nifest himself to the world, as the unbelieving world were no lovers of God; but if any man love me, that is, whosoever shall love me, generally speaking, and extending the application to every faithful Christian, shall neither be deprived of my presence or favour, and the test of his love shall be his obedience. When this shall happen, he shall be blessed with the continual abode of the Father and the Son, through the Spirit, in his heart. We will come unto him and make our abode with him.' Nor is this surprising, for the word which ye hear, the Gospel which I preach, the precepts which I deliver, are not mine exclusively, but are all derived from the Father, all rest upon his authority, all inculcate a practical and universal holiness. Thus may the world see me, as visibly as my disciples, but it must be a regenerated world; Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' Not only shall they see him in perfect happiness hereafter, but according to their several capacities, he will impart the abundance of his blessings to them even here. May I ever remember that it is the absence of sin and the presence of divine grace, that must produce this favourable disposition in my heart! that if I delight in sin, the sin that doth most easily beset me, a dark cloud shall interpose its shadow, and obscure to me the pure light of the Gospel; that though it shine as clear as the sun at noon day, I shall be as one living in a dungeon and shall not perceive it!

He that has light within his own clear breast

May sit i' th' center and enjoy bright day,

But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts,

'Benighted walks under the mid-day sun; 'Himself is his own dungeon.'

Milton's Comus."

The failure of nominal Christians can alone be attributed to the neglect of Christian means. God, by the institutions of his Church, and the powerful aids of his Spirit, has done and is ready to do all which can be required for the salvation of mankind. He hath united them to himself by his Son; he hath strengthened that union by his Holy Spirit; and if there be some who derive no benefit from the union, some who deliberately renounce this holy communion, and do not the works which it requires and implies, the fault is in themselves alone. While they

continued as branches in the tree, they bore fruit and received succour and nourishment; if at any time they are judicially or voluntarily separated, as branches that have been lopped or fallen off, the fault is not in the dresser of the vineyard. This subject is justly treated in the coutemplation on John xv. 1—3.

"When our Lord applies the epithet true he means that more valuable and spiritual part, which is represented by the figure or allusion. The true bread, the true riches, the true light, are all of this nature as well as the true vine. Figures of speech thus applied impart considerable beauty and sublimity to the sentiment to be expressed. The mind is led to contemplate it in its remote consequences and in its several combinations, which give an increased energy to the thought. The separation of the disciples from their master is represented by the separation of the branches from the vine. The connection, as well as the argument, is obvious: the husbandman plants the vine, the vine flourishes under his nurture, and the branches which spring from it are healthy and strong, and produce abundant fruits. Every good and every perfect gift comes from God. What more perfect gift could God give to the world than his Son, the author of eternal salvation; and the founder upon earth of a society or Church, which by a particular dispensation was to communicate graces, the true fruits of an holy faith.I am the true vinc,' said Jesus. Lord, make us so sensible of all the spiritual benefits, which thou hast brought to thy Church, that it may flou rish in its stock and in its branches! let it be like the vine of David in the day of its prosperity, when it had taken deep root and filled the land, when the hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars! return, we beseech thee, O Lord of Hosts; look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine, and the vineyard that branch that thou madest so strong for thy right hand hath planted, and the thyself.

"This similitude might be enlarged to a considerable extent. The stock consists of vile and refuse wood, but is productive of exquisite and excellent fruit. The Saviour was represented as a stock out of a unpromising root, on which the Spirit of dry ground, but a stem grew from this

the Lord rested. The vine was true, and true were all the brauches, and true will

all its branches remain, so long as they contique united to the true vine. It is the vital sap, the infusion of the spirit, which retains within itself the spiritual life, and communicates it to others.

"But heavy tidings remain for those, who having been branches of the true vine bear no fruit. 'Every branch in me,' says our Lord, that beareth not fruit,'-who has been united to me as the palm-branch to the vine, who has been born of Christian parents, who has been engrafted into the Church by baptism, who has resided in a Christian country, and has heard the word of salvation echoed from a thousand tongues, and yet who under all these inestimable advantages, has shut his ears against the word of truth, has lived in Christian England as in a foreign desart, has wiped the holy cross from his brow, and dishonoured those whose parental eyes have wept for him, every such branch the dresser of the vineyard taketh away. He is deservedly cut off from the benefits of that Church, with all its precious gifts and graces, which his own unfruitfulness has defiled: every branch which our heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.' His Christian profession unsupported by Christian conduct, shall no more profit him than the most flourishing leaves of an unfruitful tree. Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?' But profession, blessed be God! is not always unsuccessful, for every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." This strongly suggests,' says Dr. Doddridge, a very sublime and im portant thought, namely, that one of the noblest rewards God can bestow on former acts of obedience is to make the soul yet more holy, and fit for further and more eminent service, though it should be by such painful afflictions as resemble the pruning of a vine.' ” P. 155.

A devout and faithful attention to

the preaching of the word of God is the great means of preserving the faith of individuals, and of enlarging the boundaries and securing the stability of the Church; and the enlarged promotion of Christian knowledge peculiar to this day, cannot fail to afford the purest gratification to the contemplative Christian, even if he is most doubtful of the full and rapid success which some are disposed to anticipate. Let him first consider the effect, which the Christian doctrine produces on his own

heart, and he will be the more prepared to judge of its power in the conversion of the world.

"A contemplation on the preaching of the word should bring comfort and consolation to every Christian heart; it should do more; it should bring delight and salvation. If I hear and understand, on mine own head be the blame if I do not profit. If my faith be the faith of the Gospel, it will bring forth abundant fruit; if it be not, what days and years have I to answer for, when the word has sounded in my ears and then vanished with the wind.But to the serious and devout the impression is strong and lasting it is written with a pen of adamant, and neither time nor tempest shall destroy it.

:

"All men are not the immediate disciples of Christ, but all men are called upon to promote his kingdom. We have all a Church within our own breasts; and if our piety be there, we never can want an object of adoration. It will expand with warm interest to all within our reach; but more particularly to those, to whom we are bound by nature and affection. When we are converted, let us strengthen our brethren; and let us lift up our eyes in death and pray for our everlasting welfare. The stability of Christ's kingdom will rise before us in a sublime vision, and we shall hear the voice of the Comforter in the language of the prophet: 'no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.'" P. 202.

The mysterious nature and operations of the Holy Spirit are not more wildly perverted by the indiscretion of the enthusiast, than by the cold and subtle philosophy of the Socinian in identifying the Spirit his holy agency to the time of the with the Father, and in restricting apostles.

"We must accommodate ourselves, as Christ's disciples did, to the whole will of God, that we may be enabled to receive his gifts of the Spirit.

"If the apostles properly rested on this declaratiou, if we feel our minds happily impressed with their truth, the departure of Jesus from the world will be not only a strong confirmation of our faith, but a source of perpetual consolation; for he

he adds, If, or when, I depart, I will send him unto you. In the former part of this discourse, our Lord speaks of the Comforter, as sent by the Father in this place as sent by himself. As the word of Scripture cannot contradict itself, the divine union is here clearly expressed. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is himself a third person of the Godhead, for our Lord says, I will send HIM unto you.' I do not presume to attempt the explanation of so profound a mystery: but here it is, and it is consistent with every part of Scripture. It is no barren speculation, but a solemn declaration, productive of the greatest spiritual benefits. Human reason in arguing upon this point betrays the weakness of its resources. The general improvement of human science in these days has led the arrogant pretender to practice upon religion itself. But religion stands upon a different basis. Religion was made for every age, and the word of revelation being established on the veracity of God, is like himself unchangeable. The form and manner of divine worship may change, and error may assume the chair of the instructor, but truth can never change. Great is the earth, high is the heaven, swift is the sun in its course, for he compasseth the heavens round about, and fetcheth his course again to his own place in one day. Is He not great, that maketh these things. Therefore great is the truth and stronger than all things. As for truth it endureth and is always strong; it liveth and conquereth for evermore."" P. 219.

It is the boast of the Socinian system, that it clears away all difficulties, that it reduces divine truth to a level with the human understanding, and that any little obscurities, which it cannot now develope will eventually yield to the investigations of future philosophers and divines. Let it be admitted, and it cannot be denied, that no mysteries are recognized in the Socinian scheme but if the Catholic exposition of the Scriptures shall ever for a time be exploded, will there be no texts hard to be understood and incapable of reconciliation with the doctrine by which it is super. seded? If the simple humanity of Christ be ever received for sound and wholesome doctrine, will the passages which assert his divinity

and atonement be consistently explained by the admission? Or if the Deity, Personality, and operations of the Holy Spirit be for a season suppressed by heretical innovations, will all the traces of the true doctrine be obliterated? Will no debateable ground be left on which the believer may still take his stand and challenge the boldest assaults of a subtle and sceptical philosophy. The doctrines of Scripture are so joined together, that no act and no force can separate them: truth must be held in its purity and integrity, or the man, who desires to be consistent must renounce it altogether. The Christian religion admits of no compromise; its minutest parts are of divine origin and authority, and may neither be resisted nor resigned, without injury to the whole. The sceptical expositor may accumulate novelty upon novelty, and heresy upon heresy, till they crumble beneath their own weight, but when his objections to the principal passages have received the utmost force and strength, which it is in his power to give them, the secret and indirect evidence of the true faith will still remain unbroken, and his assumed triumph over the more prominent texts will be counteracted by the dovetailed connexion of a less explicit argument. The whole volume of the Scriptures must be exploded before one revealed doctrine can be removed from its foundation. A casual and incidental expression will contribute to the establishment of the most essential truth. This is observed by Mr. Brewster in respect of the resurrection in contemplating John xvi. 17-20.

"The demur of the disciples as to the meaning of their master's words was known to Christ, though he heard them not. Lord, be present also with us, and remove our doubts, when under oppression of spirits or dullness of apprehension we do not see standing, that our faith may never falter, thy way. Clear the eye of our undernor our steps to heaven be obstructed either by sin or sorrow!

"From this little interruption of our Lord's discourse, an important argument may be deduced of the truth of Christianity as connected with the resurrection of Christ, an essential doctrine of the Gospel, that no long period shall elapse, before he would again make his appearance among them. The event proved that these were not the words of an impostor. A person intending to impose upon the world would have placed the completion of his prophecy at a greater distance of time. The sorrow of his disciples too he might have predicted, but the return of their joy he could not possibly have foreseen. But our Lord is still more particular. The world,' he says, shall rejoice' at his death. And

6

what was the conduct of the Jews on that occasion? They that passed by reviled him saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. The reverse of this picture is equally true: then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.' At the reappearance of our Saviour after the resurrection, we cannot wonder that the sorrow of the disciples was turned into joy."

P. 238.

It is the high privilege of Christians to say Abba, Father, and in this relation to offer their prayers

to the Most High. Under this title they are especially taught to address him in the prayer which the Lord himself hath prescribed for our use, and the relation suggests the most important and interesting reflections.

"Our Lord throughout the discourse continues the name of Father; as if applying more particularly to that divine attribute kindness, and above all other parental kindness. In this case there is a peculiar beauty in the allusion, for what can be more agreeable or more congenial to a mind softened by a father's love than to make a request to a father? For this reason our Lord says, my Father will deny nothing to my friends, who prefer their petitions in my name. The propriety of the request is implied in the reference to those who are his friends and use his name. For remember, that the prayer, which proceeds from the mouth of one who is no friend of Christ, who asks not in faith of the promise of Christ, whose prayer is sensual and devilish, will be driven by the winds far from the Father's throne. Such a prayer indeed is blasphemy and presumption. Lord! guard my heart not

only from a prayer thus sinful and detested, but from a prayer so negligent and careless as to be unaccompanied by holy desires and sincere affections. In many things we all offend. But in nothing more than in negligence in prayer. Grant, O Lord, that thy heavenly succour may always be ready for us, that having always the Spirit a present Comforter and Counsellor, we may enjoy a continual gladness of conscience, thanking and pleasing God in every vicissitude of human life." P. 247.

The figurative allusions of the Scriptures, while they exercise the best abilities of the modern interpreter, were by no means designed to throw an unnecessary obscurity over sacred truth. They formed the familiar language of the oriental teacher, and the parables in which our Saviour spake to the multitudes were well adapted, not to disappoint but to challenge and fix the attention of all who listened with a sincere desire of instruction to the gracious words which issued from his mouth.

"The proverbial manner of our Lord's language throughout the whole histories of the four Evangelists is peculiarly descriptive of himself, and in each of these narratives marks as it were an identity of person, and affords a proof of the originality of his character. There was no studied obscurity in this, nor any desire of elevating himself at the expence of the ignorant multitude; for though his language was figurative, it was intended to raise up, rather than depress the understanding of his hearers. It is well known, that a figurative expression well applied, not only gives life, but understanding to the simple. In the eastern countries, it is now, as it was then, a common mode of speech; and even in England, those who are conversant with the cultivators of our fields, and other persons in the uneducated sphere of life, will find in their language the most striking and appropriate figurative allusions.

"My object in making the observation is this that our Lord does not mean here to insinuate, that he had purposely withheld from his Disciples, that knowledge which he had it in his power to communicate, but that from their situation, he could only communicate what they were able to bear, and what their understandings, under present circumstances, were able to comprehend. For instance, his

going from them for a short time, his returning to them for a short time, his leav ing them again, the promise of another friend after his departure, with all the unusual and importunate circumstances, which were to attend his coming, we may imagine to have been much above the comprehension of the disciples. Yet it was necessary, that they should be made acquainted with all these things; because, when the Spirit of God called them to their remembrance, they became esta. blished proofs of their Master's .communication to them, and consequently of the truth of the whole of his divine mission, These, therefore, are the expressions which our Lord calls proverbs, or parables: and in calling them so, he shews them that the true meaning is not wholly confined to the expression, and that their imaginations should be excited to further inquiry. This was an encouragement to them, as it certainly is to us, to search the Scriptures, not to make discoveries of strange and extraordinary opinions, which have no fonndation in the Sacred Volume, but to expound and to contemplate in the fullest and the purest manner all those truths which are to inform the heart; to dig the quarry not for materials which do not lie beneath the surface, but for that rock, which will amply repay them for all their labour-for that rock is Christ." P. 250.

The prayer of our Lord, recorded John xvii. is a composition utterly unequalled in sublimity, depth of wisdom, affecting earnestness and universal benevolence. Mr. Brewster's contemplations on this great act of supplication will hardly be read without improving both the heart and the understanding. There are some petitions, which from their intrinsic nature it is not easy to apprehend, and from which exceptions have been collected, inconsistent with the whole spirit of the interces sion. Thus it has been observed, with a triumph almost profane, that in this prayer Christ does not pray for the world.

"From this expression we must not suppose, that our Lord declined praying for the world in the ordinary acceptation of the word. It is true, he says, I pray for my selected disciples, and not for the world. But why? Because the language of his prayer was wholly inapplicable to the wicked and unbeliever. He could not

pray for their constancy under persecntion, for their continuance in faith and union with him, which were the objects of his present petition. On other occasions he prayed for the world with his wonted fervency, that they might receive his word and be converted, How warm is this supplication: O that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belong unto thy peace! And how prayed he for his murderers? 'Father, forgive them.' This very prayer includes them all; 'those who should believe through his word,--that the world might believe, said he, and know that the Father hath sent me.'

"Far be it from us, O Lord! to ima gine, that thy prayer ever was exclusive. Thy affection for the world was too sure, and thy design too extensive, to allow of any deductions of thy love for the whole human race! That many, many have rejected the evidence of the Gospel, or pol. luted its pure streams, is indeed deeply to be lamented, but this affords no arg ment that Christ did not come to seek and to save that which was lost.

"The cause of our Lord's preference to his disciples was most gratifying to them, and surely must be to us if we tread in their paths. As if he had said: 'they are thine, and therefore they are mine, because they are thine; and I am glorified it them. The succession of true believers which will arise from them is the cause of my glorification by them; for when I shall be personallyno longer in theworld, (and indeed I am already out of it) these will continue faithful distributors of thy spiritual gifts; and when I am residing in thy presence, have come home to heaven, these will conand essentially united with thee, when I tinue thy designs, and execute thy will.'

This sentiment of affection excites a still

brighter spark of devotion, which must always be the case, when the words of the mouth and the meditations of the heart join in the same harmonious song, · Holy Father! I cannot pass by a remark on this warm address. In language adapted petition is excited and promoted by its to our présent feelings, the holiness of the connection with the appellation of Father! I should diminish the feeling, if I attempted to describe it. The words of the address are accommodated to the subject of the prayer. In this case the God of sanctity is implored for a blessing of sanctification on the immediate or first followers of the Son, that God would keep through his own name, preserve by his own power the precious gift which had proceeded from himself, and maintain that unity of holy principle, which was to be