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and the same in all His various and contrary attributes, "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever," we are using words which profit not. Till then we do not realize that Object of faith, which is not a mere name on which titles and properties may be affixed without congruity and meaning, but has a personal existence and an identity distinct from every thing else. In what true sense do we "know" Him, if our idea of Him be not such as to take up and incorporate into itself the manifold attributes and offices which we ascribe to Him? What do we gain from words, however correct and abundant, if they end with themselves, instead of lighting up the image of the incarnate Son in our hearts? Yet this charge may too surely be brought against the theology of late centuries, which, under the pretence of guarding against presumption, denies us what is revealed; like Ahaz, refusing to ask for a sign, lest it should tempt the Lord. Influenced by it, we have well nigh forgotten the sacred truth, graciously disclosed for our support, that Christ is the Son of God in His Divine nature as well as his human; we have well nigh ceased to regard Him, after the pattern of the Nicene Creed, as "God from God, and Light from Light," ever one with Him yet ever separate from Him. We speak of Him in a vague way as God, which is true, but not the whole truth; and, in consequence, when we proceed to consider His humiliation, we are unable to carry on the notion of His personality from heaven to earth. He who was but now spoken of as God without mention of the Father from whom He is, is next described as a creature; but how do these distinct notions of Him hold together in our minds? We are able to continue the idea of a Son into that of a servant, though the descent was infinite, and, to our reason, incomprehensible; but when we merely speak first of God, then of man, we seem to change the Nature without preserving the Person. In truth, His Divine Sonship is that portion of the sacred doctrine on which the mind is providentially intended to rest throughout, and so to preserve for itself His identity unbroken. But when we abandon this gracious help afforded to our faith, how can we hope to gain one true and simple vision of Him? how shall we possibly look beyond our own words, or apprehend, in any sort, what we say? In consequence we are too often led, as a matter of necessity, in discoursing of His words and works, to distinguish between the Christ who lived on earth and the Son of God Most High, speaking of His human nature and His Divine nature so separately as not to feel or understand that God is man and man is God. I am speaking of those of us who have learned to reflect, reason, and dispute, to inquire and pursue their thoughts, not of the incurious or illiterate, who are not exposed to the temptation in question; and of the former I fear I must say, (to use the language of ancient theology,)

548 [SERM. XII. that they begin by being Sabellians, that they go on to be Nestorians, and that they tend to be Ebionites and to deny Christ's divinity altogether. Meanwhile the religious world little thinks whither its opinions are leading; and will not discover that it is adoring a mere abstract name or a vague creation of the mind for the Ever-living Son, till the defection of its members from the faith startle it, and teach it that the so-called religion of the heart, without orthodoxy of doctrine, is but the warmth of a corpse, real for a time, but sure to fail.

THE HUMILIATION OF THE ETERNAL SON.

How long will that complicated Error last under which our Church now labours? How long are human traditions of modern date to ob scure, in so many ways, the majestic interpretations of Holy Writ which the Church Catholic has inherited from the age of the Apostles? When shall we be content to enjoy the wisdom and the pureness which Christ has bequeathed to His Church as a perpetual gift, instead of attempting to draw our creed, each for himself, as he best may, from the deep wells of truth? Surely in vain have we escaped from the errors of Rome, if the worse, because the more subtle, corruptions of a rash and self-trusting philosophy spread over our faith!

May God, even the Father, give us a heart and understanding to realize, as well as to confess that doctrine into which we were baptized, that His Only-begotten Son our Lord was conceived by the Holy Ghost, was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, and was buried, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, from whence He shall come again at the end of the world, to judge the quick and the dead!

SERMON XIII.

JEWISH ZEAL, A PATTERN TO CHRISTIANS.

JUDGES V. 31.

So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord; but let them that love Him, be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

WHAT a contrast do these words present to the history which goes before them! "It came to pass," says the sacred writer, "when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer . . . Neither did Zebulon drive out the inhabitants of Kitron... Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho... Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh."* What was the consequence? "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baalim . . . they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them; and they were greatly distressed." Here is the picture of indolence and unfaithfulness leading to cowardice, to apostasy, and to national ruin.

...

On the other hand, consider, by way of contrast, the narrative contained in the chapter which ends with the text. Ephraim and Benjamin, Machir and Zebulon, Issachar and Naphtali, rousing, uniting, assailing their enemies, and conquering; conquering in the strength of the Lord. Their long captivity was as nothing, through God's great mercy, when they turned to Him. In vain had their enemies trod them down to the ground; the Church of God had that power and grace Judges i. 28-32.

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Judges ii. 11-15.;

within it, that, whenever it could be persuaded to shake off its lassitude and rally, it smote as sharply and as effectively as though it had never been bound with the green withes and the new ropes of the Philistines. So it was now. "Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.' Such was the inspired cry of war: and it was obeyed. In consequence the Canaanites were discomfited in battle and fled; “and the land had rest forty years." Here is a picture of manly obedience to God's will, a short trial of trouble and suffering, and then the reward, peace.

I propose now to make some remarks upon the lesson conveyed to us in this history, which extends indeed through the greater part of the Old Testament, the lesson to us as individuals; for surely it is with reference to our own duties as individuals, that we should read every part of Scripture.

What the Old Testament especially teaches us is this:—that zeal is as essentially a duty of all God's rational creatures, as prayer and praise, faith and submission; and, surely, if so, especially of sinners whom He has redeemed; that zeal consists in a strict attention to His commands a scrupulousness, vigilance, heartiness, and punctuality which bears with no reasoning or questioning about them,—an intense thirst for the advancement of His glory,—a shrinking from the pollution of sin and sinners,-an indignation, nay impatience, at witnessing His honour insulted, a quickness of feeling when His name is mentioned, and a jealousy how it is mentioned,-a fulness of purpose, an heroic determination to yield Him service at whatever sacrifice of per-sonal feeling, an energetic resolve to push through all difficulties, were they as mountains, when His eye or hand but gives the sign,—a carelessness of obloquy, or reproach, or persecution, a forgetfulness of friend and relative, nay a hatred (so to say) of all that is naturally dear to us, when He says "Follow Me." These are some of the characteristics of zeal. Such was the temper of Moses, Phinehas, Samuel, David, Elijah; it is the temper enjoined on all the Israelites, especially in their conduct towards the abandoned nations of Canaan. The text expresses that temper in the words of Deborah: "So let all thine ene. mies perish, O Lord; but let them that love Him, be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might."

Now, it has sometimes been said that the commands of strenuous and stern service given to the Israelites,—for instance, relative to their taking and keeping possession of the promised land,-do not apply to us Christians. There can be no doubt it is not our duty to take the sword and kill the enemies of God, as the Jews were told to do; "Put

up again thy sword into his place," are our Saviour's words to St Peter. So far, then, if this is what is meant by saying that these commands do not apply to us, so far, doubtless, it is clear they do not apply to us. But it does not, hence, follow that the temper of mind which they pre-suppose and foster is not required of us; else, surely, the Jewish history is no longer profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. St. Peter was blamed, not for his zeal, but for his use of the sword.

Man's duty, perfection, happiness, have always been one and the same. He is not a different being now from what he ever was; he has always been commanded the same duties. What was the holiness of an Israelite is still the holiness of a Christian, though the Christian has far higher privileges and aids for perfection. The Saints of God have ever lived by faith, and walked in the way of justice, mercy, truth, self-mastery, and love. It is impossible, then, that all these duties imposed on the Israelites of driving out their enemies, and taking and keeping possession of the promised land, should not in some sense or other apply to us; for it is clear, they were not in their case mere accidents of obedience, but went to form a certain inward character, and as clear is it that our hearts must be as the heart of Moses or David, if we would be saved through Christ.

This is quite evident, if we attentively examine the Jewish history and the divine commands which are the principles of it. For these commands, which some persons have said do not apply to us, are so many and varied, and repeated at so many and diverse times, that they certainly must have formed a peculiar character in the heart of the obedient Israelite, and were much more than an outward form and a sort of ceremonial service. They are so abundant throughout the Old Testament, that, unless they in some way apply to us, it is difficult to see what is its direct use, at this day, in the way of precept; and this is the very conclusion which these same persons often go on to draw. They are willing to rid themselves of the Old Testament, and they say that Christians are not concerned in it, and that the Jews were almost barbarians; whereas St. Paul tells us, that the Jewish history is "written for our admonition and our learning."t

Let us consider some of the commands I have referred to, and the terms in which they are conveyed. For instance, that for the extirpation of the devoted nations from the land of Canaan. "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it,... thou shalt smite " the nations that possess it, "and utterly

* Matt. xxvi. 52.

† 1 Cor. x. 11. Rom. xv. 4.

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