Il. Tux REMEDY FOR AMBITION. Here, as everywhere, Christianity is Christ. Jesus never merely tells us what he would have us be; he first shows us this in his own Person, and then he supplies us with the Divine and all-sufficient motive in his own ministry and sacrifice. “For verily the Son of man came not to be,” ete. 1. Not that Jesus absolutely and always refused to be ministered unto, In his infancy his mother nurtured him; during his ministry his friends supplied his wants, and welcomed him to their homes, Gracefully and graciously he accepted their kind and affectionate service. 2. But that his chief purpose in his earthly life was to minister to men. He observed and pitied those whom he came to save and bless, for their wants were many and their woes were great. He supplied their bodily necessities, he relieved their bodily privations, he healed their bodily maladies; he sympathized with them in their griefs, and brought both health and consolation to their hearts. Their spiritual wants aroused his deepest commiseration. He taught the ignorant, aroused in the sinful the con- science of sin, brought pardon to the penitent, hope to the downcast, and salvation to all prepared to receive it. His career on earth was one long ministry of wisdom, faithful- ness, love, and power. 3. And his death was voluntary sacrifice and service, in the highest form. The purpose of our Lord’s coming was a purpose of “ obedience unto death, even the death of the cross.” There was nothing accidental or unforeseen in the close of our Lord’s earthly career. He consciously and voluntarily gave his life. What others prized, he surrendered ; what others strove to save, he was content to lose. A sublime spectacle of self-abnegation! But there was a purpose in this act of Jesus. It was that he might pay a ransom that he deigned to die, He is the Redeemer, and redemp- tion was his great work. From the bondage and power, from the penalty and curse of sin, he died to set us free, Ana observe the expansive benevolence that characterized his redemptive work. It was to ransom many that he died. Not to exalt himself merely, as was the carnal aim of his half-trained followers. but to save multitudes, to redeem mankind.
IV. THe cunE oF aAmsition. We must not lose sight of the close connection between our Saviour’s statement regarding himself, his ministry, and death, and his language to the twelve, especially to the ambitious brothers. Observe: 1. How the remedy works. Difficult as it is to explain the bearing of our Saviour’s redemption upon the Divine character and government, there is little difficulty in explaining its bearing upon human character and life. The soul that by faith lays hold upon the Redeemer, and accepts the redemption as the provision of God’s free grace, comes under a new impulse and motive. Gratitude and love towards him who gave himself for us lead, both naturally and of purpose, to devotion, obedience, and assimilation of character. Such motives the Holy Spirit applies to the nature, and thus overcomes the native tendency to selfishness and sinful pride. The Christian feels that Jesus lived and died to redeem from all evil, and certainly from this prevailing fault and folly. Our Savicur is both the Model and the Aotive of our new service. Himself the highest example of
74, HE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [on x. 1—52.
humility and benevolence, he furnishes in his cross the power which inspires us to conflict with sin, and encourages us to hope for victory. It is Divine wisdom which has devised the plan, and Divine grace which has executed it, and the results are worthy of him to whom we owe them. 2. By what signs the efficacy of the remedy is made apparent. Our Lord clearly saw how contrary is the law of his kingdom to that which prevails in earthly society. He observed how men aim at pre-eminence and dominion; and, instead of qualifying this practice, he condemns it; instead of lopping the boughs, he strikes at the root of the tree. “It is not so among you.” On the contrary, he unfolds the new law: ‘ Foremost in service, foremost in kingdom, in honour.” Accordingly, if you would know whether an individual, s community, is truly Christ’s, apply this test. Do not ask—lIs the creed orthodox? Are the devotions splendid or fervent? Is profession loud and ample? But ask—Is the Spirit of Jesus manifest? Is the law of Jesus observed? [lor “if a man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” They are truly Christians who, instead of asking—How can we enjoy ourselves? how can we raise ourselves? ask, on the contrary—How can we live ag ministers of one another, and as servants of all? In the family, in the Church, in the world, we have ever-widening circles within which our influence may extend. To promote the bodily, the social, the educational, the moral, and spiritual welfare of our fellow-creatures—this is an aim worthy of all adoption, and an aim which wil) supply a sufficient and conclusive answer to the somewhat foolish question of the day, “Ts life worth living?” To work for others and to work for Christ,—this is what the Lord expects from his people. And this is the manner of moral life which leads to his approval; this is the pathway to the stars.
Appuication. 1. Adore the compassion and humility of the Redeemer. 2. Accept the deliverance which he has wrought in the payment of your ransom. 3. Check the rising spirit of self-seeking and ambition. 4. Live as ministers of blessing to those around you. “ Freely ye have received, freely give.”
Vers. 46—52.—Blind Bartimeus. It is not without a purpose that the evangelista have put upon record so many of our Lord’s miracles wrought on behalf of the blind. In all such miracles the “sign” is prominent, the moral lesson is instructive, impressive, and encouraging.
I, We recognize, in the privation of Bartimsus, AN EMBLEM OF THE SINNER’S staTx. For: 1. The sinner is without spiritual knowledge. The blind are necessarily, by their deprivation of the highest of the senses, cut off from much knowledge of the outer world, and of the properties of matter, and consequently of the appeals of the Creator to the mind and heart of man, 2. The sinner is a stranger to many pure and elevating pleasures. The enjoyments of the sightless are grievously curtailed. The votary of sin has indeed his pleasures, but they are impure, debasing, and unsatisfying. 3. The sinner lacks true guidance. Just as the blind man depends upon others to lead him, and unless so assisted goes astray, so the unenlightened are doomed to wander in the mazes of error and of sin. 4. The sinner has no assurance, for he has no means of safety. As the blind fall into dangars for want of sight, so those whose minds are dark know nothing of true spiritual security, and have no well-founded hope.