sublime contrast to all. He never lost self-command, He never gave away to passion, He was reviled, yet He reviled not again. Another thing presented here is, II. A USEFUL WORK DONE IN A BAD SPIRIT. To bring water out of the rock was a useful work. It was the life of all the tribes for forty years. But Moses did this work in a wrong spirit. Men are constantly doing useful things in a bad spirit. Churches are sometimes built in spite, charitable contributions made from vanity, sermons preached from wrong inspiration. "Some indeed," says Paul, "preach Christ even of envy and strife." Another thing here presented is, III. A HOPE OF YEARS BLASTED BY ONE ACT. For forty years Moses had cherished the hope of entering and enjoying the promised land. But the Lord says, "Thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel" (Deut. xxxii. 52). And again He says, "Ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes," etc. (Num. xxvii. 14). Because of this sin, this one act, his whole hope was quenched, he died on Pisgah with the full view of the promised land outspread before him. How often this happens! One wrong act blights an old hope, shatters an old purpose. Hopes are the stars of the mind. In young life those stars are very numerous and bright; but with every sinful act one after another is quenched, until the whole firmament of the soul is in starless gloom. ORIGINAL SIMILITUDES. Christianity. EMBODIED Christianity is the great desideratum; but it is, confessedly, a rare thing amongst us. Barren creeds, conventional formalities, and zeal far more denominational than Divine, make up, to a great extent, the Christianity of this age. The Christianity which the Church is holding out to the world in these days is something like thunder without flesh or blood-a mere hide stuffed with bones!-dry bones! The salt has lost its savour; our religion has become tasteless. It has no pungent spirit edness. To induce people to contribute to the spread of the Gospel, missionary platforms often quote the good old aphorism, "Great is the truth, and it will prevail." But we are only deceiving ourselves, and others too, if we do not remember another aphorism equally true and profound; viz., that moral truth can only prevail over moral error by meeting it in its own form. If the errors of the world existed only in abstract theories and fine speeches, then your truth, by abstract arguments and eloquent harangues, could put it down. But errors are concrete things; they are not merely in the brain, on the tongue, or in the folio, but they are in the life-they are embodied. Your infidelity, your paganism, your irreligious and wrong relations, are all incarnations; they are realities in men, wrought into the very texture of their experience. If, therefore, your truth is ever to prevail over those errors, its word must become flesh and dwell amongst them. Church's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth, and then its light shall so shine before men that others will see its good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven. Murder. Let the 66 "THOU shalt not kill." The commandment does not say, "Thou shalt not kill privately," from any personal feeling, leaving room for the inference that man may kill in his official capacity, and from public considerations. The language meets man as man in every capacity and position; it meets him as the judge upon the bench, as the executioner upon the scaffold, as the soldier upon the field. With this passage before us, we are bound to regard intentional killing, by whomsoever effected, however effected, and wherever effected, as a violation of God's eternal law. Profanity. THIS is a mighty evil. If the soul has not reverence, what has it? It has no depth of feeling, no balance of faculties, no true idea of life, no substratum of goodness. It has no virility. It is volatile and weak. It has no sympathetic connection with the great Fountain of energy and peace. It moves through life, not like the imperial bird in the atmosphere, pursuing its aërial path, however the winds may blow, and soaring onward though massive clouds may roll between; but, like the loose feather, it is the sport of every wind; it gyrates, but cannot fly. Mysteries. "We wait for light, but behold obscurity."-Isa. lix. 9. "WORLD of uncertainty- "World of the starry hosts, "World of the floral band, Budding and blooming "World of the stony beds, "BUT NEITHER TITUS, WHO WAS WITH ME, BEING A GREEK, WAS COMPELLED TO BE CIRCUMCISED: AND THAT BECAUSE OF FALSE BRETHREN UNAWARES BROUGHT IN, WHO CAME IN PRIVILY TO SPY OUT OUR LIBERTY WHICH WE HAVE IN CHRIST JESUS, THAT THEY MIGHT BRING US INTO BONDAGE: TO WHOM WE GAVE PLACE BY SUBJECTION, NO, NOT FOR AN HOUR; THAT THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL MIGHT CONTINUE WITH YOU." -Gal. ii. 3-5. WHY did Paul circumcise Timothy, and insist that Titus should not be circumcised? Undoubtedly, to show that Christianity is independent of all ceremonies, that it can exist with them and without them. The text suggests three thoughts concerning soul liberty. I. IT IS ESSENTIALLY IDENTIFIED WITH CHRIST. "Our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus." There is liberty of soul, and nowhere else. * II. IT IS OPPOSED BY A RITUALISTIC MINISTRY. "And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy." The false brethren insisted on circumcision. Ritualism is dead against soul liberty. III. IT IS TO BE "To whom we DEFENDED WITH UNCOMPROMISING DETERMINATION. gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour." "To whom not even for an hour did we yield by the required subjection."-Davidson. Brothers: To all who would invite you into their ritualistic ordinances, give the emphatic NO! * See Page 45. No. CCXLVII. The Christly Character. "AS YE HAVE THEREFORE RECEIVED CHRIST JESUS THE LORD, SO WALK YE IN HIM."-Col. ii. 6. In this statement of fact Paul's argument culminates. He appeals to their experience. They had received the doctrine of Christ from Epaphras, and He Himself had entered their hearts. The text suggests the origin and progress of a Christly character. I. Its ORIGIN. "Received Christ." What is it to receive Christ? To accept Him, First: As the supreme Object of the soul's love. Secondly: As the imperial Guide of the soul's activities. Thirdly: As the only Physician of the soul's diseases. This is the reception-not merely the reception of His doctrines into the intellect, but the reception of Himself into the heart, as the moral Monarch of its loves and activities. II. Its PROGRESS. "Walk ye in Him." This implies, First: A most vital connection with Him. "In Him." In His ideas, spirit, aims, character. This implies, Secondly: A possibility of walking out of Him. Peter did so. Man's liberty as a responsible being and the word of God show this possibility. It implies, Thirdly: A real personal exertion. "Walk." No one can walk for us. No. CCXLVIII. The Best Social Wish. "THIS ALSO WE WISH, EVEN YOUR PERFECTION."-2 Cor. xiii. 9. THERE are many social wishes. Some wish their friends wealth, strength, influence, long life, great enjoyment, etc. But the wish of Paul comprehends them all, transcends them all; it is perfection. Perfection means, completeness of Christian character. The image seems to be drawn from a structure where all the parts are exactly adjusted, so as to make it complete and perfect of its kind. He wished their moral perfection. This is the best wish for two reasons. I. It INVOLVES ALL GOOD. The man who is morally perfect has, First: The highest inner satisfaction. A good man is satisfied in himself. Secondly: The highest companionship. The pure in heart see God. "Our fellowship is indeed with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." Thirdly: The highest authority. He is the lord over himself; he has won a dominion over his own nature. Fourthly: The highest inherit ance. All things are his. This is the best wish because,-II. It is the MOST PRACTICAL. Moral perfection is a wish that all may realize. All may not be able to realize health, riches, influence, long life, etc. But all may get moral perfection; all have the idea of it, and all have the strongest motives to struggle after it. No. CCXLIX. Judas given to Christ. "WHILE I WAS WITH THEM IN THE WORLD, I KEPT THEM IN THY NAME: THOSE THAT THOU GAVEST ME I HAVE KEPT, AND NONE OF THEM IS LOST, BUT THE SON OF PERDITION; THAT THE SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE FULFILLED." -John xvii. 12. OBSERVE, I. That in the Church of Christ, THERE ARE BAD AS WELL AS GOOD MEN. Judas was with the disciples. In the field there are tares as well as wheat; in the fold, goats as well as sheep; in the net, the unclean as well as the clean. II. In the Church of Christ, the bad as WELL as the good are GIVEN TO CHRIST. "Those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition." (1) Bad men as well as good are the property of God. He can give them. "All souls are His." (2) Bad men as well as good are under the direction of God. Judas did not go into the assembly by accident. He was directed there by God. (3) Bad men as well as good are employed in the service of God. Judas did a very useful work, but no thanks to him. III. In the Church of Christ the bad are DESTINED TO BE RUINED. Judas perished. He went to his own place. It is better for a man to fall from the level sands than from the lofty cliff; it is better for a soul to fall into ruin from the corrupt world, than from the height of Christian privilege and profession. No. CCL. Christ's Condemnation of the Sword. (A SERMON FOR THREATENED EUROPEAN WAR.) "PUT UP AGAIN THY SWORD INTO HIS PLACE: FOR ALL THEY THAT TAKE THE SWORD SHALL PERISH WITH THE SWORD. ."-Matt. xxvi. 52. Ir is strange that nearly 2000 years after these words were uttered the shadow of a great war should be impending over Christendom; and that even England should seem, as in the blundering and wicked war of 1854, to be so concerned as to have her hand on the sword's hilt. It is well to remember I. THE EVILS OF WAR ARE THE VERY EVILS CHRIST CAME TO REMOVE. What are they? (1) Reign |