all these epistles there is not one parable or dark saying, and they were indeed so publicly given, that they might be said to have been, as it were, preached upon the housetops.

Prayer.

O holy and merciful God, I adore thee that thou hast cast my lot in a land where none dare persecute to the death, those who follow thee. Let not this safety for the body cause me to be careless for my soul; for still the world is full of danger to the Christian's faith. Lukewarmness of spirit is as death. O rouse me up to a constant watchfulness, that by thy grace I may "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith I am called."

Give me wisdom to see danger wherever it is, give me strength to resist the sin that is within me, and around me, that I may not be conformed to the spirit of this world, but may discern good and evil, not by the rules of worldly men, but by the guidance of thy holy Word, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

XLIX.

LUKE XII. 1–9.

You have heard before that it is not possible to know for certain, the exact times in which our Lord spoke and did the things of which we read; but it seems likely to have been at this time that He repeated to many, nearly the same words He had spoken to the twelve Apostles, before He sent them forth to preach the Gospel.

It was not the Apostles only who should soon be called upon to suffer for his sake. Jesus in looking upon the crowd, at a time

LUKE xii. 1, 2.

"When there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, (that is, so many that

they could not be counted) insomuch that they trode one upon another, He began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known."

He knew well which of the crowd were his disciples, that is, He knew who among the people followed him because they wished to be taught by him; and speaking to them, He bid them "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." This time He used the figure of leaven to express that which was bad. Do you remember the parable of a handful of leaven that changed the nature of much flour, and that Jesus said it was like the kingdom of heaven, or his true religion, which changes human nature, wherever its power is really felt ? Do you remember also that when we read that parable you were told that the figure of leaven was often used in the Bible in quite a different sense, to show how any remains of sin, wilfully kept in the heart, would spoil our religion?

It was in this last sense that our Lord now used it, when He bade the people "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." The Pharisees looked upon themselves as very religious, but what should have been religion was nothing but desire for the praise of man. This had changed its nature, and made it nothing but an outside show; and our Lord, looking upon a crowd in which He knew there were many who truly desired to be taught the holy truths of God, bade them to beware of this pride of heart, and to remember that though outside religion might seem real to man, there was a day coming, when the true and the false should both be brought to the brightness of a light, that would surely put an end to all pretence.

"For" said He, "there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed (brought to light); neither hid, that shall not be

known." The time was coming when they MUST speak out their evil thoughts, and Jesus said unto them :—

LUKE xii. 3. (6 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear, in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops."

The Lord Jesus knew that his people must soon be so sorely tried by the evils brought upon them for the sake of their religion, that nothing would be able to keep up their courage but the thought of the judgment-day, when it would certainly be seen who was right, and who was wrong. He knew all that was before them; nor would He hide from them the dangers that were sure to come upon them; but there was one thought which had before given men courage to choose death in the service of God, rather than life gained by sin,* (Dan. iii. vi. 10.) and this thought would also give them strength in the time of need; He reminded them of it in these words :

LUKE Xii. 4, 5. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that can kill the body. and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him which, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him."

Yet this very fear was full of comfort, for the God of all power and might cared for the least of his creatures; how much more then must He care for those who were his children. Jesus shewed them this in a few words. He said :

:

LUKE xii. 6, 7. "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? and not one of them is forgotten before God. But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Yes, He whom they saw not was always near.

He would care for them, and even if they lost their lives for his sake, the greater would be their gain. Jesus assured them of this :

LUKE xii. 8, 9.

"Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God."

And this is true now, as it was true then. We are, few of us, in any danger of our lives, for the sake of our religion, but there are many things we fear besides death. When tempted to be in any way ashamed of the religion of Christ, let us strengthen ourselves against that mean and cowardly shame by the thought of the time, when to have boldly confessed Christ for our Lord, will be a glory in which the very angels shall rejoice.

Prayer.

O God, let holy love and fear so fill my heart, that there may be no room for a double mind, and for the base fear of man. Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief, for though I know assuredly that the time is fast coming when to have confessed thee in thought and word and deed will be our only safety, and that even now thou dost watch over thy children, to bless them, and to keep them, yet my weakness is so great, that I am afraid, where there is no cause for fear. Give me holy boldness, that I may look up to thee in every straight, and that I may fear nothing but sin against thee my God and Saviour. Amen.

L.

While Jesus spoke to the people—

LUKE xii. 13. "One of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me."

This man clearly looked upon Jesus as one who had a right to command them. His brother, perhaps, was in the crowd, and that was too good an opportunity to be lost, for no doubt he thought that he would not dare to refuse to obey one who could do such mighty works as Jesus had done.

The answer of Jesus at once showed him, and all around them, that He took to himself no charge of worldly matters, except as they hindered the growth of the Divine life within the soul.

Verse 14.

"And He said unto him, Man, who made

me a judge or a divider over you?"

But though Jesus did not look upon worldly things as under his charge; He watched over the worldly spirit which too often makes these things the ruin of the soul. Therefore

Verse 15. "He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

He then explained to them the meaning of these words, and showed them how a man's LIFE was in no way depending upon his riches; and how he might have very great riches, and yet be in no way the better for it. He did this, by giving them a parable or story which had in it the meaning He wished to make them understand. It was this: