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CHRIST taking up a little Child, exhorts them to Humility.

fat down, and called the

Twelve, and faith unto them, If any Man defire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and Servant of all. [LUKE IX. 47.-]

MAT. XVIII. 1. At the fame Time came the Difciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

2 And Jesus called a little

Child unto him, and [took and] set him [LUK. by him] in the Midst of them, [and when he had taken him in his Arms, he faid unto them, [MARK IX. 36. LUKE IX. -47.]

3 Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little Children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

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and observing the same Carnality and Emulation Sect. 93.
to be still working there, when he was fate down, Mark IX.
called all the Twelve about him (b), and fays unto 35.
them with great Seriousness and Earnestness, It is
Humility that is the Way to Honour in my King-
dom; and therefore if any one would be Chief there,
let him in all the Offices of condescending Friend-
ship to his Brethren, be as the last of all, and the
Servant of all.

And at the fame Time (c), when the Disciples Mat.XVIII.
were thus called, they came to Jesus, and finding .
that he knew the Subject of their late Debate,
some of them at length took the Liberty of fay-
ing, Lord, decide this Question, and tell us plainly,
who is intended to be the greatest in the Kingdom
of Heaven, and to whom wilt thou commit the
chief Management of Affairs in it?

:

And when he had answered the Enquiry in the 2
Manner related above, Jefus, in order to impress
the important Maxim yet deeper on their Minds,
having called to him a little Child, that happened
then to be in the House where they lodged, took
and fet him by him in the Midst of them; and taking
bim up, and embracing him in bis gracious Arms,
in Token of his tender Regard, he said unto them,
I affuredly declare it to you as a most solemn and 3
important Truth, that except ye be converted and
turned from these ambitious and carnal Views, and
become like little Children in Lowliness and Meek-
ness, in a candid teachable Temper, and an In-
difference to the great Things of the present Life,
(Pfal. cxxxi. 1, 2.) you will be fo far from having
any distinguished Rank among my Subjects, that ye
shall by no means so much as enter at all into the
King-

(b) Called all the Twelve about him.] It is natural to suppose, that twelve Persons travelling together on Foot would form themselves into two or three little Companies, while some of them, no doubt, would be attending Christ, and discoursing with him: But our Lord judged it proper, as he was now in the House, that all the Twelve should hear this Admonition, thơ' they might not all have been engaged in the Dispute which occafioned it.

(c) At the same Time.] By these Words Matthew expressly fixes the Connection between this Story, and that which concluded his xviith Chapter. But Clarius seems to refine too much, when he supposes, that Christ's having thus miraculously provided for paying Peter's Tribute with his own, gave Umbrage to the rest: Yet this precarious Turn serves the Church of Rome, as an Argument for the Supremacy of the Pope; nor is it wonderful, that in so weak a Cause they should catch at such a Shadow.

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(d) Enter

20.

Mat. XVIII.

4.

He shews the Danger of offending any of his Little Ones.

Sect. 93. Kingdom of Heaven, or be entitled to any of its final Blessings. Whoever therefore shall humble himself even as this little Child, and act with such Candor, Simplicity, and Modesty, as you fee in him, He is the Person, that hereafter will be regarded as the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, 5 and will stand high in its final Glories.

And

whosoever cordially shall entertain this Child, [or]
shall discover an affectionate Regard to any one of
fuch little Children, in my Name, and for my Sake,
as one whom I love, and recommend to his Care,
entertaineth me; for I shall take the Kindness as
done to myself: And I would have you to re-
member, that it shall not terminate even there,
but (as I have formerly told you, Mat. x. 40.
Vol. i. pag. 471.) whoever thus fhall entertain and
shew a Regard to me, entertains not me alone, but
bim that fent me (d), even my Heavenly Father,
who is honoured or affronted, as I am refpected
or flighted. And this Regard to the meanest of
my Servants, I must urge upon you, as of the ut-
most Importance; for (as I just now told you,)
he that by such a Condescension is as the leaft
among you all, He fhall be eminently great in my
Esteem, and be distinguished by peculiar Marks

6 of the Divine Favour. But whoever shall deli-
berately do any Thing to offend, and to occafion
the Fall of one of these Little Ones who believe in
me (e), or of any Disciple of mine, tho he may
feem as weak as this Infant, will expofe himself
thereby to fuch Guilt and Punishment, that it were
better for him he should undergo the most certain
and terrible Destruction one can imagine, even
that a buge Mill-ftone (f) should be hanged about his
Neck,

4 Whosoever therefore

shall humble himself as this little Child, the fame is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

5 And [LUK. whosoever shall receive this Child,] [or one of fuch] little [Children] in my Name, receiveth me; [and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me :) [Luk. for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.] [MARK IX. 37 LUKE IX. 48.]

6 But [whosoever] shall

offend one of these Little Ones which believe in me, it were better for him, that a Mill-stone were hanged

about his Neck, and that he were [cast into the Sea, and] drowned in the Depth of the Sea. [MARK IX. 42.]

(d) Entertains not me alone, but bim that fent me.] Here Christ was interrupted by a Speech of John, related Mark ix. 38,-41. which is paraphrafed and explained below, in Selt. 96. See Note (a) there, pag. 34.

(e) Shall offend one of these Little Ones, &c.] To offend a Person generally signifies, (as was. observed before, Vol. i. pag. 234. Note (c),) laying a Stumbling-block in his Way; so that any, who should by a scandalous Life lead others to think ill of the Christian Profession in general, or should by Persecution discourage the Weak, or by Sophistry, bad Example, or otherwise, pervert them from the Way of Truth and Goodness, would fall under the Weight of this terrible Sentence.

(f) A huge Mill-stone.) So I render μυλος ονικος, which (as Erafmus, Grotius, Raphelius, and many others observe,) properly signifies a Mill-ftone too large to be turned, as fome were,

by

Woe unto the World, because of Offences.

7 Wo unto the World

because of Offences: for it must needs be, that Offences come: but Wo to that Man by whom the Offence com

eth.

8-Wherefore if thy Hand-offend thee, [cut it off,] and cast it from thee : it is better for thee to enter

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Neck, and he should be thrown headlong into the Sect. 93.
Sea (g), [and] drowned in the Depth of [it.]

Woe to the World, because of such Offences, or Mat. XVIII.
Scandals as these; for they will bring upon it the 7.
most dreadful Judgments: Indeed considering the
Corruption, and Weakness of Mankind, and the
various Temptations with which they are fur-
rounded, it is humanly speaking neceffary, or un-
avoidable, that Offences come; but I may well say,
Woe to that Man, by whom the Offence cometh, who-
ever he be, that by Avarice, Ambition, or any
other vicious Affection, lays a Stumbling-block in
Men's Way, and makes himself accessary to the
Ruin of immortal Souls, tempting them either to
renounce, or to despise the Gofpel; for the Time
will come, when he shall bitterly repent it.

Wherefore let me renew the Exhortation, which 8

I formerly gave you, rather to submit to the severest Mortifications, than to indulge your sinful Inclinations, to the Scandal of others, and to your own Ruin: And as I then told you in my Sermon on the Mount (b), (fee on Mat. v. 30. Vol. i. pag. 234.) If thy Right Hand offend thee, that is, if any Thing dear unto thee as a Right Hand, should be the Means of leading thee into Sin, rather than indulge it, cut it off, and caft [it] from thee, whatever Pain or Deformity, or other Detriment, might follow from such a Loss; for it is much better for thee to enter maimed into Eternal Life, than having two Hands, to go down into the Prison of Hell, even into that Fire which shall never be exMARK IX. 44. Where tinguished: Where their corroding and up- Mark IX. braiding 44.

into Life-maimed, rather than having two Hands, [to go into Hell, into the Fire that never shall be quenched:] [MARK IX. 43.]

their

by the Hand, and which would require the Force of Affes to move it; as it feems those Animals were generally used by the Jews on this Occasion. See Raphel. Annot. ex Xen. p. 46.

(g) Thrown headlong into the Sea.] Cafaubon, and Elfner, (Observ. Vol. i. pag. 85.) not to mention others, have shewn at large, that Drowning in the Sea was a Punishment frequently used among the Antients, and that the Persons condemned had sometimes heavy Stones tied about their Necks, or were rolled up in Sheets of Lead. It seems to have grown into a Proverb, for dreadful and inevitable Ruin.

(b) As I told you in my Sermon on the Mount.] It will, I hope, be observed, that Matthew, who had. before so largely recorded that Sermon, gives us again this Passage of it on the present Occafion; which is one Proof, among many others, that our Lord did not think it improper or unnecessary, sometimes to repeat what he had then faid: (See Vol. i. pag. 296. Note (e).) And confidering the Importance of these Maxims, and how little many of bis Hearers were disposed to receive and retain them, it was a valuable Instance of his Compaffion and Wisdom..

(i) Where

:

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Better to lose a Foot or an Eye, than fuffer them to offend us. Sect. 93. braiding Conscience is as a Worm, which never their Worm dieth not, and the Fire is not quenched.

Mark IX.

44.

45

dies (i), but with unutterable Anguish still gnaws
upon the Heart; and where the Fire of Divine
Wrath, which shall penetrate into the very Soul
of the Sinner, is not, and shall not, be quenched
throughout all the endless Ages of Eternity.

And again, if thy Foot offend thee, cut it off
with as much Resolution, as thou wouldst part
with a gangrened Member for the Preservation of
thy Life; for something yet more important is
here concerned, and it is better for thee to enter
lame into the Regions of Eternal Life and Blessed-
ness, tho' thou wast ever to continue so (k), than
having two Feet to be caft into the inextinguishable
Where their tormenting Worm

46 Fire of Hell :

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dieth not, and where the Fire is not quenched, nor
the Violence of its Heat abated thro' all the Ages
of Eternity.

And, to repeat so wholesome and necessary an
Admonition a third Time, if thine Eye offend thee,
or would necessarily be the Means of leading thee
into Sin, chuse rather with thine own Hands to
tear it out of its Socket, and to caft it away from
thee as an abhorred Thing, than by complying
with the Temptation, to hazard thy far more
precious Soul; for it is far better for thee to enter
into the Kingdom of GOD, [or] into Everlasting
Life and Blessedness, with but one Eye, even tho
the other were not to be restored at the Refur-
rection, but the Blemish were to continue for
ever, than having two Eyes, and all the other
• Members

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(i) Where their Conscience is as a Worm, which never dies.) There may indeed be an Allufion here to Ifa. lxvi. 24. (compare Ecclus' vii. 17. and Judith xvi. 17.) but the Expreffion had been just and proper without it: And it is observable, that some of the Antients expressed the fame Thought by saying, that the Marrow of the Back-Bone did in a wicked Man turn into a huge and fierce Serpent; thereby intimating, (by a much finer Figure, than Ælian, who reports it, understood,) that their own Thought should be their Torment, and they should be unable to disarm it by those Artifices, which had prevailed in the present Life. See Ælian. Hist. Anim. lib. i. cap. 51. and Gataker. Antonin. lib. viii. §. 58.

(k) Thơ thou wait ever to continue so.] It is certain, no Man will enter into Life halt, maimed, or blind, as the Bodies of the Saints will be restored in the greatest Perfection. I know indeed, that, with some Latitude in the Expression, he may be said to enter halt, or maimed, into Life, whose Spirit passes from a dismembered Body into the Regions of the Blessed; but it seems to me, that the Propriety of the Phrafe is most exactly preserved, by taking it as in the Paraphrafe, and the Spirit of the Thought is greatly increased by that Interpretation.

(1) Shall

Offenders shall be falted with Fire, and not be confumed.

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Members of thy Body in the greatest Perfection, Sect. 93.

to be caft into Hell, where they will all be full of
unutterable Anguish, being tormented with ever-
lasting Fire, In that dreadful Prison of Divine Mark IX.
Vengeance, where (as I have told you again and 48.
again,) their Worm dieth not, and the Fire is not
quenched nor abated, but preys perpetually on the
miferable Sinner that is condemned to it. For 49
as the Flesh burnt on the Altar has Salt rubbed
upon it, in Consequence of which it burns fo
much the more fiercely, so every one of those un-
happy Creatures, the Victims of Divine Justice,
fhall be (as it were) falted with Fire (l), and in-
stead of being confumed by it, shall in those
wretched Abodes continue immortal in the Midst
of their Flames; whereas every acceptable Sacri-
fice shall be feafoned with another Kind of Salt (m),
even that of Divine Grace, which purifies the
Soul, and preferves it from Corruption.

In Allusion to this, I have formerly called you, 50
my Disciples, the Salt of the Earth; (Mat. v. 13.
Vol.

(1) Shall be falted with Fire.] Grotius, Spanheim, Gataker, Le Clerc, and Dr. Mill, have abundantly answered the favourite Criticism of Scaliger, by which he would here read συρια instead of wuss, that it might be rendered, Every Offering made by Fire shall be falted. The learned and laborious Wolfius has proposed a multitude of Interpretations on this Text. He, and Mons. L'Enfant, think it refers to the fiery Trial, thro' which Christians must expect to pass: But this neither feems a natural Sense of the Phrase itself, nor does it so well fuit the Context, by which it should feem to be a Reason why the Infernal Fire is never quenched.. I know it may be answered, that it is however a Reason why the Disciples should practise the Mortification required above: But it seems desirable, where it can be done, to interpret the Particles in their most usual Sense, tho sometimes it is necessary (as we have elsewhere observed, Vol. i. pag. 307. Note (i),) to recede from it. To suppose, as Dr. Clarke, and fome others do, that here is a Reference to the Ambiguity of the Hebrew Word נמלח which fignifies either to be falted, or confumed, seems very unwarrantable ; fince αλιθησεται: has no fuch Ambiguity; not to say, how much it would impair the Force of the Sentence, leading to an Idea, the very contrary to what Christ had suggested above, no less than three Times.

(m) Every Sacrifice shall be seafoned with Salt.] It is well known, that the Mofaic Law required this. See Lev. ii. 13. Heinfius thinks, that as Salt contracts and binds, it was therefore used as an Emblem of Friendship, which he supposes our Lord afterwards to refer to; and that it was the Foundation of the Figure, by which a perpetual Engagement is called a Covenant of Salt. Numb. xviii. 19. I should rather think it intended, as a Circumftance of Decency, that the Meat of GOD's Table should be falted; and conclude, that if it had any Emblematical Meaning, it was to recommend to the Worshipper an incorrupt Heart seasoned with favoury Sentiments of Wisdom and Piety. Sinners are elsewhere represented, as the Victims of Divine Justice: (Ifa. xxxiv. 6. Jer. xii. 3. xlvi. 10. Ezek. xxi. 9, 10. and xxxix. 17.) And good Men, (as in the End of this Verse,) are represented in another View, with regard to their Confecration to God, as acceptable Sacrifices. Rom. xii. 1. xv. 16. Compare I Pet. ii. 5.

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