3. Give us day by day our daily bread.

For we acknowledge it to be thy daily gift, and that whatever we have comes to us by a continually-repeated act of thy bounty.

4. And forgive us our sins:

For Christ's sake: in whom alone we have forgiveness.

4. For we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.

We forgive them their debts when they cannot pay, and their trespasses always. We dare not ask forgiveness upon other terms.

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4. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Suffer us not to be overcome by it; leave us not to ourselves, for then we must fall by every temptation. "But deliver us from evil." From the power and malice of Satan, and from the evil of our own hearts.

5. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves:

6. For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

7. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

8. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

God is always ready to give us what he knows to be good for us, and is not wrought upon or changed by our importunity. But the meaning is, that truth of desire in us, and earnestness in asking, are our fitness to receive. It is not mere want, but want which is felt, which gets relief. Let us learn from this whole passage that we have not that which we think we have, if it has not been obtained by prayer.

9. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Let us ask for our souls, without being weary, and as sure as God is true, it shall be given you. He gives the good things of this world to the evil and unthankful, without our asking; and why not spiritually-good things? Because they would not be a blessing to us without our desire and free choice of them. Let us understand this; and if we would know our state, let us think what we should ask of God in the first place. Let us make our hearts answer to this. Worldly, unconverted men may say the words of a christian prayer, and think they have done some great matter for their souls; but in the bottom of their hearts they cannot pray for anything but for the world.

10. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

11. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12. Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ?

13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

This is God's best gift, and most needful to us. Is not this a plain direction as to what we should pray for, above and before all other things? But how can we, if we do not first take a measure of our work, and know it must be done; and then see our miserable weakness, and want of the help of the Holy Spirit?

SECTION XXXVIII.

Chap. xi. ver. 14—28.

CHRIST REBUKES THE PHARISEES.

14. Aud he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered.

15. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.

Christ must either cast them out with the finger of God, or by the power of the devil. They would not own the former, and therefore said the latter not thinking how unlikely it was that Satan should destroy himself. What desperate blindness and malice was here! What will not unconverted men say against the truth? And if Christ met with such treatment, what must his servants expect at all times, but to be run down with lies and calumnies?

16. And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.

A stubborn will is always calling for more proof.

17. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.

18. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

19. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.

Jesus here intimates that their sons did cast out devils in the name of Christ. Chap. ix. 49; Mark ix. 38.

20. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

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21, When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are

peace:

Is this our case? Do we allow Satan to keep quiet possession of us?

22. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

Let us not fear, though we are weak in ourselves, and have no power against Satan, the strong man. If we fly to Christ for help, Satan has no strength against us.

23. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

The man who is not wholly, in heart and will, to have the devil subdued in him, is against him. There must be no halving with Christ, nor halving between Christ and Satan. As to any good which we do to our souls, we may as well be against him.

24. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

26. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Satan is always watching for an advantage against us; and if he enters into us a second time, after being cast out, we are in a much worse condition than ever. Let us think how we have kept our baptism: and let us beware of falling away from our repentance.

27. And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

28. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

There is but one kind of blessedness, and Christ here tells us what it is. If we turn away from this, the whole world cannot help us to another.

SECTION XXXIX.

Chap. xi. ver. 29-35.

CHRIST PREACHES TO THE PEOPLE.

29. And when the people were gathered thick together, he be

gan to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

Christ would grant them no such extraordinary sign as they looked for; except that of the prophet Jonas, who was a type of Christ rising from the dead, in his restoration from the mouth of the fish, after three days.

30. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

31. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

32. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

The words of him, who is greater than Jonas, are here, even here in this book, and they may by his Spirit, become as effectual as if he had spoken them to us in person. And if they are not, here is a heavy charge against us.

33. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

Christ did not hide his light; and we must not. Α Christian does not live for himself.

34. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.

35. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

36. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

The intention is to the soul what the eye is to the body. And in order to our seeing clearly, one must be as free from specks and blemishes as the others. All is dark, or light within us, as we have, or have not a single aim and intention to please God in all we do. This pure, single