DISCOURSE XXVII.

CHRISTMAS-DAY.

HEBREWS, I. 1, 2.

God, who, at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake, in time past, unto the fathers, by the prophets : Hath, in these last days, spoken unto us, by his Son.

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DISCOURSE XXVIII.

CHRIST'S RESURRECTION.

1 COR. XV. 20.

Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things

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DISCOURSE XXX.

FOR TRINITY SUNDAY.

PSALM XXXIII. 3.

By the word of the Lord, were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them, by the breath of his mouth. 388

DISCOURSE I.

SAINT JOHN, vi. 68.

LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? THOU HAST THE

WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.

OUR blessed Lord, having lately fed five thousand men, besides women and children, in a desert place, with five barley loaves and two small fishes, the people were so struck with admiration of the miracle they had seen, that they wanted to proclaim Him, who could do such mighty works, their King; it being their prevailing notion, that Messiah or Christ was to be a worldly deliverer, and to set up a temporal kingdom. "When Jesus, therefore, perceived that they would come, and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." But, being soon after found at Capernaum, and they who had been eyewitnesses of the miracle, and had shared in the

fruits of it, flocking round him in great multitudes, our Lord, who knew what was in man, perceiving that numbers of them sought him, not for their spiritual good, but with a prospect of further worldly advantages, exhorted them to labour, not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. He then proceeded to discourse of himself, as the bread of life; to declare, that he would give his flesh for the life of the world; and to assure them, that he who would have eternal life, must eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood. In this discourse, which was to be spiritually understood, were some things hard to be received by carnal ears; and* our blessed Lord seems to have used this mysterious style, and to have expressed himself with an obscurity not usual in his doctrine to the people, that he might prove and try those, who resorted to him merely from those worldly motives which I have mentioned; and might discourage them from attending him any longer: since, the attendance of a multitude so disposed, could be no furtherance of the kingdom of God among men, nor any real benefit to themselves. This method, which our Lord took to exercise the faith of his hearers,

* See Archbishop Newcome's "Observations on our Lord's Conduct." 113. 302.

to check the ardour of the multitude, and to separate the worldly-minded from the sincere, had the desired effect. From that time, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him; which our Lord observing, asked the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" But Saint Peter, in the name of the rest, replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."

Having thus explained the occasion of the text, I shall go on to consider, not so much what our Lord taught, as how he then taught, and still teaches, the words of eternal life.

Saint Peter, when he so readily and decidedly professed his adherence and fidelity to Christ, as having the words of eternal life, had frequently observed and experienced with what meekness, and condescension, and patience, He taught and delivered these words. He was one of those disciples, whom the Son of God, by appointment of his heavenly Father, had chosen to be his constant attendants, under the name of Apostles; whose general character was, that they were men, indeed, without guile, and unblameable in their lives and conversations, but without quickness of apprehension by nature, or any enlargement of thought by education.

Their rank of life was mean; their understandings were slow; and their minds prepossessed with many wrong opinions concerning the nature of his kingdom, which raised competitions among them, who should be the greatest in it; and which strongly disinclined them to hear of his sufferings and death. All which disadvantages our Lord bore with mildness, and persevered in overcoming with gentle and patient instruction. It was never grievous unto him, to repeat and explain the same things again, when it was useful to them. He prepared them for the doctrine and discipline of the Cross, by gentle degrees. He proved, first, that he was Christ the Son of the living God, by giving eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, life to the dead, and by other mighty works, before he opened to them what Christ was to suffer, that he might enter into his glory. And, that they might better bear to hear, that his kingdom was not of this world; and that they were not to expect wealth, affluence, and pre-eminence in the present life, as followers of him; he set before them, in his own conduct and conversation, the brightest example of neglecting earthly things, of self-denial, and humility. Thus, he trained and qualified a set of low and unlearned men, to become the light of the world, and the