he spoke as it was given unto him of his Father. This was an authority to which the scribes did not pretend to resort; they were too much occupied in teaching the traditions of the elders and the commandments of men. They relied on custom and antiquity; and custom and antiquity became their only support.

An

The divine assistance was afforded to Jesus in yet another manner. God confirmed what he said, by the miracles which he enabled him to work; and thus conferred on his teaching a supernatural preeminence and authority, which could not be resisted, and to which no one else could attain. evident interruption of the regular course of nature can be accounted for, in no other way than by acknowledging the immediate or delegated agency of the Author and the God of nature. God is there; almighty power is there; and the words which are then uttered, come down like the audible voice of the Most High. The pharisees attempted to evade the force of this circumstance, by ascribing the miraculous powers of Jesus to the interposition of what they called "the prince of the devils;" a subterfuge which was immediately exposed by our Saviour, and which had no effect on the people; for they continued to render the homage of their reverence to him in whose person was thus exhib

ited the fulness of the Godhead. Even those who did not actually acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth to be the Christ, or the Messiah, and whose notions were vague and unsettled with regard to the real nature of his character and mission, confessed to themselves a dilemma which they were wholly unable to solve. For they said, "When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? There could not have been a more striking confession of the effect of our Lord's miracles on the public mind.

And as this circumstance contributed to his authority while he was on the earth, so was it constantly adduced as a proof of his divine mission after he had ascended on high, and left his disciples to carry on the great work which he had begun. Peter, in his address to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, speaks of Jesus as "a man approved of God among them by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of them, as they themselves knew." This was a direct appeal to public experience and conviction, and to the recent remembrance of that authority with which his heavenly master taught, and in which he so far surpassed the pharisees and scribes.

I have thus sketched what I conceive to be the three principal sources of our Saviour's authority

as a teacher. I have stated them to be, in the first place, truth of manner and truth of doctrine; secondly, a life without spot or reproach; and thirdly, the evident assistance of Supreme Wisdom and power.

"The people were astonished at his doctrine." We are too familiar with it, my friends, to be astonished at it; and we have something more to do than barely to acknowledge that he spoke with authority. We have something more to do, I say. We are called on to feel that authority in our hearts, and to obey it in our lives. Unless we do this, we may indeed talk about it, and seem to admire it, but, as far as we are concerned, it is a mere history, and might as well have never been. His heavenly precepts-if we observe them not, but go on day after day, following our own devices and desires, of what authority are they to us? His spotless example-if we imitate it not, nor endeavor to become holy, pure, meek, benevolent, as he was, of what authority is it to us? awful power over nature and the grave, his Father sanctioned his instructions of what authority is even that to us, if we strive not to fulfil the eternal purpose for which it was displayed? If we will not study to imbibe the spirit of Christ and the temper of his Gospel; if we will not labor to

And that

with which

promote the great cause of religion and virtue in the world, nor to cultivate the peaceable fruits of righteousness in our own bosoms-then heaven has been opened, and God has spoken, and the storm has been hushed, and the dead have come out of their graves-in vain! I say, for us, in vain!

SERMON XII.

JESUS GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND.

AND HE SAID, LORD, THAT I MAY RECEIVE MY SIGHT.
Luke xvIII. 41.

THIS earnest prayer of the blind beggar, proffered in the full faith that Jesus had the power to grant it, was mercifully heard and answered. "And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight; thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God."

Our Saviour performed this cure near the city of Jericho, which was celebrated for its size, opulence and beauty; and, of all the cities of Palestine, was second only to Jerusalem itself. As he passed along the road, the concourse of people who surrounded and followed him was so great, that the tumultuous rush of their feet excited the wondering attention of the blind man, who was sitting by the