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ledge. Thus the apostle John declares, that Jesus refrained from committing himself to the Jews, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man:" ii, 24, 25. On a subsequent occasion, after he had brought to light and answered the secret questionings of his disciples, they said unto him, “Lo, now thou speakest plainly, and speakest no proverb; now we are sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God:" xvi, 29, 30. Lastly, it was evidently to our Lord's intuitive and unlimited acquaintance with the heart of man, that the apostle Peter appealed, when he cried out to his divine Master, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee:" John xxi, 17.

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On a fair consideration of these explicit passages, I know not how we can reasonably avoid the conclusion, that Jesus Christ, during his abode on earth, displayed that actual perception and personal knowledge of the secret thoughts of men, which appertains to omniscience; and which is therefore unquestionably to be regarded as one of the peculiar attributes of the Supreme Being. Now this conclusion, deduced from the obvious import of the language of the apostles, is confirmed by the express testimony of the Son of God himself. If we are led to inquire, how it came to pass that Jesus Christ was able to reveal the hidden cogitations of his followers, we may find a satisfactory

5 Εν τούτῷ πιστεύομεν ὅτι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἐξῆλθες. The omniscience displayed by Jesus when he replied to the concealed murmurings of his disciples, was the means of convincing them not merely that he was a prophet, but that he came forth from God—¿¿ñλDev ȧπò ɛoυ—that is to say, that he was the true Messiah, the Word of Jehovah, who had come forth from the immediate presence of the Father, and was now made manifest in the flesh: see John i, 1. 14.

THE SECRET THOUGHTS OF MEN;

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solution of our difficulty, in his own words recorded in the Book of Revelation: "I am He which searcheth the reins and the hearts, and I will give unto every one of you, according to your works:" ii, 23. And if we pursue our inquiry a step further, and ask the question, "Who is HE which searcheth the reins and the hearts?" the whole analogy of divine truth, and the plain doctrine of Scripture preclude any answer but one-He which searcheth the reins and the hearts, is GOD. 66 I, Jehovah, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings :" Jer. xvii, 10; comp. xi, 20; Ps. vii, 9.

2. When we consider the human nature of Jesus Christ, we can say with the apostle Peter, that he was "a man approved of God by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him; (Acts ii, 22;) nor could the subject of his miracles be mentioned in a more proper manner, on an occasion when the point under consideration was not the deity of Jesus Christ, but only the truth and divine origin of the religion which he taught. When, however, we remember on the other hand, that Jesus Christ was that essential Word of Jehovah, that First-begotten of the Father, by whom "were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible," it seems impossible for us to deny that he must himself have possessed the power of controuling and altering that natural order of things to which he had given birth. Accordingly our Lord, in a passage already cited, while he bears testimony to the doctrine, that without the Father he can do nothing, plainly asserts his own authority over nature-his own power to work miracles, as the Father works them: John v,

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19-21. On the whole, therefore, we may conclude that when Jesus Christ performed all his wonderful works-when he gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, strength to the withered, limbs to the maimed, and life to the dead-he displayed the proofs, not merely of the reality of his commission, and of the truth of his religion, but of his actual Sonship—of his union and cooperation, in the nature of God, with the author and governor of all things.

In order to try the correctness of this conclusion, let us compare the miracles of Jesus Christ, with those of the ancient prophets and patriarchs, many of whom may be said (in a loose and general sense of the term) to have wrought miracles, because they were the appointed instruments of their occurrence, and because they were sometimes permitted, through the efficacious operation of faith and prayer, actually to excite these extraordinary interpositions of divine wisdom and power. But from the history of the miracles of Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha, it is easy to learn, that the Lord alone performed the wonders of which the prophet gave the signals. Thus when Moses, full of faith in the God of Israel, stretched forth his hand over the red sea, "the Lord caused the sea to go back :" Exod. xiv, 21. Thus also the sun stood still in its course over the valley of Ajalon, because "the Lord hearkened unto the voice" of Joshua: Josh. x, 14. And thus, lastly, Elijah and Elisha became instrumental in raising the dead to life, after the exercise of fervent supplication: I Kings xvii, 21; II Kings iv, 33.

On the contrary, the mode in which Jesus performed his miracles, was almost universally such as indicated his own divine power: He spake, and it was

done: he commanded, and it stood fast. "And behold, there came a leper, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou WILT, thou CANST make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I WILL, be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed:" Matt. viii, 2, 3. Similar examples are numerous. Thus, when the people of Nain were carrying the widow's dead son on his bier out of their city, Jesus said, "Young man, say unto thee, arise; and he that was dead sat up, and began to speak:" Luke vii, 14, 15. Again, when the two blind men acknowledged him to be the Messiah, and besought his mercy, he said unto them, "Believe

I

ye

that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were opened:" Matt. ix, 28-30. These and other similar narrations contain a strong internal evidence, that the miraculous changes thus suddenly produced on the objects before him, originated in the will, and were effected by the power of Jesus. On other occasions, the word of Jesus produced a similar instantaneous effect on persons who were not in his presence. Great, indeed, was the faith in the divine power of Jesus, which was displayed by the Roman centurion, who thus addressed him: "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the self-same hour:" Matt. viii, 5-13; comp. John iv, 43-54. How complete is the accordance of the circumstance thus related, with the words of the psalmist, sung in praise of JEHOVAH,

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BY HIS OWN POWER.

-"He sent his word, and healed them," (Ps. cvii, 20) and with the declaration of God himself, through his prophet Isaiah: "My word shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it :" lv, 11. Lastly, let us observe the power which the Son of God possessed over the very elements of nature. "And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him: and behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves; but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord save us, we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man (or as in the Greek, what manner of person)6 is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" Matt. viii, 23—27; comp. xiv, 32;7 comp. Ps. cxlviii, 8.

In the several instances now adverted to, there are to be observed very evident indications of the spontaneous exertion of a divine power,-indications which are rendered the more striking, by the comparison

6 ποταπός.

7 We read in the Gospel of Mark, that when Jesus was at Nazareth, dishonoured and rejected by his own countrymen, "he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hand upon a few sick folk, and healed them :" vi, 5-oùx dúvæтo EXET οὐδεμίαν δύναμιν ποιῆσαι. From this passage we learn, not that Jesus was at any time destitute of an inherent power to work miracles, but only that he was deprived of the opportunity of working them. Since, in pursuance of the order of the divine counsels, faith in Christ was an indispensable condition in those on whose behalf the miracles of Jesus were wrought, it followed, that where there was no faith, there could be no miracle. Thus, when Jehovah was about to destroy the city of Sodom (which he had decreed not to destroy while Lot was in it), he commanded Lot to flee to Zoar, and said, "Haste thee, escape thither: for I CANNOT do any thing till thou be come thither: "Gen. xix, 22. Rosenmüller's observations on Mark vi, 5, are very much to the point: "Causa vero, cur Jesus miracula Nazarethæ patrare non posset, hæc erat, quod Nazarethani præjudiciis occupati Christo ægrotos non offerebant, nec opem ejus implorabant. Ergo nec potentia nec animus, sed occasio faciendi miracula ei deerat:" Schol. in loc. See Whitby in loc.