blessed to give than to receive; resembling God rather than

man.

It is common for persons of the most exalted faculties to be elated with success and applause, or dejected by censure and disappointments; but Jesus, was never elated by the one, nor depressed by the other.

He was never more courageous than when he met with the greatest opposition and cruel treatment; nor more humble than when the sons of men worshipped at his feet. He came into the world inspired with the grandest purpose that ever was formed, that of saving from eternal perdition, not a single nation, but the whole world; and in the execution of it went through the longest and heaviest train of labors that ever was sustained, with a constancy and resolution on which no disadvantageous impression could be made by any accident whatever.

Calumny, threatenings, bad success, with many other evils constantly attending him, served only to quicken his endeavors in this glorious enterprise, which he unceasingly pursued, even till he finished it by his death.

The generality of mankind are prone to retaliate injuries received, and all seem to take a satisfaction in complaining of the cruelties of those who oppress them; whereas the whole of Christ's labors breathed nothing but meekness, patience, and forgiveness,—even to his bitterest enemies, and in the midst of the most excruciating torments. The words "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do," uttered by him when his enemies were nailing him to the cross, fitly expresses the temper which he maintained through the whole course of his life, even when assaulted by the heaviest provocations.

He was destined to sufferings here below, in order that he might raise his people to honor, glory, and immortality in the realms of bliss above, and, therefore, patiently—yea, joyfully-submitted to all that the malice of earth and hell could inflict.

He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners.

Whether we consider him as a teacher, or as a man, “he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth."

His whole life was perfectly free from spot or weakness; at the same time it was remarkable for the greatest and most extensive exercises of purity and goodness. But never to have committed the least sin in word or in deed, never to have uttered any sentiment that could be censured, upon the various topics of religion and morality which were the daily subjects of his discourses, and that through the course of a life filled with action, and led under the observation of many enemies, who had always access to converse with him, and who often came to find fault, is a pitch of perfection evidently above the reach of human nature, and consequently he who possessed it must have been Divine.

Jesus, by his death, hath set open the gates of immortality to the sons of men; and by his word, spirit, and example, graciously offers to make them meet for the glorious rewards in the kingdom of the heavenly Canaan, and to conduct them to the inheritance of the saints in light.

Let us, therefore, remember that being born under the dispensation of the gospel, we have, from our earliest years, enjoyed the best means of securing to ourselves an interest in that favor of God which is life, and that loving kindness which is better than life.

Inflamed, therefore, with the love of immortality and its joys, let us submit ourselves to our heavenly Teacher, and learn of him those graces which alone can render life pleasant, death desirable, and fill eternity with ecstatic joys.

CHAPTER XIV.

Matthew.

EMPLOYMENT OF MATTHEW; HIS CALL TO FOLLOW JESUS; WRITES HIS GOSPEL, MANNER OF HIS DEATH; PECULIAR CHRISTIAN DECISION.

much detested.

ATTHEW, called also Levi, though a Roman officer, was a true Hebrew, and probably a Galilean. His trade was that of a publican, or tax-gatherer to the Romans, an office, which, by the generality of the Jews, was

The circumstances of his being called to be an apostle, were as follows: Our Saviour in one of his retired walks by the seaside, saw him sitting in his office, and called him to follow him. The man was rich, had a large and profitable employment, was a wise and prudent person, and doubtless understood what would be his loss to comply with the call of Jesus.

He was not ignorant that he must exchange wealth for poverty, a custom-house for a prison, and rich and powerful masters for a naked and despised Saviour.

But he overlooked all these considerations, left all his interest and relations, to become our Lord's disciple, and embrace a more spiritual way of living.

After this election to the apostolate, Matthew continued with the rest till the ascension of his great and beloved master; but the evangelical writers have recorded nothing particular concerning him during that period.

For the first eight years, at least, after the Saviour's ascension into heaven, he preached in different parts of Judea; but afterward, he left the country of Palestine, to convert the Gentile world.

Before his departure, he was entreated by the Jewish converts to write the history of the life and actions of the blessed

Jesus, and leave it among them as a standing monument of what he had so often delivered to them in his sermons.

This he readily complied with, and while he abode in Palestine produced his gospel; but at what time is uncertain; some believe it to have been written eight, some fifteen, and some thirty years after our Lord's ascension. It was first written in Hebrew; but soon after translated into Greek by one of the disciples.

After the Greek translation was admitted, the Hebrew copy was chiefly owned and used by the Nazarenes, a middle sect between Jews and Christians; with the former, they adhered to the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law, and with the latter, they believed in Christ, and embraced his religion; and hence this gospel has been styled, "The gospel according to the Hebrews," and "The Gospel of the Nazarenes."

After his leaving Judea, Matthew traveled into several parts, especially Ethiopia, but the particular places he visited are not known with any certainty.

However, after laboring indefatigably in the vineyard of his master, he suffered martyrdom in a city of Ethiopia, called Naddabar; but by what kind of death is not absolutely known; though the general opinion is, that he was slain with a halbert.

Matthew was a remarkable instance of the power of relig ion, in bringing men to a better temper of mind.

If we reflect upon his circumstances while he continued a stranger to the great Redeemer of mankind, we shall find that the love of the world had possessed his heart. But, notwithstanding this, no sooner did Christ call him, than he abandoned, without the least scruple or hesitation, all his riches; nay, he not only renounced his lucrative trade, but ran the greatest hazard of displeasing the masters who employed him, for quitting their service without giving them the least notice, and leaving his accounts in apparent confusion.

Had the Saviour appeared as a secular prince, clothed with temporal power and authority, it would have been no wonder for him to have gone over to his service; but when he ap peared under all the circumstances of meanness and disgrace,

when he seemed to promise his followers nothing outwardly but misery and sufferings in this life, and to propose no other rewards than the invisible encouragements of another world, his change appears truly wonderful and surprising; but Divine grace can subdue all opposition.

CHAPTER XV.

Mark and Luke.

MARK'S DESCENT FROM THE TRIBE OF LEVI; HIS NUMEROUS LABORS, AND CRUEL AND AGGRAVATED DEATH. EARLY EDUCATION OF LUKE; VARIED OPINIONS AS TO HIS WRITINGS; FAMILIAR

INTERCOURSE WITH PAUL.

ARK was descended from Jewish parents, and of the tribe of Levi. Nor was it uncommon among the Jews to change their names on some remarkable revolution, or accident of life, or when they intended to travel into any of the European provinces of the Roman empire.

The ancients generally considered him as one of the sev enty disciples; and Epiphanius expressly tells us that he was one of those who, taking exception at our Lord's discourse of "eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, went back, and walked no more with him."

But there appears no manner of foundation for these opinions, nor likewise for that of Nicephorus, who will have him to be the son of Peter's sister.

Eusebius tells us that Mark was sent into Egypt by Peter, to preach the gospel, and accordingly planted a church in Alexandria, the metropolis of it; and his success was so very remarkable, that he converted multitudes, both of men and women, persuading them not only to embrace the christian religion, but also a life of more than ordinary strictness. Mark did not confine himself to Alexandria, and the oriental parts of Egypt, but removed westward to Lybia, passing