his wife unto his brother, and last of all, the woman dies also; in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven?" Our Lord replied, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, or the power of God;"had ye been acquainted with his word, had ye believed his power, ye would not have proposed the question. With gross and sensual ideas, with a paradise like that promised by Mahomet, such a difficulty might have been started. Let me ask you one question,—you deny the resurrection both of angel and spirit, but has not the Almighty declared himself the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Is He then the God of the dead? No; though their bodies have long since mouldered in the tomb, their souls remain a sacred deposit in his hand, till that great day when they shall rise to everlasting life. I have therefore proved one part of your creed to be false; defend the other if you can!'

5. Let us, once more, view our Saviour's discourses as they were, or were not, accompanied with outward tokens or symbols.

There are many instances, in the Old Testament, of symbolic representations being used to accompany an address. Jeremiah, we are told, put a yoke upon his neck, and came forth before the men of Judah, saying,

Bring your necks under the yoke of the King of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live." Zedekiah, when he heard the Kings of Israel and Judah consulting respecting the Assyrians, caused a pair of iron horns to be made, and, putting them on his forehead, entered into the assembly of the nobles, declaring, "Thus saith the Lord, with these thou shalt push Syria, till they be consumed." When Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, he was met by the Prophet Abijah; "And Jeroboam had clad himself in a new garment, and the Prophet caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes unto thee."

In like manner, we find several instances in the New Testament, where our Lord adopted this method of giving weight to his admonitions. When endeavouring to inculcate humility on his disciples, he took a little child and set him in the midst, saying unto them, 66 Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Once he entered into the temple at Jerusalem, and, finding it profaned with various kinds of merchandize, the zeal of his Father's house preyed, as it were, upon his vitals, and he

resolved to purge it of such shameful traffic. The Evangelist John is more exact than the rest, in his account of this circumstance; he says, "He made a scourge of small cords." We may therefore suppose the materials were of no great strength: with this slight instrument he drove them from the temple, saying; "Make not my Father's house a house of merchandize." I consider this as a wonderful display of his divine authority. This action would be remembered by thousands in Jerusalem, when the words by which it was accompanied had long been forgotten.

Once more; the action recorded by St. John, of washing his disciples' feet, was an outward symbol, by which he impressed upon his followers, that they should not be ashamed of the meanest offices for their fellow disciples.

Thus have I endeavoured to show the varied nature of our Lord's instruction; I shall now,

II. Consider the successive methods by which he taught.

Succession is partly included in the variety of his addresses; but it may, I think, be considered as an independent excellence. I shall point out the successive methods of

this teaching; first, as it respects the apostles ; and, secondly, as it applies to the people at large.

1. As it respects the apostles. There is an expression in the 16th chapter of St. John's Gospel, and the 12th verse, which, though originally spoken in reference to his approaching departure, I think he fully acted upon during the whole of his residence upon earth: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." He never hinted at the calamities which should befall Jerusalem, that it would be encompassed with Roman armies; and that there should not be left one stone upon another of all its stately buildings, till nearly the close of his ministry; he never alluded to his own sufferings, that the chief priests and rulers sought to destroy him, and that his life was to be given as a ransom for men, till the time drew nigh for its accomplishment. He wished men to be left to themselves, that second causes might be allowed their full influence; and he did not wish, unnecessarily, to distress his followers. We cannot but admire the prudence and caution of our Lord in this respect. I am sorry that any celebrated characters, lately deceased, should have decried prudence. I am grieved that any author

or minister should think lightly of it. Many do not hesitate in bringing forward sentiments or opinions, which they know will offend; but surely the way to conquer prejudices is not vehemently to oppose them. We should follow the example of the great Author of nature: the light of the meridian day does not instantaneously succeed to the darkness of night; but we have, first, the twilight, then the dawn, then the increase, and, lastly, the perfect day; and just such should our conduct be when we have difficulties to overcome in the moral world. should strive to soften and melt them by degrees, gradually to clear the understanding, and meliorate the heart. We should patiently watch the progress of our efforts, and increase our zeal in proportion to our success. Instead of violently attempting to root out a prejudice, we should endeavour to inculcate the opposite truth; and, when this is effected, the prejudice will die away of itself.

We

2. I now proceed, in the second place, to show the successive methods of our Lord's teaching, as it respected the people in general, more especially the Jewish nation. More than thirty years have elapsed since I read the celebrated work of a Scotch Professor, (Gerrard,)" On the Genius and Evidences