from thine eyes." "For if we sin wil- exhibit! through evil report and good re fully after that we have received the port, through opposition and discouragement, knowledge of the truth, there remaineth through sorrow and suffering, by night and no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fear- by day, till, bowing his head, he could say, ful looking for of judgment and fiery in- "It is finished." "Arm yourselves," theredignation, which shall devour the adversa- fore, Christians, "with the same mind:" ries." "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith:-consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." "And let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

We conclude with pointing out the Saviour as a pattern of perseverance in welldoing. Nazareth is no longer a theatre of teaching and working. Does he therefore sullenly, resentfully cease from discharging the duties of his high office? No, other cities will gladly receive him. "He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath-days." And what a course of active, unwearied beneficence did the remainder of his earthly pilgrimage

HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST.

LECTURE CXXI.

Now, when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee and leaving Naza reth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people which sat in darkness saw great light: and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, 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, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.-MATTHEW iv. 12—22.

AMONG the other means of arriving at cer- | tainty, respecting "the things wherein we have been instructed," it may be of importance to compare the present state of Christianity with its origin; to contrast the smallness of its beginnings with the greatness of its success; to consider the real influence which a cause so unpromising has had on human affairs, and the changes which it actually has produced on the face of the globe. Who is its Author? A mighty potentate, armed with sovereign power and authority? An invincible conqueror travelling in the greatness of his strength, at the head of triumphant legions, from victory to victory? An experienced statesman skilled in every art of intrigue, and amply furnished with all-commanding gold, to gain over credulous, or to purchase the suffrages of corruptible multitudes? The reverse of all this is the fact. The Author of our faith, Christians, as has frequently been repeated, was the reputed son of a carpenter; he was brought up in an obscure village of a region proverbially contemptible, of a conquered country; he was destitute of

means, of friends, of worldly wisdom; he was a pensioner on the bounty of others, and frequently without a place where to lay his head.

Will any one presume to allege that he associated with the great of this world, that he insinuated himself into the favour and counsels of the princes of the earth, that he went forth armed with their commission, and advanced in their name conquering and to conquer? No, history contradicts all this. He lived up to the age of thirty in the very depth of obscurity; his associates and coadjutors were few in number, men of mean parentage and parts, in the very lowest ranks of society, fishermen, the sons of fishermen. Did he employ, then, the arts of insinuation, address, and flattery to captivate the vulgar? Did he teach an easy, palatable, pliant morality, and attract the countenance and support of the million, by gratifying their passions, by conniving at their vices, or by humouring their prejudices? No such thing. His life and doctrine were quite the reverse. He preached and exemplified mortification, and self-denial, and patient submission

to painful and unmerited suffering, and renunciation of the world. Undoubtedly then his followers could not be numerous, nor his reputation extensive; nor his power of long duration. This too is contradicted by matter of fact. No teacher can boast of so many disciples; no name is so widely diffused; and after a lapse of eighteen centuries, the field of his triumph is extended and extending, and his outstretched arms are expanded to embrace a globe.

How is all this to be accounted for? Who shall explain this accumulation of mystery Consult, on the subject, the learned Jewish doctor of laws, whom we formerly quoted with respect. His reasoning upon it is as sound, and as conclusive now, as it was near two thousand years ago. "If this counsel or this work were of men, it must have come to nought; but because it is of God, it cannot be overthrown." Christianity is the cause of heaven, and therefore it hath prospered, and shall continue to prosper.

a town of Galilee, on the sea-coast, on the confines of the inheritance of the two tribes Zabulon and Nephthalim, denominated “Galilee of the Gentiles," from its proximity to the regions of Tyre and Sidon.

But what step of our Saviour's progress, was unmarked by the finger of ancient prophecy, and consequently directed by a special interposition of Divine Providence? Isaiah, who had so clearly and fully described his character and offices, in the passage which he read and applied to himself. in the synagogue at Nazareth, has also c'early and decidedly announced his visit to Capernaum, and the light and glory which his preaching and mighty works should diffuse over a region which lay buried in heathenish ignorance and idolatry. How runs the prophecy! "Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon, and the land of Naphthali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." And what saith the his

We have hitherto beheld our blessed Lord single and unconnected; gradually showing himself to the world as a Teacher sent from God. In the passage which has now been read, we find him laying the foundation of his church, forming and modelling his house-tory? "Leaving Nazareth, he came and hold, beginning to provide a succession of public teachers of his religion, who should carry on to the end of time, the instruction of an ignorant, the reformation of a corrupted, the salvation of a perishing world. The career of John Baptist, his kinsman and forerunner, was now come to an end. That rigid moralist and honest reformer had, by speaking truth and acting faithfully, incurred the displeasure of an arbitrary despot, who cast him into prison, where he soon after fell a victim to the resentment of an abandoned woman. But this John had already given a repeated and public testimony to Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, promised to the fathers, and as "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." And, at his baptism by John, God had confirmed that testimony by a voice from heaven.

dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the seacoast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." In this too is not "the arm of the Lord revealed?" Thus clearly does infinite wisdom foresee whatsoever shall come to pass: thus confidently doth unchangeable, unerring truth declare the end from the beginning, and thus irresistibly doth the mighty power of God bring it to pass. And thus by a series of "immutable things," that “God who cannot lie" is affording "a strong consolation" to those "who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us."

As the Baptist's public labours drew towards a conclusion, those of Jesus Christ Jesus takes up the same theme which conwere advancing to their commencement; stituted the subject of John's preaching, and, as we have seen, they were first em- namely the doctrine of repentance; that ployed for the instruction and relief of his humbling doctrine, which regards a world kindred and townsmen of Nazareth, where lying in wickedness, ignorance, and misery he had been brought up. His benevolent ser- so deplorable, as to be fitly represented by vices there, however, were most ungrateful- the powerful and expressive imagery of ly requited, the minds of his auditors being "darkness" and "the region and shadow of poisoned with envy, and, as a necessary con- death;" that compassionate doctrine which sequence, their hearts hardened through un- stretches out a friendly hand to the guilty belief. Disappointed of success there, where and the wretched; that reviving doctrine it might have been so reasonably expected, which gently draws the trembling sinner to he gives not up, in sullen dissatisfaction, the the God of mercy, and which forbids the vilest work which was given him to do, but leaving to despair. And by what argument is this Nazareth, in the manner related in the pre-salutary doctrine recommended and enforced, ceding Lecture, he proceeds to Capernaum, by both the forerunner, and by the greater

who followed after him? "The King of heaven is at hand:" the reign of grace, the dominion of love; a new display of divine perfection, even God descending to dwell with men upon earth, that he might prepare men to "s it together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." What a fulness of time was now come when "the Prophet of the Highest," like the sun," rejoicing as a strong man to run a race," began to "go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace!" The great Sovereign in this heavenly kingdom, in a manner peculiar to himself, announces his own public entry on the exercise of his authority; the Prince of Peace cries aloud, and proclaims "the acceptable year of the Lord!"

ing to acquire a celebrity which speedily eclipsed the titles of royalty, and the glare of imperial purple. "Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ;" John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," are held in lasting and grateful remembrance by the nations of the earth, while the memory of their mighty contemporaries, a Tiberius, a Nero, and a Domitian, is rotting in the dust, or preserved from oblivion by a note of infamy, and a sentiment of detestation. In the former we revere the benefactors of the human race; from the latter we turn away with abhorrence, as from so many monsters. The despised Galileans became "fishers of men," converted myriads to the faith and hope of the Gospel, and, to this day, by their writings, continue to minister to the edification and comfort of the Christian world; and now that the papal throne is sinking after the imperial into utter annihilation, the throne of those humble followers of the Lamb is like that of their divine Master, built upon a rock, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail.

We said, in a manner peculiar to himself: for it looks as if he were meaning to court neglect, to excite compassion, or to provoke The power of persuasion accompanied the contempt, not to engage attention or to com- call of Jesus: "Walking by the sea of Galimand respect. When we behold the car- lee, he saw two brethren; and he saith unto penter's son forming an humble alliance with them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers three or four simple, illiterate, unconnected of men. And they straightway left their fishermen, the inhabitants of a little town on nets and followed him." Presently after, he the coast of the sea of Galilee, Who is so saw another pair of brothers, pursuing the timid as to take the alarm? Who is so san- accustomed labours of their humble occupaguine as to expect any thing from such a tion; "and he called them. And they imconfederacy? Who is such a visionary as mediately left the ship, and their father, and to prognosticate from it the downfal of ido- followed him." It will be said that they had latry, and the revolution of empires? But very little to lose, and therefore merit not this proved indeed the grand crisis in human the praise of having made a very costly saaffairs. It produced an universal and ever-crifice. No man can make a greater sacrilasting change in the state of the world. It was the establishment of a kingdom destined to control, and, at length to swallow up every other; nay, which was to outlast the sun, and survive the system of nature; which was to prove the foundation whereon to rear a new and more glorious fabric of creation, to serve as a theatre whereon to display wonders which shall leave the pride of kings at an infinite distance behind. "All these things shall be dissolved: nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." On the day that Jesus called "Simon and Andrew his brother, James and John his brother" from their boats and fishingnets, imperial Rome shook to the foundation; the Jewish hierarchy expired: Satan's empire fell; and on their ruins began to arise a kingdom which cannot be moved;" the predicted throne and kingdom of David's Lord, which the zeal of the Lord of hosts was "to order, and to establish with judgment and with justice, even for ever."

66

These simple men with simple names, then obscure, unnoticed, unknown, were hasten

fice than that of his all, whether it be much or little. When a person deliberately resigns the means of earning his bread, he casts himself entirely on Providence. The woman of Sarepta who, at the word of the prophet, brought her last morsel of bread to satisfy his hunger, exhibited a most illustrious display of confidence in God; as did likewise that other poor widow, whom Jesus beheld casting her two mites into the treasury, and whose liberality he so highly extols: "he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had." It is not the quantity given, but the spirit in which it is bestowed, that stamps value on the gift. Peter indeed, on a certain occasion, seems to have highly rated the surrender which he made, and to have deemed himself fully entitled to a compensation: "Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" Jesus admits the claim: he undervalues not the

the kingdom." This seems to have been something more than a simple reading of the Scriptures, followed by an equally simple application of the word read to its appro

sacrifice which affection has offered up, and points out the glorious compensation which he was ready to make: "And Jesus said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regenera-priate object, as in the instance which has tion, 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." Such is the unbounded generosity of him who saith in another place: "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, vetily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward."

But there must have been an inconceivable something in the manner and address of Jesus Christ, which could induce men in circumstances such as those of the disciples, to forego the very means of subsistence, and to follow him at all hazards. They feel the attraction of true goodness, but have not as yet any apprehension of the person, nature, and mission of the Master whom they were preferring to all worldly relations, possessions, and prospects. But their choice was shortly justified, as they attended his footsteps through the cities of Galilee: and it is highly grateful to find a first favourable impression, completely confirmed, or far exceeded by knowledge and experience. They were to be made witnesses for Christ to all nations, every opportunity is therefore afforded them of the most intimate communication with him, "all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them:" that they might declare to the world " that which was from the beginning, which they heard, which they saw with their eyes, which they looked upon, and which their hands did handle of the word of life." Through a channel, and on the testimony of witnesses, so little liable to suspicion, "the truth as it is in Jesus" has been transmitted to us.

already been under review: "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." The word translated to preach is derived from 2 noun which signifies herald, public crier, the messenger of prince to prince, of nation to nation. Thus the prophet Isaiah might be said to preach to the men of his day, when, by the command of God, he executed the office of a herald; "Cry aloud, spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." And thus, in strictness of speech, Christ himself might be said to preach, when "in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." In a greater latitude, to preach is from a given topic, to argue, to exhort, to reprove, to encourage; to assail the heart, in the view of producing conviction, and of regulating the life through every avenue of the soul, the intellect, the passions, the very senses. Thus Paul on Mars'-hill at Athens, "preached Jesus and the resurrection." Thus also at Troas, after breaking of bread, "he preached, and continued his speech until midnight." And as Christ himself thus preached," he sent out his twelve disciples to preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand;" and with this solemn charge he left them, when he ascended into heaven: "Go ye, therefore, 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 whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." And thus until now, through the operation of his mighty power, "the foolishness of preaching," the preaching of "Christ crucified" is " to them that are called, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”

The mode of conveying to the minds of men "the gospel of the kingdom," next arrests our attention. He went teaching in Teaching and preaching were accompa their synagogues. This consisted, if we nied, and supported by the display of miracu may judge from his practice at Nazareth, in lous powers, all employed in doing good. “He rehearsing aloud, before worshipping assem- healed all manner of sickness, and all manner blies, the Scriptures of the Old Testament, of disease, among the people." This general either in their order, or passages selected for description of human wretchedness, to which special occasions, and particularly applied. the promised Messiah was to apply a remedy, And this in every age and state of the church, is followed by a sad enumeration of the several ever since a revelation came down from hea-particulars which compose this depressing ag ven, was and is the groundwork of public instruction and devotion: even the word of the living God, the standard of truth, the foundation of faith, the rule of life.

The second mode of instruction employed by our Lord, was "preaching the gospel of

gregate; some of them were more common. and in many cases removeable by human skill and the use of ordinary means; socce were more obstinate and hopeless, as the palsy, lunacy, which in general bid defiance to the healing art, and terminate at length

the one in the dissolution of the body, the other in a total derangement of the mental powers. This catalogue is closed by an extraordinary malady, seemingly peculiar to that period and spot of the world, diabolical possession. Attempts have been made to explain away this terrible affliction into a species of madness or epilepsy, to which the human frame has in all ages been deplorably subjected, but which can with no propriety be ascribed to the operation of malignant spirits. The instances, however, both of the existence of the disease, and of the cure, are too numerous, and too specific, to be confounded with mental disorder or bodily infirmity; and every attempt of the kind ought to be resisted, as a blow aimed at all historical evidence, as an insidious design to limit the agency of spiritual beings, and to measure all existing powers by those of man. The influence of "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" has no need to be demonstrated. And wherefore should it be thought a thing incredible that, for a season, and for purposes by us inscrutable, this evil spirit might be permitted to harass and convulse the bodies of men, that the superior power of the Son of God might be manifested in recovering, both in body and in spirit, "out of the snare of the devil, them who are taken captive by him at his will?"

The whole taken together, the teaching, the preaching, and the miraculous cures performed by Christ, in their combined effect, amount to this: there is not an evil which man is liable to, in his body, his mind, his estate, of yesterday or of many years standing, but what must yield to the wisdom, the power, the grace of Christ. It was the union of those several methods of conducting his divine mission that gave weight to each separately, and to the combined whole. Miracles without instruction might have accused, might have excited admiration and astonishment. But we know how very transient and inefficient impressions of this sort are. The wonder ceases, it is driven out by a new prodigy, and this, in its turn, gives place to a third, and so on in succession, till extraordinary become mere common things, and no salutary effect is produced. But when the person who has been trying to instruct me, and whose lessons I found wearisome, and treated with neglect, takes a kindly interest in me and my concerns, makes my health and comfort his own; when he interposes seasonably, condescendingly, in behalf of myself, my child, my friend, my neighbour; and not only seasonably, but powerfully, effectually, in a way that far transcends the usual course of things; when I behold my teacher and my benefactor to be one and the same, the same man who vouchsafed to point out truth and tell me my duty, giving sight to a man that

was born blind, and raising the dead to life, then the lesson comes with force to the heart and conscience. Nicodemus, the Jewish ruler, felt and acknowledged the irresistible power of this combination. He said to Jesus, "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." Thus the simplicity of doctrine is dignified and impressed by the lustre of miracle, and the effect of miracle, on the other hand, acquires permanency from the stability, importance, and usefulness of the doctrine.

The preaching of the Gospel is no longer supported and confirmed by miracles. Granted. It is no longer necessary that it should. While supernatural, external aid was necessary, such aid was communicated. In Jesus Christ, and in what he did, taught, and suffered, the Scriptures were fulfilled. He authenticated his commission by the seal of miracles. Under that seal he executed it; and that seal he transmitted to his immediate disciples. Under it they acted, and the world was christianized. Miracles have effected all that they were intended to effect, and the Gospel now rests on its own unmoveable basis. What need of the formality of a seal to a writing which bears the impress of Deity on every line, on every letter? You call for miraculous proof of its divine original. That very call, in the nineteenth century from its first establishment, is the proof. Had it not been the cause of God and truth, it must long ere now have ceased to be a subject of discussion. When the opposition of avowed enemies, and the treachery of pretended friends, are taken into the account, that Christianity should at all exist, is the greatest wonder that ever was presented to the world. You call for proof; it is at hand. What political, philosophical, moral system ever lasted so long, or could boast so many proselytes? What system is so favourable to science, to intellectual, civil, moral improvement? Introduce the spirit of Christ, and despotism and slavery expire together; man is settled on a basis of equality which disturbs not the order of society, and a prospect is opened of a state of being in which all the disorders now prevalent shall be completely rectified. You call for proof; it is at hand. Go to hamlets and huts; look to empty scrips. and exhausted penury, to the field of painful, unproductive toil, and to the bed of languishing; see Rachel weeping for her children, because they are not: and David mourning over living, ungracious children. The sufferers repine not, they charge not God foolishly; they commit themselves to Him who clotheth the lily and feedeth the raven; labour makes rest sweet, and hope puts a pillow under the drooping head; the heart is poured out before God, and the countenance is no more sad. Is this no miracle? In what