Vicar or substitute of Christ himself, and that consequently it must be obeyed as if it were commanded and appointed by God. In consequence of this false claim, different Bishops of Rome have made some most wicked rules, and established laws for the Church quite contrary to the word of God; and in order that this should not be found out, the Romish priests will not let the people read the Bible for themselves. This dreadful state of things made the people of England and of some other places, about three hundred years ago, refuse to follow the commands of the Bishop of Rome. Since that time we have had the Bible put into English and read in all the Churches, which had not been done before (see vol. i., page 5); and every body who likes may read it at home. Rules and arrangements have been made in the Church, which are suitable for good order, and at the same time agreeable to the word of God; as people may see, by studying that word for themselves. It often happens however, that persons who acknowledge the truth and necessity of the principal matters of faith, shew a great deal of self-will in refusing, or neglecting to submit to, many good arrangements appointed by authority in the Church; merely because they are not specially written down in the Bible. All such persons would do well to consider, whether this power given by our Lord to his Apostles may not lead us to suppose, that Christ takes more account of such disobedience than they perhaps think; and whether it is not better to shew an humbleness of spirit, by obeying all such rules as are not contrary to God's word, than by resisting them to run the risk of giving way to self-will. The words here spoken to Peter we find repeated in Matthew xviii. 18; where they refer to "the Church," and are accompanied with more particular directions: they will therefore be more fully applied, when we come to that portion. QUESTIONS. Have I good reason to believe that I am a living and spiritual member, occupying a place in the true Church of Christ? Am I grateful for having been delivered from the bondage of the unscriptural religion of the Pope? Do I willingly submit to the rules and arrangements of the Church? Do I search the Scriptures to see whether these rules are contrary to the word of God? Do I indulge self-will in resisting them, or neglecting to follow them? VII. HEADS FOR PRAYER. 1. Pray that the Holy Spirit may lead you to the truth concerning Jesus Christ, and that you may have wisdom in searching the Scriptures for that purpose. 2. Pray that you may be a living member of the true Church, and be kept so: and ask for a spirit of humility, in order willingly to submit to the discipline and order appointed by authority for the whole body. VIII. THE PRAYER. (1) O God, thou author and finisher of our faith, guide me I beseech thee by the Holy Spirit into all needful truth; take of the things of Christ, and shew them unto me, that I may know that thou, Jesus, art the Son of the Living God. Lead me to find the truth concerning Thee in thy word, and give me a spirit of wisdom to discern and receive it. (2) Dwell in me, thou Spirit of Christ, that I may be a living member of the true Church; and being made a child of God by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed and supported as an inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven. Give to me an humbleness of spirit to submit my mind and will to all good and godly discipline in the Church, that so I may walk obediently and be an example of good order to others; and that we may worship thee in peace and unity, to the glory of the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN. NINETY-NINTH PORTION. I. BEGINNING PRAYER. MAY GOD, for the sake of JESUS CHRIST, give me the HOLY SPIRIT, that I may understand this portion of his Holy Word, and profit by it. AMEN. II. THE SCRIPTURES. Read St. Matthew's Gospel, chap. xvi. v. 21 to 28. St. Mark's Gospel, chapter viii, verse 31 to chap. ix. verse 1. and St. Luke's Gospel, chap. ix. ver. 22 to 27. III. THE MEANINGS; or sense of some words as used in this portion. MATTHEW Xvi. verse 22. &c. rebuke means here chide 23. &c. an offence a stumblingblock IV. THE EXPLANATION. The Apostles of Jesus had now fully declared their belief that he was the expected Messiah ; and our Lord had confirmed their belief by what he said in the last portion. From this time he spoke to them more openly, respecting the manner in which the Scriptures of the Prophets concerning him were about to be fulfilled. He informed them that it was necessary for him to be at Jerusalem, where he was to go through a great many sufferings. He said that the principal people amongst the Jews, the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, would refuse to receive him as the expected Christ; that he would be put to death, but would come to life again on the third day afterward. As he said this in an open public way to the Apostles, Peter drew him a little on one side, and in a private manner expressed his surprise that Jesus should have said such things. He thought he must be mistaken-God forbid that it should happen so it could not possibly be. Our Lord turned from Peter, and in the hearing of all his Apostles he set him down in a very plain and powerful way; using the same expression as that with which he had dismissed the devil at the time of his temptation in the wilderness. (Matt. iv. 10. vol. i., page 130.) Whether He employed the word "Satan" upon this occasion, to mean only that Peter had acted as his enemy in speaking thus (for Satan means enemy, or adversary, see vol. i., page 124); or whether He meant that the evil spirit himself had induced him to say what he did; it is at all events certain, that whatever Peter said like an enemy of Christ must have been the work of the great enemy, the devil; and as such, our Lord checked it. He told Peter that he was trying to hinder him from going on in the right path of duty, like a stumbling-block in his way; and that he did not relish the spiritual things of God, but had a greater liking for the worldly things which please men. Our Lord took this opportunity of explaining publicly the importance of the duty of self-denial. He had been apart from the crowd, in conversation with his disciples, when Peter had spoken privately to him: but now he called around him all the people who were near at hand; and, speaking to them as well as to the disciples, he made some remarks upon the subject, similar to those he had before addressed to his Apostles, when giving them particular instructions for their Missionary journey. (see pages 3 and 24.) When any one desires to follow after Christ (so as to arrive at the place where Christ is gone before), it is absolutely necessary that such a person should not give way to the natural inclinations; but when they rise up and want to be indulged they must be checked, and we must refuse ourselves the indulgence, thus denying the wishes of our own hearts. Such self-denial may be troublesome and painful to practise; it may be as great a labour, as that which any one condemned to death among the Romans would feel when forced to take upon his shoulder the upper end of the cross upon which he was afterwards to be nailed, and to carry it to the place of execution. Yet such self-denial must be practised cheerfully-the cross must not only be borne when placed upon us, but readily taken up when it lies before us: and this even though occasions should occur for its exercise every day of our lives.-Such is the way to go after Christ. Hereby he publicly referred to the dreadful sufferings and death he was about to endure, of which he had just before spoken to his Apostles. And he added (as before) that those persons, who shrink from their trials in order to preserve their lives and the pleasure of enjoying this present world, will lose the joys of the eternal life to come: whilst on the contrary those persons who would rather give up their lives, than cease to be disciples of Christ, and who practise all the self-denial neces |