He answered and said unto them.Not without mourning over their ungodliness and folly, for St. Mark tells us (viii. 12) that "he sighed deeply in his spirit."-By his answer our blessed Lord reproves the ignorance and stupidity of unbelieving men with regard to spiritual things and the truths of religion, especially as contrasted with their shrewdness and intelligence in temporal matters. Men take pains to inform themselves about things in which they feel that their interest and happiness are concerned, and hence they become well skilled in them; and the reason why they know so little of religious truth is that they are not persuaded and sensible of its importance. Why is it that men of good common sense, men of learning, men of science, are often so unconcerned with regard to Christian truth and the interests of religion, why is it that they are often so ignorant, so ostentatiously ignorant, of Gospel facts? Is it that religion is really beneath their notice? No. It is that they have no love for the pursuit; no wish, no desire to be instructed in the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Can ye not discern the signs of the times? See Jer. viii. 7-9.-It is a good and profitable exercise, and a source of much practical wisdom, to compare the state of the world, and the dispensations of divine providence, with the declarations of God's will in his holy word. If the Jews, in our Saviour's time, had considered what was passing before their eyes, with due reference to the predictions of their own prophets, this would have become a means of leading them to a knowledge of the truth concerning the Messiahship of Jesus. A wicked and adulterous generation, &c.-See note on ch. xii. 38-40.— The sign demanded by curious, proud, and captious men was absolutely refused; but this refusal was accompanied with the promise of a miracle which should be abundantly sufficient for the conviction and comfort of men of humble and believing minds, while, at the same time, it would leave without excuse all those who should continue in unbelief. He left them and departed.-Christ forsakes those who in their hearts depart from him. The Gospel, as we have already seen, abounds with warnings of this kind. Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.-We must be on our guard against false doctrines and evil principles. They are very insidious and dangerous; and if we do not fortify our minds by a devout study of God's word, by watchfulness, and prayer, we may easily become a prey to the most mischievous delusions. O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves because ye have brought no bread?-One cause of the weakness of our faith is our forgetfulness of what God has already wrought on our behalf. We should remember and consider attentively what he has already done, if we would rightly trust Him for what he is yet to do. "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands." Ps. cxliii. 5. How is it that ye do not understand? -Surely this word of expostulation may well be addressed to us also, so far as we are deficient in spiritual knowledge and wisdom. Such want arises, not from any defect in divine teaching, but from our own carelessness and dulness. How great are the patience and goodness of God, who gives us line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, in order to instruct us in the things that belong unto our peace! Let us thankfully and wisely make use of this instruction while we have it. He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.False doctrine, and error in opinion or judgment in matters of religion, is not a matter of indifference. Our belief has great influence on our practice; and we are responsible for what we believe as well as for what we do. When God gives us means of ascertaining truth and avoiding error, it is as much our duty to do so as it is to perform what is good and depart from evil.— Doctrine is like leaven; it spreads through the soul, and imparts to it a certain quality. The doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.-Spiritual pride, hypocrisy, superstition and pretences of devotion, together with a desire of tyrannising over men's consciences, were the distinguish ing marks of the Pharisee ;-intellectual pride and worldly-mindedness, with scepticism veiled under an appearance of candour, were the peculiar sins of the Sadducee. "In our age, we may reckon atheism and deism to be the leaven of the Sadducees, and Popery to be the leaven of the Pharisees, against both which it concerns all Christians to stand upon their guard." And we should fortify ourselves against these evils, not only in their extremes, and their gross developements, but even in their more plausible and moderate forms. Pseudo-rationalism, or false philosophy, on the one hand, and ultra high-churchmanship, or blind deference to supposed authority and fabulous tradition, on the other, are the Scylla and Charybdis of our times. HYMN. God is a spirit, just and wise, He sees our inmost mind; In vain to heaven we raise our cries, And leave our souls behind. Nothing but truth before his throne Their lifted eyes salute the skies, Their bended knees the ground; But God abhors the sacrifice Where not the heart is found. Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways, WATTS. § LIV. CHAP. XVI. 13-20. The people's opinion of Christ, and Peter's confession of him. 13¶ When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am ? 14 And they said, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? disciples, that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. g Mark viii. 27. Luke ix. 18.-h ch xiv. 2. Luke ix. 7.8. 9.-i ch, xiv. 33. Mark viii. 29. Luke ix. 20. John vi. 69; & xi. 27. Acts vili 37; & ix. 20. 1 John iv. 15; & v. 5- Heb. i. 2. 5.-k Eph. ii. 8.-1 Cor. ii. 10. Gal. 1. 16.-m John i. 42.-n Eph. ii. 20. Rev. 21. 14-0 Job xxxviii. 17. Ps. ix. 13; & cvii. 18. 18. xxxviii. 10. p. ch. xviii. 18. John xx. 23. q ch. xvii. 9. Mark viii. 30. Luke ix. 21. Reader. Cæsarea Philippi, mentioned in v. 13, was a town in the northern part of Judea, anand Lais (Judg. xviii. 7) near mount ciently called Dan, (Gen. xiv. 14), Lebanon; it was called Cæsarea, in honour of the Roman emperor Tiberius Cæsar, and Cæsarea of Philip, because it was enlarged and beautified by Philip the tetrarch, son of Herod. The other Cæsarea 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, 'Thou art the Christ, was on the borders of the Mediterthe Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: *for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 'my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That "thou art Peter, and " upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not 0 prevail against it. ranean. From the fact stated in v. 14, that to be either John the Baptist, or our Lord was commonly supposed Elijah, or Jeremiah, we learn that the doctrine of the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls,—that is to say, the opinion that the souls of men at their death passed into ceived among the Jews in those days. other bodies, was very generally re I think it necessary to give you a minute explanation of v. 17, 18, 19; partly because those verses contain various allusions which perhaps you may not readily understand, and partly because they have been perverted and misinterpreted so as to appear to lend a sanction to some and to other hierarchichal pretensicorruptions of the Church of Rome, ons. I will make my remarks chiefly 20 'Then charged he his in the way of paraphrase upon our 19 "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. blessed Saviour's words. May He, by His Spirit, lead us into all truth, and preserve us from human errors, and from the superstitions of fallible churches! all the plots, stratagems, and machinations of the enemies of my church, and all their attacks and violent opposition, shall be unable to destroy or overthrow it ;-there shall always be a body of men believing in my name unto the end of the world.— And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,-i. e. I will give thee power and authority, by the Holy Spirit, to declare the doctrines, and to determine the government and order, of the church,-(an office which St. Peter and the other apostles discharged by their personal ministry during their life-time, and continue to discharge by means of their inspired writings);-and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,-i. e. all that you say and do, under divine sanction and guidance, shall be ratified,-whatsoever you declare to be forbidden shall be really unlawful, and whatsoever you declare to be permitted or required shall be lawful unto men, or even a matter of obligation and duty. In one word, you shall be an authoritative teacher of my church; my believing people shall receive the laws of my kingdom at your mouth. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona i.e. the son of Jonah (John iv. 42): for flesh and blood i. e. man hath not revealed it unto thee,-thou hast not attained this knowledge by the exercise of thy own wisdom or reason, or by any human instruction, but my Father which is in heaven, thou hast received it from above, by the operation of the Holy Spirit accompanying the dispensation of the Gospel; by the testimony which my Father has given concerning me, and has, through grace vouchsafed unto thee. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, the name which I have given thee is Cephas or Peter (John i. 42), which means a stone or rock,—and I declare unto thee, with reference to this name, and in further explanation of it, that upon this rock I will build my church,-i. e. as thou hast stood forward and made this confession which lies at the very foundation of the faith of the Gospel, I will grant unto thee the distinguishing honour of being the first to preach that Gospel with success to the Jews (See Acts ii.) and to the Gentiles (See Acts x.)-and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, i. e. all the craft and artifice of Satan and wicked spirits, which may be compared to the council of a city held in the gates, and all the power and assaults of opponents, like troops rush-ed reference to the name of Peter, ing forth from the gates of an ene- and the connection and tenor of our my's city or camp,-in one word, Lord's observations in this place, Some suppose that by "this rock" our Saviour meant the confession of faith which Peter had just made; and others think that He pointed to his own sacred person, inasmuch as He is indeed the chief corner-stone of the spiritual building. But the mark seem to compel us to understand the words in question as relating to the person of the apostle. Perhaps no other interpretation would ever have been given, if Romanists had not perverted and misapplied the passage with a view to prove their false assertion that St. Peter possessed authority over the other apostles, and that a successor in that pretended authority exists in the Bishop of Rome. The assertion and pretended derivation of such ecclesiastical authority is mere usurpation and imposture, from beginning to end; but why should we be reluctant to discover and admit the fact that the Lord Jesus was pleased to bestow upon St. Peter a peculiar honour, in token of his approbation of his plain and good confession? The honour given to this apostle on account of his profession was, in fact, bestowed upon that profession itself, -and is well adapted to mark its value and importance to the end of time. And it must be remembered that, although St. Peter was the first to preach successfully to Jews and Gentiles that great truth which he was the first to assert in reply to our Saviour's question, yet the other apostles afterwards were successful in the same employment, and some of them, probably, on a more extensive scale. Other apostles and prophets, in common with St. Peter, were "the foundation" on which the church was built; see Eph. ii. 10; Rev. xxi. 14. St. Peter had no authority over the rest of the apostles; See Matt. xviii. 18; xx. 26; Acts xv; Gal. ii. 11.-And it would seem that the reproof which was directed to that apostle almost immediately after this promise was given to him, recorded in this same chapter,—and his subsequent disgrace,-were designed at once as means of keeping him humble, and of warning the church against the falsehoods and tyranny which have marked the history of his pretended successors. The expressions, "to bind" and "to loose" were commonly understood by the Jews with reference to authoritative teaching in matters of religion: to bind signifies to forbid or declare unlawful; to loose means to permit, or declare lawful. Such was the authority given by Christ himself to his inspired apostles; but in this they have no successors. It is the duty of ministers of the Gospel, in our day, to proclaim the laws of the kingdom; but they have no authority either to enact or to annul them. Such authority belongs to Christ himself, originally; to the apostles, by delegation; to others, not at all. READER. Some say that thou art John the Baptist, &c.-How many and various were the opinions of men concerning Christ! How gross the mistakes into which some men fell respecting Him! And so it is to the present day. There is but one right view of Christ,-one true opinion concerning him and his glorious work; but how numerous, how diversified, are the sentiments of men on this great subject! Some say one thing, and some another. And yet all these various doctrines, except |