injury. His kindness may sometimes tempt men to impose on him. His patience and forbearance may be abused. But at the last he will always be found a gainer,-often, very often, a gainer in this life: certainly, most certainly, a gainer in the life to come.

Such is the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ about charity. Few of His sayings are so deeply heart-searching as those we have now been considering. Few passages in the Bible are so truly humbling as these eleven verses.

How little of the style of charity which our Lord recommends is to be seen, either in the world or in the Church! How common is an angry, passionate spirit, a morbid sensitiveness about what is called honour, and a readiness to quarrel on the least occasion! How seldom we see men and women who love their enemies, and do good hoping for nothing again, and bless those that curse them, and are kind to the unthankful and evil! Truly we are reminded here of our Lord's words, "Narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. vii. 13.)

How happy the world would be, if Christ's precepts were strictly obeyed! The chief causes of half the sorrows of mankind are selfishness, strife, unkindness, and want of charity. Never was there a greater mistake than to suppose that vital Christianity interferes with human happiness. It is not having too much religion, but too little, that makes people gloomy, wretched, and miserable. Wherever Christ is best known and obeyed, there will always be found most real joy and peace.

Would we know anything by experience of this blessed grace of charity? Then let us seek to be joined to

Christ by faith, and to be taught and sanctified by His Spirit. We do not gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles. We cannot have flowers without roots, or fruit without trees. We cannot have the fruit of the Spirit without vital union with Christ, and a new creation within. Such as are not born again can never really love in the manner that Christ enjoins.

NOTES. LUKE VI. 27-38.

28.-[Despitefully use you.] The word so translated is only found in two other places in the New Testament. In one (Matt. v. 44), it is rendered as it is here. In the other (1 Peter iii. 16), it is "falsely accuse."

The conduct here recommended is beautifully exemplified in the case of our Lord praying for those that crucified Him, and Stephen praying for those who stoned him. Luke xxiii. 34; Acts vii. 60.

29, 30-[Unto him that smiteth thee, &c.] The precepts of these two verses must necessarily be interpreted with Scriptural qualification. We must not so expound them as to contradict other passages of God's word. They are strong proverbial forms of expressing a great principle. If we were to press an extreme literal interpretation of them, we should give encouragement to theft, burglary, violence, and murder. The earth would be given into the hands of the wicked.

On the one hand, our Lord did not mean to forbid the repression of crime, or to declare the office of the magistrate and policeman unlawful. Nor yet did He mean to pronounce all war unlawful, or to prohibit the punishment of evil-doers, and disturbers of the peace and order of society. We find Him saying in one place, "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." Luke xxii. 36. We find St. Paul saying of the magistrate, that "he beareth not the sword in vain," that "he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Rom. xiii. 4. We find several centurions mentioned in the Gospels and Acts. But we never find their occupation, as soldiers, condemned as unlawful.

On the other hand, it is evident that our Lord condemns every thing like a revengeful, pugnacious, litigious, or quarrelsome spirit. He forbids everything like duelling, or fighting, between individuals, for the settlement of private wrongs. He enjoins forbearance, patience, and long-suffering under injuries and insults. He would have us concede much, submit to much, and

put up with much, rather than cause strife. He would have us endure much inconvenience and loss, and even sacrifice some of our just rights, rather than have any contention. It is the same lesson that St. Paul enforces in other words: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."—"Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”—“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Rom. xii. 18—21.

Few things bring out more painfully the little hold that Christianity has on professing Christians, than the utter neglect of our Lord's injunctions in these verses, which everywhere prevails. Anything more contrary to the mind of Christ than the duelling, and hand to hand conflicts, of which we hear so often in some countries and some ranks of society, it is impossible to conceive. To give blow for blow, and violence for violence, anger for anger, and abuse for abuse, is the conduct of a dog or a heathen, but not of a Christian.

32.-Sinners also.] A. Clarke remarks on the word "sinners," used here and in the two following verses: "I believe this word is used by St. Luke in the same sense in which "publican, or tax-gatherer," is used by St. Matthew. It signifies "heathen," -not only men who have no religion, but who acknowledge

none.

33.-[Do even the same.] Quesnel remarks on this verse: "A man ought to tremble with fear, if beside the external part of his religion, he finds nothing in his life but what may be found in a Turk or a heathen."

35.-[Hoping for nothing again.] The word so translated is not used in any other place in the New Testament. Bishop Pearce would translate "nothing" "no man," and thinks that the meaning is "not cutting off the hope of any man by denying him those things which he requests to preserve him from perishing." De Dieu takes much the same view, "not causing him to despair." 37, 38.-[Judge not, and ye shall not be judged, &c.] It is a disputed point whether the promises in these two verses are to be taken in a temporal or spiritual sense. The word "men," in the 38th verse is not in the original, so that no argument can be founded on it. But taking into consideration the whole connection in which the two verses stand, it seems most probable to me that the rewards promised by our Lord are primarily and principally rewards to be received in this world.

I cannot close the notes on this passage, without entering my protest against the rapidly increasing opinion, that we may have the fruits of the Spirit without the doctrine of the Spirit. Nothing is more common now than to find charity, kindness, self-sacrifice, and attention to others, praised and commended by popular writers, who make no secret of their contempt for

all the leading doctrines of the Gospel. Once for all, let us understand, that real, genuine, self-denying love, will never grow from any roots but faith in Christ's atonement, and a heart renewed by the Holy Ghost. We shall never make men love one another, unless we teach as St. Paul taught, "Walk in love, as Christ hath loved us." Teaching love on any other principle is, as a general rule, labour in vain.

LUKE VI. 39-45.

39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull

out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

WE learn, in the first place, from these verses, the great danger of listening to false teachers in religion. Our Lord compares such teachers and their hearers to the blind leading the blind, and asks the reasonable question, "Shall they not both fall into the ditch ?" He goes on to confirm the importance of His warning by declaring, that "the disciple is not above his master," and the scholar cannot be expected to know more than his teacher. If a man will hear unsound instruction, we cannot expect him to become otherwise than unsound in the faith himself.

The subject which our Lord brings before us here deserves far more attention than it generally receives. The amount of evil which unsound religious teaching has

brought on the Church in every age is incalculable. The loss of souls which it has occasioned is fearful to contemplate. A teacher who does not know the way to heaven himself, is not likely to lead his hearers to heaven. The man who hears such a teacher runs a fearful risk himself of being lost eternally. "If the blind lead the blind both must fall into the ditch."

If we would escape the danger against which our Lord warns us, we must not neglect to prove the teaching that we hear by the holy Scriptures. We must not believe things merely because ministers say them. We must not suppose, as a matter of course, that ministers can make no mistakes. We must call to mind our Lord's words on another occasion, "Beware of false prophets." (Matt. vii. 15.) We must remember the advice of St. Paul and St. John: "Prove all things." "Try the spirits whether they are of God." (1 Thess. v. 21; 1 John iv. 1.) With the Bible in our hands, and the promise of guidance from the Holy Ghost to all who seek it, we shall be without excuse if our souls are led astray. The blindness of ministers is no excuse for the darkness of the people. The man who from indolence, or superstition, or affected humility, refuses to distrust the teaching of the minister whom he finds set over him, however unsound it may be, will at length share his minister's portion. If people will trust blind guides, they must not be surprised if they are led to the pit.

We learn, secondly, from these verses, that those who reprove the sins of others should strive to be of blameless life. Our Lord teaches us this lesson by a practical saying. He shews the unreasonableness of a man finding fault with