was not his part to pafs any judicial fentence upon her; but only exhorted her to fin no more. Among other inftances of the wifdom with which he reproved his adverfaries, we may remark fome of his parables. Such was that of the man, who had two fons whom he ordered to work in his vineyard. The elder pretended to go, but afterwards refufed. The younger at first refused, but afterwards went. In the elder was held out the perverseness of the Jews in rejecting the Gospel in the younger, the penitence of the Gentiles, who should now be received. But though the parable was very fevere, the chief priests could not take hold of Jefus, because the wisdom, as well as the severity of it, lay in their own application. : Of the fame kind was the parable of the guests invited to the marriage. As they who had been invited would not come, the mafter of the feaft fought for fuch as could be found. The chief priefts had fenfe enough to understand the feast meant the Gospel-the guests who refused to come, the Jews; and thofe invited from abroad, the Gentiles. If Jefus had faid all this plainly, his enemies would foon have raised an accufation against T4 against him: but as he told them only a fable, the application was their own. men. Of the fame kind alfo was the parable of the householder, who let out his vineyard to hufbandOn their ufing his fervants ill whom he had fent to gather the fruits of it, he at length fent his fon, but him they put to death. In the preceding parable, Jefus had fhewn the chief priefts what they had done; in this he fhewed them what they intended to do. But still each parable was wrapped up in so much prudent caution, that his enemies were their own accufers. Having given you a few inftances of our bleffed Saviour's wisdom in reproving his adverfaries, I fhall now fhew you, that in giving inftruction alfo, no man fpake like this man. In the first place, he laid a ftrefs on many virtues, which other lawgivers did not value-on humility, for inftance, gentleness, meekness of spirit, the forgiveness of enemies, contempt of the world, and univerfal charity. It was his defign to draw men from this world, to which they are always too much attached. Other lawgivers wish to fit men for it, and there fore fore give them worldly inftructions. But as our Saviour intended to qualify men for heaven, he taught them fuch virtues as were fuited to that bleffed ftate. No man ever spake in that way but himself. Again, our bleffed Saviour, (as his, forerunner, John, had foretold,) laid the axe to the root of the tree. Other inftructors enjoined virtuous actions. Jefus went farther, and laid a restraint on our thoughts, well knowing that if the heart were pure, the actions would be pure of course; and if impure, nothing good could fpring from it. Another great principle which he held out, and which was given by no other lawgiver, was to do every thing to please God. This was a directing principle on all occafions, for every man must know in his heart, whether he wished to please God. Again, our Saviour did not draw his inftruc tions into length, by fhewing the ground and reason of each precept: he gave them, as the Jews obferved, with authority, and not as the fcribes. His inftructions frequently were couched in fhort fentences; fuch as, Love your neighbour as yourfelf. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Let not your right hand know what your left hand hand doth. All thefe, which are in fact the law reduced to a portable fize, are fo plain and easyfo readily remembered, and fo obvious on all occafions, that it must be a man's own fault, if he be ignorant of his duty. His duty is thus brought home to his feelings. up We remarked fome of our Saviour's parables as great inftances of that wisdom, with which he avoided, or reproved his enemies: we may remark others as very beautiful pieces of wisdom and inftruction, fuch indeed as are no where met with, but in the inftructions of him, who fpake as never man fpake. In the prodigal fon, with what wonderful tenderness is reprefented the happy ftate of a repenting finner?-In the rich man, who laid his goods for many years, how ftriking is the folly of trufting to earthly poffeffions?In the felf-exalted Pharifee, and the humble publican, how ftrongly is fpiritual pride reproved, and humility inculcated?-How affectingly are we taught to love our enemies, by the parable of the good Samaritan? and how awfully are we fhewn, in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, the end to which our riches bring us if we employ them only in gratifying ourfelves?-In the parable of the feed fown on various foils, how aptly are we fhewn hewn the neceffity of cultivating our minds with the heavenly inftruction of the gospel?-The parable of the talents delivered to different fervants, fhews us that God hath appointed different ftations among mankind; and that every man fhould act faithfully according to his ftation; while the parable of the ten virgins, who waited. for the bridegroom, and of whom five were fhut out, reminds us of that conftant vigilance, which we all ought to use in these several stations. But it would exceed the bounds of a difcourfe of this kind, to quote all our Saviour's uncommonly inftructive leffons. I haften therefore to fhew, as I propofed, thirdly, in what way, above all others, he fpake like no other man. I mean, in his opening the grand fcheme of the redemption of mankind. From the hiftory of Mofes, it was well known, that our first parents had fallen from their original purity. But people knew not in thofe early times the extent of the mifchief; nor in what way restoration was provided; except from the notices of certain prophecies, which were not clearly understood, till they were fulfilled; and from what they could gather of the nature of atonement from the rite of facrifice. When he came, who |