rejecting the Jews; in calling the Gentiles; in allowing "blindness in part to happen to Israel, till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." This display of justice, of love and mercy, of forbearance and grace, causes the apostle to exclaim, "O! the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" In almost all our discourses, if they are derived from this sacred source which Jesus opened, we display the Divine wisdom which revealed itself through him.

The instruction he gave, surpassing all others in the purity, the comprehensiveness, the aptitude to universal application, by which it is marked; the doctrines he taught, leading us to the knowledge of God, teaching us the necessity and efficacy of repentance, revealing a future world and a judgment to come; the power which, without measure, he enjoyed, to confirm all his claims to the implicit confidence of faith; the eventful circumstances of his life and death, and every particular of his faultless example; and, above all, the last event in the fulfilment of this dispensation-his resurrection from the dead, and the full assurance which this gives of our own-make him preeminently the wisdom of God to all who believe and are saved.

This dispensation was adapted to the wants of mankind; it was adequate to satisfy them. They could know much from contemplating nature; reading the book of life they can become wise unto salvation. From each of the works of God, the

from

most minute, they could discover marks of wisdom, and from his providence they could learn that he was wise to govern and direct; but from his SON they could learn the principles of his conduct, and look into futurity with the unclouded prospect of glory, honour, and immortality. To every one who has thus become the disciple of Jesus, we may address the language of the Angel to Adam

"Thus having learned, thou hast attained the sum
Of wisdom: hope no higher, though all the stars
Thou knew'st by name, and all the ethereal powers,
All secrets of the deep, all nature's works,
Or works of God, in heaven, air, earth or sea,
And all the riches of this world enjoy'dst."

Now to God, only wise, be glory through Jesus
Christ, for ever.
Amen.

DISCOURSE X.

MANSIONS IN HEAVEN.

JOHN xiv. 2 :

IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS.

THE history of Jesus, as recorded by the Evangelists, contains, necessarily and unavoidably, not only the selection of those disciples who were to be his witnesses, but many instructions and precepts and promises imparted to them, which were peculiar to themselves; which qualified them to spread his religion; but which were not necessary to those who were merely to receive and enjoy and obey it. By the ordinary exercise of our understanding, it would be easy to distinguish all that is thus peculiar, to perceive its propriety, and to see how, in the nature of the case, what is said belongs to the twelve, or at most, to the first promulgators of the gospel, and to these alone. While some things are peculiar to them, much is common to them and all believers:

and here, again, good sense alone is necessary to enable us to see the extent of the promise, the universality of the precept, the intention of the Saviour in teaching them to teach all what they have to do, what they may expect. Had men freely thought upon these subjects, they would have avoided error, and much useless dispute; and they would not have indulged expectations which there is no reason to believe the great Teacher ever intended to excite. By confining to the apostles what belongs exclusively to them; by taking to ourselves what is applicable to all converts, to all believers in Christ, we guard against enthusiasm, and we secure the real benefit which the instruction of Christ can give, and the high assurance and consolation which his promises can impart.

From the nature of the blessings, it is obvious that all that could encourage the disciples, arising from the great object of the mission of Jesus, must exist as encouragement to all Christians in the duties, public or private, of their lives; while what is a means to secure the success of the Gospel in the circumstances in which they had to spread it, belongs so peculiarly to the apostles, that it would be presumption to expect that it should be applicable to any other age.

In all these cases, however, where a refinement beyond ordinary apprehension is aimed at by the interpreter, there will be the greatest probability of mistaking the obvious application of the Scrip

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tures; and though an implicit and thoughtless adoption of what is called the natural sense of a passage is to be avoided, yet what is designed for general good, will most likely be too plain to need the application of critical ingenuity. In such efforts this would be an hypercritical attempt to discover something abstruse, where all is clear and plain.

These remarks have been suggested by an attempt to confine these words, "In my Father's house are many mansions-I go to prepare a place for you," to the apostles, and to affix a sense which the words will not bear. "The mansions in my Father's house" are explained to mean the different offices in the Christian church, the departments which the apostles should respectively fill, in teaching the nations the doctrines of Christ; and it is said that the Saviour here intimates to them that he is going to fix the station they shall each fill as his witnesses in the world. It is sufficient to reply to this explanation, that the apostles hardly ever had any station as ministers, but were missionaries travelling where they were directed by some holy impulse to preach the Gospel; that mansion never means office or duty, much less such discursive and wandering exertions as the apostles had to make in the world; and that there would have been no consolation in the trouble they then felt, to know that their Master, taken away from them by a violent death, is contemplating their pursuing the same career without