And Jesus said unto him, No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

It seems to have been the usual custom of our gracious and merciful Lord, both to point out to those who seemed inclined to become His disciples, that, in embracing the Gospel, they would expose themselves to a trial of no ordinary severity, and also to afford them some opportunity of testing the sincerity of their motives.

It was with the first object in view, that His chosen followers were again and again admonished, that they should be "delivered up to councils, and scourged in the synagogues," "cast into prisons, and brought before rulers and kings;" that some of them should be "persecuted," "afflicted," and "killed," -and that they should be "hated of all nations for

His names' sake." The high-wrought expectations, and brilliant day-dreams of the temporal glories of Messiah's kingdom were annihilated at once; they were taught that His kingdom was not of this world; and that was inculcated upon them from the first which their after-experience so abundantly verified, that houses and lands, friends and kindred, must be resigned when they became His disciples,—that all that lived godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution, that if in this life only they had hope in Christ, they would be of all men, the most miserable.

But, besides these kinds of warnings, the Redeemer took a further step to bring home to the minds of His followers that of them much would be required: He put them in the way of trying what manner of men they were, and how they really stood affected towards Him. Some, therefore, who approached Him most eagerly, He, for a while, repelled; of others, He required the sacrifice of that one thing which was dearer to them than a right hand, or a right eye; to others, who are inclined to be offended in Him, He spake some yet harder saying, which caused them to turn away, and others who loved Him, to cling to Him more closely.

It was, when He had predicted His future Ascension, and His knowledge of the unbelief of some of His followers, that "many of His disciples went

back, and walked no more with Him;" but it was that very secession which called forth the glorious acknowledgment of St. Peter, on which the Church. is founded. "Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe, and are sure, that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."

The young Ruler, who had great possessions, and knew not that he loved them better than he did a heavenly treasure, was tried in the point wherein he was weakest. In that trial he failed, but the event which resulted from it was, that thereupon the Lord made His promise to those who forsook all and followed Him, that even in this world they should receive an hundred fold, and in the world to come, life everlasting."

The Syro-phenician was treated at first as though, in consequence of her being a Gentile, no miracle of mercy could be performed on her daughter; but the apparent repulse was only intended to test her sincerity, and so the end was not only that the devil was cast out, but her marvellous faith is spoken of in all the world, and is the example and comfort of all who are named by the name of Christ to this day.

Thus it was, that from time to time, as fitting occasion and opportunity offered, our blessed Lord instructed his first adherents to consider well the step

they were going to take, and to examine into the truth of their professions, intimating that though there was danger every way, the greatest danger lay in the path of those who involved themselves in heavy responsibilities, without considering and ascertaining the nature of the burden which they proposed to them to carry. "For which of you," said He, "intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest, haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish."

And now to proceed to a more immediate consideration of that passage of Scripture which stands at the head of this discourse. The text is, as it were, the climax of three replies, made by our adorable Redeemer to as many persons, who in different states of mind, proposed to become His disciples. "It came to pass," writes the Evangelist, "that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head. Here we have a person, (in the parallel passage of St. Matthew, it appears that he was a scribe or doctor of the law,)

who, not having as yet given any proof of his sincerity, nevertheless, expresses his readiness to address our Lord as "Master," and to follow Him whithersoever He should go. Perhaps, he imagined that Jesus would shortly come to great power and glory, —perhaps, as one of the Fathers suggests, he sought to follow the Lord, because of His great miracles, for the sake of the gain to be derived from them, as Simon Magus did, when he would have given St. Peter money and so our Lord shows him what the cost of following Him would be,—that it would lead to no accession of worldly fortune, but to a sharing in the privations of One Who had neither lodging nor home of His own. However, this Scribe was not sent away; but He Who knew what was in man, so spake as to convict him of his evil intentions, at the same time permitting him, if he would, to become a disciple of the cross, with the expectation of poverty.

"And" Jesus But he said, Lord,

Pass we now to the next case. "said unto another, Follow me. suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." The former instance was that of a stranger; the present is that of one who already followed Jesus, and was His disciple. The former called Him Master: the other con