The Epistle. Gal. iii. 16.

O Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one; And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, That the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the Law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can

not disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the Law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the Law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one; but God is one. Is the Law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the Law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

THE EPISTLE.-This important exposition of the doctrine of justification claims our most attentive study. It shows how "the Gospel was preached beforehand unto Abraham;" and thereby connects the most ancient operations of Divine mercy with the full development of the plan of grace in the sufferings and triumphs of the Saviour. The promises made to Abraham, accepted through faith, were restricted to the race which should spring from the child given by promise, and whose birth could be ascribed only to the power and blessing of God. But the seed of Abraham, to whom the promises were made in a higher and more complete sense, was Christ; and the covenant, confirmed in him above four hundred years before the Mosaic dispensation had its beginning, could not be set aside by that comparatively late and limited institution. God's promise stands sure whatever be the subsequent ordinances of His providence. In the introduction of the law the system of grace was neither abrogated nor suspended: on the contrary, its necessity was rendered more apparent; its value more conspicuous to all who understood the law, and acknowledged its authority. The plan of mediation was employed in its establishment. Moses stood between God, whose unity was then solemnly declared, and the people. The law itself made manifest the righteousness of the Almighty, but contravened none of His promises. Its perfect holiness exposed men to condemnation because they had loved, and were still pursuing, the way of sin. It was their corruption, and not the severity of the law, which originated the death to which they thence became subject. It could not give them life, because they resisted the principle of life in its Divine Author. The purpose, therefore, for which it was instituted, it fulfilled when it concluded all under sin, that being convinced of their true situation, they might flee to the promised grace offered in the covenant of faith.

The Gospel. St. Luke x. 23.

LESSED are the eyes which see the things that ye see. For I tell you, That many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. And be

hold, a certain Lawyer stood up, and

tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the Law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and, when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place,

THE GOSPEL. This is one of the most interesting of our Lord's discourses. He asserts the worth of His religion by an appeal to the testimony of the greatest and wisest men of old times. But in reasoning with the subtle disputant who had assailed Him, He no longer presses the consideration of His own sublime doctrine. Instead of refuting His antagonist by referring to the prophets, or unfolding the relations existing between the covenant with Abraham and other righteous men, and the dispensation about to be established, He meets him on his own ground. He takes the law for the support of His argument, and the law as cited by His opponent. "What is written in the law? How readest thou?" The inquiry, followed by these His simple but trying questions, was one which He had no unwillingness to answer, and upon which He could have satisfied the mind of a more humble questionist with revelation, and promises pregnant with consolation as well as truth. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The Scribe asked this under the mingled impression of the vast importance of the subject, and of its fitness to put the pretensions of Jesus to the proper test. He seems to have been one of the most thoughtful of his class; and to have desired to receive the truth, so far as the prejudices he had imbibed would allow him to embrace it. But our Lord saw that he had no disposition to place his confidence in the righteousness which the Gospel was to provide for him rather than in the righteousness which he vainly supposed might be gained by obedience to the law. To the law, therefore, he directed his attention. Neither of them disputed that it was contained under two general heads. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." This was the answer of one who looked

came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and, when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

for justification through the law; and our Lord immediately rejoined, "This do, and thou shalt live." But the ready assent afforded to his definition of the law, the acceptance of the interpretation of its maxims which he had given, placed the Scribe in a difficulty not perceived till he was too far advanced in the argument to retreat. "Willing to justify himself," he said, " And who is my neighbour?" Our Lord, in answering this further question, made it manifest, that, whatever might be thought respecting the power of the law to justify, it was not kept, even by those who insisted most on the claim which, by obedience, might be laid to eternal life and happiness. The case which he instanced was equally strong and simple. Had the Scribe taken the former part of the answer which he had given at first for the subject of his second question, he would have been answered in a similar manner, and would probably have found himself involved in a still greater difficulty. The spiritual worship of God was then little known: the loving of Him with all the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, still less so. It may be conjectured that he foresaw the danger which would attend his touching on such a subject; and skilfully, therefore, turned the discussion into a channel in which he might follow it without any near approach to doctrines of a spiritual nature. "This do, and thou shalt live," said Jesus: but it was evident that the performance of the duty, according to the requirements of the law, had never yet been realized, and, therefore, that the question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" must be answered in another way than that adopted by the Jews, or by the world at large. "This do, and thou shalt live," when said under the law, and with only the knowledge of the law for our help, is a letter which killeth; said under the Gospel, it is a precept which may be obeyed, though not unto justification, yet unto the praise and glory of God. If truth be of any value to mankind, the Gospel, considered in the most general manner, must deserve to be regarded as a treasure of inestimable worth. The principles it has established are principles of which the world knew nothing till taught them by Jesus Christ. But it is not on its moral revelations or sanctions that the Gospel rests its chief claim to notice: it unites with these appeals to the wisdom of mankind the full, clear views of future glory and felicity;―views as adapted to fill the heart with gladness, as the doctrines and principles themselves are calculated to exalt and satisfy the most inquisitive understanding. The illustration of the practical worth of true religion is nobly given in this parable. Christ had not yet made known the peculiar worth of His own dispensation; but He proved how necessarily every system which God has given is consistent with justice, purity, and mercy. The conduct of the priest and Levite was that, probably, which characterized the greater portion of the sacerdotal race at this period; but our Lord exposed Himself to the hatred of the whole class by His faithful and severe representation of its want of the virtues which ought to have distinguished it. Despised as the Samaritans were, they fulfilled, in the present instance, the law of God better than His own anointed servants. They indulged in no quibbles respecting the meaning of the word neighbour: they had no desire to confine its application to their own little community; but, with a generous and spiritual interpretation of the precept spoken of by Christ, were willing to regard all as belonging to them who needed the exercise of their humanity. Let those who reject or injure the cause of the Gospel consider what they are doing, when such was the early lesson of its Author.

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect. LMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity: and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE COLLECT. The possession of Christian grace is the best proof which we can ourselves enjoy that God has been pleased to vouchsafe us an entrance into the kingdom of heaven. As we feel our faith, our hope, our charity, on the increase, we may indulge. with proportionably greater confidence, the happy expectation of approaching blessedness. It is in the conviction of this truth, that the believer ever prays that he may be enabled to love, more and more, the law of his God. That law, he feels, tends only to good, and is in Christ the sole foundation of good. As he obeys it, he promotes both the welfare of others and his own eternal interests. Hence the language of the Collect, and of every prayer which embodies the sentiment of evangelical belief. The Gospel received is a fountain of prayer as well as a source of wisdom and consolation. It affords both motives and means; it gives both the body of the expression, and the Spirit which is its life.

The Epistle. Gal. v. 16.

Say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, That they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.

THE EPISTLE.-By the entrance of sin into the world, the first and noblest principles of nature were utterly subverted. Thence the good lost its value in the eyes of man, and evil became the torch at which desire lit its lamp. Deformity took the place of pure immortal beauty, and the servant was exalted into the place of sovereignty. In this general convulsion, the spirit, to which humanity owed all its original power and glory, lost its grandeur and energy. It became the prey of corruption; and the mere animal nature, feeling the balance in its favour, rose in fierce triumph, and claimed the dominion of the whole man. Thence began the conflict which every individual of our race has felt to be carried on, with more or less intensity, in his own heart. For the most part, evil gains the victory, and the vanquished slave of sin becomes subject to the law of death. The consequence of this state of things is the multiplying of particular offences, and the increase of the load which the child of sin and death has thenceforward to bear. There is but one means of resistance: it is that offered in the New Covenant. God, for Christ's sake, will give the Holy Spirit for our recovery. Under the influence of His grace, the soul recovers itself. The breath of life again animates our nature. We see and feel the beauty of holiness once more; and, urged onwards, gladly fulfil the new law of our new being. Obeying God's will,-rejoicing in the manifestations and requirements of His holiness,-there is no law against us; for we are hereby with the law;-borne along in the direction of its current ;-and tending by the wishes and aspirations of our hearts, even like itself, to the glorifying of God's perfections. The sublimest doctrines of Christianity have a searching tendency which renders them as practically applicable in the judgment of conduct, as they are spiritually adapted to elevate the soul by noble displays of truth. We have not the Gospel in our hearts if we have not its Spirit; and the proof that we have the Spirit is one of a most experimental character-a proof made up entirely of holy thoughts, affectionate dispositions, and an active willingness to do good.