farther side of Jordan : and the people resort unto Him again ; and, as He was wont, He taught them again."
Wherever our Lord went, He was always about His Father's business, preaching, teaching, and laboring to do good to souls. He threw away no opportunity. In the whole history of His earthly ministry, we never read of an idle day. Of Him it may be truly said, that He " sowed beside all waters," and that " in the morning He sowed his seed, and in the evening withheld not His hand." (Isaiah xxxii. 20. Eccles. xi. 6.)
And yet our Lord knew the hearts of all men. He knew perfectly well that the great proportion of His hearers were hardened and unbelieving. He knew, as He spoke, that most of His words fell to the ground uncared for and unheeded, and that so far as concerned the salvation of souls, most of His labor was in vain. He knew all this, and yet He labored on.
Let us see in this fact a standing pattern to all who try to do good to others, whatever their office may be. Let it be remembered by every minister and every missionary — by every schoolmaster and every Sunday-school teacher — by every district visitor and every lay agent — by every head of a house who has family prayers — and by every nurse who has the charge of children. Let all such remember Christ's example, and resolve to do likewise. We are not to give up teaching, because we see no good done. We are not to relax our exertions, because we see no fruit of our toil. We are to work on steadily, keep- ing before us the great principle, that duty is ours, and results are God's. There must be ploughmen and sowers
My own conviction is, that we must wait for more light, and regard the text at present as one of the " deep things" of God.