shall we eat or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and His justice and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for to-morrow. For the morrow will be solicitous for itself: sufficient for the day is the evil thereof."

15. RASH JUDGMENT

Not less dear to the heart of our blessed Lord than poverty of spirit and childlike dependence and confidence in God, are the virtues of humility, charity, and concord and peace among His followers.

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged: condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again."

"And He spoke also to them a similitude: Can the blind lead the blind? do they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one shall be perfect if he be as his master. And why seest thou the mote in thy brother's eye, but the beam that is in thy own eye thou considerest not. Or how canst thou say to thy brother: Brother, let me pull the mote out of thy eye: when thou thyself seest not the beam in thy own eye? Hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye: and then shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother's eye.'

"Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you."

16. PRAYER

"Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone? Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent? If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who

is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him? All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

17. OF THE BROAD AND NARROW ROADS

"Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!"

18.

FALSE PROPHETS.

TRUE SERVANTS OF CHRIST.

This doctrine of the narrow gate does not suit the worldlyminded man, who affects to disbelieve the teachings of Christ concerning the smallness and difficulties of the road which leads to heaven. Such persons would fain obtain the happiness of heaven, but meanwhile wish to be at liberty to gratify, here on earth, every inclination of their corrupt hearts. Alas! what is still more to be deplored, is the fact that there are never wanting teachers who are always ready to flatter these notions of perverted hearts. These, under the mask of benevolence or liberalism, and in the name of civilization and enlightenment, oppose the gravest and most important principles of the gospel, crying out in flattering accents: "God is pure love and the highest good; He made this beautiful world and all its pleasures for us to enjoy them; enjoy life generally and promiscuously. Therefore enjoy every pleasure within your reach; away with those troublesome restraints which dismal men who know not the world, with its necessities and rights, would place upon you." How many there are in these times who speak and write in this strain! Alas, they are evil prophets, whose words lead to perdition. Our blessed Lord warns us against these men saying:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit: neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth

that which is good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

"And why call you me, Lord, Lord: and do not the things which I say? Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to Me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and cast out devils in Thy name, and done many miracles in Thy name? And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity.'

19. THE HOUSE ON THE ROCK AND THE HOUSE ON THE SAND "Every one that cometh to Me, and heareth My words, and doth them, I will show you to whom He is like: He is like to a man building a house, who digged deep, and laid the foundation upon a rock; and when a flood came, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and it could not shake it: for it was founded on a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock. And every one that heareth these My words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man, that built his house upon the sand. And the rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof. Every one therefore that heareth these My words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man, that built his house upon a rock."

This beautiful parable terminates the Sermon on the Mount. It is a parable full of meaning for each and all of us, for it contains the history and experience of every individual. From youth upwards, through middle age, and even in declining years, we strive and plan and labor, we wish and seek and study. And for what? Every one amongst us is trying to build up the edifice of his fortune. But how differently men. build? Some found their happiness upon sensual gratification, or on wealth, or on the arts and sciences, or on honor and prominence before their fellow-men. And as they build, they never think of Christ or His holy law. Their edifice rises in bold and fair proportions, and many admire, and even envy the skilful architects. A few years pass by, violent storms arise, coming either from outside causes, or else as the logical

consequences of inherent and gradually developing evil. Behold! the sinner's temple of happiness totters, falls, and crumbles into ruins, and former friends now pass him and his shattered fortune by with a shudder. Others, more wise, found their happiness on the word of God and the observance of His holy law. Their building goes up quietly and slowly, but surely and permanently. For, behold! the storms come -the storms of sickness, of old age, of misfortune from without, and finally of death. But a happiness built upon virtue is solid and durable, and in the evening hour of life it resembles a bright and glorious summer sunset, while the edifice itself lasts from generation to generation.

CHAPTER XV

JESUS CLEANSES THE LEPER, AND RESTORES THE CENTURION'S SERVANT

Matt. viii. 1-13; Mark i. 40-45; Luke v. 12-16; vii. 1-10

1. THE LEPER

IN SICKNESS and death, sin manifests its real nature, and finds, as it were, its most vivid and truest expression, so that the diseased and languishing body becomes a painfully true likeness of the sin-tainted soul. This likeness is especially striking in case of leprosy, where the blood of the patient, the very essence of life, becomes corrupt, carrying in its course the most dreadful poison throughout the system, producing the most repulsive ulcers and sores. So contagious was this disease, and at the same time so loathsome, that, among the Jews, lepers were not allowed to dwell in the towns, but were compelled to drag out a miserable and isolated existence in remote places. You see the sinner in the leper. Faith, the most vital force of the soul, and that by which the just man lives and effects good, has been deadened by unbelief or doubt, and spiritual life has become the prey of a deadly poison. Incapacity for all natural good has set in. The immortal soul which came glorious and spotless from the hands of its Creator has become to him an object of disgust, and to man a source of infection. Who can cure and save it? None but the Physician sent down from heaven, who, in order to com