to Jesus Christ, nnd the merchantman's quest for many goodly pearls ends in the find- ing of one entire and perfoct chryeolite in which all fragmentary preciousnesses are sphered. II. •ruE SAFETY OF THESE ENTR1l'8IABTS FOR THE GOOD, There is an antithesi, in the original which is lost in our versions, but may be represented by some such ren- dering, "Who is he that will do bad things to you, if you be zealous of the good?" '!'hat principle thus forcibly put, by the triumphant challenge of the question and by this sharp antithesis, may be illustrated by several considerations which are linked together in such a way that each comes into play where the preceding ceases or fails. 1. The first of these is that, as a rule, a character of obvious sin9le-mindei enthusiasm, for goodness conciliates. Men are not so bad but that there is a place in their hearts and consciences which can be touched by goodness, especially if it is accompanied with that self-forgetfulness and consciousness of imperfection wbich zeal for g, ,odness will always bring. When good men are disliked it is very often not for their goodness but for some accompaniment of it which would be better away, such as their want of tact or of sympathy, their apparent sense of superiority, or the like. But even if men are not won to love purity, or even to be at ease in the presence of good men, they will very seldom go so far as to put dislike into action and do harm to one who docs good to them. 'l'he traveller without a revolver is safest. Fire at the gaping crowd on the banks, and they will overwhelm you. Meet them with a smile and a handful of gifts, and you will almost always make friends. Genthmess and patience, sympathy and love, clear a path for their possessors. It is not vinegar, as the old legend has it, which will split tbe rocks. " When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." Of course, this is not true without exception, as the whole history of good men shows, and as Peter goes on to admit. Sometimes, righteousness excites men's enmity, and, when it fails, then the second consideration comes in. 2. 'l'hat is, that God will protect those who for righteousness' sal,e suJer. The grand promises which Peter has been quoting from the thirty-fourth psalm come into play. A tacit comparison is suggested between the good man's enemies and his defences. " The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous," and that being so, though deadly foes prowl round him with their cruel eyes gleaming like a lion greedy of his prey, the question of our text rings out the same assurance as Paul's proud challenge, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Many a time the persecutor has had to confess that just as he seemed to have the prey in his power- " Tho man sprang to his feot, Stood erect, oo.ught at. God's skirts and prayed ! Bo I was a.fro.id." The man whom an angel had brought out of prison when the morning of his martyr- dom was dawning might well preach that God would take caro of his children even whrn man's wrath was hottest. 3. But that Divine protection is not alway.~ granted. Peter had indeed experienced deliverance at the eleventh hour, but his Lord had told him that one day the putting off of his tabernacle was to come by violence; and more, one of the apostles had already trod that brief and bloody path of r:iartyrdom which he knew lay before him and before many of those to whom his writings would come. What, in such extreme case, should be the worth of such a saying? Is it not grimly contradicted by the scaffold and the fire? No; for e,·en if theso two outer walls ol defence are carried by the enemy, and men's malice is not softened but rathe1 embittered by goodness, and God's love docs not see fit to shield us from the blow, tha inner line of fortification remains impregnable. In the utmost extremity of outward suffering, ay, even from the midst of the fire, the Christian may ri □ g out tho trium- phant words of our text; for no renl harm cnn touch us if we be zealous of thnt which is 11:ood. The evil in the evil will be nvertcd. The bitter will be changed into sweet, as in the old legend the shower of burning coals became a shower of rubies. The poison will be wiped from the arrow. 'rhe loving heart that cleaves to Cbrist aml desires n::ost to be united to him will not count thnt an evil which brings it nenrer its home and its joy, nor think the wildest storm n calamity which blows it to Christ's breast. 'l'be same events me.y be quite different i u their character to different men. Two men may be drowned in one shipwreck. 'l'o the one it may be the opening of the clo(1r of hi~ 148 THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETZR. [orr. m. 1-22.
Father's house to the weary pilgrim and the very crown of God's mercies. 'l.'o the other it may be misery and truly a sinking in a boundless sea of death. All depends on our relation to God, who is the Source of all good. If we love him in Christ, and are seeking_ as our highest aim amid the illusory and fleeting good of earth to pre~s closer to him, then he will deliver us from all real evil; and" who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good?" "All things work together for good to them who love God."-A. M.