Ven,. 7, 8.-Tear.hing from the good land and the bad. Here is a reminiscence of the parable or the seed in the four kinds of ground. The soil becomes invested with a kind of personality. One thinks, too, of that fig tree which the Lord withered up. And it may not be so entirely fanci fnl, 11s at first it appears to give land a. sort of individuality; 60 that one piece of soil will behave in one way, and another in another. If, for instance, there be any real basis for the reputation attaching to certain vintages, it must come from some indefinable quality of soil. At any rate, we can imagine two different kinds of land, such as are set before us in this passage. I. We are to imagine TWO MEN PUT INTO EXACTLY SlllILAB POSITIONS WITH REGARD TO THE BENEFITS OF Drvnrn GRACE. Just as two contiguous pieces of land have the same copious showers falling on them, so two men may come under the same religious influences. '!'here may, perhaps, be peculiar spiritual advantages in one district which are lacking in another, though even so much as this has to be said guardedly; for we must believe that in the end all men shall have enough light to throw upon them the responsibility of neglecting salvation. But one thing we do see, that men, so far as we can judge, under the same spiritual influences, meet those influences in quite different ways. One is attentive, the other negligent. One is receptive, the other unresponding. Nay, as the illustration puts it, both may be receptive, but differently receptive, so that there are very different ultimate results. The earth is represented as drinking in the oft-recurring showers. One man drinks in the grace and truth of God so that they energize all the powers of his heart, and he puts forth corresponding fruit. Another drinks in God's truth, seems to appreciate it, but when the result is looked for nothing comes but noxious growths. IL THE DECLARATION OF BESPONSmILITY AND COBBESPONDING JUDGJIENT. I{ one man is fruitful of good works, and another fruitful only of evil ones, then God will treat the men correspondingly. Compare with the illustration here, the parable of the talents. God is not arbitrnry. It is we who determine how God shall treat us ulti- mately, for he treats men on great eternal principles. It is for men to be wise and diligent in time, and recognize the principles. It is sometimes asked why thorns and briers and wasting weeds have ever had existence. The answer may be that these were first of all made to be illustrations to men. Thorne and briers are burnt without hm!itation, that the very seeds and germs of them may, if possible, be blotted out of existence. And if men will put out from their lives-from lives that have been so divinely blessed-nothing but thomy and briery products, then they must expect these t.o be for burning. All e,·il things must perish. Our folly is in building up the evil which must go, rather than the good which will remain.-Y. Vere. 9-12.-Great attention needed to maintain th. Christian's hope. I. THB WBITER's TONE OF AFFECI'IONATE SOLICITUDE. He who has twice addressed his readers as brethren, now calls them beloved. His affection is hitherto implied; now it needs for a moment to be asserted ; e.nd the brotherhood must also be borne in mind, though not asserted. The readers of the Epistle might ask, " Why does this man lecture us so, calling us ,,~pal, and exhibiting to us such dreadful possibilities of disaster?" The answer is that he does it all in true brotherly affection. The word pointing to safety and completeness mUBt be spoken in time. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. 11. RIB WORDS OF HOPE AND CONFIDENCE. These people are in a state by no means 1111tisfactory so far a.s Christian hope and aspiration are concerned, lingering among the beginnings instead of growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Obrist. Dut such peo)!le ought always to be approached in a conciliatory and encouraging spirit. Cil. VI, 1--20.] THE EPISTLE TO THE 1rn1mEWS.
The writer feels he has good ground for saying that the doom of the land bringing forth thorns and briers will not be theirs. He can see in them better thincrs--tbinus thrit belong to safety, not to destrnction. Mark how the spirit of Christianity is nev~r a fault-finding spirit. This has to be noticed all the more becf\use the Soirit of God has to find so many faults in men-in the Christian, as a rnle, more than others. But wherover there is good it is recognized and appreciated. 'l'hus Paul, who had so many hard things to say to the Church at Corinth, begins by thanking God that this same Church ea.ma behind in no gift. The bright, the creditable, the hopeful side must always be looked at. Then rebukes and warnings from an evidently pure motive will come with increased force. Notice, too, the ground for thi9 hope. These people are genuine enough so far as the spirit of practical beneficence is concerned. There is love in their hearts towards God and Christian people. They have ministered, not witboot toil, to the wants of the saints; nor are they weary in well-doing, for they are minister- ing still. How could a. Christian brother speak to any such save in a. large-hearted. spirit of hope? III. THE h"'EED OF A DILIGENT BEGABD TO THE CHRISTIAN'S DESTINY. we may minister to saints and yet not be in full sympathy with them. He who ministers to the saints does a. good thing as far as he goes ; but the pity is that very often he is ministering to those who have a. far brighter hope than any he has. There are many loving-hearted, generous people in the world who are not Christians, who do not profess to know the Christian's repentance, the Christian's faith, the Christian's hope; and in the particular case here dealt with there is the curious contradiction of a Christian life existing as far as beneficence is concerned, but paralyzed as it were in the element of hope. Now, here is one sign of a. normal, healthy Christian life, namely, that it i~ moving under the full assurance of hope. We should be looking forward, with a constant certainty of feeling, to the glories, the blessedness, and the perfection which a.wait us. And this hope is only to come by activity of heart according to the will of God. If there is interest in Divine truth, increasing spiritual-mindedness, more power to discriminate between the temporal and eternal, the seen and the unseen, the outward man and the inward man, then-hope will grow. A reasonably hopeful spirit is the sure result of fidelity, prayerfulness, insight into the purpose of the work of Christ; and the writer of this Epistle evidently felt that to be without this special Christian hopefulness was to be in a position, not only of loss and suffering, but even of peril unspeakable.-Y.