Imatges de pàgina
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SECTION I.

MATT. XV. 1-19.

MARK VII. 1-13.

THEN came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem, And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, and of brazen vessels, and tables. Then the Pharisees and Scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to, but transgress, the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For, laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For God commanded by Moses, saying, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free. And ye suffer him more to honour,

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or to do aught for his father or his mother; making the word of God of none effect by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. Ye hypocrites, well hath Esaias prophesied of you, as it is written, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit, in vain do

they worship me, teaching for mandments of men.

doctrines the com

How miserable is the case of those who, while they earnestly contend for the forms of Divine worship, are losing both the improvement and reward, which might be expected from a regular attendance upon it! This is the case of all, who draw near to God with their lips, while their hearts are far from him. May we abhor the vanity of such hypocritical behaviour in the presence of Him, who searches the heart and tries the reins of the children of men.

Let us learn from this just and severe sentence which our Lord passes on these superstitious Pharisees, to avoid the temper he condemns in them. It much less becomes us as Christians, and especially as protestants. to impose on our brethren with rigorous severity those doctrinal decisions, or those ritual observances, which have not their express foundation in the word of God, to which we so constantly appeal as to our common rule. Happy had it been for the church in all ages and nations, had men exerted that zeal for the truths and the institutions of God in the beauty and glory of their native simplicity, which has carried them on to defend and propagate their own inventions, till religion itself has almost sunk under the weight of the ornaments in which they have dressed it, and the unwieldy armour which they have hung about it!

Let children learn from the command which Christ has vindicated, to honour their parents by a tender care of them in their declining days; remembering, that as no filial duty and gratitude can ever fully repay our obligations to such friends, so an affectionate regard to them is a proper and necessary expression of our filial piety to the great Father of our spirits. Justly may he esteem his temples profaned, rather than adorned, by the most costly gifts, which are the spoils of nature, and the trophies of inhumanity.

SECTION II.

MATT. XV. 10-20. MARK VII. 14-23.

AND when he had called all the people, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but the things which come out of him: that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into the house from the people, then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said unto them, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth at the mouth into the man, it cannot defile him, because it entereth not into his heart, but goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, But that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man: for those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, false witness, blasphemies, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and these are the things that defile the man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

May we be all taught of God to maintain a constant watch over our own hearts, as remembering that from thence are the

issues of life, and from thence the sources of sin and death! (Prov. iv. 23.) All the secret motions and sentiments of them are open to the Divine examination and inspection. There then may we begin our cares, to purify ourselves from all filthiness both of the flesh and spirit, as ever we would perfect holiness in the fear of God. (2 Cor. vii. 1.) ·

We see, what secret abominations our Lord has here discovered and marked out. It is a matter of much lamentation, that our corrupted nature abounds with such poisonous productions: let us earnestly pray, that they may be rooted out by Divine grace, lest we ourselves be rooted out of God's vineyard, as at once incumbering and deforming it!

May the blessed Spirit of God create in us a clean heart, and implant in our souls a temper opposite to all these enormities! May candour and purity, integrity and tenderness, piety and generosity, humility and wisdom, prevail in our hearts and shine in our conduct! And, in a word, whatsoever things are true and honest, just and pure, lovely and of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, let us think on these things, and practise them! (Phil. iv. 8.)

Let those, who are employed to guide others, be especially solicitous to know and pursue the right way themselves; lest, instead of saving themselves, and those that hear them, they both of them at last perish together. We are in danger of it, if, like these Pharisees, we inculcate on our hearers a zeal for the circumstantials and appendages of religion, while its essentials are neglected; and perhaps some of the greatest enormities of the mind are consecrated under an honourable name, and profanely listed under the banner of the God of holiness and love.

SECTION III.

MATTHEW xv. 21-28. MARK VII. 24-30. THEN Jesus arose and went thence, and departed into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into a house, and would have no man know it; but he could not be hid. For behold, a certain woman of Canaan, (the woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation;) whose young daughter had an unclean · spirit, heard of him, and came out of the same coasts, and fell at his feet, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But Jesus answered and said unto her, Let the children first be filled; for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, truth, Lord, yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: for this saying be it unto thee even as thou wilt: Go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

If there be any thing in the whole history of our Lord, which might have a tendency to discourage and terrify the humble penitent, it would surely be his treatment of this poor Canaanitish woman, when she made so humble and so affectionate an application to him; first keeping silence; then intimating in words a coldness, not to say an aversion; and at last representing her but as a dog in comparison of the Jews. Surely such an answer had almost broken her heart, had it not been secretly supported by his grace, while his conduct seemed so unkind. Happy are they that, like her (who, though a Gentile, did in this instance approve herself a true daughter of Abraham,) can against hope believe in hope! (Rom. iv. 18.) Happy they, who can thus extract arguments even from discouragement! They will finally conquer and triumph, as this pious woman did; and the honours of their faith will be commemorated even by Christ himself, who soon indulges the overflowing tenderness of his heart in the applause he bestows upon her, and the ample grant he makes her of all she asked in its utmost extent.

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