SERMON XX.

THE OX THAT GORES A MAN.

"If an ox gore a man or a woman that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit."Exodus xxi. 28.

It is said by the apostle Paul, in a passage that is well-known to the readers of the Sacred Scriptures, that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," but on reading a passage such as that which forms our present text, a person who knows nothing but the literal sense of the Holy Word will naturally ask,-What manner of instruction in righteousness, what manner of doctrine, correction, or growth in every good work, can possibly come from such a declaration as this concerning an ox goring a man, or any of the laws connected with it? And, it is true enough, that if we were to regard simply these divine laws in relation to their outward application, this portion of the Word of God might well be classed amongst those which might have had some relation to the Jews and their dispensation, but whose value must now have entirely passed away. Yet, we should not be much edified in our view of the Word of God by considering it in the light we have just mentioned, because the whole Israelitish dispensation was a "shadow of good things to come ;" and, consequently, to say of any part of the Book of God, that it belongs to the Israelitish dispensation, and has nothing to do with us, is entirely to ignore the very purpose for which the Israelitish dispensation existed. Every part of the law was to be " pattern of the true," the Israel of old, of the Israel now; the Jerusalem of old, "of the Jerusalem that is from above."

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Consequently, this argument alike with that which teaches that all divine inspiration must be for eternal and spiritual uses— this argument equally shows us, that, however the man of the letter only, may fail altogether in seeing how this part of the Word of God is for instruction in doctrine, in righteousness, in reproof, and in thoroughly furnishing the man of God unto all good works, that yet it has its deep and glorious wisdom for those who are aware that God's words enclose eternal and spiritual thoughts, and are everywhere" spirit and life." Indeed, we shall easily be prepared to enter upon the solution of the divine lessons before us, if we bear in mind, that the ox, like the sheep, the lamb, the horse, and a variety of other animals, is brought before us in the Word of God, with exceeding freqency. They are all symbols of important principles in the human mind.

Without bearing this in mind, what should we be able to make of the 20th verse of the 32nd chapter of Isaiah, "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass." For what possible connection could there be between a person simply sending his ox or his ass to be watered at the river, and his becoming the object of divine blessing? Yet so the Word of God reads, "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass." But if we bear in mind the great law which we have so often dwell upon, that everything in the world around, corresponds to some principle in the world within, according to the peculiar character of each, we shall then be easily able to observe that there are some especially beautiful lessons connected with the ox. For the ox has in all ages represented to the thoughtful mind the disposition of plodding, patient industry. That animal is the very expression of patient, plodding, steady purpose, and therefore, when it is said, "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox," we can readily discern a divine lesson, when we think not of earthly waters, but of heavenly-the sacred streams of the Word of God-and think of a person going there with that disposition in him which is like the ox. The man who is patient, and has a constant observance of duty, and who goes to the Word of God to be enlightened in that duty, by means of its sacred lessons, will, undoubtedly, be blessed. He has, then, not only a disposition to obey, but an enlightened mind. A man who has not been instructed in the principles of divine truth, may have this ox

like disposition, but, in ignorance, he may be misled. He may be drawn away by a deceiver, be made the creature of a tyrant, or a false principle. But, "Blessed are they who send their ox to the waters";-who go with the intention of learning from the Word of God what is right, and then doing it.

Remembering this symbol of the ox, you will find again and again the same divine image presented to us in the Word, as, for instance, in the 2nd verse of the 4th chapter of Malachi, "Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall," that is to say, they who fear the Lord, shall have the desire born again in the soul by regeneration, that subsequently, becomes an ox, but begins by being a tender, innocent, careful impulse to plod on in the way of duty, and go forth as calves of the stall. Again, in the sublime representation in Rev. iv. 7, which describes the affections of the highest angels, under the representation of the FOUR LIVING ONES, that were in the midst of the throne. The throne being the symbol of heaven, filled with the spirit of the Lord himself. The living ones in the midst of the throne represent the best angels, those who are all alive with the spirit of love. It is said" the face of one was like a lion," to represent the loving courage of those who supremely love the Lord; "And the face of the second was like a calf," to represent the tender spirit of steady obedience these blessed ones have :-bold as a lion to think what is right, gentle as a lamb in the path of duty. They are also said to have the face of a man, indicative of their intelligence, and, fourthly, the face of a flying eagle, descriptive of their power of soaring into the holiest things. These celestial qualities of those who are perfected in loving the Lord above all things, and their neighbour as themselves, are thus presented in their quadruple perfections. You will find from the symbolic character of the ox, that there was instituted amongst the Israelites a daily sacrifice of an ox, to teach us, that, it is this same spirit of plodding devotion to duty, of careful, loving attention to every little requirement which duty demands, which forms the life of the true Christian. For life is not made up of certain grand crises, of a few great things, but of innumerable little things, and he who is attentive from right principles, to little things, leads the truly heavenly life. The good man begins his duty in the morning by asking divine help to do right, he plods on throughout the day, attending to the duties of his calling in the spirit of our Lord's teaching, when

He says, "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much." This law is often overlooked by those who hope to reach the kingdom of heaven, but who expect to do it by some great demonstration, as Naaman expected to be cured by some striking display. When the prophet told him to go and wash in Jordan seven times, he said, "I thought he would have required me to do some great thing." He supposed the dignity of the prophet, and his own dignity as captain of the hosts of Syria required this. But not so, nor is it ever so. Just as mountains are made up of stones, and the ocean is made up of drops, so is a virtuous life made up of little duties. "Give us this day our daily bread," is the Christian's prayer. Strength is given us daily. It is daily bread that the Christian needs. It is daily duty that he has to perform. Though the distance between the state in which he is to-day, and the state in which he will be when he enters the golden palace of his God is great; yet that distance will be accomplished step by step. All that he is required to do is to shun the evil of to-day, and do the good of to-day for the love of the Lord, and the love of his neighbour, and in that way everything that the Christian is called upon to do will be accomplished in the Lord's good time. A step at a time. "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much." The spiritual ox is this persevering steady disposition. The brazen sea, which stood in the courtyard of the temple, and in which everyone that entered into the tabernacle had first to wash, was placed upon twelve statues of oxen, to teach the same great lesson, that, all purifications of heaven are to be connected with the daily duties of a plodding life. We must not ask ourselves what extraordinary things must we perform; but just as an ox goes round step by step in doing its daily work, so we must do our Lord's will in the duties of our vocation, and while we are doing this from love to the Lord, and charity to our neighbour, our purification will go on.

He who forsakes his daily duty and substitutes for it something else that he supposes will do equally well, or be more beneficial, will find that all his pretended righteousness will fail him at last. The brazen sea of heaven is always on the twelve oxen.

But here the ox is not spoken of approvingly. It is not the ox on which the brazen sea rested, or that was offered up as a burnt offering to the Most High which is brought before us here; but it is an ox that gores a man or a woman, and of which it is said, that it shall be stoned, and the owner shall then be quit.

Every object, both in nature and in the Word, is capable of

Whatever it repre

being used in a good sense or in a bad one. sents in a good sense, in the bad one it represents the opposite. The ox that gores a man or a woman, represents the perverse disposition of an obstinate mind, that offends against what is manly, or what is connected with the affection of truth. The horn with which it gores is representative of the power of such a principle, and hence, the ox thus coming and suddenly destroying a man or a woman, reminds us of hast awful, terrible description which is given in Psalm xxii,, of the bitterness of our Lord's last temptation, when he says, "Many bulls of Bashan compassed me about." The spirits that compassed him about and gaped upon him, were infernals who were in the perpetual disposition of obstinately doing evil. They were therefore called "bulls of Bashan." The ox in this bad sense, represents the disposition of doing evil,-an obstinate, perverse heart. When such a disposition starts up in the soul and injures what is true or good, it is represented as goring a man or a woman, such an animal was to be stoned, and then the owner would be quit. When it is said that such a state of heart as is offensive against truth, has done serious injury to the soul, and it is discovered that such injury has been perpetrated out of the wilful purpose of an unregenerate affection, it shall be stoned. That is to say, the Word shall condemn it, the Divine Truths of the Word shall be brought forward so as to guard the soul against its efforts, and then there will be no further harm. The first law respecting the oxen, represents the state of one who has not been previously instructed in what is good, in whom the will is still unregenerate, and who is, therefore, wild, wayward, and inconsiderate. When Divine Truth is brought forward, and the soul is shewn that such and such acts are contrary to the commands of heaven, it comes at once into a higher and better state, and there is no further harm done. Our Lord speaks of such when he says, "If ye were blind ye would have no sin." They are instructed, the ox is put to death,--that is, their disposition is utterly rejected, and the man is quit. But the Divine Word goes on to say that if he were wont to push in times past, and if its owner had been cautioned, and he has not taken the means by which it should be prevented from endangering any one, he, also, should be put to death. Because this represents the disposition of one who sins against instruction and warning, in days gone by. Such a one has allowed evil to come into reiterated rebellion and contumacy against the Most High. Divine Truth has explained to him how wrong