tion of faithfulness, provided we preserve due humility of soul. Thus, Paul said, "Bonds and afflictions abide me; but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto me."-"I am ready, not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus." But it is too common for men to make strong protestations of fidelity-too common to say, with the Israelites of old, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient,”without considering their own weakness. Nor is it to be forgotten, that many a man has been guilty of that of which he once thought himself incapable, and with regard to which he would have said with Hazael, "Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" Let us never forget that he who trusteth in his own heart is a fool; and let the language of each of us be, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."-"O keep my soul, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in thee."

Our blessed Saviour is better acquainted with us than we are with ourselves. He knows where our weakness lies, and foresees our failures. He foresaw and foretold the fall of Peter. "And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou hnowest me." But we shall reserve all explanation of this verse till we come (if it please God) to the subsequent part of the chapter, in which the fulfilment throws light on the prediction.

At the 35th verse our Lord enters on a different subject. "And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse' wherein to carry money," and scrip," or bag for carrying provisions, or other articles, "and shoes," except the sandals on your feet, "lacked ye anything?" This refers to the directions given to the apostles, when they were sent out to preach and to work miracles, according to the account at the beginning of the 9th chapter, which was formerly explained.* Similar instructions were also given to the seventy, in the 10th chapter, and this reason was assigned— "The labourer is worthy of his hire." In reply to our Lord's question the apostles declared, that, though they had exactly followed his directions in making no provision for that journey, they had lacked "nothing." A kind Providence had accompanied them, and opened the hearts of those among whom they had sojourned, to supply them with

*See Lecture xliv.

everything they needed. It will be useful to us to reflect on our past history. In doing so, we shall find many causes of thankfulness to the Lord for having graciously provided and cared for us. Jacob called God, "the God that fed him all his life long to that day." And Moses said to Israel, “Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." "From all this experience of ourselves and others, let us learn still to trust in Providence, when we are in the way of duty. "O fear the Lord, ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."

"Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." On the former occasion their journey was to be short, and they were to be kindly treated; but now, they were entering on a long and arduous struggle, and were to be treated unkindly, and exposed to great danger; therefore, they were now to provide themselves with necessaries, and, as we say, to be well armed for what was coming. As to the words, He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one," or make every exertion to procure one, and even sell his mantle, or upper garment, rather than want one: It is possible, that, foreseeing the opportunity for his working a healing miracle which would thence arise, Christ may have wished his disciples to take some weapons with them. The words, however, rather seem to have been spoken, not exactly as commanding this, but in order to convey a strong impression of the urgency and danger of the case. The hour was

now so late, and the scenes of Gethsemane were so near, that there could scarcely have been opportunity or time, literally to go to sell and buy. This is very generally thought, therefore, to have been a proverbial expression, signifying the approach of great trials and perils; as if one * Deut. viii. 2, 3.

"

were to say, Now is the time to be prepared for the worst. Another idea is, that, in the animated language of prophecy, Christ here utters a prediction in the form of a command; as when Isaiah foretells the destruction of the king of Babylon's family, by saying, " Prepare slaughter for his children," and Jeremiah the lamentable desolation of Zion, in these words, "Call for the mourning women," "and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us.' Or, perhaps, this is a command but to be figuratively understood, and applied to spiritual, not carnal weapons. "This whole speech is allegorical," says Beza. "My fellow-soldiers, you have hitherto lived in peace, but now a dreadful war is at hand; so that, omitting all other things, you must think only of arms. But when he prayed in the garden, and reproved Peter for smiting with the sword, he himself showed what those arms were."

"For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors; for the things concerning me have an end." The prophecy quoted is in the well-known 53d chapter of Isaiah: "And he was numbered with the transgressors." This refers both to his being crucified with two malefactors, and to his being treated as a sinner, when he suffered the punishment of sin imputed to him. "This must be accomplished," for the Scriptures cannot be broken. It yet remained to be accomplished, and it was to be accomplished soon. "For the things concerning me have an end." if he had said, My trials are drawing to a close, but yours are only beginning. You must expect bad treatment when you proceed to proclaim salvation through one who was crucified as a malefactor. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. For this reason I admonish you to be prepared for what is coming.†

As

"And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords." It has been remarked‡ that it was usual for travellers, in those parts of the world, to carry weapons for defence against "perils of robbers," and that it is probable the disciples brought these swords along with them in the journey they had lately made from Galilee to Jerusalem. At all events, they had them with them, or close within their reach, at this time. They showed Jesus these two weapons, intimating, no doubt, that they were ready to use them in his *This is Dr Campbell's opinion.-Isa. xiv. 21; Jer. ix. 17. See Doddridge.

Cradock's Harmony.

defence, and would go for more swords, if he wished it. They understood him literally, and thought that he wished them to fight. On this, whatever may have been the mistakes under which they laboured, and whatever may have been the exact meaning of what he had spoken before, without explaining himself farther at the time, "He said unto them, It is enough." Two swords were not enough to arm eleven men; nor were they by any means enough for defence against the multitude, according to men's usual way of judging; but they were enough for Christ's purposeenough to answer the design of a symbolical warning of the approaching danger. His being satisfied with two swords was, of itself, a clear proof that he by no means intended to offer any resistance himself, or to encourage his followers to do so, but that he willingly yielded himself up to be put to death, according to his own declaration: "I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep:" no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." All this will more fully appear when we come to consider the use which Peter made of one of the swords, and what our Lord did and said in consequence of that rash action. In the meantime, may the Lord bless what has now been spoken; and to his name be praise. Amen.

LECTURE CXX.

LUKE XXII. 39-46.

"And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42. Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. 43. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44. And, being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, 46. And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation."

WHAT an affecting and amazing passage is this! With the sole exception of his crucifixion, there is no part of the evangelical history which gives so striking a view of the sufferings of the Man of Sorrows, or so plain an intimation that there was something altogether peculiar in their nature, and cause, and end. In proceeding to examine this mysterious subject, it is not without fear and trembling that we should venture to tread on this holy ground; and yet, the inquiry is as inviting as it is solemn. In approaching it, we may well say, with Moses, when he beheld the burning bush in the remote solitude of the desert, "We will now turn aside and see this great sight."

You will remember, that, immediately after the account of the Lord's supper, as given by Matthew and Mark, it is added, "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives." Various things, however, were said after the supper, by our Lord, either before they left Jerusalem, or when they were on the way from it, some of which we have considered in following out those parts of the history which are given by Luke. In the first verse of the passage now under review, we read, "And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the Mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him." We formerly found that Jesus retired to spend the nights of the passion-week at Bethany,