much, and gives great tithes, heaps up in monastic establishments untold stores of wealth. And still the Church endeavors to compensate for a doubtful morality through the week by the liberality of its contributions on the Sabbath. Many are those who have diligently engaged in the endeavor to solve the problem how to serve both God and mammon ever since the days when Naaman asked in the same breath from the prophet of God earth to build an altar to Jehovah, and license to go through the forms of a courtier's worship to Rimmon.* But the problem is not yet solved, nor like to be; for no man can be the slave of two masters. - In this attempt at a divided service is the secret of all wear and worry. He that enters Christ's army may safely trust the commissariat with him. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you," is his sufficient security. This promise has indeed puzzled many a worshiper of mammon. But he who enlists for the bounty, and presents this draft on God, demanding clamorously his earthly pay, attests by this very act that he has not complied with its conditions, and turns often disappointed away. That man who truly seeks first the righteousness of God in his own heart and in the community, will learn, with Paul, having food and raiment, therewith to be content; and if he will read with care this Sermon on the Mount, he will see that he is promised nothing more. Censorious judgment is the product of egotism and the accompaniment of selfishness. The critic is the poorest of all judges, since he lacks that sympathy which alone unlocks the secret of another's life. "It is only as we feel with man that we can know him." All other judgments react upon the censor. For with what judgment he judges, he is judged in turn-a law which has its clearest illustration in the history of the Jews themselves, who, having always condid not depict their essentially worldly character would lack a most essential feature of the portrait. *2 Kings v., 17-18. sidered the Gentiles as the children of the devil, have lived for ages under the ban of contempt in the midst of the Gentiles, alike despising and despised. Yet some estimate of character the Christian minister must have, that he may adapt the food he dispenses to the character of his auditors -that he may not cast his pearls before swine.* It remains in a few brief aphorisms to direct the way by which a man may enter the kingdom of God. What is the process of naturalization? If any ceremony constituted the Christian substitute for the rite of circumcision; if any public service was required to signalize the disciples' entrance into the kingdom of heaven, here would have been the place to record it. But on this point Christ is silent. He depicts two conditions-two only, faith and obedience. Eternal life is the gift of God. Already he has assured the Samaritan woman of this. Whoso truly desireth this gift, let him ask and it shall be given to him. But it is not every asking that receives. Nay! strait is the gate, and narrow the way, and few there be that find it. The promise is to all "who, by patient continuance in well doing, seck for glory, and honor, and immortality."§ False prophets will arise to pamper pride and appeal to the prejudice by pointing out some other way than practical righteousness. They are to be known by their fruits. Truth is instrumental, and the best test of truth, the easiest of appreciation, and the most reliable, is the character it produces. For the man is more than the brand he bears. A doubtful doctrine is far less pernicious than a doubtful life. "The worst of heresies," says Cecil, "is lack of love." There are many who doubt this now who will not doubt it at the last; for the man whose foundation consists only in his acceptance of Christ's truth has built on sand. He whose religion consists in practical obedience to Christ's precepts has built on rock. And by-and-by, like *Matt. vii., 1-6. + Romans vi., 23. the the terrible tornadoes that sweep with such destructive fury through the East, the judgments of God will come, and many a life will be found in ruins, and many a more homely hut will abide. This solemn warning, the significant impressiveness of whose imagery we do not easily apprehend, closes the discourse, and the people, released from the spell which bound them, attest to each other the power of his teaching who speaks "as one having authority, and not as the scribes." CHAPTER XVIII. POPULAR FAVOR. PROM the Mount of Beatitudes Jesus returned with his disciples to the Sea of Galilee. It was not enough that he teach his disciples; he must train them as well. They were to proclaim no new philosophy. They were to announce with authority the kingdom of God as at hand. For this purpose it was necessary that they should first themselves get a glimpse of it. They were to preach Christ Jesus the divine Messiah of mankind. For this purpose they must read in his miracles and his teachings his divine commission. That they might be ministers of his Word, it was needful that they should be eye-witnesses of his works.* Descending from the mount, they continued, therefore, with him in his renewed ministry through the towns and villages of Galilee. The few broken threads of history, which are all they have left us, can not be woven into a perfect pattern. We only know that every where it was a ministry of mercy; that every where the people witnessed with wonder his works, and welcomed with ardor his teachings. Without, however, attempting to give a connected narrative of this period of his ministry, we may profitably group together a few of its more significant incidents. Such an incident was the cure of the centurion's servant. The organization of the Roman army resembled in some important respects our own. A century, consisting of from fifty to one hundred soldiers, answering to our company, was * Luke i., 2. the unit in the organization. The centurion was the captain. of this company. Stationed in every town, they were charged with the duty of preserving order, and maintaining the authority of the hated Roman. A task sufficiently odious in itself, it was rendered doubly so by the method in which it was performed. The Roman soldier was cold, hard, unsympathetic. He repaid with interest the intolerant scorn of the Jew; and the dreadful scenes of carnage which characterized the final destruction of Jerusalem a few years later were only the consummation of a remorseless scorn, which had already, in petty persecution, made the Roman yoke intolerable. The Roman was not exactly cruel, but he felt as little remorse in killing a Jew as a housewife feels in killing a spider. Capernaum was blessed, however, in being the residence of a rare Roman. Unlike his companions in arms, he possessed a warm nature, which the æsthetic religion of Greece and the stately service of Rome failed to satisfy. He had viewed with loving eyes, if he had not actually embraced, the religion of Jehovah. He had built in the town a synagogue. He had lightened, so far as might be, the yoke of military government. He had so administered it as to win the regards of the Jewish Rabbi, a rare miracle of love. Of tender nature, his slave was no mere chattel, but almost as a son.* Cicero half apologized for manifesting any affection for a slave. This Roman centurion, touched by the anguish of his dying servant, made no effort to conceal his sympathies. He secured the interest of the elders of the synagogue. They brought his case to Jesus. "Gentile though he be," said they, "he is worthy, for he loveth our nation, and has built us a synagogue." This was the highest encomium a Pharisee could pass upon a Gentile. Judaism was the only worth. Love for Judaism was the Gentile's only hope of pardon for his heathen birth. Christ immediately complied with their request. But on *Called in Matthew viii., 6, ò παiç μov. |