ia for the wide world. All the nations are to enter into the heritage of the future. Christ" shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isa. !iii. 11). No 1canty salvage from the huge wreck of humanity could S11tisfy the great soul of Jesus. II. IT 18 POSSIBLE FOB ANY ONE TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THIS GENERAL JOYFULNESS. Edom is to be shut out when the whole earth rejoices. 1. The joy of the whole earth ii the joy of its several inhabitants. The sheet of sunshine that lies broadly over meadow and hillside is woven out of innumerable rays of light. The flood of music that fill ■ the valley with melody consists in a saccession of distinct notes. The blaze of colour that :flashes on us in the summer •garden comes from the several hues of separate flowers. The general joy is the joy of many hearts. Each must share it individually if all are to display it collectively. 2. The individual participation in the gene-ral joy depends on an individual condition of recq,tiveness. It is supremely the joy of reconciliation. Now, Christ died to make atonement for the whole world. Yet each smtl has· to be· separately reconciled to God. And when the old rebellion of ma12 against God is virtually quelled, if but a single soul held out, that soul must be excluded from the joy which comes in with the great peace. III. IT IS UNSPEAKABLY DREADFUL TO BE DESOLATE AMIDST GENER.A.I. lOYFULNESS. 1. The perception of contrast is intensely distressing. The one heavy heart is in painful contrast to the many light hearts. Sorrowful people shun merry gatherings, shrinking from them as·people with pained eyes shrink from bright lights. It is-an acute grief to the desolate soul to be alone in a joyous festivity when all others are of one mind. For a lost· soul to he placed in the midst of the blessedness of heaven would be fa.r worse than the torments of hell. .2, The discovery of netdless failure is upeeially grievOU&. The rejoicing is practically universal. Why, then, should one poor soul be excluded? Nearly all are in when the door is shut, but one miserable creature is left out in the darkness. If salvation were only intended for a few, the many might learn to acquiesce in their clismal lot., But when a man sees that it is intended for the whole world, and yet by his own folly he is excluded, he must torture himself with bitter regrets. Ver. 15.-Rejoieing over the ruin of others. I. Tllll: UGLY FACT. Edom had rejoiced over the ruin of Israel. One would say that such a joy must be impossible. Regard- ing the world from the high ground of ideal speculation, one would suppose that llJillpathy for the suffering must spring:forth as a natural instinct, or that, if the feeliags·were callous and selfishness hardened the heart, still there would be no room for joy under such circumstances. But the facts of history and observation show that. Edom~s joy was no monstrous, impossible experience. People do rejoice in the suffer- ings of others: 1. In national life. The downfall of rival nations is accepted by their more fortunate ueighbours with delight. 2. In amusement. 'fhe old, fierce deli~hta of the amphitheatre, whioh delicate ladies shared with bloodthirsty warriors, were Just. the joys of cruelty, pleasures got directly out of the sufferings of fellow-creatures. The Emperor Domitian is said to have taken a keen interest in watching the contortion■ of·agony on the face of a dying gladiator. A similar spirit lurks in the present-day popular taste for amusements that involve great risk of life. A Ohristian spirit should. discourage such amusements as feeding on cruelty. 3. In private life. Some people seem to take a spiteful pleasure in the disgrace and ruin of their neighbours. ls not. .this pleasure at the root of much idle gossip and fascinating scandal? II. ITS EVIL O-AUSEB. How comes it that the miserv of one man can cause pleasure .to his brother, w~en by the influence of sympathy it should produce an opposite effect P IThe causes of this gross perversion of the appetite for pleasure are various: 1. BeVIJ'Tl,gtJ. IIsrael had ,been an oh! enemy of Edom. The commonest pleasure of cruelty -is ill ■oeing a foe humiliated. There may be natural elements in this feeling: (1) a. reaotion. . from the tension of fear; and (2) a satisfaction of the desire for self-protection. Still, 1 the joy is evil and hateful, for it exceeds self-regarding considerations, and it exclude11 pity; it denies the duty of.loving our enemies. 2. .Envy.. Edom had formerly envied the prosperity of Israel. She afterwards rejoiced in her rival's downfall .. This, again, , is a sort of reaction from the pain of envy. It is the more powerful iI the suocessful '· rival has shown scorn for her less fortunate neighbour. Now, the scorn is reversed. 3. .A se1m of contraat. Sitting at ease, the spectator compares his comforts with the agonies before him, and as all feeling arises from contrasted 11tates, the eharpuess of thia 232 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [oa. :r.:uv.1-15.
eontrast heightens the relish of a man's present comfort. This is brutally selfish. 4. Malignity. 'l'here does seem to be a direct pleasure in seeing others eu1fer. Thie is the glee of devils. It may be shared by diabolical men. III. ITs FATAL EFFECTS. Edom is to be punished and made desolate. God will certainly punish cruelty as a great sin, because it is the direct opposite of man's first duty, which is to love all beings. The evil joy will work mischief in the heart of the man who cherishes it. It is a venom that will rankle in the breast that engenders it. We need love and sympathy for o~ own so_ul's health. 'l'he pleasures of cruelty cut a man off from the bonds of fellowsh1p, even with those who are not themselves its victims because they destroy the elements on which the spirit of brotherhood lives. Thus ; cruel person is inwardly lonely. Selfishness makes the heart desolate. The exclusion of love is the exclusion of the greatest joy of hnman fellowship. In seeking his own pleasure the man who admits evil passions of revenge or spite into his breast darkena his life with the gloom of spiritual solitude. On the other hand, the deepeat joy la found in sacrificing one's self in order to save one's brother.