part of Holy Scripture, and thereby are shorn of all the peculiar force and cogency which are seen to belong to them, when the circumstances in which they were spoken are fully remembered.

And this consideration suggests another not unimportant consequence of such a view as is here taken. It is not uncommon in theological discussion, to hear one side appeal to any and every part of Holy Scripture, whether of the Old or New Testament, claiming to apply directly to the Church of Christ, to persons before or after baptism, to penitents or obedient disciples, without restriction of sense or consideration of circumstances, the actual words spoken to Patriarchs, to Jews under the Law, or to disciples before the Crucifixion; and to hear their adversaries simply protest against such a confusion, or put in a caution against the dangerous effects of it, without suggesting a rule by which the true analogous application of various parts of Holy Scripture is to be made; by which sort of arguments we run the risk of abusing the authority of the older Scriptures as applied to the Church on the one hand, or of losing it altogether on the other. If, therefore, these Sayings of our Lord do, in any degree, answer to the account here given of them, so as to be in any true sense outlines of the kingdom of heaven," they will, to the same extent, serve for a rule of this kind. We shall know that whatever was said in the older Scriptures is to be

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applied to the Church in such a manner as to fall within, or at least to be consistent with, these great principles; that the whole subject, for instance, however largely or fully spoken of in Prophecy, of God's presence on earth, must, as a matter relating to the Church, be so interpreted as to fall within and be consistent with the great Sayings of the perpetual Presence of Christ in the Church, and of the Holy Ghost in Christian people; that the whole topic of forgiveness of sins, however largely illustrated by God's earlier dealings with mankind, or proclaimed or prophesied in earlier writings, is to be seen through (or, at least, to be regarded not inconsistently with) the two great Sayings whereby the Lord instituted Holy Baptism to be the means of immediate, and the covenant of future pardon, and breathed the Holy Spirit upon his Apostles for the remitting and retaining of sins; that all the promises of divine instruction and guidance into truth, whether given in older times, or by our holy Lord, find their fulfilment in the Sacred Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as the summary revelation of doctrine, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost as the gift of light and understanding. The older Scriptures will be, as far as regards the Church, summed up into these great Sayings; whilst the later Apostolic writings, usages, and

d

institutions, will supply the genuine and inspired commentary upon these Sayings themselves.

Above all, if this view be not entirely false and unfounded, how strongly would it seem to exhibit the melancholy error of those who endeavour to strike, as it were, for themselves a religion and a hope, as sparks, out of the multiform Scriptures of God; who, careless of succession or inheritance, forgetful of the manner in which promise and privilege, blessing, comfort, life, joy, and glory, are conveyed to mankind in and through the Apostolic company, claim to read, interpret, and apply to themselves, whoever they may be, without stint or question, every word of Holy Writ, whensoever it was written, and to whomsoever it was addressed!

It is necessary to observe, that in the following Discourses, the Sayings of our Lord in these Forty Days, are arranged, not chronologically, but as the subjects of them seemed to admit of being most naturally and easily connected together.