meet and negotiate their conditions of mutual service, me.king fair and honoura.hl0 terms for eaoh. All combinations e.re·unhealthy interferences with the markets that should be absolutely open and free to everybody. II. EVERY MAN BAS A RIGHT TO BE GENEROUS. If e. man pleases, he may accept Iese work for his money from some. If e. man pleases, he may pay for his work more than he agreed, If e. man plee.ses, he may pay for doing nothing. Bu~ no man ha8 any claim upon his brother's generosity. It ceases to be generosity if he has claim upon it. This needs to be vigorously asserted in our day, because a confused notion is growing; up tha.t the poor have daims on a. distribution of the money of the rich. A man hae 11 right to be generous, and an equal right to be ungenero118. He is only nolile and Christly 88 he us~s well his right to be generous.-R. T. Ver. lB.-Anticipations of betrayal. It is ·not often set out prominently that the chief ingredient in our Lord's sorrowful anticipations was his betrayal by one of his disciples. There is no greater distress comes to us in life than the unfaithfulness of trusted friends. The psa.lmist wails in this way (Ps. lv. 12-14): "For it was not an enemy tha.t reproached me; then I could have borne it ... but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance." The dealings of our Lord with Juda.; need careful study. Our Lord had to act so 88 not to interfere with Providence. The fact that he knew what would happen must not be used to prevent it from happeni~g; and yet tha.t knowledge filled him with anxiety concerning Judas, and constraind him to make attempts to influence the man who, on the road of his covetousness, was fast hastening to his crime. L ANTICIPATIONS OF BETRAYAL TESTED THE LORD JESUS. Even that was in the Father's will for him. There could hardly be anything in his cup of woe more bitter, Probably Judas had been chosen an apostle because of his business capacity. Our Lord had trusted him. His face was familiar to him. He had grown interesterl in Jude.s, and it W88 hard indeed to think he would, one day soon, turn traitor. Our Lord would not have been fairly tested by all forms of human anxiety if he had not known failing, forsaking friends. Could he take up, and bear, this yoke of the Father? Knowing it was coming, could he go on, quietly, steadily, in the path of duty? Could he bear to have Judas close beside him day by day? Thie gives us e. deep sense of the reality and severity of our Lord's struggle to preserve a perfect, Son-like obedience and submission. Even here he won and held hie triumph. II. A.NTIOIPATIONS OF BETRAYAL TESTED THE DISCIPLES. It must have led to heart-searching inquiries. Some, no doubt, felt our Lord's words more than the others. Some would think it only e. melancholy mood that the Master was in. Some would feel quite certain that the words would never apply to them. What did Judas think about the possible betrayal? We know welL The man who is deteriorating, as Judas W88, becomes insensible to,euch suggestions. None could have been more posi- tive than Judas in denying that· the term "traitor " could ever apply to him. But Judas was the betrayer.-R. T.
Ver. 20.-Motb.erly ambition,. It ls certainly surprising to find James and John presenting such e. request as this. We cannot but think that they ought to have known their Lord better. If any of the apostolic company had insight of their Master's spiritual mission, it surely was the first group, which included James and John. Perhaps Matthew lets the light in when he explains that they were promµted by their mother. "Then came to him the mother of Zebodee'e children with her sons worshipping him, and desiring e. certain thing of him." If it was her idea, we can understand it. Woman-like, she was practical; she understood only the material aspect of Messiah's mission; and she had not come into such 88SOciation with Christ ae served to correct and epiritualize her ideas; and she know the value of forethought, of "taking time by the forelock," and so she schemed to secure an early promise of the best places in the new kingdom for her sons. A motherly mother indeed I I. WORTHY MOTHERLY AMBITIONS. Illustrate how directly the greal men, in ell the various spheres of life, have been dependent on their mothers. Explain the ambition in the heart of every Jewish mother to become the mother of Messiah. A possible poet, artist, thought-leader, statesman, age-reformer, hero, is in every child 310 THE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [oo. u.·1-34.
thnt lies on wom&n'e bosom; and 11he 111 a poor mother who doe11 not look Into her child's face, and dream for him_ ~igh position and ennobling intluenoe In the days of unfolded ml\nhood. But amb1t1on11 are not worthy that rest with worldly succoss, True motherhood is more anxious that the child shall be worthy qf suooess, than that ho should win suooess. Charaoter alone is the worthy ambition, Mothers aim at nobility and piety. 11. MISTAKEN MOTHERLY AMBITIONS. These are illustrated In the pl\BS&ge before us. 'l'his mother wanted office, rank, and wealth. In these days motherhood often aims at imperfect and unworthy things. Illustrate by the modern despising of trade, and pressing of the sons into overstocked prof888ions; despising of retnil trade, and pressing into overstocked wholesale commerce; or by anxiety to secutt1 advantageous marriage settlement&. A child's material well-being is a proper subject of motherly concern; but moral and spiritual character and health ought always to be held as the supreme things.-R. T.