Ver. 41.-What we want of Ghrist. Our hearts are drawn towards blind Bartimreus; we compnssionate him for his long-continued blindne8s; we enter into his feeling of keen hopefulness when he hears of the passing of Jesus Uhrist; we like the importunity of the man, his sturdy refusal to be put down by popular clamour; we like also his manly directness in reply to the question asked him, "Lord, that I may receive my sight I" We owe him some gratitude in that it was his neces~ity which provided our Lord with one more opportunity of illustrating his power and his pity, and of carryin" on the great redemptive work he came to accomplish. For these miracles he wrough~ were a. part, and a. valuable part, of that work of his. If apprised of less value than they once were, they are very far indeed from being valueless. And amongst other things they illustrate Christ's personal dealing with men. .As he did not heal in troops anJ companies but addressed himself to each individual man or woman that was sick or suffering, blind or lame, ·so does he now make his appeal to each individual heart, and say to this man and to that man, "What wilt Oun.1, that I shall do unto thee?" And what do we want of him, as he thus approaches us? L THOSE WHO WANT NOTHING IN PABTICULAB. They meet with their neif!hbours to worship him and to hear about hlm, but they have no sense of need in their hearts; their souls are not suffering and smarting under a painful sense of sin; their hearts are not athirst for the living God and Saviour. They wish for" bread enough," but it is not the bread of life for which they hunger; they would like much to be wealthy, but they are not careful to be "rich toward God." II. THOSE WHO WANT NOTHING OF CHRIST NOW. The time will come when they will be glad of a Saviour and Friend-some future hour of sorrow, or difficulty, or lone- liness, and certainly the hour of death ; they would like to keep open the line of com- munication, but at present they do not feel that they want anything of the great Healer of hearts. But let us look rather at- IIL WHAT WE ALL DO REALLY WANT OF HIM. If our Divine Father is not to be disappointed in us, if our lives on earth are not to be miserable failures, then may we all urge, with this blind man, "Lord, that we may receive our sight 1" For it is essential to the life of our lifo that we should be enlightened upon: 1. The transcendent value of the human spirit, and thus understand of how much more value we ourselves are than any of our earthly surroundings, or than the body which is our temporary residence. 2. The intimate and tender relation in which we stand to God. That God is the one Being with whom we have to do, from whom we cannot withhold our love and service without doing him and ourselves the greatest wrong, who is "earnestly remembering" and patiently seeking us in our distance and estrangement. 3. The supreme and abiding blessedness of the service of Christ; that this is the soul's only true rest and portion, its peace and its inheritance. We want that these great saving truths should stand out before the eyes of our soul as the solid and living facts, in com- parison with which all other things are of small account; we want to recognize in them the great verities which alone will satisry and save us. If we would that Christ should do this for us, we must remember that what he is saying to 11s is this: (1) "Learn of me;" (2) "Believe ill me;" "Have faith in me;" (3) ".abide in me;" (4) "Follow me."-C.
Vera. 1-14.-Lesson, en prayer. Our Lord, in the two parables composing the present passage, gives the disciples encouragement to pray. Tbe one brings out the need of perseverance and importunity in prayer; the other brings out the spirit of self- abasement which should be cultivated in prayer. 'l'hey are thus linked together as twin lessons in the art of prayer. I. LET US NOTICE THE NEEDFUL IMPORTUNITY OF GoD'S ELECT AS fl.LUSTRATED BY THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW. (Vars. 1-8.) 'l'he story is about an earthly judge of unscrupulous character, to whom & widow in her weakness, but with & deep sense of injury, appeals for redress. The weak woman is able by her importunity to e:xtort from the heartless judge the redress which he would give on no other conditions. He even becomes facetious and humorous over it, anrl declares that he will avenge her, lest "by her continual coming she strike me." Having related this story, our Lord makes certain deductions from it. .And: J. He declares that at his coming there will be litele /a,ith in Ma advent. (Ver. 8.) Now, this unbelief about his advent can be 132 THE GOSPEL AOCORDING TO ST. LUKE. [err. xvm. 1-43,