HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-7.-Mercy liegetting mercy. The practical lessons or tbe gospel were not exha11sted in the preceding chapter, nor the motives which urge believers to godliness. Th<' call to holiness in the last chapter was based upon the holy character of God's saving grace and the purpose of Christ's redeeming love. In these verses the grace and love of God are still the basis of the exhortation, but it takes its peculiar colourinii; from the thought of what we were ourselves. Tenclerness, indulgence, and meeknes8 toward our fellow-men are the duties to which these verses call us; and it is supposed that those fellow-men may be rouii;b and evil-minded toward us, and provoking in their ways, and perhaps obstinate in evil-doing. The natural heart might be ready to speak evil of them, to contend fiercely with them, utterly to reject them as reprobates, to thrust them beyond the pale of hope and kindness. But stay! What were you your- selves when the kindness and love of God first appeared unto you? Were you walking in righteousness? Were your works the things which attracted God's love toward you? Nay I you were living in that folly which you now condemn in others; you were children of disobedience then as truly as they are now; you were deceived by sin then as they are now; you were the siaves of your own lusts then even as they are now ; you lived in malice and envy then, both hateful and hating one another. But God's mercy found you out; God's love threw a veil over your sins; he provided a fountain to wash away your guilt; he sent his Holy Spirit to create in you a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within you; he justified you by his grace; he made you his heirs, and gave you the hope of eternal life. And will not you have mercy upon your fellow-men? Will not you, for whom the Divine gentleness and patience has done so much, be gentle and patient too? Will not you, bumble in the remem- brance of yonr own sins, and abashed at the thought of your own unworthiness, deal meekly and kindly even with unruly and sinful men, and cherish the hope that God's boundless grace may at last reach them, even as it reached you? Thus the doctrine of God's mercy towarrl men begets mercy from man to man, and the doctrine of grace is the strongest conceivable motive to charity.
Vers. 8-15.-Pearls before swine. There is in some a habit of mind utterly out of harmony with the Word of God. It is not that dogmas, or creeds, or ceremonies are despised anrl forgotten by them, as they usually are by the pleasure-seeking or money- making world. On the contrary, these things are often in their minds anrl upon their lips. But they hanrlle everything, not with a view to growth in goodness, not with a view to the formation within of a humble, pure, and holy character, but merely as matters of disputation. They raise questions, the solution of which has no bearing upon our duty to God or man, but which only give ocrasion for strife of worrls, and utterly unprofitable contentions. The most solemn truths, the most sacred mysteries of the Christian faith, are only food for a wrangling, disputatious spirit. They are always ready to start difficulties, to suggest doubts, or to propose new form ■ of doctrintt 48 THE EPISTLE TO TITUS, [oe. m. 1-16,
in lieu of thoee onoe delivered to the saints. Strong in their own conceit& and wise in thelr own esteem, they will not leam, no, not from Christ himself, hut are alwayd forward to teach some new thing. They value nothing which they have not invented themselves. They aooept no truth which they have not adulterated with their own imii.gine.tions. Disciples they will not be. Masters they must be. When this habit of mind has clearly developed itself, the serve.nt of God he.s only to withdraw from s1;1ch. He must not be drawn into the whirlpool of vain je.ngling and unprofite.ble disput.es. He must not go on casting his ll8&1'ls before the swine. Silence is, in such cases, the best rebuke. When honest e.nd gentle efforts to bring home to such persons the truths of God's Word in e. reverential and practical way have utterly failed, e.nd it is become evident the.t there is no desire in their hearts for Christ and his Word, it is time to cease from such efforts. "From such tum awe.y" is the authoritative advice of St. Paul. Nothing can be in sharper contrast with the "unprofitable strivings" here condemned than the unobtrusive works of kindness, and active help to the furtherance of the gospel, inculcated upon Titus. Zenas and Apollos are to be brought on their way. Care is to be taken that they want for nothing. The Church in Crete is to be fruitful in good works for the wants of their brethren ; and even the closing salutation is redolent of love and kindness. When Christians feel that the very essence of Chris- tianity is unobtrusive love and kindness, shown in unselfish acts, and e. ree.d.iness to help wherever help is needed, then will the Church be Christ's true witness upon earth; witnessing to Christ e.s the embodiment of the law of love, and witnessing to the Spirit of Christ as dwelling in her of a truth.