ferments, and makes like itself the whole, so doctrines, or principles, whether good or bad, influence, according to their own nature, the affections and conduct of those who embrace them. "The kingdom of heaven," said Christ, "is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump," said Paul twice. "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Having, in the foregoing chapter, given various illustrations of Pharisaical hypocrisy, Jesus now, in express terms, guards his disciples against it. He guards them against pretending to be what they were not-against assuming the character, and resting satisfied with the outward appearance and form of religion, when they were destitute of its reality and power. He then proceeds to show them the complete folly of hypocrisy, from the consideration that, sooner or later, it would be detected and exposed. "For there is nothing covered," nothing so carefully concealed, "that shall not be revealed," and laid open; "neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore," or, so that, “whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear," or whispered, " in closets," in the most retired places, "shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." The roofs of houses, in the East, were flat, and it was customary to go out on them, for various purposes; and, in particular, as appears from this passage, to make proclamations in the hearing of those who were on the streets. As there are no bells in Turkey, criers proclaim, at the present day, the hours of Mohammedan worship from the housetops, or minarets of the mosques.

Now, my friends, what Jesus said to his disciples you ought to consider him as also saying to you, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." And, that you may be able to know and avoid this sin, notice these marks of the hypocrite. He is one who pretends to be possessed of the inward graces of faith and regeneration, when he is not. He is one who, though he engage in exercises of devotion, is not interested in them. who wishes rather to appear than to be pious. who partially chooses some duties (and these are generally the more noticeable) to the neglect of other duties which are generally the more secret and more weighty. He is known by his pride, as is shown in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican; and, having no root in himself, he falls away

He is one
He is one

in the time of trial. "What is the hope of the hypocrite," asks Job, "though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?"

ap

Let Job's question lead you to think seriously and with godly jealousy over yourselves, of the possibility and danger of your indulging a hypocritical spirit and a false hope. It may appear somewhat strange that a hypocrite should have any hope, but be it remembered that he sometimes succeeds in imposing on himself, as well as on others. He may have hope from his ignorance of himself from his disregard of the spirituality and extent of the divine law-from the flatteries of others, and from the length he may go in knowledge, in belief of certain things, in spurious repentance, in passing and unfruitful joy, in abstaining from gross sins, in the preservation of external decency, in the outward observance of ordinances, and, in short, in whatever has the pearance, but not the reality of religion. The hypocrite, it is also implied, may gain somewhat; if he act his part well, he may gain some worldly end-he may gain a false peace, and he may gain the esteem of his fellow-creatures during his life, and their applause when he is dead. But what are his hope and his gain worth, when God taketh away his soul? when God says unto him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee?" What can he be profited, however much he gain, if he lose his own soul? How can his hope endure, when it has no support, or nourishment? "Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish; whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be as a spider's web. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand; he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure." Nay, hypocrisy entails not only disappointment, but ruin. The portion appointed for the hypocrites is to be "cut asunder," and condemned to the place where there are "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

If, then, there be any of you who are living in a state of conscious hypocrisy, surely nothing can be more plain to yourselves than that you ought immediately to seek another spirit. And as there may be of you who are not quite aware of it, but who are habitually hypocritical notwithstanding; it will be well for you to try how far your true, undisguised, inward feelings correspond with your outward

profession and actions, for this, in praying for the influence of the Holy Spirit, is the likely way to bring you to conviction. Remember, that while man looketh on the outward appearance, the Lord looketh on the heart; and that, though you may impose on others, and even on yourselves, you cannot impose on him.

Let it be reinembered, too, that as believers, though they have every grace in some degree, have no grace in perfection, so, in particular, the grace of sincerity is not perfect in them; in other words, let it be remembered, that there is some hypocrisy even in the people of God. Let those who truly fear the Lord be aware of this, that they may conscientiously guard against it. Let not their prayer proceed out of feigned lips. Let them see to it that their hearts go along with their words and actions. With this view, let them endeavour to realize an abiding sense of God's presence and omniscience; and let the prayer of each of them be, “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me."—" Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart”— "I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers."

Verses 4-7: “And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do: but I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Having, in the preceding verses, warned his disciples against hypocrisy, Jesus, in these, warns them against the sinful fear of man. It was not unusual for him to repeat some truths on different occasions, in similar, though not always the very same words; and we find the greater part of what is recorded here also recorded, in reference probably to an earlier period, in the 10th chapter of Matthew. He here addressed his disciples by the endearing appellation of "friends," to signify the love he bore to them, and the intimacy to which he admitted them. 'Henceforth," said he,* "I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known

John xv. 15.

66

66

unto you." This caution against the fear of man, or exhortation to holy courage, was peculiarly suitable to the disciples who were soon to be exposed to very severe trials for Jesus' sake. They shall put you out of the synagogues,' said he elsewhere; "yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth will think that he doeth God service.""Be you not afraid of them that kill the body;" let not the apprehension of persecution, though it should be unto death, so terrify you as to cause you to apostatize from me, or to sink into despondency. Men can kill the body, "but after that have no more that they can do." According to Matt. x. 28, Jesus said, "They are not able to kill the soul." Men's rage can affect the martyrs no farther than their martyrdom. Their body, when deprived of life, is insensible to further abusive treatment, and their soul is safe for ever. They cannot kill the soul-this expression plainly teaches that the soul is immaterial, or altogether different from the body; that it survives the death of the body, and that it enters immediately on a new state of conscious existence. This is the first consideration which our Lord addressed to his disciples, as a reason against the fear of man: and surely it was well adapted to that purpose, for why should their apprehension, even of the killing of the body, which must at all events die a natural death ere long, move from their stedfastness those whose souls cannot be injured, and whose hopes are sure for eternity?

"But," adds our Lord, "I will forewarn," or point out to, "you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." Or, according to Matthew, "Fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Viewing this verse in a general way, we learn from it that it is the duty of believers to fear God, not indeed with a slavish fear, or terror, but with that holy and filial fear, with that reverence, which makes them afraid to offend, and anxious in every respect to please him. We are here reminded, also, of the solemn truth that the anger and the favour of God extend far beyond death, introducing the departed soul immediately, and the risen body at the last day, into endless misery, or endless happiness. Viewing, again, the verse in the connexion in which it here stands with the exhortation against the fear of man, it not only presents the proper object of fear in contrast with the improper, but suggests a strong reason in favour of the one, and against the other; for,

however terrible the wrath of man may be, the wrath of God must be much more terrible to those who have any correct idea of what it implies; and therefore, every enlightened man must see the wisdom of submitting to any sacrifice, however great, rather than that he should apostatize from the truth, and thereby incur the endless displeasure of the Almighty.

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows. The Roman coins were now in common use in Judea, and indeed through the greater part of the world. The Roman farthing,* being one-tenth of the value of the penny, † and the penny being equal to sevenpence halfpenny of our money, their farthing, of course, was equal to three farthings of our money. On the former occasion, as related by Matthew, our Lord said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?"-and here he says, "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings?" -a proportion which is often observed in selling articles, according to the rule of some advantage being allowed when a greater number are taken. These birds seem to have been used for food. Of small value as they are, "not one of them is forgotten before God." They are not forgotten, for they are cared for, and provided for, during their life: "Our heavenly Father feedeth them.” Nor are they forgotten in their death, seeing not one of them dies, or is killed, but by his appointment: as it is in Matthew, "One of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” It is not altogether uninteresting to remark that even the ancient heathen had some idea of a kind of providence, or superhuman purpose and power, which they called fate, being concerned in the life and death of animals; thus, Homer,§ in one of his similes, speaks of a stag escaping from the hunters, because it was not in the fates that they should catch him. A Jewish writer gives this account of three men, who, at an early period, in order to shelter themselves from a dreadful persecution, shut themselves up in a cave, and lived on dry husks. After thirteen years they came out, and sitting at the mouth of the cave, they observed a fowler stretching his nets to catch birds; and as often as the Bath Kol (that is, the daughter of the voice, "As" or "assarius." "Denarius." + Matt. x. 29. § Οὐδ' άρα τε σφι κιχημεναι αίσιμον ἦεν.—Π. xv. 274.