■ ■ — ' By the same Author, In Demy 8vo., Price 10s. 6d., THE GOSPEL OP S. MATTHEW, Illustrated from Ancient and Modern Authors. “ In examining this work, we have been much struck by its adaptation to the use of preachers. The collection of thoughts, extracted from a great variety of Authors, seems to us eminently calculated to supply valuable aid and materials of instruction to those who are about to expound the word of God.” — English Review , Sept. 1848. “ Mr. Ford has hit the happy mean, neither being tempted into long disquisitions on the one hand, nor making important omissions on the other.”— English Churchman, May, 1848. In Demy 8vo., Price 10s. 6d., THE GOSPEL OF S. MARK, Illustrated (chiefly in the Doctrinal and Moral Sense,) from Ancient and Modern Authors. “We are glad to see that Mr. Ford has followed up his last year’s publication of the ‘ Gospel of S. Matthew Illustrated,’ by a companion volume on that of * S. Mark.’ We can only repeat our criticism, and recommend the work as a storehouse of good and beau¬ tiful thoughts, old and new, from the best writers of all sorts. We fancy that we notice more passages in the present volume than in the former one signed only with the initials of Mr. Ford himself, and their increase is not to be regretted.”— Guardian, April 4, 184g. “ This volume displays various and copious reading, and the Selections are graceful and pleasant. . . . Its true value is in suggesting—in fact, supplying Sermon thoughts.” —Christian Remembrancer, April, 1849. The Fourth Volume, on the Gospel of S. John, completing the Series, is preparing for the Press. THE GOSPEL OF S. LUKE, ILLUSTRATED (CHIEFLY IN THE DOCTRINAL AND MORAL SENSE) FROM Ancient antr iHottern authors. THE REV. JAMES FORD, M.A., PREBENDARY OF EXETER, VICAR OF S. MARY CHURCH, DEVON. LONDON: JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET, AND NEW BOND STREET. OXFORD : PARKER. CAMBRIDGE : DEIGHTONS J MACMILLAN AND CO. EXETER! WALLIS; SPREAT; HOLDEN. TORQUAY : COCKREM CROYDON. MDCCCLI. .Saint Uufce t{)e ©bangeltst The Collect. Almighty God, who calledst Luke the Physician, whose PRAISE IS IN THE GOSPEL, TO EE AN EyANGELIST, AND PHY¬ SICIAN OE THE SOUL ; MAY IT PLEASE THEE, THAT, BY THE WHOLESOME MEDICINES OE THE DOCTRINE, DELIYERED BY HIM, ALL THE DISEASES OE OUR SOULS MAY BE HEALED; THROUGH ΤΠΕ MERITS OE THY SON JeSUS CHRIST OUR LORD. A M E Y. NOTICE. The Author did not discover, till it was too late to remedy the inconvenience, that the present volume was likely to exceed to a considerable extent the bulk of the two preceding it. He would be glad, if the consequent increase of price was found to be justified by the value of the additional matter thus supplied ; while, in accounting for the fact itself, he would re¬ mind the reader of the peculiar characteristics of S. Luke’s Gospel, its variety and copiousness, which render it beyond the Gospels of S. Matthew and of S. Mark, available for the purposes of illustration. He hopes shortly to complete the series by pub¬ lishing his collections on S. John ; to which a copious Index of the principal contents of the four volumes IV NOTICE. will be appended. And should the result of his humble labours verify the remark, made in one of our chiefest Theological Reviews, that “ the true value of these illustrations is in suggesting, in fact, supplying, Sermon thoughts/’ he will be indeed thankful. ERRATA. Page 9, line 16 , read walked. >> 221 , ,■ 35, 9> continuat. „ 421, „ 35, 99 Yini atque somni hinc degener socordia. ,, yy 37, 99 languidorum. yy 584, ,, 27, 99 obtain not italics. „ 674, „ 4, ii his. THE "GOSPEL ACCORDING TO S. LUKE. How come I to know tkat the works, which we call Livy’s, are indeed his, whose name they bear ? Hath God left means to know the profane writings of men ? Hath He left no certain means to know His own records ? The first and outward means, that brings us to the knowledge of the Scriptures, is the voice of the Church, notified to us by our teachers and instructors, who first •unclasped and opened them to us, and that common duty, which is exacted at the hand of every learner, oportet discentem credere . ... To those, who are conversant among the records of an¬ tiquity, farther light appears: to find the ancient copy of books, hearing these titles, to find in all ages, since their being written, the universal consent of the Church, still resolving itself upon these writings, as sacred and uncontrollable;—these cannot choose hut be strong motioners unto us to pass our consent unto them, and to conclude, that either their writings are that, which they are taken for, or nothing left us from antiquity is true. Tor whatsoever is, that gives any strength, or credit to any thing of antiquity, left to posterity, whether it he writings, or records, or tradition from hand to hand, or what things else soever, they all concur to the authorising of holy Scripture, as amply as they do to any other thing, left unto the world. . . . But this is only fides humano judicio et testimonio acquisita : what shall we think of fides infusa ? of the inward working of the Holy Ghost in the consciences of believers P . . . Doubt¬ less the Holy Ghost doth so work in the heart of every true believer, that it leaves a farther assurance, strong and sufficient to stay itself upon; but this, because it is private to every one, B 2 S. LUKE. and no way subject to sense, is unfit to yield argument by way of dispute ; it can be no way to bring either this or any other controversy to an end. S. John iv. 42; 1 Cor. xv. 3—5 ; 2 Tim. iii. 14—17. John Hales. (Golden Remains. Mis¬ cellanies.) Luke of Antioch, a physician by profession, as his writings in¬ dicate,* was skilled in the Greek language. He was a disciple of the Apostle Paul, and his companion in all his journeys. He wrote the Gospel, of which S. Paul himself speaks; “ we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the Churches.” (2 Cor. viii. 18.) Some think, that, when S. Paul in his Epistles, speaks thus, “ according to my Gospel,” (Rom. ii. 16 ; 2 Tim. ii. 8,) he refers to the work of S. Luke ; and moreover, that S. Luke was instructed not only by S. Paul, who had not companied with Christ in the flesh, {a minister of the word , though not an eye witness, verse 2,) but also by the other Apostles ; a fact, which he asserts in the preface to his Gospel, as they delivered them , tyc. He therefore wrote his Gospel, as he had heard ; but he composed his Acts of the Apostles, as he had seen. <8. Jerome. (In Catal. Ser. Eccles.) Lucus, Evangelii et medicinse munera pandens, Artibus bine, illinc Religione, valet: XJtilis file labor, per quern vixere tot aegri; Utilior, per quern tot didicere mori! Whatever you read here, whether concerning God, the Saviour, the Spirit of God, the holy Angels, or the followers of Christ, read it for the purposes of admiration, repentance, faith, growth in knowledge, and of “ doing the will of God.” Whatever defect, or evil you perceive in any of the characters, here pre¬ sented to you, take it as a warning. Does the narrative conduct your attention to a variety of circumstances, wdiich took place in * Fuit medicus, et pariter omnia j all his words are medicine for a lan- verha illins anima> languentis sunt me. guishing soul. S. Jerome. (Ep. ad dicin(E. As he was a Physician, so i Paulinum.) S. LUKE. 3 connection with our Loed and His Apostles ? Consider your¬ self interested in such circumstances, and, as it were, placed in the midst of them: for instance, when it is said in S. Mark x. 49, “ He calleth thee,” think, Jesus calleth you ; or, so treasure up by meditation the particulars of each transaction, that some general useful instruction may he the result. Hoes any good and cheering consideration arise in your heart, any sweet and tender emotion ? Turn yourself with it to your Saviour, just as if you were one of those, who personally conversed with Him, when He was upon earth. Thus will you acquire a readi¬ ness in communing with Him by ejaculation and prayer, better than from the use of any devotional manual; though I have no wish to depreciate such prescribed and valuable helps. God grant us more and more light and strength out of the fulness of the Beloved, in whom He hath graciously made us accepted ! Ps. lxxxv. 8; 1 Sam. xii. 7. Bengel. (Preface to the Harmony of the Gospels.) 4 S. LUKE I. 1. CHAPTER I. T7I0RASMUCH as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. 1 It is a singularity in S. Luke’s Gospel that it lias a Preface : and how much is contained in this short Preface. We are cautioned against erroneous or defective statements of the Truth; we are directed to the Apostles, whose credibility lieth in their having been eye witnesses and ministers of the word; we trace the faithfulness of the Evangelists, as receivers of the Word from the Apostles and in deposit for the Church, having themselves also a perfect understanding of all things from the very first. In regard to ourselves, we see, how “ faith cometh by hearing,” first taught by catechetical vivd voce instruction, then confirmed by the written Word, written expressly that we might know the certainty of those things, wherein we have been instructed. ( καιηχήΘη Bomine Beus , totum perdidit. Loed God, he who hath not gained Thee, hath lost all. S. Matt. xxv. 41. S. Bernard. Thou art not worthy of the name of a man, if thou thinkest thy body to be thyself. Bp. Hall. (Balm of Gilead.) Where the soul is there is the man, as the historical parable of Lazarus and Hives imports, when one is said to be “ in Abra- S. LUKE IX. 26, 28. 257 ham’s bosom,” and the other, “in hell,” long before their bodies were raised. Bp. Gauden. 26 He will appear not only in His own glory , but in the glory of His Father also : as if there were something more than He had already received at His right hand ; that is, He will come from thence to judge the quick and the dead, to sustain the very place of the supreme Loud and Governor of the world, to whom men and Angels are accountable for their actions. This is a thing, that is still behind ; and there are, it seems, some Loyal Majestic robes belonging to this high office, which He hath not yet put on. Lev. xi. 17. Bp. Patrick. (The glorious Epiphany.) All the Angels will be present with Him to bear witness, and themselves to testify how much they, by the mission of God, have administered unto the salvation of men. Lev. iii. 5; Heb. i. 6,14. S. Chrysostom. 28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. 29 And as He prayed, the fashion of His counte¬ nance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering. 30 And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias : 31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of His de¬ cease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 But Peter and they that were with Him were heavy with sleep : and when they were awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him. 28 Post sex dies, glorice Dominicce habitus ostenditur. Sex millium annorum temporibus evolutis, regni ccelestis honos prcefiguratur , saith S. Hilary. Six ages, the world’s continuance; the seventh day, that is the day of judgment; then the eighth is dies ceter- nitatis , when we shall be taken in glory. Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. on text.) 258 S. LUKE IX. 28, 29. 1 These three famous Apostles were not forward of themselves to as¬ cend to the holy mountain; but assumpsit , their Lord and Saviour took them with Him. This corruptible body and corrupt affec¬ tions press down the soul; our heart is heavy unto death, and can¬ not follow, unless the Father “ draw ” us unto Him. We are those blind and lame in the Gospel. I beseech Thee, 0 Father, “ compel ” us to come to Thy feast. . . There are two mountains, says Bernard, which we must ascend, but not both at once. First, there is the mountain, where the Son of God did preach, (S. Matt, v.) and, after that, go up to the mountain, where He was Transfigured, (S. Matt, xviii.) Non solum meditemur inprce- miis, sed etiam in mandatis Domini. I beseech you, first meditate upon the sayings and Commandments of God, and afterwards upon His Transfiguration, upon the reward of glory ; and not, as it is the vain custom of the world, to run on presumptuously upon assurance of glorification, and to forget the true order, first, to ascend upon the mountain of obedience, viii. 51; S. Mark xiv. 33; Heb. iv. 11; x. 36. Dp. Hacket. (Serm. on text.) 29 Transfiguratio specimen appositissimum Resurrectionis. In His Transfiguration we have a most exact pattern of our Resurrec¬ tion. Musculus. If the soul of a Christian be ever “ transformed by the renew¬ ing of his mind,” it must be, not while he is in the hurry and vanity of the world below, but when he leaves the world, and following the steps of his dear Lord and Master, ascends by faith to the Mount of Transfiguration, and is on his knees before God, remembering it is written, while lie prayed , He was Transfigured, iii. 21; xxiv. 51. Dp. Horne. (Serm. Phil, iii. 20, 21.) If we would be sure of this, that our bodies shall be conformed to His in the glory to come, let us see that our souls are here con¬ formed to His, in that humility, which He so much manifested, whilst He dwelt amongst men : if we would then that “ our vile body be made like His glorious body,” let our proud heart now be made like His humble heart. Bom. vi. 5 ; Col. i. 18 ; Phil, iii. 21. S. Dernard. Had He not “ come in the flesh,” how should men have been able S. LUKE IX. 29—31. 259 to look upon Him, that they might be saved ? seeing, if they behold only the Sun, which was the work of His hands, and shall hereafter cease to be, they are not able to endure stead¬ fastly to look against the rays of it. Deut. v. 24, 27; Job xxxiii. 6, 7. S. Barnabas. (Cath. Ep.) In spiritual worship there is communion with God ; for the mind, when it understands, does, in a sense, become the thing, that it doth understand; and in worship, the mind receives the form of the object it worshippeth. Exodus xxxiv. 33 ,* 2 Cor. iii. 18. Dr. Whichcote. (Aphor. Cent. v. 474.) 30 We reckon two Testaments, an old and a new: but there is but one; μία διαθήκη, saith Clemens Alex., but one Testament in¬ deed. S. Paul doth but distinguish them, (Heb. viii. 6,) only in their ministry ; but their substance is the same ; what is the old, but novi occultatio , the mystery of the new ? what is the new, but veteris revelatio, the history of the old, saith S. Augus¬ tine. The Gospel shows but what the Law did shadow. And therefore, Cheist chose at His Transfiguration, out of all the Saints departed, Moses and Elias , to figure the consent of the doctrine of the Gospel with the prophets and the Law. So in Ezekiel’s vision of the beasts and the wheels, S. Gregory expounds one wheel within another to be the new Testament within the old. This made Gregory Nazianzen to call the Chris¬ tian faith “ both old and new.” 1 S. John ii. 7. Dr. Bichard Clerlce. (Serin. Acts xvii. 19.) 31 When at the Transfiguration of our Loed, Moses discoursed with Him on the subject of His decease , or, as it is in the origi¬ nal, Ilis Exodus , which He should accomplish at Jerusalem , may we not imagine to ourselves the deliverer of Israel, addressing the world’s Redeemer in some such words as these—“ By my hand the Loed God of Israel did once vouchsafe to bring forth His people from the afflicting bondage of Egypt; but Thou shalt turn the multitude of the Gentiles from the power of Satan unto God. I saw the Loed make a path through the waters for His Redeemed to pass over; but Thou shalt find a more wonderful way through the waves of death ; and though the floods shall compass Thee about, yet shall Thy life be brought up from corruption. I beheld the chariots of Pharaoh and the s 2 260 s. LUKE IX. 31, 32. mighty host of Egypt, plunging in the deep, when the morning appeared; hut Thou shalt triumph over principalities and powers, and see them overwhelmed in the lake of fire. I led my people through the wilderness, and gave them a Law, which had the ‘ shadow of good things to come ;’ but Thou shalt conduct Thine through the world, and teach them to ‘wor¬ ship in spirit and in truth.’ I went before Israel to the bor¬ ders of the promised land ; hut Thou art the true Shepherd of souls, and they who follow Thee, shall c pass from death unto life.’ ” Jer. xxiii. 5—8. Bp. Horne. (On the life of John the Baptist, s. 2.) "When Moses and Elias appeared in glory to converse with our Transfigured Saviour on the Mount, their discourse was not on the government of kingdoms, the engagement, of great armies, &c.; these are the solemn trifles, that amuse mortals; but they discourse upon the chief subject of the inspired Book, the decease , which He should accomplish at Jerusalem ; those meritorious passions, and miraculous death, that were to re¬ deem and save a whole w'orld. Bev. v. 6, 9, 12. JR. Boyle. The eastern Emperors thought it not incongruous to choose the stones for their sepulchre on the day of their coronation. Abp. Bramhall. While we hope to be saved by Thy death, why do we not all re¬ joice in it ? and alike believing it, alike make our discourse of it ? xxiv. 14. Bonnell. 32 Heavy with sleep. —Eor as a worm, creeping with her belly on the ground, with her portion and share of Adam’s curse, lifts up its head to partake a little of the blessings of the air, and opens the junctions of her imperfect body, and curls her little rings into knots and combinations, drawing up her tail to the neighbourhood of the head’s pleasure and motion; but still it must return to abide the state of its own nature, and dwell and sleep upon the dust: so are the hopes of a mortal man; he opens his eyes, and looks upon fine things at a distance, and shuts them again with weakness, because they are too glorious to behold. Wisd. ix. 13—16; 2 Cor. v. 2 ; Bom. vii. Bp. J. Taylor. (Serm. preached at the Euneral of the Lord Primate.) His ylory. —Every grace in Jesus Christ casts forth a greater S. LUKE IX. 33. 261 lustre, than the sparkling of a diamond before the sun, and is more transcendent and resplendent than the sun itself at noon day. Heb. i. 13 ; S. John xii. 41. Chr. Love. (Sermon on Col. 3.) 33 And it came to pass, as they departed from Him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias : not know¬ ing what he said. 34 While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them : and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son : hear Him. 36 And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen. 33 Not caring though he himself did lie without shelter, so he might have the fruition of so glorious and gladsome a sight. S. John iv. 28. Chr. Sutton. When Peter saw Moses and Elias with Christ in His Transfigu¬ ration, though he had but a glimpse of glory, yet he saith, It is good for us to be here. But 0 how infinite good will it be, to be in heaven! How shall we then be rapt up with glory, when “we shall be for ever with the Lord,” “in whose Presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore !” On the contrary, how exceeding terrible it will be, to be shut out from the presence of God. O the unspeakable horror and dread ! O the infinite shame of that man, who is in such a case! S. Matt. viii. 11, 12; xxv. 41; 2 Thess. i. 7— 11; Rev. xxii. 15. Abp. TJsher. (Serm. Rev. xxi. 8.) The solitude of the mountain had charms for Peter ; he had been wearied with the tumult of the world’s business. But he desired 262 S. LUKE IX. 33. three tabernacles. The heavenly answer showed him that we have One, which human judgment desired to divide; Christ, the Word of God ; the Word of God in the Law, the Word in the prophets. Eph. ii. 14 ; iv. 5. S. Augustine. Divine manifestations and extraordinary impressions are not con¬ siderable further than God is discernible in them, and glori¬ fied by them; as that vision of Moses and Elias, which gave Peter such a present shake and astonishment, that though he spake of making three Tabernacles , and staying there, yet he knew not what he meant ; that is, he did not well consider the unseasonableness and unreasonableness of his proposals; yet afterwards upon composed reflections and calmer thoughts, he makes a very holy and excellent use of that vision, to confirm the faith of Christians in Christ, as in the beloved Son of God, “ which voice, we heard (saith he) in the Holy Mount,” coming from the excellent glory of God, the Eather. S. John xiv. 26. Bp. Gauden. (Sermon at the Euneral of Bp. Brownrig.) O the transporting pleasure of that Blessed vision, which now I can hardly think of without an ecstasy; when my poor longing mind, which here gropes about for truth in a dark dungeon of error and ignorance, (1 Cor. xiii. 12 ; 2 Cor. v. 2,) shall be let forth into the heavenly light, to see as it is seen, and know as it is known ; how will it fix its greedy eyes upon God, of whose acquaintance it is now so desirous ! With what in¬ finite delight will its winged and active thoughts hover in the light of His countenance, which, through every moment of Eter¬ nity, will be still revealing new beauties to us, such as will not only for ever employ, but for ever inflame our meditations. Bev. xxii. 20, 21. Dr. J. Scott. (Christian Life, p. i. c. 3.) Urit me patriae decor, Urit conspicuis pervigil ignibus Stellati tliolus aetheris; Et lunae tenerum lumen, et aureis Eixae lampades atriis. 0 noctis choreas, et teretem sequi Juratae thyasum faces! O pulcher patriae vultus, et ignei S. LUKE IX. 33, 36. 263 Hulces excubise poli! Cur me stelliferi luminis hospitem Cur, heu, cur nimium diu Coelo sepositum cernitis exsulem ? Hie canum mihi cespitem, Hie albis tumulum sternite liliis, Eulgentis pueri dornus. Hie leti pedicas exuor, et meo Secernor cineri cinis. Hie lenti spolium ponite corporis, Et quidquid superest mei ; Immensum reliquus tollor in sethera. Matth. Casim. Sarbievius. (Lyric. Lib. i. ode 19.) His transfiguration was a bright ray of glory ; but then also He entered into a cloud , and was told a sad story, what He was to suiter at Jerusalem. . . . Eor this J esus was like the rainbow, which God set in the clouds, as a Sacrament, to confirm a promise, and establish a grace. He was half made of the glories of the light, and half of the moisture of a cloud. Bp. J. Taylor. The cloud was a type of Christ’s mild appearance; for it was seated not between Seraphims, fiery Angels, messengers and instruments of wrath, but between the Cherubims, which had the shape of men, lovely and meek men. . . . Christ was the truth of the cloud. In his flesh did God so appear, that He might be reduced to the sight of men; and He appeared for those uses, whereunto the cloud was designed, for direction and protection. Ex. xiii. 21, 22 ; Isa. iv. 5 ; Heb. ix. 5. Bp. Lake. (Serm. Hagg. ii. 6—9.) It is observed, that, as the mystery of the whole Trinity shone forth on the Baptism in Jordan, so in like manner at the Trans¬ figuration on the Mount; because truly that glory of His, which we confess in Baptism, we shall magnify at our Resurrec¬ tion. Horn. vi. 3—11. Bede. 36 (Conf. S. Mark ix. 9.) A wise prohibition; for judging by the hasty passionate words of S. Peter, the almost natural effect of this overwhelming spectacle, too bright for mortal eye and passing all understanding, we could have expected no ade¬ quate account of the matter from him, had he been allowed to 264 S. LUKE IX. 36. declare the vision, under the impulse of present feeling. Time and reflection, and, above all, the guidance of the Spirit were needful, in order to raise and direct the Apostle’s mind to a right knowledge of the mystery, and to make him a faithful ex¬ ponent of the great doctrines connected with it. S. John xiii. 7; 2 S. Pet. i. 16—18. J. F. Jesus wishes not those things, which relate to His glory, to be spoken of before His Passion. Hence it follows ; and they kept it close. Por men would have been offended, especially the multitude, if they saw Him crucified, who had been so glorified. Origen. Obedience is a virtue of great necessity even in the smallest things; and they, that are subject to obey, must not examine with what little prejudice a small command may be broke, but rather consider with what great ease it may be kept. Things forbidden, says the School, are of two sorts, Qucedam prohiben- tur, quia mala; qucedam sunt mala , quia prohibentur : some things are absolutely evil in themselves, and therefore are pro¬ hibited, as murder and adultery ; some things are prohibited by just authority, and thereupon respectively become evil, as the eating of the forbidden fruit in Paradise: if God had not ex¬ pressly prohibited that tree to man, it had been no sin to taste of it; so our Saviour made that sinful by His command, which otherwise had been harmless to be spoken of, if Pie had not encharged His disciples to obsequiousness. And they performed that secresy, which they undertook, not envying their brethren the relation of those things, which they had seen, but observing that time of restraint, which their Master had prefixed; and thus they reap praise even out of their infirmity, that although they were unfit to speak of such transcendent miracles as yet, yet they knew their duty to hold their peace. Bp. Hachet. (Serm. on text.) 37 And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met Him. 38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, S. LUKE IX. 37, 38. 265 saying, Master, I beseech Thee, look upon my son : for he is mine only child. 39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. 40 And I besought Thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. 41 And Jesus answering, said, O faithless and per¬ verse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you ? Bring thy son hither. 42 And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. 37 Come down , Peter, thou wast desiring to rest upon the mount; come down to labour in the earth, in the earth to serve, to be despised and crucified in the earth. The Life came down, that He might be slain ; the Bread came down, that He might hunger; the "Way came down, that He might be wearied in the way; the Fountain came down, that He might thirst; and dost thou re¬ fuse to labour ? Seek not thine own. S. John xxi. 19 ; Bom. viii. 29. S. Augustine. 38 After exerting our faith in prayer, there can be no better em¬ ployment than that, in which our love is exercised. This we observe in our Loed Jestjs Cheist. After praying, He came to His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane ; after praying, He delivered Peter and the other disciples from danger in a storm; after praying, He healed the lunatic. Rambach. Cried out. —Bewail thy dulness; consider that prayer without this holy importunity is like a messenger without legs, as an arrow without feathers, an advocate without a tongue. S. Jerome complained very much of his distraction and dulness in prayer, and chid himself, Siccine putas ordsse Jonam, sic Danielem inter leones , sic latronem in cruce ? “ Was it thus, think you, that 266 S. LUKE IX. 38—42. i Jonas prayed in the storm, or Daniel among the lions, or the thief on the cross ?” Chr. Love. (Zealous Christian.) Cried out and said with tears. —When S. Augustine’s mother la¬ mented the ill courses that her son took in his youth, still that priest (S. Ambrose), to whom she imparted her sorrows, said, Filius istarum lachtymarum non potest perire; that son, for whom so good a mother hath shed so many tears, cannot perish. Little knowest thou what thou hast received at God’s hands by the prayers of the Saints in heaven, that enwrap thee in their general prayers for the Church Militant. Little knowest thou what the public prayers of the congregation, what the private prayers of particular devout friends, that lament thy careless¬ ness and negligence in praying for thyself, have wrung and ex¬ torted out of God’s hands in their charitable importunity. Or. Donne. 40 As melancholy in the body is the hardest humour to be purged, so is melancholy in the soul, the distrust of thy salvation, too. Hashes of presumption calamities will quench; but clouds of desperation calamities thicken upon us. Prov. xviii. 14; 2 Cor. ii. 7. Dr. Donne. 42 Non obsidet mortuos , sed viventes, the Devil fights not against the dead, but the living. Non impugnat adversaries nisi milites Christi, saith Cyprian. Those who are down already he passes by; but when thou beginnest to breathe in the land of the living, then his fiery weapons fly about. S. Matt. iv. 1. Farindon. As he was yet a coming , the devil tare him. —If you mean to follow Christ, reckon for temptations, to meet them, even at first, and so in all the w T ay. . . . This expert enemy knows his interest well, and does not thus bestir himself lightly, but feels that his kingdom is in danger, and that he shall certainly be a loser. 1 Thess. i. 6. Abp. Leighton. (Expos. S. Matt. iv. 1.) “ My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation.” (Ecclus. ii. 1.) The devil deals with us, as the Egyptians did with the Hebrews. Eor two hundred years they were in slavery indeed ; but their burdens were not so great : but when they thought of flight, then, when Moses and Aaron cry, “ Let the people go,” then Pharaoh cries, “ Get you to your burden;” Opprimentur operibus; “Let there be more work S. LUKE IX. 42. 267 laid upon them.” The application is S. Bernard’s ; that Satan lays a greater task of brick upon those, who are going out of Egypt. Bev. xii. 12. Farindon. A little distance from the wicket gate, there is erected a strong castle, of which Beelzebub is the captain. Erom thence both he, and they, that are with him, shoot arrows at them, that are coming up to this gate ; if haply they may die, before they enter in. Then said Christian, “I rejoice and tremble.” Bun - yan. (Pilgrim’s Progress.) Protinus ut patrias remeat fugitivus ad sedes Isacides, Laban frendet et arma parat. Ac generum nactus verbis incessit acerbis, Quod tacitus celerem sumpserit ille fugam: “ Quin mihi discessus patuit tuus,” inquit, “ ut et te Cum cithara, variis prosequererque sonis ?” Isacides contra “ fugiendi clam mihi causa Ista fuit, ne me prosequereris, ” ait. Jacob. Billius. (Anthol. Sacra. 38.) 43 And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, He said unto His disciples, 44 Let these sayings sink down deep into your ears : for the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of men. 45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask Him of that saying. 46 Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. * Billius, in his Scholia on these verses, ascribes this answer to Jacob, on the authority of a passage in one of the Epistles of S. Ambrose ; as if the Patriarch was so far from taking plea¬ sure in the u mirth, songs, tabret, and harp” of Laban, that he fled from him, for the very purpose of escaping them. He represents the world as thus pursuing the fugitive convert, with its vanities, and refers the reader to Ex. v. 22, 23 ; and xvi. 2, 3. 268 S. LUKE IX. 43, 44. 4 7 And Jesus perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by Him, 48 And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in My Name receiveth Me : and whosoever shall receive Me receiveth Him that sent Me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. 43 God is everywhere present by His power. He rolls the orbs of heaven with His hand; He fixes the oarth in its place with His foot; He guides all creatures with His eye, and refreshes them with His influence. He makes the powers of hell to shake with His terrors, and binds the devils with His word; and throws them out with His command, and sends the Angels with embassies on His decrees. He hardens the joints of infants, and confirms the bones, when they are secretly fashioned. He it is, that assists at the numerous production of fishes ; and there is not hollowness at the bottom of the deep, but He shows Himself to be the Loed of it, by sustaining there the creatures, that come to dwell in it. And in the wilderness the bittern and the stork, the dragon and the satyr, the unicorn and the elk, live upon His provision, and revere His power, and feel the force of His Almightiness. Bp. J. Taylor. 44 It is an observation of the learned Mercer, that the same word in Hebrew, which signifies an ear in the dual number, signifies a pair of balances. Aurium et staterce idem est nomen in Hebrceo ; duce enim aures sunt , quasi bilances , quibus expenduntur quce audimus. Chr. Love. Sink down.—Remedia non prosunt , nisi immorentur. Hemedies do not take effect, unless they are kept in. Seneca. Son of man. —I see that the man, whom we seek, as qualified to be our Mediator, must be of this description ; He must not die of necessity, because He must be omnipotent; nor of debt, be¬ cause He must not be a sinner: and yet He must die volun¬ tarily, because it was necessary He should do so, as Mediator. . . . As it is necessary that man should satisfy for the sin of man, therefore none could make satisfaction, but He, who was properly man, Adam himself, or one of his race. That Adam S. LUKE IX. 45—48. 269 himself could satisfy, was impossible. Gen. iii. 15. Anselm . (Cur Deus homo, Lib. ii. c. 8, 11.) 45 The words of our Loud were clear and intelligible enough; and the ideas conveyed by them were all common and familiar; but if that saying were admitted, they must part with their be¬ loved principle (an earthly kingdom of the Messiah;) therefore it follows, they were afraid to ash Him of that saying , lest He should carry on the subject, and leave them no way to escape. They had already heard more than they would believe; and therefore, as to anything farther, thought it best to remain in the dark. Eph. v. 13. Jones (of Nayland.) 46 Magnus esse vis, ά minimo incipe. If you would be great, begin with being little. Do you think to build a fabric of great height ? first think of the foundation of humility. As much weight of building any one designs and contrives to have up¬ wards, and by how much the greater the building will be, so much the deeper he lays the foundation. And the fabric indeed rises up high, but he that digs the foundation digs low. Ergo et fabrica ante celsitudinem humiliatur, et fastigium post humilia- tionem erigitur. And therefore even the fabric is humbled, be¬ fore it is raised, and the top of it is raised, after it was humbled, vi. 48. S. Augustine. (De Verb. Dom. in Evang. S. Matt. Serm. 10.) 47 As having eyes, which beheld the thoughts of their hearts. Origen. Took a child, fyc. (Sate down, S. Mark xi.)—Let your know¬ ledge of mankind be never so great, yet you can never see per¬ sons or things in a true light, unless you view them coolly and dispassionately ; the same sober and dispassionate temper, which qualifies a man for an inquiry into the truth of things, enabling him likewise to form a just judgment of the characters of per¬ sons. Gen. iii. 8. J. Seed. (Serm. S. James iv. 11.) 48 It is to be considered that, as our having grace is from God’s free and undeserved favour and bounty, so, that we need grace is from our own weakness and infirmity; and that, as to be proud of God’s other gifts is like a beggar being proud of his clothes, so to be proud of grace is, as if a beggar should be proud of his crutches. S. Augustine cautions against this sort of pride in 270 S. LUKE IX. 48, 49. these words. “ Next let a man, knowing as he must do, that the grace of God has made him what he is, beware of another ensnaring species of pride, ut de ijpsd Dei gratid se extollendo , spernat cceteros, that of despising others under a vaunting sense of God’s grace bestowed on himself.” 1 Cor. xv. 9, 10. Norris. (Treatise on humility, s. iv.) In My Name. —Why should not an exhortation, that wooes you for Christ’s sake, move your hearts to duty, as a prayer, put up by you in His Name, moves God’s heart to mercy ? Gurnall. He, that lives here the life of an humble Christian, shall there be sure to reign the life of a victorious saint. Dr. Hammond. (Pract. Cat.) 49 And John answered and said, Master,, we saw one casting out devils in Thy Name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. 49 John is here taught that no person should be discouraged from the good, which he has attained in part; but that he should rather be stimulated to the further pursuit of the good, that remains yet to be attained. Phil. iii. 12,16. Bede. Our Lord presented to the Apostles the little child, as a kind of Sacrament of humility, and proceeded to reprove the beloved disciple for checking one, who wrought miracles in His Name, because he was not one of the Apostolic company. The pas¬ sage, as applied to us, seems to say ; “ You have devoted your¬ self to Christ ; that is well: but take care that you be not in¬ dulging, under the idea of loyal sacrifice, a selfish taste of your own. And it is a bad sign for you in this respect, if you grudge others, Catholic believers like yourselves, the good they do, and the privileges they enjoy ; if you would fain forbid those, whom our Lord has empowered to work miracles in His Name.” Numb. xi. 26—29; S. James iv. 11; v. 9 ; Phil. ii. 3. Keble. (Serm. S. Luke v. 11.) Casting out devils, fyc .—If sectarians, persons wilfully and obsti- S. LUKE IX. 49, 50. 271 nately separating themselves from the Unity of the Church and opposing her authority, will work a miracle, in proof of their commission to act in Cheist’s Name, we cannot forbid them ; we must rather wish them “ God speed/’ To prove their right to minister in His Name, they must however produce a re¬ gular vocation and mission, or the attestation of miracles, i.e., of an extraordinary calling of God. Numb. xi. 26—30. J. F. I am not afraid to say, that neither in reason, nor in Scripture, can I discover more than two manners, in which labourers in the vineyard receive their Mission from God. The first an imme¬ diate illapse of God’s anointing Spirit, confirmed by some acknowledged and public miracles; the other an authoritative recognition of our claims and acceptance of our services, by those persons, whoever they are, to whom God has entrusted this authority. Bp. Heber. (Visit. Serm. S. Matt. ix. 38.) By candid construction you may frustrate an enemy; but by sinister construction you may lose a friend. Dr. Whichcote. (Aphor. Cent. i. 63.) 50 Accustom thyself always to observe in the first place, and in the most complete manner, the bright side of every thing, and carry it back to the source whence it is derived. Then only be quick-sighted to discover the evil, when thou art bound by duty to correct it, or when there is danger of injury to thyself or to others in passing by the bad side unobserved. B. Overberg. So likewise in Church matters, the substance of doctrine is immu¬ table ; and so are the general rules of government; but for rites and ceremonies, and for the particular hierarchies, policies, and discipline of churches, they be left at large. And there¬ fore it is good we return unto the ancient bounds of Unity in the Church of God ; which was, “ one faith, one Baptism,” and not one hierarchy, one discipline ; and that we observe the league of Christians, as it is penned by our Saviour; which is in substance of doctrine, this ; lie, that is not with us, is against us ; but in things indifferent, and but of circumstance, this ; He, that is not against us, is until us. In these things, so as the general rules be observed; that Cheist’s flock be fed; that there be a succes¬ sion in Bishops and Ministers, which are the prophets of the New Testament; that there be a due and reverent use of the 272 S. LUKE IX. 51. power of the keys; that those, that preach the Gospel, live of the Gospel ; that all things tend to edification; that all things be done in order and with decency, and the like : the rest is left to the holy wisdom and spiritual discretion of the master- builders and inferior builders in Cheist’s Church ; as it is ex¬ cellently alluded by that father that noted, that Cheist’s gar¬ ment was “ without seam and yet the Church’s garment “ was of divers colours and thereupon setteth down for a rule ; “in veste varietas sit , scissura non sit.” Lord Bacon. (Pacification of the Church.*) 51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that He should be received up, He stedfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent messengers before His face : and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for Him. 53 And they did not receive Him, because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did ? 55 But He turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they w T ent to another village. 51 Received up. (Verse 44. Delivered into the hands of men ?)—The Divine and human natures are not more closely united in the Person of our Loed, each from time to time severally made * This was evidently a strong point and favourite idea in the mind of the noble author, as he so frequently re¬ curs to it. See Illustr. S. Matt. xii. 30 ; S. Mark ix. 40. S. LUKE IX. 53, 54. 273 manifest in the sacred history, than is the connection between His “ sufferings, and the glory that should follow,” His being delivered unto men, His being received up unto God. (S. Mark xvi. 19.) This identity between suffering and rejoicing must be found in us, His followers; the old nature suffering, the new or Divine nature in us rejoicing ; the cross and the crown ever before us ; our crucifixion in the flesh, our “ living by the power of God.” xxiv. 26; Phil. ii. 5—10 ; 1 S. Pet. v. 1; 2 Tim. ii. 11,12. J. F. 53 It was great inhumanity not to receive strangers, especially for Samaritans, who, as Epiphanius reports, received the five books of Moses, wherein hospitality is taught both by rule and example. The example of Abraham and Lot are remarkable in Genesis, who were, as S. Paul willeth Christians to be, διώκον τβ? την φιλοξενίαν, “ given to hospitality.” Origen first, and out of him Chrysostom, observe the significancy of the phrase, which impor- teth that we should be so hospitable, as not to stay, till strangers seek to us, but prevent them by our invitation. And indeed so did Abraham, and so did Lot. Bp. Lake. (Serm. on text.) 54 Another argument why strong Christians should be humble is this ; that, though they may have grace, yet they are subject to fall into that sin, which is most contrary to that grace, wdierein they are most eminent. Conf. Eom. iv. 20, with Gen. xx. 2 ; S. James v. 11, with Job vi. 8,9 ; Numb. xii. 3, with xx. 10—12. Chr. Love. How terrible a motion.yet, if we look to the offence, it was no positive act of indignity offered to Cueist ; but the mere not lodging of His train ; and that, not out of a rude in¬ humanity, but out of a religious scruple : what would have been said, if these Samaritans had pursued Him with swords, and staves, and stones ? Whom shall we find free from cruelty of revenge, when even the disciple of love was thus overtaken ? . . This very disciple, as if in way of abundant satisfaction for this rash oversight, calls more for love, than all the rest of his Master’s train. (1 S. Joliniv. 16 ; iv. 7, 8.—It is he too, who directs us to “try the spirits, whether they be of God.” 1 S. John iv. 1.) What would not this holy Apostle have given to have recalled this fiery motion P The more mercy and cha- τ 274 j S. LUKE IX. 54, 55. rity in us, the more we have of God : the more fury and re¬ venge, of Satan. Bp. Hall. (Select thoughts, 70.) As Elias did .—Things done by an extraordinary spirit are not to be drawn into precedents in ordinary cases. How many ridicu¬ lous and even pernicious things have enthusiasts been led into, on pretence of imitating the actions of extraordinary men; which would have been effectually prevented, had they attended to this one rule; that we should not attempt to follow the actions of the greatest or best of men, recorded in Scripture, farther than it appears, either from plain directions of Scripture, or from the nature of the case, that they can and should be im¬ itated. Judg. iii. 20 ; xi. 30 ; Exod. ii. 12 ; 1 Sam. xvii. 50. Dr. Evans. (Practical discourses on the Christian temper, i.) S. Basil observes that among many seeming contradictions in Scripture one is of a fact, or work done, to the precept. The command is, “ Thou shalt not kill;” Sampson killed himself; Phineas with his spear nails the adulterous couple to the earth. The father’s rule is the rule of wisdom itself,—when we read in Scripture a fact commended, which falls cross with the pre¬ cept, we must leave the fact, and cleave to the precept; for ex¬ amples are not rules of life, but provocations of good works. 2 Cor. iii. 6. Farindon. 55 E[e rebuked. —A faithful reprover is a very great help to us in our Christian course. lie is to be valued above the greatest treasure. “ He that would be safe,” says one of the ancients, “ must have a faithful friend, or a bitter enemy ;” that he may fly from vice by the monitions of the one, or invectives of the other. Dr. Iiorneck. In this matter, there is no surer, safer, nor more universal rule, than that of the great Apostle; a rule, which excludes the pos¬ sibility of error, clearly distinguishes between the Law and the Gospel, and leads us on to perfection : “ Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Cheist.” Our manner of spirit is Cueist. 1 Cor. xi. 1; Phil. ii. 5 ; iii. 17. J. F. The extraordinary heroical acts of God’s worthies are not to be measured by the common rules of life, nor to become exemplars unto others.Elias was embued with an extraordinary spirit, in the freedom whereof he did what he then did : but it S. LUKE IX. 55, 56. 275 is not for you or others to propose his example , unless you can demonstrate his spirit. Rom. xii. 4—9 ; 1 Cor. xii. 4—7, 29— 31; S. James iii. 17. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. Rom. iii. 8.) Let us take heed we do not sometimes call that zeal for God and His Gospel, which is nothing else hut our own tempestuous and stormy passion. True zeal is a sweet, heavenly, and gentle frame, which maketfi us active for God, but always within the sphere of love. It never calls for lire from heaven to consume those, that differ a little from us in their apprehensions. It is like that kind of lightning, (which the philosophers speak of) that melts the sword within, but singeth not the scabbard without. It strives to save the soul, but hurteth not the body. 1 S. John iv. 1; Rom. x. 2; xii. 19—21. Cudworth. Ignis zeli ardere debet olio misericordice. The fire of zeal should be sustained with the oil of mercy. T. Aquinas. Our zeal must be kindled with pure fire from God’s altar; that it may rather warm, than burn; enliven, rather than enflame. Or. Whichcote. (Aphor. Cent. x. 980.) 56 He came not in the spirit of Elias, but with meekness and gentle insinuations, mild as the breath of heaven, not willing to disturb the softest stalk of a violet. S. Matt. xi. 28—30; xxi. 5. Bp. J. Taylor. It is the glory of the Christian religion, that it hath conquered the world, and triumphed over all that opposed it, without any other weapon, but its own victorious beauty and reasonable¬ ness. . . . By its own native light, it vanquished the ignorance and prejudice of the world; and by pure dint of reason sub¬ dued men’s minds to its empire. Eor it was not by racks and tortures that it converted infidels, and convinced heretics ; but by reason and miracles ; and till it began to be sophisticated with temporal interests and designs, it taught its followers only to endure, but not to inflict persecutions : for this was their language in the purer ages, Non est religionis , cogere religion nem, quce suscipi debet sponte , non vi, as Tertullian expresses it. Religion presseth no man to her service, and disdains to have any followers but volunteers. I)r. J. Scott. (Serm. on text.) 5/ And it came to pass, that, as they went in the τ 2 276 S. LUKE IX. 57, 58. i way, a certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head. 59 And He said unto another, Follow Me. But he said,' Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead : but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow Thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. 57 The humiliation of Ahab, the observation of Herod, the incom¬ plete persuasion of Agrippa, the forced obedience and flatteries of the dissembling Jews, the essays and oilers of hypocrites towards religion, the velleities and hankerings of unresolved wills after Christ, are notable evidences of the power and majesty, which is in the Gospel. Heut. xxxii. 31. Bp. Reynolds. Non concipi tantum svfficit, sed et nasci , saith S. Augustine. It is not the conception, but the birth of the new man, that makes us Christians. These conceptions may prove abortive; and, “like the untimely fruit of a woman, may never see the sun.” It is not purposes, but performances, that will bring us to heaven. Joel. i. 17 ; Rev. xxii. 14. Bp. Brownriy. (Serm. S. James i. 22.) Hell is paved with good intentions. Acts xxiv. 25. Luther. 58 It frequently happens that we may learn the true character of persons, admitted to the Lord’s Presence, not so much by their declarations, or questions, as by His answers. Por He saw their hearts, and in their hearts read the real meaning and motive of their words. This man, as S. Matthew informs us, (viii. 19,) S. LUKE IX. 58—60. 277 was “ a scribe,” and lie probably had an eye to some post of high honour and worldly distinction in Cheist’s kingdom; hence the discomfiture of his ambitious hopes in the meek and lowly disclaimer; “ Foxes have holesfyc. Probably the person next mentioned, who was a disciple, while he professed so much duty towards his deceased father, was rather looking to his share in the patrimony, and was actuated by the love of money, as the other by the love of worldly advancement. Refer to ver. 47; Ezek. xiv. 1—5 ; Heb. iv. 12, 13. J. F. # The religious world has many features, which are distressing to a holy man. He sees in it much proposal and ostentation, cover¬ ing much surface. But Christianity is deep and substantial. A man is soon enlisted, but he is not soon made a soldier ; he is easily put into the ranks to make a show there, but he is not so easily brought to do the duty of the ranks. Such persons are alive to religious talk; but, if you speak to them of religious tempers, the subject grows irksome, viii. 13 ; S. Mark vi. 20. i R. Cecil. (Remains.) We should often blush for our best actions, if the world did but see all the motives on which they are grounded, xvi. 15. Paimer. (Aphor. 1139.) The Son of man , fyc. —What a world of meditation is opened to us in this single passage. Bp. Medley. His poverty was so great, that He w*as born in another man’s house, and buried in another man’s tomb, as not having wherein to rest His head. 2 Cor. viii. 9. Dean Boys. 59 Suffer me first , fyc. —In my youth, I implored of Thee the gift of chastity and continence. “ Give me chastity, and continence ; but not now.” Eor I was afraid of an immediate answ r er to my prayer, and of an immediate cure of my disease ; malebam impleri , quam extinyui, my wish was to have my lust satiated, rather than extinguished. $. Augustine. (Confes. L. viii.) 60 Our Loed no more discourages here the religious respect, due to a deceased father, than He recently disclaimed His own duty to a living mother, (viii. 21.) In both cases the lesson is the same ; that spiritual ties are more sacred than carnal and earthly ones, and that, when they are opposed, the former are paramount; the latter must yield, xviii. 29. J.F. 278 1 S. LUKE IX. 60—62. Our Lord simply meant to teach us, that whatsoever withdraws us from a right course or impedes us in it, savours of nothing but death. Calvin. Let the dead t fyc. —If it be lawful to indulge in such a thought, what would be the funeral obsequies of a lost soul ? Where shall we find the tears fit to be wept at such a spectacle ? or, could we realize the calamity in all its extent, what tokens of commiseration and concern would be deemed equal to the occa¬ sion ? Would it suffice for the sun to veil his light, or the moon her brightness ? to cover the ocean with mourning, and the heavens with sackcloth ? Or, were the whole frame of nature to become animated and vocal, w r ould it be possible for her to ex¬ press a groan too deep, or a cry too piercing to express the magnitude and extent of such a catastrophe ? Robert Hall. Let no man think, when our Saviour gave that short answer to the cold disciple, Let the dead bury their dead , that He slights this work, as unmeet for the care of a zealous follower of His: no, it is a good and necessary duty to be performed to any son of the Church, much more to a natural father; neither could he possibly have been a good disciple, that would have been an ill son. But our Saviour’s intention was to imply a comparison of the necessity and worth of these two duties, burying of the dead and following of Christ : both were good; but the fol¬ lowing of Christ far more excellent, inasmuch as those, that were “ dead in their sins,” might be capable of that service, but of this, in our Saviour’s sense, none but the regenerate. Gen. 1. 4—6; S. Matt. xxvi. 10. Bp. Hall. (Serm. Gen. xxiii. 19, 20.) 61 The man seems to have had in his mind the case of Elisha, to whom Elijah gave leave ; for Jesus in reply employs the figure of a 'plough , (1 Kings xix. 19.) The kingdom of God requires more zeal of us than does the discipline of the law; nor is it safe for us to appeal to Elijah, (ver. 54,) or to Elisha. B eng el. 62 Looking back is more than we can sustain without going back. R. Cecil. (Bemains.) Lot’s wife looked back; and God never gave her leave to look forward again. ... God hath set our eyes in our foreheads to look forward, not backward; not to be proud of that, which we S. LUKE IX. 62. 279 have done, but diligent in that, which we are to do. Gal. iii. 3 ; Phil. iii. 13. Dr. Donne. (Serm. Deut. xxv. 5.) A Christian must not be like Hezekiah’s sun, that “ went back¬ ward,” nor like Joshua’s sun that “ stood still,” but like David’s sun, that “ like a bridegroom comes out of his chamber, and as a champion rejoiceth to run his race.” Ps. xix.; Heb. iii. 14. Dean Boys. Ministerial power is a mark of separation, because it severeth them, that have it, from other men, and maketh them a special Order , consecrated unto the service of the most High in things, wherewith others may not meddle. Their difference, therefore, from other men is, in that they are a distinct Order. . . . They which have once received this power may not think to put it off and on, like a cloak, as the weather serveth, to take it and reject it, as oft as they themselves list; of which profane and impious contempt these latter times have yielded, as of all other kinds of iniquity and apostacy, strange examples; but let them know, which put their hands unto this plough , that once consecrated to God they are made His peculiar inheritance for ever. Suspen¬ sions may stop, and degradations utterly cut off, the use or ex¬ ercise of power before given; but voluntarily it is not in the power of man to separate and pull asunder what God by His authority coupleth: so that, although there may be, through mis-desert, degradation, as there may be cause of just separa¬ tion after matrimony, yet if (as sometimes it doth) restitution to former dignity, or reconciliation after breach doth happen, neither doth the one, nor the other, ever iterate the first knot. Hooker. (Eccl. Pol. B. v. c. 77. s. 2, 3.) CHAPTER X. Λ FTER these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come. 280 S. LUKE X. 1, 2. 2 Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few : pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. 3 Go your ways : behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes : and salute no man by the way. 5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. 6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. 7 And in the same house remain, eating and drink¬ ing such things as they give : for the labourer is wor¬ thy of his hire. Go not from house to house. 8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they re¬ ceive you, eat such things as are set before you : 9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 1 Appointed — sent. —Here, as in the case of the twelve, we have the same distinction of vocati et missi, the being first ap¬ pointed, or called , and afterwards sent , ix. 1 , 2, first Ordination, then Mission, both too accompanied with the gift of the Holy Ghost to enable them to fulfil the office assigned. How exactly has the Church retained the Divine model, and primitive insti¬ tution. May the same Spirit inwardly call, outwardly send, and when sent mightily strengthen the labourers in our vineyard, according to the most true promise, “ Lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world.” S. Matt, xxviii. 20. J. F. That the Government of the Church of Christ is Episcopal, is evident from the institution of our Saviour, who in His life¬ time instituted two distinct orders of Ecclesiastical Ministers, the one superior to the other; viz. that of the twelve Apos- S. LUKE X. 1. 281 ties, and that of the seventy or seventy-two disciples; for that these two were of distinct orders, is evident from their being always distinguished from one another, and mentioned apart by different names, and in different ranks, and classes ; for to what purpose should the Scripture mention the Twelve and the Seventy, so distinctly, as it everywhere doth, if there were not some distinction in their office and employment ? ... So that here are plainly two sorts of Ecclesiastical officers, the one superior to the other, of our Saviour’s own Institution and ap¬ pointment ; and therefore, if this Institution be still valid, there must be a superiority and subordination between the officers and Ministers of His Church, and consequently the govern¬ ment thereof must still be Episcopal, i.e., by some superior of¬ ficers, presiding and superintending over other inferior ones. 1 Tim. i. 3 ; Titus i. 5. Or. J. Scott. (Christian Life, p. ii. c. 7.) As the husbandman leading the yoke of oxen tills the ground, after the same manner did the Lord Jesus, the noble and true Husbandman, having yoked the Apostles two and two , send them forth, cultivating Himself, together with them, the ground of those, who hear and believe in truth, ix. 62 ; 1 Cor. ix. 8—10; 1 Tim. v. 18. Macarius. (Homilies, 28.) What was the reason, why they were thus coupled ? Some will pick a mystery out of it, and say, they were sent by twos, first, to be able to justify the Gospel, they were to preach: for it is written in the Law, that “the testimony of two is true,” (S. Johnviii. 17) ; next to signify, they were to preach unto two, (the Jew and Gentile) ; out of two, (the Law and the Gospel) ; the love of two, (God and our neighbour) ; contained in two, (the first and second table) ; by two works, (doctrine and good life) ; to save two, (the body and soul) ; and so, lastly, to join the great two, (heaven and earth, God and man) together. Isa. xxxiv. 16. William Austin. (Medit. for the Hay of S. Bartho¬ lomew.) Single endeavours seldom prosper; many hands make the work both quick and sure. They can be no friends to the happy es¬ tate of a family or Church, that labour to cause distractions. Division makes certain way for ruin. Eccl. iv. 7—9; Acts xiii. 2 ; xv. 27, 37. Bj). Ilall. (Select thoughts, 72.) 282 S. LUKE X. 1—3. Diligo comes of duo et ligo, of binding two together. Eph. ii. 14, 15. Isidore of Seville. As for the antiquity, matter, and suitableness of the several Col¬ lects, Epistles, and Gospels—(read in the Communion Service of the Church)—I have already spoken at large. I shall only make this one remark more, that, as our Saviour’s disciples went before His face to every city and place, whither He Himself would come , so here the Epistle, as the word of the servant, is read first; that it may be, as a harbinger to the Gospel, to which the last place and greatest honour is reserved, as being the word of their great Master. Wheatley, (on the Eook of Com¬ mon Prayer, c. 5, s. 6.) 2 Vigorous strivings with Almighty God are the birth-pangs, in which fathers are born unto the Church. Gal. iv. 19. Dr. Allestry. (Serm. Acts xiii. 2.) 3 The Institution of the Gospel Ministry is the work of the Holt Ghost ; and as He appointed it at first, so He continues it in the Church to the end of time; not by flux of extraordinary miraculous powers, as at first, but by a supply of gifts and graces in an ordinary way; such as the Ministers of Christ have re¬ ceived from Him in every age, since miracles have ceased. . . . All the furniture for the Ministry is from the Spirit; it is His work to make men “ able Ministers of the New Testament.” Erom whom should they receive the true sense of Scripture, but from Him, who indited it, and framed the whole body of Chris¬ tian doctrine ? The aptness to teach, the gifts of utterance, boldness, resolution, patience, love to souls, and zeal for the glory of God, with every other heavenly gift and grace, are from the Holy Spirit. Another work of the Holy Spirit is to fix the stations, and succeed the labours of His Ministers. (Acts xvi. 6, 7.) . . . Thus the Lord of the harvest sent forth His reapers, and appointed them wliere to thrust in their sickles, and gather in the fruits of His power and grace. And though, in succeeding ages, the Holy Spirit has not notified His pleasure in such an extraordinary manner, w r hen and where they should labour; yet there is no room to doubt but that, in the course of Providence, He still fixes their stations, and gives them all the gifts and success they have, though in a more secret and S. LUKE X. 5—7. 283 unseen way; seeing, as He is Ciieist’s vicegerent, the care of Church and Ministry still lies upon Him, and will do so to the end of the world. Hurrion. (Of the external works, &c. of the Holt Ghost. Serin, vi.— 2 Cor. iii. 8.) 5 “ Charity thinketh no evil.” We are not to suspect or pre¬ suppose evil in any, till by their works it is manifest. In a kind loving manner w^e are to “salute” all. Now this was im¬ perative under the sterner dispensation of the Law. Even heathens were not at once to be given up, as hopeless and des¬ perate ; but terms of amity were to be offered; and this during a time of war. “ When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim Peace unto it, &c.” Deut. xx. 10— 12. O ! let “ our feet be ever shod with this preparation of the Gospel of Peace,” before we go out to fight the battles of the Loed; and may we love all, that we may win some ! xiii. 31. J. F. When the Bishop enters the Church, immediately he says, “ Peace be to all;” when he exhorts, “ Peace to all;” when he Conse¬ crates, “ Peace to all;” when he enjoins the Salutation, “ Peace to all;” when the Sacrifice is ended, “ Peace to all;” and at in¬ tervals again, “ Grace to you and Peace.” Bom. xv. 29. S. Chrysostom, (on Col. Horn. 3.) The Church walks in this spirit of peace, and love to the brethren. Witness her frequent forms of Absolution and Benediction. In the great congregation she cries aloud, “ The Loed be with you!” and in private life, when the need of peace is most deeply felt, in the chambers of sickness and of death, she draws near to the afflicted in the same spirit; for “ the Minister, com¬ ing into the sick person’s house shall say, Peace be to this house, and to all that dwell in it.” Absolution and Benediction, as golden threads, are interwoven with the entire substance of our Ministry. Numb. vi. 22—27 ; 2 Cor. v. 18—21. J. F. 7 Go not from house to house. —It is one thing to be humble and condescending, it is another to render yourself common, cheap, and contemptible. The men of the world know when a minis¬ ter is out of his place, when they can oppress him by numbers or circumstances, when they can make him laugh, while his office frowns. Well will it be for him, if, being found, like Peter, on dangerous ground, he is not seduced, virtually at least, to 284 I S. LUKE X. 7, 8. deny liis Master. Titus ii. 15. R. Cecil. (Eemains. Ap¬ pendix.) Another occasion of contempt is the too much frequenting the company of the laics, and a vain and trifling conversation among them. It was a wise saying, whoever he was, that spoke it, Quotidiana Clericorum cion laicis conversatio contemptibiles ipsos reddit; and that of Jerome to Nepotian is very observa¬ ble, facile contemnitur Clericus, si ad prandium invitatus scepius veniat. A Minister in his conversation ought to avoid all fool¬ ish and excessive jesting, and immoderate mirth; and yet I do not condemn all cheerfulness and freedom, nor the innocent exercises of wit; hut it is one thing to make use of these, now and then, when they come in our way, and another to search and hunt after them. 1 Tim. iii. 4. H. Scougal. (Serm. on the Ministry, 2 Cor. ii. 16.) Clericus in oppido piscis in arido. S. Jerome. The peace of God will not enter into that soul, where there are tumults and thunders, noise and destruction. Never did any plant grow up and flourish in the field of the Church, which was not ramus per pendens, as Nazianzen speaketh of his father, a branch, or bough, hanging over, and looking that way : nor doth God’s saving grace bring peace, till His exciting and preparing grace hath made way for it. Gen. xlix. 22. Farindon. Eeligion is the only means of procuring for us inward peace by gaining us the Love of God, and the only means of securing the public quiet, by instilling into men the fear of Him. It is so far from forbidding us the use of the gifts of nature, that it only directs us to the true means of enjoying them ; for by an immoderate use their enjoyment is presently lost. It is so far from being unfriendly to the benefits procured by society, that it alone supplies us with those principles, by which only com¬ munities can become, or can long continue, great and flourish¬ ing. Eom. xiv. 17—19. Bp. Warburton. (Serm. 1 Cor. xv. 32.) 8 Premant torcular, qui vindemiarunt. Let them press the grapes, and fill the vessels, and taste the wine, that have gathered the vintage. Sir H. Wotton. In these texts, S. Paul urgeth liberality to the Ministers, first, by similitudes ; for, as to the dangers of their calling, they are S. LUKE X. 11. 285 likened to soldiers, (2 Tim. ii. 3,4,) as to their pains, to husband¬ men and vine dressers, (2 Tim. ii. 6,) as to their love and care, they are compared to shepherds. Now all these have profit by that they labour in. Secondly, he proves it by reason ; because the people receive from them better and greater things, which, if they value according to their worth, all that they can give, will appear far short of a requital. 1 Cor. ix. 11—13 ; 2 Cor. ix. 6—7; Gal. vi. 6. Dean Comber. (On the Offertory. Com¬ panion to the temple, p. iii. s. 6.) 10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they re¬ ceive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, 11 Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you : notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolera¬ ble in that day for Sodom, than for that city. 13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Beth- saida ! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. 15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. 16 He that hearetli you heareth Me ; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me ; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me. 11 Neither have the Ministers power of blessing only, but of cursing also, (Acts viii. 20 ; 2 Tim. iv. 14; 1 Tim. i. 20.) The 286 S. LUKE X. 11, 13. forms both of blessing and cursing are expounded in the Com¬ mon Prayer Book ; the one in “ The Grace of our Lobd Jesus Cheist,” &c. ; the other in general, in the Commination. S. John xx. 23. G. Herbert. (Priest to the Temple, c. 36.) Be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you .— Many other illuminations and holy graces are to be imputed to God’s Spirit, besides that, by which we are effectually con¬ verted. God speaks to us many times, when we answer Him not, and shines about our eyes, when we either wink or sleep. Our many short-winded ejaculations towards heaven, our fre¬ quent but w r eak inclinations to good, our ephemeral wishes, that no man can distinguish from true piety, but by their sudden death; our every day resolutions of obedience, whilst we con¬ tinue in sin, are arguments that God’s Spirit hath shined on us, though the warmth that it produced be soon chilled with the damp it meets with in us.But if your will refuse His Word, your stubbornness may repel and frustrate God’s work, but not annihilate it; though you will not be saved by it, it is God’s still, and so shall continue to witness against you at the day of doom. Every word, that was ever darted from that Spirit, as a beam or javelin of that piercing sun, every atom of that flaming sword, as the Word is phrased (Eph. vi.) shall not, though it be rebated, vanish: the day of vengeance shall in¬ struct your souls, that it was sent from God, and, since it was once refused, hath been kept in store, not to upbraid, but damn you. Prov. i. 24—33 ; Heb. iv. 12, 13; S. John xii. 48. Dr. Hammond. (Serm. Ezek. xviii. 31.) There is a great difference to be noted between the kingdom of God coming nigh unto us, and our being “ not. far from the kingdom of God.” In the latter case, we begin to yield to the Divine attraction, to draw nigh, and to co-operate with God’s gracious efforts to save us; in the former, we remain passive, or make resistance. S. Mark xii. 34. J. F. 13 S. Paul (see 1 Cor. xiv. 24,) thought only of the unbeliever born, one, whose sincerity, in his natural ignorance, was ορςη to inquiry and information; not of the unbeliever made, who has taken his side, and by prejudice or the neglect of serious examination, that is, by a chosen ignorance, warped himself S. LUKE X. 15, 16. 287 into tlie more inflexible principles of unbelief. Titus iii. 11. Davison. (On prophecy, Disc. 2.) 15 Exalted to heaven. —Beware lest Wittemberg should become like Capernaum. Te can discourse excellently on the doctrines, which have been preached to you; ye can even dispute acutely concerning charity. But this does not make a Christian. The kingdom of God (ix. 11,) does not consist in talk, but in power, that is, in works and practice. God loves the “ doers of the word ” in faith and love, and not the “ mere hearers,” who, like parrots, have learnt to utter certain expressions with readiness. Once more; faith without love is, as it were, a dream, an image of faith; just as the appearance of a face in a glass is not a real face. S. James ii. 14 ; 1 Tim. vi. 3. Luther. (Milner’s Ch. Hist. Cent. xvi. c. 8.) None sink so far into hell, as those that come nearest heaven; because they fall from the greatest height. Yer. 18. Gurnall. Then I saw, that there was a w^ay to hell even from the gates of Heaven, as well as from the city of Destruction, xiii. 26, 27 ; S. John vi. 70. Bunyan. (Pilgrim’s progress.) 16 Benignissimus et piissimus Dominus communem Sibi cum servis Suis et honorem et contumeliam facit. Our most compassionate and loving Lord shares both honour and abuse with His ser¬ vants ; lest any one, when he injures a servant of God, should only think that he injured the man. Zech. ii. 8 ; Acts ix. 4. Salvianus. (De Gubern. L. 8.) Despiseth you. —Turn not your attention to our flesh, by which the Word is given out to you ; for hungry men regard not the meanness of the dish, but the preciousness of the food. 1 Sam. xvi. 7 ; 1 Kings xvii. 4 ; 2 Cor. iv. 7. S. Augustine. Thou shalt love, as the apple of thine eye, every one, that speak- eth to thee the Word of God. Gal. iv. 15. S. Barnabas. (Cath. Epistle.) It w r as a comfortable title, which the ancients used to give to God’s Ministers, calling them “ God’s most beloved,” which were ordained to procure by their prayers His love and favour towards all. Hooker. God is a most severe avenger of the Ministry of the Gospel. Queen Eliz. Bible. 288 s. LUKE X. 17. 17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy Name. 18 And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as light¬ ning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on ser¬ pents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy : and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you ; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. 17 In His Name His true disciples, receiving the grace from Himself, work for the benefit of other men, as each has received the gift from Him ; for some “ cast out devils ” certainly and truly, so that oftentimes the cleansed persons themselves become believers, and join the Church. Others have fore¬ knowledge of things future, visions and prophetical announce¬ ments. Others by imposition of hands heal the sick and restore them to health. Moreover, as I have said, before now, even the dead have been restored to life, and have continued with us for many years. Indeed it is not possible to tell the number of gifts, which the Church throughout the world has received from God in the Name of Jesijs Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and exercises (working with them) for the benefit of the nations, neither seducing, nor taking money of any. S. Irenceus. (De hser. ii. 32.) Was the Name of Jesus at first sufficient to cast out devils? And shall man be more refractory than they ? Shall the exorcist say to the evil spirit, (Acts xix.), “ I adjure thee by the Name of Jesus and the devil give place? Shall an Apostle speak unto us in the same Name, and shall we refuse? Shall they obey that Name, which signifieth nothing unto them, for “ He took not on Him the nature of angels,” and so is not their Saviour ; and can we deny obedience unto Him, who “ took on Him the seed of Abraham ?” Mai. i. 6. Bp. Pearson. S. LUKE X. 18—20. 289 18 Non jam Lucifer sed Tenebrifer. A Light-bearer no longer, but a bringer in of darkness. Isa. xiv. 12. S. Bernard. At Cueist’s resurrection all the gocte of the heathen expired. Dr. Hammond. 19 We have a general promise that, in our combats with them, God will give us victory, and bruise their leader, Satan, him¬ self under our feet. Our Redeemer is exalted above the heavens; and human nature, in the Second Adam, restored to dominion over all the earth. And though at present the Apostle’s lot may be ours, to “ figbt with beasts,” with evil men, evil passions, and evil spirits, yet, “ through God we shall do great acts.” It is He, that shall “ tread down those, that rise up against us till finally triumphant over the last enemy, and exalted to the eternal throne, we shall view the earth be¬ neath us, and the sun and the stars shall be dust under our feet. Ps. viii.; S. James iii. 7. Bp. Home. (Serm. Gen. i. 26.) It is a maxim among us, Christians, that we cannot possibly suffer any real hurt, if we cannot be convicted of doing any real harm. You may kill indeed; but you cannot hurt us. 1 S. Pet. iii. 13. Justin Martyr. (Apology, s. 2.) We are not hurt, till our souls be hurt. God will not leave it in the power of any creature to hurt our souls, but by our own treason against ourselves, iv. 9. Dr. Sibbes. Uprightness, as a rock, breaks the waves into foam, that roar upon it. Abp. Leighton. In working miracles, man has not necessarily any Communion with God. Moses had no more Communion with the natural perfections of God, than the rod in his hand. William Howels. (Short Sentences.) Could you work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by a thankful spirit, disposing you to praise God for every thing that happens to you; for it heals with a word speaking, and turns all that it touches into happiness. William Law. 20 Your names. —This seems to be a reference to “Thy Name” above, Verse 17, which perhaps was with them a medium of self- praise, as so often with Christians. The Loed says the true cause of joy for you is not the power shown forth by you or in u 290 S. LUKE X. 21. you “ in My Name,” but that you, your names , are in the Book of Life. Bom. viii. 16. Alford. (Gr. Test, in loco.) * 21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes : even so, Father ; for so it seemed good in Thy sight. 22 All things are delivered to Me of My Father : and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. 21 We never read that Jesus laughed, and but once that He rejoiced in spirit; but the declensions of our natures cannot bear the weight of a perpetual grave deportment, without the in¬ tervals of refreshment and free alacrity, vii. 34. Bp. J.Taylor. The Country Parson is generally sad, because he knows nothing but the Cross of Christ, his mind being defixed on it with those nails, wherewith his Master was ; or, if he have any leisure to look off from thence he meets continually with two sad specta¬ cles, sin and misery ; God dishonoured every day, and man afflicted. Jer. ix. 1; Ps. cxix. 36. G. Herbert. (Priest to the temple, c. 27.) I thank Thee. —All the misery in the world carries no proportion to the infinite happiness of Almighty God, which ought to be the highest object of our joy, and may drown and swallow up all the pretences and excuses of excessive sadness. We ought to rejoice in God, not only that He is our God, but that He is God, id finitely holy and infinitely happy; that He is self-blessed, glorious in all things ; and this His enemies cannot reach, nor unsettle His throne. This is the most certain and constant, the most pure and heavenly joy. Ps. xvi. 11; 1 Tim. vi. 15 ; Phil, iv. 4. H. Scougal. (Serm. Phil. ii. 2.) Faith and humility are the only spells, which conjure up the image of heavenly things into the letter of the inspired Word. Ps. xxv. 8, 13 ; S. James i. 21. J. II. Newman. S. LUKE X. 21, 22. 291 How many shall once wish they had been horn dullards, yea, idiots, when they shall perceive their wit to have barred them out of heaven. Say the world what it will, a dram of holiness is worth a pound of wit. Acts xvii. 18; 1 Cor. i. 20. Bp. Hall. That assent, which we yield to this main principle of Divinity, that the Scripture is the Word of God, is grounded upon no compelling, or demonstrative ratiocination, but relies upon the strength of faith, more than any other principle whatsoever. For all other necessary points of Divinity may by undeniable discourse be inferred out of Scripture, itself once admitted; hut this, concerning the authority of Scripture, not possibly; hut must either be proved by ^Revelation, which is not now to be expected; or presupposed and granted, as manifest in itself, like the principles of natural knowledge, which reason alone will never grant; or by tradition of the Church, both prime and present; with all other rational helps preceding, or accompany¬ ing the internal light in Scripture itself; which, though it give light enough for faith to believe, yet light enough it gives not to be a convincing reason and proof for knowledge. And this is it, which makes the very entrance into Divinity inaccessible to those men, who, standing high in the opinion of their own wisdom , will believe nothing, but that, which is irrefragably proved from rational principles. Dor, as Christ requires a denial of a man's self that he may be able to follow Him, so as great a part as any of this denial of his whole self (for so it must be) is the denial of his understanding , and the composing of the unquiet search of this grand inquisitor into the secrets of Him that made it, and the overruling the doubtfulness of it by the fervency of the will . ix. 23 ; S. Matt. xi. 25—28; 1 Tim. vi. 4, 5. Abp. Laud. (Conf. with Fisher, s. 16.) Quo intellectu Deum capit homo , qui ipsum intellectum suum , quo Bum vult capere, nondum capit ? How can man understand God, since he does not yet understand his own mind, with which he endeavours to understand Him ? S. Augustine. 22 An old writer says, Sola Trinitas in Unitate Divinitatis Seipsum novit. The Trinity is known only unto itself, through the per¬ fect Unity of the Divine Essence. Though the Holt Ghost u 2 292 S. LUKE X. 22. j is not here mentioned, yet in these and like passages, He cannot be excluded, but is necessarily to be understood. The Father reveals the Sox; the Sox reveals the Father; and in this sense the Sox glorifies the Father, and the Father glorifies the Sox, as it is written, S. John xii. 28 ; xvii. 1, 4. The Spirit re¬ veals and glorifies both the Father and the Sox. 1 Cor. xii. 3; Gral. i. 15, 16. J. F. No man knoweth , fyc. —The goodness, and justice, and mercy, and truth of God are transcendent above the goodness, and jus¬ tice, and mercy, and truth of men, and of quite a different nature from them. Isa. lv. 8. Abp. Bramhall. (Controversy with Hobbes.) Dangerous it w T ere for the feeble brain of man to wade far into the doings of the Most High; whom although to know be life, and joy to make mention of His Name, yet our soundest know¬ ledge is, that we know Him not, as He is, neither can know Him ; and our safest eloquence, concerning Him, is our silence, when we confess without confession, that His glory is inexpli¬ cable, His greatness above our capacity and reach. Isa. vi. 2 ; 1 Tim. vi. 16. Hooker. (Eccl. Pol. b. i. s. 2.) He doth not say, the Sox is commanded to reveal Him, but the Sox “ will reveal Him herein He acts the part of God, as having with the Father the same nature, knowledge, and sovereignty. S. Chrysostom. Cui veritas comperta, sine Deo ? Cni Dens cognitus, sine Christo ? Cut Christus exploratus, sine Spiritu Sancto ? By whom is truth found, without God ? To whom is God known, without Christ ? By whom is Christ discovered, without the Holt Spirit ? Tertullian. 23 And He turned Him unto His disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 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. S. LUKE X. 23, 24. 293 23 Now hath God scattered all these clouds, and we behold, as in a mirror, the Glory of the Loed with open face. Our elder fathers in the Old Testament had only a dim candle to guide their feet; we have the bright sunbeams: they had only the green blade of corn ; we have the plentiful increase, even as in the time of harvest: they had the shadow, w T e have the light: they had only a drop to refresh themselves, we have the whole stream of God’s mercy poured out upon us. S. John i. 17; Heb. xi. 39, 40; 1 S. Pet. i. 12. Bp. Jewel. (Serm. Eom. xiii. 12.) 24 It w'as hence evident that the glowing description of the king¬ dom in the Prophets was fulfilled, not in external change of condition, but in spiritual discernment, which could realize it, while hidden from others, ii. 25, 38. I. Williams. (On the Gospels, p. ii. s. 5.) They lived when the times were full of shadows and promises, and nothing else : how instantly they longed to have such a feast, to have kept a Christmas, is evident by David’s inclina coelos, (Ps. cxliv. 5,) by Isaiah’s utinarn disrumpas coelos, (lxiv. 1,) “ Bow the heavens,” and “ break the heavens.” Gen. xlix. 18. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm. Gal. iii. 4, 5.) I scruple not to attribute to the joint influence of the Moral and Ceremonial Law some beginnings of a Christian piety in the devout Jewish believer or penitent. What the Law did not enable him to see, it disposed him to desire. It stirred some emotions of the humility of faith, though it could not satisfy them. Ex. xxxiii. 18. Davison. Eor us, I say, who have seen a marvellous light, thereby only to enlighten our brains, and not our hearts, to divert that know¬ ledge to some poor low unworthy ends, to gather nothing out of all our studies, which may advance God’s kingdom, in us, this is infinitely beyond the guilt of heathenism ; this will cause their ignorance to rise up in judgment against our knowledge , and, in fine make us curse that light, which we have used to guide us only to the chambers of death. Dr. Hammond. (Serm. Acts xvii. 30.) Many prophets, fyc. —The bunch of grapes, that the spies of the children of Israel carried from the promised land, was borne by 294 S. LUKE X. 26. two strong men upon a staff or pole : he, that went before, could not see the grape ; but he, that was behind, might both see and eat of it. So, the Fathers of the Old Testament did not in like manner see the bunch of grapes, that was the Son of God made man, as they, that went behind, under the New Testament, saw and tasted it, after John had opened this grape —“ Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” Numb. xiii. 23 ; S. Johni. 16. Dean Boys. (S. John Baptist’s Lay.) 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to in¬ herit eternal life ? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law ? how readest thou ? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour ? 26 How readest thou? Our Lord, as a searcher of the heart, having His eye ever fixed on the secret motives and internal character of those, who approached Him, would here seem to lay the stress, not on what is read, but how it is read. “ Take heed how ye hear,” was a similar caution, in respect to hearing God’s Word. We should frequently apply such warnings, and use such self-examination in our treatment of the sacred Volume, and always beware of trusting in outward performances, or mere speculative knowledge, since God looketh within a man and maketli such, as are simple-minded and true-hearted, to become wise unto salvation. Ps. 1. 23 ; S. John vii. 17. J. F. S. LUKE X. 26—28. 295 In reading God’s Word, he not always most profiteth, that is most ready in turning of the book, or in saying of it without the book; but he, that is most turned into it, that is, most inspired with the Holt Ghost, most in his heart and life altered and changed into that thing, which he readeth; he, that is daily less and less proud, less wrathful, less covetous, and less desirous of worldly and vain pleasures; he, that daily (forsaking his old vicious life) increaseth in virtue more and more. 1 S. Pet. ii. 1, 2; 2 S. Pet. iii. 18. Homilies. (On Reading of Holy Scriptures, p. 1.) 27 The Lord thy God. —Were there not some infinite self-suffi¬ cient Goodness, and that perfectly One, αρχική μόνα? (as Simpli¬ cius doth phrase it) man would be a most miserably distracted creature. As the restless appetite within man after some in¬ finite and sovereign Good (without the enjoyment of which it could never be satisfied) does commend unto us the notion of a Deity, so the perpetual distractions and divisions, that would arise in the soul upon a plurality of Deities, may seem no less to evince the Unity of that Deity. Were not this chief good perfectly One, were there any other equal to it, man’s soul would haug in cequilibrio , equally poised, equally desiring the enjoyment of both, but moving to neither, like a piece of iron between two loadstones of equal virtue. S. Mark xii. 29. J. Smith. (Disc, on the excellency of true Religion, c. 6.) Since there are two Commandments, the love of God and the love of our neighbour, “on which hang the Law and the Prophets,” not without reason does Scripture put one for both; as in that, (Rom. viii. 28,) “ We know that all things work together for good to them that love God,” and sometimes the love of our neighbour, as in that (Gal. v. 14,) “ All the Law is fulfilled” &c. Rom. xiii. 10. S. Augustine. With all thine heart , fyc.—Modus amandi estnescire modum. The true measure of our love towards God is in our feeling it to be measureless. It is more easy to make an ingenious distinction in these terms, than solidum , edifying to do so. S. Bernard. 28 All, that I am to do to obtain eternal life, is reduced to one word only, and that is Love. This is “ the first and great Com¬ mandment,” which comprehends all other, the proper Evangeli- 296 S. LUKE X. 28, 29. cal Grace : and Eternal Truth has assured me, “ This do ; and thou shalt live so that, if I truly love God,J shall live beloved by God to all Eternity. Bp. Ken. (Expos, of the Church Catechism.) God seems to do us some wrong, when He so strictly commands us that we should love Him, as if love to Him were not a spon¬ taneous duty on our part; since He is most lovely, and most good, and most worthy of our infinite affections. Cant. v. 16. Card. Bellarmine. 29 Most, that perish, it is not their disease that hills them, but their physician ; they think to cure themselves, and this leaves them incurable. Bom. x. 3. Gurnall. 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him , and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain Priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him , and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had com¬ passion on him. 34 And went to him , and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him ; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. S. LUKE X. 30, 31. 297 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves ? 37 And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. 30 Went down from Jerusalem. —This coming to the Temple to pray and worship, is called by the prophet an ascent—“ thither the tribes go up.” It was fitted in the letter ; for the Temple was built upon Mount Moriah ; it is fit, in regard to the whole Militant Church. That is an ascent, to come out of Paganism, heresy, or schism, into the Church “at unity in itself.” He, that fell among thieves , and was almost killed by the way, was not going up to Jerusalem, but down to Jericho; from the Tem¬ ple, I warrant you, and as S. Augustine speaks, si non descen- disset, in latrones non incidisset, “ if he had not been sinking and going downwards ” from God and from His Church, “he had not fallen into the hands of thieves.” Abp. Laud. (Serm. before King Charles’s second Parliament, on Ps. cxxii. 3—5.) (We should rather, in a spiritual sense, go up from Jericho to Je¬ rusalem.) We willingly exert ourselves to climb a mountain for the sake of a fine view, or a pure air. Let us then use all our strength to climb the mountain of Zion, where we shall breathe a truly vivifying atmosphere, and from whose heights we shall behold the true Eden, the valley of peace, through which flow living waters, and where the tree of life flourishes. May the Lobd bestow upon us all the necessary will and energy. Isa. ii. 1 — 4s. Felix Neff. (Letters and Biography.) Hast thou lost thy money, and dost thou mourn ? Another lost it before thou hadst it; be not troubled; perchance if thou hadst not lost it now, it had lost thee for ever. Think therefore what thou hast rather escaped, than lost. Perhaps thou hadst not been so much thy own, had not thy money been so little thine. F. Quarles. 31 To say a thing is a chance , or casualty, as it relates to second causes, is not profaneness, but a great truth, as signifying no more than that there are some events, besides the knowledge, purpose, expectation, and power of second agents. And for 298 i S. LUKE X. 31—33. this very reason, because they are so, it is the Royal Preroga¬ tive of God Himself, to have all these loose, uneven, fickle un¬ certainties under His disposal. Dr. South. We must understand that it is not fortune, nor any act fortuitous, in respect of God, but in respect of us ; for Calvin well notes, (Instit. L. xvi. 8,) Ignoratio causarum nomen fortunes confinxit. It is the ignorance of the cause, which makes the thing fortui¬ tous ; and thus, though nothing be casual or fortuitous, in res¬ pect of God’s knowledge, yet they are in respect of our igno¬ rance. Prov. xxvii. 1; Eccl. xi. 6; Acts xv. 18. Th. Ford. (Lusus Eortunse, s. 1.) He might have passed by, you will say, without turning aside. Ho ; there is a secret shame, which attends every act of inhu¬ manity, not to be conquered in the hardest natures; so that, as in other cases, so especially in this, many a man will do a cruel act, who at the same time would blush to look you in the face, and is forced to turn aside, before he can have a heart to execute his purpose. Inconsistent creature that man is ! who, at that instant, that he does what is wrong, is not able to with¬ hold his testimony to what is good and praiseworthy. Sterne. If a man had eyes, and feet, and hands, that he could give to them, that wanted them, if he should either lock them up in a chest, or please himself with some needless and ridiculous use of them, instead of giving them to his brethren, should we not justly reckon him an inhuman wretch ? IS. John iii. 17, 18. Wm. Law. 32 “ The man, who covetously keeps his property to himself, is to be accounted avaricious, as well as he, who steals his neighbour’s property,” says S. Augustine. Viewed in this light, the Priest and the Levite have some share in the guilt of the thieves; for when we have it in our power to do good, and do it not, we “ do evil.” S. Mark iii. 4 ; S. James iv. 17. J. F. 33 As he journeyed. —The unparalleled story of Joseph seems to be made up of nothing else but chances and little contingencies, all tending to mighty ends. Ex. ii. 3—5 ; Esth. vi. 1; Philem. 15. Dr. South. (Serm. Gen. xxxvii. 25.) As Charity flowing from grace is the greatest of the three Theolo¬ gical, or Divine, virtues, so benevolence, founded on the pure un- S. LUKE X. 33—35. 299 tainted nature of man, and tlience called humanity, is the chief and very perfection of those virtues, which we call moral; and without which no other virtue can he true and sincere. Horn. i. 29—31. Wogan. Had compassion. —A man, bountiful in bestowing external things, gives something apart from himself; but he, w r ho has tears and lamentations for a neighbour’s woe, hath imparted to him some¬ thing of himself. 1 Thess. ii. 8. S. Gregory. (Moral. L. xx. c. 26.) When he saw , fyc. —The way to he sensible of another man’s misery is first to feel it ourselves: it must he our’s; or, if it be not our’s, we must make it our’s, before our hearts will melt. I must take my brother into myself, before I help him ; I must be that Lazar, that begs of me, and then I give ; I must be that wounded man by the way-side, and then I pour my oil and wine into his wounds and take care of him ; I must feel the hell of sin in myself, before I can snatch my brother out of the fire. Ex. xxiii. 9 ; ITeb. iv. 15 ; x. 24; xiii. 1—3. Farindon. 34 Oil and wine. —Let the pastor show r love towards the person under his spiritual care, sed non emolliens, yet so, as not to ener¬ vate him ; let there be zeal for his soul, sed non immoderate sceviens, but not so, as violently to attack him ; let there be pity, sed non plus quam expediens parcens; but not so as to indulge him, beyond what is fitting. S. Gregory. (Pastor, p. ii.) The righteous administration of “ mercy and judgment” in the kingdom of Messiah is a topic, on which His subjects always expatiate with pleasure and profit. His mercy encourageth the greatest of sinners to hope; His judgments forbid the best of men to presume. Heb. xii. 6, 7. Bp. Horne, (on Ps. ci. 1.) Trajan, it is said, rent his clothes to bind up his soldiers’ wounds ; but Chbist poured out His blood, as balm to heal His Saints’ wounds. Gurnall. 35 He departed. —This Samaritan had no leisure for a longer stay upon earth. He must needs return whence he came. S. Am¬ brose. Two pence. —The two Testaments, that thinking on the Gospel he might never despair, and thinking on the Law he might never presume. Theophylact. 300 i S. LUKE X. 35, 37. Take care of him. —We must not presume, on account of what God in His mercy has already done for us, but rather humble ourselves under the sense of our remaining infirmities. Quid extollitur ? says S. Augustine. What cause is there for pride ? Adhuc curatur, he is still under medical treatment: he ought to consider himself as received into the Church, as into the place intended for his recovery : Numquid, quia deleta est iniqui- tas,finita est infirmitas ? Hoes it follow, because his sin is par¬ doned, that the powers of sin have left him ? (See the Art. IX. of the Church.) So it is, that a sinner should never forget the softness of the oil poured into his wounds, nor the smart of the wine used in their cleansing. As he should love God for His goodness towards him, so he should fear a Master, whose re¬ proofs are so painful. M. Singlin. (Instructions Chretiennes. Evang. xii. Him. apres la Pent.) Petitur ά te cur a, non curatio. You are required to take care ; it is not required of you to heal. S. Bernard. I will repay thee. —It is a question; whether a man may serve God for a reward P The nature of a covenant doth clear this doubt: for seeing God puts on the person of a contractor, it is plain we may not neglect the regard, which we must have unto the articles of His contract; especially seeing the contract is founded in Chbist, whose merit, over and above God’s Word, doth embolden us to rely thereon. Bp. Lake. (Serm. on Ps. i.) 37 Let the reader consider the temper expressed in that rancorous reflection, “ Thou art a Samaritan , and hast a devil!” (S. John viii. 48.) Let him compare that inveterate malevolence with the benign and compassionate spirit of our amiable traveller. Then let him say, whether he ever beheld a finer or a bolder contrast ?.I would observe further, that the virulent animosity of the Jew discovers itself even in the lawyer’s reply. Hey that showed mercy on him. He will not so much, as name the Samaritan; especially in a case, where he could not be named, without an honourable distinction. So strongly marked, and so exactly preserved are the τά ηθη, the manners, or distin¬ guishing qualities of each person in the sacred narrations. S. John iv. 9, 27. J. Hervey. (Theron and Aspasio, Hial. 1.) Longum iter per pr accept a, breve et efjicax per exempla. We do S. LUKE X. 37. 301 not want precepts, so much as patterns, says Pliny ; ancl ex¬ ample is the softest and least invidious way of commanding. Heb. xi. Palme?'. (Aphor. 1603.) Te totum applica ad textum ; ?'em totam applica ad te. Keep thy¬ self close to the text; and apply the whole substance of it to thy own edification. Ps. lxxxv. 8 ; vii, 40. Bengel. The Master does not only rule the scholar’s book for him, but writes him a copy with his own hand. Cheist’ s command is our rule : His life is our copy. Gurnall. This wounded man may resemble human nature ; the Priests and the Levites that passed by, the offerings and sacrifices of the Law; the Samaritan, Cheist, wdio beholdeth man in this case with the eye of mercy, bound up his wound, poured in the softening oil of grace, and searching wine of contrition, layeth him upon his own nature and righteousness thereof, takes out the two Testaments, bringeth him to the holy hostage of His Church, commandeth His Priests to take care and charge of him, and promiseth that one day they shall find they have not lost their labour.By this we learn, that we live not in the world for ourselves, but, setting Cheist’ s example before our eyes, how we ought to endeavour, that in any thing we can we may be helpful to others. Of all living creatures there is none created to a more loving and sociable end than man ; but amongst men none more ordained to do good, each to other, than Christians. “ While we are in the way,” saith S. Augus¬ tine, “let us bear one another’s burden, that we may rest toge¬ ther at the end of the way and he saith again, “ Nothing is good unto us, unless we communicate the same good unto others.” Ezek. xvi. 1—14. Sutton. (Disce mori, c. 8.) In another walk, he saw a poor man with a poorer horse, that was fallen under his load; they were both in distress, and needed present help, which Mr. Herbert perceiving, put off his canoni¬ cal coat, and helped the poor man to unload, and after to load his horse. The poor man blessed him for it; and he blessed the poor man; and was so like the good Samaritan, that he gave him money to refresh both himself and his horse; and told him that, “ if he loved himself, he should be merciful to his beast.” Thus he left the poor man, and at his coming to his 302 S. LUKE X. 37. musical friends at· Salisbury, they began to wonder that Mr. George Herbert, who used to be so trim and neat, came into that company so soiled and discomposed; but be told them tbe occasion; and when one of the company told him, “ he had dis¬ paraged himself by so dirty an employmenthis answer was, that “the thought of what he had done would prove music to him at midnight; and that the omission of it would have up¬ braided and made discord in his conscience, whensoever he should pass by that place: for if I be bound to pray for all that are in distress, I am sure that I am bound, so far as it is in my power, to practise what I pray for. And though I do not wish for the like occasion every day, yet let me tell you, I would not willingly pass one day of my life, without comforting a sad soul, or showing mercy; and I praise God for this occasion. And now let us tune our instruments.” Is. Walton’s life of G. Her¬ bert. (Edit. Dr. Zouch, p. 375.) Ilia ego sum, Solymis quam prsedo cruentus arenis Stravit, et immiti diffidit ense latus. Tu, Samarita, mero, Tu vulnera mitis olivo Obline, barbarica vulnera facta manu : Hsec ego ssepe dedi variis tractanda magistris; Semper at oblatae cura fefellit opis. 0 ! mea spes, Numen quo non prsesentius ullum, Ecce Tuam veneror mortua paene manum! Quosque Levita negat, medicos infunde liquores ; Crescet ab infuso rore meroque salus. Herm. Hugo. (Gemitus animse poenitentis, 3.) 38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village : and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word. 40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? bid her therefore that she help me. S. LUKE X. 39, 40. 303 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. 39 Disce esse sub Christo , ut. possis esse supra mundum. Learn to have a lowly place beneath Cheist, that you may live above the world. S. Ambrose. The Lathers say of those plurima, many things, that Martha was troubled about, this was one thing, the untowardness of the servants of the house. Bp. Andrewes. Be not disturbed for trifles. By the practice of this rule, we should come in time to think most things too trifling to disturb us. Adam. (Private thoughts, c. 11.) 40 O man, is it no part of your dutjr to search the Scriptures, on account of the distraction of many earthly cares ? rather for this very reason, it is your duty; you, of all others, need their help. S. Chrysostom. Our Loed does not then forbid hospitality, but the troubling about many things , that is to say, hurry and anxiety. And mark the wisdom of our Loed, in that at first He said nothing to Martha ; but when she sought to tear away her sister from hearing, then the Loed took occasion to reprove her. Conf. S. Matt. xii. 46—48. Theophylact. Felix domus, ubi Martha conqueritur de Marid. Happy is the house, where there is a Mary for a Martha to complain of. S. Bernard. Ejaculatory prayer reconciles Martha’s employment with Mary’s devotion. Bp. J. Taylor. This notable difference in their manner of receiving the Loed, may have arisen from the different lights, under which they regarded His Person. Martha may have regarded Him, as come to establish a temporal kingdom ; and therefore she was cumbered with much serving, in order to do Him the greatest honour: Mary, on the other hand, viewing Him, as a spiritual 304 ί S. LUKE X. 40, 41. teacher and deliverer, waited upon Him in silent attention and sat at His feet. As is the nature and degree of our faith, so is our conduct; according to our inward apprehension of the Lord, is our outward demeanour towards Him. vii. 47; Col. ii. 6. J. F. The brethren ought, whatever it is they are about, to carry it to each other with love and cheerfulness. Let both him, that works, say thus concerning him, that prays ; “ The treasure, that my brother gets, being common, I also have a share in.” And let him, that gives himself to prayer, say thus of him, that reads, “ Whatever benefit my brother gains by reading, it tends to my advantage and again let him too that is at work say also this, “ whatever the service is that I am doing, it is for the common good.” For as the members of the body, “ being many are one,” and are mutually assisting to each other, and yet every one dis¬ charges its proper function, but the eye sees for the whole body, and the hand works for all the members, and the foot walks about and supports them all, and another yet suffers with them all, thus let the brethren also be together; and let neither him, that prays, judge him, that works, for not praying; nor he, that works, find fault with him, that prays, with this complaint in his mouth, that is, “ he lies by; and I do all the work;” neither let him that serves at all censure another ; but let every one, what¬ ever it is he does, do it to the glory of God. Rom. xii. 4, 5 ; 1 Cor. xii. 12,27 ; xiv. 4, 33. Macarius. (Spiritual Homilies, 3.) 41 Christ tells us that there is but one thing necessary; nature tells us that every thing is necessary, but that. Ps. xxvii. 4 ; Phil. iii. 13. Bp. Hall. “ Mind few things,” said one, “if you would preserve tranquillity:” he might rather have said, mind only what is necessary, and what the reason of the creature, formed for social life and pub¬ lic good, recommends, and in the way it directs. And this will not only secure the tranquillity, arising from virtuous action, but that also, wdiich arises from having few things to mind. Would we cut off the most part of what we say and do, as un¬ necessary, we should have much leisure and freedom from trou¬ ble. We should suggest to ourselves on every occasion this question; is this necessary ? But we ought to quit, not only S. LUKE X. 41, 42. 305 unnecessary actions, but even imaginations; and thus super¬ fluous actions diverting us from our purpose, would not ensue. M. Antoninus. (Medit. B. iv. 24.) Two principal fountains there are of human action; knowledge and will; which will, in tending towards any object, is called choice. Concerning knowledge, “Behold,” saith Moses, “Ihave set before you this day good and evil, life and death concern¬ ing will, he addeth immediately, “ choose life ;” that is to say, the things, that tend unto life, them choose. 2 S. Pet. iii. 17. Hooher. Quid desideriis ultra tot inanibus uror ? Quid jaculor nullo votaque spesque scopo ? Estc procul gemitus, procul, anxia turba, timores, Sollicitacque preces, votaque, spesque procul. O ! Deus, aut nullo caleat mihi pectus ab igne, Aut solo caleat Legis amore Tuse. Herm. Hugo. (Yota animse sanctae, i.) 42 What thou hast chosen, Martha, shall be taken away from thee; it shall be taken away for thy advantage, and something far better given instead. You shall lose your toil, and gain re¬ pose. Tu navigas; ilia in portu est. Yon are still at sea ; your sister has reached the haven. Isa. xxvi. 3; Heb. iv. 3. S. Augustine. Honour is but air and is lost in the grasping; riches are but earth, and sink from us in the digging; pleasures are but sha¬ dows, and slip from our embraces: but this good is a solid, permanent, lasting thing ; changes the soul into itself, fills it in every part, and brings delight, where it fills. Heb. x. 34 ; 1 S. Pet. i. 4, 24. Farindon. Bun to and fro in the world, and in that great emporium and mart of toys and vanities find out one thing , that is necessary , if you can, though you search it, as the prophet speaks, with candles. Is it necessary to be rich ? Behold Dives in hell, and Lazarus in Abra¬ ham’s bosom. Is it necessary to be noble ? “ Not many noble are chosen.” Is it necessary to be learned? “Where is the scribe ? where is the disputer of this world ?” Everything hath its necessity from us, not from itself; for of itself it cannot show anything, that should make it so : it is we, that file these chains, x 306 ί S. LUKE XI. ]. and fashion these nails of necessity, and make her hand of brass. Riches are necessary, because we are covetous; honour is ne¬ cessary, because we are proud, and love to have the pre-emi¬ nence. Pleasure is necessary, because we love it more than God. Revenge is necessary, because we delight in blood. Lobd, how many necessaries do we make, when there is but one P one sine quo non debimus, without which we ought not, and sine quo non possumus , without which we cannot be happy; and that is our assimilation, and being made like unto Christ, in whom alone all the treasures of wisdom, and riches, and honour, all that is necessary for us are to be found, xiv. 18. Farindon. (Serm. Heb. ii. 17.) Omnia cum facias, miraris cur facias nil ? (Posthume) rern solam cpii facit, ille facit. Marullus, (Epigr. Lib. 3.) CHAPTER XI. ^/^ND it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His dis¬ ciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation ; but deliver us from evil. I We forget that we are to learn to pray; and that prayer is to be S. LUKE XI. 1, 2. 307 learnt, as all other things, by frequency, constancy, and perse¬ verance. Bom. viii. 26. Wm. Law. If there be any one part of religion, that requires long, gradual, and early training for its formation, it is the habit of reveren¬ tial devotion. Bp. Medley. There is no kind of composition more difficult, than that of prayer. Eccl. v. 2. P. Skelton. (Serm. 1 Cor. i. 10.) Here again (as we noted before, S. Mark i. 14,) our humble and meek Bedeemer condescended to follow in the wake of His fore¬ runner, to copy from John, to teach us to pray , as John also taught his disciples. But what an accession of grace and truth has He brought to this great duty, assuring us, generally, of its acceptance, when offered in His Name ; and, more particularly, of its acceptance, in regard to our peculiar wants, (9—13) ; and then, both by precept and example, imbuing us with the right spirit of grace and supplication, the spirit of humility in the prayer of the publican; the spirit of faith and perseverance in the prayer of the woman of Canaan; the spirit of holy impor¬ tunity in the parable of the widow (xviii. 1—7) ; the spirit of godly simplicity in His reproof of the ostentatious devotions of the Pharisee; and above all, the spirit of charity and love in His condemnation of the unmerciful servant. In all these respects how largely has he satisfied the desire, suggested by His own good Spirit, Loed, teach us to pray ! And how has He exceeded His servant, whom He yet condescended to follow, xxii. 27. J. F. Our Loed did not frame an entirely new prayer, in words of His own conception, but took out of the ancient Euchologies, or Prayer-books of the Jews, what was good and laudable in them, and out of them composed His prayer. The reflection of the learned Grotius upon this is very remarkable; “ So far was the Loed Himself of the Christian Church from all affectation of unnecessary novelty.” Our Saviour in this instance hath plainly shown us what respect we ought to have for forms of prayer, anciently received and approved by the Church of God. Ps. lxxviii. 1—4; Jer. vi. 16. Bp. Bull. (Serm. 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.) 2 When ye pray , say. —There is no one fact more incontested in history, than that precomposed forms of prayer have been used x 2 308 s. LUKE XI. 2. in all Churches from the first establishment of Christianity. In ages of greater gifts, and more abundant evidences of the Spirit, they never in public assemblies trusted to the hasty and unpremeditated conceptions of any one person. The Saints, Confessors, and Martyrs, thought it their duty to join in the established offices of the Church, and to express their public devotions, in the same manner with those of less merit and lower attainments. . . . The compilers of our Common Prayer composed the greatest part of the Daily Service, either out of the very words of Scripture, or out of the ancientest and best offices of the Church. They were not fond of their own com¬ positions, but rather chose to walk, and to train others, in the good old paths. With “ a zeal, according to knowledge,” they separated what was popish from what was primitive, and so re¬ moved unnecessary superstructures, as not to cast down the ancient foundations. Hence it is, that they did not so much compose a new Service, as reform an old one; by which means the great part of it is taken out of Liturgies, that were com¬ piled, when a spirit of Martyrdom and devotion prevailed in the Church. S. Matt, xviii. 19; 1 Cor. xiv. 33. T. Mangey. (Serm. on the duty and method of honouring God, as contained in the Common Prayer of the Church of England.) Either a form of prayer is here plainly enjoined, or nothing is plain in Holy Scripture. . . . Cheist doth not only teach us what things we ought to ask of God, but also in what words we ought to ask them. Numb. vi. 23 ; x. 35, 36; Deut. xxi. 7, 8 ; xxvi. 5. Bp. Smalridge. (Serm. on text.) In the brief summary of a few words how many sayings of the Prophets, Gospels, Apostles, discourses of the Loed, parables, precepts, are touched upon. How many duties are at once dis¬ charged ; the honouring of God in the Father , the testimony of faith in the Name , the offering of obedience in the will , the re¬ membrance of hope in the kingdom , the petition for life in the bread , the confession of debts in the prayer to forgive , the anxious care about temptations in the call for defence. What wonder ? God alone could teach, how He would have Himself prayed to. The sacred duty therefore of prayer, ordained by Himself, and animated by His own Spieit, even at the time, S. LUKE XI. 2, 4. 309 when it proceeded from the Divine mouth, ascendetli of its own right into heaven, commending to the Father what the Son hath taught. Tertullian. (De oratione, s. ix.) Pater noster , excelsus in Creatione, suavis in amore, dives in lisere- ditate, Qui es in coelis, speculum aeternitatis, corona jucunditatis, thesaurus felicitatis, sanctificetur Nomen Tuum, ut nobis sit mel in ore, melos in aure, jubilum in corde; adveniat regnum Tuum , jucundum sine permixtione, tranquillum sine perturbatione, securum sine amissione; Fiat voluntas , non nostra, sed Tua, sicut in coelis ab Angelis, sic etiam in terrd ab hominibus; ut omnia, quae non amas, odio habeamus, quae diligis, diligamus; quae Tibi placent impleamus; Panem doctrinalem, Sacramenta- lem, victualem nostrum , sed, ne putetur a nobis, dicimus, da nobis ; quotidianum, qui sufficiat nobis ; et dimittes nobis debita nostra, quaecunque contra Te commisimus, aut contra proximos, aut contra nosmetipsos, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris, qui nos offenderunt vel in verbis, vel in personis, vel in rebus; et ne nos in tentationem inducas; mundi, carnis, diaboli; sed libera nos d malo , praesenti, praeterito, futuro: haec potes, quia Tuum est regnum, et potentia ; haec vis, quia Tua gloria nunc, et in scecula sceculorum. Amen. Ludolphus* (De vita Christi, p. i. c. 37.) 4 Alme Parens hominum, qui coelum Numine comples, Sanctificetur in orbe Tuum venerabile Nomen. Adveniat, Deus alme, bonis obtabile regnum ; O ! sic in terris fiat Tua sacra voluntas, Ilia ut fit supra flammantia sidera coeli. Tu nobis hodie panem da quotidianum ; Debita sic nobis peccataque nostra remitte, Fratribus ut nostris veniam concedimus ipsi. Nec supra vires tentari nos sine nostras. Sit procul omne malum, peccati sit procul auctor. * The Author redeems the pledge, given in his first volume, S. Matt. vi. 13, by inserting here the paraphrase of Ludolphus, which, as it comprises so much, renders further comments on the Lord’s Prayer unnecessary. He has taken the liberty, amid some various readings, of placing the extract before the reader in a shape, which seems to render the paraphrase most complete and beautiful. 310 S. LUKE XI. 4. Nam sine fine Tibi regnum est, immensa potestas, Gloria in excelsis Tibi permansura per sevum! G. Nicols. (Tlepl αργών. Lib. iv.) O Parens, cujus domus est Olympus Aureis pulchre variatus astris, Sit Tuum Nomen (velut est) per sevi Secula sanctum. Et Tuum regnum veniat, voluntas Et Tua in terris, ut in axe, fiat, Hoc die nobis επιουσιόν que Suffice panem. Sicque condones malefacta nobis Nos ut offensas aliis solemus Sponte condonare, animoque cunctis Parcere leni. Neve tentari, Pater alme, supra Eerre quam possint patiare vires, A dolo sed nos Stygii tuere Jugiter hostis. Macrinus. (Hymn. Lib. i.) The Eoxology, For Thine is the kingdom , fyc., is left out, because it was our Saviour’s intention in this place to deliver to them a form of prayer merely petitionary ; for which very reason also, Amen is omitted too. Eor (1 Cor. xiv. 16) “ He shall say Amen at tliy giving of thanks and indeed, they commonly ended all their prayers, even those that consisted most of petition, with thanksgiving and benediction, concluding in this manner, “ Blessed be Thou, 0 Loud, who hast thus done or thus com¬ manded,” or the like; and then it was answered by all, Amen . This we may observe in those Psalms, that conclude any portion of that book and end with Amen : upon what subject soever the Psalmist is engaged, either throughout the whole Psalm, or im¬ mediately before the bringing forth of Amen, still he never doth mention Amen, without some foregoing Doxology and benediction. “ Blessed be the Loud God, &c. Amen and Amen.” In S. Matthew therefore, we find Amen , because there is the Doxology; in S. Luke it is wanting, because the Dox¬ ology is so too. Dr. Lightfoot. (Exerc. in loco.) S. LUKE XI. 5. 311 5 And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves ; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him ? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his impor¬ tunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent ? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him ? 5 He designed us to understand, that if a man, unwillingly roused from his sleep by some petitioner, is compelled to give, with how much greater kindliness we may expect bounty at the hands of Him, who “never slumbereth,” and who is the very person, who rouses us to call upon Him. Hi nocturni mendica - 312 1 S. LUKE XI. 5—11. tores Deo grati sunt. These midnight beggars are ITis delight. Isa. xxvi. 9 ; Cant iii. 1. S. Augustine. Night devotions in all probability have been very early in the world, and God seems to have given men an item of them, by His appearing so often to them in the night. Before day, Abraham rose to sacrifice his son. In the night it was, that Jacob wrestled with God, and received the blessing. In the night it was, that God led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Samuel cried unto the Loud all night. Judith rose up in the night and performed her devotions ; and who knows not what the mighty David says of himself, that he “ washed his couch with tears at night ?” In the night the Son of God was born, and the Angel of the Lord brought the news of it to the shep¬ herds. Isa. xxx. 29; Acts xvi. 25. Dr. Horneck. Quibus additur illud Discipulis quod Christus ait, jam node roganti Trespanes debere dari; nox ista profecto est Mundus, ut Inc si quis Verbi desideret escas Exhibeas, quiesite, dapes, doceasque volentem, Quod Pater, et Natus, quod Sanctus Spiritus Unus Sint Deus, et numerum Triplicet Substantia simplex. Arator. (Lib. 2.) 8 God will not only grant what we desire, but will give more than we desire; he desired but three loaves; He will give him as many as he needeth. Eph. iii. 20. Fdw. Leigh, (in loco.) 9 Observe the gradatiou in these words. Ask, but you must not stay there; you must seek : nor yet must you rest satisfied there; you must knock. Your affections should be every day more eager and earnest; you should pray more fervently, as it is said of Christ, xxii. 44. Chr. Love. (Serin. S. Luke xi. 18.) 11 Fides in pisce; spes in ovo : charitas in pane. Eaith is inti¬ mated to us by the fish , hope by the egg , charity by the bread. S. Augustine. Why doth Scripture express all manner of beverage in forty places by the name of water , but to insinuate sobriety ? Why doth God’s Word in a hundred places call the whole repast of the belly by the name of bread , but to insinuate frugality ? The Scripture makes but two words of that, whereof affected glut- S. LUKE XI. 11, 13. 313 tony hath made twenty thousand. Eccl. vii. 29. Bp. Racket. (Serin. S. John vi. 13.) Let none of you, my brethren, think slightingly of his prayer; for I tell you, that He, to whom we pray, does not so. Before it has left your mouth, He orders it to be written in His Book; and one of two things we may undoubtedly be assured of, either that He will give what we ask, or what He knows will be more profitable for us. 1 S. John iii. 22 ; v. 14. S. Bernard. (Semi, v. in Quadrages.) As He prevents us in time, so He exceeds our thoughts in mea¬ sure, giving us more, than we ask. (Eph. iii. 20.) Eachel would have a son; God gives her two. Abraham sues that Ishmael may live; God gives him to prosper, and to be the father of many princes. Tet more, He gives us what we can¬ not ask. The dumb demoniac could not sue for himself; his very silence is vocal and receives what he would, and could not request. Tea, lastly, which is the great improvement of His mercy, He gives us against our asking. Our ignorance sues against ourselves, requiring hurtful things. He will not suffer our hearts and tongues to wrong us ; but withholds what we unfitly crave, and gives what we should, and do not, crave; as the fond child cries to his father for a knife; he reaches him a spoon, that may feed, and not hurt him. 0 the ocean of Divine bounty, boundless, bottomless! O our wretched un¬ worthiness, if we be either niggardly to ourselves, in not asking blessings, or unthankful to our God, in not acknowledging them. Ps. ciii. 13, 14; S. Matt. vi. 8, 32; 2 Cor. vi. 12. Bp. Hall. (Select thoughts, 29.) 13 As bread and fish in this verse may serve to represent every needful temporal benefit, so the Roly Spirit , (Verse 13,) com¬ prehends the gift of grace, and those higher blessings, which are spiritual and eternal. J. F. This implies that the Holy Spirit is equivalent to all good gifts, nay, as much exceeding them, as the love and power of God exceeds that of man. Dean Young. What can He refuse to the prayers of His children, who has already given them the grace of adoption to be His children ? Bom. viii. 16, 17. Augustine. 314 $ S. LUKE XI. 13—15. Both the Father and the Son give the Spirit ; and it is no matter whether we ask Him of the Father, or of the Son, so we ask of the Father in the Son, or of the Son in the Father. S. John xiv. 16 ; xv. 26. W. Bell. S. Augustine’s aphorism is famous, “ Quifecit te sine te, non justi- ficabit te sine te .” In like manner we may say: He, who gave us His Son without our asking, will not give us His Spirit, with¬ out our asking. J. F. Summe Parens, nobis, sileamus sive precemur, Ha bona; quae mala sunt, quamvis orantibus, arce. Grotius. 14 And He was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake ; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 16 And others tempting Him , sought of Him a sign from heaven. 17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to de¬ solation ; and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand ? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. 19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out ? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. 14 “Dumb,” not formaliter , for be is “ a roaring lion,” but cctusa- liter , in making others dumb. Dean Boys. 15 By the prince of the devils. —For tell me, I pray you, what ad- S. LUKE XI. 15, 16. 315 vantage is there in exhibiting your moving statues (statuas am - bulantes ) making your brazen or sculptured dogs to bark ? causing mountains to heave ? flying yourselves in the air ? such like things, as you say Simon did? (Acts viii. 9.) The wonders wrought by him, that is good, bear expressly upon the benefit of mankind, as for instance the miracles of our Loud, who made the blind to see, the deaf to hear ; who lifted up the weak and the lame, who put to flight diseases and devils. Signs, like these, tending to the advantage and safety of men, the evil one cannot produce. $. Clement. (Becogn. Lib. iii. c. 60.) The Scriptures, no doubt, were indited by the Holy Ghost ; for good men would not impose such things on the world, and there is too much against the bad to believe them to be the authors of it. Palmer. (Aphor. 397.) 16 If the miracles were really wrought, as related, how is it pos¬ sible that any one should resist them ? How could those, who saw them, withstand the evidence, they afforded ? . . . The answer to the objection is this; that they did not dispute the reality of the miracles, but they did not attribute them to the finger of God, but to the agency and assistance of evil spirits, (xi. 15.) We are now sensible that every such insinuation is absurd. Tor once admit the truth and reality of a miracle, and nobody now-a-days disputes, but that it comes from God. But it was not so then: their antipathy to Cheist, owing to His disappointing the eager expectations of being a temporal Prince, destroying their favourite hopes and opinions, reproving their vices and exposing their hypocrisy, put them upon every imagi¬ nable device to avoid the proofs of His mission: and this was the way they did avoid it; and according to the notion, which then prevailed, concerning the activity and operation of evil spirits, it was likely enough to go down with many. Hence arose their perpetually calling for “a sign,” or, as it is some¬ times expressed, “ a sign from heaven,” that is some display of glory and wonderful appearance in the heavens, such, as they thought, became the Messiah, and which they supposed was above the power of inferior spirits to produce. And the Jewish authority afterwards, down to the third century, goes upon the same foundation, imputing Cheist’ s miracles, which they do 316 i S . LUKE XI. 17, 20. not deny, to magic and secret arts, which He had learned in Egypt. S. John ii. 18 ; vi. 30 ; xi. 47. Paley. .(Serm. 3, on Acts y. 38, 39.) 17 Thy heart bleeds to see the woful vastation of civil discord, and the deadly fury of home-bred enemies. Certainly there is no¬ thing, under heaven, more ghastly and dreadful than the face of an intestine war, nothing, that doth so nearly resemble hell . . . O that one man, one Christian, should be so bloodily cruel to another. O that he, who bears the image of the merciful God, should thus turn fiend to his own flesh and blood! Gal. v. 15. Bp. Hall. (The balm of Gilead.) 20 His second reason is this: If I cast out devils by the power of Beelzebub , by what power do your children, My disciples, John, James, Peter, Andrew, and the rest cast them out ? They granted that Christ’s disciples wrought miracles, only by the Name of God. And yet that, they allowed in the scholars, even of malice and hatred, and contrary to their conscience, they reproved and blasphemed in the Master. Hereof Christ concludeth: If I cast out devils by the power of God, then doubtless the kingdom of God is among you : your own children shall be judges over you. ... So we may say this day, to such, as be adversaries to this cause, (the Reformation) and speak against us: if we be heretics, that teach this doctrine, what are the ancient Fathers, the Doctors, and the Apostles, that have taught the same ? If they were Catholics, and have been ever¬ more so taken, writing as they did, how is it that only we are not Catholics, writing and saying, as they did ? They shall judge on our side against you. . . . For I call heaven and earth to witness, and speak it before God and His holy angels, and before the consciences of all them, that speak against us, that touching the very substance of religion, we teach nothing this day, but hath been taught before by Christ Himself, set abroad by His Apostles, continued in the primitive Church, and maintained by the old and ancient Doctors. Acts xxiv. 14, 15. Bp. Jewel. (Serm. on S. Luke xi. 15.) If I with the finger of God cast out devils .—S. Matt. xii. 28; “with the Spirit of God.” The finger of God is a metaphori¬ cal expression for the immediate power and agency of God, S. LUKE XI. 20, 21. 317 and to say that devils were cast out by the finger of God is the same as to say, that they were cast out by God Himself. But it appears from the text in S. Matt, that this particular act of the finger of God, that is, of God Himself, was the act of the Spirit; therefore the Spirit is God Himself. Exod. viii. 19. Wm. Jones, (on the Trinity, c. 2.) Nothing seems to have more astounded the people, than the proof of our Loed’s Divine power, in casting out devils. Some, who rejected the evidence of His other miracles, were by this means convinced. This it was, which so exceedingly troubled the Pharisees, and drove them to the desperate charge against Him, that He was in secret compact with Beelzebub; and yet all this was but the exercise of the finger of God : what must be the power of His mighty hand and outstretched arm ? “ Thou, even Thou, O God, art to be feared!” ix. 43; Ps. viii. 3 ; xcviii. 2. J. F. So great was the evidence of the Spirit of God in the act of jurisdiction over the devil, that our Saviour charges them with unpardonable guilt in their wilfully denying it. S. Mark xvi. * 17. Bates. 21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. 23 He that is not with Me is against Me: and he that gatliereth not with Me scattereth. 21 Expose to them the depths and method of Satan ; unravel, his wiles and subtleties ; stretch out the entangled folds of that old and crooked serpent. 2 Cor. ii. 11. Bp. Beynolds. “ His palace.” “ Mg house.” Verse 24.—They, who are but half- instructed in the principles of the Gospel, are too apt to be in¬ different in their attention to the powerful operations of this infernal agent, who is almost totally forgotten in some cold and barren exhortations to moral virtue, independent of Christian 318 j S. LUKE XI. 21, 22. faith. Perhaps it may he thought low, impertinent, and dis¬ couraging, to be bringing in the agency of the devil upon every occasion: but it is to be feared, he hath most to do now, as of old, in the heathen world, where he is least thought of. It is our duty, and will be found our greatest wisdom, to take the Christian system, as we find it; to omit imaginary improvements, and to believe, as the Scripture directs; which informs us too plainly to be contradicted, that the deceiver hath seated himself in the human heart, and hath gotten possession of our interior economy. And, if the Scripture had given us no other evidence, this one consideration would for ever satisfy me, that our nature is depraved, and that sin from the fall of Adam is original to the constitution of man. Eph. vi. 12. Wm. Jones, (on the temptation of Cheist, s. 8.) Cum altiori vitd proficimur , maligni spiritus, qui semper bent agenti- bus invident , nobis infestiores sunt , S. Gregory saith. The devil deals with us, as Laban did with Jacob ; for twenty years to¬ gether, whilst he served him, Jacob led a quiet peaceable life; * but when he left his service, and fled from him, then Laban pursues him, as an enemy: so, whilst we do the devil service, we find no fighting without, no terrors within. Eefer to ix. 42. Farindon. They, who live according to the course of this world, experience scarcely any temptations, or conflicts ; because they are already overcome. A king, advancing with his army, does not lay siege to those towns, which are already in his power. But Satan attacks the righteous, as being his enemies, while he peacefully reigns over those under his sway. M. Singlin. (Instr. Chret. Evang. 1 Dim. de Careme.) Having bruised his head, (Gen. iii. 15,) He taketh from him his armour wherein he trusted , the law, sin, death, and hell. Jer. 1. 34 ; Heb. ii. 14, 15 ; Col. ii. 14. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. Isa. Iii. 3.) 22 God maketh use of that wit, wealth, power, learning, wisdom, interests, which Satan used against Cheist’ s kingdom, as instru¬ ments and ornaments unto the Gospel; as when a magazine in war is taken, the General makes use of those arms, which were provided against him, for his own service. Bp. Reynolds. S. LUKE XI. 22, 23. 319 Thus shall these disorderly passions be, as though they were not ; that is, they shall prove no hindrance to our salvation. Nay, they shall be better than though they were not, and even pro¬ mote our virtue and happiness, if we take good care to manage them aright. For these desires and passions are like wild beasts, fierce and furious in their own nature, and bent upon rapine, and mischief, and destruction; but when mastered and tamed, as by God’s grace and our own diligence they may be, they become exceeding useful and necessary, and a whet and spur to our virtues. Thus anger is serviceable to zeal; hatred to the irreconcileable aversion against sin; haughtiness of mind to contempt of the world, and scorning to do mean and dis¬ honourable things; love to the vigorous undertaking of hard and heroic actions, in consideration of the Person, for whose sake we do so, and the infinite obligations, which His benefits innumerable have laid upon us, to decline nothing that may be acceptable to Him. And besides all this, the very conflict necessary for the subduing these passions, and that perpetual struggle, in which we are exercised, is appointed and left to us for our mighty advantage. This it is, that finds work for our patience, our humility, our constancy. This makes our desert and our victory in this life, and entitles us to our glory and crown in the life to come, as S. Paul observes in his own case ; and this, in proportion, is the common case of all Christians. 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. Parsons. (Christian Directory, p. ii. s. 2.) Thus it was said of the people of God in old times; “ ye shall spoil the Egyptians.” “ The jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and the raiment,” brought as trophies out of the land of bondage, served afterwards to adorn the tabernacle and holy place of the Most Highest. Exactly so should all our natural faculties, and all our acquired endowments, when we turn unto the Loud, be dedicated to His service, and made the instru¬ ments “of righteousness unto holiness.” Exod. iii. 22; Bom. vi. 19. J. F. 23 Our Loud affirms that every one, who does not labour to gather sheep into His fold, as He does, scatters, as the wolf does, many from that fold, who would enter, were it not for their ex¬ amples who stay out. In all cases, like this, he who helps not 320 S. LUKE XI. 23, 24. i hinders. A great part of mankind never move, but with a crowd before them, and weigh the strength of a reason only by the numbers, it hath already convinced, (S. John vii. 48.) Cheist knows of no man, who is neither to be rewarded, as a friend, nor punished as an enemy; He allows not the benefit of neutrality ; but saith, He, that is not with Me, is against Me. . . There is no third or middle sort of men. It is true, of good men some are better; and of bad men, some worse than others. The good are not all equally the friends ; nor the wicked all equally the enemies of Cheist ; and for these inequalities dif¬ ferent degrees of reward and punishment are reserved. Trom the throne of God, down to the nethermost hell, there is not, there cannot possibly be, one moral being, who is not either the friend or the enemy of God. In one or other of these lights, He must regard every man, and every man must regard himself, at the final judgment. S. Matt. xxv. 32,46. P. Skelton. (Serm. S. Matt. xii. 30.) I gather the Church; Satan doth scatter it. Acts xx. 29, 30. Dean Boys. Mere indifference to good is evil. Rev. iii. 15, 16. Adam. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and find¬ ing none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself: and they enter in, and dwell there : and the last state of that man is worse than the first. 24 The unclean spirit went out; but the Holy Spieit came not in ; that is, when a man is a mere negative Christian, he “ ceaseth to do evil,” in some ways he has formerly walked in; but he learns not “to do good.” This is to lose heaven with short S. LUKE XI. 24—26. 321 shooting. God will not ask us what we were not , but what we were. Rom. ii. 6, 7. Gurnall. The Spibit is Holy, non ob sanctitatem immanentem (the Schools’ term) for holiness, that is in Himself; the Eathee and the Son have both that also, but rather emanentem , the holiness, He works in man. Both do distinguish Him from Satan, a spirit too, but immundus, an unclean spirit and unholy, both subjective and effective, who works all uncleanness and unholiness in man. ver. 13. Or. Richard Clerke. Dry places. —"Wickedness is a solitary spirit. Hell, though inha¬ bited by millions of souls, will be to each a solitude. “ Men of corrupt minds ” associate together on mere selfish principles, because they cannot gratify their lusts alone. There is no real charity among them ; for charity “ seeketh not her own.” In that state, where the means of self-indulgence shall be removed, the wicked must dwell alone, and for ever, in themselves and by themselves, be tormented. They will “ seek rest in dry places and find none.” Gen. iv. 16. J. F. The proud man hath no God ; the envious man hath no neigh¬ bour ; the angry man hath not himself. What can that man have, that wants himself? What is a man better, if he have himself, and want all others ? What is he the nearer, if he have himself and others, and yet want God ? What good is it then to be a man, if he be either wrathful, proud, or envious ? S. Mark v. 3—5. Bp. Hall. (Med. and vows. Cent. iii. 37.) I will return. —It frequently happens, that the enemy permits those, whom he has much tempted, to continue some time in quiet, that he may surprise them more easily, when they least think of him, and make them fall into sin by a violent and sudden temptation, iv. 13. S. Gregory. (Moral. L. iii. c. 16.) 25 I find that even the unclean spirit made that a motion of repos¬ session, that he found the house swept and garnished. Satan’s cleanliness is pollution. Each spirit looks for an entertainment, answerable to his nature; how much more will that God of spirits, who is purity itself, look to be harboured in a cleanly room ? Ps. ci. 3. Bp. Hall. 26 Enter in. —Truly said a heathen, nemo nolens malus est } et nemo peccat invitus : not a bear, nor a lion, but a serpent supplanted r 322 S. LUKE XI. 26. our first parents, a creature not stronger, but more subtle than others. Serpens , 0 Eva , decepit te ; decepit profectb, non impulit aut coegit. {S. Bernard .) The evil spirit returning ; ingreditur , non irruit , cim septern aliis nequioribus , fortioribus —enters in, does not rush in, with seven spirits not stronger, but more wicked than himself. S. James i. 14, 15. Sclater. It is not in the nature of man to be, for any considerable time, neither better nor worse; nor will the principles within him, nor the spiritual good, or ill powers, that act upon him from without, long suffer him to remain in the same moral state. If the Spirit of God, together with a lively conscience and a right sense of religion, have the government of his mind, they will lead him continually upward to a more pure and spiritual nature; if the devil and vice have dominion over him, they will keep him always in motion downward, to still deeper and fouler degrees of corruption: besides, as habit always naturally grows out of practice, it will add considerably to the speed and expedition of either progress. Ps. i. 1; S. James iii. 15. P. Skelton. (Serm. Ps. viii. 5.) Hell is a deep place, and there are many steps of descent to the bottom of it; many obscure vaults to be passed through, before we come to “ utter darkness.” But still the way of error is the way to it: and as surely and as naturally as the first dusk and gloom of the evening tends to, and at last ends in, the thickest darkness of midnight, so every delusion, sinfully cherished and persisted in, (how easily soever it may sit upon the conscience for some time) will, in the issue, lodge the sinner into the deep¬ est hell, and the blackest regions of damnation. 2 Thess. ii. 7— 13. Or. South. As the wool hath a tincture of some lighter colours given to it, before it can be dyed into a deep grain, so Satan hath his more lightsome and pleasant sins, which he at first entices to. Gurnall. As repentance destroyeth old offences, so new offences destroy re¬ pentance. 2 Cor. vi. 10; 2 S. Pet. ii. 20—22. Bp. Andrewes. I have observed that when a man, who once seemed a Christian, has put off* that character, and resumed his old one, he loses together with the grace, which he seemed to possess, the most S. LUKE XI. 26. 323 amiable part of tbe character, that he resumes. The best fea¬ tures of his natural face seem to be struck out, that after having worn religion only as a mask, he may make a more disgust¬ ing appearance, than he did, before he assumed it. Cowper. (Letters.) Tu minimis primo vitiis in pectora nostra Influis, ac velut exiguis illaberis undis; At simul atque tibi datus est locus, illico magnus Irrumpis, rapideque fluens latissimus amnis ; Donee me Chaos abripiat barathrumque profundum. S. Greg. Naz. (Carm. adv. Diab.) 27 And it came to pass, as He spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked. 28 But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. 29 And when the people were gathered thick to¬ gether, He began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign ; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. 30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and con¬ demn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and, be¬ hold, a greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judg¬ ment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 324 S. LUKE XI. 27—29. 1 33 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. 34 The light of the body is the eye : therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If thy whole body therefore he full of light, hav¬ ing no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. 27 Materna propinquitas nihil Marice profuisset, nisi felicius Chris¬ tum corde , quam came gestasset. The near relation of a mother would have been of no service to Mary, had she not to her greater happiness borne Christ in her heart, as well as her womb. x. 20 ; xi. 28. S. Augustine. (Lib. de Sancta Yirgine.) 28 The Law of God is observed, not so much by hearing, as by doing it ; non lectione , sed dilectione , not by our study but by our love. S. Augustine. The same mother of God was blessed, in that she was made a tem¬ poral minister of the Word to be made Incarnate; but herein she was much more blessed, quia Ejusdem semper amandi custos manehat eterna , because she remained an eternal keeper of the same always to be loved. Bede. The mother, whose paps He sucked, must not glory that she fed Him; but that He fed her, and gave her living waters of His Word and Spirit to drink. Bp. Hacket. (Serm. S. Luke ii. 27.) 29 Extraordinary signs are justly withholden, when ordinary proofs, adequate to the conviction of every candid mind, have been offered repeatedly, and in vain. Hives requested, in be- S. LUKE XI. 29. 325 half of his brethren, a sign from hell; but “ no sign was given ;” for “ if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” The sign of Christ’s Resurrection is therefore here given to this evil and adulterous generation , not in signum confirmation^ , sed condem- nationis; but, as Bp. Andrewes writes, “it is a sign boding good to us-ward, a sign of favour and good hope, which we have by the Resurrection of our Saviour; specially, if we have the true signature of it, which is true repentance,” and if, more¬ over, we are in the Church, among the ship’s company, saved by the spiritual Jonah from the depths of hell. Ex. xiv. 20 ; Acts ii. 47. J. F. If ever you obtain a real taste for true grandeur, for spiritual greatness, you will then understand, what S. Paul means by be¬ coming a man and putting away childish things. (1 Cor. xiii.) You will discover your bauble ; you will put away your rattle. All worldly grandeur will sink; and you will discover that “ a greater than Solomon is here!” 1 Cor. i. 22, 24. R. Cecil. (Serm. S. Matt. xii. 42.) The sign is laid in the prophet, Jonas; and we are much bound to God for laying it in him ; they (to whom He spake) and we . . . for Jonas is a propheta peccator, and so propheta peccatorum; and Christ is pleased to pick out His fugitive prophet, His runaway, and make such a sinner His sign. . . . This, theirs, and ours. The next is ours, and we highly bless God for it, who made him His pattern, who was the prophet of the Gen¬ tiles, sent to prophesy to Nineve, that was heathen, as we and our fathers were. . . . None, but Jonas, had the honour to be a piacularis hostia , as it were ; for the casting him into the sea served, in a sort, as a kind of expiatory sacrifice to the tempo¬ ral saving of the ship he sailed in. . . . Then, again, he, and only he, was propheta redivivus, that went down into the deep in the whale’s belly, and came forth again alive.But a greater than Jonas is here. It was, in strict speech, with Jonas no resurrection; for he was never dead, but putative; but Christ was dead, stark dead indeed, &e. . . . Jonas rose to the state, he was before in, but mortal Jonas still .... but Christ rose to a better, never to die more . . . and, in a word, 326 i S. LUKE XI. 30—32. the great plus quam. Jonas was but ejectus in aridam , but Christ was receptus in gloriam.; and in sign of it, the place, whereon. Jonas was cast, was dry land, or cliffs, where nothing grows. The place, wherein Christ rose, was a well-watered garden, wherein the ground was in all her glory, fresh and green, and full of flowers, at the instant of His rising, this time of the year: so, as He went lower, so He rose higher, than ever Jonas did, with a great Ecce, plus quam. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm. S. Matt. xii. 39, 40.) 30 Gentiles, as well as Jews, some in every nation, have their share and portion in Christ’s Resurrection. Christ preached this truth at His first sermon at Nazareth. JSTaaman, the Syrian, and the widow of Sareptha, both of them heathens ; yet God visited them, and sent salvation to them. In both stories, they were remarkable types of the Resurrection: Naaman’s corrupt flesh restored, “ as the flesh of a young childthe widow’s son raised from the dead again, two great signs of the Resurrection. The great prefiguration of it (in the history of Jonah) was performed among the heathen, at Nineveh, the head city of the Gentiles. When Greeks came to Christ, He acquainted them with this doctrine. (S. John xii.) The first great manifesta¬ tion of His Resurrection to all His disciples was in “ Galilee of the Gentiles,” (S. Matt, xxviii. 16.) From Galilee this preach¬ ing began (Acts ii. 7, 31—36.) It is the foundation of our hope; we are “sinners of the Gentiles.” Bp. Browning. (Serm. Job xix. 25—27.) 31 There was an Emperor, great and mighty, as ever did wield sceptre upon earth, whose excellent virtues, coupled with wis¬ dom, did qualify him with most advantage to examine and rightly to judge of things here ; who, notwithstanding all the conveni¬ ences which his royal estate and well settled prosperity might afford, did yet thus express his thoughts, (M. Antoninus , Lib. ii. 11 ; vi. 10,) “ what doth it concern me to live in a world, void of God, or void of Providence?” All things seemed vain and idle to him, in case there were no God to worship, no Provi¬ dence to observe, no piety to be exercised, x. 24. Or. Barrow. 32 Let us look stedfastly to the Blood of Christ, and see how precious His Blood is in the sight of God ; which, being shed S. LUKE XI. 32—34. 327 for our salvation, has obtained the grace of repentance for all the world. Let us search into all the ages, that have gone be¬ fore us; and let us learn that our Loud has, in every one of them, still given “place of repentance” to all such, as would turn to Him. . . . They were saved, though they were strangers to the Covenant of God. Gen. vii.; Jonah iii.; Acts x. 34, 35. S. Clemens, Rom. (Ep. to the Corinthians, s. 7.) I have read of Cyprian, that he was converted by reading the prophecy of Jonas, hearing of God’s mercy to save such a wicked people, and of God’s mercy to Jonas, when he was in so fretful a mood, as to be angry with God. Ps. cii. 18. Chr. Love. 33 They depart from Him, gloriam deposituro, (as He was re¬ turning from this transient display of His glory to His former state of humiliation;) and also, as in Ecclesid permansuro : for Moses and Elias have their limited time, but they must vanish ; Christ, He abides in His Church and remains for ever. The Ministry of the Law by Moses and the Prophets was but till the time of Eeformation (Heb. ix. 10 ;) but when Christ is manifested, and He assumes the regiment of His Church, then He is the only Governor and Master. (S. John viii. 35 ; Eev. xiv. 6.) . . . These gave light, as “ a candle shining in a dark place.” (2 S. Pet. i. 19.) Lucerna et accendi debet , et extingui potest: Christ is as the bright day-star ray, as the glorious Sun. Floruit hoc semen in figuris ; prodeunte fructu, flos deci - dit. S. John’s acknowledgment suits Moses and all the Pro¬ phets ; “ He must increase; I must decrease.” S. John iii. 30. ( Hear Him, Verse 35.) Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. on text.) 34 Conscience is no less than God’s vicegerent, or deputy, doing all things by immediate commission from Him. It com¬ mands and dictates everything in God’s name, and stamps every word with an Almighty authority; so that it is, as it were, a kind of copy, or transcript of the Divine sentence, and an inter¬ preter of the sense of heaven. Eom. ii. 14, 15. Or. South. Every action within us, where this Law (the light of reason) is neglected, is not truly an action, but a passion, a suffering, a torment of the creature. Thus do we not so much live and walk, which note some action, as lie entranced, asleep, nay, dead in sin. ix. 39. Or. Hammond. 328 S. LUKE XI. 36. Of what is our Lord speaking ? Of His teaching, as appre¬ hended by the simple single-seeing soul. If then the soul he so, having no part darkened by prejudice or selfish lusts, and approach thus to His teaching, it shall be wholly illumi¬ nated by it, as “ by the candle of the Lord, searching its in¬ ward parts.” So this saying is not tautological: for the second clause expresses the further result and waxing onward of the shining light, arising from the singleness of the eye, and be¬ comes, in its spiritual significance, a weighty declaration of truth answering to Chapter viii. 15 ; Ps. cxix. 130 ; Prov. iv. 18 ; S. John viii. 12. Alford. (Gr. Test, in loco.) 36 Religion may be called a Divine life, (Eph. iv. 18,) not only in regard to its fountain and original, having God for its author and beiDg wrought in the souls of men by the power of His Holy Spirit ; but also in regard to its nature, religion being a resemblance of the Divine perfections, the image of the Almighty, shining in the souls of men ; nay, it is a real partici¬ pation of His nature; it is a beam of the eternal light, a drop of that infinite ocean of goodness ; and they, who are endued with it, may be said to have God dwelling in their souls, and “ Christ formed within them.” Scougal. 37 And as He spake, a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine with him: and He went in, and sat down to meat. 38 And when the Pharisee saw it , he marvelled that He had not first washed before dinner. 39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Phari¬ sees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wicked¬ ness. 40 Ye fools, did not He that made that which is without make that which is within also ? 41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto you. S. LUKE XI. 37—39. 329 42 But woe unto you, Pharisees ! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judg¬ ment and the love of God : these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 43 Woe unto you, Pharisees ! for ye love the up¬ permost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. 44 Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. 37 He went in .—Complaisance may be defined a constant endea¬ vour to please those whom we converse with, so far as we may do it innocently. It is a virtue, that blends all orders of men together in a friendly intercourse of words and actions, and is suited to that equality in human nature, which every one ought to consider, so far as is consistent with the order and economy of the world. 1 S. Pet. iii. 8. Addison. At the table of a Pharisee, upon the sight of the clean outside of his cup, our Loed discovers his inward parts, full of ravening and wickedness. At Jacob’s well, He poureth forth to the woman of Samaria the water of life. After He had supped with His disciples, He takes the cup and calls the wine His Blood, and Himself the true Vine. Thus did wisdom publish itself in every place, upon every occasion; the well, the table, the highway side, every place was a pulpit; every occasion a text; and every good lesson a sermon. Prov. i. 20, 21; 2 Tim. iv. 2. Farindon. (Serm. S. John vi. 56.) 38 Everything about the true Christian resembles the purity of his soul; and he is always clean without, because he is always pure within. S. Matt. v. 8 ; Titus i. 15. Wm. Law. 39 It is a much easier thing to whitewash a house on the outside, than to take away the rotten beams and mouldered bricks, and rebuild it with, solid materials. If Noah, instead of pitching the ark to keep out the water, had only painted it, to make a 330 j S. LUKE XI. 39—41. fair show, lie would have perished like others, by the flood, iii. 8, 9. J. Thornton. There is a kind of Pharisaic decorum and polite cleanness, which even the unclean spirit, (Verse 2d,) allows in his victim and takes pleasure in. J. F. 40 0 curvte in terras animse et coelestium inanes ! Quid juvat hoc, templis nostros immittere mores, Et bona Diis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa ? . . . Dicite, Pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum ? . . . Quin damus id Superis, de magna quod dare lance Non possit magni Messalse lippa propago :— Compositum jus, fasque animo, sanctosque recessus Mentis, et incoctum generoso pectus honesto. Htec cedo, ut admoveam templis, et farre litabo. Persius.* (Sat. 2.) 41 When both He and His disciples were grievously accused of the Pharisees, because they went to meat and washed not their hands before . . . Cueist, answering their superstitious com¬ plaints, teacheth them an especial remedy, how to keep clean their souls, notwithstanding the breach of such superstitious orders; Give alms , saith He, &c. Merciful alms-dealing is pro¬ fitable to purge the soul from the infection and filthy spots of sin. He teacheth them that to be merciful and charitable in helping the poor, is the means to keep the soul pure, and clean in the sight of God. . . . The meaning of these sayings in the Scriptures and other holy writings is, that we, doing these things, according to God’s will and our duty, have our sins indeed washed away, and our offences blotted out; not for the worthi¬ ness of them, but by the grace of God, which worketh all in all, and that for the promise, that God hath made to them, that are obedient to His commandment, that He, which is the Truth might be justified in performing the truth, due to His true pro¬ mise. Almsdeeds do wash away our sins, because God doth vouchsafe to repute us, as clean and pure, when we do them for * The Author would excuse himself for quoting, contrary to his own rule, a heathen poet, by making an excep¬ tion in favour of the second Satire of Persius, which Bp. Burnet (Past. Care, c.vii.) says, “ may well pass for one of the best Lectures in Divinity.” S. LUKE XI. 41. 331 Ilia sake, and not because they deserve, or merit, our purging, or for that they have any such strength, or virtue in themselves. Dan. iv. 27; Tobit iv. 10; Ecclus. iii. 30; S. Matt. vii. 17. Homilies. (Of Alms-deeds, b. ii. p. 2.) What follows from the preceding words helps to explain this; it was before said, “ Your inward parts are full of plunder, deceit, and wickedness ;” He then adds, Give alms of such things as ye have , that is, have obtained by those sins of plunder and avarice. Now this is what Zacchseus did. “ Behold, Loud, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have done any wrong to any man, I restore four-fold.” We are therefore made clean from sins of this description in this manner, when it is in our power to make the compensation for them; not that this has any virtue in itself to our purifying, but first needs the grace of God, and the blood of Cheist, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins, when, in regard to each, we “bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.” S. Basil. (Quoted by Isid. Clarius in loco.) T« gVoVt a. “ Such things, as ye have,” as are within you, their “ inward part being full of ravening and wickedness.” Iiom. iii. 13. J. F. We are all Israelites of the seed of Abraham, heirs of the same inheritance ; only now we are not to be accounted Jews for the outward conformity to the Law, but for the inward consent and obedience to those purities, which were secretly signified by the types of Moses. . . “ Our praise is of God;” that is, we are not judged by the outward act, but by the mind and the in¬ tention ; and though the acts must follow in all instances where we can, and where they are required, yet it is the less principal, and rather significative, than by its own strength and energy operative and accepted. Bom. vii. 6 ; 2 Cor. viii. 12. Bp. J. Taylor. (Life of Cheist, Disc. 10.) It is charity, which gives to all the rest of the Christian graces and moral duties both their efficacy and their lustre, as it is light, which restores to all animate and inanimate bodies both their form and colour. TJnirradiated therefore by solar charity, all the other virtues lie lost, and undistinguished in the deep obscurity and gloom of earthly passions and appetites, which, 332 S. LUKE XI. 41, 42. though they may perhaps serve ouj? own ease, or reputation here, or may even be of use to the community we live with, will never benefit us in procuring that happiness, which our holy Religion offers to all, that seek it, through the Love of God and man. 1 Cor. xiii. Bp. Warburton. (Serm. 1 Cor. xiii. 1—3.) The soul of piety lies in the piety of the soul. Rom. xiv. 17. Bp. Bull. (Yindic. of the Church, s. 3.) 42 The Pharisees broke Moses’s tables into pieces, and, gathering up the fragments, took to themselves what part of duty they pleased, and let the rest alone; for it was a proverb among the Jews, Qui operam dat prcecepto, liber est <1 prcecepto, that is, if he chooses one positive commandment for his business, he may be less careful in any of the rest. S. James ii. 10. Bp. J. Taylor . It was a vulgar rule, given by the Jewish doctors, which I fear too many live by, “ that men should single out some one command¬ ment out of God’s Law, and therein especially exercise them¬ selves, that so they might make God their friend by that, lest in others they should too much displease Him.” Thus men are content δεκάζει v, to pay God their decimce, and septimce of their lives too, if need be, so that they may, without fear of sacrilege, as they suppose, enjoy all the rest to themselves; but they are not willing to consecrate their whole lives to Him ; they are afraid lest religion should encroach too much upon them, and too busily invade their own rights and liberties, as their selfish spirit calls them. S. Mark vi. 20; Eph. vi. 11, 13. J. Smith. (A discovery of the shortness and vanity of a Pharisaic right¬ eousness, c. 1.) Not to leave , fyc. —As it is one of the peculiar weaknesses of human nature, when, upon a comparison of two things, one is found to be of greater importance than the other, to consider this other, as of scarce any importance at all, it is highly necessary that we remind ourselves, how great presumption it is to make light of any institutions of Divine appointment; that our obligations to obey all God’s commands whatever are absolute and indispen¬ sable ; and that commands merely positive, admitted to be from Him, lay us under a moral obligation to obey them ; an obliga¬ tion moral in the strictest and most proper sense. Deut. iv. 2 ; S. Matt. v. 19. Bp. Butler. (Analogy, p. ii. c. 1.) S. LUKE XI. 43, 44. 333 These ought ye , fyc. —All folly (and that often does as much harm, as wickedness) is traceable to the inability, and all wisdom to the power, of making distinctions. W. N. Darnell. 43 Cueist’s disciple loves the uppermost place indeed, hut at spiritual banquets, where he may feed on the choicest morsels of spiritual food; for, with the Apostles, who “ sit upon twelve thrones,” he loves the chief seats, and he loves greetings made in the heavenly market place, that is, in the heavenly congrega¬ tion of the primitive. S. John xiii. 23. Origen. 44 Hypocrites. —(Yer. 40, fools.) I cannot but be surprised, whence this novel taste arose, to call everything, spoke against an adversary, abusive language. What think ye of Cueist ? Was He a reviler, &c. What think ye of Paul, &c. ? (Acts xiii. 10 ; xxiii. 3 ; Phil. iii. 2.) A mind, conscious of truth, can¬ not with easy indifference endure the obstinate enemies of truth. Luther. (Ep. to Spalatinus.) 45 Then answered one of the Lawyers, and said unto Him, Master, thus saying Thou reproacliest us also. 46 And He said, Woe unto you also, ye Lawyers ! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Truly ye hear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute : 50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation ; 334 i S. LUKE XI. 45, 46. 51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zach- arias, which perished between the altar and the temple : verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe unto you, Lawyers ! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye enter not in your¬ selves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. 53 And as He said these things unto them, the Scribes and the Pharisees began to urge Him vehe¬ mently, and to provoke Him to speak of many things : 54 Laying wait for Him, and seeking to catch some¬ thing out of His mouth, that they might aceuse Him. 45 My sermon has made a personal attack on no man, putsavit; I discuss the subject of sin generally. Let the man, who is angry, call his own conscience to an account, and let him thus learn to think worse of himself, than of me. S. Mark xiii. 37. S. Jerome. It was the complaint of Salvian, many hundred years ago, that he could not speak against the vices of men, but one or other would thus object; “ there he meant me“ he hit meand so storm and fret. “ Alas !” as he replieth, “it is not we, who speak to you, but your own conscience: we speak to the order; but con¬ science speaks to the person.” 1 Kings xxii. 8. Flavel. 46 Burdens. — Brant onera invitorum , non opera volentium. Their observance of the Law was a burden unwillingly endured, not a free will and hearty service. Acts xv. 10. S. Augustine. (Lib. iii. ad Bonif. c. 4.) The servile spirit, when pushed on by conscience to some acts of^ seeming devotion, is like Doeg, “ detained before the Lord.” (1 Sam. xxi. 7.) But the filial spirit is then in its proper ele¬ ment. Evans. (Disc, on Christian temper. Serm. 18.) . Basil and S. Chrysostom, speaking of those, who preach only by their words, say, that they are not true preachers, but only come¬ dians, who act their parts upon the stage, and are not the per- S. LUKE XI. 46, 51. 835 sons they represent. You represent humility very well in the exterior; you represent also very well the vanity of the things of the world, and the contempt that ought to he had of them ; but if you are not really humble, if you do not truly contemn whatsoever may any way separate you farther from God, you are not a preacher of the Gospel; you are a comedian, who only act your part. S. Gregory Nazianzen says, that those, who preach not by their actions, as well as their words, draw souls to them with one hand, and drive them away with the other ; they build with one hand, and pull down with the other; as the Scribes and Pharisees did. Woe be to those, who practise not what they say. Acts i. 1; Bom. ii. 17—29 ; Col. ii. 23. Alph. Rodriguez. (On Christian perfection, p. iii. c. 8.) 50 Sanguine fundata est Ecclesia, sanguine crevit. Sanguine decrescit, sanguine finis erit. A great and rapid river, which should, for thirty or forty years to¬ gether, have its current violently stopped; what a mass of waters would it collect in so long a space : and if it should then be let loose, with what fury would it overrun and bear down all before it! What resistance could withstand it ? Since then, the Divine justice, which the prophet Daniel compares, not to an ordinary river, but to a river of fire, for the greatness and fury of the rigour, shall be repressed for thirty or forty years during the life of man, what an infinity of wrath will it amass together! And with what fury will it burst out upon the mise¬ rable sinner, in the face of the offended Judge. Bp. J. Taylor. 51 Some affirm that this Zacharias is the father of John the Bap¬ tist, mentioned Chap. i. 5, of whom it is reported, by tradi¬ tion, that the Jews slew him between the temple and the altar; for that, as he was a Priest, he did rank Mary, the mother of Cheist, after she had conceived and brought forth her Soisr, with unspotted virgins in the Temple: but, saith S. Jerome, Hoc quia de Scripturis non habet author it at em, eddem facilitate contemnitur qud probatur* Bean Boys. (Expos, of the Fes¬ tival Epistles and Gospels. S. Stephen’s Day.) Which perished between the altar and the temple. —This circum¬ stance was probably mentioned and charged against them, as * Origen, S. Basil, S. Gregory Nyssen, Theophylact, Euthymius, Melancthon. 336 S. LUKE XI. 51, 54. the last, finishing, and crowning, act to all their deeds of perse¬ cution and blood; that they murdered the servant of God in God’s own house, even in His Holy Presence, adding open insult and the most desperate sacrilege to the burden of their guilt. And this same circumstance, on the other hand, was the crown of joy and blessedness to the dying Martyr, that the ground, which drank in his blood, was holy ground, and that he “ fell asleep ” what time he was ministering unto the Lord in the midst of His Temple, the figure of that better Temple, “ not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” J. F. Clamitat in coelum vox sanguinis, et Sodom orum, Vox oppressorum, et merces detenta laborum. Gen. iv. 10 ; xviii. 20 ; Exod. ii. 23 ; S. James v. 4. 52 We despise the haughty tribe of philosophers, whom we know to be tyrants in their way, and corrupters and adulterers of the truth, and always eloquent against the vices they practise. We wear not our wisdom in our beards, but in our minds. Non magna loquimur, sed vivimus ; we talk not great things, but live them. Horn. ii. 17—29. Min. Felix. (Octavius, s. 37.) What key had the doctors of the Law, other than the interpreta¬ tion of the Law ? Tertullian. (in Marc. c. 27.) Truth is not mine, nor is it your’s ; it is not this man’s, or that man’s : it is common property. 1 Cor. iii. 21—23. S. Augus¬ tine. (in Ps. Ixxv.) 54 Think upon every word before you utter it; and remember how nature hath rampired up (as it were) the tongue with teeth, lips, yea, and hair without the lips, and all betokening reins or bridles for the loose use of that member. Prov. xv. 28 ; Job xxxii. 4—11. Sir H. Sidney. CHAPTER XII. F the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, He began to say S. LUKE XII. 1. 337 unto His disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be re¬ vealed ; neither hid, that shall not be known 3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 4 And I say unto you My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear : Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him. 1 Jugglers’ delusions are more easily espiable than those of a false and feigning heart. Hence it is that in Scripture hypocrisy is compared to leaven, which our eyes cannot distinguish from dough by the colour, but only our palate by the taste. Our hands are more competent judges for those deceivers than our ears, which will soon be bewitched with their goodly and glori¬ ous words. (Rom. xvi. 18; Gral. iii. 1.) But let us begin to handle them but a little, and presently we shall feel such a roughness, such a thorniness, that we may truly say, “ the voice of Jacob ; but the hands of Esau.” Dyke. (The mystery of self-deceiving, c. 12.) Hypocrisy is not merely for a man to deceive others, knowing all the while that he is deceiving them, but to deceive himself, and others at the same time, to aim at their praise by a religious pro¬ fession, without perceiving that he loves their praise more than God’s, and that he is professing far more, than he practises. J. H. Newman. To refuse to be religious, because some have but professed them¬ selves to be so, is to injure God, because He has been injured. .... Indeed our knowledge, that there are hypocrites, ought rather to commend piety to us, than discredit it with us ; since, z 338 S. LUKE XII. 4, 5. as none would take the pains to counterfeit pearls, if true ones were not of value, so men would not put themselves to the constraint of personating piety, if that were not of itself a noble quality. Let us then fly, as far as you please, from what you detest in hypocrites ; hut then let us consider, what it is, that we detest; which being a base, and therefore false pretence to religion, let us only shun such a pretence; which will be best done by our becoming real possessors of the thing pretended to. R. Boyle. (Reflections, s. iv. disc. 2.) 4 Fear no man’s person in the doing of your duty wisely, and ac¬ cording to the Laws; remembering always that a servant of God can no more be hurt by all the powers of wickedness, than by the noise of a fly’s wing, or the chirping of a sparrow. Rom. viii. 31; 1 S. Pet. iii. 12—16. Bp. J. Taylor. (Advice to his Clergy, c. iii. s. 36.) Slay me, they may ; hurt me, they cannot. Heb. xi. 35 ; IS. Pet. iii. 13. Socrates, (ad CEnytum et Melitum.) 5 There is no other death of the soul, than that of punishment in hell, or in Gehenna ; for there God can destroy the soul in a way congruous to its nature, as well as He can destroy the body, in the meantime, by consuming it in the grave. R. Fleming. (Serm. Rev. xiv. 13.) If an angry Providence should at any time smite a sinner in his nearest temporal concerns, we may nevertheless look upon such an infliction, how sharp soever, but as a drop of scalding water, lighting on his hand or foot; but when God fastens the judg¬ ment on the spirit, or inner man, it is like scalding lead, poured into his bowels; it reaches him in the very centre of life; and when the centre of life is made the centre of misery too, they must needs be commensurate, and a man can no more shake off his misery, than he can himself. Prov. xviii. 14. Or. South. My friends—fear Him , —Sic milii contingat semper beare amicosy terrendo salubriter, non adulando fallaciter. Let me ever thus bless my friends with wholesome terrors, rather than plausible flatteries. Prov. xxvii. 6. S. Bernard. Sumenda sunt amara salubria. Bitter-wholesome is a safe receipt for a Christian. Ps. ci. 1. S. Augustine. S. LUKE XTI. 6 . 339 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God ? 7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore : ye are of more value than many sparrows. 8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God : 9 But he that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. 10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say : 12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. 6 The Almighty with one and the same hand created Angels in heaven and worms on earth; nor was His power seen to be greater in the one, nor less in the other. Ps. cxxxv. 6. S. Augustine. The golden chain of Providence is let down from the throne of the Supreme, through all the ranks of animated and of unani¬ mated nature; guiding and governing every individual spirit, and every individual atom, by such mean, and in such a manner, as best comport with the dignity, the efficacy, the wisdom, and the love of Him, who holds the chain, and who has implicated every link. . . . May we not say of His Providence, what the Psalmist says of the central luminary, round which our globe is 340 S. LUKE XII. 7—10. wheeled, that there is “nothing hid from the heat thereof?” Eph. iii. 6; Col. i. 17. Toplady. 7 O! si sic custodiantur superflua tua , in quantd securitate sit anima tua! If the mere excrescences of thy body are thus preserved, how great must be the security of thy soul! S. Augustine . Solus vult ; solus potest. Curat universos tanquam singulos, et un- umquemque nostrum , ut solum. It belongs to God only to will, to Him only to do. He cares for all together, as for each indi¬ vidually, and for each single person, as for the alone object of His regard. S. Augustine. 8 The word confession is not always to be understood in reference to our sins, but sometimes of our giving thanks to God. Horn, x. 10; xv. 9. $. Hilary. 9 Deny Me. —If we must give an account of every “idle word,” take care, lest you have to answer for an idle silence. Ps. xl. 12 ; Col. iv. 6. S. Ambrose. (De off. Lib. i.) Viliam malumus quam coelum , saith Augustine. We had rather have a farm, a cottage, than Paradise, and three lives in that, than eternity in heaven. We had rather be rich than good, mighty than just. S. Ambrose gives the reason ; for saith he, Quis unquam virtutem contractavit ? who ever saw virtue, or felt, or handled justice ? and as our love, so stands our fear; Ccesarem magis timemus quam Jovem; we fear man more than God, and the shakings of his whip than the scorpions of a Deity. Farindon. 10 The blasphemy against the Holt Ghost was an evil speaking of, or slandering of the miracles, which our Saviour did, by those, who, though they were convinced by the miracles to believe that such miracles could not be done, but by the power of God, yet they did maliciously say they were wrought by the power of the devil. . . . Eor those men, that were eyewitnesses of those miracles, w'hich did make them know that Jesus was a teacher come from God, to blaspheme that power, by which those mira¬ cles were wrought, and to say they were done by the help of the devil, was the most spiteful and malicious slander, that could be invented ; for thereby, they attempted as much as in them lay, to destroy the very principles of faith, and to prevent S. LUKE ΧΙΓ. 10. 341 the very first propagation of the Gospel, to the universal mis¬ chief of all mankind. S. John vii. 28. John Hales. (Tract of the Sin against the Holy Ghost, s. 3.) Because the Son appeared in meanness, and His Personal Pre¬ sence was not much to be insisted on; but the Holy Ghost came in all-powerful and convincing demonstrations. Acts v. 3 ; S. Johnxiv. 12. Dr. Lightfoot. (Serm. S. Matt, xxviii. 19.) There are many sins against the Holy Ghost. The most horri¬ ble is that of blaspheming Him ; for this is crimen Icesce Majes- tatis, a sort of high treason against the Majesty of heaven. Such a grievous sin the Scribes committed by a single saying; but then they had long been ripening into such depravity, and never could have been guilty of it all at once. At S. Matt, ix. 10, 11, we may see something like the commencement of it. xi. 35. Bengel. Sin acquires a peculiar aggravation, when it can only be committed against God. S. Augustine. It is important to observe, that the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost is a sin of the tongue. As, on the one hand, our highest perfection is seen in our speech and conversation, so on the other the blaspheming tongue indicates the reprobate mind. In this sense truly it is “ set on fire of hell,” kindled by the author of all evil; so that they, who by their false and calumnious impieties, and against the dictates of their own consciences would assail and overthrow the foundations of the Christian faith, are in very deed doing the devil’s work, and are venturing near to the most awful precipice of that sin, which “ shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.” Prov. xviii. 21; S. Matt. xii. 37; S. James iii. J. F. 13 And one of the company said unto Him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14 And He said unto him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you ? 15 And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware 342 i S. LUKE XII. 13, 14. of covetousness : for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 13 Wealth is a blessing, if God send it; a temptation, if man ask it. Ps. cvi. 15. Dr. Richard Clerke. We should desire very few things passionately, if we did but per¬ fectly know the nature of the thing we desire, xv. 12; IS. John ii. 15—18. Palmer. (Aphorisms, 1053.) Men misplace their discontent. They are very well satisfied with what they are ; they are only dissatisfied with what they have: whereas the very reverse ought generally to take place; and the only desire, which we ought to set no bounds to, is that of in¬ creasing in godliness. Phil. iii. 12. J. Seed. (Serm. S. Luke xii. 15.) 14 With great propriety He declines interference with matters of this world, who came not down on their account; nor does He, who was the Judge of quick and dead, to whom belonged the final disposal of the souls of men, condescend to be an arbiter in men’s contentions about their property. S. John xviii. 36. S. Ambrose. He gave not what the man asked; nor yet did He decline to give him anything. He refused the less, and gave something greater: Abide then by this rule, “ Give to him that asketh thee,” although you give not the thing asked for. The Lokd acted thus. The man asked; what ? The division of the inheritance. The Loud gave ; what P The prohibition against covetousness. Nunquid petitorem inanem dimisit, et non potins veritate imple- vit ? Whether then, did He dismiss His petitioner empty, or rather did He not fill him with truth ? Refer to vi. 30, and Illustr. S. Matt. v. 42. S. Augustine. Engage not hastily, as a party in a difference between others, but reserve thyself impartial and unengaged, that thou mayest mo¬ derate between them. Prov. xvii. 14. Corbet. (Notes for himself.) I find our Saviour in Tertullian, and ancient Latin Fathers, con¬ stantly styled a sequestrator ( sequester ) in the proper notion of the word. For God and man being at odds, the difference was sequestered, or referred into Christ’s hand to end and umpire S. LUKE XII. 15. 343 it. How it fareth witli thy estate on earth, I know not; but I earnestly desire, that in heaven both thou and I may ever he under sequestration in that Mediator for God’s glory and our good, to whose protection thou art committed. Job ix. 33. Th. Fuller. (Pref. to good thoughts in worse times.) 15 Take heed and beware. —He doubles His charge, that we should double our circumspection. Deut. x. 12, 20. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. Phil. iv. 11.) A man’s life, fyc. —What is Alexander now the greater for his power ? What is Caesar the higher for his honour ? What is Aristotle the wiser for his knowledge? What delight hath Jezebel in her paint ? or Ahab in his vineyard ? What is a delicious banquet to Dives in hell ? or what satisfaction can the remembrance of their transitory delights bring ? All the rivers of pleasure, which are now run out and dry, and only flow in our remembrance, will not cool a tongue. Col. ii. 22. Farindon. Think you that great and rich persons live more content ? Be¬ lieve it not. If they will deal freely, they can but tell you the contrary, that there is nothing but a show in them, and that great estates and places have great grief and cares attending them, as shadows are proportioned to their bodies. Eccl. ii. 1—11. Abp. Leighton. Jam studium gemmarum, et habendi quis furor auri ? Sudat in hoc hominum nocte dieque labor. Quid tamen est aurum, fulvae nisi pulvis arense ? Gemmaque, quam vitrei gutta gelata maris ? Ecce tibi minimo coelum venale labore ; Et coelum hoc pretio quantula turba petit ? Heu genus insanum ! terras praeponitis astris, Ignotis nimium dona caduca bonis \ ... . Extruimusque domos, coeloque educimus arces, Ceu data perpetuo terra colenda foret ? Crastina lux coget vitae statione moveri; Quis neget insanas nos fabricasse domos ? Herm. Hugo. (Pia desideria, p. i.) 16 And He spake a parable unto them, saying·, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully ; 344 s. LUKE XII. 16—19. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits ? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided ? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 16 There are more parables, I believe, in the New Testament against taking no thought about heavenly things, and taking too much thought about earthly things, than against any other fault whatsoever. Aug. Hare. 17 I have no room, fyc. —You have for the depositories of your wealth the bosoms of the indigent, the widow’s houses, the children’s mouths. S. Ambrose. The poor man’s hand is the treasury of Chkist. All my super¬ fluity shall be there hoarded up, where I know it will be safely kept, and surely returned to me. Prov. xix. 17. Bp. Hall. 18 Build greater. —To work our own contentment, we should not labour so much to increase our substance, as to moderate our desires. Bp. Sanderson. 19 Much goods. —Nothing is good to us, unless we communicate the same good to others. (Dives a divido .) 1 Tim. iv. 4. S. Augustine. We must take care to use the good things of our prosperous days so, as to rejoice more in the goodness of God, that gives them, than in the good things themselves.The worldly man looks not to the Giver, but to the gift itself; and on the other S. LUKE XII. 19, 20. 345 side, the good man adores the Giver more than the gift. The carnal man worships second causes ; but the spiritual man gives all honour to the first cause of all things. 2 Clir. xvii. 3 ; Ps. cxvi. 12—14. Bp. Bull. (Serm. Eccl. vii. 14.) The devil does not now pretend to face us down, “We shall not surely die.” He knows that so notorious a cheat would never pass upon us; but yet for fear lest we should undervalue all the vain allurements of a miserable world, he whispers in our ears, “ Te shall not die so soon .” And “ although thou hast not ally that thou canst wish for, thou hast many goods and, “though thou canst not possibly enjoy them always , yet they are laid up for many years and what hast thou to do, but take thy ease , eat, drink, and be as merry , as if thou wert to live for ever ? Behold the best that we can make of the most happy state, we hope for here. We dare not look before us, lest we see the end of all our joys; we blindly dote upon these darlings of our passion, and endeavour to forget the misery of their mortality and ours. We are not able to support a serious thought of our perpetual decay ; and though we love ourselves above all things, yet we hate the very sight of our condition; we cannot endure to look into ourselves ; and, as an idle solitude is ever trouble¬ some, because we love no company so little as our own, so the great reason why the company of any other person is so pleas¬ ing, is, because it hinders us from thinking of ourselves, xii. 45 ; 1 Cor. xv. 32. A contrite heart. (P. ii. s. 2.) The more my life increaseth, the more it decreaseth ; and the more it is lengthened, the more it is shortened ; and the longer I live, the nearer I approach unto death. S. Augustine. (Solil. c. 2.) Magnce felicitatis est a felicitate non vinci. A man is happy indeed, who is not undone by his happiness. Dan. i. 8. S. Augustine. Crapula et ebrietas, solidi duo pondera plurnbi, Nata polo sursum tendere corda vetant. Haeftenus. (Schola cordis. L. ii. Lect. 3.) 20 But God said unto him. —What we say to ourselves, yea, what we plan and purpose in the most secret depths of our hearts, God hears, and observes, and answers. Ps. lxxxv. 8 ; Hos. xiv. 8. J. F. 346 i S. LUKE XII. 20, 21. The man devised what he should leave behind, and not what he should send before him. xvi. 9. Pet. Chrysol. 0 most wretched men, you carefully provide that others after you may be happy; and in the mean time quite forget that you yourselves may die miserably. Ps. xvii. 15; Eccl. ii. 18—26. Salvian. Death reigns in all the portions of our time. The autumn with its fruits provides disorders for us ; and the winter’s cold turns them into sharp diseases; and the spring brings flowers to strew our hearse ; and the summer gives green tnrf and bram¬ bles to bind our graves. Ecclus. xiv. 18. Bp. J. Taylor. Miserable brevity ! more miserable uncertainty of life ! We are sure that we cannot live long, and uncertain that we shall live at all.Certainly, he, that thinks of life’s casualties, can neither be careless nor covetous.When a man shall ex¬ haust his very vitality in hilling up of fatal gold, and shall then think, how a hair, or fly, may snatch him in a moment from it; how it quells his laborious hope, and puts his posting mind into a more safe and quiet pace. Unless we are sure to enjoy it, why should any man strain himself for more than is conve¬ nient ? I will never care too much for that, which I am not sure to keep. Isa. lv. 2 ; S. John vi. 27. O. Feltham. (Ke- solves. Cent. i. s. 32.) Rich towards God. —Why place your wealth where you may lose it, or where, should it not be lost, you cannot always be to enjoy it ? There is another place to transfer it to. Prcecedat te quod hales. Let your possessions pass on before you; fear not their loss. I gave them to you, and I will keep them for you. Prov. xix. 17; Eccl. xi. 1—3 ; 1 Tim. vi. 17—19. S. Augustine. 21 I do not remember that I ever read that any one, who abounded in acts of charity, and was “ glad to distribute,” died an evil death, or came to a bad end; for such a man hath many inter¬ cessors, and it is impossible that the prayers of many should not be granted. Ps. xli. 1—3 ; S. James v. 16. S. Jerome. A wise man will desire no more than what he may get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly. Lord Bacon. 1 love to love God ; and I desire this love, not only as an evidence of S. LUKE XII. 22. 347 my salvation, but for itself. I had much rather have a heart to love Him perfectly, than to have all the riches, and honours, and pleasures of this world. Ps. iv. 8 ; cxix. 72. Corbet. (Self- employment in secret, p. ii.) 22 And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap: which neither have storehouse nor barn ; and God feedeth them : how much more are ye better than the fowls ? 25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit ? 26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest ? 27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not: and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven: how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith ? 29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 22 The body is but the busk or shell, the soul is the kernel; the body is but the cask, the soul the precious liquor, contained in it; the body is but the cabinet, the soul the jewel; the body is 348 S. LUKE XII. 22, 24. but the ship or vessel, the soul the pilot; the body is but the tabernacle, and a poor clay tabernacle or cottage too ; the soul the inhabitant; the body is but the machine or engine, the soul that ένδον τ t, that actuates and quickens it; the body is but the dark lanthorn, the soul or spirit is the candle of the Lord, that burns in it. And seeing that there is such difference be¬ tween the soul and body in respect of excellency, surely our better part challenges our greatest care and diligence to make provision for it.Some philosophers will not allow the body to be an essential part of man, but only the vessel or vehicle of the soul; Anima cujusque est quisque. The soul is the man. Though I would not be so unequal to it, yet I must needs acknowledge it to be but an inferior part: it is therefore so to be treated, so dieted, and provided, as to render it most calm and compliant with the soul, most tractable and obsequious to the dictates of reason; not so pampered and indulged, as to encourage it to cast its rider, and to take the reins into its own hand, and usurp dominion over the better part, the το ηψμο- ιηκ'ον, to sink and depress it into a sordid compliance with its own lusts, atque affigere humi Bivince particulam aurce. Eccl. xii. 7 ; Gral. vi. 7, 8 ; Horn. xiii. 14 ; 1 Cor. ix. 27. Ray. (Wisdom of God in the works of the Creation, p. 2.) Homines perturbantur non rebus, sed Us, quas de rebus habent, opini- onibus. We are not so much troubled by the events of life, as by our own reflections upon them. Gen xlii. 36—48. Epictetus. (Enchiridion, c. x.) 24 “ Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (S. Matt. xxii. 29.) This Canon is the mother of all Canons against heresy. There is a two-fold cause of error; ignorance of God’s will; and ignorance, or a superficial view, ([levis contemplatio ) of God’s power. The will of God is chiefly revealed to us in the Scriptures, Search. His power is so by the creatures, Consider, contemplamini. Horn. i. 2, 20. Lord Bacon. (Medit. Sacrse.) The observation is common, that He instanceth in the raven rather than in any other bird; because, of all other birds, the ravens are observed soonest to forsake their young ones. Whether the observation holds or no, it serveth to my purpose S. LUKE XII. 24—28. 349 howsoever: for if God so sufficiently provide for the young ravens, when the dams forsake them, will He not much more take care of us, when our fathers and mothers forsake us ? Isa. xlix. 15. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. Ps. xxvii. 10.) If one train of thinking be more desirable than another, it is that, which regards the phenomena of nature with a constant reference to a Supreme intelligent Author. Ps. xix. 1. Paley. (Natural Theology.) All nature, all its works celebrate His glory. The Universe is His temple and man the Priest. If man had not been ungrateful and rebellious, the spectacle of such numberless wonders would of itself have kept his duty towards His Maker always before his eyes. Pom. i. 19—25 ; Acts xiv. 17 ; Pev. v. 13. S. Ambrose. 27 This must needs be a goodly flower, that our Saviour hath singled out to compare with Solomon, and that not in his ordi¬ nary dress, but in all his royalty : surely the earth had never so glorious a King, as he. . . . O God, let it be my ambition to walk with Thee hereafter in white; could I put on a robe of stars here with proud Herod, that glittering garment could not keep me from lice or worms; might I sit on a throne of gold, within a house of ivory, I see I should not compare with this flower : I might be as transitory; I should not be so beautiful. What matters it, whether I go for a flower, or a weed, here ? whethersoever, I must wither. O Thou, which art “ greater than Solomon,” do Thou clothe me with Thy perfect righteous¬ ness ; so shall I flourish for ever in the courts of the house of my God. Acts xii. 21—23; Ps. xcii. 12; 1 S. Pet. i. 24, 25. Bp. Hall. (Occas. Medit. 85.) It is a touching commentary upon the insufficiency of worldly greatness to constitute happiness, when we find David’s mind gathering up his imagery of comfort and confidence, not from the splendour of courts, or the might of armies, but from the pure and peaceful associations, connected with the humble em¬ ployment of his youth. Ps. xxiii. 1. I. E. Hankinson. (Lect. on Ps. xxiii. p. 1.) 28 There is a kind of literature, a “knowledge falsely so called,” that deserveth not to be pleaded for. But the noble and gener¬ ous improvement of our understanding faculty, in the true con- 350 » S. LUKE XII. 28, 29. templation of tlie wisdom, goodness, and other attributes of God, in this great fabric of the universe, cannot easily be disparaged, without a blemish cast upon the Maker of it. . . . All true knowledge doth of itself naturally tend to God, who is the fountain of it, and w r ould ever be raising of our souls up upon its wings thither, did we not detain it, and hold it down, in un¬ righteousness. All philosophy to a wise man, to a truly sancti¬ fied mind, as he in Plutarch speaketh, is but matter for divinity to work upon. Religion is the Queen of all those inward en¬ dowments of the soul: and all pure natural knowledge, all the virgin arts and sciences are her handmaids, that “ rise up, and call her blessed.” Ps. viii; Rom. i. 18. Cudworth. (Pref. Serm. 1 S. John ii. 3.) The world cannot show a more exalted character, than that of a truly religious philosopher, who delights to turn all things to the glory of God ; who from the objects of his sight, derives improvement to his mind, and in the glass of things temporal, sees the image of things eternal. Let a man have all the world can give him, (Verse 17,) if he has a grovelling, unlettered, in- devout mind ; let him have his gardens, his fields, his woods, and his lawns, for grandeur, ornament, plenty, and gratification, while, at the same time, God is not in all his thoughts ; and let another have neither field nor garden; let him only look at nature with an enlightened mind, a mind, which can see and adore the Ceeatoe in His works, can consider them as demon¬ strations of His power, His wisdom, His goodness, and truth— this man is greater, as well as happier in his poverty than the other in his riches. The one is but a little higher than a beast, the other but a little lower than an Angel. Wm. Jones. (Dis¬ course on the religious use of Botanical Philosophy, Gen. i. 12.) What S. Augustine here reminds us of, is not out of place; namely, that the Loed God has granted to mankind many things for the purposes of refinement and ornament, besides the mere supply of what is necessary. Tossanus. (in loco.) 29 Strong affections, begetting strong fears, do always lessen the delight of present enjoyments. Indeed there are so many in¬ gredients required to make up worldly felicity, riches, health, friends, honour, good name, and the like, that if any of these be S. LUKE XII. 30 351 wanting, the whole composition is spoilt; and we shall take ad¬ vantage against ourselves to conclude we are miserable. Tor such is the peevishness of our nature, that, if we have not all we would, we take no content in anything we have. 1 Kings xxi. 4 ; Esth. v. 13. Bp. Hopkins. 30 Our Blessed Redeemer’s way of speaking is extremely to he observed. Your heavenly Father knoweth. He doth not say, “ God knoweth,” or “the Lord knoweth,” hut Your heavenly Father, knows your wants, regards them with a parent’s feel¬ ings. Is not the very expression full of consolation P xi. 2. Plain Sermons. (No. 13.) When I had a father and mother, I would have trusted them, to defend or deliver me from any evil, from which it was in their power to defend or deliver me. Why then should I be suspici¬ ous of God, in whose hands I am ? Why should I doubt of His dear love, and tender mercy towards me, or call in question His good-will to preserve or deliver me from any affliction, that would be too hard for me to hear; or to sustain and comfort me, under any suffering, which He sees fit to inflict upon me ? xi. 11—13 ; Heb. xii. 5—11, Corbet. (Self-employment, p. iii.) Where are you now, you boasters of unprofitable sciences ? What can your learned follies show, compared to these Divine con¬ clusions ? What can your finest wits produce, like these in¬ comparable arguments ? Take then away your painful trifles, and give me “ the words of eternal life.” All, that your studies promise, is vanity ; all they perform is vexation of spirit: here it is alone you must seek for solid truth, and here alone find rest to your souls. Phil. iv. 4—10. Austin. (Medit. 79.) 31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. 32 Fear not, little flock ; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell that ye have, and give alms : provide your¬ selves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the hea- 352 I S. LUKE XII. 31. vens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 31 All these things.—Religio a religare. Religion is the mother of all blessings ; like the heavens, it has its influence on all things here below; it binds all blessings together, as it is said of Minerva’s buckler, made by Phidias, he wrought it so artificially that, having set his own name in the midst of it, it could never be taken out, without breaking the whole frame. All blessings are bound up in religion, in the Gospel, and in Christ’s govern¬ ment among us; if you take away these, you take away the whole frame of blessings. Rom. xv. 29; Eph. i. 3. Th. Temple. (Serm. Parliament, 1642.) Added by way of overplus, and accession; as he, that buy eth a treasure of jewels hath the cabinet into the bargain. Bp. Rey¬ nolds. As the celestial benefits, though not openly tendered in the Jewish Law, were yet mystically couched therein, and closely designed for the spiritual and hearty practisers of Religion, so is the col¬ lation of temporal accommodations to be understood to belong to all pious Christians : there is a codicil (as it were) annexed to the New Testament, in which God signifieth His intention to furnish His children with all that is needful, and convenient for them. Dr. Barrow. When the great bargain is concluded in heaven, betwixt God and the soul, God never stands upon these petty things of earth, but throws them in, as vantage and overplus into the bargain. Rom. viii. 32 ; 1 Cor. iii. 22. Bp. Hophins. (Serm. S. Matt, vi. 20—22.) The way to obtain spiritual blessings is to be importunate for them; but the way to obtain temporal blessings is to be indif¬ ferent about them. Solomon had wisdom given him, because he asked it, and wealth , because he did not ask it. Ps. xxvii. 4 ; 1 Cor. xii. 31. M. Henry. 32 Little floch .—A flock little in the eyes of the world, vast before S. LUKE XII. 32, 33. 353 God ; one not destined from great to become small, but rather from a small beginning, a pusillo, to become great. Zech. iv. 10. Pet. Chrysol. That little flock, which lives among wolves, must needs be little, x. 3. Bolton. Good pleasure. —The Eternal kindness of God is like the sea, which delights to run in its old channel and to fill the hollow¬ ness of the earth, which itself hath made, and hath once watered. S. John xiii. 1. Bp. J. Taylor. Of all the gracious words, that ever proceeded from the lips of Incarnate Love, this may perhaps be accounted the most gra¬ cious. Fear not, little flock ; for it is your Father’s good plea¬ sure to give you the kingdom. Weigh every word here ; keep every word and ponder it in your heart. “ 0 taste and see how gracious the Lord is. Blessed is the man, that trusteth in Him.” 2 S. Pet. i. 4. J. F. What God sold to Christ, He gives to us. Christ was the pur¬ chaser ; believers are but heirs to what He has bought. Bom. vi. 23 ; viii. 17. Gurnall. It is not called a kingdom, but “ the kingdom that kingdom, which alone is worth all the kingdoms, that the devil showed Christ, the kingdom of Heaven. 1 S. Pet. i. 4. Dr. Donne. (Serin. Ex. iv. 13.) 33 Provide yourselves. —In all the operations of Nature there is a view to the future : it should be so with the actions of man; and those pursuits, which have no other aim beyond mere present gratification, are unworthy of him. 1 Tim. vi. 19. Southey. He is no fool, (ver. 20,) who parts with that which he cannot keep, when he is sure to be recompensed with that, which he cannot lose. Heb. x. 34. P. Henry. Give alms, fyc. —We visit the sick, and the spirit of comfort visits us ; we serve our brethren, and the Angels minister unto us ; we cover the naked with our cloth, and God covers us with joy ; we convert a sinner, and shine as stars; we part with a few shekels of silver, and the hand of mercy works and turns them into a crown ; we sow temporal transitory things, and the har¬ vest is Eternity. Whilst we make them ours, they are weak A A 354 S. LUKE XII. 34. and impotent; but when we part with them, they work miracles, and remove mountains, all that is between us and blessedness. All the riches in the world will “ not add one cubit unto our stature;” but, if we thus tread them under our feet, they will lift us up as high as heaven. Nulla sunt potiora qudm de mise- ricordid compendia. The best gains are those we purchase with our loss ; and the best way to “ find bread is to cast it upon the waters.” S. Matt. xxv. 33, 40 ; Heb. vi. 10. Farindon. 34 The nerves of the eye, and the muscles of most of the mem¬ bers of the body are made to move every way, as well downward toward earth, as upward toward heaven. But “ sursum corda ,” we must heave our hearts only towards heaven. The Church professeth it at the Sacrament of Christ’s Supper, that they “lift them up unto the Lord.” “I lift my heart to Thee,” saith David often in the Psalms. “ The heart to heaven,” saith S. Augustine. How may that be ? Quce scales ? quee machines ? where are the ladders, the engines, and the ropes to mount a thing so low so high ? Amando ascendis , love is the ladder, the affections are the staves. Pear God, trust on Him ; joy and delight in Him: thou art in heaven already; He hath thy heart. Ps. lvii. 8 ; Lam. iii. 41. Dr. Diehard Clerhe. (Serm. Prov. xxxiii. 6.) 35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning ; 36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when be will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or S. LUKE XII. 35—37. 355 come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 And this know, that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 40 Be ye therefore ready also : for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. 35 The faithful servant abhors delay; he thinks not of to-morrow ; he is a stranger to indolence ; prcecipit prcecipientem , he out¬ strips his master’s command by anticipating it; he gets ready his eyes for seeing, his ears for hearing, his tongue for speaking, his hands for working, his feet for journeying. Tolum se colligit ut imperantis colligat voluntatem; He gathers together all his faculties, so as fully to perform his superior’s will. Gen. xxii. 3; Ps. cxxiii. 2. S. Bernard. 36 The watchful Christian is one, wdio would not be surprised, who would not be over agitated, if he found that Christ was coming at once. Pew will thus open immediately , when He knocks. They will have something to do first; they will have to get ready. They will need time to collect themselves, and summon about them their better thoughts and affections. Life is short; death is certain; and the w r orld to come is everlasting. 2 Cor. v. 9. J. II. Newman. (Serm. S. Mark xiii. 33.) When Christ comes to take unto Himself His bride the Church, the bride chamber is decorated for Him; it is adorned with the rich gold of faith, the silver of wisdom, the jewels of grace, the veils of sanctity, the roses of bashfulness, the lilies of chastity, the violets of modesty. Nor are there wanting the dulcimers of Psalms, the loud toned pipes of prophecies, the voices of the Apostles, and all the choral harmony of heaven. Slave of sleep must he truly be, who is not roused by so sweet and so loud a call to attend the marriage of the heavenly King. Ps. xlv. 8— 17 ; S. Matt. xxv. 1—13. Pet. Chrysol. (Serm. 22.) 37 I cannot but remark, with what a just and beautiful propriety A a 2 356 S. LUKE XII. 37. our Lord varies the same image and illustration, so as to suit precisely the object which He has in view. In S. Luke xvii. 7 —10, where He wishes to humble His disciples, He draws His analogy from common life, from the conduct of any Master to his labouring servant, from the conduct, which any one of them¬ selves, in the capacity of Master, would observe towards such a servant. When the servant returned from his labours in the field, the address to him would not be, “ Come ” (for so it should be rendered) “ and sit down to meat” (at the table with me) ; but “ make ready and serve me,” &c.' How turn to S. Luke xii. 36, 37. Here His object is not to humiliate, but to en¬ courage and incite: here accordingly, the Master, and that Master our Blessed Lord Himself, does not only not command the servants to make ready and serve Him; not only does desire them to sit down to meat; but actually, girds Himself, and comes forth to serve them! Thus infinitely does the Divine goodness surpass the bounds of all human kindness ! S. John xiii. 1, 4. Bp. Jebb. (Letters. Life by Forster.) There seems to be an antithesis intended here; intimating that if you gird yourselves in God’s service now. He will here¬ after gird Ilimself for your eternal reward and entertainment. He will take off your ministering girdle, and put it on Himself. Excepting Ver. 32, and S. John xvii. 22, 23, this passage appears to contain wonders of grace and mercy, beyond all other ex¬ ceeding great and precious promises of the Gospel. 1 Cor. ii. 9. J. F. What a dining-room in the house of God is this! Who ever heard the like ? The Lord to stand, the servant to sit down ! The Lord to gird Himself, that He may be ready to wait; the servant to be ungirded, that he may recline at his ease. The Lord busied in supplying the refreshments, the servant quietly having the frui¬ tion of the Loyal dainties ! O ! si ista cogitaremus et caper emus, qiitun cito vilescerent omnes terrence cupiditates ! O did we once consider and know these things, how would all earthly attractions become vile in our esteem ! . . What means the Lord’s minis¬ tering unto them, but that all their sweet entertainments are treasured up in Himself? for He is the Bread of life and the fountain of wisdom ; He is the “ hidden manna, which no one S. LUKE XII. 37—40. 357 knows, but lie that has it.” Therefore He passes from one to another of the guests, and supplies all with festive delights, which satisfy without cloying, and ever fill without wearying. S. John vi. 34. Card. Bellarmine. (De Eterna felicitate, Lib. iii. c. 3.) It is much among men to be seated at the table of a Prince; but for a king to serve a vassal, as if he himself were his servant; who ever heard it ? . . David, when he caused Mephibosheth to sit at his table, he thought he did him a singular honour; but this favour never extended to wait on him. The honour, which God bestows upon the just, exceeds all human imagina¬ tions ; who, not satisfied with crowning all the blessed with His own Divinity, giving Himself to be possessed and enjoyed by them to all eternity, does also honour their victories and heroic actions with new crowns. 2 Sam. ix. 7— 13 ; Eev. vii. 17. Bp. J. Taylor. (Contemplations, c. 2.) 38 The Church of God rises at midnight, (xi. 5 ; xviii. 7.) Imi¬ tate her, and behold the dance and order of the stars. How profound is the silence of nature ; how quiet are all things! Stand amazed at God’s dispensation. Now is the soul nimbler, subtler, quicker, fitter to behold things sublime and great. The darkness may lead thee into contemplation of thy sin, and consequently into compunction ; seeing the sky embroi¬ dered with lights, what an excellent consideration will this pro¬ duce of thy Creator’s Wisdom. Midnight prayers strangely incline God’s favour, especially if thou make that a time of lamentation, which others make a time of rest and laziness, ii. 8 ; Ps. viii. S. Chrysostom. 39 When the Master of the vessel calls on board the passengers he set on shore to refresh a little, they should be continually mindful of the ship and of the Master’s summons, and leave their trifling and gathering cockle shells, nay, all impertinences whatever, mind the signal, and run to the ship. The warning is in general; but if thou be a man in years, stray not too far, lest thou be left behind and lose thy passage. S. John xi. 28, 29. Epictetus. (Morals, ch. 12.) 40 Expeditus ad eternitatem. Eeady equipped for eternity. 2 Tim. iv. 6. TertuUian. 358 ί s. LUKE XII. 42. 41 Then Peter said unto Him, Lord, speakest Thou this parable unto us, or even to all ? 42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season ? 43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometli shall find so doing. 44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. 45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. 42 “The priest’s lips should keep knowledge.” He cannot keep what he has not learned. It is, as S. Jerome observes, scientia custodiendci, non proferenda; that is to say, it is not a smatter¬ ing of terms, a mere empty pouring forth of set phrases, with¬ out meaning; it is a depository of holy truth, well arranged and 359 S. LUKE XII. 42. digested in the mind, gotten with care and labour, kept with diligence, and imparted, as it is needed. For if the lips are to keep it, it is for the purposes of utterance. There must be a treasury of knowledge, or it will be soon expended; but the treasure must be opened, or it is useless to the world. Bp. Medley. (Ordin. Serm. Mai. ii. 7.) Will a man say that he is of the household of God, who never eats the bread of God in His house, and with His family ? Bp. Wilson. He shall make him ruler over his household. —What is that ? for he is so already : true ; but he shall be much more. Ex dis- pensatore faciet Procuratorem; God will treat him, as Joseph was treated by his Master ; he was first a steward, and then a Procurator, one that ruled his goods without account and with¬ out restraint. Our ministry shall pass into empire, our labour into rest, our watchfulness into fruition, and our bishopric into a Kingdom. 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20 j IS. Pet. v. 4. Bp. J. Taylor. (Serm. on text.) 1 infer from this passage, first, that there are under the Gospel, especial dispensers of the Christian’s spiritual food, in other words (if the word food # may be interpreted from the parallel of the sixth chapter of S. John) dispensers of invisible grace, or priests; next, that they are to continue to the Church in every age till the end, for it is said, “ Blessed is he, whom his Lord, when He cometh , shall find so doing —further, that the Minister mentioned is also Ruler over ITis household , as in the case of the Apostles, uniting the Legal with the Sacerdotal office;—lastly, the word steward , which incidentally occurs in the passage, a title applied by S. Paul to the Apostles, affords an additional reason for supposing, that other like titles, such as “ Ambassa¬ dors of Christ,” given to the Apostles, do also belong in a true and sufficient sense to their successors. J. H. Newman. (Serm. on text.) Who then, fyc. —The form of an inquiry seems to intimate the difficulty of providing God’s household with stewards, so quali¬ fied. As our Lord said of those, who “ worship the Father in spirit and in truth,” “the Father seeketh such to worship * 'Ζιτομέτριον. 360 5 S. LUKE XII. 43—46. Him,” so Christ seeketh to have in His Church faithful and wise stewards, fyc. Therefore let the excellency of the sacred office, and a deep sense of those rare qualifications, which must be found in our spiritual rulers, move us to seek the precious gift from heaven, to observe Ember weeks, and then, and at all times, to pray the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth (such) labourers into His harvest. S. John iv. 23 ; Acts xiii. 2. J. F. 43 Will our lip-worship serve the turn ? The foolish virgins were found with their sic dicentes, so sayiug; but the good servants shall be found with their sic facientes, so doing. Our Isaac will not only hear Jacob’s voice ; but “come hither, my son, let me have thy hands too; and then receive a fatherly benediction.” S. Matt. xxv. 11; Gen. xxvii. 22. Sutton. (Disce vivere, c. 2.) We live in a world, which has so many sharp points and critical stations, that our own comfort, as well as that of those around us, is made to turn upon mutual kindness, forbearance, accom¬ modation, and dependence: in want of these, we are condemned to bear the lash of continued discord, and are made our own tormentors. Ps. lxviii. 6. R. Cecil. Our domestic conduct is the main test of our virtue and good nature. Gen. xviii. 19. J. Seed. Fbrietas est turbatio capitis , subversio sensus, tempestas linguae, pro- cella corporis, naufragium virtutis, amissio temporis, insania volun- taria, blandus daemon, dulce venenum, suave peccatum ; quam qui habet seipsum non habet ; (see xv. 17 ;) quam qui fecit, peccatum non fecit, sed ipse totus est peccatum. S. Augustine. To see a man tun up himself like a barrel, and fill his head with froth, which his tongue discharges again—to see a man’s face deformed, his eyes staring, his speech faltering, his motions antic, his thoughts open, his speech much, and reason little ; and herewith to observe his estate poured down a common sewer, and his credit and reputation utterly ruined, and, above all, his soul endangered to come into everlasting burnings, and all this for the love of drink, who can choose but in his thoughts score up such a man, as fit for Bedlam ? Prov. xxiii. 29. Or. Goodman. (Penitent pardoned, p. i. c. 4.) 46 Let every man, in his first address to his actions, consider whe¬ ther, if he were now to die, he might safely and prudently do such S. LUKE XII. 46, 47. 361 an act: and whether he would not he infinitely troubled that death should surprise him in his present dispositions: and then let him act accordingly. 2 S. Pet. iii. 9-—12. S. Bernard. Oii laneos liabent pedes. The Gods have feet, like noiseless wool. .... We have no security, hut a perpetual observation. 1 Thess. v. 1—9. Bp. J. Taylor. 47, 48 What our Loed here couches under the Parable of the wicked servant, He hath expressly declared, without a figure, S. Matt, xxiii. 14; and xi. 22. Acts xvii. 30; S. John ix. 41; S. James iii. 1. Bp. Smalridge. (Serm. S. Matt. xi. 22.) If the negligence and miscarriage of a Minister doth hazard the souls of others, it doth certainly ruin his own; which made S. Chrysostom say, equidem ex Ecclesice Ministris non arbitror multos servari; words so terrible, that I tremble to put them into English: and yet if a man could speak fire, blood, and smoke; if flames could come out of his mouth, instead of words ; if he had a voice, like thunder, and an eye like lightning, he could not sufficiently represent the dreadful account, that an unfaith¬ ful pastor shall make. H. Scougal. (Serm. on the Ministry, 2 Cor. ii. 16.) The first offences of the Israelites were rebuked very gently, with words alone; but after the delivery of the Law in Sinai, where they had sworn fealty and allegiance, their transgressions no longer were, nor could be, so mildly dealt with. Bengel. We, Christians, live in the concentred light of all knowledge, human and Divine. Unto us are gathered all ages, and people, and nations, and languages. The heathen have ministered unto us ; the Jews have ministered unto us; God Himself has made us the depositories of His own word and will. Heb. ii. 1—4. J. Miller. (Bampt. Lecture, vii.) At that great day, if you cannot make your accounts straight with your receipts, you shall certainly find that most true in this sense, which Solomon spake in another, Qui apponit scientiam, apponit dolorem : the more and greater your gifts are, unless your thankfulness for them, and your diligence with them, rise to some good like proportion thereunto, the greater shall be your condemnation, the more your stripes. Eccl. i. 18. Bp. Sander- (Serm. 1 Cor. xii. 7.) son. 362 » S. LUKE XII. 48, 49. 48 Ignorance will not excuse sin, when it is itself a sin. He, that falls into error for want of diligence and care to find out the truth, can have no pretence to pardon. We are as much bound to know our duty, as we are obliged to practise it. Palmer. (Aph. 1776.) Crescunt dona , crescunt rationes. As our talents increase, so does our responsibility. Amos iii. 2. S. Gregory. Onus is no less than honos. S. James iv. 1. Bp. Gauden. All ignorance of that, which a man is bound to know, and may know, if he be not wanting to himself, is so far forth wilful; yet we may not deny that such error doth lessen and extenuate the sinfulness of the action something, and so excuse us in part, a tanto, though not h toto. S. John ix. 41; xv. 22. Bp. Sanderson. Make allowance for ignorance and incogitancy, for necessity, for harder circumstances, for misapprehensions and mistakes, for frailty, and infirmity; be wanting in nothing, that the reason of the thing and the equity of the case call for. Acts iii. 17; xvii. 30 ; 1 Tim. i. 13. Dr. Whichcote. (Aphor. Cent. xii. 1122.) 49 I am come to seed fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled ? 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! 51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth ? I tell you, Nay; hut rather divisions : 52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 49 On the earth. —lie intimates that He did not simply will this, S. LUKE XII. 49, 50. 363 but that His whole will was so absorbed in this object, as to ex¬ clude every other purpose, every other desire, than that the fire of Divine love should be kindled in that very earth, to which it was once said; “ Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt re¬ turn.” xiii. 34. R. P. F. Hermannus. (Cibus solidus perfec- torum, L. i. c. 11.) If I might be permitted here to abound in my own private sense, I would understand by the two Seraphims, (Isa. vi.) a double rational creation to be signified, namely the Angelic and the human. Nor wonder that man should be made a Seraphim ; but remember that the Creator and Lord of Seraphims was made man. To thy shame was it, 0 thou proud spirit, who being made among Angels wast found unworthy to abide with them, that, “Behold, our King cometh ” to create on the earth new Angels ; and the rather to torment you, and to cause you to pine with envy, He cometh to create Seraphims, and not Angels of an inferior grade. For hear what He Himself says, I am come to send fire on the earth ; and what will I, if it he already kindled? It is His will, that Seraphims should be formed, ut stent , ubi tu corruisti , that they should abide in the very place, whence thou didst fall headlong. S. Bernard. (Serin, iii. de verb. Isai.) 50 He bore the load of sin in His whole body, as in Baptism the whole body was immersed; every part had a part of it from head to foot, yea, from the crown of His head to the sole of His foot. For the thorns were planted on the top of His head, and the nails went through the bottom of His feet. His body bore it every way, Summum, imum, medium ; the crown above, the nail beneath, the spear in the midst: Before, behind; His back scourged, His breast gaged: on the right hand, on the left; His arms expanded and nailed to the cross. Yea, His load was be¬ yond the dimensions of His limbs ; for a title was over His head, that upbraided Him; the people were under His feet, they derided Him; and the thieves aloof on each side disparaged Him. Dr. Richard Clerlce. Quod Crux Christo et sepulchrum, id nobis Baptisma. Christ calls His death a Baptism; so S. Augustine calls our Baptism a death: Baptism to us, he says, is our cross, and our passion, 364 S. LUKE XII. 50, 51. and our burial; that is, in that we are conformed to Christ, as He suffered, died, and was buried. Because if we be so Bap¬ tized into His Name, and into His death, we are thereby “ dead to sin,” and have died the death of the righteous.” Dr. Donne. (Serm. Grab iii. 27.) How am I straitened ? —It has been forcibly observed, by some one that “the salvation of mankind was Christ’s ruling passion.” J. F. Sed mihi quae victor facies, quid vulnera differs ? Cur mihi crux nondum dulce subitur onus ? An decet, aut aequum est Tua Te mandata morari ? Cur quae ferre jubes vulnera, ferre vetas ? Hei mihi! tarn lento mea cur pede labitur aetas ? Hei mihi! cur annos non venit ante suos ? Scilicet expectanda dies, et temporis ordo. Tolle moras : illas impiger odit amor. Sidronius. (Eleg. 2.) 51 There is no peacemaker, like the Gospel; but it is among them that are true professors of the Gospel: nor is there any breed- bate, like the Gospel neither; and so saith our Saviour; but this is between the two seeds, betwixt whom God hath set en¬ mity and there can be no reconciliation, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent: but to the children of the same father, God, and of the same mother, the Church, the Gospel is the sweet messenger of peace, and the sweet peacemaker. S. Matt. v. 9; S. James iii. 14—18. Dr. Lightfoot. (Serm. S. Luke i. 17.) Is not the Church of Christ set forth unto us in the Scriptures, as a Militant Church, an army with banners ? Bom. xii. 18. How then are we to “pursue peace ?” Certainly, as Christ is set forth in the Scripture, as a “ Captain,” a “leader,” a “ man of war,” a “lion of the tribe of Judah,” the victorious tribe, (Ex. xv. 3;) so is He a “Prince of Peace” too: honoured, at His birth, with the style of “ Emmanuel,” a name of peace; crowned in His Baptism with a dove, the emblem of peace; holding in His hand a sceptre, the Gospel of peace; being in the Temple a “corner-stone,” the place of peace; coming into . the world with a song of peace ; going out of the world with a S. LUKE XII. 52. 365 legacy of peace ; in one word a perfect Moses, the meekest man ; and yet the mightest warrior, a true David, a man much versed in battle, and yet made up all of love; sending a sword in one place, and sheathing up a sword in another; (S. Matt. x. 34; S. John xviii. 11;) careless of offending in case of piety, (S. Matt. xiii. 57,) and tender of offending in case of liberty, (S. Matt. xvii. 25—27 :) thus He : and thus His Church too ; Salem, a place of peace; Jerusalem, a vision of peace ; and yet therein a fort, and an armourv for shields and bucklers. Cant. iv. 4. Bp. Reynolds. (Serm. Horn. xiv. 19.) 52 "Whosoever puts on Ciieist, takes upon him His sufferings, and renounces all those things, though never so dear, that would divest him of his dearest Saviour, or make him false to that Covenant, into which he doth enter. ... It is a profession of self-denial and taking up the cross, if we meet it in our Chris¬ tian course. Dor waters signify in Scripture afflictions and tri¬ bulations, which sometimes go over our heads, and overwhelm us. . . . You shall be wet in blood, and Baptized in your own tears and sweat. S. Matt. xx. 22 ; Ps. lxix. 1; Bom. vi. 1—7; Gral. vi. 14. Bp. Patrick. (Aqua genitalis, Serm. Actsxvi. 33.) What outward blessing can be sweeter than civil peace; what judgment more heavy than that of the sword ? Yet, O Saviour, there is a peace, which Thou disclaimest; and there is a sword, which Thou challengest to bring ; peace with our corruptions is war against Thee, and that war in our bosoms wherein the Spirit fighteth against the flesh, is peace with Thee. 0 ! let Thy good Spirit raise and foment this holy and intestine w r ar, more and more, within me. And, as for my outward spiritual enemies, how can there be a victory without war ? And how can I hope for a crown, without victory ? 0 do Thou ever gird me witli strength unto the battle ; enable Thou me to resist unto blood ; make me faithful to the death, that Thou mayest give me the crown of life. Bp. Hall . (Breathings of the devout soul, 30.) 54 And He said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower ; and so it is. 366 S. LUKE XII. 57. 55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. 56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth ; but how is it that ye do not discern this time ? 57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right ? 58 When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him ; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. 59 I tell thee, thou shall not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite. 57 Of yourselves .—Hence we have concluded, that those moral lessons, which learned men among the Gentiles have stated in their books, as derived from the common feelings and dictates of nature, are no less Divine, than those, which we have now in the stony tablets of Moses. Nor in truth did our Heavenly Father desire us to esteem those Laws, which He wrote on the stone, in a higher degree than those other Laws, which He has engraved on the very feelings of our natural constitution. Acts xiv. 17; Bom. i. 19. Melancthon. (Quoted in Prelim. Diss. Encyc. Brit. p. 21.) The written Word of God, is not the first, or only discovery of the duty of man. (Bom. ii. 15, 29.) It doth gather together and repeat, and re-enforce, and charge upon us, the scattered and neglected principles of God’s creation, that have suffered prejudice and diminution, by the defection and apostacy of man, who has abused his nature, and is passed into a contrary spirit. Or. Whichcote. Bom. ii. 15, 29. (Aplior. Cent. i. 46.) It is a great mistake to suppose that the obligation of moral duties doth depend solely upon the Bevelation of God’s will, made to us in the Holy Scriptures. Abp. Tillotson. S. LUKE XII. 58, 59. 367 58 If tliou sin, the word of God is thy adversary. It is the ad¬ versary of thy will, till it become the author of thy salvation. But if thou maintain a good will to thine adversary, and agree with him (S. Matt. v. 25,) instead of a Judge shalt thou find a father; instead of a cruel officer, an Angel taking thee into Abraham’s bosom; instead of a prison, a Paradise. How rapidly hast thou changed all things in the way , because thou hast “agreed with thine adversary.” 1 Cor. iv. 21; Gal. iv. 16. S. Augustine. True conversion consists in feeling that there is an invincible variance between God and us ; and that without a Mediator, there can be no communion. Micah vi. 6. Pascal. Did we see how needful Christ is to us, we should esteem and love Him more. Eph. iii. 12 — 15. Abp. Leighton. 59 Hell! a very unpleasant theme to speak of! Yet it is better to speak of it, than to feel it; to discourse of it, that men may save themselves from the terror of it, than drop into it. Hell! and is there such a thing ? The Atheist, and the man of plea¬ sure is loath to believe it; and he hath reason, for, if he should, it would spoil his mirth, he would sin with trembling, and his sensuality would be uneasy. . . . There must be one. Can there be a Government without gaols, and prisons, and dun¬ geons ? And is God the Governor of the world, and shall His government alone be without places to tame obstinate offenders? There are few so senseless, but are content to believe, there is a heaven, and an eternity of joy, and they wish for it: I would fain know, how they come to believe there is a heaven ? Is it not because the Gospel saith so ? And doth not the same Gospel say, there is “ an everlasting punishment, a worm that never dieth, and a fire that is never quenched ?” Did Christ speak truth in one place, and not in another ? . . .You are debtors to God, and will not discharge that debt by repentance and turning to God. The place, we speak of, is the prison. . . Here you are not likely to pay your debts, for you will increase your scores daily : your torments will tempt you to speak ill of God, and that will still make your debt more dreadful. In a word, from thence there is no going out, till you have paid the uttermost farthing; and that is never. S. Matt. xxv. 46. Dr. Jlornech. (Serm. S. Matt. v. 25, 26.) 368 S. LUKE XIII. 1, 2. CHAPTER XIII. INHERE were present at that season some that told Him of the Galiheans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilseans were sinners above all the Gali¬ leans, because they suffered such things ? 3 I tell you, Nay : but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 1 Our Saviour’s discourse, immediately before, was of “ the signs of the times,” and a tax of His auditors’ dulness in “not dis¬ cerning” them : this unexpected intersertion of those Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices , whatsoever the news-mongers intended, was indeed no interruption, but rather an illustration of His doctrine : it comes in its right cue ; and the relators of this sad accident serve His turn as fitly, as the Chirurgion doth the Physician by making a visible dissection of that part, on which the other makes an anatomy lecture. The implication, or importance of the news, thus suited by Divine Providence unto the point, then handled by our Saviour, is in effect as much, as if He Himself had said unto His audi¬ tors—If you want other signs of the time to meditate upon, take these tw T o for your theme, the unusual massacre of the Gali¬ leans, and the disaster of those eighteen inhabitants of Jerusa¬ lem, upon whom the tower in Shilo fell and slew them. These are the first drops of God’s displeasure against the nation; but these drops, without repentance, will grow into a current, and the current into a river, and the river swell into a flood, and the flood into an ocean of public woe, and tragic miseries. Jer. viii. 6, 7 ; xxvi. 2 ; S. Matt. xxiv. 8. Or. Jackson. (Treatise of the Divine Essence, b. vi.) 2 It was the practice of our Blessed Saviour to notice in His dis¬ courses the passing events of the day, to take advantage of the S. LUKE XIII. 2. 369 interest, which they occasioned in men’s minds, and by such means to facilitate the introduction of some appropriate spiritual lesson. Thus, as a man, He drew His hearers “ by the cords of a man,” meeting them on the common grouud of human life, appealing to their hopes and fears, and so conducting them by gentle steps from nature to Grace, from earth to Heaven, from things temporal to things Eternal. The vast universal import¬ ance of the necessity of Repentance, as here insisted on, has perhaps had the effect of withdrawing our attention from the passage, as it contains an exact prophecy of two remarkable circumstances, which attended the destruction of Jerusalem ; the slaughter of vast multitudes in the Temple, and the many deaths caused by the falling towers of the devoted city. Isa. xxxii. 20 ; 2 Tim. iv. 2 ; Heb. xiii. 17. J. F. The way to advance in Christian perfection is to make Christian reflections upon every occurrence of life, and to endeavour to improve them. Bp. Wilson. The far more precious blood of our souls is mingled with our sacri¬ fices , whensoever we are guilty before God, even before His more immediate Presence in His House of Prayer, of irreve¬ rence, of hypocrisy, or of profaneness. He, who was “ a mur¬ derer from the beginning,” slays us on holy ground. We find death in the very place, where we should have found life. The gate of Heaven becomes unto us the very door of hell. x. 15 ; Ps. lxix. 23 ; Heb. xii. 28, 29. J. F. It is no easy, nor common thing, to give God’s ways a right con¬ struction. Eor the most part we let them pass unobserved, or unframe our observations, looking through those principles and passions of our own, that give things another shape, or colour, than what is truly theirs, iv. 22 ; S. John vii. 40—45. Ahp. Leighton. (Serm. on text.) That heart is carnal and proud, that thinks any man, worse than himself. 1 Cor. xv. 10. Bp. Hall. The common opinion is, that, if a man die quietly, and go away like a lamb (which in some diseases, as in consumptions and such like, any man may do) then he goes straight to heaven; but if the violence of the disease stir up to impatience, and cause frantic behaviours, then men use to say, “ there is a n b 370 S. LUKE XIII. 3. judgment of God, serving either to discover a hypocrite, or to plague a wicked man:” but the truth is otherwise ; for indeed a man may die, like a lamb, and yet go to hell; and one, dying in exceeding torment and strange behaviours of the body, may go to heaven. Eccl. ix. 1—3; 1 Cor. iv. 5. W. Perkins. (Salve for a sick man.) 3 Ye shall. —Mince not God’s Word with mother Eve ; neither add any “ peradventure.” Gen. iii. 3; 1 Cor. vi. 9,10. Bp. Babington. (Comfortable Notes on Genesis.) That authority, which doth warrant our faith unto us, must every way be free from all possibility of error.That faith may stand unshaken, two things are of necessity to concur ; first, that the Author of it be such a one, as can by no means be deceived; and this can be none but God : secondly , that the words and texts of this Author, upon whom we ground, must admit of no ambiguity, no uncertainty of interpretation. 1 Cor. xiv. 8. J. Hales. (Serm. 2 S. Pet. iii. 16.) Repentance is not merely an act, but a habit; it consists in a total change in the tone and character of a man. It is a turn¬ ing away from all sin, upon the settled conviction of the under¬ standing, that it is wrong; that it is opposed to the holy nature and righteous Law of God. Repentance is a holy determina¬ tion of the will, a holy bias of the affections, a hatred of iniquity, an humble mind, a tender conscience, a contrite spirit, a habit of penitential sorrow, because we have sinned against the most High God. Repentance implies all this, and much more. Hos. xiv. 8; Rom. vi. 21. R. Cecil. (Serm. S. Mark vi. 26, 27.) Non comminaretur non pcenitenti, si non ignosceret pcenitenti. His threatening the impenitent implies a willingness on His part to pardon the penitent. Tertullian. (De Pcenit. c. 8.) Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it so necessary, that, if I should die in the pulpit, I should desire to die preaching repentance ; and, if I should die out of the pulpit, I should desire to die practising it. S. Matt. iii. 2 ; iv. 17. P. Henry. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in S. LUKE XIII. 4. 371 Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem ? 5 I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 GrOD punishes some sinners here to show, that there is a just Judge; and He leaves others unpunished, to show there is a judgment to come. Abp. Bramhall. Tower. —Be pleased to shake my clay cottage, before Thou throw- est it down; may it totter awhile, before it doth tumble. Let me be summoned, before I am surprised. Deliver me, O Lord, from sudden death ! Ps. xxxix. 15. T. Fuller. We will easily grant them, that all professed Christians do not sleep in Christ ; but since we bury single persons, we cannot certainly know the state of particular men ; and where we are ignorant, it is safest to speak and hope the best.We talk of no assurance ; nay, the very name of “ hope ” doth show we are not certain. (Bom. viii. 24.) Surely Christian charity will allow this, (1 Cor. xiii. 5, 7,) and supposing we should be mis¬ taken in our favourable judgment, doubtless, it is safer and more pious to err on the right hand by excess of charity, than on the left, by pride and malice. It hath been a rule, observed by all mankind, to “ speak the best of the dead.” And Plutarch saith, that to be made good, of old, did signify to die; because they called the dead always the good; and why may we not imitate so universal a piece of charity ? If it be alleged that evil men will hereby be encouraged to continue in their sins ; I answer, that the whole Office confutes that vain conceit, (which only pro¬ mises happiness to the pious,) and particularly the very clause preceding this doth plainly obviate this misconstruction, by moving every by-stander to pray, that he may be “ raised up from the death of sin ” here, without which the Church declares he cannot hope for a happy death, or a joyful resurrection. S. Matt. vii. 1; Bom. xiv. 4. Dean Comber. (Companion to the Temple, p. iv. s. 6. On the Burial Service.) It was not an extravagance of humility therefore, I should think, but a sound calculation, or a natural feeling, which once made a distinguished moralist, when he saw one of his fellow creatures r r 2 372 S. LUKE XIII. 5. under the extreme sentence of the law, express his thankfulness, that he had escaped the fall and fate, to which he was perhaps in himself as liable, as the guilty sufferer. Rom. iii. 9 ; 1 Cor. iv. 7. Davison. (Assize Sermon.) 5 Terret , ut corrigat; admonet , ut emendat; prcevenit , ut ignoscat. He alarms, that He may reclaim; He admonishes, that He may amend; He warns beforehand, that He may forgive. Rev. ii.; iii. £. Ambrose. If the Pedagogue* addresses men through their fears, it is not be¬ cause He is not good, as well as just, but because mere goodness is too often despised ; and it is consequently necessary to hold out the terrors of justice. There are two kinds of fear, one accom¬ panied by reverence, such as children feel towards their parent; the other by hatred, such as slaves feel towards harsh masters. The justice of God is shown in His reproofs ; His goodness in His compassion. There is no incompatibility between justice and goodness. The Physician, w T ho announces his patient has a fever, has no ill-will towards him ; nor is God, who convinces man of sin, unfriendly to him— God of Himself is good; but He is just on our account; and just because good. He has dis¬ played His justice to us, through His Word, from the time He became a Pather to us. xii. 5 ; Job xxxiii. 14—29 ; Ps. ci. 1; Gal. iv. 16. Clemens Alex. (Paedagogus, c. cxlix. 21.) 6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none : cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground ? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. * Under this title, Clemens describes the healing and preceptive office and character of “ The Word,” the Son of God. S. LUKE XIII. 6, 7. 373 9 And if it bear fruit, well : and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. 6 The owner of the vineyard and of the fig tree , planted in it, as the best interpreters agree, doth represent God the Father, or First Person in Trinity. He it is, that exacts satisfaction for all sins committed against the Deity, or Divine Nature; and He it is which demands fruit of whatsoever the Divine Na¬ ture hath planted; that is, thankfulness of man in special, for His benefits bestowed upon him, but especially of His Church, wheresoever planted. By the dresser of the vineyard, ye are to understand the Son of God, or Second Person in Trinity. For He it is, which took our Nature upon Him to till and dress it for His Father’s service; and that portion of our nature which He took upon Him, is as the root or stem to all the resi¬ due, which shall be freed from cursing. So our Saviour tells us, “ I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman,” or the owner of the Vine. It is, again, the Son of God, or Second Person in Trinity, which doth mediate betwixt God and man ; and by His mediation and intercession, our first parents (the whole nature of man) were reprieved from death. S. John xv. 1. Dr. Jackson. (Treatise on the Divine Essence, &c. b. vi.) The trees of the garden should bear more fruit, than the trees of the forest; the fig-tree therefore, which was unfruitful, was the more intolerable, because it was in the garden, in the vineyard. Amos iii. 2. Chr. Love. 7 The tree is for the fruit; and but for the fruit, there had been no tree. Fruit it was, for which it was first set, and for which it is let grow. . . Seeing it will not serve for fruit, make it serve for fuel; the end of all unfruitful trees. Mark it well this. It is the fruit of repentance, not repentance itself, but the fruit it is, is sought for. iii. 8, 9; Acts xxvi. 20. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm. S. Matt. iii. 8.) Bemember, 0 my soul, the fig tree was charged, not with bear¬ ing noxious fruit, but no fruit. Yea, the barren fig tree bare the fruit of annoyance; Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? Vain thoughts do this ill in my heart, that they do 374 ) S. LUKE XIII. 9. no good. A vain thought engrosseth all the ground of my heart; till that be rooted out, no good meditation can grow with it, or by it. S. Matt. xxv. 30. T. Fuller. (Good thoughts for worse times, 13.) 9 It bear fruit. —Though the fertility of the earth to conceive, and its strength to bring forth is solely from heaven, yet the work of bringing forth, is attributed to the earth, (Heb. vi. 7,) as to the immediate parent of all: thus it is God’s work to plant and to water ; and that He doth immediately by Apollos and Paul; yea, and “to give the increase,” that belongeth to Him immediately, neither to man, nor Angel, but only ad Agri- colam Trinitatem , saith S. Austin ; but after all this, σνν be καρπο¬ φορήσω , though God “ give the increase,” thou must bring forth the fruit. S. John vi. 27. Dr. Hammond. (Serm. Phil. iv. 13.) Every wicked man’s life is prolonged, either for the purpose of his own amendment, or for the trial of good men’s charity. S. Matt, xiii. 28, 29. S. Augustine. Christ’s coming is the last offer of grace, both to Jews and Gen¬ tiles. He, that refuseth now, shall never speed. Mark this point, pressed by the Apostle both to the Jews and Gentiles. This is the reason why the Baptist, Christ, His Apostles begin their preaching with “ Bepentthis is, as the greatest, so the last manuring; the tree, that proveth not now, must needs down, needs into the fire. 2 Cor. vi. 1, 2; Heb. x. 37. Bp. Lake. (Serm. on text.) What was ever so patient and long-suffering, what so full of good¬ ness as the method of Almighty God’s proceedings with sinners! Men offend God, and yet they are suffered to live ; they mul¬ tiply their offences against Plim, and yet He prolongs their days; they blaspheme His Majesty and deny His Providence, and yet He “ causes His sun to shine, and His rain to fall upon the evil as well as the good.” He calls them every way to amendment, by lengthening out the space of repentance, by good sermons, good books, good advice, by secret checks, and motions, by the rod of correction, by comforts and encourage¬ ments ; O how sweet, how wonderful, is the patience and mercy of this good God ! But, take heed, O man, that thou abuse not this goodness. He designs by this to bring thee to a S. LUKE XIII. 9. 375 change of life ; and still thou criest; “ It is no matter to-day ; to-morrow I will consider of itand, when to-morrow comes, “Well, it is time enough yet, another day will do as well:” and thus thou triflest away the day of grace, till the wrath of God rush upon thee unawares, and thou perish by His justice, whose kindness thou hast despised. Wisd. xi. 23, &c.; Rom. ii. 4. S. Augustine, (in Ps. cii.) 10 And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed to¬ gether, and could in no wise lift up herself. 12 And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him , and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And He laid His hands on her: and immedi¬ ately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. 15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering ? 16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day ? 17 And when He had said these things, all His ad¬ versaries were ashamed : and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him. 376 I S. LUKE XIII. 11. 11 How merciful is the Lord, and how full of pity, in both these miracles, cum aut miseretur aut vindicat. He orders a tree to he cut down, as a type of the destruction of the synagogue : He expresses the elevation of His Church by the raising up of this woman. S. Ambrose. A certain parable and a story go together on this wise; a woman had a spirit of infirmity , fyc. ; and a fig tree was planted in a good soil, which, for three years together, hare no fruit. Here is the double condition of our sinful nature; homo nee fructum servat operationis , nee statum rectitudinis; the recti¬ tude of our innocency is turned crooked in us ; and then it is impossible we should bring forth the fruit of good works. The soul stands upright, when it desires “ to be with Christ but it is bowed down with a spirit of infirmity, when our “ treasure is upon earth.” You know how Gideon’s choice soldier's did drink of the brook, putting water in their hands, and lapping like a dog ; but the rest bowed down to the river to drink upon their knees. Whereupon Gregory took occasion to show symboli¬ cally, what different postures our carnal and spiritual appetites have in partaking those things they love. Mundi aqua bibitur facie prond in terram , fons aquce viventis facie sublimi. O that I could be exalted above the earth ; then would I not bow down my soul to draw forth vanity from this deep well, and nothing but the waters of bitterness ! Judg. vii. 5, 6; Jer. ii. 13; Ps. cx. 7. Bp. Hac/cet. (Serm. S. John iv. 13, 14.) He, who has truly received those words, Surshm corda , “ Lift up your hearts,” has not his back bowed down; for in an erect pos¬ ture he looks for the hope, laid up for him in heaven. . . . But they, who have no such hope of a future life, as blinded men, think only of things below; and this is to have the back bowed down, that infirmity, from which the Lord loosed the woman. Phil. iii. 19; Col. iii. 1, 2. S. Augustine, (in Ps. lxviii. 24.) It is an effect of God’s bounty, that the execution of precepts, which are necessary to Salvation, does not depend upon the weakness of our bodies. S. Chrysostom. (Horn, in 1 Tim. v. 23.) S. LUKE XIII. 11—15. 377 Quam variis terras animalia permeant figuris ! . . Unica gens hominum celsum levat altius cacumen, Atque levis recto stat corpore, despicitque terras. Ilsec, nisi terrenus male desipis, admonet figura, Qui recto ccelum vultu petis, exerisque frontem, In sublime feras animum quoque, ne gravata pessum Inferior sidat mens, corpore Celsius levato. Boetius. (De consol. L. v. Metr. 5.) 13 In the healing of this woman, our Lord did five things. He compassionately saw her; He called her; He healed her; He touched her; and He lifted her up. Thus does He also per¬ fectly cure a sinful soul. He sees it, in His compassion ; He calls it, by His internal inspiration ; He heals it, by remitting its sins ; He touches it, per satisfactionis dolorem , by the afflic¬ tive chastenings of His hand. He raises it up to things above, in the warmth of Divine love. Ludolphus. (Vita Christi, p. i. c. 79.) 14 If God should have demanded of man, how many days of seven he would give to His service, three, I am persuaded, would have been the fewest, as being, but the lesser part of seven. And what good nature can willingly deny half to Him that gave all ? But God dealing so graciously, as to separate but one, how greatly should His goodness incite us not to deprive Him of the least minute of it ? Nay, not to cast a thought towards our worldly business, or pleasures, on that day ? 2 Sam. vii. 18. Lord Capel. (Contemplations, xv.) The precept, concerning the observance of the Sabbath, is a moral precept, so far as it regards that, which natural reason suggests, namely, that man should assign some portion of his time to re¬ ligious contemplation; but the prescription of a certain set time for this rest (taxatio temp oris, in quo vacandum sit ) is not one of the dictates of the Law of nature, and therefore is no moral precept, xii. 57. T. Aquinas, (in 3 Sent. d. 37. Art. 5.) 15 Hypocrites have the greatest care in what is least, the least in what is greatest. Vincent. (Spec, mortis.) Loose — be loosed. —How gracious is the Parable, and yet how en¬ tirely to the point. He compares one yoke with another ; that the hypocrisy of the Jews may be reproved by their own act. 378 S. LUKE XIII. 15—17. . . . These Jews were not hurt at the violation of the Sabbath, but at the glory, Chbist gained by this miracle. S. Ambrose. Man is obliged to be servant to the brutes. Surely there is a mean¬ ing in this. God intends it for our humility: for it may remind us how the fall has abased us. xv. 15. Bengel. Not only the cure itself, but His manner of working it, manifestly witnesseth that He, which wrought it, was that Loed, in whose praise the Psalmist conceived that song. (Ps. cxlvi.) Por He did not cure her, as a messenger sent from God, or as a minis¬ ter of delegated power or authority, but by word of Majesty, as Loed and Author of the health, which He bestowed upon her, Woman , thou art loosed , fyc. Besides the exact correspondence between the Psalmist’s words, (“ The Loed raiseth up them that are bowed down”) and the Evangelist’s description of the party cured, (as that she was bowed together , &c.,) there is another point very remarkable in the character and phrase of the Evangelist. Eor in the beginning of this relation he saith, “ when Jestts saw her, He said unto her,” (that was before she was healed,) but when he relates our Saviour’s reply unto the Euler of the Synagogue, (after she was healed) he doth not say, “Jesus then answered him, and said,” but “ the Lord then answered him and said;” as if he himself had conceived, and would lead us into the same truth, that this very fact had suf¬ ficiently manifested, that Jesus, whom the people took for a Prophet, to be that very Lord , of whom that Psalm was liter¬ ally meant, and in whom this clause of “ raising up those, that were bowed down,” was at this time and not before, punctually fulfilled. Or. Jackson. (Treatise on the Divine Essence, &c., b. vii. s. 3.) 16 A daughter of Abraham may be bound by Satan for eighteen years , and then loosed from her bondage. Take comfort from this, ye long oppressed and almost despairing Christians, who are “ tied and bound” under a sense of your sins; yea, believe that it is “ because ye are sons ” and daughters , ye are therefore made to suffer. S. John v. 5; Eom. viii. 17; Heb. xii. 8. J. F. 17 The brute beasts may be beaten, killed, consumed with fire ; but they cannot be put to shame. Tunc homo maxime, ut homo , S. LUKE XIII. 17, 19. 379 j yunitur, quando pro delictis suis publice confunditur. Man re¬ ceives a punishment, proper to himself, as man, when he stands exposed to open shame and confusion of face for his sins, xiv. 9; Isa. lxvi. 24; Dan. xii. 2 ; 1 S. John ii. 28. Thomas, Abp. of Yalentia. (Horn. i. Adv. Dom.) 18 Then said He, Unto what is the kingdom of God like ? and whereunto shall I resemble it ? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden: and it grew, and waxed a great tree : and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. 20 And again He said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God ? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. 22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying towards Jerusalem. « 19 Within sixty years, this grain of mustard seed was become a tree ; Pliny, Proconsul of Bithynia (to whom the care of religion ex officio, did appertain) appointed by Trajan to suppress the Christians, WTites to him that this belief was longe lateque dif¬ fusa ; civitates, vicos, agros, impletos Christi cultoribus. During the second century, it had shot out great branches ; the boughs of this tree were stretched out; hesterni sumus, et vestra omnia implevimus. Tertullian reckons up the known parts of the world, in quibus omnibus Christi nomen regnat; and con¬ cludes, ubique porrigitur, creditin', colitur, regnat, adoratur. And lastly, during the third (a morte Christi ) “ the fowls of the air, and beasts of the field lodge under the shadow of it.” The net drew good and bad to shore; the Roman Emperor and em¬ pire declared themselves Christians. It went on “ conquering, and to conquer,” not by the spirit of the sword, but by “the sword of the Spirit.” . . . And as it spread large and high, so, where it took possession, it took a deep possession— quantum 380 S. LUKE XIII. 19, 21. vertice , tantum radice. Acts xix. 20, Bp. Seth Ward. (Serm. 2 Tim. iii. 16.) The improvement of the Church is compared to husbandry, and sowing of seed: it is not heri sementis , et hodie messis, to-day seed-time and to-morrow harvest; but, “ first, the blade, then, the ear ; after that, the full corn in the earthen comes harvest. It was sown in promises, sprung up in prophecies, bloomed in types and figures ; then came the full ear and harvest in Christ’s Incarnation. The joy of that time is “ the joy of harvest.” S. Mark iv. 28 ; Isa. ix. 3. Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. Gal. iv. 4,5.) 21 Beware how you conclude any thing upon present sense. The work of grace is first but little, as a grain of mustard seed; and it is not at first so visible : it is like leaven hid in meal. Now that which is little, and hidden too, is not seen straight. Natural conceptions are not first perceived ; no more are supernatural. The work of grace may be begun in thy soul, although thou do not perceive it. Be therefore cautious how thou concludest, because of present visible ineffectualness. The leaven of the kingdom may lie hid in the heart: and if thou judgest by pre¬ sent sense, thou mayest “ condemn the generation of the righteous.” Indeed Christ in the soul is, as Isaac in Abra¬ ham’s loins, at first, that is, as dead: and look, as then, “ even of one, and him as good as dead, sprang up as many, as the stars of the sky,’ ’ so likewise here—in the soul of one grain of grace, and that, even as dead to sense, there springs up the great tree , which reacheth, as high as heaven. Bom. iv. 19; S. John xix. 39. Durant. (Comfort and counsel of dejected souls, s. ii. c. i.) May the Holy Church, which is figured under the type of this woman in the Gospel, whose meal are we, hide the Lord Jesus in the innermost places of our hearts, till the warmth of the Divine Wisdom penetrate into the most secret recesses of our souls. Eph. iii. 16, 17. S. Ambrose. Cultivate, 0 Lord, the seed, Thou hast sown in our hearts ; that our faith may quicken into love, and both together shoot forth into fruitful works ; and all our weary thoughts come and rest themselves under the shadow of their branches. For by Thy gracious influence, every small endeavour is blest with a great increase. We of ourselves are a lifeless lump ; but O infuse Thy Spirit into our souls, and conserve it there in an humble S. LUKE XIII. 23. 381 secresy, till it begin to work, and ferment, and spread by degrees over all our powers ; that we may know, and relish, and with thankfulness receive those blessed secrets, which, having been so long kept secret, are now by Thy own mouth revealed to us. Ps. cxix. 25. Austin. (Medit. 99.) 23 Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved ? And He said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate : for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand with¬ out, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But He shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are ; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And, behold, there are last which shall he first, and there are first which shall be last. 23 It is possible, nay, it is very common, for men to dispute, and 382 S. LUKE XIII. 23, 24. with no small earnestness, on certain questions, which are called religious, but which have no sort of reference to themselves ; for instance, they inquire, whether any of the heathen can be saved, and in what manner ? but not, whether they themselves are in a state of salvation ? Much more wisely did the jailor ash, “ what must 7do to he saved?” . . . Every question is interesting ex¬ actly in that degree, in wdiich it affects ourselves: this question alone we prefer to hear discussed in a general and abstracted manner; and the reason is this, that, if this question come near to ourselves, we are afraid of certain painful conditions. Brethren, why should you speak, or think of these things, only in a general way ? Why not apply your knowledge to a practi¬ cal purpose ? Why not turn the edge of your argument upon yourselves ? Do you suppose, that God loves you in the crowd of mankind, because you love yourself in it ? And, when you die, will you not die alone ? Then inquire, in simplicity and integrity of heart, as one, w r ho is alone with God, What must I do ? and thus show your readiness to comply with the condi¬ tions of salvation. S. John iv. 19, 20; 1 Tim. i. 4—7. 77 Martyn. (Serm. Acts xvi. 29— 31.) Nothing wraps a man in such a mist of errors, as his own curio¬ sity, in searching things beyond him. How happily do they live, that know nothing, but what is necessary. Our knowledge doth but show us our ignorance. ... It is no shame for man not to know that, which is not in his possibility. We fill the world with cruel brawls, in the obstinate defence of that, where¬ of we might with more honour confess ourselves to be ignorant. —One will tell us our Saviour’s disputation among the doctors ; another, what became of Moses’ body ; a third, in what place Paradise stood, and where is local hell; and some will know heaven as perfectly, as if they had been hurried about in every sphere: and I think they may. . . . Who will not approve the judgment of our modern Epigrammatist, Judice me, soli semperque perinde beati Sunt, quicunque sciunt omnia, quique nihil. Prov. xviii. 1; Job xi. 12. O. Feltham. (Resolves. Cent. i. s. 27.) 24 Chbist calls us to the moral and practical part. As S. Augus¬ tine piously silenced that intricate question ; how original sin is S. LUKE XIII. 24. 383 conveyed ? O, saitli he, let ns strive how to remove it. It were strange, when we see a house on fire, to stand question¬ ing ; how it kindled ? No ; let us bestir ourselves, and haste to quench it. Acts i. 11, 12 ; ii. 37. Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. S. Luke xxi. 34.) Ad questionis vaniloquium nihil dixit. He makes no answer to such an impertinent interrogatory; hut raised a doctrine out of it more necessary to edification. S. Augustine. Most men take least notice of w'hat is plain, as if that were of no use; but they puzzle their thoughts and lose themselves in those vain depths and abysses, which no human understanding can fathom. Isa. lv. 2. Bean Sherlock. Strive. —When we have spoiled the purity of our constitution, and are degenerated from the human nature into the brutal or diabo¬ lical, it is no great wonder that the religion of a man should be a burden to the nature of a beast, or a devil. So that whatso¬ ever difficulties there are in religion, they arise not out of the nature of the things it requires, but out of the perverse indis¬ positions of our natures to them; and these were for the most part contracted by ourselves : so that, instead of complaining of the difficulty, we ought to strive and contend the more earnestly against it, because we may thank ourselves for it. Mai. i. 13. Or. J. Scott. (Christian Life, p. 1, c. 4.) And how is it, you say, that I must “ put off the old man ?” Imi¬ tate the cunning serpent. Lor how does he get rid of his old skin ? Coarctat se, he contracts himself into some narrow crevice. And where, you say, shall I find this narrow crevice ? Listen: “ strait and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life.” (S. Matt, vii.) Here it is, that you must deposit your old skin, and here is the only place for it. Aut si vis vetustate impediri , gravari , gremi , noli ire per angustam, or if you prefer being hindered, incumbered, oppressed with this old skin, then refuse this narrow way. Eph. iv. 22—24. S. Augustine. (In Ps. lvii. 5.) If my religion is only a formal compliance with those modes of worship, which are in fashion, where I live; if it cost me no pain or trouble, if it lays me under no rules and restraint, if I have no careful thoughts and sober reflections about it, is it not 384 I S. LUKE XIII. 24—30. great weakness to think, that I am striving to enter in at the strait gate? Prov. xiv. 12 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. Wm. Law It is one thing to strive to enter in, in a Scriptural way ; and another to seek to enter -in, by a way of our own invention. ... If we ask persons, in this great commercial city, why such a man does not succeed in the object, he is pursuing, they will answer; be¬ cause he does not take the right means. We should use much prayer and caution, that we do not enter into by-paths, which may be known by their appearing more easy and smooth, when perhaps the right path is painful and rough. Bom. ix. 31. R. Cecil. (Serm. S. Matt. vii. 13.) 25 To stand without.—Poena damni poenalior est quam poena sensus. What we lose is felt to be a sorer punishment than our actual suffering. 2 Thess. i. 9 ; Ps. xvi. 12. S. Prosper. The hell of hells, the torment of torments, is the everlasting ab¬ sence of God, and the everlasting impossibility of returning to His Presence. Or. Donne. 27 If Absalom counted it so great a misery, that the text saith, “ he was weary of his life,” because he might not see his father for a while, what a weariness will it be to the damned, that they shall not see God to be their Father, not for a while, but for ever ? The Presence of God makes heaven to be heaven; the absence of God makes hell more hell, than it is. “ Let a man,” saith S. Chrysostom, (in S. Matt, xxiv.) “ suppose the existence of a thousand hells, yet nothing will cause him such torment, as the exclusion from the Beatific Glory, the abhorrence of Christ, and the word sounding in his ears, I know you not.’’'' 1 Tim. vi. 15, 16. Chr. Love. (Serm. S. Matt. x. 28.) Thou hast taught in our streets. —Whilst I walk the streets, let my head and heart be full of my Saviour. Consider how He walked the streets of Jerusalem; how modestly and plainly He was apparelled ; how little He coveted to make a figure ; how little to see or to be seen; how meek and humble His behaviour was. (S. John i. 86, “As He walked—the Lamb.”) Bonnell. 30 It is not, we see, prophesying in Christ’s Name, (or preach¬ ing about Him) nor frequent attendance upon those, who do so: nor speaking much, nor hearing much, concerning Him; it is not having great gifts of endowments, conferred by Christ, S. LUKE XIII. 28. 385 (not even so great as that of working miracles;) it is not fami¬ liar converse with Christ, or making frequent addresses to Him, that can sanctify a man’s actions, or so entitle them to the Name of Christ, as to secure his person from being dis¬ avowed and rejected by Christ : it is only the conforming all our actions to His holy Laws, that can assure us to be acknow¬ ledged and accepted by Him. 1 Cor. xiii. 1—3. Dr. Barrow. Then I saw, that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of Heaven, as well as from the city of Destruction, x. 15. Bunyan. (Pilgrim’s Progress.) Not only weeping for grief, that themselves have lost it; but gnashing of teeth , for very indignation, that others have ob¬ tained it. xvi. 23. Bp. Andrewes. Then shall gnash those teeth, which here delighted in gluttony; then shall weep those eyes, which here roamed in illicit desire ; every member shall then have its peculiar punishment, which here was a slave to its peculiar vice. xvi. 24; Rev. xviii. 5. S. Gregory. When they shall see , fyc. —Nothing is more terrible to evil minds, than to read their condemnation in the happy success of others. Hell itself would want one piece of its torment, if the wicked did not know those, whom they contemned, to be glorious. Bp. Hall. As God hath abounded to us, of Christendom, more in heat, as well as light, than to the nations of the earth, which “ sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” so He expects, that we also should abound towards Him, more in devotion and in¬ tegrity, as well as knowledge. As the sun is more propitious to Ethiopia, than to Tartary, so the one brings forth gold for the other’s iron. . . When God shall summon us to His audit , it will go worse with the Christian, that grew a bankrupt with ten talents, than with the ignorant Pagan, who would not thrive with one. It will be hardest for such as those, that can “ in Christ’s name cast out devils” and are themselves possessed, to make a colourable answer to that grim charge, which the acute Tertullian doth thus decipher. “ Thou didst preach up God ; yet didst not seek Him. Thou didst abominate the devils; yet didst adore them. Thou didst talk of God’s judgment; but c c 386 S. LUKE XIII. 29. not believe it. Thou didst presume there was a hell; yet didst not endeavour to escape it. Thou wast a Christian professor ; and yet didst persecute the Christian.” (De testim. animse, c. 6.) It will be as ill a plea for us, in that great day, to tell God that we are Christians, as for Judas to plead Apostleship, or Lucifer his first station. Por the higher we have stood, by so much the lower will be our fall. Eom. ii. Pierce. (The sinner im¬ pleaded, p. ii. c. i.) 29 O prceclaram diem , O bright and glorious day, when I shall advance towards that Divine assembly and company of spirits, and wheD I shall quit this crowd, and this accumulation of all kinds of vice. Dev. xxii. 20. Cicero. (De senectute.) O how much better is it to strive for this entrance, through a nar¬ row gate, where, after thou hast borne a little trouble and labour, thou wilt find the sweetest rest and everlasting pleasure! Could men escape the straits of the gate and the pains of hell, both together, there might be some apology for their neglect, from their frailty, who durst never adventure here to force an entrance; but when there is the absolute necessity, either with violent efforts to put forth ourselves for a while, or else fall into labours and dolours, that will eternally endure ; O, where is the judgment, and the sense, if, to avoid some lesser and shorter straits, we throw ourselves under such, as are the most heavy and intolerable, out of which there will be no escaping ?..... They that here were deaf to the Lord’s call, Strive to enter in at the strait gate, will hereafter find Him deaf to their cry ; Lord, Lord, open to us ! O, then, if ever we will be wise, let us consult our true interest, while time serves. Let us do that now, when we may, which doubtless we w r ould with all our heart desire , that we had done, when we cannot do it. Prov. i. 24—32. Card. Bellarmine. (On the eternal felicity of the Saints, b. iii. c. 14.) 31 The same day there came certain of the Pha¬ risees, saying unto Him, Get Thee out, and depart hence : for Herod will kill Thee. 32 And He said unto them, Go ye, and tell that S. LUKE XIIT. 32. 387 fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. 33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following : for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the pro¬ phets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometli in the Name of the Lord. 32 Humand suh cute plurimce latent ferce. Many wild beasts lie lurking under the skin of man. Card. Bovillus. Does the spoiler of another man’s goods rage with the spirit of avarice ? You will compare him to a wolf. Bitter and restless does he exercise his tongue in quarrels P You will liken him to a dog. Is it his delight to lie in secret ambush, and to ensnare his prey ? He resembles the little foxes. Does he rave with unbridled anger ? Let him be supposed to have a lion’s spirit. Timid and soon put to flight does he start at harmless objects ? Let us trace his resemblance to the deer. Does he grow torpid in indolence and stupidity ? He lives the life of an ass. Fickle and irresolute is he ever on the change ? In nothing does he differ from the bird. Does he drown himself in gross and filthy lusts ? He is a slave to the pleasures of the unclean swine. Thus it happens, that he who, having forsaken moral rectitude, ceases to be a man, since he is incapable of Divine consolations, is transformed into the brute beast. Ps. xxii. 12,13, 16, 20, 21. Boethius. (De consol. Philos. Lib. v. metr. 5.) Devils cannot resist My power ; and they are greater than Herod : I have no cause therefore to fear him. The adverbs to-day and c c 2 388 S. LUKE XIII. 32—34. to-morrow are each to be taken with the w r ords severally belong¬ ing to them. To-day I cast out devils : to-morrow I do cures, hor in proper order, first comes the casting out of devils ; then the grant of health; and thirdly, sanitatis collates consummation its perfecting, when once granted. Mystically, this illustrates the expulsion of the spiritual enemy, the cure of the old man or nature in us, and lastly our reconciliation with God : morally, it expresses the renunciation of vices, the formation of vir¬ tuous tempers and the practice of good works, and lastly the attainment of heavenly rewards : whence it is said in Hosea, “ after two days will He revive us ; in the third day He will raise us up that is, to glory. Ludolphus. (in loco.) 33 No better armour. Lord, against the darts of death, than to be busied in Thy service. “ Why art thou so heavy, O my soul ?” No malice of men can antedate my end a minute, whilst my Maker hath any work for me to do. And, when all my daily task is ended, why should I grudge then to go to bed ? Job vii. 1; Lev. xi. 7. T. Fuller. (Scripture observations, 10.) Each day is a new life, and an abridgment of the whole. I will so live, as if I counted every day my first and my last; as if I began to live, but then, and should live no more afterwards. Ps. xc. 12. Bp. Hall. (Med. and vows. Cent. iii. 11.) Why do we complain of the course of nature ? She has acted kindly towards us : vita, si scias uti , longa est. Life is quite long enough, did we know how to use it. S. John xi. 9. Seneca. Out of Jerusalem. —Where Herod has no rule, but Pilate governs. My death then is not in his power, neither as to time, nor to place. I w r ell know when I must die: he does not. I well know the place of My death : he does not. Ludolphus. 34 All creation, and every part of it, is more or less, (and perhaps originally more than now,) a copy or resemblance of God ; a manifestation of His nature and operations; the instrument of His goodness; executioner of His justice ; or a monitor of man’s duty. The degenerate creature, man, in his present capa¬ bility of the Divine likeness ; the several tribes of brutes, in their formation, qualities, acts, and instincts; the inanimate parts of the creation, in their attractions, processes, and offices ; all are something, and speak something of God, in the universal S. LUKE XIII. 34. 389 language of nature. The sun, for instance, to say nothing of its nature as fire, is a lively emblem of God’s universal opera¬ tive Presence: and our Saviour’s saying, How often would I have gathered thee , as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings ! is an affecting illustration of the Divine στορψ), and His own yearning compassion, in the fond workings of that creature. But who, in this dark state of things, can trace the thought in its full extent, or discover the resemblance, ends, and uses of but a few particulars ? This will be the delightful employment of glorified spirits, and the growing wonder of eternity. Isa. xlix. 15, 16; Ps. ciii. 8—13. Adam. (Private thoughts, c. 3.) Under her wings. —It is nature, that teacheth a wise man in fear to hide himself. But grace and faith doth teach him where. Where should the frighted child hide his head, but in the bosom of his loving father ? Where a Christian, but under the shadows of the wings of Christ, his Saviour? Isa. xxvi. 20. Hooker. (Serm. S. John xiv. 27.) This brief precept, once for all, is given thee, Love; Bilige , et die quod voles. If thou be silent, be silent out of love ; if thou speak aloud, speak aloud out of love; if thou correct, correct out of love; if thou spare, spare out of love : be the root of love within, from that root nothing but good can spring. 1 Cor. xvi. 14 ; 2 Thess. iii. 15. S. Augustine. The truth, which is not charitable, proceeds from a charity, that is not true; truth springs from charity, when one declares it only from a principle of love to God, and of desire to benefit the person reproved. Eph. iv. 15. Fr. de Sales. Ye would not. —S. Bernard tells, that “ nothing doth burn in hell, but our will;” and it is as true, nothing doth reign in heaven, but the will: in it are the wells of Salvation, and in it are the waters of bitterness; in it is Tophet; in it is Paradise. Totum habet, qui bonam habet voluntatem , saith Austin. ... In a word, when the will is turned, the soul is saved. Isa. i. 19 ; Ps. cx. 3. Farindon. (Serm. Ezek. xxxiii. 11.) There is nothing contrary to God in the whole world, nothing, that fights against Him, but self-will. This is the strong castle, that we all keep garrisoned against heaven in every one of our hearts, which God continually layeth siege unto ; and it must 390 S. LUKE XIII. 34, 35. be conquered and demolished, before we can conquer heaven. It was by reason of this self-will, that Adam fell in Paradise, that those glorious Angels, those morning stars, “kept not their first station,” but dropped down from heaven, like falling stars, and sunk into this condition of bitterness, anxiety, and wretch¬ edness, in which now they are. They all entangled themselves with the length of their own wings; they would needs will more and otherwise, than God would will in them ; and going about to make their wills wider, and to enlarge them into greater amplitude ; the more they struggled, they found them¬ selves the faster pinioned, and crowded up into narrowness and servility; insomuch that now they are not able to use any wings at all, but, inheriting the serpent’s curse, can only creep with their bellies upon the earth. Now our only way to recover God and happiness again is not to soar up with our understandings, but to destroy this self-will of ours ; and then we shall find our wings to grow again, our plumes fairly spread, and ourselves raised aloft into the free air of perfect liberty, which is perfect happiness. 2 Cor. x. 5 ; Ps. cxix. 32. R. Cudworth. (Serm. before the House of Commons, 1647.) A man may lose the good things of this life against his will; nunquam verb , nisi volens, perdit ceterna ; but, if he loses eternal blessings, he does so with his own consent. Acts xiii. 46. S. Augustine. (Ep. 94.) It is a more difficult work to reconcile men to God, than to re¬ concile God to men. 2 Cor. v. 20, 21. Dr. Whichcote. (Aphor. Cent. iv. 398.) 35 When God’s soul departed from the Jewish people, then dark¬ ness and desolation came upon them ; and they were in a far worse condition, than a country would be, that is forsaken of the sun, and left condemned to a perpetual night; in which darkness and disorder, faction and fury do reign and rage, to¬ gether with all the fatal consequences of zeal and strife. Eor, when God is once gone, all the good and happiness of mankind departs together with Him ; then men fall foul upon one another, divide into parties, and factions, and execute the vengeance of God upon themselves with their own hands. Jer. vi. 30 ; llom. i. 28; Gal. v. 15. Abp. Tillotson. (Serm. Jer. vi. 8.) S. LUKE XIII. 35. 391 We have read of men, that have eaten their enemies, or monsters, that have devoured their own children; but here is one, who devours himself, inhuman to a prodigy ! one, that contrives how to shut himself out of heaven, plots how to undermine his everlasting salvation, and studies how to sink into the dungeon of desperation. Prov. i. 18. Or. Horneck. (The great Law of Consideration, c. 6.) How sad, that a Deliverer (Pom. xi. 26) should come, and that we should be found incapable of being delivered; a Saviour for others, but not for us ; a Saviour for pious Jews, and “ desir¬ ing” Gentiles, but no Saviour for us, who are “called by His Name.” S. Matt. xiii. 7 ; Pev. vii. 9. J. F. It may be, that this may be the last instance, and the last oppor¬ tunity, that ever God will give thee to exercise any virtue, to do Him any service, or thyself any advantage. Be careful that thou losest not this ; for to eternal ages this shall never return again. Eccl. ix. 10 ; Pev. xxii. 12. Bp. J. Taylor. CHAPTER XIV. Λ ND it came to pass, as He went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched Him. 2 And, behold, there was a certain man before Him which had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? 4 And they held their peace. And He took him and healed him, and let him go ; 5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day ? 392 S. LUKE XIV. 1, 5. 6 And they could not answer Him again to these things. 1 The Pharisees in inviting, and our Saviour’s coming this day to this dinner, evidently demonstrate that it is not unlawful to feast on the Loed’s day : for if the Jews might entertain their neighbours and friends on the Sabbath, how much more Chris¬ tians on our Sunday, being assured that God is worshipped, even on this day, rather with works of hospitality and charity, than by fond macerating of our bodies ? I write not this against godly fasting, nor yet for ungodly feasting. Dean Boys. (Domin. Epistles and Gospels, 17th S. after Trim) If it be allowed lawful to open our houses to our friends and neighbours, on the Loed’s day in acts of hospitality—provided always that neither we, nor our servants are thereby hindered in the peculiar sacred duties of that holy day—how much more lawful is it to open our hearts to our needy brethren in acts of charity ? We may indeed say, that whatever we offer to God on this day shall have a double acceptance at His hands, and that our Public worship is never more blessed, than when in private we visit “the fatherless and widows” in their afflictions, and bring words and deeds of healing to the sick and broken-hearted, xiii. 15, 16 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 2. J. F. Our Loed studiously and designedly selected, rather than avoided the Sabbath day for the performance of His miracles of mercy. The five distinct instances recorded were probably but a few out of many. Add to which, that they seemed, humanly speaking, to cause offence; which our Loed would have avoided, were it not for some great purpose or principle, vi. 7. Is. Williams. (Study of the Gospels, p. iii. s. 7.) 5 If it be an inhumanity not to help to raise a beast, fallen under his burden, how can it be, but the most excessive cruelty, not to do that for the soul of a brother, which a man will do for brute beasts ? 1 Cor. ix. 9. S. Chrysostom. 7 And Pie put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when Pie marked how they chose out the chief rooms ; saying unto them, S. LUKE XIV. 7—10. 393 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room : lest a more honour¬ able man than thou be bidden of him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place ; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room ; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoeverexalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 7 The chief rooms. —With great propriety, having cured the dropsy of the body, does he proceed to cure the spiritual dropsy ; which is twofold, the swelling of pride and the thirst for riches. Grotius. 8 The universal axiom, in which all complaisance is included, and from which flow all the formalities, which custom has established in civilized nations, is, that no person should give any prefer¬ ence to himself; a rule so comprehensive and certain, that per¬ haps it is not easy for the mind to imagine an incivility, without supposing it to be broken. Rom. xii. 15,16. Dr. Johnson. The three sources of ill manners are pride, ill-nature, and want of sense; so that every person, who is already endowed with humility, good nature, and good sense, will learn good manners with little or no teaching. Christianity is the best foundation of what we call good manners; and of two persons who have equal knowledge of the world, he, that is the best Christian, will be the best gentleman. 1 Cor. xiii. 5. Jones (of Nayland.) 10 Friend. —Be courteous of gesture and aflable to all men, witli diversity of reverence, according to the dignity of the person. There is nothing, that winneth so much with so little cost. Sir Henry Sidney. 39 1 S. LUKE XIV. 10. Take no measures of humility, hut such, as are material and tan¬ gible ; such, which consist not with humble words and lowly gestures; but what is first truly radicated in your souls, in low opinion of yourselves, and in real preferring others before yourselves ; and in such significations, which can neither deceive yourselves nor others. Ps. x. 11; Col. ii. 23. Bp. J. Taylor. (Advice to his Clergy, p. i. s. 9.) Now what Christ commanded others, He Himself did; for when He came into this world, He reclined in the manger; and He died, reclining on a cross. Neither at His birth, nor at His death, could He find any more lowly place. 2 Cor. viii. 9. Card. Bellarmine. I had such a fear on my mind of being made a Bishop, that when my reputation had reached the ears of persons of distinction, I carefully shunned any district, where the Episcopal- chair was vacant. I stood on my guard, and I did all in my power ut in loco humili salvarer , non in alto periclitarer, to ensure my safety in a humble sphere, rather than jeopardy myself in an eminence. It pleased Him however to say to me. Go up higher. The ser¬ vant must not act contrary to his Lord. Ex. iii. 11; Judg. vi. 15 ; Jer. i. 6. S. Augustine. (Confess.) The humble man never falls. Eor whence should he fall, who is already below all ? Self-elevation is a great abasement; but self-abasement is a great exaltation, and honour, and dignity. Isa. ii. 10—17. Macarius. (Homily 19.) Of them that sit , fyc. —In the passage in the Old Testament, on which our Lord’s words are grounded, it is, “in the presence of the Prince, whom thine eyes have seen;” but in His infinite condescension, He brings forward the presence of others, His creatures, in the application of it, and not His own. Eor speaking indeed of Himself, on such occasions, He says, “ He shall come forth and serve them.” Prov. xxv. 7 ; Heb. v. 5. Is. Williams. (Study of the Gospels, p. v. s. 2.) Of trees, I observe, God hath chosen the vine, a low plant, that creeps upon the helpful wall: of all beasts, the soft and patient lamb : of all fowls, the mild and gall-less dove. Christ is the rose of the field, and the lily of the valley. When God ap¬ peared to Moses, it was not in the lofty cedar, nor the sturdy S. LUKE XIV. 11. 395 oak, nor the spreading plane ; but in a bush, an humble, slen¬ der, abject shrub ; as if He would, by these elections, check the conceited arrogance of man. Nothing procureth love, like humility ; nothing hate, like pride. The proud man walks among daggers pointed against him, whereas the humble and the affa¬ ble have the people for their guard in dangers. To be humble to our superiors, is duty ; to our equals, courtesy ; to our in¬ feriors, nobleness. Eph. v. 21. O. Feltham. (Besolves. Cent, i. 6.) 11 Humility, which is obtained by humiliation, is the foundation of the whole spiritual building. For humiliation is as truly the way to humility, as patience is to peace, or reading to knowledge. If you thirst after humility, do not shrink from humiliation, which is the way to it. For if you cannot stoop to humiliation, you will never be able to rise to humility. S. John xiii. 14, 15. S. Bernard. (Ep. 87.) The grace of humility is the ornament of our relation both with God and man. It belongs to all times and places ; it becomes the social meal on earth ; and is the peculiar grace of the guests, exalted to the marriage feast in Heaven. It is the first among the Beatitudes; like charity, “it never faileth.” (1 Cor. xiii.) ; but accompanies the Christian into glory, where, in its highest and continual exercise, it will be “ made perfect.” 1 S. Pet. v. 5 ; Bev. iv. 10. J. F. It was not His purpose, at this or other time, to give any rules for civil compliment, or fashionable behaviour amongst strangers at the table; but such, as were parabolical, had especial reference to the internal frame or composal of men’s resolutions. The true meaning of the parable is this, that seeing here “ we have no abiding city,” but continue as pilgrims, God’s hospital or almsmen, the meanest estate, furnished with a tolerable supply of necessaries, should best content our private choice ; always referring our advancement to the sweet disposition or invitation of the Divine Providence. Dr. Jackson, (on Justifying faith, b. iv. c. 7.) 12 Then said He also to him that bade Him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, 396 S. LUKE XIV. 12-14. nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours ; lest they also bid thee again, and a recom- pence be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. 14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot re¬ compense thee : for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. 12 The scope of Christ here is not to forbid neighbours and friends feasting of one another, as a sin; for He alloweth it, as other necessary intercourses of human society ,· but He showeth, that such feastings in no wise avail to obtain any reward in heaven. Therefore, He saith not, “ lest it be sin unto thee,” but lest they bid thee again : as in another place, “ If ye be friendly to those, that are friendly to you, what reward have ye?” S. Matt. v. 46. Bede. Thy friends. —The friendship, which is founded on kindred tastes and congenial habits, apart from piety, is permitted by the be¬ nignity of Providence to embellish a world, which, with all its magnificence, will soon pass away ; but that, which has religion for its basis, will ere long be transported, in order to adorn the Paradise of God. Ps. lv. 15. B. Hall. 13 How much the poorer He is, so much the more doth Christ come and visit us. Heb. xiii. 1, 2. Chrysostom. (Horn. 2. in Coloss.) 14 Our Lord by no means deters us from acting with a view to some recompense. He only proposes to us one, that is eternal, in preference to one, merely temporal; one from God, instead of one from man. If we feast the rich, we have our recompense in the return, made by the rich. If we feast the poor, we have “a reward in heaven” from the hands of Him, who has conde¬ scended to identify Himself with their low and helpless estate, vi. 32—35 ; S. Matt. xxv. 45. J. F. What is the peculiar character of the precepts laid down in the New Testament, in consequence of which they do not pass away, like the ordinances of the Law of Moses, b\it spread S. LUKE XIV. 14. 397 from land to land, and are handed down from generation to generation, and, wherever the Gospel is known, serve as a guide of life and practice to all classes, and conditions of mankind ? Their peculiar character is, that the Apostles, doing, as their Master had done before them, when they gave a rule for what was to be done in any case, or on any occasion, were not satisfied with giving the bare rule, but to the rule added the principle,* which was the ground of its wholesomeness and worth. . . . Having given us thus much, having given us the seeds of all rules, He has left us in great measure to grow the rules for ourselves ; He has left us to apply the principles to particular cases, and so draw the rules for each case out of them. xix. 10; S. Mark ii. 27; Horn. xiv. 7—9; 1 Cor. vii. 19, 29 ; Col. iii. 1. A. W. Hare. (Serm. Col. ii. 20.) Our religion has nothing to do with accepting men’s persons, nor does it look so much to people’s station in life, as to their tem¬ pers ; Servum et nobilem de moribus pronunciat. It defines what is servile and what is noble, by reference to moral character. Sola apud Deum libertas est non servire peccatis ; summa apud Deum nobilitas est clarum esse virtutibus. With God, to be free from sin is the only true liberty ; with God, to excel in virtue is the highest pedigree. Prov. xxii. 2 ; Acts xvii. 11. S. Jerome. (Ad Celant. Ep. 14.) The happiness of souls, while sequestered from their bodies, is in the degree of it less perfect before, than it shall be after the resurrection : It consists rather in a total release from sin and misery, in a joyful retrospect upon their past labours and holi¬ ness of their lives, and a certain prospect of their future bliss, than in a full participation of their ultimate reward. . . . Our Saviour assigns the punctual time of repayment, when He pro¬ mises, that they shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. x. 35; 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; Dan. xii. 3. Bp. Smalridge. (Serm. on text.) There is no place, where we may so safely lay up our treasures, as in the hands of the poor. Prov. xix. 17. S. Chrysostom. * The principle here would be, I ven ” the rule would be, Call the “ Seek ye first the kingdom of hea - I poor , 8(C. 398 S. LUKE XIV. 15. Via ccelipauper est. The poor man it is, who brings us to heaven. Ps. xli. 1. $. Augustine. Bis senos hie Gregorius pascebat egentes; Angelus hos inter septimus accubuit. 8. Gregory. (Posthumous inscription on his table.) 15 And when one of them that sat at meat with Him heard these things, he said unto Him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16 Then said He unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come ; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them : I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 15 God calls us to His Supper ; and it is supplied with dainties: we have in the Scripture, doctrinalem sapientiam ; in the Church, Sacramentalern Eucharistiam; in a devout conscience, spiritua- lem Icetitiam ; in glory, immortalem sufficientiam. Isa. xxv. 6; Acts x. 11, 12. Bertrandus. (In Evang. 2 post Pent.) The great king Ahasuerus, (Esther i.) who ruled over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces, is said to have made a feast at the palace at Susa, to all his princes and potentates, for a hun¬ dred and fourscore days together. The prophet tells us, that our Loud and King shall make a solemn feast to all His people in His holy mountain ; (Isa. xxv. 6, &c.) ; and that with such so¬ lemnity, tliat even the Son of God, and Master of the feast, shall condescend to gird Himself, and serve at it, (S. Luke xii. S. LUKE XIV. 15. 399 37.) What manner of entertainment shall this be ? A feast, not to last for any determinate number of clays, but millions of millions of ages ; a feast, not served up by men, but by the Angels, and the very Son of God Himself; not to display the riches of a few provinces, but the endless treasures of the King of Kings. How glorious, how joyful, how triumphant a festival shall that be! How inestimable the blessedness of those happy souls, who shall then sit down, and eat bread in the kingdom of God ! 0 wretchedly vain and stupid men, who are born to so high dignity, and yet cannot be prevailed upon, to consider, and desire, and esteem, their honour and happiness ! Ps. xsxi. 21. Parsons. (Christian Directory, P. i. c. xii. s. 2.) God hath given thee an Eternal inheritance, assured by an holy Covenant, made in the Word of God, signed with the Blood of His Son, and sealed with His Spirit and Sacraments. This shall be thine Eternal happiness in the kingdom of heaven, where thy life shall be a Communion with the Blessed Tkinity ; thy joy, the presence of the Lamb ; thy exercise, singing; thy ditty, Hallelujah ; thy consorts, Saints and Angels ; where youth flourisheth, that never waxeth old; beauty lasteth, that never fadeth ; love aboundeth, that never wasteth ; health continueth, that never slacketh; and life remaineth, that never endeth. Ps. xvi. 12 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9. Bp. Baity. (Practice of Piety.) O qui sidereas habitas, Hex Maxime, sedes, Quam Tua prse terris invidiosa dornus ! Solicitse procul hinc posuere cubilia curse, Et metus, et tristi luridus ore dolor. Bixseque, invidiseque, cruentaque sanguine bella, Monstraque, quse secuin plurima bella trahunt. Tabiiicique absunt, examina pallida, morbi, Quseque coliors letho prsevia sternit iter. Quin etiam letho interdictum moenibus urbis, Nec quicquam in Superum corpora juris habet. O ! qui sidereas habitas, Bex Maxime, sedes, Quot Tua deliciis affluit ilia domus ! Jam flagrat, et studio nimis inilammata videndi Mens desiderio deficit segra suo! Herm. Hugo. (Suspiria animae amantis, xiv.) 400 I S. LUKE XIV. 18. 18 If to pretend an excuse were sufficient to discharge a man from a fault, among so many offences, as are in the world, we should have much ado to find an offender. Those men, that are almost ever behind with their work, are yet seldom to seek for an ex¬ cuse. The disease is epidemical; I may say, (Ecumenical too. We have it by kind, derived in a perpetual line of succession from the loins of our first parents, (G-en. iii. 12, 13.) As Adam and Eve were not without their excuse, so neither was bloody Cain, their first-horn without his, (Gen. iv. 9.) Nor disobedient Saul without his, (1 Sam. xv. 15.) Nor churlish Nabal without his, (1 Sam. xxv. 11.) Nor (that I may spare the particulars, and take a world of them together) will the whole crew of cursed reprobates be without their excuse too, even then, when the last sentence is ready to be pronounced upon them, (S. Matt, xxv. 44.) Erom Adam the first sinner, who was then presently turned out of Paradise, unto the last damned wretches, who shall be then presently turned into hell, no sinful man hut hath, at some time or other, bewrayed the leaven of his na¬ tural hypocrisy, by excusing his transgressions. Such a prone¬ ness there is in all the sons of Adam, ad excusandum excusa- tiones in peccatis; that it may be said of all mankind, what is written of the guests, that were bidden to the great supper, They all began with one consent to make excuse. Rom. iii. 4, 19. Bp. Sanderson . (Serm. 2 on Prov. xxiv. 10—12.) The philosopher, who professes to he engaged in the investigation of truth, or the scholar, who can discover new beauties in the pages of heathen classical literature by his powers of criticism, are disposed to leave this question to the consideration of vul¬ gar minds. The tradesman has no time for acquainting himself accurately with the way of Salvation; but leaves it to the Clergy, whose business it is to consider it: the poor man ex¬ cuses himself from learning the way to he saved, because he has never been taught to read, or has no faculties or opportunity for learning. But the time will come to the scholar, when his reading must he at an end, and his hooks put up; and then his taste, and his learning, and refinement will hut poorly supply the want of the knowledge of the way of Salvation : the time is coming to the tradesman, when his accounts must close, and his S. LUKE XIV. 19, 20. 401 speculations be over; and then it will be of little consequence to him to know, how a fortune is to be raised, if he does not know how the soul may be saved: and to the poor man, the hour is hastening, when he will find it very hard to understand the nature of that Gospel, of which he learnt nothing in the course of his former life. S. John vi. 27 ; Heb. ii. 3. H. Martyn. (Serm. Acts xvi. 29, 31.) The young think themselves too giddy, the middle-aged too full of occupation, the poor too full of cares, the rich too full of busi¬ ness ; professional employments keep the men, the trials of a family the women, and so, by common consent, they stay away from the Communion, thinking they are but treating with due reverence so great a mystery. Heb. iii. 12, 13. Bp. Wilber- force. (Preface to Eucharistica.) 19 There is no harm in saying, I have bought five yoke of oxen , fyc. if we do not add thereto, I pray thee have me excused. But how soon do we learn to call things by wrong names, and so to cheat and deceive our own souls, because “ we love to have it so.” Sallust notices this feature in the licentious times of Catiline ; Nos vera rerum vocabula amisimus. We hear men talking of their anxious worldly cares, as duties, that must be attended to ; of their needless superfluities, as necessary comforts, befitting their station in life ; of their worldly amusements, as being ne¬ cessary recreation. In the meantime God is forgotten; this world becomes all in all; and the gracious voice, which alone can save, is heard in vain ; for “ other Lords have got the do¬ minion over us.” Isa xxxii. 5; Eph. v. 6. J. F. Woe unto the sins of men, because we only shrink from the commission of extraordinary crimes ; but things, ordinarily done in the world, for which the Blood of the Son of God was poured out, these, however great, and although they be such, as to exclude us from the kingdom of heaven, by seeing so often committed we are compelled first to tolerate ; and then, by so often tolerating, ourselves to practise. 1 Cor. v. 6. S. Augus¬ tine. (Ep. 67.) 20 The persons mentioned before, excused themselves civilly; this man bluntly declares He cannot come. Some damn themselves D D 402 1 S. LUKE XIV. 20. in a rude and brutal; others in a civil well-bred manner. Quesnel. When grace and life appear, and make proffer of themselves, all our carnal affections, like them in the Gospel, join all with one con¬ sent to mahe excuses; nothing in our whole lives we are so solici¬ tous for, as to get off fairly, to have made a cleanly apology to the invitations of God’s Spirit, and yet for a need, rather than go, we will venture to be unmannerly: we have all married a wife , espoused ourselves to some amiable delight or other; we cannot , we will not come . Zeph. iii. 2 ; Jer. iii. 1—8. Or. Hammond. (Serm. Ezek. xviii. 31.) A bove them all, this married man was the worst; here was neither wit nor manners. He not only answers churlishly in a blunt carelessness, I cannot come , but injuriously on wedlock lays the necessity of his absence.Surely he takes the text in too large a sense, that, because it says, “ a man shall leave all and cleave to his wife,” that therefore he shall leave God ; it is but the father and mother on earth, and not the Father of Heaven that for her we may forsake. 1 Cor. vii. 33. 0. Feltham. (Serm. entitled “ Something upon S. Luke xiv. 20.”) Quid est vitium ? Frui utendis, uti fruendis. What is vice ? It is our finding enjoyment in the creatures, which were only given us for use, and our mere use, as it were, of God and hea¬ venly things, which were given us for enjoyment. Quid est vir- tus ? Uti utendis , frui fruendis. What is virtue ? It is our using what is given us for use, and finding our happiness in what was designed to make us happy. Jer. ii. 11—13. S. Augustine. (Tract. 2, in Epist. Joan.) 21 So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. S. LUKE XIV. 21, 23. 403 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. 21 Showed his lord these things. —There are four things which I would not have for all the world against me; the Word of God, my own conscience, the prayers of the poor, and the account of godly Ministers. (See Illustr. S. Matt. xiv. 12.) P. Henry. Not only are they free from sin, who are angry with a proper cause, but, on the contrary, they would sin, if they were not angry. Ira illius non ex passione est, sed ex causd. It is the cause, and not any resentment of their own, which calls forth their anger. S. Mark iii. 5. S. Augustine. Because the rich were so absorbed in their lands, oxen, and wives, that they cared not for His entertainment, He calls the poor, that had not money wherewith to buy lands, or oxen, nor the means of marrying, when they were not able to maintain wives. He calls also the infirm , that could not go abroad, &c., .... How these, that were freed from all such impediments as detained the others, when admitted to the great Supper, might congratulate even their infirmities, and find cause to bless the Lord, whose will it was that they should be poor, and weak, and blind, and lame.Never let us repine at the Provi¬ dence of God, even when it is lowest and hardest with us in the world. God may be kindest to us, even when He seems to deal sharpest with us. vii. 22; xvi. 25 ; Bom. viii. 18. Card. Bel- larmine. (De eterna felicitate. Lib. v. c. 5.) 23 As I said before, so I say again ; Turn you, turn you ! Bepent you, repent you! cease from doing evil, study to do well; away with idolatry ; leave off swearing; cut off carnality ; abandon avarice; drive away drunkenness ; flee from fornication and flattery; from murder and malice ; destroy deceitfulness, and cast away all the works of darkness. Put on piety and godli¬ ness ; serve God after His Word, and not after custom; use your tongues to glorify God by prayer, thanksgiving, and con- d d 2 404 S. LUKE XIV. 23. fession of the truth. Be spiritual, and by the Spirit mortify carnal affections. Be sober, holy, true, loving, gentle, merciful; and then shall the Lord’s wrath cease, not for your doing’s sake, but for His mercies’ sake. iii. 18 ; Acts ii. 40. J. Bradford. (Letters.) I force not; I compel not; but each one I make lord of his own choice. Wherefore also I say, “ If any man will.” Lor I call you to good things, not to evil or burdensome, not to pun¬ ishment and vengeance, that I should have to compel. Nay, the nature of the thing is alone sufficient to attract you. If one were giving gold, or offering a treasure, would he invite with force ? And if that invitation be without compulsion, much more this to the good things in the heavens. If the nature of the thing persuade thee not to run, thou art not worthy to receive it at all; nor, if thou shouldest receive it, wilt thou well know what thou hast received. Deut. xxx. 19; Ps. cxix. 12 ; Prov. iii. 13—18. S. Chrysostom. (In S. Matt. xvi. 24.) Not that God compels men against their will, but rather makes them willing to come under His yoke, subjectionis cupidum. Isa. xxvi. 9 ; Hag. ii. 7. S. Prosper . That my house may be filled. —Por I would fain know, whether those texts, which declare God to be an universal lover of the souls of men, be not far more numerous and plain, than those which seemingly restrain His affections to a small select num¬ ber, and reprobate all the rest of mankind; and if it be so, as I think no modest man can deny, how can this doctrine be deduced from Scripture without forcing the far greater number of texts to subscribe to the smaller, and the plainer to the ob¬ scurer ? which is contrary to the most necessary rules of inter, pretation, and which, if pursued, will open a wide door to the grossest and most fulsome errors in religion. Wherefore, to secure our minds from false apprehensions of God, it is neces¬ sary, that in consulting the Scriptures concerning Him, we should follow the plain and general drift of it, and not entertain any opinion of Him upon the credit of a few, or of obscure texts, which more or plainer ones seemingly contradict. S. John iii. 16 ; 1 Tim. ii. 4 ; 2 S. Pet. iii. 9. Dr. J. Scott. (Christian Life. P. ii. c. 6.) S. LUKE XIV. 24. 405 That my house , fyc .—Grace will not suffer a vacuum any more than nature. 2 Cor. vi. 12. Bengel. 24 The unworthy guests, as they all made excuses together for company, so were they all excluded from the great Supper toge¬ ther for company. And the damned reprobates, at the last day, shall not, with all their allegations, procure either stay of j udg- ment before sentence be pronounced, or the least mitigation thereof after. S. Matt. xxv. 46 ; Prov. xvi. 5. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. 2 on Prov. xxiv. 10—12.) After supper there is no further provision of meat made: and if we neglect Christ, there is no other remedy left for us. xiii. 35 ; Heb. i. 1; ii. 1—4; x. 26. Gerard. (Medit. 16.) If we dread God’s displeasure, if we value our Lord and Ilis benefits, if w r e tender the life, health, and welfare of our souls, we shall not neglect it; for how can we but extremely offend God by so extreme rudeness, that, when He kindly invites us to His Table, we run from Him; that when He, with His own hand, offereth us inestimable mercies and blessings, we reject them ? And how can we bear any regard to our Lord, or be anywise sensible of His gracious performances in our behalf, if we are unwilling to join in thankful and joyful commemoration of them ? How little do we love our own souls, if we suffer them to pine and starve for want of that food, which God here dispenseth for their sustenance and comfort ? if we bereave them of enjoying so high a privilege, so inestimable a benefit, so in¬ comparable pleasures, as are to be found and felt in this service, or do spring and flow from it ? What reasonable excuse can we frame for such neglect P Are we otherwise employed ? What business can there be more important, than serving God and saving our own souls ? Is it wisdom, in pursuance of any the greatest affairs here, to disregard the principal concern of our souls ? Prov. i. 20—23. Dr. Barrow. (The Doctrine of the Sacraments.) O blessed Jesu ! the greater Thy compassion is to those sincere persons, who want Thy Sacraments by reason of their infelicity, not their choice, the greater will be Thy indignation against those, who wilfully neglect or contemn what Thy adorable love has ordained to be throughout Thy whole Church used and 406 S. LUKE XIV. 25, 26. revered: from which neglect and contempt of Thy love, Good Lord, deliver me ! Bp. Ken. (Expos, of Church Catechism.) 25 And there went great multitudes with Him : and He turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. 25 Our Lord here adopted a method of teaching on a large scale, such as before He had applied to an individual. The young ruler came running ; here great multitudes crowd after Jesus. Both are met with words of caution; the outward zeal and plausible show of religion is put to the test; and that test how severe ! Refer to viii. 4. J. F. Engaging in religion merely for the present comfort and satisfac¬ tion of it, or because it is the happiest kind of life, is doing it upon a mistaken motive; and if our expectations are not an¬ swered to the full, we shall grow weary of it, and fly to some¬ thing else. It should be for Eternity; and then we shall be set free from worldly desires, supported by hope, refuse no hard¬ ships, wait patiently, and continue steadfast unto the end. viii. 13; S. Mark iv. 16; 1 Cor. ix. 25. Adam. (Priv. thoughts, c. 9.) 26 Christ doth not here make a perfect enumeration of all the objects, which we ought for His sake to hate , or, which is all one, to love less, than we love Him ; but He reckons up such only, as it is most reasonable, and most natural, and most usual for us to love: and by peremptorily requiring us to love Him, more than these, doth much more exact of us that we should prefer Him to all other objects, which, being much less amiable than these, ought much less to come in competition with that love of Christ, which admits not even these to be loved in comparison of Him. Ps. lxxiii. 25. Bp. Smalridge. (Serm. S. James iv. 8.) S. LUKE XIV. 26, 27. 407 There is a nearer conjunction between Christ and the faithful, than there is with father and mother; of them we have esse natures , a being in nature; but of Christ esse Gratice, a being in Grace : of them, our being; of Christ, our well-being. To “ honour father and mother,” is the fifth commandment; but to honour God is the first commandment of the Law; to show that to honour God is above all. It is said, “ a man shall leave father, and mother, and shall live with his wife (S. Markx. 7 ;) but he must leave father, and mother, and wife, and all, to dwell in love with Jesus Christ. S. Jerome saith, “ if my father stood weeping on his knees before me, and my mother were behind me, pulling me back ; if all my brethren, sisters, kinsfolks, and children on every side, were about to retain me in a sinful life, I would despise them all, fling off my mother, run over my father, to go to Christ, who calleth me.” S. Johnii. 4; Gal. i. 16. Sutton. (Disce vivere, c. 23.) We are preparing for another state of existence, where the relations of parents and children, husband and wife, will be known no more. We shall be brought into a nearer relation to God Himself; and for that, some appropriate discipline is necessary here. xx. 35. H. Martyn. (Serm. Acts xxiv. 25.) Is not this a paradox ? For what shall it profit me, to love all things else, if I hate my own soul! Well, love it, as it is Christ’s soul, altogether ravishe'd with the love of Him : hate it, as it was thine own soul, altogether ravished with the love of the world. Tunc animam nostram bene odimus, cum ejus carnali- bus desideriis non acquiescimus, says S. Gregory. ... It is the hate of the soul, when we deny it satisfaction in foolish and earthly inclinations. Ps. cxix. 128. Bp. Hacket. (Serm. S. John iv. 14.) 27 Omnis Christianus est Crucianus. Every Christian is a Cross bearer. Luther. Schola Lucis schola Crucis. The Cross is God’s free school, where we learn much. Heb. x. 32 ; xii. 8. TVm. Bridge. These words (v. 26, 27,) may be called the Christian’s indenture ; every one, that would be Christ’s servant, must seal to this, before he hath leave from Christ to call Him, “Master:” wherein you see the chief provision Christ makes is about suf- 408 S. LUKE XIV. 27. fering work. S. John xiii. 13 ; Horn. viii. 13 ; 2 Tim. ii. 11— 14. Gurnall. The sublimest philosophy, that ever was, did never drive man out of himself for a remedy, did never teach man to “ deny him¬ self,” but to build up his house with the old ruins, to fetch stones and materials out of the wonted quarry. Gal. iv. 15. Bp. Reynolds. Crux quid non facit ? Ilia cordis sedem Deo construit, et sacrat Supremo. Quid ? Quod Crux quoque fabricet coronam, Pulchram, perpetuam, bonam coronam. . . . Quin scalas tibi malleumque prsestat, Illis ut superse Sionis arcem Scandas ; impetu fortiore ut isto Occlusi quatiens fores Olympi, Portas ingrediare sempiternas, Felix 0 ! Crucibus referta vita, Vitam quae tribuit beatiorem ! Haeftenus. (Via Peg. crucis, Lib. iii.) 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it ? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it , all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, going to make war against an¬ other king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whe¬ ther he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand ? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an embassage, and desireth conditions of peace. S. LUKE XIV. 28. 409 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that for- saketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple. 34 Salt is good : but if the salt have lost his sa¬ vour, wherewith shall it be seasoned ? 35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 28 When we resolve inconsiderately, we resolve we know not what, and our resolution includes a thousand particulars, that we are not aware of, most of which, being repugnant to our vicious in¬ clinations, will, when we come to practise them, be attended with such difficulties, as will easily startle our weak resolution, which, having not a sufficient foundation of reason to support it, will never be able to out-stand those boisterous storms of temp¬ tation, whereunto it will be continually exposed. If therefore, we mean our resolution should hold out, and commence a living principle of goodness, we must found it in a thorough conside¬ ration both of the duties and difficulties of religion, and of the motives, which should engage us to embrace it; we must set before our minds all the sins we must part with, and all the duties we must submit to, and fairly represent to ourselves all the difficulties and temptations, wherewith we must engage; and, as much as in us lies, render them actual and present to us, by supposing ourselves already engaged in our spiritual warfare, and surrounded with all the temptations, both from within and without, that we can reasonably expect will oppose themselves against us. ix. 42, 62 ; Ecclus. ii. 1—3; vii. 36; Prov. iv. 23— 27. Dr. J. Scott. (Christian life, p. i. c. 4.) Solus Christianus novit Satanam , saith Tertullian ; it is the charac¬ ter of a Christian alone, and it is peculiar to him, to know the devil, and his enterprises ; and difficile vincitur , qui potest de suis et adversarii copiis judicare, saith Vegetius ; it is a very hard matter to overcome him, who truly knoweth his own strength, and the strength of his adversary. 2 Cor. ii. 11. Farindon. (Serm. S. Matt. xxiv. 42.) The good seed fli the parable of the sower, that hath depth of 410 1 S. LUKE XIV. 29—33. earth , represents those persons, that seriously and profoundly consider, ii. 19, 51; vi. 48. Dr. Goodman. 29 To mock him. —Pride is its own punishment; for nothing makes men more contemptible in the sight of others. Veniat ergo in mentem , quanta erit ilia derisio. Hab. ii. 5, 6. S. Chrysostom. Perfect your salvation; he not Christians by halves, but go through with it. “Work out” (Phil. ii. 12.) The thorough Christian is the true Christian. Gurnall. Be not unstable in thy resolutions, nor various in thy actions, nor inconstant in thy affections. So deliberate, that thou mavest resolve ; so resolve, that thou mayest perform; so per¬ form, that thou mayest persevere. Mutability is the badge of infirmity. Bom. viii. 18 ; Acts xx. 18—24. F. Quarles. 31 Twenty thousand. —If then a man overcome covetousness, covet¬ ousness being overcome, some evil affection will assail thee ; if that evil affection be strangled, vain glory will allure thee; if vain glory be despised, wrath and a desire of revenge will in¬ cense thee ; if wrath be pacified, then pride will puff thee up ; if pride be allayed, some other enemy will step in to give thee a fresh assault, viii. 30. S. Cyprian. The spiritual war admits of no intermission. It knows no night, no winter. It abides no peace, no truce. It calls us not into garrison, where we may have ease and respite, but into pitched fields continually. We see our enemies in the face always, and are always seen and assaulted, ever resisting, ever defending, receiving and returning blows. If either we be neg¬ ligent, or weary, we die: what other hope is there, while one fights, and the other stands still? We can never have safety and peace but in victory. Then must our resistance be coura¬ geous and constant, when both yielding is death, and all treaties of peace mortal. Isa. ix. 5 ; Ps. cxliv. 1. Dp. Hall. (Holy observations, 25.) 32 Spiritual fortitude is conferred upon us, ut providos faciat, non ut prcecipites tueatur , so as to render us cautious against dangers, but not to preserve us, when we rashly run into them. iv. 9— 12 ; xi. 4. S. Cyprian. 33 Whosoever of you .— (Any man , ver. 26.) One ground of prac¬ tical unbelief is, that generalities can be cheaply believed, with- S. LUKE XIV. 33, 34. 411 out parting with any thing we prize. But particular applica¬ tion is very difficult. This is a “ bloody ” word, as Moses’ wife counted the Circumcision ; too harsh and rough to be received with such pampered tender fleshy hearts. Dr. Hammond. (Serm. Jer. v. 2.) What is it to love God with all ? Surely it is to love Him sine divisione , et sine remissione. None of our abilities must be di¬ vided. . . . We must not, as the Scripture speaks, have a heart and a heart; a heart for God and a heart for the world. And then none of our abilities must be slack, in doing His work. 1 Sam. v. 2, 3 ; Ps. lxxiii. 24. Bp. Lake. (Serm. S. Matt. xxii. 27.) Everything, which I had, I devoted unto Him, who Adopted and Redeemed me, health, riches, reputation, eloquence itself; of which the choicest fruit was the reflection, that I was possessed of something, which I might despise for Cubist. 2 Cor. v. 14. S. Gregory Nazianzen. (Apol.) Si nihil amando possidetis, etiam possidendo relinquitis. If you do not love these things, while you possess them, you forsake them, even while you possess them. Relinquere possumus etiam reti- nendo. We may retain them ; and yet leave them. Ps. iv. 8. S. Gregory. 34 He told His Apostles, that this self-denial (ver. 33) was pecu¬ liarly necessary for them, because it was the spiritual salt, that would preserve them from apostacy, and others from corruption ; as it would not only enervate the temptation, to which they were exposed, but its beauty, appearing with great lustre in their be¬ haviour, would allure others to become disciples and true subjects of His kingdom. Acts ii. 45 ; iv. 33—37. Macknight. (in loco.) If a Minister be not a good man, he must needs be extremely bad ; for he daily conversetli in the Holy Scriptures, and there sees and reads such things, that, if they do not effectually per¬ suade him to piety, it is certain, he is a man of an obdurate heart.Our Saviour, methinks, doth excellently represent the hopeless condition of a vicious Minister, by a parable, when speaking to the Apostles (considered, I suppose, as Ministers of the Word), He tells them, Ye are the salt, fyc. Salt, if it be good, is of excellent use to season many things; but, if it 412 S. LUKE XVI. 34. become itself unsavoury, it is not only the most useless thing, good for nothing , fyc., but irrecoverably lost: there is nothing will fetch putrid salt again, For if the salt , fyc. Thus necessary is holiness in a Minister, both for himself and others. Acts i. 16—20. Bp. Bull. (Visit. Serm. S. James iii. 1.) Although it be true that the efficacy of the Sacraments does not depend wholly upon the worthiness of him that ministers, yet it is as true, that it does not wholly rely upon the worthi¬ ness of the receivers ; but both together, relying upon the good¬ ness of Gon, produce all those blessings which are designed. The Minister hath an influence into the effect, and does very much towards it; and if there be a failure there, it is a defect in one of the concurring causes: and therefore an unholy Bishop is a great diminution to the people’s blessing .... a great calamity to the flock, which he is appointed to bless and pray for. How shall he reconcile the penitents, who is himself at enmity with God P How shall the Holy Spirit descend upon the symbols at his prayer, who does perpetually grieve Him, and quench His holy fires, and drive Him quite away ? How shall he, that hath not tasted the Spirit by contempla¬ tion, stir up others to earnest desires of celestial things ? or what good shall the people receive, when the Bishop lays upon their head a covetous, or a cruel, an unjust, or an impure hand ? But, therefore, that I may use the words of S. Jerome, Cum ah Episcopo gratia in populum transfunditur, et mundi toiius et Ecclesice totius condimentum sit Episcopus; since it is intended that from the Bishop grace should be diffused amongst all the people, there is not in the world a greater indecency than a holy office, ministered by an unholy person; and no greater injury to the people than, that of the blessings, which God sends to them by the Ministries Evangelical, they should be cheated and defrauded by a wicked steward. Ecclus. xlv. 26. Bp, J. Taylor. (Serm. S. Luke xii. 42.) S. LUKE XV. 1. 413 CHAPTER XV. ΓΠΗΕΝ drew near unto Him all the Publicans and sinners for to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying, This Man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And He spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it ? 5 And when he hath found it , he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. 1 Then drew near unto Him, fyc. —The fresh and delicious scent of Thy wonderful mercy invites us to “ run after Thee,” when we are told, that Thou despisest not humble suitors, and dost not abhor mourning sinners. We know, O Lord, full well, that Thou didst not reject the thief, that confessed Thee; nor the sinful woman, that washed Thy feet with her tears; nor the Canaanitish stranger, that humbly expostulated her case with Thee ; nor the woman, taken in adultery, when brought before Thee ; nor the publican, that followed Thee ; nor that disciple, that denied Thee; nor that other, that persecuted Thee ; nor 414 S. LUKE XV. 1—3. Thy murderers and tormenters, who scourged and crucified Thee. All these, O Lord ! are so many rich perfumes of Thy most sweet clemency : and by the fragrancy of these, Thy ointments, we follow and gladly “ run after Thee.” S. Bernard. (In Cant, i. 3, 4.) Christus est succinum, ad congregandas sibi stipulas et paleas. Christ was like the precious amber, that attracts straws and chaff. S. Jerome. (In S. Matt, xv.) 2 Tor according to a Jewish tradition, yet extant in their writings, it is reckoned as one of the six scandals, that those higher Orders of religionists are charged by all means to avoid ; namely, to dine, eat, or drink, with such (persons of known bad character). Now this seems to be the first occasion of quarrel against our Saviour, that He, pretending to be some extraordinary person, at least a student of the Law, did not use such branded persons with the same supercile and disdain, that their great men were wont to do, but familiarly discoursed, eat, and drank, with them. S. Matt. ix. 10, 11. Or. Goodman. (The Penitent Pardoned, p. i. c. 2.) Tenderness of affection, towards the most abandoned sinners, is the highest instance of a Divine and godlike soul. Ps. lxviii. 18 ; S. Luke xxiii. 34. Wm. Law. 3 If we were to select from the four Gospels indiscriminately those parables, and those expressions, which most of all speak of mercy and remission of sins to the returning penitent, we should find that most of them would be found in the Gospel of S. Luke exclusively. Here we have throughout the Healer of men, that Great Physician, from whose garments healing went forth ; for every part of the narrative, as it drops from the pen of this gentle Evangelist, is, as S. Jerome says, “the medicine of the weak and sickly soul.” Isaac Williams. By similitudes, drawn from the visible parts of nature, a truth in the understanding is, as it were, reflected by the imagination. We are enabled to see something, like colour and shape, in a notion ; and to discover a scheme of thought traced out upon matter. And here the mind receives a great deal of satisfac¬ tion, and has two of its faculties gratified at the same time, while the fancy is busy in copying after the understanding, and S. LUKE XY. 4, 5. 415 transcribing ideas out of the intellectual world into the material. Prov. xxv. 11. Addison. (Spectator, No. 421.) 4 Who are these ? the father, the shepherd, and the woman ? Is not God the Father, Christ the Shepherd, the Church the woman ? Christ, who took upon Himself thy sins, bears thee in His body; the Church seeks thee out; the Father welcomes thee home. S. Ambrose. The sheep, the piece of money, the lost son —the foolish sinner, the senseless sinner, the wilful sinner. Bengel. The three parables have much in common; but what is distinctively taught in each seems to be—in the lost sheep, our danger by sin; in the piece of silver, our soul’s value, as made after the image of God; in the prodigal son, man’s repentance and the Father’s love. J. F, If you want a subject of meditation, best calculated to raise your spirits out of a sluggish and morbid state, and to “ fill you with all joy and peace in believing,” you will find it in those parables (S. Luke xv.), illustrated by the commentary of your own experience. Apply to your own case the man, leaving his ninety and nine sheep, in order to go to seek after that one, which was lost , and seeking it too, till he find it; determined upon its recovery; tracing it through all its wanderings; bearing with all its waywardness ; and, when he hath found it, not driving it back with blows, or frightening it with threats and reproaches, but laying it on his shoulders, rejoicing. I cannot supply the com¬ mentary ; but you can: you can tell how far you had wandered, and how grievously you resisted, and how gently He approached you, and how graciously He assisted you, and how, when you were recovered, when you were actually restored to his fold, you had a sense of inward joy and peace shed abroad in your heart, which might well be regarded as an echo of His own re¬ joicing, a sympathy with the joy, in the presence of the Angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth. Ps. ciii. 1—4 ; Isa. liii. 6; 1 S. Pet. ii. 25. T. II. Hankinson. (Lect. on Ps. xxiii. p. 2.) 5 Layeth it on his shoulders.—Multum enim errando laboraverat; for the poor sheep was quite exhausted by its straying so far from the fold. Tertullian. (De poenit. c. 8.) In His Life, He sought the sinner, till He found him; in His 416 S. LUKE XV. 6, 7. Death, He laid him on His shoulders ; in His Eesurrection, He rejoiced for him; in His Ascension, He did open the doors of heaven, and bring him home to His Father’s house. Ezek. xxxiv. ; S. John xiii. 1. Panygarola. The braces of the cross are the shoulders of Christ. S. Ambrose. He does not say, “Eejoice with the sheep found,” but Rejoice with Me : because truly our life is His joy, and, when we are brought back safe to heaven, we complete the festival of His delight. Heb. xii. 2; Acts ix. 4. S. Gregory. (Horn. 34, in Evang.) 6 Every sinner, that repents, causes joy to Christ ; and the joy is so great, that it runs over and wets the fair brows and beau¬ teous locks of Cherubims and Seraphims; and all the Angels have a part of that banquet. Then it is, that our blessed Lord feels the fruits of His holy death, the acceptation of His holy sacrifice, the graciousness of His Person, the return of His prayers. Isa. liii. 11. Bp. J. Taylor. (Serm. 2 Cor. v. 10.) There is no greater sign of holiness, than the procuring, and re¬ joicing in, another’s good. Bom. i. 9 ; Eph. i. 16 ; Phil. i. 4, 23. G. Herbert. 7 The Salvation of one sinner is a far greater donation of grace, than the perseverance of a world of righteous. Sir J. Haring - ton. (Divine Medit. on faith.) As a ploughman may rejoice more over one bad acre, that brings him in a good crop, than over all the rest of his land. Dean Boys. Poenitentes cautiores , humiliores, ferventiores resurgunt. Angels more rejoice for the conversion of one penitent, because he rises again from his state of sin more full of watchfulness, of humility and of godly zeal. 1 Cor. xv. 10; 2 Cor. vii. 11. S. Gregory. We may well suppose that this their joy is “ not without song;” while, on earth, there is music and dancing to welcome the re¬ turning prodigal. Thus the chapter combines those two dis¬ tinguishing features of S. Luke’s Gospel; the consolation of penitents, together with “ the Psalm, and hymn, and spiritual song.” Yer. 25 ; i. 46, 68; ii. 14, 29. J. F. It cometh to pass by the Providence of God, that S. Luke’s Gos¬ pel is more cheerful than all the rest; so that he is well called S. LUKE XV. 8. 417 by one, not only the Evangelist, but “the Psalmist of the New Testament.” The song of Zachary, the song of Mary’s Magni¬ ficat, the song of Simeon, the song of the Angels, the Church is beholden to him for reciting them, and to no other penman of the Holy Word. S. Paul calls him, “Luke the physician;” some of the Eoman Church, to serve their own imagery delights, out of some histories unallowed, call him, “ Luke the painter;” there is no conjecture for that out of the Books of Scripture, which cannot lie; but I have more conjecture for my own opinion, that he was “ Luke the musician,” a man of divers gifts and qualities: for the Prophets and Evangelists wrote the Scriptures by Divine Revelation, yet always with a sweet tinc¬ ture of their own abilities: the stately eloquence of Isaiah shows his breeding; S. Paul’s logical arguments show his scholarship; S. Peter’s facile exhortations show his zeal and plain education : finally, if I be not deceived, the repeating of so many celestial hymns in S. Luke shows his musical art and affection. 1 Cor. xiv. 32. Bp. Hacket. (Serm. S. Luke ii. 14.) 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it ? 9 And when she hath found it, she calletli her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me ; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. 8 The woman, who had lost the piece of silver, found it, not without doors, but within ; it was in domo mundatd , when her house was made clean; but it was within the house, and within her own house. Make clean thy house by the assistances, which Ciieist affords thee in His Church; and thou shalt never fail of finding that within thee, that shall save thee. Gen. xviii. 9; Ps. ci. Or. Donne. E E 418 1 S. LUKE XV. 9, 10. 9 The piece of money is found, when the Image of God is restored in man. Eph. iv. 23 ; Col. iii. 10 ; Bey. xxii. 4. Hugo de S. Viet. 10 God, which moveth mere natural agents, as an efficient only, doth otherwise move intellectual creatures, and especially His holy Angels; “for beholding the face of God,” (S. Matt, xviii. 10,) in admiration of so great excellency, they all adore Him, and being rapt with the love of His beauty, they cleave inseparably for ever unto Him. . . . Desire to resemble Him in goodness maketh them unweariable and even unsatiable in their longing to do, by all means, all manner of good unto all the creatures of God, but especially unto the children of men; in the counte¬ nance of whose nature, looking downward, they behold them¬ selves beneath themselves; even as upward, in God, beneath whom themselves are, they see that character, which is no where, but in themselves and in us resembled. Ps. xci. 11, 12; S. Luke xv. 7 ; Heb. i. 14; Acts x. 3. Hooker. (Eccl. Pol. B. i. c. iv. 1.) Heaven takes notice of the conversion of a sinner; there is a quire of Angels, that sweetly sings the Fpithalamium of a soul, divorced from sin and Satan, and espoused unto Cheist. Isa. lxi. 10; S. John iii. 29. R. Cudworth. (Serm. 1 S. John ii. 3, 4.) As Cheist had an anthem at His birth, a full quire of the hea¬ venly host praising God, so shall we at our’s; joy and triumph at the birth of a Christian, at his assimilation to Cheist ; for every real resemblance of Cheist is an Angel’s feast; and An¬ gels, and Archangels, and dominions, and powers, shall triumph at these, our (γενέθλια, at this feast of our Degeneration. Ps. lxxxvii. 6, 7. Farindon. (Serm. Heb. ii. 17.) Poenitentium lachrymce vinum Angelorum. The tears of the peni¬ tent compose the wine of Angels. S. Bernard. If prodigals are pardoned, why should publicans despair ? If An¬ gels rejoice in a sinner’s conversion, why should Pharisees mur¬ mur ? J. F. We may be confident, that our Loed had no design to put any slight upon men, who constantly lead a regular life, nor to prefer a returning penitent before a person, who has held an uninter- S. LUKE XV. 11. 419 rupted course of piety and virtue. . . . The man, who had lost one sheep out of the hundred, did not value that lost, above the ninety-nine left; no, nor above any single sheep of the whole number, so far as appears: to be sure, he would not have parted with any one of the whole, for the recovering of what was lost; because that would have been doing nothing, but endeavouring to repair one loss by another; and indeed by a greater, all things considered.The very turn and structure of the three several Parables abundantly show, that it was no design of our Loed to prefer a late penitent before a person of an even and uniform life, much less to prefer one single such penitent before numbers of the better kind. The Parables themselves convey no such thought: but it would be absurd to interpret a few parti¬ cular words of somewhat doubtful meaning against the plain and undoubted drift or tenor of the whole discourse. Ps. xvi. 3 ; Eccl. xii. 1; Titus ii. 6. Or. Waterland. (Serm. on text.) 11 And He said, A certain man had two sons : 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son ga¬ thered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 11 This parable of the prodigal son is the most remarkable of all those, which were delivered by our Saviour, as bein^ the most passionate and affecting, set out and adorned with the most lively colours and beautiful similitudes.Though we are not solicitously to inquire for a moral meaning of every passage in these allusive discourses; yet in this parable, where the phrases made use of are by other scriptures interpreted to such E E 2 420 * 4 S. LUKE XV. 12. a particular sense, it is unreasonable to neglect it. Grotius. (in loco.) 12 Liberty, unseasonably obtained, is commonly intemperately used. Lam. iii. 27. Palmer. (Aphor. 128.) Cur vanis malb credulum Irretire animum pergis amoribus, Fortunae toties fidem Expertus nimium fallere lubricam ? Tandem desine vitrea Insanire Dea: quam cupide simul Amplexaberis insolens, Mcerebis laceras flebiliter manus. Eelix vulnere si tamen Tantillo monitus, prsecipiti caput Eracturam tibi pondere Mature fugias. Joan. Commirius. (Carm. lib. iii. ode 18.) "We should always endeavour to realize under temptation all the consequences of compliance, as they will afterwards appear to us. xiv. 28. T. Scott. The substance, w r hich the Father divided amongst his sons, was reason, which God gave in common to all mankind, and that in conjunction with freedom of mind: for every being, that hath the use of reason, hath also liberty of election ; the latter affording a field, or theatre, for the former to act upon, and the former enabling him to use the latter well. Isa. i. 18—20. Theophylact. (in loco.) 12, 13 For I believe I may truly affirm, that if there were a scru¬ tiny made into all the discontents of mankind, for one, that is fastened upon any great considerable calamity, there are many that are founded only in the irregularity of our own desires. . . Let men never think then, that contentment is to be caught by long and foreign chases; he is likeliest to find it, who sits at home, and duly contemplates those blessings, which God has brought within his reach, of which every man has a fair propor¬ tion, if he will advert to it.' For besides these external ac¬ cessions (of which the meanest have some, the middle sort a great deal, and the uppermost rather too much) man is a prin- S. LUKE XV. 13. 421 cipality within himself, and has, in his composure, so many ex¬ cellent impresses of his Maker’s power and goodness, that he need not ask leave of any exterior thing to be happy, if he know hut aright, how to value himself. Gen. iv. 16 ; S. Luke vii. 24. (The Art of contentment , s. iii.) 13 True felicity once dwelt in man; but nothing now remains, save the trace and empty outline, which he incessantly strives to fill up with all that surrounds him, seeking in absent things the help, which things present are unable to afford him, and which both are incapable of yielding, because this infinite gulf can only be filled by an infinite and unchangeable object. Eccl. vii. 29 ; Rev. xviii. 12, 13. Pascal. A Church cannot certainly plant virtue in the old, nor can a school in the young. Their own will, when they enter into life, re¬ mains for trial. God tries them by it. Previous discipline may instruct and prepare them ; but the scene of probation lies beyond the school. Lusts and passions, which hitherto have been dormant, will solicit; dissolute companions will attempt to make a prey of their unguarded minds ; false representations of things will be offered to them, in favour of sins made credi¬ table by custom and the popular voice; unhallowed practices, followed by others, will invite them into the same engagements. The very oracles, to which they trust, books, will betray them; whilst infidelity seeks to argue, and vice to flatter them, from their better sense. ... It were too great a blessing, and too high privilege, to be conceded to us, in our duty of instructing the young, if we could infallibly send forth good men and sound Christians in all, who pass under a religious instruction. But God’s own Infinite Spirit does not work in that manner ; nor therefore can any labours of our’s, which are entirely subor¬ dinate to Him, and must move within His circle of opera¬ tion. Gen. xxxiv. 1; 2 Tim. iii. 14. Davison. (Serm. for National School, preached in S. Hilda’s Church, South Shields, 1825.) Hinc vini atque somni degener discordia, Libido sordens, inverecundus lepos, Variaeque pestes languidarum sensuum. Hinc et frequenti marcida oblectamine 422 S. LUKE XV. 14, 15. Scintilla mentis intorpescit nobilis, Animusque pigris stertit in prsecordiis. Prudentius. (Hymn, de Jejun.) 14 Corpus, opes, animam, famam, vim, lumina scortum Hebilitat, perdit, necat, anfert, eripit, orbat. An Old Chronicler . (Quoted by Trapp, on Prov. vi. 26.) 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 15 "We may particularly learn from this fact, bow singular a good God is to us, inasmuch as nothing can turn out well to us, if we depart from Him. “ If thou dost depart from Me, and yet dost prosper, I am not thy good.” Ps. i. 1—4; 3 S. John 2. S. Augustine. Pruit, plucked oif the tree of Providence, before it is ripe (ver. 12,) will readily set the teeth on edge; the enjoyment brings not so much satisfaction and pleasure, as the want of it gives pain. Eccl. iii. 1. Boston. Prom self-love and self-will spring all sin and pain. Gen. iii. 6. Abp. height on. Pain is the consequent of sin, as shadows flow from dark bodies. Pom. vi. 21. Bonnell. Between carnal and spiritual pleasures, there is usually this dif¬ ference ; the first, when we are without them, excite in us strong desires, but, after their possession, they cloy and dis¬ satisfy ; it is quite the contrary with spiritual pleasures ; we have a distaste for them, as long as we are without them ; but possession produces the desire of them; and the more largely we partake of them the greater is our appetite and hunger. In illis appetitus placet , experientia displicet ; in istis appetitus vilis est, et experientia magis placet. In the first, the desire pleases us, the experience displeases; in these last, our desire is but S. LUKE XV. 15, 16. 423 faint, but our experience is delightful. 2 Sam. xiii. 15. S. Gregory. (Horn. 36 in Evang.) Who this citizen is, S. Jerome tells us; it is the devil; he is the busy negociator of this world, that “ goes about, seeking whom he may devour ;” and is ready to list those into his ser¬ vice, who (having mispent their talents,) are by a vicious ne¬ cessity disposed to his service. Dr. Goodman. We are by nature half Angel, half brute. We must rise towards the one, or sink towards the other, and at length associate to all eternity, either with Angels or devils. To feed, to strengthen, to exercise the spiritual part of us, is to rise. To feed, to strengthen, to exercise the brutal, is to sink and be lost for ever. Eom. viii. 13; Gal. vi. 7, 8. P. Skelton. (Serm. Gal. v. 17.) Crapula et ebrietas, solidi duo pondera plumbi, Nata polo sursum tendere corda vetant. Haeftenus. (Schola cordis. L. iii. lect. 3.) Humanse vitae scopulos, ante omnia, Deltas Tres fuge—Divitias, Daemona, Delicias. J. Owen. (Epigram.) 16 No man gave unto him. —If a child once contemns his parents, he exposes himself to be contemned by others.It is an unhappy question Cassianus asked an undutiful son; Quern alienum tibi fidum invenies , si tuis hostis fueris ? What stranger will he ever find faithful to him, that to his parents is become an enemy ? Qui fallere audehit parentes, qualis erit in cceteros ? What will he be to others, that is false to his own parents ? . . . To be false in our relations, is to break our trust, in which both religion and nature hath set us. Eom. i. 30, 31. O. Feltham. (Eesolves. Cent. ii. 18.) 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger ! 18 1 will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, 424 S. LUKE XY. 17. 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 17 Came to himself. —He, who returns to the Loed, se sibi reddit , comes hack again to himself; he who departs from Cheist, se sibi abdicat , forsakes himself. Jonah ii. 8. S. Ambrose. Why, it may be asked, does no one confess his faults ? Because he is still living in the midst of*them. Somnium narrare vigi- lantis est. A man must be awake to tell his dream ; and the acknowledgment of our faults is a proof of a right mind. vi. 41; Hos. vii. 9; Eph. v. 14. Seneca. (Ep. 53.) How many , fyc. —Behold the sad catastrophe of rash and thought¬ less voluptuousness ; it turns the man out into a strange coun¬ try, who might have lived happy in his father’s house ; it makes a beggar of one, that was rich; it changes the condition of a son into that of a slave, it compels him to feed filthy swine, who disdained the dutiful service of a gracious father. Lam. iv. 1 ; Heb. x. 29. Pet. Chrysol. (Serm. i.) Three things move men to compassion; simplicity, propinquity, necessity. So these three move God to pity ; first, our simpli¬ city, noted in the parable of the lost sheep, which is a silly creature; secondly, our propinquity, signified by the lost piece of silver; for a Christian hath God’s Image, and bears His Name ; thirdly, necessity, shown in the lost son, I perish with hunger. Ludolphus. (He vita Christi, p. ii. c. 7.) All the misery and distress of human nature, whether of body or mind, is wholly owing to this one cause, that God is not in man, nor man in God, as the state of his nature requires. It is because man has lost that first “Life of God,” in his soul, in and for which he was first created. Eph. i. 18. Wm. Law. None generally find more dissatisfaction in earthly things than those, who most indulge themselves in the enjoyment of them; those, who are most in love with the world, are frequently most jilted by it. Eccl. i. ii. Palmer. (Aphor. 866.) Quid, ah ! quid intuor Miser ? Tenent me compedes, Laterumque versant sordidum manus opus ; Et quse fovet me blandiens S. LUKE XV. 18. 425 Placido sinu voluptas, vera Dalila, Stringit minacem forficem. Pormidolosis in cavernis saltuum Cubile tellus exhibet, Solumque glandes se mibi dant pabulum: Pamis voratus dentibus, Perire cogor inter immundas sues. Supplex revertar ad Patrem ; Culpam fatebor, et profusis lachrymis, Ut caecus ille vitreis Siloes aquis se diluit, cor diluam, Quod uoxa fcedat sordibus. Card. Barberini. (Poem.) 18 I will arise. —He, that reflects upon tbe joys of heaven, will find it easy to practise virtue. Ps. xvi. 9—12. S. Chrysostom. (Horn. 16, in S. Matt.) Against Heaven —(an Orientalism for God, who dwells in Hea¬ ven , Dan. iv. 26 ; S. Matt. xxi. 25 ; S. John iii. 27. Yet the subjoined accommodation may be allowed.)—All the elements accuse me. The Heaven saith ; I have given thee light for thy comfort. The air saith; I have given thee all manner of fowls to be at thy command. The water saith; I have given thee divers kinds of fishes for thy meat. The earth saith; I have given thee bread and wine for thy nourishment: and yet thou hast abused all these to the contempt and dishonour of our Creator ; therefore let all our benefits be turned to thy punish¬ ments. The fire saith; let me burn him. The water saith; let me drown him. The air saith ; let me fan and winnow him. The earth saith ; let me swallow him up: and hell saith ; let me devour him Ps. lxix. 23. Gerard. (Medit. 1.) Doth God reward Ahab’s temporary humiliation ? and will He not much more reward thy hearty and unfeigned repentance ? Have the hypocrites their reward? and canst thou doubt of thine ? This was the very ground of all that comfort, where¬ with the prodigal son sustained his heart and hope, when he thus discoursed to his own soul; if all the hired servants , fyc., surely my father will never be so unmindful of me, who am his son, though too unworthy of that name, as to let me perish with 426 S. LUKE XV. 18—20. hunger. Every temporal blessing, bestowed upon tbe wicked, ought to be of the child of God entertained, as a fresh assurance, given him of his everlasting reward hereafter. Gen. xxv. 5, 6. S. Matt. v. 45; Acts xiv. 17; Gal. iv. 28, 31. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. 1 Kings xxi. 29.) I have sinned. —Such efficacy have three syllables. Borne on these three syllables, the fire of the sacrifice ascends before God in Hea¬ ven. xviii. 13. S. Augustine, (de Davide, dicente “ Peccavi.”) 19 The true way to allay the sense of our sufferings, is to sharpen that of our sins. The prodigal thought the meanest condition in his father’s family a preferment; make me as one of thy hired servants. And if we have his penitence, we shall have his sub¬ mission also, and calmly attend God’s disposal of us. Lam. iii. 39. ( The Art of contentment , s. 10.) 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 20 Arose. —This is most properly said; for, out of his father’s presence, he had not stood. Sinners lie prostrate; to stand up is the portion of the just. Ps. i. 6. S. Jerome. Because there is none but offend sometimes, there is therefore bound up in this new volume of ordinances, an eVAo/us, a New Testament, a Codicil of Kepentance, added to the Testament; that plank for shipwrecked souls, that city of refuge, that sanc¬ tuary for the manslayer, after sin committed. Acts v. 31; xi. 18. Or. Hammond. (Serm. Phil. iv. 13.) We are ever but beginning. The most perfect Christian is to himself but a beginner, a penitent prodigal, who has squandered God’s gifts, and comes to Him to be tried over again, not as a son, but as a hired servant, xi. 4; S. James iii. 2. J. II. Newman. S. LUKE XV. 20, 21. 427 He only, who lias a hope of pardon, will ever purpose repentance. Jonah iii. 9. S. Ambrose. The return of the sinner is expressed by the word going , (ver. 18,) but God’s coming to the sinner by running. God maketh greater haste to the sinner, than the sinner doth to God : God maketh much of our first inclination, and would not have it fall to the ground. Ps. xxi. 3. Farindon. He prevents the wicked with His grace, that he may become good; He follows the good with His grace that he may not become wicked. He prevents, in order to give light; He follows, that He may preserve the light given. He prevents those, who are fallen, that they may arise ; and keeps close to the risen, lest they fall. 1 Tim. i. 14. Fulgentius. Ho any desire to return to the way of righteousness ? God re¬ ceives them graciously, and embraces them. For He weighs repentance, not by number of years, but sincerity of heart. S. Matt. xx. 6—9. S. Augustine. 21 Father. —It is a great grace received, to be able, before we pray, to say u Father F For what now will the Father with¬ hold from His children’s supplications, when He hath already granted them this grace, to be His children P xii. 32 ; Bom. viii. 32. S. Augustine. He did not say, “ I am not thy son but “ I am no more worthy to be called thy sonF .... God’s children, after committing of grievous sins, and before their renewing their repentance, remain still heirs of heaven .... but disinlieritable for their misde¬ meanour ; married still to Christ, but deserving to be di¬ vorced for their adulteries ; citizens of heaven, but yet outlawed, so that they can recover no right, and receive no benefit, till their outlawry be reversed. T. Fuller. (Cause and cure of a wounded conscience. Dial. xiii. and vi.) Against Heaven and in thy sight. —He, who wilfully insults God with his vices, sins infinitely ; because he sins against Infinite Majesty. All indignities rise in proportion to the known gran¬ deur of Him, to whom they are offered, and in strict justice ought to be punished in the same proportion; if offered to our earthly father, they are an unnatural breach of filial duty, and are punishable with the forfeiture of his favour; if offered to 428 1 S. LUKE XV. 22. our King, they are rebellion and high treason, and are punish¬ able with the loss of honour, fortune, and life ; if offered to God, they are blasphemy and impiety, and punishable, as they are committed against the Infinite Being, with endless disgrace and misery. This gradation cannot be denied, without levelling God and all His creatures, and confounding all distinctions. S. Matt. xii. 31; Heb. x. 29. P. Skelton. (Serm. S. Matt, v. 46.) 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him ; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it ; and let us eat, and be merry : 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again: he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 22 The robe , which Adam lost by his sin, and in defect of which he covered himself with fig-leaves, that robe, which is called in another parable “the wedding garment.” Isa. lxi. 10. S. Jerome. Give My son a ring also, that he may have the earnest of the Holy Spieit ; and, carrying that about him, may be kept in safeguard by it; that, bearing My signature, he may both become formid¬ able to all his enemies, and may publicly appear the son of such a Bather. Eph. i. 13. S. Chrysostom. Put shoes on his feet, that the old serpent may not find him naked, so as to wound his heel, and that he may be able to tread upon the serpent’s head, and run without hindrance the way of God’s commandments. Eph. vi. 15. S. Chrysostom. The shoes may point to the Ministerial office, as well as to the ordinary duties of obedience ; for how “ beautiful are the feet of them,” that preach the Gospel of peace : and when more beautiful, as an illustration of the free and full riches of God’s grace, than when, as in the case of Paul, they are called to S. LUKE XV. 23, 24. 429 preach the Gospel, who before disobeyed, and, it may be, even persecuted it ? Eom. x. 15 ; Gal. i. 23, 24. J. F. 23 “ This feast of fat things,” is to be contrasted with the beggarly husks and swine’s relics; but it may also serve to remind us of the Sacramental Feast of Christ’s Body and Blood, which the Father hath prepared for penitent prodigals. Thus' the risen Lazarus sate at the supper table with Jesus (S. John xii. 1, 2). But it is very important here to notice that, though the father forgives his penitent son, he orders his servants to clothe him with the best robe, &c.; for so is God’s dispensation of grace in the Gospel. It is He, who pardoneth and absolveth “ all penitent believers,” but He employs His Ministers, to sign and to seal their forgiveness, in the administration of His holy "Word and Sacraments. They act in the Name and by the au¬ thority of Christ ; they are “ the stewards of the mysteries of God and what they do in this capacity, according to His will and ordinance, He allows and confirms, as though it were done by Himself. 1 Cor. iv. 1; S. John xx. 22, 23; Acts ix. 6, 17. J. F. The soul, which from a good moral, or less sinful, natural estate, is magis immutata, quam genita, rather changed, than regenerate, into a spiritual, goes through this business without any great noise; the Spirit entering into it in a “still small voice,” or at a breathing: but when a robustous obdurate sinner, shall be rather apprehended, than called,—when the sea shall be commanded to give up his shipwrecked, and the sepulchre to restore her dead, the soul surely, which thus escapeth, shall not be content with a mean expression, but will practise all the Hallelujahs and Magnificats, which the triumphant Liturgies of the saints can afford it. Acts xvi. 14, 26—31; Ps. cvii. 23— 30. Dr. Hammond. (Serm. 1 Tim. i. 15.) 24 My son—safe and sound.—Pcenitentia imitatur Baptismatis gra- tiam. The grace, allowed to repentance, bears a resemblance to that, first given us in Baptism. 1 S. John i. 9, 10. S. Jerome. And without these reserves of Divine grace (forgiveness of sin after Baptism), and after-emanations from the Mercy-seat, no man could be saved, and the death of Christ would become inconsiderable to most of His greatest purposes ; for none 430 S. LUKE XV. 24. should have received advantage, hut newly baptized persons, whose albs of Baptism served them also for a winding sheet. Bp. J. Taylor. (On repentance.) 24 Observe here, careful reader, that God sometimes fills the heart of the newly penitent with special inward consolations, uiltil they become established in His ways.Yet these are by no means the consequences of a more matured state of grace; but are rather, certain cordials and allurements of our Heavenly Eathee, such as are withholden from the more per¬ fect. Acts viii. 8, 39. Card. Caetanus. This sweet spiritual comfort is not meat for every mouth, but kept up in reserve for the beloved and chosen of God. A soul, immersed in sense and worldly pleasures, cannot be partaker of those dainties, nor will they dwell with polluted thoughts and designs. The Ark and Hagon could not stand upon the same altar; nor will Cheist submit to share the heart with mammon. God sent no manna, till all the provision of Egypt was spent, and this heavenly hidden manna is tied to the same rules; it will not descend, till vain cares and sinful inclinations are sent off to make room for it. Though God be liberal, yet is He not lavishly profuse. He will not “ cast His pearls before swine,” nor give out tastes and patterns to them, who have no disposi¬ tion to buy. Do but resolve unfeignedly to serve Him, and set about it in good earnest, and then this joy will flow in upon thee ; and as it never yet failed any man, so it will be sure not only to answer, but far exceed thy largest expectations. The evil habits of thy past naughty life shall be no bar to it. Eor so abundantly kind and tender is the God we serve, that He is forward in encouraging all, that sincerely return to Him, and takes particular care that they, who have forsaken Him long, and wandered far, shall meet with at least as friendly enter¬ tainment, when they flee to Him for mercy, as others, who never broke loose from Him at all. Ps. xxv. 13; S. John xiv. 21. Parsons. (Christian Directory, p. ii. c. 2, s. 2.) We must · take notice that in the account of God (as He has manifested in His Word,) the life of a man (as a man) is not indicated by sense and motion, but by virtue and the quicken¬ ing of the Spirit; nor is the crisis of our health to be taken S. LUKE XV. 24. 431 from the temperament of heat and moisture, but from the tem¬ perament of the love and fear of God in our hearts. S. Matt, viii. 22; 3 S. John 2. Dean Young. (Serm. Rom. xii. 1.) There is a kind of death, which we all expect to feel, that carries terror in the very sound, and all its circumstances are shocking to nature. . . . But there is another kind of death little re¬ garded indeed, little feared, little lamented, w r hich is infinitely more terrible; the death not of the body but of the soul; a death, which does not stupify the limbs, but the faculties of the mind ; a death, which does not separate the soul and body, and consign the latter to the grave ; but that separates the soul from God, excludes it from all the joys of His presence and delivers it over to everlasting misery; a tremendous death in¬ deed ! a death unto death. The expression of S. Paul is prodi¬ giously strong and striking ; 2 Cor. ii. 16 ; Heath unto death, death after death, in a dreadful succession, and the last more terrible than the first. Rev. xxi. 8. Davies. (Serm. Eph. ii. 1.) 25 Now his elder son was in the field : and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in : there¬ fore came his father out, and intreated him. 29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends : 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which 432 S. LUKE XV. 25, 28. hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; and was lost, and is found. 25 If thy son be given to lavish company, (ver. 13,) endeavour to stave him off with lawful recreations. Be cheerful with him, that he may love thy presence ; and wink at small faults, that thou mayest gain him. Be not always chiding, lest thou harden him; neither knit thy brow too often, lest thou discourage him. Bemember the discretion of a father oftentimes prevents the destruction of a child. Eph. vi. 4. F. Quarles. Music and dancing. —Have we not here the lawful, innocent, and even religious use of these recreations, as, at S. Matt. xiv. 6, the licentious and unlawful ? J. F. 28 Angry. —Beason to a mind, incensed with anger, is like a key to a lock, that is jumbled ; that is, it can do no good; and as a thief chooseth often the darkest night, and the fisher the water that is troubled, so Satan, to work many mischiefs in, chooseth a heart, that is troubled with anger. 1 Kings xxi. 4, 5. Bp. Babington. Quern fugis, ah ! demens ? Cur Christum spernis amantem ? Quae tandem Solymac Gentes consistere terra Invidia est ? Et nos fas coeli quserere regna. An frons beta parum, et dejecto lumina vultu, Quod profugus frater rediit genitoris ad sedes Post longum exilium, et per tot discrimina reruin ? En quanta natum genitor pietate minorem Accepit reducem ! Collo dat brachia circum, Amplexuque hseret, dulcique afiatur amore, Effunditque genis lachrymas, atque oscula libat; Ardentem ex humeris demittit murice vestem ; Includitque auro digitos, et crura cothurnis ; Tunc jugulat vitulum, et hetus convivia curat; S. LUKE XV. 29—31. 433 Talia amor teneat Te, Judse imitare parentem, Exque illo veram pietatem disce, fidemque Christiadas erga fratres ; da jungere dextram, Da, Juda, teque amplexu ne substrahe nostro, Sermonem Abramidse nostrum, ritusque sacrorum Accipiant, moresque et pacis foedera firment; Sintque idem casus, Solymam faciamus utramque TJnam animis; maneat nostros ea cura nepotes. Alex. Rosceus. (Virgilii Evangelisantis Christiados, Lib. xii.) 29 If God deals more sparingly with thee here, be of good com¬ fort. What He keeps from thee, He keeps for thee. If He gives thee not a kid to make merry with thy friends , mark what He saith, All that I have is thine ; Heaven, and glory, and im¬ mortality ; and let that satisfy thee. Contemnit prcesentia sola- tio futurorum , saith S. Jerome; the comforting expectation of the future lifts us above what is present. xvii. 25. Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. 1 Cor. xv. 58.) 30 Was come. —He speaks of him, as of a stranger, not saying, “ he returned.” (Refer to x. 37. Hervey.) Bengel. 31 Son, thou art ever with me. —This (the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration) may prove a solemn piece of comfort to some, who suspect their state more than they need, and think it is impossible, that they should be in a regenerate condition, because they have not as yet found any such notable change in themselves, as they see and observe in others. These men may as well be jealous they are not men, because they cannot re¬ member, when their soul came to them: if they can find the effects of spiritual life in themselves, let them call it what they will, a religious education, or a custom of well-doing, or an un¬ acquaintedness with sin; let them comfort themselves in their estate, and be thankful to God, who visited them thus betimes : let it never trouble them that they were not once, as bad as other men; but rather acknowledge God’s mercy, who hath prevented such a change, and, by uniting them to Him in the cradle, hath educated and nursed them up in familiarity with the Spirit. S. John iii. 8 ; Eph. vi. 4. Dr. Hammond. (Serm. Gal. vi. 15.) He so early and presently conceived a sense of piety, pane F F 434 S. LUKE XV. 31, 32. ante coepit perfectus esse, quam disceret, that his proficiency almost got the start of his receiving any instruction. Ps. viii. 2. Pontius, diaconus. (Life of S. Cyprian.) There are some persons, observes a Divine (a contemporary of Milton) on whom the Grace of God takes early hold; and the good Spirit, inhabiting these, carries them on, in an even con¬ stancy, through innocency to virtue; their Christianity hearing date with their manhood; and reason and religion, like warp and woof, running together, make up one web of a wise and exemplary life. 1 Kings xviii. 12. S. T. Coleridge. 32 There is a vast deal of difference betwixt a man whose vessel is entire, and richly laden, when he sails into the port of bliss, and him, who, after shipwreck, after swimming for his life, rides naked on a plank, ( tabula post naufragium. Tertullian .) and, after being dashed a hundred times against the rocks, at length is cast upon the sands half dead and almost bruised to pieces. S. John vi. 21; Acts xxvii. 41—44. S. Jerome. How nice is the observance of all the lesser proprieties of the nar¬ rative. The father in the midst of all his natural affection, is yet full of the moral significance of his son’s return; that he has come back another person from what he was when he went, or while he tarried in that far land ; he sees into the deep of his joy, that he is receiving him now indeed a son, once dead but now alive ; once lost to him, but now found alike by both. But the servant confines himself to the more external features of the case, to the fact, that, after all he had gone througli of excess and hardship, his father has yet received him safe and sound. Philem. 12—16. R. C. Trench. (On the Parables.) Why should the name of a Saviour, and despair be heard of in the same coasts ? If it breathe within the curtains of the Church, it is not Cheist, but the devil, and our sensuality, that brings it in. The end of His coming was to destroy it; for this He came into the world. For this He died. Ask Cheist, saith S. Basil, what He carries on His shoulders ? It is the lost sheep. Ask the Angels, for whom they rejoice ? It is for a sinner that repenteth. Ask God, for what He is so earnest, as to call and call again ? it is for those, who are now in their evil ways. Ask the shepherd, and He will tell you He left ninety and nine, to S. LUKE XV. 32. 435 find but one lost sheep ; His desire is on us, and He bad rather we would be guided by His shepherd’s staff, than be broken by His rod of iron. If thou wilt return, return. His wisdom hath pointed out to it, as the fittest way ; His justice yields, and will look friendly on thee, whilst thou art in this way, and mercy will go along with thee, and save thee at the end. If thou wilt, thou mayest turn; and if thou wilt turn, thou shalt not despair; or if a cloud overspread thee, it shall vanish at the brightness of mercy, as a mist before the sun. Ezek. xviii. 23 ; 2 S. Pet. iii. 9. Farindon. (Serm. Ezek. xxxiii. 11, p. 2.) O sweet Jestt, who didst leave the glorious Angels in Heaven, the damned spirits in hell, the just men on earth, and earnest into the world to call sinners only to repentance; seek me, Thy lost sheep ; save me, Thy lost son ; that there may be mirth in earth and rejoicing in Heaven “ over one sinner, that repent- eth, more than over ninety-nine, which need no repentance.” Ps. cxix. Bean Boys. (On Domin. Ep. and Gosp. 4 S. after Trim) Utinam serenus conspicer Parentis aspectum! ad pedes nam procidam, Gemensque coram proloquar: Eevertor ad Te poenitens; per invias Abduxit errantem vias Me culpa; peccavi, talentis traditis Abusus ; ad Te poenitens Eevertor. Ah! Te, qui Tui sunt muneris, Hie fletus, hie meus dolor Placent; et, O benigne, da, Pater, mihi, Tuas ut aedes incolam ; Tibique junctus caritatis annulo Hon amplius Te de seram. Hoc una, quae colore splendet coerulo, Praestare vestis est potis ; Hanc nullus usus, nulla deterit dies, Eur nullus aufert; hanc mihi Si largiare, corde dicam gestiens, Corusca sordet Purpura. r f 2 Card. Barberini. 436 S. LUKE XVI. 1. CHAPTER XVI. Λ ND He said also unto His disciples, There was a certain rich man which had a steward ; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee ? give an account of thy stewardship ; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do ? for my lord taketh away from me the steward¬ ship : I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 1 Every man is a steward of God. A threefold farm is en¬ trusted to his care, and of each farm he must prudently dis¬ pense the proceeds. The first is this world; temporal good things are its proceeds; these he must guard from the attacks of robbers, and distribute them, as entrusted to him, to the servants of his Lord, tlis second farm is his own body, which he must also protect, lest by the door of the bodily senses death get possession of his soul; the blessings of the body, as health, strength, &c., are to be used in God’s service and for His honour. Lastly, he has his soul, to be defended from all evil thoughts; all his spiritual powers are to be employed in matters relating to the knowledge, the honour and the love of God. . . . They are well called “ His goods;” quia bona nostra D ei sunt , authoritate ; sed nostra sunt , utilitate. What we have of good, belongs to God, as its author, but to ourselves in the use we make of it. Ludolphus. (in loco.) I will never trust any man not of sound religion; for he, that is false to God, can never be true to man. xviii. 1—4 ; Ps. liii. 1—4. Lord Bacon. S. LUKE XVI. 1—4. 437 1 would gladly know how any man is thoroughly and truly just, who is perpetually guilty of the most atrocious injustice we can think of ? Such is the man, whoever he be, that does not love his Maker as he ought. It is true he is only unjust to God ; he only wrongs himself; he never wronged his neigh¬ bour, it may be, all his life. But what would you say of a steward, who only cheated his Master? Would you think him a just man, because he never cheated his fellow servants ? A contrite heart. (S. 3.) 2 Thou mayest be, $*c. —O ! Eternity ! How surprising, how awaken¬ ing are the thoughts of thee ! Who is so stupid, so senseless, as not to feel a trembling in his loins, when this thought comes into his mind ? What, if I should be lost and miscarry for ever! Isa. xxxiii. 14. Bp. Bull . The man, who will not look into the state of his affairs in this world, must be ruined in this world ; the man, who will not look into the state of his soul, must be ruined for ever. Heb. ii. 3. A. W. Hare. (Serm. on Lord’s Prayer, p. 6.) 3 He does not say, “ what shall I answer ?” but what shall I do ? Because, in the presence of the offended Judge, words, however persuasive, avail nothing, but only acts and deeds. iii. 10; Acts ii. 37 ; ix. 6. Ludolphus. (in loco.) I cannot dig , fyc. —A double misery is upon the great part of man¬ kind, that is, impotency and pride. Bom. v. 6; Bev. iii. 17. Flavel. There are many, who are not ashamed to sin; but are ashamed to repent. O what incredible madness ! You blush not at your wound; you only blush at the bandage, which is to cure it. S. Augustine. The soul has two tormentors, not simultaneously afflicting it, but at different times ; these are fear and grief: when matters go well with thee, thou fearest; when badly, thou sufferest grief. S. Augustine. 4 When I am put out, fyc. —Certainly, if we had any design upon heaven, or another world, we would here make some provision for it. It was a bitter sarcasm of the fool to the Abbot, on his death bed, that the Abbot deserved his staff, as being the verier fool of the two ; that being straight to die, to remove his tent to 438 S. LUKE XVI. 4. another world, he had sent none of his household stuff before him. Amos iv. 12. Or. Hammond. (Serm. 2 S. Pet. iii. 3.) “To miss the good, which may he got by suffering,” says one of our old divines, “ is the worst of evils; to lose the gain, which should be gotten by losses, is of losses the greatest; but to grow worse with suffering evil, is perdition itself.”' Rev. xvi. 9. Southey. Nothing is so important to any man, as his own estate and condi¬ tion ; nothing so great, so amazing, as Eternity. If therefore we find persons indifferent to the loss of their being, and to the danger of endless misery, it is impossible that this temper should be natural. They are quite other men in all other re¬ gards : they fear the smallest inconveniences; they see them, as they approach, and feel them, if they arrive ; and he, who passeth days and nights in chagrin or despair, for the loss of an employment, or for some imaginary blemish in his honour, is the very same mortal, who knows that he must lose all by death, and yet remains without disquiet, resentment, or emotion. This wonderful insensibility with respect to things of the most fatal consequence, in a heart, so nicely sensible of the meanest trifles, is an astonishing prodigy, an unintelligible enchantment, a supernatural blindness and infatuation. 2 Thess. iii. 2. Pascal. (Thoughts, c. i.) Proh pudor! usque adeo est homini mens caeca futuri, Ut, nisi quae videat, nulla pericla putet ? Scilicet hoc sapere est, tantum praesentibus angi, Nec procul aspectis consuluisse malis ? Ante tubas, miles dicto parat anna duello, Cum sonuere tubae, serius arma parat. . . . Quas veniente metat segetes aestate colonus, Credidit excultis ante colonus agris. Provida quin etiam metuens formica senectae, Yectat in annonam paucula farra suam. 0 ! quid agis, gens eventus ignara futuri ? Tempora, quae venient posthuma, nulla times ? Herm. Hugo. (Gemitus animae pcenitentis, 14.) 5 So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto S. LUKE XVI. 5. 439 him , and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord ? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou ? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill and write fourscore. 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely : for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 5 He had wasted his master’s goods, by improvidence, now he cheats him by downright fraud. Sin plucks on sin, one offence prepares the mind for another, and frequently causes the occa¬ sion for it: the second is worse than the first, often in itself, always in its aggravating circumstances; then, as sin becomes more easy, repentance is more difficult, and the soul ripens fast for destruction. “Man,” said the unhappy Francesco Spira, “ knows the beginnings of sin, but who bounds the issues thereof?” iii. 19. 20. J. F. How frequently do we see, or hear of men of fair character, whilst the world went easily with them, drawn in by degrees, as their circumstances grew worse, to try experiments at first, perhaps, though not quite upright, neither on the other hand absolutely dishonest, and end at last in the direct practice of roguery and deceit ! The inducement no doubt is strong. . . . The violent temptations, that distressed circumstances lay men under, to attempt the arts of fraud and dishonesty ought both to make us careful ourselves, and likewise somewhat more mo- 440 S. LUKE XVI. 7. derate and charitable towards others, who labour under difficul¬ ties of this kind. We may have been perhaps fair and mode¬ rate in our dealings; we have done well, but we have been always in affluence, at ease in our circumstances, and have never felt the load and pressure of perplexed or reduced fortunes. We have never known what it is to look dis¬ grace and poverty in the face ; if we have not known this, we know not the trials, some men’s honesty is put to, nor how far our’s would have stood out against them. Gal. vi. 1. Paley. (Serm. Prov. xxx. 8, 9.) 7 Satan either tells us, it is no sin; or it is not so great a sin; or not so many sins.If we make him our auditor, he will falsify our accounts, like the unjust steward in the Gospel; how much owest thou my Master ? our consciences tell us, an hundred measures , yea ten thousand talents; but he will falsify our ac¬ count, and make us write wrong, and set down fifty. Gen. iii. 4, 5 ; Mai. iii. 13. Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. Ps. xix. 12, 13.) The Saviour must still have the privilege reserved unto Him, of being the absolute Lord “ over His own houseit is sufficient for His officers, that they be esteemed, as Moses was, “ faithful in all His house, as servants,” (Heb. iii. 5,6.) The place wherein they serve, is a steward’s place; and the Apostle telleth them, that “ it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful,” (1 Cor. iv. 2.) They may not therefore carry themselves in their office, as the unjust steward did, and presume to strike out their Master’s debt, without His direction, and contrary to His liking. Now we know that our Lord hath given no authority unto His stewards to grant an acquittance to any of His debtors, that bring not unfeigned faith and repentance with them.To think, that it lieth in the power of any priest truly to absolve a man from his sins, without implying the con¬ dition of his believing and repenting, as he ought to do, is both presumption and madness in the highest degree. (Ref. xv. 22. J. F.) Abp. Usher. (Answer to the challenge of a Jesuit, c. 5.) We are bound as much to do good to others, as not to injure them ; to supply their wants, as not to rob them; to reach forth a hand to help them, as not to smite them with the fist of wick¬ edness : and, though my hundred measures of oil be my own, and S. LUKE XVI. 8, 9. 441 I may demand them, yet there is a voice from Heaven and from the Mercy-seat, which bids me; take thy bill, and sit down quickly , and write fifty. Acts v. 40 ; S. Matt. x. 8. Farindon. 8 Arguments taken from a parable or similitude, are of force, no further than they pertain to the end of the parable, or that re¬ semblance, for which things are compared. The labourer’s penny doth not prove an equality of glory in Heaven; nor our Saviour’s commendation of the unjust steward justify his cheat¬ ing of his Master. Chbist proveth the readiness of God to do justice to His servants, upon their constant prayer, by a similitude taken from an unjust judge. S. Matt. xx. 9—13. Abp. Bramhall. (Castigations of Mr. Hobbes’ animadversions, p. iii. disc. 2.) Wisely. —Faith is a provident wise grace, and makes the soul bethink itself, how it can live in another world. Deut. xxxii. 29. Gurnall. Take a heretic, a rebel, a person, that hath an ill cause to manage ; what he is deficient, in the strength of his cause, he will make up with diligence; while he, that has right on his side, is cold, indiligent, easy, and inactive, trusting that the goodness of his cause will not fail to prevail without assistance : so wrong pre¬ vails, while evil persons are zealous, and the good remiss. Bp. J. Taylor. It is observable, that the principal inventions, which serve both to the use and divertisement of the present life, as the forming of societies, building of cities, and finding out curious arts and manufactures, are all attributed to the profane line (the poste¬ rity of Cain) as contradistinguished from the descendants of Seth. Gen. iv. 17, 22. Bean Young. (Serm. Horn. i. 22.) 9 Doctrine is but the drawing of the bow; application is the hitting of the mark. xii. 41. Manton. Having thus framed the body of the parable, our Saviour now giveth it a soul, in, this latter part of the verse; breathing into it the breath of life, by applying it. Application is the life of a parable. The commending of the steward’s wisdom, was with the purpose to recommend the example to us ; that we might from it learn to provide against the time to come, as he did. So that the application hath two parts. The one more general, 442 S. LUKE XVI. 9. respecting the end; that as he was careful to provide main¬ tenance, for the preservation of his natural life, so we should be careful to make provision for our souls, that we may attain to everlasting life : the other, more special, respecting the means ; that, as he provided for himself out of his Master’s goods, by disposing the same into other hands, and upon several persons ; so we should lay up for ourselves a good foundation towards the attainment of everlasting life, out of the unrighteous mam- mon , wherewith God hath entrusted us ; by being rich in good works, communicating and distributing some of that in our hands towards the necessities of others. 1 Tim. vi. 17—19. Bp. Sanderson. (Serin. S. Luke xvi. 8.) Prcebe t err am et accipe coelutn. Give of this earth, take in ex¬ change Heaven. God hath given all His goods to two classes of men ; to the rich earthly things ; to the poof, heavenly things ; hut in His willingness to save both classes, He has ap¬ pointed, that the rich should here receive the poor into their inheritance, and then hereafter, that the poor in their inherit¬ ance should receive the rich ; ut uterque per alium collocetur , that each may find his proper place by means of the other. S. Augustine. (Lib. v. Horn. 56.) If by the friendship of the poor we obtain everlasting habitations , when we give to them, we ought to think thus; that we are making a tribute to our patrons, rather than distributing our gifts to the needy. S. Gregory. (Moral. 1. xxi. c. 24.) I make no doubt, but God’s mercy is ready to shine upon ours; for He loves it, and loves to look on it. I doubt not, hut He rewards our mercy with the blessings of this life.But what are these to that reward, which is laid up for those, who do seminare in benedictionibus, who sow plentifully ? What are riches, that have wings, to immortality ? What is a palace to Heaven ? We visit the sick, and the Spirit of comfort visits us; we serve our brethren, and the Angels minister unto us; we cover the naked with our cloth, and God clothes us with joy; we convert a sinner, and shine as stars ; we part with a few shekels of silver, and the hand of mercy works and turns them into a crown ; we sow temporal transitory things, and the harvest is Eternity. Whilst we make them ours, they are weak S. LUKE XVI. 9, 10. 443 and impotent; but when we part witli them, they work mira¬ cles, and remove mountains, all, that is between us and blessed¬ ness. All the riches in the world will “ not add one cubit to our stature but if we thus tread them under our feet, they will lift us up, as high as heaven. Nulla sunt potiora quam de misericordid compendia ; the best gains are those we purchase with our loss ; and the best way to “ find our bread,” is to “ cast it upon the waters.” Isa. lviii. 7—11. Farindon. (Serm. Micah vi. 8. Part 5.) T7ec dubie in ccelum substantia pervenit ilia, Quae Christo collata datur sub paupere forma: Quae damnis augmenta capit; quae spargitur, ut sit; Quae perit ut maneat; quae vitam mortua praestat. Sedulius. (Lib. 4. Carm.) Dicunt Scripturae memorare novissima vitae ; Pauper ab hoc mundo transiet omnis homo. Dat Portuna status varios, Natura sed omnes Pine suo claudit, cunctaque morte rapit. Post mortem pauci, qui nunc reputantur amici, Sunt memores ; animae sis memor ipse tuae. Da, dum tempus habes, tibi propria sit manus haeres; Auferet haec nemo quod dabis ipse Deo. J. Gower. (Liber, cui titulus, Yox clamantis.) 10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faith¬ ful also in much : and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches ? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own ? 10 Take notice, that He says not, that be wbo is faithful in great things, shall also be in little ones; but He quite turns the pro- 444 S. LUKE XVI. 10. position another way; because, in effect, fidelity makes itself more known in little things, than in great ones. When a steward reckons the expenses in a house, it is not in his not being found faulty in his accounts a hundred or two hundred pounds, that his great fidelity appears; but that he is found not to have miscounted a farthing. A good servant is not so soon found or known in those great things, which purely belong to his duty, as in certain little cares, to which he is not obliged; and, lastly, a son gives a less mark of his love and respect for his father, by the obedience he renders him in matters of con¬ sequence, than by those he performs which are of less concern; and by his care never to do the least thing that may displease his father. Gen. xxiv. 33 ; S. Matt. v. 19. Rodriguez. (On Christian Perfection, c. vi.) This little are the promises of this life, which He hath promised to give to them that believe in Him, such as food, raiment, and the other refreshments of the body, or health, or such like . . . but by much is meant the gifts of the eternal and incorruptible world . . . . “ Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” says He, “and all these things shall be added unto you.” “Take no thought,” &c. (S. Matt. vi. 31;) that everyone maybe tried from these small and temporary matters, whether he believes in God, that He hath promised to give them; when we are free from all solicitude about such things, and our whole concern is only for things future, which are eternal. Macarius. (Homilies, xlviii.) Suffer not Thy servants, 0 Loed, to neglect the smallest action that concerns our eternity; but quicken us with a ready dili¬ gence to avoid every least occasion of sin, and to embrace every least opportunity of Thy service. As we inure ourselves in little instances, shall we prove in great ones. ... If our affec¬ tions are not masters of the unrighteous mammon, we must be its servants; and if we are its servants, we cannot, O Loed, be Thine! xix. 17. Austin. (Med. 186.) How simply great is the idea, expressed by in the least ; teaching at once that the thing, on which human beings dote ( Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, auri sacra fames f), is the lowest and least of God’s entrusted talents, the smallest of the good S. LUKE XYI. 11, 12. 445 things, which come down from above ? Nay, there seems to be something of an epanorthosis in the re-introduction of the un¬ righteous mammon ; as if there might be a danger in allowing that it was even the least , if the admission were not accom¬ panied with an adequate guard, a repeated memento of the evil, with which it was intimately and generally connected. 1 Tim. vi. 10 ; S. Jas. v. 1— 6 . A. Knox. 11, 12 Here are two lessons, which we must thoroughly learn and practise, if we would have our part of that glorious inheritance. First, we must understand, that the riches and good things here are but shadows, or tokens, or types of the true ; and next, we must make up our minds to consider none of them, as being properly our own. What we seem to have here is neither real in itself, nor are we the real owners of it. So far as it is good, it is but a shadow of something better; and we are only en¬ trusted with it for a time, for a little while. We are God’s stewards, and shall soon be called to give an account to the great Master of the family.Because we are apt to be so fond of money, He plainly tells us it is unrighteous —it has the stain of wickedness and dishonesty upon it; and as the Apostle tells us, “ it is the root of all evil.” It is good for nothing, but to be well spent and got rid of. xix. 8. Plain Sermons. (Vol. viii. p. 146.) Hiches are foreign to us, because they are not natural to us. They are neither born with us, nor do they leave the world with us. Those things, which we cannot take with us, are not our’s. Sola virtus est comes defunctorum ; sola nos sequitur misericordia. Virtue is the only attendant on the dead; mercifulness only follows us beyond the grave. Job i. 21; Ps. xlix. 17. S. Am¬ brose. (in loco.) Be rather careful of what thou dost, than of what thou hast; for what thou hast is none of thine, and will leave thee at thy death, or thou the pleasure of it in'thy sickness ; but what thou dost is thine, and will follow thee to thy grave, and plead for, or against thee at thy resurrection, xii. 19.; S. Mark x. 21; F. Quarles. 13 No servant can serve two masters: for either 446 S. LUKE XVI. 13. he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things : and they derided Him. 15 And He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men ; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. 16 The Law and the Prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. 17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. 18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery : and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. 13 The Divine goodness hath put enmity between whatsoever is bom of Him, or flows forth from itself, and the seed of the serpent. . As at the beginning, He divided between the night and the day, between light and darkness, so that they can never intermingle, or comply one with another, or he reconciled one to another; so neither can those beams of Divine light and love, which descend from God upon the souls of men, be ever reconciled to those foul and filthy mists of sin and darkness, which ascend out of the bottomless pit of hell and death. Divine truth and goodness cannot contract themselves with any thing, that is from hell, or espouse themselves to any brat of darkness ; as it was set forth in the emblem under the old Law, where none of the holy seed might marry with the people of any strange god. Though that rule, “ touch not, taste not, handle not,” be abolished in the symbolical rites, yet it hath an immu- S. LUKE XVI. 13. 447 table mystery in it, not subject to the laws or changes of time. Ps. cxxxix. 21; 2 Cor. vi. 14. John Smith. (Disc, on S. James iv. 7.) He, who formed the whole man, disdains to have any part of him. in share with his enemy. S. Mark xii. 30. S. Gregory. Thou canst not love divers and contrary things. If thou wouldest know what thou lovest, mark well what thou most thinkest upon. Ps. x. 4. Abp. Leighton. Had the Pharisees seen, that to serve God implies an universal obedience to all His laws, and that to serve Mammon implies an equal submission to all the maxims of the world, and that these laws and these maxims are, in numberless cases, directly con¬ trary to each other, they would then have seen our Lord’s ob¬ servation in its true light; and they could not have helped feel¬ ing the propriety of the conduct, recommended to them. But the sentiments, arising out of this truth, would have given no small disturbance to men, who were determined to act in de¬ fiance of them. To avoid this inconvenience, they had only to put a false gloss on the words of Jesijs ; to suppose, for in¬ stance, that by serving God was meant, to “ make long prayers,” and by serving Mammon, to make a reasonable provision for their families; and then, where was the inconsistency of two such services ? In this way of understanding the text, nothing is easier than to serve God and Mammon. And thus, by sub¬ stituting a proposition of their own, in the room of that, which He had delivered, they escape from His reproof, and even find means to divest themselves of it. Isa. v. 20; Ps. lvi. 5. Bp. Hurd. (Serm. on text.) Namque duplex veluti cernens caput oraque bina Aut etiam geminas spectans in codice cliartas, Non totam vere poterit comprendere formam, Id licet obnixe studeat; sed parte retenta Effugiet sparsum et tenuem pars altera visum ; Sic Christo et mundo quisquam partitur amorem, Ilujus amor plane levis est et frigidus : at qui Totam animi flammam penitus defixit in uno, Ille procul dubio constans et certus amator. Quinetiam latomi solertes, quique fabrilem 448 S. LUKE XVI. 14, 15. In lignis artem exercent, cum linea recta Quseritur, exactaque opera captatur amussis, Ex oculis ununi claudunt, et lumine toto In socium fuso, visus acieque coacta, Eecta sequeute teneut duro vestigia ferro: Sic collectus amor propius coujungit amantum Pectora casta Deo, cupieutem qui cupit, atque Cerueutem ceruit, fitque obvius invenienti. S. Greff. Nazianzen. (Carm. 2. De Yirginitate.). 14 The Pharisees had covetous hearts, and they mocked Chbist ; the philosophers had proud hearts, and they scorned Paul; the Jews had carnal hearts, and they were offended at the Grospel; the people in the wilderness had unbelieving hearts, and “ the Word preached did not profit them.” Ye are not “ straitened in us,” or in our ministry: we come unto you with abundance of grace ; but “ye are straitened only in your own bowels,” in the hardness, unbelief, incapacity, and negligence of your own hearts, which receiveth that in drops, which falleth down in showers, x. 11; xiii. 34 ; Ps. lxxxi. 8—16. Bp. Reynolds. Men are atheists, because they are first vicious ; and they question the truth of Christianity, because they hate the practice of it. S. John iii. 19—21. Or. South. 14, 15 Art thou secure, and yet hast sinned ? It is because thou fearest no executioner. Thou fearest him not, because there is none to judge thee. There is none to judge, because there is none accuser. There is none to accuse, because there is none to witness. There is no witness, because thy sin is secret. Thou fool, thou hast all these wdthin thyself. Thy conscience is them, all; accuser, witness, jury, judge, executioner. Thou hast a court within thy heart, the court indeed of conscience. Eor conscience there acts all these offices, indicts, convicts, condemns, and executes. S. Mark vi. 16; S. John iv. 17—19; Titus iii. 11. Dr. R. Clerke. (Serm. Ps. li. 3.) 15 The hypocrite shows the excellency of virtue by the necessity, he thinks himself under, of seeming to be virtuous. S. Mark vi. 20. Dr. Johnson. There are not many, who can stand the test‘of a close inspection. Their virtues shine upon us at a distance; it is, upon a nearer S. LUKE XVI. 15—17. 449 approach, that we descry their failings. The distant ground, which is adorned with varieties of flowers, seems to be all flower, and to glow with one continued and unmixed lustre; but if, we were on the spot, we should discover several weeds, in¬ terspersed amidst such a beautiful assemblage of colours. Prov. xviii. 17. J. Seed. Sordet in conspectu Judicis quod fulget in conspectu operantis. Those works, which in the doer’s estimate make a beautiful show, are filthiness in the sight of the Judge. S. Gregory. 16 Ancient prophecy ended, as it had begun. The first discovery of it in Paradise, and the conclusion of it in the Book of Malachi, are directed to one point. In its course, it had mul¬ tiplied its disclosures, and furnished various succours to religion, and created an authentic record of God’s Providence, and Moral Government, committed to the world. But its earliest and its latest use was in the preparatory revelation of Chris¬ tianity. Davison. The old tabernacle was still standing, because our High Priest was not yet entered into the true Sanctuary; and therefore in cre- pusculo Evangelii , in this dawning of the Gospel, when the Sun of Righteousness had not yet climbed up to the proper horizon of the Church, in this interstitium, this interposition of S. John preaching, who was, as JNazianzene calls him, placed in the middle between the Law and the Gospel, this petition was most fit and opportune, “ Thy kingdom come !” Farindon. 17 Our Blessed Saviour ratified the whole Divine Law, positive and ceremonial, and the whole doctrine of the Prophets, to wit, respectively, according to their several kinds and qualities. 1. He ratified the whole Law, which was purely, simply, and perpetually Moral, in respect of necessary obedience and observation. 2. He ratified Ceremonial and positive Laws, in respect of their spiritual use and signification, and by fulfilling all things, typed and prefigured by them. 3. He ratified the whole doctrine of the holy Prophets, by fulfilling in His own Person, and in the members of His Mystical Body, all things foretold and pro¬ phesied by them; and He maintained also the reading, ex¬ pounding, and spiritual, and moral application of prophetical doctrine, to continue in the Christian Church, to the world’s G G 450 S. LUKE XVI. 17, 18. end. S. Matt. v. 17 ; S. John xix. 28. Bp. White. (A treatise of the Sabbath Day.) The fundamental will of the Almighty we cannot suppose subject to change; neither can any voice, that has once proceeded out of the mouth of God, for the general moral guidance of His creatures, ever sink into a dead letter; so sink, I mean, as to lose all force of obligation upon subjects, on whose conscience an Eternal Law is written, as it is called, “ of nature,” with which such moral word of Bevelation is in harmony. 1 S. John ii. 7, 8. J. Miller. (Bampt. Lecture, ii.) As it is in this lower world; notwithstanding it is maintained by a continual flux and vicissitude, by the perpetual change of one being into another, one corrupting and another rising up in a new form and shape out of its ruins; and yet not the least dust of matter is, or can be, consumed, but the same matter and the same quantity still continue, which were at first created: so it is with the Law of God ; let Scribes and Pharisees corrupt it by their erroneous glosses and false interpretations, putting what forms and shapes they please upon it; yet, as it is in the cor¬ ruption of earthly bodies, not the least piece of matter can perish, or be annihilated, so neither in their corrupting of the Law, shall “ one jot or tittle of it fail.” Mai. iii. 6. Bp. Hopkins. (Serm. S. Matt. v. 19.) 18 We do upon just authority conclude, it hath been the constant doctrine of the Catholic Church that the bond of matrimony, once rightly tied, can never be dissolved, but by death; and although some contentious persons have disputed against this eminent truth, to me it seems very rational to maintain this principle, as well to prevent the frequency of divorces, as to make it necessary to choose warily, since we can never choose again, till God (in whose presence we promised to live together till death,) do set us at liberty by the taking away of one party. . . . That excellent sentence (“ forsaking all other, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live,”) is there placed to prevent those three mischievous destroyers of holy marriage, adultery, polygamy, and divorce. Prov. ii. 17; Mai. ii. 14 ; Bom. vii. 2 ; 1 Cor. vii. 10, 11. Dean Comber. (On the Office of Matrimony, p. 4.) S. LUKE XVI. 19, 20. 451 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 19 This is an historical parable, and a parabolical history; some such persons there were, and some such things were really done; but some other things were figuratively, symbolically, and parabolically added. Dr. Donne. (Serm. Lam. iv. 20.) Narratio potius , quarn parabola, quia nomen additur. This is a true story rather than a parable, because the name is given. S. Ambrose. It was the opinion of Tertullian, that by the rich man, Herod was intended ; and by Lazarus, John the Baptist. Calvin. Does not Christ seem to you to have been reading from that Book, where He found the name of the poor man written, but found not the name of the rich ? Bor that Book is “ the Book of Life.” Ps. Ixxxvii. 6 . S. Augustine. 20 Lazarus by his name is known in heaven: the rich man is without a name anywhere. Bengel. Est in Evangelio, verum sine nomine, dives ; Pauper ubi seternum, Lazare, nomen habes. John Owen. (Epigr.) He is not charged with injuring any person, or defrauding his neighbour. The only fault recorded is, that he fared sumptu¬ ously every day , while Lazarus lay at his gate, perishing for want of common necessaries. He was one of that set of men, a numerous set, who are very hospitable to those, that do not want, and very unfriendly to those, that do. xiv. 12. J. Seed. (Serm. Prov. iii. 27.) A smooth and easy life, an uninterrupted enjoyment of the goods of Providence, full meals, soft raiment, well furnished homes, G G 2 452 S. LUKE XVI. 20, 21. the pleasures of sense, the feeling of security, the conscious¬ ness of wealth,—these, and the like, if we are not careful, choke up all the avenues of the soul, through which the light and breath of heaven might get to us. Amos vi. 1—6. J. H. Newman. His great fault was, that he cared for nothing, but himself. His fine linen and sumptuous fare w r ere the index to his heart. Bp. Medley. Laid at his gate.—Quasi pietatis confiatorium, as a forge to melt his heart, and move him to pity. Horn. xii. 20. Pet. Chrysol. Dives et pauper duo sunt sibi contraria ; sed iterum duo sunt sibi necessaria. Rich and poor are contrary to one another; but yet both necessary to one another. Verse 9 ; 1 Cor. xii. 21. (See Illustr. S. Matt. xxvi. 11. Dr. Hammond.') S. Augustine. Cast off the weight of riches, that is, the superfluity of them; cast that away upon the poor. Cast away, said I? Pardon me; Deponentes, lay it down, lay it aside for them ; or recondentes, reponentes (it is no straining of άποθβμβνοι) lay it up in the bosoms of the poor; lay it down at the feet of Christ ; lay it out upon God ; lay it up in heaven, xii. 17; Acts iv. 37; 1 Tim. vi. 17. Dr. Mark Frank. (Serm. Heb. xii. 1.) 21 He was without a house, but not without a God ; without a garment, but not without faith ; without bread, but not without Christ. 2 Cor. vi. 10. Fulgentius. It may be, you will find some poor Christians, that know not where to have their next bread and yet are speaking of the bounty of their God, while you are repining in the midst of plenty. Phil. iv. 10—20. Flavel. We may be as happy in russet, as in tissue. Heb. xi. 37—10. Bp. Hall. One has well observed, that “ it is far better to be of the number of those who, like Lazarus, need relief, than of those who, like Hives, refuse to give it.” S. James ii. 5, 6. J. F. Let the indigent rejoice in thy gift to him, that thou also mayest rejoice in God’s gift to thee. He is in want before thee ; thou art in want before God. Despise not thou the man, who needs w T hat thou dost possess ; God will not despise thee, in thy need of w r hat He has to give.Thou art at once in abundance and in want; in abundance of temporal things, in want of S. LUKE XVI. 22. 453 eternal things. The man, whom thou hearest, is a beggar; and thou thyself art God’s beggar. Petition is made to thee ; and thou makest thy petition. As thou hast dealt with thy peti¬ tioner, so shall God deal with His. Thou art at once full and empty ; fill the empty with thy fulness, that thy emptiness may be filled with the fulness of God. S. Matt. xxv. 35—41. S. Augustine. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom : the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in tor¬ ments, and seetli Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 22 According to the proverb of the Jews, Michael flies but with one wing, and Gabriel with two; God is quick in sending Angels of peace, and they fly apace, but the messengers of wrath come slowly : God is more hasty to glorify His servants, than to condemn the wicked. And therefore in the story of Dives and Lazarus, we find that the beggar died first; the good man Lazarus was first taken away from his misery to his com¬ fort, and afterwards the rich man died: and as the good many times die first, so all of them rise first, as if it were a matter of haste : and as the mother’s breasts swell, and shoot, and long to give food to her babe, so God’s bowels did yearn over His banished children, and He longs to cause them to eat and drink in His kingdom. And at last the wicked shall rise into con¬ demnation ; for that must be done too; “ every man in his own orderfirst Cheist ; then Cheist’s servants; and last, Cheist’ s enemies. Dan. ix. 21; 1 Cor. xv. 23. Bp. J. Taylor. (Funeral Sermon of Abp. Bramhall.) Whenever such a penitent soul (refer to xv. 7) hath bidden adieu 454 S. LUKE XVI. 22. to the body, those Blessed Spirits stand ready to receive and guard it through those legions of malignant spirits, that do always infest these lower tracts of air, and to conduct it safe to those happy abodes, where it is to lodge, till the resurrection ; for it is said of Lazarus’s soul, that it was carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom. All which is a clear demonstration of the vast esteem, which those Blessed Angels have of souls. Bor can it be thought, that such noble beings, who have a God and themselves to converse with, and have so immediate a pros¬ pect both of His beauty, and their own, to exercise their facul¬ ties, and employ their contemplation, would be so ready and willing, as they are, to attend upon souls, and minister to their safety and happiness, if they had not a mighty value and esti¬ mation of them ? Eph. vi. 12. J. Scott. (Disc, on S. Matt, xvi. 26.) "When the sold of man is gone out of the body, there is a great mystery transacted. Eor if the guilt of sin be found upon it, companies of devils come; and bad angels, and the powers of darkness seize upon that soul, and take it to their own lot. Neither ought any one to think strange of these things ; for if, while living and abiding in this present world, he was subject and obedient, and became a vassal to them, how much rather, when he makes his exit hence, is he laid hold of, and kept in possession by them ? But that things are thus, you may fairly understand from the good and happy side. Eor upon the holy servants of God there are Angels attending from this very moment, and holy spirits, encircling them round, and preserv¬ ing them. And when they go out of the body, the quires of Angels take up their souls into their own proper part, into the pure Eternity. And thus do they bring them to the Lord ; to whom be glory and dominion for ever! Ps. xxxiv. 7; S. Matt, xxv. 41; Bom. vi. 16. Macarius. (Homily xxii.) Here is one, who in his life had not a single friend; and now suddenly not one, but many Angels, wait upon him. Luther. All nations shall be blessed from , and blessed with , the seed of Abraham. Semen Abrahce shall bring us to sinus Abrahre, and make us partakers of his heavenly joys there. Gal. iii. 8,9. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm. S. John viii. 56.) S. LUKE XYI. 22. 455 He, who was denied in this world to be feasted, even with the por¬ tion of dogs, was placed in the bosom of the Patriarch, that is, in the highest room ; for so it was in their discubitus , or lying down to meat, the chief guest, the most beloved person, did lean upon the bosom of the Master of the feast; so S. John did lean upon the breast of Jesus, and so did Lazarus upon the breast of Abraham ; or else κόλπο s, sinus Abrahami may be ren¬ dered “ the bay of Abraham,” alluding to the place of rest, where ships put in, after a tempestuous and dangerous naviga¬ tion. The storm was quickly over with the poor man, and the Angel of God brought the good man’s soul to a safe port, where he should be disturbed no more : and so saith the Spirit ; “ Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours.” Ps. cvii. 3. Bp. J. Taylor. (Serm. at the Funeral of Sir George Dalston.) The ancient Doctors of our Religion call the place and state, before the resurrection, Paradise, the bosom of Abraham; the feast of the Patriarchs; the outward altar; “ below the altar;” the porch of the Sanctuary; the Courts of the Lord ; the custody and the storehouse of souls ; secret receptacles ; the hidden seats or tabernacles of the godly ; convenient or due places; places meet for them or worthy of them; the place of refreshment, of light, of peace; a portion of the spiritual rest; the rest of security ; a certain retiring place of everlasting rest; the port of eternal security ; the bright, the fragrant, the Royal tabernacles; the earnest or pledge of the Kingdom; the white raiment; a chamber in the palace Royal; an habitation with God ; the asylum or place of refuge.They call that place and state into which we shall be admitted, after the resurrection, the highest Heaven; the inner altar; above the altar; the house of God ; the seat of Christ ; the celestial Kingdom ; the heavenly inheritance; the goods of the Kingdom; the consummation of glory; the reward of immortality; the distribution of Royal donations; perfect joy; the expected re¬ ward ; the end of all good; the entire reward of deserts; the time of crowns ; the Kingdom of fruition; the perfect partici¬ pation of good things. Bp. Patrick. (Glorious Epiphany, c. 14.) 456 S. LUKE XVI. 22—24. (The rich man lived longer.) The wicked many times have faster hold and firmer footing in this world, because it is their portion, and all they shall have. Ps. lxxiii. Bp. Babington. The rich man died and was buried in hell. Go to his grave ; and there, in the midst of it, you will find his heart, xii. 34. S. Antony. 23 The soul is tormented in hell; what avails it to have the body richly embalmed, and wrapt up in the finest linen ? It is, just as if a Master of a house, being sent into exile, thou shouldest decorate the walls of his house; he pines in exile, he sinks with hunger, he can scarce find any corner to rest in, and you ex¬ claim ; Felix est, nam ornata est domus ejus ! Happy man, to have his house so decorated ! Acts xii. 21—23. S. Augustine. (In Ps. xlviii. 18.) The greatness of those things, which follow death, makes all, that goes before it, sink into nothing. Ps. xlix. Wm. Law. 24 Melius est dubitare de occultis quam litigare de incertis. It is better to be in doubt on things secret, than to strive about what is uncertain. I have no doubt at all, but that the rich man is to be regarded in ardore poenarum , as suffering penal fire, and the poor man in refrigerio gaudiorum, as enjoying the cool refreshment of joy; but the strict sense, in which we must understand that fire of hell, that bosom of Abraham, that tongue of the rich man, that finger of the poor man, that tor¬ menting thirst, that cooling allaver of heat, is rarely if ever disclosed to the inquiries of the meek, and never to those, who are given to contention. Deut. xxix. 29 ; Ps. xxv. 9. S. Au¬ gustine. (Lib. viii. de Gen. v.) Multi hie devorant , quod in ceterno igne concoquent. Many de¬ vour in this world, what they will have to digest in the flames of hell. Gal. vi. 7, 8. S. Bernard. (Serm. 76.) They, who are this day wallowing in their sins, may before the next be roaring in hell. xii. 20. Dr. J. Scott. No eminency of grace, no dignity of place, no degree of authority must make ns forget this; to own, and acknowledge even the lowest Christians, as our beloved brethren. The proud rich man can be content to claim kindred with Abraham; he calls him Father Abraham: but ye read not that ever he said, Brother S. LUKE XVI. 24. 457 Lazarus ; and ye know what became of him. It will not serve us, nor save us, to be able to say, “ Abraham is our Father except we will charitably acknowledge the poorest Christian, even Lazarus, for our brother, xviii. 11; S. James iii. 1; Heb. ii. 11; 1 S. Pet. v. 1; Fev. i. 9. Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. on S. John xx. 17.) Desideravit guttam, qui non dedit micam . The man, who refused a crumb of bread, now himself longs for a drop of water, one has red flame for his purple; the other has a feast for his former destitution ; that the balance may he even. S. James ii. 13. S. Augustine. In that his tongue is tormented, it appears that, as in feasting he had sinned by loquacity, so his tongue did burn the more ar¬ dently. Prov. xxiii. 1—8. S. Gregory. “As there are different sins,” says an ancient writer, “so shall there he variety of punishments. The adulterer shall have one kind of torment, the murderer another, the robber and extor¬ tioner another, the drunkard another, the liar and false swearer anothereach that, which shall be most sensible and afflicting to him. And then he proceeds, “ that the proud man shall he trodden under foot; the glutton gnawed with extreme hunger; the drunkard parched up with unquenchable thirst; the voluptuous filled with gall; the tender and delicate seared with hot irons.” All which some have thought to be denoted in that description of the wicked man’s sufferings, given at large by Job, ch. xx. Judg. i. 6, 7 ; Prov. i. 31. Parsons. (Christian Directory, p. i. c. 11.) Shall the souls of Saints and sinners, the one be crowned in Hea¬ ven, the other damned in hell, without their bodies ? The bodies having wrought, whether righteousness or wickedness, as well as the souls: the flesh, being particeps in causd, will be so in sententid , saith Tertullian. S. Mark ix. 43,45,47. Or. Richard Clerke. It is the soul, that is in hell only till the day of judgment, though the body be not there. A man would think, that the soul did not suffer; but philosophy tells us, that the soul suffers mediante corpore , in and by the body ; therefore it is a rule in Divinity, that “whatsoever God doth by means, He can do without 458 S. LUKE XVI. 24, 25. means.” Though the body be not there, but the soul only, yet God is able, nay, doth make the soul as well feel grief with¬ out the body, as He doth by means of the body. Abp. Usher. (Serm. Hey. xxi. 8.) In the punishment of sinners, there is not only poena damni , which is answerable to their aversion from God, but also poena senstis, which is answerable to their conversion to the creature. 2 Thess. i. 8, 9. T. Aquinas. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things : but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 25 The very first cause of all remorse and anguish will be the very remembrance , that thou wast a Son. S. Matt. xxii. 12; Heb. x. 26, 31. J. F. It is safer now to be bitten with the memory, than hereafter with the torment of sin. S. Mark xiv. 72. Hooker. Had he remembered on earth, he would not have been called to remember in hell. . . . Look at the affairs of common life, and be taught by them. Ho not neglect, and want of attention, and not looking about us to see what we have to do, bring upon us consequences, as ruinous to our worldly business, as any active misbehaviour ? It is an event of every day, that a man by mere laziness and inattention to his business, does as certainly bring S. LUKE XVI. 25. 459 himself and family to poverty, and end his days in a jail, as if he were, in wanton mischief, to set fire to his own house. So it is also with the affairs of the soul: neglect of that, forgetful¬ ness of God, who can alone save it, will work its ruin, as surely as a long and daring course of profligate wickedness. Prov. xxii. 29 ; xxiv. 30. H. Martyn. (Serm. S. Luke xvi. 31, and Ps. ix. 17.) "When S. John describes the world, which he forbids us to follow, he makes three parts of it, “ the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.” Do not all three appear here in the character of this man ? Where is “ the lust of the eye,” if it be not in gaudy apparel ? Where is “ the lust of the flesh,” at least one great branch of it, if it be not in the use of dainty diet? Where is “the pride of life,” if not in riches? And what reason have you now to doubt what should be the meaning of Recepisti; thou hast received thy good things ? He then that fears to hear a Recepisti, if he be rich, let him not forget to distribute and empty those bags, which lie up by him. If he feed deliciously, let him turn his costly dishes into temperance and fasting. If he be richly clad, let him turn his scarlet into sackcloth ; otherwise, what can we plead for ourselves, that we should not as well as this man in the text, when our time comes, hear our Recepisti ? S. James iv. 4, 9; v. 1, 2, 5. J. Hales . (Serm. S. Luke xvi. 25.) Was he therefore tormented because he received good things ? Is this the case with all them, that wear purple, and fare well in this life ? Shall every one, to whom God reacheth such good things, as these, be quit for ever from Abraham’s bosom ? By no means. For whose is the bosom ? Is it not Abraham’s ? And what was Abraham ? (Gen. xiii. 11.) “ Rich in cattle, in silver, and gold.” There is hope then for rich men, in a rich man’s bosom.We have in this Scripture two rich men ; the one, that giveth the recordare, remember ; the other, to whom it is given; the example of a rich man, which rich men ought to avoid; the sentence of a rich man, which rich men ought to remember. It is evident, it was not, for that he had received good things in this life; seeing, as truly as Abraham said to him, Son, remember, fyc., so truly might he have rejoined, “ Fa- 460 S. LUKE XVI. 25. ther, remember, thou didst receive,” &c. It was not that. Neither was it because he came by them unduly ; for it is, saith S. Bernard, “Recordare, quia recepisti,” not quia rapuisti , or quia decepisti, by rapine, or deceit: neither was it because he received them and wrapped them up ; for as his receipts are in this verse, so his expenses in verse 19; so much in purple, and linen; so much in feasting.What was it then brought him thither ? or, as S. Bernard calleth it, what was his scala inferna , the ladder by which he went down to hell ? that we may know, what is the difference, between Abra¬ ham’s receipt and his, and when recepisti shall conclude with cruciaris .This life is called his life ( u thy life time ”) ; because he lived in it, as if there had been no other life, but it. (xii. 18, 19 ; S. James iv. 13.) So the good of it, his good ** ( u thy good things ”). This, his life, then, the portion of his life, he chose for his good ; they his, and he their’s ; they that make such a choice their recepisti , may well end in cruciaris . 1 Sam. xxv. 11. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm. on text.) Riches are called goods, non quia faciunt honum, sed unde faciat bonum; not as good in themselves, but as the means of our doing good by them. 1 S. John iii. 17. S. Augustine. These things are not good, but only go under this deputative and borrowed title. The world hath cried them up, but the Scripture hath no such name for them ; it is “ good to praise the Loed nay it is “ good to be afflictedthis we read: but where do we read, it is good to be rich; it is good to be honour¬ able ; it is good to go “ in purple, and fare deliciously every day ?” We find many curses and woes sent after them ; but we never find them graced with the title of good. “ Thou hast re¬ ceived thy good things,” saith Abraham to Dives; good things, but thine, such as thy lusts esteemed so ; thy good things, and such good things, which have helped to hurry thee to this place of torment. S. Matt. v. 3—13. Farindon. (Serm. Micah vi. 8, p. 2.) 0 mundi bona apud inferos mala ! 0 the good things of this world what evil things they are in the next! S. James v. 1—3. S. Augustine. Comforted. —It is better to belong to what a venerable Bishop S. LUKE XYI. 25—27. 461 calls, “the Holy Order of mourners in Zion,” than to move in the first ranks of those giddy mirth-making worldlings, who get all their goods “ in this life,” and afterwards are tormented. 2 Thess. i. 4—7. J. Thornton. Quid est malum , nisi impatientia honi ? What is evil, but our un¬ willingness to wait for what is good ? Heb. x. 36—39. Tertullian. (De patientia.) O how great a reward might men receive at God’s hand, if they did not anticipate their reward, and desire it in this life. xv. 12; S. Matt. vi. 1—6. S. Jerome. Anima rebus prcesentibus dedita, abscondit sibi mala sequentia ; the soul, absorbed in things present, obscures and hides from itself the evils, that must follow. 1 Kings xxii. 8. S. Gregory. (Horn. 39, in Isa.) 26 The same God, that separated the Egyptians from the Israel¬ ites by a pillar of fire, when they came out of Egypt, will never suffer them to come together; He will so part the Saints of Heaven from the fiends of hell, that they shall never grow into one society again. S. Matt. xiii. 30; xxv. 32. Bp. Lake. (Serm. Ps. i.) No habeas corpus from death ; no habeas animam out of hell. 2 Cor. vi. 2. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm. Isa. lxiii. 1—3.) 27 Some divines both ancient and modern, (Beda and Bellarmine for instance) have thought, that the rich epicure became solicitor for his brethren, that they should convert and repent, not out of any compassion and love, but only for that his conscience told him, he had given them ill example, while he lived among them, and that, if they were damned, his own torture would be in¬ creased. vi. 39 ; 1 Tim. v. 22. Dean Boys. It was the opinion (if I remember rightly) of S. Basil , that in hell the torments of the damned are daily increased, in proportion as the evil seed of their corrupt doctrine (or their evil example) which they sowed, whilst they were alive, fructifies upon earth; but whether that be so, or no, it is certain men’s sins are aggra¬ vated by the mischief, they do to others, as well as by other circumstances ; and therefore every such penitent, as we speak of, must think it his duty and concern, to endeavour to hinder the propagation of sin, and to stop the infection in others, as 462 S. LUKE XVI. 27, 28. well as to destroy the malignity of it in himself, xi. 52. Dr. Goodman. (Penitent pardoned, p. iii. c. 4.) “ He that could not teach himself, when he was alive, would teach Abraham, now he is dead.” (Bp. Hacket.) What a warning! “ Hell is Truth seen too late.” Behold the man, before com¬ pletely sunk in self and sensuality, now, as it were, risen from the dead, and all awake and in earnest about the things of God. Such is the only change and conversion, which sinners, who have “ sold their birthright ” in this life, can expect to find in the life to come. Their eyes will be opened, not to see their God, but to see their own irremediable folly and misery, to learn the soul’s value from its loss, and not from its salvation. Prov. i. 24—33. J. F. In the rich man’s request there lies a secret justifying of him¬ self, and accusing of God. What a bitter reproach against God and against the old economy is here involved. “ If only I had been sufficiently warned, if only God had given me sufficiently clear evidence of these things, of the need of repentance, of this place as the goal of a sensual worldly life, I had never come hither. But, though I was not duly warned, let at least my brethren be so.” S. Matt. xxv. 44. R. C. Trench, (on the Parables.) Lest they also , fyc. —As if they were now living on his pro¬ perty, inheriting with it his worldly mind and worldly ways, “clothed,” as he was, “in purple and fine linen, faring sump¬ tuously every day ;” and therefore exposed to a like danger of having their future portion with him in the same place of torment. Ps. xlix. 13. J. F. O the fatal mis-reckoning, whereby men will dispose of their earthly substance with scarce a thought of Cheist, His Gospel, or His poor ! providing for all ties and relations, except those, which connect them with the citizens of heaven ; heaping upon the five brethren of their father’s house the direst materials of accumulated danger, that may serve only to bring them into the same place of torment, and entrusting but a few crumbs from their table to the Angel’s hands. W. H. Anderton. (Serm. S. Luke xxii. 46.) 28 It is well said, this place of torment; for thither all kinds of S. LUKE XVI. 29, 30. 463 torments meet together, as waters from different channels meet in the depth of the sea. Card. Hugo. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 29 This wretched man took with him into hell, after his luxurious life, a low esteem for the Scriptures. IIos. viii. 12. B eng el. It is a rare thing to find much retirement unto God, much hu¬ mility and brokenness of spirit, true purity and spirituality of heart, in the affluence and great prosperity of the world. It is no easy thing to carry a very full cup even, and to digest well the fatness of a great estate, and great place. They are not to be envied that have them, even though they be of the better sort of men ; it is a thousand to one, but that they shall be losers by the gains and advancements of this world; suffering pro- portionably great abatements of their best advantages, by their prosperity. The generality of men, while they are at ease, do securely neglect God, and little mind either to speak to Him, or to hear Him speak to them. God complains thus of His own people, “ I spake to them in their prosperity; and they would not hear.” The noises of coach-wheels, of their plea¬ sures, and of their great affairs, so fill their ears, that the “ still voice,” wherein God is, cannot be heard. Ezek. xvi. 49; IS. John ii. 16. Abp. Leighton. 30 Great God ! when I reflect upon these pieties of the damned, together with the practices of those, who have given their names into religion ; when I see fiends in hell do study, how to make men virtuous, and Christians upon earth with all their art de¬ bauch them into vice and ruin, I cannot choose but pray, “ Grant me such friends, as are in hell!” Jer. v. 30. Hr. Allestry. (Serin. S. John xv. 14.) 464 S. LUKE XYI. 31. "Woe, woe to them, who must actually feel these things, before they will believe them ! xiii. 35. Euseb. Emissenus. 31 For supposing such a miracle were wrought before their eyes, they might as well conclude that evidence to be a phantasm, as they now conclude the Scripture to be a forgery. He, that will hope to reform such men’s judgments, must have the art of re¬ forming their manners, and the power of awakening their con¬ sciences ; for in the conscience it is (as our Apostle has observed, 1 Tim. i. 19) that “the shipwreck of faith” begins, and there only can it be repaired. Let them be persuaded to live, so as to be able to wish a Resurrection; and then the ar¬ ticle will soon appear credible. 1 Tim. vi. 5. Bean Young. (Serm. 1 Thess. iv. 18.) This is the peevishness of our human wisdom, yea, rather of our human folly, to yearn for tidings from the dead, as if a spirit departed could declare any thing more evidently than the Book of God, which is the sure oracle of life. This was Saul’s prac¬ tice ; neglect Samuel while he was alive, and seek after him when he was dead. What says the Prophet, “ Should not a people seek after their God ? Should the living repair to the dead ?” Nay, rather “ to the Law and to the Testimony.” (Isa. viii. 19.) .... The mind is composed in quietness to hear the living; the apparitions of dead men, beside the sus¬ picion of delusion, would fill us with ghastly horror; and it would be impossible we should be fit scholars to learn, if such strong perturbations of fear should be upon us. How much better hath God ordained for our security and tranquillity that “the Priest’s lips should preserve knowledge.” S. John xii. 9 ; Job xxxiii. 6, 7 ; S. Luke xxiv. 5. Bp. Racket. (Serm. S. Luke ix. 31.) It is an admitted principle, that evidence, in moral subjects, is modified by the mind, to which it is addressed. Davison. Where infidelity is the effect of profligate wickedness, it deserves not so much regard from God, as that He should condescend to make particular applications to it by new lights and evidences ; and should He do it, there is reason to suspect it would be in¬ effectual. We see, in the ordinary course of Providence, many judgments, bestowed upon sinners to reclaim and amend them ; S. LUKE XVII. 1. 465 but they harden themselves against them; so that their last state is worse than their first.Did not the guards, who were eye-witnesses of our Saviour’s Resurrection, who saw the Angel that rolled away the stone from the mouth of the se¬ pulchre, who shook and trembled with fear, and “ became as dead men,—did not they, after all this, receive money to deny all they saw, and to give false evidence against the person, they beheld coming from the grave ? So, you see, it is in the nature of man to withstand such evidences, where the power of sin is prevalent. Isa. i. 5 ; Ps. lxxxii. 5. Bp. Sherlock. (Discourse on text.) CHAPTER XVII. rjIHEN said He unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come : but woe unto him , through whom they come ! 2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves : If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, say¬ ing, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. 1 Little do they, who stumble at these contentions, know the weight of S. Paul’s oportet. (1 Cor. xi. 19.) Little are they acquainted with God’s fashions in all His works. Hath He not set contrary motions in the very heavens ? Are not the ele¬ ments (the main staff of the world) contrary to each other in H H 466 S. LUKE XVII. 1, 2. their forms and qualities ? Hath He not made the natural day to consist of light and darkness ?—the year of seasons, con- trarily tempered ? Yea, all things (according to the guess of that old philosopher) ex lite et amicitia ? And shall we need to teach God how to frame His Church ? If the wise and holy Moderator of all things did not know how by these fires of con¬ tradiction to try men, and to purify His truth, and to glorify Himself, how easy w T ere it for Him to quench them and con¬ found their authors. Rom. xi. 33—36. Bp. Hall. (Serm. Cant. yi. 9.) Fieri hcec Bominus permittit et patitur, manente proprice libertatis arbitrio. The Lord allows and suffers divisions and offences to be in His Church, because He leaves men to act according to the liberty of their wills. Rom. xvi. 17. S. Cyprian. Woe unto him , fyc. —That we may not think only notorious sins, comprised under the name of offences , and that none shall be condemned for giving offence, but workers of downright iniquity, our Saviour, in His explication of the parable of the tares and wheat, seems to distinguish the scandalous from the sinners, but at the same time concludes them both under the same condem¬ nation. (See S. Matt. xiii. 41. “All that offend, and them which do iniquity.”) .... This threatening of our Saviour is so placed indeed, as if it belonged only to those, who gave offence to the weak or little ones (v. 2).Hence it is, that the Schools, and from them all other casuists, have distinguished between the scandal, that arises from the ignorance or infir¬ mity, and that which arises from the malice, of those who take offence, between the scandal of the weak, or little ones , and the scandal of the Pharisees; and have laid it down, as a safe rule, that, though we are obliged to use all possible care not to give offence to the weak and ignorant, yet we are not under any such restraints in regard to the perverse and malicious. Rom. xv. 1; 1 Cor. viii. 8—12 ; S. Matt. xv. 14. Bp. Smalridge. (Serm. 1 Thess. v. 22.) 2 If we ourselves are commanded to take heed, as persons ac¬ countable to God for the souls of others, how much more vigi¬ lant in their behalf, must He, their Father, be, who begat them ? By the punishment of the man who offends, we S. LUKE XVII. 3, 4. 467 learn the reward of him who saves: for had not the salvation of one soul been of such exceeding care to Chkist, He would not threaten the offender with such a punishment, xi. 13; Zech. ii. 8; Acts ix. 4. S. Chrysostom. 3 Rebuke him.—Nihil sic probat spiritualem virum, quemadmodum alieni peccati curatio. Nothing tests the spiritual man so de¬ cidedly, as his mode of treating another’s sin. If you take no notice of the offender, you make yourself worse than he is. By doing you an injury he has grievously wounded himself: you disregard your brother’s wound; you see him dying of it, and neglect him. Lev. xix. 17 ; Gral. vi. 1. S. Augustine. If he repent.—Cessatio delicti radix est Venice. The ceasing from the offence is the root whence springs forgiveness. Isa. i. 16— 18. Tertullian. 4 Forgiveness is chiefly taken for abstaining from revenge; and so far we are to forgive our enemies, even whilst they continue so, and though they do not repent. Besides, we are to pray for them, and to do them all offices of common humanity and charity. But sometimes forgiveness doth signify a perfect re¬ conciliation to those, that have offended us ; so as to take them again into our friendship ; which they are by no means fit for, till they have repented of their enmity and laid it aside ; and this is the meaning of that text, of rebuking our brother , if he trespass against us ; and, if he repent , to forgive him. Prov. xix. 11; Col. iii. 8—13. Nelson. (Fasts and Festivals. S. Stephen’s Day.) A Christian, of all others, must necessarily be the most merciful man. For he, considering the great debt of his sins, and his little ability of satisfaction, and how freely these were satisfied for by another, how can he be backward in forgiving others that are culpable to him ? Nay, more ; the condition of his pardon stands but by the exercise of his mercy towards others. S. Matt, xviii. 33. Lord Capel. (Contemplations, 155.) The excellency of the duty is sufficiently proclaimed by the diffi¬ culty of the practice. For how hard is it, where the passions are high, and the sense of an injury quick, and the power ready, for a man to deny himself in that luscious morsel of re¬ venge, to do violence to himself, instead of doing it to his h h 2 468 S. LUKE XVII. 4, 5. enemy, vi. 27—29 ; Prov. xxiv. 29. Dr. South. (Serm. S. Matt. y. 44.) Graviusque solnti Nectimur, alterius si solvere vincla negamus. Sedulius. (Carm. Paschal. L. ii.) 5 And the Apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. 7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat ? 8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken ; and afterward thou slialt eat and drink ? 9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him ? I trow not. ] 0 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unpro¬ fitable servants : we have done that which was our duty to do. 5 Increase our faith , not our patience, or charity, or self-control, the graces immediately needed to he exercised towards the tres¬ passing brother; hut increase our faith ; strengthen and enlarge in us the heavenly principle of these and all other graces, that, by growing at the root, we may grow in the produce of the branches, and especially, by knowing and believing more and more the forgiveness of our own sins, we may be disposed and constrained to forgive others. This prayer of the Apostles is a S. LUKE XVII. 5. 469 remarkable proof of tbeir advancement in grace by tbe teaching of the Spirit. And our Lord’s gracious reply is most apposite, where respect is rather had to the quality, than the quantity of faith ; and the one small grain is to be contrasted with the in¬ crease, which they desired. Let us first make sure the truth of faith ; and then we shall soon see what spiritual wonders it will accomplish. 2 Thess. i. 3; Phil. iv. 13 ; Heb. xi. J. F. For although none, without some understanding, can believe in God, yet, through the very faith, whereby we believe, the mind is fitted to understand more fully (ut intelligat ampliora.) For there are certain points, which we do not believe, unless we un¬ derstand them; and again, there are some, which we do not understand, unless we first believe. If there were not some of this latter description, the Prophet would not say ; “ If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.” Isa. vii. 9. S. Augustine. The just shall live by faith , that is, such a Faith, as grows from step to step, till the whole righteousness of God be fulfilled in it. “ From faith to faith,” (Eom. i. 17,) saith the Apostle; which S. Augustine thus expounds; from faith believing to faith obey¬ ing ; from faith imperfect to faith made perfect by the operation of charity; that he, who is “justified ” by his admission into the covenant of Grace by Eaptism, may be “justified still” at the day of final retribution. For, as there are several degrees and parts of justification, so there are several degrees of faith, answerable to it; that in all senses it may be true, that by faith we are justified , and by faith we live, and by faith we are saved. For if we proceed from faith to faith, from believ¬ ing to obeying; from faith in the understanding to faith in the will; from faith, barely assenting to the revelations of God, to faith obeying the Commandments of God ; from the body of faith to the soul of faith, that is, to faith formed and made alive by charity then we shall proceed from justification to justification; that is, from remission of sius in Baptism to become the sons of God ; by which we become, first, partakers of the benefits of His death; and come at last to an actual possession of those glories, to which we are consigned by the fruits of the Holy Ghost. (Bp. J. Taylor, Life of Christ.) 470 S. LUKE XVII. 5—8. In this sense it is, that the Holy Jesus is called by the Apostle, “the author and the finisher of faith.” He is the Author of it, because He is the principle, upon which it is founded. He begins our faith in revelations, and perfects it in command¬ ments. He leads us by the assent of our understanding, and finishes His work of grace by enabling us to lead a holy life. Bom. i. 17. Daubeny. (Guide to the Church, Letter iii.) Certainly they did never have any grace, who did not complain to have too little. Bp. Hall. I have no grace till I would have more. Dr. Donne. 6 A grain, fyc. —Our Lord adapts His requirements to the infant state of His Church, His “little, little flock,” μικρόν ποιμνών, and is content with a very small quantity of faith. Exactly so He speaks of “two or three gathered together in His Name,” making His promise not to the greatest, but the fewest number, xii. 32. J. F. Our Saviour useth this and the like expression of removing a sycamine tree and the mountains, upon three several occasions : 1. upon occasion that the disciples could not cast out the devil (S. Matt. xvii. 19, 20) ; there He speaks of the faith of miracles: 2. on the drying up of the fig-tree (S. Matt. xxi. 20) ; both justifying faith, and the faith of miracles are there intended, one primarily, the other secondarily. 3. (S. Luke xvii. 3,) when a saving justifying faith is intended. Edw. Leigh. 8 Will not rather say unto him , fyc. —The servant here is the an¬ cient slave, the Master’s own absolute property, not engaged under any right to wages, but bound to do every thing for nothing. Such are we, the Bedeemed of the Lord, spiritually. ... We must always be waiting, in expectation of some fresh service, some new call to Christian duty, labour and self-denial. How significantly is this intimated to us in the case of Abra¬ ham. “ After these things, God did tempt Abraham,” (Gen. xxii. 1) ; after the Patriarch had suffered so much, and probably expected some respite, and to be allowed to go, and sit down to meat, the command from Heaven reaches him; Make ready to serve Me; gird thyself to another and far more severe trial of thy faith and love. And how readily did he obey the call, and yet unfeignedly confess himself to be an “ unprofitable servant ,” S. LUKE XVII. 10. 471 (xviii. 27,) leaving us in these things an example, that we may “walk in the steps of his faith,” and be “ Blessed with faithful Abraham,” and at last rest “ in his bosom ;” for “ there remaineth a rest unto the people of God.” Bom. vi.; Gal. v. 9. J. F. 10 That , which was our duty to do. —That, which can bring no benefit to our Divine Bedeemer, that, which we owed to our Master for the price He paid, when He purchased us, or for the maintenance and wages He covenanted to give us. Before we became servants to Christ, we were slaves sold under sin ; for “ whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin;” but now, having learned the truth of Him, the truth hath “ made us free,” and brought us by the redeeming blood of Christ into “the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” If then we do only what our Master requires, which is all manner of good, and abstain from all manner of evil, we do but that, which He purchased us to do ; and cannot justly call ourselves useful, or profitable servants, till we do more, and overpay Him for His blood; a thiug utterly impossible. Where then is room for boasting, or supererogation ? None, but, on the contrary, par¬ don must be implored for infraerogation by the very best of us. Ps. cxxx. 4 ; 1 Cor. vi. 20. P. Skelton. (Senilia, 51.) On account of the uncertain nature of our own righteousness, and the danger of vain glory, it is the safest course to place our whole trust in the mercy and loviug kindness of God. 2 Tim. i. 16—18. Card. Bellarmine .* (Inst. L. v. c. 1.) We acknowledge a dutiful necessity of doing well; but the meri¬ torious dignity of doing well, we utterly renounce. We see how far we are from the perfect righteousness of the Law: the little fruit which we have in holiness, it is, God knoweth, corrupt and unsound ; we put no confidence at all in it, we challenge nothing in the world for it, we dare not call God to reckoning, as if we had Him in our debt books : our continual * The same holy and learned man is Sanctos et Electos suos admittot; I reported to have uttered on his death- beseech that God, who weighs not our bed these memorable words, which merits, but graciously pardons our seem to us strange, as coming from his offences, that He would receive me lips. Precor ut me Deus, non estima- among His Saints and His elect. tor meriti sed Venice largitor, inter 472 S. LUKE XVII. 10. suit to Him is and must be, to bear witb our infirmities and pardon our offences. Ps. cxliii. 2; 1 S. Jobni. 8. Hooker. (Disc, of Justification, s. 7.) Say ye are, fyc .—Wretched is the man, whom the Lobd shall call an unprofitable servant (S. Matt. xxv. 30) ; happy he, who so calls himself. Bengel. Conscius est animus meus, experientia testis, Mystica quse retuli dogmata vera scio. Hon tamen idcirco scio me fore glorificandum ; Spes mea Crux Christi; gratia, non opera. It was the meditation of the wise Chancellor of Paris : “ I know that without a good life, and the fruits of repentance, a sinner cannot be justified; and therefore I must live well, or I must die for ever: but if I do live holily, I do not think that I deserve heaven; it is the Cross of Christ, that gives me grace ; it is the mercy and free gift of Christ, that brings me to Heaven.” Bp. J. Taylor. (Serm. S. James ii. 24.) 11 And it came to pass, as He went to Jerusalem, that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when He saw them , He said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the Priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks : and he was a Samaritan. S. LUKE XVII. 13—15. 473 17 And Jesus answering, said, Were there not ten cleansed ? but where are the nine ? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And He said unto him, Arise, go thy way : thy faith hath made thee whole. 13 The Litany is not one long continued prayer,' but broken into many short and pithy ejaculations; that the intention and de¬ votion, which is most necessary in prayer, may not be dulled and vanish, as in a long prayer it is apt to do, but be quickened and intended by so many new and quick petitions : and the nearer to the end, the shorter and livelier it is, strengthening our devotion by raising in us an apprehension of our misery and distress, ready, as it were, to sink and perish, and therefore crying out, as the disciples did ; “ Master, save us ; we perish.” “ O Lamb of God, hear us “ O Christ, hear us “ Lord, have mercy upon us” Such as these are the active lively-spirited prayers, evep^ovyevai, which S. James mentions and tells us “avail much.” S. James v. 16; xxii. 44. Bp. Sparrow. (Rationale. The Litany.) 14 In remitting, or retaining sins, the Priests of the Gospel have that right and office, which the Legal Priests had of old under the Law in curing of the lepers. These therefore forgive or retain sins, while they show and declare, that they are forgiven or retained of God : for the Priests put the Name of the Lord upon the children of Israel; but it was He Himself, that blessed them, as it is read in Numbers vi. 23—27. Pet. Lombard. (Sent. L. iv. 14.) As they went. —Though God hath not tied Himself to means, yet He hath tied us to the use of them; and we have never more reason to expect the Divine assistance, than when we are doing our utmost endeavours. Gen. xxiv. 27; Isa. lxiv. 5. Scouyal. 15 The loud voice , in giving thanks, is the counterpart to the lifted up voice in imploring mercy ; the first was the expression of deeply felt need, the latter of faith and adoring gratitude. The 474 S. LUKE XVII. 16, 17. remaining “ nine ” were, as S. Bernard writes of some worldly courtiers in his time (L. ii. De consid. ad Eugenium,) Impor- tuni , ut accipiant ; inquieti, donee acceperint ; ubi acceperunt , in- grati; clamorous in begging; never quiet, till they got some¬ thing ; and then ungrateful for the benefit bestowed. May He, who opens His hand “ to bless us,” ever “ open our lips ” to show forth His praise. Ps. ciii. 1—5. J. F. 16 To lie prostrate at the feet of Chbist is to stand erect above the world; to be brought low for His sake is a Resurrection, x. 39 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 9. Paulinus. 17 The Priests had corrupted and persuaded those other nine, that they were cured by their observance of the Law, and not by Chbist’ s might and mercy. S. John ix. 24. Lyra. Man is prone enough to pray for things he wants, but forgets his having received them. Of ten lepers cleansed, but one returns to Chbist to thank Him. Prayer is of nature, thankfulness of grace. Want forceth open every mouth to crave. Religion opens few to render thanks. Children can sing Hosannah; “ Help, Loud the boys cried so to Chbist. But Hallelujah, “praise the Lobd,” is the song of the Elders in the Apocalypse. Ps. 1. 23; Phil. iv. 6. Hr. Richard Clerhe. (Serm. Exod. xx. 14.) There is scarce any duty of religion more commonly neglected, or more slightly performed, than that of praise and thanksgiving. The sense of our wants puts us upon begging favours from God, and the consciousness of our sins constrains us to deprecate His wrath. Thus interest and self-love send us to our prayers; but alas! how small a part hath an ingenuous gratitude in our devotion ? Plow seldom are we serious and hearty in our ac¬ knowledgments of the Divine bounty ; the slender returns of this nature, which we make, are many times a formal ceremony, a preface to usher in our petitions for what we want, rather than any sincere expression of our thankful resentment for what we have received. Col. iii. 15—17 ; iv. 2. Scougal. (Serm. Ps. evii. 15.) Whenever we see a man remarkably ungrateful, we may assuredly infer from thence, that there is no true sense of religion in that person. 1 S. John iv. 20. Dr. South. S. LUKE XVII. 18. 475 It is the character of an unworthy nature to write injuries in marble and benefits in dust. Yer. 4. Paimer. (Aph. 1584.) 18 Adversity conduceth more to our soul’s health, than prosperity. While these lepers laboured under their infirmity, they prayed to Christ heartily; they lifted up their voices to Him; but being recovered, they presently bid adieu to Him, and thought they had no further need of Him : their disease and the memory of the benefit which they had received are both at an end, and laid aside together.This backwardness to give thanks is an argument of a graceless unyielding temper. Prayer is a dictate of nature; but it is of mere grace, that we are thankful: want may force open our lips to crave ; but religion is hardly of sufficient force to excite our gratitude; even children can cry “ Hosannah to the Son of David,” that is, “ Help, Lord;” but “Hallelujah,” that is “Praise the Lord,” is the song of Angels. Jesus , Master , have mercy on us, was the prayer of ten ; but to return and to give thanks, is the act only of one. The dove, an emblem of gratitude, after the deluge, repaired to the ark with an olive branch in her bill; but the raven, an emblem of unthankfulness, returned not. . . . Where are the nine ? saith Christ : where are the hundreds, the thou¬ sands, that having been partakers of God’s favours, instead of thanking Him, do but provoke Him ? where are they ? Gen. xl. 23 ; Deut. xxxii. 13—15 ; Hos. v. 15. Dr. Lake. (Serm. on text.) We must always bear in mind, that the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is the Divinely appointed way and means, whereby we must publicly express our gratitude to God for all His mani¬ fold mercies. It is the Bemembrance, or Commemoration, with thanksgiving, άνάμνησις yer ευχαριστίας. It is by taking, eating, and drinking, that we show forth our acceptance of Christ’s Salvation, and our thankfulness for the same. But how many are cleansed from the leprosy of sin in Holy Baptism, who never return to give glory to God at the Eucharistic table ; they forfeit the benefit they received, and for their monstrous iugratitude provoke most justly God’s wrath and indignation against them. For, if these nine lepers were not held guiltless for omitting a mode of declaring their thankfulness, which the Lord had not prescribed to them, how much more inexcusable 476 S. LUKE XVII. 19, 20. must Christians be, who absent themselves from the Lord’s Supper, after repeated invitations and warnings from Him, and who, not once, but habitually, refuse to “ do this in. Remem¬ brance of Him ?” xii. 47. J. F. 19 He made no reply, signifying thereby, that he came back again to signify his own thanks, not to tell tales of others’ ingratitude. Jansenius. Gratiarum ascensus Gratice descensus. The sending up of thanks is the fetching down of Grace. Phil. iv. 6, 7. S. Bernard. The Samaritan is saved by his faith. How ? Surely not on account of the cure of his leprosy only (for this the rest had in common with him) ; but because he was now admitted into the family of God’s adopted children, and had received from His own hand the pledge of the Father’s love. Rom. iv. 9—13. Calvin. 20 And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 22 And He said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there : go not after them , nor follow them. 24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in His day. 25 But first must He suffer many things, and be re¬ jected of this generation. 20 The Law had its end veiled, its means of appeal outward and visible; the Gospel has its means tacit and inward, but its end 4 77 S. LUKE XVII. 21, 22. fully revealed. 2 Cor. iii. 13—15. J. Miller. (Bampt. Lecture, ii.) 21 The kingdom of heaven is within you. Wheresoever Majesty resides, the Court is there ; and wheresoever the King governs, there his Kingdom is. If the Almighty govern all the passions, motions, and affections of our souls, if once He he the Sove¬ reign Monarch of our hearts, if the love of God give law to all our inclinations, the Holy Ghost is then as truly in us, as a King is in His Kingdom; and He is no otherwise in heaven. This is that heaven upon earth , which none can understand, but those devout and pious souls, who by experience taste and see how sweet God’s Kingdom is, where Chkist governs by faith, and the Holy Ghost by charity ; or, as S. Austin says, “ whose King is Truth, whose Law is Love.” A contrite heart. (S. 4.) How great a blessing is it, my brethren, at all times, but especially in an age like this, that the tokens of Cheist are not only without us, but more properly within us ! I say, in this age especially, because it is an age, in which the outward signs of Cheist’ s Presence have well nigh deserted us.Since then, in this our age, He has in judgment obscured the visible and public notes of His Kingdom among us, wdiat a mercy is it to us, that He has not deprived us of such, as are personal and private ! . . . . Who among us may not, if he will, lead such a life as to have those secret and truer tokens to rest his faith on ; so as to be sure, and certain, and convinced, that the Church, which Baptized us, has still the Presence of Cheist, and therefore is within the bounds of His Kingdom, and is the gate to His eternal favour? 2 Cor. xiii. 5; 1 S. John v. 10. J. H. Newman. (Serm. on text.) Every man hath a kingdom within himself. Keason, as the Prin¬ cess, dwells in the highest and inwardest room : the senses are the guards and attendants on the Court, without whose aid nothing is admitted into the Presence: the supreme faculties, as will, memory, &c., are the Peers; the outward parts and in¬ ward affections are the Commons ; violent passions are rebels to disturb the common peace. Bp. Hall. 22 Bays of the Son of Man. —Whose day is this ? Whose, but Cheist’ s. And for certain it cannot be His day, as He is 478 S. LUKE XVII. 22, 23. “ God from everlasting.” “ His goings out are from all eter¬ nity.” Again, this is dies factus, (Ps. cxviii. 24,) a day, that is “made;” and such an adjunct cannot suit with Him, that was never made, but is the Everlasting One, before the world began. It is therefore that day which was made with Him, when He was “ made flesh.” .... Yea, but S. Luke remembers us that there are many days belonging to the Son —one of the days of the Son of Man— what day of all those is this ? Why not one, but all those days, since the world received Him, and received Him with the glad tidings of salvation. All evangelical days at large, every day, that we “ hear His voice, and harden not our hearts,” is this day. It may be very well opposed to that dis¬ mal day, wherein our first parents transgressed and fell: that was a day, which the devil made, and “took his pastime in it,” because the league of friendship was broken between God and man; but the Lord made a new day, to repair us again by the mediation of Jesus Christ. S. John viii. 56 ; 2 Cor. vi. 2. Bp. Hachet. (Serm. Ps. cxviii. 24.) Death arrives gracious only to such, as sit in darkness, or lie heavy burdened with grief and irons ; to the poor Christian, that sits bound in the galley; to despairing widows, pensive prisoners, and deposed kings; to them, whose fortune runs back, and whose spirit mutinies ; unto such, death is a redeemer, and the grave a place for retiredness, and rest. These wait upon the shore of death, and waft unto him to draw near, wishing above all others to see his star, that they might be led to his place, wooing the remorseless sisters to wind down the watch of their life, and to break them off before the hour. 2 Thess. i. 7. Lord Bacon. (An Essay on Death.) 23 Mundus senescens patitur phantasias. The world in its dotage is troubled with dreams and visions. Gerson. If a man cannot find ease within himself, it is preposterous for him to seek it any where else. Ver. 21. Paimer. (Aphor. 1202.) 26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. 2 7 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, S. LUKE XVII. 27. 479 they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they budded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 27 Biel eat. —The sinner’s feast is no sooner served up, but Divine Justice is preparing to send up a reckoning after it; and the fearful expectation of this cannot but spoil the taste of the other, xvi. 23; Judg. iii. 20, 21 ; 1 Kings xx. 16 ; 1 Sam. xxv. 36, 37- Gurnall. They drank. —I chiefly admonish and beseech that soul which desires to be the spouse of Jesus Cheist by preserving her purity, to fly from w r ine as a mortal poison : these are the first arms the devil makes use of against youth. Wine and youth are a double incentive to pleasure. Why do we cast oil in the fire ? Why do we add more fuel to the body that is on fire ? Kev. xviii. 2. S. Jerome. (Ep. ad Eustach.) They married. —The first sin that was ever committed, was from this source and fountain ; so that Jerome states the fault of Adam, that he ate the forbidden fruit, ne contra staret delicias saas, lest he should cast her, whom he loved so much, into an immoderate dejection. 1 Cor. vii. 29—33. Farindon. Destroyed them all. —There is nothing renders us more afraid to die, than a soft voluptuous life. Death must be bitter, where voluptuousness makes life sweet. Ecclus.xli. 1. Bp. Kidder. To be plucked out of house and body, from among friends and comforts, and thrust into endless miseries, into the dark vault of hell, never to see the light of this world any more, never to see a comfortable sight, never to hear a joyful sound, never to know 480 S. LUKE XVII. 27, 28. the meaning of peace, rest, or delight any more. O what a change is here ! Ps. 1. 22. Flavel. Death breaks the strings; and that ends the music, xii. 20. Abp. Leighton. 28 A full meal is like Sisera’s banquet, at the end of which there is a nail struck into a man’s head; it knocks a man down, and nails his soul to the sensual mixtures of the body. xxi. 34. Bp. J. Taylor. They builded. —They will charm it (a guilty conscience) with plea¬ sures, and overwhelm it with business, as Cain, when his con¬ science was too rough and rigid for him, “ went out from the Presence of the Lobd,” and, as it is observed, built cities, got some of his progeny to invent music, perhaps to still his tumul¬ tuous raving conscience, that the noise of the hammers and melody of the instruments might outsound the din within him, as in the sacrifices of Moloch. Gen. iv.; xi. 4 ; 1 Sam. xvi. 16. Dr. Hammond. (Serm. S. Matt. x. 15.) Men will he buying and selling, building and planting, burying their hearts in earthly things, wlien the earth, the scene of their anxiety, will be melting beneath them. Men will be hurrying to strife and battle, when the very stage of their contention will be rent asunder by the last convulsions of nature; when the din of arms shall be silenced by the voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God. It is when the earth shall be ripe for the vintage of God, that the order shall be suddenly given, “ Thrust in the sickle, and reap.” Dan. xii. 4; 2 Thess. v. 1—4. R. Hall. Cheist instanceth not in the oppressions and violence of the old world (Gen. vi. 11), nor in the abominations of Sodom (Gen. xix. 4, 5), but in their eating and drinking , and buying and sell¬ ing , and driving after the world, to teach us that, when the world comes to this state and condition to be voluptuous and covetous,—let their voluptuousness be natural, eating, drinking, and the enjoyment of marriage,—let their covetousness be without oppression, they bought and they sold , traded fairly, paid for what they took—yet a secure giving over ourselves to these courses is a forerunner of judgment. As some sicknesses (morbi symptomatici) are more fearful not in themselves, but S. LUKE XVII. 28—30. 481 because they are forerunners of plague and pestilence ; so are these sins dreadful. The meteor, called Malaria, it is a certain sign of a storm and tempest. Acts xxvii. 13 ; Ps. ix. 17 ; Ezek. xvi. 49; 1 Thess. v. 2. Bp. Brownrig. (Serin. S. Luke xxi. 34.) Are these things evil ? Yes ; they are evil, unless they are good ; they are evil, unless they are become good ; they are evil, unless Chkist sanctifies them; and then, and not till then, they are good. In all things then we must spiritualize this world. 1 Tim. iv. 4. J. Ii. Newman . The proper use of this world depends wholly upon our views of the next. xvi. 9. J. Venn. 29 To be exhorted to go out of Sodom is mercy; to be hasted away is more mercy; and to be caught and thrust out, if we prolong the time, is most mercy; be it by what schooling crosses soever it please God to send. Gen. xix. 16; Eev. xviii. 4. Bp. Babington. (Comfortable notes on Genesis.) O ! lust, thou infernal fire ! whose fuel is gluttony, whose flame is pride, whose sparkles are wanton words, whose smoke is in¬ famy, whose ashes are uncleanness, whose end is hell. xvi. 24 ; S. Jude 7. S. Jerome. Destroyed them all; twice declared, in order to fix our minds on the certainty of the horrible punishment; the all corresponding with the like expression of universality at xiv. 24 ; “I say unto you, that none of those men, that were bidden, shall taste of my supper!” Conf. xxi. 25, and S. Mark ix. 44, 46, 48. J. F. Be not offended, O my soul, if the same doctrine be often de¬ livered unto thee ; if the same precept, like the sword in Para¬ dise, which turned every way, doth hunt and haunt thee, tracing thee, which way soever thou turnest: rather conclude that thou art deeply concerned in the practice thereof; which God hath thought fit should be so frequently inculcated unto thee. Phil, iii. 1. T. Fuller . 30 Even thus. —Actual demonstration would leave no room for faith, which is clearly man’s discipline in the present dispen¬ sation, humbling him in the consciousness of his ignorance, and of his dependence on God. We have only therefore thank¬ fully to receive and diligently to improve, the sufficient evi- 482 S. LUKE XVII. 31, 32. dence vouchsafed to us. Paley has given us a golden maxim of Christian philosophy, when he defines true fortitude of under¬ standing to consist “in not suffering what we do know, to be disturbed and shaken by what we do not know.” (Nat. Theol. c. 5.) S. John ix. 25. W. Bridges. (Expos, of the Book of Proverbs, c. xxii. 17—21.) 31 In that day, he which shall be upon the house¬ top, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding together ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two men shall be in the field ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 37 And they answered and said unto Him, Where, Lord ? And He said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. 31 We cannot have here a fixed condition or state, when the very end of our coming is to pass away, so that our life itself is but a passage; hoc ipsam nostrum vivere transire est. Eccl. i. S. Gregory. (Moral. L. xi. c. 26.) 32 Lot’s wife who, having been set free, looked back, contrary to the command, forfeited her past deliverance. Let us not regard the things behind, whither the devil recalls, but the things be¬ fore, whither Christ calls. S. Jude 5, 6. Phil. iii. 13. S. Cyprian. S. LUKE XVII. 32. 483 The wavering and amaze of others, that stand on the plain (with Lot’s wife) looking about, and cannot tell whether to go forward to little Zoar, or back again to the ease of Sodom, show plainly, that Lot’s wife is forgotten, and this is a needful memento; Remember Lot's wife. If then it be our’s, and so nearly con¬ cern us, let us see quantum valent Jive quinque syllabce . Yet it is not needless, but right requisite, that we, which are the “Lobd’s remembrancers,” put you in mind, that as perse¬ verance is the queen of virtues, quia ea sola coronatur ; so is it also, quia Satanas ei soli insidiatur , for that, all Satan’s malice, and all his practices are against it: the more careful need we to be, to carry in our eye this example ; which God grant we may, and that our hearts may seriously regard, and our memories carefully keep it; ut hcee columna fulciat nos, hie sal condiat nos, that this pillar may prop our weakness, and this salt season our sacrifice, that it may be remembered, and accepted, and re¬ vealed in the day of the Lord. Ex. xiv. 15. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm. on text.) She still keeps her place, converted into a statue of salt, and warns the passers by that she may season men into wisdom. Heb. xi. 4. S. Augustine. God hath painted out every sin with the blood of the offender. He hath beat out the teeth of oppression in one, whipped idle¬ ness in another, stricken pride in a third; so that sins are not better known than the punishments of sins, nor God’s precepts more remarkable than His judgments. Clement speaks of the pillar of salt, into which Lot’s wife was turned, that it was not a mere heavy and lumpish statue, but had life and activity enough to preserve us from recidivation. Judg. i. 7 ; 1 Sam. xv. 33 ; Esther vii. 10; Dan. vi. 24. Farindon. God strikes some, that He may warn all. Josh. vii. 26 ; Acts v. 11; Prov. xix. 25. Bp. Hall. Vis in timore securus esse ? securitatem time. Do you wish to be secure, while in a state of fear ? then fear security. 1 Cor. x. 12. S. Bernard. Quid, inter hsec, futura non recogitas Dies videre diligens bonos, nimis Supina mens, turn salutis immemor ? i i 2 484 S. LUKE XVII. 33—35. Solet nocere, ssepius quod allicit; Parens sit Eva testis. Hisce jugiter Monemur, omne, quod fugax, relinquere ; Quod est perenne gaudium requirere. Card. Barberini. 33 Heaven will pay for any loss we may suffer to gain it; but nothing can pay for the loss of heaven. Heb. xii. 17. R. Baxter. 34 Their being thus found in the undisturbed pursuit of their ordinary business in life, strongly marks their insensibility to the danger of the impending judgment of God, and conse¬ quently their unbelief in God’s Word. The bed seems to lead our thoughts to the state of the slothful, and the field to the state of the diligent; or the latter may refer to the quick at the Resurrection-day, and the former to those who shall awake out of their graves. Ex. vii. 23 ; Heb. xi. ; 1 Thess. v. J. F. When thou dost see thy bed , let it put thee in mind of thy grave, which is now the bed of Cueist ; for Chkist, by laying His Holy Body to rest three days and three nights in the grave, hath sanctified, and, as it were, warmed it for the bodies of His saints to rest and sleep in, till the morning of the Resurrection; so that now unto the faithful death is but a sweet sleep, and the grave but Cueist’s bed, where their bodies rest and sleep in peace, until the joyful morning of the Resurrection shall dawn unto them. Let therefore thy bed-clothes represent unto thee the mould of the earth, that shall cover thee; thy sheets thy winding sheet; thy sleep thy death ; thy waking thy Re¬ surrection. (Ps. iv. 8.) Thus religiously opening every morn¬ ing thy heart, and shutting it up again every evening, with the Word of God and prayer, as it were with a lock and key; and so beginning the day with God’s worship, continuing it in His fear, and ending it in His favour, thou shalt be sure to find the blessing of God upon all thy day’s labours and good endeavours ; and at night thou mayest assure thyself thou shalt sleep safely and sweetly in the arms of thy Heavenly Eathee’s Providence. Ps. cxxxii. 3 ; Isa. lvii. 2. Bp. Bayly. (Practice of Piety.) 35 Now to provide for eternity, I know* no better rule, than to do nothing but what thou mightest be content to be found doing, S. LUKE XVII. 37. 485 when Christ shall come to judge thee. Gen. xxii. 11. Bp. Hopkins. 37 The literal and prophetic sense is plain: the body is the dead and rotting carcase of God’s cast off people, and the eayles the gathering together of the Roman armies to devour. Much diversity of interpretation attends the figurative meaning. S. Gregory and S. Augustine understand by the body heaven, and· by eagles the saints of God ;■ S. Jerome by body understands Christ’ s sufferings ; Origen sees in it He Church, and in the eagles the consent of the doctors and early fathers. Others apply it to the cross and to believers, and more particularly to the Body of the Lord, the food of our souls in the Holy Eucharist. We are reminded of a passage in Dr. Donne (Serm. S. John viii. 15) : “ The rivers of Paradise did not all run one way, and yet they flowed from one head; the sentences of the Scripture flow all from one head, from the Holy Ghost, and yet they seem to present divers senses, and to admit divers interpretations.” Gen. ii. 10. J. F. The saints are eagles. 1. They moulter off old feathers. 2. renew. (Ps. ciii. 5.) 3. Look on the sun. 4. Are heavenly. (Job xxxix. 27.) Wheresoever show r s Christ’s Body is not every where; He saith not ubique , but ubicunque. Isa. xl. 31. Ed. Leigh, (in loco.) CHAPTER XVIII. Λ ND He spake a parable unto them to this end , that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 486 S. LUKE XVIII. 1, 2. 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 1 Always to pray. —Divines have a rule, Prcecepta affirmativa tenent semper; sed non ad semper : the habits of virtue must * be ever in us; but we must perform the acts, when we have just occasion: certain times we must appoint ourselves for prayer.Some, not content wfith that limitation of affir¬ mative precepts to congruous time, do mingle our meditations with our actions ; so S. Ambrose, Clamant opera tua; clamat fides; clamat ajfectus; clamant passiones; clamat sanguis. Whatsoever good we do, or cross we suffer patiently, that is a real prayer. Ps. lxxi. 5 ; 1 Tbess. v. 17. Bp. Lake. (Serm. S. Luke xviii. 7, 8.) Longing desire prayeth always, though the tongue he silent. If thou art ever longing, thou art ever praying. When stayeth prayer ? When desire groweth cold. S. Augustine. (On N. Test., Serm. xxx.) As the trumpets of prayer must be loud, so they must be lasting. These cries are day and night (ver. 7) ; instant and constant prayers. Strength and length of devotion are the two wings of prayer. We must not have Bethulian devotions (Judith vii.) ; if God will not deliver us in five days, we will give over our prayers. Gen. xxxii. 26 ; TIos. xii. 4. Bp. Brownrig. Not to faint. —What seems less than for a Christian to pray ? Yet this cannot be performed aright without a princely spirit; as Jacob is said to have behaved himself, like a Prince, when ho did but pray; for which he came out of the field Gob’s ban¬ neret. Gen. xxxii. 28. Gurnall. Pray and stay are two blessed monosyllables. Ps. xxvii. 13, 14. Or. Bonne. 2 Beligion in a magistrate strengthens his authority, because it procures veneration, and gains a reputation to it; and in all tbe affairs of this world so much reputation is so much real power, xxiii. 50—52; 2 Chron. xix. 6, 7. Abp. Tillotson. If thou hast the place of a magistrate, deserve it by thy justice, and dignify it with thy mercy. Be not too severe, lest thou be S. LUKE XVIII. 2—4. 487 hated; nor too remiss, lest thou be slighted: so execute justice, that thou mayest be loved; so execute mercy, that thou mayest be feared. Job xix. 16; 1 Sam. xii. 3, 4. F. Quarles . In a State nothing is more requisite than to preserve to every office, yea, to the meanest, a good repute. For the first step to disorder is the contempt of magistracy; and that, as well of the lowest degree, as of the more exalted. Acts xxiii. 5 ; S. Jude 8. Lord Cap el. (Contemplations, 223.) 3 0.ratio, sine malts, est quasi avis, sine alis. A prayer, without the sense of some evil, is like a bird, without wings. Ps. cix. 3. Nathan Chrythceus . He, who knows how to pray, premi potest, non potest opprimi, may be pressed, but cannot be overwhelmed. 2 Cor. iv. 9, 10; Phil. iv. 6, 7. Ahp. Leighton. (Med. on Ps. iv.) Avenge me. —Vengeance is forbidden to a private person; but the magistrate’s vengeance is God’s vengeance. Horn. xii. 19, and xiii. 4. Manton. 4 And he would not for a while : but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man ; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them ? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth ? 4 He that rejecteth the complaint of the poor, and beateth them off with big words, and terror in his looks, either out of the hard- 488 S. LUKE XVIII. 7. ness of his heart or the love of ease, when he might have leisure to give them audience (if he were so minded) and to take notice of their grievances, cannot justly excuse himself by pleading— “ Behold, we knew it not.” Ps. lxxxii. 6; Jer. v. 28, 29 ; Micah iii. 1—4; Acts xxiv. 26, 27. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. Prov. xxiv. 10—12.) 7 This argument a fortiori corresponds with that used before; “ If ye, being evil , know how to give good gifts unto your child 7 ren, how much more shall your Heavenly Bather give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.” (xi. 13.) If an unjust judge was moved by the importunity of the widow, how much more shall our “righteous Bather” in heaven be prevailed upon by our entreaties, and deliver us from our great adversary ? J. F. If therefore he, who disliked being asked, heard the petition, how much rather will God hear us, who Himself bids us pray ? Isa. xlv. 19. S. Augustine. (Serm. cxv. 1.) His own elect. —When the strength of a temptation exceeds the ordinary grace of believers, their election is adverted to. S. Matt. xxiv. 22 ; Pom. viii. 33. Bengel. Numerous errors have been committed in theological writings by confounding the two meanings of Election , i.e., as the word is used with regard to God’s knowledge, or to man’s. “ God’s elect ” cannot finally fall from grace. (Pom. viii. 33; S. Matt, xxiv. 22.) But “ God’s elect ” are known to God alone. Any of those, whom man must suppose to be elect, may fall from grace; and all, who receive the Sacraments and profess the faith of Christ, are to be regarded, as elect, in man’s eye. We must suppose, therefore, that all, who are baptized and pro¬ fess the true faith, are elect. And therefore the Apostles ad¬ dress whole congregations, containing many weak, wayward, and erring members, as elect. The entire Church Visible is elect in the eye of man; but the Church invisible alone is elect in the eye of God. 1 S. Pet. i. 2, 9 ; Col. iii. 2 ; 1 Tbess. i. 4; 2 S. John i. 13; Pom. xvi. 13. Or. Wordsworth. (Serm. on 1 Cor. ii. 13.) His elect , which c?y, fyc .—How absurd are they, who make this profane collection “ I am elected; therefore it skilletli not, S. LUKE XVIII. 7, 8. 489 whether I serve God.” Thou vain man, He, that elected to the end, elected to the means ; yea, the election, mentioned in my text, is unto this service : for, when thou art elected into the Church, thou art elected to he a Priest; thy person is elected to be a Temple; and prayer is that sacrifice, which every man must offer in that house of prayer. Acts xxvii. 24,31; 2 Thess. ii. 13 ; IS. Pet. i. 2. Bp. Lake. (Serm. on S. Luke xviii. 7, 8.) There often comes a long and sharp winter, between the sowing time of prayer and the reaping. Eccl. xi. 6. Gurnall. 8 If faith fails, prayer ceases: for who prays for what he does not believe ? S. James v. 15. S. Augustine. Hot only the word faith , but also charity, and godliness, and reli¬ gion, signify sometimes particular graces ; and sometimes they suppose universally, and mean congregations and unions of graces, as is evident to them, that read the Scriptures with ob¬ servation. How when justification is attributed to faith , or salvation to godliness, they are to be understood in the aggre¬ gate sense : for, that I may give but one instance of this, when S. Paul speaks of faith, as it is a particular grace, and separate from the rest, he also does separate it from all possibility of bringing us to heaven: “ Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” When faith includes charity, it will bring us to heaven; when it is alone, when it is without charity, it will do nothing at all. 2 S. Pet. i. 5—8. Bp. J. Taylor. (Serm. S. James ii. 24.) God bestows the saving graces jointly, or not at all. God cannot give humility to one, purity or chasteness to another, and charity alone to a third; because there is such an inseparable union and alliance among the graces of the Spirit (as philosophers have observed of moral virtues) that, where one is really, there all the rest must be: which, as I conceive, is the reason why the writers of the Hew Testament express the whole body of prac¬ tical Divinity sometimes by faith , sometimes by hope, some¬ times by love ; because the combination of these saving graces is such, that the mentioning of one implies all the rest. (Gal. v. 22, fruit , not fruits of the Spirit.) Or. Hickes. (Serm. 1 Cor. xii. 4.) The Church waa sad, first in the death of her martyrs ; then more 490 S. LUKE XVIII. 8—10. sad, in the disputes of heretics; and now she is most sad, in the evil lives of her followers. 2 Tim. iii. 1—5. S. Bernard. The universal depravity of Jew and Grentile (Rom. i. ii.) caused the Church of old to pray earnestly for the first Advent of Christ ; and a like depravity among those, who call themselves Christians, may induce her to pray no less earnestly for His appearance “the second time, without sin unto salvation.” Ps. xii. 1; liii. Bp. Horne. 9 And He spake this parable nnto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with him¬ self, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are , extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 9 They are ever tlie likeliest thus to despise others, that conceit something in themselves more than in others. Wealth, honour, strength, beauty, birth, friends, alliance, authority, power, wit, learning, eloquence, reputation, any trifle, can leaven our thoughts, (partial as they are towards ourselves) and swell us, and heave us up above our brethren : and because we think we do overtop them, we think we may overlook them too, and despise them, as vulgar and contemptible. 1 Sam. xvii. 42; Eccl. ix. 16; Ps. cxix. 141. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. Rom. xiv. 3.) Nothing hinders our own Salvation more than to deny Salvation to all but ourselves. 1 Cor. xiii. 4—7. Dr. Donne. 10 To pray. —Sometimes, when he had occasion to go into the city, and saw slender congregations at prayer, he would much wonder at his countrymen, that had so little love to holy prayer; S. LUKE XVIII. 10, 11. 491 but when he heard of any, that would not go to Church to prayer, unless it were accompanied with a sermon, he would not scruple to say, he scarce thought them Christians ; and never deemed any Divine to be really famous and successful in his preaching, who could not prevail w r ith his people to come fre¬ quently to Sacraments and prayers. . . . He reminded his peo¬ ple, that, after our Blessed Saviour had cast out the sheep and oxen, yet He still called His house, the house of Prayer ; to show that, though those sacrifices were at an end, yet this should never end; and therefore the Apostles themselves, after His death, resorted to His temple at the hours of prayer, xix. 46; Ps. lxxii. 15 ; Acts iii. 1. Or. Plume. (Life of Bp. Hacket.) The other a 'publican. —The emptiness of our Churches upon Fri¬ days and ’Wednesdays, and other fasting days, showeth how little feeling there is in us of the crying sins of our state: it were well, if we had some feeling of our own. But where is that drunkard ? Where is that adulterer ? Where is that murderer ? Where is that blasphemer, that usurer, that oppres¬ sor, that cometh into God’s house, bathed in his tears, broken in his heart, stript of his pride, humbled in his body, and making a real cry for mercy in the ears of God ? No ; we come not so far as a vocal; our tongues cry not, GW, be merciful to me a sinner ! which is but the voice of man : much less do our sighs do it, which is the voice of God’s Spirit. We shame not to sin ; but to repent we are ashamed. 1 Cor. v. 2. Bp. Lake. (Serm. S. Luke iii. 7.) 11 With himself.—Convenit Pharisceorum nomini , qui segregatus est. This accords with the name of a Pharisee, one, who stands aloof from others. Gen. xxxviii. 29. Cameron. The true Babbin ought to thank God for these three things, every day of his life. 1. That he was not created a Gentile. 2. That he w r as not a plebeian. 3. That he was not born a w oman. The prayer of the Pharisee took its origin from this source. Bux- torf (Plorileg. Ilebr.) He, that glorieth in that, for which he even giveth thanks, doth by that glorying, as much as he dareth, reverse his thanks. The Pharisee, who thanked God, he was not like other men, did even then, and by those very thanks, but bewray his own 492 S. LUKE XVIII. 11, 12. wretched unthankfulness. 1 Cor. iv. 7, S. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm, 1 Tim. iv. 4.) He should at least have said many men. Tor what does this mean, other men , save to exclude all hut himself? He there¬ fore says, “I alone am righteous; all the world are sinners.” Isa. ii. 11, 17. S. Augustine. Out of thine own mouth shalt thou be judged, thou deceitful Pharisee ; that shall cast thee. . . . Art thou not an extortioner in the highest degree, that goest about to extort and wring from God Himself His most precious treasure, His glory, which He will not “give to another?” S. Matt. xii. 37. Dr. Dyke. (The mystery of self-deceiving, c. 3.) He hath his positive righteousness of both Tables ; he speaks of his fasting , the duties of the first Table; and for the second Table, he paid tithes. Edw. Leigh, (in loco.) Trumpets are for feasts, not fasts (S. Matt. vi. 2) ; they are instruments of pomp; hut here (absit vana gloria) one blast would undo fasting, and alms, and secresy, and all. When the devil could not tempt Christ to eat, he next of all tempted Him to vain glory, to brag of what He could do. Take heed, therefore ; for virtutem qui perdit, seipsum perdit; He that bewrays his virtue, bewrays himself. Tor he, that brags of his abstinence, hath not only lost his reward, hut must give an account for it. Jejuno bis Sabbatho , but once talked of, quite spoiled the Pharisee’s fast, and his prayer too. Jer. xvii. 10 ; Hab. i. 16. Wm. Austin. (Medit. for Lent and Good Priday.) Non est ista supplicatio, sed superlatio ; a super-elevation, rather than a supplication. Sim. de Cassianus. In that you extol yourself, you lose humility ; and you lose charity by depressing others. S. Augustine. Even as this publican. —How beautiful is the humility of David. Ps. cxxxix. He cannot but speak of the wicked in terms of in¬ dignation ; he cannot but hate the haters of his God ; but he seems immediately to recollect and check himself; “ Try me, O Lord, and seek the ground of my heart,” &c. Precisely in the same spirit of inward humility and watchfulness, Abraham, pleading before God in prayer for guilty depraved Sodom, fails not to speak of himself, as being “ dust and ashes.” How far S. LUKE XVIII. 12, 13. 493 was this Pharisee, whose boast was, that he was a child of Abra¬ ham, from speaking the words, and doing the works of the noble Patriarch. He not only does not pray himself, but insults the publican who does. S. John viii. 37—40. J. F. Nec verb ilia meam recreant solatia mentem Verbaque decipiunt, quae turpes subdola motus Auxilium vitiisque ferunt, pravumque favorem. Grandia nec cernens aliorum crimina lsetor, Excelsa tanquam ipse sedens virtutis in arce. Quid juvat segrotum, ferro dum membra secantur, Cernere quos gravius cruciet vis aspera ferri ? Quid juvat obstructum vitiis sceleratior alter ? S . Greg . Nazianzen. (Carm. 1.) 13 And the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you this man went down to his house jus¬ tified rather than the other : for every one that ex- alteth himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Velut e palude sud vilis ranuncula ; as the vile toad creeping out of its miry pool. Ps. cxxx. 1. S. Bernard . Would not lift, $*c., lest he should find the catalogue of his sins written in the firmament to accuse him. S. Chrysostom. Our spots never appear so clearly, as when we place them before the infinite light of God’s purity and goodness ; and we never seem less in our own eyes, than when we look down upon our¬ selves from on high. O, how little, how nothing do all those shadows of perfection then appear, for which we are wont to value ourselves ! Job xlii. 5, 6. Scougal. To smite upon the breast , what is it else, than to evince the evil lodged therein, and to chastise the hidden sin openly ? S. Matt, xv. 18, 19. S. Augustine. (Serm. lxvii. 1.) Mercy is our supporter in all our sorrows for sin; that we roar 494 S. LUKE XVIII. 13, 14. not out with Cain, “ My sin is greater than that it can he for¬ given nor betake ourselves desperately with Judas to a halter. Mercy is our only plea, when we do repent. We cannot say we have done such and such good offices for the time past; we are too “ unprofitable servants.” We dare not promise of our¬ selves to be more serviceable for the time to come ; we are too desultory creatures. Lord, forsake us not, lest we forsake Thee! Mercy is the object of our hopes, the total sum of our desires. Both Grace and Glory do depend upon mercy. So mercy is the beginning, the middle, the end of our happiness. Ps. ciii. 4. Abp. Bramhall. (Serm. before House of Commons.) “ To me, the sinful one.”—Por as the other had singled himself out, as the most eminent of saints, or indeed as the one holy one in the world, so the publican singles himself out as “the chief of sinners,” the man, in whom all sins have met. R. C. Trench, (on the Parables.) Hoc totum hominis meritum , si totarn spem ponat in Eo, qui totum scilvum fecit . All the merit of man is to put his whole trust in Him, that can only save us. Sufficit ad justitiam solum habere propitium , cui soli peccavi. It suffices to my justification, that He is appeased, against whom only I have sinned. Ps. cxxx. 4. S. Bernard. (Serm. 53, de compunct. cordis.) 14 The main crime, that defamed the Pharisees, was their cen¬ sorious proud despising of other men, whom they thought not so godly as themselves ; and therefore I remember it is S. Chry¬ sostom’s advice, that when the Pharisee and the publican are compared by Ciirist, and the publican preferred, we should be careful not to prefer the publican’s sins before the Pharisee’s good qualities, before his fasting and tithing , &c. ; but only the publican’s humility before the Pharisee’s pride, the publican’s judging himself, before the Pharisee’s fastidious contemning of others. Por the Pharisee’s exactness in those particulars, neg¬ lected by others, or not observed in that height, is so far from being reprehended in the Scripture, that: 1. It is distinctly said that the i'be(, or oportuit , “these things ought ye to have done,” belonged to the doing of those other things, omitted by them, judgment, mercy, and faith, and not to the “leaving those un¬ done,” which they did observe. 2. S. Paul, speaking not con- S. LUKE XVIII. 14. 495 tumeliously, or sarcastically, but sadly of himself, calls that sect of the Pharisees by an honourable title, (Acts xxvi. 5,) “ a way of the greatest strictness in religionwhich, though it excuses not the Pharisees’ other faults, yet it is far from being itself any ill character, or leaving any blemish upon their voluntary religious performances, wherein their superlative strictness con¬ sisted. Dr. Hammond. (Tract on will-worship, s. 27.) He asks for mercy; he obtains justification: so his brother pub¬ lican, Zaccheus, wished to see Cueist pass by, and receives Him as a guest; and the penitent thief also prays for a mere “remembrance,” and is admitted into “Paradise.” God is ex¬ ceeding merciful and gracious, xix. 4 ; Eph. iii. 20. J. F. See, my brethren; God was more pleased with acts of self-abase¬ ment, after evil deeds done, than with pride in what was good. S. Augustine. (In Ps. xciii. 12.) The Pharisee and publican, having presented themselves in one and the same place, the temple of God, for performance of one and the same duty, the duty of prayer, did notwithstanding in that respect only, so far differ the one from the other, that our Lobd’s own verdict of them remaineth, as you know, on record. They departed home, the sinful publican, through humility of prayer, just; the just Pharisee, through pride, sinful. So much better doth He accept of a contrite peccavi, than of an arrogant Deo gratias. Isa. lvii. 15. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm., found among his papers, on S. Matt. vii. 7, 8.) It is much to be observed, that this most Christian axiom, whoso¬ ever exalteth himself, &c., is repeated in words or substance seven times in the Gospels. (S. Matt, xviii. 4 ; xx. 26 ; xxiii. 12 ; S. Luke xiv. 11; xviii. 14 ; xxii. 26 ; S. John xiii. 14.) It was the manner of our Loud, in the course of His ministry, which called upon Him to address so great a variety of persons under as varying circumstances, to repeat His instructions; and it is more particularly observable, that what at one time He deli¬ vered to His Apostles, He afterwards declared to the seventy, and lastly, to all His disciples ; what He first said in private, He proceeded to assert in public ; what was said in Galilee or Persea, was repeated in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and in the Temple. 8. Matt. x. 16—32 ; S. Luke x. 3—12 ; xii. 1— 496 S. LUKE XVIII. 14—16. 12 : S. Matt. x. 37, 38 ; S. Luke xiv. 26, 27 : S. Matt. vi. 5— 13 ; S. Luke xi. 1—13 : xiv. 16: S. Matt. xiii. 1. J. F. This proverb is like unto Shushan ; in the streets whereof honour is proclaimed to an humble Mordecai; in the palace whereof is erected an engine to a proud Haman. Job xl. 12 ; Ps. xviii. 27; Zeph. ii. 15. Bp. Hall. (Serm. Prov. xxiv. 23.) 15 And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them : and when His disciples saw it , they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them unto Him , and said, Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not re¬ ceive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. 15 We have been accustomed to allege these words (S. Mark x. 13, 14,) in behalf of the Catholic practice of Infant Baptism; and rightly, for they have been always so understood by the Church; and the voice of the Church universal is that of the Lord. The Anabaptist and the Socinian are obviously so far wrong, that they urge that the word used does not denote in¬ fants ; since although that, employed by S. Matthew and S. Mark, may be applied to children old enough to know good and evil, S. Luke was directed by God to use one, which can only sig¬ nify infants, sucklings in its strictest sense ; and thus by taking together the teaching of the different Gospels, we learn that children of all ages may be brought to Christ in Baptism, not infants only ; but, if infancy should (in disobedience to the Church) have been unhappily passed over, that they may still be brought. Ps. viii. 2, Plain Sermons. (No. 88.) 16 In babes, that are the issue of professed believers, we acknow¬ ledge a federal, though not a personal, actual holiness. They have seminal claim, a radical right of admission into the Visible Church. The legal seal to the Covenant, (Circumcision) being S. LUKE XVIII. 16, 17. 497 exchanged to the Evangelical (Baptism.) S. Peter, Acts ii. 39, builds the Jews’ hereditary title and interest, as to Baptismal reception into the Church, upon this foundation. Gen. xvii. 10—14 ; 1 Cor. vii. 14. Bp. Thomas. (Apol. for the Church of England.) I will not contend about it, whether Baptized infants have a secret imperceptible habit of faith; I am sure there is innocency of life in them, instead of faith. They, that are of age to come to the knowledge of faith, must bring their own faith with them to the font 5 but for infants, they have privilege to be in Church Communion, by the faith of the Church, wdierein they were born. Eph. vi. 4. Bp. J. Taylor. (Christian consolations, ch. v.) 17 If ever we will be the Temple of God indeed, (2 Cor. vi. 16,) it is humility must make the Consecration ; it is humility that first distinguishes us from the unhallowed pile, that conciliates the Presence of God, and determines ITis abode with us ; for the High and Holy One, that inhabiteth Eternity, declares that He has but two residences—“ I dwell,” says He, &c. Isa. Ivii. 15. Bean Young. (Serm. S. Matt. v. 3.) Catholica in terris Ecelesia credidit alma (Ne nostri infantes essent in conditione Pejori, quam sit Jacobi dura propago) Circumcidendi ritum Baptisma secutuin, Baptismoque dari teneris infantibus ipsis Pacti cum Domino renovati nobile signum, Certe si culpam, qua infecti nascimur omnes, Ecederis unius sacri virtute remitti Credimus his teneris, cur eulpae itidemque remiss® Non detur signum, Divini pignus amoris? . . . “Tales sunt coeli cives,” clamavit Iesus. . . “ Quisquis erit, qui non in morum simplicitate, Et candore animi, puroque imitetur amore, Nequaquam speret coelestia regna videre !” G. N^icols. (Πε/5ί άρχάν. Lib. 7. leviter immutatum.) 18 And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? κ κ 498 S. LUKE XVIII. 18—21. 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good ? none is good, save One, that is } God. 20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not com¬ mit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. 21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. 18 If it should be asked, for what reason Cheist put this question, “ Why callest thou Me good?” I answer ; for the same reason that He asked the Pharisees, why “ David in Spirit called Him Lord?” And that was to try, if they were able to account for it.And, when this ruler was called upon to explain his meaning, for that God only was good , he should have replied in the words of S. Thomas ; “My Loed and my God !” which would have been a nobler instance of faith, and have cleared up the whole difficulty. If the case be considered, this man was a very proper subject for such a trial. Pully convinced of his own sufficiency, he comes to Cheist, in the presence of His disciples, to know what good thing he might do to merit ever¬ lasting life : whence our Saviour takes occasion to correct his mistake, as to the nature of goodness; and having tried this good and perfect man in a tender point, sent him away griev¬ ously dissatisfied. S. John x. 36. Wm. Jones. (On the Divinity of Cheist, c. 24.) 19 Sensus dictorum Christi sumendus est ex causis dicendorum. The true meaning of Cheist’ s words is to be gathered from the cause of their being spoken. S. Hilary. By that answer Cheist hath taught us, when we are commended, to turn our own commendations upon God. JEdw. Leigh. 20 That great seeker out of nature’s secrets, Aristotle, in all his discourses, seeks first, quid non , what a thing is not; then what it is ; a method as meet for Divinity as Philosophy ; and God’s self useth it. His negative laws go before the affirmative. Isa. i. 16. Or. Richard Clerke. (Serm. Col. iii. 1.) 21 We consider not the whilst, how far the force of natural con¬ science and common moral grace (if you will allow me to speak S. LUKE XVIII. 21, 22. 499 so improperly) may lead a man onwards unto all outward per¬ formances, who was never yet effectually called, nor truly sanc¬ tified. Bp. Sanderson. Moral virtues do not belong to Christian men, as Christians ; but they pertain to them, as men. Hooker. The devil never tempts us with more success, than when he tempts us with a sight of our own good actions, xx. 20, 21. Bp. Wilson. 22 Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet iackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me. 23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. 22 GrOD knows, he lacked many things; but because he had that one, zeal to Him, Cheist doth not reproach to him his other defects. Gron pardons great men many errors, for that one good affection, a general zeal to His glory and His cause. S. Mark x. 17, 21; 2 Cor. viii. 12. Dr. Donne. (Serm. S. Matt, xix. 17.) To reprove with success, allow your adversary to be in the right, as far as he really is so, namely, as he takes the thing: (for the understanding, as well as the senses, is not mistaken, when it has a right view of the object:) then show him that side of the object, which he did not take notice of, and he will hear with more patience : for to be confuted is but to be better informed; and if we do it with this caution, that we make not pride and self-love our enemies, a man will hear us with the same atten¬ tion and good-will, as a traveller would do, when we tell him he is out of his way, and set him right. Bp. Wilson. (Maxims.) Since much wealth too often proves a snare and an incumbrance in the Christian’s race, let him lighten the weight, by “dispersing abroad and giving to the poorwhereby he will both soften the pilgrimage of his fellow travellers, and speed his own way the faster. Hab. ii. 6. Toplady. Thou shalt have , fyc. —AVe have too long accustomed ourselves to κ κ 2 500 S. LUKE XVIII. 22, 23. think of money given for Cheist’s sake, as a benefit only to those, upon whom it is bestowed. S. Matt. vi. 1—4. Bp. Wilberforce. But sell not all thou hast, except thou come and follow Me; that is, except thou have a vocation, wherein thou mayest do as much good with little means, as with great; for otherwise, in feeding the streams, thou driest the fountain. Lord Bacon. True perfection is not consistent with any terrene loves or worldly affections. This mundane life and spirit, which acts so strongly and impetuously in this lower world, must be crucified. The soul must be wholly dissolved from this earthly body, which it is so deeply immersed in, while it endeavours to enlarge its sorry tabernacle upon this material globe; and by a holy abstraction from all things, that pinion it to mortality, withdraw itself and retire into a Divine solitude. If thou therefore wert in a state of perfection, thou wouldst be able at the first call from God to resign up all interest here below, to quit all claim, and to dispose of thyself and all worldly enjoyments, according to His pleasure, without any reluctancy ; and come and follow Me. And this, I think, was the true scope of our Saviour’s answer; which proved a real demonstration, as it appears in the sequel of the story, that this confident Pharisee had not yet attained to those mortified affections, which are requisite in all the can¬ didates of true blessedness ; but only cheated his own soul with a bare external appearance of religion, which was not truly seated in his heart: and I doubt not, but many are ready upon as slight grounds, and with as much confidence, to take up his qusere, what lack I yet ? xvi. 15 ; Col. ii. 16—23. John Smith. (On the discovery of the shortness and vanity of a Pharisaic righteousness.) Where the treasure is, there is the heart; where the heart, there the happiness; and where the happiness, there the God. Bp. Reynolds. After all that is said about unnecessary strictness, where was the man found, when he came to die, who did not wish that he had been more strict, and had not rather erred on the side of self-denial, than of sin ? H. Martyn. (Serin. Acts iii. 26.) 23 He speaks not of Evangelical counsels, or a state of perfection and supererogation, beyond the fulfilling of the Law; but He speaks πβφαϊκώς, by way of trial, and to convince him of that S. LUKE XVIII. 23. 501 worldly love, wliicli obstructed bis Salvation, in conceiving that he had done all that the Law required ; of his unsoundness and insincerity of heart, which could not forego all, when Christ required it, to be His disciple. ... So Clement Alex., Origen, Hilary, Augustine, and others understand that answer of Christ. Gen. xii. 1, 4 ; S. Matt. xix. 26 ; Acts iv. 36, 37 ; Phil. iii. 8. Bp. Reynolds. (Serm. 1 Tim. vi. 17—19.) The rule never faileth. Quicquid propter Deum fit cequaliter fit. True obedience, as it disputeth not the command, but obeyeth cheerfully, so neither doth it divide the command, but obeyeth equally. S. Mark vi. 20; S. James ii. 10, 12. Bp. Sanderson. Some of the greatest advances in perfection have been granted to God’s family in this manner; by the after growth of sayings and examples, which seemed at first to have been utterly thrown away. Our Lord’s saying to the rich young man did but send him away sorrowful; but within a few months, hundreds in Je¬ rusalem remembered and obeyed it, bringing their goods, and laying them at the Apostles’ feet. (Acts iv. 34—37.) Some centuries afterwards, the same saying fell accidentally, as men speak, on the ear of another rich man, and he presently sold all that he had, took up the cross, and became a prime pattern of the strictest way of life in the Church; and all generations honour him by the name of S. Anthony. Not long after, the memory of his example moved yet another young man to do that, which ended in his embracing a religious life in like manner; this was no other than the great S. Augustine. Isa. Iv. 11; Eccl. xi. 1, 6. Keble. (Serm. Horn. iv. 18.) O Lord ! Thou searcher of hearts ! Thou knowest what it is sticks with us, and the secret concealment, whereby we impose upon ourselves and others. Let us not go away sorrowful, when it is ript open by Thee, nor grieve to part with the most fa¬ voured corruption, when we perceive it is that, which hinders us from following Thee. In vain we call Thee good, if we dispute Thy precepts ; in vain we inquire after eternal life, if we are not prepared to part with all for it. 0 ! make us so to call Thee good, as to think all good, which Thou ordainest; so to inquire after Thy will, as to be ready to sacrifice our own, and all we hold dear, to it. Ps. cxix. 128. Austin. (Medit. 192.) 502 S. LUKE XVIII. 23, 24. Quid gemis , et quereris periturse incommoda vitae ? An requiem patriae quaeris in exilio ? Et Crux, et spinae, et plorantes crimina luetus, Et labor, et sudor sunt via, Eauste, poli. John Owen. (Epigr. ad Eaustum.) 24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful. He said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26 And they that heard it said. Who then can he saved ? 27 And He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. 28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed Thee. 29 And He said unto them. Verily I say unto you. There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, 30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. 24 Very sorrowful. —We know not how much we love the world, till we find pain and difficulty in parting with its good things. Bp. Wilson. To have riches, hut in competent measure, and not to “ trust in them ” (S. Mark x. 24), is a more extraordinary blessing of God than their greatest abundance, though gotten without extortion and fraud.This is an extraordinary gift of God, to be sought with greater care, with greater diligence and frequency of prayers, of fastings, and practices of charity, than either wealth. S. LUKE XVIII. 25—30. 503 preferment, health, life, or whatsoever may befall us. Ecclus. xxxi. 8. Dr. Jackson. (On Justifying Eaith, b. iv. c. 6.) 25 How conveniently hath Providence ordered all things for thee. Thou hast a narrow heart, and a small estate suitable to it. Hadst thou more of the world, it would be like a large sail to a little boat, which would quickly pull thee under water. 1 Tim. vi. 9. Flavel. 27 He is able to do all things, as Origen speaks excellently, the doing whereof would not deny Him to be God, or to be holy, or to be wise. And, therefore, He cannot bring to pass contra¬ dictions ; nor can He alter His eternal purposes, for this would derogate from His infinite wisdom. He cannot be the author of sin; for this would be a stain and blot upon His infinite purity and holiness: and both would be impotency rather than power. And were He weak enough to do those things, He would not be God ; for it is essential to God, to be infinitely wise and infinitely holy. 2 Tim. ii. 13; Titus i. 2; Heb. vi. 18 ; S. James i. 13. Bp. Hopkins. (Expos, of the Lord’s Prayer.) Eaith lodges this principle in the soul, that God is infinite. Eaith is strengthened w r ith the strength of the power of that God, that it lays hold upon. As the ivy is strong by the strength of the oak, that it grasps upon, so faith is strong by the strength of that God, that it grasps upon. Gen. xv. 1; Heb. xi. 19. TV. Bridge. 28 It is not so difficult for a man to leave all these things ; but it is exceeding difficult for him to leave himself (to be dead to the smallest wish of possessing them).Regard is not had to the amount of what we forsake, but to our will in forsaking it. 2 Cor. viii. 5. S. Gregory. 29 For the kingdom of heaven's sake. —Our principles are the springs of our actions; our actions the springs of our happiness and misery. Too much care therefore cannot be employed in forming our principles. S. Matt. vii. 18, 19. P. Skelton. 30 There was a serious truth in that atheistical scoff of Julian, when he took away the Christians’ estates, and told them, it was to make them fitter for the kingdom of heaven. Heb. x. 34. Flavel . 504 S. LUKE XVIII. 30, 32. In this present life .— Vident punctiones nostras, sed non vident unctiones. The world sees the sufferings of the Christians, but does not see their inward consolations. Prov. xiv. 10. S. Bernard. Non debendo, sed promittendo, Deus Se debitorem fecit. Not by owing ought, but by promising, God hath rendered Himself thy debtor. Heb. vi. 18. S. Augustine. (Serm. cx. 4.) 31 Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold > we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. 32 For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall he mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge Him , and put Him to death : and the third day Fie shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things : and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. 32 Concerning His Passion five things are delivered; traditio, allusio, consputio, flagellatio, occisio : for Truth itself was be¬ trayed, Wisdom itself mocked , Glory itself spitted upon , Inno- cency itself scourged, and Life itself killed. Ps. xxii. 17; xli. 9 ; lxix. 7, 12, 22; Isa. 1. 6; liii. 5. Bean Boys. (Domin. Ep. and Gosp. Quinq. Sunday.) Mock .... put Him to death. —It is a fearful token of God’s heavy displeasure, when David’s curse falls upon us, and we “fall from one wickedness to another,” where, as S. Augustine speaks, crimina criminibus vindicantur, et supplicia peccantium sunt increment a vitiorum, there is small hope then to enter into His Righteousness. 0 ! take heed of being agents in the judg¬ ments of God. Sufferers may be pitied; but when we come to be self-destroyers by wilfulness in sin, that puts us into a hope- 505 S. LUKE XVIII. 32, 33. less condition, iii. 19, 20; xvi. 1, 5. Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. Isa. xxvi. 9.) Christ is large in the report of His ignominy, but short in that of His glory; for He delivered five points, as concerning His humiliation; but He remembers only two, yea, for the matter only but one, touching His exaltation. S. Mark x. 45. Diez. (in loco.) His death and His rising show His two natures, Human and Divine ; His human nature and weakness in dying, His Divine nature and power in rising again. These show His two offices, His Priesthood and His Kingdom; His Priesthood in the sacri¬ fice of His death, His Kingdom in the glory of His Kesurrec- tion. They set before us His two main benefits, interitum mortis , et principium vitce ; His death, the death of death, His rising, the reviving of life again; the one, what He had ran¬ somed us from, the other, what He had purchased for us. They serve as two moulds, (1 S. Pet. ii. 24; Col. iii. 1, 2,) wherein our lives are to be cast, that the days of our vanity may bp fashioned to the likeness of the Son of God, (Kom. viii. 29,) which are our two duties, (2 Cor. v. 15, 16,) that we are to render for those two benefits, proceeding from the two offices of His two natures conjoined : in a word, they are not well to be sundered; for, when they are thus joined, they are the very abridgment of the whole Gospel. Zech. vi. 13. Bp. Andrewes. (Serm. Kom. vi. 9—11.) 33 Three days. —That, which is most remarkable therein, seems to be the wisdom of God, choosing a convenient distance of time, after our Saviour’s death, for His Kesurrection. He stayed so long, that it might be thoroughly certain our Saviour was really dead, beyond all possibility of recovery by natural means. . . . He deferred it no longer, both because there w T as no reason for doing so, and because it was fit, that, while men’s memories were fresh, their passions warm, their fancies busy, their mouths open in discourse concerning His death ; while the designed witnesses were present, (both enemies watching, and friends attending the event,) it was, I say, then most fitting that our Saviour should arise. Eph. i. 8. Dr. Barrow . (Expos, of the Creed.) 506 S. LUKE XVIII. 33, 34. He made this day the most memorable Feast, that ever the sun shined upon. It was a third day , when Joseph released his brethren out of prison. On the third day, in the morning, after the people had come to Mount Sinai, the Law of God was deli¬ vered. On the third day, Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood before Ahasuerus, and desired him to be good to her nation. On the third day, Abraham came to the place, where his faith was tried, and Isaac was restored back alive, when the sacrificing knife had been at his throat. To come near to the mark, the third day Jonas was cast safe upon the land out of the belly of the whale ; and that was the sign Cueist gave to the Jews, able to convince all infidelity. Gen. xlii. 18 ; Ex. xix. 16; Esther v. 1; Gen. xxii. 4. Bp. Racket. (Serm. S. John xx. 1.) 84 The disciples had laid it down as a first principle, that their Master’s kingdom was to be of this world ; and they formed all their reasonings and expectations accordingly. Acts i. 6. Jones (of Nayland.) We shall never think on the Cross, as we ought, except we begin to have some true love of that Divine Sufferer in our hearts. To fix our eyes in earnest on the Cross, we want love and faith too ; faith to represent to our hearts, as true and real, the things, which happened at Jerusalem so long ago ; love, to hinder us from withdrawing our mind’s eye from things so pain¬ ful and distressing. It is want of faith and love, which hinders us from true and thorough contemplation of the sufferings of our Divine Saviour; even as the Saints’ overflowing faith and love have ever caused them to give themselves up to steady me¬ ditation on those sufferings ; to realize them in every way, and make them their own. 2 Cor. v. 14. Plain Sermons. (Serm. 246.) Si putas te non habere tribulationes, nondum coepisti esse Chris- tianus. If you suppose that no afflictions abide you, you have not yet begun to be a Christian. Ecclus. ii. 1; 1 Thess. i. 5, 6. S. Augustine, (in Ps. lv.) 35 And it came to pass, that as He was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging. S. LUKE XVIII. 35, 38. 507 36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. 37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. 38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 35 All of us are blind by nature ; all of us are by the high-way side , exposed to the noise, the publicity, the temptation, the weari¬ ness, the sorrow of this life ; sitting too, as seeking rest in the world. O may we beg of Jesus to grant us deliverance; for, though He knows all our wants, yet will He know them from us. Ezek. xxxvi. 37. J. F. 38 He confesseth Him to be God, when he saith Have mercy on me ; man, while he calls Him the Son of David; and, for His office, he confesseth Him to be Jesus , the Saviour. Edw. Leigh. It was a good rule of him, that bade us learn to pray of beggars. With what zeal doth this beggar sue! With what feeling ex¬ pressions ! With how forcible importunity! When I meant to pass by him with silence, yet his clamour draws words from me. When I speak to him, though with excuses, rebukes, de¬ nials, repulses, his obsecrations, his adjurations draw from me that alms, which I meant not to give. How he shows his weak¬ ness and miserable condition, that my eyes may help his tongue to plead. With what oratory doth he force my compassion, so as it is scarce any thank to me, that he prevails. Why do I not thus to my God ? I am sure I want no less than the neediest; the danger of my want is greater; the alms, that I crave, is better; the store and mercy of the giver infinitely more. Why shouldest Thou give me, O God, that, which I care not to ask ? Oh, give me a true sense of my wants ; and then I cannot be cool in asking; Thou canst not be difficult in condescending. Verse 7 ; S. Matt. v. 6. Bp. Hall. 508 S. LUKE XVIII. 39, 41. 39 Orcttionibus maxime insidiantur dcemones. Devils are never more on the watch, than when we are at prayer, ix. 42 ; Dan. vi. 11. Cassianus. 40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto Him : and when he was come near, He asked him, 41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee ? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. 42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. 43 And immediately he received his sight, and fol¬ lowed Him, glorifying God : and all the people, when they saw it , gave praise unto God. 41 We admire the mercy of God, and His humility in forgetting His dignity, by stooping thus low to a poor man. Where was ever a Master, that desired to be informed of the will of his slave, in order to execute it ? Rodriguez. (On Perfection, c. 4.) Omnia Jesus nobis, si volumus. Jestjs is all things to us, if we will. Dost thou want health ? He is the great Physician. Dost thou burn with fever ? He is a cool fountain. Art thou bowed down under a sense of sin ? He is thy righteousness to answer for thee. Dost thou want help ? He is thy strength. Dost thou fear death P He is life. Is your wish to depart hence ? He is the way. Pearest thou to walk in the darkness ? He is thy light. Art thou hungry ? Jesus is thy food. 1 Cor. i. 30 ; iii. 21—23. S. Ambrose. The man’s faith shone forth in his importunity, thus illustrating verse 8 ; for prayer is the child of faith. It resisted opposition, and the attempts made to silence prayer ,· and it was more par¬ ticularly evidenced in this, that whereas the people spake to him of Jesus of Nazareth , (verse 37,) he persisted in addressing the Lord, as the Son of David , the true Messiah. J. F. (Defer to Illustr. iv. 44, and see Isa. xxxv. 5.) S. LUKE XVIII. 42. 509 42 Thy faith ,—First, and most usually, especially iu the Aposto¬ lical writings, the word Faith is used to signify that theological virtue, or gracious habit, whereby we embrace with our minds and affections the Loed Jesus Cheist, as the only begotten Son of God, and alone Saviour of the world, casting ourselves wholly on the mercy of God, through His merits, for remission and everlasting Salvation. It is that, which is commonly called a lively, or justifying faith; whereunto are ascribed in holy writ those many gracious effects of “ purifying the heart,” adoption, justification, life, joy, peace, salvation, &c.; not as to their proper and primary cause, but as to the instrument, whereby we apprehend and apply Cheist, whose merits and Spirit are the true causes of all those blessed effects. Acts xv. 9 ; S. John i. 12 ; Horn. iii. 28 ; v. 1; Hab. ii. 4 ; Korn. xv. 13 ; Eph. i. 8. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. Kom. xiv. 23.) As the sun can be seen only by its own light, so Cheist can be known only by His own Spirit. The sun can make dark things clear ; but it cannot make a blind man to see them. But herein is the excellency of this Divine Sun, that He illuminates not only the object, but the faculty ; doth not only open the mysteries of His kingdom, but opens blind eyes to behold them. Ps. xxxvi. 9. Abp. Leiyhton. The beginning and the end of this Chapter meet together in show¬ ing us the blessedness of importunate supplication. The op¬ pressed widow and the blind beggar “ teach us how to pray.” Abp. Usher well observes, (Serm. Heb. iv. 16,) that “ many will pray to God, as prayer is a duty; but few use it, as a means to attain a blessing.” In this latter view chiefly lies the strength and joy of a holy persevering importunity. J. F. S. Matt, vii. 7, 8. If Duke Joshua be renowned in Holy Bible, for that he made the natural sun to stand still at his prayer in Gibeon, O ! what om¬ nipotent faith hath the blind man to make the supernatural Sun, the Sun of Kighteousness, the Sun, that made the sun, to stay His course and “ stand still ” in the way, till his desire was fulfilled! O Loed, increase our faith and love, making the one, like this in the Gospel, and the other, according to Thy precept in the Epistle (1 Cor. xiii.) ; that, being mounted upon 510 S. LUKE XIX. 1-4. these two wings, we may soar to the place where “ Thine honour dwelleth,” and there rest with Thee for evermore ! 2 Thess. i. 3 ; Heb. xi. 33. Dean Boys. (On Quinq. Sunday.) CHAPTER XIX. ND Jesus entered and passed through Jeri¬ cho. 2 And, behold, there was a man named Zaccheus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. 4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a syco- more tree to see Him: for He was to pass that way. 1 Jericho was the very city, which Joshua, the son of Nun, over¬ threw with the noise of trumpets blown seven times ; but, be¬ cause Christ came to save that which was lost, He enters Jericho ; so that He might restore, by the sound of His Gospel, what the Law with its terrible voice had laid in ruins. 1 Kings xix. 12. Pet. Chrysol. 3 Zaccheus represents the Gentile world, as little of stature and low, as it were, in the grace of God (pusillus), who neverthe¬ less, being lifted up from earthly things by the wood of the tree, gazes on the mystery of the Cross of the Lord. Isidore , of Seville. (Alleg. Sacr. Ser.) Reason is of low stature, and cannot see the promise; we must ascend by faith : then, and not till then, will the soul see Jesus. 1 Cor. i. 18—24; 1 S. Pet. i. 8. Gurnall. 4 Being forgetful of his own dignity and estate, running before , as S. LUKE XIX. 4. 511 a man of mean condition, lie might easily divine, that all, which should see this thing, would scoff at him, that he, a chief and rich man, should climb a tree, like boys, whence he might see Ciirist passing by. But his love and desire of seeing Jesus, and especially an impulse of the Holy Ghost, took away all his modesty from him. To-day I must abide in thine house. A wonderful thing ! We read in the Gospel that the Lord being invited by others went to them, but we never read that of His own accord He came to their feast, as He did to this Prince of the Publicans: so faith always obtained more than it wished. Zaccheus desired to see Jesus ; now he hath Him his guest. Christ requires haste , that His readiness to bestow faith may appear to all. 2 Sam. vi. 14, 16, 20—22; Acts viii. 30. Ediv. Leigh, (in loco.) It is not enough to do well, nisi etiam maturare adjicias, unless you set about it with good speed. Nescit tarda molimina Spiritus Dei. The Spirit of God is a stranger to all slow and loitering attempts. Gen. xxii. 3. S. Ambrose. (L. i. c. 5, He Abraham.) To see Him. —There is a fatal error, which prevents multitudes from enjoying the full and felicitating effects of Christianity; that is, that they deem it a dry catalogue of duties, or, at best, a collection of truths, awful indeed and sublime, but by no means attractive and engaging. Ver. 6; S. John i. 37. Bp. Jebb. Had I been in the streets of Jericho, sure, methinks, I should have justled with that Zaccheus for the sycomore to see Jesus, and should have blessed my eyes for so happy a prospect: and yet I consider that many a one saw His face on earth, which shall never see His glory in heaven: and I hear the Apostle say, “ Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him so no more.” (2 Cor. v. 16.) Oh! for the eyes of a Stephen, that “ saw the heavens opened, and the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God !” (Acts vii. 55, 56.) That prospect did as much transcend this of Zaccheus, as heaven is above earth, celestial glory above human infirmity. And why should not the eyes of my faith behold the same object, which was seen by Stephen’s bodily eyes ? I see Thee, 0 Saviour, I see Thee ; as certainly, though 512 S. LUKE XIX. 5. not so clearly. Do Thou sharpen and fortify these weak eyes of mine, that “in Thy light I may see light.” Ps. xxxvi. 9. Bp. Hall. (Select Thoughts, 91.) 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house. 6 And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it , they all murmured, say¬ ing, That He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. 5 He looked up, fyc. —Just as if, without His turning His eyes in that direction, He would not have seen him; for even when absent He had seen from afar Nathaniel under a like tree : but when He saw him, He saw him ad veniam, w r ith an eye to par¬ don ; He regarded him ad gratiam, with a look of grace ; intendit ad vitam , contemplatus est ad salutem ; His look gave him life, His very gaze was salvation, xxii. 61; S. John i. 48. Bet. Chrysol. The truth of conversion will evidence itself in the ordering and reforming of our personal calling. Beligion, it is not a matter merely of public and common profession, dwells not in churches and temples only, but it will enter into thine house, bids itself home to thee, as Christ did to Zaccheus, Come , I must lodge in thine house, have access and sway in all thine employments. The Law of God was not to be wrote on the doors of the Temple, but upon the posts of thine own doors; and thou to meditate upon it, not only going to the church, but in thy field, in thine house, with thy children, in all the turnings of thy life and calling. It answers, as John Baptist to soldiers and publicans, “Defraud no man; oppress no man.” Like S. Paul, concluding the highest points of Christian religion with pre¬ scriptions of personal duties to masters and servants, parents S. LUKE XIX. 5, 7. 513 and children: the understanding and observing of which, saith one, is the best commentary upon the higher mysteries of all Paul’s Epistles, viii. 38 ; Deut. vi. 7; Ps. ci. 3. Bp. Brown- rig. (Serm. Acts xvi. 13.) Zaccheus ran , and climbed up the tree , and manifested great zeal; and yet the Lord said unto him, “ Make haste” When, at our best estate, are we as zealous, as we ought to be, in the pursuit and service of our God ? When do we not need some fresh stimulus, some renewed awakening voice, to urge us on in “ the race that is set before us ?” Lord, increase our faith; Lord, increase our zeal! Heb. xii. 4. J. F. He, who deemed it to be a great and unspeakable favour to see Christ passing by , suddenly obtained the honour of receiving Him in his house. Grace is infused; faith works by love; Christ, already in his heart, is now entertained in his house. S. John xi. 40. S. Augustine. I must abide at thy house. — Fides t et non petita , eonceditur, ut ei petenti alia concedentur. The first motions of grace prevent our wills and beget our prayers; but the after-supplies of grace are obtained by prayer. Preventing grace, it is the root of prayer, but subsequent grace is the fruit of prayer. In the first gift of grace, He bids Himself to us, as He did to Zaccheus, but for after-accessions of grace He looks to be invited, ere He comes unto us. In primd conversione He knocks at our doors, in subsequent grace by prayer we knock at His door. “ Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Bp. Brownriq. (Serm. S. Luke vi. 13.) 7 None made greater allowance for human nature, for the various tempers and educations of men; and he was seldom so severe on any, as on himself. His conversation w r as not soured with constant and melancholy complaints of the impieties of the age, and railing at those freedoms of life, which, though he did not practise himself, yet he would not condemn, as crimes, in those who used them. He rejoiced, when he could speak w~ell of any; and w r hen he was forced to discommend, it was always done with concern and regret. S. Matt. vii. 1, 2 ; Gal. vi. 1. Arch¬ deacon Hamilton's Life of Bonnell. L L 514 S. LUKE XIX. 8. 8 And Zacclieus stood, and said unto the Lord ; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. 8 My goods. —Zacclieus gives half his goods to the poor; but it is half of his, his own ; for there might he goods in his house, which were none of his. Therefore, in the same instrument, he passes that scrutiny, if I have taken any thing unjustly , I restore him fourfold. First, let that, that was ill-gotten, be de¬ ducted and restored, and then of the rest, which is truly thine own, give cheerfully. Micah vi. 10. Dr. Donne. (Serm. S. Matt. v. 16.) I give. —Miserable wretches, that you are, you will not then he liberal and charitable towards men, till you cease to live ! What recompense can you expect for a liberality, which comes after death ? 0 brave piety, to practise no good works, but with ink and paper! You deceive yourselves, when you think to fulfil the commands of the Gospel when dying. Do not your actions show, that you could have wished yourselves to be immortal; that you might always have enjoyed your riches, and that, if you had been so, you would never have remembered the com¬ mands of God, and the precepts of the Gospel ? And there¬ fore it is to death, and not to you, that the poor ought to give thanks for the good you have done them. Do not deceive your¬ selves ; God will not be deceived ; He will not be thus mocked; that, which is dead, is not to be offered unto the sanctuary; offer up a living sacrifice. He, that offers up only the remains of the sacrifices, is an ungrateful person, xxi. 4 ; Eom. xii. 1; Heb. xiii. 16. S. Basil. (Horn, ii., against covetousness.) S. LUKE XIX. 8, 9. 515 Defer not charities till death. He that doth so, is rather liberal of another man’s, than of his own. Eccl. ix. 10. Lord Bacon. If another man’s goods, for which the sin was committed, be not restored , when they may, non agitur poenitentia, sed fingitur , it is no real repentance, but a mere pretence to it. Si autem veraciter agitur , but if repentance be truly acted, non remittetur peccatum , nisi restituatur ablatum, the sin will not be forgiven, except what was taken away be restored. 2 Sam. xii. 6 ; S. Matt. v. 23, 24. S. Augustine. (Ep. 54, ad Maced.) "What thou hast taken unlawfully, restore speedily ; for the sin in taking it is repeated every minute thou keepest it: if thou canst, restore it in kind ; if not, in value ; if it may be, restore it to the party; if not to God: the poor is God’s receiver. F. Quarles. We are taught ways of going to heaven without forsaking our sins; of repentance, without restitution ; of being in charity, without hearty forgiveness and without love; of believing our sins to be pardoned, before they are mortified; of trusting in Christ’s death, without conformity to His life; of being in God’s favour upon the only account of being of such an opinion, and that, when we are once in, we can never be out. Jer. v. 31. Bp. J. Taylor. The love of earthly things is only expelled aliqud suavitate ceter- narum, by a certain sweet experience of things eternal. (Yer. 6, joyfully .) 2 Cor. vi. 18. S. Augustine. Unus amor extinguit alium. One affection counteracts and subdues another. 1 S. John ii. 15. *8. Jerome. What destroys habit ? A contrary habit. Epictetus. For as, by the art of medicine, things hot are cured by things cold, and vice versd ; so our Lord proposes to us remedies, which are the very contrary to our diseases : He bids the wanton prac¬ tise continence, the penurious liberality, the passionate gentle¬ ness, the proud humility. Eph. iv. 28. S. Gregory. 9 The unfeeling Dives, being “ a son of Abraham,” is made a son of hell; this man, being a son of plunder, is by giving his own property and restoring the property of others adopted to be a son of Abraham, xiii. 30. Pet. Chrysol. Our Lord did not say, to this man, but to this house; because He 516 S. LUKE XIX. 9, 10. knew that, though Zaccheus alone had committed the sin, yet he would not be the only one to suffer by, and bear the penalty of, his unjust gains. Jer. xxii. 13. Segneri. This day , fyc. —There are perhaps no two promises of God’s Word more generally known and in people’s mouths, and yet more generally and dangerously misunderstood by being wrested from their context, than these ; “ Though your sins be as scarlet ,” fyc. Isa. i. 18, and “ The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sinf 1 S. John i. 7. Now both these promises are strictly conditional; yet in the too common acceptation of both the conditions are lost sight of. In regard to the first; mark the introductory words, “ come nowf that is, (as stated in the preceding verses,) after you have forsaken your sins, and made restitution, and done well: in regard to the second; “If ye walk in the light, &c.” O, how important it is, that we should read the Scriptures practically, with singleness of eye ; that we should receive them in their entireness ; that we should be on our guard against those plausible misinterpretations, which ad¬ minister false comfort to our souls, are “contrary to God’s Word,” and subversive of the main design of Christ’s Gospel.* 2 S. Pet. iii. 16. J. F. 10 Son of man .—Our Lord would not have gathered together these things to Himself, and have saved through Himself in the end what had perished in the beginning, through Adam, if He had not actually been made flesh and blood. He therefore had flesh and blood, not of a kind different from what men have; but He gathered into Himself the very original creation of the Lather, and sought that which was lost. Heb. iv. 16. S. Irenceus. (De Haer. L. v. c. 1.) Tu mortale hominum genus ipsa ab origine rerum Yidisti curas humiles, et vana fovere Consilia, accurvum terris, coelestium inane. . . Tantane Te pietas miserantem incommoda nostra, Tantus adegit amor, coeli ut de lumine claro * The conclusion of the solemn address in the Commination service, from the words, “ Let us therefore return unto Him ” to the end, fur¬ nishes a corrective, on the authority of the Church, to all such unhappy per¬ versions of sound practical Christian doctrine. S. LUKE XIX. 10. 517 Te nostris velles ultro immiscere tenebris, Cum sis aeterni proles aeterna Parentis, Luciferum ante satus roseum ? Tu Lucifer Ipse Caeteraque astra Tuo Tu lumine cuncta serenas, Qui gigni neque caepisti, neque desinis unquam, Principio semper genitus, gignendus et usque. Vida. (Hymn. Dei Pilio.) 11 And as they heard these things, He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. * 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 518 S. LUKE XIX. 12, 13. 19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 12 Be sure that you make conscience of the great duties, that you are to perform in your families. Teach your children and servants the knowledge and fear of God; do it early and late, in season and out of season. Pray with them daily and fer¬ vently ; remember Daniel’s example, (chap, vi.,) and the com¬ mand, (1 Thess. v. 17 ;) read the Scriptures and good books to them; restrain them from sin; keep not a servant, that will not learn, and be ruled. Neighbours, I charge you, as you will shortly answer the contrary before the Lord your Judge, that there be never a family among you, that shall neglect these great duties. If you cannot do what you would, yet do what you can: especially see, that the Lord’s day be wholly spent in these exercises. To spend it in idleness or sports is to con¬ secrate it to your flesh, and not to God ; and far worse than to spend it in your trades. Richard Baxter. (Dedication to the Saints’ everlasting rest.) 13 Ten pounds .—The sum, here delivered to the servants, is very much smaller than that, which in S. Matthew, the man, who was travelling into a far country, committed to his servants’ keeping, (a talent was £243. 15s.; a pound, mina, £4. Is. 3 d.y This is at once explained, if we keep in mind, how that Parable was spoken to His Apostles, who of course had received infinitely the largest gifts of any from Christ ; while this is spoken to the disciples generally, whose faculties were compara¬ tively fewer. How remarkable is this still ministry, their occu¬ pations of peace, in w r hicli the servants of the future King should be engaged; and that too, while a rebellion was going on. R. C. Trench. (On the Parables.) Occupy till I come. —It is one of the privileges of the Gospel, and the benefits of Christ’s Ascension, that the Holy Ghost is given unto the Church, and is become to us the fountain of gifts and graces. But these gifts and graces are improvements and helps of our natural faculties, of our art and industry, not extraordinary, miraculous, and immediate effusions of habits and gifts.Although, in the midst of all our co-operation, we S. LUKE XIX. 13, 14. 519 may say to God, in the words of the prophet, “ Domine, omnia opera operatus es in nobis,” “ O Lord, Thon hast wrought all our works in us,” yet they are “opera nostra” still: God works, and we work; first is the χάρις φερομει/η ; God’s grace is brought to us, He helps and gives us abilities, and then expects our duty. . . . The Spirit of God is called “ the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of grace, the Spirit of meekness, the Spirit of wisdom.” And, without doubt, He is the foun¬ tain of all these to us all, and that for ever; and yet it cannot reasonably be supposed, but that we must “ stir up ” the graces of God in us, co-operate with His assistances, study in order to counsel, labour and consider in order to wisdom, “ give all dili¬ gence to make our calling and election sure,” in order to our adoption, in which we are “ sealed by the Spirit.” S. John xv. 1—8 ; Phil. ii. 12,13 ; 1 Cor. xv. 10. Bp. J . Taylor . (Apol. for set forms of Liturgy, Quest, i. s. 14.) Beneficium propter officium. In the same court-roll of heaven we are made both proprietaries and stewards. 1 S. Pet. iv. 10. Farindon . No burden is more heavy, or temptation more dangerous, than to have time lie on one’s hands; the idle man’s brain being not only the devil’s shop, but his kingdom too; a model and an appendage unto hell, a place given up to torment and to mis¬ chief. Ps. xxxvi. 4; 2 Sam. xi. 1, 2. Or. Hammond. No man is a better merchant, than he, who lays out his time upon God, and his money on the poor. Bp. J. Taylor. Jacob saw Angels ascending and descending, but none standing still. S. John i. 51. S. Bernard. 14 These words, (Ps. ii. 3,) supposed to be spoken by the powers in arms against Messiah, discover to us the true ground of opposition, namely the unwillingness of rebellious nature to submit to the obligations of Divine laws, which cross the in¬ terests, and lay a restraint upon the desires of men. Corrupt affections are the most inveterate enemies of Christ ; and their language is, We will not have this man to reign over us. Doctrines would be readily believed, if they involved in them no precepts ; and the Church may be tolerated by the world, if she will only give up her Discipline. Pom. viii. 7. Bp. Horne. (Comment. Ps. ii. 3.) 520 S. LUKE XIX. 14—19. “We will not.”—We have a saying in S. Bernard, Nihil ardere in inferno , nisi propriam voluntatem, that nothing of us makes fuel for the fire of hell, hut only our will. Indeed all the weak¬ nesses of our soul, the errors of our understanding, and the rebellions of our affections are from the will. From whence are “ wars and fightings ?” Is the understanding dark ? The cloud is from the will. That my anger rageth, my love burneth, my fear despaireth, my grief is impatient, my joy mad, is from the will. xiii. 34 ; S. James iv. 1—5. Farindon. There is a threefold submission to God : first, of our carnal hearts to His Holiness; secondly, of our proud hearts to His Mercy; and thirdly, of our revolting hearts to His Sovereignty. S. James iv. 7. Manton. 16 (Not my industry, but Thy pound. 1 Cor. xv. 10.) Si quid enim recti gerimus, Domine, auxiliante Te gerimus ; Tu corda moves ; Tu vota petentis Quae dare vis tribuis, servans largita creansque De mentis merita, et cumulans Tua dona coronis. Non autem hoc curam minui, studiumque resolvi Yirtutum, aut opus ingenii torpere putandum est, Quod bona sanctorum Tua sunt, et quidquid in illis Aut sanum aut validum est de Te viget; ut videatur Nil actura hominis, Te cuncta gerente, voluntas: Quae sine Te quid agit, nisi quo procul exulet a Te ? S. Prosper. (Carm. de ingratis. p. 4.) 17 Denial of merit taketh not away reward of mercy. S. Matt, xxv. 37—41. Bp. Babington. 18 The glory of each differs ; their common joy is the same. S. John xiv. 2. S. Augustine. What then is the consummation of man’s goodness, but to co¬ operate with the benevolent purposes of his Maker, by forming the habit of his mind to a constant ambition of improvement; which enlarging its appetite, in proportion to the requisitions already made, may correspond with the increase of his capaci¬ ties, in every stage of a progressive virtue, in every period of an endless existence ? Eph. iv. 15, 16. Bp. Horsley. 19 One talent at the least, O Lobd, hast Thou put into my hand ; and that sum is great to him, that is not worth a dram ; but S. LUKE XIX. 20. 521 alas! what have I done with it 1 I confess I have not “ hid it in a napkin hut have been laying it out to some poor advan¬ tage ; yet surely the gain is so unanswerable, that I am afraid of an audit. I see none of the approved servants in the Gos¬ pel brought in an increase of less value than the receipt; I fear I shall come short of the sum. O Thou, who justly holdest Thyself wronged with the style of an austere Master, vouchsafe to accept of my so mean improvement; and Thou, who valuest the poor widow’s mite above the rich gifts cast into Thy trea¬ sury, be pleased to allow of those few pounds, that my weak endeavours would raise from Thy stock, and mercifully reward Thy servant, not according to his success, but according to his true intentions of glorifying Thee. Rom. iii. 23. Bp. Hall . (Breathings of the devout Soul, 38.) 20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man : thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow : 23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury ? 20 It is characteristic, that the sudarium which, not exerting him¬ self, this idle servant does not need for its proper use (Gen. iii. 19), he uses for the wrapping up of his pound. That he had the napkin disengaged, and so free to be turned to this purpose, was itself a witness against him. R. C. Trench. (On the Parables.) The former do not applaud themselves, but ascribe both principal and interest to God. Only he, that did least, comes in with a 522 S. LUKE XIX. 21—23. brag, and tells his Lord what he had done. Least doers are the greatest boasters. Gurnall. It is fearful to sin; more fearful to delight in sin; yet more to defend it. Gen. iii.; Mai. iii. 13. Bp. Hall. 21 An austere man troubleth our flesh ; there is an holy amiable¬ ness, as well as a strict righteousness. S. Matt. v. 16. Manton. Such a temper of mind seems to me to be utterly forgetful of God, and neither to think nor believe, that it was He, who gave those fruits, which the man hides, as if alienos a Deo , God had no part in them. 1 Cor. iv. 7. Origen. (in loco.) Where, Adam, have thy sins led thee ? This fear of thine argues guilt; and thy attempt to hide thyself shows prcevaricationem, an evasive mind. S. Ambrose. Totam durum est quicquid imperatur invitis. Every thing is hard to us, when it is commanded against our will. Mai. i. 13 ; S. Matt. xi. 30. Salvianus. 22 Thou wicked servant.—Non autem semper corrupta est mens male operantis ; at semper corrupta male defendentis. The mind of him, that worketh ill, is not always corrupt; but the mind of him, that defendeth evil, is ever corrupt. Rom. i. 32. Bp. Andrewes. O quoties poenituit defensionis. 0 how often have we occasion to repent of our attempts to justify ourselves, xiv. 18—20. Ter - tullian. The murmuring speeches of men are like arrows, shot up in de¬ fiance of heaven, which always fall down again on their own heads. Ps. vii. 16. Abp. Bramhall. Cave , ne feriat lingua tua collum tuum. Reware, lest thy tongue smite thy neck. Prov. xviii. 21. Arabian proverb. 23 True wisdom consists in knowing how to make every thing conducive to our salvation, xvi. 8, 9. Bp. Wilson. If thou hide thy treasure upon earth, how canst thou expect to find it in heaven P Canst thou hope to be a sharer, where thou hast reposed no stock ? What thou givest to God’s glory and thy soul’s health, is laid up in heaven, and is only thine; that alone, which thou exchangest or hidest upon earth, is lost. F. Quarles. We as vainly appeal to our constitutions, tempers, and infirmities S. LUKE XIX. 24. 523 of our state, as tlie unprofitable servant appealed to the hard¬ ness of his master, and therefore hid his talent in the earth. It is there said, out of thine own mouth , fyc. So we may justly fear, that we shall be judged out of our own mouths ; for if we know, that the loving God with all our heart and soul be so difficult to the frailty and infirmities of our nature, why therefore do we not remove every hindrance, renounce every vain affection, and with double diligence practise all the means of forming this Divine temper ? Dor this we may be assured of, that the seek¬ ing happiness in the enjoyment of wealth is as contrary to the entire love of God, as wrapping up the talent in a napkin is contrary to improving it. Law. (Treatise upon Christian Per¬ fection, c. 5.) 24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given ; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. 27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. 28 And when He had thus spoken, He went before, ascending up to Jerusalem. 24 He that employeth not his spiritual gift to the use, for which it was given, to the profit of the Church, he hath de jure for¬ feited it to the Giver: and we have sometimes known Him de facto to take the forfeiture; as from the unprofitable servant in the Gospel ( Take the talent from him). We have sometimes seen the experiment of it; men of excellent parts, by slacken¬ ing their zeal, to have lost their very gifts ; and by neglecting 524 S. LUKE XIX. 24—26. the use, to have lost the principal; finding a sensible decay in those powers, which they were slothful to bring into act. It is a just thing with “ the Father of lights,” when He hath lighted any man a candle, by bestowing spiritual gifts upon him, and lent him a candlestick too whereon to set it, by pro¬ viding him a stay in the Church, if that man shall then hide his candle under a bushel, and envy the light and comfort of it to them that are in the house, either to remove his candlestick, or to put out his candle in obscurity. S. Matt. v. 15; 1 S. Pet. iv. 10. Bp. Sanderson . (Serm. 1 Cor. xii. 7.) Give it to him, fyc. —That so by his deed he may show, that he did not so much look after money, as the gain of it. xiii. 7. JEdw. Beigh. 25 Watch against selfishness ; lest it work unto great uncharitable¬ ness. xv. 30. Corbet. To envy Christ’s dispensing of His grace, to whom, and in what measure, He pleases, is unbecoming a Christian; to rejoice in other’s happiness, is to do, as the Angels in heaven. Thou shouldest not have an envious eye, because Christ hath a bountiful hand. vi. 36. Chr. Love. 26 Unto every one that hath, fyc. —We may receive the heavenly gift in vain (2 Cor. vi. 1) ; the negligent always do so ; but if we stir it up by exercise and use, we make it spread and im¬ prove, and secure its aids to the full accomplishment of our duty: so that grace and the soul are like two free agents, com¬ bining discretionallv to the same effect; the one acting out of duty, and the other out of compassion, and both requiring mu¬ tual excitements and mutual endeavours. Human diligence engages grace, because it is not consistent with the laws of mercy that they, who are sincere, should miscarry for want of assistance ; and grace engages diligence, because it is not con¬ sistent with the laws of virtue that they, who are slothful, should either succeed or be assisted. Dean Young. (Serm. on 2 Tim. i. 6, entitled “ The Church Governor’s pattern,” and preached at the Consecration of Bp. Ken.) It is almost incredible, what industry, and diligence, and exer¬ cise, and holy emulation (which our Apostle commendeth in the last verse of this chapter) are able to effect, for the bettering S. LUKE XIX. 27. 525 and increasing of our spiritual gifts : provided we ever join with these, hearty prayers unto, and faithful dependence upon, God, for His blessing thereupon. I know no such lawful usury, as of those spiritual talents; nor do I know any so profitable usury, or that multiplieth so fast, as this does. . . . Oh then cast in thy talent into the bank ; make thy returns as speedy and as many, as thou canst; lose not a market or a tide, if it be possible ; he instant in season and out of season ; omit no op¬ portunity to take in, and put off all thou canst get: so though thy beginnings be but small, thy latter end shall wonderfully in¬ crease. 2 Cor. ix. 6—11. Bp. Sanderson. (Serm. 1 Cor. xii. 7.) 27 The Lobd hears all our rebellious words, and knows all secret conspiracies of men against Him. In the sentence, here pro¬ nounced, He condemns them “out of their own mouths,” as He had just done “the wicked servant.” He casts their very words into their teeth. Refer to verse 14 ; S. Jude 15. J. F. To be unwilling to obey, and simply not to obey, are by no means the same thing ; for the latter sometimes arises from ignorance and from infirmity, but the former is the offspring of determined obstinacy, or resistance. 1 Sam. xv. 22, 23. S. Bernard. (De praec. et disp. c. 14.) As sin is a reflection upon God, the Sovereign, He is con¬ cerned to vindicate His honour; as sin is malignity in the world, so God, the chiefest good, is concerned to oppose it, and deli¬ ver the creature from it. Exod. xxxiv. 7. Or. Whichcote. (Aphor. Cent. xii. 1101.) Qui non reddit Deo faciendo, quod debet , reddet Ei patiendo, quod debet. If we refuse to give God His due, by our actions, He will require it of us, by making us suffer. S. Augustine. Before Me. —The reprobate shall see the Son of man in the clouds above, to condemn them ; beneath, hell’s mouth open ready to devour them; before, the devils hailing them ; behind, the Saints and all their dearest friends forsaking them ; on their left hand, their sins accusing them ; on the right, justice threat¬ ening them; on all sides, the w T hole world made a bonfire terri¬ fying them ; to go forward impossible ; to turn aside unavoidable. No wonder then if at the world’s end, men be “ at their wit’s end.” Rev. vi. 15, 1G. Dean Bogs. 526 S. LUKE XIX. 29 And it came to pass, when He was come nigh to Bethpage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, 30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you ; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. 31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him ? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. 32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as He had said unto them. 33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt ? 34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him. 35 And they brought him to Jesus : and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. 36 And as they went, they spread their clothes in the way. 37 And when He was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen. 38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the Name of the Lord : peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. 39 And some of the Pharisees from among the mul¬ titude said unto Him, Master, rebuke Thy disciples. 40 And He answered and said unto them, I tell you S. LUKE XIX. 35—37. 257 that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. 35 O glorious King of heaven and earth ! how dost Thou humble Thyself, even in the day of Thy triumph, to ride, like a poor mean man, on an ass, a beast of the yoke and burden, and that too, none of his own. Blush now, my soul, at thine own pride and be confounded at thy vain curiosity. The Lord might have called the Cherubins to bear Him on their wings, and dazzled with their brightness the eyes of the beholders; but He chose to enter, as the Prince of meekness, and the Saviour of the poor. Austin. (Medit. 209.) 36 Your soul must thirst to be the nearest, that shall stand before the Presence of the Lord ; and count yourself extreme lag in perfection, until you desire to become equal with the principal Saints. “ Lord, let me love Thee, as S. Peter did.” “ Lord, let me love Thee, more than these !” Some cried Ho¬ sannah , and shouted for joy, when our Saviour went to Jerusa¬ lem : some cut down branches of palms; that was a more real expression of His welcome : some spared their garments from their backs, and laid them in His way; these were the foremost in affection; and what a becoming thing it is to be the best of all those, that ran forth to meet our Saviour F 1 Cor. ix. 24. Bp. Hacket. (Serm. S. John vi. 11.) 37 There is great beauty in this description of His meeting the multitudes, praising G od, at the descent of the mount , as if they thereby acknowledged their spiritual deliverer to come to them from heaven, i. 78. Origen. The multitudes descend the Mount of Olives, in company with our Lord ; because it is necessary that they, who need mercy, should share in the humiliation of Him, who procured mercy for them. 1 Tim. ii. II—13. Beda. This very multitude, so eager to-day to exalt Christ to the highest in their loud Hosannahs, are as fair on Friday to exalt Him to the Cross by their louder cryings. He w T ould yet suffer them to give Him honour, that He might show us what all worldly honour is, how fickle, how inconstant, how vain it is to puff up ourselves with the breath of men, to feed ourselves with their 528 S. LUKE XIX. 37—39. 4 empty air. They, that are now ready to lick the dust of some great man’s feet, and spread not their garments only, but their very bodies, for him to go over, will, within a few days, upon a little change, be as ready to trample upon him, if he com¬ mand anything, that pleases not their humour, or crosses their private interests and designs. Acts. xiv. 11, 19. Dr. Mark Frank. (Serm. S. Matt. xxi. 8.) All the parts of this lower creation bear a part here in rendering homage to the Son of Gtod ; the inanimate, verse 40; the brute, verse 30; and man, the rational, accountable, immortal man, whom He came to redeem. Ps. cxlv. 10. J. F. All the mighty works, fyc. —At this great King’s accession to His throne, men were not ennobled, but saved; crimes were not re¬ mitted, but sins forgiven; He did not bestow medals, honours, favours, but health, joy, sight, speech. The first object the blind ever saw, was the Author of sight, while the lame ran before, and the dumb repeated the Hosannah! Isa. xxxv. 4, 6. Sir R. Steele. 38 O how unlike the cry, “ Away with Him; crucify Him!” to this Blessed is He, that cometh in the Name of the Lord ! What a difference between this salutation of the King of Israel, and the avowal, “We have no King, but Caesar !” What a contrast between their green boughs and the cross; their flowers strewn in the way, and the crown of thorns ; the person, for whose sake other men’s garments were spread, and Him, who is stripped naked of His own ! Vce tibi, amaritudo peccatorum nostrorum, propter quce diluenda tanta amaritudo necesse est. S. Bernard. (Serm. 2, in Kamis.) The blossoms, which do all so richly adorn the trees in spring, do not all ripen into fruit in autumn, viii. 13. F. Neff. 39 There is no need that we should rebuke them: their own zeal w ill soon cool of itself. Nil violentum est diuturnum. Prov. xxvii. 14 ; S. Matt. xiii. 20, 21; S. John v. 35. J. F. He cometh to “ His owtl,” and Jerusalem is commanded to “re¬ joice and shoutbut “ His own receive Him not,” and Jeru¬ salem turns a deaf ear to the voices of all her prophets, not suffering herself to believe, that anything said by them could refer to Jesus of Nazareth. Her heart was depraved and S. LUKE XIX. 40. 529 hardened : she demanded to be put in possession of the empire of this world; she despised the appearance of her King, with the acclamations of an ignoble multitude, and soon nailed a Spiritual Monarch to the cross. S. John i. 11; Acts vii. 52. Bp. Home. (Serm. Zech. ix. 9, 10.) 40 And so at the Crucifixion of our Loed, when His kinsfolk were silent from fear, the stones and rocks sang forth; while, after that “ He gave up the Ghost,” the earth was moved, and the rocks were rent, and the graves opened. Beda. If the Jews be silent, the Gentiles, who were like hard barren stones and who worshipped wood and stones, converted to Cheist, would both praise and preach Him; and so the Cen¬ turion and they, that were with him, when they had seen such wondrous signs, confessed, saying; “ Truly this was the Son of God!” “Truly this was a righteous man!” Ludolphus. (in loco.) To bum me or to destroy me cannot so greatly profit them: for, when I am dead, the sun and the moon, the stars and the ele¬ ments, water and fire, shall defend this cause against them, rather than the verity should perish. Dr. Robert Barnes , M. (Letters.) To the unenlightened man the world and his own kind may ap¬ pear like “ a reed shaken with the wind ;” by the sensual man everything may be regarded as the means and fuel of luxury; but to the Christian, whose eye has been purged, the sphere of whose vision has been enlarged by faith, the world is as a pro¬ phet, that tells him of God ; and he hears all nature, animate and inanimate, joining in the choral hymn of adoration and thanksgiving to its Creator. Hallelujah is the sound of the waves : and the mountains reply Hallelujah! Hallelujahs float along in the murmuring of the streams, in the whispering of the grove and forest; yea, even in the silent courses of the stars, his spirit hears the mystic Hallelujahs. 1 Cor. x. 26, 28. J. Hare. (Prophet in the wilderness.) 41 And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, Μ M 530 S. LUKE XIX. 41. 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side. 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee ; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another ; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. 41 He wept over it .—Surely sorrow for sin is the proper and pre¬ dominant affection of this time, (the week before Easter,) so taught us by the Church. And what can we resolve on, less than the Church now teacheth us ? If He, in whom there was no sin, was at this time above measure sorrowful for our sins, shall not we, whose sins they were, be in some measure touched with sorrow for them, especially at this time of His sorrow ? True it is that our Saviour’s sufferings, being the price of our Redemption, are the matter of our greatest joy; but they are so, as they are joined with His Resurrection, without which there had not been any benefit, or joy to us by them. His Church, therefore, even from the beginning, judged this order to be most convenient and decent, that about the time of His Passion, we should have a sympathy, a compassion, and a fellow feeling with Him, “ being made conformable unto Him ” herein by the exercises of repentance, which are the passion of every Christian, whereby he “ dieth unto sin and that the solemn joy of our Redemption should be put off till Easter day, the day of His resurrection, which is the hope, and life, and glory of us all. And here it must ever be remembered, that the intent of the Church, in the celebration of these, her holy solemnities, is not only to inform us in the mysteries, which are commemorated, but also, and that chiefly, to conform us thereby unto Him, who is our Head, and the substance of all our solem¬ nities whatsoever; that, if we be not thus affected with them, S. LUKE XIX. 41, 42. 531 we can neither approve ourselves to he his followers and ser¬ vants, nor any lively members of His Church. Eccl. hi. 1; vii. 2—4; Zech. xii. 10—14; Lam. i. 12. Bp. Cosin . (A collec¬ tion of private devotions, &c.) The good shepherd ought to weep within himself, before he urges others to weeping; tacitd cogitatione discvuciari , to be racked with pain in his own secret thoughts, before he evinces his in¬ dignation at other men’s sins; and to cherish sorrow in his own bosom, beyond what he inflicts on others. Jer. xxxi. 20 ; 2 Cor. ii. 4. Calvin, (at 2 Cor. ii. 4.) He, who is called to instruct souls, is called of God, and not by his own ambition; and what is this call, but an inward incen¬ tive of love, soliciting us to be zealous for the salvation of our brethren ? So often as he, who is engaged in preaching the Word, shall feel his inward man to be excited with Divine affections, so often let him assure himself that God is there, and that he is invited by Him to seek the good of souls. Jer. xx. 9; Acts xvii. 16. S. Bernard. (In Cantic. Serm. 58.) Ergo conveniunt pulchre decreta Tonantis Atque voluntatis libertas insita nobis. . . . “ O Solymse,” dixit Jesus suspiria ducens, Et lachrymis simul ora rigans, “ Si tu modo nosses Quse tibi erant pacem sine fine datura benignam! Ast oculis subdueta tuis nunc absconduntur!” Non hoc optasset Jesus, si noscet ab ipsis, Si vellent etiam, fieri haud potuisse ; vel ullis Decretis obstare Patris: sed amanter id Ille Optavit, quoniam vidit potuisse rebelles, Si vellent ip si, meritam evasisse ruinam. u O quoties volui,” dixit, “ tua pignora blanda Colligere, ut teneros sub corpore congregat ales Et pennis amplexa suis fovet undique pullos ! At tu nolebas, O urbs ingrata, salutem Oblatam temnens, et viscera multa parentis.” J. Nicols . (Πβ /jt αργών. Lib. iii.) 42 Bay — days. —The time wherein the ungodly take their vain pleasure is but a day; but the time, wherein they shall be punished, is ealled days . 2 Cor. iv. 18. Ludolphus. mm2 532 S. LUKE XIX. 42—44. Now they are hid. —It is the vain fancy of some presumptuous sinners, that the day of grace and the day of life run parallel, and that, as long as the one lasts, the other will last too : and therefore they encourage themselves in their wickedness, think¬ ing they shall have time enough to repent, when they come to die.It seems (from S. Luke xix. 41, 42) the day of grace has an evening , before the night of death approaches : the things of peace were hid from the eyes of Jerusalem, before they were closed by the hand of death.There is a certain measure of iniquity God is said in Scripture to allow sinners to fill up ; and when this measure is full, they may call upon Him in vain, they may seek Him early and late; but He will not hear them. Gen. vi. 3; xv. 16 ; Ecclus. v.; Prov. i. 28. March. (Serm. S. Luke xxiii. 39—43.) 43 The difierence between our Loed’s style of prophecy and that of all other prophets is this. He seems to speak with a clear steady perception of futurity, as if His eye was just as calmly fixed upon future events, as if the whole were a present occurrence. The prophets appear only to have a picture, or a strong delineation of their prominent features, and their imagi¬ nations became turbid and heated, agitated and confused. C. Wolfe. (Appendix to Sermons.) 44 He who neglects the good he may have, shall find the evil he would avoid. Justly he sits in darkness, that would not light his taper, when the fire burnt clearly ; ofiers of mercy slighted prepare the way for judgments.The fire followed Lot’s neglected preaching. Capernaum’s fate was heavier for her miracles. Desperate is his estate, who hates the thing that should help him. If ever you see a drowning man refuse help, conclude him a wilful murderer. Prov. i. 21—23 ; S. John in. 18—21; xv. 22. O. Feltham. (Resolves. Cent. ii. 48.) Hone can fail to be struck by the contrast between the scene itself (S. Mark xi. 1—10) and these solemn words. The branches of the palm-trees were still unwithered, and the echo of the Hosannahs had not died away, when our Lobd was thus weeping over the departed glory of Jerusalem. And why w r as this? Doubtless it was, because He could read the heart, and saw that the feelings of the people were, in themselves, more frail S. LUKE XIX. 46. 533 and perishable, even than the outward symbols, which they had called forth. God grant that their example may not speak in vain to ourselves! Let us be careful at all times, and especially on solemn seasons, such as this, that the stirrings of His Spirit may not leave our hearts empty, when they pass • away, and so open them to a fresh invasion of Satan (S. Luke xi. 25), and prepare us to crucify our Saviour by some new act of sin. Adams. (Warnings of the Holy Week.) 45 And He went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; 46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. 47 And He taught daily in the temple. But the Chief Priests and the Scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear Him. 46 Our Lord, when He purged the Temple, said, It is written. This, after His example, must be our rule. Reformation is then right, when corrupted ordinances are reduced to their primitive institutions. S. Matt. xix. 8 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23. Dr. Dodd. Theodoret observes, that when Christ cast the sheep and the doves out of the Temple, and said, My house shall be called the house of prayer, He abolished all other sacrifices, and appointed prayer to be the solemn sacrifice and service of the Church. Mai. i. 11; Heb. xiii. 15. Bp. Brownriy. (Serm. Gen. iv. 3—5.) The house of prayer. —Let no preacher compare one ordinance with another, as prayer with preaching, to the disparagement of either; but use both in their proper seasons, and according to their appointed order. Bp. J. Taylor. (Advice to his Clergy.) The invidious comparison, against making which we are cautioned 534 S. LUKE XIX. 46. by Bp. Taylor, is almost prevented by attention to what here immediately follows; “ And He taught daily in the Temple.” S. Matt. xix. 6 ; Acts v. 42. J. F. A den of thieves. —The best way to be rid of bad thoughts in my prayers, is not to receive them out of my prayers. 1 S. Pet. iv. 7. T. Fidler. And yet He taught daily in the Temple , in this den of thieves ! Let persons beware how they separate themselves from any branch of the Catholic Church, however corrupt, provided it retains the essentials of a Church, and has nothing sinful in its terms of Communion. S. Matt, xxiii. 1—3. J. F. No irreverence, no indecency, nothing unseemly, unbecoming, and out of place, must be henceforth allowed, or our very prayers of Consecration will turn against us, to blame us for our formality, if not to condemn us for our profaneness. Let it never be for¬ gotten, that the rite of Consecration imparts an indelible cha¬ racter of holiness to the material building, and that that character must find its counterpart spiritually in our hearts and minds, so as to make us zealously affected for the honour of God’s house, careful of abstaining from all offence in our own persons, and heartily desirous of preventing it in regard to others. Eor indeed there can scarcely be a greater inconsistency than to act upon a different principle; and certainly there are few points of our religious duty, in which the Scriptures represent the Almighty, as keeping a more strict and jealous watch over us, than that of the worship of His sanctuary ; punishing with especial severity every act of irreverence and profaneness, and bestowing the richest promises on those, who “ keep their feet,” when they go to God’s house, and who “ sanctify Him ” there, “ in their hearts.” Ex. iii. 5 ; Eccl. v. 1, 2 ; Ps. lxxxix. 8 ; Isa. i. 12. E. C. Harington. (On the Consecration of Churches, p. 131.) A sin, acted in the Temple, was greater, than if the same had been committed by a Jew in his private dwelling, because the Temple was a consecrated place. The saint is a consecrated person; his sin is the sin of sacrilege, because lie robs God of that, which is devoted to Him in an especial manner. 1 Cor. iii. 1G. Gurnall. S. LUKE XIX. 48. 535 48 Very attentive. —The people hung upon the lips of their all-wise Teacher. This implies two very strong ideas ; an attention that nothing could interrupt, and an eagerness scarce ever to be satisfied. S. James i. 19. Harvey. Meum est docere; vestrum auscultare; Dei perficere. To me it belongs to instruct; to you it belongs to listen; to God it belongs to “give the increase.” Gal. vi. 6. S. Cyril. CHAPTER XX. ND it came to pass, that on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple, and preached the Gospel, the Chief Priests and the Scribes came upon Him with the elders, 2 And spake unto Him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest Thou these things ? or who is He that gave Thee this authority ? 3 And He answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer Me : 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men ? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; He will say, Why then be¬ lieved ye him not ? 6 But and if we say, Of men ; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 536 S. LUKE XX. 1, 4. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 1 O Pharisee, if thou hadst known the Scriptures, thou wouldest have called to mind, that this is “ the Priest after the order of Melchisedee,” who offers to God them that believe on Him, by that worship, which is above the Law. Why then art thou troubled ? He cast out of the sacred house things, which seemed necessary for the sacrifice of the Law, because He calls us by faith to the true righteousness. Heb. viii. 13. Eusebius. 4 The Pharisees, or the Priests and Levites, which were sent from Jerusalem to question John Baptist, had a true prenotion and belief in general, that God, in later ages would raise up an extraordinary prophet, like unto Moses. But whether this ex¬ traordinary prophet should be the Chbist or Messiah Himself, or rather His forerunner. His attendant or companion, they were ignorant. They had again a true prenotion or belief in general, that God would send a solemn messenger “ to prepare the ways of the Loed,” or the Messiah, whom they did seek : but whe¬ ther this messenger should be Elias the prophet, the same indi¬ vidual person, which was taken up in a fiery chariot into heaven, or some other in power and efficacy of spirit, in zeal to God’s true worship and religion, like unto him, they were ignorant. And to have been merely ignorant had been no fault, or at least no dangerous fault; but this their ignorance declined to error and stiff presumption, that this messenger foretold (Malachi iii. v. 1,) should be Elijah the Tishbite himself. S. John i. 19—27 ; S. Matt. xi. 14. Dr. Jacfcson. (Treatise on the Divine Essence, b. vii. p. 2.) S. Ambrose, preaching on S. John the Baptist’s day, was a great deal troubled, where he should either begin or end his praises; for whatsoever was eminent in almost all other is found in this one Saint, as being an Angel, (Mai. iii. 1,) a Prophet, (S. Luke i 76,) an Apostle, (S. John i. 6,) an Evangelist, (S. Mark i. 7,) a Confessor, constantly teaching the truth, and patiently suffer¬ ing for the same. His ingress into the world, his progress through it, and his egress out of it, were not without “ a mar- S. LUKE XX. 4, 7. 53 7 vellous noise throughout all the countries of Jewry, and the coast about Jordan.” Bean Boys. (On S. John Baptist’s day.) They be persuaded, fyc .—Nothing procureth love like humility; nothing hate like pride. The proud man walks among daggers pointed against him ; whereas the humble and the affable have the people for their guard in dangers. To be humble to our superiors is duty; to our equals, courtesy; to our inferiors, nobleness. Divine justice will always vindicate itself upon the presumptuous, and is indeed said to fight against no sin but pride. S. John i. 27 ; iii. 30, 31; Bev. xviii. 20. O. Feltham. 7 They went away, most deservedly repulsed and put to confusion; and thus was fulfilled the word of the prophet in the Psalm, speaking in the Person of the Father : “ I have ordained a lanthorn,” (that is, this very John) “for my Christ. I shall clothe His enemies with shame!” S. John i. 8. Beda. 9 Then began He to speak to the people this para¬ ble ; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 And at the season he sent a servant to the hus¬ bandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 11 And again he sent another servant : and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. 13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do ? I will send my beloved son : it may be they will reverence him when they see him. 14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they rea¬ soned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: 538 S. LUKE XX. 9, 11. come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may he our’s. 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them ? 16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it , they said, God forbid. 9 Not to dwell in the midst of allegories; God Himself hath read this riddle. “ The vineyard of the Loed of Hosts is the house of Israel:” and the house of Israel is His Church. The Church is God’s hill, conspicuous for His wonderful favours (though not ever) even to the eye of the world ; not a hidden, unheeded valley: a fruitful hill; not by nature, but by grace. Nature was like itself, in it, in the world: God hath taken it in from the barren downs, and gooded it; His choice did not find, but make it thus. Thus chosen, He hath fenced it about with the hedge of discipline ; with the wall of His Almighty protec¬ tion. Thus fenced, He hath ordained, by just censures, to pick out of it those stones of offence, which might hinder their holy proceedings, and keep down the growth of the vines ; whe¬ ther scandalous men, false opinions, or evil occurrences. Thus cleared, he hath planted it with the choicest vines of gracious motions, of wholesome doctrines. Thus planted, He hath over¬ looked it from the watch-tower of heaven, in a careful inspec¬ tion upon their ways, in a provident care of their preservation. Thus overlooked, He hath endeavoured to improve it by His seasonable wine-press, in reducing all those powers and favours to act, to use; whether by fatherly corrections, or by suggest¬ ing meet opportunities of practice. And now, having thus chosen, fenced, cleared, planted, watched, and ordered to strain His vines, He says most justly, “ What could have been done more, that I have not done ?” Deut. xxxii. 9—15, 32—36 ; S. Luke xiv. 24 ; Rom. x. 16—21. Bp. Hall. (Serm. Isa. v. 4, 5.) 11 The Venerable Bede understands, by this other servant, David to be meant, who, he says, was sent after the commandment of S. LUKE XX. 11, 12. 539 the Law, by the music of his psalmody to stir up the husband¬ men to the exercise of good works ; whom they rejected, saying, tc What portion have we in David ? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse,” (1 Kings xii. 16 ; 1 Sam. xx. 1.) It ap¬ pears that the best historical comment on this Parable may be found in the speech of S. Stephen, himself a dying witness to its truth ; he particularly dwells on their rejection of Moses, and concludes his earnest reproof by the general charge, “ Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted ?” &c. Acts vii. 49—52. J. F. 12 How many means did God vouchsafe that people, what infi¬ nite hints to help their unbelief! The wise men of the east had told them, “ Cheist was born,” and added for persuasion, that they had “ seen His star.” The shepherds published the message of the Angels of the birth of the Messias. At twelve years of age, He sat among the doctors, hearing them and posing them. The Holy Ghost, in a bodily shape, descended on Him at His Baptism, and a voice was heard from Heaven, “ This is My beloved Son.” Many hearers and beholders openly acknowledged, the one of His words, that they never heard the like, (S. John vii. 46,) the other of His works, that they never saw the like, (S. Mark ii. 12.) . . The heathen Centurion, yea, the fiends themselves, confessed Him. Yet their wits were so bewitched, that they could not understand; nay, their hearts were so malicious, that they would not believe. . . . Their wil¬ ful infidelity bred their contempt of Him. . . . They vilified His Person by the baseness of His parents, His kindred, and profession, (S. Matt. xiii. 55.) They depraved His actions, both His doctrine, and His miracles: His doctrine heretical, as crossing Moses’ Law ; and treasonous, He forbade to “ pay tribute unto Caesar:” His miracles magical, He “cast out devils by the prince of the devils.” Their tongues railed on Him, “ a glutton, a wine-bibber, a Samaritan, a demoniac;” and their hands delivered Him to the secular power, to be handled of the heathens with all indignity, with all extremity. They mocked Him, they scourged Him, they crucified Him. Dr. Richard Clerke. (Serin. S. John xx. 29.) O the indulgent Providence of our God ! How many ways 540 S. LUKE XX. 13, 14. has He contrived to save us ! How many messengers has He sent to instruct our ignorance! How many ambassadors to reclaim us to our duty! Sometimes He sends a blessing, to invite our love, and we abuse it into pride and wantonness; sometimes a cross, to check our vanity, and we turn it into mur¬ muring and disobedience. What could an infinite power and goodness do, that He hath not done ? What could the vilest ingratitude do, that we have not done ? xiii. 34 ; Job xxxiv. 14. Austin. (Medit. 221.) 13 Observe, He first appointed His servants, afterwards in dis¬ tinction His Soisr; thence learn that God, the only begotten Soisr, in the power of His own Divine Nature, has neither name nor fellowship in common with servants. Heb. i. 2. S. Ambrose. (De fide, lib. v. c. 7.) God’s wisdom is worthily called by S. Paul, πολυποίκιλο?, (Eph. iii. 10,) “manifold.” What wonderful variety hath God de¬ vised to beget and foster faith ? By promise, by types, by pro¬ phecy, by sense, by history. To Adam, to Abraham, and so to all the Patriarchs, He only promised Christ ; that sufficed them. To strengthen the promise, to after generations, He added types. Again to strengthen them, to their posterity He sent the prophets. And now to this age, whereof we are here speak¬ ing, He sends His Son in Person. He presents Him to the Jews, not σχηματικών, but σωματικών, in body, not in type ; before only object unto faith ; but now also subject unto sense. Isa. v. 4 ; S. John i. 39. Or. Richard Clerke. (Serm. S. John xx. 29.) 0 Thou everlasting Wisdom, 0 Thou everlasting sweetness, grant that I may see Thee ; seeing may love Thee; loving may admire Thee; admiring may imitate Thee ; and imitating Thee may enjoy Thee; enjoying Thee may never be separated from Thee, but live in Thy light, and love, and glory, to all eternity. S. John xii. 21. Or. Horneck. (On the great law of considera¬ tion, c. 8.) 14 Come, let us kill him. —Bad company is the most dangerous of all temptations. Eor one man, who is led astray by love of vice, thousands are ruined by the seductions of others. Prov. i. 10—19 ; Acts xxiii. 12. Rowdier. S. LUKE XX. 14, 16. 541 There is in the heart of man a deep-rooted covetousness; a sub¬ tle worldly spirit, suggesting diabolical murderous thoughts, for its own ends. Titus iii. 3. Adam. (Private thoughts, c. 4.) 16 God forbid.—Carnales habent voluntatem finis , sed non medi- orum. Carnal minds cannot but wish for the end; but have no liking for the means leading to it. Numb, xxiii. 10. S. Bernard. Nathan shows us the way how to call kings to repentance, (2 Sam. xii.) He catches King David’s conscience with a Parable; hides the instrument, that must lance the sore. He conceals the weapon, saith S. Chrysostom, lest the patient should shrink from his remedy ; he hides it, not under his garment, but under the cloak of a narrative. Bp. Brownrig. (Serm. 2 Sam. vi. 12.) 17 And He beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner ? 18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 19 And the Chief Priests and the Scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on Him ; and they feared the people: for they perceived that He had spoken this parable against them. 20 And they watched Him , and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of His words, that so they might deliver Him unto the power and authority of the governor. 21 And they asked Him, saying, Master, we know that Thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither accept- est Thou the person of any , but teachest the way of God truly : 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Csesar, or no ? 542 S. LUKE XX. 17. 17 The stone which the builders , fyc. —It may be said, are we con¬ cerned with the affairs of David and of Israel ? Have we any thing to do with the Ark and the Temple ? They are no more. Are we to go up to Jerusalem, and to worship on Sion ? They are desolated, and trodden under foot by the Turks. Are we to sacrifice young bullocks, according to the Law ? The Law is abolished, never to be observed again. Do we pray for vic¬ tory over Moab, Edom, and Philistia; or for deliverance from Babylon P There are no such nations, no such places in the world. What then do we mean, when, taking such expressions into our mouths, we utter them in our own persons, as parts of our devotions before God ? Assuredly we must mean a spiritual Jerusalem and Sion; a spiritual Ark and Temple; a spiritual Law, spiritual sacrifices, and spiritual victories over spiritual enemies; all described under the old names, which are still re¬ tained, though “ old things are passed away, and all things are become new.” By substituting Messiah for David, the Gospel for the Law, the Church Christian for that of Israel, and the ene¬ mies of the one for the enemies of the other, the Psalms are made our own: nay, they are with more fulness and propriety applied now to the substance, than they were of old to “ the shadow of good things then to come.” 1 Sam. xx. 15 ; xxiv. 20; xxv. 28 ; xxvi. 25 ; 2 Sam. v. 1—5 ; Ps. cxviii. 22. Bp. Horne. (Pref. to his Commentary on the Book of Psalms.) There is an excellent analogy between the person of David and Christ, as both were Kings. David was anointed to be a king, long before he was possessed of his kingdom; and so was our Saviour Christ anointed with the Holy Ghost, long before “He entered into His glory.” .... As King David first possessed only the tribe of Judah, and after some years the ten tribes ; even so our Saviour Christ at first possessed only the Jews, and after some time enlarged His Church unto the Gentiles. David, being possessed of his kingdom, spent many years in repressing the foes of his kingdom, Philistines, Ammonites, Syrians, &c., and at length sate down in peace, and ruled with justice and judgment in much prosperity; even so our Saviour Christ, though ascending into heaven and reigning there, yet shall be, until the general resurrection, “ subduing His enemies S. LUKE XX. 18, 20. 543 under His feet,” and freeing His Church from troubles and calamities: when that is done, then He shall rule and reign with His Church in much peace and joy. Ver. 42, 43; 1 Cor. xv. 28. Bp. Lake. (Serm. 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