action, but the general t.enor of life and conduct. He that doeth evil Is one the general chl\rac.ti,ristic of whose works is evil. Such a one h11s not seen God, The beholding of God is spiritnal. And the vision of God and the doing of evil are incompatible; because: (1) Purity of heart Is essentie.l to the seeing of God, and, where purity of heart is, sin ce.nnot be the general che.racteristic of the conduct. "Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." "Blessed &re the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (2) When e. rn&n h11s seen the Lord, he cannot live in the practice of sin. He who has seen and 1tpprecil\ted the highest beauty ce.unot live in const&nt and willing fellowship with extreme deformity. And he whose soul he.s seen e.nything of the supremely Perfect &nd the infinitely Beautiful cannot look upon sin with approve.I; it must e.prear loathsome unto him. This considere.tion tends to strengthen faith in the full 1111d final Mlvation of every regenerate man. He who has tasted the high joys of Di,·ine vision &nd communion can never be content with the pleasures of sin or satisfied with the things of this world. Do not imite.te the evil; for the practice of it darkens and d,,stroys the vision of the soul; it excludes from the highest and divinest know- ledge, even the knowledge which is the soul's life. "This is life eternal, th&t they should know thee, the only true God," etc. III. Goon EXAMPLES AB.E GENERALLY .AVAILABLE. It is very seldom that we a.re unable to point to some known example well worthy of imitation. To such a. one St. John calls attention. "Demetrius bath the witness of all, and of the truth itself; y011, we also bear witness; and thou knowest that our witness is true." Diotrephes was a beacon to be shunned; Demetrius, an example to be imitated. He was probably a roem ber of the same Church as Gaius, and well known to him; and therefore the e.postle does not st&te what his chief excellences were, but from his being named here we infer that they were those which Diotrephes had not. Where the latter was want- ing, Demetrius excelled. Good character is not always accompanied by good reputa- tion, but in the case of Demetrius it was. He had a. good reputation of: (1) St. John: "We also bear witness." (2) Gaius: "Thou knowest that our witness is true." (3) All who knew him; or, perhaps, of aU the brethren mentioned in vers. 3, 6, 10: "Demetrius h&th the witness of all." (4) "And of the truth itself." Alford says, "The objective truth of God, which is the Divine rule of the walk of e.11 believers, gives a good testimony to him who re&lly walks in the truth. This witness lies in the accordance of his walk with the requirement of God's truth." That truth, like a " mirror, seemed to place in a clear light his Christian virtue and uprightness, a.nd thus to bear witness to him." The most precious testimony is that of the truth itself. When that is in our favour, we may thankfully rejoice. So manifold and excellent wa.s the testimony borne of Demetrius. In most places and societies there are some who a.re worth imitating. Let us imitate them in so fa.r as they embody the truth, There are seasons in our experience when good human examples are specially valuable. Sometimes the Perfect Example seems to tower far above our imitation, and we despair of ever copying that with success. In such moods the excellent human example is peculiarly precious. It is not so very much higher than our own level of attainme~t; it encourages us; and, when our despondency ha.s p&Ssed away, we are able to a.spire once more for conformity to the Supreme Exempla.r.-W. J.
Vers. 13, 14.-Valediction..' "I had many things to write," etc. What &precious boon communication by writing is when communication by speech is unattainable I How valuable is writing also when accuracy a.nd permanence a.re desired I Yet writing hlll! its disadvantages as compared with speech, as St. John found at this·time. L THE APOSTLE'S BOPE. " I hope shortly to see thee, &nd we shall speak face to face." He hoped for communication by speech, which, as compared with writing, is: 1. More W,(Jy and rapid. 2. More ezpressive. 8. More pleasurable. The sainted apostle mentions this in closing his former private Epistle, "Tba.t your joy may be fulfilled." 11. THE .APOSTLE'S BENEDICTION. "Peace be unto thee." A very comprehensive benediction. It comprises: 1. Peace in our rel,atum to God. This peace is a. conse- quence of the forgiveness of our sins and our reconciliation unto God. "Thy sins are ' Moat of the potnta lltat.ed in thu outlbie are mo• fully stated in oar homily on 2 John 12, 18. 1-14.J THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN. 18