2O6 Tite NEW and COMPLETE LIFE of aid' BLESSED LORD extortion and excefs. Thou blind Pharifee, cleanfe firJt that which is within the cup and platter, that the outfideof them may be clean alfo. Cleanfe firft thy mind, thy in- ward man from evil difpofitions and affec- tions, and thy outward behaviour will of courfe be virtuous and praife-worthy. Our dear Lord alfo animadverted upon the fuccefs of their hypocrify : they de- ceived the fimple and unthinking part of mankind, with their pretended fanEtity, appearing like whited fepulchres, beautiful on the outfide, while their internal parts . were full of uncleannefs: Wo unto you, Scribes andglorifies, hypocrites! forye are like unto whited fepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all un- . cleann f . Even fo ye alfo outwardly ap- pear righteous unto men, but within ye are full ofhypocrify and iniquity. He alfo cenfured them for the pains they had taken inadorning the fepulchres of the prophets, becaufe they pretended a great veneration for their memory, and even condemned their fathers who killed them, faying, that if they had lived in the days oftheir fathers, they would have oppofed fuch monflrous wickednefs ; while, at the fame time, all their aEtions abundantly proved, that they fill cherifhed the fame fpirit they condemned in their fathers, per- fecuting the meffengers of the Moll High, particularly his only begotten Son, whom they were determined to defroy : Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharifees, hypocrites ! be- catf ye build the tombs of the prophets, andgarner the fepulchres of the righteous, andfay, Ifwe had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witness unto yousfelves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Our bleffed Saviour added, that the Di- vine Being was defirous of trying every method for their converfion, though all thefe infances of mercy were flighted ; and, therefore, they mull expebt fuch terrible vengeance, as fhould be a funding monument of the divine difpleafure againf all the murders committed by the fons of men, from the foundation of the world. Thus having laidbefore them their hei- nous guilt and dreadful punifhment ; he was, at the thought of the calamities which were loon to fall upon them, exceedingly moved, and his breaft filled with fenfations of pity to fuch a degree, that, unable to contain himfelf, he brake forth into tears, bewailing the hard lot of the city of Jent- falem ; for as it's inhabitants had more deeply imbrued their hands in the bloodof the prophets, they were to drink more deeply of the punifhment due to fuels crimes : 0 ,ferufdlem, Jerufalem, thou that kill the prophets, andfond them which are fent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hengetherethher chickensunder her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your houfe is left unto you defolate. This exclamationof the benevolent Re- deemer ofmankind, is fuch as can hardly be read without a tear, and conveys a very Prong idea of his love for that un- grateful nation. How often had the Al- mighty called upon them to return from their evil way, before he fent his only begotten Son into the world! How often, how emphatically did the compaffionate JESUS intreat them to embrace the mer- ciful terms now offered them by the Al- mighty ! And with what unconquerable obfinacy did they refufe the benevolent offers, and refill the moll winning expref- fions of the divine love ! By the word houfe, our bleffed Saviour meant the temple, which was from that time to be left unto them defolate ; the glory of the Lord, which Haggai hadprophefied fhould fill the fecond houfe, was now departing from it adding, Ifay unto you, ye Jhall not fee me henceforth, till ye (hall fay, Bleed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. As if hehad faid, As ye have killed the prophets, and finned them whom the Father bath fent from the courts of heaven,
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