at any time, it must be from corrupt motives ! If he speaks truth, it must be with sinister views ! If he does good works, it is from interested reasons I If he casts out devils, it is through Beekebub ! — Such prejudiced men are to be found in many a congregation. They are the sorest trials of the ministers of Christ. No wonder that St. Paul said, "Pray that we may be delivered from xmreasonable as well as wicked men." (2 Thess. iii. 2.)
Let us strive to be of a fair, and honest, and candid spirit in our judgment of men and things in religion. Let us be ready to give up old and cherished opinions the moment that any one can shew us a " more excellent way." The honest and good heart is a great treasure. (Lukeviii. 15.) A prejudiced spirit is the very jaundice of the soul. It affects a man's mental eyesight, and makes him see everything in an unnatural colour. From such a spirit may we pray to be delivered !
Let us notice, lastly, in these verses, the great evil of re- ligious divisions. This is a truth i^ich our Lord impresses on us in the answer He gives to His prejudiced enemies. He shows the folly of their charge that He cast out devils by Beelzebub. He quotes the proverbial saying that ** a house divided against itself falleth." He infers the ab- surdity of the idea that Satan would cast out Satan, or the devil cast out his own agents. And in so doing. He teaches Christians a lesson which they have been mourn- fully slow to learn in every age of the church. That lesson is the sin and folly of needless divisions.
Beligious divisions of some kind there must always be, so long as false doctrine prevails, and men will cleave to it. What communion can there be between