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glad tidings of great joy, and to hear them, as it were, echoed back in accents of final despair, how will it wound the ear, and pierce the very heart! May God prevent it, by fulfilling in us all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power; that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in us, and we in him (2 Thess. i. 11, 12.) when the marriage supper of the Lamb shall be celebrated, and all the harmony, pomp, and beauty of heaven shall aid its solemnity, its magnificence, and its joy!

SECTION LXXII.

MATT. XXII. 15-22. MARK XII. 13-17.
LUKE XX. 20-26.

THEN went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they
might entangle him in his talk. And they watched
him, and sent forth spies, certain of their disciples
with the Herodians, which should feign themselves
just men, that they might take hold of his words, that
so they might deliver him unto the power and autho-
rity of the governor. And when they were come,
they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou
art true, that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither
carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the
person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth.
Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful
to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? shall we give, or
shall we not give? But he knowing their wickedness,
craftiness, and hypocrisy, said unto them, Why
tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? shew me the tribute-
money, that I may see it. And they brought unto
him a penny.
And he saith unto them, Whose is
this image and superscription? And they answered
and said unto him, Cæsar's. Then saith he unto
them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which
are Cæsar's: and unto God the things that are God's.
And they could not take hold of his words before the
people and they marvelled at his answer, held their
peace, left him, and went their way.

Again does our Lord renew the repeated lessons he had before

given us, both by precept and example, of uniting wisdom and innocence. How admirable was this mixture of prudence and integrity with which he confounded these Pharisees and Herodians, who, contrary as their principles and interests were, conspired against him! For of a truth, O Lord, against thine Holy Child Jesus, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, and the people of Israel were gathered together (Acts iv. 27); and their words' were softer than oil, when war and murder was in their hearts. (Psalm lv. 21.)

Let us not, with the simple, believe every flattering word (Prov. xiv. 15) since sometimes the highest encomiums may be designed as the instruments of mischief: and too often they prove so when they are not treacherously intended.

Our Lord was indeed the Person whom these artful hypocrites described and was in that respect an excellent Pattern to all his followers, and especially to his ministers. He knew no man in the discharge of his office; but, without regarding the persons of any, neither seeking their favour nor fearing their resentment, he taught the way of God in truth, and declared the whole of his counsel.

Let us particularly attend to his decision in the present case, and learn with the utmost readiness to render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and unto God the things which are God's. Our civil magistrates, by virtue of their office, justly claim our reverent regard; and tribute is most reasonably due to those who attend continually to the service of the public, and are, under God, the pillars of our common tranquillity and happiness. (Rom. xiii. 6, 7.) Let that tribute therefore be justly and freely rendered with honour, and with cheerfulness; as he is surely unworthy to share in the benefits of government, who will not contribute his part towards its necessary expense. But let it also be remembered that the rights of God are sacred and inviolable: he, and he alone, is the Lord of conscience; and when that is invaded, it is easy to judge whether man or God is to be obeyed; (Acts iv. 19.) Let us be daily thankful that in our own age and country these rights are so happily united. May a guardian Providence continue to watch over both! and may we seriously consider how impossible it is, under such a government, to be good Christians, without being obedient subjects, or to fear God, if we do not honour the king! (1 Pet. ii. 17.)

SECTION LXXIII.

MATTHEW XXII. 23-33. MARK XII. 18—27.
LUKE XX. 27-40.

THE same day came to him certain of the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: and the second took her to wife, and he died childless: and the third took her likewise; and in like manner the seven also had her; and they left no children, and died and last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her to wife. Jesus answered and said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are like the angels which are in heaven; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. And as touching the resurrection of the dead, that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed. Have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? for God is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. Ye therefore do greatly err. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. Then certain of the Scribes

answering said, Master, thou hast well said. And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.

With what satisfaction should we read this vindication of so important an article of our faith and hope! Easily was this boasted argument of the Sadducees unravelled and exposed, and all the pride of those bold wits, who valued themselves so much on that imaginary penetration which laid men almost on a level with brutes, covered with just confusion. Indeed objections against the resurrection, much more plausible than this of theirs, may be answered in that one saying of our Lord's: Ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God. Were the scripture doctrine of the resurrection considered on the one hand, and the omnipotence of the Creator on the other, it could not seem incredible to any that God should raise the dead. (Acts xxvi. 8.)

How sublime an idea does our Lord give us of the happiness of those who shall be thought worthy to attain it! They shall be equal to the angels! Adored be the riches of that grace which redeems us from this degenerate and miserable state, in which we had made ourselves so much like the beasts that perish, (Psalm xlix. 12,) to raise us to so high a dignity, and marshal us with the armies of heaven!

Let us esteem so glorious a hope aright, and with the greatest intenseness of soul pursue and insure it. And as for those enjoyments of this present world, which are suited only to the mortality and imperfection of it, let us moderate our regards to them, and cultivate those higher entertainments with the most solicitous care, which will be transplanted into the paradise of God, and ever flourish for the delight of his immortal children.

Christ, we see, argues a very important point of doctrine from premises, in which, perhaps, we might not have been able to have discovered it without such a hint. Let us learn to judge of scripture arguments, not merely by the sound, but by the sense of the words. And as our Lord chose a passage from the Pentateuch, rather than from the prophets, for the conviction of the Sadducees, let us be engaged to study the tempers, and even the prejudices, of those with whom we converse; that we may, if possible, let in the light of Divine truth on their hearts on that side by which they seem most capable of receiving it.

In a word, let us with pleasure think of the blessed God under that gracious title by which he manifested himself to Moses at the bush. Still he is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; the God of our pious ancestors, the God of all our departed friends who are now sleeping in Jesus: for all their souls now live unto him, and their bodies

shall ere long be awakened by him. In like manner, if we are followers of them who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises, when we are gathered to our fathers, and our names, perhaps, forgotten among succeeding generations, he will still be our God. He will shew us, by the blessed experience of eternity, that when he treated with us by that title, and admitted us into the covenant by which he bears it, he intended for us something far nobler and better than the transient scenes of earth and of time could admit.

SECTION LXXIV.

MATTHEW XXII. 34-40. MARK XII. 28–34. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they also were gathered together. And one of them, which was a lawyer, came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the first and the great commandment of all in the law? Jesus answered him, and said unto him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. And the Scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

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