was. made flesh and dwelt among men,-who came to his own, and was not received by them. Thus, the apostle John does not hesitate to refer to his Lord, one of the most sublime descriptions of the manifested Divinity in the Old Testament Scriptures; and it becomes us to remember, that he is our Lord as well as the Lord of angels, and that we should worship him as well as they. "Jesus! we hail thee Israel's King! (2.) A minority who did believe, from worldly motives suppressed their convictions. The second result of our Lord's ministry, his preaching and his miracles, referred to in the text, is the inward conviction of some of the upper classes that there was truth in his claims,-a conviction, however, which the prevalence of a worldly spirit prevented them from avowing. "Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also, many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." When it is said that these chief rulers believed in Jesus, the words do not seem to mean more than that they were persuaded in their minds that he was neither a fanatic nor an imposter, but was indeed a teacher sent from God, and the Messiah promised to the Fathers. With the views they had of the nature and design of the Messiah's mission and kingdom, which seem to have been entirely secular, they were not inclined to acknowledge their convictions, till his affairs assumed a more promising aspect. They had not the faith of such truth about him, as would have made them forsake all and follow him; but they had such a kind and measure of conviction, as should have induced them to acknowledge his Divine mission, and put themselves under his tui tion. They were, however, prevented from doing this, by their fear of the inconveniences and sufferings which were likely to result from following such a course. The dominant faction of the Jewish rulers, who seem chiefly to have belonged to the numerous, and powerful, and active sect of Pharisees, had, as we read (ix. 22), agreed already, "that if any man did confess He was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." The excommunication referred to was a very serious evil. It included much more in it than merely prohibition to associate with other Jews, in the worship of the synagogue. No one was allowed to teach, to speak to, to eat or trade with, the excommunicated individual; and he was regarded no longer as a member of the commonwealth of Israel, but as a heathen man and a publican. It necessarily implied, on the part of a ruler, loss of office; and to a person of high rank, and standing well in public estima tion, it was obviously a formidable evil. These men, with their low views of the nature and design of the Messiah's mission, and with their thoroughly worldly character, thought it wiser to conceal their convictions, and to wait till he whom they believed to be the Messiah, should place himself in a position that would make it safe, and even advantageous, for them to avow these convictions. Such men, who can make their convictions wait on their apparent interests, are to be found in all countries and ages. Had these men possessed just views of God's character as the God of truth, and just views of the duty which they, as convinced of truth, owed to it and to Him, they would have made public acknowledgment of it at all hazards." But these men "loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." The word" rendered here "praise," and very often in other places "glory," signifies approbation, esteem, good opinion. These men obviously looked at things seen and temporal, not at things unseen and eternal. They were under the power of the present evil world, and were not emancipated by the belief of the truth respecting the Divine character, and brought under the power of the world to come. They must have felt, if they thought at all, that they were forfeiting the praise, the approbation, of God; for their conscience, His vicegerent, told them they ought to confess what they believed,-they ought not, trusting to some change of circumstances, to allow truth and right to be outraged unopposed; but they preferred enjoying the advantage which was connected with standing well in the estimation of their fellowmen, especially the more influential part of them, and which they saw must be sacrificed if they avowed their convictions. Their belief was but an outside belief. If they had really known and believed the truth respecting Jesus, as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, they could not have helped confessing him; but this supreme esteem of human approbation prevented them from attaining to this faith. In them our Lord's words were verified, "How can ye believe"-that is, how can ye believe my spiritual, humbling doctrines, the faith of which necessarily infers self-renunciation and self-sacrifice-"who receive honor" (the same word as is here rendered "praise") "one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only ?" Such, then, were the details, and such the results of our Lord's ministry. He openly, earnestly, fearlessly, taught the divinity of his mission; the divinity of his doctrine; the divinity of his person; the design of his mission-to save; the manner of ob taining an interest in his salvation; and the doom of those who, by continuing in unbelief, excluded themselves from a participation in its blessings; and he confirmed his doctrine by great, numerous, varied, public miracles. 43 This duty is, even in our own times, very imperfectly understood. The best illustration of its importance and obligation ever given, is to be found in Vinet's masterly treatise, "On the Profession of Personal Religious Conviction; and upon the Separation of Church and State." 44 Δόξα. Thus did Jesus teach, and thus did he perform miracles, for three years and a half throughout Judea and Galilee; and the result was, that, while a few became his devoted disciples, the great body of his countrymen rejected his claims and his doctrines; and a small minority who were persuaded in their minds that there was truth in these claims, yet, from a fear of forfeiting worldly advantages, concealed their conviction. Neither of these results were, in any degree, discreditable to our Lord. The first originated in a blindness of mind and obduracy of heart, which had been the subject of Old Testament prophecy; the conviction of the second class was honorable to Him,-the concealment of it disgraceful only to themselves. And are not the details and the results of our Lord's ministry in the gospel dispensation, since he ascended to heaven, substantially the same as those of his personal ministry? The same doctrines are taught, the same evidences exhibited; and while a portion-hitherto a very small portion of those who have enjoyed this ministry believe to the saving of the soul,-receive Christ Jesus, and become the children of God through faith in him, do not the great majority continue in unbelief? And has there not always been a minority, often among the better classes of society, who, while having a rational conviction of the truth of Christianity, practically deny it, never really embrace its doctrines, never submit to its transforming influence, from a prevailing love of the present world? Let us, my young friends, examine ourselves. Our status makes it but the more necessary we should. Do we belong to either of these two classes? Are we unbelievers? or, are we persons who, unfaithful to our convictions, do not act them out; persons who hold the truth, but hold it in unrighteousness? Let us remember that, if we belong to either class, and continue to do so, we are not only unfit for the christian ministry, but necessarily shut out from any participation in the blessings of the christian salvation. The law of the kingdom is, "He that believeth"-believeth the truth as it is in Jesus-"shall be saved:" "he that believeth not, shall be damned." The word is nigh us, as it was nigh to those to whom our Lord preached, and so is its evidence; they are both here. "If we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, believing in our heart that God hath raised him from the dead, we shall be saved; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." "He that believeth on me," says the Saviour still, "hath everlasting life; he is not condemned, he shall never come into condemnation; he shall not perish, but shall have eternal life. Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father who is in heaven: whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven." The ministry of Christ must have results, important results, in the case of all who are its subjects. There is no alternative to those who have enjoyed it, whether personally or by his servants, between "the salvation that is in Him with eternal glory," and a perdition tenfold deeper than of those who never enjoyed this ministry-a doom to which that of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Tyre and Sidon, is comparatively light. Oh! beware of continuing in unbelief. Every sermon you hear, continuing in unbelief, adds to your responsibility, and lessens the probability of your ever becoming, through grace, partakers of the christian salvation; deepening spiritual slumber, hardening the stone within into adamant. Beware of resting in a cold, barren orthodoxy, in a mere admission that doctrines are true, while you resist their influence, and act as if they were not true. Increased blindness of mind, increased obduracy of heart, is the natural result of both these courses. These spiritual plagues were not peculiar to the Jews, or confined to the primitive times. I am afraid they are widely spread in our own country and in our own age. Were it not so, could there, amid such abundant means of spiritual illumination, under the clear and impressive exhibition of christian truth and evidence, could there be so much ignorance, and inconsideration, and unbelief, and strangled conviction, and empty profession; could there be such worship of man, such disregard of God, such an over-estimate of the world and time, such an under-estimate of the soul and eternity? Ah! does not Isaiah's character of the Jews but too exactly answer too many among us-" The heart of this people is fat, their cars are heavy, their eyes are shut; so that they see not with their eyes, they hear not with their ears, they understand not with their hearts. And how can they be converted and be healed?" Ah! have we not reason to fear, that there are more fields nigh unto cursing among us, than fields receiving the blessing of God,-many unbelievers, not a few unfaithful to their convictions, many false professors, few genuine, consistent disciples? The rain cometh oft upon us; but where are the trees of righteousness, where the fruits unto holiness,fruits to the glory of God? Let us fear lest we provoke the great Husbandman to "command the clouds that they rain no more rain" on us, and to give us up to the barrenness we seem to have chosen. "The earth that drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for him by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God; but that which beareth briers and thorns is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned." Christ's personal ministry came to an end. His ministry by his servants will come to an end too, with every individual. Oh! how fearful will be his lot, whom the close of the gospel ministry leaves either rejecting the truth, or holding it in unrighteousness! May the Lord, the Spirit, give us all sound convictions as to the truth in Jesus, and enable us to add to our faith fortitude," that we may do justice to our convictions, in an honest profession and a corresponding conduct; both calling Jesus Lord, and doing the things which he says! 45 Αρτήν. And now, my dear young friends, allow me, before dismissing you at this time, to congratulate you on the peculiarly favorable circumstances under whieh you this day resume your annual labors. In the increased number of your instructors, in the extended sphere of your studies, in the greatly enlarged size of the library, to which you have access to aid you in the prosecution of these studies, and in the scholarships which the munificence of some enlightened liberal individuals have provided for those of you who, by superior talents and acquirements, prove yourselves worthy of them,-you have advantages which none of your predecessors ever enjoyed, in either of the seminaries which now, by the happy union of the Secession and Relief Churches in the United Presbyterian Church, have become one. These advantages will, I trust, be wisely appreciated and carefully improved by you. The elders of our church, met in solemn council, have, in the measures they are adopting for elevating the standard of literary and theological attainment among the aspirants to the sacred office, proved themselves to be, like the children of Issachar of old, "men who have understanding of the times." The state both of the church and of the world imperiously demands a measure of attainment and acquirement, of ability and energy, of dexterity and zeal, above what were requisite to the creditable discharge of the functions of the holy ministry in former periods. What in this respect at all times was desirable, has now become necessary. Their exertions will, I confidently anticipate, be met with a corresponding spirit by you, for whose advantage they are directly intended; and if they are, by the blessing of our Divine Lord, results highly beneficial both to the church and to the world may be reasonably expected. You have entered, my young friends, and even the farthest advanced among you have only entered, the wide and fertile field of christian theology. Your successful prosecution of that noblest of all studies depends, in a great measure, on your allowing the obvious principle, the principle which has modelled the whole arrangements of this theological seminary,-that a wellunderstood Bible lies at the foundation of a sound theology, to exercise its fair influence on your mind and conduct. What is true as a general maxim, is applicable with peculiar emphasis to a science, the elements and the higher principles of which are equally contained in that ancient book the Bible: "Ex verborum intelligentia pendet cognitio rerum." To understand theology, you must understand the Bible; and to the understanding of the Bible, the first requisite is a thorough acquaintance with the sacred tongues. It has been said with truth, Nihil est aliud theologus quam grammaticus verbi divini;" and almost all theological error either originates in, or is perpetuated by, misapprehension and misinterpretation of the Holy Scriptures. It is a beautiful as well as just remark, of George, Prince of Anhalt, one of the fairest ornaments of the |