"

YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

THE DIVINE GLORY MANIFESTED IN THE CONDUCT
AND DISCOURSES OF OUR LORD.

EIGHT SERMONS
PREACHED BEFORE
THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD,
IN THE YEAR MDCCCXXXVL
AT THE
LECTURE FOUNDED BY
THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON, M. A.
CANON OF SALISBURY.
BY
CHARLES A. OGILVIE, M.A.
DOMESTIC CHAPLAIN TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,
AND LATE FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE.

OXFORD,
PRINTED BY S. COLLINGWOOD, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY,
FOR THE AUTHOR.
SOLD BY J. H. PARKER, OXFORD :
AND BY J. G. AND F. R1VINGTON, LONDON.
MDCCCXXXVI.

TO

THE REVEREND THE VICE-CHANCELLOR

THE HEADS OF COLLEGES

THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

THE FOLLOWING SERMONS

PREACHED

BY THEIR APPOINTMENT

ARE

RESPECTFULLY

INSCRIBED.

EXTRACT

FROM
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
OF THE
REV. JOHN BAMPTON,
CANON OF SALISBURY.

 " I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates to
" the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University
" of Oxford for ever, to have and to hold all and sin-
" gular the said Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the
" intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned ; that is to
" say, I will and appoint that the Vice-Chancellor of the
" University of Oxford for the time being shall take and
" receive all the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and
" (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary deductions
" made) that he pay all the remainder to the endowment
" of eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, to be established for
" ever in the said University, and to be performed in the
" manner following :
" I direct and appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday in
" Easter Term, a Lecturer be yearly chosen by the Heads
" of Colleges only, and by no others, in the room adjoin-
" ing to the Printing-House, between the hours of ten in
" the morning and two in the afternoon, to preach eight
" Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year following, at St.
" Mary's in Oxford, between the commencement of the
" last month in Lent Term, and the end of the third week
" in Act Term. a 2

vi EXTRACT FROM CANON BAMPTON'S WILL.

" Also I direct and appoint, that the eight Divinity Lec-
' ture Sermons shall be preached upon either of the fol-
' lowing Subjects — to confirm and establish the Christian
' Faith, and to confute all heretics and schismatics — upon
' the divine authority of the holy Scriptures — upon the
' authority of the writings of the primitive Fathers, as to
' the faith and practice of the primitive Church — upon the
' Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — upon the
' Divinity of the Holy Ghost — upon the Articles of the
' Christian Faith, as comprehended in the Apostles' and
' Nicene Creeds.
" Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight Divinity
' Lecture Sermons shall be always printed, within two
' months after they are preached, and one copy shall be
' given to the Chancellor of the University, and one copy
' to the Head of every College, and one copy to the Mayor
' of the city of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the
' Bodleian Library; and the expense of printing them shall
' be paid out of the revenue of the Land or Estates given
' for establishing the Divinity Lecture Sermons ; and the
' Preacher shall not be paid, nor be entitled to the revenue,
' before they are printed.
" Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be qua-
' lified to preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, unless he
' hath taken the degree of Master of Arts at least, in one
' of the two Universities of Oxford or Cambridge ; and
' that the same person shall never preach the Divinity Lec-
' ture Sermons twice."

PREFACE.

IT seems proper to prefix to the present
Volume a statement which may explain the
recent interruption of the Series of the Bamp
ton Lectures.
In the beginning of the year 1833, the De
legates of Estates of the University of Oxford
declared the necessity of a far greater out
lay on the Bampton Estate, than had been,
or could conveniently be, provided for, by any
yearly reserve of income for Repairs. The
result of their representation was a Decree
of Convocation, passed on the 22nd day of
April, in the same year, whereby it was de
termined that the Lectures should be sus
pended for two years ; and that the proceeds
of the Estate, during that interval, should be
applied to the purposes of an expenditure,
which had become unavoidable.
The Author of the following Sermons, both
in choosing and in handling his subject, has
endeavoured to fulfil the intentions of the

viii PREFACE.
Founder of the Lecture ; and he trusts that
he may have unfolded his views, in a manner
not altogether unsatisfactory or unservice
able to the general reader. He has also been
desirous of consulting the advantage of the
younger Members of the Clerical Profession
and of Candidates for Holy Orders ; and has
accordingly added Notes and Illustrations
with an especial reference to their circum
stances. To any of this class, whose attention he
may be happy enough to engage, he begs leave
to recommend, in the following exhortation
of an ancient writer, a brief summary of the
principles and precepts, which he has him
self been anxious to bear in mind, and, to the
utmost of his power, exemplify :
" Depositum, inquit Apostolus, custodi. Ca-
" tholicae Fidei talentum inviolatum inliba-
" tumque conserva. Quod tibi creditum, hoc
" penes te maneat, hoc a te tradatur. Aurum
" accepisti : aurum redde. Nolo mihi pro
"aliis alia subjicias. Nolo pro auro aut
" impudenter plumbum aut fraudulenter
" aeramenta supponas. Nolo auri speciem

PREFACE. ix
" sed naturam plane. O Timothee, O Sa-
" cerdos, O Tractator, O Doctor, si te Di-
" vinum munus idoneum fecerit, ingenio,
" exercitatione, doctrina, esto spiritalis Ta-
" bernaculi Beseleel ; pretiosas Divini dog-
" matis gemmas exsculpe, fideliter coapta,
" adorna sapienter, adjice splendorem, gra-
" tiam, venustatem. Intelligatur, te exponente,
" inlustrius quod antea obscurius credebatur,
" Per te, posteritas intellectum gratuletur
" quod ante vetustas non intellectum venera-
" batur. Eadem tamen quae didicisti, doce ;
" ut, cum dicas nove, non dicas nova." Vin-
centii Lirinensis Commonit. I.
He who would imbibe the spirit, which this
admonition breathes, and observe the rules
here laid down, must have recourse to the
Remains of Christian antiquity ; from a wise
and reverential use of which he will not fail
to reap the most valuable and the richest
fruits. The Author of these Lectures has
sought to encourage the study of the Fathers,
by furnishing a selection of passages, appro
priate to his design, from the writings of
some few of their number. It is hoped
b

x PREFACE.
that these specimens, by reason of their in
trinsic excellence, may effectually excite the
Student to enter upon researches of his own,
in this department of Inquiry. For the fur
ther promotion of the same end, illustrative
and explanatory remarks have been occa
sionally introduced ; but, above all, care has
been taken, by repeated references, to fix
attention on the Works of Bishop Bull and
the Reliquiae Sacrae of Dr. Routh. Under the
guidance of these two Authors, the early dif
ficulties of the way will be rendered smooth; a
field of investigation, which is apt at first
sight to appear unbounded, will become cir
cumscribed within reasonable limits ; and
in the well beaten tracks of Catholic Theo
logy will be found sure footing amidst the
dangers and safety from the misleading temp
tations of a restless and speculative age, fond
of novelty and eagerly aiming at discoveries
even on the most sacred subjects.

CONTENTS.

SERMON I.
Introduction to the whole Inquiry.
St. John v. 39.
Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eter
nal life, and they are they which testify of me  P. 1.
SERMON II.
On the Miracles of our Lord.
St. Luke iv. 40.
Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any
sick with divers diseases brought them unto him ; and he
laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them....%9.
SERMON III.
On the Miracles of our Lord.
St. John xiv. 10.
Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father
in me ? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of
myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the
works  59.
SERMON IV.
On the Parables of the Gospels.
St. Mark iv. 33 and 34 (in part.)
And with many such Parables spake He the word unto
them, as they were able to hear it. But without a Parable
spake He not unto them  87.
SERMON V.
On the Parables, as expounded by our Lord.
St. Mark iv. 34 (in latter part.)
And when they were alotie, He expounded all things to
His disciples  116-

Xll CONTENTS.
SERMON VI.
On our Lord's intercourse with Publicans and
sinners.
St. Luke xv. 1 and 2.
Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners
for to hear Him. And ihe Pharisees and Scribes mur
mured, saying : This man receiveth sinners and eateth
with them  143.
SERMON VII.
On our Lord's guidance of such as sincerely sought
instruction from Him.
St. Matthew xix. 16.
And, behold, one came and said unto Him : Good Mas
ter, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal
life?  172
SERMON VIII.
On our Lord's demeanour towards His chosen com
panions.
St. John xv. 15.
Henceforth I call you not servants : for the servant
knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you
friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I
have made known unto you  199-

SERMON I.

John v. 39.
Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye
have eternal life, and they are they which tes
tify of me.

1 HE interpreters of the New Testament
have differed in opinion, with regard to the
right method of reading and explaining these
words. On the present occasion, and with a
view to my present purpose, it is not neces
sary to settle the dispute, to which the pas
sage has given rise, by determining whether
the words are to be understood imperatively
or indicatively ; whether they are to be re
garded as prescribing the duty, or stating the
usual practice of those persons, whom our
Lord more immediately addressed, and who
were probably learned and inquisitive mem
bers of the great Sanhedrim \ The last clause
of the verse, independently of any questions
that may affect the context, is a plain and
a Note A.
B

2 SERMON I.
forcible declaration, on the part of our blessed
Saviour, that the Scriptures — those Sacred
Writings, which His hearers received as of
Divine authority, and which they were there
fore in duty bound to examine with care and
diligence — are, in some peculiar sense, ivit-
nesses concerning Himself. In the preceding
portion of the same memorable Discourse,
He had spoken of other testimony in his own
favour — of the testimony of John, in the first
place ; and of the yet stronger testimony of
the works, which the Father had given Him
to finish, in the next place ; which works did,
in fact, constitute the witness of the Father.
" The Father himself, which hath sent me,
" hath borne witness of me b." The Jews,
blind through prej udice, had overlooked these
evidences, decisive as they were ; and our
Lord, intent on persuading and convincing
them, proceeded, in the last place, to remind
them of the testimony, contained in those
Inspired Writings, with which they already
were, or might easily become familiar.
" Search the Scriptures," or, " ye do search
" the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye
" have" — ye seem to have, and, without
doubt, really have— " eternal life, and they
" are they, which testify of me."
b St. John v. 37.

SERMON I. 3
From the reference thus made to the Sa
cred Writings in general, an obvious and un
avoidable conclusion is, that they were, accord
ing to our Saviour's own estimate, and in
His unerring judgment, reckoned among the
most important and most valuable means of
making good His pretensions to that high
distinction, which, in the same Discourse, He
had already vindicated for Himself: " The
" Father hath committed all judgment unto
" the Son : that all men should honour the
"Son, even as they honour the Father0."
And it is interesting to observe how He ap
pears, in this instance, to have given before
hand the sanction of His authority to the
early Apologists of the Christian cause, who
are well known deliberately to have preferred,
in their arguments both with Jewish dispu
tants and with Heathen antagonists, that
branch of evidence, which the Prophetic
writings supply.
But on the same reference may fairly be
grounded a presumption, that some portions
of the Sacred Volume above others have an
especial claim on our attention and regard.
Whilst the expressions employed by our
Lord warrant an expectation that no page
of Holy Scripture will prove altogether barren
<= St. John v. 22,23.
B 2

4 SERMON I.
of instruction respecting Himself, His nature,
His Person, and His offices; whilst they di
rect the views of all, who were then within
reach of His voice— of all, who should after
wards become His Disciples — to the abund
ance of types and prophecies, which pervade
the whole Volume of the Old Testament ;
they serve to point, in a precise and determi
nate manner, to such portions as are eminent
above the rest, in conveying " the testimony
" of Jesus Christ d ;" they seem, with an
emphatic earnestness, to recommend these
portions in particular to the exacter scrutiny
of every student of the Sacred Word. Nor
can it be wrong to impart to the expressions of
the text, a prospective, as well as a retrospec
tive, meaning. We may surely find in them
an anticipation of those Records of our
Lord's own life and conduct — of His words
and actions, which were, soon after the time
when He spake as man with men, to be pre
pared by His faithful followers, under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit — which were by
them to be added to the Canon of Inspired
Scripture ; and which were, in every future
age of the Church and of the world, to exhibit
Him, as at once the object of religious wor
ship and the pattern to be humbly imitated.
d Rev. i.2.

SERMON I. 5
There cannot for one moment be a doubt,
where Christians are to look for a display of
the character ; for a disclosure of the doc
trines, of the Master, after whose name they
are called. For them, it is the record of the
Holy Gospels, which testifies of Him. In
that record they begin — in the same record
they expect to terminate, their sacred studies ;
well assured that, after their widest excur
sions into the field of Biblical learning —
after their most accurate investigation of the
Law, the Prophets and the Psalms — after
their most attentive survey and most dili
gent examination of that developement of
the Christian scheme, which is contained in
the Apostolical Epistles — well assured that,
after all, it will be their highest wisdom and
their only safety to return again to the pure,
simple, unadorned narratives of the Four
Evangelists e ; and from them, as from a per
ennial source, to " draw with joy the water
" of salvation f" — " that living water, which
" shall spring up within them into everlast-

..

ing

lifes.:

Under a deep sense of the preeminent in
terest, which thus belongs to the Gospel his
tory, and of the vast importance which may
safely be assigned to that portion of the New
e Note B. f Isaiah xii. 3. S St. John iv. 14.
B 3

6 SERMON I.
Testament, I purpose, in the course of Lec
tures about to be delivered from this place,
to dwell on certain selected passages of the
Life and Doctrine — the conduct and dis
courses, of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. Numerous have been the attempts
to compile, from the authentic history of the
Evangelists, the life of Christ ; and they
have been attended with various degrees of
success, according to the various views, senti
ments and abilities of their authors. It was
scarcely possible that any should entirely
fail ; since the instance is one, in which the
original sources of information are copious
and easy of access — in which the character
and actions to be pourtrayed, even by such
as form the lowest conception of them, are
beyond measure wonderful and engaging.
Hence, from the earliest Harmonies down to
the latest endeavours to put forth a well con
nected series of the events and circumstances
of our Saviour's Life, much valuable service
has been rendered to the interpretation of
the New Testament and to the cause of our
Holy Religion. Fresh light has been, from
time to time, thrown on the difficulties of the
Sacred Narrative : apparent discrepancies have
been reconciled ; alleged inconsistencies have
disappeared ; and the devout Christian has

SERMON I. 7
derived, from the labours of the learned, a
continually increasing power of commending
to the acceptance, even of the doubtful and
disputatious mind, the unexceptionable Me
morials of the Founder of his faith.
I am far from intending to add one more
to the number of these laudable and useful
attempts. Such an undertaking is not well
suited to this place or occasion ; and, if it
were so, would be less necessary in our Uni
versity, where diligent care has, often in for
mer times and recently in our own, been be
stowed upon this inquiry. My intention
rather is to draw, from the Evangelical His
tory, some of the leading illustrations and
instances, which it has been providentially
appointed to preserve, of the, "great mystery
"of Godliness — God manifest in the fleshh."
My endeavour will be to apply to practice
the Christian doctrine on the union in our
Saviour's person, ofthe Divine with the human
nature, by bringing into distinct notice not
indeed formal statements on the subject, but
some ofthe principal facts, events and circum
stances of the four Gospels, in which that
great doctrine is assumed, and, if I may so
speak, exhibited in action.
I am well aware, that the high argument
h 1 Tim. iii. 16.
B 4

8 SERMON I.
with which my design is connected, little re
quires the aid of any fresh advocate. " The
" Divinity of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
" Christ," is a subject, for the consideration
of which, the Institution of this Lecture has,
in express terms, provided ; and to which, ac
cordingly, the talents and learning of several
of my predecessors have been usefully direct
ed. Room is however left for subordinate,
although they may be feebler, efforts; and
the following remarks will shew the nature
and amount of the advantage proposed, on
the present occasion, to be sought from an
un controversial study of the Holy Gospels.
For weak and imperfect creatures, such as
we find ourselves to be, endowed indeed with
intellectual, moral and spiritual faculties, but
impeded in the exercise of those faculties by
a material body, their allotted vehicle and in
strument ; surrounded also by external ob
jects, that suit our appetites and gratify our
senses ; for creatures, like ourselves, thus cir
cumstanced, one of the most difficult of all
efforts is, to withdraw our thoughts from the
works of God, and fix them steadily on the
mighty Work-master, the Author, the Pre
server and the Governor of all that is within
us and around us. " Lo ! He goeth by us,
" and we see Him not : He passeth on also,

SERMON I. 9
" but we perceive him not'." Even when some
determined exertion of the mind has been
made, and has proved not altogether unsuc
cessful, there is danger lest the result should
be a cold, barren, unpractical speculation ; or
an awful impression, thrilling for the soul,
while it shall last, likely soon to fail ; and cal
culated, even during its short continuance,
rather to alienate the affections from a Being
so tremendous than to attract and win the
heart. The universal tendency of fallen man to
idolatry sets this difficulty in a clear light.
In every age and every region, he has embo
died such notions as tradition may have con
veyed or reason have suggested, of the Divine
Being and attributes, in gross, earthly forms,
perceptible and tangible ; and thus he has
hoped to keep alive in his own bosom and in
the breasts of others, some sense of that Su
preme authority, to which he acknowledges
the duty of submission. The attempt is vain
— the hope deceitful ; for the result has ever
been what a distinguished Father of the Church
has well called — "a godless multiplicity of
"gods'1," a real and practical forgetfulness
and oversight of the true God.
It pleased the Almighty and All-wise
' Jobix. 11. J Note C.

10 SERMON I.
Jehovah, in placing one chosen nation under
a peculiar dispensation, to provide against the
common danger in this respect, by adopting
an extraordinary system of direct and fre
quent interference, whereby His presence and
superintendence might be indubitably ascer
tained; whilst, at the same time, He with
held all such manifestation of His glory, as
might afford occasion or excuse for material
representation. " The Lord spake unto you
" out of the midst of the fire : ye heard the
" voice of the words, but saw no similitude ;
" only ye heard a voice. Take ye therefore
" good heed unto yourselves ; for ye saw no
" manner of similitude on the day that the
" Lord spake unto you in Horeb, out of the
" midst of the fire ; lest ye corrupt yourselves,
" and make you a graven image, the simili-
" tude of any figure, the likeness of male or
" female, the likeness of any beast that is on
" the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl
" that flieth in the air, the likeness of any
" thing that creepeth on the ground, the like-
" ness of any fish that is in the waters be-
" neath the earth ; and lest thou lift up thine
" eyes unto heaven ; and when thou seest the
" sun and the moon and the stars, even all the
" host of heaven, shouldest be driven to wor-
" ship them, and serve them, which the Lord

SERMON I. 11
" thy God, hath divided unto all nations,
" under the whole heaven k." Notwithstanding
these precautions — notwithstanding prohibi
tions thus plain and express — in spite of the
scheme of the Theocracy, in the beginning
of their national independence ; and the con
tinuance during the gradual decline of the
Theocracy, and through the whole period of
their national existence, of a system of rites,
ceremonies and ordinances, well adapted to
carry into all the transactions of private and
ordinary life an abiding sense of the presence
and authority of God — the descendants of
Abraham often betrayed the degenerate ten
dency of the common race of Adam ; and, by
their actions, loudly declared: "'We will be
" as the heathen, as the families of the coun-
" tries, to serve wood and stone"1." In the con
summation of the Law by the Gospel ; in that
system of " grace and truth," which followed
" the law given by Moses and which came by
" Jesus Christ"," we are called to observe a
striking contrast between the Old and the New
Dispensation, of superior means for accom
plishing the same end. " God, who at sundry
" times and in divers manners spake in time
" past unto the Fathers by the Prophets, hath,
k Deut. iv. 12, 15—19. ' Ezek. xx. 32.
m Note D. n St. John i. 16, 17.

12 SERMON I.
" in these last days, spoken unto us by His
" Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all
" things0." " The Word was made flesh, and
" dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory,
" the glory as of the only begotten of the
" Father,) full of grace and truth p." In this
arrangement of the Divine wisdom and good
ness, is made a suitable provision for the
wants — by this astonishing Dispensation is
afforded an effectual help, for the weakness
of our moral and spiritual nature*1. And of
the Holy Gospels, the divinely ordained means
of announcing and publishing this arrange
ment and this dispensation to the world, it is
one chief purpose — one main end and office,
to place within constant reach of man the
provision and the help, of which he is, and
ever will be in need. If we rightly under
stand and duly use, our Christian privilege,
we are allowed to see God, no longer by dim
analogy ; nor darkly through the ill-reflecting
mirror of human reasoning and deduction,
but substantially revealed, in the Person of
His well-beloved Son, in whom " 'dwelleth all
" the fulness of the Godhead bodily5." The
Divine Majesty is thus veiled, without being
in any degree sullied. The awe and reve-
° Heb. i. 1, 2. P St. John i. 14.
i Note E. r Col. ii. 9. s Note F.

SERMON I. 13
rence, which the presence of God is fitted to
inspire, are tempered and moderated by a
sense of His condescension to our low estate.
His attributes of justice and of benevolence,
which most nearly concern us, as subjects of
His moral government, are rendered dis
tinctly intelligible; and are shewn to be exer
cised towards us on principles that are in
strict accordance with the apprehensions of
our minds and the sentiments of our hearts ;
whilst His attributes of power, of knowledge
and of purity, (attributes, on the first disco
very of which weak, sinful and dependent
beings may well shudder,) are so brought near
and so benignantly accommodated to our
thoughts and feelings, as to encourage our re
liance on them, and our hope of being bene
fited by them. Thus is it that, on the most
momentous of all subjects — on the first prin
ciple of all true religion — we are secured
against the danger of running, on the one
hand, into cold, philosophical abstractions ;
and, on the other, into gross conceptions;
into low, unworthy, and debasing practices.
But in order to gain this security, in order to
avail ourselves of this, our lofty privilege, it
becomes necessary to dwell, with fixed atten
tion, on the Gospel narratives; and to con
template, with steadfast eye, the adorable

14 SERMON I.
Person and the wonderful actions of the Son
of God, who was also the Son of man. We
must form the habit of listening, with a quick,
intelligent and willing ear, to His engaging
eloquence. We must take pains to trace His
unwearied footsteps, in His journeyings of
charity through Judaea, Samaria and Galilee.
We must observe,- and, in observing, pause to
admire, the ever wakeful activity of His bene
ficence, the mild majesty of His demeanour,
the firmness of His patience, the simplicity,
the beauty, the practical wisdom and power
ful efficiency of the lessons, which He taught.
Then are the hearts of His faithful followers
most likely to burn within them — to glow
with a devout and holy satisfaction in what
they have already learned, and with an eager
curiosity to learn yet more — when " He,"
through the medium of the Gospels, as it were,
again " talks with them by the way, and opens
" to them the Scriptures '." Through that me
dium especially, are we invited and encou
raged to " make ourselves acquainted with
" God, and be at peace."" By becoming fami
liar with those scenes, in which the incarnate
Word relieved the wants, soothed the sorrows,
and entered into the secret thoughts and feel
ings of the companions and hearers, by whom
' St. Luke xxiv. 32. u j0k xx\\ oj

SERMON I. 15
He was surrounded, are we to gain a just con
ception — a conception that can be applied and
used, of the goodness, the omnipresence and
the all-pervading influence of God. The soft
and tender tones of mercy, which, in the Gos
pels, pronounce the sentence of forgiveness of
sins — the uncomplaining, yet touching notices,
therein preserved, of trials undergone, of con
tumely borne, of privations and sufferings en
dured, for the sake, not of the meek and mer
ciful Redeemer Himself, but of sinners, way
ward and perverse — His persecutors and His
murderers ; these are intended and well cal
culated to convey to our inmost souls a lowly
hope of reconciliation with God, even for our
selves, to be effected by the interference of
" the one Mediator between God and man,
" the man Christ Jesus\" By us the pre
cepts of the Divine Law are to be understood,
as they are graciously interpreted in the Dis
courses of our Lord ; and to be obeyed, as
they are in the same Discourses enforced by
the most cogent motives, the most persuasive
addresses to each feeling of admiration, grati
tude and love. In the prayers, which He of
fered to His Father; above all, in that hal
lowed form of prayer, which He prescribed
for the use of His disciples, we are to learn
x 1 Tim. ii. 5.

16 SERMON I.
the duty and the privilege of Prayer y. When
He speaks at once of the omniscience and
the omnipotence of God, and of the absolute
necessity of prayer — when He thus combines
the attributes of God and the duty of man,
which a short-sighted philosophy has often
deemed irreconcilable with each other — we
are called to remember and to confess that
we are listening to a Teacher, who speaks
" as one having authority and not as the
" Scribes2 ;" that, as " the only begotten Son,
" which is in the bosom of the Father"," He
has, in this instance, " declared the Father"
— explained His dealings, and given an ac
count of His dispensations15.
Nor let it be said that the duty and the
advantage of having recourse to the Gospel
History, for purposes like these, are too well
known and too universally acknowledged to
need any special enforcement or any express
guidance and direction. It may justly be
feared that such is far from being the case.
It may reasonably be doubted whether or
not, in some former ages of the Church, there
have been found — whether or not, in the
present age, there are found, the kind and
the degree of interest in the Evangelical Re-
y Note G. 7 St. Matt. vii. 29,
* St. John i. 18. b Note jj

SERMON I. 17
cords, which it will be the object of these
Lectures to awaken and keep alive. The
Holy Gospels have undoubtedly been sifted
with a jealous anxiety, of which the history
of Literature scarcely affords any parallel in
stance. The scruples of friends and the sus
picions of enemies ; the acumen of learned
critics, professing an entire indifference re
specting what they contemptuously call Dog
mas of faith, and actuated by curiosity alone ;
the arts of wily and insidious adversaries;
the attacks of open and avowed assailants ;
all have contributed towards the severity of
that ordeal, to which the Memorials of our
Lord and Saviour have been subjected.
Nor is it possible to reflect on the earlier
dangers of suppression, depravation and cor
ruption, to which they were exposed, or on
the daring speculations, for which they have
in modern times furnished occasion, without
being led thankfully to acknowledge that
vigilance of the Christian Church, which,
under the good Providence of God, has suc
ceeded in preserving the sacred treasure and
in handing it down, from age to age, unmuti-
lated and unimpaired. There is matter for
farther thankfulness in the consideration
that the very difficulties, which, from the
nature of the case, have unavoidably beset

18 SERMON I.
a written History, have been over-ruled for
good. As, in ancient times, the existence of
spurious or altered Gospels and the attempts
to pass them current, had the effect of ren
dering unambiguous and undoubted the evi
dence in favour of the genuine and authentic
writings of the Evangelists ; so, in our own
times, the numerous questions that have
arisen and have been warmly agitated, re
specting the original sources, the inspiration,
the language, the comparative merits of the
Four Gospels, have been followed by the ex
cellent result of so attracting and employing
the various faculties of the human mind as
to arrest and fix attention ; and of fixed at
tention the farther result has generally been
and surely will be, for each well trained and
judicious inquirer, to impart an increased
confidence in referring to witnesses, distinct
yet harmonious — to reporters of the same
events and circumstances, marvellously agree
ing in the main, yet so far differing as to
shew plainly that their general agreement
was without concert or collusion. From re
searches of the deepest interest, in which he
has been engaged, the student at length rises,
abundantly satisfied with regard to the chief
subject of his inquiry ; and having moreover
gained the incidental advantage of impress-

SERMON I. 19
ing on his memory and engraving on his
heart the occurrences and the lessons of the
most important of all Histories. And among
these lessons are doubtless included many,
which put prominently forward the combina
tion, in the Person of our Lord, of Divine
perfections with human virtues ; many, which
shew, not in the vivid colouring of Prophetic
description, but in the energy of life and ac
tion, " the high and lofty One that inhabit-
" eth eternity, whose name is Holy, dwelling
" also with him that, is of a contrite and
" humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the
" humble, and to revive the heart of the con-
" trite ones0." True as this statement is of
the collateral and, as it were, incidental ad
vantage, which attends even the critical exa
mination of the Holy Gospels, when it is un
dertaken and carried on with sincerity, in a
serious temper and by competent ability; it
may still be contended that far less fre
quently than was either to be expected or to
be desired, have the Gospels been approached
and surveyed as a conspicuous portion of that
" matchless Temple, in which the Deity is
" preached and adored ;" and that far too
seldom have they been examined and em
ployed, for the express and designed end of
c Is. lvii. 15.
C 2

20 SERMON I.
" increasing the awe and exciting the devo-
" tion" of the lowly worshipped.
On the present occasion then it is pro
posed that " disputes and questions, enemies
" to piety, abatements of true devotion and
" hitherto in this cause but over-patiently
" heard, shall for a while take their reste."
Heresy will be, not so much confuted, as an
ticipated and excluded. An endeavour will be
made so to store the mind with sound and
wholesome doctrine and so to bring home
that doctrine in all its practical bearings on
the heart and conduct, in respect at least of
one grand and influential verity, that " there
" may be no place left, either for error in re-
" ligion or for viciousness in lifef." Against
the vain love of discovery and theory on sub
jects too lofty for the reach, too dark for the
penetration of man — against the fatal ten
dency to be misled by plausible but shallow
conceits and notions — against a fond indul
gence in subtle refinements and in perplex
ing niceties of speculation — against error,
alike in its earlier and in its later forms ; a
security will be sought in the plain letter of
the Sacred Narrative — in the affecting, yet
simple statements, which the pages of the
d Note I. e Hooker's Eccles. Pol. V. 67.
f Exhortation in the Form for the Ordering of Priests.

SERMON I. 21
Holy Gospels contain. Had the curious and
restless temper of our race submitted to this
salutary control, had men been satisfied with
that truth, which has been revealed for their
information and comfort, the Christian Church
would have been spared the misfortune and
the misery of witnessing many serious evils
that have disturbed her peace and diminished
her influence. The annals of primitive and
even Apostolical times would not then have
had to record an occasional denial of the pro
per Divinity — a more frequent denial of the
real humanity, of our Lord and Saviours —
the annals of the succeeding ages would not
have related such attempts to reconcile the
notion of His distinct Personality with the
doctrine of the Divine unity or to explain
the union of the two natures in His Person
as ended — as indeed could not but end — in
inextricable confusion of thought and lan
guage ; nor would they have furnished so
many proofs as they now unhappily contain
of a rashness which boldly intruded into the
sanctuary of the presence of the Most High
— and presumed confidently to decide the
subtlest questions that could arise respecting
His essence and attributes. Neither would
the more recent history of the Church, have
g Note K.
C 3

22 SERMON I.
been disfigured by accounts of unprofitable
discussions and dogmatical decisions, at direct
variance with each other ; sometimes, on mo
mentous questions, concerning the Person
and ministry of our Lord, which affect the
whole scheme of Christian doctrine ; at other
times, on minor points, connected with the
same great subject, which admit not of being
settled by any efforts of human ingenuity or
of being applied to practice, and which there
fore, in spite of the exaggerations of party
zeal, on the one side and on the other, must
be pronounced to be, after all, indifferent h.
Had the Gospel History been thoroughly
learned and candidly apprehended and ac
cepted, a large portion of Christendom would
not have been still disgraced and disadvan
taged by a machinery of intercessors, of
images and of relics, which bars the approach
of sinners towards the throne of God, and
places serious obstacles in their way, as often
as they sue for "mercy" and seek "grace to
" help in time of need ' :" nor, under the
purer forms of Protestantism, would there
have been found that extreme difficulty,
which still exists, of realizing the Divine Pre
sence and of " enduring, as seeing Him, who
" is invisiblek."
h Note L. ' Heb. iv. 16. k Hek x; ^7.

SERMON I. 23
There remains yet another view, under
which I am desirous of recommending my
present Design to your favourable notice.
That our Lord is the perfect exemplar of
His Church, is a truth universally acknow
ledged ; and that to become so was one end
of His appearance upon earth will scarcely
be denied by any Christian. In the midst of
this general agreement, however, there exist
wide differences of opinion ; and on a point,
which, at first sight, appears manifest and
incontrovertible, misapprehensions and mis
takes have prevailed that call for our caution,
watchfulness and care. Some insist that to
furnish a pattern of piety and virtue and to
supply the most solemn attestation in their
favour, were the highest purposes of our
blessed Saviour's life, sufferings and death.
His moral and religious lessons these persons
profess to value, as being in harmony with
His own conduct ; as deriving illustration
and practical influence from His actions ;
and as serving, in their turn, to throw light
upon the scenes, in which He vouchsafed to
be present. In Him they behold such an
union, as they can perceive in no other in
stance, of .strictness of rule with undeviating
practice ; of unbending firmness of principle
and precept with a correspondent exactness
c i

24 SERMON I.
of manners and behaviour. In the meantime,
they overlook the sublimer mysteries of Re
demption; as they dwell not on the grandeur
of the achievements of the Son of God, in
behalf of the race of man, so neither do they
contemplate that union in His Person of the
Divine with the human nature, by virtue of
which He is in Holy Scripture represented
to have effected those achievements.
Others, conversant with the details of
Evangelical doctrine, as those details have
been drawn from Holy Scripture and ar
ranged in one well-compacted system, confess
indeed that they too see, in the Divine Re
deemer, a copy of each excellence, at which
it is their duty to aim. They hear His voice,
which loudly, yet with winning tenderness,
bids them " learn of Him" and follow the ex
ample of His " meekness and lowliness of
" heart ' ;" and they declare their resolute
purpose to comply with the command. But
the real tendency of their minds is in an
other direction. They are fond of fixing
their thoughts and their hopes chiefly on the
great work, which Jesus Christ accomplished
for mankind ; the faith in Him, which they
endeavour to cherish, is a simple reliance on
His sufferings, regarded as vicarious ; on His
1 St. Matt. xi. 29.

SERMON I. 25
meritorious cross and passion ; on His pre
cious death and His prevailing intercession.
Now it is conceived that both of these op
posite parties require equally to be reminded
that there is a way of contemplating the
Holy Gospels, which they have too much
neglected. The former class of persons need
to be admonished that, in the Person and
character of our Lord, are displayed the imi-
table attributes of God, which by virtue of
their mysterious connection with the sinless
yet sympathizing nature of man are brought
down to the level of our perceptions. They
are to be told that through Him we can best
learn what is that perfection of virtue, in
which we are by Himself exhorted to become
like our Father, which is in heaven ; and that
then only are His human virtues likely to
exert their full and transforming influence
over our souls, when we behold them in their
just relation to the glory of His Godhead.
Such must have been the impression, under
which St. Paul charged the Philippians to
" let this mind be in them, which was also in
" Christ Jesus m" — for, having given this
charge, he immediately insists upon that stu
pendous proof of condescension, and humility,
™ Phil. ii. 5.

26 SERMON I.
which was afforded by concealing under " the
" form of a servant and the likeness of men,"
that nature, in which He was " equal with
" God." It is clear that St. Paul founds the
precept here given on the principle that our
attempts to imitate even His lowly temper,
depend, for their success, upon keeping in
view the Divine glory of our Pattern". Nor
can we be surprised that they who forget this
principle of the inspired Apostle, and who, in
denying or overlooking the Divine nature and
essential dignity of our Lord, profess an in
tention of magnifying the importance and
increasing the value of His human example,
are disappointed of their hope. Their griev
ous error returns upon themselves ; and by
lowering their conceptions of the Saviour's.
majesty, they, in fact, diminish the useful
ness — they really detract from the influence,
of His high and holy example.
Again, the second class of persons require
to be cautioned against attaching undue im
portance to theoretical accuracy and system
atic precision — against spoiling the simplicity
and tarnishing the lustre of the plan of sal
vation by the devices of men. They are to
be roused to a just feeling of the indispen-
n Note M.

SERMON I. 27
sable necessity, after all that has been done
for them, of a great work, which is to be
effected within them — of a moral renewal
and a spiritual elevation, towards which, un
der the promised agency of the Holy Spirit,
every possible aid will be wanted and must
be employed. Nor can they be more effec
tually roused to this wholesome feeling, or
more happily guided and assisted, when they
are once under its influence, than by being
directed to form an intimate acquaintance
with the Gospel narratives ; to renew once
more the scenes therein described ; and to
borrow from the Sacred page the lively image
of a Friend and an Instructor, human and
therefore suited to all the exigencies of daily
life ; Divine, and therefore ever near at hand,
and " mighty to save0."
It is unnecessary to add more by way of
introduction to that undertaking, which I
shall endeavour, in the ensuing Lectures, to
execute. For the present, therefore, I shall
content myself with expressing an earnest
hope that my attempts may be made, and
their results accepted, in the spirit, which
dictated to a bright ornament of the Western
Church, in the fifth century, the following
0 Is. lxiii. 1.

28 SERMON I.
language: " Let the weakness of man ever
" sink under the burden of telling the glory
" of God, and own itself unequal to the task
" of unfolding the works of His mercy. Dull
" in perception, slow in talent, wanting in
" eloquence for such a theme, let us make
" our utmost efforts, and we shall still find
" that even our right thoughts and feelings,
" concerning the Majesty of our Lord and
" Saviour, will prove too lowP !"
P Note N.

SERMON II.

St. Luke iv. 40.
Now when the sun was setting, all they that had
any sick with divers diseases brought them unto
him ; and he laid his hands on every one of them,
and healed them.

1 HE most cursory reader of the Gospels, in
casting only a superficial glance over their
contents, is compelled to take notice of the
Miracles, ascribed to our Lord during His
ministry, and recorded, sometimes, in a brief
and comprehensive summary, like that of the
text ; at other times and more frequently, in
detailed and circumstantial narratives. It is
to this feature of the Evangelical History that
I purpose, on the present occasion, to draw
your attention. I intend to contemplate the
supernatural works performed — the extraor
dinary deeds of power and of mercy done by
Jesus Christ " in the days of His flesh"" —
more especially with a view to ascertain what
indications they afford of the glory of His
a Heb. v. 7.

30 SERMON II.
Divine nature — to mark how, through their
means, some rays of a Divine effulgence are
shed over His Person and actions — and finally,
to observe in what manner and to what de
gree these instances, in which " Himself took
" our infirmities and bare our sicknesses b,"
may be applied to our consolation and sup
port; how they may convey into our souls
an assurance of the presence of God with our
selves, and may serve to shew that we too are
nearly interested in the display and the ope
ration of the sublime attributes of the Most
High. Profiting by a suggestion of St. Au
gustine, I shall " ask of the very miracles of
" the Gospels what it is, which they speak
" concerning Christ ? They, if they be but
" rightly understood, have a tongue of their
" own, and can speak. For, since Christ
" Himself is the Word of God, each deed of
" Him, who is the Word, is to be by us
" esteemed a Word from God c."
The way however must be cleared by a few
preliminary remarks. The meaning of the
word miracles '\ so far as we are at present
concerned with it, may be assumed to be well-
known and universally granted. In the ac
ceptation of works, surpassing human power
and addressing the senses of those who attest
b Matt. viii. 17. c Note O. d Note p

SERMON II. 31
them, this word has been and will continue
to be, understood, by every man of common
honesty, who knows the ordinary use of lan
guage and has good sense enough to see that,
for the convenience of intercourse, he must
adhere to that use. That unbelievers them
selves sometimes forget their own pretended
difficulties and objections, and the question
ings and cavils, thence arising, is evident from
the fact that they are far from relying on
any niceties of definition, when they are
brought into actual conflict with their Chris
tian opponents. They then choose rather to
adopt the method of denying altogether the
existence or of explaining away the charac
teristics, of facts, which, as they are alleged
and stated to have taken place, they them
selves do not hesitate to call miraculous. Now
it is to be observed that the name of miracles
is given to certain actions of our blessed Lord,
in precisely the same sense, in which it is ap
plied to certain works of Prophets, under the
Old Dispensation ; of Apostles and Teachers,
under the Gospel ; and that, in all cases, the
works, so called, are regarded and employed,
by the advocates of Revealed Religion, as
serving one and the same purpose of evi
dence, in favour of the Divine commission of
those who perform them. Since this whole

32 SERMON II.
subject is one, upon which some indistinct
ness of conception is apt to lurk, even in
minds well-informed and for the most part
well-regulated, it becomes important that
every statement, with regard to it, should be
as clear, as explicit and as secure from the
danger of mistake, as language will allow.
Be it then remembered that miracles were
for our Saviour Christ, exactly what similar
works were for the Prophets, who preceded,
and for the Apostles and Preachers of the
Gospel, who followed, Himself. For Him and
for them, these wonderful works were cre
dentials, proving them to be messengers from
God, shewing that God was with them, add
ing the sanction and authority of God to all
those words and works of theirs, for which
they claimed such sanction and authority.
Accordingly, to all Scriptural miracles in com
mon have belonged, the sure marks, the un
doubted characteristics, the inseparable ac
companiments of plain and palpable matters
of fact. As matters of fact, they were, at first,
fearlessly submitted to eye-witnesses; as such,
they were published, and recorded in writing,
at or soon after, the times of their occur
rence ; as such, they have been preserved and
handed down, through the instrumentality of
authentic History. Nor is it a difficult matter

SERMON II. 33
to discover the suitableness oi miracles to an
swer that valuable end, which has been as
signed to theme. In works, that display more
than human power and, at the same time,
are declared, by those who do them, to be
done expressly that they may indicate the
presence and the interference of God — in
such works are undoubtedly seen, so many
real tokens of the Divine presence and inter
ference ; for the human mind here argues
(and if there be security against fatal error in
the reason, which the Creator has implanted
in us, it justly argues) that God, the God of
holiness and truth, will not allow, for the
purposes of imposture, an abuse of His awful
name, or a subversion of the laws and order
of His natural government, on the part of
beings, of whatever rank, still created, infe
rior and dependent ; subject to His control
and ever placed at His entire disposal. Be
yond proving a Divine commission and sanc
tion, however, the direct argumentative force
of miracles does not go. Nor will the Christ
tian student find cause for any serious un
easiness, if he should be led to observe that
the miracles of Jesus Christ have not al
ways, exactly in the way, in which we should
have expected, been urged even thus far, by
e Note Q.
D

34 SERMON II.
those distinguished defenders ofthe Christian
cause, whose proximity to the life-time of our
Lord might, at first sight, seem to render
likely a frequent recurrence to this particular
line of argument and a decided partiality for
it. Let it not be imagined or surmised that
the Fathers of the Church have preserved si
lence, on the subject of the Gospel miracles;
or have shrunk from the duty of maintaining
the reality of the facts of the Sacred History,
on all fit occasions. One golden fragment,
which Eusebius has preserved, is a specimen
of the contrast, that, in the earliest times, was
drawn between the works of our Saviour and
the practices of mere pretenders to extraor
dinary powers f. " Now the works of our Sa-
" vi our were ever before the eyes of men ;
" for they were real ; the persons, whose dis-
" eases were healed ; they, who rose from the
" dead — these were objects of sight, not only
" in the act of receiving cures and of rising;
" but also, in their open continuance after-
" wards among men ; and this, not only while
" our Saviour sojourned upon earth, but af-
" ter His removal also ; for they lived a con-
" siderable while, so that some of them have
" reached even my own times."
Such are the words—the few, but precious
f Note R.

SERMON II. 35
words — of a cotemporary and surviving scho
lar of the Apostles ; the abruptness of their
commencement (for they begin with a con
junction of contrast) puts before us, in a for
cible manner, the nature of that whole pas
sage of his Apology, from which they have
been torn ; and gives us an affecting hint of
the kind of loss which we have, in this in
stance, to deplore. Nor is this primitive
writer singular, in the notice, which he takes,
of the subject ; or in the purpose, to which
he applies his just and discriminating view of
the case. It would be easy to collect an un
interrupted series of testimonies to the same
effect, from his age downwards, until we
should reach that point of time in the Chris
tian era, at which no farther interest would
be attached to the inquiry. Passages, which
have been sometimes quoted from the most
eminent Christian Apologists of the three
first centuries, (and the number of such pas
sages might easily be increased) establish be
yond contradiction their cordial acceptance
of and firm confidence in, the miracles of the
Gospel Historys. They often go so far as to
derive from those miracles direct proofs of
the Divine nature of Him who wrought
them. s Note S.
i) 2

36 SERMON II.
If, however, it be granted, that in some re
markable instances they fall short of expecta
tions which we may have formed; and ap
pear to us to unfold this particular argument
less fully, or to insist on it less strongly than
we could have desired, we may rest assured
that their conduct was guided by a prudent
reference to those habits of thought, and pre
possessions of their adversaries, of which we
can perceive the very distinct traces in their
own allusions, statements and answers. They
themselves knew well — they have often shewn
that they knew well — how to distinguish the
Christian miracles from the juggling tricks
and lying wonders of magic, and its kindred
arts : yet was it expedient that, in selecting
and enforcing their arguments, they should
advert to the blindness, which could not see
— to the perverseness and wilfulness, which
would not perceive, the manifest and striking
difference. Meanwhile, for any appearance
of omitting, or undervaluing the argument
from the miracles of our Lord on the part of
Christians ; for any insensibility to the nature
and efficacy of the same argument, on the
part of the enemies of Christianity, an abund
ant compensation is made by the service,
which has, in this respect, been rendered to
ourselves and to the Church for ever. Our

SERMON II. 37
certain knowledge — our satisfactory and en
tire assurance of the reality of those miracu
lous facts, on which our faith is founded, we
partly owe to the conspiring and coinciding
testimonies of both friends and foes, in the
early ages of Christianity. On all hands, the
facts are acknowledged ; the events in ques
tion are allowed to have happened. The
disputes turn rather on the character, the
sources and the ends of the works done, than
on the existence of the works themselves.
This is an observation of no small moment ;
since it is impossible to doubt that such Jew
ish objectors, as Trypho and his companions,
or such heathen adversaries as Celsus and
Porphyry would gladly and eagerly have
availed themselves of every possibility of im
pugning facts, which it cost them much trouble
to explain away and to deprive of the force
of evidence. Had these acute and skilful
disputants adopted a different method ; had
they ventured to deny the assertions and to
refute the statements of their Christian anta
gonists, we should undoubtedly have received,
at the hands of the latter, a vindication well
suited to what would then have been the
posture of affairs — a vindication, to which
their abilities were fully competent, and for
which they were furnished with all requisite
d 3

38 SERMON II.
materials. But, under the actual circum
stances of the case, we are in possession of
proofs, which, if they cannot be called stronger,
are, at all events, simpler and less embarrassed
than they would otherwise have been ; we
secure a firm hold of that only link in the
chain of evidence, which it was the office of
antiquity to supply ; and, living ourselves in
an atmosphere of light, which the united in
fluence of reason and of religion has cleared
of the mists of superstition and of the illu
sions of a disordered imagination, we can
calmly behold and justly estimate the rela
tions, tendencies and results of facts, con
cerning which eye-witnesses were not more
certain than ourselves. — Never, indeed, ought
we to forget, that the complete and perfect
demonstration ofthe Messiah includes within
its ample range an astonishing variety of con
siderations, and makes its loud and unanswer
able appeal to every faculty of the mind and
every feeling of the heart of man ; yet are
we also bound to remember, that it ultimately
and originally rests upon the solid and deeply-
laid foundations of Prophecy and Miracles—
of Prophecy, fulfilled in the Person and the
Life — of Miracles, wrought by the power of,
Jesus Christ — miracles, which in themselves
and taken alone, are sufficient to prove  to

SERMON II. 39
establish beyond reasonable doubt — not in
deed more, yet certainly not less, than that
He came as a messenger from God.
It is when we proceed to hear the message
itself, which He brought from Heaven and
delivered upon earth, that we gain the power
of using the same miracles, in the way of
proof, for a still higher purpose. It is when
we listen to the doctrines which He, as a Di
vinely sanctioned Instructor, laid down in His
Discourses, and proposed to the acceptance of
mankind, that we are enabled to connect His
deeds with a power, not imparted but essen
tial; not supernatural merely, but Almighty.
When we find that, on one occasion, He was
understood to claim God for his Father, in
such sense as to make Himself equal with
God h, and yet spake not one word, which im
plied that His meaning had been mistaken ;
when, on another occasion, we are informed
of his clear statement, " I and my Father are
" one ; " — and of the effect of that statement
on the minds of his hearers, who " took up
" stones to stone himk,'' and to His mild ex
postulation replied, "For a good work we
" stone thee not, but for blasphemy ; and be-
" cause that Thou, being a man, makest thy-
h St. John v. 17, 18. ' St. John x. 30.
k St. John x.31.33.
D 4

40 SERMON II.
" self God ;" and when we learn that the
statement was neither retracted, nor so ex
plained as to lose its offensive character;
since, after all that He had said, " they sought
" again to take Him '"—when, in short, we
discover that such were among the promi
nent lessons of our Lord's ministry — then
are we fairly warranted in drawing, even
from His miracles, a decisive proof of His
proper Divinity"1. He has Himself expressly
declared that He is God. The declaration
is one of the most solemn of all those, which
He made in His office of " a Teacher come
" from God ;" and, as such, " doing miracles,
" which no man can do, except God be with
" himn;" and every declaration made under
circumstances like these, we are bound to be
lieve. The direct and immediate proof here
consists of our Saviour's own assertions ; but
miracles impart to His assertions their weight
and value in the scale of evidence. And thus
is it, that the miraculous works of the Son of
man may be alleged as indirect and mediate,
yet valid proofs even of His Divine nature.
If I have exposed myself to the charge of
dwelling too long on considerations that can
not but be familiar to the minds of many
and that are only introductory to my main
' St. John x. 39. ¦" Note T n gt John ... ^

SERMON II. 41
design, I must own that I have deliberately
done so. The suggestions, which I am about
to offer, relate to such secondary use and
application of the Gospel Miracles as can be
properly and safely made only by those, who
thoroughly understand and constantly keep
in mind the grand and primary intent and
purpose of those Miracles.
By insisting therefore strongly on the latter
point, I have endeavoured to guard, from
the first, against any confusion of thought,
on the Christian evidences, which might other
wise arise ; and to discountenance an opinion,
which has not been — which is not without its
favourers, that the cause of our Holy Reli
gion may be supported by what is called in
ternal evidence, and may be left to stand
without any acknowledged dependence on
the basis of reasoning — of such sound reason
ing as addresses the understanding and satis
fies every demand of that master faculty.
The everlasting welfare of man is involved
in his religious hopes and persuasions ; nor
were it fitting that interests so momentous,
should be intrusted to the fluctuations of feel
ing, the uncertainty of a lively imagination
or the caprice of fancy. For the religious
wants of our nature, a far better provision
has been made ; and the means of a firm con-

42 SERMON II.
viction, resting on the immovable ground of
solid argument, have been abundantly sup
plied. Numerous indeed are the instances,
to be found within the Christian Church, of
an unquestioning faith and a simple-hearted
reliance, which supersede the anxiety and la
bours of investigation. Such faith and such
reliance are theblessed result of early train
ing and the first reward of holiness of life.
Meanwhile, ample materials for a full inves
tigation are known to be at hand ; and un
der an abiding assurance of this truth, every
Christian is invited to apply to the Sacred
Scriptures, in general, and to the Holy Gos
pels, in particular, an exactness of inspection,
which daily practice will improve ; whilst a
discovery of many internal proofs of Reve
lation and of many illustrations of its lead
ing doctrines, which were at first hidden from
his eyes, will soon repay his diligence. It
becomes his privilege to occupy a citadel,
whose situation and whose outworks bid de
fiance to the assault of external foes ; and to
dwell in an abode of safety and of peace,
whose unfrequented pathways he may ex
plore, without fear of interruption — whose
fertility and beauty he may enjoy with a
never-failing freshness of delight. The far
ther his researches are carried, the more will

SERMON II. 43
new views of the excellence and harmony of
Divine truth open before him ; and in these
opening views he will find the welcome con
firmations of his faith — the means of remov
ing doubts, of elucidating obscurities, of dis
entangling perplexities, and of silencing the
voice of forward disputation.
It is to a research of this kind that I now
at length proceed ; and, in pursuance of the
plan I have proposed, look for such indica
tions of the Divine nature and Majesty as the
Miracles of our Lord and Saviour, recorded
in the Gospels, may afford. My design ad
mits not of being commenced, until the mira
culous facts themselves have been allowed —
have served their proper ends of evidence —
and have assisted in establishing that great
doctrine of our Lord's Divinity, which I also
assume as, on other grounds, settled and
proved, before I approach the subject.
Now it may be, in the first place, remarked
that such indications as we seek, are before
hand likely to be found. If there be indeed
that awful interval, which the voice of In
spiration declares, between the messengers
and ministers of the human race, whom God
has been pleased to employ, and " His Son,
" the brightness of His glory, the express
" image of His person, and upholding all

44 SERMON II.
" things by the word of His power °" — is it
not probable that some characteristic differ
ences of manner, of action and of language
between Him and them, should impress on
His miracles a note of the vast — the infinite
superiority ? In agreement with this ante
cedent probability, it has happened that mira
culous powers were altogether withheld from
St. John the Baptist, the immediate forerun
ner of our Lord — the Elias of the New Tes
tament — that illustrious messenger of God,
who was " more than a Prophet ; than whom,
" among them that are born of women, there
" had not risen a greater15." If, in his instance,
one proof that his successor was " mightier
" than he, whose shoes he was not worthy to
" bear q — the latchet of whose shoes he was
" not worthy to stoop down and unloose r" —
if, I say, one proof of St. John's inferiority
was seen in the absence of miracles from his
ministry ; we may be confirmed in our ex
pectation of finding in other instances, where
supernatural powers have been granted, some
marks of inferiority, in connection with their
exercise. Nor will it be denied that upon
the minds of most readers of the Gospel His
tory has been produced some vague and ge-
o Heb. i.3. PSt. Matt. xi. 9. 11.14. qSt.Matt.iii.il.
' St. Mark i. 7.

SERMON II. 45
neral impression of the superiority of our
Lord, in respect of power and dignity, over
other workers of miracles, whether before or
after Himself. There is however one remark
able passage, in which our great Teacher may
seem to warn us that such an impression is
wrong — that no such comparative view of
Himself and His Apostles can be rightly en
tertained. St. John relates that Jesus, in His
last affecting conversation with His disciples
before He " went forth over, the brook Ce-
" dron and entered the garden of Gethse-
" mane s," uttered that promise of extraordi
nary powers, which the Evangelists represent
Him to have given in plain terms on other
occasions : "Verily, verily, I say unto you: He
" that believeth on me, the works that I do,
" shall he do also, and greater works than
" these shall he do, because I go unto my
" Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in
" my name, that will I do, that the Father
" may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall
" ask any thing in my name, I will do it*."
In these verses may be discerned the same
promise, which is elsewhere conveyed almost
in the same terms. But here is found a fea
ture of comparison not elsewhere to be ob
served. " The works that I do, shall he do
s St. John xviii. 1. * St. John xiv. 12.

46 SERMON II.
" also ; and greater works than these shall
" he do." The expression " works," intro
duced into the latter clause of our transla
tion, has no corresponding word in the ori
ginal ; and it may be safely said that the na
tural interpretation, for one who reads the
Greek text without prepossession, is as follows :
" The very works that I do, shall he do also ;
" and results, yet greater than these works,
" shall he produce*." By this interpretation,
we are relieved from the difficult task, which
many commentators have deemed themselves
obliged to undertake, of seeking, in the mi
racles of the Apostles, such marks as might,
in some sort and in some sense, exalt them
above those of their Master ; by the same in
terpretation, we are left at perfect liberty
to pursue that train of reflection, upon which
we are now entering. In the marvellous
works, performed by the Apostles and their
companions, we perceive the fulfilment of
one clause of our blessed Saviour's promise ;
whilst in the end which those works pro
moted and to which they were subservient,
namely, the moral and spiritual improvement
of mankind— the regeneration of the world—
we behold that yet greater— that far more
important, result, of which He also spake.
" Note U.

SERMON II. 47
As the end is greater than the means ; as the
effect is more valuable than the instrument,
through which it has been produced ; so was
that conversion of Jews and Gentiles to His
religion, which He anticipated and foretold,
justly reckoned and fitly called by Jesus
Christ a result of the Divine interference
still greater — more valuable and "more im
portant than even His own display of mira
culous agency.
When from a general acknowledgment
and admiration of our Lord's superiority
over other workers of miracles, however dis
tinguished, we pass to a consideration of
the particular points in which that supe
riority was displayed, we can scarcely fail,
in the very outset of the inquiry, to be
struck with the number and the variety of
His astonishing deeds. These circumstances
alone have in them something very remark
able and are well deserving of our especial
notice. As we read the Gospel History, we
are apt to forget into how narrow a space of
time its occurrences were crowded. When,
by an effort of attention, we have recalled
to our recollection the real state of the case —
when we calmly reflect that the public life
and ministry of Jesus Christ were compre
hended within the limits of three years at

48 SERMON II.
the utmost, we are ready to own that the (
glory, which He manifested forth in His mi
racles shone so continuously as to throw a
lustre over every path He trod — over every
abode, where He condescended to take up
even His temporary home. — If such be the
impression, fairly and naturally received from
the history, which we read ; — from the details
of narratives, with which we are favoured; how
much more deeply must the same impression
be made upon our minds, when we consider
that we have before us, in the Evangelical
Records, only a selection out of the whole
number of our Saviour's deeds of power.
There are many brief and incidental notices,
which clearly intimate that the selection is,
in fact, a very limited one ; and that the
number of unrecorded miracles far surpasses
that of those, which have been minutely re
lated. Thus, St. John, in connection with the
beginning of the ministry of our Lord and
on the occasion of His attendance at Jeru
salem, for the First Passover of His public
life, says, " When He was in Jerusalem, at the
" Passover, in the feast-day, many believed in
" His name, when they saw the miracles which
" He did." Previously to this occasion, we
are acquainted with the particulars of one
x St. John ii. 23.

SERMON II. 49
miracle only, as having been performed by
Christ ; and that one is the miracle at the
marriage Feast of Cana, in Galilee, of which,
we cannot doubt that the rumour would be
brought to Jerusalem, by the people flocking
thither for the Passover ; but to which, we
are not at liberty to suppose that St. John
makes the most distant allusion in the words
that have been quoted. We are to remem
ber that St. John is himself the sole and the
exact narrator of that "beginning of miracles
" at Cana, in Galilee," of which he states the
result to have been that "the disciples of
" Jesus believed on Him1." He has passed on
to a time and place, totally distinct, when he
speaks of the Paschal Feast at Jerusalem ;
nor could he have chosen expressions better
calculated than those which he has employed,
to signify that the miracles, to which he here
refers, were taking place — were in a course
of performance — before the eyes of the mul
titude, assembled for the celebration of the
Feast; and that upon many individuals of
that multitude, who had not before had any
opportunity of seeing and hearing our Lord,
they were powerful enough to produce a be
lief in His name. Now of these miracles, as
it would seem neither few in number nor
y St. John ii. 1. 11.
E

50 SERMON II.
inconsiderable in weight and influence, no
hint is given, no trace is observable, in the
three earlier Evangelists. They again, on
their part, agree in indicating miracles, con
cerning which St. John is altogether silent.
A remarkable instance occurs in that passage
of the History, out of which the words of
the text are taken. St. Matthew and St. Mark
report, as distinctly as St. Luke, the cure at
Capernaum, of Simon's wife's mother, who had
been taken with a great fever; and the three
Evangelists follow up this narrative with
equivalent statements, although conveyed in
different terms, concerning the number and
variety of the gracious interpositions, with
which the people of Capernaum were in
dulged. Their grateful sentiments and suit
able behaviour, on this occasion, appear to
have entitled them to such indulgence ; since
St. Luke informs us that they " sought Jesus
" and came unto Him and stayed Him that
" he should not depart from them \" Of
the particular incidents, which thus won the
affections of these warm hearted and honest
inhabitants of Capernaum, we have no other
account than that, which is to be gathered
from the following notices. " When the even
" was come, they brought unto Him many,
z St. Luke iv. 42.

SERMON II. 51
" that were possessed with Devils : and He cast
" out the spirits, with His word, and healed
" all that were sick*." "At even, when the
" sun did set, they brought unto Him all that
" were diseased and them that were possessed
" with devils ; and all the city was gathered
" together at the door. And He healed many
" that were sick of divers diseases and cast
" out many Devils b." Such are the accordant
testimonies of St. Matthew and St. Mark, with
reference to the circumstances, of which
St. Luke observes : " c Now when the sun was
"setting" — probably when the rest of the
Sabbath was over and another day, according
to the Jewish mode of calculation, was be
ginning — "all they that had any sick with
" divers diseases brought them unto Him ;
" and He laid His hands on every one of
" them and healed themd." Can these inti
mations possibly convey less than an assur
ance of our blessed Lord's performance of
unrecorded miracles, many in number, and
various, in character ? — The very next stage
in His life of beneficence is as plainly marked
by the same distinguishing features. In
His first journey through the whole of Gali
lee, He is represented as " healing all man-
a St. Matt. viii. 16. b St. Mark i. 32.
c St. Luke iv. 40. d Note V.
E 2

52 SERMON II.
" ner of sickness and all manner of disease
" among the people. And His fame went
" throughout all Syria, and they brought
" unto Him all sick people that were taken
" with divers diseases and torments and those
" which were possessed with Devils and those
" which were lunatick and those that had the
" palsy, and He healed them e." At a later
period of His ministry, upon His temporary
retirement from the attacks of the Pharisees
and Herodians, He could secure the privacy
He sought only by ordering that a small ship
should wait on Him ; " because of the mul-
" titude, lest they should throng Him ; for
" He had healed many ; insomuch that they
" pressed upon Him for to touch Him, as
" many as had plagues f." Nor was He con
tent with one circuit of the whole country of
Galilee : on yet another occasion of a like cir
cuit to that already noticed, He again accom
panied " the preaching of the Gospel of the
" Kingdom, with the healing of every sickness,
" and every disease among the peoples." It
was in the same region that He afterwards
drew universal attention ; and " whithersoever
" He entered, into villages or cities or coun-
" try, they laid their sick in the streets and
« St. Matt. iv. 23, 24. f St. Mark iii. 9, 10.
s St. Matt. ix. 35.

SERMON II. 53
" besought Him that they might touch, if it
" were but the border of His garment : and
" as many as touched Him were made whole11."
And, once more, St. Matthew relates that,
when He had " gone up into the mountain of
" Galilee, and had sat down there, great mul-
" titudes came unto Him, having with them
" those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed
" and many others, and cast them down at
" Jesus' feet; and He healed them1." There are
two passages that ought to be added to those,
which have been already quoted. Both come
from the Gospel according to St. John. Among
the details of the occurrences of the Feast of
Tabernacles, at which our Lord was present
in the last year of His ministry, it is men
tioned that " many of the people believed on
" Him and said : When Christ cometh, will
" He do more miracles than these which this
" man hath done15?" This allusion to mira
cles wrought and to the effects produced by
them, although they have been passed over in
silence or noticed but slightly and generally
by the Sacred Historians, is so much the more
interesting, as it plainly shews, in the minds
of the Jews, an antecedent expectation of
miracles from their Messiah, whenever He
should appear, surpassing in number those of
h St. Mark vi. 56. ' St. Matt. xv. 29, 30.
k St. John vii. 31.
E 3

54 SERMON II.
any former Prophet; while the sequel as
plainly shews, in the breasts of the Pharisees,
a persuasion, which they were at once reluc
tant to own and unable to disguise, that, in
the instance of Jesus of Nazareth, such ante
cedent expectation — an expectation, which they
had themselves cherished and which they had
doubtless taken pains to encourage in others,
as furnishing a criterion of any claim to the
rank and title ofthe Christ — was completely
fulfilled. Alarmed lest a claim, thus support
ed on their own favourite principles, should
be universally allowed, "they sent officers to
" take our Lord1" — upon whose return to
them, they had the mortification of hearing
the memorable answer, " Never man spake
" like this man ;" — and of learning that His
words of grace and wisdom were in harmo
nious co-operation with His mighty deeds,
towards the increase of His influence and the
discomfiture of their attempts. — The testi
mony of St. John, at the close of his Gospel,
is too striking to be omitted. It is with espe
cial reference to the actions of our Lord after
His resurrection that this Evangelist remarks:
" Many other signs truly did Jesus in the
" presence of His disciples, which are not
" written in this book"1 ;"— but it would seem as
i St. John vii. 32, 46. m gti j^ xx q0> 31

SERMON II. 55
if a review of the whole career of His Master
had induced him, shortly after to add : "There
" are also many other things, which Jesus
" did, the which if they should be written
" every one, I suppose that even the world
" itself could not contain the Books that
" should be written"." The principle of se
lection, which guided St. John, had guided
his brother-Evangelists also : " These are
" written, that ye might believe that Jesus is
" the Christ, the Son of God ; and that, be-
" lieving, ye might have life through His
" name." For all purposes of reasonable in
vestigation — for every end of entire convic
tion — a sufficient number of miracles have
been related in detail. The rest are briefly
and summarily reported ; yet not even so will
they fail of their suitable effect, if, by reason
of their number and variety, they lead us to
discover fresh and confirming indications that,
in the Person of our Saviour Christ resided
and was exerted, a Power properly Divine —
that to " Him, God gave not the Spirit by
" measure"." The mighty works, which dis
played themselves in Him, were not occa
sional and extraordinary efforts, called forth
by peculiar and pressing emergencies; they
were by no means studiously accommodated, in
» St. John xxi. 25. ° St. John iii. 34.
E 4

56 SERMON II.
their circumstances of time and place, to the
sole end of manifesting openly His preten
sions and of shewing publicly the firm foun
dation, on which those pretensions rested.
Illustrating and exemplifying the Divine at
tribute of mercy p, they found their way into
every department of human want and woe —
into the solitude of the desert, and the retire
ment of domestic life, as well as into the busy
scenes of the occupations, the pleasures and
the cares of man. They occurred with a fre
quency which imparts to them an air of na
turalness ; they were marked by what we may
be permitted to call a, facility of performance,
which implies that He, who performed them,
was exerting not a delegated and interrupted
but a native, inherent and ever-present ability.
The suffering Son of man abstained indeed
from such use of His power as would have
relieved His own wants, soothed His own sor
rows, prevented or removed His own trials.
The abstinence was voluntary ; and had re
spect to the ends of His humiliation; as ap
peared in that moment of extreme necessity,
when, with a calm dignity, He checked the too
forward zeal of His defender : "Thinkest thou
" that I cannot now pray to my Father and
" He shall presently give me more than twelve
P Note W.

SERMON II. 57
" legions of angels ? But how then shall the
" Scripture be fulfilled that thus it must be*?"
But the benevolent Son of God seldom check
ed the free, the liberal effluence of His united
Power and goodness, when others were con
cerned. If He any where " could not do many
" miracles^" it was on account of some pecu
liar unworthiness and fault of those, by whom
He was surrounded. When He occasionally
went beyond the bounds of those districts, to
which He chiefly confined His ministry, even
on the borders of Tyre and Sidon, it was in
vain that He " entered into a house and would
" have no man know its." His fame had gone
before Him ; and He " could not be hid." In
short, from a careful review of the course,
which our blessed Lord pursued upon earth ;
and from a thoughtful comparison of His mi
racles, in respect of variety, frequency and fa
cility with the miracles elsewhere related in
Holy Scripture to have been achieved for spe
cial purposes by God's chosen servants, who
were furnished with extraordinary powers ;
from such review and comparison, we can
scarcely receive any other impression than one
of awe and reverence ; feeling that, in the
former case, we have been beholding " Him
q St. Matt. xxvi. 53, 54. r St. Mark vi. 5.
s St. Mark vii. 24.

58 SERMON II.
" that" in a high and eminent sense " cometh
" from above and therefore is above all ;" —
whilst, in the latter case, we have seen them,
who, however richly they may have been
gifted and endowed, were still " of the earth" —
and therefore in their actions, betokening, in
their language, " speaking of, the earth*."
( St. John iii. 31.

SERMON III.

St. John xiv. 10.
Selievest thou not that I am in the Father and the
Father in me f The words that I speak unto
you, I speak not of myself: hut ihe Father that
dwelleth in me, He doeth ihe works.

OF the numerous appeals, which our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ, is reported to
have made to His own miracles, in support
of the claims that He advanced, one of the
most remarkable is contained in the words of
the text. They were spoken in the presence
of the Eleven Apostles alone, after Judas had
already left the " large upper room*," in which
he had partaken with his brethren and their
common Master, of the last Paschal supper,
and in which the rest appear for some time
to have lingered, hanging on the lips of that
Teacher, to whom they were in the habit of
paying a reverential attention. As they lis
tened, after the traitor had gone out from
their company, Jesus awakened their sur-
d St. Mark xiv. 15.

60 SERMON III.
prise, by intimating that " now is the Son
" of man glorified, and God is glorified in
" Himb ;" but immediately baffled their cu
riosity and checked each rising hope of that
kingdom, on which they loved to dwell, by
adding, with an engaging tenderness: " Little
" children, yet a little while I am with you.
" Ye shall seek me ; and as I said unto the
" Jews : Whither I go ye cannot come ; so
" now I say to youc." Strange to the appre
hensions and unwelcome to the ears of His
faithful followers must have been this com
munication, respecting His own speedy re
moval out of their reach ! And hard was it
for them to reconcile the hint given of His
approaching glory with a declaration, too
plain to be misunderstood, of His departure
to a place, whither they themselves should
not be able to follow Him ! The language
formerly addressed to the Jews, of which our
Lord reminded them, and which He in fact
repeated, had not probably caused any unea
siness in their breasts or involved them in
any perplexity ; for such language was per
fectly consistent with their opinion and their
expectation that, whithersoever their Master
might betake Himself, they should still be in
attendance on His Person, to fulfil His pur-
b St. John xiii. 31. c gti j0^n x^ 33

SERMON III. 61
poses and share His triumphs. But now, they
were called to abandon this fondly cherished
hope ; and the difficulty of complying with
the call is graphically set before us, in St.
John's account of the conversation that fol
lowed. Simon Peter, with characteristic bold
ness and eagerness, sought a satisfactory ex
planation by asking : " Lord, whither goest
" thoud ?" As the first attempt did not at
once succeed, Thomas next seized the occa
sion, which our Saviour's condescending
manner and soothing discourse quickly af
forded, of interposing his less direct ques
tion : " Lord, we know not whither thou
" goest, and how can we know the way6 ?"
And finally, Philip, in the hope of causing
some farther light to be thrown over a sub
ject, which was still felt to be involved in
obscurity, ventured to request : " Lord, shew
" us the Father and it sufficeth usf." It was
in reply to Philip that the words of the text
were spoken ; and they demanded both of
Philip and of his companions, a cordial assent
to the doctrine of the intimate union of the
Son with the Father, on the ground that it
was a doctrine, which our Lord had Himself
clearly stated to His Apostles; and that to
all His statements a Divine sanction was im-
d St. John xiii. 36. e St. John xiv. 5. f St. John xiv. 8.

62 SERMON III.
parted by the works He had performed —
which works, He moreover, on this occasion,
in plain and unambiguous terms, described
as being the works of the Father — of God in
the Person of His Son. " sThe Father that
" dwelleth in me, He doeth the works1"."
With this assertion is naturally and closely
connected the train of reflection, which was
begun, in the last, and is to be carried on, in
the present, Lecture. Some indications of a
Power, truly and properly Divine, were then
observed in those circumstances of number
and variety, which belong to the miracles of
Jesus Christ. I now proceed to notice such
farther indications of the same sort as other
like circumstances may furnish.
Next in order to number and variety, among
the particulars distinguishing our Lord's mi
racles, may be reckoned the tone of indepen
dent authority with which He spake and they
were done. Of this circumstance, almost al
ways accompanying His works, and of its na
tural effect upon the minds of the beholders
and hearers, a more suitable instance or a
stronger illustration cannot be found, than
in the case of the " man with an unclean spi-
" rit in the Synagogue of Capernaum'," of
g St. John xiv. 10. h N0te X.
< St. Mark i. 23. and St. Luke iv. 33.

SERMON III. 63
whose deliverance both St. Mark and St. Luke
have preserved a memorial. The words of
rebuke : " Hold thy peace and come out of
" him :" were no sooner uttered than they
were followed by the intended result ; and
the witnesses " were all amazed, insomuch
" that they questioned among themselves,
" saying : What thing is this ? what new
" doctrine is this ? for with authority com-
" mandeth He even the unclean spirits and
" they do obey Him ;" or, as St. Luke re
ports, "they spake among themselves, saying;
" What a word is this ! for with authority
" and power He commandeth the unclean
" spirits and they come out." The more fa
miliar any one becomes with the History of
the Old Testament, and with the earliest
Annals of the Christian Church, whether
those Annals are supplied by the Inspired
Scriptures or by the Writings that are near
est to them in time and in authority ; the
more will he be alive to the existence and
sensible of the force and import, of this cha
racter of the miraculous agency of our Lord.
The most illustrious of the Prophets are seen
to have ascribed their extraordinary and su
pernatural deeds on all occasions to aid
vouchsafed from above, to strength imparted
from on high, to power borrowed and derived

64 SERMON III.
from the Almighty source alike of wisdom
and of power. Moses, the greatest of them
all, appears before us every where, through
out his astonishing History, as the subordi
nate and commissioned agent of the Lord
Jehovah. His earnest and pathetic inter
cessions in behalf of the stiff-necked and re
bellious people, whom he was appointed to
guide and govern ; — his severe expostula
tions, when they murmured against himself
and Aaron : " What are we, that ye murmur
" against us ? "' " What are we ? Your mur-
" murings are not against us but against the
" Lord :" his threatening of awful and im
mediate vengeance, to be executed upon Ko
rah and his company, which was destined to
shew that " the Lord had sent him to do all
" these works — for he had not done them of
" his own mind™ :" — all these instances ex
hibit him in the light of an exalted and
highly favoured minister of the Supreme
God — yet not more than a minister, openly
professing his dependence on that Being,
whose servant he was, and ever both speak
ing and acting according to directions, which
he states himself to have received ; and
for the production of results, which, in the
name of the Lord, he had foretold. Si-
1 Exodus xvi. 7, 8. m Numbers xvi. 28.

SERMON III. 65
milar remarks may be applied to the cases
of those distinguished Prophets under the
earlier Dispensation, who came after Moses,
and were, like him, endued with miraculous
powers. They implore assistance suited to
the immediate occasion of their interference ;
they announce what they are about to do;
they speak of that, which they have done,
not as their own achievement, but as the sure
token of the Divine presence with them and
of the Divine sanction of their messages.
If, in some few instances, there seems, at first
sight, to be no express reference to agency
beyond that of the Prophet himself, a close
inspection of the Sacred narrative will shew
that even these instances are strictly in keep
ing with the general tenour of the History,
in the midst of which they stand ; and that
the attendant circumstances of the scene are
always such as to imply — often such as clearly
to indicate the acknowledged subordination
and dependence of instruments, that are but
human, although employed on special occa
sions in super-human efforts ". In the very
opening of the History of the Christian
Church, after our Lord's resurrection ; in the
first beginning of the exercise of that power,
which was granted to the Apostles after the
n Note Y.

66 SERMON III.
gift of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pente
cost, we are indeed informed that " many
" wonders and signs were done by the Apo-
" sties0;" but the earliest details, with which
we are furnished, on this subject, are given,
as if with an express design of setting before
us, in a clear light, the secondary and deriva
tive nature of their extraordinary powers. I
allude to the instance of the lame man, whom
" Peter and John saw at the Beautiful gate
" ofthe Temple p." It was "in the name of
" Jesus Christ of Nazareth" that Peter bade
him " rise up and walk." For himself and
his companion he presently, before the people,
" running together and greatly wondering,"
disclaimed the credit of the miracle : " Why
" look ye so earnestly on us, as though, by
" our own power or holiness, we had made
" this man to walk ? The God of Abraham,
" and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our
" Fathers, hath glorified His Son, Jesus ; —
" whose name, through faith in His name, hath
" made this man strong." And, on the fol
lowing day, when summoned from the im
prisonment, in which they had been held
during the night, to reply publicly to the
question : " By what power or by what name,
" have ye done this ?" Peter declared : " Ye
0 Acts ii. 43. p Acts iii. 2.

SERMON III. 67
" rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if
" we this day be examined of the good deed
" done to the impotent man, by what means
" he is made whole ; be it known unto you
" all, and to all the people of Israel that by
*' tbe name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
" whom ye crucified, whom God raised from
" the dead, even by Him doth this man stand
" here before you whole 1." On being dis
missed with threatenings, they " went to their
" own company and reported what the Chief
" Priests and elders had said unto them."
Then all " lifted up their voice to God with
" one accord r," in the words of that prayer,
which St. Luke has carefully preserved and
of which the conclusion is as follows : " And
" now, Lord behold their threatenings ; and
" grant unto Thy servants that, with all bold-
" ness, they may speak Thy word, by stretch-
" ing forth Thy hand to heal ; and that signs
" and wonders may be done by the name of
" Thy holy Child, Jesus." In the sequel of
the Apostolical History we read the recorded
answer to this prayer; marked, however, in
almost all its leading portions, by invocations
as loud, by acknowledgments of dependence
as clear and open, by references to aid from
Heaven as decided, as those on which our
q Acts iv. 7, 8, 9. ' Acts iv. 24.
F 2

68 SERMON III.
attention has now been fixed s. A slight ac
quaintance with the remains of Christian an
tiquity and with the notices, therein con
veyed, of miraculous agency, continued in the
Church beyond the life time of the Apostles
themselves, may suffice to assure every in
quirer that Martyrs and Confessors always
owned, in the lowly temper and in the very
language of their spiritual Fathers and their
Predecessors, that they were but humble in
struments for the display of such signs and
wonders as God was pleased to shew forth in
them. I insist not (for it is not to my pre
sent purpose to do so) on the testimony often
borne by the inspired Apostles and their im
mediate successors to the superiority of our
Lord over themselves, by the manner, in
which they connect all the power they either
had or expected to have, with His high and
Holy name 4 ; — that name, " which is above
" every name u :" 1 am not now at liberty to
remark more than that between Him and
them, as workers of similar and equal mira
cles, a distinction is observable, in respect of
independent authority on His side; and of
continual and avowed reliance upon God, on
their's. Review the pages of the Gospel His
tory ; and you will perceive our Lord acting
s Note Z. t Note AA. u phj], ;;_ 9

SERMON III. 69
in His own person and in His own name. He
holds nature and Hell under His control
and regulates both according to His good
pleasure. The elements are obedient to His
voice ; diseases and infirmities give way and
disappear at His bidding ; evil spirits, awed
at His presence, are expelled by His com
mand. " I will — be thou clean x" — " Arise,
" and take up thy bed and go thy way into
" thine house y" — " Come out of the man,
" thou unclean spirit z" — " Damsel, I say unto
" thee : Arise a :" such are some examples of
the forms of address that accompanied the
performance of our Saviour's miracles.
Rarely and for reasons of admonition or in
struction, which are either at first sight ob
vious or may easily be conjectured, He was
pleased to use the intervention of such means
as would have proved altogether inefficacious,
if He had not chosen and adapted them to
serve His purposes b. Since the choice and
adaptation of means are evidently and en
tirely His own, the comparatively slow and
gradual process of cure, in these few instances,
interferes not with our view of the independ
ence of His power on any source or origin
beyond Himself. On the contrary, it rather
x St. Matt. viii. 3. v St. Mark ii. 11.
z St. Mark v. 8. a St. Mark v. 41. b Note BB.
F 3

70 SERMON III.
indicates, in perfect harmony with such view,
that, as to the methods of exerting and dis
playing His power, He was likewise free from
all restrictions. Sometimes, in action or in
word ; sometimes, in both, He made an ex
press and open reference to Heaven and to
His Father ; but of such reference, in con
nection with any of His miracles, the same
account may be given, which He Himself
gave of the voice from Heaven, granted in
answer to the prayer offered in the prospect
of His approaching end : " This voice came
" not because of me, but for your sakes c."
In like manner, of our blessed Lord's ad
dresses to Heaven, when they most resemble
petitions for support and aid, may it be, with
truth, remarked, as indeed on one occasion
by a Saint and Bishop of the early Church
it has been beautifully remarked, that " our
" Lord prays not with a view to propitiate
" the Father or to gain the Divine help for
" Himself; but for the purpose of procuring
" these blessings for us. For although the
" Father hath put all things in the power of
" the Son, yet does the Son, in order that He
" may complete all that belongs to Him in
" His form of man and because He is our ad-
c St. John xii. 30.

SERMON III. 71
" vocate, think proper to entreat the Father
" in our behalf d."
A particular instance will however best il
lustrate this subject ; and I shall select that
one, which, of all the instances that occur, is
for various reasons most deserving of our no
tice. You will anticipate my mention of the
raising of Lazarus. In that moment, when
" they had taken away the stone, from the
" place e," where the dead was laid ; and when
the anxious breast of " Martha, the sister of
" him that was dead" — was disturbed by con
flicting emotions — by a reluctance to expose
the mouldering remains of the object of her
love and a faint hope that her lost brother
might still be restored to her arms — in that
moment of suspense — of deep and overwhelm
ing interest, " Jesus lifted up His eyes and
" said : Father, I thank thee that Thou hast
" heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest
" me always; but because of the people, which
" stand by, I said it, that they may believe
" that Thou hast sent me. And when He
" had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice :
" Lazarus, come forth." Is it the customary
strain of invocation, which we hear on this
occasion f ? Is the act of worship performed,
d Note CC. e St. John xi. 41. f Note DD.
F 4

72 SERMON III.
is the accompanying language spoken, after
the usual form and manner of addresses to
Heaven on the part of God's most highly
favoured servants — of Abraham, His friend,
or of David, the man after His own heart?
Are we not rather led here to contemplate
a claim, urged and allowed, as of right and
title, to the Father's ever-present aid and in
fluence ? Do we not find a strong and em
phatic statement, explanatory of the slightest
appearance of inconsistency with such claim?
And are we not, by the authoritative terms
of the command, which follows, irresistibly
carried back to the doctrine previously deli
vered by our Lord of an unity of action, that
cannot imply less than an unity of nature,
subsisting between the Father and the Son ?
" Verily, verily, I say unto you : The Son can
" do nothing of Himself but what He seeth
" the Father do ; for what things soever He
" doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
" As the Father raiseth up the dead and
" quickeneth them ; even so the Son quicken-
" eth whom He will." " Verily, verily, I say
" unto you : The hour is coming and now is,
" when the dead shall hear the voice of the
" Son of God and they that hear shall live ;
" for as the Father hath life in Himself, so

SERMON III. 73
" hath He given to the Son to have life in
" Himself §." It was to the awakening voice
of the Son that Lazarus, already slumbering
in the grave, was called to listen ; it was the
same powerful voice, which His spirit, al
ready gone into the unseen regions, instantly
obeyed. Nor can there be discovered in this
example, when it has been thoroughly consi
dered and is rightly understood, any real in
consistency with what may be elsewhere ob
served, of the independent authority, which
raised our Saviour above all other workers
of miracles ; and which, as often as it is ob
served, may prove for every thoughtful mind
an indication of God made manifest in Him.
The Gospel miracles supply a still farther
indication of the same sort, by the disclosure,
which they make, of our Lord's knowledge,
in connection with His power. We seldom
have an account of His interposition in fa
vour of the suffering and the sorrowful, given
at any considerable length, which does not
inform us of His discernment ofthe thoughts
and feelings of the objects of His care and
bounty. We are often led to notice that He
was aware of the moral condition — that He
adverted to the spiritual qualifications and
necessities of those who approached Him as
s St. John v. 19, &c.

74 SERMON III.
suppliants. It is perfectly true that an abi
lity to penetrate into the secret motives and
hidden intentions of their fellow-creatures
may be, as it has sometimes been, imparted
by that God, who searcheth the hearts and
trieth the reins of the children of men, to
His inspired servants ; but, in all instances,
with which we are acquainted, of human be
ings thus favoured, the gift has been occa
sional, in point of time, and limited in de
gree. Our Lord, on the other hand, never
appears to have been left destitute of such
power, from the commencement of His min
istry. Without consulting how He may dis
play a faculty so wonderful, He continually
avails Himself of it, not in working His mi
racles only, but in His general intercourse
with men. My present remarks are however
to be confined to His miracles alone ; and of
them it may be stated that they both directly
and indirectly shew knowledge, like that which
brought home conviction to the understand
ing and the heart of the woman of Samaria,
when, after His gracious conversation with
her, " she left her waterpot and went her way
" into the city and saith to the men : Come,
" see a man, which told me all things that
" ever I did. Is not this the Christ11?" — It
h St. John iv. 28, 29.

SERMON III. 75
will be remembered that the faith of the ap
plicants for His help is put prominently for
ward as the never failing plea in their fa
vour; but this faith, often indicated by no
outward signs of speech or action, was dis
cernible to His penetrating eye alone. The
absence again of faith — an absence of which
none but Himself was conscious, stayed His
bounteous hand and at least for a while sus
pended His beneficent exertions. How af
fecting is the instance, which the three earlier
Evangelists relate but which of the three
St. Mark most fully describes, of that woman,
who, during twelve years of sad disease, had
" suffered many things of many Physicians
" and had spent all that she had and was no-
" thing bettered but rather grew worse ' ! "
She had heard of Jesus ; she beheld the
crowd, pressing around Him, as He was pro
ceeding towards the house of Jairus, at the
request of that afflicted father, whose " little
" daughter was then lying at the point of
" death ;" she felt that the moment was fa
vourable for her trial of an experiment, which
might possibly prove successful, and on which,
at all events, she could venture, without dan
ger of stopping the progress of our Lord or
' St. Matt. ix. 20. St. Mark v. 26. St. Luke viii. 43.

76 SERMON III.
interfering in any degree with His execution
of that purpose of kindness, on which He was
intent. Accordingly " she came in the press behind
" and touched the hem of His garment ; for
" she said within herself" — it was her secret
reflection, to which she gave no utterance —
" if I may touch but His clothes, I shall be
" whole." The instant effect of her act was
the recovery of health. Who can fully enter
into her emotion, when " she felt in her body
" that she was healed of the plague," that
had tormented her so long? Neither her
person nor her behaviour — neither the in
ternal resolution she had formed nor the
steps she had taken to carry that resolution
into action — nothing in her circumstances
or character had escaped the notice of our
Lord, who, having first secured the atten
tion of his disciples by a question asked and
a reply drawn from them, " looked round
" about to see her that had done this thing."
It was doubtless when His eye at once fixed
upon her that " she saw that she was not hid."
In her alarm, she perceived and felt the ma
jesty of that piercing eye ; but overlooked the
mildness of compassion and of mercy, with
which it was directed towards her. " Fearing
" and trembling, she came and fell down be-

SERMON III. 77
" fore Him ; and in the presence of all the
" people, told Him all the truth." Little was
she prepared for the soothing and encou
raging language, which immediately reached
her ears and gladdened her heart : " Daugh-
" ter, be of good comfort ; thy faith hath
"made thee whole: go in peace." To her
unspeakable joy she found that she was con
firmed in a sure possession of the blessing,
which she had received ; and she must have
taken her departure, well persuaded that her
Benefactor had been no stranger to her in
most thoughts — to the hopes, which she had
scarcely allowed herself to cherish !
In the case ofthe " Greek woman, a Syrophe-
" nician by nation," who " besought our Lord
" that He would cast forth a Devil out of her
" young daughter k," is afforded a touching,
although somewhat different, proof of His
exact and perfect knowledge of the moral
condition and circumstances of such as ap
proached Him. Here the narrative is so con
structed both by St. Matthew and by St. Mark,
but more especially by the former Evange
list, as to carry with it a somewhat unusual
air of reluctance on the part of Jesus to lis
ten to the petition urged. When however
we reach its close, and learn that our Lord, at
k St. Matt. xv. 21 ; St. Mark vii. 24.

78 SERMON III.
last " answered and said unto her : O woman,
" great is thy faith : be it unto thee even as
" thou wilt" — we look back upon the pre
ceding incidents and gain a new insight into
their meaning. They now seem to have been
designed rather to display than to explore
that faith, which our Saviour Himself from
the first saw, and which he had resolved both
to commend and to reward. He perceived
that this believing Gentile had a firmness of
mind and a strength of confidence, which
could bear the tentative treatment He was
pleased to apply to her case ; and of that
treatment the end was, not to repel her, but
to shew openly to His disciples, still narrow-
minded and fettered by Jewish prejudices,
the real nature of those qualities, which, whe
ther in Jew or in Gentile, would win His
favour and engage His compassion.
There is one remarkable feature of the mi
racle of healing, wrought at Capernaum upon
the man, sick of the palsy, who was " let down,
" through the tiling, with his couch into the
"midst before Jesus1," which is entitled to
our especial regard on the present occasion.
The faith, not of the sick man only, but of
those also who had brought him, and who had
shewn their confidence in our Lord's power
1 St. Matt. ix. 2; St. Mark ii. 3 ; St. Luke v. 18.

SERMON III. 79
and goodness by the expedient to which they
had had recourse, pleaded successfully their
cause, and drew forth an answer to their ap
plication, which they could not but under
stand — which the sick man himself soon ex
perienced, to be favourable, although it was
couched in unexpected terms : " Son, be of
" good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee !"
The phrase gave quick offence to the Scribes
and Pharisees, " sitting" in the house, who
began to " reason in their hearts : Why doth
" this man thus speak blasphemies ? Who can
" forgive sins but God only ?" To these rea
sonings, before they had been uttered in
words, our Lord replied : " Why reason ye
" these things in your hearts ? Whether is it
" easier to say to the sick of the palsy : Thy
" sins be forgiven thee ; or to say, Arise and
" take up thy bed and walk ?" In order to
give them a sensible proof that, in His use of
them, these two forms of expression were equi
valent, He condescended to substitute the
latter for the former ; and thus made the re
sult, which afterwards took place, agree with
the letter of the words He spake. " He saith
" to the sick of the palsy : I say unto thee :
" Arise and take up thy bed and go thy way
" into thine house." When the sick man im
mediately obeyed, " rose up before them, took

80 SERMON III.
" up that whereon he lay and departed to his
" own house, glorifying God," a more than
common astonishment was felt and expressed
— an astonishment, which was doubtless in part
owing to the demonstration afforded of the
power of the Son of man upon earth to forgive
sins. Again, must the Scribes and Pharisees
have questioned — again must the multitudes
have asked with anxious curiosity : " Who is
" this, that undertakes to forgive sins ? Who
" is this extraordinary, this mysterious Per-
" sonage, that claims authority alike in the
" moral and in the natural world, and by His
" manifest and undeniable control over the
" latter, asserts and establishes His right of
" exercising similar control over the former?"
It must have been in attempting to answer'
these questions as well as in observing the
miracle wrought that " they were all amazed
" and glorified God and were filled with fear,
" saying, We have seen strange things to day."
They had beheld, under the form and in the
likeness of a fellow-creature, a Being, who
could discern the secret sorrow of a troubled
conscience, and who was careful to allay and
soothe that sorrow by words of forgiveness
and of peace, before He proceeded to restore
activity to the palsied limb and strength to
the enfeebled body. With their thankful ac-

SERMON III. 81
knowledgments to "God, which had given
" such power unto men," must have mingled
some latent apprehension that the great Pro
phet, at whose words and deeds they mar
velled, would eventually prove Himself to be
more than man".
And thus, upon an attentive survey of the
miracles of Jesus Christ, we have observed,
as belonging to them, several characteristic
circumstances, which plainly distinguish them
from the wonderful works of the most emi
nent of Prophets and Apostles ; of Saints and
Martyrs. In their number and variety ; in
the independent authority, with which they were
done; in the knowledge, by which they were
accompanied; we have found what we may
venture to call some indications of the Divine
nature of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. A serious and devout study of the
Gospel narratives will furnish many farther
illustrations of each of these topics ; and the
brief remarks on the present occasion made,
indicating the method of investigation to be
pursued, may serve to fix thought steadily on
the valuable results, to which inquiries of
this kind may lead. What then, it will be
asked, are those results? What is the ob
ject to be gained — what is the advantage
" Note EE.
G

82 SERMON III.
to be derived — from the review, in which
we have been engaged ? Is it expected that
the miracles of our Lord, marked by the
characteristics which have been assigned to
them, are to have, in comparison with the
miracles of other messengers and ministers
of God — a force of evidence, peculiar and
distinct in kind or nature ? Certainly not.
It has been already declared that Miracles
by whatever agents wrought, whether by the
Son of God or by the creatures of God of
lower rank, whether by angelic beings or by
men, are, in respect of evidence, essentially
the same ; and accomplish one and the same
end of affording proof of the Divine aid or
at least of the Divine permission — which per
mission, under the circumstances of appeal
to them, as tokens of the Divine presence, is
equivalent to a Divine Testimony — a Divine
sanction and support of those who work
them. And, accordingly, the miracles of our
blessed Saviour have been clearly seen to
effect their purpose of evidence in His favour,
previously to and independently of all dis
closure of the doctrine of His proper Di
vinity. Is it then intended to vindicate for the
miracles of Jesus Christ a superiority over
other miracles in degree or manner of influ-

SERMON III. 83
ence on the human mind ? As far indeed as
the conviction of the understanding is con
cerned, the question of greater or less does
not admit of being applied to the subject of
miraculous agency. Almighty power is to
be regarded as the true — the only primary
source, of all real miracles; and we are to
remember that where Almighty Power, whe
ther it be original or delegated, is in opera
tion, all obstacles disappear and degrees of
difficulty are unknown. But it is conceived
that the miracles of Christ, when contem
plated as the interpositions of God in the
Person of His Son, may gain and keep a
firmer hold on the heart — on the affections
and the will — than any miracles of inferior —
of created Beings have gained and kept, or
are capable of gaining and keeping. And it
is with a view to such use and application of
them that they have now been considered.
Perceiving in their incidents and often in the
minute features of detail, which the Evan
gelists have simply but beautifully drawn,
many distinct notices of a Divine Majesty
and glory, we pause and seek relief for the
sudden emotion of our souls, by exclaiming
with the holy Patriarch : " Surely the Lord
" is in this place and I knew it not"." But
n Genesis xxviii. 16.
G 2

84 SERMON III.
we have no sooner discovered and ascertained
the fact, which was at first calculated to
startle and alarm us, than we are enabled to
derive from it support and consolation. We
behold Divine perfections accommodated to
our weakness, by their union with the mild
est and the most winning of human virtues.
We see before our eyes, in condescending in
tercourse with men of like passions with our
selves, the co-eternal and co-equal Son of
that exalted Being, whom we are taught to
regard and commanded to imitate as " kind
" unto the unthankful and to the evil0" —
" merciful" — " making His Sun to rise on
" the evil and on the good ; and sending rain
" on the just and on the unjustP." The idea
of the goodness of God thus becomes inse
parably associated with the notion of His
power ; nor need we any longer, whilst we
witness the Divine bounty, dispensed by our
Redeemer's gracious hands, " shudder at a
" power, which can confer benefits of such
" mighty importances." Through the scenes
of the Gospel History, we form a lively image
of God present in the world, which by His
Word He created and which by the same
Word He governs ; those scenes we learn to
represent to our minds, as if we had ourselves
0 St. Luke vi. 35, 36. P St. Matt. v. 45. q Note FF.

SERMON III. 85
been spectators of them ; and by our Lord's
own authority, we are encouraged to believe
that we have in them a deep and lasting in
terest. He is not indeed, as man, accessible
to men ; for His extraordinary interference
in our behalf we are not, in any case, war
ranted in looking ; but we discover that
among the ends to be answered by the record
of His miracles, one was to teach us that we
may depend on His ever-present, although
secret and unseen aid — that we may be per
suaded of His sympathy with our sufferings,
both mental and bodily — that we may per
ceive how He enters into the particulars of
our condition, makes gracious allowance for
the difficulties that beset us in our way to
Heaven, pities our errors and pardons our
sins. The abodes, which He blessed with
His presence, were like our own homes ; —
darkened by sorrow and defiled with sin ;
and He chose to enter them, for the benevo
lent purpose of banishing sorrow and coun
teracting sin, the baneful cause and the pro
lific parent of sorrow. It is in short our ex
alted privilege, by gaining an intimate ac
quaintance with the particulars even of the
miracles of the Gospel History, to realise the
presence of God with ourselves and to en-
c6urage a firm expectation of help and
g3

86 SERMON III.
strength from His sustaining influence.
While we are permitted to see the Son in
His deeds of united power and mercy, we
shall thankfully own that we have seen the
Father alsor; and the bright but softened
beams of that glorious vision will for us dis
pel the clouds, which must otherwise have
hidden from our view the Supreme Source of
truth and purity.
1 St. John xiv. 9.

SERMON IV.

St. Mark iv. 33 and 34 (in part.)
And with many such Parables spake He the word
unto them, as they were able to hear it. But
without a Parable spake He not unto them.

F ROM a consideration of the miracles of
our Lord, I pass to a survey of the moral
and religious lessons, which He taught. Here
also may be opened to every mind, duly pre
pared by a sincere love of truth and good
ness for such an inquiry, many important
and highly interesting views of the wisdom,
the purity and the mercy of our Divine In
structor. I must not however enter upon
this division of my subject, without disclaim
ing the intention of seeking, in such distin
guishing peculiarities ofthe doctrines of Jesus
Christ as are about to be noticed, whether
such peculiarities belong to the matter or to
the manner of His Discourses, any direct and
primary proofs of that nature, in respect of
g 4

88 SERMON IV.
which He stands exalted above all other
Teachers, whom the world has seen. Some
of our Lord's doctrines are indeed so circum
stanced as to furnish proofs of His proper
Divinity. His own assertions on the subject,
clear and undisputed, when taken in connec
tion with the miraculous sanctions, by which
they were supported, are evidently and have
already been observed to be, sufficient for the
purpose. On these however I do not intend
to dwell. They belong not to my present
Design, which is limited to indirect and, as
it were, incidental notices and illustrations of
the Divine nature of Jesus Christ. It may
then be granted that, when regarded in the
light of a Moral and Religious Teacher
merely, our Lord is not necessarily seen to
be Divine; that He has not brought with
Him from Heaven any discoveries of Moral
or Religious truth, that can serve for inde
pendent and self-evident tokens of His lofty
origin. It has often been asserted that the
department of Moral truth admits not of dis
coveries properly so called. The assertion is
one, which, after some explanation and under
some restriction, may be granted. In the de
partment of religious truth, the case is dif
ferent : here it has been perceived and is al
lowed that there exists not only a possibility,

SERMON IV. 89
but a previous likelihood, of what may be
strictly considered and justly termed disco
veries. Such subjects as lie beyond the reach
of the eye of human understanding — the
manner of the Divine existence, the course
of the Divine dispensations, the final destiny
of man — such subjects as these form the ap
propriate matters of an express Revelation.
The disclosures made respecting them are
discoveries, because these are subjects, which,
without Revelation, must have remained for
ever hidden.
And as, from these discoveries once made,
new* duties immediately result ; as, more
over, by means of the same discoveries the
foundations of Moral science are more broadly
and more firmly laid, the force of moral mo
tives greatly strengthened and a flood of light
thrown over the whole field of Moral specu
lation ; it is evident that the assertion, lately
noticed, requires to be restricted and quali
fied by a reference to both these considera
tions; for duties, previously recognised, are
thus seen to be invested with a character that
may entitle them to be called in some sort
new; and although of duties confessedly new
it may be contended that even they flow
from general moral principles, prior to the
disclosures, which rather make manifest and

90 SERMON IV.
develop than create their obligatian ; it must,
after all, be conceded that these duties, in
some sort, partake of that character of disco
veries, which belongs to the religious truths,
whereon they depend. Yet even of religious
truths and duties, thus allowed to be of the
nature of discoveries, it is undeniable that,
in and of themselves, they are neither well-
suited nor in fact sufficient to shew to what
rank or order of Beings he who communi
cates them is to be assigned. So far as their
direct, single and uncombined testimony is
concerned, he may be Divine, Angelic, or hu
man. Thus, it might undoubtedly have pleas
ed Almighty God to convey a knowledge of
the most sublime and most awful verities of
our Holy Religion by other messengers and
ministers than His only begotten and well-
beloved Son. Since, however, the method, ac
tually chosen, has been one of condescending
grace and goodness ; since He, " who is the
" image of the invisible God, the first-born
" of every creature ; by whom were all things
" created that are in Heaven and that are in
" earth — visible and invisible — whether they
" be thrones or dominions or principalities or
" powers — who is before all things and by
" whom all things consist""— since a Being,
a Col. i. 15, 16, 17.

SERMON IV. 91
thus great and glorious, has stooped to be
come our Teacher, we may surely expect, in
listening to His instructions, to catch occa
sionally the sound of more than mortal voice,
and to receive not unfrequently some deep
impressions of awe and wonder in His pre
sence. His " word," or " Himself, the Word
" of God," as we may rather choose to under
stand the passage, " quick and powerful and
" sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
" even to the dividing asunder of soul and
" spirit and of the joints and marrow," is
likely to prove " a discerner of the thoughts
" and intents of our heart." — " Naked and
" opened unto the eyes of Him, with whom
" we have to dob," we shall be conscious, in
our own breasts, that " He needed not," even
in the day of His humiliation, " that any
" should testify of man ; for He knew what
" was in man c." We may realise that effect of
His teaching which St. Luke has described,
when he states that " Jesus taught in the
" Synagogues of Galilee, being glorified of
" all d." We may hope to gain, from a grow
ing acquaintance with His Discourses, a fixed
ness of purpose in His Service and a steadi
ness of attachment to His adorable Person,
which no earthly power shall be able to
*> Heb. iv. 12, 13. c St. John ii. 25. d gt, Luke iv. 15.

92 SERMON IV.
shake. And, if temptations sometimes harass
our minds or momentary doubts intrude, we
shall hear His gentle expostulation : " Will
" ye also go away ?" and shall learn firmly
to answer : " Lord, to whom shall wTe go ?
" Thou hast the words of eternal life : and
" we believe and are sure that Thou art that
" Christ, the Son of the Living God6."
The Parables, spoken by our Lord, form a
considerable portion of His recorded teach
ing ; and on many accounts, demand the
earnest attention of all, who are desirous of
understanding and profiting by the lessons of
His ministry. The word Parable, as it is, in
its largest meaning, employed in the New
Testament, comprehends several varieties of
illustrative and figurative language, for which
the Art of Rhetoric supplies several distinct
appellations. Commonly however the name
is, in our minds, associated with that complete
and most interesting form of illustration,
which has been called Fable or Apologue.
Accordingly, when we say that the Gospels
abound with Parables, we speak of narratives
of this kind ; entire, consisting of parts, inge
niously contrived, skilfully arranged, united
into one whole ; and moreover so managed,
either as to the occasions or as to the manner
e St. John vi. 67, 68, 69.

SERMON IV. 93
of their delivery, as to suggest some import
ant moral or spiritual lesson. It was with
many such Parables as these that St. Mark,
in the words of the text, represents our Sa
viour to have spoken the word publicly unto
the people ; it was on such Parables that the
same Evangelist states Him to have founded
His private Discourses, uttered in the hearing
of His Disciples alone. The use of such Para
bles as these however had not marked the be
ginning of His ministry. From the first in
deed, His plain, simple and authoritative doc
trine was variegated and adorned by apt
similitudes ; by lively comparisons ; by illus
trations, drawn from the occurrences of daily
life and the circumstances of surrounding
scenes — illustrations always graceful, digni
fied and forcible — familiar, without being
low — neither far-fetched nor too obvious.
Who, that has read and studied the Sermon
on the Mount, can be at a loss for the means
of verifying this statement ? Who can follow
Jesus to the end of the sayings, which He, on
that occasion, spake, without being astonished
at the beauty, as well as the authority, of His
manner of teaching? Notwithstanding this
admission, it would seem that set and formal
Parables — Parables, in that limited sense, in
which we usually employ the word — were not

94 SERMON IV.
spoken by our Lord, until the first year of
His public life had been accomplished, and
the second had already made some progress.
This fact, in itself not undeserving of notice
for those, who would trace the order of His
proceedings, naturally leads us to inquire
what were the views and motives, which in
fluenced Jesus Christ, when He at length
had recourse to the method of instruction,
that afterwards holds so prominent a place in
the Records of His ministry ? St. Matthew
informs us that ancient Prophecy was thus
fulfilled : " All these things spake Jesus unto
" the multitude in Parables ; and without a
" Parable spake He not unto them ; that it
" might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the
" Prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in
" Parables; I will utter things, which have
" been kept secret from the foundation of the
" world f." A distinguishing feature ofthe pro
mised Messiah's method of teaching, which
the Prophetic Volume had long before indi
cated, is observed to mark the instructions of
Jesus of Nazareth and coincides with other
proofs in establishing His claims to the cha
racter and the office of the Christ. But we
naturally desire and may innocently seek, a
farther degree of satisfaction on this subject.
f St. Matt. xiii. 34, 35. Psalm lxxviii. 2.

SERMON IV. 95
The occasion of our Lord's first use of Para
bles, to which the text relates, drew forth the
very question that we are inclined to ask ;
and to the question Jesus Himself vouch
safed to return a gracious answer. To the
Evangelist, St. Matthew, we are indebted for
the full details of the incident.
" And the disciples came and said unto
" Him : Why speakest thou unto them in
" Parables ? He answered and said unto
" them : Because it is given unto you to
" know the mysteries of the Kingdom of
" Heaven but to them it is not given. For
" whosoever hath, to him shall be given ; and
" he shall have more abundance ; but whoso-
" ever hath not, from him shall be taken
" away even that he hath. Therefore speak
" I to them in Parables, because they, seeing,
" see not ; and hearing they hear not, neither
" do they understand. And in them is ful-
" filled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith :
" By hearing, ye shall hear and shall not un-
" derstand ; and seeing, ye shall see and shall
" not perceive ; for this people's heart is wax-
" ed gross and their ears are dull of hearing
" and their eyes they have closed, lest at any
" time they should see with their eyes and
" hear with their ears and should understand
" with their heart and should be converted

96 SERMON IV.
" and I should heal them. But blessed are
" your eyes, for they see ; and your ears ; for
" they hear. For, verily, I say unto you that
" many Prophets and righteous men have de-
" sired to see those things, which ye see and
" have not seen them ; and to hear those
" things, which ye hear, and have not heard
" themg!" In our Saviour's account of this whole
matter, as it is here recorded, a clear distinc
tion is made between the case of the multi
tude and that of His disciples. He undoubt
edly addressed the latter, as entitled to a pri
vilege and enjoying an advantage, of which
the former were destitute ; and He repre
sented that privilege and that advantage to
be the result of opportunities improved, of
previous benefits accepted and employed, and
thus, by a diligent use, augmented and mul
tiplied. He plainly referred to the course of
His preceding Ministry and willingly con
fessed that, in the instance of His disciples,
the plan of teaching, which He had adopted
and hitherto pursued, had not proved vain or
ineffectual. But even for the multitude,
justly chargeable with inattention, neglect
and guilty indifference, His words breathe a
s St. Matt. xiii. 10—17.

SERMON IV. 97
tender spirit of mercy and of condescending
kindness. He is pleased to say that He has
chosen a new method of instruction for their
sake. He saw that Parables were well suited
to their circumstances and likely to rouse
them from the torpor, into which they had
sunk ; — calculated to unclose their eyes and
unstop their ears ; to open the avenues of ac
cess to their understanding and their hearts;
and to convey into their souls, labouring
under the fearful disease of obdurate sin, the
healing medicine of His pure and perfect doc
trine. Their condition, with a fatal exact
ness, answered to the description, long before
given by the Prophet Isaiah ; and for persons
in such a condition of spiritual hardness and
insensibility, direct reproof, admonition and
instruction were but ill adapted. Offended
pride might spurn the salutary censure ; car
nal security would deride each intimation of
danger ; carelessness would overlook the cap
tivating lessons even of heavenly wisdom ;
stubbornness of heart would effectually resist
their gentle influence. There was however
still some chance that liveliness of illustra
tion, beauty of figure, the clearness and the
force of imaginary scenes, pictured with un
rivalled skill, might arrest attention, might
awaken interest; — by pleasing the fancy,
H

98 SERMON IV.
might find a way to move the heart ; — by en
gaging the imagination (that busy faculty,
which is too often successful in distracting
and misleading the mind) on the side of rea
son, might collect the wandering thoughts
and induce a composure, favourable to serious
reflection. Fiction might render palatable
truths naturally distasteful. The principle of
self-love might be soothed and conciliated, by
the insinuating art, which leaves each hearer
to deduce his own inferences, to make his
own application, to detect within himself the
particular faults and imperfections, which
have been obliquely stated and, in general
terms, condemned. The benevolent Re
deemer gladly availed Himself of the oppor
tunity, which He perceived to be still re
maining; and the Gospel History acquaints
us with the success of His attempts, when it
informs us that eager crowds were often at
tracted by His eloquence and staid listening
to His instructions. If the figurative lan
guage, in which He spake, sometimes proved
enigmatical and concealed, for the time, His
meaning from His immediate hearers, it is to
be remembered that this happened but on
few occasions — not more frequently than
might well serve to exemplify the caution,
which He delivered to His disciples — "not

SERMON IV. 99
" to cast their pearls before swine h." A tem
porary veil was thus thrown over predictions,
the chief use and value of which were to be
subsequent to their fulfilment ; or truth was
for a while hidden from those, who had not
honesty of mind to deserve, or who were too
infirm of purpose, for the present, to bear, its
open disclosure. But these exceptions do
not seem to have entered into our Lord's ac
count, when He explained Himself in the
manner reported by St. Matthew ; nor can
they be observed to have had any consider
able effect upon the character of His teaching
by Parables.
Before we are at liberty to pause, for the
purpose of reflecting, with due sentiments of
wonder and thankfulness, on the demonstra
tion afforded, in our Saviour's Parables, of
His united wisdom and goodness, we are met
by a difficulty, arising from the opinion that
He spake them with an intended and a stu
died obscurity. According to this opinion, He
is said to have designed to hide from all but
His constant attendants and His faithful fol
lowers, the lessons of virtue and piety, which
His words might to them, but could not to
others, convey. In short, His Parables are
thought to have been adapted to a state of
h St. Matt. vii. 6.
H 2

100 SERMON IV.
judicial blindness, in which He found and in
which He meant to leave, His unhappy coun
trymen. Before any attempt is made to trace this
opinion to its origin and to shew the insecure
foundation, on which it rests, it may be worth
while to consider how irreconcilably it is at
variance with our Lord's own express decla
rations of the ends of His ministry ; — with
His pathetic lamentation over Jerusalem, at
the close of His career, as then, but not till
then, doomed to inevitable ruin, on account
of the loss of opportunities and advantages,
which His presence and proposals — His words
and works, had afforded ; — with the plain
matter of fact, as shewn in the attention of
some and the offence of other hearers, on oc
casions when Parables were delivered ; and,
finally, with the reason of things and the
very nature of the case ! For the universal
acknowledgment of men, in all ages and in
all countries — the suffrage alike of cultivated
taste and of that native perception of excel
lence, which is, on such a subject, as safe a
guide — the universal consent of men assigns
to that method of teaching, which our blessed
Lord adopted, qualities and effects, directly
opposite to those, which have been lately
mentioned.

SERMON IV. 101
For the farther clearing up of a point,
which is of no slight importance in the inter
pretation of the New Testament, it becomes
necessary to enter into some detail. It must
then, in fairness and candour, be owned that
the parallel passages in the Gospels of St.
Mark and St. Luke are such as, at first sight,
to countenance the notion of a penal and pu
nitive design, on the part of our Lord.
St. Mark reports His words more briefly than
St. Matthew ; and St. Luke yet more briefly
than St. Mark.
" And He said unto them : Unto you it is
" given to know the mystery of the Kingdom
" of God ; but unto them that are without
" all these things are done in Parables — that
" seeing they may see and not perceive — and
" hearing, they may hear and not understand ;
" lest at any time they should be converted
" and their sins should be forgiven them1."
Such is St. Mark's statement. St. Luke is con
tent with a yet shorter summary of what was
spoken :
"And He said: Unto you it is given to
" know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God :
" but to others in Parables, that seeing, they
" might not see, and hearing, they might not
" understand15."
i St. Mark iv. 11. k St. Luke viii. 10.
H 3

102 SERMON IV.
No reader of the three Evangelists can
doubt that it is the design of each of them to
represent our Lord as quoting, on this first
occasion of teaching by Parables, that remark
able passage from the Book of the Prophet
Isaiah1, which St. Matthew, alone of the three,
repeats at full length. In his Gospel, it stands,
word for word, as in the Septuagint Version;
except that, in two instances, there are varia
tions, altogether immaterial; in one, the trans
position of a pronoun ; in the other, a slight
alteration, in the form of a verb m. In the
Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke, we have
found rather an allusion than a quotation.
The minute circumstantial differences in the
narratives can hardly be thought to warrant
an opinion, which has however been main
tained, that our Lord, on two separate, al
though closely connected, occasions, quoted
the words of Isaiah ; once, as St. Matthew re
lates ; and again, soon after and in private, as
St. Mark and St. Luke agree in relating ; in
the former instance, no mention being made
of the final cause of speaking in Parables;
in the latter instance, the real intent and
purpose of this method of teaching being
opened to the disciples, and being shewn by
Jesus Christ Himself, to have been punitive
1 Is. vi. 9. m Note GG.

SERMON IV. 103
and judicial. Of attempts, like this, to re
duce the Evangelists to a perfect harmony,
by multiplying the incidents of the History,
which they in common report, it may be re
marked that they are sometimes in danger of
being carried too far, and of defeating the
very end, at which they aim. They are more
likely to magnify the importance of acknow
ledged discrepancies than to leave in the
candid mind a settled persuasion of their
success. A safer principle, for reconciling the three
Evangelists in the present case, is at hand ;
and may be stated in the words of one of
those very Harmonists, from whose view of
this particular passage I have already ex
pressed my dissent: it is the principle of
" estimating the testimony of the less ex-
" plicit, the less circumstantial and the less
" positive among the Evangelists altogether
" in conformity with the testimony of the
" more so n." On this principle, St. Matthew
must, in the present instance, be chosen for
our guide; and under his guidance, it will
readily be determined that a mode of expres
sion, which at first sounds like a statement
of the final cause, is, in truth, to be under-
" Note HH.
H 4

104 SERMON IV.
stood in a milder sense and implies no more
than that between our Lord's chosen method
of teaching and that moral condition of His
hearers, which the Prophet had long before
described, there was a designed correspond
ence ; in other words, that the former fitted
and suited, and was meant to fit and suit,
the latter. In the mean time, St. Mark and
St. Luke appear to be silent, respecting the
ultimate purpose of such correspondence:
what that is, we are to learn from St. Mat
thew. Not indeed that St. Mark can be re
garded as entirely silent ; for, in the words
of the text, which belong to the same portion
of his Gospel, he plainly intimates that our
Lord aimed at the improvement of His
hearers by a gracious accommodation of His
instructions to their intellectual and moral
capacity : " With many such Parables spake
" He the word unto them, as they were able
" to hear it °."
The case of the Gospel miracles may be
regarded as analogous to that of the Para
bles; and in the analogy thus subsisting, may
be found a strong confirmation of the view,
which has now been taken, of the latter —
more especially of their design and pur-
0 St. Mark iv. 33.

SERMON IV. 105
pose, as contrasted with their actual results.
St. Matthew, in another passage of his Gospel
and on a distinct occasion ; distinct, both as
being earlier in point of time ; and as arising
out of that review of His mighty works, which
had caused our Saviour to upbraid the cities,
wherein most of them had been done; St. Mat
thew, in a passage altogether distinct from
that, which has lately been considered, as
cribes to Christ the following language :
" I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
" and earth, because thou hast hid these
" things from the wise and prudent and hast
" revealed them unto babes. Even so, Fa-
" ther ; for so it seemed good in Thy
" sight p."
And St. Luke q reports the same acknow
ledgment in terms, precisely and without one
single variation, the same.
Whether, according to St. Luke's narrative,
this acknowledgment was or was not made at
the same time and in the same place, to
which St. Matthew refers it, I undertake not
to determine ; since, for my present purpose,
it is sufficient to insist that the words of our
Lord, whether they were once spoken or
more than once repeated, are, as both St.
Matthew and St. Luke inform us, founded on
P St. Matt. xi. 25, 26. i St. Luke x. 21.

106 SERMON IV.
and suggested by, a retrospect of His mira
cles and of their actual results. At the time,
when Jesus so spake, He thankfully owned
the wisdom of the Father and expressed a
calm acquiescence in His good pleasure. He
adored the justice and the mercy of that
Dispensation, under which the wise and pru
dent — the Scribes and Pharisees — the saga
cious and politic children of this world —
failed to profit by the opportunities afforded
to them ; whilst babes — the feeble and un
learned, but meek and humble, beholders of
His deeds — became children of light and en
joyed clear discoveries of the word and will
of God.
The phrase, here employed, of " hiding
" these things from the wise and prudent" is
similar to language often found in the Sacred
Volume, which ascribes to Divine agency the
permitted results of human folly, wilfulness
and sin. To a customary phrase, proceeding
from our blessed Saviour's lips, must be as
signed its usual meaning— as indeed appears
most evidently from the tenour of the pre
ceding expostulation, in which He had in
sisted, with a fearful emphasis, on the aggra
vated guilt of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Ca
pernaum, in comparison even with Tyre and
Sidon and the cities of the plain. To the

SERMON IV. 107
towns and villages of Galilee had already
been vouchsafed such opportunities and such
privileges as Tyre and Sidon — Sodom and
Gomorrha — had not known ; and it was by
the neglect of opportunities and the disre
gard of privileges that the amount of their
guilt was increased.
The painful retrospect required and called
forth His lowly submission : it admitted of
no other comfort than that of contemplating
the happier case of the weak, the weary and
the heavy laden, who had reaped advantage
from His labours. But His strongest expres
sions must be interpreted agreeably to the
view, which He had previously taken, of
the condition and circumstances of those,
concerning whom He spake. If the Father
had indeed " hidden these things from the
" wise and prudent," it was only in a sense
consistent with the display, before their eyes,
of miracles, plain and numerous — with the
employment of a machinery, contrived, ar
ranged and admirably fitted for the purpose
of effecting their conviction and conversion.
It is remarkable that St. Luke concludes
the passage of his Gospel, which we have
now been considering, in the following man
ner :
" And He turned Him unto His disciples

108 SERMON IV.
" and said privately : Blessed are the eyes,
" which see the things that ye see ; for I tell
" you that many Prophets and Kings have
" desired to see those things, which ye see
" and have not seen them ; and to hear those
" things, which ye hear and have not heard
" themr!" The same train of thought, conveyed al
most without variation in the same words,
St. Matthew, as we have already seen, ascribes
to our Redeemer, when He condescended to
explain His motives for teaching by Parables
and anticipated the results of the method of
instruction, which He deliberately and with
most merciful intent adopted. In His own
mind, the two instances of miracles and Pa
rables were regarded as corresponding with
each other, in cause, in tendency and in re
sult; nor does it seem that we should be
justified in assigning to the latter a cha
racter of studied obscurity and an express
purpose of concealment, which we cannot per
ceive to belong to the former.
Once more — it is in connection with the
miracles of our Lord that the Evangelist
St. John introduces the very same quotation
from the Prophet Isaiah, which the other
three Evangelists have stated that He Him-
r St. Luke x. 23, 24.

SERMON IV. 109
self applied to the subject of His Parables;
and St. John's formula of quotation from the
Prophet is precisely that, which St. Mark
and St. Luke have employed. When we learn
from St. John that, " though Jesus had done
" so many miracles before them, yet they
" believed not on Him — that the saying of
" Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which
" He spake : Lord, who hath believed our
" report ? and to whom hath the arm of the
" Lord been revealed ? Therefore they could
" not believe, because that Esaias said again :
" He hath blinded their eyes and hardened
" their heart, that they should not see with
" their eyes, nor understand with their heart
" and be converted and I should heal them8" —
when we read the passages thus quoted and
applied by St. John, we clearly understand
that the Evangelist is far from intending to
say that the inability to believe was superin
duced and caused, in order that the predic
tion of the Prophet might be accomplished ;
still less that the miracles in question were
wrought with a view to the end of incre
dulity, on the part of those, who should wit
ness them.
We see that the fact of their unbelief is
represented to bespeak a state of mind and
5 St. John xii. 37, 38, 39, 40.

110 SERMON IV.
heart, which rendered them the awful exam
ples of such blindness and insensibility as the
inspired Prophet had foretold. In like man
ner therefore are we to understand the simi
lar language of St. Mark and St. Luke, with
respect to Parables. If by them Parables are
said to have been uttered " that the people
" seeing, might not see, and, hearing, might
" not understand," we observe a brief form
of quotation or of reference; and discover
that it was the object of both these Evan
gelists, in perfect agreement with St. Mat
thew, to point out a twofold fulfilment of a
remarkable passage ofthe Prophetic Volume —
as that passage related, on the one hand, to
the moral condition of the hearers of the
Messiah ; and on the other, to the peculiar
manner of instruction, which He adopted.
And now, at length, from a discussion,
which will not be deemed unimportant and
which, it is hoped, may prove not unprofit
able, we are at liberty to return to a consi
deration of the aid, which Parables lent to
the attractive eloquence and the persuasive
doctrine of the Son of God. And here how
can we better form a conception of their na
tural tendency and their powerful effect for
His immediate hearers, than by reflecting on
the manner, in which they reach ourselves

SERMON IV. Ill
and come home to our own bosoms ? If an
appeal be made to our judgment and feel
ings, we shall surely answer that there is not
for ourselves any peculiar difficulty in ascer
taining the scope and purport and general
meaning of the Parables of the New Testa
ment. We shall readily own that these are
not the passages, which place formidable ob
stacles in our way — which perplex and em
barrass us, in our sincere endeavours to un
derstand the Sacred Word and apply its rules
to practice. On the contrary, are we not con
scious that these are portions of Holy Scrip
ture, on which we dwell with a lingering
fondness — to which we recur with never fail
ing interest — in which we find engagement
without weariness and instruction without
offence ? When in early childhood, we, like
Samuel, " did not yet know the Lord neither
" was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto
" us V' these winning narratives had power
to fix our attention ; and by them we were
gently and gradually taught to distinguish
the voice of God, calling us, from that loved
voice of parental or Pastoral authority, with
which for a while we innocently confounded
it. The same passages of the Holy Gospels
have formed the entertainment and the so-
* 1 Sam. iii. 7.

112 SERMON IV.
lace of our riper manhood; and we expect
that they will become for ourselves, what we
find that they have been and are for many
around us, the source of refreshment and of
mental vigour in declining years.
It is moreover from the Parables of our
blessed Lord especially that we learn the
true philosophy of Morals. They furnish
principles of action rather than precise and
definite rules of conduct. Whilst they are
far removed from the stiffness and formal
ity of burdensome and tedious directions
for the minute details of daily behaviour,
they stand equally distant from the vague
and inapplicable generalities of abstract
theory. Their lessons spring out of the
relations, events and circumstances of real
life — of that life, which we ourselves are liv
ing — but the life, of which they draw the
striking picture, is for the most part stripped
of local and temporary peculiarities ; if such
peculiarities are ever allowed to remain, they
impart only an additional interest, when they
are observed; and have scarcely a perceptible
influence, in rendering the proper practical
inferences less easy or less perspicuous for
men of every age and every country. Re
taining each tender and touching association,
to which our common nature is alive, they

SERMON IV. 113
yet condescend to nothing low, they are dis
figured by no shade of coarseness ; they offer
no repulsive features. In short, it may be
truly said that, wherever the Holy Gospels
have been — wherever they shall be, read and
studied, the Parables, contained in them, have
served and will serve to exalt our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, as a Moral Teacher,
above all who have hitherto appeared in that
character. His vast superiority in this re
spect cannot establish — is not alleged to prove
— the doctrine of His Divine nature. But
it is in perfect harmony with that doctrine,
which it in some sort confirms, and by
which it is itself illustrated and explained.
When we regard our great Instructor as God
in the form and likeness of man, we can ac
count for the searching power and penetrating
force of the lessons, which He taught. The
Supreme Master of all minds, He knew well
how to reach those hidden recesses, which the
varying circumstances of time, of place and
of customs may disguise and cover but which
are really to be found in all u. " He that
" planted the ear, shall He not hear ? He that
" formed the eye, shall He not see" ?" Since it
is " our God who instructs us to discretion
" and teaches us ;" since the words to which
" Note KK. x Psalm xci v. 9.

114 SERMON IV.
we are called to listen, " come forth from the
" Lord of Hosts, which is wonderful in coun-
" sel and excellent in working3"' — we perceive
a sufficient reason — a fit and adequate cause
— for the superior advantages, which we en
joy. Since the wisdom and the goodness in
this instance concerned, are confessed to be
Divine, we see only their natural result, in
the dispensation, which has provided that the
essential elements of Poetry, concentrated
and embodied in the teaching of the Son of
God, should impart to that teaching a fresh
ness and a life, of which no change of exter
nal form or variety of language can deprive
itz. Translation may lessen the energy or
mar the beauty of the moral precept and the
sententious apophthegm ; over the Parables
of our Saviour it can have but a trifling in
fluence. They depend for their effect upon
principles within the human breast, to which
an equally successful appeal may be made
under all those wide outward differences,
which shape or modify the character and the
speech of man. Like the works of the same
glorious Author, they too admit of being uni
versally proclaimed and published. " There
" is no speech nor language, where their voice
" may not be heard. Their sound may go
y Isa. xxviii. 29. z Note LL.

SERMON IV. 115
" out into all lands and their words into the
" ends of the world3."
The general view, which has been on the
present occasion taken, of the Parables of our
Lord, will be best supported by some parti
cular examples ; but, in the first place and
especially, by such examples as He Himself
was pleased to unfold and apply. To these
therefore will our attention be directed in the
next Lecture. a Psalm xix. 3, 4.

i 2

SERMON V.

St. Mark iv. 34 (in latter part.)
And when they were alone, He expounded all
things to His disciples.

IHE interest of the Gospel History is
greatly heightened by the manner, in which
it often opens to our view the more retired
scenes of our blessed Saviour's intercourse
with His chosen companions — with that small
band of the immediate attendants on His
Person, which consisted of the Twelve and
some few others, closely connected with them
by ties of relationship or friendship. Upon
these occasions we observe, on the part of
our Lord, whatever His public career would
lead us to anticipate of mild dignity, of for
bearance and of benevolence ; whilst, on the
part of His disciples, we behold a demeanour,
perfectly suitable to their relation and cir
cumstances — marked not less by a reveren
tial deference to His authority than by a

SERMON V. 117
freedom of speech, plainly indicating their
love and confidence. Passages of this sort
have the effect of imparting to the narra
tives of the Evangelists the character and
the charms of Biography; they are among
the principal means of gratifying our natural
desire of information, when it has once been
awakened and directed towards the Person
and the actions of Jesus Christ ; they rivet
our attention and engage our hearts. Nor
are they interesting only. They may prove
eminently profitable also ; for by them light
is sometimes thrown over incidents and dis
courses that might otherwise have appeared
to us, as to the multitude, in our Lord's own
day, they did actually appear, obscure and
difficult to be explained. The words of the
text fix our thoughts on an instance, in which
this advantage is set prominently before us.
Jesus is in them represented as having avail
ed Himself of an opportunity of retirement,
immediately after His delivery of the first
series of Parables, which He spake, for the
purpose of " expounding all things" — doubt
less all He had been lately saying — " to His
" disciples." We can not read this general inti
mation without an involuntary and transient
wish that we ourselves were in possession of
every word, which the disciples were privi-
i 3

118 SERMON V.
leged to hear. We fancy that we should
thus approach the Parables of the Holy Gos
pels with a far better chance than we now
have or can ever hope to have, of penetrating
into their real meaning and of ascertaining
their scope and purport. A slight reflection
will however serve to shew that wishes and
hopes of this kind are vain and useless ; they
are in fact innocent, only while they retain
that involuntary character, which belongs to
them in the first moment of their occurrence.
Any such indulgence as renders them sub
stantial or permanent is attended by the
mischievous and fatal consequence of sub
stituting, for zeal and diligence in using the
means of improvement that have been grant
ed and are within our reach, the idle amuse
ment of imagining advantages and helps,
which might have been afforded to our weak
ness. But in the particular instance now
under our consideration, much more may be
said for the reproof of such idle wishes. With
regard to the Parables of our Divine Instruc
tor and His own interpretation of them, the
very wishes, to which I have alluded, have
been, to all practical intents and purposes,
indulged and gratified. We are favoured with
the full detail of His expositions of two out
of the whole number of those, which He de-

SERMON V. 119
livered, when He first began to speak in Pa
rables. Each of the three earlier Evangelists
is careful to relate one of these Parables and
to join with it his Master's own interpreta
tion. St. Matthew also accompanies with our
Lord's own explanation another of the num
ber, which he alone has preserved. On all
ordinary principles, applicable to such a sub
ject, these two clear examples may well be
regarded as sufficing for specimens of the
method of the Teacher, whom we justly and
reasonably desire to follow. The fact how
ever is that the Gospels furnish us with more
instances of moral use and improvement than
these two ; and although it must be granted
that the whole number of both formal expo
sitions and briefer applications is small, in
comparison with the whole number of the
recorded Parables, yet ought we to remember
that to the case of an Instructor designing
His lessons for everlasting continuance and
for universal circulation, and so transmitting
them, through the instrumentality of inspired
Reporters, are applicable other principles, be
sides those to which reference has been al
ready made. The peculiarity of this case is
such as to warrant, on our part, an expecta
tion of authoritative guidance and to lead us
to the sure conclusion that, in our Lord's
i 4

120 SERMON V.
recorded expositions and applications, how
small soever their number may be, we have
the key, which He condescended to put into
the hands of His followers, and whereby He
was pleased to enable them to unlock and to
unfold all the treasures of meaning that may
be contained in His Parables. This however
is a conclusion, of which the interpreters of
the New Testament have too often lost sight ;
and in examining the views that have been
taken and the use that has been made of the
Parabolic portion of our Lord's doctrine, it
is really astonishing to observe how little of
salutary check or control His own example
and practice have exercised over the imagi
nations and the fancies of men. The feeling.
of astonishment naturally excited by the first
appearance of such a state of things, yields to
other and less agreeable feelings, upon a re
view of the History of Scripture-interpreta
tion. It is unnecessary here to dwell on the
serious injury, which the Christian Church
has sustained from the attempts, ancient and
modern, of men fond of allegory and disposed
to find a mystical or spiritual meaning in
every passage of the Sacred Volume". Since
even the Historical portions of that Holy
Volume have been thought, by eager and
a Note MM.

SERMON V. 121
mistaken, although confessedly, in many in
stances, learned and able Commentators, to
convey remote and secondary senses, capable
of being exalted to a far higher importance
than any, which the letter of the narratives
can claim, we cease to wonder that other por
tions, in their own nature more liable to the
abuse, should have been, in the most extra
ordinary ways, misapplied, perverted, and, by
being rendered vague and nugatory, deprived
of their true practical efficiency and worth.
We are no longer surprised that Parables
especially have shared this fate ; and with re
gard to the Parables delivered by our Lord
and recorded in the Gospels, we perceive a
reason for peculiar danger, to which they
have been exposed, in the view, that has been
frequently entertained of their express de
sign and avowed object. As long as the opin
ion is held and maintained that they were
spoken for the sake of concealment — that
their very end and purpose were to punish
wilful obstinacy and hardness of heart, by
withholding the instructions, of which that
state of mind is unworthy and for which it is
unfit — occasion is of course given for a labo
rious search after abstruse and hidden mean
ings and for painful efforts to discover the
mysteries that may by any possibility lurk

122 SERMON V.
under the lovely imagery, which adorns and
beautifies the teaching of the Son of God.
A plain, simple and edifying application (al
though that alone may be intended) is sure
to escape the notice of an eye, practised in
the nice, and over-curious examination of
minute particulars. Such an application is
equally sure to offend the taste of an appe
tite for that which is entertaining or marvel
lous, more especially if such appetite has
been long pampered by indulgence.
It was my endeavour, in the preceding Lec
ture of this course, to maintain an opinion
directly opposite to that, of which I have been
stating some of the evil consequences ; and
to vindicate the wisdom and the goodness of
Jesus Christ, our Lord, by shewing that
with a skill, which no philosopher has sur
passed, He discerned — with a depth of feel
ing and an energy of language, which neither
poet nor orator can rival, He adopted and
employed effectual means for the moral im
provement of His hearers, whilst by His Pa
rables more especially He arrested their at
tention, reached their hearts and engaged
their strongest and best affections. It is my
design, on the present occasion, to confirm
and illustrate the opinion, already stated and
defended on general principles, by a consi-

SERMON V. 123
deration of the particular instances, in which
our Saviour was pleased to provide for a
danger that He foresaw, by expounding or
applying His own Parables and causing His
expositions and applications to hold a conspi
cuous place in the Records of His teaching.
It is obvious that the three earlier Gospels
differ widely from that of St. John, in the re
lation which they bear, to our present subject
of Inquiry. The last of the Four Gospels is
destitute of set and formal Parables ; and is
comparatively seldom ornamented with figu
rative and illustrative language. And when
the three other Gospels are carefully exa
mined, it is soon perceived that they too differ
among themselves in this respect. St. Mat
thew, for instance, is more copious than St.
Mark, in his report of the Discourses of our
Lord containing Parables ; whilst St. Luke,
relating often the same Parables and some
times virtually the same interpretation, occa
sionally indeed omits what his predecessors
have stated, but more frequently, supplies
passages of this class, which are not found else
where, and which impart to his Gospel an in
terest and a value peculiarly its own. Notwith
standing these slighter differences, St. Mat
thew, St. Mark and St. Luke will all furnish
some useful materials for our present purpose.

124 SERMON V.
The Parable of the Sower is reported as
the first in order of time of all our Saviour's
Parables. It is the one which has been al
ready mentioned as common to the three
Evangelists ; and it is in each Gospel followed
by that interpretation, which was readily
granted in compliance with the request of
the Disciples b. The Parable and its inter
pretation are, on these three occasions, given
with but few variations — seldom more than
verbal, always and altogether unimportant,
so far as the meaning of the whole passage is
concerned. The structure of the fictitious
narrative is simple and perfectly inartificial ;
and therefore, amidst such minor differences
of expression and of form as were natural and
almost unavoidable, easily preserves its iden
tity ; nor is it uninteresting to remark that
there is one particular, contributing towards
this identity, which is lost to the reader of
the English translation only. Each of the
Evangelists speaks of the sower — the way
side — the stony places — stony ground or rock
— the thorns — and the good ground — with a
repeated and carefully preserved emphasis
of the definite article ; an emphasis, falling
in with and confirming the opinion that our
b St. Matt. xiii. St. Mark iv. St. Luke viii.

SERMON V. 125
Lord borrowed His illustration, in this in
stance, from a process of the season then pre
sent, going on before the eyes of Himself and
His hearers; and from such circumstances,
belonging to every field, as were, even while
He spake, open to the observation of all.
When from this Parable we turn to the moral
use, which its Author Himself made of it, we
acquire a new perception of its force and
beauty ; we are struck with the ease, pro
priety and gracefulness of the accommodation
in each particular ; in the absence of every
trace of effort, of the distortion of a single
feature, of tedious minuteness in any one in
stance, we pronounce the Apologue and the
lesson drawn from it to be alike faultless.
We are compelled to feel and own that the
lesson is one of universal and of everlasting
importance ; nor can we conceive a fitter in
troduction to that new method of teaching,
which our Lord was about to employ than
the loud and affecting warning, in this Para
ble contained, that the best instruction — the
instruction, most wisely contrived and most
skilfully conveyed, — depends, after all, for its
effect upon the state of mind and heart of
those, to whom it is addressed.
The Parable of the tares of the field is one,
which St.Matthew alone ofthe Evangelists has

126 SERMON V.
recorded0. The fable here is, if I may so speak,
somewhat more highly wrought and more
finished than in the preceding example. The
incidents, without being either numerous or
intricate, have more of variety ; and they are
woven, with a greater degree of art, into one
perfect whole. A scene, often verified in
man's experience, is pictured with colours as
true to nature as they are vivid and striking ;
and to the whole scene the freshness and ani
mation of real life are imparted by the intro
duction of human agency — of the activity, the
vigilance and the prudence, which are con
cerned in the regulation of human affairs.
But the application, made by our Divine
Teacher Himself, is, as in the former instance,
moral, in the strict and proper sense of the
word ; and, as such, it is moreover plain,
forcible and practical.
" He that soweth the good seed is the Son
" of man. The field is the world. The good
" seed are the children of the Kingdom ; but
" the tares are the children of the wicked
" one. The enemy that sowed them is the
" Devil. The harvest is the end of the world;
" and the reapers are the angels. As there-
" fore the tares are gathered and burned in
" the fire, so shall it be in the end of this
<¦ St. Matt. xiii. 24—30 and 36—43.

SERMON V- 127
" world. The Son of man shall send forth
" His angels and they shall gather out of His
" Kingdom all things that offend and them
" which do iniquity ; and shall cast them into
" a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing
" and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the
" righteous shine forth as the Sun in the
" Kingdom of their Father."
Who can doubt respecting the main lesson
here actually derived from the Parable ? As
little can any one hesitate, with regard to the
design ofthe Parable itself and the intention
of Him, who spake it. The purpose clearly
was to draw attention to a future public and
final declaration of the distinction between
the righteous and the wicked ; and to found,
on the certainty of such declaration, a solemn
and impressive warning of the necessity of
righteousness and the danger of sin. The
machinery of the Parable was so contrived
and arranged as to afford occasion and to sup
ply means for the display of some momentous
truths, to which our Saviour saw fit to refer,
because they were calculated to prove, in a
powerful manner, auxiliary towards His chief
design. The end of the world — the judicial
office, which He Himself shall then assume
and execute — the ministry of angelic Beings
under His orders — the opposite conditions of

128 SERMON V.
misery and of glory, to which, after the day
of judgment, the race of man shall be con
signed — these momentous facts and events of
the Divine Dispensations are incidentally dis
closed and by most apt illustrations repre
sented. These are indeed and may, in a very
proper sense of the words, be called " myste-
" ries of the Kingdom of Heaven ;" but they
are mysteries, which the Gospel expressly and
avowedly, plainly and without figure, opens
and unfoldsd. The figurative language of
this Parable certainly serves rather to enforce
them on the consciences and to impress them
on the hearts of all, than to hide them from
one class of hearers and to make them known
for the first time to another. It is to be ob
served that one prominent feature of the Pa
rable is entirely overlooked and altogether
disappears in the exposition. " The Servants
" said unto the householder : Wilt thou that
"we go and gather up the tares? But he
" said : Nay — lest ivhile ye gather up the
" tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
" Let both grow together until the harvest."
Such was the natural — the almost unavoid
able filling up of the fictitious narrative. No
more suitable reason than that, which is in
these words given, could have been assigned
d Note NN.

SERMON V. ^129
for the householder's refusal to comply with
the request of his zealous servants, in the
supposed case of a field abounding with tares.
The spirit, the liveliness and the dramatic
interest of the Parable depend in great mea
sure upon the introduction of this striking
passage. In our Lord's exposition, we look
for it in vain. Far from finding any stress
"laid upon these subordinate, yet by no means
unimportant, circumstances, of the fictitious
narrative, we cannot discover, in the applica
tion, so much as a distant allusion to them.
There is no attempt to turn them to any pur
pose of moral or spiritual improvement. The
omission on the part of our Divine Teacher
is rendered so much the more remarkable, by
the significance, which He has, in the instance
of this Parable attributed to other circum
stances, in themselves apparently not more
considerable. What then are we to learn
from His omission ? What other lesson can we
learn than that, whenever we venture to inter
pret the Parables of Holy Scripture, it is our
duty, in following the example, which He
has set us, to dwell rather on their main
scope and purpose than on such minuter fea
tures as are but illustrative, ornamental and
subsidiary ? Thus, in the instance now before
us, the fact of the delay, until the end of the
K

130 SERMON V.
world, of that broad distinction between the
righteous and the wicked, which is finally to
take place — the fact of this delay is clearly
indicated by the whole tenour of the Pa
rable and forms the basis of its moral ap
plication ; but the reasons of the fact it
was not our Lord's immediate purpose to
explain ; concerning them, the machinery,
which He had condescended to employ for a
different end, was not calculated to afford
any information. If we are desirous of learn
ing what these reasons are, we need be at no
loss. They are elsewhere in the Holy Gos
pels, as well as in many other portions of the
Sacred Volume, both plainly stated and pa
thetically urged. They are reasons of gra
cious consideration, not for the righteous but
for the wicked — of long suffering and com
passion towards those, who are spared, in or
der that they may be brought to repentance,
amendment and salvation.
From St. Matthew, to whom we owe the
Parable of the Tares of the field, we receive
also that of the debtor of ten thousand talents
and his fellow-servant e. In the case of this
beautiful and affecting Parable, the circum
stances of the occasion, which drew it forth
from the lips of our Redeemer, might seem
e St. Matt, xviii. 23 to 35.

SERMON V. 131
sufficient to guard for ever against its mis
application and to rescue its touching inci
dents from the grasp of that criticism, which
tortures and deforms all that comes within
its reach. " Then came Peter to Him and
" said : Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
" against me, and I forgive him ? till seven
" times ? Jesus saith unto him : I say not
" unto thee until seven times : but until se-
" venty times seven f." A more direct or fuller
answer to his question the Apostle could not
require, nor was it possible that he should
forget the terms of a precept, which taking
up his own expressions, had so employed
them as to put to shame the poverty of what
he had doubtless deemed his large and liberal
allowance for the faults of his offending bro
ther. Our blessed Lord however was not con
tent with this method, impressive as it was,
of inculcating His favourite topic of mutual
forgiveness and of charity. He proceeded to
illustrate and enforce the lesson, which He
had already delivered, by a Parable, of whose
united tenderness and force of appeal none
but the most hardened heart can fail to be
susceptible. A debtor of the vast sum de
noted by ten thousand talents, having no
power to pay, is condemned by his Lord to
f Ver. 21, 22.
K 2

132 SERMON V.
be sold and his wife and his children and all
that he had, that payment may be made. Is
it possible that one stroke can be added to
heighten this picture of hopeless distress and
of approaching ruin ? The unhappy man has
recourse to prayer for indulgence and to pro
mises of final payment ; and gains from his
compassionate Lord what he had not ven
tured to ask or to expect — the free forgive
ness of the debt. In the future management
of his own affairs, he finds a fellow-servant,
owing him an hundred pence — a paltry
amount, not fit to be compared with his own
lately remitted debt: entirely forgetful ofthe
treatment, which he had himself just expe
rienced — not recalled to a recollection of that
treatment by the very language of the ad
dress, with which He had approached his
Lord, repeated now in his own ears and
urged upon himself — he proceeds to extre
mities and casts his debtor into prison. The
sorrow of the fellow- ser van ts — the just and
natural expression of that sorrow — the calm
and reasonable, yet indignant, expostulation
of the offended Lord of both debtors — the
wrath, with which every hearer must sym
pathise, and the punishment, in the perfect
propriety of which all must acquiesce — these
several circumstances are put forward and

SERMON V. 133
described in a manner, to which repetition in
any other language than that of the inspired
Evangelist cannot but do injustice.
Of this Parable we have our Saviour
Christ's own moral use and application. It
is conveyed in the following brief and com
prehensive terms : " So likewise shall my
" Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye,
" from your hearts, forgive not every one his
" brother their trespasses." In these few
words is contained the lesson, which He
meant to draw ; and by such an improve
ment of His own Parable, He has again em
phatically warned us that conscience is not
to be disturbed, in her salutary office of re
proof and admonition, by the intrusion of
imagination — that the efficiency of His Mo
ral Teaching is not to be diminished, by
wasting on its external clothing and its form
those efforts of attention, which its substance
ought rather to command.
The Parable of the Labourers in the vine
yard (another of those Parables, which are
found in St. Matthew's Gospel only s) is fol
lowed by our Lord's own application — an
application short indeed, but emphatic — sum
med up in that sententious form of speech,
s St. Matt. xx. 1 — 16.
k 3

134 SERMON V.
which He is reported, on other occasions, to
have used, and which, by the details of this
Parable, He appears to have intended to ex
plain and to enforce. " So the last shall be
" first and the first last ; for many be called ;
" but few chosen." That privileges embraced,
as soon as they are offered — that advantages
diligently and faithfully employed, from the
first moment (how late soever that may be)
of receiving them — will, by God's mercy, end
in the rich reward, originally promised to
the earliest possessors of the same privileges
and advantages — this is the general truth —
a truth of everlasting interest — which our
Saviour inculcates ; and by which He gra
ciously raises the hopes and cheers the spi
rits of all such as may, even at " the eleventh
" hour of the day" of life, be raised to an
alarming consciousness that, as far as the ser
vice of their rightful Lord and Master is
concerned, they have been " standing all the
" day idle." To the opposite class of per
sons — to those, who are represented by " the
" labourers hired early in the morning into
" the vineyard" — a delicate and indirect ad
monition is conveyed ; and they are reminded
that the Dispensation, which is for others one
of overflowing goodness, is for them and for
all one of perfect equity. " Be not high-

SERMON V. 135
"minded but fearh" — is the caution, which
they must hear, when they are informed that
their places in the Kingdom of Heaven may
finally be taken by those, who were once far
below themselves ; — nor does this caution
lose any of its power, by reason of that " lenity
" of supposition" of the Parable ', which as
signs to all the labourers in the vineyard
their reward. In this particular instance it
is impossible not to observe a characteristic,
which belongs to several of our Lord's Para
bles. It is well adapted to the circumstances
of His own times, and anticipates what was
to happen, upon the publication of the Gos
pel to the whole world. The events then
present or soon about to occur, were per
ceived by our Lord to be cases, coming un
der His general supposition and exemplify
ing His general principle ; but overlooking
for the present, these special cases, as sure in
due season to attract the notice, to which
they were entitled and to indicate His Pro
phetic foresight, He passes at once to that
grand Moral lesson, which is by Him design
ed to belong to all times and places.
What reader of the Gospels can forget the
answer returned to the question of a certain
lawyer, who, having received satisfaction on
h Rom. xi. 20. ' Note OO.
K 4

136 SERMON V.
one important point, "willing to justify him-
" self, said" farther " unto Jesus : And who
"is my neighbour?" The beautiful apo
logue of the good Samaritan is the means of
rebuking his captious temper and of com
pelling him to prescribe to himself his own
duty. " Which now of these three, thinkest thou,
" was neighbour unto him that fell among
" the thieves ? And he said : He that shewed
" mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him:
" Go and do thou likewise." In words thus
few and impressive — in a manner thus point
ed, yet full of dignity — did the Author of this
Parable himself explain, apply and enforce its
moral lesson ! It is melancholy to reflect on
the contrast, which other interpretations of
the same Parable have often presented ; on
the low and unworthy associations, which
have debased its incidents — on the cumbrous
load of fancies, which has concealed its real
import !
The Parable of the rich man, whose ground
" brought forth plentifully15" is both preceded
and followed by a plain and unmetaphorical
statement of the lesson, which it was designed
to teach : the introduction to the passage is
couched in the following terms : " Take heed
k St. Luke xii. 15—21.

SERMON V. 137
" and beware of covetousness ; for a man's life
" consisteth not in the abundance ofthe things
" which he possesseth " — and the improve
ment, which follows, is comprehended in one
striking sentence : " So is he that layeth up
" treasure for himself and is not rich towards
" God." The instances, which have now been alleged
from the three earlier Evangelists, will abun
dantly suffice for the purpose I have in view.
The passage of St. John's Gospel, which bears
the strongest resemblance to the Parabolical
portions of the other Gospels, is the former
part of the Tenth chapter of that Gospel ;
although it is to be remarked that the word
there translated Parable is more commonly
rendered Proverb ; and might perhaps lead
us to expect, what we certainly find, less of
distinctness and entireness of narrative in the
illustrations themselves and a greater degree
of intermixture between the figures and the
subject represented by them than we else
where look for or discover in Parables. Of
set and formal Parables indeed, in that limited
sense of the word, in which we have in this
and the preceding Lecture employed it, it
has been already stated that the Gospel of
St. John is destitute. As however the passage
above mentioned may serve to throw light

138 SERMON V.
upon our Saviour's method of interpretation,
it is worth while here to bestow on it some
attention. The Shepherd of the sheep, enter
ing by the door into the fold, readily admitted
by the Porter, and known to all the sheep, as
soon as his voice is heard — was an object fa
miliar to the eye of every inhabitant of Jeru
salem, where regular inclosures for separate
flocks kept ready for sacrifice were under the
superintendence and management of an ap
pointed officer. From this source our Lord
borrowed His illustration ; but finding that
He was not understood, He graciously pro
ceeded to point out a twofold application, of
which His figurative language admitted. " I
" am the door of the sheep — I am the door ;
" by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved
" and shall go in and out and find pasture."
But the second application rises in beauty and
in importance. " I am the good shepherd :
" the good shepherd giveth his life for the
" sheep. I am the good shepherd and know
" my sheep and am known of mine." Taking
the occasion, which this lively image furnished,
He contrasted Himself with thieves and rob
bers and hireling shepherds, who had gone
before Himself, and plainly announced His
own purpose of laying down His life for the
sheep of that fold, whose limits were to be

SERMON V. 139
extended, until for the whole world there
should be onefold and one shepherd. By thus
dividing, He, at the same time, simplified, the
application of the imagery, which He had em
ployed ; whilst by quickly varying that appli
cation, He withdrew the minds of his imme
diate hearers and meant doubtless to with
draw the minds of His followers for ever,
from any over-curious search after some hid
den and mysterious import of His figurative
language. Upon the whole then we may now safely
inquire what ought to be for us the result of
a calm survey of the instances, wherein Jesus
Christ Himself interpreted or applied his
own Parables — whether privately before His
disciples only or in the presence of all His
hearers ? Does His practice encourage the no
tion that He spake Parables, with a view to
cover and conceal His real meaning ? Does He
sanction any expectation of latent predictions,
ultimately to be discovered ; or fix our thoughts
on dark and enigmatical communications, that
may stimulate curiosity but long defy its most
successful efforts ? That some indeed of His
Parables were prophetic, it is impossible to
deny : we have regarded one instance, and as
it were, specimen, as a proof that tHey were
so ; an instance in which, subsequent events

140 SERMON V.
corresponded with His intimations. And it is
as impossible to deny that future events in the
world or in the Church may still arise and
may disclose a Prophetic meaning in passages,
which are not at present held to have that
character. But, even in the instances wherein
a Prophetic design has been discovered, Pro
phecy does not appear to have been the main
and primary object of the Parables : it is
rather subordinate to some great Moral pur
pose, to which both immediate and future
attention was to be awakened and for the
sake of effecting which the texture itself
of the fictitious narrative was framed and
wrought. We are favoured with an exam
ple and a proof of what we may not im
properly call complex wisdom, as often as
we observe that into the substance of Moral
lessons are introduced and, as it were, inter
woven prophetic notices also. Again, when
we are compelled by the instances, which we
have been contemplating, to grant that our
Lord Himself was chiefly intent on drawing
a suitable moral or spiritual lesson, what is
the manner of doing so on His part, which
calls for our notice and imitation ? Does He
dwell on every minute particular of the ima
ginary scene, not content until He has dis
covered for each its own peculiar significance?

SERMON V. 141
The case has been observed to be far other
wise. No verbal niceties, no trifling remarks,
no fanciful interpretations can find either a
justification or an excuse in the example of
our great — our perfect Teacher. His lessons
are occasionally marked by what may be
called a minuteness of detail; but it is a mi
nuteness which proves neither wearisome nor
low. More frequently they are short and em
phatic admonitions, depending on the general
air and combined circumstances of images,
which He has for ever consecrated to the
end of the moral and spiritual improvement
of mankind m.
And now, if our blessed Lord's reason for
speaking in Parables has been satisfactorily
explained and vindicated from some misap
prehensions, to which it has been liable ; and
if a view, confessedly inadequate, yet in any
degree just and accurate, has been taken of
the Parables, which He spake and of His
own method of interpreting them — we may
return, with lowly thankfulness, to the ac
knowledgment, already made, of the good
ness and the wisdom of Him, who has conde
scended to become our Guide and Teacher.
Every word that proceeded out of His mouth,
™ Note PP.

142 SERMON V.
is perceived and felt by us «to be worthy of
the lofty source, to which we ascribe it ; and,
as we advance in the knowledge and the
practice of His moral precepts, we gain a con
tinually increasing confidence in worshipping
Him as " Immanuel — God with us n."
» St. Matt. i. 23.

SERMON VI.

St. Luke xv. 1 and 2.
Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and
sinners for to hear Him. And the Pharisees
and Scribes murmured, saying: This man re
ceiveth sinners and eateth with them.

A HERE were several distinct occasions, on
which the malignant or the mistaken ob
servers of the conduct of our Lord excepted
against Him, on account of His associates;
not indeed His constant and daily compa
nions, but rather those, with whom He some
times and under certain circumstances chose
to hold intercourse. A review of these occa
sions, as they are reported in the Gospel
History, falls in with the design and will fur
ther the end of the present course of Lec
tures ; since it will place before us some of
the most affecting scenes of the ministry of
our Lord and Saviour. In the objections
urged by His enemies; in the methods of

144 SERMON VI.
meeting and removing those objections, adopt
ed by Himself, we shall find matter for much
serious reflection ; and shall discover some in
cidental but striking notices of that Divine
glory, which the lowly condition of His hu
man nature shrouded but did not always nor
entirely conceal.
The first of those occasions, which call for
our present attention, is that of the " great
" feast," which Levi or Matthew, if not im
mediately, at all events soon after his call,
" made" for our Lord " in his own house."
Each of the three earlier Evangelists fur
nishes a narrative of this occurrence". The
differences between their accounts respect
only such nicer touches of the picture as are
historically altogether unimportant, although
to the accurate eye of a fine moral discern
ment by no means uninteresting. Thus St.
Matthew himself, who was at once the host
and the reporter, employs not a single ex
pression, which can, by any possibility, inti
mate to the reader of his Gospel his own
studious care to do honour to his guest ; or
which can convey the remotest hint of hospi
tality conducted on a large and liberal scale.
From St. Luke alone we learn that Levi made
a St. Matt. ix. 9—13. St. Mark ii. 14—17. St. Luke v.
27—32.

SERMON VI. 145
a great feast ; and that the company con
sisted partly of his fellow publicans and partly
of such other guests as were within his reach
and willing to take their places at his board —
those doubtless of the number of his ac
quaintance and neighbours, who were most
respectable at once in station and in charac
ter ; and, who, in the opinion of St. Matthew,
were most likely to derive advantage from
the Instructor, whose call he had himself re
cently obeyed. The Scribes and Pharisees,
indeed, of whom mention is introduced in
connection with this feast, may seem, from
the reports of St. Matthew and St. Mark, to
have been by-standers and spectators only ;
but St. Luke's manner of speaking implies
not improbably that they too were among
the guests and that they were surprised and
annoyed at discovering around them many
individuals of those classes of society, which
were the objects of their well-known aver
sion. " There was a great company of pub-
" Means and *of others, that sat down with
" them ; but the Scribes and Pharisees of
" them" — those of them, that were Scribes
and Pharisees — " murmured b." The terms
of their objection, according to St. Matthew
b Note QQ.
L

146 SERMON VI.
and St. Mark, were as follows : " Why eateth
" your Master — how is it that He eateth,
" with Publicans and sinners ?" whilst St.
Luke reports the objection to have been the
same in substance and addressed, in the same
manner, indirectly to our Lord, through His
disciples, but involving them also, with their
Master, in the censure : " Why do ye eat and
" drink with Publicans and sinners ?" Jesus
overheard what was passing ; and, with the
calm composure of His wonted dignity, re
lieved His disciples by undertaking to return
an answer in behalf both of Himself and
them. He referred His censurers, on this
occasion, to a remarkable passage of the Pro
phet Hosea, from which they might have
learned and ought to have learned how, in
the Divine esteem, moral qualities rank above
ceremonial observances — how great is the su
periority, in God's sight, of the virtues of the
heart over the appointed sacrifices and offer
ings of His own law. St. Mark and St. Luke,
omitting the quotation and its awakening ap
peal, mention only our Saviour's vindication
of Himself — St. Mark, in the identical ex
pressions of St. Matthew, St. Luke, in ex
pressions slightly varying, but equivalent in
force and meaning : " They that are whole

SERMON VI. 147
" need not a Physician ; but they that are
" sick. I am come, not to call the righteous
" but sinners to repentance c."
Such is the language, in which the Son
of God vindicated His conduct from the
blame that had been cast upon it. We can
not but acknowledge that these few words
were well calculated for their primary pur
pose of silencing the cavils of those, in whose
hearing they were uttered ; and that they
were worthy of that care, with which the
Evangelists have preserved and transmitted
them. In and by them, our blessed Lord
declares that the sinners of the race of man
were and for ever will be, the objects of His
merciful regard — that it was in the discharge
of the very duty, which He had undertaken
to perform ; in the execution of the very end
of His mission and ministry, that He entered
into their society, invited and encouraged
them to listen to His instructions and held a
condescending intercourse with them. He is
pleased to illustrate both His principle and
His practice by the analogy of a familiar ex
ample ; and to insist that a Physician might,
with as much propriety, absent himself from
the abodes and disregard the applications and
entreaties of the sick, as Himself withdraw
c Note RR.
l 2

148 SERMON VI.
from the dwellings and shun the conversa
tion, of the sinful. That He spake here in a
tone of irony — that He meant to reflect, with
any degree of sharpness or severity, on those
individuals of the company, in the midst of
which He was, who had called forth His ex
planation and defence — it is not necessary to
suppose. We may indeed well believe that
His penetrating eye detected, in the breasts
of some of those around Him, a secret spirit
of self-satisfaction and self-congratulation, on
a comparison of their own moral condition
with that of others. He undoubtedly beheld
and pitied the mistake of some, who laboured
under a spiritual disease, of which they were
unconscious ; and for which therefore they
neither desired nor sought a remedy. But
He thought fit to administer caution and re
proof indirectly, in order that their gentle
and insinuating- application might prove so
much the more influential*1. He allowed,
for the moment, a contrast to be drawn be
tween the righteous — the morally healthful
— and their brethren, the sinners, the spirit
ually infirm and sick. The former He en
deavoured, by the attraction of His own ex
ample, to gain over to a candid interpretation
of the offences — to an indulgent commise-
d Note SS.

SERMON VI. 149
ration of the circumstances, of their less
happy fellow-creatures. He was aware that
the sympathy, which He strove to awaken,
would gradually and imperceptibly but in
evitably lead to the discovery that they them
selves, partakers of one common nature, were
also sharers of the same sorrows, heirs of the
same imperfection, and liable to the same
errors and failings. He intended that the
distinction, on which He insisted, between
moral purity and legal strictness, should serve
to indicate to those, who were confessedly ir
reproachable in respect of the latter, that
they might still be wanting in the former.
Above all, His plain and open statement of
the express purpose, for which He had come
into the world, was likely to fix the intent
observation of all upon His Person and upon
the office, which He assumed; whilst the
merciful and gracious nature of that avowed
purpose could hardly fail to melt the affec
tions of all hearts towards Him. No hearer
would willingly be excluded from the num
ber of those, whom so exalted an Instructor
had come down from Heaven to teach — whom
so skilful and so benevolent a Physician
sought to heale. Nor was our Lord's method
of reply and of defence suited to His first and
e Note TT.
L 3

150 SERMON VI.
immediate hearers alone. It nearly concerns
all who have learned — all who shall hereafter
learn, His lessons of meekness and of charity:
it is well adapted even to our own case and
may yield warning and instruction to our
selves f. Subdued and softened by the Divine
Redeemer's care for sinners, we are taught
to cherish within our breasts the secret con
sciousness that we too are included in that
number — a consciousness, in itself, indeed
painful and oppressive — yet freed from the
bitter anguish of despondency and rendered
a salutary principle of activity and of amend
ment, by virtue of that disclosure of rich
mercy, from which it takes its origin. We
are admonished that, if we have enjoyed ad
vantages of information and of virtue, above
many of our brethren, it becomes us to make
a thankful acknowledgment of the undeserved
goodness, which alone has caused the differ
ence. Nor can we give a better or a more
decisive proof of our real thankfulness than
by endeavouring to follow, although it must
be at an humble distance, the example of con
descension and of kindness, which our Sa
viour has, in this instance, plainly set before
us. He has shewn that intercourse even with
the bad is a duty, which we owe to them and
f Note UU.

SERMON VI. 151
which we may discharge without injury to
ourselves. Retirement from that world, which
He blessed with His presence and with His
unwearied efforts of benevolence, would im
ply a conceit of our own merits or a super
cilious contempt of our brethren, which He,
by His practice and by His vindication of
that practice, has both discountenanced and
condemned. Still are we ever to carry with
us into society one important caution, of
which our great Exemplar stood in no needg.
The declared purpose of His coming into the
world was to "call sinners to repentance" —
and for the accomplishment of this purpose, He
possessed the high qualifications of freedom
from all taint of sin and of a nature not liable
to its contagion. Our lowlier destiny is to
undergo a course of discipline and of proba
tion, that may repair the ruins of our fallen
state, aid the natural weakness of our moral
powers, and impart to our oft-repeated efforts
the fixedness and constancy of virtuous habits ;
and it is in the fulfilment of this, our own
destiny, that we are, each one of us, in his
proper station, expected and required to con
tribute by our example and our influence,
towards the improvement of our fellow-crea
tures. With a view to their improvement, it
s Note VV.
L 4

152 SERMON VI.
is manifest that we must hold intercourse
with them ; but then only can we carry on
such intercourse profitably to others and with
out disadvantage for ourselves, when we re
member that it is by no means free from
danger. Occasions will arise, when we may
well shudder for our safety ; nor among the
least perilous will be those, into which we
may have been led by a sincere and honest
desire to do good ; and upon which we may
have entered with a firm resolution to main
tain our own principles. From occasions of
this sort it will be the part of prudence some
times to retire, lest our own weakness, mistaken
for the call of duty, expose us unnecessarily
to " the wicked, who lay wait, as he that set-
" teth snares, who set a trap and catch men h."
But if escape from the position of danger be
impossible ; if the retreat, which prudence re
commends, be not practicable ; then may we
hope to be secure from injury, even in the
midst of danger; and one of the best means of
security we shall find in a steady and devout
contemplation of our Lord and Saviour,
holding intercourse with sinners for their
welfare, and never, for one moment, unmind
ful, in their company, of the sole end, which
He proposed. His holy example, thus sea-
h Jer. v. 26.

SERMON VI. 153
sonably present to our minds, will exert a pow
erful influence ; and will, moreover, prompt
an earnest prayer, which He will vouchsafe to
hear and answer, that His "grace may be suf-
" ficient for us — that His strength may be
" made perfect in our weakness'."
The second of those occasions, which are to
be considered in the present Lecture, is re
corded by St. Luke alone in the Seventh chap
ter of his Gospel. We there read that an enter
tainment was given to our Lord in the house
of a Pharisee, named Simon, and that " a wo-
" man in the city, which was a sinner, when
" she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pha-
" risee's house, brought an alabaster box of
" ointment " and bestowed its contents on the
person of our Redeemer, with every accompa
nying action that could signify her sense of
guilt, her hope of pardon and her reverence
for His character and office. Before Him she
felt that her sins were open, without her own
confession ; and from Him, without any words
of prayer, she implored their forgiveness. The
thoughts of the Pharisee went to disparage
not so much the moral purity as the prophetic
discernment of his guest. He deemed the
woman unworthy of the reception, with which
she had been indulged ; and was ready to con-
1 2 Cor. xii. 9.

154 SERMON VI.
elude that he had himself overrated the skill
and penetration of the Teacher, whom he had
evidently already learned to regard as inspired.
" This man, if he were a Prophet, would have
" known who and what manner of woman
" this is that toucheth him ; for she is a sin-
" ner." Such was the reflection, which Simon
probably owned to have been passing in his
mind, after he had been astonished by the
proof, which our Lord immediately gave, of
its injustice and error. Of that proof it is for
us extremely difficult to conceive any thing
like the full force and value, when it was at
first afforded. Who indeed, even then, could
duly estimate it, save the Pharisee himself, to
whom our Saviour spake ? By the answer
returned to his own unuttered reasonings ;
by the exposure of his inmost thoughts, he
must have been instantaneously persuaded
that himself — his guests — and " the woman,
" which was a sinner" — were all alike open to
the inspection of a Teacher, who was truly
inspired — of One, who was indeed a Pro
phet. " Jesus answering said unto him : SimOn,
" I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he
" saith : Master, say on. There was a certain
" creditor, which had two debtors, the one
" owed five hundred pence and the other fifty.

SERMON VI. 155
" And when they had nothing to pay, he
" frankly forgave them both. Tell me there-
" fore which of them will love him most ?
" Simon answered and said : I suppose that he,
" to whom he forgave most. And He said
" unto him : Thou hast rightly judged. And
" He turned to the woman and said unto Si-
" mon : Seest thou this woman ? I entered
" into thine house : thou gavest me no water
" for my feet ; but she hath washed my feet
" with tears and wiped them with the hairs
" of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss ; but
" this woman, since the time I came in, hath
" not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with
" oil thou didst not anoint ; but this wo-
" man hath anointed my feet with ointment.
" Wherefore I say unto thee : Her sins, which
" are many, are forgiven ; for she loved much ;
" but to whom little is forgiven, the same
" loveth little."
This passage has a deep pathos and an ex
quisite tenderness, scarcely elsewhere equal
led, certainly nowhere surpassed, even in the
Sacred Volume. The felicity of the intro
duction, which is courteous, yet awakening ;
the appositeness of the imaginary case, put
in the Parable ; its irresistible force, which
at once drew forth from the Pharisee him
self the intended moral; — these circum-

156 SERMON VI.
stances, in themselves highly interesting, yet
fall far short, in effect and moving influence,
of the incidents that follow. With mild
aspect turned towards the woman, whom
Simon had harshly judged, our Saviour
solicited the attention of His host ; and by
means of a contrast, consisting of a series of
particulars rising one above another in beauty
both of conception and of language, did am
ple justice to the proofs which she had af
forded, of repentance and of grateful affec
tion ; and so defended His own acceptance of
her respectful offices of zeal and kindness. —
No longer could the Pharisee entertain a
doubt respecting our Lord's perfect know
ledge " who and what manner of woman she
" was " that had approached His Person. It
was in the very character of a large debtor to
Almighty God — of a grievous sinner — that
she had received the encouragement, of which
Simon had deemed her, by reason of that cha
racter, to be unworthy ; but to the intuition
of Jesus Christ was open also that " broken
" and contrite heart," of which Simon could
perceive only such outward tokens as might to
any but the all-seeing eye prove deceitful.
When Jesus said unto her : " Thy sins are
" forgiven : — Thy faith hath saved thee : Go
" in peace " — the same astonishment, which

SERMON VI. 157
had been excited by His use of the same lan
guage, on an occasion already noticed in a
preceding Lecture, was again renewed ; and
" they that sat at meat with Him began to say
" within themselves : Who is this that for-
" giveth sins also ?" — In attempting to return
a satisfactory answer to this question, Simon
and his guests were undoubtedly beset with
many difficulties, of which we are unconscious.
By ourselves may be clearly discerned, in the
Person of our Lord and Saviour, that High
and Holy Being, against whom the sins of
men are committed ; and to whom the debt
ors of five hundred and of fifty pence are alike
accountable ; nor is it until the whole trans
action has been illustrated by the light, which
the doctrine of the Divine nature of Jesus
Christ throws over it, that its true purport
can be fully apprehended or its practical use
fulness be duly felt and experienced k.
The occasion, which I shall notice as third
in order of this Discourse (without reference
to order of time, which is immaterial to my
purpose) is, like the last, furnished by St.
Luke only. It is that, on which a man,
named Zaccheus, a chief among the Publi
cans, who was rich, " received our Lord joy-
" fully1." Among the attending crowd, which
k Note WW. ' St. Luke xix. 2-10.

158 SERMON VI.
was evidently great, the result of our Savi
our's unsolicited proposal to visit the house
of Zaccheus and of His immediate execution
of His gracious design, was a general mur
mur of disapprobation and dissatisfaction.
" And when they saw it, they all murmured,
" saying that He was gone to be guest with
" a man that is a sinner." There is much
reason to believe that the sinister representa
tion thus given of the character of Zaccheus
was owing to prejudice against the order of
men, to which he belonged. It was a hasty
and inconsiderate application of that sweep
ing censure, which, however natural and even
just it might be with regard to the whole
class, was yet not fit to be pronounced in
discriminately of all the individuals of that
class. Widely different were the principles,
on which Jesus Christ formed His estimate
of character and conduct ; and Zaccheus was,
in this instance, happy in being subjected to
a scrutiny, which adverted to all the pro
prieties of his especial case. Of that exact
scrutiny however he was not aware, until
he heard the unexpected summons : " Zac-
" cheus, make haste and come down ; for to
" day / must abide at thy house." Unable to
catch a sight of Jesus passing, " for the press,
" because he was little of stature," he had

SERMON VI. 159
run before and climbed up into a sycamore
tree. What then must have been his amaze
ment — how strong the emotions of his bosom,
when he heard the voice of Jesus calling
him by name and accompanying the call with
an anticipation of his wishes and with a free
and spontaneous offer to gratify and more
than gratify, his fondest hopes of " seeing
" Jesus, who He was !" " To day I must
" abide at thy house." " Welcome but mys-
" terious words !" (so may we interpret the
Publican's secret thought) " What is that
" necessity, of which Thou speakest ? What
" necessity in this case can there be, save
" that which is created by Thy overflowing
" goodness — by Thy intention of meeting
" and of fulfilling my earnest desires — and
" of bringing even to my house those glad
" tidings of salvation, of whose messenger I
" ventured to seek only a passing and a dis-
" tant view ?" Zaccheus, by stating probably
his practice in time past rather than his re
solution for the future, called forth the ap
probation and the blessing of his illustrious
guest :
" Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I
" give to the poor ; and if I have taken any
" thing from any man, by false accusation" —
if in the discharge of my official duties, I am

160 SERMON VI.
misled by the false information of my de
pendents — "I restore him four-fold m." "And
" Jesus said unto him : This day is salvation
" come to this house ; forsomuch as he also
" is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man
" is come to seek and to save that which was
" lost." This address was doubtless uttered in the
hearing of many, who had cast unmerited
reflections on Zaccheus. It intimates that
there had been nothing in the employment
of a Publican to forfeit for him that com
mon privilege of the children of Abraham,
of which the Scribes and Pharisees were apt
to boast ; it announces a general purpose of
loving-kindness and of mercy, within which
all orders and all individuals of the human
race are for ever to be included.
There still remains to be noticed a fourth
occasion, on which the Scribes and Pharisees
urged an objection against our Lord, on the
ground of receiving sinners and eating with
them. It occurred before that one, which has
just been considered ; but is purposely taken
last in order, for the convenience of devoting
the conclusion of this Lecture to an exami
nation of those Parables, by which Jesus met
" Note XX.

SERMON VI. 161
and answered the murmuring complaints of
unfair and prejudiced judges of His con
duct. Of this occasion also we gain our know
ledge from St. Luke alone, who, in the words
of the text, informs us that " then drew near
" unto Him all the Publicans and sinners
" for to hear Him. And the Pharisees and
" Scribes murmured, saying : This man re-
" ceiveth sinners and eateth with them n."
It appears that, without other explanation
or defence, our Lord at once delivered a se
ries of three Parables, for His own vindica
tion and for the reproof of His adversaries.
And of these Parables it will scarcely be de
nied that, by reason of their clearness, ap
propriateness and force, they were eminently
calculated to serve His two-fold purpose. A
review of them will contribute towards the
farther elucidation of those principles of in
terpretation, which have been deduced from
our Lord's own practice ; and will thus con
firm the account that has been already given
of the general and main design of the Para
bles of the New Testament.
The first of the three is that of the lost
sheep ". The imagery of this Parable is fami
liar to every reader of Holy Scripture, in
" St. Luke xv. 1,2. ° Ver. 3—7.
M

162 SERMON VI.
various portions of which it is beautifully
employed. Our Saviour is recorded to have
borrowed from it several touching illustra
tions ; and in one passage of St. Matthew's
Gospel p, it appears in the form of a perfect
Parable. In the same form, but as uttered
on a distinct occasion, St. Luke here repre
sents Christ to have used the same imagery,
and to have introduced.it with the suitable
language of personal appeal to the hearts of
His hearers : " What man of you" — which of
yourselves — " having an hundred sheep" — ?
The Shepherd's anxiety for the lost sheep —
His perseverance in the search after it — his
care to lay the wanderer, either worn with
fatigue or in danger of going astray yet again,
upon his shoulders — his secret joy on his
homeward journey — and the increase of that
joy, among his friends and neighbours, after
his arrival at the fold — all these details disap
pear from the application, for which however
they prepare the way and of which they also
heighten the effect : " I say unto you that
" likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sin-
" ner, that repenteth, more than over ninety
" and nine just persons, which need no re-
" pentance." It is to be lamented that out of this affect-
P St. Matt, xviii. 12 — 14.

SERMON VI. 163
ing application irrelevant and unprofitable
discussions have sometimes arisen. It has
been asked whom our Lord meant by the
ninety and nine sheep that remained secure
within the fold; whether or not among the
sons of Adam are to be found those just per
sons, who are pronounced by Him to need no
repentance ; and how it has happened that
He intimates so great a disproportion of num
bers as that of ninety-nine to one; and as
cribes to the shepherd a livelier joy, on the
recovery of that one than in the safety of the
rest ? The proper answer to these and all si
milar questions is that our blessed Lord de
signed not to settle nor even to allude to them.
Because the Parable is constructed in agree
ment with that condition of our finite nature,
which permits not more engrossing objects
than one to be entertained at the same time,
we are not therefore to conclude that any
part of its intended lesson depends upon cir
cumstances inseparable from such structure.
It is enough for us to know, on our Saviour's
own authority, that all who stand in need of
repentance are indicated by the lost and wan
dering sheep; and that for the purpose of
recalling them to safety and happiness His
Parable was spoken ; since by its means, He
not only explained and defended the inter-
m 2

164 SERMON VI.
course which He actually held with sinners
but also proclaimed His everlasting concern
for the disobedient and the wilful. What
ever may be believed or imagined respecting
other beings, under God's moral government
— whether among creatures of a rank and
order similar to our own or belonging to some
higher department of the universal dominion
of the Father of all, there exist those, who
may be denoted by the sheep, that have never
left the fold — that have enjoyed, because they
have deserved, the uniform and unabated love
of the Heavenly Shepherd — whatever may be
determined on such points as these, we, at all
events, must feel — or if we do not yet feel,
we must, sooner or later, be brought to the
wholesome, although painful, feeling that " all
" we like sheep have gone astray ; we have
" turned every one to his own wayq."
The following Parable of the woman having
" ten pieces of silver and losing one of them1,"
by an agreeable variety of illustration, accom
plishes the same ends of vindicating our Sa
viour, and of unfolding the riches of the
Divine mercy, which His intercourse with
sinners was meant to display. By the cir
cumstances of lighting a candle, of sweeping
the house and of seeking diligently, our in-
q Note YY. ' St. Luke xv. 8—10.

SERMON VI. 165
terest and sympathy in favour of the woman
are awakened ; and when we have entered
into that joy, which induced her to call her
friends and neighbours together, we listen
once more to the welcome words : " Likewise,
" I say unto you, there is joy in the presence
" of the angels of God over one sinner that
" repenteth." Again we hear, nearly in the
same terms as before, the glad assurance
for all sinners, that their recovery diffuses,
through the regions of Heaven, a joy, aptly
shadowed forth, although inadequately repre
sented, by the strong feeling pictured in the
Parable; and of this assurance we acknowledge
the full value, when we reflect that we owe it
to the lips of Him, who, having " come from
" Heaven, testifieth" concerning heavenly
things " what He hath seen and heard8."
In the preceding instances we have found
that the irrational animal and the inanimate
drachma hold their proper places ; still with
that decorum, which ever marks the Parables
of the Son of God, and which consists in absti
nence from a frequent practice of the most re
nowned Teachers by Parable, the practice of
ascribing the speech or the actions of man to
inferior beings or lifeless objects. But in the
third instance, which now claims our notice',
s St. John iii. 31, 32. ' St. Luke xv. 11—32.
M 3

166 SERMON VI.
our Lord passes altogether into the pro
vince of human sentiments and human be
haviour. The Parable of the Prodigal Son may well
be called a wonderful passage of the Holy
Gospels. It has been left by its Author,
without one word of comment or of reflec
tion, to produce its own effect and make its
own impression. Touching, as it does, the
finest chords of those feelings, which belong to
the parental and the filial relations, it utters,
in tones that none can refuse to hear, the
welcome tidings of the compassion of our
Heavenly Father. The main purpose here,
as in the former cases, undoubtedly is to jus
tify our Saviour's practice and to shew how
well calculated that practice was to illustrate
and to magnify the Divine Mercy towards
the most ungrateful and grievous sinners.
Accordingly, a domestic scene is laid, which,
alas ! too often finds its sad resemblance in
the world of real life around us. The younger
son of a disappointed Father, wilful, way
ward and wasteful, is permitted to follow the
bent of his own inclinations, until hardships
and misfortune bring leisure for cool reflec
tion and bitter regret for his misconduct.
Sorrow gives birth to a resolution to return,
in the guise and with the language of an

SERMON VI. 167
humble suppliant, to that home, which he
had wantonly abandoned. He is met by a
father, whose love had never failed and whose
eye had followed him even in his wanderings ;
welcomed with warm affection ; and treated
with such open and public demonstrations of
joy as the uniform duty and steady obedience
of the firstborn of the family had never called
forth. The elder son — his absence in the
field — the communication made to him of his
brother's return — his momentary anger — his
respectful, yet querulous expostulation — all
these are circumstances, true to nature and
warranted by experience — finely imagined
and exquisitely put, with a view to heighten
the effect of the reception given to the
returning Prodigal. They are incidental
only ; they have their use, which however is
but subordinate ; by dwelling on them, as if
they were designed to teach any important
truths, we shall be diverted from the scope
and purport of the whole Parable. If any
where, in the wide extent of the family of
God, there be found sons, who have not
neglected their own duty nor failed to fulfil
their Almighty Father's purposes, they are
to remember that their case is not injuriously
affected by the merciful mode of dealing
adopted towards the sinners of our race.
m 4

168 SERMON VI.
" Son, thou art ever with me and all that I
" have is thine." We are rather concerned in
that abounding goodness, which declares : " It
" was meet that we should make merry and
" be glad ; for this thy brother was dead and
" is alive again ; and was lost and is found."
In the Father's watchful eye, eagerly catching
the first distant glimpse of his son's return ;
in the same Father's readiness to interpret
the act of return into a sufficient evidence
of sincere repentance — are to us set forth
and represented the favourable regards of
our Father, which is in Heaven, towards our
selves, His disobedient and unthankful chil
dren. When, from bitter experience, we have
learned the unsatisfactory nature of those
earthly pleasures, which first tempted us to
abandon the shelter of God's house and ser
vice ; — when vexation and suffering have ren
dered distasteful sources of enjoyment, which
we had fondly hoped to find always fresh and
for ever unfailing ; — when excess of indulgence
has deprived us of the means of farther gra
tification or robbed us of that keen sensi
bility, to the preservation of which a true
relish for the best blessings of life is owing; 
even then may we betake ourselves into the
presence of God with hope and confidence.
We may be assured that He will " receive us

SERMON VI. 169
" graciously u." In every instance of our Sa
viour's condescending intercourse with sin
ners, we are encouraged to perceive a proof
that He came expressly to fulfil the purpose
of His and our Father, by recovering His
lost children, by restoring them to the privi
leges of His house and their inheritance — by
diffusing, through the courts of heaven and
among the hosts of angels, a joy, that may be
figuratively represented but must be inade
quately described, by the purest and the
strongest emotions, of the human breast.
With reluctance I observe that in the case
of this Parable, as in that of the lost sheep,
curious speculation has often been busily and
as often unprofitably employed. Without tak
ing notice of expositions, applications and in
ferences, which a profound reverence for the
Sacred Word must incline every sincere be
liever to pass over in silence, I will content
myself with remarking that there has been
among Commentators a very general agree
ment that our Lord, whatever may have been
His primary and principal object, does, at all
events, in this passage, anticipate the future
preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles ; and
the animosity that would thus be excited
u Hosea xiv. 2.

170 SERMON VI.
among the chosen race of Israel. In this
view — in an application or improvement of
the passage for such a purpose — it may be
allowed that there is nothing materially
wrong — nothing worthy of serious blame or
likely to be productive of serious mischief x.
I will however venture to suggest a doubt
whether such a view as this would ever have
occurred, if it had not been for associations,
which other plain passages of our Saviour's
teaching, wherein reference is undeniably
made to the rejection of the Jews and the
call of the Gentiles, have supplied. It would
seem to have no proper place here and is in
danger of withdrawing attention from those
sublime disclosures of Infinite Mercy, which
God Incarnate has been pleased, in this
passage of His teaching, to open to man
kind. Whenever we step beyond the strict
line of interpretation, which He has clearly
marked out for us, we stand in need of being
controlled by a salutary recollection that His
benign communications were not granted to
furnish occasion for our fond disputes or idle
fancies ; nor can we be sufficiently thankful
that, in the pages of the Holy Gospels, those
communications remain for us in their in-
x Note ZZ.

SERMON VI. 171
tegrity and that they will for ever remain,
the means, if we rightly understand and use
them, of impressing on our memory and on
our hearts a just and lively image of the
Friend of sinners.

SERMON VII

St. Matthew xix. 16.
And, behold, one came and said unto Him : Good
Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may
have eternal life f

IN a preceding Lecture it was observed that
our Lord was always easy of access to His
disciples and ever ready to comply with their
requests for a fuller knowledge or a clearer
illustration of His doctrine than He was
pleased to give to the generality of His
hearers. The Gospel History farther shews
that He was not difficult of approach for
any, who sought religious instruction and
guidance with sincerity and earnestness of
mind or under circumstances which afforded
a fair opportunity of delivering, for the edifi
cation of themselves and of others, the plain
and direct precepts of the Divine Law. The
mixture with better motives of some desire to
explore His wisdom and to try His preten-

SERMON VII. 173
sions to the character and office of a Teacher
sent from God, by the test of the correspond
ence of His principles and rules with the de
clared will of God — is not found to have hin
dered Him from granting, on certain occa
sions, a decisive and satisfactory answer to
such as approached and questioned Him.
An instance occurs in the case of that
Lawyer, of whom St. Luke makes mention, as
having stood up and tempted Him, by asking :
" Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal
" life3?" Theproposer ofthe question was refer
red to the Law, with which he was courteously
presumed to be already familiar ; and, when
he had drawn from its provisions and enact
ments a brief summary of Morals, that did
credit alike to his judgment and to his feel
ings, He received such authoritative appro
bation, command and promise as became an
Inspired interpreter alone ; and as best be
fitted the Author and Giver of the Law, so
interpreted and enforced. " Thou hast an-
" swered right : this do and thou shalt live."
The lawyer's farther question, which he is
reported to have asked from a wish to justify
himself — a wish at the least implying that
his attention had been arrested and his curi
osity to hear more from our Saviour's lips
a St. Luke x. 25.

174 SERMON VII.
had been awakened — drew forth that Parable
of the good Samaritan, concerning the imme
diate effect of which we learn nothing ; but
of which we cannot believe that it proved
altogether unprofitable even for him, to whom
it was primarily addressed.
St. Matthew and St. Mark agree in relating
another instance similar to that, which has
been recorded by St. Lukeb. When our Lord
had by His skill disappointed the malicious
intent of the combined Pharisees and Hero-
dians ; when, by the few words of His pure
and simple statement, He had cleared His
doctrine of the resurrection from those mists
of error, which the gross conceptions of the
Sadducees threw around the whole subject of
a future state ; when He had traced their
grievous mistake to its true sources — an igno
rance of the Scriptures and a forgetfulness of
the power of God — pointing, at the same time,
to a passage in those Sacred Writings, which
themselves acknowledged, where they might
discover the reality of a world of spirits ; and
intimating that the Divine power could be at
no loss to accomplish whatever the nature and
purposes of that world might require ; it was
when our Lord had thus signally triumphed
over the arts of insidious adversaries and the
b St. Matt. xxii. 35 ; St. Mark xii. 28.

SERMON VII. 175
imagined difficulties of men of corrupt minds
that "the multitude were astonished" and
that from " certain" of the Scribes was extorted
an acknowledgment : " Master, thou hast well
" said." Nor " durst they," as a body or in ge
neral, "after that, ask him any question at
" allc." One however of their number — a
Scribe — having probably a juster reliance than
the rest on the goodness and condescension of
the Teacher, whose success in reasoning with
the Sadducees they had all admired ; but still
himself also influenced partly by a desire to
put the skill, of which he had witnessed the
display, to a farther trial, came forward and
asked : " Master, which is the great command-
" ment in the law ?" " Which is the first com-
" mandment of all ?" The answer returned to
this inquiry was direct and express, consisting
of a Summary, in all respects, similar to that,
which, when it was uttered by another, our
Lord approved and sanctioned. It was by
the Scribe declared to be in perfect harmony
with his own persuasions ; and of him our Sa
viour's voice pronounced : " Thou art not far
" from the Kingdom of God. And no man" —
not an individual, " after that, durst ask Him
" any question d." On the contrary, He availed
Himself of the occasion of becoming, in His
c St. Luke xx. 40. d St. Mark xii. 34.

176 SERMON VII.
turn, the questioner; and of reducing the Pha
risees to a difficulty, from which they found it
impossible to extricate themselves— a diffi
culty, the feeling of which was calculated to
render them outwardly at least somewhat
humbler and more modest than they were ac
customed to appear. Unable to reconcile the
language of David in the Psalms with their ex
pectation of the Messiah's descent from David,
they were afraid of risking any answer ; and
desisted from farther attempts to annoy by dis
putes and cavils Him, whom they discovered to
be equally well armed for His own defence and
for their defeat. We may imagine that the
greater number of them withdrew from His pre
sence in an irritated temper of mind — under
the influence of dissatisfaction with themselves
andof anger against their calm Rebuker — vexa
tious and stinging feelings, which probably led
many of them to take part in the murderous
machinations, that soon afterwards seemed to
be successful. Some however would still remain
within hearing, when, " in the audience of all
" the people," He addressed " to His disciples"
an emphatic warning against the Scribes, on
account of their ambition and hypocrisy ; and
presently afterwards speaking to the multitude
and to His disciples, pronounced that Dis
course of severe reproof and terrible denunci-

SERMON VII. 177
ation, which is contained in the Twenty-third
chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. In that
awful chapter appear to be brought together
and in one continued series repeated, all the
reproofs, expostulations and threatenings,
which the Scribes and Pharisees provoked
our merciful Redeemer, through the whole
course of His ministry, to utter. The desola
tion, foretold and anticipated, is that very
ruin, which Moses from a remote distance saw,
as the final event of the fortunes of a nation,
that was to be privileged above others but
would prove " void of counsel" and destitute
of " understanding6." We are however made
to feel and to confess that a Prophet, greater
than Moses is here. The figure of " an eagle,
" stirring up her nest, fluttering over her
" young, spreading abroad her wings, taking
" them, bearing them on her wings f" — is the
illustration, which Moses employs to set forth
the Providential care and guidance of Jeho
vah — the only Lord of Israel ; but it is to
Himself that our Saviour Christ appropri
ates an illustrative description of the same
Divine Providence, fraught with yet tenderer
associations : " How often would /have gather-
u ed thy children together, even as a hen
e Deut. xxxii. 28. l Deut. xxxii. 11,
N

178 SERMON VII.
" gathereth her chickens under her wings —
" and ye would nots !"
In the two instances of our Saviour's reply
to inquirers after the import of the Divine
Law and the way to eternal life, which have
now been considered, we have been led to ob
serve His discernment of the motives of those,
who approached Him ; His gracious approval
of whatever was good, His condescending al
lowance for what was still imperfect, and
above all, His readiness to impart those les
sons of religious wisdom, which all His hear
ers and His followers for ever might apply to
practice. To ourselves is the Moral law re
commended in the terms of that comprehen
sive summary, which he in the one instance
authoritatively sanctioned, and in the other
plainly stated and declared. On our hearts
and consciences are its precepts enforced by
His injunction and promise. That we may
obey His injunction and gain the fulfilment
of His promise, He has vouchsafed to grant
the ministry and the ordinances of His Church
and, through them, by His Father's gift and
at His own intercession, the effectual aid of
the Holy Spirit.
A third instance of application to our
Lord, on the part of one, who was not of
s St. Matt, xxiii. 37.

SERMON VII. 179
the number of His disciples, is in some re
spects not unlike the two, which have been
already noticed. It is certainly not less suit
ed than they are to the purpose of unfolding
our blessed Saviour's manner of teaching;
and of setting before us that union, in His
case, of high endowments and qualities, which
is elsewhere unexampled ; and which, being
in harmony with His Divine nature, is not
well reconcilable with any lower supposition
concerning Him. I allude to the case of that
young ruler, of whom St. Matthew, St. Mark
and St. Luke h all furnish us with a detailed
narrative. The circumstances will be best
learned from a comparison of the three ac
counts ; of which that of St. Mark would
seem to be the fullest and the most accu
rate. This event happened on the return of
Jesus Christ towards Jerusalem from His
last journey of beneficence through the coun
try on the eastern side of the river Jordan.
It is St. Matthew who mentions the age of
the applicant, for, at the close of his narra
tive, he speaks of him, as a young man. St.
Luke incidentally adds the particular of his
rank and consideration among his country
men, introducing him to the notice of his
h St. Matt. xix. 16. St. Mark x. 17. St. Luke xviii. 18.
N 2

180 SERMON VII.
readers under the name of " a Ruler" — a name
probably equivalent to the title of " Ruler of
" the synagogue," which occurs elsewhere in
the New Testament and denotes a condition
of high respectability among the Jews of our
Saviour's day. His wealth is both implied
and openly stated by each of the Evangelists.
St. Mark, indirectly and by the becoming ac
tivity and eagerness of youth, sets before us
that season of life, which St. Matthew has ex
pressly mentioned : " There came one run-
" ning." The posture, into which he threw
himself in the presence of Jesus and the
form of salutation, which he used, indicated
a most hopeful temper of teachableness and
humility : " He kneeled to Him and asked
" Him : Good Master, what shall I do that I
" may inherit eternal life ?" The question
proposed was the most momentous of all
questions that could possibly be asked. For
tunately for the young Ruler, it was, on this
occasion, addressed to an Instructor, whose
knowledge and whose goodness ensured a
satisfactory answer. Our Saviour's eye seems
from the first to have detected in the youth
who knelt before Him, the imperfection of
views and of character, which was yet con
sistent with a sincere desire of information
and guidance. He was aware that He had

SERMON VII. 181
Himself been approached only as a human
Teacher, entitled above others to profound
respect and implicit confidence. Of His Di
vine nature this applicant neither had nor
could reasonably be expected to have, any
clear notion. The compassionate Redeemer
seized the opportunity, too precious in His
account to be neglected, of conveying such
instruction and admonition as His hearer
could well bear. Receiving therefore the
address in the sense, in which it had been
offered, and disclaiming even for Himself the
title of " Good Master," He appears to have
intended, by the happiest art of insinuation
and by an indirect method, which could in
flict no wound on the most sensitive mind,
to correct the fault and amend the imperfec
tion, which He discerned. The young Ruler
was evidently possessed of a somewhat high
opinion of his own virtue and goodness — an
opinion too agreeable and too fondly cherish
ed to be at once surrendered, if an open at
tempt were made to expose its vanity and
emptiness ; yet was the Moral Teacher, whose
assistance he implored, under an absolute ne
cessity of endeavouring to remove so serious
an obstacle in the way of improvement. With
an union of kindness and of prudence ad
mirably calculated to insure success — in a
n 3

182 SERMON VII.
manner, surprising, yet easy and felicitous,
the attempt, in its own nature difficult and
full of hazard, was at once made. " Jesus
" said unto him : Why callest thou me good?
u There is none good but one, that is, God1."
We can readily imagine the train of profit
able reflection, likely to be occasioned by
this unexpected rejoinder. The Ruler's fa
vourable estimate (an estimate naturally be
longing to his years k) of his fellow creatures
and of himself fully justified the epithet,
which he had employed in addressing our
Saviour. The fame of the miracles and of
the Discourses of the great Prophet, who was
now drawing near to the close of His short
but wonderful career, had reached the ears
and had produced a deep impression on the
mind and heart of one, who is, in this in
stance, found gladly and eagerly to have
embraced what was probably for him the
earliest opportunity of personal intercourse
and actual observation. Nor can we doubt
that, on his near approach, our Lord's de
portment and language confirmed every pre
vious sentiment of respect and reverence.
" Do I not here see" (thus he must have been
inclined to ask) " a man more worthy of
" being called good than any other of the
' Note AAA. k Note BBB.

SERMON VII. 183
" sons of men, whom I have ever beheld ?
" Yet even He rejects the title ; and on a
" principle of universal application, which re-
" quires that the same title be withheld from
" every individual of the human race."
Could he do otherwise than pass from
thoughts like these to a reflection on his own
case — to an examination of his own hitherto
undisputed, and, as he supposed, indisput
able, pretensions to a name, which he was now
charged with having inconsiderately applied?
Thus might he be gently and gradually led
to discover that he had been in the habit of
overrating his own merits. Thus might he
learn to distrust the accuracy of that report
of his moral and religious character, which
the voice of society, seconding his own desire
to be on good terms with himself, had loudly
and confidently given. An acknowledgment
of the possibility that he might have been
misled or mistaken with regard to himself
was, in his case, the first, the indispensable
step towards improvement; and it was the
natural tendency of the language which he
had heard to carry him thus far. Here then
we are called to admire a display of the same
goodness and wisdom, which have been al
ready observed in connection with the me-
n 4

184 SERMON VIL
thod of teaching by Parables. For the ac
complishment of His gracious purposes of
softening unpalatable truths and of convey
ing salutary lessons of reproof, our blessed
Lord was by no means limited to that par
ticular method. Besides metaphor, allegory
and Parable, He had at His command, and
employed, whenever He saw fit, other effica
cious means of winning attention, of fixing
thoughts too prone to wander, and of in
sinuating instruction, that might otherwise
fail of its effect. In the conspicuous instance
now before us, He overlooked His own real
dignity and glory : having been accosted as
man, He was pleased to reply as man; and
so laid down a general principle, of which He
left the easy and obvious, but important, ap
plication to His hearers, and especially to that
one hearer, who was principally concerned.
The passage, thus understood, presents not a
shadow of inconsistency with the doctrine of
our Lord's proper Divinity. For Himself He
disclaimed the title of good, only when that
title was given and applied by one, who ap
proached and regarded Him, as man; and
for whose seasonable admonition the dis
claimer was as benevolently intended as it
was wisely accommodated. For Himself, as

SERMON VII. 185
God, He, on His own expressly stated prin
ciple, reserved both that and every other title,
which of right belongs to God1.
Having thus gently, yet effectually pre
pared the way, Jesus proceeded to furnish
that instruction, which had been respectfully
solicited and which He perceived to be
honestly and sincerely desired. To the ques
tion : " What shall I do that I may inherit
" eternal life ?" the plain answer was re
turned : " If thou wilt enter into life, keep
" the commandments." Anxious to under
stand the right meaning of the precept and
apparently expecting to hear of some pecu
liar strictness of rule — some characteristic
observance, which he had persuaded himself
to believe that he was ready at any cost of
labour or of expence to adopt and practise,
the Ruler inquired : " Which command-
" ments ? of what sort or class of command-
" ments dost thou speak ?" Again probably
was the answer widely different from that
which had been anticipated. " Thou knowest
" the commandments. Do not commit adul-
" tery — Do not kill — Do not steal — Do not
" bear false witness — Defraud not — Honour
" thy father and mother." Or, in one short
sentence, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
i Note CCC.

186 SERMON VII.
" thyself." A kind and conciliatory spirit
similar to that, already in a former instance
noticed, was shewn in the assumption here
made of a previous acquaintance with the
Moral law on the part of this new disciple ;
but without dwelling on this feature of the
narrative, I pass at once to a remark, which
is more appropriate to the purpose of the pre
sent Lectures. We may here perceive the
tokens of a sublime simplicity, which we can
not but confess to be worthy of a Divine In
structor. There was nothing, in the terms
of our Lord's answer, to astonish and, by
astonishing, to gratify and engage the mind
of a promising convert. There was no at
tempt, by novelty of system or by the pro
posal of some untried expedient, to dazzle
his sight or to entertain his imagination. All
was stated to be beforehand well known ; all
was plain and practical. Unlike the wise
men and the philosophers of this world,
Jesus " sought not His own glory but the
"glory of Him that sent Himm" — of His
heavenly Father, whose laws He emphati
cally repeated and strongly enforced, with no
other end in view than that, for the glory of
God and the welfare of mankind, they might
m St. John vii. 18.

SERMON VII. 187
be remembered, understood and obeyed. The
commandments of the Second Table were, in
the first place, enumerated: nor without good
reason ; since the outward conduct in social
intercourse and daily life, which they are de
signed to regulate, furnishes the most ob
vious and the readiest indications of charac
ter ; and therefore fitly becomes the earliest
subject of inquiry for one, who would se
riously enter upon the work of self-examina
tion. The discovery of any open dereliction
of duty in these instances — of any one per
mitted sin — warrants and indeed calls for, a
sentence of condemnation against ourselves ;
and " if our heart condemn us, God is greater
" than our heart and knoweth all things11 ;"
if our own deliberate judgment of our cha
racter and conduct be unfavourable, we may
be assured that the all-seeing God, who has
made conscience, in some sort, His represen
tative within our bosoms, will ratify that sen
tence. It does not appear that he, whose
case we are considering, had reason to charge
himself with immoral conduct — much less
with an allowed and habitual course of sin.
His reply was ingenuous and expressive of an
honest and well-grounded confidence : " And
" he answered and said unto Jesus ; Master,
n 1 John iii. 20.

188 SERMON VII.
" all these have I observed from my youth.
" Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him."
The latter words, which we read in St. Mark's
narrative alone, imply that our Lord, in fix
ing on the youthful Ruler a steadfast eye of
interest and of affection, beheld the happy
results of sound instruction and of a careful
and judicious course of moral and religious
training. These results were, in His view,
lovely ; and by causing His exalted testimony
in their favour to be recorded in the Gospel
History, He has for ever encouraged the na
tural guardians and guides of youth to spare
no pains — to put forth their utmost, their
unwearied efforts in the momentous task of
such education as may win for the objects of
their solicitude His approbation and blessing.
For those, who have enjoyed the privilege of
being brought up " in the nurture and admo-
" nition of the Lord0" — whose tender age has
escaped many of the snares and has been
shielded from the worst dangers of a sinful
world, our Saviour, in this example, supplies
both encouragement and warning. He inti
mates that the first-fruits of their life are an
offering, which He graciously accepts ; but of
them He loudly demands, as of the young
Ruler He demanded, that the harvest of
0 Ephes. vi. 4.

SERMON VII. 189
their riper years be also presented as an
holy sacrifice to God.
" Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him
" and said unto him : One thing thou lack-
" est : Go thy way ; sell whatsoever thou hast
" and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
" treasure in heaven : and come, take up thy
" cross and follow me." Pity was mingled
with the love of the Omniscient Teacher,
who discerned the deficiency of that virtue
which He had approved ; and who saw that
the time was now come for applying a test
that would not fail to prove decisive. It was
in internal and truly religious principle that
the young Ruler fell short. He was wanting
in that love of God, which is the fulfilment
of all the commandments of the First Table ;
— in that supreme regard for the Divine au
thority — in that sincere and abiding desire to
promote the Divine glory — which must be
the source of all social virtues that are to be
entitled to a final reward — and which imparts
to them, even here below, a lustre and an
usefulness not otherwise belonging to them.
Accordingly, he was subjected to a severe,
although undoubtedly, in his particular in
stance and at that peculiar crisis of the affairs
of Christ and His followers, a necessary,
trial. He was called, by selling his posses-

190 SERMON VII.
sions and distributing them amongst the poor,
to abandon the advantages of an enviable lot
— the wealth and rank — the consideration in
society, flowing, by Providential appointment
and for the true welfare of mankind, from
wealth and rank — the ease and pleasures, of
a prosperous fortune. He perceived not —
he could not for the present be persuaded of,
the necessity of this sacrifice. Notwithstand
ing that earnest desire of learning with cer
tainty how he might inherit eternal life, which
had brought him into our Saviour's presence;
notwithstanding his lowly deference to the
authority of the Teacher, whom He had of
his own accord resolved to consult — he seems
to have cherished a fond hope that his object
might be attained in some other way than
that which was proposed to him. His feeling
bore some resemblance to that of Naaman, the
Syrian, when he asked : " Are not Abana and
" Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all
" the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them
" and be clean p?" — Like Naaman, he too had
probably thought himself prepared for some
great achievement or some noble enterprise ; —
until our Saviour's test was applied, he had
deemed his affection for earthly interests and
objects, inferior to his regard for the Supreme
P 2 Kings v. 12.

SERMON VII. 191
Being — subordinate to his desire of future and
eternal happiness. " And he was sad at that
" saying and went away grieved ; for he had
" great possessions." Or, according to the
stronger expression of St. Luke, "When he
" heard this, he became very sorrowful." His
grief in departing invests the whole scene,
which the Evangelists have described, with a
deep but melancholy interest. Grief, marking
his air and countenance, was the natural andthe
affecting expression of a mind half-resolved —
reluctant to quit an Instructor, whose wisdom
and benevolence he was compelled to acknow
ledge — yet unable to act on the suggestions,
which that Instructor had vouchsafed to grant,
at his request. When Jesus is stated to have
" looked round about," before He spake to His
disciples, we may imagine Him to have recall
ed Himself from the last lingering regard of
compassion, with which He" had followed the
youth, retiring from His presence. Who is
not inclined to follow him with a like regard
and to indulge a thought that he may possibly
have gained afterwards the moral strength, in
which he was deficient; and that he may
have become finally a faithful disciple of our
Lord? From this passing and momentary
thought, however, we are called to a very differ
ent reflection. It is not likely that in the few

192 SEXRMON VII.
days, which intervened before the crucifixion,
he had again an opportunity of listening to the
voice of Christ ; and the silence of the Gos
pel History, checking our curiosity with regard
to his future proceedings and his ultimate de
termination, conveys a solemn and impressive
warning that from ourselves privileges neg
lected or abused may be for ever withdrawn.
Our Lord Himself at once passed to a
practical use and application of the incidents,
which had engaged His attention. He " looked
" round about and saith unto his disciples :
" How hardly shall they that have riches enter
" into the Kingdom of God ! And the disci-
" pies were astonished at His words." Their's
doubtless was a mixed feeling of surprise and
of regret that their Master should, by this re
flection, intimate that there was neither for
Himself nor for them any fair prospect of aid
from worldly power and riches, towards the
establishment of His kingdom. Perceiving
their astonishment, He added a condescending
explanation of that, which had at first ap
peared harsh, and had evidently proved un
welcome : " Children, how hard is it for them
" that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom
" of God ! It is easier for a camel to go
" through the eye of a needle than for a rich
" man to enter into the kingdom of God."—

SERMON VII. 193
When however neither the endearing mild
ness of this address nor the material change
of phrase in describing those, of whom He
spake, had overcome the uneasiness originally
caused by His words and now prolonged by
that strong proverbial language, which the
three Evangelists have reported, He urged, in
final answer to all objections and difficulties :
" With men it is impossible but not with God :
" for with God all things are possible." From
this whole passage then we learn that it was
an undue trust in riches — an entire reliance
for true happiness on the advantages of a pros
perous fortune — a devotion of the soul to worldly
interests and enjoyments — against the danger
of which our Lord and Saviour uttered His
solemn warning. He saw that the young
Ruler's heart could be effectually disengaged
from earthly entanglements and set at liberty
to fix itself on heavenly objects, only on the
condition of abandoning his possessions : such
therefore was the condition, which He pre
scribed. He was aware of the near approach
of the time, when " the things concerning
" Himself were to have an end 4;" and He
knew how ill the advantages and the pleasures
of this life would at that crisis consist with a
profession of His religion — with an entrance
1 St. Luke xxii. 37-
o

194 SERMON VII.
into His kingdom ; and therefore was it that
He demanded of His youthful and promising
hearer, at the outset, that sacrifice, which
every sincere and faithful disciple would soon
be required to make. When the lesson of our
Divine Instructor is repeated in our ears, we
are to remember that it is for us modified by
the altered circumstances of the Church and
of the world. He undoubtedly bids us also
" take up the cross and follow Himr," and by
these words, reminds us that there are duties
of self-denial, which we are called to practise ;
that there are principles, maxims and laws of
society, by which, as Christians, we must firmly
refuse to be guided ; that, in spite of the pre
vailing profession of true religion and the con
sequent amelioration of the manners and the
institutions of civil and domestic life, still
there is around us a world, whose " friendship
" is enmity with Gods" — a world, which we
must forsake and renounce, if, by " perfecting
" holiness in the fear of God1," we are desirous
of becoming " meet to be partakers of the in-
" heritance ofthe saints in light". " And, here
is it that the scene of our Saviour's ministry,
which has been passing under review, has an
especial interest for all such as resemble the
r St. Matt. xvi. 24. s St. James iv. 4.
t 2. Cor. vii. 1. u Col. i. 12.

SERMON VII. 195
young Ruler in age and in external circum
stances. In the ranks of " the mighty and the
" noble x" — among those, to whom the talents
of wealth and of influence have been already
or are likely soon to be entrusted, are there
any youthful disciples, who wisely rejoice in
the title and the privileges of their Christian
inheritance ? who have approached their Sa
viour in a teachable spirit, and, having pro
fited by His sacred lessons, have formed — are
now ready to avow — a firm purpose of glory-
fying God in their lives and of "laying up
" for themselves treasures in heaven, where
" neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and
" where thieves do not break through and
'*' stealy ?" Then will they be disposed, with
lowliness of mind, to listen to the terms
and conditions of the Master, whom they
intend to serve. He does not bid them
" sell whatsoever they have and give to the
" poor." He does not demand of them, for
His sake and in the cause of His Kingdom,
the sacrifice of property, of station and of con
nections. But in the same spirit, which dic
tated His address to the young man ofthe Gos
pel History, their God and Saviour asks of
them hearts disengaged from the world, in
the midst of which they are yet to live ; affec-
* 1 Cor. i. 26. y St. Matt. vi. 19, 20.
o 2

196 SERMON VII.
tions elevated above the objects and the af
fairs, with which they are to be daily conver
sant ; hopes and desires fixed on the substan
tial and eternal, although unseen, realities of
Heaven. Are they prepared to comply with
the demand ? Or are they, at some moments,
ready to withdraw, grieved at a saying, which
appears to them to disparage the blessings of
life and to cast a gloom over that fair pros
pect of the future, which is beginning to open
before them ; and which their sanguine tem
per, not yet controlled by disappointment,
tells them that they may be sure of realising ?
In such moments of hesitation and of doubt,
it will be well for them to remember that the
Teacher, before whom the young Ruler knelt,
was God as well as man — God, condescend
ing, in the Person of His Son and through
the veil of human nature, to manifest His
tender compassion and His boundless love.
He then prescribed — He now prescribes no
conditions, except such as are indispensably
requisite. He then enjoined — He now en
joins no precepts, except such as are, in their
tendency and effects, the instruments and
means of real happiness ; oi perfect and eter
nal happiness hereafter ; and even of that
earthly happiness, which alone deserves the
name. It is by setting too high a value on

SERMON VII. 197
the goods of fortune, the rewards of patriot
ism and of valour, the prizes of talent and of
industry, that the worldly man deprives them
of their natural power to yield satisfaction
and converts them into so many occasions of
vexation and annoyance. The obedient and
faithful disciple of Jesus Christ learns to es
timate arightthese objects of universal pursuit.
He aims not at them by any methods, which
can tarnish the glory or lessen the comfort of
their possession. He sets not his heart upon
them, when he is permitted to find that they
are the result of honourable conduct and of
laudable pursuits. Welcoming them, even
then, as the unmerited gifts of God's good
Providence, he is conscious that he holds
them on a tenure, for himself indeed uncer
tain and precarious, yet perfectly safe, so far
as his highest interests are concerned, because
it is dependent on the will of the Wisest and
the Best of Beings. A sense of dependence
like this is far from being a painful feeling : it
rather forms one element of that thankful
ness towards the Heavenly Benefactor, which
exalts and increases every enjoyment. " Pure
" and undefiled religion2" — that religion,
which is founded on self-denial, and, which,
keeping itself unspotted from the world, is
z St. James i. 27.
o3

198 SERMON VII.
yet full of activity and of beneficence — has
the effect of preserving in its purity and of
perpetuating each source of pleasure, which
God has commanded to refresh and fertilise
the plains of human life. And they, who, in
their early years, have " set their affection on
" things above, not on things on the earth a,"
will, to their joy, find, as life goes on, that
" Godliness is profitable unto all things ;
" having promise of the life that now is and
" of that, which is to come'V They will sur
mount the difficulties, which for their own
unassisted powers would have proved insu
perable ; and looking back, at the close of
their career, on the goodness and mercy,
which shall have followed them all their days,
they will acknowledge that, in their own ex
perience, has been fully verified our Saviour's
declaration : " The things, which are iropossi-
" ble with men, are possible with God."
a Col. iii. 2. i> 1 Tim. iv. 8.

SERMON VIII.

St. John xv. 15.
Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the ser
vant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I
have called you friends ; for ail things that I
have heard of my Father, I have made known
unto you.

1 HE union of lowliness and of dignity, in
the character and conduct of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, is nowhere more ap
parent than in those passages of the Gospel
History, which relate the particulars of His
intercourse with His twelve chosen Apostles
and with such other disciples as were in con
stant attendance on His Person. Some inci
dental notice has been already taken of this
gracious and condescending intercourse ; but
its details well deserve a larger share of atten
tion than has yet been bestowed upon them.
Simplicity and brevity mark those few nar
ratives, which the Evangelists supply, of the
o 4

200 SERMON VIII.
first call of some, who sacrificed their worldly
employments and interests, to become the
followers of Christ. With their usual mo
desty in all that relates to themselves or can
redound to the credit of their party3, the
Sacred Historians, in this instance, leave much
to the reflection of each thoughtful reader.
St. Lukeb lends some help to our reflection,
by opening the state of Simon Peter's mind,
when he had witnessed that miraculous
draught of fishes, which is generally sup
posed to have preceded the call of himself,
his brother Andrew and the sons of Zebedee ;
and which, at all events, led them, whether
they had received an earlier call or not, to
take the decisive step of abandoning their oc
cupations and their homec. Simon's senti
ment was not unlike that of Manoah, when
he said : " We shall surely die, because we
" have seen GoDd." It was a sentiment of awe,
inspired by a consciousness of the presence —
of the near approach and of the immediate
influence, of a superior Being — of a Being,
too highly exalted in power and in purity to
admit of safe access for man, frail and sinful.
" Depart from me, for I am a sinful man"—
a man and, as such, a sinner, " O LoRDe."
* Note DDD. b gt> Luke v. 6. <= Note EEE.
d Judges xiii. 22. e gt, Lu]<e v 8

SERMON VIII. 201
These fears were allayed by a kind and per
suasive address, diverting him for the future
from his secular employment and intimating
that in the draught of fishes, which had
" astonished" himself and " all that were with
" him," he was to perceive an emblematic
representation of the success of his spiritual
labours. " Fear not ; from henceforth thoU
" shalt catch menf." The call was without
hesitation obeyed ; for we are informed that
" when the fishermen had brought their
" ships to land, they forsook all and followed
" Him." Their purpose, suddenly formed,
was yet deliberately and steadily executed ;
and the spirit of entire submission, which
their obedience in the first instance and
their future conduct shewed, was evidently
the result not less of a strong sense of
the Majesty than of a child-like reliance on
the goodness of our Lord. It was in the
presence of the same individuals — of Simon
and Andrew, James and John — and in the
house of Simon — that the cure of Simon's
wife's mother, who "lay sick of a fevers,"
took place. From St, Mark, the friend and
companion of St. Peter, we receive (as we
might expect) an account of some of those
f St. Luke v. 10, 11. s St. Mark i. 29, 31.

202 SERMON VIII.
minuter particulars of the incident, which
the other Evangelists have passed over in si
lence ; and they are particulars, which prove
that an affecting tenderness of manner ac
companied the ready exertion of extraordi
nary power. The parties interested told Jesus
of the sickness, as soon as He had entered
the house ; and it was in a benevolent com
pliance with their request that He " went to
" the sufferer, took her by the hand and lift-
" ed her up ; and immediately the fever left
" her." In the minds of Simon and his as
sociates must have been prolonged and in
creased every previous feeling of awe and of
confidence: they must have been confirmed
in the purpose, which they had already re
solved to execute, of listening to the call of
Christ, even when He bade them forsake all
and follow Him ; since they saw that for the
homes, which they were about to leave be
hind for His sake, they might hope to se
cure His favour ; since they beheld, in His
preservation of a life precious to themselves
and to their families, His value for those so
cial interests and His regard for those ten
der domestic charities, which He was Him
self ready to abandon at the call of duty and
which He required them also, for His sake, to
abandon.

SERMON VIII. 203
Now from this example, we may form some
estimate of the feelings, which were awakened
in the breasts of others, before they obeyed
the voice of Jesus Christ, calling them to
become His followers. When we duly con
sider the proofs, which one plainly recorded
instance furnishes of the authority of the
Speaker and take into account the actions,
which, in that particular instance, illustrated
and enforced His summons, we cease to won
der that words, apt for our ears to sound but
vain and impotent, had, whenever they were
employed, all that efficacy, which the Gospel
narrative ascribes to them.
On those two remarkable occasions'1, on
which our Lord manifested His power over
the winds and the sea ; when, in the one in
stance, by His word, He appeased the storm,
which threatened danger to His disciples ;
and in the other, came unexpectedly walking
on the water, already tossed with waves and
turbulent, joined them in their ship and en
abled them to effect the passage, of which
they had begun to despair, we observe how
strongly the minds of His followers were
possessed with a sense of the safety for them
h St. Matt. viii. 23, 27. St. Mark iv. 36, 41. St. Luke
viii. 23,25. and St. Matt. xiv. 22, 33. St. Mark vi. 45, 51.
St. John vi. 14, 21.

204 SERMON VIII.
arising from His united power and goodness.
In the moment of their distress and per
plexity, they " awoke Him, saying : Lord,
" save us : we perish. Master, carest thou
" not that we perish ?" The address is at
once an acknowledgment of His ability and
an expression of trust in His readiness, to
save them. St. Peter's language and conduct,
in the instance, in which he is more espe
cially concerned, are to the same effect ; and
shew him to have been under the influence
of the same feelings. At the close, fear and
wonder were tempered and qualified by
thankfulness for the deliverance from dan
ger, which had been experienced ; and a con
fession that He, who could " command even
" the winds and water and they obeyed Him,"
was " of a truth the Son of God" — as it is
stated to have been the actual result in one
of the two cases, was the natural — as it would
seem to us, the unavoidable result, in both.
Having " learned even from the winds and
" sea to obey their Master's voice and do His
" will" the disciples had discovered also and
had felt " how able and ready He was to help
" them that trusted in Him ;."
The display of power and of mercy, in the
instances, which have now been noticed, was
' Form of Thanksgiving after a Storm at Sea.

SERMON VIII. 205
one, in which the disciples themselves were
more immediately and, as it were, personally
concerned. As such, it would have upon
their minds a direct and commanding in
fluence. But its effect was heightened and
confirmed by what they continually saw and
heard. It was before them — in the presence
of more or fewer of their number — that our
Lord wrought His miracles on all occasions ;
it was in their hearing that His public Dis
courses were delivered. Whoever else might
be at hand — whether He was surrounded by
a gazing and incredulous crowd or by quick-
sighted and relentless adversaries, they, at all
events, were near to witness the proofs, which
He afforded, of high authority, of matchless
wisdom and of unfailing goodness. Whether
others might derive advantage or sustain loss
from the privileges, which He brought within
their reach and offered to their acceptance,
His disciples never wilfully thwarted His
purposes nor altogether disappointed His
merciful designs for their welfare. That
among themselves some inequality was per
mitted to exist, in respect of their Master's
favour, is an undeniable fact ; but it is a fact
by no means inconsistent with His affection
for them all.
In His ordinary intercourse, He was ac-

206 SERMON VIII.
customed to treat them all as His Friends,
even before the arrival of the time, when He
expressly and formally called them by that
name. His conversations with them and His
behaviour towards them exhibit combined
Majesty and meekness ; a tender regard for
their prejudices, a kind indulgence for their
imperfections and mistakes. In the midst of
mild and patient efforts to comfort and even
to serve them, there is however found no
compromise of the dignity of the Instructor
and the Guide from Heaven. Thus, when,
at one time, " His mother and His brethren
" stood without, desiring to speak with Himk,"
He seized the favourable opportunity of il
lustrating, by the proper feelings of the filial
and fraternal relation, the nature and degree
of His regard for His faithful attendants.
" He stretched forth His hand toward His
" disciples" — " He looked round about on
" them, which sat about Him" — " and said :
" Behold my mother and my brethren. For
" whosoever shall do the will of my Father,
" which is in Heaven, the same is my brother
" and sister and mother '." Nor can we doubt
that the circumstances of the scene gave to
this illustration its full force ; and that our
Lord was in the act of preparing to comply
k St. Matt. xii. 46, 50. St. Mark iii. 31, 35. i Note FFF.

SERMON VIII. 207
with the wishes of His natural relatives, as
soon and as far as compliance might consist
with the ends and duties of His ministry, at
the very moment, in which He uttered this
affecting language. But we are to observe
and learn from this language, that obedience
to the will of His Heavenly Father — to that
will, of which He Himself was the messenger
and the interpreter, was the indispensable
condition of being admitted to His favour
and friendship.
In connection with our Saviour's exposi
tion of His own Parables, notice has been
already, in a previous Lecture, taken of
the freedom, allowed to the disciples, of ap
proaching Him in retirement and of seek
ing, in His presence, relief from perplexity
and doubt. A like freedom is exempli
fied in the instance of that cure of a de
moniac, which followed the descent from the
Mount of Transfiguration m. The disciples,
in the absence of their Master, and of Peter,
James and John, having received the parent's
application, either declined to attempt a cure
or failed, if they did attempt it. The Scribes,
welcoming what they deemed a fit occasion
for cavil and dispute, and hoping doubt-
m St. Matt. xvii. 14, 21. St. Mark ix. 14, 29. St. Luke
ix. 37, 45.

208 SERMON VIII.
less to lower both Jesus and His followers
in the opinion of the assembled multitude,
were questioning with the disciples, when
our Lord, unexpectedly and to the great
amazement of all the people, appeared. He
at once silenced the cavillers, by asking :
" What question ye with them ?" Before
He proceeded to interpose in behalf of the
afflicted Father and his child, He gave ut
terance to the language of severe rebuke
and earnest expostulation : " O faithless and
" perverse generation ! how long shall I be
" with you ? How long shall I suffer you ?"
These words were well calculated to keep
alive, in the minds of all who heard them,
that sensation of awe, which the first and
sudden approach of Jesus had, in this in
stance, caused. In the reproof conveyed,
none present were altogether unconcerned ;
yet was its chief severity probably intended
and, at the time, felt to be intended, for the
Scribes, whose questionings respecting the
authority of Christ and the dependence of
His followers upon His aid, were, by the lan
guage of this seasonable rebuke, met and
answered, according to our Lord's frequent
manner, even before they had been repeated
in His presence n. In whatever degree the
a Note GGG.

SERMON VIII. 209
disciples may have been conscious that on
them too some reflection was cast, they were
notwithstanding > well assured that to them
selves the privilege of confidential intercourse
with their Master would not be denied.
"And when He was come into the house,
" His disciples asked Him privately : Why
" could not we cast him out ?" A direct re
ply was vouchsafed to their inquiry; and
that reply was accompanied with a large pro
mise of all necessary aid for the future and
with a gracious apology for their past defi
ciency : " And He said unto them : Because
" of your unbelief; for, verily, I say unto you:
" If ye have faith, as a grain of mustard seed,
" ye shall say unto this mountain : Remove
" hence to yonder place and it shall remove ;
" and nothing shall be impossible to you.
" Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by
" prayer and fasting." The unbelief, with
which they were here charged, was a defect
of faith, similar to that, which the humble
yet confiding parent had, in his own case,
acknowledged : " Lord, I believe : help thou
" my unbelief." It was the same defect, of
which the Apostles were themselves, on an
other occasion, sensible, when they " said unto
" the Lord : Increase our faith °." In the
0 St. Luke xvii. 5.
P

210 SERMON VIII.
instance now under consideration however
their prayer was anticipated ; and, in terms
nearly the same, they were on this latter, as
they had been on the former, occasion, en
couraged to rely on power, hereafter to be
imparted, whereby all difficulties might be
surmounted and all miracles achieved. The
inspiriting effect of this promise derived fresh
strength from the few words that were added
to account for and, as it were, to excuse, their
recent failure. The days of fasting had not
yet arrived for the Disciples, whilst their
Lord continued with them ; their delegated
and derived power was less required and
wanted, so long as He was at hand to make
bare His mighty arm in the eyes of all ob
servers. With the impressions however, which
we receive from this example, of the kindness
and tenderness of our Saviour's manner of
holding intercourse with His disciples, must
be mingled, as with similar impressions on
the minds of the disciples must have been
mingled, a sense of the superiority, which He
ever claimed and maintained. To Him they
were to look as the source of powers, which
they were to employ under His direction
and for the promotion of His designs; and
to Him they were to be prepared to render
a final account of their stewardship and ser-

SERMON VIII. 211
vice. The address, which followed His reply
to their request for an increase of faith, must
have been, in its spirit and power, recalled
once more to their minds and must have
brought with it a deep impression of the obli
gations, under which they were laid, to pay to
Him, their Lord and Master, a faithful and
unwearied service. " So likewise" (after the
manner of ready and obedient servants) " ye,
" when ye shall have done all those things,
" which are commanded you, say : We are
" unprofitable servants : we have done that,
" which was our duty to do p."
The miracle of the raising of Lazarus has
been already noticed in a preceding Lecture.
The same event may now be viewed under
another aspect and may serve, in an interest
ing manner, to unfold the nature and the
effects of our Lord's familiar converse with
His disciples. " Now Jesus loved Martha
" and her sister and Lazarus q." Such are
the few, but expressive words, in which St.
John describes the privilege, enjoyed by this
favoured family ; a privilege that seems to
have excited, in the bosoms of our Lord's
other followers, no emotions save those of
endearment and of kindness ; since we find
that when the death of Lazarus was, in plain
P St. Luke xvii. 10. <i St. John xi. 5, &e.
p 2

212 SERMON VIII.
terms, announced to the Apostles, Thomas
gave vent to the natural feeling of regret for
an irreparable loss ; and " said to his fellow-
" disciples : Let us also go that we may die
" with him." " Then Martha, as soon as she
" heard that Jesus was coming, went and met
" Him." Her first words bespeak a strong
confidence in His power, which had been
inspired by her acquaintance with His pre
vious works : " Lord, if thou hadst been
" here, my brother had not died. But I
" know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt
" ask of God, God will give it thee." The
simplicity and earnestness of her reliance
more than compensated the imperfection of
her views ; and drew from our Lord such
language as she had not before heard Him
utter : " I am the resurrection and the life :
" he that believeth in me, though he were
" dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liv-
" eth and believeth in me shall never die."
It was after she had heard these sublime and
mysterious, yet encouraging, words that she
" called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying :
" The Master is come and calleth thee."
When Mary was come where " Jesus was and
" saw Him, she fell down at His feet" and,
repeating the very terms, which Martha had
already employed, shewed that her own and

SERMON VIII. 213
her sister's feeling were the same. The stu
pendous event surpassed their fondest hopes ;
nor is it possible to conceive that such an
event, so occurring, could fail to convey to
their minds, and, through them, to the minds
of many, to whom they would eagerly and
gladly communicate its particulars, loftier and
juster notions than they had hitherto enter
tained of that exalted Personage, whose loud
voice had roused their brother from the deep
slumbers of the grave.
It is the Evangelist St. Luke who informs
us of that unseasonable " strife among the
" Apostles, which of them should be account-
" ed the greatest1"," that happened only just
before the treacherous purpose of Judas took
effect. The same spirit had been, on some
former occasions, manifested ; and had been
mildly, yet in a firm tone of reproof, and
once by the forcible illustration of a child,
placed in the midst and proposed as an exam
ple, checked and repressed s. Upon the last
occurrence of this unseemly contention, when
our Lord was now on the eve of departure
from the world, He so far condescended as
to set. before them for their imitation, that
r St. Luke xxii. 24.
s St. Matt, xviii. 1, 2. St. Mark ix. 33, 37. St. Luke
ix. 46, 48. and St. Matt. xx. 20, 28. St. Mark x. 35, 45.
P 3

214 SERMON VIII.
character, which, in the significant action of
washing their feet, they had lately seen Him
sustain : " I am among you as he that serv-
" eth." The force of the example, thus urged,
clearly depended upon their acknowledgment
of Him, as their Master and Lord : " Ye call
" me Master and Lord : and ye say well ; for
" so I am*." And He is found at once to
have mercifully qualified His censure and to
have vindicated His own authority and real
dignity, by renewing, even then, that very
promise of a kingdom, which they had too
eagerly heard and had already misunderstood
and misapplied : " Ye are they which have
" continued with me in my temptations ; and
" I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Fa-
" ther hath appointed unto me ; that ye may
" eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom ;
" and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes
" of Israel."
Of the closing scene of our Lord's inter
course with His assembled Apostles, we are
favoured with a full and clear account. Each
of the three earlier Evangelists has recorded
those leading circumstances of the Last Sup
per, in which the Christian Church has from
the first been, and will for ever be, deeply in
terested ; whilst St. John, assuming the mat-
* St. John xiii. 13.

SERMON VIII. 215
ters of fact to be well known and universally
accepted, dwells on details, that fill up the
narratives of his predecessors and come most
appropriately from him. For to St. John had
been granted the privilege of enjoying, in a
higher degree than even his fellow-Apostles
enjoyed, the private regard and especial fa
vour of his Master ; and several incidents of
the Gospel History are observed to be in
beautiful harmony with the peculiarity and
intimacy of that relation, in which he is re
presented to have stood to Jesus Christ.
Of one of these incidents a touching memo
rial is found in the Remains of Christian
antiquity, whenever mention is made of St.
John under the description of him who re
clined on the bosom of Jesus — or when he is
indicated by an expressive word, formed on
purpose to convey that meaning". His writ
ings both illustrate and justify the other
title, by which he was also and, as it would
seem, yet sooner distinguished ; a title, which
is, in his own Gospel, sometimes substituted
for his name — " the disciple, whom Jesus
" loved;" for those writings every where dis
play such excellencies of disposition and of
character as are in their own nature best
calculated to ensure affection and confidence ;
" Note HHH.
p 4

216 SERMON VIII.
and as could not therefore fail to recommend
him to the perfect discernment of our Lord.
A warm and zealous temper appears to have
been in him matured, sanctified and elevated
by the transforming influence of that exalted
friendship, to which he had been raised ; and
the lesson, which he chiefly delighted in un
folding and inculcating was that of mutual
love, in compliance with the command and
after the example of Christ. Nor is it from
his own Writings only that we draw this in
ference : a tradition of the early Church re
ports that, in extreme old age and when voice
and strength for the effort of speaking had
well nigh failed, he urged his favourite lesson
on the Christians of Ephesus, by repeating
over and over again, in each religious service,
one brief exhortation : " Little children, love
" one another ;" and that, on being asked
why he always spake the same words, he
replied : " Because it is the Lord's command,
" and to obey that command alone, is enough"."
It is from St. John then, the beloved disciple,
ever animated by a warm and untired spirit
of devotion to his Divine Master and of cha
rity for his Christian brethren, that we learn
the particulars of that valedictory address
and that interceding prayer5, with which the
x Note III. y St. John xiv. xv. xvi.

SERMON VIII. 217
oral communications of the Son of man, be
fore His passion, were concluded. Who else
could have done justice to the moving ten
derness, the affectionate anxiety, the free and
disinterested love, which were, in this in
stance, signally displayed? It appears that
the prospect of approaching separation from
their Lord and Master was one, which the
Apostles could no longer, by any artifice of
self-delusion, hide from their view ; what
their sorrow arising from this prospect was,
we may conceive from our Saviour's express
notice of their grief, repeated allusions to it
and studious endeavours to soothe their
wounded feelings. His prevailing tone of
sadness bespeaks the considerate care and
anxious forethought of a Protector, about to
quit the objects of His beneficence, who have
hitherto looked up to Him with reverential
love and with entire dependence : we mark
a reluctance to touch upon the painful to
pic, that filled the minds and weighed down
the spirits of His hearers : whenever a con
cern for their true welfare and a desire to
prepare them for the event that was coming,
rendered unavoidable an open anticipation of
that event, the reference was accompanied by
considerations, fraught with effectual comfort.
His promise of the Paraclete, as His own sub-

218 SERMON VIII.
stitute ; His legacy of peace ; His employ
ment of the figure of a vine and its branches,
to denote the union subsisting between Him
self and His followers — an union, which not
even the laying down of His life for their
sakes would be able to dissolve or to inter
rupt ; — His declaration of the expediency of
His departure, in order that He might send
down upon them an abundance of richer
blessings than they had yet received, — these
were the chief sources of consolation, which
He opened for their refreshment and relief.
Throughout the whole of this wonderful
Discourse, there is, however, preserved an air
of high superiority, which it is impossible to
overlook or to mistake. He who speaks is
evidently in the act of kind and lowly con
descension to His inferiors ; but the conde
scension of the Son of God is felt to be in its
nature and in its results, widely different
from the condescension of frail and imper
fect men. The latter can serve for the basis
of an insecure form of friendship only ; the
former takes place, in order that it may prove
the firm foundation of an intimate relation,
pure, permanent and beneficial for all who
shall be admitted into it. " Henceforth I
" call you not servants" — " I no longer call
" you servants. That is a name, by which

SERMON VIII. 219
" you have heretofore called and by which
" you may hereafter also fitly call, your-
" selves. But I, on my part, now give you a
" higher and a dearer appellation. I have
"called you — I now call you — Friends; as
" such I have treated and shall treat you, in
" the communications of my Father's will." —
" Ye have not chosen me ; but / have chosen
" you and ordained you that ye should go
" and bring forth fruit and that your fruit
" should remain ; that whatsoever ye shall ask
" ofthe Father in my name, He may give it
" you. These things I command you, that
" ye love one another." Who does not per
ceive that in this language of our Lord, ad
dressed to His Apostles, is implied an inef
fable — a Divine condescension ? Of His
spontaneous choice they had been the happy
objects — to His commandments they were
required to yield submission — in His name
and through His effectual mediation, they
were to hope for the acceptance of their
prayers and the success of their petitions.
In their hearing, He Himself was pleased to
offer that prayer of intercession, which was
ever afterwards to sanction, to cheer and to
encourage His followers in their approaches
to " the throne of grace." — " Now I am no
" more in the world ; but these are in the

220 SERMON VIII.
" world ; and I come to Thee. Holy Father!
" keep through Thine own name those, whom
" Thou hast given me, that they may be one,
" as we are. Father ! I will that they also,
" whom Thou hast given me, be with me,
" where I am ; that they may behold my
" glory, which Thou hast given me ; for
" Thou lovedst me before the foundation of
" the world."
Scarcely elsewhere can be found to have
proceeded from our Saviour's lips a stronger
claim than that, which these words contain,
to the distinction of pre-existence from eter
nity, and of a mysterious relation to His
Heavenly Father that falls not short of
equality ; and in the time and manner of
advancing this claim, we are compelled to
observe a wise and gracious accommodation
to the wants and weakness of the Apostles.
Their sinking spirits, at that critical moment,
required support from an assurance of their
Master's real glory ; and the events, which
were soon to involve Him in depths of humi
liation, lower than they could even yet pre
vail upon themselves to imagine, would speed
ily call for the powerful corrective of His
remembered deeds and words ; of the deeds
of wonder, which He had performed, and of
the sublime words, concerning Himself and

SERMON VIII. 221
His own purposes, which He had occasionally
uttered. From the passages of the Gospel History,
which have now been considered, although
they are but a small number of those, which
might be examined for the purpose of illus
trating our Lord's more private intercourse
with His disciples, arises a reflection on the
strange mistake, unless it ought rather to be
called the wilful misrepresentation, of such
as have complained or have affected to com
plain that Friendship is neither prescribed as
a duty nor commended as an ornament of
life, in the code of Christian Morals. It is
true that this objection admits of being tri
umphantly answered by a reference to the
very genius of Christianity and to the spirit,
which it cannot but create and foster. The
true philanthropy and fervent charity, which
it is one main purpose of our Holy Religion
to implant within the breast, include all the
principles of genuine friendship and super
sede the necessity of dry precepts and formal
rules. But the review, in which we have now
been engaged, furnishes the means of return
ing a readier and more definite answer. The
fact is that friendship has been explained in
the example and is enforced by the authority

222 SERMON VIII.
of Jesus Christ, our Lord. In the small
body of His immediate followers — and in the
selection of individuals out of that small
body — in the instances of St. John, and of
Lazarus and his sisters more especially, we
discover the sharers of His retirement. We
perceive that the perfection of His sinless
humanity sought the solace of sympathy and
of affection ; and that He was pleased, by
bringing other minds into close contact with
Himself, to mould and fashion them after
His own likeness. We observe, indeed, that,
in the powerful influence, which He exerted
over the hearts and characters of His attend
ants, He had in view their preparation for
the labours and the sufferings of their future
ministry ; and we find that, in their lives and
in their death, testimony was afterwards borne
to His success. Their ability, their courage,
their firm resistance even unto blood — often
raised astonishment, and forced the witnesses
of their conduct, in attempting to account for
what they saw — to " take knowledge of them
" that they had been with Jesus z." Again,
we remark that our Saviour's friendship
rather conferred benefits than aimed at any
reciprocal advantages. He neither stood nor
7 Acts iv. 13.

SERMON VIII. 223
appeared to stand on a level with the chosen
objects of His love. Still, in spite of the pe
culiarities of His case, may we behold, in His
relation to His Apostles and companions, an
example of friendship, sincere, warm and dis
interested ; an example that may fitly be pro
posed for our imitation. And then is Friend
ship likely to be productive of its fairest
fruits, when it is formed after this example ;
when, founded on religious principle and cul
tivated for the ends of moral and spiritual im
provement, it exists between fellow- disciples
in the School of Christ. Their pure and
virtuous union will be cemented by daily ex
perience of mutual aid and comfort ; but its
holiest and its firmest bond will consist in a
common relation to their Divine Master, and
in an elevating hope of being at last admitted,
through His merits and mercy, to those man
sions of His Father's house, where friendship,
begun on earth, may be perpetuated and per
fected. But there is another and yet higher lesson
to be learned from the Gospel narratives of
our blessed Saviour's condescending inter
course with His followers, whom He called
His friends. We have seen that this inter
course, ever abounding with proofs and in
stances of tender compassion and of love, was

224 SERMON VIII.
yet marked by striking indications of His supe
riority — of His essential dignity and glory.
" God was in Christ, reconciling the world
" unto Himself11" — and of that Divine presence
with the human nature in the Person of the
Son, we may discern some notices even in the
midst of His career of accommodation to our
low estate. Thus has God manifested to the
fallen race of man His loving kindness and
made "all His goodness pass before themb."
No longer sheltered " in a clift of the rock,"
the disciples beheld — and we, as it were with
open face, may still behold " the Lord pass-
" ing by and proclaiming : The Lord, the
" Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suf-
" fering and abundant in goodness and truth,
" keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving ini-
" quity and transgression and sinc." Although
" our great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of
" God, is passed into the heavens d ;" although,
having " offered one sacrifice for sins, He
" hath for ever sat down on the right hand of
" GoDe" — yet is He, in His glorified human
nature, capable of being " touched with the
" feeling of our infirmities" — and, in the
same nature, does He " ever live to make in-
* 2 Cor. v. 19. b Exod. xxxiii. 19, 23.
^ Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. d Heb. iv. 14, 15.
e Heb. x. 12.

SERMON VIII. 225
" tercession for those, that come unto God
" by Himf." Even ourselves He bids aspire to
the distinction of becoming and of being
called, His friends ; and, through His means,
the friends of God g. To our acceptance is
proposed the very same condition, which His
personal attendants heard : " Ye are my
" friends, if ye do whatsoever I command
" you ;" and in our behalf was uttered His
prevailing prayer : " Neither pray 1 for these
" alone, but for them also, which shall believe
"on me through their word, that they all
" may be one, as Thou, Father, art in me
" and I in Thee, that they also may be one
" in us."
And now at length having reached the
limits, which the Founder of this Lecture
has prescribed, I desist from farther pursuit
of the Inquiry originally proposed. Of that
Inquiry the avowed object was to apply to
practical purposes — to the ends "of instruc
tion in righteousness11" and of religious
improvement — some select passages of the
Gospel History, which might furnish, in the
life and actions of Jesus Christ, manifest in
dications of the essential glory of His God-
* Heb. vii. 25. * Note KKK. h g Tim. iii. 16.
Q.

226 SERMON VIII.
head. Accordingly, in the Miracles of our
Lord ; in the Moral and religious lessons,
which He conveyed by means of Parables ;
in His intercourse with Publicans and sin
ners; in His guidance of such as solicited
His instructions, although they were not
of the number of His disciples ; and finally,
in His endearing demeanour towards His
chosen companions ; have been observed clear
tokens of a dignity, well befitting and aptly
illustrating His Divine nature ; whilst, under
each separate head of Discourse, care has
been taken to draw some suitable inferences
and lessons. The copious theme however
still remains unexhausted. The Divine Eco
nomy — that Dispensation of God's mercy for
the salvation of man, of which " the Pro-
" phets" of former times " enquired and
" searched diligently" and into " which the
" angels desire to look'," may for ever yield
employment for the understanding and en
gagement for the heart and affections, of the
faithful Christian. The brief and imperfect
consideration of this vast subject, for which
the present occasion has sufficed, may pos
sibly have the effect of giving an impulse
to farther and more successful investigations
1 1 Peter i. 10,12.

SERMON VIII. 227
of the same sort ; and may, in the mean
time, cherish that spirit of lowly reverence
for " k the great God and our Saviour Jesus
" Christ1," which is not less characteristic of
progressive holiness than essential to sincere
repentance. k Titus ii. 13. ' Note LLL.

q2

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

Note A, p. 1.
oOME Commentators are of opinion that our Lord's
Discourse was delivered before the Great Sanhedrim.
Dr. Townson refers to the opinion ; and himself concludes
that it is highly probable that the hearers were at least mem
bers of that Council. See his Discourses on the Four Gos
pels, p. 16, note 4.
Note B, p. 5.
The remark of Tittmann, in p. 4. of the Prolegomena to
his Meletemata Sacra in Evan. S. Joann. respecting the
comparative value of the Gospel of St. John and the Epi
stles of the New Testament, may be applied to a compa
rison of the Gospels and the Epistles generally :
Apostoli in Epistolis capita doctrinae de Jesu Messia
saepissime quidem verbis, quamvis divinitus suppeditatis,
suis tamen, explicarunt ; Joannes autem verbis Jesu ipsius.
Apud illos, loquentem audimus, quamvis virum inspira-
tum, hominem tamen ; apud hunc, Filium Dei, Messiam
ipsum. The following testimonies to the same effect come from a
high authority :
" If our minds were but competent adequately to expand
" the idea included in that one word, God, we should need no.
" thing further, except consciousness of our own honest pur-
" pose, to set us at ease for time as well as eternity. But the
" Sacred Volume contains this expansion. In every part,
" but, above all, in ihe Four Gospels, it unfolds Deity. It
" shews us Him, who dwelleth in the light, which no man
" can approach unto, condescending to provide for the mi-
" nutest of our wants, directing, guarding and assisting us,
a 3

230 NOTES AND
" each hour and moment, with an infinitely more vigilant
" and exquisite care than our own utmost self-love can
" ever attain to." Remains of Alexander Knox, Esq. Vol.
II. p. 262.
" In order to perceive the glory and appreciate the excel-
" lence of our Redeemer, we must see Him in His own light
" and estimate Him by the standard He has Himself afforded.
" We must take His own account of the motives which en-
" gaged Him to assume our flesh and to tabernacle amongst
" us. In His Divine discourses, He has made both His de-
" sign and Himself known to us. We can be wise therefore
" only by receiving this instruction ; and happy only by im-
" proving this acquaintance. In thus appealing to our Re-
" deemer himself, it is far from my thought to question either
" the authority or the satisfactoriness of the Apostolic doc-
" trine. This also affords us invaluable instruction and infal-
" lible guidance. But it supposes, not supersedes, the im-
" mediate lessons of Incarnate Godhead. These have an
" incommunicable pre-eminence, over all which was ever de-
" livered ; inasmuch as to Him, who spoke, God gave not
" the Spirit, as He is intimated to give Himself in every
" other instance, by measure. Let us then, as we are most
" bounden, be ever mindful of what has been written for
" our learning, by the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour;
" but still, let it be our highest and holiest care to sit, as it
" were, with Mary at the feet of Him, who spake as never
" man spake. Except we hearken to His gracious words,
" we cannot be certain that we are His disciples indeed ;
" nor can we estimate what we lose, in so relying on the
" purest and highest streams as to draw less assiduously
" and less profoundly from the fountain." Ibid. p. 335,
336.
Note C, p. 9.
Oi vo/ioi t&v fdvSiv ol irepl ayakfxaTuiv Kal rrjs aOeov 7roA.ii-
eeorrjTos. Origen. contra Cels.l. 1. The expression is again
found in III. 73. ofthe same work, where Origen explains
the wise, of whom St. Paul speaks (1 Cor. i. 27.), to be
¦navTas robs boKoijvras Tipo6e3r)Kivai pev iv ixadr\ixamv, a-no-
imTraiKOTas 8e ets ttjv aOeov TrokvdeoTrjTa.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 231
Note D, p. 11.
Ata to (TKk-qpoK&pbiov tov Xaov vp&v, iravTa ra Toiavra iv-
r6.Kp.aTa (instituta, scilicet, Mosaica) voeire tov ®ebv bid
Maxrecos ivreiXapevov vp.iv, tva, bia ttoXX&v rovrav, iv ¦nao-n
np6.£ei TTpb 6(pdaXpG>v ael e)(r}Te rov ®ebv Kal fx?jre abiKeiv pyyre
acrefielv ap-^ade. After enumerating some particular in
stances, the passage proceeds : bid tovtcdv bvo-M-n&v ipas ael
pvfjprjv e\eiv tov ®eov' apa re Kal iXeyxav on ev rats Kdpbi-
ais vp&v ovbe piKpav pvqprjv e'x€Te r<™ Qeocrefielv Kal ovb' ov-
T<as eiretadriTe pr] eibtoXoXarpelv. Justin. Martyr. Dial, cum
Tryphone, c. 46.
Note E, p. 12.
The words Dispensation and Arrangement are here in
tended to answer to the word oiKovopia, as it is often em
ployed in the writings of the early Fathers. Dr. Bouth
in his Notes on a Fragment of the Chronica of Africanus,
(Rei. Sacr. Vol. II. p. 241) incidentally remarks : " vo-
" cem olKovopiav Tertulliano, qui Africano antiquior est,
" familiarem esse." The following example may serve to
illustrate Tertullian's use of the expression :
Nos vero et semper et nunc magis, ut instructiores per
Paracletum, Deductorem scilicet omnis veritatis, unicum
quidem Deum credimus ; sub hae tamen dispensatione,
quam osconomiam dicimus, ut unici Dei sit et Filius, Sermo
ipsius, qui ex ipso processerit, per quern omnia facta sunt
et sine quo factum est nihil : hunc missum a Patre in vir-
ginem et ex ea natum hominem et Deum, Filium hominis
et Filium Dei et cognominatum Jesum Christum ; hunc
passum, hunc mortuum et sepultum secundum Scripturas
et resuscitatum a Patre et in ccelos resumptum sedere ad
dextram Patris, venturum judicare vivos et mortuos — qui
exinde miserit, secundum promissionem suam, a Patre Spi
ritual Sanctum Paracletum, Sanctificatorem fidei eorum, qui
credunt in Patrem et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum. Advers.
Prax. in init.
The Economy or Dispensation, of which Tertullian here
speaks, embraces that whole scheme ofthe Divine mercy for
the salvation of mankind through the intervention of the
a 4

232 NOTES AND
Second Person of the ever-blessed Trinity, of which His
Incarnation is one grand and leading feature. And such
would seem to be the proper Ecclesiastical sense of that
Greek word, which is usually, as in this passage of Tertul
lian, translated Dispensatio, although sometimes, as in the
Vetus Interpretatio of Irenaeus contra Haereses, Dispositio.
The late Dr. Burton, in p. 62, note e, of his Testimonies of
the Ante-Nicene Fathers to the Divinity of Christ, states
that it is his purpose to translate oiKovopia, incarnation,
" which is the sense, in which all the Fathers used the
" word." He appeals to Bp. Bull in support of the latter
assertion ; and, referring to Suicer's Thesaurus, justly ob
jects to the order, in which the two last meanings, assigned
to the word oiKovopia, are given. Now it is readily granted
that tbe limited sense of Incarnation must sometimes be
assigned to the word, which previously and more fitly sig
nifies " the whole economy or scheme pursued by Gov, in
" perfecting our Redemption." Still the propriety of ge
nerally understanding the word in a meaning thus limited
may be fairly questioned. Have not some of the passages,
translated by Dr. Burton, sustained injury from the restric
tion ? And, further, does the authority of Bp. Bull sanc
tion that assertion respecting the usage of the Fathers,
which it is alleged to support ? Is not the language of that
eminent defender of the faith rather such as to preserve a
clear distinction between the Incarnation and the Eco
nomy ; and to represent the former word, as signifying a
part only of that whole, which the primitive writers denoted
by the latter? His words, in the place, to which Dr. Burton
refers (and many similar places may be pointed out — e. g.
Defen. Fid. Nic. II. ii. 4. IV. ii. 2. IV. iii. 4), are :
Mamfestissimum est Ecclesiae Doctores— significasse turn
apparitiones illas Dei omnes, turn ipsam ivudpKuxriv ad ol-
Kovoplav spectasse, quam suscepit Dei Filius; quae aicono-
mia Patri, quippe qui a nullo ortus sit principio nullique
auctoritatem suam acceptam referat, nequaquam conveniat.
Def. Fid. Nic. IV. iii. 12.
The evadpKuo-is of this passage is equivalent to the iv<Ta>-
pdTtixris of Origen, where he speaks of Jesus, as tt)v Kara

ILLUSTRATIONS. 233
rrjv evaapdraxriv olKovoplav vvv bi evXoyovs ahlas irXrjpbi-
a-avra — (Contra Cels. VI. 78.) — a place, in which the
word oiKovopia appears to be employed in its ordinary Ec
clesiastical meaning ; but in which it would obviously be
impossible to translate it incarnation. Upon the whole, it
would seem that the remarks of Valesius (Annot. in Lib. I.
Histor. Eccles. Eus. Pamph. p. 4.) give a juster account of
the prevailing usage of the Fathers :
Veteres Graeci olKovopiav vocant quicquid Christus in
terris gessit ad procurandam salutem generis humani. Ita
que f/ TTptoTr] tov XpioroC oiKovopia est incarnatio ; sicut
postrema oiKovopia est passio. Errant enim qui existimant
ofoovopiav nihil aliud significare quam incarnationem ; quippe
longe latius patet vox oiKovopia et totam Christi inter ho
mines vitam complectitur.
Some observations of Dr. Herbert Marsh, Bishop of Peter
borough (Lect. on the Crit. and Interpret, of the Bible, XI.
p. 487-489 of the Edition of 1828) connect the oiKovopia of
the Fathers with what has been known, in modern phrase,
under the name ot accommodation. — Mr. Newman (in p. 71-
87 of his Work on the Arians of the Fourth Century) recog
nises the same connection. He dwells at some length on the
principles of interpretation /car olKovoplav, as well as on the
actual employment and legitimate use of such interpretation;
but is careful to supply some cautions, by which it should
be regulated. The whole subject, opened by Mr. Newman
in this portion of his Work, deserves a fuller consideration
than is on the present occasion possible; but it is here no
ticed for the purpose of remarking that, whatever decision
may be formed respecting the nature and the allowable
extent of the interpretation, of which he treats, there is
cause for much hesitation, before it can be granted that the
language of the Fathers expresses the meaning of modern
Divines. It would seem to be under the influence of this
reasonable hesitation that the Bishop of Lincoln (p. 398-
403 of his Account of the Writings of Clemens of Alexan
dria) has furnished a long list of passages from the Works
of Clemens, in which the word oiKovopia and its conjugates
occur for the sake of shewing that the authority of that

234 NOTES AND
Father in particular, has been erroneously quoted in sup
port of a mode of interpretation /car' oiKovoptav. A careful
examination of the passages, indicated by Bishop Kaye, un
doubtedly renders it quite evident that Clemens's use of the
language in question has no reference whatever to that sys
tem of accommodation, to which the terms of the ancient
Church are, in our own times, often applied. An exami
nation of the same passages farther shews the natural and
gradual transition of certain terms from their usual accep
tation to a stricter, an Ecclesiastical and, as we may not im
properly call it, a technical sense. In many of the alleged
passages, Clemens employs oiKovopia, oiKovopeladai, k. t. X.
according to the ordinary use of the Greek language ;
whilst from other passages, and, as every reflecting reader
will surely be inclined to say, from several of the number,
it is clear that the same words had already gained and were
beginning to be restricted to a properly Ecclesiastical meaning.
A service, similar to that which the Bishop of Lincoln has
in this instance rendered to the cause of sound Theology by
vindicating the language and sentiments of Clemens, might,
it is apprehended, be easily and with advantage rendered in
the case of the principal of those Fathers, whose names have
been associated with an interpretatio Kar oiKovopiav.
From a consideration then of that, which, in the un
doubted language of the Primitive Church, is called' the
Economy or Dispensation, a twofold advantage may result,
according to two distinct views that present themselves to
the mind. On the one hand, such actions, language and
sufferings of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, as ap
pear, at first sight, inconsistent with His Divine nature,
may be satisfactorily explained ; whilst, on the other hand,
such rays of Divine greatness and glory as are discerned
through the veil and covering of His Flesh may be ac
counted for and may become the objects of devout contem
plation. The two views are closely connected with each
other; and both have been unfolded by the primitive
Writers ; although of the two, the former, for reasons ob
vious to every one conversant with their Remains and with
the history of the prevailing errors, which they had to op-

ILLUSTRATIONS. 235
pose, more frequently and more fully engaged their atten
tion. The present Lectures will be employed in some
developement ofthe latter view.
Note F, p. 12.
<Prjo-opev iv (pari Tvyyaveiv iravra tov rats tov Xoyov aiyais
aKoXovdr\o-avTa, Seifairos dc/)' ocnis dyvolas Kal dcre/3e£as /cat
rrjs irepl ro ®e1ov apaOias raCra (ra t&v faypdujxiiv, scil. Kai
t&v irXao-T&v) dvrl tov ®eov irpoaeKWe'iTO.  Awirep ihv
eprjTai fjpas KeAcros ttgSs olopeOa yvmpi^eiv rov ®ebv Kal ir&s
irpos avrov o-toOrjcrecrOai ; airoKpivovpedd oti 'iKavos icrriv 6 tov
®eov Xoyos, yevopevos iv rots £r)Tovo-iv avrov r) rots iiri<paiv6-
pevov avrov irapabex°lJi^V0is, yvcapicrai Kal diroKaXvxjj-ai tov
irarepa, irpb rijs irapovaias avrov ovx bpdtpevov. Origen. c,
Cels. VI. 66 and 68.
Ta irepl tov Ir7crow toCvvv, Kddb pev vevorjTai QeoTiyri iv
avT<a irpaxdevTa, io-Tiv ocria Kal ov paxppeva rfj irepl rov ®eiov
evvoiq' Kadb be avdpuiros r\v, iravros pdXXov avdpcairov KeKOO-pn-
pevos rfj aKpq pero)(rj tov avroXoyov Kdl rrjs avTOO-o<plas, vire-
peivev, cos o-o<pbs Kal reAetos, direp expt]v viropeivai tov virep
iravros tov yivovs t&v dv9p<oir(ov, r) koa, t&v XoyiK&v, iravra
irpdrTovra. Ibid. VII. 17.
Top iroirjTrjv Sr) /cat irarepa tov iravros f/peis <$>apev epyov
Ibelv pXeirerai be ov povov Kara to, jtxa/cdptot ol KdOapol rfj
Kapbiq, oti avrol tov ®ebv o-^rovrar aXXa Kal Kara to Aeyo-
uevov virb rrjs eiKovos tov aopdrov ®eov iv rco, 6 eapaK&s ipe
ecopa/ce tov irarepa tov irepifravTa pe.  Nor/eras rts ovv ir&s
bei dKoveiv irepl povoyevovs deov vlov tov ®eov, tov irpa>TOTO-
kov irdo~r]s KTicreas, KaOori 6 Xoyos yeyove crdpf, 6\\reTdi ir&s
Ibdtv rts rTjj> eiKOva tov aopdrov 8eov yvdaeTai tov irarepa Kal
iroir\TT]v Tovbe rov irdvros. Ibid. 43.
Cum ergo in eo (Domino et Salvatore nostro) quae-
dam ita videamus humana ut nihil a communi, id est mor-
talium fragilitate distare videantur, quaedam ita divina ut
nulli alii nisi illi primo et ineffabili in se conveniat Deitati
habere, humani intellectus angustia, tantae admirationis stu-
pore percussa, quo declinet et quo se convertat ignorat. Si
Deum sentiat, mortalem videt. Si hominem putet, devicto
mortis imperio cum spoliis redeuntem a mortuis cernet.

236 NOTES AND
Propter quod cum omni metu et reverentia contemplandum
est, ut in uno eodemque ita utriusque naturae Veritas de-
monstretur ut neque aliquid indignum et indecens in Divina
ilia et ineffabili substantia sentiatur, neque rursum qua?
gesta sunt falsis illusa imaginibus existimentur. Qua? qui
dem in aures humanas proferre et sermonibus explicare
longe vires vel meriti nostri vel ingenii ac sermonis excedit.
Arbitror autem quia etiam sanctorum Apostolorum super-
grediatur mensuram : quin immo etiam fortassis totius cre-
aturas ccelestium virtutum eminentior est sacramenti istius
explanatio. Ilept 'Apx&v, II- 6.
The translator, to whom we owe almost all that remains
of this work, may have been a Paraphrast as well as a
Translator ; yet may we well believe that, in this instance,
the general sentiments are those of Origen.
These passages will serve for specimens of the manner,
in which one distinguished Father of the third century
speaks on the general subject of these Lectures. They are
quoted in the hope of drawing the attention of every stu
dent, who is desirous of becoming a well-informed Theolo
gian, to the work, from which they are taken.
The name and writings of Origen have experienced the
fate of being both too highly extolled and too severely
reprobated and condemned. And for this fate it is per
fectly true that his great merits and eminent services in
the cause of Christianity, on the one hand — his grievous
errors and glaring faults, in the interpretation of the Sa
cred Volume, on the other, may account. The defence
of this renowned champion of our common faith belongs
not to the present undertaking. It has been conducted
by able hands; and has triumphantly shewn that much
of mistake, of misrepresentation and of unfairness has
mingled with the exceptions justly taken against his doc
trines and reasonings. Neither are the works that pass
under his name to be equally and indiscriminately re
commended. They have all been more or less subject to
corruption and adulteration ; and even if this had not been
the case, there are considerations urged by the learned and
candid Bp. Bull, of which no student should lose sight:

ILLUSTRATIONS. 237
Si omnia Origenis scripta, eaque pura et incorrupta, hodie
extarent, haud omnia tamen verae ac genuinae ejus senten-
tiae declarandas pariter inservirent; scilicet variorum auc-
toris iroXvypacpov operum diversa foret ratio. Nam alia ad
amicos secreto scripsit, quae lucem nunquam visura spera-
vit; in quibus libere ac pene sceptice disseruit ac plerum-
que non tam suam certam ac definitam sententiam quam vel
aliorum ratiocinationes vel suos quosdam scrupulos ac du-
bitatiunculas, ad clariorem veritatis elucidationem, propo-
suit. Alia ipse in publicum emisit, sive contra infideles
sive adversus haereticos, seu denique ad instruendum ple-
bem Christianam ; in quibus, via trita ac tuta incedens, re-
ceptam in Ecclesia Catholica doctrinam studiosius tradidit.
Deinde alia properanter dictitavit, alia diligentiori cura
elucubravit. Denique alia (ut Huetii verbis utar) senex
Adamantius, ingenio per a?tatem magis subacto, elimavit ;
alia, efferente sese in juventutis aestu fcecunditate, profu-
dit. De quibus praeclare dixit Hieronymus in Prologo ad
Com. in Lucam, Origenem in quibusdam tractatibus, quasi
puerum, talis ludere ; alia esse virilia ejus et alia senectutis
seria. Def en. Fid. Nic. II. ix. 3.
Of the Eight Books against Celsus, Bishop Bull pro
nounces :
Hos praeter librariorum o-<pdXpara, a quibus nulli vete-
rum libri prorsus immunes sunt, aliam violationem notabi-
lem subiisse nemo, quod sciam, hactenus suspicatus fuit....
Hi summo auctoris studio, maxima eruditione, idque ab
ipso jam sexagenario majori (ut diserte testatur Eusebius
H. E. VI. 36.) elucubrati sunt. Defen. Fid. Nic. II. ix.
2 and 3.
It is from this great work that all but one of the preced
ing extracts are taken ; and future occasions will arise of
borrowing illustrations from the same source. He who
would learn the first beginnings and the real nature of in
fidel objections to Christianity, may discover, in those por
tions of the work of Celsus which are preserved by Origen,
a subject of most interesting and most profitable research :
he will find that the difficulties started and the sophistry
employed are essentially the same as those of our own day ;

238 NOTES AND
and that of old they needed, as they now need, the aid of
sarcasm and of buffoonery to recommend them to the low
taste of the depraved and wicked ; or of the weak and
ignorant. Nor is this the only, or the chief advantage to be
gained. In the reasonings of the Christian Apologist, which
are, for the most part, sound and solid, and which display
a thorough acquaintance with the Sacred Volume and a
skilful application of that knowledge — in the acuteness,
with which he detects and in the force and clearness, with
which he exposes, the fallacies and the inconsistencies of his
adversary — in the elevated views, which he takes ofthe Divine
dispensations — above all, in his noble spirit of zeal and de
votion to his God and Saviour and in his lowly temper of
dependence on help from Heaven, of which the proofs and
instances every where abound — in these characteristics ofthe
Books of Origen against Celsus the Theological Student
will meet with such materials for reflection, and such means
of mental and moral discipline as may well be allowed to
divert his attention from the religious publications of what
we are fond of calling our enlightened age.
The appeal of Bufinus, in the Preface to his Translation
of that First Book ofthe Apology for Origen of Pamphilus
and Eusebius, which of the Six Books alone is extant, de
serves regard :
Quoniam ad judicium Dei venturi sumus, non refugiant
scire quod verum est, ne forte ignorantes delinquant : sed
considerantes quia falsis criminationibus percutere fratrum
infirmorum conscientias in Christum peccare est, ideo non
accommodent criminatoribus aurem suam nee ab alio dis-
cant alterius fidem, maxime cum coram experiri sit copia
et oris sui confessio quid vel qualiter unusquisque credit
ostendat. Nor is the following admonition unsuitable to our own
times :
" Constant reading of the most perfect modern books, which
" does not go jointly on with the ancients in their turns, will,
" by bringing the ancients into disuse, cause the learning of
" the men of the next generation to sink ; by reason that
" they, not drawing from those springs from whence those

ILLUSTBATIONS. 239
" excellent moderns drew, whom they only propose to follow,
" nor taking those measures which these men took, must for
" want of that foundation, which their modern guides first
" carefully laid, fail in no long compass of time." Wottons
Refections on Ancient and Modern Learning, p. 3. of pref.
as quoted by Waterland, ch. 7. of Import, of Doct. of Holy .
Trin. (p. 305 of Vol. V.)
Note G, p. 16.
Inter caetera salutaria sua monita et praecepta divina, qui
bus populo suo consuluit ad salutem, etiam orandi ipse Do
minus formam dedit ; ipse quid precaremur monuit et in-
struxit. Qui fecit vivere, docuit et orare ; benignitate ea
scilicet, qua et caetera dare et conferre dignatus est ; ut
dum prece et oratione, quam Filius docuit, apud Patrem
loquimur, facilius audiamur  Oremus itaque, fratres
dilectissimi, sicut Magister Deus docuit. Arnica et fami-
liaris oratio est Deum de suo rogare ; ad aures ejus ascen-
dere Christi oratione. Agnoscat Pater Filii sui verba. Cum
precem facimus, qui habitat intus in pectore, ipse sit et in
voce. Et cum ipsum habeamus apud Patrem advocatum
pro peccatis nostris ; quando peccatores pro delictis nostris
petimus, Advocati nostri verba promamus. Nam cum di-
cat : quia quodcunque petierimus a Patre in nomine ejus
dabit nobis; quando {quanto, for.) efficacius impetramus
quod petimus in Christi nomine, si petamus ipsius oratione?
Sti Cypriani de Orat. Dom. in init.
Note H, p. 16.
"Oie tovs ibiovs ' Airoo-roXovs tovs peXXovras Kr]pvacreiv to
evayyeXiov avrov ef eAefaro (6 'Jno-ovs) .... Tore i<pavepa>o-ev
eavrbv vlbv ®eov etvai' el yap pr] r)X6ev iv crap/ct, ix&s av ecrco-
Orjpev avOpariroi, fiXeirovTes avrov ; oti tov peXXovra pr) elvai
rjXiov, epyov )(etpfiz; avrov inrdp\0VTa, fiXeirovTes ovk icrxvovo-iv
eis dKTivas avrov dvTo<p6aXprjo-ai. Sti Barn. Epist. V.
Dicimus et palam dicimus et, vobis torquentibus, lacerati
et cruenti vociferamur : Deum colimus per Christum.

240 NOTES AND
Ilium hominem putate. Per eum et in eo se cognosci vult
Deus et coli. Tertull. Apol. XXI.
Igitur et manifestam fecit duarum personarum conjunc-
tionem, ne Pater seorsum quasi visibilis in conspectu desi-
deraretur et ut Filius repraesentator Patris haberetur. Jbid.
. advers. Prax. XXIV.
Imago est enim in visibilis Dei ut mediocritas et fragilitas
conditionis humanae Deum Patrem videre aliquando jam
tunc adsuesceret in imagine Dei, hoc est, in Filio Dei.
Novat.de Trin. Lib.
The admirable Tract, from which this quotation comes,
is ascribed to Novatian and is added to the Works of Ter
tullian. Nor ought the following testimony in its favour
to be overlooked :
Caeterum, si Novatianus optimum ilium libellum de Tri-
nitate, sive de Begula Fidei, iis temporibus conscripsisset,
quando haec posuit Cornelius, haud utique malus ille extitit
8oyp,artoTTjs seu Theologus. Rei. Sacr. Vol. III. p. 38.
O 'IrjcroCs vlbs &>v ®eov Kal irplv ivav6pa>irrjaai Kal evavdpia-
TTTjcras dirobeiKwrav iyai be (pr]pi on Kal pera rr)v ivavdpdrrrr]-
criv del evpio-Kerai rots exovcriv 6(f)6aXpovs \^u)(t]s o^vbepKeard-
tovs Beoirpeireararos Kal dXr]6&s deodev irpbs f]pds KareXd&v.
Orig. c. Cels. III. 14. The same Author elsewhere speaks
of the Son as irepiaipovvros dirb tov irarpos to Xeyopevov ctko-
tos, o edero diroKpv<pr\v avrov Kal to Xeyopevov irepifioXaiov
avTov, ttjv a(3vo-o-ov, Kal diroKaXvirrovros ovrco tov irarepa.
Ibid. VI. 17.
The following testimony belongs to a somewhat later
period of the same early age :
©eArjp-art ®eov 6 Xoyos <rap£ yevopevos Kal crYjjp,art evpedels
ws avdpbjiros, ovk direXeitpdr) rrjs deorrjros. oibe yap Iva rrjs bvvd-
pea>s avrov r) bo£r]s reAetas diroarr] irT(i>xevaas irXovcrios &>v,
tovto iyevero" dAA' 'iva Kal tov ddvarov virep r)p&v t&v apap-
tcoX&v dvabi£r]Tai, oY/catos virep dblKa>v, oircas f)pas irpoo-aydyr]
rc3 ©e<3, davardideh pev crapKi, C<i>oircir]6els 8e irve'vpari. S.
Petri Alexandrini Frag, apud Rei. Sacr. Vol. III. 344.
Exinaniens se Filius, qui erat in forma Dei, per ipsam
sui exinanitionem studet nobis Deitatis plenitudinem de-

ILLUSTRATIONS. 241
monstrare  Exinaniens se Filius Dei de aequalitate Pa-
tris et viam nobis cognitionis ejus ostendens, figura expressa
substantiae ejus efficitur : ut qui in magnitudine Deitatis
suae positam gloriam mira? lucis non poteramus aspicere, per
hoc quod nobis splendor efficitur, intuendse lucis Divina?
viam, per splendoris capiamus aspectum. Orig. de Prin.
I- ^ — 8. This quotation is placed after the preceding,
because it is not perfectly safe to assign it to a remoter anti
quity than the age of Rufinus. Note I, p. 20.
" I use the Scripture, not as an arsenal, to be resorted to
" only for Arms and Weapons to defend this Party or defeat
" its enemies ; but as a matchless temple, where I delight to
" be, to contemplate the beauty, the symmetry and the mag -
" nificence of the Structure ; and to increase my awe and
" excite my devotion to the Deity there preached and
" adored." Hon. R. Boyle's Consid. touching the Style of
Holy Scripture, p. 78. Note K, p. 21.
Praeter has tres Christianorum sectas (videlicet Carpocra-
tianos, Cerinthianos et Ebionaeos) nulla alia a Scriptore ali-
quo Ecclesiastico commemoratur, qua? Justini aetate vel
prius Jesum nostrum hominem tantummodo esse ex homi-
riibus genitum doceret. Reliqui fere istorum temporum
haeretici, qui de Christi persona male senserunt, veritatem
humana? in ipso naturae impugnarunt. Bull. Judicium Ec
cles. Cath. VIT. 8. Note L, p. 22.
" Would to God the necessity never had arisen of stating
" the discoveries of Revelation in metaphysical propositions !
" The inspired Writers delivered their sublimest doctrines in
" popular language and abstained, as much as it was possible
" to abstain, from a philosophical phraseology. By the per-
" petual cavils of gainsayers and the difficulties, which they
" have raised, later teachers, in the assertion of the same
" doctrines, have been reduced to the unpleasing necessity of
" availing themselves of the greater precision of a less fami-
" liar language." Bp. Horsley s Sermon on ihe Incarnation,
p. 318 and 319 of Tracts in controversy with Dr. Priestley.

242 NOTES AND
Vid. also in p. 458 and 459 of the same Vol. an admirable
passage on " the extreme caution, which should be used to
" keep the Doctrine of the Trinity, as it is delivered in
" God's word, distinct from every thing that hath been de-
" vised by man or that may even occur to a man's own
" thoughts, to illustrate it or explain its difficulties." Bp.
Bull often wrote in a kindred spirit :
In hae rerum caligine, de hoc (rrjs Treptxcopr/crecos scil. mys-
terio) aliisque mysteriis Divinis, tanquam pueri et sentimus
et loquimur, imo balbutimus potius. Hic dum sumus,
Deum nostrum tanquam in speculo et aenigmate contem-
plamur. Adveniet vero tempus, imo omni tempore et sa?-
culo ulterior aeternitas, qua ipsum videbimus, facie ad fa-
ciem. Tenebras omnes tunc a mentibus nostris fugabit
beatifica Dei visio; qua ut nos tandem dignos efficiat Di
vina misericordia, ipsam noctes diesque obnixe et supplices
oremus. Interea, dum viatores sumus, cognoscere optamus
potius quam liquido cognoscimus, ut doctissimi Athenagora?
(in Leg. pro Christianis) verbis utar, rfc r\ rov riatoos irpbs
rov Tlarepa kvorns' ris r; rov Ilarpos Trpos tov Tlbv Koivcavia'
rt ro Tivevpa' ris r) t&v too-ovtuv eWcris /cat bialpeais kvovpe-
vwv, tov Tlvevparos, rod PlatSos, rov Ylarpos. Defen. Fid.
Nic. IV. iv. 14. ad fin. See also of the same work, III. ix.
12. in init. and IV. i. 9. ad fin.
Note M, p. 26.
On this text, as quoted in the precious fragments of the
Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons to those of
Asia and Phrygia, Dr. Routh observes:
Quomodocunque interpretanda sint verba, ovx dpiraypbv
y]yf]o-aro to elvai tcra ©ecp, hoc quidem constat, Lugdunenses
ex illis argumentum duxisse rrjs Taireivocppoo-vvrjs Christi.
Neque vero hi soli id fecerunt ; sed et alii multi veteres
Scriptores : imo vero id suscipere velim, nullum Ecclesias-
ticum auctorem ad Nicaenorum usque tempus adduci posse,
qui significari to non alienum a se esse arbitratus est verbis
orjx' dpiraypbv r/yqararo, clare atque aperte indicaverit. Haud-
quaquam tamen id fraudi est firmissimo argumento contra
Humanistas quos vocant, ex istis verbis Apostoli sumendo.
Rei. Sacr. Vol. I. p. 328.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 243
Bp. Bull's remark on the same text is short but emphatic:
Qui unus locus, si recte expendatur, ad omnes ha?reses
adversus Jesu Christi Domini nostri personam repellendas
sufficit. Def. Fid. Nic. II. ii. 2. See also his Prim. Trad.
de Jes. Christ. Div. VI. 21.
Origen, having quoted the same text, remarks :
Ovrca peya boypa to irepl Taireivoabpoo-vvris io-rlv, as pr)
tov rvxdvra bibdo-KaXov exeiv irepl avrov aXX' avrov Xeyeiv rov
ttjXikovtov r)p&v crcorrjpa, pddere air ipov, oti irpqos elpi Kal
raireivos rfj Kapbiq /cat euprjcrere dvdiravo-iv rats \jrvxais vp&v.
Contra Gels. VI. 15.
And in another place, he observes :
Air iKeivov ('l-ncrov, scil.) rfpgaro Bela Kal dvOpairlvr) avv-
v(j*aiveo-0ai cprjcrts' lv r) avdpwirtvr] rfj irpbs ro dewrepov koi-
vo>viq yevr)rai Oeta ov/c iv pi6v<o rcS 'brow, dAXa ko.1 irao-i rots
pera tov irio-Teveiv avaXapjidvovo-i fiiov, ov 'Irja-ovs eblbagev
dvayovra iirl rr)v rrpbs tov ®ebv (faiXiav Kal tt)v irpbs iKei
vov Kowatviav, irdvra tov Kara, ras "'Jncrov viro6r}Kas C&vra.
Ibid. III. 28.
The name of Dr. Lardner ought never to be mentioned
without the respect due to extensive learning, unwearied
patience in the investigation of truth, and a mild, candid
and amiable spirit. Yet is it deeply to be regretted that
this excellent man and most useful writer was so far misled
as to suppose that in maintaining the doctrine that our
Saviour was merely a man, he was gaining, among many
and great advantages, this one in particular — that " the
" example of Christ is thus justly set before us in all the
" strength and beauty, with which it appears in the Gospels
" and Epistles of the New Testament." It is affecting to
consider that the reproof, which he addressed to others,
may be more fitly applied to himself and his own followers:
" The truth is not in us : the words of Christ do not abide
" in us. We suffer ourselves to be deluded and perverted
" from the truth and simplicity of the Gospel by the philo-
" sophical schemes of speculative men. And so, almost
"any man may take our crown. Rev. iii. 11. " A Letter
on the Logos, p- 106 of Vol. XI. of Lardner's Works.
The venerable authority of Clemens Romanus, or at all
r 2

244 NOTES AND
events of a writer of the 3rd Century passing under his
name (as Dr. Lardner in agreement with many others sup
posed,) enforces a very different and a far better lesson:
'ASeAcpot, oiircds bei r)pas cppoveiv irepl Irjaov XpiaTov cos irepi
®eov, cos irepl KpiTov ^u>vru>v Kal veKp&v. Kal ov belrjpas piKpa
qbpovelv irepl rrjs o-a>rr)pias 7jp&V ev rc5 yap <j>poveiv rjpds piKpa
irepl avrov, piKpd /cat iXiri(fipev Xafielv /cat ot aKOVovres wairep
piKp&v, apapravopev, ovk eibores irodev eKXr]dr]'j.ev Kal viro rivos
Kal ets ov roirov /cat oaa virepeivev 'Irjo-ovs Xptcrros iradelv
eveKa r)p&v. Sti Clementis Rom. Ep. ad Cor. II. init.
The Symposium of Methodius contains the following
statement of the Divine example, as proposed in our Sa
viour's human nature :
Tarrrrr rjperlo-aTO rr)v dvBpanrivqv ivbvcrao-dai crapKa ©eos coz>
(scil. 6 Aoyos) oira>s ibo-irep ev irlvaKi Oeiov iKrviriopa fiiov j3Xe-
irovres eya>pev Kal rjpiis - bv ypd'tyavra pipeZcr6ai. Sti Method.
Symp. I. as quoted by Grabe, in his Annot. in Def. Fid.
II. xiii. 11 and by Dr. Burton, in his Testim. of Ante-Nic.
Fath. p. 407. Note N, p. 28.
Succumbat humana infirmitas gloria? Dei ; et in expli-
candis operibus misericordiae ejus, imparem se semper inve-
niat. Laboremus sensu, haereamus ingenio, deficiamus elo-
quio : bonum est ut nobis parum sit quod etiam recte de
Domini majestate sentimus! Sti Leonis M. in Serm. XI.
de Passione Domini.
The same becoming sentiment is more concisely but not
less forcibly expressed in the language of an early martyr :
Kdyco, dvOpcoiros lav, piKpd vopifa Xeyeiv irpbs rr)v 'Irrcrov Xpt-
crror? direipov Oeonqra. Such were the words uttered by
Justin Martyr, in that good confession, which he made be
fore the Boman Governor, and which immediately preceded
the event related in the following passage :
Ot dytot pdprvpes (Justin and his four companions) bo£d-
foires tov ®eov, ifceXOovres eirl tov o-uvi]6r] roirov, direrpr)6r]-
aav ras /cecpdAas /cat ireXeia>o-av avr&v rr]V paprvplav, iv rfj
rov Samjpos opoXoylq' rives be t&v ttio-t&v Xadpalas avr&v ra
cr&para Xafiovres, KareOevTO ev roVco iirirr]bel&, arvvepyao-do-r)S
avrols rrjs xapiros tov Kvpiov fip&v Irjcroi/ Xptororj, to t) bo£a

ILLUSTRATIONS. 245
ets tovs al&vas t&v aidvwv. 'Aprjv. (Acta Martyr. S. Just.
et Soc.) p. 586 Oper. Note O, p. 30.
Interrogemus ipsa miracula quid nobis loquantur de
Christo ? Habent enim, si intelligantur, linguam suam.
Nam quia ipse Christus Verbum Dei est, etiam Factum
Verbi, Verbum nobis est. Sancti Aug. Horn, in Ev. Joan.
cap. 6. Tract. 24, in init.
St. Ambrose, to the same effect, says : Dominica? carnis
actus Div initatis exemplum est; et invisibilia nobis ejus,
per ea quae sunt visibilia, demonstrantur. Com. in Luc.
c. 4. v. 24.
The following passages are added in farther illustration
of the same view :
Ovbepla avdyKr] rots vovv f)(ovo~t,v, i£ &v perd ro ftdirrio-pa
6 Xptoros eirpa£e, irapiurqv ro dArjtles /cat acpavrao-rbv rrjs
i/fi)Xrjs avrov Kal rov adtparos, Trjs /cat? ftpas avdpo)irlvr]s cprjcrecos'
to. yap perd to /3dimcrpa viro XptaroS irpaydevTa (cat p-dAta-ra
to. o-ripeia, tt)v avrov KeKpvppevvv iv (rapid ©eo'rrjra ibrjXovv
Kal iirio-Tovvro rip Kocrpua. ©eos yap wv opov re Kal dvdponros
reXeios 6 aires, ras bvo avrov ovalas eirio-rdo-aro rjp.iV rrp> pev
©eo'rrjra avrov bid t&v o-r)peia>v iv rfi rpterta rfj perd to fidir-
no-pa, tt)v be di^pcoTrdrrjra avrov, iv rots rpidKOvra XP°V0^
rots •ffpo tov pairrio-paTos" iv oh bid ro dreAes to Kara
crdp/ca direKpvfir] ra crrjp.eta Trjs avrov ©eo'rrjros" /cat irep ©eos
dArjflrjs Trpoai<i>viosvirdpx<*v. Melitonis Frag. Rei. Sacr. Vol. I.
p. 115.
Td pev crrjp.eta Kal ra repara rd iv rots evayyeXiois avaye-
ypappeva 6 ©eos r)v eiriTeXecras' r<S 8e crap/cos /cat atparos pe-
reo-xqKevai tov avrov, ireireipapevos /card airdvra Kaff bpoio-
rrjra, \a>ph apaprlas. Ex Epistola missa Paulo Samosa-
tensi ab orthodoxis Episcopis, Anno Christi 269, Epistola
ilia, cum pietate tum simplicitate sua se maxime commen-
dante atque ilia antiquissima tempora nobis egregie referente.
Reliq. Sacr. II. 465 and 494. The slight verbal amend
ments of the text of this passage suggested by Dr. Routh
are here without hesitation adopted.
Si mediocritates in alio (Christo, scil.) adprobant hu-
manam fragilitatem, majestates in illo adfirmant Divinara
a 3

246 NOTES AND
potestatem. Novatianus, sive Scriptor de Trin. Libri,
Oper. Tertull. additi. (p. 713.)
Dum in terris ageret Filius, erat ev axvpari evpeOels l>s
dvOpatros, nempe merus, nihilque majus homine pra? se
ferebat, nisi quod in miraculis scintillula? quaedam Divina?
Majestalis per nubem humana? carnis subinde emicarent.
Bp. Bull, Primit. Trad. VI. 25.
Note P, p. 30.
The limitation of the meaning of the word Miracle, as it
is employed on the present occasion, is obvious from the
first statement of the subject of this Discourse, which is to
be confined to ihe wonderful works done by our Lord.
That evidence, which may justly be called Miraculous, in
cludes indeed all such extraordinary manifestations of the
presence and power of God as have taken place on special
occasions and for special purposes. Thus, the event of
the appearance of the pillar of the cloud by day and the
pillar of fire by night, recorded in Exod. xiii. 21, 22.
is a miracle; and as such, it enters into the evidence in
favour of the Revelation made by Moses. In like manner,
the voice from Heaven at our Saviour's baptism — the
darkness attending His crucifixion — the rending of the veil
of the Temple — these are events of the Gospel History,
strictly and properly miraculous; as such, they contri
bute towards the proof of Christianity. The endowment of
Prophetic foresight is itself miraculous ; and as such may
vindicate for those, who possess it, and for those, in whom
its oracles are fulfilled, the character of messengers of God.
" Prophecy has been styled by some miraculum dicti.. .as
" supernatural works have been called miraculum facti."
Dr. Wheeler, Theol. Lect. I. 77. And although the ordi
nary distinction between miracles and Prophecy, as the two
leading branches of Evidence, may be conveniently ad
mitted, yet is it well to remember that miracles, specifically
so called, and Prophecy both come under one and the same
general head of Miraculous attestations in favour of Re
vealed Religion. As the youthful student is liable to se
rious inconvenience from the statements on the subject of
Miracles to be met with in the Works even of approved

ILLUSTRATIONS. 247
Authors, one of his first duties is to furnish himself with
such leading principles as may safely guide him through the
details of a momentous discussion and may enable him to
profit by the numerous Treatises of various Authors' that
will unavoidably attract his notice and demand his attention.
For this purpose, he may be referred to the Analogy of
Bishop Butler, that invaluable storehouse of first principles
in almost every department of Theological Inquiry ; and more
particularly, to the Second and Seventh chapters of the Se
cond Part of that immortal Work. With the same view may
be recommended " A Treatise on the Evidence of the Scrip-
" ture Miracles, by John Penrose, M. A. formerly of CCC.
" Oxford." The able Author of this Work, in handling
the whole subject of Miracles, has shewn himself to be no
unworthy disciple of the great Prelate abovementioned.
Note Q, p. 33.
That condition of the credibility of the doctrines to be
proved, which Mr. Penrose deems necessary towards the
validity of miraculous evidence in their favour, is here
omitted. Do not the Divine attributes, of which even Rea
son may impart some knowledge, afford an ample security
against error in this important instance ? It may be granted
that there are evil spirits, possessed of super-human powers,
det pev fiovXopevoi /ca/cd 7rotetz<' — but of the same beings, it is
to be remembered, for our comfort, that they are ovk del
bvvdpevoi bid to Ka>Xveadai. (Origen.) And we may with
confidence expect that the control, which we allow to be at
all times possible, will be effectually exercised for the bene
volent and valuable end of protecting us against any serious
danger (such danger, that is, as honesty and attention cannot
obviate) of being misled and deluded in the momentous
concern of Revelation. On these principles, therefore, it
may be concluded that miraculous evidence, left unrefuted
by any counter-evidence, is abundantly sufficient for the
confirmation of doctrines, purporting to come from God,
independently of any reference to the nature and character
of those doctrines themselves. May it not be still farther
urged that such reference fails to remove the difficulty for
the sake of which it is prescribed ? Is it not possible to con-
r 4

248 NOTES AND
ceive that an evil Being of superior skill and power might
build on le ground of truths already known and acknow
ledged ar artfully contrived system, plausibly appearing
perfective of all previous discoveries? And, in a case like
this, where would be our security against fatal error, except
in a rational hope of counter-evidence — of a plain and deci
sive interference of Power really Divine, which should set
at nought the pretensions of all inferior beings ? See how
ever Penrose's Treatise, Ch. II. Sect. 6, where the Author
unfolds and vindicates his own view.
Note R, p. 34.
Tori be Scorrjpos fjp&v rd epya del irdprjV aXr]6r) yap rjv ol
Oepairevdevres" ot dz»acrrdi>res e/c veKp&v o^ ovk HxpOwcrav povov
Oepairevopevoi Kal dvurrdpevoi dXXa /cat det irapovres' ovbe eiri-
br]povvTos povov rov Scorrjpos dAAd /cat drraAAayei'ros, r/aav eirl
\povov iKavov eis re Kal ets tovs rjperepovs XP°V0VS rives air&v
d(piKovro. Haec attulit Eusebius, Lib. IV. Hist. cap. 3.
Reliquice Sacra, vol.1. 73. See also the introductory re
marks to the same fragment, as given by Grabe, in his Spi-
cilegium, p. 125 of Part II. He maintains the affirmative
on the question, which Dr. Routh, however, does not posi
tively determine, respecting the identity of the Author of
the Apology and the Bishop of Athens. Every reader must
enter into the feeling, which Grabe expresses in the follow
ing words :
Utinam de hae Quadrati Apologia modo scribere posse-
mus quod Eusebius, Lib. IV. cap. 3. eicre'ri be (peperai irapa
irXelo-rois t&v abeXtp&v, drdp Kal Trap' r)plv, to avyypappa ef ov
Karibelv iari Xapirpd re/cp.?jpta rrjs re rot! di>8pds biavoias /cat
rrjs d7rocrroAt/crjs opdoropias. Sed periit eheu egregium istud
o-vyypapp.a, nihil que ejus superest, praster unicum, brevis-
simum quidem at nobile fragmentum, quod nobis conser-
vavit Eusebius loco modo citato I
Note S, p. 35.
Dr. Paley treats expressly on this subject in Chap. 5, of
Part III. of his View of the Evidences of Christianity. In
that Chapter, he has noticed the passage of Quadratus,
lately quoted, and some other valuable testimonies from the

ILLUSTRATIONS. 249
Fathers ; but since he does not appear to have received so
strong an impression as the state of the casejjWarrants of
their reliance on the miraculous facts of the Gospel History
for proofs of the Christian Religion, both some of his quo
tations in the original languages and some few additional
passages, are here submitted to the reader.
Justin Martyr, in his First Apology, undoubtedly alleges
the miracles of the Christian history, where he insists on
them as real facts, in contradistinction, as it would seem,
to the pretences of the art of Magic :
Oira>s be pr] ris dvririOels r)piv, ri KbiXvei /cat tov Trap r)piv
Xeyopevov Xpiarbv, avdpanrov i£ dv0p&ira>v ovra, p-aytzcrj re^^rj
as Xeyopev bvvdpeis ireiroirjKevai Kal bo£ai bid tovto vibv ®eov
eivai, rov air6beit~iv rjbrj iroivo-opeda, ov rots Xeyovcri iriarevov-
res aAAa rots irpo(pr]Tevovo~i irplv r\ yeveo-Qai, Kar dvayKt]v irei-
Oopevoi, bid to Kal o\jrei cos Trpoe(j>r)rev67) opqv yevopeva /cat yt-
vopeva' virep peyiorr] Kal dArjfleordrrj a7ro'8ei£is /cat r5p.u>, cos
voplCopev, <pavr\o~eTai. Apol. I. 30.
It is on the combined "force of Miracles and Prophecy ;
on tbe agreement of seen and knoivn facts with notices of
them long before given that the Apologist relies ; but his
appeal is evidently made to such facts as in his opinion no
results of Magic could rival or imitate.
The passage, partly quoted by Dr. Paley from the Dia
logue with Trypho, is as follows :
Ilrjyrj rj8aros f<3i>ros 7rapd ©eorj iv rrj eprj/xcp, yvdaeas ®eov
(in allusion to the language of Is. xxxv. which immediately
precedes this passage) Trj r&v e6v&v yf] ave/3Xvcrev ovros 6
Xpiords" os /cat iv r<5 yeWi vp&v ire(j)avrai Kal rovs e/c yeverrjs
/cat /card rr)v adpKa irrjpovs Kal Kuxpovs /cat x^ow Idcrdro, rdi>
pev dXXeaOai, tov be Kal aKoveiv, rov be Kal bpdv rcS Adycp ai3-
tov 7T0trjcras" Kal veKpovs be dvaorrjcras /cat £fjv Troiwcas, /cat bid
r&v ipyutv ibva&irei tovs rore ovras avdpwirovs, iiriyv&vai av
rov ol be Kal ravra bp&vres yivopeva, dpavrao-iav payiKr\v yi-
veo-Qai eXeyov Kal yap pdyov elvai avrov iroXpotv Xeyeiv Kal
XaoirXdvov. Dial, cum Tryph. 69-
It will surely be perceived and felt that these words
convey a far more decisive appeal to the works of our Lord,
and a much more forcible contrast of them with the illu-

250 NOTES AND
sions of Magic than the translation, adopted by Dr. Paley,
would imply.
One other instance of Justin's appeal to our Saviour's
miracles may be added : it is from an earlier Section (35)
of the Dialogue ; and is highly interesting both from the
summary of the Christian evidences and from the display of
Christian feeling, which it contains :
"A irdayopev irdvra dvaipovpevoi viro t&v ot/cetGw, irpoelirev
fjplv (6 'IrjcroSs) peXXeiv yeveaOai, cos Kara prjbeva rpoirov iiri-
Xrj\j/ipov avrov Xoyov r) irpd^iv dpaiveo-9ai. bib Kal virep vp&v
/cat virep r&v dXXatv airdvraiv dvOpdnrav r&v exOpaivovrav r)plv
eixdpeOa' Iva perayvovres crvv r)piv pr) /3Aacrobrjp.7Jre rdi> bid re
rco> epyav Kal r&v dirb rov ovoparos avrov /cat vvv yivopevatv
bvvdpeaiv Kal dirb t&v rrjs bibaxvs Xoycov Kal dirb r&v irpoipr]-
revdeur&v ets avrov irpo(pr]Tei&v, dpa>pov Kal dveyKX-qrov Kara
irdvra Xptcrroz' 'Irjcrow- dAAa iriarevo-avres els avrov, iv rf)
irdXiv yevrjcropevri ivbo£<i> airov irapovcrlq. crcotfrjre /cat pr) /cara-
biKaadrjre ets rd irvp vir avrov.
The notice taken by Irenaeus of the evasion of the here
tics, which was similar to that of the adversaries of Christi
anity, is mentioned by Dr. Paley, and comes after the fol
lowing passage, preserved only in the Latin Translation :
Ad opera producti, qua? ille (Jesus scil.) ad utilitatem
hominum et firmitatem fecit, nihil tale, nee simile nee se
cundum aliquid in comparationem quod venire possit, per
ficere inveniuntur. Sed et si aliquid faciunt, per Magicam
(quemadmodum diximus) operati, fraudulenter seducere ni-
tuntur insensatos : fructum quidem et utilitatem nullam
praestantes, in quos virtutes perficere se dicunt; adducentes
autem pueros investes, et oculos deludentes et phantasmata
ostendentes statim cessantia et ne quidem stillicidio temporis
perseverantia, non Jesu Domino nostro sed Simoni Mago
similes ostenduntur. Et ex hoc autem quod Dominus sur-
rexit a mortuis in tertia die (firmum est) et discipulis se
manifestavit et videntibus eis receptus est in caelum ; quod
ipsi morientes et non resurgentes, neque manifestati quibus-
dam, arguuntur in nullo similes habentes Jesu animas.
Then occur the words :
Et be Kal tov Kvpiov dpavraaiab&s rd roiavra ireirocnKevai

ILLUSTRATIONS. 251
djrjo-ovariv, iirl rd rrpocprjrt/cd dvdyovres avTovs, ef avr&v iiri-
beigopev irdvra ovtojs irepl avrov Kal irpoeipr)o-dai Kal yeyovevai
/3e/3atojs /cat avrov povov elvai tov viov tov ®eov. Iren. contra
Haer. 57 cap. Lib. II.
From these words it is plain that the firm establishment
of the matters of fact was, in Irenaeus's judgment, both in
itself possible and in its bearing on his argument important.
To the original of two passages of Origen, to which Dr.
Paley has referred, and of the former of which Dr. Lardner
has justly said that it is a " glorious answer" to the objec
tion of Celsus, the student will do well to have recourse ;
he will find them in Orig. c. Cels. II. 48. and I. 67, 68.
In several Editions of Paley the only reference to the Greek
is one, which belongs to the former place, but is incorrectly
assigned to the latter. The following may be added from
the same work :
Mdi>ot rjpeis rd Kadap&s Kal dpiyes irpbs to \frevbos dXr]6es
iv Tr) Irjcrov XptcrroS bibao-KaXlq diro(paiv6pevoi elvai, ovx eav-
rovs dXXd tov bibdo-KaXov avviarapev, viro tov iirl iracri ®eov
bid irXei6va>v papruprjOevra Kal r&v irpo(pr]TiK&v iv 'lovbalois
X6ya>v Kal arjrrjs rrjs ivapyeCas' belKwrai yap ov/c d#eet rd rrj-
At/caSra bebvvrjpevos. Ibid. V. 51.
' Airobeigopev oti dirb ®eov beborai avr& (r<3 'Irjaw) to ti-
[UurQai- 'iva irdvres rip&ai tov vlbv Kad&s rip&o-i tov irarepa.
al yap irpb rrjs yeveaews avrov irpo^rirelai ovardaeis rjcrav rrjs
Tiprjs avrov. dXXd /cat rd vir avrov yevopeva irapdboga, ov
payyavelq, a>s olerai KeAcros, dAAd Qeiorryn irpoeiprjpevr] viro
t&v irpo<pr]T&v, rrjv dirb @eov eixe paprvpiav. Ibid. VIII. 9-
Td Trap' rjptti> avayeypappeva repdo-na e'n lovba'iKa, e'lre Kal
irepl tov Ir]o~ov Kal r&v paQryr&v avrov, pvdovs eivai vevopiKe
(6 Ke'Acros). Tt yap ovv^t rd pev fiperepd iariv dXrjdrj, a 8e
KeAcros Xeyei, dvairXdo-para pvdiKd ; ols ovb EXXrjvav (piXo-
crocpoi atpecrets ireiriorevKao-iv, So-irep r) ArjpoKpirov /cat r) 'Em-
Kovpov /cat r) ' ApiaroreXovs' rd\a &v ireirio-revKviai bid tt)v iv-
dpyeiav rots rjperepois, el iraparervxeio-av Mcoiicrrj r) nvi r&v rd
irapdbo^a iroirjo-dvrav irpoiprjr&v r) Kal air£ rc3 'IrjcroC. Ibid.
VIII. 45.
The same Father, in another Work (Com. in Matth.
Tom. XII. 2.) having assigned some probable ways of

252 NOTES AND
accounting for the unbelief of the Pharisees and Saddu
cees, in our Saviour's day, urges :
Or) pr)v coo-re /cat o-vyyvoicrTovs elvai, pr) ivop&vras rots t&v
irpo(pr]T&v Ao'yots irXvpovpevois iv rats irpaf ecri roij 'Irjcrorj, as
ovbap&s irovrjpd bvvapis piprjcrao-6ai old re f}v. \jruxriv be i£eX-
8ovo-av iirio-rpe\j/ai, cocrre rjSrj o(ovra Kat rerdprvv fjpepav ayov-
ra dirb t&v pvrjpelav e£eA0etz>, oibevbs r)v r) roC d/covcrai'ros
dno rov irarepos' iroi-qo-apev dvOpairov Kar etKoVa Kal 6polaio-iv
fjperepav. dXXd Kal dvepois /ceAewat /cat opp-qv t?aAdcrcrrjs Ao'yw
TTaCcrat, ovbevbs dXXov rjv rj iKelvov, bl ov rd irdvra /cat avrr) r)
OdXaacra Kal ol avepoi yeyovaaiv. ert 8e Kat rj 8t8acr/caAta iirl
rrjv ayairr]v rov KTiaavros irpoaKaXovpevr), ovvabovrus vopv
/cat Trpocprjrats Kat rds oppds KaracrreAAoi/cra Kat rd rjt?rj Kar
evaefieiav pop(pov(ra, ti dXXo ibr)Xov rots dpai' bvvapevois r) oti
dXr]6&s deov vlbs r\v 6 rd roaavra ipya(6pevos ;
Arnobius treats the subject of the miraculous evidence in
favour of Jesus Christ and His religion so copiously and
so eloquently that it is difficult to keep the extracts from
his First Book adversus Gentes within moderate bounds.
In reply to the question: Deusne ille est Christus?
Arnobius answers :
Nulla major est comprobatio quam gestarum ab eo fides
rerum, quam virtutum novitas, quam omnia victa decreta
dissolutaque fatalia, qua? populi gentesque suo geri sub lu
mine, nullo dissentiente, videre : qua? nee ipsi audent falsi-
tatis arguere, quorum antiquas seu patrias leges vanitatis
esse plenissimas atque inanissima? superstitionis ostendit.
Occursurus forsitan rursus est cum aliis multis calumniosis
illis et puerilibus vocibus : Magus fuit, clandestinis artibus
omnia ilia perfecit, iEgyptiorum ex adytis angelorum poten-
tium nomina et remotas furatus est disciplinas. Quid dicitis,
O parvuli, incomperta vobis et nescia temeraria? vocis lo-
quacitate garrientes ? Ergone ilia, qua? gesta sunt, daemo-
num fuere praestigia?, et magicarum artium ludi ? Potestis
aliquem nobis designare, monstrare ex omnibus illis Magis,
qui unquam fuere per saecula, consimile aliquid Christo
millesima ex parte qui fecerit ?
The subject is then pursued in a glowing passage, which
enumerates most of our Lord's recorded miracles, repeating

ILLUSTRATIONS. 253
over and over again the inquiry : Unus fuit e nobis, qui ta-
lia et tanta fecit ?
Nihil, ut remini, magicum, nihil humanum, praestigiosum
aut subdolum, nihil fraudis delituit in Christo, derideatis
licet ex more atque in lasciviam dissolvamini cachinnorum.
 Sed non creditis haec gesta. Sed qui ea conspicati
sunt fieri, et sub oculis suis viderunt agi, testes optimi cer-
tissimique auctores et crediderunt haec ipsi et credenda
posteris nobis haud exilibus cum approbationibus tradide-
runt. Quinam isti sint fortasse quaeritis ? Gentes, populi,
nationes et incredulum illud genus humanum. Quod nisi
aperta res esset et luce ipsa, quemadmodum dicitur, clarior,
nunquam rebus hujusmodi credulitatis sua? commodarent
assensum. An numquid dicemus illius temporis homines
usque adeo fuisse vanos, mendaces, stolidos, brutos ut quae
nunquam viderant, vidisse se flngerent ? et quae facta om-
nino non erant, falsis proderent testimoniis aut puerili asser-
tione firmarent? cumque possent vobiscum et unanimiter vi
vere et inoffensas ducere conjunctiones, gratuita susciperent
odia et execrabili haberentur in nomine ? . . . . Imo quia haec
omnia et ab ipso cernebant geri et ab ejus praeconibus, qui
per orbem totum missi beneficia Patris et munera sanandis
{munera grandia, for.) animis, hominibusque portabant,
veritatis ipsius vi victae {gentes, scil.) et dederunt se Deo :
nee in magnis posuere dispendiis membra vobis projicere et
viscera sua lanianda praebere. Arnob. adv. Gentes I. p. 24
to 33. of the Leyden Ed. of 1651.
What could the severest reasoner urge more satisfactorily?
What could the warmest advocate utter more eloquently ?
If any reader should be tempted, by this beautiful passage,
to have recourse to the first of the seven Books adversus
Gentes, (contained in that Selection from the Writings of the
Fathers, which is entitled Opuscula qucedam Selecta Scrip -
torum Ecclesiasticorum, and which we owe to the judgment
and piety of the venerable Editor of the Reliquiae Sacra?,)
he will be gratified by many other proof's which that Book
above the rest contains of the success, with which Arnobius
devoted the skill acquired in the Schools of Rhetoric to the
cause of Christ and His Gospel. The real fault with
which, as a reasoner on the Miraculous evidence, he is in

254 NOTES AND
this particular Book chargeable, is, that from the Miracles of
our Lord he derives a direct and immediate proof of His
Divine nature.
Every word of the preceding extracts admits of being
used and applied by one, who keeps clear of tbis error,
which, common to Arnobius and others of the same age,
must at all events be allowed to be in the opposite extreme
to that omission of the argument from Miracles now under
consideration. S. Petrus Alexandrinus (Rei. Sacr. vol. III.
p. 346.) holds the following language :
Kdt rco 'lovba cprjert' cptArjpart tov viov rod dvQp&irov irapa-
btbas ; ravra, rd re tovtois opoia, rd re o-qpeia irdvra a iirol-
¦qae koi al bvvdpeis beiKVVcriv avrov ®ebv elvai evavQpa>Trr]o-av-
ra' rd crwaptcpdrepa roivvv belKwrai' on ®ebs rp) (pvcrei, Kal
yeyovev dvOpanros <bvo~ei.
Dr. Routh pronounces this to be a place, in quo veram
Christi humanitatem simul atque Deitatem ejus, illam
quidem ex Servatoris verbis, hanc vero, ut argumentari
mos fuit, ex miraculis ejus, vir sanctus probare aggressus
est. p. 369. Vol. III. Rei. Sacr.
In the Chapter of the Evidences above referred to, Arno
bius is not mentioned ; and of Lactantius only a slight and
incidental notice is taken. A fuller testimony ofthe latter
than that, to which allusion is made by Dr. Paley, is to be
found in Lib. IV. c. 15. Divin. Instit.
Exinde (after his baptism) maximas virtutes ccepit ope-
rari (Jesus) non prazstigiis magicis, qua nihil veri ac so-
lidi ostentant, sed vi ac potestate ccelesti; qua? jampridem
Prophetis nuntiantibus canebantur. Quae opera tam multa
sunt ut unus liber ad complectenda omnia satis non sit.
Enumerabo igitur ilia breviter et generatim, sine ulla per-
sonarum ac locorum designatione.
This purpose he proceeds to execute ; and having dis
tinctly mentioned the miracle of feeding five thousand with
five loaves and two fishes, he pauses to ask :
Qua?ro igitur quid hic potuerit ars Magica moliri, cujus
peritia ad nihil aliud quam ad circumscribendos oculos valet?
Nor is it irrelevant to our present purpose to observe that
Minucius Felix, although the nature of his Dialogue does
not lead him to dwell at length on the Gospel Miracles,

ILLUSTRATIONS. 255
still so speaks ot Magical illusions and pretences as to shew
plainly the contrast in his mind subsisting between the lat
ter and those real miracles, which for him, as for all Chris
tians, ever "% at the bottom ofthe argument:"
Magi non tantum sciunt daemonas, sed etiam quicquid
miraculi ludunt per daemonas faciunt. Illis adspirantibus
et infundentibus praestigias edunt ; vel qua? non sunt, vi-
deri, vel qua? sunt, non videri. Min. Fel. Octav. XXVI.
Note T, p. 40.
Bishop Bull's interpretation of this whole passage of St.
John's Gospel is as follows :
Locum citatum penitius introspicienti liquebit, Christum
ibi se non dixisse, aut credi voluisse Dei Filium, propterea
imprimis, quod a Deo tanquam ejus Legatus, extraordinaria
authoritate instructus ac munitus, ad homines missus fuerit;
sed longe alia atque excellentiori ratione, qua scilicet, ante-
quam in mundum mitteretur, apud Deum Patrem extiterit,
ut verus, genuinus ac coessentialis ejus Filius, adeoque Deus
ipsissimus 
Manifestum est, Servatorem nostrum in superioribus,
nempe ver. 25. usque ad ver. 30. inclusive, sic locutum
fuisse ad Judaeos, ut ii nihil aliud aut intellexerint aut cre-
diderint ab ipso diei, quam se Deum esse. Verba eorum
sunt, ver. 33. Ob bonum opus non lapidamus te, sed ob
blasphemiam ; quia scil. tu, homo cum sis, teipsum facis
Deum. Nempe saepius Deum vocaverat biaKpiriK&s Patrem
suum, et se et Patrem paulo ante unum esse dixerat. Jam
diligenter observandurn est, Christum non respondisse, quod,
nisi se vere Deum esse scivisset, respondendum omnino erat,
nempe se revera Deum non esse, neque pro Deo unquam
semet venditasse ; (hae enim responsione, si vera fuisset,
placare Judaeorum iram facile potuisset, et debebat quoque
blasphemiam sibi objectam apertissimis verbis et cum abo-
minatione rejicere;) sed contra non obscure significasse, se
ipsissimum quidem Dei Filium, et consequenter Deum esse.
Nam se defendit adversus Judaeos duplici ratione; primum,
argumento ex ipsorum lege sumpto, nempe ex Psal. Ixxxii.
6. Respondit eis Jesus, Nonne scriptum est in lege vestra,

256 NOTES AND
Ego dixi, dii estis? Qui locus videtur de judicibus magni
synedrii intelligendus, ut recte monuit Grotius. Ex hoc
autem loco ita Christus in sui defensionem argumentatur
ver. 35, 36. Si illos dixit deos, ad quos sermo Dei J "actus
est, et non potest solvi Scriptura, Mene, quern Pater sancti
ficavit et misit in mundum, vos dicitis blasphemare, quia
dixi, Filius Dei sum? Argumentum a minori ad majus
manifeste ducitur in hunc modum: Si illi qui nihil in se
divini habuere, nempe judices magni synedrii, ad quos in
loco isto Psalmorum sermo fit, (nam Capello adstipulor, qui
sensit, articulum vocis 6 Xoyos vim hic dva(j>opiKr)v habere, ut
referatur ad Psal. lxxxii. quern ver. 34. citaverat Christus,)
ideo tantum quod imperii atque authoritatis divina? imper-
fectam quandam in se imaginem referrent, dii appellantur ;
quanto magis ego, qui naturalis Dei Filius, atque insuper
excellentissima ratione a Deo Patre authorizatus sum, Dei
Filius, adeoque Deus vocari possum ? Caeterum hoc ipsum
Christus disertis quidem verbis non dixit, sed non obscure
significavit in verbis, Mene, quern Pater sanctificavit et mi
sit in mundum. Non enim (N. B.) dicit, Mene, quern Deus
sanctificavit ; sed, Mene, quern Pater sanctificavit ; in-
dicans, se non ideo imprimis Deum pro Patre suo habuisse,
quod a Deo sanctificatus (h. e. segregatus et designatus ad
munus sibi impositum) et in mundum missus fuerit; sed
contra a Deo jam Patre suo et sanctificatum, et in mundum
missum fuisse. Praeterea nullus dubito quin Maldonatus
in verbis, et misit in mundum, emphasin recte statuerit,
qua significetur, Christum esse Dei Filium, non caeterorum
modo in terra, sed in coelo natum, indeque in hunc mun
dum missum. Ita enim Dominus, discipulos suos alloquens,
se clarius explicat, Jo. xvi. 28. Egressus sum a Patre, et
veni in mundum ; et rursus relinquo mundum, et vado ad
Patrem-. Quibus verbis significasse Christum, se in potiore
sua natura in ccelis apud Deum, idque ut Patrem suum,
extitisse, antequam in hunc mundum primura veniret, hoc
est, homo natus fuisset, nemo est, nisi cui lema Sociniana in
oculis sit, qui non facile perspiciat. Confer Joan. iii. 13.
Pergit vero in sui defensione Dominus, ac divinitatem,
quam cum Patre communem habet, altero argumento ad-

ILLUSTBATIONS. 257
struit, a miraculis suis deducto, ver. 37, 38. Si non facio
opera Patris mei, nolite credere mihi ; sin vero ilia facio,
etiamsi mihi non credatis, operibus tamen credite ; ut cog-
noscatis et credatis Patrem in me esse, et me in eo ; q. d.
Quod me Dei Patris Filium StaKptrtKcos appellaverim, adeo-
que me et Patrem unum esse dixerim, ea propter blasphe-
miae me postulatis. Quod quidem fortasse non immerito
facere videremini, si divinitatem meam verbis solummodo,
non etiam factis adstruerem. Cum vero etiam eadem om-
nipotentia? opera cum Patre meo efficiam, cur me ejusdem
cum ipso naturae esse non creditis ? A vobis non postulo,
ut meo de memet testimonio credatis, sed ut saltern ex ope
ribus meis persuasum habeatis, Patrem in me esse, et me in
eo, hoc est, me et Patrem unum esse, quod ante dixi.
Ex his perspicuum est, Dominum nostrum Judaeis blas-
phemiae crimen ipsi impingentibus, quod se Dei Filium Sta-
KpiriK&s appellaverit, seque adeo Deum esse non obscure
significasset, ita respondisse, ut hoc ipsum, nempe se ejus
modi Filium Dei esse, adeo non negaverit, ut fortissimis
argumentis adstruxerit. Quod etiam ipsi Judaei (qui he-
betes licet et stupidi satis, Socinistas, qui mortalium perspi-
cacissimi videri volunt, crassissima? profecto dj3Xe\}rias con-
demnent) probe intellexerunt. Hinc enim tantum abfuit,
ut Christum ob hanc ipsius responsionem a crimine blas-
phemia? absolverint, ut contra ipsum propterea, tanquam
blasphemum, rursus de medio tollere aggressi sint. Sequi-
tur enim ver. 39. Qucerebant ergo eum iterum apprehen-
dere, sed exivit de manibus ipsorum. Cum evangelista dicit
ovv, ergo, indicat, Judaeos illis ipsis verbis, qua? in sui de
fensionem dixerat Servator noster, iterum irritatos, ipsum
apprehendere voluisse, ut abductum extra templum (ubi
hunc sermonem habuerat ver. 23.) lapidibus obruerent.
Nam frustra omnino est Grotius, qui verba interpretatur,
quasi Judaei, quod Dominus blaspbemise crimen ita sol vis-
set, ut ne species quidem restaret, consilium de lapidatione
tanquam in blasphemum mutarint, dederintque operam, ut
eum captum traderent synedrio, aliud aliquid crimen reper-
turo. Neque enim Judaei ideo Christum apprehendere vo-
luerunt, ut synedrio sisterent, sed ut in locum abducerent,

258 NOTES AND
ubi ipsum sine sacrilegio occiderent. Templum enim, intra
cujus limites stetit ac locutus est Dominus, erat omni ex
parte sacrum, neque ulla caede aut sanguine polluendum.
Confer Act. xxi. 30. Praeterea vox irdXiv, iterum, satis
ostendit, Judaeos voluisse rursus illud in Christum facere,
quod et antea facturi erant, hoc est, lapidare ipsum voluisse
ver. 31. Quo etiam in loco vox irdXiv occurrit, atque aliud
porro tempus manifeste designat, quo Judaei ex simili occa-
sione voluerunt Christum lapidibus obruere, de quo legere
est Joan. viii. 59. Nam ibi etiam ex Christi sermone, se
ante Abrahamum fuisse dicentis ver. 58. Judaei recte judi-
carunt, Christum naturam quandam, in qua ante Abraha
mum extiterit, hoc est divinam, sibi tribuisse, adeoque
Deum se dixisse. Jud. Eccles. Cath. V. 6. Works, Vol. VI.
p. 109—113.
Note U, p. 46.
The Greek words are : Td epya a eyco iroi& KaKeivos rroirj-
aei Kal peiCpva rovra>v irocqaei.
The following passage, if it may not be considered as
having any weight of authority, will yet serve the purpose
of illustrating the interpretation here given :
'Eyco 8' e'iiroip' av on Kara rr)v 'Irjcrorj iirayyeXiav ol pad-qral
Kal peifyva ireiroirjKamv S>v 'Itjctojjs alo-0r]T&v ireiroirjKev. del
yap dvolyovrai 6(pdaXpol rvcbX&v Ti]v \jruxllv' K°d 3>Ta r&v c?k-
KeKOXpripevaiv irpbs Xoyovs dperrjs aKoriet irpo6vp(os irepl ®eov
Kdl rrjs Trap' avrov paKapias fcorjs- iroXXol be Kal ^coAot rds /3d-
crets rod (cos rj ypacprj oivopaaev) ecrco avOpdnrov, vvv rov Xoyov
laaapevov airovs, ovx dirX&s dXXovrai aXX' cos eXadjos iroXe-
piov r&v 6(peu>v £&ov /cat Kpelrrov irdvros lov t&v exibv&v Kal
ovroi ye ol Oepairevdevres xcoAot Xap/3dvovo-iv airb 'Irjo-oS i£ov-
alav irareiv rots iroalv, ols irporepov r)uav x&>Aot, eTrd^co rcoi>
rrjs KaKtas 8(peu>v Kal aKopiriwv Kal dira^airX&s iirl iracrav tt)v
bvvapiv rov ixdpov Kal irarovvres ovk abiKovvrai' Kpeirrovs yap
Kal airol yeyovaai rov irdo-qs Kadas Kal t&v baipovatv lov.
Orig. c. Cels. II. 48.
The same view is taken by Origen in his 6th Homily on
Isaiah, which is extant in the Latin Version only ; but it is
there boldly applied as an unanswerable argument in sup
port of that peculiar system of interpretation, which would

ILLUSTRATIONS. 259
sometimes altogether set aside the literal sense of Holy
Scripture : a system, which may be safely characterised and
condemned in the strong language of one, whose profound
reverence for antiquity and whose extensive acquaintance
with its Remains impart to his sentence" the weight of au
thority :
Insania ilia Origenis et aliorum, qua? fidem historiarum
Sacrarum subvertere ausa est ut mysticum adstrueret sen-
sum libris Sacris. Rei. Sacr. Vol. III. p. 119.
That portion of Origen's Commentaries on St. John,
in which this passage was included, is not extant.
Note V, p. 51.
See also St. Luke vi. 17-19- The expressions employed
in the Gospel History itself both account for and justify
such language as Origen has not scrupled to use in the fol
lowing instances :
'AAAd xat irnp&creis IdOrjaav pvplai viro rov 'lno-ov. Contra
Cels. VIII. 46.
Aid roS KaraXvaavros pvplovs baipovas 'lr]o-ov, r)viKa ireptrjet
Idtpevos Kal eirtcrrpecpcoi' rovs Kara8in,aorei>op.ez>orjs viro rov bia-
/3oAou. Ibid. 64.
Note W, p. 56.
'O ©eos, reAetcos dyat?ds coz>, diStcos dya0o7roids iariv. A-
thenagoras, Leg. pro Christ. XXVI.
Ab eo (Jesu Christo) gesta sunt et factitata (miracula)
non ut se vana ostentatione jactaret, sed ut homines duri,
atque increduli scirent non esse, quod spondebatur, falsum :
et ex operum benignitate quid esset Deus verus, jam ad-
discerent suspicari.
Christus aequaliter bonis malisque subvenit; nee repul-
sus ab hoc quisquam est, qui rebus auxilium duris contra
impetum postulabat injuriasque fortuna?. Hoc est enim
proprium Dei veri potentiaeque regalis, benignitatem suam
negare nulli nee reputare quis mereatur aut minime : cum
naturalis infirmitas peccatorem hominem faciat, non volun
tatis seu judicationis electio. Arnob. adv. -Gent. I.
s 2

260 NOTES AND
Note X, p. 62.
Sicut Pater operatur, ita operator et Filius ; et imitator
est Filius omnium operum Paternorum, ut perinde habeat
unusquisque quasi jam viderit Patrem dum eum videt qui
invisibilem Patrem in omnibus operibus semper imitatur.
Nov. de Trin. XXVIII. Note Y, p. 65.
See especially 2 Kings iv. where are related some of
Elisha's miracles, which call for a careful consideration
with a view to the point here noticed. The result of such
consideration will undoubtedly be a persuasion of the justice
of the contrast drawn in the following few but striking
words :
"Aira£ eAdArjcre Kal ov eirXacrev, rryeipev ovre yap cos 'HAtas
eKXavaev ovre &s 'EAtcratos drroprjcre' povo(f)66yy(i) cpcoznj
bivirvio-e rov irap avr& Kadevbovra. S. Amphilochii in Qua-
trid. Lazarum Orat.
Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, in Lycaonia, in the
end of the fourth century, was the friend of St. Basil and
St. Gregory Nazianzene. Of the works ascribed to him
however some are confessed to be spurious, all are dubicE
fidei.
Note Z, p. 68.
St. Augustine in his Com. on St. John, ch. vii. re
marks :
Magna signa facta sunt etiam cum Dominus resurrexit
et ascendit in ccelum. Tunc per discipulos facta sunt mag
na; sed ille per illos, qui et per seipsum. Ipse quippe
illis dixerat : Sine me nihil potestis facere. Quando clau-
dus ille, qui sedebat ad portam, ad vocem Petri surrexit et
suis pedibus ambulavit ita ut homines mirarentur, sic eos
allocutus est Petrus, quia non in sua potestate ista fecit sed
in virtute illius, quem ipsi occiderunt.
Note AA, p. 68.
This important consideration did not escape the notice of
the ancient Apologist :

ILLUSTRATIONS. 261
Quid ? quod istas virtutes, qua? sunt a nobis summatim,
non ut rei poscebat magnitude), depromptae, non tantum
ipse (Christus) perfecit vi sua, verum, quod erat subli-
mius, multos alios experiri et facere sui nominis cum affec-
tione permisit. Nam cum videret futuros vos gestarum ab
se rerum Divinique operis abrogatores, ne qua subesset
suspicio magicis se artibus munera ilia beneficiaque largi-
tum, ex immensa ilia populi mukitudine, qua? suam gra-
tiam sectabatur admirans, piscatores, opifices, rusticanos
atque id genus delegit imperitorum, qui per varias gentes
missi, cuncta ilia miracula sine ullis fucis atque adminiculis
perpetrarent  Si facias ipse quod possis et quod tuis sit
viribus potentatuique conveniens, admiratio non habet quod
exclamet : id enim quod potueris feceris et quod praestare
debuerit vis tua, ut operis esset una et ipsius, qui operare-
tur, qualitas. Transcribere posse in hominem jus tuum ; et
quod facere solus possis, fragilissima? rei donare et partici-
pare faciendum, supra omnia sita? est potestatis continentis-
que sub sese est rerum omnium causas et rationum faculta-
tumque naturas. Arnob. adv. Gent. I.
Note BB, p. 69-
See Note D, p. 342 of Mr. Penrose's Work on Miracles,
where some probable reasons for our Lord's adoption of a
process of cure in any instances are given from Dr. Graves
and Lightfoot. — As to the number of the instances, is it
not correct to say that there are more than three ? In some
of the whole number, as, for example, those recorded in
St. Matt. viii. 2 — 6, (to which the parallel places are St.
Mark i. 40, and St. Luke v. 12,) ix. 28, and xx. 29, the
process was confined to the touching of the person of the
leper and the eyes ofthe blind; in the three, noticed by
Mr. Penrose, spittle also was applied ; in one of the three
cases, to the decfand dumb, in the other two, to the blind.
Note CC, p. 71.
Orat ergo Dominus non ut pro se obsecret sed ut pro me
impetret Nam etsi omnia posuerit Pater in potestate Filii,
V s3

NOTES AND
Filius tamen ut formam hominis impleret, obsecrandum Pa
trem putat esse pro nobis, quia advocatus est noster. S. Am-
bros. Com. Lib. V. in Luc. VI. 12.
Note DD, p. 71.
Airds icrnv to virerdyr) rd irdvra iirb rov ITarpoV ovk (ov
iXdrrav tov ITarpds, r5TTep fjp&v irpoo-nv^aro. Dionys. Alex.
in Resp. ad Quaest. as quoted by Bp. Bull, Defen. Fid.
Nic. IV. ii. 7.
Ei'iirep rots dffots rcoi> iv crapKl (&vto>v Kal pr) Kara crdpKa
arparevopivbiv eixopevois, rotarrrrj ns Aeyerat viro ©eor? Trept
rrjs evvjjs avr&v iirayyeXia' Kal en XaXovvros o~ov, ep&' ibov
irdpeipi, rt x/wj vopi£eiv iirl rov creorrjpos Kat Kvpiov ; rj irplv
AaArjcrat ere, epco" ibov, irdpeipi ; apa ydp rjpe rovs dcpdaXpovs
ava Kal elire' rl be elirev ; et oldv re io-nv cos iv rotorjrots crro-
xd^eadai, aKoXovOu>s rco" irplv XaXrjcrai ere, epco, Ibov irdpeipi,
iva irXeiov r\ rd 7rpds rov 2corrjpa Xeyopevov irapd to ev rfj irpbs
tovs biKalovs iirayyeXia yeypappevov en XaXovvros crov, ip&,
ibov irdpeipi. Tt ovv elire ; irpoeOero pev elirelv evxrjV irpo-
XafSovros be rr)v eixvv avrov rov eiirovros dv avr&, irplv AaArj-
crat ere, epco, ibov, irdpeipi, dvn rrjs Kara irpoOeuiv av Xex&ei-
crr]s evxrjs, Xeyei rrpi em rco irpoXd/3ovri rr)v evxr)v evxapicrriav
Kal cos iiraKOvcrOels eep' ots ivevorjae povov, ov irpor]veyKe be iv
rco erj)(eert?at, cprjert- Ildrep, evxapicrr& crot, ort i)KOV(rds pov.
Orig. Com. in Joan. XXVIII. 5.
The command, which followed, is thus noticed by an an
cient Preacher :
Ad£ape, bevpo «?£&>• 8ecnrortKrj rj epcor/rj' j3aaiXiKbv to Ke-
Xevo-pa' efonertas rd irpocrraypa. bevpo e'fco- airoOepevos rrjf
(pdopdv, avdXaj3e rr)v 8t' dtpdapcrlas bopdv  ^Hpro 6 A£t?os,
rd irpoaKoppa- (3dbi{e irpos pe tov Kakovvrd ere" 8e£po efco- cos
pev (plXos crot irpocr(p(av&' cos Se beo-norrjs eTTtrdcrcrco  'O
elir&v, yevrjdrjrv epeos, yevrjOijro) errepe'eo/xa, eyco crot irapaKeXev-
opai. E S. Andrea? Cretensis Oratione in Lazarum Qua-
trid. p. 71 of his Remains edited by Combefis, Paris,
1644. St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, is by Cave, in his
Historia Literaria, assigned to the early part of the seventh
century. Liberare a daemone et homines, sed in verbo Dei, pos-

ILLUSTRATIONS. 263
sunt : resurrectionem mortuis imperare Divina? solius est
potestatis. S. Ambros. Homil. in Luc. iv. 33.
Tertullian justly regards and ably urges the recorded
instances of prayer to the Father, offered by Jesus Christ,
as decisive proofs of the distinct personality of the Son ;
yet. not so as to admit of the notion of inferiority or in
equality of nature, as belonging to the latter. Vid. his Tract
adv. Prax. c. xxiii.
Note EE, p. 81 .
On this miracle Irenaeus observes, so far at least as the
Latin Version represents his meaning :
Peccata remittens, hominem quidem curavit, semetip-
sum autem manifeste ostendit quis esset. Si enim nemo
potest remittere peccata nisi solus Deus, remittebat autem
haec Dominus et curabat homines ; manifestum quoniam
ipse erat Verbum Dei, Filius hominis factus ; a Patre po
testatem remissionis peccatorum accipiens; — quoniam homo,
et quoniam Deus : ut, quomodo homo compassus est nobis,
tanquam Deus misereatur nostri, et remittat nobis debita
nostra, qua? Factori nostro debemus Deo. Contra Har. V.
17. And among the proofs of the proper Divinity of our
Lord urged in the Tract on the Trinity, ascribed to Nova-
tian and usually printed with the works of Tertullian, to
which some previous references have been made in these
Notes, are the following :
Quod si, cum nullius sit nisi Dei, cordis nosse secreta,
Christus secreta conspicit cordis ; Quodsi, cum nullius sit
nisi Dei, peccata dimittere, idem Christus peccata dimit-
tit....merito Deus est Christus. Tertull. Op. p. 715.
Note FF, p. 84.
" Though in a just idea of the Deity, perhaps none of
" His attributes are predominant, yet to our imagination,
" His Power is by far the most striking. Some reflection,
" some comparing is necessary to satisfy us of His wisdom,
" His justice and His goodness. To be struck with His
" power, it is only necessary that we should open our eyes.
" But whilst we contemplate so vast an object, under the
s 4

264 NOTES AND
" arm, as it were, of Almighty Power, and invested, upon
" every side, with omnipresence, we shrink into the minute-
" ness of our own nature, and are, in a manner, annihilated
" before Him. And though a consideration of His other
" attributes may relieve in some measure our apprehensions;
" yet no conviction of the justice, with which it is exer-
" cised, nor the mercy, with which it is tempered, can wholly
" remove the terror that naturally arises from a force, which
" nothing can withstand. If we rejoice, we rejoice with
" trembling ; and even whilst we are receiving benefits, we
" cannot but shudder at a power, which can confer benefits
" of such mighty importance." Edmund Burke on the
Sublime and Beautiful, Part II. Sect. 5.
Note GG, p. 102.
Aid tovto iv irapafioXais avrols XaX&, on fiXeirovres ov
/3Xeirpvai Kal aKOVovres ovk aKOvovaiv ovbe avviovai. Kal dva-
irX-qpovrai eir avrols r) irpo(pr]Teia 'Hcraton r) Xiyovcra. AKorj
aKOvaere ical ov pr) avvfjre' Kal (SXeirovres j3X4\j/ere ko.1 ov pr)
tSrjre. inaxvvOr] ydp i) Kapbia tov Xaov tovtov Kal rots cocrt
/3ape'cos rjKOvaav ko.1 tovs oqbddXpovs avr&v iKappvaav prynore
Kieocri rots ocbdaXpois Kat rots cocrii" aKOvcrcocrt Kat rrj Kapbia
crvv&cn ko.1 eiriOTpeyjraio-i Kal tdcrcopat avrovs. St. Matt. xiii.
13—15. The passage quoted stands thus in the Septuagint :
'Akojj aKowere Kat ov pr) o-vvryre Kal (BXeirovres /3Ae\/>ere Kat
ov pi] t&rjre. Eiraxvvdr] yap tj Kapbia rov Xaov toutov ko.1 rots
coow avr&v /3ape'cos r/Kovcrav Kal rovs 6cb8dXpovs iKappvaav,
prfirore tScocrt rots 6<pddXpois Kal rots cocrti' aKovaaiai koi rrj
Kapbia, avv&ai Kal iiriarpe\j/oyai Kal laaopai avrovs. Is. vi.
9 and 10.
The allusion to the same passage, in St. Mark and St.
Luke, is introduced by the conjunction Iva, of which
Glassius thus explains the force : Marc. iv. 12. — ubi rd 'iva
non atrtoAoytKcos sed eKJ3ariK&s exponendum. Phil. Sacr. II.
P. 1. Tr. 2. Sect. 5. p. 347 of 4to. ed.
Note HH, p. 103.
This opinion is maintained by Mr. Greswell in the Twelfth

ILLUSTRATIONS. 265
Dissertation of the second volume of his work on the Har
mony of the Gospels ; and the principle here adopted has
been by himself laid down in that very Dissertation. Mr.
Greswell is entitled to the sincere respect of all, who know
how to value talents, learning and industry consecrated to
the service of God and of the Church. It is however some
times difficult to agree with him either as to his arrange
ment of the particulars of the Gospel History or as to the
arguments and considerations, by which he endeavours to
support his views. The Exposition of the Gospel Parables,
out of which the Harmony and its accompanying Disserta
tions arose, has more recently made its appearance. To
this Work the subject of the present and of the following
Lecture compels some reference. Let it then be once for
all remarked that the entirely opposite view of the whole
subject of Parables in these Lectures taken, is not to be
understood to imply that Mr. Greswell's labours have been
overlooked. Without entering into a controversy, which is
altogether unnecessary and would be in this place unsuit
able, it may be said that the general principles of interpre
tation, here unfolded and defended, are the result of long
and serious reflection ; that they had been deliberately
adopted before the publication of Mr. Greswell's Work ;
and that they have been confirmed and enforced by that
farther attention to the subject, which his researches have
not failed to command.
Note II *.
On this and similar language, both in the Old and in the
New Testament, there are found some striking remarks in a
Fragment of the Discussion between Archelaus and Manes,
preserved by Cyril of Jerusalem and given in the Rei.
Sacr. Vol. IV. p. 277—282.
Note KK, p. 113.
On the attractive charm of our Saviour's teaching, Origen
beautifully remarks :
Tocravnj ydp ris Kiyf Vv *v T0^s 'Irjcrow Adyots cos ov povov
* The reference to this Note is omitted from p. 106, 1. 21, where it ought
to have been at the word sin.

266 NOTES AND
di>8pas eireaBai OeXeiv avriS ets rds ipnpias dXXd Kat ywatKas,
ovx virorepvopevas rr)v yvvaiKeiav aadeveiav Kal to boKOvv iv
rco aKoXovOeiv ets rds iprjplas rco 8tSao-KdAcp- diradearara be
iraibia, tjtoi rots yewrjcracnz; eiropeva r) rdxa Kal viro rrjs
Oeiorqros avrov dyopeva, 'iva avrols ivairapf] oVto'rrjs, rjKoXovOei
perd t&v yeyevvrjKorav. C. Cels. III. 10.
The Benedictine Editor suggests viropepvr)pevas instead
of virorepvopevas in this passage and accordingly translates
fcemineas imbecillitatis oblitce. May not the other reading
however be well understood to mean : not divesting them
selves of— although they did not lose the feeling of woman's
weakness nor cast aside the natural regard for character ?
Note LL, p. 114.
Partitio Doctrinae humana? ea est verissima, qua? sumitur
ex triplici facultate animae rationalis, qua? doctrinae sedes
est. Historia ad memoriam refertur ; Poesis ad Phantasiam;
Philosophia ad Rationem. Per Poesim autem hoc loco in-
telligimus non aliud quam historiam confictam s\ve fabu-
las. ...Neque alia censemus ad Theologica partitione opus
esse. Differunt certe informationes oraculi et sensus et re
et modo insinuandi : sed spiritus humanus unus est, ejus-
que arcula? et ceila? eaedem. Fit itaque ac si diversi liquores
atque per diversa infundibula in unum atque idem vas reci-
piantur. Quare et Theologia aut ex Historia Sacra con
stat ; aut ex Parabolis, qua? instar Divina? Poeseos sunt ;
aut ex praeceptis et dogmatibus, tanquam perenni quadam
Philosophia. Quod enim ad earn partem pertinet, quae re-
dundare videtur, Prophetiam videlicet, ea Historia? genus
est ; quandoquidem Historia Divina ea polleat supra hu-
manam praerogativa ut narratio factum praecedere non mi
nus quam sequi possit. Baconi de Augmentis Scienti-
arum II. cap. 1.
Having afterwards divided Poetry into Narrativa, Dra-
matica and Parabolica, the great Author thus defines
each :
Narrativa (Poesis) prorsus historiam imitatur, ut fere
fallat, nisi quod res extollat saepius supra fidem. Drama-
tica est veluti historia spectabilis ; nam constituit imaginem

ILLUSTRATIONS. 267
rerum tanquam praesentium, historia autem tanquam pra?-
tentarum. Parabolica vero est historia cum typo, qua? in-
tellectualia deducit ad sensum.
Poesis Parabolica inter reliquas eminet et tanquam res
sacra videtur et augusta : cum praesertim Religio ipsa ejus
opera plerumque utatur et per earn commercia Divinorum
cum humanis exerceat. Attamen et hcec quoque, ingeni-
orum circa allegorias levitate et indulgentia, contaminata
invenitur. Est autem usus ambigui atque ad contraria adhibetur.
Facit enim ad Involucrum; facit etiam ad illustrationem.
In hoc Docendi quaedam ratio ; in illo occultandi arti-
ficium, quaeri videtur. — Haec autem docendi ratio, qua?
facit ad illustrationem, antiquis seculis plurimum adhibeba-
tur  Ut Hieroglyphica literis, ita Parabola? argumentis
erant antiquiores. Atque hodie etiam et semper, eximius
est et fuit Parabolarum vigor ; cum nee argumenta tam
perspicua nee vera exempla tam apta, esse possint. Alter
est usus Poeseos Parabolica priori quasi contrarius, qui fa
cit, ut diximus, ad involucrum; earum nempe rerum, qua-
rum dignitas tanquam velo quodam discreta esse mereatur :
hoc est, cum occulta et mysteria Religionis, Politica?, et
Philosophiae, fabulis et Parabolis vestiuntur. Ibid. cap. 13.
Note MM, p. 120.
The Bampton Lectures for the year 1824, being an at
tempt to trace the History and to ascertain the limits of the
Secondary and Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture, by the
late Mr. Conybeare, furnish an interesting and useful view
of this subject. Against the errors, which Mr. Conybeare
states and exposes, as well as against errors of interpreta
tion in general, the student will find the best assistance,
which extensive learning and mature wisdom can supply in
the Bampton Lectures for the year 1814, entitled " An
" Inquiry into the General Principles of Scripture-Inter-
" pretation," by the late Dr. Van Mildert, Bishop of Dur
ham. The following extract from one of the admirable
Sermons erf that Volume contains a brief summary of the

268 NOTES AND
principles, which it is the design of this and the preceding
Lecture to unfold and apply :
" Parables form a very important part of the Sacred
Writings. Our Lord not only took frequent occasion
to introduce them, but by His own exposition of some,
taught us how to expound others  There is in every
Parable a two-fold sense, the literal and the mystical,
coinciding in signification  The literal is the external
sense ; the mystical, the internal. The literal must there
fore be first explained ; that the correspondence between
it and the mystical may be more readily perceived. This
correspondence however does not necessarily extend be
yond the general purport of the similitude and its lead
ing circumstances: nor is it always expedient to aim at
tracing the parallel in every minute particular  Gene
rally indeed the more exactly the mystical exposition can
be made to accord with the literal, the more perfect the
Parable will appear to be; and therefore, though we
ought carefully to distinguish between essential and
merely circumstantial resemblances, yet where the latter
admit of an easy and natural application, they are by no
means to be overlooked : and it is observable that in
those Parables, which our Lord himself interpreted to
His disciples, few, if any, of the circumstantial points are
unapplied. But here great judgment is often necessary,
neither to do too little nor to attempt too much. Atten-
tion is principally requisite to the immediate design of
the Parable ; which for the most part, is declared either
at its beginning or its conclusion, or sufficiently appears
from the occasion, on which it was delivered. Some
Parables indeed are evidently prophetical, and are to be
explained by the same rules to which Prophecies in gene
ral are subject. Others serve to illustrate important
points of doctrine. Others have the force of moral pre
cepts. A competent knowledge, therefore, of this branch
of mystical instruction is of very extensive importance."
Serm. VII. p. 195—197.
The warning voice of Dr. Routh is often and loudly

ILLUSTRATIONS. 269
raised against the excesses of mystical or spiritual interpre
tation :
Apage vero (he exclaims on one occasion) hasce alWo-
ristarum nugas, quibus, propter nonnulla vere typica in
Sacra Scriptura et alia quaedam vel tropice prolata vel am-
bigua? interpretationis, magni alioqui viri, dum alios captare
volebant, suam ipsorum famam laeserunt. Rei. Sacr. Vol.
III. p. 215. Note NN, p. 128.
Quod ad Mysteriorum explicationem attinet, videmus non
dedignari Deum ad infirmitatem captus nostri se demittere ;
mysteria sua ita explicando ut a nobis optime ea possint
percipi ; atque revelationes suas in rationis nostra? syllepses
et notiones veluti inoculando ; atque inspirationes ad intel
lectum nostrum sic accommodando, quemadmodum fioura
clavis aptatur figura? sera?. Qua tamen in parte nobis ipsis
deesse minime debemus. Cum enim Deus ipse opera rationis
nostra? in illuminationibus suis utatur, etiam nos eandem in
omnes partes versare debemus, quo magis capaces simus ad
Mysteria recipienda et imbibenda. Modo animus ad ampli-
tudinem mysteriorum, pro modulo suo, dilatetur, non mys
teria ad angustias animi constringantur. Bacon, de Aug.
Scient. IX. Note OO, p. 135.
This expression is borrowed from the following passage
of Dr. Townson' s Sermon on the Manner of our Saviour's
teaching :
" We may observe that, when the case did not demand se-
" verity, there is a great lenity of supposition in the state of
" His Parables. The wise virgins are as many as the foolish.
" In the Parable of the ten talents, we find two good and
" faithful and only one unprofitable servant. At the marriage
" feast, only one of a large assembly is represented as wanting
" a wedding garment :" p. 284 of Vol. I. of Dr. Townson's
Works. The whole of that beautiful Sermon is earnestly
recommended to the attention of the reader : if by its means
he should be induced to make himself acquainted with the
other writings of the same excellent Author, he will have
reason to be thankful for this reference.

270 NOTES AND
Note PP, p. 141.
The acute and able Tertullian, vir ille majori quidem in-
genio praeditus atque eruditione quam judicio {Rei. Sacr.
Vol. III. 363.) has on this subject displayed more than his
usual discretion. He discerned the inconvenience of carry
ing a mystical or spiritual interpretation of Holy Scripture
and even of the Parables of the Gospel, too far ; and he has
expressed himself, in his Treatises de Resurrectione Carnis
and de Pudicitia, on the subject of the cautions and restric
tions necessary to be observed, in a manner, which is indeed
far from being consistent with his own practice but may be
regarded as the result of his deliberate reflection. In the
former of these two Treatises, he is arguing against those,
who contended that every thing stated concerning the resur
rection of the body is to be understood figuratively and who
went so far as to insist that all the instructions of our Sa
viour were figurative. He proceeds :
Ad Evangelia provoco, hic quoque occursurus prius eidem
astutia? eorum, qui proinde et Dominum omnia in Parabolis
pronuntiasse contendunt, quia scriptum est: Haec omnia
locutus est Jesus in Parabolis et sine Parabola non loque-
batur ad illos, scilicet ad Judaeos. Nam et discipuli, Quare,
aiunt, in Parabolis loqueris ? Et Dominus : Propterea in
Parabolis loquor ad eos ut videntes non videant et audientes
non audiant, secundum Esaiam. Quod si ad Judaeos in
Parabolis, jam, non semper nee omnia parabolae ; sed qua?-
dam, cum ad quosdam : ad quosdam autem, dum ad Ju
daeos : nonnunquam plane et ad discipulos. Sed quo-
modo referat Scriptura, considera : Dicebat autem et
Parabolam ad eos : ergo et non Parabolam dicebat, quia
non notaretur quum Parabolam loquebatur, si ita sem
per loquebatur. Et tamen nullam Parabolam aut non
ab ipso invenias edissertatam ; ut de seminatore in verbi
administratione ; aut a commentatore Evangelii praelumi-
natam, ut judicis superbi et vidua? instantis ad perseveran-
tiam orationis ; aut ultra conjectandam, ut arboris fici, di-
latae in spem, ad instar Judaica? infructuositatis. Quod si
nee Parabola? obumbrant Evangelii lucem, tanto abest ut

ILLUSTRATIONS. 271
sententia? et definitiones, quarum aperta natura est, aliter
quam sonant sapiant. De Resur. Carnis, XXXIII.
The object of the Treatise de Pudic. is to exclude from
the hope of pardon all such Christians as might be guilty of
the grievous sins, against which it is more immediately di
rected. In maintaining this severe tenet of Montanism,
Tertullian is led both to enter into an examination of the
details of some Parables and to lay down certain general
principles of interpretation. A more convenient opportu
nity of noticing the former will occur hereafter : for the pre
sent, the latter only shall be selected :
Plerosque interpretes Parabolarum idem exitus decipit,
quem in vestibus purpura oculandis saepissime evenire est.
Quum putaveris recte conciliasse temperamenta colorum et
credideris comparationes eorum inter se animasse, erudito
mox utroque corpore et luminibus expressis, errorem omnem
traducta diversitas evomet  Quamquam etsi, omnia ad
speculum respondere possint, unum sit praecipuum pericu-
lum interpretationum, ne aliorsum temperetur felicitas com-
parationum quam quo Parabola? cuj usque materia man-
davit  A primordio secundum occasiones Parabolarum
(haeretici) ipsas materias confinxerunt doctrinarum. Vacavit
scilicet illis solutis a regula veritatis ea conquirere atque
componere, quorum Parabola? videntur. Nos autem, qui
non ex Parabolis materias commentamur sed ex materiis
Parabolas interpretamur, nee valde laboramus omnia in ex-
positione torquere, dum contraria quaeque caveamus 
Malumus in Scripturis minus si forte sapere quam contra.
Proinde sensum Domini custodire debemus atque pra?-
ceptum. Non est levior transgressio in inter pretatione
quam in conversatione. De Pudic. VIII. IX.
Note QQ, p. 145.
Both Hammond and Whitby disapprove of this way of
understanding avr&v. The former suggests that the pro
noun may be governed by Kara understood, and so may
come after the verb eyoyyvfrv ; or that it may refer to the
inhabitants of the place or to the Jews ; and so mean the
Pharisees of that place — those ofthe Jews, who were Phari-

272 NOTES AND
sees. Dr. Whitby adopts the latter interpretation. The
point, which is of no importance, may be left to the judg
ment of the reader.
Note RR, p. 147-
In the parallel places of St. Matthew and St. Mark, the
words ets perdvoiav are omitted from the text by Griesbach;
but they are retained by him in this passage of St. Luke,. as
not admitting of any objection or doubt.
Note SS, p. 148.
The remarks of Gregory the Great on this passage of the
Gospel History are most just and beautiful:
Pharisa?i...dijudicantes Dominum quod peccatores susci-
peret, arenti corde ipsum fontem misericordia? reprehende-
bant. Sed quia aegri erant ita ut segros se esse nescirent,
quatenus quod erant agnoscerent, ccelestis eos Medicus
blandis fomentis curat, benignum paradeigma objicit et in
eorum corde vulneris tumorem premit. Sti Greg. P. in
locum Evangel. Note TT,p.l49.
Celsus had objected to the Christians that it was their
doctrine rots apapraXois ireirep(p6ai tov ®eov ; and on this
objection he founded the questions: rt rots dvapaprrjrois ovk
iirep(pdri ; ri KaKov iari rd pr) r)paprr]Kevai ; Origen replies :
Trpds rovro be (f>apev on, et pev dvapapT-qTovs Aeyet rovs p-rj-
Kert apapravovras, iirepipdr) Kai rovrois 6 Scorrjp f/p&v '\naovs,
dAA' ovk larpos' el be dvapaprr\rois rots ptrjSe ir&irore fjpaprr)-
Koaiv, ov ydp bieareiXaro ev rfj eavrov Ae£ei, ipovpev on dbv-
varov elvai ourcos avOparirov dvapdprrjrov rovro be (papev,
vire^aipovpevov rov Kara rov 'Irjcroiiy voovpevov dvOpdtirov, bs
apaprlav ovk eiroirjae. Contra Cels. III. 62.
Note UU, p. 150.
" Still, again it must be urged, there are no actual pre-
" cepts or doctrines of Revealed Religion, which may not,
" when regarded under their necessary modifications, afford
" universal as well as particular instruction ; nor may we ven-
" ture to affirm, of any single portion of Holy Writ that to
" believers in any age or country it is of no concern. But

ILLUSTRATIONS. 273
" there are doubtless many portions, of which the proper ap-
" plication to other persons and to other times, must depend
" on a right understanding of their intended application to
" those persons and times for which they were immediately
" written. It is thus that directions the most special and per-
" sonal may afford general information to the rest of mankind.
" They teach them how to act when similarly circumstanced.
" They serve either as specifications of general rules or as
" limitations of those which are elsewhere more indefinitely
" expressed, or as enlargements of such as appear to be of a
" more limited and restricted nature. In all cases, they sug-
" gest what, ceteris paribus or mutatis mutandis, \s the pro-
" per test of obedience to the Divine will. And thus the
" Christian becomes more thoroughly acquainted with his
" duty in special cases and under particular trials, as well as
" with its general principles. Where these however are con-
" founded together or substituted the one for the other, in-
" consistency and error will be the natural result." Bishop
Van Milderfs Bampton Lect. p. 141, 142.
NoteVV, p. 151.
*H copa Aeyetz; Kat rdi> larpbv bp&vra beivd Kal Oiyydvovra
dr)b&v Iva roils Kapvovras tdcrrjrat, ef dyadov els kokov rj eK
KaAov ets alaxpbv, rj ef eibaip.ovias ets KaKobaipoviav epxeadai ;
Kairoiye 6 Iarpbs bp&v rd beivd ko\ Oiyydvaiv r&v ar]b&v, ov
irdvrm eK(pevyei to rots arjrots bvvaaOai irepiireaeiv bbe rpav-
para t&v \\rvx&v r)p&v Oepairevav bid rod iv avr& Xoyov deov,
avrbs irdans KaKias airapdSeKTOs rjv el be Kal a&pa Qvryrbv Kal
¦tyvxv\v dvdpa>irivr)v avaXafi&v 6 dddvaros debs Xoyos boKei rco
KeAcrco dXXdrreaOai Kal perairXdrreadai- pavdaverot on 6 Xoyos
rfj ovala pev<av Xoyos, ovbev pev irdaxei 3>v irdaxei rd o-<3p;a rj
rj \jrvxn' avyKaraflaivbiv 8' ea(f ore tco pr) bvvap.evu> avrov rds
pappapvyas Kal rr)v Xapirporrjra rrjs detdrrjros i3Xeneiv, oiovei
aap£ yiverai, a(opariK&s XaXovpevos, eW 6 toiovtov avrov ira-
pdbegdpevos, «ara j3pax^ viro tov Xoyov pereoipi^evos bvvrjdfi
avTov Kal ttjv {lv ovtojs 6vopdaa>) irpor]yovp,evr]v poptprjv 8ea-
aaadai. Orig. c. Cels. IV. 15.
Note WW, p. 157.
There seems to be now so general an agreement among
T

274 NOTES AND
Commentators, at all events among Protestant Commen
tators, as to the distinction of this passage of the Gospel
History from the narratives contained in St. Matt. xxvi.
6—13, St. Mark xiv. 3—9, and St. John xii. 3—8, that it
is not necessary to do more than allude to the opinion,
which has connected the name of Mary Magdalen with this
transaction ; and to observe that the notice contained in the
summary of contents of the 7th -chapter of St. Luke, in our
English New Testament, depends on no higher authority
than such opinion, at the time of our Version generally pre
vailing. See on this subject the remarks of Dr. Lardner,
p. 253—264 of Vol. XI. of his Works, 8vo. The clearing
up of one single instance of this sort is by no means unim
portant towards a more favourable and, assuredly, a juster
view of the character of our Lord's chosen companions
than many Commentators have been fond of taking. It
must be allowed that they have been able to quote in their
favour, an early authority, which describes the Apostles
themselves, before our Saviour's choice of them, as ovras
virep iraaav apaprlav dvopotTepovs. Sti Barn. Ep. in init.
The excellent remarks of Cotelerius on this passage are well
deserving of notice.
Note XX, p. 160.
ISoti rd fjpiar] r&v virapxovratv pov, Kvpie, bibaipi rots Trrco-
Xots" Kat et nvos n iavKOipavrr/aa, dirobib(t>pi rerpairXovv.
These words are usually understood to be expressive of a
purpose for the future ; but it will be allowed that they are
well suited to denote a previous habit.
Note YY, p. 164.
It was from this and from similar passages of the Gospels
that the cavil of Celsus took its rise : Tts ovv avrr] irore i)
r&v dpaprwX&v irportp-qais ; The answer of the Christian
Apologist is worthy of his cause :
Ka0d7ra£ pev dpaprcoAos ov irponparai tov pr) dpaprcoAorr
eari 8' ore dpaprcoAos crwatcr6,dp,ez.'os rrjs Ibias dpaprias Kal bid
rovro irpbs ro peravoeiv iropevopevos, iirl rots r)paprrjpevois ra-
ireivos, irponparai rov eXarrov pev vopi^opevov elvai dpaprcoAov,
owk olopevov 8' avrov dpapr(i>Xbv dXX' eisaipopevov eiri naiv,

ILLUSTRATIONS. 275
ots OoKet o-wetSe^ai earjrcp Kpeirroai ko.1 ire(pvauopevov err' av-
T0ls  Orj /3Xaa(j>ripovpev ovv rdy ®ebv ovbe Kara^evbopeda,
bibdo-Kovres irdvO' ovnvovv avvaiadeadai rrjs dvdpu>irivi]s /3pavrj-
rrjros, cos rrpds rr> rov ®eov p.eyaAetdrrjra- Kat det atVett; air'
eKeivov ro ivbeov rrj cprjcret i)p&v, rov povov avairXr)povv ra iX-
Xiirfj r)piv bvvapevov, Orig. c. Cels. III. 64.
Note ZZ,p.l70.
On a question of application or improvement of this sort,
a higher authority than that of Dr. Townson can scarcely be
adduced ; and he has declared himself in favour of the view
here noticed, both in the Sermon, to which reference was
lately made and in p. 13 of his Discourses on the Gospels.
It is worth while to consider how much of the machinery of
the Parable, even according to that interpretation which ex
plains it of Jews and Gentiles or of the genuine sons of
Abraham and Publicans and sinners, still remains inappli
cable. The sternness, anger and jealousy of the elder son
may appear, under this view, natural and probable; but the
interpreters have been little careful to explain, or, if they
have hazarded the attempt, have ill succeeded in explaining
how an equally happy accordance can be made out between
the expression of the Father's feeling towards his first-born
son and the Divine disapprobation of the self-conceited and
proud Scribes and Pharisees. Tertullian's observations on
the three Parables of this Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, in
the same Treatise from which his general principles for in
terpreting Parables have been already taken, well deserve
attention. His object was to deprive his adversaries of that
support, which they drew from the particular Parables
now under consideration. Accordingly, he insisted that the
Parables, rightly understood, are reconcilable with that
limitation of the Divine mercy, which he advocated. His
mistake was grievous; and it is only rendered more melan
choly by the fact that he discovered and has recorded prin
ciples, which lead directly towards the refutation of his own
error and which tend to shew this portion of our Lord's
teaching in the pure and unsullied light of its original com-
munication.
t 2

276 NOTES AND
Quare centum oves? et quid utique decern drachmae? et
qua? ilia? scopa? ?...Necesse erat qui unius peccatoris salutem
gratissimam Deo volebat exprimere, aliquam numeri quan-
titatem nominaret, de quo unum quidem perisse describeret.
Necesse erat ut habitus requirentis draehmam in domo tam
scoparum quam lucerna? adminiculo adcommodaretur. Hu-
jusmodi enim curiositates et suspecta faciunt quaedam et
coactarum expositionum subtilitate plerumque deducunt a
veritate. Sunt autem qua? et simpliciter posita sunt ad
struendam et disponendam et texendam Parabolam ut illuc
perducantur cui exemplum procuratur. Et duo utique filii
illuc spectabunt quo et drachma et ovis. Quibus enim co-
haerent, eandem habent causam, eandemque utique mussi-
tationem Pharisaeorum. — De Pud. VIII. IX.
Note AAA, p. 182.
In the Vulgate, the passage of St. Matthew's Gospel
stands thus: Magister bone, quid boni faciam ut habeam
vitam aeternam ? Qui dixit ei : Quid me interrogas de bono ?
Unus est bonus Deus.
It is evident that this translation follows a reading, ap
proved by many eminent critics and adopted into the text
by Griesbach, on the authority of the MSS. in which it is
found :
Tt pe epcords 7rept roiJ dyadov ; els ecrrii' 6 ayaOos.
As however, in the parallel places of St. Mark and St.
Luke, there is no such variety of reading, it would seem
fair to interpret St. Matthew's language in a sense consist
ent with the plainer expressions of the two other Evan
gelists.
Note BBB, p. 182.
Kat ov KaKor]6eis dXX' evi]Qeis (elalv ot veoi) Std rd ptrjTrco re-
OewpriKevai iroXXds irovnptas' Kal eviriaroi, bid rd p.rj iroXXd
ignirarfjadai' Kal eveXiribes' Kal peyaXo\jruxoi' ovre ydp viro tov
p~iov orj7rco reraTreu'coi'rai dAAd rcoi> dvayKalav direipoi elai' Kal
to dgiovv avrov peydXav peyaXoxbvxia' rovro 8' eveXiribos'
Arist. Rhet. II. 12. Note CCC, p. 185.
Bishop Bull, in defending Origen from the censure,

ILLUSTRATIONS. 277
which Huet has cast upon his remarks on this passage (vid.
Ong. c. Cels. V. 11, and Huetii Origenian. II. 2. 15.) well
observes :
Quis credat Origenem stupidi adeo ingenii fuisse ut non
intellexerit textum ilium Evangelista? (Marc. scil. X. 18.)
ad Christi oiKovoplav, in assumpta natura humana suscep-
tam, omnino pertinere ? imo Origenes ibidem diserte monet
se Christum ista loquentem inducere, tanquam irapdbeiypa,
exemplum, quod scil. hominibus ipse Christus, inter ho
mines versatus, exhibere voluit  Cum clare doceat
Origenes Filium esse, perinde ac Patrem, verum Deum, in-
creatum, immortalem, immutabilem, impassibilem, immen-
sum, ubique praesentem, atque undequaque beatum et per-
fectum ; qua is ratione potuit in eodem libro bonitatem,
quae Patri convenit, Filio, qua Deus est,detrahere? Def en.
Fid. Nic. II. ix. 13
Note DDD, p. 200.
The candour of the writers of the New Testament has
been well illustrated and urged by Dr. Paley, in the
third Ch. of Pt. II. of his Evidences. It is interesting to
observe how an ancient Apologist briefly, yet emphatically,
touches on this point :
2z/ptj3e/3rjKei' coo-re row p-rj iriarevovras {t&v 'lovbatav) roA-
prjaai Kara rov 'Irjcrov TOiavra, dnva cptAaArjt9cos Kai evyva>po-
vcos aveypa\jfav ol paOrjral avrov, ovx vireKKXetyavres rrjs irepl
avrov irapabo^ov laropias rd boKOvv rots iroAAots aiaxvvrjv rep
Adycp Xpianav&v (j>epeiv. Orig. c. Cels. III. 28.
Note EEE, p. 200.
Dr. Townson, having compared the parallel places — viz.
St. Matt. iv. 17-22, St. Mark i. 14-20 and St. Luke v.
1-11. concludes that " the two accounts, that of St. Mat-
" thew and St. Mark on one side and that of St. Luke on
" the other, thus concurring in the place and situation
" in which St. Peter was called, in the promise made to
" him and the time, when he was called, speak evidently of
" the same vocation." He confirms his opinion by the
authority of several distinguished Authors, to whom he re-

278 NOTES AND
fers. Mr. Greswell has arrived at a different conclusion,
which he states and maintains in the IXth Dissertation ofthe
second Vol. of his Work on the Harmony of the Gospels. It
is to be regretted, that, after having pointed out a series of
inconsistencies between the narratives of St. Matthew and
St. Mark on the one hand and that of St. Luke on the
other, which appear to his own mind irreconcilable with
the notion that the three Evangelists are referring to one
and the same event, he should have indulged in a severity
of vituperation of all who may differ from himself, which
the occasion neither calls for nor can justify. See p. 347
and 348 of Vol. II. of his Work.
Note FFF, p. 206.
There is a touching simplicity in the Remarks made
on this passage of the Gospel History by Archelaus, Bp.
of Mesopotamia, in his Dispute with Manes, as that Dispute
is recorded in the letter of Archelaus to Diodorus, and
given in the Rei. Sacr. Vol. IV. p. 234-277. Manes had
urged our Lord's words: " Who is my mother and who
" are my brethren ?" to disprove His natural relation to
Mary. Archelaus answers by contrasting His severe re
proof of Peter, even after the blessing pronounced on him
for his confession, with the milder censure on this occasion
applied to the messenger :
Et lit te magis ac magis edoceam, multo amplius ilium,
qui de matre nuntiaverat, honoratum : tu autem oblitus rei,
qua? nobis proposita est, in aliud conversus es : audi ergo
breviter; si enim volueris diligentius intueri qua? dicta
sunt, inveniemus in illo priore multam Dominum Jesum
ostendisse clementiam, idque convenientibus te exemplis
edoceam. Rex quidam, cum adversus hostem processisset
armatus, et cogitaret atque disponeret quemadmodum posset
manum sibi hostilem atque barbaram subjugare, cumque
in multa esset cura, et solicitudine constitutus, in medio ad-
versariorum positus, ac postea jam captivos eos tenere inci-
piens, jam jam ilia solicitudo immineret, quemadmodum eos,
qui secum laboraverant ac pondus belli toleraverant, procu-
raret, quidam ei nuntius importunus occurrens, de rebus

ILLUSTRATIONS. 279
domesticis suggerere aliqua ccepit. At ille admiratus est
audaciam, atque importunam suggestionem, et morti tra-
dere hujuscemodi hominem cogitabat ; quod nisi de caris-
simis affectibus talis nuntius extitisset, eo quod incolumes
esse hos, et recte ac prospere agentes omnia nuntiasset, dig-
num protinus potuit excepisse supplicium. Qua? enim erat
cura alia Regis, belli duntaxat tempore, nisi Provincialium
salus, nisi dispositio rei militaris ? Ita et Domino meo Jesu
Christo pugnanti adversum passiones, qua? profunda visce-
rum obsederant, et curans eos qui multo tempore variis in-
firmitatibus fuerant devincti, et inclinato omni nisu pro
salute universitatis ; ille nuntius importune adveniens de
matre et fratribus nuntiavit. Et potuit quidem similem
Petro, aut etiam graviorem accepisse sententiam ; sed matris
et fratrum intellectum nomen clementiam provocavit.
Note GGG, p. 208.
Egregie observatum est quod Responsa Salvatoris nostri,
ad quaestiones non paucas ex iis, qua? proponebantur, non
videntur ad rem sed quasi impertinentia. Cujus rei causa
duplex est ; altera, quod cum cogitationes eorum, qui inter-
rogabant, non ex verbis, ut nos homines solemus, sed imme
diate et ex sese cognovisset, ad cogitationes eorum non ad
verba respondit ; altera, quod non ad eos solum locutus est,
qui tunc aderant, sed ad nos etiam, qui vivimus et ad
omnis a?vi ac loci homines, quibus Evangelium fuerit prae-
dicandum. Quod etiam in aliis scriptura? locis obtinet.
Bacon, de Augm. Sclent. IX.
No stress has been here laid upon the strong language,
which St. Mark employs, to denote the feeling excited by
our Lord's appearance : Kat evdem irds 6 d'vAos ibiav avrov
efe6"aptj3rj0Tj Kat irpoarpexovres r)aird(ovTo avrov. (St. Mark
ix. 15.) It is indeed possible that these words may denote
no more than surprise, occasioned by His unexpected ap
pearance ; yet has it been felt and acknowledged that they
may serve to imply " some traces of the glory of His trans-
" figuration still remaining on His countenance." Is not this
rather to be considered as one of several instances, which
may be observed in the Gospel History, wherein the impres-

280 NOTES AND
sion, produced by our Lord's presence and personal in
fluence, is to be accounted for on the following prin
ciple ?
'H deiorepa rov 'Irjaov bvvapis oiov re ovros, ore if3ovXero,
koi dvpbv ix@p&v dvairropevov ajieaai ko.1 pvpidbav deiq xaPlTl
irepiyeveadai Kal Xoyiapovs 0opvp~ovvra>v biaaKebdaai. (Origen.
in Joan. Tom. X. 16.) See also St. Luke iv. 30.
Note HHH, p. 215.
Anastasius Sinaita (who died Patriarch of Antioch at the
close of the 6th Century) thus mentions Papias : AafiovTes
rds d(j)oppds c?k Ylairiov rov irdvv tov 'lepairoXirov, rov ev rco
iiriarwdito dpoirrjaavros. Dr. Routh remarks :
Caeterum Joannes Apostolus d emcrrrjo'ios Xpiarov a Ce-
dreno quoque nominatur in Historiar. Compend. p. 203.
Ed. Xylandri ; et diu ante hunc chronographum Anasta-
siumque tertio etiam vertente saeculo ab Anatolio Laodiceno
sic dictus est in Canone Paschali, cujus vetus interpres La-
tinus haec habet ; Joanne scilicet Evangelista et pectoris
Domini incubatore. §. X. Ed. Bucherian. Imo et secundo
Ecclesiae saeculo Polycrates Ephesinus Episcopus similiter
signavit Apostolum, hi be ko.1 'la>dvvr]s 6 iirl rb arrjOos rorj
Kvpiov avaireaonv. Reliq. Sacr. Vol. I. p. 15 et 37.
Origen employs the same description in the opening of his
Commentaries on St. John's Gospel : the whole passage is,
for other reasons, worthy of being quoted : having briefly
characterised each of the three preceding Evangelists,
Origen proceeds :
AAAd ye rrjpet {AovKas scil. of whom the previous sen
tence speaks) rco iirl to arrjdos dvaireaovn rov 'Irjaov rovs pei-
Covas Kal reXeiorepovs irepl 'Irjaov Xoyovs' ovbels ydp eKeiviav
aKpar&s i(pavep(oaev avrov rr)v deorrjra cos 'Icodw/js irapaarrjaas
avrov Xeyovra' eyco etptt ro epcos roS Koapov iyd elpi r) d8ds
Kat i) dXr/deia ko.1 tj £cotj' eyco elpi r) dvdaraais' eyd elpi r) 6vpa'
eyco elpi 6 iroiprjv 6 KaXos' Kal 'iv rfj diroKaXvxjrei, eyco elpi to
a koi to to, rj apxh Kal rb re'Aos, d 7rpcoros Kat d eVxaros. ToA-
prjreov roivvv elireiv dirapxr)v pev iraa&v ypa(p&v elvai rd ev-
ayyeAia, r&v be eiayyeXluv dirapxrjv rd Kara 'lo)dvvrjv. Com.
in Joan. 6. Tom. I.

ILLUSTRATIONS. 281
Thus too, at a later period, speaks S. Andreas Cretensis,
in the beginning of that Sermon on Lazarus, which has
been already quoted in these Notes :
riaptreo roivvv ets peaov f/p&v 6 6eoirriK(&Taros 'Icodvwjs- d
rcoz> diroKpv(j>b)v avTOTrnjs' koi r&v appr/rav iKprjyrjTrjs' 6 iirl tov
arrjdovs dvairea&v rrjs irdi'rcoz' fcofjs"  ds Kar' avrr)v rov
beairoriKov irddovs yevopevos rr)v dpxr)i>, povos r&v aXXaiv tStcos
avyypd(pei rb Kara rdr> Ad&pov Oavpa. Op. p. 57.
Note III, p. 216.
Beatus Joannes Evangelista, cum Ephesi moraretur usque
ad ultimam senectutem ut vix inter discipulorum manus ad
Ecclesiam deferretur nee posset in plura vocem verba con-
texere, nihil aliud per singulas solebat proferre collectas
nisi hoc : Filioli, diligite alterutrum. Tandem discipuli et
fratres, qui aderant, taedio affecti quod eadem semper audi-
rent, dixerunt : Magister, quare semper hoc loqueris ? Qui
respondit dignam Joanne sententiam : Quia praeceptum
Domini est ; et si solum fiat, sufficit. E Sti Hieronym.
Com. in Ep. ad Gal. vi. 10.
Note KKK, p. 225.
'Hp-ets reOrjirapev tov 'Inaovv, rov vovv f/p&v peraOevra dirb
iravros aiadrjrov, cos ov povov (pdaprov dXXd Kal (pQaprjaopivov
Kal dvdyovra iirl rr)v perd dpOov /3tov 7rpds tov iirl iraai ®ebv
npr)v per evx&v, ds irpoadyopev air&, cos 8td pera^ii ovros rrjs
tov dyevrtrov Kal rrjs r&v yevrvr&v irdvra>v (pvaeass Kal epe'poz>ros
pev r)piv rds dirb roC Ilarpos evepyeaias, biaKopi(ovros b' r)p&v,
rpoirov dpxtepe'eos, rds erjxds 7rpds tov iirl iraai deov. Orig. c.
Cels. III. 34.
Note LLL, p. 227.
On the interpretation of these words, as belonging to our
Saviour alone, see Bishop Middleton on the Greek Ar
ticle, p. 544 Edit. 1828. And with regard to the anti
quity of such interpretation, the remarks and quotations of
Dr Routh (Rei. Sacr. Vol. II. p. 26) are decisive. The
preceding Notes have served to shew how much the Author

282 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
of these Lectures owes to the latter revered Scholar and
Theologian, towards whom his sense of public obligation is
accompanied and increased, by the most respectful senti
ments of personal and private regard.

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