very undue stress upon outward rites and ceremonies; and upon circumcision in particular, (as many amongst ourselves do upon baptism,) as though that were of itself sufficient to secure a man's acceptance with God. The having of Abraham for their father, was, in their estimation, a sure title to heaven g; whilst an obedience to the moral law was with them only a secondary concern. This Sci'ibe, however, was better instructed. He saw that the requirements of the moral law were of primary and indispensable obligation ; and that, with- out an obedience to them no person could have a well-grounded hope of God's favour.
Now then I say, that this degree of knowledge, deeply fixed in the mind, and openly avowed, is an excellent preparation for the kingdom which our blessed Lord came to establish upon earth. Where this measure of light exists in the soul, we cannot but hope that it shall be so augmented by the Gospel, as ultimately to guide a man into the way of peace.]
2. Candour —
[Our blessed Lord had silenced the former querists; but he had not so convinced them, as to elicit any approbation of his sentiments. They were too full of prejudice to make any such acknowledgment; and would have been glad enough to justify their own views, if they had known what reply to make. He, on the contrary, was open to conviction : he would not reject knowledge, because of the person by whom it was imparted ; nor would he close his eyes, or shut his ears, be- cause his instructor was a man hated and despised : he would receive truth from whatever quarter it came ; and entertain it in his mind without jealousy and without fear.
What if the Gospel which we preach were so heard ; and truth were thus freely suffered to make its way to the heart ? Verily the kingdom of God would be far more enlarged amongst us, than ever it has yet been. And the same may be said of every place under heaven, where the Gospel is faith- fully administered.]
3. Piety—
[There was not in this Scribe a mere acquiescence in the truth proposed to him, but a most cordial approbation of it. He dilates upon our Lord's words with evident pleasure ; and adds to them, what was not necessarily required, a declara- tion, that those two commandments, of the supreme love to God, and of loving our neighbour as ourselves, were " more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." Now this was in the very teeth of all that the Pharisees maintained. There
s Matt. iii. 9.