we have the New Testament relation of mercy and judgment anticipated. "And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." This is the highest reach of prophecy. To the prophet on the mountain God seemed gentle. To the people in the valley God was terrible. They had yet to come forth from a darker Egypt than the valley of the Nile.

Turn from prophecy to fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.

God is declared as the servant of man. Paul declares himself the slave of such a God. We may love Him, not because of any act of power, though he is our Creator; not because of any single event in the life of Christ, though he died to redeem us; but because of that primal source and private disposition which is "the same, yesterday, to-day and forever."

The Cross is the seal which Christ's life alone is worthy to unloose. It is no venture upon an otherwise uncovenanted ground, no episode, aside from God's heart habit. It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that sees and aspires to obey the vision of perfect love.

It is the height of folly to abandon spiritual culture because of unsolved problems in philosophy. Unbelief is not disbelief.. Ignorance is not doubt. It is said of old Doctor Alexander of Princeton, after a life given to theology and kindred studies, when asked on his deathbed what, beyond all doubt, he knew to be true, replied: "Only two things, the great sinfulness of man, and the great love of God." What a testimony! No extra baggage is to be carried by a strong man on a short journey to his long home. It is not possible for any one to start life with what a great man takes all his life to learn. Each much first love, and then he can form his estimate of it. What a legacy to leave to one's children! The great love of God and the great need of man, one adequate for the other. The world's Gospel has been covered and caricatured by theology, tradition, speculation, bigotry and sin, but struggling through it all, the spirit of love for man wins its way. Robert Burns no longer fights against theology or the flesh. He is born again in the christian preacher, John Watson. The primitive chords of the human heart beat to the touch of a man imbued with "the mind of the Master." The idea of God's love in the air to-day is no passing fashion. God is in society. The leaven which was once hidden in the meal is now more often seen in the loaf. The business of the preacher is not to be God's attorney. He is rather man's attorney. His sole business is to develop men. "The least of these, my brethren," is the nerve center of the judgment chapter.

There is a difficulty felt by those who think they discover an ignoring of moral distinctions in much modern preaching. This is not always a protest from those who enjoy the imprecatory psalms. There is a real danger of confounding love and mere good nature. An amiable indifference is not even distantly related to love interpreted by the Cross. God is in earnest. Jehovah is the only one who could use the cross as a sample act, without at first appearing weak. It was ignorance of this that made it possible for Paul to be a persecutor. Paul declares to the Corinthians, that had "the

princes of this world" known whom they were opposing, "they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." The idea that it was the glory of God to give Himself to the uttermost, had not yet vindicated itself in history. Hence also, that word of Christ, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do," calls attention to the need of supplying the background of power to give immediate significance to suffering and sacrifice. The meaning of the crucifixion is not only that love conquers death as it has in many other heroic instances, but to show how God uses power.

Luke introduces us to Simon, a Pharisee, who invited the Lord to dine. Unbidden guests, according to the free ways of the Orient, followed the more honored guests, as spectators. They sauntered leisurely in the open courts, and stood by the table couches, enjoying the cheer of the feast. As the festivities lengthened, the crowd grew. A woman who is bankrupt in character and reputation stood near the couch where our Lord reclined, with his feet turned backward. She is near enough to see and not be seen. She has a partial view of His face and can distinctly hear His words. Behold her, wistful, sad, gazing into vacancy. Perhaps she had once lived in the country and had drifted into the city with a caravan. There is something in the great guest reminding her of the old mountain home. The pure days of her happy girlhood come again in day-dream. Though apparently unconscious of her presence, the rich intonation of the Lord's voice plays upon her spirit as Æolian harp strings are touched by invisible fingers. She knows that the great prophet is not here as a guest of love. Curiosity and investigation are in the air. The host had neglected the common courtesy of providing water for the Master's feet. She sees the neglect and quietly stoops to remove the dust with her hair. Finding the attention welcomed, she covers those gentle feet, which, had they been those of a Pharisee, would have been used to spurn her, with kisses and with ointment. What impression does this affair make on the host? "And when the Pharisee who had bidden Him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, 'This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner.' And Jesus said, 'Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee.' And he saith, 'Master, say on.' 'There was a certain creditor who had two debtors: one owed him five hundred pence, the other fifty, and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?' Simon said, 'I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.' And he said unto him, 'Thou hast rightly judged.' And He turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, 'Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head? Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven the same loveth little."

There are many people who are very good citizens, most respectable members of society, but who are just moral enough to hate a sinner.

For all that we know to the contrary, Simon might have been the one

who was praying in the temple when the publican came to pray, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." The mistake of Simon, was not that he was moral, but that he was not moral enough. The publican longed to be right. The Pharisee claimed to be right already, and set up as proof that he had paid his pew rent and kept two fast days out of seven.

The Pharisees were in sympathy with putting on the screw. They were for tightening up the ordinances and applying the law. They called for punishment, judgment and authority. Give these miserable publicans what they deserve. Let them feel the rod, and they will learn something that they will learn in no other way. No! Simon of to-day, it was what made Jesus Christ a prophet, and more than a prophet, that he rebuked this spirit, and in so doing revealed the Divine character. Jesus had scorn for scorn, but never for a man. He scourged the Pharisees with whip and tongue, but they received the lash vicariously for their Pharisaism, not for themselves. The chapter of the woes, our Lord's most severe word, came with tenfold greater force than any old dispensation judgment, because it was evident that it hurt him more to speak than it could hurt them to hear. These judgments were pronounced upon a class, because they were hard on the people, because they were professionalism gone to seed, priests and scribes sporting in ecclesiastical millinery, making long prayers of pretence, devouring widows' houses, caring only to look pious, to be conventional but never honest. The burden of our Lord's judgment is, that they had no iove for their fellow-men. They were occupied with tradition, arbitrary rules, official prerogative. Strange as it may seem, this terrible chapter closes with a passage, quickly passed over by expounders. It is a soliloquy of hope even for the Pharisee: "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say. 'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!"" The command to love God was not the one which they were judged for breaking. The parables of warning and judgment all turn on love to man. The man even in the Pharisee must be loved. He would go to the left hand if he did not love his fellows. If he loved men, he would by that fact be on the right. Man! he is "greater than the Temple." He is above the Sabbath. He is greater than the stars. He is above the sun that puts out the light of the He is a son of God, and as such he may glory in the love of God. Can any one afford to neglect so great salvation?

stars.