find Jesus Christ knowing the thoughts long before, and declaring unto man what his thought is; we find him, in short, knowing what is in man, and needing not that any should tell him. And what are we to conclude? Is not this the Son of God? Is it not God manifest in the flesh? He heareth that, to which it would be vain for mortal ear to listen. Can this be any other than he who planted the ear? He seeth that which hath ever been

invisible to mortal eye; made the eye do more?

shall he who "He knoweth

the thoughts of man;" is not this he who gave man every sense, and teacheth man all knowledge.

We drew the same inference from that part of Christ's conversation with the woman of Sychar which evinced his knowledge of all things whatsoever she had done. And I repeat it in this place, that you may perceive, my brethren, that the all-important doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ does not rest upon the mere assertion of certain passages of Scripture, (however direct and explicit, and there

fore satisfactory, such assertions may be), but is necessarily implied in numberless other places, so that there are few pages of the Bible in which it is not to be found, either conveyed by necessary inference, or plainly and openly taught.

But now, to turn once more from argument to practice. It has been adduced as a peculiar excellence of the Christian religion, that it lays so much stress on the government of the thoughts. We are shown, that by so doing it goes to the root of all evil at once. We are reminded in the language and according to the significant illustration of Holy Writ, that if the fountain be made pure, pure also will be every stream that flows from it; that if the heart may be made clean, the tongue will utter neither defilement nor deceit, the hands will execute no wickedness. Nothing can be more true than all this. Nothing can be more true, than that it is an excellency, and a characteristic excellency of the Gospel, that it goes at once to the seat of sin, and would stifle it at its birth. But we must remember,

that we are not commanded to purify the fountain only that the streams may be pure—we are not enjoined to cleanse the thoughts of our hearts, only to prevent the exhibition of sin in our words and actions. But the heart must be attended to for its own sake-" out of it are the issues of life "" in a fuller sense than we are accustomed to understand that expression. If it be essential that the waters of the stream be clear-is it of no importance whether or no the spring itself be unpolluted ?—In the estimation of men, it may be—because they see it not till it breaks forth from the rock, and if by any means it has been rendered in its passage fit for their use and purposes, they need care or seek no farther. If the outward actions of a man be such in every way, as the exigences of society require-if every duty be fulfilled, and every moral restraint observed unbroken-it is not perhaps in the province of man to inquire from what motives, by what secret springs such conduct

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may arise, or be influenced. Such an one must be considered, humanly speaking, a just person, because it is only when exhibited in the outward word or action, that man can take cognizance of sin. But is this the case with God?-Is this the rule by which he judges ?" The righteous God trieth the very hearts and reins "," and sin is as offensive in his sight, when fostered in the imagination, as when displayed in the life. Hence the thoughts are to be strictly watched and disciplined; not simply because they may give rise to sin-not merely because they are the root from which sin springs, but because they are themselves sin. They are not the germ-the seed only, but the plant itself, vigorous and flourishing, though not perhaps laden with all the bitter fruit it may produce. By the law of Christ there may be murder, without the shedding of man's blood-theft without the purloining of property-and idolatry without the graven image, or the bending of the

1 Psalm vii. 9.

knee to any false God. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment." "Ye have

heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart'." Evil thoughts, I repeat, are to be rejected, not because they may lead to sin, but because they are sin.

Here, then, we may perceive that "the word of God is indeed quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, in that it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart2. Consider, my brethren, the number of impediments which are thrown in the way of the actual

'Matt. v. 21. 27, 28.

2 Heb. iv. 12.