I. THEY ARE WHOLESOME BBOAU8111 THEY ABIII BALING WORDS. They heal breaohes in families; they heal the division between God and the soul; they heal the heart Itself. .And in the varie-ml3C'Um of the Bible we find a cure for all the diseases of the inner man. II. TREY ARE WHOLB8011:B WORDS AS OONTRASTED WITH OTHER LITERATURES, With much that is gooJ in the best of authors, there is much that is harmful. .All is not wholesome in Dante, or Goethe, or Shakespeare. It requires an infinite mind to inspire words that sha.11 always and ever be wholesome; and it would be difficult to speak of any human literature that is wholesome every way, Some has in it too much romance and sentiment; some has too great a power upon the passions; some feeds the intellect and starves the heart. III. THESE WORDS ARE WHOLESOME IN EVERY SPHERE, It is not too much to say of the gospel of Jesus Christ that it saves and sanctifies body, soul, and spirit. It has no ,rnrd of encouragement to the unwashed monk, or to the ascetic who neglects the care nf the body. It supplies a true culture to the mind, and feeds and nourishes all the graces of the heart. So it becomes a doctrine according to godliness.-W. M. S. Ver. 6. - The wtalt'A of migion. "But godliness with contentment is great gain." We learn from tl,ese words- L THAT HEN ARE RICH IN WHAT TREY ARE. It ls a mistake to think of riches as belonging merely to the estate. We way catalogue the possessions of the outward life, but they are only "things." How many men learn too late that they are not rich in what they have! Godliness is the truest riches, because it is God-likeness; the image which no earthly artist can produce! The highest good conceivable is to be like God. II. MEN ARE RICH IN WHAT THEY OAN DO WITHOUT. " With contentment." Let us study, not so much what we may secure, as what we are able to enjoy existence without. Men multiply their cares often as they multiply their means; and some men, with competency in a cottage, have not been sorry that they lost a palace. "Contentment is great gain;" it sets the mind free from anxious care; it prevents the straining after false effect; it has more time to enjoy the flowers at its feet, instead of straining to secure the meadows of the far-away estate. III. MEN KUST LEAVE EVERYTHING; THEY CAN OARRY NOTHING AWAY. That is certain; and yet the word must be read thoughtfully. Nothin~ save conscience an,! character and memory. Still the words are true, that we can carry nothing out; for these are not" things," but part of our personality. The body returns to tbe dust, but the spirit-to the God who gave it. Let tbis check all undue anxiety, and cure our foolish envy as we look around upon all the coveted positions of men. "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."-W. M. 8.
Vers. 1-10.-81.atJU tmd heretic,. I. DUTIES OF CHRISTIAN SLAVES. 1. Tcnoartl unbdieving master,. "Let as many as are servants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the Name of God and the doctrine be not blasphemed." Paul had to legislate for a social condition which was, to a considerable extent, different from ours. In the early Christian Churches there were not a few whose social condition was that of slaves. They are pointed to here as being under the yoke as servants. To service there was added the oppressive circumstance of being under the yoke. That is, they were like cattle with the yoke on them-having no rights, any more than cattle, to bestow their labour where they liked, but only where their masters liked. It was a degradation of human beings, for which no apology could be made. Under Christianity the eyes of Christian slaves could not be altogether closed to the flagrant injustice inflicted on them. They would also see that, in this sonship and heirship of glory, they were really exalted above unbelieving masters. It would have been easy, with such materials, to have inflzmed their minds against their masters. But Paul, as a wise legislator, understood better the obligations of Christianity. No inflammatory word does he ad,lress to them; he tells them, not of rights, but of duties. Their masters, notwithstanding their being identified with injustice, were still their own masters, i.e. men to whom in the proTidence of God they were subordinated. Let them be counted wortliy of all honour, nen a■ he has already 11&id that the presbyters, or eccleaiastical rulen, are tM he llOUDted worthy of honour. .And we need not wonder at this; for ■till, aa.VL1-2L) THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 135