4 AN HICMDLE ATTEMPT, &C. repentance and faith and piety and brotherly love, than the world had ever known before. They had miracles wrought to convince them of the truth of the commission of Christ from heaven ; Mat. iv. 24. The God of nature spoke often to them in some work' of wonder, which was superior to all the powers of nature, to assure them that Jesus was the minister of his le'ather's grace to the sons of men. They had seen some of the prophecies fulfilled in him, and some of the charactersof the Messiah exemplifiedin his person, in his doctrine and his conduct ; for though this sermon stands near the beginningof St. Matthew's history, yet it was by no means the first sermon that he preached, nor the very beginning of his ministry, as will easily appear if we consult Mat. iv. and Luke iv. where we have several accounts of his preaching before this. Let us consider another great advantage they enjoyed above others ; they had the ablest and most sublime pattern of holiness always before them, who practised self denial, humility, zeal for the honour of God, mortification to the world, resistance oftemp- tations, and retired devotion, in a superior manner to whatever any mere mortal attained or practised. And besides all this, they made a profession of greater strictness rod purity by their adherence to Christ and his preaching, woo appeared in the world as a new teacher, to reform the vices of men, and found fault with the preachers of the established church, forthe many corruptions both of doctrine and practice that reigned amongst them. Now, " TO what purpose (might our Lord say) and for what end are all these advantages given you, ifnot to make you wiser and better than the rest of the nation ? And what is it you pretend in following my sermons and attending upon my minis- try in separate assemblies ? Is it not that you maybecome moré strictly religious, and that your virtue and your goodness may exceed your neighbours ? If the teachings of the scribes and the doctors of the law are sufficient for your instruction, and equal to your wishes and your hopes, why do ye follow me from town to town, and from one part of the nation to the other ? Does not your own profession of beingmy disciples oblige youto greater degrees of piety ? And have you not peculiar advantages for this end, by attending on my ministrations ? I expect therefore that you should live, and speak, and act to the honour of God and the good of men, in a degree and manner far superior to what the sinners and publicans can pretend to, and that you exceed in rightausness all the pretences and the practices ofthe pharisees and the scribes.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=