s like blasphemy, because one is finite and the other
infinite--man is bounded, God boundless; and to speak of resemblance
and kindred between these two, is to speak of resemblance and kindred
between two natures essentially different. But this is precisely the
argument which is brought by the Socinians against the doctrine of
the incarnation; and we are bound to add that the Socinian argument is
right, unless there be the similarity of which we have been speaking.
Unless there be something in man's nature which truly and properly
partakes of the divine nature, there could be no incarnation, and the
demand for perfection would be a mockery and an impossibility.

Let us then endeavour to find out the evidences of this infinitude in
the nature of man. First of all we find it in this--that the desires
of man are for something boundless and unattainable. Thus speaks our
Lord--"What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world
and lose his own soul?" Every schoolboy has heard the story of the
youthful prince who enumerated one by one the countries he meant to
conquer year after year; and when the enumeration was completed, was
asked what he meant to do when all those victories were achieved, and
he replied--to sit down, to be happy, to take his rest. But then came
the ready rejoinder--Why not do so now? But it is not every schoolboy
who has paused to consider the folly of the question. He who asked his
son why he did not at once take the rest which it was his ultimate
purpose to enjoy, knew not the immensity and nobility of the human
soul. He could not _then_ take his rest and be happy. As long as one
realm remained unconquered, so long rest was impossible; he would weep
for fresh worlds to conquer. And thus, that which was spoken by our
Lord of one earthly gratification, is true of all--"Whosoever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again." The boundless, endless, infinite
void in the soul of man can be satisfied with nothing but God.
Satisfaction lies not in _having_, but in _being_. There is no
satisfaction even in _doing_. Man cannot be satisfied with his own
performances. When the righteous young ruler came to Christ, and
declared that in reference to the life gone by, he had kept all the
commandments and fulfilled all the duties required by the Law, still
came the question--"What lack I yet?"

The Scribes and Pharisees were the strictest observers of the
ceremonies of the