LECTURE LXIX.

ST. MATTHEW xxii. 37, 38, 39.

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

WE have heard our Saviour giving an answer to the question put to him by the the Sadducees about what is to happen in the next world, with respect to marrying and giving in marriage. His answer put these wicked men to silence. They had nothing

to say. For what had they to say, when the Son of God himself shewed them how ignorant they were of all that concerned a future state. They thought that if men and women rose again from their graves, each man would be claiming his wife. And what would be the case, if that wife had had more husbands than one, though one was after the other? Our blessed Saviour, you may remember, assured them, that in the next world men and women would become angels, would require no marrying, would be as pure as the angels of God. After this, a lawyer, that is, one who explained the Jewish law to the people, came to him, and in his turn tried to puzzle him, to expose him to the risk of making himself ridiculous, or a despiser of the law. The Jews placed a great value on their law. And this man thought that, if our blessed Lord had fixed on one commandment as better than the rest, he would appear to undervalue the rest, and would therefore be thought to have no great re3

spect for the law itself. And if so, the Jewish people must look on him as a bad man and their enemy. Our Lord got himself out of the difficulty with great ease, and gave them at the same time some most excellent advice. Indeed, what he said deserves to be always in our minds, to be always remembered by us, never to be out of our thoughts. For, if we took what he said as our constant rule, we should, none of us, do amiss. He said, (and let me beg you to attend and to remember) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." That is: all that the law commands and all that the prophets teach, are contained in these two short commands,-Thou shalt love God: and thou shalt love thy neighbour. Could any thing be more proper? Could Jesus

Christ have spoken better? They are short that you can all remember them: they contain so much good in them, that if you take care to observe them, you will be perfect in the whole will of God. For consider: If you love any one, do you not try to oblige him, to do all that he begs of you, to think of him, to take pleasure in talking with him? And will not this be the case, if you love God? Will you not try to oblige him—that is, will you not try to be holy, virtuous and good? For nothing that we can do can oblige God. But if we are holy, and virtuous, and good, we honour him, we shew that we have him in our hearts. And he is pleased to accept this service, just as one of our fellow creatures accepts any service we do to him. God is pleased when he sees you good. He takes it as a service done to him, though you only, and not he, be the gainers by it. Will you not also, if you love God, try to do all that he commands? Will you think any thing too hard to be

done, in order to obey him? Will you think any pleasure or any wrong practice too pleasant to be given up for Him. And if you love God, will you not love to think of him, to consider how good he is to us all, how strong and powerful he is, and how dangerous it is to provoke him to be angry with you? Will you not have him always in your thoughts? When any body tempts you to do a wrong thing, and your own hearts whisper to you, why should Inot do as others do, drink, swear, commit wicked things of all sorts-will you not then say, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? Will you not also take pleasure in talking with him? You love to talk with those you love. Why then not with God? And this is done only by praying to him, by laying all your wants before him, by begging him to guard you and your families from all evil, and to lead them into all good, by asking him, with faith and sincerity, to be your God and their God even unto death? Such is your