Here then, surely, a very solemn picture is set before us. The same message proves, in the case of some, the savour of death unto death: in the case of others, of life unto life. It is an image of what is still taking place in the world. The Gospel, whether veiled in the Old Testament, or unveiled in the New, is confessedly "a hard saying:"--to some, their very crown and joy; to others, only an occasion of distress and downfall. It was so, when proclaimed not by the tongue of men and of angels, but by the lips "full of grace and truth" of the Incarnate WORD Himself: and it is so still. The temper of mankind is still the same as it was of old, and the instrument of man's trial is still the same. Of the written Gospel, many of the self-same things are said in Scripture which are said of Him by whom that Gospel was preached. Thus, it is proclaimed to be "the power of GOD to salvation[245]." It is described as "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart[246]." It is declared to be eternal,--a thing which "shall never pass away[247]." "In the last day," it is prophesied that the words which CHRIST has spoken "shall judge" men[248]. The very Name by which St. John designates the Eternal SON, in the forefront of his Gospel[249], is the appellation by which the Gospel is emphatically known.--But even more remarkable are the analogies which subsist between the written record of our LORD'S Life and Teaching, and the actual person of our LORD. And proposing, as I now do, to say a few earnest words to the younger men in recommendation of a more punctual, methodical, as well as attentive study of the Bible, than, I am persuaded, is practised by one young man in a thousand,--it may not prove unavailing in awakening attention, if I advert, in passing, to some of the circumstances whereby an even balance, (so to speak,) is established between the opportunities of the men of this generation, and of those who were blessed with the oral teaching of the Son of Man. 1. Thus, if the record has its difficulties, and its seeming contradictions, so had _He_. It did not appear that "JESUS _of Nazareth_" was born, (according to the prophet Micah's prediction,) at _Bethlehem_[250]. His title perplexed even Nathanael[251].--He was called the son of _Joseph_, even _by the Blessed Virgin[252]_. How then could He be the SON of GOD? And how was the famous prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled in Him[253]?--He grew up in a lowly estate. Once He is called "the carpenter[254]." How then could He be of the Royal House of David? And so, in many other respects, did He, in His own person, present the self-same class of difficulties to the world's eye which His Gospel presents to ours:--"the sixteenth of Tiberius,"--the two genealogies,--"Cyrenius,"--"the days of Abiathar,"--"Jeremy the prophet,"--and so on.