Gen. xlix. 10. Matt. iv. 17. the words stood forth in bolder relief, "unto HIM shall the gathering of the people be." Whether most to the wonderment of Jew or Gentile, "from that time" from the time of his settlement at Capernaum-"Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand:" to which it is presently added, "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judæa, and from beyond Jordan. And seeing the multitudes," are the words of the text," he went up into a mountain: and when he Matt, iv. 23 was set, his disciples came unto him and he opened 2. his mouth, and taught them." -25; v. 1, Such is the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, and I stop not to inquire whether it be misplaced,-whether or not it be one and the same with that recorded by St. Luke,—whether it took place after the calling of the twelve,—whether or not, at this time, the names" disciple" and "apostle" were marked and defined,-questions which might, perhaps, in a Con cio ad Clerum, be legitimately dwelt upon, even as they are in Harmonies or Catenas. Again, it would turn little to edification to dwell upon the fact, that in St. Matthew, our blessed Lord Matt. v. 1; Luke vii. spake, sitting; in St. Luke, He stood in the plain. Luke vi. 17. Neither, again, could it be a matter of vital importance, to explain exactly whether the disciples alone, or the multitudes also (which, however, seems to have been the fact), did hear, and wonder at the gracious words that proceeded from his lips. The great point is, that "HE taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes." There could be 28, 29. hardly room for doubt with the willing-hearted and obedient, but that He was not only the great PROPHET, but the great TEACHER also; and even the disobedient and unwilling must have had searchings of heart, and great ones too. It was a marvel to see such things in Galilee! To us, it matters not whether this wonderful Sermon were delivered on Mount Tabor,-what were the number' of the Beatitudes in St. Matthew, what in St. Luke, or whether, in the latter, the Beatitudes and the woes answered the one to the other, after the system of the Hebrew parallelism,-— nor these, nor other questions are of real import,— the great matter is, that we find the doctrine accompanying the teaching,- that Christ was there, in "That which many do comment concerning the octonary number of the Beatitudes, hath too much curiosity and little benefit."-Lightfoot's Hor. &c. in loc., vol. ii. p. 136. teaching no less glorious, though emptied of his glory, and in the fashion of a man, for us men and for our salvation. "As the high priest," says one 2, 66 passing through the holy place, when he went up to the Holy of Holies to consult the oracle, heard the voice as of a man speaking from the mercy-seat; so in contemplating this portion of the New Testament, we seem to have passed on to the most spiritual communication of God to man. Freed from the types and shadows of the Mosaic law, and rescued from the cloudy traditions and perversions of the Pharisees, the light of the Sun of truth breaks forth in all its splendour. We hear, from an infallible oracle, the utter overthrow and refutation of all the false hopes and rabbinical corruptions, which had so long perverted the spirit of the Divine law." These considerations thrown out, in which nothing is detracted from the advancement of useful learning, spoken against only by those who either have it not, or are less friendly to true religion, my course will now be to speak of the introductory “Blessings" or "Beatitudes" of that holy Sermon, unto which the text is, as it were, the door of entrance, ? These words are from a note in Townsend's Harm., see vol. i. p. 185. He adds, just below, "He taught them in plain and simple language, such as his hearers constantly understood, and the most ignorant and unlearned in this age, (with but little exception arising from the passages particularly referring to Jewish customs,) can still thoroughly comprehend."-p. 186. having first premised the object of such a line of preaching from this place, which some have considered rather as a chair for profounder learning, than a pulpit from whence lowlier instruction might issue, under God's blessing, for the instruction of many. The object I have in view is this,-THE UNCON TROVERSIAL PREACHING OF THE PAROCHIAL CLERGY, Ps. lxxviii. Many, possibly, who may hear me, may think that this is not likely to be the case,-many, who may be conversant with parochial administrations, will sorrowfully confess that it is so. Neither may it altogether be blamed and censured without exception. The zeal of the warm-hearted pushes them onwards to the battle-front, as they think, to the glory of the Lord. To hold back were to be neither hot nor cold, but an act rather of Ephraim's more timid children, "who being harnessed, and carrying bows, turned themselves back in the day of battle ;” 10. and so, with much sincerity and earnestness, but less perhaps of judgment, (when "the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time,") somewhat Amos v. 13. like to the old Puritan war-cry is raised, and the watch-word runs to and fro throughout the land, "Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." Now, it is argued, that, in general, and before a Judg. v. 23. 3 mixed audience, many rather than fit, such a course of preaching is little practical, little availing to the edification of the Christian man; and it is believed that that excellent worthy of our Church spake very close to the truth, when, in his "Rules and Advices to the Clergy," he thus instructed them: "In your sermons to the people, often speak of the four last things; of death and judgment; heaven and hell; of the life and death of Jesus Christ; of God's mercy to repenting sinners, and his severity against the impenitent. . . . . . Speak but very little of the secret and high things of God, but as much as you can of the lowness and humility of Christ." And again, "Let no preacher bring before the people, in his sermons or discourses, the arguments of great and dangerous heresies, though with a purpose to confute them; for they will much easier retain the objection, than understand the answer." No better advice, in the ordinary course of things, for "plentiful goodness," apart from disputation, is laid up for those that fear God. As saith the Psalmist," Thou shalt hide them privily by thine own presence from See Jer. Taylor's Works, "Rules and Advices to the Clergy," vol. xiv. pp. 500, 501, § 51. 57. ed. Heber. Jewel's object was the same when he said at Paul's Cross, "Undoubtedly, I could never yet perceive, by any reading, either of the Scriptures, or else of other profane writings, but that the people of all ages hath evermore been readier to receive idolatry, than to learn the distinctions and quiddities of logic or philosophy." -Works, vol. i. p. 17. ed. Jelf. |