help. In Him let us abide. It is not enough to avoid open profligacy, and to keep clear of glaring sins. It is not enough to be moral, and proper, and respectable in our lives. All this is negative goodness, and nothing more. Is there anything positive about our religion ? Do we yield our members as instruments of righteousness to God ? (Rom. vi. 13.) Having eyes, do we see God's king- dom ? Having ears, do we hear Christ's voice ? Having a tongue, do we use it for God's praise P These are very serious inquiries. The number of persons who are deaf and dumb before God is far greater than many suppose.
Let us noticoj secondly, in these verses, the amazing power of prejudice aver the hearts of unconverted men. We read, that when our Lord cast out the dumb spirit, there were some who said, "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils." They could not deny the miracle. They then refused to allow that it was wrought by divine power. The work before their eyes was plain and indisputable. They then attempted to
discredit the character of Him who did it, and to blacken
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his reputation by saying that He was in league with the devil.
The state of mind here described, is a most formidable disease, and one unhappily not uncommon. There are never wanting men who are determined to see no good in the servants of Christ, and to believe all manner of evil about them. Such men appear to throw aside their oommon sense. They refuse to listen to evidence, or to attend to plain arguments. They seem resolved to believe that whatever a Christian does must be wrong, and whatever he says must be false ! — If he does right