When our Lord was teaching in one of the synagogues in Perea, on the Sabbath day, he observed a woman, who for the space of eighteen years, had not been able to stand upright. A person labouring under so dreadful a disorder, could not fail of exciting the compassion of the benevolent Saviour of sinners, he beheld this affecting object of pity, and he removed her complaint; she came to the synagogue bowed down to the ground with an infirmity; returned to her house upright, being by the all-powerful Son of God restored to perfect health.

This benevolent action, which surely deserved the thanks of the whole congregation, so highly offended the master of the synagogue, that he openly testified his displeasure, and reproved the people, and represented them as Sabbath breakers, because they came that day to be healed: There are six days," said this surly self-conceited ruler to the people, in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day."

But our Lord soon silenced this self-conceited Pharisee, by observing that he had not deviated from their own avowed practice; they made no scruple of loosing their cattle, & leading them to the water on the Sabbathday, because the mercy of the action sufficiently justified them for performing it; and surely his action of loosing by a single word, a woman, a rational creature, a daughter of Abraham, who had been bound by an incurable distemper the tedious space of eighteen years was abundantly justified; nor could this bigotted ruler have thought otherwise had not his reason been blinded by his superstition. Such was the sentiment of the Son of God, who answered him with this severe rebuke, thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath, loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from her bond on the Sabbath-day? And when he had said these things all his adversaries were ashamed and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

From this instance we remark the evil effects of superstition, and bigotted attachment to custom and ceremonies, which have no foundation in reason nor the revealed will of God; these pernicious principles oppose the use of the faculties, root compassion out of the heart, and destroy the feelings of humanity.

Our Lord having silenced the proud ruler of the synagogue, and received the acclamations and applauses of the people, he reflected with pleasure on the truth, reason, and divine power from above, which supports his kingdom; and on this occasion, he repeated the parables of the grain f of mustard- seed, and the leaven, to shew the future success of the gospel, and the power and influence on the hearts and lives of men and it's rapid progress through the world, notwithstanding the opposition of the great men of the earth, and the fury of the unthinking multitude.

Our Lord having thus sown the seeds of the gospel in the country of Perea, he crossed Jordan, and proceeded by slow and short stages towards Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in every village, and publishing the gladtidings of salvation to the inhabitants of the countries he passed through.

While he was thus prosecuting the great work of instructing mankind, one of the persons who accompanied him, inquired, Lord, are there few that be saved. Probably the person who proposed this question had heard our Lord describe the success of the gospel, by the parable of the mustard seed, and the leaven; and had no further views of the kingdom of the Messiah, than the setting up a temporal dominion. These notions were entertained by the Jews in general, and induced them to conclude, that CHRIST hereby meant no more than a temporal salvation. JESUS, to convince this curious inquirer, and the rest of the Jews, that he had no intention to erect a secular kingdom, answered his question in a spiritual

manner, by which he gave the Jews to understand, that very few of them would be partakers of the honour and happiness of his kingdom; and he exorted them to use their utmost efforts to know the truth, and to become members of the church and heirs of glory, by improving the means which were offered them; for the time will soon come, he assured them, when the means which they now enjoyed would be taken away, and they would perceive their state to be finally and irrevocably determined, and then, however earnestly they might desire such opportunities as they now enjoyed, they should not be able to attain them: "Strive": said he, "to enter in at the straight gate; for many, I say unto you shall seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are." This sentence our Lord informed them would be final, and not to be altered by their most earnest expos tulations; Then," added our great Redeemer," shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drank in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaae, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the East, and from the West, and from the North, and from the South, and shall sit down at the right hand of God. And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."

Soon after our blessed Saviour had delivered these sentiments, some of the Pharisees thinking to intimidate him, and cause him to depart out of the country, came to him and pretended that Herod had a design against his life. It is not likely that Herod, who had suffered so much remorse on account of his having put John the Baptist to death, should so soon attempt the life of one whose works declared him to be a greater prophet; perhaps, that prince might wish JESUS to depart out of his territories, though he durst not use force against him; nor is it unlikely that the Phar isees were desirous of his departure out of the country, because his disciples tended to expose their hypocrisy, and lessen them in the opinion of the people. The answer which our great Redeemer made to this message is contained in the following words: "Go ye, and tell that Fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day, and to morrow, and the third day, I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I must walk to day, and to-morrow, and the day following; for it cannot be, that a prophet perish out of Je

rusalem."

Having returned this answer to the Pharisees, and considering the treat ment which the prophets had met with from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and well knowing the wickedness of that unbelieving city, and their de signs against his life, he pathetically lamented their obstinacy and perverse ness, and terrible desolation which would soon overtake them for their sins; O Jerusalem, Jerusalem" said he," which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gath ered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye would not Bebold your house is left unto you desolate; and ver ily I say unto you, Ye shall nat see me until the time come, when ye shalt say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

One of the chief Pharisees, soon after our Lord had made this pathetie exclamation, invited him to his house to take a repast; Jesus well knew that this invitation did not proceed from hearty good will; but as he nes ver shunned an opportunity of doing good, even to his most implacable enemies he thought fit to accept it. It was the Sabbath day and when he had entered the Pharisees house, a man was brought before him who was

diseased with a dropsy. The Pharisees well knew the benevolent dispo sition of our great Redeemer, and they thought so miserable an object would not fail of exeiting his compassion, and cause him to work a miracle on that day, which would give them an opportunity of accusing himt as a prophaner of the Sabbath.

JESUS who knew the secret thoughts of their hearts, asked the Pharisees, and Lawyers, whether it was "lawful to heal on the Sabbath day ?" But they refusing to give an answer to the question, our Lord laid his hands on the diseased person, and immediately his body was reduced to it's former dimensions and his health and strength returned. So kind, so salutary and benevolent, as well as wonderful an action, ought to have convinced the Pharisees, that the person who wrought it must be endowed with power from on high, as no less than the mighty power of God could produce such events; or if they could suppose that wicked agents had the power, that it is not the way in which they might be expected to exert it; but these hypocritical wretches, Instead of being persuaded that Jesus was from God, and exerted his miraculous powers for the good of mankind, were labouring to turn this miracle to his disadvantage. But our Lord soon put an end to their wicked designs, by proving, that according to their own allowed practice, he had done nothing but what was lawful: "Which of you," said he shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath-day? Our Lord's argument stood thus, If a misfortune happens to one of your beasts, you make no scruple of assisting it on the Sabbath, though the action be attended with considerable labour; and surely 1 may relieve a decendent of Abraham, when nothing more is required, than touching him with my hand. This reasoning was so strong, forcible, and conclusive, and, at the same time, so simple and easy, that the most illiterate of mankind, must see it's propriety and feel it's force, and the most prejudiced could not contradict it. This was manifest from the profound silence with which these remarks of our Lord were heard, and which continued after he had done speaking.— None of his adversaries, however inveterate their malice, or hot their re sentment, durst at this time appear against him, for they could not answer again to these things.

Before they sat down at meat, our blessed Saviour had an opportunity of remarking the pride of the Pharisees, which manifested itself by an anxious and eager desire to obtain the most honorable place at the table ; nor did he fail, on this occasion, to give them such a rebuke, as their ridiculous behaviour deserved. To make them sensible of their folly, our Lord called upon them to consider, that pride generally exposes the per son to frequent mortifications, and many affronts, while an humble deportment is a sure way to honour and respect: "When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding," said he, “sit not down in the highest room for lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him, come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thow begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship In the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Having directed his discourse to the Pharisees in general, our Lord turned to the master of the house, and said unto him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind limit not thy hospitality to the rich and great, but let the poor and needy be partakers of thy bounty: and thou shalt be blessed, added our Lord, for they cannot recompense thee; but thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just,

JESUS being surrounded by vast Multitudes of People, he adviseth those who are willing to be his Disciples. to examine beforehand their ResoTution in Case of Persecutions. The Pharisees murmur at CHRIST for receivinginners: He delivers the Parable of the lost Sheep, and. Piece of Silver; of the Prodigal Son, and of the unjust Steward, CHRIST reproveth the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who were covetous, and derided him and delivers the Parable of the rich Man and Laza rus the Beggar.

Do SAFTER our blessed Saviour had departed from the Pharisee's house, great multitudes of people thronged about him, to hear his doctrine, and to behold his wonderous works: but the people in general, mistook the chature of his kingdom; for it was the general expectation that he was going to establish the Messiah's throne in Jerusalem, and from thence to conquer all the nations, in the world, and render them tributary to his power.

Je As our Lord well knew that the people followed him with such expectations, he took the first opportunity to undeceive them, and to declare in the plainest terms that his kingdom was not of this world, and, of consequence, those who followed him for temporal advantage, would be sure to find themselves mistaken; for, on the contrary, his disciples must expect to be persecuted from city to city, and hated of all men for his name's sake. And he further observed, that it was necessary for all who would

Մ

be his true followers, to prefer his service to the riches, grandeur, and pleg sures of this world, and to manifest by their conduct, that they had a greater value for him, than for the dearest objects of their affections: "If any man come to me," said he, "and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be by disciple.”

And to shew the folly of expecting to partake of the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom, while they preferred their worldly attachments to our great Redeemer, he compared the case of such persons to that of an unthinking builder, and of a rash and forward warrior: the former was obliged to leave his structure unfinished because he had foolishly begun the building before he had computed the cost; and the latter reduced to the disgrace either of being shamefully defeated, or meanly suing for peace, because he had rashly declared war before he had compared his own strength with that of the enemy:" So likewise," added our great Redeemer, "whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

The fame of the miracles, which JESUS daily wrought, and the divine discourses which be delivered being spread in the most obscure and unpolite parts of the country, several persons of infamous lives and abandoned characters came amongst the crowds which pressed to hear him. These persons, conscious of their unworthiness, approached our great Redeemer with the highest reverence, and heard him with the most respectful and steady attention. This opportunity was readily embraced by the great Saviour of sinners, who far from upbraiding them with them former wickedness, or spurning them from him with contempt, kindly condescended to instruct them in those things which concerned their everlasting peace, and not only taught them in the fields, but went with them to their houses, and kindly condescended to teach them the nature of his kingdom, and lead them in the way of eternal life and happiness:

This condescending goodness in our great Redeemer was highly offensive to the proud, self-conceited, self-righteous Pharisees; they wanted to be accepted on the footing of their own worthiness, and could not bear the thoughts of the infinite mercy of God, manifested to the greatest of sinners; and, therefore, with hearts full of envious pride, they advanced it as a ground of reproach against our great Redeemer, that this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. Their pride could not bear the thought, that these persons whom they so much despised, should be looked upon by our Saviour with more kindness than themselves, and they thought bis condescension unworthy the character of a prophet. They had no other views of divine acceptance, than such as had an immediate reference to the law; and the infinite mercy of God to sinners, manifested in the gos pel of his Son, was what they could not understand; our great Redeemer, therefore, to convinced them of their ignorance, to check their abominable pride and self-sufficiency, to display the extensive and abundant merey of God to sinful men, and to vindicate his own conduct in conversing with the meanest and most contemptible persons, proposed three parables to their consideration.

The first of these parables was that of the lost sheep, which the Divine Instructor delivered in the following words: " What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost" Thus, by the natural turn of the human! mind, which is restless and neasy under the mortification of losing part of it's property, and fixes