with which it describes the inhabitants of our world. But it is only the devout and closely thinking reader of Scripture, who ponders on every sentence, that can have any thing like a proper view and apprehension of what is really advanced by our Lord; and in several places he will find himself on the borders of those depths and heights which teach him at the same time his weakness and his grandeur. We have here, if we may speak so, the rich beams of the descending sun, who shines with effulgent but soft and mellow splendour, and we are delighted with the beauty of a scene where all is tenderness and love: and as our inspection becomes more intense, we find ourselves in the midst of a celestial radiance too dazzling for the gaze of feeble mortals. In other words, the discoveries of our Lord invite and woo us to meditation; but, unfolding to our astonished minds the high and holy things of the spiritual world, the harmony, or rather the unity that subsists between the Father of lights and his reconciled creatures by virtue of redemption, we readily admit that they far exceed our comprehension at present. They are matters for our faith; and they are calculated, if duly improved, to confirm and invigorate, to enlarge and enliven our piety.

With delight and awe, with love and humility, with a consciousness of our ignorance and weakness, and with the fullest dependence on the influences of the Holy Spirit, it becomes us to enter upon, and to prosecute the examination of this portion of Scripture. In our discourses upon it, it

will invariably be our aim, as it is our earnest desire, to set before you those instructions which we think to be really contained in it: but we are very far from supposing that we can do justice to such a transcendent subject. Happy shall we be, if our remarks, through divine grace, lead you to study these chapters for yourselves, enable you in a measure to understand them, and induce you to apply faithfully to yourselves these sayings of the adorable Emmanuel. We have no learning to exhibit, no talents to display, no favourite system or peculiar notions to promulge or to defend: we only wish to advance what is truly scriptural in a plain manner: and may the great Head of the Church prosper our labour, through the accompanying power of the promised Spirit, that what we advance may promote your present happiness and eternal welfare.

Having thus slightly glanced at the wide and varied field that lies before us, we conclude the present discourse, exhorting you not to forget what has been advanced as the illustration of the text. You have been directed to contemplate in those verses our blessed Lord in a striking position both as to Himself and as to his disciples. You see in Him a wonderful display of grandeur, love, and condescending humility. You see in Him the majesty of Deity and the amiableness of sinless humanity in the former there is no awful and overwhelming pomp, and in the latter there is no weakness or affectation. Perfection stamped his every thought, feeling, and action. We cannot possibly put before us a more glorious and delightful object

than our Saviour: and did we often, did we habitually, contemplate Him in the mirror of his word, what a powerful and beneficial influence would it have upon us! But Christians as we are by name and profession, do not our consciences accuse us of living without a due remembrance of Christ? Is it not a melancholy fact, that He engages but few of our thoughts?

But mere remembrance, or mere contemplation, is far from being all that meets the demand of the gospel. Every discovery we have of Christ, all that is recorded of Him, every word and action of His, is intended not merely to furnish our minds with thoughts, but to influence our hearts, form our spirit, and regulate our conduct. To refer to what has been already said, Was Jesus serene in the trying hour? Did He retain a warm and pure affection for his friends? Did He manifest his humility by an act of the greatest condescension ? What, then, is our piety, if we are without noble thoughts and without composure in trying hours— if we are without an inextinguishable love to our Christian brethren-and if we are without that humility which would make us prompt to advance the good of others at the cost of our own comfort and convenience?

Do we contemplate Jesus, and admire Him? Do we profess the doctrines of his gospel, and perhaps boast of our knowledge of them, and of our tenacious adherence to them? We wish you to test your piety not by these things, but by your conformity to Christ; by the agreement that sub

sists between His thoughts, spirit, and conduct, and your own. The saving knowledge of Christ has a transforming efficacy: and the question which we have to answer is not only, what we think of Him, but also, what the vital and practical influences are which, by virtue of our knowledge, exist and prevail within us, moulding our hearts and lives.

Duly consider this; and let your remembrance of what has been said to you, and also your own study of the text, lead you to serious and fervent prayer, that you may have that knowledge of Christ which, while it involves the sublimest views, is productive of that serene, affectionate, and humble spirit which you behold in Him, and which is essential to the true Christian character. Be it your daily study, therefore, to increase in the knowledge of Christ, and to grow in grace,-and especially in faith, hope, love, and humility.

SERMON II.

Spiritual Washing the Purification of the Soul.

ST. JOHN, xiii. 6—11.

Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

IN studying the language, declarations, and facts of Scripture, we never ought to be satisfied with vague and indistinct notions. In the remarkable transaction before us, the washing of the disciples' feet by our blessed Lord, (to be examined in this and in the following discourse,) the question which we have to determine is, What was the instruction which He intended to convey by it both to them and to his Church? He might have adopted this striking measure merely to correct ambition and to