The burdens «re to be our cono81'tl, How large Ii slum, of life they cover I l. Burrlens of ain. ThMe seem to be upyermoet in the mind of St, Pan! (ver. 1). ..le Christ bore our sin, we o.re to beo.r our nmghbour'e; i.e. make it our trouble and anxiety, and a thing we lcibour at removing, 2. Hardens- of sorrow, The trouble of OUJ' brother will be ourA tf we ore members one of another. 3., Burdens or car~, Fear and- anxiety are mngn!Acd In loneliness; We can see the forlorn suffer from being quite deROlate. 4; Burdens of doubt, 1 Do not btand. the doubter as a herelic. Enter into bis difficulties. Discuss them :rmnkly as with·your brother. III. IT IS OUR DUTY TO DEAR THESE BURDENS. •The scribes bound heavy bUFJrns grievous to bB borne on the shoulders of their victims, and would not so much as touch them with theirilittlo fingers. '£he example of these men: has been too often followed by -the toaehers of tho Ghurch. Yet God knows the burdens of life are heavy enough without our oddibg to them. Our part is to lighten them. 'rhis is a serions, practical work, and not a matter of humanitarian sentiment. We must take the burdens on ourselves till we foe) the weight of them. 1. By sympathy. Real sympathy, and not Iriocking•pity, makes another's trouble one's owu. It takes the heaviest weight from tll8' load-the, dull, crushing sense of loneliness. The burden is lightened by being shar~d. .; 2. By.active ,relief, When once we feel the burden we shall wish to remove it. ::Bea.ring it,: we shall .do all. in our power to bear it away. Thus Christian sympathy produces active philanthrop.ra " . . , IV. To BE All ONE· .ANOTHll:WS . BUllllENS 18 TO FULlllL THE LAW 01!' CRRIST. It is required b1·Christ: ,,:Weare,disobedient to him if we-neglect the duty, A.nd to fulfil it -is· to ,satisfy. Christ.. In, face •of this plain duty there· is an unreality amounting almost to-hypocrisy in the effort to live. a holy life by practising artilicia.l, ascetic self- denial, as if eno.ligh could D))t,be found in the common walks of life and m ways of plain usefulness; How.absurd t9,,we!!-r a hair shirt and lai;h one's self with scourges instead, of taking ·the: self-denial in the less romantic but more Christ-like way of helping ·the tick :and igno~~nt and fallen! • • JThe trivial round, the commnrr ta~k. I· • ' Will furnish il.11 we ougbt to :1sk- '' I Room to deny auTaelves, a road To bring us daily nearer Uotl." W.F.A.. Ver. 3.-".7Vie teT/-decepeion of self-oonceit. A truism, yet such that, while everybody is' ready, to 'apply i_t -to·. his. neigh hour, few, we wise enough to take it home to them- selves.•· By ·t~e very nature of the case. it is always ignored' where it fits moat aptly. Hetrce the need· of, insisting·upon-it. ,. . . , , : •. · : · .J. 'THERE,A·ttE'STBONG DIDUOE;MENfrS:TOB; B'Om.rJNG AB tJNDULY l!'AVOUBADLE OPil'IIOR oproNE•s 1sELP. 1: Seit-knowledge is.a difijcult. acquisition. We cannot get the right per- spec_tive; 'l'he effort of turning the mindin upon itself is arduilus. Then we are inclined to take ima:gino4ionrand. desire for direct- perception, i.e-. to think. we possess qualities which we onlypioture,in·thought; or·to measure owr,faculties by our inclioatious, to suppose that-the,wish -to do-certairi'tbings carries,with it the power_ E.g. an enthusiast for the ,·iolin is likely'to suppose h..e can ,handle,the instrument musieally before oth.er people are :of that' opinion,, The very habit. o( thinking about ourselves causes a growing sense of selr-impor-tanoe: ', Moreover, by: e.n unconscious selection we are• led to dwell an ,the fiwourable features,, of•, our owli characters, and leave out oI account the un'favonra'ble. ·" ·! i • •' JI. ,A llIGH OPINION 01!' ONE'S BELi!' IS COMMONLY.. FOUND TO BE ABSOOllTED WITR A LOW'CO?--:OITION OF· REAL wonTB. Not invariably,,fot. we sometimes fiud men o( high endowments•rainfully·self-assertive, ~th.er because. they know that. their merits have noi been duly recognized; or.because their v1.1nity has been excited by th.e applause of their friends. ·,Such cases reveal a weakn.qsa,,l\ud strik,e us as ~culiarly unfortunate, for the 111etr of worth WCi>V.ld be wiaer ,to w3<i,t for. the acknowledgment which their merits' by the~Bhres w·m ultimatllly 0Qmiu11nd had, ~hjly but patience enouf!:h, or a,t \he wors~ should beobo:v-ac"d:ng,overmQch.t<ll'.<:1ny 11ucb,aokn.owle,\:.ment. Still, the merit mity·bo real.,· In most cnse~. h:o,we\ler, it.iiB those wiho ~ra lca~t who boast the loudest. '!'he muu of .litb11d1mowledge thinks he kn.ows everythmg; w1do kru;iwlodge reveals the THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [OH, VI, 1-18,
awful v11.Stness of the unknown, and impresses profound humility. So the ht>lieet m1m is most conscious of his own eiufulness, At best, too, what right have we to think much of ourselves when all we havo comes from God-our natural abilities as giftl! of Providence, our spiritual attainments as graces of the Spirit? III. AN UNDUE OPINION OF ONE'S SELF 18 NOTHING BUT SELF-DECEPTION. It Mnnot long impose upon others. The world is not inclined to attach much weight to a man's ov.·n e'l"'id1mce in f&vour of himself. (Hypocrisy, or the deliberate effort to deceive oth8?11, is out of the question here, 11.S that implies a knowledge of the falseness of our pretensions, while we are now oonsidering the honest belief in them.) Such self- deception is unfortunate, (1) because it will put us in a false position, inoline ua to make wrong claims, and to attempt the unattainable, and so result in disustrous failure• (2) because it precludes the ,endeavour to improve ourselves; (3) because it destroy: the Christ-like grace of humility; (4) because it provokes the ridicule, scom, or even enmity of others.-W. F. A. '