I, Iv 18 pirricutt. I¢ is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom! But that difficulty lies, not as the disciples thought, simply in the possession of riches, but in the proneness of men to love riches. And how short is the step from having riches to loving them! Only by exertion, only by the painfulness of self-denial, by giving up trust in riches and fondness for them, can the rich enter the kingdom of heaven. How hard is this to them whe have abundance! How easy it seems to them who little! So difficult did this appear to him who knew all men, that the parabolic illus- tration has nu extravagance, though to the disciples it shut out all hope, and rightly so from their point of view, as was confirmed by the Master’s word, made the more impressive by his tender look—~“ With men it is impossible.” Happily, however, there are springs of hope for men other than those which rise from among themselves. “ The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” So it comes to pags that, eoncerning the entry of rich men into the kingdom of heaven, it may be proclaimed—
Il. Ir 18 Posstsix, Yes, it is “possible with God,” without whom, indeed, rothing is possible, The human inability to effect salvation stands in direct contrast to the efficiency of Divine grace. Many things hinder the salvation of men; but few have more power than “the deceitfulness of riches,” which lure to self-security and self- Indulgence, which lead men to think they are better than other men, and are not in the same danger or need. The voice of riches is a ayren voice; the hold of riches on the heart is firm as a death-grip. Riches prevent the lowliness, the childlike feeling ef utter nothingness, of trustful timidity, of tractable weakness, They inspire a false sense of strength, and security, and abundance, and superiority. Often are they the devil’s counters with which he buys men’s souls. But “with God” the mighty may be made to feel themselves feeble, the wealthy to be truly poor. Great is the trust reposed; great the difficulty of fidelity. But “with God” even this may be done, And in our days, as has been happily in all the days of Christ’s Church, men have learned to forsake all—even when that all was much—to follow Christ in lowly humility, in the poverty of self-abasement. Let the poor know that if they lack the hindrance which riches throw in the way, they also need the help of God; if they will rise and accept it, that help shall be freely given. And let the rich know that help awaits
Gu. x 1—52.) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK, 89
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them ; if they will stoop lowly and ask, it shall not be withheld from them. Then shall “the brother of low degree glory in his high estate: and the rich in that he is made low.” All of us are poor before God ; all by him, and by him alone, may be made rich, In proportion as the rich become poor shall they be truly enriched; and it shall be proved that they who press through difficulties hard as the passing of a camel through ® needle’s eye, are not left unrequited. Of the entry of the rich into the kingdom of heaven it may further be said—
III. Ir 1s newarpED. How gently did the Lord of all warn his disciples of days of poverty and loss which were coming upon them apace, when both voluntarily, in the fulness of their love, they would sell “ their possessions and goods, and part them to all according as any had need,” and when with ruthless hands all would be torn from them; when “houses” and “lands” would be confiscated ; when from the fellowship of brethren and sisters, of mother and father, and even from their own children, they would be separated “for the gospel’s sake”! But how graciously did he assure them of the “ hundredfold” which should be repaid them “ now in this time,” though “ with persecutions ;” and the great reward which should be theirs in the hereafter—“in the world to come eternal life.’ Who of the many disciples of those early times of suffering and persecutions was not rich in “ house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands”? And who that “left” these for his “‘sake and for the gospel’s sake” did not—does not and will not ever—find, in the undying love and fellowship of the great spiritual community, and in the eternal riches of the heavenly inheritance, more than the “hundredfold”? Yet shall there be no pre-eminence, but @ true equality ; for the “ first shall be last, and the last first.”"—G.
Vers. 35—45.—The post of honowr. How soon are the Master’s words misappre- hended! James and John, concerning whom it is recorded that on the call of Jesus “they straightway left the boat and their father, and followed him,” come now apparently to secure the promised reward. With cautious words, and by the sid of their mother, the demand is urged upon that good Master on whose lips are ever the gracious words, “ What would ye that I should do for you?” We would fain “ sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand,in thy glory.” Ah! the old leaven is not yet wholly purged out. The self-seeking, the love of supremacy, place, and honour still lark within. The chaff mingles with the pure grain. He who holds the winnowing fan is at hand; and with decisive though gentle words, heavily weighted with their sad import, corrects their error. He had but recently “in the way” told them “the things that were to happen unto him.” Direful were the words, “ The Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and the scribes ; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles: and they shall mock him, and shall spit upon him, and shall scourge him, and shall kill him; and after three days he shall rise again.” But these words could have had little influence, for “they understood none of these things.” Perchance then they understood not “ the cup that I drink,” or “the baptism that I am baptized with,” or there had not been so ready @ response, “We are able.” With prophetic eyes the Master sees the future of these brethren, and declares, “The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized. Doubtless “this saying” also “ was hid from them ” until the very hour when that cup touched their lips, or the waters of that baptism fell upon them. But even this could not entitle them to the high place they desired; certainly not on the grounds they desired it—that of arbitrary selection. It is given to them “ for whom it hath been prepared.” Out of all this the lesson arises—