is no independence of heart or mind upon any other terms." Only "with all saints" can "we comprehend what is the depth and length"* of that which is presented to us in Christ Jesus. And the household which is too small by itself to take in the whole Lamb, can and must do so by the aid of others.† For God will have every part of His Lamb to be apprehended by us, thus by our very weakness linking us to one another. And now, O Lord, to Thee do I commend this little work. It is nothing with Thee to help with few or many. My feebleness cannot hinder if Thou wilt work. Work Thou to Thine own glory. "Domine Deus, quæcunque dixi de tuo, agnoscant et tui. Si qua de meo, et Tu ignosce et tui." Exod. xii. 4. * Eph. iii. 18. HULL, November 5, 1853. THE FOUR GOSPELS, FOUR VIEWS OF CHRIST. cr "A river went out of Eden, to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.”—Gen. ii. 10. WE are told of St. Augustine, that on one occasion, when his mind was much engaged in the contemplation of the doctrine of the Trinity, he was walking by the sea, and saw a child filling a shell with the water, which it then carried and poured into a hollow in the sand. "What are you doing, my boy, with that water?" said the Saint. "I am," replied the child, "going to put all the sea into this hole." The Father smiled and passed on; when a voice seemed to say to him, "And thou too art doing the like, in thinking to comprehend the depths of God in the narrow limits of thy finite mind." The attempt to treat of the Differences of the Gospels within a few brief Lectures, may appear to be only a repetition of the child's attempt to drain the sea. But I make no such attempt. I bear a cupful of water, a taste of 2 what is at hand for all who seek and wait to draw it; not that like Ishmael any should be content to go forth with but a bottle; for in the dry and thirsty land, if our water is only in bottles, it will soon be all consumed;* but rather to lead men like Isaac to dwell by the well,† knowing that never is the water so sweet to us, as when we draw it ourselves fresh from the living fountain. Those who, like Ishmael, trust to bottles, are not only oft-times faint, but have no eye for the well, which, though they see it not, springs close to them even in the dreary land. But the elect dwell by the waters, and open wells while others stop them, § that man and beast may drink thereat. If in a day when the human mind seems more than ever alive to extract every possible refreshment from the streams of this world, I can point to a better spring; if, in a word, by the examples given here, I may lead some to the Gospels, prayerfully and humbly to wait there for the streams of God; these pages will not be in vain. Happy should I be, if the joy my own soul has had in the study could be communicated to others into whose hands this little book may come. To speak then of the Gospels. As every one knows, there are four. By many these are *Gen. xxi. 14-15. +Gen. xxv. 11. Gen. xxi. 19. §Gen. xxvi. 18-13. |
