-NRLF 
 
ttia, 
 
 No. 
 
 
 ivision 
 
 Range. 
 
 Received^ 
 
GREAT TEACHER 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 LORD'S MINISTRY: 
 
 <&! 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. JOHN HARRIS. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, 
 
 BY HEMAN HUMP HREY, D, D. 
 
 President of Amherst College. 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 AMHERST: 
 
 J. S. b C. ADAMS, 
 
 1837. 
 
Entered, according to the act of Congress, in the year 
 
 1835, by J. S. & C. Adams, in the 
 Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 J. S. & C. Adams, Printers. 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction to the American Edition, 
 Preface, ; 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 THE AUTHORITY OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING^ 
 
 ' He spake as one having authority.' 
 
 A Divine Teacher needed Desired Might have been 
 expected Was predicted His advent in the person of 
 Christ His lowly condition Herald Installation to 
 office Subject proposed A very small portion of his 
 discourses recorded-Scope of his teaching-First char- 
 acteristic, authority. I. Authority of goodness-Invi- 
 tations Beatitudes. II. Authority of greatness 
 Claims universal audience Superiority to Jonah, Sol- 
 omon, and all the great, names of the Jewish Church 
 Supremacy Central object of the judgment day 
 Impress his 'name on every thing Speaks of all 
 things awful and sublime, calmly, like one familiar 
 with them Teaching, declarative and dogmatic. 
 III. Authority of solemnity His peculiar formula 
 His denunciations of woe. IV. Legislative authority 
 
 Revises the Mosaic code Assorts his superiority to 
 law Repeals existing economy Controls laws of na- 
 ture himself, and confers the power on others ' I say 
 unto you,' dis new commandment Not only enacts 
 laws, but ensures obedience Forgives sin Rpposed 
 on his own personal authority Conclusion His 
 teaching exempt from all supposable circumstances 
 unfavorable to authoritative teaching Taught with 
 the perfect conviction of the truth of his doctrine 
 His example enforced it Cordial sympathy with it 
 Knew the ultimate principles on which his doctrines 
 rested And the supreme value of the truth he taught 
 
 And the purity of his own motives And the ulti- 
 mate triumph of his doctrine All this must have 
 clothed his teaching, especially when contrasted with 
 the prevailing mode of Jewish instruction, with com- 
 manding power His disciples should be distinguished 
 by reverence and docility These dispositions to be 
 
 sought and found at the throne of grace. . . 49 81 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 THE ORIGINALITY OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING. 
 
 SECTION I. Of God the Father. 
 
 'Never man spake like this man.' 
 
 ' No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the 
 Son will reveal him.' 
 
 Originality not valuable for its own sake His praise 
 consists, partly, in not being more original Deigned 
 to adopt familiar illustrations and sayings in order to 
 engage attention and affection His highest claim to 
 originality consists in new disclosures of truth To 
 have merely interpreted the book of nature, unavail- 
 ing Is itself brought under the curse The great 
 truth it attests is the existence of its Maker. I. Christ 
 taught his character Prevailing ignorance on the sub- 
 jectEven in Judea--Among the heathens, the Epi- 
 curean system general. II. Christ taught the univer- 
 sal providence and paternal character of God. III. 
 His love to man, exemplified in the mission of Christ. 
 IV. This, only the means of merey. V. The end- 
 Free gift of eternal life. VI. Offered to all. VII. 
 Character of Christ is the character of the Father. 
 VIII. Taught us to call him our Father Summary of 
 our Lord's teaching on this subject Life eternal to 
 know God through Christ. ... . 88121 
 
 SECTION II. Concerning himself. 
 
 'No man knoweth the Son but the Father.' 
 
 His person unique Not understood by his disciples till 
 after his ascension. I. The complexity of his person. 
 II. Object of his advent Evinced the divine existence 
 Embodied the Divine spirituality But, chiefly, rep- 
 resented the Divine character. III. Mode of manifes- 
 tation By sensible representation Affirming that all 
 he did was only in fulfillment of the Father's commis- 
 sion Ascending the cross Saving the outcast Iden- 
 tifying his interest with ours Sending salvation to 
 Jerusalem Giving his own Spirit to his disciples- 
 Interceding Personally Allowing us to plead his 
 name Engaging himself to answer prayer Object of 
 the whole to demonstrate that 'God is love;' and to 
 make us the heirs of that love 122 173 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION III. Of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 'This spake he of the Spirit.' 
 
 Difficult lo discriminate between originality and mere 
 novelty New theological opinions sprung up between 
 the times of Malachi and of Christ Though much is 
 taught of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, the 
 doctrine of his agency is one of the most original that 
 came from the lips of Christ. I. Mission of the Spirit 
 dependent on his own return lo heaven The reasons 
 why. II. Object of the Spirit's advent To convince 
 of sin. III. Means of his operation. IV. Necessity 
 of regeneration. V. Effects of it. VI. Glorifies 
 Christ VII. To enhance our views and desires of 
 the Spirit, our Lord taught that to reject him is unpar- 
 donable That his presence would compensate for his 
 own departure Be a remedy for all the miseries of 
 earth God's all-comprehending gift Free for all. 173211 
 
 SECTION IV. Of the Doctrine of the Trinity ; and of 
 a Spiritual Church. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity imperfectly known under the 
 Jewish economy Taught by our Lord practically 
 In the formula of Christian baptism, I. The existence 
 of a spiritual church. II. Had been pre-fignred 
 The world contains nothing like it. III. Its simplicity, 
 IV. Its purpose. V. Its spirituality Preached repent- 
 ance as a requisite for membership Armed his church 
 with power to expel offenders Denounced the Phari- 
 sees for * teaching as doctrine the commandments of 
 men.' The church his earthly kingdom. . . 211 226 
 
 SECTION V. On Satanic Agency. 
 
 ' The devil and his angels.' 
 
 Satan the prince of devils Number of his agents His 
 apostacy, and ruin of man His power on earth, a 
 kingdom Organized Long almost undisputed 
 Christ came to dispute his authority Took an affect- 
 ing view of human vassalage Satan, aware of his 
 advent Undertook to conduct his temptation Made 
 his life an incessant conflict Compassed his death- 
 
-CONTENTS. 
 
 Defeated The defeat of Satan quite reconcilable 
 with his present prevalence Called a spirit, to excite 
 our vigilance An unclean spirit, toawaken our antip- 
 athyHis influence over the heart, great Bat only 
 exercised with our consent The period of his reiga 
 limited 226244 
 
 .SECTION VI. Of the Immortality of the Soul; Res- 
 urrection of the Body. 
 
 'I am the Resurrection and the life.' 
 
 The hope of immortality reasonable The great instinct 
 of humanity Revelation necessary to authenticate it 
 It did so, partially, under the last economy Full 
 revelation and proof of the doctrine reserved for 
 Christ. I. Taught, the doctrine of an intermediate ex- 
 istence. II. Proved a resurrection. III. He :himself 
 will raise the dead. IV. Resurrection, universal. V. 
 Bodies raised, identical with those intered. VI. Means 
 of a resurrection to eternal life, provided by Christ 
 he possesses the power By dying in our stead, has 
 -acquired the right Begins, even here, to make his 
 power and right available, by quickening dead souls 
 The final extinction of death so certain, that he speaks 
 of it as already effected. . . . . 244--270 
 
 SECTION VII. Of the Final Judgment. 
 
 ' The Son of man shall come in his glory; and before him shall b3 
 gathered all nations.' 
 
 'The judgment anticipated by the human mind. I. Its 
 publicity. II. Christ himself the judge. III. Its sol- 
 emn pomp. IV. Its rectitudeHence, it will be uni- 
 versal Take cognizance of every act A judgment 
 of comparison and proportion And conducted accord- 
 ing to the known laws of the divine government. V. 
 Its division of all intelligent beings into good and bad 
 This distribution commenced upon earth Angels 
 will then be employed to complete it. VI. Its final 
 awards These awards everlasting The whole doc- 
 trine exhibits the practical value of the gospel, and the 
 infinite importance of Christ, 271296 
 
'CONTENTS. TO 
 
 ESSAY III. 
 
 SPIRITUALITY OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING. 
 ' The words that I speak unto you are spirit and life.' 
 
 I. The spirituality of the Divine Nature. II. Of the 
 moral law. III. Of the worship of God As opposed 
 to that which is local Ceremonial Prescribed by hu- 
 man authority Formal and insincere. IV. Of his 
 kingdom Denounced the temporal hopes of the Jews 
 Called for spiritual subjects Born from above Dis- 
 claimed for his kingdom all resemblance to earthly 
 governments Conclusion The whole reminds us of 
 our proneness to repose in a form of piety to the neg- 
 lect of evangelical holiness This has originated su- 
 perstition- -Neutralized the Jewish economy And 
 early began to vitiate Christianity itself Importance of 
 exemplifying the spiritual nature of our vocation . 297334 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 ON THE TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING. 
 
 ' Learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto youi; 
 souls.' 
 
 ' And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded 
 out of his mouth.' 
 
 The recollection of our Lord's character necessary, to 
 feel the pathos of his teaching. I. His excellencies 
 Loveliness of his youth His gracious commission 
 Purity Superiority to the age in which he lived In- 
 dependent of all surrounding influences Uuniversal- 
 ty of his plans dualities contrasted, but harmonized 
 by benevolence Overflowing benignity. II. His be- 
 nevolence as a Teacher Objection answered Em- 
 ployed parables Chose to be poor Taught gratuitous- 
 lySimplified instruction Teaching consolatory- 
 Places in which he preached, evinced condescension 
 Always accessible Impressed unwelcome truths by 
 employing affecting signs ; the little child ; washing 
 the disciples feet ; the last supper. III. Instances of 
 the tenderness and benevolence of his teaching Pre- 
 dicted his own death Blessed the poor in Spirit 
 soothed the anxious Offered the weary rest Parable 
 of the prodigal Identifies himself with all piety 
 Apostrophizes, and weeps over Jerusalem His vale- 
 dictory discourse His purposes of grace Universal- 
 
yiii CONTENTS. 
 
 ity of his offers Expressions of his benevolence went 
 on increasing to the last Conclusion; character of 
 Christ regarded as an evidence for Christianity An 
 example And an encouragement His expostulation 
 with the unbeliever, . . . - . . . 335394 
 
 ESSAY V. 
 
 THE PRACTICALNESS OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING , 
 
 ' Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.' 
 
 I. Our Lord evinced his wisdom, as a practical teacher, 
 by limiting his revelations to the measure of our real 
 wants By dispensing with a cumbrous ritual. II. 
 His favorite topics, humility and benevolence. III. 
 Preferred comprehensive rules to a detailed enumera- 
 tion of duties. IV. His morality extends to the 
 thoughts. V. To motives Love of God. VI. Pre- 
 scribes for its end, the glory of God. VII. For its 
 standard, the character of God. VIII. Injunctions, 
 simple and authoiitative Sanctions. IX. Not only 
 commands, but enables. X. Objections of the in- 
 completeness of the Saviour's code, answered Happy 
 effects of his gospel. XI. Impiety of those who re- 
 gard it as a dispensation from holiness. XII. Supreme 
 importance which he ascribed to holiness Aim to 
 make earth resemble heaven, .... 395-- 444 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 THE seal which God put upon man, when he made 
 him, was nothing less than his own bright image. What 
 a mysterious creation ! The stamp of the Divinity upon 
 a child of the dust ! What noble intellectual and moral 
 powers ! What a destiny ! And can this being, so ' fear- 
 fully and wonderfully made,' know himself and find out 
 the character of his fellows ? Is he capable of admiring 
 what is great in them, and imitating what is good ? 
 
 These questions do not need a formal answer for the 
 natural, as well as ' the proper study of mankind is man.' 
 We are instinctively prompted to examine other copies of 
 this remarkable volume, not only to ascertain how far they 
 agree with our own, but to note down whatever strikes 
 us as peculiar in any of them. Especially are all eyes at- 
 tracted by intellectual and moral greatness, wherever it 
 appears. 
 
 Such men as Aristotle, Bacon, Pascal, Edwards, Milton, 
 Howard, Washington, and Napoleon, always have had a 
 multitude of admirers, and they always will have. It is 
 ferdly necessary to add, that the constituent elements of 
 gleatness in such extraordinary men, are capable of being 
 exhibited in a variety of interesting lights. They are like 
 tlose large bodies, which cannot be seen, on all sides, from 
 aiy one station : or those wide and deep waters, which 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cannot be effectually sounded, by heaving the lead once, 
 or twice, in the same place. The genius the inspiration, 
 I was about to say, of a great Poet, or Philosopher, or 
 Reformer, requires much and deep reflection, to compre- 
 hend it. And in order to do justice to the master spirits 
 of the world, the soul must be stirred by kindred impulses. 
 Moreover, when the sublime and original conceptions of a 
 Milton, or the indomitable daring of a Luther, or John 
 Knox, is to be scanned, a single biography, or a critique, 
 however ably drawn up, does not satisfy us. It just awak- 
 ens our admiration and curiosity. We inquire more ea- 
 gerly than ever, wherein ' their great strength lay.' We 
 dwell upon every incident of their lives with new interest. 
 We read their works again and again, with increased sat- 
 isfaction, and eagerly catch every ray of light which is 
 cast upon their characters and writings by the most gifted 
 admirers. 
 
 But no mere human work or character is perfect. The 
 profoundest depths of man's intellect can be fathomed. In 
 the loftiest flights of his imagination he can be followed. 
 None of his richest mines are inexhaustible. The time 
 must come, when all will have been said, that can be said, 
 to exalt the character of any individual of our race, how- 
 ever great his talents, or illustrious his virtues. And this 
 would have been the case had sin never entered the world. 
 Had the men whom we most admire, been perfectly holy, 
 it would have been a limited -perfection after all not finite 
 merely, but the perfection of, probably, the lowest order rf 
 God's intelligent creation. So that in due time, we might 
 have learned every thing that could be learned about then ; 
 might have exhausted our admiration upon every thirg 
 that was worthy to be admired. 
 
 In like manner, were an angel to come down from heiv- 
 en, and dwell among us, and unfold to us those subUme 
 
INTRODUCTION.. XI 
 
 mysteries of science and religion, which are too deep for 
 human discovery ; and were he at the same time, to exhib- 
 it before our eyes, during a long course of years, a brilliant 
 example of angelic benevolence, what an atmosphere of 
 light and love would it throw around him. How eagerly 
 should we listen to his instructions with what absorbing 
 interest should we study his character; and with what 
 emotions of wonder and gratitude should we follow him, 
 as * he went about doing good !' Such a heavenly sojourn- 
 er, might in due time withdraw from the world, to resume 
 his golden harp before the :th rone; and were he to leave 
 behind him a single volume for our perusal, illustrative of 
 his character, and revealing more fully the high purpose 
 of his mission, with what intense interest would all his 
 disciples sit down to the study of that volume; how many 
 commentaries would be written upon it; and how much 
 more and deeper wisdom might it be expected to embody, 
 than any book of man's composing. It would not be 
 strange, if new views of truth, and of the exalted intellect 
 and benevolence of the writer should be elicited a hundred 
 years after his departure. But still, it would be the work 
 of a finite mind of one of the lowest, perhaps, on the 
 scale of angelic gradation. The time might come, and 
 come soon, compared with the duration of this world, when 
 there would be nothing more for man to learn, from such 
 a volume. 
 
 Suppose, again, that Gabriel, or if there be one high- 
 er than he, on. the mighty scale suppose that the first 
 archangel were to be sent down to us, to take our nature 
 into mysterious union with his own ; to become a man as 
 well as an angel ; suppose he were to initiate us still more 
 deeply into the mysteries of science and the knowledge of 
 God; to set us a perfect example of holy obedience; to 
 sympathise with us in all our afflictions ; and even to suf- 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fer for our crimes; what a multitude of disciples and ad- 
 mirers would gather round him and hang upon his lips, 
 and tender him their most grateful acknowledgements. 
 And were he, in taking leave of us, that he might go up 
 and stand ' in the presence of God,' to put into our hands 
 a roll for us all to copy, containing a history of his own 
 life and sufferings, and rich in the sublimest revelations 
 which it would be in the power of an archangel to make, 
 how eagerly should we break the seal, and how uneasy 
 would every one be till he had obtained his copy. How 
 should we pore over such a document day and night; and 
 how many ' heavenly things,' would in all probability be 
 left for other critics and commentators to open up to view, 
 after successive generations of admirers had passed away. 
 In so remarkable a case as this, w r e should not think it 
 over-weening presumption in any well-instructed disciple 
 to take the roll and search within the great seal for others, 
 which might possibly have been over-looked by all his 
 predecessors. It might require thousands of years, of 
 deep study, to bring out all the hidden wisdom of this sin- 
 gle angelic roll. And yet, it should not be inexhaustible ; 
 for it would be the wisdom, not of an infinite, but of a 
 finite mind. Though time itself should be too short to 
 open all the seals, there will surely be scope enough in 
 eternity. The period may arrive in the everlasting ages 
 of his future being, when man, child of the dust as he is, 
 will excel the highest seraph in his present knowledge of 
 God, and the plan of his government, and the glories of 
 his empire, as much as that seraph now excels the hum- 
 blest saint on earth. 
 
 But we have dwelt too long, perhaps, upon these suppo- 
 sitions. There are facts connected with the history of this 
 world, which must strike tr;e mind at once, as infinitely 
 surpassing all that it would have ever entered into the 
 
INTRODUCTION. X1H 
 
 heart of man to suppose, or conceive.' Nearly two thou- 
 sand years ago, a voice of strange and mysterious import 
 was heard in heaven ; and the more mysterious, because 
 it issued from the throne itself. * Sacrifice and offering 
 thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. Lo 
 I am come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 
 I delight to do thy will, O my God : yea, thy law is with- 
 in my breast. 3 And who is it, that thus announces his 
 purpose to visit a guilty world, and become incarnate ? We 
 first ask the Prophet Isaiah, and he answers, ' Unto us a 
 child is b:rn, unto us a son is given : and the government 
 shall be upon his shoulders: his name shall be called 
 Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting 
 Father, the Prince of Peace.' We next inquire of John, 
 the beloved disciple, and he replies, * In the beginning was 
 the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
 was God. All things were made by him, and without him 
 was not any thing made that was made. In him was Life, 
 and the Life was the Light of men.' ' And the Word was 
 made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, 
 the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
 and truth.' Then we inquire of 'the man Christ Jesus' 
 himself, 'who art thou?' and this is his remarkable an- 
 swer. 'Before Abraham was, I am.' 'I and my Father 
 are one.' 'For as the Father raiseth up the dead and 
 quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he 
 will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath commit- 
 ted all judgment unto the Son : that all men should honor 
 the Son, even as they honor the Father.' We next inter- 
 rogate the Apostle Paul 'Who is this that cometh from 
 Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? This that is 
 glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his 
 strength?' And he breaks out in adoring transport, 
 'Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen 
 of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the 
 world, received up into glory. * Let this mind be in you 
 which was in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, 
 thought it not robbery to be equal ,with God, but made 
 himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form 
 of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man ; and 
 being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and 
 became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross ; 
 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 
 the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' ' In whom we 
 have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of 
 sins ; who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born 
 of every creature. For by him were all things created 
 that are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, 
 whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, 
 or powers : all things were created by him, and for him. 
 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.' 
 Finally; we turn to the beloved disciple once more, and 
 ask him what he saw and heard in the visions of Patmos, 
 and he answers, * I beheld, and heard the voice of many 
 angels round about the throne, and the living ones and the 
 elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times 
 ten thousand and thousands of thousands, saying with a 
 loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive 
 power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, 
 and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in 
 heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as 
 are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Bless- 
 ing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him thatsit- 
 teth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 
 And the four living ones said, Amen. And the four and 
 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth 
 for ever and ever.' 
 
 And was the earth ever honored and blest with this di- 
 vine and glorious presence ? If what we read in the 
 scriptures, of the incarnation, the miracles, the preaching, 
 the death, the resurrection of the Son of God be true, it is 
 the mystery of all mysteries. I do not expect ever to 
 comprehend it. The more I reflect upon it, the more 
 amazing does it appear. What infinite opposites meet in 
 the person of Jesus Christ. ' The mighty God,' and yet a 
 helpless child ! The Creator of all worlds, and yet with- 
 out a place 'to lay his head!' * God, manifest in the 
 flesh ! ' A man, and yet infinitely higher than the angels ! 
 Equal with the Father, in dignity, and glory, and blessed- 
 ness ; and yet at the same moment 'a man of sorrows and 
 acquainted with grief ' A conqueror of the powers of 
 darkness, in the very hour that they prevailed against 
 him ! How can I believe it? Was the divine nature in 
 the person of Christ, transformed into the human nature of 
 the son of Mary? And was the human nature of the 
 son of Mary changed into the divine nature? No but 
 the two were mysteriously united, so as to become one 
 person. The man Christ Jesus,' was not ' the Lord from 
 heaven;' but, 'in him dwelt all the fulness of the God- 
 head bodily.' The Deity did not suffer and sink under, 
 the agonies of Calvary, and yet in the person of Jesus 
 God there purchased the church with his own blood. A 
 great mystery, but no absurdity. Above reason, but not 
 contrary to it. There was the bloody cross. There were 
 the thorns, the nails, and the spear. There the plan of 
 redemption was more fully unfolded, than ever before, to 
 the admiring gaze of angels. There it was, that fhe meek 
 and holy sufferer *-bore our sins and carried our sorrows; 1 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and it was there that ' mercy and truth met together, 
 righteousness and peace embraced each other.' 
 
 Here then, Christian reader is a theme worthy of an 
 angel's pen yea, of more than an angel's intellect. Here 
 is the grand radiant point, towards which all the affinities 
 converge: infinite wisdom infinite love infinite jus- 
 tice infinite mercy ! Depths, heights, length, breadth 
 all passing knowledge! Innumerable pens have been 
 employed upon the life, character, preaching and mediato- 
 rial work of Christ. Hundreds of commentaries, more 
 or less critical and extended, have been written upon the 
 four gospels. But have ' the seven seals ' all been opened ? 
 Is there nothing left, to reward the toil of those who may 
 hereafter devote their best powers to the study and elucida- 
 tion of these sacred books? ' Who by searching can find 
 out God, or the Almighty unto perfection V The charac- 
 ter of Christ is an infinitely perfect character. The gos- 
 pels, in which he is exhibited, as the divine object of our 
 faith and love, and adoration ; and which contain the record 
 of his miracles, doctrines, sufferings and final triumph, were 
 given by inspiration of God,' and * the treasure of wis- 
 dom and knowledge' which they contain, are literally in- 
 exhaustible. After all the * living water ' that has been 
 drawn from these ' wel's of salvation,' there is no diminu- 
 tion of the supply. Were a thousand of the most gifted 
 and holy men now on earth, to ' set the Lord Jesus always 
 before them,' and spend their whole lives in studying his 
 adorable character, they would be so far from exhausting 
 the theme, that other thousands more gifted and more holy 
 might find ample scope for the employment of their pow- 
 ers, down to the end of time. However great and good 
 the last writer, upon the life, character and teaching of 
 Christ may be, and with all the helps which he will be 
 able to command, he must leave the divine portraiture still 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 unfinished. Nor can it be doubted, that the mysteries of 
 redemption, including the divine and mediatorial character, 
 the incarnation and atoning sacrifice of the Son of God, 
 will employ the minds, the hearts, and the tongues of the Re- 
 deemed, through everlasting ages ; and that new develope- 
 ments of the perfections and 'glory of God, in the face of 
 Jesus Christ, will be made forever and ever.' 
 
 In this view of the subject, (and I am sure it must be 
 the right view,) however well any man, or number of men 
 may have written upon the preaching, miracles, or offices 
 of Christ, it affords no objection, or discouragement to 
 others, who may wash to occupy the same ground. No 
 one, indeed, should be encouraged to put forth the results 
 of his labors, unless he has something to say, which is 
 worthy of being presented to the Christian public for 
 time and money are too precious, to be thrown away upon 
 mere commonplace ink and paper. But when a man of 
 decided talents and piety, lays out his strength upon any 
 one of the great topics just alluded to, and is happy in his 
 method of treating it, he deserves our thanks, for putting 
 into our hands this new help to Christian edification. 
 
 The author of the present work, is the pastor of an in- 
 dependent church, in Epsom, Eng. ; and is ' well reported 
 of by the brethren.' It being his object in this volume, to 
 bring us directly to Christ, for divine instruction, he enti- 
 tles it, THE GREAT TEACHER. The book contains five 
 Essays, of considerable length, and on the following im- 
 portant topics. I. The authority of our Lord's teaching. 
 II. The originality of our Lord's Teaching, under seven 
 distinct heads. III. The spirituality of our Lord 1 s teach- 
 ing. IV. On the tenderness and benevolence, of our Lord's 
 teaching. V. The practicalness of our Lord's teaching. 
 In reading these highly original and finished Essays, I 
 B 
 
XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 have been exceedingly delighted, as I am sure every per- 
 son must be, who is capable of appreciating weighty and 
 well digested thoughts, imbued with deep christiari feel- 
 ing, and clothed in neat and polished language. Mr. Har- 
 ris is such a writer, as we do not ordinarily meet with 
 any where. It would be easy to quote passages almost at 
 random, from his book of extraordinary condensaiion and 
 beauty. He writes like a disciple, who has long been 
 accustomed to ' sit at the feet of Jesus,' and with eminent 
 advantage. Instead of asking what other men have thought 
 of THE GREAT TEACHER, and borrowing their opinions, 
 he has evidently heard every word for himself ; and he gives 
 us his own impressions vividly and forcibly, just as he re- 
 ceived them. Such' a volume as this, is not often put forth 
 before the meridian of life, and never, either before or after, 
 without deep and protracted meditation. 
 
 I do not wonder at the avidity which is hastening its 
 wide circulation in England; nor at the almost unquali- 
 fied praise which is bestowed upon it, by so many of the 
 most competent judges in this department of sacred litera- 
 ture. It was with very great pleasure, that I brought the vol- 
 ume out with me, on my return from that country ; and I 
 esteem it an honor, that I am permitted to assist in bring- 
 ing it before the American public. That disciple must 
 have thought a great deal more, or a great deal less, than 
 nine tenths of his Christian brethren, of the striking pe- 
 culiarities of our Lord's preaching, who can read these 
 highly original and finished Essays, without having his 
 mind enlightened, his heart warmed, and his admiration 
 of the Great Teacher very much increased. ' Blessed, 
 indeed, are those servants,' who * hear his sayings and do 
 them.' 
 
 Amherst College, Dec, 1. 1835. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 
 WHEN the subject of the following Essays first engaged 
 my thoughts, as many as twelve or fifteen characteristics 
 of our Lord's Teaching presented themselves to notice, 
 all of which I hoped to be able to illustrate in a volume. 
 But the expansive nature of the subject soon warned me 
 of the necessity of selection. For this end, I divided the 
 series into two classes, of primary and secondary impor- 
 tance; intending to confine myself to the former. The 
 same cause, however, reduced me again to compound with 
 my intentions, and to omit some even of primary interest. 
 Of these I may be allowed to specify two : the Evangel- 
 icalness of our Lord's Teaching, and the striking pecu- 
 liarity that he was his own prevailing subject. These 
 topics, indeed, though not formally introduced, will be 
 found to be illustrated, to no inconsiderable extent, in vari- 
 ous parts of the volume. But on each of them I will here 
 take the opportunity of recording a few remarks. 
 
 If any are disposed to wonder why our Lord should 
 have said so much less, in the way of direct assertion, con- 
 cerning his personal dignity, than his apostles, let it be 
 remembered that it was not his object to give a full verbal 
 exposition of his personal claims: that, during his earthly 
 ministry, it was his aim, and a part of his humiliation, 
 partially to conceal them : to observe a medium course be- 
 
XX PREFACE, 
 
 tvveen the extremes of a mean obscurity on the one hand, 
 and an overwhelming* grandeur on the other; to provide 
 that human agency might be left free and unconstrained in 
 its conduct towards him on the one hand, and that his love 
 on the other, might move on to the cross, unthwarted and 
 undisturbed by man ; that the solemn oblation of himself, 
 which was the act to which all his ministry subserved, for 
 his whole life was only a preface to his death, might nei- 
 ther be prevented nor disregarded : that he left his dignity 
 to be inferred chiefly from his actions, and from a compari- 
 son of his life with the writings of the prophets ; that his 
 divine greatness, having long been the subject of prophecy, 
 it was not necessary for him to do more on this head than 
 to identify himself with the prophecy. And he did this, 
 explicitly affirming that they wrote of him. Bringing 
 all the rays of prophetic light together, he wreathed them 
 into^a crown of glory for his own head. 
 
 But, as if to compensate himself for the arrangement 
 which required the temporary obscuration of his greatness, 
 he was emphatically his own subject. He himself was 
 almost invariably the point from which he started, the theme 
 on which he enlarged, or the centre to which he returned. 
 If he adverted to the great elements of nature, it was only 
 to proclaim them emblems of himself. If he spoke of the 
 greatness of persons and objects which his hearers rever- 
 enced next to the Deity, it was only to announce himself 
 as greater than they. If he displaced the types and rites 
 of the Jewish church, it was that he might occupy their 
 place himself; clearing the entire area of the church, to 
 fill it with his own glory. Returned all the great things 
 of nature, and of the ancient church, into so many margi- 
 nal references to the all-absorbing theme, himself ; and 
 he frequently did it in a manner which showed that he 
 considered them dignified by being so employed, He 
 
PREFACE. XXI 
 
 carried this same spirit of self-aggrandizement into the 
 presence of God ; he predicted that the Eternal Spirit him- 
 self should come and wait on his glory. He is distin- 
 guished from every other teacher by this, that while he 
 spoke of lowliness as his chief characteristic, he seldom 
 released the attention of his hearers from himself and 
 yet the heart of the Christian is sensible of no inconsisten- 
 cy here, for it feels that while what he has said of himself 
 is measurable, what he left unsaid and unrevealed, is im- 
 measurable. 
 
 On the other subject named the evangelical nature of 
 our Lord's teaching perhaps, the first thought that occurs, 
 relates to the fact of our Lord's discourses containing less 
 of the peculiar doctrines of grace than the teaching of the 
 apostles. How is the striking contrast between the gos- 
 pels and epistles, in this important respect, to be accounted 
 for ? The folio wing considerations may furnish a satisfac- 
 tory reply. 1. It was only in accordance with his own ar- 
 rangements and predictions that it should be so. Hence, 
 he foretold that his first disciples should do greater works 
 than he did ; that their success should be greater : and that 
 it was reserved for the Spirit to lead them into all truth. 
 2. The very limited and gross apprehensions of the disci- 
 ples imposed a restraint on the teaching of Christ, and de- 
 termined the measure of his divine communications. 
 Though he had ' many things to say' to them, he pro- 
 nounced them unable to bear the disclosure. And what 
 would be the things which, under these circumstances, he 
 would necessarily withhold what, but the more spiritual 
 truths and peculiar doctrines of salvation ? 3. The object 
 and limit of his instructions appear to have been, to incul- 
 cate the nature and necessity of that moral excellence 
 which God and heaven require; in order that he might 
 make us feel the want of it, preparatory to the ofTer of his 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Holy Spirit to produce it. The full and explicit exposi- 
 tion of the evangelical system, therefore, did not come 
 within the pre-determined scope of his teaching. For, 4. 
 He came less to preach salvation than to procure it ; to 
 make known redemption, not by a verbal and detailed an- 
 nouncement of its plan, but by the visible accomplishment 
 of its conditions ; to be the gospel, and to make it. He 
 came to supply the facts out of which the evangelical doc- 
 trines are deduced, and which must philosophically pre- 
 cede them. For what is the doctrinal part of the 'gospel 
 but the exposition of these facts? their transplantation out 
 of the historical or external world, into the intellectual or 
 spiritual? 5. It might, however, be easily shown, that 
 whatever is essential to the Christian system is to be found, 
 in semine, in our Lord's teaching. His divinity, his atone- 
 ment, the influence of his Spirit, and all the leading doc- 
 trines of grace are to be found there in a condensed state, 
 in a quintessence. If the principles of Christianity as 
 taught by the apostles, form a chain of evangelical truth, 
 the first link, the very staple ring, is to be found in the 
 teaching of Christ. The humble incrustation cannot con- 
 ceal from the eye of the mineralogist the precious gem 
 that dwells within, and a single blow, properly given, will 
 lay bare its peculiar primitive or fundamental form : many 
 of our Lord's sayings have a signification and a value far 
 beyond their unpretending appearance ; nor is it difficult 
 for the Christian disciple to discover in them the first forms, 
 the simple elements of evangelical truth, of which the 
 teaching of the apostles was only the lamina, the natural 
 accretions afterwards formed. His sayings are texts ; their 
 writings are only the necessary amplification and comment. 
 Their instructions are not so properly a new revelation, as 
 the result of the opening of their eyes to behold the won- 
 derful things contained in his teaching. 6. And, finally, 
 
PREFACE, XX111 
 
 the uniform mode of divine revelation, in all ages, requir- 
 ed that the doctrines of grace should be gradually develop- 
 ed ; proceeding from the obscurity of dawn in our Lord's 
 teaching, to the radiance of noon-day in that of the apostles. 
 
 Since writing the preceding paragraph, I have been sur- 
 prised at meeting with the following remarks, bearing on 
 the same subject ; which as they occur in a popular work 
 of the present day, Abbot's ' CORNER STONE,' deserve a 
 moment's attention. ' Others are embarrassed when they 
 think on this subject; ' (that is, on the greater prominence 
 given to the object and efficacy of our Lord's death in the 
 epistles compared with the gospel;) ' they do not know 
 how to reconcile the seeming inconsistency, though they 
 endeavor to diminish it, as far as possible, by exaggerating 
 and emphasizing the little which Jesus Christ did say, in 
 
 regard to his sufferings and death He who cannot 
 
 take the directions which Christ or John gave, for begin- 
 ning a life of piety by simple repentance for the past, with- 
 out adding something from his own theological stores, or 
 forcing the language to express what never could have been 
 understood by those who originally heard it, he cannot be 
 studying the gospel in the right Spirit. 1 To put a forced 
 and mystical construction on any part of the oracles of God, 
 is an act of irreverence which cannot be sufficiently dep- 
 recated. But it is one thing to put them to the torture, 
 compelling them to utter what they never meant ; to turn 
 from them, or to drown their voice with our own, before 
 they have uttered all the mind of the Spirit, is another. 
 
 The statements cited appear at least to be unconsidered 
 and unguarded; and, on the principle which they seem to 
 involve, namely, that the understanding of our Lord's 
 original hearers was the measure of his meaning, I will 
 venture to remark ; First, that, in direct contradiction to 
 this proposition, it is a well-known canon of scripture in- 
 
XXIV PREFACE. 
 
 terpretation, that ' the sayings of our Saviour are to be ap- 
 prehended, not merely in that sense to which the views of 
 his hearers at the time could reach, but in the sense which 
 he himself attached to them. 7 Second, his own practice 
 contains a warrant for this canon ; for how often do we 
 find him applying it to the interpretation of the Old Testa- 
 ment : expounding some of its truths in a sense more spir- 
 itual and profound, than even the original propounders 
 themselves conceived. Third, his express declarations, 
 and the confessions of his apostles, harmonize with it. 
 They frankly acknowledge, that when he adverted to the 
 nature and necessity of his sufferings., they understood not 
 his meaning. He reproached them with their slowness of 
 apprehension. He promised his Spirit to recall his .say- 
 ings to their minds as so many lost truths. He intimated 
 that he had left in their possession truths of which they 
 little suspected the value. And after his resurrection, he 
 said unto them, these are the things which I spake unto 
 you, while I was yet with you .... Then opened he their 
 understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures; ' 
 obviously implying, that, up to that moment, they had not 
 understood his evangelical expositions of them. Fourth, 
 it seems to be necessary for the moral developernent of our 
 nature, that the truth employed should be such as is itself 
 capable of constant expansion and new developements ; 
 that, like its Divine original, it should brighten while we 
 are looking at it ; heighten while we are aspiring to reach 
 it ; and thus elevate us to itself, the standard of perfection. 
 Accordingly, all the first lessons set us by God in nature 
 and providence, appear to be constructed on this principle. 
 He who becomes a student of nature soon finds that he is 
 bending over a fountain which deepens beneath his gaze. 
 And what is the Jewish economy, if we desire to reach its 
 interior truths, but a vast, profound, elaborated enigma, 
 
PREFACE. XXV 
 
 to which the gospel indeed brings us the key, but the 
 opening and exploration of which is yet incomplete: ex- 
 cusing, if riot justifying the opinion of Origen, that 'a 
 clear understanding of the reasons of the Israelitic econ- 
 omy, and of all the Levitical laws, belongs to the privileges 
 of the future life.' And the teaching of Christ seems to 
 possess the same profound and comprehensive character. 
 Comparative anatomy informs us, not only that animated 
 nature forms an ascending series of beings, beginning 
 with few organs, and increasing in number, complexity 
 and finish, up to man ; but that in some of the earliest and 
 simplest links of the living chain, there is traceable a 
 promise, a mute prophecy of all the rest, a rough outline 
 of all that is to follow ; that many processes are sketched 
 in the lower animals, the completion of which is reserved 
 for the composition of man. In like manner, the entire 
 system of Judaism was one compacted prophecy of the gos- 
 pel, a presentiment of Christianity ; in which the great 
 doctrines and virtues, which it is the province of the new 
 dispensation to develope and mature, may be found in the 
 embryoes and elements. And, on the same principle, in the 
 sayings of Christ, the gospel may be found thrown out in 
 its rudiments. ' For Christ,' saith Milton, ' gives no full 
 comments, or continued discourses, but speaks oft in mon- 
 osyllables, like a master, scattering the heavenly grain of 
 his doctrine like pearls here and there, which requires a 
 skilful and laborious gatherer. His teaching is the seed- 
 plot in which the great doctrines of grace were first sown, 
 to be afterwards transplanted and cultivated in the inspired 
 ministry of the apostles, where they have room to luxu- 
 riate and yield in perfection the fruit of life. 
 
 Considerations like these embolden us to suppose, not 
 merely that the whole evangelical system as developed by 
 the apostles, lies, in its germ, in the teaching of Christ; 
 
XXVI PREFACE. 
 
 but that such is the fullness, the seminal character of his 
 teaching, that even their epistles do not exhaust it. That 
 they have put us in possession of every essential truth, we 
 admit ; that any fundamental doctrine remains to be dis- 
 covered, cannot for a moment be imagined; but it may be 
 suggested, that even with their inspired epistles in our 
 hand, and regarding those epistles in the light of commen- 
 taries on the sayings of our Lord, there yet remain to be 
 discovered in his teaching, new aspects of some truths, the 
 immeasurable compass of others, and harmonies subsisting 
 between them all, beyond the perception of ordinary vision ; 
 and the developement of which is reserved to reward the 
 pious industry of the devout and vigorous mind. 
 
 The church of God has been too generally content with 
 the great surface-truths of revelation, those which we 
 have only to stoop for in order to possess, but which are 
 made so obvious and placed so near, not as a premium to 
 indolence, but in accommodation to our moral incurious- 
 ness and necessities ; not as a dispensation from diligent, 
 investigation, but as an allurement to it where it can be 
 made, and to render it unnecessary where it cannot. ' The 
 kingdom of heaven' in the sense of celestial truth ' is 
 like treasure hid in a field ; the which, when a man hath 
 found, he hideth ; and, for joy thereof, goeth, and selleth 
 all that he hath, and buyeth that field ;' and buyeth it in 
 order that he may ransack, and turn up every part of it, 
 and make himself master of all its treasures. And further, 
 it is as if the same man, while digging for more coins and 
 concealed jewels, should unexpectedly happen on a vein of 
 precious ore. Hitherto, we have done little more than 
 collect, estimate, and classify the more accessible treasures. 
 But let the shaft which is already begun, be sunk deep 
 enough, and the labors of the mine be properly conducted 
 and the discovery of many a rich and precious lode will 
 
PREFACE. XXV11 
 
 demonstrate that the great globe itself is not more inter- 
 laced with golden veins, and filled with precious things, 
 than the field of revelation : the storehouse of the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ. 
 
 This, indeed, is predicable of every part of Scripture ; 
 bat, for the reasons already glanced at, it applies especially 
 to the teaching of Christ; and if there be one part of his 
 teaching to which it applies more emphatically than to 
 another, I would venture to suggest that it is to what he 
 taught on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. ' He shall not 
 speak of himself,' said Christ ; and, as if to supply the de- 
 ficiency, to reward and provide for that disinterested and 
 emphatic silence of the Divine Spirit concerning himself, 
 our Lord made him the great theme of his own last dis- 
 courses and promises. Aqd when was he more original 
 and explicit than when dwelling on this subject? What a 
 vast tract of new truth did he add to the domains of faith, 
 all fertilized and enriched with the effluence of the Spirit! 
 On what topic was he more evangelical than on this? 
 even antedating the style of the epistles, and leaving little 
 if any thing for them to add either in unction or in fullness. 
 What subject did he equally rely on to console his disci- 
 ples, and to fill them with expectation in the prospect of 
 his own departure? He was in search of the strongest 
 solace ; and he had an infinite variety of subjects to choose 
 from: but out of all that "multitude, the topic on which he 
 chose chiefly to insist, was, the promise of the Holy Spirit. 
 And what lofty things did he predicate concerning him ! 
 What names of greatness and goodness did he bestow on 
 him ! He made him the great promise of his new dis- 
 pensation ! And yet, what doctrine, what leading doctrine 
 at least, is less insisted on in the church than the doctrine 
 of divine influence? And, consequently, what, promise is 
 less fulfilled to the church than the promise of the Spirit ? 
 
XXV111 PREFACE. 
 
 It is true, an occasional sermon is preached on the subject, 
 just to satisfy the sense of duty : and an occasional restless- 
 ness is observable in parts of the church ; but, alas ! it is 
 a starting in sleep, rather than an awaking out of it; like 
 the spasmodic motions of a person who is visited in sleep 
 by the reproachful remembrance of an important duty 
 which he has consciously neglected ; it is the involuntary 
 agitations of the slumbering church, convulsively answer- 
 ing to the unwelcome reproaches of the unslumbering con- 
 science Other prophecies are considered : but the prom- 
 ise of the Spirit, the great unfulfilled prophecy of the gospel, 
 is doomed, by general consent, to stand over for future con- 
 sideration. Other blessings are desired ; but this, which 
 would bring all blessings in its train ; which is offered in 
 an abundance corresponding to its infinite plenitude, an 
 abundance, of which the capacity of the recipient is to be 
 the only limit ; of this we are satisfied with just so much 
 as will save our sleep from deepening into death. Each 
 falling shower consecrated emblem of divine influence 
 the scantiest that moistens the thirsty earth, descends more 
 copiously than the offered influences of the Holy Spirit, 
 and reproaches us with the spiritual drought of the church- 
 And so long have we accustomed ourselves to be content 
 with little things, that we have gone far in disqualifying 
 ourselves for the reception of great things ; the revivals 
 of the new world are still regarded by many ' as idle tales.' 
 The church itself requires conversion. We pray for 
 the conversion of the world : but the church itself, though 
 in another, yet in a sober and substantial sense, needs a 
 similar blessing. The object of conversion is two-fold : 
 personal, and relative; to bless us, and to make us bless- 
 ings. Individual conversion accomplishes the first object, 
 by placing us in a personal and evangelical relation to 
 Christ ; the second can only be scripturally effected by the 
 
PREFACE. XXIX 
 
 collection and organization of those who are so related to 
 Christ into a church, and by that church advancing for- 
 wards, and placing itself in an evangelical relation to the 
 Holy Spirit. Now the prevailing sin of Christians is, that 
 they are inclined to stop short at the first of these stages. 
 They are, perhaps, sufficiently alive to the importance of 
 preaching Christ as the author of redemption; for they 
 have their own personal experience in evidence of its neces- 
 sity ; but they are n^t proportionally alive to the necessity of 
 divine influence as the means of usefulness; for of that they 
 have not the same evidence. Their conversion to Christ 
 as individuals, was scarcely more necessary to answer the 
 first aim of the gospel, in their own salvation, than their 
 conversion to the Spirit, in their collective capacity, is ne- 
 cessary to answer the second, in the salvation of others. I 
 say their conversion to the Spirit ; for the change neces- 
 sary has all the characteristics of conversion ; conviction 
 of guilt in neglecting his agency, a perception of his ne- 
 cessity and suitableness, and earnest applications for his 
 heavenly influence, 
 
 That a doctrine of divine influence has a place in the 
 creed of the faithful we admit ; but it is one thing to assent 
 to its truth and importance, and a very different thing to 
 have a deep and practical persuasion of it. That the Holy 
 Spirit is at present imparted to the church to a certain de 
 gree, is evident from its existence. For every believer is 
 the production of the Spirit; carries about in his own per- 
 son signatures and proofs of divine operations ; and thus 
 forms an epitome and pledge of the eventual conversion of 
 the world. But as to the measure in which his divine in- 
 fluence is afforded who has not deplored its scantiness? 
 From the earliest dawn of the reformation to the present 
 hour, this has been the great burden of the church. What 
 writer of even ordinary piety, has not bewailed and record" 
 
XXX PREFACE. 
 
 ed it as the standing reproach and grief of his day ? 
 Look back and what do you behold? a procession of 
 mourners, nearly all the living and eminent piety of the 
 time, dressed in penitential sackcloth, moving through the 
 cemetery of a church as through a Golgotha, and exclaim- 
 ing in tears, ' Come from the four winds, O breath, and 
 breathe upon these slain that they may live. 7 What do 
 you behold 1 ' the priests, the ministers of the Lord, sanc- 
 tifying a fast, calling a solemn assembly,' lamenting that 
 so few attend the solemn call, and then advancing, a mourn- 
 ful train, casting themselves down, and lying prostrate at 
 the foot of the throne of grace, and as the representatives 
 of the church, exclaiming, ' Behold, O Lord, a poor com- 
 pany of creatures gasping for life ! thy Spirit is vital 
 breath ; we are ready to die, if thy Spirit breathe not. Pity 
 thine own offspring, thou Father of mercies. Take from 
 us, keep from us, what thou wilt, but Oh, withhold not 
 thine own Spirit. 1 Such were the actual terms in which 
 the great and pious Howe led the supplications of a sol- 
 emn assembly, in his day, convened to cry for the Spirit. 
 And has it not been on the lips of the mourners in Zion, 
 an unbroken procession ever since ? And does it not ex 
 press the sense of the church in the present day ? As we 
 have fallen into the train, and brought up the rear of the 
 mourning suppliants, have we not deplored the absence of 
 the Spirit as the great affliction of the church, and implor- 
 ed his impartation as our great want, our only remedy? 
 
 But 'the Spirit will be poured out from on high' would 
 that the importunity and loud cries of the church, warrant- 
 ed the expectation that the event were near ! And when he 
 does descend, among the many blessed effects which will 
 accrue, this doubtless will be one that the teaching of 
 Christ, concerning him, will be hailed and studied as if 
 it were a new revelation: will be traversed and explored 
 
PREFACE. XXXI 
 
 like a newly-discovered continent. The reasons of Christ 
 for amplifying the subject, and for laying so much stress 
 on it, will then be felt in the inmost soul; each of his de- 
 clarations concerning it will seem to expand into a page, 
 and be consulted as a charter fresh from heaven ; promises 
 which we now repeat with freezing accents will then burn 
 on our lips, and be pleaded with an earnestness not to be 
 denied ; but which will open the windows of heaven for 
 the emission of still larger out-pourings of the Spirit. 
 In that section of the Second Essay, which treats of 
 
 * The Originality of our Lord's Teaching concerning the 
 Holy Spirit,' I have remarked in the introduction, that, 
 
 * during the long silence of the Divine Oracle, in the space 
 which intervened from the last words of Malachi to the 
 coming of Christ, we know not comparatively what opin- 
 ions grew up and prevailed. It is only reasoning on the 
 known principles of humanity to say, that when the living 
 voice of inspiration had ceased to speak, the sacred volume 
 was much more likely to receive the undivided attention of 
 the church than before. And with a volume so seminal of 
 all truth, so constantly whispering in the ear of hope, as 
 the Bible, who can say what approaches were made to 
 many evangelical doctrines ? what prophets of hope arose 1 
 And when once opinions, to which the wants or aspirations 
 of the soul respond, have been broached, who can say to 
 what consolidation, and stability they may attain ? . . . . By 
 what process then shall we ascertain how much of the 
 gospel is an absolute origination ; or how much is a mere 
 adoption and authorization of pre-existing opinions'? ' 
 
 Having subsequently perused a translation of Tholuck's 
 1 HINTS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF THE 
 OLD TESTAMENT,' I have learned that it is a favorite hy- 
 pothesis of the neological school, that ' the Jewish religion 
 coalescing with the Persian doctrines, was brought to per- 
 
XXXU PREFACE. 
 
 fection, and thus served to lay the foundation for the new 
 order of things which Christ introduced. This appeals 
 to us to have been the true origin of these doctrines. 
 Providence designed that they should be disseminated, just 
 before the advent of Christ, in order that he, who was 
 merely to bring the new Spirit, and, by means of this, to 
 destroy the veil of the law, and to illustrate these doctrines 
 need furnish no system of doctrines, but merely announce 
 by his precepts and his life, the one great doctrine ; God 
 hath so loved the world. Those post-Babylonian doctrines 
 were illustrated, however, by the instructions of Jesus and 
 the apostles, to such a degree, that they appear in an en- 
 tirely new and spiritual light, as the poor and disembodied 
 spirit, escaped from the lifeless body of the Rabbinical 
 system.' 
 
 Now the difference between these two quotations is so 
 essential, that to spend a moment in pointing it out, may 
 perhaps be considered superfluous. But lest my statement 
 should have the effect, in however small a degree, of pre- 
 paring the mind of an unwary reader for the reception of 
 the neology contained in the quotation with which it is 
 contrasted, I will take the liberty of remarking, that while 
 the tendency of the latter is to detract from the value both 
 of our Lord's teaching and of the Old Testament doctrines, 
 by admitting the philosophy of paganism to share the hon- 
 ors of divine revelation, the object of the former is to vin- 
 dicate to the Old Testament the claim of having suggested 
 the various evangelical phrases and opinions, which had 
 obtained about the time of our Lord's appearance, and to 
 assert for him the honor of having selected and authenti- 
 cated such of those opinions as were true, and of having 
 lurned them into inspired doctrines. 
 
 The reader is probably aware that, during the interval 
 which elapsed between the cessation of the Old Testament 
 
PREFACE. XXX111 
 
 oracle, and the advent of Christ, many new terms came 
 into use; especially new epithets for designating the ex- 
 pected Messiah and the Holy Spirit ; such, for instance, 
 as the names, Logos and Paraclete; and, also, that vari- 
 ous theological opinions prevailed ; which, while they 
 pleaded an Old Testament origin, were taught, if taught 
 there at all, only by inference and suggestion. Now 
 when a person first becomes aware of this fact, and discov- 
 ers also that some of these terms and opinions were adopt- 
 ed by Christ, and incorporated by him into his New Tes- 
 tament record, he may be tempted to depreciate in thought 
 the divinity and originality of these particular parts of our 
 Lord's teaching. 
 
 But let him reflect, first, that as to the divine origin of 
 these particular truths, the persons who first announced 
 them, no doubt, derived the idea of them from the ancient 
 scriptures, and could have pointed to the precise passage 
 or passages, which, in their opinion, warranted, the idea. 
 And. secondly, as to our Lord' 's claim to originality in 
 teaching the particular truths this becomes a question 
 of mere words. For though originality was no longer 
 possible, in the sense of novelty, still his office was origin- 
 al he was the first to announce these truths as divine. 
 
 Suppose, for example, an inspired prophet were now to 
 appear in the church, to add a supplement to the canonical 
 books, what a Babel of opinions would he find existing 
 on almost every theological subject ! and how highly 
 probable is it that his ministry would consist, or seem to 
 consist, in the mere selection and ratification of such of 
 these opinions as accorded with the mind of God. Abso- 
 lute originality would seem to be almost impossible. The 
 inventive mind of man has already bodied forth specula- 
 tive opinions in almost every conceivable form ; forestalling 
 and robbing the future of its fair proportion of novelties ; 
 C 
 
XXXIV PREFACE. 
 
 and leaving little more, even to a divine messenger, than 
 the office of taking some of these opinions, and impressing 
 them with the seal of heaven. Imagine him to choose for 
 his theme that vinum dczmonum of the church in every 
 age the subject of a millenium ; and may it not be confi- 
 dently affirmed, that whatever his doctrine might be, an 
 anticipation of it, if not the identical doctrine itself, has 
 appeared already among the thousand theories which the 
 church has heard on the subject? Yet how important the 
 office which would still devolve on him, in evoking the 
 one truth, and dispersing the multiplied attendant errors; 
 and how worthy of a teacher sent from God. Humanly 
 speaking, the task of the aged seer, in selecting from the 
 eleven sons of Jesse the future king of Israel, was easy, 
 compared with the task of him who has to choose from a 
 multitude of speculative opinions, all of which are specious, 
 and popular, and possessed of an apparent likeness, the 
 one heaven-born truth, and anoint it for the Lord. 
 
 Now such was the relation in which our Lord may be 
 said to have stood to some of the doctrines of the New 
 Testament. Originality, in the sense of novelty, was, on 
 these particular subjects impossible : for the teeming mind 
 of man, quickened to activity by some hint of scripture, 
 had already occupied the ground with theories of every 
 grade of merit, and opinions adapted to every taste. With 
 these, hypothetically speaking, the Saviour might be ac- 
 quainted, or he might not. On the supposition that he did 
 not know them, the doctrine he taught on either of these 
 subjects, however familiar it might already have been to 
 human ears, was unborrovved, original, and emphatically 
 his own; it had no other channel in its descent from the 
 celestial throne to the human heart, but his own inspired 
 lips. On the supposition that he knew them, his office, 
 at least, was original, and equally dignified: for still he 
 
P R E F A C K. XXXV 
 
 proclaimed the particular truth, not because man had pat- 
 ronized it, but because he knew it to be the true saying of 
 God. And more than that, he redeemed it from the base 
 companionship of error, and made it free of the universe. 
 He not meiely rescued it from the gloomy region of doubt, 
 but enabled it to shine in its own light, and to illuminate 
 the surrounding darkness. If he found it one of the mul- 
 titude,!^ raised it to the throne. If he found it a guess, 
 he left it a doctrine a living and incorporated member of 
 the immortal body of truth. If he found it an outcast, he 
 took it within the pale and royalty of truth, and surround- 
 ed it with the awful sanctions of the God of truth. He 
 proved himself to be the Word and the Wisdom of God. 
 
 Had space permitted, it was my intention to have added 
 two sections to this second essay ; one, on the Originality 
 of our Lord's teaching on Faith : and the other, on the 
 Originality of his teaching on the comparative claims of 
 Heaven and Earth. The former might easily be expan- 
 ded into a volume, and could scarcely be illustrated in less. 
 The latter requires only a specimen: which, as the pre- 
 face has already become so miscellaneous, I will take the 
 liberty of giving. 
 
 Much of the preaching of Jesus was occupied in adjust- 
 ing the claims between heaven and earth ; so frequently 
 did he return to this theme, and so conspicuous a place did 
 he assign to it in his discourses, that it may be said to be 
 one of their distinguishing features. A prevailing charac- 
 teristic of man, as pourtrayed in scripture, is an inordinate 
 attachment to the world. Sin having expelled from 
 his heart the love of God, the love of the world has rushed 
 into the vacuum, and made it impossible for any but om- 
 nipotence to dislodge it. Having lost that organ of spirit- 
 ual vision, which, by keeping another world in view in 
 rivalry with this, would have preserved the balance of his 
 
XXX Vi PREFACE. 
 
 affections even, the present is left to tyrannize over him 
 with all the advantage of a power which is ever visible, 
 ever at hand, soliciting him and making itself necessary to 
 him in a thousand different ways ; while the only rival 
 which it has to dread is not only invisible, but incalculably 
 remote; and having thus sustained the loss of a world, 
 having thus become reduced in spiritual wealth by the 
 loss of a whole order of ennobling objects, he not only 
 pours out his affections on the unworthiest things that 
 offer, but he has literally idolized the most contemptible. 
 Most graphically is he represented in the word of God as 
 bearing the image of the earthy; his very mind has be- 
 come materialized ; instead of being pictured over with 
 celestial imagery, it only contains the portraiture of the 
 world ; in all its chambers of imagery are depictured and 
 burnt in the debasing abominations of earth. The mind, 
 which with one sweep of its pinions should have reached 
 the stars, settles down in the dust; his affections, which 
 were meant to rise and be diffused over an infinite circum- 
 ference of which God is the centre, let themselves down, 
 and labor to accommodate themselves to an indivisible 
 point, a fugitive atom. As if an anchor were fixed in the 
 centre, his bosom is enchained to the earth. The material 
 particles of which the globe consists, do not obey the law 
 by which they cohere more constantly, than man endeav- 
 ors to accommodate himself to the world as his centre of 
 moral gravity. 
 
 Now the Saviour addressed himself to the task of cor- 
 recting this evil. Entering the mart of the busy world, 
 where nothing is heard but the monotonous hum of the 
 traders in vanity, he lifts up his voice like the trump of 
 God, and seeks to break the spell which infatuates them, 
 while he exclaims, 'What shall it profit a man if he gain 
 the whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall he 
 
PREFACE. XXXV11 
 
 give in exchange for his soul 1 Were all sublunary glory 
 laid at your feet, let a few years expire and death would 
 force you away from your world, and then a few years 
 more, and your world, and all that is in it, would be burnt 
 up; but your soul, your immortal soul what can com- 
 pensate for the loss of that ? ' He calls for that nobler 
 world they had lost from their hemisphere, and brings it 
 again within the range of their vision. He takes them to 
 the threshold of the infinite, and shows it flushed in one 
 part with living glories, arid in another burning with the 
 fiercest flames of wrath; while he assures them that in 
 one or the other of these states they will shortly be fixed 
 forever. * Watch therefore,' saith he, 'for ye know not 
 when the time is.' 
 
 Having thrown open to view that interminable duration, 
 and compelled them to see that they were actually approach- 
 ing it, he proceeds to adjust its momentous claims in har- 
 mony with the duties of the life that now is. It might 
 have been apprehended that the vision of eternity, if once 
 beheld, would utterly incapactate us for the affairs of time; 
 that the infinite grandeur of the future, having suffered so 
 total an obscuration from the littleness of the present, 
 would have taken revenge on that littleness, by henceforth 
 engrossing our every thought. But the Saviour did not 
 come as the avenging champion of eternity, to annihilate 
 time and its appropriate interests. Having deposed it from 
 its usurped supremacy, he takes it by the hand, and assigns 
 it its place and its duties as a subject. He aims to impreg- 
 nate every moment of life with endless results. Having 
 weeded life of its vanities, he commands us to cultivate it 
 with all that is useful and precious as fruit for the heavenly 
 garner. He would have every moment of life to be so 
 passed, as to fructify into an age of pleasant recollections. 
 
 That eternity might not be an object of mere barren 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 contemplation, he has so revealed it that its hallowing light 
 falls upon fields of activity and usefulness which before 
 were involved in darkness ; every thing conducive to our 
 real interest, in every relation of life, receives its counten- 
 ance, and rejoices in its sanction. If he finds us lost in in- 
 dolent musing on the future, he breaks up our vacant-eyed 
 reverie by the startling monition, 'Why stand ye here 
 all the day idle? Work while it is day, for the night com- 
 eth wherein no man can work.' That eternity might not 
 overwhelm us by its solemnities, he has not only softened 
 its aspect, and made it welcome as the face of a friend, 
 he also engages our attention to daily duties which hold 
 us in a state of healthful activity. Our life, in his hands, 
 is converted into a lamp, which, like the virgins of the 
 parable, or the priests of the temple, we are to keep bright 
 and burning. Our various endowments are so many 
 talents, which the Lord of all expects us to multiply 
 by constant use. He calls us to be the almoners and agents 
 of providence, to * the poor who are always with us;' mo- 
 dels of correctness in all the relations of life ; and centres 
 of light and usefulness wherever we move. It is necessary 
 that celestial observations should be taken in order to con- 
 struct a terrestrial chart ; and having a chart to consult 
 thus accurately formed, the skilful mariner is prepared to 
 navigate the wastes of ocean with tranquil confidence. If 
 the view we entertain of eternity disqualifies us for the 
 duties of life, it is not to be traced to the gospel of Christ ; 
 he meant not that it should haunt us as a terror, but accom- 
 pany us as a guide : nor will he accept the convulsive ser- 
 vice which it may occasionally extort from us, by alarming 
 us into a spasm of fear. He calmly enquires, 'Are there 
 not, twelve hours in the day ? Does not the day of life, 
 short as it is, contrasted with eternity, contain time suffi- 
 cient, if properly employed, for all that is truly valuable?' 
 
PREFACE. XXXIX 
 
 And having engaged us in his service, and pointed out our 
 duty, he gives us a glimpse of eternity to quicken the 
 pulse of activity, and expects us to distribute our agency 
 as equally as possible over the remaining hours of time. 
 
 But the liability of eternity to paralyze the active duties 
 of time is not to be named, as a danger, compared with the 
 fatal and universal propensity of men to subordinate the 
 claims of the future to the affairs of the present. While 
 their enlightened judgment compels them to concede the 
 point of superiority to heaven, their depraved heart is for 
 giving the practical precedence to earth ; and the result of 
 this variance is an attempted compromise between the two 
 claimants. But against such an accommodation, the Re- 
 deemer enters his protest ; appealing to the tribunal of 
 common sense* he exclaims, * No man can serve two mas-, ... 
 ters, whose interests clash.' The experiment has been 
 made and repeated in every form, and in every age ; and 
 he solemnly avers, with the confidence of one who knows 
 that it has failed as often as it has been made, and will 
 prove eternally impracticable, 'Ye cannot serve God and 
 mammon.' Passing into the sanctuary, and marking the 
 worldiness of the assembled hearers, he shows how ne- 
 cessarily, in such soil, the seed of the kingdom must prove 
 unfruitful. Visiting the place of gain, and contrasting 
 the burden of thick clay which the worshipper of mam- 
 mon carries, with the narrowness of the entrance to the 
 way of life, he exclaims, in accents of deep commiseration, 
 ' How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven!' Penetrating into the inmost circle 
 of domestic life, and arresting the inmates in the midst of 
 their household cares, he calls them to his side, and turns 
 on them a look of pity as he reminds them, that while they 
 are careful and cumbered about many things, ' one thing 
 is needful.' He even lifts the curtain of eternity, and bids 
 
xl 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 us approach and listen, while the voice of Dives from the 
 deeps of hell, and the replies of Abraham from the realms 
 of light pronounce the moral of the tale of life. And taking 
 his stand on the highway of the world, and surveying the 
 busy crowds as they pass and repass, each one as eager 
 as if he had just discovered the secret of happiness after a 
 thousand failures, and were about to give it an instant tri- 
 al, he points them upwards, and reminds them that the 
 good they seek is there : that there is one thing to which 
 every thing else desirable is appended ; and that he ex- 
 horts them to ' seek first.' 
 
 It is the misfortune of some to be afflicted with that kind 
 of defective sight, which prevents them from seeing to an 
 ordinary distance; they are unable to distinguish the most 
 towering and colossal object if placed at a short remove, 
 while the merest atom brought close to the eye is magni- 
 fied as with the power of a microscope. An affliction 
 analogous to this in the moral sight, but pregnant with in- 
 comparable greater danger, is the universal malady of 
 mankind ; and our Lord insists on the urgency of its re- 
 moval. He finds them mistaking phantoms for realities, 
 and realities for phantoms ; calling an atom a world, and a 
 world an atom ; practising on themselves an endless suc- 
 cession of delusions ; arid he gives them the alternative of 
 a remedy or death. He finds them absorbed in providing 
 for the temporal future, and he urges them, as they respect 
 their own rationality, not to omit eternity from their reckon- 
 ing. He approaches them while gazing on the near per- 
 spective of time, and by raising and extending the point o.f 
 sight he adds eternity to the view, and leaves them lost in 
 the contemplation of a boundless futurity. In all his ad- 
 dresses on the future, he does not forget that we are mortal ; 
 but neither will he allow us in our attentions tD the present 
 to forget that we are immortal. As the worshippers of 
 

 PREFACE. xli 
 
 mammon make religion subservient to the world, so he re- 
 quires the worshippers of God to subordinate the world to 
 religion. Instead of exhausting ourselves in efforts after 
 the bread which perisheth, he reminds us that there is an- 
 gels' food, and urges us to put forth our chief endeavors 
 after that. He finds us as in the midst of a spacious re- 
 pository, crowded with an infinite variety of objects ; some 
 of which are adapted to the body only, while others might 
 form a rich dowry for an immortal soul : some of them 
 things that perish in the using, and others of them things 
 that form the gold and currency of heaven, things on 
 which God has stamped his image and superscription, and 
 inscribed an infinite value. But however diversified their 
 character, he finds them each soliciting the first and high- 
 est place in our esteem ; and aware that we are in danger 
 of lavishing our affections those precious things which 
 if given to God would bring us heaven in return of wast- 
 ing them on less than nothing and vanity, he draws near 
 and expostulates, and entreats us that we cheat not our 
 souls of eternal happiness by providing for them only an 
 earthly portion, but that we select for them a good spiritual 
 and immortal like themselves, suited to supply its impor- 
 ant wants, and to gratify all their large capacities. ' Lay 
 not up treasures on earth,' saith he, 'where moth and rust 
 doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal : 
 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither 
 moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break 
 through and steal.' 
 
 And by exhorting us to establish our principal interest 
 in heaven, he actually consults our peace on earth : 'For 
 where your treasure is,' he adds, 'there will your heart be 
 also.' By choosing a heavenly treasure, our character 
 and hopes, which are invariably modified by the object of 
 our paramount regard, will partake of its celestial attri- 
 
Xlii PREFACE. 
 
 butes: for it is both ennobling in itself, and lodged in the 
 only part of the universe which is exempt from calamity 
 and change ; so that, while others partake of the littleness, 
 agitation, and debasement, which belong to their earthly 
 gods, we shall receive, by an anticipation, an impress of 
 the greatness, and security, and stability of heaven; while, 
 at the same time, our temporal mercies will be enjoyed 
 with a superior relish, since we should feel that the less of 
 them would leave us still in the possession of our real 
 treasure entire and secure. In the prospect of a national 
 convulsion, it is not uncommon for the wealthy to trans- 
 mit their property for security into other lands. And, O, 
 were there a country on earth perfectly exempt from all 
 the changes which endanger property, that would be the 
 envied land in which all would aim to invest their riches. 
 But that blessed region, not to be found on the face of the 
 wide earth, actually exists in the kingdom of God. Yes, 
 by throwing open to us the gates of a heavenly commerce, 
 he would give scope to our loftiest aims, security to our 
 choicest treasures, arid objects to our most capacious de- 
 sires. Here, the affluent may embark their abundance : 
 instead of living for themselves let them live for God, and 
 they will be remitting their property to a world where it 
 shall accumulate with abundant interest; they will be lay- 
 ing up a store for the future, on which they may live splen- 
 didly and gloriously for ever : they will be placing uncer- 
 tain riches in a safe repository, and transmitting them into 
 certain wealth. Let them acquit themselves as faithful 
 stewards of the great householder ; and as they dispense 
 their wealth, it will direct its flight towards heaven, bear- 
 ing on its wings the prayers and benedictions of those 
 they have benefitted. Having made to themselves friends 
 with the mammon of unrighteousness, when they die, 
 
PREFACE. Xliii 
 
 those friends will welcome them into everlasting* habita- 
 tions. Here the humblest believer may employ his penu- 
 ry : and he will find eventually that his single mite, his 
 cup of cold water, or his one talent, consecrated to God, 
 has augmented into a treasure, exceeding his powers of 
 computation. For every sacrifice we make in his service, 
 he guarantees to requite us, not indeed as of debt : this 
 the magnitude of the requital shows ; but of his own exu- 
 berant munificence, he promises to repay us a hundred 
 fold in the present life, and in the world to come, life ever- 
 lasting. Every struggle against sin, every effort in the 
 cause of benevolence, every holy principle exerted for God, 
 he pronounces an element of future blessedness, and con- 
 stitutes a claimant on his grace at the recompense of the 
 just. Whatever is transmitted by the soul to the world 
 above, is placed under the guardianship of omnipotence, is 
 laid up securely by the throne of God. His seat is the 
 centre of a circumference, within which nothing that im- 
 pairs or destroys, can by any possibility intrude ; and 
 which itself remains unmoved and immutable, while all 
 besides is fluctuation and change, 
 
 It is not easy to speak of the claims of heaven and earth, 
 as needing adjustment, without seeming to countenance an 
 erroneous impression that they are naturally at variance. 
 But let it be borne in mind, that originally they were one. 
 The only quarrel which eternity can have with time, is, 
 when it usurps an ascendancy which, by inverting all or- 
 der, and doing violence to the first principles of our nature, 
 renders the happiness of the soul impossible. Let the 
 present defer to the future, let it fall into its proper place 
 as the handmaid of immortality, and instantly they are one 
 again : each is seen reciprocating its influence, and lend- 
 ing its aid to the other, to secure to us a blessed futurity 
 and to prepare us for it. But though all hostile, opposition 
 
xliv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 terminates with this new adjustment, it is not to be denied 
 that difficulty still remains, the natural and unavoidable 
 difficulty of keeping the world from that dangerous domi- 
 nation which, having once enjoyed, it is ever impatient to 
 regain. New habits are to be formed, powerful propensi- 
 ties are to be held at bay, old and indulged inclinations 
 are to be denied, and enemies which we fondly thought we 
 had laid dead at our feet, suddenly starting into hostility 
 again, are again to be coped with and vanquished ; this is 
 attended with a disheartening sense of difficulty which 
 some have no sooner tasted, than they have declined the 
 contest, and surrendered themselves at discretion. 
 
 Now, while our Lord, in various ways, takes cognizance 
 of this struggle for one of his great excellencies, as the 
 founder of a new religion, was the most transparent sim- 
 plicity and candor while he even enlarges on the conflict, 
 presents his followers with a plan of the battle, points 
 out its imminent hazards, and exhorts them before en- 
 tering on it, to ' count the cost,' he at the same time assures 
 them of such supernatural succors as shall enable their 
 weakness to do the deeds of omnipotence, and make per- 
 severance infallible success. While he takes them to an 
 eminence, and shows them the vast confederacy of evil ar- 
 rayed against them, he reminds them that they struggle for 
 an invisible world, that they fight in fellowship with all the 
 children of the light, that more than angels are in their 
 ranks, for he promises them the abundant aid of the Eter- 
 nal Spirit. Their infirmities maybe numerous, their sins 
 maybe mighty, their ignorance may seem invincible, but 
 an almighty agent is employed for the special purpose of 
 piercing that ignorance, overpowering that sinfulness, and 
 surrounding them with an element of light and holiness. 
 
 And even beyond this, as he leads them to the field he 
 proclaims, ' Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world ; 
 
PREFACE. xv 
 
 your leader is a conqueror, advance to victory. 7 The his- 
 tory of the first Christians proves that he did not utter this 
 inspiring address in vain. By this sign they conquered. 
 Though the world within and the world without were in 
 arms against them, they could not be depressed. They 
 fought in the presence of an invisible world. They sur- 
 veyed the whole array of evil, looked calmly in the face 
 of every foe, considered all that might happen, but to this 
 triumphant conclusion they came, 'because he lives, we 
 shall live also.' Like the earth on which they trod, and 
 which continues to roll on in its orbit unimpeded by the 
 earthquakes which rend it and carrying all its atmosphere 
 of storms along with it, so they, animated and impelled by 
 the love of Christ, advanced in the course he assigned 
 them, as steadily and cheerfully as if no ills within, no 
 storms without, assailed them; as if each step they took 
 were across the heavenly threshold, and in sight of their 
 appointed thrones. 
 
 Without intending or hoping to supply the defects of 
 the concluding Essay On the Practicalness of our Lord's 
 Teaching it may not be inappropriate to close this prefa- 
 tory miscellany with a few practical remarks. A variety 
 of circumstances seem to concur, in the present day, aus- 
 picious to the study of the gospel as a practical science. 
 To or three of these circumstances may be named. 
 
 1. The great error of religious polemics, hitherto has 
 consisted in arguing from compound dependent truths, as 
 if they were ultimate. The application of the inductive 
 method of investigation, however, has taught us that, as in 
 philosophy, so in theology, we as yet possess but few ulti- 
 mate truths; that principles on which*parties have heen 
 accustomed to rely with the greatest confidence, may be 
 easily carried to a point where they break down and fail 
 us ; that where two truths appear thus to clash, it is evi- 
 
Xlvi PREFACE. 
 
 dent they cannot be ultimate; but that each of them hav- 
 ing been affirmed by the God of truth concerning the same 
 thing, there is no doubt whatever of their eventual coinci- 
 dence in one comprehensive and axiomatic truth. In the 
 mean time, we feel that we must wait patiently, pronounce 
 less confidently, inquire more diffidently, look at each other 
 more charitably, and, leaving the polemics of piety in which 
 we differ, unite in the practice of piety in which we agree. 
 
 2. Religion has been regarded as the great monopolist 
 of mystery; the popular ignorance of the wonders of nat- 
 ural philosophy has favored this error: and the conse- 
 quence has too commonly been that the neophyte has 
 brought to religion a speculative spirit, and has spent that 
 breath in disputing which might otherwise have been spent 
 in the race of holiness. It is a subject of congratulation, 
 however, that as natural science advances, she is throwing 
 a light on many of the dark things of scripture, and, at 
 the same time, multiplying her own incredibilia ; so that 
 wonder and scepticism will have to transport their throne 
 from the region of religion into the province of science. 
 And thus much of the strength which would once have 
 been wasted in speculation and controversy, is now more 
 usefully employed in biblical criticism, and the enforce- 
 ment of piety, in acts of obedience to God, and in deeds of 
 benevolence to man. 
 
 3. The present day is pre-eminently distinguished, in 
 every department, social, national, and universal j civil, po- 
 litical, and philosophical, by practical activity. Religion, 
 also, is up and doing. In every thing proper to her pecu- 
 liar province, she leads the van. Once more she appears 
 before the world in her appropriate character, militant and 
 aggressive. Hushing their mutual feuds, she is leading 
 her followers forth to the conquest of a world. To fall 
 into her train, is to swear obedience to the laws of Christ. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 4. Another characteristic of the present day, whether 
 for good or for evil, we stay not to inquire, is its cui b:?w 
 or utilitarian spirit. By this test, religion glories to be 
 examined. Godliness is profitable for all things. In can 
 call witnesses from all classes of the community; bring 
 evidence from all parts of the earth; and constrain even its 
 enemies to speak well of it. 
 
 It is the boast of philosDphy, that any accession to our 
 knowledge of nature is sure, sooner or later, to make itself 
 felt in some practical application and benefit. Every addi- 
 tional truth which the gospel has brought, is an additional 
 principle of holiness, a fresh element -of virtue ; it is, in 
 effect, the addition of a new mechanical power for accel- 
 erating the motion of the world towards God. It is the 
 pride of physical science, that it can lead the very elements 
 captive, subduing the most powerful energies of nature to 
 its purposes, and employing them in a variety of useful 
 ways. Spiritual triumphs, analogous to this, are familiar 
 to the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation to 
 every one that beiieveth. It gathers grapes from thorns, 
 and figs from thistles. It turns the wrath of man into a 
 song of praise worthy the harps of heaven. It takes the 
 passions, the most intractable and unapproachable human 
 passions yokes them to the car of duty, and henceforth 
 they run in the way of obedience, proud to grace its tri- 
 umphs. From elements of vice and wretchedness, the gos- 
 pel forms a new creature, instinct with God. These are 
 its ordinary effects; but, not only does it retain all its orig- 
 inal applicability and power unimpaired ; it only waits oc- 
 casion to develope energies of unimagined value, and to 
 fil! the world with wonders of grace. 
 
 Do we admire its practical utility and power? Then 
 the Saviour turns on us a look of personal application, 
 while he repeats, ' Whosoever heareth these sayings of 
 
Xlviii PREFACE. 
 
 mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man.' 
 4 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do *them.' 
 His sublimest doctrines were all practical. He would not 
 have revealed any one doctrine contained in his word but 
 for its moral effect. He measured beforehand the power 
 of each to sanctify, and according to its tendency to illus- 
 trate the holiness of his divine nature, and to restore sanc- 
 tity to our human, he assigned it an appropriate place in 
 the system of truth. The moral of each separately, and 
 of all combined, is simply this, ' Sin no more.' Reader, 
 such are the beauty and excellence of the seal ; what is its 
 impression on yoirr heart and life ? The character of the 
 Christian should be monumental, commemorative of the 
 great facts and truths of the gospel ; how many of these 
 facts and truths could be learnt from your character or 
 transcribed from your life ? * If ye love me keep my 
 commandments.' 
 Epsom, May, 1835. 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ESSAY I . 
 
 ON THE AUTHORITY OP OUR LORD'S TEACHING. 
 
 ' He spake as one having authority.' 
 
 WHEN, in the fulness of time, the eternal Son came 
 forth from the bosom of the Father, he descended to a 
 region of spiritual darkness. Ages of inquiry, conjecture, 
 and effort had only served to demonstrate the fact that 
 man, ' by searching cannot find out God.' Legislators, 
 philosophers, and poets the pride of their time, and the 
 boast of the species had toiled to construct a system 
 whose top should reach unto heaven ; but in vain ; they 
 built only to the clouds. Reason, confident in her 
 resources, had sent forth her sons under all auspices, and 
 in every direction : but they returned, defeated and 
 disheartened ; the footsteps of truth could nowhere be 
 found. In vain had generation after generation asked, in 
 its way to oblivion, < What is truth ? ' The devotee had 
 urged the inquiry at the shrine of his god ; the priest, at 
 his altar of sacrifice ; the sage had repeated it as he 
 walked amidst the works and wonders of creation,; but 
 nothing was heard in reply; nothing, but the faint and 
 bewildering echo, ' What is truth ? ' Darkness covered 
 the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people. 
 
 Nor can the state of Judea be regarded as an exception 
 3 
 
THE GREAT T E A ( HER. 
 
 to the prevailing gloom. There, indeed, the ancient ora- 
 cles of God were yet extant ; but their still small voice, 
 heard only, at any time, by the attentive listener, had been 
 long since over-powered and silenced by the dogmas of 
 their professed interpreters, and the clamors of rival sects. 
 The spiritual import of the sacred volume, like the seven- 
 sealed roll of the Apocalypse, had long been closed to the 
 Jew; and when the lion of the tribe of Judah prevailed to 
 open it, the aversion with which they turned from the 
 sight, showed how unaccustomed they were to gaze on the 
 truth. The darkness was universal and complete. It had 
 settled down, like a pall, over the face of the whole earth. 
 Truth looked down from heaven ; but from no part could 
 she behold her image reflected. If she would relieve the 
 gloom, she must descend, arid shine, and dissipate it with 
 her actual presence. All things proclaimed the urgent 
 necessity that the world should be visited by 'a teacher 
 sent from God.' 
 
 Not only did this awful exigence exist, it was extensive- 
 ly felt and acknowledged; and, by many of the more en- 
 lightened heathens, a Divine Instructor was ardently de- 
 sired. In illustration of this, the language of Plato has 
 been often cited ; nor is it easy to conceive of any thing 
 more conclusive and striking than his picture of Socrates 
 advising his pupil to forego the usual sacrifices until a 
 teacher should be sent from on high. In another place, 
 speaking of such an inspired teacher, he represents, with 
 prophetic sagacity and precision, that * he must be poor, 
 and void of all qualifications but those of virtue alone ; 
 that a wicked world would not bear his instructions and re- 
 proofs; and therefore, within three or four years after he 
 began to preach, he would be persecuted, imprisoned, 
 scourged, and at last put to death.' In this remarkable 
 passage, we behold the divine philosopher, rising from a 
 
HIS A U T 11 O R I T Y . 51 
 
 mournful survey of human ignorance, turning with an air 
 of despondency from every earthly resource, yet eagerly 
 thirsting for a knowledge of God, and virtue, and futurity, 
 till his thirst grows into a desire for celestial aid, and his 
 desire matures to an anticipation, and even a prediction, 
 which God was actually intending to fulfil ; perhaps, in- 
 deed, we err in not cordially recognizing in his language 
 the presence of heavenly inspiration. And in uttering the 
 desire which his words disclose, we may take it for grant- 
 ed, he was clothing the thoughts of a thousand bosoms, 
 venting the secret and cherished longings of unnumbered 
 hearts. If we, though standing in the radiance of the 
 ' Sun,' which has since risen on the world, are yet some- 
 times conscious of impatience, and complain of obscurity, 
 what must have been the wishes and aspirations of those, 
 who, with a keen perception of their exigence, were sitting 
 in darkness and the shadow of death? 
 
 Now the appearance of a Divine Instructor, thus abso- 
 lutely necessary, and ardently desired, might have been 
 warrantably expected. Indubitable evidence existed that 
 God already had spoken to man, at sundry times and in 
 divers manners ; and as the ignorance of the world was 
 still unreclaimed, and there was no intimation that his 
 voice had been final, there was ground to anticipate, that, 
 in his own time, he would break the silence again. Be- 
 sides, the very presence and nature of the Jewish economy 
 was a standing evidence that such was his gracious inten- 
 tion. Bearing the marks of a celestial origin, and fraught 
 with important truth, it yet veiled its meaning in types and 
 enigmas, the solution of \vhich remained to be given. 
 Here were mysteries where was the interpreter? Here 
 were shadows the substance, * the very things themselves, 3 
 must be at hand. Here were proofs that, in a former age, 
 God had said, 'Let there be spiritual light' was it not 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 likely that, in the process of his new creation, the time 
 would come when he would collect, and embody, and aug- 
 ment this light into a glorious sun ? Here was a system 
 of divine intimations, and unfinished economy was it 
 likely that he would leave it incomplete ? was it not more 
 accordant with the character of a perfect being, that, putting 
 his hand a second time to the work, he would bring it to 
 perfection ? 
 
 But, beyond this, the spirit of prophecy had distinctly 
 foretold that an inspired instructor should appear. ' For 
 Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord 
 your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto 
 me ; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall 
 say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, 
 which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from 
 among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Sam- 
 uel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, 
 have likewise foretold of these days.' Thus a prediction 
 was to be found, at the very opening of the prophetic roll, 
 announcing the advent of a distinguished teacher, whose 
 words would demand universal regard ; while his author- 
 ity would be supreme, and his power invincible. Unfold- 
 ing it farther, we read that he should preach the gospel to 
 the poor, and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord ; 
 that he should set judgment in the earth, and the isles 
 should wait for his law; that the Gentiles should come to 
 his light, and kings to the brightness of his rising. And 
 as he was its earliest, so he was also its latest theme. For, 
 reading on to its closing lines, we find it predict him as 
 the Messenger of the covenant who was yet to come ; and 
 the Sun of Righteousness yet to arise. His name was 
 the first which prophecy had uttered : as often as it spoke, 
 it resumed the inspiring theme ; and when at length it ex- 
 pired, his name lingered on its lips. 'When the fulness 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 53 
 
 of time was come, God sent forth his Son.' 'Hear, O 
 heavens ; and be astonished, O earth ! ' the appointed In- 
 structor appears, and proves to be no less a being than the 
 Son of God himself. It is true, the deep necessities of 
 man, the riches of the divine benevolence, and the glowing 
 colors of prophecy, might have kindled and justified the 
 expectation of a most illustrious teacher ; but that he 
 should have appeared in the person of the Eternal Word 
 exceeds the highest flight of human hope ; that he should 
 have come from the bosom of the Father, was an excess of 
 goodness, one of those splendid surprises of grace, by 
 which mercy delights to melt the obduracy, and to win the 
 confidence of our guilty race. 
 
 The circumstances attending the advent of so illustrious 
 a Prophet, must be entitled to receive our profound atten- 
 tion. With the outlines of these we are all familiar. The 
 condescending object of his mission required that, for a 
 time, he should hold the essential glories of his nature in 
 abeyance: accordingly he mysteriously allied himself to 
 our condition; 'the Word was made flesh.' The strain 
 of prophecy had assigned the scene of his life and labors 
 to Judea ; and in that favored land he appeared. That he 
 should have grown in wisdom as he rose to maturity, was 
 only according to a law of our nature an ordinance of 
 his own divine appointment since it is only by a gradual 
 development that the faculties of man arrive at perfection ; 
 but the office he had come to assume, and the divine qual- 
 ifications he brought to it, supposed him superior to human 
 tuition; and accordingly he sought it not. When in 
 childhood, he mingled a moment with the doctors of the 
 temple, * they were astonished at his understanding; ' his 
 inquiries were more instructive and replete with wisdom 
 than their replies. On an after occasion, their surprise at 
 his stores of sacred science was augmented by their 
 
54 T H E GREAT T E A CHER. 
 
 knowledge of the fact, that he had ' never learned, 7 never 
 approached the schools of human instruction. He had 
 access to a tree of knowledge they knew not of. As his 
 dignity was of an order distinct from earthly pomp, inca- 
 pable of being diminished by its absence, or of being em- 
 bellished by its presence, he entirely dispensed with it. 
 The various gradations of human condition were all open 
 and free to his choice, but of these he selected the lowliest ; 
 and however astonishing the selection may appear to those 
 who place distinction in opulence and rank, to him who 
 had already stooped from an infinite height in becoming 
 man, the varieties of earthly rank were as nothing, were 
 only minute degrees of littleness. The place of his birth, 
 like a place constructed from the very wrecks of poverty, 
 was entirely swept of every trace of luxury, every vestige 
 of indulgence, and seemed sacred to humility alone. And 
 the lowliness of all his subsequent life strictly accorded 
 with the humbleness of his birth. Had he come in the 
 pomp of outward state, the multitude would have been de- 
 barred from his presence, and the regards of men would 
 have been divided between the attractions of his earthly 
 rank, and the claims of celestial truth; but by choosing 
 the low condition of the great majority, and declining the 
 tinselled drapery which charms the eye, he graciously 
 made himself accessible to all, while he seemed to put for- 
 ward truth alone as the only object demanding their notice 
 to challenge their whole attention to the native worth, the 
 intrinsic importance of the doctrines he announced. 
 
 But though, for the reasons assigned, he assumed the 
 most bare and unpretending simplicity, as the hour for 
 opening his divine commission drew nigh, the public mind 
 was apprised of the event by ' wonders in heaven above, 
 and signs in the earth beneath.' A herald, preceding his 
 steps, aroused the nation, by the solemn announcement that 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 55 
 
 he was now at hand ; a herald, whose office was deemed 
 so important as the precursor of Christ, that even he had 
 been the subject of ancient prediction ; while, to prepare 
 the minds, and to excite the expectations of those he ad- 
 dressed, the burden of his message was nothing less than 
 the stern necessity of immediate repentance, and the ap- 
 proaching erection of a heavenly kingdom : ' Repent ye, 
 for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' The voice came 
 pealing from the Judean desert, peopling its path wherever 
 it swept with echoes of astonishment and alarm ; and as it 
 passed over the banks of the Jordan, rung through the pala- 
 ces and streets of Jerusalem, and startled even the distant 
 shores ; the wondering land went out in crowds, the san- 
 ' guine, the envious, the devout, the anxious, the oppressed, 
 the curious priest, politician, populace all flocked and 
 thronged to the scene of this remarkable prodigy ; where, 
 having won their admiration and credence by the severe 
 sanctity of his life, and agitated their fears by the bold arid 
 alarming tenor of his address, he awoke in them vague but 
 elevated anticipations of * him that should come,' and took 
 from them a solemn pledge, by baptism, that as soon as 
 that Illustrious Personage appeared they would enroll 
 themselves among his disciples. l Now when all the peo- 
 ple were baptized,' while the herald voice was yet ringing 
 in their ears, and their expectation was raised to the utmost 
 pitch, Jesus, the subject of prophecy, the object of hope, 
 the desire of nations, appeared, and with ineffable conde- 
 scension received, at the hands of John, the baptismal rite. 
 Having thus honored the ministry of his servant, and rati- 
 fied and obeyed existing laws, he ascended from the wa- 
 ters, and prayed ; and as he prayed, * Lo, the heavens were 
 opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending 
 like a dove, and lighting upon him : and, lo, a voice from 
 heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
 
56 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 well pleased.' Such was the splendid scene of his divine 
 inauguration to an office, to which we behold him appoint- 
 ed by the concurrent suffrages of the eternal Father and 
 the Holy Spirit; invested with the authority, and enjoying 
 the complacency of the one, anointed and endowed with 
 the unmeasured fulness of the other ; an office which was 
 destined to absorb all moral authority, distinction, and pow- 
 er, and in the discharge of which, whatever he uttered was 
 henceforth to be regarded as law and life. 
 
 In the following essays, I propose to point out the lead- 
 ing features of our Lord's instructions. My object, be it 
 remarked, is not to attempt a detailed and textual exposition 
 of the truths he taught, the words he uttered though 
 these, of necessity, will be constantly before us, as our 
 only data and source of illustration but to elicit and ex- 
 emplify the peculiar qualities by which these truths and 
 words, when viewed as a whole, are distinguished. With 
 the substance of what he taught, we are all more or less 
 familiar : since, in common with the stupendous miracles 
 which marked his path, the purity and perfection of his 
 character, his amazing death, and glorious resurrection, it 
 forms an important part of our scripture reading, and is 
 one of the ordinary topics of pulpit instruction; but, if I 
 mistake not, the impression which is generally entertained 
 of the claims of Christ as a teacher, is most disproportion- 
 ately inadequate ; owing, perhaps, partly to the absorbing 
 attractions which invest the subject of his atoning death, 
 and partly to that eclipsing flood of light which immediate- 
 ly afterwards burst on the church in the ministry of the 
 apostles ; for, by a known principle, truth evolved and il- 
 lustrated will supplant and succeed in the mind the same 
 truth condensed and primitive, however superior its source, 
 and throw over it an air of undeserved disparagement. 
 Were it proposed to magnify his office as the great Proph- 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 57 
 
 etofthe church, it would be important to remark that the 
 preaching of the apostles, subsequent to his ascension, 
 was virtually the mere continuation of his own preaching; 
 that they were simply the organs and oracles through 
 which he spoke ; as much so as when he had sent them 
 forth, by two and two, to proclaim through Judeathe king- 
 dom of God ; the only difference being, that he had now 
 removed the scene of his instructions from earth to heaven ; 
 but, without recurring to this consideration, and confining 
 ourselves entirely to the specimens we possess of his per- 
 sonal teaching, it may easily be made apparent that, in the 
 most literal and comprehensive sense of the expression, 
 ' never man spake like this man.' And in adopting the 
 plan contemplated, of exemplifying the peculiar character- 
 istics of his earthly teaching, I am principally moved by 
 the persuasion, that it is best adapted to exhibit an enlarg- 
 ed, connected, and impressive view of the emphatic truth of 
 this declaration. 
 
 On meeting with an allusion to our Lord's discourses, 
 we naturally recur, in thought, to his sermon on the 
 mount, to his parables, his charge to his apostles, his more 
 lengthened vindicatory replies to the questions and impu- 
 tations of his adversaries, his terrible prophetic denuncia- 
 tion of the Jewish priesthood and nation, and his valedic- 
 tory address to his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. 
 These, when brought from their various detached positions 
 in the gospels, and grouped together in the mind, assume, 
 perhaps, a larger appearance than the cursory reader had 
 before attached to them. He must, however, be aware, 
 that we possess but a very small proportion of what Jesus 
 actually delivered. It is not to be imagined that he, who 
 went about doing good, and who turned every event into 
 an occasion of usefulness, would travel from place to place, 
 with his disciples, in silence. Rather, we infer from the 
 
58 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 characteristic inquisitiveness which some of them showed, 
 and his uniform readiness to reply, that the very scenes 
 through which he walked, if nothing else, would furnish 
 him with a perpetual occasion of instruction; that, in 
 traversing a land so often pressed hy angels ' feet, so rich 
 in the relics of miracle and devotion, that its very soil had 
 lost its gross materiality, and every object had acquired a 
 supernatural aspect, he would often advert to ancient times, 
 making them the text of hallowed remark, and thus turn 
 the very dust he trod into the gold of wisdom. And yet, 
 though so much of his time was necessarily occupied in 
 frequent, circuitous, and protracted journeys, a few frag- 
 ments, incidentally given, are all that we have of his di- 
 vine communications by the way. 
 
 But we are not left to mere conjecture as to the probable 
 occasions on which he taught. The scene of the first 
 discourse he is recorded to have uttered, appears to have 
 been Jerusalem; but of that memorable unsealing of the 
 fountains of the waters of life, we only know that, in con- 
 junction with his miracles, it was the means of inducing 
 many to believe on him. To form an idea of the immense 
 proportion in which the amount of his teaching must have 
 exceeded what is on record, we have only to recall the 
 following expressions: 'And Jesus returned in. the power 
 of the Spirit into Galilee ; and there went out a fame of 
 him through all the region round about. And he taught 
 in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came 
 to Nazareth, and preached there. And he came down to 
 Capernaum, and taught them on the sabbath days. And 
 he said, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities 
 also ; for therefore am I sent. And he preached in the 
 synagogues .of Galilee.' These intimations are all to be 
 found in a single chapter, the 4th of Luke ; and only refer 
 to a single period, the opening of his ministry. But if we 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 59 
 
 bear in mind that similar intimations are dispersed through 
 the gospels, and are equally applicable to all the subse- 
 quent stages of his life, we shall be vividly impressed, 
 that what we read is merely a hint of what he delivered. 
 What synagogue in Galilee, if not in Judea, did not re- 
 sound to his gracious voice? What sabbath did not be- 
 hold him breaking the bread of life to famishing crowds ? 
 He held the key of all the treasures of wisdom, and he 
 distributed of its stores with the affluence and profusion of 
 unwearied beneficence. He had come to sow the earth 
 with truth, and wherever he went he scattered in abund- 
 ance the incorruptible seed. What has been transmitted 
 by the holy evangelists is all that is necessary to inform 
 and to sanctify ; had all that he uttered in the course of 
 his laborious ministry been preserved for he never pro- 
 nounced an idle word the voluminous mass would have 
 been inaccessible to the great majority, and thus its design 
 would have been defeated ; * for I suppose the world itself 
 would not have been elble to receive the books that should 
 be written.' 
 
 We may, I think, warrantably suppose that, on com- 
 mencing his public ministry, the adorable Redeemer had 
 present to his comprehensive mind, an outline of the truths 
 which should form the scope of his teaching. The worth- 
 lessness of formal ceremonial obedience ; the spirituality 
 of the law and its eternal obligations ; the holy, benevo- 
 lent, and paternal character of God; the relations in 
 which we stand to God, and to each other : the display of 
 his grace in the gift of his Son for human salvation ; the 
 spiritual nature of the gospel kingdom: the necessity of 
 prayer, repentance, and holiness in those who belong to it; 
 the agency of the Holy Spirit to enlighten, renew, and 
 sanctify the soul ; the sublime fact of his own divine ap- 
 pointment to be the Saviour and Judge of the world ; these 
 
60 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 were the momentous truths on which he chiefly dwelt, and 
 to these, whatever the immediate occasion of his speaking, 
 he perpetually returned. Like some of the celestial bodies, 
 indeed, which refuse to come under any astronomical ar- 
 rangement of signs, some of the lights which he kindled 
 and placed in the great firmament of truth, stand out in 
 isolated grandeur, and shine apart. But though this was 
 to be expected from the awful extent of that ignorance he 
 came to enlighten from the stores of his wisdom, and the 
 variety of occasion which called it forth, the mass of his 
 divine instructions will be found to come under the enu- 
 meration we have specified. And it is from his discourses 
 and discoveries, on these topics, that we now proceed to 
 exhibit those distinguishing marks of his teaching on 
 which we propose to treat. 
 
 It is impossible to peruse the instructions of Christ with- 
 out remarking the tone of authority which pervades them : 
 this was the characteristic by which his hearers, on several 
 occasions, appear to have been chiefly impressed ; and to 
 this, therefore, we think it natural to advert first. Of his 
 personal appearance, and general address, we are left in ig- 
 norance: nor is it necessary, that, in order to form an idea 
 of his teaching, we should be able to imagine them. For 
 this purpose we have only to suppose, what is surely allow- 
 able, that they were in no way unfriendly to useful effect; 
 and that, whatever the theme which engaged his tongue, 
 his voice, and words, and gestures accorded with it, being 
 true to nature, and to the eloquence of holy human feeling. 
 And hence, the authority with which he spoke was not of 
 one unvaried character, but was marked and modified by 
 the nature of his subject. There was authority in his in- 
 vitations and promises, not less than in his denunciations 
 and commands, for they were uttered in the language of 
 independent goodness and power ; but while we hear in the 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 61 
 
 former the overflowings of paternal tenderness and love, 
 we recognize in the latter the tones of the lawgiver and 
 the judge. Availing myself of this variety, it may serve 
 to promote distinctness and easier recollection, if L classify 
 the quotations I intend to make accordingly. 
 
 I. There are passages which exhibit especially the au- 
 thority of goodness. * Come unto me all ye that labor 
 and are heavy laden ; and I will give you rest.' * If any 
 man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 5 ' Him that 
 cometh unto me I will in 'no wise cast out.' Who can 
 listen to these great and gracious announcements without 
 feeling himself standing in the presence of superior good- 
 ness ? His first emotion may be that of admiring grati- 
 tude at the display of so much benignity and compassion : 
 but scarcely can it fail to be followed by the delightful yet 
 awful impression, that he is occupying holy ground, stand- 
 ing near the fountain of mercy itself. What distinguished 
 dignity and grace do we recognize in sentences such as 
 these ; * I am the light of the world ;' ' I am the bread of 
 life:' ' I am the way, the truth, and the life;' ' I am the 
 good shepherd, and give unto my sheep eternal life : ' ' I 
 am come that they might have life, and that they" might 
 have it more abundantly.' When from the midst of the 
 burning bush Jehovah proclaimed himself, I am that I am, 
 he announced his independent existence and self-sufficient 
 perfections ; in other words, he declared what he is in 
 himself. In these declarations of Jesus, we recognize the 
 same ineffable Being describing what he is to his people; 
 laying open the resources of his infinite nature, appropria- 
 ting and applying them, with high complacency in the act, 
 to the wants of our guilty race : in each instance, the dig- 
 nity addressing us is the same, only that in the language 
 cf i he Incarnate Word, the awful is exchanged for the attrac- 
 
( >~ T II K Ci R E A T T E A C HER. 
 
 live and gracious. He spoke like the soul of universal 
 goodness, conscious of a power of breathing into prostrate 
 humanity the breath of life : of entering the vast capaci- 
 ties of the world, and filling them all with, a fulness of joy. 
 And, as the only other illustration we shall adduce, think 
 of the opening of his divine discourse on the mount of 
 Beatitudes. How like a cloud of goodness did he crown 
 the honored mount, and shower his benedictions with a 
 copiousness, which showed that it was at once his pleasure 
 and his prerogative to bless. In a way which evinced 
 that, while so employed, lie was only engaged in his own 
 peculiar ]v ;!>at the treasures of eternity were at 
 
 in the disposal of them .he knew no con- 
 trol : that he thought it no robbery to enact the God; he 
 rejected the minions and favorites of the world, and, calling 
 authoritatively on a peculiar people, he distributed them in- 
 to classes, assigned to each an appropriate award, and 
 made them free of the universal kingdom of God. Having 
 brought into the world the accumulated treasures of the 
 eternal God, thus publicly did he adopt his heirs, and 
 authoritatively assign to each his respective share. Turn- 
 ing to such as might suffer for his 'name's s.ike' last, he 
 declared that ' great should be their reward in heaven:' 
 thus disclosing the dignity which attached to his name, 
 and the unlimited authority he possesses in heaven. 
 
 II. There were occasions when he spoke with the au- 
 thority of greatness. ' He that hath ears to hear,' said he, 
 * let him hear ;' and in thus bespeaking universal and sub- 
 missive attention, he was only repeating the command 
 from the excellent glory which had summoned the world 
 to listen while he spoke, and to receive every word he 
 might utter as law and life. In accordance with the spirit 
 of that command, he did not hesitate to compare himself 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. (M 
 
 with the most distinguished lights of the Jewish church, 
 and to claim pre-eminence over them all. Jonah w r as one 
 of the most exalted names of which the Israelites could 
 boast. His voice, like a blast from the trump of God, had 
 pealed through the streets of Nineveh, and had made all 
 its palaces tremble : his preaching had humbled the mighti- 
 est nation of the east ; had instrumentally preserved an 
 empire from destruction ; had caused their religion and 
 their laws to be revered by the surrounding lands, and had 
 greatly exalted the God of Israel before the heathen. Yet 
 aware that all these impressions of Jonah's greatness were 
 vividly present to their minds, ' behold,' said he, 'a greater 
 than Jonah is here!' Solomon with them was a name 
 for glory. As the the founder of their magnificent temple, 
 as the instrument of raising their nation to the loftiest 
 point of prosperity, as the most highly endowed and wisest 
 of men, the depository and personification of wisdom, they 
 hallowed his name with a reverence which fell little short 
 of idolatry : so that to assert superiority to him was, in 
 their eyes, to claim to be considered as more than a man; 
 as passing beyond the limits of humanity, and invading the 
 precincts of Deity. Yet aware that such was their high 
 and jealous regard for his fame, and while standing amidst 
 the splendid memorials of his greatness, ' Behold,' said 
 he, * a greater than Solomon is here ! ' Not only did he 
 claim to eclipse their brightest luminaries, he spoke of all 
 the flower and prime of their nation, as having longed to 
 complete their earthly distinctions by sitting at his feet, 
 and following in his train. ' He turned unto his disciples, 
 and said, Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your 
 ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many 
 prophets, and kings, and righteous men, have desired to 
 see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; 
 and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard 
 
64 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 them.' And, as though to extinguish with a breath, and 
 forever, all idea of rivalship with him, he distinctly as- 
 sumed and appropriated as his right, the title of authority 
 his followers had placed at his feet, and affirmed his claim 
 to the entire subjection aud allegiance of their faith. ' Ye 
 call me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am: 
 one is your master, even Christ. 5 Thus taking possession 
 of the sacred domain of conscience in his own name, he 
 erected a throne whose supremacy it is treason to question, 
 and blasphemy to attempt to usurp. 
 
 In his graphic and awful allusions to the last day, in 
 none of which he fails to make prominent the glorious 
 tribunal of the Son of man, what a voice of authority and 
 majesty is heard to speak ! While reading, for instance, 
 his parabolical representation of it, in the 25th of Matthew, 
 how imperceptibly but irresistibly is the attention engaged 
 and the heart subdued; till, having marked with conscious 
 concern the partition betwixt the sheep and the goats, and 
 intensely listened to his portentous addresses to each, and 
 trembled at the temerity evinced in the defence of the wick- 
 ed, and sympathized with the characteristic reply of the 
 righteous, we hang with breathless anxiety on the lips 
 which pronounce their respective awards, and feel at the 
 breaking up and departure of the vast assembly to their 
 separate states, as though we ourselves had been arraigned 
 in his august presence, how entirely we are in his hands, 
 and how insignificant we are there. Having amazed his 
 hearers by the announcement of that partial resurrection 
 which accompanied and adorned his own triumph over 
 the grave, he bade them reserve their wonder for the far 
 more impressive scenes of the last day ; ' Marvel not at 
 this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the 
 " graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall 
 come forth.' If we would recogaize the authority wlii:ll 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 65 
 
 belongs to every part of his teaching, we have only to re- 
 alize the thought, that in listening to him, we are actually 
 listening to the voice which is soon to resound through all 
 the nations of the dead, and to which we ourselves shall 
 reply by awaking and leaving the chambers of the grave. 
 When all the universe shall be convened for judgment, the 
 only parties remaining will be He who judges and they 
 who are judged ; of all the multiplied relations which now 
 subsist, that which makes us accountable to God will alone 
 be felt: so that, were it possible in that awful juncture for 
 every order of created beings to disown and desert us, the 
 calamity would fail, from its comparative insignificance, to 
 attract our notice. Yet the Saviour unequivocally implies 
 that if he alone 'profess to be ashamed ' of us, our doom 
 will be sealed : that it will be only for him to disown us, 
 happiness and hope will instantly desert us, and from that 
 moment we shall have to date our \voe. Virtue, wherever 
 it exists, is greatness of the highest order ; for it allies us to 
 supreme greatness ; but as though he represented and em- 
 bodied universal holiness in his own person, as though he 
 were at once the author and champion of all righteous- 
 ness, he engages to reward every act that befriends it, as an 
 honor conferred on himself; while whatever opposes it, 
 even in thought, he describes as a violence offered to his 
 own nature which he feels himself bound to resent. * Ye 
 did it unto me, or ye did it not unto me ; ' these are the 
 terms of aggravation in which he depicts himself describ- 
 ing every act, and by which he informs us that, as he sit8 
 on the throne of judgment, the great centre of the congre- 
 gated world, every act will be seen, like a line, pointing to 
 him as its object and end; or else, in forgetfulness and 
 enmity, diverging from him, and losing itself in outer 
 darkness. 
 
 The name of a person is a familiar formula to denote his 
 4 
 
66 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 character and influence. The name of God is a compen- 
 dious idiom of scripture, importing his glory, the fulness 
 and totality of his divine perfections. Hence, every thing 
 peculiar to the legal economy was prescribed in his name 
 as the Fountain of authority, or was required to be done to 
 his name, as its only legitimate object and end. In intro- 
 ducing the Christian economy, we find Jesus denoting his 
 power and supremacy in the same manner. Copying the 
 example of Deity, he impressed his name upon every act, 
 and object, and office, peculiar to the new dispensation. 
 His disciples, as often as they desired to call down spiritual 
 blessings, were to employ his name, and their plea would 
 prevail. They were to gather together for social worship 
 to his name. They were to baptize to his name. In his 
 flame they were to summon and subvert the strongholds of 
 idolatry and sin, and to arouse the nations from the slum- 
 bers of spiritual death. Speaking in his name, they were 
 to find the ordinances of nature miraculously obedient to 
 their voice. His name was to be their watchword, their 
 badge of distinction, the principle of their piety, the bond 
 of their union, the end of their actions, the authority for 
 their conduct, and the source of their success. Nothing 
 was to be recognized or received in his kingdom, which 
 did not bear the superscription of his name ; every thing 
 was to confess his supremacy, by, acknowledging him for 
 its author, or else for its ultimate design. 
 
 But these illustrations of the dignity which marked the 
 teaching of Christ might be multiplied indefinitely. I do 
 not profess to have selected the best : for when I have 
 hoped the difficulty of selection was over, a new specimen 
 has suddenly occurred, bringing in its train a host of fresh 
 illustrations, as eligible as those already cited. It is one 
 of the peculiarities of our Lord's teaching, that he was his 
 own subject ; and seldom does he release our attention 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 67 
 
 from the exalted theme. As if he sought to be always 
 present to our eye, he converted all nature into an index to 
 his greatness, treated it as an intended system of emblems 
 of himself. There is a sense in which the much-admired 
 saying of Plato, that light is * only the shadow of God,' 
 was applied by our Lord to himself. ' I,' said he, ' am the 
 light of the world : ' the sun is only ' my emblematic rep- 
 resentative.' Water, and air, and light, and life, the great 
 elements of existence, the universal principles, were select- 
 ed by him as the only adequate erriblems of his greatness. 
 How numerous the occasions in which he partially re- 
 moved the veil of his greatness : heightening our concep- 
 tions of his majesty, by the terms of reserve in which he 
 spoke of it. His pre-existence, his personal dignity, his 
 prospective glory ; these were themes familiar to his tongue. 
 * He thought it not robbery to be equal with God; ' and 
 accordingly when he claimed the equality, he did not em- 
 ploy any pomp of words, he did not appoint a public oc- 
 casion, and assemble the nation, and command attention by 
 the trumpets and thunders of Sinai like one to whom all 
 greatness was familiar, he simply announced it in his com- 
 mon speech. ' As the Father/ said he, * knoweth me, even 
 so know I the Father. The Son restoreth to life whom 
 he will. All things that the Father hath are mine. I and 
 my Father are one. I appoint unto you a kingdom.' 
 Greatness, which baffles and astonishes our conceptions,/ 
 he spoke of in a tone of unmoved tranquillity. He lays 
 his hand on the throne of God, with the spontaneous ease 
 of an eternal habitude. Arraying himself in all the per- 
 fections of Godhead, and putting on his head the crown of 
 Deity, he assumes his seat at the right hand of the Father, 
 and claims a community of supreme honors. Grandeur, 
 which the heart of man hath not imagined, and which 
 even his apostles could not glance at without emotions of 
 
68 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 unutterable wonder, he speaks of without any effort, and 
 distributes without any ostentation. Astonishment is only 
 for those to whom knowledge is novelty ; but- ' the glory 
 which is to be revealed' to us, is ' the glory which he had 
 with the Father before the world was : ' the unapproacha- 
 ble splendors of the celestial state, he speaks of as ever 
 present to his mind, as the natural and familiar scenes of 
 his Father's house. The heavenly heights, to which we 
 can ascend only as we are succored and raised by an om- 
 nipotent arm, was the state of exaltation with which he 
 had ever moved on a level, and from which he had visited 
 us only by accomplishing a laborious descent. He car- 
 ried our views of his greatness from the present to the 
 future ; declared that his final doom of the wicked will be, 
 ' depart from me ; ' importing that banishment from him 
 will be exile from happiness, the consummation of human 
 woe : while on the other hand, the peculiar and eternal 
 charm of that world where all is glorious, is to consist in 
 the manifestation and enjoyment of his presence. * Where 
 I am, there also shall my servant be.' * I will that they 
 be with me where I am, to behold my glory.' 
 
 Under this head, it is needful to remark, that the pervad- 
 ing style of our Lord's teaching is that of assertion and 
 testimony. While it pre-supposes the laws of reason, it 
 does not, nor could it without manifest incongruity, make 
 an appeal to them. His disclosures of truth are necessa- 
 rily dogmatic. But since man, if he is to be treated as a 
 rational being, must have adequate grounds on which to 
 rest his belief, our Lord in the stead of arguments, con- 
 structed a basis of miracles. He claimed to be * believed 
 for his works ' sake.' They were the hand of God, en- 
 dorsing, and attesting as true whatever he revealed. Hav- 
 ing thus acquired a right to dictate, he could not have sub- 
 mitted the principles he announced to the ordinary process 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 69 
 
 of argumentation, without implying that human reason- 
 ing, our present impaired perceptions of truth, was a surer 
 ground for reliance than the purest reason: he would have 
 been expunging faith from Christian virtues, exalting hu- 
 man reason, or that which stands for it, above the wisdom 
 of God, and treating it as though in the sphere of religion 
 it were perfect, and at home ! whereas he found it prostrate 
 and lost, and had to re-kindle its extinguished torch with 
 the very first elements of sacred knowledge. Surrounded 
 with divine credentials, he took his stand as a living ora- 
 cle, and demanded credence of all who heard his unreason- 
 ed verities. He spoke as one having authority, addressing 
 himself to humility, obedience, and implicit faith. Every 
 science has its data ; fundamental principles assumed to 
 be true, on the unquestioned authority of which all its 
 deductions and applications rest; in the science of the- 
 ology, the sayings of Christ are ultimate truths. From 
 these, as from first principles, all our reasoning in religion 
 must proceed : to call in question their authority, would be 
 to disturb and subvert the foundations of truth. His dic- 
 tates constitute the rudiments of sacred science ; and they 
 are to be acquiesced in, as the reasons of duty, and the laws 
 of faith. 
 
 III. A third quality, which imparted a style of awful 
 authority to our Lord's teaching, was solemnity. In the 
 Old Testament, as I live, saith the Lord, is a form of di- 
 vine asseveration, which compels attention ; and which, by 
 giving the existence of Jehovah in pledge, imparts to sen- 
 timents already grave in themselves the exceeding awful- 
 ness of an infinite oath. Answerable to this, is that re- 
 markable formula employed by Christ, and peculiar to him, 
 with which he so often commands attention, as with the 
 blast of a trumpet, * Verily, verily, I say unto you.' The 
 
70 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 reiteration of the first word, proceeding from the lips of 
 him who is 'the truth,' and ' the word of God,' invests the 
 announcements which follow with a superlative sanctity 
 and solemnity, as if they came to us legibly impressed with 
 the stamp and seal of God. Solemnity of address, at all 
 times affecting, is never more so than when, like elemental 
 thunder, it proclaims the terrors of the Lord. Whoever 
 may be the organ of divine denunciation, he has only to 
 evince that he feels the weight and burden of his message, 
 in order to obtain respectful audience from the conscience 
 of the sinner, and to awaken and authenticate its most hid- 
 den forebodings. But what an appalling accession to the 
 Redeemer's power of rebuke is derived from the consider- 
 ation of his prevailing compassion, as well as of his mys- 
 terious resources to fulfil and to punish. The voice of 
 him who was 'meek and lowly in heart,' uttering the 
 hoarse and exasperated accents of wrath, is more than a 
 recollection of Sinai. But how was it possible that even 
 mercy itself could visit a scene like that which he travers- 
 ed, and maintain a style of unmingled tenderness. Ac- 
 cordingly, there were occasions, when, surveying the 
 proud, hypocritical, and guilty throngs which crowded his 
 path, he clothed himself with zeal as with a garment, and, 
 with a consuming jealousy for the insulted majesty of God, 
 ' took them into his lips, and smote them with the sword 
 of his mouth.' Witness the cleansing of the temple. In- 
 tent on gain, the Jews had converted the holy place into a 
 scene of sacrilegious traffic ; they had turned the ancient 
 and solemn passover itself to profit; they bartered deep in 
 the blood of human souls ; they worshipped mammon in 
 his Father's house. But ' suddenly coming to his temple,' 
 he flamed around its hallowed walls, ' like a refiner's fire,' 
 and with the tones of injured and insulted Deity, rained on 
 their consciences such strokes of terrible dismay, that they 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 71 
 
 eagerly sought refuge from his holy indignation in flight, 
 leaving him the Lord, and sole possessor of the sanctuary. 
 But chiefly, let us recall to our recollection the unbrok- 
 en series of pregnant woes which he denounced during 
 his last visit to the temple. Long had he walked, like an 
 incarnate conscience, through their guilty land : and often 
 had they been troubled, and trembled at the rebuke of his 
 sacred presence. Having nearly filled the capacious meas- 
 ure of their iniquity by rejecting him, they were about to 
 make it overflow by his crucifixion. Undeterred by the 
 appaling prospect, he came with unfaltering step to the 
 scene of his sufferings, to finish the work which was given 
 him to do. Finding himself surrounded in the temple, by 
 a large assemblage of Jewish doctors, scribes, and lawyers, 
 and pharisees, the very elements and essence of the nation's 
 guilt; he assailed and demolished the enormous fabric of 
 sanctimonious hypocrisy, which their laborious impiety 
 had reared, and, with the fidelity and fearlessness of the 
 king of martyrs, denounced and delivered his final protest 
 against the pride and the power which upheld it. They 
 had occasionally heard his fearful comminations before, and 
 trembled for their security for every word was a weapon ; 
 but now having regularly, invested and approached their 
 fortified guilt, he opened on them the dreadful artillery of 
 his divine malediction. An occasional flash had before 
 apprised them that a storm might be near ; but now, hav- 
 ing collected together all the materials of tempest into one 
 black and fearful mass, and having awed them to silence 
 as nature is hushed when awaiting a crisis, he discharged 
 its tremendous contents, in one volleyed and prolonged 
 explosion, on their guilty and unsheltered heads. He 
 arraigned them as though he had already ascended the 
 seat of doom, and laid open all the sepulchral recesses of 
 their iniquity, as though he read from the book of God's 
 
72 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 remembrance. Hypocrisy was unable to conceal itself in 
 the clouds of incense wbich it offered. The proud, the 
 covetous, the intolerant, he confounded and covered with 
 the shame of detection and conscious guilt. As they came 
 up for judgment, in succession, he fulminated against them 
 the woes and imprecations of his wrath, 'the wrath of the 
 Lamb,' in tones anticipating those of their final sentence. 
 ' Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites ! ' ' One 
 woe is past, and behold, another woe cometh.' ' Woe unto 
 you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites ! ye serpents, ye 
 generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of 
 hell ? ' That solemn scene, remembering the character of 
 the Great Reprover, and the impending judgments of 
 which it was prognostic, may well remind us of the seven 
 apocalyptic thunders uttering their voices ; and often, may 
 we suppose, would the echoes of his denunciations return 
 upon the ears of those who heard them in after years, like 
 the distant, but quailing reverberations of the mount that 
 burned. 
 
 IV. Another characteristic of the authority which 
 marked the teaching of our Lord, and the last I propose 
 to illustrate, is that which he discovered in his legislative 
 and judicial capacity. To disturb the majestic repose of 
 the divine law, argues, on the part of him who attempts it, 
 either the final stage of insane impiety, or an authority 
 clothed with the prerogatives of the original lawgiver. In 
 this latter exalted predicament the Saviour claimed to stand ; 
 'As the Father,' said he, * hath life in himself, so hath he 
 given to the Son, to have life in himself; and hath given 
 him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the 
 Son of man.' All things are delivered unto me of my 
 Father. In the exercise of his legal supremacy, he may 
 be said to have revised the laws of heaven. Not only 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 73 
 
 did he put on them his own authoritative interpretation, from 
 which he permits no appeal, and by which he greatly 
 extended the sphere of their jurisdiction, in bestowing 
 forgiveness, he even controlled and suspended their opera- 
 tion ; he pronounced what part of the divine code was of 
 perpetual, and what of temporary obligation ; he repealed 
 its positive enactments, and enjoined others ; while, by 
 laying open the scenes of the final judgment, and speaking 
 as from the mysterious cross, he placed it on another basis, 
 infused into it a new vigor, and augmented its force in the 
 highest degree. 
 
 When the sanctimonious pharisees, impatient to accuse 
 him, but despairing of a charge, alleged against him the 
 trivial act of his hungry disciples, in plucking the ears of 
 corn on the sabbath day, he not only established the inno- 
 cence of the deed, but with what an air of inimitable dig- 
 nity did he cast over it the ample shield of his own pre- 
 rogative ; * the Son of man,' said he, is Lord even of the 
 sabbath day.' On another occasion, when the same un- 
 appeasable intolerance, and cloked hypocrisy, construed 
 an act of healing into a breach of the sabbath, he again 
 asserted his superiority to the law. But, beyond this, he 
 expounded his right to that superiority ; he declared, that 
 as the operations of the Father knew no intermission, so 
 neither did his ; that as the machinery of Providence does 
 not pause in deference to the sabbatic law, but continues, 
 through every moment of time, to fill the universe with 
 its agency, so he acknowledged no restraint, but claimed 
 the same unlimited scope, and infinite freedom of activity 
 for his beneficence : thus clearly placing his own miracu- 
 lous works on a level with the works of God: demanding 
 the same consideration for their character ; and assuming 
 an equality, or rather an identity, with the Supreme, in 
 will, and right, and power. * My Father worketh until 
 
74 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 now, and I work. Whatsoever things the Father doeth, 
 those things the Son also doeth in like manner.' But his 
 dispensation with the law of the sabbath was only a speci- 
 men of his supreme authority. By issuing the final and 
 sovereign mandate to his disciples, * Go into all the world, 
 and preach the gospel to every creature;' he virtually 
 annulled the Jewish ritual, and repealed a whole economy, 
 casting it back among the things that were: while, by 
 replacing it with ordinances of his own enactment, and sa- 
 cred to his worship, he proclaimed himself the founder and 
 legislator of a new religion. 
 
 For the establishment of his religion, a display of mi- 
 raculous power was necessary ; and, accordingly, he not 
 only declared his ability and rights to control at pleasure 
 the laws of nature, he placed those laws as he saw fit, un- 
 der the subjection of his apostles also. { When he had 
 called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power 
 against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all 
 manner of sickness, and all manner of disease. And these 
 signs shall follow them that believe : in my name shall 
 they work miracles.' * And whatsoever ye shall ask in my 
 name, that / will do.' 
 
 The exercise of his supremacy, in the instances we 
 have cited, was accompanied by the most illustrious dis- 
 plays of authority, in developing and enforcing the eter- 
 nal and unchangeable laws of morality. The morality of 
 the Mosaic code was of divine dictation; but, in revising 
 its statutes and giving it perfection, he introduces his new 
 prescription with the preamble, ' Ye have heard that it 
 was said to them of old time but I say unto you ; ' thus 
 placing his own legislation on a footing with the authority 
 of Sinai ; and, if not actually effacing the original tables, 
 to make room for his own statutes, yet inserting and incor- 
 porating these statutes at pleasure, and publishing them as a 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 75 
 
 part of the eternal law. How tender, yet inconcealable, the 
 tone of authority in which he said to his disciples, when 
 he was only a step from the cross. ' A new commandment 
 give I unto you, that ye love one another.' To regard 
 this as a mere republication, seems to impugn the modesty 
 which distinguished his character, for it represents him as 
 claiming originality and novelty for that which is only the 
 revival of an obsolete law. But with that ancient precept 
 which enjoined love to our neighbor, this new command 
 has no affinity except in appearance; it differs in its na- 
 ture, its objects, and in the peculiar considerations by 
 which it is enforced. That prescribes the love of benevo- 
 lence ; this requires the love of complacency : that enjoins 
 loving kindness, the love of the kind, of man as man ; this 
 enjoins the love of character, of virtue, of man as Chris- 
 tian ; while its claim to novelty is completed by the divine 
 Legislator proposing his own example, as the model and 
 motive to obedience. But that which displays his superi- 
 ority to all human, all merely delegated authority, and 
 which places him on a level with the Supreme Power is, 
 that having enacted laws, he can ensure obedience. The 
 highest praise of an earthly lawgiver, is to adapt his laws 
 as nearly as possible to the claims of abstract right, on the 
 one hand ; and to the peculiar state of the people receiving 
 them, on the other. He can do little more to promote 
 obedience to them, than by publicly chastising the refrac- 
 tory and disobedient. But the great Prophet and Law- 
 giver of the Christian church, having consulted our nature 
 in the requirements he makes, can then conform our na- 
 ture to his authority ; having authoritatively announced 
 his will, he can carry into ail the recesses of the soul, and, 
 in perfect harmony with our free volitions, can so iden- 
 tify it with our thoughts and aims, so blend it with the 
 stream and current of our consciousness, that in yielding 
 
76 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 obedience to his word, we are only obeying the actings and 
 impulses of our own minds. Hence the language of con- 
 scious authority, and efficient power, which he employed 
 in relation to the conversion of the Gentiles : * Other sheep 
 I have, which are not of this fold, them also / must bring 
 and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be one fold 
 and one shepherd.' Hence too, he could say to whom he 
 chose, ' Follow me ;' and the individual addressed * arose 
 and followed him.' At this disenchanting command, the 
 spirit of the world fled from the heart ; the thousand ties 
 which bound it to the earth were snapped asunder ; and 
 the man suddenly found himself emancipated, and walking 
 in the Saviour's train. The omnipotent effect with which 
 he spoke to the tempestuous elements, and to demons more 
 fierce and fearful than they, was only a type and pledge of 
 his unlimited power over the mind of man. He speaks, 
 and it is done ; his people are ' made willing in the day of 
 his power.' 
 
 But of all his displays of authority, his forgiveness of 
 sin is immeasurably the greatest. This, according to hu- 
 man conceptions, is the highest and uttermost prerogative 
 of the Supreme. It is to ascend a throne above the law- 
 giver, and to silence his voice, and suspend his functions, 
 for a reason paramount to all law and more comprehen- 
 sive. It is to overrule the claims of justice, and stopping 
 it in its full career towards the sinner, to exhibit a reason 
 for mercy, to which justice bows with reverence, and before 
 which it retires. Law, the dictate of infinite wisdom, is 
 the rule by which man is to act towards God ; but forgive- 
 ness is a dispensation, a reason issuing from a deeper re- 
 cess of his mysterious nature, and by which he chooses to 
 act towards us. But this prerogative, essentially divine, 
 this high and incommunicable right, Jesus exercised, and 
 vindicated his competence to do so. ' Son,' said he to the 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 77 
 
 paralytic man, ' be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven 
 thee ; and, behold, some of the scribes said within them- 
 selves, Why doth he thus speak blasphemies? who can 
 forgive sins but God alone ? But Jesus knowing their 
 thoughts, said, why do ye think evil in your hearts? For 
 which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven ; or to say, 
 Arise and walk ? But that ye may know the Son of man 
 upon earth hath a right to forgive sins, (he saith to the 
 paralytic,) Arise, take up thy couch, and go to thy house.' 
 Thus, forestalling the functions of the last day, he remitted 
 the claim of justice on a sinful being; erased his guilt 
 from the book of God ; changed the relations of an ac- 
 countable creature to the Supreme Governor ; and, in effect 
 asserted that he possessed the power of taking from the 
 inmost soul the sting of conscious guilt. While, by de- 
 claring that he retained this power, though he was then 
 the Son of man upon earth, he carries our thoughts to the 
 state whence he had descended, and reminds us that no dis- 
 tance from his throne above, no depth of humiliation to 
 which he might condescend, can deprive him of his right 
 to pardon ; that as it is exclusively, so it is inalienably di- 
 vine ; and that therefore he is free to use it as God, though 
 for a time he may choose to rank as the Son of man. 
 
 Preceding prophets, jealous for the divine honor, had 
 scrupulously guarded against the remotest suspicion that 
 they spake in their own name ; they distinctly confessed 
 their delegated capacity, and perpetually appealed to the 
 authority which sent them. But Jesus, we have seen, 
 without any modification or reserve, employed the lan- 
 guage of supreme personal authority. He did not, indeed, 
 in any way impart the impression of an interest, or even 
 an existence, detached from the Father. The authority 
 by which he spoke, though expressly his own, was, by iden- 
 tity of nature, the authority of the Father also. As often 
 
78 THEGREAT TEACHER. 
 
 as he exercised the functions of the legislator, he placed 
 himself, if I may say so, on a level, and in a line, with the 
 eternal throne : so that its glory fell directly upon him, 
 and by him was again reflected back, mingled with the 
 lustre of his own greatness. While he stood forth dis- 
 tinctly in his own personality, and addressed us in his own 
 name, he stood in so perfect a conjunction with the Deity, 
 and so far within the borders of the encircling light, that 
 his voice came with the authority of an oracle from the 
 central glory. ' Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may 
 glorify thee. I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. 
 No man knoweth the Father but the Son, neither know- 
 eth any man the Son but the Father. Whatsoever things 
 the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. He 
 that hath seen me hath seen the Father also. I and my Fa- 
 ther are one.' 
 
 In closing our illustrations of the authority of the Sa- 
 viour's teaching, it may not be irrelevant briefly to remark, 
 that not only was that authority exempt from those deduc- 
 tions to which the force of mere human instruction is liable, 
 hut that it must have been greatly augmented by every 
 consideration of an opposite kind. 
 
 Nothing can be imagined more fatal to the power of a 
 public teacher, than a lurking suspicion, a secret misgiv- 
 ing of the truth, the value or consistency of his doctrine. 
 In such a case, the mind may be said to have lost its pow- 
 er of projection, its professed aim will not be reached. Any 
 thing short of full conviction will betray itself to his audi- 
 ence, in a way inviting their suspicion, and creating disbe- 
 lief. Equally unfriendly to the weight of his instructions, 
 is a conscious inability to refer them to those first princi- 
 ples from which they derive their authority ; a want of 
 cordial sympathy with their practical influence; a sense 
 of discordance between that influence and his present con- 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 
 
 duct ; a painful uncertainty concerning their success ; or, 
 lastly, a doubt of his own eligibility and right to the office 
 of teacher. 
 
 Now, not merely was the Saviour exempt, by necessity of 
 nature, from each of these foes to authoritative teaching ; 
 the mount, from which he sometimes taught, was only an 
 emblem of the moral elevation on which he always stood, 
 where every thing was present to augment the pervading 
 power of his preaching, and from whence he spoke with, 
 an authority exclusively his own. To convince the incre- 
 dulity of others that he came from God, he often referred 
 to his being heralded by John ; to his announcement by 
 the voice from the excellent glory; and to his affluence in 
 divine qualifications and miraculous powers. For himself, 
 he could not have felt a stronger assurance of the fact, had 
 all the heirarchies and state of heaven,- constantly and vis- 
 ibly stood around t him, an amphitheatre of living glory, to 
 corroborate his mission, and authenticate every sentence 
 he uttered. 
 
 So perfect was his example, that had it been possible for 
 the least inconsistency to have existed between his instruc- 
 tions and his life, we should without hesitation, have 
 sought the defect in his teaching. But such a discrepancy 
 was impossible. In every precept he taught, he felt that 
 he was only expounding his own life, reading from the 
 holy volume of his own heart. Virtue found itself re- 
 assured in his presence ; and, having imbibed courage and 
 strength from his looks, went to complete the conquest of 
 sin. Instead of pointing his hearers to the tables of stone, 
 he could invite them to learn of him ; and the holy law 
 rejoiced the while in its living representative. He could 
 look round on a nation of witnesses, and say, ' Which 
 of you convicteth me of sin? ' with the certainty that the 
 challenge could not be accepted. But what amazing 
 
80 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 weight must this consideration have lent to his instructions, 
 what power to his rebukes, what authority and force to his 
 commands! Truth never languished on his lips, never 
 suffered in his hands, from want of sympathy in its advo- 
 cate. * To this end was I born,' said he, ' and for this 
 cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto 
 the truth.' And as often as it issued from his tongue, it 
 came with the freshness of a new revelation ; was announ- 
 ced with an earnestness commensurate with its intrinsic 
 importance, and with the momentous results depending on 
 its success : and was defended with the devotedness and 
 zeal of a champion prepared to die in its behalf. 
 
 Such is the present limitation of our knowledge, and our 
 constant liability to err, that diffidence in the announcement 
 of our opinions is accounted a virtue. But he, who came 
 forth from God to be the light of the world, spoke on eve- 
 ry subject with the unfaltering assurance of certain knowl- 
 edge. To him, truth, all truth was, in a sense, ever pres- 
 ent and self-evident. Properly speaking, he uttered no 
 mere sentiments, notions, or opinions, but only truths. He 
 did not speak on probability and credit: his assertions 
 were sustained on ultimate principles and personal knowl- 
 edge. He saw intuitively, that whatever was opposed to 
 his doctrine, however plausible as conjecture, or deeply 
 rooted in the popular faith, was delusion and falsehood. 
 1 Everyone that is of the truth,' said he, * heareth my voice.' 
 And not only was he assured of the particular doctrine, he 
 was perfectly acquainted with the general principle whence 
 it drew its authority, and with the unchangeable position 
 that principle holds in the system of universal truth. Hav- 
 ing stood in the counsel of God, having dwelt in the pen- 
 etralia, the innermost recesses of the eternal sanctuary, 
 the elements and originals of all truth were familiarly 
 present to his mind. Of his sublimest supernatural dis- 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 81 
 
 closures he averred, that he was speaking that which he 
 knew, and testifying that which he had seen. He came 
 forth from the bosom of the Father, as the Word, the Re- 
 vealer of that infinite mind in which, from eternity, he 
 had surveyed the archetype and idea of all truth ; and he 
 spoke with the authority of a divine oracle. 
 
 But, besides the consciousness that he was the Word 
 and the Wisdom of God, his discourses must have derived 
 an accession of power from the knowledge that he was 
 unfolding truth of the highest order the words of eternal 
 life. Science of all kinds is distinction and power; and 
 he who imparts it is a benefactor to his species : but the 
 knowledge which Jesus came to unfold was emphatically 
 the Gospel ; truth which God deems important, which had 
 been revolved from eternity in his infinite mind, which 
 enters into his purposes and involves his glory ; a revela- 
 tion so essential to our well-being, and every way so mo- 
 mentous, that it not only disdains comparison with the dis- 
 coveries of man, but engrossing to itself the undivided at- 
 tention of the only begotten Son of God, would have held 
 its majesty debased had it been mingled, even on his hal- 
 lowed lips, with the meaner topics of human science. His 
 mission contemplated our race, as immortal beings labor- 
 ing under the frown of incensed justice; and standing 
 ignorant, helpless, and exposed, on the verge of a gulf of 
 irretrievable ruin. Alive to all the horrors of our condi- 
 tion, he came with the message and means of. deliverance ; 
 he brought from heaven an express assurance of complete 
 relief. Other knowledge may be acquired by ordinary 
 means, its worth may be computed, it may be dispensed with 
 altogether; but the way of salvation could only be made 
 known by God himself: while its utter indispensableness 
 and infinite value appear from the fact, that we must have 
 it or perish. 'I am come,' said Christ, 'a light into the 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 world;' and, as he ascended the firmament of truth, he 
 shone with the sublime consciousness, that, were he to with- 
 draw his beams and retire, the world would be immersed 
 in eternal night : but that as many as should walk in his 
 light, would be brought from the darkness arid distance of 
 sin, into the immediate vision and fruition of God. He 
 could stand forth and challenge the profound attention of 
 the world, with, the full conviction that he was not only the 
 greatest benefactor it would ever behold, but that he com- 
 bined within himself ail the several qualities of beneficence 
 to be found in the universe ; for he felt that, in imparting 
 the gospel, he was pouring out the resources of heaven, 
 and conferring an antidote for the miseries of mankind. 
 
 Add to this, the Son of God was perfectly exempt from 
 the chilling perception that his motives were alloyed. It 
 was peculiar to him, of all born of women, to be entirely 
 free from the taint of selfishness. ' tie pleased not him- 
 self.' The whole of his course was a history of pure dis- 
 interested benevolence. He had assumed our nature for 
 no other purpose than to display the glory of God in the 
 happiness of man ; and for this end he breathed out his 
 life. When uttering his largest professions of sympathy 
 and love, he rejoiced in the secret consciousness that he 
 intended to do abundantly more than he had said ; that, 
 besides the stream of goodness and truth which issued 
 daily from his lips, he held within his heart a fountain of 
 compassion, clear as crystal, as yet untouched ; but which, 
 at the appointed hour, would issue forth, far exceeding ex- 
 pectation, and blessing the world. 
 
 And beyond all this, what must have imparted vigor to 
 the tone of his teaching, was the unclouded prospect which 
 he enjoyed of its ultimate and universal success. * This 
 gospel,' he could say, * shall be preached for a witness 
 among all nations. 1 In its immediate results, indeed, it 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 
 
 but too fully realized the representation of the sower, that 
 went forth to sow. But he clearly foresaw that the incor- 
 ruptible seed of his word, though for a time it might seem 
 to be lost, was destined again to spring out of the earth, 
 producing a harvest of holiness for heaven. In praying 
 that his church might be sanctified by the truth, he felt 
 that he was praying with the force of an almighty decree'; 
 that, in the divine intention, his prayer was answered as 
 soon as uttered ; while he beheld, in anticipation, a host 
 which no one could number, already encircling the throne 
 above, robed in the purity his prayer desired. A part of 
 the joy which was set before him, consisted in the distinct 
 perception of a scene, in which his truth, armed with the 
 Omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, having completed the 
 conquest of error, given law to the world, and impressed 
 her image on every thing human, was receiving the hom- 
 age of a renovated race, and reigning in the new heavens, 
 and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 
 
 Recollecting that causes such as these concurred in the 
 teaching of the Son of God, and bearing in mind the speci- 
 mens we have adduced from his divine discourses, we are 
 fully prepared to hear it testified, that * the people were as- 
 tonished at his doctrine; ' and that, ' when Jesus had end- 
 ed these sayings, the people were astonished at his doc- 
 trine for he taught them as one having authority, and not 
 as the scribes.' Their established teachers, having long 
 since completed the conquest of common sense, labored to 
 preserve the fruits of their victory, by the endless repeti- 
 tion of fables and childish traditions. The loftiest models 
 of public instruction with which they were acquainted, con- 
 sisted in the heartless recitement of frivolous opinions 
 and trivial ceremonies, confirmed by quotations more je- 
 june and frivolous still ; the very essence of insipidity. 
 What then must have been, the astonishment and invoiun- 
 
84 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 tary homage with which they listened to the discourses of 
 the Son of God. It was an era in the history of their 
 minds. In their opinion, he spake as never man spake. 
 For, besides that he addressed them in his own name, as 
 the highest authority, he laid open scenes the most novel, 
 and subjects the most momentous ; carried his appeals into 
 their conscience ; made them once more feel that they were 
 immortal men ; stripped off every mask, and conveyed 
 them, with their sins upon them, to the throne of God : 
 annihilated the distance between them and the judgment 
 day; placed them on the threshold of the infinite and 
 everlasting ; and effaced the recollections of the present, by 
 the absorbing realities of the eternal future. Some hailed 
 his preaching as a new and glorious light, while others 
 shunned it as the forked and fatal lightning ; each class 
 bearing involuntary testimony to its commanding power. 
 And, associated, as it naturally would be in their minds, 
 with the recollection of his miraculous deeds ; remember- 
 ing that the demons had quailed, and the tempestuous 
 ocean grown quiet in the presence in which they were 
 standing; that the whirlwind had revered the voice to 
 which they were listening ; they could not but tacitly con- 
 fess that he spoke with an authority which, if the sun were 
 extinguished, might say, ' Let there be light,' and light 
 would be. 
 
 In concluding an essay, already, I fear, too much pro- 
 longed, the reader will allow me to suggest its practical 
 application. Whatever may be the characteristics of a 
 perfect instructor, he is entitled to look for the counterpart 
 of each in those he addresses. The authority, then, which 
 distinguishes the teaching of Christ should be met, by his 
 disciples, with submission and acquiescence. It is obvious 
 to all, that the mental impression received from any object, 
 depends materially on the state of the mind itself. ' If any 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 85 
 
 man will do the will of God,' said Jesus, * he shall know 
 of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak 
 of myself. 3 His gospel is addressed to our moral nature ; 
 and the only mind in a state to do justice to the divinity of 
 its claims, is that which is trained and disciplined to habits 
 of holy obedience. If we take to it a spirit which it does 
 not approve, we are likely to bring from it a spirit which 
 it has not imparted. Even the ancient heathens, when, 
 they went to consult their idol gods, did not expect to suc- 
 ceed without due preparation. Their approaches were 
 marked by acts of reverence and self-purification. Before 
 they hoped for the least oracular intimation, days were 
 consumed in sacrifice, ablution, and meditation. They did 
 not degrade even their false deities, by supposing they 
 would speak in the ear of levity, or waste instruction on 
 an irreverent and polluted mind. Were we creatures de- 
 void of a moral nature, or did the gospel address the un- 
 derstanding alone, we might then approach it as we go to 
 the study of a mathematical truth, as beings of intellect 
 only ; but its aim is the heart ; it is addressed to our moral 
 nature ; and as such, it claims a free and undisputed in- 
 gress to the throne of the will. If it flattered our import- 
 ance by submitting its truths to the tribunal of reason, 
 pride would then be no unsuitable preparation for receiv- 
 ing it ; but, taking for granted our moral disqualification, 
 it ' casts down imaginations, and every high thing that ex- 
 alteth itself against the knowledge of God, and brings into 
 captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' Pro- 
 ceeding on the supposition, that it is the heart which in its 
 fall has dragged down the faculties of the soul, it proposes 
 to erect them again, by raising and restoring the degrading 
 cause; it requires, therefore, that in the process they be 
 submissive and silent. If we would learn of Christ, the 
 soul must be vacated of all its proud prepossessions, that 
 
00 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 there may be room to prepare him a seat in the will. If 
 we would listen to his voice with effect, there must be si- 
 lence in the soul: the clamorous pretensions of self-suffi- 
 ciency must be rebuked; and putting- on the robe of hu- 
 mility, we must take our station as children at his feet. 
 
 But that submission to the authority of Christ, which 
 forms an essential qualification in his disciples, is not only 
 opposed to the pride that rejects ; it is intelligent and con- 
 scious, and therefore equally remote from that unheeding 
 acquiescence which admits with a fatal facility, and as a 
 matter of custom and course, whatever he inculcates; if 
 the former of these is the disqualification of rebellion, the 
 latter is the incapacity of death. Perhaps no greater ob- 
 stacle can be named, to the proper reception of the gospel, 
 than the error, alas! how common, of placing religion in 
 a bare assent to its truths ; of cherishing a settled and sat- 
 isfied persuasion that we are Christians, simply because we 
 subscribe, and in proportion to the unthinking readiness 
 with which we subscribe, to its dictates. So effectually 
 does this delusion enclose and encase the heart, that ' the 
 arrows of the Lord,' though barbed and winged by an an- 
 gel's hand, would fail to ' stick fast in it.' So potent is the 
 spell, that it enables us to listen, not only to truths the most 
 pungent, but even to the description which pourtrays the 
 very delusion itself, without any self-application or effect. 
 With such certainty does it turn aside and ward off every 
 salutary impression, that like a building defended from the 
 lightnings of heaven by a rod of steel, we can venture 
 amongst the forked lightnings of the truth, and yet come 
 out from them fr^e, unscathed, and untouched. On such 
 a state of mind, the voice of the Great Teacher himself 
 its loudest, its most solemn and authoritative tones are 
 dissipated and lost. 
 
 The submission, then, which he demands, is that which 
 
HIS AUTHORITY. 87 
 
 arises from conviction, and consists in the self-surrender of 
 the will; that which, while it admits, at the same time 
 'trembles at his word.' But where is this preparation to 
 be obtained? where, but at the throne of the heavenly 
 grace. It is only at the altar, and from the hand of God, 
 we can receive that celestial torch, which reveals at once 
 our own incompetence, and the dignity and glory of Christ. 
 That is the appointed place of meeting between God and 
 the soul, where he puts us under the guidance of that holy 
 spirit, who leads us into all truth: who takes the things of 
 Christ as they fall from his lips, and conveys them as liv- 
 ing powers into the obedient heart: who prepares and de- 
 livers us into the mould of the gospel, that we may take 
 the perfect impress of its author. 
 
ESSAY II. 
 ON THE ORIGINALITY OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING, 
 
 SECTION I. OF GOD THE FATHER. 
 
 'Never man spake like this man. 3 
 
 'No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will 
 reveal him. 1 
 
 IN illustrating the originality which marked the instruc- 
 tions of our blessed Lord, it can scarcely be necessary to 
 premise, that as the mode of his teaching will receive our 
 separate consideration, we shall now confine ourselves to 
 its subjects. 
 
 Were we claiming the attribute of originality for an un- 
 inspired mind, we should feel as if we were establishing 
 his right to fame. For he who enlarges, in the least, the 
 narrow confines of human knowledge, is said to confer 
 imperishable wealth ; to redeem our mental character ; 
 and thus, owing to the unfrequency of the occurrence, he 
 renders himself an object of homage to the sp*ecies. But 
 this is a quality, which, abstractedly considered, has no 
 moral character ; it is a blessing or a curse, only according 
 to the direction which it takes, and the service in which it 
 is engaged. 
 
 As the ultimate object of our Lord's teaching, was of a 
 nature entirely practical, it requires but little effort of the 
 imagination to conceive why, if his praise consists, partly, 
 in being so original, it consists also, partly, in not being 
 more original than he is. * If I have told you earthly 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 89 
 
 things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you 
 heavenly things ? ' He could unquestionably have made 
 disclosures which would have eclipsed, and consigned to 
 oblivion all prior discoveries. As far as power is concern- 
 ed, he could easily have embroiled the polemic world, by 
 mystifying without misrepresenting, every subject of earth- 
 ly dispute. He could have uttered a single sentence, which, 
 by furnishing a key to many a mystery, and affording a 
 glimpse of arcana before unknown, would have collected 
 and concentrated around it the busy thoughts of each suc- 
 cessive generation to the close of time. Opening one of 
 the numerous doors at which human curiosity has been 
 knocking impatiently forages, he could have admitted men 
 to a tree of knowledge, from which, age after age, they 
 would have continued to pluck and partake, until the trump 
 of God surprised them at their unholy feast, and found 
 them unprepared for the summons. But he came to plant 
 for them the tree of life, and to give them access to its heal- 
 ing fruits. And as he allowed nothing to divert his own 
 attention from the accomplishment of this object, he guard- 
 ed against every thing likely to beguile them from seeking 
 the benefit resulting from it. He disdained not the repeti- 
 tion of old and familiar truths, provided his introduction of 
 them would subserve his grand design : for though he pro- 
 posed to erect a second temple of truth, the glory of which 
 should eclipse the splendor of the first, he deigned to ap- 
 propriate whatever of the ancient materials remained 
 available. Truths, which the lapse of time had seen dis- 
 placed and disconnected from their true position, as stars 
 are said to have wandered from their primal signs, he re- 
 called and established anew; and principles, which had 
 faded, disappeared, and been lost, as stars are said to have 
 become extinct, he re-kindled and re-sphered, and com- 
 manded them to stand fast forever. Such 3 for instance, was 
 
90 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the golden law of wedded love; which though coeval with 
 paradise, and the crown of its joys ; had beep partially re- 
 mitted by divine sufferance, and reduced to a name by hu- 
 man depravity, but which he restored and republished as 
 of divine and indissoluble obligation. 
 
 The power of recasting important truths from their old 
 and worn-out forms, and of giving them to the world again 
 with all their original freshness and force, is the peculiar 
 prerogative of genius ; but though our Lord must be sup- 
 posed to have possessed this power in perfection, he did not 
 exercise it for its own sake. An acquaintance with the 
 origin of some of his parables, his prayers, and many of 
 his most familiar sayings, will show that he often conde* 
 scended to udopt the beauties of the Talmud, which were 
 then * floating on the lips of the wise,' as well as the pop- 
 ular proverbs of the day, and to insert them into his own 
 instructions. But this by no means impairs his claim to 
 originality of the loftiest kind. Intellect of the highest 
 earthly order, though aware that its claims to renown de- 
 pended chiefly on the exercise of its own creative powers, 
 has not feared the forfeiture of those claims for borrowing 
 the productions of inferior minds : it was conscious of a 
 power of falling back, at pleasure, on its own resources, 
 and of being ably sustained. Then how much more might 
 he do the same ; He, to whom all human thought is but 
 one idea : and that only a fractional part of the infinite 
 whole which his mind comprehends. He, who in his 
 pre-existent state, had not refused to predicate of his divine 
 nature the parts and passions of poor humanity, though at 
 the hazard of materializing his pure spirituality in the 
 crude conceptions of human ignorance : He, who had pro- 
 ceeded even to assume that humanity, the mere figurative 
 assumption of which was an infinite condescension, might 
 surely be spared the necessity of a defence, for the occa- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 9f 
 
 sional appropriation of human thoughts. If his assump- 
 tion of our nature was an infinite stoop of grace demand- 
 ing our adoration, his adoption of any of our thoughts 
 (though not to be named as a comparison) was only and ad- 
 junct and continuation of that grace. 
 
 Besides, this probably is only to be regarded as one of 
 the numerous methods by which he was constantly aiming 
 to lessen the impression which must have frequently re- 
 turned on his hearers as far as that impression was like- 
 ly to interfere with his usefulness of his mysterious and 
 incomprehensible character. He knew with a perfection 
 of knowledge, that as the great and beneficent operations 
 of nature are produced, not by abrupt and extraordinary 
 interpositions, but by the calm and regular movements of 
 its appointed laws ; so, ordinarily, a method of instruction 
 which violates the sanctuary of our settled associations, 
 though it may startle, and astonish, and even fill with won- 
 der for the moment, is far from friendly to the lasting con- 
 viction and future improvement of the mind ; and, there- 
 fore, he disturbed their accustomed trains of thought as- 
 
 O 
 
 little as was consistent with the introduction of a renovat- 
 ing power, a new and transforming economy of truth. He 
 sought access to their minds, by the beaten pathway of 
 their most familiar associations ; he insinuated and inter- 
 twined his divine instruction with the net-work of their 
 most hallowed recollections and sympathies; thus provid- 
 ing for it the easiest mode of admission into their hearts, 
 and making them feel that his identification with their na- 
 ture and interest was complete. But, at the same time, 
 whatever of their most popular and admired lore he con- 
 descended to employ, he gave them an opportunity of mark- 
 ing his superiority to the most approved and honored of 
 their rabbinical teachers; for, however great its original 
 excellencies might have been considered, it came from his 
 
92 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 hands beautified with a simplicity, dignified with a power, 
 and invested with attractions, unknown to it before. 
 
 In order that he might obtain admission through the 
 common avenue of our sympathies, and build himself a 
 home in our hearts, he drew his images arid illustrations 
 from the great treasury of our household affections, and 
 from the most familiar features of nature. But the lily of 
 the field, as plucked by his hand, has the freshness of the 
 morning, and the dew upon it ; and the homeliest fact, as 
 unfolded by him, is found to contain the most treasured 
 truths. Thus, by deriving his illustrations from humble 
 sources, he not only avoided taking our feelings by surprise, 
 he showed us how all unperverted knowledge tends to- 
 wards heaven by a law, and how all unsophisticated nature, 
 rightly construed, is only an expanded page of holy writ ; 
 how every part of Eden and of earth must have teemed, 
 and been vocal, with wisdom to the attentive ear of unfallen 
 man ; and how to the mind which mirrors and reflects the 
 lines and aspects of nature, truth may still be said to spring 
 out of the earth. 
 
 But though we could not have passed entirely unnoticed 
 the circumstantial originality of the Saviour's teaching, it is 
 time to show that his claim to this quality arises from mer- 
 its peculiarly his own ; from additional revelations, and 
 momentous disclosures of divine truth. Had he only 
 commented on the volume of nature, had he even read 
 from the book of the universe the names and titles of its 
 author, our advantage comparatively would have been 
 small indeed. That volume was originally meant only for 
 the eye of sinless humanity. It uttered no prediction, 
 awoke no presentiment of the fall ; in no part of its hal- 
 lowed contents could a line be found foretokening woe. 
 The morning of the day of transgression dawned on the 
 world, unconscious of the impending change. The sun 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 93 
 
 poured forth as fall a flood of living light: the air was as 
 rich in fragrance and song ; earth and heaven appeared to 
 live in each others smiles ; nature lay open at as fair and 
 bright a page, as at the moment when God complacently 
 pronounced it to be very good. The tremendous catastrophe 
 of that day took it by surprise. So far from furnishing man 
 with resources for the event, it was itself involved in the 
 calamity ; it was ' cursed for his sake.' So far from being 
 able to utter a consolatory truth in human ears, it required 
 itself to be solaced and sustained, for it lay prostrate and 
 panting under its Maker's frown. Wounded by the stroke, 
 and cumbered with the weight of sin, it sent forth a cry, 
 in which all its natural harmonies were drowned ; aery 
 of helplessness and of suffering, which has never from 
 that moment ceased, but which has gone on from age to 
 age, waxing louder and louder, till the whole creation has 
 become vocal with woe, l and groaneth and travaileth in 
 pain together until now,' laboring in its pangs and strug- 
 gling to be free. 
 
 So far from showing commiseration, and whispering 
 hope, there is a sense in which all nature stands ready to 
 avenge the quarrel of God with man. Take as examples, 
 the histories of Pharaoh and Herod. When the former 
 refused to obey the mandates of heaven, all nature express- 
 ed its sympathy with its injured Maker ; armed in his be- 
 half, and put itself in motion to avenge the insult. The 
 latter affecting to be thought a god, forthwith an angel, jeal- 
 ous of Jehovah's honor, descends and smites him : and, at 
 the same moment, the meanest insects begin to devour him: 
 the highest order of created intelligence, and the lowest 
 form of animal existence, the two extremes in the scale of 
 creation, unite to prostrate and punish his impiety. It will 
 be found, in the history of the divine justice, that every 
 element of nature has taken its turn, as a minister of wrath, 
 
94 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 to assert the quarrel of God with rebellious man. And, 
 be it remembered, that one of these elements is held in re- 
 serve for the destruction of the world ; he has only to 
 speak, and it will wrap the globe in living flames. Mean- 
 while he may be said to have laid all nature under a solemn 
 interdict, not to minister to our most pressing wants ; he 
 has laid it under an eternal ban. Let there be no peace 
 to the wicked, saith my God ; let everything be at war with 
 him. If he will be the enemy of God, let him live and 
 die amidst a universe of frowns; let every thing in heaven, 
 earth, and hell, be armed, and ready to assail him: let 
 there be no peace to the wicked; and universal nature 
 responds, there shall be none; and the universal experience 
 of sinners, as it sends up its reply from the bottomless pit 
 declares in accents of terrible despair, there is none. Could 
 the sinner but open his eyes to the dreadful reality of his 
 condition, were he endowed with the power of vision like 
 the servant of the prophet, he would find himself surround- 
 ed, not indeed with horses and chariots of fire to guard 
 him, but with terrible forms of anger and destruction, wait- 
 ing to dart on him, and make him their prey. He would 
 find himself standing in the great theatre of the universe, 
 with every eye that it contains fixed and frowning upon 
 him ; with every weapon in the infinite armory of God, 
 ready, and levelled against him. And the hour arrives 
 when he finds that sin has arrayed against him, not only all 
 the universe without, but all the powers and passions with- 
 in him ; that it has armed him against himself; that it has 
 given a sting to every thought, and turned his conscience 
 into a worm that diethnot, and his depraved and ungovern- 
 ed passions into fires never to be quenched. 
 
 O how unparalleled the 'infatuation of the man who pre- 
 tends, that from the doubtful and scattered intimations of 
 nature, he can collect the materials of a sufficient creed ; 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 95 
 
 when at the same time they are so obviously intermixed 
 with the fragments of a violated law. Nature indeed, is 
 still an oracle on one point ; and when consulted on that 
 point, which relates to the great remedy for sin, her spon- 
 taneous response is, it is not in me ; it is not until man has 
 examined her by torture, that he extorts some doubtful re- 
 ply, which his vanity being made the interpreter is 
 found to coincide with his wishes, and to flatter his pride. 
 On the fact of the divine existence, indeed, the protestations 
 of nature are positive, loud and unceasing: this is a truth 
 of which she is never making less than solemn affirmation 
 and oath, with all her myriad voices; the unintermitting 
 reponse of the living creatures heard by John, is only 
 the echo of her voice in the sanctuary above, proclaiming 
 to the universe his eternal power and Godhead. But, how- 
 ever able and ready to enlighten the inquiring mind on 
 the fact of his existence, she could do nothing to disssipate 
 the clouds of doubt and gloom which had gathered and 
 settled into thick darkness round about his throne : on the 
 anxious subject of his character, and his possible conduct 
 towards the. guilty, she has received no instructions and is 
 silent. By the introduction of sin, our condition has be- 
 come preternatural, and the wisdom that prescribes for us, 
 therefore, must be supernatural, or it will prove a physi- 
 cian of no value. 
 
 I. Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, cameto 
 be the light of the world : and one of the topics on which 
 he most delighted to expatiate and dwell, was the paternal 
 character and universal benevolence of God. This, in the 
 form in which it came from his hands, was an original sub- 
 ject, a new gift to the world. 
 
 Hear his own emphatic representations ; ' O righteous 
 Father, the world hath not known thee. J ' No man know- 
 
96 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 eth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the 
 Son will reveal him.' * I have manifested thy name unto 
 the men whom thou gavest me out of the world.' Such 
 are the unequivocal terms in which he declares, that, at 
 the time he spoke, the world was destitute of the knowl- 
 edge of God; that this inestimable knowledge was his 
 own peculiar gift, the chief treasure which he had brought 
 into the world ; that the impartation of it was in his high 
 prerogative alone ; and that in the sovereign exercise of 
 that prerogative, he had given it to his disciples, by them to 
 be communicated to the world at large. 
 
 Nor does this statement require any qualification, from the 
 fact that God had before spoken to man, 'at sundry times, 
 and in divers manners.' Without any unjust depreciation 
 of the Jewish institute, it may be boldly affirmed, that it 
 gave but a faint and partial representation of the divine 
 character. What must have been the views of God enter- 
 tained by Solomon, who, though he had been employed to 
 build the temple of Jehovah, could forsake that very tem- 
 ple for an idol's grove 1 What must have been the god of 
 the prophet Jonah, when he attempted to flee fcom his pre- 
 sence, and pettishly charged him with fickleness of purpose 
 for not involving Nineveh in destruction ? It is indeed, im- 
 possible to state the precise amount of the knowledge of 
 God which is essential to salvation ; but there is reason to 
 conclude that, considering the peculiar advantages of the 
 Mosaic economy, that knowledge was generally at its min- 
 imum in Judea. It is more than probable, that when those 
 prophetic intimations were first uttered, which contain 
 most hope for man, and which we are accustomed to admire 
 as splendid anticipations of the gospel, and worthy the me- 
 ridian of the Christian church, they were either dismissed 
 by their hearers as unintelligible, or understood with so 
 great a reserve in favor of Judea, as virtually to annul the 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 97 
 
 prophesy. Besides, between such enlarged representa- 
 tions, and the restrictive spirit of their economy, a conflict 
 must necessarily have ensued, which could not fail to end 
 in favor of the latter. And, when in addition to this, it is 
 remembered, that the whole of their law had become rab- 
 binized and overlaid \vith traditions ; that notwithstanding 
 their sacrificial types, the doctrine of pardon procured by a 
 vicarious expiation, was 'to the Jews a stumbling block ;' 
 that all that was supernatural in their temple worship 
 had been long since recalled to heaven, and all that was 
 spiritual suffered to depart; that any of their moral duties 
 were compounded for a pecuniary consideration; that the 
 only heaven they knew, was suspended, in their imagina- 
 tion, over the land of Judea ; and that they were actually 
 jealous of the Divine Being, lest he should take within 
 the pale of salvation, any part of the gentile world, it 
 will be admitted that, of such a people, it would be difficult 
 to under-rate their acquaintance with the divine character. 
 As to the state of the heathen world, it is only necessary 
 to quote the declaration of the apostle that it knew not 
 God. In Greece, where the dialectic philosophy saw its 
 proudest days ; at Athens, where it was enthroned, its last 
 effort was to rear an altar to the unknown God. At Rome, 
 the asylum of deposed and fugitive gods, the pantheon of 
 the world, the genius of Cicero, though it towered above 
 his age, could add nothing to the religious knowledge of 
 that age ; could only speak vaguely of a numen aliquod 
 yrcEstantissima mentis. From the moment that philoso- 
 phy touched its meridian in the hands of Socrates, Plato, 
 and Aristotle, it began to decline. Reason, as if blinded 
 by excess of light, submitted to be led by any who assum- 
 ed the office of a guide: revenged herself for the prodi- 
 gious effort to which she had been tasked, by abandoning 
 herself to the sorcery of the senses. Truth was pronounc- 
 6 
 
98 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ed unattainable ; virtue impracticable ; the temples of reli- 
 gion were ceded to vice, who found herself consecrated 
 and enshrined in their inmost recesses ; while the phantom 
 of happiness, (for the reality had departed with its sister 
 fugitives, virtue, and truth,) was chased under a thousand 
 forms and names ; till the world, having applied its fever- 
 ed lips to the poisoned chalice of Epicurus, concluded, in 
 their intoxication, that they had found it in the sensual 
 form of unbridled pleasure. 
 
 By one class, the idea of a Deity was discarded as a 
 baseless figment of the fancy ; by another, he was multi- 
 plied into ' lords many, and gods many,' the patrons of as 
 many vices ; and by a third, his throne was removed to a 
 distance, which relieved the world of his presence, and 
 eased him of the cares of active government. This was 
 unquestionably the creed of the majority ; for it had this 
 irresistible recommendation, that, by admitting his exist- 
 ence, it preserved the mask of religion, while, by transfer- 
 ring his seat to some unknown region in the outskirts of 
 the creation, it saved them the practical inconvenience of 
 regarding his character or consulting his will. They 
 persuaded themselves, not only that his habitation was so 
 immeasurably remote, but also that his dignity and felicity 
 were so essentially dependant on undisturbed repose, that 
 the character and condition of human beings never shared 
 for a moment his divine regards. This was courteously 
 deposing, and complimentally dismissing the god of their 
 creed beyond the circle of their society. This was ' athe- 
 ism with a god.' This was attaining the completion of 
 their misery and guilt. For, by this virtual annihilation 
 of the Divine Being, they destroyed every adequate re- 
 straint on vice, every encouragement to virtue, and every 
 ground of substantial consolation to distress. The vicious 
 might sin on, without dreading his frown ; the virtuous 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 99 
 
 might sacrifice life itself in the pursuit of improvement, 
 without hoping to obtain his smile ; and had all the suffer- 
 ers which the world contained sent up one united groan, 
 one concentrated cry for relief, they would only have been 
 giving their breath to the winds. They had reduced 
 themselves to the blank and cheerless state of being with- 
 out hope and without God in the world. 5 
 
 II. How different the view of his character and con- 
 duct, presented to us by the hand of Christ! Drawing- 
 aside the veil which concealed his glory from our eyes, 
 it shows him in his high and holy place, not in a state of 
 silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times 
 ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of holy, happy 
 beings, and every one of them waiting to do his bidding: 
 not in a state of inactivity and moral indifference, but in 
 active communication with every part of his vast domin- 
 ions, through a numberless variety of channels ; not in a 
 state of apathy, regardless of the world, and all its multi- 
 plied concerns, but as actually stooping from his throne 
 and bending towards it, listening to every sound it utters, 
 observing the movement of every being it contains, and 
 approving or condemning every action it exhibits ; it even 
 shows him to us in the astonishing act of raising up the 
 fallen and prostrate children of earth, and putting them in 
 the way of reaching his own abode. 
 
 To exalt our conceptions of the greatness of the Deity, 
 our Divine Instructor describes him as reigning sole over 
 all the universe of matter and mind ; asserts the pure spir- 
 ituality of his nature, which no material images can rep- 
 resent ; ascribes to him a power, to which easy and diffi- 
 cult are terms alike unknown, for to him all things are 
 possible ; and, raising him to an infinite height above the 
 loftiest created intelligence, declares that he stands alone 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 in absolute, unapproachable perfection. To enlarge our^ 
 views of his condescension and benevolence, he assembles 
 the universal family of man, 'the just and the unjust,' and 
 takes from each of the uncounted multitude a distinct at- 
 testation of the divine goodness to himself in particular. 
 fie leads them abroad into the open fields of nature, and 
 lo, on touching their eyes, he surprises them with the sight 
 of the hand which upholds the world, employed in paint- 
 ing the lily of the field, feeding the fowls of the air, and 
 adjusting and succoring the descent of the falling sparrow. 
 He appeals to every drop of rain, and to every ray of 
 light shed on an unthankful world ; and they confirm his 
 testimony to the supreme goodness. 
 
 But he informs his disciples that the amount of divine 
 attention bestowed on any given object, is proportioned to 
 the rank which that object occupies in the scale of creation. 
 If the grass of the field, then, share so rriuch of the divine 
 attention, can we form exaggerated ideas of the regard 
 which he bestows on man? Having thus prepared his 
 disciples to see greater things than these, he conducts them 
 into a higher department of truth. He lays open to their 
 inspection the volume of providence, and turning to the 
 name of each one in succession, shows him that in that 
 volume each has a page ; that he has never been absent 
 from the mind of God; that the page assigned to him 
 contains every particular of his history, even to the num- 
 bered hairs of his head. 
 
 III. From this department of truth he leads us into a 
 higher region still ; for, having elated our hopes by the 
 minuteness of the divine attention to our temporal condi- 
 tion, he has prepared us to look for a far more astonishing 
 display of divine munificence towards us, as .his spiritual 
 offspring. Having already shown us the liberality of his 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 101 
 
 hand, he encourages us to approach and take a nearer 
 view of his character, to look into his heart. We begin 
 to enter into the spirit of the exercise, to feel our hope 
 taking confidence, and our anticipations growing san- 
 guine ; we become conscious that we must give scope and 
 wing to our expectation, and urge it to its utmost flight, to 
 do any thing like justice to the occasion. But who shall 
 anticipate the gifts of infinite love ? 
 
 1 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life.' Though sin had for ages dis- 
 turbed the equable flow of the divine benevolence to man, 
 that benevolence had never, for a moment, ceased to accu- 
 mulate, or lost its earthward direction. Through every 
 hour, of every age, it had continued to increase ; and was 
 only restrained till a suitable channel was ready, and the 
 world prepared to receive it. And now, when the fulness 
 of time was come, the windows of heaven, the heart of 
 Deity itself, was opened, and poured forth on the world a 
 healing flood of heavenly grace. Herein is love! We 
 will not presume to question whether a gift of inferior 
 value would have been adequate to relieve the world or 
 not: but God so loved us that he could not have realized 
 his vast propensions of grace by giving us less ; he so 
 loved us, that he would not suffer it to remain possible to 
 be said that he could love us more ; he knew that a donation 
 of calculable value would only call forth an odious spirit 
 of fierce and jealous monopoly, but he so loved us, that he 
 resolved on a gift, defying all computation, and the very 
 mention of which should surcharge our minds with great- 
 ness, give us an idea of infinity, and impregnate our seii- 
 ishness with a transforming sentiment of generous and 
 diffusive benevolence ; he so loved us, that he would leave 
 nothing for the most apprehensive guilt to fear, nor thu 
 
1U2 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 most capacious wishes to desire; he laid claim to the 
 whole of our affections, by pouring out the whole treasury 
 of heaven, by giving ns his all at once. Herein is love ! 
 
 1 God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the 
 world, but that the world through him might be saved.' 
 In order to enhance our views of the divine compassion, 
 the Saviour, in this language, reminds us of the terrible al- 
 ternative which outraged Omnipotence might have adopted. 
 He carries back our thoughts to the time when God, after 
 looking with centuries of patience and foibearance on the 
 unparalleled spectacle of his holy law prostrate, and 
 broken, and trampled under foot by a confederated race of 
 rebellious creatures, came forth out of his place, and pun- 
 ished the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; swept 
 them away with a flood as with a besom of destruction. 
 But man, insensible to the lessons of chastisement, was no 
 sooner permitted to re-people the earth, than he resumed 
 his weapons, renewed his hostility to heaven under cir- 
 cumstances of aggravation unknown before, and transmit- 
 ed to his posterity, as if it had been a sacred obligation, the 
 art and spirit of the unnatural war. So deep had this in- 
 fernal enmity to God struck its roots in the human heart, 
 and so wide were its ramifications throughout the entire 
 mass of humanity, that even a solitary indication of re- 
 turning friendship towards him was denounced as treach- 
 ery to a common cause ; the first relaxation of this impious 
 strife, the first relenting sigh, was instantly detected by a 
 wakeful impiety, quickened by hatred to an instinctive 
 vigilance ; and was summarily dealt with as an enemy in 
 the camp. Man had naturalized the principle of sin ; had 
 consecrated vice in all its forms; had opened to it all the 
 recesses of his nature ; cherished and established its do- 
 minion by every species of submission and indulgence: 
 and boasted of his new allegiance in the face of heaven. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 103 
 
 The only law which kept mankind united, the only sym- 
 pathy which held the unnumbered parts and interests of 
 the world in affinity, seemed to be an all-pervading princi- 
 ple of aversion to God ; and this was sufficient to bind 
 them fast for ages, in one great and unbroken work of 
 prodigious guilt. The destruction of the world, therefore, 
 so far from being an infraction of justice, was only what 
 justice required; would only have been the natural course 
 of things, flowing in the unobstructed order of cause and 
 effect. A crisis had arrived in the government of God 
 on earth, in which something great and decisive must be 
 done ; prolong the delay and the character of God will 
 be compromised and gone ; the voices of the souls be- 
 neath the altar were wearied with crying for retribution ; 
 the armory of heaven was open ; all its hosts and equip- 
 ments ready ; justice had only to speak the word, and, in 
 a moment's flight, the panic earth would have beheld its 
 firmament filled with the careering fires and terrific forms 
 of descending wrath. The Son of God had only to pour 
 out the vial of incensed wrath, and there had been voices, 
 and thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquakes, and 
 universal desolation ; and all the holy intelligences, as 
 they stood afar off, on the sea of glass, beholding the tre- 
 mendous catastrophe, would have said, ' Thou art right- 
 eous, O Lord, because thou hast judged thus.' 
 
 But at that crisis of the world, when every movement 
 in the government of God was to be watched with breath- 
 less apprehension, when, bad justice made the slightest 
 move, every thing that had feeling would have veiled its 
 eyes in fear, then mercy prevailed to unfold the scheme of 
 love, and it became the office of justice to wonder and at- 
 tend ; then, when God might have sent his Son to condemn 
 the world, he was sent amazing grace! to save it. 
 Herein is love ! The apostles never touched it, but they 
 
104 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 instantly kindled at the inspiration of the theme. Con- 
 scious that their language fell far below their conceptions, 
 and their conception below their subject, they could only 
 exclaim, in the impotence of overwhelming admiration, 
 Herein is love ! The universe is crowded with proofs of 
 his benevolence, but here is a proof which outweighs 
 them all ! How much he loved us we can never compute; 
 we have no line with which to fathom, no standard with 
 which to compare it ; but he so loved us that he gave his 
 only begotten Son, that through him he might confer on 
 us eternal life. 
 
 IV. But, in order to raise our estimate of the divine 
 benevolence, the Saviour not only announces that he brings 
 from heaven the infinite donation of eternal life j he points 
 our attention to the means of mercy. ' For as Moses lifted 
 up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man 
 be lifted up.' Everlasting life is a gift so ineffably great, 
 an alternative so vast for creatures who had reached, who 
 were crossing the confines of endless death, that had it 
 cost the Almighty but a mere volition, had it been the re- 
 sult of a fiat as easy and unexpensive as that which gave 
 birth to light, it would still have rendered his grace the 
 theme and wonder of the universe. But, however sponta- 
 neous the love which projected the plan of mercy, the exe- 
 cution of that plan asks for more than the simple volitions 
 which created the world, or the unconstrained and tran- 
 quil circulation of the power which sustains it. The Son 
 of man must be lifted up. He must yield to conditions of 
 which an infinite nature alone is capable ; and in yielding 
 to which, all that infinite capability will be in stress. At 
 the time he spoke, he had already made an infinite stoop, 
 in consenting to an actual junction with the nature that 
 had sinned, and on which sin was to be punished. But 
 this was only the prologue of the act of mercy. He had 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 105- 
 
 joined the offending nature to his own, for the distinct and 
 deliberate object of pouring out the blood whicfe flowed 
 through its veins, and of making its soul an offering for 
 sin. His whole life was only a preface to his death. Hav- 
 ing taken a survey of all that would be required from the 
 surety of sinners ; having cast up and pondered the mighty 
 sum of guilt to be cancelled ; and measured with his eye 
 the thunder-stores of wrath which must be exhausted ; and 
 fathomed the pit which to them was bottomless ; he press- 
 ed the entire responsibility to his heart, and addressed him- 
 self to the task. Our nature, to him, was a robe of suffer- 
 ing, assumed expressly, that when the crisis of our re- 
 demption came, justice might find him sacrificially attired 
 and prepared for the altar, a substance which her sword 
 could smite, a victim which could agonize and die. And, 
 if the human soul admits of an indefinite enlargement, in 
 its capacity of pleasure and pain ; if the admission of the 
 purified spirit to the uncreated splendor above, augments 
 that capacity to such a degree, that almost an infinitude of 
 emotion can be compressed into the space of a moment ; 
 what must have been the measureless capability of the 
 human soul which he took into so perfect a union with his 
 divinity, that the two natures composed only one person ; 
 what must have been the acquired intensity of its antipa- 
 thy to sin, and what the consequent intensity of his exceed- 
 ing sorrow, when, being in an agony, he had, in a sense, to 
 absorb the infinite mass of human guilt, and to exhaust, in 
 one short moment, the mighty cup of omnipotent wrath ! 
 
 For the key to all this mystery of compassion, the Sav- 
 iour himself refers us to the love of God. While we are 
 standing before his cross, and musing on that amazing ex- 
 pedient of mercy, the holy Sufferer himself raises his eyes 
 to heaven for its origin, and looks at the heart of God. 
 He impresses on us the sublime fact, that the father loves, 
 
106 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 us, not in consequence of the great propitiation, but that he 
 provided the propitiation because he loved us ; because he 
 was bent on obtaining a medium through which he could 
 pour out the ocean-fulness of his love upon us. 
 
 Of all the remarkable declarations of Christ, when the 
 love of God was his theme, one of the most striking, per- 
 haps, and one which seems to place us in an unusually fa- 
 vorable position for looking at the divine benevolence, is 
 the memorable sentence, ' Therefore doth my Father love 
 me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again 
 
 because I lay down my life for the sheep; ' in 
 
 other words, * My Father loves you with a love so un- 
 bounded, that he even loves me the more for dying to re- 
 deem you. He so loves you, that whatever facilitates the 
 expression of his love, receives an expression of his divine 
 esteem : by sustaining your liabilities, by surrendering my 
 life as an equivalent for your transgressions, and thus vin- 
 dicating his law from all appearance of connivance at sin, 
 I am setting his compassion at liberty ; I am removing a 
 restraint from his love, which threatened to hold it in eter- 
 nal suspense ; I am enabling his grace to act, to save whom 
 it will ; and for thus concurring in his benevolent purpose, 
 and opening an ample channel for the tide of his love to 
 flow in, the Father loves me ; I receive such additional 
 expressions of his complacency, that, though ineffably be- 
 loved from eternity, he may be said to have added infinite 
 delight to infinite.' 
 
 And how does it enhance our conceptions of the divine 
 compassion when we reflect that there is a sense in which 
 the sufferings of Christ were the sufferings of the Father 
 also. From eternity, their divine subsistence in the unity 
 of the Godhead had been only short of identity ; nor could 
 the circumstance of the Saviour's humiliation in the slight- 
 est degree relax the bonds of this mutual in-being; while 
 walking the earth in the form of a servant, he could still 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 107 
 
 affirm, ' My Father is in me, and T in him I and 
 
 my Father are one.' Once and again did the paternal 
 complacency overflow, surprising the world with expres- 
 sions of infinite delight, and inviting us to resign our 
 hearts at once and forever to his beloved Son ; besides 
 which, numerous intimations are given, that the mysterious 
 interchange of divine affection which had existed from 
 eternity, continued in undiminished activity ; that the In- 
 carnate Word was often surrounded as with an atmosphere 
 instinct with love, into which God had breathed the ele- 
 ments of the joy which He had with the Father before 
 the world was ; that had the great designs of mercy al- 
 lowed, the paternal love, as if impatient of his continu- 
 ance on earth, would have borne him from the world, and 
 resumed him to himself again. 
 
 The love of God then invites our adoration, not only as 
 it, at first, sent his only begotten Son ; during every mo- 
 ment of the Saviour's sojourn on earth, that love was re- 
 peating its gift, was making an infinite sacrifice for sinners ; 
 while every pang he endured in the prosecution of his 
 work was the infliction of a wound in the very heart of 
 paternal love. Who then shall venture to speak of the 
 appeal which was made to that love, of the trial to which 
 that love was put, when the blessed Jesus took into his 
 hand the cup of suffering, when his capacity for suffering 
 was the only limitation his sufferings knew. If it be true 
 that God is always in vital, sympathetic communication 
 with every part of the suffering creation ; that, as the sen- 
 sorium of the universe, he apprehends every emotion and 
 commiserates every thrill of anguish, how exquisitely 
 must he have felt the filial appeal, when, in the extremity 
 of pain, in the very crisis of his agonizing task, the Sav- 
 iour cried, ' My God, my God ; why hast thou forsaken 
 me! ' Were it possible for a moment to occur, in which 
 
108 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the worship of heaven could be lost on the divine attention; 
 in which the infinite mind could be concentrated and con- 
 fined to one object alone; that, surely, must have been 
 the moment. Were it possible that any juncture could 
 have arrived, in which the paternal love could have repent- 
 ed the sacrifice it had made for man ; that, surely, must 
 have been the hour. 
 
 What a new and amazing insight, then, does it give us 
 into his love for sinners, that it was able to bear the stress 
 of that crisis, that it did not yield and give way to the in- 
 calculable power of that appeal. This is a circumstance, 
 which, if I may so say, puts into our hands a line, enabling 
 us to fathom his love to an infinite depth ; but we find it 
 immeasurably deeper still. It invests the attractions of 
 the cross with augmented power ; for in the sufferings of 
 that scene we behold more if more we are capable of 
 seeing more even than the love of Christ ; in every 
 pang which is there endured, we behold the throes of pa- 
 ternal love, the pulsations and tears of infinite compassion ; 
 more than the creation in travail, the divine Creator him- 
 self travailing in the greatness of almighty love. 
 
 V. But if this be an outline of the means of mercy, 
 what can be the nature of that end which justifies the em- 
 ployment of such means ? To enlarge our views of the 
 divine benevolence, the Saviour announces that he brings 
 from heaven the vast donation of eternal life ; that the 
 sole object of God, in sending him to be lifted up, is, that 
 we might have everlasting life. The separation which 
 sin had effected between God arid man, had robbed us of 
 a whole order of life. Ail that remained to us on earth, 
 was a masked and modified form of death ; and, as to the 
 future, there was nothing left us but to perish forever. 
 Here, then, was scope for divine benevolence to do as little, 
 or as much as it chose. Here was a wide waste of mis 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 109 
 
 ery, inferior only to the blank and limitless desolation of 
 hell, in which divine compassion would find room to expa- 
 tiate at large; and in which, while its richest stores could 
 be all employed, its smallest gift could be an infinite gratu- 
 ity, showing like a single star in the darkness of midnight, 
 But he chose it to be the theatre of his mightiest grace. 
 As if heaven with all its amplitude, were too confined, he 
 sought to enlarge the sphere of his beneficence, by the ad- 
 dition of another province; and, as if to take the universe 
 by surprise, to put forth his grace in a form which it had 
 not entered into the busy and far-reaching minds of angels 
 to conceive, he chose that that province should be this sink- 
 ing world. But there is suspended over it a sweeping 
 sentence of utter condemnation : the clouds of wrath arc 
 collected around it ; the materials of destruction have been 
 piled up for ages, and still they continue to increase; it is 
 the place where Satan's seat is, and all its population he 
 holds in allegiance ; it is the immediate precincts and 
 neighborhood of hell. Yes, but these are the mighty im- 
 pediments which it is the glory of God to cope with and 
 overcome ; these are the hopeless materials, the elements 
 of damnation, out of which he delights to raise the fabric 
 of eternal life. To deliver us only from the impending 
 evil, or to confer on us merely a limited good, could not 
 have satisfied his paternal heart. Having committed him- 
 self to the amazing work of our redemption, he resolved 
 that he would spare nothing however costly, withhold 
 nothing however dear, which was essential to the consum- 
 mation of the design. Having begun to bless us, he de- 
 termined that he would not stop' short of heaven itself; 
 that he would not stop even there, but would continue to 
 surround us with favors, to heap on us gift after gift, until 
 he had filled our capacity for enjoyment, and had opened 
 to us all the treasures of eternal life. 
 For this high purpose, his peculiar presence was neces- 
 
110 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 sary amongst us; accordingly, he erected a throne on 
 earth, making it the sceneof his especial grace, and of won- 
 ders surpassing those of heaven. The course of justice 
 requires that sin should be not merely pardoned, but pun- 
 ished, or expiated; he compasses both by appointing his 
 only begotten Son, first to expiate, and then forgive. But 
 man is severed from the life of God ; his soul is so palsied 
 and disabled by the deadly poison of sin, that his spiritual 
 system is incapable of appropriating and circulating the 
 element of a divine life were it even provided ; and so prone, 
 so ingenious is he to pervert every blessing he receives, 
 and to employ it as a weapon against the divine Bestower,. 
 that providence can hardly dare to bless him. But God is 
 not to be thus defeated: he sent his Son to assume our hu- 
 manity ; that through him he might open the springs of 
 his life-giving nature anew, and henceforth maintain a 
 perpetual stream of his vital and transforming spirit; that, 
 by this mysterious adjunction of our nature to his, he him- 
 self might henceforth live through all the powers of the 
 soul light, in its understanding; love, in its affections; a 
 perpetual current of blessedness and joy, blended with the 
 stream of its own consciousness ; and life to its immortali- 
 ty, life of the most exalted order. But the properties of 
 that life, who on earth shall describe? It is more than a 
 simple element of good, a single blessing ; it is a vast as- 
 semblage of blessings. All other things, at best, are only 
 accessaries to happiness ; this is happiness itself. Com- 
 pared with this, a bare perpetuity of existence, is only a 
 mockery of life, deserves only the name of death ; this is 
 existence, enriched with the highest positive blessedness ; 
 life, purified, exalted, applied to the loftiest purposes, car- 
 ried out to its utmost extent of enjoyment ; the very crown 
 of being. Everlasting life is a name for a blessing, which 
 enables us to challenge, with impunity, the universe of 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY, 111 
 
 evil, and to write our names as heirs, on all the universe of 
 good j it is God himself multiplied in the souls of his people. 
 
 VI. And, as the representative of the Father, our bless- 
 ed Lord offered this gift to all. Human reason, arguing 
 from the limited application of the benefit, would infer that 
 the extent of the love which provided, and the value of the 
 means which procured it, are limited also ; would exam- 
 ine them by the torture of its logic, and bring its insignifi- 
 cant line to the measurement of boundless grace. Human 
 selfishness would make a monopoly of eternal life. The 
 Jewish christians would fain have made it a local and na- 
 tional benefit; till the unconfinable spirit came, and show- 
 ed them that, like the air, it belonged to the world. And 
 the inheritors of their selfishness, in every succeeding age, 
 have attempted to number Israel, to count the people ; have 
 adhered to the persuasion that the great gift of eternal life 
 is only to be offered to a party. But an attempt to impris- 
 on the air, and to enchain the light, would be wise and 
 salutary compared with this. 
 
 Of the angels that kept not their first estate, we read, 
 that God hath reserved them in everlasting chains, under 
 darkness, unto the judgment of the great day. From 
 which we learn, that when any part of the creation sins, 
 and falls away from God, the natural, direct, and if mercy 
 interpose not, the inevitable consequence of such apostacy, 
 is everlasting and remediless punishment. Why did not 
 sin then entail this awful consequence on man ? Why is 
 it that some other race of intelligent beings is not, at this 
 moment, reading concerning us, what we have just quoted 
 of the apostate angels that the race of man, the inhabit- 
 ants of the earth who kept not their first estate, God hath 
 reserved in everlasting chains of darkness against the 
 judgment of the great day 1 Our only reply is, that God 
 
112 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 having designed our salvation, devised an expedient, in the 
 sacrifice of Christ, of unlimited value unlimited, by right 
 of its own nature, as God himself is infinite ; so that the 
 love of God, acting through the atonement of Christ, has 
 been, from the beginning of time, keeping all the living 
 out of hell, and conducting multitudes to heaven ; and thus 
 operating, as it is at this moment, in favor of all mankind. 
 To this source it is that our Lord would have us to ascribe 
 our common mercies ; he would put every individual of 
 our race to take a census of the divine favors ; to compute 
 how many of these he enjoys in common with the species, 
 and how many, besides, are conferred in particular on 
 himself; and, finally, to. draw the inevitable conclusion, 
 that universality belongs to the divine goodness. And, 
 while his ordinary blessings are chartered to the world, 
 shall the stigma of exclusiveness be reserved for his grace 
 alone? ' I am the light of the world,' said Christ: a 
 blessing universal as the light. He came to demolish 
 every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment 
 in the temple of creation, that every worshipper might 
 have free and equal access to the God of the temple. He 
 so unveiled and presented the character of God, that every 
 human being should feel it to be looking on himself, cast- 
 ing an aspect of benignity directly on himself. The mes- 
 sage of mercy which he brought from the Father was 
 meant for the ear of the world ; ' whoso hath ears to hear, 
 let him hear.' And supposing the world to be assembled, 
 and audience obtained, this was the music which broke 
 from his lips, ' God so loved the world, that he gave his 
 only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life.' He gave him, to 
 encircle the world with an atmosphere of grace, as real 
 and universal, as the elemental air which encompasses and 
 circulates around the globe itself; and whoever chooses to 
 inhale it, hath eternal life. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 113 
 
 Herein is love'! That he should have raised our world 
 from the gloomy suburbs of hell, and have lifted it into 
 the radiance of an orbit next his throne : that he should 
 have made our hatred subserve the purposes of his love, 
 and have educed from our evil a greater good than would 
 have otherwise existed ; that he should have adopted our 
 nature into the person of his* Son, and have carried it to 
 the highest throne of the highest heavens ; that he should 
 confer on us an honor, to which a retinue of angels would 
 form no comparison, no addition himself inhabiting and 
 possessing us with his own life, making us instinct with 
 his own Spirit; that the origin of all this should be his 
 spontaneous love ; that the means of it should be the in- 
 carnation and death of his only begotten Son, and its con- 
 summation but for that we have at present only a name, 
 standing in the stead of an infinite meaning everlasting 
 life; whatever the point from which we contemplate his 
 love, the prospect widens into infinitude ; the subject grows 
 in our hands ; amasses glory on glory, till it becomes too 
 bright for contemplation, and towers as high as the heaven 
 is above the earth. O what a God, what a Father, what 
 an ocean of love is the God of our salvation ! Having 
 collected all the riches of the universe, and laid open all 
 the resources of his infinite nature, he gave them all into 
 the hands of Christ, and said, ' These, all these, are for 
 man ; use them for man ; distribute them to men ; if ne- 
 cessary, confer them all upon man, in order to convince 
 him that there is no love in the universe but mine, and 
 that his happiness consists in loving me, and giving him- 
 self to me in return.' In discharge of this momentous 
 trust, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. It 
 was to render this vast deposit available that he sprinkled 
 it with his blood ; an act by which he,, at the same time, both 
 made it ours, and added to its original value an infinity of 
 7 
 
114 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 worth ; an act by which he created for the world a truth 
 incomparably more precious than aught which the ark 
 contained that the richest gift, and the costliest sacrifice, 
 have been selected by God as the only adequate expres- 
 sion of his love to man. 
 
 Our redemption by Christ is an exhibition of grace 
 which God himself cannot surpass : unexpected develope- 
 ments of its relations and glories will, no doubt, through 
 eternity be constantly rising to view, and maintaining for 
 it a character of ever new and increasing interest; our 
 conceptions of its excellence will be continually receiving 
 fresh accessions ; but while its future glory may surpass 
 its present in the eyes of the redeemed, God, if I may be 
 allowed to say so, the blessed God has deprived himself 
 of the power of ever eclipsing that glory by exhibiting to 
 the universe a richer display of love. But well may his 
 infinite mind be satisfied with this as his crowning work; 
 for he has now demonstrated to all his intelligent creation, 
 that there is no love but his. 
 
 VII. But the Saviour had not yet completed his rep- 
 resentation of the divine character. He had rolled away 
 the thick darkness from before the throne of God, and had 
 revealed him to the world as light and love ; but it re- 
 mained to attemper the radiance of the light, and to soften 
 and humanize the love. As long as we remain immersed 
 in sense, we must be indebted for all our conceptions to 
 sensible objects ; hence the purest and most abstract of hu- 
 man sciences has its diagrams ; and Christianity the most 
 spiritual form of religion, employs its symbols. The same 
 necessity has, in every age, expressed itself in ardent de- 
 sires for sensible manifestations of the Divine Being. The 
 entreaty of Moses, * I beseech thee show me thy glory/ 
 was again repeated by Philip, when he said, ' Show us the 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 115 
 
 Father, and it sufficeth us ; ' and both requests were only 
 the echo of a universal desire ; a desire of the mind for 
 something to sustain it in its most etherial of efforts, its 
 endeavors to think of God. 
 
 Another necessity requiring to be met, was the exagger- 
 ated fears of the penitent sinner, when interpreting the rec- 
 toral office of the Father in the covenant of grace, into a 
 proof of his avenging inexorableness. In the ministry of 
 the Gospel, the constant reference which is necessarily 
 made to his just requirements in maintaining the rights of 
 Deity, is extremely liable to produce on a mind, perturbed 
 with guilt, an impression of dread, which no mere abstract 
 descriptions of the love of God can effectually remove ; 
 which makes it impossible to speak of that love in terms 
 of excess. Now, of both these necessities the Saviour took 
 special cognizance ; against each of them he fully provided, 
 when, standing forth before the eye of the world, he pro- 
 claimed himself the perfect representative of the Father; 
 and in that capacity, challenged for the Father, the confi- 
 dence, and affection, and cordial allegiance of mankind. 
 4 1 am in the Father, said he, and the Father is in me ;' . . 
 . . . . { from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 
 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it 
 sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have T been so long 
 time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? 
 He that hath seen me hath seen the Father ; and how say- 
 est thou then, Show us the Father ? Believest thou not 
 that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? . . . the Fa- 
 ther that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me, 
 that I am in the Father, and the Father in me : or else be- 
 lieve me for the very works' sake'. ' I and my Father are 
 one.' 
 
 Instead of leaving our faith to apprehend an infinite ab- 
 straction, he has, in his own person, invested the Deity 
 with that power over our minds which a definite object alone 
 
116 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 can exercise. Instead of claiming our affections merely 
 for the invisible and impalpable cause of mercy, he wrestles 
 with our fears, and challenges our embracing affections, 
 by protesting that there is no feature to be loved in himself, 
 which is not equally to be loved in the character of God ; 
 that if we admire the tenderness and compassion of his 
 character, we are admiring the very same qualities in the 
 Father; that we do injustice to his representative charac- 
 ter, if we do not receive it en-tire as a perfect reduplication 
 of the mind of God. He would have us to believe, and to 
 act on the belief, that so far from attempting to bribe and 
 beguile our affections for God, by expressing for us a kind- 
 ness to which the heart of God does not respond, he could 
 not have omitted a single expression of that kindness with- 
 out giving us a defective idea of the divine benevolence; 
 that so utterly impossible would it be for him to give us 
 an exaggerated conception of that benevolence, that could 
 we by any process collect and concentrate all the varied 
 expressions of his grace to a focal point, and receive the 
 effect of the whole entire, and at once, that effect, after all, 
 would be a bare and inadequate expression of the love of 
 God to man. Whatever doctrine of grace he propounds, 
 whatever promise he gives, whatever deed of love he per- 
 forms, whatever divine attractions he exhibits, every such 
 attraction in him is to be regarded as an index to the same 
 quality indefinitely greater in the character of God. The 
 conduct of Christ is a copy, a living map of the immense 
 expanse of the divine perfections, reduced from its infinite 
 dimensions, and subdued to a scale studiously adapted to 
 the feeble vision of man. The character of God, so infin- 
 itely reduced, is to be seen in the life of Christ ; the ex- 
 cellences of Christ, if infinitely magnified and restored to 
 their original proportions, are to be found in the perfec- 
 tions of God. The character of Christ is the conception 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 117 
 
 of a being of infinite amiableness, seeking* to engage the 
 heart of a world that reasons by analogy, and to enamour 
 it of divine excellence. How often did he authenticate 
 the life of Jesus, and give it currency as a copy of his own. 
 Had the Almighty Father veiled his glories, and dwelt 
 among us, the history which now belongs to Christ would 
 have related, word for word, his own condescending 
 grace ; so that, in every word and act of Jesus we are 
 to recognize, in effect, the voice and movements of pater- 
 nal love. 
 
 In the person of Christ, we behold the eternal God en- 
 gaged in an enterprise of boundless mercy. To aid our 
 conceptions of his being, he clothes his spirituality in the 
 vestments of humanity. To convince us that an unlimit- 
 ed concern for our souls may co-exist with the utmost ha- 
 tred of our sins, he shows us that the river of the water 
 of life takes its rise from under his throne ; he plants a 
 cross, and provides a sacrifice, and enacts before the world 
 a prodigy of mercy, of which this is the only adequate 
 solution, that he so loved us. That no unwarranted appre- 
 hensions of his greatness might efface this impression of 
 his love from our minds, that all suspicion and distrust 
 might be made impossible, he shows us that he can stoop 
 from an act which saves a world, to number the very hairs 
 of our head ; that his regard for the whole comprises a 
 regard for each infinitesimal part ; so that whatever has 
 the power of raising an emotion in our breast, acquires, by 
 that circumstance, if by nothing else, sufficient importance 
 to receive his sympathetic attention. Disrobed of his es- 
 sential glory, unattended by the train and state of heaven, 
 as if earth was to be henceforth his adopted home, he 
 came evidently attired for a purpose of love ; mingled in 
 our common cares, and inscribed his name on every ob- 
 ject which speaks to the human heart. The cup of sor- 
 
118 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 row never passed him untasted: often did he exhaust the 
 distasteful draught himself, and return the cup of gladness 
 in its stead. The human heart, in his hands, might have 
 become a sacred harp, every chord of which should have 
 sent forth none but heavenly music. The history of his 
 labors of love, is the shame and condemnation of unbelief, 
 the argument of faith and hope, the standing memorial of 
 his claims on the undouhting trust of a dependant world ; 
 for it presents him, not barely fulfilling the condi- 
 tions of our redemption, but far exceeding them ; going 
 beyond the complement of grace; overflowing in the su- 
 pererogatory acts of beneficence ; and anticipating the ten- 
 der offices proper to heaven, by beginning even here to 
 wipe away all tears from all faces. 
 
 VIII. Having restored our confidence in the divine 
 character, the Saviour sought to complete our love to God, 
 by teaching us to address him by a new name ; a name 
 which should be at once a; sign of our affection to him, 
 and a pledge of his tender regard and relationship to us. 
 He knew that the name which is entwined with the dear- 
 est associations of the human heart, is also the name which 
 hath most music in the ear of God and therefore he 
 selected and encouraged us to employ it the endearing 
 appellation of Father. And that we might not be deterred 
 from taking it into our lips by the fear of presumption, he 
 continues to repeat it, again and again, until it has become 
 familiar to our ear. Thus instructed and encouraged, he 
 leads us through a new and living w r ay, every step of 
 which is hung with emblems of paternal love, adorned 
 with memorials of redeeming grace ; conducts us into the 
 holiest of ail .even to our Father's throne; reveals him 
 there surrounded with all the heaped and opulent resources 
 of infinite grace ; and then, in order that our confidence- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 119 
 
 and love might find speech, and our poverty lose itself in 
 boundless wealth, he adds, * Ask, and ye shall receive.' 
 ' If ye, being evil know how to give good gifts unto your 
 children, how much more shall your heavenly Father 
 give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. 7 
 
 It will then, I think, be conceded that the character of 
 the Supreme Being, as it came from the hands of Christ, 
 was an original subject, a new gift to the world. It was 
 new in the universal aspect of benevolence which it bears 
 towards man ; as opposed to those limited conceptions of 
 his goodness which were cherished, if not propagated, by 
 the Jewish economy: new in its mode of exemplification; 
 for it was seen, not in the works of nature, the operations 
 of providence, or the rites of religion, but in the living in- 
 carnation, the real and visible person of his only begotten 
 Son: new in its bestowments ; for hitherto, however rich 
 his gifts to his church had been, he had always accompani- 
 ed them with an assurance that he had yet a gift in reserve 
 in which all good would be summed up ; and however 
 various they had been, they all bore some resemblance and 
 relation to each other, in value, at least, if in nothing else ; 
 but now in the person of Christ he bestowed the promised 
 gift, eclipsed his former grace, and conferred a donation, 
 which, as it was perfectly original, so it can never be re- 
 peated or equalled ; since every subsequent donation is 
 only a consequence and part of the gift, and eternity itself 
 will be necessary for the full developement of all it con- 
 tains : new in its paternal aspect; not merely representing 
 him as our Father, but teaching us to address him as such ; 
 to regard him as the fountain of all that parental affection 
 which has flown down, generation after generation, through 
 the channel of human hearts ; and to believe that all the 
 pity, compassion, and love, which he has ever poured 
 through parental natures, are as nothing compared with 
 
120 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 what resides in his own heart; that however much he 
 may have imparted, infinitely more, a reserved ocean, must 
 ever remain behind in himself; and that all this is in per- 
 petual activity, interesting itself in the wants, and provid- 
 ing for the happiness of his people : and new, also, in the 
 mode of its future connection with man, through a Media- 
 tor ; for since Christ came to declare the Father unto us, 
 it is the exalted privilege of believers to contemplate God 
 in Christ, to approach his throne in the name, and relying 
 on the successful intercession of Christ. 
 
 * And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the 
 only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.' 
 Knowledge, of all kinds, is the wealth proper to a rational 
 nature ; but to captivate us with the knowledge of God, 
 our Lord declares that this is the only science which con- 
 ducts to happiness, the only wealth which can be converted 
 into unfading crowns and eternal life. As the 'whole of 
 celestial blessedness is often, in scripture, made to consist 
 in the vision of God ; so the whole of religion on earth, is 
 represented as consisting in the knowledge of him. Be- 
 cause, first, all sin originates in the ignorance of God ; that 
 is, it is indebted for its existence to the absence of God, 
 temporary or habitual, from the mind ; it triumphs most 
 where he is most completely unknown or forgotten ; it 
 could not lift up its deformity with the hope of being loved, 
 in the strong light of his glorious presence. Because, 
 secondly, were the mind discharged and clear of all the 
 obstructions of sin, it would be only necessary for it to see 
 God, in order to be supremely enamoured of him; the 
 bare perception of his image, as pourtrayed by Christ, 
 would alone be sufficient to change the soul, by mere in- 
 tensity of love, into the same image. And because, third- 
 ly although the mind is filled with hostile influences, it is 
 only necessary for the Holy Spirit to bring him before it, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 121 
 
 to place his character advantageously before its eye, and 
 the sight attracts, softens, subdues, ceases not to operate, 
 till it has transformed the soul into its own likeness. 
 
 Is it then producing this saving effect upon us ? or is 
 the vast and glorious conception of God inhabiting our 
 minds to no purpose ? Shall the knowledge of God, which 
 Jesus Christ came from heaven to impart, remain in our 
 possession, through a whole life as a dead and useless 
 thing ? have we nothing of less moment to sport with, that 
 we must needs trifle with this? shall it at last be reckoned 
 our greatest curse, that we knew the blessed God? We 
 cannot even glance an inquiring look towards him, but Je- 
 sus advances to encourage the act, saying, ' To know him 
 is life eternal.' We cannot place ourselves in the pleasant 
 beams of his light, cannot be conscious of a single emo- 
 tion of admiration of his character, but Jesus addresses 
 himself to ouf rising hopes, and says, ' You can be like 
 him ; you may even resemble the blessed God ; Be ye 
 perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.' We cannot 
 cherish a desire, or breathe a sigh for conformity, but the 
 Holy Spirit forthwith begins to transcribe his will on the 
 inner man, to abridge and to epitomize his likeness on the 
 heart in the process of regeneration. God, who com- 
 manded the light to shine out of darkness, is willing to 
 shine into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge 
 of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ. 
 
122 THE GREAT TEACHER, 
 
 SECTION II. CONCERNING HIMSELF. 
 
 4 No man knoweth the Son but the Father. ' 
 
 * I,' SAID Christ, ' am the light of the world : ' he arose 
 on the world, an object as wonderful and new in his per- 
 son and office, as the sun when it first took rank among 
 the stars of heaven ; and like the solar light, while pour- 
 ing a flood of radiance on every thing else, he remains 
 himself a glorious mystery. Notwithstanding the diver- 
 sified dreams in which the world had for ages indulged 
 concerning his person and advent ; and all the materials 
 for fancy to work with, supplied by the paintings of proph- 
 ecy; and the significant shadows which providence had 
 thrown before; his appearance at last took mankind by 
 surprise ; a surprise for which the world avenged itself, 
 by arming against him and all who should afterwards as- 
 sume his badge ; but a surprise which overwhelmed the 
 church with a measure of gratitude and delight to which 
 it has ever since been giving expression, and the full utter- 
 ance of which it reserves for a world where its strains, re- 
 lieved from all interruption, shall be swelled and aided by 
 all the harps of God. 
 
 The supernatural truths by which he is described are 
 so early instilled into our minds, that we ought not to be 
 able to remember the time when first we heard them ; and, 
 having become so familiar to us, it requires a considerable 
 mental effort to realize the thought, that they were ever 
 original. But though the human mind had been for ages 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 1*23 
 
 training to receive him, he found himself, on becoming 
 man, a stranger in a world of strangers. 
 
 Judging from the conduct of his disciples, the Mosaic 
 economy does not appear to have given them a single cor- 
 rect presentiment concerning him. His character and 
 claims were so perfectly unique,- that although their relig- 
 ion was instituted expressly to be his analogue >andit was 
 the only thing in the world which did represent him yet 
 they did not at first perceive a single point of coincidence. 
 Every truth which he uttered respecting himself fell on 
 their ear with the strangeness of a new revelation ; and 
 instead of being received into their minds with the wel- 
 come of an expected guest, had to create a place for itself, 
 or to wait till they could feel themselves reconciled to the 
 novelty. They were not, indeed, wanting in occasional 
 confessions and ascriptions, which satisfied his claims, 
 and called forth his approbation ; but much of this hom- 
 age was involuntarily won by some sudden escape of his 
 glory, some surprising display of his greatness : and the 
 frequent inconsistencies, in their conduct, by which that 
 homage was in a sense recalled or neutralized, showed 
 that though a new disturbing power was at work within 
 them, it had not yet succeeded in acquiring the dominion 
 of principle and conviction. 
 
 Nor was it till after his return to heaven that they began 
 to appreciate aright the claims of the illustrious visitant. 
 Then, when the excitement attending the vision began to 
 subside, they found they had been entertaning the Lord of 
 angels unawares : then, when the Spirit brought all 
 things to their remembrance ; when the words of Christ 
 were once more repeated in their ears, and the wonders of 
 his life were made to pass in slow and stately procession 
 before their eyes, they awoke as from a trance, and pro- 
 claimed that the Word had been made flesh, and dwelt 
 
1^4 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 among us, and that they had beheld his glory, the glory 
 as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
 truth. At the dictation of the Spirit they proceeded to re- 
 cord a sketch of his life ; but they labored at no encomium ; 
 they left that life to speak for itself; they felt that in sim- 
 ply uttering the name of Jesus, they were repeating a 
 name for all that is transcendant in humanity, and all that 
 is glorious in Deity. Henceforth they sought to atone for 
 their past misapprehensions of him by confessing and re- 
 cording those misapprehensions to their own condemna- 
 tion: by showing to the world that he had displaced every 
 other idea of greatness from their minds ; and that, if 
 while proclaiming his worth to others, they were called 
 to die for his sake, it was the highest honor to which they 
 aspired. The vision which John beheld of him, when he 
 saw in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like 
 unto the Son of man, was only, in one sense, an image of 
 his surpassing glory, as he was continually present to the 
 minds of them all. 
 
 I. Looking at the outline of our Saviour's character, 
 which ancient prophecy had sketched, and comparing it 
 with the more finished portrait which, he drew of himself, 
 it is obvious that, even supposing the former had taken full 
 effect on the minds of his disciples, there was yet so much 
 of originality in the additions of the latter, that they could 
 scarcely fail to contemplate it without receiving an im" 
 pression of entire novelty. The pen of inspiration had re- 
 corded that his goings forth had been from everlasting ; 
 in illustration of this sublime truth, he raised the veil of 
 the past eternity, carried back their thoughts through date- 
 less ages before the world began, towards the unimagina- 
 ble and awful place where God dwells, assuring them that 
 there never was a period when he was not there ; there, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 12i> 
 
 as an object of infinite complacency ; there, in a fellow- 
 ship of glory with Deity ; there, in an identity of charac- 
 ter, and unity of essence, a mutual intuition comprising 
 knowledge which no created mind can be made to compre- 
 hend: that he, to whose human voice they were then list- 
 ening, had there seen the cycles of eternity revolve, the 
 ages of time expire, the fathers of their nation and the 
 lights of their church, many kings and prophets, and 
 righteous men, fill up the measure of their days and that 
 thence he had actually come forth and descended to save 
 the world. 
 
 Prophecy, indeed, had accustomed them to expect in 
 Christ a duality of natures and a consequent mysterious- 
 ness of character and person which would entitle him to 
 be called Wonderful. But what imagination was prepar- 
 ed, even by this exciting prediction, for the great reality. 
 It is true, a herald was sent before to call the attention of 
 the world, and to place it in a state of preparation for his 
 coming; but, 'should he condescend to speak of himself,' 
 it might have been said, 'by what mental revolution, what 
 new combination of thought, shall we prepare to under- 
 stand him'? Perhaps, however, he may maintain a reserve 
 on this subject ; a regard for our limited capacity, and the 
 peculiar object of his mission, may induce him to hold the 
 mysteries of his nature in abeyance.' And he did so. 
 He frequently made it apparent that his object was not to 
 expound the complexity of his nature, but to pour into the 
 heart of the world the entire advantage which that com- 
 plexity was capable of producing ; and that, as he had 
 stooped to the low conditions of humanity, he sought not 
 tenaciously to assert the dignity of his superior claims, but 
 considered his humiliation as consisting partly in dwelling 
 on the degradation to which he had stooped. But though 
 he frequently waived the subject in question, yet as often 
 
*2G THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 as necessity urged him to advert to it, he must be confess- 
 ed to have uttered 'a new thing in the earth.' We are 
 in the full and familiar -.possession of his sayings : but had 
 we heard him when first he declared, ' No man hath as- 
 cended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, 
 even the Son of man who is in heaven ;' ' Before Abra- 
 ham was, I am ;' should we not have felt that we were 
 listening to a being to whom all space is a point, and all 
 time but a moment : that our thoughts could not keep pace 
 with the rapid and boundless transitions his words re- 
 quired ; that he was approaching a subject which the lim- 
 ited terms, and analogical language of human speech have 
 no signs to represent, no powers to convey ; a subject of 
 which our minds, accustomed as they are to the mere parts 
 of things, to fractional thoughts, and fragments of truth, 
 could receive only, at most, an angular point, a very ob- 
 scure glimpse and confused impression ? 
 
 Had we heard him affirm, in the face of his evident hu- 
 manity, that he was not of this world ; that we knew not 
 whence we came or whither he went ; that the Father 
 alone, as a being of infinite intuition, knew him to perfec- 
 tion ; should we not have felt that we were listening to 
 blasphemy, or else to the only being incapable of blas- 
 phemy, because he alone can be the object of it ; that a 
 principle of interpretation, hitherto unknown to the world 
 must be found and applied to his self descriptions, a prin- 
 ciple which may well be sacred to that purpose alone, since 
 the language of no other being will need its application ? 
 Could we have heard him forgiving sins ; asserting his 
 right to do so, * even upon earth ; ' summoning the world 
 to yield up its heart to him ; to make its homage to the Fa- 
 ther a pattern of its homage to him ; could we have heard 
 this without feeling that God must be present in the person 
 of the mysterious speaker, that the throne of Deity must 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 127 
 
 be, in a sense, removed from heaven to earth ? Could we 
 have heard him emphatically call himself the Son of man, 
 and solemnly announce that there is a sense in which the 
 Father is greater than he, without feeling that it was an 
 announcement which a mere creature could never have 
 thought it necessary to make, and wondering at the great- 
 ness which could excuse and justify such statements? 
 
 Had we been the individuals to whose retirement under 
 the iig-tree he was privy ; whose history he disclosed at 
 the well of Samaria ; to whose unuttered thoughts he often 
 adverted and replied, as others reply to our words, and to 
 whom he pledged his unceasing presence, wherever we 
 might be scattered, or whenever we might meet ; should 
 we not have felt the natural impossibility of leaving the 
 presence of such a being, and have yielded to the impress- 
 ive thought, the unavoidable inference, that he who stood 
 before us in mysterious combination with a nature like our 
 own, was at the same moment present, in his superior na- 
 ture, in regions immeasurably remote from earth the 
 sovereign and uncircumscribed energy of the universe? 
 He defended his alleged breach of the sabbatic law, by af- 
 firming that in his providential capacity, like the eternal 
 Father, he knew no sabbath; that as the soundness of the 
 rnan hs had restored was the result of his healing power, 
 so the repose of the universe was the result of his unin- 
 termitting activity conjointly with the Father. With the 
 same unaffected simplicity and ease, he both acknowledged 
 inferiority to God, and claimed equality with him ; and 
 promised to every Christian, in the Father's name, 'We 
 will come unto him and make our abode with him.' Now 
 could we have heard these new and diverse statements from 
 his lips, without feeling that the being who advanced them 
 was a new form of existence ; that in his person, time and 
 eternity, infinity and limitation, laws the most opposite met 
 
128 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 and were reconciled ; that we beheld in him the grand an- 
 omaly of infinite majesty clothed with meekness ; supreme 
 dominion rendering obedience ; absolute sovereignty, ex- 
 hibiting entire resignation; God, manifest in the flesh? 
 
 Prophecy had created the expectation of an illustrious 
 Deliverer, for whom a class of descriptive names had been 
 hallowed, and for ages embalmed, and set apart, as sacred 
 to him alone. The Messiah or Christ; the Son of man; 
 the Son of God ; were apellations as incommunicable, if 
 not as awful, as the solemn Jah, or Jehovah, of the Supreme 
 Being ; for they described a person and an office of an or- 
 der so entirely unique, as to make all participation or re- 
 semblance impossible, by engrossing to itself every thing 
 peculiar to it. Jesus came, appropriated these honors to 
 himself as his proper right, and wore them with such an 
 air of accordant ease as to make them his own, with such 
 a port of unlabored majesty as to translate them into an 
 obvious and sober description of himself. If his right to 
 assume them was challenged, his defence was prompt and 
 complete ; he pleaded the sublimity of his doctrine ; ap- 
 pealed to the superiority of his life ; referred to the admit- 
 ted testimony of the Baptist; pointed attention to the voice 
 from heaven ; invited a comparison of his history with the 
 prophecies concerning the Messiah, declaring that his life 
 would be found to be a faithful comment on the sacred text ; 
 and called for his miracles a splendid array of evidence, 
 which forced even from demons the unwilling recogni- 
 tion of his claims, and left unbelief without any cloke for 
 its sin. 
 
 II. Thus warranted by the constitution of his person, 
 and standing on a mountainous accumulation of evidence, 
 Avhich enabled him to speak as from the skies, he proposed 
 himself to our affection and faith as the unveiled char- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 129 
 
 acter of God. This may be regarded as his grand, ori- 
 ginal and all-comprehending claim. 
 
 1. Were it relevant to our subject, we might show, first, 
 that the actions of Jesus evinced the existence of God, 
 Had man never previously heard, never entertained the 
 conception of a Supreme Being, the miracles of Christ 
 would have inevitably suggested and embodied the grand 
 idea. But he appeared among a people with whom this 
 was already a primary truth. Besides, the scripture has 
 nothing to say to the man who denies it ; only this, that is 
 the fool who saith within his heart, there is no God ;' and 
 ' that the devils believe and tremble.' The existence of the 
 Deity is a truth fundamental of every other ; it is the throne 
 of religion : and it would ill comport with the composed 
 majesty and stately grandeur of religion to be constantly 
 proving or protesting that it has a throne. He who denies 
 the divine existence, renounces by that very act his own 
 humanity ; falls out of the ranks of rational beings and 
 courts community and fellowship with brutes. Accord- 
 ingly, religion while it condescends to follow him to the 
 outermost limits of rationality, and thus maintains its char 
 acter for compassion ; yet remembering the state and hon- 
 ors due to its throne, it abandons him there, and proceeding' 
 in its onward march through an empire of intelligent be- 
 ings, receives their homage, and perfects their intelligence, 
 by re-uniting it with the divine mind. 
 
 2. As the representative of Deity in this lower world, 
 the Saviour by his incarnation, embodied the divine spiritu- 
 ality. ' Ye have neither heard his voice at any time,' said 
 Christ, 'nor seen his shape; shape, outline, dimensions, 
 he has none ; as an infinite spirit he can have none. How 
 then can we think of him ? for unless we can obtain some 
 sensible manifestation, or definite conception of him, we 
 have nothing around which our thoughts can collect, or on 
 
130 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 which our affections can settle and rest ; he will elude and 
 escape our laboring apprehensions. It is in vain to allege, 
 that the sublimest material representation can bear no pro- 
 portion to his glory, no relation to his nature; and, conse- 
 quently, that it could not fail to impart to the mind un wor- 
 thy conceptions of his greatness. Without some sensible 
 representation of the divine being, the understanding can 
 make no approach to him, the affections have nothing to 
 embrace: faith itself, like the dove of the deluge, has noth- 
 ing on which it can alight ; it finds itself voyaging in an 
 objectless universe, an infinite vacuity; and piety must 
 suffer and pine as in an atmosphere too subtle and unsub- 
 stantial for its present earthly constitution. 
 
 This feeling of want, this ardent craving after a definite 
 object which the mind can lay hold of and apprehend, has 
 been the most frequent occasion of idolatry and atheism. 
 The doctrine of an infinite spirit was the only pure abstrac- 
 tion in the human mind : all other things were objects ; 
 had their appropriate images, and the power of imprinting 
 themselves upon the mind, by sensible impressions ; while 
 this, standing in the mind solitary and aloof, subject to the 
 antagonist influence and constant encroachment of materi- 
 al objects, was unable alone to maintain its ground, and in 
 perpetual danger of being displaced and lost from the mind. 
 And hence, instead of making this doctrine a place of rest, 
 men have made it a starting point to one of two extremes; 
 they have either proceeded to refine on the nature of Deity 
 till they have reached transcendental atheism, an infinite 
 nothing ; or else, advancing in the opposite direction, they 
 have brought him within the sphere of the senses, and em- 
 bodied him in the work of their own hands. Every erro- 
 neous view of God which the world has entertained, was 
 either scepticism, arrived at one or other of its numerous 
 stages, in its way to atheism ; or else, it was idolatry rest- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 131 
 
 ing awhile, at one or other of its stages, on its way to the 
 opposite issue. From the moment that the doctrine of an 
 infinite essence has at any time, been deposited in the hu- 
 man mind, it has begun to evaporate ; and while the scep- 
 tic, on the one hand, rejoiced in the vacuum which en- 
 sued ; and the idolater, on the other, found or feigned a 
 residuum which he took and moulded into a god ; they both 
 concurred, at least, in this one sentiment that the theory 
 of an infinite spirit yields no repose to the intellect, no ob- 
 ject for the affections. 
 
 Passing by the peculiar provisions of the patriarchal 
 church, we cannot hesitate to regard the Jewish economy^ 
 in part, as a temporary but elaborate construction for aid- 
 ing the mind in its conceptions of a purely spiritual being. 
 All the angelic visits, and supernatural appearances, with 
 which that church was favored, answered this end. It en- 
 joyed a local manifestation of the Deity: the cloud of glo- 
 ry that dwelt within the veil, resided there as a temporary 
 substitute till he should appear in whom would dwell all 
 the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; and, probably, most 
 of those devotional expressions, in the Old Testament, 
 which raise our thoughts to heaven, only carried the 
 thoughts of the Israelites within the veil. The whole of 
 their worship was a presentiment and promise of the ap- 
 proaching manifestation of God in Christ ; and not merely 
 a promise of it, but an actual provision to aid them in lifting 
 their thoughts to God, and conceiving of the divine personal- 
 ity, till that more glorious manifestation should take place. 
 
 Behold, in Christ, the image of the invisible God! 
 Having left the bosom of the Father, and embodied the at- 
 tributes of God in an incarnate form, he came forth, and 
 stood before the world, and proclaimed himself the perma- 
 nent, adequate, apprehensible representation of the invisi- 
 ble Deity. ' I am in the Father,' said he, * and the Father 
 
132 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 in me.' * From henceforth ye know the Father, and have 
 seen him.' ' He that hath seen me hath seen the Father 
 also.' ' I and my Father are one.' It is true, that he is 
 no longer cognizant to our senses ; but having assumed an 
 incarnate form, is evermore visible to the eye of faith : he 
 can never ascend beyond the flight of the sanctified ima- 
 gination. And if imagination be an attribute of the mind, 
 and Christ be entitled to the homage of all our powers, 
 then to depicture his person and pourtray his glory, is not 
 merely legitimate, but the most suitable and exalted object 
 on which it is possible for the imagination to be employ- 
 ed. When he ascended up, * and a cloud received him 
 out of their sight,' were his disciples never more to think 
 of God as manifest in the flesh ? They are directed to 
 look at the things which are not seen, to place them before 
 their mental eye in the most vivid imagery ; and of all 
 the imaginable and illustrious objects in the temple above, 
 he surely stands central and supreme. In order to inflame 
 our affections, and carry our imaginations with him, he af- 
 fords us glimpses of his offices and relations in heaven, 
 and prays that we may behold his glory 5 thus making 
 that glory, henceforth, the appropriate and engrossing ob- 
 ject of evangelical faith. 
 
 Nor, in thus yielding to the dictates of piety, and the 
 claims of Christ, can we be charged with worshipping 
 his human nature. Though that nature is exalted above 
 the whole creation ; though it is crowned with glory and 
 honor ; though the fulness of the Godhead is in it ; though 
 it forms even a part of the person of God, yet the object 
 we adore, is he to whom that nature is hypostatically unit- 
 ed, and who stooped to that union expressly that he might 
 become a more palpable and definite object of our love. 
 He invites us to draw near and contemplate this great sight ; 
 and on approaching, we behold the invisible God invested 
 in the robes of humanity, and emitting a glory so softened 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 133 
 
 and subdued that our eyes can rest on it without dismay; 
 in all our endeavors to raise our thoughts to God, the idea 
 of Jesus comes to our aid, like the mystic ladder of the 
 patriarch's dream, and they ascend and descend upon the 
 Son of man. In all our acts of sincere devotion, we be- 
 hold him by faith, standing betwixt us and the eternal 
 throne, waiting to meet our flagging and half-way efforts, 
 to assist us up the laborious ascent, to raise and present our 
 spiritual offerings ; or, if our devotion ascends still higher 
 to him that sits upon the throne, whom do we there behold 
 but the image of the still invisible God, the Lamb in the 
 midst of the throne. He is the great ordinance by which 
 God and man commune together; the appointed place of 
 meeting between God and human thoughts; for as all the 
 
 O O I 
 
 lines of the divine manifestation converge and meet in him, 
 so all our devotional thoughts and affections centre in him 
 also. And there is, we think, ground to believe that he 
 will sustain this relation for ever ; that whatever may be 
 the modification of the present economy, when throwing 
 off the accidents and relations of time, it shall retain only 
 the elements and receive the impress of eternity, yet he, as 
 
 . the light of heaven and the temple thereof, will remain the 
 sole manifestation of Deity, to which every eye will be di- 
 rected and every heart be drawn ; that no angel or saint 
 will ever know aught of the invisible God, but as it is 
 brought forth and unveiled in theadorable person of Christ. 
 Of the future visibility of the divine essence, indeed, we 
 
 would speak with unaffected diffidence ; but the prayer of 
 Christ, that his people may be with him where he is to be- 
 hold his glory, while it discloses the chief ingredient of 
 celestial blessedness, makes known also the conspicuous 
 object of heavenly contemplation. By adopting our nature 
 into a personal subsistence with his own divinity, he has 
 given a centre, if we may say so, to the uncircumscribed 
 
134 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 essence of the Deity, and has prepared a spectacle for the 
 universe, resembling, but ineffably transcending, the angel 
 standing in the midst of the sun. 
 
 3. But chiefly did he rest his claims to the regards of 
 the world, on the ground that he was the adequate repre- 
 sentative of the divine character. The condition of the 
 world had rendered the advent of such a being, and the 
 institution of such an office indispensably necessary. The 
 knowledge of the divine character is the great conserva- 
 tive principle of holiness, and the bulwark of human hap- 
 piness : and it was the persuasion of this fact, which led 
 the enemy of man to make that knowledge the object of his 
 first assault. He knew that, dispossessed of this we should 
 be divested of all our strength, and the ready dupes of 
 every artifice he might choose to practise. And the aw- 
 ful results of his enterprise have proved the truth of his 
 calculations, and must surely have gratified to the full his 
 boundless appetite for human destruction. Planting him- 
 self between God and man, he sought to intercept every 
 beam from heaven, and to throw his awful shadow across 
 the earth ; the gloom of his presence fell, like a pall over 
 human hope* involving us in darkness that might be felt. 
 It is true, there were many unobliterated traces of God to 
 be found in creation, but these related chiefly to his natural 
 greatness : his moral perfections could only be deduced 
 from his own supernatural disclosures ; and these as they 
 existed among the Jews, were intentionally imperfect. 
 Truths, the most vital, wore the form of enigmas ; the 
 church was local and limited ; the moral law was oppress- 
 ed and borne down by the ceremonial ; the sensible was 
 appealed to more than the intellectual, sight more than 
 faith ; sin was only ceremonially atoned for ; the eternal 
 future was but dimly seen ; and the divine perfections 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 135 
 
 only hinted at. Theirs was an economy which professed 
 not to be day, but only the dawn and promise of a day. 
 
 The office of revealing and representing the character 
 of the Deity was reserved for him who had been from eter- 
 nity in the bosom of the Father ; the image of the invisi- 
 ble God. What no verbal description could pourtray, what 
 no image in creation could represent, what the loftiest 
 seraph in heaven would have shrunk from under a sense 
 of infinite inadequacy, that Christ undertook, professed, 
 and accomplished to bless the world with a living, actual, 
 adequate impersonation of the supreme God. It was ex- 
 pressly for this that he stooped to employ the organs and 
 faculties of a human being; for it was only by adopting 
 that appropriate but humble expedient that he could make 
 himself visible and familiar to our eyes, while working 
 out and embodying the character of infinite love. Array- 
 ed in a body which God had prepared and not man, he 
 challenged to himself the exclusive power of unveiling 
 the divine perfections ; * No man,' said he, ' knoweth the 
 Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son 
 shall reveal him.' He took, as it became him, the high- 
 est ground ; for he felt that he held the salvation of the 
 world in his hand that the illumination of mankind was 
 entirely at his discretion : that, at that moment, the fulness 
 of the Godhead was in him ; and that had he decided it 
 should remain there concealed, the unrelieved darkness of 
 the world would have been made eternal, and man must 
 have perished in ignorance of God. 
 
 That he came to show us the Father is evident from con- 
 siderations such as these : first, he claimed to be regarded 
 as the habitation of Deity. ' Destroy this temple,' said he, 
 * and in three days I will raise it again ;' ' He spake of 
 the temple of his body.' To constitute a place, or a per- 
 son, a temple, the indwelling presence of Jehovah is the pri- 
 
136 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 mary requisite. The Jews could have had no conception of 
 a temple apart from this ; for in the holiest of all, Jehovah 
 had dwelt as in his earthly palace, enthroned in veiled and 
 unapproachable splendor : nor could Jesus have intended to 
 claim less than this for the sanctuary of his body, without 
 offering violence to modes of thinking which had become 
 sacred, and to associations the most precious. On another 
 occasion, when standing in the holy place, he affirmed, ' I 
 sa'y unto you, that in this place is one greater than the tem- 
 ple ;' he said this while perfectly aware that the hallowed 
 object with which he compared himself was, in their eyes, 
 the image of every thing magnificent and divine ; that it 
 was their heaven upon earth ; that they allowed nothing 
 to surpass the temple except the God who dwelt in it ; but 
 he could add, the Father is in me, ina sense which justified 
 the comparison, and which turned even the symbolic glory 
 which descended at the dedication into eclipse and dark- 
 ness. Had the vision of Isaiah been repeated, 'when he 
 saw his glory and spake of him,' it could have made no 
 addition to the greatness he already derived from the per- 
 sonal inhabitation of the Deity. Had Moses and Elijah, 
 attended by all the hierarchal orders of the Jewish church 
 of every age, descended as on Tabor, and laid their official 
 honors at his feet, it would have been only an augmenta- 
 tion of his glory in declaration and appearance. If, on 
 entering his ' Father's house,' an invisible hand had poured 
 out all its wealth before him ; had all its symbols of power 
 and office taken life and form, and settled upon him ; had 
 all its priests departed, its fires become extinct, and the last 
 wreath of incense mounted to heaven : had its ancient 
 shekinah from within the veil, emerged and enthroned 
 itself on his brow: and had all its angel-guards made 
 themselves visible, and fallen into his train, the enactment 
 of the scene would have been only the homage of a splen- 
 did pageant paid to a glory unlimited and divine. The 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 1 37 
 
 glorious train of the divine perfections had come down and 
 filled the temple of his humanity. Truth was seated in 
 his lips; and thence gave forth in abundance unsolicited 
 oracles, such as mortal ears had never before heard, nor 
 the records of heavenly wisdom themselves contained. 
 His heart was an altar on which infinite love could visibly 
 burn ; and in which it found for itself a sacrifice as costly 
 and congenial as its soul could desire. Goodness and 
 power employed him, to assert their majesty, by bending 
 all things to the furtherance of human happiness. In his 
 breast, mercy may be said to have held her court ; and in 
 his looks of compassion, which were always bent over hu- 
 man misery, to have found the most prevailing advocates 
 and intercessors. Holiness could dispense with an ark 
 and tables to contain its laws ; for in his life its enshrined 
 glory was made so transparent, that even demons confessed 
 him to be the Holy One of God. While justice, which 
 had asked only an equivalent for the wrong it had sustain- 
 ed at the hands of man, found that the illustrious victim 
 was the living temple itself; that though replenished 
 throughout with the presence of Deity, the whole sanctua- 
 'ry was one entire propitiatory. Like the moveable sanc- 
 tuary which accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness, 
 he was the tabernacle of witness ; having been made flesh, 
 he came and set up his tabernacle in the midst of the hu- 
 man encampment, pitched his tent side by side with our 
 tents, to attest the presence of God, to make us familiar 
 with his character and sensible of his love. The great 
 inscription of Immanuel, God with us, was so legible on 
 every part, that the thoughtful and reverent could not raise 
 their eye to Christ, without being conscious of feelings of 
 reverence and awe, like those awakened by the sight of a 
 temple. Even the godless and profane, \vho armed them- 
 selves and went out to destroy this temple, were repeatedly 
 
138 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 abashed as they drew near, and forgot their purpose ; dis- 
 armed and ravished at the sight of its divine magnificence, 
 they remained awhile to worship, and then returned to 
 confess their admiration ; occasionally, they beheld the 
 shrine of his humanity flooded with light, bathed in the 
 glory of the present Deity ; a glory which was obviously 
 attempered and designed to make man in love with God, 
 for it was full of grace and truth. 
 
 Secondly, his frequent declarations that he had received 
 universal empire, can only be construed as meant to estab- 
 lish his representative claims. Affirmations to this effect 
 he uttered in terms such as these : ' All things are deliv- 
 ered unto me of my Father ; all things that the Father 
 hath are mine; all power is given unto me in heaven and 
 on earth.' Now for what adequate, what assignable rea- 
 son could this mighty transfer have been made ? this trans- 
 fer of all things into the hands of the incarnate Saviour, if 
 not for the purpose of employing and making them known ? 
 Concealment could not possibly be the object of giving 
 him this infinite treasure ; for that end might have been 
 equally answered by allowing it to remain where it had 
 been from eternity shut up in the bosom of God. But it' 
 was committed to him with a commission to make it known ; 
 it was given to him, like light to the sun, with a command 
 to shine and turn our darkness into day. 
 
 That he was the ordained medium of the divine glory, 
 is apparent thirdly^ from his ' Making himself equal with 
 God.' The fact that he did this, is here assumed : the ob- 
 ject he aimed at, could have only one alternative : for if it 
 was not to aggrandize himself at the expense of the Deity, 
 to sink the character of the Divine Being in the eyes of 
 the world, and to erect his own pretensions on its ruins, 
 his sole design must have been to furnish an adequate man- 
 ifestation of the supreme excellence. That this alone was 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 139 
 
 his aim is obvious ; for if he ever for a moment intermit- 
 ted his endeavor to enlarge our views of that excellence, it 
 was only to realize the conceptions- which his words had 
 awakened, by giving to them life and form in godlike 
 deeds. 
 
 The same end is evident, fourthly, from his uniformly 
 referring every thing good and gracious he did to the love 
 of God. It is true, that in exalting the character of God, 
 he was virtually magnifying his own ; for they are strictly 
 identical. But as far as his own claims, as Mediator, are 
 distinct from those of the invisible God, he laid himself out 
 to aggrandize the paternal character. Take, as an exam- 
 ple the declaration in which he ascribes his advent to the 
 fact, that God loved the world. Had he attributed his 
 coming to his own love, the representation would have been 
 most literally true ; but he would have us to see in it noth- 
 ing but the love of God. Bent on alluring us to God, by 
 filling our mind with a vast conception of paternal grace, 
 he would have us to refer his own incarnation, with all its 
 attendant blessings, entirely to the grace of God. He 
 was content to conceal himself, to merge his own claims, 
 as far as that is consistent with the laws of mediation, that 
 he might occupy the whole of our field of vision with the 
 perfections of God. 
 
 And that such was his distinguished office is apparent, 
 fifthly, from declarations which are all but express on the 
 subject. In his intercessory prayer, for instance, he de- 
 clared, ' I have manifested thy name ; I have glorified thee 
 on earth ; I have finished the work which thou gavest me 
 to do.' Language, which intimates that the supreme ob- 
 ject of his coming into the world had been to illustrate the 
 glorious character of God ; and that having done this, he 
 considered his work on earth as accomplished. 
 
140 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 III. It now becomes an interesting and essential part 
 of our business, to trace his mode of divine manifestation. 
 As the Word of God, he partly employed the medium of 
 oral instruction. And had he sustained the character of 
 a prophet only, had he added no actions to his words, the 
 clearness, unction, and fulness of his teaching were such, 
 that the most evangelical writers of the Old Testament 
 might have envied a place at his feet, and have exclaimed 
 with the disciples, ' Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou 
 hast the words of eternal life.' 
 
 But a verbal representation of the Divine Being, even 
 though it had come direct from the depths of the excellent 
 glory, would have been totally inadequate to the ends pro- 
 posed ; and yet more than this would have been c above all 
 that we can ask or think.' Actions alone could adequate- 
 ly set forth the grace of him, whose natural greatness is 
 such, that a celestial alphabet, a glorious arrangement of 
 characters composed of an infinite number of suns and 
 systems, is requisite to express it. The acts of Christ were 
 a system of sublime hieroglyphics, every part of which 
 stood for some glorious aspect of the divine character; 
 while, of that system, his words were meant to furnish us 
 with the key and interpretation. Actions, it is proverbial, 
 speak louder than words; his actions spoke with a voice 
 which unbelief itself, though it had stopped its ears, could 
 not resist, and which made itself to be heard, even by many 
 who were dead in sin ; a voice which, beginning at his in- 
 carnation, went on increasing through all his godlike deeds 
 of power and love, waxing louder and louder through the 
 successive stages of his sufferings and death, his resurrec- 
 tion and ascension, till the Lord went up with a shout ; and 
 which still continues to swell in volume and power, as he 
 goes on to work out the character of God, and evolve the 
 glorious purposes of grace, filling heaven and earth, the 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 141 
 
 illimitable temple of the universe, with the echoes of the 
 grand announcement that God is love. 
 
 1. Speaking to the mind by sensible representations, 
 was a striking characteristic even of our Lord's ordinary 
 teaching. A memorable instance occurred in his reply to 
 the messengers of John, when they came to inquire, 'Art 
 thou he that should come; or do we look for another? 
 And in the same hour he cured many of their infirmities, 
 and plagues, and of evil spirits ; and unto many that were 
 blind he gave sight. Then said Jesus unto them, Go your 
 way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard.' 
 He foresaw the moment when these disciples would arrive, 
 and he prepared for it ; he knew the object of their visit, 
 and he arrayed his demonstrations accordingly. And 
 what were his preparations? a company of the blind, the 
 deaf, the leprous, the demoniacal, the dying; these were 
 collected around him, and formed the materials on which 
 he proposed to work; this was the selection of misery, 
 the mass of disease and death on which he designed to 
 breathe, and create it anew. The messengers drew nigh, 
 and he made bare his arm : they arrived, and asked him 
 to decide the question of his Messiahship : forthwith they 
 received his reply in a series of stupendous miracles. Fie 
 spoke, and the deaf heard his voice; he spoke again, and 
 the blind opened their eyes on the blessed light of day ; 
 he put forth his hand, and the crimson fever faded at -his 
 touch ; he looked on the dying, and they rose and were 
 strong ; he called to the phrenzied demoniac, and madness 
 itself fell down and worshipped him. ' There,' said he, 
 behold my reply ! Go, and tell John what things ye have 
 seen and heard, and abide by the right interpretation of 
 them.' 
 
 Similar to this was his reply, when Philip requested to 
 behold the Father. ' Jesus answered, Have I been so long 
 
142 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? 
 
 he that hath seen me hath seen the Father from 
 
 henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.' The desire 
 of the disciple to behold the sum of all excellence, is the 
 last effort, the noblest aspiration of the human mind. The 
 prompt, detailed, and definite reply of Christ, showed his 
 high estimate of its importance, and his desire to give it a 
 final answer. This he did, by calling attention to him- 
 self; he did not rebuke the desire of being shown the Fa- 
 ther, but instantly and completely gratified it by showing 
 himself; while the only rebuke which his words conveyed, 
 was a tender reproach for that mental obtuseness which 
 could ask for a supplement to perfection, which could look 
 for additions to his own divinity, or think of the paternal 
 character and existence as detached from his own ; a re- 
 monstrance for the want of that spiritual intuition which 
 should have discerned in him the concentration of the 
 whole moral greatness, the great name of God. 
 
 The exhibition of the divine character was an end so 
 sublime, that nothing could for a moment divert his eye 
 from it; every action and item of his life was leferrible to 
 this, and subsidiary to it. In all he did, he intuitively saw 
 how the Father would have done it, and he immediately 
 embodied and realized the conception. The power which 
 had replenished the universe with worlds and beings, em- 
 ployed his human arms, and unbent itself in acts of heal- 
 ing mercy. Omniscience, looking through his eyes, spoke 
 of the future as if it were present, and perused at pleasure 
 the secrets of every heart. As the centre of the Presence 
 which fills immensity, and the seat of the will to which 
 all things are possible, he proved himself present where 
 he was not seen ; issued his fiat to distant objects, and re- 
 ceived obedience to a mere volition. He made all-suffi- 
 cience intelligible and familiar, by calling for things that 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 143 
 
 were not and they came ; by making the capacity of the 
 recipients the only measure of his impartations ; and by 
 the spontaneous emanation of a virtue which went out of 
 him, and healed them all. Had the star which led the 
 Magi to his feet been actually brought from a distant sys- 
 tem, it would only have been a faint illustration of the way 
 in which he brought the perfections of God under the cog- 
 nizance of man. Those properties of the divine greatness 
 from which previously we had seemed to stand at an infi- 
 nite remoteness, he brought near and domesticated, and en- 
 couraged us to consider them henceforth as our own. 
 
 2. * As the Father gave me commandment, so I do.' 
 Such were the significant terms with which the Saviour 
 prefaced his godlike deeds, as, completing one stage in his 
 career of mercy, he advanced and addressed himself to 
 another. * This commandment have I received of my Fa- 
 ther ; ' in other words, ' In all I do, I am only consulting 
 the will, and fulfilling the designs of the eternal Father ; 
 so that the history of my earthly life will be the exact re- 
 cord of his purposes towards man, and the adequate man- 
 ifestation of his divine perfections.' Thus interpreted, all 
 have an infinite moral ; of which this is a point and es- 
 sence that God would vanquish us by love. Did he 
 come forth from the Father? it was to annihilate the dis- 
 tance, to bring us across the gulf which sin had created be- 
 tween God and us, to place us in the domains of mercy, 
 and within reach of the tree of life. Did he join himself 
 to our nature ? it was to show us that God would have us 
 to be in the closest union with himself, and that as we can- 
 not possibly be happy without him, so neither can his love 
 be satisfied without us ; that he is bent on reclaiming a race 
 of creatures who, though they once rejoiced in him, have 
 been lost from his embrace, and of attaching them to him- 
 self by a tie as new and astonishing to the universe, as it 
 
144 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 is proof against all the dissevering powers of sin. He 
 lived among us, consuming himself in acts of self-denial 
 and labors of love ; it was to teach us that God is al- 
 ways living with us, that he is an inmate of every dwelling, 
 tasting every earthly sorrow, arid regarding our wants as 
 the natural channels for his fulness to flow in and replenish. 
 3. The motto of every divine dispensation to man has 
 been the same, God is love. The original apostacy com- 
 menced in the disbelief and denial of this truth ; for it is 
 only by clearly discerning and cordially believing it, that 
 we remain in a state of allegiance to God. But if infinite 
 benevolence was considered problematical by man prior 
 to the fall, by what unimaginable expedient shall the prob- 
 lem be demonstrated to him, now that he looks on every 
 thing that comes from God through a medium of enmity? 
 And yet this very truth did Jesus adopt as his motto ; this 
 very question he undertook to work out, and set at rest for 
 ever. To convince us, therefore, that there was no dissen- 
 tient principle in the character of God, that every proper- 
 ty of the divine nature consented and subscribed to this de- 
 claration of infinite love to man, it remained that as these 
 perfections had been already displayed separately, they 
 should now be all collected and concentrated, and put forth 
 in some mighty act of grace, in some definite, overwhelm- 
 ing, all-comprehensive deed of love. This, and ineffably 
 more than this, was effected in the decease which he ac- 
 complished at Jerusalem. On his way to that ancient the- 
 atre of the divine perfections, declarations such as these 
 were constantly on his lips ; 'As Moses lifted up the ser- 
 pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be 
 lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him should not per- 
 ish, but have eternal life. 3 ' God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' * I lay 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 145 
 
 down my life for my sheep.' ' I give my flesh for the life 
 of the world.' 'I give my life a ransom for many.' 'This 
 commandment have I received of my Father.' Here was 
 power, nerving his arm, and declaring that it would show 
 itself in him mighty to save. Here was wisdom, with its 
 unfolded plan of redemption, calling admiration to its amaz- 
 ing details : and faithfulness, honoring and accepting its 
 ancient engagements : and holiness pressing to its heart 
 the violated law, and meditating for its illustrious honors ; 
 and love, rejoicing to find itself thus supported; speaking 
 as confidently as if its task were already achieved ; bidding 
 the world look up and smile ; and giving away provinces 
 and thrones in its prospective kingdom. 
 
 Having thus taught us to refer his death to the divine 
 benignity, having placed his cross in a line with the light 
 of the divine countenance, so that on beholding the one we 
 may be drawn to gaze on the other, he poured out his soul 
 unto death. He showed us that, while the hatred of God 
 against sin is strong as death, his love to sinners is yet 
 stronger than death. He brought to an issue the momen- 
 tous question, which had been kept open since the fall 
 whether or not God is light and love. The satanic agita- 
 tion of this parent truth was the origin of human aliena- 
 tion from God. And having once brought it into question 
 in the human mind, and thereby sown the seeds of enmity 
 against God, it only remained for the father of lies to wa- 
 ter those deadly seeds, in order to reap the fruit of a con- 
 tinued triumph against the Supreme. Besides, by widen- 
 ing the breach which existed between earth and heaven, 
 Satan might calculate on the possibility of at length realiz- 
 ing his own lie, of wearing out the goodness which only 
 encountered abuse, of extinguishing the last spark of love 
 in the breast of God, and of exasperating justice to doom 
 and destroy the whole species. Every moment of four 
 9 
 
146 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 thousand years, therefore, he had turned to account, in fo- 
 menting the aversion of man to God. By a vast, unslum- 
 bering, and complicated system, the whole agency of evil 
 had been kept in motion, and made to bear upon man, ad- 
 dressing itself to every passion, and entrenching itself in 
 every heart : so that, in a sense more than figurative, the 
 world, the entire mass of humanity, was subjected to a de- 
 moniacal possession. 
 
 Under such tutelage, (how could it be otherwise ?) every 
 dispensation and event was interpreted against God. Sig- 
 nals of reconciliation were hung out from heaven; treaties 
 were set on foot ; but men scowled back defiance, and ex- 
 claimed, ' Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of 
 thy ways.' Messenger after messenger was dispatched to 
 entreat their attention. ' but they beat one, and stoned anoth- 
 er, and killed another.' During the whole tract of time 
 the principle of human hatred had gone on growing in in- 
 tensity, collecting its materials of war, and daily augment- 
 ing in strength till it had reached so gigantic and threaten- 
 ing a form, that if it was to be vanquished by love and not 
 by power, it \vas evident that love must put forth its might 
 in an act unparalleled, unimaginable, and infinite. Such 
 an act was resolved on. Voices from heaven announced it. 
 Calvary was selected for the eventful scene. On the part 
 of God, appeared his only begotten Son, wearing the form 
 of a human being: against him, came hell and earth ; all 
 the nursed and ancient hatred of the human heart, and all 
 the immemorial enmity which had formed the atmosphere 
 of hell, were there, collected and concentrated against him. 
 Love and hatred confronted each other. At that moment, 
 of all the passions and principles in the universe, these two 
 antagonist powers alone remained. All the diversified 
 sentiments ted mtrres \vere ranged 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 147 
 
 while the object of the one was to unite its whole force in a 
 blow which should need no repetition, to throw all its 
 accumulated vengeance into one annihilating stroke; it 
 was the aim of the other, by receiving that stroke, to let 
 the strength of its foe be exhausted, to vanquish it by sub- 
 mission, to reduce it to a state of silence and shame, at 
 finding its powers and weapons all spent, while yet the 
 object of its rage stood unimpaired, and even seemed by 
 wounding to acquire strength. 
 
 And what was the sublime result? 'Ye know the 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.' As the demands of our 
 hatred increased, his love rose witlithern ; we aimed at his 
 heart ; and he promptly bared it to receive the stroke ; and, 
 behold, it was inscribed with the names of his enemies : we 
 sought his life; 'but,' said he, ' I lay it down of myself,' 
 'and he gave up the ghost;' so quick was he in anticipat- 
 ing the fatal blow, that he even forestalled death by the 
 speed with which he voluntarily surrendered his spirit- 
 we demanded his blood ; but no sooner had his side been 
 pierced than forthwith came there out blood and water a 
 twofold evidence of his death ; if not also a symbol of the 
 'twofold element of pardon and purity, and an emblem of 
 the fulness with which the treasury of his heart pours 
 forth more than we ask or think. 
 
 4. One might have supposed that the cross of Christ, as 
 the great illustration of divine grace, would have been left 
 to stand alone; that even he, whose name is Love, would 
 not have thought of enhancing its attractions by any sub- 
 sidiary aids. As the focal point of his divine benevolen.ce, 
 the cross of Christ is the jewel, of which all the created 
 universe is only the setting : by what possible accompani- 
 ments, then, can its attractions be enhanced? He, who can 
 fchallenge perfection for all his works, whose minutest pro- 
 ' - ' ' 
 
148 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 no circumstance to be wanting, which could grace and 
 complete his^masterwork. By praying for his execution- 
 ers, and, still more, by dispensing salvation to the dying 
 malefactor, he showed, that, while dying for all, he was 
 distinctly mindful of the exigencies of each. His cross 
 was surrounded by a mass of the darkest elements of hu- 
 man depravity a specimen of the gross, the condensed 
 impiety which in every age would collect around it, to de- 
 ride, or to pray : but it became vocal with prayer, and gave 
 forth an element of spiritual life; surrounding itself with 
 an element of light and love which none could ap- 
 proach, without approaching at the same time a personal 
 change. By associating Christ, in his death, with the con- 
 demned malefactors, the object of the Jews was to add the 
 last shade of disgrace to his holy name ; and had it been 
 their aim to select such as, besides being the refuse of the 
 vile, were the least likely to catch what they might call the 
 infection of his character, they could not probably have se- 
 lected two human beings more proof against the impres- 
 sions of moral excellence. By saving one of these, there- 
 fore, in the hour of his own death, he created the most af- 
 fecting and unlooked-for illustration of the love of God ; 
 he showed that whatever light might then be suffering 
 eclipse, the solar fervor of that love could know no abate- 
 ment; he caused to meet, in the same moment, the crown- 
 ing act of human guilt in his own crucifixion, and the 
 crowning act of divine benevolence in the salvation of one 
 of the guiltiest of our race. He thus erected a monument, 
 in the face of the world, to the transcendant love of God; 
 a monument which, from its position close by the cross, 
 could not fail to be seen by every penitent eye which in 
 after times should be pointed to the Lamb of God bearing 
 on it this inscription, 'Jesus Christ came into the world to 
 /save sinners; even the chief.' 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 149 
 
 5. Had the history of Christ only taught us that sin 
 may be successfully resisted, and the world ofercome, even 
 that would have laid us under vast obligation. But having 
 assumed our nature, and espoused our cause, he looked on 
 our enemies as his own ; he challenged and assailed them 
 in our name. He laid not down his life, till he could say 
 of the conflict, It is finished; he retired not from the scene 
 of blood, till he could say to his followers, 'Be of good 
 cheer, I have overcome.' His resurrection from the dead 
 rolled away the stone from the tomb of human hope. Hav- 
 ing carried our nature triumphantly through all the evils 
 that can assail it ; having collected at his feet the chains 
 and weapons which were meant for us all the instruments 
 and spoils of sin he would have us to know, that hence- 
 forth we have nothing to dread from our spiritual foes ; 
 since, in the same way, he will carry us triumphantly 
 through all the ranks of hell, and the dominions of the 
 grave, and will bring us into the rest that remaineth for 
 the people of God. 
 
 6. Subsequent to his resurrection, the commission which 
 he gave to his apostles, to publish ' repentance and remis- 
 sion of sins in his name, among all nations, beginning at 
 Jerusalem? showed him still inventive of new illustrations 
 of the divine love. It was the act of a most clement sove- 
 reign, who, bent on convincing his rebellious subjects of 
 the sincerity of his desire to replace them in his favor? 
 should take some of the most traitorous among them, load 
 them with honors, instate them into the highest offices* 
 and then send them forth into the camp of the revolted to 
 proclaim his grace to the chief of the disaffected, and bear- 
 ing in their hands an act of amnesty for all. ' Ye have 
 not chosen me ; but I have chosen you, and ordained you, 
 that ye should go and bring forth fruit.' They had lived 
 in the closest alliance with those who had not only said, 
 4 Come let us kill him ;' but who had actually perpetrated 
 
150 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 his death with acclamation, as a deed essential to their hap- 
 piness. But having reclaimed them from their disobedi- 
 ence, and engaged their hearts, he took them into his coun- 
 sels, heaped on them his royal favors, shared with them his 
 prerogatives, gave them a joint interest with himself in the 
 success of all his designs of grace, and then sent them 
 forth to his foes with this injunction that they should first 
 visit the men who had slain him should let it be seen 
 how affluent he had made them in heavenly gifts, how un- 
 limited the access they enjoyed to his divine treasury ; at 
 the same time exhibiting their commission, and inviting all 
 to a community with themselves of these special privileges 
 and grace. 
 
 7. The most affectionate parent can only endow his 
 child with the accidents of fortune, and operate on him by 
 the uncertain influence of education and example. How- 
 ever wise and virtuous he may be himself; and however 
 he may yearn to share his piety with his beloved child, a 
 communication of character is a transferrence which he 
 cannot make. Every thing else he may succeed in im- 
 parting, but here he has no prerogative. Christ not only 
 gave himself for, but to, his disciples. ' He breathed on 
 them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.' 
 By this emblematic act, he signified, not merely the impar- 
 tation of miraculous powers, but the inspiration of his 
 sanctifying spirit, the vital transfusion of his own self, into 
 the souls of his people. He would have them to know, 
 that henceforth, he and they can no more live a divided 
 life; that he will live through their faculties, and act 
 through their organs; and that they must choose with his 
 will, and act \vith his spirit : that it may be no more they 
 that live, but he that liveth in them. But, in all this, he 
 would impress them with the fact that he is only giving 
 to them the glory which the Father had given him, that 
 both he and they might be one in God. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 151 
 
 8. An original and important part of the Saviour's teach- 
 ing concerning himself, is that which relates to his office of 
 intercession. Perhaps no part of the Jewish ceremonial 
 was more impressive, or calculated to fill the imagination 
 than the scene in which the High Priest passed within the 
 veil on the great day of atonement. Every attendant cir- 
 cumstance the inviolable sanctity of the veil which the 
 people dared not to approach, nor even the priests to touch, 
 the fact that only one man of all the human race was per- 
 mitted to lift that veil, and pass within the rareness of 
 that occurrence for to him it was accessible only once a 
 year and the awful Being, the ineffable mystery, that re- 
 sided there all conspired to fill the mind with emotions 
 of the profoundest awe. On the morning of the appointed 
 day, what must his feelings have been, when, having pre- 
 sented the sin-offerings for himself and the people, he took 
 the blood of the sacrifice, and the incense, and, followed by 
 the anxious eyes of the breathless congregation, he pro- 
 ceeded towards the awful recess when he reflected that 
 every step took him nearer to the visible presence of the in- 
 comprehensible God when he lifted up the veil with fear 
 and trembling when the veil closed on him, and left him 
 alone with God when his eye glanced at the mercy-seat, 
 and saw the glory resting on it when he advanced up to 
 it, and instantly began to wave the incense before it, that it 
 might forthwith be enveloped in a cloud, lest he should 
 gaze on it, and perish when he sprinkled the ark with the 
 blood which he had brought in, and remembered the puri- 
 ty of the Being who commanded it, and the sinfulness of 
 the beings which rendered it necessary what a responsi- 
 ble office, at that moment, he filled ! and what vivid, sol- 
 emn, and lasting impressions must the scene have left on 
 every thoughtful worshipper ! 
 
 This must have been true, even of that large majority 
 
152 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 whose views terminated on the passing ceremony, and who 
 did ' not look unto the end of that which is abolished.' 
 But how much more affecting must it have been to those 
 who remembered that the scense they beheld ' was only a 
 figure for the time then present :' and that solemn as it 
 Avas, it would eventually give place to a reality inconceiv- 
 ably more glorious. Let any one make the mental effort 
 of transporting himself back into their circumstances, and 
 he will find how impossible it was for the believers of that 
 economy to conceive what the substance of that shadow, 
 the reality of that figure was likely to be ; and he may 
 also apprehend how much more impressive the sign must 
 have been, from the very circumstance of their inability to 
 decipher it. Doubtless, 'they searched diligently,' and 
 pondered deeply, the meaning of the enigma; and numer- 
 ous and splendid may have been their conjectures of what 
 would possibly be the reality. Of that reality it is our 
 privilege to have been informed; and so stupendous is its 
 nature, that we feel assured, the sublimest preconceptions 
 of man could not have come within an infinite distance of 
 it. ' We have a great High Priest who is passed into the 
 heavens, Jesus the Son of God.' ' Christ is not entered 
 into the holy places made with hands, but into heaven it- 
 self, now to appear in the presence of God for us.' * By 
 his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, hav- 
 ing obtained eternal redemption for us.' 
 
 The most copious account, indeed, of his divine interces- 
 sion is to be found in the inspired epistles ; but the an- 
 nouncement of the doctrine came originally and directly 
 from his own lips. ' / will pray the Father? said he, ' and 
 he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide 
 with you for ever.' Concerning the mode of his interces- 
 sion in heaven, it would not be relevant here to enlarge. 
 But, unless the whole doctrine be a mere fiction of mercy,, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 153 
 
 (an idea at which every feeling of piety revolts,) the first 
 appearance of Jesus there, in his new capacity, must have 
 been as invigorating to the worship of heaven, as it is en- 
 couraging to the devotions of believers on earth. When 
 he went from the place of sacrifice, and stood in the pres- 
 ence of God for us ; when he arrived there, to find that 
 the incense of his offering had preceded him, and had filled 
 the entire temple with its odours ; that, as if impatient for 
 his arrival, his throne was prepared, the hosts and orders 
 of heaven marshalled for his reception, the splendid ranks 
 and hierarchies destined for his future state and retinue 
 waiting to do him homage ; and even the eternal Father 
 himself, waiting with this grant of the world, this burst of 
 infinite love on his lips, * Ask of me, and I will give thee 
 the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of 
 the earth for thy possession ;' from that triumphant mo- 
 ment in the history of grace, the services of heaven must 
 have proceeded with new vigor, and every worshipper 
 there have become conscious of a fresh motive, a crowning 
 incentive to obedience. 
 
 But, however this may be, all the encouragement which 
 the intercession of Christ, as revealed in scripture, is cal- 
 culated to afford, is intended to descend and alight in the 
 heart of the earthly suppliant as he bends at the footstool 
 of mercy. And what richer encouragement could the 
 avarice of human fear, or our guilty unbelief, desire? 
 What stronger warrant for coming boldly to the throne 
 of grace could God himself supply ? A faint illustration 
 of this may be drawn from that part of the former econo- 
 my, to which allusion has already been made the feast 
 of atonement. Suppose, among the thousands that came 
 up to Jerusalem at that annual solemnity, a penitent Israel* 
 ite entered the temple with fear and trembling. Like the 
 publican that went up to the temple to pray, he is burderu 
 
154 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ed with a sense of enormous guilt; he durst not lift up so 
 much as his eyes to heaven ; he smites upon his breast ; 
 he would fain entreat for mercy, but he dreads lest, by doing 
 so, he should be chargeable with presumption. Now, 
 when the High Priest went within the veil, how powerful- 
 ly might this dejected and desponding penitent have been 
 urged and entreated to lift up his voice to God for mercy. 
 ' It is true, you are a sinner ;' a -pious friend might have 
 said to him ; ' you cannot over-rate the awful aggravation 
 of your guilt; but then do not under-rate the mercy of 
 God through an atonement. Has he not promised that, 
 for the sake of a propitiatory sacrifice, he will certainly for- 
 give our nation their iniquities ? and are not you one of 
 the nation ? and is not our High Priest now within the veil 
 offering the blood of atonement ? then now, now while he 
 is there pleading in our behalf; now while God is in the 
 act of Accepting the offering ; now ask for remission ; and 
 as far as the east is from the \vest, so far will he remove 
 your transgressions from you.' What an encouragement 
 was this to pray ! The application of all this is obvious. 
 Suppose the intercession of Christ were at present un- 
 known to you, unknown to the world. You have, let it be 
 supposed, just emerged from the darkness of sin, into the 
 light of truth. For the first time, you have caught a 
 glimpse of your true condition as a transgressor against 
 God. You feel that you are barely out of hell: your con- 
 science, unused and strange to its office, labors to dis- 
 charge in a moment, the accumulated duty of years; re- 
 peats and even exasperates the accents of the violated law ; 
 surrounds itself with an atmosphere as terrible as that of 
 Sinai. But though God is the Being whose awful justice 
 you have armed against you, his mercy you must sue for, 
 and obtain, or perish. It is in vain for you to think of com- 
 pensation, to plead your penitence, to promise amendment i 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 155 
 
 you cannot in this way appease his wrath : you must cast 
 yourself on his free mercy, or perish. Do not think of ex- 
 cusing yourself from this act, by pleading that it would be 
 presumption, an aggravation of your guilt, an invitation to 
 ruin ; even if this were true, it is also true that to neglect 
 it is destruction. If a single ray of hope be left you, it 
 must come direct from the throne of God. 
 
 From what quarter then shall we draw the encourage- 
 ment which shall embolden you to approach the mercy- 
 seat ? What is the condition on which you would consent 
 to go at any given hour to-day or to-morrow, and fall down 
 before God in prayer? Would you promise to do this ; 
 could you be assured that at the moment when you were 
 calling upon God for mercy, you should be accompanied 
 by the earnest intercessions of your family, and of all your 
 friends in your behalf? You have heard, that ' the effec- 
 tual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much ;' 
 that the intercession of Abraham suspended, for a time, the 
 descending fire which destroyed Sodom ; that, could ten 
 righteous men have been found there, God would for their 
 sakes, have recalled the sentence which had gone out against 
 it ; now would you deem it a sufficient encouragement to 
 go before God, could we guarantee that, at the time you 
 prayed, every righteous man every believer in the kingdom 
 should enter into his closet, and earnestly supplicate God 
 for you ? Or, beyond this, could we assemble together, in 
 your behalf, a solemn convocation of all the Christian 
 churches upon earth: could we bring all flesh before God; 
 could we undertake to engage for you all the power of 
 prayer which at present exists upon earth; and carrying 
 the supposition out to the utmost, could we even ensure to 
 you the mightier supplications of the church above, of all 
 its thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, and orders of 
 saints ; were all the created universe to obtain a special air 
 
156 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 dience of God at the same time, and to surround his throne 
 together, for the sole object of entreating him in your behalf, 
 could you doubt of your success? If he speaks of the 
 combined intercession of ' Noah, Daniel, and Job,' as all 
 but omnipotent, could you question the efficacy of your en- 
 treaties, if you knew them to be thus seconded and urged 
 by the combined importunity of all creation in prayer ? 
 But what if, at the very moment of audience, when the vio- 
 lent were taking heaven for you by force : what if then 
 you should behold the Saviour himself come forth, and 
 stand at the altar of incense, having in his hand the golden 
 censer ; and what if you should hear him announce, I will 
 pray the Father for you.' O what a day of hope would 
 instantly arise upon your soul ! would you not at once be 
 shamed out of all your fears and unbelief ? would you not 
 feel that, having him for an advocate, you could dispense 
 with all inferior aid ? that your suit was as good as gained ? 
 So far from doubting or dreading the issue of your pray- 
 ers, you would henceforth feel that the footstool of mercy 
 was the only place of safety and of hope ; that if danger 
 impended, yet there he stood between you and it ; that if 
 mercy gushed forth, he stood there as the medium to re- 
 ceive and pour it into your soul : that, in his hands, your 
 sacrifice received an infinite accession of worth and your 
 entreaties, if at all augmented in power, were augmented to 
 omnipotence. But you need no vision to certify the sub- 
 stantial truth of this representation. If there be any ve- 
 racity in the word of God, there can be no more credible 
 fact than this that Jesus ever liveth to make intercession 
 for us. You are warranted to imagine and paint the vis- 
 ion to your faith; to believe that you no sooner approach 
 the seat of mercy, than you become the client of the great 
 Advocate ; that, on the first utterance of your penitence, he 
 espouses your cause, makes it his own, and presents your 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 15 
 
 supplication before the throne as his own desire. Can you 
 doubt or delay to draw near to God after this ? 
 
 9. It is observable that our Lord encourages the devo. 
 tion of his disciples, by placing the virtue of his mediation 
 ina striking variety of lights. In uttering the language 
 already quoted, he pledges himself to the office of their PER- 
 SONAL INTERCESSOR ; ' I will pray the Father for you. 7 
 He who could not see them exposed to destruction without 
 pouring out his life to save them, could not behold them 
 prostrate at the throne of grace, as trembling suppliants, 
 without raising them up and becoming their advocate. He, 
 who has created for them an infinite fund of merit, could 
 not fail to employ it in the way most eminently conducive 
 to their advantage : causing it to ascend in their behalf, as 
 a memorial before God, at the moment of their entreaties 
 for mercy. It is to be borne in mind, that w r hile on earth, 
 he did nothing for himself. Having graciously engaged 
 to be our substitute, whatever he did, he did solely for his 
 people. What then has become of the inexhaustible fund 
 of obedience accruing from his obedience unto death? 
 How is the infinite treasure employed? Where is it de- 
 posited ? By proclaiming himself our Intercessor, he 
 would have us to know that the entire merit of all he did 
 is contained as incense in his golden censer, that he might 
 offer it up with the prayers of his people. Our prayers 
 then, in their ascent to the throne of God, mingle and 
 blend with the ascending incense of his merit. Our voice 
 before it reaches the ear of God, falls in and blends with, 
 the voice of him, whom the Father heareth always. So 
 that, in pledging himself to intercede in our behalf, he is, 
 in effect, assuring us of the certainty of our success. 
 
 10. Another encouragement to prayer, which he derives 
 for us from his mediatorial influence, is the use which he 
 allows us to make cf his name. ' Ask,' saith he, ' in my 
 
158 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 name} Were we about to become suppliants to an earth- 
 ly benefactor, it would be important to ascertain the plea 
 most likely to dispose him to accede to our request. For 
 there is always one argument which affects an individual, 
 and gives us the key to his heart more .effectually than all 
 others. How important is it then that we, who are daily 
 suppliants to God for blessings on which our salvation de- 
 pends, should be acquainted with that plea which he most 
 delights to honor. Now the plea most prevalent with him 
 is beyond all comparison, the name of Jesus. It is the 
 name of his only begotten Son. It is the name which he 
 has solemnly pledged himself to honor. It is the name 
 which he himself has conferred in token of his infinite 
 complacency and satisfaction. It is the name which he 
 has indissolubly bound up with his own character and 
 perfections, so that he cannot disregard it without dishonor- 
 ing his own name. Employ any other name, as a plea at 
 the throne of grace, and you insult the majesty of heaven, 
 But employ his name, and your instantly attract the com- 
 placent attention of the almighty Father, and obtain access 
 to the treasures of his grace. 
 
 ' Hitherto,' said Christ, 'have ye asked nothing in my 
 name. 1 Up to that moment, in the history of the church, 
 devotion had been ignorant of its real strength ; unacquaint- 
 ed with the extent of its resources and power. Relying 
 simply on the promises of God, it was content to present 
 its supplications, ignorant of the ground on which they 
 were heard ; and often, sighing in the paroxysms of con- 
 scious guilt, for a days-man and intercessor. But Jesus 
 explained the rationale of devotion ; laid open the secret 
 of our success ; and thus enabled it to feel the power which 
 it has with God, the purchase it has on the eternal throne. 
 * Verilv. yerily. I say unto yon Whatsoever 13 ^k 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 159 
 
 4 When you go to the door of mercy, and knock, make use 
 of my name and ye shall gain admission ; make it known 
 that y^u belong to me, and my Father will treat you as be- 
 longing to him ; make it known that there is a mutual af- 
 fection, a close and indissoluble friendship subsisting be- 
 tween us, and my Father will take you into his favor, to 
 his heart; tell him that my name is dear to you, and it 
 will endear you to him ; so endear you, that ask what you 
 will, the forgiveness of your sins, adoption into his family, 
 the sanetification of your nature, the riches of his grace, 
 all, all, he will give it you ; I am so beloved by him, that 
 for my sake he will refuse you nothing.' 
 
 We ourselves are accustomed to act kindly towards a 
 person, though he be a stranger to us, provided he can 
 show us that he is related to one whom we love ; in show- 
 ing him kindness, we feel that w r e are evincing our affec- 
 tion for the friend who sent him. The Father demonstrates 
 his infinite love to Christ, by receiving and welcoming the 
 friends of Christ as his own friends. He has pledged 
 himself to do so; and he is so complacently delighted with 
 Christ; so fully satisfied with the atonement he has made; 
 feels himself so unspeakably glorified by the incarnation 
 and life, the death and mediation of Christ; by all that he 
 has done for the honor of the divine government and the 
 salvation of man, that, if I may say so, he has thrown 
 open his heart and his heaven to all the friends of Christ. 
 They come to his throne ; and on the intercession of 
 Christ in their behalf, the Father lays open all the treas- 
 ures of his grace for their appropriation and use. * Yea, 7 
 saith Christ, ' ask in my name, and I do not say that I will 
 pray the Father for you ; for the Father himself loveth 
 you because ye have loved me.' ' Make use of my name, 
 and that will suffice ; my name alone, without any entrea- 
 
160 T'H E GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 heart, and to all the riches of his grace.' ' Wherefore, ask 
 and receive, that your joy may be full.' 
 
 Now what a vast acquisition was this to the wealth of 
 devotion; it was supplying it with a key to the divine 
 treasury, and placing it in a position, in reference to the 
 throne of grace, which gave to it an omnipotent influence 
 with him who sitteth thereon. What a prodigious advance 
 was it, in one sense, even on the promise of his personal 
 intercession ! By empowering his people to employ the 
 argument of his name, he is, in so far, placing the fund of 
 his merit at their disposal ; affording them the profound 
 satisfaction of bringing it into the presence of God, and 
 using for themselves the very same plea which he employs 
 for them ; he is in effect pleading for them by their own 
 lips as well as with his own, and thus multiplying the 
 voice and power of his intercession. By investing them 
 with this privilege, he is virtually clothing them with 
 priestly vestments, placing them by his side at the altar, 
 and putting into their hands a censer filled with incense 
 like his own. 
 
 11. But further, with a view to promote the devotion of 
 his disciples, he. distinctly e?igages to answer their suppli- 
 cations. ' Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will 
 I do, that the Father may be glorified in the son. If ye 
 shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. That the 
 same being should undertake, both to present and to an- 
 swer their petitions, both to intercede for them and to con- 
 fer the blessings sought, may appear incompatible: but 
 the offices, though distinct, are perfectly reconcileable. In 
 his conduct at the altar we behold the Intercessor, and in 
 his conduct on the throne we behold the result and reward 
 of his intercession ; having become the medium of prayer 
 from man to God, he is rewarded by being made the me- 
 dium of blessiffg from God to man ; the Intercessor for 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 161 
 
 human penury, is constituted the Almoner of infinite boun- 
 ty: he is called from the altar of incense, to ascend and 
 dispense from the throne of God, the blessings which he 
 has sought for us. 
 
 However various the lights then in which we behold the 
 virtues of our Lord's mediation, it is evident that one prin- 
 ciple explains, harmonizes, and encompasses the whole 
 the love of God ; that they all subserve the grand aim of 
 which we have been speaking the manifestation of the 
 divine character for human encouragement and salvation. 
 To regard the institution of the intercessory office, as ne- 
 cessary to give us success with God, is an injustice to his 
 beneficence, and a misapprehension of the whole economy. 
 ' At that day,' saith Christ, * ye shall ask me nothing: for 
 the Father himself loveth you. And whatsoever ye shall 
 ask in my name, that will I do, that the, Father may be 
 glorified in the Son.' Till our fears are allayed, and our 
 distrust removed, the love of God does not cease to heap 
 up its gifts, and to multiply its grants and appointments. 
 On this principle it is, that the throne of grace, though in 
 itself ineffably attractive as occupied by infinite love, is 
 made additionally attractive by the appointment and pres- 
 ence of a benignant Intercessor: as if God did not deem 
 its attractions complete while only invested with the might 
 of his own love, he has placed at the altar before it an Ad- 
 vocate clothed in our own nature. On our way to the seat 
 of mercy our Intercessor assures us, and asks us to receive 
 the assurance as the only correct interpretation of his of- 
 fice, that if he accompanies and introduces us to God, it is 
 not because God requires it for himself, but for us; that 
 the design of his intercession is, not to excite, but to satisfy 
 the love of the Father by granting this last favor to our 
 fears. There is a spot in the universe where centres all 
 dignity, authority, and power the focus of glory that 
 10 
 
162 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 spot is at the right hand of Deity; and Jesus assures us 
 that he himself is its sole occupant in the capacity of our 
 Intercessor. Yes, he who might have been placing a vial 
 of wrath in the hand of every angel around his throne, 
 with a commission to pour it out on this rebellious world 
 till it was utterly consumed, is standing at this moment at 
 the altar of incense, presenting our prayers for mercy, and 
 officiating there as our great high priest. 
 
 'Who then is he that condemneth ? it is Christ that 
 died : yea, rather, that is risen again ; who is even at the 
 right hand of God ; who also maketh intercession for us ! 
 This is an argument not to be refuted, a climax to which 
 nothing can be added ; leading us upward, step by step, it 
 conducts us to a summit where all is unclouded and serene, 
 and where we can breathe the air of security and triumph. 
 While standing on this elevation, by the side of our Inter- 
 cessor, and in the light of the throne of God, we feel that 
 no foe can approach, no enemy impeach us, that the uni- 
 verse is at peace with us. 
 
 How richly is Jesus entitled to be called the Wonder- 
 ful ! The view indeed which has now been taken of his 
 office and excellence, is hasty and defective ; had it been 
 much less unworthy than it is, it would still have fallen in- 
 finitely short of the grandeur of the subject ; for we are 
 dilating on a theme on which it is a joy to reflect that per- 
 fection is unattainable. But crude and imperfect as our 
 remarks are, they will have answered an important end, 
 if they have enabled us to feel this; if they have made us 
 sensible that we are engaged on a theme, which we must 
 have eternity to celebrate and comprehend. He has shown 
 us that even the mysteries of the Godhead admit of in- 
 crease ; for he has added to them the peculiarities of hu- 
 manity, and adopted the sum of them all into his own per- 
 son. Besides the predicates which are true of him as God, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 163 
 
 and those which are true of him as man, by combining 
 divinity and humanity together, he has created, if I may 
 say so, a third class of truths which can be predicated of 
 him, and of him alone: and on these, as they relate to his 
 mediatorial office, hangs the hope of the perishing world. 
 
 None, before his advent, had ever succeeded in drawing 
 the character of a perfect man ; he not merely described 
 but exhibited a specimen of perfect humanity conjoined 
 with Deity ; and while he preserved the characteristics of 
 each nature distinct, he showed what God is, and what 
 man should be; became the representative of God and the 
 exemplar of men. He erected a new order of greatness ; 
 of which the laws, conditions and results the whole arch- 
 etype were peculiarly his own. He gave a new economy 
 to the divine government, placed himself at the head of a 
 new dispensation, the object of which was to reconcile the 
 prerogatives of justice and compassion ; and to do this, not 
 by compromising either, but by honoring both ; by ena- 
 bling mercy to punish without impairing its clemency or its 
 claims to our love ; and enabling justice to forgive, without 
 sacrificing its purity, or its claims on our awful regards. 
 The rights of justice, and the condition of sinful man, were 
 essentially hostile: they had diverged to an infinite re- 
 moteness, and stood frowning at each other, as from oppo- 
 site sides of the universe. He laid hold on the nature of 
 man : and planting his cross midway, created a point of 
 attraction which reached and drew them across the sepa- 
 rating gulph, back to itself, as to a common centre. Jus- 
 tice moved from its high and awful position on Sinai ; and, 
 with all the armies of holiness, brightening and still 
 brightening with complacency as it approached, bowed 
 with reverence at the cross, and said, ' It is enough.' The 
 sinner, detached by the same magnetic power from the 
 strong confederacy of sin, approaches, relents, and changes, 
 
164 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 as he draws near, till he falls prostrate before the cross, a 
 new creation in Christ Jesus. By giving his heart to sin- 
 ners, and for them, holiness finds that it has nothing to 
 ask, nothing to do ; only to raise the sinner from the dust, 
 and to become the guardian of his new life : the sinner 
 finds that nothing is left him to desire, except that he may 
 never wander from the sight of that dross which has made 
 him the ward of infinite holiness, and is preparing him 
 for heaven. Here God erects his throne, and man adores ; 
 to each the cross is ineffably precious; for it is only in its 
 immediate presence that sin can be vanquished, and yet 
 the sinner be saved. 
 
 While this amazing consummation was in actual pro- 
 cess, the character of Christ evolved an amount of excel- 
 lence which might have made angelic natures, if capable 
 of the feeling, jealous of the rivalry and riches of earth. 
 The eternal Father himself beheld in it more than an in- 
 demnity for human transgression : never before had he 
 contemplated a work in which his holiness appeared so 
 pure, his mercy so amiable, his wisdom so profound ; he 
 saw in it the stability of all law, the recovery of man, an 
 infinite augmentation of the splendor which surrounds his 
 throne, an amount of objective glory such as he had never 
 before beheld out of, and apart from himself. And as if 
 this new relation and aspect of the divine nature had been 
 an experiment, the result of which more than answered to 
 his great idea ; as if the advent of Christ surpassed the 
 divine expectation, the sublime phenomena which it dis- 
 played, called forth audible and delighted expressions of 
 paternal complacency and love ; the radiance of the divine 
 countenance fell full upon them. 
 
 The dedication of the Jewish temple was an epoch in 
 the history of the earth. All Israel was assembled on the 
 occasion : and had man done justice to the event, all the 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 165 
 
 world would have flocked and kept festival ; for what did 
 it signify but that the great God himself was become a 
 dweller with man upon the earth. But the dedication of 
 Christ was worthy to be a day of jubilee to the universe. 
 Here human instrumentality was dispensed with, as un- 
 worthy the greatness of the occasion ; nothing lower than 
 angelic agency was employed ; the arrangement and pro- 
 cess was wholly divine. His only human herald was di- 
 rected to announce, ' him hath God the Father sealed ; 
 he needs no human induction or testimony ; he enters on 
 his office sealed and signalized with all the marks of di- 
 vinity upon him.' He proclaimed himself, as 'him whom 
 the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world.' The 
 splendid scene at his baptismal inauguration, when the 
 heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon him 
 was only the after imitation, the faint repetition of a scene 
 in heaven, in which the eternal Father, passing by all the 
 hosts and hierarchies of heaven, had elected and devoted 
 him to the office of his divine representative and our medi- 
 ator: a scene, of which all the thrones, and dominions, 
 and principalities of heaven, stood around, the awed and 
 admiring spectators ; and in which the only share they 
 took, was reverently and joyfully to worship him. God 
 of eternal glory ! thou thyself wast never so glorious in 
 thine own eyes as at that moment, never so great in the 
 eyes of thy creatures! Could thine unbeginning and un- 
 ending existence admit of dates, surely that would stand 
 out as an era in thine eternal round of years. Never was 
 the ocean of thy love stirred so completely to its depths. 
 Never didst thou put forth thine hand on so glorious an 
 occasion as then, when thou didst give up and devote thine 
 only begotten Son, to the great work of embodying and 
 bringing thy character into the world that men might be- 
 hold it and live! And thou, co-equal and co-eternal Son, 
 
166 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 never hadst thou shone more glorious in the eyes of pa- 
 ternal love, nor made so large and unanswerable a demand 
 on the admiration and homage of the universe, as when, 
 accepting thy new and mysterious office, thou didst say, 
 ' For their sakes I sanctify myself In pursuance of thy 
 voluntary engagement, thou didst come and offer thyself 
 and thy glory to the world; thou didst withdraw thyself 
 from the grandeur of heaven, and set thyself apart to the 
 wants and sorrows of earth ; and, having set up thy taber- 
 nacle amongst us, thou didst keep it consecrated for the 
 indwelling glory and for the worship of man. Ambition 
 never entered it: the kingdoms of the world, and the glo- 
 ries of them, were brought in perspective before thee; but 
 thou sa west them as though thou savvest them not. Thou 
 couldest, with a single sentence, have flashed light on the 
 darkest mysteries of science ; but thou wouldest not spare 
 a moment from teaching that sublimer knowledge the 
 science of salvation. Thou hadst ears only for one sound, 
 and that was the sound occasioned by sin ; the voice of 
 penitence imploring forgiveness; the voice of fear and 
 conscious guilt deprecating the vengeance of eternal fire. 
 Thou hadst eyes only for one sight a \\ilderness of woe, 
 a captive world, chained to the wheels of the great enemy, 
 and already arrived in the gloomy precincts of hell. This 
 object filled the whole sphere of thy vision; thou couldest 
 see nothing else ; and had all the thrones of earth been va- 
 cant and invited thy acceptance, it would not have induced 
 thee to diverge a single step from the path which led direct 
 to the cross. Thou hadst tears but for one object, and thou 
 didst weep them over lost souls. So fully wast thou pos- 
 sessed with the vastness of thy design, that thou didst 
 value moments, faculties, life itself, only as the means of 
 working it out ; and through every step of thy course, thou 
 didst bring the whole of thy glory to bear on its comple- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 167 
 
 tion. Thou hadst not to cast out aught evil from thy ca- 
 pacious mind ; thou hadst not to sweep and cleanse the 
 temple of thy soul from sordid cares, for never didst thou 
 know a thought alien from thine object; and, though all 
 the fulness and fire of the passions dwelt in thee, thou 
 didst not waste a single feeling, but didst devote the whole 
 as consecrated fuel for offering up the great sacrifice in 
 which thy life was consumed, and by which the world 
 might be saved. And how godlike was the object to which 
 he set himself apart! At the altar of God he swore eter- 
 nal war against the principle of sin ; devoted himself to 
 the work of chasing it from the earth, of putting it to shame 
 in the face of the universe; and of achieving this task, 
 not by the arbitrary domination of power, but by merely 
 showing what God is, by the exercise of omnipotent love. 
 Were we to hear of a design contemplated by God, to sub- 
 due the rebellion of hell, and to rescue its victims, what a 
 view would it give us of his unresting benevolence, and 
 with what impatient longing would we desire to know the 
 way in which the sun of the divine glory would arise on 
 the blackness of darkness, and how it would paint its lustre 
 on the clouds of perdition. But the importation of the di- 
 vine character and glory to earth, in the person of Christ, 
 however from circumstances we may disparage the event, 
 would bear a comparison even with that; for our carnal 
 mind was enmity against God like theirs, while we pos- 
 sessed not even the redeeming quality, to believe and 
 tremble. 
 
 It seems to be one of the laws of mind, that it shall be 
 not merely employed, but employed to the full ; and when 
 it becomes conscious of its dignity and powers, nothing 
 less than great objects can satisfy it. Now, what a thea- 
 tre did the blessed Jesus select, what an object did he adopt 
 in coming into the world ! Let us receive it in his own 
 
168 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 words to the eternal Father ; ' For their sakes I sanctify 
 myself, that they may be sanctified through the truth ;' that 
 he might make truth do the work of power; that he might 
 pervade and transform pollution into sanctity, by merely 
 showing it the face of truth ; that he might erect living 
 temples out of the wreck and refuse of humanity, swept 
 by the besom of destruction to the very mouth of perdition. 
 Let us hear him repeat the design in other language; 
 * I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it ; 
 that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, 
 and I in them? He contemplated nothing less than the 
 conveyance of the love of God to man ; to bring it to us 
 as our portion ; entail it on us as our inheritance ; trans- 
 fuse it through us as our life. Like the prophet emblem- 
 atically extending himself over the dead body of the child, 
 to convey life into all its parts, the Saviour proposes to shed 
 abroad the Jove of God through every member of his body 
 the church, to convey the circulating vitality of that love 
 through every part of our nature, that it may dwell in us 
 as it does in him. But is not this an unattainable design ? 
 is it possible that God can love us as he loves Christ? 
 Jesus himself declares, that nothing less than this can sat- 
 isfy his desires in our behalf; and we may rest assured 
 that, vast as those desires are, they are all defined and ac- 
 credited by the hand of infinite wisdom ; they are only the 
 pulsations of the heart of paternal love ; they are the de- 
 sires of one, who knows, if we may say-so, from actual ad- 
 measurement, the length and breadth, the height and depth 
 of the love of God; and who knows that, as soon as we 
 become united to him, the Father loves us as parts of 
 Christ, as members of that mystical body of which Christ is 
 the glorified head. The tide of the divine love, on its first 
 flowing forth from the heart of God, found its rest in Christ ; 
 till having opened for itself an ample channel through his 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 169 
 
 sufferings and death in our stead, it poured on with una- 
 bated strength to reach his people, carrying away all 
 their sins, bearing every obstacle before it, and shedding 
 itself abroad in their hearts: Christ, at the same time, en- 
 tering with it, and infinitely augmenting it by the acces- 
 sion ; and thus realizing his great and godlike design, 
 'that the love wherewith thou hast loved me maybe in 
 them, and I in them.' 
 
 So great was the avowed intention of the Redeemer's 
 advent, that none but a mind of infinite compass could 
 have formed it ; and so amazing the manner in which he 
 achieved it, by the humble organs and instruments of hu- 
 manity, that were it not for the immortal interests at stake, 
 we could scarely wonder at the ancient heresy which taught 
 that the whole of his life was a phantasm, a supernatural 
 illusion of the senses. That God should be manifested 
 in the flesh, was truly the mystery which had been hid 
 from ages, and from generations. That, 'in the nature of a 
 man, God should have been, like light in the sun, enthron- 
 ed, uttering and unburdening infinite love with his tongue ; 
 beaming divine compassion through his eyes; illustrating 
 purity and grace by his actions it is this which renders 
 the person of Christ ineffably glorious above the whole 
 creation ; it is this w r hich cnnvns him with glory and hon- 
 or. There is nothing like it in the universe ; take the 
 wings of the morning and flee to the uttermost parts of 
 the earth; ransack the treasures of creation ; visit and be- 
 hold its brightest glories, plunge into the depths beneath j 
 soar to the heights above; survey and question the blest 
 inhabitants of heaven ; and you will find that the person of 
 Christ, as the manifested glory of God, has no comparison 
 Bring all that is great into his presence, and it becomes 
 little ; bring all that is glorious, and it is eclipsed and lost, 
 Oh ! the depth of the riches of that love, wherein God 
 
170 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 hath abounded towards us in the person of his Son. 
 When we begin to speak of it, we instantly feel the pover- 
 ty of our thoughts, our utter unfitness to approach it. It 
 is a subject in which minds of every order are alike lost; 
 on which human wisdom can say nothing; on which we 
 can only lisp like infants, or acknowledge, our helplessness 
 by our silent adoration. Here, then, is the peculiar prov- 
 ince of faith and prayer ; here is an object in whose pres- 
 ence our wisdom becomes ignorance ; here our understand- 
 ing is completely at fault; God in Christ is an object so 
 stupendous that it cannot be brought into our rninds ; we 
 have not room to receive it ; this truth is a guest so glori- 
 ous, that our limited mind feels itself both unworthy and 
 unable to receive it under its roof; our faith must go forth,, 
 with all the train of Christian graces, and do it homage. 
 Like the apostle, when oppressed in its presence with a 
 sense of its immensity we can only take refuge in prayer, 
 beseeching ' the Gfod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that he would grant that we may be able to compre- 
 hend and to know the love of Christ, which passeth 
 
 knowledge. 
 
 We have already remarked the profound satisfaction 
 expressed by the Father, at the display of his character in 
 jthe person of Christ; a satisfaction which showed that he 
 beheld in it the perfect reflection of his own image. On 
 account of this entire identity of character, we often find 
 the apostles speaking of the eternal Father and of Christ, 
 in equivalent and convertible terms. Hence, too, the pre- 
 cedence and importance assigned to the knowledge of 
 Christ; and the promise of the Spirit, for the special de- 
 sign of imparting that knowledge; for it is only by acquaint- 
 ing ourselves with the character of Christ that we can ar- 
 rive at the knowledge of God ; our knowledge of the Son 
 is the exact measure of our acquaintance with the Father. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 171 
 
 The Regenerating Spirit, in all his operations on the hu- 
 man heart, makes the character of Christ the pattern after 
 which he works; he begins by taking of the things of 
 Christ, and showing them to the eye which he has pre- 
 pared to behold them ; and he ends not, till the soul is com- 
 pletely conformed to the perfect model. Believers them- 
 selves are enamored of it, for it is the character of their 
 Saviour ; and as such, every act and feature composing it 
 bears a direct relation to them. They can think of no ex- 
 cellence, can make not the remotest approach to any modi- 
 fication of goodness, of which they do not find the arche- 
 type and perfection in him. Turning from every other 
 representation as dim and veiled, they all, as with open face, 
 behold in him the glory of the Lord. A glance at this ob- 
 ject fills their minds with a grand and overpowering idea 
 of excellence ; it draws to itself the whole depth and mass 
 of their being. They count every part of their moral dis- 
 cipline as lost, which does riot promote their likeness to his 
 i mage; every instance in which the ordinances of grace 
 do not increase their love to him, they regard -as a fresh 
 call to humiliation, a fresh provocative to self-examination 
 and prayer ; while every act of devotion they deem espe- 
 cially defective, which does not celebrate his glory, or im- 
 plore an accession of ' the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, 
 in the knowledge of him. 
 
 If a life of piety may be considered a life of praise to 
 God ; if man is so fearfully and wonderfully made, that 
 even a discourse on the use of the parts of his body may 
 be regarded as a hymn to the Creator, where shall we find 
 terms fit to describe the tribute of Glory to God which ac- 
 crues from the life of Christ ? or could we appreciate his 
 character in all its perfections, what expressions of ecstacy 
 and delight would do justice to its worth ? Nature from 
 the beginning, had been vocal in her Maker's praise ; had 
 
172 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 been constant and full in an anthem, in which every crea- 
 ture bore its part; but the whole creation in chorus could 
 not show forth all his praise, could but barely hint his ex- 
 cellence. As if conscious of the defect, and anxious to re- 
 pair it by commencing anew, piety had often restrung her 
 harp, and summoned the creatures to arise and aid her in 
 the infinite attempt ; had called on everything that hath 
 breath to join in a full concert of praise to God. But her 
 utmost effort was only a preluding nourish, till he should 
 come to lead the song, who had said, ' In the midst of the 
 church will I sing praise unto thee.' He took up the strain 
 at a point beyond which creation would never have carried 
 it. His voice gave the key-note to the universe. His de- 
 scription of the divine character furnished w r ords for the 
 new, everlasting, universal song. His unconfined power ; 
 his unsearchable understanding ; his holiness, on which 
 no spot, no shadow could settle, and which the eyes of 
 wickedness could not gaze on for its brightness ; his untir- 
 ing patience ; his constant community with the general 
 heart of man, which he wept over and bathed in tears : his 
 meekness clothed with majesty : his personification of in- 
 finite love : these were the several parts of the harmonious 
 song. All the attributes in him became vocal, and made 
 infinite music in the ear of that glorious Being* in whom 
 they eternally reside. Each myriad-voiced rank of the 
 church above, over-flowing with joy, took up the mighty, 
 whelming, ocean strain : the church below redoubled, and 
 returned it back again in alleluias to the throne of God ; 
 age after age has heard it swelling on, as lisping infancy, 
 and newly j ardoned penitence, and misery beguiled of its 
 woes, and ingratitude charmed into thankfulness, and hope 
 spreading her pinions for heaven, and all the new-born 
 heirs of grace have awoke up their glory, and joined the 
 general choir ; and on it shall continue to roll and swell 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 173 
 
 attuning and gathering to itself all the harmonies of nature; 
 till all space shall become a temple; and all holy beings, 
 actuated by one spirit, and swayed in perfect diapason, shall 
 become one great instrument, sounding forth * praise to 
 God in the church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, 
 world without end. Amen. 
 
 SECTION III. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 'This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. ; 
 
 IT is extremely difficult to discriminate between origin- 
 ality and mere novelty in a public teacher. The multitude 
 are so prone to take their opinions from first impulses, 
 rather than from judgment; inconsiderately and impetu- 
 ously to ascribe a new and pleasing impression to the 
 highest possible origin, rather than to any secondary cause; 
 that many a public instructor has been invested with the 
 highest prerogative of genius, whose only attraction was, 
 that he had assumed one of the thousand vizors which nov- 
 elty owns, and wore it gracefully. And what enhances 
 the difficulty of discrimination is, that while it is in the 
 power of an inferior mind to invest a familiar truth with 
 an air of singularity, it is one of the attributes of the high- 
 est order of intellect, and an attribute which it delights to 
 exercise, to simplify an original truth and give to it an air 
 of familiarity ; to secure for it an easy introduction into 
 the mind, by giving it though a stranger, the welcome as- 
 pect of a friend. 
 
174 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 The difficulty of discrimination is farther increased, 
 when the truths to he judged of date hack to a remote an- 
 tiquity: when by distance of time, which operates in this 
 case like distance of space, the opinions which looked bold 
 and prominent to the near beholder, have mingled and 
 melted into one mass of indistinctness. 
 
 We have advanced the claim of originality for many of 
 the doctrines of the Great Teacher; and were the Old 
 Testament the only witness to be examined, the claim might 
 be easily substantiated. But during the long silence of 
 the divine oracle, during the space which intervened from 
 the last words of Malachi to the coming of Christ, we know 
 not what opinions grew up and prevailed. It is only reas- 
 oning on the known principles of humanity, to say, that 
 when the living voice of inspiration had ceased to speak, 
 the sacred volume was much more likely to receive the 
 undivided attention of the church than before. And with 
 a volume so seminal of all truth, so constantly whispering 
 in the ear of hope, as the Bible, who can say what ap- 
 proaches were made to many evangelical doctrines ; what 
 prophets of hope arose? And when once opinions, to 
 which the wants or aspirations of the soul respond, have 
 been broached, who can say to what consolidation or sta- 
 bility they may attain ? The feathered seed, which this 
 year floats in the air ; the emblem of volatility ; a feather 
 dropped from the wing of levity ; will next year, be found 
 rooted in the earth ; dividing with the oak the spoils of 
 the clouds, and rejoicing in the blessings of heaven, itself a 
 seed-bearing plant. And the floating guess of one age be- 
 comes the settled creed of a succeeding ; its point-like base 
 is forgotten ; and men go on building an inverted pyramid 
 whose top may reach to heaven : it is congenial with one 
 or other of the elements of humanity, and by passing 
 through a thousand minds, it acquires a consistency and 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 175 
 
 power which gives it a place among the realities of our 
 being. 
 
 By what process then shall we ascertain how much of 
 the gospel is an absolute origination ; or how much is a 
 mere adoption and authorization of pre-existing opinions? 
 Taking many other tests for granted, it may be suggested, 
 that the amount of new truth contained in the gospel, or 
 the degree of newness belonging to any one of its doc- 
 trines, may be conjectured from the number of errors 
 which have sprung up around it. Truth is antecedent to 
 error and the measure of it ; as is the originality of a doc- 
 trine or system, in the same proportion will be the multi- 
 plicity of errors following. The whole tribe of error is 
 parasitical, and can only grow by hanging its envenomed 
 weight on the plants of truth. Let the doctrines of Christ 
 be judged of in this way; the plants of the Lord's right- 
 hand planting, and the originality of his teaching will be 
 apparent to all. 
 
 The doctrine of the agency of the Holy Spirit, is one 
 of the most original which came from the lips of Christ ; 
 and one whose precise degree of originality is most mark- 
 ed and ascertainable. Referring to the records of the Old 
 Testament, we learn the distinction of the Spirit in the 
 unity of the Godhead ; his personality and his divinity. 
 We read of the same divine subsistence as daily replen- 
 ishing the earth with life and beauty ; as visiting and ac- 
 tuating the moral world at pleasure ; and as promised to 
 the church, with a frequency, particularity, and magnifi- 
 cence of language, which showed that the divine Promi- 
 ser himself regarded the gift as identical with a state of 
 distinguished prosperity; and which led believers to 
 mark it with supreme distinction, by calling it the the pro- 
 mise. 
 
 Concerning the nature of the Holy Spirit, as a distinct 
 
 
176 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 and divine person, the teaching- of Christ is clear and con- 
 clusive: nor can we conceive any thing more unwelcome, 
 to those who shrink from applying the personal pronouns 
 to the Divine Spirit than the valedictory discourse of 
 Christ to his disciples.* If I do not enlarge on this part 
 of the subject, then, let it be understood, that I refrain not 
 because Christ was silent on it ; for he, I repeat, was copi- 
 ous and explicit; but because he had been greatly antici- 
 pated by the revelations of the Old Testament. 
 
 I. It is worthy of our earliest consideration, both from 
 its native importance, and from the peculiar solemnity of 
 the affirmation, that our Lord described the mission of the 
 Holy Spirit as absolutely dependent on his own return to 
 heaven. 'Nevertheless, Ite'.l you the truth, it is expedi- 
 ent for you that I go away ; for, if I go not away, the 
 Spirit will not come unto you ; but, if I depart, I will send 
 him unto you.' Now, admitting the impropriety of any 
 arrangement which should have combined together the 
 presence of the Spirit and the personal residence of Christ 
 in permanent conjunction on earth, it may yet be inquired 
 why the mission of the Spirit could not have taken place 
 immediately before the ascension of Christ, as well as 
 immediately after ? If the inquirer be sincere, it would be 
 sufficient to reply, ' Even so, Father : for so it seemeth 
 good in thy sight.' The arrangement may have been 
 founded on reasons of state ; reasons, which measure with 
 the universe, as comprehensive as the divine government, 
 and the issues of which are placed far in eternity. But 
 many of the reasons for this arrangement are apparent : 
 
 * On the ineffable promanation or procession of the Holy Spirit 
 from the Father and the Son, though it is a truth which seems ne- 
 cessarily involved in certain parts of that discourse, I presume not 
 to speak. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 177 
 
 The Almighty evinced by it his reverence for order. He 
 was evolving a plan of infinite magnitude, the unfolding 
 of which had commenced at the fall ; he had arrived at a 
 vital part of it, a part on which he would have mankind in 
 all ages to fix their gaze ; and he therefore caused it to un- 
 fold and pass before their eyes in slow and stately proces- 
 sion. He knew that man is easily distracted by multipli- 
 city of objects ; is extremely liable to place the cause for 
 the effect, and the effect for the cause ; is taught most ef- 
 fectually by example ; is prone to disregard a future good, 
 so long as he can retain a present though inferior bles- 
 sing : on all these accounts, therefore, the mission of the 
 Holy Spirit was withheld until Christ had ascended to his 
 appointed throne. The Almighty would signalize the en- 
 thronement of Christ in the eyes of the universe ; would 
 impress the minds of believers with the glorious reception 
 which their Head had met with on his return to heaven ; 
 would enjoy the infinite satisfaction of hearing ( the first 
 prayer of that exalted Head for the promised Spirit ; and 
 thus demonstrate to them, at once and for ever, the certain 
 prevalency of his intercession ; for if his first prayer suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining for us the great gift of the Spirit, how 
 much more shall he secure for us every inferior good ; God 
 would show us in the most impressive manner, -by placing 
 the fact in the strong light of the mediatorial throne, that 
 the connexion of the work of Christ with the gift of the 
 Spirit, is the absolute connexion of cause and effect. 
 
 ' He spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him 
 should receive ; for the Spirit was not yet given, because 
 that Jesus was not yet glorified.' Can we suppose that 
 his ascension to heaven was a silent and private transac- 
 tion ? Shall an Elijah ascend in a chariot of fire? shall 
 the departed spirit of a Lazarus be conveyed by angels to 
 Abraham's bosom? and shall the Lord of angels himself 
 11 
 
178 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 return to his own dominions from the conquest of one 
 world, and the redemption of another, unattended and ob- 
 scure? No; 'The chariots of God, on the occasion, 
 were twenty thousand, even thousands of angels,' At the 
 point where he vanished from the view of mortals, he was 
 joined by the rejoicing ranks of the cherubim and sera- 
 phim ; he found them arranged to receive him ; impatient 
 to commence the celebration of his deeds, and to conduct 
 him in triumph to his glorious throne. His appearance 
 was the signal to begin the song: they called on earth to 
 assist them in the mighty task, * Sing unto God, ye king- 
 doms of the earth: O sing praises unto the Lord ; to him 
 that rideth upon the -heaven of heavens.' That was the 
 moment when the universe became the vehicle of his glo- 
 ry ; \vhen he began to ride on the summit of creation ; 
 having all the events and revolutions of time for his char- 
 iot wheels. Hitherto, as man, he had inhabited the materi- 
 al parts of the creation ; but now he relinquished these and 
 took possession of the intelligent parts. He began to in- 
 habit the praises of eternity : not merely the spiritual uni- 
 .verse, but even the essence of that; the life of the spiritual 
 universe, exhaling in the incense and fragrance of praise. 
 He found himself enthroned far above all heavens, with the 
 heights of creation for his footstool. 
 
 It had been predicted,, and he himself had confirmed the 
 expectation, that when he ascended up on high, he would 
 give gifts unto men. But what gift can Christ bestow rich 
 enough to signalize and grace his accession to the media- 
 torial throne? Had he collected together all the treasures 
 of the earth, and multiplied them a thousand fold, and then 
 poured them out at the feet of his people, the gift would 
 have been utterly inadequate to the greatness of the occa- 
 sion ; had all created good been accumulated upon them to 
 the highest possible amount, it would only have disgraced 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 179 
 
 the greatness of the occasion. The unconfined benevo- 
 lence of his heart impelled him to give something, (for it 
 was the jubilee of heaven,) and if he gave, he would be 
 sure to bestow a gift worthy of himself, answerable to the 
 magnitude of the occasion, honorable to the royalty of his 
 grace. But if such is to be the character of the gift; the 
 Spirit, the divine Spirit, the converting, enlightening, sanc- 
 tifying, saving Spirit alone, must be the donation. Be- 
 cause he would give all gifts in one, he gave to them the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 A very limited measure of this gift indeed, the mere 
 earnest of the Spirit, had been enjoyed under the Jewish 
 dispensation : but the Spirit in his fulness was not then 
 given, because the framework of that economy was too 
 material to be inhabited and actuated by the Spirit ; and 
 because Jesus, for whose bestowmentthe gift was reserved, 
 was not yet glorified. But, during the whole economy, 
 the influences of the Spirit had been accumulating for that 
 auspicious moment. Prayers had been daily ascending 
 for the fulfillment of 'the promise ;' and, of all these ear- 
 nest supplications, not one had been lost ; each of them had 
 been turned into the blessing sought for, and had added 
 something to the treasures of divine influence. The 
 church had been incessantly importuning God to hasten 
 the impartation of the gift; and with profound satisfaction, 
 he had beheld a stream of supplication flowing for ages 
 into the same channel, without a moment's pause, swelling 
 and rising, till it was ready to overflow and pour forth a 
 healing flood of heavenly influence over the world. Noth^ 
 ing was wanting, but that Christ should add his interces- 
 sion. Nothing was wanting, but that he should ascend 
 his throne, and claim the gift of the Spirit, to pour it out 
 upon his people. 
 
 * He ascended up on high, leading captivity captive, and 
 
180 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 gave gifts unto men.' Having reached his throne, the 
 Spirit came down as he had promised; came like a rush- 
 ng mighty wind, filling the whole house where the disci- 
 ples were assembled, filling each heart, filling the whole 
 chui'ch ; came with a copiousness and a power as if his 
 influences had for ages been pent up and under restraint, 
 and now rejoiced at being able to pour themselves out over 
 the church and the world. And what was the immediate 
 effect of that event ? thousands were instantly converted ; 
 the sword of the Spirit seemed newly edged with power, 
 and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, flashing conviction 
 on human consciences, and piercing to the recesses of the 
 soul. The gospel went flying abroad to the utmost ends 
 of the earth, levying human hearts in the name of Christ 
 wherever it came. The influences of the Spirit poured 
 over the world like an inundation, a new deluge, overturn- 
 ing the altars and sweeping away the vestiges of idolatry ; 
 and, had the vital flood continued to roll on, the only altar 
 left standing would have been that which sanctifieth the 
 gift and the giver the altar of the cross. New territories 
 were added to the domains of the church ; vast tracts of 
 the moral wilderness were taken into the garden of the 
 Lord. The church beheld her converts flocking to her 
 from all directions, like clouds of doves to their windows : 
 and among the wonders of that period, one was, to see her 
 enemies lick the dust; to see her bitterest persecutors be- 
 come her champions and her martyrs ; to see leopards 
 become lambs, and wolves become kids. 
 
 The church became one region of life, of divine vitality 
 throughout ; in which whosoever breathed, lived enjoyed 
 life in perfection. From a state of unsightly barrenness 
 and drought, it was suddenly covered with verdure, like 
 the garden of the Lord. Believers themselves seemed re- 
 converted; if sinners became saints, saints themselves 
 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 181 
 
 became as angels ; thus fulfilling the prophecy which had 
 said, ' The weak shall be as David, and David as an angel 
 of the Lord.' Every Christian saw in every other the face 
 of an angel, looks of benevolence and brotherly love ; one 
 interest prevailed ; one subject of emulation swallowed up 
 every other; who should approach nearest to the likeness 
 of Christ; which should do most for the enlargement of 
 his reign. * The whole multitude of them that believed 
 were of one heart, and of one rnind ; ' the Spirit of Christ 
 animated the whole, became the one heart of the whole 
 community, and every particular pulse beat in concert with 
 it. What a gift was this ! The value of a gift depends 
 materially on its suitableness ; what could be more suitable 
 to a world dying, dead in sin, than the Spirit of life and of 
 holiness. The world was a valley of dry bones ; what 
 could be more welcome than that the Spirit should come 
 and breathe upon these slain, that they might live ; that, 
 descending to this moral Golgotha, this place of skulls, he 
 should give a soul to the world, and again replenish it with 
 spiritual life. How munificent was this gift ! It was mu- 
 nificent in itself, in its kind, for it was the best ; and was 
 also munificent in its degree, for he* poured it forth in a 
 profusion of gifts and graces. It was owing to no indi- 
 gence, to no niggardliness on the part of Christ, that his 
 church did not rapidly extend over the world, and that the 
 whole was not filled with the Spirit. He gave with a lib- 
 erality which showed that he tasted his own act, enjoyed 
 the godlike act of giving, gratified himself in the exercise 
 of his benignity. How godlike was this gift ! Had man 
 been consulted on the occasion, he would have asked some 
 inferior good ; but Jesus, taking the affair entirely into his 
 own hands, poured out his Holy Spirit a blessing intend- 
 ed to make us holy like himself, happy like himself, and 
 even one with himself; for, by giving us his Spirit, he 
 
182 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 may be said to have given us himself, to have turned him- 
 self into Spirit, into a fountain of divine influence that he 
 may be one with our spirits. 
 
 II. The great object of the advent of the Holy Spirit 
 is thus distinctly specified by Christ : ' When he is come, 
 he shall convince the world of sin ; ' an announcement 
 which Jesus himself must have felt as a wonderful truth. 
 Standing as he did at that moment near to the cross, in the 
 shadow of that awful monument of human guilt, he could 
 not have glanced around on the scene of enormous and 
 complicated guilt he was about to leave, and forward to the tri- 
 umph and agency of the descending spirit, without feeling, 
 as he uttered this grand prediction, that he was unbur- 
 thening his mind of a weighty and glorious communi- 
 cation. 
 
 An obvious and striking feature of all the divine opera- 
 tions, is the accomplishment of the most comprehensive 
 and important ends, by few and simple means. Such is 
 the nice dependence of every part of his government on 
 every other part, and such the entire harmony of the whole, 
 that he only touches an almost invisible chord, and the vi- 
 bration is felt to the extremities of the universe: how tre- 
 mendous then must that principle of evil be, which can 
 only be subdued by the mighty power of the Spirit ; by 
 the advent and accession of the third person in the awful 
 Godhead ; by no modified energy, but by the full almigh- 
 tiness of divine power. And tremendous it was ! The 
 world had become the grave of piety : if the principle of 
 'piety showed itself vigorous and active, it became the mark 
 for every shaft and weapon of hell ; if it was impotent, it 
 soon sickened and sunk under the pestilential atmosphere 
 which sin had universally diffused ; angelic piety itself 
 would have found a sepulchre here. Not only was the 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 183 
 
 world destitute of all native, active goodness ; a principle 
 of evil, another Spirit embodying all the essences of evil, 
 Avas here, and at work. But did man show no signs of 
 resistance to this alien Spirit ? not a single indication of 
 spiritual conflict appeared ; all was silent,, unconstrained 
 submission, for this, to use the emphatic language of in- 
 spiration, is, * where Satan's seat is.' 
 
 Now by what means shall this mass of disorder, dark 
 ness, and death be renovated ? The divine benevolence 
 had been prodigal of its means ; but as to any permanent 
 good, they had failed. Experience had shown, that it was 
 easier to crush and destroy the world, than to reform it. 
 The Son of God himself had descended ; but, as if deter- 
 mined by one desperate act to shut out all further commu- 
 nications from above, as if to intimidate the mercy of Om- 
 nipotence, they crucified the Lord of glory. What expe- 
 dient, then, we ask, remains to be employed? Oh ! how 
 boundless are the divine resources ! how grand ! how 
 amazing the provision ! It was not that our world should 
 be the scene of a splendid angelic administration, and be 
 charmed into a love of piety by their graceful exhibition 
 of it : it was not that our world should be placed in dread- 
 ful proximity to hell, and be awed into sullen but silent 
 submission by the sight of worms that die not, and of fires 
 that are not quenched : it was not that our world should be 
 raised into the precincts of heaven ; that a sight of the 
 Being we had rejected, there enthroned in light, and sur- 
 rounded by the sanctities of heaven might surprise us into 
 involuntary adoration. No, saith Christ, ' My Spirit alone 
 is competent to the task ; and when He. is ccme, He shall 
 convince the world of sin. External applications would 
 only produce at best, a temporary re-action of mind : the 
 agency that shall succeed in transforming it, must include 
 the power of coming into immediate contact with it, and 
 
184 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 of having at command whatever can suitably affect it. I 
 have a cause lying against mankind ; and he shall be my 
 Advocate. I have an indefeasible claim on the human 
 heart ; and he, the Great Pleader, shall enforce it on the 
 consciences of men. He shall go into all the world as- 
 serting my right, vindicating my claims, and writing my 
 name upon human hearts; and he shall pass into every 
 region of the soul, diffuse himself through all its capaci- 
 ties and recesses, throwing light into the understanding, 
 assailing and subverting the fortress of sin in the heart, 
 and taking an oath of allegiance to me from all its redeem- 
 ed powers.' 
 
 Accordingly, in the discharge of his awful functions, 
 the Spirit addresses himself to the hearts of men. There 
 is sin lying upon them, enormous sin ! and his object is 
 to convince them of it. Oh ! how solemn the transaction ! 
 how mysterious the process! how critical the juncture! 
 The instrument employed may be, in itself, the most sim- 
 ple and inefficient ; hearing the gospel, or reading it, or 
 re-calling some truth to mind : but while the eye, or the 
 ear, or the memory is thus engaged, and all without seems 
 at rest, the Spirit is at work within, bringing the truth for- 
 ward into the strong light of distinct consciousness; ren- 
 dering it irresistible, by taking away the very will of re- 
 sisting; turning it into a living conviction, and incorporat- 
 ing it among the spiritual realities of the soul. There are 
 times, when all sensation' seems collected into a point, and 
 we live only in the eye or the ear : and when the In visible- 
 Spirit is at work within, creating a new heart, the faculties 
 and energies of our whole being seem collected into a fo- 
 cal point the entire soul becomes conscience. Having 
 seated and centered himself there, the whole mass and depth 
 of our being is drawn, slowly perhaps, yet certainly drawn 
 to him, owning his power, and trembling at his presence. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 185 
 
 He is there, in the name of Christ ; there, as the living- 
 Law, come down to right itself ; and as he goes on con- 
 victing the sinner, piling up sentences of condemnation ; 
 one power of the soul after another awakes, till the whole 
 soul is one region of alarm; and, collecting all its ener- 
 gies into an outcry for mercy, exclaims, * What must T do 
 to be saved? ; The prediction h of Jesus is then fulfilled ; 
 the Divine Spirit has conducted the cause of his illustrious 
 Client to a triumphant issue. 
 
 And in doing this, observe, no external force is employ- 
 ed ; no violence whatever is done to the freedom of the 
 mind ; the subject of the operation is never more conscious 
 of mental liberty than when the change is in process. It 
 is true, the change is necessitated ; but that moral necessity 
 is the highest form of freedom. It is true, that the mind 
 is brought under the authority of a new law : but that law 
 is the royal law of liberty, the law to which the nature of 
 man was preconfigured ; and all that the Divine Spirit 
 effects, is to bring out arid make legible the secret charac- 
 ters of that law originally written on the heart. He comes 
 to the emancipation of the will from a state of slavery ; 
 (for sin can only triumph by enfeebling the mind and ex- 
 tinguishing the liberty of the soul) ; and hence from first 
 to last, he carries the mind along with him, employs its 
 own voluntary agency, calls into exercise its noblest pow- 
 ers. Even the expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself; 
 for no sooner is it thus revisited by its Maker, than it em- 
 ploys against sin those arms and instruments which had 
 hitherto served as members of unrighteousness. In fine, 
 the only condition on which the freedom of a finite will is 
 possible, is, by its becoming one with the will of God ; 
 and to produce this happy junction is the object of the re- 
 generating Spirit; so that subjection to him is restoration 
 to one's self. His presence in the soul is the first signal and 
 
186 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 moment of freedom; and the more he puts forth his influ- 
 ence within it, the more spontaneous and vigorous are its 
 own movements ; till it utters an instinctive cry for the 
 Spirit, and for liberty, as for an identical good, 
 
 III. The same truth appears in another original state- 
 ment of Christ, declarative of the means by which the 
 Holy Spirit should operate on the mind ' He shall take of 
 mine, and show it unto you.' Sin is the disease and de- 
 rangement of the soul, in consequence of which the under- 
 standing fails to discharge its appointed function on the 
 heart : the eye of a corpse, as long as its transparency re- 
 mains unimpaired, will receive the picture of an object on 
 the retina as well as if the organ were living, but there is 
 no corresponding impression produced on the brain : so re- 
 ligious truths may be easily imported into the understanding, 
 but then it has ceased to be a medium of conveyance to the 
 heart ; the communication between them is obstructed, and 
 we have the mortification of finding, that to obtain the as- 
 sent of the one, is no security whatever for the concurrence 
 of the other. To produce this essential coincidence be- 
 tween the understanding and the heart is the province of 
 the Spirit alone. 
 
 In a well-ordered family, while every member has his 
 appropriate duties, yet, if occasion require, one will go far 
 in his kind endeavors to supply the deficiencies or absence 
 of another. And though the several powers of the mind, 
 like an exemplary household, have their respective duties, 
 yet, on occasion, will the emotions and excited affections 
 of the soul find an understanding of their own, and antici- 
 pate the office of the judgment. Under the influence of 
 the Spirit, the heart is frequently induced to listen for the 
 understanding, as well as the understanding for the heart. 
 His entrance occasions a temporary confusion in the house- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 187 
 
 hold economy of the soul, during which an interchange of 
 friendly offices unconsciously takes place, and which facili- 
 tates the necessary preparation for the reception of the 
 King of Glory. 
 
 And how alluring the objects, how captivating the means 
 by which he solicits an entrance into the soul ! It is true, 
 that the process of couching the mental, not less than the 
 bodily eye, may be attended with pain ; the birth-pangs of 
 the new principle may be severe : but the objects to which 
 he directs the first efforts of the attention are all of the 
 most captivating nature. The first sight which greeted 
 the eye of Adam, was the enchanting scenery of paradise 
 wet with the first dew; and the sight on which the Di- 
 vine Spirit would have the eye of the new creature first to 
 rest, is composed of the selected and arranged glories of 
 Christ. He takes the best of the best, the most attractive 
 excellencies of him who is ' altogether lovely,' and disposes 
 them so as to engage and receive the first glances of the 
 renewed sinner: infinite love, in the person of the Son of 
 God, looking at him from heaven; erasing the sentence 
 of his condemnation ; inserting his name in the book of 
 life; presenting to him a robe of righteousness; preparing 
 for him a heavenly mansion ; pointing him to the spectacle 
 of the cross as the means of his redemption, and to the 
 crown of life as the end of his faith : these are ' the things 
 of Christ,' which are placed by the Spirit before the eye 
 of the mind, and along with which he passes in, and dif- 
 fuses himself through the whole soul. He would silence 
 every other sound, but that which emanates from these 
 speaking truths ; and cast a veil over all other objects, that 
 the soul might be secluded and left to the undisturbed in- 
 fluence of this new creation. He would have it awake to 
 the sound of music, to the music of the Saviour's voice of 
 love. He would have it to inhale the knowledge of Christ 
 
 I 
 
188 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 like fragrance ; to imbibe holiness insensibly, as from a 
 surrounding element; and heavenly dispositions, like mel- 
 odies, stealing into the heart from a distance. While 
 'forming Christ within the hope of glory,' he would come 
 upon the soul with a grateful over-shadowing, and operate 
 -only through the medium of the affections. 
 
 IV. The absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy 
 Spirit comes to us under the great seal of our Lord's most 
 solemn asseveration repeatedly affixed ; ' Amen, amen, I 
 say unto you ; I, who not merely desire to speak the truth, 
 but who am the truth; I, who am the amen, the faithful 
 and true witness; who, having come from heaven, am ac- 
 quainted with the character of such as are allowed to enter 
 it ; I, who hold the keys of that kingdom, I say unto you, 
 Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he can- 
 not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' 
 
 It is the property of every form of created power inces- 
 santly to labor to subdue all things to itself. The stagna- 
 tion of the universe is prevented by this unremitting strug- 
 gle. The revolution of the planets is maintained by the 
 perpetual contest of two principles, each of which is always 
 equal to cope with, but never able to master the other, 
 All the activity and life of nature are to be traced to the 
 unwearied contention of its various elements ; each seek- 
 ing to overpower and assimilate the rest to itself, but itself 
 acted on in return by so equal a force, that incessant con- 
 flict is made incessant harmony. In the intellectual world, 
 a law of our nature is always at work, striving, by a syn- 
 thesis of comparison and arrangement, to reduce all knowl- 
 edge, physical, philosophical, and religious, all to one 
 compact system. The mind (perhaps unconsciously) is 
 laboring after this by a necessity of nature, in all its search- 
 ings after analogies, and attempts at generalization- it acts 
 
H I S O HI G I N A L I T Y. 1 89 
 
 on the mental instinct, that truth is but one idea, one infin- 
 ite whole, the product of one reason ; and to this state of 
 unity it is constantly aiming to reduce all its concep- 
 tions and knowledge, as the only state in which the whole 
 of its knowledge can be mastered. Now the same repre- 
 sentation holds true of the moral world. The will is per- 
 petually aggressive, laboring to conquer and convert all 
 things around it to its own purposes, and to change them 
 into its own nature. But here the conflict, as far as it is 
 instigated by Satan the great rebel, and actuated by sin, 
 is direct hostility against God. It is not carried on in 
 subordination to established law, as the elemental conflicts 
 of nature are : nor in obedience to the immediate mandates 
 of heaven, as the ministries of angels are; but in direct 
 hostility against God. It arms the understanding against 
 the dictates of revelation ; and the passions against the pu- 
 rity and self-denial of the divine requirements; and the 
 will against 'all that is called God, and that is worshipped ;' 
 it arms every member as an instrument of unrighteousness, 
 and precipitates the whole man into the battle-field occupied 
 by trie hostile forces of good and evil. 
 
 But happiness is the coincidence of the finite will with 
 the infinite; in other words, it is holiness. And who 
 would wish to be happy at the price of that? who ; what 
 rational or enlightened being would desire to be happy at 
 the expense of the divine character and government ? at 
 the sacrifice of seeing the creature erected above the Crea- 
 tor? But though all the universe should desire the enor- 
 mity, it could not be : for happiness, we repeat, is nothing 
 more, and nothing less, than the coincidence of the finite 
 will with the infinite. That infinite will, in the person of 
 the Holy Spirit, is come into the world, expressly to sub- 
 due all things to himself: for shall he alone, he the Su- 
 preme Mind, be inactive; he, whose t-very movement is 
 
190 THE ORE AT TEACHER. 
 
 along the line of right, whose every conquest is the recov- 
 ery of his own, and his every breath the creation and diffu- 
 sion of happiness 1 No ; he seeks to remedy the errors of 
 the mind, by becoming the one reason of every individual 
 understanding: to correct the selfishness of every separate 
 heart, by becoming the centre and law of all mankind 
 the one heart for the whole colossal mass of humanity. 
 The primitive church presents us with an instance of his 
 uncounteracted agency; 'the whole multitude of them 
 that believed were of one heart, and of one mind;' on 
 them his agency took full effect; he became the heart of 
 the whole community, and every particular pulae found its 
 health by beating in unison with it. Until he works, each 
 individual human spirit is striving to be a centre of influ- 
 ence to itself; but harmonious subordination to the Supreme 
 Spirit is happiness, is heaven ; and hence the absolute ne- 
 cessity of coming under his subjecting and transforming 
 power, in order to the enjoyment of heaven. 
 
 V. The happy result of regeneration by the Holy 
 Spirit is the production of a corresponding principle of 
 spiritual life ; ' that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.' 
 That which he creates may be material; but that which 
 he begets in his proper character, his moral capacity, must 
 partake of his nature and likeness. The possession of an 
 immortal spirit indeed, is common to all men ; for ' there 
 is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty 
 hath given him understanding.' But it is in the power of 
 sin to erect the material part of our nature into a state of 
 dominion over the spiritual; to dethrone the soul, and give 
 it in captivity to the flesh: and, in this. unnatural state, the 
 mind is degraded with the name of its material tyrant and 
 is called a fleshly mind. Now it is the glory of the Di- 
 ine Regenerator, that he turns this flesh into spirit ; he be- 
 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 191 
 
 comes a soul to our sou], lifting it out of its materiality, 
 and restores to it again its lost prerogative of dominion. 
 He makes it spirit. 
 
 And, in restoring it to the exercise of its peculiar func- 
 tions, he is said to give it life. As long as it is held in 
 subjection to the flesh, it is represented as being dead while 
 it lives ; but by breathing upon it, he restores it. again to 
 the life of God. Henceforth, it not only lives itself, but 
 throws a life into all its spiritual exercises, and is dissatisfi- 
 ed unless God infuses a life into all its religious privileges. 
 In the enjoyment of this new-found existence, it pants after 
 God, can be satisfied with nothing less than divine com- 
 munication, and seeks to receive its' nourishment from the 
 hand of God. One of the distinctive characters of phys- 
 ical life, is its powers of assimilating materials of different 
 natures to its own substance; like that, the regenerated 
 soul is endowed with the power of converting the various 
 events of time into the mysterious means of its nourish- 
 ment, and even of turning obstacles into its own form and 
 character. As its divine Author puts forth his power to 
 produce it, so it proclaims its descent, and honors its par- 
 entage, by putting forth a corresponding power in its en- 
 deavors after holiness. At times, indeed, its possessor may 
 utter a complaint of impotence, ' that when he would do 
 good, evil is present with him ;' but so probably he would 
 complain, were his spiritual strength considerably greater 
 than it is. The complaint is ofte,n to be regarded, not so 
 much as an evidence of weakness, as a sign of that dissatis- 
 faction with every thing short of perfection, which is a 
 distinguishing feature of the spiritual life; being born 
 from above, it pants after the perfection of its native region, 
 it essays to rise, and is impatient of everything which im- 
 pedes its aspirations, and detains its flight. It feels the at- 
 traction of that supreme central good to which all goodness 
 
J 92 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 gravitates; and, like the earth, which is always laboring 
 in its onward course to gain the sun, it is always striving 1 
 to reach its centre : to escape beyond all the influences of 
 sin, and to attain the region of heavenly life. And it 
 demonstrates its celestial descent, by persevering in its aim 
 till it triumphs. The divine Spirit, who begot it, will not 
 more certainly triumph over all the array of sin which 
 the world contains, and cast it out; than the new principle 
 of regenerated life will continue to work, till it has expel- 
 led sin from the soul, and is conducted victorious, into the 
 presence of its Divine Parent. 
 
 The name which the Divine Regenerator prefers, and by 
 which he chooses most frequently to make himself known, 
 is the Holy Spirit. It is owing to his love for holiness, 
 and his ability to produce it, that he has undertaken th.e 
 office of changing the human heart. If he w r ere not cer- 
 tain that he should renew the soul and assimilate it to his 
 own holy nature, he would not come into contact with an 
 object so polluted, and depraved, and unlike himself. But 
 'that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit;' and, as the 
 offspring of infinite holiness, it so completely possesses the 
 believer with a desire for sanctity, that he rejoices in tribu- 
 lation, accepts the furnace, and exults in the flames, if by 
 passing through them, he may lose his impurity, and 
 emerge in the likeness of God. 
 
 Like its spiritual progenitor, the renewed spirit must 
 have an unconfined range. It is made free of the universe 
 and eternity, and cannot submit its diffusive benevolence to 
 the restriction of limits. Without deserting the concen- 
 tric circles of self, and family, and party, and country, and 
 contemporaries, it goes forth, expatiating and rejoicing in 
 a sphere which encompassses all these, and which itself 
 knows no circumference. As an organized part of uni- 
 versal bein, it seeks to diffuse and multiply itself through 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 193 
 
 all the mass, by the circulation of unlimited happiness. 
 Beyond the confined range which it labors to fill with its 
 own personal activity, it seeks to be present, not merely in 
 aim and affectionate desire, but by engaging the gracious 
 agency of its infinite Author. Thus it makes an ap- 
 proximation to universal love: imitates the infinity of the 
 divine goodness; and is distinguished by a subordinate 
 omnipresence of benevolence. By drinking of the water 
 which Jesus gives ' this spake he of the Spirit' it pos- 
 sesses within itself 'a well of water springing up to ever- 
 lasting life. 7 Though it shall be cut off from all created 
 streams, it has a fountain of its own, fed from a higher 
 fountain: a perpetual spring in immediate communication 
 \vith the well-head of life. Its alliance with the Infinite 
 Spirit raises it to a st ite of independence of the creature, 
 confers on it a kind of spiritual self-sufficiency. And, final- 
 ly, as nothing but God could satisfy God, so the renewed 
 soul demonstrates its divine descent by disdaining, as empti- 
 ness and insult, less than the fulness of him that filleth all 
 in all. 
 
 That, indeed, which is born spirit of Spirit, is necessari- 
 ly limited in its likeness to God by the natural and strait- 
 ened conditions of humanity. It has nothing in common 
 with some of the attributes of its divine Parent ; for, ab- 
 stractly considered, they are incommunicable. It has 
 little more than a name in common with any of his attri- 
 butes ; for the holiness, the wisdom, the goodness which it 
 derives from him, are infinitely less than the same qualities 
 as possessed by him. But though it does not possess an 
 identity of nature with these attributes, it is its glory that it 
 can boast a likeness, a similitude which takes in every lin- 
 eament of his moral image. It is true, that his nature 
 obliges him to produce some things in us, in consequence 
 of our depravity, of which there is no archetype in him- 
 self; yet even these peculiar features are the counterparts 
 12 
 
194 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the necessary impressions of certain parts of his own 
 character. Repentance, for instance, is one of the first 
 fruits of his renewing operations : but repentance in us, 
 answers to holiness in him ; it is only the process by which 
 infinite purity is seeking to reflect and behold its image in 
 our breast. 
 
 The new creature is an entire impression ; an imperfect 
 and a miniature representation, it is allowed : but still an 
 entire impression of its spiritual Author. All the excel- 
 lencies necessary to make up absolute perfection, do not 
 more certainly reside in the character of the Spirit him- 
 self, than all the corresponding qualities, necessary to make 
 up the sum of sanctified excellence, exist in that which is 
 born of the Spirit. When the prophet restored the dead 
 youth to life, he did not more carefully extend himself over 
 the whole surface of the body, adjusting his eyes, and 
 mouth, and hands, to^he corresponding parts and organs 
 of the deceased, that the whole body might revive, than 
 the divine Spirit joins bosoms, applies himself in regenera- 
 tion to every part of .our moral being, to resuscitate and 
 restore the whole. He leaves no dead or palsied part ; but, 
 diffusing life and activity through the entire frame, he 
 would have us to develope and work out every principle 
 and function of our new nature in the service of God. 
 Or, to use a scriptural figure, he delivers the so;ul into a 
 mould from which it cannot fail to receive the unmaimed 
 and entire impression of a man in Christ Jesus. 
 
 VI. And our Lord predicted, as the crowning effect of 
 the operations of the Holy Spirit, 'He shall glorify me ; ' 
 a prediction which is realized in various ways. The ad- 
 vent of the Spirit, in the cause of Christ, was itself an 
 event which conferred on that cause transcendant honor. 
 Had myriads of angels been dispatched instead, to fly 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 195 
 
 through the midst of heaven, preaching the everlasting 
 gospel to the inhabitant's of the earth, even that would have 
 given us lofty ideas of the exaltation of Christ; but tha t 
 the infinite Spirit himself should have come at his inter, 
 cession, and in his service, this indeed glorifies Christ. That 
 he should come expressly to convince men, not merely 
 that they are sinners, but that they are sinners especially 
 against Christ ; and not merely so, but that the sin of re, 
 jecting him is the greatest sin they can commit ; that it is 
 the master sin, the capital offence of the longest life of im- 
 piety including the essence, and surpassing the guilt of all 
 other sins combined together; how unspeakably is Jesus 
 magnified by this act of the Spirit ! 
 
 He engages to renovate the soul through the medium of 
 truth; now what honor does he confer upon Christ, that 
 he should pass by all other kinds of truth, and should take 
 that, and employ that only which relates to Christ. Does 
 he not thus teach us, by his own example, to count all 
 things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus our Lord? Does he not say to us, inactions 
 louder than words, * This is the sum of all science: this is 
 the only knowledge that can incorporate and mingle with 
 your being; this is life eternal, to know the true God, and 
 Jesus Christ whom he hath sent ;' and all other knowledge 
 is real only so far as it is symbolical of this. He under- 
 takes to change the heart ; to produce in the will, where 
 all the strength of man and all the powers of sin are con- 
 centrated and entrenched, an entire revolution ; a work so 
 great, that to create a human being is represented as easy 
 in comparison ; for it is not merely to evolve something 
 out of nothing, but to produce a contrary from a contrary, 
 to bring light out of darkness, love out of enmity, holiness 
 out of essential impurity; and kence, to mark the on> 
 nipotence, -the infinite outgoing of power which the work 
 
196 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 demands, the day in which he does this is called ' the day 
 of his power.' Now what honor does he confer upon 
 Christ, that without employing any force, without doing 
 any violence to the constitution of the soul, he should effect 
 this mighty change, which angels cannot behold without 
 bursting into a raptuie of admiration, by simply taking of 
 the things of Christ and showingrthem to the soul. He 
 asks for no other weapons than these weapons of love, 
 these things of Christ. As if he should say, ' Give me 
 these ; and I will change the sinner into a saint. Arm 
 me with these; and I will pass into his soul as the antag- 
 onist of sin, disturbing and tracking it in all its windings, 
 and expelling it from all its recesses: I will change his 
 pride into humility ; his enmity and unbelief into faith and 
 love. And I will do this by illapses so gentle, by a pro- 
 cess so natural, and so coincident with the operations of 
 his own mind, that, were not the effects essentially divine, 
 he would deem the agency that effected it essentially hu- 
 man.' He engages to conduct the soul to happiness; to 
 merit at his hands the name of the comforter. How does 
 he magnify Christ then, by leading the sinner direct into 
 the presence of Christ, as the only method of fulfilling his 
 engagement ; confessing, by the act, that apart from Christ 
 even he could not give the soul comfort. 
 
 la the prosecution of his work, the divine Spirit em- 
 ploys a model to which to conform the renewed soul ; for, 
 as he finds the character of man depraved, deformed, and 
 awfully unlike w r hat it should be, he proposes to give it 
 beauty, and excellence, and perfection. What honor then 
 does he confer upon Christ, by making him the pattern after 
 which he works, the model by which he moulds and fash- 
 ions all believers. He takes of the things of Christ and 
 shows them to the soul, expressly that it may catch their 
 temper and likeness. He holds before its eye the mir- 
 
HIS ORIGINAL I-TY. 197 
 
 ror of the gospel, that beholding as in a glass the glory 
 of the Lord, it may he changed into the same image. Ef- 
 facing from the soul the image of the earthy, he imprints 
 in its stead the likeness of the Lord from heaven : nor 
 does he count the work complete, till the soul is complete- 
 ly conformed to the perfect model. 
 
 And the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ hy rendering him 
 the object of supreme affection and delight to all believers. 
 The uniform effect of his teaching is, that they ' rejoice in 
 Christ Jesus.' They distinctly see that there never was 
 any righteousness in the world but his; that there is no 
 excellence in the universe except his, and what is derived 
 from him. They feel therefore that, while there is no sin 
 equal to that of disregarding him, there can be no act 
 which harmonizes with so many of the original and best 
 principles of our nature, or which is so much of an occa- 
 sion of joy, as that of receiving Christ Jesus the Lord. 
 When the Spirit was poured out from on high, the church 
 was flooded with light; but, like the angel standing in the 
 sun, the central object of that light was Christ; the church 
 was thrown into a transport of joy, but the subject of that 
 joy was Christ ; his name was on every tongue, his love 
 filled every heart. And wherever the divine Spirit ope- 
 rates, the same supreme delight in Christ invariably en- 
 sues. He comes to herald the way for Christ: to throw 
 open the temple gates of the heart for the reception of 
 Christ; to announce the titles, and display the excellencies 
 of Christ; that the soul, beholding the glory of its royal 
 guest, may receive him with acts of worship, and accla- 
 mations of delight. And having admitted Christ, the be- 
 liever discovers that he has admitted God ; the all-com- 
 prehending fulness of God. Henceforth he can never lift 
 his eye towards him, but his heart assumes a posture of 
 .complacent adoration and joy ; and, when he has been in> 
 
198 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ploririg and putting himself under the influence of the 
 blessed Spirit, the name of Christ fills his soul with light? 
 and glory. It is a name which has an attraction for every 
 thing great and good in the universe. The eye does not 
 more rapidly sweep the midnight magnificence of the 
 starry heavens, than the renewed mind, at the mention of 
 his name, makes the circuit of creation gathering up all 
 that is glorious in its course, as related to him, and em- 
 blematic of his excellence. 
 
 But this prediction looks forward to a more glorious 
 fulfillment than any which he has yet received ; a period 
 when the Holy Spirit shall glorify Christ in these various 
 respects, not merely in the conversion of a sinner here and 
 there, but when the sphere of his operations shall embrace 
 the world ; when he shall become the soul of the world, 
 the great animating spirit of mankind, leading them as 
 with one heart and one hand to crown the Saviour, Lord 
 of all. But the prediction is of greater compass still ; it 
 teaches us to look onward to the period, when Jesus ' shall 
 come to be admired in his saints, and glorified in all them 
 that believe.' He determines that he will reap a large 
 harvest of human hearts, of sanctified affections; and he 
 has sent the Spirit into the world to collect this revenue, to 
 gather up this glory for him ; and then the Spirit will have 
 completed his task, will have glorified Christ: for it will 
 then be seen that he has clothed every believer in the 
 righteousness of Christ ; renewed them all after the like- 
 ness of Christ ; that with no other instrument to work with 
 than the gospel of Christ, he has operated on a vast mass 
 of depravity, on a multitude which no one can number of 
 sinful souls, and has renewed and made them resplendent, 
 and crowned them with the glory of Christ. 
 
 VII. Such is a somewhat connected view of the prin- 
 cipal original truths, with which the Great Teacher enrich- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 199 
 
 ed his church, concerning the operation of the Holy Spirit. 
 I will point attention also to two or three isolated declara- 
 tions, calculated to show the importance of receiving his 
 influence, as well as to give a practical application to the 
 preceding remarks. 
 
 ' Verily., I say unto you, All manner of sin andblasphe- 
 my shall be forgiven unto men ; but the blasphemy 
 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 whosoever speaketh against 
 the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in 
 this world, neither in the world to come.' What form of 
 denunciation can be conceived more calculated than this 
 to warn the trifler that he is on holy ground, and to bespeak 
 for the whole doctrine of divine influence the reverence of 
 a prostrate soul. The sin denounced is probably, the rejec- 
 tion of the last and greatest evidence of the Messiahship of 
 Christ ; the dispensation of the Spirit. Up to that point 
 of unbelief, the Jews were within the reach of forgiveness. 
 Their blasphemy against Christ; their rejection of all the 
 evidence arising from his character, his miracles, the testi- 
 mony of John, and the distinct fulfillment in him of nu- 
 merous prophecies ; even the act of nailing him to the 
 cross; all this did not consummate their guilt, and render 
 their condition hopeless. It was, indeed, approaching as 
 near to the edge of the precipice as possible without actu- 
 ally falling over. It was closing their eyes against evidence 
 which ought to have convinced them that Christ was the 
 Messiah ; but still there was further evidence to be submit- 
 ted to them, and evidence of a superior kind. The mirac- 
 ulous dispensation of the Holy Spirit, attesting as it would 
 his resurrection from the dead, and his exaltation at the 
 right hand of God, and bringing as it would the right arm 
 of Omnipotence visibly to certify his claims, was reserved 
 
 
200 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 for that closing proof. Till that should be found unavail- 
 ing, their impenitence could not be pronounced final. But 
 should they reject that, they would be resisting the last 
 proof that would be given, that Christ is the Son of God, 
 and ihe Saviour of sinners ; with their own hands they 
 would have subscribed the sentence which doomed them to 
 perdition ; they would have added the final shade of hor- 
 ror to their condition, anticipating 'the blackness of dark- 
 ness for ever.' 
 
 But let the specific sin denounced be what it may ; and 
 possibly it is left indeterminate, that it may shed a caution- 
 ary influence over a larger space; the denunciation sur- 
 rounds the doctrine of divine influence with a guard, as 
 terrific as the barriers placed about the mount that burned. 
 It has no parallel in the word of God : and is only infe- 
 rior, in its power to inspire dread, to the awful sentence of 
 the last day. Where all besides is pleasant as the garden 
 of the Lord, it stands out a terrible anomaly a volcano 
 fast by the tree of life. He who incurs is terrors, is hence- 
 forth an outcast from grace; a proclaimed anathema; de- 
 voted to damnation; the heir of unknown treasures of 
 wrath. Reader, as you would dread to take even the first 
 step in the direction of this tremendous sin ; as you would 
 tremble to think of entering into its mountainous shadow ; 
 trifle with nothing \vhich relates to the agency of the Holy 
 Spirit. That agency is truly 'for your life.' Sin has 
 brought you into the crisis of the second death ; and his is 
 the only hand that can apply the only remedy. In his 
 oners and influence, God may be regarded as collecting up 
 all that is gracious and solemn in the vast economy of re- 
 demption, and coming to bring the whole, ,as far as you are 
 concerned, to an issue; as making his nearest and final 
 approach to your spirit: as you value eternal life, then, 
 let there be no symptom of disinclination to receive him. 
 

 HIS ORIGINALITY. 201 
 
 But this is not enough; when he spoke of the Holy 
 Spirit, the Saviour would have his disciples to lift up their 
 thoughts, to enlarge their expectations, and form the loftiest 
 conceptions of excellence and grace ; declaring, that the 
 advent of the Spirit would more than compensate for the 
 loss of his own personal presence. What must he the 
 value of that gift which would supply the place of the orb 
 of day, and make us cease to deplore his extinction i Of 
 infinitely surpassing value must be the gift which could 
 indemnify the church for the personal departure of its 
 Sovereign Lord. Yet such a gift is the Holy Spirit ; the 
 soul of the church, and the life of the world : for so much 
 of the Spirit as there is in the world, precisely so much, 
 and no more, is there of life. 
 
 In the history of the natural creation, it is recorded that 
 until he brooded upon the face of the waters, the earth was 
 without form and void ; but he infused into it a vital ele- 
 ment ; and what a world of beauty arose ! an enlargement 
 of heaven; the treasury and temple of the material uni- 
 verse. And, until he came into the new creation, the work 
 of salvation was at a stand. The sacrifice for sin had been 
 offered : the atonement accepted ; all the elements of sal- 
 vation w r ere in existence, but without life; all the blessings 
 of grace were ready, but the Spirit was waming to convey 
 them into the soul. And when he came, and commenced 
 his office, what glories transpired ! The Saviour had not 
 merely foreseen these ; his holy mind had often luxuriated 
 in the scene, had dwelt with unimaginable delight on the 
 prospect of the Spirit returned to the world, and employed 
 in its renovation. The valley of dry bones was around 
 him ; the place he inhabited was a moral sepulchre : but 
 he saw the Spirit about to become the soul of these slain, 
 to breathe into them a higher order of life than they had 
 yet lived, enabling them to do divine exploits, to defy and 
 
20:2 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 triumph over death. Before him lay stretched out, wher- 
 ever he turned, an ocean of woe, brackish with human tears ; 
 the Dead Sea, embittering, poisoning, and turning to ashes 
 the fairest fruits of earth ; and exhaling vapors fatal to all 
 human joys. But he saw the divine Spirit; the waters of 
 prophetic vision ; issuing forth from the sanctuary of hea- 
 ven, a new element of life; 'going down into the desert, 
 and into the sea, to heal the waters. And it came to pass 
 that the waters were healed, and every thing lived whither 
 the river came.' 
 
 Humanity, to his view, appeared as one body, one migh- 
 ty growth and stature of sin, demoniacally possessed by 
 the prince of the power of the air, and putting forth all its 
 gigantic powers in exploits of evil. But he saw the power 
 of his exorcism at hand and rejoiced ; ' Now,' said he, 'is 
 the judgment of this world ; now shall the prince of this 
 world be cast out.' He beheld human nature released 
 from the foe whose name is legion ; renewed in all its 
 powers; raised to a holy rivalship with angels; and pre- 
 pared to be the ornament of a new creation ; and all this 
 resulting from the ad vent and operation of the Holy Spirit. 
 The profound complacency with which he dwelt on the 
 vision, evidently showed that he deemed nothing too great 
 to be expected from the coming of the divine Spirit ; and 
 that he desired to communicate to his disciples his own 
 enthusiasm, to fill ,them with anticipations as enlarged and 
 glowing as his own. 
 
 He intimates that, of all the gifts which we can solicit, 
 or he impart, a greater cannot be named than the donation 
 of his Spirit. * If thou knewest the gift of God, and who 
 it-is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldest 
 have asked of him, and he would have given thee living 
 water;' he would have bestowed on thee the gift of his 
 Spirit, extinguishing all thy wants at once, and leaving thee, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 203 
 
 through eternity, nothing to crave. And who can com- 
 pute, who can exaggerate the value of this gift? Had we 
 originally classed with the beasts that perish, as mere ani- 
 mated clay ; and had he then? raised us in the scale of be" 
 ing by adding our immaterial and immortal soul ; we could 
 not have looked back on our brutal pre-existence, or have 
 felt the consciousness of our new-found powers of mind, 
 without standing amazed at the greatness of the gift he had 
 conferred. But here he speaks of a super-addition. He 
 has given to us one spirit ; but he proposes to give ns 
 another, to make us all the richer by an additional Spirit- 
 He has given a soul to our body ; but he would not have us 
 to suppose that his gifts are exhausted, for he offers to give 
 us a soul to our soul. The spirit which he has already 
 implanted is human, but that which he has in reserve is 
 divine. And, to excite and inflame our desires, he repre- 
 sents the divine spirit as his crowning gift; as rendering 
 any further additions unnecessary, by absorbing all our 
 wants, and comprising the essence of all good. 
 
 Were the natural influences of the Spirit to be denied 
 to the material world, who can paint the desolation which 
 would instantly ensue ! its pleasant verdure dried up and 
 destroyed ; all its harmonies silenced ; its surface strewed 
 with the wrecks of what was life ; a sepulchral world en- 
 veloped with a pall of darkness; a wandering star in 
 which all things were hastening to chaos and desolation. 
 As the Spirit of grace, his agency is the life of the spiritu- 
 al world. Accordingly, the chief penalty of the apostacy, 
 the most deadly element of the curse, was the suspension 
 and withdrawment of his vital presence: by which the 
 guilty and deserted soul was left to enter at once on eter- 
 nal death to begin hell on this side the grave. On the 
 other hand, it follows, that the restoration of the Spirit is the 
 capital blessing .of the covenant of grace. As if all the 
 
204 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 other blessings were represented by this, and included in 
 it, the Saviour magnifies and names the Spirit alone. While 
 in one of the evangelists, we hear him offer all good things 
 to them that ask ; from another we learn that, by this all- 
 comprehending offer, he expressly intends his Holy Spirit; 
 thus leaving us to infer, first, that universal good, arid the 
 Divine Spirit define each other ; or, that they are one and * 
 the same thing: and, secondly, impressing us with the 
 fact, that the Spirit is the only unchangeable and necessa- 
 ry good. Philosophy teaches us that no material object 
 on earth has a color of its own ; that, whatever the hue 
 which apparently belongs to any object, it may be chang- 
 ed ; and the object be made to take the hue of all the pris- 
 matic colors in succession. This is true analogically, of all 
 the things and events of this life ; they are not intrinsical- 
 ly good or evil ; do not possess a character and complex- 
 ion of their own. The same dispensation may prove a 
 curse to one, and a blessing to another ; maybe an evil 
 to-day, and a good to-morrow ; may come as a favor, but 
 be perverted and turned into poison by our depravity; or 
 may come as a trial, and be converted into food and life by 
 the transforming touch and smile of God. But the gra- 
 cious influence of the Spirit is susceptible of no such fluc- 
 tuation. Impassive itself, it is yet capable of changing 
 every thing else; while able to impress its own character 
 on the universe of being, it remains itself unchanged and 
 unchangeable ; the only absolute, eternal, and necessary 
 good. 
 
 What more can be necessary to turn our whole soul in- 
 to desire? to turn all our most ardent thoughts and long- 
 ings into one channel, pouring forth a copious stream of 
 supplication for the one great gift of the Spirit ? Is it possi- 
 ble that we can ask for any inferior good, till we have ob- 
 tained this ? Had we an adequate impression of its magnitude 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 205 1 
 
 we should forget that any other want existed: our entreat- 
 ies would rise in energy and earnestness as we moved for- 
 ward to the attainment of the blessing; our cry would as- 
 cend, and peal with ceaseless importunity at the gate of 
 heaven : would go in unto the Almighty, even into his holy 
 place; we should ask, and seek, and knock, till he had 
 bestowed it with a liberality which left nothing for our 
 fears to apprehend, or our expectations to desire. 
 
 But is there ground to believe that our earnest applica- 
 tion for this ineffable good would be crowned with success? 
 For, in proportion as the value and necessity of an object 
 rise in our view, our demand for encouragement to pursue 
 it rises also. Two things are observable, in reply. The 
 first is, that the gift of the Spirit, which is the only indis- 
 pensable good, is the only blessing which is promised with 
 unconditional, absolute certainty. And the second is, that 
 it is the absolute and essential goodness of this blessing 
 which enables the Almighty to promise it unconditionally. 
 If, like all subordinate blessings, its character were muta- 
 ble, and its value dependent on circumstances, like them it 
 could only be made the subject of a conditional promise ; 
 the mere mutability of its nature, and the consequent pos- 
 sibility of its becoming an evil, would have made it inca- 
 pable of an absolue promise. But the intrinsic and im- 
 mutable goodness of the gift enables the Divine Promiser 
 to say of it, what he can say of no inferior blessing, 'Ask, 
 and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock and 
 it shall be opened unto you.' 
 
 The student of mechanical philosophy is aware that 
 dynamics, or the science of force and motion, enters into 
 nearly every physical inquiry; that it is placed at the 
 head of all the sciences; and that, happily for human 
 knowledge, it is one in which certainty is attainable equal 
 to that of mathematical demonstration. Indeed what is 
 
206 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 true of, no other branch of physical science our knowl- 
 edge of dynamics, of motion arid its communication, is only 
 limited by that of pure mathematics. Now let our present 
 subject be denominated spiritual dynamics, and the analo- 
 gy of these remarks will be obvious. The Divine Spirit 
 is the author of all motion in the moral world; the science 
 of spiritual force and motion, originating in him, is at the 
 head of all the doctrines of evangelical religion ; it enters 
 into all our religious calculations ; and happily for our 
 hopes and endeavors, it is one in which every step may 
 be taken with absolute certainty. Indeed what is true of 
 no other promised good the measure in whiph we receive 
 his influence is determined only by the measure of our de- 
 sires after it, or by the limit of .our capacity to enjoy it- 
 * Every one,' saith Christ, * that asketh, receiveth ; and he 
 that seeketh, findeth.' He would have us observe that he 
 is not propounding a theory, but stating a fact; that he is 
 expounding a law of the divine government, a law which 
 has established a certain connection between asking for 
 the Holy Spirit and receiving it ; and that could we appeal 
 to all who have made the experiment, we should find that 
 this order was never violated ; that could we interrogate 
 each of that throng without number who have sought the 
 gift, they would testify with one consent, that they all re. 
 ceived to the utmost amount of their desires, and abund- 
 antly more. 
 
 Prior, indeed, to the act of regeneration, and as to the 
 time and manner of that event, the wind itself is not more 
 uncontrollable and free than is the agency of the Holy 
 Spirit. He illustrates his sovereignty by acting where he 
 listeth ; asserts and magnifies the royalty of his grace by 
 selecting the most unlikely objects, and thus pouring con- 
 tempt on human calculations. But, in all his subse" 
 quent communications, he vsluntarily binds himself to act 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 207 
 
 by a rule which man can understand and employ, volun- 
 tarily subjects his influence to the call oi prayer ; and in a 
 sense, resigns his sceptre into the hand of faith. Amaz- 
 ing- condescension ! as if only concerned to bring us to the 
 footstool of mercy, and as if fearful lest the recollection of his 
 sovereignty should deter us from approaching, he actually 
 merges that sovereignty ; yes, at the tremendous risk of see- 
 ing us erase the doctrine of his absolute liberty from our 
 creed, of hearing us deny the sovereignty of his operations, 
 he in effect thro\vs up the high prerogative, brings himself 
 under obligation, irrevocably binds himself to answer prayer. 
 To encourage our application for the Holy Spirit, the 
 Saviour appeals from the instinct of parental tenderness, to 
 the infinite benevolence of our heavenly Father. * What 
 man is there among you, who if his son asked bread of him 
 would give him a stone; or, if he asked a fish would give 
 him a serpent ? ' Who would mock the wants of his fam- 
 ishing child ? The testimony of universal experience is 
 against the probability of such an act: the thing indeed is 
 possible, but so rare, that it has never been deemed neces- 
 sary to provide a law for its punishment. So deeply does 
 parental affection enter into the beart, that it commonly sur- 
 vives every other benevolent feeling ; it is the last affection 
 which leaves the nature of a bad man. 'But if ye, being 
 evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children,' said 
 Christ ; * how much more shall your heavenly Father 
 give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?' Could all the 
 parental tenderness which the world has contained, from 
 the beginning of time till now, be all collected and infused 
 into one human heart, compared with the unbounded be- 
 nevolence of our Father in Heaven, it would be as a drop 
 compared with the ocean. And, therefore, it cannot be 
 that the needy and suppliant soul should plead for the gift 
 of the Holy Spirit, and his infinite goodness refuse to give. 
 Degrade him to a level with sinful humanity, suppose hka 
 
208 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 to be only an earthly parent, still the refusal would be all 
 but impossible. Now what a human father will scarcely 
 ever fail to do, though he is evil ; God will never fail to do, 
 because he is ineffably good. 
 
 But that nothing might be wanting to complete our en- 
 couragement and crown our hopes, our Lord represents 
 the treasures of divine influence as placed entirely at his 
 own disposal. And where would Poverty and Want have 
 relief deposited, if not in the hands of unconfined Bounty. 
 Like a channel, prepared on purpose to receive and con- 
 vey the overflowings of a fountain, he receives only to com- 
 municate. As well might the sun be charged with nig- 
 gardliness in the dispensa tion of light ; though from the 
 moment of its creation, it has been constantly pouring forth, 
 in all directions, an immensity of light, sufficient to flood 
 with radiance ten thousand worlds like ours ; as to question 
 the readiness of Christ to impart the influence of the Holy 
 Spirit. Let the amazing profusion with which he dispensed 
 it, on the day of pentecost, testify his grace. Religious 
 ordinances, means of grace, a standing ministry; what are 
 these but channels through which he seeks to pour a con- 
 stant supply of the river of life for the irrigation of his 
 church? what are they but pillars which he has reared as 
 memorials of his ascension, to remind us that now we have 
 only to ask in order to receive; that he can now dispense 
 the Spirit perpetually and without measure ; so that every 
 day might be a pemicostal day, a repetition of his corona- 
 tion day. 
 
 Having become the repository of divine influence, his 
 only solicitude appears to arise from his not finding recip- 
 ients to share the blessing. As the heedless and the worldly 
 pass him by, he calls to them in language which shows 
 that they could not find more relief in receiving, than he 
 would experience delight in giving ; that his benevolent 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 209 
 
 heart is actually burthened with the magnitude of the 
 gifts he has to dispense, and yearns for the godlike grat- 
 ification of giving them away. * O if thou knewest the gift 
 of God, and who it is that speaks to thee, thou wouldest ask 
 him, and he would give thee living water. But ye will 
 not come unto me, that ye might have life. Ask, and ye 
 shall receive,' You cannot open your eye on the light of 
 day, but a thousand rays from the sun instantly enter and 
 illuminate your organ of sight ; you cannot inspire, in the 
 ordinary act of breathing, without drawing in copiously 
 the vital air : repair at once to the throne of grace, and you 
 shall not raise a craving look for the blessed Spirit in. vain, 
 your eye shall attract him : inspire, draw in, and you shall 
 inhale at every breath of earnest desire, the influence of 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The Christian church is a region, and the only region 
 on earth, replenished with the vital influence of the Holy 
 Spirit : and by making baptism the initiatory ordinance, 
 the Saviour has significantly taught, that, while all within 
 inhale an element of life, all without are breathing an ele- 
 ment of destruction. By appointing the rite to be admin- 
 istered 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost,' he has sealed us to the day of redemp- 
 tion ; he has burnt in, and made indelible, the awful signa- 
 tures of Christian discipleship : reminding us, that, as 
 those who have * been born again of water and of the Spirit,' 
 he has given into our keeping a new life, a life supernatu- 
 ral and divine: and charging it on us, as we hope to see 
 the glorious day which is longed for by all creation, that 
 we preserve that life inviolate and ungrieved. 
 
 In allusion to the residence of the Divine Presence in 
 
 the temple, he declares of the Spirit of truth, that ' he 
 
 dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.' There is a sense 
 
 in which all the believers, of all ages, are represented as 
 
 13 
 
201 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 forming one vast and compacted temple, of which the Ho- 
 ly Spirit is the living- soul, cementing, animating, and per- 
 vading the whole. Now, if important duties devolve on 
 you, though you are only a fraction, an atom of the stu- 
 pendous fabric inhabited by the Holy Spirit, how momen- 
 tous do your duties appear, when you reflect that you 
 yourself constitute an entire temple. The Jews had an ap- 
 pointed guard to watch their temple, night, and day ; and, 
 though the guard was numerous, each must doubtless have 
 felt that he was entrusted with a solemn charge. But what 
 would one of them have felt, had the whole trust been de- 
 volved on him alone; and that, too, at a time of peculiar 
 danger from a watchful foe: how tremblingly alive would 
 he have been to everything relating to his sacred charge? 
 To your my fellow Christian, as to a living sanctuary, the 
 Spirit has been given, 'that he rnay abide with you for 
 ever.' Reflect on his divine character and gracious de- 
 signs, and then conceive, if you can, of a more sacred and 
 weighty trust than that of keeping his temple inviolate. 
 
 Had you originally belonged to one of the lowest spe- 
 cies of animal life; and had he raised you in the scale of 
 being, multiplying and enlarging your faculties from step 
 to step till reason dawned, what a sense of responsibility, we 
 may suppose, would have flashed on your mind as you first 
 awoke to the consciousness of your amazing transformation! 
 To find yourself suddenly endowed and entrusted with an 
 immortal soul, rich in affections, strong in intellectual pow- 
 ers, boundless in its capabilities and desires ; the percep- 
 tion of your new accountability might well impress you 
 with an awful concern. But a greater responsibility is 
 here. The Spirit of spirits, the Fountain Spirit himself 
 is given to you, as a principle of new and heavenly life, 
 as'a divine in-dvveller, and you have to keep for him the 
 temple of your soul. O then, see to it, that your conduct 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 211 
 
 accords with so sacred a trust. .He comes to you as the 
 Spirit of truth ; study the mind of the Spirit; consult his 
 dictates as your living oracle. By yielding to the dictates 
 of the flesh, your spirit has lost its proper character, its 
 discriminating and determining moral power; but he pro- 
 poses to rescue and reinforce your spiritual nature ; he 
 comes to be your spirit, to turn your very flesh into spirit, 
 renewing your fleshly mind : do not let it appear by your 
 conduct, as if, having carnalized your own spirit, you 
 would, if possible, carnalize the divine Spirit also, placing 
 all spirit in subjugation to the flesh. He is the Comforter ; 
 the very soul of happiness ; do not grieve him whose object 
 it is to solace and bless you. Do not resist him in the exe- 
 cution of his office, while engaged in cleansing and sancti- 
 fying his temple. Be not satisfied with merely not griev- 
 ing the spirit of God ; but aspire to please him, to magnify 
 his office, to enjoy an affluence of his grace, to live in the 
 Spirit as in the hallowed atmosphere of a temple, in an 
 all-surrounding element of holiness. 
 
 SECTION IV. OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, AND 
 
 OF A SPIRITUAL CHURCH. 
 
 AMONG the subjects comprehended in our Lord's origi- 
 nal teaching may be named the doctrine of the Trinity. 
 There is no ground to conclude that, prior to the promul- 
 gation of the gospel, this doctrine had any claim on the 
 faith of mankind. The early Christians, indeed, in their 
 eagerness to obtain for christianty the patronage of phi- 
 losophy, professed to find the doctrine of the Trinity in the 
 
2J2 THE GREAT TEACHER, 
 
 writings of Plato ; but had they maintained instead a dual- 
 ity, or a quaternity, the same writings would have equal- 
 ly befriended them. The humble pretensions of the Jew- 
 ish system were satisfied with proclaiming the existence 
 and unity or oneness of God, in opposition to 'the 'lords 
 many and gods many,' of the heathens ; the allusions which 
 the system contained to the triplicity of the divine nature, 
 awaited, like so many dormant seeds of truth, the rising of 
 the Sun of Righteousness, to quicken and draw them forth 
 from their obscurity. 
 
 But though the solemn mystery is sufficiently developed 
 in the gospel to demand our faith ; though the Great 
 Teacher held in his hand the entire map of truth, he dis- 
 closed only so much of the part in question as related to 
 our path to heaven. In adverting to the abysmal subject 
 of the Divine Essence, he maintained a wise reserve: and 
 he did this, both that he might not entangle us in a laby- 
 rinth, when we ought to be advancing in the open path of 
 life ; and because of our natural incapacity to comprehend 
 him on a theme on which there are no analogies to assist 
 us. ' How shall ye believe or understand me,' said he, 'if 
 I tell you of heavenly things?' Instead, therefore, of 
 theorizing on the subject, he taught it dogmatically and 
 practically. 
 
 The doctrine in the general opinion of the Christian 
 church, is necessarily involved in various parts of our 
 Lord's teaching. I shall content myself, however, with 
 adverting to his great command, * Go, then, and make dis- 
 ciple*s of all nations, baptizing them unto the NAME of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.' 
 Whether he intended these words to be a formulary of the 
 rite or not, is immaterial to determine. Their obvious im- 
 port is to describe baptism to be a religious dedication to 
 God, who is known by the manifestation of his NAME, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 213 
 
 the display of his glorious perfections. Now as this name 
 is attributed equally to the Father to the Son, and to the 
 Holy Spirit, it seems inevitably to follow, that the Son and 
 the Spirit are, with the Father, the One God. 
 
 Our Lord instituted but two ordinances baptism and 
 the Lord's supper : he erected but two monumental pil- 
 lars: one without, and the other within the church: on 
 the first of these, that which fronts the world, he inscribed 
 the great name of the triune God ; and, as if to render 
 the inscription more impressive, he made it his last act. 
 Baptism is the vestibule, or entrance, to his spiritual tem- 
 ple, the church ; so that before his disciples can pass the 
 threshold, he requires them to receive the print of the Sa- 
 cred Name: and by making that one ceremony final, he 
 reminds them that the holy signature is indelible. By 
 baptizing us into the threefold name of God, he would im- 
 press us at the very outset of our Christian life witji the 
 fact, that the work of our salvation is so vast that it brings 
 into action every distinction and attribute of the divine na- 
 ture ; that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the 
 entire Godhead, find ample scope for the exercise of all 
 their perfections, and employment for all the affluence of 
 their grace. And thus would he put every part and pro- 
 perty of our nature, in return, into active requisition in 
 his service; causing us to feel the penury of our utmost 
 love, and constraining us cheerfully to own, that, could we 
 multiply our powers three, or a thousand fold, they should 
 all be his. If, before, we considered our obligations infin- 
 ite, what shall we think of them now, on beholding the 
 Father, the Son, and the Hply Spirit, three distinct subsis- 
 tences actually confederating and concurring together, 
 and embarking all their infinite treasures in the cause of our 
 happiness ; what but that our obligations, which we before 
 considered infinite, are thus multiplied threefold! a mul- 
 
 
214 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 tiplication this which the metaphysics of a grateful heart 
 will allow, if not the severer philosophy of the head* 
 How amazing the thought, that the Godhead, the three 
 glorious subsistences in the Divine Essence should be all 
 officially present to receive us in the baptismal solemnity, 
 the porch of the church ; that all the Divine Being should 
 be there, to enter into covenant relation with us, that we 
 should there be met by the sum of excellence, and have it 
 ascertained to us, that to the uttermost extent of our capac- 
 ity we are entitled to the enjoyment of the whole. An 
 ocean of happiness placed before those whose hearts over- 
 flow with a drop ! 'A presumptuous idea, if our own in- 
 vention ; a lofty one, if revealed to us.' 
 
 'Upon this rock will I build my church.' 
 '.My kii g.k.m is not of this world.' 
 
 I. Another original subject contained in our Lord's 
 teaching, is the existence of a spiritual church. The 
 grand conception of organizing and erecting a new 'com- 
 munity, to be distinguished from all the existing forms of 
 civil society in the world, by the spiritual nature and de- 
 sign of its government, could have only originated in the 
 mind of one who had himself seen 'the pattern of heav- 
 enly things.' Under the Mosaic economy, this exalted 
 scheme existed only in emblem. The ' church in the wil- 
 derness ;' the Israelitish people, nationally selected, and 
 separated from all the nations of the earth ; prefigured an 
 approaching separation of a more select and refined nature, 
 consisting exclusively of ' Israelites indeed.' Christ came 
 to realize the sublime idea : to be himself the heart of the 
 church; the point around which it should crystalize and 
 form: and, in his own person, (humanity inhabited by 
 

 HIS ORIGINALITY. 215 
 
 Deity,) presented at once the image and nucleus of the 
 unearthly society. 
 
 II. The voice of prophecy had declared that such would 
 be the spiritual character of his new kingdom. For while 
 some monstrous type, of brute ferocity and power, was 
 deemed an appropriate symbol of each preceding monarchy 
 as seen by Daniel, the ensign of the Messiah's reign was 
 distinju'sliad by^'he likeness of the son of man ; aptly de- 
 noting, that while they prevailed by the ascendency of 
 physical might, from his kingdom should be b'inished 
 every carnal weapon, and instrument of coertion ; and 
 that to him should belong the honor of recognizing and 
 erecting the prostrate elements of humanity, of reigning 
 by the spiritual action of mind on mind, the almighty in- 
 fluence of enlightened reason, of sanctified gratitude and 
 love. It was distinctly predicted that his kingdom, instead 
 of symbolizing with any of the governments of earth, 
 should be to the world an image of his own sufficiency, 
 surpassing and encompassing them all. At first, it would 
 resemble an imperium in imperio, a dominion of principle 
 and affection flourishing amidst the kingdoms of the world 
 like the verdure of paradise set in the desert : but in the 
 end, as Bacon describes the prevalence of a far different 
 principle, * it bringeth in a new primum mobile, that rav- 
 isheth all the spheres of government ; forming from first to 
 last, in the eyes of the world, an anomaly of government. 
 Accordingly, when Jesus came to erect it he appeared at a 
 loss for suitable illustrations by which to explain it to the 
 minds of his hearers. ' Whereunto,' saith he, 'shall we 
 liken the kingdom of God, and with what comparison shall 
 we compare it?' None of the governments of the world 
 supplied an analogy: he who is the wisdom of God seem- 
 ed embarrassed, as he looked around the world of civil so- 
 ciety for a similitude, and saw that it contained none. 
 
216 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 IIT. But though the constitution he designed to erect 
 was a new creation, he constructed it in a manner the 
 most unforced and simple. He who asked only the dust 
 of the earth out of which to form a creature of divine lin- 
 eaments : he, who took the universal law of animal na- 
 ture which seeks the propagation of its kind, and by graft- 
 ing on it the sacred institution of marriage, made it pro-- 
 duce the choicest fruits of the earth: thus converting and 
 
 } O 
 
 consecrating an animal instinct, a principle which man 
 possesses only in common with brutes, into a source of 
 pure and purifying enjoyment, which more than any other 
 natural means, raises and distinguishes man above the 
 inferior creation : he asked only the elements of our so. 
 cial nature, with which to construct ' his body,' the church. 
 ' Wherever two or three are gathered together in my 
 name,' said Christ, 'there am I in the midst of them.' He 
 knew that in obedience to our social instincts, to the law 
 which, leads us to seek our kind, we should in all ages 
 continue to associate: he saw that, in the kingdom of Sa- 
 tan, familiar intercourse is one of the principal means for 
 extending the contagion of evil, one of the grand ordinan- 
 ces of sin ; and he determined to give the same principle 
 sanctified scope and activity, in a sphere where it might 
 prove equally efficacious in the production and reciproca- 
 tion of good. 
 
 IV. His church is the court of holy love, filled with of- 
 fices and appointments of charity and grace. Bringing 
 into it pity, and kindness, and zeal, he baptizes them with 
 the spirit of heaven, assigns them each appropriate duties, 
 and commands them to find and fabricate their happiness 
 out of the happiness of others. Here, we are to look on 
 the faults of others, only to pray for, and assist in their 
 improvement ; and to contemplate their excellencies, only 
 
 > 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 217 
 
 to admire and imitate. By a law of our nature, like seeks 
 to associate with like: and, in his church, he enables holi- 
 ness to ally and reinforce itself with holiness j he essays 
 to make the least portion of goodness feel, that it is identifi- 
 ed with all the goodness in the universe. The fluid which 
 is about to crystalize, does not more certainly assume the 
 form of the crystal inserted into it, than believers modify 
 and accelerate the formation of their character by associat- 
 ing in Christian fellowship ; and all assimilate to Christ 
 their common type and centre ; according to his prayer 
 they become one in him. 
 
 V. Assimilation is a law of our nature, but the tenden- 
 cy of this principle in the world is to hasten its moral de- 
 composition ; whereas, in the church it is intended to ren- 
 ovate and restore the moral health ; and thus render the 
 church the salt of the earth. But, to secure this end, it is 
 evident that the members of his church must possess a 
 character essentially different from the rest of the world. 
 And this radical change must take place prior to their ad- 
 mission ; otherwise, there is no guarantee that the world 
 will not modify and absorb the church ; rather, there is the 
 strongest probability that the principle of assimilation will 
 operate to the triumph of the world, and the destruction 
 of the church. 
 
 1. Previous to its formation, therefore, this was the man- 
 date that rang through Judea, ' Repent ye, for the kingdom 
 of heaven is at hand ;' peculiar elements were wanted to 
 constitute this new society ; subjects were called for to 
 enrol under this new form of government ; and repent- 
 ance, transmentation, a change of mind, was the indispen- 
 sable condition of enrolment, Its divine Founder follow- 
 ed, and intent on its purity he not only echoed the same 
 call, but inscribed over its great entrance-gate the memora- 
 
218 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ble sentence, 'Except a man be born, again, he cannot en- 
 ter into the kingdom of God.' He commanded his disci- 
 ples to go through the world proclaiming repentance and 
 the remission of sins in his name, baptizing them, (baptiz- 
 ing, that is, such as, being capable, obeyed the call to re- 
 pentance, and accepted the offer of forgiveness ;) these spe- 
 cimens of regenerated humanity, already selected by the 
 divine hand, and baptized with the Spirit, they were to col- 
 lect, and admit by the door of visible baptism into the 
 Christian church. 
 
 2- That his church is to be composed only of spiritual 
 elements, of such only as appear and profess to be the sub- 
 jects of a divine change, is evident from the power with 
 which he has armed it to expel offenders. ' Moreover 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 
 moutli of two or .three witnesses every word may be es- 
 tablished. 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 or publican. Verily, 
 I say unto you, 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 gathered 
 in my name, there am I in the midst of them.' 
 
 The whole of this paragraph evidently relates to the 
 same subject; containing the rudiments of church govern- 
 ment, forming the only authentic and divine platform of 
 ecclesiastical discipline. We learn from it, first, that mere 
 nominal Christians have no room provided for them in his 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 219 
 
 church ; for it is obviously implied that all its members, 
 have such habits of charity and devotion to maintain, and 
 such holy offices to fill as the representatives of Christ, and 
 duties to discharge requiring his seal and fiat to give them 
 validity ; all of so spiritual and distinctive a character that 
 they necessarily pre-suppose the possession of nothing less 
 than vital godliness. Secondly, it implies that when in- 
 stances arise in the church, calling for the exercise of dis- 
 cipline, the members of the church alone are sufficient to 
 administer the discipline necessary, without the interven- 
 tion of any civil authority from without. For, thirdly, it 
 might occur that were a civil arm a part of the organiza- 
 tion of the church, that arm might be the very part of the 
 body requiring excision ; an hypothesis by no means ex- 
 travagant, if the spirituality and purity of the church be 
 an object : but unless the power of excision be lodged in 
 the spiritual community itself, this necessary purification 
 could not take place. And, fourthly, it instructs us, that a 
 church though composed of only 'two or three,' is com- 
 plete in itself; that like the human body, it possesses a 
 self-correcting principle, an expulsive power ; and is com- 
 petent to the discharge of all its peculiar duties. 
 
 The correction of incidental evils, and the expulsion of 
 offenders, constitute the most delicate and difficult class of 
 duties which a Christian church has to perform. But the 
 task is imperative, and the discharge of it vital to the 
 health and purity of the society; our Lord, therefore, in 
 legislating on this subject is unusually particular and en- 
 couraging. He exalts the duty of Christian reproof into a 
 standing ordinance ; appoints the method, and specifies the 
 several ascending degrees of its administration, till it has 
 been brought to bear in its utmost force and power on the 
 conscience of the offending subject Should it prove inef- 
 fectual to his recovery, the only remaining step is his ex- 
 
220 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 communication. In exercising this solemn function, this 
 highest prerogative, they are to come into the presence of 
 Christ as the fountain of their power : he declares that he 
 will descend to be a party in the final, awful transaction ; 
 that as they discharge the painful task, he will ratify it; 
 that as they pronounce the sentence charged with the ter- 
 rors of Sinai, he will adopt it as his own, and re-echo it, 
 ' as if many thunders uttered their voices ' in the conscience 
 of the doomed offender. And this appeal to himself he 
 appoints as final, as the ne plus ultra of church disipline ; 
 to appeal elsewhere would be an impeachment of his au- 
 thority, and treason against his throne. 
 
 And let no one speak lightly of this power of rebuke 
 and expulsion. The omnipotence of public opinion, for 
 instance, has almost become a proverbial expression. The 
 world at present acknowledges nothing so mighty, though 
 silent, in its operations. Its slightest whisper is law to a 
 nation.' It utters a prediction, and all the powers of socie- 
 ty rush to accomplish the prophecy. Unable to endure its 
 censure, numbers seek the asylum of the grave; and 
 rather than encounter its denunciations, even thrones have 
 trembled and hid themselves in the dust. But in uttering 
 rebuke, the voice of the church is public opinion in its 
 most concentrated form, borrowing mysterious efficacy 
 from the presence and co-operation of an invisible Agent, 
 and gathering tones of alarm by passing through the aven- 
 ues of an affrighted soul. As the necessity of punishing 
 the offender springs from the first principles in the divine 
 nature, so the sentence of punishment harmonizes with the 
 first principles of his own nature, meets and coalesces with 
 all the remorse in his bosom, finds a ready and loud re- 
 sponse from his conscience, and arms him against himself. 
 Sharper than any two-edged sword, it inflicts a wound on 
 the spirit for which earth has no remedy. It is a flash of 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 221 
 
 that consuming lightning, which, leaving the outward man 
 unscathed, passes direct to its mark within, scorching the 
 conscious soul, and turning all its joys to ashes. It is even 
 an anticipation of the last day, a foretaste of that consum- 
 mation of terrors; flashing the fires of the lake that burn- 
 eth on the face of the soul; cutting it off from God, de- 
 livering it over to Satan as a sealed anathema, an eternal 
 outcast from hope and Grace. Such is its efficacy when 
 impartially administered, in connection, with the other 
 branches of Christian discipline, to preserve the purity of 
 the church, that were it sufficiently known, Christians 
 would no more think of calling temporal aid into the 
 church, than they would of deputing an arm of flesh to 
 guide and assist the bolt of heaven to its destined object. 
 
 3. The severe denunciations which Jesus uttered against 
 the Pharisees, for 'teaching as doctrine the commandments 
 of men ;' discharging all his thunders on the intrusion of 
 human authority into the worship of God, and on the sanc- 
 timonious hypocrisy which naturally ensued, indicated 
 clearly the spiritual nature of the church which he design- 
 ed. He found the world in the church ; but he determin- 
 ed to reverse their relative position, to construct and per- 
 petuate his new society as a church in the world. ' Every 
 plant,' said Christ, and he spoke prospectively, as well as 
 in reference to existing evils, ' Every plant which my 
 heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 7 
 The church is a sacred enclosure taken in from the world; 
 brought into cultivation by the divine Husbandman ; and 
 intended to be filled exclusively with the plants of right- 
 eousness. On the outside of this enclosure is to be found 
 the spontaneous produce of evil, bringing forth fruit unto 
 death : but all within are meant to be ' plants of the Lord's 
 right-hand planting,' exhibiting in the fruits they bear the 
 essential difference between sin and holiness, and the infin- 
 
222 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 nite superiority of his transforming 1 grace over the deadly 
 produce of depraved nature. But if, in defiance of this 
 arrangement, the hand of the world be allowed to interfere, 
 his design is defeated; plants are brought in which are 
 not of his selection ; his Eden is degraded into a spot for 
 human experiments, in which the produce of grace is sup- 
 planted by poisonous exotics, and overrun with the noxi- 
 ous weeds of human tradition. He designed the church 
 to be his own peculium ; it is the only fortress which he 
 holds in a revolted world : and he intended therefore, that 
 no authority should be known in it, no laws acknowledg- 
 ed, but his own : that no parties should obtain admission 
 but those * who are called, and chosen, and faithful; 7 so 
 that to open its gates for the entrance of any of the revolt- 
 ed, however specious the pretext, is a betrayal of the most 
 sacred trust, and treachery to the great cause of Christ. 
 His high design is, that as Satan has a church (he himself 
 speaks of the synagogue of Satan) consisting of the chil- 
 dren of sin : a church in which men have been always la- 
 boring to cast off the divine law, and to confound the dis.- 
 tinction between good and evil ; so he would have a church 
 in which these essential distinctions should again be re- 
 stored and exemplified, and in which the beauties of holi- 
 ness, seen in their native lustre, should attract the notice, 
 and extort the admiration of the universe. These are the 
 fruits by which its members were to glorify God ; these 
 the unearthly marks by which all men should know them 
 as his disciples. 
 
 But then, in order to the success of this grand design, it 
 is essential that man should not intermeddle the process 
 is divine throughout. Had Christ taken up his residence 
 visibly and permanently on earth, ithe impertinence and 
 impiety of interfering with the arrangements of his church 
 would have been too palpable to be attempted. But though 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 223 
 
 he has departed, he appointed the Spirit as his successor, 
 and promised him as more than his equal in the superin- 
 tendence of the church; the Spirit has come, and in the 
 scriptures of his own dictation .has presented the church 
 with its only code and charter ; so that for man to interfere, 
 is either to impugn the divine sufficiency of the Spirit, or 
 convict himself of presumptuous impiety. To every 
 such intruder the language of Christ is decisive, * My king- 
 dom is not of this world ;' it has no principle in common 
 with the kingdoms of earth ; it refuses all human patron- 
 age ; rejects, and casts off from itself as alien to its nature, 
 the aid of temporal pains and penalties ; and for a man to 
 put forth his hand with a patronizing air to support it, is to 
 endanger its safety, or to peril his own. 
 
 Whether personally present or absent, our Lord design- 
 ed his church to exhibit to the world an image of his own 
 sufficiency; to furnish to it a standing representation of 
 anotner world, of other laws than earth obeys, and of a 
 higher order of enjoyment and power than man possesses, 
 derived from a source independent of all created means. 
 But in order to answer its original intention, its heaven- 
 ly Founder must be left unimpeded to work out his great 
 idea. If his church is to resemble a temple, let it be built 
 after the pattern of things in the heavens; let it have the 
 exact dimensions and proportions assigned by the angel- 
 architect, who brought to the work his golden measuring- 
 rod from heaven, and it will lift up its head into the light 
 of day, and tower towards heaven, a stately and magnifi- 
 cent fabric, visibly inhabited by the shekinah of the divine 
 presence, made transparent by the enshrined glory, arid ra- 
 diating around in all directions its dazzling beams, so as 
 to invite admiration, to repel the presumptuous approach, 
 and smite with blindness the profane gaze of irreligion 
 finding in its own glory its lustre and defence. If the 
 
224 THE GREAT TEACHEtf. 
 
 church is to attain the fair proportions, and to reach the 
 immortal stature of the body of Christ, let her be fed with 
 the manna which his own hand supplies, and grow as the 
 in-dwelling life shall expand, and be left to the sole guar- 
 dianship of his own grace, and she shall move in her own 
 light, clad in more than complete steel, having the robes of 
 divinity about her, frowning impurity from her path with 
 a look, surprisingcuriosity into blank awe, into involuntary 
 and prostrate adoration by her noble grace and bearing, 
 and passing on in unblenched majesty, she shall perform 
 the heroic works and exploits assigned her by God ; a 
 wonder ! astonishing heaven and earth ; ' a woman, 
 clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and 
 upon her head a crown of twelve stars ;' being adorned 
 with celestial attire, and crowned with light ; instead of 
 seeking to enhance her glory by sublunary ornaments, she 
 evinces her spiritual nobility by treading them under foot. 
 Oh ! had men revered the evident intention of the Great 
 Head of the church : instead of encumbering religion as 
 they have, and weighing her down to the dust with a load 
 of earth-made armor, they would have seen her equipped 
 in the light, but indestructible panoply of grace, advance 
 to her appointed conflict, terrible as a bannered host: car- 
 rying with her the sympathies of the groaning creation, 
 whose champion she is; trampling her enemies under 
 foot, (the earth itself helping her in her straits ;) her weak- 
 ness doing the deeds of might, deeds which omnipotence 
 might own ; gathering up trophies at every step ; and re- 
 turning, at length from the circuit and conquest of the 
 world with a train of willing captives which no one can 
 number, of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people ; and 
 laden with many crowns for him whose strength had resi- 
 ded in her right arm, and who alone had caused her to tri- 
 umph in every place. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY* 225 
 
 4. But the church of Christ, enfeebled and defective as 
 it may be, is that only object on earth, on which he bestows 
 his supreme regard. If his attention is divided, it is only 
 between his church below and his church in heaven ; but 
 in his estimation they are identical, they are only two por- 
 tions of the one object which constitutes in his eyes the 
 glory of the universe. The affairs of the world, indeed, 
 are under his superintendence, but always with an espe- 
 cial view to the prosperity of his church. While he ex- 
 tends his sceptre, and despatches his angels to every part of ' 
 the world, he engages to come personally into the midst of 
 his church, and to honor their prayers and decisions by re- 
 garding them as laws for his own conduct. The church 
 is his mystical body ; and he is present as the vital head, 
 living through all its members. It is the theatre of his 
 grace ; in which he is making experiments of mercy on 
 human hearts, and effecting transformations so amazing 
 that angels look on with astonishment and joy. Here he 
 is training up a number of those who were children of 
 wrath, and preparing them to take part in the business and 
 pleasures of heaven. He has it in prospect to collect a 
 large revenue 6f glory from earth ; and his church is the 
 repository in which all that wealth is stored, preparatory to 
 its full and final display. His appointment of her ordin- 
 ances, the full-souled ardor of his intercessory prayer that 
 she might be with him, one with him forever ; his dona- 
 tion and dowry of the Holy Spirit; his rich and constant 
 supplies of grace ; his watchful jealousy of all the advan- 
 ces of temporal power ; and the encompassing wall of fire 
 into which his perfections kindle for her protection ; a wall 
 which the gates of hell shall not break and enter ; all con- 
 cur to show, that, as the elected bridegroom of the church, 
 he is looking forward to the spousal day, when, having 
 made herself as a bride adorned for her husband, he shall 
 14 
 
226 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 find in her unwrinkled beauty and spotless perfection, the 
 solace and reward of all his love ; and in her full happi- 
 ness the supplement and completion of his own glory. 
 Now he is the centre from which radiates all her splendor, 
 then he shall be the focus to which it shall all return. His 
 voice shall be the only sound to which his church shall 
 listen ; his glory the only object on which her eye shall 
 fasten ; his grace, matchless and untold, the only theme that 
 shall engage her tongue. * Blessed are they who are call- 
 ed unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.' 
 
 SECTION V. ON SATANIC AGENCY, 
 
 1 The Devil and his Angels.' 
 
 ANGELIC agency, both good and bad, is a doctrine fa- 
 miliar to the Old Testament. That part of the doctrine 
 which relates to the ministry of holy arjgels indeed, is 
 there so fully illustrated, that, although the discourses of 
 Christ contain frequent allusions to it, they present so little 
 that is neWi except the conspicuous part they will enact 
 in the solemnities of the last day ; and the fact that they 
 are his ; that the few remarks on the subject we propose to 
 advance, will relate exclusively to ''the devil and his an- 
 gels.' Concerning these, the teaching of Christ is more 
 copious, explicit, and original : as if in compassion to our 
 fears, the full exposure of our danger from hell had been 
 reserved till he could furnish the antidote to those fears by 
 revealing the counteracting agency of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Having assumed the championship of the world, and 
 being confident of ultimate triumph, our Lord did not hes- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 227 
 
 itate to confirm our worst apprehensions of the numbers, 
 and* powers, and malice of our spiritual foes. He opened 
 our eyes, and, behold ! the enemy in full possession of our 
 world. And, as if the seat of the infernal government had 
 been long since transferred from hell to earth, he repeated 
 its princely titles as familiar words, enlarged on its domin- 
 ion, and pointed out its thrones, principalities, and powers. 
 Among these he spoke of one as Satan ; Beelzebub ; a 
 liar ; a murderer from the beginning ; the wicked and evil 
 one ; one who, by trampling on law, had acquired the au- 
 thority of a legislator in guilt : and who, by signalizing 
 himself as the most daring of rebels, had reached the bad 
 pre-eminence of the 'prince of demons.' 
 
 Of the number of his angels we can form only a con- 
 jecture : but the fact, that his * field is the world ;' that he 
 is represented as multiplying himself through their agency 
 over the whole field ; and concurring in, if not actually in- 
 stigating, all the evils which it contains, warrants the con- 
 jecture that they out-number the human race. Let no man, 
 then, hope to escape temptation, through any lack of satan- 
 ic agents. He, w r hose resources enable him to devote a 
 legion to torment a human body, cannot be wanting in in- 
 struments to tempt and destroy the immortal soul. 
 
 Whether sin had ever entered the universe, at any date- 
 less period prior to the angelic apostacy, we know not ; it 
 is certain that we can only trace its history up to that mys- 
 terious event. Speaking of Satan, our Lord declares that 
 * he abode not in the truth ;' once, he possessed a throne 
 where all is radiant with holiness and joy, but he swerved 
 from his allegiance to 'the blessed and only Potentate,' and 
 thus lost his first estate. Together with an unknown mul- 
 titude of associate rebels, he was driven from the presence 
 of God, cut off from the loyal part of the creation, and 
 doomed to be the prey of his own mighty depravity. From 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 that moment he became the avowed antagonist of God; 
 established an infernal empire, and planted the standard of 
 rebellion, around which all the principles and powers of 
 evil might rally and combine. Actuated by that universal 
 law, by which each being and principle seeks to conform 
 all things to its own nature, and stimulated by implacable 
 hatred against God, he no sooner found our world created, 
 than he came to efface from it the image of God and to 
 stamp his own on its breast. In the execution of this 
 dreadful project he succeeded ; meriting by the means 
 which he adopted, and the dreadful results of his success, 
 the titles of liar, the father of lies, and a murderer from 
 the beginning. He impregnated the heart of man with 
 the awful spirit of revolt, and added earth to his infernal 
 empire; involving the whole species in guilt ; introducing' 
 death, (now perhaps first known,) into the dominions of 
 God ; and leading mankind, generation after generation, 
 into the outer darkness of his own proper region. And 
 of all the vast and complicated agency of evil, by which 
 the sinfulness and misery of the world is perpetuated, he is 
 4 the Wicked One,' the Evil, the great efficient cause. His 
 throne is the rallying point, to which all evil looks for re- 
 inforcement and support ; the centre from which flows, and 
 to which gravitates, all evil ; the heart of the great system 
 of guilt. 
 
 The domination which Satan has acquired on earth is 
 called by Christ a kingdom ; in which he possesses, by 
 right of supremacy in guilt, the princely titles, and exer- 
 cises the prerogatives of royalty, Unable to expel God 
 from his throne, and thus succeed to the homage of man ; 
 he had, by a universal system of idolatry, planted his 
 throne between the human worshipper and the Divine Be- 
 ing, intercepting and appropriating the adoration which 
 belonged to God alone, But, in order that earth might 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 229 
 
 not quite forget its rightful Lord, Jehovah was pleased to 
 select a people and erect a temple, expressly for the main- 
 tenance of his true worship. They held their country 
 from God, on the express condition of fealty to his throne. 
 From the moment of that arrangement, Satan may be said 
 to have made a descent on Judea ; its temple was a memo- 
 rial of his tyranny, a standing protest against his usurpa- 
 tion ; its worship, a national proclamation, daily repeated 
 in the name of heaven, of his treason and guilt. At dif 
 ferent times he seems to have put all the forces of his 
 kingdom into motion to bear upon it : for to shut up the 
 temple of God, to seduce the people to idolatry, to erect an 
 idol in the holy place, was to sit on the only throne of God 
 upon earth, was a triumph which could only be exceeded 
 by ascending the throne of heaven. 
 
 For ages previous to the divine advent, the world seem- 
 ed almost entirely his own. His contest for earthly su- 
 premacy, so long disputed by heaven, seemed crowned 
 with success. His vice-regencies and powers sat in the 
 quiet and unchallenged possession of their thrones. No 
 prophet smote them on their lofty seats, or denounced their 
 usurpations: no miracle reminded them of an omnipotent 
 antagonist. The world appeared to be as completely theirs 
 to portion out, and rule at pleasure, as if they held it by 
 grant and seal from God himself, and were appointed to 
 reign in his name. Nor did Judea itself form an excep- 
 tion to this wide infernal sway ; for (short of formal idola- 
 try) it belonged to the universal confederacy, and formed 
 one of the fairest and most faithful provinces of the satanic 
 empire. And, as if to exact a terrible compensation, even 
 for this slight nominal deduction from full allegiance, many 
 of its inhabitants were held as hostages to hell, by a terri- 
 ble system of demoniacal possession. Satan had become 
 'ihe prince of this world,' Wherever he looked the ex- 
 
230 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 panse was his own ; the teeming population were his sub- 
 jects ; the invisible rulers were his selected agents ; temp- 
 tation in his hands had become a science, and sin was 
 taught by rule; the world was one store-house of tempta- 
 tion ; an armory in which every object and event ranked 
 as a weapon, and all classed and kept ready for service ; 
 every human heart was a fortified place ; every demon 
 power was at its post; he beheld the complicated machine- 
 ry of evil, which his mighty malignity had constructed, in 
 full and efficient operation ; no heart unoccupied, no spot 
 unvisited, no agency unemployed ; and the whole resulting 
 in a vast, organized, and consolidated empire. No sooner, 
 therefore, did Jesus begin to attract the attention of Judea, 
 as the * Sent of God,' than he became obnoxious to the ty- 
 rant's hate. In the usurped capacity of the sovereign of 
 the world, the tempter went forth and met him, asking him 
 only to own that sovereignty, and all the kingdoms of the 
 world should be his, and the glory of them- 
 
 But the great object which had brought Christ upon 
 earth was to dispute that sovereignty, to re-assert the orig- 
 inal and supreme rights of God to the alienated homage of 
 mankind, and thus rescue man from the grasp of the De- 
 stroyer. What the enemy reserved as his last and most 
 powerful temptation, the splendid vision of a thousand 
 provinces, was a sight, we may suppose, familiar to the 
 eye of Christ ; though seen by him, alas ! under a far dif- 
 ferent aspect. He beheld in it a scene of woe, which never 
 failed to call forth his profound compassion. On all sides 
 he beheld the blinded victims of satanic cruelty; vast, 
 crowded tracts of spiritual beings, immortal essences, wast- 
 ed, ruined, murdered, lost; a captive world, chained to the 
 wheels of a spoiler, and moving along, (most of them so 
 beguiled, as to be actually pleased with the mock pomp of 
 the gloomy procession,) to endless death. While immedi- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 231 
 
 ntely beneath his eye, in. the very land where he had taken 
 humanity, he saw legions of fiends in actual, bodily pos. 
 session of miserable man. Not satisfied with the evil they 
 could inflict by ordinary temptation, he beheld them con- 
 summating their cruelty by actually incorporating with 
 men ; turning their bodies into living tombs, engrossing and 
 demonizing all their powers, merging the man in the fiend. 
 Yes, man, who had been created in the image of God, be- 
 came 'the habitation of dragons;' his heart the fuel con- 
 sumed by their passions ; his senses and organs, the slaves 
 of their rampant impiety; hell brought to him, and begun 
 in him, upon earth ; an incarnate demon, his features put- 
 ting on the image of the legion within him; what a sight 
 for the Lover of souls ! what a spectacle for infinite good- 
 ness to contemplate! The Saviour beheld, and meditated 
 relief. He made bare his arm, and the unclean spirits fled 
 at his approach. He sent his disciples, first twelve, and 
 then seventy, to traverse the land in all directions ; each of 
 them armed, and charged, to cast out devils ; and again he 
 repeated the charge to his apostles, when on his way to 
 ascend from earth to heaven. t 
 
 When vindicating the character of his power from the 
 imputation of the Pharisees, he affirmed that it was of a 
 nature essentially hostile to Satan, and subversive of his 
 kingdom. While the foresight of the redemption his 
 death would achieve, enabled him to speak of the future as 
 if it had been present, and to say, ' Now is the prince of 
 this world cast out.' The voice of prophecy had declared, 
 * He shall divide the spoil with the strong ;' and, in fulfill- 
 ment of that prediction, he planted himself full in the path- 
 way of the destroyer ; he may be said to have erected his 
 cross in the highway to hell, that he might rescue sinners 
 from the very jaws of perdition. 
 
 Now, as Satan possesses on earth official ubiquity, as he 
 
232 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 4 
 
 is every where present through the medium of his agents, 
 it was not to be supposed that an event so signalized as 
 the advent of Christ would escape his knowledge; or, that 
 being known, it would fail to call forth his jealous vigi- 
 lance and utmost opposition. Knowing, indeed, as we do, the 
 essential dignity of Christ, we might have hoped that, in 
 deference to his purity and majesty, temptation would have 
 retired from his presence, or have laid its baneful activity 
 to sleep ; that the powers of darkness would have left him 
 a free and open passage through the world ; and that his 
 disciples would have found in his hallowed presence a 
 certain shelter from the persecutions of hell. But so far 
 from this, his coming awoke all the original antipathy, the 
 native oppugnancy, of evil against good. He had come 
 into a world in which nothing in human form had ever 
 escaped the pollution of sin ; and he had come here, attested 
 by such signal credentials of a divine commission, that 
 from the hour of his advent, through the whole of his 
 earthly course, Satan appears to have called in his agents 
 from every other pursuit, and to have set them in array 
 against him alone ; turning away from all ignobler prey, 
 he seems to have made him the sole mark for every shaft 
 and weapon of hell. As if the temptation of Christ were 
 too great aq, enterprise, a field too momentous, to be left to 
 the power of a common arm, the prince of darkness him- 
 self, undertook personally to conduct the untried adventure. 
 Having drawn out his forces, and entrenched himself in 
 his way, he came into eager and determined collision with 
 Christ on the very threshold of his public life ; leaving him, 
 to infer, that if he persisted in his intended course, his pro- 
 gress would be disputed, step by step. 
 
 Nor are the eventful narratives of the evangelists want- 
 ing in intimations that the threat was made good. In his 
 own express language, especially as that language is after- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 233 
 
 wards illustrated by the apostles, we can only arrive at 
 one conclusion, that his whole life was a continued conflict, 
 hourly increasing in fierceness and malignity on the part 
 of hell, till it came to the crisis of Calvary. ' The prince 
 of this world cometh,' said he, ' and hath nothing in me.' 
 1 Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.' ' This 
 is your hour, and the power of darkness.' During that 
 dreadful hour, indeed, no foe could be seen by man, but 
 such as the gates of Jerusalem had poured forth.' And it 
 is true, that, had that been the only foe, the enmity of the 
 carnal mind had that day collected and led out her chosen 
 bands from the halls and streets of the city; had assem- 
 bled and crowded around the cross the darjcest elements of 
 human depravity. But the great Foe was invisible. Of- 
 ten had he assailed the life of Jesus before, but as often 
 had he been defeated; it seemed guarded, like the tree of 
 life itself, by a sword which turned every way. But now, 
 at length, his persevering malice seemed crowned with suc- 
 cess : the Saviour was in his toils, and appeared to be aban- 
 doned to his fate: he and his cause would expire in igno- 
 miny together : and mercy, pierced through his side, and 
 chased from the world, would no more return, but would 
 henceforth relinquish man to the undisputed sceptre of 
 hell. 
 
 We cannot but imagine that the thrones and principali- 
 ties of darkness were there to witness the triumph ; that, 
 flocking together from the east and west, the north and 
 south, leaving behind them many an unfinished plot of 
 evil, they came and covered the mount, to celebrate his tri- 
 umph. And could heaven be absent? No, the angels of 
 God, incapable of repose while such an issue was pend- 
 ing, quitted their celestial seats, and surrounded the scene 
 with horses and chariots of fire. Stars in their courses 
 might have fought during that hour, and have been un- 
 
234 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 heeded. It was more than an era; the junction of all the 
 eras of time : the event of that hour was to determine, 
 whether earth should pass entirely into the hands of Satan, 
 or be again recovered into the hand of God : whether the 
 expiring rays of human hope should he quite extinguished 
 in the blood of Christ, leaving the earth in hopeless night ; 
 or, whether his cross should henceforth radiate light and 
 life to the universe: it was to draw to a close the great 
 question, to terminate the comprehensive controversy of all 
 ages between right and wrong, holiness and sin. Hell in- 
 flicted the decisive stroke ; the shock was received and 
 sustained by the heart of the Son of God. Then, and not 
 till then, did the powers of darkness perceive their error : 
 they saw with unutterable dismay, that in bowing his head 
 he was dragging the pillars of their empire to the dust; 
 that he was dying to triumph ; that, in effect, his cross 
 was changing into a throne. He exclaimed, ' It is finish- 
 ed!' and the gates of hell vibrated to the shout. He en- 
 tered into the grave for a short space: there attired him- 
 self in the robes -of triumph ; came forth to receive the 
 gratulation and homage of angels and men ; and ascended 
 to his new mediatorial throne, ' leading captivity captive, 
 and making a show of them openly.' 
 
 It is by no means unlikely that some persons, on corn- 
 paring this statement with the moral condition of the 
 world, may be tempted to think, that, if the death of our 
 Lord is to be viewed as a triumph over hell we greatly 
 overrate its practical results. To such a suspicion it may 
 suffice to reply, that our language is only the echo of 
 scripture, of the declarations of Christ himself. That 
 * we see not yet all things put under him, 7 we readily ad- 
 mit; that a large proportion of thesatanic empire has not 
 yet been even summoned in his name ; and that much of the 
 kingdom which nominally belongs to Christ has not real 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 235 
 
 ly transferred its allegiance from Satan, are facts we deeply 
 deplore. But, first, he distinctly predicted this prolonged 
 activity and power of the enemy. A consideration, 
 secondly, which should induce us to credit his other pre- 
 dictions of perfect triumph in the end. Especially as, in 
 the third place, we recognize in his mediatorial work, all 
 the essential elements of that triumph ; the character of 
 God, which Satan had obscured, made more illustrious 
 than before; the most affecting and decisive proof that 
 God, in punishing sin, is perfectly just and infinitely good ; 
 the dignity and happiness of the creature which Satan had 
 placed in revolt, not only consisting with a state of subjec- 
 tion to God, depending on it; divinity and humanity, 
 which Satan had traduced and represented as antagonist 
 natures, brought into the close embrace and union of one 
 person ; the forgiveness of sin, which the enemy supposed 
 imcompatible with the divine rectitude, made more com- 
 patible with that rectitude than even the punishment 
 of sin would be; new incentives to holiness, and an infi- 
 nite augmentation of every previous motive to resist sin ; 
 and to crown all, the almighty agency of the Holy Spirit, 
 to expel from the heart the strong man armed,' and to en- 
 throne in his stead, ' a stronger than he.' And, fourthly, it 
 appears that, wherever these elements of triumph are 
 brought to bear on the human heart, they infallibly achieve 
 success: demonstrating the glorious superiority of Christ 
 to ' all the power of the enemy,' 
 
 The church which he has formed has been reared in the 
 immediate presence of hell in arms ; every member belong- 
 ing to it is a vassal rescued from the empire of sin ; many 
 of them were once even the pillars of that empire. As 
 the spiritual erection has proceeded, it has been approach- 
 ed by stratagem, and beleagured in form : but it is 4 built 
 on a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 
236 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 it. 7 When the seventy returned to him, saying ' Even the 
 devils are subject to us through thy name,' he received the 
 announcement as matter of course ; his eye had followed 
 them wherever they had gone ; and, surveying futurity as 
 already present, had beheld in their success the earnest of 
 a triumph in which ' Satan should fall like lightning from 
 heaven ;' looking through all the intermediate clouds and 
 storms of time, he gazed complacently, as in sceptred state 
 on the serene atmosphere of the world, purged of all its 
 evil elements, and fit to be breathed by the inhabitants of 
 heaven. When surrounded by circumstances of the deep- 
 est depression, he said, with the calm confidence of majes- 
 ty enthroned with all its rivals at its feet, ' The prince of 
 this world is judged,' 'Now shall he be cast out.' Even 
 then he saw in perspective, the completion of his triumph 
 and beyond : his prophetic ear, even then, caught the dis- 
 tant shout of his redeemed church. He knew, that when 
 he should exclaim, * It is finished,' the powers of darkness 
 would hear in that cry, the knell of their empire; that 
 when his name should be shouted from land to land, as 
 the watchword of salvation, its every echo should shake 
 and bring down the fabrics of that empire. 
 
 And now it is finished, the work of redemption is com- 
 pleted ; all that remains for him to do, is perfectly compat- 
 ible with a state of rest ; 'from henceforth he is expecting 
 till his enemies be made his footstool.' Having foughtthe 
 battle, he has despatched his subjects to pursue the enemy, 
 to win the victory, and collect the spoils. As long, indeed, 
 as this remains unaccomplished, he will not consider his 
 office fulfilled, or his reward complete. As long as a sin- 
 gle principle of evil continues at large, the universe is 
 threatened, the safetyand peace of theSaviour's empire are 
 liable to invasion and revolt; * he must reign till he hath 
 put all enemies under his feet.' Nor, till then, will his 
 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 237 
 
 kingdom be in a state to be * delivered up unto God, even 
 the Father ; he has undertaken, expressly, to ' gather out 
 of it all things that offend, and them that do iniquity ; ' to 
 restore it to a state of purity and perfection worthy to be 
 known as the work of his hands ; fit to be accepted, and in- 
 stated again, as an integral part of his dominions, 'who is 
 of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.' And, as he sits 
 enthroned, with all power in his arm, it is true, that to him, 
 even now, is the prince of this world cast out, and the last 
 enemy destroyed. He beholds the prince of the power of 
 the air already in flight ; followed in disorder by the routed 
 remains of his once gorgeous and imperial state ; thrones, 
 dominations, and powers : the tyranny of six thousand 
 years ; sailing through the air, and fading from the view 
 he looks upon the world, his own world, subdued by love, 
 exorcised of every element and atom of evil ; another 
 heaven; catching, and reflecting, and multiplying his own 
 image, and God is all in all. 
 
 And here we should quit the subject, did we not suspect 
 that certain inquiries have been suggested in the course of 
 the essay, some of which, if left unnoticed, might impair 
 the salutary effect which it might otherwise produce, and 
 all of which admit of a practical application. 
 
 Concerning the nature of the beings of whom we are 
 speaking, we only know that they are spirits ; by which, 
 probably all that is meant is, not that they are absolutely 
 unembodied ; to be only spirit is most likely peculiar to 
 God alone ; but that they are exempt from the gross mate- 
 riality of bodies like our o\vn. By calling them spirits, 
 our Lord would probably remind us of the facility with 
 which they obtain access to our minds, and would put us 
 on our guard against the subtlety of their operations. The 
 circumstance that we are ignorant of the way in which 
 they reach our mind, is no objection whatever to the doc- 
 
238 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 trine that they do reach it ; our incapability of tracing 
 many of our sensible impressions beyond the mere sensa- 
 tion itself, leaves the fact of such impressions unques- 
 tioned. Besides, a priori, we should have thought it more 
 unlikely that matter should act upon mind, that material 
 objects should act on that which seems to have no property 
 in common with them, than that mind should act upon 
 mind, two homogeneous subtances on each other. Yet 
 experience tells us, that the former action is always going 
 on in the process of our mental perceptions; and the latter, 
 we presume, is all that is meant, physically, by Satanic 
 agency: of which, indeed, a counterpart and illustration 
 is to be found, in the action of one human mind upon 
 another. 
 
 Nor is the doctrine invalidated by the objection, that we 
 are unconscious of such extraneous influence ; this only 
 shows the facility with which the Tempter acts, and is the 
 triumph of his art. He so times and modulates his whis- 
 pers, that we mistake them for the voice of our own 
 thoughts : so conceals his agency, that while we fancy we 
 are sailing before the impulse and floating down the stream 
 of our own free volitions, his hand is on the helm; thus 
 flattering our pride, scoffing at our weakness, and steering 
 our destiny at the same time. We ourselves suppose that 
 there is an established order in which our thoughts suc- 
 ceed each other; that detached and promiscuous as they ap- 
 pear to be, they are linked together with all the strength 
 and sequence of a chain, and the principle which thus unites 
 them, we call the principle of suggestion, the law of associa- 
 tion. Now, admitting the existence of such a law, a law 
 common to all minds, like gravity to all matter; operating 
 by mental affinity and attraction it is only to suppose that 
 Satan has mastered this principle : that the result of the 
 experience of many thousand years, in studying the struc- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 239 
 
 ture, watching the movements, and experimenting on the 
 properties of mind is, that he knows the universal bearing 
 and operation of this principle; and what a fearful amount of 
 power, what an immense command over the human mind, 
 Eiay he possess in the knowledge of this principle alone. 
 
 But whatever the grand secret of his dreadful art may 
 he, the strongest language is but barely equal to express 
 the reality of the power which he wields over the mind. 
 He is represented as actually 'entering into the heart;** 
 becoming the gloomy and fearful inmate of the soul; 
 mingling his very essence with the being of a sinner. 
 ' Get thee behind me Satan,' said Christ to Peter, when 
 that apostle acted the part of the Tempter. * And one of 
 you, said he : when speaking of the traitor, ' one of you is 
 a devil.' Evil is no doubt, at times, attributed to Satan, 
 not because he has directly produced it, but because he loves 
 it ; and those who have wrought it have imbibed his spirit, 
 and are employed in his service ; such, therefore, may ap- 
 propriately take their name from him from whom they 
 have derived their nature. 
 
 To excite our most solicitious avoidance of the enemy, as 
 well as to describe his nature, he is repeatedly called, by 
 Christ, an unclean spirit. It is not every unclean thing 
 that offends the sight, while the slightest stain upon some 
 things will excite in us deep dislike; the feeling depends 
 entirely on the nature of the thing, and the purpose to 
 which it is applied. We pass by an unclean stone unno- 
 ticed ; it is unconscious of its state, and was meant to be 
 trampled under foot. But, rising a step higher in the scale 
 of creation, to an unclean plant, we become conscious of a, 
 slight emotion of dislike; because we see that which might 
 have pleased the eye, and have beautified a spot in the crea- 
 tion, disfigured and useless. An unclean animal excites 
 our dislike yet more ; for, instead of proving useful in any 
 
240 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 way, it is merely a moving pollution. Bat an unclean 
 human being excites our loathing more than all : it pre- 
 sents our nature in a light so disgusting-, that it lessens 
 our pity for him, if he be miserable, and excites in us ideas 
 of disease, contamination, and pain. But an unclean spirit! 
 it is loathsome above all things ; it is the soul and essence 
 of pollution; it is the uncleanest object in the universe; 
 it is a spectacle which excites the deep dislike of God 
 himself. His dislike of it is all the more intense, because, 
 originally, it was pure, and capable of making perpetual 
 advances towards divine perfection ; whereas, now, it pre- 
 sents itself to his eye, robbed of all its purity, and defiled 
 in all its powers, a fountain of pollution. It is so utterly 
 unfit for its original employment and state, that the pure 
 and holy God has no alternative, but to banish it from his 
 presence as a spiritual nuisance, and to consign it to the 
 place which he has reserved * for every thing that defileth.' 
 To yield to temptation, then, is to put ourselves into the 
 hands of him with whom contact is contamination : it is to 
 receive into the centre of our being the great spirit of un- 
 cleanness; and to let our own spirits be degraded into the 
 sink of essential pollution. How unspeakably precious to 
 the sinner, sensible of his ingrained defilement, is 'the 
 fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.' 
 
 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walk- 
 eth through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 
 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I 
 came out ; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept 
 and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself 
 seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they 
 enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is 
 worse than the first.' This awful picture of demoniacal 
 possession, is expressly stated, by Christ, to be a parabolical 
 representation of the Jewish nation. But its applicabili* 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 241 
 
 ty to a nation, warrants the propriety of applying it to cer- 
 tain states of the individual sinner. And what an affecting 
 view does it present of the untiring, encroaching 1 , all-en- 
 grossing power of the enemy ! how solemnly does it warn 
 us to resist his first approaches ! Having obtained a lodg- 
 ment in the heart of the ungodly, he consults their vicious 
 taste panders to their depraved appetites, and thus seeks to 
 make himself necessary to their peace. In the sin which 
 most easily besets them he finds his power, and a conven- 
 ient avenue by which he can always command an entrance 
 and a welcome to the inmost chambers of their souls. 
 They arise in the morning, without being able to say 
 whether he will have gained a fresh triumph over them 
 before night or not: they have so often yielded, that they 
 feel it will only depend on whether they are tempted or 
 not : if he comes in the shape of their favorite sin, they will 
 surrender again as a matter of course. They perceive, in- 
 deed, some of the evil consequences which will attend it ; 
 they dread his approach ; they foresee that it will occa- 
 sion them anguish afterwards ; but he has only to appear 
 in the form of the tyrant sin, and they throw themselves 
 prostrate at his feet, while he casts his chain around them 
 once more. From the moment he achieves his first triumph, 
 he seeks to make the heart ' his house ;' till, having trans- 
 muted it into his own nature, though he should go through 
 the whole world seeking rest, he would find none so con- 
 genial as that human house. Circumstances may occur 
 which may induce him for a time to quit his residence. 
 But if during that interval divine grace does not seize the 
 throne of the heart, it will again be reclaimed, and re-en- 
 tered with a large reinforcement of the enemy, and held 
 with a seven-fold power. He will patiently wait if neces- 
 sary, till they have outlived the alarm which led to his 
 withdrawment ; wait till they have passed through every 
 15 
 
242 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 downward stage of fear, doubt, indifference, obduracy, en- 
 mity ; wait for years till he is again solicited to return and 
 resume his power. Then does he avenge his temporary 
 expulsion with fearful rigor. Every faculty of the mind 
 is entered and possessed. The serpent sin coils around 
 the heart, and infixes his fangs, with a power which threat- 
 ens never to unloose. 
 
 Are we disposed to entertain hard thoughts of that ar- 
 rangement of the divine government which permits our 
 exposure to satanic wiles ? It should be enough for us to 
 remember that God will finally justify, not only this, but 
 all his ways to man. This arrangement, however, is only 
 part of that all-encircling mystery the origin of evil so 
 that to notice it here would be gratuitously to misplace it. 
 We will only suggest, therefore, in passing, that the divine 
 Being, in not preventing satanic temptation by the arbi- 
 trary exercise of power, is only acting consistently with 
 the requirements of a moral government ; a government 
 which opposes principle by principle, and not by physical 
 force or coercion; that, as the virtue of good men finds an 
 appropriate sphere for action, and is improved by resisting 
 the influence of the wicked, so it is highly probable the 
 excellence of the holy angels is exercised and advanced by 
 their efforts to counteract the powers of evil ; that the Al- 
 mighty may be considered as doing every thing necessary 
 to vindicate his benevolence, by counterbalancing the agen- 
 cy of the evil, by the activity of his holy angels: while, 
 in superadding to their activity in our behalf, the omnipo- 
 tent aid of his Holy Spirit, he is greatly magnifying his 
 grace; that, in securing the final triumph of that kingdom 
 which embraces all the elements of moral good over that 
 which comprehends every thing of evil, he is entitling 
 himself to an infinite revenue of glory ; and, finally, that 
 a principal ingredient in the happiness of the redeemed, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 243 
 
 will result from a clear and comprehensive survey of those 
 tremendous powers of evil over which they will have tri- 
 umphed. 
 
 In the mean time, it should be borne in mind, that in no 
 instance in which Satan acquires dominion over the sin- 
 ner does he obtain it by force; the means which he em- 
 ploys are perfectly compatible with human freedom ; so that 
 the surrender of the sinner is voluntary, he sells himself 
 to work iniquity. If the enemy sow tares in the field of 
 the church, or of the individual mind, it is done 'while 
 men sleep;' if he 'cometh, and catcheth away the good 
 seed sown in the heart,' it is when the subject of it ' under- 
 starideth it not ;' does not lay his mind to it ; or, if he re-en- 
 ters the soul, after a transient absence, with seven-fold 
 strength, it is only when * he finds his house empty, swept, 
 and garnished,' to welcome his return. The sole secret 
 of his power over us, is to be found in our own depravity; 
 the soul may be ' set on fire of hell,' the live coal may be 
 brought from the infernal fires, but the combustible materi- 
 als were already collected and laid. in the depraved soul. 
 And, accordingly, though our depravity is frequently as- 
 cribed to ' the wicked one,' yet his agency is never alleged 
 as an excuse for our sinfulness, but, on the contrary, as its 
 last aggravation. 
 
 We have already remarked that the days of the reign 
 of Satan are numbered: the chain which is to bind him is 
 forged, and the fires which shall encircle him are already 
 kindled, * the breath of the Lord like a stream of brim- 
 stone hath kindled them.' And the day is appointed when 
 they who have lived his willing slaves shall find them- 
 selves involved in the coils of the same chain, and envelop- 
 ed in the same penal fires. The Judge of all ' shall say un- 
 to them on his left hand, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting 
 fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' Those who 
 
244 THE GREAT TEACHER, 
 
 have tempted, and they who have embraced temptation 
 are the two classes which comprise all the pollution in the 
 universe; as such, the besom of destruction shall sweep 
 them together into one place ; as the refuse of sin, the nui- 
 sance and leavings of the creation, Gehenna, the recepta- 
 cle of all the elements of pollution, shall enlarge its capa- 
 cious bosom to receive them ; where, as the appropriate 
 fuel of almighty wrath, they shall ' burn together, and 
 none shall quench them.' 
 
 SECTION VI. OF THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL; 
 
 RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 
 
 1 1 am the resurrection and the life.' 
 
 THAT question in religion which takes precedence of 
 every other ; the existence of God excepted ; and which 
 gives character and importance to them all, is the ancient 
 inquiry, entailed \vith unabated interest on each succeed- 
 ing generation, * If a man die, shall he live again ?' In 
 dependent of revelation if indeed any of the human race 
 have ever been quite independent of it men have gener- 
 ally anticipated a future existence, as a doctrine harmoniz- 
 ing with their desires and wants, and with the character of 
 a righteous moral governor. The instinctive horror with 
 which the soul recoils from the thought of annihilation ; 
 its ardent longing after a perpetuity of life, and its strong 
 presentiment of it ; its constant progress in knowledge and 
 power up to the moment of death ; its capability of ab- N 
 stracting itself from this world, and conceiving of univep 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 245 
 
 sal natures, and nobler states of being; the prodigality 
 with which it lavishes its great powers on unworthy ob- 
 jects, owing to the inadequacy of every thing earthly to 
 engage them ; the necessity of the hope of immortality to 
 develope and give scope to its latent powers ; and the prin- 
 ciples and design of a moral government, in punishing sin 
 and rewarding virtue ; these considerations are so many 
 steps by which men have emerged from the sepulchre, as- 
 cended the throne, and, in hope, seized the crown of im- 
 mortality. Now throughout the kingdom of animated 
 nature, wherever an organ or faculty is to exist character- 
 istic of the species to which it belongs, a kind of pre-as- 
 surance is given, a practical anticipation that it will, by 
 and by, be developed : nor is this prophecy ever falsified. 
 The most perfect human being is, at best, in this world, 
 nothing more than an unfinished sketch of humanity ; a 
 creature full of these pre-assurances and anticipations of 
 future development, and final perfection : unless, then, his 
 instincts and essential principles are a splendid false- 
 hood ; unless the divine signatures impressed on his na- 
 ture be a forgery, a grave imposture, unless humanity it- 
 self be a lie, a deep-laid conspiracy against all right and 
 happiness, we are warranted in the hope of immortality. 
 Under the government of a righteous Being, we naturally 
 look for an illustration of his character in his works ; we 
 ponder the volume of nature, and find it to contain one vast 
 and compacted argument for the divine perfections ; but 
 deny to man a future existence, and the argument is flaw- 
 ed, and the character of God which it professes to vindi- 
 cate, stands impeached. 
 
 We, however, who enjoy the light of the gospel, are lia- 
 ble to over-rate the argument derived from nature, and to 
 forget that, to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of 
 death, nothing short of a divine revelation can give to the 
 
246 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 hope of immortality stability and repose. For, in that 
 consciousness of guilt which is common to all mankind, a 
 suspicion arises in the rnind that the natural course and or- 
 der of things have been deranged, a shadow of uncertainty 
 comes over our best reasoned speculations, and we feel 
 at a loss to say what course the king of a boundless em- 
 pire may see fit to pursue towards the rebellious subjects 
 of an insignificant province. Here the opinions of a Soc- 
 rates, and a Plato, of a Cicero and a Seneca, though often 
 quoted, are only, at best, the conflicting conjectures of 
 minds alternating between hope and fear. They beheld 
 with dismay, the human race walking in gloomy proces- 
 sion to the grave: and, as they saw them disappear in the 
 land of shadows, they sought with strained and untiring 
 gaze, to follow their steps and learn their fate ; and had 
 not revelation come to our aid, their opinions would have 
 deserved respect, and would have often passed the lips of 
 the dying in the stead of truths. But they themselves 
 were conscious of distressing doubt : while, at one time, 
 they spoke as from the skies : at another, they uttered the 
 language of the sepulchre ; according as hope or fear 
 was the oracle of the moment. 
 
 Revelation authenticates the hope, and fulfills the obscure 
 predictions, of this great instinct of humanity and endless 
 existence. It did so, partially, under the Jewish dispensa- 
 tion: at one time, darkly hinting the doctrine, to magnify 
 the hopes or fears of men ; and, at another, pourtraying it 
 in definite forms, to engage their faith : now, dispatching a 
 messenger from the unseen world; and, now, clothing a 
 prophet with the terrors of an unearthly visitant, and plant- 
 ing him in their way to bring them to a stand by warning 
 them of a fearful something beyond. But the light which 
 it held over the sepulchre flickered, did not burn so strong 
 but that it might have been extinguished by the deadly va- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 247 
 
 pors of the tomb : and hence the views of his disciples wa- 
 vered also ; sometimes speaking in tones of depression, as 
 if their whole horizon were the walls of a charnel-house ; 
 at other times by a kind of lofty divination peculiar to the 
 wise and good of every age, (for every good man is in a 
 sense a prophet,) making near approaches to the truth ; 
 anticipating revelations reserved for after times : and then, 
 again, seizing their harp, and singing their triumphant 
 song, as if their immortality had already begun. 
 
 But the full revel'ation and proof of the doctrine of a 
 future state were reserved to grace the mission 'of him who 
 in his own person, is 'the way, the truth, and the life.' 
 We do not, indeed, conceive these to have been the chief 
 or specific design of his advent ; though it is a part of the 
 glory of that design that it includes them : * he hath 
 brought life and immortality to light by the gospel.' If 
 he found them problems, he left them anxioms ; promoted 
 them to the rank of postulates in his system of truth ; 
 made them the basis of the whole Christian fabric. Hea- 
 then philosophy halted at the grave; ancient revelation ac- 
 companied its disciples a little beyond, conducting them 
 into Sheol, Hades, the unknown state; Christianity comes 
 to our aid in the very moment of desertion, stands to receive 
 us at the very place of parting with every other religion, 
 graciously approaches and offers its guidance up to the 
 throne of God. If, prior to the coming of Christ, the doc- 
 trine of immortality was undefined and unsubstantial ; if, 
 like the spectral phantom of Eliphaz, the believer could 
 only say of it, ' It passed before my face : it stood still ; but 
 I could not discern the form thereof : ' he may be said to 
 have embodied the truth, to have fashioned and imperson- 
 ated it in his own own glorious body. Having rolled 
 away the stone from the sepulchre of human hope, he in- 
 vites us to look in and instead of the dust, and darkness, 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 and loathsomeness proper to the grave, we behold the lin- 
 en clothes lying by themselves ' the apparel of the prison- 
 house vacated and left and angels in white sitting to re- 
 assure our hope, and point us to the skies. 
 
 I. In naming the most original features of our Lord's 
 teaching on this subject, the first, in order, is the doctrine 
 of an intermediate state. Pre-supposing the immateriality 
 and immortality of the soul, he frequently employed lan- 
 guage which denotes the active existence of the soul be- 
 tween death and the resurrection. ' Fear not them,' said 
 Christ to feis disciples ; * fear not them who kill the body, 
 but are not able to kill the soul.' Then the soul and the 
 body are distinct existences : the body may be slain, and 
 yet the soul escape. But insensibility would be virtual 
 destruction to the soul ; for we cannot conceive how a 
 thinking being can be more destroyed than by losing the 
 power of thought: then the soul will not cease to think. 
 But the only reason, why the soul is indestructible by 
 man, must be its immateriality ; the body he can destroy, 
 for that is material; and if the soul resulted from any sub- 
 tilization, juxta-position, or combinations of brute atoms, 
 that could be apprehended, burnt, divided, exhausted, ex- 
 ploded, destroyed also. But, no, saith Christ, ' it is not de- 
 structible by man.' The suicide has no weapon with 
 which he can reach the soul. Persecution, though it has 
 taxed its ingenuity to the utmost, and has called in the in- 
 ventive aid of him who is a murderer from the beginning, 
 has failed to devise any instrument with which it could 
 seize and torment the soul: has felt and inwardly cursed 
 its impotence, that in consuming the body of its victim, it 
 was actully releasing the immortal soul. The soul has 
 nothing to do with death ; if persecution will have the 
 body, the soul surrenders it, leaves it behind, drops it in the 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 249 
 
 grave and passes on to immortality. Indeed, had the con- 
 trary sentiment prevailed, there is reason to conclude that 
 Christianity would have had a much smaller number of 
 martyrs to boast; they would have shrunk from death, not 
 to avoid the physical suffering, but the loss they were call- 
 ed to sustain, the dreary suspension of all the enjoyments 
 the gospel had brought them ; that would have given to 
 death a new sting. Bat the fearful apprehension never 
 seems to have visited their minds. A primary article in 
 their martyr-creed was this; 'Absent from the body, pres- 
 ent with the Lord.' They felt that their noblest life had 
 its root in heaven ; that their spiritual existence .was ' hid 
 with Christ in C4od ; ' was seated high up, beyond reach, 
 jnthe very fountain and summit of creation. At thought 
 of this, the apparatus of death became consecrated in their 
 eyes, as the means of their admission to his presence ; the 
 instruments of torture glowed with a glory reflected from 
 his throne ; the flames were chariots of fire to convey them 
 in triumph to their appointed thrones. 
 
 The doctrine of an intermediate existence is recognised 
 by Christ, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus : 
 where we learn that the former, dying, lifted up his eyes, 
 being in torment ; while the latter was straightway con- 
 veyed, by angels, to Abraham's bosom. Spirits are evoked 
 by Christ, from heaven and hell, to attest an intermediate 
 state. He would have us to read the doctrine by the lurid 
 glare of infernal flames, and by the radiance of a celestial 
 vision. He taught it also in the light which he flashed 
 on the divine declaration, ' I am the God of Abraham, and 
 the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob : ' v God,' said he, 
 * is not the God of the dead, but of the living.' The Al- 
 mighty had uttered this three hundred years after the 
 death of AbraHam : now, whatever relation he may sus- 
 tain to the lifeless body, and to the inanimate creation at 
 
250 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 large, he can only be said to be a God to the living soul. 
 On the former he can only bring to bear his natural at- 
 tributes, can only exercise mechanical power; while on the 
 latter, he can turn the full aspect of his moral perfections, 
 can bring his transcendental attributes, the peculiar glory 
 of his character, can bring all his nature into active com- 
 munication with theirs. Whatever he may do to mere 
 matter, he does to an unconscious object, to a thing which 
 can return him no look of gratitude, no expression of affec- 
 tion ; while the soul finds its heaven in his smile, and he 
 beholds the reflection of his image in its face. Wherefore, 
 1 he is not ashamed to be called its God : ' by which we are 
 to understand that he glories to be called so ; he tells it to 
 the universe; boasts of the relationship ; is willing to be 
 judged of by his treatment of his spiritual offspring ; is pre- 
 pared to rest his claims to universal homage on the glorious 
 provision to which he brings them in heaven ; is so satisfied 
 with that illustration of his excellence which he beholds in 
 the present condition of the spirits of just men made per- 
 fect, that, could we see their blessedness, he would be con- 
 tent to be known only as their God ; and accordingly, one 
 of the titles which he has adopted, and graven on his crown 
 of light, informs us that he is * the Father of Spirits.' 
 
 Another declaration of Christ, to the same import, is his 
 memorable reply to the expiring malefactor, 'Verily, I say 
 unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise,' The 
 sense of this passage has been made by some, indeed, to 
 turn on a question of punctuation. But receiving it in its 
 general acceptation ; the only acceptation we apprehend, 
 which common sense will ratify; we learn from it the ca- 
 pability of the soul to exist independently of the body ; the 
 instant transition of the soul, at death, to the state adapted 
 to its moral character ; and the fact, that it there immedi- 
 ately enters on its endless portion. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 251 
 
 II. The resurrection of the body was a dogma already 
 familiar to the Jews ; but this doctrine our Lord illustrated, 
 amplified, and confirmed. Aware that it formed the key- 
 stone of Christianity, he may be said to have labored out 
 the proof of it till he brought it to demonstration. * Ye do 
 err,' said he to the Sadducees, who denied a resurrection, 
 'not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. 5 
 Here, first, he dismisses the question of its possibility by 
 placing it at once in the hands of omnipotence. Secondly, 
 he places around the doctrine a guard of divine declara- 
 tions ; thus reminding us, that if God has said the dead 
 shall be raised, the event is as certain as if it had already 
 occurred and become matter of history. And, thirdly, 
 he alleges as a reason for the event, the relation which 
 God sustains to his people ' he is their God ; and is 
 bound, therefore, by a pledge voluntarily given, to do eve- 
 ry thing for them essential to their well-being : but the res- 
 toration of their bodies is essential to the integrity of their 
 nature; then his faithful-ness is pledged to restore them. 
 Besides, he is the God of the living ; but a constituent 
 part of their nature is held in captivity by death, then to 
 vindicate his title as their God, he must effect the redemp- 
 tion of the body, and replenish it, in common with the soul, 
 with immortal life. Agreeably to this declaration, the Sav- 
 iour elsewhere affirms, ' This is the Father's will who hath 
 sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose 
 nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.' He 
 was commissioned by the Father to accomplish the work 
 of redemption, in a manner worthy of him whose peculiar 
 distinction it is, that * his work is perfect.' He holds him- 
 self responsible, therefore, for the re-production of the bo- 
 dies of all his people : he has set his seal upon each of their 
 graves ; and, of all that he holds in trust, he declares that 
 he will lose, not merely not one, but ' nothing' not a frac- 
 

 252 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 lion, not a particle essential to one of the bodies of his 
 saints. During the short period that he himself remained 
 in the grave, he held his person dishonored by the bond- 
 age; and, till the morning of the resurrection arrive, he 
 regards his people as dishonored ; the completion of his 
 engagement, and the perfection of his reward, require that* 
 * of all which have been given him he should lose nothing} 
 But our Lord did not limit his proof of a resurrection to 
 words ; he proceeded to demonstrate the truth by an ap- 
 peal to our senses. On one occasion, he released an indi- 
 vidual whom death had just made his prisoner. On an- 
 other occasion, he met the king of terrors at the gate of a 
 city, conveying a victim to the grave; and he arrested his 
 march, and reclaimed the prey. And, on a third time, he 
 brought Lazarus forth from the grave, who had been dead 
 four days. On that occasion, he had intentionally delayed 
 to interfere, that the process of decomposition might com- 
 mence; he had given to death every possible advantage; 
 he had voluntarily kept away, till death should be in full 
 possession ; till the monster had not merely seized his vic- 
 tim, but had retired with him into the gloomy dominions 
 of the grave, till he had there closed and barred up the en- 
 trance, and fortified himself, as in a strong hold, which none 
 should dare to assail, and where he might reign secure. 
 But Jesus summoned the citadel of death, broke open the 
 enclosure of the grave, and with a voice which compelled 
 submission, demanded, and restored to life, his deceased 
 friend. 
 
 And then, to complete and consummate the proof of a res- 
 urrection, he himself arose from the dead. The way in 
 \vhichthatgrand event demonstrates the doctrine of our 
 resurrection is this he came into the world in the high 
 capacity of the Son of (Sod, and the Saviour of mankind. 
 In that capacity he proclaimed, that, having provided sal- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. %DO 
 
 vation for the human race, he would come again when his 
 plans of mercy were completed, to raise the dead and to 
 judge the world. To prove that he was what he claimed 
 to be, and that he would fulfil what he predicted, he announ- 
 ced, that he himself would arise from the dead on the 
 third day after his decease. ' Then said Jesus unto them, 
 When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know 
 that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my 
 Father hath taught me, I do these things.' ' Destroy this 
 temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.' He 
 descended into the dreary domains of death ; disappeared 
 in the valley of the shadow of death ; and for a time a 
 darkness deeper than that which enwrapped the earth at 
 his crucifixion seemed settling down on the prospects of 
 mankind, and turning his tomb into the grave of immortali- 
 ty. But on the morning of the appointed day, he came 
 forth as he had said, stood at the mouth of the sepulchre, 
 radiant with immortality, planted the banner of hope on the 
 citadel of death, and called on the world to behold and 
 share in his triumph. Then he is the Son of God ; then 
 he will come again to raise the dead : here are the unde- 
 niable stamp and seal of heaven that all his representations 
 of the last great day were true, and will certainly be veri- 
 fied. 
 
 III. Among the numerous additions which he made 
 to our knowledge of the doctrine in question, we may 
 name, first, the fact, that he himself will raise the dead. 
 4 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour 
 is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice 
 of the Son of God : and they that hear shall live.' Wheth- 
 er this prediction related to the approaching resurrection 
 of Lazarus and others, or to the ti$e of spiritual life which 
 was about to flow through the world in the diffusion of the 
 gospel, is uncertain, Perhaps, indeed, his comprehensive 
 
254 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 mind may have looked forward to both ; it is evident, how- 
 ever, that the sublimity of the prediction, and the solemni- 
 ty of the asseveration with which he prefaced it, awoke 
 in the minds of many of his hearers, vast and awful ideas 
 of some impending event, ideas which impressed marks 
 of astonishment on their anxious countenances. Remark- 
 ing that astonishment, perceiving, by their eager and at- 
 tentive looks, that they were now prepared to receive a still 
 more stupendous announcement, he continued, * Mavel not 
 at this;' 'I perceive that what I have already said has 
 filled you with wonder, and well it might ; but attend and 
 you shall hear still greater things than these ; for the hour 
 is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall 
 hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done 
 good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done 
 evil unto the resurrection of damnation.' There was a 
 time when no life existed ; when the earth, just brought 
 into being, presented one universal blank, no vital motion, 
 no breathing life upon it. But he spake, and it was done ; 
 for his word is the seed of universal nature, the principle 
 of all life. His fiat went forth, and instantly whole orders 
 of sentient beings sprang into happy existence. His 1 good- 
 ness opened, and burst forth in a creation ; and earth was 
 made the receptacle of his vast overflowing life. His voice 
 was heard; and forthwith the surface of the earth teemed 
 and overflowed with an ocean of living forms. * But by 
 one man sin entered into the world, and death, by sin, and 
 so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned P 
 Since that tremendous catastrophe death has reigned upon 
 earth ; there is no reason to believe that his ravages are 
 known in any other part of the dominions of God ; this 
 is his native seat and throne; here he keeps court and re- 
 gal state ; God has been constantly replenishing the world 
 with new life ; but in every age, death has swept and cleared 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 255 
 
 the stage, has thrown a pall over each generation, has not 
 allowed the grave to be closed, the hatchment of the world 
 to be taken down for a moment, has carried every thing 
 before him. We and oar contemporaries are the few sur- 
 vivors of the myriads that have fallen, the children of the 
 slain, and we shall soon be added to the number. Oh, 
 could we see the numberless victims, which have fallen 
 beneath his stroke accumulated together, we should behold 
 a mountain of mortality towering to the skies ; but he has 
 hid them all in the dust, has conveyed them all away to 
 his subterraneous caverns, his ever-enlarging prison of 
 the grave. 
 
 Now it was not fit that death should thus reign : though 
 we, indeed, had deserved to be left in his eternal posses- 
 sion, yet it did not comport with the benevolent designs and 
 glory of God, that death should be thus allowed to enjoy 
 an undisturbed triumph, over the work of his hands. He 
 therefore, who at first had peopled the earth with living 
 beingvS, again returned to survey the scene, to check the 
 career of death, to repair the waste and ravages which 
 death had made. And, oh! what a mournful sight pre- 
 sented itself to his eyes ; a pestilential element breathed 
 by death over the whole creation, withering all nature, 
 causing the entire universe of being to languish, and droop, 
 and perish ; the world, his world, which was meant to be 
 the pleasant habitation of his creatures, turned into their 
 grave ; the shadow of death settled down upon all, and en- 
 wrapping it like a funeral pall signifying that all was his. 
 What a pitiable spectacle stretched beneath his view ! For, 
 remember, he surveyed the whole at one comprehensive 
 glance ; mothers weeping for their children, and refusing 
 to 1 e comforted because they were not ; every where groups 
 of mourners collected, weeping over those whom death 
 had seized, bound, and made captive in their presence; 
 
*50 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 long processions of bereaved relatives, following the car of 
 death as if to grace his triumph, and uttering their lamen- 
 tations in their march to the grave : on all sides, the tro- 
 phies of death, erected in the shape of tombs, and sepulchres 
 and monumental stones. What must have been his emo- 
 tions, as the Lord of life and pity, as he walked the field 
 of death, this place of skulls ! What were his emotions ? 
 Did he not show what they were by his conduct ? l He 
 healed all manner of sickness, and all manner of diseases 
 among the people ;' in other words, he defeated the de- 
 signs of death ; drew out the arrows which death had infix- 
 ed, and healed the wounds they had made. Even, had he 
 done nothing to redeem the world, his visit would, still 
 have been an era in the annals of mortality ; the Lord of 
 life walking through the regions of death. No wonder 
 the sick and the dying came flocking, and fell down at his 
 feet; no wonder they besought him to shelter and save 
 them from the monster which even dared to chase them 
 into his presence. And did he not save them? he healed 
 them all ; death paused, and stood rebuked in his presence; 
 found himself overmatched; discovered, for the first time, 
 that there was one mightier than he. And had all the 
 world brought out their sick and their dying, Christ could 
 have healed them all ; thus famishing death ; thus creating 
 a hiatus in the revenues of death. Nor was this all : he 
 called some back into life again; and humbled the power 
 of death by compelling him to relinquish his prey. 
 
 Do we ask what his feelings must have been as he tra- 
 versed this Golgotha, this land of death? ( Jesus wept !' 
 yes, he stood and wept! And as he wept, he resolved to 
 remedy and to save. He advanced to the very gates of death 
 and proclaimed with a voice which went pealing and echo- 
 ing through all the dominions of death, and made even 
 the throne of the king of terrors vibrate and tremble, ' '. 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 257 
 
 am the resurrection and the life ; ' * I will be known as the 
 antagonist of death ; let my actions prove it ; ' Lazarus, 
 come forth; and he that was dead came forth.' There, 
 said Christ, ' He that believeth in me, though he were dead 
 yet shall he live.' ' That is only a specimen of my de- 
 signs. I am the great principle of life ; if I choose, I could 
 now raise all the dead ; I could end the reign of death at 
 once; I have only to speak, and all the dead would recog- 
 nize my voice, and start into life; but wisdom requires me 
 to forbear ; this is meant as an instance of my power, a 
 sample of my designs.' * Marvel not at this therefore ; for 
 the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves 
 shall hear the voice of the Son of man and shall come 
 forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of 
 life ; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of 
 damnation.' 
 
 IV. In opposition to the Pharisees the principal sect 
 at that time among the Jews who taught that the resur- 
 rection would be partial, being confined to the bodies of 
 the just, our Lord taught that it would be general. God 
 works by laws, and laws operate universally : every ac- 
 tion, and every atom in the universe has its own law; is 
 impressed with certain qualities, or endued with certain 
 powers which operate with all the certainty of a law. It 
 was the appointment of God, that the sin of the first Adam, 
 as the federal head of the human race, should bring in a 
 law of death, and the law has acted universally all have 
 died. It is equally his appointment, that the mediation of 
 the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, standing in the 
 same federal relation, should bring in a law of life; he 
 was pleased to endue it and impress it with this vital pro- 
 perty or law ; and unless it should meet with counteraction 
 from a mightier law, which is impossible, it must act uni- 
 16 
 
2^0 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 versally. 'As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive.' It is the perfection of a law, that it includes 
 all possible cases that may occur, and has relation to an 
 infinite number of cases that never will exist ; so that, had 
 the actual numbers of the human race been multiplied 
 ten thousand-fold, the law of death would have swept them 
 all into the grave; and, ' the law of life in Christ Jesus/ 
 would, with an operation co-extensive, have revived them 
 again. ' All that are in the grave, shall hear his voice 
 and shall come forth.' 
 
 Besides, it should be remembered, that the resurrection 
 is not a final act ; it is to take place in subserviency to the 
 divine purposes of retribution ; so that the principles of the 
 holy government of God require that it should be univer- 
 sal. Less than the resurrection of all would not satisfy 
 the claims of the righteous Judge. Were one of his peo- 
 ple to be lacking, his mercy could not be satisfied ; his 
 mystical body would be maimed and deficient in an essen- 
 tial member. Were one of the ungodly to be absent, his 
 justice could not be satisfied. Whether good or evil, all 
 will be raised; every age, every nation, every family, every 
 individual of all the posterity of Adam. Death shall be 
 abolished and swallowed up in victory. Not only shall 
 its operation be arrested, its ravages stopped, but all the 
 victims which it has seized from the beginning of time shall 
 be reproduced and restored. It shall behold all the or- 
 ganized materials which it had dissolved, and scattered, 
 and trampled in the dust, and labored to efface from the 
 creation, collected and surrounded, and acted upon on all 
 sides with a principle of life ; and rising, as from a sleep, 
 clothed with incorruption. It shall behold its empire van- 
 ish in a moment, by the insurrection of all its subjects arm- 
 ed with immortality. Many of the greatest empires of 
 antiquity are not only extinct and their boundaries effaced, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 259 
 
 but even the seat of their power is only 10 be known by 
 colored dust in the desert, or by colored sand washed up 
 by the waves of a stormy sea ; but of the empire of death, 
 not a vestige shall be left ; not a particle of dust, if search- 
 ed for, shall remain for its memorial : life, an ocean of 
 victorious life, shall overflow and swallow it up. 
 
 V. We may also infer from the teaching of our Lord, 
 that the bodies raised will be identical with those commit- 
 ted to the grave. ' They that are in the graves shall come 
 forth.' * Of all that the Father hath given me, I will lose 
 nothing, but will raise it up at the last day.' Indeed, the 
 very term resurrection implies this identity ; otherwise, 
 the bodies produced in the last'day w r ould be, not a resur- 
 rection, but a creation, like that of the first man. And the 
 design of the resurrection requires it; the purposes of 
 justice demand that the beings, who shall then appear in 
 judgment, should be the identical beings who have been 
 here on probation. To the objection of the sceptic, that 
 the rapid waste and supply of our animal frame, the suc- 
 cession of bodies we may be said to inhabit, renders this 
 identity inconceivable, we deem it sufficient to reply in 
 the language of Christ, ' Ye do err, not knowing the scrip- 
 tures, nor the power of God.' It should however abate 
 his confidence, if not entirely silence the objector ; that, 
 on his principle, neither punishments nor rewards could 
 be justly dispensed, even in this life ; since the material 
 structure changes so rapidly, that in the lapse of a few 
 years not a particle of the primitive body remains. He 
 would not think of asserting, we presume, that he himself 
 is not now the identical individual he was at the time of 
 his birth : that the decrepit body of the aged debauchee is 
 suffering unjustly for the intemperance of his youthful 
 frame; that it would be unrighteous to punish the murder- 
 er for a crime which he perpetrated when his body was 
 
260 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 composed of other particles; or, that he himself, in conse- 
 quence of a similar change, has no title to property left him 
 a few years ago. His common sense protects him from 
 such absurdities in the affairs of this life; and we will 
 leave him to assign to himself a reason, if he can, why it 
 should desert him only in the province of religion ; let him 
 say, what is the interpretation to be put on the conduct of 
 him who reserves all his hostility for religion, and who 
 evinces that ^ostility by availing himself of weapons which 
 he would not stoop to employ against any other object. 
 But among the various triumphs of the resurrection-day, 
 one will be the triumph of common sense; and let him re- 
 member that, even while he has been cavilling, and we re- 
 plying, the hour of retribution has come nearer; and that 
 the indestructible principle of conscience, the principle 
 which runs through our being, giving continuity and identi- 
 ty to that being, through an eternity of existence, has actual- 
 ly gathered strength while we have been thus communing, 
 and increased its store of materials for future joy or woe. 
 
 VI. We have already shown that the doctrine of im- 
 mortality is not distinctive of the Christian system ; it is, 
 we think, equally clear, that the honor of describing the na~ 
 ture, and providing the means of a resurrection to everlast- 
 i?ig happiness is peculiar to Christ alone. Blind to the fact 
 of their departure from God, numbers are satisfied with 
 believing the bare immortality of their nature ; here their 
 inquiries terminate ; the happiness of that nature they take 
 for granted as a matter of course ; they confound existence 
 with enjoyment ; an error this which many a heathen 
 would have blushed to own. Though sitting in the shad- 
 ow of death, they were sufficiently enlightened to perceive 
 that an immortality of misery is quite as possible to sinful 
 creatures as an eternity of bliss ; they would have regard- 
 ed him, who should have brought to them the proof of im- 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 261 
 
 mortality, as conferring a very equivocal boon, unless he 
 could also sow that immortality with the seeds of happiness ; 
 and henc.e, while they labored to demonstrate a future state, 
 decidedly the greater part of their endeavors were directed 
 to the task of exploring the character and will of the Di- 
 vinity, and of descrying the nature of the regions beyond 
 the grave, with a view to provide for their future enjoyment. 
 Now, while the teaching of Christ pre-supposes the im- 
 mortality of the soul, to him belongs the grand distinction 
 of having proved the resurrection of the body, and provid- 
 ed for the endless happiness of the whole man in heaven. 
 Had he not made this essential provision, his instructions 
 would only have illuminated the darkness of the world, 
 as with flames ascending from the bottomless pit, would 
 only have painted more dreadful colors on the gloom 
 which has gathered around the seat of the Invisible ; and 
 he himself might be reproached as tormenting us before 
 our time ; but, having made our happiness and our immor- 
 tality consistent and co-extensive, what can equally deserve 
 our attention with the way in which he has ' brought it to 
 
 light.' 
 
 1. By this essential divinity he possesses the power of 
 defeating death, and of opening to the soul unbounded re- 
 sources of pure and eternal enjoyment. He declared that 
 ' he has life in himself, so that he can quicken whom he 
 will.' ' I,' said he, ' am the resurrection and the life.' * I 
 
 am the life.' This is language appropriate to the 
 
 Deity alone: for life, properly speaking, inhabits none 
 besides. Life in him is essence ; but of the highest creat- 
 ed beings it can only be said that they live, that they are 
 the offspring, the dependent recipients of his essence. 
 However large their capacities, and replenished with life, 
 still they are infinitely nearer to nothing, than to absolute 
 and essential life. So that he < who only hath immortality,' 
 
262 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 though he hath surrounded himself with an universe of 
 life, still retains to himself the prerogative of swearing, 
 As I live. ; and of announcing, / am ; and, I am life ; he 
 only hath immortality in its fulness and essence ; and all 
 the oceans of vitality circulating through the universe take 
 their rise in him, * with whom is the fountain of life ;' * he 
 filleth all in all.' But if it belongs to him alone to say, ' I 
 am life,' when surrounded 'by 1 * the living creatures,' the 
 princes of immortality above, with what a heightened em- 
 phasis could he repeat it in this region of death ; here, 
 where life was always conditional, and in jeopardy from 
 the first ; here, where comparatively a very small portion 
 of being had been distributed at first ; where that little had 
 been invaded, forfeited, wasted; where death was actually 
 in full possession. He came into a land of sepulchres ; 
 found himself standing in a grave, with death for a com- 
 panion laboring to tread out and trample in the dust the last 
 spark of human life. And, lifting himself up into an atti- 
 tude of supreme dignity, he said with a voice which is 
 still echoing through the subterranean realms of death, ' I 
 am the resurrection and the life.' ' I am the ark in which 
 all the life is contained that shall finally issue to people a 
 world now deluged with death. From me proceeds all 
 the redundancy of life at this moment replenishing the 
 universe; and I will cause a stream of vitality Jo set in 
 and flood the earth.' 
 
 2. But power and right are distinct things, and, among 
 men, are frequently opposed to each other. It is however 
 the glory of Him who can do all things, that he does only 
 that which is right ; that his power waits on his justice, 
 and takes law from infinite rectitude. Now he had pro- 
 nounced it right that man should die ; how then can he 
 reverse the sentence without impeaching its rectitude, and 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 263 
 
 appearing to judge himself? And yet Jesus asserts to 
 himself the right of restoring the dead to life, selects for 
 himself a title descriptive of- this work, and demands to 
 be known by it, as his most honorable and favorite ap- 
 pellation. 
 
 The problem is solved, when we hear him affirm that 
 he had come to give his life a ransom for many ; that, as 
 the good shepherd, he proposed to lay down his life for 
 the sheep. Death was the punishment of transgression ; 
 it was in perfect accordance- with right that the penalty 
 should be inflicted, in order that holiness might be protect- 
 ed, that sin might be discouraged, and that the divine 
 determination to maintain the law and order of his govern- 
 ment might be emphatically proclaimed. If however, an 
 expedient can be devised by which all these ends can be 
 equally answered, without the infliction of the penalty, 
 right will be satisfied, and concede the exemption. That 
 expedient is found in the incarnation and death of the Son 
 of God. By voluntarily stooping from his glory, assuming 
 our nature, and suffering before the eyes of the universe, 
 all that humanity, sustained by divinity, could endure, he 
 has answered the very ends which our punishment would 
 have secured, and infinitely more ; he has placed the hate- 
 fulness of sin, and the holiness of God, in a focus of light 
 which will make itself to be seen by every eye ; he has 
 at once, inflicted a death-blow on the power of sin, given 
 a triumph to justice, secured life, eternal life to man ; and 
 distinguished an attribute which would have been for ever 
 eclipsed had justice taken its original course, the attribute 
 of Infinite Love. The nature of his reward was determin- 
 ed, pre-determined, by the nature of his work ; he died, in 
 order to exempt us from death. Having received his re- 
 ward, having purchased us out of the hands of offended 
 justice, and made us his own property, he may now em- 
 
264 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ploy the right he has acquired in us as he pleases. 
 Death, in its judicial character, is abolished. He is at lib- 
 erty either to exempt his people entirely from death, to in- 
 sert an exception in their favor in the universal commission 
 of death ; or, permitting* the sentence of mortality to take 
 effect, to restore them to life afterwards, and place them for- 
 ever beyond the reach of death. His wisdom prefers the 
 latter course. By allowing them to depart from earth in 
 the ordinary way, through the portal of death, he leaves 
 undisturbed the existing arrangements of providence, avoids 
 many palpable evils, and secures in addition, many valua- 
 ble ends. But while he allows this arrangement to hold, 
 he would have his people to know that it is not forced on 
 him: that it is the choice of his own benignity; that he 
 sways an unchallenged sceptre over the whole empire of 
 hades ; that in respect to his people, the shadow of death, 
 wherever it falls, may be regarded as the shadow of that 
 sceptre, for, at their death, * he comes to receive them to 
 himself.' 
 
 3. But sin involves a spiritual as well as a physical 
 death. We have seen that Christ possesses the power of 
 re-animating the body ; and that he is invested with the 
 right; but it is evident that these may both be exercised to 
 the punishment of men, ' for some shall come forth to the 
 resurrection of damnation.' The great question then 
 which remains, is, whether or not he possesses the means 
 of calling us forth to an immortality of happiness. * I am 
 come,' said he, 'that they may have life, and that they may 
 have it more abundantly.' ' Whoso eateth my flesh and 
 drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him 
 up at the last day.' * Whosoever drinketh of the water 
 that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water that 
 I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing 
 up into everlasting life.' ' This spake he of the Spirit, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 265 
 
 which they that believe on him should receive.' By the 
 agency of his Holy Spirit, he conducts in his people, in 
 the present life, a moral process by which they experience 
 a resurrection to holiness. The hour is not only coming, 
 but now is, when the dead hear the voice of the Son of 
 God: and they that hear it live. Starting from the slum- 
 bers of sip, they awake to newness of life, and attire them- 
 selves in the garments of salvation. Dissevering them- 
 selves from their former bonds, they ask to be trained for 
 every duty his service may require, and pant to enjoy all 
 the happiness his kingdom may contain. Conscious that 
 they are once more breathing the only atmosphere in which 
 the soul can live the complacent favor of God they feel 
 within themselves an earnest of immortality ; feel that the 
 new principle of which they have been made the subjects 
 has nothing to fear from death, that it is made for eternity, 
 that it can smile at the decay of the body, and will soon 
 spring from the bed of death to immortality. 
 
 And, from the fact that they have been made the parta- 
 kers of a divine principle, there arises to believers this 
 new pledge of a resurrection to eternal life that Christ 
 has engaged to raise them as a part of his own being. 
 This truth he himself distinctly taught ; 'As the living 
 Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father : so he that 
 eateth me, even he shall live by me ; ' * he dwelleth in me, 
 and I in him; ' 4 1 will raise him up at the last day ; ' 
 4 because I live, ye shall live also.' He became one flesh 
 with us, in order that we might become one spirit with 
 him. Here is a two-fold bond subsisting between Christ 
 and his people : but the former of these they possess only 
 in common with all mankind, it allies him to the species, 
 and by virtue of it, all the ungodly shall be raised. The 
 spiritual bond, however, is peculiar to themselves ; it has 
 been tied by his own hand, and nothing shall be able to 
 
266 THE GREAT TEACHER, 
 
 separate it. By virtue of this union it is that believers 
 shall arise; not merely by an act of his power, for thus 
 the wicked shall arise, but by an extension of his life as 
 their life. To the ungodly he can say, * I am the resur- 
 rection ; ' but to the faithful alone, he proclaims, * I arn the 
 resurrection and the life,' The grave was the prison-house 
 of insulted justice; and as their Representative he bowed 
 himself down, and condescended to wear its fetters ; but 
 his enlargement and return from it shows that it no longer 
 retains its original character ; he has changed it into the 
 peaceful depository of their dust ; the treasury of the skies ; 
 they contemplate his grave as the basement-ground whence 
 their nature takes its spring to immortality. 
 
 So ample and sufficient are the preparatory measures 
 which Christ has taken for the final extinction of death, 
 that he speaks of it in terms of comparative disparagement 
 and indifference. So effectually is it disarmed and mutil- 
 ated, and so completely at the disposal of Christ, that he 
 speaks of it already as if it were not. ' Whosoever be- 
 lieveth in me, shall never die.' ' Tf a man keep my say- 
 ings he shall never taste of death, he shall never see death.' 
 In accordance with these representations, he has given to 
 the state of death the soft and tranquilizing name of sleep. 
 This use of the term, indeed, was not unknown to Jewish 
 saints ; but as applied by them to death, it denoted chiefly 
 the silence, darkness, and inactivity of the grave. The 
 Greeks, too, had long been accustomed to speak of death 
 in the softest terms ; the dead they often spoke of as the 
 departed, the worn out ; and called their burial-grounds, 
 dormitories or sleeping places.' But this arose partly 
 from the dislike they felt to allude to a gloomy and unwel- 
 come subject; and partly from a wish to propitiate the de- 
 ceased, of whom they stood in considerable dread. How 
 superior the sense in which Jesus employed the term, sleep ! 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 267 
 
 they used it as figure, but he turned it into a reality ; they 
 uttered it from fear, but he made it the language of hope 
 and of faith. He used it with the highest authority, for 
 he was about to awaken one of the sleepers from his sleep ; 
 and, however protracted the slumbers of his people may 
 be, he knew that they are all finally to hear his voice and 
 to come forth. 
 
 Dense as the gloom is which hangs over the mouth of 
 the sepulchre, it is the spot, above all others, where the 
 gospel, if it enters, shines and triumphs. In the busy 
 sphere of life and health, it encounters an active antago- 
 nist : the world confronts it, aims to obscure its glories, to 
 deny its claims, to drown its voice, to dispute its progress, 
 to drive it from the ground it occupies. But from the 
 mouth of the grave the world retires ; it shrinks from the 
 contest there ; it leaves a clear and open space in which 
 the gospel can assert its claims, and unveil its glories with- 
 out opposition or fear. There the infidel and the world- 
 ling look anxiously around, but the world has left them 
 helpless and fled. There the Christian looks around, and 
 lo, the angel of mercy is standing close by his side. The 
 gospel kindles a torch, which not only irradiates the val- 
 ley of the shadow of death, but throws a radiance into the 
 world beyond, and reveals it peopled with the sainted spir- 
 its of those who have died in Jesus. It descends with us 
 into the low chambers of the grave ; bids us look on its 
 silent inmates ; and to look on them with the persuasion 
 that they only sleep. It assures us that death, like sleep, 
 is not the destruction of the living principle, but only a 
 temporary change in the mode of its operation ; that, like 
 sleep, it is a state of rest, discharging us from all the con- 
 cerns of the world ; that, like sleep, it principally affects 
 the body, the activity of the soul being meantime continu- 
 ed, and perhaps greatly increased ; and, most of all, that, 
 
268 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 like sleep, it will not be perpetual, but only endure for a 
 night. It tells us that a day will dawn on the world, when 
 Jesus, assuming an aspect of infinite benignity, will say, 
 in effect, of all his sleeping saints, as he said of Lazarus, 
 I go to awake them out of sleep.' 
 
 O how vast the immortal awakening ! Who can lift 
 his mind to the greatness of the occasion ! Where is the 
 height from which we can command a view of the sublime 
 spectacle ? In prospect of it, Jesus said, ' The hour is 
 come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you. Except a corn of wheat fall into the 
 ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth 
 forth much fruit. 5 As the first fruits of them that sleep, he 
 has arisen and appeared before God, the certain pledge of 
 the great harvest-home. ' Put ye in the sickle, for the 
 harvest is ripe: multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of 
 decision.' The wide earth shall * stand thick,' and wave, 
 with that ocean plentitude of life. The produce of the 
 fields every year, is a renewed triumph of life over death ; 
 but the triumph of life on that day will be final and com- 
 plete, leaving not an atom for which death can contend. 
 It will be a triumph of the highest order, consisting, not 
 in the mere creation of new being, but in the release and 
 re-animation of what had been dragged away from the ter- 
 ritories of life ; death itself will be turned into life, corrup- 
 tion will put on incorruption. The triumph will be en- 
 hanced by the circumstance that it will be achieved on the 
 very spot where death had reigned ; if the power of death 
 be confined to this world, what an opprobrium must earth 
 ' be to all the regions of life, and how naturally may it be 
 pointed at by their inhabitants as the mysterious sepulchre 
 of life, the dishonor of the universe; but the morning of 
 the resurrection will wipe off that disgrace, will make 
 earth their boast and song ; for, ' there, they will be able 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 269 
 
 to say, there death was overthrown ; there the great an- 
 tagonist of life, after wasting the earth for thousands of 
 years, and threatening to push the conquest into other 
 worlds, was expelled from the universe as an evil no long- 
 er to be borne. And from that very scene where death 
 once reigned, heaven has received its largest influx of spir- 
 itual and immortal life. 7 And to consummate the triumph, 
 life on that (Jay will be crowned with immortality ; it will 
 not merely be restored, but ennobled, exalted to the high- 
 est state of security and glory it can sustain. From the 
 ruinous heap of every grave a living structure shall arise, 
 built up into an imperishable monument of ' the Resurrec- 
 tion and the Life ;' in the stead of corruption, it shall be 
 inaccessible to decay; 'for neither can they die any more, 
 they are equal unto the angels ; and are the children of 
 God, being the children of the resurrection.' In the stead 
 of dishonor it will be raised in glory, radiating a splendor 
 which shall eclipse all sublunary glory. In the place of 
 weakness, it shall be clothed with the vigor of immortal 
 youth, asking no relaxation or repose, the wings of the 
 soul accompanying and aiding it in all its untiring flights. 
 In the place of a natural body, it shall be raised a spiritual 
 body ; the original grossness of its materiality shall be 
 purged away, it shall be refined and etherialized into spirit, 
 a robe of light rivaling the invisible essence of the soul it- 
 self; while each of its senses shall form an inlet to floods 
 of enjoyment, and each of its organs be instinct and emu- 
 lous with zeal for the divine glory. 
 
 Earth has been often the scene of splendid triumphs, 
 the fame of which has filled the world and reverberated 
 from age to age; but how tame, how trifling the greatest 
 achievements of man compared with this ! a triumph which 
 not only effaces the remembrance of all that pan has done, 
 but even eclipses the glory of the divine exploits; * the 
 
270 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 former things shall no more come into remembrance/ 
 Here man may indulge in wonder without loss of dignity ; 
 not to be astonished here would be unnatural .! Christ 
 himself is represented, ages before his incarnation, as con- 
 templating this scene with boundless delight, as rehearsing 
 his victory over death from eternity. From the bosom of 
 the Father he looked on through the vista of time, while 
 the successive parts of his great work passed in slow and 
 stately procession, till he beheld the scene of the rising 
 dead ; all the intermediate ages instantly vanished : he saw 
 in anticipation, the king of terrors disarmed beneath his 
 feet, the world flooded with light and life, the song of myr- 
 iads of myriads reached his ear, shouting his name as their 
 Great Deliverer ; and, with holy impatience to realize 
 the scene, he exclaimed, * I will ransom them from the 
 power of the grave; I will redeem them from death ; O 
 death, I will be thy plagues ! O grave, I will be thy de- 
 struction !' And during the interval till he came in the flesh, 
 did his interest in the prospect appear to have evaporated? 
 What truth did he more frequently or solemnly teach ? 
 Thrice, in rapid succession, he exclaimed, * 1 will raise 
 them up at the last day ;' as if he sought to find, in the 
 bare repetition of the truth, a solace and compensation? for 
 deferring the event. Nor, since his ascension, does his 
 desire to realize it appear to have suffered the least abate- 
 ment. On the contrary, * from henceforth he is expecting' 
 till this last enemy shall be destroyed. When last he ap- 
 peared before his church, to close the visions of futurity, 
 the character which he selected for the occasion, was, ' he 
 that hath the keys of the invisible world, and of death.' 
 This is the capacity in which he will next greet the eyes 
 of the redeemed : meanwhile, he is training them to raise, 
 in concert with himself, this shout over the last of their 
 foes, 'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is 
 thy victory ?' 
 
 * 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 271 
 
 SECTION VII. OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT. 
 
 ' The Son of man shall come in his glory; and before him shall be gathered all 
 nations.' 
 
 WE have already had occasion to remark that the res- 
 urrection of the dead will not take place as a final event j 
 that it stands in the relation of means to an end, and that 
 end, the general judgment, with its eternal awards. Even 
 * Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of that day, 
 saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his 
 saints, to execute judgment upon all.' And Solomon,, 
 when, in the capacity of a preacher, he looked round the 
 universe for the strongest motive to holy obedience the' 
 motive which should render it unnecessary to seek another 
 took it from the prospect of a judgment to come ; ' Let 
 us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God,, 
 and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of 
 man. For God shall bring every work into judgment,. 
 . with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it 
 ~be evil.' 
 
 He- who ' sees the end from the beginning,' has imparted 
 to man a subordinate prescience of the same comprehen- 
 sive kind, has sketched on his mind an outline of the great 
 system of providence, and filled him with presentiments of 
 the principal events which are to attend the developement 
 of that system. The consequence is, that wherever the 
 Bible comes, it finds our nature preconfigured to many of 
 its truths, waiting for an interpreter, and ready to respond 
 to the truth of many a prediction, as a prophecy, or an- 
 
272 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ticipation with which it had long been familiar in thought, 
 and for which it only wanted divine authentication and a 
 name in order to regard it as a solemn reality. Indeed, in 
 this respect, the work of God only resembles his word ; 
 for as in his word, he has often disclosed the infinite afflu- 
 ence of his mind by revealing, with all the simplicity of 
 apparent unconsciousness, an eternal principle in a passing 
 word ; an infinite project in an incidental allusion ; so, 
 in the construction of the human mind, he has traced on it 
 characters and imagery which can only be read by the 
 light of eternity ; thrown on it the unsteady shadows of 
 objects which stand yet far distant on the plains of futurity. 
 Of these pre-intimations we know of none more deeply 
 inlaid in the mind than that of future retribution. That 
 the ancient saints lived in the faith of it we know : for the 
 spirit of inspiration has recorded the very words in which, 
 in the prospect of that day, they triumphed over their per- 
 secutors, and sang of the joy that would crown them in 
 4 the day of the Lord.' And, relying on the uniformity and 
 immutability of the human constitution, we may safely in- 
 fer that ancient sinners anticipated it also. There were 
 moments when they possessed the warning of its approach 
 iri the restless apprehensions of their own breasts; mo- 
 ments when the fires of that day seemed to rise up in the 
 distant horizon, and to cast a lurid glare on the face of their 
 startled and trembling conscience ; when the mention of 
 such a day would have fallen in with the smothered fore- 
 bodings of their minds; would have aroused an inward 
 monitor, which, however carefully laid to sleep, was ready 
 to awake at the slightest summons, and to bear testimony 
 in the cause of righteousness. 
 
 But though the doctrine of a future judgment did not 
 originate in the teaching of Christ, though from the earli- 
 est ages, mankind had variously received it, yet the light 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 273 
 
 they possessed, even the revealed light, did but just suffice 
 dimly to show them the Judge enthroned in clouds, and sur- 
 rounded with judgments; while, from his superiority to 
 temptation, his greatness and perfection, they inferred that 
 the Judge of all the earth would do right. But the person 
 of the Judge, the pomp and process of the judgment, its 
 most solemn circumstances, and affecting results all this 
 was comparatively unknown to them ; and in supplying 
 the information our Lord has greatly enlarged the origin- 
 al part of his teaching. 
 
 1. When speaking of the final judgment, it is observa- 
 ble that he seldom omitted to insist and enlarge on its pub- 
 licity. He thus reminds us, that the end for which there 
 is any judgment at all, is best secured by having it held 
 in the presence of all worlds ; that piety may be most hon- 
 ored, sin most abashed, and the government of God vindi- 
 cated and glorified, on the largest possible scale. In a few 
 descriptive words, he fills the horizon with intelligent be- 
 ings of all orders and characters. It will not be the judg- 
 ment of a single individual, nor of a nation, but of a whole 
 world of intelligent and accountable beings. It will not 
 bean assize for sins of recent commission merely" sins 
 committed thousands of years before will be reproduced 
 and examined, with all their circumstances of aggravation, 
 as if they had been only just committed. What a profound 
 impression will that produce of the holy character of God 
 and of the infinite enormity of sin ! When his people 
 are crowned, he would not have one of their enemies 
 absent : and when the ungodly are doomed, he would not 
 have one of the righteous absent ; he would have them now 
 to forestall that day, to feel by anticipation, that they are 
 speaking with the universe for their audience, and acting 
 in the great theatre of the judgment; and then he would 
 have them to depart to their respective allotments, bearing 
 17 
 
274 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 away with them impressions of the hatefulness of sin, and 
 the beauty of holiness, which shall remain uneffaced 
 through all the scenes of eternity. 
 
 2. Pursuing our examination, we recognize in the Judge 
 the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, * The Son of man 
 shall come in his glory, and before him shall be gathered 
 a]l nations.' ' The Father judgeth no man r but hath com- 
 mitted all judgment to the Son.' He hath ' authority to 
 execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man; 1 in 
 his super-added humanity, consists the very reason of his' 
 appointment. If the judge is to be seen on that day with 
 our bodily eyes, and if realities are to triumph on that day 
 over appearances, substances over shadows, then is it fit 
 that no illusion should sit on the throne, that he should 
 occupy it, who is, ' without controversy, God manifest in. 
 the flesh.' If that is to be the day of final compensation,, 
 the day in which all the arrears of reward and honor shall 
 be brought up to all the sufferers in the cause of virtue, 
 then is it fit that the Judge, the Prince of sufferers, and 
 who is set forth as the type of happiness which holy suf- 
 fering yields, should receive, in his .own person, the am- 
 plest compensation ; that he who submitted to be arraign- 
 ed, and who occupied the cross here, should then ascend 
 the throne as his proper reward. If it was right that the 
 work of salvation should be commenced, it must also be 
 right that it should be completed; and if it was fit that 
 Christ should undertake it, then is it fit, that in order to 
 evince his competency, and reward his toils, he also should 
 complete it ; that the honor of conferring the last great 
 blessings of his grace, and of giving the final application 
 to the great principles of his dispensation, should be en- 
 joyed by him alone. If it was right in God, so to con- 
 struct the plan of salvation, that in all its workings it 
 should be made to yield to believers, as it does, the largest 
 possible measure of consolation and joy, then must it be 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 275 
 
 iijht also, that in the person of their Judge they should 
 recognize their Redeemer. It will give an additional value 
 to the crown of life, that it will be bestowed by the hand of 
 Christ; that the very being who died for them, who gave 
 them the grace of repentance, and who awakened in them 
 the hope of salvation, should come personally to realize 
 their hopes, to collect them around him, to wipe away eve- 
 ry tear, to receive the plaudits of the universe in their sal- 
 vation ; this will be the only ingredient their cup of bliss 
 will require, and the last it can receive ; having that, their 
 joy will be full. And if it be right that his enemies 
 .should be vanquished, it seems fit that he should vanquish 
 them; if it is proper that unbelievers should be condemn- 
 ed, there appears a peculiar propriety that, both for their 
 greater conviction, and his greater exaltation, the sentence 
 -of condemnation should be pronounced by him. 
 
 And, oh ! what an enhancement of their doom, will this 
 single circumstance contain ! If a person be conscious 
 that he is chargeable with ingratitude, and with ingrati- 
 tude beyond forgiveness, he would rather confront his 
 greatest foe than the person he has thus injured. Were 
 any other being than Christ to ascend the throne of judg- 
 ment, or were he any other than he is, the confusion of the 
 impenitent sinner at appearing in his presence would be. 
 less intolerable. But when he shall draw near, and be 
 compelled to look on that injured goodness, his confusion 
 will be complete. When he shall behold him invested in 
 the robe of humanity, that single sight will flash on him 
 the recollection of all that Jesus did in that nature to re^ 
 deem him the incarnation, the bloody sweat, the cross, 
 the pierced side all will rise to view, and penetrate him 
 with an agonizing sense of his ingratitude and guilt. 
 When he shall heir the voice of that injured Being, the 
 voice which he had heard so often in the gospel, inviting, 
 entreating, beseeching Him in every tone of gracious so* 
 
276 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 licitude, it will vibrate on his ear more dreadfully than the 
 sound of the archangel's trump which called him from the 
 grave. When the impenitent are represented as calling 
 on the mountains and rocks to fall on them, \\hat is that 
 which they seek to avoid ? they ask to be hidden from the 
 face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the 
 wrath of the Lamb the wrath, of the Lamb. Had it been 
 the fury of the lion ; had it been the wrath of a being who 
 had only created them, given them a law, and left them to 
 obey it or perish : who had only been known to them as a 
 being of rigorous and unbending justice; then, how- 
 ever conscious of guilt, they might have attempted to lift 
 up their hardened front in his presence. But it is the 
 wrath of the Lamb: of a Being who has always acted to- 
 wards them with infinite tenderness and patience; who 
 became the Lamb of God, the great sacrificial victim, suf- 
 fering and dying to take away their guilt : this is the cir- 
 cumstance which will render his wrath so unendurable, 
 that they will ask no higher favor than to be sheltered 
 from the sight of his face, and would take the weight of 
 the incumbent earth as a blessed exchange. 
 
 3. Our Lord very frequently spoke of 'the pomp and 
 circumstances of the final scene. In painting that coming 
 event, there is, no doubt, a propensity to overcharge the 
 picture with physical terrors ; to make it depend for inter- 
 est, too exclusively on material splendors ; there is a "dan- 
 ger of sinking the moral, and of leaving the mind unduly 
 occupied with images of material grandeur. And it is, no 
 doubt, true, that in that awful day, our spiritual condition 
 will be the great engrossing theme ; that a flaming world 
 will have little interest for one who is about to pass into a 
 lake which ever burneth; that the stupendous magnifi- 
 cence of the surrounding scene will have slight attractions 
 for one whose ear has just drank, in the sentence of divine 
 approval, and whose eye is fast filling with the visions of 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 277 
 
 eternal life. But, till then, we have the sanction of our 
 Lord's example, for introducing, and enlarging on, the 
 physical machinery of that day. He who knew all the 
 avenues to the human heart, knew that the way to engage 
 our attention to the day of doom itself, is to invest it with 
 sublime scenical imagery, to accumulate around it all 
 those circumstances of awful pomp which are known to 
 have terrible attraction for the human heart. ' The Son 
 of man shall come in the clouds of heaven, in his own 
 glory, and in the glory of his Father, and of all his holy 
 angels, with a great sound of trumpets.' 
 
 And who can question that the truth of the scene re- 
 quires this dramatic description ? , Had Sinai its appara- 
 tus of quailing terrors ; its sublime blackness of darkness ; 
 its thunders, and tempests, and earthquakes ; its sound of 
 a trumpet waxing louder and louder ; and its hosts of min- 
 istering angels: did all this appalling machinery attend 
 the publication of the law, a mere national event, a com- 
 paratively private scene? and shall that day, when the 
 law is to assert its high majesty, and man to have his final 
 audit; that day of universal summoning, and eternal dis- 
 pensations ; be wanting in circumstantial effect ? Had 
 even Bethlehem its signs and wonders, its guiding star, 
 and exulting cherubim ; when He came as in labored ob- 
 scurity, could creation even then be hardly restrained from 
 collecting her glories to grace the scene? and shall she be 
 remiss in her attendance when he will come on purpose to 
 be glorified, when leave will be given her to pour all her 
 splendors in his train ? has Calvary also its tale of prodi- 
 gious things; did nature come and weep at his cross, and 
 sympathize with his sorrows'? and shall she not come to 
 wait on his throne and give effect to his triumph? Yes, 
 we believe that the promise which he made, especially to 
 his disciples, is destined to have universal. application ; that 
 every element and every nature which sympathized in his 
 
278 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 tribulation, will then be promoted to swell his train, or en- 
 throned to share his glory. Whether, indeed, every pre- 
 dicted prodigy, every image of terrible sublimity which 
 the scriptures assign to that awful day, will be literally re- 
 alized or not, it is immaterial to determine. The fact that 
 our Lord's descriptions of it fill the imagination, that in 
 order to aggrandize its interest he has selected and combin- 
 ed every element of greatness, beauty, and terror, warrants 
 us to infer that the machinery will be every way worthy 
 the unparalleled occasion ; that if one of those predicted 
 circumstances is wanting, it will only be to make way 
 for another of surpassing power. ' He shall come in his 
 own glory,' clad in the robe of essential light he had worn 
 from eternity ;' 'and in the glory of his Father, absorbing 
 in his own person all power and office, invested by the pa- 
 ternal hand with all the insignia of supreme majesty, and 
 girt with the sword of ultimate justice never till now un- 
 sheathed ; and crowned with the most convincing signs r 
 and glorious demonstrations of paternal love ; ' and in the 
 glory of his holy angels,' all the bright inhabitants of heav- 
 en, forsaking their sublime occupations, and descending 
 from their lofty seats, ten thousand times ten thousand, and 
 thousands of thousands ,shall encircle his throne, and at- 
 tend his coming. In the presence of that splendor, the sun. 
 itself shall wane, and all light be swallowed up. The vast 
 procession, sailing on the bosom of the troubled air, filling 
 the concave of the sky, and flanked with prepared thunder- 
 clouds of wrath, shall open its front on the astonished world. 
 No interpreter will be necessary ; it will flash its meaning 
 on every mind ; find a key in every breast ; explaining a 
 thousand presentiments, and realizing ten thousand appre- 
 hensions. The sound of the trumpet is heard ; it is the 
 voice of the Judge calling for the sleeping dead ; calling 
 with a voice which is instantly heard, understood and 
 obeyed ; they that are in their graves come forth. Again 
 

 HIS ORIGINALITY. 279 
 
 it sounds ; and unnumbered angels, true to the signal, dis- 
 perse over the four winds of heaven, and collect the whole 
 human family into the area of the great tribunal. Then 
 shall ensue the conflagration of the globe; forsaken of its 
 inhabitants, all its stores of fire shall be unmasked, every 
 mountain shall be a Sinai, and the flame universal: yet 
 who shall heed the sight ? for the great assize will have 
 begun. * Oh, may the Lord grant that we may find mercy 
 of the Lord in that day. 7 
 
 4. The rectitude which will distinguish the proceedings 
 of the last day, is a sentiment familiar to the Old Testament. 
 On this account, I should content myself with barely re- 
 peating it, had not our Lord directed our attention to cer- 
 tain particulars, by which that rectitude will make itself 
 impressively seen. 'Before him shall be gathered all na- 
 tions;' in other words the judgment will be universal. 
 If it were not if only one of all the generations of man- 
 kind were absent, the whole universe would have a right 
 to complain of injustice. But the judgment will be right- 
 eous, so that all will be present : and therefore you will be 
 present. However loath to leave the darkness of the 
 grave, you must come forth. However eager to remain in 
 the domains of death, death must deliver you up. Howev- 
 er loud your entreaties to the rocks to fall on you, and to the 
 hills to cover you, they will refuse to afford you a refuge. 
 Though now you may often compel nature to serve you 
 in your sins, and to conceal your character ; then it will be 
 avenged; darkness itself will reject you; the night will 
 become light about you, every department and element of 
 creation, true to its original design, will render service 
 to its Lord in conspiring to facilitate the ends of justice. 
 And so essential to those ends will be the presence of every 
 human being, that if you alone were absent, the solemn 
 proceedings would wait, the judgment would stop for your 
 appearance, 
 
280 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 But impartiality requires not only that every individual 
 should be present ; it also demands that congnizance be ta- 
 ken of every act. Let a single deed, let a single thought, 
 the most inconsequent and unproductive that ever passed 
 through the mind, be omitted j and if that thought possess- 
 ed a moral quality, the universe would be justified in pro- 
 testing against the omission. But nothing shall be over- 
 looked, nothing made light of; the slightest voluntary ex- 
 ercise of the soul, the very dust of the balances shall be 
 taken into the account. The two mites, the cup of cold 
 water, the prison visit, the pious wish, on the one hand: 
 the omitted kindness, the idle word, the unchaste look, the 
 thought of evil, the deed of darkness, on the other; shall 
 all be brought into the open court. It is in the moral world 
 as it is in the natural, where every substance weighs some- 
 thing ; though we speak of imponderable bodies, yet na- 
 ture knows nothing of positive levity. And were we pos- 
 sessed of the necessary scales, the exquisite instrument, 
 we should find that the same holds truein the moral world. 
 Nothing is insignificant on which sin has breathed the 
 breath of hell: everything is important on which holiness 
 has impressed itself in the faintest characters. And, ac- 
 cordingly, ' there is nothing covered that shall not be re- 
 vealed; and hid that shall not be known.' However un- 
 important now in the estimation of man, yet, when placed 
 in the light of the divine countenance, like the atom in the 
 sun's rays, it shall be found deserving attention ; and as 
 the minutest molecule of matter contains all the primordial 
 elements of a world, so the least action of the mind shall 
 be found to include in it the essential element of heaven, 
 or of hell. 
 
 And in order to make good its character for righteous- 
 ness, it must also be a judgment of proportion and compar- 
 ison; in which the guilt of each is ascertained according 
 to all its peculiar modifications. In the courts of human 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 281 
 
 judicature, one law, and one measure of punishment, is 
 often applied to a multitude of offences varying in their 
 shades of guilt. But, in that day, a law will be found for 
 every different sin ; and a measure of punishment accu- 
 rately adjusted to every measure of guilt. It will be more 
 tolerable for some than it will be for others. He who knew 
 his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many 
 stripes; and he who knew not, and yet committed things 
 worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. The 
 number of talents which each had received, will determine 
 the returns which each should have made. It will not be 
 a question merely of guilt or innocence, but a question of 
 how guilty. The sinner will not merely be convicted of 
 impenitence, but of all the aggravations of his impenitence. 
 He will find himself brought into comparison with those, 
 who, though their religious advantages were less than his, 
 succeeded in laying hold on eternal life. He will find 
 himself confronted by the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 of Tyre and Sidon, and Nineveh : the whole heathen 
 world shall rise up in judgment to condemn him. They 
 who have been punished will demand they who would 
 have been punished, had they misused their means and mer- 
 cies as he has done, will demand the universe will de- 
 mand, on every principle of impartiality and justice, that 
 the impenitent hearer of the gospel shall not escape, that 
 judgment go forth against him, that he be punished accord- 
 ing to the enormity of his guilt. 
 
 Were any allowed to absent themselves from that tribu- 
 nal, the hearers of. the gospel certainly would not; they 
 form the most important class who will be there arraigned. 
 Could any class of sins be passed by, impenitence under 
 the gospel could not; it takes rank with the highest order 
 of guilt; it will throw every other description of sin into 
 the shade. Were a day of Judgment appointed for no 
 other class, the hearers of the gospel are a class so i 
 
282 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 tant, that the judgment would be set, and the books be 
 opened, if only for them. They occupy no middle ground. 
 They are either the subjects of faith and repentance, and 
 as such entitled, through grace, to the highest glories of 
 the heavenly state; or else they are the guiltiest, the most 
 inexcusable of their race, and as such deserving the ex- 
 tremest woe. We are to suppose that the most ordinary 
 proceedings of that day will be invested with a more awful 
 solemnity than the universe ever before beheld: but when 
 the impenitent hearer of the gospel shall be arraigned, that 
 solemnity shall deepen, if possible a thousand-fold ; while 
 the crimson aggravations of his guilt shall be laid open, the 
 attention of the congregated world shall become more 
 breathless and intense; arid when his doom shall be pro- 
 nounced, the voice of the righteous Judge shall take if pos- 
 sible a deeper tone, and speak with a more awful empha- 
 sis, as he utters the sentence, ' Depart from me ; I never 
 knew you.' 
 
 And to render the rectitude of the judgment perfect, the 
 whole must be conducted according to the known laws of 
 the divine government. In other words, thelawsto which 
 man is now required to conform, are the identical rules to 
 which his conduct will then be brought. Were another 
 standard to be then set up, a new law introduced, man 
 might justly object to its irrelevance, put in a plea of igno- 
 rance, and protest against its application. But the rule of 
 judgment will be two-fold : the law of eternal morality to 
 which our nature was originally adapted, and in obedience 
 to which we should have found perfection ; and the law of 
 grace brought in to suit our lapsed condition, and in com- 
 pliance with which we may obtain salvation. These, as 
 they are the only rules known to us now, will be the only 
 laws adduced then ; the consequence of which will be, that 
 our works, our present conformity or non-contormity with 
 these known principles will constitute the great subject of 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY, 283 
 
 inquest. 'By thy words shalt thou be justified,' said 
 Christ, ' and by thy words shalt thou be condemned/ While 
 he declares that the formula of the final sentence shall run 
 thus, ' Inasmuch as ye did it: and inasmuch as ye did it 
 not. 1 
 
 In his hands, these laws will become of universal appli- 
 cation. He will make it apparent that our conduct has 
 never stopped with ourselves ; that it has never stopped at 
 human laws, but has been all related to his divine laws: 
 that every thing we have done has obeyed a law, or vio- 
 lated a law divinely enacted;' and either written on our 
 hearts, or published in his word. And not only will these 
 laws, in his hands, receive universal application as to per- 
 sons, but also as to the character of each individual ; taking" 
 cognizance of all its thoughts and rudiments. If we had 
 eyes adapted to the sight, we should see, on looking into 
 the smallest seed, ths future flower, or shrub, or tree, en- 
 closed in it. He will look into our feelings and motives 
 as into seeds ; by those embryoes of action he will infalli- 
 bly determine what we are, and will show what we should 
 have been, had there been scope and stage for their devel- 
 opement and maturity. His law has a magnifying power ; 
 and when he shall apply it in that day to human charac- 
 ter, the faintest and minutest parts of that character will 
 show a definite outline, and a determinate quality. 
 
 And how easy will it be for him to give the Jaw this 
 magnifying power; or, rather, to show that it has always 
 possessed it. How often did he do this in the days of his 
 flesh, for the Old Testament code. By a single sentence, 
 a passing remark, he sometimes laid open the spiritual 
 interior of a precept; and showed that in the morality of 
 the ancient book there lay, as in its germ, the whole 
 legislation of his new economy. The last day will be the 
 triumph of law : by a single touch the scales shall fall 
 from our eyes; and what now seems low in the standard 
 
284 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 of holiness shall be seen towering away to an infinite 
 height, and what now seems contracted shall be seen taking 
 an immeasurable compass. God himself will be seen 
 paying reverence to the law; and man shall feel himself 
 pervaded and encompassed by it. Nothing shall seem to 
 exist but character and law : man, denuded of all but char- 
 acter, shall find nothing left him b.ut his virtue or his vice ; 
 and the law, in the person of the Judge, applying itself to 
 that character, and making its estimate. The reign of ap- 
 pearances and professions will then be over, and works 
 alone will be in request. . Now men act as though the law 
 called only for words, professions, semblances of right ; but 
 then it will be "heard, calling imperatively for works, char- 
 acter, works* and men will find that they have nothing 
 else left them to produce. 
 
 5. The necessary result of bringing the human charac- 
 ter tothis test will be, the division of the whole family of 
 man into two classes the good, and the bad. 'When the 
 Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy an- 
 gels with him, then shall He sit upon the throne of his 
 glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations : and 
 He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd 
 divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the 
 sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.' Now 
 men are distributed into a thousand -classes, divided and 
 subdivided by so large a multiplication of social and artifi- 
 cial distinctions, that this greatest of all distinctions, arising 
 from character., is almost confounded and lost in the crowd. 
 But, 'they that have done good, and they that have done 
 evil,' will be the sole remaining distinction then : the mul- 
 tifarious compound of human society will be resolved into 
 these two simple elements. 
 
 The student of nature adverts with proud delight to that 
 period in the history of science, when, as facts multiplied, 
 leading phenomena became prominent, laws begun to 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 285 
 
 emerge, and generalizations to commence; when the dis- 
 coveries of a single mind harmonized unnumbered facts, 
 and placed the system of the universe on a basis never 
 after to be shaken. The judgment will be a great process 
 of moral generalization. Wherever, indeed, the gospel 
 comes with power, even now the process begins. It no 
 sooner obtains a footing amongst a people, than, pouring 
 contempt on all their existing distinctions, it proposes a 
 new classification. It developes the conscience, raises the 
 moral part of our nature into importance, bestows all its 
 attention, and confers all its titles upon that. It essays to 
 separate the precious from the vile, and to collect them 
 into a church ; to draw a line of demarkation ; on the one 
 side of which shall stand all the good, and on the other 
 side all the bad ; and this classification it intends to be all- 
 comprehensive and ultimate. At present, however, nu- 
 merous impediments operate to prevent the perfect realiza- 
 tion of the theory. Approximation is all that can be at- 
 tained. Tares spring up among the wheat; and, notwith- 
 standing every precaution, the foolish virgins mingle with 
 the wise. But the last day shall behold this simplification 
 complete. By the operation of a single principle he will 
 reduce the chaos to order, ' dividing the light from the 
 darkness. 3 By the application of a single rule he will 
 gather ' like things to like ; ' and two classes shall com- 
 prise all the infinite varieties. Under one or the other of 
 these, each individual shall find a place a place so appro- 
 priate, that he could not exchange it even with one of the 
 same class, without doing violence to all fitness and order : 
 and those characteristics on account of which the place 
 lias been assigned him, will be acknowledged by all to be 
 specific / his most distinguishing marks. The universe 
 will confess and admire the justice, harmony, and perfec- 
 tion of the distribution. 
 
 Some, in their impatience, would have the Great Head 
 
286 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 of the Church to effect this separation at once ; they would 
 gather out the tares before the time of harvest. As if they 
 despaired of a judgment day, they would fain bring all the 
 plans of Providence within the bounds of time; as if it 
 gave them but little satisfaction to know that a full exposi- 
 tion and justification of the ways of God is to be made in 
 eternity, they would forestall the future, and submit his 
 plans to instant explanation. But, 'Nay;' saith he, ' ye 
 know not what manner of spirit ye are of.' * As the tares 
 are left till the time of harvest, and are then gathered and 
 burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. 
 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall 
 gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them 
 that do iniquity.' Thus he signifies that his plans are 
 already formed ; formed with an accuracy which admits of 
 no alteration, and on a scale of greatness which excludes 
 all haste. He can afford to wait- Had he any occasion 
 to doubt the issue, he might, at times, be tempted to precip- 
 itate the end. But he sees the end from the beginning; 
 sees it so clearly, and awaits it so confidently, that his pa- 
 tience only proclaims the efficiency of his government. If 
 impatience of his apparent delay could have induced him 
 to hasten the final event, if suspicions of his power, if mis- 
 constructions of his patience, could have provoked him to 
 rashness, long before this he would have 'sworn, there 
 shall be time no longer.' But his forbearance serves to 
 illustrate his majesty ; and is meant to remind us, that if 
 he does not submit his plans to our present impatience, and 
 compress them into the limits of time, it is because he re- 
 serves them for a nobler theatre, and deems them worthy 
 the expanse of eternity. 
 
 There are others who construe his apparent delay in fa- 
 vor of the impunity of prosperous vice. * The evil servant 
 saith in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming. And 
 -with that he begins to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 287 
 
 and drink with the drunken. 7 * As in the days of Noah* 
 they laugh at the threatened judgment, and eat and drink, 
 marry, and are given in marriage.' Because the event 
 has been long foretold, but through a series of ages has 
 not taken place, they conclude it need be dreaded no more, 
 .and take heart to live on in sin. They forget that his for- 
 bearance to the wicked makes part of a vast and gracious 
 plan, by which he is seeking their salvation. They forget 
 that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a 
 thousand years as one day; and that when the whole cir- 
 cle of time shall have revolved, they themselves will think 
 it short. They are now in the condition of one who has 
 swallowed some poisonous and fatal draught ; the taste 
 may be pleasant, the operation may be slow, and he may be- 
 gin to flatter himself that it will never take effect ;. but only 
 wait the necessary time, and it will appear that he has 
 swallowed death. The poison of sin is now sleeping in 
 the veins of humanity; few of its deadly symptoms may 
 at present appear ; but in the last day they will all be de- 
 veloped ; the destructive element will then appear in its 
 real character, will furnish its awful operation in the sec- 
 ond death of all who have neglected the divine antidote. 
 
 ' The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from 
 among the just.' By this intimation our Lord intended 
 not merely to rebuke the impatience of those who would 
 hasten his judgments, but to denote the perfect accuracy 
 with which the separation will be made. The work will 
 be committed to the highest order of created instrumental- 
 ity; the process of discrimination will be conducted under 
 the immediate eye of Omniscience. Man, we have seen, 
 in his ignorance and impatience, frequently deems it neces- 
 sary now ; God himself, the long-suffering God himself 
 will deem it necessary then. The happiness of his sub- 
 jects will require that he should gather out of his kingdom, 
 all things that offend, and whatsoever worketh abomina- 
 
288 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 tion, that all whose characters are not congenial with the 
 laws, the enjoyments, the society of that blessed state, 
 should be removed beyond the borders of his dominions. 
 The stability of his kingdom will require it. Unlike eve- 
 ry other kingdom, he declares that his kingdom shall nev- 
 er be moved. He designs it for eternity ; but were he to 
 admit into its composition any impure elements, any perish- 
 able materials, it would mar his purpose, it would do 
 him no honor, his work would require revision and im- 
 provement, it would not be perfect. Like a wise builder 
 therefore, he will permit nothing to enter as an elementary 
 part of that fabric, but gold, and silver, and precious stones^ 
 the wood, hay, and stubble shall be burnt up. He will se- 
 cure to it eternal stability, by allowing nothing to become a 
 part of it, which has not passed under the scrutiny of his 
 omniscience, and received the seal of his approbation. 
 
 6. Immediately consequent on this separation will be 
 the final award. * Then 'shall the king say unto them on 
 his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world.' How gracious the language ! Every word is 
 fraught with infinite benignity. Thtn shall he say it 
 then, when the universe is assembled, when he is distribu- 
 ting endless life and endless death, when every word he 
 utters is pregnant with fate, when all creation is hushed 
 into the deepest silence, when the spheres, the very stars 
 in their courses, are standing still to listen then, when 
 no creature is breathing, but all are intensely bending to 
 hear, then shall he address to them on his right hand the 
 infinite welcome. He will say to them, Come ; a word 
 which will place him in the centre of a redeemed universe, 
 which will collect around him all the loyal and the sanc- 
 tified in the creation, which will bring all the blessed into 
 immediate communication, and place them in eternal con- 
 junction with himself. He will say to them, Come ? and, 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 289 
 
 opening his arms of infinite love, their nature shall find 
 perfection, and their love repose. He will say to them, 
 Come ; and every mansion in heaven shall echo the invi- 
 tation as if impatient to receive its destined guest. 
 
 'Come, ye, blessed of my Father:"* how comprehensive 
 the title ! reaching through eternity ; causing every thing 
 in the universe to cast a benignant aspect upon them ; ap- 
 pointing them heirs of blessedness. How efficacious the 
 blessing! not the mere breath of applause, not a faint im- 
 potent wish of happiness which evaporates and is lost in 
 the air : but a substantial, operative Llessing, which carries 
 its own fulfillment with it: clothing them with happiness 
 like a garment, surrounding them with it like an element, 
 blending it with their nature, glorifying, or turning them 
 into glory. If a fellow creature blessed them, it only im- 
 plied that he loved them ; but to be blessed and beloved of 
 God, can only be because they are lovely. How irrever- 
 sible the blessing! for, if he blesses, who can curse? the 
 hatred and imprecations of the universe could not deprive 
 them of it. ' Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you. 1 More than a mansion, a city, 
 a province a kingdom, is yours ; honor in its fountain ; 
 unbounded resources; freedom and dominion not to be 
 questioned ; royalty shared with the King of kings. A 
 kingdom prepared, adapted in all its arrangements to your 
 renewed natures ; a state in which your lofty aspirations 
 and desires have been amply and expressly provided for. 
 Whjle on earth, you evinced the royalty of your descent; 
 you exercised dominion over sin; you sought to give laws 
 to the world ; to establish a new reign upon earth ; you 
 cultivated the noblest principles ; pursued high and regal 
 objects ; now realize your most enlarged desires, ascend 
 your thrones, and assume your crowns. The kingdom 
 was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 
 18 
 
290 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 Your happiness engaged the eternal mind before the world 
 .began: he purposed it, planned it, secured it, ages before 
 your existence. If wisdom rejoiced, from eternity, in the 
 habitable parts of the earth; if she shared her delights 
 prospectively with the sons of men, while they would be 
 passing their probationary state, how much more would 
 she love to ponder the vision of their final glorification in 
 heaven ; if the bare anticipation of providing for their re- 
 ception on earth, of mingling with them, taking to them 
 blessings from heaven, and seeing them provisionally hap- 
 py in the low vale of mortality : if the prospect of this fill- 
 ed her with joy, how much more would the completion of 
 all her plans, and the consummation of their happiness, 
 in the crowns and thrones of the heavenly state, engage 
 her care and enrapture her with delight. Come, possess a 
 kingdom which existed for you in the divine idea, before 
 the earth itself was made. 
 
 O what a welcome this! Yet vast as it is, he seems on- 
 ly to ease his infinite heart in uttering it. What fragrant 
 breathings of grace, filling the universe with vital odors! 
 What ravishing accents to those addressed 1 they will feel 
 that till then they never heard the sound of music 1 Then 
 first will they begin to respire. Then will their glory reach 
 its meridian, to know no decline. Then will their joy at- 
 tain its full tide mark, to know no ebb. Less than this 
 would not satisfy the blessed Lord himself. For this he 
 o-uaranteed, as the reward of his meditation : on this his 
 
 o 
 
 heart has ever been set. Could he not bring forth, on the 
 ocsasion all the reserved treasures of the Godhead, he 
 would account himself dishonored and defeated. But even 
 he shall be satisfied : even He, as he looks on his people, 
 shall say, both for himself and for them, ' It is enough.* 
 Glory shall then cast off its last veil ; and as it offers itself 
 to their full-eyed view, and looks forth upon them, they 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 29 1 
 
 shall open to it their inmost souls, they shall themselves be- 
 come glory. 
 
 * Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, De- 
 part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for 
 the devil and his angels.' Of heaven it is said, it was 
 prepaied for the righteous ; prepared for them from the 
 foundation of the world : but it is not said of hell, that it 
 was prepared for the ungodly ; that was prepared origin- 
 ally for the devil and his angels. Hell did not form a pri- 
 mary part of the creation ; there was a time when there was 
 no hell in the universe; such a place did not enter into 
 God's primitive design; it was, so to speak, accidental, 
 made necessary by sin ; it was an after creation, forced on 
 the Almighty that he might provide a receptacle for guilt. 
 Now, if he prepared heaven from the first, it shows that 
 he created man to be happy : and if he did not from the 
 first prepare a hell, it shows that he did not create any for 
 misery. No, hell was not provided, its flames were not kin- 
 dled at first for man, but for Satan and his angels. Yet, 
 being prepared, the dreadful place can receive any other 
 rebels as well as they: and, as sinners league with them 
 now, and do the works of the devil, they must finally share 
 in the same suffering, in the same place. The sinner renders 
 their place his own ; and the sentence of the last day rati- 
 fies the awful arrangement. 
 
 And who can tell the terrible import of this curse ! A 
 curse uttered by God: by the lips of him whose supreme 
 delight it is to bless ! What must sin be, that it can force 
 a curse from infinite goodness ; that it can move the divine 
 temperament to displeasure ; that it can make it an appro- 
 piate act, a worthy, becoming, and even godlike act 
 for infinite love to utter a malediction on the work of 
 his own hands'! And such a malediction ! Every ac- 
 cent is lightning; every word is loaded with misery, is 
 full of perdition. It is a sentence, every clause of which 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 adds a hell to the misery already denounced, till it reaches 
 the climax of woe a sentence in which one vial after an- 
 other of Almighty wrath is poured out, till the whole is 
 discharged: the wrath of God distilled a sentence, in 
 which are gathered up, and compassed into one, all the 
 curses of God, requiring- an eternity to comprehend and ex- 
 haust them. But it is not for tongue to describe it : it is for 
 the heart to ponder, for the imagination to conceive; and 
 muse on it the most fertile conception may, without any 
 danger of excess* Then first will the ungodly know what 
 is meant by punishment. Then will they begin to esti- 
 mate truly the dreadful nature of their situation. And 
 oh! when the prospect shall first open upon them, when 
 they shall find that God himself is against them, when 
 they shall hear themselves outlawed by divine proclamation, 
 when they shall find that on God saying depart, every 
 thing else, every being, every place, but hell, shall repeat 
 depart; casting them forth, disowning, refusing them sym- 
 pathy and refuge; when they shall feel that the curse is 
 made to enter and possess the very centre of their being ; 
 that it is not a mere stigma branded on their foreheads, but 
 a substantial curse, written upon their hearts in characters 
 of living fire; burnt in, scorching and consuming their 
 immortality; that they have the wrath of God for a soul; 
 will they not call on universal nature to mourn with them, 
 to aid them in expressing their mighty grief, to assist them 
 in bewailing the immensity and eternity of their loss ! 
 
 ' And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; 
 but the righteous into life eternal.' Then the future pun- 
 ishment of the finally impenitent will be eternal. * They 
 shall not see life ;' ' their worm dieth not, and their fire is 
 not quenched.' If they continued to deteriorate here under 
 a remedial economy of grace, is their character likely to be 
 ameliorated in a state where all the elements of universal 
 evil shall be collected and combined together ? Whatever 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 293 
 
 maybe the punishment inflicted upon them from without, it 
 is certain its sting- will be supplied from an angry conscience, 
 and its hottest fervors from the inkindled passions within 
 them; and as these belong to the soul, as they number 
 among its essential qualities, they will be immortal like the 
 soul itself. And not only has our Lord employed the same 
 term to denote the duration of misery, which he has applied 
 to the duration of happiness, thus implying that they will 
 be parallel to each other; not only has he employed posi- 
 tive terms, which, indeed, may be understood in various de- 
 grees of latitude; he has also used negative terms, and a 
 negation admits of no degrees ; he has spoken of future 
 punishment as a state of endless privation. He has threat- 
 ened it as the worst evil, the consummation of all evil ; but 
 
 7 
 
 if it were temporary and remedial, if it meant only a quan- 
 tum of suffering bearing a relation to eventual happiness, 
 it should rather be spoken of, like the present afflictions of 
 the righteous, not in the language of threatening, but of 
 promise. But ' the wicked shall go away into everlasting 
 punishment:' and though it may now be impossible, with 
 our present human feelings and limited faculties, to compre- 
 hend the idea ; for aught we know, the existence of eternal 
 misery may hereafter be shown not only to consist with 
 but to be even the necessary effect of a perfect goverment, 
 and of supreme goodness. 
 
 But, while ultimate justice shall be conducting the wick- 
 ed away into evevlasting darkness, what shall become of the 
 righteous ? They will be severed from the heirs of wrath, 
 as for as heaven and hell asunder. Our Lord teaches us 
 that they shall see God ;' whether the bodily eye shall share 
 in the vision or not, may probably depend on the degree 
 in which their material part shall be refined and made 
 spiritual, but they shall see him with that which is the 
 tine organ of sight in divine things, the renewed heart; 
 they shall behold every feature of his image reflected in 
 
294 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the mirror of their purified nature. They shall be ' equal 
 unto the angels;' they shall be able to approach as close- 
 ly to the throne of God, and to gaze as steadfastly on the 
 unveiled splendors of that throne : they will be able to fill 
 every office that angels fill, to soar to equal heights, and 
 to maintain as untiring a flight in the service of God ; they 
 will in every way be worthy of the angelic brotherhood, 
 and able to run with them in the race of divine perfection. 
 They shall then ' be with him where he is, to behold his 
 glory;' to be conducted by him into the inmost recesses 
 of his glory ; to see him throw open and bring out all the 
 glory that is peculiarly his ; to be the objects on which that 
 glory shall fall and accumulate : to have their nature wed- 
 ded to happiness and him for ever. Then shall his ardent 
 desire be gratified, 'that they all may be one in him :' by 
 being one in all, he will make all one ; by being all in 
 every part, he will become the unity of the whole ; so that 
 they shall ever be viewed, and spoken of, and treated as 
 one with, and a part of himself. ' Then shall the righte- 
 our shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father ; r 
 in a world where all is splendor, they shall yet distinctly 
 shine, shine as suns for ever and ever. 
 
 We shall conclude this section of our subject with two 
 remarks. First, although the revelation of our immortal- 
 ity is not the specific object of the gospel, yet by combining 
 it with the knowledge of salvation, our Lord has made it' 
 what no mere human philosophy could have dorfe, a guid- 
 ing principle of life. He has made it the Pharos of the 
 universe ; it is true indeed, that, prior to his coming, this 
 colossal truth existed ; but it lay prostrate on the earth, an 
 undefined rough-hewn mass, creating shadow instead of 
 light ; while the majority of those who viewed it could 
 only speculate about the uses to which it might be apylied. 
 But our Lord, having given it an angel-form, up-reared its 
 
HIS ORIGINALITY. 295 
 
 gigantic stature to the skies, Ifindled its beacon fire, and 
 placed it in a line with the haven of eternity .; that by 
 flinging its warning light across the dark and perilous 
 ocean of life, it might enable the endangered voyagers to 
 reach the port of futurity in peace. And how many, in 
 every age, by steering in the track of its radiance, have 
 outlived the billows and perils of the deep, and at length 
 ' escaped safe to land.' 
 
 Our second remark is, that in his representations of the 
 last day, our Lord appears to set no bounds to his estimate 
 of his own importance to man. When we hear him an- 
 nounce, 'I am the light of the world,' even then we cannot 
 forbear exclaiming, 'What must be the dignity of him 
 who can thus stand up and say, in the face of the sun, * I 
 compare claims with that great source and element of 
 light;' what must be his own conception of his greatness 
 and value, when he can thus seek to eclipse the noon-day 
 sun, and challenge for himself the attention of the world! 7 
 But in his representations of the last day, he makes him- 
 self the light of both worlds, the centre of the universe. 
 Now what must be his own idea of his ability and worth, 
 that, having unveiled so tremenduous a scene, he should 
 make himself the central object? What must be his own 
 estimate of the saving power of his gospel, that he should 
 select the awful ampitheatre of the judgment in which to 
 try its efficacy; that he should deem it an antidote for in- 
 finite terror, the terrors of the last day ? Had he suppos- 
 ed its efficacy was limited, he would have made its limit 
 the measure of his disclosures of the judgment day. He 
 would have been silent concerning many of its most alarm- 
 ing features, he would have lifted the veil with a guarded 
 hand, lest by raising it to its utmost height he should 
 awaken fears beyond his power to allay. But, in the full 
 confidence of its efficacy to sustain and to save, he rolls 
 
296 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 back the face of his throne, summons mankind before him, 
 calls for his thunders, and the ministers of his wrath, im- 
 uncovers the mouth of the bottomless pit; and, while jus- 
 tice is in its full areer of punishment, he throws over his 
 people the shield of his favor, and canopies them with al- 
 mighty grace. Well can he afford to disclose the utmost 
 terrors of that day, for he feels that he is able to save unto 
 the uttermost; he knows that even now he can pluck from 
 the mind the sting of conscious guilt, and replace it with 
 a peace passing all understanding, thus enabling his dis- 
 ciples to long and look for his appearing; and he knows 
 that then, while all the guilty shall wail because of him, 
 his people, upheld by his grace, shall rise superior to dis- 
 may, and shall only recognize in the pomp and grandeur 
 of the scene, the celebration of their own triumph, and oc- 
 casions for their joy. The saved and the lost will then 
 meet together for the last time in contrast before his throne. 
 And, as it will be the last time the righteous will be able 
 to triumph on so large a scale befor,e the intermediate eyes 
 of the wicked; and, as the scene will be enacted partly to 
 make that triumph complete, we may be assured that every 
 thing present will tend to crown their glory with perfec- 
 tion. Sin will have reached maturity in the wicked, and 
 prepared them for hell ; holiness will have attained matu- 
 rity in the righteous, and prepared them for heaven ; and 
 when the purity and beauty, the joy and glory on the right 
 hand, shall be seen in immediate contrast with the awful 
 array on the left, all will acknowledge that the salvation of 
 his people, as there displayed, is a worthy result of all his 
 stupenduous plans, and abundantly exceeds all the lofty 
 things he has spoken concerning them. In that one scene 
 shall be combined, the consummation of all the plans of 
 time, the rehearsal of all the glories of eternity. Oh, who 
 can revere 'him too profoundly, love him too ardently, or 
 rely on him too confidently. 
 
E S SAY III. 
 SPIRITUALITY OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING. 
 
 1 The words that I speak unto you are spirit, and are life.' 
 
 T. THE doctrine of the spirituality of the divine nature, 
 lies at the foundation of all true religion. Accordingly, to 
 assert and preserve it was one of the avowed designs of 
 the Jewish economy. But the frequency with which it 
 became necessary for God to republish and defend the doc- 
 trine, showed how unknown and uncongenial it is to the 
 unenlightened mind of man, and how difficult to maintain 
 it in combination with an economy of carnal ordinanc.es. 
 It is true, indeed, that for some time prior to the advent of 
 Christ, the Jews had not so entirely lost it as to relapse 
 into the worship of idols; yet, short of this, their views of 
 God were at perfect variance with the belief of his spirit- 
 ual nature. Divesting him of all the properties peculiar 
 to that nature, the popular creed pourtrayed him as circum- 
 scribed in his essence, and local in his residence, with a 
 jurisdiction which dispensed with the inward homage of 
 the heart, and which only took cognizance of outward 
 acts. 
 
 But if, in the prevailing belief of the Jews, the Deity 
 was only almost, in that of the heathen world, he was al- 
 together such a one as themselves. They had gradually 
 disqualified themselves for all virtue, and prepared, them- 
 selves for the commission of every vice, by debasing him 
 to a level with themselves, and ascribing to him the attri- 
 butes of a corporeal being. God the invisible, the al- 
 
298 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 mighty, the omnipresent, the omniscient Spirit was not in 
 all their thoughts. What an awful vacuity! He was ex- 
 cluded from his own world ; lost to his intelligent creatures ; 
 while his place was occupied with the fictions of human 
 fancy, and beings of material forrp. 
 
 4 God is a Spirit ; ' such is the simple announcement by 
 which Jesus dispersed the legions of idolatrous error, and 
 restored God to the world. This was the fundamental 
 principle of his theology. In harmony with its import- 
 ance, he taught it in every stage of his ministry, and in all 
 varieties of form. The God he proclaimed is all-knowing 
 and every where present, and to whom all things are pos- 
 sible; a being whom no man hath seen nor can see, and 
 who requires to be worshipped in spirit and in truth ; 
 whose new evangelical kingdom on earth is to be seated in 
 the human soul, having spiritual laws enforced by spiritu- 
 al sanctions, and administered by the agency of his Holy 
 Spirit. By thus attesting the spirituality of the divine na- 
 ture, and making it a fundamental doctrine of his gos- 
 pel, our Lord lifted the mind of man from earth to heav- 
 en ; provided against all our tendencies to materialise and 
 debase religion ; furnished a motive for every virtue; kin- 
 dled in his church a central, all-pervading light: and ani- 
 mated all piety with a living soul. 
 
 II. Agreeably to the spirituality of the Supreme Being, 
 and the relation in which we stand to him as his spiritual 
 offspring, in exercising the prerogative of lawgiver, he 
 had legislated for the soul. Human laws, for reasons the 
 most obvious, can only take cognizance of outward acts. 
 But even the positive rites of the Jewish code however 
 carnal in their nature, and temporary in their obligation, 
 were specifially designed and constructed for the soul; 
 while of the moral law, the soul was the proper sphere, 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 299 
 
 the peculiar province of jurisdiction ; it claims authority 
 over actions only as they are the motions and expressions 
 of the in-dwelling soul. It is, in effect, the voice of God 
 speaking to the soul, and for it : giving utterance and en- 
 ergy to the enlightened- and original dictates of the man 
 within. But in entire oblivion or open defiance, of its 
 spiritual nature, the Jews had * made it of none effect by 
 their tradition.' Having dethroned and dismissed it from 
 within,they limited its jurisdiction to the outward life, guard- 
 ing every avenue by which it might return and resume its 
 seat by a trivial ceremony, or a precarious tradition. And 
 not only so, they bought themselves off at pleasure, from 
 even an outward observance of the moral law, purchased a 
 dispensation to transgress it, at the easy price of a little ad- 
 ditional punctiliousness in the ritual worship. Thus dis- 
 credited and disowned, its authority was merely nominal; 
 and the only rank it was permitted to take was below the 
 emptiest superstition. 
 
 But Jesus came to its rescue ; restored to it the spirit 
 and office which, in their hands, it had lost. The tables 
 of the law prostrate and defaced, and overlaid with the long 
 accumulated dust and rubbish of rabbinical lore, he drew 
 forth and again set up: and retracing their characters 
 afresh as with the finger of infinite purity, he re-published 
 them with an authority and effect which the fires of Sinai 
 re-kindled could not have increased. As expounded and 
 enforced by his lips, especially in his sermon on the mount, 
 they not only retrieved their original honors, but acquired 
 a more perfectly reasoned and undeniable title to rule and 
 reign in the heart. He claimed for the operation of the 
 divine law, a scope and space as free and unbounded as the 
 divine essence. He showed that, like the elemantal fire, 
 it is not only present where it is grossly visible, but that it 
 is all-pervading ; that, with a lidless and un-slumbering 
 
300 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 eye, its gaze is fixed on all the thoughts and ways of the 
 world; that it beholds nothing of an indifferent nature in 
 the whole scene; but that noting, discriminating, and 
 weighing all things, it every where and in every thing 
 discovers the elements of good or evil, approving or 
 condemning whatever transpires. Opening the dark and 
 secret chambers of the heart, he showed it there searching 
 for sin ; having for its torch the sword of avenging justice, 
 with which it flashed on the face of conscience as it pass- 
 ed, and detected sins which had not yet dared to come forth 
 in action. He showed it there, discovering and arraign- 
 ing evil in its first rudiments; rage, in its spark; licen- 
 tiousness, in its first glance ; and murder ambushed in an 
 unbreathed and unsuspected thought ; sin in its seed, con- 
 cealing the coming transgression, enclosing the future hell. 
 So multiplied were the sub-divisions, and so minute the 
 gradations of duty, devised by the Jews, that the ob iga- 
 iions of holiness were well nigh forgotten, in endless dis- 
 putes about the comparative importance and precedence of 
 its several branches. Morality, as a practice, was in dan- 
 ger of being sentenced to wait, till morality, as a science, 
 should be complete; till they should succeed in the hope- 
 less task of determining the merits, and adjusting the claims 
 of its respective parts, so as to give it the scholastic air of 
 a system- Resolving their endless distinctions of duty into 
 two classes, our Lord not only declared which is the first 
 and great command, he showed them that the principle of 
 all obedience, and the substance of all law, are essentially 
 the same ; that love is the, fulfilling of the law. He taught 
 that 'all the law and the prophets,' all the duties enjoined 
 from the foundation of the world are resolvable into this 
 as their life and essence: and that consequently, wherever 
 this principle exists, though the subjects of it maybe igno- 
 rant that such duties have been formerly enjoined, it would 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 301 
 
 by the necessity of its nature unfold and expand, putting" 
 forth all the fruits and beauties of holiness : that it is the 
 principle which is in the stead of law, and the fulfillment 
 of all law. 
 
 And to the law of God thus explained and enforced, he 
 put the seal of eternity. In the hands of the Jews, it had 
 been made to vary its demands, accommodating its require- 
 ments to the changing temperature of times and circum- 
 stances ; but, as the principles on which it rests can know 
 no change, he proclaimed its immutability. 'For verily 
 I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one 
 tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.' 
 Having raised and restored it to all its original claims, he 
 published it anew as the rule of our spiritual nature ; the 
 perfect, universal, and perpetual standard, to which the 
 entire man must be conformed. 
 
 III. From his exposition of the moral law, it is only a 
 short and easy transition to the spiritual character which 
 his teaching prescribed for. 
 
 I. The worship of God. There is a sense in which 
 spiritual devotion stands opposed to that which is local. 
 Among the many restrictions peculiar to the Jewish econo- 
 my, one was, that after the erection of the temple at Jeru- 
 salem, it becadne impious to perform certain rites at any 
 other place. Hence the difficulty expressed by the woman 
 of Samaria, as to the proper place of devotion. Jesus an- 
 nounced that, by the introduction of the gospel, all such 
 local distinctions would cease, and that believers would 
 offer their spiritual sacrifices wherever, and as often as 
 they chose. On another occasion he declared to his disci- 
 ples, ' Wherever two or three are met together in my name, 
 there am I in the midst of them ;' thus asserting the spirit- 
 uality and immensity of his divine nature, and harmoniz- 
 
302 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ing with the spiritual character and universal extension of 
 his church. While by the final commission which he 
 gave to his disciples to carry his gospel into all nations, he 
 abrogated the law of local sanctity, consecrated the wide 
 world to the worship of God. and appointed the whole 
 earth to be the 'mountain of holiness.' 
 
 2. The spirituality of worship which Jesus taught is 
 contradistinguished from ceremonial observances. God is 
 a spirit, and the only devotion compatible w'ith his nature 
 is that which flows from the souls of his worshippers. In 
 prescribing the ritual part of a religion, he is to be regard- 
 ed as consulting not the spirituality of his own, but the 
 materiality and infirmities of our nature; as relaxing fche 
 demands of his heavenly, to meet the necessities of our 
 earthly. But as his only aim, in thus suspending the re- 
 quirements which are proper to his nature, is to engage 
 and assist our souls in his service, so the religion which 
 attains this end with the fewest forms is regarded by him 
 as the most perfect. It is more congenial to his spiritual 
 nature, and less ensnaring to our formality. On this prin- 
 ciple it is t,hat the Christian dispensation, which when 
 compared with the Jewish, ranks so much higher in moral 
 excellence, was assigned to the hands of Jesus to bestow 
 as an incomparably better gift. And of the heavenly state, 
 where devotion is carried to the highest perfection, John 
 informs us that he saw no temple therein : it is dispensed 
 with there, as an unnecessary appendage. The worship- 
 pers there are independent of time, and place, and circum- 
 stance. By such restrictions they would deem their wor- 
 ship impeded and disfigured. Devotion there, divested of 
 all its earthly vestments, is reduced to its pure essential 
 elements. The soul of religion enters there alone, and 
 hence the superiority and perfection of the worship. 
 
 The ritual of the Jews indeed prescribed a multitude of 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 303 
 
 perpetually recurring observances. But, though burdened 
 with ceremonies, it was highly significant of all that is 
 spiritual and essential in the present economy. That its 
 rites were not necessary to salvation must have been evi- 
 dent to the reflecting Israelite, from the fact that many had 
 been saved before they were prescribed. To secure and 
 vindicate the spirituality of the divine worship was one of 
 its chief and avowed objects. For this the Almighty pro- 
 claimed himself a jealous God. Hence, too, the rigorous 
 prohibition of graven images ; the certain and awful pun- 
 ishment which followed every lapse into idolatry; the fre- 
 quency with which he directed his prophets to correct 
 their formality by partially disparaging the appointed forms 
 of their service, ' desiring mercy and not sacrifice, and the 
 knowledge of God more than burnt offerings ;' by insist- 
 ing on the emptiness of ritual worship, unless accompa- 
 nied by the sacrifice of a contrite spirit ; by reminding 
 them during seasons of captivity and war, when the ob- 
 servance of their rites was not in their power,, that if they 
 still retained the piety of the heart, they possessed the es- 
 sence and core of true religion ; all of which combined to 
 preserve and promote the spirituality of their devotion. 
 Piety, indeed, has always been composed of the same ele- 
 ments, and issued in the same result the production of 
 spiritual men. For this, the legal economy may be said 
 to have travailed and been in birth. Yet, however labo- 
 rious the process, and elementary the character it produ- 
 ced, it could be satisfied with nothing less. Disowning- 
 and rejecting the formalist as a reproach, it acknowledged 
 for its offspring none who bore not its spiritual impress ; 
 and equally with the gospel, reserved its ultimate rewards 
 for the ' Israelite indeed.' Over every gate of the temple, 
 it may be said to have exhibited this inscription, * He is not 
 a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision 
 
304 
 
 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 which is outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew who is one 
 inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the 
 spirit and not in the letter ; whose praise is not of men, 
 but of God.' 
 
 But though that economy contemplated the pure and 
 cordial worship of God, yet spirituality was not its char- 
 acteristic. It was light only in comparison with the sur- 
 rounding darkness of ignorance and idolatry. As viewed 
 from heaven its devotion must have appeared remote, labo- 
 rious, and material. Its names, to be descriptive and ap- 
 propriate, could only be taken from its ritual character ; 
 hence it is denominated, ' the hand-writing of ordinances ;' 
 1 the law of commandments contained in ordinances;' 'a 
 figure for the time then present ;' ' which stood only in 
 meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordin- 
 ances ;' and for a similar reason its disciples called them- 
 selves -the temple and the circumcision. Each of the su- 
 pernatural doctrines it taught was veiled. It contained truth 
 only in the seed or the husk. Its most striking and in- 
 structive parts were 'only figures of the true. 3 The law 
 made nothing perfect. It left the Adorable himself in shad- 
 ow. Like its own awful and unapproachable veil, it at once 
 contained and concealed ; investing the spiritual with ma- 
 terial forms, and placing the glorious in distant obscurity. 
 
 But it was only meant for a temporary purpose: 'being* 
 imposed until the time of reformation' by Christ. In the 
 execution of his 'office he gradually repealed the whole 
 ceremonial. ' Go,' said he, ' and learn what that meaneth, 
 I will have mercy and not sacrifice ;' thus virtually dis- 
 countenancing the ritual of their religion, he exalted char- 
 acter into supreme importance, implying its independent 
 sufficiency, and the possibility that under a new dispensa- 
 tion it might exist alone. By dispensing with all pomp 
 and state in his own person, and demanding regeneration 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 305 
 
 as the only qualification for the kingdom of God; he taught 
 that religion was henceforth to prove its independence of 
 forms ; that, dismissing all its earthly allies and appenda- 
 ges, it was to rest its claims on its own intrinsic merits ; to 
 walk the eart'i in unattended majesty, indebted for all its 
 attractions and triumphs, to the invisible Spirit alone. 
 
 His prediction of the entire destruction of the temple, 
 intimated the approaching purification of religion. The 
 temple was the fixed and only home of the ceremonial in- 
 stitute. During the earlier history of that institute it had 
 been migratory; 'I have not,' saith God, 'dwelt in any 
 house since the time that I brought up the children of Is- 
 rael out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a 
 tent and in a tabernacle.' The erection of the temple gave 
 to it locality, consolidation, and repose ; was the appropriate 
 token and promise of its stability ; and accordingly around 
 that sacred fane the nation settled and built a home in re- 
 liance on that stability. The unqualified prediction of it$ 
 fall then involved the abrogation of its peculiar rites. The 
 prophecy of its former demolition, only involved the sus- 
 pension of these rites ; for it was accompanied and even 
 preceded by a promise of its restoration. But Jesus, by 
 announcing the deletion, the utter erasure of the temple 
 from the face of the earth, without any reserve for the fu- 
 ture, intimated the irrevocable nature of its fall, the visible 
 repeal of the religion which dwelt in it, and 4 the bringing 
 in of a better hope, by the which we draw nigh unto God.' 
 
 By announcing that he was greater than the temple, he 
 virtually displaced it with all its contents, and remained 
 himself in the place it had occupied : and by proclaiming 
 himself * the way, the truth, and the life,' he intimated that 
 all the typic rites had found their prototype and fulfillment 
 in himself, and that henceforth all the offices of the church 
 Would be absorbed and centered in himself alone. Hither- 
 19 
 
306 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 to, the worship of God had been conducted, so to speak, 
 at a distance, believers approaching him only through in- 
 termediate forms ; but Jesus annihilated that distance and 
 dispensed with these forms : supplying them with the in- 
 cense of his own name, he constitutes each of them a spir- 
 itual priest, leads them direct to an immediate audience 
 with God, and, placing them around the footstool of mercy, 
 commands them to 'ask and receive, that their joy may be 
 full.' When solicited to decide between the respective 
 merits of the Jewish and Samaritan rituals, he intimated 
 that the time had arrived when the question ceased to be 
 important, since both of them were about to be annulled 
 and superseded ; ' The hour cometh,' said he, * and now is, 
 when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in 
 spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to worship 
 him.' 
 
 In harmony with this representation, the disciples of 
 Christ are distinguished as 'the true circumcision, who 
 worship God in the Spirit.' He introduces them into a 
 church from which he has swept every vestige of the an- 
 cient rites. He allows them to restore none of these rites, 
 nor to substitute aught in lieu of them, at the awful peril 
 of his displeasure. When they come into his courts, he 
 requires that nothing be laid upon his alcar but 'spiritual 
 sacrifices ;' that nothing appear before him but our spirits 
 communing with his Spirit. He looks for an assembly of 
 human hearts, of naked human hearts ; and when he be- 
 holds them engaged, delighted, absorbed in his worship, 
 he contemplates an object far more acceptable than the 
 flaming sacrifice of the whole material world. 
 
 And the quality of the provision which he has made for 
 his worship, perfectly corresponds with the spirituality of 
 its nature and requirements. He has placed it under the 
 entire superintendence of the Holy Spirit, whose aid he 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 307 
 
 instructed his disciples to consider as absolutely necessary 
 and all-sufficient. A convert from Judaism must have felt 
 an amazing change, in passing from its crowded and pomp- 
 ous ritual, to the severe simplicity of the Christian church. 
 In a literal sense, he exchanged the gorgeous magnificence 
 of the temple for the bare and unpretending plainness of 
 4 an upper room ;' and in a spiritual point of view he did 
 the same. But then, among the new and numerous ad- 
 vantages arising from the transition, it might be said that 
 he found that room to be within the veil. He left the rites 
 to stand in the presence of the God. He emerged from 
 the cloud of incense to find himself alone with the great 
 Spirit of the new dispensation. * Likewise also the Spirit,' 
 he could say, ' helpeth our infirmities.' Employed by Jesus, 
 the divine Spirit whom he departed to send, compensates 
 for the loss of the material sanctuary by erecting the soul 
 of the believer into a living temple. Having cleansed and 
 made it consecrate, and kindled on its altar a sacred fire, 
 he himself condescends to assume the office of conducting 
 its worship. Acting the part of its high priest and inter- 
 cessor, he prepares and presents to God the welcome sac- 
 rificeof a broken and contrite heart. He calls the thoughts, 
 and affections, and desires away from the world, and con- 
 ducts them like a band of humble worshippers to the throne 
 of God ; constraining the soul and all that is within it, to 
 bless and praise his holy name. 
 
 3. Another species of worship to which spiritual and 
 acceptable devotion is opposed, is that which is prescribed 
 by human authority. Destitute of that faith which ranges 
 the invisible world, and which makes the interior of the 
 temple above its own, the Jews sought to supply the defect 
 by perpetually multiplying the objects and observances of 
 their earthly temple. Being prevented, by the unchange- 
 able nature of their constitution, from cultivating the science 
 
308 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 of civil legislation ; and by the intrusion of foreign domi- 
 nation from the exercise of the highest executive powers, 
 religion was doomed to receive the undivided attentions of 
 worldly ambition ; the temple was the great national valve 
 through which that principl >, \vhic.h loves to enact and 
 create, found an escape. But to add to the appointments 
 of God in religion, to legislate where he had been legis- 
 lating before, is to imply that we understand the wants and 
 niceties of our human, and the requirements of his divine 
 nature, better, than he does, and are more concerned to 
 meet them. Tt is to set up our throne by his throne, and 
 to imply that we possess authority to bind the conscience 
 and control the heart. Besides, so comprehensive and per- 
 fect are the divine appointments, however few and simple 
 they may seem, that it is impossible for man to introduce 
 additions without in some way deranging and displacing 
 these prior appointments, and doing violence to some part 
 of human nature. If his petty parasitical additions take 
 root, they gradually shade and overtop the original ordi- 
 nances of God, depriving them of all that reverence of soul 
 which is the appropriate soil of religion, and which be- 
 longs to it alone. If, on the other hand, they incur the 
 neglect their origin deserves, they are likely to involve the 
 religion about which they have entwined in the same un- 
 distinguishing contempt. Hence, said Jesus, ' Every plant 
 which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be root- 
 ed up.' Arraigning the Scribes and Pharisees, the profane 
 usurpers of religious authority, he demanded, * Why do 
 ye transgress the commandment of God by your tradition ?' 
 And having cited a single instance of their impiety, he 
 added, ' Thus have ye made the commandment of God of 
 none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did 
 Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh 
 unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 309 
 
 lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they 
 worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of 
 men.' 
 
 Piety, or religious obedience, is a virtue in the sight of 
 God, only as it is a compliance with his authority; so that 
 for man to assume the power of prescribing, is to make 
 virtue impossible: it is to poison duty at the fountain- 
 head ; to turn the waters of the sanctuary into an element 
 of impurity and death. To save his purer religion from 
 this deadly ingredient that is, if any language could have 
 saved it not only did Jesus institute a more spiritual wor- 
 ship, and one therefore less liable to combine with human 
 admixtures, he proclaims its entireness and sufficiency, and 
 his own exclusive authority in the church. To those who 
 would convert his house into a battlemented and frowning 
 fortress, he addresses the language of mild remonstrance, 
 and says, 'ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.' 
 * The Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, but to 
 save them.' * Put up the sword again into its place.' ' If 
 my kingdom were of this world then would my servants 
 fight, but now is it not from hence.' Stripping off the tinsel 
 trappings, with which men in their love for pomp and show 
 would fain adorn his spiritual throne, he reminds them that 
 his kingdom is not of this world. He authoritatively silen- 
 ces the lowest tone, the first syllable, of human legislation 
 in his worship, by proclaiming, * One is your master, even 
 Christ; and all ye are brethren.' On conducting the Gen- 
 tile world into his church, his disciples were to inculcate 
 the observance of his commands, and his alone : * teach- 
 ing them to observe all things whatsoever I have command- 
 ed ;' this is, at once, the ample extent, and the well defin- 
 ed limits of the evangelical commission. Drawing around 
 his church a line of spiritual interdiction, he requires that 
 before it be crossed, every badge of authority be laid aside. 
 
310 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 that every high thing which exalteth itself he left without, 
 and allows nothing to obtain currency and acceptance as 
 devotion within, which does not bear the mintage and im- 
 press of his image, the superscription of his name. 
 
 4. And the spirituality of devotion which Jesus taught 
 is opposed to that which is formal and insincere. In relig- 
 ion the heart is every thing; if the heart be absent from 
 the worship of God, the man is absent ; or, what is worse, 
 the Omniscient beholds, in the stead of a sincere worship- 
 per, a piece of solemn formality going through the attitudes 
 and signs of devotion, and even uttering the affecting lan- 
 guage of confession, supplication, and praise, but entirely 
 devoid of any corresponding emotions within. He beholds 
 moreover, in the rights of such worship, an array of spir- 
 itual idols: of means converted into ends; of forms erect- 
 ed into objects of trust, supplanting him and substituted in 
 his stead, robbing him of the homage which is due unto 
 his name. The idols of the heathen stood between earth 
 and heaven, obscuring the vision of God, intercepting and 
 appropriating the mountain incense which should have as- 
 cended to the eternal throrfe. The rites of the formalist 
 are his spiritual idols ; instead of leading his thoughts on- 
 wards to God, they stand between him and the professed 
 object of his worship, concealing God from his view, en- 
 grossing his soul to themselves, and leaving behind them 
 a feeling of satisfaction simply because they have been re- 
 vered and observed. 
 
 By attesting the spirituality of the divine nature, our 
 Lord taught that the heart is indispensable in devotion. 
 For if God be a spirit, it follows that our worship, to be ac- 
 ceptable, must correspond with his nature. Accordingly, 
 when we come before him, he requires that the soul, the 
 noblest part of our nature, should do him homage: that 
 our thoughts should relate to him, our affections embrace 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 311 
 
 him, that our spiritual nature should go forth and seek 
 communion with him; nor can he be imposed on by mere 
 forms and semblances, for, being spirit he is perfectly ac- 
 quainted with all other spirits ; intimately, and always pre- 
 sent with them. 
 
 If devotion be regarded as the use and application of a 
 spiritual remedy, the Saviour taught the same important les- 
 son, by describing the heart as the seat of our moral disease, 
 
 ' Out of the heart,' said he, ' proceed evil thoughts, 
 
 these are the things which defile a man ; but to eat bread 
 with unwashed hands, this defileth not a man.' The heart 
 then is the source of moral defilement ; not only does it 
 originate all the evil which appears in the life, it must plead 
 guilty to a mass of evil which never comes forth into the 
 conduct; the ungodliness that appears in the life, is barely 
 the overflowings of an ungodly heart. It originates many 
 a thought which the tongue never breathes in the softest 
 whisper; and many a desire which is smothered in the 
 birth as too monstrous to see the day ; anj purposes with- 
 out number, for which the darkness of night would be too 
 light and the secrecy of solitude too public. Well may 
 the prophet exclaim, in allusion to its desperate wickedness, 
 * Who can know it?' it has intricacies, which no other 
 creature can penetrate ; recesses, which the man himself 
 cannot explore; depths which God alone is able to fathom. 
 It is there that error takes its rise as from a fountain, and 
 thence all the streams of error are constantly fed. There 
 it is that sin sows its poisonous seed as in ground prepared 
 for its reception, and where it is sure to take root. There 
 it is that malice muses its deep-laid projects of revenge; 
 that lust revels in thoughts of sensual indulgence; that 
 treachery plots and cherishes it dark designs. It is in 
 the heart that the fool says what he fears to utter with 
 his tongue, ' No God.' There it is that scepticsm harbors 
 
312 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 its hard thoughts of God, and that our natural enmity 
 against him finds a home. It is the treasury of sin, where 
 all its resources are kept against the hour of opportunity. 
 It is the hiding place of sin, where it often lurks unknown 
 to us, and whence it frequently steals forth and takes us by 
 surprise. It is the first place which sin enters, and the 
 last which it leaves ; for sin not only takes up its abode in 
 the heart before it appears in the conduct, but how often 
 does it occur, that after sin has been banished from the out- 
 ward life, it only retires back again and hides itself in the 
 heart. Having taken up a commanding position in the 
 heart and fortified and entrenched itself there, it mocks 
 every effort made to dislodge it, which does not reach and 
 shake the very centre of our being. 
 
 Religion then, the antagonist force which is to expel sin 
 from our nature, must be conveyed into the same seat, must 
 meet the enemy on its own ground, must attack and van- 
 quish it in its strong hold. ' Make the tree good,' saith 
 Christ, 'and the fruit will be good.' Our visible piety 
 must be the fruit of a tree whose roots are struck deep in 
 the heart. 
 
 The loftiest distinction in his kingdom he reserved for 
 the pure in heart. According to a law in nature which uni- 
 versally prevails, a change in the constitution of any crea- 
 frure is followed by a corresponding change in his condi- 
 tion. When changed from pollution to purity, his people 
 shall be blessed by purity, be brought into the presence of 
 celestial purity, be beloved by infinite purity, shall ascend 
 to the beatific vision of God as to their original birth- 
 right. ' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
 God.' 
 
 While leading his disciples into the presence of God, 
 he impressed on them what they were chiefly to implore ; 
 they were to solicit that all-comprehending gift, the Holy 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 813 
 
 Spirit: a gift which, from its very nature, would demand 
 their heart for the place of its reception. And if it be 
 found impossible, owing to a fixed and infallible law of our 
 being, to associate even with a fellow-mortal without re- 
 ceiving moral modification, a degree of assimilation to 
 his character, how can the supreme, the ever-active and 
 all-assimilating Spirit, take up his abode in the midst of 
 our nature without changing the heart and conforming it 
 to his own holiness. 
 
 Placing himself between the mercy-seat and the crowd 
 of heartless worshippers that beset it, he shamed their vain 
 ostentation, silenced their endless repetitions, and lifting 
 up the drapery of the breast, he showed them to them- 
 selves hollow and heartless, and dismissed them with de- 
 nunciations instead of blessings. Having removed the 
 hypocritical throng, he sought to surround the footstool of 
 grace with Israelites indeed. To engage their affections 
 in prayer, he taught them to call the Being they addressed 
 by the endearing name of Father; thus allaying their 
 fears, and awakening and consecrating their filial instincts 
 to devotion. To call forth the ardor of their souls, he held 
 up a prize of prayer before their eyes ; gave to it the most 
 alluring names; called it imperishable wealth good 
 things the Holy Spirit eternal life ; or, as though no 
 language could describe the efficacy he would assign to 
 prayer, he assured them, that ask what they would, it 
 should be done for them ; that they should find the treasu- 
 ry of heaven, and all the resources of God, open and ac- 
 cessible to them. 
 
 To show them the triumph of feeling over form, he 
 brought them by parable, into the temple, and directed their 
 attention to two worshippers the one, a pharisee, stand- 
 ing erect before God; loud and voluble; with nothing but 
 virtues to recount ; the envy of his nation, the pride of his 
 
314 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 sect : the other a publican, one of the refuse of the people ; 
 bowed, dejected, self-condemned ; his eyes seeking the 
 dust; his heart swollen even to bursting; his utterance 
 choked ; smiting upon his breast as the seat of all his 
 agony and disease ; able only to articulate, * God be mer- 
 ciful to me, a sinner.' But while the former is sent 
 empty away, he shows them the other returning to his 
 house, rich in the favor of God ; forgiven, justified, happy. 
 Thus he taught them that prayer is a sigh ; a tear ; a 
 look; an act of prostration ; a transaction of he soul with 
 heaven ; an affair in which the only office of the tongue is to 
 unload the freighted and overflowing heart, and relieve it 
 of its oppressive fulness. He encouraged and urged 
 them, by his own example, by arguments, by parables, hy 
 appeals to the parental affections of their nature, by expli- 
 cit promises, to ask, to seek, to knock, to set no bounds to 
 their importunity, to give unlimited scope and ardor to 
 their desires ; and that no doubt of welcome and success 
 might obtrude to check the full flow and out pouring of 
 their souls to God, he affirmed it to bean invariable prin- 
 ciple of the divine government,- that every one that asketh, 
 receiveth. And likening his new and evangelical church 
 to a kingdom, and the entrance to it to a strait gate and a 
 narrow way, a defile in which hell has posted its archers to 
 dispute the passage, he cheered them to the onset, bade 
 them, though at the risk of an eye, a hand, or even life it- 
 self, to agonize, to force their way as with a spasm of en- 
 ergy, and seize that kingdom by etorm. 
 
 Devotion, which to be pure and vital must derive its sup- 
 plies like the living stream, by hidden communication with 
 the parent ocean, he found cut off from the great Fountain 
 of life, and made to consist in artificial jet-works and devi- 
 ces for proud and public display. Its seclusive character 
 was entirely gone. As if the only aliment on which it 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 315 
 
 could live was publicity,as if its value depended entirely on 
 the degree in which it was seen, its favorite resorts were 
 the chief seats in the synagogue, the corners of the streets, 
 and the market-place. Tired of the closet, and even of 
 the sanctuary, devotion, or that which passed for it, had 
 brought forth all its symbols and apparatus which should 
 have been sacred to secresy, spread them abroad before the 
 public eye, and transacted its high and solemn affairs with 
 heaven at the sound of the trumpet, and in the broad glare 
 of day. Reprobating this shameless ostentation as hypoc- 
 risy, he assigned to its only legitimate reward, the notice of 
 man, the barren applause of congenial hypocrisy and 
 left it withering under the frown of God. But taking the 
 subject of sincere devotion by the hand, he led him to a 
 hushed and secret recess; and, closing the door, secluded 
 him from the noise and observation of the world, and left 
 him alone with God: thereto forget all things but God 
 and himself; there to discover, in his connatural affinity 
 and sympathy with God the hidden and dormant dignity 
 of his own nature; and thence to come forth rich in the 
 smiles of his heavenly Father, and, like a priest fresh 
 from a cloud of incense, suffused with the holy fragrance 
 of his divine employment. 
 
 IV. But that which formed a prominent feature of our 
 Lord's teaching, and which on that account claims our es- 
 pecial attention, was the spirituality of his new, eVangelic- 
 al kingdom. He came to a people possessed by the demon 
 of national ambition. Having secularized their relip-ion, 
 and thus prepared themselves for the delusion, their early 
 conquests, their miraculous history, and the glowing de- 
 scriptions of prophecy combined to foster the expectation of 
 their coming greatness and universal empire; while the 
 galling pressure of the Roman yoke rendered the vision 
 
316 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 doubly precious, and heightened its splendors, and filled 
 them with a frenzy of impatience to behold it realized. 
 The advent of Messiah alone was wanting to make them a 
 nation of princes and masters of the world. On his ap- 
 pearing, the nations were to be summoned ; and submit, or 
 perish. Leading forth an army of conquerers, the swords 
 of God, he would make the circuit of the earth, and return 
 with the spoils of universal triumph. Judea would hence- 
 forth be a land of palaces, the seat of terrestial power, the 
 very heaven of earth. They lived in the familiar contempla- 
 tion of a vision in which * all the kingdoms of the world 
 and the glories of them,' were placed at their feet ; a vis- 
 ion in which they saw themselves collected and ranged in 
 hierarchal order, gradation above gradation, a towering 
 structure of political grandeur ; a living pyramid, whose 
 summit was crowned with the throne of the hope of Israel, 
 invested with the insignia of universal supremacy, and at 
 'whose basement was stretched out in glorious perspective 
 the kneeling and admiring homage of the world. Such 
 anticipation, in substance, was the creed of the nation. It 
 was not peculiar to a visionary few, but was pourtrayed in 
 vivid and permanent imagery one very mind. Not to be- 
 lieve in its approach was infidelity; and not to pray for it 
 was, to a proverb, not to pray at all. The expectation of 
 it moulded their worship, imprinted itself on their lan- 
 guage and on many of their habits, and kept them in a 
 perpetual fever of excitement. 
 
 In the face of this sorcerous and powerful delusion, Jesus 
 propounded the simplicity of Messiah's reign. He did 
 this, not merely to dissipate theexisting error, but knowing 
 that the principle from which it sprung is native to the hu- 
 man heart, and forseeing that the great enemy would at- 
 tempt to employ it against his church, in every form 
 and in every age, he sought to render i'., if not impossi- 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 317 
 
 ble, at least utterly inexcusable. His early instructions 
 were devoted supremely, and even solely to this object. 
 By dispatching his herald to proclaim repentance as the 
 only preparation for his coming kingdom, he essayed to 
 disturb the national dream and to break up the popular 
 delusion. On coming to Jerusalem he repaired to the tem- 
 ple; and by expelling the herd of the worldly that pro- 
 faned it, he practically taught that in his church, where- 
 ever and whenever it might exist, names would be nothing ' 
 and character every thing. Discoursing with Nicodemus 
 immediately after, he insisted on the regeneration of the 
 heart as indispensable to his kingdom. Then followed his 
 discourse with the woman of Samaria, in which, as we 
 have already seen, he left nothing to the hopes of the secu- 
 lar and carnal, but opened to the spiritual a prospect of un- 
 clouded day. Proceeding into Galilee, he took up the bur- 
 den of the Baptist's preaching, and repeated wherever he 
 came, ' Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
 Arriving at Nazareth, he implied the spiritual design of his 
 mission by appropriating the prediction which described 
 the poor, the blind, the bruised, and broken hearted, as the 
 objects of his peculiar care. Followed by a large and ad- 
 miring multitude, many of whom had lately beheld him 
 at Jerusalem when his miracles had divided attention with 
 the temple itself, and all of whom were sanguine of his 
 patriotic designs, he ascended a mount, marked the unholy 
 enthusiasm which fired their hearts, surveyed the phan- 
 toms of national greatness which played before their eyes, 
 saw that their ambitious impatience was at its height, and 
 opening his mouth, by the first sentence he uttered he 
 laid their kingdom in the dust; 'Blessed are the poor in 
 Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' He corrects 
 their extravagant views, not by branding and denouncing 
 them but by pronouncing his benediction on sentiments of 
 
318 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 a very opposite description. He does not require them to 
 relinquish their hopes of a kingdom; he promises a king- 
 dom ; but then the kingdom he proposes is spiritual, a state 
 in which their earthly passions will be discredited and un- 
 known, and qualities the very opposite prevail in which 
 spiritual poverty would constitute the greatest wealth. 
 
 Had he delivered no specific instructions concerning the 
 genius of his kingdom, we might have inferred its spiritu- 
 ality from his conduct alone. Had the policy and pride of 
 man been consulted on the means of its erection, they 
 would have demanded that splendor should be seen follow- 
 ing in his train, and wealth pouring out his treasures at 
 his feet, and ambition realizing honors and titles at his 
 hands. They would have said, ' If a new system is to be 
 proclaimed and established in the world, let the profoundest 
 * philosophers of the day be engaged to advocate its merits - 
 let the princes and potentates of the earth be induced to 
 patronize it, and take it under their guardian care ; let poet- 
 ry sing its praises; let eloquence pour forth its most effec- 
 tive oratory in its behalf; let every spring of human power 
 be touched and put in motion, and the gospel may gradual- 
 ly gain a footing in the world.' And had it been of earth- 
 ly origin and character, such instrumentality might have 
 been wise and well. But the spirituality of its nature dis- 
 dained such alliance. The empire of Jesus was intended 
 to be the great anomaly of the world ; and its Founder 
 designed that its distinctive character should be seen in the 
 anomalous means employed to erect it. ' My kingdom,' 
 said he, 'is not of this world ; ' and forthwith he proceed- 
 ed to illustrate the truth, by laying its foundation in his own 
 death : by erecting a cross for its centre and glory. ' My 
 kingdom is not of this world ; it came down complete from 
 heaven, and it conducts thither again ; it does not contem- 
 plate man specifically in his national, secular, or artificial 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 319 
 
 relations, but in his moral capacity as amenable to the in- 
 visible and supreme Governor; and it proposes to form 
 him into a subject, and to acquire his allegiance, by laws 
 and influences unknown to the resources of earthly pow- 
 ers, and mysterious as the operation of the wind, an agen- 
 cy derived immediately from heaven. It may impress 
 its image on earthly governments with the happiest effect, 
 but cannot take from them the slightest print without receiv- 
 ing essential injury; it may leave the constitution of a hu- 
 man empire untouched, while it pervades and possesses eve- 
 ry member of that state, and renders him a new creature. 
 So spiritual is its nature, that, like its omnipresent Founder, 
 who is always present with his c r eatures in the same place, 
 without destroying any of the attributes proper to their na- 
 ture, it is 'capable of co-existing and co-extending with an 
 earthly state, and of preserving its own separate character, 
 without at all interfering with the functions proper to that 
 state. 
 
 Unlike the dominions of the kings of the earth, his 
 kingdom knows nothing of territorial divisions and geo- 
 graphical bounds. ' That \vhich is born of the Spirit is 
 spirit,' and belongs to his domains: so much of the man as 
 is sanctified, is native to this state, and no more; and only 
 so much of society as is reclaimed to holiness comes with- 
 in its spiritual scope and verge. It is a region of light ; 
 and to whatever point its beams may reach, 'the kingdom 
 of God is come nigh unto it. It is a dominion of holiness; 
 and he who begins to exhibit the signs of repentance, is 
 4 not far from it,' is approaching its happy confines. The 
 lengths and breadths of Immanuel's land are not capable 
 of being mapped ; it is a region too etherial to be subjected 
 to the lines of latitude and longitude ; it is too commen- 
 surate with actual faith, and actual holiness, and knows no 
 limits but where these terminate. 
 
320 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 To be the subjects of this kingdom does not depend on 
 fcirth-place or human relationship. The great distinction 
 is, that they are born from above ; ' Jesus answered, Verily, 
 verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water 
 and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
 That which is born of the flesh, is flesh ; and that which 
 is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Marvel not that 1 said 
 unto thee, ye must be born again.' In their natural state 
 they are flesh of flesh; the depraved offspring of depraved 
 parents. Their spiritual principle that which principal- 
 ly distinguished them as men, and allied them to God 
 has become a secondary and subordinate part of their na- 
 ture. It ought to have reigned, but it has resigned its au- 
 thority, dismissed its state, and abdicated its throne. It 
 has descended to be a slave, where it ought to have been 
 king. The flesh, which should have been only its chariot 
 of triumph, leads it. instead, in degrading captivity. In 
 this degraded state, it is regarded as having forfeited its 
 own name; it is no longer worthy to be called spirit; it 
 even submits to the dishonor of taking its name from the 
 inferior, the fleshly principle. Being immersed in the 
 flesh, and owning the flesh for its master, the rnind is ani- 
 malized, the very mind is turned into flesh, and rendered a 
 fleshly mind ; 'that which is born of the flesh, is flesh. 7 
 
 Now it is characteristic of all the subjects of the gospel 
 kingdom, that this unnatural order of things has been re- 
 versed, and their spirit restored to its proper supremacy 
 and power. Brought out of the grave which enclosed it, 
 and reseated on its native throne, it learns to assert its au- 
 thority over the flesh. It is not detached from the body; 
 but is enabled to deny the flesh, to hold it in subjection, to 
 give it laws, and to exact obedience. It is not exempt 
 from the influence of carnal propensities; but it struggles 
 with them; and herein consists its spirituality. It will no 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 321 
 
 longer submit to their rule ; it will be master; it will tri- 
 umph over the flesh, and make its new-found royalty ap- 
 pear .^n the prevailing spirituality. And having thus re- 
 covered its authority and birth-right, it now again resumes 
 its name it is spirit. The subject of the change, still tak- 
 ing his name from his ruling principle, is now denominat- 
 ed spiritual, for it is his spirit that reigns : * that which is 
 born of the Spirit is spirit.' And of this spiritual charac- 
 ter are all the subjects of the Christian kingdom. God has 
 no moral kingdom on earth, but what consists of such 
 characters ; for as the extinction of this spirituality by sin, 
 was the extinction of a kingdom, so the re-production of 
 it by the Divine Spirit is the setting up of a new kingdom ; 
 and except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot be en- 
 rolled among its subjects. 
 
 Contrary to the kingdoms of the world, the empire of 
 Christ does not find its subjects, but makes them. This is 
 its specific and exalted object the production and perfec- 
 tion of spiritual men. Having wandered from the region 
 of holiness, they were accounted dead towards God ; des- 
 titute of a whole order of life which originally belonged 
 to all their faculties, and was diffused through their nature, 
 constituting its beauty and perfection. ' I am come,' said 
 Christ, 'that they might have life, and that they might 
 have it more abundantly.' Being drawn by an unseen 
 hand within the circle of the spiritual region, the life they 
 had lost is again infused ; and in the exercise of its func- 
 tions, they find themselves capable of the duties of their 
 new empire, and make proof of their allegiance to their 
 new king. Throwing off the yoke of the flesh, they no 
 longer allow themselves to be the sport and victim of what- 
 ever sin might choose to assail them ; but as the Spirit 
 hath put forth his power to renew them, so their spirit puts 
 forth a corresponding power in earnest endeavors after 
 20 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 holiness. Admitted to the presence of their Sovereign 
 Lord, they take their directions from his lips, acquire an ex- 
 pansion and increase of the divine life, until being changed 
 into the same image, they are translated to augment and 
 adorn his kingdom above. 
 
 The enlargement of an earthly kingdom is commonly 
 attended with 'the confused noise of the battle of the war- 
 rior, and garments rolled in blood ; ' its boundary lines are 
 drawn in blood. But the progress of his empire is like 
 the silent stealing of light on darkness. ' If my kingdom 
 were of this world,' said he, 'then would my servants 
 fight ; but now is my kingdom not from hence.' The 
 only panoply he has provided for its militant subjects, is an 
 armor of character ; the weapons of their warfare are the 
 love that attracts, -the patience that endures, and the union 
 that gives strength. The victories they achieve are all 
 bloodless the moral conquest of revolted minds. And, 
 hence, like the silent fermenting of the hidden leaven, or 
 the unobtrusive growth of the mustard seed to a tree, the 
 enlargement of his empire is 'not with observation;' 
 though it is a leaven which is to pervade and assimilate 
 the entire mass of humanity, and a tree which is to fill the 
 Avorld with its fragrance and its fruits. 
 
 The only domains on which his empire aggresses are 
 those of ignorance, sense, and sin ; nor does it make any 
 real accession, but as it gradually brings them into subjec- 
 tion ; so that to accept the patronage, or to seek the alli- 
 ance of the unrenewed, is to suppose that darkness would 
 combine with light, to introduce a subject of the prince of 
 darkness, and invest him with authority in the dominions 
 of the prince of light. The primary object of human gov- 
 ernments, is the protection of property, liberty, and life; 
 the design of the kingdom of Christ may consist with the 
 loss of all these, and yet be perfectly answered, for the ene- 
 mies and evils from which it proposes to save, relate to the 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 223 
 
 soul and eternity. Its sovereign himself asserted his roy- 
 alty in the presence of death, and endured the cross as the 
 very means of erecting his empire. Qualities which 
 shine most resplendent in the kingdoms of the world, have 
 no place in his; and, while accidents of birth and fortune 
 confer distinction in the former, the latter is an empire in 
 which men take rank according to their piety alone : * who- 
 soever shall do and teach the divine commands, the same 
 shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.' His is a 
 kingdom in which we belong to the higher orders, or the 
 lower, according to our character: in which holiness is 
 the only true nobility ; in which is wealth, accomplishment, 
 and rank, all in one ; and the higher our attainments in 
 righteousness, and the larger our share of his royal favor, 
 the more unequivocally are we treated as the children of a 
 king. The immunities of his 'kingdom afford no hope for 
 the covetous, no scope for the proud and restless aspirations 
 of human ambition; they consist of self-dominion, sympa- 
 thies with heaven, foretastes of perfection, the imperisha- 
 ble affluence of the soul, 'spiritual blessings in heavenly 
 places.' The laws of his kingdom, unlike the mutable 
 and precarious enactments of men, are unalterable ; being 
 founded in his own 'unchangeable nature, and in the eter- 
 nal constitution of man ; heaven and earth shall pass away, 
 before one of them shall fail. And constituting as they 
 do, a divine and perfect code, they admit of no amendment, 
 accept of no additions from human legislation. The voice 
 of human authority in his empire is the voice of treason, 
 a fearful approximation to the example of that ambitious 
 spirit whose presumption procured his banishment from 
 heaven. The penalties of his kingdom are all spiritual; 
 within the wide limits of his peaceful dominions he allows 
 no blood to be seen, but that of his own atoning sacrifice ; 
 no sword to be wielded, but that weapon of ethereal temper 
 
324 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 th^ sword of the spirit, whose strokes alight only on the 
 conscience, and whose edge is anointed with a balm to 
 heal every wound it may inflict. If one of his professed 
 subjects offend, the loyal and obedient are only empower- 
 ed to rebuke the offender, and to refuse him their society 5 
 and even of the man who withholds his allegiance, he 
 declares, * 1 judge him not' during the present dispensa- 
 tion, ' for I came not to judge the world, but to save it.' 
 
 The court of an earthly state is the rendezvous of its 
 pomp, the focus of its splendor ; a spectacle which the 
 eyes of its people never weary to behold ; his court is in- 
 visible; and though becomes to give audience to his peo* 
 pie, and to receive their petitions, his presence is unseen, 
 the object of their faith. Under the dominion of earthly 
 princes, a graduated scale is applied to society, dividing it 
 into ranks, and assigning to each its appropriate elevation 
 and distinction : under the administration of the gospel 
 kingdom, said Christ, it ' shall not be so ; but he that is 
 greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he that 
 is chief as he that doth serve.' 'For one is your master 
 even Christ^ and all ye are brethren.' Under the former, 
 society is a cone, the high places of which are occupied by 
 those who, in proportion to their elevation, speak with au- 
 thority to the circles below them : under the latter, society 
 is a plane, on which all artificial distinctions are levelled 
 and lost. The rich descending from their elevated station 
 the poor emerging from their obscure retreats, and both de- 
 positing their respective badges, they are enrolled in his 
 kingdom by one common appellation, enter his presence, 
 and encircle his throne, on the same low basement. 
 Whatever their distinctions as the subjects of earthly 
 princes, as the subjects of his empire, their wants, and ob- 
 ligations, and destiny exactly coincide, and place them on 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 325 
 
 a perfect equality : while the only scope they have for em- 
 ulation is in a contest of humility, devotedness, and love, a 
 race of holiness; and to the splendor of holiness, being an 
 order of splendor by itself, no earthly distinction can add 
 a ray of lustre. 
 
 And, to conclude this prolonged particular, I will only 
 remark, that, while the subjects of human governments 
 are mortal, and, on laying down their bodies, cease from, 
 the dominion of earthly power, the subjects of Messiah's 
 kingdom, as such, are immortal; their departure from 
 earth, being only a removal to a higher department of his 
 empire, where their allegiance is undivided, and rendered 
 to him alone, and where their spiritual relations to him 
 are all verified and tomplete ; 'Where I am,' saiih he, 
 *thereshall also my servants be.' * I appoint unto you aking- 
 dom.' And while, not only the subjects of earthly states, 
 but the kingdoms themselves, dissolve and disappear, his 
 spiritual empire shall rise on the ruins of them all: hav- 
 ing combined with none of their p ishable elements, it 
 shall know no change, but that of a perpetual advance 
 from glory to glory; and the moment which shall behold 
 the dissolution of the great globe itself, shall behold his 
 kingdom crowned with perfection, and completed for eter- 
 nity. 
 
 Let the spirituality of the Saviour's teaching, on the 
 great subjects which have passed under consideration, re- 
 mind us of our proneness and danger to repose in a form 
 of piety to the neglect of spiritual and evangelical holiness. 
 Created under a law which promised us life on the condi- 
 tion of our perfect obedience, we still retain a propensity 
 to claim the reward, though morally unable to perform the 
 condition. To evade the conviction of this inability, and 
 to maintain unimpaired our pretensions to heaven, we 
 fondly substitute an obedience of forms for the homage and 
 
326 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 piety of the heart. Besides, owing to the ascendency 
 which our senses have gained over our minds, it is so 
 much more easy and gratifying to be able to see and re- 
 count our religious doings, than to attend to the secret du- 
 ties of the heart, that we would fain lose sight of the spirit- 
 ual nature of religion, in an engrossing attention to its out- 
 ward forms. 
 
 On these accounts it is that a system of superstition, 
 however torturing the rites it may inflict on its votaries, is 
 able to boast a more imposing array of devotees, than the 
 spiritual religion of the gospel of Christ. It is so much 
 more easy to endure bodily torture, than to bend the will 
 and impose mental discipline ; there is so much in the idea 
 of personal merit to sustain the endurance of physical suf- 
 fering, and so much food for complacency afterwards in the 
 review, that Christianity has only to proclaim its acceptance 
 of tortures and penances in the stead of spi itual efforts, 
 in order to enrol among its followers mul.i.udes who now 
 stand aloof in aversion and despair. 
 
 Owing to the operation of the same principles it was 
 that the higher and ultimate designs of the Jewish econo- 
 my became neutralized and lost. Burdened as that dis- 
 pensation was with cerimonial observances, it was yet 
 highly significant of all tha is spiritual and essential in 
 the present economy. But the Jews, while they scrupu- 
 lously honored the signs, rt. irely lost sight of the thing 
 signified. They paid tithes of anise, mint, and cummin ; 
 they offered their animal sacrifices ; they were even wil- 
 ling to multiply their ritual observances a hundred-fold pro- 
 vided, that by doing so, they might be spared the irksome 
 task of reflecting, of sustaining a mental effort which 
 should enable them to 'look to the end of that \vl ich was 
 to be abolished ; ' this was a duty so much more difficult 
 than to discharge a routine of outward ceremonies, that 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 327 
 
 they utterly dismissed it. In their carnal hands, the trans- 
 parent type became opaque and useless, their speaking and 
 instructive service became an unmeaning enigma, a dumb 
 and tiresome show ; and even the glorious temple itself, 
 meant to be the shrine and sanctuary of living piety, be- 
 came its sepulchre ; the mighty mausoleum of a departed 
 religion, in which all that remained to interest, was the 
 constant celebration of its funeral rites. 
 
 Judea, having proved the grave of religion, became also 
 the scene of its resurrection to a loftier order of life, and 
 clothed-in a more spiritual body. Christianity, as com- 
 pared with religion in its Jewish state, is corruption cloth- 
 ed in incorruption.' And now, we might have supposed, 
 religion is safe from its former fate ; its spirituality will 
 now form its protection ; and, in addition, it will be guard- 
 ed by the jealousy of devout admiration; but, instead of 
 this, the very first danger to which it was exposed was that 
 of being divested of its distinctive character, and of being 
 reduced to an affair of forms and ceremonies. Many of 
 its primitive disciples had been born in the shadow of the 
 holy place; had inhaled the incense of the altar with their 
 earliest breath ; and had daily walked amidst the solemn 
 and gorgeous magnificence of an economy modelled after 
 the pattern of heavenly things, and adorned by the hand of 
 Deity himself. Proud to be allied to such a church, they 
 had derived their distinctive name from its initiatory rite, 
 and gloried to be denominated * the circumcision.' The 
 loftiest conceptions of excellence and distinction, of per- 
 sonal security and future enjoyment, had long been identi- 
 fied in their minds with * the circumcision.' And hence, 
 though the superior character of the Christian economy 
 had long since carried their convictions, and won their es- 
 teem, yet true to their early prepossessions, they essayed 
 to insert it as a graft into the Jewish stock, as the infallible 
 
328 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 means of enhancing the value of its fruits. So far from 
 entertaining the idea, that the Christian institute was design- 
 ed to supplant the Mosaic, they insisted that its saving effi- 
 cacy depended entirely on its being incorporated with it: 
 that whatever good of a subordinate kind it might impart 
 toothers, its ultimate blessings would only accrue to 'the 
 circumcision.' And accordingly the apostles had early to 
 interpose their authority, individually and collectively, in 
 order to save the new dispensation from being overlaid and 
 destroyed by a favorite and corrupted ritual. 
 
 The propensity in question however is by no means pe- 
 culiar to the Jews, whether regarded as professors of Ju- 
 daism or of Christianity; it is one to which our common 
 nature is prone. What is it thatpasses throughout Chris- 
 tendom generally for the religion of Christ? what but an 
 elaborate accumulation of penances and mortifications, of 
 splendid sights and melodious sounds, of fasts and festivals, 
 a constantly recurring round of outward observances ? As 
 though conscious of its want of a spiritual life, they have 
 vainly attempted to find compensation in a constant multi- 
 plication of heartless ceremonies : as if aware that they had 
 no more of religion than the lifeless form, they have en- 
 deavored to conceal its death-like features by overlaying it 
 with a profusion of costly decorations. 
 
 Nor "does this propensity confine its pernicious opera- 
 tions to the sphere of our duties alone of what we have 
 to do ; but invading the region of Christian expectation and 
 privilege, how generally has it debased the notions of men 
 concerning the nature of that salvation which God propos- 
 es to accomplish for them. By salvation, they understand 
 a mere outward deliverance the bestowment of pardon 
 alone without remembering that to be pardoned, in the 
 scriptural sense, is at the same time to be renewed in the 
 spirit of their mind ; in the very soul of their soul. They 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 329 
 
 profess to be infinitely indebted to Christ, supposing him to 
 have accomplished every thing for them in such a sense, 
 that now they have only to give their consent, in order to 
 be taken to heaven; not remembering that, before he can 
 be said to have done any thing for them personally, he must 
 actually commence a renovating process with them. They 
 estimate their deliverance from hell, as from a place of out- 
 ward torment ; forgetting that sin has created a hell with- 
 in them ; that an angry and polluted conscience is a worm 
 which dieth not : that unsubdued propensities to sin are 
 fires which, 'if now left unquenched, will continue to burn 
 on for ever ; that dying in habits of vice we shall take them 
 with us as chains of our own forging and imposing, and 
 wear them for ever ; and that unless they are delivered from 
 these evils now by the renewing agency of the Divine 
 Spirit, heaven itself, were they permited to enter it, would 
 be no scene of joy to them, since every thing there would 
 be at variance with their taste, and painfully opposed to 
 their character. And in the same way they are accustom- 
 ed to anticipate heaven as a spectacle of splendor, and the 
 scene of every refined pleasure which can charm the 
 senses; as the elysium in which they are to find happiness 
 prepared and awaiting their arrival, whatever the state in 
 which they may reach it. They entirely lose sight of the 
 fact, that their present character is creating their future 
 destiny; that their principles and actions, preceding their 
 own departure, have already arrived in eternity, and are 
 there preparing for them a place of reception. They for- 
 get, that on departing from earth, that which goes to be ex- 
 amined at the bar of God, is the unclothed soul, the naked 
 human character, and that the inevitable test to which it is 
 there subjected is, whether or not it has been formed and 
 sanctified by the Spirit of God. They are blind to the im- 
 portant truth, that the happiness of heaven will principally 
 
330 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 result from holiness and conformity to God : that so far, 
 heaven commences with the Christian on earth ; and that, 
 when he leaves the world, he takes the elements of heav- 
 enly happiness with him ; so that it is only by becoming 
 a subject of the kingdom of holiness, now, that he can enter 
 into the kingdom of happiness hereafter. 
 
 The principle which leads men to substitute external 
 things for the religion of Christ, is of universal operation : 
 we have seen that it has entered each dispensation, and ap- 
 peared in every age of the church, obscuring the glory, 
 and corroding the very vitals of piety. In the war it has 
 waged with the spirituality of religion, it has succeeded in 
 materializing- and debasing it to a degree which has left 
 nothing for the most secular and devoted worldling to hope 
 or desire. It has so consulted his tastes and provided for 
 his wishes, that he can easily serve both God and mam- 
 mon; an achievement which was once pronounced imprac- 
 ticable ; for while it leaves the heart at liberty for the re- 
 ception of any guests, it provides that religion shall be sat- 
 isfied with the attentions of form. It has subverted the 
 whole constitution of Messiah's kingdom ; for while it has 
 dethroned him from his seat in the heart; and has turned 
 his laws into prescriptions of empty forms; and the hom- 
 age which is paid him, into an affair of heartless ceremo- 
 ny, of feudal custom ; it has left him to sway an impotent 
 sceptre over a kingdom of mere nominal subjects. By 
 anticipation, it has even carried its deteriorating influence 
 into the regions of futurity, invaded the upper province of 
 his dominions, materializing the happiness of heaven itself. 
 Oh, what would that kingdom, of which Christ is the au- 
 thor and glory, have become, had it been left to be moulded 
 by the hands of man ! It would have been made to consist 
 ' of meats and drinks;' an assemblage of outward observ- 
 ances, and those of the most trivial description ; whereas 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 331 
 
 it is composed of * righteousness and peace, and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost.' 
 
 Thus man debases whatever he touches; even the spir- 
 ituality of the gospel could not escape the contamination. 
 But from this humbling survey of the treatment which 
 Christianity has received at his hands, let me advert, in 
 conclusion, to the divine simplicity of the character which 
 it is intended to form ; and advert to it with a view to en- 
 force its necessity. 
 
 The great gift of the new dispensation, the promise most 
 frequently on the lips of Christ, and which he evidently 
 gloried to repeat, is the promise of the Holy Spirit. The 
 fulfillment of this promise, which is alike essential to the 
 first and the last step of the Christian life, infallibly trans- 
 form its recipients into spiritual worshippers. They speak 
 to God through no indirect or doubtful medium; they ap- 
 proach him by no lengthened process of preliminary forms J 
 through the new and living way, it is their privilege to 
 advan eto his footstool personally and at once. They ad- 
 dress him with their own lips, and believe that he is listen- 
 ing to every word they utter. They bare their hearts to 
 his inspection, and entreat him to penetrate and pervade 
 them with his grace. Conscience, faithful to its trust, pre- 
 sents the record of its secrets to his eye ; and, in the sove- 
 reign smile which approves its fidelity, feels re-confirmed 
 in its office, and swears allegiance anew. Their thoughts 
 are busy with the scheme of redemption ; and as \voi der 
 after wonder rises on their view, they find themselves at- 
 tracted nearer and nearer to the object of their worship. 
 Their affections, expanding to admit his presence, invite 
 him to enter and ascend the throne. Every part of their 
 spiritual nature is employed ; going forth towards him in 
 appropriate acts and emotions, or passively waiting to own 
 the first and gentlest impules of his hand. Hypocrisy is a 
 
332 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 mask which they wear not before men ; before God, be- 
 sides its inefficiency, of which they are perfectly aware, it 
 would defeat the purpose dearest to their hearts. They 
 would have every word they utter in the ear of God, issue 
 as from the centre of their being. Whatever, while in his 
 presence, diverts their thoughts, or induces them to express 
 an unfelt desire, incurs their displeasure, and excites their 
 regret. Not to hold fellowship with him, not to feel that 
 their spiritual nature has come in contact with his, is to ex- 
 perience a disappointment for which no external rites, how- 
 ever numerous, splendid, or venerable, can compensate; a 
 disappointment like that which we may suppose the high 
 priest would have felt, had he passed into the holiest of all 
 and found the glory departed, the ark, the mercy-seat, and 
 the cherubim gone. 
 
 'The Father seeketh-isuch to worship him.' He has 
 sought them under every dispensation of religion ; but, un- 
 der the present economy, he has a right to expect that his 
 search will be peculiarly successful. The declaration, in- 
 deed, denotes their comparative rareness ; and reminds us 
 of the value which God sets on them. The formal and 
 insincere universally abound ; but such he disregards; they 
 are an abomination in his sight. But wherever a spiritual 
 worshipper is to be found, there is an object which attracts 
 the divine regard. He entertains the lofty design of trans- 
 lating all his spiritual worshippers to thetemp'e < bove. 
 
 Finally, let those of my readers who belong to the dis- 
 ciples of Jesus, be ambitious to exemplify the spiritual na- 
 ture and dignity of their Christian vocation. Delivered from 
 the shadows and ceremonies of the law, you are placed 
 in a situation pre-eminently favorable to increased spiritual- 
 ity of mind. Disciples of a school in which all human 
 authority is abjured; in which every lesson that is taught 
 is 'spirit and life;' and in which no limits are placed to 
 
HIS SPIRITUALITY. 333 
 
 the discoveries made by the Great Teacher, you are expec- 
 ted to build up a character eminent for the distinctness of 
 its heavenly features, to become proficients in the art of 
 spiritual-mindedness. Yours is not merely the character 
 of the ancient believer, changed in nothing but in name*, 
 it is the elements of which that character is composed, 
 brought from the dimness and distance of a twilight dis- 
 pensation into the radiance of the divine presence, baptized 
 with the Spirit of Christ, sustained with a purer, aliment, 
 and thus developed, expanded and matured. Looking at 
 the superiority of your spiritual knowledge, the freedom 
 of your access to Gjod, and the fullness of heavenly influ- 
 ence put within your reach, the gospel may be said to have 
 placed you midway between the Jewish economy and the 
 celestial state. Or, as if it had placed you in effect even 
 nearer than this to the privileges of heaven, you are repre- 
 sented as having come to rrount Zion, and unto the city of 
 the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Raised into this 
 ethereal region, your views are not to be bounded by the 
 sensible horizon of time ; urge and erect your souls to 
 take a larger survey 5 expatiate over the ample fields of 
 revelation ; let your eyes range from everlasting to ever- 
 lasting ; you will thus become conversant with objects in 
 whose radiance this world will stand eclipsed* and famil- 
 iar with scenes and plans compared with which all earth 
 is only a point, all time a moment, all human knowledge an 
 imperfect idea. 
 
 If the mind takes its character from the objects which it 
 most contemplates, then yours should be a transcript of all 
 that is great, and pure and spiritual. You are born spirit 
 of Spirit: you have the mind of Christ; he takes you in- 
 to daily and familiar converse with himself on the subject 
 of eternal purposes and infinite grace, that he may so trans- 
 fer to you his own likeness, and send you forth into the 
 
334 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 world as his spiritnal representatives. Your spirituality 
 is, in his eyes, your only glory; it is the only mark by 
 which he distinguishes you from the world, the only part 
 of your nature which he owns as his offspring ; you can- 
 not therefore open your souls to the ingress of the world, 
 or leave them unfortified against its influence, without con- 
 senting to lose your great distinction, and being guilty of 
 treason against the King of souls. 
 
 In effacing from your minds the image of the earthly, his 
 design is to impress on them the image of the heavenly ; 
 that you may show forth his likeness and circulate his 
 praise in the world. If he admits you to stand in the light 
 of his presence, it is not that you may absorb and conceal 
 it; but that, as prepared mediums, you may transmit the 
 glory of his thorne to others. He has made you the sub- 
 jects of a kingdom which disdains the boundaries of time 
 and place, that your benevolence may know no limits. In 
 approaching his altar as his royal priesthood, you are to 
 speak as intercessors for the race ; in offering thanksgiving, 
 you are to be the organ and voice of the gratitude due to 
 him from the world. And having enrolled yourselves as 
 his subjects and servants, you are to apply your hand to 
 the vast machinery of his providence, and to mingle with 
 the operations of his almightly love, in restoring to harmo- 
 ny the disorders of the universe. He has given to you 
 his own Spirit, that even here you may become naturalized 
 to a spiritual element, and be changed into it: ^and that 
 when you are called to join the great community of spirits, 
 where the body itself is to be sublimated into spirit, you 
 may not be found wanting in any heavenly function, but 
 may enter on it as on the enjoyment of your native state. 
 
E S S A Y I V. 
 
 ON THE TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE OF OUR 
 LORD'S, TEACHING. 
 
 Learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto 
 
 your souls.' 
 
 'And all bare him witness, and wcndered at the gracious words which proceeded 
 out of his mouth.' 
 
 IN perusing the writings of many a moral instructor, the 
 only abatement from our edification arises from the unwel- 
 come recollection of his character. His statements of 
 truth are forcible, his illustrations clear, his appeals af- 
 fecting ; but the remembrance of the contardiction which 
 existed between his doctrine and life returns, the spell by 
 which he held us is dissolved, a shadow falls on the page, 
 and his most arrowy appeals drop pointless and short of 
 our hearts. But in listening to the instructions of our 
 blessed Lord, the recollection of his character is not mere- 
 ly welcome, in order to do them justice, it is essential. 
 There have been others, indeed, who have owed the suc- 
 cess of their teaching partly t3 their moral excellencies; 
 but such is the excellence of his character, that, could we 
 only bring to the perusal of his instructions a vivid con- 
 ception of it, we should no longer have to deplore their in- 
 efficacy ; could we only come unto them under the full in- 
 fluerice of that idea nothing could long resist their power: 
 as often as we returned to them, they would receive so 
 strong a reinforcement of impression from that association, 
 that they could not fail to pass farther and farther into the 
 mind, making for themselves a home in the heart, chang- 
 ing the soul into their own form and quality and thus ver- 
 
336 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ifying his own description of them that 'they are spirit, 
 and they are life.' 
 
 His original hearers, be it remembered, enjoyed this ad- 
 vantage ; whether or not they availed themselves of it is 
 a distinct consideration; they often enjoyed the privilege 
 of beholding his miracles of mercy : and, instantly on 
 the same spot, they listened to the gracious words which 
 proceeded out of his mouth ; while yet they were under 
 the arrest of some new display of majesty, his doctrine 
 dropped as the rain, his speech distilled as the dew. It 
 will riot be irrelevant then, if, to place ourselves as nearly as 
 possible in their position, we briefly advert to the excellen- 
 cies of our Lord's character ; especially to those which re- 
 late to the particular qualities of his teaching, now under 
 consideration. We shall then point out some of his corres- 
 ponding characteristics as a teacher ; and, finally, present 
 examples from his teaching illustrative of his tenderness, 
 benignity and compassion. 
 
 I. In attempting to pourtray the moral perfection of 
 Christ, we feel that wg are contemplating one who is fair- 
 er than the children of men ; standing in the presence 
 of Him who is altogether lovely. O for the pen of th'at dis- 
 ciple whom Jesus loved ; who selected his Lord's humility 
 and love as things most congenial with his own taste ; and 
 leant on his sacred bosom till he became imbued with the 
 heavenly love which dwelt there ! O for the aid of the Ho- 
 ly Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, to unveil his excellencies to 
 our view; that, while we are beholding, we maybe chang- 
 ed into the same image; may have our taste purified and 
 exalted into sympathy with his transcendant character ! 
 Of the early history of Christ, indeed, we have but two or 
 three slight incidental notices ; but who can read even 
 these notices, slender as they are, in the light of his after" 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 337 
 
 life, without finding in them a warrant for the imagination 
 to indulge itself with a picture of his early perfection. If 
 his youth and his early manhood corresponded with his 
 subsequent life, how cloadless and blessed must have been 
 ihe morning of such a day, and how happy they who stood 
 in its light. Unlike the virtues of ordinary humanity, 
 which are grafted, and stunted, and hardly preserved with 
 incessant care, his nature contained in itself the seeds of 
 all worth, and every seed became a fruit ; every hour be- 
 held him put forth some additional bud of promise. Like 
 the earth when first it was sown by the hand of God, and 
 held in its bosom the germs of a universal paradise, his 
 nature brought with it aJ the elements of excellence. 
 Goodness rejoiced in it as in its native soil. His life was 
 as the garden of the Lord ; for there grew in it every 
 thing pleasant to the sight and good for food : obedience, 
 which ran at the first call of duty ; prudence rendering the 
 present subservient to the future ; sensibility, responding 
 to the softest tones of nature, and the clear transparency of 
 truth: and native courtesy and love, that clasped every 
 thing lovely to its soul, and became one with it. What 
 wonder was it that, thus adorned and distinguished, he- 
 should have ' increased in favor with God arid man,' have 
 become the favorite of heaven and earth. Had the first 
 probation been to be made again, one individual tried as 
 the representative of all the race, and heaven proposed as 
 the prize of success, who would not have thought of him? 
 all eyes \vould have involuntarily turned to him, all hearts 
 would have confided the great probation to his hands, and 
 have looked on heaven as secure. 
 
 Emerging, at length, from the obscurity of his early life, 
 
 * he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up : 
 
 and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the 
 
 sabbath-day, and stood up for to read. And there was de- 
 
 21 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 livered unto him the hook of the prophet Isaiah. And, 
 when he had opened the book, he found the place where it 
 is written, ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he 
 hath anointed rne to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath 
 sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance 
 to the captive, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at 
 liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year 
 of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it 
 again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all 
 them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 
 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture 
 fulfilled in your ears.' Such, then, in his own estimation 
 was the nature of his divine commission ; and he fulfilled it. 
 His whole life was a comment on this text. 
 
 If our subject permitted, we should love to linger on 
 the purity of his character ; for this, though by no means 
 the most attractive feature to a sinful race, is one of the 
 most remarkable. And here be it observed, he sought not 
 to preserve his holiness unspotted, by avoiding contact with 
 the world; he was not indebted for his purity to the priva- 
 cy of a recluse. From the moment he became a public 
 character, his field was the world ; he domesticated him- 
 self, if I may say so, and desired to be numbered as one 
 of the human family ; he sought to become the heart of 
 the world ; and in the prosecution of that object, he turned 
 not aside from a personal encounter with the Tempter him- 
 self. From every thing which the world contained of 
 great and good, his nature selected and drew to itself 
 aliment and life, while it rejected all the pernicious in- 
 gredients with which the purest elements on earth are 
 defiled. 
 
 He passed through a scene in which, at every step he 
 took, a thousand malignant influences were waiting to dart 
 on him, * Yet he did no sin, neither was guile found in his 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 339 
 
 mouth. He uttered not a single sentence capable of be- 
 ing* construed into a confession of guilt, or a consciousness 
 of defilement. He often alluded to his poverty, rejection, 
 and sufferings; and oftener still to the subject of sin, in a 
 variety of forms ; but he breathed not a word which could 
 be construed into an intimation that he considered himself 
 less than a being of unsullied purity. On the contrary, he 
 challenged his enemies (and he had but few friends) to con- 
 vict him of a single sin. The prince of this world came, 
 and found nothing in him ; no single thought or feeling 
 which responded to temptation, or disposed him for a mo- 
 ment to yield to it. He lived for years, and was actively 
 employed in a world in which every condition has its pe- 
 culiar temptations, so that of all the myriads who have 
 ever inhabited it, not one has escaped the polution of sin. 
 But, like the sunbeam, which remains uncontaminated 
 whatever the object on \vhich it may shine, the Saviour 
 emerged from this region of guilt, and re-entered the por- 
 tals of heaven, as pure and unspotted as when he left the 
 bosom of the Father. It was strictly true of him to the 
 latest moment of his continuance on earth ; with perfect 
 sincerity it might have been inscribed on his tomb ; it 
 might have been shouted with triumph as he ascended to 
 the throne of heaven, ' he was in all points tempted like as 
 we are, yet without sin. 7 
 
 Besides his purity, we might specify, not merely his su- 
 periority to the age in which he lived, but the absolute con- 
 trariety of his character to all existing and surrounding 
 influences ; the universality of his plans, which distinguish- 
 ed and left him alone in the earth : the reconciliation and 
 union in his character of opposite excellencies, and which 
 formed its perfection and finish. But that which sheds a 
 prevailing hue over the whole character of Christ, and 
 forms its principal feature, is unquestionably, benevolence, 
 
340 THE GREAT TEACHER, 
 
 It is that transcendental attribute, which ran through all 
 the rest, adapting, baptizing, and turning the whole into 
 grace. What but this could have induced his purity to 
 tabernacle in the midst of sin ? it was by no means an in- 
 different act to him ; he svffered, being tempted,' suffered 
 in proportion to the perfection of his holiness, and the 
 depth of his aversion to sin ; x but though his residence in 
 an atmosphere of sin was revolting to his purity, though 
 the presence of depravity made his continuance here a per- 
 petual sacrifice, his love induced him to submit, induced 
 him so intimately to associate with the ungodly, that one of 
 his characteristic names became, ' the friend of publicans 
 and sinners.' 
 
 We have said that his character was not only superior 
 to all existing and surrounding influences, but quite dis- 
 tinct from them. Others are more or less affected by the 
 circumstances in which they are brought up; however 
 superior to external influences they may appear, they can- 
 not escape entirely the spirit of the age ; they hold com- 
 munion, and enjoy sympathy, with those around them. 
 But the character of Christ had nothing in it local, tem- 
 porary, or common. It appeared in the world entire, inde- 
 pendent, and unique. It was formed for a Avorld which 
 had lost the original pattern of goodness, and had sunk 
 into a state of universal selfishness; the whole of his his- 
 tory therefore is a history of the sacrifice of selfish feel- 
 ings ; his life was calculated and constructed on the prin- 
 ciple of a laborious endeavorer to imbue the world with 
 the lost spirit of benevolence, to baptize it afresh in the ele- 
 ment of love. 
 
 The universality of his plans, which left him without 
 any contemporaneous sympathy, must also be resolved into 
 the same principle. Fie loved man as man, he came to be 
 the light and life of the world. His benevolence could not 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 341 
 
 endure the thought of a single human being perishing; his 
 heart had room for the whole race; and he could not be 
 satisfied with less than a universal offer of mercy. 
 
 And benevolence is the principle which harmonized in 
 him the most contrasted qualities. In his mysterious per- 
 son it had brought into union time and eternity, heaven 
 and earth ; and in his character it blended majesty such as 
 God before had never displayed, with meekness such as 
 man before had never shown. Dignity, in him, was not 
 terror, for he clothed it with a condescension which had 
 before been thought inconsistent with greatness. Tem- 
 perance and self-denial, with him, were not darkened with 
 austerity, but came softened and recommended by gentleness 
 and suavity. In him were united an indignant sensibility 
 to sin, with weeping* compassion for the sinner; the splen- 
 dors of more than an angelic nature, with the humility of 
 a little child; a resolved perseverance in the path of duty 
 which no array of dangers could deter, with a heart so 
 attuned to compassion that the faintest appeal of misery 
 arrested his progress as with the power of omnipotence, 
 and made him stand still. While he seemed to do every 
 thing for the future, he yet neglected nothing proper to 
 the present ; while he held himself ready to embrace the 
 mightiest plans, and evinced a consciousness that he stood 
 related to the whole species, he yet stooped, without tri- 
 fling, to the smallest circumstance. Like the Almighty 
 Father, sustaining the worlds, yet stooping to succor the 
 falling bird; he one moment conversed with celestial vis- 
 itants and the next he listened to the lispings of infant 
 praise, or meekly bore the oltuseness of his disciples. 
 He, who received the homage of angels, and had all their 
 legions at command, sees wealth in the tribute of a sinful 
 woman's tears, and finds the sweetest music in the dying 
 thanks of the guilty malefactor. Having driven demons 
 
342 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 from his presence with an awful rebuke, he takes up little 
 children to his heart; and they feel in his looks the secu- 
 rity of home, and in his tones an assurance of love which 
 makes them reluctant to leave his arms, even for the wel- 
 come of a mother's bosom. Having pourtrayed the judg- 
 ment of the last day, and clothed himself with thunder as 
 the central object of the awful scene, he follows the first 
 beck of misery, or turns aside to weep over the hardness 
 of human hearts. .Having proclaimed himself 'the resur- 
 rection and the life ;' how easily does he descend from his 
 dignity to mingle his tears with the bereaved mourners ! 
 Universal philanthropy did not impair his sensibility to the 
 pleasures of private friendships and domestic intercourse; 
 nor did the momentous interests, which pressed on his soul 
 in the crisis of the world's redemption, prevent him from 
 thinking of his filial relation, and tenderly providing for 
 a mother's comfort. Ne'ver was there a character at the 
 same time so magnificent and unlabored; so conscious of 
 greatness, and so unostentatiously simple ; so full of inspi- 
 ration to the good, and so free from terror ; so replete with 
 encouragement to the outcast penitent. Tn his character 
 met the whole constellation of the virtues, each one made 
 brighter by contrast : but one overpowering sentiment 
 softened and subjected them all to itself; one all-prevading 
 law gave unity and harmony to his most opposite actions; 
 interpreting all his words and looks; preventing him, even 
 in the most critical situations, from being at variance with 
 himself, or falling below his professed objects and that 
 sentiment, that law, was love. 
 
 In the history of his miracles, we see almighty power 
 itself consenting to be led by love, and consecrated to its 
 service. Had he only intended to produce impressions of 
 his majesty, or prove the divinity of his mission, he might 
 perhaps have accomplished this sooner by appealing to 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 343 
 
 our fears in miracles of terror and destruction. But the 
 object he aimed at, and the truths he taught, were both of 
 a benevolent nature; and the miracles he performed in con- 
 firmation of those truths partook of the same character. , 
 He refused but one application to his miraculous power; 
 when his disciples rashly desired that fire might descend 
 from heaven on their enemies: but he reminded them that 
 he came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.' On 
 the night of his apprehension, he touched the wound of an 
 enemy and healed it; for with him, power and kindness 
 were the same thing. Wherever he came, disease and 
 suffering fled from his presence. His path might be traced 
 from place to place in lines of life, and health, and joy. 
 Where he was expected, the public way was thronged with 
 forms of helplessness, disease, and woe. Where he had 
 passed, the restored might be seen, making trial of their 
 new-found powers ; listeners, formed into groups to hear 
 the tale of healing; and the delighted objects of his com- 
 passion, rehearsing with earnestness, what had passed,, 
 imitating his tones, and even trying to convey an idea of 
 his condescending ways. His voice was the first sound 
 which many of them heard ; his name the first word they 
 had pronounced; his blessed form the first sight they had 
 ever beheld. And often, at the close of a laborious day, 
 when his wearied frame required repose, the children of 
 affliction besieged his retreat, and implored his help. And 
 did they ever seek in vain ! Wearied and worn as he was, 
 1 he pleased not himself;' he went forth, and patiently lis- 
 tened to all their tales of woe, tasted their several com- 
 plaints, raised each suppliant from the dust, nor left them 
 till he had absorbed their sufferings, and healed them all. 
 He went through the land like a current of vital air, an 
 element of life, diffusing health and joy wherever he ap- 
 peared. Had the spiritual object of his advent permitted 
 

 344 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the continuance of his abode on earth, he would have be- 
 come the shrine at which all disease would have knelt, the 
 centre to which all suffering would have tended as by a 
 law'; to him the world of the afflicted would have gone as 
 on pilgrimage; and would it not then have been equally 
 true, that ' he healed them all ?' 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth ! who can declare thee ! thou wast 
 the heart of infinite love, beating and bleeding for human 
 happiness ! How didst thou consult our wants, and adapt 
 thyself to our condition ! Among the ignorant, thou wast 
 the light of life ; when surrounded by the needy, thou wast 
 
 the fullness of the Godhead. When didst thou disregard 
 
 t? 
 
 the cry of suppliant misery? thy daily path, like the ra- 
 diance left by one of the splendors of the firmament in its 
 midnight path, was marked with simple but sublime glory ; 
 for, with thee, the close of one act of beneficence was the 
 commencement of another ; thou didst dispense thy bless- 
 ing so profusely, as if thou hadst forgotten that thou wert 
 a man upon earth, didst think thyself still on thy throne. 
 Why did sorrow come to thee to have its tears wiped 
 away ! and conscious guilt fall at thy feet with an uplifted 
 eye of hope ! why did unsheltered weakness run, as by 
 instinct, to take sanctuary in thy presence! and penitence 
 lay bare its wounds to catch the balm that fell from thy 
 lips ! blessed Jesus, thou hadst a balm for every wound. 
 
 Thou hadst come to seek companionship with sorrow ; 
 yet didst thou not frown upon the social amenities of life, 
 but didst affably partake of them. Every action of thine 
 was inlaid with grace : even aversion, with thee, was not 
 hatred, but only sorrow heightened into concern. Thy 
 mercy was not proud and imperial in its blessings; thou 
 didst condescend and love to be thanked ; and, O, if grat- 
 itude melted into penitence, thou didst proclaim a jubilee 
 in heaven, and invite the universe to share in thy joy. 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 345 
 
 And why wast thou thus benignant? It was not because 
 thou hadst been surprised into a career of mercy, and 
 couldst not drawback: for thou hadst looked into the 
 darkest recesses of depravity in the human heart, and 
 sounded the lowest depths of human misery, before thou 
 earnest to expiate and relieve: it was not that, as man often 
 will, thou didst compromise with sin, or indulge compas- 
 sion at the expense of truth ; for thou wast a martyr to 
 fidelity, and a sacrifice for sin : nor was it that thy charac- 
 ter was all yielding and undistinguishing softness! for 
 while thou wast as an altar at which the lowest could 
 kneel, like an altar also thou didst check the profane look, 
 and command veneration from the passer by : nor was it 
 that the world caressed thee; thy injuries might have 
 taught patience itself to blaspheme; yet didst thou remain 
 meek and lowly in heart, and persist in turning the tears 
 of the world into smiles. 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth ! who can declare thee ! In thee 
 wisdom and goodness were in conjunction with holiness 
 and power. All who treated with thee tasted of goodness, 
 of divinity ; thine actions, if distributed over the course of 
 time, might have formed its eras; thy virtues were dow- 
 ries sufficient to enrich a world; thy character was glory 
 set in grace. 
 
 II. With this impression of our Lord's benignity, let us, 
 secondly, proceed to some of the circumstances which 
 evince his benevolence as a Teacher. 
 
 And here we may as well, at once, dispose of an objec- 
 tion ; and it is I believe, the only shadow of an objection 
 which can be found in the whole compass of the evangeli- 
 cal narrative, to the tenderness of Christ, in the capacity of 
 a Teacher ; arising from the reason he assigns for speaking 
 in parables. On one occasion, 'the disciples came, and 
 
346 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
 He answered, and said unto them, Because unto you 
 it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heav- 
 en, but to them it is not given; therefore speak I 
 
 unto them in parables: because they seeing, see not; and 
 hearing, they hear not ; neither do they understand. And 
 in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isai.ih, which saith, 
 By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and 
 seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this peo- 
 ple's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hear- 
 ing, and their eyes have they closed ; Jest at any time 
 they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, 
 and should understand with their heart, and should be con- 
 verted, and I should heal them.' From this reply, many 
 have infered that our Lord addressed the Jews on that oc- 
 casion in parables, that they might not understand : an in- 
 ference which was probably suggested by the apparent se- 
 verity of the quotation from the prophet. But let us only 
 remember the canon that it is common for God to speak 
 by his prophets, of events that would happen, in a manner 
 as if he had enjoined them and ail appearance of severity 
 will vanish. 
 
 That the employment of parables was not meant, by 
 Christ, as an act of judicial severity, is evident from the 
 following considerations: First, it was an ordinary and 
 prevailing mode of instruction. Secondly, the question 
 with which he prefaced his parables, ' Whereunto shall we 
 liken the kingdom of God?' evinced a gracious anxiety 
 to make himself understood by selecting similitudes adapt- 
 ed to their capacity. Thirdly, there is every reason to 
 conclude that, had they gone to him afterwards for an ex- 
 position of the parables, he would have shewn delight at 
 the application, and have promptly met their inquires. 
 Fourthly, he continued the parabolic strain to his disci- 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 347 
 
 pies after the multitude had retired ; a proof that he had 
 not adopted that strain in anger. Fifthly, he frequently 
 spoke in parables at other times, when his only object was 
 evidently to allure and instruct. Sixthly, the contrary 
 supposition is at variance with all we know of his benevo- 
 lent character. The motive of our Lord for speaking- in 
 parables on this occasion, was no doubt to avoid the mal- 
 ice of his enemies ; for his subject, which related to the 
 progress of his kingdom, would call forth all the ingenui- 
 ty and activity of that malice. And hence the reason he 
 assigns for adopting this mode is, that their wickedness 
 had disqualified them for listening to more explicit teaching, 
 and deprived them of it. His speaking to them by para- 
 bles, then so far from being an act of judicial severity, was 
 a device of kindness, the recourse of compassion. They 
 could not look on the open face of truth, and he veiled it. 
 Their morbid sensibility and malice left him no alterna- 
 tive, but to be indirect on this particular subject, or entire- 
 ly silent. Displeasure would have chosen the latter, but 
 compassion adopted the former. Rather than be quite si- 
 lent, he addressed them by pnrable; for to have taken the 
 truth out of this casket, would have been casting pearls be- 
 fore swine. It is true, that in its effect it operated as a 
 judgment, for they disregarded its meaning; but we are 
 not, on that account, to disparage his grace, any more than 
 we impeach the conduct of the sower, some of whose seed 
 fell where it took no root. Life itself is a parable, a course 
 of instruction by events; each of which, if rightly con- 
 strued, is found to contain a useful lesson ; but neglected 
 it leaves us in ignorance and aggravated guilt; and yet 
 who does not see that it is a mode of instruction consistent 
 with kindness, and even dictated by love? We might 
 therefore, without refining, place the conduct of Christ 
 on this occasion, among the illustrations of his benevo- 
 lence as a Teacher. 
 
348 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 But other and superior illustrations demand our atten- 
 tion. Had the object of Jesus been merely to leave in our 
 possession a revelation of the will of God, he would have 
 dispensed with that tender solicitude which marked his 
 conduct and have confined himself exclusively to the de- 
 sign of his mission. But he came to enlighten, only that 
 he might save ; and, like a wise and kind instructor, he 
 clothed himself in love that he might gain for his instruc- 
 tions a place in our heart. To this end it was that he 
 chose to move in the humbler walks of life. Every con- 
 dition of society was open to his choice, and human taste 
 would have selected a state of wealth, and rank, and world- 
 ly influence; but this would have removed him from the 
 society of the people; whereas his object was to make 
 himself one with them. He selected others to assist him 
 in preaching the kingdom of heaven : but he asked not 
 philosophy to argue in its defence, or poetry to sing its 
 praise, or eloquence to pour forth its oratory, or royalty to 
 clothe it with state, or arm it with power. The instrumen- 
 tality he employed was of the humblest order; was, like 
 himself, ' raised up from among the people,' and therefore 
 adapted to gain the attention of the people 
 
 He regarded himself as especially ' anointed to preach 
 the gospel to the poor.' Had human right been consulted 
 on the subject, it would fain have had splendor follow in 
 his train, and wealth pour out its treasures before him, and 
 ambition receive titles and honors at his hands. It would 
 have had his gospel patronized by the great and mighty 
 of the earth ; and then it would have mingled among 
 them, and enrolled its name among his followers. But 
 the great distinction of his ministry, and the fact in which 
 he gloried, was, that the poor had the gospel preached to 
 them. This was a stretch of philanthropy unknown to 
 the philosophers of Greece and Rome. The transcendant 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 349 
 
 idea of propagating a universal religion a system which 
 should include the multitudes who throng the highways 
 and thoroughfares of life, which should convert religion 
 into daily bread for the poor was reserved for him who 
 came to seek and to save that which was lost. He could 
 not look on the exigencies and evils peculiar to their con- 
 dition ; could not witness the neglect and scorn to which 
 they were subjected, and of which in the present day it is 
 not easy to form an adequate conception, without feeling 
 his compassion stirred within him. Among the most civ- 
 ilized and polished nations, they were prostrate in the dust. 
 For them philosophy disdained an interest as utterly be- 
 neath her notice: as having nothing sufficiently vulgar 
 for their taste. For them the law had no protecting arm, 
 justice no balances ; right, if it spoke at all, spoke in a 
 voice scarcely to be heard: and kindness if it deigned a 
 look, regarded them with a countenance which indicated a 
 heart at ease and devoid of sympathy. For their dark- 
 ness, religion, that is to say, the religion which prevailed 
 had no ray of light, nor did a drop of its consolation fall 
 into their cup. Even in Judea itself, they were treated as 
 the refuse of society, and as cut off from the favor of God. 
 ' This people that knoweth not the law,' said the proud 
 Pharisees, 'are cursed;' this ignorant and contemptible 
 class, are forsaken of God, and doomed to destruction* 
 Now it was to rescue them from this oppressed and de- 
 graded state, to plead their cause, to redress their wrongs, 
 to wipe away their tears, to raise them to that level which 
 they ought to maintain, as heirs of immortality, in com- 
 mon with those around them, that Jesus preached his gos- 
 pel to the poor. Numerically considered, even they might 
 have claimed his chief attention, for he saw that they form- 
 ed the large majority of every land ; but their condition* 
 more than their numbers, touched his heart. He came 
 
350 THE GREAT TEAdHER. 
 
 down from the throne of his glory, and mingled with the 
 despised and neglected poor. He delighted their ears 
 with assurances of the divine regard. He invited them to 
 rest their heads on the bosom of Providence. He- sought 
 to lighten the burdens of the heart, and to support their 
 steps with the staff of the divine regard. He aimed to 
 give them the wisdom which maketh wise unto salvation. 
 While he showed them that sin is the most grievous pover- 
 ty, that sin had robbed and stripped them of all their spirit- 
 ual wealth, he taught them the art of happiness, the secret 
 of amassing imperishable wealth, and of treasuring 
 it up in heaven. 'And the common people heard him 
 gladly.' 
 
 In the same spirit of surpassing benevolence he taught 
 them gratuitously. Though the knowledge he imparted 
 was beyond the price of rubies ; though at times he had 
 not where to lay his head ; though weary, and way-worn, 
 he had to solicit a cup of cold water from the hand of a 
 stranger, yet he labored without money and without price; 
 the only reward he desired, was the tear of penitence, and 
 the cordial reception of his message. 
 
 And the mode of instruction he adopted was of the 
 most simple description. He taught no abstract theories 
 inapplicable to the affairs of life ; no philosophic systems 
 incomprehensible to ordinary capacities ; dealt in no cab- 
 alistic lore ; sanctioned no distinctions of philosophical 
 teaching. Jewish pride would have dictated that if a new 
 dispensation was to be given, it should be proclaimed im- 
 mediately from heaven ; that, amidst the splendors of an- 
 other Sinai, it should be delivered by the ministry of 
 angels. Had the taste of Greece been consulted, it would 
 have required that the gospel should be announced in all 
 the studied beauties of composition, supported by the ingen* 
 ious reasonings, and accompanied by the airy speculations 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BFNEVOLENCE 351 
 
 in which their philosophers were accustomed to propound 
 their flimsy abstractions. But the Great Teacher would 
 not thus debase his gospel, and frustrate his design. He 
 sought to make himself universal ; to speak to humanity. 
 His tongue was only the interpreter for his heart ; and he 
 aimed to render his teaching a contact of hearts. The 
 * key of knowledge had been taken away,' by those who 
 should have held it only for the people; they had 'shut 
 up the kingdom of heaven' from the poor, and left them to 
 perish : and, while he charged them with this awful fraud 
 on the well-being of man, he hastened to supply the per- 
 ishing with superior means of salvation. ' He sought out, 
 and set in order, acceptable words.' His leading topics 
 were few, that he might not confuse ; but so personal and 
 important, that they found a response and an interpreter in 
 every bosom. He simplified knowledge, and reduced it to 
 its elements : now removing the veil from an ancient 
 prophecy, now uttering a touching parable, now a graphic 
 illustration from familiar life, now an easy precept or weigh- 
 ty truth, and presently returning again to place the same 
 truth in a new light. Though all the science of eternity 
 was hid in his mind, and the unspeakable words which it 
 is not lawful for a man to utter could have flown from his 
 tongue, he delighted to be known as the teacher of babes. 
 He lowered himself down to their capacity, waited on their 
 dulness, tasted knowledge for them, and fed them with food 
 convenient for them. He went about as the the bread of life. 
 And the simplicity of his teaching was only in accord- 
 ance with its compassionate design to console the wretch- 
 ed. The effect of sorrow is to reduce our nature to its 
 elements ; to suspend our intellectual powers, and resolve 
 us into creatures of mere feeling; to shut up every avenue 
 but that which leads to the heart. He knew that grief 
 thus simplifies our nature, and he provided a remedy equal- 
 
352 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ly simple. He imparted truths to which the heart listens 
 and which the heart alone can understand ; for he held 
 the heart of the world in his hand ; and knowing the se- 
 cret of all its sympathies, he communed with its weakness, 
 and sorrows by methods peculiarly his own. Sorrow was, 
 in his eyes, among the most sacred things he found on earth ; 
 and had it not been so before, the reverent attention with 
 which he honored it, and the simple and sympathetic 
 terms in which he addressed it would have made it hal- 
 lowed. He knew also that the time of affliction would 
 be the season when numbers would first direct a look to 
 the gospel for relief: when help, if it came to them at all, 
 must come without effort; when the staff must not only be 
 provided, but actually put into their hand. And know- 
 ing this, he published his gospel as a system of consola- 
 tion for the miserable ; and they who know it best are the 
 readiest to confess how fully it answers to the character ; 
 after the trial of ages, it maintains its prerogative of bind- 
 ing up the broken heart. 
 
 Even the places in which he taught evinced his conde- 
 scension. If he discoursed in the temple, it was not from 
 any regard to its vastness, splendor or circumstantial sanc- 
 tity ; for, in his eyes, it was only the mausoleum of piety, 
 the tomb of a departed dispensation; but because he could 
 there teach 'Before all the people ;' could there especially 
 at the great festivals when it became the centre of attrac- 
 tion, could there meet with and appeal to the heart of the 
 nation. But during his ministry, it could be said literally, 
 'Wisdom crieth without ; in the chief concourse of the 
 people.' The ship, the strand, the desert, the mountain, 
 were as eligible in his view, as the city and the tempje, 
 for the work of saving souls from death. By his god- 
 like indifference to time and place, in the work of relig- 
 ious instruction, he consecrated the practice of itinerant 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 353 
 
 preaching. He embodied the conduct of the good shep- 
 herd in his own parable of the lost sheep, traversing with 
 unwearied zeal, the moral wilderness of Judea; in quest of 
 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' 
 
 Wherever he found a multitude disposed to listen, he 
 was prompt to address to them the words of eternal life. 
 Some present object, some late occurrence or familiar inci- 
 dent, was the point from which he led them, step by step, 
 up an easy ascent, to themes of heavenly altitude, of infi- 
 nite importance. He was always ready to gratify the in- 
 quirer, provided his inquiries were made with sincerity, 
 and were such as he could solve with propriety. Though 
 he often enjoined hjs disciples to tell no man where he was 
 for in his life were combined the active and the contem- 
 plative in perfect proportions yet the eager suppliant who 
 should succeed, at such times, in discovering and pene- 
 trating his retreat, never encountered a repulse,even though 
 ' he came to Jesus by night. 3 Over the door of his most 
 sacred retreat may be said to have been inscribed, * knock, 
 and it shall be opened.' When his disciples came to him 
 in private to request an explanation of the statements he 
 had been making in public, he was always ready to de- 
 scend to their low capacities, and to gratify their desires. 
 When Peter replied to his inquiry concerning his personal 
 claims, ' Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God ; ' 
 like a teacher charmed with the progress of his pupil, and 
 anxious to encourage him, he pronounced him blessed and 
 rewarded him with an animating promise. He watched 
 the progress of his disciples, however slow, with more 
 than parental delight. He spoke in accents of encourage- 
 ment to piety of the weakest pulse ; feeding it with line 
 upon line, and invigorating it with promise upon promise. 
 Lessons unwelcome to our depravity, but important to 
 our happiness, he not only repeated often, but even devised 
 22 
 
354 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the most condescending expedients to make them live 
 in our minds. His disciples had often contested the ques- 
 tion of precedence in his kingdom. He could at once 
 have rebuked their amhition with a denunciation of wrath, 
 have withered their pride with a frown ; but, in accord- 
 ance with his characteristic benevolence, he chose to ad- 
 monish them by an affecting sign whieh they could not 
 easily forget. How beautiful, affecting, and instructive the 
 sight ! The Lord of glory folding in his arms a helpless 
 babe, as an emblem of the humility which adorns his 
 kingdom. Humility, from that day, needs to plead no 
 other sanction for her lowliest acts. 
 
 Often had he inculcated the condescending offices of 
 brotherly love, for well he knew, that, like the ligaments 
 and arterial net-work of the human frame, the health and 
 happiness of his body the church depended on their 
 binding power and reciprocating influence. But by what 
 new expedient can he deepen the effects of his past les- 
 sons ? 'Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all 
 things into his hands, and that he was come from God, 
 and went to God ; he riseth from supper, and laid aside 
 his garments ; and took a towel, and girded himself, and 
 washed his disciples' feet. When he was about to ascend 
 to the seat of universal empire ; when the cross alone re- 
 mained between him and the government of heaven, earth, 
 and hell; even 'then betook a towel and girded himself, 
 and poured water into a basin, and washed the disciples' 
 feet, and wiped them with the towel wherewith he was 
 girded; saying, Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye 
 say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, 
 have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one anoth- 
 er's feet;' to condescend to the lowest office of Christian 
 beneficence and love. Beyond this, he might have said, 
 ye cannot go. 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE- 355 
 
 But, O, there was another lesson to be taught, the high- 
 est, and the last: a lesson comprehensive of every other ; 
 and he sought to steep it in the essence of his tenderness 
 and love. He, who laid aside his garments to wash 
 his disciples' feet, had laid aside his robes of celestial light, 
 and taken upon him the form of a servant, that he might 
 become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 
 1 The same night, therefore, in which he was betrayed he 
 took bread : and when he had given thanks, he brake it, 
 and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for 
 you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same 
 manner, also, he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, 
 This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed 
 for many for the remission of sins ; this do ye, as oft as ye 
 drink it, in remembrance of me. 3 Thus tenderly did he 
 seek to impress us with the great love wherewith he had 
 loved us: to remind us how essential he is to our hap- 
 piness; and to live in our devout affections. By this 
 touching rite, he would have us to erect his cross in our 
 minds, that we may hold personal and perpetual commun- 
 ion with his dying love. He gives into our hands the 
 doctrine of his atoning sacrifices, charging us to keep it 
 by all that is sacred in his death, precious in his love, val- 
 uable in our own happiness charging us to keep it em- 
 balmed in his own blood. He gloried in his cross as the 
 pillar of human hope ; the column on which he desired 
 that his name might be inscribed as the great memento of 
 his love to man, as that single act by which he is content 
 to be known and on which he desires to rest his claim on 
 the eternal gratitude of the world. Knowing the power 
 which it would give him on human hearts, he has made 
 his cross the depository of all the doctrines of salvation. 
 
 III. But, thirdly our professed object requires that we 
 should present examples from our Lord's teaching, illus- 
 
356 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 trative of his tenderness and benevolence. * Learn of me/ 
 said he, ' for I am meek and lowly of heart ; and ye shall 
 find rest unto your souls.' This is the character which 
 he gave of himself as a teacher ; and the only instance, 
 in which he laid claim directly to human excellencies. 
 And who will not accord to him the amiable qualities 
 which he here claims? When first he opened his lips in 
 the synagogue of Nazareth, the audience wondered at the 
 gracious words which proceeded from his mouth. And 
 the description of his benevolent commission, which he 
 then read from the prophet, and distinctly appropriated to 
 himself, seems intended to throw forward a tender and mel- 
 lowing light on the whole of his after course. By inform- 
 ing us at first of the gracious character he meant to sus- 
 tain, he seems to seek to disarm our opposition, to invite our 
 confidence, to ask us to meet his tenderness with a corres- 
 ponding feeling of affectionate reliance. From a certain 
 date, too, in his public ministration, his teaching must have 
 acquired a very affecting character, from his frequent allu- 
 sion to his approaching sufferings and death. ' From that 
 time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that 
 he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the 
 elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be 
 raised again the third day.' Up to that time he had but 
 obscurely alluded to the subject : but suddenly he lays na* 
 ked to their view the cross ; bespeaks of coming sorrows, 
 approaching sufferings, impending death ; he paints a 
 scene in which he appears the principal object, bending 
 under the weight of across, spit upon, scourged, crucified, 
 the victim of human and infernal malice. Most probably, 
 as often as he adverted.to the topic, his voice took deeper 
 and more tender tones, and his countenance assumed a 
 more solemn aspect ; but whether they did so or not, his 
 teaching, which had always been grave and pathetic, had 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 357 
 
 from this time infused into it a new element of solemnity 
 and pathos. Henceforth he stood in a shadow, which 
 threw on him a tender and solemn grandeur the shadow 
 of the cross; and while speaking from that position, his 
 promises became more gracious, and his commands more 
 affecting, and binding than ever. 
 
 1. The first sentence he uttered, in his first recorded 
 discourse, is a sample of the spirit he breathed in all his 
 subsequent addresses: * Blessed are the poor in spirit, for 
 their's is the kingdom of heaven.' To bless men, to make 
 them happy, was the great object for which he descended 
 from heaven. He came into the world, expressly, to bless 
 whatever he could, to encourage and promote it, and to res- 
 cue from earth whatever would accord with the purity, and 
 enhance the glory of the world from which he came. In- 
 stead of using the lofty and imperative style of positive 
 command, he seems to dismiss the state of supreme au- 
 thority, to lay aside the character of the legislator, and to 
 appear only as the Saviour and the Friend : in the most gen 
 tie and engaging manner, he insinuates his will, and our 
 duty, by pronouncing those blessed who comply with it. 
 Blessing after blessing follow each other in quick succes- 
 sion ; every sentence comes from his lips loaded with 
 grace; like the gushing forth of a fountain long sealed up, 
 they showed the fulness of benevolence which possessed 
 his heart. 
 
 Rejecting the minions and favorites of the world, he se- 
 lected those whom the world disowns. The poor in 
 spirit, the meek, the holy, the sorrowful, and broken-heart- 
 ed, the merciful, the sincere, the peaceful, the persecuted; 
 the orphans, the disinherited, the rejected of the world; 
 such was the large family on whom his blessings fell, and 
 to whom he opened his arms, and welcomed them to the 
 shelter of his heart. Each of the virtues which he here 
 
358 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 implies, maybe regarded as a separate and essential feature 
 of Christian excellence; and as he adds one lineament to 
 the portrait after another, he surveys it with delight. He 
 sees wealth in that spiritual poverty more ample and endur- 
 ing than all the treasures which earth can boast ; a majesty 
 in this meekness, to which pride can never erect itself; and 
 in this Christian sorrow, he beholds the seeds of joy, the 
 blossomings of glory. Fie contemplates it in reference to 
 another state of being; and, though the world in its blind- 
 ness may hold this character in contempt, he knows that it 
 is such as angels will bless; that the great God, seated on 
 the throne of heaven, pronounces it blessed, repeats over 
 it all the divine beatitudes: he would have us to know 
 that when it departs by death from this earthly scene, he 
 raises and welcomes it into his own kingdom ; and that 
 when every mere earthly embellishment shall have faded 
 and disappeared, he will proclaim it happy in the presence 
 of the universe, and crown it with glory and honor; that 
 it is a character whose blessedness eternity itself \\ill ratify 
 and augment. As if the benevolence of God had forsaken 
 every other vent to find a channel through his lips, thus 
 freely and copiously did he pour forth his divine benedic- 
 tions. 
 
 And may we not affirm, without a paradox, that it was 
 in the exercise of this same benevolence that he uttered 
 those denunciations of woe if, indeed, they are not rather 
 to be regarded as exclamations of pity recorded in the 
 23d chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. The compassion 
 which brought him from heaven dictated these denuncia- 
 tions ; for he uttered them in the defence of the oppressed 
 and the wretched. Having identified himself with the vic- 
 tims of injustice, he stood forth in their behalf, as one who 
 felt himself personally insulted and dishonored by their 
 wrongs. He would be known to the avaricious, the proud, 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 359 
 
 and unjust, as the Patron of injured humanity ; taking 
 misery within the pale of the divine law, and extending 
 over it the shield of his divine protection. But even his 
 denuciation of ( Woe' woe!' ended in that affecting apos- 
 trophe, -O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I 
 
 have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gather- 
 eth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 1 
 Like the thunder-cloud, which, having discharged its bolt 
 at the earth weeps itself away, exhausts itself in a healing 
 shower which closes the rent it had made; so his pity 
 commiserates, and pours itself forth over those whom, in 
 the same breath, he had felt himself called to rebuke. 
 
 2. In the same discourse which opens with the beati- 
 tudes, and prevaded with the same compassionate spirit, 
 we meet with the exhortation, * Therefore I say unto you, 
 Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what 
 ye shall drink: nor yet for your body what ye shall put 
 on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than rai- 
 ment? Behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not, 
 neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heav- 
 enly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than 
 they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit 
 unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? 
 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil 
 not, neither do they spin : And yet I say unto you, That 
 even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of 
 these. Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, 
 which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall 
 he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?' &c. 
 Matt. vi. 25 34. This is one of the beauties of scripture. 
 Had it no other recommendation than its felicity of illus- 
 tration, and its graces of composition, it would deserve our 
 warm admiration ; and indeed it has received the tribute of 
 admiration from men who were only in pursuit of literary 
 
360 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 beauties. But it has higher qualities of excellence than 
 these ; it speaks to the understanding and heart, on themes of 
 deep and universal importance. It contemplates the world 
 laboring, restless, fevered about the petty provisions of the 
 present life; causing their cup of sorrow to overflow, by 
 holding it with an unsteady hand ; anxiously looking on- 
 ward to the future, borrowing the distrt-sses of the morrow 
 to aggravate those of the present day ; loading themselves 
 with burdens of grief which do not belong to them, and 
 which they are not required to bear: and, surveying this 
 scene of overtoiled labor, and sleepless anxiety, and wast- 
 ing solicitude, in which mortals are embroiled, the voice 
 of Jesus, the friend of man, the tender sympathizer with 
 human woe, is heard, rising in tones of the kindest com- 
 passion, above the sighs, and plaints, and groans of the 
 multitude, and saying, ' Peace, be still ; mourner, dry thy 
 tears ; ye, who are laden with the self-imposed burdens of 
 worldly care, deposit the heavy load ; ye destitute, who 
 count yourselves outcasts of the world, for whom no one 
 cares, know that you have a Father, and that the God of 
 providence is he. Come, learn of me, and I will give you 
 rest ; I will allay your anxieties, and lay your hearts to 
 rest on the bosom of that paternal Providence which cares 
 arid provides for all it has made; for every thing, from the 
 meanest herb which it feeds with the precious dews, up to 
 the immortal soul on which it pours the immediate influ- 
 ences of the divine Spirit.' 
 
 It is true, that the books of pagan morality abound with 
 counsels against grief. The cup of sorrow is so constantly 
 in circulation, passing from hand T to hand, through the 
 whole family of man, and every individual has so surely, 
 sooner or later, to drink a portion of the bitter draught ; 
 that there is no subject which is more popular, or on which 
 men speak more frequently and feelingly, than on that of 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 361 
 
 human exigence and sorrow: and none which it is more 
 easy to reason against, showing the folly, the uselessness, 
 and injuriousness of excessive solicitude. But the reason- 
 ings of Christ on the subject have this vast distinction of 
 superiority : he does not unfeelingly and gratuitously dis- 
 parage the wants and the trials of life ; he does not seek to 
 degrade our nature by divesting us of feeling, and reduc- 
 ing us to a state of brutish insensibility ; he would have 
 us to believe that our earthly cares are of sufficient impor- 
 tance to engage the attention of .the Divine Being; and, 
 in that persuasion, he would have us to devolve the entire 
 burden upon him. He does not propose to give us free- 
 dom from care, merely for its own sake ; nor does he seek 
 to disengage our hearts from the world without filling the 
 vacuum with a new object : he would replace the perish- 
 ing trifles of earth, with objects vast as our wishes and per- 
 manent as our being: and would discharge us from all 
 the corroding anxieties of time, only that we may be free 
 to put forth all our unincumbered strength in the pursuit 
 of heaven. He knows that our whole nature is reduced 
 to a state of exigence : not the body merely, but also the 
 immortal, imperishable soul: and with the deep anxiety 
 of true friendship, he sees that our extreme solicitude about 
 this life entirely disqualifies us for attending to the eternal 
 exigencies of the soul; he would fain, therefore, relieve 
 us from the pressure of the present, lest we should lose the 
 substance in grasping at the shadow. He assures us, 
 therefore in accents of gracious concern, that if we will 
 but seek supremely l the kingdom of God and his right- 
 eousness,' we shall, from that moment, find that God is our 
 Father : that, as we advance from stage to state in our 
 way to his kingdom, we shall find the nescessaries of life 
 ready and waiting our arrival ; and that rather would he 
 move all nature, and put all his miraculous agency in op- 
 
362 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 eration, than dishonor his paternal relation, or disappoint 
 the confidence we repose in his word. 
 
 3. * Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy la- 
 den, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, 
 and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart : and 
 ye shall find rest unto you souls. For my yoke is easy 
 and my burden is light.' Among the numerous illustra- 
 tions of our present subject, which spontaneously rise to 
 our recollection, this passage is one of the first, and claims 
 our attention by its pre-eminence of grace. 
 
 A message from the Baptist which is related at the open- 
 ing of the chapter, had led our Lord to advert to that pre- 
 vailing impenitence and unbelief which had resited both 
 the preaching of John, and his own ministry and miracles. 
 'Woe unto thee,' said he; or, 'Alas for thee, Chorazin ! 
 alas for thee, Bethsaida ! He might have called down 
 fire upon them, like that which desolated the cities of the 
 plain ; for he affirmed, that their guilt exceeded that of 
 Sodorn and Gomorrah. But though he seems at the mo- 
 ment, to have taken a wide survey of human depravity, and 
 to have been deeply affected at the sight, he prayed for no 
 vengeance, breathed no desire to relinquish the work of 
 saving ungrateful man. On the contrary, as he feared 
 that, by upbraiding the people for their unbelief, he had 
 been placing himself in an unwelcome light; as if, by 
 glancing at the topic, he had been actually doing violence to 
 his own benignity, repressing for a time the current of be- 
 nevolence which ever flowed through his heart; as if he 
 now felt all the Saviour return again into his breast, he ex- 
 claimed with divine compassion, with an irresistible kind- 
 ness that would not be denied, 'Come unto me, and I will give 
 you rest.' To add force to his appeal, he prefaces it with 
 a declaration of his divine relation to the Father, of the 
 identity of their charactei, and of the fact that, as our Re- 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 363 
 
 deemer, all things are delivered into his hands. There- 
 fore, saith he, ' Come and partake. All things are mine 5 
 come, and share them. I have received them for your en" 
 joyment and use ! come and let me confer them upon you 
 I am made the Treasurer, the Almoner of all the riches and 
 resources of the divine nature; and you aretDbe made the 
 happy recipients ; come, and let me make you the richer 
 by the free gift of eternal life. 
 
 Had the invitation been addressed to any one class ex- 
 clusively, how invidous an office would it have been to 
 proclaim the gospel ; and how mournful the feelings with 
 which many would retire from hearing it ; for they would 
 find that it was not meant for them. But it knows no such 
 exclusion. It addresses us by a description which is com- 
 mon to humanity ; its boast and glory is, that it is intended 
 for all who need it ; all who labor and are heavy laden. It 
 does not even pry into the cause of our restlessness ; it does 
 not ask what occasions our distress; it only inquires 
 whether or not we are the subjects of disquietude. If we 
 can look within, and pronounce all calm and tranquil there ; 
 if we can look around on the various circumstances and 
 relations of life in which we are concerned and back- 
 wards on the history of our past life and forward into 
 the eternal future which we are rapidly approaching : if, on 
 taking this survey, we can see no cloud in the whole hori- 
 zon to disturb our repose ; then may we take it for granted, 
 the invitation was not meant for us. Or, if we can point out 
 one, whose heart is corroded by no care, restless after no 
 object, disturbed by no apprehension, we have discovered 
 an individual uninterested in his appeal. But, till then, 
 it admits of no restriction, its application is universal. 
 
 In uttering it, our Lord undoubtedly selected language 
 which would meet the condition, and fall soothingly on the 
 ear, of every man. He had surveyed, on the morning of 
 
364 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 creation, the vast and disordered abyss of chaos ; and he 
 had silenced its tumults, and reduced every element to or- 
 der. He had sailed with his disciples, in a storm which 
 threatened them \\ith destruction, and had calmed it to 
 rest : but when he surveyed the condition of man, he be- 
 held a storm more furious and deadly than that which 
 raged on the sea of Tiberias, and a scene of confusion 
 more appalling than that which chaos presented on the 
 morning of creation. His eye travelled over scenes and 
 wastes of human woe ; scenes in which he saw the chains 
 of captivity, the pains of superstition, the struggles of pov- 
 erty, the disappointments of ambition, the misgivings of 
 the self-righteous, and the exhausted efforts of the sinner, 
 lashed by the reproaches of an angry conscience, and aim- 
 ing to escape from a load of guilt. He heard the thicken- 
 ing cries of misery; his ear caught a sigh, or a sound of 
 woe, from every habitation, every breast of man ; a never- 
 ebbing tide of the sounds of anguish, strife and death. His 
 omniscience penetrated every heart, and saw the tooth of 
 care corroding the peace, not merely of the poor and afflict- 
 ed, but preying alike on the learned, the wealthy, and the 
 mighty of the earth. He beheld a storm, in which every 
 one was seeking for shelter, wi'hout knowing where to 
 obtain it; and voluntarily exposing himself to all its hor- 
 rors, he pressed forth into the midst of it, and exclaimed, 
 with a heart which felt and bled for them all, ' Come unto 
 me, and I will give you rest.' 
 
 This is an invitation from which no peculiarity in our 
 character or condition can possibly exclude us. If any 
 such exception could be named, it must be the peculiar ac- 
 cumulation of our guilt, or the amount of our misery; but 
 this, so far from excluding, brings us more completely 
 within the scope of its grace. Were it possible for a man 
 to unite in his own individual person, all the wants, and 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 365 
 
 guilt, and capacities of the whole human race, the invita- 
 tion would only address him in a more personal manner, 
 and with a deeper emphasis of compassion. And shall 
 all this benevolence be lost on us? In the name of all that 
 is tender and gracious he urges us to come. He address- 
 es us as if we had never offended him, nor had rendered 
 it necessary that he should suffer on our account; as if, in 
 contemplating our wants, he had actually forgotten our de- 
 pravity and gui-lt. Indeed, had he himself been the offend- 
 ing party, and had entailed on us all the evils we suffer, 
 he could not have employed language more affectionate, 
 .nor have manifested greater solicitude to relieve us. Had 
 he descended from heaven to announce only this single in- 
 vitation to our guilty race, it is so graciously adapted to our 
 condition, that it would have fully justified the important 
 mission, and ought to have endeared him to every human 
 heart. 
 
 4. If the gospel be regarded as a temple of spiritual 
 truth, the parables of our Lord may be compared to paint- 
 ings with which he has adorned the walls, and by which he 
 seeks to arrest the wandering eye, and to please while 
 he instructs. Among these, the parable of the prodigal 
 son never fails to attract and impress. The errors of the 
 wanderer, his sufferings, his bitter tears, his penitential re- 
 turn, the melting heart of that indulgent parent, who ran 
 to welcome to his arms, and weep over, his long-lost son ; 
 how many eyes have looked at it till they filled with tears ; 
 how many a heart has melted before it ; how many a pen- 
 itent has it first inspired with hope. It makes an appeal, 
 which finds a responsive chord, of one kind or another, in 
 every bosom. It is always fresh, and always welcome ; 
 equally affecting us in infancy, and old age. 
 
 But what is the secret of its subduing influence ? It is 
 Hot that it embodies any profound philosophic truth: it 
 
366 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 evinces no desire to affect : it is a specimen of unlabored 
 simplicity. Much of its power is, no doubt, to be ascribed 
 to that graphic minuteness of detail, by which we seem plac- 
 ed in the midst of the scene described, and to become spec- 
 tators of all that transpires. But it appeals to more than 
 our sympathy; it draws in our heart, and creates in it all 
 the interest of a personal event. The truth is, it is a pic- 
 ture of the prodigal and ruined world come to itself, la- 
 menting its wretchedness, and retracing its wanderings 
 back to God. It represents the meeting of misery with 
 compassion ; the communing of penitent wretchedness 
 with all-sufficient grace; of our lost humanity with that 
 infinite love, which received and embraced our guilty na- 
 ture, and even adopted it into the person of Christ. The 
 parable is an epitome of the spiritual history of the whole 
 church ; so that every individual member beholds in it an 
 image of the most affecting parts of his own life. 
 
 And what an insight does it give us into the depths of 
 our Lord's benevolent character ! We feel that we are 
 listening to a party concerned ; he presents us with his 
 heart in almost every sentence ; nor ia it easy to conceive 
 that he uttered it without tears. And the view which it 
 gives us of his benevolence is further enhanced, when we 
 think of the object for which he uttered it : he sought to 
 promote repentance, to encourage that change by which 
 the sinner comes to himself; not merely by depicting the 
 paternal compassion of God, but by representing it as an 
 occasion of joy to angels, and to every order of holy intel- 
 ligence in the universe. From a perusal of this, and the 
 two parables connected with it, he would have the peni- 
 tent to believe, that in going to God for mercy he is occa- 
 sioning a joy which, beginning at the centre of all benev- 
 olence the heart of the eternal Father circulates through 
 all ranks of holy existences, to the utmost circumference 
 of the spiritual creation. 
 
HIS TENDERNERS AND BFNEVOLENCE, 367 
 
 5. There are numerous passages in our Lord's discour- 
 ses in which, as the representative of his people, he de- 
 scribes himself as personally affected by all that befals 
 them a sentiment which can only be resolved into that 
 enlarged benevolence which identifies him with all piety. 
 He reproved the errors and sins of the Jews, with the in- 
 dignant sensibility of one who felt himself personally 
 wronged and dishonored by them. He spoke of the weak- 
 est believer as his other self: resenting his wrongs, and 
 adopting the favors shown him as his own. After often 
 repeating this sentiment, and presenting it in various lights, 
 he raised it to a climax in the declaration, /that, in the last 
 great day, he will* pronounce concerning every action rela- 
 ting to them ; 'ye did it unto me ; or ye did it not unto me} 
 If sympathy is to be regarded as a kind of substitution, by 
 which we are put into the place of another, and affected in 
 many respects as he is affected, then what shall we think 
 of the sympathy of Christ, which never allows him to re- 
 main an indifferent spectator of any thing his people may 
 suffer. Virtue cannot receive the slightest wound, of 
 which he does not instantly feel the smart. He is the 
 great sympathetic nerve of the church, over which all the 
 oppressions and sufferings of his people distinctly pass: 
 nor does that mysterious instrument of sensation in the 
 human body convey more correctly to the sensorium a 
 sense of the condition of the extremest part of the frame, 
 than the benevolence of Jesus, who is the sensorium of the 
 spiritual universe, apprehends, and sympathizes with the 
 least emotion of suffering in his body the church. 
 
 6. * And when he was come near, he beheld the city, 
 and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, 
 at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy 
 peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.' Often had 
 he approached Jerusalem before by the same road, and gaz- 
 
368 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ed on it from the same spot; and we may suppose, had 
 looked on it with emotions of unutterable concern ; for 
 oh ! Jerusalem was endeared to him by ties unimagined 
 by man. But now he was approaching it for the last 
 time ; and he paused to take a final look. He knew that 
 his entrance within its gates would be the signal for filling 
 up the measure of its guilt ; and therefore he lingered a 
 moment, as if to respite its doom: the Sun of righteous- 
 ness lingered a moment on Mount Olivet, as if to prolong 
 for it that day of grace made by his own immediate beams. 
 He had before asked for it 'another year,' that he might 
 make on it fresh experiments of mercy ; and now he gra- 
 ciously vouchsafed it another moment. And as he stood 
 and gazed on it, his mind filled with affecting recollections 
 of the past ; the future rose to his prophetic eye, crowded 
 with scenes of guilt and woe; while both became aggra- 
 vated by the afflicting thought, that all his generous efforts 
 to save it were defeated, and would only serve to enhance 
 its doom. 
 
 His comprehensive mind reverted to the past ; he re- 
 membered the days of old, ' when Israel was holiness to 
 the Lord.' He could not forget that Judea had for ages 
 been the ark of religion, wherfe the knowledge of Jehovah 
 had been preserved and cherished, when lost by all the 
 world besides ; that it was filled with the mementoes of 
 prophets arid miracles ; that it had been the birth-place of 
 men of whom the world was not worthy ; that its paths 
 had been trod by angel-feet ; that its dust was hallowed, 
 its very soil sacred to God. He thought of the temple, 
 where devotion had for so many ages felt itself nearer 
 heaven ; where the bleeding sacrifice had daily testified 
 of human guilt and divine placability; where successive 
 generations had communed with God from off the mercy- 
 seat; and multitudes had found the gat^ of heaven, But 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 369 
 
 these recollections pleasing in themselves, were embitter- 
 ed by the remembrance of the guilt they necessarily re- 
 called ages of accumulated guilt. The Lord had sent unto 
 them his prophets, 'rising early and sending them ;' but 
 'they beat one and killed another and stoned another.' It 
 could not be that a prophet should perish out of Jerusalem. 
 It was saturated with 'the blood of all the prophets, down 
 to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom they 
 slew between the temple and the altar.' And now he knew 
 that it was thirsting after his own blood. For more than 
 a thousand years it had enjoyed the peculiar regards of 
 heaven ! yet, with all his compassion for it in lively exercise, 
 the benevolent Jesus could not but see that it was the 
 grave of hope, the vortex of all piety. For three years 
 now, he himself had come seeking fruit, and finding none. 
 During that period, his preaching and miracles had but 
 this one object the instruction and salvation of its thank- 
 less and disobedient people. How solemnly had he warn- 
 ed them, how graciously invited them, how anxiously la- 
 bored to convince them that he was the Hope of Israel, N 
 their promised Messiah. For them he had toiled, and trav- 
 elled, and interceded, and spent himself in self-consuming 
 privations. For their sakes he had made himself of no 
 reputation, and had taken upon him the form of a servant. 
 When driven from Jerusalem by persecution, exiled by 
 bitter hate, he carried their welfare with him in his heart, 
 and soon he returned to them again with a kindness which 
 seemed to increase by ingratitude. They formed the sole 
 object of his tenderest solicitude, the essence of his daily 
 thought. For them every pulse of his heart had beaten, 
 and for them that heart was ready to pour forth its vital 
 blood. He had done every thing that could be done, con- 
 sistently with his own perfections and with the liberty of 
 accountable creatures, but in vain. On them the ob- 
 23 
 
370 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ject of his mission was entirely lost. He knew that at that 
 moment they were passing his destruction into a law. He 
 looked down on the guilty city ; and, behold, it resembled 
 a vast chauldron filled and fermenting with all infernal pas- 
 sions, of which he was to be the devoted victim. 
 
 But, with the self-denying love of a patriot, and the 
 grace of a Saviour, he looked beyond the spectacle of his 
 own sufferings, and fixed his eye upon theirs; he could 
 view them only through an atmosphere of compassion. 
 And oh ! what an appeal to his pity was there. Clouds 
 of wrath were gathering over Jerusalem from every quar- 
 ter of heaven, fraught with materials of destruction such 
 as none but a divine hand could collect: his own blood, 
 by which he had graciously meant to wash away their 
 guilt, calling with a voice not to be denied, for the ministers 
 of justice to arm ; all things on earth and in heaven mus- 
 tering and disposing for their doom. He looked again ; 
 and, lo the city, his city, was beleaguered and lost ; Jeru- 
 salem lay bleeding at his feet; the harpy nations had tak- 
 en their prey ; her dwellings of holiness were laid waste ; 
 and the sound of her expiring lament, drowning even the 
 voice of justice itself, pierced his heart, and drew from him 
 words in which all his soul came forth ; * If thou hadst 
 known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which 
 belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine 
 eyes. 1 
 
 The exclamation regarded as a sentence, is interrupted 
 and incomplete ; but who does not see that it is both in- 
 terrupted, and completed, by tears tears which are the nat- 
 ural language of compassion, and which express its in- 
 tenseness beyond all words. But he not only thought of 
 the past, and surveyed the future, he evidently glanced also 
 at a pleasing picture of what the present might have been ; 
 and then the hiatus is to be regarded as filled up with a si- 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 371 
 
 lent reflection on what would have heen the happy results 
 had Jerusalem accepted his mission. The lingering con- 
 templation of the same blessed possibility is apparent also 
 in his subsequent exclamation ; ' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
 thou that kiiiest the prophets, and stonest them who are 
 sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy chil- 
 dren together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
 her wings, and ye would not! ' Had the nation apprecia- 
 ted his character, and sympathized with his mission, how 
 different we may suppose, his conduct would have been, 
 and how changed the history of his early life. The Jew- 
 ash economy might have died a glorious death, full of days 
 and full of honors. Instead of entering the temple to de- 
 nounce and to scourge, he might have gone to explain, and 
 to apply to himself, its ancient rites ; to make known the 
 termination of its service ; and to pronounce, in the hear- 
 ing of the great congregation, its funeral eulogium. In- 
 stead of being hated, persecuted, and ignominiously put to 
 death as the victim of malice, he might have assembled 
 .the tribes by proclamation : have lifted up his voice and 
 explained to their breathless attention, the doctrine of the 
 atonement ; have opened their understanding and disclos- 
 ed the amazing fact, that the principle of vicarious suffering, 
 which ran through the whole of their economy, was now 
 to terminate and triumph in his own peculiar death for 
 man : and then, amidst the tears and sympathies of the 
 world, he might have ascended Calvary or even the al- 
 tar of sacrifice itselfand there he might have been visi- 
 bly smitten by the immediate sword of justice ; while an- 
 gels, bending over the mysterious scene, would have point' 
 ed each other to his blood, and said, ' Behold, how he lov- 
 ed them.' Instead of retiring into Galilee when he arose 
 from the dead he might have shown himself openly to all 
 the people : he might once more have entered the temple, 
 
372 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 where * Moses and Ellas,' as the representatives of the 
 Jewish church, might have resigned into his hands the 
 trust which it had held for the human race; and, investing 
 him with the insignia of prophet, priest, and king, have 
 hailed him as the Hope of Israel, and the Surety of the 
 world. ' Oh that his people had heakened unto him, and 
 Israel had walked in his ways ! ' 
 
 It is true, the contrary was foreseen ; every step he took 
 was calculated and arranged on the distinct foreknowledge 
 of his rejection ; the wickedness of his enemies was inter- 
 woven into the texture of the divine plans concerning him. 
 But his rejection was necessitated only by their own de- 
 pravity, Had their blinding unbelief permitted them to 
 * know him, they could not have crucified the Lord of glo- 
 ry.' The morn of mercy would have arisen cloudless on 
 the world. He would have made the temple the cradle 
 of Christianity, the rendezvous of piety to all nations, the 
 sanctuary of the world, Jerusalem should have arisen as 
 a stately palm, towering to heaven, and seen to the ends of 
 the earth, distilling balm for the healing of the nations, and 
 wafting its fragrance as incense through the skies; relig- 
 ion should have built her palaces in its shadow ; it should 
 have been the joy of the whole earth. 
 
 How often would he have done this, and more than this, 
 for his beloved Jerusalem ; gathering her children under 
 his fostering care, and making her the abode of heavenly 
 glory. But, alas, this was only a vision as the name 
 Jerusalem imports a vision of peace : and now it was both 
 hid from her eyes, and vanished from his. He would have 
 turned the vision into reality ; but she would not, she thrust 
 him from her. Painful indeed is the situation of the patriot 
 who is condemned to watch the exhausted struggles of his 
 country; to tend it during its alternate paroxysms of 
 raving, and intervals of lethargic stupefaction, till, one 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 373 
 
 by one, the lingering symptoms of life have disappeared, 
 and it lies prostrate in corruption, and trodden under foot 
 of the nations. But here was more than a^patriot, called 
 to mourn over the desolation of his land, and to witness the 
 frustration of all his plans for saving it; here was the 
 friend of sinners, the lover of human souls, called to con- 
 template the spiritual perdition of a whole land, and that 
 land the immediate scene of his godlike labors. He could 
 not fail to be deeply affected by the prospect of temporal 
 sufferings : but what were they compared with its impend- 
 ing spiritual fate. He knew the history of sin ; he had 
 seen it in its awful origin, expelling the angels from heav- 
 en, and preparing for them a hell: his omnipresent mind 
 had all the endless consequences of sin present to his view. 
 And knowing and deploring as he did the eternal results 
 of the least sin, how inconceivably great must his emo- 
 tions of grief and compassion have been at the sight of a 
 whole nation of human beings, for whose welfare, at any 
 moment, he was ready to become a curse, destroyed by 
 the vials of Almighty displeasure, and perishing under a 
 charge of guilt, only inferior in aggravation to the guilt 
 of the angels that kept not their first estate. His benevo- 
 lent nature recoiled at the idea ! he felt as if he could 
 not give them up, could not see them consigned to such 
 irretrievable ruin ; as if even now it was not too late to 
 save them 5 as if he could almost have saved them, even 
 against their wills. The consideration of their contin- 
 ued aggravated guilt, had, we might have supposed, 
 drained the whole passion of pity from his nature ; but at 
 the sight of that coming woe, a new fountain of compas- 
 sion opens in his heart, and pours itself forth in an unex- 
 ampled gush of sympathy; at the prospect of that dread- 
 ful scene, that type of the terrors of the judgment day, he 
 hears not the acclamations of the surrounding multitude, 
 
374 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 hailing his entrance into the devoted city, thinks not of his 
 own impending death, but abandons himself to sympathy ; 
 his whole nature dissolves into compassion, which can only 
 find vent in an exclamation in which he poured forth the 
 tears of his heart, ' O that thou hadst known, even thou, 
 at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy 
 peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 
 
 Pitiable, indeed, must be the state of that mind which 
 can find itself at ease to debate a question of metaphysical 
 divinity in the presence of the Redeemer's tears. Yet there 
 are men whose creed has no place even for his sacred 
 grief; who are actually annoyed at these tears wept over 
 perishing sinners, as at heterodox variance with the divine 
 d ecrees; whofrown at this precious distilment of infinite 
 love, as inconsistent with their views of divine inflexibility. 
 There are those who would rather these tears had never 
 been shed, or that the record of the burst of divine com- 
 passion should be expunged from the sacred page, than 
 that it should remain as an obstacle to their logical views 
 of the divine purposes. But we linger over it with de- 
 light ; we love to remain within the softening influence, 
 the hallowed contagion of the Redeemer's tears ; we bless 
 him for them ; we regard the melting scene as only infe- 
 rior in pathos, in tender and solemn grandeur, to Calvary, 
 itself. 
 
 The compassionate exclamation of Jesus, on this occa- 
 sion, intimates that the salvation of the Jews would have 
 been more agreeable to his benevolent nature than their 
 destruction : that, notwithstanding this, there were suffi- 
 cient reasons w 7 hy his omnipotence should not interpose 
 to prevent that destruction; that, in the same act, justice, 
 awful and unbending justice, may denounce destruction 
 against the sinner, while benevolence sympathizes in his 
 misery even to tears. When Jesus afterwards turned to 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 375 
 
 the mourning daughters of Jerusalem as they followed 
 him to Calvary, and said, * Weep not for me, but weep for 
 yourselves,' he sought, by that admonition, to impress them 
 with the magnitude of the calamity which awaited them : 
 a calamity so pregnant with woe, that had all the tears 
 shed from the creation, been reserved for that event, had 
 all the universe joined and aided them in the mighty grief, 
 it would not have equalled the greatness of the occasion. 
 But his own tears should affect us more deeply with the 
 greatness of the calamity, than the sight of all creation in 
 tears. To think that Jesus wept, that tears fell from his 
 eyes, the eyes of incarnate perfection, how great must have 
 been the calamity which occasioned them, the calamity of 
 souls lost, immortal natures perishing under the frown of 
 God. And he would encourage us to infer, that, making 
 the necessary allowance for the difference between his 
 earthly and his heavenly state, his nature is still the same; 
 that no sinner perishes unpitied, unlamented. He would 
 have the ministers of his gospel to mingle their appeals 
 and warnings with tears, and to assure the impenitent that 
 if they finally perish, they descend into perdition bathed 
 in the tears of his divine compassion. 
 
 7. What an affecting illustration of the tenderness and 
 benevolence of our Lord's teaching do we find in his vale- 
 dictory discourse U> his disciples on the evening prior to 
 his crucifixion.* He was about to leave them. He had 
 so far advanced in his earthly course, that he was now 
 only a step from the cross: a few hours more, and the 
 pang of parting from their Lord must be endured. Ten- 
 der as his conduct, and gracious as his intercourse had al- 
 ways been, he had evidently reserved the outpouring of his 
 heart till now. He sought to prepare them for the ap- 
 proaching trial, by showing them that, though he died, he 
 died with them in his heart. Addressing them in terms 
 * Johnxiv. xv. xvi. 
 
376 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 of gracious endearment such as they had never listened 
 to before ; and such as, considering the circumstances un- 
 der which they were uttered, they could never forget, he 
 took them into a new region of truth : expatiated over 
 fields filled with the products of infinite love; ranged over 
 ground which they had only before beheld dimly at a dis- 
 tance, ground which brought them within sight of the gate 
 of heaven. Often had he spoke to them as never man 
 spake, descanting on topics which it had not entered into 
 the heart of man to conceive; but he now led them into a 
 higher department, an inner chamber of truth ; he now 
 conducted them into the treasury of his love, displayed be- 
 fore them his resources and affluence, pointed out the costly 
 gifts which he meant for them, and even invited them to 
 select and appropriate his choicest treasures. He drew 
 them close to himself; afforded them the nearest inspec- 
 tion of his character; unbosomed to them his inmost de- 
 signs ; showed them his very heart with all their names 
 engraven there, and all their interests bound up and made 
 one with his dearest purposes, and with the glory of the 
 Father. 
 
 His avowed object in thus addressing them was, that 
 ' his joy might remain in them, and that their joy might be 
 lull ;' that the same exalted views and principles, which 
 had sustained and actuated him, might descend to them ; 
 that they might inherit the very same spiritual property; 
 that it might be entailed on his church for ever, and yield 
 to his people in all generations as large a revenue of joy 
 and peace, as, in proportion, it had brought to him. And, 
 as if to increase the pathos of this touching discourse, he 
 invested it with circumstances of irresistible tenderness' 
 and love. He uttered it in the presence of the symbols of 
 his death : and while the melting sentence, ' Do this in re- 
 membrance of me,' was yet sounding in their ears. And 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 377 
 
 he immediately followed it with a prayer such as, till then, 
 heaven had never received from earth a prayer in which 
 he seemed unconscious of mortal presence, and spoke as 
 if he had never left the bosom of the Father a prayer in 
 which he asked, with the largeness and confidence of one 
 who felt that he had established a claim on the divine re- 
 sources, that having so nearly reached the cross, he was 
 entitled to ask what he would : and all he asked was for 
 his disciples ; all his new and unmeasured influence at the 
 throne of grace was employed for them, that they might 
 enjoy an interest in all his perfections, a share in all his 
 glory a prayer in which he pleaded as if he had already 
 reached the altar of incense above, and had actually enter- 
 ed on his office of intercessor there ; and in which he clasp- 
 ed the eternal throne as if he would save his people by 
 prayer alone. By means such as these did he aim, not 
 merely to prepare them for the trial of his approaching de- 
 parture, but to leave his image impressed on all their 
 hearts, to bind them fast to himself with the cords of love, 
 to assure them that, henceforth and for ever, he and they 
 were one. 
 
 8. There are numerous declarations, interspersed through 
 every part of our Lord's discourses, concerning the object 
 of his advent, in \vhich he invites us to listen to the high- 
 est strains of benevolence. ' I am come,' saith he, ' that 
 they might have life, and that they might have it more 
 abundantly. I am the bread of life. I am the good shep- 
 herd, and lay down my life for the sheep. Whoso eateth 
 my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I 
 will raise him up at the last day. As Moses lifted up the 
 serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
 lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not per- 
 ish but have everlasting life. The Son of man is come 
 to seek and to save that which was lost ; to give himself a 
 
378 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ransom for many : to shed his blood for many for the re- 
 mission of sins.' These passages form part of a numer- 
 ous class : and we have reserved them till now, as exhibit- 
 ing the benevolence of Christ, in its highest and most 
 comprehensive form; for they disclose both his purposes 
 of grace, and the costly means by which he effects them. 
 
 They teach us, that, in saving man, he is obeying the 
 spontaneous dictates, and gratifying the compassionate 
 yearnings of his own heart. He assumed life for the ex- 
 press purpose of laying it down. He showed that his 
 heart was full of a purpose formed from eternity. No 
 scene of trial could take him by surprise; no hour of suf- 
 fering tound him unprepared. He saw as from a height 
 the whole array of duty and trial which awaited him ; and 
 the only emotion he evinced at the sight, was a self-con- 
 suming ardor to reach the cross which stood at the end o^ 
 his path, a holy impatience to be baptized with the bap- 
 tism of blood. And when his hour was come, the myste- 
 rious manner in which he surrendered up his life on the 
 cross breathing it forth giving it up parting with it 
 as a free-will offering to God evinced the truth of his 
 own declaration, ' No man taketh it from me, I lay it down 
 f myself. 
 
 ' For their sakes,' said he, * I sanctify myself;' and he 
 did so, he devoted himself exclusively to the cause of hu- 
 man salvation ; it occupied his thoughts from the first mo- 
 ment to the last of his continuance upon earth. All the 
 paths of human ambition were open and accessible to him, 
 but he passed them all by. All the kingdoms of the world, 
 and the glory of them were laid at his feet, but he saw 
 them as if he saw them not. With a single sentence he 
 could have flashed light on the darkest mysteries of phi- 
 losophy; but he would not thus debase his mission, he 
 would not spare a single moment from teaching that high- 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 379 
 
 er science, the knowledge of salvation. He had ears only 
 for one sound and that was the voice of penitence, im- 
 ploring forgiveness : the voice of fear and conscious guilt 
 deprecating the vengeance of eternal fire, and crying for 
 relief. He had eyes only for one sight and that was the 
 misery of man ; the spectacle of a world invaded, ruined, 
 lost, and moving along in chains to the pit of perdition. 
 This object filled the whole sphere of his vision ; he could 
 see nothing else; and had all the thrones of earth been 
 vacant, and invited his acceptance, it would not have induc- 
 ed him to diverge a single step from the path which led 
 direct to the cross. He had tears but for one sorrow ; and 
 he wept them over lost souls. He valued life itself but 
 for one object ; as it enabled him to present it in sacrifice 
 for human redemption. 
 
 The key to all his conduct is love ; this is the principle 
 by which he invites us to interpret all his earthly history ; 
 and which is found to explain it all, while itself remains 
 inexplicable. Such is the property of sympathy, that even 
 in ordinary cases, it impels us to enact a kind of mental 
 substitution, imparting to us the feelings, and placing us in 
 the situation of the party with whom we sympathize. But 
 such was the power of the Saviour's compassion, that it 
 impelled him to enact a real substitution ! it gave him our 
 nature. Under its mighty impulse, he took our place in 
 the universe: invited the government of God to treat him 
 as the representative of the human race; absorbed our in- 
 terest ; opened his bosom, and Welcomed to his heart the 
 stroke which we had deserved. And having thus answer- 
 ed our liabilities, and honored the claims of injured justice 
 he is rewarded with all the means and the power of salva- 
 tion. Having offered to God a perfect sacrifice as the sub- 
 stitute for man, he is now to be regarded as offering a per- 
 fect salvation to us as the substitute for God. And in mak- 
 
380 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ing these overtures of infinite grace, every word he utters 
 breathes of compassion that will not be denied. 
 
 9. In further illustration of the tenderness and benevo- 
 lence which distinguished our Lord's instructions, we 
 might adduce the universality of his offers of mercy. He 
 could not contemplate, without deep solicitude, the exclu- 
 sion of any from the blessings of his grace ; to satisfy the 
 cravings of his benevolence, all must love him, and be be- 
 loved by him- We might refer to the relations which he 
 represented himself as assuming and sustaining ; for in 
 him the tenderness of the shepherd, the affection of the pa- 
 rent, and the grace of the Saviour, are combined. We 
 might point to the attractive epithets which he applied to 
 the blessings of his grace ; not contenting himself with 
 merely announcing these blessings, but aiming to excite 
 our desire to possess them by describing them in the most 
 alluring terms. Nor should we omit to mention, for the 
 same end, the characteristic tenderness of the topics on 
 which he delighted to dilate. He loved to dwell on the 
 paternal character of God; it was a view which formed 
 his own consolation and joy through every stage of his 
 earthly course, and he essayed to conduct his people to the 
 same fountain of delight. Prayer was a suLject frequent- 
 ly on his lips- His heart was set. on bringing about an 
 interview between God and man ; for he knew it must lead 
 to the reconciliation of the parties; he knew that if he 
 could but bring us to the footstool of mercy, all would be 
 well. Hence the attractions with which he has invested 
 the throne of grace; assuring us that we go there invited 
 and expected as his friends ; hence, the unalienable char- 
 ter of prayer, which, sprinkled with his own blood, he has 
 placed in our hands : promising to exercise all the good 
 within the compass of omnipotence to bestow, and urging 
 it in terms of gracious encouragement, to which nothing 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 381 
 
 consistently with the divine dignity, could he added. How 
 evidently was he gratifying his own mind, while expatiat- 
 ing on the doctrine of divine influence; offering the Holy 
 Spirit as the free gift of God ; promising his presence as 
 the abiding Comforter ; and enlarging on the great and 
 certain advantages of dwelling in the element of his light 
 and love. How visibly congenial to his taste was the top- 
 ic of brotherly love; it formed the subject of his new com- 
 mand, of his frequent admonition, and occupied a principal 
 part of his intercessory prayer. He might justly have en- 
 grossed the love of his people to himself ; but, no, he waiv- 
 ed his own right, and said, ' Love one another.' Such is 
 the superiority of his claims on their hearts, that no other 
 being could justly demand a share, until they had rendered 
 to him his due ; and this would never have been. But he 
 graciously dispensed with his own interest, consenting to 
 take the love they owe to him, in the form of love to each 
 other. Like a father Idoking on his assembled children, 
 while kissing and embracing each other in the first fond 
 essay of love, he is content, for the time, to witness their 
 mutual regard, without being the immediate object of it. 
 He loved to contemplate his church as a community of 
 hearts, cemented by attachment to a common object, and 
 thus rendered one. For this he prayed with an earnest- 
 ness that would not be denied, ' that they all might be one ;' 
 that they might form a church in whose capacious bosom 
 there should be but one heart to sway all its motions, and 
 direct all its actions, emulating the harmonious movements 
 of the blessed ; a heart which should beat in concert with 
 heaven, and whose every pulse should diffuse life, and 
 health, and joy to the remotest members of the body. 
 
 10. Nor were the tenderness and benevolence of Christ 
 ahated, either by the lapse of time, or the perseverance of 
 human ingratitude. His kindness exhibited no tendency 
 
382 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 to degenerate into mere professional sympathy ; nor had 
 the malice of those who seized his out-stretched hand, and 
 hailed it to the cross, any other visible effect than that of 
 inducing him to hasten the work of saving them from 
 themselves, and from hell. The superiority to ingratitude 
 which some exhibit, arises from a defect in the constitution 
 of their nature, by which they are armed with a degree of 
 Insensibility to wrongs, sufficient to blunt the weapons of 
 unkindness. But the sensibilities of Christ were of the 
 most acute description : for in him were harmonized all 
 that is great in mind, noble in sentiment, and delicate in 
 feeling; his nature exhibited the perfection of humanity. 
 And during the whole of his continuance on earth, his 
 sensibilities were all in excitement and activity; for wher- 
 ever he looked he saw man was perishing ; and yet wher- 
 ever he turned he saw man, the object of his tender solici- 
 tude, requiting his compassion with a fixed frown of hos- 
 tility and defiance. The conduct of man made a constant 
 demand on his forbearance, a perpetual drain on his pity, 
 sufficient to exhaust every heart but one, which was daily 
 replenished at the fountain of compassion itself. He en- 
 dured, at times, paroxysms of anguish so great, that no 
 compound of mortal elements, unless supernaturally sus- 
 tained, could by any possibility have out-lived them. There 
 is abundant reason to believe that his course would have 
 been much sooner run, that he would have fallen exhaust- 
 ed in body and mind before the cross was reached, had he 
 not lived in immediate communication with a hidden source 
 from whence he drew daily re-inforcements of strength. 
 Thus supplied and sustained, ' he failed not, nor was dis- 
 couraged ;' his affections maintained their freshness and 
 youth ; his tender and feeling eloquence, and his holy sen- 
 sibilities went on increasing even to the last. 
 
 On arising from the dead, it appears as if his first con- 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 383 
 
 cern was to convince his apostles of his undiminished re- 
 gard for them ; to prove to them that he had returned from 
 the grave with the same heart with which he had died. 
 Often had he spoken to them before, as if he would not 
 merely win their souls to him, but breathe his soul into 
 them ; and now he actually did so ; 'he breathed on them r 
 and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost ;' he imparted to them, 
 his own spirit. He had been accustomed to call them his 
 disciples and servants. On the evening prior to his cruci- 
 fixion, as if his affection for them increased, the nearer the 
 hour of separation approached, as if he desired to draw 
 closer the bands of affection before he left them, he called 
 them his friends ; ' henceforth,' said he, * I call you riot ser- 
 vants but -friends.' And then it was not till after his res- 
 urrection that he drew the cords of love still closer, and 
 called them his brethren ; * Go, tell my brethren,' said h r 
 *that they meet me in Galilee.' 'Go to my brethren, and 
 say to them ; I ascend to my Father, and your Father, to 
 my God, and your God.' Thus he reserved the tenderest 
 appellation for the last ; as though he would provide against 
 all their suspicions and fears that he would forget them as 
 he rose in dignity and power, by showing them that he lov- 
 ed them the more, the more he did for them, and the more- 
 he became capable of blessing them ; and, whatever the 
 dignity to which he might be raised, he would value that 
 dignity chiefly as it gave him the power of blessing them, 
 and of raising them to a joint participation of his glory. 
 ' And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up 
 his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he 
 blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into- 
 heaven.' This divine arrangement was undoubtedly 
 meant to be as significant as the gracious benediction he 
 was pronouncing. It taught his disciples that he carried 
 their interest with him to heaven ; and that his occupation 
 
384 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 there would be only a continuation of his employment 
 here the godlike work of blessing them. He meant to 
 cheer them with the impression that his departure to heav- 
 en, far from terminating his ability to bless them, would 
 augment that power : that the intercession which he had 
 begun on earth, he went to carry on and complete in the 
 immediate presence of the eternal throne. 
 
 His kindness to his disciples only corresponded with 
 the grace of his conduct towards the guilty city. He com- 
 manded them, 'tha^ repentance and remission of sins 
 should be preached in his name, among all nations, begin- 
 ning at Jerusalem} Could tears have washed away the 
 crimson guilt of its inhabitants, they would now have 
 needed no remission ; for over them the Man of sorrows 
 had dissolved into grief. Could kindness have melted or 
 moved them, they would not now have required an exhor- 
 tation to repentance: for his last anguish on the cross in- 
 cluded a pang of compassion for them : and for them he 
 had saved his latest breath to pray, * Father forgive them ; 
 for they know not what they do.' But their impenitence was 
 triumphant. Yet no sooner does he find himself in a ca- 
 pacity to bless, than he exercises the prerogative in bless- 
 ing them. We might almost as soon have expected that 
 he would have sent his gospel to be proclaimed over the 
 mouth of perdition as to Jerusalem the hell of earth. At 
 least, we should have expected to see it making the circuit 
 of the earth before it came there ; to hear him directing 
 his apostles to wait till his immediate enemies had descend- 
 ed to the grave ; to visit Jerusalem last. But the course 
 of his grace admits not of human calculation; for he 
 sends them to Jerusalem first. While the eyes of his 
 enemies are yet gleaming with the fire of triumphant re- 
 venge, he commissions his apostles to hasten and open 
 the charter of redemption within sight of Calvary ; to 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 385 
 
 let them know that, whatever they might have drawn from 
 his heart, his love for them remains there still j to assure 
 them that there is one mode of inflicting on him greater 
 pain than even that of employing the cross by obstinately 
 refusing the blessings which his cross has procured. But, 
 O, there is an exalted sense, in which this act of grace to 
 Jerusalem is only to be regarded as a type of his benevo- 
 lence to the world at large ; an affected rehearsal on a 
 limited scale, of that great dispensation of mercy which 
 selects for its objects the chief transgressors of every age, 
 and traverses the world in quest of those whose lives have 
 been spent in 'crucifying the Son of God afresh, and put- 
 ting him to an open shame.' 
 
 Accordingly, his last injunction to his apostles was to 
 preach salvation in his name to every creature. His final 
 act on earth was to make the world the heirs of his grace ; 
 to leave behind him in trust the conveyance of his salva- 
 tion to all mankind. He had now contemplated man from 
 various and affecting points: and from each point, the as- 
 pect presented to view was calculated to try his love in a 
 new and peculiar manner. From heaven he had beheld 
 us falling by myriads into perdition : but awful as the sight 
 was, it was only the natural result of guilt, so great as to 
 make even the earth itself to loathe us. He clothed him- 
 self with love, and descended into the midst of us ; offer- 
 ing himself and his glory to the service of man ; but he 
 had beheld us instantly league and arm against him, mak- 
 ing common cause with hell in the work of his destruction. 
 He had earnestly gazed on us from the cross ; and what 
 was the spectacle he beheld immediately before him, but a 
 group of maniac fiends, yelling a song of triumph at hav- 
 ing compassed his death? And now, at the moment of 
 his departure, as he pierced the future, he saw his humil- 
 iation continued and perpetuated through every succeeding 
 24 
 
386 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 age, and every variety of form ; he beheld the enmity o 
 the carnal mind, true to its character, daily enacting 
 afresh the ignominious scenes of Calvary down to the 
 close of time. Yet, with all this infinite guilt lying distinctly 
 like a map before him, he commended and sent his love 
 to every creature. He remembered only that \ve were per- 
 ishing, and felt only that he could save. He found him- 
 self in possession of the gift of eternal life, and he sent 
 it in messages of grace overall the earth. By connecting 
 this embassy with an act of special benediction on those 
 whom he honored to fulfil n he significantly taught them 
 that he set them apart, to a work of blessing: that they 
 were to go from under his uplifted hands to bless mankind 
 as he had blessed them: to issue forth from under the can- 
 opy of his blessing, propagating and diffusing that bless- 
 ing to the ends of the earth. And as they were the only 
 agents he employed, he thus intentionally taught us that 
 henceforth he devoted himself to the office of saving us; 
 that he engaged no agency, owned no agency whatever, 
 but for this purpose ; that henceforth his only communica- 
 tion with man would be in streams of unrningled mercy, 
 the ocean of his 'grace pouring its fulness into our empti- 
 ness ; that while he needed no destructive agency what- 
 ever, he should require all the benevolent agency of heav- 
 en and earth to be put into motion, in order to do justice to 
 the purposes of his love. Having died for the redemption 
 of the world, he felt that he had made the world his own ; 
 and, embracing all its dearest interests., he pressed them to 
 his heart. 
 
 But fascinating and enchaining as this subject is, we 
 must now hasten to a close. Casting our eye back on 
 the ground we have passed over, what a miracle of moral 
 portraiture do we behold in the evangelical history of 
 Christ ! What transcendent wisdom ! What divine 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 387 
 
 benevolence! What perfection ! The character of Jesus 
 stands alone; it has no archetype in history; no analogy 
 in nature ; no model in all the worlds of imagination ; as 
 pourtrayed in scripture, it could only have been drawn 
 from a contemplation of the living reality. It was the con- 
 ception of an infinite mind. It was the triumph of mercy 
 aiming to condense in the same heing the evidences of di- 
 vinity, adequate illustrations of divine love and the power 
 of winning the souls of men to salvation, and transform- 
 ing them to holiness. 
 
 The character of Christ forms a distinct proof an in- 
 vincible demonstration for the truth of the gospel. When 
 we remember that it received a tribute of homage from 
 fallen spirits, we shall the less wonder that it has extorted 
 expressions of reverence from some of the worst speci- 
 mens of fallen humanity. Men, who have sported with 
 the sanctity of every thing else that religion owns, have 
 passed by the character of Christ in respectful silence; this 
 was conscience, recognizing in his perfection a likeness 
 which it felt it ought to he familiar with and adore ; such 
 is the awful power of goodness on natures preconfigured 
 to its image. Some have been entirely restrained from 
 violating the sanctuary of truth, by the same guardian in- 
 fluence : the character of Christ, like the presence of a 
 shrine, protected it. As the house of Obed-edom was bless- 
 ed for the sake of the residing ark, so religion has often 
 escaped evil, and received homage from its foes, for the 
 sake of the character of Christ. Men who have destroy- 
 ed, in intention, every other part of the temple of truth, 
 have paused when they came to this; have turned aside 
 and desisted for a while from the work of demolition, to 
 gaze and bow before it ; have not merely left it standing as 
 a column too majestic, or an altar too holy, for human sao- 
 rilege to assail, but (it was the only redeeming act in their 
 
388 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 history,) have even inscribed their names on its base, and 
 have been heard to burst forih in admiring exclamations 
 approaching to love. 
 
 The peculiar excellencies of the character of Christ, as 
 an argument for the gospel, are that it tends to attract and 
 invite inspection ; for it is the perfection of moral beau- 
 ty : it is level to the apprehension of all ; for it makes 
 a direct appeal to some of the first principles of our nature, 
 to our natural perceptions of goodness, and our instinctive 
 approval of it; and it not only convinces, but transforms ; 
 engaging and carrying with it at once the understanding 
 and the heart. While some, who were in the last stages 
 of depravity, have been allured by it to the pursuit of ex- 
 cellence: others, who have been sitting in despondency at 
 the gates of perdition, have beheld it, and conceived hope. 
 And though the best specimens of our race have, in every 
 age since his appearance, been laboring to imitate, they have 
 not been able to equal it. The character of Jesus challen- 
 ges the affections of all intelligent beings, leaves the im- 
 pression of its image on every object it touches, and is 
 destined to collect around itself all the sanctified passions 
 of the universe. 
 
 But, besides being an evidence for Christianity, the char- 
 acter of our Lord is to be regarded as an example. ' 1 
 have given you an example, 1 said he. 'that ye should do 
 as I have done unto you. Learn of me. A new com- 
 mandment I give unto you, that ye love one another ; as 
 I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 7 Thus 
 he seeks to augment the value of his own character, re- 
 garded as an argument for the gospel, by multiplying the 
 copies of his excellence in the lives of all his people: he 
 would render each of his disciples like himself a living 
 demonstration for the truth. All the wealth of moral pow- 
 er which .the wise and the good have ever possessed, is 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 389 
 
 summed up in him, and infinitely augmented, and brought 
 to bear on the hearts of his people ; that, by living as under 
 the focus of all excellence, they might be transformed into 
 the same image. Having turned all his infinite nature 
 into grace, having dissolved into a fountain of healing 
 mercy for the recovery of the world, he would now em- 
 ploy the hearts of his people as consecrated channels for 
 the diffusion of its streams; he would have their natures, 
 like his own, changed into tenderness and love. It is 
 true, his example can never be equalled, for it embodies in- 
 finite goodness ; but with so much the greater force does it 
 oblige us, in our humble measure, to attempt the imitation. 
 Having adopted our humanity, when it was only related to 
 him, like other natures, by creation, he is surely entitled 
 to expect that we should love our own flesh, that we should 
 seek the welfare of the nature which is essentially our 
 own, by diffusing the greatest possible happiness among 
 those connatural with us. Having died for the good of 
 man, the least he is authorized to expect is, that we should 
 live for the same benevolent object. What do we behold 
 in his history, but a whole life of humility, one continued 
 act of condescension, a vast and unbroken descent from 
 the heights of heaven to the form of a servant, the life of 
 an outcast, the death of a malefactor? The least use then 
 we can make of his example we who have it not in our 
 power, as sinners, to practice great condescension, since we 
 are all on a level in the dust already is to assist each oth- 
 er to arise, aiding the infirmities of the weak, and breath- 
 ing a spirit of sympathetic tenderness for all. As far as 
 religion is practical and relative to others, he has made 
 benevolence its life and essence ; not merely a part of the 
 Christian character, but the character itself. 
 
 And how eminently is the tender compassion of Christ 
 calculated to encourage all to repair to him. When the 
 
300 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 more prominent parts of his history are made to pass be- 
 fore our eyes, if we are not destitute of all sensibility, how 
 softening and hallowing the effect they produce on the 
 mind! How impossible is it for the most timid spirit to 
 picture the serenity of that brow which no evil passions 
 ever disturbed, to mark the benevolence which beamed 
 from his eye, and to listen to the tones of that voice which 
 soothed and cheered the most fearful and sorrowful, with- 
 out feeling itself drawn gradually nearer and closer to his 
 side. Wherever his grace is scripturally displayed, it se- 
 cures the attention of the most thoughtless, it melts the 
 hardest and subdues the proudest heart, and inspires the 
 most fearful with hope. The apostle declares, that had 
 the princes of this world known him, they would not have 
 crucified him ; had they known the principle of love which 
 brought him from heaven, they would have been disarmed 
 of their enmity against him, and instead of condemning 
 him, they would have paid him homage as the prince of 
 the kings of the earth. Had those who were most eager 
 to hasten his crucifixion, and most delighted with his death 
 caught but a glipse of the love which dictated every ac- 
 tion of his life, their cruel malignity must have yielded 
 and given place to unfeigned penitence and love. 
 
 The character of Christ is the character of his dispen- 
 sation; it is the dispensation of the still small voice ; and 
 the secret of its power is love. His ministers, therefore, 
 are to win souls, to persuade men. to beseech them, to min- 
 gle their instructions with tears ; and the more deeply they 
 are imbued with the mind of Christ, the more tender will 
 be their address, the more affectionate their message. 
 They have only to consult their own experience to Irarn 
 that the public exhibition of Christ, as the Saviour of sin- 
 ners, constitutes the most welcome and profitable topic on 
 which they can enlarge; that, whatever their subject may 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 391 
 
 be, like John the Baptist, pointing abruptly to his passing 
 Lord, that cannot be a faulty digression which directs their 
 hearers to behold the Lamb of God. 
 
 The fact that Jesus Christ was peculiarly his own sub- 
 ject, teaches us that he ought also to be ours ; and that as- 
 pect of his character which he most delighted to exhibit, 
 must be the feature to which we should give especial prom- 
 inence; and what was that but tender compassion for the 
 souls of men? Approach, then, and look upon him; the 
 nature in which you behold him clothed is truly your own ; 
 he has assumed it that he may dissipate all your fears; 
 that he might taste death for you ; that he may absorb and 
 carry away all your sorrows; that he may claim kindred 
 with you ; that he may discharge for you all the kind and 
 beneficent offices of brotherhood ; that he might make it 
 impossible for you to doubt his love. Approach, and be- 
 hold his hands and his feet; those are the wounds which 
 he received when he was wounded for our transgressions, 
 bruised for our iniquities, when the chastisement of our 
 peace was upon him, that by his stripes we might be heal- 
 ed. Urge nothing in excuse for not corning to him ; lose 
 not the time necessary to utter it; for whatever your guilt 
 or weakness, your wants or unworthiness may be, his grace 
 over rules and provides for the whole. He knows the val- 
 ue of a religious principle too well, as well as the dangers 
 to which it is exposed, to despise it on account of its weak- 
 ness ; he does not wait for a time, to see whether the spark 
 of piety will increase or vanish ; but he watches it, and 
 solicits and feeds it, until it rises into a pure and steady 
 flame of devotion towards God. He does not disregard 
 the piety of the poor and destitute, because they are unable 
 to advocate his cause, or to contribute to its support more 
 than two mites, or to adorn it with earthly splendor; the 
 arms of his love embrace alike the obscure and the more 
 
392 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 useful ; and if you are only conscious of a desire to love 
 him, a concern to please him, you share a place in his 
 heart in common with the angels around his throne. When 
 the back-slider relapses into a state from which he had 
 been rescued, and seems even to prosecute his sinful course 
 with renewed avidity, he does not as man commonly does, 
 regard him as lost. He goes after him into the wilder- 
 ness; sends afflictions in pursuit of him ; and waits to see 
 the effect which trial and reflection produce. And if, like 
 the prodigal, the sinner should come to himself and say, 
 * I will arise and return, 7 and actually begins to retrace his 
 steps, the Saviour delays not in order to see how far he will 
 return he sees him yet a great way ofl^ and runs to meet 
 him he is delighted at the first indications of penitence, 
 anticipates his intention, assists him in returning, and re- 
 joices over him as one who was dead and is alive again. 
 We ourselves can trace the mightiest occurrences back to 
 sources the most insigificant ; and, with intuitive ease, 
 the Saviour beholds, in the first emotion of the penitent, the 
 first symptom of an endless life, the first step in a career 
 of glory, honor, and immortality. He does not, therefore, 
 despise the day of small things. And how many thous- 
 ands of the blessed, who are now surrounding his throne 
 above, are constrained, on looking back to the weakness of 
 their early religious impressions, and the hesitation with 
 which at first they advanced in the path of life, to bless him 
 that he did not break the bruised reed, nor quench the 
 smoking flax. O that you knew the unutterable interest 
 which he takes in every serious emotion of your soul, you 
 would love him more, arid resort to him oftener, and repose 
 in him all the confidence which he asks. 
 
 Finally : let those of my readers who have been hither- 
 to regardless of the ineffable compassion of the Son of 
 God, remember the melting tones of remonstrance with 
 
HIS TENDERNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 393 
 
 which when looking round upon such as you, he said, in 
 all the grief of defeated mercy, * Ye will not come unto 
 me that ye might have life.' You can go to others, and 
 inquire the way to happiness: you can believe what they 
 say ; you do follow their advice ; but to him who has laid 
 out himself for your welfare, who alone could make the 
 vast provision necessary for your immortal happiness, and 
 who has made it at the expense of an infinite sacrifice, to 
 him you \vill not come. He has to complain of you, that 
 while you have been always ready to yield to the solicita- 
 tions of the world, to follow the first beck of tempatiori* 
 to accept of any invitation in the shape of worldly plea- 
 sure, yet his call you will not obey. He has to complain 
 of you, that you put him off with mere professions, and 
 make him to serve with the mere semblance of friendship; 
 that though you have for years frequented his house, and 
 heard his invitations, and been pressed to accept them, you 
 still remain on terms as cold and distant with him as ever; 
 that you never come to his footstool as suppliants, nor to 
 his table as friends, nor walk in his ways as devoted disci- 
 ples. But he will not let you go : though he feels your 
 obstinate refusal to come to him ; feels it as an insult to 
 his grace; feels it as a deep disappointment, a grievous 
 frustration of an object on which his heart was set, yet 
 once more he comes to you; and, O, mark and admire 
 the gentleness of the terms in which he expostulates it is 
 the melting rebuke of mercy chiding you into its embrace 
 ' Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life. 7 
 There is a sense, perhaps, in \vhich, owing to your pro- 
 longed and stony indifference to his claims, you may be 
 said to have closed your hearts against him; but he seeks 
 to surmount even this obstacle; 'Behold,' saith he, 'I stand 
 at the door and knock.' He knows what unholy guests 
 are within, what sins are entertained and regaled in the 
 
394 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 chambers of your hearts, while he is kept standing without 
 and refused admission. But still, by the instrumentality 
 -of his gospel, if by nothing else, he continues to knock 
 and to urge you to come to him ; or he tenderly upbraids 
 you that you will not. 
 
 But why does the blessed Jesus thus expostulate? 'It 
 is not,' saith he, 'that I receive honor of men ; it is not 
 that I seek to be gratified with the barren applauses of 
 men, or that I hope for human requital : but these things 
 I say unto you, that ye might be saved.' Yes, Saviour of 
 sinners, this is thine only object, that they might be saved : 
 the object of all thou hast said to them, and of all thou 
 hast done for them ; the object which is always present to 
 thy mind. For this thou hast surrounded thyself with 
 convincing proofs of thine appointment and power to save: 
 and, O, surpassing grace, thou even consentest to wait for 
 their decision till they have examined the evidence of thy 
 claims in detail. For this thou hast withheld nothing, not 
 even thy blood, thy life ; thou hast done so much for them 
 that infinite love can do no more. 
 
 Behold, then ; behold, in the boundless love of Christ, a 
 sufficient inducement to repair to him at once. He may 
 be regarded, at this moment, as standing before you, with 
 the hoarded love of eternity in his heart, offering to make 
 you heirs of all its wealth : nor is it in your power to grieve 
 him more, than by disregarding the gracious overture. 
 He fears nothing but your neglect ; deprecates nothing but 
 your inattention; The first look you direct towards him, 
 would not escape his notice ; the first step you take towards 
 him, would bring him more than a step towards you. All 
 things are ready for your reception ; he will meet your 
 weakness with his almighty strength, your emptiness and 
 poverty with his inexhaustible fulness. 
 
ESSAY V. 
 THE PRACTICALNESS OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING. 
 
 ' Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.' 
 'Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is peifect.' 
 
 I. CONSIDERED as a teacher of holiness, our Lord 
 Jesus Christ exemplified his wisdom, not only in the light 
 which he imparted, but also in what he withheld. 
 
 1. Pretenders to a divine revelation have seldom omitted 
 to infuse into their systems of error a large proportion of 
 the marvelous. Calculating on the credulity, and raven- 
 ous curiosity of the multitude, they have been graphic and 
 unsparing in their disclosures of the invisible and future. 
 Besides pandering to the prevailing passions of mankind, 
 they have aimed to establish their dominion by stimulating 
 and engrossing the imagination with wonders ; and having 
 raised the veil of mystery to its utmost height, they pro- 
 ceed to measure the infinite, to paint the inconceivable, and 
 to materialize and subject the spiritual to the senses. 
 
 But he who came forth from the bosom of the Father, 
 and who could therefore have dazzled and astounded the 
 world with celestial visions, practised a wise and gracious 
 reserve. He came, not to astonish, but to instruct and to 
 save ; and to instruct solely with a view to save ; and 
 knowing that to feed curiosity is only to increase its 
 appetite, that to impart a particle of knowledge more 
 than is essential to our advance in the path of holiness, 
 would operate as a diversion from that path rather than 
 an incitement in it, he limited his communications to 
 the exact measure of practical utility. He kept his hand, 
 
396 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 if I may say so, on the pulse of conscience, and adminis- 
 tered only so much of the exciting element of knowledge 
 as would subserve the health and holy activity of the soul. 
 
 In order to estimate the gospel aright, it is necessary to 
 bear in mind, that it is not meant for intellectual beings as 
 such; it is not addressed to man in his mental, but in his 
 moral capacity : it contemplates him as a lapsed and ruined 
 creature, to whom the only knowledge that is essential is 
 a knowledge of the way of deliverance. If, besides con- 
 taining this vital information, it also ministered to his un- 
 sanctified curiosity, he would, undoubtedly, prior to his 
 conversion, value it the more highly ; but, from the moment 
 he opened his eyes to a perception of his guilt and danger, 
 he would as certainly account that very circumstance a 
 great defect. His first solicitude and employment, then, 
 would be, to disentangle; arid, bestowing on these, and on 
 these alone, the name of gospel, the plain and simple pre- 
 scriptions of mercy: and, detaching, would cast the re- 
 mainder away as refuse, as an insult to his anguish, a 
 mockery of his woe. However unnatural his cravings 
 before, nothing now but the unadulterated bread of life can 
 satisfy his famishing soul. 
 
 Accordingly, at the hazard of displeasing the specula- 
 tive and inquisitive, the Saviour confined his communica- 
 tions to the wants of our condition. Repelling the' curios- 
 ity of his disciples, how often did he turn their prying in- 
 quiries into occasions of solemn practical appeal. When 
 they sought to pluck from the interdicted tree of knowl- 
 edge, he graciously presented them with the fruit of the 
 tree of life. They found every avenue closed, but the nar- 
 row way that leadeth to life eternal ; every fountain seal- 
 ed, but the fountain of the water of life. While the heav- 
 enly Oracle was prompt in answering even the mental and 
 un uttered inquiries of the devout and humble, the inquisitive 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 397 
 
 received a rebuke which contained a blessing. Having 
 come to seek and to save that which was lost, to open a way 
 from the mouth of that fearful pit around which we had 
 gathered to the gate of heaven, he caused all the light of 
 revelation which he shed, to fall on that path alone : that we 
 might not be tempted to wander from the highway of ho- 
 liness, he left it skirted on each hand with original dark- 
 ness : while from whatever part of the spacious firmament 
 of truth he brought the beams of revelation, he caused them 
 all to converge and rest on that strait and narrow way. 
 
 2. But, if we admire the wisdom of the Great Teacher, 
 in thus limiting his discoveries to the measure of our wants 
 and interests, we cannot withhold our complacency at his 
 legislation, in delivering a code of pure and simple moral- 
 ity, entirely unencumbered by the clogs of an onerous and 
 elaborate ritual. Discharging his disciples from the cares 
 and vexatious obligations of the ancient ceremonial, he has 
 laid aside for them every such weight, and left them free 
 for the race of holiness to heaven. The rites of baptism 
 and the Lord's supper are too simple and spiritual to be 
 treated as exceptions to this fact. Instead of wasting the 
 powers, and exhausting the vigor of the soul, on outward 
 observances, he holds it disengaged and fresh for the up- 
 ward path of holiness. Economizing our energies and 
 passions, he points us to a sphere of duty in which angels 
 might engage with honor, and commands us to put forth all 
 our strength, adorning ourselves with all that is fair, em- 
 ulating all that is great, overtaking the excellencies, and 
 embodying tire perfections of heavenly natures. Having 
 touched and given impulse to all our spiritual powers, in- 
 tead of impairing that momentum by calling us to sur- 
 mount the obstacles of preliminary rites, he collects and 
 compacts its force, and dismisses it in a line direct from 
 heaven, Treating our nature with a divine respect, the 
 
398 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 code which he enacts is one of generous authority, taking" 
 off every depressing weight, only prescribing what is ab- 
 solutely necessary, and actuated in doing so by the aim of 
 building up our character into a goodly fabric of spiritual 
 beauty and perfection. 
 
 II. If it comported with our design to specify the sub- 
 ject of our Lord's discourses, we should unhesitatingly 
 say, that his most favorite practical topics were humility be- 
 fore God, and a spirit of forbearance and love toioards 
 man. In the inculcation of morals, by uninspired teach- 
 ers, novelty is the last quality to be desired, since it could 
 scarcely fail to be error; but the practical instructions of 
 Jesus had this distinction, that their peculiarities were ex- 
 cellencies. One of these marked peculiarities consists in 
 his taking under his special protection certain dispositions 
 which the world had consented to brand and cast out, had 
 conspired to frown out of existence : in restoring them to 
 the rank of duties, and proclaiming them graces of the 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 1. Humility is a habit of mind which has never been in 
 favor with the world : in every age it has been degraded 
 into the footstool of vanity, and conceit,and enthroned pride ; 
 but in direct opposition to the unanimous verdict of mankind, 
 he raised it out of the dust into which it was trbtMen, pro- 
 nounced it a favorite of heaven, and clothed it with the gar- 
 ments of salvation. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for 
 theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' 
 
 Since the fatal moment when man aspired to * be as a 
 god,' his great quarrel with his Maker has been, a deter- 
 mination to assert a power of independence altogether alien 
 to his nature and condition. The standard of revolt was 
 then erected; and the history of all his subsequent conduct 
 has been the history of an insane endeavor to construct an 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 399 
 
 empire, governed bylaws, and replenished with resources, 
 independent of God. The idolatry and sensuality, the un- 
 belief, irreligion, and all the multiform sins of man, are re- 
 solvable into this proud and infernal attempt. Now, before 
 God can do any thing towards our personal recovery, it is 
 obviously necessary that we should be disabused of the idea 
 of our supposed self-sufficiency ; that, descending from the 
 pedestal our pride has erected, we should cast ourselves 
 down at his feet, and await his pleasure. The true value 
 of humility consists in its inducing us to desire and wel- 
 come the assistance we need, to abandon ourselves cordial- 
 ly t3 the divine direction ; to return, and descend, and 
 gratefully to occupy our proper station at his footstool, as 
 pensioners on his bounty and grace. * They -that are whole 
 need not a physician, but they that are sick ;' and they 
 only will apply to him for aid. 
 
 Alas, for man, that his humility should have to be ac- 
 counted a virtue ; that, by simply conforming his views to 
 his condition, and taking a just estimate of his state and 
 character, he should render himself an object of congratu- 
 lation to man, and of peculiar complacency to God ; what 
 a depth of depravity does it imply, what a reproach on our 
 nature does it convey for a blind and insignificant creature 
 to believe his infinite Creator, for a guilty and condemned 
 criminal to accept of pardon, fora man in the act of perish- 
 ing to submit to be saved that this should be esteemed a 
 virtue ! and should be lauded with a warmth which denotes 
 its rareness! 'This is indeed a lamentation, and shall be 
 for a lamentation.' But, condescending to our condition, 
 our Lord inculcated humility as a cardinal grace, promot- 
 ing it to the highest place in the catalogue of virtues. He 
 repeatedly intimated, that while a spirit of self-exaltation 
 shall finally be smitten with a blow which it cannot sur- 
 vive, that while the Almighty will array against this avow- 
 
400 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 ed antagonist all the forces of its wrath, and will not rest 
 till he has driven it far from his presence, into outer and 
 endless darkness, humility shall be raised from glory to 
 glory, till it has reached the loftiest throne in the kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 But that which gives peculiar emphasis to his inculca- 
 tions on this subject is, that humility is inseparably con- 
 nected with the cordial reception of his gospel ; so that, in 
 enjoining it, he is infallibly preparing the way for the en- 
 largement of his holy kingdom. Humility is the conser- 
 vator of the virtues; nor is there an act or office peculiar 
 to Christians, in which its influence is not vitally felt. As 
 pourtrayed by him, on entering his evangelical church, it 
 is a little child; to whom belief is natural, an emblem of can- 
 dor, simplicity and faith ; when hearing his word, it sits at 
 his feet, and is all docility and attention ; on entering the 
 presence of God, it throws itself prostrate, or smites on its 
 breast, and dares not lift up so much as its eyes to heaven ; 
 when it is free to take the highest seat in the assembly, it 
 voluntarily selects the lowest, and is taken by surprise if 
 called up higher; in the presence of superior excellence 
 it is praise and imitation ; associated with fellow-christians, 
 it is willing subordination, emulous of no distinction but 
 that which arises from pre-eminent service; it declines to 
 be called ' master,' and lays all its honors at the Saviour's 
 feet ; and when, at length, he shall ascend his throne, and 
 enumerate its godlike deeds, he describes it as filled with 
 self-abasement even there, and diffident of receiving his 
 divine award. Under the reign of holiness, it is the office 
 of humility to lay a foundation for universal obedience, by 
 .filling every subject with gratitude for the blessings he en- 
 joys, and making him feel that the lowest situation is a 
 post of unmerited distinction, held by a grant from sover- 
 eign grace, 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 401 
 
 2. Benevolence -meaning by that term the most en- 
 larged exercise of forbearance, forgiveness, and love was 
 another despised and unworldly obligation, which he res- 
 cued and enforced by the highest sanctions. Under the 
 disorganizing influence of sin, the tendency of the world 
 is to a state of universal misanthropy. Having lost its 
 original centre in God, it attempts not to find any common 
 point of repose, but spends itself in fruitless efforts to erect 
 an infinity of independent interests. Every kingdom and 
 province, every family, every individual discovers a pro- 
 pensity to insulate himself from the common brotherhood, 
 and to constitute himself the centre of an all-subordinating 
 and ever-enlarging circle. Such is the natural egotism of 
 the heart, that each individual, following his unrestrained 
 bent, acts as if he were a whole kingdom in himself, and 
 as if the general well-being depended on subjection to his 
 supremacy. He would fain be his own end; himself the 
 reason of all he does. On this ungodly and unnatural ex- 
 periment, the Saviour laid his sovereign interdict. He pla- 
 ces it in every light, takes us to view it from every point, 
 in order to show us its flagrant sinfulness ; and no sooner 
 do we place ourselves at his disposal, than we find our- 
 selves restored and related to all around, and engaged in a 
 career of godlike benevolence : we ' remember the words 
 of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive.' 
 
 He sought to neutralize the maxims of the world in' fa- 
 vor of selfishness and revenge, by bringing into currency 
 opposing maxims of forgiveness and love. He would have 
 it impressed on us, that we owe to every man a debt of af- 
 fection which is never discharged: that we owe it to him 
 as one of our own kind : and that no conduct of his, how- 
 ever personally offensive, can ever release us from tire ob- 
 ligation of seeking his welfare. He would have us to 
 25 ~ 
 
40"2 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 honor all men ; to pay respect to human nature ; to aim 
 at the general good of that human family into which we 
 have been born everlasting members. ' Peter said unto 
 him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and 
 I forgive him; until seven times? Jesus "answered, I say 
 not unto thee till seven times, but until seventy times seven.' 
 And, when we have done this, he points us to the conduct 
 of our heavenly Father, and renders the duty of forgive- 
 ness infinite, while he says, * Be . ye merciful, even as your 
 Father in heaven is merciful.' He meets us on our way 
 to the throne to obtain forgiveness, and he assures us that 
 however costly the gift we may be about to lay on the holy 
 altar, God is not to be bribed to do that for us which we re- 
 fuse to do for others ; that there is no access to his presence, 
 no, audience, nor hope, until our friendship for man is en- 
 tire. He supposes us to have even reached the altar, to 
 'be standing in the immediate presence of God ; he suppo- 
 ses the religious service to have reachedthat juncture when 
 the Deity is actually waiting to receive the offering, what 
 now can be of sufficient importance to stop the service ? he 
 teaches us that the exercise of forgiveness is that impor- 
 tant thing, and that while it is performing, the majesty of 
 heaven and earth consents to wait. And, to save his dis- 
 ciples from all reservation and delusion on this subject, he 
 taught them to pray that the measure in which they forgive 
 might be the standard by which God would dispense his 
 grace to them : thus leaving to revenge no alternative but 
 instant reconciliation, or the imprecation of revenge on its 
 own head. 
 
 He represents our Almighty Father as conceding his 
 high prerogative, merging the consideration of the infinite 
 difference between our offences against his majesty, and 
 the offences of a fellow mortal against our insignificance, 
 and offering us pardon for pardon, grace for grace, ' if we 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 403 
 
 from the heart forgive every one his brother their trespas- 
 ses.' He would have every man proclaim a general am- 
 nesty ; an act of oblivion of all injures ; .a year of jubilee : 
 and that jubilee he would have us to make perpetual. 
 
 The world has no notion of vanquishing enemies, ex- 
 cept by the employment of outward force, by the exercise 
 of revenge, and the infliction of punishment. Jesus Christ 
 has brought into operation a new power for subduing an 
 enemy. He enjoins his disciples to try the efficacy of 
 love: not to content themselves with mere negative benev- 
 olence, or, not avenging themselves; but to breathe back 
 love for hatred, and blessings for curses. He points them 
 to the triumphant effects of this principle in the hand of 
 God: and, taking out of their hands the weapons of re- 
 venge, he would have them to make trial of it also. And is 
 it possible for them to survey the unconfined goodness of 
 God, to entertain the great conception of infinite goodness, 
 to have their minds possessed with so vast and glorious an 
 idea, without receiving corresponding impressions ? they 
 will be led by a necessity of nature to imitate that diffusive 
 goodness, to act the god, if I may say so, in .their small 
 and limited spheres ; to exercise the divine prerogative of 
 mercy to wield that power, before which all opposition is 
 destined to give way the omnipotent power of love. 
 
 As a spiritual being, man is the offspring of the Father 
 of spirits ; this is a relation and an honor which he cannot 
 lose ; and in this high capacity, the Saviour, having further 
 dignified us with his own love, proposes every human be- 
 ing as a magnificent object of affection to the whole species. 
 Taking us from that small circle, that point of selfishness 
 we have made our home, and where, in building ourselves 
 in from the incursion of outward evils, we have at the 
 same time shut out the sight of the great, the spiritual, 
 and the future, he conducts us to a mount of vision from 
 
404 THE G^EAT TEACHER. 
 
 which all the territorial lines and artificial distinctions of 
 society are no longer visible^ and where the living land- 
 scape presents us with a view of one vast community of 
 immortal beings, claiming the same distinguished origin, 
 involved in a common danger, invited to one grand deliver- 
 ance, and passing together into the unseen state. While 
 surveying this comprehensive and affecting scene, he 
 would have us especially to remark the mutual action, the 
 certain relation, by which, like the interdependence of the 
 planetary system, the interests of each are co-mingled and 
 blended with the welfare of the whole. From this eleva- 
 tion he points us to the infinite resources he has opened 
 for us in God; reminding us that we have access to more 
 than we want, in order that we may go and instru mentally 
 minister to the wants of others. Then dismissing us again 
 into the vale of life, he would have us to descend and min^ 
 gle with our race, surcharged with a benevolence like that 
 which brought himself from heaven, and which induces 
 him still to identify our interests with his highest glory. 
 
 He would have his disciples to combine in a godlike 
 endeavor to disarm the species ; to gather but of his king- 
 dom all the weapons and instruments of revenge, casting* 
 them far into the territories of Satan, from which they 
 came ; to bring the art of mutual destruction into disgrace 
 and disuse; and to prove their descent from the great 
 Peacemaker of the universe, by binding the whole family 
 of man into one vast confederacy of mutual assistance and 
 brotherly love. ' Blessed are the peacemakers, for they 
 shall be called the children of God,' The ancient distinc- 
 tion between neighbor and enemy he has annihilated ; his 
 disciples are to know no enemy ; the very term is banish- 
 ed from the Christian vocabulary, or to be inserted only as 
 obsolete He would have them to supercede the visible 
 employment of angels under the present economy by be- 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 405 
 
 coming themselves his angels and ambassadors to man. 
 By commanding them to imitate his own love, he would 
 have them not only supplant but surpass angelic ministra- 
 tions ; like an orphan family, whose members have attain- 
 ed an age and state of active affection, in ,which the foreign 
 helps they enjoyed in childhood are made unnecessary, by 
 their mutually caring for and aiding each other. The 
 friendships which are cemented in adversity are commonly 
 of a more tender, disinterested, and lasting nature, than 
 those which are formed in any other circumstances : that 
 friendship between man and man, of which he has laid the 
 foundation, is to be eternal; and therefore would he see it 
 cemented as closely as possible, by having it commenced 
 while they are here in a state of trial ; and commenced, 
 (how wise, how worthy of himself the divine arrangement) 
 in a reciprocation of Christian offices, whose issues shall 
 reach through eternity. For not only does he charge them 
 to do all the good they can to each other themselves, he 
 takes them to the throne of God, and invests them with 
 the office of mutual intercessors, empowers them to touch 
 and Set in motion an almighty agency for each other ; he 
 even puts into their hands the means of mutual salvation, 
 making it at once their honor and office to assist as sub- 
 ordinate agents in training and conducting each other to 
 eternal life. 
 
 III. In entering on any of the offices or relations of 
 life, it is an obvious advantage to possess a view of the du- 
 ties peculiar to that sphere, in as brief, clear, and compre- 
 hensive a form as possible ; indeed, if they could all be ad- 
 equately described in a single sentence, they would be so 
 much the more acceptable. It is a distinguished excel- 
 lence of the Great Teacher, that, in the inculcation of mo- 
 rality he preferred comprehensive rules to a distinct spe- 
 
406 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 cification of duties ; though he took the most enlarged 
 view of human obligations, he generalized and enforced 
 them by a few compendious laws, instead of separately leg- 
 islating for each particular duty. Had he adopted, or 
 rather attempted^the latter method, descending to a minute 
 enumeration of duties, it would have involved this serious 
 evil that every duty which might have arisen below the 
 point of enumeration would have been in danger of being 
 treated as unobligatory, because not inserted in the specifi- 
 cation. Glad of the plausible excuse arising from the 
 omission, men would have regarded every duty not en- 
 joined as omissible, and every sin not prohibited as allow- 
 able. But in the hands of Jesus, the science of morality 
 is simplified and complete. A single prohibition is so 
 planted by him, that like a piece of ordnance, it may be 
 said to enfilade and sweep a whole territory of sin ; noth- 
 ing can come within its range without challenging its 
 thunder and courting death. A single rule is found to 
 contain laws for an indefinite number of actions ; for all the 
 possible cases, of the class described, which can ever occur. 
 Like the few imaginary circles by which geography cir- 
 cumscribes the earth, he has, by a few sentences, describ- 
 ed and distributed into sections the whole globe ef duty ; 
 so that, wherever we may be on it, we find ourselves en- 
 compassed by some comprehensive maxim: and, in what- 
 ever direction we may move, we have only to reflect in or- 
 der to perceive that we are receding from or approaching 
 to some line of morality. 
 
 By thus generalizing morality, he has consulted the weak- 
 ness of the most impaired memory; presented us with a 
 map-like view of the wide region of duty which a single 
 glance can survey ; provided rules for all the possible va- 
 rieties and contingencies of human action ; while the con- 
 sciousness it affords his followers, that they are able to sus- 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 407 
 
 tain the particulars of their life upon great first principles, 
 enables them to advance in the path of holiness with an 
 erect, assured, and dignified carriage of mind ; and the de- 
 mand which it makes on the higher capabilities of nature, 
 in calling them to comprehend such measures of greatness, 
 and to sympathize with such perfection, raises and enno- 
 bles them to themselves, and possesses them with the feel- 
 ing that they are allied to God. 
 
 To give a single exemplification, let me advert to the ax- 
 iom known by the names of the golden rule, and the uni- 
 versal law of equity; 'all things whatsoever ye would 
 that men should do unto you. do ye also unto them; for 
 this is the law and the prophets.' The Saviour himself as- 
 cribes to this rule the condensed and comprehensive char- 
 acter for which we have cited it ; he pronounces it an ab- 
 stract of all that had been prescribed by the law and the 
 prophets; all they delivered on the subject is reducible to 
 this, so that, were their writings lost, this summary might 
 be expanded into all they uttered. Notwithstanding its 
 conciseness, it is a maxim of so generic a kind, that encir- 
 cling the whole sphere of social virtue, it embraces all 
 things whatsoever that sphere contains. No injury can 
 be done, no reasonable kindness be omitted by man to 
 man, which is not a violation of this royal law; nor can 
 any duty be performed which it does not virtually enjoin. 
 If it needed any other quality to recommend it, we might 
 easily show that it has numerous excellencies fully an- 
 swerable to its comprehensiveness. It is a rule as portable 
 as our self-love, and identical with it; for what is it but the 
 love of self applied to the destruction of selfishness, by be- 
 ing pressed into the service of universal benevolence? It is 
 the measuring rod, which is never out of the hand of self for 
 its own purpose, legalized and applied to mete out the 
 same measure for the good of others. It seeks to equalize 
 
403 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 vicissitude ; to make a community of our joys and sor- 
 rows, by distributing them as nearly into equal parts as if 
 we knew not the portion which would fall to us. It aims 
 to transform self into an impartial judge, by giving it an 
 interest in all the decisions which it pronounces on others. 
 By compelling our selfishness to do the work of destruc- 
 tion on itself, it makes us content to number as one, as a 
 mere unit in the sum of the species : and to seek the wel- 
 fare of the whole as the shortest and the only way of pro- 
 moting our own individual interest. Let this infallible 
 law be understood and applied, and the trade of the casu- 
 ist would be gone in the department of social life ; for self- 
 interest, prompt, and even intuitive when it sits in judg- 
 ment for its own ends, would have only to imagine a mo- 
 mentary self-transmigration, and to transfer its judgments 
 for the advantage of others. 
 
 We might extend this representation to another particu- 
 lar of a similar kind, showing the comprehensiveness of 
 our Lord's maxims concerning the omission of duty. The 
 line which divides his kingdom from the empire of sin is 
 so fine, that, like the line of geometry, it is length without 
 breadth ; it occupies no part of the territories which it de- 
 fines; it creates no border land, no neutral ground. ' He 
 that is not with me is against me ; and he that gathereth 
 not with me scattereth abroad ;' a sentence which sepa- 
 rates the world into two great classes ; assigning over to 
 the dominion of Satan the lukewarm with the hostile; and 
 leaving them to discover, that whereas they had expected 
 to find themselves standing at least'on neutral ground, they 
 are actually and considerably within the frontiers of the 
 kingdom of darkness. 
 
 How large a proportion of those, whom custom and 
 courtesy agree to call Christians, live and die in self com- 
 placency and hope, from the persuasion that they have been 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 409 
 
 harmless, or, because they have done nothing. It seems 
 never to occur to such, that to spend threescore years and 
 ten on a field of conflict, the listless spectators of a strife 
 in which heaven every moment importunes them to take 
 part, is disobedience and guilt. But, for this large sum of 
 human ciphers this aggregation of figures whose total is 
 nothing, the final sentence is already prepared. Having 
 never aspired to Christian activity, or positive excellence, 
 the doom which will consign the whole class to their own 
 place will descend on them with this fearful formula, 'In- 
 asmuch as ye did it not} Now if human guilt is reduci- 
 ble to a graduated scale of demerit, by thus inscribing 
 condemnation at the least and lowest degree on the scale, 
 how unavoidable is the inference made that greater con- 
 demnation is reserved for every higher degree of sin ; if 
 the mere absence of activity, the negation of friendship, 
 for Christ be denounced, it follows of course that activity 
 against him, that positive hostility, being superior guilt, 
 has nothing to hope for. Thus, by recording a sentence 
 against the omission of duty, the Divide Teacher has not 
 merely destroyed the plea of harmlessness, and proscribed 
 the whole tribe of the useless, he has tacitly comprehend- 
 ed and denounced the hostile and persecuting, leaving 
 them to infer that to doom them formally would be super- 
 fluous. 
 
 IV. Another excellence of the morality which Jesus 
 inculcates is, that it extends to the thoughts and operations 
 of the heart. To legislate for a small department of the 
 outward life, is all the power that is accorded to human 
 authority. In speaking of the spiritual character which 
 the law assumed in the hands of Christ, we showed that it 
 is his prerogative to prescribe for the heart. 'He knew 
 what was in man ; ' and he knew the connection between 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 that hidden source and the visible life, to be the relation of 
 cause and effect ; he sought, therefore, to purify the streams 
 by cleansing the fountain- He denounces the murder and 
 adultery of the heart : sins, which were unknown to the 
 popular code of Jewish morality. * Out of the heart,' 
 said he, ' proceed evil thoughts and every thing that de- 
 fileth ; ' and, accordingly, belaid his hand on the hidden 
 machinery of pollution, and essayed to destroy it in its 
 springs. He sees evil there in its type ; and aimed, to 
 crush and annihilate it in its mould. He does not wait 
 till sin comes out into the life, an overt act; but pass- 
 ing into the heart, he begins to exert the authority of law 
 much earlier and higher; he meets the sin in its native 
 home ; detects it before it has become any thing but thought, 
 or desire, or intention. 
 
 By repeatedly asking his auditors, as he did, ' Why 
 think ye evil in your hearts?' he, in effect, proclaimed 
 that the busy and populous world of thought is subject to 
 divine jurisdiction ; that his eye is on all its most silent 
 pulsations and hidden movements; and, consequently, that 
 these would furnish materials fora future judicial process- 
 And if it exalt our conceptions of matter, to know, that, 
 by man, it is absolutely indestructible; that, of all which 
 has ever existed, not an atom is lost ; x that, however it may 
 be modified and dissipated, it cannot be destroyed ; and that 
 the whole is destined to pass through the final regenerating 
 fires ; then what is the amount of solemn importance 
 which should invest the slightest movements of our minds, 
 and what the degree of intense solicitude with which we 
 should control and watch them, when we know that of all 
 the infinite myriads of our thoughts, not one is lost: that 
 they are accumulating fast for judgment: that over the 
 least of them all a solemn inquest will be held, by God and 
 his empanneled angels ; and that their verdict will turn it 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 411 
 
 into an element of endless joy or woe. Yes, the moment 
 will come, when the slightest movement of the mind will 
 be deemed inexpressibly more worthy of attention, than 
 the aspect of the starry heavens iu their solemn midnight 
 magnificence the most august spectacle of nature for it 
 will be seen creating for us our eternal state : and why 
 should we not deem it so now ? To cleanse the air, under 
 certain circumstances, philosophy had devised a method of 
 straining, and even searching, that subtle element for eve- 
 ry particle of matter injurious to life; did we duly care 
 for the health of the soul, the morality of Jesus would 
 teach us the nobler philosophy, the more vital art, of sub- 
 jecting the inner atmosphere of the soul to a process of ex- 
 amination, in which the faintest rudiments of evil would 
 be detected, and rejected as seeds of death. 
 
 V. But the morality which Jesus inculcated penetrates 
 deeper than to the thoughts ; it goes down to that which 
 originates and gives character to thought itself to motive. 
 Conscious that the vilest motives may co-exist with the 
 fairest actions, men have ever made it a favorite object to 
 have their character estimated by professions and appear- 
 ances. But the morality of Jesus will accept nothing for 
 virtue which is not pure in its origin : it proposes to re- 
 store the reign of motive. 'Except your righteousness,' 
 said he, ' shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven.' The radical defect of their piety was, that it was 
 only superficial : a robe of light assumed to conceal the 
 fiend of darkness. Their actions were the outside of the 
 platter, burnished arid clean ; but their motives were the 
 inside, polluted with their excess. Their professions 
 were 'like graves which appear not, and the men that 
 walk over them, are not aware of them.' Their piety was 
 
41 2 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the 4 whited sepulchre, which indeed appears beautiful with- 
 out ;' the motive which produced it was the corruption and 
 death within. They gave alms ; but it was only when the 
 trumpet sounded, to attract the notice of the public ; and, 
 from this ostentation the Saviour took occasion to convey 
 this important truth that, in the kingdom of God, the re- 
 ward of a laudable action never rises above the level of the 
 motive which produces it ; if it originates, as theirs did, in 
 a thirst for human, applause, it must not look for the divine 
 approbation; its motive is the measure and arbiter of its 
 own reward. 
 
 But not only did he reprobate impure and selfish mo- 
 tives, he specified and even provided the motive which ho- 
 liness demands the principle which fills the bosom and 
 sways the actions of God himself love. Like a perfect 
 legislator, having prescribed the sublimest rules of life, he 
 proceeded to furnish the most generous and glorious prin- 
 ciple of obedience. He died for us. As if determined 
 that a sense of obligation should overpower and absorb 
 every other incentive to duty, he made the obligation 
 infinite by laying down his life for our redemption. He 
 died to secure us from the penalty of the law we had bro- 
 ken, that he might bring us under irresistible obligation to 
 obey the law which he enacted. In the place of the two 
 tables of stone, he substituted the cross, inscribed with the 
 memorials of his love, and of our duty. He erected his 
 cross, and constituted it at once the seat of legislation and 
 the altar of sacrifice. ' When Moses had spoken 'every 
 precept to all the people according to the law, he sprinkled 
 with blood both the book and all the people, saying, This 
 is the blood of the testament which God had enjoined unto 
 you :' when Jesus had completed his code of divine mor- 
 ality, he sprinkled it with his own most precious blood, 
 saying, ' If ye love me, keep my commandments. Great* 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 413 
 
 er love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his 
 life for his friends : ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever 
 I command you.' 
 
 It is true that while inculcating his divine precepts, the 
 piacular and vicarious nature of his death was not under- 
 stood by those whom he addressed. But not only were 
 his injunctions copiously interspersed with allusions to his 
 grace, and descriptions of his remedial relations to man; 
 he required faith in himself, whatever he might do, or be- 
 come, as the great work of God. ' This is the work of 
 God> that ye believe on him whom he hath sent ; ' a com- 
 mand which was anticipatory and prospective of his ap- 
 proaching death, for it foresaw that their faith in him would 
 have shortly to contemplate the amazing fact of his death 
 for the remission of sins, and would thus possess them with 
 that love which is the great evangelical motive to obedi- 
 ence. On. the foresight of this approaching event, he le- 
 quired of his disciples that love should be the ruling mo- 
 tive of their conduct, as though his death had already trans- 
 pired. Whatever they did, they were to do it in his name ; 
 from a principle of obedience to his will, and obligation to 
 his grace. If they received a disciple; they were to do it 
 in the name of a disciple ; making the fact of disciple- 
 ship, his relation and resemblance to Christ, the object of 
 their regard. * Whosoever shall receive one of such chil^ 
 dren in my name, receivtth me. Whosoever shall give 
 you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye be- 
 long to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his 
 reward. Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and 
 the gospel's, the same shall save it.' 
 
 Now, considering the depraved condition of our nature, 
 the appointment of love as the moving principle of our 
 obedience, might seem to ^exceed in boldness the loftiest 
 flight of the most romantic theorist. But he, who knew 
 
414 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 all the workings of our mysterious nature, foresaw that his 
 miraculous death for our redemption would give rise to a 
 cause fully commensurate to the proposed effect. And the 
 history of his church, from that period to the present, is a 
 comment on his wisdom and benevolence ; it demonstrates 
 that his death gave a new motive in the world; brought 
 into operation a principle, which meeting and uniting with 
 every other principle of virtue in the human heart, arid as- 
 similating to itself all that is foreign tb its nature, turns 
 every thing it encounters into an accession of power, and 
 holds the soul for Christ, and in cordial allegiance to him. 
 Like the great but unobtrusive operations of God in na- 
 ture, it is silently but constantly at work, achieving the 
 mightiest effects in the soul of man, converting his human 
 into divine, and raising him from a state of close compan- 
 ionship with demons, to the society of the blessed, and the 
 vision of God. Issuing from the cross, it has more than 
 the power of moral gravitation ; for, while it retains the 
 Christian in the orb of duty, it propels him forward at the 
 same time. And if, in mechanics the strength of a partic- 
 ular power is displayed in the number of opposing forces 
 which it overcomes, what must be the potency of that prin- 
 ciple which overcomes the world, wrestles with satanic 
 agency, conquers the love of life itself, and which makes 
 its way through a host of adverse powers, mastering them 
 all ; a principle whose lowest degree of operation results 
 in acts of heroism and triumph, and which generates all 
 the obedience God receives, from man. 
 
 VI. But not only do we need an actuating principle ; 
 being put into a state of activity ; we also require an end 
 to aim at; accordingly the morality of Jesus, having sup- 
 plied us with a principle which allies us to God, points us 
 to an object, and gives a direction to that principle which 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 415 
 
 terminates in God : the glory and enjoyment of the Divine 
 Being. Uninspired morality, the offspring of ignorance, 
 or passion, or pride, refers us to inferior objects ; to the 
 indiscriminate love of pleasure, the avoidance of pain, the 
 (dictates of nature, or to the greatest present advantage ; 
 (and if I do not enlarge on these various theories of hu- 
 man ethics, it is only from the fear of desecrating the di- 
 vine morality of him who is soon to sit in judgment on us 
 all ; ) but the ethics of Jesus include every allowable infe- 
 rior object, by proposing an end above and beyond them all. 
 Having shown us the character of God as the first good, 
 and the first fair, he makes it evident that our happiness 
 consists in the imitation and enjoyment of that infinite ex- 
 cellence. He does this, generally, by requiring us to 
 make the will of God the rule of our conduct ; for it is 
 not in our power to render greater honor to God than by 
 thus placing our immortal interests in his hands. * Bless- 
 ed are they that hear the word of God and keep it,' And 
 more particularly, he prescribes the divine glory as our 
 end and aim, in declarations such as this, ' No man can 
 serve two masters ; for either he will love the one and 
 hate the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise 
 the other ; ye cannot serve God and mammon ; ' thus, by 
 inference, erecting the glory of God into a supremacy, be- 
 fore which every other object must fall down and do hom- 
 age. And how emphatically did his own conduct incul- 
 cate the same sentiment : * I came,' said he, * not to do mine 
 own will, ,but the will of him that sent me. My meat is to 
 do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.' 
 And when entering the shadow of that hour of darkness, 
 in which his life of suffering and reproach was to be con- 
 summated in a death of ignominy and agony, he fixed his 
 eye on the glory of God, and exclaimed, ' Father, glorify 
 thy name.' 
 
416 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 It is no valid objection to the loftiness of this object* that, 
 being pure, it is only adapted to a state of sinless perfec- 
 tion ; it is addressed to our imperfect nature as one of the 
 means of restoring us to that perfection for which we are 
 destined. And, besides the agency of the Holy Spirit, of 
 whose help we have yet to speak, the gospel, unlike the 
 law, while it demands and provides for our ultimate per- 
 fection, and could be satisfied with nothing less, is yet sat- 
 isfied, for the present, if it sees us advancing in holiness. 
 It infuses into our nature a motive, adapted, by its very 
 loftiness, to sustain its office ; for, were it less exalted, the 
 depressing influences of sin would draw it down to their 
 own low level, and destroy it ; but now, though it meets 
 with many a check, and mingles with much pollution, it. 
 remains uncorrupted as light, and never fails eventually to 
 triumph, leavening humanity with its own purity. It pro- 
 poses, for our aim, an object fitted by the infinity of its ex- 
 cellence to engage our pursuit for that object is final ; 
 had an inferior end been set before us, we should have had 
 a pretext for discontent, for we should have felt ourselves 
 capable of a higher aim than was assigned us. It strength- 
 ens our principles by simplifying them ; expelling some 
 from our hearts j and reducing those that remain under 
 the sway of a reigning affection, which gives to the soul 
 the harmony, simplicity, and singleness of intention of ' a 
 little child.' But this sanctification is a process ; and, like 
 that change of one political government for another, that 
 setting up of a new kingdom in the heart, to which it is 
 compared, it encounters many an obstacle, and asks time 
 for adjustment and consolidation. 
 
 It is, indeed, impossible to say whether, in the present 
 state, the great motive of the gospel ever exists pure and 
 uncompounded. Principles of action are too subtle for 
 analysis ; they elude our most anxious but coarse attempts 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 417 
 
 to reduce them to their elements. The motive, which, to 
 our eye, looks pure as light, might, could we examine it 
 through a moral prism, prove to our astonishment, to be 
 many-colored. The aim which we regard as in a straight 
 line to the glory of God, might, could we obtain a com- 
 prehensive view of its course, appear like a stream mean- 
 dering to the ocean, touching at every accessible point, and 
 taking every object in the way, consistent with reaching 
 its final destination. But indirect and compounded as is the 
 best principle of human action, the Great Teacher would 
 have us raise our eye to the highest point, and aim at the 
 loftiest mark in the universe. Unhinging us from the' cen- 
 tre of self on which we have turned, he supplies us with 
 a common centre in God. The eye which has glanced at 
 the unclouded sun, is unable, for a time, to recognize the 
 most familiar objects of earth ; he unveils to us the splen- 
 dors of the eternal throne and the grandeur and wealth, 
 and most attractive objects of the world, fade and vanish 
 from our view ; he calls us away from the limited and sor- 
 did pursuits of time, takes us into the counsels of God, in- 
 vites us to join hands with Providence, to mingle in the 
 operations of almighty love in renewing, and beautifying, 
 and making happy a world of immortal beings. 
 
 Without destroying the rotary principle of self-interest, 
 by which every man resembles the diurnal motion of the 
 globe, he gives to us a momentum, and assigns to us an 
 orbit, of which God is the centre, and which transports us, 
 in effect, into the most distant parts of the universe, placing 
 us in relationship to every part, and blending us with the 
 great whole. He directs us to pray that earth may copy 
 the example, and rival the obedience of heaven, where the 
 glory of God is the point from which every action starts, 
 and the goal at which it terminates. 'Sacred to God,' is 
 to be inscribed on all our possessions, in the use of which 
 26 
 
418 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 we are to consult his honor and acquiesce in his arrange- 
 ments. He invites us to take part in a concert of praise 
 which ascribes ' kingdom, and power, arid glory,' to God 
 supreme ; a concert in which earth is once more to chime 
 and chord with heaven ; and which is finally destined to 
 be universal, when ' everything that hath breath shall 
 praise the Lord.' In the mean time, like the solar splen- 
 dor, our light is so to shine before men, that they, seeing 
 our good works may glorify our Father Avho is in heaven : 
 may be constrained to take part in the divine concert. 
 Opening before us a career of glory in which angels are 
 our competitors, he would have us to stop short at no attain- 
 ment, till the will of God be done on earth as it is done in 
 heaven ; he would have us be satisfied with no reward, 
 till we can mingle the radiance of our crowns with the 
 emanations of the paternal throne. 
 
 VII. The holiness which the ethics of the gospel in- 
 culcate, acknowledges no standard but God. Man is an 
 imitative creature. Having lost his original likeness to 
 God, he involuntarily discuses the insufficiency of his 
 nature, and a sense of the loss he has sustained, by look- 
 ing out of himself for precedent and example in all he does ; 
 while the facility with which he lets himself down, and 
 adapts himself to the low circumstances into which he has 
 sunk, reveals the awful entireness of the revolution his na- 
 ture has undergone. But, if his character is to be a copy, 
 how important that the model should be of the best descrip- 
 tion, of a description which is likely to elevate and im- 
 prove his nature, to develope its powers, and fill it with all 
 the excellence of which it is capable. But where was 
 such a model to be found? where, among all the speci- 
 mens of virtue which earth has owned, and even all the 
 ideal forms of worth the imagination had pourtrayed? 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 419 
 
 Man had lost even the idea of moral perfection. Such ex- 
 cellence can be understood only by sympathy; but for this 
 sin had disqualified him ; and hence the neccessity of his 
 regeneration into the divine image, before he can under- 
 stand what that ima^e is. To have selected the best, the 
 
 o 
 
 least imperfect of human characters for imitation, would 
 have been therefore to erect a defective standard ; and of 
 this, the part which, most likely, would have been first 
 copied into his nature, would have been its faults and im- 
 perfections. Besides, the period might have come when 
 he had succeeded in equalling his model ; the resemblance 
 is complete ; but he feels himself capable of higher attain- 
 ments still ; where now is the pattern for him to copy ? 
 He wants one whose excellence knows no limits, but which 
 shall continue to enlarge as he approaches it, and to un- 
 fold new beauties as he becomes capable of appreciating 
 and imitating them, in endless progression ; in fine, the 
 only example suitable to our nature, ib a perfect example. 
 The blessed Saviour supplies this neccessity : ' Be ye per- 
 fect, saith he, ' even as your Father in heaven is perfect.' 
 And what an honor does he confer on our nature, by sim- 
 ply exhorting us to attempt so high an example ! What- 
 ever of excellence the universe contains, is only a faint 
 resemblance copied from Deity. All created goodness, in 
 heaven and earth, is derived from him as its only fountain ; 
 and could all this excellence be collected and concentred 
 in one being, that glorious being would still fall infinitely 
 short of the supreme Perfection. In exhorting us then to 
 attempt the remotest imitation of him, the Saviour was put- 
 ting an honor on our nature, which, of itself, should Le 
 sufficient to lift us out of the world and sin, and to fill us 
 with high and heroic aims. And, to encourage us to en- 
 gage in this great endeavor, he not only reminds us that 
 God is our Father, thus appealing to our filial love; for 
 
420 T H]E GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 one of the earliest characteristics of a child is that he at- 
 tempts to imitate his father; and any action carries with it 
 a sufficient recommendation in his eyes, if his father does 
 it; but, in order to bring the divine example within the 
 scope and compass of our feeble endeavors, he humanized 
 and embodied it in his own life. * He that hath seen me,' 
 saith he, ' hath seen the Father also ; ' hath seen the char- 
 acter of 'the eternal Father acted out and submitted to hu- 
 man imitation. And so softened and subdued is that ex- 
 ample, as seen in him, that the babe in Christ beholds in 
 it features which he hopes and aspires to resemble j so at- 
 tractive is it, that all the family of God, in heaven and 
 earth, have their eyes habitually fixed on it in holy and 
 delighted contemplation ; so perfect is it, that the least de- 
 viation from it is sin, and the least approach to it a step to- 
 wards holiness ; and so great and glorious is it, that the 
 spirits of the just made perfect, and the angels before the 
 throne, have higher conceptions of it at this moment than 
 they have ever had before : and so their conceptions of it 
 will go on perpetually enlarging, and their admiration con- 
 stantly increasing, while they will always feel that there is 
 in it an unfathomed excellence, an infinite perfection, still 
 remaining. 
 
 The Divine Redeemer, by thus making the character of 
 God exemplary in his own life, has graciously adapted it 
 to universal imitation. Uniting in his person the ex- 
 tremes of wealth and poverty^ majesty and abasement, 
 po\\er and weakness, his example, in one or other of its 
 aspects, is accommodated to every variety of condition. It 
 teaches the highest, that there is an order of greatness 
 distinct from all that earth can confer, and superior to it; 
 and it reminds the lowest, that they can invest their state 
 with grandeur, and finally attain an elevation of excellence 
 from which the inequalities of life will appear on a level 5 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 421 
 
 while to every intermediate condition, it presents a phase 
 especially suited for study and imitation. And what a mo- 
 tive to imitation arises from the fact, that he who has thus 
 become our examplar, is himself occupied in the perpetual 
 inspection of our conduct. ' Lo,' saith he to his disciples, 
 ' I am with you always.' By moving in the presence 
 even of a man of a vigorous and commanding character, 
 we gradually imbibe his spirit and opinions ; on this prin- 
 ciple it was, that a heathen philosopher advised his disci- 
 ples to imagine themselves constantly acting under the 
 eye of some ancient sage renowned for virtue; we can 
 never lift our eye without encountering the look of our 
 Divine Mister. We never move out of his presence, nor 
 does he ever withdraw his eye from us: and as, in copy- 
 ing the productions of ancient genius, the admiring artist 
 takes up his station before his model, and, that he may not 
 omit a single line or shade, raises his eye every moment 
 to scan the original, so we are to avail ourselves of his 
 perpetual presence, by recurring in thought to his divine 
 example, preparatory to every step we take ; and as the 
 soldier in actual conflict is instantly nerved with additional 
 vigor on catching the glance of his leader ; so we shall be 
 braced to redoubled energy in the field of duty, while con- 
 scious of the presence of the Lord of hosts, the Captain of 
 salvation. 
 
 Were the world to lose the idea of the character and 
 example of God, it would forthwith rapidly retrograde 
 towards the lowest point of depravity ; earth would from 
 that moment begin to compete with hell, in a fearful enter- 
 prize and rivalry of sin. The possession of this idea, as 
 it is exhibited and secured to us in the gospel, is the safe- 
 guard of all morality, the germ of all real excellence. 
 Barely to apprehend it, even, is an era in the understand- 
 ing ; but to conceive the desire of copying it, is a lift in 
 
THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the scale of excellence which gives us the sympathy of 
 angels, and places us, as at a bound, within sight of the 
 gate of heaven. It ventilates the human breast of everv 
 thing sordid, groveling, and impure; and turns through 
 it a cleansing and invigorating current of heavenly influ- 
 ence. The student in art is sent to refine his taste, and 
 exalt his genius, by the patient investigation of the great 
 masters of antiquity: the student in holiness is referred to 
 him who is the exemplar of all that is good, the original 
 of all that is fair: and no sooner does he begin to admire 
 than he begins to partake; he is 'changed into the same 
 image from glory to glory.' Possessed with the idea of 
 God, he is enamored of all he meets with that is beauti- 
 ful and good : but instead of resting in any fragmentitious 
 excellence, it only sends him in thought to the great Arch- 
 etype, with whom, by an instinctive act of the mind, he 
 compares it and so estimates its worth. 
 
 In the universe of intelligent beings, the character of 
 God is the centre to which all that is virtuous and obedient 
 gravitates : the authority with which every enlightened 
 conscience is in constant intercourse; the appointed ren- 
 dezvous from every part of creation, to which all the hosts 
 that have retained or resumed their allegiance, resort, to 
 renew their oath, and to reinforce their strength. And, in 
 the heart of every individual believer, this exalted con- 
 ception of the divine character reigns supreme. It is a 
 principle and a power which awes every other fear, expels 
 every rival authority, and commands him to fear that Being 
 only who can cast both soul and body into hell. It is a 
 nucleus, around'which ' whatsoever things are honest, just, 
 pure, lovely, and of good report,' collect and crystallize. 
 ' If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,' this is 
 the point about which they form, and brighten, and acquire 
 their splendor. Claiming the entire homage of the heart, 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 423 
 
 it receives the subjection of every thought, and beholds 
 every other name of power withdraw and vanish ; while, 
 capable of perpetual accretion and aggrandizement, it comes 
 at length to fill the soul, and to constitute the sole principle 
 of holy action. 
 
 VIII. We must not omit to notice the ad vantage which 
 the preaching of Jesus derived, from the simple and au- 
 thoritative manner in which it was delivered, and the sanc- 
 tions in which it was invested. In putting a man on any 
 given course of action, it is important to his progress and 
 perseverance, that he should feel unlimited confidence in 
 the wisdom and authority of his patron. If the instruc- 
 tions he receives are couched in ambiguous terms or de- 
 livered in a tone of uncertainty, or enforced with the ver- 
 bosity of a special pleader, the methodical clauses and 
 measured distinctions of the logician, the endless excep- 
 tions and provisoes of the jurist, or the misty film-work 
 and cold abstractions of the metaphysician, he will most 
 probably suspect that his instructor has yet to form a defi- 
 nite idea of his own wishes ; or that he doubts their prac- 
 ticability ; or feels that their questionable propriety requires 
 the protecting veil of a disguising sophistry : and the prob- 
 ability is, that, possessed with these very natural suspi- 
 cions, he will never attempt to carry the instructions into 
 practice; or will waste the feeling and passion necessary 
 to action, in harrassing alternations between right and 
 wrong ; or will construe the first obstacle he encounters^ 
 in the course proposed, into a providential intimation that 
 he is not in the path of duty, and should instantly turn 
 back. 
 
 The injunctions of Jesus were clear, determinate, and 
 imperative ; combining, at once, the simplicity of a father 
 directing his child, and the authority of a king whose will 
 
424 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 is law. Taking his stand on the firm, broad, uncomprom- 
 ising principles of morality, he spoke, as conscience itself 
 speaks, concisely, energetically, and to the point. The 
 only logic he employed, was the logic of the heart; his 
 only auditor, common sense. Loading every sentence 
 with meaning, he levelled it direct at the breast. His 
 style seems not merely to breathe a solicitude that it 
 may be understood : it seems to burn with a resolution that 
 it will be felt, that it will make itself to be remembered. 
 This is true of the style of all his commands but there 
 are some of them which go even beyond this ; they not 
 only effect for themselves a lodgment in the memory, but 
 when once there, they defy oblivion, nothing can dislodge 
 them. 
 
 The unauthorized precepts of other moralists are only 
 guesses at right, and should, therefore, be uttered with dif- 
 fidence, and received with discretion. But he spoke, as 
 the organ and oracle of God, for the universe and for eter- 
 nity. He knew that his precepts are to constitute the laws 
 of the last day : and that each of them is to sustain the 
 everlasting awards of myriads of immortal beings. If 
 any one could hear them enjoined, and yet refuse to them 
 unbounded regard, his miracles came to his aid, collected 
 and clustered around to abet and confirm them. He called 
 in the terrors and powers of the world to come, to augment 
 their sanction. If we consider his character and office, 
 his relation to man and to the invisible world, we shall 
 feel that, while propounding his laws, he occupied a posi- 
 tion more imposing than that of the mount that burn- 
 ed : that he legislated as in an ampitheatre filled with the 
 attendant thrones and dominions of heaven, \vith the judg- 
 ment seat in perspective, the rewards of glory piled up in 
 sight, the penal fires of perdition flaring up at intervals, 
 and darting forth volcanic flashes from an unknown depth. 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 425 
 
 and God meanwhile corroborating his authority in accents 
 of thunder, and saying, ' This is my beloved Son, hear ye 
 him.' 
 
 IX. How unspeakably superior is the holiness of the 
 gospel to that of mere human moralists, not only as it 
 raises the standard of excellence higher, even up to an im- 
 itation of the blessed God, but also as it supplies the neces- 
 sary hope and help to obedience. They only tell us what 
 they conceive to be our duty, and there they leave us in 
 our helplessness 5 but Jesus provides us with motives, sets 
 before us the incentive of his own example, points us to 
 the throne of grace, and engages to meet us there with the 
 aid of his Holy Spirit. When the mind is first awak- 
 ened to a consciousness of its guilt, it is inclined to look at 
 those things most which serve to corroborate its fears, and 
 deepen its gloom ; the intrinsic evil of sin, the immutable 
 requirements of the divine law, the aggravating peculiari- 
 ties of its own transgressions, these are the fearful aspects 
 of its condition which concentrate its attention, and aug- 
 ment its dismay. Revolting at the thought of aggrava- 
 ting its guilt by looking to the general goodness of God, it 
 turns away from him who would give it encouragement 
 from that source, as from a sophist and a foe. It derives a 
 morbid satisfaction from nourishing its anguish ; and 
 whether or not it will ever essay a first step in the way 
 to heaven, depends on the practicability of inspiring it with 
 hope. 
 
 To this crushed and overwhelmed state of mind the Sa- 
 viour draws nigh, and ministers the balm of consolation. 
 'Blessed,' saith he, 'are they that mourn; for they shall 
 be comforted. Blessed are the poor in spirit ; for theirs 
 is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek ; for 
 they shall inherit the earth.' Though less than nothing in 
 
426 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 their own eyes, he tells them that in his estimation there 
 is a wealth in their poverty of spirit, more ample and en- 
 during than all the treasures of earth, a majesty in their 
 meekness, to which pride can never erect itself and attain ; 
 and, in their sorrow for sin, in every tear they shed, an im- 
 mortal seed, the fruit of which will be peace and unending 
 joy. Though the world in its depravity and blindness 
 may continue to hold their character in contempt, he as- 
 sures them that the great God, seated on the throne of heav- 
 en, pronounces it blessed ; that the dowry which falls, ev 
 en now, to its portion, contains the blossomings of celestial 
 life; that as often as the partakers of it depart by death 
 from this earthly scene, he raises and welcomes them into 
 his own kingdom ; and, when every earthly embellish- 
 ment shall have faded and disappeared, he will, with his 
 own lips, proclaim them happy, and in the presence of 
 the universe, will crown them with all the beatitudes of 
 heaven. 
 
 He informs them that he came into the world to seek 
 and to save that which was lost; that his commission ex- 
 tends to the mouth of the bottomless pit ; and, to show them 
 that he goes to the extreme of his commission, he points 
 them to those whom he rescued at the awful brink, and 
 who accompanied him about as the specimens and trophies 
 of his grace. By his parable of the prodigal, his encour- 
 aging views of the parental love of God, his inspiriting 
 invitations and promises of grace, he sought to make des- 
 pair impossible, and hope the first emotion of their pen- 
 itent souls. He assures them, that so far from being unno- 
 ticed, they no sooner turn their faces in the direction of 
 heaven, than their Father beholds them yet a great way 
 ofT; that their first incipient desire for aid, brings an al- 
 mighty agent to their side : that, during the hour of their 
 first application for mercy, the place of audience is kept 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 427 
 
 peculiarly for them ; and that, on the tidings of their repen- 
 tance arriving in heaven, whatever may have engrossed the 
 angelic harps till then, instantly and joyfully the theme is 
 changed to the celebration of this new event. Having al- 
 lured them to the footstool of mercy, he stretches forth his 
 hand from the throne before which they have fallen, and 
 lifts them up, places them on their feet, and points them to 
 the duties and encounters which now await them. 
 
 To calculate on miraculous interposition in the ordinary 
 affairs of life, savors of presumption and romance. But, 
 in the sphere of Christian hope, Jesus has made the extrav- 
 agance of romance impossible, by promising to exceed all 
 hope ; he has given a wing to our expectation which dis- 
 dains all limit, for he has declared, that whatever we ask 
 in his name we shall receive. He meets the desponding 
 objection to which the survey of our duties and difficulties 
 would give birth, and he destroys it before it can be utter- 
 ed, by engaging, ' Ask, and ye shall receive.' He thus 
 gives us immediate access to the treasury of the divine be- 
 nevolence : so that, even in this world, we can not only ward 
 off and suspend around us every evil, but we can draw 
 around us every good ; as though we possessed an omnip^ 
 otent charm, we can create around us an atmosphere of 
 peace and joy. He grants us introduction to the armory 
 of God, and to all the resources of strength ; so that, like 
 the angel who had the key of the bottomless pit, and a 
 great chain in his hand, we can fetter the operations and 
 restrain the power of the prince of darkness ; or we can 
 enter the field of conflict and overpower him. To put us 
 in progress towards heaven, he even guarantees the assis- 
 tance of the Holy Spirit; this is help to which nothing 
 can be added, for it is all-comprehensive ; and nothing need 
 be, for it is all-sufficient. It infuses omnipotence into our 
 feeblest effort, and renders us, while moving in the line of 
 duty, invincible, and irresistible. 
 
428 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 And he not only inspires hope by supplying the neces- 
 sary aid, he also quickens our activity in the path of holi- 
 ness by exhibiting its ultimate reward. Instead of taking 
 it for granted that we should be enamored of duty for its 
 own sake alone, he evinces the kindest consideration for 
 our fallen condition, by accompanying his commands with 
 appropriate promises and blessings. Thus, in his ser- 
 mon on the Mount, while inculcating the virtues peculiar 
 to the Christian character, he associates each with a divine 
 beatitude; graciously alluring us to cultivate the tree, by 
 engaging that all its fruit shall be our own. And frequent- 
 ly, to give an access of fervor to our zeal he unveils the 
 prize which he has promised to holy perseverance, and 
 places it distinctly before our eyes : he brings out all the 
 crowns, the regalia of heaven, and suspends it from his 
 throne, reminding us that it is placed there to be won. 
 
 X. But, however perfect the morality of the gospel may 
 be, and however delightful the task of thus expatiating on 
 its excellence, it is necessary to remember that, like its heav- 
 enly author, it has not escaped the tongue of calumny ; 
 though the painful shock which this recollection inflicts, 
 on those who know the gospel best, may be regarded as a 
 sufficient refutation of its foes. Numbers, indeed, who 
 have witheld their admiration from the Son of God in 
 every other respect, have yet accorded the highest praise 
 to his precepts ; they could not advert to these without soon 
 exhausting the powers of language in eulogy and delight; 
 and to such, therefore, we might justifiably refer the im- 
 pugners of his code, to receive the answer they need and 
 the reprobation they deserve. 
 
 But we would not leave his morality to be precariously 
 defended by the enemies of his cross, though we can now 
 advance only a word in its behalf. 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 429 
 
 1. It is objected that, wherever the gospel has come, dis- 
 sension has more or less invariably ensued? It is time 
 for such objectors to know, that there is aa important dif- 
 ference between an incidental occasion and a direct cause ; 
 that, of whatever evils the gospel may be the indirect oc- 
 casion, it is the cause only of unmixed good. Like the 
 sun, it cannot rise and shine without being the cause of 
 light, and life, and happiness to the world : though there 
 are some fatal spots, on which it cannot look without occa- 
 sioning pestilence and death. 
 
 2. Is it alleged against the gospel, that it maintains a 
 profound silence on the subject of friendship as a duty ? 
 This is its wisdom. For until it can be shown that friend- 
 ship is a virtue, whatever the kind of characters it may 
 unite ; that it is a good abstractedly and for its own sake 
 alone, whatever the effects it may produce ; and that, al- 
 though its formation depends on the sympathetic attraction 
 of twin-like dispositions, on the nicest balancing of feeling 
 and concurrence of circumstances, yet all in every situa- 
 tion enjoy the means of cementing it ; he who should enact 
 it as a law, and enforce it as a duty, would betray his ig- 
 norance of human nature, and evince that from whatever 
 quarter his credentials were derived, he was no legislator 
 sent from God. But, though Jesus has not prescribed 
 friendship as a proximate duty, he has done what is far 
 more consonant with our nature, and infinitely more con- 
 ducive to our well-being. In the amiable qualities which 
 his gospel produces, and the acts of relative kindness 
 which it prescribes, he has laid the foundation of a friend- 
 ship, sanctified and eternal. So far from being indifferent 
 to this union of souls, he has not only set us a most attract- 
 ive example in his own conduct, but by commanding his 
 followers to collect into a church, he has consecrated the 
 social instinct, and built a home for friendship to inhabit; 
 
430 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 he has shown that it is only within the sacred pale of 
 Christianity that it can exist in perfection; only in the soil 
 of religion that this plant of paradise, this scion from the 
 tree of life, whose root is grace and whose fruit is glory, 
 can bloom with freshness and vigor. Having redeemed it 
 out of the hands of the ungodly, he has sprinkled it with 
 his blood, breathed on it his own spirit, and given to it a 
 life which passes uninjured through the gate of death, and 
 emerges in the kingdom of God; where those who are 
 the subjects of it approach and fall down together before 
 the eternal throne, and receive from his approving smile 
 the only element wanted to crown it with perfection, the 
 element of immortality. 
 
 3. Equally futile is the charge which some allege, that 
 the gospel is silent on the subject of patriotism. 411, how- 
 ever, that can be really meant by such an objection is, that 
 it says nothing of a tendency to fortify and build up a na- 
 tion in its selfishness ; that it confers not on one state a 
 right to forge fetters for another ; that it kindles no brand 
 to ignite those popular passions which nature has already 
 made sufficiently inflammable, and to which a vicious ed- 
 ucation has added the dangerous tendency of spontaneous 
 combustion. But, as far as consistent with his ultimate 
 and unearthly aim of establishing the universal kingdom 
 of God, our Lord has prescribed every general rule on 
 which the welfare of a country depends; and it would be 
 easy to show, that no evil could possibly befall a state, 
 either in its internal or external relations, which had not 
 arisen from the infraction of one or other of his divine 
 laws. 
 
 Besides, it should be distinctly remembered, that love of 
 country is a phrase of very uncertain value ; that the pe- 
 riod may come when it will fall into comparative disuse, 
 since it depends even for existence on the continuance of 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 431 
 
 the present condition of the world. Only let the great so- 
 ciety of nations harmonize and blend only let knowledge 
 go forth in its might, as it is promising to do, and throw 
 down the barriers of conventional prejudice and patriot- 
 ism will enlarge and lose itself in philanthropy. This is 
 a fact which is beginning to force itself on the conviction 
 of the most reluctant. Even science cannot touch on this 
 theme, without becoming loud and prophetic. It refuses 
 to entertain any project less than the amelioration of the 
 species. It undertakes to convince mankind that every 
 true interest must be universal, that good is indivisible, so 
 that to be enjoyed in perfection by one it must be conferred 
 upon all. But, what science says, the gospel will do. In 
 prosecuting the march which it has commenced, it consults 
 the map of the world. As the sun of righteousness as- 
 cends in the firmament, our moral horizon enlarges ; those 
 whom we had seen by the brand-light of ignorance disfig- 
 ured into phantoms which it was thought merit to hate, 
 are shown to be men whom it is pleasure to love; and 
 thus all kindreds, people, and tongues, are drawn into the 
 close relationship of a family compact, preparatory to their 
 final assembly in heaven. 
 
 But, while the gospel aims at universal benevolence, it 
 does not overleap any of the inner and smaller circles of 
 duty; and as one of these, it takes up, directs, and sancti- 
 fies the love of country. In the conduct of our blessed 
 Lord we behold a holy patriotism personified, the love of 
 country embodied. Where did patriotism ever exhibit a 
 nobler burst of sorrow than on Mount Olivet; when 'he 
 beheld the city, and wept over it, and said, O Jerusalem, 
 Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thee, as a hen 
 gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would 
 not?' Whose patriotism ever endured what his did? 
 He had but twelve offices to bestow; Jbut then they were 
 
432 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 the highest out of heaven, and these he bestowed on twelve 
 of his countrymen. He had but one gift to impart ; but, 
 oh ! it comprehends every other the gift of eternal Jife ; 
 and this he directed to be offered to his country first, ' be- 
 ginning at Jerusalem.' 
 
 4. But we will not prolong our defence of evangelical 
 morality, though the examination of every fresh objection 
 could not fail to repay us with the discovery of unforeseen 
 excellence. We may confidently assert for it the claims of 
 divine perfection, and tranquilly rest them on an appeal to 
 its practical effects : ' Men do not gather grapes from thorns, 
 nor figs from thistles; the tree is known by its fruits.' 
 Concede to Christianity the benefit of this criterion, and its 
 triumph is complete. Follow it in its progress from place 
 to place, and, as it was with its heavenly Author while here 
 on earth, its path may be traced by the song of gratitude, 
 the acclaim of joy, which it leaves behind: whatever 
 form of misery and vice it may overtake, nothing but pu- 
 rity and peace is in its rear. If it gains introduction to a 
 community already civilized, it takes all that it finds there 
 of wise and good, under its special protection ; it gives 
 new motives to duty, new sanctions to law ; arms justice 
 with a new and keener sword, and presents her with more 
 perfect balances than she possessed before; throws its 
 shield over oppressed and prostrate virtue ; and becomes 
 the rallying point, from every quarter, for conscience, and 
 truth, and hope, and right. Engaged in a perpetual con- 
 flict with evil, it invites all ranks to enlist under its banners : 
 by giving them an interest in the result of the struggle, it 
 urges them to arise in a body, to make common cause 
 against the common foe ; and not merely to chase it over 
 the borders of their own community, but to give it no 
 pause till it has descended into the pit from which at first 
 it issued. 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 433 
 
 If the gospel, in fulfillment of its universal commission, 
 visits a barbarous people, its advent among them is like the 
 bursting forth of a fountain in the heart of a desert the 
 waste is changed into the garden of the Lord. From 
 that moment they find a place on the page of history ; and 
 from having been tethered to the limits of a wilderness, 
 and knowing nothing of their fellows beyond, it calls them 
 to take rank in the commonwealth of nations, opens to 
 them a commerce with heaven, and makes them free of 
 every part of the universe. It not only lifts us out of the 
 grossness of barbarism, by acquainting us with the secret 
 of our real birthright; by the new and ennobling employ- 
 ment which it gives to thought, it raises us also in the 
 scale of intelligent beings ; so that many in finding it have 
 found a mind, have exhibited the first symptoms of intel- 
 lectual consciousness and power. Yes, thousands, whom 
 ignorance and selfishness had branded as the. leavings and 
 refuse of the species, if not actually akin to the beasts that 
 perish, are at this moment rising under the fostering care 
 of the gospel, ascribing their enfranchisement to its benign 
 interposition, taking encouragement from, its smiles to as- 
 sume the port and bearing of men, and, by their acts and 
 aspirations, retrieving the character and dignity of the 
 slandered human form. But these are only blessings^ac- 
 cidental to religion, the shed blossoms of the tree of life, 
 the dust of that diamond which constitutes her crowning 
 gift. In giving light to the eye of the mind, and objects 
 of spiritual purity to the affections, and immortality to the 
 hopes, in showing us that there is nothing too great for us 
 to expect, or too good for us to attain, it is only fulfilling 
 its trust and calling us to perfection. 
 
 Of every other system it may be said that it only actu- 
 ates a part of our nature, leaving the rest like a palsied 
 member of the body, unnoticed and unused ; to Christianity 
 27 
 
434 THE GREAT. TEACHER. 
 
 alone belongs the high prerogative of calling every latent 
 principle of our complex nature into action, giving appro- 
 priate exercise to every function, and proportion to every 
 part ; of animating, and maturing, and circulating like an 
 etherial fluid through the whole, and bringing it to the 
 perfection of ' a man in Christ Jesus.' Wherever it comes r 
 it creates a capacity for true enjoyment, and puts all the 
 universe in motion to gratify that capacity. It makes us 
 feel that we exist under an obligation to be happy. Per- 
 fect itself, it pants to behold perfection in every thing else ; 
 and, since it finds it not already existing, it puts forth all 
 its efforts to produce it. Perfect from the beginning, it has 
 remained unchanged, while the arts, and sciences, and 
 systems of a dateless antiquity have yielded to the demand 
 for improvement. It has seen every thing human, contem- 
 poraneous with its origin, renovated and changed again ; 
 but, like the Jewish legislator when he had survived his 
 generation, its eye is not dim, nor its natural force abated, 
 It maintains its post in the van of improvement, and points 
 the way to enterprise and hope, as the anointed leader of 
 mankind. And, however untried the paths, and high the 
 distinctions which await them in their onward course, it 
 will still be seen in exemplary advance, beckoning them on 
 to the goal of perfection. * No living springs of good shall 
 gush from their hidden depths in human nature, which 
 have not been smitten into existence by this rod of heaven ; 
 no forms of excellence shall arise to bless the world, of 
 which it is not the parent, and the perfect type. Only give 
 the gospel room to plant its moral apparatus, and let it ob- 
 tain the necessary fulcrum for its powers, and it will em- 
 ploy a lever which shall move the world from the dark 
 vicinity of hell, and lift it into the sunlight and neighbor- 
 hood of heaven. 
 
 XL However incredible the statement may appear to 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 435 
 
 those who are unacquainted with the chimeras of error 
 there is a class of persons who, under the presumptuous 
 pretence of enjoying an intimate acquaintance with the 
 mind of Christ, and of magnifying his grace, profess to 
 glory in the gospel as a dispensation from holiness. That 
 such a dispensation would be highly acceptable to the chil- 
 dren of disobedience, we can easily imagine, but that its 
 advent should be ascribed to him whom hell itself ac- 
 knowledged to be the Holy One of God, must be regarded 
 as a master-piece of impiety which bids defiance to imita- 
 tion, as the last triumph of infernal art. Compared with 
 the advocates of this blasphemy, he who only charges on 
 the gospel a defective morality, is a mere venial trifler ; he 
 only alleges that it is wanting in some of the elements of 
 a perfect excellence ; they claim for it as a peculiar glory, 
 that it dispenses with all excellence. For, by affirming 
 that it discharges them from the law as a rule of life, they 
 virtually declare that it legalizes vice, that it grants them 
 a patent to sin under its own-broad seal, that it naturalizes 
 the alien and eternal outlaw, sin, and makes it a denizen 
 of the kingdom of God. He, by pretending dissatisfac- 
 tion with its unfinished excellence, is guilty of abating the 
 ardor and expectation of the thirsty inquirer after the wa- 
 ter of life ; they by adulterating the vital element, by in- 
 fusing their own poisonous distillation, turn the very chal- 
 ice of salvation into the cup of perdition. He wears no 
 mask, he bears the mark of his master visibly stamped on 
 his forehead, and takes on himself, so far at least as the 
 character of the gospel is concerned, the undivided resporj^ 
 sibility of his sin ; while they, under the treacherous guise 
 of an alliance with Christ, affiliate their monstrous enor- 
 mities on his holy gospel, and throw its hallowed skirt over 
 the nakedness of their pollution. 
 
 This, it must be confessed, is a c doctrine of devils ;' it 
 
436 
 
 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 partakes of the infernal too palpably to be mistaken ; like 
 a stream of volcanic lava, it may be traced directly to the 
 mouth of the pit which disgorged it, to scorch and desolate 
 the earth in its progress. If demons can rejoice, the suc- 
 cessful introduction of this error into the church must have 
 furnished them with an occasion for exultation not Jess 
 triumphant than that of the first transgression : it taught 
 them that the paradise of the new creation is as accessible 
 as the original Eden, that the upas can be grafted on the 
 tree of life, that they might confidently repose on the suc- 
 cess of this experiment, and regard it as final; secure that, 
 after this, there is nothing too monstrous to be believed, or 
 too good to be perverted, when human credulity and de- 
 pravity are the materials to be employed. If he of our race 
 who lent himself to be the first vehicle of this deadly senti- 
 ment, had aspired to the bad pre-eminence of eclipsing the 
 first sinner, of enacting another fall of man, he could not 
 have adopted a more effectual expedient. Beyond all pro- 
 portion of demerit, he has purchased for himself the first 
 place in the classification of the heretics, and troubles, and 
 monsters of the church. Judas betrayed his master to the 
 cross ; but he has betrayed the cross itself, and all its load- 
 ed blessings, into the hands of the enemy of God and man ; 
 his* name, like that of the Iscariot traitor, deserves to be the 
 synonyme of all that is exaggerated and enormous in 
 guilt. 
 
 XIT. Instead, however, of humbling the gospel by put- 
 ting it on its defence against such an enemy indeed, an 
 apology is due to common sense, and to the most ordinary 
 piety, for having adverted to the topic I shall draw to a 
 conclusion by adducing a few illustrations of the supreme 
 importance attached to holiness in the preaching of Christ. 
 
 1. Every reformer of ancient -abuses, every benefactor 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 437 
 
 of the species, must expect, on entering on his godlike ca- 
 reer, to be assailed by two antagonist forces. He passes to 
 his work through two opposing ranks ; the hosts of preju- 
 dice draw out, and assail him as an Abaddon, a reckless 
 destroyer of every thing covered with the dust of antiquity ; 
 the lovers of change congratulate themselves, that, at last, 
 they have found a champion to defy and destroy whatever 
 is, In this predicament stood Christ : but, to silence sus- 
 picion, and to leave the minds of both parties at liberty to 
 accord to his doctrine undivided attention, he stood on the 
 threshold of his labors, and made known, that, so far from 
 assailing the fundamental principles of law, upon them he 
 should take his stand as upon the terra finna of morality ; 
 that he should make them the foundation of all he built, 
 the basis of a superstructure which should survive the dis- 
 solution of heaven and earth, 
 
 2. Whenever holiness came into comparison with any 
 of those objects which the world is inclined to idolize, he 
 omitted no opportunity of assigning to it a place infinitely 
 above them. Knowledge is one of these ob^cts : so pow- 
 erful are its attractions to many, that they cordially sacri- 
 fice property, and health, and every thing in the pursuit of 
 it. But had we mastered all the branches of human science, 
 laid open all the secrets of nature, and expounded its most 
 hidden and comprehensive laws ; could we recall the past ; 
 control the present, and by a wide range of philosophical 
 induction, foretel the future ; were we able to descant fa- 
 miliarly on the remotest regions of the universe, and, in 
 the wantonness of that power which knowledge confers, to 
 yoke the imperial elements of nature, and compel them to 
 labor for us; still he would impress us with the fact that 
 the science by which a defiled heart may be made holy, 
 comprises the sum of all wisdom. k This/ said he, ' is life 
 eternal, to knowthee, the only true Go$, and Jesus Christ 
 27* 
 
438 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 whom thou hast sent.' But he valued even this knowledge, 
 only as it prepared men for heaven by regeneration; 
 * Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth,' 
 
 3. He foresaw that the time would come, when a splen- 
 did profession of piety, and the possession of superhuman 
 endowments, would be objects of envy in his church. But, 
 in order to correct our estimate of their value, he would 
 have us to understand, that although we could speak in 
 every dialect of heaven and earth, rob futurity of its se- 
 crets, lay open all mysteries, and grasp all knowledge ; 
 though our faith could enable us to move the everlasting 
 hills ; though we possessed, what to our apprehension is 
 the greatest distinction of a miraculous nature which a hu- 
 man being can enjoy, the power of casting out demons, of 
 detecting their presence and commanding them to depart, 
 of defying their power, and compelling them to submit: 
 though, like the apostles, we could invade the infernal re- 
 gion, and add it to our Lord's unearthly conquest; though 
 our benevolence disdained less than the sacrifice of our 
 whole property; and though our martyr-zeal impelled us 
 into the flames ; the absence of evangelical holiness would 
 render the whole nugatory and useless. * Not every one 
 that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven : but he that doeth the will of my Father 
 who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day. Lord, 
 Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy 
 name have cast out devils ? and in thy name done many 
 wonderful works ? And then will I profess unto them, I 
 never knew you : depart from me, ye that work iniquity.' 
 4. Our Lord foresaw that, in every age of his church, 
 his professed followers, true to the bias of depraved hu- 
 manity, would be in danger of substituting the appendages 
 and accretions of religion in the place of piety itself. This 
 pernicious propensity began to disclose itself under his 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 439 
 
 own eye. For on a certain occasion, when he had been 
 delighting his hearers with an effusion of heavenly wis- 
 dom, a woman of the company lifted up her voice, and 
 said, * Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps 
 which thou hast sucked.' Now of all the conceivable 
 substitutes for personal piety on which human indolence 
 might seek to repose, that of kinship to Christ seems the 
 most natural, and the least liable to general abuse. But 
 he saw in this outburst of maternal feeling,however natural, 
 a principle involved capable of general application, and 
 pregnant with danger ; and, therefore, in order to take off 
 our attention from every inferior distinction, and fix it on 
 the true theory of blessedness, he instantly rejoined, * Yea, 
 rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and 
 keep it.' 
 
 5. On another occasion, his mother and brethren, actu- 
 ally presuming on the ties of kindred, wished to interfere 
 with his labors, and expected that he would show them 
 some public mark of deference. * But he answered and 
 said, Who is my mother ? and who are my brethren T thus 
 plainly intimating that, in his official capacity, he knew no 
 affinity but that which originates in faith, is cemented by 
 love, and puts forth the fruits of holy obedience. He de- 
 tected the hydra of religious formality in this chrysalis of 
 natural feeling ; and, therefore, at the hazard of appear- 
 ing severe to his earthly kindred, he cast it from him, and 
 smote it with the sword of his mouth. But, ' stretching 
 forth his hands towards his disciples, he said, Behold my 
 mother, and my brethren ; for whosoever shall do the will 
 of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, 
 and sister, and mother.' 
 
 6. Were we to quote every part of the practical instruc- 
 tions of Christ, our citations would amount to at least, two- 
 thirds of all he is recorded to have taught. In his first 
 
440 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 discourse on record, that which he addressed to Nicode- 
 mus, he describes himself as having kindled a light in the 
 midst of the world ; and that while all the children of the 
 day delighted to feed and strengthen their spiritual vision 
 at its beams, the doers of evil, all the progeny of darkness, 
 feared to come forth from their dens of night to encounter 
 its rays, lest it should flash condemnation in their face. 
 
 7. His Sermon on the Mount, the most detailed speci- 
 men of his preaching we possess, is practical throughout. 
 Unlike many a modern discourse, it is not merely guarded 
 and finished with a border of practical application that it 
 may not be quite unnseful, the material and texture of the 
 whole piece consist of the most serviceable and enduring 1 
 principles of duty. So perfect is the character which Je- 
 sus requires of his disciples, that the infidel has pretended 
 to see in it nothing but the unattainable beau-ideal of ro- 
 mance, and to read in its very perfection its own refuta- 
 tion. He knew not that celestial aid is offered for the at* 
 tainment: and reflected not that to erect a standard profes- 
 sing to be divine, and yet short of perfection, would have 
 been representing the holy God as making a compromise 
 with sin. The morality of Jesus gives no quarter to vice; 
 allows not a moment's truce to any sinful propensity, Ev* 
 ery member and instrument of sin is to be. severed and cast 
 away with an unsparing hand. His people are to turn 
 every act into devotion ; to make every rneal sacramental, 
 a token and pledge of infinite love. The termination of 
 one duty, is to be only a signal for the commencement of 
 another ; their life is to be one continuous act of obedience. 
 Though, for the sake of civil government and order, they 
 may comply with many of the forms which yoke men to 
 duty, and keep them in allegiance to virtue, they are yet 
 to consid r themselves bound by superior obligations ; their 
 heavenly Master has taken them to his cross, and s,worn 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS.'!' 44 1 
 
 them to holiness over the symbols of his death; hence- 
 forth they are to live on oath. 
 
 8. And their piety is to be diffusive ; bursting the limits 
 of their own life, it is to multiply itself in the lives of 
 others. He offers a premium to eminent piety by pro- 
 claiming that, when sinners, aroused by its active and un- 
 sparing aggressions on vice, shall league and arm to 
 destroy it, the gates of bliss shall be thrown wide open to 
 welcome the martyr-spirit in its ascent from the field of con- 
 flict, and great shall be its reward in heaven. His people 
 constitute the salt of the earth ; the advent of his gospel was 
 the introduction of a new restorative principle into the 
 world ; it arrested the progress of corruption, renovated 
 much that had fallen into a state,of moral decomposition, ar;.l 
 infused into it the permanent vitality and strength of holiness. 
 His people are the depositories of this principle ; and by 
 their holy activity they are not only to suspend the tendency 
 of the world to a state of general demoralization, but to save 
 it for God. They are the lights of the world; they have 
 been kindled to irradiate the surrounding glocift ; theyare 
 placed in their respective orbits to catch the radiance of 
 his throne, and transmit it to a world immersed in the sha- 
 dow of death. In order to sustain their office with effec^ 
 he requires them not merely to shine, but to burn, to be re- 
 splendent with holiness and zeal. 
 
 9. When an eastern monarch contemplated a journey 
 through a distant part of his dominions, he prepared for 
 the expedition, and made it memorable, by sending harbin- 
 gers to level a road, and announce his coming. The regal 
 progress of Jesus through Judea was preceded by the com- 
 mand, * Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths 
 straight.' The impediments to be removed, and the 
 mountains to be levelled were moral obstructions ; and by 
 issuing an edict for repentance, a call to universal reforma- 
 tion, he would fain have signalized the epoch of his mis- 
 
442 THE GREAT TEACHER. 
 
 sion, by sweeping the land of its mountainous iniquities, 
 preparing it for the free and unobstructed commerce of 
 goodness, and fillkig it from one end to the other with the 
 paths of pleasantness and peace. 
 
 10. And this holiness he wills to be universal. In re- 
 quiring us to yield our supreme affection to God, and to 
 love our neighbor as ourselves, he was prescribing for 
 earth the elements of celestial felicity : for it is by doing 
 this that angels are happy, that heaven is the region of 
 blessedness which it is ; nor could its happiness survive 
 this duty for a moment. But in directing us to pray, that 
 ' the will of God may be done on earth, as it is in heaven,' 
 he would open before us the prospect of unbounded pro- 
 gression and improvement ; he would inspirit us to enter 
 on a career of emulation with angels; to despair of noth- 
 ing, to hope for every thing, in the moral advancement of 
 the world ; to stop at no point short of universal holiness ; 
 and to call in, at every step, the almighty agency of God, 
 Heaven, it is true, is in every divine excellence, immeasur- 
 ably in advice of earth. Truth is the food of the soul ; 
 and there, in the clear revelations of the eternal mind, the 
 spirit is perpetually feasted with fresh discoveries of truth. 
 Obedience is the activity and exercise of the renewed 
 soul ; and there it is its privilege to serve him day and 
 night in the noblest acts of duty. Holiness is the beauty 
 of the soul ; and there it is robed in that ' fine linen, white 
 and clean, which is the righteousness of the saints.' Hap* 
 piness is the health, the well-being of the sanctified spirit; 
 and there it imbibes felicity, at will, at the fountain head. 
 The specific employments of the blessed we know not; 
 but we are told that every earthly impediment to duty is to 
 them unknown, and that in every act of obedience they 
 put forth all the mightiest ardor of the most intense devo- 
 tion. Every motive to holiness acts- on them with a force 
 to which earth at present has no parallel. So directly 
 
HIS PRACTICALNESS. 443 
 
 does their happiness flow from their obedience, that they 
 would deplore a pause in their duty as a suspension of 
 their bliss. Holiness is always at its standard there ; and 
 happiness, at its full-tide mark. 
 
 But that state of blessedness, instead of depressing us 
 by its superiority, becomes, in the hands of the Great 
 Teacher, a spring to hope, and a motive to imitation. He 
 knows that, in every condition of our nature, the best way 
 to ensure excellence is to aim at perfection ; on this prin- 
 ciple he renders the perfection of the heavenly state sub- 
 servient to the improvement of this. Aware of the capa- 
 bilities of earth, when pervaded by his Spirit, and blessed 
 with his fostering care, he has pledged himself fully to de- 
 velope its best properties, even all its possible excellencies ; 
 and, for this end, he has raised its aim to the highest point, 
 elevated its endeavors to the loftiest pitch, by showing it 
 the fairest specimens of created excellence as seen around 
 the throne above. He has brought the throne of God 
 within sight of earth, he has directed all flesh to come and 
 collect around it : and that we may not ask a blessing un- 
 worthy of the greatness of the occasion, he instructs us 
 to request that we may rival angels in the perfection of 
 their obedience ; in order that we may not retire from the 
 throne unblessed, through the poverty of our desires, he 
 aims to make us jealous of the inhabitants of heaven, and 
 incites us to ask to be admitted into a full community of 
 excellence and happiness with them. Yea, more ; by urg- 
 ing us to make this request, he would fain induce us to 
 move God himself to jealousy, for the honor of his holy 
 name ; for what is it, in effect, but the presentation of a 
 memorial to the King of kings, setting forth that, in this 
 distant dependency of his empire, though its capabilities 
 are great, though it might be made to yield him a revenue 
 of glory which should compete with the treasured homage 
 of heaven, yst his laws are dishonored, his glory defraud- 
 
444 THE GREAT TEACHER. , 
 
 ed, and his will left undone; what is it, in effect, but a pe- 
 tition founded on this memorial, that heaven may not en- 
 gross to itself all the immunities of loyalty and obedience, 
 but that earth may add its full tribute to his throne, and re- 
 ceive its quota of his royal regard ; that righteousness, 
 looking down from heaven, may behold her image reflect- 
 ed back again from the earth, as perfectly as its mirrored 
 in the chrystal sea which circulates around the eternal 
 throne. 
 
 O, thou divine Instructor and Redeemer of mankind, 
 what tongue can suitably speak the sublimity of thy pre- 
 cepts, the vastness of thy benevolent designs for man, and 
 the happiness that would flow from the fulfillment of them. 
 How "graciously wouldst thou animate us to heroic aims of 
 virtue, by intimating that it is possible for us to equal heav- 
 en ; how wisely wouldst thou guard us from presumptu- 
 ous self-reliance, by referring us to Him for help to whom 
 all things are possible; how like thyself dost thou act in 
 saving us from a romantic expectation of the end without 
 the means, laying on us every necessary command, and 
 thus making us instrumental to the accomplishment of our 
 own desires. Would man but yield himself up to thy di- 
 rections, the hosts of the blessed should have-to gird on 
 their zeal afresh, in order to maintain their ancient ascen- 
 dency ; heaven and earth should become convertible terms, 
 and, as seen from the height of thy throne, should appear 
 equally active in thy service, and radiant with thy glory ; 
 O, Holy Spirit of God; Glorifier of Jesus; and Renewer 
 of the world ; give thou the necessary impulse, and soon 
 shall it be transformed into a paradise again a paradise 
 in which the virtues of heaven shall be emulated, and its 
 divinest pleasures be foretasted, in which the noblest exer- 
 cises of a coming eternity shall be antedated and rehears- 
 ed, and into which God himself shall descend from heav- 
 en, bringing the peace and joy of heaven witfi him. 
 
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