The Gospel. St. Luke xviii. 9. ESUS spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican: I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. assertion. But there is another part of the same argument, and it is not less interesting or less powerful in many respects than the former. St. Paul himself had been led to preach the Gospel from a proof of its truth, which left him nothing to doubt. His personal character and circumstances at the time of his conversion, and the course which he afterwards pursued, viewed together, bring his simple statement, "And last of all he was seen of me also," into the direct line of the argument, and appeal with irresistible force to candid and unprejudiced minds. THE GOSPEL.-Christ's treatment of the several classes of His countrymen affords a striking illus tration both of the grandeur of His character, and of the truth of His doctrines. The Pharisees at this period were not only the most powerful, but the most popular of the sects into which the nation was divided. But He allowed no occasion to pass in which He could rebuke them for those very things by which they had gained their reputation. The publicans, on the other hand, were the most despised of the people, and their unpopularity was founded in reasons which have at all times been regarded as sufficient to justify popular hatred. Our Lord, however, did not shrink from the task of proving that the sins of the latter repented of, would form a far less obstacle to their justification before God, than would the ostentatious pretensions of the former to a sanctity which had neither the spirit nor the substance of true holiness. Sincere repentance obtains, through Christ, forgiveness. The proud claims of man can never prevail with God. Self-confidence of every kind is not merely rebuked in this parable;-it is brought to the bar of judgment, and solemnly condemned. Pride enters the heart through many channels; but it manifests in all cases the same nature, blinding the understanding, and perverting the affections. It is on this account our Lord tells us that, "Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased;" there being no exception to the condemnation of a vice which produces such fearful ravages on the happiness of mankind, and which is in itself rebellion against the majesty of God,-a disowning of His truth, and a rejection of His mercy. Humility, on the contrary, opens the heart to every grace ;teaches the soul to confess God's sovereignty and adore His goodness ;-nor leaves it to indulge, unrebuked, in any thought or practice prejudicial to the happiness of the world. The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire, or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen. THE COLLECT. This beautiful prayer teaches us to make a confession which belongs to every heart properly animated by the mingled graces of humility and love. We know God's unchangeable goodness, yet our trust and thankfulness are ever on the ebb. Our wants are innumerable, even when we think of those only which the Gospel permits us to lay before God; yet how rarely do we seek with proportionable earnestness for their relief at the mercy-seat of heaven? God's bounty is more active than our faith, or we should perish for want, both spiritual and natural. The Epistle. 2 Cor. iii. 4. UCH trust have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death written and engraven in stones was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away; how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. The Gospel. St. Mark vii. 31. ESUS, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, THE EPISTLE.-The great support of the first preachers of the Gospel consisted in their constant reference to the present power of God. On surveying the wide fields of labour into which they were sent, human feeling must have shrunk with terror from the prospect, at the simple recollection of the responsibility involved in such an undertaking. Much more must this have been the case when the world was seen rising in active opposition against them, and arming itself with every weapon of destruction. But their trust in God made them sufficient for the work. They became able ministers of the New Covenant ;-they taught a religion illumined by the full light of the divine Spirit, and of which every part was redolent of life, glory, and intelligence. Moses teaching the law, and establishing a system of types and emblems, the one condemning, and the other not fully understood, was surrounded with a beaming splendour: how much more, then, may the Gospel lay claim to be regarded with admiration and obedient love! and he spit, and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; and were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. THE GOSPEL.-Our Lord visited the extreme parts of the land in the journeys which He took, going about to do good. The coasts of Tyre and Sidon stretched along the Mediterranean Sea, forming the north-western limit of the ancient Canaan. Decapolis received its name from being a district containing ten cities, and skirted the sea of Galilee. The appearance of Christ in these neglected neighbourhoods fulfilled the prophecy-"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”—Isaiah ix. 2. In the miracle wrought on the occasion described, our Lord exercised His power by the use of a simple and significant sign. This could not have been needed as a help to His power; for it was just as impossible for any one else to give such efficacy to the means which He employed, as it was to perform the cure without the use of means. He probably took this method on the present occasion for the purpose of rendering the miracle more intelligible to the rude and simple people who surrounded Him, or to the person on whom it was wrought. The reason why He charged those who witnessed it to tell no man, was, it may be conjectured, this :He knew that mere wonder would, in most cases, be excited by the relation; and that among those who listened with curiosity to the account, questionings and disputes, and, soon after, scornful denials of the truth of the report would arise, which would prejudice His cause, and injure the effect to be looked for from the labours of His Apostles. But as it was only in some cases He gave the admonition, there were probably particular circumstances, occasioned by the place or the time, which rendered it better that no excitement should be produced by His works. His object rarely appears to have been to rouse the minds of multitudes by His miracles, but to convert and assure those whose hearts were open to the persuasions of His Gospel. The testimony of the multitude to the greatness of His works was gladly given. "He hath done all things well; He maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." But this was the exclamation of astonishment rather than of the thankful faith and love which give evidence of conversion. The sight of a miracle naturally excites wonder; and when it has been evidently wrought from compassion, the feeling of surprise becomes imbued with a corresponding sentiment of affection and veneration. This, in all ages, would be the consequence of a display of power similar to that which Jesus now exercised. The multitude has no interest to oppose to the expression of natural emotion. But with all the miracles which our Lord performed, and at the sight of which the crowd gave loose to so much wonder, few only were converted; and the great work of establishing the Gospel was referred to a period when miracles should have gradually ceased, and the power of God should be made manifest not by His visible operations, but by His Spirit, working silently through the word of truth, and in the hearts of willing hearers. Whoever will carefully consider the character of Christianity-the history of its foundation and progress, will see reason to entertain the most profound admiration of the wisdom by which it has been established. Sensible wonders first proved the truth of its pretensions. Its Author brought it to the world with the power of heaven about Him. But the very design of the religion was to provide mankind with the means of peace and conversion. His blood alone could give the one-His Spirit alone could work the other. No sooner, therefore, had He offered a sufficient degree of evidence of the inferior kind to secure the belief of the few required for the publishing of His message, than He brought into operation the grander and more essential powers of the system; working not visible miracles which hundreds might see, but giving to every convert, for his own sake, the evidence which he might best feel and understand to his everlasting comfort. The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Collect. LMIGHTY and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service; Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. THE COLLECT.-We acknowledge that it is our duty to serve God; but His faithful people do more: they regard it as their chief honour and pleasure to be able to perform His will, and to love the work about which He employs them. Yet when they compare their own happy sentiments on this subject with the feelings of the world, a new cause for thankfulness is excited in their minds. They know it is by the gift of God only that they are able thus to think and to do; and hence they ever pray with devout earnestness for the continuance and increase of that grace which, helping them to do the will of their Father here, will surely lead them to His blessed abode in heaven. |