will buy. But it i~ a mi~erable delusion-a. delusion which ha.s elain the pea.ce and prospec~s of m_rny a. thousan~ ~ouls-that the one wa.y to secure the excellency of life 1~ to gem am ph tude of matenal resources. 1. Muchness of money does not even ensure human happiness. The wealth that lives in fine houses and site down to sumptuous tables and moves in '' good circles " is very often indeed carrying with it a heavy heart, a burdened spirit, an unsatisfied soul. This is not the imagination of envy; it is the confession of sorrowful experience, uttered by ma.ny voices, witnessed by many lives. 2. Muchness of money does not constitute the euellency of human life. In a country where " business" me&ns as much as it does in England, we are under a strong tempta- tion to think that to have grown very rich is, by so doing, to have succeeded. '!'hat is a pa,·t of seme men's success ; but it does not constitute success in any ma.n's life. A man may be enormously rich, and yet he may be an utter and pitiable failure. 11 In every society, and especially in a country like our own, there are those who derive their chief characteristics from what they have; who are always spoken of in terms of revenue and of whom you would not be likely to think much but for the large account that stands in the ledger in their name. . . . So completely do they paint the idea of their life on the imagination of all who knew them, that, when they die, it is the fate of the money, not of the man, of which we are apt to think. .t!aving put vast prizes in the funds, but only unprofitable blanks in our affections, they leave behind nothing but their property, or, as it is expressly termed, their effects. Their human personality hangs as a mere label upon a mass of treai;ure" (Dr. Martineau). A man's life should rise higher than that. II. DoING WHAT 1s JUST AND KIND. Far better is it to do the just and kind action than to have that which is pleasant and desirable. Life rises into real worth when it is spent in honourable and fruitful action. In sustaining right and useful relationships in the great world of business, carrying out our work on principles of righteousness and equity; in ruling the home firmly and kindly; in espousing the cause of the weak, the ignorant, the perishing; in striking some blows for national integrity and advancement -in such a healthful, honourable, ele~ating action as this II a man's life" is found. But this, in its turn, must rest on- Ill BEING WHAT IS BIGHT. For "out of the heart are the issues of life." Men may do a large number of good things, and yet be" nothing" in the sight of heavenly wisdom (see 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3). The one trne mainspring of a worthy human life is "the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." To love God, and therefore to love a;l that is good; to love God, and therefore to interest ourselves in and try to help all those who are so nearly related to him; to love God, and therefore to be moving on and up in an ever-ascending line toward Divine wisdom and worth ;-this is the one victorious and successful thing. Without this, "a man's life" is a defeat and a failure, hold what it may; with it, it has the beginuings of a true success-it is already, and will be more than it now is, eternal life.-C.
Ver. 20.-Sud<len death. The parable which Jesus Christ delivered in rebuke of covetousness puts in striking and even startling form the facts on which God's provi- dence requires us to look. For we know- L THAT SUDDEN DEATH IS AN EVENT WHICH MAY OCCUB TO ANY ONE OF us. Human science bas done much for us; and much in the direction of preserving and prolonging life. It has given to us a considerable knowledge of disease, and therefore an increased sense of danger. But it has not =terially diminished the fact of a sudden and unan- ticipated end of our mortal life. It is probable that with the advance of civilization and the growing intric~cies, complications, and obligations of human life, diseases of the heart have increased, and it is quite open to doubt whether sudden death is less fre- quent than it was. Certainly it is an ordinary rather than an extraordinary event. It is probable that these two words will be fo1;1nd at t)'ie head of at l~ast. on~ i:iaragraph in any newspaper we may chance to be readmg. Little as we realize 1t, 1t 1s a_ stern fact thlt it is quite possible that any man, enjoJing the most robust health and 10 the midst of the most pressing and weighty duties, may be dead within the day on which we speak to him; that to thid possibility there is absolutely no exception. Just now life may be to us and to those related to us of the greatest value; there may be a thousaud reasons why, &Ii it seems to us 3.Dd to them, our life should be spared; and mr. xn. 1-5!l.] TilE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 3-t9
yet it m11y be of ns that the word iR passed in that realm where there is nonP, to hinder "'l'his night thy soul sholl be required of thee." It may be nry trite but it ie moe~ seriously true, that sudden death mny come to any one of u6, ' JI, 'J.'llAT SOME SUDDENNESS IN DEATH IB AN EXPERIE1'CE WE ARE ALL LrKELY TO SHARR, Few remarks are more often made than that death was "sudden at the last.~ Even the sick m1m thinks that he will live; that there are months, or at least weeks, before him. They who are clearly and even loudly admoni8h@d, either by serious illness or by advanced age, that their end is drawing on will think and talk of the driys that are coming, of the things they will accomplish. It is URually with a start of surprise that the patient lea.me from his attendant that he must die. Such is our human nature that, even when death comes gradually and kindly, the Master's words are applicable : " In such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh." III. THAT AMIDST HUMAN UNCERTAINTIES WE MAY HOLD FAST SOME DrvnrE AND EVER-LIVING TRUTHS. 1. That it matters little whether our life be long or short, if only it be given to the service of Christ. Our Lord died a young man, and the term of his active public life is counted by months rather than by years; but what did he achieve! 2. 'l'hat temporal success is not the true or the wise aim to set before the lioul. There are far higher things we can do, and therefore should do; besides, our material achievements and possessions may be ta.ken from our grasp at any hour. 3. That the right and wise course to take is to be ready for death whenever it may come. Readiness for death will secure us a true peace when the hour of trial arrives; it will also give us calmness of spirit, and therefore capacity for service and for pure enjoyment in the midst of life.-C,