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The Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

MORNING SERVICE.-Second Lesson: Luke xx.

Verse 25.-"And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's."

ALL classes among the Jews, like Pilate and Herod, sank their mutual animosities in the common hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ. Scribes and Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians, vied with each other in their contempt of Him, and in their desire to destroy Him. We find plans suggested, conspiracies formed, and villanies perpetrated with the view of making out a legal charge against Him in the violation of either the Jewish or Roman law. This chapter brings before us two or three occasions on which those attempts were made. One was the questioning by what authority He had purged the temple of the buyers and sellers, intending to draw upon Him the hatred of the populace for infringing upon their customs. Failing in this they suborned spies, who with a hypocritical pretence to justice tried to entrap Him on the legality of the Roman dominion in the country; here they thought that they were sure of their prey. Both Matthew and Mark tell us that those spics were of the Pharisees and Herodians. The former were against paying tribute to Cæsar, looking upon the Roman Emperor as an usurper; the latter were in favour of the tribute, as by the appointment and support of the Romans Herod ruled. These two contending parties concluded, that, let our Saviour answer as He would, they should ensnare Him; if to please the Pharisees He denied the legality of paying tribute, then He could be accused of sedition; or if to gratify the Herodians He defended the custom, then He could be

accused of being an enemy to the liberty of His country, and would be exposed to a popular odium. But observe with what wisdom and caution our Saviour answers them. He perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, "Why tempt ye me?" His penetrating eye could scan their thoughts and easily detect their disguise; they were wolves in sheep's clothing, and He treats them according to their character. Instead of gratifying them with a direct answer, He calls for the Roman penny which was then in circulation, and asks them whose superscription it bore, they answer, "Cæsar's." Upon this He gives them a decided answer, "Render unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's." By admitting the circulation of the Roman coin among you, you acknowledge the authority of the Roman Emperor over you. As subjects of his dominion, give unto him therefore his just dues, but at the same time forget not the tribute which is due unto God. Observe the proper distinction between the one and the other, and act justly towards both. We have here Cæsar's due, and God's due; or in other words, that which we owe to the world, and that which we owe to God.

I. Christ teaches us what we owe unto the world. "Render unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's." Every man has duties in respect to this world, which the Bible, as well as reason insists upon, and gives the minutest instructions how they are to be performed.

We have duties to perform :

1. As citizens. Christianity teaches men to be good citizens. The most loyal subjects of a realm are those who acknowledge and obey the authority of Christ. Our Saviour was no enemy to magistracy and civil government, there was no truer contributor to the king's dues than He who was "King of kings." He preached it, He practised it, He never demurred respecting the payment of the tribute in question. On the only occasion of which we read that it was demanded of Him, He performed a miracle to procure the amount, that no

offence might be given.

"The powers that be are ordained of God," and whether the ruling prince derives his title by descent, by election, or by conquest, the subjects are bound by the law of God to give him tribute. We are also taught to obey the existing laws of the realm in which we live. A spirit of disloyalty and treason, of sedition and rebellion, is contrary to all the dictates of Scripture. We need only quote the authority of St. Paul. "Let every soul be subject

to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever there

fore resisteth the powers, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation, &c." Rom. xiii. 1-7.

Those duties our

2. We have duties as neighbours. Saviour summed up in one sentence, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." To carry out the substance of this declaration, we have only to ask the question, how do we love ourselves? If in our right minds we would not hate ourselves, we would not illuse ourselves, we would not bear false witness against ourselves, we would not wish ourselves harm; but on the contrary we sympathise with ourselves, and do all in our power to further our own interest, and desire that others would do the same by us. The golden rule of Scripture is, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even to them: for this is the law and the prophets.' There is also a common rule not to be forgotten in the graduated state of society as it exists in the world, that is, we ought to treat our superiors with respect, our equals with attention, and our inferiors with kindness. Perhaps in our transactions with men, there are but few in whom we can place implicit confidence; undue general familiarity may be as injurious to other's interests, as it would be destructive to our own happiness; but whilst we make but few our bosom friends, let us observe a course of affability and charity to all: "Render unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's." another."

"Owe no man anything, but to love one

3. We have duties as members of families.

Our domestic

circles are composed of different members who have their respective positions to hold and their respective duties to observe. There are husbands, and there are wives; there are parents, and there are children; there are masters, and there are servants; there are brothers, and there are sisters; each one has a part to perform for the success and the happiness of the whole. The one is to govern, the other is to obey, each to study the other's disposition and temper. When we outstep our legitimate spheres in the discharge of duties, anarchy and confusion are caused in the arrangements of families, and there can be no order and happiness in what would be miscalled a home. The duties of husbands and wives, of parents and children, of masters and servants, are forcibly described by St. Paul in his Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians, which ought to be engraven on the walls of every house, and in the heart of every domestic. The same

regulations ought to be observed amongst employers and employed in every department of business, without which there will be no rendering to Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's.

II. There are duties which we owe especially to God.

The things which are God's are perfectly distinct from the things which are Cæsar's; and whilst we render what is due to the one, we must not at our peril withhold from the other what He justly claims. There are too many who are anxious to pay their just debts to their fellow-men, but neglect the most important of all debts, which are those due to Him who holds our breath in His hands, in whom we live, move, and have our being.

In paying our debts to God, we are to regard the justness of His claim-the extent of our obligations-the correctness of our motives-and the strictness of our account.

claim. His

1. We must regard the justness of His claim. requirements are not founded on the force of usurped authority, as were those of Cæsar. The Jews might have

objected to the claim of Cæsar on the ground of an oppressive custom established as the results of an unjust subjugation by the conquest of a superior power. The claims of the world are often forced upon us by the usurpation of circumstances. One man may oppress another. A king may demand more than is just from his subjects, an employer may require more than is right from the employed, an arbitrary government may be exercised in a family, and one neighbour may exact more than his due from another; but God is just; every demand that He makes is established in equity and righteousness. Whatever He asks from us He has a right to ask. His nature as a just, holy, and true Being, would preclude the idea of any oppressive demand. "What shall we say then, Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid." Being possessed of every natural and moral perfection, He cannot command but what is consistent with the strictest justice. Being all-sufficient and selfdependent, He can suffer no loss nor harm. Being possessed of all things, He can stand in need of nothing; and having formed all things, He can fear nothing. He has no temptations therefore to injustice, having all power and authority in His own hand, doing as He pleases, and when He pleases. "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works," therefore He will not require from us but what is strictly just.

2. We must regard the extent of our obligations to Him. Who is He, and what are we? "It is he that hath made us, and not ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." If He be the author of our existence, that existence belongs to Him; hence when we are commanded to "present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God," it is but our "reasonable service." He not only made us, but preserves us. He who observes the fall of a sparrow, feeds the raven, and clothes the lily, takes care of us. He regulates our functions, protects our lives, directs our circumstances, guides our steps, and numbers the hair of our heads. When the seasons roll around burdened with innumerable