loins, and take thy staff in thine hand, and go thy way. if thou meet any man, salute him not, and if any man salute thee answer him not again." (2 Kings iv. 29.)

The plain practical lesson to ministers ought never to be forgotten. They should be careful not to waste their time in leaving cards, and paying unmeaning morning calls, as others do who have nothing better to do with their time. The man of God ought to have no leisure for any work but that of his Master. The man of the world who expects clergymen to be as ready as other people to leave cards, and pay morning calls, and dine out, only displays his own ignorance of what a Christian minister ought to be.

5.-[Peace be to this house.] It is probable that this was a common Jewish form of salutation. (See 1 Sam. xxv. 6: Psalm cxxii. 7, 8.)

6.—[If the Son of peace be there, &c.] Bishop Pearce's explanation of this verse is worth quotation. "In the Jewish style a man who has any good or bad quality, is called the son of it. So here the son of peace is mentioned and in Matt. xi. 19, and Luke vii. 35, are men called children of wisdom. So likewise what a man is doomed to, he is called the son of. Wicked men are children of wrath. (Ephes. ii. 3.) Judas is the son of perdition. (John xvii. 12.) So also a man desiring to die is called a son of death. (2 Sam. xii. 5.)" The expression therefore means, "If a worthy person, or one deserving your good wishes, be there, your peace shall rest upon it." The conclusion of the verse is like the expression in the Psalms, “My prayer returned into mine own bosom." (Psalm xxxv. 13.)

7.—In the same house remain.] The meaning of this direction is made clear from the end of the verse, "go not from house to house." The disciples were to be content with such lodgings as were provided for them, and not to be hard to please either in the matter of bed or board.

[Such things as they give.] The first expression so translated would be rendered more literally, "The things from them." Major thinks it means, “That which belongs to them, and such things as they themselves eat."

[The labourer is worthy of his hire.] This expression is a proverbial one. It is remarkable as being the only expression in the Gospels, which is quoted in the Epistles. St. Paul uses it in writing to Timothy, in connection with the expression "the Scripture saith." (1 Tim. v. 18.) This has led many to conclude with much probability that St. Luke's Gospel was finished, and regarded as part of Holy Scripture, at the time when St. Paul wrote to Timothy.

Mr. Ford quotes some admirable remarks from Cecil and

Scougal on the duties of ministers, which throw some light on the general lessons of the whole verse. Cecil says, "It is one thing to be humble and condescending: it is another to make yourself common, cheap, and contemptible. The men of the world know when a minister is out of his place."

Scougal says, "Another occasion of contempt is too much frequenting the company of laity, and a vain and trifling conversation among them. The saying of Jerome to Nepotian, is very observable, A clergyman soon becomes contemptible if, when often invited to dinner, he generally accepts the invitation.'"

LUKE X. 8-16.

8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you :

9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,

11 Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for

Sodom, than for that city.

13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.

16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

THESE verses comprise the second part of our Lord Jesus Christ's charge to the seventy disciples. Its lessons, like those of the first part, have a special reference to ministers and teachers of the Gospel. But they contain truths which deserve the serious attention of all members of the Church of Christ.

The first point we should notice in these verses is the simplicity of the tidings which our Lord commanded some of His first messengers to proclaim. We read that they were commissioned to say, "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you."

These words we should probably regard as the keynote to all that the seventy disciples said.

We can

hardly suppose that they said nothing else but this single sentence. The words no doubt implied far more to a Jewish hearer at the time when they were spoken, than they convey to our minds at the present day. To a well-instructed Israelite, they would sound like an announcement that the times of Messiah had come,-that the long promised Saviour was about to be revealed,—that the "desire of all nations" was about to appear. (Hag. ii. 7.) All this is unquestionably true. Such an announcement suddenly made by seventy men, evidently convinced of the truth of what they said, travelling over a thickly peopled country, could hardly fail to draw attention and excite inquiry. But still the message is peculiarly and strikingly simple.

It may be doubted whether the modern way of teaching Christianity, as a general rule, is sufficiently simple. It is a certain fact that deep reasoning and elaborate arguments are not the weapons by which God is generally pleased to convert souls. Simple plain statements, boldly and solemnly made, and made in such a manner that they are evidently felt and believed by him who makes them, seem to have the most effect on hearts and consciences. Parents and teachers of the young, ministers and missionaries, Scripture-readers and district visitors, I would all do well to remember this. We need not be so anxious as we often are about fencing, and proving, and demonstrating, and reasoning, out the doctrines of the Gospel. Not one soul in a hundred was ever brought to Christ in this fashion. We want more simple, plain, solemn, earnest, affectionate

statements of simple Gospel truths. We may safely

leave such statements to work and take care of themselves. They are arrows from God's own quiver, and will often pierce hearts which have not been touched by the most eloquent sermon.

The second point we should notice in these verses is the great sinfulness of those who reject the offer of Christ's Gospel. Our Lord declares that it shall be "more tolerable at the last day for Sodom," than for those who receive not the message of His disciples. And He proceeds to say that the guilt of Chorazin and Bethsaida, cities in Galilee, where He had often preached and worked miracles, but where the people had nevertheless not repented, was greater than the guilt of Tyre and Sidon.

Declarations like these are peculiarly awful. They throw light on some truths which men are very apt to forget. They teach us that all will be judged according to their spiritual light, and that from those who have enjoyed most religious privileges, most will be required. -They teach us the exceeding hardness and unbelief of the human heart. It was possible to hear Christ preach, and to see Christ's miracles, and yet to remain unconverted. They teach us, not least, that man is responsible for the state of his own soul. Those who reject the Gospel, and remain impenitent and unbelieving, are not merely objects of pity and compassion, but deeply guilty and blameworthy in God's sight. God called, but they refused. God spoke to them, but they would not regard. The condemnation of the unbelieving will be strictly just. Their blood will be upon their own heads. The Judge of all the earth will do right.

nothing, when the

Let us lay these things to heart, and beware of unbelief. It is not open sin and flagrant profligacy alone which ruin souls. We have only to sit still and do Gospel is pressed on our acceptance, and we shall find ourselves one day in the pit. We need not run into any excess of riot. We need not openly oppose true religion. We have only to remain cold, careless, indifferent, unmoved, and unaffected, and our end will be in hell. This was the ruin of Chorazin and Bethsaida. And this, it may be feared, will be the ruin of thousands, as long as the world stands. No sin makes less noise, but none so surely damns the soul, as unbelief.

The last point that we should notice in these verses is the honour which the Lord Jesus is pleased to put upon His faithful ministers. We see this brought out in the words with which He concludes His charge to the seventy disciples. He says to them, "He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."

The language here used by our Lord is very remarkable, and the more so when we remember that it was addressed to the seventy disciples, and not to the twelve apostles. The lesson it is intended to convey is clear and unmistakeable. It teaches us that ministers are to be regarded as Christ's messengers and ambassadors to a sinful world. So long as they do their work faithfully, they are worthy of honour and respect for their Master's sake. Those who despise them, are not despising them so much as their Master. Those who reject the terms of salvation which they are commissioned to proclaim, are