disciples said, "Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well." Their thoughts were wholly occupied with the danger of visiting Judea again. The admonition that our Saviour had just given them, "Are there not twelve hours in the day if any man walk in the day he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world," made no impression upon them. They caught at his words, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth:" and immediately answered,

Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well." There is no occasion for you to expose yourself to such danger our friend Lazarus will soon recover his sickness is abated; he is now taking quiet repose; and this will be the forerunner of renewed health and strength. This answer of the disciples exhibits a very painful trait of the heart of man. I do not mean only in the proof it affords of the dulness of his spiritual perception; that notwithstanding the disciples had now been three years with our Lord, yet they were unable to enter into this usual emblem. Although even this dulness of apprehension conveys to us a lesson not to be overlooked-namely,

that the best outward teaching is of no avail without the Divine accompaniment of the Holy Spirit. For was there ever such an instructor as our Lord one so wise, so gentle, so ready to bear with the dulness, or to remove the ignorance of his scholars? And yet they could not understand his words. His instruction was too spiritual for them.

It is not, however, to this mental dulness that I so much desire to call your attention, as to that sinful inclination of the human heart, which these words of the disciples, "Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well," so painfully exhibit: namely, man's readiness to free himself from an unpleasant duty; not by directly refusing to enter upon it, but by offering some plausible reason for its being unsuitable or unnecessary. "If he sleep he shall do well :" there is therefore no occasion for us to go again into Judea. My beloved friends, I believe we shall know very little of our own hearts if we do not detect ourselves as guilty here. When something painful to the natural man has been pro

posed, has there not been this feeling, This is a duty of which I would willingly relieve myself, but how can I be excused? Then a thought comes to the mind, the time proposed is unsuitable; or the service is not now required; or it will be better performed by another or peculiar circumstances make it very unsuitable for me to undertake it. It was, in part, to meet this propensity of the human heart, that our Lord, in fixing the evidence of true discipleship at the great day of judgment, did not make either accurate knowledge of doctrine, or high wrought feelings, or any office in the church, the test of the love of his people. He says, “I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me." If you examine these different tests, you will find that they combine our principal outward trials; since these may be classed under one of these heads-hunger, or thirst, or strangership, or want of apparel, or sickness, or deprivation

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of liberty. These distresses we most studiously desire to put at the furthest distance from ourselves and as we are really interested in others, to guard off from them. Our Lord, therefore, makes these the evidence of that faith which works by love to himself and to his people, our readiness to succour, under any of these privations, those whom he counts as himself. He presented one of these tests to his disciples when he said, "Let us go into Judea again." Let us visit that family who have sent this message: "Lord, one whom thou lovest is sick :" let us do this, although it be in the very face of our enemies.

The disciples were averse to the proposal. When, therefore, our Lord said, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth," they at once took refuge in this plausible excuse to avoid this painful service. Distressing proof of the selfishness of the human heart! But whilst we have their selfish fears thus laid open, that we may learn wisdom from their defects; let us now attend to the instructive lesson afforded to us by our Lord's reply, "Then said Jesus unto

them plainly, Lazarus is dead; and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe: nevertheless let us go

unto him."

Here we learn that we serve a Master who sees into the very recesses of the heart; a Master who will not allow his disciples to shelter themselves under any plausible appearances, but will make duty plain by plainly setting forth the truth. It is as if he had told them: 'I said, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but you have misconstrued my words, and thus misconstruing them you are indirectly trying to avoid visiting him. Now I tell you plainly, Lazarus is dead: nevertheless, let us go unto him; let nothing hinder our benevolent course. I go to awake him, not out of a natural sleep, but out of the sleep of death, by restoring him again to life.' Here, therefore, we may see how vain are all attempts to avoid the cross. If we are indeed our Lord's disciples, he will not allow us to shrink from duty under false pretences that truth which is concealed by an emblem in one place, will be plainly set