be had, and such external ceremonies should be gone out of date. 3. And lastly, if, by this phrase, be meant the 'kingdom of Christ among the Gentiles, and their calling by the gospel,' (as it also reacheth that sense,) it was a proper kind of arguing used to the Jews, to move them to repentance,-by minding them of the calling of the Gentiles, whose calling in they knew, would be their own casting off, if they repented not.' Harm. Evan. part iii.

sect. xix.

SECTION VI.

'Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted ? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.' MATT. V. 13.

THE parallel places are Mark ix. 49, 50. Luke xiv. 34, 35. As the passage in Mark contains a clause not found in the other Evangelists, I quote that also:

For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.'

In these words, Jesus assures his disciples, that the doctrine, which he had delivered to them, and which they were to communicate to the world, is of a cleansing, purifying nature. It will preserve mankind from the corruption of sin. But in order that men should embrace this doctrine, and experience its beneficial effects, it was necessary that the apostles should have salt in themselves; that is, that they should manifest, by the purity of their lives, the wholesome nature of the doctrine they preached. If they failed in this, their labors would be useless, and they, like unsavoury salt, would justly merit the neglect and contempt of mankind. In this exposition, the following commentators substantially agree.

1. TOMSON'S BEZA. Salt of the earth; Your doctrine

must be very sound and good, for if it be not so, it shall be nought set by, and cast away as a thing unsavoury and vain.

Wherewith shall it be salted? What shall you have to salt withal? And so are fools, in the Latin tongue, called saltless, as you would say, men that have no salt, or savour, and taste in them.' Note in loc.

2. GILPIN. 'Salt is good; but if what ought to be preserved by it, is indisposed to receive its seasoning, no effect can be produced. Attend carefully to what I say, and let it have its due influence on your minds' Expos. in Luke xiv. 34, 35.

3. ASSEMBLY'S ANNOTATIONS. 'Salt of the earth; I have chosen you to season and preserve those who are corruptible by sin; as salt suffereth not flesh to corrupt, so wholesome doctrine worketh with the mind; reprove them therefore, that they may be saved; though you displease some thereby, and suffer persecution for the same; yet be you so savoury in yourselves, and by good exhortations help to season others, with the salt of grace, that they may be pleasing to God. Col. iv. 6. Eph. iv. 29. But if the salt: It may be understood of ministers, or of private christians, who are spoken of before, and in the following words.

Have lost his savour: Become foolish; the unsavouriness of salt is, (as Euthimius saith,) the weakness of its acrimony: the meaning is, if you have not grace in you, and zeal to reprove sinners.

Wherewith shall it be salted? As nothing else can recover the taste of salt once lost; so, bad ministers cannot easily be mended by others.

So it is with

Good for nothing: Other things may be good for somewhat else, when they decay; salt cannot. unsavoury ministers, and relapsing sinners.

To be cast out: Of the church, as unprofitable. To be trodden under foot: as not good for any use, see Luke xiv. 35. xxi. 34.' Annot. in loc.

4. MACKNIGHT. 'If ye, whose business it is to reform mankind, be wicked yourselves, ye cannot be reclaimed, but will be the most useless and contemptible of men. Harm. Evan. sect. xxvi.

5. THEOPHYLACT. To be cast out: From the dignity of teachers.

Trodden under foot: That is, despised.'

Some have understood the passage in Mark to imply misery after death, particularly the phrase, salted with fire. But that there is sufficient orthodox authority for applying these words to the concerns of this life, the following quotations will show :

1. TOMSON'S BEZA. We must be seasoned and powdered, by God, both that we may be acceptable sacrifices unto him, and also that we, being knit together, may season one another.

Salted with fire: that is, shall be consecrate to God,being seasoned with the incorruptible word.' Note in loc. 2. GILPIN. As the sacrifice is purified by salt; so is the professor of the gospel by his trials. The great truths you receive, are in themselves good: be you properly prepared to dispense them.' Expos. in loc.

3. MACKNIGHT. Every one shall be salted for the fire of God's altar; i. e. shall be prepared to be offered a sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable. For although the proposition be universal, it must be limited by the nature of the subject, thus; Every one who is offered a sacrifice to God, shall be salted for the fire, as every sacrifice is salted with salt.' Harm. Evan. sec. lxxiii.

It will be observed that Macknight is so far from supposing this passage to imply endless misery after death, that he thinks it necessary to qualify it somewhat, to prevent his readers from concluding that it teaches absolute universal salvation. All these authors understand the fire, with which men were to be salted, to signify, not the fire of hell, but either the gracious influence of God's spirit, or the indirect influence of that same spirit, manifested in the trials to which their faith was subjected. To the same effect is the following:

6

4. BEAUSOBRE and LENFANT. The crosses, afflictions and severe sacrifices, occasioned by the practice of piety and the profession of true christianity, are here compared to fire; even to a fire which produces the same effect on

the mind, which salt produces on flesh :-preserving it from corruption.' Com. in loc.

I only add that we may judge what these writers intend by being offered a sacrifice to God, by examining the passage to which I suppose Macknight particularly refers, i. e. Rom. xii. 1, 'I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.' Comp. Hebrews. x. 19.-23.

SECTION VII.

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.'-MATT. v. 20.

FOR a tolerably full exposition of the phrase kingdom of heaven, see Hammond's note on Matt. iii. 2: see also Lightfoot's note on Matt. iv. 17. It seems to have been used, not precisely as the word church is now used, but in a sense somewhat similar. It denoted that state of things in the world, which was produced by the ministry of Jesus Christ; a state of things existing, not in the next life, but in the present. Hence Jesus said to the Jews, the kingdom of God is within you,' Luke xvii. 19, 20. And again, 'the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof,' Matt. xxi. 43. Hence, to enter the kingdom of heaven, is to become a disciples of Jesus; to believe his gospel; to submit to his laws; to conform to his requirements; and thus to become entitled to all the privileges and immunities of discipleship. See the notes on John iii. 3, 5. It may not be improper to add, that kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God, (and certain others,) are used by the Evangelists as convertible terms;

what one expresses by one phrase, another describes by the other. Comp. Matt. iv. 17, with Mark i. 15: Matt. v. 3, with Luke vi. 20, &c.

The righteousness of the Pharisees was external, consisting in ceremonies and observances,which did not purify the heart: see Matt. xxiii. the whole chapter. The kingdom of heaven, which Jesus came to establish, was designed to operate on the heart; and its laws required not only propriety in external behaviour, but purity of intention. See this point very fully illustrated in that compendium of all christian duty, the Sermon on the mount, recorded in Matt. v, vi, and vii. It was with reference to this feature in its character, and to the blessed effects, which conformity to its spirit produces, that the apostle said, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.' Rom.

xiv. 17.

To be unable to enter the kingdom of heaven, then, as the phrase is here used, does not imply the impossibility of salvation in the future life; but the inability of becoming true disciples, in the present life. Doubtless, the blessed in the future life will be holy. But with this subject, the text under consideration has no immediate concern. I proceed to quote a few authorities, in agreement with this exposition:

1. GILPIN. In his paraphrase of this verse, Gilpin retains the phrase kingdom of heaven; but he elsewhere gives his opinion of its import as follows:

Jesus told him, that his doctrine lay in a very short compass. A man, said he, must be born again, before he can be a member of my kingdom. Nicodemus not comprehending the expression, Jesus explained himself, by saying, that no body could be his disciple, who, after professing himself such by baptism,' &c. (See the place.) Expos. in John iii. 3—5.

2. HENRY. This writer gives the phrase, kingdom of heaven, both significations, the gospel kingdom on earth, and the kingdom of glory, in the life to come; but prefers