ruin. He had given up much for Christ's sake, hut he had not given up his covetousness.
The words of the apostle Paul should often ring in our ears, "the love of money is the root of all evil.'' (2 Tim. vi. 10.) The history of the Church ahounds in illustrations of this truth. For money Joseph was sold hy his brethren. For money Samson was betrayed to the Philistines. For money Gehazi deceived Naaman, and lied to Elisha. For money Ananias and Sapphira tried to deceive Peter. For money the Son of God was delivered into the hands of wicked men. Wonderful indeed does it seem that the cause of so much evil should be loved so well.
Let us all be on our guard against the love of money. The world is full of it in our days. The plague is abroad. Thousands who would abhor the idea of wor- shipping Juggernaut, are not ashamed to make an idol of gold. We are all liable to the infection, from the least to the greatest. We may love money without having it, just as we may have money without loving it. It is an evil that works very deceitfully. It carries us captives before we are aware of our chains. Once let it get the mastery, and it will harden, palsy, sear, freeze, blight, and wither our souls. It overtlirew an apostle of Christ. Let us take heed that it does not overthrow us. One leak may sink a ship. One unmortified sin may ruin a soul.
Y/e ought frequently to call to mind the solemn words, " What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" " We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." Our daily prayer should be, "Give me neither poverty
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nor riches : feed me with food convenient for me." (Prov. XXX. 8.) Our constant aim should be to he rich in grace. They that " will be rich" in worldly possessions often find at last that they have made the worst of bargains. Like Esau, they have bartered an eteiDal portion for a little temporary gratification. Like Judas Iscariot, they have sold themselves to everlasting perdition.
Let us learn, in the last jDlace, from these verses, the hopeless condition of all who die unconverted. The words of our Lord on this subject are peculiarly solemn. He says of Judas, "It had been good for that man, if he had not been born."
This saying admits of only one interpretation. It teaches plainly, that it is better never to live at all, than to live without faith, and to die without grace. To die in this state is to be ruined for ever more. It is a fall from which there is no rising. It is a loss which is utterly irretrievable. There is no change in hell. The gulf between hell and heaven is one that no man can pass.
This saying could never have been used, if there was any truth in the doctrine of universal salvation. If it really was true that all would sooner or later reach heaven, and hell sooner or later be empfied of inhabi- tants, it never could be said that it would have been " good for a man not to have been born." Hell itself would lose its terrors, if it had an end. Hell itself would be endurable, if after millions of ages there was a hope of freedom and of heaven. But universal salvation will find no foot-hold in Scripture. The teaching of the word of God is plain and express on the subject. There is a