thority. And indeed it both tends greatly to our own Satisfaction and Comfort, and should fill us with the highest Admiration of the infinite Wisdom, Grace, and Love of God our heavenly Father, that he hath fent a Person into the World of fuch unparalelled Dignity, to teach and instruct, to save and to redeem us; that he hath provided so glorious a Saviour for us, on whom we may with Confidence rely, and who is every Way able and sufficient for the important Work committed to him. And as he is so dear to the Father, and wonderfully one with him, so all the Honours that are paid to him redound unto, and ultimately terminate in, the Honour of God his heavenly Father, to whom be Glory for ever and ever. Amen.

On

On Chrift's Authority as a Teacher.

DISCOURSE II.

MATTHEW vii. 29.

- He taught them as one having Authority, and not as the Scribes.

T

HE Design of chusing these Words was to confider Christ's Authority as a Teacher. And, in the former Discourse on this Subject, it was observed, First, That he spake with the Authority of a true Prophet, extraordinarily sent and commiffioned from God. Secondly, That he claimed an Authority for transcending any other that ever appeared under the Character of a Prophet or Teacher sent from

God. He had a peculiar Kind of Authority

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rity proper to himself, which no other Perfon or Teacher ever had, and which gave his Instructions and Precepts a Force

☐ and Dignity superior to that of any other. For fetting which in a clearer Light, we confidered the Declarations Christ made concerning his own Divinity and Glory; that he frequently spoke of himself in a Strain of unparalleled Dignity and Grandeur as the only begotten Son of God, the Son of God in a Sense peculiar to himself, and which could not be applied to any other, whether Man or Angel, or any of the highest Order of created Beings; that he represented himself as the great Saviour of of Mankind, the Giver of the Spirit, and not merely the Publisher but the Author of eternal Life, and as the great and final Judge, by whom the Dead shall be raised, to whom all Men must give an Account, and by whom their everlafting State shall be determined. All which must needs give him an Authority vastly superior to all that ever appeared as Teachers of Mankind.

But what Proof have we that the Claim he laid to this Authority was just and well founded? This is what I now propose to confider.

And, First, This might be concluded from the spotless Holiness of his Life and Character, which rendered the Testimony he gave concerning himself highly credible, ble, and gave great Weight to the Doctrine he taught. Our Lord, speaking to the Multitude concerning the Scribes and Pharifees, expresseth himself thus, Do ye not after their Works; for they say, and do not, Matt. xxiii. 3. And he goes on in that Chapter, and elsewhere, to charge them with Hypocrify, Pride, and Avarice, Extortion and Impurity, and with neglecting the weightier Matters of the Law, Judgment, Mercy, and Faith. And, this being the Truth of the Cafe, they could not teach with that Energy, that noble Confidence and Afsurance, nor could their Precepts and Instructions come with that Weight, which otherwise they might have had. All their external Authority, and their being looked upon as learned Doctors of the Law, could not make up for the Want of this. But how different was the Character of our blessed Saviour? The Holiness of his Life and Practice was suitable to the Excellency of his Doctrine. He could challenge all his Adversaries, Which of you convinceth me of Sin? John viii. 46. and could justly declare in the Audience of all the People, The Father hath not left me alone: For I do always those Things that please him. Ver. 29. Never could his keenest Adversaries fix any Stain upon his - Character, except the Reproaches they cast upon

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upon him for performing some of his miraculous beneficent Cures on the Sabbath-Day, and for his friendly and familiar Converfing with Publicans and those they called Sinners, in order to the instructing and converting them. There plainly appeared, in his whole Temper and Conduct, a spotless Purity, an ardent Love to God his heavenly Father, and Zeal for his Glory; a wonderful Charity towards Mankind, which caused him to go about doing Good, instructing the People, and healing all manner of Sickness and Disease among them; and an amiable Humility and Condescenfion, which kept him from despising or disdaining the Poorest, the Meanest. He was far from affecting worldly Honours or Applause, and neither made Ufe of the Arts of Popularity to gain and captivate the People by accommodating himself to their Prejudices and Paffions, nor endeavoured to flatter the Rich and Great. courted no Man's Favour, and feared no Man's Displeasure, in the Cause of God. Nor did he ever, under spiritual Pretences, set himself to promote the Interests of this World, and to procure to himself Wealth Dominion, or Power. The Terms which he insisted upon, from those that should become his Disciples, were, that they should deny themselves, and take up their Cross,

He