teachers are to be judged of by their conduct; v. 16; that a holy life can no more spring from bad principles, than grapes from thorns or figs from thistles; v. 16-18; that men, who never prove the existence of religion in their hearts by a suitable life, wil be ultimately destroyed without the possibility of escape or exception; v. 19; that professions will not secure an entrance into heaven, but the, performance of the will of God is indispensably necessary; v. 21; that, in the great day of final account, many will plead for admission into heaven, will address the Lord Jesus Christ as the Sovereign Arbiter of life and death, and will urge that they have taught in his name, and cast out devils and wrought many miracles by the same authority; v. 22; that He will then solemnly declare to them that he never knew them in the character which they claim, and will drive them from his presence as workers of iniquity; v. 23; that whoever hears the preceding instructions, and obeys them, will be declared by the Savior of the world to resemble a wise builder who founds his house upon an immovable basis, so that it will stand against the most violent and impetuous storms; v. 24, 25; that every one who hears these instructions, and disregards them, will be in like manner declared to resemble a foolish builder, who erects his habitation, the place which contains all that is dear to him, on a sandy foundation; so that, in the hour of trial, the house is undermined, and falls into a state of irreparable ruin, and crushes all who are trusting to its shelter; v. 26, 27;

that when our Savior had ended, the people were astonished at his teaching; v. 28; and that this astonishment arose from his having taught as one having authority, and not as the Scribes;d V. 29,

Among the implied doctrines, I mention the following; that men are more apt to see small faults in others, than much larger faults in themselves; v. 3-5; that the great body of mankind never ask for spiritual blessings with sincerity; v. 7-10 compared with 13, 14; that it is proper to exhort impenitent sinners to enter in at the strait gate, and to urge their danger of not entering as the most likely reason to affect their minds; v. 13; that our Lord, being the Sovereign Disposer of the everlasting conditions of men, is the true and independent Deity; v. 25; and that the hearers of Christ were principally struck with that exhibition of sovereign authority which he made in this discourse.

Miscellaneous Remarks. Perhaps no direction of our Savior is more applauded by all classes of men, and at the same time more universally disobeyed, than the one contained in the two first verses of this chapter. It would seem, as if men were anxious to compound for disregarding the injunction against judging others, by extolling its wisdom and excellency; as if strong approbation of a law could purchase a license to trangress it.

Although it is not said, that the judging here forbidden consists entirely in giving an opinion, or passing sentence, against others; yet this seems to be

strongly implied. In the opinion of Johnson, the word judge is here used to express severe censure. However this may be, the implication seems to be clearly as above stated.

The evil of judging others, which is here forbidden, is one from which few persons are free; and to avoid which entirely may be deemed one of the highest attainments of a religious man. How seldom do we go into company without hearing an unnecessary condemnation of some of our fellow-men? If attentive to our own conduct, how often do we catch ourselves transgressing the law of love in this particular? It is amazing to consider how large a part of conversation is made up of giving characters, and how many of the characters thus given are palpable violations of our Savior's injunction. Real Christians have need to examine themselves on this subject, for on no other, it is believed, do they so frequently err. Let conscience be awake, and keep a vigilant guard against the first intrusion of censorious remarks; let every Christian form for himself, so far as he is able, a definite opinion in regard to what is forbidden by Christ in this passage; let him not only cherish a tender respect for the reputation of others, but cautiously abstain from making the characters of others a subject of conversation, unless necessity requires it.

It is to be remembered, however, that we have many duties to perform in the world, which make it absolutely necessary that we should form opinions respecting the character of mankind, and of those with whom we associate. Thus Christians

are to associate in churches, and are therefore to be satisfied of the Christian character of each other; ministers are to be separated for the service of the church, and are to possess a certain character described in the Scriptures; rulers are to be chosen, whose qualifications are also given in the inspired Volume; we are abundantly warned against a great variety of sins, and against those who commit them, which implies that we should be able to distinguish persons of bad character from the good. How, then, shall it be known whether we are violating the command of Christ, or not, when we are discussing the characters of our acquaintance? To this question, I apprehend, no definite answer can be given. A volume might be well written on the subject, by a competent person, and after all the path of duty would not always be clear. Nothing but fervent and habitual love for our neighbor, and a constant regard for the authority of God, can with certainty enable us to avoid the evil of censorious judging.

It is worthy of remark, that while men universally hate to be judged, they almost universally set about judging each other. Of the great mass of mankind nothing better could be expected; but that good men should fail in this respect, so much as they actually do, ought not to have been expected. How often do we see men highly offended that others should dare to question their motives, or speak disrepectfully of them, while they are habitually questioning the motives of others without evidence of guilt, and their conversation is frequently a string of unfavorable

ences.

The direction in verse 6th, not to cast our pearls before swine, is usually interpreted to forbid exhorting and admonishing those, who, as we fear, would treat exhortation and admonition with contempt. But I see no reason for interpreting the passage in this restricted sense; and, as commonly interpreted, it discourages admonition too much. Religion is seldom exposed to contempt by faithful admonition. Even the profligate, when solemnly warned of the tendency of their conduct, and reminded of their danger, usually shrink before reproof. The late Rev. John Newton supposes, that religious experiences, or God's dealings with converted penitent sinners, are the pearls here intended. And this supposition is more probable, in my opinion, than the interpretation above described. Still this is too restricted. Every exposure of the holy principles, the sublime and precious enjoyments, and the heavenly prospects, which religion offers to men; every such exposure, as would embitter wicked men against Christianity and its professors, without benefitting the unhappy gainsayer, is here implicitly forbidden.

The encouragement to ask for spiritual blessings, as described in the 7th and 8th verses, is inconceivably kind and generous on the part of God. A simple petition is all that he requires, as the condition of bestowing the greatest and most enduring ben efits. It is plain, however, that the petition, which is to receive such transcendent rewards, must be sincere. It must be made

On what easier terms could salvation have been offered to men? Will any one say, that the goodness of God makes it necessary that the Gospel should be forced upon sinners without their desiring it? Yet, easy as the terms of salvation are, how few are inclined even to ask for it. What multitudes pursue the road towards hell without a single aspiration after heaven. What multitudes professedly offer petitions to God, who never really ask, so as to be entitled to the fulfilment of the promise, during their whole lives. What intolerable anguish will be experienced by the inhabitants of the world of misery, when they reflect, that they would have finally escaped from perdition, if they had only asked for deliverance; and that their own perverse wills, in a manner altogether worthy of blame and abhorrence, prevented their asking aright, if they ever asked at all.

Ministers of the Gospel are often blamed by worldly men for representing the number of the saved as few, and the number of the lost as many. They are sometimes blamed for preaching the very words of our Savior; their accusers either ignorantly or inconsiderately charging them with uncharitableness and cruelty, and proving their charge by quoting sentences from sermons, which sentences are found in exactly the same form. in the sacred writings. Nothing can be more explicit than the language of Christ here. Nothing can be plainer than many of the characteristics of both good and bad men in the Scriptures.

And

whether we speak of the present time, or of any preceding age of the Church, we are able to find but very few who have given satisfactory evidence that they are walking in the narrow way of life; while multitudes on every side furnish evidence against themselves, that they are in the broad way of perdition. The contrast drawn by our Savior is wonderfully striking. Many go on (easily and naturally, as it would seem,) in the broad way to destruction, and enter the wide gate at the end, while few are able even to find the strait gate at the end of the narrow way of life. He who can explain away this text, so as to make it teach the opposite of what it appears to teach, need not despair of wresting any text to any meaning which he wishes it to speak; but he may well tremble at the thought of wresting the Scriptures to his own destruction.

False teachers always appear in disguise; they would always fail of their purpose if they did

not

How absurd, then, is it, to urge mere professions of candor, kindness, and liberality, as proofs of the superior excellence of those who make them. Our Savior commands us to beware of such teachers. It is therefore proper to suspect great professions, especially when the experience of the Church has abundantly shewn how false and hollow they usually are.

Toward the close of this sublime, holy, and heavenly discourse, the Savior adverts to the

final judgment, to that day, which is spoken of as though it were ever present to the mind. He exhibits the applicants for admission into heaven, as prefer

ring their suit to him alone, as having taught in his name without reference to any higher authority, and as having wrought miracles in his name. He does

not dispute their statement, nor refer them to any higher tribunal, but as the moral Governor of the universe, as the Sovereign Arbiter of life and death, rejects them as workers of iniquity, and passes upon them a final and unalterable sentence. What must the people, who heard Christ, have thought of his character? Could they have inferred less than I have stated? Did he guard them against this inference? Was he not wise enough to perceive it? It is from numerous passages like this; passages which irresistibly imply the supreme authority of Christ, that I argue his divinity, not less confidently than from direct and positive assertions.

The words of the sentence passed by Christ are worthy of distinct consideration. Depart from me. What propriety could there be in this sentence, unless Christ were representing himself as the sum and substance of heaven itself; unless, in other words, he sustained the character and station of God, that glorious Being whom the holy inhabitants of heaven love with all their heart, and all their soul, and all their strength, and all their mind. Thus Paul describes the punishment of the wicked as an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, unquestionably meaning, as the context fully proves, the Lord Jesus Christ. How can this be reconciled with the opinion, that Christ sustains an inferior character only? How can he be any other than the Supreme

Jehovah, when his presence is represented as the sum of heavenly felicity, and banishment from it as the sum of everlasting misery?

The audience of our Savior were not unobservant of the sovereign authority with which he spake. They were more astonished at this, than at the sublimity of his doctrines, or the divine eloquence with which he uttered them. He taught as one having authority, as one possessing, by his own independent right, the knowledge, the wisdom, the power, and the glory, necessary to constitute him the moral Lawgiver and the final Judge of intelligent and immortal beings. PHILALETHES.

MEDITATION VI.

Psalm xci, 11, 12. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. THIS gracious promise is made to every child of God; and should be much dwelt upon as an expression of divine benignity and kindness to those who were naturally unworthy of the least favor. Of all the similitudes by which God exhibits his care and love of his chosen ones, no other is so tender and affecting as that in which he assumes the character of a Parent and imparts that of a child. The love which parents feel for their children, and the helplessness of infancy, are peculiarly illustrative of God's kindness to his servants and of their dependence upon

Him.

No person, who is not a parent, can have a thorough sense of the helpless and dependent situation of an infant. It is requisite that a man should expeperience, before be can understand, all the tenderness and anxiety of this relation. The blessed God, though not described as a Parent in the passage here quoted, is yet represented as taking that care of the righteous, which is most aptly expresed by parental solicitude. When the parent carries his infant in his arms, he shudders at the thought of letting it fall, he clasps it tight to his bosom. Whenever he contemplates the possibility of his child's falling from a window, or dashing against a pavement, he shrinks from it even in idea, and doubles his diligence to secure his dear offspring from an evil so distressing. The infant learns to confide in its parent's care, and fears no fall while enclosed in its father's arms.

Let the Christian make a suitable use of this representation. The infant may be disappointed through the want of power, (and possibly of inclination,) in the parent to protect it; but he, who truly confides in the care of his Heavenly Father, will never be disappointed. When surrounded by enemies, and encompassed by hidden dangers, God will be his shield, his protector, and supporter. Before he even suspects the danger to which he is much exposed, God gives his angels charge concerning him, and they are ready to sustain him and secure him from the slightest evil. The weakest Christian has the guarantee of infinite wisdom and infinite power for his protection and final deliverance