truth, the word of God.

"If any of

you lack wisdom, saith the Scripture, let him ask of God, and it shall be given him; that we may receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your ownselves; for if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was:" but rather, my brethren, let us so receive the word of God, that believing and rejoicing in the riches of his grace which hath brought us salvation; we may so pass through things temporal, as not to lose sight of things eternal: looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

156

SERMON XII.

ON THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE THAT CHRISTIANITY IS A REVELATION FROM GOD.

"And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." MATT. vii. 28, 29.

IN the discourses which have been delivered on the truth of the Christian religion, our attention has been directed to some of the leading points connected with the external evidence we possess that Christianity is a revelation from God. It now only remains that we take a view of its internal evidence; that is, the evidence arising from the character of our Saviour, and from the nature and excellence of the religion itself. Whoever contemplates the character of our Lord, as represented in the Gospels, must admit that it was the most perfect that was ever made known to mankind. If Pilate, and his bitterest enemies, "could find no fault

in him;" if they could not in any instance "convict him of sin;" but were obliged to acknowledge that "he did all things well;" that the whole tenor of his life was pure and blameless; unsullied by the least imperfection: the same is more than ever was, or even can be said of any human being that has appeared in the world. Our blessed Lord, however, was not only free from all imperfection, but possessed and practised every imaginable virtue. Towards God his heavenly father he expressed the most ardent love, the most fervent devotion, the most absolute resignation, and universal obedience to his commands. As it regarded the human race, his whole life may be considered as but one continued expression of his solicitude for their welfare. "He went about," saith St. Peter, "doing good;" dispensing his blessings to all around, healing diseases, relieving infirmities, correcting errors, removing prejudices, promoting piety towards God; peace and harmony among men; and in a word, crowding within the narrow compass of his ministry more acts of mercy and compassion than the longest life of the most benevo

lent man upon earth ever yet produced. It appears then even from this short and imperfect sketch of our Saviour's character, that he was beyond comparison, the wisest, and the most virtuous of the human race. Never was there a character so venerable, so perfect, so godlike, so far removed from enthusiasm on the one hand, and from imposture on the other. If then our Saviour was confessedly so great and so good a man, does it not unavoidably follow, laying claim as he did to a divine original, that he must have been that divine person whom he professed to be, and consequently that his religion came from God. If this were not the case, our Lord must in a matter of infinite importance have asserted what had no foundation in truth. But, my brethren, is such a supposition as this in the smallest degree credible? Is it probable, is it conceivable, is it consistent with the general conduct of men? Is it reconcilable with the acknowledged character of our Lord to suppose, that any thing but truth could proceed from him, whom his very enemies allow to have been in every respect the most exalted and the most virtuous of the human race? Was

it ever known, is there a single instance to be produced in the history of mankind of any one so unblemished in morals as our Saviour confessedly was, persisting in assertions, which if untrue would be repugnant to the clearest principles of morality, and most fatal in their consequences to his followers and friends? Is it possible to conceive that the pure, the meek, the humane, the compassionate Saviour, could engage multitudes of innocent and virtuous people in the belief and support of a religion which he knew must draw on them persecution, misery, and death, unless he had been authorised by God himself to establish that religion, and unless he were conscious that he possessed the power of amply recompensing those who preferred his religion to every other consideration? My brethren, the common sense and the common feelings of mankind must revolt from an idea so preposterous. It therefore follows from the character of Christ, that he was in truth a divine teacher, and that his religion came from God. But not only the character of our Lord, but the sublimity of his doctrines and the purity of his moral precepts,