Lord, neither will I let Israel go. And therefore it is, that I have not taken for my text the words in which our Saviour replies again to the blind man; “ Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee;" because Christ never would give such an answer to those whose ignorance is their own fault: on the contrary, their eyes are blinded that they cannot see, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness, that is, all the various seductions by which men are led to embrace evil rather than good, is allowed to be practised by Satan against them. I purpose then to take a few cases of common characters; and to show how many there are, who, if asked plainly, whether they believed in the Son of God? would be forced to confess, that they had but very imperfect ideas about him, and that they did not fully know who he was that they should believe on him.

First let us see what the question means. It is plain that it means more than a mere nominal belief, like that of a person who had learnt his creed by heart, and had been told in his childhood, who Christ was; without having in after life thought about him at all, and yet without ever having his old belief overthrown: so that if he should be put in mind of it, he would still possess it. This is just such a belief

as we might have concerning any famous person that we have ever read of; whose name is of no concern to us in our daily living, and does not present itself to our minds; but, if we were asked concerning it, we should then remember what we had learnt, and say that we had no doubt of the history of it. Such a belief on the Son of God is no belief at all: because I may very well believe that Cæsar Augustus was once an emperor of Rome, and yet scarcely ever think of him; for it is of no consequence to my conduct and happiness whether he ever lived or no. But to believe on Christ and not think of him, is almost a contradiction: so much does it concern us to think of him, if we believe what we are told of him. We know that the belief spoken of in the text, is a true and lively assurance that Christ is indeed the Son of God, from whom we shall receive our eternal sentence of happiness or misery, according as we please him or no: and any man who does hold such an assurance strongly, cannot easily avoid being influenced by it in his conduct.

Now first, I believe that there are many, who, in a very strict sense, may be said not to know who the Son of God is. They call him their Saviour, but if they are asked what he has.

done for them, they would say that he has taught them their duty, and told them that if they did well, they should go to Heaven hereafter. Thus they consider him in fact as a great prophet, but are never led to regard him with that faith, and love, and adoration, which his character, as revealed in the Scriptures, demands. I am not speaking of those who avow their disbelief in his divinity; but of those, and I believe they are many, who receiving all the doctrines of our creed without scruple, and confessing, when questioned concerning it, that Jesus Christ is God and man, do yet habitually lose sight of his office of Saviour and Mediator, and regard him only as a teacher. Hence it follows that he does not hold his due place in their religion; they speak of God, and think of him, and pray to him, without knowing that he can only be approached through his Son; and their opinions and practice are more those of the disciples of John the Baptist, who preached repentance, than of the Apostles of Christ, who taught together with repentance towards God, faith towards Jesus Christ our Lord. Connected

with this is a thing which may appear trifling, but which in reality is a very curious symptom of the state of feeling that I have been describing. It is notorious, that in writing and

in speaking, the name of God, or of Providence, is frequently used, not merely in thoughtless profaneness, but when men wish to use expressions of seriousness and devotion. It is notorious also, that the name of Christ is very seldom used in the same manner, and that if it were used in conversation, people would start at it, as something unusual. It cannot be said that men are restrained by reverence from using the name of the Son, when they do not hesitate to pronounce that of the Father: neither is it agreeable to the practice or commands of the Apostles to forbear speaking of him who holds all power in Heaven and in earth, and in whose name we are directed to do all things. But the custom has arisen from a wish to comply as much as possible with the language of the world, and to keep out of sight the peculiarities of the Gospel. It is something of the old shame which used to be felt for the scandal of the cross; God is a name which unbelievers may use, for they profess to acknowledge a Supreme Being, and, therefore, they hear the word without offence. But the mention of Christ shows the difference between Christians and unbelievers in the strongest manner; it is the signal of our profession which cannot be mistaken, and it at once awakens the hatred of

the world. For the Gospel is always thoroughly hated by every one that is evil, because it is truth and righteousness, and reproves the deeds of the wicked; nor is there any better proof that what is called natural religion is of an infinitely lower kind, than the pretended respect shown for it by those who cannot bear the perfect purity of the law of God. However, it may be asked, what practical mischief is done by regarding our Lord mostly as a teacher, and by not keeping his name so continually in our thoughts? The mischief is this, that we by so doing lose sight of the great corruption of our nature, which needed a Saviour and a sanctifier much more than a teacher; and, by forgetting our own weakness, we shall never gain that strength which, through Christ, is able to overcome all things; but trying to fulfil the law of works, we shall fall far more short of that law, than if we had endeavoured to attain unto righteousness by the law of faith. In other words, the love of Christ is the most practical principle in the world: of which there is this proof; that all those men whose lives have afforded the brightest examples of goodness, have been full of this love of their Saviour; and gratitude to him for his redemption, confidence in him as their Mediator, and a hope to reign with him