Lord, give us grace never to resist the godly motions of Thy Holy Spirit, but to attend when Thou callest, turning from whatever is offensive to Thee with a true and hearty repentance, and pardon all our sins, for Thy dear Son's sake, Jesus Christ. SERMON XII. The woman which had an issue of blood. [Preached at S. Giles' on the 24th Sunday after Trinity, Nov. 6, 1842.] FROM THE GOSPEL FOR THE DAY. S. MATTHEW ix. 20. "BEHOLD, A WOMAN, WHICH WAS DISEASED WITH AN ISSUE OF BLOOD." THERE is a wonderful harmony and consistency in all the works of God. By this alone we might well see that the God of nature is also the God of grace,—that He, who made our bodies, made also our souls,—that He, who orders and rules the world, is Head over all things to His Church,—that He, who filleth all things living with plenteousness, and upon whom the eyes of all wait, is the same God who dispenses spiritual sustenance, and Ꮓ upholds and satisfies them, who hunger and thirst after righteousness. In the music of God's creation there are no discordant notes. All things we see around us declare the glory of God, and shew forth His handiwork. Nature reads us the same lesson that Scripture doth; and Scripture teaching is concordant with the inward voices of the Holy Spirit in the soul; and the Holy Church uttereth the same language. All are the expressions of the mind of the same God; all the manifestations of the same Spirit. Thus the temples, which are raised to God's honour, are built after the same pattern; and their several parts are symbols of the same truths, existing in the Mind of the Eternal God. There is the temple of God, which we behold about us,-the temple of nature, as we call it,-wherein the things that are invisible may be discerned from the things that are seen. And there are temples, which we Christians build, wherein to worship the Lord, and to the glory of His Name, in which, when rightly built, every part and every arrangement utters some lesson of Christian doctrine and practice. And there is that spiritual temple, now existing, of which Christians are the living stones, fitly compacted together, built upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. And there is that heavenly temple in the New Jerusalem, which in prophetic vision S. John was allowed to behold, wherein Saints, when finally glorified and saved, shall adore with everlasting songs and never-ending worship the Lord God, who loved them and saved them from destruction. And all these temples are built after the same pattern, and we may discern an agreement and unity among them. Now, such being the harmony that exists in all the works of God, so that, if we may so speak, though there be different kingdoms, yet is there but one Ruler and Governor of all, who both in heaven and in earth, in things natural and things spiritual, in the body and in the soul, ordereth and upholdeth all things, it will not surprise us that, when the only-begotten Son of God left the glory, which from before the worlds He had had with the Father, and came and dwelt among us, in His works the same marks and characteristics should be found. So that every word of His is full of meaning, every action of His pregnant with manifold instruction. He cannot work a miracle, but a doctrine is at the same time taught. He cannot heal a disease, but at the same time He pardons a soul, and cures the more dreadful plague of sin. He cannot look upon any, but His compassionate eyes behold not the misery of fleshly sickness alone, but read the heart, and discern the secret thoughts and desires of the soul. He cannot touch the body, but man's spirit sympathises at the touch, and the saving influence is felt throughout,—body and soul, all recognize the skill of the great Physician. It was thus, that before His coming the promises ran concerning Him. "The fearful heart was bid, be strong: for that the eyes of the blind should be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; and that the lame man should leap as an hart; and that there should be an highway, even the way of holiness." And again, we are told, how “the 1 Isaiah xxxv. |