relBtions with God. No mf1tter what our office may be, if there is not at the hea.rt nf It B right ste.to of mind and heart, the acceptance of the ministry of that office cannot be o.ssurecl.-R. T. Ver. 10.-Self-serving religion. "One of the works on which Nehemiah looked back with most satisfaction was that ho had secured to the Levites the payment of a s11ffi- cient remuneration for their work. It was a. right thing in itself. It asserted wha~ we have learnt to call the principle of a.n 'established' Church, and of a. fair division of its income, But that spirit might easily pass, and had actually passed, into the temper which is always clamorous for rights and privileges, which will work only when those rights and privileges are secured. 'l'he spirit of the hireling takes the place of that of the worshipper. And so, amongst the foremost sins which the prophet is ea.lied on to condemn we find this, noted with special reference to the functions of those Levites over whose interests Nehemiah had been so watchful. ' Who is there even among you,' he asks,~ ' that would shut the doors for nanght?' And the hireling spirit, once fostered, showed itself, as it always does, in neglect, evasion, dishonesty" (Plumptre). I. THE WORKMAN IS WORTHY OF HIS HIRE. This sentence embodies a. good work- ing principle, which has its proper application in religious as well as in secular spheres. They who minister in spiritual things may reasonably claim to be ministered unto in carnal things. Clergymen share all common bodily and family wants ; and we have no syinpathy with those who talk a.s if some wrong were done when spiritual men a.re concerned for their material interests. Priests and Levites deserved their pay. I[, THE WORKMAN IS WORTHY ONLY WREN HE DOES NOT WORK FOR HIS HIRE. This is only true in a. higher sense of the Levite; it is really true of every workman. A man is on a. low plane when he works just for his wage. He is but a time-server, a self-server. The best work never is done by such men; and their' work is never the best blessing to them. A man must work for the love of his work if he is to do it nobly. A religious man must work for God if his work is to be acceptable. To work for .gain is to work for self. The "sons of Eli," and Simon Magus, illustrate the moral degradation when the servants of God make money-conditions.-R. T, Ver. 11.-.71ie universal worship that is to be. These words are usually taken as a. prophetic announcement of the future rejection of Israel and calling of the Gentiles; but it is difficult to trace the connection of thought, if this be regarded as the prophet's meaning. The LXX. rightly uses the present, not the future, tense throughout this verse. "My Name is great," etc. This 11;ives an actual present comparison of the fear of God's Na.me among Gentiles and among Jews, to the manifest disadvantage of thi Jew. God found a devoutness, earnestness, and sincerity outside his own people, which wholly put to shame their indifference, formality, and time-serving. This suggestion is in the line of Male.chi's teaching, whereas a description of future religious conditions seems to introduce a new subject. Dean Plumptre says, "It wa.s given to the last of the prophets to proclaim, with an entirely new distinctness, not only as Isaiah had done, the accession of Gentile proselytes to the worship and faith of Israel, but the acceptance of their worship wherever it might be offered." 'l'he Gentile religion in the mind of the prophet was probably that of Zoroaster, the purest form that Gentile religion has ever taken. I. THE BASIS OF THE UNIVERSAL WORSHIP. The prophet must not be regarded as giving o. complete account of the universal worship. He deals with it only in view of his immediate object, and to point his appeal to the unfaithful a.nd time-serving priests. He brings out three points, 1. One characteristic of the universal worship is reverence for the Diuine Name. "My Name is great among the Gentiles." No religion can ever fit to the needs of men which does not at least seem to honour the Divine Name. Thie is our first test of every religion. 2. Another is the dem•ind fur prayer. "Incense is offered." Every true religion provides communion with God, anrl gives man hope in prayer. "When we have learned by experience the uuutterable value of prayer, then shall theism become a religion fit for humanity." 3. Another is sincerity shown in purity of offerings. Our Lord expressed the universal worship in a. sentence, when he said," The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.• H THE BOOK OF MALAClII. [OR, I, 1-14,
TI. THE REPROACH OF THE UNI'VEBBAL WORflBIP. It renroaohes all who fall to meet these primRI conditions, whatever their historical 11tanding might be. It reproached the Jewish priests of Malschi's time, for they were dishonouring the Name, putting routine for prayer, and making unworthy and impure offerings which revealed their insincerity.-R. T.