HOMILETICS. Yers. 1-30.-.The downward progress. It is certainly not without a purpose that we have in Holy Scripture from time to time exhibitions of sin in its most repulsive and revolting forms. The general rule which tells us that "it is a shame even to !'peak of those things which are done of them in secret" is, as it were, violated on these occasions, because it is more important that the depravity of which humnn nature is capable at its worst should be revealed, than that the blush of shame should be prevented by its concealment. Sin, in some of its forms, is so disguised, and toned down, and softened, that the natural mind of man does not shrink from it with abhorrence, or perceive its deadly nature, or its fatal consequences. But it is essential that sin should be known to be what it is, and especially that it should be made clear by what gradual ablcents a. man may glide from one stage of wickedness to another, til~ under favouring circumstances, he reaches a depth of vileness which at one time would have seemed impossible. The process by which this descent is reached is not difficult to trace. There is in every man a certain moral sense which restrains him from the commission of certain acts, whether of falsehood, dishonesty, cruelty, injustice, sensuality, or any other form of sin. And while that moral sense is main- tained in its vigour, such acts may appear to him impossible .for him to commit. But this moral sense is weakened, and more or less broken down, by every action done in contradiction to its authority. At each successive stage of descent there is a less shock to the weakened moral sense by the aspect of such or such sins than there was at the preceding stage. The sin appears less odious, and the resisting power is less strong. It is very true that in many instances, even after the moral sense is broken down, the force of public opinion, the sense of a man's own interests, ha.bit, the authority of the law, and other causes external to a man's self, operate to keep him within certain bounds, and to restrain him from certain excesses of unrighteousness. But, on the other hand, it may and often does happen that these counteracting causes a.re not in OJ>eration. A man is placed in. a society where publi_c opinion ?ounte~- a.nces vice, where he does not seem to be m danger of any Joss m reputation or m fortune by the basest acts of villainy, where the authority of Jaw is in abeyance, and,· in a word, where there is no barrier but the fear of God and his own moral sense to restrain him from the lowest depths of wickedness. Then the melancholy transition from light to darkness takes place without let or hindrance. Self-respect, honour, decency, kind feeling towards others, reverence for mankind, justice, 11hame, burn gradually with a dimmer and a dimmer lig~t within, and finally the last spark of t~e light of humanity goes out, and leaves nothmg but the horror of a g';eat d:i,rkness, m which no crime or wickedness shocks, and no struggle of the conscience 1s kept up. ~'he men of Gibeah had reached thi11 fearful depth. Not suddenly, we may be sure, for nemo repente fiet turp-issimus; but by a gradual downward progress. '.['here must have been for them a time when God's mighty acts by the Red Sea, m the wilderness, in tl,e wars of Canaan, were fresh in their thoughts, or in their, or their parents', memories. The great name of Joshua, the living example of Phm_ehas, the traditions of the surviving elders, must have set before them a standard of righteous- ness, and impressed them with a sense of being the people_ of God.. But they had not acted up to their high calling. Doubtless they had mmgled with t~e heathen and learnt their works. Their hearts had declined from God, from his fear and service. Idolatry had eaten as a canker into their moral principle. Its shameful rm. XIX. 1-30.] THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 195
licentiousness had enticed nnd overcome them. The Spirit of God w11s vexed within them. The light of his w~rd w11s quenched in the darkness of n gross materialism. Utter callousness of conscience came on. They began to sneer at virtue, and to scoff at the £ear of God. When the fear of God was gone, the honour due to man nnd due to themselves would soon go too. And thus it came to pass at the time of this history that the whole community was sank to the level of the vilest heathenism. Hospitality to strangers, though those strangers were their own flesh and blood, there was none; pity for the homeless and weary, though one of them was a woman, there was none either ; respect for neighbours and fellow-townsmen, common decency and hnmanityf and every feeling which distinguishes a man from a wild beast or a devil, had who! y left their vile breasts, and, people of God as they were by privilege and covenant, they were in their abandonedness wholly the children of the devil. The example thus recorded with unflinching truth is needed for our generation. The Israelites were separated from God by abominable idolatries. The attempt of our age is to separate men from God by a blasphemous denial of his Being. The result is the same, however it may be arrived at. Let the fear of God be once extinct in the human breast, and reverence for man and for a man's own nature will inevitably perish too. Virtue cannot survive godliness. The spirit of man is fed by the Spirit of God. Extinguish the spiritunl, and nothing of man remains but the corrupt flesh. And man without spirit is no man at all. It is in the cultivation of spiritual affections, in the constant strengthening of the moral sense, in steady resistance to the first beginnings of sin, and in steadfast cleaving to God, that man's safety lies. It is in the maintenance of religion that the safety of society consists. Without the fear of God man would soon become a devil, and earth would become a hell.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1.-Cf. on eh. x:viii. 1-13.-M.
Vere. 4-10.-Troublesome hospitaJ,ity. There is no more vivid picture of this extravagance. The Levite is delayed beyond all his reckoning, and perhaps through this is exposed to the evils subsequently narrated. There is e. latent purpo~e betrayed by the anxiety of his host, which robs the offer of its simplicity and true hospitality. Like e.11 who simule.te e. virtue for other the.n the mere love of it, he oversteps the bounds of modesty and decorum, e.nd becomes an inconvenience instead of a help. I. TRUE HOSPITALITY SHOULD BE FOR THE BAKE OF THE GUEST, A.ND NOT THE HOST. II. EXCESS OF HOSPITALITY MAY ENTAIL INCONVENIENCE A.ND WRONG UPON OUR GUEST. Ill. WHERE HOSPIT.ALITY IS OFFEBED FOR SOME EXTBINSIC PUBPOSE, IT LOSES ITS TRUE CHARACTER. IV. CHRIST THE ORA.ND EXAMPLE OF THE BOST. His modere.tion; careful calcula- tion as to needs of his guests; fulness of hume.n sympathy; imparte.tion of spiritual gre.ce to the humbler viands.-M.