will sometimes arise in a mind peculiarly constituted, where probably false and exaggerated views of religion have been allowed to enter; upon which the blight of superstition has unhappily fallen; which some constitutional infirmity has, perhaps, enfeebled, or which the stern suggestions of fanaticism have been suffered to obscure. Such persons do, indeed, pronounce a "fear of the Lord," as it truly is, to be the foundation of Christian obe dience; but, then, it is undeniably certain that thi fear should be such as God shall approve. Lov I repeat it, is utterly inconsistent with such fea for it is altogether incongruous to suppose, that Being of whom we stand in perpetual dread a terror, can be an object of our love. If we do love God, we cannot act in obedience to his w for we are commanded " to love him with all hearts, with all our minds, with all our souls, with all our strength;" and had this love bee compatible with our fear of him, the comr never would have been imposed upon us.

I am not at all prepared to deny, however such fears as we have just been considering, a be encouraged, where they tend to withdra sinner from his guilty courses, and to terri into repentance. They may be, in some cas effective instruments of sanctification: the sometimes turn "the heart of the disobedi the wisdom of the just;" but they will, I hend, be invariably found to subside and gi

to an appropriate and approved fear of God, in a ratio precisely proportioned to the sinner's repentance, to the measure of his obedience to the divine will, and the willingness of that obedience. A fear which characterizes the Almighty as a severe taskmaster, a ruthless and unjust judge, must excite hate rather than love; and fear which could awaken in the heart of man a feeling so unworthy of the "God of his salvation "-a "God," be it remembered, of "all comfort," and "plenteous in mercy," can never be classed among the obligations of Christian obedience. He who loves not his Maker, can never religiously fear him; and he who does not religiously fear him, can certainly have no possible right to look forward to His favours.

Having now taken the view of the text proposed, a very few words will suffice in conclusion.

There will be little question, I imagine, as to which "fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge," that which arises from a love, or that which is excited by a terror of Him. The one renders religion a pleasing and delightful object of pursuit, depicts her in all the winning excellence of her beauty; the other, deforms her into a monster, from which the mind recoils with abhorrence. The one is a delightful homage; the other, a terrible slavery. And yet, it must be owned, that we are the more frequently inclined to fall into the weakness of the latter, than, by a persevering course

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of devout conduct, to arm ourselves with the security of the former. We do not, for the most part, love God sufficiently to fear him as we ought. We too commonlyst and first in our own estimation; and, thus virtually deny to the Almighty both his dignity and his rights. A true and lively faith in him will beget love, and that fear, which is its twin companion, to the exclusion of all those tormenting alarms which often only agitate and distract the soul, without removing its defilements. Let us only "seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," and we shall not then miss the path which leads to it: love will impel us onward, and fear will prevent our stumbling by too heedless an advance. Finally, let us "fear the Lord" rightly, and we shall not fail to "depart from evil."

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SERMON XII.

WHY CHRIST ADDRESSED THE UNBELIEVING JEWS IN PARABLES.

ST. MARK, IV. 11, 12.

"Unto them that are without, these things, are done in parables, that, seeing, they may see and not perceive, and hearing, they may hear and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them."

It must be confessed that, at the first view, this is not a very intelligible passage, for it seems to exhibit the Lord of Life under the character of an omnipotent tyrant; as if he really blinded the eyes and darkened the understandings of the wicked, in order that they should not be converted, but become eternally aliens from his kingdom. The whole public ministry of Christ, however, places him before us in an aspect so amiable, so pure, so holy, so perfect, so anxious for the welfare of sinners, so diligent in doing them kind offices, so eager to reclaim them, so full of gentleness, so

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easy to be entreated, so full of mercy and good fruits," that not even the greatest enemies of his religion have ever presumed, since his death, to

impeach his integrity, his clemency, or his justice. These words, then, which appear to represent him under a character so unlike his own, and to sanction a doctrine, to which the whole scheme of Christianity is opposed, are to be very duly weighed, lest we should attach to them that erroneous signification, which will follow their literal interpretation.

I think it will be admitted to be only a fair and prudent caution, to hesitate in receiving the literal import of a text, when it evidently contravenes any established doctrine of the Christian faith, or contradicts any natural or well-authenticated truth. In the Scriptures, it is admitted on all hands, that there are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable, wrest unto their own destruction;" and, therefore, when we find a passage which does not immediately strike our minds as consistent with the general tenour of Scripture truth, we should rather endeavour to search out its congruity, by patiently collating parallel passages, and their contexts, which will generally remove every difficulty; than, by rashly following our own hasty impressions, put a harsh or violent construction, where the meaning is not immediately obvious, and is to be obtained only by patient investigation. For, after all, Scripture is its own best interpreter.

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Now, the words of the text are, in substance, a quotation from Isaiah. The same passage is cited