as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

The wisdom of the serpent lies in this-that he will always avoid a battle if he can, gliding away without noise into any safe place, and the disciples of Christ were never to seek for quarrels, but on the contrary, to be peaceful and quiet as the innocent dove.

MATTHEW X. 17, 18. "But beware of men, (said our Lord to them): for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony (or witness) against them and the Gentiles."

As time went on, it would be found, that not the Jews only, but other nations would join together, to persecute and ill use the followers of Christ. But the words of the Gospel, which they should hear from them, would be as a witness against them, that the offer of mercy through the Redeemer had been made to them, and that they had refused it. The apostles would be taught what to say; they had no need to think before hand how they should defend themselves. Our Lord said to them :

MATTHEW X. 19, 20. "But when they (shall) deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."

The message of the Gospel with which they were sent, was not their own, and they might trust to their Lord who sent them with that message from the Father Almighty, that He would also put words of defence into their minds when it was needed; therefore they might have peace in the midst of danger. God always stands by those who are faithful in His cause.

Prayer.

We bless thee, O our Saviour, that thou didst send forth thine apostles with thy message of love. From them a voice still goes forth into every land, for they have left thy written word, and it is a light to guide us through the gloom of life and death. By the light of thy Gospel we may see thy Fatherly hand overruling every thing that befals us. By the light of thy Gospel we may see that, to the Christian, death is only the gate of life; and that beyond it, thou, O Christ our Saviour, dost wait to receive him to thyself.

Fill our hearts with adoring gratitude for this thy precious gift. May we prize it as our best treasure; and may we love, and receive with joy all the ministers of thy Gospel, esteeming them highly for their Master's sake. Amen.

XLVIII.

MATTHEW X. LUKE XII.

Our Lord still spoke to the twelve, but his words now seem given to warn, to guide, and to comfort, not the apostles only, but all who should preach the Gospel till the end of the world. He tells what was to happen wherever Christianity should spread; and the fierce anger it would always raise in the minds of those who, refusing the Gospel, chose for themselves the service of this world. The sending forth the twelve apostles "to preach the kingdom of God," was the beginning of a new order of things. The religion of Christ which they carried with them was to be the leaven that would leaven the world ; and wherever it came it would raise a ferment at first. It would spread every where, and in spite of every thing. It would be seen that its power was stronger than all human ties,

for it would enter into families and shew that the love of God was stronger than the love of man. It would show too that the fierce hatred of Christ's religion would be so great as to destroy all natural affection; for the time was at hand when men would persecute to the death those who had been their nearest and their dearest, but who, from the moment they became Christian, they hated with a bitter hatred. The words of our Lord are these :

MATTHEW X. 21.

"And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death."

When Christianity began to spread among the nations, it soon was seen how fearfully true those words were. We may read in the history of the times, how men gave up to torture and to death those they had loved the dearest, because they would not, even to save their lives, deny their Lord. Jew and Gentile, though they were enemies in all else, joined together to persecute the Christians. It is so to this hour. Blessed be God, we dwell in a Christian land, and though the ungodly will always hate and despise the true Christian, yet they dare not persecute as in these old times. With us, unkindness and scorn are the worst a Christian can now receive of evil at the hands even of unbelievers; but in the heathen lands, which still have not the name of Christ, the same bitter hate still shows itself against His religion, and still, all who are brought truly to believe in him, are given up to the cruel rage of those who think nothing but death should be the reward of those who become Christian. Why is this? The answer is plain. Those of all countries, and of all times, whose whole hopes and strivings are for the things of this world, must hate and seek to destroy a religion which teaches that their wisdom is but folly, and their labour but loss. Christianity, true, real

Christianity, must be the death of worldliness, therefore the worldling must always hate the religion of Christ. Besides, there must be enmity and strife between the seed of the serpent, or those who love sin and therefore serve Satan, and the seed of the woman (Christ) which are they who, loving him, seek to serve him truly.

Jesus knew all this, and, instead of hiding the truth from his disciples, He told them plainly what they ought to expect. He said :

MATTHEW X. 22. "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”

This would be their comfort, that, whatever was the manner of the end of the Christian's life, if he were faithful to death, he should be saved. And oh how little would the spirit, in the glory and joys of heaven, think of the short pains that had set him free from his mortal body!

But the disciples of Christ were not to seek for death. On the contrary, they had a work to do, and they must use all lawful means to preserve their lives that they might do it. Jesus said :

MATTHEW x. 23. "But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.”

Some think that the meaning of these last words is, that before the gospel of Christ should have been preached in all the cities of Israel, destruction should fall upon Jerusalem, and upon the nation; for this is sometimes called, the coming of Christ to take vengeance on his enemies. Others think that our Lord's words meant to tell, that his gospel should not be every where preached, through all the world, till He, the Son of man, came again, in person, to take to himself the kingdom.

To the Apostles, and to all who after them should carry the message of the gospel among all people, the Lord Jesus spoke, when He showed them, that however cruelly they might be used, they would but share in the portion of their Lord. This was comfort, for if they shared his sufferings, they would also share his glory. He said unto them :—

Verses 24-26. "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? (Verse 26.) Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.' The day was coming when the secrets of all hearts should be known, when all should be made plain. Then it would be seen that, though men might have reviled the followers of Christ, and might even have given the name of sin as well as folly to their religion, they only were the truly wise, they only should be safe; when ruin would fall upon those who had opposed them. Nothing belonging to that religion, which was to show men how they might be saved, was to be kept back from them.

Verse 27. "What I tell you in darkness, (said Jesus) that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops."

Christ chiefly taught the people in dark sayings or parables, which in private He more fully explained to his disciples, but they were not to do so. They were openly, loudly, and in all places, to declare the truths and doctrines He had taught them.

If we compare with the parables the plain speaking of the Epistles at the end of the New Testament, which were written after the death and rising again of the Lord Jesus, we shall see how truly, and how well, this command of his was obeyed. In