'Ministry, An Earnest, 41. Missions of the Church of Scotland, 150. Nestorians of Persia and Kurdistan, 213, 236. Baptism, Defence of Infant, 224. Brown's, Dr., Comfortable Words to Bereaved Clark, Memoirs of Rev. J., of Glasgow, 64. Kirman's Letters to Bishop Hughes, 223. Journal of Sacred Literature, 255. Neander on the Epistle of Paul to the Philip- pians, 190. Ramsay, Rev. W., Sermons by, 31. Religious Liberty Abroad, 189. Scherer on Plenary Inspiration, 351. Shepherd's, Mrs. Savile, Ellen Seymour, 224. Story of Nineveh, 379. Thomson's Inquisition Revealed, 255. Tract Society, Monthly Series of, 62, 318. Tracts, Westminster, 32. Paper Mill, Visit to a, 17. Hungary, 316. India and Ceylon, 349. Madagascar, 373. Sandwich Islands, 376. United States, 285, 286. Sacraments, Notes on the, 321.“ Saints, Prayer to the, 26. Parable of Pharisee and Publican, Thoughts Scripture, Testimony of Science to, 205, 278.; on, 1. Sea-Weeds, 7. Stories from Real Life- 1. The Father of the Fatherless, 82. 2. The Lamb and the Wolf, 104, 3. The Insane, 147. 4. The Deaths of a Household, 167. 5. The Oppressed Set Free, 201. What thy Hand Findeth to do, 301. THE EDINBURGH CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE. THOUGHTS ON THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. LUKE XVIII. 9-14. By the late Rev. WALTER CARRICK of St. Clement's, Aberdeen. Tae great object of this parable is to guard against spiritual pride, and to recommend humility,-humility both towards God and towards man. Humility is one of the first lessons which we must of necessity learn, preparatory to entering into the kingdom of Christ. "Whoso ever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in nowise enter therein." We fell by pride, and if ever we rise, we must do so by humility, "by abhorring ourselves, and repenting in dust and ashes." Christ often preached on humility, and He himself led a life corresponding to His doctrine. "Though He was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, He made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." He even washed the feet of His disciples, "giving them an example, that they should do as He had done to them." Yea, His whole life was one continued proclamation, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Verse 9." And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themzelves that they were righteous, and despised others."-Here the Evangelist gives an outline of the contents of the whole parable. It was spoken for the instruction of those who trusted not in the mercy of God, but in their own good deeds; who exalted themselves, and set their brethren at nought. Their besetting sin was that of self-righteousness. Vainly imagining that their own right arm had gotten them the victory, they were ignorant of their true relation both towards God and towards their fellows. While they regarded the Almighty with irreverence, they despised those around them. They did not love the Lord their God with all their heart; for they knew not that it is He who brings His people "out of the house of bondage." They loved not their neighbours as themselves, being ignorant that Christ is our elder brother, and "all we are brethren." The love of God and the love of man go sweetly hand in hand; and where the one is not present, the other must be absent. "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God, love his brother also." Verse 10.-"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican.”—We have the representatives of two different classes. The one was a Pharisee. His sect plumed themselves on their superior sanctity, and their special favour in the sight of Heaven. Their creed was long and punctilious; their ritual ostentatious and burdensome; their lives severe and morose. The other was a Publican. The party to whom he belonged were distinguished, not by any religious, but by a civil peculiarity-that of being the tax-gatherers of the Romans. They were regarded as having no right to the honour claimed by the Pharisees. Being the collectors of the tribute imposed by a foreign yoke, they were treated with contempt, and classed with the very dregs of the people. Yet the judgment passed upon them seems to have been not a little harsh and unwarranted. Zaccheus, who was one of their number, "gave the half of his goods to the poor; and if he had taken any thing from any man by false accusation, he restored him four-fold." Here, too, in our text, we find one of them repairing to Mount Zion, to present himself as a suppliant before the Lord. And now that he and the Pharisee have gone up to the same holy hill, to worship in the same temple, to pray to the same God, surely they will lay aside all party and individual differences! surely they will come with brotherly and loving hearts, to present themselves as children of a common Father, as believers in common promises, as heirs of a common salvation! Though divided in the city, they are surely one, at least, in the house of God! Though formerly estranged, now that they meet hefore the Lord, surely, like Jacob and Esau, they fall upon each other's neck and kiss one another, and lift up their voices and weep! Surely they seek to be "comforted together by their mutual faith," and to "provoke one another unto love!" But no! here brought before us two individuals, this. It was the custom of his country thus to pray, and several of the saints are recorded to have prayed in this manner when in the house of God. Thus, at the dedication of the first Temple, "Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven." The Saviour himself, too, when discoursing to His disciples concerning prayer, recognized the posture of standing as suitable and becoming:"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them; and when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any; that your Father also, which is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses." Had the Pharisee humbled his heart, the condition of his body could have mattered but little. Yea, the very posture in which he prayed might have symbolized to him, as it did to the early believers, the necessity of the Christian soldier standing ever to his arms, in readiness to repel the assaults of the wicked one; and reminded him, that though he had fallen, yet Christ had come to raise the bowed down; that He had come "to bring them up out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, to set their feet upon a rock, and establish their goings." The Pharisee is said to have "prayed thus with himself." The mode of expression here used, is in accordance with the Hebrew idiom. It signifies simply, that he prayed thus in his heart, or that this was the burden of his prayer-if prayer indeed it can be called, which contains not one confession, or one request. If his empty boasting can be named prayer at all, it can be so called only either in that sense in which every address made by the creature to the Creator is designated prayer; or in that sense in which a substance or shadow is spoken of as being that which it pretends to be. The Pharisee begins with "thanking" God. So far, his prayer bids fair. Had he gone on to thank God for all the blessings which he continually received at His hand-to thank Him for the good gifts of His Providence-to thank Him for the revelation of His Word-to thank Him Verses 11 and 12.-"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as other men arc, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess." The Pharisee "stood" while he prayed. There was nothing wrong in that He had enabled him to see his own lost state by nature-to thank Him that He had sent His Son to save him from destruction-to thank Him that He had given His Holy Spirit to enlighten, to sanctify, and to comfort him-had he thus thanked his Maker and Redeemer, he would, at least, have made use of one of the parts of prayer, and have found the blessing of Heaven in so doing. But, alas! the self-blinded Pharisee proceeds in a far different strain: "I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers." Such is the negative part of his self-righteousness. He has not done what other men have done. He is not an "extortioner;" he has not wronged others by violence or force. He is not "unjust;" he has not wronged others by deceit or fraud. Thus he supposes that he has done his duty to his fellowmen; that he has not wronged them in any way; and that, consequently, he is faultless in the great division of duty towards his neighbour. But, further, he is not an "adulterer;" he has not wronged his own being. He, therefore, supposes himself spotless also in reference to the great division of duty towards himself. The standard, however, whereby he tests himself, is not the standard of Heaven. He compares himself with his fellowmen, in place of trying himself by the law of Jehovah. granting that he was not "an extortioner," or "unjust,"-did he "love his enemies?" Did he " bless them that cursed him?" Did he "do good to them that hated him?” Did he "pray for them who despitefully used and persecuted him?" Did he do this with all his heart and soul? Did he do it constantly? "I trow not." And granting, also, that he was not "an adulterer," was there no impurity that lurked within him? Was he "a temple of God?" Did "the Spirit of God dwell in him?" Did he "glorify God with his body and his spirit, which were God's?" But not content with this flattering comparison of himself with the wicked, he now casts around his eye upon those who had come to the house of prayer, and adds with yet still greater complacency, "or even as Even this Publican." The very fact that he places the Publican in contrast with "extortioners, and unjust, and adulterers," clearly shews that he did not reckon the Publican guilty of such sins as others were chargeable with. He singles him out from among the ungodly mass, that he may vauntingly compare himself even with him. Having used the character of gross offenders as the dark ground whereon to exhibit his own shining qualities, he now, for a still more exulting display of himself, fixes upon one who is not only free from the gross offences of others, but who even pours out his heart in supplication before his God. How, then, is it that he surpasses the Publican? How is it that he can place himself in the light, and the poor tax-gatherer in shadow? “I fast," says he, "twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess." The Mosiac law had enjoined only one fast during the year,-that which took place on the great day of atonement; but the Pharisee, through a voluntary self-righteousness, fasted twice every week. He fasted every Monday and every Thursday,-every third day, Sabbath excepted. These fasts he kept in commemoration of these three things in rotation,-the destruction of the temple, the burning of the law, and the profanation of the name of God,-things not altogether unworthy, indeed, of being kept in remembrance, as they might have reminded the Jews of their great sinfulness whereby those events had been brought about; but the mere self-denial practised in the voluntary celebration of which, could never constitute any true ground of dependence. But the Pharisee further 66 gave tithes of all that he possessed," or rather, "of all that he acquired.” Though the law commanded to tithe only the fruits of the field, and of the trees, and the produce of the cattle, he titħed mint, and anise, and cummin, and every other little trifle whereby he made gain. Thus he reckoned himself not only negatively better than the ungodly, but also positively better than the upright Publican. He therefore sought to justify himself before the Lord. Poor man! How difficult it is for us to know ourselves! THE EDINBURGH CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE. Verily the Grecian sage was right, who said, that self-knowledge was the most difficult of all things. The Pharisee, with much labour, and at great expense, "Built his soul a lordly pleasure-house, Wherein at ease for aye to dwell;" but the fabric which he reared at so great cost, and of which he boasted so loudly, suddenly fell upon him, and crushed him in its ruins. Had he never read among the sayings of the wise man, "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool; but he that trusteth in the Lord shall be made fat ?" Had he never heard out of the book of the Prophets, that the Lord had spoken these words, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is; for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Woe is unto thee, thou poor, blinded Pharisee! Thou knowest not "the blessedness of that man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered." When thou shouldest have confessed, thou didst boast; when thou shouldest have accused thyself, thou didst accuse thy brethren, and despise thy fellow-worship per. Verse 13." 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 unto me, a sinner."-Oh! blessed Publican, thou didst pray indeed! Thou didst come with that offering which God will never despise," a broken and a contrite heart." Though thou wast a tax-gatherer, thou didst come unto the Most High, knowing that those who are unable to pay, are freely forgiven. Though thou didst stand at a distance, thy heart was not far from God. Though thou didst not dare to lift up thine eyes, yet thou didst lift up thy spirit unto the Lord. Thou didst smite upon thy breast, but it was because thou knewest that the evil was there. Thou didst call for mercy, because thou knewest that no one shall ever stand without mercy. Thou didst confess thyself a sinner, knowing that "if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Thy petition was short, but full of meaning,-"God be merciful to me, a sinner." Thou didst not seek to justify thyself, but to acknowledge thy transgressions. When thou appearedst in the presence-chamber of the Great Physician, thou didst not seek, like the Pharisee, to conceal thy wounds, holding forth only the limb that was whole. Thou didst confess, that "the whole head was sick, and the whole heart faint," believing that the Lord was both able and willing to apply unto thee the sovereign balm of Gilead. Verse 14.-" I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exaltetl himself shall be abased: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."-The Publican came empty-handed, but he went away full; the Pharisce came to unfold his riches, but went down to his house "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." "The Lord filleth the hungry with good things, and the rich He sendeth empty away." "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; but the proud He knoweth afar off." While those, who imagine that they have already great possessions, "perish for want," those, who sell all that they have, receive in exchange "the pearl of great price." While the self-righteous boasting of the Pharisee was driven back like smoke into his eyes, the humble petition of the Publican ascended like sweet-smelling incense to the heavens. "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." |