And JESUS answering said, Were there not ten eleansed? but where are the nine?

There are not found that returned to give glory to GOD, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of GoD should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of GoD cometh not with observation.

Neither shall they say, Lo here, or, lo there: for be hold, the kingdom of Gon is within you.

And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

And they shall say to you, See here, or see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

For as the lightning that lightneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day, But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

And as it was in the days of NoAH, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that NOAI entered into the ark: and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded:

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all: Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

In that day, he which shall be upon the house top,

and

and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

Remember Lot's wife.

Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life, shall preserve it.

I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

And they answered and said unto him, Where LORD? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

Though our LORD knew that he should, by his discourses and miracles, provoke the malice of the Jewish rulers, and at length suffer death at Jerusalem, he stedfastly determined to go thither; knowing, that it was the only way to promote the glory of GoD, and the salvation of mankind.

It was natural for James and John to be offended with the Samaritans, but they carried their zeal to an intemperate excess, and their divine MASTER reproved them for it, shewing them that it proceeded from an unchristian disposition: for Christianity forbids the indulgence of pride, passion, and personal revenge; and they should have considered, that the Gospel was a proclamation of peace and good will to men; and not to be propagated by fire and sword, blood and slaughter. Instead, therefore, of expressing resentment against

those Samaritans, our LORD quietly retired to another village; here he had an opportunity of exercising his benevolence on ten miserable objects at once; it is pro bable, he travelled that way in particular for their sakes.

It must have been very affecting to hear these ten lepers, all with one voice calling on our LORD for mercy; and delightful to observe the benignity with which he granted it!

To try the obedience of these men, and also that their cure might be ascertained, and that they might be received into society again, our LORD sent them to the Priest. One of the lepers, particularly affected with the mercy bestowed on him, publicly acknowledged the Divine power of CHRIST, and glorified God; this man was a Samaritan, the other nine were Jews: our LORD mentioned this circumstance, as an argument for his kindness to the Samaritans, whom his countrymen despised.

We may learn from our LORD's rebuke to James and John, that it is the duty of every Christian, before he executes purposes of revenge, to consider what kind of spirit is he of, and to regulate his anger by the rules of the Gospel; and we are taught, by his benevolence to the Samaritan leper, to be kind to strangers, and not to contract our kindness to the circle of our own acquaintance, nor even of our own countrymen; for all manking are the children of one FATHER, even GOD; and as we cannot, like our blessed LORD, penetrate into the hearts of men, and discern their dispositions, charity requires that we should think well of all, till we find, by experience, that they are undeserving of our good opinion; nor should we withhold our benevolence, even if we have occasion to change our sentiments, when an opportunity offers for promoting the eternal happiness of any of our fellow-creatures.

It

It is not certain whether our LORD was at Jerusalem, or in its neighbourhood, when the Pharisees asked him the question concerning the kingdom of GOD. In his answer he cautioned them not to expect it with external pomp and the observation of men, because it was a spiritual kingdom, and, during their abode in this world, to be only spiritually discerned. When our LORD was alone with his disciples, he described the signs by which they might know that this kingdom was actually begun; and warned them, that the establishing of it in the minds of men would be attended with great trouble and interruption to the first propagators of it, as well as to its opponents: so that all parties would wish for the coming of the MESSIAH; the Jews, in hopes that he would bring them victory and triumph; the Christians, that they might enjoy peace and tranquillity.

Lest his disciples should be deceived by false reports concerning the kingdom of heaven, our LORD cautioned them to beware of impostors; and told them, that He shortly would come, but in a very different manner from what the Jews expected, to bring sudden and unavoidable destruction on the enemies of his re

ligion; but he foretold that he must suffer many things before what he now predicted should come to pass; yet Divine vengeance would overtake sinners, as it for merly had done in many very remarkable instances, when they least expected it. Our LORD then prophe sied, that at the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, numbers of his faithful servants would be saved in a very providential manner, when others of the same fat mily, who did not believe in him, would be destroyed with exemplary judgments, as Lot's wife had been for her infidelity; that wherever the unbelieving Jews should be gathered together, there would the vengeance

of GoD pursue them; and that the Romans (called Eagles, perhaps, because they bore that bird on their standard) should fly upon them as a helpless prey.

We will reserve the full consideration of this remarkable prophecy to a future occasion. It will be sufficient for our present purpose to point out, that what our LORD said of the destruction of Jerusalem may be applied to his appearance at the last day. We should, therefore, always keep in mind, that death and judgment will come, and endeavour to be in a state of preparation for them; and not, like Lot's wife, disbelieve the threatenings of GOD; and, having entered on a religious course of life, look back with desire after the sinful pleasures of this world.

SECTION LXXXVI.

OUR LORD CURES A MAN WHO HAD BEEN BLIND FROM HIS BIRTH.

From John, Chap. ix.

AND as JESUS passed by, he saw a man that was blind from his birth, and his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

JESUS answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:. but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day the night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground,

and