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sire to please them, rather than to be approved of Thee; the fear of their judgment or their mocking hinders us too often from professing thy gospel, from obeying thy commands. O, Great God! we humble ourselves in the dust at the thought. At thy feet we feel how guilty we are. By that mercy which thou didst send thy Son to offer to repentant sinners, we implore Thee aid us to emancipate ourselves from this weakness which we abhor. Let us be pervaded with the feeling of thy greatness; fill us with the fear of thy judgments, that henceforward we may fear to offend Thec before all things; that the desire of pleasing Thee may become the first desire of our hearts; so that nothing may prevent us from acknowledging Thee before men, and from acting as we shall wish to have done, when we are about to appear before thy throne. Hear us for thy mercy sake, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

SERMON XIV.

THE PARABLES,

Matthew xiii. 34, 35.

"ALL THESE THINGS SPAKE JESUS TO THE MULTITUDE IN PARABLES, AND WITHOUT A PARABLE HE SPAKE NOT UNTO THEM; SO THAT IT WAS FULFILLED WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET, SAYING, I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES, I WILL UTTER THINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN KEPT SECRET FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD."

THE Parables are unquestionably, among the most striking and beautiful characteristics of the New Testament; a characteristic, which peculiarly distinguishes the Saviour's manner of instruction, and leaves a more distinct and indelible impression upon the mind of the reader than any other. They convey so many important lessons by so many lively images, that were the heart less warmed by the excellent spirit which they breathe, the mind would be carried away by admiration of the skill and genius displayed in their contṣruction. So full are they of beauties and instruction, that ample and valuable matter for a discourse might be found in illustrating the meaning and enforcing the moral, which each parable contains. Accordingly, almost every teacher of religion thinks his labor well bestowed in

enlarging upon the topics which they severally suggest, and developing the important truths which they embody. It requires, however, the hand of no mean artist to preserve the beautiful proportions, and the delicacy and truth of coloring, so peculiar to these perfect gems, while painting on that larger scale which may be needful to give to less discerning or attentive eyes a just idea of their value and importance. In some instances, indeed, they need considerable explanation. They require an attentive consideration of the circumstances which occasioned them; and of our Lord's principal objects in their delivery, by no means obvious at a hasty glance, to enable the reader to enter fully into their meaning and design. But, in general, what can be added to them with effect? Who would attempt to teach, more forcibly than the picture of the good Samaritan does teach, what it is to be a neighbor unto a fellow being? Who would hope to improve upon the description of the unhappy prodigal; or to illustrate, more beautifully than that parable does illustrate, the willingness of our heavenly Father to receive the returning penitent into favor? Bold, profane, I may say, must be the hand which would touch these master-pieces with the hope of increasing their effect. They need no illustration. Additions would be incumbrances. They speak for themselves and to the heart. All that the best distributor of the word of life can do, is to echo, with his utmost force, the words, "whoso hath ears to hear, let him hear."

In the observations which I now intend to offer, I shall take for granted your familiarity with these well known parts of the sacred writings. But though you

may know well the structure and design of all the parables, and though I may be unable to add any new force to the lessons which they inculcate, I have thought that something may perhaps be said upon them as a whole; upon the nature of this method of instruction, upon the reasons why our Lord adopted it, and the unrivalled excellence which he manifests in it, calculated to give you a new interest in their perusal, and to display, in a new light, the character and qualities of the Founder of our faith. I am not without hope, that by attempting this I may add to your stock of motives for respecting and prizing the scripture narrative, and consequently to your inducements for taking its spirit more and more home to your hearts and lives.

There is in this parabolic style of instruction a peculiar fitness to impress the mind. The very accuracy with which we ourselves remember the parables, and the clearness with which their lessons are brought home to our feelings and conceptions, prove its excellence and the wisdom of its adoption.

In ancient and modern times, wherever literary taste has prevailed, the fable has been a favorite mode of conveying moral instruction. The lively imagery of narrative is found to relieve the dryness of moral maxim, and to give zest to the intrinsic value of sober truth. That abstract wisdom which is clothed in a familiar image, or illustrated by a simple example, comes before the mind in a more distinct and palpable form. And so beautifully has the Creator connected together the natural and moral world, that the analogies between them, whence the mind can draw delightful hints for its instruction, are inexhaustible; analogies, such as

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that of which our Saviour has availed himself in the parable of the Sower, where the seed, with its various produce, illustrates so naturally and forcibly the effects of his word upon the heart. Images of this kind help us exceedingly in the retention of truths which would otherwise slip from the memory; and imagination, that noble faculty, which some are apt to indulge with such idle wantonness, is then performing its real duty, is then engaged in the worthiest service, when shedding its own bright and beautiful hues upon the objects which reason wishes to contemplate with steadiness and fervor. Observe too, that a chain of abstract reasoning is lost upon the untutored multitude. For them, logical definitions only darken the subjects which they are meant to illustrate. But they listen with emotion to a simple tale, till it becomes almost a part of their being. They remember its incidents with distinctness, and reason from them with precision. Does it add nothing then to your opinion of the wisdom of the Saviour, "the teacher of mankind," "that he spake to the multitude in parables?" Would he have stood higher in your estimation had he given them subtle disquisitions on the nature and theory of morals? Would he, by so doing, have demonstrated to them more forcibly their duties, or touched with better success their understandings and their hearts?

Further lessons are thus conveyed not only clearly and impressively, but, what is of equal consequence, inoffensively. The task of a moral instructor is a delicate one. If he would find his way to the human heart, he must do it indirectly, for it is entrenched in a secret pride and obstinacy. A gentle and casual hint often

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