your heart the sense of this passage.

Then you will understand, that the sufferings of the Son of God are by no means a proper subject for the amusement of a vacant hour.

SERMON XXIII.

NO SORROW LIKE MESSIAH'S SORROW.

LAMENTATIONS i. 12.

Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow!

ALTHOUGH the Scriptures of the Old Testament, the law of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophecies*, bear àn harmonious testimony to MESSIAH; it is not neces sary to suppose, that every single passage has an immediate and direct relation to him. A method of exposition has frequently obtained, of a fanciful and allegorical cast, under the pretext of spiritualizing the word of God. Ingenious men, and sometimes men not very ingenious, have endeavoured to discover types and mysteries in the plainest historical parts, where we have no sufficient evidence that the Holy Spirit intended to teach them. And upon very slight grounds a proof has been attempted of the great doctrines of the Gospel, which may be proved, much more safely and solidly, from the passages of Scripture in which they are plainly and expressly revealed. But by taking this course, instead of throwing real light upon the places they have in this man

Luke xxiv. 44.

ner attempted to explain, they have perplexed their hearers and readers, and led them to question, whether there be any fixed and determinate sense of Scripture that may be fully depended upon? It is true, when we have the authority of an inspired expositor to lead us, we may follow him without fear; but this will not warrant us to strike out a path for ourselves, and trust to our conjectures, where we have not such an infallible guide. The Epistle to the Hebrews is a key to explain to us many passages in a higher sense than perhaps we should have otherwise understood them. But it is best for us to keep within safe bounds, and to propose our own sentiments, when not supported by New Testament authority, with great modesty, lest we should incur the censure of being wise above what is written. I may, without scruple, affirm, that the history of Sarah and Hagar is an allegory referring to the two covenants, because the apostle Paul has affirmed it before me; but if I attempted to spiritualize the history of Leah and Rachel likewise, you would not be bound to believe me without proof. I may preach the Gospel of Christ from a text which mentions the manna or the brazen serpent†, because our Lord has expounded these things as typical of himself: but I must not be confident that every resemblance which I think I can trace is the true sense of the place; because I may imagine many resemblances and types which the Scripture does not authorize.

There is, however, a useful way of preaching, by accommodation, that is, when the literal sense is first clearly stated, to apply the passage, not directly to prove a doctrine as if really contained in it, but only to illustrate the doctrine expressly taught in other parts of the

* Gál. iv. 24.

† John iii. 14.; John vi. 31. 35.

Scripture. Thus, for instance, if the question of Jonadab to Amnon* were chosen for the subject of a discourse, "Why art thou, being the king's son, lean from "day today?" The history of the context directly proves the malignity of sinful, inordinate desire, and the misery of those who are under its dominion; that it poisons every situation in life, and renders the sinner incapable of satisfaction, though he were a king's son. The form of the question might then lead to observe, That believers are kings' sons, to show what are the great privileges of their adoption; and to inquire how it comes to pass, that many persons so highly privileged are lean, that is, uncomfortable, weak, and lauguishing in their profession? These points might not improperly be introduced by way of accommodation, though they are not directly deducible from the literal sense of the question.

The text I have just read to you has led me into this digression. I find it in the series of the passages in the Messiah; but I am not sure that, in the literal sense, it immediately refers to him. It is a pathetic exclamation, by which the prophet Jeremiah expresses his grief, or rather the grief of Jerusalem, when the sins of the people had given success to the Chaldean army, and the temple and the city were destroyed. Jerusalem is poetically considered as a woman, lately reigning a queen among the nations, but now a captive, dishonoured, spoiled, and sitting upon the ground. She entreats the commiseration of those who pass by, and asks, "If there be any sorrow "like unto her sorrow?" Such a question has often been in the heart and in the mouth of the afflicted, especially in an hour of impatience. We are all, in our

* 2 Sam. xiii. 4.

turns, disposed to think our own trials peculiarly heavy, and our own cases singular. But to them who ask this question we may answer, Yes-there has been a sorrow greater than yours, greater than the sorrow of Jeremiah, or of Jerusalem. They who have heard of the sorrows of Jesus, will surely, upon the hearing of this question, be reminded of him, whether it was the intention of the prophet to personate him or not. If we conceive of him hanging upon the cross, and speaking in this language "Was ever any sorrow like my sorrow?" must not we reply with admiration and gratitude, "No, Lord, never was love, never was grief, like thine."

to us,

The expostulation and the question are equally applicable to the sufferings of MESSIAH. The former, indeed, is not inserted in the Oratorio, but I am not willing to leave it out. The highest wonder ever exhibited to the world, to angels, and men, is the Son of God suffering and dying for sinners. Next to this, hardly any thing is more astonishing to an enlightened mind-than the gross and stupid insensibility with which the sufferings of the Saviour are treated, and the indifference with which this wonderful event is regarded by creatures who are so nearly concerned in it. If they believe in him, they will be healed by his wounds, and live by his death. If they finally reject him, they must perish; and their guilt and misery will be greatly aggravated by what they have heard of him! But sin has so blinded our understandings, and hardened our hearts, that we have naturally no feeling, either for him or for ourselves.

I. Is the expostulation suited to any person here? Can I, with propriety, say to some who are now present, Has this subject been hitherto nothing to you? Then, surely, you have not heard of it before; and, therefore,

now you do hear of it, you will, you must be affected. If you were to read in the common newspapers, that a benevolent and excellent person had fallen into the hands of murderers, who had put him to death in the most cruel manner, would it not be something to you? Could you avoid impressions of surprise, indignation, and grief? Surely if this transaction were news to you, it would engross your thoughts. But alas! you have rather heard of it too often, till it has become to you as a worn-out tale. I am willing to take it for granted that you allow the fact. You believe that Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was condemned by the Jews, and crucified by the Romans. And is it possible this should be nothing to you? Is it too insignificant to engage or deserve your attention? And yet, perhaps, you have wept at a representation or a narrative which you knew was wholly founded in fiction. How strange? What! the sorrows of Jesus nothing to you! when you admit that he suffered for sinners, and will probably admit that you are a sinner. No longer, then, boast of your sensibility; your heart must be a heart of stone. Yet thus it is with too many; your tempers, your conduct, give evidence that hitherto the death of Jesus has been nothing to you. You would not have acted otherwise, at least you would not have acted worse, if you had never heard of his name. Were his sufferings any thing to you, is it possible, that you would live in the practice of those sins, for which no atonement could suffice but his blood? Were you duly affected by the thought of his crucifixion, is it possible that you could crucify him afresh, and put him to open shame, by bearing the name of a Christian, and yet living in a course unsuitable to the spirit and precepts of his Gospel? But if you are indifferent to his grief, is it no