The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 263

where we shall ultimately be. Love to Corist, which wi:'.I compel us to cleave to him in preference to e.11 else,-that alone is security that we shall reaoh perfection. This is the answer to the question which we all ask, "What lack I yet? What is it that pre- vents me from becoming a purer, stronger, holier, more useful man than I am?' I desire growth, and I pray for it; but still it is chiefly my natural propensities that appe~r in my lif0; I ?,O not see~ t? get the help promised; I do not make the growth required. Why 1s this? What 1s 1t always keeps me at the same point ? What is it that always thwarts and baffles me?" Radically, it is the laok of deep and genuine devotedness to Christ. \". OTHER THINGS MAY ALSO BE LACKING, AS, FOR EXAMPLE, DETERMINATION TO ~E HOLY. It is in religion, in growth of character, I\S in other thinas, we succeed, when we are determined to succeed; we fail when this determination is ~wanting. In certain physical and mental attainments, indeed, determination carries no efficaoy. No amount of determination will make you as tall as some other man, or as long- sighted, or as imaginative, or as witty. But to determine to be holy is already to be holy in will, that is, in the spring of all amendment of character and conduct. Deter- mination is everything, on the hnman side, in the matter of sanctification. It is needless, therefore, seeking for mysterious causes of failure, if this first and last requisite be a wanting. Are you determined to be holy? Are you bent upon this? Because if you are not determined, common sense should forbid you to wonder why you do not grow in character. If you are not determined to be holy, the very root of the matter is still lacking in yon. VL Remark, in conclusion, that THE LACK OF ONE THING MAY MA.KE ALL OTHEB ATTAINMENTS USELESS. One mistake vitiates a whole calculation. One disease is enough to kill a man ; his brain may be sound, his lungs untouched, all his organs but one may be healthy; but if one vital organ be attacked, all the other healthy organs will not save him. So it is in character. One vice destroys the whole. If a .man is malicious, it does not avail that he is temperate. If his heart is set on the world., attention to religion or domestic virtne will not save him. Many do cultivate all points but one. How often do we say," What a pity so good e. man should give way in this or that one respect! " So may it be said by others of ourselves. To some this question, "What lack I yet?" may come with a tone of irony. "What lack I?" we are tempted to say, " What have I, rather, that is not stained with sin, spotted by th& world., unsafe, unproductive? When shall _the time come when I shall be able in sincerity to say, 'What lack I yet?' when so much good shall have been achieved by me that I shall be at a loss to see whether further attainment is possible? My youth was very different from this young man's. Instead of the ingenuousness, th& unbroken hope and ardent aspiration of youth, there was its passion, its untamed desires, its selnsh love of pleasure, its impatience, its folly." There is, at least, the same choice now laid before you that was laid before him. To you Jesus says," Follow me." He will infallibly lead you to perfection; he sees tq it that every one who forsakes aught for his sake receives in this life a hlDldredfold, and in the world to_ come life everlasting.-D. Vers.1-12.-The ethics of marriage. Note here a centrast: multitudes following Christ for healing, Pharisees pursuing him for mischief. Satan will be among the sons of God. Jesus turns the contradiction of sinners into instructions for his disciples. Let WI consider- !. THB PBARISEE'S QUESTION BEL.A.TING TO 0APRI0IOUB DIVORCE. 1. The occasicm. (1) It was commonly practised. JosephWI recites Deut. xxiv. 1, and relates that he divorced his own wife becalll!8 he was not pleased with her manners and behaviour (' Ant.,' bk. iv. c. 8). (2) The practice had the sanction of scril:lcs. While the school of Sch.ammah were strict in their interpretation of the Law, the school of Hillel wer& lax. (3) The temptation was to embroil Jesus with one or other of these schools. The plot was similar to that in the question of the tribute (see oh. xxii. 15). "In evil things Satan separates the end from the means; in good things the means from the end" (Philip Henry). 2. The reply. (1) Note: It takes no notice of the scribes. Hu.man authority is nowhere when put into competition with the Word of God. (2) It appeals immediately to the Word: " Have ye not read?" Matrimonial cases are OH, iux, 1-30.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO S1'. MATTHEW. 2'37