of the ears and ha.rdening of the heart. And if the light abound the clo~d eye oannot - , and if the air be filled with angel-songs, or the voice of the Teacher lade the air with heavenly truth, the closed ear admits it not. And though the hand of the Lord be present, the hardened heart receives not its impress. It is unmoved, untouched. ~I. But why do not men believe? Is it that they cannot or that they will not believe? Alas! both. Some cannot because they have not been solely or sufficiently attentive to the Word, from the hearing of which cometh faith, or for a time they labour under the soul-hindering perplexity which some unresolved sceptical difficulty has involved them in. But these, being seekers of the faith, "shall find." They must be patient; for with our partial views of things we cannot suddenly quadrate all our truth with every suggested opinion, or point out the fallacy of that opinion. But some will not believe. In a foolish, even stupid-yea, wicked-resistance of evidence they shut ont the force of conviction; while others are hindered, being "slow of heart to believe," and therefore" foolish men." Ill. Moral conditions affect the power of faith. Jesus showed this when he said, "How can ye believe which receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not?" And the self-seeking and world-loving, the enl and the sensual, the disobedient, and all who have "refused to have God in their knowledge," must gain both an indisposition and an inaptitude of mind to receive God's te.<;timony in that spirit of faith which implies faithfulness to the truth when known. These are the" wicked and adulterous" to whom "no" special "sign shall be given;" for, refusing the many signs that are around, they will not be "persuaded, if one rise from the dead." But to all one "sign" shall "be given"-" a sign which is spoken against,'' but which remains ever the one "sign" in heaven and in earth and in all "times,''" the sign of Jonah the prophet."-G. V ers. l 4-2L-Leaven. After the great miracle of the feeding of the four thousand, Jesus" entered into a boat with his disciples, and came "-for rest, probably-" into the parts of Dalmanutha. And they forgot to take bread." Had not emphasis been laid on their forgetfulness, we might have supposed they had been led to think "one loaf" enough; for if the Master could feed four thousand with seven loaves, surely he could feed twelve men with one! These men were yet but children in understanding, and Jesus, their watchful Gnardian, therefore warns them against the spirit of the men who had recently made the strange demand from him for signs-" the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod,''" the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Strangely enough, they think the reference is to" leaven of bread," which must find an explana- tion in the engrossmeut of their minds by the astounding miracle they had witnessed. And yet they see not the thing signified. Jesus, by a brief teaching on the two bread-miracles, draws them away from the "leaven of bread" to "the teaching of the Pharisees and Sa.dducees." Is this a lesson for all time? Was the leaven of Herod wholly put out of the house with his name? Do Sadduceeism and Pharisaism still linger amongst men; and are the disciples of Jesus still exposed to their corrupting influence? It is but too true that these questions must be answered by one affirmative. Herod is described as" a frivolous, voluptuous, unprincipled man." His name sym- bolizes a morally vile life. Readers of the Gospels know well what the word " Pharisee" stands for-" the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." The Sadducees, though less prominent, are not wholly unknown. Their rejection of great truths on no hig~er authority than their own opinion points at once to. the dan~erous tam~ring w_1th revealed truths. These two rivals as schools were one m the evilness of their teaching so aptly alliterated as "unbelieving hypocrisy and hypocritical unbelief." They stood in united opposition to the Lord's Christ. Thus is the C~urch for all ag~s warned against evils that threaten the entire strength and the very existence of the life of the Spirit. Those evils are- L HEATHENISH SELF-INDULGENCE. Faith grows not in a heart given over to eclf- indulgence. "The Author and Perfecter of our faith" has made demand, in un- mistakable terms, of all who would be his disciples: "Let him deny himself,. and ta.ke up his croes, and follow me." Evil self-indulgenc~ s~ps the _stre?gt_h of all faith. _The hlghest evidence of the truth and authority of Chnst s teaching 1s given to the o~ed1ent. "If any man wil!eth to do his will, he shall kn·iw of the teaclrtng, whether 1t be of <JH, vm. 1-38.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 355
God, or whether I speak from myself." Evilness of life puts men out of harmony with the truth; and as all disobedience ie a denial of authority, it diaposes men to desire that its authority may be questioned: while the continuous acknowledgment of the authority of the truth makes disobedience the more guilty. These "hold down the truth in unrighteousness." This spirit will support the second evil, namely- II. SADDUOEAN BOEPTIOIBM. If scepticism were a true spirit of inquiry, or even that sensibility of faith that longs to know, and is eager to defend itself from deceit it were a healthy guard against childish credulity. But if it become a proud self-su'ffi- ciency, a resolute resistance and despisal of truths that are apprehended only by faith -truths which by their very nature do not admit of scientific demonstration, or of truths that do not harmonize with preconceived notions-it then stands in the way of all holy and healthy influence from the highest truths that could reach the heart. It is the opposite of the hearing ear, of the childlike teachablencss. There is a faith which is wrought in the heart by the truth's own testimony-the belief that "cometh of hearing," the hearing that is hearkening. But yet another danger lies in the path of the followers of Christ. It is- III. HYPOORITIOAL PRETENTIOUSNESS, Here the truth is acknowledged, but neither the heart nor the life is true to it. It is unfaithfulness, deceit, hypocrisy. It is the vice against which the severest words that escaped the lips of Christ were directed. A "double-minded man is unstable," but a double-faced man is utterly unworthy. He is open to all seductions ; he may become the . tool of all evil, and all the time hiding the :filthiness of his evil heart in a show of righteousness whose deceitfulness reduces it to the lowest grade of evil. Of this leaven all disciples from the earliest hour have been in danger. Even a little may be " hid " in the heart "till all is leavened." To how many of the disciples may it be said to-day, "Do ye not understand?" 1-0.