the Jewish Church if it had had eyes to see its peril ! — There was a voice in the fig tree for all the branches of Christ's visible Church in every age, and eveiy part of the world. There was a warning against an empty pro- fession of Christianity unaccompanied by sound doctrine and holy living, which some of those branches would have done well to lay to heart. — But above all there was a voice in that withered iig tree for all carnal, hypocri- tical, and false-hearted Christians. Well would it be for all who are content with a name to live while in reality they are dead, if they would only see their own faces in the glass of this passage.
Let us take care that we each individually learn the lesson that this fig tree conveys. Let us always remem- ber, that baptism, and church-membership, and reception of the Lord's Supper, and a diligent use of the outward forms of Christianity, are not sufficient to save our souls. They are leaves, nothing but leaves, and without fruit will add to our condemnation. Like the fig leaves of which Adam and Eve made themselves garments, they will not hide the nakedness of our souls from the eye of an all- seeing God, or give us boldness when we stand before Hira at the last day. No ! we must bear fruit, or be lost for ever. There must be fruit in our hearts and fruit in our lives, the fruit of repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and true holiness in our conversation. Without such fruits as these a profession of Christianity will only sink us lower into hell.
We learn, in the last place, from this passage, how reverently we ought to use places which are set apart for 'public worship. This is a truth which is taught us in a