to instruct us? And speedily did they pass from contempt to hatred; the very words that ought to have humbled them, filled them with wrath, and the whole audience were so far from having imbibed any of the meek and gentle disposition of the gospel from that discourse, that there was not one, among "all in the synagogue," who would not readily have participated in a foul murder, had not the deed been miraculously prevented; in the hearts of all of them it was perpetrated.

Do you not see then that to admire and applaud a sermon, is a very different thing from being improved by it? and that a person may often say that he has heard excellent doctrine or exhortation, and yet himself be no better christian after all? I have met with several, who seemed to have a great fondness for hearing sermons, but of whom I could not think they had ever heard one to their real benefit. I have known people whose religion is all form,-who love to hear preaching,-speak highly of what they have heard, and yet remain formalists. I have known persons approve of discourses, which most expressly condemned themselves, and yet apply no part of them to their own case. Be not deceived therefore into the thought, that if you are fond of hearing sermons, that it is a sure sign of your being religious; but see whether you like the personal application of

what you hear, whether you can patiently bear to have it said to you, "thou art the man;" whether you can endure to have your own hearts laid open to you, your own practices or defects brought before you, and examine critically whether this personal application has had the effect of correcting what was amiss in you. I verily believe that the reason why people in general are so fond of listening to preachers, is, because they apply nothing of what is said to themselves. I know at least, very certainly, that if I were to say the same things to individuals, which I address to large bodies assembled together, and to declare that I was speaking particularly of their own state, almost every one, however true my words might be, would be offended. You can hardly admonish any one of the sinful errors he is proceeding in, but he is made angry, he considers it a great affront, he thinks you mean a personal insult towards him; and if he makes any acknowledgment at all, it is always coupled with the observation, that he is not worse than his neighbours, indeed that he is much better than many. And yet this same person would not at all object to hear the very same things from the pulpit ;-he might even go away and declare that he had heard a very edifying discourse, and flatter himself, that because he thought it edifying, therefore he was edified.

How is this to be explained? Why because he does not apply one word of the discourse to himself. How vain to hear in this way!" take heed how ye hear;"-you may hear a thousand of the best of sermons and be no nearer to the kingdom of God; - that only does you good, which you take to yourselves; and not that, unless in humble acknowledgment of its truth, and with earnest prayer for God's blessing upon it, you endeavour meekly to turn it to your spiritual improvement.

But I have too long delayed to enter upon the consideration of our Saviour's text, which I intended to make a more prominent subject of my discourse, but must now reserve for a fuller consideration on a future occasion; let us however return to it once more.

That beautiful passage of the prophet which he selected, most faithfully describes the object of his mission, and the general character of his preaching. We can readily imagine that the sermon which he delivered on such a text was "gracious" indeed; no doubt it was full of comfort to the sinner, of free invitation to all to come to him, of love, of affectionate expression, of anxiety for their salvation, of most merciful promises and gentle persuasion. Perhaps in the course of it he said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and

are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out;" "for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." Perhaps he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven;-blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted ;-blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth;- blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled; blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Perhaps he related to his hearers the parable of the prodigal, or of the lost sheep which was found again, and restored to the fold, and added, "there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

We are sure at least of this, that since he said, "this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears," he must have gone on to show them how it was fulfilled, by preaching the glad tidings of his salvation. And there is a circumstance, well worthy of remark, which makes it evident that in that discourse he spoke only of mercy, and of those considerations which should win them to him by

the constraining power of love. If you turn to the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, from whence our Saviour chose his text, you will observe that immediately after those words at which he stopped, ("to preach the acceptable year of the Lord,") it is in the prophet thus, "and the day of vengeance of our God." It seems therefore as if out of tender compassion towards his hearers on that occasion he made it a point to abstain from any argument of an alarming nature, and would address them only in the language of kindness and conciliation. And this is the grand feature of the gospel ;-it is a dispensation of joy, peace, and mercy;-from the time that the first promise was made to Abraham, "in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed," down to the time when, on announcing the birth of Christ, the angel said to the shepherds, "fear not, for behold I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people;" there was hardly one, out of the numberless prophecies of the Messiah, that did not speak of the happy consequences of that great event, and point to it as a most joyful period. And thus should we regard it still;-it should not be our first or prevailing impression concerning the gospel, that it reveals "the day of vengeance of our God," nor concerning Christ, that he came into the world to condemn the world ;