and tenderness. The hearer must not listen in a captious spirit, or quarrel with the truth when it comes to him in practical form. For an angry heart will destroy edifica- tion (ver. 20). Scolding from the pulpit will not " work the righteousness of God" in the hearts of the hearers; 11,nd, on the other hand, resentful feelings against the preacher can only hinder regeneration and sanctification. IV. A PUnE HEART. (Ver. 21.) If" the Word of truth" is to sanctify and save, it must be received in a docile, humble, tractable spirit; and this involves the "putting away" of all malice and impurity. Hasty and passionate speech is just a foul overflow from the deep depravity of the heart; and, if we would prevent the overflow, we must cltianse out the dark pool of corruption itself. If we put away the "filthiness" of the heart by a gracious process of earnest renunciation, that filthiness will no longer ~oil the tongue or spoil the temper. 'l'hose who cultivate the qnick ear and the cautious tongue and the calm temper, in connection with the purifying of the heart, prepare themselves as good soil for "the implanted Word" (Luke viii. 15). The grandest joy of life is to have the scion of the Word so "implanted" that it 8hall prove itself to be the power of God to the soul's salvation, by working out visibly in the life "the righteousness of God." And the teaching of this passage, is that if a. man would attain that blessing, his own will must co-operate with the grace of God and the power of "the Word oftruth."-C. J. Vers. 22-25.-Hearers and doers. The writer h:is said in ver. 21 that the wise hearer is a "receiver" of the Word, and he now proceeds to emphasize the fact that be is also a. "doer" of it. "Receiving" represents the root of the Christian life, and •• doing " indicates its fruit. I. THE INJUNCTION. (Ver. 22.) Very many hearers of the gospel are not sufficiently upon their guard against the dreadful danger of being" hearers only." Some, when the service is over, seldom think of anything but going home. Others will pass a remark about the sermon, and then dismiss the subject finally from their thoughts. A few will express more deliberately the pleasure with which they listened to the discourse; but perhaps even these are satisfied merely with having enjoyed it. The purpose of preach- ing, however, is not that the people may be "very much pleased," but that they may be profited, edified, and inspired to live an uptight, generous, godly life. The highest praise that can be bestowed upon a Christian minister is not to tell him how much his preaching is enjoyed on sabbaths, but to let him see how well it is being translated into the life on the other days of the week. We live in a practical age; and the mission of the pulpit is as practical and definite as that of any other institution of our time. It is an agency for man-building. Its work is to promote the doing of the Word of God in the everyday lives of men. '!'hose people, therefore, are the victims of a. miserable self-deception who regard" hearing" as the sum of Christian duty. Such persons have no idea of the nature of true piety. Their profession is nothing better than an empty form. They may be strictly orthodox in doctrine and evangelical in sentiment; but what does this profit, if their church-going carries with it no power to direct their daily life into the ways of holiness? A theologian is not necessarily a Christian. The "hearer only" is on the road to final spiritual ruin. II. A COMPARISON TO ENFORCE THE INJUNCTION. (Vers. 23-25.) Our Lord had illustrated the same thought by the figure of the wise and foolish builders (Matt. vii. 24-27). The simile here is that of two men looking at their faces in a mirror. "The Word of truth" is the spiritual glass in which we may see the reflection of our own souls. 'fhe Bible not only reveals the holy God to man; it also discovers sinful man to himself. But the mere hearer, after he has momentarily recognized himself in it, goes on his way and forgets his moral uncomeliness. He finds it convenient not to remember that what he saw was the features of" the old man, which waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit." 'fhe wise hearer, on the other hand, looks into.the mirror that he may learn the law of his renewed life. 'l'he gospel law brings no bondage or terror to him. It does not constrain him to an unwilling obedience. It is to him "the perfect law, the law of liberty" (ver. 25), which the Holy Spirit is writing within his heart. The apostle indicates three elements of contrast between the conduct of the two men in •.elation to the gospel mirror. 1. 1.'he one man "beholdeth; '' the other "looketh." In the case of the mere hearer it is only a passing, cursory, carelesil ~lance ot the eye-- .;JAlll(S, Q 18 THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. [CR, I, 1-27,
a l?ok at the mirr~r, and at himself in it. But,· in the case of the wise hearer, it Is the ~er1ous, eager, anxious gaze of the soul: this man stoops down to take a olose look "into" the le.w of liberty. 2. The one man "goeth away;" the other "continueth" to look. The mere hearer glances hastily and brietly, because uninterestedly. He thinks Rlways of sermons as dull, and is glad to dismiss the subject of religion so soon as the church-service is over. But the wise hearer goes on looking. His gaze is persistent a1;1d unwearied. He looks so long that what he sees becomes indelibly impressed upon his heart. 3. The one man "straightway forgetteth; "the other is" a doer that worketh." The mere hearer soon dismisses the thought of the spots and blemishes which he se.w upon his spiritual features when he glanced at them in the gospel mirror, But the wise hearer looks ca.refully and continuously, because he wants to know himself, and because it is his purpose to be always a" doer." He has learned that it is the business of his life to obey the perfect law of liberty, By the doing of this work he will attain both self-knowledge and self-government. And in the doiug ofit he she.ll be" blessed." CoKCLUSION. We learn from this pe.ssage, whe.t is insisted upon throughout the whole Bible, that the secret of true human happiness lies in holy obedience to the will of God.---C. J.