be applied to your own soul, but upon the bare word, promise, and oath of God without feeling or evidence to back it. God hath said it and sworn it, there is your strong consolation. It Remember, however, that the power of the strong consolation derived from the oath of God must in your personal enjoyment depend very much upon your faith. What is the consolation of a promise if you do not believe it, and what is the comfort of an oath if you doubt it? is not the end of all strife to those who believe not. O brother, I charge thee by the veracity of God, labour after an increased faith. If thou never doubtest God till thou hast cause to do so, thou wilt never doubt again. It is impossible for him to lie in anything, and above all in the great things that thy soul rests upon, therefore do not treat him as if he could lie, nor dare to suspect his faithfulness, but hold on to the immutable veracity of God. Remember that this consolation which is intended to come to you by faith, if you do not get it will prove that you are insulting God. It may appear to be a small and an easy thing to believe God, but it is a horrible and a detestable thing to disbelieve him. Picture some generous friend in this assembly coming before us and saying "I promise such and such a thing." He would be grieved at heart if some one should rise and say, "I am willing enough to believe it, but I cannot." hardly think of anything which would be more insulting to an honest man than to have doubt cast upon him by one who pretends to be anxious to believe him. But suppose in great gentleness of spirit the person so mistrusted were to say, "To put an end to all questioning, engross a deed and I will set my hand and seal to it, and I will at the same time take a solemn oath, calling God to witness that what I promise is true." Now if any person should say, "I still do not believe it," can you conceive the pain of heart, yea, and the indignation which would naturally take possession of our friend's mind! Now God cannot swear by anything greater than himself, for there is no greater, and so he has sworn by himself. By his own existence, by his holiness from which he can never part, by the majesty of his deity, he has solemnly sworn that the believing seed shall be blessed; and blessed they must be. There shall be forgiveness and eternal life to every one that believes in his Son Jesus Christ. This is no fiction. God cannot deceive us on such a point as this, nor indeed, upon any other. This is no dream, no charming myth as some would seem to fancy; it is reality, divine reality. Now then, souls, will you cast yourselves upon this divine reality? May the devil be kept back from you that you may cease blaspheming God by doubting him! May the eternal Spirit now convince you how natural, how proper, how necessary it is that you should at once believe the promise and the oath of God, and trust yourselves with Jesus Christ, whom he sets forth to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins this day! I wish I knew how to plead with you; but the time has gone. There was a time with me when to have heard this message would have made my heart leap within me, for I wanted Christ; and when I heard that I must lay hold upon him, and flee to him, and so be saved, I was delighted so to do. Those of you who are as sinful as I was, and as conscious of it, will I trust at this very moment look unto him, and be saved: and if you do, by the promise and the oath of God, you are eternally secure. May God the Holy Ghost lead you to Jesus. Amen. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-Hebrews iii. 7—19, iv. 6-9; v. 1—11; vi. 13—20. HYMNS FROM "" OUR OWN HYMN BOOK "-381, 611, 548. Just Published. Price One Penny. "THE CLAIMS OF GOD." PASSMORE & ALABASTER, 4, Paternoster Buildings; and all Booksellers. ECCE REX. A Sermon DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 6TH, 1877, BY AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "He saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!"-John xix. 14. PILATE said much more than he meant, and, therefore, we shall not restrict our consideration of his words to what he intended. John tells us considering Caiaphas, " and this spake he not of himself," and we may say the same of Pilate. Everything said or done in connection with the Saviour during the day of his crucifixion was full of meaning, far fuller of meaning than the speakers or actors were aware. Transformed by the cross, even the commonplace becomes solemn and weighty. When Caiaphas said that it was expedient that one man should die for the people, that the whole nation perish not, he little thought that he was enunciating the great gospel principle of substitution. When the Jewish people cried out before Pilate "His blood be on us and on our children," they little knew the judgment which they were bringing upon themselves, which would commence to be fulfilled at the siege of Jerusalem, and follow them, hanging like a heavy cloud over their race, for centuries. When the soldier with a spear pierced his side he had no idea that he was bringing forth before all eyes that blood and water which are to the whole church the emblems of the double cleansing which we find in Jesus, cleansing by atoning blood and sanctifying grace. The fulness of time had come, and all things were full. Each movement on that awful day was brimming with mystery, neither could the Master or those around him stir or speak without teaching some gospel, or enforcing some lesson. Whereas on certain days frivolity seems to rule the hour, and little is to be gathered from much that is spoken; on the day of the passion even the most careless spake as men inspired. Pilate, the undecided spirit, with no mind of his own, uttered language as weighty as if he too had been among the prophets. His acquittal of our Lord, his mention of Barabbas, his writing of the inscription to be fixed over the head of Jesus, and many other matters, were all fraught with instruction. No. 1,353. It was to the Jews that Pilate brought forth Jesus arrayed in garments of derision, and to them he said, " Ecce rex"-" Behold your King!" It was by the seed of Abraham that he was rejected as their King; but we shall not think of them in order to blame that unhappy nation, but to remind ourselves that we also may fall into the same sin. As a nation favoured with the gospel we stand in many respects in the same privileged condition as the Jews did. To us is the word of God made known, to our keeping the oracles of God are committed in these last days, and we, though by nature shoots of the wild olive, are engrafted into that favoured stock from which Israel have for a while been cut off. Shall we prove equally unworthy? Shall any of us be found guilty of the blood of Jesus? We hear of Jesus this day; are we rejecting him? The suffering Messiah will be brought forth again this morning, not by Pilate, but by one who longs to do him honour, and when he stands before you, and is proclaimed again in the words, "Behold your King!" will you also cry, "Away with him, away with him"? Let us hope that there will not be found here hearts so evil as to imitate the rebellious nation and cry, "We will not have this man to reign over us.' Oh that each one of us may acknowledge the Lord Jesus to be his King, for beneath his sceptre there is rest and joy. He is worthy to be crowned by every heart, let us all unite in beholding him with reverence and receiving him with delight. Give me your ears and hearts while Jesus is evidently set forth as standing among you, and for the next few minutes let it be your only business to "Behold your King." I. Come with me, then, to the place which is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew Gabbatha, and there "behold your King." I shall first ask you to BEHOLD YOUR KING PREPARING HIS THRONE, yea, and making himself ready to sit thereon. When you look in answer to the summons, "Behold your King," what do you see? You see the "Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," wearing a crown of thorns and covered with an old purple cloak, which had been thrown about him in mockery; you can see, if you look narrowly, the traces of his streaming blood, for he has just been scourged, and you may also discover that his face is blackened with bruises and stained with shameful spittle from the soldiers' mouths. :6 Thus trimmed forth they bring him to the rout, Who 'Crucify him' cry with one strong shout, It is a terrible spectacle, but I ask you to gaze upon it steadily and see the establishment of the Redeemer's throne. See how he becomes your inediatorial King. He was setting up a new throne on Gabbatha, whereon he would reign as the King of pardoned sinners and the Prince of Peace. He was King before all worlds as Lord of all by right of his eternal power and Godhead; he had a throne when worlds were made, as King of all kings by creation; he had also always filled the throne of providence, upholding all things by the word of his power. On his head were many crowns, and to Pilate's question, "Art thou a king then?" he did fitly answer, "Thou sayest that I am a king." But here before Pilate and the Jews, in his condition of shame and misery, he was abont to ascend, and first of all to prepare the throne of the heavenly grace, which |