The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 512

will, the froit must come according to the nature and character of the stock on which it grows. Therefore Christian work must be directed to the deep inner needs of the soul. This is not unpractical, as some assert. Lectures on ethics are not the best means of improving the morals of a people. Evangelical teaching is the source of m1)ral Improve- ment. We cannot imitate Christ until we have the life of Christ in our hearte.- W. F. A. Vers. 43-45.-The empty hO'UStJ. The heart of man is a house in which dwell good or evil. When evil hlls tllken up its abode there, the moralist will endeavour to drive it out, Bat if he is not able to substitute a positive good, his work will iBBue in worse than a failure ; the evil will come back with increased power and resume possession of its old haunts. Let us endeavour to see the reason of this, and then how the mischief can be prevented. I. Tm: EVICTION. The house was inhabited by a most undesirable tenant, who kept it in an ill condition, neglected, and filthy. So the landlord turned him out, and h:id the house cleaned down and garnished ready for a better occupier. Thie is analogous t-0 a partial refonnation-<lne that is only negative. We may compare it with the work of John the Baptist when that is not followed up by the gospel of Christ. The old state of sin has become unendurable; a desperate effort has been made to break off the ba.d habits. The drunkard has given up his drink; the profligate has left his vice; the worldly person has turned aside from his old follies. The evil spirit has been expelled. More ha~ been done. Not only has there been an expul- sion ; there has been a cleansing, there has been a re-decoration. The empty house is swept and garnished. An improvement of manners has taken place. Some attempt has been made to add grace and beauty to the once wrecked and degraded soul. II. THE EMPTIKESS. An empty house is a dreary sight. Gaunt and silent in a street full of life, it seems to be the abode of ghostly shadows that flit to and fro anu peep out of the windows at twilight. If we enter it, it strikes us with a dismal sense of desertion. Its walls echo to every footfall; the stairs creak painfully under our tread; a gust of wind sighs through the vacant passages; suddenly we are startled by the slamming of a door somewhere up in the garret. It is an eerie place. An empty mind is equally desolate; and a heart from which the old affections have been torn is a dreary vacancy. Such things cannot be endured, and they do not last. III. Tm: RETURN. The empty honse invites stray guests. It cannot remain perfectly deserted, if it has nothing better than rat~ and mice to scamper over the ceilings and chase one another behind the wainscoting. The poor empty soul will soon be infested with a brood of'' tenants-at-will." If there is nothing to keep them out, the old habits will return and reassert themselves. The disappointment of the hope of reformation is likely to give rise to an utter abandonment of despair. When the reformed drunkard breaks out with his a1d vice again he plunges deeper than ever in the mire. IV. THE REMEDY. How can this terrible end be prevented? The evil arises from the emptiness of the heart. This vacuum must be filled. If the old evil is not to return, a new good must take its place. The only we.y to keep the old tenant out ia to put a new tenant in possession. Negative morality is of little value. "Thou shalt not" is a poor substitute for a gospel of redemption, The heart needs to be filled with a new passion in order that it may leave no room for the old passions to return. Now, this remedy is found in Christ. The love of sin is only perfectly banished when the love of Christ has filled the heart. But when Christ is in possession sin cannot reasseri its insolent claims.-W. F. A. Vere. 46-50.-Brotlierhood with Christ. It must have· been one of the most painful trials in the life of our Lord that none of his relatives except his mother believed in him, and that even she misunderstood him. Instead of supporting bis arduous toils, they all did what they could to hinder him. No doubt their motives were kind; they thought he was wearing himself out with too much work; they saw his danger with the authorities, and wished to shield him; they seem to have thought he was beside himself with fanaticism, and needing kindly oversight and restraint. To us this looks ~la.oat imi-ossible, But they who are nearest to inspiration are often the most per-  cm. xn.1-60.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 609