humility or longing after righteousness. '2. However quick we ma.y be to detect a.nd repudiate what is showy in other departm~uts of life, we a.re all liable to be shallow in r~li~ion .. The primit~ve idea of ~od that ~e is exact~ng? a. Lord who must be pro- p1t1ated, 1e one eo native to the guilty conscience, that 1t lingers among the motives of conduct long after we have mentally repudiated it. We will not comprehend that it is all for our benefit religion exists; that it is an essential of human life and happiness. Bo we do those things which it is supposed God requires, but we remain in nature unchanged. 3. Or we may admire a certain kind of character, and eet it up as our idea.I, without poBSessing it even in its beginning. A man ma.y have the reputati0n of being a Christian, and may lea.m to accept himself a.s one, while he has no founda.t10n; it is only the appearance which is in his favonr. 4. Or we may have such an eager- ness to hear teaching about righteousness, that we feel as if the hearing itself were sufficient evidence of a devout mind; we make such efforts to understand what God's will is, that we exonerate ourselves from doing it; we make such profose declarations of our obligation to obey, that we feel we have done enough. But do not believe in your purpose to serve God better until you do serve him better. Give no credit to yourself for anything which is not actually accomplished. Do not let us be always speaking of endea.vours, hopes, and intentions, and struggles, a.nd convictions of what is right, but let us do God's will. II. THE RESULTS OF BUPEBFI0IALITY are portrayed in language intended to bring out their overwhelmingly disastrous nature, but not less their certainty. For what is it that brings the house a.bout the builder's ears? It is nothing exceptional; it is the inevitable that tests it. So it is with character. It is tested by the ordinary emer- gencies of life. Time is all tha.t is required to test anything. The wolf may pretend to be a sheep for an hour or two, but his natural appetite soon reveals him; the tree makes a fair show till autumn tests it. So some reputations are short-lived. Some sudden temptation ma.y reveul to others, and even to a. man himself, that his most rooted motives are not what his conduct indicates. Other reputations survive all the storms of life, and a, man passes to another world undetected by himself or otl1ers. But the evil day is thereby only delayed. Under the eye of Christ all disguises must drop off, and we shall be known for what we really are. The catastrophe of which we are forewarned can be averted by spending pa.ins on the foundation. Through the surface soil of inherited tastes a.nd tendencies, of social restra.intd and traditional morality, of pious desires and righteous resolves, try and get down to the very basis of your character; make sure that it has such a foundation tha.t it will stand all the shocks of time and last to eternity. Make sure that you know why you strive and labour to reach righteousness, why you hope through all failure that yet righteousness awaits you. Make sure especia.lly that if yon are not bringing forth fruit as spon- taneously and as regularly as a good tree, you yet know what is changing your nature, and giving you every day an increasing love for what is good and a readiness to doit.-D. Vere. 1-3.-Judging. In warning against hindrances to holiness, our Lord begins with judging; for in this young converts too often expend the zeal which is given them for better uses. The text admonishes us- I. THAT THERE IB A JUDGMENT TO COME. 1. This life is under judicial rule. (1) There is a Divine providence in human affairs. (2) The sense of justice in human nature expresses this. (3) Sin returns upon the head of the sinner. 2. But the judg- ments of this life are not final. (1) They are incomplete. Virtue is often rewarded. But it is often trampled. Vice is often punished. But it often prospers. (2) A future judgment is therefore 11ecessary. Moral discrepancies and contradictions must be com- pensated and adj\lsted, 3. Revelation makes this clear, (1) It sets before us the pomp and circumstance of a great assize. The Divine Judge. His throne of white light. His myria.d retinue. The assembled universe. (2) It sets before us the final awards. The rewards of the righteoUB in heaven. The punishment of the wicked in hell. IL THAT DIVINE JUBTI0E IS BETBIBUTlVE, 1. In its principles. (1) "With what Judgment ye judge," etc. "He sha.11 have judgmcnt without mercy thut hath shown no mercy." (2) "Bleseed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." 2. In it, tanctione. (1) "With what measure ye mete," etc. The severity of our dealiug11 812 THE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO ST. :MATTHEW. [ott. vn. 1-29,
with our fellows will react upon us. (2) History abounds with illnstrations of this prln- c1ple. Witness Ishm11el (see Gen. xvi. 12). .Adonibezek (see Judg, i. 7). Witness the crucifixion, at the destruction of Jerusalem, of the children of those who crucified Christ and imprecated his blood upon themselves and their children. (See .Alison's 'Europe' for many remarkable examples of punctual retribution.) Witness the pro- phetic doom of the mystical Babylon (Rev. xiii. 10; xvi. 6). (3) But there is the "greater measure" of an eternal retribution. III. THESE FACTS SHOULD INFLUENOB OUR 'CONDUOT. 1. The injunction "judge not " is conditional. (1) It cannot be construed to teach tolerance to falsehoud or wrong. Scrip~nre ~annot contradict itself <cf. Isa: v. 20; Ezek. xiii.). Our Lord can,~ot contradict himself. He ~}early authorizes" righteous judgment" (see also Matt. xxm. 14, 33). (2) It cannot be mterpreted to condemn judicial decisions in courts civil or ecclesiastical. 2. We must not judge rashly. (1) To pre-judge is to judge rashly. (2) We are quick to see the failings of others (the mote), while we overlook formidable evils of our own (the beam). The way to righteousness is the reverse of this, (3) We jndge rashly by indulging evil surmises. ( 4) We judge rashly in precipitate decisions. 3. We must not judge harshly. (1) To pre-judge is harsh as well as rash. By such judgment we become so interested in the success of our prediction as perhaps to procure or facilitate its fulfilment. We should evermore hope for the best. (2) To condemn severely is to judge harshly (cf. Luke vi. 37; Rom. ii. 1-3). 4. There is a sphere in which we must not judge. (1) We have no jurisdiction over the consciences of our fellows. Here the words "judge not" express a direct and positive prohibition, (2) We must not denounce to perdition as heretics those who differ from us. (3) Nothing provokes more surely the j udgment of God than the sufferings of his martyrs. ( 4) We have no magisterial authority over our brother (see Jae. iii 1; iv. 11).-J, A. M.