faggots? Has it not made those intolerant bigots of every age who "Prove their doctrine orthodox We have here, III. REVERENCE FOR AGE RESTRAINING THE SPEECH OF YOUTH. "I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not show you mine opinion. I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom." Here this young man appears in an aspect most becoming and commendable. He shows, First: A sense of his theological inferiority arising from his youthhood. He seems to have been free from that pert and self-conceited spirit so common in the young, and which is evermore forward and flippant in speech. He appeared so suspicious of his own opinions of the matters in debate, that he did not speak until all was silent. He shows, Secondly: A deference for the judgment of his seniors. “I said, Days should speak." Age gives a man great advantage in judging things. There is no school like the school of experience a school where the lessons are burnt into a man's soul. “The aged,” says a modern writer, "have had an opportunity of long observation. They have conversed much with men. They have seen the results of certain courses of conduct, and they have arrived at a period of life when they can look at the reality of things, and are uninfluenced now by passion. Returning respect for the sentiments of the aged, attention to their counsels, veneration for their persons, and deference for them when they speak, would be an indication of advancement in society in modern times; and there is scarcely anything in which we have deteriorated from the simplicity of early ages, or in which we fall behind the Oriental world, so much as in the want of this." "The eye of age," says Longfellow, "looks meek into my heart! The voice of age echoes mournfully through it! The hoary head and palsied hand of age plead irresistibly for its sympathies. I venerate old age, and I love not the man who can look without emotion upon the sunset of life, when the dusk of evening begins to gather over the watery eyes, and the shadows of twilight grow broader and deeper upon the understanding.' SERMONIC GLANCES AT THE GOSPEL OF As our purpose in the treatment of this Gospel is purely the development, in the briefest and most suggestive form, of Sermonic Outlines, we must refer our readers to the following works for all critical inquiries into the author and authorship of the book, and also for any minute criticisms on difficult clauses. The works we shall especially consult are:-"Introduction to New Testament," by Bleek; "Commentary on John," by Tholuck; "Commentary on John," by Hengstenberg; "Introduction to the Study of the Gospels," by Westcott; "The Gospel History," by Ebrard; "Our Lord's Divinity," by Liddon; "St. John's Gospel," by Oosterzee: "Doctrine of the Person of Christ," by Dorner; Lange; etc., etc. No. LXV. The Anti-diabolism of Christ. "THEN ANSWERED THE JEWS, AND SAID UNTO HIM, SAY WE NOT WELL THAT THOU ART A SAMARITAN, AND HAST A DEVIL? JESUS ANSWERED, I HAVE NOT A DEVIL; BUT I HONOUR MY FATHER, AND YE DO DISHONOUR AND I SEEK NOT MINE OWN GLORY: THERE IS ONE THAT SEEKETH AND JUDGETH. VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, IF A MAN KEEP MY SAYING, HE SHALL NEVER SEE DEATH."-John viii. 48-51. ME. EXPOSITION: Ver. 48." Then an swered the Jews, and said unto a devil' or evil spirit (comp. ch. maketh himself a prophet,' is the style in which a false prophet writes concerning the true."Hengestenberg. Why did they call Him a Samaritan? They knew He was not a Samaritan, for they had reproached Him before as being a Galilean and a Nazarene. The reason was this: their vocabulary of abuse furnished no stronger epithet. To be a Samaritan, to them, was to be a demon, one inspired with a diabolic spirit. Ver. 49.-" Jesus answered, I have Ver. 50.-"And I seek not mine own glory there is one that seeketh and judgeth." Instead of "and" it should be "but" I seek, etc. He seems to intimate that He leaves His dóğa, "glory," in the hands of the Father. Ver. 51.-" Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." This He had expressed many times before, not however in such a bold and naked form (ch. v. 24, etc.). HOMILETICS. The subject that these words suggest, is the Anti-diabolism of Christ. I. Christ HONOURS THE FATHER; the devil does not. "I honour my Father, but ye do dishonour me." How does Christ honour the Father? First: By a faithful representation of the Father's character. He was "the faithful and true witness:" the highest revelation of God in the universe. The revelation of the Infinite which the material creation gives, is very dim and limited compared with that revelation given by Jesus Christ. He was the "brightness of His Father's glory, the express image of His person." "In Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." He honoured Him, Secondly: By supreme devotion to the Father's will. He came to this world in order to work out the Divine will in relation to humanity, to substitute in all human hearts truth for error, purity for pollution, benevolence for selfishness, spirituality for materialism, God for the devil. He came, in one word, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, to sweep moral evil clean out of the earth. Now this is just what the devil does not do. On the contrary, the devil seeks to dishonour God by misrepresenting Him, dealing out calumnies into every ear that will listen to them; by opposing with might and main the Divine will. He dares Omnipotence "to arms." He is a liar from the beginning. II. Christ SEEKS NOT HIS OWN GLORY; the devil does. "I seek not mine own glory." Personal ambition and self-seeking had no place in the heart of Christ. "He made Himself of no reputation, but took on Him the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," etc. Love to the Infinite Father seemed to swallow up His ego-ism. He was self-oblivious. Often does He say, "I seek not my own will." Had He sought His own earthly glory, He would have been the triumphant Leader of all armies, the absolute Emperor of all nations, instead of which, He was born in a stable, lived without a home, and died upon a cross. All this is Anti-diabolic. Ambition is the inspiration of Satan. His motto is, "Better reign in hell than serve in heaven." He cares for no one else, and would kindle hells for a thousand generations in order to maintain his own dominion and gratify his own ambition. Just so far as a man loses his own ego-ism in love for the Infinite, He is Christ-like. Just so far as he is self-conscious and aiming at his own personal ends, he is devil-like. "If a III. Christ DELIVERS FROM DEATH; the devil cannot. man keep my saying, he shall never see death." What does He mean by death here ? First: Does He mean the dissolution of soul and body? Not so; for all the millions that "kept His sayings" have gone down to the grave. Secondly: Does He mean extinction of existence? If He does, it is in all probability true. It is morally certain, to say the least, that all genuine disciples of Christ will inherit perpetual existence. This He Himself has taught. "This is the will of Him that sent me, that every one that seeketh the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life." Thirdly: Does He mean the destruction of that which makes death repugnant to man's nature? If so, the dying experience of millions demonstrates its truth. The sting of death is sin. Take sin away, and the event of the dissolution of soul and body becomes one of the brightest prospects in the pilgrimage of souls. It is a mere step over a beautiful river from a wilderness into a Canaan; it is the mere opening of the door from a cell into palatial apartments. Now, does the devil deliver from death? No, he cannot. He cannot raise a dead insect to life, nor make a fading flower re-bloom; and if he could, he would not. The work of destruction is the gratification of his malignant nature. He goes about seeking whom he may devour. CONCLUSION. How essentially antagonistic are the inspirations of good and evil: the kingdom of the devil and the kingdom of Christ. The one is God-honouring, the other God-dishonouring; the one self-abnegating piety, the other blasphemous ambition; the one death extinction, the other death production. Kind Heaven! inspire the world with the spirit of anti-diabolism, the spirit of Christ. The Preacher's Germs of Thought. ་་ Notes on the Apostles' Creed.-3. " "The Maker of Heaven and Earth." 'I AM THE LORD THAT MAKETH ALL THINGS; THAT STRETCHETH FORTH THE HEAVENS ALONE; THAT SPREADETH ABROAD THE EARTH BY MYSELF."Isaiah xliv. 24. B an EFORE the Apostles' Creed utters its sublimely simple words about God as the Creator of all things, it has led us to say, "I believe in God the Father Almighty." Thus we have learned that Christian Belief is individual, intelligent, filial, and practical trust in the great God, whom Christ revealed, and to whom also we are reconciled by Christ. Whoever has that Christian belief, can trust God as the Maker of heaven and earth. That He is the Creator, is suggested by reason, even to a point of probability so high that it becomes almost proof. But it is declared in Scripture; for Genesis but gives the key |