right place. The Publican confessed plainly that he was a sinner. This is the very A B C of saving Christianity. We never begin to be good till we can feel and say that we are bad. For another thing, it was a prayer in which mercy was the chief thing desired, and faith in God's covenant mercy, however weak, displayed. Mercy is the first thing we must ask for in the day we begin to pray. Mercy and grace must be the subject of our daily petitions at the throne of grace till the day we die.-Finally, the Publican's prayer was one which came from his heart. He was deeply moved in uttering it. He smote upon his breast, like one who felt more than he could express. Such prayers are the prayers which are God's delight. A broken and a contrite heart He will not despise. (Psalm li. 17.)

Let these things sink down into our hearts. He that has learned to feel his sins has great reason to be thankful. We are never in the way of salvation until we know that we are lost, ruined, guilty, and helpless. Happy indeed is he who is not ashamed to sit by the side of the publican! When our experience tallies with his, we may hope that we have found a place in the school of God.

Let us notice, lastly, in these verses, the high praise which our Lord bestows on humility. He says, "Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

The principle here laid down is so frequently found in the Bible, that it ought to be deeply graven in our memories. Three times we find our Lord using the words before us in the Gospels, and on three distinct occasions. Humility, He would evidently impress upon

us, is among the first and foremost graces of the Christian character. It was a leading grace in Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Job, Isaiah, and Daniel. It ought to be a leading grace in all who profess to serve Christ. All the Lord's people have not gifts or money. All are not called to preach, or write, or fill a prominent place in the church. But all are called to be humble. One grace at least should adorn the poorest and most unlearned believer. That grace is humility.

Let us leave the whole passage with a deep sense of the great encouragement it affords to all who feel their sins, and cry to God for mercy in Christ's name. Their sins may have been many and great. Their prayers may seem weak, faltering, unconnected, and poor. But let them remember the Publican, and take courage. That same Jesus who commended his prayer is sitting at the right hand of God to receive sinners. Then let them hope and pray on.

NOTES. LUKE XVIII. 9-14.

9. [Unto certain which trusted, &c.] It seems probable that this parable was not addressed to the Pharisees, so much as to certain of our Lord's own followers and disciples. Our Lord knew all hearts, and He probably saw in some of His own immediate adherents a tendency to value themselves too highly because they were His disciples. He checks it by speaking this parable.

Pride, self-conceit, and a disposition to look down on others as ignorant, blind, and inferior to ourselves, are faults to which many converted people are peculiarly liable. 10.-[A Pharisee...a publican.] These two are mentioned as types of opposite classes of character. The Pharisee represents the moral, the respectable, and the externally correct. The publican represents the wicked, the profligate, and the utterly irreligious.

The theory held by some, that the Pharisee represents the Jewish nation, and the Publican the Gentile world, appears to me destitute of foundation.

11.-[Stood and prayed thus with himself.] Some have thought that the Greek words should have been rendered, " stood by himself and prayed thus." It is probable, however, that our English version gives the sense correctly.

It is a mistake to suppose, as some have done, that there was anything to be blamed, as indicative of pride, in the Pharisee's attitude. Standing was as common a position for prayer as kneeling, among the Jews. See Matt. vi. 5. Mark xi. 25. 2

Chron. vi. 12.

[I thank thee.] Gill gives some singular instances from Rabbinical writers of the thanksgivings, which commonly formed part of Jewish prayers. One quotation will suffice. "It is a tradition of Rabbi Juda saying three things a man ought to say every day,-Blessed be thou that thou hast not made me a gentile.-Blessed be thou that thou hast not made me an unlearned man.-Blessed be thou that thou hast not made me a woman.'

It needs hardly be noted, that we are not to infer that thankfulness is wrong in our prayers. It is thankfulness accompanied by self-conceit, and uncharitable comparisons of ourselves with other men, and unaccompanied by confession of unworthiness, and prayer for mercy and grace, which our Lord condemns. 12.-[I fast twice...give tithes all,...&c.] Here the Pharisee, let it be noted, exalts his own works of supererogation. He fasted even more than God required. He gave tithes even of things which God did not command to be tithed,-not of his corn and his fruits only, but of all his possessions.

A more miserable and defective righteousness than this Pharisee's, it is hard to conceive. His negative goodness consisted in not being so bad as some! His positive goodness consisted in fasting and paying tithes with excessive scrupulosity! Of heart-holiness, we do not hear a word! 13.-[Would not lift up.] The Greek words mean literally, "was not willing to lift,"-had no mind, or will, or inclination.

[Be merciful to.] It is not improbable that the idea of mercy through a propitiation, enters into this prayer. The Greek word rendered, "be merciful to," is only found in one other place, and is there applied to our Lord Jesus Christ, as a High Priest, making reconciliation" for the sins of the people. (Heb. ii. 17.)

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[A sinner.] The Greek words are here even stronger than our version, if literally translated. They signify "the sinner," that is, "the great sinner."

'14.—[Justified rather than the other.] We must not suppose that this means that the Pharisee was a little justified, and the publican very much, and that the difference between them was

only one of degree. There are no degrees in justification. The words mean that the Pharisee was not justified at all, or accepted with God, and that the publican went home pardoned, forgiven, and counted righteous before God.

[Every one...exalteth...abased.] The truth of this great principle admits of illustration at every step of Bible history. Pharaoh, Goliah, Haman, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, are all cases in point.

LUKE XVIII. 15—17.

15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come

unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

LET us observe, for one thing, in this passage, how ignorantly people are apt to treat children, in the matter of their souls. We read that there were some who "brought infants to Jesus that He would touch them: but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them." They thought most probably that it was mere waste of their Master's time, and that infants could derive no benefit from being brought to Christ. They drew from our Lord a solemn rebuke. We read that "Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not."

The ignorance of the disciples does not stand alone. On few subjects, perhaps, shall we find such strange opinions in the churches, as on the subject of the souls of children. Some think that children ought to be baptized, as a matter of course, and that if they die unbaptized they cannot be saved. Others think that children ought not to be baptized, but can give no satisfactory reason why

they think so. Some think that all children are regenerate by virtue of their baptism. Others seem to think that children are incapable of receiving any grace, and that they ought not to be enrolled in the Church till they are grown up.-Some think that children are naturally innocent, and would do no wickedness unless they learned it from others. Others think that it is no use to expect them to be converted when young, and that they must be treated as unbelievers till they come to years of discretion. All these opinions appear to be errors, in one direction or another. All are to be deprecated, for all lead to many painful mistakes.

We shall do well to get hold of some settled scriptural principles about the spiritual condition of children. To do so may save us much perplexity, and preserve us from grave false doctrine.

The souls of young children are evidently precious in God's sight. Both here and elsewhere there is plain proof that Christ cares for them no less than for grown-up people. The souls of young children are capable of receiving grace. They are born in sin, and without grace cannot be saved. There is nothing, either in the Bible or experience, to make us think that they cannot receive the Holy Ghost, and be justified, even from their earliest infancy. The baptism of young children seems agreeable to the general tenor of Scripture, and the mind of Christ in the passage before us. If Jewish children were not too young to be circumcised in the Old Testament dispensation, it is exceedingly hard to understand why Christian children should be too young to be baptized under the Gospel. Thousands of children, no doubt, receive no