scene, drawn from different points around it), each of these serves to explain and modify the

rest.

But all the Scripture-representations of God will leave nothing but perplexity, doubt, and confusion, in the mind of those who strive for a clear comprehension of-that which the Scriptures touch upon only incidentally and obscurely the nature of the Supreme Being in Himself, and the relations of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to each other; instead of dwelling on-that which the Scriptures so strongly put forward and enlarge upon the relations in which God stands to Man, and the corresponding duties and hopes that pertain to ourselves. Religion, properly so called, does not consist in the knowledge of human nature in itself, or of the divine nature in itself;which are more properly called metaphysical and theological philosophy;-but in the knowledge, and practical application of that knowledge, of God in relation to Man, and Man in relation to God. Fully and clearly is God set forth in Scripture as our Creator,- our Governor, -our Lawgiver, our Judge, the "rewarder

of them that diligently seek Him, and the punisher of the wicked; all these express relations in which He stands to us; which call for corresponding feelings and conduct in ourselves. And so also, in respect of the doctrine of the Trinity, (which too many well-disposed Christians studiously and habitually withdraw their thoughts from, as a perplexing and barren speculation,) what the Scriptures chiefly inculcate and dwell on concerning it, is no matter of mere speculation, but has reference to us, and practically concerns us. Since God is our Father, as well as, in some sense, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must remember that we are his children; "and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" by adoption: as He is our Redeemer "in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself," we are his redeemed People, purchased to Himself for his service; and as He is the Holy Ghost our Sanctifier, we must consider ourselves as being (as the Apostle Paul teaches us) "the Temple of the Holy Ghost which

* Rom. viii. 17.

dwelleth in us;" remembering that "if any one defile the Temple of God, him will God destroy."

By dwelling on the practical views which Scripture thus presents to us of these doctrines, and remembering the "three-fold duties it inculcates to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit respectively, while we remember also how earnestly it dwells on the strict numerical unity of the great Being who has thus manifested Himself to us, we shall be taking the best means to understand, without error or perplexity, what is to be understood by Man, of the practically-important doctrines of Scripture; which we shall therefore be applying to the great purpose for which Scripture was given to us, which is, to labour, through divine aid, to become worthy of our Christian calling, and to live and feel as it becomes those to do who have been made members of the Christian Church, by being “baptized into the name (i. e. enlisted into the service,-enrolled as the subjects) of Him who has thus declared Himself

to us.

99

If there be any doctrine revealed in Scripture

that is purely speculative,* and is merely to be assented to by the understanding, without exercising any influence on our life, this at least is not such; but is set forth in Scripture as the foundation of the Christian faith, and hope, and love. If you merely assent to it as an abstract proposition, your belief is but that of the "Demons who believe, and tremble:" but if you so act upon it as always to keep before you in heart and in life, the threefold relation in which you stand to God, you will do and be what He requires, in this world, and I will inherit in the next world all that He has promised: You will find in Him a Father, a Saviour, and a Comforter, now and for ever.

* See Essay iv. First Series.

SERMON IX.

JOHN II. 1.

There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there.

THIS, the first of all the miracles that our Lord wrought, is, on that account, and for other still more important reasons, deserving of a fuller attention than is usually bestowed on it; especially as its true character and design is, I think, in general, not rightly understood.

I propose accordingly, on the present occasion, to offer some remarks on this " beginning of miracles," with a view to point out and explain its intimate connexion with the whole scheme of evangelical truth. But the passage before us is also worthy of especial notice, as one of the few in which mention is made of the