down in the preceding chapter, " Whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all." And He backs up all by the overwhelming argument of His own exam- ple : " Even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister/'*
Let all who desire to please Christ, watch and pray against self-esteem. It is a feeling which is deeply rooted in our hearts. Thousands have come out from the world, taken up the cross, professed to forsake their own rio-hteousness, and believe in Christ, who have felt irritated and annoyed, when a brother has been more honored than themselves. These things ought not so to be. We ought often to ponder the words of St. Paul, " Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory ; but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves." (Philipp. ii. 3.) Blessed is that man who
* The remarks of Quesnel on this passage are worth reading. He says, " The ambition of clergymen is a great scandal in the church, and is frequently an occasion of emulations, enmities, divisions, schisms, and wars ; of all which the displeasure of the apostles gives us an imperfect shadow and resemblance. If apostles, trained no in the school of humility and charity, are not free from this vice, what effects will not ambition produce in souls wholly immersed in flesh and blood, which have no motion but from their passions, no law but that of their own desires ?"
" Men strangely forget themselves, when, as a ministry appointed only for the sake of heaven, they are contending with the great ones of the earth in haughtiness and grandeur. It is very difficult to sup- port equally the double character of a spiritual pastor and a temporal prince; and to join humility with grandeur, meekness with do- minion, and the constant application of a pastor with the care of secular affairs."
" The greatest prelate in the church, is he who is most conforma- ble to the example of Christ, by humility, charity, and continual attendance on his flock, and who looks on himself as a servant (o the children of God."
219
can sincerely rejoice when others are exalted, though he himself is overlooked and passed by !
Above all, let all who desire to walk in Christ's steps labor to be useful to others. Let them lay themselves out to do good in their day and generation. There is always a vast field for doing it, if men have the will and inclination. Let them never forget, that true great- ness does not consist in being an admiral, or a general — a statesman, or an artist. It consists in devoting our- selves, body, and soul, and spirit to the blessed work of making our fellow men more holy and more happy. It is those who exert themselves by the use of Scripture means to lessen the sorrow, and increase the joy of all around them — the Howards, the Wilberforces, the Martyns, the Judsons of a country— who are truly great in the sight of G-od. While they live they are laughed at, mocked, ridiculed, and often persecuted. But their me- morial is on high. Their names are written in heaven. Their praise endureth for ever. Let us remember these things, and while we have time do good unto all men, and be servants of all for Christ's sake. Let us strive to leave the world better, holier, happier than it was when we were born. A life spent in this way is truly Christ- like, and brings its own reward.
Let us mark, lastly, in this passage, the language which our Lord uses in sjjeakiug of His own death. He says, ;' The Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for many/'
This is one of those expressions which ought to be carefully treasured up in the minds of all true Christians. It is one of the texts which prove incontrovertibly the