Luke x. 23, 24. And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see : for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
OF all things relating to the world around us, the most delightful is the progress of the Gospel, and the consequent augmentation of the Redeemer's empire. This event had commenced through the ministrations of the seventy disciples, whom our Lord had sent as his harbingers throughout the land of Judaea : and it had filled our blessed Saviour himself with joy, in the midst of all the sorrows with which he was dailv encompassed*. His own more immediate disciples he particularly . congratulated on the insight which they had into the mysteries of his religion ; in which respect they were favoured far beyond all the servants of God who had preceded them, not excepting the most distinguished of their kings, or the most en- lightened of their prophets b. To impress this the more deeply on their minds, "he turned to them apart, and privately whispered it, as it Were, in their ears."
To you, publicly, I will offer the same congratula- tions, whilst I set before you the blessings of a preached Gospel, I. As enjoyed by the immediate Disciples of our Lord —
The patriarchs and prophets were highly privileged in the light they enjoyed —
[They were instructed in the knowledge of the one true God, of whom all the rest of the world were ignorant. They
a ver. 17, 21.
b The Exordium might be varied to suit any particular occasion. Suppose it were the subject of an Ordination or Visitation Sermon, or on occasion of a Bible or Mission Society, Christ's appointment of the Seventy might be noticed. If it were on the Fifth of November, it might be stated that, amongst the chief blessings for which we were then called to thank God, was the preservation of the Protestant Religion.