238 BREVITY OF APOSTOLICAL HISTORY.

"The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance "The poor shall not alway be forgotten; the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever'."

of peace.

1 Ps. li. 17. Matt. v. 5. Ps. xxxvii. 11. ix. 18.

SERMON XI.

THE BREVITY OF THE APOSTOLICAL HISTORY.

PART III.

66

DANIEL Xii. 3.

They that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."

III. HAVING, in the preceding discourse, examined, how far the incompleteness of the records of the Apostolical History is in accordance with the general spirit and design of Holy Scripture, and with the measure of information which God has thought fit to give us in other subjects,we now proceed, in the last place, to inquire, whether the quantity of in

formation we possess is sufficient for the purpose for which it is professedly given.

There is a remarkable passage in the Gospel of St. John, where, having recorded some of those infallible proofs by which our blessed Saviour condescended to convince the Apostles of the truth and completeness of his resurrection, the Evangelist adds: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing ye might have life through his name1." Here we discover one object which the sacred historians had in view, namely, the confirmation of our faith. But this was certainly not their only object. No fact can be more evident than this, that the actions of our blessed Redeemer were recorded to furnish us with example for imitation. It is thus continually in the writings of the Apostles we find the duties and virtues of Christianity recommended and enforced. In His life, and in His death, in the

1 John xx. 30, 31.

mility, with which He laid aside the splendour of his eternal majesty, to take upon him the shame and servitude of our mortal nature; and in the patient and resigned meekness, with which he bore in silence the amazing indignities and torments of his passion; he has written, in living characters, such lessons, as can neither be mistaken nor forgotten, by any who have not elosed their hearts against instruction. The object, therefore, with which such circumstances of our Saviour's life as have been recorded, were recorded in the evangelical history, is plainly twofold; the establishment of our faith, and the direction of our conduct. In other words, we learn from them, why we are Christians, and how a Christian ought to act: and, my brethren, how a Christian must act, if he will have his part in the glorious kingdom of his master.

These, then, are the purposes for which the history of our blessed Saviour was written: and, were it necessary, it would be easy to prove that, incomplete as it avows itself to be, it is abundantly sufficient to fulfil them both.

You have, I doubt not, anticipated me in observing, that these also are the great purposes, for which the particulars related in the New Testament concerning the Apostles, have been recorded by the inspired writers. The object of both histories is the same, the establishment of our faith, and the direction of our conduct. In both, we remark the same incompleteness. In both, we have silence, where we might naturally have looked for information. In both, our ignorance far outweighs our knowledge. But yet, as we know enough, and more than enough, of the acts and sufferings of Jesus, to prove that He is the Christ, the son of God; and, at the same time, to furnish us with motives and examples, to guide our conduct and form our principles; so, in the history of the apostles, brief and incomplete as it is, we have sufficient for both purposes: sufficient for the establishment of our faith; and sufficient, likewise, for the direction of our conduct. To demonstrate this, is my design in the present discourse.

I. We are to prove, in the first place,