inasmuch as all have come short of the glory of God, instead of that terrible reckoning for sin which awaited every inmate of a fallen world, we hear the Almighty speaking once again in terins of favour to his creatures-we receive from his lips an assurance of peace on earth and good will towards men,-and we look forward with confidence to the gracious pledge, that he who spared not his own son will also with him freely give us all things.

3. If Christ condescended to teach, that he might give his own sanction and authority to the dispensation how humbly should it be received, --how implicitly venerated,-how dutifully obeyed. We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three wit

nesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God?

Ignorance of their natural blindness, and unconsciousness of their want of a spiritual teacher, were the principal causes which led to the rejection of our Lord's prophetical office on the part of the Jews. It is our duty to watch against the prevalence of a similar spirit. The avenues of the heart must be kept open to conviction, that the entrance of the good seed, as it falls from the hand of the sower, be not obstructed, and that its effect, when actually received, be not neutralized, by a mixture of earthly passions which corrupt, or of cares which choke it. Above all, there must be much prayer for the Holy Spirit to enlighten and invigorate the understanding, and to overcome that dulness which seems to be inseparable from man, when left to the poverty and weakness of his own unassisted

9 Heb. ii. 1-3. x. 28, 29.

nature. And it has always been mercifully provided, that wherever there exists that fervent desire to learn in Christ's school, which wrought so powerfully in the heart of the Ethiopian Eunuch, there will never be wanting some Philip to guide the inquiring spirit, and to improve the day of small things into a season of abundant light and grace. Much of course will depend on the choice of our objects of study, and on our manner of studying them. Some are satisfied with any thing which exercises the intellectual powers, and some allow the empty and undigested ideas to pass over the mind, like objects over a mirror, without leaving on its surface any trace of permanent impression. This is to spend time, but not to improve it. It was while the Eunuch was reading the Scriptures, that the apostle was directed to join himself to his chariot. It was for searching the same Scriptures diligently,' that the Beræans were distinguished by the title of noble.' The heart of Lydia was opened, not only to become a hearer of the words of eternal life, but that she attended' unto the things which were

spoken of Paul. We are thus indirectly guided to the proper end of study, and to the mode by which that study may be rendered profitable to us. And God, assuredly, will not withhold his blessing from those who are searching for the truth in the book of Christ, and are pondering in their hearts all the knowledge they acquire, with a view to a progressive growth in heavenly wisdom.

4. We are especially called upon to attend to the contrast between the ministerial character of our Saviour, and that of all other teachers, -or, in the words of Scripture, to consider the apostle of our profession, Christ Jesus'.

If we look at the Jewish teachers, we shall find them represented in the Bible either as dumb dogs, or as blind guides-- either as slumbering on their posts, and betraying their charge through indolence, or as corrupting the faith committed to them, and making it void through their

Heb. iii. 1.

traditions-either as teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, or as occupied in a vain and laborious trifling, which tended to withdraw the mind from any spiritual religion. The remarkable contrast between the teaching of the Scribes and that of our Lord, is very forcibly intimated by the frequency with which the Evangelists bring them into comparison 2. Or if we look into the heathen nations, we shall find, as might be expected, among the best of the philosophers of the Pagan world, the temper and spirit of their religion but too faithfully pourtrayed in the character of its teachers. And even when we turn away from these corrupt sources of knowledge, and revert to the disciples of Christianity for examples of good and faithful servants in the office of teacher, we shall too often have reason to lament their departure from the perfect model exhibited by him from whom they derive their authority. There was something reprehensible found in five out of the seven ministers ad