If men would take their ideas of this divine teacher immediately from his own, doctrines, and not as they are misrepresented, or at best imperfectly represented by the glosses of others, they would come, of themselves, to this important conclusion: if they would make the Gospel their serious study, and not their casual amusement, they would want no monitor to let them into the merits, or the use of it. They would more than see, they would feel the spirit, with which Jesus spake; and they would readily offer to him, not their barren applause, but their sincere obedience.

Till this salutary effect be wrought in those who call themselves the disciples of Jesus, it may not be improper to remind them of what he himself said to ONE, who was affected, as we may now be, by a sense of his divine power in speaking. He had been delivering great truths, with that authority and wisdom, which ever accompanied his instructions, and the effect was answerable. For it came to pass, as he spake these things, that a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said to him, in the customary style of approbation, Blessed is the

womb that bare thee, and the paps that thou hast sucked. But HE said, Yea, rather blessed are they that HEAR THE WORD of God, and

KEEP ITS.

Luke xi. 27, 28.

SERMON XXXVIII.

PREACHED NOVEMBER 20, 1774.

MATTH. xiii. 10.

The Disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest Thou to them in Parables?

Two things are very observable in our Lord's

conduct towards the Jews. He came to instruct them in the principles of a new religion, and to convince them of its divine authority. Yet to such of them, as were least enlightened by his doctrine, he generally addressed himself in Parables: And before such, as were backward to admit his pretensions, he was sparing of his Miracles. Now the contrary of this conduct, it is said, might be expected: That he

should have explained himself in the clearest manner to the uninformed Jews; and should have multiplied his miracles, for the conviction of the unbelieving.

I propose to consider both these circumstances in the history of Jesus; and to shew that his conduct, in either case, was suitable to his character and mission.

I, now, confine myself to the PARABLES ; and shall take another occasion to consider the

MIRACLES.

The Disciples, having observed that their Master spoke to the Jews in a more obscure and indirect manner, than he was wont to do in private to themselves, came and said unto him, Why speakest thou to them in Parables?

This method of conveying instruction in Parables, that is, in some feigned story, where one thing is put for another, and in which the circumstances of the story are to be applied to something different in the intention of the -speaker, is well known to have been of constant and familiar use in the old world, and especially in the Eastern nations. This figurative cast of language had its rise from necessity,

the rude conceptions of men requiring general truths to be presented to them, in sensible images. But it soon came to be affected as an ornamental way of speaking or writing, the liveliness of the image awakening curiosity, and affording amusement to the mind. Lastly, it was sometimes employed as a mysterious cover of important truths, to which a more than ordinary attention was to be raised, and especially of such important truths as could not be communicated openly and directly without offence. Under this last idea, the Parable, properly so called, presents itself to us. It was contrived on purpose to throw some degree of obscurity over the information, it contained: And it is in reference to this use and character of the Parable, that the Disciples ask why Jesus thought fit to address the Jews in this

way.

To this question, why he spake to the Jews in Parables, and not to the Disciples, our Lord's reply is in these words Because, to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them it is not given.

By this answer we learn, First, that the things delivered by him in this obscure way were not the fundamental truths of the Gospel,

VOL. VII.