burnt, one of the passengers, on tbe first alarm of fire, ran to his trunk, and took from it a large amount of gold and silver coin, and, loading his pockets, ran to the deck and jumped overboard. As a necessary consequence, he went down immediately. His riches were his ruin. IV. THAT RIOHES MAY BE THE OC0ABION OF BIN. "Because it is the stumbling- block of their iniquity." Their silver and gold had been the occasion of sin to the Israelites, especially in the manufacture of idols. "Of their silver and their gold have they ma.de them idols n (Hos. viii. 4). And there are many in our age and country to whom riches are an occasion of sin; they set their affections upon them, they repose their confidence in them. "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! " etc. (Luke xviii. 24, 25). "The deceitfulness of riches chokes the word" of the kingdom. "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare," etc. (1 Tim. vi. 9, 10, 17-19). CoNOL:tJBION. 1. Let us endeavour to form a true estimate of riches. 2. lf we possess them, let us use our riches, not as the proprietors, but as the stewards thereof, who will one day be called by the great Owner to render the account of our stewardship.-W. J. Ver. 13 (last cla.use).-The impossibility of becoming truly strong in a life of sin. "Neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life." This clause has been variously rendered and interpreted. Fairbairn· translates, "No one by his iniquity shall invigorate his life." Schroder, "Nor shall they-in his iniquity is every one's life-show themselves strong." And the ' Speaker's Commentary, ".And, every man living in his iniquity, they shall gather no strength." The meaning seems to be-Let no one think that in these impending judgments he can invigorate himself in "his iniquity; from such a source no such strengthening or invigoration of life can be derived; on the contrary, it is this very iniquity which is bringiug all te desolation and ruin." Two observations are authorized by the text. l. THAT WICKED MEN SOMETIMES ENDEAVOUR TO STRENGTHEN THEMSELVES IN THEIR INIQUITY. '£his is frequently and vari<;>Usly done. Take a few common examples of it. The dishonest bank-manager or book-keeper attempts to hide his defalcations by manipulating the accounts, making false entries in them, etc. Many try to conceal vice or crime by falsehood, as did Gehazi the servant of Elisha (2 Kings v. 20-27) . .A man who has) got into monetary difficulties through betting or gambling seeks to escape from them by theft or forgery. Or a man has been in a position of privilege or power, and by reason of his own misdoing he is losing that position, but he seeks to retain it by further wrong-doing. When Saul, the King of Israel, realized that the kingdom would not descend to hie heirs, and saw his own popularity waning and David's growing, he endeavoured to secure the kingdom to hi~ family by repeated attempts to kiU David. Or wheu a person has obtained riches or power by fraud, oppression, or crnelty, and finding that possession failing him, he seeks to retain it firmly by perpetrating other crimes. '£be Macbeth of Shakespeare is a striking illustration of this. When he feels himself insecure on the throne which he had committed murder to obtain, he says to Lady Macbeth, the daring partner of his dread guilt- "Things bad begun, make strong themselves by ill." And later, when he had incurred the guilt of another murder, and was tormented by terrible fears, he says to her- •• For mine own good, . All causes shnll give Wl\Y; I am in blood Stepp'd iu so for, that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er." And thus he endeavoured to strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. II. 'l'HESE EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN THEMSELVES IN THEIR INIQUI'l'Y MUST INEVI- TABLY END IN FAILURE. Let us try to show this. We have seen that men try to strengthen themselves in iniquity by means of falsehood. But falsehood is opposed to the reality of thin"s, and by its very nature cannot give lasting strength or security to auy one. Carlj':'le says forcibly," No lie you can speak or act, but it will come, after louger or shorter circulation, like a bill drawn on nature's reality, aud be prcsc1,te,l 140 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [err. vn. 1-27.
tben for payment, with tbe answer-No e.ffects." Again, "For if there be a Faith from of old, it is this, as we often repeat, that no Lie can live for ever. . . . All Lies have sentence of death written down against them in Heaven's chancery itself; and, slowly or fast, advance incessantly towards their hour." "The lip of truth shall be estab- lished for ever; but a lying tongue is but for a moment.' "He that speaketh lies shall perish." And turning from falsehood in particular to sin in general, iniquity, so far from invigorating man, by its essential nature strips him of strength and courage. Thus the guilty and aforetime brave Macbeth cries- ,, How is't with me when every noise appals me?" And elsewhere, Shakespeare says truly- " Suspfoion always haunts the guilty mind; The thief doth fear each bush an officer." To the same effect writes Wordsworth- " From the body of one guilty deed A thousand ghostly fears and haunting thoughts proceed." And our prophet, " How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things I " ( eh. xvi. 30). "The wicked flee when no man pursueth ; but the righteous a.re bold as a. lion," The consciousness of truth and uprightness inspires the heart with courage and nerves the arm with power. "What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted? Thrice is he arm'd that hath his quarrel just; And he but naked, though locked up in steel, Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted." (Shakespeare.) And tbe throne which is based on injustice, cruelty, or blood, and maintained by oppression and tyranny, is founded upon sand and supported by feebleness. Wicked- ness is weakness. " It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness ; for the throne is established by righteousness." " The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever." No man can ever truly strengthen himself in iniquity; neither can any number of men do so. The only way by which the wicked may become truly strong is by resolutely turning from sin and trusting in the Saviour, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts," etc. (Isa. lv. 7).-W. J.