MATT. Xviii. 9. MARK ix. 47-50. LUKE. LET YOUR SPEECH BE ALWAY WITH GRACE, SEASONED WITH SALT, THAT the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live Co. ix. 26, .7, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly;... but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away. Mk. ix. 47. if thine eye- Thy right eye,' Mt. v. 29, $ 19.-Ps. cxix. 37, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.' 49. salted with fire- The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is,' 1 Co. iii. 13- That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,' 1 Pe. i. 7- Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy, iv. 12, 3-For those who refuse to suffer with Christ now, there remaineth a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries,' He. x. 27-when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,' 2 Th. i. 7, 8-For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many,' Is. lxvi. 15, .6. every sacrifice... with salt-So under the law, Lev. ii. 13, Every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering with all thine offerings shou shalt offer salt' -so also in prophecy, Eze. xliii. 24. And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD'-Jesus said to his disciples, Ye are the salt of the earth,' Mt. v. 13, § 19, p. 122-and before a people are signally given over to a reprobate mind and to destruction, they are generally as signally given an opportunity of salvation, by the Lord's sending his messengers among them: thus the old world was given warning by Noah, a preacher of righteousness,' 1 Pe. iii. 19, 20; 2 Pe. ii. 5-Sodom, before being consumed, was reproved by the presence of Lot, 6-8-and deliverance by the father of the faithful, Ge. xiv.-To Egypt Moses was sent, Ex. iii.-and before the removal of Israel, Elijah and Elisha were sent to give warning of their approaching doom, 1 Ki. xix. And the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets,' 2 Ki. xvii. 13-Just before the Babylonish captivity, Isaiah, Jeremiah, &c., were sent to the Jews-so to Nineveh, see Jon. iii.-Our Lord's ministry was chiefly in Galilee and Jerusalem, which the most suffered in the wars with the Romans; and the Roman world, upon which the judgments of God were threatened to fall the most terribly, has been favoured with the most frequent, earnest, and long-continued calls to flee from the wrath to come-This shews that past spiritual privileges are no guarantee for the future enjoyment of the like favours, but are rather an intimation of approaching trial. NOTES. God shall triumph. The figure is taken from heaps of the dead slain in battle; and the prophet says that the number shall be so great that their worm-the worm feeding on the dead-shall not die, shall live long, as long as there are carcases to be devoured; and that the fire which was used to burn the bodies of the dead, shall continue long to burn, shall not be extinguished till they are consumed. The figure, therefore, denotes great misery, and certain and terrible destruction. In these verses it is applied to the state beyond the grave, and is intended to denote that the destruction of the wicked will be awful, wide spread, and eternal. It is a mere image of loathsome, dreadful, and eternal sufferings. Of what that suffering will consist, it is probably beyond the power of any living mortal to imagine. The word "their," in the phrase "their worm," is used merely to keep up the image or figure. Dead bodies, putrifying in that valley, would be overrun with worms, while the fire was not confined to them, but spread to other objects, kindled by combustibles through all the valley.'-Barnes.] [Mk. ix. 49. Every one shall be salted with fire. The full sense, then, seems to be this: "Every [believer] will be (or is) seasoned and prepared, by the fiery trials of this life, for eternal glory-even as every victim is seasoned with salt [for sacrifice];" intimating, that the seasoning or preparation is as necessary to the purpose (i. e., final acceptance) in the one case as in the other. Thus our Lord means to say, that there is a opraoia for every believer, which is as necessary to put him to the proof, as the seasoning is to the sacrifice. The seasoning was necessary to the victim, in order to purify it, and render it acceptable; and so is the moral seasoning necessary to those who are commanded to offer their bodies “a living sacrifice," Rom. xii. 1.'-Bloomf.] YE MAY KNOW HOW YE OUGHT TO ANSWER EVERY MAN.-Col. iv, 6. FLEE.... YOUTHFUL LUSTS: BUT FOLLOW RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, CHARITY, PEACE, ON THE IDENTITY OF MATT. xviii. 1-9: MARK ix. 33-50; LUKE ix. 47-50, p. 74. Mr. Greswell supposes that what is recorded, Mk. xviii. 1-but that Jesus had, at the beginning of his ix. 33-50; Lu. ix. 46-50, took place previous to the discourse, called the twelve, or body of his disciples, disciples coming to Jesus with their inquiry, as together unto him, after which there is no notice of reported Mt. xviii. 1. He regards this as a distinct Peter until ch. xviii. 21, where he is spoken of as and subsequent event, occurring after Peter's return coming unto Jesus, which would not have been said. from procuring the tribute money, whereas it may if he previously had been in the company. In this be the question of the disciples precedes that of case it would have been, Peter answered and said,' our Lord. It is, however, worthy of remark, that the same as of John, Mk. ix. 38; Lu. ix. 49, p. 75. Matthew, who alone takes notice of Peter being sent It is the same evangelist who tells us of Peter's being away, ch. xv11. 27, does not mention nis return until sent away who notices his return, and previous to after the discourse upon offences, when he is reported what is reported, Mt. xviii. 21, we have not from any as coming unto Jesus, with the inquiry regarding of the evangelists the least intimation of his being forgiveness: a subject upon which, as we may well present, from the time of his being sent out of the suppose, his mind had been much exercised while house immediately upon entering it, ch. xvii. 27, sent away to witness the evidence of that great p. 73. truth which he had before confessed, ch. xvi. 16-8, § 50, p. 36-but now practically denied; and on account of which former confession, the words had been spoken which are supposed to have afforded ground for the doctrine of Peter's supre macy. Peter had in effect, ver. 22, p. 41, denied that Jesus was the Son of man, come into the world to suffer unto the death for the sins of men; and now he had practically denied that Jesus is the Son of God, from whom tribute was not due, but unto whom it should be paid. After having so repeatedly erred, and had such convincing proof that lie required forgiveness, it was no wonder that Peter should return from his errand with such a question as that reported, ch. xviii. 21. Peter had now abundant evidence that Jesus is both the Son of God and the Son of man, who can command even the fishes of the sea to pay him tribute. The exceeding grace of God's beloved Son, in becoming our brother, and in exercising such forbearance and forgiveness to one so weak, so presumptuous, and so erring, must have touched Peter's heart, and made him feel that he also owed tribute to his Lord. And as Jesus had told him to express his desire or sense of the Divine forgiveness by for. giving others, it was natural for Peter, upon his return, to come, submitting himself to his Lord, acknowledging that he had a right to command him until seven, or a fulness of times. It was therefore not necessary that Peter should hear the preceding conversation, in order to come with such an inquiry. This inquiry is probably sufficiently accounted for by his own personal circumstances. It is also to be noticed, that not only had the disciples come to Jesus after his being in the house, and subsequent to the withdrawal of Peter, ch. xvii. 25; VOL. II.] A difficulty has been supposed to exist in the seemingly different account given by Matthew and Mark respecting the origin of the conversation-but the difficulty vanishes when we interpose between the inquiry of the disciples and that of our Lord, the observation of the third evangelist, who accounts for our Lord's conduct on the occasion, by telling us that Jesus perceived the thought of their heart." Our Lord, to whom all hearts are open, bids them look to the form in which the subject had been discussed among themselves; he speaks to the secret motives of his disciples, repelling the assumptions of jealousy in all. At the same time he teaches them the ambitious, and repressing the risings of envy or how to apply themselves to the remedy of such evils as had been threatening to rise up among them: so that they might remain in happy harmony among efficient in the work unto which they were called, as themselves, be powerful in prayer with God, and being sent, like their Lord, for the recovery of the lost. They were themselves dealt with according to the principle of free grace, and so were not to be rigidly exact in requiring all they might think due to themselves from others. According to this view, only the latter part of the discourse was delivered in the hearing of Peter, whose return and inquiry are noted, Mt. xviii. 21, p. 84. Jesus, by his answer, gives abundant consolation to his repentant disciple consolation net now alone needed by Peter-and as the result of such experience of weakness and failure on his part, and of forgiving grace on the part of his Saviour, he who was to take the most prominent part in the first promulgation of the gosp 1, is taught to exhibit that gospel in forbearance, forgiveness, gentleness, and LOVE. THE DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS ONLY GOOD:-Prov. xi. 23. [79 WITH THEM THAT CALL ON THE LORD OUT OF A PURE HEART.-2 Tim. ii. 22. THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE OVER THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ARE OPEN UNTO ON THE FIRST INSTANCE OF THE DISPUTE AMONG THE DISCIPLES CONCERNING PRECEDENCE.-Mark ix. 33-50; Luke ix. 46-50, and Matt. xviii. 1-9, p. 74.-Greswell, Vol. II. Diss. xxix. pp. 464-.81. When they were come into the city, but not yet arrived at the house to which they were going in the city; we learn, from the account of St. Matthew (ch. xvii. 24), that the collectors of the didrachma applied to Peter, apart from Jesus, if not from the rest of the Twelve, with the inquiry, Doth not, or, will not, your Master pay the didrachma?.... When they were all come into private, before Peter had informed him of this application, and consequently, before any other business could have been transacted, our Lord shewed him, in the manner recorded Mt. xvii. 25-end, that he was already aware of it; and by Peter's own admission, who had so recently acknowledged him as the Son of God (ch. xvi. 16, § 50, p. 36), ought to have been considered by him exempt from a tribute imposed for the service of God. That he might not, however, give unnecessary offence, he sends him to the lake, to angle for a fish; in whose mouth he should find a stater: and with this he instructs him to pay the tax in Jesus' behalf and in his own.... It should be remembered that Capernaum, whence Peter was dispatched, was at some distance from the lake; that he had to go to the lake, and to return thence; and to find out the collectors of the tribute, and to discharge his commission to them, before he could come back to the house. There was room then for much to transpire in this house, during his absence, at which he could not possibly be present, at least throughout it; and something of this kind seems actually to have taken place. All the particulars, connected with the history of the tribute money, are related by St. Matthew only; whose account is such as clearly to imply that nothing else could have preceded in the house, after their arrival in it, this event. Yet St. Mark expressly, and St. Luke by implication, do each of them shew that, as soon as Jesus, with the disciples, was come into the house, he inquired about the subject of the dispute by the way. This inquiry, then, could not have preceded the departure of Peter; but took place either during his absence or after his return. 'Now the disciples, according to the same authority, though questioned by our Lord himself, made no answer to the inquiry as so put; because, as we are also informed, the subject of the dispute had been which was the greatest; that is, because, for some reason or other, they did not venture to acknowledge the subject of such dispute. But, according to St. Matthew, xviii. 1, either then or some time after, they came to Jesus of their own accord, to prefer the very same question. And if this fact should appear inconsistent with that, ver. 21, a little further on, may assist us to explain the inconsistency. 'Peter is there mentioned as present, and as a hearer of the discourse which had just been pronounced; a discourse which it is needless to observe arose solely and directly out of the question at xviii. 1, itself. If so, Peter must have been present when that question was put; and, consequently, he had executed his commission and returned to the house, before that question was put. When the disciples therefore were interrogated by our Lord himself, and made him no answer (which must have been almost as soon as they were got into the house), Peter would be away; when they came to him, with the same 80] question, of their own accord, he must have been returned. . 'It is a singular fact, that up to this period of the gospel history there are no instances on record of any dispute among the followers of our Lord, upon the subject of their comparative personal superiority; but after the present period there are. It is not less singular that this first instance of such a dispute followed, at no great distance of time, upon the Transfiguration. At the Transfiguration three only of the apostles, Peter, and James, and John, were knowledge of the world at large, but even from their permitted to be present; and these had been strictly commanded to conceal the fact not merely from the fellow disciples, until the Son of man should be risen from the dead: a prohibition which, as St. Luke informs us, they were accordingly careful to ob serve. terious and remarkable a scene; it exhibited our Now the Transfiguration was altogether so mysSaviour in so novel, and so unexpected a character; it invested him with a personal glory and majesty, so different from his former habitual humiliation, that the privilege of being present at such a transaction must have appeared to the three disciples a very high distinction, conferred exclusively on themselves, and which the very injunction of secrecy consequent upon it could not fail to enhance in their estimation. To have been eye-witnesses of an event, and even to have taken some part in it themselves, which they were not permitted so much as to mention to others, could not be regarded in any other light. In 'As therefore the disputes among the Twelve, on the subject of pre-eminence, begin to be dated from the time of the Transfiguration, but not before it; it is not an improbable conjecture that they were produced by the effect of that event itself, in disposing the three apostles, who had witnessed it, to believe that their Master's kingdom, such as they all expected, was now at hand; and consequently, that personal honours and advancements, of some kind or other, might safely be anticipated by them all. this expectation each would be eager for the highest rank; and measuring the extent of their future, by the degree of their present distinctions, each would be anxious to appear and to be acknowledged the greatest. In all these instances, the point in dispute among them, whensoever it is stated, seems to be as much the question who was even then, as who should be hereafter, the greatest-comp. in particular Lu. xxii. 24 [§ 87], which is a case to the point. The four disciples, who, as we have seen, had private, antecedent reasons for holding together, might begin to take too much upon them in comparison of the rest. The natural ardour of the disposition of Peter is proved by his whole history; and that the sons of Zebedee, besides being persons of some rank and property originally, were by no means deficient in ambition, or in the desire of individual aggrandizement, appears from their memorable petition [Mt. xx. 20, .1; Mk. x. 35-7, § 771, preferred some months after the present time. In every dispute then upon this subject, Peter and the sons of Zebedee, as we may presume, would take an active, and probably even a leading part. When therefore the disciples were questioned about their dispute, if Peter was absent, as it would appear he must have been, they might not, or they could not know what to reply. Nor would it be any objection to the supposition of his absence in particular, that the evangelist, proceeding to recount the discourse which our Lord delivered of his own accord, in consequence of their silence, tells us that he called to him previously, rous dudexa. (Mk. ix. 35.) Ever after the appointment of the apostles, and so long as their number consisted of twelve, the phrase of dadena is a denomination equivalent to ol dwóσroλo; and as ordinarily employed means no more than that. After the fall of Judas, and before the substitution of Matthias, they are called on the same principle ci Erdeka. It is not except in a special case, where a part of the whole body was expressly to be opposed to the rest, that the phrase ol déxa occurs; as for in ONLY BY PRIDE COMETH CONTENTION :-Prov. xiii. 10. [VOL. II. THEIR PRAYERS: BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THEM THAT DO EVIL.-1 Pet. iii. 12. BETTER IS THE POOR THAT WALKETH IN HIS INTEGRITY, THAN HE THAT IS PERVERSE IN HIS LIPS, AND IS A FOOL.-Prov. xix. 1. stance, to discriminate the rest of the Twelve from the two sons of Zebedee. Now no such discrimination could possibly be here intended by St. Mark; for he makes no mention of the departure of Peter; and therefore in speaking of the Twelve could not use a term which would imply that he or any other of them was absent. There is a similar instance of the use of terms, Lu. xxiv. 33; 1 Co. xv. 5 [§ 95], compared with Jno. xx. 21 [§ ib.]. Besides, the discourse which follows, whensoever it might be pronounced, was doubtless designed not for a part of them, but for all; and whether heard at the time by all, or not, would doubtless be repeated to all. Yet the act, which both by St. Mark and by St. Luke is distinctly attributed to John, I cannot help thinking is a proof, even in them, that Peter was absent. The material fact itself, the dispossession of spirits in the name of Jesus by one who followed not with them, is rendered sufficiently probable by Mt. xii. 27 [§ 31, p. 236], or Lu. xi. 19 (§ 62], which shews the practice of exorcism to have been common among the Jews in our Saviour's time; and it is confirmed by an instance of the fact in the case of the sons of Sceva, Ac. xix. 13, .4. Josephus has given an account of one Eleazar, a famous exorcist in the time of Vespasian (Ant. Jud. viii. ii. 5), and has described also a certain plant, which was to be found only at Macharus (Bell, vii. vi. 3), of great repute in such exorcisms. He confirms, too, the fact in his own time, or at least the popular belief in his own time, in the fact of the reality of demoniacal possession, and designates demons themselves as the spirits of wicked men. This interruption (for it must be regarded as one) taking place in the midst of our Lord's discourse, and almost as soon as he had begun to speak, was evidently made in the name of the body; and concerned a question relating to the rights and privileges, real or imaginary, of the apostolic body. That John therefore was the spokesman in this instance, and not Peter, which is contrary to every other case on record, is some ground for the presumption that Peter was not present at the time. It is not a less probable account of the origin of their own question, so soon after, that Peter might by then have returned; and been informed of what had passed in his absence. St. Matthew is express (ch. xviii. 1) that the question was put on the very same day upon which the incident occurred with respect to the tribute money; and not long after the mission of Peter himself. The phrase, v insívy Ty ❀pg, èv èxeívy tỷ huipa, is among the number of his idioms; as the phrase, v aury rÿ wpa, èv avtỹ tÿ huépa, is among those of St. Luke. He is equally express that it was put by the disciples of their own accord. It is evident from more than one instance of the fact in the gospel history, that, neither when travelling from place to place, nor when stationary in the same house, did the disciples approach indiscriminately to the person of their Master. Hence upon one occasion, as they were going up to Jerusalem for the last time, we find it accordingly specified that, páушv αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ ἐθαμβοῦντο, καὶ AKоλoveоUTES ἐφοβοῦντο (ΜΚ. Σ. 32, § (77). Nor can we doubt that to this custom of the Master's always walking before, or at the head of the disciples-see also 2 Ki. ii. 3, 5-is to be traced the origin of that usual mode of designating the act of becoming a believer in, or a disciple of Christ, by following after him; and even of that highly mystical, though apposite and beautiful description of the relation between the Messiah and his true church, which takes up so much of the tenth chapter of St. John's Gospel; and in one of the most striking and characteristic of its circumstances, that of the Shepherd's walking to and fro at the head of his flock, and of the sheep's being taught to follow him, is derived from an actual fact in pastoral life among the Jews. The phrase, poonor of μantai, is consequently to be literally understood; as implying that they came to Jesus formally, and for the express resolution of their own doubt. 'Besides this, however, the very terms in which the question is couched, are an internal, and almost a convincing evidence, that something had passed before, omitted indeed by St. Matthew, but obviously such in possibility as would thus be supplied by St. Mark. Classical readers need not to be reminded of the difference between these two propositions, Tís μείζων ἐστὶν, and τίς ̓́ΑΡΑ μείζων ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ βασιλείᾳ Twv ouparav; nor English readers of the plain distinction between saying, Who is greatest, and Who, then, is greatest, in the kingdom of heaven? Both would imply the same doubt, and both would solicit its solution: but the latter would also imply that something must have preceded, known both to the interrogators and to the person addressed, such as might have suggested the question, which the other would not. The particle apa, in its proper inferential sense, is never useless, or without signification, either in the gospels or out of them; and the received translation having omitted it here altogether, is chargeable with an inaccuracy. If the disciples, having been previously questioned on a certain point by our Lord, without returning an answer, had subsequently resolved of their own accord to ask him about it; or if, without having been questioned concerning the point in dispute, yet knowing that he was aware of it, they had agreed to refer it to him: this is the very form of words with which they would be likely to approach him: Tell us, what then is the case-which then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? It is certain, however, from St. Mark's account, that no such reference as this could have voluntarily proceeded from the disciples, prior to any question of our Lord's: if it was made then at all-as it is equally clear from St. Matthew it must sometime have been made it must have been made after our Lord's question had been put; and consequently after what he did and said, when his question, though put, had met with no answer from them. And this point being once established, whatever account we may give of the origin of the subsequent question (which I think is sufficiently explained by supposing the return of Peter in the mean time, and his being made acquainted with what had passed in his absence), the entire distinctness of this part of St. Mark and of St. Luke, from any part of the eighteenth chapter of St. Matthew, follows as matter of course.'-Greswell, Vol. II. Diss. xxix. pp. 464.77. to Florus, was Publicius Malleolus, B.C. 102, for the murder of his mother. In like manner, spintriæ, and such as were guilty of unnatural enormities, were punished by drowning. Monstrous births, or children born with any unnatural deformity, were drowned at Rome. 'DROWNED IN THE DEPTH OF THE SEA.-Matt. xviii. 6, p. 76. 'Among the Greeks, sacrilege was punished by drowning; see Diod. Sic. xvi. 35. The first person so punished at Rome, was for an act of supposed impiety and profaneness; viz., M. Tullius, or M. Aquilius, in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus, because he had betrayed the secrets of the Sibylline books, committed to his care. For this he was sewed up in a sack, and thrown into the sea.... Probably because the Christians were considered &eo, profane, godless, in an eminent sense of the term; drowning with weights of lead, or with millstones about their necks, was the kind of death to which Christian martyrs were sometimes subjected. On the same principle, too, might many of the Jews have suffered, who were thus treated in the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes and Antiochus Eupator, 2 Macc. xii. 3, 4. 'Parricides or matricides in particular were always so punished at Rome: being sewn up in sacks, with a cock, a dog, an ape, and a viper, and cast into the sea. The first person who underwent this death for the crime in question, among the Romans, according VOL. 11.] The poet 'State prisoners were sometimes so executed in Persia. Augustus punished the pedagogi of his grandson, Caius Cæsar, and his other confidential attendants, for a breach of their trust, by hanging weights about their necks and drowning them. made drowning a military punishment. Avidius Cassius, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, for a satire on Ptolomey Philadelphus. Dio ChrySorades was enclosed in a vessel of lead, and drowned sostom tells us, it was the law at Thasus to cast into the sea any thing inanimate that had been the means of a person's death. The Galileans testified their hatred of Herod by drowning his partisans in the lake of Galilee.'-Greswell, On the Parables,' Vol. II. p. 322. THE WICKED SHALL NOT BE UNPUNISHED:-Prov. xi. 21. [81 HE THAT GETTETH WISDOM LOVETH HIS OWN SOUL: HE THAT KEEPETH UNDERSTANDING SHALL FIND GOOD.-Prov. xix. 8. PURE RELIGION AND UNDEFILED BEFORE GOD AND THE FATHER IS THIS, TO VISIT THE FATHERLESS SECTION 53.-(G. 15.)-[Lesson 50.]-THE DISCIPLES AGREE TO REFER THEIR DISPUTE TO JESUS; HE DISCOURSES TO THEM UPON THAT SUBJECT AS BEFORE: AND DELIVERS TWO PARABLES.-Matt. xviii. 1-35.-AT CAPERNAUM.* INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. Mt. xviii. 1-6. Christ's disciples must become like little children: the duty of receiving such, and the danger of causing them to stumble. 7-9. We must be willing to part with whatever would be likely to prove an occasion of stumbling to ourselves. 10. Jesus shews why his disciples should not offend one of these little ones. 1st. Because their angels do always behold the face of his Father. 2nd. Their redemption is so precious, that for this the Son of God came down from heaven. offence. 12-.4. The parable of the lost sheep. 1st. Endeavour to recover the erring brother, without exposing his fault to another. 2nd. Should he refuse to listen to thee alone, take two or three more. 3rd. If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church.' 4th. Should he refuse to take counsel from the church, let him be as one not in fellowship with thee. Mt. xviii. 18. Jesus again refers to the responsibility of his disciples in binding and loosing, inasmuch as what they upon earth do with regard to others, shall be done for themselves in heaven. The efficacy of united prayer. Where two or three are met in seven.' 19. 22. the name of Christ, He is in their midst. MATT. Xviii. 1-35. [Ch. xvii. 27, 2 lii. p. 73.] No. 53.-(G. 15.)-The disciples agree to refer their dispute to Jesus; he discourses to them upon the subject as before.-Matt. xviii. 1-13. Capernaum. 1 At the same time εν εκείνη τη ώρα came the disciples unto-Jesus, saying, Who τίς ἄρα 2 is the-greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called-a-little-child-unto him, 3 and-set him in the-midst of-them, and said, Verily I-say unto-you, Except ye-be-converted, and become as little-children, ye-shall-not-enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall-humble himself as this little-child, the-same is greatest in 5 the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall-receive one such little-child in en my 6 name receiveth me. But whoso shall-offend one of-these little-ones which believe in me, it-were-better for-him that a-millstone were-hanged about his neck, and that he-weredrowned in the depth of-the sea. 7 Woe unto-the world because-of offences! for it- must-needs-be avayкn yap eσTI thatWherefore if thy 8 offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! hand or thy foot offend thee, cut-them-off, and cast them from thee: it-is better forthee to-enter into life halt or maimed, rather-than having two hands or two feet to-be9 cast into everlasting fire το πυρ το αιώνιον. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck-it-out, and cast it from thee: it-is better for-thee to-enter into life with-one-eye, rather-than having two eyes to-be-cast into hell fire. 10 Take-heed that ye-despise kaтappоvnonтe not one of these little-ones; for I-say untoyou, That in heaven their angels do- always dia navтos -behold the face of-my Father 11 which is in heaven. For the Son of man is-come to-save that which-was-lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an-hundred sheep, and one of them be-gone-astray, dothhe- not -leave the ninety-and-nine, and-goeth into the mountains, und-seeketh that 13 which-is-gone-astray? And if so-be that-he-find it, verily I-say unto-you, he-rejoiceth SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. Mt. xviii. 10. despise not, &c.-so Rom. xiv. 1, Him that is weak in the faith receive ye,' &c. 3, Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth,' &c. 10, Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?'-1 Co. viii. 9, 'Take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.' angels, &c. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?' He. i. 14-see on Lu. i. 11, § 1, p. 3, &c. 11. come to save, &c.-so Lu. ix. 56, § 59, p. 136; xix. 10, $ 80, p. 248; Jno. iii. 17, § 12; x. 10, § 55. 12. seeketh that which is gone astray-This first of the two parables in the present discourse, is illustrative of the first advent of Christ, as the second NOTES. and Est. i. 14. [Mt. xviii. 10. Their angels. From this passage some| mitted to see them but such as are in especial favour. have inferred, that every faithful servant of Christ-Comp. Lu. i. 19, the angel Gabriel;' 1 Ki. x. 8, has an angel constantly attached to his person, to superintend, direct, and protect him. The doctrine of guardian angels has prevailed more or less in every age of the church, and is certainly countenanced by this and several other passages of holy writ. Behold the face, &c. i. e., Have access into the Divine presence. There is probably a reference in these words to the oriental custom by which monarchs are sequestered from the public view, and none ad Despise 11. For the Son of man is come, &c. The particle for in this verse introduces another reason to enforce the caution not to despise these little ones. not any fellow-Christians, however humble; for the Son of man came to save lost and ruined men, without exception or distinction. 12. Goeth into the mountains. Into the mountain pastures, which abounded in Judæa, and were chiefly PRACTICAL REFLECTION. Mt. xviii. 11. Let us not despise even those who in | of Him who came to seek and to save that which the estimation of men are lost. Let us be followers was lost,' Lu. xix. 10. 82] *On the first instance of dispute, &c., see § 52, p. 80, and for SCRIP. ILLUS., NOTES, and PRAC. REFLEC., on ver. 1-9, see pp. 74-.8. HONOUR ALL.-1 Pet. ii. 17. AND WIDOWS IN THEIR AFFLICTION, AND TO KEEP HIMSELF UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD.-Jas. i. 27. |