teachers, it means that they hypocritically assumed the appearance of holiness, in order that they might the more readily get the property of the people. They were full of extortion and excess. See Matt. xxiii. 25.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. D. men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. The proper test of their character. Men do not judge of a tree by its leaves, or bark, or flowers, but by the fruit which it bears. The flowers may be handsome and fragrant; the foliage thick and green; but these are merely ornamental. It is the fruit that is of chief service to man; and he forms his opinion of the nature and value of the tree by the quality and quantity of its fruit. So in regard to religion. The profession may be fair and the avowal strong; but the conduct-is the test of sincerity.

17 Even so 'every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

☛ Jer. xi. 19; Chap. xii. 33. s Chap. iii. 10; Luke iii. 9; John xv. 2, 6. Hos. viii. 2; Chap. xxv. 11, 12; Luke vi. 46, xiii. 25; Acts xix. 13; Rom. ii. 13; James i. 22.

21. Not every one that saith, &c. "Christ here shows that it will not suffice to own him for our Master only in word and tongue. There may be a seeming importunity in prayer; but, if inward impressions be not answerable to outward expressions, we are but as sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal. This is not to take us off from being earnest in prayer, from professing Christ's name, and being bold in professing it, but from resting in these, in the form of godliness, without the power. The hypocrite offers other things in lieu of obedience. Ver. 22. There may be a faith of miracles, where there is no justifying faith, none of that faith which works by love and obedience. Gifts of tongues and healing would recommend men to the world, but it is only real holiness and sanctification that is accepted of God. Grace will bring a man to heaven without working miracles; but working miracles will never bring a man to heaven without grace. Miracles have now ceased, and with them this plea; but do not carnal hearts still encourage themselves in their groundless hopes, with the like vain supports? They think they shall go to heaven, because they have been of good repute among professors of religion; as if this would atone for pride, worldliness, and sensuality, and want of love to God and man. Let us take heed of resting in outward privileges and performances, lest we deceive ourselves, and perish eternally, as multitudes do, with a lie in our right hand. Those that go no farther in Christ's service than bare profession, he will not own in the great day. See from what a height of hope men may fall into the depth of misery! This should be an awakening word to all Christians. A profession of religion will not bear out any man in the practice and indulgence of sin; therefore, let every one that names the name of Christ, depart from all iniquity."

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we" not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

u Num. xxiv. 4; John xi. 51; 1 Cor. xiii. 2.

22. In that day. That is, in the last day, the day of judgment; the time when the hearts of all men shall be tried.

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: 'depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Chap. xxv. 12: Luke xiii. 25, 27; 2 Tim. ii. 19. y Ps. v. 5, vi. 8; Chap. xx. 41.

23. Profess unto them. Say unto them; plainly declare. ¶ I never knew you. For all your pretended faith and love and zeal, you never were my disciples. All these your pretended graces

were counterfeit. I never approved, loved, or regarded you as my friends. This shows that, with all their pretensions, they had never been true followers of Christ. Jesus will not on the last day, say to false prophets, and false professors of religion, that he had once known them, and then rejected them; that they had been once Christians, and then had fallen away; that they had been pardoned, and then had apostatized—but that he never knew them-THEY HAD NEVER BEEN TRUE CHRISTIANS. Whatever might have been their pretended joys, their raptures, their hopes, their selfconfidence, their visions, their zeal, they were never regarded by the Saviour as his true friends. We have in this text, a strong proof of the perseverance of the saints,-that those who are once brought into the state of grace, are not suffered to fall from it, but are supported in it till grace become glory. It is very decisive of the question, and shows that whatever else those to whom it shall be addressed on the "great day of the Lord," may have possessed, they never had any true religion. See 1 John ii. 19.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

z Luke vi. 47, &c.

24-27. Jesus closes the sermon on the mount with a beautiful comparison, illustrating the benefit of attending to his words and receiving his doctrine. It is not sufficient to hear them; they must be obeyed. He compares the man who should hear, and obey him, to a man who built his house on a rock. Palestine was to a considerable extent a land of hills and mountains. Like other countries of that description, it was subject to sudden and violent rains. The Jordan, the principal stream, was annually swollen to a great extent, and became rapid and furious in its course. The streams which ran among the hills, whose channels might have been dry during some months of the year, became suddenly swollen with the rain, and poured down impetuously into the plains below. Every thing in the way of these torrents was swept off. Even houses erected within the reach of these sudden inundations, and especially if founded on sand, or any unsolid basis, could not stand before them. The rising stream shook them to their foundations; the rapid torrent gradually washed away their base; they tottered and fell, and were swept away. Rocks in that country were common, and it was easy to secure for their houses a solid foundation.

No comparison could, to a Jew, have been more striking. So, tempests, and storms of affliction. and persecution, beat around the soul. Suddenly, when we think we are in safety, the heavens may be overcast, the storm may lower, and calamity beat upon us. In a moment, health, friends, comforts, may be gone. How desirable, then, to be possessed of something that the tempest cannot reach! Such is an interest in Christ,-attention to his words-reliance on his promises confidence in his protection-and a hope of heaven through his blood. Earthly calamities do not reach these; and, possessed of true faith, all the storms and tempests of life, shall beat harmlessly around us.

There is another point in this comparison. The house built on the sand is beat upon by the floods and rains; its foundation gradually is worn away; it falls, and is borne down the stream, and is destroyed. So falls the sinner. The floods are wearing away his sandy foundation; and soon one tremendous storm shall beat upon him, and he and his hopes shall for ever fall. Out of Christ, perhaps having heard his words from childhood; perhaps having taught to others; perhaps having been the means of laying the foundation on which others shall build for heaven, he has laid for himself no foundation, and soon the tempest shall beat around his naked soul. How great will be that fall! What will be his emotions when sinking for ever in the flood of divine judgment; for “God shall rain snares, fire, and a horrible tempest" upon the wicked!

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

28, 29. His doctrine. His teaching. As one having authority, not as the scribes. The scribes were the learned men and teachers of the Jewish nation, and were principally Pharisees. They taught chiefly the sentiments of their rabbins, and the traditions which had been delivered; they consumed much of their time in useless disputes.

"The multitudes were astonished at the wisdom and energy of Christ's doctrine. They felt his instructions had a commanding influence upon their understandings and affections; and that he spake very differently from those who only taught ceremonies, outward duties, and their own traditions. May there be many now who shall declare the same truths with some measure of his energy and authority; and may they be in the place of such as continue to teach after the manner of the scribes and pharisees of old. This sermon, ever so often read over, is always new. How full of Divine doctrine! Clear light all along. Every word carries evidence of its Author. Let us be more and more particular in our purposes, making some one or other of these blessednesses and Christian graces, our main object in succession, even for weeks together. Let us not rest in general and confused desires after them, whereby, whilst we grasp at all, we catch nothing."

ADDITIONAL REMARKS.

1. The judgment which our Saviour condemns at the beginning of the chapter, is not judgment in States, for that is essential to the wellbeing of the community. Legislators must, however, take care, that their laws be conformable to the principles of God's Word, otherwise, they are not obligatory, and those civil pains by which they would punish the breach of them, are unjustly inflicted. Nor are we forbidden, as private Christians, gravely to examine the principles and conduct of our fellow-creatures, and come to a judgment concerning them. What he speaks against, is a rash, unmerciful condemnation of others,-thinking and speaking malignantly of them, to gratify spleen, and confirm ourselves in some prejudice we have taken up against them, when all the while we are ignorant of the motives under which they act, and, indeed, of the actions themselves,-take no pains to examine them-make no allowance for the ignorance in which they may be, and make no exertion to dispel Such hasty and censorious judgments proceed not from the love of God, of the truth, or of our brother. "Were it love to God, a fire of holy zeal, it would seize first on things nearest it (the defects and blemishes of our own character.) It is a flying, infernal wildfire, running abroad and scattering itself. Is not this the grand entertainment of such rash and uncharitable accusers of their fellows? Such a one is a foolish person; another proud; a third covetous. Of persons professing religion, they will say, 'They are as contentious, and bitter, and avaricious as others; or, at best, if they have nothing to say against them particularly, all is dissimulation, hypocrisy.' Whilst a mind is in this vein, the most blameless track of life, and in it the very best action, how easy is it to invent a sinister sense of it, and blur it."

it.

2. In the 7-11 verses, we have precious encouragements to prayer. "Ask-seek-knock." These expressions teach that we are to be importunate in prayer, and good reason there is, that we should be so. If a man be set on getting possession of some temporal blessing, he will not let the means of securing his purpose slip. The mere expression of The mere expression of a desire to have it, will not satisfy him. He will be up early and late, he will ask, and petition, and supplicate, he will do any thing consistent with propriety,-but he will gain his point, if it can be gained. Are we to be less in earnest about the salvation of our souls, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, than about the things that perish? If we go empty away, it is because we do not ask, or do not ask importunately, as if we were in good earnest. We are to besiege the throne of grace with prayerto cleave to the promises to take no denial. Faith is the sinews of prayer; nay, its very life. If a man does not believe that God has these blessings to bestow, of which he pretends to feel his need; or that, having them in store, he will not bestow them upon him, his prayers are a contradiction and mockery. Let the poor and needy sinner take courage-let the humble Christian be of good cheer-come to the throne of grace-plead the merits of Christ-put God in mind of his proinises, and without fail the answer will come. Heaven and earth shall sooner pass away than any of the promises be broken, and it is one of them, "Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

3. "Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction." There is no difficulty in entering it. We are upon it as soon as we are born, and hurried along amidst the crowds that throng it, for as the way is broad, so the multitudes in it are innumerable, the whole world naturally travels this road. Were we to draw an augury from the conduct of those who frequent it, we would take it for granted that they thought nothing more certain than that it is leading them to peace, so secure are they and full of mirth. They go along with piping and dancing. No end of their merriment and confident talk. Yet, a careful observer may soon perceive the delusion, and, comparing the behaviour of

those thoughtless travellers, with the requirements of God's Word, discover that hell yawns at the end of their journey. They are a disorderly crew. Unbelief is master of the house; the depraved passions, his disorderly household. Crime cares not for concealment. She draws out of her twilight haunts, and walks unabashed through the noon-day. So goes the world, and so men prosper. Turn this way or that from the main throng of the bustle. Look up this or the other avenue, and what is to be seen? These are the receptacles of the victims,-the horror-haunted retreats of those who have miscarried. What a wilderness of shipwrecked hopes. The dry bones in the valley were not more numerous. Thousands perish in the paths, yet those who remain take no warning; they press on as thoughtlessly and stout-heartedly as before. "O ye sons of men, how long will ye love vanity."-" Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life: and few there be that find it." But in at this strait gate we must be brought, and along this narrow path we must travel, before we can form a rational hope of finding eternal life, and making sure of heaven. Because of the difficulty of entering we are exhorted to strive. And we are exhorted to this, not to discourage us, but, to set a keener edge upon our anxiety. Christ has opened it up for sinners, and he stands at its entrance, inviting them to come in. He will not dismiss any anxious sinner who sincerely accepts of his invitation. All such will be brought in, and not only entered upon it, but have Christ's company to comfort them, and cheer them along the way.

CHAPTER VIII.

2 Christ cleanseth the leper, 5 healeth the centurion's servant, 14 Peter's mother-in-law, 16 and many other diseased: 18 sheweth how he is to be followed: 23 stilleth the tempest on the sea, 28 driveth the devils out of two men possessed, 31 and suffereth them to go into the

swine.

WHEN he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes fol

lowed him.

Ver. 1. When he was come down, &c. When our Saviour ended his sermon on the mount, the people were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Having been thus impressed by the words of him who spake as never man spake, it is not wonderful, that, when he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. As Jesus had given proof that he came from God by the heavenly words which he spake, so he was now about to give farther confirmation of the same truth, by putting forth his hand to the working of miracles. 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

a Mark i. 40; Luke v. 12.

2, 3. And, behold, there came a leper. No disease with which the human family has been afflicted, is more dreadful than the leprosy. It first exhibits itself on the surface of the skin, and commonly resembles the spot made by the punctures of a pin, or the pustules of a ring-worm. These spots, though few at first, gradually spread till they cover the whole body. Though the appearance of the disease is at first in the skin, it is deeply seated in the bones, joints, and marrow. The malady advances from one stage to another slowly, but surely. A person leprous from birth may live twenty, thirty, or even fifty years; but it is an existence of extreme misery. It may be called "a life in death." The leper mentioned in the text, had, it may be, been long afflicted by that dreadful malady, and had, doubtless, made trial of all the means of relief which the skill of earthly physicians could suggest. All was in vain; in his case the disease was inveterate, and proceeded to consume his flesh piece-meal, morsel by morsel. His character, however, appears in a very amiable light. He had heard, we may suppose, of the wonderful works which had been wrought by our Saviour (chap. iv. 23, 24), and had come to the conclusion that the heavenly Physician could restore him to health and strength. In their extremity, men will adopt any measure which presents the faintest hope of relief. Any thing rather than death. It was not in the spirit of despair that this leper came to the Saviour. He came in faith-with a confident assurance of Christ's power; for no sooner had he approached

near enough, than he worshipped Christ, and said, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me whole." Whilst the reply of our Saviour was the language of mercy, it was also that of power. Many of Christ's servants wrought works as wonderful as the work recorded in the text. None of them ever used the language of Jesus. In the name of Jesus they wrought many miracles. Jesus wrought them in his own name. They performed their mighty works by power delegated to them. He by his own inherent power. "Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." All men, in their natural estate, labour under a disease infinitely more loathsome than the leprosy of the body. Their souls are affected with the deadly malady of sin-incurable by all appliances and efforts of their own. There is balm in

Gilead, and a Physician there. He who commits his soul into the hand of Christ, that its diseases may be healed, as confidingly as this poor leper did his body, shall meet with a gracious reception, and as complete a cure. However desperate his case may be, it cannot baffle the skill of the "Great Physician."

4 And Jesus saith unto him, "See thou tell no man; but go thy way, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

b Chap. ix. 30; Mark v. 43.

c Lev. xiv. 3, 4, 10; Luke v. 14.

4. See thou tell no man. This command is to be understood as extending only until he had made the proper representation to the priest. It was his duty to hasten to him immediately; not to delay by talking about it, but, in the first place, to obey the laws of God, and make proper acknowledgments to him by an offering. The place where this cure was wrought was in Galilee, a distance of forty or fifty miles from Jerusalem; and it was his duty to make haste to the residence of the priest, and obtain his testimony to the reality of the cure. A testimony unto them. Not to the priest, but to the people. Show thyself to the priest, and get his testimony to the reality of the cure, as a proof to the people that the healing is genuine. It was necessary that he should have that testimony, before he could be received into the congregation, or allowed to mingle with the people. Having this, he would be, of course, restored to the privileges of social and religious life, and the proof of the miracle, to the people, would be put beyond a doubt.

5

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

5. Capernaum. See Note, chap. iv. 13.

d Luke vii. 1.

There came unto him a centurion. A centurion was
Judea was a Roman province, and
This man was probably by birth a

a commander of a hundred men, in the Roman armies. garrisons were kept there to preserve the people in subjection. Pagan. See verse 10.

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

6. Sick of the palsy. See Note, chap. iv. 24. The particular form which the palsy assumed is not mentioned. Perhaps it was the painful form which produced violent cramps, and which immediately endangered life.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but 'speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

7,8. I am not worthy, &c. This was an expression of great humility. It refers, doubtless, to his view of his personal unworthiness, and not merely to the fact that he was a Gentile. It was the expression of an humble spirit-a conviction of the great dignity and divine power of the Saviour. He considered himself utterly unworthy that Christ should come into his dwelling; and entertained so sincere a faith in his divine power, as to be convinced that it was not necessary for Christ to go along with him, and see his servant, in order to effect a cure upon him. "Speak the word only," said he, "and my servant shall be healed." He who is truly enlightened in the knowledge of the Gospel, has no confidence in himself, but complete confidence in the Lord Jesus.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to