if he has been constantly giving, he is still full; and you could look into this storehouse, if you could comprehend, or could have but a slight view of the unsearchable riches of Christ, you would see that so far from being exhausted, it was not the least diminished, by all the millions that have had their daily maintenance from it. Joseph has been generally considered as a type of Christ; and, in many instances, the resemblance is strong and striking. But there are two things which, in our present circumstances, must be very obvious and affecting-I mean his early suffering and his following aggrandizement. You well know the ill treatment Joseph met with from his brethren. He was the darling of his father; and, for that reason, his brethren envied him, and conspired against him, and resolved to get rid of him, and thrust him down into a pit where he must inevitably have perished, if some merchants had not providentially passed by, who bought him for twenty pieces of silver, and afterwards sold him again to Potiphar in Egypt. Here was a lively representation of the envy and hatred of the Jews against Christ. He was God's beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased, and in whom his soul delighted. But he came unto his own, and his own received him not. He was despised and rejected of men. He was betrayed by one of his own disciples, and sold to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver; and after a mock trial, and upon false accusations, he was condemned and executed with every circumstance of ignominy and torture. In this manner was Jesus, our Joseph, spitefully treated, and cruelly murdered, by those who were, according to the flesh, his brethren. Christians! he is here, in this ordinance, evidently set forth as crucified before your eyes. Do not vent all your resentment against the wicked Jews. selves are by no means innocent. crucified the Lord of glory afresh. We our Yes, we have ""Twas you, my sins, my cruel sins, Can you now look on him whom you have pierced, and not mourn and be in bitterness? Are not you ready, like Joseph's brethren, to say to one another, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear him ; therefore is this distress come upon us." Now, you call to mind the numberless slights you put upon him; how long you made him stand and knock, before you would rise and let him in; how you hated his counsel, and would none of his reproof. Can you look him in the face after all this? Yes, you may if you are sensible of, and humbled for your misbehaviour, he will receive you gra ciously, heal your backslidings, and love you freely. He giveth liberally, and upbraideth not. He will be merciful to your unrighteousness, and remember your sins no more. But that which I principally intended to lead your thoughts to, at this time, in the history of Joseph, was his wonderful aggrandizement. After so much ill-usage from his brethren, and being sold as a slave, he was, by a remarkable turn of Providence, brought into Pharaoh's family, became his principal favourite, and was entrusted with the management of public affairs. "And Pharaoh took off the ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in a vesture of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt." This was doing as much as any earthly king could, for the man whom he delighted to honour. what empty pageantry was this, when compared with what was done for Jesus! "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," Phil. ii. 9-11. Perhaps his being raised to such But You may honours may at first alarm your fears. think whether, now, since he is so highly exalted, he will recognise his poor relations; yea, you may be afraid whether he will not remember and resent former injuries. And, indeed, if his thoughts had been as our thoughts, and his ways as ours, there would have been some ground for uneasy apprehension. But, in the matter of forgiving, as in all other things, he has the pre-eminence. Joseph, when his brethren began to accuse themselves for their former unkindness to him, was so affected, that he was obliged to turn aside to hide the emotions of brotherly love. Equally compassionate and forgiving, infinitely more compassionate and forgiving is Jesus our elder Brother. He may speak roughly at first, but his bowels are all the while yearning towards you; and you will find in the end that, "He is a Friend and Brother too; Go, then, to our gospel Joseph; and go to him with all the freedom of faith. Carry your empty sacks; but you need not be solicitous whether you have money enough to pay for what you want. The blessings that are here distributed are given freely; without money, and without price. But there is one circumstance more in this story which I must not forget; and that is, that when Joseph could refrain himself no longer, he put all the servants out of the room, and then made himself known to his brethren. At first, they could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence; but when he said, "Come near, I am Joseph, your brother," and affectionately embraced them all, and wept over them; after that, they talked with him. O! christians; if this part of the comparison should now hold good, what a blessed sacrament will this be ! If, when the King of saints comes in to see the guests, he should condescend to lay aside his robes of state; if he should no longer converse with you by an interpreter, but, in his own well-known voice, should say, "It is I, be not afraid; I am Jesus your Lord and Master, your Friend, your Brother;" what will be your astonishment and joy? "It is the voice of my Beloved; behold he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills: let my Beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." Hear his gracious reply: "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends! drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved!" " and what "Go unto Joseph," said Pharaoh ; he saith unto you, do." And what did Joseph |