If

or such a morality; and therefore that Jesus must have existed such as they describe him, and must have delivered a system such as they have recorded. Apparent as it is to modern Christians, they did not see the force of their Master's declaration to the multitude, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which cometh out of the mouth;" nor its applicability to the charge of the Pharisees. Jesus, in compassion to their slowness of understanding, dwells more at large on this remark; and adds the farther explanation, verses 19, 20, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man." It is a peculiarity which distinguishes the Christian religion from every other system pretending to a divine origin, that in the Gospel the heart is everything. the heart be pure, all the acts are pure, however they may be directed by a misinformed judgment; and if the heart be impure, the life and conversation partake of its foulness. The heart is the fountain from which the hundred diverging streams proceed, and all waters partake of the nature of their origin. The body and its organs are but the servants of the heart, compelled to do its bidding, and obey its commandments. If the heart be vicious, then the eye obeys, and looks wanton or revengeful; the tongue obeys, and speaks blasphemies or reproaches; the hand obeys, and practises dishonesty or murder; the feet obey, and travel in the road of forbidden gratification. But if the heart be virtuous, the eye is upturned in devotion, or bent on men in tenderness; the tongue peals out the hymn of adoration, or speaks the accents of human love; the hand grasps in fervent amity, or is "open as day with melting charity;" the feet are directed to the house of God, or to those thousand spots where there is sorrow to be comforted or misery relieved. The life is the only test we can have whereby to judge of the complexion of the heart. It is wrong, therefore, to deny the religious character of that man whose actions are guided by the rules of Gospel morality; and, on the other hand, no matter what a man's pretence to piety may be, he should not be credited so long as he continues uncharitable in his speech, in

temperate or unchaste in his habits, dishonest in his dealings, a bad husband, a bad father, or a bad neighbour. How important, then, the advice of Solomon, "Keep the heart, for out of it are the issues of life."

After this controversy with the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus departs into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, when a woman, whom Matthew calls Canaanite, probably from her descent, and Mark a Syrophenician, from her place of residence, beseeches him, saying (verse 22), «Have mercy on me, O Lord [O Master], thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil [demon]." By her addressing him as the Son of David, a title equivalent to Messias, it appears she was satisfied that he was the promised Saviour. Jesus returns no answer to her request for the restoration of her lunatic or epileptic child; anxious, in all probability, to afford her an opportunity of manifesting strength of faith and fervour of petition. His followers seemed troubled by her importunity, for they remonstrated with him, "Send her away; for she crieth after us." His answer was, "I am not sent, save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The Jews had hitherto been God's chosen people, whom he had selected from among the nations of the earth to be his peculiar worshippers; to whom alone he had communicated a revelation of his entire will; to whom had been foretold, by the lips of his anointed prophets, the coming of Messias, their King. It was meet, therefore, that the glad tidings should be first published to them; that Jesus should make his appearance in Judea, and give its inhabitants full opportunity to judge of his claims to be esteemed the Christ of God, before the Gospel should be proclaimed to the heathen. He had received a peculiar and particular commission, whose bounds were not to be exceeded, unless under extraordinary circumstances: he knew that his miraculous powers were bestowed chiefly for the conversion of his countrymen; and, therefore, he seems to scruple, at the first, whether he should employ them for the benefit of a foreigner. Such is the meaning of the answer, "I am not sent, save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The Syrophenician woman was not deterred by this unpropitious declaration; she reiterated her petition:

“Then came she, and worshipped him [or paid him respect as an inspired Teacher], saying, Master, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." The meaning of Jesus here, is the same as in the previous declaration, that his miraculous powers, of curing diseases, &c. were intended, by their Almighty Bestower, chiefly for the benefit of the Hebrews, and were not unnecessarily to be exercised in direct favour of the Gentiles. The "bread" of miracles was not to be taken from the "children" of the promise, and bestowed on the "dogs," or unclean persons of the heathen. The Gentiles were called "dogs" by the Jewish people; and the Master, here, as elsewhere, adopts the usual phraseology of his countrymen. The reply of the supplicant is exceedingly beautiful, "And she said, Truth, Master: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." I do not desire what is provided for those highly favoured children; only what remains after their wants are satisfied; a single exertion of thy power in restoring my daughter to sanity, is all that I request; and this the Jews can well spare, without lessening the provision that is made for themselves. How admirably she adopts our Lord's similitude; and how skilfully she extends it so as to be an argument in her favour! Jesus was pleased with her affection for her child, with the earnestness of her petition, with the beauty of her reply, with the fervour of her faith; and answered her, "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee as thou wilt." It must be gratifying to every feeling heart, to read the conclusion. of this interesting narrative, "And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

Verses 32 to end, record the feeding of above four thousand persons, with seven loaves and a few fishes; a miracle similar to that which was considered at the close of the last chapter.

CHAPTER XVI.

Verse 1: "The Pharisees also, with the Sadducees, came." (See on Chapter iii. 7.)

Verse 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." Perhaps no single text of Scripture has been more misunderstood, more misinterpreted, or more perverted to immoral purposes than this one. On this passage, the Church of Rome has founded its claims to the power of forgiving sins, after the confession of the sinner, and the performance of some bodily penance imposed upon him for his transgressions. In a word, this is their Scriptural authority for the doctrine of ABSOLUTION. This censure is not passed upon the Church of Rome exclusively; it falls equally upon other churches calling themselves Protestant. The same power is not only claimed, but also exercised by the clergy of the English Establishment. In the Book of Common Prayer, and in the order for the "Visitation of the Sick," the attending minister is instructed to move the sick person "to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled .with any weighty matter. After which confession, the priest shall absolve him (or give him absolution), if he humbly and heartily desire it." The form of absolution which he is to use, is also to be found in the same passage. "Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences: and by his authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Here is confession to a priest, and absolution from a priest. Not only the English, but also the Scottish Establishment arrogates to itself this power of forgiving sins. In the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter xxx. § 2, it is said, To the officers of the Church "the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed, by virtue whereof they have power respectively to retain and remit sins, to shut that kingdom against the impenitent both by the word and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners by the ministry of the Gospel, and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require." Thus the or a doctrine of absolution is maintained not only by the Church of Rome, but also by the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. It would be an act of

supererogation, to show the unreasonableness of that doctrine. Jesus never gave to mere uninspired men the power of forgiving the sins of their fellow-creatures. How can we know who are truly penitent, without ourselves possessing more than human wisdom? The sorrow and alarm of a sinner on his death-bed, are not so much regret for sin, as the dread of punishment: and can man, "whose breath is in his nostrils," cleanse the blood from the soul of the murderer by his words of absolution? This grievous error has arisen from a misunderstanding or a misinterpretation of the language of Jesus to Peter. By a proper exposition of the text, it will appear, that not even Peter himself had the power which is now claimed by the Romish, English, and Scottish Churches. "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." It must always be kept in mind, that Jesus was a native Jew; that his Apostles were native Jews; that he spoke the language in common use among his countrymen; that he alluded to the prevailing customs of Judea. The question then is, how would a Jew of that day, understand the language addressed to Peter? Let us strive to ascertain. It was a practice among the Jews, when they made a man Doctor of the Law, to put into his possession the key of the closet in the temple, where the Sacred Books, and also tablets to write upon, were deposited. By this symbolical proceeding, they intended to signify that they gave him authority to teach and expound the Scriptures to the people. Jesus makes allusion to this custom; he promises to give Peter "the keys of the kingdom of heaven," or of the Gospel; in other words, to give him the privilege of opening or teaching his doctrines to the world. This promise was fulfilled; for Peter was the first, after the resurrection of Christ, to proclaim Christianity to the Jews, and also to the Gentiles; he had "the keys," and opened to them the gate of the Gospel. "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." To understand this aright, recourse must again be had to