reflections upon the case of the young man. He felt that, had he followed the advice of Christ, and forsaken all his riches, he must in some way have been greatly the gainer; and, knowing that he and his fellow-apostles, if they had not sacrificed as much, yet had given up all, asks what they should have, тI apа EσTai nur, what should be their reward. This appears to have been an inquiry dictated by the predominance of a spiritual mind; for he must have perceived, from what had been just said, that no hope of earthly advantages was held out by their Master. The answer shows, that Christ had approved of their conduct. By giving up all, though little, they had given full proof of their sincerity, and, as Grotius well observes, Christ did not estimate their attachment to him, "from the quantity and measure of the things relinquished, but from the mind and intention with which they had relinquished them." Verse 28. In the regeneration, &c. Пayeveσia signifies the reproduction, restoration, renovation. It is used by Cicero to express the restoration of his fortune and dignity; by Josephus, for the re-occupation of Judea, after the captivity; and by Philo, both for the renovation of the earth after the deluge, and to express. the new condition of the soul in a future state. It is only once more used in the New Testament, Titus iii. 5; and there is explained by the clause which follows, "the renewing of the Holy Ghost;" which gives it an entirely moral sense, and refers it to the spiritual change which divine influence produces in the whole character of individual believers. The sense of this passage is greatly determined by the punctuation. If we connect the words, εν τη παλιγγενεσία, with following Christ, these then mean, that the course of discipline in which our

Lord trained his disciples during his personal abode with them as their teacher, was the regeneration spoken of, a sense which it will not well bear; but if we connect this clause with the time when the rewards promised should be conferred upon the apostles, then we must either refer it to the perfected gospel dispensation, or to what is called the millennial state; or to the resurrection from the dead, and the day of judgment. Each of these has been advocated by eminent men; but the two last with little reason. At the day of judgment, not only the twelve tribes of Israel are to be judged, but all mankind; nor do we find that the apostles upon "twelve thrones" are to take that prominent part in the proceedings of that last day which is here assigned them. The whole doctrine of a millennium, as it is supposed to imply a personal appearance and visible reign of Christ upon earth, will be shown to be contradictory to certain passages, which will come under notice in their proper place; and if there be no scriptural ground to expect such an appearance of Christ on earth in glory, then what is here said of the apostles must be referred to some other time. It remains therefore only, that "the regeneration" must be understood to signify the perfected dispensation of Christ's gospel, under which the great and divine work of human restoration from a state of guilt and sin, to the favour and image of God, and that "renewing of the Holy Ghost," by which St. Paul explains the word maxiуyeveσia, was commenced in its power and efficacy, and shall continue as long as the dispensation itself. The Syriac version renders it "the new world," which seems to answer to the Jewish " age to come," which commenced with Messiah's manifestation, and continued to the end of all things.

In this view, therefore, the promise thus made to the apostles is, that in this new age, to commence at our Lord's return to his giory, when his renewing and restoring religion should be fully introduced, they should receive the reward of their following him as his disciples at the expense of their entire renunciation of the world.

When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory.-This further marks the time of the reward. From this expression being used in chap. xxv. 31, when Christ's second coming to judge the world is certainly spoken of, it has been concluded that the same event is here also intended; and it is this which appears to have misled many with respect to the sense of the passage. But in chap. xxv. 31, this coming of Christ is connected with circumstances which oblige us to understand it of Christ's coming to judge the world; and this sense follows from them, not from the mode of expression. In fact, when he ascended into heaven, he sat upon the throne of his glory, or his glorious throne; he "entered into his glory," all power was given to him in heaven and earth, and "angels, principalities, and powers were made subiect unto him." The expression, therefore, is not less literally true of his glorification and entrance upon his mediatorial kingdom, than of his coming from heaven to judge the world.

Ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones.The allusion is here to the puxapxa, or ancient heads of the tribes, who sat near the throne, and assisted the king of Israel in his judgments; or, still more proba. bly, to the Jewish Sanhedrim, in which the high-priest sat surrounded by the principal rulers, and doctors of the law. The pre-eminence and authority of the apostles in the church are thus finely and strongly expressed. They are next to Christ, and he instructs and governs the church through them.

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Judging the twelve tribes of Israel The figure is still continued. To judge is here, not to condemn, but to have authority; to preside over, or rule. Thus, Jephthah judged Israel six years,"

Judges xii. 7 for xpw answers to the Hebrew, which often signifies to govern; and hence the judges who succeeded Joshua are called DDW. The twelve tribes of Israel are mentioned here and in other places of the New Testament, because, though the ten tribes which were carried away by Shalmanezer never returned in a body, yet many of each tribe remained in the land, and many more returned at different times; so that, at and before the time of Christ, the twelve tribes were commonly spoken of. Thus Josephus says, that six persons out of each of the twelve tribes were sent to Ptolemy king of Egypt, to translate the scriptures into Greek so also in Acts xxvi. 7, St. Paul speaks in the familiar language of the day, when he says, "Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come;" and St. James's epistle is addressed "to the twelve tribes scattered abroad." There is no need, therefore, to look for 2 future restoration of the twelves tribes, in order to fix the time of which our Lord is speaking, because they were then existing in Judea, and the neighbouring countries, though mingled with each other, and without distinct governments or tribes. But these words, like the former, are figurative. The Christian church is "the Israel of God," and every believer is a son of Abraham. From the first, the natural descendants of Abraham by Isaac and Jacob were invested with a typical character, and the grand antitype was the whole body of true believers, the spiritual seed of the spiritual Isaac. To have authority under Christ in this spiritual church, to convey immediately from him its doctrines and laws, to regulate its discipline and its services, to encourage the humble spirits by promises, to direct the perplexed by counsel, to excite the languid by exhortation, to restrain the vicious by rebukes, to exhibit as the motives to submission and obedience to Christ all the hopes of heaven, and all the terrors of future punishment, with an authority which they only possessed, and continue to possess to this day : these were to be the rewards of the fishermen

and publicans of Galilee, who had left all to follow Christ. And who of mankind have been raised to equal honour and influence? where are the men whose names are so venerable, and so often pronounced? where the authority which is so often appealed to on all moral questions? where the writings which lay such hold upon the consciences of men? and where the teachers who have trained up such a host of immortal beings to holiness here, and to a blissful immortality? And these their rewards will ever increase until all the world shall acknowledge them, under Christ, to be their infallible guides, and the rulers of a universal church. It is no objection to this view of the subject, that but a few of the apostles continue to exert their influence in the church as writers: the doctrine was that of all, though in particular modes taught by individuals; it was specially taught and inspired, and the illuminations of all compared together perfectly agreed; and so at first was collectively taught in the metropolis of Judea. All wrought miracles at Jerusalem, when they united together for its first propagation; for " many wonders and signs were done BY THE APOSTLES;" the large church there, of between three and four thousand souls, the mother and pattern of the rest, "continued in the APOSTLES' DOCTRINE;" regarding them, collectively, as infallible authority; and "the twelve" remained for a considerable time at Jerusalem, to settle any essential point of discipline and rule, and to be appealed to in matters of difficulty; and thus, as rulers of the spiritual Israel, they "at upon their thrones" glorious in moral majesty, and mighty in influence, ordering that kingdom of their Lord which was to endure for ever. With respect to Judas, this reward might have been his but for his own fault. But he was known by our Lord, and excluded in his intention from this promise. He was not one who had left all to follow Christ; for he was "covetous," and fell by that sin. But

our Lord speaks of the twelve collectively, to which number the eleven was raised by the election of Matthias, a disciple who, as well as the apostles, had “sollowed" Christ, and was one of those who, as St. Peter says, Acts i. 21, had "companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us." The above is the primary meaning of this promise of Christ to his apostles. But that it has an ultimate reference to their reward in another life, is probable, from the lofty terms inade use of. When the discourses of our Lord rise into this magnificence of diction, we shall almost uniformly discover that a latent meaning lies under the more immediate and obvious one. And every part of this promise has an easy application to the heavenly state. There the παλιγγενεσία, the restoration, of man is complete, both in his glorified body and soul; there the Son of Man sits upon his glorious heavenly throne; there the Israel of God, represented by the twelve tribes, are glorified with him; and there the twelve apostles will have their pre-eminence of glory, and, as in heaven all is order, and rank rises above rank, probably, also, their pre-eminence of mild and directive authority.

Verse 29. And every one that hath forsaken.-This is a general promise, not confined to the apostles; and refers to those times of persecution and distress which our Lord foresaw would invade his church and put many of his followers to the severe test of forsaking or giving up, not only fishing-boats and fishing-nets, not only such possessions as the young ruler refused to part with, but, what would prove an infinitely severer trial to flesh and blood, their tenderest relations, through banishment, imprisonment, or death.