only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (John i. 18.) And blessed be His name, He could say with emphatic truthfulness, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." (John xiv. 9.)

In the New Testament, God is everywhere set before us as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; yet "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God." And most blessed it is that in reference to the work of eternal redemption, we find the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, continually presented to us, as acting in the unity of divine wisdom, power, and grace. We know full well that it must be so, but how blessed to find it so repeatedly set before us in the Scriptures for our comfort and blessing. Let us, beloved, with reverence and godly fear, approach the oracles of truth, to see, as the Spirit may graciously anoint our eyes, this great sight!

In the incarnation of the Son, that Eternal Life which was with the FATHER, was manifested unto us-the FATHER sent the SON to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John i. 2; iv. 14.) He said, "I came forth from the FATHER," &c. We read also that the angel said unto Mary, "that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Luke i. 35.) And further, that which is conceived in her is of the HOLY GHOST. (Matt. i. 20.)

At the Lord's baptism, also, we find that, when Jesus came up out of the water, the SPIRIT OF GOD descended upon Him like a dove, while a voice from heaven said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. iii. 16, 17.) Then we find Him

who was in the form of God, and who emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, returning from Jordan, full of the HOLY GHOST, without measure, (John iii. 34,) tempted and overcoming, preaching and teaching, doing good and working miracles, and yet declaring, "The FATHER that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." (John xiv. 10.)

Again, look at the cross. The FATHER, not sparing, but delivering up His own SoN. (Rom. viii, 32.) The FATHER, giving the bitter cup. The SON freely drinking the cup. (John xviii. 11.) The SON willingly laying down His own life for the sheep. (John x. 11.) The SON delivering Himself up-knowing all things that should come upon Him, "He went forth" (John xviii. 3—8); and we are also taught that it was by the ETERNAL SPIRIT that He offered Himself. (Heb. ix. 14.) Look further, at the resurrection of the Lord. Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the FATHER (Rom. vi. 4), also the Son triumphed over principalities and powers; like Sampson, he arose in the darkness of midnight, and took the doors and posts of the city, and carried them up to the top of the hill (Judges xvi. 3), for He rose again the third day. (1 Cor. xv. 4.) He had power to lay down his life, and power to take it again. (John x. 18.) Yet, we are also taught that He was quickened by the SPIRIT. And yet still further, does not the same gracious instruction meet us in reference to the ascension and glorification of Christ? When the SoN had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Heb. i. 3.) Eph. i. 20 teaches us that the FATHER not only raised Him from the

dead, but "set Him at His own right hand." And we are elsewhere instructed, that "THE HOLY GHOST was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified; and in another place we read, "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the HOLY GHOST, He hath shed forth this which we now see and hear....therefore God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and CHRIST." (John vii. 39; Acts ii. 33, 36.)

Our hearts might still go onward in the contemplation of Him that sitteth on the throne, and the Lamb as it had been slain in the midst of the throne, and the seven Spirits before the throne; but we may well pause, beloved, and adoringly worship, while we linger over the wonderful revelation of God in Christ crucified. Great, indeed, is the mystery of God manifest in the flesh; and great, beyond all conception, was the love that led Him to give His life a ransom for many. It is dwelling here that our souls increase in the knowledge of God; it is here we learn the deceitful and unsatisfying character of every other science; it is here we behold with ever new and varying beauty that God is for us; it is here we find ourselves launched on an ocean of everlasting love; it is here we realize that peace which passeth all understanding, and it is here we see written in indelible characters, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."

May we, beloved, enjoy closer and more abiding fellowship, in the Spirit, with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ!

THE THREE PASSOVERS.

THE Passover was preeminently the feast of the Jews. From it commenced a new era. The beginning of the year was changed on the occasion of its institution; and from its institution the other solemn feasts are reckoned. The first passover was kept in Egypt, and memorable indeed must have been the night of its observance. "It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord, for bringing them out of the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations." (Ex. xii. 42.) Every true mother in Israel must necessarily have rehearsed to her child what the ordinance meant; and thus the truly instructed Israelite must ever have connected the passover with their deliverance from Egypt, and subsequent introduction into the land of Canaan, and their national glory. Well might they say, "God hath not dealt so with any nation." The actual experience of Israel in the first passover, was the blessed sense of safety in the midst of danger. They did not yet know deliverance out of the place of judgment into the place of safety, so as to be able to look back and shout the song of deliverance and victory. But they felt peacefully secure in the very place of judgment. Let us mark the circumstances of the first passover. was in Egypt, and judgment was about to fall on the Egyptians from the hand of God. Israel was to be in the posture of pilgrims ready to start on their journey at a moment's notice. The paschal lamb was slain, and with the blood they were to strike the two sideposts and the upper door-post of the houses, wherein the lamb itself was to be eaten. The destroying angel

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began his work of destruction, and the cry of death was heard all around; but the only thing that could assure the Israelites that destruction should not come on them, was the blood on the lintel and on the doorposts, according to the word of the Lord: "The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." (Ex. xii. 13.) Through faith, he [Moses] kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest He that destroyed the firstborn should touch them." There must have been a very holy solemnity pervading the household where they were eating the paschal lamb in perfect security, with the din of judgment all around them. How repeatedly, as they heard the cry of death, must their eyes have been turned to the blood-stricken lintel and door-posts. It must have been a night never to be forgotten; an experience they must ever have carried with them. Other and happier experiences might come in as they kept the feast in after time, but surely not to disturb this first experience. It is just so with the cross of Christ. When first the sinner is awakened by the gracious acting of the Spirit of God, to a sense of sin, it is the thought of safety which is foremost. "What must I do to be saved?" The thought is very vague and indefinite; but the danger at least is felt, and relief from distress and anxiety is found in “the blood of the cross," for it is the shelter of God's own appointment. The blood of the cross is ever before God, and He points the sinner to it, as his sure safeguard from the "wrath to come." Whatever may be the