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But if we be wanting in these, if our inward parts are full of ravening and wickedness, while with a formal Pharisaism we make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, then shall we not merely bring a scandal upon the holy religion which we profess, but become subjects of that fearful wrath and condemnation which was denounced in a series of woes against the hypocrites of former days.

The maHgnity of these wretched men is painfully exhibited at the close of the chapter. Scarcely less than satanic seems that miserable pleasure which they experienced in urging and provoking the Holy Jesus to utter His condemnations, in order to lead Him into an indiscreet expression that they might find a ground for some legal accusation against Him. How fearful a lesson does this read to those placed in posts of instruction, when our Lord records of the teachers of that day, that they had " taken away the key of knowledge;" and how solemnly should the warning sink into the heart of every head of a family and master of a household, lest by not living up to the knowledge they possess, and the responsibilities God has laid upon them, they prevent some of those intrusted to their guidance from attaining theii" promised inheritance of the kingdom of Heaven.

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March 1— June 29— October 26.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 12.

A RENEWED warning against hypocrisy greets us at the commencement of this chapter. The evil genius of the world, under the guise of Pharisaic assumption of holiness as an external cloke, is rebuked by the solemn assurance that the day will come, when men's motives will be made as bare as their actions, and the privacy of the closet be made as public as though its mysteries had" been proclaimed by a herald.

And following upon the revelation of God's omniscience, the Saviour enjoins the duty of reverential fear upon man. He raises a fresh protest against undue fear of his fellow sinner, while He impresses upon His hearers the omniscience of the Father and the certainty of retribution for sin.

It might look like a contradiction to assert in one verse the assurance of condemnation against him that denied the Son of Man, and in the next forgiveness of those that spoke against Him, but condemnation against him who blasphemed the Holy Ghost; did we not bear in mind that the whole object of the teaching of the Scriptures is to make us regard the Son and the Holy Ghost as inseparably One. It must indeed have been an awful and mysterious instruction that was at this time laid before the Apostles. The Holy Ghost was not yet given to them, because that Jesus was not yet glorified; but they were led by the teaching now set before them to recognize both His dignity and power; while they were taught in the first instance, that an ofience against Him could not be forgiven, and in the second that He was to teach them aU wisdom.

In our Lord's reply to the dissatisfied brother, we are led to know the folly and vanity of setting our afiections on (111) March \—June 29] FAMILY RKAI>IX08. [October 2^

this world's goods, as well as to observe the bounty of God to all His creatures. He who provideth so liberally for the mere embellishments of creation, will never withhold what is right and needful from those who were created in His own image and likeness.

In receiving the injunction to seek the kingdom of God and to be ready for the coming of His Son, the Apostles seem to have apprehended that it was intended peculiarly for themselves. The Lord's reply to Peter informs us that it was intended for all, and that wherever knowledge was imparted it was accompanied by responsibility. No one can receive instruction without being either the better or the worse for it. Receiving it to his profit, he is improved

and benefited. Receiving it heedlessly, he is liable to punishment for the rejection of a means of improvement.

When we read at the close of the chapter our Lord's question as to whether He came to send peace on earth, we are tempted to ask whether it can be possible that division could ever be an evidence of Christian love. The question seems to be answered by another part of our Lord's teaching. " It must needs be that oflFences come, but woe unto him by whom the oflTence cometh." It is not that the exercise of Christian love, or the teaching of Christian truth, can ever of itself generate division: but wherever the one is exercised or the other taught, there the agents of Satan will raise an opposition to it.

When families are divided because of Christ's word, it is a proof that Satan has sown the tares to grow up in the same field with the wheat. In such case, we must not rudely attempt by an act of coercion to separate the one from the other—both must grow together until the harvest: but the children of the kingdom will pursue their course in faith and patience, while the children of the wicked one, by violence and evil, will give token of the Master whose work they do, (112) March 2-^iify I] FAMILY READINGS. [OeUtber ^

March 2— July 1— October 27.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 13.

The death of the Galileans under the onslaught of Pilate, and of those who suffered under the apparent accident of the fall of the Tower of Siloam, is used by our Lord to enforce the absolute necessity of repentance on each individual soul. There is perhaps a deficiency in our language, which fails to express the full idea of Repentance, in the word used to signify it. The original language of the New Testament, conveys this much more clearly. It impUes an entire change in the tone of mind; an idea that our National Chui'ch has sought to realize in the instruction prepared for her youthful members, wherein repentance is defined as that *'whereby we forsake sin." Solemn, then, should be the scrutiny with which we should examine our own hearts, when we remember, that if we have not been made partakers of this repentance, this grace '^whereby we forsake sin," we too, like the sufferers of old, shall likewise perish!

The parable of the fruitless fig-tree is commonly used as an argument of terror, to alarm the ungodly mind into a sense of its awful danger.

It would seem however to be more fitly applicable as an argument of hope to the mind newly convinced of ungodliness. To such a one (and instances of such are to be found in almost every family) led by a new conviction of sin to a state of fear, it would seem to ask the question, '^Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance .^" With some of us, perhaps, thegreat proprietor hath hitherto looked for fruit in vain : for some of us, perhaps, the eternal Mediator is even

now saying," Lord, let it alone this year also." May the thought (113) I jtfarcA3—JWi^2] FIMILT READINGS. [October^

be blessed to us! May we be led by it to strire more earnestly in the strength of His grace^ and in gratitude for His mediation, to devote our coming years to bring forth fruit to His glory!

The defence of our Lord of His good deed on the Sabbath-day is so clear, that it must commend itself to every mind, while the instruction that follows it, is calculated to teach truths that must have been as new as important to those who first heard them. Their importance remains to us, though their novelty has passed away. We too must learn to look for the gradual diffusion of truth, to leaven, by its hidden working, the mass of human kind. We too must strive, under a blessed sense of our Master's call, to enter in at the strait gate. We too must rest upon God's pardoning love and fireely-bestowed grace; and not, like the Jews, on inherited privileges and outward profession, for "the hope that is in us" of sitting down in the kingdom of God I

May impenitent Jerusalem be a warning to us! May we, not only as individuals, but as a Church and Nation, wait in patience, faith, and obedience, for the yet future advent of our Head; and then may we unitedly have grace to raise our voices in the joyous song, " Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord."

March 3— ^July 2— October 28.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 14.

The' opening of this chapter renews the argument used in the preceding,whereby the Lord showed that "it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day." This being addressed to our higher affections, commands at once our reverential assent:

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but the argument in the following verses, whereby a profession of humiUty is recommended with a view to future exaltation^ might seem to encourage a servile expediency, or formal hypocrisy, which is utterly at variance with our Saviour's general teaching. Now, the solution of this apparent inconsistency would seem to be found in the fact, that the Lord was conveying a truth under the form of an analogy. True, such deference as was recommended might, by low-minded men, be paid as a matter of form, or used as a cloke for hypocrisy. Like every act of will, it might be perverted, or unworthily

exercised. But the humility recommended by the Lord Christ was not to be formal, but real; not the cringing servility of the body, but the hearty devotion of the soul and mind. Let this dedication of self be unreservedly made to the service of God, and so surely as their experience taught them that a modest deference paved the way to exaltation, and added a grace to distinction ; just so surely would their future state witness to Jehovah's recognition of the devotion paid to Him, and testify to the eternal truth that '' he that humbleth himself shall be exalted!"

And as if the idea of reward were not to be excluded, but rather elevated to its true position by the Gospel, the following verses seem to corroborate the ideas now laid down. Self-denying beneficence is to be exercised under the hope of glorious and eternal recompense.

He that looks to earthly reward looks to man ; but he that looks to heavenly recompense looks to God. And this looking away firom earth, this setting the affections on things above, is the whole scope of Christ's teaching. It realizes to immortal man the walking by faith and not by sight; it makes him feel the dignity and blessedness of being an heir of immortality; it quickens him in his christian race, by setting before him in living truth the (115) 12

March H-^mbi 2] yAMILT READINGS. [October 28

prize of his high calling in Christ Jesus. Apart from this ennobling feeling, man, the redeemed sinner, may indeed be an obedient slate; but knows not, and cannot know, the exalting reality of being a Son of God by adoption.

Were this holy truth more deeply and more generally felt, we should not find so rife in the present day the same worldly, excuses for rejecting the Gospel which were urged of old. But the lower tendencies of man's nature prevail now as then. The merchandise, the farm, yea, even the social and domestic affections, are used as snares of Satan to lure the soul firom its eternal home. Earthly prosperity and the shadows of time are substituted in man's mind for the enduring realities of heavenly bliss; and Satan occupies with tares the ground fitted for the reception of the good seed of the Word

of God. Nevertheless, God's word cannot return unto him void. The Jews rejected the Gospel, which, though it began at Jerusalem, scarce ended with barbarian, Scythian, bond, or free. The men that were bidden refused the feast; but the streets and the lanes, the highways and hedges provided guests to enjoy it. Let us then consider. This feast is open to us, but the requisites for its reception (as we learn from the close of the chapter) are self-denial, renunciation of the world, and a faithful bearing of our Master's cross. Let us count the cost in taking up this holy badge; but, once assumed, let us remember that it involves not a temporal but an eternal fidelity. The unfruitful fig-tree will be cut down: the unfaithful servant cast into outer darkness: all things that offend and do iniquity will be cast out of the kingdom; but the good and faithful servant, who shows forth his Master's life in his actions, shall enter into that glorious presence where is fulness of joy and life for evermore!

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March 4^-Jufy S] FAMILY READINGS. [Octofrer 29

March 4— July 3— October 29.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 15.

The contrast so often drawn between the Pharisee and the Publican seems to amount to this, that the one was a secret sinner, the other an open one: while the manner in which the contrast is brought forward by our Lord, implies that there is more hope of the conversion of the latter, than of the former.

The murmuring of the Pharisees and Scribes, at the Saviour's reception of those whom theydeemed a degraded class, should warn us against indulging a spirit of exclusion. Their conduct, as set before us in the opening of this chapter, exhibits another phase of that strife constantly going on betwixt Selfishness and Love. Selfishness, the

agent of Satan, repels ; Love, the representative of God, attracts ; Selfishness divides into many ; Love gathers together into one.

The whole of this chapter is devoted to the illustration of this principle. The parable of the lost sheep; of the piece of silver; and of the prodigal son; are alike intended to realize in us a sense of Divine Love, and to bring out in us that grateful aflfection, which teacheth us to " love Him who hath first loved us."

The distinction between the sinner that repenteth, and the ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance, may perhaps need explanation to some who know not how to reconcile it with the fact, that *^ all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Repentance, (whereby we forsake sin) which some perhaps would understand better if the term Conversion were used, is necessary to each. They wha have experienced this repentance, or, like the youthful Timothy^ (117)

jlforcA 4-^11^ 8] FAMILY READINGS. [October 29

have from a child known the Holy Scriptures^ and walked as they who are wise unto salvation^ may be spoken of as ^'just/' compared with those who have never yet turned from the vanities of earth, to serve in a spirit of faithful devotion the living and the true God : and though daily sins and shortcomings may keep up in these a sense of humiliation, which makes them abhor themselves and repent in dust and ashes, yet, having their minds subordinated to the spirit of grace and truth, and under the leading of divine love, having abjured Satan and forsaken sin, they need not that repentance, or conversion, which is absolutely necessary to save the un-awakened soul from perishing.

This doctrine seems farther and more powerfrdly illustrated in the beautifrd parable of the repentant prodigal, which is contained in the conclusion of the chapter. The Son who did the will of his Father, and was certainly *'just," as compared with his prodigal brother, was yet not free from Bin, when, in a spirit of jealousy and anger, he refused to sympathize with his father's love on the recovery of the lost and the spiritually dead.

May we not also leam additional lessons from this interesting parable ? May we not be led from the consideration of the sons of the man to that of the children of the covenant? Does not the jealousy even of the "just" teach us to feel that the sin of exclusion and selfishness clings to the regenerate ? And may we not anticipate a renewal of the jealousy, exhibited by the Jew, when the grace of God was freely offered to the Gentile, as likely to be repeated by the Gentile Church, on the future restoration of repentant Israel ? The just son was angry, and would not go in, when his erring brother was received home with joy. The son of Abi^aham was angry and would not go in, when he heard that the partition-wall between (lis; March S^-Jufy 4] FAMILY READINGS. [October 20

himself and the Gentile was broken down^ and that the love of a forgiving Father was extended to his despised brother^ so long dead in trespasses and sins. Will not the same exclusive-ness be manifested—^yea, is it not even now traceable—^in the Gentile Charch» when the song of hopeful joy is raised to welcome to the homestead of Christ our long-erring brother of the family of Abraham ?

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March 6 — July 4— October 30.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 16.

The lesson intended to be conveyed by this chapter seems capable of being summed up in the single word. Stewardship.

The opening portion sets forth the parable of the unjust steward, whose worldly wisdom was commended as beins: an example to those who, with higher objects in view, yet took not equal pains to obtain the ends they professed to desire. It was not intended to commend injustice; but to exhibit the greater prudence, forethought, and caution of the children of thia world in worldly relations, than of the sons of God and heirs of immortality in their eternal relations.

The middle part ^ of the chapter rebukes the Pharisees, who were hypocritical stewards: who professed' externally to serve Almighty God, but in their hearts were devoted to Mammon.

The concluding part sets forth the instance of Dives, as of one who denied the fact of stewardship altogether^who lavished on personal and present indulgences those gifts of GrOD, which had been committed to him for-the nobler pur-(119) March 5—Jiikf 4] FAMILY READINGS. [October 20

pose of devoting them to his Maker's glory^ and promoting the advantage of his fellow-men.

Thus, then, one and the same lesson is taught us in three different ways. We are stewards for God. It is laid down as one of the axioms of the self-denying Gospel of Christ, that whatever we possess is not our own, but held in trust for God. The Eternal Father, as Creator, is also imiversal proprietor of the world and all that it contains: the Bedeeming Son, as Saviour, is Lord of the dead and the living, and has a right over the souls and bodies of men, as having redeemed them (bought them back from Satan) by His precious blood: the Sanctifying Spirit, as Lord and giver of life, has a right to the life that He has given, the souls He has regenerated.

Our stewardship then affects ourselves and our possessions. Are we unjust in its exercise ? Let us take a warning from the unjust steward, lest the "houses" we seek for ourselves prove without foundations, and not the " building of God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." If we are not faithfril in the unrighteous mammon of this world, GoD will never commit to our trust the true riches of His eternal kingdom.

Are we hypocritical in its exercise? Let us take warning from the covetous Pharisees, who, though highly esteemed among men, were abomination in the sight of God.

Do we deny the fact of its existence ? Do we live as though we were our own and not bought with a price ? Let us take warning from the godless Dives, whose luxuries on earth were fearftilly paralleled by the sufferings of hell, and whose torment was aggravated by the awfril apprehension that they whom he loved, but whom he had failed to influence for good, might be made partakers of those dreadful

agonies under which he was writhing, (lao)

March 6^-Jufy 5] FAMILY READINGS. [October 3\ A wholesome warning may also be deduced from the last two verses of the chapter, containing the condemned suflFerer's final appeal and Abraham's final reply. The law came by Moses, and Dives was condemned for not receiving it: the Prophets sang of a salvation not yet revealed, and Dives was condemned for not giving heed to that whereof they spake. But grace and truth have come by Jesus Christ: the knowledge of salvation has been freely offered to all men (and to us among them) in His Gospel: and how much sorer punishment; shall not we deserve, if we turn a deaf ear, and obey not the teaching of Him, who has done for us .that for which Dives pleaded in vain on behalf of his brethren,—who has risen from the dead to call us to repentance ?

March 6— July 6 — October 31.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 17.

The commencement of this chapter seems to refer to the instruction contained in the last. The responsibility laid upon us, is not merely to be recognized for our own sake. That which we do has an effect upon others, as well as an influence on our own moral being. Selfishness, against which we are so often warned, is a rock of offence and a stone of stumbling, which we place in the way of others. Wherever this is indulged, it causes offence to come, and brings down a woe upon us, through whom the offence cometh.

The observations made by our Lord, in reply to the

Apostle's petition for an increase of faith, teach us the close and intimate connexion that exists between faith and duty.

The greater our faith is, the more clearly shall we perceive (121) JforcA 6—Jii^ 5] FAMILY READINGS. [Oefofref 31

oar constant deficiencies. The duty that we owe to our Creator^

Redeemer^ and Sanctifier^ ought to lead us to perfect obedience; and the conviction that each must have on severe self-scrutiny^ that his obedience is not perfect, should keep him humble in the midst of his exalted privileges. If he that hctd done all that was commanded him^ was bound still to acknowledge himself an unprofitable servant^ where is any ground for boasting to be found amongst us, who have not done all that has been commanded us ?

The history of the cleansing the ten lepers is recorded only by, St.

Luke. The law of leprosy is laid down in full in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Leviticus, whence it appears, that all who were afflicted with that loathsome disease were separated from their brethren, obliged to dwell alone, and without the camp, and in a dress which betokened their humiliation, to pronounce themselves unclean. Of the ten cleansed by our Lord in the chapter before us, only one, and he an sHen, returned after his cleansing to give glory to God. This would seem to teach us, that a mere partial or imperfect faith is insufficient to enable man to receive the fuU revelation of God. He must have a full, reasonable, and holy faith, if he would walk by it, and not by sight. The nine would seem to have had faith enough to be cleansed, but only the one to have had gratitude enough to walk by faith.

The distinction thus drawn, and apparently intended by our Saviour's teaching should lead us to examine into the quality and amoimt of that faith we possess; and to scrutinize whether it be the dead faith, that produces.only a form of olbedience, or that living principle which, beyond obedience, exhibits a grateful alBfection to the person of Christ. Assuredly the record should teach us to echo the Apostles' petition

to our Saviour, " Lord, increase our faith." The latter half of (122) JlforcA 7—Jui^ 6] FAMILY READINGS. [November 2

the chapter is fraught with warnings and encouragements to watchfulness. The floods the destruction of the cities of the plain^

the judgment on the half-saved wife of Lot, are all pointed out, as lessons to the disciple of Christ, to hold himself in constant preparation for the final advent of the Son of Man. Type and anti-type were probably mingled together, in the prophetic teaching of our Lord. The destruction of the Jewish City, and the abolition of their National polity in that generation, seem used as representations of the more aw^ consummation, when the earth, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up, and all that remains of mortality be consumed; when the heavens shrivel together as a parched scroll.

But as surely as the Roman eagles gathered together, to prey upon the spoil of the Jewish Nation, so surely will the more awful ministers of GoD'sjustice,His angelic hosts, execute His sentence of condemnation upon a sin-defiled world, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with His mighty Angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our-Lord Jesus Christ.

March 7— July 6— November 2.

ST. LTJKE, Chap. 18.

The argument by which our blessed Lord encourages to earnest and continued prayer^ may perhaps be misapprehended by the cursory reader of Scripture. Even an un/iist judge, saith he, listens to the importunate supplications of one that will not be denied. Much more shall the righteous

Judge of all the earth hear and answer the prayers of His (128) . > Jlfarcft 7—Jv^ 6] FAMILY READINGS. [NoveMber 2

saints^ even though for the purpose of fulfilling designs beyond their comprehension, that answer be for a time delayed.

In the instrucdye parable of the Pharisee and Publican we are commonly ready enough to condemn the arrogance of the one, and to acknowledge the true humiliation of the other; but we do not commonly perceive how generally the same fault is committed now which was censured by our Lord. Such a one as the Pharisee is described, would not only gain his own respect but the respect of all the world in the present day. His fasting would be coupled with self-denial, his tithe-offerings with liberality, his justice and morality with benevolence and religion. And yet, such a one, claiming and receiving all this public respect, would be in a worse condition before God than an acknowledged sinner, to whom the grace of penitence had been vouchsafed. Surely this is calculated to bring an awakening thought to every breast. '* The Publican went down to his house justified rather than the Pharisee." Let us then ask of ourselves, what is the ground of ot^r justification? Are we still resting our hopes upon an external obedience, or have we been made partakers of that repentance, which causes joy in the presence of the angels of God?

Are we bmlding a vain expectation upon the sandy foundation of our own works, or are we in holy faith built into Christ as the Lord our righteousness ?

It was against this idea of earning life by meritorious service, that our Lord protested in his conversation with the wealthy ruler. He convicted him by his discourse of want of faith in God; and that want poisoned the root of aU the actions he deemed so meritorious.

Yet, though no man could work out his own salvation, or claim by right the inheritance of eternal life, there is in (124) MarchS—JvfyT] FAMILY READINGS. [November S

our Lord's reply to Peter a blessed assurance of reward to faithful and loving obedience. All who follow Christ, forsaking all for His sake, may look for this reward; not indeed as achieved by themselves, but as pledges to them of free grace by Almighty God for His dear Son's sake, whose they are and whom they serve.

In this, as in the preceding chapter, our Lord foretold His coming death. Their want of apprehension of the truth of what He revealed, seems to have arisen from their inability to reconcile what He said with their views of that temporal, kingdom, which they supposed Him about to establish. Much as they had seen and heard, they were still in a state of darkness as to the spiritual character of the kingdom of Christ: and possibly, it was with a view of teaching them their own blindness, and the necessity of His power to remove it, that He wrought that miracle of restoration of sight to the blind, whereby he, who had hitherto walked in blindness, was blest with the light of this world, as well as enabled in heart to recognise the glories of the Sun of Kighteousness.

March 8— ^July 7— November 3.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 19.

Wb are taught by our Lord in this chapter to lose no opportunity of doing good. His general object of preaching the Gospel to the poor was not lost sight of, while He found means by the way to preach it to one who was rich. Poor, however, in one sense, the wealthy Publican was, for he was among those lost sheep of the house of Israel, whom the Son of Man came to seek and to save. The expression used (125) AfarcA S-Jii^ 7J FAMILY RBADINOS. [November S

to explain Zaccheus' curiosity is somewhat peculiar: '^he sought to see Jesus^ who he was." It was evident from this that he was not thoroughly prepared to recognize in Him the Anointed of God, at the same time that he was prepared to regard Him with a certain amount of reverence and respect. This seems to indicate a frame of mind very common amongst ourselves. We hear of the wondrous history, the miraculous power, and the infinite love of Jesus, and we are ready to

yield Him the respect due to an extraordinary and marvellous being, at the same time that we have not yet realised to our minds " who He is," nor acknowledged Him as the Son of God, as our Redeemer from sin, as our Guide to glory, yea^ as Him in whom our everlasting life is hid.

Let not the history of Zaccheus be lost upon us: let us, like him, go out of our way to find a place where we may more fully acquaint ourselves who this Jesus is, and we, too, may be blessed with the gracious knowledge, that salvation is come to our house, for so much as we also are children of the covenant.

In the parable of the ten pieces of money, which is given more frdly than the similar one recorded by St.

Matthew, and which seems to have reference to the manner in which Herod, Archelaus, and other princes went to Rome, to receive their title from Caesar, we are taught beyond the lessons of watchfrdness and diligence, that of a patient labour for God's glory. It is observable in this, bs in other ca^es, that Christ does not shun to declare the right He possesses over our labour, as well as over our property. Whatever we possess, whether of wealth or ability, we are taught to recognise as of God's free gift and bounty: and hence, even in the case of an austere master, it would be the duty of the servant to use whatever he possessed for his master's benefit. (126) But if this be, as it is, undeniable, how much is the argument strengthened, when the Master whom we serve is shown to be one

full of grace and love. The stimulant of gratitude is thrown into the scale to add weight to that of duty; and if we fail of exercising our gifts to our Master's glory, we shall be doubly worthy of the condemnation that befel the undutifiil subject of the austere lord.

The historical part of this chapter has been noticed in reading St.

Matthew's Gospel, but the tears of our Lord shed over impenitent Jerusalem are herein revealed to us for the first time. The sorrowful language that accompanied those tears announce to tis the solemn truth, that there is a point to which the mercy of an all-mercifiil God cannot reach, and that man, devoted to self, and wilfully neglecting and resisting God's sanctifying grace, places himself in a position beyond the sphere that is actuated by the Spirit of the Most High.

Let then the lesson gathered from the sorrows of our Lord over impenitent Jerusalem, be applied to our own souls. May not this be our day, and we as yet know it not? May not Christ be mourning over some of us, because we will not come unto Him that we may have life? May there not be amongst ourselves some who have never yet known the things that belong unto their peace, the rich promises of glory held out to them in the Gospel, and who are even now in danger lest those things be hidden for ever from their eyes?

How consoling is the reflection, when such suggestions as these arise in the mind, that God ^'desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live.''

J ,j^jt^ ^ ^x#^orM"M' > orM~iry' i f'y'ir'ir i r^ry'w^r'yirw'v'irMV^r i n ri i ~ i

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AfarcA 9—«/«£y 8] FAMILY READINGS. [November i March 9— July 8— Noyembbr 4.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 20.

It would seem to teach us that the aid of human wisdom was not to be rejected even in divine things, when we find our Lord

condescending to use it in order to repel the attacks of the chief priests and elders. The dilemma by which Christ silenced His opponents was not indeed an answer to their question, but it taught them that fair dealing between man and man which requires men to give when they expect to receive. When these had been silenced and repulsed, our Lord proceeded to exercise that authority He avouched, by giving fresh instruction in the parable of the vineyard, which has been already noticed in the parallel chapter of St. Mark's Gospel.

The design of His enemies agafnst the life of Jesus is clearly stated in the twentieth verse of this chapter, where we learn that they laid wait to take hold of His words, that so they might deliver Him to the power and authority of the governor, that is, of the Koman governor, Pontius Pilate, in whom alone the judicial power of life and death was vested. Had their conspiracy extended to anything short of life, they might have eflFected their design by their own power; for we find in the case of Saul, a short time subsequently, that the High Priest had authority to issue letters adjudging bonds and imprisonment to those who oflfended against the Sanhedrim.

The succession of attacks made upon our Lord as recorded in this chapter, by the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, and the Sadducees, shows us with what bitterness the spirit of man wages incessant warfare against the spirit of (128) 3farcA 9—Ju/y 8] FAMILY READINGS. [Xovmber4

Christ. Finding that the attempt to bring Him under the authority of the Sanhedrim had failed, they then sought to bring Him into collision with the civil power, and ensnare Him into a declaration of rebellion against the state. When this attempt was silenced, a new endeavour was raised, on pretended religious grounds, to bring Him into a contradiction of the truth; and the Sadducees, confident in their ignorance, thought to expose Him before the multitude by a vain argument, which they imagined sufficiently powerful to overthrow the doctrine of the resurrection.

These varied contests teach us to look back in sorrowful humiliation on the painful life our Lord endured for us: a life so painful, that even the fearful passage of an agonizing death must have been a relief, and the moral agony of which must have been a continued crucifixion to His suffering spirit. Did we but more realise to ourselves the protracted miseries of His earthly state, the perpetual crosses of His enduring martyrdom, and remember always that it was " for us He suffered, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps," we should be more ready to bear in cheerful submission our lighter trials, and more earnest in showing forth to the world around the power of His spirit within us!

And that the reality of the Christian life may be more impressed upon us, let us reflect wholesomely on the severe condemnation against the hypocrisy of the scribes, uttered by our Lord in the closing verses of this chapter—" They who for a show make long prayers," while their hearts are not right with God, "receive a greater damnation." Let it then be our part, according to the solemn language of the Liturgy, *^to show forth God's praise not only with our lips but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to His service, and by walking before Him in holiness and righteousness all our days."

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March lO^^nl^ 9] 7AMILT READINGS. lNovmh€r5

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March 10— July 9— November 5.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 21.

That an offering made to God is not valued according to its worldly amount, but rather according to the intention of the giver, is taught in a simple and affecting manner by our Lord's commendation of the poor widow, of which we have read in the commencement of this chapter. The offering of abundance from the stores of wealth may

gain the approbation of man: the offering of self-denial and of faith, be it from rich or poor, is sure to meet with the praise of God.

In reflecting on our Lord's announcement of coming events, we may perhaps understand them better if we observe that His prophecy was uttered in reply to a definite question of His disciples. They had pointed out to Him the beauty and durability of the Temple which Herod had rebuilt, and He had shown them that its apparent strength was no safeguard against impending destruction. Then it was that they asked Him when shall these things be, and what sign there should be when these things should come to pass. Hence we are instructed that the events foretold in the verses following, apply not to the final advent, but to the coming of Christ in the destruction of Jerusalem.

The instruction of the fourteenth and fifteenth verses, though probably intended as a direct guidance to the disciples of that age, contains a useful direction for us all in times of opposition, persecution, or difficulty. It cultivates that dependent spirit of the heart, without which man is disposed to rest solely on mental power, and fails to recognize a spiritual communion with the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. The rejection of this divine light, the (180) denial of every aid but that which is visible or external, the resting solely upon outward forms and ceremonial observ-ances, has been one of the most frequent signs of infideUty in all ages^ and under all dispensations. The true disciple of Christ should bear in mind, that the law of obedience is intended not to supplant but to develope the law of spiritual guidance and internal hoUness. If this were recognised, the formalist and the fanatic would alike stand rebuked; for form is dead, if there be not spirit to animate it; and spirit is vague and erratic, if there be no form to exhibit its proportions.

Whether the concluding part of this chapter was intended to enforce the duty of preparation on the Jews, previous to the destruction of their church and polity; or whether it is written more particularly for our lesirning upon whom the ends of the world are come; we cannot fail to deduce from it the necessity both of watchfulness and prayer.

Watchfulness—our external duty as soldiers of the cross, who have to fight a good fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil, that are constantly seeking to ensnare us in their toils. Prayer—our internal duty as members of Christ's body, whereby perpetual communication is kept up between ourselves and our invisible Head.

" Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.*'

March 11— July 10— November 6.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 22.

Interesting as is the accoimt of the Passover, instituted under Moses, it fails in interest to the christian world before that which the Lord Jesus Christ "desired with great desire" (131) K 2

to commemorate with His disciples before He suffered. In the first case^ the Lamb of God was indeed typified, and preservation by the hand of God assured to the faithful and obedient child of the covenant: but all this was through the medium of a *' servant," while, in the instance before us, the commemoration, retrospective as regarded the delivery of Egypt, was prospective of that greater delivery which the true Lamb, therein typified,—"the Son" of God, —

was just about to complete in His own person for themselves, and for all those who should thereafter "believe in His name!"

Do we ask what was it that implanted this '^great desire" in the affectionate heart of the Saviour? Surely no answer so satisfactory can be found as that which tells us that it was because He was founding therein the lasting ordinance of that sacrament, which was to bring refreshment and blessing to the faithful in all subsequent

ages: the sacrament of " The Lord's Supper," of which St. Paul tells us, that they who "eat that bread and drink that cup do show the Lord's death till He come."

The mode in which the fall of Judas is revealed to us through St.

Luke, seems to illustrate that great problem which all find it so difiicult to solve, that the deternunation of events is certain in God's counsel, while freedom of will is reserved to the agents who work them out. A single instance is not indeed enough to prove any general fact, nor would the twenty-second verse of the chapter before us prove the doctrine here assumed; but they who receive, and they who reject it, must alike be content to wait for a higher state of existence, before the mode in which this problem is solved is made clear to the intellect. If difference of opinion exists (as there has existed in all ages of the church) as to the facts of the case, much greater must be the difference as to the (132) mode in which those facts which are apparently incongruous are developed. Let then patience and faith characterise the believer; and whether he doubts or believes the freedom of his owTi and others*

will, let him at least believe that the justice and the love of God will be vindicated to the uttermost in the great hereafter.

The kingdom appointed to the Apostles seems at least as much involved in mystery as the doctrine of free-will. That it influences the House of Israel is clear from the express words of our Lord: in what way the judgment they are to exercise will be exhibited, remains to be seen. But assuredly, the fact of such mysteries existing ought to have an influence upon every member of the body of Christ. It should make us feel that we are denizens of eternity, and not to be absorbed by the fleeting interests of our shadowy life on earth. The relationships of earth, as far as regards our external life, are temporary and uncertain: those of our hidden and internal life, that affect our union with God in Christ by His Spirit, and with the nearest and dearest of those with whom we are bound up by ties which the world knows not of (or cares not for, beyond their answering its own conventional purposes,)—these are formed for

eternal purposes, and should be regarded by us as the truest and most real associations of our existence.

The appeal to the sword in the cause of religion is alluded to with an apparent vagueness in the chapter before us. Is it not intimated hereby that the influence of the sword is not wanted, and must not be used, to propagate the faith of Christ; but that it may be admissible, under extreme necessity, to defend it? Peter was not rebuked for his use of it, though endurance was enjoined upon him to correct his (133) reliance on the arm of flesh, and the wound that he inflicted was in mercy healed.

With the conclusion of the chapter we are familiar through the earlier Gospels. May we have grace to profit by the lesson of bitter sufiering our Redeemer has bequeathed to us!

March 12— July 11— Noyember 7.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 23.

There can scarcely be found in the world's history a more emphatic illustration of the truth, subsequently rerealed through St. Paul, that

"the friendship of the world is enmity with God," than that recorded in the restored amity of Pilate and Herod (Antipas), who were "made friends together'* by their union in persecuting the Lord Jesus! This circumstance is mentioned only by St. Luke, who is also the only Evangelist who records the double testimony of Jew and Heathen to the innocence of Him, whom Heathen and Jew imited to condemn.

The prevailing power of the popular shout in procuring the death of Jesus, seems to refrite also another favourite idea, that the voice of the people is as the voice of God : an elevation of self—here wofidly exhibited— was in this, as in all other instances since the fall, directly

opposed to divine justice; and proved the sin, as well as the essential arrogance, of self-will apart from the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

And some such idea seems to have been passing in the mind of the Holy Saviour Himself, when we find Him exhorting the sympathizing matrons of the ruthless city to lay aside the mere human emotions that led them to feel a sorrow

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AfarcA 12—Jif/y 11] FAMILY READINGS. [NovimberJ

whose root was selfish, though amiably exhibited, and fix their sorrows upon the true ground that should excite them— to weep for that Sin which was ruining themselves and their children, and bringing a woe upon future generations on earth, as well as planting a harvest of condemnation for miserable souls throughout eternity.

In the chapter before us, we have that beautiful account of Christ's love for the penitejit sinner at the eleventh hour, on which it has been well remarked, ^'that one such revelation has been made that no one may despair,—but only one, lest any one should presume.'*

Herein is taught us that consoling doctrine of the rest that remaineth for the people of God in paradise; which leads us to look forward with hopeful joy to the period of our own release, that we, with that forgiven one, may enter at once into the joys of that hallowed state where Christ reigns in bliss, until the awful day when He shall claim the kingdom for His own and the final judgment shall be consummated.

After the holy piety of Joseph of Arimathea had laid the body of the crucified Lord in an unpolluted sepulchre, we find that the faithful watchers " rested the sabbath-day, according to the commandment."

Was this the only rest of that wondrous day ? Was there not then the true analogy of the first great sabbath realised? The work of redemption being complete, did not the Son "rest firom His work,"

even as the Father had done from His ? Yea, was there not then, in the solemn quiet of that awful day, the true law of the sabbath fidfilled, which during so many centuries had been typified ? and

having been fulfilled by Him whom it behoved to fulfil all righteousness, so that not one jot or tittle remained incomplete, was it not thus that the new law of the Lord's Day came into operation with the rising dawn, when with (135)

the morning light the resurrection of Jesus formed the theme of angelic song ?

May the thought be hallowed to us! May we more and more seek to glorify Christ in each coming week; and seek in humble piety and holy faith the Lord's presence^ in the Lord's house, on each succeeding Lord's Day!

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March 13— ^Jult 12— November 8.

ST. LUKE, Chap. 24.

The interesting record of the journey to Emmaus, though alluded to by St. Mark, is only revealed in its fulness through St. Luke. It is very instructive to reflect that had our Lord at once revealed Himself to Cleopas and his fellow-disciple, the wonder and love that would have been excited in their bosoms would effectually have prevented the free exercise of their reason. The Lord, however, who desires a "

reasonable service," chose to convince their minds before He excited their adoring affection: an example that was followed by those to whom it was entrusted to propagate His Gospel, when they ^^

reasoned out of the Scriptures, opening and alledffinff that Christ must needs (according to prophecy) wUced .nd risen .gd. fr<« fl.e dai." Llj I are taught by this the true method of confirming our own faith, and confounding the assertions of gainsayers. The written word supplies us with an exhaustless armoury, against which the weapons of Satan are powerless to prevail. Prophecy is thus shown to us to be but history foreshadowed; history, but prophecy fulfilled; for