sight seem to strengthen, do rather weaken it. "Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." Now here, after our Lord had said, "They shall never perish," he seems to explain himself, and to shew in what way they shall not perish. He represents them as kept by him and his Father in a strong hold, whence no enemies can drag them, because his Father who gave them to him is greater than all, and because he is one with the Father. That they shall not be forced away by any enemy he plainly declares; that they shall not desert to the enemy he does not affirm. Thus, on the one hand, when he says, "They shall never perish," he does not qualify the declaration by adding, provided they persevere; on the other, while he shuts out the power of the enemy from being able to hurt them, he does not shut out the treachery of their own hearts. Hence it appears to me, that this passage neither affirms nor denies the perseverance of the saints, and that it cannot be made to speak positively, on the one side or the other, without adding something to the word of God.

To that word we may not add any thing of our own devising, but we are authorized, nay commanded, to compare scripture with scripture, and thus to explain one passage by another. All things are not taught in all texts; and what is partly revealed in one place may be fully declared in another, or may be gathered from the general tenor of scripture. And on the nice point before us, the freedom from system evermore maintained in the scriptures is very admirable, and ought to teach us moderation. In some places they speak of the perseverance of Christians as what might or might not be; you "that were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight; if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel." So again, "I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in

vain." From these passages it should seem as if those who had been reconciled to God might not continue in the faith; and as if those who had received the gospel and stood therein, might fail to keep it in memory, and might thus have believed in vain, and fall short of salvation.

But in other places the language looks more as if believers were secured not only from enemies without, but also from the no less dangerous enemy within. "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." "I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall not depart from me." He is "able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." More might be added to the same effect.

Now either of these classes of texts, if taken singly, might lead to a different conclusion from what might be drawn from the other class. And hence men have arrayed themselves in opposite parties, some denying, others maintaining the final perseverance of the saints. But surely it is wiser to take the whole of scripture, to look at both kinds of texts, and thence to learn, that the assurance of believers is to be tempered by holy fear, and the fear of believers preserved from sinking into despondency by a humble assurance. It is right that he who thinketh he standeth should take heed lest he fall; and that a promise being left us of entering into rest, we should fear lest any of us should come short of it. Yet if at any time we be discouraged from considering our weakness and the treachery of our hearts, we may comfort ourselves by reflecting that when God gave us to his Son, it was not that he should lose us, but that he should save us, and that as the Son and the Father are one, one in nature, and one in counsel, one in love, one in power, the Son is able to save us, and to keep that which we have committed to him against that day. The Father "hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." And our Shepherd, whose voice we have heard, and whose call we have through grace obeyed, is one with the Father. What the Father has appointed therefore the Son will no doubt execute. He will finish the work which he has begun; and if while we were yet sinners he died

for us, much more being now justified by his blood shall we be saved from wrath through him.

Yes,-we may comfort ourselves with the assurance that he who laid down his life for the sheep will not suffer them to perish. He is gone into heaven not only as our intercessor, but as our forerunner; and his will is, that where he is, there we shall be. Through all our difficulties, dangers, temptations, amid all our weakness, and against all our enemies he is able to support us, and will preserve us to his heavenly kingdom. There where he sits on his throne as our King and Shepherd he will feed and lead us to living fountains of waters; God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes.

SERMON LI

JOHN, X. 31--42.

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, for a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. Therefore they sought again to take him but he escaped out of their hand, And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. And many believed on him there.

WE saw in the conclusion of our last discourse, that Jesus affirmed himself and his Father to be one, in order to shew the security of his sheep. The sheep could not be plucked out of his hand, unless they could also be plucked out of his Father's hand. For he and his Father were one, one in purpose, one in affection toward the sheep; so that what he did for them he did according to the will of his Father, and was supported in it by his power. Further, though it was not his object at this time to assert his Godhead, the words may be understood to express that he and the Father were one in nature; and so the Jews did understand them. They considered him therefore as guilty of blasphemy, and took up stones to stone him. Our Lord on this occasion acts with admirable wisdom. He stands before his assailants in the confidence of conscious innocence, and puts it upon them to say what cause of death they could find in him; they knew the sanctity of his life, the purity of his doctrine, the benevo

lence of his miracles. For which of these was it that they stoned him? Was it because he had fed the hungry multitude, given feet to the lame, and eyes to the blind, that they now sought his destruction? This was a strong appeal, and they could not deny that he had wrought these miracles. But they must find some plausible ground for their unbelief and enmity. Therefore they say, "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou being a man, makest thyself God."

A blasphemer was by the law of Moses to be stoned, but not without proof of his guilt. They were right in the punishment annexed to blasphemy, wrong in supposing that Jesus had been guilty of that crime. Our Lord is now put upon his defence against the charge of blasphemy. And this, we must remember is all that he undertakes. The scope of his discourse is to shew to those who did not believe him to be the Christ, and who considered him as a mere man, that even as such, no charge of blasphemy could lie against him. He takes the matter up on their own ground; and even thus proves that he was not a blasphemer. He draws his argument from the Old Testament. "It is written in your law." The passage occurs in the book of Psalms; but the word law was sometimes used in an extensive sense to denote the scriptures in general. The words in question are, “I have said ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High." These words were addressed to rulers, and to wicked rulers; to men, whom in the very place the Lord is reproving; and yet he calls them gods. Hence our Saviour argues, "If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God." He called the magistrates gods, because the powers that be are ordained of God, and because the authority which magistrates exercise is the authority of God committed to them. Now magistrates may be bad, as well as good men; still, because the authority of God is lodged with them, they are to be regarded with honour. Those to whom the word of God came, in the instance referred to, were bad men; yet the scripture, which cannot be broken, which cannot misapply any