sign of our divine Teacher, in adopting the proverbs of the Rabbis, was, to heighten the severity of his reproof, and to show that the vices, which those hypocrites censured in others with such asperity, were, though very reprehensible, as inferior to the crimes in which they securely indulged as a small splinter of wood, or particle of dust, is inferior to a beam. The import of the expression used by our Saviour is this. Why are you so sharp sighted in discerning trifling faults in others, while you have great errors of conduct to correct in yourselves?

Our Lord next cautions his followers against attempting to instruct those who despise and ridicule religion, who are obstinately bent upon evil, and hardened against reproof. "Give not," says our Saviour," "that which is holy to dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." Dogs were held in detestation by the Jews. By this animal, our Saviour intends men of odious character and violent temper. St Paul names the opposers of the Gospel by this appellation. "Beware of dogs." (See Phil. iii. 2.) By pearls, religious instruction is to be understood; and these gems are a fit emblem of any thing of uncommon excellence.

The

disposition ascribed to the hog, in this proverbial saying of our divine Instructer, corresponds with the natural character of these ani

mals. They are obstinate and untractable. By the Mosaic law they were ranked among the unclean animals, the use of which was forbidden to the Jews.

As our Lord had, in his admirable discourse, enjoined many important and arduous duties, he exhorts his auditors to implore divine assistance, to enable them to perform them. "Ask,” saith he, "and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." "Asking, seeking, and knocking, are different words to express the fervor of our devotion. This earnestness implies the existence of those good dispositions, which Christ has previously enjoined; such as freedom from worldly mindedness, confidence in God, and charity towards mankind.

"Enter ye in," saith our Saviour, “at the strait gate. At the banquets of the ancients, the gate, on the coming of the guests, was made narrow, the wicket only being left open, and the porter standing to prevent the unbidden from rushing in. Those who were admitted had to go along a narrow passage to the room. When the guests had arrived, the door was shut, not to be opened to those who stood and knocked without. This is represented in the parable of the ten virgins, Matt. Christ, by whom we enter into the marriage feast, compares himself to a gate. John x. 12, &c.

XXV. 2.

A false teacher is often compared to the wolf, in the sacred scriptures; and without straining the metaphor several points of resemblance may be perceived. "Beware," said our Lord to the multitudes, "beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing," gentle, unassuming, and harmless in their demeanour and profession, as that inoffensive animal; "but inwardly they are ravening wolves;" in their temper and secret purposes, deceitful, cruel, and rapacious; under the covert of moderation and piety, lying in wait to deceive the unwary soul. Such were the men, concerning whom the apostle warned the elders of the church of Ephesus: "For I know this, that after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." The Hebrew nation used to call those, who took upon themselves the instruction of the people, especially if they pretended to be divinely commissioned, prophets; not confining this name to those who predicted future events. The false prophets or teachers here spoken of, were either Scribes and Pharisees, who exerted all their influence to dissuade the people from believing in Christ; or Christian preachers, who professed themselves the followers of our Lord, but corrupted the genuine doctrines of his religion, from worldly motives. In order to guard against the deceptive arts of false teachers, our Lord directs us to examine their

conduct.

"Ye may," said he, "know them by their fruits," that is, by the general tenor of their moral conduct.

Our Lord makes the following striking comparison. "Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock."

The state of things in Judea, as described by travellers in that country, will illustrate the meaning of the comparison which our Lord here uses. The land of Canaan is described as an exceedingly hilly and rocky country; but the rocks are frequently covered with a thin coat of earth or sand. During the rainy season, the water pours down in great violence sometimes for three or four days and nights together, so as to produce great torrents in every part of the country. These violent rains, in a mountainous land, must occasion inundations, endangering buildings which happen to be placed within their reach, by washing away the soil under them, and occasioning their fall. To accidents of this kind our Saviour alludes, in his description of the ruin of a house built upon the sand.

He

shews the striking contrast between the foolish man's building on the sand, or loose soil, and the wise man's digging down to the rock, before he laid the foundation of his building.

"And it came to pass," says the Evangelist, "when Jesus had finished these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrines; for he taught as one having authority, and not as the Scribes."

Our Lord spoke with an authority which excited the astonishment of the people, because he delivered not the variable and contradictory opinions of men; but taught the doctrines which his heavenly Father commanded him to reveal. He also taught as

one having authority," because he enforced his doctrines by the highest sanction; that is, the sanction of a future state. Other teachers of morality recommended virtue, because it generally brings with it its own reward of honour, success, and happiness. These motives, however, which, in circumstances the most favorable, are unable to withstand the strength of human passion, or the temptations to vice, must have been still less effectual in the circumstances of our Saviour's disciples, for he taught his followers to take up their cross and follow him, and to imitate him in a course of self-denying virtue.

Lastly, Jesus did not teach as the Scribes, because the Jewish Rabbis contented themselves with discoursing about ceremonies and traditions; but he drew their attention from those trivial and contemptible things, to lead them to the greatest and noblest objects.

I will conclude my remarks on our Lord's