SERMON XVI.
THE WORD OF GOD.
"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." — Matthew iv. 4.
Nothing can give a better idea of the power and of the sublimity of the word of the Gospel, than the images employed by Jesus Christ to foretel its effects. One while it is a sacred sword, which is to divide father from child, husband from wife, brother from sister, and man from himself; to bend all minds under the yoke of faith, to subjugate the Caesars, to triumph over sages and the learned, and to exalt the standard of the cross upon the wrecks of idols and of empires: through that is represented to us its might, which the whole world hath been unable to resist.
One while it is a divine fire, spread in an instant throughout the earth, which goes to dissolve the mountains, to depopulate the cities, to people the forest, to reduce into ashes the profane temples, to inflame the minds of men, and to make them fly, like madmen, to death in the sight of nations; and under these parabolical traits are figured to us the promptitude of its operations and the rapidity of its victories.
One while it is a mysterious leaven, which joins and reunites the whole mass; which binds all its parts together, and impresses upon them one general efficacy and virtue; which overthrows the distinctions of Jew and Gentile, Greek and barbarian, and gives to all the same name and the same being: and here you comprehend how great must be its sanctity and inward might, seeing it hath purified the whole universe, and of all nations hath made but one people.
But at present Jesus Christ compares it to bread, which serves as the food of man; and he thereby means to inform us that the word of the Gospel is a powerful and solid nourishment, often pernicious to such as receive it into a diseased and corrupted heart, and useful only to souls who, with a holy appetite, nourish themselves with it, and who bring to this place a heart prepared to listen to it.
To confine myself, then, to this idea, I shall say nothing of the wonders which this word, announced by twelve poor and humble men, formerly wrought throughout the universe, I shall pass over in silence the sanctity of its doctrine, the sublimity of its counsels, the wisdom of its maxims; and, limiting myself to the instruction, and to that which may render the word of the Gospel, which we announce, beneficial to you, I shall inform you, firstly, what are the dispositions which ought to accompany you to this holy place for the purpose of hearing it; and, secondly, in what mind you ought afterward to listen to it: two duties, not only neglected, but even
