own affairs. Accordingly in Follow thou Me' the word 'thou' is emphatic. Observe the absolute disposal of human life which Christ claims."-Dr. Brown.

Ver. 23." Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that

that disciple should not die," &c. This was the inference drawn from the words of the Saviour. Strange that the disciples of Christ should thus misinterpret the meaning of their Master; but with the best men there is no infallibility of judgment.

HOMILETICS.—This striking incident we shall homiletically employ to illustrate the true service of Christianity to man. On all hands men ask, of what real use is Christianity to mankind? Some say it is a positive injury. They say it has warped the judgment of mankind, nurtured morbid sentimentality, sectionised society, reared the throne of spiritual despotism, and served the ends of superstition and tyranny. They point to the famous stakes and inquisitions of past ages, and to the property that even now is wrung from the toil of the struggling population. Some say it has done some good as well as much evil. It is one of the many elevating forces, and nothing more. Some maintain that it does everything for man, that there is nothing good in the world but Christianity, nothing good in science, in nature, or in the best thoughts of mankind.

It is not, therefore, unreasonable or wrong to ask what is its real service? We shall use the incident before us to give a negative and a positive reply.

I.-The NEGATIVE. We learn here

First: That it does not counteract the natural changes in man's physical life. "When thou wast young," &c. Notwithstanding Peter's many defects, he was, undoubtedly, a genuine disciple, Christianity had penetrated and permeated his nature, yet he is here foretold of the infirmities of old age, and the infirmities of his old age would incapacitate him from executing his volitions. When thou wast young thou couldst ply the oar in the water, roam the fields, and scale the hills. There was an energy in thy limbs, a flexibility in the movements of thy young frame, by which thou couldst readily execute thy desires. "But when thou shalt be old," &c. Age leaves the will in vigour, but steals away the

executive power. Now Christianity will not prevent this natural effect of age. It will not prevent the bloom fading from the cheek, the brightness passing from the eye, the strength from dying out of the limbs. It allows nature to take its course. Christianity neither offers resistance to the regular course of nature, nor an atonement for her violations. This fact shows (1) That physical sufferings are no criteria of the moral states of men. Some of the best men are the greatest sufferers, some of the best men die in the zenith of life. (2) That Christianity respects the ordinances of nature. However deeply you may drink in its spirit, you must physically submit to the laws of physical decay. (3) That if Christians would be physically happy they must attend, like other men, to nature's laws. If you want to be physically happy, it is bootless to sing "the Lord will provide," and to sit down in indolence and sloth.

Secondly: It does not save a man from the social oppressions of life. "Another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." It is here foretold that Peter should die of crucifixion. His hands should be stretched forth, his arms be extended on a cross, and he would be led to a death of violence at which his nature would revolt. About forty years after this, Peter died a martyr. His Christianity did not deliver him from the malice of men, the storm of persecution, and the agonies of a martyr's death. Christianity promises us no escape from the opposition of wicked men ; indeed it teaches us to expect it. It teaches us that they who live righteously must suffer persecution. Note (1) That Christianity can do without the favour of the world. (2) It can do without the lives of its most devoted disciples.

Thirdly: It shows that Christianity does not solve the speculative problems of life. “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" Instead of answering Peter's question, Christ says, "What is that to thee?" Many other problems which the events of life force on men Christianity makes no response to. Why was moral evil permitted to break into the universe? Why is vice occupying thrones while virtue lies bleeding in the dust? &c. What is that to thee? There are good reasons why Christianity is silent on such questions. (1) The encouragement of those questions would

strengthen the speculative tendency rather than improve the heart. (2) An answer to such questions would create emotions that would paralyse moral action. (3) An answer to such questions would multiply the forces that divert from practical godliness.

Fourthly: This shows that it does not invest its disciples with infallible judgment. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren," &c. The disciples fell into a wrong interpretation of our Saviour's meaning. Christianity does clear and strengthen the human judgment, and furnish it with certain great truths to guide it in its investigation: but it does not render it infallible. The dogma of human infallibility in the Church is a wicked invention and a withering bane. The clergy who claim it grow into heartless tyrants: the laity who bow to it become bondsmen and serfs. "The Brethren" made this mistake. We proceed to notice now—

II. The POSITIVE. The incident suggests several things that Christianity does do for man.

First: It enlists the interest of Christ in their history. What an interest does He display towards His disciples. Both before and after His resurrection He sought to impress them with the fact that there was the closest spiritual relationship existing between Him and them, that He was vitally identified with them. He calls them His brethren, and teaches that kindness shown to them He regarded as kindness shown to Himself. Is not this something? Is it not a transcendent good to enlist the interest of the Maker and Master of the universe in our history? (1) Having His interest you have the interest of One who knows the whole of the present, past, and future of your inner and outer life. (2) Having His interest you have the interest of One who has ample power so to control the events of the outward life, and supply the aspirations of the mind, as to crown your existence with perfect blessedness.

Secondly: It enables them to honour God in their daily life. Ecclesiastical history testifies that Peter suffered martyrdom by crucifixion at Rome, in the reign of the Emperor Nero,

probably in the year 65. It is added, that this death, and the torture connected with it, were endured by the venerable apostle with marvellous patience and fortitude, and that deeming himself unworthy to die in precisely the same manner and posture as his Lord, he asked and obtained permission to be crucified with the head downward, a posture which could not fail greatly to aggravate the tortures of the cross. How does the death of a true disciple "glorify God?" (1) The event illustrates the mercy of God. Visit the death-bed of a genuine disciple, the unruffled calmness, the devout gratitude, the happy resignation, and sometimes the triumphant rapture displayed frequently in the midst of physical anguish radiate the mercy of Him who would not that the least of His little ones should perish. (2) The event illustrates the faithfulness of God. His Word abounds with promises to be with people in all their trials, and in the dying experience of His people the promise is evermore fulfilled. Is not this something? Something, to be enabled to do in death what is the supreme aim of the highest seraph-to glorify God?

Thirdly It gives a definiteness and an attraction to all the duties of life. What theories of human duty ethical sages have propounded! How voluminous is the code of human laws! But Christianity reduces all duties to these words, "follow thou Me." To cherish My spirit, tread in My footsteps, copy My attributes, constitute the totality of human duty, and the perfection of human character. Christianity gives you duty, not in any proposition, but in a fascinating life; not in the life of an angel; but in the life of a man. In Jesus Christ we see it in the most perfect, the most attractive, and the most practicable forms. Is this nothing? Is it nothing to have all our moral problems thus solved? to be freed from cumbrous codes and endless speculations, to have the whole duty of man thus brought to us in the life of a man ? *

* For amplification of these points see Homilist Vol. V., page 181.

NOTES ON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES.

Respect of Persons."

Chapter ii. 1-4.—" MY BRETHREN, HOLD NOT THE FAITH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE LORD OF GLORY, WITH RESPECT OF PERSONS. FOR IF THERE COME INTO YOUR ASSEMBLY A MAN WITH A GOLD RING, IN FINE CLOTHING, AND THERE COME IN ALSO A POOR MAN IN VILE CLOTHING; AND YE HAVE REGARD TO HIM THAT WEARETH THE FINE CLOTHING, AND SAY, SIT THOU HERE IN A GOOD PLACE; AND YE SAY TO THE POOR MAN, STAND THOU THERE, OR SIT UNDER MY FOOTSTOOL; ARE YE NOT DIVIDED IN YOUR OWN MIND, AND BECOME JUDGES WITH EVIL THOUGHTS?"

THIS is a specimen of practical preaching, it is a specimen of personal preaching: practical, because it is the enforcement of a duty; personal, because it is the enforcement of a duty upon the men who themselves have been setting it at nought. Practical

Preach

generation.

preaching is necessarily personal preaching; the to your own duty enforced must be the special duty needing to be enforced: that is, the duty which is, or which is in danger of being ignored. A preacher may at great length, and with much ability and earnestness, expose and warn against some special breach of the law, and so far be entitled to the honourable name of a preacher of righteousness; but if the people he speaks to be in no way liable to this breach of the law, if they be not exposed to its temptations, or if in the course of Christian training they have risen above such temptations, then to a great extent, at least, he must lose his labour; the thing he has been speaking against lies outside of the practical life of his hearers, and they may go away home, every one of them, condemning the sin that has been condemned, but not one of them. with the arrow of conviction in his own heart, not one of them

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