A.D. 27. d Mat. xv. 26; Pr. ix. 7, 8; xxiii. 9; Ac. xiii. 46. e Job xxviii. 18; Pr. viii. 11; iii. 15; xx. 15; xxxi. 10. f Jones. Dog, lit. the biting animal. Dutch, dog; Ger. dogge; docke; per. fr. Sans. dak, to bite. prayer. a Lu.xi. 9, 10; Ps. xxvii. 8; Pr. viii. 17; Mk. xi. 24; Ma. xxi. 22; He. 14; xv. 7; xvi. 23, 24; Ja. i. 5, 6; Ge. xxxii. 26; 1 Jo. v. 14, 15; He. iv. 16; Ja. v. 16— 18; Lu. xviii. 1; Jer. xxix. 13; Ja. xi. 6; Jo. xiv. 13, iv. 3; Ro. viii. 26, 27. b Port. Com. c Re. iii. 20. d Lange. e Spurgeon. III. The treatment they should receive. Even dogs and swine should be treated with pity (dogs improved by kindness). "It was customary with the ancient writers of Greece and Rome, and with the Eastern sages, to denote certain classes of men by animals of similar dispositions. Our Saviour adopted the same natural, concise, and energetic method. By dogs, which the Jews much detested, He meant men of odious character and violent temper; and by swine, the usual emblem of moral filth, the abandoned and profligate. His exhortation meant that, as the priests give not any of the sacrifice to dogs, so His disciples should not throw away their instruction on those who would blaspheme, nor their religious wisdom-more precious than rubies -on the impure, who would only deride them. 7, 8. ask... knock," "ask for what we wish; seek for what we miss; knock for that fr. wh. we feel ourselves shut out.”¿ Fundamental directions for prayer: ask, inquire; seek, search earnestly; knock, persevering importunity. receiveth fr. man, much more fr. God, and what is really good. knocketh, Christ knocks at door of our hearts bef. we knock at door of mercy, If we expect Him to open the second door, we must open the first. Characteristics of true prayer: 1. Genuine asking; 2. Earnest seeking; 3. Urgent knocking.d ask, and thus acknowledge that mercy is the gift of God; seek, and thus show your estimate of its worth; knock, and thus admit that the door is deservedly closed against you. "Good prayers," says an old divine, "never come weeping home. I am sure I shall receive either what I ask, or what I should ask."-"Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for acsian, ascian, to they pray so languidly; others give but an occasional pluck at the rope; but he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might." Ask, to seek an answer. A.-S. seek. human and divine compassion a Lu. xi. 13. b 1 Tim. v. 8. 9-11. man," with com. human affection. son, for whom he is bound to care. ask, confidently of a parent, being hungry. bread, a com. need. stone, mocking the prayer and the hunger; useless. serpent, wh. may be like a fish in appearance, but injurious. evil, ignorant, weak, selfish, sinful. good, even you, who are evil, know what is good. more, so much, that none can say how much. Father... heaven, who knows what you need; is able also, and willing. good things, wh. shall be Man, lit. the being good, though they appear evil. c Is. lix. 15; Ps. lxxxvi. 5; lxxiv. 11. d Lange. e Spurgeon. that thinks. A.-S. Love of an earthly father, a dim representation of the love of our Ger., Goth, man; Ice." madhr for heavenly Father—(1) Fr. its character; (2) Fr. confidence in His manur; Sans. disposition, which we cherish; (3) Fr. our experience of past тапи-тап, to benefits.d think. creep, akin to Gk. A king is sitting with his council deliberating on high affairs of state involving the destiny of nations, when suddenly he hears the sorrowful cry of his little child, who has fallen down, or been frightened by a wasp; he rises and runs to his relief, assuages his sorrows and relieves his fears. Is there anything unkingly here? Is it not most natural? Does it not even elevate the monarch in Children: "Livyour esteem? Why then do we think it dishonourable to the ing jewels dropped unstained fr. King of kings, our heavenly Father, to consider the small matters heaven." - Pollok. of His children? It is infinitely condescending, but is it not also to creep. superlatively natural that being a Father he should act as such? A.D. 27. 12. Therefore, summarising the cap. fr. ver. 1. things... summary of would, within the compass of reasonable desire and expectation. duty A double-edged precept (1) Do not expect fr. others more than you are willing to do for them. (2) Be willing to do all that you can in reason expect. law, written to enforce this.prophets, who laboured for this." Social morality. The golden rule.-I. Its normal principle is intelligible, reasonable, and wholesome. II. Its inculcation and enforcement are one of the chief ends of revelation.¿ a Ga. v. 14; Le. xix. 18; Tit. iii. 2; Ro. xiii. 10; Ma. xxii. 37, 39, 40; Is. i. 17; Zec. c Whitecross. During the retreat of Alfred the Great, at Athelney, in Somerset-vii. 9, 10. shire, after the defeat of his forces by the Danes, a beggar came b Thomas. to his little castle there, and requested alms; when his queen informed him that they had only one small loaf remaining, which was insufficient for themselves and their friends, who were gone abroad in quest of food, though with little hope of success, the bour is not one King replied, "Give the poor Christian one half of the loaf. He who does half-awho could feed the 5,000 men with five loaves and two small dozen great favours in as many fishes, can certainly make that half of the loaf suffice for more years; but the than our necessities." Accordingly, the poor man was relieved, and this noble act of charity was soon recompensed by a providential store of fresh provisions, with which his people returned.c 13, 14. strait, narrow [Lat. strictus]. The entrance of the temple of Mars is described by Chaucer as "Long and streyt, and gastly for to see." Wide enough for all penitence, too narrow for guilt. gate of heaven, eternal life. narrow, truth one, errors many." "At every step in life, there is but one right thing to do, and all beside is wrong." A difficult way to find and to walk. broad, easy and pleasant. few... find, because few seek; though narrow, there is room for many. doer of little every-day kindnesses."-Bruyere. narrow and broad way Re. xxi. 27; xx. 14. d Buckingham's Entrance into life difficult-I. From certain deterring peculiarities (1) gate is strait, (2) way is narrow, (3) finding of it difficult, (4) few companions. II. From attractions of other road, the opposite of former in each particular; marks of the true and false way: 1. Two gates; 2. Two conditions of entrance; 3. Two destinies. In each case only two.c "Close by the sarcophagus is a curious old mosque, with a hence in B. diffi large open centre and colonnades, or wings of three arches each, cult. Old Fr. eson each side. Some of the arches rest on square pillars of treit; It. stretto; masonry, and others on small circular columns of basalt. One of strictus, pa. p. of stringo. these pillars is formed wholly of one piece of stone, including Narrow, lit.near; pedestal, shaft, and capital; and near it is a curious double of little breadth. column, the pedestals of which are in one piece, the shafts each A.-S. nearo; fr. composed of two pieces, and the two capitals with their plinths neah, near. neara, comp. of all formed out of one block. These pillars are not large, and are Gate, a hole only distant from each other, as they stand, about a human span. pierced, passage, They are right opposite to the door of entrance into the mosque, gate, a way; Dan. and we were assured that it was a general belief among the Mohammedans, that whoever could pass through those pillars Dutch and Ice. unhurt was destined for heaven; and whoever could not might gat, a hole; Ice. prepare either to reduce his bulk, or expect a worse fate in hell," a gata, to perforate. or entrance. Scot. gade, а street; 15, 16. Beware, as you value your souls. false, yet pretend- false ing to be true; heretical. prophets, i.e. teachers; "blind teachers A.D. 27. a Lu. vi. 43, 44; Ma. xxiv. 4, 5; xxiii. 24; 1 Jo. iv. 1; Deu. xiii. 1-3; Pet. ii. 1-3; Col. ii. 8; Ro. xvi. 17, Jer. xxiii. 16; 1 18. b. Jo. x. 26, 27. c Bengel. e leaders of the blind." sheep's clothing, looking as if they Beware of false prophets.-I. Why? Because false. (1) De d Gen. xlix. 27; ceptive, (2) destructive. II. How known? (1) Their fruits, (2) their condemnation." Ps. xvii. 12 m. e Ac. xx. 28, 30. Gal. v. 22. g Pr. xxiii. 7. h Lange. Ravening. A.-S. refian; Ger. rauben, raffen; L. rapere. Gk. lukos; Sans. 66 A gentleman lately deceased, who was eminent in the literary f. Ma. iii. 8, 10; world, had his mind in early life deeply imbued with infidel sentiments. He and one of his companions of the same way of thinking, often carried on their conversation in the hearing of a religious, but illiterate countryman. This gentleman, having afterwards become a serious Christian, was concerned for the countryman, lest his faith in the Christian religion should have Wolf. A.-S. wu'f; been shaken by their remarks. One day he took the liberty to allied to L. lupus; ask him, whether what had so frequently been advanced in his vrika, a wolf. L. hearing, had not produced this effect upon him? 'By no means," vulpes, a fox; fr. answered the countryman; "it never made the least impression the cry. The com- upon me." "No impression on you!" said the gentleman;" why pus, once abun-you must know that we had read and thought on these things dant in Palestine, much more than you had an opportunity of doing." Oh, yes," is even yet seen said the other, "but your conversation plainly showed me that had never read nor thought much on your Bible; and, besides, ally. I knew also your manner of living; I knew that to maintain such a course of conduct, you found it necessary to renounce Christianity." mon wolf, C. lu there occasion trees and men known by fruit a Lu. vi. 45; 1Jo. iii. 10; Gal. v. 19 -23; Jas. iii. 17, 18; Ro. vi. 22. b Dr. Thomas. c Saturday Mag. you 66 17-20. good tree, or teacher or man. good fruit, as a matter of course." good.. cannot . . evil, yet good fruit exposed to evil influences. The best fruit oft. the prey of the every, without exception. A wicked man shall not be concealed fr. justice by a crowd of saints. hewn down, not for fruit's, but character's sake. shall know, this does contradict vs. 1, 2. worm. Underlying element of moral character.-Moral character is: "The morality of (a) man's only real property; (b) only measure of man's real an action de-worth; (c) only earthly product man will bear to another world; pends on the mo- (d) source whence springs lasting weal or woe. I. It is a vital act." "Our ac- source of action. II. It is either radically corrupt or good. our III. When corrupt, generally disguised. IV. When disguised, quences belong may, and should, be detected. tive fr. wh. we tions are own; their conse to Heaven.' speech, in "When the Sidonians were once going to choose a king, they Francis. "Action determined that their election should fall upon the man who hangs, as it were, should first see the sun on the following morning. All the candi'dissolved in dates, towards the hour of sunrise, eagerly looked towards the thoughts where- east, but one, to the astonishment of his countrymen, fixed of speech is the his eyes pertinaciously on the opposite side of the horizon, where shadow, and pre- he saw the reflection of the sun's rays before the orb itself was cipitates itself therefrom. The seen by those looking towards the east. The choice instantly fell kind of speech in on him who had seen the reflection of the sun; and by the same a man betokens reasoning, the influence of religion on the heart is frequently you will get fr. perceptible in the conduct, even before a person has made direct him."-Carlyle. profession of the principle by which he is actuated."c the kind of action and practice profession 21. every one, because only some do as well as say. saith, A.D. 27. saying is right, but doing must be added. shall enter, though he may foolishly hope to do so. doeth," deeds as well as words, fruit as well as leaves; but the leaves are needful to the tree. will. Father, and that not of slavish constraint; but of filial joy, finding a pleasure in doing it. "To Obedience the test," but not the ground of acceptance. call God our Lord, and yet not to honour Him by our works, is to condemn ourselves."d "The will of God, acc. to the Gospel, is to believe in Christ, and to lead a godly life."S 666 'Sir,' said the Duke of Wellington to an officer of engineers, who urged the impossibility of executing the directions he had received, I did not ask your opinion, I gave you my orders, and I expect them to be obeyed.' Such should be the obedience of every follower of Jesus. The words which He has spoken are our law, not our judgments or fancies. Even if death were in the way, it is 666 "Not ours to reason why- and, at our Master's bidding, advance through flood or flame."8 22, 23. many, vainly and presumptuously trusting in their profession and work. will say, with impudent effrontery. that day, of final and general judgment. prophesied," taught. works, bad men may do some good things fr. dif. motives, and then trust in their works. profess, openly declare. knew, approved as my disciples, and sent to teach. depart, those who depart from God here, shall depart, at last, for ever. work iniquity, because of selfish ends. "The grace of God, and not gifts, saves the soul." "To know the will of God and not to do it, involves double punishment; to receive great gifts and not to employ them rightly, involves greater responsibility in the day of judgment."d "William Wickham being appointed by King Edward to build a stately church, wrote in the windows, ' This work made William Wickham.' When charged by the king for assuming the honour of that work to himself as the author, whereas he was only the overseer, he answered that he meant not that he made the work, but that the work made him, having before been very poor, and then in great credit. Lord, when we read in Thy Word that we must work out our own salvation, Thy meaning is not that our salvation should be the effect of our work, but our work the evidence of our salvation." e a Lu. vi. 46; Mat. xxv. 11, 12: Jas. i. 22, 25; Ro. ii. 13; 1 Th. iv. 3; b Jo. xiv. 21, 23; 1 Jo. ii. 3, 5; v.3. c Jo. vi. 29; Mat. ix. 13. Jo. xiii. 17. 2 Cor. v. 15; Lu. x. 28; Quesnel. Ac. xvi. 31. 1 Jo. iii. 23; e Osiander. "Wicked men obey for fear, but the good for love."-Aristotle. Lu. vi. 47, 49. b Isa. xxviii. 1518; 2 Sam. xxii. 24, 25. sayings, "These words seem to bind together the house on a whole discourse, and exclude the idea that it is a collection of rock unconnected sayings." a heareth.. doeth, and who hears in a Conder. order that he may learn and do. liken, compare. rock,' having patiently dug down through the light surface to the solid rock. Hearers must dig down through the sound to the sense, 2; 1 Cor. x. 4. through the letter to the spirit, through the preaching to the c Ja. i. 12. practice. rain, fr. above; floods, fr. below; winds, fr. around. Heaviest rain-fall Trials fr. all quarters test the building, all. character. fell not, in the world is rather consolidated than weakened by these tests. Spiritual structures.-They shall be tried. (1) proved by experience: (2) even the kingdom of God, or inner E I. This is true: C 600 inches on which 500 fall in Kasia Hills, of 7 months. In A.D. 27. Oct. 1883, 10,000 houses in Canton were swept away by inundation caused by incessant rain.-Great inundation in Holland in 1530, 400,000 persons said to have perished. At away 24 villages, house on the life, has its tempests. II. Inferences: (1) many a false building has been swept away; (2) how careful should we be in rearing our own structure.d A young minister in Wales, coming on trial to a very exposed locality, had to sleep at a farmhouse on the highest point of land in the country. He retired to rest, when the wind blew a tempest, the rain beat upon the house heavily, and he feared it must fall. He could not rest; he rose, sat by the fire, and prepared for the worst. But it stood firm and unshaken. The morning came; the minister expressed his fears and felt very timid, and wondered how the farmer could sleep so securely exposed to such a storm. Oh," said the farmer, "I had no fear of the house falling, and you need not to have feared either, for it is founded upon a rock." Oh, what a mercy that the Rock of Ages is immovable! Happy the man whose hope is builded thereon. 26, 27. heareth. . not, to whom the words are mere sounds." foolish, imprudent, thoughtless; looking for immediate, rather a Ez. xxxiii. 30-than lasting results; fr. present shelter, not future comfort and 33; Is. xxix. 13. safety. house, The h. of the com. people gen. throughout the b Paxton, i. 200ff; E., and partic. in the mountainous and thinly-peopled parts of Stanley Sin. and Palestine and Arabia, are of three kinds: (1) framework of e Matt. xiii. 21, cf. branches covered with clay; (2) with walls made entirely of clay, thick and broad; (3) walls of mud-bricks dried in the sun, or d Lu. xviii. 11-slightly burnt. sand, light soil on edge of stream. fell, just when most needed, in time of trial. great, sudden, destructive, f Sunday at Naza- complete. reth. Pal. 480. Job xix. 28. 14; Majas. e Parker. C Hypocrisy bears to the world the aspect of a great building, but House, any thing it has no foundation, and will fall. "I. All men are building. for covering or II. All builders have a choice of foundations. III. All foundations will be tried. IV. Only one foundation will stand."e W. protection. Ger. haus-huten, L. casa, the protecting thing, a cottage; Heb. kasah, to cover. to cover; akin to A sudden but violent storm arose, and loud thunder echoed through the mountains. 66 The brow of the hill whereon their city (Nazareth) was built, was every moment gleaming as the lightning flashed. The rain fell in torrents; and in the course of an hour, a river flowed past the convent door, along what lately Rain, that wh. wets. was a dry and quiet street. In the darkness of the night we A.-S. regen; Ger. heard loud shrieks for help. The flood carried away baskets, logs regnan, to rain; of wood, tables, and fruit stands. At length, a general alarm was akin to L. rigo, given. Two houses, built on the sand, were undermined by the Gk.brecho, to wet. Sand, A.-S. and water, and both fell together, while the people in them escaped Ger.; Ice. sandr; with difficulty. It was impossible not to pity these poor houseless Gk. psammos, creatures, and, at the same time, to thank God we were in a prob. fr. psao, to secure building." rub. characteristics of Christ's teaching a Mk. i. 27; Ac. xiii. 12; Jo. vii. 46; Mat. xiii. 54; Mk. i. 22; Lu. iv. b Is. Ixi. 1. 32. 28, 29. astonished, unaccustomed to teaching so profound, spiritual, plain, familiar, searching. doctrine, teaching, inclusive of manner and matter. taught, did not play the orator merely. Instructed. authority," boldly, dogmatically, with great originality; no appeal fr. His statements. The great Teacher, and the truth. scribes, whose teaching was a mere traditional, conventional mode. Petty quibbling, and glosses on words, etc.; no bold attacks upon sin, or stimulations of godliness. Characteristics of Christ's teaching.-I. Those wh. cannot be imitated: (1) His originality; (2) His miraculousness; (3) His with any sudden authority. II. Those wh. must not be imitated: (1) His positive Astonish, to stun |