THE SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. WHY DID OUR LORD TEACH IN PARABLES? THE next reason to which we shall advert, is would break down the middle wall of partition which separated the Gentile from the Jew, with what feelings would the haughty descendant of Abraham have heard such unwelcome truths? He would have unhesitatingly pronounced the Gospel a lie, and the Divine Teacher an audacious impostor. But while we thus speak, it is by no means intended to assert that our Lord concealed any necessary truth through dread of popular violence. By no means. But while he faithfully and undauntedly declared the counsel of God, he never unnecessarily provoked public odium, knowing that his hour was not yet come. Had it been necessary for the salvation of a Jew that he should be acquainted with the calling of the Gentiles, he would have been minutely informed of that event ; but no such necessity existed, and therefore our Lord limits the information to his more immediate followers. Each one We remark also, that our Lord, on some occasions, employs parabolic instruction to screen himself from his bitter enemies-the Scribes and Pharisees. By a well-arranged allegorical description, he often sharply reproved the ingratitude, unbelief, and hardness of their hearts. felt the force of the remark as applicable to himself; yet, from the general and delicate terms in which the reproof was couched, it was impossible to fasten any charge upon the Speaker. Thus, while he gained the great purpose of reproof, he escaped any remarkable expression of popular hatred. The success which attended the parable of the good Samaritan, may be adduced as a remarkable instance of the efficacy of such a mode of instruction in silencing objectors. The captious doctor of the law attempted to cavil upon the meaning of the word neighbour. Our Lord, in reply, directed his attention to an instructive little history, the circumstances of which are so naturally combined, and related with such tender simplicity, that it cannot fail to interest every reader. He closed the narrative with that forci [SECOND SERIES. VOL. III. With such erroneous notions of the Messiah s character, can it appear astonishing that their proud imaginations were offended at the meanness of his parentage,-that they should have spurned from them, as an impostor, the carpenter's son? Some have regarded it as an anomalous circumstance in the history of the Jews, that their mental vision was so impaired as to render them unable to recog nize in Jesus the Old Testament Messiah; but the slightest reflection will convince us that such a result is in perfect consistency with the acknow ble admonition: "Go thou and do likewise,"and a more delicate or more powerful reproof of a cruel, covetous, and narrow mind can scarcely be conceived. While administering necessary reproof, our Lord often embraces the opportunity to convey instructions the most important under parabolic figures. It was on such an occasion, while vindicating his conduct in keeping company with publicans and sinners, against the aspersions of the Scribes and Pharisees, that he delivered the narratives of the lost sheep, the lost piece of silver, and the prodigal son. All these parables are in-ledged influence of our moral upon our intellectual tended to illustrate the abundance and the freeness of redeeming mercy, and each is set forth as an emblem of the favourable reception which penitent sinners shall, through the merits of the Redeemer, meet with from the God of Love. As a gentle, and, at the same time, a most effectual mode of obviating the prejudices and rectifying the errors of his hearers, our Lord had frequent recourse to allegorical description. As he journeyed towards Jerusalem to finish the work which his Father had given him to do, he perceived that his followers were looking forward with fond anticipation to the period when he would assume the dignity of an earthly monarch. To correct these mistaken notions, he narrated the parable of the ten pounds, in which he illustrated the nature of his dominion, and the opposition which would be made to it, warning his hearers, at the same time, that the proper business of his people is not to be solicitous for secular honours, but to employ themselves diligently in their appointed work till he should come again. The principal reason why our Lord taught in parables, is declared by himself in a passage already alluded to: "And Jesus said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand."(Luke viii. 10.) The whole history of the Jewish nation, from the period of their selection as a peculiar people, to that in which the Messiah appeared, strikingly displays the long-suffering mercy of Jehovah. They had enjoyed an almost uninterrupted series of divine communications, both through the medium of angels and men. God is forcibly represented as "rising early, and sending prophets unto them;" yet they are afterwards, by the highest authority, accused of having "killed the prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto them." To that highly favoured people had been originally committed the oracles of God,-those predictions and precepts, those promises and threatenings, which he spake unto their fathers by the prophets; yet, when the promised Messiah came, they were ignorant of the spirituality of the law, and of the real character of Him to whom Moses and all the prophets bear witness. The Old Testament Scriptures conveyed to their minds no higher idea of the promised Deliverer, than of one who would appear in all the glittering pomp of regal authority, and at length restore the kingdom to Israel. constitution. Whether in individuals or societies of individuals, every instance of deterioration in moral principle is certainly, though not perhaps visibly, followed by an equally melancholy dete rioration in intellectual energy. Select, for the purpose of illustration, a man whose mental facul ties were once acute to perceive, while his moral powers were sensitive to feel, any, the least deva tion from the path of duty. Mark the painful reluctance he evinces in yielding at first to the allurements of the world, and how revolting to his mind is the first occasion of his departure from God. Trace, if you can, the awfully increasing celerity with which he advances on the road that leadeth to destruction; think of the augmented strength which inward pollution acquires every moment from outward temptations; observe the influence, baneful indeed, which every instance of submission to the powers of darkness exercises over the vigour of his intellect; compute, if you can, the depth of the gloom which, every step he proceeds, is gathering around his understanding; and say, do you not perceive the period approaching when conscience's whispering voice shall no longer be heard; when his moral being, once the seat of purity, shall become a loathsome sink of pollution; when that intellect, which could once penetrate far into the deep things of God, shall be withered in its strength; when the whole man, in short, shall be prostrated before" the prince of the power of the air," and "Ichabod” shall be seen inscribed on his forehead," the glory is departed?" Extend your thoughts to a whole nation of such polluted beings; attend tɔ the acting and reacting influence which every individual of that sinful nation exerts over every other; mark, as it proceeds in its mournful course, the thousandfold series of transgressions which each and all of these sinful beings are every moment adding to the frightful catalogue of the nation's iniquities; reflect on the noxious influence which every item of that fearful computation has had on the intellectual strength of every individual among that infatuated people,--and you will form a tolerably correct idea of the intellectual and moral condition of the Jews at the advent of the Messiah. They who had been, as it were, exalted to heaven by their privileges, were now cast down to hell in degradation and guilt. It was at this point of the nation's history that our Lord commenced his public ministrations in Judea. He by no means attempted to overpower their minds by irresistible 66 arguments, but in short and impressive narratives | cumulated mass of their violations of God's law he declares doctrines which it became all to be- one more fearful and, alas! unpardonable crimelieve, and enforces duties which it was befitting the despising of his Son. My Spirit will not that all should obey. This mode of instruction always strive with man, saith the Lord." There he employed to try his hearers; and, accordingly, is a mournful period, both in individual and nawe find him exclaiming, after having related one tional history, when the Lord becomes weary of of these histories, He that bath ears to hear, let repenting; when, after innumerable provocations him hear." Our Lord was, no doubt, surrounded amid pre-eminent privileges, the arm of Jehoby men of all characters, and this remarkable ex- vah is laid bare to avenge him of his enemies, pression is used in allusion to the varied phases to which the moral and intellectual constitution of But we refrain from dwelling longer on this each presented to his all-seeing eye, and the distressingly painful subject, and turn to the deequally varied effects which would follow the alle- scription of another class of our Lord's hearers. gorical descriptions he set before them. Some, There were some who, from the striking proofs nay, perhaps many, who listened with avidity to which he gave of his divinity, recognised in Jesus the instructions of our Lord, would easily com- the true Messiah. Such men would turn to a prehend his parabolic figures. The minds of such far different account the obscurity of the parables. individuals had acquired a spiritual discernment of Anxiously intent on deriving benefit from his the ancient prophecies, and had become familiar instructions, they would assiduously ponder and with the allegorical medium through which their pray over the words they had heard. Applying fathers saw the Messiah's day afar off, and were their minds to the subject with an energy in some glad. "If any man do the will of my Father, degree proportioned to its vital importance, and he shall know of the truth, whether it be of God." with an assiduity unshaken by its imagined obIt is a melancholy fact, indeed, that in proportion scurity, the clouds would ere long disperse, and as a man deviates from the purity of divine truth He who at first commanded the light to shine out in his belief, his moral character is proportionably of darkness would shine into their hearts, to give affected. them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. The mysteries of the kingdom would now be clearly understood, and the instructions of the Saviour would bear upon their hearts with an efficacy and a power which their spiritual foes would in vain attempt either to gainsay or resist. To some among all classes of our Lord's hearers, it is undeniable that the allegorical signification of the parables might be somewhat obscure; but this very obscurity constituted an essential part of the probation. They whose hearts were so hardened, and their understandings so beclouded, by a long course of sin, that even his wonderful works failed to convince them that he was sent from God, such individuals would urge the obscurity of the narratives as an excuse for inattention on their part, and suppress any faint desire they might feel to investigate farther what these things meant. In this class was verified that awfully affecting mandate given to the prophet of old: "Go ye and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed." It is only by grace communicated, that we can understand the truth of God; but if we do despite unto the Spirit of grace, we deprive ourselves of all the convincing and consoling light he would have poured into the soul. It is an awful period in a man's moral history, when the arrows of conviction, aimed at his heart by the Word and Spirit of God, rebound as from a flinty rock, and fall pointless to the ground; when he deliberately shuts his eyes that he may not see, and his ears that he may not hear, and hardens his heart that he may not feel the influence of the truth as it is in Jesus; when the Gospel is considered a cunningly devised fable, and the man is given up to believe a lie. To such men as this, the instructions of our Lord only aggravated their guilt. They proved the occasion of adding to the already ac Such is the ordinary mode of the Divine procedure in imparting instruction to the children of men. Instead of furnishing us with new and extraordinary means of discerning the truth, he encourages us to employ the means which, as rational beings, we already possess. He hath endowed us with intellectual and moral powers, which are intended to move harmoniously onward in a glorious career of indefinite improvement. In consistency with this progressive advancement, the Divine Being hath willed that, at every stage in our progress, our faculties should enlarge in capacity of knowledge, and increase in intensity of action. Gradually to develope our mental energies, he hath spread out his fair and beautiful creation; he hath, in some measure, unfolded the mysterious volume of Providence, and pointed our inquiries to the revelation of his will. In proportion to the diligence with which we use these means of spiritual improvement, is the Divine goodness exercised in enlarging our field of knowledge. "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath." If, therefore, we shall, either through the misimprovement of our privileges or the indulgence of evil passions, paralyze our intellectual or moral energies; if, through this self-induced obliquity of mind, we shall cast away from us the Gospel as an idle tale; if its alluring promises, and its awful threatenings, are alike unavailing to induce our compliance with its overtures, no possible blame can be attached to the Divine decrees, but all to our own voluntary and deliberate rejection of the Divine counsel, and our equally deliberate contempt of the Divine reproofs. Our blood, therefore, must rest upon our own heads. Thy merry voice, resounding full Thy little chair is empty now At our once gladsome hearth; Where all was joy and mirth. But oh! he only sleeps; look there,- His lips are red,—he slumbers, love,— Come near, his golden ringlets bind, As thou wert wont to do, my love; And clasp thee in his little arms, Fear cometh on me now: Ah! feel that cheek,-'tis cold, 'tis cold,- "Thou said'st he slept,-O why deceive?" But 'tis the sleep of death, my love,— Oh! come with me, then to His throne, And kiss the Almighty hand that In concluding these remarks on the advantages attendant on parabolic instruction, we cannot refrain from briefly adverting to the striking proof which even this slight and superficial view of the subject affords of the excellence of our Lord's character as a Teacher sent from God. Intimately conversant with the secret springs which regulate our intellectual and moral nature; well aware of the many prejudices which ever beset our minds, tending in a great measure to defeat the bestdirected human efforts to enlighten and convince, he adopted a mode of instruction in admirable consistency with our ordinary associations in hought and feeling, and calculated imperceptibly to overcome those deep-rooted prejudices which might have obstructed the avenue to the hearts of his hearers. But, while the great framework of parabolic instruction was accommodated to mankind in general, and thus, with the strictest propriety, made the vehicle of truths which were destined to be taught among all nations, our Lord so arranged the subordinate circumstances of the parables, as to suit the people to whom they were more immediately addressed. Minutely acquainted with the manners, and customs, and local peculiarities of the country, he takes advantage of national partiality to recommend his doctrines to their attention; and, by a beautiful coincidence in his pictures with the objects of their every-day observation and experience, he enshrined these narratives in the minds and hearts of the Jews, and rendered their transference from the literal to the spiritual meaning comparatively easy. The ultimate object, finally, with which our Lord resorted to parables, as forming a part, viz., of a probationary system, was admirably accomplished. He who could say, " Before Abraham was, I am," knew the exact point in the Jewish ROSAMOND ROBSON; OR, THE TRIUMPHS history when such a mode of instruction could be most properly introduced. His opportunities of teaching were carefully watched, and their full effect foreseen by the eye of "Him who searcheth the hearts, and trieth the reins of the children of men." Let us, therefore, adore the infinite wisdom and amazing condescension of this Divine Teacher, who "spake as never man spake," and of this Divine Mediator, by whom is bestowed" repentance unto Israel and the remission of sins." DEATH OF AN INFANT SON. No laughing welcome greets me now, Thy footsteps light are heard no more And, ob! He'l! bless and comfort us, And Death hath bent his bow. O still our God will gracious be: G. OF DIVINE GRACE. BY THE REV. M. BROWN, A. M., Minister of the Presbyterian Church, Morpeth, Northumberland. ROSAMOND ROBSON, the subject of the following brief Memoir, was the daughter of respectable parents in this town. She was a very engaging child from her infancy, and the members of the family, but also by all who and greatly beloved, not only by her father and mother knew her. She was quick, lively, and intelligent; possessed of very amiable dispositions, and of a warm and affectionate heart. As soon as is customary she was sent to school, where she was taught the usual branches of education. The mistress being a pious woman berself, no doubt would take special care that her pupils should be early made acquainted with the Sacred Scriptures, and the leading doctrines of Christianity, as contained in the admirable summary of our holy religion to be found in the Shorter Catechism of our Church. Rosamond, therefore, would be taught, not | she herself was taken ill, and laid upon the bed of sickonly at home, but in the school, to read the Scriptures ness. Then it was she began in earnest to seek the and attend to the duties of religion. But there was Lord. Hitherto she had been in the habit of reading nothing remarkable in her conduct during the time she the Scriptures, and saying her morning and evening attended school. Like almost all children, she was prayers; but she had engaged in these exercises more fond of amusement, and seemed to derive great pleasure as a task to be performed, than as a sacred and religious when engaged in play with her youthful companions. duty. Now she felt a delight in the performance of She was fond of her lessons, and always manifested this duty. Affliction, as she frequently confessed, was great willingness to go to school; and as she was a the means which was blessed to open her eyes to see pretty girl, kind-hearted and playful, she was, I believe, the natural corruption of her own heart, and the need of a great favourite with her associates. She was destined a Saviour, and which led her to peruse the Scriptures to lose her father when she was only seven years of every day, and make preparation for a coming eternity. age. His death would, no doubt, make an impres- Soon as she ascertained that her disease bore the sion on her young mind at the time; and she would symptoms of consumption, and might terminate in feel the loss of one who had shown her so much death, she became more deeply impressed with the attention, and to whom she was fondly attached. value of time, and the necessity of improving it to the But, though she might remember him, and speak best advantage. As the disease increased, and the about him long after that event happened, yet it probable issue became more apparent, she became more did not produce any salutary change on her heart. alive to the business of religion, and manifested a Such dispensations of Providence are well fitted to im- greater anxiety for her soul's salvation. At first, she press the mind with the paramount importance of true showed some aversion to speak to me on the subject religion, and with the necessity of making preparation of religion and the state of her mind; but this soon to meet our God. But it must not be forgotten, that, wore off, and she delighted to talk of nothing else than in order to be productive of lasting impressions, they about the Sacred Scriptures. The love of Christ, as must be sanctified by the Divine Spirit; without this, displayed in the amazing plan of human redemption, the most painful bereavements to which any person was a theme on which she delighted to dwell. may be subjected will be utterly fruitless in converting whole soul was ravished at the contemplation of the the soul, and leading to the practice of piety. The wonders of redeeming grace; and she often expressed death of a father is a heavy loss; but Rosamond was her surprise that we should think so little of Jesus not old enough fully to appreciate it, and it passed Christ, who loved us, and laid down his life that we away unimproved. might be saved from everlasting misery. I remember once hearing her say, when speaking of the sufferings of Christ, "Oh, how much I love him! How precious he is to me! He is all my salvation! I love my mother very much, and can never repay her for all her kindness towards me, especially since I have been ill; but I love the Saviour far more. I delight to meditate on his name, and his wonderful works to the children of men. I am astonished to think of his kindness to myself, in making me a member of his household and an heir of heaven." Nothing of importance took place in the family to impress Rosamond's mind till the death of her eldest sister, which took place about three years after her father died. Her death was rather sudden, at least it was not preceded by long illness; and as she was cut off in the very bloom of youth, it was well calculated deeply to affect the members of the family, and to lead them to think seriously of the shortness and uncertainty of time—to lead ber brothers and sisters to remember | their Creator in the days of their youth. But affecting as it was, it did not seem to make much impression on Rosamond. After the funeral was over, and the bustle and excitement which such an event always occasions in a family had passed away, she soon recovered her wonted buoyancy of spirits; and, busy herself in the enjoyment of good health, soon forgot apparently what had taken place. Her By conversing with her mother, and other religious friends who visited her during her illness, she acquired very accurate and comprehensive views of the grand scheme of mercy for fallen man, as made known in the Bible; and, in looking back on her past life, she deeply regretted having been so giddy and thoughtless, and that she had spent so much of her time in pursuit Not many weeks, however, had elapsed, till a sister of the vanities of the world, without ever thinking of younger than herself died, after a few days' illness, her character as a sinner, and ber destination as an during which she suffered very severely. This melan- immortal being-without ever thinking of Christ, and choly event seemed to produce a very powerful im- of a coming eternity. How different now her feelings pression on Rosamond's mind, for ever afterwards she and sentiments! Now she regarded the Sacred Volume appeared more sedate and thoughtful. A visible change as her richest treasure; and she delighted to read its took place in her appearance and manner, evident to blessed pages, and to meditate on its precious and her mother and all who saw her. Not that any saving soul-reviving truths. She could, indeed, say with the change as yet had taken place in her heart and affec- Psalmist, "O how love I thy law it is my meditation tions, but she seemed to think much of the extreme all the day: it is sweeter than honey, yea, than the brevity of time; and the idea of her younger sister honey-comb." During the first weeks of her illness, being dead and buried, had the effect of leading her to she read other religious books besides the Bible; but think seriously of her own death and burial. And the latterly the New Testament was the chief subject of time was at hand when she was to feel the power of her reading: and to show how much she valued it. Divine grace in sanctifying all her afflictions, and mak- she made a present of two New Testaments to two ing her a wonderful monument of redeeming love. female friends, who called to see her not long before Only a short time elapsed after her sister's death, till | she died, adding, that she hoped that they would read |