sacraments which are the rich legacy bequeathed by His own dear Son, the seals of the covenant. In these, there is neither curiosity to be indulged, nor an itching ear to be gratified; but sober genuine piety, to be cherished and strengthened by continual exercise. And for the word which man speaketh — let it be your object to hear it, not for entertainment, but for edification; for the searching and amending of your hearts. Be sure, therefore, to accompany it with prayer, that the dew of divine grace may rest upon it, and bless it to your salvation. And while you pray that it may turn to your own immortal good, pray likewise, as in Christian charity bound to do, for him who utters it, that it may fall back with tenfold force upon his own heart; so that, "while he preaches to others, he himself may not be a castaway."

152

SERMON X.

CATECHISING.

ISAIAH, XXviii. 9, 10.

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little."

THIS, in the judgment of the excellent Bishop Lowth and some other interpreters, is the language of scoffers, ridiculing the concise sententious manner of the prophet; or perhaps the continually repeated inculcation of plain and simple truths, fit for none to learn but infants or newly weaned children. This mockery the prophet is supposed to retort upon them in the verses following, with great severity:"With stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people; to whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the re

freshing: yet they would not hear." The word of the Lord is ever intended to bring rest to the heavy laden, and comfort to the sorrowing soul; to his faithful children it is a strong support; to them his promises are sure and steadfast: but they that rebel against Him shall be carried into captivity, and learn the will of God in a strange country, and among a people of a foreign language. "And

the word of the Lord shall be unto them precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little; that they may go and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken; -"my dealing with you shall be according to your own words: it shall be command upon command for your punishment; it shall be line upon line stretched over you to mark out your destruction: it shall come upon you at different times, and by different degrees, till the judgments, with which from time to time I have threatened you, shall have their full accomplishment." The prophet goes on to rebuke the scoffers, and at the same time declare the object and intent of God's dispensations: "Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us for we

*Bishop Lowth.

have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding-place."

In whatever manner the former part of this passage may be understood, which is that quoted in the text, the whole has manifest reference to the times under the Gospel, and the mode of teaching to be employed by our Lord and His apostles; which, like the rest of God's dealings with the children of men, would be an instrument of the greatest good to the faithful and obedient, but would aggravate the sin and condemnation of those who refuse to hearken. The sense of the passage may perhaps be thus briefly expressed:-At a time when the great and mighty in the nation shall have forgotten me, the rich man glorying in his riches, and the wise man in his wisdom, and the mighty man in the greatness of his intemperance, then will I turn to the poor and simple among the people; and will teach them, as children must be taught, by little and little, in a manner suited to their simplicity. And this shall be for judgment; rest and refreshing to the hungry and the weary soul, but a stumbling-block to the proud and

scornful. Thus it was in the days of our Lord and His apostles, and thus will it ever be. Not only the doctrine which was taught, but the mode of teaching, was such as put the sincerity and good disposition of the hearers to a just trial. The Jews were offended at Jesus, and the Corinthians at St. Paul, not merely on account of the simplicity of the doctrine which each delivered, but for the plain and unpretending style in which they addressed their hearers, discarding the arts of eloquence, and turning to the poor and unlearned for a free and willing auditory. And so it is now. The graces of speech, and the various pretensions of oratory, together with a display of learning, and entering upon the deep things of God, and all that will supply a vain mind, or a roving fancy, with something to feed its thoughts or its imagin ation, this will be eagerly sought after, and readily praised but a plain and simple declaration of Gospel truth, and especially of Gospel duty, this, it is to be feared, will be distasteful to a luxurious age; and many, disliking the style and manner of the teacher, will put themselves in an attitude of resistance to the word which is taught. But let the Gospel have its due praise; praise for its power in alluring and convincing those who are truly wise. The excellence of its first principles, when exhibited in their genuine beauty and simplicity, will be manifested in its effects. The love of God in