it that is Cæsar's?-1. Honour. 2. Obedience. 3. Tribute.-1. The civil government under which a man lives, and by which he is protected, demands his honour and reverence. 2. The laws, which are made for the suppression of evil doers and the maintenance of good order, which are calculated to promote the benefit of the whole, and the comfort of the individual, should be religiously obeyed. 3. The government, that charges itself with the support and defence of the whole, should have its unavoidable expenses, however great, repaid by the people in whose behalf they are incurred; therefore we should pay tribute. But remember, if Cæsar should intrude into the things of God, coin a new creed, or broach a new gospel, and affect to rule the conscience while he rules the state, in these things Cæsar is not to be obeyed; he is taking the things of God, and he must not get them. Give not therefore God's things to Cæsar, and give not Cæsar's things to God. That which belongs to the commonwealth should, on no account whatever, be devoted to religious uses; and let no man think that he has pleased God by giving that to charitable or religious uses which he has purloined from the state."

When they had heard these words they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. They had approached our Lord with great malice, and with no less art, propounding a very insidious and dangerous question, by answering which they expected that he would give them a ground of

accusation and complaint. The Divine Redeemer, who knew the hearts of all, exposed the hypocrisy and malice of these wicked men, and made it evident that he knew their evil and iniquitous designs.How completely were they covered with confusion by the answer they received! How disgraceful was their retreat from the Saviour's presence! Vice is a cowardly thing; it wants courage just because it has no ground of confidence in itself, or in other men, and still less in God. Against its will, it is often obliged to render public homage to godliness and virtue. And it is doomed to partake of infamy and disgrace at last.

In the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.-The unbelieving Sadducees, who denied the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the dead (Acts xxiii. 6, 8),-proposed what they regarded as a case of extreme difficulty in connection with the rejected doctrine. But it is evident that the difficulty lay, not in the doctrine itself, but in the addition which they chose to make or imagine,-viz. that it would involve a continuation of institutions which are in fact temporary and carnal. Even marriage, so far as it partakes of that fleeting and gross nature, will disappear. The children of God, who have lived together in the holy estate of matrimony in this world, if they recognize each other hereafter in the state of eternal blessedness, will rejoice together as kindred spirits of the just made

perfect, and as being united by a bond more close and more enduring than any earthly tie. The more fragile and imperfect relation will be superseded by the better and more indissoluble union which will then have been cemented.

As touching the resurrection of the dead.-How important is this article of our Christian faith! A right and firm belief of this leading truth will contribute greatly, under the Divine blessing, to our activity in God's service, - to our support under worldly trouble and calamity, -and to our comfort on the bed of death." If a man die shall he live again?" A devout study of Holy Scripture, and a sanctified knowledge of God and his almighty power, will conduct us to a right and satisfactory answer to this most interesting inquiry. If we err on this great and fundamental point, it is because we do not know the Scriptures and the power of God.Thanks be to him who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel!-God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. What a word of encouragement,-of warning,

and of consolation!

When the multitude heard this they were astonished at his doctrine. "God uses the infidelity of some for the edification of others. Had no false doctrine been broached in the world, we had not seen the full evidence of the true teaching. The opposition of deists and infidels has served to raise up men in behalf of the truth of God, who not only have

34 'But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

35 Then one of them, which was "a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy

mind.

Reader. We can find no difficulty in answering the question by which the Pharisees were confounded.We well know that the Messiah was

David's Lord, according to his Divine nature, although he was his son, or descendant, according to the flesh.-David in spirit, or by the

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

t Mark xii. 28-u Luke x. 25.- Deut. vi. 5;

the offspring of David." Rev. xxii. 16. May we say unto him, with deep humility and practical faith, as in the words of Thomas, "My Lord and my God!"

READER.-Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. God does not account or accept of any thing we can offer him, if we give not the heart with it; and he will have none of that neither, unless he have it all; and it is a poor all when we have given If one of us had the affection of a it for the great God to accept of. hundred, yea, of all the men in the world, yet he could not love God answerable to his full worth and goodness all the glorified spirits, angels, and men, that are or shall be in their perfection, loving him with the

altogether make up such love as he deserves; yet he is pleased to

utmost extent of their souls, do not

xix. 19. Mark xi. 31. Luke x. 27. Rom. xiii. 9. Gal.

v. 14. Jam. ii. 8.-z ch. vii. 12. 1 Tim. i. 5.-a Mark xii. 35. Luke xx. 41.-b Ecclus. li. 10.-c Psalm cx. 1.

have to bestow upon him. And

d Luke xiv. 6.-e Mark xii. 34. Luke xx. 40.

yet he will take it as a gift; "My son, give me thy heart."-Therefore the soul that begins to offer itself to him, although overwhelmed with the sense of its own unworthiness, and the meanness of its love, yet may say, Lord, I am ashamed of this gift I bring thee, yet because thou callest for it such as it is, here it is; the heart, and all the love I have, I offer unto thee, and had I ten thousand times more it should all be thine; as much as I can I love thee, and I desire to be able to love thee more; although I am unworthy to be admitted to love, yet thou art most worthy to be loved by me, and besides, thou dost allow, yea, commandest me to love thee: my loving of thee adds nothing to thee, but it makes me happy; and though it be true that the love and heart I offer thee is infinitely too little for thee, yet there is nothing besides thee enough for it. LEIGHTON.*

This quotation from Abp. Leighton, in its adaptation to this part of the sacred text, reminds me that I have hitherto given but a very limited accomplishment to a part of my original design,-to introduce into this Commentary a number of valuable passages from the works of our old and standard Divines. In

the course of my reading, I have admired and marked many such passages, combining great energy and beauty, and proofs of a solid judgment and large experience, with deep piety and profound scriptural research. Perhaps no greater service can be done to families and

individuals in the present day than by furnishing them with a collection of such extracts

in close and appropriate connection with Holy Scripture. A treasure of undoubted value, and rarely accessible to general readers, may thus be amassed. The favourable reception of my "Churchman's Companion, a Selection of passages from British Divines adapted to various portions of the Book of Common Prayer," has contributed to fix my determination of making such compilation a distinctive feature of the present work. Accordingly, it will henceforth be my aim to adapt some of the choicest passages of our British Divines to successive portions of the New Testament.

This is the first and great commandment.-It is so, in its antiquity, being as old as the world, and engraven originally on our very nature :—in dignity, as directly and immediately proceeding from and referring to God:-in excellence, being the commandment of the New Covenant, and the very spirit of the Divine adoption :-in justice, because it alone renders to God his due, prefers him before all things, and secures to him his proper rank in relation to them :-in sufficiency, being in itself capable of making men holy in this life, and happy in the other:-in fruitfulness, because it is the root of all commandments and the fulfilling of the Law :-in virtue and efficacy, because by this alone God reigns in the heart of man, and man is united to God:in extent, leaving nothing to the creature which it does not refer to the Creator:-in necessity, being absolutely indispensable :-in duration, being ever to be continued on earth, and never to be discontinued in heaven.

:

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The love of our neighbour springs from the love of God as its source; it is found in the love of God as its principle, pattern, and end; and the love of God is found in the love of our neighbour, as its effect, representation, and infallible mark. This love of our neighbour is a love of equity, charity, succour, and benevolence. We owe to our neighbour what we have a right to expect from him. "Do unto all 299

men as ye would they should do unto you," is a positive command of our blessed Saviour. By this rule, therefore, we should think, speak, and write, concerning every soul of man; putting the best construction upon all the words and actions of our neighbour that they can possibly bear. By this rule we are taught to bear with, love, and forgive him; to rejoice in his felicity, mourn in his adversity, desire and delight in his prosperity, and promote it to the utmost of our power; instruct his ignorance, help him in his weakness, and risk even our own life for his sake, and for the public good. In a word, we must do every thing in our power, under all possible varieties of circumstances, for our neighbours, which we would wish them to do for us, were our situations reversed.

This is the religion of Jesus. How happy would society be, were these two plain, rational precepts properly observed! Love ME, and love thy FELLOWS. Be unutterably happy in me, and be in perfect peace, unanimity, and love among your selves. Great Fountain and Dispenser of Love! fill thy creation with this sacred principle, for his sake who died for the salvation of mankind!-AD. CLARKE.

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name, through Christ our Lord.

Amen.-O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. LITURGY.

The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David calleth him My Lord for a double reason; by a spirit of prophecy, as foresceing his incarnation and nativity out of the tribe of Judah and stock of Jesse; and so he was David's son; and by a spirit of faith, as believing him to be his redeemer and salvation; and so he was David's Lord. "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son "-there we see his incarnation and descent from David; "and shall call his name Immanuel" God with us, Isa. vii. 14,-there we see his dominion

over

David. As man he was his as Mediator, he was his

son; Lord. As man, he was subject unto Mary his mother; as Mediator, he was the Lord and Saviour of his mother, Luke ii. 51; i. 46, 47. As man, he was made for a little while lower than the angels, that he might suffer death; but as Mediator, God and man in one person, he was made much better than the angels, all the angels of God were his subjects, to worship him, and his ministers, to wait upon him, Heb. ii. 7, 9; i. 4, 6, 7.