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THE GIFT OF
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LECTURES
ON THE
GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW;
DELIVERED IN THE
PARISH CHURCH OF ST. JAMES,
WESTMINSTER,
IN THE YEARS 1798, 1799, 1800, AND 1801.
BY THE RIGHT REVEREND
BEILBY PORTEUS, D. D.
BISHOP OF LONDON.
TWO VOLUMES IN ONE.
DER SECOND AMERICAN, FROM THE FIFTH LONDON EDITION.
NORTHAMPTON, (Ms.)
PUBLISHED BY S. & E. BUTLER, AND SOLD BY THEM AT
THE NORTHAMPTON BOOKSTORE.
1805.
3. M. POMROY, PRINTER,
Extract from the British Critic.
THESE LECTURES, thus circumstanced,* written with an
ardour of patriotism, a genuine thirst of piety, and a strong sense
of duty; delivered with an animation and eloquence, for which,
through life, the BISHOP of LONDON has been eminently distin-
guished; heard with deep and silent attention by admiring multi-
tudes, are now presented to the public.
How acceptable the public has considered the gift, sufficiently
appears from the fact, that, in a very short interval of time, four
editions have been actually disposed of, and a fifth is now in
market.
As the public voice, and public gratitude have already stampt
a value upon THESE LECTURES, it would be idle, and superfluous
to make any critical observations upon them, or to detain the
reader with any circumstantial account of our private opinion of
their merit.
The truest mark of respect we can shew to the venerable Author,
as well as to the public, is to express our unfeigned wish, that their
circulation may be circumscribed by no other limits, than those
where the doctrines of Christianity are known and revered. They
are calculated alike to do good to the learned, and the unlearned,
the aged, as well as the inexperienced, the grave, and the reflect-
ing, the gay, and the thoughtless.
They are learned without ostentation, pious without any tincture
of enthusiasm, argumentative without pedantry, and perspicuous
without losing sight of the graces of style and diction.
May the excellent, and amiable PREACHER still live to enjoy the
consciousness, that his exertions in the cause of that religion, which
he adorns by his example, have not been made in vain.
* See the Author's Preface.
TO THE
&
Echina
ร
INHABITANTS
OF
LONDON AND WESTMINSTER,
THESE LECTURES,
WRITTEN PRINCIPALLY FOR THEIR BENEFIT, AND FAVOURED
WITH THEIR UNREMITTED ATTENDANCE FOR
FOUR SUCCESSIVE YEARS,
ARE
WITH VERY SINCERE SENTIMENTS OF REGARD
AND ESTEEM,
AND WITH FERVENT PRAYERS FOR
THEIR HAPPINESS HERE AND HEREAFTER,
INSCRIBED,
BY
THEIR FAITHFUL AND AFFECTIONATE
FRIEND AND SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
gilt
Tappan Prust, Aure,
3-20-1993
7
PREFACE.
A
Ar the time when the following Lectures were first begun, the politi
❤al, moral, and religious state of this kingdom, wore a very unfavourable
aspect, and excited no small degree of uneasiness and alarm in every serious
and reflecting mind. The enemies of this country were almost every
where triumphant abroad, and its still more formidable enemies at home
were indefatigably active in their endeavours to diffuse the poison of dis-
affection, infidelity, and contempt of the holy Scriptures, through every
part of the kingdom, more especially among the lower orders of the people,
by the most offensive and impious publications; while at the same time
it must be acknowledged, that among too many of the higher classes, there
prevailed, in the midst of all our distresses, a spirit of dissipation, profu-
sion, and voluptuous gaiety, ill suited to the gloominess of our situation, and
ill calculated to secure to us the protection of heaven against the various
dangers that menaced us on every side. Under these circumstances, it
seemed to be the duty of every friend to religion, morality, good order, and
good government, and more especially of the ministers of the Gospel, to
exert every power and every talent with which God had blessed them, in
order to counteract the baneful effects of those pestilential writings which
every day issued from the press; to give some check to the growing relax-
ation of public manners; to state plainly and forcibly the evidences of our
faith, and the genuine doctrines of our religion, the true principles of sub-
mission to our lawful governors, the mode of conduct in every relation of
life which the Gospel prescribes to us; and to vindicate the truth, dignity,
and divine authority of the sacred writings. All this, after much delibera-
tion, I conceived could in no other way be so effectually done as by having
recourse to those writings themselves, by going back to the very fountain
of truth and holiness, and by drawing from that sacred source the proofs of
its own celestial origin, and all the evangelical virtues springing from it,
and branching out into the various duties of civil, social and domestic life.
The result was, that I resolved on discharging my share of these weighty
obligations, by giving Lectures on the Gospel of St. Matthew, in my own
parish church of St. James, Westminster, every Friday in Lent; which at
the same time that it promoted my principal object, might also draw a
little more attention to that holy, but too much neglected season, which
our Church has very judiciously set apart for the purpose of retirement
Tri
PREFACE.
and recollection, and of giving some little pause and respite to the ceaseless
occupations and amusements of a busy and a though less world 1 fore-
saw, however, many difficultics in the undertaking, particularly in drawing
together any considerable number of people to a place of public worship,
for any length of time, on a common day of the week. But it pleased
God to bless the attempt with a degree of success far beyond every thing I
could have expected or imagined. And as I have been assured that several
even of those amongst my audience, that disbelieved or doub.cd the truth
of Christianity, were impressed with a more favourable opinion both of its
evidences and its doctrines, and with a higher veneration for the sacied
writings than they had before entertained, I am willing to flatter myself
that similar impressions may possibly be made on some of that description,
who may chance to cast their eyes on these pages; and that they may also
tend in some degree to confirm the faith and invigorate the good resolutions
of many sincere believers in the Gospel. With this hope I now offer them
to the world, and particularly to those whom Providence has placed under
my more immediate supermtendance, and to whom I an desirous to be-
queath this (perhaps) last public testimony of my solicitude for their ever-
lasting welfare. And whatever eros, imperfections, or accidental repeti-
tions (arising from the accurrence of the same subjects in the sacred narra.
tive) the critical reader may discover in this work; he will, I trust, be
disposed to think them catitled to some degree of indulgence, when he
reflects that it was not a very easy task to adapt either the matter or the lan-
guage of such discourses as these to the various characters, conditions, cir-
cumstances, capacities, and wants of all those different ranks of people to
whom they were addressed; and when he is also told that these Lectures
were drawn up at a very advanced period of life, and not in the case and
tranquility of literary retirement, but at short broken intervals of time,
such as could be stolen from the incessant occupations of an arduous and
laborious station, which would not admit of sufficient leisure for profound
research or finished composition,
Contents
OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
LECTURE I. FEB. 23, 1798.
A Compendio's View of the Sacred Writings.
LECTURE II. MARCH 2, 1798.
MATTHEW ii.
The Arrival and Offerings of the Wise Men at Bethlehem.
LECTURE III. MARCH 9, 1798.
MATTHEW iii.
Đế +
History and Doctrines of John the Baptist.
LECTURE IV. MARCH 16, 1798.
MATTHEW iv.-Former Part.
Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness.
LECTURE V. MARCH 23, 1798.
MATTHEW iv.-Latter Part.
Choice of the Apostles.--Beginning of Miracles.
LECTURE VI. MARCH 30, 1798.
MATTHEW V.
Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount.
LECTURE VII. FEB. 8, 1799.
MATTHEW vi. and vii.
Continuation of the 'Sermon on the Mount.
CONTENTS.
LECTURE VIII. FEB. 15, 1799.
MATTHEW viii.
Conduct and Character of the Roman Centurion
LECTURE IX. FEB. 22, 1799.
MATTHEW X.
Our Lord's Instructions to his Apostles
LECTURE X. MARCH 1, 1799.
MATTHEW Xii.
Observation of the Sabbath; Demoniacs; Blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost.
LECTURE XI. MARCH 8, 1799.
MATTHEW xiii.
Nature and Use of Parables.
LECTURE XII. MARCH 15, 1799.
MATTHEW Xxiii. continued.
Parable of the Sower explained.
LECTURE XIII. FEB. 28, 1800.
MATTHEW Xiii. continued.
Parable of the Tares explained.
CONTENTS
OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
LECTURE XIV. MARCH 7, 1800.
MATTHEW xiv.
History of Herod and Herodias.Death of John the Baptist
CONTENTS.
ix
LECTURE XV. MARCH 14, 1800.
MATTHEW xvii.
The Transfiguration of Christ.
LECTURE XVI. MARCH 21, 1800.
MATTHEW xviii.
Making our Brother to offend.-Parable of the unforgiving Ser-
vant.
LECTURE XVII. MARCH 28, 1800.
MATTHEW Xix.
The Means of attaining Eternal Life.-Difficulty of a Rich Man
entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
LECTURE XVIII. APRIL 4, 1800.
MATTHEW Xxii.
Parable of the Marriage Feast.-Insidious Questions put to Christ.
-The Two great Commandments.
LECTURE XIX. FEB. 20, 1801.
MATTHEW Xxiv.
Our Lord's Prediction of the Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem.
LECTURE XX. FEB. 27, 1801.
MATTHEW xxiv. xxv.
Further Remarks on the same Prophecy.-Parables of the Ten
Virgins and of the Talents.-Day of Judgment.
2
X
CONTENTS.
LECTURE XXI. MARCH 6, 1801.
MATTHEW Xxvi.
Institution of the Lord's Supper.-Our Lord's Agony in the Gar-
den.-Betrayed by Judas.-Carried before the High Priest.
LECTURE XXII. MARCH 13, 1801.
MATTHEW Xxvii.
Christ carried before Pilate-tried-condemned-and crucified.
LECTURE XXIII. MARCH 20, 1801.
MATTHEW Xxvii. xxviii.
Doctrine of Redemption.-Burial and Resurrection of our Blessed
Lord.
LECTURE XXIV. MARCH 27, 1801.
MATTHEW Xxviii.
The Mysteries of Christianity.-Conclusion of the Gospel of St.
Matthew, and of the Lectures.
LECTURE I.
IT being my intention to give from this place, on
the Fridays during Lent, a course of Lectures explana-
tory and practical on such parts of Scripture as seem
to me best calculated to inform the understandings and
affect the hearts of those that hear me, I shall proceed,
without further preface, to the execution of a design,
in which edification, not entertainment, usefulness, not
novelty, are the objects I have in view; and in which
therefore I may sometimes perhaps avail myself of the
labours of others, when they appear to me better calcu-
lated to answer my purpose than any thing I am myself
capable of producing.
Although my observations will for the present be
confined entirely to the Gospel of St. Matthew, and only
to certain select parts even of that, yet it may not be
improper or unprofitable to introduce these Lectures
by a compendious view of the principal contents of
those writings which go under the general name of the
HOLY SCRIPTURES.
That book which we call THE BIBLE (that is, THE
Book, by way of eminence) although it is comprized
in one volume, yet in fact comprehends a great number
of different narratives and compositions, written at dif-
ferent times, by different persons, in different languages,
and on different subjects. And taking the whole of
the collection together, it is an unquestionable truth
that there is no one book extant, in any language, or in
any country, which can in any degree be compared with
it for antiquity, for authority, for the importance, the
12
LECTURE I.
dignity, the variety, and the curiosity of the matter it
contains.
It begins with that great and stupendous event, of
all others the earliest and most interesting to the human
race, the creation of this world, of the heavens and the
earth, of the herbs of the field, the sea and its inhabitants.
All this it describes with a brevity and sublimity well
suited to the magnitude of the subject, to the dignity
of the Almighty Artificer, and unequalled by any other
writer. The same wonderful scene is represented by
a Roman poet,* who has evidently drawn his materials
from the narrative of Moses. But though his descrip-
tion is finely imagined and elegantly wrought up, and
embellished with much poetical ornament, yet in true
simplicity and grandeur, both of sentiment and of dic-
tion, he falls far short of the sacred historian. LET
THERE BE LIGHT AND THERE WAS LIGHT; is an in-
stance of the sublime, which stands to this day unrival-
led in any human composition.
But what is of infinitely greater moment, his history
of the creation has settled forever that most important
question, which the ancient sages were never able to
decide; from whence and from what causes this world,
with all its inhabitants and appendages, drew its origin;
whether from some inexplicabie necessity, from a for-
tuitous concourse of atoms, from an eternal series of
causes and effects, or from one supreme, intelligent,
self-existing Being, the Author of all things, himself
without beginning and without end. To this last cause
the inspired historian has ascribed the formation of this
system; and by so doing has established that great
principle and foundation of all religion and all morality,
and the great source of comfort to every human being,
the existence of one God, the Creator and Preserver of
the world, and the watchful Superintendent of all the
creatures that he has made.
St
The Sacred History next sets before us, the primæval
happiness of our first parents in Paradise; their fall
from this blissful state by the wilful transgression of
their Maker's command; the fatal effects of this origi-
* Qvid.
LECTURE I.
13
nal violation of duty; the universal wickedness and
corruption it gradually introduced among mankind;
and the signal and tremendous punishment of that
wickedness by the deluge; the certainty of which is
acknowledged by the most ancient writers, and very
evident traces of which are to be found at this day in
various parts of the globe. It then relates the peopling
of the world again by the family of Noah; the cove-
nant entered into by God with that patriarch, the re-
lapse of mankind into wickedness; the calling of Abra-
ham; and the choice of one family and people, the Is-
raelites (or, as they were afterwards called, the Jews)
who were separated from the rest of the world to pre-
serve the knowledge and the worship of a Supreme
Being, and the great fundamental doctrine of THE
UNITY; while all the rest of mankind, even the wisest
and most learned, were devoted to polytheism and
idolany, and the grossest and most abominable super-
stitions. It then gives us the history of this people,
with their various migrations, revolutions, and princi-
pal transactions. It recounts their removal from the
land of Canaan, and their establishment in Egypt un-
der Joseph; whose history is related in a manner so
nu nel, so interesting and affecting, that it is impossi-
ble for any man of common sensibility to read it with-
out the strongest emotions of tenderness and delight.
In the book of Exodus we have the deliverance of
this people from their bondage in Egypt, by a series
of the most astonishing miracles; and their travels.
through the wilderness for forty years under the con-
duct of Moses; during which time (besides many other
rules and directions for their moral conduct) they re-
ceived the Ten Commandments, written on two tables
of stone by the finger of God himself, and delivered
by him to Moses with the most awful and tremend-
ous solemnity; containing a code of moral law infi-
nitely superior to any thing known to the rest of man-
kind in those rude and barbarous ages.
KARTE
The books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuterono-
my, are chiefly occupied with the various other laws,
LECTURE I.
institutions, and regulations given to this people, re-
specting their civil government, their moral conduct,
their religious duties, and their ceremonial observances.
14
Among these, the book of Deuteronomy (which
concludes what is called the Pentateuch or five books
of Moses) is distinguished above all the rest by a con-
cise and striking recapitulation of the innumerable bies-
sings and mercies which they had received from God
since their departure from Horeb; by strong expostu-
lations on their past rebellious conduct, and their
shameful ingratitude for all these distinguishing marks
of the Divine favour; by many forcible and pathetic
exhortations to repentance and obedience in future; by
promises of the most substantial rewards, if they re-
turned to their duty; and by denunciations of the se-
verest punishments, if they continued disobedient;
and all this delivered in a strain of the most animated,
sublime, and commanding eloquence.
The historical books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel,
Kings, and Chronicles, continue the history of the Jew-
ish nation under their leaders, judges, and kings, for
near a thousand years; and one of the most prominent
and instructive parts of this history is the account given
of the life and reign of Solomon, his wealth, his power,
and all the glories of his reign; more particularly that
noble proof he gave of his piety and munificence, by
the construction of that truly magnificent temple which
bore his name; the solemn and splendid dedication of
this temple to the service of God; and that inimitable
prayer which he then offered up to Heaven in the pre-
sence of the whole Jewish people; a prayer evidently
coming from the heart, sublime, simple, nervous,
and
pathetic; exhibiting the justest and the warmest senti-
ments of piety, the most exalted conceptions of the
Divine nature, and every way equal to the sanctity,
the dignity, and the solemnity of the occasion.
Next to these follow the books of Ezra and Nehe-
miah, which contain the history of the Jews for a con-
siderable period of time after their return from a cap-
tivity of 70 years in Babylon, about which time the
-
LECTURE I.
15
name of Jews seems first to have been applied to
them. The books of Ruth and Esther are a kind of
appendage to the public records, delineating the cha-
racters of two very amiable individuals, distinguished
by their virtucs, and the very interesting incidents
which befel them, the one in private, the other in pub-
lic life, and which were in some degree connected with
the honour and prosperity of the nation to which they
belonged.
In the book of Job we have the history of a personage
of high rank, of remote antiquity, and extraordinary
virtues; rendered remarkable by uncommon vicissi-
tudes of fortune, by the most splendid prosperity at
one time, by an accumulation of the heaviest calamities
at another; conducting himself under the former with
moderation, uprightness, and unbounded kindness to
the poor; and under the latter, with the most exempla-
ry patience and resignation to the will of Heaven. The
composition is throughout the greater part highly po-
etical and figurative, and exhibits the noblest represen-
tations of the Supreme Being and a superintending
Providence, together with the most admirable lessons
of fortitude and submission to the will of God under
the severest afflictions that can befal human nature.
The Psalms, which follow this book, are full of such
exalted strains of piety and devotion, such beautiful and
animated descriptions of the power, the wisdom, the
mercy, and the goodness of God, that it is impossible
for any one to read them without feeling his heart in-
flamed with the most ardent affection towards the great
Creator and Governor of the universe.
The Proverbs of Solomon, which come next in order,
contain a variety of very excellent maxims of wisdom,
and invaluable rules of life, which have no where been
exceeded except in the New Testament. They afford
us, as they profess to do at their very first outset, "the
instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity.
They give subtilty to the simple; to the young man,
knowledge and discretion."
The same may be said of the greater part of the book
LECTURE I.
of Ecclesiastes, which also teaches us to form a just
estimate of this world, and its seeming advantages of
wealth, honour, power, pleasure, and science.
The prophetical writings present us with the wor-
thiest and most exalted ideas of the Almighty, the
justest and purest notions of piety and virtue, the aw-
fullest denunciations against wickedness of every kind,
public and private; the most affectionate expostulations,
the most inviting promises, and the warmest concern
for the public good. And besides all this, they con-
tain a series of predictions relating to our blessed Lord,
in which all the remarkable circumstances of his birth,
life, ministry, miracles, doctrines, sufferings, and death,
are foretold in so minute and exact a manner (more
particularly in the prophecy of Isaiah) that you would
almost think they were describing all these things after
they had happened, if you did not know that these pro-
phecies were confessedly written many hundred years
before Christ came into the world, and were all that
time in the possession of the Jews, who were the mortal
enemies of Christianity, and therefore would never go
about to forge prophecies, which most evidently prove
him to be what he professed to be, and what they denied
him to be, the Messiah and the Son of God. It is to
this part of Scripture that our Lord particularly directs
our attention, when he says, "search the Scriptures,
for they are they that testify of me."* The testimony
he alludes to is that of the prophets; than which no
evidence can be more satisfactory and convincing to
any one that reads them with care and impartiality, and
compares their predictions concerning our Saviour with
the history of his life, given us by those who constantly
lived and conversed with him. This history we have
in the New Testament, in that part of it which goes
by the name of GOSPELS.
It is these that recount those wonderful and impor-
tant events with which the Christian religion and the
divine Author of it were introduced into the world,
and which have produced so great a change in the prin-
John v. 39.
16
"..
}
LECTURE Ì.
17.
ciples, the manners, the morals, and the temporal as
well as the spiritual condition of mankind. They relate
the first appearance of Christ upon earth; his extraor-
dinary and miraculous birth; the testimony borne to
him by his forerunner John the Baptist; his temptation
in the wilderness; the opening of his divine commis-
sion; the pure, the perfect, the sublime morality which
he taught, especially in his inimitable sermon from the
mount; the infinite superiority which he shewed to
every other moral teacher, both in the matter and man-
ner of his discourses; more particularly by crushing
vice in its very cradle, in the first risings of wicked
desires and propensities in the heart; by giving a de-
cided preference of the mild, gentle, passive, concilia-
ting virtues, to that violent, vindictive, high-spirited,
unforgiving temper, which has been always too much
the favourite character of the world; by requiring us
to forgive our very enemies, and to do good to them
that hate us; by excluding from our devotions, our
alms, and all our other virtues, all regard to fame, repu-
tation, and applause; by laying down two great general
principles of morality, love to God and love to man-
kind, and deducing from thence every other human
duty; by conveying his instructions under the easy,
familiar, and impressive form of parables; by express-
ing himself in a tone of dignity and authority unknown
before; by exemplifying every virtue that he taught in
his own unblemished and perfect life and conversation;
and above all, by adding those awful sanctions, which
he alone, of all moral instructors, had the power to hold
out, eternal rewards to the virtuous, and eternal punish-
ments to the wicked. The sacred narrative then repre-
sents to us the high character he assumed; the claim
he made to a divine original; the wonderful iniracles
he wrought in proof of his divinity; the various pro-
phecies which plainly marked him out as the Messiah,
the great deliverer of the Jews; the declarations he
made, that he came to offer himself a sacrifice for the
sins of all mankind; the cruel indignities, sufferings,
and persecutions, to which, in consequence of this
H
3
Jaznak.
LECTURE I.
great design, he was exposed; the accomplishment of
it by the painful and ignominious death to which he
submitted; by his resurrection after three days from
the grave; by his ascension into heaven; by his sitting
there at the right hand of God, and performing the of
fice of a mediator and intercessor for the sinful sons of
men, till he comes a second time in his glory to sit in
judgment on all mankind, and decide their final doom
of happiness or misery forever.
These are the momentous, the interesting truths, on
which the GOSPELS principally dwell.
The ACTS OF THE APOSTLES continue the history
of our religion after our Lord's ascension; the astonish-
ing and rapid propagation of it by a few illiterate tent-
makers and fishermen, through almost every part of
the world," by demonstration of the spirit and of
power;" without the aid of eloquence or of force, and
in opposition to all the authority, all the power, and all
the influence of the opulent and the great.
The EPISTLES, that is, the letters addressed by the
Apostles and their associates to different churches and
to particular individuals, contain many admirable rules
and directions to the primitive converts; many affect-
ing exhortations, expostulations, and reproofs; many
explanations and illustrations of the doctrines delivered
by our Lord; together with constant references to facts,
circumstances, and events, recorded in the Gospels and
the Acts; in which we perceive such striking, yet evi-
dently such unpremeditated and undesigned coinci-
dences and agreements between the narratives and the
epistles, as form one most conclusive argument for the
truth, authenticity, and genuineness of both.*
18
The sacred volume concludes with the Revelation of
St. John, which, under the form of visions and various
symbolical representations, presents to us a prophetic
history of the Christian religion in future times, and
the various changes, vicissitudes, and revolutions it
* See the Horae Pulinae of Dr. Paley.
:
LECTURE I.
19
was to undergo in different ages and countries to the
end of the world.†
Is it possible now to conceive a nobler, a more com-
prehensive, a more useful scheme of instruction than
this; in which the uniformity and variety, so happily
blended together, give it an inexpressible beauty, and
the whole composition plainly proves its Author to be
divine?
"The Bible is not indeed (as a great writer ob-
serves‡) a plan of religion delineated with minute ac-
curacy, to instruct men as in something altogether new,
or to excite a vain admiration and applause; but it is
somewhat unspeakably more great and noble, com-
prehending (as we have seen) in the grandest and most
magnificent order, along with every essential of that
plan, the various dispensations of God to mankind,
from the formation of this earth to the consummation
of all things. Other books may afford us much enter-
tainment and much instruction; may gratify our curi-
riosity, may delight our imagination, may improve our
understandings, may calm our passions, may exalt our
sentiments, may even improve our hearts. But they
have not, they cannot have that authority in what they
affirm, in what they require, in what they promise and
threaten, that the Scriptures have. There is a peculiar
weight and energy in them, which is not to be found
in any other writings. Their denunciations are more
awful, their convictions stronger, their consolations
more powerful, their counsels more authentic, their
warnings more alarming, their expostulations more pen-
etrating. There are passages in them throughout so
sublime, so pathetic, full of such energy and force up-
on the heart and conscience, yet without the least ap-
pearance of labour and study for that purpose; indeed,
*
A fuller and more detailed account of the contents of the several Books
of Scripture may be found in Mr. Gray's Key to the Old Testament, Ep. Per-
cy's to the New, and the Bishop of Lincoln's late excellent work on the Ele-
ments of Christian Theology. That part of it which relates to the Scriptures
has been lately re-printed for the accommodation of the public at large, in a
duodecimo volume, which I paticularly recommend to the attention of my
readers.
Archbishop Secker, V. 6.
20
LECTURE I
the design of the whole is so noble, so well suited to
the sad condition of human kind; the morals have in
them such purity and dignity; the doctrines, so many
of them above reason, yet so perfectly reconcileable
with it; the expression is so majestic, yet familiarized
with such easy simplicity, that the more we read and
study these writings with pious dispositions and judi-
cious attention, the more we shall see and feel of the
hand of God in them."*
But that which stamps upon them the highest value,
that which renders them, strictly speaking, inestimable,
and distinguishes them from all other books in the
world, is this, that they, and they only, "contain the
words of eternal life." In this respect, every other
book, even the noblest compositions of man, must fail
us; they cannot give us that which we most want, and
what is of infinitely more importance to us than all
other things put together, ETERNAL LIFE.
This we must look for no where but in Scripture.
It is there, and there only, that we are informed from
authority, of the immortality of the soul, of a general
resurrection from the dead, of a future judgment, of a
state of eternal happiness to the good, and of eternal
misery to the bad. It is there we are made acquainted
with the fall of our first parent from a state of innocence
and happiness; with the guilt, corruption, and misery,
* That accomplished scholar and distinguished writer, the late Sir Wil-
liam Jones, chief justice of Bengal, at the end of his Bible wrote the following
note; which, coming from a man of his profound erudition, and perfect
knowledge of the oriental languages, customs, and manners, must be consid-
ered as a most powerful testimony, not only to the sublimity, but to the divine
inspiration of the sacred writings.
I have (says he) regularly and attentively read these Holy Scriptures,
and am of opinion, that this volume, independently of its divine origin, con-
tains more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more
important history, and finer strains both of poetry and eloquence, than can be
collected from all other books, in whatever age or language they may have
been composed.
.
"The two parts, of which the Scriptures consist are connected by a chain
of compositions, which bear no resemblance, in form or style, to any that can
be produced from the stories of Grecian, Persian, or even Arabian learning:
the antiquity of those compositions no man doubts; and the unstrained ap-
plication of them to events long subsequent to their publication, is a solid
ground of belief that they are genuine predictions, and consequently inspired.”
† John, vi. 68,
LECTURE I.
21
which this sad event brought on all their posterity;
which, together with their own personal and voluntary
transgressions, rendered them obnoxious to God's se-
verest punishments. But, to our inexpressible com-
fort, we are further told in this divine book, that God
is full of mercy, compassion, and goodness; that he is
not extreme to mark what is done amiss; that he wil-
leth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should
turn from his wickedness, and save his soul alive. In
pity therefore to mankind, he was pleased to provide a
remedy for their dreadful state. He was pleased to
adopt a measure which should at once satisfy his jus-
tice, shew his extreme abhorrence of sin, make a suffi-
cient atonement for the sins of the whole world, and
release all who accepted the terms proposed to them
from the punishment they had deserved. This was
nothing less than the death of his son Jesus Christ,
whom he sent into the world to take our nature upon
him, to teach us a most holy, pure, and benevolent re-
ligion, to reform us both by his precepts and example;
and lastly, to die for our sins, and to rise again for our
justification. By him and his evangelists and apostles
we are assured, that if we sincerely repent of our sins,
and firmly believe in him and his Gospel, we shall, for
the sake of his sufferings and his righteousness, have
all our transgressions forgiven and blotted out, shall be
justified, that is, considered as innocent in the sight of
God, shall have the assistance of his Holy Spirit for
our future conduct; and if we persevere to the end in
a uniform (though, from the infirmity of our nature,
imperfect) obedience to all the laws of Christ, shall,
through his merits, be rewarded with everlasting glory
in the life to come.
Since then the utility, the absolute necessity of read-
ing the Scriptures is so great, since they are not only
the best guide you can consult, but the only one that
can possibly lead you to heaven; it becomes the indis-
pensable duty of every one of you most carefully and
constantly to peruse these sacred oracles, that you may
thereby become perfect, thoroughly furnished to
t
400
LECTURE I.
every good work." They who have much leisure
should employ a considerable share of it in this holy
exercise, and even they who are most immersed in
business have, or ought to have, the Lord's Day en-
tirely to spare, and should always employ some part of
it (more particularly at this holy season) in reading and
meditating on the word of God. By persevering stea-
dily in this practice, any one may, in no great length of
time, read the Scriptures through from one end to the
other. But in doing this, it would be adviseable to
begin with the New Testament first, and to read it over
most frequently, because it concerns us Christians the
most nearly, and explains to us more fully and more
clearly the words of eternal life. But after you have
once gone regularly through both the Old Testament
and the New, it may then be most useful, perhaps, to
select out of each such passages as lay before you the
great fundamental doctrines, and most essential duties.
of your Christian profession; and even amongst these,
to dwell the longest on such as express these things in
the most awful and striking manner, such as affect and
touch you most powerfully, such as make your heart
burn within you, and stir up all the pious affections in
your soul. But it will be of little use to read, unless
at the same time also you reflect; unless you apply
what you read to those great purposes which the Scrip-
tures were meant to promote, the amendment of your
faults, the improvement of your hearts, and the salva-
tion of your souls.
22
To assist you in this most important and necessary
work is the design of these Lectures: and in the exe-
cution of this design I shall have these four objects
principally in view:
First, to explain and illustrate those passages of holy
writ, which are in any degree difficult and obscure.
2dly. To point out, as they occur in the sacred wri-
tings, the chief leading fundamental principles and doc-
trines of the Christian religion.
3dly. To confirm and strengthen your faith, by call-
* 2 Tim. iii. 17.
Ja
LECTURE I.
25
ing your attention to those strong internal marks of the
truth and divine authority of the Christian religion,
which present themselves to us in almost every page.
of the Gospel.
4thly. To lay before you the great moral precepts of
the Gospel, to press them home upon your consciences
and your hearts, and render them effectual to the im-
portant ends they were intended to serve; namely, the
due government of your passions, the regulation of
your conduct, and the attainment of everlasting life.
These are all of them objects of the very last impor-
tance; they are worthy the attention of every huinan
being; and they will, I think, be better attained by a
familiar and practical explanation of the sacred writings,
than by any other species of composition whatever.
The plan of instruction adopted by our blessed Lord
was unquestionably the very best that could be devised.
It was not a regular system of ethics, delivered in a
connected series of dry essays and dissertations, like
those of the ancient heathen philosophers; but it con-
sisted of familiar discourses, interesting parables, short
sententious maxims, and occasional reflections, arising
from the common occurrences of life, and the most
obvious appearances of nature. All these various
modes of instruction are so judiciously blended and
mixed together in the history of our Lord's life and
conversation, delivered to us in the Gospel (as all the
the various sorts of pleasing objects are in the unorna-
mented scenes of nature) that they make a much
deeper impression both on the understanding and on
the heart, than they could possibly do in any other more
artificial form.
<
-
An exposition of Scripture, then, must at all times
be highly useful snd interesting to every sincere disci-
ple of Christ; but must be peculiarly so at the present
moment, when so much pains have been taken to ridi-
cule and revile the sacred writings, to subvert the very
foundations of our faith, and to poison the minds of all
ranks of people, but especially the middling and the
lower classes, by the most impious and blasphemous
LECTURE I.
publications that ever disgraced any Christian country.
To resist these wicked attempts is the duty of every
minister of the Gospel; and as I have strongly exhor-
ted all those who are under my superintendence, to
exert themselves with zeal and with rigour in defence
of their insulted religion, I think it incumbent on me
to take my share in this important contest, and to shew
that I wish not to throw burthens on others of which I
am not willing to bear my full portion. As long there-
fore as my health, and the various duties of an extensive
and populous diocese, will permit, and the exigencies
of the times require such exertions, I propose to con-
tinue annually these Lectures. And I shall think it no
unbecoming conclusion of my life, if these labours of my
declining years should tend in any degree to render the
Holy Scriptures more clear and intelligible, more use-
ful and delightful; if they shall confirm the faith, re-
form the manners, console and revive the hearts of
those who hear me; and vindicate the honour of our di-
vine Master from those gross indignities and insults,
which have of late been so indecently and impiously
thrown on him and his religion.
24
* About this time, and for some years before, The Age of Reason and
other pestilent writings of the same uature, were disseminated through al-
most every district of this country with incredible industry.
LA TRAN
LECTURE II.
MATTHEW ii.
HAVING in the preceding Lecture taken a short
comprehensive view of the several books of the sacred
volume, I now proceed to the Gospel of St. Matthew;
and shall in this Lecture confine myself to the two first
chapters of that book.*
* For some very valuable observations in soine parts of this, and the third
and thirteenth Lecture, I am indebted to my late excellent friend and patron,
Arch-bishop Secker.
ኑ
LECTURE II.
25
The history of our Saviour's birth, life, doctrines,
precepts, and miracles, is contained in four books or
narratives called Gospels, written at different times, and
by four different persons, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, who were among the first converts to Christiani-
ty, and perfectly well acquainted with the facts they re-
late; to which two of them were eye-witnesses, and
the other two constant companions of those who were
so, from whom they received immediately every thing
they relate. This is better authority for the truth of
these histories than we have for the greater part of the
histories now extant, the fidelity of which we do not
in the least question. For few of our best histories,
either ancient or modern, were written by persons who
were eye-witnesses of all the transactions which they
relate; and there is scarce any instance of the history
of the same person being written by four different con-
temporary historians, all perfectly agreeing in the main
articles, and differing only in a few minute pariculars
of no moment. This however we find actually done
in the life of Jesus, which has been written by each of
the four evangelists, and it is a very strong proof of
their veracity. For let us consider what the case is, at
this very day, in the affairs of common life. When
four different persons are called upon in a court of jus-
tice to prove the reality of any particular fact that hap-
pened twenty or thirty years ago, what is the sort of evi-
dence which they usually give? Why, in all the great
leading circumstances which tend to establish the fact
in question, they in general perfectly agree. In a few
other points perhaps they differ. But then these are
points which do not at all affect the main question,
which were too trifling to make much impression at
the time on the memory of the observers, and which
therefore they would all relate with some little varia-
tion in their account. This is precisely the case with
the writers of the four Gospels; and this substantial
coincidence and accidental variation has much more
the air and garb of truth, than where there is a perfect
4.
LECTURE II.
agreement in every the minutest article; which has too
much the appearance of a concerted story.
That the books, which we now have under the names
of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written by
the persons whose names they bear, cannot admit the
smallest doubt with any unprejudiced mind. They
have been acknowledged as such by every Christian
church in every age, from the time of our Saviour to
this moment. There are allusions to them, or quota-
tions from them, in the earliest writers, as far back as
the age of the apostles, and continued down in a regu-
lar succession to the present hour; a proof of authen-
ticity, which scarce any other ancient book in the world
can produce. They were received as genuine histo-
ries, not only by the first Christians, but by the first en-
emies of Christianity, and their authority was never
questioned either by the ancient heathens or Jews.*
The first of these Gospels is that of St. Matthew.
It was written probably at the latest not more than
fifteen years, some think only eight years, after our
Lord's ascension. The author of it was an apostle
and constant companion of Jesus, and of course an
eye-witness of every thing he relates. He was called
by our blessed Lord from a most lucrative occupation,
that of a collector of the public revenue, to be one of
his disciples and friends: a call which he immediately
obeyed, relinquishing every thing that was dear and
valuable to him in the present life. This is a sacrifice
which few people have made for the sake of religion,
and had St. Matthew's object been the applause of men,
he might have displayed the merits of this sacrifice in
a light very favourable to himself. But the apostle,
conscious of much nobler views, describes this trans-
action in the simplest and most artless words.
"As
Jesus," says he, "passed forth from thence, he saw a
man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom,
26
* Whoever wishes for further satisfaction on this most important subject,
will not fail of finding it in Dr. Lardner's learned work, The Credibility of
the Gospel History, where this question has been very ably treated, and the
authenticity of the Gospels established on the most selid grounds.
LECTURE II.
a
and he saith unto him, Follow me: and he arose and
followed him.”
The first thing that occurs in the Gospel of St. Mat-
thew, is the genealogy of Christ, in order to prove that
he was descended from the house and family of David,
as the prophets foretold he should be.
In this genealogy there are confessedly some difficul-
ties, at which we cannot be much surprised, when we
consider of what prodigious antiquity this genealogy is,
going back some thousands of years; and when we
know too that several Jewish persons had the same
name, and that the same person had different names,
(especially under the Babylonish captivity) which is
still the case in India, and other parts of Asia. This
must necessarily create some perplexity, especially at
such a distance as we are from the first sources of in-
formation. But to the Jews themselves at the time,
there were probably no difficulties at all; and it does
not appear that they (who were certainly the best judges
of the question) made any objection to this genealogy
of Christ, or denied him to be descended from the
family of David. We may therefore reasonably con-
clude, that his descent was originally admitted to be
fairly made out by the evangelists, whatever obscurities
may have arisen since. Indeed it is highly probable,
that this genealogy was taken from some public records
or registers of the ancient Jewish families, which it is
very evident from Josephus that the Jews had, especially
with regard to the lineage of David, and which were
universally known and acknowledged to be authentic
documents. I shall therefore only observe further on
this head, that St. Matthew gives the pedigree of Jo-
seph, and St. Luke that of Mary. But they both come
to the same thing, because among the Jews the pedi-
gree of the husband was considered as the legal pedigree
of the wife; and as Mary and Joseph were nearly rela-
ted, and were of the same tribe and family, their gene-
alogics of course must run nearly in the same line.
After the genealogy of Christ, follows an account of
his birth, which, as we may easily suppose of so extra-
LECTURE II.
ordinary a person, had something in it very extraordi-
nary. Accordingly the evangelist tells us, "that the
angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream,"
saying, "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost: and she shall bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus (that is a Sav-
iour;) for he shall save his people from their sins."*
This undoubtedly was a most wonderful, and singu-
lar, and unexampled event. But it was natural to ima-
gine that when the Son of God was to appear upon the
scene, he would enter upon it in a way somewhat dif
ferent from the sons of men. And in fact we find
him appearing upon earth in a manner perfectly new,
and peculiar to himself; in a manner which united in
itself at once the evidence of prophecy and of miracle.
He was born of a virgin, and what is no less wonderful,
it was predicted of him seven hundred years before that
he should be so born. "Behold," says Isaiah, "a
virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call
his name Immanuel;" a Hebrew word, signifying,
God with us. What man, but a prophet, inspired of
God, could have foreseen an event so completely im-
probable, and apparently impossible? What impostor
would have hazarded such a prediction as this? and,
what is still of more importance, what impostor could
have fulfilled it? What less than the power of God
could have enabled Jesus to fulfil it? By that power
he did fulfil it. He only, of the whole human race, did
fulfil it, and thus proved himself to be at the very mo-
ment of his birth, what the whole course of his future
life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension into
heaven, further declared him to be, THE SON OF GOD,
28
And as such he was soon acknowledged, and due
homage paid to his divinity by a very singular embassy,
and in a very singular manner. For the evangelist pro-
ceeds to tell us in the beginning of the second chapter,
that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, there
came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying,
* Matt. i. 20.
† Isaiah, vii. 14.
LECTURE II.
29
where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have
seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.'
As this is a very remarkable and very important event,
I shall employ the remaining part of this lecture in ex-
plaining it to you at large, subjoining such reflections
as naturally arise from it.
The name of these persons whom our translation calls
wise men, is in the original magoi, in the Latin lan-
guage, magi, from whence is derived our English word,
magicians. The magi were a set of ancient philoso-
phers, living in the eastern part of the world, collected
together in colleges, addicted to the study of astronomy,
and other parts of natural philosophy, and highly es-
teemed throughout the east, having juster sentiments.
of God and his worship than any of the ancient hea-
thens: for they abhorred the adoration of images made
in the form of men and animals, and though they did
represent the Deity under the symbol of fire (the purest
and most active of all material substances) yet they
worshipped one only God; and so blameless did their
studies and their religion appear to be, that the prophet
Daniel, scrupulous as he was to the hazard of his life,
with respect to the Jewish religion, did not refuse to
accept the office which Nebuchadnezzar gave him, of
being master of the magi, and chief governor over all
the wise men of Babylon.* They were therefore evi-
dently the fittest of all the ancient heathens to have the
first knowledge of the Son of God, and of salvation by
him imparted to them.
The country from whence they came is only descri-
bed in St. Matthew as lying cast from Judea, and
therefore might be either Persia, where the principals
residence of the magi was, or else Arabia, to which
ancient authors say they did, and undoubtedly they
easily might extend themselves; which it is well known
abounded in the valuable things that their presents con-
sisted of; and concerning which the seventy-second
Psalm (plainly speaking of the Messiah) says, "The
kings of Arabia and Saba, or Saba (an adjoining re-
* Vid. Dan. v. 11.
1
LECTURE II.
gion) shall bring gifts;" and again, "unto him shall
be given of the gold of Arabia."
Supposing this prophecy of the Psalmist to point out
the persons whose journey the evangelist relates, it will
also determine what their station or rank in life was,
namely kings, "the kings of Arabia and Saba.” Of
this circumstance St. Matthew says nothing directly,
but their offerings are a sufficient evidence that their
condition could not be a mean one: and though there
is certainly no proof, there is, on the other hand, no
improbability, of their being lords of small sovereign-
ties, which might afford them a claim, according to the
ancient usage of that part of the world, to the name of
kings. For we read in Scripture not only of some
small towns or tracts that had each of them their king,
but of some also which could not be very large, that
had each of them several.†
What number of the wise men, or magi, came to our
Lord, is entirely unknown, and perhaps that of three
was imagined for no other reason, than because the
gifts which they brought were of three sorts. The oc-
casion of their coming is expressed by St. Matthew in
their own words: "Where is He that is born king of
the Jews? for we are come to worship him."
That a very extraordinary person was to appear un-
der this character about that time, was a very general
persuasion throughout the east; as not only Jewish but
heathen writers tell us, in conformity with the New
Testament. And that this person was to have domin-
ion over the whole earth, was part of that persuasion,
founded on predictions of the clearest import. I need
produce but one, from the abovementioned 72d Psalm,
which, as I before observed, plainly relates to Christ.
"All kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall
do him service." There were Jews enough even in
Persia, and much more in Arabia, to propagate this
doctrine, and shew it to be contained in their sacred
books; from whence therefore the wise men may wel
be supposed to have received it.
Josh. x. 5.
† Jerem. xxv. 20---26,
LECTURE II.
31
of
But their knowledge that he was actually born, must
stand on some other foundation; and what that was,
themselves declare, "We have seen his star in the
east."*
This must plainly mean some new appearance
in the sky, which they, whose profession (as is well
known) led them peculiarly to the study of astronomy,
had observed in the heavens. Now any appearance
a body of light in the air, is called by the Greek and
Latin authors a star, though it be only a meteor, that is,
a transient accidental luminous vapour, neither of con-
siderable height, nor long continuance; in which sense
also the Scripture speaks of stars falling from Heaven.†
And such was that which the wise men saw, as will
appear from a circumstance to be mentioned hereafter.
Possibly indeed the first light which surprised them,
might be that mentioned by St. Luke, when the glory
of the Lord descending from Heaven, shone round
about the shepherds, and an angel came upon them, to
bring them the news of our Saviour's nativity.‡ For
that glory, seen at a distance, might have the appear-
ance of a star; and their seeing the star in the east, is
not to be understood as if they saw it to the eastward
of themselves; but means, that they being eastward of
Judea, saw the star, seeming probably to hang over
that country.
Now such an uncommon sight alone, supposing their
expectation of him raised (as there was then a general
expectation of him) might naturally incline them to
think he was come; and especially as it was a current
opinion amongst persons professing skill in these mat-
ters, that the shining forth of a new star denoted the
rise of a new kingdom, or of a great and extraordinary
prince; whence, as Pliny relates, Augustus the Ro-
man emperor said, that the comet which appeared on
Cæsar's death, whom he succeeded, was born for him,
and that he was born in that comet; for so it seems he
expressed himself.
This, I say, being a current opinion, the wise men
* Matth. ii. 2.
Luke, ii. 9.
† Matth. xxiv. 29. Mark, xiii. 25.
Vid. Plin. Nar. Hist. L. ii. Ch. 25.
32
LECTURE II.
would be apt enough to conclude, that the present star
betokened the birth of that prince, of whom (as they
might easily have heard) it had been so very long fore-
told, "There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a
sceptre shall rise out of Israel."* And it is a very re-
markable circumstance, that one of the ancient com-
mentators on the Timæus of Plato,† alluding to this
very star, expresses himself in these words: "There
is a still more venerable and sacred tradition, which re-
lates, that by the rising of a certain uncommon star, was
foretold, not diseases or deaths, but the descent of an
adorable God for the salvation of the human race, and the
melioration of human affairs; which star, they say, was
observed by the Chaldæans, who came to present their
offerings to the new-born God."
On their arrival at Jerusalem, and making the enqui-
ry they come for, Herod, we find, was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him. That so jealous a tyrant as He-
rod should be troubled at this event is no wonder; and
it is no less natural that the people also should be dis-
turbed and alarmed, not knowing what the consequen-
ces of so extraordinary a birth might be. Herod,
therefore, calls the chief priests and scribes together,
and demands of them, whether it were known where
THE CHRIST should be born; and having learnt from
them, that, according to the prophet Micah, Bethlehem
was the place appointed by Heaven, sends the wise men
thither with a request that they would inform him when
they had found the child, that he also might go and pay
him due homage, intending all the while to destroy
him, when he had obtained the requisite intelligence.
Accordingly the wise men proceeded on their journey
from Jerusalem to Bethlehem; when the same lumi-
nous appearance, which they had observed in their own
country, now attended them again to their very great
joy, and conducted them at length to the very house
where the child was; which probably (as is common
in villages) had no other house contiguous to it, and
* Numb. xxiv. 17.
† Chalcidius.
4 See Brucker's History of Philosophy, v. iii. p. 472.
LECTURE II.
33
therefore might be easily marked by the situation of the
meteor.
When the wise men came into the house and saw
the child, they fell down and worshipped him, that is,
bowed and prostrated themselves before him, in the
eastern manner of doing obeisance to kings. Whether
they designed also paying him religious adoration, or
how distinct a knowledge had been given them of the
nature and rank of the Saviour of the world, we cannot
say; but may be sure, that what they believed and
what they did, was at that time sufficient to procure
them acceptance with God. Indeed, according to the
opinion of some ancient fathers concerning their pre-
sents, their faith must have been very great. For they
represent the incense, as offered to our Saviour as God;
the gold to have been paid as tribute to a king; and
the myrrh (a principal ingredient used in embalming)
brought as an acknowledgement that he was to die for
men. But others interpret the same gifts very differ-
ently, and take them to signify the three spiritual offer-
ings, which we must all present to Heaven, through
Jesus Christ; the incense to denote piety towards
God; the gold, charity towards our fellow-creatures;
and the myrrh, purity of soul and body; it being high-
ly efficacious in preserving them from corruption. But
though either or both these notions may be piously and
innocently entertained, yet all we know with certainty
is, that in those parts of the world no one did then or
does now appear before a prince, without a suitable
present, usually of the most valuable commodities of
his country; and that three of the principal productions
of the east, particularly of Arabia, were gold, frankin-
cense, and myrrh.
How the wise men were affected with the sight of
so unspeakably important a person, in such mean cir-
cumstances; or Joseph and Mary, and all that must flock
around them, with so humble an address from stran-
gers of such high dignity; and what further passed in
consequence of this on either side, every one may in
some degree imagine; but no one can undertake to
1
5
84
LECTURE II.
relate, since the Gospels do not. We are there only
told, that these respectable visitors, having paid their
duty in this manner, and being warned of God not to
return to Herod,* " departed into their own country
another way."
Thus ends this remarkable piece of history, in which
all the circumstances are so perfectly conformable to
the manners, the customs, the prevailing opinions and
notions of those times, in which the narrative is sup-
posed to have been written, that they tend greatly to
confirm the truth and credibility of the sacred history.
I have already in going along touched slightly on some
of these circumstances, but it may be useful here to
draw them all into one point of view.
1. In the first place, then, the journey of these wise
men, and the object of it, namely, to find out him who
was born king of the Jews, corresponds exactly to
the information given by several heathen authors, that
there was in those days a general expectation of some
very extraordinary personage, who was to make his ap-
pearance at that particular period of time, and in that
particular part of the world.
2. If the birth of this extraordinary personage was
marked by a new star or meteor in the heavens, it was
very natural that it should first strike the observation
of those called the wise men, who lived in a country
where the stars and the planets shone with uncommon
lustre, where the science of astronomy was (for that
reason perhaps) particularly cultivated, where it was the
peculiar profession of these very magi, or wise men,
and where no remarkable appearance in the heavens
could escape the many curious eyes that were constant-
ly fixed upon them.
3. The manner in which these wise men approached
our Lord, is precisely that in which the people always
addressed themselves to men of high rank and digni-
ty.
They worshipped him, that is, they prostrated them-
selves to the ground before him, which we know was
then and still is the custom of those countries.
* Matth. ii. 12. † Vid. Tacit. Hist. v. 13. Sueton. in vita Vesp. c. 4.
LECTURE II.
35
They offered presents to him; and it is well known,
that without a present no great man was at that time or
is now approached.
These presents were gold, frankincense, and myrrh ;
and these, as we have before observed, were the natural
productions of that country whence the wise men are
supposed to have come, namely, Arabia or Sabæa.
Even that dreadful transaction, which was the unfor-
tunate consequence of their journey, the murder of the
innocents, exactly corresponds with the character of
Herod, who was one of the most cruel and ferocious
tyrants that ever disgraced a throne; and amongst other
horrible barbarities had put to death a son of his own.
No wonder then that his jealousy should prompt him
to murder a number of infants, not at all related to him.
All these circumstances concur to prove that the sa-
cred historians lived in the times and the countries in
which they are supposed to have written the Gospels,
and were perfectly well acquainted with every thing
they relate. Had not this been the case, they must
have been detected in an error, in some of the many
incidents they touched upon, which yet has never
happened.
4. It is also in the last place worthy of remark, that
every thing is here related with the greatest plainness,
brevity, and simplicity, without any of that ostentation
and parade which we so often meet with in other au-
thors. Thus, for instance, a heathen writer would have
put a long and eloquent speech into the mouth of the
wise men, and would have provided the parents of the
infant with a suitable answer. He would have painted
the massacre of the infants in the most dreadful colours,
and would have drawn a most affecting picture of the
distress and agony of their afflicted parents. But the
Evangelists have not enlarged on these, or any other
similar topics. They have contented themselves with
telling their story concisely and coldly, with a bare
simple recital of the facts, without attempting to work
upon the passions, or excite the admiration of their
readers.
W
LECTURE IF
In fact, it appears from this and a variety of other in-
stances of the same nature, that neither fame nor repu-
tation, nor any other worldly advantage, had the least
influence upon their hearts. Their sole object was the
advancement of truth, of morality, of religion, of the
eternal welfare and salvation of mankind. For these
great objects they wrote, for these they lived, for these
they suffered, and for these they died; on these their
thoughts were entirely and immoveably fixed, and
therefore their narratives justly claim the most implicit
belief in every thing that relates to these great, and im-
portant, and interesting subjects.
Another observation which this part of Sacred His-
tory suggests to us, is this; that no person ever yet
appeared in the world to whom such distinguished
marks of honour were paid from his birth to his death,
as our blessed Lord. We are often reproached with
the mean condition of our Redeemer. We are often
told, that He, whom we have chosen for our Lord and
Master, who is the object of our adoration, and on
whom all our hopes are fixed, was the reputed son of a
carpenter, lived in penury and distress, and at last suf-
fered the ignominious death of the cross. All this is
true. But it is equally true, that this man of indigence
and of sorrow appeared through his whole life to be the
peculiar favourite of Heaven; and to have been consi-
dered, not indeed by his infatuated countrymen, but by
beings of a far superior order, the most important per-
At
sonage that ever appeared on this earthly scene.
his birth, we are told, that the glory of the Lord shone
round about certain shepherds that were then keeping
watch over their flocks by night; and there was a mul-
titude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good-will towards men."*
Not long after this, a new star or meteor appeared in
the heavens on purpose to announce his birth, which
accordingly (as we have just seen) attracted the notice
of those illustrious strangers, who came from a distant
Luke ii. 14.
36
WOR
LECTURE II.
37
country to pay their homage to the infant Jesus; whom,
notwithstanding the humility of his condition and of his
habitation, they hailed as king of the Jews. At his bap-
tism, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the
spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon
him.* After his temptation, when he had vanquished
the prince of darkness, behold, angels came and minis-
tered unto him. At his transfiguration, his face did
shine as the sun, and his raiment was bright as the light,
and there appeared Moses and Elias talking with him,
and from the cloud which overshadowed them, there
came a voice, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." At his
agony in the garden, there appeared an angel unto him,
strengthening him. At his crucifixion, all nature
seemed to be thrown into convulsions: the sun was
darkened; the veil of the temple was rent in twain,
from the top to the bottom; the earth did quake, and
the rocks rent; the graves were opened and gave up
their dead; and even the heathen centurion, and those
that were with him, were compelled to cry out, "Truly
this was the son of God." Before his ascension, he
said to his disciples, "All power is given to me in
heaven and in earth; and while he yet blessed them,
he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven,
and a cloud received him out of their sight."** There
we are told he sitteth at the right hand of God, making
intercession for the sinful race of man, till he comes a
second time in the glory of his Father, with all his holy
angels, to judge the world. There has God "highly
exalted him above all principalities and power, and
might, and dominion, and given him a name, which is
above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth; and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father."+t
* Matth. iii. 16,
+ Matth. iv. 11.
Matth. xvii. 5.
$ Luke, xxii. 43. || Matt. xxvii. 54. ** Matt. xxviii. 18. Luke xxiv. 51.
†† Phillip ii. 9-11.
38
LECTURE III.
When all these circumstances are taken together,
what a magnificent idea do they present to us of the
humble Jesus, and how does all earthly splendour fade
and die away under this overbearing effulgence of celes-
tial glory! We need not then be ashamed either of the
birth, the life, or the death of Christ, "for they are
the power of God unto salvation." And if the great
and the wise men, whose history we have been consi-
dering, were induced by the appearance of a new star,
to search out, with no small labour and fatigue, the in-
fant Saviour of the world; if they, though philosophers
and deists (far different from the philosophers and deists
of the present day) disdained not to prostrate them-
selves before him, and present to him the richest and
the choicest gifts they had to offer; well may we, when
this child of the Most High is not only grown to ma-
turity, but has lived, and died, and risen again for us,
and is now set down at the right hand of God (angels
and principalities and powers being made subject to
him) well may we not only pay our homage, but our
adoration to the Son of God, and offer to him oblations
far more precious than gold, frankincense and myrrh;
namely, ourselves, our souls and our bodies, "as a
reasonable, holy and lively sacrifice unto him; well
may we join with that innumerable multitude in hea-
ven, which is continually praising him and saying;
"Blessing, and honour, and glory be unto him, that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and
ever."
""*
* Rev. v. 13.
LECTURE III.
MATTH. CHAP. iii.
THE subject of this lecture will be the third
chapter of Saint Matthew, in which we have the histo-
LECTURE III.
39
ry of a very extraordinary person called JOHN THE
BAPTIST; to distinguish him from another John men-
tioned in the New Testament, who was our Saviour's
beloved disciple, and the author of the Gospel that
bears his name; whence he is called JoHN THE EVAN-
GELIST.
-
As the character of John the Baptist is in many re-
spects a very remarkable one, and his appearance bears
a strong testimony to the divine mission of Christ and
the truth of his religion, I shall enter pretty much at
large into the particulars of his history, as they are to
be found not only in the Gospel of St. Matthew, but
in the other three Evangelists; collecting from each
all the material circumstances of his life, from the time
of his first appearance in the wilderness to his murder
by Herod.
CC
St. Matthew's account of him is as follows: In
those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the
wilderness of Judea, and saying, repent ye, for the king-
dom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was
spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, Prepare ye
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And
the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a
leathern girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts
and wild honey. And there went out to him Jerusa-
lem and all Judea, and all the regions round about Jor-
dan, and were baptized of him in Jordan confessing
their sins."
Here then we have a person, who appears to have
been sent into the world, on purpose to be the precursor
of our Lord, to prepare the way for him and his reli-
gion, here called the kingdom of heaven, and as the
prophet expresses it, to make his paths straight. This
is a plain allusion to the custom that prevailed in eastern
countries, of sending messengers and pioneers to make
the ways level and straight before kings and princes
and other great men, when they passed through the
country with large retinues, and with great pomp and
magnificence. They literally lowered mountains, they
Match. . 1-6.
40
LECTURE III.
raised valleys, they cut down woods, they removed
all obstacles, they cleared away all roughness and ine-
qualities, and made every thing smooth and plain and
commodious for the great personage whom they pre-
ceded.
In the same manner was John the Baptist in a spir-
itual sense to go before the Lord, before the Saviour of
the world, to prepare his way, to make his paths
straight, to remove out of the minds of men every thing
that opposed itself to the admission of divine truth, all
prejudice, blindness, pride, obstinacy, self-conceit,
vanity, and vain philosophy; but above all, to subdue
and regulate those depraved affections, appetites, pas-
sions, and inveterate habits of wickedness, which are
the grand obstacles to conversion and the reception of
the word of God.
His exhortation therefore was, " Repent ye;" renounce
those vices and abominations which at present blind your
eyes and cloud your understandings, and then you will
be able to see the truth and bear the light. This was the
method which John took, the instrument he made use
of to extirpate out of the minds of his hearers all impe-
diments to the march of the Gospel, or, as the prophetic
language most sublimely expresses it, "He cried
aloud to them, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
straight the highway for our God. Let every valley be
exalted, and every mountain and hill be made low; let
the crooked be made straight, and the rough places
plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and
all flesh shall see it."
What a magnificent preparation is this for the great
founder of our religion! What an exalted idea must it
give us of his dignity and importance, to have a forerun-
ner and a harbinger such as John to proclaim his ap-
proach to the world, and call upon all mankind to attend
to him! It was a distinction peculiar and appropriate to
him. Neither Moses nor any of the prophets can boast
this mark of honour. It was reserved for the Son
of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer of mankind, and
Isaiah, xl. 3-5.
LECTURE III.
41
was well suited to the transcendant dignity of his person,
and the grandeur of his design.
The place which St. John chose for the exercise of
his ministry was the wilderness of Judea, where he
seems to have lived constantly from his birth to the
time of his preaching; for St. Luke informs us,*" that
he was in the wilderness till the time of his shewing
unto Israel." Here it appears he lived with great aus-
terity. For he drank neither wine nor strong drink;
a rule frequently observed by the Jews, when they de-
voted themselves to the stricter exercises of religion.
And his meat was locusts and wild honey: such simple
food as the desert afforded to the lowest of its inhabi-
tants. For eating some sorts of locusts was not only
permitted by the law of Moses, but as travellers inform
us, is common in the east to this day. The clothing
of the baptist was no less simple than his diet. His
raiment, we are told, was of camel's hair with a leathern
girdle about his loins; the same coarse habit which the
meaner people usually wore, and which sometimes even
the rich assumed as a garb of mourning. For this rai-
ment of camel's hair was nothing else than that sack-
cloth which we so often read of in Scripture. And as
almost every thing of moment was, in those nations
and those times, expressed by visible signs as well as
by words, the prophets also were generally clothed in
this dress, because one principal branch of their office
was to call upon men to mourn for their sins. And
particularly Elias or Elijah is described in the second
book of Kings as a hairy man,† that is, a man clothed
in hair-cloth or sack-cloth (as John was) with a leathern
girdle about his loins. Even in outward appearance
therefore John was another Elias; but much more so
as he was endued, according to the angel's prediction,
with the spirit and power of Elias. Both rose up
among the Jews in times of universal corruption; both
were authorized to denounce speedy vengeance from
Heaven, unless they repented; both executed their
commission with the same intrepid zeal; both were
* Luke, i. 80.
Luke, i. 17.
2 Kings, i. 8.
6
LECTURE III.
persecuted for it: yet nothing deterred either Elias
from accusing Ahab to his face, or John from rebuking
Herod in the same undaunted manner.
42
But here an apparent difficulty occurs, and the sacred
writers are charged with making our Lord and St. John
flatly contradict each other.
When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jeru-
salem to ask John who he was, and particularly whether
he was Elias; his answer was, I am not :* But yet
our Lord told the Jews that John was the Elias which
was to come.† How is this contradiction to be recon-
ciled? Without any kind of difficulty. The Jews had
an expectation founded on a literal interpretation of
the prophet Malachi,‡ that before the Messiah came,
that very same Elias or Elijah, who lived and prophesied
in the time of Ahab, would rise from the dead and ap-
pear again upon earth. John therefore might very tru
ly say that he was not that Elias. But yet as we have
seen that he resembled Elias in many striking particu-
lars; as the angel told Zacharias that he should come
in the spirit and power of Elias; and as he actually ap-
proved himself, in the turn and manner of his life, in
his doctrine and his conduct, the very same man to
the latter Jews which the other had been to the former,
our Saviour might with equal truth assure his disciples
that John was that Elias, whose coming the prophet
Malachi had in a figurative sense foretold. This diffi-
culty we see is so easily removed, that I should not
have though it worth noticing in this place, had it not
been very lately revived with much parade in one of
those coarse and blasphemous publications which have
been dispersed in this country with so much activity,
in order to disseminate vulgar infidelity among the low-
er orders of people, but which are now sinking fast
into oblivion and contempt. This is one specimen of
what they call their arguments against Christianity, and
from this specimen you will judge of all the rest. But
to return.
"
The abstemiousness and rigour of the Baptist's life
John, i. 21.
Matth. vi. 14.
Malachi, iv. 5.
LECTURE III.
48
was calculated to produce very important effects. It
was fitted to excite great attention and reverence in the
minds of his hearers. It was well suited to the doc-
trine he was to preach, that of repentance and contrition ;
to the seriousness he wished to inspire, and to the ter-
ror which he was appointed to impress on impenitent
offenders. And perhaps it was further designed to in-
timate the need there often is of harsh restraints in the
beginning of virtue, as the easy familiarity of our Lord's
manner and behaviour exhibits the delightful freedom
which attends the perfection of it. At least, placing
these two characters in view of the world, so near to
each other, must teach men this very instructive les-
son; that though severity of conduct may in various
cases be both prudent and necessary, yet the mildest
and cheerfulest goodness is the compleatest; and they
the most useful to religion, who are able to converse
among sinners without risquing their innocence, as dis-
creet physicians do among the sick without endanger-
ing their health,
It is remarkable however that whatever mortifica-
tions John practiced himself, it does not appear that he
prescribed any thing to others beyond the ordinary du-
ties of a good life. His disciples indeed fasted often,
and so did many of the Jews besides; probably there-
fore the former as well as the latter by their own
choice. His general injunction was only,* 66 bring
forth fruits meet for repentance." When more par-
ticular directions were desired, he commanded all sorts
of men to avoid more especially the sins, to which their
condition most exposed them. Thus when the peo-
ple asked him (the common people of that hard-hearted
nation) what shall we do? John answered, "He that
hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none,
and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." That is,
let every one of you according to his abilities exercise
those duties of charity and kindness to his neighbour,
which you are all of you but too apt to neglect. The
publicans or farmers of the revenue came to him, and
Matth. iii. 8.
† Luke iii. 10, 11.
44
LECTURE III.
said, *Master, what shall we do?" And he said,
"Exact no more than that which is appointed you."
Keep clear from that rapine and extortion of which you
are so often guilty in the collection of the revenue.-
Thet soldiers too demanded of him, "What shall we
do?" His answer was, "Do violence to no man, nei-
ther accuse any falsely, and be contented with your wa-
ges." That is, abstain from those acts of injustice,
violence, and oppression, to which your profession too
often leads you. Lewd and debauched people also ap-
plied to him, to whom no doubt he gave advice suited
to their case. And therefore what he taught was not
ceremonial observances, but moral conduct on religious
principle; and without this he pronounced (however
disgusting the doctrine must be to a proud and super-
stitious people) the highest outward privileges to be of
no value at all. "Think not," said he to the Jews,
"to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our
father, and are therefore sure of God's favor, be our
conduct what it may :' for I say unto you that God is able
of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham;" is
able to make the most stupid and ignorant of these hea-
thens, whom you so utterly despise, converts to truc
religion and heirs of the promises.
C
Such were the doctrines which John preached to his
disciples, and the success which attended him was equal
to their magnitude and importance.
66
This was plainly foretold by the angel that announced
his birth to his father Zacharias.
Many of the
children of Israel (said he) shall he turn to the Lord
their God. Which in fact he did. For the evange-
lists tell us that "there went out unto him into the wil-
derness Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region
about Jordon, and were baptized of him."|| The truth
of this is amply confirmed by Josephus, who informs
us, that "multitudes flocked to him; for they were
greatly delighted with his discourses."**
<<
* Luke iii. 12, 13.
Matth. iii. 5, 6.
† Ibid. iii. 14. Matth. iii. 9. § Luke i. 16
**Joseph. Antiq. Jud. xviii. 2. Edit. Huds.
LECTURE III.
45
It might naturally be expected that such extraordi-
nary popularity and applause as this would fill him with
conceit and vanity, and inspire him with a most exalt-
ed opinion of his own abilities, and a sovereign con-
tempt for any rival teacher of religion. But so far from
this, the most prominent feature of his character was an
unexampled modesty and humility. Though he had
been styled by Malachi the messenger of the Lord, and
even Elias (the chief prophet of the Jews next to Mo-
ses) he never assumed any higher title than that very
humble one given him by Isaiah; the voice of one crying
in the wilderness. Far from desiring or attempting to
fix the admiration of the multitude on his own person,
he gave notice from his first appearance of another im-
mediately to follow him, for whom he was unworthy to
perform the most servile offices. He made a scruple,
till expressly commanded, of baptizing one so infinitely
purer than himself, as he knew the holy Jesus to be.-
And when his disciples complained that all men de-
serted him to follow Christ (a most mortifying circum-
stance, had worldly applause, or interest, or power,
been his point) nothing could be more ingenuously
self-denying than his answer; "Ye yourselves bear me
witness, that I said I am not the Christ, but am sent
before him. He that hath the bride, is the bridegroom;
but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and
heareth him, rejoiceth greatly. This my joy therefore
is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease:
he that is of the earth is earthy: he that cometh from
heaven is above all."*
Of such unaffected and disinterested humility as this,
where shall we find, except in Christ, another instance?
Yet with this way by no means united what we are too
apt to associate with our idea of humility, meanness and
timidity of spirit; on the contrary, the whole conduct of
the Baptist was marked throughout with the most in-
trepid courage and magnanimity in the discharge of his
duty.
John iii. 28, 29.
:
LECTURE III.
Instead of paying any court either to the great men
of his nation on the one hand, or to the multitude on
the other, he reproved the former for their hypocrisy in
the strongest terms; "O generation of vipers, who
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"*
and he required the latter to renounce every one of
those favorite sins which they had long indulged, and
were most unwilling to part with. But what is still
more, he reproved without fear and without reserve the
abandoned and ferocious Herod, for injuriously taking
away Herodias his brother's wife, and afterwards in-
cestuously marrying her, and for all the other evil that
he had done. He well knew the savage and unrelent-
ing temper of that sanguinary tyrant; he knew that this
boldness of expostulation would sooner or later bring
down upon him the whole weight of his resentment.
But knowing also that he was sent into the world to
preach repentance to all, and feeling it his duty to cry
aloud and spare not, to spare not even the greatest and
most exalted of sinners, he determined not to shrink
from that duty, but to obey his conscience, and take
the consequences.
4.6
Those consequences were exactly what he must have
foreseen. He was first shut up in prison; and not long
afterwards, as you all know, the life of this great and in-
nocent man was wantonly sacrificed in the midst of con-
viviality and mirth to the rash oath of a worthless and a
merciless prince, to the licentious fascinations of a
young woman, and the implacable vengeance of an old
one.
After this short history of the doctrines, the life, and
the death of this extraordinary man, I beg leave to of
fer in conclusion a few remarks upon it to your serious
consideration.
And in the first place, in the testimony of John the
Baptist, we have an additional and powerful evidence
to the truth and the divine authority of Christ and his
religion.
* Matth. ii. 7.
LECTURE III.
47
If the account given of John in the gospels be true,
the history given there of Jesus must be equally so, for
they are plainly parts of one and the same plan, and are
so connected and interwoven with each other, that they
must either stand or fall together.
Now that in the first place there did really exist such
a person as John the Baptist at the time specified by the
evangelists, there cannot be the smallest doubt; for he
is mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus, and all
the circumstances he relates of him, as far as they go,
perfectly correspond with the description given of him
by the sacred historians. He represents him as using
the ceremony of baptism. He says that multitudes
flocked to him, for they were greatly delighted with his
discourses, and ready to observe all his directions. He
asserts that he was a good man; and that he exhorted
the Jews not to come to his baptism without first pre-
paring themselves for it by the practice of virtue; that
is, in the language of the Gospels, without repentance.
He relates his being inhumanly murdered by Herod;
and adds, that the Jews in general entertained so high
an opinion of the innocence, virtue, and sanctity of John,
as to be persuaded that the destruction of Herod's ar-
my, which happened not long after, was a divine judg-
ment inflicted on him for his barbarity to so excellent a
-
man.*
It appears then that St. John was a person, of whose
virtue, integrity, and piety, we have the most ample
testimony from an historian of unquestionable veracity,
and we may therefore rely with perfect confidence on
every thing he tells us. He was the very man foretold
both by Isaiah and Malachi, as the forerunner of that di-
viné personage, whom the Jews expected under the
name of the Messiah. He declared that Jesus Christ
was this divine person, and that he himself was sent into
the world on purpose to prepare the way before him,
by exhorting men to repentance and reformation of life.
If then this record of John (as the evangelists call it) be
true, the divine mission of Christ is at once established,
Joseph. Antiq. 1. xviii c. 6. s. 2. Ed. Huds.
*
48
LECTURE III.
because the Baptist expressly asserts that he was the
Son of God, and that whoever believed in him should
have everlasting life.* Now that this record is true,
we have every reason in the world to believe, not only
because a man so eminently distinguished for every
moral virtue as St. John confessedly was, cannot be
thought capable of publicly proclaiming a deliberate
falsehood; but because had his character been of a to-
tally different complexion, had he for instance been in-
fluenced only by views of interest, ambition, vanity,
popularity; this very falsehood must have completely
counteracted and overset every project of this nature.
For every thing he said of Jesus, instead of aggrandiz-
ing and exalting himself, tended to lower and to debase
him in the eyes of all the world; he assured the multi-
tude who followed him, that there was another person
much more worthy to be followed; that there was one
coming after him of far greater dignity and consequence
than himself; one whose shoes latchet he was not wor-
thy to unloose; † one so infinitely superior to him in
rank, authority, and wisdom, that he was not fit to per-
form for him even the most servile offices. He him-
self was only come as a humble messenger to announce
the arrival of his Lord, and smooth the way before him.
But the great personage to whom they were to direct
their cyes, and in whom they were to centre all their
hopes, was JESUS CHRIST. Is this now the language
of a man who sought only for honor, emolument, or
fame, or was actuated only by the fond ambition of be-
ing at the head of a sect? No one can think so. It is
not very usual surely for men of any character, much
less for men of the best character, to invent and to utter a
string of falsehoods with the professed design of degrad-
ing themselves and exalting some other person. Yet this
was the plain tendency and avowed object of John's de-
clarations, and the effect was exactly what might be ex-
pected, and what he wished and intended, namely, that
great numbers deserted him and followed Christ.f
John ii. 36. i. 34.
+ Mark i. 7. Luke iii. 16.
John iii. 26. 30. iv. 1
:
LECTURE III.
49
But besides bearing this honest and disinterested tes-
timony to Christ, the Baptist hazarded a measure which
no impostor or enthusiast ever ventured upon, without
being immediately detected and exposed. He ventur-
ed to deliver two prophecies concerning Christ; prophe-
cies too which were to be completed, not at some dis-
tant period, when both he and his hearers might be in
their graves, and the prophecy itself forgot, but within
a very short space of time, when every one who heard
the prediction might be a witness to its accomplishment
or its failure. He foretold, that Jesus should baptize
with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and that he should
be offered up as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind.*-
These were very singular things for a man to foretel at
hazard and from conjecture, because nothing could be
more remote from the ideas of a Jew, or more unlikely
to happen in the common course of things. They were
moreover of that peculiar nature, that it was utterly im-
possible for John and Jesus to concert the matter be-
tween themselves; for the completion of the prophecies
did not depend solely on them, but required the concur-
rence of other agents, of the Holy Ghost in the first
instance, and of the Jews and the Roman governor in
the other; and unless these had entered into a confede-
racy with the Baptist and with Christ, to fulfil what John
foretold, it was not in the power of either to secure the
completion of it. Yet both these prophecies were, we
know, actually accomplished within a very few years
after they were delivered; for our Lord suffered death
upon the cross for the redemption of the world; and
the Holy Ghost descended visibly upon the apostles in
the semblance of fire on the day of Pentecost.†
It is evident then that the Baptist was not only a
good man but a true prophet; and for both reasons,
his testimony in favor of Christ, that he was the Son of
God, affords an incontestible proof that both he and
his religion came from heaven.
2. The history of the Baptist affords a proof also of
another point of no small importance. It gives a
† Acts ii. 2.
Matth. iii. 11. John i. 29.
7
50
LECTURE III.
strong confirmation to that great evangelical doctrine,
the doctrine of atonement; the expiation of our sins by
the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross.
We are often told that there was no need for this ex-
piation. That repentance and reformation are fully
sufficient to restore the most abandoned sinners to the
favor of a just and merciful God, and to avert the pun-
ishment due to their offences.
•
But what does the great herald and forerunner of
Christ say to this? He came professedly as a preacher
of repentance. This was his peculiar office, the great
object of his mission, the constant topic of his exhor-
tations. Repent ye, and bring forth fruits meet for
repentance." This was the unceasing language of
"the voice crying in the wilderness."
66
If then repentance alone had sufficient efficacy for the
expiation of sin, surely we should have heard of this
from him who came on purpose to preach repentance.
But what is the case? Does he tell us that repentance
alone will take away the guilt of our transgressions, and
justify us in the eyes of our Maker? Quite the contra-
ry. Notwithstanding the great stress he justly lays on
the indispensable necessity of repentance, yet he tells
his followers at the same time, that it was to Christ on-
ly, and to his death, that they were to look for the par-
don of their sins. "Behold," says he, "the lamb of
God, which taketh away the sins of the world!" And
again, "he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life; and he that believeth not the son hath not life, but
the wrath of God abideth on him." Since then the
expiation of sin by the sacrifice of Christ is a doctrine
not only taught in the Gospel itself, but enforced also
by him who came only to prepare the way for it; it is ev-
ident, from the care taken to apprize the world of it even
before Christianity was promulgated, how important and
espential a part this must be of that divine religion.
J
Lastly, it will be of use to observe, what the parti-
cular method was which John made use of to prepare
men for the reception and the belief of the Gospel; for
† Luke i. 29.
† John iii. 36.
* Matth. iii. 2. 8.
<
LECTURE III.
51
whatever means he applied to the attainment of that end,
the same probably we shall find the most efficacious for
a similar purpose at this very day.
Now it is evident that the Baptist addressed himself,
in the first instance, not to the understanding, but to
the heart. He did not attempt to convince his hearers,
but to reform them; he did not say to them, go and
study the prophets, examine with care the pretensions
of him whom I announce, and weigh accurately all the
evidences of his divine mission; he well knew how all
this would end, in the then corrupt state of their minds.
His exhortation was therefore, " Repent ye, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand." It was on this princi-
ple he reproved with so much severity the pharisees
and saducees who came to his baptism, whom one
would think he should rather have encouraged and
commended, and received with open arms.
"O gen-
eration of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the
wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for
repentance."*
Till you have done this, till you have
purified your hearts and abandoned your sins, my bap-
tism will be of no use to you, and all the reasoning in
the world will have no effect upon you. In perfect
conformity to this, Josephus informs us, that John ex-
horted the Jews not to come to his baptism, without
first preparing themselves for it by the practice of virtue,
by a strict adherence to the rules of equity and justice
in their dealings with one another, and by manifesting
a sincere piety towards God.
This is the preparation he required; and thus it is
that we also must prepare men for the reception of di-
vine truth. We must first reform, and then convince.
them. It is not in general the want of evidence, but
the want of virtue that makes men infidels; let them
cease to be wicked, and they will soon cease to be un-
believers. "It is with the heart," says St. Paul (not
with the head) "that man believeth unto righteous-
ness." Correct the heart, and all will go right.
Unless the soil is good, all the seed you cast upon it
* Matth. iii. 7, 8.
† Rom. x. 10.
52
LECTURE III.
will be wasted in vain. In the parable of the sower
we find, that the only seed which came to perfection
was that which fell on good ground, on an honest and a
good heart. This is the first and most essential requisite
to belief. Unbelievers complain of the mysteries of
revelation; but we have the highest authority for say-
ing, that in general the only mystery which prevents
them from receiving it, is the mystery of iniquity.
We hear, indeed, a great deal of the good nature, the
benevolence, the generosity, the humanity, the honor,
and the other innumerable good qualities of those that
reject the Gospel; and they may possibly possess some
ostentatious and popular virtues, and may keep clear
from flagrant and disreputable vices. But whether
some gross depravity, some inveterate prejudice, or
some leaven of vanity and self-conceit, does not com-
monly lurk in their hearts, and influence both their opin-
ions and their practices, they who have an extensive ac-
quaintance with the writings and the conduct of that
class of men will find no difficulty in deciding. If how-
ever this was the decision of man only, the justness of
it might be controverted, and the competency of the
judge denied. It might be said, that it is unbecoming
and presumptuous in any human being to pass severe
censures on large bodies of men; and that without be-
ing able to look into the heart of man, it is impossible
to form a right judgment of his moral character. This
we do not deny. But if he who actually has that pow-
er of looking into the heart of man, if he who is perfect-
ly well acquainted with human nature, and all the vari-
ous characters of men; if he has declared that men love
darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil,*
who will controvert the truth of that decision? On this
authority then we may securely rely, and may rest assured,
that whatever pretences may be set up for rejecting reve-
lation, the grand obstacles to it are indolence, indiffer-
ence, vice, passion, prejudice, self-conceit, pride, vani-
ty, love of singularity, a disdain to think with the vul-
gar, and an ambition to be considered as superior to the
* Jolin iii, 19.
-
LECTURE IV.
53
rest of mankind in genius, penetration, and discern-
ment. It is by removing these impediments in the first
place that we must prepare men, as St. John did, for
embracing the religion of Christ. These (to make use
of prophetic language) are the mountains that must be
made low; these the crooked paths that must be made
straight; these the rough places that must be made plain.
Then all difficulties will be removed, and there will be
A HIGH WAY FOR OUR GOD. Then there will be a
smooth and easy approach for the Gospel to the under-
standing, as well as to the heart; there will be nothing
to oppose its conquest over the soul. THE GLORY
OF THE LORD SHALL FULLY BE REVEALED, AND
ALL FLESH SHALL SEE IT.*
* Isaiah xl. 5,
LECTURE IV.
MATTHEW iv.-FORMER PART.
THE fourth chapter of St. Matthew, at which we
are now arrived, opens with an account of that most sin-
gular and extraordinary transaction, THE TEMPTA-
TION OF CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS. The detail
of it is as follows:
"Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wil-
derness to be tempted of the devil: and when he had
fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterwards an
hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he
said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread. But he answered and said, it
is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and
setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto
him, if thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for
54
LECTURE IV.
it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning
thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at
any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus
said unto him, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high
mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the
world and the glory of them, and saith unto him, all
these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and
worship me. Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee
hence, Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then
the devil leaveth him, and behold angels came and min-
istered unto him.”*
Such is the history given by the Evangelists of our
Lord's temptation, which has been a subject of much
discussion among learned men. It is well known in
particular that several ancient commentators as well as
many able and pious men of our own times, have
thought that this temptation was not a real transaction,
but only a vision or prophetic trance, similar to that
which Ezekiel describes in the 8th chapter of his pro-
phecy, and to that which befel St. Peter when he saw
a vessel descending unto him from heaven, and let
down to the earth. And it must be acknowledged
that this opinion is supported by many specious argu-
ments, and seems to remove some considerable difficul-
ties. But upon the whole there are I think stronger
reasons for adhering to the literal interpretation, than for
recurring to a visionary representation.
For in the first place, it is a rule admitted and estab-
lished by the best and most judicious interpreters, that
in explaining the sacred writings we ought never, with-
out the most apparent and most indispensable necessity,
allow ourselves the liberty of departing from the plain,
obvious, and literal meaning of the words. Now, I
conceive that no such necessity can be alledged in the
present instance. It is true, that there are in this nar-
rative many difficulties, and many extraordinary, sur-
prising, and miraculous incidents. But the whole his-
Matth. iv. 1-11.
† Acts x. 10-16.
LECTURE IV.
55
tory of our Saviour is wonderful and miraculous from
beginning to end; and if whenever we meet with a dif
ficulty or a miracle, we may have recourse to figure,
metaphor, or vision, we shall soon reduce a great part
of the sacred writings to nothing else. Besides, these
difficulties will several of them admit of a fair solution;
and where they do not, as they affect no article of faith
or practice, they must be left among those inscrutable
mysteries which it is natural to expect in a revelation
from heaven. This we must after all be content to do,
even if we adopt the idea of vision; for even that does
not remove every difficulty, and it creates some that do
not attach to the literal interpretation.
2. In the next place, I cannot find in any part of this
narrative of the temptation the slightest or most dis-
tant intimation that it is nothing more than a vision.-
The very first words with which it commences seem
to imply the direct contrary. "Then was Jesus led
up
of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil." Does not this say in the most express terms
that our Lord was led, not in a dream, or trance, or
vision, but was actually and literally led by the spirit
into the wilderness of Judea? There is, I know, an in-
terpretation which explains away this obvious meaning.
But that interpretation rests solely on the doubtful sig-
nification of a single Greek particle, which is surely
much too slender a ground to justify a departure from
the plain and literal sense of the passage. Certain it is,
that if any one had meant to describe a real transaction,
he could not have selected any expressions better adapt-
ed to that purpose than those actually made use of by
the Evangelist; and I believe no one at his first reading
our Lord's temptation ever entertained the slightest
idea of its being a visionary representation.
3. There is an observation which has been made, and
which has great weight in this question. It is this: All
the prophets of the Old Testament, except Moses, saw
visions, and dreamed dreams, and the prophets of the
New did the same. St. Peter had a vision, St. John'
saw visions, St. Paul had visions and dreams: but
56
LECTURE IV.
Christ himself neither saw visions nor dreamed dreams.
He had an intimate and immediate communication
with the Father; and he, and no one else in his days,
had seen the Father. The case was the same with Mo-
ses; he saw God face to face.
"If there be a prophet
among you, says God to Aaron, and Mirriam, I the
Lord will make myself known to him in a vision, and
will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses
is not so, who is faithful in all my house; with him will
I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently not in dark
speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he be-
hold."* Now Moses we all know was a type of Christ;
and the resemblance holds between them in this in-
stance as well as in many others. They neither of
them had visions or dreams, but had both an immediate
communication with God. They both "saw God face
to face." This was a distinction and a mark of dig-
nity peculiar to those two only, to the great legislator of
the Jews, and the great legislator of the Christians. It is
therefore inconsistent with this high privilege, this mark
of superior eminence, to suppose that our Lord was
tempted in a vision, when we see no other instance of a
vision in the whole course of his ministry.
4. There is still another consideration which mili-
tates strongly against the supposition of a visionary
temptation. It was in itself extremely probable that
there should be a real and personal conflict between
Christ and Satan, when the former was entering upon
his public ministry.
It is well known that the great chief of the fallen an-
gels, who is described in scripture under the various
names of Satan, Beelzebub, the Devil, and the Prince
of the devils, has ever been an irreconcileable enemy of
the human race, and has been constantly giving the
most decided and most fatal proofs of this enmity from
the beginning of the world to this hour. His hostility
began with the very first creation of man upon earth,
when he no sooner discovered our first parents in that
state of innocence and happiness in which the gracious
† Exod. xxxiii. 11.
*Numb. xii. 6-8.
LECTURE IV.
57
hand of the Almighty had just placed them, than with
a malignity truly diabolical, he resolved if possible to
destroy all this fair scene of virtuous bliss, and to
plunge them into the gulph of sin and misery. For this
purpose he exerted all his art and subtilty and powers
of persuasion; and how well he succeeded we all know
and feel. From that hour he established and exercised
an astonishing dominion over the minds of men, lead-
ing them into such acts of folly, stupidity, and wicked-
ness, as can on no other principle be accounted for.-
At the time of our Saviour's appearance his tyranny
seems to have arrived at its utmost height, and to have
extended to the bodies as well as to the souls of men,
of both which he sometimes took absolute possession :
as we see in the history of those unhappy persons men-
tioned in scripture whom we call demoniacs and who
were truly said to be possessed by the devil. It was
therefore extremely natural to suppose that when he
found there was a great and extraordinary personage
who had just made his appearance in the world, who
was said to be the Son of God, the promised Saviour
of mankind, that seed of the woman who was to bruise
the serpent's head; it was natural that he should be
exceedingly alarmed at these tidings, that he should
tremble for his dominion; that he should first endea-
your to ascertain the fact, whether this was really the
Christ or not; and if it turned out to be so, that he
should exert his utmost efforts to subdue this formida-
ble enemy, or at least to seduce him from his allegi-
ance to God, and divert him from his benevolent pur-
pose towards man. He had ruined the first Adam, and
he might therefore flatter himself with the hope of be-
ing equally successful with the second Adam He had
entailed a mortal disease on the human race; and to
prevent their recovery from that disease, and their re-
storation to virtue and to happiness, would be a tri-
umph indeed, a conquest worthy of the prince of de-
«
vils.
M
VIE
On the other hand it was equally probable that our
blessed Lord would think it a measure highly proper to
8
58
LECTURE IV.
begin his ministry with shewing a decided superiority
over the great adversary of man, whose empire he was
going to abolish; with manifesting to mankind that the
great Captain of their salvation was able to accomplish
the important work he had undertaken, and with set-
ting an example of virtuous firmness to his followers,
which might encourage them to resist the most pow-
erful temptations that the prince of darkness could
throw in their way.
These considerations, in addition to many others, af-
ford a strong ground for believing that the temptation
of Christ in the wilderness was, as the history itself
plainly intimates, a real transaction, a personal contest
between the great enemy and redeemer of the human
race; and in this point of view therefore I shall proceed
to consider some of the most remarkable circumstances
attending it, and the practical uses resulting from it.*
We are told in the first place that "Jesus was led
up
of the spirit into the wilderness," that is, not by the evil
spirit but by the spirit of God, by the suggestions and
by the impulse of the Holy Ghost, of whose divine in-
fluences he was then full. For the time when this
happened was immediately after his baptism, which is
related in the conclusion of the preceding chapter.
We are there informed that Jesus when he was bapti-
zed went up straightway out of the water, and lo the
heavens were opened, and he saw the spirit of God de-
scending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo a
voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved son, in
whom I am well pleased. Then (it immediately follows)
It is an ingenius observation of a learned friend of mine, that the temp-
tation of Christ in the wilderness bears an evident analogy to the trial of Ad-
am in Paradise, and elucidates the nature of that trial in which the tempter
prevailed and man fell. The second Adam, who undertook the cause of fall.
en men, was subjected to temptation by the same apostate spirit. Herein the
tempter failed, and the second Adam in consequence became the restorer of
the tallen race of the first. St. Paul in more places than one, points out the
resemblance between the first Adam,and the second, and the temptation in
the wilderness exhibits a most interesting transaction, where the second Ad-
The
am was actually placed in a situation very similar to that of the first.
secrets of the Most High are unfathomable to short-sighted mortals; but it
would appear from what may be humbly learnt and inferred from this trans-
action, that our blessed Lord's temptation by Satan was a necessary part in
the divine cconomy towards accomplishing the redemption of mankind.
+ Matth. iii. 16, 17.
LECTURE IV.
59
was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted ofthe devil. In that moment of exaltation when
he was acknowledged by a voice from heaven to be the
Son of God, and when the spirit of God had taken full pos-
session of his soul, then it was that Jesus went forth un-
der the guidance of that spirit in full confidence of his
divine power into the wilderness, to encounter the
prince of this world. A plain proof that this contest
was a preconcerted design, a measure approved by hea-
ven, and subservient to the grand design, in which our
Saviour was engaged of rescuing mankind from the do-
minion of Satan.
The place into which our blessed Lord was thus led
was the wilderness, probably the great wilderness near
the river Jordon, in which Jesus was baptized, and soon
afterwards tempted. This wilderness is thus described
by a traveller of great credit and veracity, who had
himself seen it. "In a few hours (says this writer) we
arrived at the mountainous desert, in which our Sav-
iour was led by the spirit to be tempted by the devil.
It is a most miserable dry barren place, consisting of
high rocky mountains, so torn and disordered as if the
earth had suffered some great convulsion, in which its
very bowels had been turned outward. On the left
hand, looking down into a deep valley, 'as we passed
along we saw some ruins of small cells and cottages,
which we were told were formerly the habitations of
hermits retiring hither for penance and mortification;
and certainly there could not be found in the whole
earth a more comfortless and abandoned place for that
purpose. On descending from these hills of desola-
tion into the plain, we soon came to the foot of Mount
Quarrantania, which they say is the mountain from
whence the devil tempted our Saviour with that vision-
ary scene of all the kingdoms and glories of this world.
It is, as St. Matthew calls it, an exceeding high moun-
tain, and in its ascent difficult and dangerous. It has
a small chappel at the top, and another about half way
up, on a prominent part of a rock. Near this latter are
several caves and holes in the sides of the mountain,
W
60
LECTURE IV.
made use of anciently by hermits, and by some at this
day for places to keep their Lent in, in imitation of that
of our blessed Saviour."*
This was a theatre perfectly proper for the prince of
the fallen angels to act his part upon, and perfectly well
suited to his dark malignant purposes.
Here then after our Saviour (as Moses and Elijah
had done before him) had endured a long abstinence
from food, the devil abruptly and artfully assailed him
with a temptation well calculated to produce a power-
ful effect on a person faint and worn out with fasting.
"If thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread." But our saviour repelled this
insidious advice by quoting the words of Moses to the
Israelites in the wilderness, "Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of God." That is, he that brought me
into this wilderness, and subjected me to these trials,
can support me under the pressure of hunger, by a va-
riety of means, besides the common one of bread, just
as he fed the Israelites in the wilderness with manna,
with food from heaven. I will therefore rather choose
to rely on his gracious providence for my support in
this exigency, than work a miracle myself for the sup-
ply of my wants.
This answer was perfectly conformable to the princi-
ple on which our Lord acted throughout the whole of
his ministry. All his miracles were wrought for the
benefit of others, not one for his own gratification.—
Though he endured hunger and thirst, and indigence
and fatigue, and all the other evils of a laborious and an
itinerant life, yet he never once relieved himself from
any of these inconveniences, or procured a single com-
fort to himself by the working of miracles. These were
all appropriated to the grand object of proving the truth
of his religion and the reality of his divine mission, and
he never applied them to any other purpose. And in
this, as in all other cases, he acted with the most per-
fect wisdom; for had he always or often delivered
* Maundrell. † Deut. viii. 3. Matth. iv. 4.
-
LECTURE IV.
61
himself from the sufferings and the distresses incident
to human nature by the exertions of his miraculous
powers, the benefit of his example would have been in
a great measure lost to mankind, and it would have.
been of little use to us, that he was in all things tempted
like as we are, because he would have been support-
ed and succoured as we cannot expect to be.
Having thus failed to work upon one of the strongest
of the sensual appetites, hunger, the tempter's next ap-
plication was to a different passion, but one which, in
some minds, is extremely powerful, and often leads to
great folly and guilt, I mean vanity and self-importance.
"He taketh our Lord into the holy city, and setteth
him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, if
thou be the Son of God cast thyself down; for it is
written, he shall give his angels charge concerning
thee, and in their hands they will bear thee up, lest at
any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.†
The place where our Saviour now stood was on a
pinnacle, or rather on a wing of the magnificent temple
of Jerusalem, from whence there was a view of the vast
concourse of people who were worshipping in the area
below. In this situation the seducer flattered himself
that our Saviour, indignant at the doubts which he
artfully expressed of his being the Son of God, would
be eager to give him and all the multitude that beheld
them a most convincing proof that he was so, by cas-
ting himself from the height on which he stood into the
court below, accompanied all the way as he descended
by an illustrious host of angels, anxiously guarding his
person from all danger, and plainly manifesting by their
solicitude to protect and to preserve him, that they had
a most invaluable treasure committed to their care, and
that he was in truth the beloved Son of God, the pecul-
iar favourite of heaven.
To a vain-glorious mind nothing could have been
nore gratifying, more flattering, than such a proposal
is this; more especially as so magnificent a spectacle
n the sight of all the Jews would probably have induc.
† Matth. iv. 5, 6.
* Heb. iv. 15.
J3
62
LECTURE IV.
ed them to receive him as their Messiah, whom it is
well known they expected to descend visibly from hea-
ven in some such triumphant manner as this.
But on the humble mind of Jesus all this had no ef
fect. To him who never affected parade or shew, who
never courted admiration or applause, who kept him-
self as quiet and as retired as the nature of his mission
would allow, and frequently withdrew from the multi-
tudes that flocked around him, to deserts and to moun-
tains, to him this temptation carried no force; his an-
swer was, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God;"
thou shalt not rush into unnecessary danger in order to
tempt God, in order to try whether he will interpose to
save thee in a miraculous manner; much less ought this
to be done as now proposed for the purposes of vanity
and ostentation.
The next temptation is thus described by St. Mat
thew:
66
Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding
high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of
the world and the glory of them; and saith unto him,
all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down
and worship me."*
It has been thought an insuperable difficulty to con-
ceive how Satan could from any mountain however ele-
vated, shew to our Saviour all the kingdoms of the
earth and the glory of them. And even they who de-
fend the literal sense of the transaction in general, yet
have recourse to a visionary representation in this par-
ticular instance, But there seems to me no necessity
for calling in the help of a vision even here. The Eyan-
gelist describes the mountain on which Christ was plac-
ed as an exceeding high one; and the travellert to whom
I before referred, describes it in the same terms.-
From thence of course there must have been a very
extensive view; and accordingly another writer, the
Abbe Mariti, in his travels through Cyprus, &c. speak-
ing of this mountain, says, "Here we enjoyed the
most beautiful prospect imaginable. This part of the
* Matth. iv. 8, 9,
↑ Maundrell.
LECTURE IV.
63
mountain overlooks the mountains of Arabia, the coun-
try of Gilead, the country of the Ammonites, the plains
of Moab, the plain of Jerico, the river Jordan, and
the whole extent of the Dead sea.” These various do-
mains the tempter might shew to our Lord distinctly,
and might also at the same time point out (for so the
original word deiknumi sometimes signifies) and direct.
our Lord's eye towards several other regions that lay
beyond them, which might comprehend all the princi-
pal kingdoms of the eastern world. And he might
then properly enough say, "all these kingdoms which
you now see, or towards which I now point, will I give
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." This
explanation appears to me an easy and a natural one.—
But if others think differently, it is sufficient to say, that
this particular incident is not more extraordinary than
almost every other part of this very singular transaction;
throughout the whole of which the devil appears to have
been permitted to exercise a power far beyond what
naturally belonged to him.
But whatever we may decide on this point, the na-
ture and magnitude of the temptation arc evident. It
is no less than an offer of kingdoms, with all their glo-
ry; all the honours, power, rank, wealth, grandeur,
and magnificence, that this world has to give. But all
these put together could not for one moment shake
the firm mind of our divine Master, or seduce him
from the duty he owed to God. He rejected with ab-
horrence the impious proposition made to him, and an-
swered with a proper indignation, in the words of scrip-
ture, "Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt
thou scrve."* Upon this we are told that the devil
left him, and that angels came and ministered unto
him.
Thus ended this memorable scene of Christ's temp-
tation in the wilderness. The reasons of it respecting
our Lord have been already explained; the instruc-
tions it furnishes to ourselves are principally these:
* Matth. ir 10. 11.
64
LECTURE IV.
1. It teaches us, that even the best of men may
sometimes be permitted to fall into great temptations,
for we see that our blessed Lord himself was exposed
to the severest. They are not therefore to be consid-
ered as marks of God's displeasure or desertion of us,
but only as trials of our virtue; as means of proving
(as Moses tells the Israelites) what is in our hearts,
whether we will keep God's commandments or no;*
as opportunities graciously afforded us to demonstrate
our sincerity, our fortitude, our integrity, our unsha-
ken allegiance and fidelity to the great Ruler of the
world.
J
2. Whenever we are thus brought into temptation,
we have every reason to hope for the divine assistance
to extricate us from danger. We have the example of
our blessed Lord to encourage us. We see the great
Captain of our salvation assaulted by all the art and all
the power of Satan, and yet rising superior to all his ef
forts. We see him going before us in the paths of vir-
tue and of glory, and calling upon us to follow him.-
Though he was led by the spirit of God himself into
the wilderness in order to be tempted, yet the same di-
vine spirit accompanied and supported him throughout
the whole of his bitter conflict, and enabled him to tri-
umph over his infernal adversary. To the same hea-
venly spirit we also may look for deliverance. If we
implore God in fervent prayer to send him to us, he
will assuredly grant our petition. He will not suffer
us to be tempted above what we are able, but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape (when we
ourselves cannot find one) that we may be able to bear
it.†
3. We may learn from the conduct of our Lord un-
der this great trial, that when temptations assail us we
are not to parley or to reason with them, to hesitate and
deliberate whether we shall give way to them or not,
but must at once repel them with firmness and with vi-
gour, and oppose to the dictates of our passions the
plain and positive commands of God in his holy word.
* Deut. viii. 2.
† 1 Cor. x. 13.
LECTURE IV.
65
We must say resolutely to the tempter, as our Lord
did, "Get thee hence Satan," and he will instantly
flee from us as he did from him.
4. It is a most solid consolation to us under such
contests as these, that if we honestly exert our utmost
efforts to vanquish the enemies of our salvation, most
humbly and devoutly soliciting at the same time the
influences of divine grace to aid our weak endeavours,
the unavoidable errors and imperfections of our nature
will not be ascribed to us, nor will God be extreme to
mark every thing that is done amiss; for we shall not
be judged by one who has no feeling of our infirmities,
but by one who knows and who pities them, who was
himself in all things tempted like as we are, yet without
sin,† and who will therefore make all due allowances
for our involuntary failings, though none for our wilful
transgressions.
5. And lastly, in the various allurements presented
to our Lord, we see but too faithful a picture of those
we are to expect ourselves in our progress through life.
Our Lord's temptations were, as we have seen, sensual
gratifications, incitements to vanity and ostentation,
and the charms of wealth, power, rank, and splendour.
All these will in the different stages of our existence
successively rise up to seduce us, to oppose our pro-
gress to heaven, and bring us into captivity to sin and
misery. Pleasure, interest, business, honour, glory,
fame, all the follies and all the corruptions of the world,
will each in their turn assault our feeble nature; and
through these we must manfully fight our way to the
great end we have in view. But the difficulty and the
pain of this contest will be considerably lessened by a
resolute and vigorous exertion of our powers and our
resources at our first setting out in life. It was imme-
diately after his baptism, and at the very beginning of
his ministry, that our Lord was exposed to all the power
and all the artifices of the devil, and completely tri-
umphing over both, effectually secured himself from
all future attempts of that implacable enemy. In the
* Matth. iv. 10.
† Heb. iv. 15
9
66
LECTURE IV.
W
same manner it is on our first setting out in life, that
we are to look for the most violent assaults from our
passions within, and from the world and the prince of it
without. and if we strenuously resist those enemies of
our salvation that present themselves to us at that most
critical and dangerous period, all the rest that follow in
our maturer age will be an easy conquest. On him
who in the beginning of life has preserved himself un-
spotted from the world, all its subsequent attractions
and allurements, all its magnificence, wealth, and splen-
dour, will make little or no impression. A mind that
has been leng habituated to discipline and self-go-
vernment amidst far more powerful temptations, will
have nothing to apprehend from such assailants as these.
But after all, our great security is assistance from above,
which will never be denied to those who fervently apply
for it. And with the power of divine grace to support
us, with the example of our Lord in the wilderness to
animate us, and an eternity of happiness to reward us,
what is there that can shake our constancy or corrupt
our fidelity?
Set yourselves then without delay to acquire an early
habit of strict self-government, and an early intercourse
with your heavenly Protector and Comforter. Let it be
your first care to establish the sovereignty of reason and
the empire of grace over your soul, and you will soon
find it no difficulty to repel the most powerful tempta-
tions. "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith; quit your-
selves like men; be strong,"* be resolute, be patient;
look frequently up to the prize that is set before you,
lest
you be
weary and faint in your minds. Consider
that every pleasure you sacrifice to your duty here, will
be placed to your credit and increase your happiness
hereafter. The conflict with your passions will grow
less irksome every day. A few years (with some of
you perhaps a very few) will put an entire end to it;
and you will then, to your unspeakable comfort, be
enabled to cry out with St Paul, "I have fought a
* 1 Cor. xvi. 13.
LECTURE V.
67
good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give me in that day."*
* 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.
00000-
LECTURE V.
MATTHEW iv.-LATTER PART.
THE former part of the fourth chapter of St. Mat-
thew, which contains the history of our Saviour's temp-
tation, having been explained to you in the preceding
Lecture, I shall now proceed to the latter part of the
chapter, in which an account is given of the first open-
ing of our blessed Lord's ministry, by his preaching,
by his chsooing a few companions to attend him, and by
his beginning to work miracles; all which things are
stated very briefly, without any attempt to expatiate on
the importance and magnitude of the subject, which
was nevertheless the noblest and most interesting that
is to be found in history; an enterprize the most stu-
pendous and astonishing that ever before entered into
the mind of man, nothing less than the conversion of a
whole world from wickedness and idolatry to virtue and
true religion.
On this vast undertaking our Lord now entered; and
we are informed by St. Matthew, in the 17th verse of
this chapter, in what manner he first announced him-
self and his religion to the world. His first address to
the people was similar to that of the Baptist, Repent ye,
for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The very first
qualification he required of those who aspired to be his
disciples was repentance, a sincere contrition for all past
offences, and a resolution to renounce in future every
LECTURE V.
species of sin; for sin, he well knew would be the
grand obstacle to the reception of his Gospel.
What a noble idea does this present to us of the dig-
nity and sanctity of our divine religion! It cannot even
be approached by the unhallowed and the profane. Be-
fore they can be admitted even into the outward courts
of its sanctuary, they must leave their corrupt appetite
and their sinful practices behind them.
"Put off thy
shoes from off thy feet," said God to Moses from the
burning bush, "for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground."* Put off all thy vicious habits, says
Christ to every one that aspires to be his disciple, for
the religion thou art to embrace is a holy religion, and
the God thou art to serve is of purer eyes than to be-
hold evil, and cannot even look upon iniquity. In some
of the ancient sects of philosophy, before any one could
be admitted into their schools, or initiated in their mys-
teries, he was obliged to undergo a certain course of
preparation, a certain term of trial and probation, which
however consisted of little more than a few supersti-
tious ceremonies, or some acts of external discipline
and purification. But the preparation for receiving the
Christian religion is the prepartion of the heart. The
discipline required for a participation of its privileges,
is the mortification of sin, the sacrifice of every guilty
propensity and desire.
This sacrifice however the great founder of our reli-
gion did not require for nothing. He promised his
followers a recompence infinitely beyond the indulgen-
ces they were to renounce; he promised them a place
in his KINGDOM, a kingdom of which he was the sove-
reign; a kingdom of righteousness here, and of glory
hereafter. Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.t
68
He then proceeds to select and associate to himself a
certain number of persons, who were to be his assist-
ants and coadjutors in the establishment and the admi-
nistration of his heavenly kingdom.
* Exod. iii. 5.
Matth. iv. 17.
LECTURE V.
69
And here it was natural to expect, that in making
this choice he should look to men of influence, autho-
rity, and weight; that being himself destitute of all the
advantages of rank, power, wealth, and learning, he
should endeavour to compensate for those defects in
his own person by the contrary qualities of his asso-
ciates, by connecting himself with some of the most
powerful, most opulent, most learned, and most elo-
quent men of his time.
And this most undoubtedly would have been his
mode of proceeding, had his object been to establish
his religion by mere human means, by influence or by
force, by the charms of eloquence, by the powers of
reason, by the example, by the authority, by the fa
shion of the great. But these were not the instruments
which Christ meant to make use of. He meant to
show that he was above them all, that he had far other
resources, far different auxiliaries, to call in to his sup-
port, in comparison of which all the wealth and magnifi-
cence, and power and wisdom of the world, were trivi-
al and contemptible things. We find therefore that
not the wise, not the mighty, not the noble were called*
to co-operate with him; but men of the meanest birth,
of the lowest occupations, of the humblest talents, and
most uncultivated minds. "As he was walking by
the sea of Galilee, St. Matthew tells us, he saw two
brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother,
casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And
he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men; and they straightway left their nets (that
is in fact all their subsistence, all the little property
they had in the world) and followed him.
And going
from thence he saw other two brethren, James the son
of Zebudee and John his brother, in a ship with Zebu-
dee their father mending their nets; and he called them,
and they immediately left the ship, and their father, and
followed him." These were the men whom he se-
lected for his companions and assistants. These fish-
ermen of Galilee were to be, under him, the instru
* 1 Cor. i. 25. + Matth. iv. 18—22.
70
LECTURE V.
ments of over-throwing the stupendous and magnifi-
cent system of paganism and idalatry throughout the
world, and producing the greatest change, the most
general and most important revolution in principles, in
morals, and in religion, that ever took place on this
globe. For this astonishing work, these simple, illite-
rate, humble men, were singled out by our Lord. He
chose, as the apostle expresses it, "the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are migh-
ty;* that his religion might not be established by the
enticing words of man's wisdom, but by demonstration
of the spirit and of power; that our faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of
God."t
Such were the associates chosen by him, who was
the delegate of heaven, and whose help was from above.
We may expect therefore that an impostor, who meant
to rely on human means for success, would take a di-
rectly contrary course. And this we find in fact to be
the case.
Who were the companions and assistants
selected by the grand impostor Mahomet? They were
men of the most weight and authority, and rank and in-
fluence, among his countrymen. The reason is obvi-
ous; he wanted such supports; Christ did not; and
hence the marked difference of their conduct in this in-
stance. It is the natural difference between truth and
imposture. That the power of God and not of man
was the foundation on which our Lord meant to erect
his new system, very soon appeared; for the next thing
we hear of him is, that he went about all Galilee
teaching in their synagogues, and prcaching the gospel
of the kingdom, and healing sll manner of sickness and
all manner of disease among the people."+
Here then began that DEMONSTRATION OF THE
SPIRIT AND OF POWER, which was to be the grand
basis of his new kingdom, the great evidence of his
heavenly mission. It is indeed probable that the wis-
dom and the authority with which he spake, and the
* 1 Cor. i. 27.
† 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5.
Matth. iv. 23.
LECTURE V.
71
weight and importance of the doctrines he taught, would
of themselves make a deep impression on the minds of
But
his hearers, and produce him some followers.
had he stopt here, had he given his new disciples noth-
ing but words, their zeal and attachment to him would
soon have abated. For it was natural for these con-
verts to say to him, "You have called upon us to re-
pent and to reform; you have commanded us to re-
nounce our vices, to relinquish our favourite pleasures
and pursuits, to give up the world and its enjoyments,
and to take up our cross and follow you; and in return
for this you promise us distinguished happiness and
honour in your spiritual kingdom. You spake, it is
true, most forcibly to our consciences and to our hearts;
and we feel strongly disposed to obey your injunctions,
and to credit your promises; but still the sacrifice we
are required to make is as a great one, and the conflict
we have to go through is a bitter one. We find it a
most painful struggle to subdue confirmed habits, and
to part at once with all our accustomed pleasures and
indulgences. Before then we can entirely relinquish
these, and make a complete change in the temper of
our souls and the conduct of our lives, we must have
some convincing proof that you have a right to require
this complaisance at our hands; that what you enjoin
us is in reality the command of God himself; that you
are actually sent from heaven, and commisioned by
him to teach us his will, and to instruct us in our duty;
that the kingdom you hold out to us in another world
is something more than mere imagination: that you
are in short what you pretend to be, the SON OF GOD;
and that you are able to make good the punishment you
denounce against sin, and the rewards you promise to
virtue.”
Our Lord well knew that this sort of reasoning must
occur to every man's mind. He knew that it was high-
ly proper and indispensably necessary to give some ev-
idence of his divine commission, to do soMETHING
which should satisfy the world that he was the Son of
God, and the delegate of heaven. And how could he
72
LECTURE V.
do this so effectually as by performing works which it
utterly exceeded all the strength and ability of man to
accomplish, and which nothing less than the hand of
God himself could possibly bring to pass; In other
words, the proofs he gave of his mission were those
astonishing miracles which are recorded in the Gospel,
and which are here for the first time mentioned by St.
Matthew in the 23d verse of this chapter: "And Jesus
went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people."
This then is the primary, the fundamental evidence
of his divine authority, which our Lord was pleased to
give to his followers. His first application, as we have
seen, was (like that of his precursor, John the Baptist)
to their hearts" REPENT YE," lay aside your vices
and your prejudices. Till this was done, till these
grand obstacles to the admission of truth were removed,
he well knew that all he could say and all he could do
would have no effect; they would not be moved either
by his exhortations or his miracles, "they would not
be persuaded though one rose from the dead."* And
in fact we find that several of the pharisees, men aban-
doned to vice and wickedness, did actually resist the
miracles of Christ, and the resurrection of a man from
the grave; they ascribed his casting out devils to Beel-
zebub; they were not convinced by the cure of the
blind man, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead,
though they saw them both before their eyes, one restor-
ed to sight, the other to life. This plainly proves how
far the power of sin and of prejudice will go in closing
up all the avenues of the mind against conviction;
and how wisely our Saviour acted in calling upon his
hearers to repent, before he offered any evidence to their
understanding. But the way being thus cleared, the
evidence was then procured, and the effect it had was
such as might be expected; for St. Matthew tells us,
that his fame went throughout all Syria: and that there
*Luke xvi. 31.
LECTURE V.
73
followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee,
and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Ju-
dea, and from beyond Jordan;* that is, from every
quarter of his own country and the adjoining nations.
And indeed it can be no wonder that such multitudes
were convinced and converted by what they saw. The
wonder would have been if they had not. To those
who were themselves eye-witnesses of his miracles,
they must have been (except in a few instances of in-
veterate depravity of heart) irresistible proofs of his di-
vine mission. When they saw him give eyes to the
blind, feet to the lame, health to the sick, and even life
to the dead, by speaking only a few words, what other
conclusion could they possibly draw than that which
the centurion did, truly this was the Son of God.† To
us indeed who have not seen these mighty works, and
who live at the distance of eighteen hundred years from
the time when they were wrought, the force of this evi-
dence is undoubtedly less than it was to an eye-wit-
But if the reality of these miracles is proved to
us by sufficient testimony, by testimony such as no
ingenuous and unprejudiced mind can withstand, they
ought still to produce in us the firmest belief of the di-
vine power of him who wrought them.‡
ness:
It must be admitted at the same time, that these mi-
racles, being facts of a very uncommon and very extra-
ordinary nature, such as have never happened in our
own times, and but very seldom even in former times,
they require a much stronger degree of testimony to
support them than common historical facts. And this
degree of testimony they actually have. They are sup-
ported by a body of evidence fully adequate to the case;
fully competent to outweigh all the disadvantages ari-
sing from the great distance and the astonishing nature
of the events in question.
mag
1. In the first place, these miracles are recorded in
four different histories, written very near the time of
+ Matth. xxvii. 54.
* Matth. iv. 24, 25.
Mr. Hume's abstruse and sophistical argument against miracles, has been
completely refuted by Drs. Adams, Campbell, and Paley.
10
7.
LECTURE V.
their being performed, by four different men, Mat-
thew, Mark, Luke, and John; two of whom saw these
miracles with their own eyes; the other two had their
account from them who did the same; and affirm, that
they had a perfect knowledge of every thing they re-
late."*
"C
They were plain artless men, without the least ap-
pearance of enthusiasm or credulity about them, and
rather slow than forward to believe any thing extraor
dinary and out of the common course of nature. They
were perfectly competent to judge of plain matters of
fact, of things which passed before their eyes, and could
certainly tell, without the least possibility of being mis-
taken, whether a person whom they knew to be blind
was actually restored to sight, and a person whom they
knew to be dead was raised to life again by a few words
spoken by their master. They were men, who, from
the simplicity of their manners, were not at all likely to
invent and publish falsehoods of so extraordinary a na-
ture; much less falsehoods by which they couid gain
nothing, and did in fact lose every thing. There is
not therefore, from the peculiar character of these per-
sons, the least ground for disbelieving the reality of any
thing they relate. Nor is there any reason to doubt
whether the writings we now have under their names
are those which they actually wrote. They have been
received as such ever since they were published; nor
has any one argument been yet produced against their
authenticity which has not been repeatedly and effectu-
ally confuted.
2. It is a very strong circumstance in favour of our
Saviour's miracles, that they were related by contem-
porary historians, by those who were cye-witnesses of
them, and were afterwards acknowledged to be true by
those who lived nearest to the times in which they were
wrought; and what is still more to the point, by many
who were hostile to the Christian religion. Even the
emperor Julian himself, that most bitter adversary of
Christianity, who had openly apostatized from it who
Lule 1. 3.
LECTURE V.
75
professed the most implacable hatred to it, who em-
ployed all his ingenuity, all his acuteness and learning,
which were considerable, in combatting the truth of it,
in displaying in the strongest colours every objection
he could raise up against it; even he did not deny the
reality of our Lord's miracles. He admitted that Jesus
wrought them, but contended that he wrought them by
the power of magic.
3. Unless we admit that the founder of our religion
did actually work the miracles ascribed to him by his
historians, it is utterly impossible to account for the
success and establishment of his religion. It could not,
in short, to all appearance, have been established by any
other means.
Consider only for a moment what the apparent condi-
tion of our Lord was, when he first announced his mis-
sion among the Jews, what his pretensions and what
his doctrines were, and then judge what kind of a recep-
tion he must have met with among the Jews, had his
preaching been accompanied by no miracles. A young
man of no education, born in an obscure village, of ob-
scure parents, without any of those very brilliant talents
or exterior accomplishments which usually captivate the
hearts of men; without having previously written or
done any thing that should excite the expectation, or
attract the attention and admiration of the world, offers
himself at once to the Jewish nation, not merely as a
preacher of morality, but as a teacher sent from heaven;
nay what is more as the Son of God himself, and as that
great deliverer, the Messiah who had been so long pre-
dicted by the prophets, and was then so anxiously ex-
pected, and eagerly looked for by the Jewish people.
He called upon this people to renounce at once a great
part of the religion of their forefathers, and to adopt
that which he proposed to them; to relinquish all their
fond ideas of a splendid, a victorious, a triumphant
V
Julian apud Cyrillum, L. vi. viii. x. Celsus also acknowledged the truth
of the gospel miracles in general, but ascribed them to the assistance of de-
The Christians, says he, seem to prevail, daimonon tuon onomasi
kai kataklesesi, by virtue of the names and the invocation of certain demons.”
Orig. contra Celsum, ed. Cantab. 1. i p. 7.
mons.
LECTURE V.
Messiah, and to accept in his room a despised, a perse-
cuted, and a crucified master: he required them to give
up all their former prejudices, superstitions, and tradi-
tions, all their favorite rites and ceremonies, and what
was perhaps still dearer to them, their favorite vices and
propensities, their hypocricy, their rapaciousness, their
voluptuousness, Instead of exterior forms he prescri-
bed sanctity of manners; instead of washing their hands,
and making clean their platters, he commanded them to
purify their hearts and reform their lives. Instead of
indulging in ease and luxury, he called upon them to
take up their cross and follow him through sorrows
and sufferings; to pluck out a right eye, and to cut off
a right arm; to leave father, mother, brethren, and sis-
ters, for his name's sake, and the gospel.
76
What now shall we say to doctrines such as these
delivered by such a person as our Lord appeared to be?
Is it probable, is it possible that the reputed son of a
poor mechanic could, by the mere force of argument or
persuasion, induce vast numbers of his countrymen to
embrace opinions and practices so directly opposite to
every propensity of their hearts, to every sentiment they
had imbibed, every principle they had acted upon from
their earliest years; Yet the fact is, that he did prevail
on multitudes to do so; and therefore he must have
had means of conviction superior to all human elo-
quence or reasoning; that is, he must have convinced
his hearers by the miracles he wrought, that all power
in heaven and in earth was given to him, and that eve-
ry precept he delivered, and every doctrine he taught,
was the voice of God himself. Without this it is ut-
terly impossible to give any rational account of his suc-
cess.
In order to set this argument in a still stronger point
of view, let us consider what the effect actually was in
a case where a new religion was proposed without any
support from miracles, That same impostor Mahomet,
to whom I before alluded, began his mission with eve-
ry advantage that could arise from personal figure, from
insinuating manners, from a commanding eloquence,
LECTURE V.
77
from an ardent enterprising spirit, from considerable
wealth, and from powerful connections. Yet with all
these advantages, and with every artifice and every dex-
terous contrivance to recommend his new religion to
his countrymen, in the space of three years he made
only about six converts, and those principally of his
And
own family, relations, and most intimate friends.
his progress was but very slow for nine years after this,
till he began to make use of force; and then his victo-
rious arms, not his arguments, carried his religion tri-
umphantly over almost all the eastern world.
<
It appears therefore, that without the assistance ei-
ther of miracles or of the sword, no religion can be
propagated with such rapidity, and to such an extent,
as the Christian was, both during our Saviour's life
time, and after his death. For there is, I believe,
no instance in the history of mankind of such an effect
being produced, without either the one or the other,
Now of force we know that Jesus never did make use;
the unavoidable consequence is, that the miracles as-
scribed to him were actually wrought by him.
4. These miracles being wrought not in the midst
of friends, who were disposed to favour them, but of
most bitter and determined enemies, whose passions
and whose prejudices were all up in arms, all vigorous
and active against them and their author, we may rest
assured that no false pretence to a supernatural power,
no frauds, no collusions, no impositions, would be suf-
fered to pass undetected and unexposed, that every
single miracle would be most critically and most rigor-
ously sifted and enquired into, and no art left unem-
ployed to destroy their credit and counteract their ef-
fect. And this in fact we find to be the case.-Look
into the ninth chapter of St. John, and you will see
with what extreme care and diligence, with what anx-
iety and solicitude the pharisees examined, and re-ex-
amined, the blind man that was restored to sight by our
Saviour, and what pains they took to persuade him,
and to make him say, that he was not restored to sight
by Jesus,
78
LECTURE V.
"They brought," says St. John, "to the pharisees.
him that aforetime was blind; and the pharisees asked
him how he had received his sight. And he said unto
them, Jesus put clay upon mine eyes and I washed,
and did see.
A plain and simple and honest relation
of the fact. But the Jews, not content with this, called
for his parents, and asked them, saying, Is this your
son who ye say was born blind? How then doth he
now see? His parents, afraid of bringing themselves
into danger, very discreetly answered, We know that
this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what
means he now seeth we know not, or who hath opened
his eyes we know not; he is of age, ask him, he shall
speak for himself. They then called the man again,
and said to him, Give God the praise, we know that
this man (meaning Jesus) is a sinner. The man's an-
swer is admirable: Whether he be a sinner or no, I
know not; but this I know, that whereas I was blind,
now I sec.-Since the world began, was it not known
that any man opened the eyes of one that was born.
blind. If this man were not of God, he could do
nothing. And they answered him and said, Thou
wast altogether born in sin, and dost thou teach us?
And they cast him out." A very effectual way it
must be confessed of confuting a miracle.
The whole of this narrative (from which I have only
selected a few of the most striking passages) is highly
curious and instructive, and would furnish ample mat-
ter for a variety of very important remarks. But
the only use I mean to make of it at present, is to
observe, that it proves, in the clearest manner, how
very much awake and alive the Jews were to every
part of our Saviour's conduct. It shows that his mir-
acles were presented not to persons prepossessed and
prejudiced in his favour, not to inattentive or negli
gent, or credulous spectators, but to acute, and inqui-
sitive, and hostile observers, to men disposed and able
to detect imposture wherever it could be found. And
it is utterly impossible that the miracles of Christ could
have passed the fiery ordeal of so much shrewdness
LECTURE V.
79
and sagacity, and authority, and malignity united, if
they had not been carried through it by the irresistible
force of truth, and of that divine power which nothing
could resist.
5. The miracles of our Lord were not merely tran-
sient acts, beheld at the moment with astonishment,
but forgot as soon as over, and productive of no im-
portant consequences. They gave birth to a new re-
ligion, to a new mode of worship, to several new and
singular institutions, such as the rite of baptism, the
sacrament of the Lord's supper, the appropriation of
the first day of the week to sacred purposes, the estab-
lishment of a distinct order of men for the celebration
of divine offices, and other things of the same nature.
Now this religion and these institutions subsist to this
day. And as the books of the New Testament affirm
that this religion and these institutions were first estab-
lished, and afterwards made their way by the power of
miracles, they are standing testimonies to the truth and
the reality of those miracles, without which they could
never have taken such firm and deep root at the first,
and continued unshaken through so many ages to the
present time. The magnitude and permanency of the
superstructure prove that it could not have had a less
solid, a less substantial foundation.
6. And lastly, when we consider the great sacrifices
made by the first converts to Christianity, particularly
by the apostles and primitive teachers of it; how many
deep-rooted prejudices and favorite opinions they gave
up to it; what a total change it produced in their dis-
position, their temper, their manners, their princi-
pies, their habits, and the whole complexion of their
lives; what infinite pains they took to propagate
it; how cheerfully they relinquished for this purpose
all the ease, the comfort, the conveniences, the pleas-
ures, and the advantages of life; and instead of them
embraced labours, hardships, sufferings, persecutions,
torments, and death itself; we cannot rationally suppose
that such patience, resignation, fortitude, magnanimi-
ty, and perseverance, could possibly be produced by
80
LECTURE VI.
any less powerful cause than those evidences of divine
power exhibited in the miracles of Christ; which de-
monstrably proved that he and his religion had a divine
original, and that therefore the sufferings they under-
went for his sake in the present life would be amply re-
paid by the glorious rewards reserved for them here-
after.
When, therefore, we put together all these conside-
rations, they can leave no doubt on any unprejudiced
mind, that the account given in this chapter of the first
commencement of our Saviour's ministry, and the rea-
sons of his astonishing success, are perfectly accurate
and true; namely, "that he went about all Galilee,
teaching in the synagogues, and preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness,
and all manner of disease among the people." And
our conclusion from this must necessarily be the same
with that of the great Jewish rulers, who, with a lauda-
ble anxiety to know the truth, came to Jesus by night,
and addressed him in these words: "Rabbi, we know
that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can
do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with
him."*
*John iii. 2.
10000000
LECTURE VI.
MATTH. CHAP. v.
OUR blessed Lord having by his miracles estab
lished his divine authority, and acquired of course a
right to the attention of his hearers, and a powerful in-
fluence over their minds, proceeds in the next place to
explain to them in some degree the nature of his reli-
gion, the duties it enjoins, and the dispositions it re-
quires. This he does in what is commonly called his
LECTURE VI.
81
S
sermon on the mount; which is a discourse of conside-
rable length, being extended through this and the two fol-
lowing chapters; and we may venture to say it contains
a greater variety of new, important, and excellent moral
precepts, than is any where to be found in the same
compass.
At the same time it does not pretend to give
a regular, complete, and perfect system of ethics, or to
lay down rules for the regulation of our conduct in
every possible instance that can arise. This would
have been an endless task, and would have multiplied
precepts to a degree that would in a great measure have
defeated their utility and destroyed their effect.* Our
Lord took the wiser and more impressive method of
tracing out to us only the great outlines of our duty,
of giving us general principles and comprehensive
rules, which we may ourselves apply to particular ca-
ses, and the various situations in which we may be
placed.
He begins with describing those dispositions and vir-
tues which mark the Christian character, in which the
Gospel peculiarly delights, but which the world despi-
ses and rejects.
"Blessed, says he, are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of God.
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be com-
forted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be call-
ed the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous-
ness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and per-
secute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you
* Vide John xxi. 25.
11
LECTURE VI.
falsely for my sake: rejoice and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven."*
It is evident that our Lord here meant at the very out-
set of his public instructions, to mark at once in the
strongest and most decided terms the peculiar temper,
spirit, and character of his religion; and to shew to his
disciples how completely opposite they were to all
those splendid and popular qualities which were the
great objects of admiration and applause to the heathen
world; and are still too much so even to the Christian
world. "There are (as a very able advocate for Chris-
tianity well observest) two opposite characters under
which mankind may generally be classed. The one
possesses vigour, firmness, resolution, is daring and
active, quick in its sensibilities, jealous of its fame, ea.
ger in its attachments, inflexible in its purposes, vio-
lent in its resentments.
The other, meek, yielding, complying, forgiving;
not prompt to act, but willing to suffer; silent and gen-
tle under rudeness and insult; suing for reconciliation
where others would demand satisfaction; giving way to
the pushes of impudence; conceding and indulgent to
the prejudices, the wrongheadedness, the intractability
of those with whom he has to deal."
The former of these characters is and ever has been
the favourite of the world; and though it is too stern
to conciliate affection, yet it has an appearance of dig
nity in it which too commonly commands respect.
The latter is, as our Lord describes it, humble, meek,
fowly, devout, merciful, pure, peaceable, patient, and
unresisting. The world calls it mean-spirited, tame,
and abject; yet, notwithstanding all this, with the di
vine Author of our religion this is the favourite cha
racter; this is the constant topic of his commendation;
this is the subject that runs through all the beatitudes
To this he assigns, under all its various forms, peculiar
blessings: To those who possess it, he promises that
they shall inherit the carth; that they shall obtain mer
Dr. Paley, V. ii. p. 30.
* Matth. v. 3-12.
LECTURE VI.
83
€7; that theirs shall be the kingdom of heaven; that
they shall see God, and shall be called the children of
God.
The recommendation of this character recurs fre-
quently in different shapes throughout the whole of the
sermon on the mount, and a great part of that discourse
is nothing more than a comment on the text of the be-
atitudes. On these and a few other passages which
have any thing particularly novel and important in them,
I shall offer some observations.
But before I quit this noble and consolatory exordi-
um of our Lord's discourse, I shall request your atten-
tion to one particular part of it, which seems to require
a little explanation.
The part I allude to is this: "Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.”
The blessing here promised to the meek, seems at
first sight somewhat singular, and not very appropriate
to the virtue recommended.
That the meek of all others should be destined to in-
herit the earth, is what one should not naturally have
expected. If we may judge from what passes in the
world, it is those of a quite opposite character, the
bold, the forward, the active, the enterprising, the ra-
pacious, the ambitious, that are best calculated to se-
cure to themselves that inheritance. And undoubted-
ly, if by inheriting the carth is mcant acquiring the
wealth, the grandeur, the power, the property of the
earth, these are the persons who generally seize on a
large proportion of those good things, and leave the
meek, and the gentle far behind them in this unequal
contest for such advantages. But it was far other
things than these our Lord had in view. By inheriting
the earth, he meant inheriting those things which are,
without question, the greatest blessings upon earth, calm-
ness and composure of spirit, tranquility, cheerfulness,
peace and comfort of mind. Now these, I apprehend,
are the peculiar portion and recompence of the meek.
Unassuming, gentle, and humble in their deportment,
they give no offence, they create no enemies, they pro-
84
LECTURE VI.
voke no hostilities, and thus escape all that large pro-
portion of human misery which arises from dissensions
and disputes. If differences do unexpectedly start up,
by patience, mildness, and prudence, they disarm their
adversaries, they soften resentment, they court recon-
ciliation, and seldom fail of restoring harmony and
peace. Having a very humble opinion of themselves,
they see others succeed without uneasiness, without
envy having no ambition, no spirit of competition,
they feel no pain from disappointment, no mortification
from defeat. By bending under the storms, that assail
them, they greatly mitigate their violence, and see
them pass over their heads almost without feeling their
force. Content and satisfied with their lot, they pass
quietly and silently through the crowds that surround
them; and encounter much fewer difficulties and ca-
lamities in their progress through life than more active
and enterprising men. This even tenor of life may in-
deed be called by men of the world flat, dull, and in-
sipid. But the meek are excluded from no rational
pleasure, no legitimate delight; and as they are more
exempt from anxiety and pain than other men, their
sum total of happiness is greater, and they may, in the
best sense of the word, be fairly said to inherit the
earth.
I shall now proceed to notice such other passages of
this admirable discourse, as appear to me to deserve
peculiar attention and consideration.
The first of these is that which begins with the 21st
verse: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old
time, thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill, shall
be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, that
whoever is angry with his brother without a cause,
shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever
shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the
council; but whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in
danger of hell fire." And again in the same manner at
the 27th verse: Ye have heard that it was said by
them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery; but
I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to
†
LECTURE VI.
85
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart."
I put these two instances together, because they
both enforce the same great leading principle, and both
illustrate one great distinguishing excellence of the mo-
rality taught by our Saviour; namely, that it does not
content itself with merely controlling our outward ac-
tions, but it goes much deeper, it imposes its restraints,
it places its guard exactly where it ought to do, on our
thoughts and on our hearts. Our Lord here singles out
two gases, referring to two different species of passions,
the malevolent and the sensual, and he pronounces the
same sentence, the same decisive judgment on both;
that the thing to be regulated is the intention the passion
the propensity. Former moralists contented themselves
with saying, thou shalt not kill. But I (says our Lord)
go much further; I say thou shalt not indulge any re-
sentment against thy brother, thou shalt not use any re-
proachiul or contemptuous language towards him; for
it is these things that lead and provoke to the most atro-
cious deeds. Former moralists have said, thou shalt
not commit adultery. But I say, let not thine heart or
thine eye commit adultery; for here it is that the sin
begins; and here it must be crushed in its birth.
This is wisdom, this is morality in its most perfect
form, in its essence, and in its first principles. Every
one that is acquainted with men and manners must know
that our Lord has here shewn a consummate knowledge
of human nature; that he has laid his finger on the right
place, and exerted his authority where it was most
wanted, in checking the first movements of our crimi-
nal desires. Every one must see and feel, that bad
thoughts quickly ripen into bad actions; and that if
the latter only are forbidden, and the former left free,
all morality will soon be at an end. Our Lord there,
fore, like a wise physician, goes at ouce to the bottom
of the evil; he extirpates the first germ and root of the
disease, and leaves not a single fibre of it remaining to
shoot up again in the heart.
86
LECTURE VI.
It was obvious to foresee that the disciples, and the
people to whom our saviour addressed himself, would
consider this as very severe discipline, and would com-
plain bitterly, or at least murmur secretly, at the hard-
ships of parting with all their favorite passions, of era-
dicating their strongest natural propensitics, of watching
constantly every motion of their hearts, and guarding
those issues of life and death, those fountains of virtue
and of vice, with the most unremitting atremion. But
all this our divine master tells them is indispensably ne
cessary. All these cautions must be used, all this vigi-
lance must be exercised, all this self-government must
be exerted, all these sacrifices must be made. It is
the price we are to pay (besides that price which our
Redeemer paid) and surely no unreasonable one, for
escaping eternal misery, and rendering ourselves capa-
ble of eternal glory. He therefore, goes on to say, in
terms highly figurative and alarming, but not too strong
for the occasion, "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck
it out and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish, and not that
thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy
right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee;
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members
should perish, and not that thy whole body should be
cast into hell."* Every one must immediately see
that the eye to be plucked out is the eye of concupi
scence, and the hand to be cut off is the hand of vio-
lence and vengeance; that is, these passions are to be
checked and subdued, let the conflict cost us what it
may.
This naturally leads our divine teacher, in the next
verse, to a subject closely connected with one of our
strongest passions, and that is, the power of divorce.
Among the jews and the heathens, but more particu-
larly the latter, this power was carried to a great extent,
and exercised with the most capricious and wanton
cruelty. The best and most affectionate of wives were
often dismissed for the slightest reasons, and sometimes
* Matth. v. 29, 30
LECTURE VI.
87
without any reason at all. It was high time for some
stop to be put to these increasing barbarities, and it was
a task worthy of the Son of God himself to stand up
as the defender and protector of the weak, of the most
helpless and most oppressed part of the human species.
Accordingly he here declares, in the most positive terms,
terms, the only legitimate cause of divorce is adultery.
"It has been said, whosoever shall put away his wife,
let him give her a writing of divorcement. But I say
unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, saving
for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit
adultery; and whosoever marrieth her that is divorced,
committeth adultery. This has, by the experience,
of ages, been found to be a most wise and salutary pro-
vision, and no less conducive to the happiness than to
the virtue of mankind. And we are taught by the fa-
tal example of other nations, that wherever this law of
the Gospel has been abrogated or relaxed, and a great-
er facility of divorce allowed, the consequence has con-
stantly been a too visible depravation of manners, and
the destruction of many of the most essential comforts.
of the married state.
The passage to which I shall next advert, is the fol-
lowing: "Ye have heard it has been said, an eye for
an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you,
that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee
on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if
any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat,
let him have thy cloak also; and whosoever shall com-
pel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.Ӡ
-
By the Mosaic law, retaliation was permitted; an eye
for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, might legally be de-
manded. Among the ancient heathens, private re-
venge was indulged without scruple and without mer-
cy. The savage nations in America, as well as in al-
most every other part of the world, set no bounds to
the persevering rancour and the cool deliberate malig-
nity with which they will pursue, for years together,
not only the person himself from whom they have re-
* Matth. v. 31, 32. ↑ Matth. v. 38-41. † Levit. xxiv. 20, Deut. xix. 2.
LECTURE VI.
ceived an injury, but sometimes every one related to or
connected with him. The Arabs are equally implaca-
ble in their resentments; and the Koran itself, in the
case of murder, allows private revenge.*
.88
It was to check this furious, ungovernable passion,
so universally prevalent over the earth, that our Saviour
delivers the precepts now before us. "I say unto you
resist not evil; but if any one smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also." No one can ima-
gine that this injunction, and those of the same kind
that follow, are to be understood strictly and literally;
that we are to submit, without the least opposition, to
every injury and every insult that is offered to us, and
are absolutely precluded from every degree of self-pre-
servation and self-defence. This can never be intend-
ed; and the example of St. Paul, who repelled with
proper spirit, the insult offered him as a Roman citizen,
very clearly proves that we are not to permit ourselves
to be trampled on by the foot of pride and oppression,
without expressing a just sense of the injury done to
us, and endeavouring to avert and repel it. It cannot
therefore, be meant, that if any one, by a cruel and ex-
pensive litigation, should deprive us of a part of our
property, we should not only relinquish to him that part,
but request him also to accept every thing else we have
in the world. Nor can it be meant, that if a man should
actually strike us on one cheek, we should immediate-
ly turn to him the other, and desire the blow to be re-
peated. This could not possibly answer any one ration-
al purpose, nor conduce in the least to the peace and
happiness of mankind, which were certainly the objects
our Saviour had in view; on the contrary, it would
tend materially to obstruct both by inviting injury,
and encouraging insult and oppression. Common
sense therefore, as well as common utility, require that
we should consider the particular instances of behav-
iour under the injuries here specified, as nothing more
than strong oriental idioms, as proverbial and figura-
tive expressions, intended only to convey a general
* Koran, v. 2. c. 17. p. 100.
GÒ
LECTURE VI.
$9
precept, and to describe that peculiar temper and dispo-
sition which the Gospel requires; that patience, gentle-
ness, mildness, moderation, and forbearance under inju-
ries and affronts, which is best calculated to preserve
the peace of our own minds, as well as that of the world
at large; which tends to soften resentment and turn
away wrath; and without which, on one side or the
other, provocations must be endless, and enmities eter-
nal.
All therefore, that is here required of us is plainly
and simply this, that we should not suffer our resent-
ment of injuries to carry us beyond the bounds of jus-
tice, equity, and Christian charity; that we should not
(as St. Paul well explains this passage) recompence evil
for evil, that is, repay one injury by committing ano-
ther; that we should not take fire at every slight pro-
vocation or trivial offence, nor pursue even the great-
est and most flagrant injuries with implacable fury and
inextinguishable rancour : that we should make all rea-
sonable allowances for the infirmities of human nature,
for the passions, the prejudices, the failings, the misap-
prehensions of those we have to deal with; and with-
out submitting tamely to oppression or insult, or giving
up rights of great and acknowledged importance, should
always show a disposition to conciliate and forgive; and
rather to recede and give way a little in certain instan-
ces, than insist on the utmost satisfaction and reparation
that we have perhaps a strict right to demand.
The chapter concludes with another remarkable pre-
cept, which may strictly be called a new command-
ment; for in no moral code is it to be found, till our
Lord gave it a place in his.
The precept is this: "Ye have heard it has been
said, thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine ene-
my. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and per-
secute you; that ye may be the children of your Father
which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on
* Rom. xii. 17.
-
12
90
LECTURE VI.
evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and
on the unjust."*
So noble, so sublime, and so benevolent a precept,
was never before given to man; and it is one strong
proof, among many others, of the originality of our Sa-
viour's character and religion.
A
The Jews were expressly commanded to love their
neighbour; but this injunction was not extended to
their enemies, and they therefore thought that this was
a tacit permission to hate them; a conclusion which
seemed to be much strengthened by their being enjoin-
ed to wage eternal war with one of their enemies, the
Canaanites, to show them no mercy, but to root them
out of the land. In consequence of this, they did en-
tertain strong prejudices and malignant sentiments to-
ward every other nation but their own, and were justly
reproached for this by the Roman historian; "apud
ipsos misericordia in promptu, adversus omnes alios
hostile odium:" that is, towards each other they are
compassionate and kind; towards all others they che-
rish a deadly hatred. But it ought in justice to be ob-
served, that this remark of Tacitus might have been ap-
plied, with almost equal aptitude, both to his own
countrymen the Romans, and to the Greeks, for they
gave to all other nations but themselves the name of
barbarians; and having stigmatized them with this op-
probrious appellation, they treated them as if they were
in reality what they had wantonly thought fit to call
them. They treated them with insolence, contempt,
and cruelty. They created and carried on unceasing
hostilities against them, and never sheathed the sword
till they had exterminated or enslaved them.
In private life also, it was thought allowable to pur-
sue those with whom they were at variance with the
keenest resentment and most implacable hatred; to
take every opportunity of annoying and distressing
them, and not to rest till they had felt the severest ef
fects of unrelenting vengeance.
Matth. v. 43-45.
† Tacit. Hist. v. 5.
LECTURE VI.
DI
In this situation of the world, and in this general
ferment of the malevolent passions, how seasonable,
how salutary, how kind, how conciliatory was the com-
mand to love, not only our friends, not only our neigh-
bours, not only strangers, but even our enemies!
How gracious that injunction, "I say unto you, love
your enemies; do good to them that hate you, bless
them that curse you, and pray for them that despite-
fully use you, and persecute you!" And how touch-
ing, how irresistible is the argument used to enforce
it: "That ye may be the children of your Father which
is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust!"
It is remarkable that the philosoper Seneca makes
use of the same argument, not exactly for the same
purpose, but for a similar one. "If (says he) you
would imitate the gods, confer favors even on the un-
grateful, for the sun rises on the wicked, and the seas
are open even unto pirates:" And again," the gods
show many acts of kindness even to the ungrate
ful*." It is highly probable that the philosopher took
this sentiment from this very passage of St. Matthew;
for no such sublime morality is, I believe, to be found
in any heathen writer previous to the Christian revela-
tion.
Seneca flourished and wrote after the Gospels were
written, after Christianity had made some progress.
Besides this, he was brother to Gallio, the proconsul of
Achaia, before whose tribunal St. Paul was brought
by the Jews at Corinth.† From him he would of
course receive much information respecting this new
religion, and the principal characters concerned in it;
and from the extraordinary things he would hear of it
from such authentic sources, his curiosity would natur-
ally be excited to look a little further into it, and to
peruse the writings that contained the history and the
doctrines of this new school of philosophy. This, and
this only, can account for the fine strains of morality
* Sen. de. Benef. lib. 4. c. 26. and c. 28.
† Acts xviii. 12.
92
LECTURE VI.
we sometimes meet with in Seneca, Plutarch, Marcus
Antonius, Epictetus, and the other philosophers who
wrote after the Christian æra, and the visible superior-
ity of their ethics to those of their predecessors before
that period. But to return.
It has been objected to this command of loving our
enemies, that it is extravagant and impracticable; that
it is impossible for any man to bring himself to enter-
tain any real love for his enemies and that human na-
ture revolts and recoils against so unreasonable a re.
quisition.
This objection evidently goes upon the supposition
that we are to love our enemies in the same manner
and degree, and with the same cordiality and ardour of
affection, that we do our relations and friends. And
if this were required, it might indeed be considered as
a harsh injunction. But our Lord was not so severe a
task-master as to expect this at our hands.
There are
different degrees of love as well as of every other hu-
man affection; and these degrees are to be duly pro-
portioned to the different objects of our regard. There
is one degree due to our relations, another to our bene-
factors, another to our friends, another to strangers,
another to our enemies. There is no need to define
the precise shades and limits of each, our own feelings
will save us that trouble; and in that only case where
our feelings are likely to lead us wrong, this precept
of our Lord will direct us right.
And it exacts nothing but what is both reasonable and
practicable. It explains what is meant by loving our
enemies in the words that immediately follow; "Bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them that despitefully use you, and perse-
cute you:" that is, do not retaliate upon your enemy;
do not return his exccrations, his injuries, and his per-
secutions, with similar treatment; do not turn upon him
his own weapons, but endeavour to subdue him with
weapons of a celestial temper, with kindness and com-
passion. This is of all others the most effectual way
of vanquishing an enraged adversary. The interpreta-
LECTURE VI.
93
(6
tion here given is amply confirmed by St. Paul in his
epistle to the Romans, which is an admirable comment
on this passage.
Dearly beloved, says he, avenge
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for
vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.-
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger feed him; if he thirst,
give him drink. Be not overcome of evil, but over-
come evil with good."* This then is the love that we
are to show our enemies; not that ardour of affection
which we feel towards our friends, but that lower kind
of love, which is called Christian charity (for it is the
same word in the original) and which we ought to ex-
ercise toward every human being, especially in distress,
If even our enemy hunger, we are to feed him; if he
thirst, we are to give him drink; and thus shall obtain
the noblest of all triumphs,
(( we shall overcome evil
with good." The world if they please may call this
meanness of spirit; but it is in fact the truest magna-
nimity and elevation of soal. It is far more glorious
and more difficult to subdue our own resentments, and to
act with generosity and kindness to our adversary, than
to make him feel the severest effects of our vengeance.
It is this noblest act of self-government, this conquest
over our strongest passions, which our Saviour here re-
quires. It is what constitutes the highest perfection of
our nature: and it is this perfection which is meant in
the concluding verse of this chapter; Be ye therefore
perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect;Ӡ
that is, in your conduct towards your enemies approach
as near as you are able to that perfection of mercy which
your heavenly Father manifests towards his enemies,
towards the evil and the unjust, on whom he maketh his
sun to rise as well as on the righteous and the just.
This sense of the word perfect is established beyond
controversy by the parallel passages in St. Luke;
where, instead of the terms made use of by St. Mat-
thew, "Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which
is in heaven is perfect," the evangelist expressly says,
"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is mer-
ciful."
Rom. xii. 19-21,
Matth. v. 48.
Luke vi. 36,
LECTURE VI.
This then is the perfection which you are to exert
your utmost efforts to attain; and if you succeed in
your attempt, your reward shall be great indeed; you
shall, as our Lord assures you, be the children of the
Most High.*
If
Having now brought these Lectures to a conclusion
for the present year, I cannot take my leave of you
without expressing the great comfort and satisfaction I
have derived from the appearance of such numerous
and attentive congregations as I have seen in this place.
That satisfaction, if I can at all judge of my own senti-
ments and feelings, does not originate from any selfish
gratification, but from the real interest I take in the
welfare, the eternal welfare of every one here present;
from the hope I entertain that some useful impressions
may have been made upon your minds; and from the
⚫ evidence which this general earnestness to hear the word
of God explained and recommended affords, that a
deeper sense of duty, a more serious attention to the
great concerns of eternity, has, by the blessing of God
been awakened in your souls. If this be so, allow me
most earnestly to entreat you not to let this ardour cool;
not to let these pious sentiments die away; not to let
these good seeds be choaked by the returning cares and
pleasures of the world. But go, retire into your clo-
sets, fall down upon your knees before your Maker,
and fervently implore him to pour down upon you the
overruling influences of his Holy Spirit; to enlighten
your understandings, to sanctify your hearts, to subdue
your passions, to confirm your good resolutions, and
enable you to resist every enemy of your salvation.
The world will soon again display all its attractions
before you, and endeavor to extinguish every good
principle you have imbibed. But if the divine truths
you have heard explained and enforced in these Lec-
tures have taken any firm root in your minds; if you
are seriously convinced that Christ and his religion
came from heaven, and that he is able to make good
whatever he has promised and whatever he has threat-
* Matth. v. 45.
LECTURE VI.
JF
ered, there is nothing surely in this world that can in-
duce you to risque the loss of eternal happiness, or
the infliction of never-ceasing punishment.
Least of all, will you think that this is the precise mo-
ment for setting your affections on this world and its en-
joyments; that these are the times for engaging in eager
pursuits after the advantages, the honours, the pleasures
of the present life; for plunging into vice, for dissolving
in gaiety and pleasures, for suffering every trivial, every
insignificant object, to banish the remembrance of your
Maker and Redeemer from your hearts, where they
ought to reign unrivalled and supreme. Surely amidst
the dark clouds that now hang over us,* these are not
the things that will brighten up our prospects, that will
lessen our danger, that will calm our apprehensions,
and speak peace and comfort to our souls. No, it
must be something of a very different nature; a deep
sense of our own unworthiness, a sincere contrition for
our past offences, a prostration of ourselves in all hu-
mility before the throne of grace, an earnest application
for pardon and acceptance through the merits of him
who died for us (whose death and sufferings for our
sakes the approaching week will bring fresh before our
view,) an ardent desire to manifest our love and grati-
tude, our devotion and attachment to our Maker and
our Redeemer, by giving them a decided priority and
predominance in our affections and our hearts; by ma-
king their will the ruling principle of our conduct; the
attainment of their favour, the advancement of their
glory, the chief object of our wishes and desires. These
are the sentiments we ought to cultivate and cherish if
we wish for any solid comfort under calamity or afflic-
tion, any confidence in the favour and protection of
Heaven; these alone can support and sustain our souls
in the midst of danger and distress, at the hour of
death, and in the day of judgment.
-
TRA
And how then, are these holy sentiments, these
heavenly affections to be excited in our hearts? Most
eertainly not by giving up all our time and all our
*In March 1798.
7
LECTURE VI.
thoughts to the endless occupations, the never-ceasing
gaities and amusements of this dissipated metropolis;
but by withdrawing ourselves frequently from this tu
multuous scene, by retiring into our chamber, by com-
muning with our own hearts, by fervent prayer, by
holding high converse with our Maker, and cultivating
some acquaintance with that unseen world to which
we are all hastening, and which, in one way or other,
must be our portion forever.
Many of those whom I now see before me have,
from their high rank and situation in life, full leisure
and ample opportunities for all these important pur-
poses; and let them be assured, that a strict account
will one day be demanded of them in what manner and
with what effect they have employed the talents, the
time, and the many other advantages with which their
gracious Maker has indulged them.
And even those who are most engaged in the busy
and laborious scenes of life, have at least one day in
the week which they may, and which they ought to
dedicate to the great concerns of religion. Let then
that day be kept sacred to its original destination by all
ranks of men, from the highest to the lowest. Let it
not be profaned by needless journeys, by splendid en-
tertainments, by crowded assemblies, by any thing in
short which precludes either ourselves, our families, or
our domestics, from the exercise of religious duties,
or the improvement of those pious sentiments and af-
fections which it was meant to inspire. Let me not,
however, be misunderstood. I mean not that it should
be either to the rich or the poor, or to any human be
ing whatever, a day of gloom and melancholy, a day of
superstitious rigor, and of absolute exclusion from all
society and all innocent recreation. I know of nothing
in Scripture that requires this; I know of no good ef
fect that could result from it. On the contrary, it is a
festival, a joyful festival; a day to which we ought al-
ways to look forward with delight, and enjoy with a
thankful and a grateful heart. But let it be remember-
ød at the same time, that it is a day which God claims
$6
:
LECTURE VI
97
as his own; that he has stamped upon it a peculiar
mark of sanctity; and that it ought to be distinguished
from every other day, in the first place, by resting
from our usual occupations, and giving rest to our
servants and our cattle; in the next, by attendance on
the public worship of God; and in the remaining in-
tervals, by relaxations and enjoyments peculiarly its
own; not by quotidian tumult, noise, and dissipation;
but by the calm and silent pleasures of retirement, of
recollection, of devout meditation, of secret prayer, yet
mingled discreetly with select society, with friendly
converse, with sober recreation, and with decent cheer-
fulness throughout the whole.
It was to draw off our attention from the common
follies and vanities of the week, and to give the soul a
little pause, a little respite, a little breathing from the
incessant importunities of business and of pleasure, that
this holy festival was instituted. And if we cannot
give up these things for a single day, if we cannot
make this small sacrifice to Him from whom we de-
rive our very existence, it is high time for us to look
to our hearts, and to consider very seriously whether
such a disposition and temper of mind as this will ever
qualify us for the kingdom of heaven.
"Could ye not watch with me one hour?" Said our
divine Master to his slumbering companions*. Can
ye not give me one day out of seven? May he now say
to his thoughtless disciples. Let none of us then ever
subject ourselves to this bitter reproach. Let us re-
solve from this moment to make the Christian sabbath
a day of holy joy and consolation; a day of heavenly
rest and refreshment; and above all, a day for the at-
tentive perusal of those sacred pages which have been
the subject of these Lectures, and of your most seri-
ous attention. It is to be hoped, indeed, that we shall
not confine our religion and our devotion to that day
only; but even that day properly employed, will in
some degree sanctify all the rest. It will disengage us
(as it was meant to do) gradually and gently from that
* Mark xiv. 37.
13
S
LECTURE VII.
world, which we must soon (perhaps sooner than we
imagine) quit for ever; it will raise our thoughts above
the low and trivial pursuits of the present scene, and
fix them on nobler and worthier objects; it will refine
and purify, exalt and spiritualize our affections; will
bring us nearer and nearer to God, and to the world of
spirits; and thus lead us on to that CELESTIAL SAB-
BATH, that EVERLASTING REST, for which the Chris-
tian sabbath was meant to prepare and harmonize our
souls.
LECTURE VII.
MATTH. Chap. vi. AND Vii.
IN these two chapters our Lord continues and
concludes his admirable discourse from the Mount.
The first thing to be noticed here is a strong and re-
peated caution to avoid all show and ostentation in the
performance of our religious duties.
The three instances specified are the acts of giving
alms, of praying, and of fasting.
The direction with regard to the first is, "Take
heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen
of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your Father
which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thy
alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypo-
crites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may have glory of men; verily I say unto you, they
have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not
thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that
thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father which
seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly."*
In the same manner with regard to prayer; the rule
is, "When thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hy-
*Matth. vi. 1-4
LECTURE VII.
99
pocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the syna-
gogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may
be seen of men; verily I say unto you they have their
reward.-But thou, when thou hast shut thy door, pray
to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."*
Lastly, a similar precaution applies also to the act of
fasting; "When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites of a
sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they
may appear unto men to fast; verily I say unto you
they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest,
anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear
not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in
secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall re-
ward thee openly."†
In all these passages the point to be noticed is a
strong and marked disapprobation of every thing that
looks like ostentation, parade, vain-glory, insincerity,
or hypocrisy, in the discharge of our Christian duties.
They show in the clearest light the spirit and temper
of the Christian religion, which is modest, silent, re-
tired, quiet, unobtrusive, shunning the observation and
the applause of men, and looking only to the approba-
tion of him who seeth every thought of our hearts, and
every secret motive of our actions.
They establish this as the grand principle of action
for every disciple of Christ, that in every part of his
moral and religious conduct he is to have no other ob-
ject in view but the favour of God. This is the mo-
tive from which all his virtues are to flow. If he is ac-
tuated by any other; if he courts the applause of the
world, or is ambitious to acquire, by a show of piety,
a character of sanctity among men, he may perhaps
gain his point; but it is all he will gain. He will
have his reward here: he must expect none here-
after.
Having made this general observation upon the
whole, I shall now proceed to remark on the particular
* Matth. vi. 5—6.
↑ Matth. vi. 16—18.
***
100
LECTURE VII.
instances adduced, in order to establish the leading
principle.
And first, we are directed to give our alms so pri
vately, that (as our Lord most emphatically and ele
gantly expresses it) "our left hand shall not know
what our right hand doeth." This evidently implies
the utmost secrecy in the distribution of our charity;
and this is undoubtedly the rule we are in general to
observe. But it is by no means to be inferred from
hence that we are never, on any occasion, to give our
alms in public. In some cases, publicity is so far
from being culpable, that it is necessary, useful, and
laudable. In contributing, for instance, to any pub-
lic charity, or to the relief of some great calamity, pri-
vate or public, we cannot well conceal our benefi-
cence, or if we could we ought not.
Our example
may induce many others to exert a similar generosity;
and besides this there are persons in certain situations
who are expected to be charitable, and who should
give proofs to the world that they are so. And accor-
dingly in these and in such like cases we are required.
to make our "light so shine before men, that they may
see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in
heaven."* As far therefore as the reason of this com-
mand goes, it is not only allowable, but our duty, to
let our generous deeds be sometimes known to the world.
But then we ought to take especial care at the same
time that we bestow a much larger proportion of our
alms in secrecy and in silence; that we suffer no one
to witness our benificence but Him who must see every
thing we do, and that we have no other object what-
ever in view but his approbation, and his immortal re
wards.
The next instance adduced to confirm the general
principle of seeking the approbation not of men, but of
God, is that of prayer.
"When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypo-
crites are, for they love to pray standing in the syna-
gogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may
* Matth. v. 16.
LECTURE VIE
101
be seen of men; verily I say unto you, they have their
reward.-But thou when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy
Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth
in secret shall reward thee openly."
This passage has been made use of by some writers
as an argument against all public prayer, which they say
is here plainly prohibited. But for this there is not the
smallest foundation. It is of private prayer only that
our Lord is here speaking; and the hypocrites whom
he condemns were those ostentatious Jews, who
performed those devotions which ought to have been
confined to the closet, in the synagogues, and even in
the public streets, that they might be noticed and ap-
plauded for their extraordinary piety and sanctity.
But this reproof could not possibly mean to extend to
public devotions in places of worship.-This is evi-
dent from the corners of streets being mentioned; for
those are places in which public devotions are never
performed. But besides this, we find in Scripture that
public worship is enjoined as a duty of the highest im-
portance. It made a considerable part of the Jewish
religion, and the Mosaic law is filled with precepts and
directions concerning it. God declares, by the proph-
et Isaiah," that his house shall be called a house of
prayer for all people."* Our Saviour quotes these
very words when he cast out those that polluted the
temple; and was himself a constant frequenter of divine
worship, both in the temple and in the synagogues. He
taught his disciples (as we shall soon see) a form of
prayer, which, though very proper to be used by any
single person in private, yet is throughout expressed in
the plural number, and adapted to the use of several
persons praying at the same time." If two of you,"
says he to his disciples on another occasion, "shall a-
gree on earth touching any thing that they shall ask, it
shall be done for them of my Father which is in hea-
ven; for where two or three are gathered together in
my name, there am I in the midst of them." By St.
† Matth. xviii, 19—20.
* Isaiah lvi. 71
J
102
LECTURE VII.
Paul we are commanded "not to forsake the assem-
bling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is."*
And we find, that after our Saviour's ascension his fol-
lowers" continued stedfastly in the apostles doctrine
and fellowship, and in prayer, and supplication, prais-
ing God, and having favor with all the people."+
It is therefore incontestably clear, that our Saviour
could not possibly mean to forbid that public wor-
ship which he himself practised and commanded. His
intentions could only be to confine our private prayers
to private places, in which we are to keep up a secret
intercourse with our Maker, withdrawn from the eye
of the world, and unobserved by any other than that
Almighty Being to whom our petitions are addressed.
The last instance produced by our Saviour is that
of fasting. "When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites
of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that
they may appear unto men to fast; verily I say unto
you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou
fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou ap-
pear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is
in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall re-
ward thee openly."
There is very little necessity to dwell on this precept
here, for there are scarce any in these times and in this
country who seem disposed to make a show of fasting,
or to be ambitious of acquiring a reputation for that kind
of religious discipline; on the contrary, it is by great
numbers entirely laid aside, and too frequently treated
with derision and contempt. Yet from this very pas
sage we may learn that it ought to be considered in a
much more serious light; for although our Saviour did
not command his disciples to fast while he was with
them, yet he himself fasted for forty days. He here
plainly supposes that his disciples did sometimes fast;
and gives them directions how to perform that duty in
a manner acceptable to God. And it appears also, that
if they did so perform it, if they fasted without any os-
tentation or parade, with a design not to catch the ap-
* Heb. x. 25.
Acts ii. 42, 47.
!
LECTURE VI.
108
plause of men, but to approve themselves to god, he as-
sured them they should have their reward.
Before we quit this division of the chapter, we must
go back a little to that admirable form of prayer which
our Lord gave to his disciples, after cautioning them
against all ostentation in their devotions.
This prayer stands unrivalled in every circumstance
that constitutes the perfection of prayer, and the excel-
lence of that species of composition. It is concise, it is
perspicuous, it is solemn, it is comprehensive, it is
adapted to all ranks, conditions, and classes of men; it
fixes our thoughts on a few great important points, and
impresses on our minds a deep sense of the goodness
and the greatness of that Almighty Being to whom it is
addressed.
It begins with acknowledging him to be our most
gracious and merciful Father; it begs that his name
may every where be reverenced, that his religion may
spread over the earth, and that his will may be obeyed
by men with the same ardour, and alacrity, and con-
stancy that it is by the angels in heaven. It next in-
treats the supply of all our essential wants, both tempo-
ral and spiritual; a sufficiency of those things that are
absolutely necessary for our subsistence; the forgive-
ness of our transgressions, on condition that we forgive
our brethren; and, finally, support under the tempta-
tions that assault our virtue, and deliverance from the
various evils and calamities that every where surround
us; expressing at the same time the utmost trust and
confidence in the power of God, to grant whatever
he sees it expedient and proper for his creatures to re-
ceive.
The full meaning then of this admirable prayer, and
of the several petitions contained in it, may perhaps be
not improperly exprsesed in the following manner:
O thou great parent of the universe, our Creator, our
Preserver and continual Benefactor, grant that we and
all reasonable creatures may entertain just and worthy
notions of thy nature and attributes, may fear thy pow-
er, admire thy wisdom, adore thy goodness, rely upon
104
LECTURE VII.
thy truth; may reverence thy holy name, may bless
and praise thee, may worship and obey thee.
Grant that all the nations of the earth may come to
the knowledge and belief of thy holy religion; that it
may every where produce the blessed fruits of piety,
righteousness, charity, and sobriety; that, by a con-
stant endeavour to obey thy holy laws, we may approach
as near as the infirmity of our nature will allow, to the
more perfect obedience of the angels that are in hea
ven; and thus qualify ourselves for entering into thy
kingdom of glory hereafter.
Feed us, we beseech thee, with food convenient for
us. We ask not for riches and honours; give us only
what is necessary for our comfortable subsistence in
the several stations which thy providence has allotted to
us; and above all give us contented minds.
We are all, O Lord, the best of us miserable sinners.
Be not extreme, we beseech thee, to mark what we
have done amiss, but pity our infirmities, and pardon
our offences. Yet let us not dare to implore forgive-
ness from thee, unless we also from our hearts forgive
our offending brethren.
We are surrounded, on every side, with temptations
to sin; and such is the corruption and frailty of our na-
ture, that without thy powerful succour we cannot al-´
ways stand upright. Take us then, O gracious God,
under thy almighty protection; and amidst all the dan-
gers and difficulties of our Christian warfare, be thou
our refuge and support. Suffer us not to be tempted
above what we are able to bear, but send thy holy spi
rit to strengthen our own weak endeavours, and ena-
ble us to escape or to subdue all the enemies of our sal-
vation.
Preserve us also, if it be thy blessed will, not only
from spiritual, but from temporal evil. Keep us ever
by thy watchful providence, both outward in our bo
dies, and inwardly in our souls; that thou, being in all
cases our ruler and guide, we may so pass through
things temporal as finally to lose not the things eter
nal.
LECTURE VII.
105
Hear us, O Lord our governor, from heaven thy
dwelling place; and when thou hearest, have regard to
our petitions. They are offered up to thee in the ful-
lest confidence that thy goodness will dispose, and thy
power enable thee to grant whatever thy wisdom seest
to be convenient for us, and conducive to our final
happiness.
The next thing which peculiarly demands our at-
tention in this chapter is the declaration contained in
the 24th verse, which presents to us another funda-
mental principle of the Christian religion; namely, the
necessity of giving the first place in our hearts and our
affections to God and religion, and pursuing other
things only in subordination to those great objects.
"No man," says our Lord,
(C can serve two masters;
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or
else he will hold to the one and despise the other.
Ye
cannot serve God and mammon.”*
The word mammon is generally interpreted to mean
riches only; but the original rather directs us to take
it in a more general sense, as comprehending every
thing that is capable of being an object of trust or a
ground of confidence to men of worldly minds; such
as wealth, power, honor, fame business, sensual pleas-
ures, gay amusements, and all the other various pur-
suits of the present scene. It is these that constitute
what we usually express by the word world, when op-
posed to religion. Here then are the two masters who
claim dominion over us, God and the world; and one
of these we must serve; both we cannot, because their
dispositions and their commands are in general diame-
trically opposite to each other. The world invites us
to indulge all our appetites without control; to entan-
gle ourselves in the cares and distractions of business;
to engage with eagerness in endless contests for supe-
riority in power, wealth and honour; or to give up
ourselves, body and soul, to gaiety, amusement, plea-
sure, and every kind of luxurious indulgence. These
are the services which one master requires. But there
* Matth. vi. 24.
C
14
406
LECTURE VII.
is another master, whose injunctions are of a very dif
ferent nature. That master is GOD; and his com
mands are, to give him our hearts; to love him with
all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength; to be
temperate in all things; to make our moderation
known unto all men; to fix our affections on things
above; to have our conversation in heaven; to cast all
our care upon him; and to take up our cross and fol-
low Christ.
*
Judge now whether it be possible to serve these two
masters at one and the same time, and to obey the com-
mands of each; commands so perfectly contradictory
to each other.
Yet this is what a great part of mankind most ab-
surdly attempt; endeavour to divide themselves be-
tween God and mammon, to compromise the matter
as well as they can between the commands of one and
the seductions of the other; to vibrate perpetually
between vice and virtue, between piety and pleasure,
between inclination and duty; to render a worldly life
and a religious life consistent with each other; and to
take as much as they can of the enjoyments and ad-
vantages of the present world, without losing their hold
on the rewards of the next.
J
Yet, in direct contradiction to so extravagant and
preposterous a system as this, Christ himself assures
us here that we cannot serve two masters; that we can-
not serve God and mammon. Our Maker expects to
reign absolute in our hearts; he will not be served by
halves; he will not accept of a divided empire; he will
not suffer us to halt between two opinions. We must
take our choice, and adhere to one side or the other.
"If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then
follow him.”*
But what then are we to do! Are we to live in a
state of perpetual warfare and hostility with that very
world in which the hand of Providence has placed us,
and which is prepared in various ways for our reception
and accommodation? Are we never to taste of those *,
* 1 Kings, xviii. 21.
LECTURE VII.
107
various delights which our Maker has poured so boun-
tifully around us? Are we never to indulge those ap-
petites which he himself has planted in our breasts ?
Are we so entirely to confine ourselves to the paths of
righteousness, as never to enter those that lead to pow-
er, to honour, to wealth, or to fame? Are we to en-
gage in no secular occupations, to make no provision
for ourselves and our families? Are we altogether to
withdraw ourselves from the cares and business and
distractions of the world, and give ourselves wholly up
to solitude, meditation, and prayer? Are we never to
mingle in the cheerful amusements of society? Are
we not to indulge ourselves in the refined pleasures of
literary pursuits, nor wander even for a moment into
the delightful regions of science or imagination?
Were this a true picture of our duties, and of the
sacrifices which Christianity requires from us; were
these the commands of our divine lawgiver, well might
we say with the astonished disciples, "who then can
be saved?"
п
D
But the God whom we serve is not so hard a mas-
ter, nor does his religion contain any such severe re-
strictions as these. Christianity forbids no necessary
occupations, no reasonable indulgencies, no innocent
relaxations. It allows us to use the world, provided
we do not abuse it. It does not spread before us a
delicious banquet, and then come with a "touch not,
taste not, handle not."* All it requires is, that our
liberty degenerate not into licentiousness, our amuse-
ments into dissipation, our industry into incessant toil,
our carefulness into extreme anxiety and endless so-
licitude. So far from forbidding us to engage in busi-
ness, it expressly comands us not to be slothful in it,†
and to labour with our hands for the things that be
needful; it enjoins every one to abide in the calling
wherein he was called, and perform all the duties of
it. It even stigmatizes those that provide not for their
own, with telling them that they are worse than infi-
* Coloss. ii. 21. † Rom. xii. 11. 1 Cor. iv. 12. 1 Cor. vii. 20.
•
108
LECTURE VII.
When it requires us
dels.
to be temperate† in all
things," it plainly tells us that we may use all things
temperately; when it directs us "to make our mode-
ration known unto all men," this evidently implies
that within the bounds of moderation we may enjoy
all the reasonable conveniences and comforts of the
present life.
But how then are we to reconcile this participation
in the concerns of the present life, with those very
strong declarations of scripture, "that we are not to
be conformed to this world; that the friendship of the
world is enmity with God; that we are to take no
thought for the morrow; that we are to lay up trea-
sures no where but in heaven; that we are to pray
without ceasing; that we are to do all things to the
glory of God; that we are not only to leave father,
mother, brethren, sisters, and for the sake of Christ and
his gospel, but that if we do not hate all these near and
dear connections, and even our own lives, we cannot
be his disciples."{
These, it must be acknowledged, are very strong
expressions, and taken in their strict literal sense, do
certainly imply that we are to abandon every thing that
is most dear and valuable and delightful to us in this
life, and to devote ourselves so entirely to the contem-
plation and love and worship of God, as not to bestow
a single thought on any thing else, or to give ourselves
the smallest concern about the affairs of this sublunary
state.
But can any one imagine this to be the real doc-
trine of scripture? You may rest assured that nothing
so unreasonable and extravagant is to be fairly deduced
from these sacred writings.
In order then to clear up this most important point,
three things are to be considered.
First, that were these injunctions to be understood
in their literal signification, it would be utterly impos
* 1 Tim. v. 8.
† 1 Cor. ix. 25.
§ Rom. xii. 2. Jam. iv. 4 Matth. vi. 20. 34. I Thess. v. 17.
18. 1 Cor. x. 31. Luke, xiv. 26.
Philip. iv. 5.
Ephes. vi.
LECTURE VII.
109
sible for us to continue a week longer in the world. If,
for instance, we were bound to pray without ceasing,
and to take no thought whatever for the morrow, we
must all of us quickly perish for want of the common
necessaries of life.
2dly. It must be observed that all oriental writers,
both sacred and profane, are accustomed to express
themselves in bold ardent figures and metaphors, which,
before their true meaning can be ascertained, require
very considerable abatements, restrictions, and limi-
tations.
aga
3dly. What is most of all to the purpose, these a-
batements are almost constantly pointed out by scrip-
ture itself and whenever a very strong and forcible id-
iom is made use of you will general find it explained
and modified by a different expression of the same
sentiment, which either immediately follows, or occurs
in some other passage of Scripture.
Thus in the present instance, when Christ says,
"Ye cannot serve God and mammon; therefore, take
no thought for your life what ye shall eat and what ye
shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put
on:" this is most clearly explained a few verses after,
in these words, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things shall be ad-
ded unto you."* The meaning therefore of the pre-
cept is evidently this; not that we are absolutely to
take no thought for our life, and the means of support-
ing it; but that our thoughts are not to be wholly or
principally occupied with these things. We are not
to indulge an immoderate and unceasing anxiety and
solicitude about them: for that indeed is the true
meaning of the original word merimnes.
In our Eng-
lish Bible, that word is translated take no thought; but
at the time when our translation was made, that ex-
pression signified only be not too careful. Our hearts,
as it is expressed in another place, are not to be over-
charged with the cares of this life,* so as to exclude
all other concerns, even those of religion.
* Luke, xxi. 34.
4
110
LECTURE VII.
In the same manner with respect to pleasures, we
are not forbid to have any love for them; we are only
commanded not to be lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God.*
When therefore it is said, ye cannot serve God and
mammon, the point contended for in respect to God is
not exclusive possession, but exclusive dominion. Other
things may occasionally for a certain time, and to a
certain degree, have possession of our minds, but they
must not rule, they must not reign over them. We
cannot serve two masters; we can serve but one faith-
fully and effectually, and that one must be God. The
concerns and comforts of this life may have their due
place in our hearts, but they must not aspire to the
first; this is the prerogative of religion alone; religion
must be supreme and paramount over all. Every one,
it has been often said, has his ruling passion. The rul-
ing passion of the Christian must be the love of his
Maker and Redeemer. This it is which must princi-
pally occupy his thoughts, his time, his attention, his
heart. If there be any thing else which has gained the
ascendency over our souls, on which our desires, our
wishes, our hopes, our fears, are chiefly fixed, God is
then dispossessed of his rightful dominion over us; we
serve another master, and we shall think but little of
our Maker, or any thing belonging to him.
His empire over our hearts must, in short, at all
events be maintained. When this point is once secur-
ed, every inferior gratification that is consistent with
his sovereignty, his glory, and his commands, is per-
fectly allowable; every thing that is hostile to them
must at once be renounced.
This is a plain: rule, and a very important one. It is
the principle which our blessed Lord meant here to es-
tablish, and it must be the governing principle of our
lives.
Next to this in importance is another command,
which you will find in the 12th verse of the seventh
chapter; "All thing whatsoever ye would that men
* 2 Tim. i. 4.
LECTURE VIf.
111
Gitar danas MAH?
should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the
law and the prophets." As the former precepts which
we have been considering relate to God, this relates to
man; it is the grand rule by which we must in all ca-
ses regulate our conduct towards our neighbour; and
it is a rule plain, simple, concise, intelligible, compre-
hensive, and every way worthy of its divine author.-
Whenever we are deliberating how we ought to act to-
wards our neighbour in any particular instance, we
must for a moment change situations with him in our
own minds, we must place him in our circumstances
and ourselves in his, and then whatever we should wish
him to do to us, that we are to do to him. This is a
process, in which, if we act fairly and impartially, we
can never be mistaken. Our own feelings will deter-
mine our conduct at once better than all the casuists in
the world.
KO

But before we entirely quit the consideration of this
precept, we must take some notice of the observation
subjoined to it, which will require a little explanation.
Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the pro-
phets."
The concluding clause, this is the law and the pro-
phets, has by some been interpreted to mean, this is
the sum and substance of all religion; as if religion con-
sisted solely in behaving justly and kindly to our fellow
creatures, and beyond this no other duty was required
at our hands. But this conclusion is as groundless as
it is dangerous and unscriptural.
<
There are duties surely of another order, equally ne-
cessary at least, and equally important with those we
owe to our neighbour.
There are duties, in the first place owing to our Cre-
ator, whom we are bound to honor, to venerate, to wor-
ship, to obey, and to love with all our hearts and souls,
and mind, and strength. There are duties owing to
our Redeemer, of affection, attachment, gratitude, faith
n his divine mission, and reliance on the atonement he
made for us on the cross. There are lastly, acts of dis-
-
112
LECTURE Vií.
cipline and self-government to be exercised over our
corrupt propensities and irregular desires. According-
ly, in the very chapter we have just been considering,
we are commanded to seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness. We are in another place in-
formed, that the love of God is the first and great com-
mandment, and the love of our neighbour only the se-
cond; and we are taught by St. James that one main
branch of religion is to keep ourselves unspotted from
the world. It is impossible, therefore, that our blessed
Lord could here mean to say, that our duty towards our
neighbour was the whole of his religion; he says noth-
ing in fact of his religion; he speaks only of the Jewish
religion; the law and the prophets; and of these he on-
ly says that one of the great objects they have in view
is to inculcate that same equitable conduct towards our
brethren, which he here recommended.†
Let no one then indulge the vain imagination that a
just, and generous, and compassionate conduct towards
his fellow creatures constitutes the whole of his duty,
and will compensate for the want of every other Chris-
tian virtue.
This is a most fatal delusion; and yet in the present
times a very common one. Benevolence is the favour-
ite, the fashionable virtue of the age; it is universally
cried up by infidels and libertines as the first and only
duty of man; and even many who pretend to the name
of Christians, are too apt to rest upon it as the most es-
sential part of their religion, and the chief basis of their
title to the rewards of the gospel. But that gospel, as
we have just seen, prescribes to us several other duties,
which require from us the same attention as those we
owe to our neighbour; and if we fail in any of them,
we can have no hope of sharing in the benefits procur-
ed for us by the sacrifice of our Redeemer. What then
God and nature, as well as Christ and his apostles, have
joined together, let no man dare to put asunder. Let
no one flatter himself with obtaining the rewards, or
Sce chap. xxii. 40. Rom. xiii. 8. Gal. v. 14. and
* James i. 27.
Grotius on this verse.
A
LECTURE VII.
113
even escaping the punishments of the Gospel, by per-
forming only one branch of his duty; nor let him ever
suppose that under the shelter of benevolence he can
either on one hand evade the first and great command,
the love of his Maker; or on the other hand that he
can securely indulge his favorite passions, can compound
as it were with God for his sensuality by acts of gen-
erosity, and purchase by his wealth a general licence
This may be very good pagan morality, may
be very good modern philosophy, but it is not Christian
godliness.
to sin.
As it is my purpose to touch only on the most im-
portant and most generally useful parts of our Saviour's
discourse, I shall pass over what remains of it, and
hasten to the conclusion, which is expressed by the
sacred historian in these words; "And it came to pass,
that when Jesus had finished these sayings, the people
were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as
one having authority, and not as the scribes."* Both
his matter and his manner were infinitely beyond any
thing they had ever heard before. He did not, like
the heathen philosophers, entertain his hearers with dry
metaphysical discourses on the nature of the supreme
good, and the several divisions and subdivisions of vir-
tue; nor did he, like the Jewish rabbies, content him-
self with dealing out ceremonies and traditions, with
discoursing on mint and cummin, and estimating the
breadth of a phylactery; but he drew off their attention
from these trivial and contemptible things to the great-
est and the noblest objects; the existence of one su-
preme Almighty Being, the Creator, Preserver, and
Governor of the universe: the first formation of man;
his fall from original innocence; the consequent cor-
ruption and depravity of his nature; the remedy pro-
vided for him by the goodness of our Maker and the
death of our Redeemer; the nature of that divine reli-
gion which he himself came to reveal to mankind; the
purity of heart and sanctity of life which he required;
• Matth. vii. 28, 29.
15
114
LECTURE VII.
the communications of God's holy spirit to assist our
own feeble endeavours here, and a crown of immortal
glory to recompense us hereafter.
The morality he taught was the purest, the soundest,
the sublimest, the most perfect that had ever before
entered into the imagination, or proceeded from the lips
of man. And this he delivered in a manner the most
striking and impressive; in short, sententious, solemn,
important, ponderous rules and maxims, or in familiar,
natural, affecting similitudes and parables. He shew-
ed also a most consummate knowledge of the human
heart, and dragged to light all its artifices, subtleties,
and evasions. He discovered every thought as it arose
in the mind; he detected every irregular desire before
it ripened into action. He manifested at the same time
the most perfect impartiality. He had no respect of
persons. He reproved vice in every station wherever
he found it, with the same freedom and boldness; and
he added to the whole the weight, the irresistablę
weight of his own example. He and he only of all
the sons of men, acted up in every the minutest instance
to what he taught; and his life exhibited a perfect por-
trait of his religion. But what completed the whole
was, that he taught, as the evangelist expresses it, with
authority, with the authority of a divine teacher. The
ancient philosophers could do nothing more than give
good advice to their followers; they had no means of
enforcing that advice; but our great Lawgiver's pre-
cepts are all DIVINE COMMANDS. He spoke in the
name of God; he called himself the Son of God. He
spoke in a tone of superiority and authority, which no
one before had the courage or the right to assume: and
finally, he enforced every thing he taught by the most
solemn and awful sanctions, by a promise of eternal fe-
licity to those who obeyed him, and a denunciation of
the most tremenduous punishment to those who rejec-
ted him.
These were the circumstances which gave our bles-
sed Lord the authority with which he spake. No
LECTURE VIII.
115
wonder then that the people were astonished at his
doctrines; and that they all declared he spake as never
man spake."*
* John vii. 46.
LECTURE VIII.
MATTH. viii.
THE eighth chapter of St. Matthew, a part of
which will be the subject of this Lecture, begins with
the miraculous cure of the leper, which is related in the
following manner:
"When our Lord was come down from the mountain,
great multitudes followed him, and behold there came
a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt
thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his
hand and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean :
and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus
saith unto him, see thou tell no man; but go thy way,
shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses
commanded, for a testimony unto them."
The leprosy is a disorder of the most malignant and
disgusting nature. It was once common in Europe.
Those infected with it were called Lazars, who were
separated from all human society (the disease being
highly contagious) and were confined in hospitals called
Lazarettos, of which it is said there were no less than
nine thousand at one time in Europe. For the last
two hundred years this distemper has almost entirely
vanished from this and other countrics of Europe, and
an instance of it now is but seldom to be met with. .In
the East it still exists to a certain degree; and there
in former ages it had its source and origin, and raged
for a great length of time with extraordinary violence.
In the law of Moses, there are very particular direc-
116
LECTURE VIII.
tions given concerning the treatment of lepers, and a
ceremonial appointed for the examination of them by
the priest when they were supposed to be cured. But
no natural remedy is prescribed by Moses for the cure
of it. It was considered by the Jews as a disease sent
by God, and to be cured only by his interposition.
There could not, therefore, be a stronger proof of our
Saviour's divine power, than his curing this most loath-
some disease, of which many instances besides this
occur in the Gospels. The manner too in which he
performed this cure was equally an evidence that all the
fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him ;* it was instan-
taneous, with a touch, and a few words, and those
words the most sublime and dignified that can be ima-
gined: I WILL; BE THOU CLEAN and immediately
the leprosy departed from him. This was plainly the
language as well as the act of a God. I WILL; BE
THOU CLEAN.
Yet with all this supernatural power there was no
ostentation or parade, no arrogant contempt of ancient
ceremonies and institutions (which an enthusiast always
tramples under foot;) but on the contrary a perfect
submission to the established laws and usages of his
*
country. He said to the man who was healed, See
thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the
priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a
testimony unto them." Here he gave at once a strik-
ing example both of humility and obedience. He en-
joined the man to keep secret the astonishing miracle
he had wrought, and he commanded him to comply
with the injunctions of Moses; to shew himself to the
priest, to undergo the examination, and to offer the sac-
rifice prescribed by the law;† which at the same time
that it shewed his disposition to fulfil all righteousness,
established the truth of the miracle beyond all contro-
versy, by making the priest himself the judge of the
reality of the cure. This was not the mode which an
impostor would have chosen.
After this miracle, the next incident that occurs ist
*Colloss. ii. 9.
+ Lev. xiv.
i
LECTURE VIII.
117
the remarkable and interesting story of the centurion,
whose servant was cured of the palsy by our Saviour.
The relation of this miracle is as follows;
"When
Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto
him a centurion, beseeching him and saying, Lord, my
servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tor-
mented.* And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and
heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I
am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof,
but speak the word only, and my servant shall be heal-
ed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers
under me; and I say unto this man go, and he goeth;
and to another come, and he cometh; and to a third
do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he
marvelled, and said to them that followed him, Verily
I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel. And Jesus said unto the centurion, go
thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done un-
to thee and his servant was healed in the self-same
hour."
This is the short and edifying history of the Roman
centurion; and the reason of its being recorded by the
sacred writers was, in the first place, to give a most
striking evidence of our Saviour's divine power, which
enabled him to restore the centurion's servant to health
at a distance, and without so much as seeing him; and
in the next place to set before us, in the character of
the centurion, an illustrious example of those eminent
Christian virtues, humanity and charity, piety and gen-
erosity, humility and faith.
* In the parrallel passage of St. Luke, chap. vii. it is said that the centu
rion sent messengers to Jesus; but no mention is made of his coming to him
in person. This difficulty may be cleared up by observing, that in scripture
what any person does by his messengers he is frequently represented as do-
ing by himself. Thus Christ, who preached to the Ephesians by his apostles,
is said to have preached to them himself Eph. ii. 17. But it seems to me
not at all improbable, that the centurion may both have sent messengers to
Jesus, and afterwards gone to him in person. "Not thinking himself wor-
thy," (as he himself expresses it) to go to Christ in the first instance, he sent
probably the elders of the Jews, and then some of his friends, to implore our
Lord to heal his servant, not meaning to give him the trouble of coming to
his house. But when he found that Jesus was actually on his way to him,
what was more natural for him than to hasten out of his house to meet him,
and to make his acknowledgments to him in person?
LECTURE VIII.
118
Of the former of these virtues, humanity and charity,
he gave a very convincing proof in the solicitude he
shewed for the welfare of his servant, and the strong
interest he took in the recovery of his health. And this
is the more remarkable and the more honourable to the
centurion, because in general the treatment which the
sevants of the Romans experienced from their masters
was very different indeed, from what we see in the
present instance. These servants were almost all of
them slaves, and were too commonly treated with ex-
treme rigour and cruelty. They were often strained
to labour beyond their strength, were confined to loath-
some dungeons, were loaded with chains, were scour-
ged and tortured without reason, were deserted in sick-
ness and old age, and put to death for trivial faults and
slight suspicions, and sometimes out of mere wanton-
ness and cruelty, without any reason at all. Such bar-
barity as this, which was at that time by no means un-
common, which indeed has in a greater or less degree
universally prevailed in every country where slavery
has been established, and which shows in the strongest
light the danger of trusting absolute power of any kind,
political or personal, in the hands of such a creature as
man; this barbarity, I say, forms a most striking con-
trast to the kindness and compassion of the centurion,
who, though he had so much power over his slaves,
and so many instances of its severest exertion before
his eyes, yet made use of it as we here see, not for their
oppression and destruction, but their happiness, com-
fort, and preservation.
The next virtues which attract our notice in the cen-
turion's character are his piety and generosity. These
were eminently displayed in the affection he manifested
towards the Jewish people, and his building them a
place of worship at his own expence; for the elders of
the Jews informed Jesus, "that he loved their nation,
and had built them a synagogue.'
The Jews, it is well known, were at this time under
the dominion of the Romans. Their country was a
* Luke vii. 5.
LECTURE VIII.
119
Roman province, where this centurion had a military.
command; and they who are acquainted with the Ro-
man history know well with what cruelty, rapacity,
and oppression, the governors and commanding officers
in the conquered provinces too commonly behaved to-
wards the people whom they were sent to keep in awe.
So far were they from building them temples or syna-
gogues, that they frequently invaded even those sacred
retreats, and laid their sacrilegious hands on every
thing that was valuable in them. Of this we have
abundant proofs in the history of Verres, when govern-
or of Sicily; and Verres was in many respects a faithful
representative of too large a part of the Roman gover-
nors. In the midst of this brutality and insolence of
power does this gallant soldier stand up to patronize
and assist a distressed and an injured people; and it is
a testimony as glorious to his memory as it is singular
and almost unexampled in his circumstances, that he
loved the Jewish nation, and that he gave a very deci-
sive and magnificent proof of it, by building them a
synagogue; for there cannot be a stronger indication
both of love to mankind and love towards God, than
erecting places of worship where they are wanted.*
Without buildings to assemble in, there can be no
public worship. Without public worship there can be
no religion; and what kind of creatures men become
* There is a most dreadful want of this nature in the western part of this
great metropolis. From St. Martin's-in-the-Fields to Marybene church in-
clusive, a space containing perhaps 200,000 souls, there are only five parish
churches, St. Martin's, St. Ann's Soho, St. Jame's, St. George's Hanover
Square, and the very small church of Marybone. There are, it is true, a few
chapels interspersed in this space; but what they can contain is a mere trifle,
compared to the whole number of inhabitants in those parts, and the lowest
classes are almost entirely excluded from them. The only measure that can
be of any essential service, is the erection of several spacious parish churches,
capable of receiving very large congregations, and affording decent accommo-
dations for the lower and inferior, as well as the higher orders of the people.
In the reign of Queen Anne, a considerable sum of money was voted by Par-
liament for fifty new churches. It is most devoutly to be wished that the pre-
sent Parliament would, to a certain extent at least, fellow so honorable an ex-
ample. It is, I am sure, in every point of view, political, meral, and reli-
gious, well worthy the attention of the British legislature. A sufficient num!-
ber of new parish churches, erected both in the capital and in other parts of
the kingdom where they are wanted, for the use of the members of the church
of England of all conditions, would very essentially conduce to the intereste
of religion, and the security and welfare of the established Church.
V
+
120
LECTURE VIIE
without religion; into what excesses of barbarity, fe-
rocity, impiety and every species of profligacy they
quickly plunge, we have too plainly seen; God grant
that we may never feel.
The next remarkable feature in the character of the
centurion is his humility. How completely this most
amiable of human virtues had taken possession of his
soul, is evident from the manner in which he solicited
our Saviour for the cure of his servant: how cautious,
how modest, how diffident, how timid, how fearful of
offending, even whilst he was only begging an act of
kindness for another! Twice did he send messengers
to our Lord, as thinking himself unworthy to address
him in his own person; and when at our Saviour's ap-
proach to his house he himself came out to meet him,
it was only to entreat him not to trouble himself any
further; for that he was not worthy that Jesus should
enter under his roof.
This lowliness of mind in the centurion is the more
remarkable, because humility, in the gospel sense of the
word, is a virtue with which the ancients, and more
particularly the Romans, were totally unacquainted.
They had not even a word in their language to describe
it by. The only word that seems to express it, humili-
tas, signifies baseness, servility, and meanness of spirit,
a thing very different from true Christian humility; and
indeed this was the only idea they entertained of that
virtue. Every thing that we call meek and humble,
they considered as mean and contemptible. A haugh-
ty imperious overbearing temper, a high opinion of
their own virtue and wisdom, a contempt of all other
nations but their own, a quick sense and a keen resent-
ment, not only of injuries, but even of the slightest af-
fronts, this was the favourite and predominant character
of the Romans; and that gentleness of disposition, that
low estimation of our own merits, that ready preference
of others to ourselves, that fearfulness of giving offence,
that abasement of ourselves in the sight of God which
we call humility, they considered as the mark of a tame,
abject, and unmanly mind. When, therefore, we see
LECTURE VIII.
121
this virtuous centurion differing so widely from his
countrymen in this respect, we may certainly conclude
that his notions of morality were of a much higher
standard than theirs, and that his disposition peculiarly
fitted him for the reception of the Gospel. For humil-
ity is that virtue, which, more than any other, disposes
the mind to yield to the evidences, and embrace the
doctrines of the Christian revelation. It is that virtue
which the Gospel was peculiarly meant to produce, on
which it lays the greatest stress, and in which perhaps,
more than any other, consists the true essence and vital
principle of the Christian temper. We, therefore, find
the strongest exhortations to it in almost every page of
the Gospel. "I say to every man that is among you,"
says St. Paul, "not to think more highly of himself
than he ought to think, but to think soberly. Mind
not high things: be not wise in your own conceits,
but condescend to men of low estate. Stretch not
yourselves beyond your measure. Blessed are the
poor
in spirit, says our Lord, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
Whosoever shall humble himself as a little
child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect to the
lowly. As for the proud, he beholdeth them afar off.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he
shall lift you up. God resisteth the proud, but giveth
grace to the humble. Learn of me, says our Saviour,
for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls."*
I come now, lastly, to consider that remarkable part
of the centurion's character, more particularly noticed
by our Lord, I mean his FAITH. I say unto you, I
have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Now
the reason of the high encomiums bestowed on him by
our Saviour on this account was, because he reasoned
himself into a belief of our Lord's power to work mira-
cles, even at a distance; because he who had been bred
up in the principles of heathenism, and whose only
*Rom. xii. & 6. 2 Cor. x. 14. Matth. v. 3. xviii. 4. Psalm cxxxviii.
James jv. 6. 10. Matth. xi. 29.
16
122:
LECTURE VIIR
guide was the light of nature, did notwithstanding
frankly submit himself to sufficient evidence, and was
induced by the accounts he had received of our Sa-
viour's doctrines and miracles, to acknowledge that he
was a divine person. Whereas the Jews to whom he
was first and principally sent, who from their infancy
were instructed in the Holy Scriptures, in which were
such plain and express promises of the Messiah, and
who actually did expect his coming about that time,
suffered themselves to be so blinded by their prejudi-
ces and passions, that neither the unspotted sanctity of
his life, the excellence of his doctrine, nor the repeated
and astonishing miracles which he wrought, could
make the slightest impression on the greater part of that
stubborn people. Hence we may see how impossible
it is for any degree of evidence to convince those who
are determined not to be convinced; and what little
hopes there are of ever satisfying modern infidels, if
they will not be content with the proofs they already
have. They are continually complaining for want of
evidence; and so were the Jews always calling out for
new signs and new wonders, even when miracles were
daily wrought before their eyes. We may, therefore,
say of the former what our Saviour said of the latter,
"if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."*
It is possible, we find, for incredulity to resist even
ocular demonstration; and when obstinacy, vanity, and
vice have got thorough possession of the heart, they will
not only subdue reason and enslave the understanding,
but even bar up all the senses, and shut out conviction
at every inlet to the mind. This was most eminently
the case with some of the principal Jews. Because our
Saviour's appearance did not correspond to their erro-
neous and preconceived idea of the Messiah, because
he was not a triumphant prince, a temporal hero and
deliverer; but above all, because he upbraided them
with their vices, and preached up repentance and refor-
mation, every testimony that he could give of his di-
* Luke xvi. 31.
LECTURE VIII.
13
wine authority and power was rejected with scorn.
vain did he feed thousands with a handful of provisions;
in vain did he send away diseases with a word; in vain
did he make the graves give back their dead, rebuke
the winds and waves, and evil spirits still more unruly
and obstinate than they. In answer to all this they
could say,
"Is not this the carpenter's son? Does he
not eat and drink with publicans and sinners, and with
unwashen hands? Does he not even break the sabbath,
by commanding sick men to carry their beds on that
sacred day?"* These, doubtless, were unanswerable
arguments against miracles, signs, and prophecies,
against the evidence of sense itself, against the universal
voice of nature, bearing testimony to Christ.
The honest centurion, on the contrary, without any
Judaical prejudices to distort his understanding, without
asking any ill-timed and impertinent questions about
the birth or family of Christ, attends only to the facts
before him. He had heard of Jesus, had heard of his
unblemished life, his heavenly doctrines, his numerous
and astonishing miracles, had heard them confirmed by
such testimony as no ingenuous mind could resist. He
immediately surrenders himself up to such convincing
evidence; and so far from requiring (as the Jews con-
tinually did, and as modern sceptics still do) more and
stronger proofs, he seems afraid of shewing the slight-
est distrust of our Saviour's power. He declares his
belief of his being able to perform a miracle at any dis-
tance; and entreats him not to give himself the trouble
of coming to his house in person, but to speak the word
only and his servant should be healed.
This then, is the disposition of mind we ought more
particularly to cultivate; that freedom from self-suffi-
ciency and pride and prejudice of every kind, that sim-
plicity and singleness of heart which is open to convic-
tion, and receives, without resistance, the sacred im-
pressions of truth. It is the want of this, not of evi-
dence, that still makes infidels in Europe as it did at
first in Asia. It is this principle operating in different
Matth. ix. 11. xiii. 55. Luke xi. 38. John v. 18.
In
124
LECTURE VIII.
ways which now imputes to fraud and collusion those
miracles which the Jews ascribed to Beelzebub; which
now rejects all human testimony, as it formerly did even
the perceptions of sense.
Such were the distinguished virtues of this excellent
centurion, the contemplation of whose character sug-
gests to us a variety of important remarks.
The first is, that the miracles of our Lord had the
fullest credit given to them, not only (as is sometimes
asserted) by low, obscure, ignorant, and illiterate men,
but by men of rank and character, by men of the world,
by men perfectly competent to ascertain the truth of
any facts presented to their observation, and not likely
to be imposed upon by false pretences. Of this de-
scription was the centurion here mentioned, the Roman
proconsul Sergius Paulus, Dionysius a member of the
supreme court of Areopagus at Athens, and several
others of equal dignity and consequence.
Secondly, the history of the centurion teaches us,
that there is no situation of life, no occupation, no pro-
fession, however unfavourable it may appear to the cul-
tivation of religion, which precludes the possibility or
exempts us from the obligation of acquiring those good
dispositions, and exercising those Christian virtues
which the Gospel requires. Men of the world are apt
to imagine that religion was not made for them; that it
was intended only for those who pass their days in ob-
scurity, retirement, and solitude, where they meet with
nothing to interrupt their devout contemplation, no al-
lurements to divert their attention, and seduce their af-
fections from heaven and heavenly things. But as to
those whose lot is cast in the busy and the tumultuous
scenes of life, who are engaged in various occupations
and professions, or surrounded with gaieties, with plea-
sures and temptations, it cannot be expected that
amidst all these impediments, interruptions, and attrac-
tions, they can give up much of their time and thoughts
to another and a distant world, when they have so many
things that press upon them and arrest their attention in
this.
f
LECTURE VIII.
125
These, I am persuaded, are the real sentiments, and
they are perfectly conformable to the actual practice
of a large part of mankind. But to all these pretences
the instance of the centurion is a direct, complete, and
satisfactory answer. He was by his situation in life a
man of the world. His profession was that, which of
all others, is generally considered as most adverse to
religious sentiments and habits, most contrary to the
peaceful, humane, and gentle spirit of the Gospel, and
most exposed to the fascination of gaiety, pleasure,
thoughtlessness, and dissipation. Yet amidst all these
obstructions to purity of heart, to mildness of disposi-
tion and sanctity of manners, we see this illustrious
CENTURION rising above all the disadvantages of his
situation, and instead of sinking into vice and irreli-
gion, becoming a model of piety and humility, and all
those virtues which necessarily spring from such prin-
ciples. This is an unanswerable proof, that whenever
men abandon themselves to impiety, infidelity, and
profligacy, the fault is not in the situation but in the
heart; and that there is no mode of life, no employ-
ment or profession, which may not, if we please, be
made consistent with a sincere belief in the Gospel, and
with the practice of every duty we owe to our Maker,
our Redeemer, our fellow-creatures, and ourselves.
Nor is this the only instance in point; for it is ex-
tremely remarkable, and well worthy our attention,
that among all the various characters we meet with
in the New Testament, there are few represented
in a more amiable light, or spoken of in stronger terms
of approbation, than those of certain military men. Be-
sides the centurion who is the subject of this Lecture,
it was a centurion, who at our Saviour's crucifixion
gave that voluntary, honest, and unprejudiced testimo-
ny in his favour, "Truly this was the Son of God."*
It was a centurion who generously preserved the life of
St. Paul, when a proposition was made to destroy him
after his shipwreck on the island of Melitat. It was a
centurion to whom Saint Peter was sent by the express
* Matth. xxvii. 54,
Acts xxvii. 43.
LECTURE VIII.
appointment of God, to make him the first convert
among the Gentiles: a distinction of which he seemed,
in every respect, worthy; being, as we are told, "a just
and a devout man, one that feared God with all his
house, that gave much alms to the people, and prayed
to God alway."*
We see then that our centurion was not the only mi-
litary man celebrated in the Gospel for his piety and
virtue; nor are there wanting, thank God, distinguish-
ed instances of the same kind in our own age, in our
own nation, among our own commanders, and in the
recent memory of every one here present. All which
examples tend to confirm the observation already made,
of the perfect consistency of a military, and every other
mode of life, with a firm belief in the doctrines and a
eonscientious obedience to the precepts of religion,
126
Thirdly, there is still another reflection arising from
this circumstance, with which I shall conclude the pre-
sent Lecture; and this is, that when we observe men
bred up in arms repeatedly spoken of in scripture in
such strong terms of commendation as those we have
mentioned, we are authorized to conclude, that the
profession they are engaged in is not, as a mistaken sect
of Christians amongst us professes to think, an unlaw.
ful one. On the contrary, it seems to be studiously
placed by the sacred writers in a favourable and an hon-
ourable light; and in this light it always has been and
always ought to be considered. He who undertakes
an occupation of great toil and great danger, for the
purpose of serving, defending, and protecting his coun-
try, is a most valuable and respectable member of soci
ety; and if he conducts himself with valour, fidelity, and
humanity, and amidst the horrors of war cultivates the
gentle manners of peace, and the virtues of a devout
and holy life, he most amply deserves, and will assured-
ly receive the esteem, the admiration, and the applause
of his grateful country, and what is of still greater im
portance, the approbation of his God,
* Acts x. 2.
LECTURE IX.
127
LECTURE IX.
MATTHEW x.
I NOW proceed to the consideration of the 10th
Chapter of St. Matthew.
In the preceding chapter we find our Saviour work-
ing a great variety of miracles. He healed the man
that was sick of the palsy, and forgave his sins; a plain
proof of his divinity, because none but God has the
power and the prerogative of forgiving sins; and there-
fore the Jews accused him of blasphemy for pretending
to this power. He also cured the woman who touched
the hem of his garment. He raised to life the deceased
daughter of the ruler of the synagogue. He restored
to sight the two blind men that followed him; and he
cast out from a dumb man the devil with which he was
possessed, and restored him to his speech. These mi-
racles are particularly recorded: but besides these there
must have been a prodigious number wrought by him,
of which no distinct mention is made; for we are in-
formed in the 31st verse that he went about all the cities
and villages teaching in their synagogues, and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness.
and every disease among the people.
These continued miracles must necessarily have pro-
duced a great number of converts. And accordingly
we find the multitude of his followers was now so great,
that he found it necessary to appoint some coadjutors
to himself in this great work. The harvest truly is
plenteous, says he to his disciples, but the labourers
are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that
he would send forth labourers into his harvest.”*
I
+
These labourers he now determined to send forth;
and in pursuance of this resolution we find him in the
beginning of this chapter calling together his disciples,
out of whom he selected twelve, called by St. Matthew
*Matth. ix. 37, 38.
128
LECTURE IX.
apostles or messengers, whom he sent forth to preach
the gospel, and furnished them with ample powers for
that purpose; powers such as nothing less than Omni-
potence could bestow. The names of these apostles
were as follows; Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip,
Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, another James, Thad-
deus or Jude, Simon, Judas Iscariot. These twelve
persons, St. Matthew tells us, Jesus sent forth, and
commanded them, saying,
"Go not into the way of
the Gentiles, and into any cities of the Samaritans enter
ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel; and as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of
heaven is at hand."* This was the business which
they were sent to accomplish; they were to go about
the country of Judea, and to preach to the Jews in the
first place the holy religion which their divine master
had just began to teach. Then follow their powers;
"heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out devils."
C
After this come their instructions, and a variety of
directions how to conduct themselves in the discharge
of their arduous and important mission, of which I shall
take notice hereafter; but must first offer to your con-
sideration a few remarks on this extraordinary designa-
tion of the apostles to their important office.
And in the first place, who were the men singled out
by our blessed Lord for the purpose of diffusing his
religion through the world; that is, for the very singu
lar purpose of persuading men to relinquish the religion
of their ancestors, the principles they had imbibed from
their infancy, the customs, the prejudices, the habits,
the ways of thinking which they had for a long course
of years indulged, and to adopt in their room a system
of thinking and acting in many respects directly oppo-
site to them; a religion exposing them to many present
hardships and severe trials, and referring them for their
reward to a distant period of time, and an invisible
world. Was it to be expected that such a change as
this, such a sudden and violent revolution in the minds
* Matth. x. 2-3.
LECTURE IX.
129
Vý
of men, could be brought about by common and ordi-
nary
instruments? Would it not require agents of a
very superior order, of considerable influence from their
birth and wealth and situation in life, men of the pro-
foundest erudition, of the brightest talents, of the most
consummate knowledge of the world and the human
heart, of the most insinuating manners, of the most
commanding and fascinating eloquence? Were then
the apostles of this description? Quite the contrary.—
They were plain, humble, unpretending men, of low
birth and low occupations, without learning, without
education, without any extraordinary endowments, na-
tural or acquired, without any thing in short to recom-
mend them but their simplicity, integrity, and purity
of manners. With what hopes of success could men
such as these set about the most difficult of all enter-
prizes, the reformation of a corrupt world, and the con-
version of it to a new faith? Yet we all know that they
actually did accomplish these two most arduous things,
and that on the foundations they laid the whole super-
structure of the Christian church has been raised, and
the divine truths of the Gospel spread through all parts
of the civilized world. How then is this to be account-
ed for? It is utterly impossible to account for it in any
way but that which Christ himself points out, in this
very charge to his apostles: "Heal the sick," says he
to them in the 8th verse," cleanse the lepers, raise the
dead, cast out devils." Here is the explanation of the
whole mystery. It was the powers with which they
were invested, the miracles they were enabled to per-
form, which procured such multitudes of converts.—
The people saw that God was with them, and that,
therefore, every thing they taught must be true.
Here is at once a sufficient cause assigned for the ef-
fect produced by agents, apparently so unequal to the
production of it. We challenge all the infidels in the
world to assign any other adequate cause. They have
never yet done it; and we assert with confidence that
they never can.
17
LECTURE IX.
These then were the powers the apostles carried along
with them; and where shall we find the sovereign that
could ever furnish his ambassadors with such qualifica-
tions as these? If they were asked with what authority
they were invested, and what proofs they could give
that they were actually commissioned to instruct man-
kind in the principles of true religion, by that great per-
sonage the Son of God, whose servants and ministers
they pretended to be, their answer was short and deci-
sive; bring us your sick, and we will heal them; shew
us your lepers. aud we will cleanse them; produce your
dead, and we will restore them to life. It would not be
very easy to dispute the authenticity of such creden-
tials as these.
130
It is further to be observed on this head, that the cir-
cumstance of our Saviour not only working miracles
himself, but also enabling others to perform them, is
an instance of divine power, to which no other prophet
or teacher before him, true or false, ever pretended. In
this, as in many other respects, he stands unrivalled and
alone.
After this follow some directions, no less singular
and new. "Provide neither gold nor silver, nor brass
your purses, nor scrip for your journey. neither two
coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves."*
in
That is, they were to take a long journey without
making any other provision for it than the staff in their
hand, and the clothes they had on, for, says Jesus, the
workman is worthy of his meat; an intimation that the
providence of God would watch over and supply their
wants. This required some confidence in their Mas-
ter; and unless they had good grounds for thinking
that it was in his power to engage Providence on their
side (or in other words, that he was actually the Son of
God) they would scarce have run the risk of so un-
promising an expedition. But this conclusion grows
stronger when we come to the declaration in the next
and following verses. "Behold, I send you forth as
sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore, wise as
*
Matth. x. 9-10.
-
LECTURE IX.
431
serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men ;
for they will deliver you up to the councils; and they
will scourge you in the synagogues; and ye shall be
brought before governors and kings for my name's
sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles;
and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death,
and the father the child; and the children shall rise up
against their parents, and cause them to be put to
death; and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's
sake."*
What now shall we say to this extraordinary and un-
exampled declaration ?
When a sovereign sends his ambassadors to a foreign
country, he makes an ample provision for their journey,
he assigns them a liberal allowance for their support,
and generally holds out at the same time the prospect of
a future reward for their labours and their services to
their country on their return from their embassy. And
without this few men would be disposed to undertake
the commission.
But here every thing is the reverse; instead of sup-
port, they were to meet with persecution; instead of
an honourable reception, they were to experience uni-
versal hatred and detestation; instead of reward, they
were to be exposed to certain ruin and destruction, and
to be let loose like so many sheep among wolves.
Can we now conceive it possible that any men in
their senses should, without some very powerful and
extraordinary motive, voluntarily undertake such a
commission as this, in which their only recompence
was to be affliction, misery, pain, and death; in which
all the natural affections of the human heart were to be
extinguished or inverted, and their nearest relations,
their parents, children, or brethren, were to be their
persecutors and executioners? Is it usual for human
beings wantonly and needlessly to expose themselves
to such evils as these, without the least prospect of any
advantage to themselves or their families? You may
say perhaps that simple, ignorant, uneducated men,
* Matth. x. 16, 17, 18, 21, 22.
132
LECTURE IX.
like the apostles, might easily be deluded by an artful
leader, and betrayed into very dreadful calamities, and
that we see multitudes thus deceived and ruined every
day. It is true; but where in this case is the art of
the leader, or the delusion of his followers? In the cases
alluded to, men are induced to embark in perilous un-
dertakings, and to run headlong into destruction, by
fair promises and tempting offers, by promises of liber-
ty, of wealth, of honour, of popularity, of glory. But
here, instead of employing any art, or making any ai
tempt to deceive his followers, our Saviour plainly tells
them they are to expect nothing but what is most dread-
ful to human nature. Whatever they suffered, there-
fore, they suffered with their eyes open, and with their
own free choice and consent. It is true, they were
plain ignorant men; but they could feel pain, and they
could have no more fondness for misery and death than
other people. Yet this they did actually and cheerful-
ly undergo at the command of their Lord. How is
this to be explained and accounted for? Is there any
instance upon record before this in the annals of the
world, where twelve grave sober men, without any rea-
son, and without being misled by any artifice or delu.
sion whatever, voluntarily exposed themselves at the
desire of another person to persecution, torment, and
destruction? There must have been some cogent rea-
son for such a conduct as this; and that reason could
be nothing less than a full and perfect conviction, arising
from the miracles which they saw with their own eyes,
and which they themselves were enabled to perform,
that Christ was what he pretended to be, the Son of
God; that all power was given to him in heaven and
on earth; and that he was able to fulfil the promises he
had made them of a recompence in a future life, infi-
nitely surpassing in magnitude and in duration all the
sufferings they could experience in the present world.
This is the only rational account to be given of their
conduct, and it presents to us in a short compass a
strong convincing evidence of the truth of the Chris-
tian revelation.
-
-
LECTURE IX.
133
In order to fortify the minds of his disciples against
the severe trials they were to undergo, our blessed
Lord, in the 28th verse, adds the following exhorta-
tion: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not
able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able
to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
This passage contains a decisive proof of two very
important doctrines, the existence of a soul distinct
from the body, and the continuance of that soul after
cath (both of which, in direct opposition to this and
many other passages of scripture, some late writers have
dared to controvert;) and it plainly refers the apostles
to the consideration of a future life, in which all their
views, their hopes and fears, were to center, and by
which their conduct in this world was entirely to be
regulated. The worst their enemies could do to them
in this life was to kill the body, which must some time
or other be destroyed by age or disease. But God was
able to kill the soul, which was formed for immortality,
to annihilate it at once, or to condemn it to everlasting
punishment. It was, therefore, of infinitely more con-
sequence to avoid his displeasure, and to secure his ap-
probation by performing their duty, than by shamefully
deserting it to escape the infliction of the bitterest evils
that their fellow creatures could bring upon them.
In conformity to this advice he tells them, "that he
that endureth to the end shall be saved: And that he
who loses his life for his sake in this world, shall find
it in a far more exalted sense in the next.”*
This was solid comfort and substantial support. But
unless our Lord had given them irresistible miraculous
evidence of the reality of this future reward, unless they
had absolute demonstration of its certainty, it was ut-
terly impossible that they could be so mad as to sacri-
fice to this expectation every thing most valuable in this
life, and even life itself.
As a still further support under the terrifying pros-
pect which our blessed Lord had held up to the apos-
* Matth. x. 23—39.
134
LECTURE IX.
tles, he assures them that the providence of God would
continually superintend and watch over them.
"Are not two sparrows, says he, sold for a farthing,
and one of them shall not fall to the ground without
your Father; but the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more va-
lue than many sparrows."*
Here we have that most important and comfortable
doctrine of a particular Providence plainly and clearly
laid down.
That he who erected the immense and magnificent
fabrick of the universe will continue to regard and to
preserve the work of his own hands, and maintain what
is called the general order of nature, and the ordinary
course of human affairs, is so consonant to reason and
common sense, that few even of the pagans who believ-
ed the being of a God, entertained any doubt of this
general superintendence of the Deity over the worlds
he has created, and the inhabitants he has placed in
them. But when we descend from this comprehensive
view of things to the several constituent parts of the
gencral system, and to every individual of every spe-
cies of animated beings dispersed throughout the whole;
when we reflect how very inconsiderable a place this
globe that we inhabit holds amongst the celestial bo-
dies, how very small a portion it occupies of unbound-
ed space, and how infinitely minute and insignificant
every human creature must appear in the vast mass of
created beings, we can hardly think it possible that the
care of the Supreme Being should extend to ourselves;
we cannot help fearing that we shall be lost and over-
looked in the immensity of creation, and that we are
objects far too small and minute to fall within the
sphere of our Maker's observation. The more we rea-
son on this subject, the more ground we shall find for
these apprehensions; and there is nothing, I will ven-
ture to say, in the whole compass of what is called na-
tural religion or modern philosophy, that can in the
* Matth. x. 29, 30, 31,
LECTURE IX.
581
smallest degree tend to allay or to remove these natural,
these unavoidable misgivings of the human mind.
Here then is one of those many instances in which
we can have no certainty, no solid ground for the sole
of our foot to stand upon, but in the Gospel of Christ.
Our reason, though sent out ever so often in search of
a resting place, returns to us, like Noah's dove, when
the waters covered the earth, without any token of com-
fort. It is scripture only which in this important point
can give rest unto our souls. There we are assured
that every individual being, even the least and most
contemptible, even the sparrow that is sold for less than
a farthing, is under the eye of the Almighty; that so
far from man being too inconsiderable for the notice of
his Maker, the minutest parts of his body, the very
hairs of his head, are all numbered. These very strong.
instances are plainly chosen on purpose to quiet all our
fears, and to banish from our minds every idea of our
being too small and insignificant for the care and pro-
tection of the Almighty.
This most consolatory doctrine of a particular Provi-
dence, of a providence which watches over every indi-
vidual of the human race, places the Christian in a situ-
ation totally different from that of every one who disbe-
lieves revelation. The latter must conceive himself
under no other government but that of chance or for-
tune, and of course must consider the whole happiness
of his life as exposed every moment to the mercy of the
next accident that may befal him. The true believer
on the contrary has the most perfect conviction that he
is constantly under the protection of an almighty and
merciful God, in whom he lives, and moves, and has
his being; "whose eyes are over the righteous, and
whose ears are open to their prayers;" that therefore if
he lives, so as to merit the approbation of his heavenly
Father, he has every reason to hope for such a degree of
happiness, even here, as the imperfection of human na-
ture will admit; and he is certain that nothing dreadful
can befal him without the knowledge and permission of
his great Protector, who will even in that case support
-
136
LECTURE IX.
him under it, and render it ultimately conducive to his
good.
The next passage in this chapter to which I shall di-
rect your attention, is that very remarkable one which
has furnished the enemies of Christianity with so much
pretence for obloquy and invective against the Gospel,
and has been the source of no small uneasiness and dis-
may to some of its warmest friends. The passage I
mean is this; "Think not," says our Lord, "I am
come to send peace on earth, I caine not to send peace
but a sword; for I am come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother,
and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foes shall be those of his own household.”*
What shall we say now (exclaims the infidel) to this
extraordinary declaration? Here we have the Author
of the Christian religion himself openly and explicitly
avowing that he came to send a sword upon earth, to
dissolve all the tender endearing ties of domestic affec-
tion, to set the nearest relations at variance, and to arm
them with inextinguishable rage and rancour against
each other.
But can this be really the sense of our Saviour's
words? Can HE mean to denounce war and destruction
to the human species? HE whose whole religion breathes
nothing but peace, gentleness, kindness, and compas-
sion, to every human being; who made charity or the
love of man the great characteristic mark of his reli-
gion: who expressly forbade his disciples" to call
down fire from heaven" on those who had insulted
them; who in this very chapter commanded them" to
be harmless as doves; and declared that he came not
to destoy men's lives, but to save them?" It is evi-
dently impossible that the author of such precepts and
such professions could mean literally to spread ruin
and desolation over the earth. What then was his
meaning? It was to obviate an error into which the
apostles would be very apt to fall, and which probably
our Saviour saw rising in their minds. You tell us
* Matth. x. 34-36.
Matth. x. 16. Luke ix. 56.
LECTURE IX.
137
(they perhaps said within themselves) you tell us that
we shall be persecuted, tormented, and put to death,
and that, even by those who are most nearly connected
with us.
But how is this possible? How can all this
happen under your protection, under the reign of the
Messiah, THE PRINCE OF PEACE, under whom we
have always been given to expect tranquility, repose,
and happiness? To this supposed reasoning our Sa-
viour answers; You are mistaken in your idea of that
peace, which I, your Messiah, am to give you. It is
not immediate temporal peace, but peace, in a spiritual
sense, peace in your own minds, and peace with God.
Ultimately indeed I shall establish peace in every sense
of the word, and "shall make wars to cease in all the
world;"* but at present, and indeed for many years
to come, I shall not bring peace but a sword upon
earth. The promulgation of my religion will be pro-
ductive of much dissension, cruelty, and persecution,
not only to you, but to all those who for many ages af-
terwards shall preach the Gospel in purity and truth.-
The true cause of this will be the wickedness and the fe-
rocious passions of men; but the occasion and the pre-
tence for it will be the holy religion which you are to
promulgate. In this sense, and in this only, it is that
Ι may be said to bring a sword upon earth; but they
who really bring it, are the open enemies or pretended
friends of the Gospel.
Still it is said by the adversaries of our faith, that
however these words may be interpreted, the fact is,
that Christians themselves have brought a sword, and
a most destructive sword, upon earth; that they have
persecuted one another with inconceivable rancour
and fury; and that their dissensions have produced
more bloodshed, misery, and desolation, among man-
kind, than all the other wars of contending nations put
together.
To this I answer in the first place, that the charge as
here stated is not true. It is not true that wars of reli-
gion have been more frequent and more sanguinary than
* Psalm xlvi. 9.
18
:
7
138
LECTURE IX.
any others. On the contrary, it may be proved in the
clearest manner, from the most authentic facts, that by
far the greatest number of wars, as well as the longest,
most extensive, and most destructive, have been ow-
ing to causes purely political, and those too sometimes
of the most trivial nature. And if we can allow men to
harass and destroy one another for a mere point of ho-
nour, or a few acres of land, why should we think it
strange to see them defending, with the same heat and
bitterness, what they conceive to be the most essential
requisite to happiness both here and hereafter?
2diy. I must observe, that a very large part of those
animosities, wars, and massacres, which have been usu-
ally stiled religious, and with the entire guilt of which
Christianity has been very unjustly loaded, have been
altogether, or at least in a great measure, owing to cau-
ses of a very different nature; to the ambition, the re-
sentment, the avarice, the rapacity of princes and of
conquerors, who assumed the mask of religion to veil
their real purposes, and who pretended to fight in the
cause of God and his church, when they had in reality
nothing else in view than to advance their power or ex-
tend their dominions. All history is full of instances
of this kind.
3dly. It should be remembered, that the wildest ex-
cesses of religious persecution did not take place till
the world was overrun with barbarity, ignorance, bigo-
try, and superstition; till military ideas predominated
in every thing, in the form of government, in the tem-
per of the laws, in the tenure of lands, in the adminis-
tration of justice itself; and till the Scriptures were
shut up in a foreign tongue, and were therefore un-
known to the people. It was not therefore from the
Gospel, but from a total ignorance of the Gospel, from
a total perversion of its true temper, genius, and spirit,
that these excesses and enormities arose.
C
4thly. That this is the real truth of the case appears
demonstrably from this circumstance, that when after
the reformation the Scriptures were translated into the
several vernacular languages of Europe, and the real
LECTURE IX.
139
nature of the Christian revelation became of course
more generally known, the violence of persecution be
gan to abate; and as the sacred writings were more and
more studied, and their true sense better understood,
the baneful spirit of intolerance lost ground every day,
and the divine principle of Christian charity and bene-
volence has been continually gaining fresh strength;
till at length, at the present moment, persecution by
Christians on the score of religion only has almost en-
tirely vanished from the face of the earth; and we may
venture to indulge the hope, that wars of religion, strict-
ly so called, will be heard of no more.
I now proceed to explain the verses immediately fol-
lowing that which we have been just considering.
"I am come, says our Lord, to set a man at vari-
ance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-
law, and a man's foes shall be those of his own house-
hold."
This passage is a clear proof that the calamities and
miseries predicted in the preceding verse relate prima-
rily and principally to the apostles themselves, because
these words are almost a repetion of what our Lord ap-
plied to them in the 27th verse, "The brother shall de-
liver up the brother to death, and the father the child;
and the children shall rise up against their parents, and
cause them to be put to death."*
Now as these cruelties were inflicted on the apostles,
not by believers, but by unbelieving Jews and heathens,
that is, by the enemies of the Gospel, it is evident, that
when our Saviour says he came to set a man at variance
against his father, and so on, he meant only to say, that
the religion which he taught would meet with the most
violent opposition from the world, and would expose
his apostles and disciples to the most unjust and in-
human treatment, even sometimes from their nearest re-
lations.
Our Lord then goes on to say, "He that loveth father
and mother more than me is not worthy of me." This
* Matth. x. 21.
† Matth. x. 37.
140
LECTURE IX.
has an evident reference to the two preceding verses;
in which our Lord had declared, that amidst the vari
ous miseries that would be occasioned by the wicked-
ness and barbarity of those who rejected and resisted
the Christian religion, dissentions would arise even
among those most nearly connected with each other,
and the true Christian would sometimes find his bitter-
est enemies even in the bosom of his own family. A
father would perhaps persecute his own son, and a mo-
ther her daughter, on account of her religious opinions,
and would by argument and by influence endeavour to
persuade, or by authority and power to compel them to
abjure their faith. In cases such as these our Lord
here intimates, that when the choice is between re-
nouncing our nearest relations and renouncing our re-
ligion, we must not hesitate a moment what part we are
to take; we must, to obey God rather than man, we
must give up all and follow Christ. "He that loveth
father and mother more than me, is not worthy of me;
and he that loveth son and daughter more than me, is
not worthy of me."* That is evidently when the
nearest and dearest relations come in competition with
our belief in Christ, and obedience to his commands,
our affection for them and deference to their opinions
must give place to love for our Redeemer and attach-
ment to our Maker.
In the parallel place of St. Luke this precept is ex-
pressed in still stronger terms." If any man come to
me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and
children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own
life also he cannot be my disciple."+
The mind of the reader is at the first view apt to re-
volt at the seeming harshness of this declaration; but it
is evidently nothing more than a bolder and more figu-
rative way (according to a well-known Hebrew idiom)
of conveying the very same sentiment that St. Matthew
clothes in gentler language. It means nothing more
than that we ought to entertain a more ardent affection
for our heavenly Father than for our earthly parents;
* Acts v. 29.
† Luke xiv. 26,
•
LECTURE X.
141
and that his commands must be preferred to theirs
whenever they happen to interfere. And in the same
manner several other apparently severe injunctions in
the Gospel are to be explained and mitigated by others
of the same import, but more perspicuously and morę
mildly expressed.
But we are not only enjoined to love Christ and his
religion more than our nearest relations, where they
happen to interfere, but even more than our own life.
He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me,
is not worthy of me."* This plainly alludes to the
custom of persons who were going to be crucified bear-
ing their own cross; and the literal and primary mean-
ing is, that we should be ready, if called upon, to un-
dergo even that painful and ignominious death, rather
than renounce our faith. This indeed is a most severe
trial; but it is a trial which it is not only our duty but
our interest to undergo, if reduced to the necessity ei-
ther of forfeiting our life, or renouncing our allegiance
to Christ. For we are told here by our Lord himself,
that he who findeth his life, shall lose it, and he that
loseth his life for his sake shall find it." That is,
whoever to save his life apostatizes from his faith, shall
be punished with the loss of that life which alone de-
serves the name, life everlasting. But he who sacrifi-
ces his life to his religion in this world, shall be reward
ed with eternal life in the world to come.
* Matth. x. 38.
+ Ibid. 39.
LECTURE X.
MATTH. xii.
W
THE next chapter which seems more peculiarly
to deserve our attention, and to require some explana-
tion and illustration, is the 12th chapter of St. Mat-
thew.
142
LECTURE X.
It begins thus: "At that time Jesus went on the
sabbath-day through the corn, and his disciples were
an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and
to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto
him, behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to
do on the sabbath-day. But he said unto them, have
ye not read what David did when he was an hungred,
and they that were with him? How he entered into the
house of God, and did eat the shew-bread, which it
was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which
were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye
not read in the law, how that on the sabbath-day the
priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are
blameless? But I say unto you, that in this place is one
greater than the temple. But if ye had known what
this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye
would not have condemned the guiltless; for the Son
of man is Lord even of the sabbath-day.
he was departed thence, he went into the synagogue.
And there was a man which had his hand withered;
and they asked him, saying, is it lawful to heal on the
sabbath-day? that they might accuse him. And he
said unto them, what man shall there be among you
that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the
sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
How much then is a man better than a sheep? Where-
fore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath-day. Then
saith he to the man, stretch forth thine hand. And he
stretched it forth, and it was restored whole like the
other."
And when
Although here are two different transactions related,
that of plucking the ears of corn, and healing the with-
ered hand, yet as they are closely connected together
by the evangelist, and relate to the same subject, the
observation of the sabbath, I have recited the whole
passage comprehending both these incidents at length,
that you might have before you at one view all that our
Saviour has said on this important branch of our duty,
and that we might fully understand what kind of rest it
is that our blessed Lord judged to be necessary on the
LECTURE X.
148
Jewish sabbath, and what limitations and exceptions
to it he admitted; from whence we may form some
judgment what our own duty is on that holy day which
we justly call THE LORD'S DAY, and which must
be considered as the Christian sabbath.
From this passage, as well as from many others, it
appears, that the Jews had their eyes constantly fixed
on Jesus and his followers, and most anxiously sought
out for opportunities of fastening some guilt upon
them. It appears also that they were extremely unfor-
tunate in these attempts, and compelled (as in the pres-
ent instance) to have recourse to the silliest and most
trivial charges; and even these turned out to be per-
fectly unfounded. From whence I think we may fair-
ly draw this inference, that the character and conduct
of our Lord and his disciples were perfectly blameless;
since with all the industry of so many sharp-sighted
observers, so extremely well disposed to discover guilt
or to make it, they could discover no real fault in
him.
The pretence on this occasion was, that the disci-
ples, by plucking a few ears of corn and eating them
as they passed through a corn-field on the sabbath day,
had violated the rest of that holy day, and thus trans-
gressed the Mosaical law. But to this our Lord re-
plied, that in cases of extreme necessity the severity
of that law might be dispensed with and relaxed. As
a proof of this, he appealed first to the example of Da-
vid, the man after God's own heart, who (as may be
seen in 1 Samuel, xxi. 6.) when he and his men were
reduced to great streights for want of food, asked and
obtained from Ahimelech the priest a part of the con-
secrated bread which had been taken from the altar,
and which it was not lawful for any but the priests to
eat. The other instance he adduced, was that of the
priests themselves, who in the necessary service of the
temple on the sabbath-day were obliged to work with
their own hands, by lighting the fires, killing the vic-
tims, offering up the sacrifices, &c. This in
This in any oth-
er persons would have been considered as profanations
144
LECTURE X.
of the sabbath; but in the priests who were engaged in
the duties of religion it was not.
These arguments addressed to a Jew were in them-
selves unanswerable; because they appealed to the prac
tice of persons whom the Jews held sacred, and whose.
conduct they durst not condemn. But they went still
further than this; they went to establish this general
principle, that there might be obiigations of a force su-
perior even to the law of Moses, and to which it ought
in certain cases to give way; as in the first instance to
the pressing demands of necessity, in the other to the
services of the temple.
If then in these cases the law might be dispensed
with, still more might it be overruled by a power para-
mount to every other power, by him who was far great-
er and holier than the temple itseli, who was Lord even
of the sabbath, who was indeed supreme Lord over all,
and might, therefore authorize his disciples, in a case
of real urgency, to depart a little from the rigour of the
sabbatical rest.
It should be observed here, that where St. Matthew
says, "the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath-
day;" St. Mark, in the parallel place, expresses him-
self thus: "The sabbath was made for man, and not
man for the sabbath." That is, the sabbath was given
to man for his benefit, for the improvement of his soul,
as well as for the rest of his body; and the latter, when
necessary, must be sacrificed to the former. For man
was not made for the sabbath; was not made to be a
slave to it, to be so servilely bound down to the strict
pharisaical observance of it, as to lose by that rigour-
ous adherence to the latter, opportunities of doing es-
sential service to himself and his fellow creatures.
To this irresistible force of reasoning our blessed
Lord adds another argument of considerable weight;
"If ye had known, says he, what this meaneath, I will
have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have con-
demned the guiltless." The quotation is from the
prophet Hosea; the words are supposed to be those of
God himself; and the meaning is, according to a weil-
LECTURE X.
146
known Jewish idiom, I prefer mercy to sacrifice; that
is, when any ceremonial institution interferes with the
execution of any charitable or pious design, the former
must give place to the latter; as in the present instance,
a strict observance of the sabbath must not be suffered
to deprive my disciples of that refreshment which is
necessary to support them under the fatigue of follow-
ing me, and dispending to mankind the blessings of the
gospel. We see then with what superstitious rigour
the Jews adhered to the letter of their law respecting
the Jewish sabbath; and with what superior wisdom
and dignity our Lord endeavoured to raise their minds
above such trivial things to the true spirit of it, to the
life and soul of religion.
The fault however here reproved and corrected is
not one into which we of this country are likely to fall,
nor is there any need to warn us against imitating the
Jews in this instance. There is no danger that we
should carry the observance of our sabbath too far, or
that we should be too scrupulously nice in avoiding
every the minutest infringement of the rest and sancti-
ty of that holy day. The bent and tendency of the
present times is too evidently to a contrary extreme, to
an excessive relaxation instead of an excessive strictness
in the regard shewn to the Lord's day. I am not now
speakingof the religious duties appropriated to the Lord's
day, for these are not now before us, but solely of the rest,
the repose which it requires. This rest is plainly infring-
ed, whenever the lower classes of people continue their
ordinary occupations on the sabbath, and whenever the
higher employ their servants and their cattle on this day
in needless labour. This, however, we see too frequently
done, more particularly by selecting Sunday as a day
for travelling, for taking long journies, which might as
well be performed at any other time. This is a direct
violation of the fourth commandment, which expressly
gives the sabbath as a day of rest to our servants and
our cattle.
→
This temporary suspension of labour, this refresh-
ment and relief from incessant toil, is most graciously
19
¡
LECTURE X.
146
allowed even to the brute creation, by the great Gover
nor of the universe, whose mercy extends over all his
works. It is the boon of heaven itself. It is a small
drop of comfort thrown into their cup of misery; and
to wrest from them this only privilege, this sweetest
consolation of their wretched existence, is a degree of
inhumanity for which there wants a name; and of which
few people I am persuaded, if they could be brought
to reflect seriously upon it, would ever be guilty.
-
These profanations of the sabbath are however some-
times defended on the ground of the very passage we
have been just considering. It is alledged, that as our
Lord here reproves the Jews for too rigorous an atten-
tion to the rest of the sabbath, it conveys an intimation
that we ought not to be too exact and scrupulous in
that respect; and that many things may in fact be al-
lowable which timid minds may consider as unlawful.
But it should be observed, that Jesus condemns nothing
in the conduct of the Jews but what was plainly absurd
and superstitious; and he allows of no exceptions to
that rest from labour which they observed on the sab-
bath, except simply works of necessity and charity;
such for instance as those very cases which gave occa-
sion to the conversation in this chapter between Christ
and the Jews, that of the disciples plucking the ears of
corn on the sabbath-day to satisfy their hunger, and
that of our Saviour's restoring the withered hand. It
is lawful, in short, as our Saviour expresses it, to do
well on the sabbath-day; to preserve ourselves, and to
benefit our fellow creatures. Thus far then we may
go, but no farther. In other respects, the rest of the
Lord's day is to be observed; and those very excep-
tions which our Saviour makes are a proof, that in eve-
ry other case he approves and sanctions the duty of
resting on the sabbath-day. It is also remarkable, that
our own laws, grounding themselves no doubt on this
declaration of Christ, make the same exceptions to the
rest of the sabbath that he does; they allow works of
necessity and charity, but no others. To these, there-
* See the Statute of 29 C. 2, c. 7.
LECTURE X.
147
F.
fore, we ought to confine ourselves as nearly as may be;
and with these exceptions, and these only, consecrate
the sabbath as a holy rest unto the Lord.
This rest the Almighty enjoined, not, as is sometimes
pretended, to the Jews only, but to all mankind. For
even immediately after the great work of creation was
finished, we are told, "that God ended his work that
he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all
the work which he had made; and God blessed the se-
venth day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had
rested from all his work which God created and
made."* It is evident, therefore, that the seventh
day was to be a day of rest to all mankind, in memory
of God having on that day finished his great work of
creation; and this seventh day, after our Lord's resur-
rection, was changed by his apostles to the first day of
the week, on which our Lord rose from the dead, and
rested from his labours; so that the rest of this day is
now commemorative of both these important events,
the creation and the resurrection.
I now proceed to consider the consequences of this
conversation between our Lord and the Pharisees on
the subject of the sabbath. One should have expected
that so wise and rational an explanation of the law re-
specting that day, releasing men from the senseless se-
verities imposed upon them by the servile fears of su-
perstition, but at the same time requiring all that re-
spite from labour which is really conducive to the glory
of God and the happiness of man; one should have ex-
pected, I say, that such wisdom and such benevolence
as this would have triumphed over even Pharisaical ob-
stinacy, and extorted the admiration and applause of
his hearers. But stubborn prejudices, and deeprooted
malignity, are not so easily subdued. For see what.
actually followed. "The Pharisees went out," says
the evangelist, "and held a council how they might
destroy him." Destroy him! for what? Why for
giving ease to timid minds and scrupulous consciences,
and for restoring the withered hand of a poor decrepid
}
* Gen. ii. 3, 3.
1
LECTURE X.
man.
And were these deeds that deserved destrue-
tion? Would it not rather have been the just reward
of those inhuman wretches who were capable of con-
ceiving so execrable a project: and would not our
Saviour have been justified in calling down fire from
heaven, as he easily might, to consume them? But
his heart abhorred the thought. He pursued a di-
rectly opposite conduct; and instead of inflicting upon
them a punishment which might have destroyed them,
he chose to set them an example that might amend
them. He chose to shew them the difference between
their temper and his own, between those malignant vin-
dictive passions which governed them, and the mild,
gentle, conciliating disposition which his religion in-
spired: between the spirit of the world, in short, and
the spirit of the Gospel. He withdrew himself silently
and quietly from them; and great multitudes followed
him, and he healed them all; and, to avoid all irritation
and all contest, he charged them that they should not
make him known. "Thus was fulfilled," says the
evangelist, that which was spoken by Esaias the pro-
phet, saying, " Behold my servant whom I have cho-
sen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judg-
ment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry; nei-
ther shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A
bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall
he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victo-
ry."*
A most sublime passage; which may thus be
paraphrased. Behold my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased! I will
put my spirit upon him, and he shall teach true religion,
not only to the people of Israel, but to the heathens
also; and this he shall do with the utmost tenderness,
mildness, and meekness, without contention and noise,
without tumult and disturbance. A bruised reed shall
he not break; he shall not bear hard upon a wounded
and contrite, and truly humble and penitent heart, bow-
ed down with a sense of its infirmities. And smoking
* Isaiah xlii. 1—3.
148
LECTURE X.
149
flax shall he not quench; the faintest spark of returning
virtue he will not extinguish by severity; but will che-
rish and encourage the one, and will raise and animate
and enliven the other; till by these gentle conciliating
means he shall have triumphed over the wickedness and
malevolence of his enemies, and completely established
his religion throughout the world. What an amiable
picture is here given us of the divine Author of our
faith! and how exactly does this prophetic description
correspond to the whole tenor of his conduct in the
propagation of his religion!
The next remarkable occurrences which present
themselves in this chapter are those of our Saviour cast-
ing a devil out of a man that was both blind and dumb;
the reflections which the Pharisees threw upon him in
consequence of this miracle, and the effectual manner in
which he silenced them, and repelled their calumny.
The passage is as follows: "Then was brought unto
him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb, and
he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both
spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and
said is not this the Son of David? But when the Pha-
risees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out
devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And
Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;
and every city or house divided against itself shall not
stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided
against himself, how shall then his kingdom stand?”
This passage affords room for a variety of observa-
tion:
In the first place, it is evident from this, as well as
from many other passages of holy writ, that at the time
when our Saviour promulged his religion, there was a
calamity incident to the human race, of which at pre-
sent we know nothing, and that is, the possession of
their bodies by evil spirits or devils (as they are usually
called in scripture) which occasioned great torments
to the unhappy sufferers, and often deprived them both
of their sight and hearing, as in the present instance.—
-
150
LECTURE X.
Such possessions having long since ceased, they have
appeared to several learned men so incredible, that they
have been led to deny that they ever existed, and to
maintain that they were only diseases of a violent and
terrifying nature, attended with convulsive or epileptic
fits; that this sort of disease was ascribed by the Jews
to the operation of evil spirits; and that our Saviour, in
compliance with their prejudices, treated them as cases
of real possession, and pretended to cast out devils,
when in fact, he only cured the disorder with which the
patient was afflicted.
This opinion is supported by great names; but how-
ever great and respectable they may be it appears to me
utterly indefensible.
Every expression that our Lord makes use of with
respect to these demoniacs plainly supposes them to be
really possessed; and it is not easy to assign any ad.
missible reason why he should treat them as such, if
they were not so, and why he should not correct instead
of countenancing so gross an error; as such a conduct
could answer no one good purpose, and seems hard to
reconcile with his own uniform fairness and sincerity
of mind. To have done it to magnify his own power
in casting out the evil spirits, would have been, to all
appearance, a very needless expedient; because the im
mediate removal of a natural disease (if it was one)
would have been an equal proof of his divine power.
But besides this, there is every where a plain distinc-
tion made between common diseases and demoniacal
possessions; which shews that they were totally differ-
ent things. In the fourth chapter of this Gospel, where
the very first mention is made of these possessions, it
is said, that our Lord's fame went throughout all Syria,
and they brought unto him all sick people that were ta-
ken with divers diseases and torments, and those which
were possessed with devils, and he healed them. Here
you see those that were taken with divers diseases and
torments, and those possessed with devils, are mention-
ed as distinct and separate persons; a plain proof that
P
LECTURE X.
151
the demoniacal possessions were not natural diseases;
and the very same distinction is made in several other
passages of holy writ.
There can be no doubt, therefore, that the demoni-
acs were persons really possessed with evil spirits; and
although it may seem strange to us, yet we find from
Josephus, and other historians, that it was in those
times no uncommon case. In fact, it appears that
about the time of our Lord's ministry, that tremendous
spirit, Satan, or, as he is sometimes called in scripture,
the Prince of this world, had obtained an extraordinary
degree of power over the human race, inflicting upon
them the cruelest pains and torments, depriving them
of their senses, rendering them wretched in themselves,
and terrible to all around them. To subdue this for-
midable and wicked being, and to destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil, was one great ob-
ject of our Saviour's divine mission; and it seems to
have been indispensably necessary for accomplishing
the redemption of mankind, that the kingdom of Satan
should in the first place be destroyed, and that the sons
of men should be rescued from that horrible and dis-
graceful state of slavery in which he had long held them
enthralled. One of the first steps, therefore, that our
Lord took before he entered on his ministry was, to es-
tablish his superiority over this great enemy of man-
kind: which he did in that memorable scene of the
temptation in the wilderness; and among the earliest
of his miracles recorded, is that of casting out devils
from those who were possessed by them. And per-
haps one reason why these possessions were permitted,
might be to afford our Lord an opportunity of giving
the Jews a visible and ocular demonstration of his de-
cided superiority and sovereignty over the prince of the
devils, and all his agents, and of his power to subdue
this great adversary of the human species. He appears
indeed to have been in a state of constant hostility and
warfare with this wicked spirit; and in this very pas-
sage Satan is described by our Saviour under the im-
age of a strong man, whom it was necessary to bind be-
T
1152
LECTURE X.
fore you could spoil his house, and exterminate him
and his coadjutors, as Jesus was then doing. Yet so
little were the Jews sensible of this enmity between
Christ and Beelzebub, that on the contrary they charg-
ed them with being friends and confederates. They
said, "This fellow doth not cast out devils but by
Beelzebub the prince of the devils." The answer of
our Lord to this was decisive and satisfactory to every
reasonable mind. "Every kingdom divided against.
itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house
divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan
cast out Satan, he is divided against himself, how shall
then his kingdom stand?" His argument is this: How
absurd and preposterous is it to suppose that Satan
will act against himself, by expelling his own ministers
and agents whom he has sent to take possession of the
minds and bodies of men, and by assisting me to es-
tablish my religion, and thereby diffuse virtue and hap-
piness throughout the world, which it is his great ob-
ject to destroy, and to introduce vice and misery in
their room. This must clearly end in his ruin, and
the overthrow of his empire over mankind. It is evi-
dent then that it is not by his assistance, but by the
power of God, that I cast out devils; and if so, it is
clear to demonstration that I am commissioned by hea-
ven to teach true religion to mankind.
I cannot quit this subject of miracles without ob-
serving, what a remarkable difference there is between
the sentiments of modern infidels and those of the first
cnemies of the Gospel respecting the miracles of Christ.
The former assert, that our Saviour wrought no real
miracles that miracles are in their own nature incredi-
ble and impossible; and that no human testimony what-
ever can give credit to events so contrary to experience,
and so repugnant to the ordinary course of nature.—
But go to those unbelievers who lived in the ear-
licst ages of the Gospel, and even to those who were
cyc-witnesses to our Lord's miracles, and they will
tell you a very different story. They assert, that Jesus
did work miracles; they acknowledge that he did ex-
LECTURE X.
153
nonsense.
pel evil spirits out of those that were possessed. They
ascribed the miracle indeed to the power of Beelzebub,
not of God. But this we know to be absurdity and
The fact of the miraculous cure they did
not dispute; and this at once establishes the divine
mission of our Lord. To which then of these two de-
scriptions of infidels shall we give most credit, to those
who lived near eighteen hundred years after the mira-
cles were performed, or to those who saw them wrought
with their own eyes: and though they detested the
author of them, admitted the reality of his wonderful
works?
Our Lord then, continuing his conversation with
the Pharisees, addresses to them, in the 31st verse,
these remarkable words
"Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blas-
phemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven
unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against
the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoso-
ever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be
forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world
to come."
Our Lord's meaning in this obscure and alarming
passage seems to be this; there is no other sin or blas-
phemy which argues such a total depravation of mind,
but that it may be repented of and forgiven. Even he
that speaks against me, the Son of God, and is not con-
vinced by my preaching, may yet be afterwards con-
verted by the power of the Holy Ghost, by the mira-
cles which he enables me and my disciples to work,
and may obtain remission of his sin. But he that shall
obstinately resist this last method of conviction (that of
miracles wrought before his eyes) and shall malicious-
ly revile these most evident operations of the spirit of
God, contrary to the reason of his own mind and the
dictates of his own conscience, such an one has no
further means left by which he may be convinced and
brought to repentance, and therefore can never be for
given.
20
LECTURE X.
From this interpretation, which is, I believe, gene-
rally admitted to be the true one, it appears that there
is no just ground for the apprehensions sometimes en-
tertained by pious and scrupulous minds, that they
may themselves be guilty of the sin here declared to be
unpardonable, the sin against the Holy Ghost; for we
see that it is confined solely and exclusively to the case
before us, that is to the crime of which the Pharisees
had just been guilty, the crime of attributing those mi-
racles to the agency of evil spirits, which were plainly
wrought by the spirit of God, and which they saw with
their own eyes.
What confirms this interpretation is, that this crime
is here called, not as is generally supposed, the sin
against the Holy Ghost, but blasphemy against the Ho-
ly Ghost, which evidently refers not to actions but to
words; not to any thing done but to something said
against the Holy Ghost. This being the case, it is clear
that as miracles have long since ceased, and this blas-
phemy against the Holy Ghost relates solely to those
who saw miracles performed with their own eyes, it is
impossible for any one in these times to be literally guil-
ty of this impious and unpardonable kind of blasphemy
in its full extent.
154
Our Lord then addresses himself more directly to
the authors of this spiteful calumny : "Either make
the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree
corrupt and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by
its fruit:" that is, be uniform and consistent with your-
selves. If you pretend to holiness and sincerity of
heart, suffer not your mouths to utter these blasphe-
mies; or if you persist in such behaviour, lay aside all
claim to religion, with which this obstinate malice is
as inconsistent, as it is for a tree not to discover its na-
ture by the quality of the fruit it produces. He then
adds, "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being
evil, speak good things; for out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man, out of the
good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things;
and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart,
LECTURE X.
155
bringeth forth evil things." The import of which
words is this: But it is impossible that you should
speak otherwise than evil. You are a perverse and
malicious generation, and the thoughts of men's hearts
will of course shew themselves by their words. They
arise immediately from the fund within, and will neces-
sarily discover whether it be good or bad.
Then follows another very remarkable declaration of
our Lord's in the 36th verse: "I say unto you, that
every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment." From hence
some have imagined, that at the day of judgment we
shall be called to an account, and punished for every
idle and unprofitable, every trifling and ludicrous word
that we have ever uttered in the gaiety of the heart du-
ring the whole course of our lives. If this be the case,
how hard is it, will the enemies of the Gospel say, in
the Author of your religion, to exact from you what is
utterly inconsistent with the infirmities of human na-
ture, and which must completely destroy all the free-
dom, all the ease, all the cheerfulness, all the comforts
of social converse, and render it necessary for every man
that hopes to be saved to seclude himself from society,
and like the once celebrated fathers of the order of La
Trappe, impose upon themselves an everlasting silence!
That this must be the consequence of the sentence here
pronounced by our Lord, if it is to be understood in
that strict, literal, and rigorous sense which has just
been stated, and which at the first view the words seem
to import, cannot be denied; and therefore we may
fairly conclude, that it is not the true meaning of the
passage in question; because we know that we do not.
serve a hard master, who requires more from us than
our strength will bear; but one who can be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, and who has declar-
ed, that his yoke is easy, and his burthen light."
In order then to set this text of scripture in its true
light, we must look back to what had just passed; we
must remember that the Pharisees had but a little be-
fore reproached our Lord with having cast out devils
156
LECTURE X.
through Beelzebub the prince of the devils; and it is
this calumny that he alludes to in the words before us;
for they are a continuation of that very same conversa-
tion which he was holding with the Jews. Now the
words made use of by the Pharisees in the above men-
tioned charge are not merely idle, or foolish, or trifling
words, they are in the highest degree malevolent, false,
and wicked; they constitute one of the grossest, most
detestable, and most infamous calumnies that ever was
uttered by man. Consequently by idle words our Sa-
viour plainly meant, false, lying, and malicious words,
such as those which the pharisees had a few minutes
before applied to him.
In confirmation of this it should be observed, that the
language then spoken by the Jews was not their primi-
tive tongue, but one mixed and made up of the dialects.
and idioms of the several nations that surrounded them,
particularly of the Chaldeans, Syrians, and Arabians.—
In this our Saviour delivered all his instructions, and
held all his discourses. In this (as some learned men
think) St. Matthew originally wrote his Gospel for the
use of the Jewish converts: and it has been remarked,
that in almost all the languages of which this miscel
laneous one is made up, by idle or unprofitable words.
are meant, false, lying, malicious, and scandalous ca-
…
lumnies.
But though in the passage before us the phrase of
idle words refers more immediately to the malignant ca-
lumny of the Pharisees against Jesus; yet it certainly
includes all false, slanderous, and vindictive accusations
of our neighbour; all discourse which is in any re-
spect injurious to God or man, which is contrary to
truth, to decency, and evangelical purity of heart. All
conversation of this sort is plainly inconsistent with the
sanctity of our religion, and must of course subject us
to God's displeasure here, and his judgments hereafter...
And even in the literal and most obvious sense of idle
words, though we are not excluded from the innocent
cheerfulness of social converse, yet we must beware of
giving way too much to trifling, foolish, unprofitable
G
LECTURE XI.
157
and unmeaning talk. Even this, when carried to ex-
cess, becomes in some degree criminal; it produces,
or at least increases a frivolous turn of mind; unfits us
for the discharge of any thing manly and serious; and
indicates a degree of levity and thoughtlessness not very
consistent with a just sense of those important interests,
which as candidates for heaven we should have con-
stantly present to our thoughts, nor suitable to those
awful prospects into eternity which the Christian reve-
lation opens to our view, and which ought to make the
most serious impressions on every sincere believer in
the Gospel of Christ.
LECTURE XI.
MATTHEW xiii.
WE are now arrived at the thirteenth chapter of
St. Matthew, in which our blessed Lord introduces a
new mode of conveying his instructions to the people.
Hitherto he had confined himself entirely to the plain
didactic method, of which his sermon on the mount is
a large and noble specimen. But his discourses now
assume a different shape, and he begins in this chapter,
for the first time, to address his hearers in parables.
"The same day, says the evangelist, went Jesus out of
the house, and sat by the sea-side; and great multi-
tudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went
into a ship and sate: and the whole multitude stood
on the shore, and he spake many things unto them in
parables."
The word parable is sometimes used in scripture in
a large and general sense, and applied to short senten-
tious sayings, maxims, or aphorisms, expressed in a
figurative, proverbial, or even poetical manner.
158
LECTURE XI.
But in its strict and appropriate meaning, especially
as applied to our Saviour's parables, it signifies a short
narrative of some event or fact, real or fictitious, in
which a continued comparison is carried on between
sensible and spiritual objects; and under this simili-
tude some important doctrine, moral or religious, is
conveyed and enforced.
This mode of instruction has many advantages over
every other, more particularly in recommending vir-
tue, or reproving vice.
1. In the first place, when divine and spiritual things
are represented by objects well known and familiar to
us, such as present themselves perpetually to our ob-
servation, in the common occurrences of life, they are
much more easily comprehended, especially by rude
and uncultivated minds (that is, by the great bulk of man-
kind) than if they were proposed in their original form.
2. In all ages of the world there is nothing with
which mankind hath been so much delighted as with
those little fictitious stories, which go under the name of
fables or apologues among the ancient heathens, and of
parables in the sacred writings. It is found by expe-
rience, that this sort of composition is better calculated
to command attention, to captivate the imagination, to
affect the heart, and to make deeper and more lasting
impressions on the memory, than the most ingenious
and most elegant discourses that the wit of man is ca
pable of producing.
3. The very obscurity in which parables are some-
times involved, has the effect of exciting a greater de-
gree of curiosity and interest, and of urging the mind
to a more vigorous exertion of its faculties and powers,
than any other mode of instruction. There is some-
thing for the understanding to work upon; and when
the concealed meaning is at length elicited, we are apt
to value ourselves on the discovery as the effect of our
own penetration and discernment, and for that very
reason to pay more regard to the moral it conveys.
4. When the mind is under the influence of strong
prejudices, of violent passions, or inveterate habits, and
LECTURE XI.
159
when under these circumstances it becomes necessary
to rectify error, to dissipate delusion, to reprove sin,
and bring the offender to a sense of his danger and his
guilt; there is no way in which this difficult task can
be so well executed, and the painful truths that must
be told so successfully insinuated into the mind, as by
disguising them under the veil of a well-wrought and
interesting parable.
This observation cannot be better illustrated than
by referring to two parables, one in the New Testa-
ment, the other in the Old, which will amply confirm
the truth, and unfold the meaning of the preceeding re-
marks.
The first of these which I allude to is the celebrated
parable of the good Samaritan.
The Jews, as we learn from our Lord himself, had
established it as a maxim that they were to love their
neighbour and to hate their enemy;* and as they con-
sidered none as their neighbours but their own coun-
trymen; the consequence was, that they imagined them-
selves at liberty to hate all the rest of the world; a lib-
erty which they indulged without reserve, and against
none with more bitterness than the contiguous nation
of the Samaritans. When, therefore, the lawyer in the
Gospel asked our Lord, who was his neighbour? had
Christ attempted to prove to him by argument that he
was to consider all mankind, even his enemies, even
the Samaritans, as his neighbour the lawyer would have
treated his answer with contempt and disdain; all his
native prejudices and absurd traditions would have risen
up in arms against so offensive a doctrine; nor would
all the eloquence in the world, not even the divine elo-
quence of the Son of God himself, have been able to
subdue the deep-rooted prepossessions of the obstinate
Jew.
Jesus therefore, well knowing the impossibility of
convincing the lawyer by any thing he could say, deter-
mined to make the man convince himself, and correct
his own error.
With this view he relates to him the
Marth. v. 48.
160
LECTURE XI.
parable of the Jewish traveller, who fell among robbers,
was stripped and wounded, and left half dead upon the
spot; and though passed by with unfeeling indiference
and neglect by his own countrymen, was at length re
lieved and restored to health by a compassionate Sa-
maritan. He then asks the lawyer, who was neigh-
bour to this distressed traveller? it was impossible for
the lawyer not to answer, as he did (not foreseeing the
consequence) He that shewed mercy to him; that is the
Samaritan. Here then he at once cut up his own ab-
surd opinion by the roots. For if the Samaritans,
whom of all others the Jews most hated, were, in the
true and substantial sense of the word, their neighbours,
they were bound by their own law, by their own tradi-
tions, and by this man's own confession, to love and to
assist them as such. The conclusion was therefore,
Go and do thou likewise.
This then affords a striking proof of the efficacy of
parable in correcting strong prejudices and erroneous.
opinions. But there is another thing still more diffi-
cult to be subdued, and that is, inveterate wickedness.
and hardened guilt. But this too was made to give
way and humble itself in the dust by the force of para-
ble. I mean that of Nathan.
There seems reason to believe that King David, af-
ter he had committed the complicated crime of adultery
and murder, had by some means or other contrived to
lull his conscience to sleep, and to suppress the risings
of any painful reflection in his mind. This appears al-
most incredible, yet so the fact seems to have been;
and it shews in the strongest light the extreme deceit.
fulness of sin, its astonishing power over the mind of
man, and the inveterate depravity of the human heart.
When we see a man who had perpetrated such atro-
cious deeds, totally insensible of his guilt, and not dis-
covering the slightest resemblance to his own case in
the affecting and awakening story which the prophet re-
lated, it affords a striking and a melancholy proof what
human nature is when left to itself even in the best of
men; even in those who, like King David, are, in the
*
LECTURE XI.
161
general tenor of their life, actuated by right principles,
and even animated (as he evidently was) with the warm-
est sentiments of piety and devotion. And it demon-
strates in the clearest manner the absolute necessity of
that help from above in the discharge of our duty,
which the Christian revelation holds out to us, and
which men of the world are so apt to despise and de-
ride as a weak delusion and fanatical imagination; I
mean the divine influences of the Holy Spirit: without
which there is not a single individual here present, how-
ever highly he may think of the natural rectitude and
invincible integrity of his own mind, who may not in
an evil hour, when he least thinks of it, be betrayed by
some powerful and unexpected temptation into as much
guilt, and become as blind to his own situation, as was
that unhappy prince of whom we are now speaking.
It was indispensably necessary to rouse the sinner out
of this dreadful lethargy; but how was this to be done?
Had Nathan plainly and directly charged him with all
the enormity of his guilt, the probability is, that either
in the first transport of his resentment he would have
driven the prophet from his presence, or that he would
have attempted to palliate, to soften, to explain away
his crime; would have pleaded the strength of his
pas-
sion or the violence of the temptation, and perhaps
claimed some indulgence of his rank and situation in
life. But all these pleas were at once silenced, and his
retreat completely cut off, by making him the judge of
his own case, and forcing his condemnation out of his
own mouth. For after he had denounced death on the
rich man for taking away the ewe lamb of the poor one,
he could with no decency pretend that he who had de-
stroyed the life of one fellow-creature, and the inno-
cence of another, was deserving of a milder sentence.
There was nothing then left for him but to confess
at once, as he did, "that he had sinned against the
Lord;" and his penitence we know was as severe and
exemplary as his crime had been atrocious.
It is much to be lamented that these indirect me-
thods should be found necessary, in order to show men
21
162
LECTURE XI.
to themselves, and acquaint them with their real cha-
racters, especially when it is their own interest not to
be mistaken in so important a concern.
But the wise
and the virtuous in every age have condescended to
make use of this innocent artifice; the necessity of
which is founded in the sad corruption of human na-
ture, and in that gross and deplorable blindness to their
own sins and follies, which is observable in so large a
part of mankind. They engage with warmth and ea-
gerness in worldly pursuits, which employ their atten-
tion and excite their passions; so that they have little
time, and less inclination, to reflect calmly and seriously
on their own conduct, in a moral and religious point of
view. But if their thoughts are at any time forced in-
wards, and they cannot help taking a view of them-
selves, a deeper source of delusion is still behind. The
same actions which, when committed by others, are
immediately discerned to be wrong, are palliated, ex-
plained, qualified, and apologized away, when we hap-
pen to be guilty of them ourselves. The circumstan-
ces in the two cases are discovered to be perfectly dif
ferent in some essential points; our passions were un-
governable, the temptation irresistable. In short,
somehow or other, all guilt vanishes away under the
management of the dextrous casuist, and the intrusion
of self-condemnation is effectually precluded.
S
Still there remains, it may be said, the admonition
of some zealous friend or faithful instructor; but zeal
is generally vehement, and often indiscreet. By excit-
ing the resentment, and inflaming the anger of those
it means to reform, it frequently defeats its own de-
signs. For whoever is offended instantly forgets his
own faults, and dwells wholly upon those of his impru-
dent monitor. But when the veil of parable conceals
for a moment from the offender that he is himself con-
cerned in it, he may generally be surprized into a con-
demnation of every one that is guilty of a base dishon-
ourable action; and when the unexpected application,
Thou art the man, comes thundering suddenly upon
him, and points out the perfect similarity of the sup-
LECTURE XI.
163
posed case to his own, the astonished criminal, over-
whelmed with confusion, and driven from all his usual
subterfuges and evasions, is compelled at length to con-
demn himself.
It was probably the consideration of these delusions,
and the other reasons above assigned, which gave rise
to so general and so ancient a custom of conveying
moral instruction under the cover of imaginary agents
and fictitious events. We find traces of it in the ear-
liest writers; and it was more peculiarly cultivated in
the east, the region where religion and science first took
their rise. The most ancient parables perhaps on re-
cord are those we meet with in the Old Testament;
that of Jotham, for instance, where the trees desired the
bramble to reign over them ;* that of Nathan;† that
of the woman of Tekoah‡, in the reign of David; and
that of the thistle and the cedar of Lebanong, by Jeho-
ash, king of Israel. From the east this species of com-
position passed into Greece and Italy, and thence into
the rest of Europe; and there are two celebrated wri-
ters, one in the Greek, the other in the Roman tongue,
whose fables every one is acquainted with from their
earliest years. These, it must be owned, are elegant,
amusing, and, in a certain degree, moral and instruc-
tive. But they are not in any degree to be compared
with the parables of our blessed Lord, which infinitely
excel them, and every other composition of that species,
in many essential points.
1. In the first place, the fables of the ancients are
many of them of a very trivial nature, or at the best
contain nothing more than maxims of mere worldly
wisdom and common prudence, and sometimes perhaps
a little moral instruction.
But the parables of our blessed Lord relate to sub-
jects of the very highest importance; to the great lead-
ing principles of human conduct, to the essential duties
of man, to the nature and progress of the Christian re-
ligion, to the moral government of the world, to the
great distinctions between vice and virtue, to the aw-
Judges ix. 14. · † 2 Sam. xii. 1. ‡ 2 Sam. xiv. § 2 Kings xiv. 9.
164
LECTURE XI.
ful scenes of eternity, to the divine influences of the Ho
ly Spirit, to the great work of our redemption, to a re
surrection and a future judgment, and the distribution
of rewards and punishments in a future state; and all
this expressed with a dignity of sentiment, and a sim-
plicity of language, perfectly well suited to the grandeur
of the subject.
2. In the next place, the fables of the learned hea-
thens, though entertaining and well composed, are in
general cold and dry, and calculated more to please the
understanding than to touch the heart. Whereas those
of our blessed Lord are most of them in the highest
degree affecting and interesting. Such for instance
are the parable of the lost sheep, of the prodigal son, of
the rich man and Lazarus, of the Pharisee and Publi-
can, of the unforgiving servant, of the good Samaritan,
There is nothing in all heathen antiquity to be compar-
ed to these; nothing that speaks so forcibly to our ten-
derest feelings and affections, and leaves such deep and
lasting impressions upon the soul.
3dly. The Greek and Roman fables are most of them
founded on improbable or impossible circumstances,
and are supposed conversations between animate or in-
animate beings, not endowed with the power of speech;
between birds, beasts, reptiles, and trees; a circum-
stance which shocks the imagination, and of course
weakens the force of the instruction.
Our Saviour's parables on the contrary are all of them
images and allusions taken from nature, and from oc-
currences which are most familiar to our observation
and experience in common life; and the events rela-
ted are not only such as might very probably happen,
but several of them are supposed to be such as actually
did; and this would have the effect of a true histori-
cal narrative, which we all know to carry much great-
er weight and authority with it than the most ingenious
fiction. Of the former sort are the rich man and
Lazarus, of the good Samaritan, and of the prodigal son.
There are others in which our Saviour seems to allude
to some historical facts which happened in those times;
LECTURE XI.
165
as that wherein it is said, that a king went into a far
country, there to recieve a kingdom.
This probably refers to the history of Archelaus,
who, after the death of his father, Herod the Great,
went to Rome to receive from Augustus the confirma-
tion of his father's will, by which he had the kingdom
of Judea left to him.
These circumstances give a decided superiority to
our Lord's parables over the fables of the ancients; and
if we compare them with those of the Koran, the dif
ference is still greater. The parables of Mahomet are
trifling; uninteresting, tedious, and dull. Among
other things which he has borrowed from Scripture,
one is the parable of Nathan, in which he has most in-
genuously contrived to destroy all its spirit, force, and
beauty; and has so completely distorted and deformed
its whole texture and composition, that if the commen-
tator had not informed you, in very gentle terms, that
it is the parable of Nathan a little disguised, you would
scarce have known it to be the same. Such is the dif-
ference between a prophet who is really inspired, and
an impostor who pretends to be so.
Nor is it only in his parables, but in his other dis-
courses to the people, that Jesus draws his doctrines
and instructions from the scenes of nature, from the ob-
jects that surrounded him, from the most common oc-
currences of life, from the seasons of the year, from
some extraordinary incidents or remarkable transac-
tions. "Thus," as a learned and ingenious writer has
observed,* upon curing a blind man, "he styles him-
self the light of the world, and reproves the Pharisees
for their spiritual blindness and inexcusable obstinacy
in refusing to be cured and enlightened by him. On
little children being brought to him, he recommends
the innocence, the simplicity, the meekness, the hu-
mility, the docility, of that lovely age, as indispensable
qualifications for those that would enter into the king-
dom of heaven. Beholding the flowers of the field,
and the fowls of the air, he teaches his disciples to
* See Bishop Law's Considerations on the Theory of Religion.
166
LECTURE XI.
frame right and worthy notions of that Providence
which supports and adorns them, and will therefore
assuredly not neglect the superior order of rational be-
ings. Observing the fruits of the earth, he instructs
them to judge of men by their fruitfulness under all
the means of grace. From the mention of meat and
drink, he leads them to the sacred rite of eating his
body and drinking his blood in a spiritual sense. From
external ablutions, he deduces the necessity of purify.
ing the heart, and cleansing the affections. Those that
were fishers, he teaches to be fishers of men; to draw
them by the force of argument and persuasion, aided
by the influence of divine grace, to the belief and prac-
tice of true religion. Seeing the money-changers, he
exhorts his disciples to lay out their several talents to
the best advantage. Being among the sheep-folds, he
proves himself the true shepherd of souls. Among
vines he discourses of the spiritual husbandman and
vine-dresser, and draws a parallel between his vineyard
and the natural one. Upon the appearance of summer
in the trees before him, he points out evident signs of
his approaching kingdom. When the harvest comes on,
he reminds his disciples of the spiritual harvest, the har-
vest of true believers; and exhorts them to labour dili-
gently in that work, and add their prayers to Heaven for
its success. From servants being made free in the sab-
batical year, he takes occasion to proclaim a nobler
emancipation and more important redemption from the
slavery of sin, and the bondage of corruption, by the
death of Christ. From the eminence of a city standing
on a hill, he turns his discourse to the conspicuous sit-
uation of his own disciples. From the temple before
him, he points to that of his own body; and from He-
rod's unadvisedly leading out his army to meet the
king of Arabia, who came against him with a superior
force, and defeated him, a lesson is held out to all who
entered on the Christian warfare, that they should first
well weigh and carefully compute the difficulties attend-
ing it, and by the grace of God resolve to surmount
them."
it
LECTURE XI.
167
In the same manner, when he delivered the parable
of the sower, which we find in this chapter, and which
will be the next subject of our consideration it was
probably seed-time, and from the ship in which he
taught he might observe the husbandmen scattering
their seed upon the earth. From thence he took oc-
casion to illustrate, by that rural and familiar image,
the different effects which the doctrines of Christianity
had on different men, according to the different tem-
pers and dispositions that they happened to meet with.
"Behold," says he,
(6 a sower went forth to sow.
And when he sowed, some fell by the way-side, and
the fowls came and devoured them up.
Some fell up-
on stony places, where they had not much earth, and
forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deep-
ness of earth; and when the sun was up they were
scorched, and because they had no root they withered
away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns.
sprang up and choked them. But other fell into good
ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold,
some sixty fold, some thirty fold." As our blessed
Lord, soon after he had uttered this parable, explained
it to his disciples, it is highly proper that you should
have this explanation in his own words.
Hear ye,
therefore," says he, "the parable of the sower. When
any one heareth the word of the kingdom and under-
standeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catch-
cth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he
which received seed by the way-side. But he that re-
ceived the seed into stony places, the same is he that
heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet
hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while; for
when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the
word, by and by he is offended. He also that received
seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word, and
the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he
that received seed into the good ground, is he that hear-
eth the word and understandeth it; which also beareth
<<
-
168
LECTURE XII
fruit, and bringeth forth some an hundred fold, some
sixty, some thirty.'
Such is the parable of the sower, and the explanation
of it by our Saviour, which will furnish us with abun-
dant matter for a great variety of very important reflec-
tions. But as these cannot be distinctly stated and
sufficiently enlarged upon at present, without going to
a considerable length of time, and trespassing too far on
that patience and indulgence which I have already but
too often put to the test, I must reserve for my next
Lecture the observations I have to offer on this very in-
teresting and instructive parable.
>>
LECTURE XII.
MATTHEW xiii. CONTINUED.
THE last Lecture concluded with a recital of the
parable of the sower, and our Lord's explanation of it;
and I now proceed to lay before you those reflections
which it has suggested to my mind.
In the first place then it must be observed, that this
parable, like many others, is prophetic as well as in-
structive; it predicts the fate of the Christian religion
in the world, and the different sorts of reception it will
meet with from different men. And as this prediction
is completely verified by the present state of religion,
as we see it at this hour existing among ourselves, it
affords one very decisive proof of Christ's power of
foreseeing future events, and of course tends strongly
to establish the truth of his pretensions, and the divine
authority of his religion.
In the next place it is evident that there are four dif-
ferent classes of men here described, which compre-
hend all the different religious or irreligious charac-
ters that are to be met with in the world. The first
LECTURE XII.
169
consists of those "that hear the word of the kingdom
(as our Lord expresses it) and understand it not; then
cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which
was sown in their hearts. These are they, says he,
which received seed by the way-side." By these are
meant those persons whose minds, like the beaten high
road, are hard and impenetrable, and inaccessible to
conviction. Of these we all know there are too many
in the world; some who have imbibed early and deep-
rooted prejudices against Christianity; who either con-
ceiving themselves superior to the rest of mankind in
genius, knowledge, and penetration, reject with scorn
whatever the bulk of mankind receives with venera-
tion, and erect favourite systems of their own, which
they conceive to be the very perfection of human wis-
dom; or, on the other hand, having been unfortunate-
ly very early initiated in the writings of modern philo-
sophists, implicitly adopt the opinions of those whom
they consider as the great luminaries and oracles of the
age, receive ridicule as argument, and assertion as proof
and prefer the silly witticisms, the specious sophistry,
the metaphysical subtlety, the coarse buffoonery, which
distinguish many of the most popular opponents of our
faith, to the simplicity, dignity, and sublimity of the
divine truths of the Gospel. These are the professed
infidels, or as, they choose to style themselves, the dis-
ciples of philosophy and reason, and the enemies of
priestcraft, fanaticism, and superstition.
But besides these there is another description of men,
on whom the good seed makes little or no impression;
these are the thoughtless, the inattentive, the inconsid-
erate, the trifling, the gay, who think of nothing beyond
the present scene, and who do not consider themselves
as in the smallest degree interested in any thing else.
These men, without professing themselves unbelievers,
without formally and explicitly rejecting the Gospel,
yet do in fact never concern themselves about it. It
forms no part of their system, it does not at all enter
into their plans of life. The former sort above de-
scribed are infidels on principle; these are practical in-
ar
22
170
LECTURE XII.
fidels, without any principle at all. Being born of Chris-
tian parents, and instructed perhaps in the first rudiments
of Christianity, they call themselves Christian; they at-
tend divine service, they repeat their prayers, they listen
to the discourses of the preacher, they make no objec-
tions to what they hear, they question not the propriety
of what they are taught; but here their religion ends; it
never goes beyond the surface, it never penetrates into
their hearts, it lies on the hard beaten highway. The
instant they leave the church, every idea of religion
vanishes out of their thoughts; they never reflect for
one moment on what they have heard; they never con-
sider the infinite importance of what is to happen after
death; the awful prospects of eternity never present
themselves to their minds, neither excite their hopes.
nor alarm their fears. "With their mouths indeed
they confess the Lord Jesus, but they do not believe
with their hearts unto salvation;" and although per-
haps in the wide waste of a trifling insignificant life, a
few worthy actions or a few solitary virtues appear, yet
their affections are not set on things above, their hopes
are not centered there, their views do not tend there;
their treasure is on earth, and there is their heart also.
These two characters, the hardened unbeliever,
and
the mere nominal Christian, constitute the first class
described by our Saviour in the parable of the sower.
These are they which receive the seed by the way-side,
where it lies neglected upon the surface, till "the fowls
of the air devour it, or the wicked one catcheth it out
of their hearts ;" and there is an end at once of all their
hopes of salvation, perhaps forever.
Secondly, There is another sort of soil mentioned in
the parable, which gives the seed at first a more favour-
able reception. When it falls on stony ground, it finds
no great difficulty in gaining admission into a little
Joose earth scattered upon a rock; it springs up with
amazing rapidity; but no sooner "does the sun rise
upon it with its scorching heat, than it withers away for
want of depth of earth, root, and moisture."
LECTURE XILI
171
What a lively representation is this of weak and un-
stable Christians! They receive Christianity at first
with gladness; they are extremely ready to be made
eternally happy, and suppose that they have nothing
else to do but to repeat their creed, and take possession
of heaven. But when they find that there are certain
conditions to be performed on their parts also; that
they must give up their favourite interests and restrain
their strongest passions, must sometimes even pluck
out a right eye or tear off a right arm; that they must
take up their cross and follow a crucified Saviour thro'
many difficulties, distresses, and persecutions, their ar-
dour and alacrity are instantly extinguished. They
want strength of mind, soundness of principle, and sin-
cerity of faith to support them. No wonder then that
they fall away and depart from their allegiance to their
divine Master and Redeemer. This is the second sort
of hearers described in the parable,
"that receive the
word at first with joy; but having no root in them-
selves, when tribulation and persecution arise because
of the word, by and by they are offended." This re-
fers more immediately to the first disciples and first
preachers of the Gospel, who were exposed in the dis-
charge of their high office to the severest trials, and the
cruelest persecutions from their numerous and power-
ful enemies. Some of them undoubtedly, who had not
sufficient root in themselves, gave way to the storms
that assailed them, and made ship-wreck of their faith,
as our Lord here foretels that they would. But others
we know stood firm and unmoved, amidst the most
tremendous dangers, and underwent, with unparalleled
fortitude, the most excrutiating torments. The de-
scription which the writer to the Hebrews gives of the
saints and prophets of old, may, with the strictest truth,
be applied to the apostles and their successors in the
first ages of the Gospel, under the various persecutions
to which they were exposed. They had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, yea moreover of bonds and
imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword,
66
172
LECTURE XII.
were destitute, afflicted, tormented.”* All these bar-
barities they endured with unshaken patience and firm.
ness, and thereby bore the strongest possible testimo-
ny, not only to their own sincerity, but to the divine
and miraculous influence of the religion which they
taught. For it is justly and forcibly observed by the
excellent Mr. Addison, that the astonishing and un-
exampled fortitude which was shewn by innumerable
multitudes of martyrs, in those slow and painful tor-
ments that were inflicted on them, is nothing less than
a standing miracle during the three first centuries. "I
cannot, says he, conceive a man placed in the burning
iron chair of Lyons, amidst the insults and mockeries
of a crowded amphitheatre, and still keeping his seat;
or stretched upon a grate of iron over an intense fire,
and breathing out his soul amidst the exquisite suffer-
ings of such a tedious execution, rather than renounce
his religion, or blaspheme his Saviour, without suppos-
ing something supernatural. Such trials seem to me
above the strength of human nature, and able to over-
bear duty, reason, faith, conviction, nay, and the most
absolute certainty of a future state. We can easily
imagine that a few persons in so good a cause might
have laid down their lives at the gibbet, the stake, or
the block; but that multitudes of each sex, of every
age, of different countries and conditions, should, for
near three hundred years together, expire leisurely a-
midst the most exquisite tortures, rather than aposta-
tize from the truth, has something in it so far beyond
the natural strength and force of mortals, that one can-
not but conclude there was some miraculous power to
support the sufferers; and if so, here is at once a proof,
from history and from fact, of the divine origin of our
religion."+
There is a third portion of the seed that falls among
thorns. This wants neither root nor depth of earth. It
grows up; but the misfortune is, that the thorns grow up
with it. The fault of the soil is not that of bearing noth-
ing, but of bearing too much; of bearing what it ought
† Addison's Evidences, S. 7.
* Hebrews xi. 37.
40
LECTURE XII.
173
not, of exhausting its strength and nutrition on vile and
worthless productions, which choke the good seed, and
prevent it from coming to perfection.
"These are
they, says our Saviour, in the parallel place of St. Luke,
which when they have heard, go forth, and are choked
with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and
bring no fruit to perfection." In their youth perhaps
they receive religious instruction, they imbibe right
principles, and listen to good advice; but no sooner
do they go forth, no sooner do they leave those persons
and those places from whom they received them, than
they take the road either of business or of pleasure,
pursue their interests, their amusements, or their guil-
ty indulgences with unbounded eagerness, and have
neither time nor inclination to cultivate the seeds of
religion that have been sown in their hearts, and to
eradicate the weeds that have been mingled with them.
The consequence is, that the weeds prevail, and the
seeds are choked and lost.
Can there possibly be a more faithful picture of a
large proportion of the Christian world? Let us look
around us, and observe how the greater part of those
we meet with are employed. In what is it that their
thoughts are busied, their views, their hopes, and their
fears centered, their attention occupied, their hearts
and souls and affections engaged? Is it in searching
the Scriptures, in meditating on its doctrines, its pre-
cepts, its exhortations, its promises, and its threats?
Is it in communing with their own hearts, in probing
them to the very bottom, in looking carefully whether
there be any way of wickedness in them, in plucking
out every noxious weed, and leaving room for the good
seed to grow and swell and expand itself, and bring
forth fruit to perfection? Is it in cultivating purity of
manners, a spirit of charity towards the whole human
race, and the most exalted sentiments of piety, gratitude,
and love towards their Maker and Redeemer? These I
fear are far from being the general and principal occu-
pations of mankind. Too many of them are, God
knows, very differently employed. They are over-
174
LECTURE XII.
whelmed with business, they are devoted to amusement,
they are immersed in sensuality, they are mad with am-
bition, they are idolaters of wealth, of power, of glory,
of fame. On these things all their affections are fixed.
These are the great objects of their pursuit; and if any
accidental thought of religion happens to cross their
way, they instantly dismiss the unbidden, unwelcome
guest, with the answer of Felix to Paul, "Go thy way
for this time; when we have a convenient season we
will send for thee."
But how then, it is said, are we to conduct our-
selves? If Providence has blessed us with riches, with
honour, with power, with reputation, are we to reject
these gifts of our heavenly Father; or ought we not
rather to accept them with thankfulness, and enjoy with
gratitude, the advantages and the comforts which his
bounty has bestowed upon us? Most assuredly we
ought. But then they are to be enjoyed also with in-
nocence, with temperance, and with moderation. They
must not be allowed to usurp the first place in our
hearts. They must not be permitted to supplant God
in our affection, or to dispute that pre-eminence and
priority which he claims over every propensity of our
nature. This and this only can prevent the good seed
from being choked with the cares, the riches, and the
pleasures of the present life.
We now come in the last place to the seed which fell
on good ground, which our Lord tells us, in St. Luke,
denotes those that in an honest and good heart, having
heard word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience,
some an hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty.
We here see that the first and principal qualification
for hearing the word of God, for keeping it, for render-
ing it capable of bringing forth fruit, is an honest and a
good heart; that is, a heart free from all those evil dis-
positions and corrupt passions which blind the eyes,
distort the understanding, and obstruct the admission
of divine truth: a heart perfectly clear from prejudice,
from pride, from vanity, from self-sufficiency, and self,
conceit; a heart sincerely disposed and earnestly de-
!
D
î
LECTURE XII.
175
sirous to find out the truth, and firmly resolved to em-
brace it when found;-ready to acknowledge its own
ignorance, and weakness, and corruption, and "to re-
ceive with meekness the ingrafted word, which is able
to save the soul."
This is that innocence and simplicity and singleness
of mind, which we find so frequently recommended
and so higlily applauded by our blessed Lord, and
which is so beautifully and feelingly described when
young children were brought to him that he should
touch them, and were checked by his disciples. "Suf-
fer little children to come unto me, says he, and forbid
them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven; and
then he adds, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child he shall not enter therein.”*
Here, in a few words, and by a most significant and
affecting emblem, is expressed that temper and dispo-
sition of mind which is the most essential qualification
for the kingdom of heaven. Unless we come to the
Gospel with that meekness, gentleness, docility, and
guileless simplicity, which constitute the character of
a child, and render him so lovely and captivating, we
cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven; we cannot
either assent to the evidence, believe the doctrines, or
obey the precepts of the Christian religion. Hence we
see the true reason why so many men of distinguished
talents have rejected the religion of Christ. It is not
because its evidences are defective, or its doctrines re-
pugnant to reason; it is because their dispositions were
the very reverse of what the Gospel requires; because
(as their writings evidently show) they were high-spir-
ited, violent, proud, conceited, vain, disdainful, and
sometimes profligate too; because, in short, they want-
ed that honest and good heart, which not only receives
the good seed, but keeps it, and nourishes it with un-
ceasing patience, till it bring forth fruit to perfection.
They could not enter into the marriage feast because
they had not on the wedding garment, because they
were not clothed with humility. For "God resisteth
Mark x. 14, 15.
† 1 Pet. v. 5.

176
LECTURE XII.
the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Them
that are meek shall he guide in judgment, and such as
are gentle, them shall he learn his way."*
But here arises a difficulty on which the enemies of
our faith lay great stress, and frequently alledge as an
excuse for their infidelity and impiety. If, say they,
the success of the good seed depends on the soil in
which it is sown, the success of the Gospel must, in
the same manner, depend (as this very parable is meant
to prove) on the temper and disposition of the recipi-
ent, of the person to whom it is offered. Now this
temper and disposition are not of our own making:
they are the work of nature; they are what our Creator
has given us. If then, in any particular instance, they
are unfortunately such as disqualify us for the reception:
of the Gospel, the fault is not ours; it is in the soil, it
is in our natural constitution, for which surely we can.
not be held responsible.
This plea is specious and plausible; but it is nothing
more. The fact is, that the imbecility and corruption
introduced into our moral frame by the fall of our first
parents, is in some measure felt by all; but undoubt-
edly in different individuals shews itself in different de-
grees, and that from their very earliest years. Look
at any large family of children living together under the
eye of their parents, and you will frequently discover
in them a surprizing variety of tempers, humors and
dispositions; and although the same instructions are
given to all, the same care and attention, the same dis-
cipline, the same vigilance exercised over each, yet
some shall be, in their general conduct, meek, gentle,
and submissive; others impetuous, passionate, and
froward; some active, enterprizing, and bold; others
quiet, contented and calm: some cunning, artful, and
close; others open, frank, and ingenuous; some in
short, malevolent, mischievous, and unfeeling; others
kind, compassionate, good-natured, and though some-
times betraying the infirmity of human nature by casu-
al omissions of duty and errors of conduct, yet soon
James, iv. 6. Psalm, xxv. 9.
LECTURE XII.
177
made sensible of their faults, and easily led back to re-
gularity, order, piety, and virtue.
Here then is unquestionably the difference of natur-
al constitution contended for. But what is the true
inference? Is it that those whose dispositions are the
worst are to give themselves up for lost, are to aban-
don all hopes of salvation, and to alledge their depraved
nature as a sufficient apology for infidelity or vice, as
constituting a complete inability either to believe or to
obey the Gospel? No such thing. On the contrary,
it is a strong and powerful call, first upon their parents
and the guides of their youth, and afterwards upon
themselves, to watch over, to restrain, to correct, to
amend, to meliorate their evil dispositions, and to sup-
ply, by attention, by discipline and by prayer, what
has been denied by nature. It may be thought hard,
perhaps, that all this care, and labour, and painful con-
flict, should be necessary to some, and not (in the
same degree at least) to others; and that so marked a
distinction in so important a point should be made be-
tween creatures of the same species. But is not the
same distinction made in other points of importance?
Are not men placed from their very birth by the hand
of Providence in different situations of rank, power,
wealth? Are not some indulged with every advantage,
every blessing that their hearts can wish, and others
sunk in obscurity, penury, and wretchedness? Are not
some favoured with the most splendid talents and ca-
pacities for acquiring knowledge; others slow in con-
ception, weak in understanding, and almost impenetra-
ble to instruction? Are not some blessed from their
birth with strong, healthy, robust constitutions, sub-
ject to no infirmities, no diseases; others weak, sickly,
tender, liable to perpetual disorders, and with the ut-
most difficulty dragging on a precarious existence?
Yet does this preclude all these different individuals
from improving their condition; does it prevent the
lowest member of society from endeavouring to raise
himself into a superior class; does it prevent the most
indigent from labouring to acquire a fortune by indus-
*
23
178
LECTURE XII.
try, frugality, and activity; does it prevent the most
ignorant from cultivating their minds, and furnishing
them with some degree of knowledge; does it prevent
those of the tenderest and most delicate frames from
strengthening, confirming, and invigorating their health,
by management, by medicine, and by temperance ?
We see the contrary every day; we see all these dif-
ferent characters succeeding in their efforts beyond
their most sanguine expectations, and rising to a de-
gree of opulence, of rank, of power, of learning, and of
health, of which at their outset they could not have
formed the most distant idea. And why then are we
not to act in the same manner with regard to our nat-
ural tempers, dispositions, propensities, and inclina-
tions? Why are we not to suppose them as capable of
improvement and melioration as our condition, our for-
tune, our intellectual powers, and our bodily health?
Why are we to alledge impossibility in one case more
than in the others? The truth is, that a bad constitu-
tion of mind as well as of body may, by proper care
and attention, and the powerful influences of the Holy
Spirit, be greatly, if not wholly amended. And as it
sometimes happens that they who have the weakest and
most distempered frames by means of an exact regi-
men and an unshaken perseverance in rule and method,
outlive those of a robuster make and more luxuriant
health; so there are abundant instances where men of
the most perverse dispositions and most depraved turn
of mind, by keeping a steady guard upon their weak
parts, and gradually, but continually, correcting their
defects, applying earnestly for assistance from above,
going on from strength to strength, and from one de-
gree of perfection to another, have at length arrived at
a higher pitch of virtue than those for whom nature had
done much more, and who would therefore do but lit-
tle for themselves.
·
Let us then never despair. If we have not from
constitution that honest and good heart which is nc-
cessary for receiving the good sced, and bringeth forth
fruit with patience, we may by degrees, and by the
LECTURE XII.
179
blessing of God, gradually acquire it. If the soil is
not originally good, it may be made so by labour and
cultivation; but above all, by imploring our heavenly
Father to shower down upon it the plentiful effusions
of his grace, which he has promised to all that devout-
ly and fervently and constantly pray for it. This dew
from heaven," shed abroad on our hearts,"* will re-
fresh and invigorate and purify our souls; will correct
the very worst disposition; will soften and subdue the
hardest and most ungrateful soil, will make clean and
pure and moist, fit for the reception of the good seed;
and notwithstanding its original poverty and barren-
ness, will enrich it with strength and vigour sufficient
to bring forth fruit to perfection.
I have now finished these Lectures for the present
year, and must, on this occasion, again entreat you to
let those truths, to which you have listened with so
much patience and perseverance, take entire possession
of your hearts. They are not vain, they are not trivial
things, they are the words of eternal life; they relate
to the most important of all human concerns, to the
most essential interests and comforts of the present life,
and to the destiny, the eternal destiny of happiness or
misery that awaits you in the next.
S
You have just heard the parable of the sower ex-
plained, and it behoves you to consider in which of the
four classes of men there described you can fairly rank
yourselves. Are you in the number of those that re-
ceive the seed by the way-side, on hearts as impenetra-
ble and inaccessible to conviction as the hard beaten
high road; or of those that receive the seed on a little
loose earth scattered on a rock, where it quickly springs
up, and as quickly withers away; or of those in whom
the seed is choked with thorns, with the occupations.
and pleasures of this life; or, lastly, of those who re-
ceive the seed on good ground, or an honest and
good heart, and bring forth fruit, some a hundred fold,
some sixty, some thirty? It becomes every one of you
to ask yourselves this question very seriously, and to
Rom. v. 5.
180
LECTURE XII.
answer it very honestly for on that depends the whole
colour of your future condition here and hereafter.
There are none I trust here present, there are few I
believe in this country, who fall under the first descrip-
tion of professed and hardened unbelievers; and amidst
many painful circumstances of these awful and anxious
times it is some consolation to us to reflect, that the
incredible pains which have been taken in a multitude
of vile publications to induce the people of this country
to apostatize from their religion, have not made that
general and permanent impression on their minds which
might naturally have been expected from such malig-
nant and reiterated efforts to shake their principles and
subvert their faith. But there are other instruments
of perversion and corruption, much more formidable
more powerful than these. There are rank and nox-
ious weeds and thorns, which grow up with the good
seed and choke it, and prevent it from coming to ma-
turity. These are, as the parable tells us, the cares,
the riches, and the pleasures of this world, which in our
passage through life lay hold upon our hearts, and are
more dangerous obstructions to the Gospel than all the
speculative arguments aud specious sophistry of all its
adversaries put together. It is but seldom, I believe,
comparatively speaking, that men are fairly reasoned
out of their religion. But they are very frequently se-
duced, both from the practice and the belief of it, by
treacherous passions within, and violent temptations
from without, by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eye, and the pride of life." These are in fact
the most common, the most powerful enemies of our
faith. These are the weeds and the thorns that twist
themselves round every fibre of our hearts, which im-
pede the growth and destroy the fruitfulness of every
good principle that has been implanted there, and form
that third and most numerous class of hearers descri-
bed in the parable of the sower, who, though not pro-
fessed infidels, are yet practical unbelievers, and who
though they retain the form, have lost all the substance,
all the power, all the life and soul of religion.
1
¿
LECTURE XII.
181
It is then against these most dangerous corruptors of
our fidelity and allegiance to our heavenly Master, that
we must principally be upon our guard; it is against
these we must arm and prepare our souls, by summon-
ing all our fortitude and resolution, and calling in to
our aid all those spiritual succours which the power of
prayer can draw down upon us from above. It was to
assist us in this arduous conflict that the compilers of
our liturgy appointed the season of Lent, and more par-
ticularly the offices of the concluding week, which
from the sufferings of our Saviour at that time, we call
Passion week. It was thought, and surely it was wise-
ly thought, by our ancestors, that to fortify ourselves
against the attractions of the world, and the seductions
of sin, it was necessary to withdraw ourselves some-
times from the tumultuous and intoxicating scenes of
business and of pleasure, which, in the daily commerce
of life, press so close on every side of us; and to
strengthen and confirm our minds against their fatal in-
fluence, by retirement, by recollection, by self-com-
munion, by self-examination, by meditating on the word
of God, and, above all, by frequent and fervent prayer.
To give us time for these sacred occupations, a small
portion of every year has been judiciously set apart for
them by our church; and what time could be so pro-
per for those holy purposes, as that in which our bles-
sed Lord was suffering so much for our sakes? I al-
lude more particularly to that solemn week which is
now approaching, and to which I must beg to call the
most serious attention of every one here present.
In that week all public diversions are, as you well
know, wisely prohibited by public authority; and in
conformity to the spirit of such prohibition, we should,
even in our own families and in our own private amuse-
ments, be temperate, modest, decorous, and discreet.
Think not, however, that I am here recommending
gloom and melancholy, and a seclusion from all socie-
ty; far from it. This could answer no other purpose
but to sour your minds and to deaden your devotions.
The cheerfulness of social converse and friendly inter
-
162
LECTURE XII.
course is by no means inconsistent with the duties of
the week; but all those tumultuous assemblies, which
are too strongly marked with an air of levity, gaiety,
and dissipation, and may in fact be ranked with the
number of public diversions, are plainly repugnant to
that seriousness and tenderness of mind, which the aw-
ful and interesting events of that week must naturally
inspire. Let me only request you to read over, when
you return home, that plain, simple, unaffected, yct
touching narative of our Saviour's sufferings, which is
selected from the Gospels, in the daily offices of the
next week; and then ask your own hearts whether, at
the very time when your Redeemer is supposed to have
passed through all those dreadful scenes for your sakes
and for your salvation, from his first agony in the gar
den, to his last expiring groan upon the cross, whether
at this very time you can bring yourselves to pursue
the pleasures, the vanities, and the follies of the world,
with the same unqualified eagerness and unabated ar-
dour as if nothing had happened which had given him
the slightest pain, or in which you had the smallest in-
terest or concern. Your hearts, I am sure, will revolt
at the very idea, and your own feelings will preserve
you from thus wantonly sporting with the cross of
Christ. And if from a prudent abstinence from these
things you were to add a careful enquiry into your past
conduct, and the present state of your souls, if you
were to extend your views to another world, and con-
sider what your condition there is likely to be; what
reasonable grounds you have to hope for a favourable
sentence from your Almighty Judge: how far you
have conformed to the commands of your Maker, and
what degree of affection and gratitude you have mani-
fested for the inexpressible kindness of
your Redeem-
er; this surely would be an employment not inconsist-
ent with your necessary occupations, and not unsuitable
to humble candidates for pardon, acceptance, and im-
mortal happiness.
M
Is this too great a burden to be imposed upon us for
a few days; is it too great a sacrifice of our time, our
LECTURE XIII
188
thoughts and our amusements to an invisible world and
a reversionary inheritance of inestimable value? It cer-
tainly is if the gospel be all a fabricated tale. But if it
contain the words of soberness and truth; if its divine
authority is established by such an accumulation of
evidence of various kinds as never before concurred to
prove any
other facts or events in the history of the world,
by evidences springing from different sources, yet all
centering in the same point, and converging to the
same conclusion; if even the few incidental proofs that
have been offered to your consideration in the course.
of these Lectures have produced that conviction in
your minds which they seem to have done, what then
is the consequence? Is it not that truths of such in-
finite importance well deserve all that consideration
for which I am now contending; and that we ought to
embrace with eagerness every appointed means and
every favourable opportunity that is thrown in our way,
of demonstrating our attachment and our gratitude to
a crucified Saviour, who died for our sins and rose
again for our justification, and will come once more in
glory to judge the world in righteousness, and to dis-
tribute his rewards and punishments to all the nations
of the earth assembled before him? At that awful tri-
bunal may we all appear with a humble confidence in
the merits of our Redeemer, and a trembling hope of
that mercy which he has promised to every sincere be
liever, every truly contrite and penitent offender!
LECTURE XIII.
MATTHEW xiii. CONTINUED.
THE Lectures of the last year concluded with an
explanation of the parable of the sower; and immedi-
ately after this follows in the Gospel the parable of the
184
LECTURE XIII.
tares, which will be the subject of our present consid-
eration.*
The parable is as follows: "The kingdom of hea-
ven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in
his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and
sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But
when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit,
then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the
householder came and caid unto him, Sir, didst thou
not sow good seed in thy field; from whence then
hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done
this. The servants said unto him, wilt thou then that
we go and gather them up. But he said nay, lest while
ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with
them. Let both grow together unto the harvest; and
in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather
ye together first the tares, and bind them up in bundles
to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."
After our Lord had delivered this parable, and one
or two more very short ones, we are told that he sent
the multitude away, and went into the house; and his
disciples came unto him saying, "Declare unto us the
parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said
unto them, 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 therefore the tares are
gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the
end of this 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
weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the right-
eous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Fa-
ther: who hath ears to hear let him hear.”
This parable well deserves our most serious conside-
ration, as it gives an answer to two questions of great
* Matth. xiii. 24.
·
186
LECTURE XIH.
curiosity and great importance, which have exercised
the ingenuity and agitated the minds of thinking men
from the earliest times to the present, and perhaps were
never, at any period of the world, more interesting than
at this very hour.
The first of these questions is, how came moral evil
into the world?
The next is, why it is suffered to remain a single
moment; and why is not every wicked man immedi
ately punished as he deserves?
The first of these questions has, we know, in almost
all ages, and in all countries, been a constant subject of
investigation and controversy among metaphysicians
and theologians, and has given birth to an infinity of
fanciful theories and systems, to one more particularly
in our own times, by a man of very distinguished tal-
ents;* all which however have failed of solving the
difficulty, and have proved nothing more than this mor-
tifying and humiliating truth, namely, the extreme
weakness of the human intellect, when applied to sub-
jects so far above its reach, and the utter inability of
man to fathom the counsels of the Most High, and to
develope the mysterious ways of his providence, by the
sole strength of unassisted reason. That those who
were never favoured with the light of revelation should
indulge themselves in such abstruse speculations, can
be no great wonder, but that they who have access to
the original fountain of truth, and can draw from that
sacred source the most authentic information on this
point, should have recourse to the fallible themsel
of human ingenuity, and should hew out to themselves
"cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water," is
a misapplication of talents, and waste of labour, and of
• Soame Jenyns.
Among the dissertations of Plu.arch (which go by the name of his mo-
rals) there is a very curious and ingenious one, intitled peri tọn upo tou theiou
bradeos timoroumenon, concerning those whom the Deity is slow in punishing.
In this, among other just remarks, he observes, that many things which
great generals, and legislators, and statesmen do, are to common observers
incomprehensible. What wonder is it then, says he, if we cannot understand
why the gods inflict punishment on the wicked, sometimes at an earlier, somics-
times at a later period ?" Plut. Ed. Xyland. v. 2. p. 549.
24
186
LECTURE XIII.
time. We are told in the very beginning of the Bible,
that he who first brought sin or moral evil into the
world, was that great adversary of the human race, the
devil, who first tempted the woman, and she the man,
to act in direct contradiction to the commands of their
Maker.
This act of disobedience destroyed at once that inno-
cence and purity and integrity of mind, with which they
came out of the hands of their Creator; gave an imme-
diate and dreadful shock to their whole moral frame,
and introduced into it all those corrupt propensities and
disordered passions which they bequeathed as a fatal
legacy to their descendants: of which we all now feel
the bitter fruits, and have, I fear, by our own personal
and voluntary transgressions, not a little improved the
wretched inheritance we received from our ancestors.
This is the true origin of moral evil; and it is express-
ly confirmed by our Saviour in the parable before us;
in which, when the servants of the householder express
their surprise at finding tares among the wheat, and ask
whence they came, his answer is, an enemy hath done
this; and that enemy our Lord informs us is the devil;
that inveterate implacable enemy (as the very name of
Satan imports) of the human race, the original author of
all our calamities, and at this moment the prime mover
and great master-spring of all the wickedness and all
the misery that now overwhelm the world.
To this account great objections have been made,
and no small pains taken to confute, to expose, and to
ridicule it. But after all the wit and buffoonery which
have been lavished upon it, it may safely be affirmed,
and might easily be shown, that it stands on firmer
ground, and is encumbered with fewer difficulties than
any other hypothesis that has been yet proposed.
But still, as I have already observed, there remains
another very important question to be answered. Why
is the wickedness of man, from whatever source it
springs, suffered to pass unobserved and unpunished
by the Judge of all the earth? Why is not the bold of
fender stopped short in his career of vice and iniquity?
LECTURE XIII.
187
any
Why is he permitted to go on triumphantly, without
obstacle to his wishes, to insult, oppress, and har-
rass the virtuous and the good, without the least check
or controul, and, as it were to brave the vengeance of
the Almighty, and set at nought the great Governor of
the world? Why, in short, in the language of the par-
able, are the tares allowed to grow up unmolested with
the wheat, to choke its vigour and impede its growth?
Why are they not plucked up instantly with an indig-
nant hand, and thrown to the dung-hill, or committed
to the flames?
This has been a most grievous" stumbling stone, a
rock of offence," not only to the unthinking crowd, but
to men of serious thought and reflection in every age;
and scarce any thing has more perplexed and disturbed
the minds of the good, or given more encouragement
or audacity to the bad, than the little notice that seems
to be taken of the most enormous crimes, and the little
distinction that is apparently made between "the wheat
and the tares, between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth
him not."
The reflections which these mysterious proceedings
are apt to excite even in the best and humblest of men,
are most inimitably expressed by the royal Psalmist in
the 73d Psalm, where you see all the different turns and
workings of his mind laid open without disguise, and
all the various ideas and sentiments that successively
took possession of his soul in the progress of his en-
quiry, described in the most natural and affecting man-
ner. Truly, says he, (with that piety which con-
stantly inspires him) God is loving to Israel; even un-
to such as are of a clean heart; nevertheless my feet
were almost gone; my treadings had well nigh slipped.
And why? I was grieved at the wicked; I do also see
the ungodly in such prosperity. For they are in no
peril of death, but are lusty and strong. They come in
no misfortune like other folk; neither are they plagued
like other men. And this is the cause, that they are
so holden with pride, and overwhelmed with eruelty.
(4
188
LECTURE XIII.
Their eyes swell with fatness, and they do even what
they lust. They corrupt other, and speak of wicked
blasphemy; their talking is against the Most High.
Tush, say they, how should God perceive it; is there
knowledge in the Most High? Lo, these are the un-
godly. These prosper in the world, and these have
riches in possession. And I said, then I have cleans-
ed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocen.
Cy ?;
Sentiments such as these are, I believe, what many
good men have found occasionally rising in their minds,
on observing the prosperity of the worthless part of
mankind. But never were they before so beautifully
and so feelingly expressed as in this passage. These
complaints, however, soon pass away with men of pi-
ous dispositions, and end in meek submission to the
will of Heaven. But not so with the wicked and pro-
fane. By them the forbearance of Heaven towards sin-
ners is sometimes perverted to the very worst purposes,
and made use of as an argument to encourage and con-
firm them in the career of vice. This effect is well and
accurately described in the book of Ecclesiastes. "Be-
cause sentence against an evil work is not executed
speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are
fully set in them to do evil."*
It was to obviate these fatal consequences, as well as
to give support and consolation to the good, that our
Lord delivered this parable of the tares and the wheat,
which will enable us to solve the arduous question
above-mentioned, arising from the impunity and pros
perity of the wicked, and to vindicate in this instance
the ways of God to man.
But before I begin to state and explain the reasons of
that forbearance and lenity towards sinners, which is so
much objected to in the divine administration of the
world, I must take notice of one very material cir-
cumstance in the case, which is, that the evil complain-
ed of is greatly magnified, and represented to be much
more generally prevalent than it really is. The fact is,
* Eccles. viii. 11.
LECTURE XIII.
189
that although punishment does not always overtake the
wicked in this life, yet it falls upon them more frequent-
ly and heavily than we are aware of. They are often
punished when we do not observe it; but they are also
sometimes punished in the most public and conspicu-
ous manner.
The very first offence committed by man after the cre-
ation of the world was, as we know to our cost, follow-
ed by immediate and exemplary punishment. The
next great criminal, Cain, was rendered a fugitive and
a vagabond upon earth, and held up as an object of ex-
ecration and abhorrence to mankind. When the whole
earth was sunk in wickedness, it was overwhelmed by
a deluge. The abominations of Sodom and Gomorrah
were avenged by fire from heaven. The tyrant Pha-
raoh and his host were drowned in the Red Sea. Ko-
rab, Dathan, and Abiram, and their rebellious compan-
ions, were buried alive in the bowels of the earth. It
was for their portentous wickedness and savage practi-
ces that the Canaanite nations were exterminated by the
Israelites; and it was for their idolatries, their licen-
tiousness, and their rebellions against God, that the Is-
raelites themselves were repeatedly driven into exile, re-
duced to slavery, and at length their city, their temple,
and their whole civil polity utterly destroyed, and
themselves scattered and dispersed over every part of
the known world, and every where treated with derision
and contempt. It will be said, perhaps, that these were
the consequences of the peculiar theocratic form of
their government, under which the rewards and the
punishments were temporal and immediate, and that
they are not to be expected in the present state of hu-
man affairs. Still however they are proofs, and tre-
mendous proofs, that God is not an inattentive and un-
concerned spectator of human wickedness. But let us
come to our own times, and to the fates and fortunes of
individuals under our own observation. Do we not
continually see that they who indulge their passions
without control, and give an unbounded loose to every
corrupt propensity of their hearts, are sooner or later
190
LECTURE XIII.
the victims of their own intemperance and licentious-
ness? Do they not madly sacrifice to the love of plea-
sure, and frequently within a very short space of time,
their health, their fortune, their characters, their peace
of mind, and that too completely and effectually, and
beyond all hopes of recovery? The instances of this
are many and dreadful, without taking into the account
such flagrant crimes as deliver men over into the hands
of public justice. Now what is all this but the sen-
tence of God speedily executed against evil works? It
may be alledged, that these are only the natural conse-
quences of wrong conduct, and not the immediate judi-
cial inflictions of Heaven. But who is it that has made
these evils the natural consequences of vice? Who but
the great Author of nature? He hath purposely formed
his world and his creature man in such a manner, that
these penalties shall follow close upon wickedness, as a
present mark of his abhorrence and detestation of it;
and they fall on many offenders, both so speedily and
so heavily, that till second thoughts correct the first im-
pression, it seems almost an impeachment of his good-
ness that he inflicts them.
Still it must be confessed that wickedness is some-
times triumphant; and so also does folly sometimes
meet with success in the world; but it is true notwith-
standing, that it labours under great disadvantages, and
immoral conduct under still greater. The natural ten-
dency of sin is to misery. Accidents may now and
then prevent this, but not generally; art and cunning
may evade it, but not nearly so often as men imagine.
But supposing the guilty to escape for a time all suf
ferings, and in consequence of it, to please themselves
highly with the prudence of their choice; yet still pun-
ishment, though slow, may overtake them at last.-
The blindness of such men to consequences is quite
astonishing. One man evades the penalties of human
laws in a few instances, and therefore concludes he
shall never be overtaken by them. Another preserves
his reputation for a time, and thence imagines it to
be perfectly secure. A third finds his health hold
LECTURE XIII.
197
out a few years, and therefore has not the least sus-
picion that what he is always undermining must fall at
last.
Now each of these may, if he pleases, applaud his
own wisdom; but every one else must see his extreme
stupidity and folly. In fact, whoever commits sin has
swallowed poison, which from that moment begins to
operate; at first perhaps by a pleasing intoxication, af-
terward by slow and uncertain degrees, but still the
disease is within, and is mortal; and since it may every
instant break out with fatal violence, it is a melancholy
thing to see the person infected filled with a mad joy,
which must end in heaviness and death.
Vice especially of some sorts, affects to wear a smil
ing countenance, and the days that are spent in it pass
along for a time pleasantly enough; but little do the
poor wretches that are deluded by it reflect what bitter-
ness they are treasuring up for the rest of life, and how
soon they may come to taste it in such consequences,
as even the completest reformation, and the strictest
care afterwards, will very imperfectly either prevent or
cure.
After all, however, it must be acknowledged, that
there are numbers of worthless and profligate men, who
go on for a considerable length of time, perhaps even
to the end of their days, in a full tide of worldly pros-
perity, blessed with every thing that is thought most
valuable in this life, wealth, power, rank, health and
strength, and enjoying all these advantages without
interruption and alloy, "coming in no misfortune
like other folk, and not plagued or afflicted like other
men.”
These, it must be confessed, are strong symptoms
of happiness, if we are to judge from appearance only.
But does not every one know that happiness depends
infinitely less upon external circumstances than on the
internal comfort, content, and satisfaction of the mind?
May I not appeal to every one here present, whether
some of the acutest sufferings, and the most exquisite
joys he has experienced, are not those which are confin-
192
LECTURE XIII.
ed to his own breast, which he enjoys in secrecy and
in silence, in his retired and private moments, unob-
served by the world, and independent on all exterior
show? The heart only (says the wise man most tru-
ly) knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger doth not
intermeddle with its joy."* This then is the standard
by which you must measure human happiness. You
must not too hastily conclude that prosperity is felicity.
In order to know whether these men are truly what they
seem to be, you must follow them into their retirements,
into their closets, and to their couches; and if you
could then see the interior of their hearts, you would
probably find them objects rather of pity than of envy.
Whatever they may pretend, or whatever air of cheer-
fulness they may assume, it is utterly impossible that
they, whose sole object is to gratify their passions
without the least regard to the feelings of others; who
are corrupting all around them by their conversation
and their example, or spreading ruin, misery, and deso-
lation over the world by their inordinate ambition; who
not only live in a constant violation of the commands.
of their maker, but perhaps even deny his existence,
renounce his authority, and treat every thing serious
and religious with derision and contempt: it is, I say,
utterly impossible that these men, whatever external
magnificence or gaiety may surround them, can enjoy
that peace and comfort and content of mind, which
alone constitutes real and substantial happiness, and
without which every thing else is insipid and unsatis-
factory. A secret consciousness that they are acting
wrong, that they are degrading and debasing their na
ture, and wasting their time in mean, unworthy, and
mischievous pursuits; frequent pangs of remorse for
the irreparable injuries they have done to those whom
they have betrayed or oppressed, and whose peace and
comfort they have forever destroyed; a dread of that
Almighty Being whom they have resisted and insulted;
a fear of death, and an apprehension of that punishment
hereafter, which, though they affect to disbelieve and
* Prov. xiv. 10.
Ove
LECTURE XIII.
1993
despise, they cannot help knowing to be possible, and
feeling that they deserve; all these reflections, which,
in spite of their utmost efforts to stifle them, will very
often force themselves upon their minds, are sufficient
to counteract every other advantage they possess, and
to embitter every enjoyment of their lives. All shall
look outwardly gay and happy, and all within shall be
joyless and gloomy. They shall seem to have every
thing they wish, and in fact, have nothing that affords
them any genuine satisfaction, or preserves them from
the internal wretchedness that perpetually haunts them.
"God (as the Psalmist expresses it) gives them their
hearts desire, and sends leanness withal into their
souls ;"* that is, a total incapacity of deriving any true
comfort from the blessings they possess.
I am not here drawing imaginary pictures of misery,
or describing situations which have never existed; I
could refer you to well-known examples, which could
amply confirm the truth of my assertions, and would
clearly show that the prosperity of the wicked is no
proof of their happiness; that external calamities and
corporeal pains, acute sufferings, disease, or death,
are not the only instruments of vengeance which the
Almighty has in his hand for the correction of sinners ;
but that he has other engines of punishment far more
terrible than these; that he can plant daggers in the
breast of the most triumphant libertine; and that even
when their worldly blessings are exalted, his secret
dart can pierce their souls, and wring them with tor-
tures sharper than a two-edged sword, yet invisible ta
every mortal eye.†
It appears, therefore, that sinners are in fact much
oftener and much more severely punished than we are
aware; that God is even now exercising a moral gov-
ernment over the world; that he is filling them with
the fruits of their own devices, and chastening them in
* Psalm cvi. 15.
+ "As malefactors, when they go to punishment carry their own cross,
so wickedness generally carries its own torment along with it, and is a most
skilful artificer of its own misery, filling the mind with terror, remorse, and
the most agonizing reflections." Plut. Ed. Xyland. v. 2. p. 5$4. A.
42
25
194
LECTURE XIII.
a variety of ways, not always discernable by us; admo-
nishing some by gentle corrections to sin no more, lest
a worse thing come unto them, but crushing some by
severer strokes, "that others may hear and fear, and
do no more any such wickedness."*
Still however it must be owned, that punishment
does not always overtake the offender either speedily or
immediately; and therefore I proceed to show, that
when this is the case, there are sufficient reasons for
the delay.
-
It is obvious that every scheme which comprehends.
a great variety of intentions and views, cannot permit
all of them to be accomplished at once, but some things,
by no means to be omitted entirely, must however be
postponed. Now such a complicated system is that
of the government of the world, in which God may
have many designs altogether unknown to us; and of
those which we know best, we are far from being judg-
es which it is right for him to prefer, whenever they
happen to interfere.† Offenders whom we are impa-
tient to see punished as they deserve, he may see it ex-
pedient, for various reasons to spare. One of these
reasons is given in the parable before us. When the
servants of the householder represented to him that
there was a great number of tares intermixed and
grow-
ing up with the wheat, and asked whether they should
not go and root them up: his answer was nay; lest
while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat also
with them. The meaning is, that in the present im-
perfect scene of things, the virtuous and wicked are so
intermingled and so connected with each other, that it
is frequently impossible to punish the guilty without
involving the innocent in their sufferings. In the case
of sinful nations, or any large bodies of men, this is ve-
ry apparent. It may happen that a very considerable
part of a great community may be guilty of the most
T
* Deut. xiii. 11.
+
"It is as absurd for us to blame the gods for not punishing the wicked
at the time and in the manner which we think the fittest, as it would be for
an ignorant clown to censure a physician for not adininistering the most effica
cious medicines to his patient at those times which he, the said clown, judges
to be the most proper." Plut. v. 2. p. 549. F.
mil
LECTURE XIII.
195
enormous crimes, of oppression, injustice, ambition,
cruelty, murder and impiety, and we are apt to call out
for immediate, exemplary vengeance on such wretches
as these. But if this vengeance was to be executed in
all its extent, if this people was to be extirpated by fire
and sword, or to be destroyed by famine, by pestilence,
or earthquake, it is evident that great numbers of inno-
cent persons must perish in this general wreck, and
that the wheat would be rooted up with the tares. In-
stead therefore of censuring the dispensations of the
Almighty in these instances, we ought to praise and
adore him for exercising his mercy when we should
have no compassion, and for sparing the wicked lest he
should destroy the righteous.
But though this reasoning may be allowed in the case
of guilty nations, yet it may be thought not to hold
good with respect to individuals. It may be alledged,
that single offenders at least may be cut off, without
doing any injury to the innocent or the virtuous.
But is this a fact which can at all times be safely assum-
ed? Is the criminal, whom you wish to see chastised,
a perfectly unconnected, solitary, and isolated being?
Has he no wife or children, no relations, no dependants,
no persons of any description, that look up to him for
protection, support, or assistance? If he has, are you
sure that all these persons are as worthless and as de-
serving of correction as himself? May they not, on
the contrary, be as eminent in virtue as he is in wick-
edness; or at the least, may they not be exempt from
many of those flagrant sins that call for immediate and
exemplary punishment? If so, would you have these
innocent, and perhaps excellent persons, involved in
the ruin of the great delinquent, on whom they entirely
depend? Would you have the righteous Governor of
the universe make no distinction in the infliction of
his punishments? Should we not rather adopt the pa-
thetic language of Abraham, when he is pleading with
the Almighty for Sodom and Gomorrah?" Wilt thou
slay the righteous with the wicked? That be far from
196
LECTURE XIII.
thee. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”*
You see then that there may be the best and most sub-
stantial reasons for delaying the punishment of the wick-
ed, both with respect to nations and individuals; and
that when we are rashly calling out for immediate ven-
geance, the Judge of all the earth is full of tenderness
and pity, and sees the best reasons for respiting even
the most notorious offenders.
But besides this, there are other reasons for God's
forbearance towards sinners. They are sometimes, as
the prophet expresses it, the rod of his angert. He
makes use of them as instruments to chastise each oth-
er, or to correct the faults of those who are much bet-
ter than themselves. And it frequently happens that
their punishment is only delayed till they have com-
pletely finished the work for which they were raised
up, and that then they are made to justify the dispen-
sations of the Almighty by the awful spectacle of a
conspicuous and terrifying fall.
To instance only the case of one notorious offender.
That miscreant Judas Iscariot, long before he betrayed
his master, gave proofs of a most depraved and cor-
rupt disposition. He was intrusted with the little.
stock that belonged in common to our Lord and the
apostles; he kept the bag, and he robbed it. This
flagrant breach of trust certainly deserved the severest
punishment; and no doubt the disciples secretly mur-
mured in their hearts, and condemned their divine
master for too great lenity towards so vile a wretch.
But they knew not what he knew, that he was reserved
for an important, though nefarious purpose, and was
to be the instrument of betraying the Saviour of the
world into the hands of his murderers, a deed for which
his former crimes showed him to be perfectly well qual-
ified. When this work of darkness was done, his
doom was sealed, his punishment instantly followed;
and, what increased its bitterness, it was inflicted with
his own hand.
* Gen. xviii. 25.
† Isaiah x. 5.
LECTURE XIII,
197
There is still another very important consideration,
which may frequently occasion a delay in punishing
even grievous offenders; and that is, the goodness and
long suffering of God, who is not willing that any
should perish, but that all should have time for repen-
tance.
He who looks into the hearts of men, may see vari-
ous reasons for sparing those whom we would consign
to immediate destruction. He
He may discern some good
qualities in them which are unknown to us, some good
dispositions and good principles, which have entirely
escaped our observation. He may perceive that they
have been betrayed into the crimes they have commit-
ted, more by unfortunate circumstances, by error of
judgment, by mistaken zeal, by wrong education, by
the solicitation and the influence of worthless compan-
ions, than by an incurable and inveterate depravity of
heart. He may see, that amidst a multitude of vile
weeds, there are still some seeds of virtue remaining in
their breasts, which, if duly cherished and fostered,
and cultivated with care and tenderness, may produce
most valuable fruits of righteousness. "He is unwil-
ling therefore to break the bruised reed, or to quench
the smoking flax."* He is unwilling to destroy what
may still possibly be restored; he is unwilling to extin-
guish, by severity, the faintest sparks of latent good-
ness. He sees, in short, that if they have time for re-
flection, if they have space for repentance, they will re-
pent, and he graciously gives them a respite for that
purpose.†
Matth. xii. 20.
+ "Those offenders whom the Deity knows to be absolutely incurable, he
destroys; but to those in whom he discovers some good dispositions, and a
probability of reformation, he gives time for amendment. Thus by immedi
are punishment he corrects a few, but by sometimes delaying it he recovers
and reforms many." Plut v. 2. p. 551. C. D.
To this may be added another fine observation of the same author; "that
God is sometimes slow in punishing the wicked, in order to teach us mortals
a lesson of moderation; to repress that vehemence and precipitation with
which we are sometimes impelled to avenge ourselves on those that offend us
in the first heat of our passion immediately and immoderately; and to in-
duce us to imitate that mildness, patience, and forbearance, which He is often
so merciful as to exercise towards those that have incurred his displeasure."
P. 550. F.
C
:
LECTURE XIII.
And shall we repine or murmur at this forbearance,
this indulgence of God towards sinners? Are not we
ourselves all of us sinners, miserable sinners: and do
we think that God treats us with too much indulgence?
Is there any one here present who would be content
that God should immediately, and without mercy, in-
flict on him the utmost punishment which his sins just-
ly deserve? What, alas! would become of the very
best of us, if this was the case; and who could abide
these Judgments of the Lord? And how then can we
refuse to others that mercy of which we stand so much
in need ourselves?
198
It is evident, and we see it every day, that men who
once were profligate have in time become eminently
virtuous; and what pity would it have been if extreme
or untimely severity had either suddenly cut them off,
or hardened them in their wickedness! Great minds are
sometimes apt to fly out into excesses at their first out.
set, but afterwards, upon reflection, and with proper
culture, rise up to the practice of the noblest virtues.
And it is mercy worthy of God to exercise, and which
men instead of censuring ought to admire and adore, if
he chooses the milder, though slower methods, with
those who are capable of being reformed by them.-
These sentiments cannot be better illustrated than by
the example of St. Paul. That illustrious apostle was
we know once, as he himself confesses, the chief of
sinners; he was a fiery zealot, and a furious persecu-
tor of the first Christians, breathing out continually
threatening and slaughter against them, making havoc
of the Church, entering into every house, and hauling
men and women to prison; and being, as he expresses
it, exceedingly mad against them, he persecuted them
unto strange cities, and when they were put to death,
he gave
his voice against them. In the eye of the Chris-
tian world then at that time, he must have been consi-
dered as one of the fittest objects of divine vengeance,
as a persecutor and a murderer, who ought to be cut
off in an instant from the face of the earth.
LECTURE XIII.
199
But the great Discerner of Hearts, thought otherwise.
He saw that all this cruelty, great as it undoubtedly
was, arose, not from a disposition naturally savage and
ferocious, but from ignorance, from early religious pre-
judices, from misguided zeal, from a firm persuasion
that by these acts of severity against the first Christians
he was doing God service. He saw that this same
fervor of mind, this excess of zeal, properly informed
and properly directed, would make him a most active.
and able advocate of that very cause which he had so
violently opposed. Instead therefore of an extraordi-
nary act of power to dsstroy him, he visibly interposed
to save him. He was in a miraculous manner convert-
ed to the Christian faith, and became the principal in-
strument of diffusing it through the world. We see
then what baneful effects would sometimes arise from
the immediate punishment even of notorious delin-
quents. It would in this case have deprived the Chris-
tian world of the abilities, the eloquence, the indefati-
gable and successful exertions of this learned and intre-
pid apostle, whose conversion gave a strong additional
evidence to the truth of the Gospel, and who laid down
his life for the religion he had embraced.
Yet notwithstanding all the reasons for sometimes
delaying the punishment of guilt in the present world,
it cannot be denied that there are some instances of
prosperous wickedness, which cannot well be account-
ed for by any of them; and therefore, for a complete
vindication of the moral government of God, we must
have recourse to the concluding part of the parable,
which will give us the fullest satisfaction on this inte-
resting subject. To the question of the servants, whe-
ther they should gather up the tares from the midst of
the wheat, the householder answers, "nay; lest while
ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat also. Let
both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of
harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first
the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but
gather the wheat into my barn." The harvest, our
Lord tells us in his explanation, is the end of the world,
200
LECTURE XIII.
(6
at which awful period 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
weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the right-
eous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Fa-
ther. He that hath cars to hear, let him hear."*
Here then is the great master-key to the whole of this
mysterious dispensation of Heaven. God we see, has
appointed a day when every deficiency in his adminis-
tration shall be supplied, and every seeming dispropor-
tion and inequality shall be rectified.†
Even in this world it appears that wickedness is pun.
ished in some measure, and to a certain degree; and
we have seen that the interests of virtue itself, among
other considerations, require that it should not be in-
stantly punished to the full extent of its deserts. God
is perpetually showing, even in the present life, his
different regard to right and wrong, by every such
method as the constitution of the world which he has
created admits; and therefore no sooner shall that
world come to an end, and all obstacles to an equal
administration of justice be taken out of the way, than
he shall come to execute righteous judgment upon
earth.
"He is not slack as men count slackness," that is
negligent and remiss; he only waits for the proper sea-
son of doing all that hitherto remains undone. Hu.
man weakness indeed, by a small delay of punishing,
may loose the power of doing it forever. "But in the
Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Human in-
constancy may be vehement and passionate at first;
* Matth. xiii. 41, 42, 43.
t "As the soul survives the dissolution of the body (says the excellent Plu-
tarch) and exists after death, it is most probable that it will receive rewards
and punishments in a future state; for it goes through a kind of contest dur-
ing the present life, and when that is over, it will have its due recompence
hereafter." 561. A.
How nearly does this approach to the doctrine of the Gospel, which had
been promulgated nearly one hundred years before Plutarch wrote.
thanks be to God, what this great man thought only probable, we have the
happiness of knowing to be certain.
But
#2 Pet. iii. 9.
§ Isaiah xxvi. 4.
LECTURE XIII.
201
then negligent and languid. The sense of an unworthy
action that does not injure us, quickly wears out of our
mind; and if we take no immediate notice of it, we
shall possibly take none at all. But we must not think
God to be such an one as ourselves. Eternity itself
will make no change in his abhorrence of wickedness,
nor will any thing either transport him to act before his
appointed time, or prevail upon him to give a respite
when that time comes. The sinners of the antediluvi-
an world, abusing the long space of one hundred and
twenty years which he allowed for their repentance,
perished at the end of it without mercy. The angels
who fell from their first estate before this earth was cre-
ated, he has reserved for torments, that shall not finally
take place till it is consumed.*
The same important period his infinite wisdom has
marked out for the final judgment of men.
And un-
doubtedly it may produce advantages of unspeakable
moment thus to defer justice, with a design of render-
ing some chosen parts of duration memorable through-
out the universe, by a more extensive and illustrious
exercise of it. For it must needs make an inconceiv-
ably strong and lasting impression upon every order of
beings that shall then be present at the solemn scene,
to hear the final doom of a whole world pronounced at
once; and to behold sins that had been committed
thousands of years before, punished with the same at-
tention to every circumstance as if they had been but
of yesterday.
How far off these judgments of the Lord may be, we
none of us know. But with regard to ourselves, they
are near, they are even at the door. The few days we
have to pass in this transient scene will determine our
condition forever, and bring us into an eternal state,
compared with which the continuance of the present
frame of nature, from its very beginning, will be as no-
thing. Then every act of the government of God will
be seen in its true light; the imagined length of dis-
tance between guilt and its punishment will totally dis-
* Jude vi. 2 Pet. ii. 4.
26
202
LECTURE XIII.
appear; and offenders will lament in vain that sentence
is executed so speedily as it is against evil works. But
with peculiar severity will it be executed on them,
who despising the riches of that goodness which would
lead them to repentance, "treasure up for themselves
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God."*
Upon the whole then let not either the sinner triumph,
or the virtuous repine, at the apparent impunity or even
prosperity of the wicked in the present life. To the
audacious sinner we apply those most opposite and
most awful words of the son of Sirach. "Say not who
shall control me for my works, for the Lord shall sure-
ly avenge thy pride. Say not I have sinned, and what
harm hath happened unto me; for the Lord is indeed
long-suffering, but he will in no wise let thee go. Say
not, his mercy is great, he will be pacified for the mul
titude of my sins; for both mercy and wrath come from
him, and his indignation resteth upon sinners. Make
therefore no tarrying to turn unto the Lord, and put not
off from day to day; for suddenly shall the wrath of the
Lord come forth, and in thy security shalt thou be de-
stroyed, and perish in the day of vengeance."†
To the religious and virtuous on the other hand we
say, "Fret not thyself because of the ungodly, neither
be thou envious against the evil doers. Hold thee still
in the Lord, and abide patiently upon him; but grieve
not thyself at him whose way doth prosper, against the
man that doeth after evil counsels. Wicked doers
shall be rooted out; and they that patiently abide the
Lord, those shall inherit the land."‡
Be patient
therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Be-
hold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits of
the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he re-
ceive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient
for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."
*
It is not indeed always an casy task to exercise this
patience, when we see conspicuous instances either of
individuals or of nations, notorious for their profligacy,
triumphant and prosperous in all their ways.
We can
Rom. ii. 5. † Eccl. v. 6. † Psalm xxxvii. 7. § James v. 7
LECTURE XIII.
205
61
scarce repress our discontent, or forbear joining with
the prophet in his expostulation with the Almighty,
Righteous art thou, O Lord! yet let me talk with
thee of thy judgments. Why do the ways of the wick-
ed prosper? Why are all they happy that deal very
treacherously?"* To this we can now answer in the
words of Job: "Knowest thou not this, since man was
placed upon the earth, that the triumphing of the wick-
ed is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a mo-
ment. Though his excellency mount unto the hea-
vens, and his head reach unto the clouds, yet he shall
perish forever, and they that have seen him shall say,
where is he?"+
In fact it has been proved, in the course of this en-
quiry, that in such an immense and complicated system
as that of the universe, there are many reasons which
we can discern, and a thousand others perhaps totally
unknown to us, which render it necessary that the vir-
tuous should suffer a temporary depression, and the
wicked enjoy a temporary triumph. But let not these
apparent irregularities dispirit or discourage us; for
whenever the purposes of Providence in these mysteri-
ous dispensations shall have been accomplished, every
disorder shall be rectified, and every appearance of in-
justice done away. The time and the season for doing
this God has reserved in his own power: and we must
not presume to prescribe rules to the wisdom of the
Almighty. To men excruciated with pain, every mo-
ment seems an age; and to men groaning under op-
pression, their deliverance, if it come not instantly, may
seem extremely distant. But let them not despair: in
due season they shall reap if they faint not.
At the pe-
riod marked out by infinite wisdom, and which it is
their duty to await with patience, God shall cause his
judgment to be heard from heaven, and the earth shall
tremble and be still. He shall then demonstrate to the
whole world "that his hand is not shortened that it
cannot redeem, and that he still retains the power to
save."
He shall prove in a manner the most awful*
Jerem. xii. 1. † Job. xx. 5. ‡ Isai. 1, 2.
*
1
201
LECTURE XIV.
and most satisfactory, "that verily there is a reward for
the righteous, and a punishment for the wicked; that
doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth."*
* Psalm lviii. 10.
:
LECTURE XIV.
MATTHEW xiv.
WE are now, in the course of these Lectures, ar-
rived at the fourteenth chapter of St. Matthew, which
begins in the following manner :
"At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the
fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants, this is John
the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore
mighty works do shew forth themselves in him; for
Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put
him in prison, for Herodias sake, his brother Philip's
wife; for John said unto him, it is not lawful for thee
to have her. And when he would have put him to
death, he feared the multitude, because they counted
him as a prophet. But when Herod's birth day was
kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them,
and pleased Herod; whereupon he promised with an
oath, that he would give her whatsoever she would
ask; and she, being before instructed of her mother,
said, give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.
And the king was sorry; nevertheless, for the oath's
sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he com-
manded it to be given her, and he sent and beheaded
John in the prison; and his head was brought in a
charger, and given to the damsel; and she brought it
to her mother; and his disciples came and took up
the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus."
Before we enter upon this remarkable and affecting
narrative of the murder of John the Baptist by Herod,
LECTURE XIV.
205
I'v
it will be proper to take notice of the two first verses of
this chapter, which gave occasion to the introduction
of that transaction in this place, although it had hap-
pened some time before.
"At that time, says the evangelist, Herod the te-
trarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto his
servants, this is John the Baptist; he is risen from the
dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth them.
selves in him."
It is not easy to meet with a more striking instance
than this of the force of conscience over a guilty mind,
or a stronger proof how perpetually it goads the sinner,
not only with well-grounded fears and apprehensions of
impending punishment and vengeance, but with imag-
inary terrors and visionary dangers.
No sooner did the fame of Jesus reach the ears of the
tyrant Herod, than it immediately occurred to his mind
that he had himself, not long before, most cruelly and
wantonly put to death an innocent, virtuous, and holy
man, whose reputation for wisdom, integrity, and sanc-
tity of manners, stood almost as high in the estima-
tion of the world as that of Jesus; and who had even
declared himself the herald and the forerunner of that
extraordinary person. This instantly suggested to him
an idea the most extravagant that could be imagined,
that this very person who assumed the name of Jesus
was in fact no other than John the Baptist himself,
whom he had beheaded, and who was now risen from
the dead, and was endowed with the power of working
miracles, though he never performed any when living.
It is evident that nothing could be more improbable
and absurd than these suppositions, nothing more con-
trary even to his own principles; for there is reason to
believe that Herod, like most other people of high rank
at that time, was of the sect called the Sadducees, a
sect which rejected the immortality of the soul, and
the doctrine of a resurrection, and must therefore be
perfectly adverse to the strange imagination of John the
Baptist being risen from the dead. Yet the fears of
Herod overruled all the prejudices of his sect, and
206
LECTURE XIV.
raised up before his eyes the semblance of the murder.
ed Baptist armed with the power of miracles, for the
very purpose (he perhaps imagined) of inflicting ex-
emplary vengeance upon him for that atrocious deed,
as well as for his adultery, his incest, and all his other
crimes which now probably presented themselves in
their most hideous forms to his terrified imagination,
pursued him into his most secret retirements, and tor-
tured his breast with unceasing agonies.
The evangelist having thus introduced the mention.
of John the Baptist, goes back a little in his narative,
to make the reader acquainted with that part of the
Baptist's history which brought down upon him the
indignation of Herod, and was the occasion of his
death. -
This flagitious prince had, it seems, in the face of
day, and in defiance of all laws, human and divine,
committed the complicated crime of adultery and in-
cest, attended with every circumstance that could mark
an abandoned and unprincipled mind.
He had been married a considerable time to the
danghter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, but con-
ceiving a violent passion for his brother Philip's wife,
Herodias, he first seduced her affections from her hus-
band, then dismissed his own wife, and married Hero-
dias, during the life-time of his brother. It was impos-
sible that such portentous wickedness as this could es-
cape the observation or the reproof of the holy Baptist.
He had the honesty and the courage to reproach the ty
rant with the enormity of his guilt, although he could
not be ignorant of the danger he incurred by such a
measure; but he determined to do his duty, and to take
the consequences. The consequences were, "that
Herod laid hold of John, and bound him, and threw
him into prison."* And undoubtedly his wish was
to have put him immediately to death, but he was re-
strained by two considerations. The first was, because
John was held in such high esteem and veneration by
all the people, that had any violence been offered to
Matth. xiv. 3.
LECTURE XIV.
207
him by Herod, he was apprehensive that it might have
occasioned a general insurrection against his govern-
ment; for we are informed by St. Matthew that "he
feared the multitude, because they counted John as a
prophet."*
The other reason was, that although he felt the ut-
most indignation and resentment against John for the
freedom he had used in reproaching him for his licen-
tious conduct, yet at the same time the character of
that excellent man, his piety, his sanctity, his integrity,
his disinteredness, nay, even the courage which had so
much offended and provoked him, commanded his re-
spect and veneration, and excited his fears; for we are
told expressly that Herod feared John, knowing he
was a just man and a holy.† Nor is this all, he not only
feared John, but in some degree paid court to him. He
frequently sent for him out of prison, and conversed with
him, and, as the evangelist expresses it, observed him?
that is, listened to him with attention and with pleasure;
nay he went farther still, he did many things, many
things which John exhorted and enjoined him to do.‡
He perhaps showed more attention to many of his pub-
lic duties, more gentleness to his subjects, more com-
passion to the poor, more equity in his judicial determi-
nations, more regard to public worship; and vainly hoped
perhaps, like many other audacious sinners, that this par-
tial reformation, this half-way amendment, would avert
the judgments with which John probably threatened
him. But the main point, the great object of John's
reprehension, the incestuous adultery in which he liv-
ed, that he could not part with; it was too precious,
too favorite a sin to give up; too great a sacrifice to
make to conscience and to God.
W
What a picture does this hold out to us of that strange
thing called human nature, of that inconsistence, that
contradiction, that contrariety, which sometimes take
place in the heart of man, unsanctified and unsubdued
by the power of divine grace! and what an exalted idea
at the same time does it give us of the dignity of a tru
Mark vi. 20.
* Matth. xiv.-5.
† Mark vi. 20.
208
LECTURE XIV.
ly religious character, like that of John, which compels
even its bitterest enemies to reverence and to fear it; and
forces even the most profligate and most powerful of
men to pay an unwilling homage to excellence, at the
very moment, perhaps, when they are meditating its
destruction!
In this state of irresolution Herod might probably
have continued, and the fate of John have remained
undecided for a considerable time, had not an incident
taken place which determined both much sooner per-
haps than was intended. Herod, on his birth-day, gave
an entertainment to the principal officers of his army and
of his court; and as a peculiar and very uncommon
compliment on the occasion, Salome, the daughter of
his wife Herodias by her former husband, came in and
danced before the company in a manner so pleasing to
Herod and to all his guests, that the king in a sudden
transport of delight, cried out to the damsel, as St.
Mark relates it, "Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt,
and I will give it thee." And he sware unto her,
"whatsoever thou shalt ask of me I will give it thec
even unto the half of my kingdom*." The folly, the
rashness, and the madness of such an oath as this, on so
foolish an occasion, could be exceeded by nothing but
the horrible purpose to which it was perverted by the
young creature to whom it was made, or rather by her
profligate instructor and adviser, her mother Herodias.
Astonished and overwhelmed probably with the mag-
nitude of such an unexpected offer, which laid at her
feet half the wealth, the power and the splendor of a
kingdom, she found herself unable to decide between
the various dazzling objects that would present them-
selves to her imagination, and therefore very naturally
applies to her mother for advice and direction. Most
mothers, on such an occasion, would have asked for a
daughter a magnificent establishment, a situation of
high rank and power! But Herodias had a passion to
gratify, stronger perhaps than any other, when it takes
full possession of the human heart, and that was re-
* Mark vi. 23, 23.
LECTURE XIV.
209
venge. She had been. mortally injured, as she con-
ceived, by the Baptist, who had attempted to dissolve
her present infamous connection with Herod. And she
not only felt the highest indignation at this insult, but
was afraid that his repeated remonstrances might at
length prevail. She therefore did not hesitate one mo-
ment what to ask; she gave way to all the fury of her
resentment; and without the least regard to the charac-
ter or the delicate situation of her inexperienced daugh-
ter, she immediately ordered her to demand the head
of her detested enemy, John the Baptist! The wretch-
ed young woman unfortunately obeyed this dreadful
command; and, as we are told by the evangelist, "came
in straightway with haste unto the king."*
She came
with speed in her steps, and eagerness in her eye, and
said, "Give me here John the Baptist's head in a
charger." This savage request appalled even the un-
feeling heart of Herod himself. He did not expect it,
and was not prepared for it; and although he was high-
ly disgusted with John, yet, for the reasons above men-
tioned, he did not choose to go to extremities with him.
He was therefore exceeding sorry, as the sacred Histo-
rian informs us, to be thus forced upon so violent and
hazardous a measure; "nevertheless, for his oath's sake,
and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded
it to be given to her." Conceiving himself, most ab-
surdly, bound by his oath to comply even with this in-
human demand, and afraid lest he should be reproach-
ed by those that were around him with having broken
his promise, he preferred the real guilt of murder to the
false imputation of perjury, and "sent and beheaded
John in prison; and his head was brought in a charger,
and given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mo-
ther." It is well known that it was a custom in the
east, and is so still in the Turkish court, to produce the
heads of those that are ordered to be put to death, as a
proof that they have been really executed. But how
this wretched damsel could so far subdue the common
feelings of human nature, and still more the natural ten-
* Mark vi. 25. Matth. xiv. S.
27
3
*
310
LECTURE XIV.
derness and delicacy of her sex, as not only to endures
so disgusting and shocking a spectacle, but even to
carry the bleeding trophy in triumph to her mother, it
is not easy to imagine; and it would scarce be credited,
did we not know that in times and in countries much
nearer to our own, sights of still greater horror than this
have been contemplated, even by women and children,
with complacency and with delight.
Such was the conclusion of this singular transaction;
and every part of it is so pregnant with useful instruc-
tion and admonition, that I shall stand excused, I hope,
if I take up a little more of your time than is usual in
discourses of this nature, in commenting somewhat at
large on the conduct and characters of the several act-
ors in this dreadful tragedy.
And, in the first place, there can be no doubt that
the most guilty and the most unpardonable of all the
parties concerned in this murder of an innocent and ex-
cellent man was the abandoned Herodias. For it was
she whose indignation against John was carried to the
greatest length, and in the end effected his ruin. It
was she who was continually importuning and urging
Herod to put the Baptist to death, from which, for a
considerable time, his fears restrained him. It was she
who, as St. Mark expresses it, "had a quarrel against
John, and would have killed him, but she could not."*
The words translated, had a quarrel against him, have
in the original much greater force and energy, Eneiphen
auto. She, as it were, fastened and hung upon John,
and was determined not to let go her hold till she had
destroyed him.†
We here see a fatal proof of the extreme barbarities
to which that most diabolical sentiment of revenge will
drive the natural tenderness even of a female mind;
what a close connection there is between crimes of ap-
parently a very different complexion, and how frequent-
ly the uncontrolled indulgence of what are called the
*Mark vi. 19.
†. Hesychius explains encphei by elkeitai, sticks close to in hatred or spite.-
Doddridge gives still greater force to the expression; but Parkhurst does not
allow it.
LECTURE XIV.
211
softer affections, lead ultimately to the most violent ex-
cesses of the malignant passions. The voluptuary gen-
erally piques himself on his benevolence, his humanity,
and gentleness of disposition. His claim even to these
virtues is at the best very problematical; because in
his pursuit of pleasure, he makes no scruple of sacri-
ficing the peace, the comfort, the happiness of those
for whom he pretends the tenderest affection, to the
gratification of his own selfish desires. But however
he may preserve his good humour, when he meets with
no resistance, the moment he is thwarted and opposed
in his flagitious purposes, he has no hesitation in going
any lengths to gain his point, and will fight his way to
the object he has in view through the heart of the very
best friend he has in the world. The same thing we
see in a still more striking point of view, in the con-
duct of Herodias. She was at first only a bold unprin-
cipled libertine, and might perhaps be admired and ce-
lebrated, as many others of that description have been,
for her good temper, her sensibility, her generosity to
the poor; and with this character she might have gone
out of the world, had no such person as John arisen to
reprove her and her husband for their profligacy, and
to endanger the continuance of her guilty commerce.
But no sooner does he rebuke them as they deserved,
than Herodias shewed that she had other passions to in-
dulge besides those which had hitherto disgraced her
character; and that, when she found it necessary to her
pleasures, she could be as cruel as she had been licen-
tious; could contrive and accomplish the destruction
of a great and good man, could feast her eyes with the
sight of his mangled head in a charger, could even
make her own poor child the instrument of her ven-
geance, and, as I am inclined to think, a reluctant ac-
complice in a most atrocious murder,
Here is a most awful lesson held out, not only to the
female sex, but to both sexes, to persons of all ages and
conditions, to beware of giving way to any one evil pro-
pensity in their nature, however it may be disguised
under popular names, however indulgently it may be
212
LECTURE XIV.
treated by the world, however it may be authorized by
the general practice of mankind; because they here see
that they may not only be led into the grossest extrava-
gancies of that individual passion, but may also be in-
sensibly betrayed into the commission of crimes of the
deepest dye, which in their serious moments they al-
ways contemplated with the utmost horror.
Let us now take our leave of this wretched woman,
and turn our attention for a moment to her unhappy
daughter. Here undoubtedly there is much to blame,
but there is also something to pity and to lament. Her
youth, her inexperience, her unfortunate situation in a
most corrupt court, the vile example that was constant-
ly before her eyes, the influence, the authority, the
commands of a profligate mother, these are circumstan,
ces that plead powerfully for compassion, and tend in
some degree to mitigate her guilt. Her first fault evi-
dently was that gross violation of all decorum, and all
custom too, in appearing and dancing publicly before
Herod and a large number of his friends assembled at
a festive meeting, and perhaps half intoxicated with
wine. But it is not probable that a young woman of
high rank, and so very tender an age as she seems to
have been, should have voluntarily taken such a step as
this, or should have been able to subdue at once all the
modesty and the timidity of her sex, and acquire cour-
age enough to encounter the eyes and the observations
of so licentious an assembly. There can be little doubt,
that she was wrought upon by the persuasions of her
artful mother, who flattered herself that this artifice
might produce some such effect in the mind of Herod
as actually followed. What adds great weight to this
conjecture is, that her next dreadful transgression, her
singular and sanguinary request to have the head of
John the Baptist presented to her, was unquestionably
the suggestion of the abandoned Herodias.
The sacred historian expressly informs us, that it
was in consequence of being before instructed of her
mother that she made this demand. Nor is this all;
there is great reason to believe that it was with the ut
LECTURE XIV.
213
most difficulty she was prevailed on to comply with the
injunctions that were given her for the original words
probibastheisa upo tes metros, which we translate before
instructed of her mother, more strictly signify being
wrought upon, instigated and impelled by her mother;
for this is the sense in which that expression is used by
the best Greek writers.
This supposition receives no small confirmation from
the manner in which she is represented by the evangelist
as delivering her answer to Herod. "She came straight-
way with haste unto the king;" she betrayed on her
return the utmost emotion and agitation of mind. She
had worked herself up to a resolution of obeying her
mother; and was in haste to execute her commission,
lest if any pause had intervened her heart should relent,
her spirits fail her, and she should not have courage to
utter the dreadful demand she had to make.
All this seems to imply great reluctance on her part,
and evidently is a considerable alleviation of her crime;
yet does by no means exempt her from all guilt. For
although obedience to parents is a very sacred duty,
yet there is another duty superior to it, that which we
owe to our Maker. And whenever even a parent
would incite us to any thing plainly repugnant to his
laws, as was the case in the present instance, we must,
though with all possible decency and respect, yet with
firmness and with courage, resist the impious com-
mand, and declare it to be our desired resolution" to
obey God rather than man."
The next person that claims our notice in this inter-
esting narrative is Herod himself. We have already
seen his inconsistent and undecided conduct respecting
John. He had in a moment of exasperation thrown
him into prison; but from a respect to his character,
and fear of the consequences if he offered him any fur-
ther violence, he suffered him to remain unmolested,
and even frequently admitted him to his presence, and
held conversations with him. And it is not improba-
ble that after some time his resentment might have sub.
sided, and he might have released his prisoner. But
•
214
LECTURE XIV.
when once a man has involved himself deeply in guilt,
he has no safe ground to stand upon. Every thing is
unsound and rotten under his feet. He cannot say,
"so far will I go in wickedness, and no farther."
The crimes he has already committed may have an un-
seen connection with others, of which he has not the
slightest suspicion; and he may be hurried, when he
least intends it, into enormities, of which he once tho't
himself utterly incapable. This was the case in the
present instance.
When Herod first engaged in his
guilty intercourse with Herodias he probably meant to
go no further. He meant to content himself with adul
tery and incest, and had no intention of adding murder
to the black catalogue of his crimes. He had no other
view but the gratification of a present passion, and did
not look forward to the many evils which scarce ever.
fail to arise from a criminal connection with a profligate
and artful woman. This was the original and fruitful
source of all his future crimes and future misfortunes,
He flattered himself that, notwithstanding his marriage
with Herodias, he should still be master of his own
resolutions and his own actions. But Herodias soon
taught him a different lesson. She shewed that she
understood him much better than he did himself.
She convinced him that his destiny was in her hands;
that she held the secret wire that governed all his mo-
tions; and that she could, by one means or other, bend
his mind to any purpose which she was determined to
accomplish. It was his intention to save John the
Baptist. It was her intention to destroy him, and she
did it. He had indeed the courage to resist her re-
peated solicitations that he would put John to death.
And piqued himself probably on the firmness of his res
olution. But Herodias was not of a temper to be dis-
couraged by a few denials or repulses. She knew that
there were other more effectual ways of carrying her
point. If the king could not be compelled to surren-
der by assault he might be taken by stratagem and sur-
prize. And to this she had recourse. She saw that
her daughter had attractions and accomplishments
LECTURE XIV.
915
which might be turned to good account, which might
be made to operate most powerfully on such a mind as
Herod's.
She therefore, as we have already seen, planned the
project of her dancing before him on the festival of his
birth-day, in the hope that in the unguarded moments
of convivial mirth, he might be betrayed into some
concession, some act of indulgence towards this favor-
ite daughter, from which he could not easily recede.
The plan succeeded even probably beyond her expec-
tations. The monarch was caught in the snare that
was laid for him. He made a rash promise to Salome,
and confirmed that promise by an oath, that he would
give her whatsoever she would ask. And when, to
his infinite astonishment and grief, she demanded the
life of a man whom he wished to save, instead of re-
treating by the only way he had left, that of retracting
a promise which it was madness to make, and the ex-
tremity of wickedness to perform, he was induced by
a false point of honor (as worthless men frequently are)
to commit an atrocious murder rather than violate a
rash oath, an oath which could never make that right
which was before intrinsically wrong, which could nev-
er bind him to any thing in itself unlawful, much less
to the most unlawful of all things, the destruction of
an innocent and virtuous man.
T
<day
I have entered thus minutely into the detail of this
remarkable transaction, because, as I have before re-
marked, every line of it is replete with the most impor-
tant instruction; as indeed is the case with every part
of the sacred history in the Gospel, and the Acts,
which teach full as much by the facts they relate as by
the precepts they inculcate. The moral lessons to be
drawn from the passage before us I have already point-
ed out in some degree as I went along; but there are
one or two of a more general import, which I shall
briefly add in conclusion, and which will deserve your
very serious attention.
The first is, that in the conduct of life there is no-
thing more to be dreaded and avoided, nothing more
"
216
LECTURE XIV.
dangerous to our peace, to our comfort, to our charac
ter, to our welfare here and hereafter, than a criminal
attachment to an abandoned and unprincipled woman,
more particularly in the early period of life. It has
been the source of more misery, and besides all the
guilt which naturally belongs to it, has led to the com-
mission of more and greater crimes than perhaps any
other single cause that can be named.
We have seen
into what a gulph of sin and suffering it plunged the
wretched Herod. He began with adultery, and he end-
ed with murder, and with the total ruin of himself, his
kingdom, and all the vile partners of his guilt. The
same has happened in a thousand other instances; and
there are, I am persuaded, few persons here present, of
any age or experience in the world, who cannot recol-
lect numbers, both of individuals and of families, whose
peace, tranquility, comfort, characters, and fortunes,
have been completely destroyed by illicit and licentious
connections of this sort. Nor is this the worst. The
present effects of these vices, dreadful as they some-
times are, cannot be compared with the misery which
they are preparing for us hereafter. The Scriptures
every where rank these vices in the number of those
presumptuous sins, which, in a future life, will experi
ence the severest marks of divine displeasure. The world
indeeed, treats them with more indulgence. They are
excused and palliated, and even defended on the ground
of human frailty, of natural constitution, of strong pas-
sions, and invincible temptations; and they are gene
rally considered and represented in various popular per-
formances (especially in those imported from foreign
countries) as associated with many amiable virtues, with
goodness of heart, with high principles of honour, with
benevolence, compassion, humanity, and generosity.
But whatever gentle names may be given to sensu
ality and licentiousness, whatever specious apologies
may be made for them, whatever wit or talents may be
employed in rendering them popular and fashionable,
whatever numbers, whatever examples may sanction or
authorise them, it is impossible that any thing can do
LECTURE XIV.
217
away their natural turpitude and deformity, or avert
those punishments which the gospel has denounced a-
gainst them. They are represented there as things that
ought not even to be named among Christians, as de-
filing the man, as warring against the soul, as griev-
ing the Spirit of God, as rendering men incapable of
inheriting the kingdom of heaven, as exposing them to
the indignation of Him who is of purer eyes than to be-
hold iniquity.* And as if men had endeavored in
those days as well as in our own, to soften and to ex-
tenuate and explain away the guilt of licentiousness,
the apostle adds, with great solemnity and great ear-
nestness, "Let no man deceive you with vain words:
for because of these things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience."+
Let every man then that pretends to be a Christian,
and lives in the habitual practice of the vices here con-
demned, weigh well these tremendous words. If there
be any truth in the Gospel, they will not be vain words
nor will offences of this nature ever pass unnoticed or
unpunished by the righteous Governor of the world.
son.
These remarks are not introduced here without rea-
It is the peculiar prevalence of these very vices
at this moment which demand such animadversions as
these; a prevalence which I infer not merely from an
imaginary estimate of the low state of morals amongst
us, founded on rumour, on conjecture, or misconstruc-
tion, but from facts too well ascertained, and which
obtrude themselves on the notice of every observing
mind. I mean those daring violations of the nuptial
contract, and the frequent divorces resulting from
them, which seem daily gaining ground in this king-
dom. This is a most melancholy and incontroverti
ble proof of increasing depravity amongst us, and I am
sorry to add, of depravity of the very deepest dye; for
instances have not long since occurred, in which the
guilt of the parties too nearly resembled that of Herod,
Ephes. v. 3. Matth. xv. 18. 1 Pet. ii. 11. 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. Ha
bak. i. 13.
† Ephes. v. 6.
In the Spring of the year 1809.
28
LECTURE XIV.
combining the two atrocious crimes of adultery and
incest! Surely such enormities as these are enough
to make us tremble, and loudly call for the interposi-
tion of the legislature, lest they bring down upon us
the just vengeance of an offended God. "Shall I not
visit for these things, saith the Lord! Shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"*
Another reflection arising from this short history of
Herod and John the Baptist is this; that although, in
the ordinary course of divine administration, the pun-
ishment of the wicked does not always overtake them
here, but is reserved for the last awful day of account;
yet it sometimes happens (as I observed in my last Lec-
ture) that their crimes draw after them their just re-
compence, even in the present life. This was eminent-
ly the case of the flagitious Herod; for besides those
terrors of conscience, which, as we have seen, perpet.
ually hauntedim, which raised up before him terrific
forms and agonizing apprehensions, and represented
John the Baptist as risen from the dead to avenge his
crimes; we are informed by the historian that his mar-
riage with Herodias drew upon him the resentment of
Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, the father of his first
wife, who declared war against him, and, in an en-
gagement with Herod's army, defeated it with great
slaughter. This, says the historian, the Jews consid
ered as a just judgment of God upon Herod for his
murder of John the Baptist. And not long after this,
both he and Herodias were deprived of their kingdom
by the Roman emperor, and sent into perpetual ban-
ishment. And it is added by another historias,‡ that
their daughter Salome met with a violent and untime-
ly death. Instances like this are intended to shew,
that the Governor of the universe, though he has ap
pointed a distant period for the general distribution of
his rewards and punishments, yet in extraordinary cas-
es, he will sometimes interpose to chastise the bold
218
4
* Jer. v. 9.
† Jos. Ant. L. xviii. c. 5. s.l. 2.
Nicephori. Hist. Eccles. L. 1.1. p. 89..
LECTURE XIV.
219
offender, to assert his superintending providence and
supreme dominion over all his creatures, and to give
them the most awful proofs that, from his all-searching
eye, no wickedness can be concealed.
The remaining part of this chapter is occupied with
the recital of two miracles, on which I have only to ob-
serve, that they have both of them a spiritual as well as
a literal meaning, are both of a very extraordinary na-
ture, as calculated to make, as they did, a most pow-
erful impression on the minds of the spectators; these
were, the feeding above five thousand persons with
five loaves and two fishes, and our Saviour's walking
on the sea. The first of these had a reference to that
spiritual food, that celestial manna, that bread of life,
which our Lord was then dispensing in such abun-
dance to those that hungered and thirsted after right-
€ousness. The other was meant to encourage the
great principle of faith; of trust and reliance upon God,
in opposition to that self-confidence, that high opinion
of our own strength, which we are too apt to entertain,
and to which St. Peter, above all the other apostles,
was peculiarly liable. When therefore, in conse-
quence of his own request, he was permitted to go to
Jesus on the water, and forgetting immediately who
was his guide and support, began to be afraid and to
sink, and called out to his divine master to save him,
our Lord graciously stretched forth his hand and
caught him, and said unto him, “O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt ?" A reproof well calcu-
lated to convince him that it was not in proportion to his
own natural strength, but according to the degree of
his faith, that he must rise or sink. And what he says
to Peter, he says to all who waver in their belief: "O
ye of little faith why do ye doubt ?”
But there is another circumstance belonging to these
miracles, which is of great importance; they are very
extraordinary and astonishing instances of our Lord's
power over nature, and of such a kind as to admit of
no possibility of being counterfeited. And according-
ly we find that although some cheats have pretended to
盒
​220
LECTURE XIV,
cure diseases miraculously, and some have even at-
tempted to raise the dead, yet no impostor I believe
has ever yet been so bold as to undertake to feed five
thousand people at once with five loaves and two fishes,
or to walk upon the sea. And the reason is plain. It
would not be very easy to persuade five thousand peo-
ple that they had been plentifully fed, when in fact
they had received no nourishment at all; and it would
be rather too dangerous an experiment for any man,
not really supported by the hand of God, to attempt
walking on the sea, when he cannot but know that the
loss of life must be the inevitable consequence of it.
Indeed this act has always been considered as utterly
beyond all human power to atchieve; accordingly two
feet walking upon water was an Egyptian hieroglyphic
to denote impossibility. And Job represents the power
of treading on the waves of the sea as a distinguishing
mark and attribute of the Deity.* Yet this did Jesus
do; this impossibility did he accomplish; a most in-
contestible proof that God was with him. And in fact,
this miracle seems to have made a stronger impres-
sion on the minds of his disciples than any other re-
corded in the gospels, even than that of raising the
dead; for we are told in St. Mark,† that when our
Lord went up into the ship from walking on the sea,
the disciples were sore amazed in themselves beyond
measure, and wondered. The words in the original
are still stronger; indeed so strong, that it is impos-
sible for the English language to express all their force.
In comparison of this miracle, even that of the loaves
and the fishes seems to have appeared nothing in the
eyes of the disciples; for St. Mark tells us, that they
considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart
was hardened; but at the act of walking on the sea
they were amazed beyond measure; they were over-
whelmed and overcome with this astonishing display
of divine power; they fell instantly at the feet of Jesus,
and worshipped him; and exclaimed, as every one
who considers this stupendous miracle must do," Of
a truth thou art the SON OF GOD!"
* Job ix. 8.
† Chap. vi.
LECTURE XV.
221
•
LECTURE XV.
MATTHEW xvii,
I SHALL now request your attention to a very
remarkabie part of our Saviour's history, that which is
called by the evangelist his TRANSFIGURATION, and
which is related in the seventeenth chapter of St. Mat-
thew. It so happens, that many years ago I turned
my thoughts very much to this particular subject in
the sacred writings, and ventured (though without my
name) to lay my sentiments concerning it before the
public. I could have wished therefore to have ex-
cused myself from repeating here any part of what I
have said elsewhere, and to have passed over this inci-
dent unnoticed. But when I considered that this tran-
saction is of a very peculiar and extraordinary nature;
that there are circumstances attending it which cannot
fail to excite the curiosity of an inquisitive mind; that
there are difficulties in it which stand in need of a so-
lution, and conclusions to be drawn from it of consid-
erable utility and importance: when I considered fur-
ther, that much the greatest part of this audience had
probably never seen or even heard of what I had for-
merly written on this subject; I determined not to omit
so material a part of the task I am engaged in, but to
give you what I conceive to be a true explanation of
this interesting event. And I now feel the less diffi-
culty in doing this, because, upon a careful review of
that interpretation, after an interval of twelve years, I
am still convinced of its truth, and have had the addi-
tional satisfaction of finding it confirmed by the au-
thority of some learned and judicious commentators,
whose opinions on one or two leading principles coicide
with my own; but whose observations I had not seen
(having consulted but very few expositors on the sub-
ject) when my essay went to the press.
The relation of this singular transaction is given us
by three out of four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and
+22
LECTURE XV.
Luke, and alluded to in the writings of the fourth.-
They all agree in the main points. There is no mate-
rial variation, and not the least contradiction between
them. But, as is very natural, where different persons
relate the same fact (and as indeed must generally hap-
pen where the story is not concerted among them) a
few particulars are taken notice of by some which are
passed over in silence by others. St. Matthew's ac
count of it is as follows:
"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and
John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high
mountain apart, and was transfigured before them; and
his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white
as the light. And behold there appeared unto them
Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered
Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be
here; if thou wilt, let us make three tabernacles, one
for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he
yet spake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them;
and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on
their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and
touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And
when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save
Jesus only. And as they came down from the mount,
Jesus charged them, saying, tell the vision to no man,
until the Son of man be risen again from the dead,
"And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then
say the scribes, that Elias must first come? And Jesus
answered and said unto them, Elias shall truly first
come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that
Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but
have done unto him whatsoever they listed likewise
also shall the Son of man suffer of them. Then the
disciples understood that he spake unto them of John
the Baptist."
Such is the history which the evangelist gives us of
the transfiguration; andon the very first view of it, eve
ry one must see that a transaction of so uncommon and
LECTURE XV.
128
splendid a nature could not be intended merely to sur-
prise and amuse the disciples. There must have been
some great object in view; some end to be obtained,
worthy of the magnificent apparatus made use of to ac-
complish it.
Now there were, I conceive (besides some collateral
and subordinate designs) two principal and important
purposes, which were meant to be answered by this il-
lustrious scene.
The first was to set before the eyes of the disciples a
visible and figurative representation of Christ's coming
in glory to judge the world, and to reward, with everlast-
ing felicity, all his faithful servants.
In order to prove this, and at the same time to bring
to the reader's view those circumstances which pre-
ceded, and in some degree gave occasion to this celes-
tial vision, it will be necessary to look back to the chap-
ter immediately before that in which the transfiguration
is related.
In the 21st verse of the sixteenth chapter we find,
that Jesus then, for the first time, thought fit to give
some intimations to his disciples of the strange and ex-
traordinary scenes he was soon to pass through; his
sufferings, his death, and his resurrection; things of
which, before this declaration, they seem not to have
had the smallest conception or suspicion.
"From that time forth began Jesus to shew to his
disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer
many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and raised again the third day."*
This information, so perfectly new and unexpected
to the disciples, and so destructive of all the fond hopes
they had hitherto indulged, overwhelmed them with as-
tonishment and grief. And St. Peter, whose natural
warmth and eagerness of temper generally led him both
to feel such mortifications more sensibly, and to ex-
press his feelings more promptly and more forcibly,
than any of the rest, was so shocked at what he had just
beard, that he took Jesus, and began to rebuke him,
CC
Matth. xiv. 21.
14
224
LECTURE XV.
saying, Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unte
thee." Our Saviour, who saw every thing that passed in
his mind, and perceived, probably, that this expostulation
took its rise more from disappointed interest and ambi-
tion than from a generous concern for his master's cre-
dit and honour, gave him an immediate and severe re-
proof. "Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an of
fence to me; for thou savourest not the things that be
of God, but those that be of men."
He then proceeded to shew, not only that he himself
must suffer persecution, but that all those who would
at that time come after him, and share with him the ar-
duous and dangerous task of sowing the first seeds of
the Gospel," must deny themselves, and take up their
cross, and follow him." But then, to support them
under those severe injunctions, he cheers them immedi
ately with a brighter scene of things, and with a pros
pect of his future glory, and their future recompence.
"The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Fa-
ther with his angels, and then shall he reward every
man according to his works."? And he adds, "Verily
I say unto you, there be some standing here which
shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man com-
ing in his kingdom." The meaning of these last words
I shall enquire into hereafter. But the evident tenden-
cy of the whole passage is to prepare the minds of his
disciples for the cruel treatment which both he and they
were to undergo, and at the same time to raise their
drooping spirits, by setting before their eyes his own
exaltation, and their glorious rewards in another life.
This discourse, however, he probably found had not
sufficiently subdued their prejudices, and reconciled
them to his state of humiliation; and therefore he de-
termined to try a method of impressing them with just-
er sentiments, which he frequently had recourse to on
similar occasions; and that was, representing to them,
by a significant action, what he had already explained
by words.
Accordingly, within a few days after the foregoing
conversation, he taketh with him Peter, James, and
LECTURE XV.
223
John, and bringeth them up into a high mountain,
(probably Mount Tabor) apart. Very fanciful rea-
sons have been assigned by some of the commentators
for his taking with him only three of his disciples. But
all that it seems necessary to say on this head is, that
as the law required no more than two or three witness-
es to constitute a regular and judicial proof, our Sav-
four frequently chose to have only this number of wit-
nesses present at some of the most important and inter-
esting scenes of his life. The three disciples, whom
he now selected, were those that generally attended
him on such occasions, and who seem to have been
distinguished as his most intimate and confidential
friends. St. John, we know, was so in an eminent de-
gree. St. James, his brother, would, from that near
connection, probably be brought more frequently un-
der his master's notice; and as St. Peter was the very
person who had expressed himself with so much indig
nation on the subject of our Saviour's suffering, it was
highly proper and necessary that he should be admit
ted to a spectacle, which was purposely calculated to
calm those emotions, and remove that disgust which
the first mention of them had produced in his mind.
With these companions, then, Jesus ascended the
mountain, and was transfigured before them
" and
behold there appeared Moses and Elias talking with
him." They were not only seen by the disciples, but
they were heard also conversing with Jesus. This is
a circumstance of great importance, especially when
we are told what the subject of their conversation was.
St. Luke gives us this useful piece of information; he
says, that they spake of our Lord's decease, which
he should accomplish at Jerusalem." The very men-.
tion of Christ's sufferings and death by such men
Moses and Elias, without any marks of surprize or
dissatisfaction, was of itself sufficient to occasion a
great change in the sentiments of the disciples respect-
ing those sufferings, and to soften those prejudices of
their's against them, the removal of which seems to
have been one of the more immediate objects of the
;
"
W
29
LECTURE XV.
transfiguration. But if we suppose further (what is
far from being improbable) that in the course of the
conversation several interesting particulars respecting
our Saviour's crucifixion were brought under discus-
sion; if they entered at any length into that important
subject, the great work of our redemption; if they
touched upon the nature, the causes, and the conse-
quences of it; the pardon of sin, the restitution to
God's favour, the triumph over death, and the gift of
eternal life; if they shewed that the sufferings of Christ
were prefigured in the law, and foretold by the proph-
ets; it is easy to see, that topics such as these must
tend still further to open the eyes, and remove the pre-
possessions of his disciples; and the more so, be-
cause they would seem to arise incidentally in a dis-
course between other persons casually overheard ;
which having no appearance of design or professed op-
position in it, would be apt to make a deeper impres-
sion on their minds than a direct and open attack upon
their prejudices.
226
But the circumstance which would, probably, be
most effectual in correcting the erroneous ideas of his
disciples on this head, was the act of the transfigura-
tion itself, the astonishing change it produced in the
whole of our Lord's external appearance.
From the expressions made use of by the several e-
vangelists, this change appears to have been a very il-
lustrious one. They inform us, that "as our Sav-
iour prayed, the fashion of his countenance was chang-
ed; his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment bé-
came exceeding white and glistering; as white as
snow, as white as the light, so as no fuller on earth
could whiten it." Now Christ having assumed this
splendid and glorious appearance, at the very time
when Moses and Elias were conversing with him on
his sufferings, it was a visible and striking proof to his
disciples, that those sufferings were not, as they imag-
ined, any real discredit and disgrace to him, but were
perfectly consistent with the dignity of his character,
N
F
LECTURE XV.
227
and the highest state of glory to which he could be ex-
alted.
But further still; Jesus had (in the conversation
mentioned in the preceding chapter) told his disciples,
that the Son of man should come in the glory of his
Father, with his holy angels, to judge the world. The
scene on the mount therefore, which so soon followed
that conversation, was probably meant to convey to
them some idea and some evidence of his coming in
glory at the great day of judgment, of which his trans-
figuration was, perhaps, as just a picture and exempli-
fication as human sight could bear.
name.
It is, indeed, described in nearly the same terms
that St. John in the Revelations applies to the Son of
man in his state of glory in heaven. "He was clothed,
says he, with a garment down to the foot. His head
and his hair were white like wool, white as snow; and
his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength."
It is remarkable, that St. Luke calls his appearance,
after being transfigured, his glory. St. John, who was
likewise present at this appearance, gives it the same
"We beheld his glory, as of the only begotten
of his Father." And St. Peter, who was another wit-
ness to this transaction on the mount, refers to it by a
similar expression. "For he received, says that Apos-
tle, from God the Father, honor and glory, when there
came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."*—
There can hardly, therefore remain any doubt, but that
the glory which Christ received from the Father on the
mountain, was meant to be a representation of his com-
ing in the glory of his Father, with his holy angels, at
the end of the world; which is one of the topics touch-
ed upon in the preceding chapter.
Another thing there mentioned was our Saviour's re-
surrection. Of this, indeed, there is no direct symbol
in the transfiguration: but it is evidently implied in
that transaction; because Jesus is there represented in
his glorified, celestial state, which being in the natural
* 2 Pet. i. 17.
A
į
228
LECTURE XV.
order of time subsequent to his resurrection, that event
must naturally be supposed to have previously taken
*
place.
But though this great event is only indirectly alluded
to here, yet those most important doctrines, which are
founded upon it, a general resurrection and a day of re-
tribution, are expressly represented in the transfigura,
tion.
In the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew, Christ tells
his disciples, that when "he comes in the glory of his
Father with the holy angels, he will reward every man
according to his works:"* From whence it necessari-
ly follows that every man who is dead shall rise from
the grave. And in confirmation of both these truths,
there are two just and righteous men, Moses and Elias,
who had many years before departed out of the world,
brought back to it again, and represented (as we shall
see hereafter) in a state of glory. That they actually
appeared in their own proper persons there is not the
least reason to doubt. Grotius even goes so far as to
affirm, that their bodies were reserved for this very pur
pose. But there is no necessity and no ground for
this imagination. For though, indeed, the sepulchre
of Moses was not known, yet his body was actually
buried in a valley in the land of Moab, and therefore
must have seen corruption; and as the whole transac-
tion was miraculous, it was just as easy to Omnipotence
to restore life and form to a body mouldered into dust,
as to re-animate a body that was preserved uncorrupted
and entire; and, indeed, was a much exacter emblem
of our own resurrection, We may, however, readily
admit what some learned men have justly observed,
that Elias, having been carried up into heaven without
undergoing death, he was here a proper representative
of those who shall be found alive at the day of judgment,
as Moses is of those who had died, and are raised to life
again. And his appearance a second time on earth,
after he had been so many ages dead and buried, must
have been a convincing proof to the disciples (had they
• Ver. 27.
LECTURE XV.
229
duly attended to it) of the possibility of a resurrec-
tion.
And what is no less important, the manner in which
both Moses and Elias appeared on this occasion, afford-
ed the disciples an occular demonstration of a day of
retribution, agreeably to what their divine Master had a
few days before told them, that he would reward every
man according to his works.
For we are informed, that both Moses and Elias ap-
peared also in glory; a glory somewhat similar, we may
suppose, though far inferior, to that with which Christ
was invested. Like him they were probably clothed
in raiments of unusual whiteness and splendor; and
the fashion of their countenances might also be changed
to something more bright and illustrious. Now this
would be a just representation of the glorified state of
saints in heaven, of those who had been rewarded ac-
cording to their works. For we find those holy men,
who have passed victoriously through their Christian
warfare, described by St. John as clothed in white rai-
ments;* and by St. Matthew, as shining forth like the
sun in the kingdom of their Father.†
The glory of Christ therefore on the mountain, was
a symbol of his exaltation to be the judge of the earth;
and the glory of Moses and Elias was an emblem of the
rewards given to the righteous in heaven.
When all these circumstances are put together, they
throw considerable light over the concluding part of
Christ's conversation, which has not yet been noticed.
Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which
shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming
in his kingdom. This has commonly been supposed
to refer to the signal manifestation of Christ's power in
the destruction of Jerusalem. But we know of no one
of Christ's disciples that survived this event except St,
John; and our Saviour here speaks of more than one,
* Rev. iii. 5.
Matth. xiii. 43.
Matthew xvi. 28.-St. Mark says, "Till they have seen the kingdom of
God come with power.”—St. Luke, Till they see the kingdom of God.”
230
LECTURE XV.
But besides this, in the 27th verse of this chapter, we
are told that the Son of man shall come in the glory of his
Father, to reward every man according to his works.-
This, undoubtedly, relates to Christ's final advent to
judge the world. When, therefore, it immediately fol-
lows in the very next verse, Verily, I say unto you, that
there be some standing here, which shall not taste of
death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom;
is it not most natural, is it not almost necessary to un-
derstand these similar expressions as relating to the
same great event?
But did Christ then mean to say here that some of his
disciples should live till the day of judgment? Most
assuredly not. He meant only to intimate that a few
of them should before their death, be favoured with a
representation of the glorious appearance of Christ and
his saints on that awful day. And this illustrious scene
was actually displayed to three of them, about six days
after, in the transfiguration on the mountain. Indeed
St. Peter himself, who was present at the transfigura.
tion, plainly alludes to it, in a manner which powerfully
confirms this opinion. "We have not," says he, "fol-
lowed cunning devised fables, when we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ." That is, our Lord's coming in his kingdom
with power and glory, and majesty, to judge the world.
And how does St. Peter here prove that he will so
come? Why, by declaring that he and the two other
disciples, James and John, were eye-witnesses of his
majesty; that is, they actually saw him on the mount,
invested with majesty and glory similar to that which he
would assume in his kingdom at the last day. "For,"
continues the apostle, "he received from God the Fa
ther, honour and glory, when there came such a voice
to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased; and this voice, which
came from heaven, we heard, when we were with him
in the holy mount."*
* 2 Pet. i. 16, 17, 18.
'
}
LECTURE XV.
231
This is St. Peter's own comment on the transfigura-
tion, in which he expressly compares Christ's glory and
majesty on the mount, to that which he will display in
his final advent; and considers the former as an em-
blem, an earnest, and a proof of the latter.
It is then evident, I think, from the foregoing obser-
vations, that the scene upon the mountain was a sym-
bolical representation of Christ's coming in glory to judge
the world, and of the rewards which shall then be given
to the righteous, topics which had been touched upon
in Christ's discourse with his disciples six days before;
and that one great object of this expressive action, as
well as of that conversation, was to reconcile the minds
of his disciples to the sufferings which both he and they
were to undergo, by shewing that they were preparato-
ry and subservient to his future glory, and their future
rewards.
The other great purpose of the action on the mount
was, I apprehend, to signify, in a figurative manner,
the cessation of the Jewish, and the commencement of
the Christian dispensation.
It appears to have been one prevailing prejudice
among the disciples, that the whole Mosaical law, the
ceremonial as well as the moral, was to continue in full
force under the Gospel; and that the authority of Mo-
ses and the prophets was not, in any respect, to give
way on the establishment of Christianity, but to be
placed on an equal footing with that of Christ.
To correct this erroneous opinion, no less than to
vanquish their prepossession against the sufferings of
Christ, (as already explained) was the scene of the
transfiguration presented to the three chosen disciples,
Peter, James, and John.
There are several remarkable circumstances attend-
ing that event, which lead us to this conclusion.
Moses and Elias must certainly be allowed to be very
natural and proper representatives of the law and the
prophets.
When the three disciples saw these illustrious per-
sons conversing familiarly with Jesus, it probably con-
232
LECTURE XV.
firmed them in their opinion, that they were to be con-
sidered as of equal dignity and authority with him;
and under this impression, Peter immediately address-
ed himself to Jesus, and said, "Lord, it is good for
us to be here; and if thou wilt, let us make here three
tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one
for Elias." The full meaning of which exclamation
was, "What greater happiness, Lord, can we expe
rience than to continue here in the presence of three
such great and excellent persons! Here then let us for
ever remain! Here let us erect three tents, for thee,
for Moses, and Elias, that you may all make this the
constant place of your abode, and that we may always
continue under the protection and government and
UNITED EMPIRE of our three illustrious lords and
masters, whose sovereign laws and commands we are
equally bound to obey!”
The answer to this extraordinary proposal was in-
stantly given both by action and by words.
"While
he yet spake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed
them; and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased:
HEAR YE HIM."
The CLOUD is the well-known token of the divine
presence under the law: many instances of it occur in
the Old Testament, but more particularly at the giv
ing of the law on Mount Sinai. On the mountain
where our Saviour was transfigured, a new law was
declared to have taken place; and therefore God again
appears in a cloud. But there is one remarkable differ-
ence between these two manifestations of the divine
presence. On Mount Sinai the cloud was dark and
thick: "and there were thunders and lightnings, and
the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, and all the
people that were in the camp trembled."* At the
transfiguration, on the contrary, the cloud was bright,
the whole scene was luminous and transporting, and
nothing was heard but the mild paternal voice of the Al-
mighty expressing his delight in his beloved Son.-
* Exod. xix. 16,
LECTURE XV.
ხვა
These striking differences in the two appearances evi-
dently point out the different tempers of the two dis-
pensations, of which the former, from its severity,
was more calculated to excite terror; the latter, from
its gentleness, to inspire love.
This circumstance alone, therefore indicated a hap-
py change in the divine economy; but the gracious
words which issued from the cloud, most clearly ex-
plained the meaning of what was passing before the eyes
of the disciples, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased: HEAR YE HIM." "This is my Son,
not as Moses and all the prophets were, my servants.
HIM, and him only, you are now to hear. He is from
henceforth to be your lord, your legislator, and your
king. The evangelical law being established, the cere-
monial law must cease; and MOSES and the PROPHETS
must give way to CHRIST." With this declaration
the conclusion of the whole scene on the mountain per-
fectly harmonizes. Moses and Elias instantly disap-
pear, and "when the disciples lift up their eyes, they
see no man save Jesus only." The former objects of
their veneration are no more. Christ remains alone
their unrivalled and undisputed sovereign.
In support of this interpretation it may be further
observed, that there was reason to expect, about that
time, some such declaration as this respecting the ces-
sation of the Mosaical law. For St. Luke informs us,
that the "law and the prophets were until John;" that
is, they were to continue in force till John the Baptist
had (as our Lord expresses it) restored all things, had
preached those great doctrines of repentance and re-
demption by the blood of Christ, by which men were
restored to a right state of mind, and the favour of God;
till he had thus prepared the way for the Messiah, and
publicly announced the kingdom of God; and then
they were to be superseded by the Christian dispensa-
tion. Accordingly, not long after the death of John,
the scene of the transfiguration took place; and this
great revolution, this substitution of a new system for
the old one, was made known in that remarkable man.
30
234
LECTURE XV.
ner to the three disciples. This secondary meaning
here assigned to the vision on the mount, will assist us
in explaining an injunction of our Lord to his disciples,
for which, though other reasons have been assigned,
yet they are not, I think, altogether satisfactory.
In the 9th verse we are told, that as they came down
from the mount, Jesus charged the disciples, saying,
"Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen
again from the dead."
If the only intent of the transfiguration had been to
represent, by an expressive action, cur Lord's resur-
rection and exaltation, and a future day of retribution,
it is not easy to assign a sufficient reason why this in-
junction of secrecy, till after his resurrection, should
have been given; because he had already foretold his
resurrection to his disciples,* and he also apprized
them before his death of his coming in glory to judge
the world. It does not therefore appear, how the
publication of the vision on the mount could have been
attended with any other consequence, than that of con-
firming what Jesus had already made known.
But if we suppose that one purpose of the transfigura-
tion was to typify the abolition of the ceremonial law,
and the establishment of the evangelical, a plain reason
presents itself for this command of keeping it for some
time private; for it was one of those truths which the
first converts were not able to bear. Great numbers of
them, though they firmly believed in Christ, yet no less
firmly believed that the Mosaical dispensation was still
in full force. This prejudice, it is well know, contin-
ued several years after our Lord's resurrection. Men-
tion is made "of several thousand Jews who believed,
and yet were all zealous of the law." And it was the
suspicion that St. Paul had forsaken, and taught others
to forsake Moses, which brought his life into the most
imminent danger, and actually occasioned his impris-
onment. No wonder then that a transaction which was
designed to prefigure this very doctrine that St. Paul
was charged with, and that was so offensive to the Jew-
* Chap. xvi. 21. † Chap. xxv.
LECTURE XV.
235
ish converts in general, should be thought unfit by our
Lord to be publicly divulged till some time, perhaps a
considerable time, after his resurrection.
From the whole, then, of the preceding observations,
it appears, that the transfiguration of Christ was one of
those emblematical actions, or figurative representa-
tions, of which so many instances have been pointed
out, and at the same time very distinctly explained, and
elegantly illustrated, by some of our best divines.
The things represented by this significant transaction
were:
First, the future glory of Christ, a general resurrec-
tion, and a future retribution.
Secondly, the abrogation of the Mosaical, and the
establishment of the evangelical dispensation.
And the immediate purpose of these representations
was, as I before observed, to correct two inveterate
prejudices which prevailed among the disciples, and
the Jewish converts in general.
Of these one was the extreme offence they took at
any mention of the death and sufferings of Christ,
which they conceived to be utterly inconsistent with
his dignity.
The other was their persuasion that the ceremonial
law was not done away by the Gospel, but that they
were to exist together in full force, and to have an e-
qual obedience paid to them by all the disciples of
Christ.
But though the removal of these prejudices was, as
I conceive, the primary and immediate design of the
transfiguration, yet there are also purposes of great u-
tility to all Christians in general in every age, which
it might be, and probably was intended to answer.
A
In the first place it affords one more additional proof
of the divine mission of Christ, and the divine author-
ity of his religion.
It is one of the few occasions on which God him-
self was pleased, as it were, personally to interpose, and
to make an open declaration from heaven in favour of
his Son. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
236
LECTURE XV,
well pleased hear ye him." Two other instances on
ly of this kind occur in the Gospels; one at our Sav-
iour's baptism, the other on his praying to his Father
to save him from the sufferings that awaited him.
Now these signs from heaven may be considered as
a distinct species of evidence, different both from mira,
cles and prophecies, frequently and earnestly wished
for by the Jews, but not granted to them, nor vouch.
safed to any one, but very sparingly, and on great and
solemn occasions.
But besides this awful testimony to the divine origin
of our religion in general, a particular attestation was
(as we have seen) given on the mount to two of its
principal doctrines, A GENERAL RESURRECTION,
and A DAY OF RETRIBUTION. The visible and il
lustrious representation of these in the glorified ap-
pearance of Christ, and Moses and Elias, has been al
ready explained, and is appealed to by St. Peter, who
saw it, as one convincing proof, among others, that
"he had not followed cunningly devised fables," when
he made known "the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ." And, indeed, since these two doc-
trines, a RESURRECTION, and a DAY OF JUDGMENT,
are two of the most essential and fundamental articles
of our faith; and since it was one of the chief purposes
of the Christian revelation, " to bring life and immor
tality to light," no wonder that God should gracious-
ly condescend to confirm these great truths to us in so
many various ways; by words and by actions, by
prophecies, by miracles, and by celestial visions,
LECTURE XVI.
237
ܝ ܝ ܠ
LECTURE XVI.
MATTHEW xviii.
THE subject of this Lecture is a part of the eigh-
teenth chapter of St. Matthew. It is evident that the
disciples of our Lord were, for a considerable time,
possessed with the imagination which prevailed uni-
versally among the Jews respecting their Messiah, that
their Master's kingdom was to be a temporal one;-
that he was at some time or other to become a prince
of great power and splendor, and that they of course
should enjoy the largest share of his favour, and be
placed in situations of great distinction and great emo-
lument. And this delusion had taken such strong hold
upon their minds, that although our Lord took frequent
opportunities of combating their error, and made use
of every means in his power to undeceive them, yet
they still persisted in maintaining their favorite opin-
ion; and in the beginning of this chapter they came to
Jesus, saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven? It appears, from the parallel passage in St.
Mark, that they had been disputing by the way who
should be the greatest. Our Lord knowing this, and
finding that all he had said on this subject had produced
no effect upon them, determined to try whether a dif-
ferent mode of conveying his sentiments to them might
not strike their minds more forcibly, He therefore had
recourse (as in the case of the transfiguration) to what
may be called a visible kind of language. He took a
little child, and placing him before them, bid them con-
template the innocence and simplicity, the meekness
and humility which marked its countenance; and then
assured them, that unless they were converted, and be-
came as little children; that is, unless a total change
took place in the temper and disposition of their minds,
unless they became as unambitious and unaspiring, as
meek, as humble and contented, as little concerned
about worldly honors and distinctions, as the child be
des atta
ther

238
LECTURE XVI.
fore them, they could not enter into the kingdom of
heaven; they could never be considered as true objects
of Christ's kingdom here, or be capable of inheriting
the rewards of heaven hereafter. In the eye of God,
true humility is a most sublime virtue; and whoever
shall humble himself as this little child, the same is great-
est in the kingdom of heaven. Our Lord then goes on
to say, "Whosoever receiveth one such little child in
my name, receiveth me.” That is, it is men of hum-
ble minds and meek dispositions, whom I most highly
prize, and whom I most strongly recommend to the no-
tice, the kindness, the protection of all those who are
friends to me, and my religion; and so dear are men of
this description to me, that I make their interests my
own, and I shall consider every man who receives, and
assists, and encourages them on my account, and for
my sake, as receiving me. But if, instead of receiv
ing and protecting these my humble disciples, any one
should dare to injure them, he must expect the severest
marks of my displeasure. "Whoso shall offend one
of these little ones which believe in me, it were better
for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.-
Woe unto the world, because of offences; for it must
needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by
whom the offence cometh.”
In order to comprehend the full meaning of this de.
nunciation, it will be necessary to explain the peculiar
meaning of the word offend. Now this expression in
the present passage, as well as in many other parts of
the New Testament, signifies to cause any one to fall
from his faith, to renounce his belief in Christ by any
means whatever; and against every one that makes use
either of violence or artifice to terrify or seduce the
sincere and humble, and unsuspicious believer in Christ
from his faith and obedience to his divine Master, the
severest woes, and the heaviest punishments are here
denounced.
This text of seripture therefore I would most ear.
nestly recommend to the serious considerstion of those
LECTURE XVI.
239
who either are or have been guilty of this most dange-
rous crime; and I would also no less earnestly caution
all those who have not yet been guilty of it, to avoid,
with the utmost care, every degree of it, and every ap-
preach to it. It is a crime often touched upon in holy
writ, but less noticed, or at least less enlarged upon by
divines, and moralists than perhaps any other sin of the
same magnitude. For this reason, I shall enter more
fully into the consideration of it than has hitherto, I be-
lieve, been usually done, and shall advert briefly to the
several modes of making our brother to offend, that is, to
renounce his faith in Christ, which are most common
and most successful; and these are persecution, sophis-
try, ridicule, immoral examples, and immoral publica-
tions.
With respect to the first of these, persecution; it
was, during the first ages of the gospel, and for many
years after the reformation, the great rock of offence, the
chief instrument made use of (and a dreadful one it
was) to deter men from embracing the faith of Christ,
or to compel them to renounce it. But since that time
we have heard little of its terrors, till they were some
years ago revived, to a certain degree, in a neighbour-
ing nation, where the various cruelties inflicted on their
clergy are too well known, and cannot surely be ascrib-
ed altogether and exclusively to political causes.
In our own country, it must be acknowledged, we
cannot justly be charged with this species of guilt. In-
tolerance and persecution are certainly not in the num-
ber of our national sius. But in the next mode of
making our brother to offend; that is, by grave argu-
ment and reason, by open and systematic attacks on the
truth and divine authority of the Christian revelation,
in this we have, I fear, a large load of responsibility up-
on our heads.
It has even been assumed by some, that we are en-
titled to the distinction of having led the way to this
kind of impiety and profaneness. We have this hon-
our given to us (for an honour they esteem it) by for-
240
LECTURE XVI.
eign writers, and what is worst of all, we are applauded
for it by such men as D'Alembert and Voltaire.
To be stigmatized with their praise, and for such a
reason, is a disgrace indeed; and it would be a still
greater, if we could not justly disclaim and throw back
from ourselves the humiliating and ignominious ap-
plause which they would inflict upon us. But this I
apprehend we may effectually do. There appears to
me sufficient ground for asserting, that the earliest infi-
dels of modern times were to be found, not in this isl
and, but on the continent. If we may credit the ac-
count given of Peter Aretin (who lived and wrote in
the fourteenth century) by Moreri, and particularly the
epitaph upon him, which he recites, there is reason to
believe that he was an infidel of the worst species; and
Viret a divine of great eminence among the first reform-
ers, who wrote about the year 1563, speaks of a num
ber of persons, both in France and Italy, who had as-
sumed the name of Deists, and seem to have formed
themselves into a sect. But it was not until the be.
ginning of the following century that any men of that
description, or any publications hostile to revelation,
appeared in this kingdom. From that time indeed down
to the present, there has been a regular succession of
anti-christian writers of various descriptions, whose
uniform object has been to subvert the foundations of
revealed religion, and to make their countrymen offend,
and renounce their faith. The last of these was a man,
who, from the lowest origin, raised himself to some
distinction in the political and literary world, by his
bold and impious libels against government, against re-
ligion, and the holy Scriptures themselves. In these
writings were concentrated all the malignity, all the
shrewdness, all the sophistry of his numerous prede
cessors; and from their brevity, their plainness, their
familiarity, their vulgar ribaldry, their bold assertions,
and artful misrepresentations, they were better calcula-
ted to impose on the ignorant and uniformed, and more
dangerous to the principles of the great mass of man-
kind, than any publications that this country ever be
LECTURE XVI.
241
fore produced. And certain it is, that having been
distributed with infinite industry through every district
of the kingdom, they did for a time diffuse their poison
far and wide, and made a strong and fatal impression
on the multitude. But, thanks be to God! they at
length providentially met with talents infinitely superi-
or to those of their illiterate author, which, with the
blessing of Heaven upon them, gave a sudden and
effectual check to the progress of this mischief, and af-
forded a striking proof of the truth of that prophecy res-
pecting the stability of our religion, "that the gates of
hell shall never prevail against it."
The next great engine of offence, by which multi-
tudes have been led to renounce their faith, is ridicule.
An attempt was made early in the last century to erect
this into a test of truth, and it has accordingly been ap-
plied by many writers since that time to throw discred-
it on the Christian revelation. But by no one has this
weapon been employed with more force and with more
success than by the great patriarch of infidelity, Vol-
taire. It is the principal instrument he makes use of
to vilify the Gospel; and among the instructions he
gives to his coadjutors and fellow-laborers in this right-
eous work, one is, to load the Christian religion and the
author of it with never-ceasing ridicule, to burlesque
it in every way that imagination can suggest, and to
deluge the world with an infinity of little tracts, placing
revelation in the most ludicrous point of view, and
rendering it an object of mirth and of contempt to the
lowest of mankind. This method he strictly pursued
himself; to this he bent all the powers of his mind,
all the vivacity of his wit, all the fire of his imagina-
tion; and whoever examines his writings against
Christianity with care, will find that much the largest
part of them are of this description. And in this he
showed a thorough knowledge of the world. He knew
that mankind in general prefer wit to logic, and love
to be entertained rather than convinced; that it is
much easier to point an epigram than to produce an ar-
gument; that few can reason justly, but that all the
MORE
31
5
242
LECTURE XVL
world can be made to laugh; and that whatever cam
be rendered an object of derision, is almost sure to be
rejected without examination. Of all these artifices
he has availed himself with infinite address, and we
know also with fatal success. His writings have un-
questionably produced more infidels among the higher
classes, and spread more general corruption over the
world, than all the voluminuous productions of all the
other philosophists of Europe put together.
There is still another way of making our brother to
offend, or in other words of shaking his faith in the
Gospel, and that is by exhibiting to mankind in our life
and conversation a profligate example.
This in the first place gives the world an unfavoura-
ble idea of the religion we profess. It tempts men to
think either that we ourselves do not believe it, or that
we suppose it consistent with the vices to which we
are abandoned; and either of these suppositions must
considerably lessen their estimation both of its doctrines
and its precepts.
In the next place a wicked example, as we all know,
tends to corrupt in some degree every one that lives
within its baneful influence; more particularly if it be
found in men of high rank, great wealth, splendid tal-
ents, profound erudition, or popular characters. The
mischief done by any notorious vices in men of this
description is inconceivable. It spreads like a pesti-
lence, and destroys thousands in secrecy and silence,
of whom the offender himself knows nothing, and
whom probably he never meant to injure; and wherev-
er the heart is corrupted, the principle of faith is pro-
portionably weakened; for no man that gives a loose
to his passions will choose to have so troublesome a
monitor near him as the Gospel. When he has learnt
to disregard the moral precepts of that divine volume,
it requires but a very slight effort to reject its doctrines,
and then to disbelieve the truth of the whole.
A dissolute life then, especially in particular classes
of men, is one certain way of making our brother to
offend, not only in point of practice but of belief; and
LECTURE XVI.
243
there is another method of producing the same effects,
nearly allied to this, and that is immoral publications.
These have the same tendency with bad examples,
both in propagating vice and promoting infidelity; but
they are still more pernicious; because the sphere of
their influence is more extensive.
A bad example, though it operates fatally, operates
comparatively within a small circumference.
It ex-
tends only to those who are near enough to observe it,
and fall within the reach of the poisonous infection that
it spreads around it; but the contagion of a licentious
publication, especially if it be (as it too frequently is)
in a popular and captivating shape, knows no bounds;
it flies to the remotest corners of the earth; it pene-
trates the obscure and retired habitations of simplicity
and innocence; it makes its way into the cottage of
the peasant, into the hut of the shepherd, and the shop
of the mechanic; it falls into the hands of all ages,
ranks, and conditions; but it is peculiarly fatal to the
unsuspecting and unguarded minds of the youth of
both sexes; and to them its breath" is poison, and
its touch is death."
What then have they to answer for who are every day
obtruding these publications on the world, in a thou-
sand different shapes and forms, in history, in biogra-
phy, in poems, in novels, in dramatic pieces? in all
which the prevailing feature is universal philanthropy
and indiscriminate benevolence; under the protection of
which the hero of the piece has the privilege of com-
mitting whatever irregularities he thinks fit; and while
he is violating the most sacred obligations, insinuating
the most licentious sentiments, and ridiculing every
thing that looks like religion, he is nevertheless held up
as a model of virtue; and though he may perhaps be
charged with a few little venialibles, and pardonable
infirmities, (as they are called) yet we are assured that
he has notwithstanding the very best heart in the world.
Thus it is that the principles of our youth are insensi-
bly and almost unavoidably corrupted; and instead of
being inspired, as they ought to be, even upon the
244
LECTURE XVI.
stage, with a just detestation of vice, they are furnish-
ed with apologies for it, which they never forget, and
are even taught to consider it as a necessary part of an
accomplished character.
And as if we had not enough of this disgusting non-
sense and abominable profligacy in our own country,
and in our own language, we are every day importing
fresh samples of them from abroad, are ingrafting for-
eign immorality on our own native stock, and introdu
cing characters on the stage, or into the closet, which
are calculated to recommend the most licentious prin-
ciples, and favour irregularities and attachments that
deserve the severest reprehension and punishment.
These are the several modes in which we may weak-
en or even destroy the moral and religious principles
of very sincere Christians, or in the words of Scripture,
may make our brother to offend. And whoever is guil-
ty of giving this offence, ought most seriously to con-
sider the heavy punishment, and the bitter woe which
our Lord here denounces against it. There is scarce
any one sin noticed by him, which he reprobates in
such strong terms as this: "Who so shall offend one
of these little ones which believe in me; it were better
for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe
unto the world because of offences; for it must needs
be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom
the offence cometh." These are tremenduous words;
but we cannot wonder that our Lord should express
himself thus strongly, when we consider the dreadful
consequences of spreading infidelity and immorality
among our fellow-creatures. We distress them with
doubts and scruples which never before entered into
their thoughts; we rob them of the most invaluable
blessings of life, of that heavenly consolation and sup-
port which is derived from religious sentiments and vir-
tuous habits; of that trust and confidence in the Su-
preme Disposer of all things, which gives ease and
comfort to the afflicted soul; of that unspeakable satis-
faction which results from a conscientious discharge of
LECTURE XVI.
245
our duty; and of that peace of God which passeth all
understanding. But what is still worse, we not only
deprive them of the truest comforts of the present life,
but we cut off all their hopes of happiness in the next;
we take from them the only sure ground of pardon and
acceptance, the death and merits of a crucified Re-
deemer: we bar up against them the gates of heaven,
into which but for us they might have entered, and
perhaps consign them over to everlasting perdition. Is
not this beyond comparison, the greatest injury that one
human creature can inflict upon another? And does it
not justly merit that severe sentence which our Lord
has pronounced against it? Let then every one keep
at the utmost distance from this most atrocious crime.
Let every man who commits his thoughts to the pub-
lic, take especial care that nothing drop even inciden-
tally from his pen that can offend those whom our Sav-
iour calls little children that believe in him; that can
either stagger their faith or corrupt their hearts. Let
every father of a family be equally careful that nothing
escape his lips in the unguarded hour of familiar con-
verse, that can be dangerous to the religious principles
of his children, his friends, or his servants; nothing
that tends to lessen their reverence for the sacred writ-
ings, their respect for the doctrines, the precepts, or
the sacred ordinances of religion, or raise any doubts
or scruples in their minds respecting the truth or di-
vine authority of the Christian revelation. I mention
these things, because even the friends of religion are
sometimes apt through mere inadvertence or thought-
lessness to indulge themselves in pleasantries even up-
on serious subjects, which though meant at the time
merely to entertain their hearers, or to display their
wit, yet often produce a very different effect, and sink
much deeper into the minds of those that are present
(especially of young people) than they are in the least
aware of. More mischief may sometimes be done by
incidental levities of this kind, than by grave discourses
or elaborate writings against religion.
246
LECTURE XVI.
I have dwelt the longer on this interesting topic, be-
cause few people are aware of the enormity of the sin
here reproved by our Lord, of the irreparable injury it
may do to others, and of the danger to which it ex-
poses themselves. But when they reflect, that by the
commission of this crime they endanger the present
peace and the future salvation of their fellow-creatures,
and expose themselves to the woes which our Lord
has in the passage before us denounced against those
from whom these offences come, they will probably feel
it their duty to be more guarded in this instance than
men generally are; and will take heed to their ways
that they offend not either with their pen or with their
tongue.
I now go on with the remaining part of our Lord's
admonition to his disciples.
After having said in the 7th verse, "Woe unto the
world because of offences; for it must needs be that
offences come, but woe to that man by whom the of
fence cometh ;" he then adds, wherefore if thy hand or
thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from
thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maim-
ed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast
into everlasting fire; and if thine eye offend thee, pluck
it out and cast it from thee; it is better for thee to en-
ter into life with one, rather than having two eyes to
be cast into hell fire."
Our Saviour. here applies to the particular sin which
he was then condemning, the very same words which
he had used before in his sermon on the Mount with
reference to the crime of adultery; and the meaning is
this:
The heinous sin, against which I have been here
cautioning you, that of offending your Christian breth-
ren, of causing them by your misconduct to renounce
their faith in me or to desert the paths of virtue, has
its origin in your depraved appetites and passions; as
in the present instance it is your ambition, your eager
ness after worldly honors and distinctions, which it is
to be feared will give offence and scandal to those that
LECTURE XVI.
247
observe it, and may impress them with an unfavoura-
ble idea of that religion which seems to inspire such
sentiments.
You must therefore go at once to the
root of the evil, you must extirpate those corrupt pas-
sions and propensities that have taken possession of
your hearts, though it may be as difficult for you to
part
with them as it would be to pluck out an eye, or
tear off a limb from the body. For it is better that you
should renounce what is most dear to you in this life,
than that you should suffer those dreadful punishments
in the next, which I have told you will assuredly be
inflicted on all impenitent offenders, and more particu-
larly on those who offend in the way here specified.
He then returns to the main subject of his exhorta-
tion: "take heed that ye despise not one of these little
ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do
always behold the face of my Father which is in hea-
ven." That is, I again repeat to you, take heed that
ye treat not with scorn and contempt such little chil-
dren as you now see before you, or those believers in
me who resemble these children in docility, meekness,
humility, and indifference to all that the world calls
great and honourable.
Take care that you do not
consider their welfare, their salvation, as below your
notice and regard, and wantonly endanger both by giv-
ing way to your own irregular desires; for I say unto you,
that however contemptibly you may think of them, your
heavenly Father regards them with a more favourable
eye. He even condescends to take them under his
protection, he sends his most favoured angels, those
ministers of his that do his pleasure, and stand always
in his presence ready to execute his commands, even
these he deputes to guard and watch over these little
children and those humble Christians, who are like
them in purity and innocence of mind.
From this passage some have inferred, that every
child, and every faithful servant of Christ, has an angel
constantly attached to his person, to superintend, di-
rect and protect him; and this is the opinion of the
learned Grotius himself; whilst others only suppose
248
LECTURE XVI.
that those celestial spirits, who (as we are told of Ga
briel) stand before God, are occasionally sent to assist
the pious Christian in imminent danger, in severe tri-
als, or great emergencies. And hence perhaps the fa-
vorite and popular doctrine of guardian angels; a doc-
trine which has prevailed more or less in every age of
the church, which is without question most soothing
and consolatory to human nature, and is certainly coun-
tenanced by this and several other passages of holy
writ, as well as by the authority of Origen, Tertullian,
and other ancient fathers and commentators.
In the
Psalms it is said, "The angel of the Lord tarrieth
round about them that fear him, and delivereth them,"*
And in the Epistle to the Hebrewst we are told, that
the angels are all ministering spirits, sent forth to min-
ister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." No
one therefore that cherishes this notion can be charged
with weakness or superstition; and if it should be at
last an error, it is as Cicero says of the immortality of
the soul, so delightful an error, that we cannot easily
suffer it to be wrested from us. But whatever may
be the decision of learned men on this point, there is
one thing most clearly proved by the text now before
us, and confirmed by a multitude of others, and that is,
the doctrine not only of a general but of a particular
providence, which in one way or other, whether by
ministering angels, or by the all-comprehending and
omnipresent eye of God himself, watches over those
true disciples of Christ, who, in their tempers, dispo-
sitions, and manners, approach nearest to the humili-
ty, the meekness, the innocence, and the simplicity of a
child.
•
This doctrine is indeed so distinctly and explicitly
asserted in various parts of scripture, that it stands in no
need of any confirmation from this particular passage;
† Chap. i. 14.
* Psal. xxxiv. 7.
The excellent Bishop Andrews has, in one of his animated
prayers,
passage which plainly shews that he believed this doctrine. It is as follows;
"That the angel of peace, the holy guide of thy children, the faithful guard
set by thee over their souls and bodies, may encamp round about me, and
continually suggest to my mind such things as conduce to thy glory, grant
O good Lord ?22
24
LECTURE XVI.
249
but every additional proof of so material a support un-
der the afflictions and calamities of life, must be grate-
ful to every heart that has known what affliction is.
The verse that comes next in order is this: "For
the Son of man is come to save that which is lost.”
The connexion of this verse with the preceding one is
somewhat obscure, but seems to be as follows: You
may think, perhaps that man is too mean, too insignifi-
cant a being, to be worthy of the ministration and guar-
dianship of celestial spirits. But how can you entertain
this imagination, when you know that for this creature
man, for fallen and sinful man, did the Son of God con-
descend to offer himself up a sacrifice on the cross,
and came to save that which was lost? Well then may
the angels of heaven be proud to guard what their Lord
and Master came to save. Jesus then goes on to exem-
plify, by a familiar similitude, his paternal tenderness to
the sons of men. "How think ye, if a man have an hun-
dred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not
leave the ninety and nine, and go into the mountains,
and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be
that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more
of that sheep than of the ninety and nine that went not
astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father that
one of these little ones should perish." We are not to
infer from this similitude, that God sets more value,
and looks with more complacency and approbation on
one repenting sinner, than on ninety and nine righteous
persons who have uniformly and devoutly served him.
This can never be imagined; nor would it correspond
with the illustration. The shepherd himself does not
set a greater value upon the lost sheep than he does up-
on those that are safe; nor would he give up them to
recover that which has strayed. But his joy for the
moment, at the recovery of the lost sheep, is greater than
he receives from all the rest, because he has regained
that, and is sure of all the others. The whole, there-
fore, that was meant to be inculcated by this parable is,
that God's parental tenderness extends to all, even to
the sinner that goes astray, and that he rejoices at the
K
32
LECTURE XVI.
conversion and recovery of the meanest individual, and
of the most grievous offender. This is the very con-
clusion, and the only one which our Lord himself draws
from the parable. "Even so it is not the will of your
Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones
should perish."
Such then being the mercy of the Almighty even to
his sinful creatures, our Lord goes on to intimate to his
disciples, that they ought also to exercise a similar leni-
ty and forbearance towards their offending brethren.-
"If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell
him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall
hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will
not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that
in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may
be established; and if he shall neglect to hear them, tell
it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church,
let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.
In this passage there are evident allusions to the laws
and customs of the Jews, who, for the conviction of
any offender, required the testimony of at least two wit
nesses; and in the case of notorious and obstinate of-
fenders, reproved them publickly in their synagogues.
But the obvious meaning in regard to ourselves is, that
even against those who have ill-treated and injured
us, we should not immediately proceed to extreme se-
verity and rigour; but first try the effects of private,
and gentle, and friendly admonition; if that fail, then
call in two or three persons of character and reputation
to add weight and authority to our remonstrances; and
if that has no effect, we are then justified in bringing
the offender before the proper tribunal, to be censured
or punished as he deserves, avoiding all communication
with him in future, except what common humanity
may require even towards an enemy. These direc-
tions are evidently the dictates of that moderation,
mildness, and benevolence, which characterize all our
Saviour's precepts, and more particularly distinguish
this chapter.
250
* Deut. xix. 15.
""
LECTURE XVI.
251
"Verily I say unto you," continues our Saviour,
"whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two
of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father
which is in heaven; for where two or three are gath-
ered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them."
JE
There is some difficulty and some difference of opi-
nion with respect to the precise meaning of these ver-
ses; but they evidently have a reference to the case of
the offender stated in the preceding verses; they are
addressed exclusively to the apostles; and the most na-
tural interpretation of them seems to be as follows:-
Whatever sentence of absolution or condemnation you
shall in your apostolical capacity pronounce on any of-
fender, that sentence shall be confirmed in heaven: and
whatever even two of you shall ask in prayer for direc-
tion and assistance from above, in forming your judi-
cial determination, it shall be granted you; for where
only two or three of you are gathered together in my
name, and arc acting under my authority and for my
glory in any case of great importance, there am I in
the midst of you by my holy spirit, to guide, direct,
and sanction your proceedings.
We now come to one of the most interesting and
most affecting parables that is to be found either in
scripture, or in any of the most admired writings of
antiquity. In consequence of what our Lord had said
in the course of his instructions on the subject of inju-
ries, Peter came to him, and said, "Lord, how oft shall
my brother sin against me and I forgive him, till seven
times?" an allowance which he probably thought abun-
dantly liberal. Jesus saith unto him, "I say not unto
thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven;"
that is, this duty of forgiving injuries has no limits.
However frequently you are injured, if real penitence
and contrition follow the offence, a Christian is always
bound to forgive. To illustrate and confirm this im-
252
LECTURE XVI.
portant duty, our Lord subjoins the following parable.
"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a
king, which would take account of his servants; and
when he had began to reckon, one was brought to him
which owed ten thousand talents, (that is nearly two
millions, some think more than two millions of our
money.) But for as much as he had not to pay, his
Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and
children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.”
This seems a most severe penalty for insolvency; and
yet it was a frequent practice among the Jews,* as we
learn both from various passages of the Old Testament
and from Josephus: and we are told by several intelli-
gent travellers, that insolvency is one of the causes of
slavery in Africa at this very hour. So perfectly con-
formable to fact and to the truth of history is every cir
cumstance that occurs in the sacred writings. The
servant therefore fell down and worshipped him," pros-
trated himself at his master's feet, and in the most mov-
ing terms besought him saying, "Have patience with
me, and I will pay thee all." Then the Lord of that
servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him,
and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went
out, and found one of his fellow servants which owed
him an hundred pence, (a very trifling sum ;) and he
laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying,
Pay me what thou owest." He assailed him with
far greater violence and brutality than his lord had used
towards himself for a debt of ten thousand talents.
"And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and be-
sought him, saying "Have patience with me, and I
will pay thee all;" the very same supplicating attitude,
the very same affecting words that he had himself made
use of towards his lord; " and he would not but went
and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.
So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they
were very sorry;" sorry for the sufferings of the un-
happy debtor; sorry for the disgrace brought on hu-
man nature by the unfeeling creditor; "and they came
Exod. xxii. 3. Lev. xxv. 47.
2
66
*
LECTURE XVI.
253
and told unto their lord ail that was done. Then his
lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O
thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt be-
cause thou desiredst me; shouldest not thou also have
had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had
pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered
him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due
to him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also
unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one
his brother their trespasses."
Such is the parable of the unforgiving servant, which
I am sure has not only been heard but felt by every one
here present. It requires no comment or explanation;
the bare repetition of it is sufficient: indeed it cannot
be expressed in any other words than its own, without
impairing its beauty and its strength. Notwithstanding
the frequency of its recurrence in the course of our
church service, there is no one, I believe, that ever
hears it without emotion and delight. Amidst so much
excellence as we meet with in the Gospel, it is not easy
to say what is most excellent; but if I was to select
any one parable of our Lord's as more interesting, more
affecting, coming more home to the feelings, and press-
ing closer on the hearts of men than any other of the
rest, I think it would be this. Certain it is, that in all
the characters of excellence, in perspicuity, in brevity,
in simplicity, in pathos, in force, it has no equal in any
human composition whatever. On its beauties there-
fore, I shall not enlarge, but on its uses and its applica-
tion to ourselves, I must say a few words.
And in the first place I would observe, that the ob-
ject of this parable is not only to enforce the duty of
cultivating a placable disposition, but a disposition con-
stantly placable, always ready to forgive the offences of
our brother, however frequently he may repeat those of-
fences. For it was immediately after our Lord had
told Peter that he was to forgive his brother not merely
seven times, but seventy times seven, that he added this
parable to confirm that very doctrine; therefore, says
he, is the kingdom of heaven like unto a certain king,
}
254
LECTURE XVI.
&c. But then it is only upon this condition, that the
offender is sincerely penitent, and entreats forgiveness.
This is evident from the parrallel passage in St. Luke,
which expresses this condition: "If thy brother tres-
pass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times.
in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt
forgive him."* Yet even this will to many people ap-
pear a hard saying, and will not very well agree with
those high spirited passions, and that keen sense of in-
juries, which too generally prevail, and which instead
of forgiving repeated offences, will listen to no entrea-
ties, no expressions of contrition, even for a single one.
But are you then content that your heavenly Father
should deal out the same measure to you that you mete
to your brother? Are you content that one single of
fence should exclude you forever from the arms of his
mercy? Are you not every day heaping up sin upon
sin; do not you stand as much in need of daily for
giveness as you do of your daily bread; and do you
think it an excess of indulgence, an overstrained de-
gree of tenderness and compassion, that your Maker
should pardon you seven times a day, or even seventy
times seven?
2. In the next place I would remark, that this para
ble is a practical comment on that petition in the Lord's
Prayer," forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them
that trespass against us ;" and it shews what infinite
stress our divine Master lays on this duty of forgive-
ness, by the care he takes to enfore it in so many dif
ferent ways, by this parable, by making it a part of our
daily prayers, and by his repeated declarations that we
must expect no mercy from our maker "unless we
from our hearts forgive every one his brother their tres-
passes." To the same purpose are those irresistible
words of St. Paul: "Be ye therefore kind one to an-
other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Let the
hard-hearted unrelenting man of the world, or the ob-
durate unforgiving parent, advert to these repeated ad-
* Luke xvii. 4.
Matth. xviii. 35.
Eph. iv. 32.
:
LECTURE XVI.
255
monitions, and then let him, if he can, indignantly spurn
from him the repenting offender entreating pardon at
his feet in those heart-piercing words, "Have patience
with me, and I will pay thee all."
And yet it is dreadful to state, as I must do in the
last place, what very little regard is paid to this precept
by a large part of mankind.
No man, I believe, ever heard or read the parable be-
fore us without feeling his indignation rise against the
ungrateful and unfeeling servant, who, after having a
debt of ten thousand talents remitted to him by his in-
dulgent Lord, threw his fellow servant into prison for
a debt of an hundred pence. And yet how frequently
are we ourselves guilty of the very same offence?
Who is there among us that has not had ten thousand
talents forgiven him by his heavenly father? Take to-
gether all the offences of his life, all his sins and follies
from the first hour of his maturity to the present time,
and they may well be compared to this immense sum;
which immense sum, if he has been a sincere penitent,
has been all forgiven through the merits of his Re-
deemer. Yet when his fellow-christian owes him an
hundred pence, when he commits the slightest offence
against him, he too often refuses him forgiveness, tho'
he fall at his feet to implore it.
In fact do we not every day see men resenting not
only real injuries, but slight and even imaginary offen-
ces, with extreme vehemence and passion, and some-
times punishing the offender with nothing less than
death? Do we not even see families rent asunder, and
all domestic tranquility and comfort destroyed frequent-
ly by the most trivial causes, sometimes on one side,
and sometimes on both, refusing to listen to any reason-
able overtures of peace, haughtily rejecting all offers of
reconciliation, insisting on the highest possible satis-
faction and submission, and carrying these sentiments
of implacable rancour with them to the grave? And
yet these people call themselves Christians, and expect
to be themselves forgiven at the throne of mercy!
}
F
LECTURE XVII.
Let then every man of this description remember and
most seriously reflect on this parable; let him remem.
ber that the unforgiving servant was delivered over to
the tormentors till he should pay the uttermost farthing.
Let him recollect that all the world approves this sen-
tence; that he himself cannot but approve it; that he
cannot but feel himself to be precisely in the situation of
that very servant, and that of course he must at the last
tremendous day expect that bitter and unanswerable re-
proach from his offended Judge: "O thou wicked
servant! I forgave thee all that debt because thou de-
siredst me; shouldest not thou also have had compas-
sion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee?"
256
LECTURE XVII.
MATTHEW xix.
THE passage of Scripture which I propose to ex-
plain in the present Lecture, is a part of the 19th chap-
ter of St. Matthew, beginning at the 16th verse.
"Behold," says the evangelist, "one came and said
unto him (meaning Jesus) Good Master, what good
thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he
said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is
none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him,
Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, thou
shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou
shalt not bear false witness. Honour thy father and
thy mother: and, thou shall love thy neighbour as thy-
self. The young man saith unto him, All these things
have I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? Jesus
said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that
thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
But
LECTURE XVII.
257
when the young man heard that saying, he went away
sorrowful: for he had great possessions."
The conversation here related between the young
ruler (for so he is called by St. Luke) and our blessed
Lord, cannot but be extremely interesting to every sin-
cere Christian, who is anxious about his own salvation.
A young man of high rank, and of large possessions,
came with great haste and eagerness; came running,
as St. Mark expresses it, to Jesus; and throwing him-
self at his fect, proposed to him this most important
question: "Good Master, what good thing shail I do,
that I may have eternal life?" This was not a question
of mere curiosity, or an insidious one, as the questions
put to our Lord (especially by the rulers) frequently
were, but appears to have been dictated by a sincere
and anxious wish to be instructed in the way to that
everlasting life, which he found Jesus held out to his
disciples. His conduct had been conformable to the
precepts of that religion in which he was born and edu-
cated, the religion of Moses; for when our Lord point-
ed out to him the commandments he was to keep, his
answer was, "all these things have I kept from my
youth up;" and his disposition also, we must conclude,
to have been an amiable one; for we are told that Jesus
loved him, beheld him with a certain degree of regard
and affection. In this state of mind then he came to Je-
sus, and asked the question already stated; "Good
Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eter-
nal life ?"
Our Lord's answer was, "If thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments. The young man saith unto
him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder,
thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and
thy mother and, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy-
self." In this enumeration, it is observeable that our
Lord does not recite all the ten commandments, but on-
ly five out of those that compose what is called the se-
cond table. Now we cannot imagine that Jesus meant
to say that the observation of a few of God's com-
33
258
LECTURE XVII.
mands would put the young man in possession of eter-
nal life. His intention unquestionably was, by a very
common figure of speech, to make a part stand for the
whole; and instead of enumerating all the command.
ments, to specify only a few, which were to represent
the rest. Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not
commit adultery, and so of all the other command-
ments, to which my reasoning equally applies." Nor
does he only include in his injunction the ten com
mandments, but all the moral commandments of God
contained in the law of Moses; for he mentions one
which is not to be found in the ten commandments:
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." This
therefore points out to the young man his obligations
to observe all the other moral precepts of the law.-
"The young man saith unto him, all these things have
I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet?" The
probability is, that he flattered himself he lacked noth-
ing; that his obedience to the moral law rendered him
perfect, qualified him to become a disciple and follower
of Christ here, and gave him a claim to a superior de
gree of felicity hereafter. It was to repress these ima-
ginations, which Jesus saw rising in his mind, that he
gave him the following answer; an answer which struck
the young man with astonishment and grief, and which
some have represented as more harsh and severe than
his conduct merited. "If thou wilt be perfect, go and
sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt
have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me." In
the parallel place of St. Mark, it is, "Come and take up
the cross and follow me.” The meaning is, although
God is pleased to accept graciously your obedience to
the moral law, yet you must not flatter yourself that your
obedience is perfect; and that this perfect obedience
gives you a right or claim to eternal life; much less to
a superior degree of reward in heaven; far from it. To
convince you how far you fall short of perfection, I will
put your obedience to the test, in a trying instance, and
you shall then judge whether you are so perfect as you
suppose yourself. You say that you have from your
LECTURE XVII.
259
youth kept the moral laws delivered to you by Moses.
Now one of those laws is this, "Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and
with all thy might." If therefore you pretend to per-
fection, you must observe this law as well as all the rest,
and consequently you must prefer his favour to every
thing else; you must be ready to sacrifice to his com-
mands every thing that is most valuable to you in this
world. I now therefore as a teacher sent from God,
require you to sell all you have, and give to the poor,
and follow me, and you shall then have treasure in hea-
The young man made no reply. He could not.
He saw all his pretensions to perfection, his hopes of an
extraordinary reward, vanish at once. He was not dis-
posed to purchase even treasures in heaven at the price
of all he possessed on earth. He therefore went away
silent and sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
ven.
W
There is a question which I suppose naturally arises
in every man's mind, on reading this conversation be-
tween the young ruler and Jesus. Does the injunc-
tion here given to the young man by Jesus relate to all
Christians in general, and are we all of us, without ex-
ception, bound to sell all that we have and give to the
poor, as a necessary condition of obtaining treasure in
heaven? The answer is, most assuredly not. Our
Lord's command refers solely to the individual person
to whom he addressed himself, or at the most to those
who at that time became disciples of Christ. I have
already shewn that our Saviour's object, in giving this
command to the young man, was probably to lower the
high opinion he seemed to entertain of his perfect obe-
dience to the laws of Moses, to convince him that he
was very far from that exalted state of piety and virtue
to which he pretended, and that if he was rewarded
with eternal life, it must be not in consequence of his
own righteousness, but of the mercy of God, and the
merits of a Redeemer, as yet unknown to him.
But besides this, it is not improbable that the young
ruler was ambitious to enlist under the banners of
Christ, and to become one of his disciples and follow-
!
260
LECTURE XVII.
ers. And at that time no one could do this whose time
and thoughts were engaged in worldly concerns, and in
the care and management and attendant luxuries of a
large fortune. Nor was this all; every man that em-
barked in so perilous an undertaking, did it at the risque
not only of his property, but even of life itself, from the
persecuting spirit of the Jewish rulers. When, there-
fore, our Saviour says to the young man, if thou wilt
be perfect, that is, if thou art desirous to profess the
more perfect religion of the Gospel, and to become one
of my followers, go and sell that thou hast, and give to
the poor, and take up the cross and follow me; he only
prepares him for the great hardships and dangers to
which every follower of Christ was then exposed, and
the necessity there was for him to sit loose to every
thing most valuable in the present life.
This command, therefore, does not in its primary
meaning relate to Christians of the present times; nor
indeed to Christians at all, properly speaking, but to
those who were at that time desirous of becoming so.
But though in a strict and literal sense it cannot be
applied to ourselves, yet in its principle and in its gen-
eral import, it conveys a most useful and most impor
tant lesson to Christians in every age and in every na-
tion; it is an admonition to them not to pique them-
selves too much on their exact obedience to all the di
vine commands, not to assume to themselves so much
perfection, as to found upon a right and a claim to eter-
nal life; not to rely solely on their own righteousness,
but on the merits of their Redeemer, for acceptance
and salvation. It reminds them also, that they ought
always to be prepared to yield an implicit obedience to
the commands of their Maker; and that if their duty
to him should at any time require it, they should not
hesitate to renounce their dearest interests and most fa-
vourite pleasures; to part with fame, with fortune, and
even life itself; and, under all circumstances, to con-
sider in the first place what it is that God requires at
their hands, and to submit to it, whatever it may cost
them, without a murmur,
LECTURE XVII.
261
A
After this conversation with the young ruler, follows
the observation made by our Lord on this remarkable
incident. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, " Verily
I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into
the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you,
it
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'
When his disciples heard it they were amazed, saying,
who then can be saved?" But Jesus beheld them, and
said unto them, "With men this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible." This sentence passed
upon the rich is a declaration, which if understood lit-
erally, and as applying to all Christians of the present
day who may justly be called rich, would be truly ter-
rifying and alarming to a very large description of men,
a much larger than may at first perhaps be imagined.
For by rich men must be understood, not only those of
high rank and large possessions, but those in every
rank of lie, who have any superfluity beyond what is
necessary for the decent and comfortable support of
themselves and their families. These are all to be con-
sidered as rich in a greater or less degree, and this of
course must comprehend a very large part of the Chris-
tian world. Does then our Lord mean to say, that it is
scarce possible for such vast numbers of Christians to
be saved? This does certainly at the first view seem to
be implied in that very strong expression, that it is ea-
sier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven."
But it may fairly be presumed, that it was not our Lord's
intention to pronounce so very severe and discouraging
a sentence as this, and to render the way to heaven al-
most inaccessible to so very considerable a number of
his disciples. And in fact on a careful consideration of
this passage, of the limitation and abatements necessary
to be made in proverbial expressions and oriental idi-
oms, and of the explantions given of it in other parts of
Scripture, and even by our Lord himself, it will
appear
that there is nothing in it which ought to inspire terror
46
262
LECTURE XVII.
and dismay into the heart of any sincere and real Chris-
tian, be his situation ever so exalted or affluent.
It must be observed then in the first place, what is
exceedingly important in this enquiry, that in its ori
ginal application, this passage does not seem to have
attached upon those who were then actually disciples of
Christ, but upon those only who were desirous of becom
ing so; for consider only the occasion which gave rise
to this reflection. It was that
It was that very incident on which
we have just been commenting; that of the
young rich
ruler whom our Saviour exhorted to sell all that he had
and take up his cross and follow him. The young man
not relishing these conditions, instead of following Je-
sus, went away sorrowful, because he had great posses-
sions. He therefore never was, as far as we know, a disci-
ple of Christ; and it was upon this that Jesus immediate-
ly declared, that "a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven;" that is, shall hardly be induced
to embrace the Christian religion; for that is frequently
the signification of the kingdom of heaven, in Scripture.
What then our Lord affirmed was this, that it was ex-
tremely difficult at that time, at the first preaching of
the Gospel, for any rich man to become a convert to
Christianity. And this we may easily believe; for
those who were enjoying all the comforts and elegan-
cies, and luxuries of life, would not be very ready to
sacrifice these, and submit to poverty, hardships, per-
secutions, and even death itself, to which the first con-
verts to Christianity were frequently exposed. They
would therefore generally follow the example of the rich
man before us: would turn their backs on the king-
dom of heaven, and go away to the world and its en-
joyments. And this in fact we know to have been the
case. For it was of the lower ranks of men that our
Lord's disciples principally consisted, and we are ex-
pressly told that it was the common people chiefly that
heard him gladly; and even after his death, St. Paul as-
serts that not many mighty, not many noble, were called.
It should seem then, that the primary objects of this
declaration were those rich men to whom the Gospel
was then offered, and of whom very few embraced it.
•
LECTURE XVII.
263
And as no penal law ought to be stretched beyond its
strict and literal sense, I do not conceive that we are
authorised to apply this severe sentence to those opu-
lent persons who now profess themselves Christians,
and to say of them that it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to in-
herit the rewards of heaven. Still however, as the
words themselves will perhaps bear such an application,
it is not improbable that our Lord might have an eye,
to rich men in future professing Christianity, as well
as to the rich men of those days, who were either Jews
or Heathens. But if it does relate to rich Christians at
all, I have no difficulty in saying, that it must be in a
very qualified and mitigated sense of the words, such as
shall not bar up the gates of heaven against any true
believers in Christ, or inspire terror and despair, where
friendly admonition was only meant.
The first thing then to be remarked is, that although
the similitude here made use of, that of a camel pass-
ing through the eye of a needle, implies absolute im-
possibility, yet according to every rule of interpreting
oriental proverbs (for such this is) it means only, in its
application, great difficulty. And in this sense it was
actually used both by the Jews and the Arabians; and
is plainly so interpreted by our Lord, when he says
that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of
heaven.
-
But even in this sense the words do not apply to all
rich men without distinction. For in the parallel place
of St. Mark,* upon the disciples expressing their as-
tonishment at our Lord's declaration, he immediately
explains himself by saying, how hard is it for them
that trust in richss to enter into the kingdom of heaven;
and it is after this explanation, that the proverbial pas-
sage follows, "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 heaven."
We see then that those rich men only are meant,
who trust in their riches, who place their whole depen-
dence upon them; whose views and hopes are centered
264
LECTURE XVIL
in them and them only; who place their whole happi-
ness, not in relieving the distresses of the poor, and
soothing the sorrows of the afflicted; not in acts of
worship and adoration, and thanksgiving to him from
whose bounty they derive every blessing they enjoy;
not in giving him their hearts, and dedicating their
wealth to his glory and his service, but in amassing it
without end, or squandering it without any benefit to
mankind, in making it the instrument of pleasure, of
luxury, of dissipation, of vice, and the means of grati-
fying every irregular appetite and passion without con-
troul. These are the rich men, whose salvation is rep-
resented by our Saviour to be almost impossible; and
yet even with respect to these he adds; with men this
is impossible, but with God all things are possibie ;
that is, although if we look to human means, to human
strength alone, it seems utterly impossible that such
men as these should ever repent and be saved; yet to
the power of God, to the overruling influences of the
Holy Spirit nothing is impossible. His grace shed
abroad in the heart may touch it with compunction and
remorse, may awaken it to penitence, may heal all its
corruptions, may illuminate, may purify, may sanctify
it, may bring the most worldly-minded man to a sense
of his condition, and make him transfer his trust from
riches to the LIVING GOD.
It is then to those that trust in riches that this denun-
ciation of our Lord peculiarly applies; but even to all
rich men in general it holds out this most important ad-
monition, that their situation is at the best a situation
of difficulty and danger; that their riches furnish them
with so many opportunities of indulging every wayward
wish, every corrupt propensity of their hearts, and
spread before them so many temptations, so many in-
citements, so many provocations to luxury, intempe-
rance, sensuality, pride, forgetfulness of God, and con-
tempt of every thing serious and sacred, that it is some-
times too much for human nature to bear; that they
have therefore peculiar need to take heed to their ways,
* Mark x. 24.
!
LECTURE XVII.
265
to watch incessantly over their own conduct, to keep
their hearts with all diligence, to guard the issues of
life and death, and above all, to implore with unceasing
earnestness and fervor, that help from above, those
communications of divine grace, which can alone ena-
ble them, and which will effectually enable them to
overcome the world, and to vanquish all the powerful
enemies they have to contend with. They have in
short their way plainly marked out to them in scrip-
ture, and the clearest directions given them how they
are to conduct themselves, so as to become partakers
of everlasting life. Charge them, says St. Paul, that
are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded,
nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who
giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good,
that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate, laying up in store for them-
selves a good foundation against the time to come, that
they may lay hold on eternal life."*
CC
This striking charge to the rich is pregnant with
most important and wholesome counsel, and is an ad-
mirable comment on that very passage which has so
long engaged our attention. It seems indeed to allude
and refer to it, and points out all those distinctions.
which tend to explain away its seeming harshness, and
ascertain its true spirit and meaning.
It cautions the rich men of the world not to trust in
uncertain riches: the very expression made use of by
our Lord, and the very circumstance which renders it
so hard for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
They are enjoined to place their trust in THE LIVING
GOD. They are to be rich in a far brighter treasure
than gold and silver, in faith and in good works; and
if they are, they will lay a good foundation against
the time to come, and will lay hold on eternal life."-
This entirely does away all the terror, all the dismay,
which our Lord's denunciation might tend to produce
in the minds of the wealthy and the great it proves
that the way to heaven is as open to them, as to all oth-
“
:
* Tin vi. 17–19.
34
266
LECTURE XVII.
er ranks and conditions of men, and it points out to
them the very means by which they may arrive there.
These means are, trust in the living God, dedication of
themselves to his service and his glory, zeal in every
good work, and more particularly the appropriation of a
large part of that very wealth, which constitutes their
danger, to the purposes of piety, charity, and benefi
cence. These are the steps by which they must, thro'
the merits of their Redeemer, ascend to heaven. Those
riches which are their natural enemies, must be con-
verted into allies and friends. They must, as the scrip-
ture expresses it, make to themselves "friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness;"* they must be rich to-
wards God; they must turn that wealth, which is too
often the cause of their perdition, into an instrument of
salvation, into an instrument by which they may lay
hold, as the apostle expresses it, on eternal life.
Before I quit this interesting passage, it may be of
use to observe, that while it furnishes a lesson of great
caution, vigilance, and circumspection to the rich, it af
fords also no small degree of consolation to the poor.-
If they are less bountifully provided than the rich, with
the materials of happiness for the present life, let them
however be thankful to Providence that they have fewer
difficulties to contend with, fewer temptations to com-
bat, and fewer obstacles to surmount, in their way to
the life which is to come. They have fortunately no
means of indulging themselves in that luxury and dis-
sipation, those extravagancies and excesses which
sometimes disgrace the wealthy and the great; and they
are preserved from many follies, imprudences, and sins,
equally injurious to present comfort and future happi-
ness. If they are destitute of all the elegancies and
many of the conveniences and accommodations of life,
they are also exempt from those cares and anxieties.
which frequently corrode the heart, and perhaps more
than balance the enjoyments of their superiors.
The
inferiority of their condition secures them from all the
dangers and all the torments of ambition and pride; it
* Luke, xvi. 9.
LECTURE XVII.
267
produces in them generally that meekness and lowliness
of mind, which is the chief constituent of a true evan-
gelical temper, and one of the most essential qualifica-
tions for the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus having made these observations on the conduct
of the young ruler, who refused to part with his wealth
and follow him, Peter thought this a fair opportunity of
asking our Lord what reward should be given to him,
and the other apostles, who had actually done what the
young ruler had not the courage and the virtue to do.
Then answered Peter and said unto him, "Lo! we
have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we
have therefore ?" It is true the apostles had no wealth
to relinquish, but what little they had they cheerfully
parted with; they gave up their all, they took up their
cross and followed Christ. Surely after such a sacri-
fice they might well be allowed to ask what recompence
they might expect, and nothing can be more natural
and affecting than their appeal to their divine Master:
Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee;
what shall we have therefore ?" Our Lord felt the force
and the justice of this appeal, and immediately gave
them this most gracious and consolatory answer:
64
40
Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed
me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit
in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel: and every
one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and
shall inherit everlasting life."
Our translators, by connecting the word regeneration
with the preceding words, " ye which have followed
me in the regeneration," evidently supposed that word
to relate to the first preaching of the Gospel, when those
who heard and received it were to be regenerated or
made new creatures.
But most of the ancient fathers, as well as the best
modern commentators, refer that expression to the
words that follow it, "in the regeneration when the Son
268
LECTURE XVII.
of man shall sit in the throne of his glory;" by which
is meant the day of judgment and of recompence, when
all mankind shall be as it were regenerated or born
again, by rising from their graves; and when, as St.
Matthew tells us in the 27th chapter (making use of
the very same phrase that he does here) the Son of man
shall sit on the throne of his glory.
At that solemn
hour Jesus tells his apostles that they shall also sit upon
twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.-
This is an allusion to the custom of princes having their
great men ranged around them as assessors and advis-
ers when they sit in council or in judgment: or more
probably to the Jewish sanhedrim, in which the high
priest sat surrounded by the principal rulers, chief
priests, and doctors of the law; and it was meant only
to express, in these figurative terms, that the apostles
should in the kingdom of heaven have a distinguished
pre-eminence of glory and reward, and a place of hon-
or assigned them near the person of our Lord himself.
G
Jesus then goes on to say, "every one that bath for-
saken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mo-
ther, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,
shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlast-
ing life."
It is plain, both from the construction of
this verse, and from the express words of St. Mark in
the parallel passage, that the reward here promised to
the apostles, whatever it might be, was to be bestowed
in the present world; besides which they were to in-
herit everlasting life.
What then, it may be asked, is this recompence,
which was to take place in the present life, and was to
be a hundred fold? It certainly cannot be a hundred
fold of those worldly advantages which are supposed to
be relinquished for the sake of Christ and his religion;
for a multiplication of several of these things, instead of
a reward, would have been an incumbrance. And we
know in fact the apostles never did abound in worldly
possessions, but were for the most part destitute and
poor. The recompence then here promised must have
been of a very different nature; it is that internal con-
LECTURE XVII
269
S
tent and satisfaction of mind, that peace of God which
passeth all understanding, those delights of a pure con-
science and an upright heart, that affectionate support
of all good men, those consolations of the Holy Spirit,
that trust and confidence in God, that consciousness of
the divine favour and approbation, those reviving hopes
of everlasting glory, which every good man and sincere
Christian never fails to experience in the discharge of
his duty. These are the things which will cheer his
heart and sustain his spirits, amidst all the discourage-
ments he meets with, under the pressure of want, of
porerty, of affliction, of calumny, of ridicule, of perse-
cution, and even under the terrors of death itself, which
will recompense him a hundred fold for all the sacrifices
he has made to Christ and his religion, and impart to
him a degree of comfort and tranquility and happiness,
far beyond any thing that all the wealth and splendour
of this world can bestow. That this is not a mere ideal
representation, we may see in the example of those very
persons to whom this discourse of our Saviour was ad-
dressed. We may see a picture of the felicity here
described, drawn by the masterly hand of St. Paul, in
his Second Epistle to the Corinthians. "We are, says
he (speaking of himself and his fellow-labourers in the
Gospel) we are approving ourselves in much patience,
in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in
imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in
fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffer-
ing, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeign-
ed, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the
armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the
left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good
report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and
yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as
chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always re-
joicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having no-
thing, and yet possessing all things." We have here
a portrait, not merely of patience and fortitude, but of
cheerfulness and joy under the acutest sufferings, which
is no where to be met with in the writings of the most
LECTURE XVII.
celebrated heathen philosophers. The utmost that they
pretended to was a contempt of pain, a determination
not to be subdued by it, and not even to acknowledge
that it was an evil. But we never hear them express-
ing that cheerfulness and joy under suffering, which we
here see in the apostles and first disciples of Christ.-
Indeed it was impossible that they should rise to these
extraordinary exertions of the human mind, since they
wanted all those supports which bore up the apostles
under the severest calamities, and raised them above all
the common weaknesses and infirmities of their nature;
namely, the consciousness of being embarked in the
greatest and noblest undertaking that ever engaged the
mind of man, an unbounded trust and confidence in the
protection of heaven, a large participation of the divine
influences and consolations of the Holy Spirit, and a
firm and well grounded hope of an eternal reward in an-
other life, which would infinitely overpay all their la
bours and their sorrows in this. These were the sour-
ces of that content and cheerfulness, that vigour and
vivacity of mind, under the severest afflictions, which
nothing could depress, and which nothing but Chris-
tian philosophy could produce.
Here then we have a full explanation of our Lord's
promise in the passage before us, that every one who
had forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for his name's
sake, should receive a hundred fold, should receive
abundant recompence in the comfort of their own,
minds, as described in the corresponding passage of
St. Paul, just cited; which may be considered not on-
ly as an admirable comment on our Lord's declaration,
but as an exact fulfilment of the prediction contained
in it. For that declaration is plainly prophetic; it fore-
tells the persecution his disciples would meet with in
the discharge of their duty; and foretells also, that in
the midst of these persecutions they would be undaunt
ed and joyful. And there cannot be a more perfect
completion of any prophecy, than that which St. Paul's
description sets before us with respect to this.
270
LECTURE XVII.
271
But we must not confine this promise of our Saviour's
to his own immediate followers and disciples; it extends
to all his faithful servants in every age and nation of the
world, that part with any thing which is dear and valu-
able to them for the sake of the Gospel. Whoever
has passed any time in the world, must have seen that
every man who is sincere in the profession of his reli-
gion, who sets God always before him, and who seeks
above all things his favor and approbation, must some-
times make great and painful sacrifices to the com-
mands of his Maker and Redeemer; and whoever does
so, whoever gives up his pleasures, his interests, his
fame, his favourite pursuits, his fondest wishes, and
his strongest passions, for the sake of his duty, and in
conformity to the will of his heavenly Father, may rest
assured, that he shall in no wise lose his reward. He
shall in a degree proportioned to the self-denial he has
exercised, and the sufferings he has undergone, expe-
rience the present comfort and support here promised
to the apostles; and shall also, though not to the same
extent, have an extraordinary recompence in the king-
dom of heaven.
Let no one then be deterred from persevering in the
path of duty, whatever discouragements, difficulties, or
obstructions he may meet with in his progress, either
from the struggles he has with his own corrupt affec-
tions, or from the malevolence of the world. Let him
not fear to encounter, what he must expect to meet
with, opposition, contumely, contempt and ridicule; let
him not fear the enmity of profligate and unprincipled
men; but let him go on undaunted and undismayed in
that uniform tenor of piety and benevolence, of purity,
integrity, and uprightness of conduct, which will not
fail to bring him peace at the last. Let him not be sur-
prized or alarmed if he is not exempt from the com-
mon lot of every sincere and zealous Christian; if he
finds it by his own experience to be true, what an apos-
tle of Christ has long since prepared him to expect,
that whosoever will live godly in Christ Jesus shall in
272
LECTURE XVIII.
one way or other suffer persecution. But let him re-
member at the same time the reviving and consolatory
declaration of his divine Master; "Blessed are ye when
men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say
all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
sake. Re.
joice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward
in heaven."
LECTURE XVIII.
MATTHEW xxii.
I NOW pass on to the twenty-second chapter of
St. Matthew, in which our blessed Lord introduces the
following parable :
"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king,
which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his
servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding,
and they would not come. Again he sent forth other
servants, saying, tell them which are bidden, Behold I
have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings
are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the
marriage. But they made light of it, and went their
ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandize; and
the remnant took his servants and entreated them spite-
fully, and slew them. But when the king heard there-
of, he was wroth; and he sent forth his armies, and
destroyed those murderers, and burnt up their city.
Then saith he to his servants, the wedding is ready,
but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye
therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find,
bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into
the highways, and gathered together all as many as
they could find, both bad and good, and the wedding
was furnished with guests. And when the king came
in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had
LECTURE XVIII.
273
not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him,
Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having on
a wedding garment? and he was speechless. Then
said the king to his servants, bind him hand and foot,
and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weep-
ing and gnashing of teeth; for many are called, but
few are chosen."
The primary and principal object of this parable is
to represent, under the image of a marriage feast, the
invitation given to the Jews to embrace the Gospel,
their rejection of that gracious offer, the severe punish-
ment inflicted upon them for their ingratitude and ob-
stinacy, and the admission of the Heathens to the priv-
ileges of Christianity in their room.
"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king,
which made a marriage for his son."
That is, the dispensations of the Almighty, with re-
spect to the Christian religion, which is called the king-
dom of heaven, may be compared to the conduct of a
certain king, who (as was the custom in those times,
especially among the eastern nations) gave a splendid
feast in consequence of his son's marriage. And in
this comparison there is a peculiar propriety, because
both the Jewish and the Christian covenant are frequent-
ly represented in Scripture under the similitude of a
marriage contract between God and his people.* "And
he sent forth his servants to call them that were bid-
den to the wedding, and they would not come. Again
he sent forth other servants, saying, tell them which are
bidden, Behold I have prepared my dinner; my oxen
and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready ;
come unto the marriage." This signifies the various
and repeated offers of the Gospel to the Jews; first by
John the Baptist, then by our Saviour himself, then by
his apostles and the seventy disciples, both before and
after his ascension.
But all these gracious offers the greater part of the
nation rejected with scorn. They would not come to
the marriage; they made light of it, and went their
7.
* See Isaiah liv. 5. Jeremiah iii. 8. Matth. xxv. 5. 2 Cor. xi. 2.
35
274
LECTURE XVIII.
ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise; and
the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spite-
fully, and slew them. They not only slighted and
treated with contempt the words of eternal life, and
preferred the pleasures and the interests of the present
life to all the joys of heaven, but they pursued, with
unceasing rancour, the first preachers of the Gospel,
and persecuted them even unto death.
“But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth;
and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed these mur.
derers, and burnt up their city." This points out, in
the plainest terms, the Roman armies under Vespasian
and Titus, which not many years after this was spoken,
besieged Jerusalem, and destroyed the city, and slaugh
tered an immense number of the inhabitants. This
terrible devastation our Lord here predicts in general
terms, as he does more particularly and minutely
in the twenty-fourth chapter; and he here represents
it as the judgment of God on this perverse and obsti-
nate people for their rejection of the Christian religion,
their savage treatment of the apostles and their asso-
ciates, and their many other atrocious crimes. This
punishment however is here, by anticipation, repre-
sented as having been inflicted during the marriage
feast; though it did not in fact take place till afterwards,
till after the Gospel had been for some time promul
gated.
"Then said he to his servants, the wedding is ready,
but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye
therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall
find bid to the marriage. So those servants went out
into the high-ways, and gathered together all as many
as they found, both bad and good; and the wedding
was furnished with guests.'
It may be thought, perhaps, at the first view, that
our Lord has here introduced a circumstance not very
natural or probable. It may be imagined that at a
magnificent royal entertainment, if any of the guests
happenned to fail in their attendance, a great king would
never think of supplying their places by sending his
LECTURE XVIII.
275
servants into the highways to collect together all the
travellers and strangers they could meet with, and
make them sit down at the marriage feast.
But strange
as this may seem, there is something that approaches
very near to it in the customs of the eastern nations,
even in modern times. For a traveller of great credit
and reputation, Dr. Pocoke, informs us, that an Arab
prince will often dine in the street before his door, and
call to all that pass, even to beggars, in the name of
God, and they come and sit down to table; and when
they have done, retire with the usual form of returning
thanks.*
This adds one more proof to the many others I have
already pointed out in the course of these Lectures, of
the exact correspondence of the various facts and cir-
cumstances recorded in the sacred writings to the truth
of history, and to ancient oriental customs and man-
ners.
(C
This part of the parable alludes to the calling in of
the Gentiles or Heathens to the privileges of the Gos-
pel, after they had been haughtily rejected by the Jews.
This was first done by St. Peter in the instance of Cor-
nelius, and afterwards extended to the Gentiles at large
by him and the other apostles, conformable to what
our Lord declares in another place.† Many shall
come from the east and from the west, and shall sit
down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the
kingdom of God; but the children of the kingdom
(that is the Jews) shall be shut out."
And in the gra-
cious inviation, no exceptions, no distinctions were
to be male. The servants gathered together all as
many they found, both bad and good; men of all
characters and descriptions were to have the offers of
mery and salvation made to them, even the very worst
of sinners; for it was these chiefly that our Saviour
ame to call to repentance; "for they that are whole
need not a physician, but they that are sick ;" and of
these great numbers did actually embrace the gracious
offers made to them; for our Lord told the Jews, "the
Pococke, vol. i. p. 57. and 182. See also Diod. Sic. 1. xiii. p. 375. 876.
† Matth. viii. 11.
Ib. ix. 12.
LECTURE XVIII.
publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God
before you."'*
In this manner was the wedding furnished with
guests. "And when the king came in to see the guests,
he saw there a man which had not on a wedding gar.
ment; and he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou
in hither, not having a wedding garment? and he was
speechless. Then said the king to the servants, bind
him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him.
into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth: for many are called, but few are
chosen."
276
In order to understand this part of the parable, it
must be observed, that among the ancients, especially
in the east, every one that came to a marriage feast was
expected to appear in a handsome and elegant dress,
which was called the WEDDING GARMENT.
This was
frequently a white robe; and where the guest was a
stranger, or was not able to provide such a robe, it
was usual for the master of the feast to furnish him with
one; and if he who gave the entertainment was of high
rank and great opulence, he sometimes provided mar-
riage robes for the whole assembly. To this custom
we have allusions in Homer, and other classic writers;†
and there are some traces of it in the entertainments of
the Turkish court at this very day. It must be re-
marked also, that it was in a very hig degree indeco-
rous and offensive to good manners, to htrude into the
festivity without this garment; hence the indignation
of the king against the bold intruder who cared to ap
pear at the marriage feast without the nuptia.garment,
"He was cast into outer darkness;" he was driven.
away from the blaze and splendor of the gay apatments
within, to the darkness and gloom of the street, where
he was left to unavailing grief and remorse for the of
fence he had committed, and the enjoyments he d
lost.
*Matth. xxi. 31. † Odyss. viii. 402. Diod. Sic. 1. xiii. p. 375. 376.
At the entertainment given by the grand vizier to Lord Elgin and his
suite, in the palace of the seraglio, pelisses were given to all the guests,
LECTURE XVIII.
277
૬ઃ
This man was meant to be the representative of those
presumptuous persons who intrude themselves into the
Christian covenant, and expect to receive all the privi-
leges and all the rewards annexed to it, without pos-
sessing any one of those Christian graces and virtues
which the Gospel requires from all those who profess
to believe and to embrace it. Nothing is more com-
mon in Scripture than to represent the habits and dis-
positions of the mind, those which determine and dis-
tinguish the whole character, under the figure of bodily
garments and external habits. Thus Job says of him-
self, "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my
judgment was a cloak and a diadem."* And again in
Isaiah it is said, "He hath clothed me with the gar-
ments of salvation; he hath covered me with a robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jew-
els." In the same manner we are commanded in the
Gospel to put on charity, to be clothed with humility:
and in the book of Revelation,‡ the elders are describ-
ed as sitting before the throne of God clothed in white
raiment. And in the nineteenth chapter there is a
passage, which is a clear and beautiful illustration of
that now before us. "The marriage of the Lamb is
come; and to her (that is to the church) was granted,
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
white; and this fine linen, we are expressly told, is the
righteousness of saints. "And he saith unto me,
Write, blessed are they which are called to the mar-
riage supper of the Lamb; that is Christ the king."||
This is a plain allusion to the parable before us; and
most evidently shows, that the man without the wed-
ding garment is every man that is not clothed with
the robe of righteousness; every man that pretends
to be a Christian, without possessing the true evangel.
ical temper and disposition of mind, without the vir-
tues of a holy life; every one that expects to be saved
by Christ, yet regards not the conditions on which that
salvation depends; every profane, every unjust, every
dissolute man; every one, in short, that presumes to
Ch. iv. 4. Rev. xix. 7, 8, 9.
*
Job xxix. 14. † Isa. lxi, 10.
•
278
LECTURE XVIII.
say, Lord, Lord, yet doeth not the will of his father
which is in Heaven."* All these shall be excluded
from the marriage feast, from the privileges of the Gos-
pel, and the joys of heaven, and shall be cast into outer
darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth;
for many, we are told, are called, but few are chosen ;
that is, many are called upon and invited to embrace
the Gospel; but few, comparatively speaking, receive
it, or at least conduct themselves in a manner suitable
to their high and heavenly calling, so as to be chosen or
deemed worthy to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
I have only to observe further on this parable, that
although in its primary intention it relates solely to the
Jews, yet it has, like many other of our Lord's para-
bles, a secondary reference to persons of every denom-
ination in every age and nation, who, through indo-
lence, prejudice, vanity, pride, or vice, reject the Chris-
tian revelation; or who, professing to receive it, live
in direct opposition to its doctrines and its precepts.
The same future punishment which is denounced a-
gainst the unbelieving or hypocritical Jews, will be
with equal severity inflicted on them.
After Jesus had delivered this parable, the Pharisees
perceiving plainly that it was directed against them
principally, were highly incensed, and determined to
take their revenge, and endeavour to bring him into
difficulty and danger by ensnaring questions.
"Then
went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might
entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him
their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master,
we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God
in truth; neither carest thou for any man, for thou re-
gardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, what
thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar,
or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and
said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the
tribute-money; and they brought unto him a pen-ny.
And he saith unto them, whose is this image and su-
perscription? They say unto him, Cæsar's. Then saith
Matthew vii 21.
(6
LECTURE XVIII.
279
he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things
that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's.
When they heard these words, they marvelled, and left
him, and went their way." In order to understand the
insidious nature of the question here proposed to Jesus,
it must be observed, that the Jews were at this time, as
they had been for many years, under the dominion of
the Romans; and as an acknowledgement of their
subjection, paid them an annual tribute in money.
The Pharisees however were adverse to the payment of
this tribute; and contended, that being the peculiar
people of God, and he their only rightful sovereign,
they ought not to pay tribute to any foreign prince
whatever they considered themselves as subjects of
the Almighty, and released from all obedience to any
foreign power. There were many others who main-
tained a contrary opinion, and it was a question much
agitated among different parties. Who the Herodians
were that accompanied the Pharisees, and what their
sentiments were on this subject, is very doubtful: nor
is it a matter of any moment. It is plain from their
name that they were in some way or other attached to
Herod; and as he was a friend to the Roman govern-
ment, they probably maintained the propriety of paying
the tribute.*
In this state of things both the Pharisees and Hero-
dians came to Jesus, and after some flattering and hyp-
ocritical compliments to his love of truth, his intrepidi-
ty, impartiality, and disregard to power and greatness
(calculated evidently to spirit him up to some bold and
offensive declaration of his opinion) they put this ques-
tion to him: "Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or
not?" They were persuaded, that in answering this
question, he must either render himself odious to the
Jewish people, by opposing their popular notions of
liberty, and appearing to pay court to the emperor; or,
on the other hand, give offence to that prince, and ex-
* Those whom St. Mark calls the Leaven of Herod, c. viii. 15. St. Matthew
in the parallel passage, xvi. 5. calls Sadducees. Hence, perhaps, we inay in-
for, that the Herodians and the Sadducees were the same persons.
280
LECTURE XVIII.
pose himself to the charge of sedition and disaffection
to the Roman government, by denying their right to
the tribute they had imposed. They conceived it im-
possible for him to extricate himself from this dilemma,
or to escape danger on one side or the other; and
per-
haps no other person but himself ould have eluded the
snare that was laid for him. But he did it complete-
ly and showed on this occasion, as he had done
on many others, that presence of mind and readi
ness of reply to difficult and unexpected questions,
which is one of the strongest proofs of superior wis-
dom, of a quick discernment, and a prompt decision.
He pursued, in short, the method which he had adopt-
ed in similar instances; he compelled the Jews in effect
to answer the question themselves, and to take from
him all the odium attending the determination of it.—
He perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why tempt
ye me? Why do you try to ensnare me, ye hypocrites?
Shew me the tribute-money. And they brought unto
him a penny (a small silver coin of the Romans, called a
denarius.) And he said unto them, whose is this im
age and superscription? And they say unto him, Cæ-
sar's." By admitting that this was Cæsar's coin, and
by consenting to receive it as the current coin of their
country, they in fact acknowledged their subjection to
his government. For the right of coinage, and of
issuing the coin, and giving value and currency to it, is
one of the highest prerogatives, and most decisive marks
of sovereignty; and it was a tradition of their own
rabbins, that to admit the impression and the inscrip-
tion of any prince on their current coin, was an ac-
knowledgment of their subjection to him. And it was
more particularly so in the present instance, because
we are told that the denarius paid by the Jews as trib-
ute-money had an inscription round the head of Cæsar,
to this effect; Cæsar Augustus, Judea being subdued.*
To pay this coin with this inscription, was the com-
pletest acknowledgment of subjection, and of course
of their obligation to pay the tribute demanded of them,
* See Hammond in loc.
LECTURE XVIIL
281
that could be imagined. Our Lord's decision therefore
was a necessary consequence of their own concession.
"Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are
Cæsar's, (which you yourselves acknowledge to be
Cæsar's,) and unto God the things that are God's."
And when they heard these words, they marvelled; they
were astonished at his prudence and address; and left
him, and went their way.
But in this answer of our Saviour is contained a
much stronger proof of his consummate wisdom and
discretion than has yet been mentioned. He not only
disengaged himself from the difficulties in which the
question was meant to involve him, but without enter-
ing into any political discussions, he laid down two
doctrines of the very last importance to the peace and
happiness of mankind, and the stability of civil gov-
ernment. He made a clear distinction between the
duties we owe to God and the duties we owe to our
earthly rulers. He showed that they did not, in the
smallest degree, interfere or clash with each other; and
that we ought never to refuse what is justly due to
Cæsar, under pretence of its being inconsistent with
what we owe to our Maker.
On the contrary, he lays down this as a general fun-
damental rule of his religion, that we ought to pay obe-
dience to LAWFUL AUTHORITY, and submit to that
acknowledged and established government under which
we live. The Jews had for a hundred years acknowl-
edged their subjection, and paid their tribute to the
Roman government; and our Lord's decision there-
fore was, "Render unto Cæsar the things that are
Cæsar's." It is true that the tyrant Tiberius was then
emperor of Rome, but the Jews alledged no particular
grievance or act of oppression to justify their refusal of
tribute; and our Lord had no concern with any pe-
culiar form of government. His decision would have
been the same, had the Roman republic then existed.
His doctrine was obedience to lawful authority, in
whatever shape that authority, might be exercised. If
it be contended that there may be extraordinary cases
36
Į
282
LECTURE XVIII.
of extreme and intolerable tyranny, which burst asun-
der at once the bonds of civil subordination, and justi-
fy resistance; the answer is, that these were considera-
tions into which the divine founder of our religion did
not think it wise or expedient to enter. He left them
to be decided (as they always must be) at the moment,
by the pressing exigencies and peculiar circumstances
of the case, operating on the common feelings and com-
mon sense of mankind. His great object was to lay
down one broad fundamental rule, which, considered
as a general and leading principle, would be most con-
ducive to the peace, the comfort, and the security of
mankind: and that rule most indisputably is the very
doctrine which he inculcated; OBEDIENCE TO LAW-
* 1 Pet. ii. 13-14.
Rom. xiii. 5.
FUL AUTHORITY AND ESTABLISHED GOVERNMENT.
K
In perfect conformity to his sentiments, the apostles
held the same language after his death, "Submit your-
selves, says St. Peter, to every ordinance of man, for
the Lord's sake; whether it be unto the king as su-
preme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent
by him, for the punishment of evil doers, and the praise
of them that do well."* "Be subject to principali-
ties and powers, says St. Paul, and obey magistrates.†
Ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also
for conscience sake. Render therefore to all their
dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom
custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour."||
Here then we see the whole weight of the Gospel,
and of its divine Author, thrown into the scale of law-
ful authority. Here we see that the Christian religion
comes in as a most powerful auxiliary to the civil ma-
gistrate, and lend's the entire force of its sanctions to
the established government of every country; an ad-
vantage of infinite importance to the peace and welfare
of society. And happy had it been for mankind, if in
this, as in every other instance, they had conformed to-
the directions of the Gospel, instead of indulging their
own wild projects and destructive theories of resistance
† Tit. iii. 1.
D
Rom. xiii. 7.
-
J
LECTURE XVIII.
283
to civil government, and the subversion of the most
ancient and venerable institutions. Happy had it been
for the Jews in particular, if they had adopted our Sav-
iour's advice; for by acting contrary to it, by break-
ing out as they did soon after into open rebellion against
the Romans, they plunged themselves into a most cru-
el and sanguinary war, which ended in the entire over-
throw of their city, their temple, and their government,
and the destruction of vast multitudes of the people
themselves. Similar calamities, have, we know, in
other countries, arisen from similar causes; from a
contempt of all legitimate authority, and a direct oppo-
sition to those sage and salutary precepts of the Gos-
pel, which are no less calculated to preserve the peace,
tranquility, security, and good order of civil society,
than to promote the individual happiness of every hu-
man being, here and for ever.
-
The Pharisees having been thus completely foiled in
their attempt to ensnare and entangle our Saviour in his
talk, the next attempt made upon him was by a differ-
ent set of men, the Sadducees, who disbelieved a re-
surrection, a future state, and the existence of the soul
after death. And their object was to shew the absur-
dity and the falsehood of these doctrines, by stating a
difficulty respecting them, which they conceived to be
insuperable. The difficulty was this: "The same
day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there
is no resurrection, and asked him, saying, Master, Mo-
ses said, if a man die having no children, his brother
shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his broth-
er. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the
first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and having
no issue, left his wife unto his brother: likewise the
second also, and the third, unto the seventh : and last
of all the woman died also: therefore in the resur-
rection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they
all had her. Jesus answered and said unto them, ye
do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of
God; for in the resurrection they neither marry nor
are given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven.
+
284
LECTURE XVIIK
<
But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye
not read that which was spoken unto you by God, say,
ing, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob! God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living."
This answer of our Saviour's has by some been
thought to be obscure, and not to go directly to the
point of proving a resurrection, which the Sadducees
denied, and which their objection was meant to over-
throw. In our Lord's reply, no argument seems to be
advanced, nor any plain text of scripture produced to
establish the doctrine of a resurrection of the body, and
its re-animation by the soul. It is only contended, that
as God declares himself to be the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, the souls of those persons must still
be in existence in a separate state; because God could
not be said to be the God of those who were no longer
in being. This is undeniable. But how (it is said)
does this prove a resurrection? To explain this, it must
be observed, that Christ's answer consists of two parts;
in the first, he solves the difficulty started by the Sad-
ducees respecting a resurrection, by telling them that
it arose entirely from their not attending to the power
of God, which could effect with the utmost ease what
to them appeared impossible; and from their ignorance
of the state of human beings in heaven, which resem-
bled that of angels, and required not a constant suc-
cession to be kept up by marriage. The case therefore
they had stated respecting the marriage of the seven
brethren with one woman was a very unfortunate one,
because it happened that in heaven there would be no
such thing as marriage; which destroyed at once the
whole of that objection which they deemed so formida-
ble. In the second part he completely subverts the
false principle on which their disbelief of a resurrection
and a future state was entirely founded. This princi-
ple was, that the soul had no separate existence, but
fell into nothing at the dissolution of its union with the
body. This we learn from the Acts of the Apostles,*
Chap. xxii. 8.
{
LECTURE XVIM.
285
where it is said, "that the Sadducees believe neither
angel nor spirit:" and from Josephus, who tells us,
that the Sadducees held that the soul vanishes (as he
expresses it) with the body, and rejected the doctrine
of its duration after death.* It was this principle,
therefore, which our Saviour undertook to overthrow,
which he does effectually in the 31st and 32d verses,
by shewing it to be a clear inference from the words
of scripture,† that although the bodies of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob had long been in their graves, yet, their
souls had survived, and were at that moment in exist-
ence. From hence it necessarily followed that the soul
did not perish with the body, as the Sadducees believ-.
ed, but that it continued in being after death; and at
the general resurrection would be again united with
the body, and live for ever in a future state of happi-
ness or of misery.
A
But though arguments may be confuted, and absur-,
dities exposed, the thorough-paced caviller is not easi-
ly silenced. One should have thought that the dis-
graceful failure of so many attempts to surprize and en-
snare Jesus, would have taught his adversaries a little.
modesty and a little prudence: but these are qualities
with which professed disputers and sophists do not usu-
ally much abound. When therefore, the Pharisees had
heard that Jesus had put the Sadducees to silence, in-
stead of being discouraged from making any more ex-
periments of that nature, they were gathered together,
probably to consult how they might renew their attacks
upon him with more success. Then one of them,
which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting
him, and saying, "Master, which is the great command-
ment in the law? Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these twą
commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Sunaphanizei tois somasi. Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 2. p. 793. Ed. Huds.
* Ex. ii. 6.
K
+
LECTURE XVIII.
The question here proposed to Jesus by the lawyer,
or interpreter of the Mosaic law, took its rise probably
from a maxim, which seems to have been received
among the Scribes and Pharisees as a first principle,
namely, that such a multiplicity of precepts as the law
contained was too great for any one to observe; and
therefore all that could be required was, that each should
select to himself one or two great and important duties,
on account of which, if inviolably observed, his trans-
gressions in other respects would be overlooked. But
then immediately arose a question, which were these
great and important duties that ought to have the prefe
rence to all the rest, and on which they might securely
ground all their merit and all their pretences to the fa
vor of God. And on this question a variety of sects
were formed, under their respective leaders, who dis
puted about the chief duty much in the same manner
as the ancient pagan philosophers did about the chief
good; and exactly with the same benefit to themselves
and to the world.
286
It was with a reference therefore to these disputes,
which were so warmly agitated among the Pharisees,
that the lawyer asked our Lord, "which was the great
commandment of the law ?" Our Saviour's answer was,
"thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is
the first and great commandment." He decided there.
fore immediately in favor of the moral law, and yet
with his usual prudence did not neglect the ceremonial;
for this very commandment of the love of God was writ
ten upon their phylacteries.
This then being declared by our Saviour himself to
be the first of the commandments, must be considered
by every Christian as standing at the head of the evan-
gelical code of laws which he is bound to obey, and as
entitled therefore to his first and highest regard. He is
to love the Lord his God" with all his heart, with all
his soul, and with all his mind :" and the chief test by
which the Gospel orders us to try and meaure our love
to God is, the regard we pay to his commands.
He

LECTURE XVIII.
287
that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, says
our Lord, he it is that loveth me."* St. John in still
stronger terms, assures us, that "whoso keepeth God's
word, in him verily is the love of God perfected."†
The love of our maker then is neither a mere unmean-
ing animal fervor, nor a lifeless formal worship or obe-
dience. It consists in devoutness of heart as well as
purity of life; and from comparing together the diffe-
rent passages of Scripture relating to it, we may define
it to be such a reverential admiration of God's perfec-
tions in general, and such a grateful sense of his infinite
goodness in particular, as render the contemplation and
the worship of him delightful to us, and produce in us
a constant desire and endeavour to please him in every
part of our moral and religious conduct.
This is, in a few words, what the scriptures mean by
the love of God, and what our Lord here calls the FIRST
AND GREAT COMMANDMENT. It is justly so called
for various reasons: because he who is the object of it
is the first and greatest of all beings, and therefore the
duties owing to him must have the precedence and pre-
eminence over every other; because it is the grand
leading principle of right conduct, the original source
and fountain from which all Christian graces flow, from
whence the living water of religion take their rise, and
branch out into all the various duties of human life;
because, in fine, it is, when ferent and sincere, the
grand masterspring of huduct; the only mo-
tive sufficiently powerful to bee our strongest pas-
sions, to carry us triumphough the severest
trials, and render us superior to the most formidable
tem
ns.
this in order and in excellence, or, as our
Saxpresses it, like unto it, is, that other divine
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy-


Com
self.
By the word neighbour is here to be understood, ev-
ery man with whom we have any concern; every one
who stands in need of our kindness, and to whom we
ls
* John, xiv. 21.
+ 1 John, ii. 5
288
LECTURE XVIII.
are able to extend it; which includes not only our re
lations, friends, and countrymen, but even our ene.
mies; as appears from the parable of the good Samari.
tan. The precept therefore requires us generally to
love our fellow creatures as we do ourselves.
To this it has been objected that the precept is im
practicable and impossible. Self-love, it is contended,
is a passion implanted in our breasts by the hand of
God himself; and though social love is also another af
fection which he has given us, yet there is no compari
son between the strength of the two principles; and no
man can or does love all mankind as well as he does
himself. It is perfectly true; nor does the precept be
fore us require it. The words are not thou shalt love
thy neighbour as much as thyself, but thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself; that is, thou shalt entertain
for him an affection similar in kind, though not equal in
degree, to that which thou entertainest for thyself. Our
self-love prompts us to seek our own happiness, as far
as is consistent with the duties we owe to God and to
man. Our social love should in the same manner
prompt us to seek the happiness of our neighbour, as
far as is consistent with the duty we owe to God and
ourselves. But in all equal circumstances, our love for
ourselves must have a priority tn degree to the love we
have for our neighbour. If, for instance, my neighbour
is in extreme want of food, and I am in the samewant, I
am not bound to give him that food which is indispensa
bly necessary for my own preservation, but that only
which is consistent with it. The rule in short can ne
ver be mistaken by any man of common sense. Our
business is to take care to carry it far enough nature
will take sufficient care that we do not carry it too far.
It is in fact nothing more than what we are taught by
another divine rule very nearly allied to this, and which
all men allow to be reasonable, equitable and practica-
ble; "whatsoever ye would that men should do unto
you, do ye even so unto them."*
This is precisely what is meant by loving our neigh
bour as ourselves; for when we treat him exactly as we
* Matth. vi. 12-


LECTURE XVII
280
would expect and hope to be treated by him in the
same circumstances, we give a clear and decisive proof
that we love him as ourselves. And in this there is
evidently no impossibility, no difficulty, no obscurity.
These then are the two great commandments, on
which we are told hang all the law and the prophets ;
that is, on them, as on its main foundation, rests the
whole Mosaic dispensation; for of that, not of the Gos-
pel, our Lord is here speaking. To explain, establish,
and confirm these two leading principles of human du-
ty, was one of the chief objects of the law and the pro-
phets. But it must at the same time be remembered
(as I have shewn at large in a former lecture*) that great
and important as these two precepts confessedly are,
they do by no means constitute the whole of the Chris-
tian system. In that we find many essential improve-
ments of the moral law, which was carried by our Sav-
iour to a much higher degree of perfection than in the
Jewish dispensation, as may be seen more particularly
in his sermon on the mount. We find also in the New
Testament all those important evangelical doctrines
which distinguish the Christian revelation; more par-
ticularly those of a resurrection; of a future day of
retribution, of the expiation of our sins, original and
personal, by the sacrifice of Christ, of sanctification by
the Holy Spirit, of justification by a true and lively
faith in the merits of our Redeemer. If therefore we
wish to form a just and correct idea of the whole Chris-
tian dispensation, and if we wish to be considered as
genuine disciples of our divine Master, we must not
content ourselves with observing only the two leading
commandments of love to God and love to men, but
we must look to the whole of our religion as it lies in
the Gospel; we must endeavour to stand perfect in all
the will of God, and in all the doctrines of his Son, as
declared in the Christian revelation; and after doing
our utmost to fulfil all righteousness, and to attend to
every branch of our duty, both with respect to God,
our neighbour, and ourselves, we must finally repose
Lect. vii. p. 190.
37
290
LECTURE XVIII.
all our hopes of salvation on the merits of our Redeem-
er, and on our belief in him as the way, the truth, and
the life.
I must now put a period to these Lectures for the
present season; and if it should please God to preserve
my life for another year, I hope to finish my observa-
tions on the gospel of St. Matthew; beyond which I
must not now extend my views.
In the mean while, from what I have observed in the
progress of these Lectures, I cannot help indulging a
humble hope that they have not been unattended with
some salutary effects upon your minds. But when, on
the other hand, I consider that the time of year is now
approaching, in which the gaieties and amusements of
this vast metropolis are generally engaged in with in-
credible alacrity and ardour, and multitudes are pour-
ing in from every part of the kingdom to take their
share in them; and when I recollect further, that at
this very period in the last year a degree of extrava-
gance and wildness in pleasure took place, which gave
pain to every serious mind, and was almost unexam-
pled in any former times; I am not, I confess, without
some apprehensions, that the same scene of levity and
dissipation may again recur; and that some of those
who now hear me (of the younger part more especially)
may be drawn too far into this fashionable vortex, and
loose in that giddy tumult of diversion all remembrance
of what has passed in this sacred place. I must there-
forẻ most earnestly caution them against these fascinat-
ing allurements, and recommend to them that modera-
tion, that temperance, that modesty in amusements,
which their Christian profession at all times requires;
but for which at this moment there are reasons of pe-
culiar weight and force.*
To indulge ourselves in endless gaieties and expen-
sive luxuries, at a time when so many of our poorer
brethren are, from the heavy pressure of unfavourable
circumstances, in want of the most essential necessa-
* This Lecture was given in April 1800, a time of great scarcity and ex-
treme dearness of all the necessaries of life.
i
LECTURE XVIIE
291
ries of life, would surely manifest a very unfeeling and
unchristian disposition in ourselves, and would be a
most cruel and wanton aggravation of their sufferings.
It is true indeed that their wants have hitherto been
relieved with a liberality and kindness, which reflect
the highest honor on those who exercised them. But
the evil in question still subsists in its full force, and is,
I fear, more likely to increase than to abate for months
to come, and will of course require unceasing exertions
of benevolence and repeated acts of charity on our part,
to alleviate and mitigate its baneful effects.
Every one ought therefore to provide as ample a fund
as possible for this purpose; and how can this be bet-
ter provided than by a retrenchment of our expensive
diversions, our splendid assemblies, and luxurious en-
tertainments? We are not now required, as the young
ruler in the Gospel was, to sell all we have and give to
the poor; but we are required, especially in times
such as these, to cut off all idle and needless articles of
profusion, that we "may have to give to him that need-
eth."
And when we consider that the expence of a single
evening's amusement, or a single convivial meeting,
would give support and comfort perhaps to twenty
wretched families, pining in hunger, in sickness, and in
sorrow, can we so far divest ourselves of all the tender
feelings of our nature (not to mention any higher prin-
ciple), can we be so intolerably selfish, so weded to
pleasure, so devoted to our own gratification, as to let
the lowest of our brethren perish, while we are solacing
ourselves with every earthly delight? No one that gives
himself leave to reflect for a moment can think this to be
right, can maintain it to be consistent with his duty ei-
ther to God or man. And, even in respect to the very
object we so eagerly pursue, and are so anxious to ob-
tain, in point even of pleasure, I mean, and self-gratifi-
cation, I doubt much whether the giddiest votary of a-
musement can receive half the real satisfaction from
the gayest scenes of dissipation he is immersed in, that
he would experience (if he would but try) from rescu-
292
LECTURE XIX.
ing a fellow-creature from destruction, and lighting up
an afflicted and fallen countenance with joy.
Let us then abridge ourselves of a few indulgences,
and give the price of what they would cost us to those
who have none. By this laudable species of œcono-
my, we shall at once improve ourselves in a habit of
self-denial and self-government; we shall demonstrate
the sincerity of our love to our fellow-creatures, by
giving up something that is dear to us for their sake, by
sacrificing our pleasures to their necessities; and above
all we shall approve ourselves as faithful servants in the
sight of our Almighty Sovereign; we shall give some
proof of our gratitude to our Heavenly Benefactor and
Friend, who has given us richly all things to enjoy ;
and who, in return for that bounty, expects and com-
mands us to be rich in good works, to feed the hungry,
to clothe the naked, to comfort the sick, to visit the
fatherless and widow in their affliction, and to keep our-
selves unspotted from the world, unpolluted by its vi-
ces, and unsubdued by its predominant vanities and
follies.
LECTURE XIX.
MATTHEW xxiv,
THIS course of Lectures for the present year will
begin with the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew;
which contains one of the clearest and most important
prophecies that is to be found in the sacred writings.
The prophecy is that which our blessed Lord deliv-
ered respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, to which,
I apprehend, the whole of the chapter, in its primary
acceptation, relates. At the same time it must be ad-
mitted, that the forms of expression, aud the images
made use of, are for the most part applicable also to the
گیره
LECTURE XIX.
298
day of judgment; and that an allusion to that great
event, as a kind of secondary object, runs through al-
most every part of the prophecy. This is a very com-
mon practice in the prophetic writings, where two sub-
jects are frequently carried on together, a principal and
a subordinate one. In Isaiah there are no less than three
subjects, the restoration of the Jews from the Babylo-
nish captivity, the call of the Gentiles to the Christian
Covenant, and the redemption of mankind by the Messi-
ah, which are frequently adumbrated under the same
figures and images, and are so blended and interwoven
together, that it is extremely difficult to separate them
from each other. In the same manner our Saviour,
in the chapter before us, seems to hold out the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, which is his principal subject, as a
type of the dissolution of the world, which is the under-
part of the representation. By thus judiciously ming-
ling together these two important catastrophes, he gives
at the same time (as he does in many other instances) a
most interesting admonition to his immediate hearers
the Jews, and a most awful lesson to all his future dis-
ciples; and the benefit of his predictions, instead of
being confined to one occasion, or to one people, is
by this admirable management extended to every sub-
sequent period of time, and to the whole Christian
world.
After this general remark, which is a sort of key to
the whole prophecy, and will afford an easy solution to
several difficulties that occur in it, I shall proceed to
consider distinctly the most material parts of it.
We are told in the first verse of this chapter, that "on
our Saviour's departing from the temple his disciples
came to him, to shew him the buildings of it ;" that is,
to draw his attention to the magnitude, the splendour,
the apparent solidity and stability of that magnificent
structure. It is observable that they advert particular-
ly to the stones of which it was composed. In St.
Mark their expression is, " See what inanner of stones,
and what buildings are here;" and in St. Luke they
Bishop Lowth on Isaiah lii. 13.
294
LECTURE XIX.
speak of the goodly stones and gifts with which it was
adorned. This seems at the first view a circumstance
of little importance; but it shows in a very strong
light with what perfect fidelity and minute accuracy ev
ery thing is described in the sacred writings. For it
appears from the historian Josephus, that there was
scarce any thing more remarkable in this celebrated
temple than the stupendous size of the stones with
which it was constructed. Those employed in the
foundations were forty cubits, that is above sixty feet,
in length; and the superstructure, as the same historian
observes, was worthy of such foundations, for there
were stones in it of the whitest marble, upwards of six.
ty-seven feet long, more than seven feet high, and nine
broad.*
It was therefore not without reason that the disciples
particularly noticed the uncommon magnitude of the
stones of this superb temple, from which, and from the
general solidity and strength of the building, they prob.
ably flattered themselves, and meant to insinuate to
their divine Master, that this unrivalled edifice was
built for eternity, was formed to stand the shock of
ages, and to resist the utmost efforts of human power to
destroy it. How astonished then and dismayed must
they have been at our Saviour's answer to these trium.
phant observations of theirs! Jesus said unto them, "See
ye not all those things? Verily I say unto you, there
shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall
not be thrown down." This is a proverbial expres.
sion, used on other occasions to denote entire destruc
tion; and therefore had the temple been reduced to ru
ins in the usual way, the prophecy would have been
fully accomplished. But it so happened that this pre-
diction was almost literally fulfilled, and that in reality
scarce one stone was left upon another. For when the
Romans had taken Jerusalem, Titus ordered his soldiers
to dig up the foundations both of the city and the tem.
ple. The Jewish writers also themselves acknowl
Josephus de Bell. Jud. 1. x. c. 5.
† Jos. de Bello Jud. 1. vii. c. i. p. 170. B.
4
LECTURE XIX.
295
cy
edge, that Terentius Rufus, who was left to command
the army, did with a plough-share tear up the founda-
tions of the temple ;* and thereby fulfilled that prophe-
of Micah.† "Therefore shall Zion for your sake
be ploughed as a field." And in confirmation of this
remarkable circumstance, Eusebius also assures us,
that the temple was ploughed up by the Romans; and
that he himself saw it lying in ruins. The evangelist
next informs us, that as Jesus sat on the mount of Ol-
ives, which was exactly opposite to the hill on which
the temple was built, and commanded a very fine view
of it from the east, his disciples came unto him private-
ly, saying, "Tell us when shall these things be, and
what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end
of the world." The expressions here made use of, the
sign of thy coming, and the end of the world, at the first
view naturally lead our thoughts to the coming of
Christ at the day of judgment, and the final desolution
of this earthly globe. But a due attention to the paral-
lel passages in St. Mark and St. Luke, and a critical
examination into the real import of those two phrases.
in various parts of Scripture, will soon convince a care-
ful inquirer, that by the coming of Christ is here meant,
not his coming to judge the world at the last day, but
his coming to execute judgment upon Jerusalem; § and
that by the end of the world is to be understood, not the
final consummation of all things here below, but the
end of that age, the end of the Jewish state and polity;
the subversion of their city, temple and government.||
The real questions therefore here put to our Lord by
the disciples were these two:
1st. At what time the destruction of Jerusalem was
to take place:"Tell us, when shall these things be?"
2dly. What the signs were that were to precede it;
"What shall be the sign of thy coming?"
* See Whitby in Loc.
† Chap. iii. 12.
Euseb. Dem. Evang. 1. vi. 13.
See Mark xiii. 4. Luke xxi. 7. Matth. xxiv. 4, 5; xvi. 28. John xxi. 22.
The word aion (here translated the world) frequently means nothing.
more than an age, a certain definite period of time. See Matth. xxiv. 6. 14.
Mark xi 7. Ľuke xxi. 9. compared with verse 20.
Hebrews ix. 26.
LECTURE XIX.
Our Lord in his answer begins first with the signs,
of which he treats from the 4th to the 31st verse, inclu.
sive.
296
The first of these signs is specified in the 5th verse,
"Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ,
and shall deceive many."
This part of the prophecy began soon to be fulfilled;
for we learn from the ancient writers, and particularly
from Josephus, that not long after our Lord's ascension
several impostors appeared, some pretending to be the
Messiah, and others to foretel future events. The first
were those whom our Lord here savs should come in his
name, and were therefore false Christs. The others
are alluded to in the eleventh verse, under the name of
false prophets: "Many false prophets shall arise, and
shall deceive many.'
Of the first sort were, as Origen
informs us, one Dositheus, who said that he was the
Christ foretold by Moses; and Simon Magus, who said
he appeared among the Jews as the Son of God. Be-
sides several others alluded to by Josephus.†
The same historian tells us, that there were many
false prophets, particularly an Egyptian, who collected
together above thirty thousand Jews, whom he had de-
ceived, and Theudas a magician, who said he was a
prophet, and deceived many; and a multitude of oth
ers, who deluded the people even to the last, with a
promise of help from God. And in the reign of Nero,
when Felix was procurator of Judæ, such a number of
these impostors made their appearance, that many of
them were seized and put to death every day.§
The next signs pointed out by our Lord are these
that follow. "Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of
wars; see that ye be not troubled; for all these things
must come to pass, but the end is not yet: for nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earth-
quakes in divers places: all these are the beginning of
sorrows."
Origen: Adv. Cels. 1. 1 and 6.
Jos. Antiq. 1. 20. c. 6. and c. 4. s. 1. Ed. Huds.
§ Ib. c. 7. s. 5. p. 892.
† De Bell. Jud. 1. i. p. 705.
LECTURE XIX.
297
That there were in reality great disturbances and
commotions in those times, that there were not only
rumours of wars, but wars actually existing, and con-
tinued dissentions, insurrections, and massacres among
the Jews, and other nations who dwelt in the same ci-
ties with them, is so fully attested by all the historians
of that period, but more particularly by Josephus, that
to produce all the dreadful events of that kind which he
enumerates, would be to transcribe a great part of his
history. It is equally certain, from the testimony of
the same author, as well as from Eusebius, and several
profane historians, that there were famines, and pesti-
lences, and earthquakes in divers places. It is added
in the parallel place by St. Luke,* "that fearful sights
and great signs shall there be from heaven."
And ac-
cordingly Josephus, in the preface to his history of the
Jewish war, and in the history itself, enumerates a great
variety of astonishing signs and prodigies, which he
says preceded the calamities that impended over the
Jews, and which he expressly affirms, in perfect con-
formity to our Saviour's prediction, were signs mani-
festly intended to forebode their approaching destruc-
tion.† And these accounts are confirmed by the Ro-
man historian Tacitus, who says that many prodigies
happened at that time; armies appeared to be engaging
in the sky, arms were seen glittering in the air, the
temple was illuminated with flames issuing from the
clouds, the doors of the temple suddenly burst open,
and a voice more than human was heard, "that the
gods were departing ;" and soon after a great motion,
as if they were departing.‡
The sign next specified by our Saviour in the ninth
and the four following verses, relates to the disciples
themselves. "Then shall they deliver you up to be
afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all
nations for my name's sake." The parallel passages in
St. Luke and St. Mark are still stronger, and more par-
* Luke xxi. 11. † Jos. Proem. sect. 11. p. 957. De Bell. Jud. 1. vi
e. 5. s. 3 p. 1281–82. & l. 7. c. 30.
Tacitus 1. v. p. 25. Ed. Lips.
38
298
LECTURE XIX.
ticular. St. Mark says, "they shall deliver you up to
the councils: and in the synagogue ye shall be beaten;
and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my
sake, for a testimony against them."* St. Luke's
words are, 66
They shall lay their hands on you, and
persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues,
and into prisons, being brought before kings and ru-
lers for my name's sake." That every circumstance
here mentioned was minutely and exactly verified in the
sufferings of the apostles and disciples after our Lord's
decease, must be perfectly well known to every one
that has read the Acts of the Apostles. You will there
see that the lives of the apostles were one continued
scene of persecution, affliction, and distress of every
kind; that they were imprisoned, were beaten, were
brought before councils, and sanhedrims, and kings;
were many of them put to death, and were hated of all
nations, by the heathens as well as by the Jews, for the
sake of Christ; that is, for being called by his name.
The very name of a Christian was a crime; and it expo-
sed them to every species of insult, indignity, and cru
elty.
To all these calamities was to be added another,
which we find in the tenth verse.
"Then shall many
be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate
one another." The meaning is, that many Christians,
terrified with these persecutions, shall become apostates
from their religion, and renounce their faith; for that is
the meaning generally of the word offend in the New
Testament. That this would sometimes happen under
such trials and calamities as the first Christians were ex-
posed to, we may easily believe, and St. Paul particularly
mentions a few who turned away from him, and forsook
him; namely, Phygellus, Hermogenes, and Demas.‡
The other circumstance here predicted, "that the dis-
ciples should betray one another," is remarkably veri-
fied by the testimony of the Roman historian Tacitus,
who, in describing the persecution under Nero, tells
that several Christians were at first apprehended,
us,
* Mark xiii. 9.
+ Luke xxi. 12.
2 Tim. i. 15. iv. 10.
LECTURE XIX.
299
and then, by their discovery, a multitude of others, were
convicted, and cruelly put to death, with derision and
insult.*
It is a natural consequence of all this, that the ardour
of many in embracing and professing Christianity should
be considerably abated, or, as it is expressed in the
twelfth verse, that the love of many should wax cold;
and of this we find several instances mentioned by the
sacred writers.†
But he that shall endure unto the end (adds our
Lord in the thirteenth verse) the same shall be saved."
He that shall not be dismayed by these persecutions,
but shall continue firm in his faith and unshaken in his
duty to the last, shall be saved, both in this world and
the next. It is, we know, the uniform doctrine of
scripture, that they who persevere in the belief and the
practice of Christianity to the end of their lives, shall,
through the merits of their Redeemer, be rewarded
with everlasting life. And with respect to the present
life, and the times to which our Saviour here alludes,
it is remarkable, that none of his disciples were
known to perish in the siege and destruction of Jeru-
salem.
Another sign which was to precede the demolition of
the temple and the city of Jerusalem was, that the Chris-
tian religion was first to be propagated over the greater
part of the Roman empire, which in scripture, as well as
by the Roman writers, was called the world. "This
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall
the end come. "" Then shall come what is called in the
third verse the end of the world; that is, the Jewish
world, the Jewish state and government.
And accordingly St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Co-
lossians, speaks of the Gospel " being come unto all
the world and preached to every creature under hea-
ven." And we learn from the most authentic writers,
and the most ancient records, that the Gospel was
preached within thirty years after the death of Christ,
*Tac, Ann. 1. 15. † 2 Tim. iv. 16. Heb. x. 25.
Col. i. 6. 23.
300
LECTURE XIX.
in Idumæ, Syria, and Mesopotamia; in Media and
Parthia, and many parts of Asia Minor; in Egypt,
Mauretania, Ethiopia, and other regions of Africa; in
Greece and Italy; as far north as Scythia, and as far
westward as Spain, and in this very island which we
inhabit; where there is great reason to believe Chris-
tianity was planted in the days of the apostles, and be-
fore the destruction of Jerusalem. And this, it is said,
was to be "for a testimony against them;" that is,
against the Jews; for a testimony that the offer of sal.
vation was made to them in every part of the world
where they were dispersed; and that, by their obstinate
rejection of it, they had merited the signal punishment
which soon after overtook them.
Our Lord then goes on to still more alarming and
more evident indications of the near approach of danger
to the Jewish nation. "When ye therefore shall see
the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the
prophet,* stand in the holy place (let him that readeth
understand); then let them that be in Judæa flee into
the mountain.” The meaning of this passage is clear-
ly and fully explained by the parallel place in St. Luke:
"when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,
then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." The
abomination of desolation therefore denotes the Roman
army which besieged Jerusalem, and which Daniel al-
so, in the place alluded to, calls the abomination which
makes desolate.
-
The Roman army is here called an abomination, be-
cause upon their standards were depicted the images
of their emperor and their tutelary gods, whom they
worshiped and it is well known that idols were held
by the Jews in the utmost abhorrence; and the very
name they gave them was the expression here made
use of, an abomination. The word desolation is added
for an obvious reason, because this mighty army bro't
ruin and desolation upon Jerusalem.
This city and the mountain on which it stood, and a
circuit of several furlongs around it, were accounted
* Chap. ix. 27.
1
LECTURE XIX.
301
holy ground; and as the Roman standards were plant-
ed in the most conspicuous places near the fortifications
of the city, they are here said to stand in the holy place,
or, as St. Mark expresses it, "to stand where they ought
not." And Josephus tells us, that after the city was
taken," the Romans brought their ensigns into the
temple, and placed one of them against the eastern gate,
and sacrificed to them there; which was the greatest
insult and outrage that could possibly be offered to that
wretched people."*
When therefore this desolating abomination, this
idolatrous and destructive army appeared before the
holy city," then, says our Lord, let them which be in
Judea flee into the mountains; let him which is on the
house top not come down to take any thing out of his
house, neither let him that is in the fields return back
to take his clothes." These are allusions to Jewish
customs, and are designed to impress upon the disci-
ples the necessity of immediate flight, not suffering
themselves to be delayed by turning back for any ac-
commodations they might wish for.
"And woe unto
them that are with child, and to those that give suck in
those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the
winter, neither on the sabbath-day :" that is, unfortu-
nate will be it for those who, in such a time of terror
and distress, shall have any natural impediments to ob-
struct their flight, and who are obliged to travel in the
winter season, when the weather is severe, the roads
rough, and the days short; or on the sabbath-day, when
the Jews fancied it unlawful to travel more than a mile
or two. These kind admonitions were not lost upon
the disciples. For we learn from the best ecclesiastical
historians, that when the Roman armies approached to
Jerusalem, all the Christians left that devoted city, and
fled to Pella, a mountainous country, and to other places
beyond the river Jordan. And Josephus also informs
us, that when Vespasian was drawing his forces towards
Jerusalem, a great multitude fled from Jericho into the
mountainous country for their security.†
*De Bell. Jud. 1. vi. c. 6. s. 1. p. 1283.
† Do Bell. Jud. 1. iv. c. 8. s. 2. p. 1193. Ed. Huds.
w
LECTURE XIX.
A
And happy was it for them that they did so, for the
miseries experienced by the Jews in that siege were al-
most without a parallel in the history of the world.-
"Then,” says our Saviour, "shall be great tribulation,
such as was not from the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be." This expression is a
proverbial one, frequently made use of by the sacred
writers to express some very uncommon calamity,*
and therefore it is not necessary to take the words in
their strictest sense. But yet in fact they were in the
present instance almost literally fulfilled; and whoever
will turn to the history of this war by Josephus, and
there read the detail of the horrible and almost incredi-
ble calamities endured by the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
during the siege, not only from the fire and sword of the
enemies without, but from famine and pestilence, and
continual massacres and murders from the fiend-like
fury of the seditious zealots within, will be convinced,
that the very strong terms made use of by our Lord,
even when literally interpreted, do not go beyond the
truth. Indeed Josephus himself, in his preface to his
history, expresses himself almost in the very same
words: "our city, says he, of all those subjected to
the Romans, was raised to the highest felicity, and was
thrust down again to the lowest gulf of misery; for if
the misfortunes of all from the beginning of the world
were compared with those of the Jews, they would ap
pear much inferior upon the comparison."+ Is not
this almost precisely what our Saviour says, "there
shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the be-
ginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be." It is impossible one would think, even for the
most stubborn infidel, not to be struck with the great
similarity of these two passages; and not to see that
the prediction of our Lord, and the accomplishment of
it, as described by the historian, are exact counterparts
of each other, and seem almost as if they had been writ-
ten by the very same person. Yet Josephus was not
302
* Ex. x. 14. Joel ii. 2. Dan. xii. 1. Maccab. ix. 27.
† De Bell. Jud. Proemium, p. 955. Ed. Huds.
LECTURE XIX.
303
born till after our Saviour was crucified; and he was
not a Christian, but a Jew; and certainly never meant
to give any testimony to the truth of our religion.
The calamities above mentioned were so severe, that
had they been of long continuance the whole Jewish
nation must have been destroyed; "except those days
should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved,
says Christ, in the twenty-third verse; but (he adds).
for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened.”
They were shortened for the sake of the elect, that is,
of those Jews who had been converted to Christianity;
and they were shortened by the besieged themselves,
by their seditious and mutual slaughters, and their mad-
ness in burning their own provisions.
"Then continues Jesus, if any man shall say unto
you, Lo; here is Christ, or there, believe it not for
there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and
shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that (if
it were possible) they shall deceive the very elect. Be-
hold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall
say unto you he is in the desert; go not forth behold
he is in the secret chambers: believe it not. For as
the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even
unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man
be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there shall the
eagles be gathered together," Our Lord had already
cautioned his disciples against believing the false
Christs and false prophets who would appear before the
siege, and he now warns them against those that would
rise up during the siege. This, Josephus, tells us,
they did in great abundance; and flattered the Jews
with the hope of seeing their Messiah coming, with
great power, to rescue them from the hands of the Ro-
mans.* And they also pretended to shew signs and
wonders; the very words made use of by the same his-
torian, as well as by our Lord. † And it is remarka-
ble that Christ here foretels, not only the appearance of
& 6.
Jos. de Bell. Jud. 1. vi. c. 5. s. 2. p. 1281. and Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. iv.
† Jos. Antiq. 1. xx. c. 27. s. 6. p. 983. Ed. Huds.
804
LECTURE XIX.
these false prophets, but the very places to which they
would lead their deluded followers; and these were,
the "desert, and the secret chamber."
And accor-
dingly, if you look into the history of Josephus, you
will find both these places distinctly specified as the
theatres on which these impostors exhibited their delu-
sions. For the historian relates a variety of instances
in which these false Christs and false prophets betrayed
their followers into the desert, where they were con-
stantly destroyed; and he also mentions one of these
pretenders, who declared to the inhabitants of Jerusa-
lem, that God commanded them to go up into a par-
ticular part of the temple (into the secret chamber, as
our Lord expresses it) and there they should receive
the signs of deliverance. A multitude of men, wo-
men, and children went up accordingly; but, instead
of deliverance, the place was set on fire by the Romans,
and six thousand perished miserably in the flames, or
by endeavouring to escape them.*
But the appearance of the true Christ was not to be
in that way; it was to be as visible and as rapid as a
flash of lightning : "for as the lightning cometh out of
the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also
the coming of the Son of man be." It shall not be in
a remote desert or in a secret chamber of the temple,
but shall be rendered conspicuous by the sudden and
entire overthrow of Jerusalem, and its inhabitants.
"For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the ea
gles be gathered together."
By the carcase is meant the Jewish nation, which
was morally and judicially dead; and the instruments
of divine vengeance, that is the Roman armies, whose
standards were eagles, would be collected together
against the wicked people, as eagles are gathered to-
gether to devour their prey.
In the three following verses, the language of our
divine Master becomes highly figurative and sublime.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall
* Jos. Antiq. 1. xx. c. 7. s. 6. and c. 7. s. 10. De Bell, Jud. I. ii. c. 13. s. 4.
and 1. v 11. s. 1. Ed. Huds.
LECTURE XIX.
305
the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the pow-
ers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall
appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory. And he shall send his angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
his elect from the four winds from the one end of hea-
ven to the other.”
Few people, I believe, read these verses, without
supposing that they refer entirely to the day of judg-
ment, many of these expressions being actually applied
to that great event in the very next chapter, and in
other parts of scripture; and indeed several eminent
men and learned commentators are of that opinion, and
imagine that our Lord here makes a transition from the
destruction of Jerusalem to the end of the world, con-
ceiving that such very bold figures of speech could not
with propriety be applied to the subversion and extinc-
tion of any city or state, however great and powerful.
But the fact is, that these very same metaphors do fre-
quently in scripture denote the destruction of nations,
cities, and kingdoms. Thus Isaiah,* speaking of the
destruction of Babylon, says, " Behold the day of the
Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sin-
ners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven, and the
constellations thereof, shall not give their light; the
sun shall be darkened in his going forth and the moon
shall not cause her light to shine." And in almost the
same terms he describes the punishment of the Idumæ-
ans, and of Senacherib and his people. Ezekiel
speaks in the same manner of Egypt; and Daniel, of
the slaughter of the Jews; and, what is still more to
the point, the prophet Joel describes this very destruc-
tion of Jerusalem in terms very similar to those of
Christ. "I will shew wonders in the heavens; and
† Ch. li. 6.
* Ch. xiii. 9.
§ Ch. xxxii. 7, 8.
† Ch. xxxiv. 34.
|| Ch. viii. 10.
39
506
LECTURE XIX.
in the earth, blood, and fire, ånd pillars of smoke. The
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord
shall come."*
It is evident then that the phrases here made use of,
of “the sun being darkened, and the moon not giving
her light, and the stars falling from heaven, and the
powers of heaven being shaken," are figures meant to
express the fall of cities, kingdoms, and nations; and
the origin of this sort of language is well illustrated
a late very learned prelate,† who tells us, that in ancient
hieroglific writing, the sun, moon, and stars, were us
ed to represent states and empires, kings, queens, and
nobility; their eclipse or extinction denoted tempora-
ry disasters, or entire overthrow, &c. So the prophets
in like manner call kings and empires by the names of
the heavenly luminaries. Stars falling from the firma-
ment are employed to denote the destruction of the no-*
bility, and other great men; insomuch, that in reality
the prophetic style seems to be a speaking hiero-
glific."
:
In the same manner, in the next verse, those awful
words, “then shall appear the sign of the Son of man
in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory," seem
applicable solely to the last advent of Christ to judge
the world; and yet it is certain, that in their primary
signification they refer to the manifestation of Christ's
power and glory, in coming to execute judgment on
the guilty Jews, by the total overthrow of their temple,
their city, and their government; for so our Lord him-
sclf explains what is meant by the coming of the Son of
man, in the 27th, 28th, and 37th verses of this chapter.
And when the prophet Daniel is predicting this very
appearance of Christ to punish the Jews, he describes
him as "coming in the clouds of heaven, and there was
given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom.”||
T
हुरो हुन्छ
Ch. ii 30, 31.
Div Leg v. 2. b. iv. s. 4.
† Bishop Warburton.
Daniel vii. 14.
LECTURE XIX.
307
verse :
The same remark will hold with regard to the 31st
"he shall send his angels with a great sound of
a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from
the four winds, from one end of the earth even to the
other."
These words also, though they seem as if
they could belong to no other subject than the last day,
yet most assuredly relate principally to the great object
of this prophecy, the destruction of Jerusalem; after
which dreadful event we are here told, that Christ will
send forth his angels; that is, his messengers or min-
isters (for so that word strictly signifies)* to preach
his gospel to all the world, which preaching is called
by the prophets, lifting up the voice like a trumpet ;†
and they shall gather together his elect (that is, shall
collect disciples and converts to the faith) from the
four winds, from the four quarters of the earth; or,
as St. Luke expresses it, "from the east, and from the
west, from the north, and from the south."t
((
""
Our Lord then goes on to point out the time when
all these things shall take place, and thus answers the
other question put to him by the disciples,
"Tell us,
when shall these things be?" "Now learn, says he, a
parable of the fig-tree; when his branch is yet tender,
and putteth forth leaves, ye know that the summer is
nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things,
know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say
unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these
things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away.”
The only observation necessary to be made here is,
that the time when all these predictions were to be ful-
filled is here limited to a certain period. They were
to be accomplished before the generation of men then
existing should pass away. And accordingly all these
events did actually take place within forty years after
our Saviour delivered this prophecy; and this by the
way is an unanswerable proof, that every thing our
Lord had been saying in the preceding part of the chap-
Vide Haggai i. 13. Malachi ii. 7.-iii. 1. Matthew xi. 10. Mark i, 2.
Luke vii. 27.
† Isaiah lviii. 1.
Luke xiii. 29.
*
308
LECTURE XIX.
ter related principally, not to the day of Judgment, or
to any other very remote event, but to the destruction
of Jerusalem, which did in reality happen before that
generation had passed away.
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man; no,
not the angels of heaven, but my Father only;" that is,
although the time when Jerusalem is to be destroyed,
is, as I have told you, fixed generally to this generation,
yet the precise day and hour of that event is not known
either to men or angels, but to God only. This he
speaks in his human nature, and in his prophetic capa.
city. This point was not made known to him by the
spirit, nor was he commissioned to reveal it.
It is supposed by several learned commentators, that
the words that day and that hour, refer to the day of
judgment, which is immediately alluded to in the pre-
ceding verse, heaven and earth shall pass away. This
conjecture is an ingenious one, and may be true; but
if it be, this verse should be inclosed in a parenthesis,
because what follows most certainly relates to the de-
struction of Jerusalem, (to which St. Luke in the se-
venteenth chapter expressly confines it*) and cannot,
without great violence to the words, be applied to the
final advent of Christ. "As the days of Noe were, so
shall also the coming of the son of man be. For as in
the days that were before the flood, they were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until
the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not
until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two
be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other
left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the
one shall be taken, and the other left." That is, when
the day of desolation shall come upon the city and tem-
ple of Jerusalem, the inhabitants will be as thoughtless
and unconcerned, and as unprepared for it, as the ante-
diluvians were for the flood in the days of Noah. But
as some (more particularly the Christians) will be more
watchful, and in a better state of mind than others, the
* Luke xvii. 26, 27, 35, 36.
LECTURE XIX.
809
providence of God will make a distinction between his
faithful and his disobedient servants, and will protect
and preserve the former, but leave the latter to be tak-
en or destroyed by their enemies; although they may
both be in the same situation of life, may be engaged
in the same occupations, and may appear to the world
to be in every respect in similar circumstances.
Here ends the prophetical part of our Lord's dis-
course; what follows is altogether exhortatory. It may
be called the moral of the phrophecy, and the practical
application of it not only to his immediate hearers, but
to his disciples in all future ages; for this concluding
admonition most certainly alludes no less to the final
judgment than to the destruction of Jerusalem, and ap-
plies with at least equal force to both. Indeed the pro-
phecy itself, although in its primary and strictest sense
it relates throughout to the destruction of the temple,
city, and government of Jerusalem, yet, as I have be-
fore observed may be considered, and was probably in-
tended by Jesus, as a type and an emblem of the dissolu-
tion of the world itself, to which the total subversion of
a great city and a whole nation bears some resemblance.
But with respect to the conclusion, there can be
no doubt of its being intended to call our attention to
the last solemn day of account; and with a view of its
producing this effect, I shall now press it upon your
minds in the very words of our Lord, without any com-
ment, for it is too clear to require any explanation, and
too impressive to require any additional enforcement,
"Watch ye therefore, for ye know not at what hour
your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good
man of the house had known in what watch the thief
would come, he would have watched, and would not
have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore
be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not
the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and a
wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his
household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed
is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh shall
find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall
A
810
LECTURE XX.
make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil
servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his
coming; and begin to smite his fellow-servants, and
to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that
servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for
him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with
the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth,"
LECTURE XX.
MATTHEW xxiv.-V.
IN my last Lecture I explained to you that re-
markable prophecy respecting the destruction of Jeru-
salem, which is contained in the twenty-fourth chapter
of St. Matthew; and by a reference to the historians
who record or mention that event, I proved to you the
complete and exact accomplishment of that wonderful
prediction in all its parts. And this, in a common
case, I should have thought fully sufficient for your sa
tisfaction. But this prophecy stands so eminently dis-
tinguished by its singular importance, and the great
variety of matter which it embraces, and it affords so
decisive, so irresistable a proof of the divine authority
of our religion, that it appears to me to be well worthy
of a little more attention and consideration. I shall
therefore, before I proceed to the next chapter, make
such further remarks upon it, as may tend to throw
new light upon the subject, to shew more distinctly the
exact correspondence of the prediction with the event,
and to point out the very interesting conclusions that
may be drawn from it.
}
❤
And first I would observe, that, in some instances,
the providence of God seems evidently to have inter-
-
LECTURE XX.
311
posed in order to bring about several of the events,
which Jesus here alludes to or predicts. Thus, in the
twelfth year of Nero Cestius Gallus, the president of
Syria, came against Jerusalem with a powerful army;
and, as Josephus assures us, he might, had he assault-
ed the city, easily have taken it, and thereby have put
an end to the war. But without any apparent reason,
and contrary to all expectation, he suddenly raised the
siege, and departed. This, and some other very inci-
dental delays, which took place before Vespasian be-
sieged the city, and Titus surrounded it with a wall,
gave the Christians within an opportunity of following
our Lord's advice, and of escaping to the mountains,
which afterwards it would have been impossible for
them to do.
In the same manner the besieged inhabitants them-
selves helped to fulfil another of our Saviour's predic-
tions, that those days should be shortened; for they burnt
their own provisions, which would have been sufficient
for many years, and fatally deserted their strongest
holds, where they never could have been taken by force,
the fortifications of the city being considered as im-
pregnable. Titus was so sensible of this, that he him-
self ascribed his success to God. "We have fought,
said he to his friends, with God on our side; and it is
God who hath dragged the Jews out of their strong
holds; for what could the hands of men and machines
do against such towers as these ?"+
In the next place, it is worthy of remark, that at the
time when our Lord delivered this prophecy, there was
not the slightest probability of the Romans invading
Judæa, much less of their besicging the city of Jerusa-
lem, of their surrounding it with a wall, of their taking
it by storm, and of their destroying the temple so en-
tirely, as not to leave one stone upon another. The
Jews were then at perfect peace with the Romans. The
latter could have no motives of interest or of policy to
invade, destroy, and depopulate a country, which was
* De Bell Jud. 1 2 c. 19.
† Newton's Dissert en Prophec、v. 2. p. 276
1
312
LECTURE XX.
already subject to them, and from which they reaped
many advantages. The fortifications too of the city
were (as I have before observed) so strong, that they
were deemed invincible by any human force, and it was
not the custom of the Romans to demolish and raise
the very foundations of the towns they took, and ex.
terminate the inhabitants, but rather to preserve them
as monuments of their victories and their triumphs.
It could not therefore be from mere human sagacity
and foresight that our Saviour foretold these events;
or had he even hazarded a conjecture respecting a war
with the Romans, and the siege of Jerusalem, yet he
could only have done this in general terms; he could
never have imagined or invented such a variety of mi-
nute particulars as he did predict, and as actually came
to pass.
It is indeed of great importance to observe the sur-
prizing assemblage of striking circumstances, which
Christ pointed out in this prophecy. They are much
more numerous than is commonly supposed, and well
deserve to be distinctly specified.
They may be arranged under three general heads.
The first consists of those signs that were to preced:
the destruction of Jerusalem.
And these signs were, false Christs, false prophets,
rumours of wars, actual wars, nation rising against na-
tion, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, fearful sights,
the persecution of the apostles, the apostacy of some
Christians, and the treachery of others, the preserva-
tion of Christ's faithful disciples, and the propagation
of the Gospel through the whole Roman world.
The second head is the commencement of the siege.
Under this head are specified the distinguishing
standard of the Roman army, the eagle, with the images
of their gods and their emperors affixed to it.
The idolatrous worship paid to this standard, called
the abomination, for so it was to the Jews.
The planting of this standard, near the holy city, and
afterwards in the very temple.
LECTURE XX.
313
The desolation which the Roman armies spread around
them.
The escape of the Christians to the mountainous
country round Jerusalem.
The inconceivable and unparalleled calamities of every
kind which the wretched inhabitants endured during the
siege; and the shortening of those days of vengeance
on account of the Christians.
The third head is, the actual capture of Jerusalem by
the besieging army.
And here it is foretold, "that not one stone of its
magnificent buildings should be left upon another;"
that the temple, the government, the state, the polity of
the Jews, should be utterly subverted and lastly, that
all these things should happen before the then present
race of men should be extinguished.
If now we collect together the several particulars here
specified, they amount to no less than twenty-two in
number. A larger detail of minute circumstances than
is to be found in any other of our Lord's prophecies;
and all these we see actually fulfilled in the history of
Josephus, and other ancient writers; and it is extreme-
ly remarkable that his description of the siege of Jeru-
salem, like this prophecy, is more minutely circumstan-
tial and more spread out into detail, than the account
of any other siege that we have in ancient history. It
should seem therefore as if this historian was purposely
raised up by Providence to record this memorable
event, and to verify our Saviour's predictions. And
indeed no one could possibly be better qualified for the
task than he, from his situation and circumstances, from
his integrity and veracity, and above all from the op-
portunities he had of being perfectly well acquainted
with every thing he relates.
He was born at Jerusalem, under the reign of the
emperor Caligula, and about seven years after our
Lord's crucifixion. He was of a noble family; on his
father's side descended from the most illustrious of the
high priests; and on his mother's side, from the blood
royal. At the age of nineteen, after having made a trial
T
40
314
LECTURE XX.
of all the different sects of the Jews, he embraced that
of the Pharisees; and at the age of twenty-six he made
a journey to Rome, to obtain from Nero the release of
some Jewish priests, who had been thrown into bonds
by Felix the procurator of Judæa. He succeeded in
this business; and on his return to Jerusalem found his
countrymen resolved on commencing hostilities against
the Romans, from which he endeavoured to dissuade
them, but in vain. He was soon after appointed by the
Jewish government to the command of an army in Gal-
ilee, where he signalized himself in many engagements;
but at the siege of Jotapata was taken prisoner by Ves-
pasian, and afterwards carried by Titus to the siege of
Jerusalem, where he was an eye-witness of every thing
that passed till the city was taken and destroyed by the
Romans. He then composed his history of the Jewish
war, and particularly of the siege and capture of Jeru-
salem, in seven books; which he first wrote in He-
brew, and afterwards in Greek, and presented it to
Vespasian and Titus, by both of whom it was highly
approved, and ordered to be made public. And it is
in this history that we find the accomplishment of all
the several facts and events relative to the siege and the
destruction of Jerusalem, which our Saviour foretold
forty years before they happened, and which have been
above recited. This history is spoken of in the highest
est terms by men of the greatest learning and the soundest
judgment, from its first publication to the present time.
The fidelity, the veracity, and probity of the writer,
are universally allowed; and Scaliger in particular de-
clares, that not only in the affairs of the Jews, but even
of foreign nations, he deserves more credit that all the
Greek and Roman writers put together.* Certain at
least it is, that he had that most essential qualification of
an historian, a perfect and accurate knowledge of all the
transactions which he relates; that he had no prejudices
to mislead him in the representation of them; and that,
above all he meant no favour to the Christian cause.-
For even allowing the so much controverted passage, in
* In Prolegom. ad opus de Emendatione Temporum.
LECTURE XX.
315
which he is supposed to bear testimony to Christ, to be
genuine, it does not appear that he ever became a con-
vert to his religion, but continued probably a zealous
Jew to the end of his life.
From this account it is evident, that we may most
securely rely on every thing he tells us respecting the
siege of Jerusalem: and that nothing can more com-
pletely demonstrate the truth of our blessed Lord's
predictions, than the uncorrupt, impartial, and unde-
signed testimony given to their completion by this just-
ly celebrated historian.
Here then we have a proof, which it is impossible to
controvert, of our Saviour's perfect knowledge of future
events, which belongs solely to God, and to those in-
spired and sent by him; which of course establishes,
in the clearest manner, the divine mission of Christ, and
the divine origin of our religion.
The only pretence that can possibly be set up against
this prophecy is, thst it was not delivered by our Sa-
viour previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, but in-
serted afterwards by St. Matthew and the other evan-
gelists, subsequent to that event. This may undoubt-
edly be said, and any thing may be said by those whose
trade is objection and cavil: but can it be said with the
smallest appearance of truth? Is there the slightest
ground to support it? Most certainly not. It is a mere
gratuitous assertion without the least shadow of proof;
and an opposite assertion is a sufficient answer to it.-
We deny the fact; and call upon our adversaries to
prove it, if they can they have never so much as at-
tempted it. Not even the earliest enemies of our faith,
those who were much nearer the primitive ages, and
much more likely to detect a fraud in the evangelical
writers (if there were any) than modern infidels, even
these never intimate the slightest suspicion that this pro-
phecy was inserted after the event.
•
But besides this, there are good grounds to believe,
not only that the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and
Luke, where this prophecy is related, were written and
published before the destruction of Jerusalem, but that
!
316
LECTURE XX.
the writers of them were all dead before that event. It
is also well known, that both St. Peter, and St. Paul,
who allude in their Epistles to the approaching ruin of
Jerusalem* (which they learnt from our Lord's predic-
tions,) and who had seen and approved the Gospels of
St. Mark and St. Luke were put to death under Nero,
and Jerusalem was not taken till the succeeding reign.
of Vespasian.
It should be observed further, that although this pro-
phecy is by far the fullest, and clearest, and most dis.
tinct, that our Lord delivered respecting the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, he plainly, though briefly alludes to
it in several other parts of the Gospels. And these
occasional predictions of that event are so frequent, and
so perfectly agree with this larger prophecy, they are
introduced so incidentally in the way of parables, or in
answer to some question; they arise, in short, so na-
turally from the occasion, and are so inartificially inter-
woven into the very essence and substance of the nar-
rative, that they have every imaginable appearance of
having formed an original part of it, and cannot possi-
bly be considered by any good judge of composition as
subsequent or fraudulent insertions.
Indeed such a fabrication as this would have been the
silliest and most useless fraud that can be imagined.-
For it is very remarkable that the sacred writers make
no use of this prophecy as a proof of our Saviour's di-
vine powers, or of the truth of his religion. They ap-
peal frequently to the ancient prophecies concerning
him, to his miracles, and above all to his resurrection,
as evidences that he was the Messiah, and the Son of
God; but they never appeal to the accomplishment of
this prophecy in support of those great truths, though
certainly a very natural and important proof to be ad-
duced in favour of them.
But that which ought, with every reasonable man, to
be decisive of the question, is this, that three of the
*Acts ii. 19. 1. Pet. iv. 7. Phil. iv. 5. 1 Thess. ii. 16. Newton on
Proph. v. 2. p. 225. Jortin's Remarks, vol. i.
p. 49.
+ Matth. xxii. 1-7; xxiii. 33-39.
&c. &c.
Luke xix. 41-44; xiii. 1—5;
LECTURE XX.
317
evangelists out of four concur in giving us this prophe-
cy, as a part of their history of our Lord, and as actu-
ally delivered by him at the period assigned to it, which
we know was nearly forty years before the destruction
of Jerusalem. Now we have no more reason to doubt
their veracity in this point than in any other; and if,
on the strength of their character, on the evident marks
of integrity, simplicity, and truth, which appear in every
page of their writings; and above all, if in consequence
of their undergoing the bitterest sufferings as an evi-
dence of their sincerity, we give implicit credit to what
they tell us respecting the life, the death, the doctrines,
the miracles, and the resurrection of Christ, there is the
very same reason for admitting the genuineness of this
prophecy. It stands on the same solid grounds of their
veracity and probity, as the rest of the Gospel does; and
when men lay down their lives, as they did, in confirm-
ation of what they assert they have surely some right to
be believed.
We may then safely consider this prophecy as an un-
questionable proof of the divine foreknowledge of our
Lord, and the divine authority of the Gospel; and on
this ground only (were it necessary) we might secure-
ly rest the whole fabric of our religion. Indeed this re-
markable prediction has always been considered, by
every impartial person, as one of the most powerful ar-
guments in favour of Christianity; and in our own
times, more particularly, a man of distinguished talents
and acknowledged eminence in his profession, and in
the constant habit of weighing, sifting, and scrutinizing
evidence with the minutest accuracy in courts of Jus-
tice, has publicly declared, that he considered this pro-
phecy, if there were nothing else to support Christiani-
ty, as absolutely irresistible.*
* See Mr. Erskine's eloquent speech at the trial of Williams, for publishing
Paine's Age of Reason; to which I must beg leave to add the weighty and
important testimony of that most able and upright judge, Lord Kenyon, who,
in his charge to the jury on the same occasion made this noble CONFESSION OF
FAITH:
"I am fully impressed with the great truths of religion, which, thank God,
was taught in my early years to believe; and which the hour of reflection
and enquiry, instead of creating any doubt, has fully confirmed me in." How
I
1
318
LECTURE XX.
But our Lord's predictions respecting this devoted
city do not end even here. He not only foretels the
entire destruction of Jerusalem, but the continuance of
its desolation and subjection to heathens, and the
dispersion and captivity of the Jews for a long period
of time. For if we turn to the parallel place in St.
Luke, we shall find him expressing himself in these
words, respecting the Jews and their city; "they shall
fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away cap-
tive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled." That is, not only vast numbers of the Jews.
shall perish at the siege of Jerusalem, partly by their
own seditions, and partly by the sword of the enemy,
but multitudes shall also be made captives, and be dis,
persed into all countries; and Jerusalem shall remain in
a state of desolation and oppression, trampled upon and
trodden down by heathen conquerors and rulers, till all
the Gentiles shall be converted to the faith of Christ,
and the Jews themselves shall acknowledge him to be
the Messiah, and shall be restored to their ancient city.
The former part of this prophecy has been already
most exactly fulfilled, and is an earnest that all the rest
'will in due time be accomplished. The number of
Jews slain during the siege was upwards of one million
one hundred thousand, and near three hundred thousand
more were destroyed in other places in the course of the
wart. Besides these as Josephus informs us, no less
than ninety-seven thousand were made captives and dis-
persed into different countries, some into Egypt, some
to Cæsarea, some carried to grace the triumph of Titus
at Rome, and the rest distributed over the Roman pro-
vinces; and the whole Jewish people continue to this
hour scattered over all the nations of the earth.
vain are all the idle cavils of the whole tribe of infidels put together, when con-
trasted with such a declaration as this from such a man!
Since this note was written, the public has to lament the loss of this truly
great man. But he is now at rest from his virtuous labours; and he will long
be remembered and revered, not only by his own profession, but by all descrip
tions of men, as the firm friend and intrepid protector of the laws, the consti
tution, the morals, and the religion of this country.
**Luke xxi. 24. † Bell. Jud. 1. 2, 3, 4, 7, &c. Jos. Bell. Jud. 1. vi. c. 9.
LECTURE XX.
319
With respect to their city, it has remained for the
most part in a state of ruin and desolation, from its de-
struction by the Romans to the present time; and has
never been under the government of the Jews them-
selves, but oppressed and broken down by a succes-
sion of foreign masters, the Romans, the Saracens, the
Franks, the Mamalukes, and last by the Turks, to
whom it is still subject. It is therefore only in the
history of Josephus, and in other ancient writers, that we
are to look for the accomplishment of our Lord's pre-
dictions; we see them verified at this moment before
our eyes, in the desolated state of the once celebrated
city and temple of Jerusalem, and in the present condi-
tion of the Jewish people, not collected together into
any one country, into one political society, and under
one form of government, but dispersed over every re-
gion of the globe, and every where treated with con-
tumely and scorn.
There was indeed one attempt made to rebuild their
temple and their city, and restore them to their ancient
prosperity and splendour. It was made too for the ex-
press and avowed purpose of defeating that very pro-
phecy we have been considering; and the event was
such as might be expected from the folly and presump
tion of the man who dared to oppose the designs of
Providence, and to fight against God. This man was
the emperor Julian, who, as you all know, was first a
Christian, then apostatized from that religion, professed
himself a pagan, and became a bitter and avowed ene-
my to the Gospel. This prince assured the Jews, that
if he was successful in the Persian war, he would re-
build their city, restore them to their habitations re-es-
tablish their government and their religion, and join
with them in worshipping the great God of the universe.
He actually begun this singular enterprize, by attempt-
ing to rebuild their temple with the greatest magnifi-
cence. He assigned immense sums for the structure;
and gave it in charge to Alypius of Antioch, who had
formerly been lieutenant in Britain, to superintend the
work. Alypius excited himself with great vigour, and
-
*
320
LECTURE XX.
was assisted in it by the governor of the province. But
soon after they had begun the work, dreadful balls of
fire bursting out from the foundations in several parts,
rendered the place inaccessible to the workmen, who
were frequently burnt with the flames; and in this man-
ner, the fiery elements obstinately repelling them, forc-
ed them at length to abandon the design. The account
of this extraordinary miracle we have not only from an
cient Christian writers of credit, who lived at the very
time when it happened, but from an heathen author of
great veracity, Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote the
history of Roman affairs from Nerva to the death of Va-
lens, in the year 378. Though he wrote in Latin, he
was a Greek by birth. He had several honourable
military commands under different emperors; was with
Julian in his Persian expedition, in the year 363, and
was a great admirer of that emperor, whom he makes
his hero; yet acknowledges that his attempt to rebuild
the temple of Jerusalem was defeated in the manner I
have mentioned.* The fact is frequently appealed to
by the Christians of those days, who affirm that it was
in the mouths of all men, and was not denied even by
the atheists themselves; and "if it seem yet incredible
to any one, he may repair (say they) both to witnesses
of it yet living, and to them who have heard it from
their mouths; yea, they may view the foundations,
lying yet bare and naked."+ And of this, says Chrys-
ostom, all we Christians are witnesses; these things
being done not long since in our own time.‡
Such are the testimonies for this miracle, which are
collected and stated with great force by the learned
Bishop Worburton, in his work called Julian; and most
of them are also admitted by Mr. Gibbon, who inh
recital of this miracle, acknowledges that it is attested
by contemporary and respectable evidence; that Grego-
ry Nazianzen, who published his account of it before
the expiration of the same year, declares it was not dis-
* Ammianus Marcellinus, 1. xxiii. c. 1. p. 350. Ed. Valesii.
† Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. I. v c. 22. p. 632. D. 683. B.
Chrys. adv, Judaeos. Orat. iii. p. 426.
1
LECTURE XX.
321
puted by the infidels of those days, and that his testi-
mony is confirmed by the unexceptionable testimony of
Ammianus Marcellinus.*
an account.
I now proceed to the explanation of the next chap-
ter, the 25th of St. Matthew, which begins with pre-
senting to us two parables, that of the ten virgins, and
that of the servants of a great Lord entrusted with dif-
ferent talents, of which they are called upon to render
As these parables contain nothing that re-
quires a very particular explanation, I shall content my-
self with observing, that they are designed to carry on
the subject with which the preceding chapter concludes;
namely, that of the last solemn day of retribution; and
the object of both is to call our attention to that great
event, and to warn us of the necessity of being always
prepared for it. Thus in the parable of the ten virgins,
the five that were wise took oil in their vessels with
their lamps, and when the bridegroom appeared they
were ready to receive him, and went in with him to the
marriage. But the five that were foolish took no oil
with them; and while they went to procure it, the
bridegroom unexpectedly came, and the door was shut
against them. The application is obvious, and is giv-
en by our Lord himself in these words, "watch ye
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour
when the Lord cometh.”
In the same manner, in the parable of the talents, he
that had received the five talents and he that had receiv-
ed the two, did, during the absence of their Lord, so
diligently cultivate and so considerably improve them,
that when at length he came to reckon with them they
returned him his own again with usury, and received
both applause and reward: while that slothful and in-
dolent servant who had received only one talent, and in-
stead of improving it went and hid it in the earth, when
his Lord came and required it at his hands, was severė-
ly reprimanded for his want of activity and exertion,
and was cast out as an unprofitable servant into outer
darkness.
* History of the Roman Empire, v. ii. p. 388.
!
41
LECTURE XX.
This, like the former parable, was plainly meant to
intimate to us that we ought to be always prepared to
meet our Lord, and to give him a good account of the
use we have made of our time, and of our talents, whe-
ther many or few, that were entrusted to the care.
322
After these admonitory parables, and these earnest
exhortations to prepare for the last great day, our bles
sed Lord is naturally led on to a description of the day
itself; and it is a description which for dignity and
grandeur has not its equal in any writer, sacred or pro-
fane. It is as follows: "When the Son of man shall
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him,
then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and be-
fore him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall sep-
arate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his
sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his
right hand, and the goats on the left. Then shall the
King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye bles-
sed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world; for I was an hun-
gred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave
me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked,
and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I
was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the
righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee
an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee
drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee
in? or naked, and clothed thee? or when saw we thee
sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King
shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then
shall he also say unto those on the left hand, Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his angels; for I was an hungred, and ye
gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; nak-
ed and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and
ye visited me not. Then shall they answer him, say-
ing, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or
LECTURE XX.
a stranger, or naked or sick, or in prison, and did not
minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them saying,
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one
of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these
shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the
righteous into life eternal.”
Such is the description which our divine Master
gives us of the great day of account; and so solemn,
so awful, so sublime a scene, was never before present-
ed to the mind of man.
Our Saviour represents himself as a great and migh-
ty King, as the supreme Lord of all, sitting on the
throne of his glory, with all the nations of the earth as-
sembled before him, and waiting their final doom from
his lips. What an astonishing and stupendous specta-
cle is this! He then at one glance which penetrates the
hearts of every individual of that immense multitude,
discerns the respective merits or demerits of every hu-
man being there present, and separates the good from
the bad with as much ease as a shepherd divides his
sheep from his goats. He next questions them on one
most important branch of their duty, as a specimen of
the manner in which the inquiry into the whole of their
behaviour will be conducted; and then, with the au-
thority of an almighty Judge and Sovereign, he in a few
words pronounces the irreversible sentence, which con-
signs the wicked to everlasting punishment, and the
righteous to life eternal.
Before I press this important subject any further on
the hearts of those who hear me, I must make a few
observations on the description which has been just
laid before you.
The first is, that all mankind, when assembled be-
fore the judgment seat of Christ, are divided into two
great classes, the wicked and the good, those who are
punished, and those who are rewarded. There is no
middle, no intermediate station provided for those who
may be called neutrals in religion, who are indifferent
and lukewarm, who are "neither hot nor cold," who
do not reject the Gospel, but give themselves very lit-
!
324
LECTURE XX.
tle concern about it, who, instead of working out their
salvation with fear and trembling, leave that matter to
take care of itself, and are at perfect ease as to the
event. These men cannot certainly expect to inherit
everlasting life. But they hope probably to be consi-
dered as harmless inoffensive beings, and to be exempt-
ed from punishment at least, if not entitled to reward.
But how vain this hope is, our Saviour's representation
of the final judgment most clearly shows. They who
are not set on the right, must go to the left. They
who are not rewarded, are consigned to punishment.
There are indeed different mansions both for the right-
eous and the wicked; there are different degrees of
punishment for the one, and of reward for the other;
yet still it does not appear that there is any middle or
intermediate state between punishment and reward.
The next remark, and which has some affinity to the
last, is, that we are to be examined at the bar of our
great Judge, not merely as to our exemption from
crimes, but as to our performance of good actions; sub-
stantial and genuine Christian virtues are expected at
our hands.
It will not be sufficient for us to plead
that we kept ourselves clear from sin, we must shew
that we have exerted ourselves in the faithful discharge
of all those various important duties which the Gospel
requires from us.
-
Lastly, it must be observed, and it is an observation
of the utmost importance, and which I wish to im-
press most forcibly upon your minds, that although
charity to our neighbour, and indeed only one branch
of that comprehensive duty, viz. liberality to the poor
is here specified, as the only Christian virtue, concern-
ing which inquiry will be made at the day of judg
ment; yet we must not imagine that this is the only
virtue which will be expected from us, and that on this
alone will depend our final salvation. Nothing can be
more distant from truth, or more dangerous to religion,
than this opinion. The fact is, that charity, or love to
man in all its extent, being the most eminent of all the
evangelical virtues, being that which Christ has made
LECTURE XX,
325
the very badge and discriminating mark of his religion,
is here constituted by him the representative of all oth-
er virtues; just as Faith is, in various passages of
scripture, used to denote and represent the whole Chris-
tian religion. Nothing is more common than this sort
of figure (called a synecdoche) in profane, as well as
sacred writers; by which a part, an essential and im-
portant part, is made to stand for the whole. But that
neither charity nor any other single virtue can entitle us
to eternal life, is clear from the whole tenor of the New
testament, which every where requires universal holi-
ness of life. We are commanded "to stand perfect
and complete in all the will of God;"* to add to our
faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowl-
edge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to
patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness,
and to brotherly kindness charity. Here you see that
charity makes only one in that large assemblage of vir-
tues, which are required to constitute the Christian
character. And so far is it from being true, that any
single virtue will give us admission into the kingdom
of heaven, that St. James lays down a directly opposite
doctrine; namely, that if we do not to the best of our
power cultivate every virtue without exception, we
shall be objects of punishment, instead of reward.-
"Whosoever, says he shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Nay, even
if we endeavour to fulfil all righteousness, yet it is not
on that righteousness, but on the merits our Redeemer,
that we must rely for our acceptance with God. For
the plain doctrine of scripture is, that it "is the blood
of Jesus Christ that cleanseth us from all sin;" and
that "by grace we are saved through faith; and that
not of ourselves, it is the gift of God." Of this, in-
deed, no notice is taken in our Saviour's description of
the last judgment, and that for a plain reason; because
he had not yet finished the gracious work of our re-
demption. He had not yet offered himself up, upon
the cross as a sacrifice, a propitiation for the sins of the
* Col. iv. 12.
† 1 Pet. i. 6.
1 John i. 7. Ephes. ii. 8.
326
LECTURE XX.
whole world. But after that great act of mercy was
performed, it is then the uniform language of the sacred
writers, "that we are justified freely by the grace of
God, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."*
We must therefore collect the terms of our Salvation
not from any one passage of scripture, but from the
whole tenor of the sacred writings taken together; and
if we judge by this rule, which is the only one that can
be securely relied upon, we shall find that nothing less
than a sincere and lively faith in Christ, producing in us,
as far as the infirmity of our nature will allow, universal
holiness of life, can ever make our final calling and
election sure. But thus much we may certainly col
lect from our Lord's representation of our final judg
ment, that charity, or love to man, in the true scriptural
sense of that word, is one of the most essential duties of
our religion; and that to neglect that virtue, above all
others, which our Redeemer and our Judge has select-
ed as the peculiar object of his approbation, and as the
representative of all the other evangelical virtues, must
be peculiarly dangerous, and render us peculiarly unfit to
appear at the last day before the great tribunal of Christ.
How soon we may be summoned there, no one can
tell. The final dissolution of this earthly system may
be at a great distance; but what is the same thing to
every moral and religious purpose, death may be very
near. It is at least even to the youngest of us uncer.
tain, and in whatever state it overtakes us, in that state
will judgment find us; for there is no repentance in the
grave, and as we die so shall we stand before our Al-
mighty Judge. "Take heed therefore to yourselves,
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with sur-
feiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and
so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare
shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the
earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye
may be accounted worthy to escape all these things
that shall come upon you, and to stand before the Son
of man."+
# Romans iii. 24.
† Luke xxi. 34.
LECTURE XXI.
327
LECTURE XXI.
MATTHEW xxvi.
WE are now approaching the last sad scene of our
Saviour's life, which commences with the 26th chap-
ter, and continues in a progressive accumulation of one
misery upon another to the end of St. Matthew's Gos-
pel.
The 26th chapter, which will be the subject of the
present Lecture, begins with informing us that two
days before the great Feast of the Passover, the chief
priests, and the scribes and the elders of the people as-
sembled together unto the palace of the high priest,
who was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might
take Jesus by subtilty and kill him.
Whilst they were thus employed, Jesus himself was
in Bethany (a small village near Jerusalem) at the house
of a person called Simon, whom he had cured of a lep-
rosy; and here an incident took place which marks at
once the manners of the country and the times, and
places in a striking point of view the different charac-
ters of the several persons concerned in it.
"As Jesus was sitting at meat in the house above-
mentioned, there came unto him a woman, having an
alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it
on his head. But when his disciples saw it, they had
indignation, saying, to what purpose is this waste? For
this ointment might have been sold for much, and giv-
en the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto
them, why trouble ye the woman, for she hath wrought
a good work upon me? For ye have the poor always
with you, but me ye have not always. For in that she
hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for
my burial. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this
Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there also
shall this which this woman hath done be told for a me-
morial of her.”
Ко
LECTURE XXI.
There are in this little story several circumstances
that deserve our notice.
328
The first is, that the act here mentioned of pouring
the ointment on the head of Jesus, though it may ap
pear strange to us, yet was perfectly conformable to
the customs of ancient times, not only in Asia, but in
the more polished parts of Europe. Chaplets of flow-
ers and odoriferous unguents are mentioned by several
classic authors, as in use at the festive entertainments
both of the Greeks and Romans, and particularly among
the Jews, the custom of anointing the head seems to
have been almost as common a practice as that of
washing the face. For they are mentioned together
by our Lord in his direction to his disciples on the sub-
ject of fasting. "But thou, when thou fastest, anoint
thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not
unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which seeth in
secret."*
But there was a much higher purpose to which the
effusion of ointment on the head was applied to the
Jews. It was by this ceremony that Kings, Priests,
and Prophets, were set apart and consecrated to their
respective offices.-And for this reason it was that our
blessed Lord himself, who united in his own person
the threefold character of King, Priest, and Prophet,
was distinguished by the name of the MESSIAH, which
in the Hebrew language means THE ANOINTED. It
was therefore with peculiar propriety that this discrimi-
nating mark of respect was shewn to Jesus by the de-
vout woman here mentioned, though she herself was
probably altogether unconscious of that propriety. Je-
sus however saw at once the picty of her heart, and the
purity of her intentions, and with that sweetness of
temper, and urbanity of manners which were natural
to him, not only accepted her humble offering with
complacency, but generously defended her against the
illiberal cavils of his fastidious followers.
And then
he added a promise of that distinguished honor which
should perpetuate this meritorious act of her's to all
* Matth. vi. 17.
LECTURE XXI.
329
future ages.
"Verily I say unto you, that whereso-
ever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world,
there shall also this that this woman hath done be told
for a memorial of her." This we know was no vain
prediction; it has been most literally and punctually ful-
filled, and we ourselves are witnesses of its completion
at this very moment.
The next remarkable occurrence in this chapter, is
the institution of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
by our Saviour, when he was eating the passover with
his disciples.
The passover was one of the most solemn and sacred
feasts of the Jews. It was so called because it was es-
tablished in commemoration of the deliverance of the
Jews from their bondage in Egypt, at which time the
destroying angel, when he put to death the first-born of
the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Israelites,
which were all marked with the blood of the lamb that
had been killed and eaten the evening before in every
Hebrew house, and was therefore called the Paschal
Lamb.
This great festival our Saviour observed with his
disciples, the evening before he suffered, and with them
ate the paschal lamb, which was a prophetic type of
himself. For he was the real paschal lamb that was
sacrificed for the sins of men. He was the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world.*
The lamb without blemish and without spot,† as the
paschal lamb was ordered to bet. There can be no
doubt therefore that the paschal lamb of the Jews was
meant to be an emblem of our Lord. The slaying of
that lamb prefigured the slaying of Christ upon the
cross; and as those houses which were sprinkled with
the blood of the lamb were passed over by the destroy-
ing angel, so they whose souls are sprinkled with the
blood of Christ are saved from destruction and their
sins passed over and forgiven for his sake. And it is a
very remarkable circumstance, that our Saviour was
crucified, and our deliverance from the bondage of sin
* Rev. xiii. 8.
+ Ex. xii. 5.
† 1 Pet. i. 19.
42
LECTURE XXI.
compleated, in the same month, and on the same day
of the month, that the Israelites were delivered from
the bondage of Egypt, by their departure from that
land. For the Israelites went out of Egypt, and Christ
was put to death, on the fifteenth day of the month
Nisan.
330
·
I have premised thus much respecting the passover
and the paschal lamb, because it will throw considera-
ble light on the true nature and meaning of the sacra
ment of the Lord's Supper, which Jesus now instituted,
and of which the evangelist gives the following account:
"When the even was come, our Lord sat down with
the twelve to eat the passover; and as they were eat-
ing, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and
gave it to them and said, Take, eat; this is my
body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and
gave it to his disciples, saying, Drink ye all of it: for
this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed
for many for the remission of sins." This is the whole
of the institution of this sacred rite by our blessed Lord,
as recorded in St. Matthew's Gospel; and nothing
can be more evident than that when he brake the bread,
and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is
my body; he meant to say that the bread was to repre-
sent his body, and the breaking of it was to represent
the breaking of his body upon the cross.
In the same
manner when he took the cup and gave thanks, and
gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of it, for this is
my blood, of the New Testament, (or New Covenant)
which is shed for many, for the remission of sins;"
his meaning was, that the wine in the cup was to be a
representation of his blood that was shed upon the cross
as an expiation and atonement for the sins of the whole
world. And his disciples were to eat the bread and
drink the wine so consecrated, and so appropriated to
this particular purpose, in grateful remembrance of
what our Lord suffered for their salvation, and that of
all mankind; for St. Luke adds these affecting and im-
pressive words of our Saviour, this do in remembrance
of me.
LECTURE XXI.
331
The Lord's Supper therefore was evidently to be a
solemn commemoration and recognition of the redemp-
tion and deliverance-of mankind by the death of Christ,
as the feast of the passover was of the deliverance of the
Israelites from the destroying angel. Nor is this all;
for as the Jews were accustomed in their peace offer-
ings to eat a part of the victim, and thus partook of the
sacrifice; so they would perceive that in this new insti-
tution, the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine
was a mark and symbol of their participating in the ef
fects of this new peace offering, the death of Christ;
whose body was broken, and whose blood was shed
for them on the cross.
They would also see that this supper of our Lord was
from that time to be substituted in the room of the pass-
over; and that they might have no doubt on this head,
our Lord expressly declares that this was to be the
case; for immediately after the institution of this sa-
crament he adds, "I say unto you, I will not drink
henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when
I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." The
meaning is, this is the last time that this supper shall be
a representation of the passover. It shall hereafter take
a new signification. When my kingdom (that is, my
religion) is fully confirmed and established by my ris-
ing from the dead, this supper shall be the memorial of
a more noble sacrifice. The passover, which was a
type of the redemption to be wrought by me, shall be
fulfilled and completed by my death and resurrection.
The shadow passes away; the substance takes place;
and when you eat this supper in remembrance of me,
there will I be virtually present amongst you; and your
souls shall be nourished and refreshed by my grace, as
your bodies are by the bread and wine.
You will perceive, by what I have here said on the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, that I have confined
myself to that which was immediately before me, the
original institution of it by our blessed Lord. I have
not entered into those further illustrations of this holy
rite, which are presented to us in other parts of scrip.
332
LECTURE XXI.
ture; particularly in the 11th chapter of the First Epis-
tle to the Corinthians. To go at length into the con-
sideration of this important subject, would lead me in-
to a much longer discussion than the nature of this dis-
course will admit. I shall therefore only observe fur-
ther, that whoever reads with attention this first insti-
tution of the Lord's Supper, whoever reflects that it
was the very last meal that our Lord ate with his disci-
ples, that the next day he underwent for our sakes a
most excruciating and ignominious death, and that he
requires us to receive this sacrament in remembrance of
him; whoever, I say, can, notwithstanding all this, dis-
obey the last command of his dying Redeemer, must
be destitute, not only of all the devout sentiments of a
Christian, but of all the honest feelings of a man.
After having thus kept the passover for the last time,
our Lord and his apostles sung a hymn, as was usual
with the Jews after their repasts; and the hymn they
sung on this occasion was probably what they called
the Paschal Psalms, from the 113th to the 118th, in
which the disciples, accustomed to that recital, readily
joined. They then went out into the mount of Olives;
and as they were going, Jesus saith unto them,
"All ye
shall be offended because of me this night: for it is
written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the
flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen,
I will go before you into Galilee." This was a pro-
phetic warning to the disciples, that they would all be
terrified by the dangers that awaited him, and would
desert and virtually renounce him that very night. The
words here quoted, "I will smite the shepherd, and the
sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad," are from
the thirteenth chapter of Zechariah. But to console
and support them under this trial, our Lord assures
them that he would rise again from the dead, and after
his resurrection he would meet them at a certain place
he appointed in Galilee. The apostles, as we may ea-
sily imagine, were greatly hurt at this admonitory pre-
diction of our Lord, and protested that they would ne-
ver forsake him. But St. Peter more particularly, who,
W
LECTURE XXI.
333
<<
from the ardour of his disposition, was always more
forward in his professions, and more indignant at the
slightest reflection on his character, than any of the rest,
immediately cried out with warmth and eagerness,
"Though all men should be offended because of thee,
yet will I never be offended." But Jesus, who kew
him much better than he did himself, said unto him,
Verily I say unto you, that this night before the cock
crow (that is, before three in the morning) thou shalt
deny me thrice," Peter, still confident of his own in-
tegrity and sincere attachment to his divine Master,
and ignorant of the weakness of human nature at the
approach of danger, replied, with still greater vehemence,
Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny
thee;" and the rest of the disciples joined with him in
these earnest protestations of inviolable fidelity. How
far they were verified by the event we shall soon see.
We are now arrived at a very awful and somewhat
mysterious part of our Saviour's history, his agony in
the garden, which is next related to us by St. Matthew.
66
“Then cometh Jesus, says the evangelist, with them
to a place called Gethsemane, a rich valley near the
mount of Olives, through which ran the brook Cedron,
and on this side was a garden, into which Jesus enter-
ed. And he said unto his disciples, Sit ye here (at the
entrance probably of the garden) while I go and pray
yonder. And he took with him, into a more retired
part of the garden, Peter, and the two sons of Zebe-
dee, James and John, the very same disciples who ac-
companied him at his transfiguration; that they who
had been witnesses of his glory might be witnesses also
of his humiliation and affliction. Then saith he unto
them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:
tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a lit-
tle farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O
my Father, if it be possible (that is, if it be possible
for man to be saved, and thy glory promoted as effectu-
ally in any other way as by my death) let this cup, this
bitter cup of affliction, pass from me; nevertheless, not
as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto his
-N
;
LECTURE XXI.
disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter,
What, could ye not watch with me one hour? you
who so lately made such vehement professions of at-
tachment to me! Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation." Ye have need to watch and pray
for your own sakes, as well as mine, that you may not
be overcome by the severe trials that await you, nor be
tempted to desert me. Yet at the same moment, feel-
ing for the infirmity of human nature, he adds, "the
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." That
is, I know your hearts are right, and your intentions
good; but the weakness of your frail nature overpow-
ers your best resolutions, "and the thing which ye
would ye do not." "He went away again the second
time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup
may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy
will be done. And he came and found them asleep
again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them,
and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying
the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples,
and saith unto them, Sleep on now and take your rest:
behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is be-
trayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going:
behold, he is at hand that doth betray me."
That is,
henceforth, hereafter (for so the original strictly means)
you may take your rest; your watching can be of no
further use to me: my trial is over, my agony is sub-
dued, and my destiny determined. I shall soon be be
trayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, therefore, let
us go and meet this danger. Behold, he that betrayeth
me is at hand.
354
This is the account given us of what is called our
Saviour's agony in the garden; in the nature and cir
cumstances of which there is certainly something “dif-
ficult to be understood;" but it is at the same time
pregnant with instruction and consolation to every dis-
ciple of Christ.
We may observe in the first place that the terror and
distress of our Lord's mind on this occasion seems to
have been extreme, and the agony he endured in the
LECTURE XXI.
355
highest degree poignant and acute. He is said here to
be" exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." St. Mark
adds, that he was "sore amazed and very heavy ;"*
and St. Luke tells us, that "being in agony he prayed
more earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great
drops of blood falling down to the ground." To
what cause could these uncommonly painful sensations.
be owing? There is great reason to believe that
they could not arise solely from the fear of death,
or of the torments and the ignominy he was about
to undergo; for many great and good men, many of
the primitive martyrs for instance, and of our first re-
formers, have met death and tortures without feeling,
at least without expressing, such excessive terrors of
mind as these.
But it should be considered, that besides the appre-
hensions of a death in the highest degree excruciating
and disgraceful, to which in his human nature he would
be as liable as any other person, there were several cir-
cumstances peculiar to himself, which might exceed-
ingly embitter his feelings and exasperate his suffer-
ings.
In the first place, from the foreknowledge of every
thing that could befal him, he would have a quicker
sense and a keener perception of the torments he was to
undergo, than any other person could possibly have,
from the anticipation of future sufferings.
In the next place, the complicated miseries which he
knew that his death would bring upon his country, for
which he manifested the tenderest concern; the distress
in which it would plunge a mother and a friend that
were infinitely dear to him; and the cruel persecutions
and afflictions of various kinds, to which he foresaw
that the first propagation of his religion would expose
his beloved disciples; all these considerations operat-
ing on a mind of such exquisite sensibility as his, must
make a deep and painful impression, and add many
a bitter pang to the anguish, which preyed upon his
soul. Nor is it at all improbable, that his great enemy
* Ch. xiv. 33.
+ Ch. xxii. 44.
336
LECTURE XXÍ.
and ours, the prince of darkness, whom he came to
overthrow, and with whom he maintained a constant
conflict through life, and triumphed over by his death; it
is not, I say, at all improbable, that this malignant Be-
ing should exert his utmost power, by presenting real
and raising up imaginary terrors, to shake the constan..
cy of his soul, and deter him from the great work he
had undertaken. These, and a multitude of other ago.
nizing distresses, unknown and inconceivable to us,
which might necessarily spring from so vast, so mo-
mentous, so stupendous a work, as the salvation of a
whole world, make a plain distinction between our Sa-
viour's situation and that of any other martyr to the
cause of truth, and most clearly prove that there never
'was "
a sorrow in every respect like unto his sorrow.”*
It is evident, indeed, that there was some other cause
of his agony besides that of his approaching death: for
it is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that he was
heard in that he feared; that is, was delivered from
the terrors that oppressed him; and yet we know he
was not delivered from the death of the cross.
And it should be observed in the last place, that not-
withstanding his temporary agonies of mind, notwith-
standing he was "sore amazed and exceeding sorrow
ful, even unto death;" notwithstanding he prayed most
earnestly and fervently "that the bitter cup of affliction
might, if possible, pass away from him;" yet, upon
the
final result, he manifested the utmost firmness and forti-
tude of soul and the constant termination of his
prayer
was, not my will but thine be done. He submitted with
the most perfect resignation to those very calamities
which he felt so acutely, and deprecated so earnestly;
and went out from the garden to meet the dangers that
approached him with that noble and dignified address
to his slumbering disciples, Rise, let us be going:
behold, he is at hand that doth betray me." It is evi-
dent then that this remarkable incident in the history of
our Lord, which has given occasion to so much un-
founded and idle cavil, instead of lowering his charac-
66
J
* Lam. i. 12.
† Heb. v. 7.
LECTURE XXI.
337
ter in the slightest degree, adds fresh lustre to it, and
increases our veneration for his exalted virtues.
And what is of no less importance, it presents to us
instructions the most edifying, and reflections the most
consolatory to the weakness of our nature.
-
We see in the first place, that our Lord did not pre-
tend to that unfeeling heroism, that total insensibility
to pain and affliction, which some of the ancient philo-
sophers affected. On the contrary, in his human na-
ture he felt like a man; he felt the weight of his own
sorrows, and dropt the tear of sympathy for those of
others. To those, therefore, who are oppressed and
bowed down (as the best of men sometimes are) with
a load of grief, who find, as the Psalmist expresses it,
"their flesh and their heart failing," and their spirits
sinking within them, it must be a most reviving con-
sideration to reflect that in this state even of extreme
depression, there is no guilt; that it is no mark of
God's displeasure; that even his beloved Son was no
stranger to it; that he was a man of sorrows, and well
acquainted with grief: that therefore he is not a hard,
unfeeling obdurate master, who cannot be touched with
our infirmities, but one who was in all things tried and
afflicted as we are, yet without sin." He knows what
sorrow is; he knows how hard it sometimes presses
even on the firmest minds; and he will not fail to ex-
tend that relief to others, for which even he himself ap-
plied with so much fervency to the Father of all.
From his example too, on this occasion, we learn
what conduct we ought to observe when distress and
misery overtake us. We are not only allowed but en-
couraged by what he did, to put up our petitions to the
Throne of grace, for help in time of need.
We are
permitted to pray for the removal of our calamities with
earnestness and with fervour; we may implore the Al-
mighty that the bitter cup of affliction may pass away
from us; but the conclusion must always be (what his
was) "not my will, O my Father, but thine be done."
And one thing we may be assured of, that if the evils
which overwhelm us are not removed, yet our suppli
ļ
43
338
LECTURE XXI.
cations shall not be in vain: we shall at the least be ena.
bled to bear them. And though we must not expect
to have an angel sent from heaven to support us, as was
done to Jesus; yet we may expect, and expect with
confidence, that a more than angelic comforter, even
the Spirit of God, will shed his healing influence over
our souls, and preserve us from sinking even under the
severest trials.
And there is still one further lesson of no small impor-
tance, which this part of our Saviour's history may
teach us.
Extreme affliction, as we all but too well know, has
a natural tendency, not only to depress our spirits, but
to sour our tempers, and to render us fretful and irrita
ble, and severe towards the failings of others. But
how did it operate on our blessed Lord? Instead of
injuring, it seemed rather to improve the heavenly
mildness of his disposition, and to make him more in-
dulgent to the failings of his followers. For when in
the very midst of all his anguish, they could so far for-
get his sorrows, and their own professions of attach-
ment to him, as to sink into sleep, how gentle was his
reproof to them for this want of sensibility and atten-
tion to him?"Could you not watch with me one hour?"
And even this affectionate rebuke he immediately tem-
pers with a kind excuse for them: the spirit truly is
willing, but the flesh is weak.”
I now proceed in the melancholly narrative. "And
while he yet spake, lo ! Judas, one of the twelve, came,
and with him a great multitude with swords and staves,
from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now
he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whom-
soever I shall kiss, that same is he hold him fast.
And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Mas-
ter; and kissed him.. And Jesus said unto him, Friend,
wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid
hands on Jesus, and took him."
40
"And behold one of them which were with Jesus.
(St Peter) stretched out his hand, and drew his sword,
and struck a servant of the high priest, (whose name
was Malchus) and smote off his ear." Here again we
LECTURE XXI.
339
see the warmth and vehemence of Peter's temper, which
prompted him to a well-meant, though in judicious dis-
play of his zeal in his Master's cause. "Then said
Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place,
for all they that take the sword shall perish with the
sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my
Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels? But how then shall the scripture be
fulfilled, that thus it must be ?"
From this reproof to Peter, we are not to infer that
the use of the sword in self-defence is unlawful; but
that the use of it against the magistrates and the minis-
ters of justice (which was the case in the present in-
stance) is unlawful. It was meant also to check that
propensity, which is but too strong and too apparent in
a large part of mankind, to have recourse to the sword
on all occasions; and more particularly to restrain pri-
vate persons from avenging private injuries, which they
should rather leave to the magistrate or to God; "for
vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."* In
all such cases, they who. take the sword, unjustly and
rashly will probably, as our Saviour here forewarns
them, perish with the sword; with the sword of their
adversary, or of the magistrate. That denunciation
might also allude to the Jews, who now seized on Je-
sus; and might be meant to intimate to his disciples,
that it was perfectly needless for them to draw their
swords on these miscreants, since they would all pe-
rish at the siege or capture of Jerusalem by the sword
of the Romans.
If it had been the intention of Providence to protect
Jesus and his religion by force, there is no doubt but a
host of angels would have been sent to defend him, as
one was actually sent to comfort him. But this would
have defeated the very purpose for which he came into
the world, which was, that he should make his soul
an offering for sin." The prophets foretold (more par-
ticularly Isaiah and Daniel) that he should do so. And
besides this, nothing could be more abhorrent, from
* Rom. xii. 19.
Isaiah. liii. 10.
"
340
LECTURE XXI.
the spirit of his religion, than force, violence, and blood-
shed. These instruments of destruction he left to fa-
natics and impostors. The only weapons he made use
of were of a different nature; the sword of the spirit,
the shield of faith, and the armour of righteousness.
"In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are
ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves,
for to take me; I sat daily with you teaching in the
temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was
done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfil-
led; which, as I have already observed, predicted his
sufferings and his death. Then all his disciples forsook
him and fled." Here we have the exact completion of
that prophecy, which he had just before delivered, that
all his disciples should be offended because of him; that
is, should desert him that very night. And that this
prediction was so accomplished, is clear beyond all con-
troversy; because it was an event which the disciples
would for their own credit gladly have suppressed, if
they durst. By recording this event, they recorded
their own weakness, their own pusillanimity. And we
may be perfectly sure that they would not invent a false-
hood on purpose to perpetuate their own disgrace.—
We have therefore, in this incident, a demonstrative
proof, both that our Lord's prophecy was actually ful-
filled, and that the evangelists were men of the strictest
veracity and integrity, who were determined to sacri-
fice every thing, even their own reputation, to the sa-
cred cause of truth.
Jesus being now in the possession of his enemies,
they that had laid hold on him led him away to Caia-
phas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders
were assembled. But Peter though he had fled with
the rest, yet ashamed of his cowardice, and still really
attached to his Master, summoned up for the moment
resolution enough to turn back and follow the crowd
(but with cautious and trembling steps) to the palace of
the high priest, "and went in, and sate with the ser-
vants in the hall of the palace, to see the end. Now the
chief priests and elders, and all the council, sought
!
LECTURE XXI.
341
any
false witness against Jesus to put him to death, but found
none; yea, tho' many false witnesses came, yet found
they none."
Their object was to put Jesus to death;
and for this purpose they sought out for false witnesses,
to charge him with a capital crime. To condemn
one to death their own law required two witnesses; and
it was also necessary for them to produce evidence suf-
ficient to induce the Roman governor to ratify their
sentence, without which it was of no avail. There was
no difficulty in finding out and suborning false witness-
es in abundance, who were perfectly well disposed to
conform to their wishes; but for a long time they found
none whose evidence came up to the point they aimed
at; none who could prove against Jesus a capital of-
fence. But at length "came two false witnesses,
and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the
temple of God, and to build it in three days." Now to
speak disrespectfully, or to prophecy against the tem-
ple, was considered by the Jews as blasphemy, and of
course a capital offence. But the truth was, that Jesus
said no such thing. The expression alluded to by the
witnesses were those he spoke, when, after casting the
buyers and sellers out of the temple, the Jews asked
him what sign he could give them of his authority to
do these things? His answer was, not as the witnesses
stated it, "I am able to destroy this temple ;" but it
was, "destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up." So St. John expressly tells us ; * and al-
so, that by this temple he meant his own body, to which
he probably pointed at the time. The high priest, sen-
sible, perhaps, that even this evidence would not com-
pletely answer his purpose, proceeds to interrogate our
Saviour, hoping that he might be drawn by artful ques-
tions to condemn himself. He arose therefore, and
said unto Jesus, "Answerest thou nothing? What is
it that these witness against thee?" Is it true, or is it
false? and what have you to say in your own defence?
But Jesus held his peace. He disdained to make any
answer to such unfounded and contemptible accusa-
Chap. ii. 19.
CA
342
LECTURE XXI.
tions. He saw that his judges were predetermined;
that every thing he could say would be of no avail; and
that the only proper part for him to take, was to observe
a dignified silence. The high priest perceiving this,
had recourse to a measure which he knew must com-
pel our Lord to speak; "I adjure thee, says he, by
the living God, that thou tell us, whether thou be the
Christ the Son of God." This calling upon a man to
swear by the living God was called the oath of adjura-
tion, and was the Jewish mode of administering an oath
either to a witness or a criminal; and when so adjur-
ed, they were obliged to answer. Jesus now therefore
conceived himself bound in conscience to break his si
lence, and said to the high priest, "Thou hast said ;"
that is, thou hast said what is true, I am the Messiah, the
Christ, the Son of God; for all these were synonomous
terms among the Jews. But as our Lord's actual appear-
ance and situation did but ill accord with a character of
such high dignity, he proceeds to assure his judges, that
what he affirmed was nevertheless unquestionably true;
and that they themselves should in due time have the
fullest proof of it. For, says he, "hereafter ye shall see
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven." Sitting at the right
hand of power means sitting at the right hand of God,
to whom the Jews sometimes gave the appellation of
power; and coming in the clouds of heaven, was with
the Jews a characteristic mark of the Messiah. And
the whole passage relates not to the final Judgment, but
to the coming of Christ to execute vengeance on the
Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
"Then the high priest rent his clothes, (a mark of ex-
treme horror and indignation) saying, he hath spoken
blasphemy, by declaring himself the Christ, the Son of
God, and assuming all the marks of divine power.-
What further need have we of witnessses? Behold,
now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye?
They answered and said, he is guilty of death;" guilty
of a crime that deserves death. "Then did they spit
in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him
LECTURE XXI.
343
with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophecy unto
us; who is he that smote thee ?"
Such were the indignities offered to the Lord of all,
by his own infatuated creatures; and although he could
with one word have laid them prostrate at his feet, yet
he bore all these insults without a single murmur or
complaint, and never once spake unadvisedly with his
lips. Though he was reviled, he reviled not again;
though he suffered, he threatened not, but committed
himself to him that judgeth righteously*"
66
The evangelist now resumes the history of St. Pe-
ter, who, while these things were transacting in the
council-room, sate without in the palace; and a dam-
sel came unto him saying, "Thou also wast with Jesus
of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I
know not what thou sayest. And when he was come
out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said un-
to them that were there, This fellow also was with Je-
sus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath,
I do not know the man. And after a while came unto
him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou
also art one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee.
Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know
not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And
Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which said un-
to him, before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice.
And he went out and wept bitterly."
This most interesting story is related by all the evan-
gelists, with a few immaterial variations in each; but
the substance is the same in all. There is however
one circumstance added by St. Luke, so exquisitely
beautiful and touching, that it well deserves to be no-
ticed here. He tells us that after Peter had denied Je-
sus thrice, "immediately, while he yet spake, the cock
crew; and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.Ӡ
What effect that look must have had on the heart and
on the countenance of Peter, every one may, perhaps,
in some degree conceive; but it is utterly impossible
for any words to describe, or, I believe, even for the
* 1 Pet. ii. 28.
+ Ch xxii. 61.
A
1
344
LECTURE XXİ.
pencil of a Guido to express. The sacred historian
therefore most judiciously makes no attempt to work
upon our passions or our feelings by any display of el-
oquence on the occasion. He simply relates the fact,
without any embellishment or amplification; and only
adds, "and Peter remembered the words of the Lord,
how, he had said unto him, before the cock crow thou
shalt deny me thrice; and he went out and wept bitter-
ly."
The reflections that crowd upon the mind from this
most affecting incident of Peter's denial of his master,
are many and important; but I can only touch, and
that slightly, on a few.
The first is, that this event in the history of St. Pe-
ter is a clear and a striking accomplishment of our Sa-
viour's prediction, that before the cock crew he should
deny him thrice. And it is very remarkable that there
are in this same chapter no less than four other prophe-
cies of our Lord, which were all punctually fulfilled,
some of them like this, within a few hours after they
were delivered.
The next observation resulting from the fall of Peter
is the melancholy proof it affords us of the infirmity of
human nature, the weakness of our best resolutions,
when left to ourselves, and the extreme danger of con-
fiding too much in our own strength.
That St. Peter was most warmly attached to Jesus,
that his intentions were upright, and his professions at
the moment sincere, there can be no doubt. But his
temper was too hot, and his confidence in himself too
great. When our Lord told him, and all the other
apostles, that they would desert him that night, Peter
was the first to say to him, "though all men should be
offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended."
And when Jesus again assured him, that before the cock
crew he should deny him thrice, Peter insisted with
still greater vehemence on his unshaken fidelity, and
declared that though he should die with him, he
* In fact, I cannot learn that any great master has ever yet selected this in-
cident as the subject of a picture.
ነ
LECTURE XXI.
345
should never deny him." Yet deny him he did, with
execrations and oaths; and left a memorable lesson
even to the best of men, not to entertain too high an
opinion of their own constancy and firmness in the hour
of temptation. "Let him that thinketh he standeth,
take heed lest he fall."
And hence in the last place we see the wisdom and
the necessity of looking beyond ourselves, of looking
up to heaven for support and assistance in the discharge
of our duty. If, when Peter was first forewarned by
our Lord of his approaching denial of him, instead of
repeating his professions of inviolable fidelity to him,
he had with all humility confessed his weakness, and
implored his divine Master to strengthen and fortify
him for the trial that awaited him, the event probably
would have been very different. And it is surprising
that he had not learned this lesson from his former ex-
perience. For when, confiding as he did now in hist
own courage, he entreated Jesus to let him walk to him
upon the sea, and was permitted to do so; no sooner
did he find the wind boisterous than he was afraid, and
beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and
caught him." This was a plain intimation to him, (as
I remarked in a former Lecture) that it was not his own
arm that could help him, but that almighty hand, and
outstretched arm, which then preserved him : and to
which, when in danger, we must all have recourse to
preserve us from sinking. "Trust then in the Lord,”
(as the wise king advises) "with all thine heart, and
lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."*
* Prov. iii, 5.
44
346
LECTURE XXII.
LECTURE XXII.
MATTHEW xxvii.
IN the preceding chapter we saw that the chief
priests and elders had, in their summary way, without
the shadow of justice, without any consistent evidence,
decided the fate of Jesus, and pronounced him guilty
of death. Their next care was how to get this sen-
tence confirmed and carried into execution; for under
the Roman government they had not at this time the
power of the sword, the power of life and death; they
could not execute a criminal, though they might try and
condemn him, without a warrant from the Roman go-
vernor; they determined therefore to carry him before
Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judæa at that time.
But then, to ensure success in that quarter, it was
necessary to give their accusations against Jesus such
a colour and shape, as should prevail upon the gover-
nor to put him to death. For this purpose they found
it expedient to change their ground, for they had con-
demned him for blasphemy; but this they knew would
have little weight with a pagan governor, who, like Gal-
lio, would "care for none of those things" which relat-
ed solely to religion. They therefore resolved to bring
him before Pilate as a state prisoner, and to charge him
with treasonable and seditious practices; with setting
himself up as a king in opposition to Cæsar, and per-
suading the people not to pay tribute to that prince.
Accordingly we are told in the beginning of this chap-
ter, that "when morning was come, all the chief priests
and elders of the people took council against Jesus to
put him to death;" that is, to obtain permission to put
him to death; "and when they had bound him they
led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the
governor."
The evangelist, having brought the history of this di-
abolical transaction thus far, makes a short digression,
to inform us of the fate of that wretched traitor Judas,
LECTURE XXII.
347
who had by his perfidy brought his Master into this
situation.
"Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw
that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought
again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and
elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the
innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us?
See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of sil-
ver in the temple, and went and hanged himself."
From the expression made use of in the third verse,
"when Judas saw that Jesus was condemned, he re-
pented himself," some commentators have thought that
he did not imagine or expect that Jesus would be con-
demned to death; but supposed either that he would
convey himself away from his persecutors, or that he
would prove his innocence to the satisfaction of his
judges; or that at the most some slight punishment
would be inflicted upon him. One would not wish to
load even the worst of men with more guilt than really
belongs to them; but, from considering the character
of Judas, and comparing together all the circumstances
of the case, it appears to me more probable that the ac-
quittal or condemnation of Jesus never entered into his
contemplation. All he thought of was gain. He had
kept the common purse, and had robbed it; and his on-
ly object was, how to obtain a sum of money, which he
determined to have at all events, and left consequences
to take care of themselves. But when he saw that his
divine Master, whom he knew to be perfectly innocent,
was actually condemned to death, his conscience then
flew in his face; his guilt rose up before him in all its
horrors. The innocence, the virtues, the gentleness,
the kindness of his Lord, with a thousand other circum-
∙stances, rushed at once upon his mind, and painted to
him the enormity of his crime in such dreadful colours,
that he could no longer bear the agonizing tortures that
racked his soul, but went immediately and destroyed
himself.
The answer of the chief priests to Judas, when he
brought back to them the thirty pieces of silver, and
348
LECTURE XXII,
1
declared that he had betrayed the innocent blood, was a
perfectly natural one for men of their character, "What
is that to us? See thou to that.” Men who had any
feeling, any sentiments of common humanity, or even
of common justice, when so convincing a proof of the
accused person's innocence had been given them, would
naturally have relented, would have put an immediate
stop to the proceedings, and released the prisoner. But
this was very far from entering into their plan. With
the guilt or innocence of Jesus they did not concern
themselves. This was not their affair. All they want-
ed was the destruction of a man whom they hated and
feared, and whose life and doctrine were a standing re-
proach to them. This was their object: and as to the
mercy or the justice of the case, on this head they were
at perfect case; "What is that to us? See thou to that."
And yet to see the astonishing inconsistence of human
nature, and the strange contrivances by which even the
most abandoned of men endeavour to satisfy their
minds and quiet their apprehensions; these very men,
who had no scruple at all in murdering an innocent per-
son yet had wonderful qualms of conscience about put-
ting into the treasury the money which they themselves
had given as the "price of blood!" "The chief priests
took the silver pieces, and said, it is not lawful for us
to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of
blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them
the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that
field was called The Field of Blood, unto this day. Then
was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the pro-
phet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver,
the price of him that was valued, whom they of the
children of Israel did value, and gave them for the pot.
ter's field, as the Lord appointed me."*
*It happens that this passage is found not in Jeremiah, to which the evan-
gelist refers, but in the eleventh chapter of Zechariah. But there are various
very satisfactory ways in which learned men have accounted for this difficulty;
which after all, as the prophecy actually exists, is a matter of no moment;
and in writings two or three thousand years old, it is no great wonder if, by
the carelessness of transcribers, one name should sometimes (especially where
abbreviations are used) be put for another.
LECTURE XXII.
349
I cannot pass on from this part of the chapter without
observing, that the short account here given us of Ju-
das Iscariot affords us a very striking proof of the per-
fect innocence and integrity of our Lord's character,
and of the truth of his pretensions.
Had there been any thing reprehensible in the former,
or any deceit in the latter, it must have been known to
Judas Iscariot. He was one of the twelve who were the
constant companions of our Saviour's ministry, and wit-
nesses to every thing he said or did. If therefore his
conduct had been in any respect irregular or immoral;
if his miracles had been the effect of collusion or fraud;
if there had been any plan concerted between him and
his disciples to impose a false religion upon the world,
and under the guise of piety, to gratify their love of
fame, honour, wealth, or power; if, in short, Jesus had
been either an enthusiast or an impostor, Judas must
have been in the secret; and when he betrayed his Mas-
ter would immediately have divulged it to the world .By
such a discovery, he would not only have justified his
own treachery, but might probably have gratified also
his ruling passion, his love of money. For there can
be no doubt, that when the chief priests and rulers were
industriously seeking out for evidence against Jesus,
they would most gladly have purchased that of Judas at
any price, however extravagant, that he chose to de-
mand. But instead of producing any evidence against
Jesus, he gives a voluntary and most decisive evidence
in his favour. "I have sinned," says he, in an agony
of grief; "I have sinned, and have betrayed innocent
blood.". This testimony of Judas is invaluable, be-
cause it is the testimony of an unwilling witness; the
testimony, not of a friend but of an enemy; the tes-
timony, not of one desirous to favour and to befriend
the accused, but of one who had actually betrayed him.
After such an evidence as this, it seems impossible for
any ingenuous mind either to question the reality of our
Saviour's miracles, or the divinity to which he laid
claim; because, as Judas declared him innocent (which
he could not be, had he in any respect deceived his dis-
!
350
LECTURE XXII.
ciples) he must have been what he assumed to be, the
Son of God, and his religion the word of God.
After this account of Judas Iscariot, the evangelist
proceeds in the history.
“And Jesus stood before the governor.”
Little did
that governor imagine who it was that then stood be--
fore him. Little did he suspect that he must himself
one day stand before the tribunal of that very person,
whom he was then going to judge as a criminal !
It appears from the parallel place in St. Luke (and
from what was stated in the preceding Lecture,) that
the charge brought against Jesus before Pilate was not
what it had been before the chief priests, blasphemy,
but sedition and treason. (6
They began to accuse him,
saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and
forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying, that he
himself is Christ a king."* These were great crimes
against the state, as affecting both the revenue and the
sovereignty of the Roman emperor, both of which it
was the duty of the governor to support and maintain.
"Pilate therefore asked him, Art thou the king of the
Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest."-
That is, I am what thou sayest.
“And when he was
accused of the chief priests and elders he answered
nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not
how many things those witness against thee? And he
answered him to never a word; insomuch that the gov
ernor marvelled greatly." Our Lord's conduct on
this occasion was truly dignified. When he was called
upon to acknowledge what was really true, he gave a
direct answer both to the chief priests and to Pilate.
He acknowledged that he was the Christ, the Son of
God, the King of the Jews; but false and frivolous,
and unjust accusations, he treated as they deserved,
with profound and contemptuous silence.
It appears, however, from St. John, that although Je-
sus declared he was the King of the Jews, yet he ex-
plained to Pilate the nature of his kingdom, which he
assured him was not of this world. And Pilate, satis
* Luke xxiii. 2.
LECTURE XXII.
351
-
fied with this explanation, and seeing clearly that the
whole accusation was malicious and groundless, made
several efforts to save Jesus. He repeatedly declared
to his accusers, that having examined him, he could
find no fault in him. This, however, instead of dis-
arming their fury, only inflamed and increased it.-
They were the more fierce, as St. Luke tells us, saying,
"He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all
Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place."* The
mention of Galilee suggested an idea to Pilate, which
he flattered himself might save him the pain of condemn-
ing an innocent man. "When Pilate heard of Galilee,
he asked whether the man were a Galilean; and as soon
as he knew that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction,
he sent him to Herod.† That tyrant, who was delight-
ed to see Jesus, and was probably very well disposed
to treat him as he did his precursor, John the Baptist,
yet could bring no guilt home to him. He therefore
sent him back to Pilate, insulted and derided, but un-
condemned. Pilate, not yet discouraged, had recourse
to another expedient, which he hoped might still pre-
serve a plainly guiltless man. It was the custom at the
great feast of the passover for the Roman governor to
gratify the Jewish people, by pardoning and releasing
to them any prisoner whom they chose to select out
of those that were condemned to death. Now there
happened to be at that time a notorious criminal in
prison, named Barabbas, who had been guilty of
exciting an insurrection, and committing murder in it.
Pilate thinking it impossible that the people could car-
ry their malignant rage against Jesus so far as to desire.
the pardon of a murderer rather than of him, said unto
them, "Whom will ye that I release unto you, Barab-
bas, or Jesus which is called Christ ?" Had the pec-
ple been left to their own unbiassed feeling, one would
think that they could not have hesitated one moment in
their choice. But they were under the influence of
leaders (as they generally are) more wicked than them-
selves. For we are told, that "the chief priests and
Luke xxiii. 5.
† Luke xxiii. 6,7.
352
LECTURE XXII.
elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask
Barabbas, and destroy Jesus."*
While this was passing an extraordinary incident
took place, which must needs have made a deep impres-
sion on the mind of Pilate. "When he was sat down
upon the judgment-seat, his wife sent unto him say-
ing, Have thou nothing to do with that just man; for
I have suffered many things this day in a dream because
of him." Anxious as Pilate already was to save Je-
sus, this singular circumstance coming upon him at
the moment, must have greatly quickened his zeal in
such a cause.
He therefore redoubled his efforts to
carry his point, and again said to the Jews, "Whether
of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said
Barabbas. Pilate still persisted, What shall I do then
with Jesus which is called CHRIST ?" That is, the
Messiah, the great deliverer whom they expected;
thinking this consideration might soften them. But
he was mistaken; they all say unto him, "Let him be
crucified," Once more he endeavoured to move their
compassion, by reminding them of the perfect innocence
of Jesus. The governor said unto them, "Why?
what evil hath he done ?" But even this last affecting
remonstrance was all in vain : They cried out the more,
saying, "Let him be crucified." When therefore Pi-
late saw that he could prevail nothing, but rather a tu-
mult was made, he took water and washed his hands
before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the
blood of this just person; see ye to it." This was a
custom both among the Jews and the Romans, when
they wished to exculpate themselves from the guilt of
having put to death an innocent man. We meet with
many instances of this significant ablution in several
classic writers.† The Mosaic law itself enjoined it in
* Matth. xxvii. 20.
† Sophocles-Ajax, iii. 1. v. 664, and Scholiast in Loco. So Aeneas, af-
ter having recently slaughtered so many of his enemies at the sacking of Troy
by the Greeks, durst not touch his household gods, till he had washed him-
self in the running streain.
Me bello e tanto digressum et cæde recenti,
Atteractare nesas; donee me flumine vivo
Abiuero.Aen. 1. ii. v. 718.
LECTURE XXII.
858
certain cases; and it is an allusion to this ceremony
that David says in Psalms, I will wash my hands in in-
nocency, O Lord; (that is, in testimony of my inno-
cence) and so will I go to thine altar."+
This therefore was at once a visible declaration of the
innocence of Jesus, and of Pilate's reluctance in con-
demning him. To this the Jews made that answer,
which must petrify every heart with horror. Then an-
swered all the people, and said, "His blood be upon us
and on our children." Then released he Barabbas un-
to them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he deli-
vered him to be crucified."
Here let us pause a moment and look back to the
scene we have been contemplating, and the reflections
that arise from it.
It affords, in the first place, a most awful warning to
the lower orders of the people, to beware of giving
themselves up, as they too frequently do, to the direc-
tion of artful and profligate leaders, who abuse their
simplicity and credulity to the very worst purposes,
and make use of them only as tools, to accomplish their
own private views of ambition, of avarice, of resent-
ment, or revenge. We have just seen a most striking
instance of this strange propensity of the multitude to
be misled, and of the ease with which their passions are
worked up to the commission of the most atrocious
crimes. The Jewish people were naturally attached to
Jesus. They were astonished at his miracles, they were
charmed with his discourses; and their diseases and in-
firmities were relieved by his omnipotent benevolence.
But notwithstanding all this, by the dexterous manage-
ment of their chief priests and elders, their admiration
of Jesus was converted in a moment into the most ran-.
courous hatred; they were persuaded to ask the life of
a murderer in preference to his; and to demand the de-
struction of a man who had never offended them, whose
innocence was as clear as the day, and was repeatedly
acknowledged and strongly urged upon them by the
very judge who had tried him.
* Deut. xxi. 6. 7.
Psalm xxvi. 6.
45
1
LECTURE XXII.
Yet even that judge himself, who was so thoroughly
convinced of the innocence of his prisoner, and actu-
ally used every means in his power to preserve him,
even he had not the honesty and the courage to protect
him effectually; and his conduct affords a most dread-
ful proof what kind of a thing public justice was among
the most enlightened, and (if we may believe their own
poets and historians) the most virtuous people in the an-
cient heathen world. We see a Roman governor sent to
dispense justice in a Roman province, and invested with
full powers to save or to destroy; we see him with a
prisoner before him, in whom he repeatedly declared
he could find no fault: and yet, after a few ineffectual
struggles with his own conscience, he delivers up that
prisoner, not merely to death, but to the most horible
and excruciating torments that human malignity could
devise. The fact is, he was afraid of the people, he was
afraid of Cæsar; and when the clamorous multitude
cried out to him, "if thou let this man go, thou art not
Cæsar's friend," all his firmness, all his resolution at
once forsook him. He shrunk from the dangers that
threatened him, and sacrificed his conscience and his
duty to the menaces of a mob, and the dread of sovereign
power.
354
-
Could any thing like this have happened in this coun-
try? We all know that it is impossible. We all know
that no dangers, no threats, no fears, either of Cæsar or
of the people, could ever induce a British judge to con-
demn to death a man, whom he in his conscience be-
lieved to be innocent. And what is it that produces
this difference between a Roman and a British judge?
It is this that the former had no other principle to go-
vern his conduct but natural reason, or what would now
be called philosophy; which, though it would some-
times point out to him the path of duty, yet could never
inspire him with fortitude enough to persevere in it in
critical and dangerous circumstances; in opposition to
the frowns of a tyrant, or the clamours of a multitude.
Whereas the British judge, in addition to his natural
sentiments of right and wrong, and the dictates of the
moral sense, has the principle of religion also to influ
S
•
LECTURE XXII.
355
ence his heart: he has the unerring and inflexible rules
of evangelical rectitude to guide him; he has that which
will vanquish every other fear, the fear of God, before
his eyes. He knows that he himself must one day stand
before the Judge of all; and that consideration keeps
him firm to his duty, be the dangers that surround him
ever so formidable and tremendous.
This is one, among a thousand other proofs, of the
benefits we derive, even in the present life, from the
Christian revelation. It has, in fact, had a most salu-
tary and beneficial influence on our most important tem-
poral interests.
Its beneficent spirit has spread itself
through all the different relations and modifications of
human society, and communicated its kindly influence
to almost every public and private concern of mankind.
It has not only purified, as we have seen, the adminis-
tration of justice; but it has insensibly worked itself
into the inmost frame and constitution of civil societies.
It has given a tinge to the complexion of their govern-
ments, and to the temper of their laws. It has soften-
ed the rigour of despotism, and lessened, in some de-
gree, the horrors of war. It has descended into fami-
lies, has diminished the pressure of private tyranny,
improved every domestic endearment, given tenderness
to the parent, humanity to the master, respect to supe-
riors, to inferiors security and ease; and left, in short,
the most evident traces of its benevolent spirit in all
the various subordinations, dependencies, and connec-
tions of social life.
A
-
But to return to the Roman governor. Having thus
basely shrunk from his duty, and, contrary to his own
conviction, condemned an innocent man, he endeavour-
ed to clear himself from this guilt, and to satisfy his
conscience, by the vain ceremony of washing his hands
before the multitude, and declaring, "that he was in-
nocent of the blood of that just person." Alas! not all
the water of the ocean would wash away the foul and
indelible stain of murder from his soul. Yet he hoped
to`transfer it to the accomplices of his crime.
ye to it," says he to the people.
"See
And what answer
356
LECTURE XXII.
did that people make to him?" His blood, said they,
be on us and on our children." A most fatal impreca-
tion, and most dreadfully fulfilled upon them at the
siege of Jerusalem, when the vengeance of heaven over-
took them with a fury enexampled in the history of the
world; when they were exposed at once to the horrors
of famine, of sedition, of assassination, and the sword
of the Romans. And it is very remarkable, that there
was a striking correspondence between their crime and
their punishment. They put Jesus to death when the
nation was assembled to celebrate the passover; and
when the nation was assembled for the same purpose,
Titus shut them up within the walls of Jerusalem. The
rejection of the true Messiah was their crime, and the
following of false Messiahs to their destruction was
their punishment. They bought Jesus as a slave; and
they themselves were afterwards sold and bought as
slaves, at the lowest prices. They preferred a robber
and murderer to Jesus, whom they crucified between
two thieves; and they themselves were afterwards in-
fested with bands of thieves and robbers. They put
Jesus to death lest the Romans should come and take
away their place and nation; and the Romans did come
and take away their place and nation.* And what is
still more striking, and still more strongly marks the
judgment of God upon them, they were punished with
that very kind of death which they were so eager to in-
flict on the Saviour of mankind, the death of the cross;
and that in such prodigious numbers, that Josephus as-
sures us there wanted wood for crosses, and room to
place them in.t
-
The history then proceeds as follows: "Then re-
leased he Barabbas unto them; and when he had
scourged Jesús, he delivered him to be crucified." It
was the custom of the inhuman Romans to scourge
their criminals before they crucified them; as if the
exquisite tortures of crucifixion were not sufficient
without adding to them those of the scourge. But in
* Newton on Prophecy, vol. ii. p. 355.
† De Bell. Jud. 1. v. c. xi. p. 1247. Ed. Huds.
LECTURE XXII.
357
this instance the Roman soldiers went further still; they
improved upon the cruelty of their masters, and to tor-
ments they added the most brutal mockery and insult.
"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the
common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band
of soldiers; and they stripped him, and put on him a
scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of
thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his
right hand; and they bowed the knee before him, and
mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And
they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him
on the head. And after they had mocked him, they
took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment
on him, and led him away to be crucified." One
hastens over this scene of insolence and outrage with
averted eyes, and can hardly bring one's mind to be-
lieve that any thing in the shape of man could have risen
to this height of wanton barbarity. What a difference
between this treatment of an innocent and injured man,
to that of the vilest criminal in this country previous to
his execution; and how strongly does it mark the dif
ference between the spirit of Paganism and the spirit of
Christianity! "And as they came out, they found a
man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled
to bear his cross." It was usual for criminals to bear
their own cross; but when they were feeble (as the
blessed Jesus might well be after all his bitter suffer-
ings) they compelled some one to bear it for him; and
this Cyrenian was probably known to be a favourer of
Christ. "And when they were come to a place called
Golgotha, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with
gall;" a kind of stupefying potion, intended to abate
the sense of pain, and to hasten death. "And they
crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots;
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the pro-
phet, They parted my garments among them, and
upon my vesture did they cast lots."
This is a pre-
diction of king David's, in the 22d Psalm. "And sit-
ting down, they watched him there; and set up over
him his accusation, written, This is Jesus, King of the
66
LECTURE XXII
a
Jews" for in extraordinary cases it was usual to place
such inscriptions over the criminal; but with regard
to this, a remarkable circumstance occurred. We
learn from St. John, that many of the Jews read this in-
scription, which gave them infinite offence; as being
declaration to all the world that Jesus really was their
king. The chief priests therefore came to Pilate, and
begged of him to alter the inscription; and instead of
writing, "This is the King of the Jews," to write, "He
said I am the King of the Jews." Pilate, who put up
this inscription out of mockery, now retained it, like a
true Roman, out of obstinacy. "What I have written
(says he, peevishly) I have written; and it shall stand;"
unconscious of what he was saying, and of his being
overruled all the while by an unseen hand, which thus
compelled him to bear an undesigned testimony to a
most important truth; that the very man whom he had
crucified as a malefactor, did not merely say that he was
the king of the Jews, the true Messiah, but that he re-
ally was so.
400
"Then were two thieves crucified with him, the one
on the right hand, the other on the left." This was
done with a view of adding to the ignominy of our
Saviour's sufferings. But this act of malignity, like
many other instances of the same nature, answered a
purpose which the authors of it little thought of or in-
tended. It was the completion of a prophecy of Isaiah,
in which, alluding to this very transaction, he says
of the Messiah, he was numbered with the trans-
gressors." They then continued their insults upon
him, even while hanging in agony upon the cross, as
we find related in the five following verses: We are
then told, that "from the sixth hour there was darkness
over all the land until the ninth hour." The sixth hour
of the Jews corresponds to our twelve o'clock, and their
ninth hour of course to our three. There was there-
fore a darkness over all the earth, from twelve at noon
till three in the afternoon. This darkness must have
been supernatural and miraculous. It could not be an
* Isaiah, liii. 12.
358
LECTURE XXII.
359
eclipse of the sun, because that cannot happen but im
the new moon; whereas this was at the feast of the Pass-
over, which was always celebrated at the full moon.
It is taken notice of by several ancient writers, both
Heathen and Christian; and Tertullian expressly de-
clares, that it was mentioned in the Roman archives.*
From whence it appears, that it was not confined to the
land of Judæa, but extended itself, as it is expressed
by St. Luke, over all the earth.†
(6
to say,
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ?" that is
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" We are not from hence to imagine, that Jesus
meant by these words to express any distrust of God's
favor and kindness towards him, or any apprehension
that the light of his countenance was withdrawn from
him. This was imppossible. He well knew, that un-
der that load of affliction which for the salvation of
mankind, he voluntarily took upon himself, he was still
his heavenly Father's "beloved Son, in whom he was
well pleased." These expressions therefore of seem-
ing despondence, were nothing more than the natural
and almost unavoidable effusions of a mind tortured
with the accutest pain, and hardly conscious of the
complaints it uttered; of which many similar instances
occur in the Psalms. Indeed these words themselves
are the beginning of the 22d Psalm, which perhaps our
Lord recited throughout, or at least undoubtedly meant
to apply the whole of it to himself.
And this very
Psalm, although in the outset it breaths an air of de-
jection and complaint, yet ends in expressing the firm-
est trust in the mercy and the protection of God. And
our Lord himself, when he breathed his last, commit-
ted himself with boundless confidence to the care of
the Almighty.
Father into thy hands I commend
my spirit."
((
Then some of them that stood there, when they heard
him crying out" Eli, Eli," deceived by the similitude
of the sound, said "This man calleth for Elias. And
Tertull. Apol. c. 21, † Luke, xxiii. 44.
Luke, xxiii. 46.
:
.
LECTURE XXII.
straitway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and fill-
ed it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him
to drink." This as St. John tells us, was done in con-
sequence of Jesus saying, "I thirst." The rest said,
"Let be; let us see whether Elias will come to save
him." "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud
voice, gave up the ghost." This was about the ninth
hour, or three in the afternoon. And as he was cru-
cified at the third hour, or at nine in the morning, he
had hung no less than six hours in agonies upon the
cross. And this, let it never be forgotten, was for us
men, and for our salvation! "And behold the vail of
the temple was rent in twain, from the top to bottom;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the
graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints
which slept, arose and came out of the graves after his
ressurrection, and went into the holy city, and appear-
ed unto many."
360
Such were the convulsions into which the whol
frame of nature was thrown, when the Lord of all yield-
ed up his life.
The vail of the temple, we are told, in the first place,
was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom.
The Jewish temple was divided into several parts ;
the most sacred was called the Holiest, or the Holy of
Holies, into which none but the high-priest might en-
ter, and that only once in a year. It was considered as
a type of heaven; and was separated from what was
called the holy place, or the place where divine wor-
ship was celebrated, by a curtain of rich tapestry, which
is here called the vail of the temple. This vail, when
our Saviour expired, was rent in twain, from the top to
the bottom; by which was signified the abolition of
the whole Mosaic ritual, the removal of the partition.
between Jew and Gentile, and the admission of the lat-
ter (on the terms of the Gospel covenant) into heaven,
or the Holy of Holies. "And the earth did quake, and
the rocks rent." This earthquake is mentioned by
heathen authors as having, in the reign of Tiberius, dc-
'
2
LECTURE XXII.
361
""
stroyed twelve cities in Asia. *
"And the graves were
opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
and came out of their graves after his resurrection, and
went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Who the holy persons were which then arose from their
graves must be matter of mere conjecture; but most
probably some of those who had believed in Christ,
such as old Simeon, and whose persons were known in
the city.
Now when the centurion, and they that were with
him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those
things that were done, they feared greatly, saying,
"Truly this man was the Son of God.".
The centurion here mentioned was the Roman cap-
tain, who, with a guard of soldiers was ordered to at-
tend the crucifixion of Jesus, and see the sentence exe-
cuted. He placed himself, as St. Mark informs us,
over against Jesus. From that station he kept his eye
constantly fixed upon him, and observed with attention
every thing he said or did. And when he saw the
meekness, the patience, the resignation, the firmness,
with which our Lord endured the most excruciating
torments; when he heard him at one time fervently
praying for his murderers, at another disposing with
dignity and authority of a place in paradise to one of
his fellow sufferers; and at length, with that confidence
which nothing but conscious virtue and conscious dig-
nity could at such a time inspire, recommending his
spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father; he could
not but conclude him to be a most extraordinary per-
son and something more than human. But when more-
over he observed the astonishing events that took place
when Jesus expired; the agitation into which the whole
frame of nature seemed to be thrown; the supernatu-
ral darkness, the earthquake, the rending of rocks, the
opening of graves; he then burst out involuntarily in-
to that striking exclamation, "Truly this was the Son
of God."
* Taciti Annal. I. ii. c. 47. Suet. in Tib. vi. 448. Plin. Nat. Hist. I. ii.
C. 84.
**
46
362
LECTURE XXII.
Here then we have a testimony to the divine charac-
ter of our Lord, which must be considered as in the
highest degree impartial and incorrupt: the honest un-
solicited testimony of a plain man, a soldier and a hea-
then; the testimony, not of one who was prejudiced in
favour of Christ and his religion, but of one, who by
habit and education, was probably strongly prujudiced
against them.
And it is not a little remarkable, that the contempla-
tion of the very same scene which so forcibly struck the
Roman centurion, has extorted a similar confession
from one of the most eloquent of modern sceptics, who
has never been accused of too much credulity, and who,
though he could bring himself to resist the evidence
both of prophecy and of miracles, and was therefore
certainly no bigot to christianity, yet was overwhelmed
with the evidence arising from the character, the suffer-
ings, and the death of Jesus. I allude to the celebrat-
ed comparison between the death of Socrates and the
death of Jesus, drawn by the masterly pen of Rous-
The passage is probably well known to a large
part of this audience; but it affords so forcible and so
unprejudiced a testimony to the divinity of Christ, and
bears so striking a resemblance to that of the centurion,
that I shall be pardoned, I trust, for bringing it once
more to your recollection, and introducing it here as the
conclusion of this Lecture.
seau.
66
Where, (says he,) is the man, where is the philo-
sopher, who can act, suffer, and die, without weakness
and without ostentation? When Plato describes his
imaginary just man, covered with all the opprobrium
of guilt, yet at the same time meriting the sublimest re-
wards of virtue, he paints precisely every feature in the
character of Jesus Christ. The resemblance is so strik-
ing that all the fathers have observed it, and it is im-
possible to be deceived in it. What prejudice, what
blindness must possess the mind of that man, who dares
to compare the son of Sophroniscus with the Son of
Mary! What a distance is there between the one and
the other!. The death of Socrates philosophizing calmly
LECTURE XXIII.
968
with his friends, is the most gentle that can be wished;
that of Jesus expiring in torments, insulted, derided,
and reviled by all the people, the most horrible that can
be imagined. Socrates taking the poisoned cup, bles
es the man who presents it to him; and who, in the
very act of presenting it melts into tears. Jesus, in the
midst of the most agonizing tortures, prays for his en-
raged persecutors. Yes, if the life and death of So-
crates are those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are
those of a GOD."
2000€
LECTURE XXIII.
MATTHEW xxviii.
IN the preceding Lecture we closed the dismal
scene of our Lord's unparalleled sufferings; on which
it is impossible to reflect without astonishment and hor-
ror, and without asking ourselves this question, Whence
came it to pass that so innocent, so excellent, so di-
vine a person as the beloved Son of God, in whom he
was well pleased, should be permitted by his heavenly
Father to be exposed to such indignities and cruelties,
and finally to undergo the exquisite torments of the
cross? The answer is, that the occasion of all this is to
be sought for in our own sinful nature, in the depravi
ty and corruption of the human heart, in the extreme
wickedness of every kind which overspread the whole
world at the time of our Lord's appearance upon earth,
and which must necessarily have subjected the whole
human race to the severest effects of the Divine displea-
sure, had not some atonement, some expiation, some
satisfaction to their offended Maker, been interposed
between them and the punishment so justly due to
them. This expiation, this atonement, the Son of God
himself voluntarily consented to become, and paid the
364
LECTURE XXIII.
ransom required for our deliverance by his own death
upon the cross. "He gave himself for us, as the Scrip-
tures express it, an offering and a sacrifice to God. He
was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God. He was wounded for our trans-
gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; with his
stripes we were healed. In his own blood he washed
us from our sins; in his own body he bore our sins up-
on the tree, that we being dead unto sin might live un-
to righteousness."* This is that great doctrine of RE-
DEMPTION, which is so fully explained and so strong-
ly insisted on in various parts of the sacred writings,
which forms so essential a part of the Christian system,
and is the grand foundation of all our hopes of pardon
and acceptance at the great day of retribution.
This mode of vicarious punishment, this substitution
of an innocent victim in the room of an offending per-
son, can be no surprise to any one that reflects on the
well known practice of animal sacrifices for the expia-
tion of guilt, which prevailed universally, not only
among the Jews, but throughout the whole heathen
world; and which evidently proves it to have been the
established opinion of mankind, that (as the apostle
expresses it)" without blood there could be no remis-
sion."+
Still it must be acknowledged, that in the stupen-
dous work of our redemption, there is something far
beyond the power of our limited faculties to compre-
hend.
That the Son of God himself should feel such com-
passion for the human race, for the wretched inhabitants
of this small spot in the vast system of the universe, as
voluntarily to undertake the great and arduous and pain-
ful task of rescuing them from sin and misery, and eter-
nal death; that for this purpose he should condescend
to quit the bosom of his Father and the joys of heaven;
* Ephes. v. 2. Rev. xiii. 8. 1 Peter iii. 18. Isaiah liii. 5. Rey, i. 5.
1 Pet i. 24.
† Heb. ix. 22.
LECTURE XXIII.
365
should divest himself of the glory that he had before the
world began; should not only take upon himself the
nature of a man but the form of a servant; should sub-
mit to a low and indigent condition, to indignities, to
injuries and insults, and at length to a disgraceful and
excruciating death, is indeed a mystery, but it is a mys-
tery of kindness and of mercy; it is as the apostle truly
calls it, "a love that passeth knowledge;"* a degree
of tenderness, pity, and condescension, to which we
have neither words nor conceptions in any degree equal.
It is impossible for us not to cry out on this occasion
with the Psalmist, "Lord, what is man that thou art
mindful of him, and the Son of man, that thou visitest
him?"+
But what effect should this reflection have upon our
hearts? Should it dispose us to join with the disputer
of this world in doubting or denying the wisdom of the
Almighty in the mode of our redemption, and in quar-
relling with the means he has made use of to save us,
because they appear to our weak understandings strange
and unaccountable? Shall the man who is sinking un-
der a mortal disease, refuse the medicine which shall
infallibly restore him, because he is ignorant of the in-
gredients of which it is composed? Shall the criminal
who is condemned to death, reject the pardon that is
unexpectedly offered to him, because he cannot con-
ceive in what manner and by what means it was obtain-
ed for him? Shall we who are all criminals in the sight
of God, and are all actually (till redeemed by Christ)
under the sentence of death; shall we strike back the
arm that is graciously stretched out to save us, merely
because the mercy offered to us is so great that we are
unable to grasp with our understandings the whole na-
ture and extent of it? Shall the very magnitude, in short,
of the favour conferred upon us be converted into an
argument against receiving it; and shall we determine
not to be saved, because God chooses to do it, not in
our way, but his own? That our redemption by Christ
is a mystery, a great and astonishing mystery, we rea-
-
Ephes. iii. 19.
+ Psalm viii. 4.
1
366
LECTURE XXIII.
dily acknowledge. But this was naturally to be ex-
pected in a work of such infinite difficulty as that of ren-
dering the mercy of God in pardoning mankind, con-
sistent with the exercise of his justice, and the support
of his authority, as the moral Governor of the world.-
Whatever could effect this must necessarily be some-
thing far beyond the comprehension of our narrow un-
derstandings; that is, must necessarily be mysterious.
And therefore this very circumstance, instead of shock-
ing our reason, and staggering our faith, ought to con-
firm the one, and satisfy the other.
After the crucifixion of our Lord follows the account
of his burial by Joseph of Arimathea, who went to Pi-
late, and begged the body of Jesus; and having obtain-
ed it, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his
own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock;
and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre,
and departed. On this I shall make no other observa-
tion, than that it was the exact fulfilment of a prophecy
in Isaiah, where, speaking of the promised Messiah, or
Christ, it is said," he shall make his grave with the
rich."* And accordingly Joseph, we are told, was a
rich man, and an honourable counsellor.†
Now the next day that followed the day of the prep-
aration (that is on the Saturday) the chief priests and
Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, "Sir, we
remember that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, af-
ter three days I will rise again. Command therefore
that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest
his disciples come by night and steal him away, and
say unto the people, he is risen from the dead; so the
last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said un-
to them, Ye have a watch, go your way, make it as sure
as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure,
sealing the stone, and setting a watch."‡
Here we see the chief priests using every possible
precaution to prevent a fraud. For this purpose they
went to Pilate to beg for a guard, immediately after our
* Isaiah liii. 9.
+ Matth. xxvii 57. Mark xv. 43.
Matth. xxvii. 62-66.
the
LECTURE XXIII.
367
Lord was buried. It is indeed here said that they went
the next day that followed the day of the preparation,
the day on which Jesus was crucified. This looks at
the first view, as if the sepulchre had remained one
whole night without a guard. But this was not so.
The chief priests went to Pilate as soon as the sun was
set on Friday, the day of the preparation and crucifix-
ion; for then began the following day, or Saturday; as
the Jews always began to reckon their day from the pre-
ceding evening. They had a guard therefore as soon
as they possibly could, after the body was deposited in
the sepulchre; and one cannot help admiring the wis-
dom of Providence in so disposing events, that the ex-
treme anxiety of these men, to prevent collusion, should
be the means of adding the testimony of sixty unex-
ceptionable witnesses (the number of the Roman sol-
diers on guard) to the truth of the resurrection, and of
establishing the reality of it beyond all power of contra-
diction. It is only necessary to add on this head, that
the circumstance of sealing the stone was a precaution
of which several instances occur in ancient times, par-
ticularly in the prophecy of Daniel, where we read, that
when Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, a stone
was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and
the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the sig-
net of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed
concerning Daniel.*
The chief priests having taken these precautions,
waited probably with no small impatience for the third
day after the crucifixion, when Jesus had foretold that
he should rise again, but when they made no doubt
that they should find the body in the sepulchre, and
convict him of deceit and imposture.
On the other hand, it might naturally be imagined
that the disciples, after having received from their Lord
repeated assurances that he would rise on the third day
from the dead, would anxiously look for the arrival
of that day, with a certain confidence that these pro-
mises would be fulfilled, and that they should see
* Dan. vi. 17.
Bang
-
368
LECTURE XXIII.
their beloved Master rescued from the grave, and re-
stored to life..
But this seems to have been by no means the real
state of their minds. It does not appear that they en-
tertained any hopes of Jesus's resurrection. Shocked
and confounded, and dismayed at finding him condemn-
ed to the ignominious death of the cross, they forgot ev-
ery thing he had said to them respecting his rising again.
When therefore he was led to punishment, they all for-
sook him and fled, Most of them seem to have kept
themselves concealed during the whole time of Jesus.
being in the grave, and to have given themselves up to
sorrow and despair. They had not even the courage
or the curiosity to go to the sepulchre on the third day
to see whether the promised event had taken place or
When two of them going to Emmaus met Jesus,
their conversation plainly shewed that they were disap-
pointed in their expectations. "We trusted (said they)
that it had been he which have delivered Israel;"'* and
and when the women who had been at the sepulchre told
the apostles that Jesus was risen, "their words seemed
to them as idle tales, and they believed them not."
not.
The women, it is true, came to the sepulchre early
in the morning of the third day; but they came to em-
balm the dead body, and of course not with the hope
of seeing a living one.
So far then is perfectly clear, that the disciples were
not at all disposed to be over credulous on this occasion.
Their prejudices and prepossessions lay the contrary
way; and nothing but the most irresistible evidence
would be able to convince them of the fact, which they
appeared to think in the highest degree improbable.
Let us now then see what this evidence of the resur-
rection was. In the beginning of the 28th chapter, on
which we are now entering, St. Matthew informs us,
"that in the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn to-
wards the first day of the week; that is, according to
our way of reckoning, very early on the Sunday morn-
ing (our Lord having been crucified on the Friday)
*Luke xxiv. 21.
Luke xxiv. 11.
LECTURE XXIII.
369
came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, the mother
of James and Joses, to see the supulchre, and (as we
learn from the other evangelists,) they brought with
them the spices they had purchased to embalm the bo-
dy of Jesus. And behold there was a great earthquake:
for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and
came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sate
upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his
raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keep-
ers did shake, and became as dead men.
And the an-
gel answered, and said unto the women, Fear not ye;
for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He
is not here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the
place where our Lord lay; and go quickly, and tell his
disciples that he is risen from the dead; and behold, he
goeth before you into Galilee; there ye shall see him.
Lo! I have told you. And they departed from the se-
pulchre with fear and great joy, and did run to bring
his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disci-
ples, behold Jesus met them, saying, All hail; and
they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped
him. Then said Jesus unto them, be not afraid. Go,
tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there
shall they see me."*
This is the relation given by St. Matthew of our
Lord's first appearance, after his resurrection, to the
women who came to the sepulchre. The accounts
given by the other three evangelists are substantially the
same, though differing in a few minute circumstances of
no moment, which however have been very ably re-
conciled by many learned men. I shall therefore wave
all discussions of this kind, and confine myself to the
main fact of the resurrection, in which all the evangel-
ists agree, and of which the proofs are numerous and
clear.
The principal and most obvious are those which arise
from the various appearances which Jesus made after
his resurrection to various persons, and at various times.
The first was Mary Magdalen alone.†
* Matth. xxviii 1-10.
↑ Mark xvi. 9.
47
5
370
LECTURE XXIII.
The second, to her in company with several other
women, as we have just seen.
The third, to Peter.†
*
The fourth, to the two disciples going to Emmaus.‡
The fifth, to the apostles in Jerusalem, when they
were assembled with the doors shut on the first day of
the week; at which time he shewed them his hands and
his feet pierced with the nails, and did eat before
them.
The sixth, to the apostles a second time as they sate
at meat, when he satisfied the doubts of the incredu-
lous Thomas, by making him thrust his hand into his
side. Il
The seventh, to Peter and several of his disciples at
the lake of Tiberias, when he also ate with them.T
The eighth, and last, was to above five hundred
brethren at once. **
There are then no less than eight distinct appearances
of our Lord to his disciples after his resurrection, re-
corded by the sacred historians. And.can we believe
that all those different persons could be deceived in
these appearances of one, whose countenance, figure,
voice, and manner, they had for so long a time been
perfectly well acquainted with; and who now, not mere-
ly presented himself to their view transiently and silent-
ly, but ate and drank and conversed with them, and
suffered them to touch and examine him thoroughly,
that they might be convinced by all their senses that it
was truly their beloved Master, and not a spirit that
conversed with them. In all this surely it is impossi-
ble that there could be any delusion or imposition.
Was it then a tale invented by the disciples to impose
upon others? Why they should do this it is not easy
to conceive; because it would have been an imposi-
tion, not only on others, but on themselves. It would
have been an attempt to persuade themselves that their
Master was risen when he really was not, from whence
* Matth xxviii. 9.
Luke, xxiv. 13.
John, xx. 26.
+ 1 Cor. xv. 5.
$ John, xx. 19. Luke, xxiv. 37-43.
¶ John, xxi. 1.
** 1 Cor. xv. 6.
LECTURE XXIII.
371
i
no possible benefit could arise to them, but, on the
contrary, grief, disappointment, and mortification in the
extreme. But besides this, the narratives themselves
of this great event bear upon the very face of them the
strongest marks of reality and truth. They describe,
in so natural a manner, the various emotions of the dis-
ciples on their first hearing of our Lord's resurrection,
that no one who is acquainted with the genuine work-
ings of the human mind, can possibly suspect any thing
like fraud in the case. When the women were first
told by the angel that Christ was risen, and were or-
dered to tell the disciples, they departed quickly from
the sepulchre with fear and great joy ;* with joy at the
unexpected good news they had just heard; and with
fear, not only from the sight of the angel, but lest the
glad tidings he had told them should not prove true.
They therefore " trembled, and were amazed, and ran
to bring the disciples word; neither said they any thing
to any man, for they were afraid." And when they
told these things to the apostles, their words seemed to
them as idle tales, and they believed them not. When
Jesus himself appeared to the apostles at Jerusalem,
they were terrified and affrighted, and thought they
had seen a spirit; and they believed not for joy, and
wondered. When he appeared again unto the eleven
as they sat at meat, they were so incredulous that he
upbraided them with their unbelief; and Thomas
would not be convinced without thrusting his hand
into his side. T This certainly was not the be-
haviour of men who were fabricating an artful story
to impose upon the world, but of men who were them-
selves astonished, and overpowered with an event which
they did not in the least expect, and which it was with
the utmost difficulty they could be brought to believe.
The account therefore of the resurrection, given by
the evangelists, may safely be relied upon as true.
It may however be said, that this account is the
rep-
resentation of friends, of those who were interested in
* Matth. xxviii. 8.
§ Luke, xxiv. 37.
† Mark, xvi. 8,
Mark, xvi. 14.
Luke, xxiv. 11.
¶ John, xx. 27.
372
LECTURE XXIII.
asserting the reality of a resurrection; but that there
is probably another story told by the opposite party, by
the Jews and the Romans, which may set the matter in
a very different point of view; and that before we can
judge fairly of the question, we must hear what these
have to say upon it as well as the evangelists. This
is certainly very proper and reasonable. There is, we
acknowledge, another account given by the Jews re-
specting the resurrection of Christ; and to shew the
perfect fairness and impartiality of the sacred histori-
ans, and how little they wish to shrink from the sever-
est investigation of the truth, they themselves tell us
what this opposite story was. In the 11th verse of this
chapter, St. Matthew informs us," that as the women
were going to tell the disciples that Jesus was risen,
behold, some of the watch came into the city, and
shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were
done. And when they were assembled with the elders,
and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the
soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night,
and stole him away while we slept. And if this come
to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and
secure you. So they took the money, and did as they
were taught. And this saying is commonly reported
among the Jews unto this day.
""
This then is the statement of our adversaries, produ-
ced in opposition to that of the evangelists, which the
latter simply relate without any obscrvation upon it,
without condescending to make the slightest answer to
it, but leaving every man to judge of it for himself.—
And this indeed they might safely do; for it is a fabri-
cation too gross and too palpable to impose on any man
of common sense. If any person can bring himself to
believe that sixty Roman soldiers should be all sleeping
at the same time on guard; that they should be able to
tell what was done in their sleep; that they should have
the boldness to confess that they slept upon their post,
when they knew the punishment of such an offence to
be death; and that the disciples should be so devoid of
all common sense as to steal away a dead body, which
LECTURE XXIII.
873
could not be of the smallest use to them, and instead
of proving a resurrection, was a standing proof against
it; if any man, I say, can prevail on himself to listen for
a moment to such absurdities as these, he may then
give credit to the tale of the soldiers; but otherwise
must treat it, as it truly deserves, with the most sove-
reign contempt.
This senseless forgery then being set aside, and the
body of Jesus being gone, and yet never having been
produced by the Jews or Romans, there remains only
the alternative of a real resurrection.
But besides the positive proofs of this fact which have
been here stated, there is a presumptive one of the
most forcible nature, to which I have never yet seen
any answer, and am of opinion that none can be given.
The proof I allude to is that which is drawn from the
sudden and astonishing change which took place in
the language and the conduct of the apostles, immedi-
ately after the period when they affirmed that Jesus had
risen from the dead. From being, as we have seen,
timorous and dejected, and discouraged at the death of
their Master, they suddenly became courageous, un-
daunted, and intrepid: and they boldly preached that
very Jesus, whom before they had deserted in his great-
est distress. This observation will apply, in some de-
gree, to all the apostles; but with regard to St. Peter
more particularly it holds with peculiar force.
One of the most prominent features in the character
of St. Peter (a character most admirably pourtrayed by
the evangelists) is timidity of disposition. We see it in
the terror that seized him when he was walking on the
sea: we see it in his deserting his divine Master when
he was apprehended; then turning back to follow him,
but following at a distance; not daring to go into the
council chamber when he was examined, but staying
in the outer court with the servants; and at length,
when he was challenged as one of his disciples, deny-
ing three times with the most dreadful oaths and impre-
cations, that he knew any thing of him, or had the
slightest connexion with him.
⭑
374
LECTURE XXIII.
This is the point of view in which St. Peter presents
himself to us just before our Lord's crucifixion.
Turn now to the fourth chapter of the Acts, and see
what his language then was after Jesus had actually
been put to death.
He and John having healed the lame man whom they
found sitting at the gate of the temple, were apprehend-
ed, and thrown into prison, and the next day were call-
ed upon to answer for their conduct before the high
priest, and the other chief rulers of the Jews. And
upon being questioned by what power and by what
name they had performed this miraculous cure, Peter
answered them in these resolute terms. "Ye rulers
of the people, and elders of Israel, if we be this day ex-
amined 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 the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom
God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man
stand before you whole. This is the stone which was
set at nought by you builders, which is become the
head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any
other. For there is none other name under heaven giv
en among men whereby we must be saved."* And
when, soon after this, Peter and John were straitly
threatened, and commanded not to speak at all, or teach
in the name of Jesus, they answered and said unto them,
"Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken
unto you rather than unto God, Judge ye; for we
cannot but speak the things which we have seen and
heard."+
#
What now is this that we hear? Is this the man who,
but a short time before, had shamefully renounced his
divine Master, and declared, with the utmost vehe-
mence and passion, that he was utterly unknown to him?
And does this same man now, after the crucifixion of
his Lord, and when he himself was a prisoner, and had
reason to expect a similar fate, does this man boldly
tell those in whose power he was, that by the name of
*Acts, iv. 8. 12.
Acts, iv. 18. 20.
کھ
LECTURE XXIIŁ
STE
this very Jesus he had healed the lame man? Does he
dare to reprove them with having crucified the Lord of
life ?Does he dare to tell them that God had raised him
from the dead; that there was no other name under
heaven by which they could be saved; and that, in de-
fiance of all their indictions and all their menaces, he
must and would still continue to speak what he had
seen and heard?
In what manner shall we account for this sudden and
astonishing alteration in the language of St. Peter?
There is, I will venture to assert, no other possible way
of accounting for it, but from that very circumstance
which St. Peter himself mentions in his speech to the
high priest, namely," that he whom they had crucifi-
ed was, by the almighty power of God, raised from the
dead."* It was this change in the condition of his di-
vine Master, which produced a correspondent change in
the character and conduct of St. Peter. It was this
miracle of our Lord's resurrection, which could alone
have produced the almost epually astonishing mira-
cle of St. Peter's complete tranformation. Had Jesus
never risen from the dead, as he had repeatedly prom-
ised to do, he would have been a deceiver and an im-
postor; and that St. Peter, knowing this, should open-
ly and boldly profess himself his disciple when dead,
after having most peremptorily denied him and dis-
claimed all knowledge of him when living and should
expose himself to the most dreadful dangers in assert-
ing a fact which he knew to be false, and for the sake
of a man who had most cruelly decived and disappoint.
ed him, is a supposition utterly repugnant to
every principle of human nature, and every dic-
tate of common sense, and an absurdity too gross for
the most determined infidel to maintain.
We have here then one more proof, in addition to
all the rest, of the resurrection of Christ, intelligible to
the lowest, and convincing to the most improved un-
derstanding. And that this was the great decisive fact
which operated so surprising a revolution in the mind
of St. Peter, is still further confirmed by the stress
Acts. iy. 10.
376
LECTURE XXIII.
which he himself laid upon it, in his answer to the high
priest, and by the constant appeal which he and all the
other apostles made to this argument, in preference to
every other; for we are told that" with great power
gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus, and great grace was upon them all."* And St.
Paul goes so far as to make the belief of this single arti-
cle the main ground and basis of our salvation.
" If
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved."+ The reason of
this is, because the belief of the resurrection of Christ
unavoidably leads to the belief of the whole Christian
religion, to the truth of which God set his seal, by rais-
ing the author of it from the dead: and the belief of the
Christian revelation, if genuine and sincere, will, with
the blessing of God on our own strenuous exertions, pro-
duce all those Christian graces and virtues, which,
through the merits of our Redeemer, will render our
final calling and election sure.
The resurrection of Christ being thus established on
the firmest ground, the conclusions to be drawn from
it are many and important; but I shall at present con-
fine myself to two of them; which seem more particu-
larly to deserve our notice.
The first is, that this great event of the resurrection
affords a clear and decisive proof that Jesus was what
he pretended to be, THE SON OF GOD; that the reli-
gion he taught came from God; that consequently ev-
ery doctrine he delivered ought to be believed, every
command he gave to be obeyed, and that every thing
he prommised or threatened will certainly come to pass.
For had not his pretensions been well founded, and his
religion true, it is impossible that the God of truth
could have given them the sanction of his authority,
by raising him from the dead. But by doing this, he
gave the strongest possible attestation to the reality of
his divine mission.
The next inference from the fact is, that the resur-
* Acts iv, 33.
+ Rom. x 9.
LECTURE XXIII.
377
rection of Christ is an earnest, a pledge, and a proof of
our own. He had promised his disciples, " that where
he was, there should they be also:" And the scrip-
tures in numberless places assure us, that we shall rise
again from the grave, and become immortal. Now
these promises receive the strongest confirmation from
his resurrection, which shows, in the most striking and
sensible manner, that our bodies are capable of being
raised to life again, and that God will actually re-ani-
mate them, as he did that of Jesus. In this our Saviour
acted conformably to the spirit and genius of his reli-
gion, and to his constant method of teaching, which
was, to instruct mankind by facts rather than by words.
It was his intention (and thanks be to God that it was)
that our faith should stand, not in the wisdom or elo-
quence of man, but in the demonstration of the spirit
and of power.
He went about therefore, not only
preaching the word, but doing good, doing good mi-
raculously, making the principles and the evidences of
his religion palpable to the senses of mankind. When
John sent to know whether he was the expected Messi-
ah or no, Jesus, instead of entering into a long and la-
boured proof of his divinity, took the more compendi-
ous and convincing way of proving his point, by per-
forming in that instant many miraculous cures, and
then referring the Baptist to what his messengers had
seen and heard.* In the very same manner, in the
present instance, the assurance he gave us of our res-
urrection was not speculative and argumentative, but
practical and visible. A thousand objections might
have been formed by the fashionable philosophers of
that age against the possibility of restoring breath to a
dead body, and raising it alive again from the grave.—
Our Lord could very easily have shown, by unanswer-
able arguments, the futility and absurdity of any such
objections. But the disputers of this world would have
cavilled and objected without end. And therefore, to
put an effectual stop to all such idle controversy, and to
convince all the world that it was not a thing incredible
* Maith
S
48
378
LECTURE XXIII.
that God should raise the dead, he himself rose again
from the grave, and became the first fruits of them that
slept. He triumphed over death, he threw open the
gates of everlasting life; and whoever treads in his
steps as nearly as they can through life, shall follow
him through death into tl.ose blessed regions where he
is gone before to prepare a place for such as love and
imitate him. "For if the spirit of him who raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you."*
Since then we have such expectations and such hopes,
what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy con-
versation and godliness? The ancient heathen might
say, the unbelieving libertine may still say, let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die; let us enjoy, without
reserve, and without measure, all the pleasures which
this world affords, for to-morrow we may leave it, and
we know of no other. But how absurd would it be
for the Christian to say this, how mad would it be for
him to act accordingly, when he knows, that though to-
morrow his soul may be separated from his body, yet
that they will be again united, and live forever in a fu-
ture state of existence? What an amazing difference
does this fact make in our circumstances, and how in-
excusable shall we be, if it does not produce a suitable
difference in our conduct! Even the possibility of such
an event must have a powerful influence over our mind
and manners; what then must be the case when it
amounts, as it does with every sincere believer in the
Gospel, to absolute certainty? With what cheerfulness
shall we acquiesce under poverty and misfortune, when
we refect, that if we bear them patiently, and hold fast
our integrity, these light afflictions, which are but for a
moment, shall work out for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory! With what indifference shall
we contemplate the charms of wealth and power, with
what horror shall we turn away from the pleasures of sin,
which are but for a season, when we know that the one
* Rom. vii. 11
LECTURE XXIII.
379
may, and the other most certainly will, cut us off from
an eternal and invaluable inheritancc.
Suppose yourselves for a moment in some foreign
kingdom, where, after having been obliged to spend
many years, you are at length suffered to return to your
own country. Suppose further, that in this country
you have left families that are infinitely dear to you,
friends whom you exceedingly love and esteem, wealth
and honours to the utmost extent of your wishes.—
When, with the most impatient longings after all these
blessings, you set out upon your return to your native
land, will any allurements that you meet with on the
road tempt you from your main object? Will any ac-
cidental hardships or inconveniencies deter you from
pursuing your journey? Will you not break through
all obstructions, resist all temptations, and press for-
wards with alacrity and vigour towards your beloved
home? And why then will you not seek your heavenly
country with the same ardour and perseverance that
you would your earthly one? You are all "strangers
and pilgrims upon earth." This world is not your
home, though you are too apt to think it so. You be-
longto another city, you are subjects of a better king-
dom, where infinitely greater joys await you than have
been just described, or can by the utmost stretch of
imagination be conceived. Every day you live, every
moment you breath, brings you nearer to this country ;
and the grave itself, dismal as it appears, is nothing
more than the gate that leads you into it.
Conscious then of the dignity and importance of our
high and heavenly calling, which renders us candidates
for the kingdom of God, and heirs of immortality, let
us persevere steadily and uniformly, in our progress to-
wards those celestial mansions, which are prepared for
all the faithful servants of Christ; where we shall be re-
leased from all the endless anxieties, the vain hopes, and
causeless fears that now agitate and disquiet us; and
shall, through the merits of our Redeemer, be reward-
ed, not merely with uninterrupted tranquility and re-
pose, (the utmost felicity of the pagan elysium ;) not
380
merely with a visionary posthumous reputation, which
commences not till we are incapable of enjoying it; but
with a crown of glory that fadeth not away, a real im-
mortality in the kingdom of our Father and our God.
LECTURE XXIV.
LECTURE XXIV.
MATTHEW xxviii.
THE last Lecture ended with the history of our
Lord's resurrection. The evangelist then proceeds to
give a concise account of what passed after that great
event had taken place.
"Then, says he, the eleven disciples went away into
Galilee, into a mountain, where Jesus had appointed
them."*
By the eleven disciples he means the apostles, who,
though originally twelve, were now reduced to eleven,
by the defection and death of Judas. These Jesus had
commanded to meet him in Galilee.
"Go tell my
brethren, says he to the women, that they go into Gali-
lee, and there shall they see me." There therefore the
apostles went about eight days after the resurrection,
and many others with them; for this probably was the
time and the place when he shewed himself to about five
hundred brethren at once. "And when they saw him
they worshipped him; but some doubted." Here we
have the authority of the apostles themselves for the wor-
ship of Christ. The women, when they first saw Je-
sus, paid him the same adoration;" they came and held
him by the feet, and worshipped him." But some, it
is added, doubted. And where can be the wonder, if
among five hundred persons there should be two or
three, who, like the disciples mentioned by St. Luke,†
believed not for joy, and wondered; that is (as is very
* Matth. xxviii. 16. † Matth. xxviii. 9.
Ch. xxiv. 41,
LECTURE XXIV.
381
natural) were afraid to believe what they so ardently
wished to be true; or who, like St. Thomas, would not
believe, unless they touched the body of Jesus, and thrust
their hands into his sides. But their doubts, like his,
were probably soon removed. This circumstance
therefore only serves to shew the scrupulous fidelity of
the sacred historians, who, like honest men, fairly tell
you every thing that passed on this and on similar oc-
casions, whether it appears to make for them or against
them.
"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying all
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
In his divine nature he had this power from all eterni-
ty: but it was now to be exercised in his human nature
aiso, which, from a state of humiliation, from the form
of a servant, was soon to be exalted to the highest dig-
nity, and placed at the right hand of God. According-
ly St. Paul informs us, that, "God raised our Lord
from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the
heavenly places, far above all principality, and power,
and might, and dominion, and every name that is nam-
ed, not only in this world, but in that which is to come :
and put all things under his feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church, which is his
body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."* And
again, in his Epistle to the Philippians, he says, that
"God has highly exalted him, and given a name which
is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father." In the same magnificent lan-
guage he is spoken of in the book of Revelations ;
"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive pow-
er, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor,
and glory, and blessing. And again, Blessing, and
honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ev-
er."
Ephes. i. 20-23.
† Philip. ii. 9-11.
Rev. v. 12. 13.
.
382
LECTURE XXIV.
Such is the dignity of the Lord and Master whom
we serve; and such is thet authority with which, in
the two concluding verses of this chapter, he gives his
last command to his apostles: "Go ye, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to
observe all things whatever I have commanded you;
and lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world."
The ceremony then by which our Lord's disciples.
were to be admitted into his religion, was baptism.
This was sometimes used by the Jews on the admis-
sion of proselytes, and by the heathens on initiation in-
to their mysteries. But the baptism of Christians was
to be
accompanied with a peculiar form of words, which
distinguished it from every other. They were to be
baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost. This form of words has accordingly been
used in the Christian church, from the earliest times
down to the present; and is, as you all know, the mode
of baptism adopted and constantly practised by the
Church of England. And it is remarkable, not only
on this account, but as being also one principal ground
of a very distinguished doctrine of the Gospel, and of
the Church of England, the doctrine of the Trinity.
For the plain and natural interpretation of the words is,
that by being baptized in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost, we are dedicated and conse-
crated equally to the service of each of those three di-
vine persons; we are made the servants and disciples
of each, and are consequently bound to honor, wor-
ship, and obey each of them equally. This evidently
implies an equality in their nature, and "that all the
fulness of the Godhead dwells in each." In confirma-
tion of this, we find in various parts of Scripture, that
all the attributes of divinity are ascribed to each. And
yet, as the unity of the Supreme Being is every where
taught in the same Scriptures, and is a fundamental ar-
ticle of our religion, we are naturally led to conclude
with our church in its first article, "That there is but
44
LECTURE XXIV.
383
one living and true God, of infinite power and wisdora,
the maker and preserver of all things, visible; and that,
in the unity of this Godhead, there are three persons,
of one substance, power, and eternity, the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost."
That this is a very mysterious doctrine we do not
deny; but it is not more so than many other doctrines
of the Christian revelation, which we all admit, and
which we cannot reject without subverting the founda-
tion, and destroying the very substance and essence of
our religion. The miraculous birth and incarnation
of our blessed Lord, his union of the human nature
with the divine, his redemption of mankind, and his
expiation of their sins by his death upon the cross;-
these are doctrines plainly taught in Scripture, and yet
as incomprehensible to our finite understandings as the
doctrine of three persons and one God. But what we
contend for in all these instances is, that these myste-
ries, although confessedly above our reason, are not con-
trary to it. This is a plain and a well-known distinc-
tion, and in the present case an incontrovertible one.
No one for instance can say, that the supposition of
three persons and one God is contrary to reason. We
cannot, indeed, comprehend such a distinction in the
divine nature; but unless we know perfectly what that
nature is, it is impossible for us to say that such a dis-
tinction may not subsist in it consistent with its unity.
The truth is, on a subject where we have no clear ideas.
at all, our reasoning faculties must fail us, and we must
be content to submit (as well we may) to the clear and
explicit declarations of holy writ. It is indeed natural
for the human mind to wish that every thing in religion
should be intelligible and plain, and that there should
be no difficulties to perplex and stagger our faith. But
natural as this wish may be, is it a reasonable one? Do
we find, that in the most important concerns of the
present life, in those where our most essential interests,
our property, our welfare, our health, our reputation,
our very life are at stake, that no difficulties, no per-
plexities, no intricacies occur; that every thing is plain
-
384
LECTURE XXIV.
and level before us, and that we are never at a loss how
to act, what opinion to form, or what course to take?
There are few, I fancy, here present, whose experience
has not taught them, to their cost, the very reverse of
all this. If then, even in the ordinary affairs of life,
there is so much difficulty, doubt, and obscurity, how
can we wonder to find it in religion also, in those en-
quiries that relate to an invisible world and an invisible
Being, "to the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eter-
nity ?"**
And let it never by forgotten that mysteries are not
(as is often insinuated, and often taken for granted) pe-
culiar to the Christian religion. They belong to allre-
ligions, even to that which is generally supposed to be
of all others the least incumbered with difficulties, pure
deism; or, as it is sometimes called, the religion of na
ture, of reason, or of philosophy.
Who, for instance, can grasp with the utmost stretch
of his understanding, the idea of an eternal Being; of a
Being whose existence never had any beginning, and
never will have an end? Where is the man, whose
thoughts are not lost and confounded in contemplating
the immensity of a God, who is intimately present to
every part of the universe; who sees, with equal clear-
ness, a kingdom perish and a sparrow fall, and to whom
every thought of our hearts is perfectly well known ?†
"So far is it from being true (as some one has said) that where mystery
begins religion ends; that religion, even natural religion, begins with a mystc-
ry, with the greatest of all mysteries, the self-existence and eternity of God.—
Let any one tell us how an eternity can be past, unless it was once present,
and how that can be once present which never had a beginning." Seed's
Sermons. v. 2. S. 7. 459.
CC
+
J'appercois Dieu partout dans ses oeuvres. Je le sens en moi, je le
vois tout autourde moi; mais sitct que je veux le contempler en lui meme,
sitot que je veux chercher ou il est, ce qu'il est, quelle est sa substance, il m'e-
chappe, & mon esprit trouble n' appercoit plus rien. Rousseau, v. 8. p. 32.
Enfin plus je m' efforce de contempler son essence infinie, moins je la concois;
mais elle est, cela me suffit; moins je la concois plus je l'adore.”
I have cited these fine passages from the eloquent Rosseau in his own lan-
guage (for no translation can do justice to them) because no arguments are
so convincing as those which are drawn from the concessions of sceptics them-
selves, which fall from them incidentally and undesignedly; and because the
sentiments here quoted stand in direct contradiction to that writer's cavils
in other places against the Christian mysteries. For if notwithstanding the
difficulties which attend the contemplation of the Deity himself, he firmly be-
lieves his existence, on what ground can he make his Savoiard vicar doubt
the truth of the Gospel on account of its mysteries ?
V. viii. p. 93.
LECTURE XXIV.
385
Who can reconcile that foreknowledge of future and
contingent events, which is an unquestionable attribute
of the Almighty, with that free-will and free-agency,
which are no less unquestionable properties of man ?-
Who, in fine, can account, on the principles of mere
natural religion, for the introduction of natural and mo-
ral evil into the works of a benevolent Creator, whose
infinite goodness must necessarily incline him to intend
the happiness of all his creatures?
These considerations may serve to shew, and it
might be shewn in various other cases, that it is in vain
to expect an exemption from difficulty and mystery in
any religion whatever. The real truth is, that not only
the religion of nature, but the philosophy of nature, the
works of nature, the whole face of nature, are full of
mystery; we live and move in the midst of mystery.*
And if, to avoid this, we have recourse to atheism it-
self, even that will be found to be more incumbered
with difficulties, and to require a greater degree of faith,
than all the religions in the world put together.
Let not then the mysteries of the Gospel ever be a
rock of offence to you, or in any degree shake the con.
stancy of your faith. They are inseparable from any
religion that is suited to the nature, to the wants, and to
the fallen state of such a creature as man. When once
we are convinced that the Scriptures are the word of
God, we are then bound to receive with implicit sub-
mission, on the sole authority of that word, those sub-
lime truths, which are far beyond the reach of any finite
understanding, but which it was natural and reasonable
to expect in a revelation pertaining to that incompre-
hensible Being, whose "greatness is unsearchable, and
whose ways are past finding out." Let us not, in
short, "exercise ourselves too much and too curiously
in great matters, which arc too high for us, but refrain
*This M. Voltaire himself acknowledges, and it is a complete answer to
all the objections he has made in various parts of his works to the mysteries
of revelation. See Questions sur L'Encyclopedie. Article Ame.
"The whole intellectual world is full of truths incomprehensible, and yet in-
contestible. Such is the doctrine of the existence of God, and such are the
mysteries admitted in Protestant communions." Rousseau, v. 2. p. 15.
49
386
LECTURE XXIV.
our souls, and keep them low.* Laying aside all the
superfluity of learning, and all the pride of human wis-
dom, let us hold fast to the profession of our faith, with-
out wavering and without cavilling at what we cannot
comprehend. Let us put ourselves, without reserve,
into the hands of our heavenly guide, and submit, with
boundless confidence, to his direction, who, as he died
to save us, will certainly never mislead us.
Since we
know in whom we believe; since we know that the au-
thor of our religion is the Son of God, let us never for-
get that this gives him a right, a divine right to the
obedience of our understandings, as well as to the obe-
dience of our will. Let us therefore resolutely beat
down every bold imagination, every high thing that ex-
alteth itself against the mysterious truths of the Gospel;
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ, and receiving with meekness the ingrafted
word, which is able to save our souls."†
Yet, however firmly we may believe all the great es-
sential doctrines of the Gospel, this alone will not en-
sure our salvation, unless to our faith we add obedience
to all the laws of Christ. This we are expressly told
in the concluding verse of this chapter. After our Lord
had prescribed to his disciples the form of words to be
used in baptism, he adds, "teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you." As
this is the parting direction, the farewel injunction
which Jesus left with his disciples just before he ascend-
ed into heaven, it shows what peculiar stress he laid
upon it. It shows that by making it the conclusion,
the winding up as it were, of his Gospel, he meant to
express in the strongest manner, the indispensable ne-
cessity of a holy life resulting from a vital faith. He
meant to intimate to his own disciples, and to the min-
isters of his Gospel in every future age, that it was to
be one principal object of their instructions, and exhor-
tations, to inculcate all the virtues of a Christian life,
and an unreserved obedience to all the precepts of their
divine Master. And whoever neglects this branch of
† James i. 21.
* Psalm cxxxi. 2, 3.
LECTURE XXIV.
387
his duty, is guilty of manifesting a marked contempt of
the very last command that fell from the lips of his de-
parting Lord.
The few words that follow this command, and which
conclude the Gospel of St. Matthew contains a promise
full of consolation, not only to the apostles themselves,
but to all the ministers of the Gospel in every succeed-
ing age.
"And, lo, says our blessed Lord, I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world." That is,
although I am now about to leave you and ascend into
heaven, and can no longer be personally present with
you, yet the Holy Spirit, whom I have repeatedly pro-
mised to send unto you, shall certainly come to supply
my place, shall constantly abide with you, and shall en-
lighten, guide, assist, support, and comfort you to the
end of the world.
Here ends the Gospel of St. Matthew. But it must
be observed, that in this last part of our Saviour's his-
tory, he has been much more concise than the other
evangelists, and has passed over several circumstances
which they have recorded, and of which it may be pro-
per to take some notice here, before we close this Lec-
ture. It appears from the other evangelists, and from
the Acts of the Apostles, that Jesus continued among
his disciples for forty days after his resurrection, giv-
ing them repeated and infallible proofs of his being ac-
tually raised from the dead, and "speaking to them of
the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."*
In one of these discourses, he took occasion to advert
more particularly to those things that were written in
the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the
Psalms, concerning him. He showed how exactly
and minutely all the predictions respecting him con-
tained in those sacred books were accomplished in his
birth, his life, his doctrines, his sufferings, his death,
and his reaurrection.
This stamps at once a divine authority on those
books, and gives a sanction to the interpretation of the
passages alluded to, and the application of them to our
* Luke xxiv. 44. Acts i. 3.
388
LECTURE XXIV.
blessed Lord, by our best and most learned expositors.
It is added, that on this occasion he opened their un-
derstandings, that they might understand the Scriptures,
and said unto them, "Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and rise from the dead the
third day; and that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name amongst all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem."
He entered, we see, at large into the great evangel-
ical doctrines of the atonement, of the redemption of
mankind by his death, of the resurrection, of repent-
ance, and the remission of sins through faith in his
name. These are most important topics, and his il-
lustration of them to his disciples must have opened
to them an invaluable treasure of divine knowledge.
And as these doctrines are but briefly touched upon in
the Gospels, and more fully unfolded and explained in
the Acts and the Epistles, it is highly probable that a
very considerable part, if not the whole of what passed
in these discourses of our Lord to his disciples after
his resurrection, is faithfully preserved and detailed in
those inspired writings. This places in a very strong
light the high importance of those writings, and the
high rank they ought to hold in our estimation, as
forming an essential part of the Christian system, and
completing the code of doctrines and of duties contain-
ed in that divine revelation.
It is remarkable also, that St. Matthew has made no
mention of the concluding act of our Lord's life on
earth, his ascension into heaven. The reason of this
omission it is not perhaps very easy to assign, nor is it
necessary. We know, that in several other instances
various circumstances are omitted by one evangelist
which are supplied by the rest, and others passed over
by those which are noticed by the former; a plain proof
by the way that they did not write in concert with each
other, but each related his own story, and selected such
facts and events as appeared to him most deserving of
notice.
t?
LECTURE XXIV.
389
In the present case it is sufficient for our satisfaction
that the ascension is related by two of the evangelists,
St. Mark and St. Luke. The latter of these tells us
in his Gospel, and in the Acts. "that Jesus led out
his apostles (and the disciples that were with them)
to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
And it came to pass while he blessed them he was part-
ed from them, and carried up into heaven, and a cloud
received him out of their sight. And while they look.
ed stedfastly towards heaven, as he went up, behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel; which also
said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven. And they worshipped him,
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and were
continually in the temple, praising and blessing God."*
T
The last observation I have to make is, that neither
St. Matthew, nor any other of the evangelists, have
given us a full and complete history of every thing
that our Saviour did during the whole course of his
ministry; but have only recorded the most important
and the most remarkable of his transactions and his
miracles. Besides, therefore, the many irresistible
proofs we already possess of his divine wisdom and al-
mighty power, there are many others still remaining
behind which might have been produced, but which
the evangelists did not think it necessary to specify;
for St, John, in the 20th chapter of his Gospel, makes
this remarkable declaration: "Many other signs truly
(says he) did Jesus in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book; but these are writ.
ten, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the
Son of God, and that believing ye might have life
through his name." God grant that this effect may be
produced on all who now hear me; otherwise my la-
bours, and their attendance, will have been in vain!
* Luke, xxiv. 50–53
390
LECTURE XXIV.
I have now brought these Lectures to a conclusion,
and must here take my final leave of you. It was my
original intention and my wish to have proceeded next
to the Acts of the Apostles, which contain the history.
of the first propagation of the Christian religion, and the
astonishing progress it made through a large part of the
world, by the preaching of the apostles and their coad-
jutors, after our Lord's departure into heaven: but I
must not now venture into so large a field. Circum-
stanced as I am, it would be presumption in me to ex-
pect either that God would grant me time to accom-
plish so arduous a work, or that you would have perse-
verance to bear with me to the conclusion. I must
here, therefore close my labours, at least in this place;
and must now, for the last time, implore you to think
and to meditate again and again on the important and
interesting truths which have been unfolded to you in
the course of these Lectures, and to form them into
principles of action, and rules of conduct, for the re-
gulation and direction of the remaining part of your
lives.
In the history of our Lord, as given by St. Matthew,
of which I have detailed the most essential parts, such a
scene has been presented to your observation, as can-
not but have excited sensations of a very serious and
very awful nature in your minds. You cannot but have
seen that the divine Author of our religion, is beyond
comparison, the most extraordinary and most important
personage, that ever appeared on this habitable globe.
His birth, his life, his doctrines, his precepts, his mira-
cles, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection, his ascen-
sion, are all without a parallel in the history of mankind.
He called himself the Son of God, the Messiah pre-
dicted in the prophets, the great Redeemer and Deli-
verer of mankind, promised in the sacred writings,
through successive ages, almost from the foundation
of the world. He supported these great characters
with uniformity, with consistence, and with dignity,
throughout the whole course of his ministry. The
work he undertook was the greatest and most astonish-
LECTURE XXIV.
391
ing that can be conceived, and such as before never en-
tered into the imagination of man. It was nothing less
than the conversion of a whole world from the grossest
ignorance, the most abandoned wickedness, and the
most sottish idolatry, to the knowledge of the true God,
to a pure and holy religion, and to faith in him, who
was THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.
He
proved himself to have a commission from heaven, for
those great purposes, by such demonstrations of divine
wisdom, power, and goodness, as it is impossible for
any fair and ingenuous, and unprejudiced mind to re-
sist. Of all this you have seen abundant instances in
the course of these Lectures: and when all these cir-
cumstances are collected into one point of view, they
present such a body of evidence, as must overpower by
its weight all the trivial difficulties and objections that
the wit of man can raise against the divine authority of
the Gospel.
Consider in the first place, the transcendent excel-
lence of our Lord's character, so infinitely beyond that
of every other moral teacher; the gentleness, the calm-
ness, the composure, the dignity, the integrity, the
spotless sanctity of his manners, so utterly inconsistent
wirh every idea of enthusiasm or imposture; the com-
passion, the kindness, the tenderness he expressed for
the whole human race, even for the worst of sinners,
and the bitterest of his enemies; the perfect command
he had over his own passions; the temper he preserved
under the severest provocations; the patience, the
meekness with which he endured the cruellest insults,
and the grossest indignities; the fortitude he displayed
under the most excruciating torments; the sublimity
and importance of his doctrines; the consummate wis-
dom and purity of his moral precepts, far exceeding the
natural powers of a man born in the humblest situation,
and in a remote and obscure corner of the world, with-
out learning, education, languages, or books. Con-
sider further the minute description of all the most ma-
terial circumstances of his birth, life, sufferings, death,
and resurrection, given by the ancient prophets many
WORL
392
LECTURE XXIV,
-
hundred years before he was born, and exactly fulfilled
in him, and him only; the many astonishing miracles
wrought by him in the open face of day, before thou-
sands of spectators, the reality of which is proved by
multitudes of the most unexceptionable witnesses, who
sealed their testimony with their blood, and was even
acknowledged by the earliest and most inveterate ene-
mies of the Gospel. Above all, consider those two
most remarkable occurrences in the history of our
Lord, which have been particularly enlarged upon in
these Leciures, and are alone sufficient to establish the
divinity of his person and of his religion; I mean hist
wonderful prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem
by the Romans, with every minute circumstance at-
tending it; and that astonishing and well authenticated
miracle of his resurrection from the grave, which was
in the last Lecture set before you: and when you lay
all these things together, and weigh them deliberately
and impartially, your minds must be formed in a very
peculiar manner indeed, if they are not most thorough-
ly impressed with faith in the Son of God, and the Gos-
pel which he taught.
Taking it then for granted, that you firmly believe
the Scripture to be the Word of God, that of course
they contain those heavenly doctrines and rules of life
by which you are to be guided here and saved hereafter;
that the present scene is nothing more than a state of tri-
al and probation for another world; that all mankind
must rise from the grave, and stand before the judg-
ment seat of Christ, to receive from his lips their final
doom that there is NO OTHER NAME GIVEN UNDER
HEAVEN BY WHICH YOU CAN BE SAVED, BUT THAT
of clay
OF JESUS ONLY; no other possible way of escaping the
punishments, or obtaining the rewards of the Christian
covenant, but faith in Christ, reliance on his merits, and
an earnest endeavor to practise every virtue and fulfil
every duty prescribed in his Gospel; taking it for
granted that you believe all these things to be true, let
me then ask you, what is the course oflife which every
wise man, which every man of common sense, must
*
LECTURE XXIV.
393
feel himself irresistibly called upon to pursue? Is it possi-
ble that with such awful, such divine truths as these, deep-
ly impressed upon your souls, you can allow yourselves
to be so entirely occupied with the various pursuits of
this life, as to exclude I will not say all thought (for that is
impossible) but all serious solicitude concerning your fu-
ture and eternal destiny? Are there any delights that this
world has to offer, that can compensate for the loss of
heaven? Some of you have perhaps run your career of
power, of pleasure, of gaiety, of luxury, of glory, and
of fame, and can tell the true amount, the real value of
these enjoyments. Say then honestly, whether any one
of them has answered your expectations: whether they
have left your minds perfectly content and satisfied;
whether they have proved so solid, so durable, so per-
fect, as to be worth purchasing at the expence of eter
nal happiness? I will venture to abide by your answer,
trust then to your own experience, and be no longer the
dupes of illusions which have so long misled you. And
if you have any feeling, any pity for the young, the
thoughtless, and the inexperienced, let them profit by
the instructions the salutary lessons you are so well
qualified to give them; let your warning voice restrain
them from rushing headlong into those errors, into which
you have perhaps been unfortunately betrayed. Tell
them (for you know it to be true,) that whatever flatter-
ing prospects the world may present to their ardent im-
aginations at their first entrance into life, there is no
solid ground for permanent comfort and content of mind,
but a conscientious discharge of their duty to God and
man, an anxious endeavor to recommend themselves
to the favor of the Almighty, and a hope of pardon and
acceptance through the merits of their Redeemer.
These alone can smooth the path of life and the bed of
death; these alone can bring a man peace at the last.
Reflections such as these must, in all times, and un-
der all circumstances, operate most powerfully on
every considerate mind; but they receive tenfold
weight from the peculiar complexion of the present pe-
riod, and the awful situation into which, by the dispen-
50
394
LECTURE XXIV.
sations of Providence, we are now cast. Never since
the world began were such tremendous proofs held up
to the observation of mankind, of the slender and pre-
carious tenure on which we hold every thing that we
deem most valuable in the present life, as have been
of late presented to our view. Look around you for a
moment; consider what has been passing on the conti-
nent of Europe for the last ten years and then say what is
there left for you in this world worthy of your attention,
on the possession of which, for any length of time, you
can with any degree of security rely; You must have
been very inattentive observers indeed, not to have per-
ceived that all the great objects of human wishes, rank,
power, honor, dignity, fame, riches, pleasures, gaieties,
all the pomp, and pride, and splendor, and luxury of
life, may when you least think of it, contrary to all ex-
pectation and all probability, be swept away from
you in one moment, and you yourselves thrown as it
were a miserable wreck on some desert shore, not only
without the elegancies and the comforts, but even with-
out the common necessaries of life, that this is no im-
aginary representation you all know too well; you see
too many melancholy proofs of it in those unfortunate
exiles who have taken refuge in this country; many
of whom have experienced, in the utmost extent, the
very calamities I have been here describing; and who,
but a few years ago, had as little reason to expect such
a dreadful reverse of fortune as any one who now hears
me.
It is true, ideed, that hitherto we have been most
wonderfully preserved by a kind Providence from those
miseries that have desolated the rest of Europe, and
have maintained a noble though a bitter conflict, during
many years, for our religion, our liberty, our indepen-
dence, our unrivalled constitution, and every thing that
is dear and valuable to man. But it must at the same
time be admitted that we are still in a most critical and
doubtful situation, and that our final success must
principally depend on that to which we have a thousand
times owed our preservation, the favor and protection of
of heaven.
i
LECTURE XXIV.
395
The rapid, the astonishing, the unexampled vicissi-
tudes, which have repeatedly taken place during the
whole of this arduous contest, most clearly shew, that
there is something in it more than common, some-
thing out of the ordinary course of human affairs,
something which baffles all conjecture and all calcu-
lation, and which all the wisdom of man cannot com-
prehend or control. What then is this something,
what is this secret and invisible agent which so evident-
ly overrules every important event in the present con-
vulsed state of the world, and so frequently confounds
the best concerted projects and designs? Is it fate is
it necessity is it chance is it fortune? These alas! we
all know are mere names, are mere unmeaning words,
by which we express our total ignorance of the true
That cause can be nothing else than the hand
of the omnipotent Being, who first created and still pre-
serves the universe; who is "the governor among the
nations, and ruleth unto the ends of the earth." To
make him then our friend is of the very last importance;
and it highly behoves us to consider, whether we have
hitherto taken the right way to make him so.
The an-
swer to this question is I fear, to be found in the unfa-
vorable aspect of affairs abroad, and the severe distresses
arising from unpropitious seasons at home, which too
plainly shew that the hand of the Almighty is upon us,
that we are a sinful people, and he an offended God.*
cause.
Let it not however be imagined, that I am here hold-
ing the language of despondency and despair; no, noth-
ing can be farther from my thoughts. But in the pre-
sent calamitious situation of this country, this glorious
and still unrivalled country, to which all our hearts are
bound by a thousand indissoluble ties, it would have
been unpardonable in me to have passed over with un-
feeling apathy and cold indifference those awakening
and unexampled events, which are forcing themselves
every moment on our observation, and which call aloud
on all the sons of men to reflect and to repent. I felt
*This Lecture was given in the Spring of the year 1801.
في.
396
LECTURE XXIV.
it to be my indispensable duty, in this my last solemn
address to you, to press upon you every motive to a
holy life that could influence the heart of man, and
with this view to draw your attention to all those aston-
ishing scenes that are daily passing before your eyes,
and which add irresistible force to every thing that has
been advanced in the course of these Lectures. You
now see displayed, in visible characters, in the actual
vicissitudes of almost every hour, those great truths
which I have been for four years past inculcating in
words; the uncertainty of every earthly blessing, the
vanity of all human pursuits, the instability of all world-
ly happiness, and the absolute necessity of looking out
for some more solid ground to stand upon, some more
durable treasures on which to fix our affections and our
hearts. For many years past God has been speaking
to us by the various dispensations of his providence,
by acts of mercy and of justice, by his interpositions
to save us, by his judgments to correct us. He has
been speaking a language which cannot be misunder-
stood, a language which is heard in every quarter of
the globe, which makes all nature tremble, and shakes
the very foundations of the earth.
Yet still, though there is just cause for apprehension,
there is no occasion for despair. If from these judg-
ments of the Lord, we learn that lesson they were meant
to teach us; if we turn, without delay, from the evil
of our ways; if we humble ourselves under the mighty
hand of God, and acknowledge our transgressions with
the truest penitence and contrition of soul; if we set
ourselves in earnest to relinquish every vicious habit,
every secret fault, as well as every presumptuous sin;
if we deny ourselves, and take up our cross to follow
Christ; if we lay our follies, our vanities, our gaities,
our criminal indulgencies, at the feet of our Redeemer,
and purify ourselves even as he is pure; if in these
times of unexampled scarcity of all the necessaries of
life, we open our hearts and our hands wide to the ne-
cessities of our suffering brethren; if, in short, by the
purity of our hearts, the sanctity of our lives, the fervor
LECTURE XXIV.
397
of our devotions, the sincerity of our faith and confi-
dence in Christ, we recommend ourselves to the favor
of heaven, I scruple not to say, that we have nothing
to fear. By the mighty hand of God we shall be pro-
tected here; by the merits of him who died for us we
shall be saved and rewarded hereafter. And we may,
I trust, in this case, humbly apply to ourselves that
consolatory declaration of the Almighty to another peo-
ple, with which I shall finally close these Lectures; and
which may God in his infinite mercy confirm to us all
in this world, and in the next!
"How can I give thee up, Ephraim? My soul is
turned within me. I will not execute the fierceness of
my anger, for I am God, and not man. In a little
wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment: but with
everlasting kindness* will I have mercy upon thee."+
* This kindness has in fact (as far as the public welfare is concerned) been
in several important instances most graciously and conspicuously extended to
this highly favoured land since these Lectures were finished; and it evidently
calls for every return on our part of affection and obedience to our heavenly
Benefactor, that the deepest sense of gratitude can possibly dictate to devout
and feeling hearts.-March, 1802.
† Hosea xi. 8, 9. Isaiah liv. 8.
FINIS.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
*
3 9015 06433 4991
*.
A 550557
DUPL