of being misunderstood by others, as accomplishing nothing. God will say," Well done, preparere I " I. 'l'HINGS THAT SEEM BUDDEN AND ISOLATED ARE ALWAYIS ISSUES, AND ALWAYS STAND IN 00NNE0TI0NB, Illustrate by the coming of Messiah as prepared for by John and connected with hie ministry, Take any event that ever has happened, modern scientific inquiry demands to know where it stands; how it is related; what it bas come up out of; by what processes it is arrived at. Our Bible is really the history of the Divine series of preparations; and our very life is only apprehended aright when it is regarded as the preparation for the life to come. II. 'l'HE ADVENT OF MESSIAH SEEMS BUDDEN AND ISOLATED, BUT IT JS AN ISSUE, AND IT STANDS IN CONNECTIONS. This opens a familiar line of thought. Preparations for Messiah are found (1) in promises; (2) in prophecies; (3) in songs of hope; (4) in historical events; (5) in preaching demands, such as John's, etc. The issue of four thousand years of Divine preparation.-R. T. Ver. 4.-A man may be his message. The evangelists dwell on the peculiarities of John's dress, food, and habits, as if the utmost importance attached to these, and they were an essential part of John's witness. To see the man was to apprehend his message, His peculiarities were not personal oddities, but designed ministry. How far his dress was the recognized prophet's dress cannot be decided; but it is clear that he designed to present an example of severe self-restraint as a marked contrast to the luxury and self-indulgence of that age. Ulustrate by reference to Diogenes the Cynic, who testified against the gaiety and luxury of the Athenians, He limited bis desires to necessities. He ate little, and what he ate was often the coarsest. His dress con- sisted solely of a cloak. A wallet and a huge stick completed his accoutrements. He lived in a tub. Note also the witness of the Quakers' plain garb; and the moral force of distinctive dress such as that worn by sisters of mercy, etc. I. A MAN HIMSELF IBA POWER OF INFLUENCE, We are so constantly thinking of, and estimating, what a man does or says, that we are in danger of thinking that a man's power is exclusively his activity. Then we are likely to divorce character and work, and say, "It does not matter what a man is privately so that he does well publicly." But the fact is that the man himself does more than the man's activity. What he is is more important than what he does. His unconscious influence is more effective than his conscious. Here is the ministry of a man's words and works, but there is also the more searching ministry of the man himself. If John the Baptist had said nothing, he would have preached repentance by his clothes and by his food. From this impress the duty of making our dress and habits the simple expression of ourselves. I!, A MAN SHOULD CULTURE HIMSELF IN ORDER TO BE THE BEST POSSIBLE POWER OJ!' INFLUENCE, ,Just this John did. He put his daily habits into severe self-restraint; reduced his clothes and food to the narrowest limits. And this because he intelli- gently set before himself a precise aim, and resolved to secure fitness for accomplishing that aim. Impress the truth that a man is never his true self while he allows his personal influence to be a mere accident. Most men merely happen to influence. Noble men resolve to influence, decide how they will influence, and put thomselves iutQ holy restraints in order to gain power.-R. T. Ver. 6.-Tl1e moral value of confession. "Confessing their sins." u There are two cases which lead men in communities to the confession of particular sins in the presence of their fellows, before God and before man. Any moral exaltation which places them so that they see evil from a plane higher than that on which they live ordinarily, and where its relations, its ~ndencies, its nature, and character are clearly revealed, constantly tends to produce confession. There is also a confession which results from social magnetism. Communities are sometim08 possessed, for short periods, with a paroxyrim of contrition." There are many, however, who are quite willing to confess their si'Tlj'-ulness who will not confess their Bins. It may be asked- Why should confessio11 be demanded? What moral value lies in it? God knows all things: why, then, docs he want us to say to him what he knows? Yet we observe that man demands open acknowledgment of fault, that is, confession, as the sign of 100 THE GOSPEL A.CCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [err. m. 1-17.
sincerity of repentance, on the part of those who grieve him. Repente.noe as mere sentiment is of no value. If it is more than sentiment, it will gain two fo1ms of expression. 1. Acknowledgment of the sin. 2. Putting away of the sin henceforth. It is not evangelice.1 repentance we feel if we shrink from doing either of these two things. '!'he moral value of repentance that finds expression in confession is exhibited in a very striking way by St. Paul. "What carefulness it wrought in yon, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea., what indignation, yea, what fee.r, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!" (2 Cor. vii. 11). The special point which may be opened and illustrated is, that confession assures of personal thought and feel- ing. It is the expression of the aroused, awakened man, whose indifference is gone who sees himself, and is oppressed with the sight. If a man really confesses, he must have got a real self-hold. L A RELIGION OF MERE ASBOOIA.TION IS WORTHLESS. Yet that is all the religion so many have. It has no confession in it, save the unintelligent, parrot-like repetition of a formula.. u. A RELIGION OF PERSONAL CONVIC11'IONS A.LONE IS WORTHY, One of its earliest signs is confession : bece.use as soon as a man comes to think, he is dissatisfied with himself, and finds that he wants to say so. Saying so is the wa.y toward gaining relief.-R. T.