II. THE BTEADFABT MAN EXEnTB 1'HE ACTIVE POWER OF EXAMPLE. The imitativo faculty of m,iu is more influential than we are wont to think. Everybody is disposed to make models, And all persons are materially helped by having high models of virtue in their spheres. Every individual has a sphere of influence. Within that sphere his ex!lmple iB an active power. We are all ideals to some one. Then "what manner of persons ought we to be?" III. THE STEADFAST MAN EXERTS A POSITIVE POWER ON MEN'S WILLS. To see a 'man who· can stand fast to righteousness actually strengthens the decision anrl resolve of others. In it i.s t.he mastery of the tempter's lie that we cannot hope to be good. Our wills are weakened by the fear that goodness is unattainable, and it i~ of no use to try to be good. Every steadfast man proves that man can will the good and do it, and that God stands by such a man in his resol\"e. IV. THE STEADFAST MAN EXERTS A POSITIVE SA VINO INFLUENCE. He "turng men from iniquity." He cannot leave wrong-doers alone. If the priests of Malach i's time had been steadfast ~en, they would soon have turned the worshippers from the iniquity of bringipg the lame and sick for sacri6ce.-R. T. Ver. 7.-Reasonable expectations of Goa's ministers. "The priest's lips should keep knowledge," The ideal priest is here characterized, not by ceremonial exactitude, but by morn! i,ntegrity. Sacrificing is. not so essential as religious knowledge, sound learning, and wholesome teaching. The proper expectation of God's ministers is that they will tell God's will to the people, not only because they know it, but even more because they keep it. In our religious teachers we look for adequacy of knowledge, and 'adequacy of experieuce. . . I.. ADEQUACY OF KNOWLEDGE. In some countries, and in some ages, the sacred ministry has been the chief source of secular knowledge for the people. That is not the case now, and in civilized countries. But still God's ministers need to be abreast, and to keep abreast, of all that is thought and known in their day, because to them is entrusted the work _of consf;lrving the Divine element in all knowledge, and the Divine relation to everything discovered. Unless ministers have adequate knowledge, they occupy a lower plane -than the secular teachers, and fail to influence the higher range of students with Divine claims, truths, and principles. To put it in another wi,.y...:.!The ministry must be on the level of the people if it is to sympathize with them; bnt the ministry must be in intelligence and knowledge above the people, if it is tu lift the' peopl~ to higher things. 'l'wo points may be illustrated. 1. 'l'he ministers should gain knowledge as men can gain it. 2. The ministers should gain knowledge as spiritual men only can gain it. It is that spiritually acquired knowledge that i• the minister's true efficiency; and more especially that spiritual knowledge as it relates to the mysteries of the sacred \Vord. It. ADEQUACY OF EXPERIENCE. There is book-knowledge, and there is experi• mental knowledge. It may be argued that for the common, everyday relations and duties of life, experience is a more valuable and practical teacher than books can be It is certainly true that, for the ministry, experience is the essential thing. A man c:rn only speak with power when "he has tasted and handled and felt the goo,l word of life." rl'he people have confidence in the teacher who has been taught of God ic the discipline of life. What needs to be pointed out is that these two adequacies an not antagonistic. Iri their harmonious culture lies the trne power.-R. T.
Ver. 10.~Unfaithfulness to God involves injury to our brethren. This verse begim a new subject, and it might have headed a new chapter. Answering to the indifference shown in regard to Divine ·worship was an indifference in regard to moral and familJ relations. Loose worship and loose social morality usually go together. Let mec become.careless about God's claims, and they will be found careless about nrn.rriagt relations, and will lightly do wrong by the wives of their youth, in the mastery o their ~elf-indulgence. Ezra and Nehemiah had to deal very sternly with the socia evils' arising from the ready divorce of Jewish wives for the sake of heat11en wives Malac_hi heg\□ B his expostulations on this matter by putting the people in mind tha1 'ih~~; ?wne,'l O)lo -~6d and Father, in opposition to the idols o_f the h~athen, and tl,erc fore 'sboi1lcl deal with one another as brethren. By the marriages with strangers tbe1 82 THE BOOK OF MALACHI. [ CH, II, 1-17.
w~re dealing falsely and injuriously with their brethren and countrymen, by ill trc:1ting their daughters whom they had taken in marriage. I. BRE.U:ING Gon's COVENANT BREAKS IT FOR OTHERS. Illustrate by the case or the_ golden _calf. Tho.•e who took ~o part in the sin bad to take pnrt in the penruty. It is the bitterness of all wrong-doing that we can never keep its consequences to oun,<'l~es. "The fathern have en.ten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on Cld~e." 0
Dl>TAITHFULNESS TO GOD IUKES INJURY TO OUR BROTHER BY BEING A BAD ]1. FXAMPLE. Every man is bound to help his brother to be good. It is often shown that c,·ery mll.Il is bound to aid his brother in distress. It is not so often shown that e,·ery man has a claim on his brother, that he should help him to goodness. If a man does wrong, is unfaithful to God, be actually injures his brother by depriving him of bis rights in his good example. Constantly we find wrong-doing excused by examples of wrong-doing. Sinners defraud their neighbours of their rights. III. Ul>TAITHFULNESS TO GoD MAY LEAD TO POSITIVE A0TS OF INJURY TO OUR BRETHREN. The man who is strong enough to oppose God is usually masterful enough to injure his fellow. He who does not regard God is not likely to regiud man. The love of God carries the love of man; the revolt against God is sure to involve the looseniag of humanities.-R. T.