speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law : but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another^?" So again by another Apostle, " Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth." " Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost tliou set at nought thy brother? We shall all stand at the judgment-seat of Christ. Let us not therefore judge one another any more*." " It is a righteous thing with God to recompense" good or evil unto men according to their conduct towards others": and these are solemn warnings : and, if we will not attend to them, we shall disobey them at our peril : for the express determination of God is this, " He shall have judgment without mercy who hath shewed no mercy ^."]
Advice —
1. Search out diligently your own frailties —
[Those who are most inattentive to their own faults, are most observant of the faults of others, and most harsh in passing censures upon them. If we did but see the numberless evils that we have connnitted, and the base motives by which our more specious actions have been defiled, we should blush and be confounded before God; and, like those who accused the adulterous woman before our Lord, should find other employment than that of casting stones at others^.]
2. Consider what mercy you have received at the Saviour's hands —
[How justly might he have left you, as he did the fallen angels, to receive the due reward of your sins ! Yet, instead of that, he pitied your state ; he came down from heaven in order to apply a remedy ; he even shed his own precious blood to wash away your guilt, and to cover it from the sight of an offended God. Go now, with this mercy before your eyes, and gratify your spleen in censuring and condemning your fel- low-creatures. No; you cannot do it, if your minds be suitably impressed with the mercy you have received. Go then, and imitate your Lord ; and exercise that " charity that shall cover a multitude of sins."]
3. Cultivate a spirit of love towards all mankind —
[See how you are accustomed to act towards those of your own family, or of your own party : how ready are you to veil or to extenuate their faults ! Think also how tender you are
s Jam. iv, 11, 12. t Rom. xiv. 4, 10, 13. " 2 Thess. i. 6, 7. "^ Jam. ii. 13. y John viii. 9.