mother was only a poor peasant of the mountains, the betrothed wife of a carpenter, although really this Son was the last descendant of the kings of Israel-even by his reputed father; and by his mother, he was the descendant of all the ancient kings of the Israelites. Because Joseph was the husband of the mother of our Lord, "He was subject unto him as well as to her."

"At twelve years old He talked with men,

The Jews all wondering stand;

Yet He obeyed his mother then,

And came at her command."

And he has left us an example, that we should follow in his steps.

But let us pass on to the second kind of honour that it is the duty of children to show to parents. The first, as we have seen, consists in respecting their persons, the second in respecting their commands. Two wellknown passages enforce this duty: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right;"2 and, "Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing unto the Lord."3 Take particular notice of these last words, for they give the great motive-the motive of motives.

The third characteristic of the honour that children owe to their parents is to pay attention, not only to their orders, but to their reproofs and instructions. "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother; for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."4

Lastly, the fourth characteristic of which I have to 1 Luke ii. 51, 52. 2 Eph. vi. 1, 3. 3 Col. iii. 20. 4 Prov. i. 8, 9.

speak to you is the assistance which it is the duty of a child to give to his parents. On this particular point a passage already quoted may again be referred to. It contains a question concerning widows, whom their children ought not, as the apostle Paul says, to leave a burden upon the church. If any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents." And observe that this

is exactly one of the explanations our Lord was pleased to give of the fifth commandment. There were in Israel false teachers who pretended that a child was not obliged to assist his parents with his property, provided he promised to bequeath his fortune to the synagogue and the priests; but Jesus, declaring to his hearers that no one honours his parents if he neglect this first of duties, reproved these false teachers with great severity, and told them that "they made the commandment of God of none effect."

very

2

Dear children, when you have failed in doing your duty toward one of your fellow creatures, it is always a sad and lamentable thing; but at all events you may hope to express your regret to him whom you have offended, and may try to atone for your fault. Reflect, on the contrary, that if you have failed in doing your duty toward your father or mother, it may happen that you may never have the means of making up for your past misconduct, as your parents may be taken from you by death in the ordinary course of nature, and then, in such a case, what never-ending sorrow, remorse, and affliction it must be for a child to say to himself, "I grieved my father and my mother! Oh, if I could but see them again, even for a single month of my life, Matt. xv. 3, 6.

1

1 Tim. v. 4.

so that I might show them my repentance, and atone for my neglect; but it is too late!"

Jesus said to his disciples, "Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will, ye may do them good; but me ye have not always." Parents may say the same thing to their children. Ah, if you have still the happy privilege of beginning the day by embracing your parents, and by receiving their caresses, may every one of you say to himself, "O Lord, may I take advantage of the time while thou preservest this blessing to me; so that I may gladden the hearts of my father and mother by my tender love, good behaviour, attention, and respect."

I do not say love your parents, because I do not think it can be necessary to tell you to do so; but I exhort you to love them by honouring them, by speaking to them always with deference, by giving to all the household an example of the respect due to the heads of the family; by being very attentive to their orders and their teaching, and by endeavouring to profit by the privilege which God has granted you, of being able to pass through a part of the pilgrimage of this life in the pleasant company of a father and a mother.

But I not only exhort the young, I have a word for parents also; reminding them that their duty to the Lord demands of them to act so as to induce and sweetly compel their children to honour them. I entreat parents never to forget that, in their own houses, they are the representatives of God, and that consequently they ought, not by severity, but by love such as God shows to his children, to endeavour to keep their household in that order and obedience to the law of the Lord which brings his blessing on the family.

XLIV.

The Law of God in the heart.

(EXODUS XX. 13, 17.)

HE more we know of God the more we shall learn, by this knowledge, to rejoice in his love,

and to serve him with fear and reverence, because of his majesty and holiness.

The subject of the last chapter was but one commandment, and yet there was not space for all that might have been said respecting it. We have now to examine the last five; and there is so much to be said about them that it is not possible to explain them one by one very particularly in the course of a single chapter. But we can, at least, try to comprehend the spirit in which they ought to be understood; and for this purpose let us take a general review of the tenth and last commandment, which concerns them all alike, which throws light upon and explains them, and which is nevertheless perfectly plain. It is very important and requires all our attention, yet even the youngest reader may understand it.

This general remark is a commentary on the last of the ten commandments, an important declaration made by the apostle Paul concerning it, which applies to all the others. "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law for I had not known lust, except the law had said,

"Thou shalt not covet." But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.1 For without the law sin was dead; for I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came sin revived, and I died; and the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin." After having said that it was this commandment which had convinced him of his sinful state by nature, Paul adds, "For we know that the law is spiritual”—that is to say, that it applies to the mind, the heart, the innermost soul, the affections, and the thoughts, still more than to the body and the actions. that merely concern the life in this world; in a word, that God in all his commandments looks on the heart. The whole of the law is in these words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart." God will have "true worshippers to worship him in spirit and in truth." The apostle Paul therefore says, "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."5 We are elsewhere told that " a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things; and an evil man out of the 1 Improper, or irregular desire.

2 Rom. vii. 7-14.

3 Deut. vi. 5.

4 John iv. 23, 24.

5 I Cor. xiii. 3.