kind. In these lie rests. He never really breaks off from sin^ and casts aside the spirit of the world. He never really lays hold on Christ. He never really takes up the cross. He is a hearer of truth, but nothing more.
And what is the end of tliis man's religion ? It breaks down entirely under the first flood of tribulation. It fails him completely, like a summer-dried fountain, when his need is the sorest. It leaves its possessor high and dry, like a wreck on a sand bank, a scandal to the church, a by- word to the infidel, and a misery to himself. Most true is it that what costs little is worth little ! A religion which costs us nothing, and consist in nothing but hearing sermons, will always prove at last to be a useless thing.
So ends the sermon on the mount. Such a sermon never was preached before. Such a sermon perhaps has never been preached since. Let us see that it has a lasting influence on our own souls. It is addressed to ■QS as well as to those who first heard it. We are they who shall have to give account of its heart-searching lessons. It is no light matter wdiat we think of them. The word that Jesus has spoken, " the same shall judge us in the last day." (John xii. 48.)
MATTHEW Vin. 1—15.
1 When lie was come down from the mountain, great multitudes fol- lowed him.
2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped hhii, sayhig, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
3 And Jesus put forth Us hand, and touched him, saying, I Avill ; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man ; but go thy way, shew thyself to the Priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony luito them.
5 And when Jesus was entered mto Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6 And saying, Lord, my servant