Such are the several branches of moral righteousness inculcated by the Son of God; but some are so perverse in their dispositions, and so obsti nately attached to their evil practices and errors, that it is impossible to reclaim them; and therefore our Saviour advises his followers not to attempt it: "Give not" says he, "that which is holy unto the dogs; neither cast ye your pearis before swine, lest they tread them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." Lastly, that it might not be supposed that the moral precepts of Christianity were above the attainment of mankind, our Lord proceeded to inform his hearers, how gracious, and full of compassion, their heavenly father was, and how ready to hear and assist all who called upon him; and in consequence advised them humbly to intreat his assistance, and at the same time that they exerted their utmost endeavors to do his will, and be found in the way of his commandments "Ask," says he, "and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." Our Lord appeals to their own feelings towards their children, as an encouragement to be earnest in their petitions to their heavenly father: "If ye being evil," said he, "know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?" But, that they might not depend on the divine assistance without the diligent exertion of their utmost endeavours, our Lord immediately adds, "Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is: the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth to life, and few there be that find it."

The illustrious preacher, before he concluded his discourse, proceeded to warn, bis hearers of false prophets and teachers, who would come with fair pretences; but as their lives and conversations were not answerable to their profession, nor honourable to the cause they espoused, they were to be despised and disregarded: "Ye shall know them by their fruits," said the divine teacher; " do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." It is not the pretences to extraordinary piety and goodness; it is not the most flaming zeal, or the most ardent devotion, that will compensate for a disregard to the divine commands, or a depar ture from the unvariable rules of righteousness and goodness. "It is not every one that saith, Lord, Lord," said the exalted Saviour of mankind, "shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven." And then he sums up the whole, with a beautiful and striking simile, intended to demonstrate the absolute necessity of such a regard to the words of CHRIST influenced the mind and determined the conduct in an universal and persisting obedience: "Therefore," said he, "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 rains 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. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shail be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell and great was the fall of it." Thus ended our Lord's excellent and admirable sermon. The multitudes stood around him with the utmost attention and surprise. The plain tokens of divinity which attended his discourse, joined with his all-commanding eloquence, attracted overy eye, and affected every heart: but what surprised them the more was, the difference of his doctrine from what they before had heard; "for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes."

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CHAPTER XI.

CHRIST having finished his Sermon on the mount, repairs to Capernaum, and on his way there is met by a leprous person, whom he cleanses: On his entering the city, he is accosted by a Roman Centurian, whose - servant was ill of the palsy, whom he heals: He afterwards repairs to the Synagogue on the Sabbath day, where he dispossesseth a devil: - He cures Peter's wife's mother of a fever, and many other diseased persons: He travels through Galilee; and directs the Disciples to take a great draught of fishes.

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....THE exalted Saviour of sinners, having finished his sermon, came down from the mountain, attended by a great concourse of people, who had listened to his discourse, with the mixt emotions of wonder and joy. They surrounded the divine person of our Redeemer, with the most respectful regard, and soon an incident arose which gave them fresh cause of wonder and praise. As he was on his way to Capernaum, he was met by a leprous person, who, doubtless, having heard of his wonderful works, and the condescending goodness with which he relieved the afflicted and diseased, threw himself with the utmost humility at his feet, and cried, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean."

The species of leprosy common amongst the eastern nations, and the Jews, was very nauseus and infectious, as well as extremely hard to be cured. Our Lord was not deterred by this, from approaching an object so loathsome; but, full of pity, he condescended so far as to touch him, with this reply, "I will be thou clean." The dire infection immédiately fled before the touch of the Son of God; who charged the person, thus instantaneously healed, not to publish the matter abroad, but go directly and shew himself to the priest, offering at the same time, the oblations which the law in such cases required.

The blessed JESUS then proceeded to Capernaum, but as he entered the city, he was accosted by a Roman centurion, who with the care and tenderness of an indulgent master, informed him of the dreadful condition of his servant, who was afflicted with a paralytic disorder, and grievously tormented with pain. The compassionate Redeemer of mankind, listened to his complaint with pitying attention, and replied to his address, that he would come and heal him. The centurion thought this goodness too much to be expected by one who was not of the Israelitish nation, and, therefore, told our Lord, that he was not worthy so illustrious a person should come under his roof; and he, very probably, having heard of the nobleman's son, who, while he lay sick at Capernaum, was healed by JESUS, when he was so far off as Cana, desired our Lord only to speak the word, and he doubted not but his servant would be healed; for he believed, that diseases and devils were as much under the command of our Redeemer, as his soldiers are subject to the will, and obeyed the word of their commander. Our Lord was well pleased with the centurion's faith, and commended it in the highest terms; "I have not found," said he, "so great faith, no not in Israel."

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The believing stranger, having applied the most exalted ideas of the divine power and goodness goodness to JESUS CHRIST, who appeared to be no more than a man, our Lord took occasion, from the open confession of his faith, to declare the gracious design of his Almighty Father towards the Gentile world, and gave the surrounding multitude to understand, that the divine goodness was not confined to the seed of Abraham nor to the land of Israel: "And I say unto you," said he, "that many shall come from the east, and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.". And having a clear view of the obstinacy impenitence, and final unbelief of the Jewish nation, he added, " But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall he weeping and gnashing of teeth." Having thus spoken to the listening throng, our Lord directed his discourse to the centurion, and said, "Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee;" and immediately the servant was healed.

On the next sabbath day, JESUS went to the Jewish synagogue at Capernaum, and instructed the people with such energy and power, and at the same time, with such remarkable plainness and simplicity, that the congregation heard him with the greatest pleasure and surprise: and to increase their admiration, there was a person in the assembly, that was possessed by an unclean and wicked spirit, who cried out in the most dreadful manner: "Let us alone, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of God." But the blessed JESUS, who wanted no such testimony commanded him to keep silence, and immediately come out of the man; this command, the wicked spirit durst not disobey, and directly complied, leaving the disordered person, to the astonishment of the whole congregation.

It is constantly alledged, by those who are enemies to our religion, and delight to cavil with the conduct of our Redeemer, and depreciate his mighty deeds, that the persons, who are said in the gospels to be possessed by devils, were only affected by some strange and unaccountable disorders; and because sepulchres were esteemed polluted places, the melancholy persons who frequented them, were said to be possessed with the devil.And the adversaries of our religion, are fond of inquiring, why there should be any more dæmons in Judea, than in any other country.

To these objections it may, with great certainty be replied, that these dæmoniacs were not persons affected only with some uncommon and dreadful disease; for the evangelists have taken care to be very particular on that head: and being possessed with the devil, is carefully distinguished from any other affliction and complaint: St. Matthew tells us, that,

They brought unto Christ, all sick people, that were taken with divers diseases, and those that were possessed with devils, and those that were lunatic; and he healed them," chap. iv. ver. 24. And again, chap. x. ver.

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"He gave to the apostles power against evil spirits to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sicknesses and diseases." And we are informed by St. Mark, chap. i. 34 "That they healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out devils." There is in these passages a plain distinc tion between those who were sick of various diseases, and those who were possessed with devils; and this being distinctly noticed by the evangelists, it cannot be supposed, that there were not plain, evident marks of distinetion, which made the cure so manifest, that there was no danger of being deceived.

And it may further be observed, to those who doubt of the existence of evil spirits, that they cannot entertain such doubts without questioning the truth of the Holy Scriptures; for the sacred writers have laid down several particulars concerning these impious and envious beings; they have taken care to acquaint us with their original and fall, their names and numbers, their government and orders, their malicious designs, and various of their employments; and it is abundantly evident, both from sacred and profane history, that before our Saviour's ascension, there were great numbers of persons possessed with evil spirits. These evil spirits had gained so great an ascendency, and taken possession of so large a part of the world, that they reviled the great Creator in his worship; and in several heathen nations, there were oracles which were applied to, in order to resolve the doubts, and answer the enquiries of their worshippers. And as the design of our Lord's incarnation, and his whole ministry, was "to destroy the works of the devil;" perhaps, the reason why these apostate spirits were so frequently permitted to appear in Judea at this time, was, that the Son of God might, in a more manifest and triumphant manner, display his authority and power over the prince of darkness, and all his infernal legions, and thereby convince the wondering world, that he was really the Son of God, and the Saviour of mankind.

The fame of this miracle was soon spread over the neighbouring country. Our Redeemer had healed the sick, and done various wonderful works, which had excited the admiration of the people, and raised their expectations of something very great and advantageous to the Jewish nation, to arise from so extraordinary a person. But when the people beheld him, in the public assembly, with a commanding authority, dispossess the devil, und drive the powers of darkness before him; their astonishment increased, and they acknowledged that this was " the mighty power of God."

Our Lord having performed this miracle in the synagogue, he departed to Peter's house, whose wife's mother lay sick of a fever he took her by the hand, and immediately the fever left her; and so perfectly was she restored to her former health, that she arose and ministered unto him."The evangelist Luke, in his account of this wonderful cure, says that "he rebuked the fever;" which is a figurative way of speaking, conformable to the language of the Scriptures, where not only the inanimate parts of the creation, but diseases, famine, pestilence, and the like, are personated and represented as the servants of the Almighty, to execute his vengeance on rebellious sinners: hence, says the prophet, "before him went the pestilence: and burning diseases went forth at his feet."

Our Lord being grown popular, and famed through the city of Caperna um, for the authority and eloquence of his teaching, and the manifold wonders which he wrought, vast numbers of people resorted to him while he abode at Peter's house, and brought with them great numbers of persons, and those who were possessed with devils. The kind and compassionate Saviour of the world, was touched with pity at the sight of so many distressed and afflicted objects; when he immediately healed them all, and fulfilled, by his extensive, all-relieving goodness, the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, " He himself took our infirmities, and bare our sick

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But the vast crowds of people, who now gathered about him in Capernaum, were not easily to be borne, and to avoid the troublesome press, our Redeemer retired to the desert, whither he was soon followed by great inultitudes of people, who were so delighted with his instructions, and had conceived so high an opinion of him, from his kind condescension, and his

many wonderful works, that they desired him never to depart from them But this request being inconsistant with the nature of his ministry, and the great design of his coming into the world, he departed from the desert " and preached, in the synagogues of Galilee;" and after he had proceeded through various cities of that country, he returned to Capernaum.

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When our great Redeemer was known to returned to the city, he was soon surrounded by great multitudes of people; so that he was forced to retire into a ship, which being a little way from the shore, the divine Instructor taught them from thence, while the attentive multitude crowded the sea-side, and listened with great attention to his heavenly words.

When he had finished his discourse; he turned to Peter, who was the owner of the vessel, and advised him to launch out further from the shore, and let down his fishing net into the sea. Peter informed him of their unsuccessful toil during the night, but said, at his command, they would let down their net and make one trial more. Accordingly, they, cast into the water, and immediately found that their net had inelosed so prodigious a number of large fish, that it was in danger of breaking. Peter surprised at so strange a turn, and such an unexpected success, and knowing it inust be produced by a supernatural power fell down at Jesus' feet, " Depart from me," said he, for I am a sinfal man, O Lord!" He was convinced, by this miracle, of the divinity of his master, and was at that time impressed with awe from a sense of his own unworthiness: but the all-gracious Saviour of mankind bid him banish his fears, and informed him, that henceforth himself and his companions should be engaged in more noble employments. Our Lord declared that they should catch men, meaning that they should be instrumental in turning them from darkness to light, and from sin and Satan, to the knowledge of God.

This miracle was considered, by the disciples of CHRIST, as a fuller and plainer manifestation of bis divine power, and a clearer evidence of his being the Son of God, than those they had seen him perform in Capernaum and the adjacent country. It was the common opinion amongst the Jews, that good men, by their prayers, might prevail so far with the almighty Governor of the world, as to heal the sick and to cast out devils; but they concluded that the creatures inhabiting the elements of the air or water, were subject only to the commands of our great Creator: and as he never granted to man an authority over these, the miracle which our Saviour had just wrought, proved him to be the Son of God, and the great Messiah; and accordingly this manifestation of divine power fully convinced the disciples of the divinity of their master, and all of them, without hesitation, joined in the resolution to follow him through the world..