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the Law and the Prophets were in force, and in whom I delight now that their office is at an end. Hear ye him. How solemn a recognition of the authority of the Son as superior to that of the servants! May we have grace to hear him speaking to us in his word, by his providence, in our conscience, and by his Spirit through whatever medium he may be pleased to employ.-See Deut. xviii. 15, 19. And when the disciples heard it, they

on his own holy day,-in the appointed act of solemn commemoration at his holy table-in the study of his word,-in retirement, meditation, and prayer.-If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, &c.But such was not the will of Christ; and Peter knew not what he said when he made this proposal. Christ himself, as man and mediator, had yet to be made perfect through sufferings; and the apostles were to be partakers of those sufferings.-Let fell on their face and were sore afraid. us say, in the spirit of meek sub--This was the case with the prophet mission to the will of God "all the Daniel (see Dan. x. 4-9,) and with days of my appointed time will I St. John again upon a subsequent wait, till my change come."-It is occasion, (Rev. i. 17.) How can not intended that we should pitch weak and sinful man be admitted to our tents even upon the mount of the presence of God and live? Conreligious ordinances, while we are sider the Mediator;-Jesus came and here on earth. But the day is com- touched them, and said, Arise and be ing in which it will be said, "Behold, not afraid. Neither his own glory, the tabernacle of God is with men.' nor the glory of the Father, is really While he yet spake, behold, a bright formidable to his believing people. cloud overshadowed them,-a cloud or body of light, the well known symbol of the divine presence, spread itself over them and around them"the excellent glory." We read of some dark clouds in which God appeared during the former dispensation;-but in this mass of pure refulgence we find an apt emblem of gospel light, and liberty, and joy. -And behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, in confirmation of that which had already been declared at our Saviour's baptism, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, -or, according to the force of the term in the original, In whom I have been and still am well pleased. This is He in whom I took pleasure while

"Hear ye him," said the voice from the excellent glory; and what was the first word which his disciples afterwards heard from his gracious lips? It was a word of comfort and encouragement! Be not afraid.-Christ is compassionate, not only in his humiliation, but also in his state of exaltation. How delightful to witness this exercise of tender kindness towards his disciples, in connection with so bright a manifestation of his glory! It was even on the mount of transfiguration, that he approached his trembling disciples,-and touched them-just as he had touched many of the afflicted sons of men while he was walking about the earth in his more lowly form,-and said, Arise,

and be not afraid. See Luke i. 74, Yet still our elevated eyes

75.

And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

To nobler visions long to rise;

That great assembly would we join When all thy saints around thee shine!

fair!

-But his presence was abundantly That mount how bright; those forms how sufficient to compensate for the loss of all besides. He will " never leave nor forsake his believing people. Heb. xiii. 5, 6.

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Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. A striking instance of the neglect and abuse of the means of grace! It is indeed an awful thing to do what we list to the messages and messengers of God, instead of suffering them to work upon us that which God wills and for which

he sends them. That which God wills tends to our sanctification and happiness; when our will prevails against his, our ruin is complete. "This is the condemnation, that light

is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." See also 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16.-Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them-Even the Son himself was cast out of the Jewish vineyard by the wicked husbandmen. God has now given-let out-that vineyard to other husbandmen. May we render him the fruits of the vineyard in due season!

HYMN.

Away ye dreams of mortal joy!
Raptures divine my thoughts employ ;
I see the king of glory shine,

And feel his love and call him mine!

Thus on the mount his servant viewed
His lustre, when transformed he stood;
And bidding earthly scenes farewell,
Cried "Lord, 'tis pleasant here to dwell."

'Tis good to dwell for ever there! Come death the envoy of my God, And bear me to that blest abode!

§ LVII.

DODDRIDGE.

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19 Then came the disciples him, Then are the children

to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you, 'If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto

you.

21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

22¶And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

24¶ And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?

25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings

of the earth take custom or

tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

26 Peter said unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto

free.

27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

23.

p Mark ix. 14. Luke ix. 37.- q ch. xxi. 21. Mark_xi.

Luke xvii. 6. 1 Cor. xii. 9; & xiii. 2.-r ch. xvi. 21.

& xx. 17. Mark viii. 31; & ix. 30. 31; & x. 33. Luke

ix. 22. 44; & xvii. 31 ; & xxiv. 6. 7.-8 Mark ix. 33.—||

Called in the original, didrachma, being in value fifteenpence: See Ex. xxx. 13; & xxxviii. 26.—| Or, a stuter. It is half an ounce of silver, in value 2s. 6d. after 5s. the ounce.

Reader. The narrative of the healing of the lunatic,-a youth troubled with epileptic fits under the influence of demoniacal possession,-is recorded

by St. Mark (ix. 14—29) and St. Luke (ix. 37-43), with the addition of a few particulars not mentioned by St. Matthew. This case of disease was one of peculiar obstinacy and extent; the child had been afflicted from his birth; and he was deaf and violent attacks by which his life was dumb, besides being subject to those endangered, and which were in every respect truly distressing to his friends. During the absence of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, this child was brought to his disciples for a cure; but it appears that they were alarmed

at the grievous nature of the malady, yond the reach of remedy. They and hastily concluded that it was bedoubted, if not concerning the power of God, yet concerning the extent of their Lord's promise and commission

to themselves for the healing of diseases; and therefore they were unable to cure the afflicted youth. They did not receive the power for which they did not seek in faith. The scribes entered into a dispute with the disciples during our Saviour's absence, and attempted to entrap them by their subtleties. Perhaps they had succeeded in unsettling their minds, or in weakening their faith, to a certain extent, before the father made application on behalf of his son; and this may have been the immediate origin of that unbelief which was the cause of their failure.

We cannot infer, from the promise of our Lord in verse 20, that every person who has saving faith has, or ought to have, also the power of working miracles. Faith, as you well know, has relation to a promise. Now the apostles had received from their master a distinct personal commission to cast out devils and perform other miracles of healing, with a promise of power to enable them to do so. This was the promise on which they were required to rely; a want of confidence in it, and in him who had given it, was that unbelief of which our Saviour complained; and the exercise of this confidence was that faith which would enable them to remove mountains. Unless, therefore, such a promise be made to ourselves individually, we cannot possibly have such faith. We may, and ought to, have faith in the promise of forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake, and of all other blessings included in the Christian covenant; and through this faith we shall obtain salvation, and all covenant

blessings. But we cannot expect that this faith will impart to us the power of healing diseases or working any other miracles, just because such power is not included in the promises of the covenant. An attempt to perform miracles, on our part, would not be a work of faith, but an act of presumption.-"To remove mountains," was a proverbial expression among the Jews denoting the performance of some great and extraordinary work, in removing formidable obstructions, or overcoming difficulties apparently insuperable. It is evident that the faith which could remove mountains (or work miracles) is quite distinct from saving faith, or faith which worketh by love, because St. Paul says, 1 Cor. xiii. 2, "though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (love), I am nothing."

The tribute mentioned in verse 24, was not any of the Roman taxes or imposts, but was the annual payment exacted from the Jews by the Mosaic Law for the use of the temple service, consisting of half a shekel from each male above twenty years of age, paid on occasion of the numbering of the people (Exod. xxx. 11-16). It was, in fact, the Jewish church-rate, imposed by divine authority, as a part of the ceremonial law; "a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for their souls."-The "tribute money" here spoken of was the double drachma (which is the word in the original), equal in value to the half shekel, i. e. about fifteen pence of our money. And the "piece of money" found in

for

the mouth of the fish, was the stater, | he rejoined his disciples, brought with (also expressed in the original),-a him a demonstration of his power; coin equal in value to four drachmæ, or about half a crown; which was the sum required to pay the tribute for two persons, namely for our Lord and St Peter.-In the performance of this miracle our Saviour displayed not only his Omniscience, but also his Omnipotent command of all creation. He not only knew where the stater was; but he caused it to come into the fish's mouth, and he caused the fish to come to the apostle's hook. Here we see the Son of man as the Lord of "whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas," Ps. viii. 8.In verse 25, "Jesus prevented him" means "Jesus was beforehand with him; Jesus spoke first." Then "Prevent us in all our doings" means "go before us; prepare the way."

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great perplexity; and so shall we be if we yield to unbelieving suggestions, and disturbing doubts. How much for our happiness is it to reflect, that if we are the sincere disciples of Christ, our Master is at hand, and will come and help us!-On this occasion, the Lord Jesus Christ, when

There came to him a certain man— wisely abandoning all other means of help, forsaking even the poor timid disciples themselves, he repaired to Christ as his only and all-sufficient helper in the time of need,-kneeling down to him, and saying, with equal humility, faith, and fervour, Lord, have mercy on my son. Thus the woman of Canaan came to our Lord on behalf of her daughter; and herein parents and others may find abundant encouragement, and admonition, to repair to the throne of grace in prayer on behalf of those whom they love, as well as for themselves. For he is lunatic and sore vexed. It is our privilege to recount our griefs, and to declare our necessities, before the Lord, in the full assurance that no affliction can be so great as to be beyond the reach of his power and goodness. There must be a strong sense of need at the foundation of earnest prayer. The soul that does not know and feel its misery is dumb before the God of grace and consolation. For ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. How many and various are the natural dangers which surround us, from the influence of which we are preserved by that one blessing, health,-the continuance of our bodily powers and the faculties of our minds, by the continual support and goodness of Divine providence!— How many, too, and how various are the spiritual mischiefs which Satan is continually seeking to bring upon our souls!

Sometimes he would cast us

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