when the path of duty is clear, and the voice of God calls. Let us set our faces steadfastly to our work, when our work is plainly marked out, and drink our bitter cups patiently, when they come from a Father's hand.
Let us notice, secondly, in these verses, the extraordi- nary conduct of two of the apostles, James and John, We are told that a certain Samaritan village refused to show hospitality to our Lord. "They did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusa- lem." And then we read of a strange proposal which James and John made. " They said. Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did ?"
Here was zeal indeed, and zeal of a most plausible kind, — zeal for the honour of Christ ! Here was zeal, justified and supported by a Scriptural example, and that the example of no less a prophet than Elijah ! But it was not a zeal according to knowledge. The two disciples, in their heat, forgot that circumstances alter cases, and that the same action which may be right and justifiable at one time, may be wrong and unjustifiable at another. They forgot that punishments should always be proportioned to offences, and that to destroy a whole village of ignorant people for a single act of discourtesy, would have been both unjust and cruel. In short, the proposal of James and John was a wrong and inconsider- ate one. They meant well, but they greatly erred.
Facts like this in the Gospels are carefully recorded for our learning. Let us see to it that we mark them well, and treasure them up in our minda. It is possible