entered on his public life, and went about doing good; he called his disciples, which were only twelve in number, and ordained them to preach his gospel, and they were continually with him, and may be called his family; they were his scholars, and he taught them the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven: He turned water into wine: Hushed the tempest to a calm, the winds and waves obeyed him: He fed the hungry, healed the sick, made the lame to walk, opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears of the deaf, caused the dumb to speak, and raised the dead to life again: He received all that came to him for relief or instruction, both rich and poor, old and young: He frequently spent the night in prayer to God, and the day in doing good to men; but he had many enemies, and they sought to take away his life. This is the manner in which your Friend spent his time on earth.

"Behold, the blind their sight receive,
Behold, the dead awake and live ;

The dumb speak wonders, and the lame
Leap like the hart, and bless his name."

5th. To tell you how he died: Jesus was betrayed by one of his own disciples, into the hands of his enemies, who bound him, and led him away: They falsely accused him, smote him, spit upon him, buffetted him, mocked him. scourged him, and then led him away to be crucified between two thieves, on Mount Calvary: They nailed his hands and his feet to the

cross, and gave him vinegar mingled with gall to drink. To complete the whole, one of the soldiers, with a spear, piered his side, and there came out blood and water. He was crucified between ten and twelve o'clock in the morning, and died between three and four in the afternoon. At his death, there was darkness over the whole land for three hours, the rocks rent, the graves opened, and the veil of the temple was rent in twain. Thus Jesus died a painful and shameful death; and have you no tears to shed for him who is your best Friend?—

"But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love you owe;

To Jesus give your hearts and lives,
'Tis all that you can do."

Lastly. Though your Friend was dead and buried, yet after three days he arose from the grave. After he had been forty days on earth, he ascended to Heaven in a cloud, in the presence of his disciples, from a mountain in Galilee. Your Friend, my dear children, is now in Heaven: But he will come again, and then every eye shall see him. At the last day, he will come in the clouds of Heaven, in flaming fire, to judge the world; to take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not his gospel. Yes, my dear young friends, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ: Then will wicked children see him who would now save their souls, and hear him condemn them to

eternal misery: Then will good children behold him as their Saviour, and their best, their everlasting Friend.

II. Having told you who this Friend is, I must describe the particular marks of his character. 1st. He is an affectionate and compassionate Friend ; his love for you, my dear young friends, is very great, so great that he left his Father's bosom, and came down from Heaven to earth, to save you from your sins and from God's anger. His love was so great, that he who was the Son of God, the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person, condescended to become a poor, feeble, helpless infant; to be born of a poor virgin, to be wrapped in swadling clothes and laid in a manger, that he might teach you the way to Heaven. He came to be despised and rejected for you; to endure hunger and thirst for you; to suffer and die for you. When he was in Heaven, surrounded with angels and all the glories of the upper world, he saw you, saw you miserable, and pitied you; saw you poor, and came to enrich your souls with his grace; for he who was rich, for your sakes became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. He saw you sinful, and came to make you holy. He saw you naked, and came to clothe you with his righteousnes. He saw you wandering, and came to guide you to his Father's fold. He saw you the children of Satan, and came to make you the sons and daughters of the Lord

Almighty. He bore the wrath of God, the rage of men, the malice of devils; he bore every kind of reproach and contempt, suffered the greatest hardships, and endured the most painful sufferings, that you might be saved from endless misery, and enjoy eternal happiness.

"It cost him death to save your lives,
To buy your souls it cost his own ;
And all the unknown joys he gives,

Were bought with agonies unknown."

2. He is a constant and powerful Friend; he not only loves you now and then, but he loves you at all times; he is the same yesterday, today and forever; he is able to save your souls, and not only able, but willing to save the most sinful children in the world; he can pardon all your sins, though they are more in number than the hairs of your head, or the stars of the heaven. Can Jesus save me? I have disobeyed my parents, broke the sabbath, told the greatest falsehoods, and called my brothers and sisters by the worst of names: I have been idle as well as wicked, and as to praying to God, or reading my Bible, or loving Christ, I have not done one of them. Can Jesus love or pardon such a sinful child as I am? Yes, his merits are so powerful, that he can save you, because his blood cleanseth from all sin. Delay no longer, Jesus is waiting to save you; God is waiting to be gracious to you; Christ invites you to

come to him, and he will be your constant and powerful Friend.

er.

"Dear Jesus, can a child so vile, '
Be number'd with thy own?
No grace but thine can reconcile,
No blood but thine atone."

3. He is one that sticketh closer than a brothThat cannot be, for no one can love better than my brother; he always endeavours to please me, he weeps when I am hurt, he cannot bear to see my parents beat me, he would rather be beat himself than I should; wherever I go, he will go with me: Once I was at play by the side of a river, at the bottom of the garden; by accident I fell in, and he, by endeavouring to save me, had nearly lost his own life. Your brother cannot give you a new heart: Jesus can. Your brother cannot preserve you from wicked thoughts: Jesus can. Your brother did not die that you might be saved from hell: Jesus did. Should your brother die first, he cannot secure you a place in Heaven: But Jesus, your elder brother can. I go, said he, to prepare a place for you, that where I am ye may be also. Your brother cannot intercede with God for you in Heaven But Jesus is gone to appear in the presence of your heavenly Father, and there he continually makes intercession for all those who love him and put their trust in him. Whereever you are, there will Jesus be: Wherever you go, Jesus will go with you. Besides, your