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10Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Ch. rii. 38. Mark viii. 11. Luke xi. 16; & xii. 54-56. 1 Cor. i. 22.- cb. xii. 39.-e Mark viii. 14.-d Luke 1.- ch. xiv. 17. John vi. 9.-ƒ ch. xv. 34.

Reader. The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came.-Here we see men of opposite opinions, and at variance with each other on many points, agreeing in a wicked attempt against Christ and the truth of the Gospel. It was thus that Herod and Pilate were made friends when they became the common enemies of the persecuted Jesus. And still it is no unusual thing for ungodly men, while they are ready to bite and devour one another, to combine in plans and acts of hostility against religion and religious people. So

great is the malice of Satan and his agents against holiness and truth! -They came, we are told, tempting Jesus; that is, pretending to desire a proof of his authority and mission, but really seeking to entrap and disgrace him. Such is the hypocrisy which wicked men are ready to employ in order to attain their ends.-They asked for a sign from heaven. Many signs had already been given by the miracles which our Saviour had wrought, and these were sufficient to convince men of

humble and candid minds, and were every way worthy of the divine Being who performed them. But proud and unbelieving men desire to have a sign of their own choosing; they seek to prescribe terms to God himself;-they are not satisfied with the proofs which God

is pleased to give, and should he deign to give those which they proudly desire, still they would remain unsatisfied and unconvinced. And this is one instance of the deceitfulness of sin, and of the human heart. See also Luke xvi. 30, 31.— When unbelieving Jews "had signs from heaven, they tempted Christ, saying, Can he furnish a table in the wilderness? (1 Cor. x. 9). Now that he had furnished a table in the wilderness, they tempted him, saying, Can he give us a sign from heaven?"-Let us take warning from these instances of blind and perverse self-will. Let us consider the wisdom, as well as the blessedness, of humility, faith, and devout submission to the teaching and the will of God.

He answered and said unto them.Not without mourning over their ungodliness and folly, for St. Mark tells us (viii. 12) that "he sighed deeply in his spirit."-By his answer our blessed Lord reproves the ignorance and stupidity of unbelieving men with regard to spiritual things and the truths of religion, especially as contrasted with their shrewdness and intelligence in temporal matters. Men take pains to inform themselves about things in which they feel that their interest and happiness are concerned, and hence they become well skilled in them; and the reason why they know so little of religious truth is that they are not persuaded and sensible of its importance. Why is it that men of good common sense, men of learning, men of science, are often so unconcerned with regard to Christian truth and the interests of religion,-why is it that they are often so ignorant, so ostentatiously ignorant, of Gospel facts? Is it that religion is really beneath their notice? No. It is that they have no love for the pursuit; no wish, no desire to be instructed in the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Can ye not discern the signs of the times? See Jer. viii. 7-9.-It is a good and profitable exercise, and a source of much practical wisdom, to compare the state of the world, and the dispensations of divine providence, with the declarations of God's will in his holy word. If the Jews, in our Saviour's time, had considered what was passing before

their eyes, with due reference to the predictions of their own prophets, this would have become a means of leading them to a knowledge of the truth concerning the Messiahship of Jesus.

A wicked and adulterous generation, &c.-See note on ch. xii. 38-40.— The sign demanded by curious, proud, and captious men was absolutely refused; but this refusal was accompanied with the promise of a miracle which should be abundantly sufficient for the conviction and comfort of men of humble and believing minds, while, at the same time, it would leave without excuse all those who should continue in unbelief.

He left them and departed.-Christ forsakes those who in their hearts depart from him. The Gospel, as we have already seen, abounds with warnings of this kind.

Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.-We must be on our guard against false doctrines and evil principles. They are very insidious and dangerous; and if we do not fortify our minds by a devout study of God's word, by watchfulness, and prayer, we may easily become a prey to the most mischievous delusions.

O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves because ye have brought no bread?-One cause of the weakness of our faith is our forgetfulness of what God has already wrought on our behalf. We should remember and consider attentively what he has already done, if we would rightly trust Him for what

he is yet to do. "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands." Ps. cxliii. 5.

How is it that ye do not understand? --Surely this word of expostulation may well be addressed to us also, so far as we are deficient in spiritual knowledge and wisdom. Such want arises, not from any defect in divine teaching, but from our own carelessness and dulness. How great are the patience and goodness of God, who gives us line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, in order to instruct us in the things that belong unto our peace! Let us thankfully and wisely make use of this instruction while we have it.

He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.False doctrine, and error in opinion or judgment in matters of religion, is not a matter of indifference. Our belief has great influence on our practice; and we are responsible for what we believe as well as for what we do. When God gives us means of ascertaining truth and avoiding error, it is as much our duty to do so as it is to perform what is good and depart from evil.Doctrine is like leaven; it spreads through the soul, and imparts to it a certain quality.

The doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.-Spiritual pride, hypocrisy, superstition and pretences of devotion, together with a desire of tyrannising over men's consciences, were the distinguish

ing marks of the Pharisee ;-intellectual pride and worldly-mindedness, with scepticism veiled under an appearance of candour, were the peculiar sins of the Sadducee. "In our age, we may reckon atheism and deism to be the leaven of the Sadducees, and Popery to be the leaven of the Pharisees, against both which it concerns all Christians to stand upon their guard." And we should fortify ourselves against these evils, not only in their extremes, and their gross developements, but even in their more plausible and moderate forms. Pseudo-rationalism, or false philosophy, on the one hand, and ultra high-churchmanship, or blind deference to supposed authority and fabulous tradition, on the other, are the Scylla and Charybdis of our times.

HYMN.

God is a spirit, just and wise,

He sees our inmost mind; In vain to heaven we raise our cries, And leave our souls behind.

Nothing but truth before his throne

With honour can appear; The painted hypocrites are known Through the disguise they wear.

Their lifted eyes salute the skies,

Their bended knees the ground; But God abhors the sacrifice

Where not the heart is found.

Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways,
And make my soul sincere;
Then shall I stand before thy face
And find acceptance there.

WATTS.

§ LIV.

CHAP. XVI. 13—20.

The people's opinion of Christ, and Peter's confession of him.

disciples, that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

g Mark vill. 27. Luke ix. 18.-h ch xiv. 2. Luke ix. 7.8. 9.-i ch, xiv. 33. Mark viii. 29. Luke ix. 20. John vi. 69; & xi. 27. Acts viil 37; & ix. 20. 1 John iv. 15; & v. 5- Heb. i. 2. 5.- Eph. ii. 8.-1 Cor. ii. 10. Gal. 1. 16.-m John i. 42.-n Eph. ii. 20. Rev. 21. 14-0 Job ch. xviii. 18. John xx. 23. q ch. xvii. 9. Mark viii. 30. Luke ix. 21.

13 ¶ When Jesus came into xxxviii. 17. Ps. ix. 13; & cvil. 18. 15. xxxviii. 10. p.

the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am ?

14 And they said, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

Reader. Cæsarea Philippi, mentioned in v. 13, was a town in the northern part of Judea, anand Lais (Judg. xviii. 7) near mount ciently called Dan, (Gen. xiv. 14), Lebanon; it was called Cæsarea, in honour of the Roman emperor Tiberius Cæsar, and Cæsarea of Philip, because it was enlarged and beautified by Philip the tetrarch, son of Herod. The other Cæsarea

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, 'Thou art the Christ, was on the borders of the Mediterthe Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: *for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 'my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That "thou art Peter, and " upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not

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prevail against it.

19 "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

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From the fact stated in v. 14, that to be either John the Baptist, or our Lord was commonly supposed Elijah, or Jeremiah, we learn that the doctrine of the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls,-that is to say, the opinion that the souls of men at their death passed into ceived among the Jews in those days. other bodies, was very generally re

I think it necessary to give you a minute explanation of v. 17, 18, 19; partly because those verses contain various allusions which perhaps you may not readily understand, and partly because they have been perverted and misinterpreted so as to appear to lend a sanction to some and to other hierarchichal pretensi corruptions of the Church of Rome, ons. I will make my remarks chiefly

20 Then charged he his in the way of paraphrase upon our

blessed Saviour's words. May He, by His Spirit, lead us into all truth, and preserve us from human errors, and from the superstitions of fallible churches!

all the plots, stratagems, and machinations of the enemies of my church, and all their attacks and violent opposition, shall be unable to destroy or overthrow it;-there shall always be a body of men believing in my name unto the end of the world.— And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,-i. e. I will give thee power and authority, by the Holy Spirit, to declare the doctrines, and to determine the government and order, of the church,-(an office which St. Peter and the other apostles discharged by their personal ministry during their life-time, and continue to discharge by means of their inspired writings);-and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,-i. e. all that you say and do, under divine sanction and guidance, shall be ratified,-whatsoever you declare to be forbidden shall be really unlawful, and whatsoever you declare to be permitted or required shall be lawful unto men, or even a matter of obligation and duty. In one word, you shall be an authoritative teacher of my church; my believing people shall receive the laws of my kingdom at your mouth.

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona i.e. the son of Jonah (John iv. 42): for flesh and blood i. e. man hath not revealed it unto thee,-thou hast not attained this knowledge by the exercise of thy own wisdom or reason, or by any human instruction, but my Father which is in heaven, thou hast received it from above, by the operation of the Holy Spirit accompanying the dispensation of the Gospel; by the testimony which my Father has given concerning me, and has, through grace vouchsafed unto thee. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, the name which I have given thee is Cephas or Peter (John i. 42), which means a stone or rock,-and I declare unto thee, with reference to this name, and in further explanation of it, that upon this rock I will build my church,-i. e. as thou hast stood forward and made this confession which lies at the very foundation of the faith of the Gospel, I will grant unto thee the distinguishing honour of being the first to preach that Gospel with success to the Jews (See Acts ii.) and to the Gentiles Some suppose that by "this rock" (See Acts x.)-and the gates of hell our Saviour meant the confession of shall not prevail against it, i. e. all the faith which Peter had just made; and craft and artifice of Satan and wick- others think that He pointed to his ed spirits, which may be compared to own sacred person, inasmuch as He the council of a city held in the is indeed the chief corner-stone of gates, and all the power and as- the spiritual building. But the marksaults of opponents, like troops rush-ed reference to the name of Peter, ing forth from the gates of an ene- and the connection and tenor of our my's city or camp,-in one word, Lord's observations in this place,

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