will surely find that his riches will stand in his way, and mako it very hard work ·for him, as they made it hard work for this rich ruler. What is it in worldly possessions t-bat makes them such hindering things? I. RICHES HAVE_ A SEPA~ATING !N~LUENOE ON MEN_. They tend to put men in classes; those having the riches cla1mmg to be a superior class, and demanding special consideration 11.Ild treatment. This tends to induce the idea that the way of salvation for rich people ought to be a special provision. The rich man does not care to be saved just as tbe poor man is. He finds the gospel too levelling. If he cannot have a way of his own, he will have no way. It is difficult for him to realize that God takes, no cou_nt ~f ri_ches; and whoever would come to him_ must come in at the one strait gate, which 1s big enough to take the man, but not big enough to take anything that he would carry in with him. Il. RrcHEs HAVE A SATISFYING INFLUENCE ON MEN. They bring with them a sense_of s~urity: The ~eh man can have all he wants, and there will be no future, be thmks, m which he will have any needs that cannot be met, The poor have .a basis for religion in their daily need and daily dependence. The rich have no basis for religion. It is their misery, that body, mind, and soul never have any wants. They have got the riches: what more can they want? This kind of feeling provides the gravest of hindrances to entrance into the kingdom. III. RICHES HA VE A HARDENING INFLUENCE ON MEN. This is most true, most strange, and most sad. It can be illustrated in cases we all know, of self-sacrificing generosity while persons were poor, which changed at on_ce into selfish meanness when wealth came to them. It is that hardening which makes it so difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom.-R. T. ¥er. 26.-Salvation possibl,e because it ls God's work. As the disciplea,-understood iheir Lora, he seemeJ to them to make it impossi'ble for a rich man to become a Chris- t.ill.n.; and if a rich man could not be a Christian, who could be? 'fhey mistook their Master, who, as an effective Teacher, sometimes stated things very. strongly, and with,-· held the qualifications in order to excite thought. The "immeI1Sely difficult" is not ihe "impossible." The impossible, if you can only reckon upon human forces, is not impossible, if you can bring in Divine forces. And, in relation to moral salvations, you have to take account of what God can do, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." This very large and unqualified statement concern- ing the absolute ability of God has often been misrepresented and misused, because it has been applied to things of which our Lord was not thinking, It is said-God amnot make two things fill one space, or make two and two count five. .But these a.re not "impossibilities;" they are "absurdities," proved such by the conditiollS of human language. God cannot do what is manifestly absurd in the very statement. Our Lord was speaking strictly of moral possibilities and impossibilities. . ' L GoD OA.N SAVE RICH MEN, BECAUSE BE CAN TAKE .AWAY THEm BIOBES. And 80 :remove their hindrance. Man cannot do this ; but all wenlth is absolutely in the Divine controL This is forcibly illustrated in the story of Job; all whose wc,rJdly pos- Bessions take wings and fly away in a single overwhelming day. The rich ruler would not pnt his possessions away in order to enter the kingdom; but,.if it had pleased Christ so t.o do, he cotild have taken them away, and so have given him his opportunity, Many a man has been brought to God by losing the riches in which he had trusted. ; ll GOD CAN SAVE RICH MEN BY TAKING THEM AWAY FBOM TREIB RICHES. Draw- ing them away .from their confidences. God has power over the minds and souls of men. By his Spirit he can awaken such soul-anxieties that a man may become indif- ferent to death, put his, fingers in his ears, and cry," What must I do to be saved?" God, by his Spirit, can " convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment;" and under that convincement a man will surely be liberated from the enslaving cif worldly po8!1essions.-R. T. Ver, 28.-" The re.generatum." This may be but another name for the setting up of the kingdcm of heaven. As the apostles were to be directly connected with it, the final "restitution of all things" can hardly be meant. It is usual to. re~er such upressiow t,o the "se-;ood coming of Christ;" but be appears to have had ID mind -On, ux. 1-30,1 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 275
the starting of the Messianic kingdom at Pentecost. Understanding Christ to be UBicg Ee.stern figures of speech, we may see his meanir,g to be simply this--Those who truly e.nd self-sacrificingly follow him shall occupy the chief places of influence in the new kingdom which he proposed soon to establish. I .. THE BEGENEBATION TREATED AB THE ESTABLISHMENT OJ!' THE KINGDOll'.. ·Christ se.t upon the throne of his glory when he ascended iuto "heaven, and sat on the right hand of God," Then was "all power given to him in heaven and in earth;" and then the glorious work of regenerating the worl<l was initiated, The new creation, to be completed finally in "the restitution of all things," was commenced. The out- pouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the miracles performed by his apostles, the destruction of Jerusalem and of" those his enemies who would not that he should reign over them," and the abolition of the Mosaic economy, were the palpable proofs -0f his exaltation. I!, THE REGENERATION TREATED AS INDIOATING THE MISSION OJ!' THE KfNGDo·,r. Thll "kingdom" was to be the supreme renovating, renewing, regenerating force in th , world. The "regeneration" may be taken as the time following on our Lord's res,ir- rection. "1. It was primarily centred in our Lord's own renovated Person; for he then put off the servant form, and put on his immortality. 2. That reno,ation overspread and included his followers, especially his twelve apostles. By the Pentecostal Spir;t they- were endowed with power from on high ; they entered on possession of the kingdom appointed. 3. 'l'he Church was renewed and regenerated from the old to the new dispensation. The types e.nd shadows had departed, the reign of the kingdom of God with power was begun." There is to be e. new birth for mankind. Christ exalted and living, Christ working through his Church and in the might of his Spirit, is now established as the regenerating force of humanity ; and these are the times of the « regenere.tion."-R. T,