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Here is the great lesson of the parable; each one of us has in the Scriptures enough given to shew us how we may be saved, and if we neglect them while we have yet time, our ruin lies at our own door-we must answer for it. No sign will convince those who wilfully shut their eyes, or carelessly turn away from God's word. The answer of the holy Abraham, spoken to the lost soul of the rich man in hell, is true of all such. "If they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe though one went to them from the dead.”*

Prayer.

0 my God, let me not sleep through a life of sin, and dream that I am happy. Prove me by whatever means thy wisdom seest to be best. Speak to me in thy Scriptures. Moses and the prophets, yea thine own Son and His apostles, call to me day by day. Oh give me grace to listen while it is yet time, that my thoughts, my desires, my enjoyments, may be such as will follow me to the world of spirits, there to be purified and perfected in the society of thy redeemed, through the finished works of thy Son. Amen.

XXV.

LUKE XVII.

LUKE.xvii. 1, 2. "Then said Jesus to his disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."

The long discourse in which our Lord had related the para

* John xi. 53., xii. 10. 11.

bles of the Prodigal Son, of the Unjust Steward, and of the Rich Man and Lazarus, was now ended. It had been caused by the murmurs of the Pharisees who would have prevented, if they could, the Publicans and sinners being received by Jesus when "they drew near unto him to hear him." He had shown to all how precious in the sight of God were the humble and the penitent so often despised by their fellow-men, and how needful it was to make the use which God intended of the good things of this life. Turning now to his disciples, He warned them against the consequences of that pride of heart which set itself against the very spirit of his religion, and this warning was the more likely to make an impression upon the Pharisees because it was not spoken to them. "It is impossible," said our Lord, "but that offences (causes of stumbling) should come in a world so full of sin as this; but woe unto that man through whose hardness of heart they come. It were far better for him that his life were ended at once, than that he should live to be the cause of sin in others." Our Lord's words at this time were nearly the same as those He spoke when He had set a little child in the midst of his disciples, telling them that "Whosoever should humble himself as a little child, should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven."* He next teaches how little account we should make of trespasses that are merely against ourselves. This is so contrary to our natural dispositions, that He warns his disciples in this matter to be very watchful over their tempers.

Verse 3. "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him."

No man by trespassing against us can hurt our souls; on the contrary, if we are ready for Christ's sake to forgive him. how often so ever he may have offended us, then have we

*Matt. xviii. 6. Mark ix. 42.

gained good instead of evil by the temptation which we have The truth of this doctrine seeing the kingdom of

had strength given us to overcome.

can only be felt by those who live as heaven ever before them. This alone can prevent us from giving our every day matters a far greater weight and importance than we give to the advance or hindrance of the cause of Christ. Even those who desire to be his true disciples are tempted to think much more of the trespass of a brother against their property, or their character, or what they consider in some sort their well being, than of the offences that are daily arising in the Church of Christ, hindering the growth of religion in many souls. Nothing can change this the natural temper of our minds but true realizing faith. Those to whom Jesus spake knew this. Verses 5, 6. "And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might say unto this sycaminetree,* Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

Our Lord's reply shows that his disciples were right in asking for more faith as the only possible way by which they might be enabled to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they were called. The mustard-seed was used in many Jewish proverbs to express a small yet real quantity, and our Lord seems to say to his apostles, that their earnest endeavours must be after a real living faith, which, though it might seem at first but small, would have in itself the power of growth, and would enable them to overcome every difficulty, both the difficulties of their own hearts, and the hindrances that men would throw in their way. Pointing to the sycamore tree, under the shade of which they perhaps at the time were resting, He said unto them, "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou * The common sycamore which grows to a great size in Judea.

and it

plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, should obey you." Thus He showed them by a strong figure, that by faith they might perform wonders which would, without it, be wholly impossible. How truly this was so, is shown by the lives of these apostles. Small was their faith at first, even as a grain of mustard-seed, easily repressed, scarcely to be seen, but it became as a great tree and spread through the nations. Their fears were changed by faith into a courage that never quailed before the wild uproar of the people,* nor the judgment-seat of princes: they were stedfast in the gloom of a prison, as in the tumultuous assembly.‡ Deserted by friends, persecuted by foes, intent on one thing only-the spread of the gospel of Christ, by the faith that was given them they were made conquerors indeed: they fought the good fight, and won the everlasting crown.

We are not the apostles of Christ, but we are his disciples; and though we are not called like them to a struggle on which the eyes of all mankind are fixed, yet is the life of each one among us a battle field on which our enemies must be met and overcome. Still we need the apostle's prayer-" Lord, increase our faith," for faith only can enable us to see men and things in their true value. Faith only in our Saviour's truth, can teach us how small a matter it is to endure a personal affront; how very great a matter to offend,§ or hinder the weakest believer from finding pardon and peace in His gospel. The spirit of the world is the spirit of the ancient Pharisee and Sadducee. In one shape or other it still rages fiercely against the holy, simple, life-giving doctrines of the Redeemer. It must still be met and overcome, and it shall be so, for "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith;" and "who is he that

*Acts iv., v. 17-42.

† Ibid. xii., ziv. 5.

Jbid. xvi. 22, 40., xix., xxi., xxii.

§ It must be remembered that the meaning of the word to offend in Scripture is to be a cause of stumbling.

overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" Armed with this faith, simple, but strong, nothing shall have power to stumble us. To man it may seem but a small thing, but it is the most powerful of all things; it is the small seed of the Divine life within us-and having it, nothing that is right shall be impossible-difficulties shall give way before us, and we shall, by our own experience, learn our Saviour's meaning when he said to his Apostles, "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might say to this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you."

XXVI.

LUKE XVII

The prayer, "Lord, increase our faith," was the only reply the apostles could make to all His instructions. A sense of the difficulty of the life that lay before them, and of the struggle that awaited them, may have oppressed their minds. Our Saviour's answer is most instructive; and the lesson that is in it was most especially needful at this time to the apostles; for, though they knew it not, the time was drawing near, when their master should be taken from them. They must gird up their loins, and be ready. Toil and trouble were at hand, this was no time to think of rest. God would increase their faith in proportion to the work He called upon them to do. Jesus said unto them :

LUKE xvii. 7-10. "But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

* 1 John v. 4, 5.

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