proverb to express a cruel hypocrite. The teachers here described made fair pretensions, were pure and innocent outwardly, but inwardly were ready to prey upon their victims. Jesus referred perhaps to the Jewish teachers in this description, who made long prayers, but devoured widows' houses; innocent, pure, and harmless as sheep to all appearance, but in reality full of extortion and excess, rapacious as wolves. 1 Tim. vi. 5.

16. Know them by their fruits. Though so deceptive in their appearance, there was one way by which their hypocrisy would be unmasked; their lives would belie their professions. Their fruits, their works, would betray them. It has been said: A man's works are the tongue of his heart, and tell honestly whether he is inwardly corrupt, or pure. The Saviour takes an illustration from nature. Do men from the poorest plants, as thorns and thistles, obtain the rich est fruits, as grapes and figs? So from these counterfeit teachers, meagre souls, wretched hypocrites, the encumbering thorns and thistles of the moral world, we are not to look for those rich, nutritious lessons of wisdom which proceed from one who speaks from the abundance of a deep, good heart. Especially from the tree of barren hypocrisy we cannot expect any fruits of good works, but only the leaves and flowers of good professions and specious pretensions.

17. Mat. xii. 33. Luke vi. 4345. James iii. 12.-Good tree. A tree of a good kind produces fruits like itself.-Corrupt tree-evil fruit. But a tree of a bad kind produces fruits of the same sort. The Saviour draws an analogy between the natural and the spiritual worlds, showing that in each like produces like, good, good, and evil, evil.

18. So it is morally impossible for a bad man to yield the fruits of virtue, or a good man to produce wickedness. Human conduct is determined by the state of the heart, as fruits are by the nature of the tree upon which they grow.

19. John xv. 6. This verse bears so much the character of an intruder and interrupter of the sense, that many have deemed it an interpolation from Mat. iii. 10. But there is no other evidence against its genuineness. It may be regarded as a parenthetical sentence.

20. By their fruits ye shall know them. This is the summing up of the illustrations drawn from the natural world. These false teachers would be known by their conduct. By that criterion Jesus permits us to judge of their sincerity.

21. Not every one, i. e. no man.— Lord, Lord. Or, Master, Master. Luke vi. 46. James i. 22.-Saith and doeth are emphatic. Mere profession is worthless. Earnest calling upon Jesus, and feigning a dependence and allegiance, not acknowledged in the heart, or expressed in the life, is hypocrisy of

the most shallow kind.-Kingdom of heaven often stands for the Gospel itself. Persons described above are not Christians, however loud they may be in their pretended devotedness to Jesus. No doubt many came to him, after seeing his wonderful works, professing for him the greatest interest, and readiness to follow him, John vi. 15, who were influenced by hopes of worldly honor and wealth. They said Master, Master, to secure a higher place in his court, not out of submission to his spiritual laws, which alone would entitle them to membership in his kingdom.

22. Luke xiii. 25-27.-In that day. An emphatic phrase. Then, when my kingdom shall be established.-Prophesied in thy name. Not necessarily predicted future events, but preached in thy name, preached the Gospel.-In thy name. By thy power and authority. The Apostles appealed to the authority of Christ, when they performed miracles. Acts xvi. 18.-Cast out devils. See note upon Mat. iv. 24. It was a common superstition at that time that the spirits of deceased wicked persons dwelt in some men. They were called, however, demons, and not devils, in the present popular meaning of that word. This sort of miracles is specified, because it was more difficult of performance. Mat. xvii. 21.-Wonderful works. Miracles, so called because they created wonder and awe in those who beheld them.

We learn from the New Testament that some were hypocritical in their profession of Christianity from the beginning, and that miraculous powers were claimed by some who were not worthy of the trust.Goodness is the only key to unlock the gate of heaven. 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3. Gal, vi. 15.

Ps. i.

23. Will I profess unto them. Plainly and publicly declare to them. To give greater vivacity and force to the truth, Jesus throws it into the form of a dialogue between himself and these false claimants. I never knew you, i. e. never approved and recognized you as my disciples; for such is the meaning of know in some cases. 6. 1 Cor. viii. 3.-Depart from me, &c. Ps. vi. 8. The dramatic semblance is continued.-Work iniquity. The sense of the original is stronger than to do iniquitously; it is, to make a trade and business of iniquity, as these false teachers did, who converted the holy office of preaching the Gospel into an instrument of selfish aggrandizement. The great end of Christianity, whether in teacher, or taught, is a good life. Nothing short of this, be it faith, or zeal, or profession, or even martyrdom, can meet the purposes of Heaven, or the wants of the soul.

24. We come now to the epilogue and peroration of the Sermon on the Mount, and it harmonizes, in its sustained beauty and energy, with the preceding part, and con

cludes all in a manner worthy of one who was a teacher from the Father of Lights. Similar figures were used by the Jewish teachers, but inferior in power and elegance. The following is one: "The man who studies much in the law, and maintains good works, is like to a man who built a house, laying stones at the foundation, and building brick upon them; and though many waters come against it, they cannot move it from its place. But the man who studies much in the law, and does not maintain good works, is like a man who, in building his house, put bricks at the foundation, and laid stones upon them, so that even gentle waters shall overflow that house."-Wise man. Prudent, considerate man.

25. The beauty of the comparison is enhanced by knowing the reference which is here made to the soil and climate of Judea. The land is hilly and rocky, and the heavy rains which fall at periodical seasons wash away the earth. The torrents pour down the hills with irresistible violence, carrying away whatever would withstand their fury, sweeping before them buildings that were founded upon a sandy and treacherous basis. The winds also, as is common in warm countries, blow with terrible force; still more endangering what was exposed to the rolling floods. The houses too of the poorer classes were of frail construction, being built of mud walls, or bricks

dried in the sun, and reeds, and rushes, which would render their overthrow still more probable, in the heavy rains and hurricanes incident to that climate, unless they were very securely built upon a solid foundation. Jesus accordingly spoke to his hearers of what was familiar to them, drawing illustrations from their own observation and experience.-Fell not; for it was founded upon a rock. Thus one who has obeyed the instructions of Christ, and built his hopes upon him as the corner stone, will be able to stand, and having done all, and suffered all, still to stand, unshaken by the storms of adversity, calm in death, erect before the throne of God.

26. Heareth, and doeth them not. A large class. Many now hear the Gospel, participate in the security, comfort, and outward privileges, which its presence in the world partially communicates to all, have a speculative belief; but yet not practising the precepts of religion, not bringing their own hearts and lives under its influences, they rest their hopes upon a sandy foundation. The storms of this life, and the trial of the next, will demonstrate their folly.

27. Great was the fall of it. The overthrow of the spiritual hopes and prospects of the soul, the fall of man from virtue, is great indeed. The traveller is touched with sadness, as he surveys the ruins of splendid temples and palaces, the

relics of ancient grandeur; but what are the desolations of earthly fabrics, and splendid cities, compared with man, the temple of the Deity, broken down and in ruins?

28. Ended these sayings. Referring to the whole discourse.-Astonished at his doctrine. At his teaching, both in matter and manner. The original expresses more than astonishment. The truths he enforced, the simplicity, directness, and spiritual power with which he delivered them, seized hold of their hearts, so as to strike them with awe. They felt, to their own wonder, a power within them rising up and paying respect to the power of Jesus. Deep responded unto deep.

29. As having authority, and not as the scribes. Mention is repeatedly made of the surprise and admiration of the people at his teaching. Mat. xxii. 33. Mark i. 22. xi. 18. Luke iv. 32. Nor can we wonder at it, when we consider, on one side, the capacities and wants of human nature, and on the other, the qualifications of Jesus to speak to it. Men have more in them than they know of. A soul of unlimited powers hungers and thirsts within them. They love to be caught up into the light and glory of great truths and heavenly principles. Such times are memorable. And notwithstanding the degeneracy of the Jews, the formality and petrifaction into which religion had grown, the hypocrisy of the priests, human nature was stronger than Jewish habits. The common people heard Jesus gladly. For he spoke to them as a divine brother. They perceived that he was unlike

their Rabbins and Scribes; for they trifled, wasting their time and strength upon puerile ceremonies and vain controversies. But Jesus was grave, and dwelt upon themes that came home to the business and bosom of every man. The Scribes referred for authority to the ancients. Jesus spoke from an internal authority, and consciousness of the truth of what he said, and of an inspiration and commission from the Deity, that must have clothed his words with a truly celestial power. The wickedness and hypocrisy of many of the Scribes of course undermined all their moral force as teachers of religion. The pure and benevolent spirit of Jesus, his unimpeachable goodness, added a thousand persuasives to his doctrine; and overflowing, as it must naturally have done, in tone, and gesture, and feature, it impressed the people altogether differently from the cant and coldness of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus was humble, accessible, and noble. They were proud, reserved, and mean. Jesus preached the truth of God. They preached themselves. It is not strange that the people were astonished. No such teacher had ever yet appeared, or was ever again to appear. He spoke to the reason, the conscience, and the heart. He was profound, yet plain; powerful, but gentle. The precepts he gave for human conduct; the motives he addressed to the heart; the connection he pointed out between the character and the life; the authority with which he urged his doctrines; the fearlessness with which he condemned the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees; the