our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely, this-Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; there is none other commandment greater than these. And the Scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth, for there is ONE GOD, and there is none other but he; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."

The Final Judgment.

As a confirmation of the decisive mode of teaching, which JESUS adopted, take his account of the Last Judgment: "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from his goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left.

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.”—But he shall "say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal."*

These instructions of THE SAVIOUR, be it remembered, were accompanied by the performance of miracles, in an open and unreserved manner, before all the people. The lame, the halt, the blind, as well as the diseased of every description, were relieved by his divine operations. The energies of his supernatural power penetrated even to the regions of the dead. Those whose eyes were closed in darkness, those whose tongues were sealed in silence, those whose bodies were consigned over to the disgusting processes of putrefaction, sprang back to the

As with several unbelievers the doctrine of the eternal torments of the wicked is a serious objection to Christianity, it is but justice to remark, that many intelligent Christians contend that this doctrine makes no part of the religion of the New Testament. This was the opinion of Bishop Newton, who wrote on the Prophecies, and of other eminent men among the different Denominations of the Christian World. See Dr. T. Southwood Smith's Illustrations of the Divine Government.

abodes of cheerfulness and activity! Such was the nature of those miracles, that Nicodemus (John iii. 2)" said unto Jesus, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher sent from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him." And so numerous were those supernatural acts, that we are assured by John, Chap. xxi. 25, speaking after the usual Eastern manner, "There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written."

Death, Burial and Resurrection of Christ.

After a life of fervid and indefatigable benevolence, JESUS terminated his career by a public and ignominious crucifixion. His enemies seized him, dragged him before an unrighteous tribunal, and he expired suspended on a cross, a spectacle to an astonished universe! His Death, his Burial, and his Resurrection, are thus recorded in the concluding chapters of Luke's Gospel: "And when they were come to the place which was called Calvary, there they crucified Jesus."-" And it was about the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the earth (or land of Judea) until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the vail of the Temple

C

was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." Next follows his Burial: "And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor, and he was a good man, and just; (the same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them ;) he was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who, also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This man went unto Pilate and begged the body of Jesus; and he took it down and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein man never before was laid." His Resurrection is detailed with equal simplicity:

66

Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre ; and they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: and as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of

Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified; and the third day rise again." We may well add on this branch of my subject:

"How certain is the truth of the Christian Religion, and particularly of the Resurrection of Christ, which is a matter of fact on which Christianity is built! We have almost all the con

current evidences that can be derived from human testimony joining to confirm this glorious truth. The fact is not impossible; concurrent circumstances cast a favourable aspect upon it; it was foretold by one who wrought miracles, and, therefore, not unlikely nor unexpected; the apostles and first disciples were eye and ear witnesses, for they conversed with their risen Lord; they were the most plain, honest men in themselves; the temptations of worldly interests did rather discourage their belief and report of it; they all agreed in this matter, though they were men of different characters,-Pharisees, and Fishermen, and Publicans, men of Judea and Galilee, and perhaps Heathens, who were early converted; the thing might easily have been disproved if it were false; it hath been conveyed by constant tradition and writing down to our times; those who at first doubted were. afterwards convinced by certain proofs, nor have any pretended to give any proof to the contrary, but merely

C 2