PART III.

The prejudices which men conceive against the gospel vary according to the views under which they consider it as some take offence at the gospel for not clearing up the doubts and difficulties which religion contained before, so others take offence at the new doctrines introduced by it: this attached itself even to many of Christ's disciples: what purpose of religion or morality, it is said, can be served by our receiving articles of faith which we cannot understand? This charge, if it were as true as it is heavy, might possibly shake the foundations of the gospel : but to set the matter in a clear light, we must consider the different notions of the word mystery, as used in the gospel, and as in common use amongst men at this time: hence it will appear, I. that the objection does not reach the gospel sense of the word, and cannot affect its mysteries: II. that the use and sense of the word which is liable to this objection, does not belong to the gospel; as it does not contain any such mysteries as may justify the complaint.

First then, the whole design of the gospel in the salvation of mankind, is styled a mystery, because it was kept secret since the world began, in allusion to this time of secresy and silence; but on the revelation of it by Jesus Christ it is no longer looked on as such, but as the manifestation of God's will and goodness to men; see Rom. xvi. 26.: the opposition here is between mystery and revelation; in this sense therefore there can lie no objection against the gospel. As the gospel itself is in this sense styled a mystery, so also are the several parts of it: I show you a mystery, says St. Paul, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Other instances of the same kind enumerated. Against this gospel-sense of mystery the common objections have no place. It is therefore, in the second place, shown that the notion of mysteries, against which the objection lies, does not belong to the gospel. It represents a

mystery as a thing inconceivable, and altogether irreconcileable to human reason: but such mysteries are not in the gospel of Christ men may have run into contradictions by endeavoring to explain the mysteries of God farther than he has explained them; but let not the gospel be charged with their errors: nothing is more fatal to religion than attempts to explain and account for the hidden wisdom of God on principles of human reason. Concerning the persons of the Godhead there are indeed great mysteries, which are not revealed: God has not told us how his Son and his Spirit dwell in him, or how they came from him these therefore are properly mysteries, hidden in his secret wisdom, and which we are no where called on to inquire into: we might readily take God's word for them, without entering into natural and philosophical inquiries; especially as they are well qualified to be objects of faith. Common sense might teach us not to call God to account, or pretend to enter into the reason of his doings.

DISCOURSE III.

MATTHEW, CHAP. XI.-VERSE 6..

Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.

PART I.

IN the beginning of this chapter we read, that the Baptist sent two of his disciples to Christ, to inquire of him whether he was indeed the great Prophet so long expected by the people, and foretold by the prophets, or whether they were still to expect and wait the coming of another. Our Saviour detained the disciples of John, till he had made them eye-witnesses of the mighty power that was in him. They saw, at the command of his word, the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers cleansed, the deaf restored to hearing, and the dead raised up to life again they saw likewise, that these mighty powers were exercised without giving the least suspicion of any worldly design; that no court was made to the great or wealthy by singling them out either for patients or for disciples. The benefit of the miracles was chiefly the lot of the poor; and as they were better disposed to receive the gospel, so were they preferred before the rich and mighty to be the disciples of Christ. When the Baptist's disciples had seen and heard these things, our Saviour thought them sufficiently enabled to satisfy John in the inquiry on which he had sent them: Go,' says he, ' and show John those things which ye do hear and see the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.' Then follow imme

diately the words of the text: 'And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.'

The close connexion of the text with the last words of the fifth verse shows us what sort of persons our Saviour had in his eye, when he spoke of the offence taken at him in the world: The poor,' says he, have the gospel preached to them: and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.' As if he had said, The poor are ready to embrace the gospel, and happy are in this, yea, happier far, notwithstanding their present uncomfortable condition, than the honorable and the learned, who are too great, and in their own opinion too wise, to hearken to the instructions of the gospel.

The words thus explained lead us to inquire,

First, What are the offences which are generally taken at the gospel of Christ:

Secondly, From what source these offences come.

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The poverty and meanness in which our Saviour appeared, was the earliest, and may probably be the latest, objection to the gospel. He came from God to convert and to save the world, to declare the purposes and the commands of the Almighty, and to exact obedience from every creature: but he came with less attendance and show than if he had been an ordinary messenger from the governor of a province. Hence it is that we so often find him upbraided either with the meanness of his parentage, the obscurity of his country, or the present necessity of his circumstances: Is not this the Carpenter's son?" says one; 'Can any good come out of Nazareth?' says another; or any prophet out of Galilee?' says a third. And when they saw him oppressed with sufferings, and weighed down with afflictions, they openly insulted his sorrow, and triumphed over his fond pretences to save the world: Thou,' say they, that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself: If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.' And so blinded are men with the notions of worldly greatness, and so apt to conceive of the majesty of God according to their own ideas of power and dignity, that this prejudice has prevailed in every age. The Apostle to the Corinthians preached Christ crucified;' but he was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness:' for the Jews' required a sign,' a visible temporal deliverance, and

had no notion, much less any want, as they could apprehend, of such a Saviour as Jesus. The Greeks sought after wisdom,' and thought that, if God were indeed to redeem the world, he would act more suitably to his power and wisdom; whenever they made their Jupiter speak, his voice was thunder, and lightning was his appearance, and he delivered oracles not to be communicated to vulgar ears. So in the Old Testament, when God speaks, clouds and darkness are round about him,' and his presence and his voice are terrible. But here every thing had a different turn; the appearance was in the likeness of a man, and in the form of a servant; and, as he came in like a servant, he went out like a slave, he was esteemed stricken, and his departure was taken for misery.' His doctrine was framed rather to purify the heart, and to give wisdom to the simple, than to exercise the head, and furnish matter for the curious and learned; to be a general instruction and a common rule of life to all men, and not to satisfy the vanity of worldly wisdom in inquiries above its reach. With him the precepts of virtue are the principles of wisdom and holiness, the greatest ornament of the mind of man.

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But these things the wise and the great men of the world find hard to reconcile with the wisdom and majesty of God, according to their notions of wisdom and power. Why did not Christ, say they, appear in the power and majesty of his Father? Would not the embassy have been more worthy both of God and of him? Would any prince, who had a mind to reclaim his rebellious subjects to obedience, not rather choose to send a person of honor with a suitable retinue, whose appearance might command respect and credit, than an ambassador clothed in rags and poverty, fit only to create in the rebels a greater contempt both of himself and his prince? If it was the purpose of God that the world through faith should be saved, would not the world more securely and readily have confided in one whose very appearance would have spoken his dignity, than in one who seemed to be even more miserable than themselves, and not able to rescue himself from the vilest and most contemptible death?

But let us now, in the second place, consider what foundation there is in reason for this great prejudice.

It is no wonder to hear men reason on the notions and