ings by the same prophet: " Remember my poverty," he says, "the wormwood and the gall." (Lament, iii. 19.) Reflect, and apply the case to yourself: if you had suffered any serious loss in your property or person in the defence of your friend, would you not justly expect that he should ever be grateful for your friendly kindness? How much more has Christ suffered for you!
III. Present yourself before Christ as an attentive spectator of His sufferings, and promise to meditate on them with feelings of gratitude. Say with the prophet, " I will be mindful and remember; and my soul shall languish within me. These things I shall think on in my heart, therefore will I hope." (Lament, iii. 20.) And if you contemplate His passion, you will have good reason to hope; for He suffered in order that He might be able to present Himself as our advocate before His Father, and allege His own sufferings in our behalf. He pardoned the thief on the cross, and gave him admission into paradise.
TUESDAY.
Christ's Passion in General.
WHO SUFFERS?
I. He who suffers is the immaculate Lamb of God, "who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." (1 Pet. ii. 22.) He was the Holy of holies, possessed of the divine Spirit beyond measure, the perfect form and image of His Father. His crucifiers confessed Him to be the ,Son of God, and their judge had already pronounced Him innocent.
II. He who suffered had already devoted His whole life to the good of others; He " had gone about doing
