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Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Luke 18:1-8 The strange weapon-All-prayer C. S. Robinson, D. D. While Christian was in the Palace Beautiful, they showed him all the remarkable objects in the armory, from the ox-goad of Shamgar to the sword of the Spirit. And amongst the arms he saw, and with some of which he was arrayed as be left the place, was a single weapon with a strange, new name — "All-prayer." When I was a child, I used to wonder much what this could have been — its shape, its use. I imagine I know something more about it in these later years. At any rate, I think Bunyan found his name for it in one of the New Testament Epistles: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" ( Ephesians 6:18 ). It so happens, also, that we have two parables of our Lord given us in the eighteenth chapter of Luke to one end, "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." One of these parables teaches the lesson of importunity, the other teaches the lesson of sincerity. And it does not need that we draw from this collocation the subtle suggestion that want of importunity and want of sincerity are what weaken the weapon of all-prayer, and render faint the heart of the Christian who wields it. We know that we do not pray always, and that we do not always pray. I. Let us take up this matter of IMPORTUNITY in the outset. At first sight it gives perplexity to some students of the Bible. We must notice that Christ does not identify His Father, the "Hearer of Prayer," with this judge in the parable in any sense whatsoever. The very point of the illustration turns upon his superiority. God is just, and this man was unjust. This petitioner was a lonely widow and a stranger; God was dealing with His own elect. The woman came uninvited; Christians are pressed with invitations to ask, and knock, and seek. The unjust judge never agreed to listen to the widow; God has promised, over and over again, that it shall be granted to those that ask. The judge may have had relations with this woman's adversary which would complicate, and, in some way, commit him to an unnecessary quarrel in her behalf, if his office should be exercised in defence; God is in open and declared conflict, on His own account, with our adversary, and rejoices to defeat his machinations, and avenge His own chosen speedily. Hence, the whole teaching of the story is directed towards our encouragement thus: If we would persist with a wicked judge that regarded nobody, God nor man, then surely we would press our prayers with God. What is the duty then? Simply, go on praying. II. Let us move on to consider, in the second place, this matter of SINCERITY in prayer, suggested by the other parable. To men of the world it must be a subject of real wonder and surprise, to use no more disrespectful terms, why so many petitions offered by the people of God prove fruitless. To all this, Christians ought to be able to reply that prayer follows laws and respects intelligent conditions, just as every other part of God's plan of redemption does. We are accustomed to say to each other that God always hears prayer. No, He does not. The wisest man that was ever inspired says distinctly, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." And in the New Testament the apostle explains the whole anomaly of failure thus: "Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss." For one thing, self-conceit destroys all sincerity in prayer. For another thing, spits against others destroys all sincerity in prayer. Listen to the Pharisee's preposterous comparison of himself in the matter of money and merit with the publican almost out of sight there in the corner. Inconsistencies in life also destroy sincerity in prayer. Purity from evil is a prime condition of success. ( C. S. Robinson, D. D. )

Benson Commentary Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end , that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Luke 18:1 . And he spake, &c. — ????? ?? ??? ????????? ?????? . He also spake a parable to them. The particle ?? , here used, plainly implies, that this parable has a relation to the preceding discourse, of which indeed it is a continuation, but which is improperly interrupted by the division of the chapters. There is in it, and in the following parable, a particular reference to the distress and trouble they were soon to meet with from their persecutors, which would render the duties of prayer, patience, and perseverance peculiarly seasonable. That men ought always to pray — At all times, on all occasions, or frequently, (as the word ??????? , here rendered always, signifies, John 18:20 ,) and not to faint — Under their trials, not to despond, or yield to evils, as ???????? , here used, signifies, so as to be wearied out by them, and cease from prayer, as unavailing to procure relief. It frequently happens, that after men have prayed for any particular blessing, they desist, because God does not immediately grant them their petition. To show the evil of this, and to recommend importunity and perseverance in prayer especially when we are in pursuit of any spiritual mercy or mercies, relating either to ourselves, our friends, or the church of God, the present parable is introduced. As delivered on this occasion, it seems to have been principally designed to inspire the disciples with earnestness and perseverance in their prayers for the coming of the Son of man to destroy the Jewish constitution, notwithstanding God should long defer the accomplishment of their desire. For this event is represented, not only here, but in several other passages of Scripture, as a thing exceedingly to be wished for in those days. The reason was, the Jews in every country were their bitterest persecutors, and the chief opposers of Christianity. See Luke 21:28 ; Hebrews 10:25 ; James 5:7 ; 1 Peter 4:7 . Independent of this, however, in the course of his ministry, our Lord often recommended frequency, earnestness, and perseverance in prayer, not because God is, or can be, ever tired out with our importunity; but because it is both an expression and exercise of our firm belief of, and confidence in, his power and goodness, without which it would not be fit for God to bestow his blessings upon us, nor would we be capable of receiving and using them. See on Matthew 7:7-11 ; Luke 11:5-8 . Of continual praying, see on 1 Thessalonians 5:17 . Luke 18:2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: Luke 18:2-5 . There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, &c. — This magistrate, being governed by atheistical principles, had no inducement from religion to do justice; at the same time, being very powerful, he did not regard what men said or thought of him; wherefore, in all his decisions, he was influenced merely by passion or interest. And there was a widow, &c., and she came, saying, Avenge me of, or rather, as ????????? ?? means, do me justice on, mine adversary — The word properly signifies, to judge a cause, and defend the injured judicially from the injurious person. The English word avenge, therefore, does not exactly hit the sense here intended, although, as Dr. Campbell observes, in the application of the parable, Luke 18:7 , it answers better than any other term. This widow, having no friends to assist her, could neither defend herself from injuries, nor obtain satisfaction for them when committed; hence, in an instance where she was greatly oppressed, she found herself obliged to petition the judge for redress. This he would not grant for a while — He was so addicted to his pleasures, and of so indolent a disposition, that he would not put himself to the trouble of even examining her cause, notwithstanding that the grievous injustice which had been done to her pleaded powerfully in her behalf. But afterward he said — Or thought within himself; Though I fear not God — And therefore will not do this widow justice through the influence of any dread I have of his displeasure; nor regard man — Nor fear being called to an account for my neglect by any superior among men. Yet, because this widow troubleth me — With the repeated representations of her case; I will avenge her — I will do her justice; lest by her continual coming she weary me — “The word ???????? ?? , properly signifies, to beat on the face, and particularly under the eye, and hence to beat in general, as 1 Corinthians 9:27 . In this passage it has a metaphorical meaning, and here signifies to give great pain, such as arises from severe beating. The sense of the clause, therefore, is, that the uneasy feelings which this widow raised in the judge’s breast, by the moving representations which she gave him of her distress, affected him to such a degree that he could not bear it, and therefore, to be rid of those feelings, he resolved to do her justice. The passage, understood in this sense, has a peculiar advantage, as it throws a beautiful light on our Lord’s argument, Luke 18:6-7 , and lays a proper foundation for the conclusion which it contains.” Luke 18:3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. Luke 18:4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Luke 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. Luke 18:6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. Luke 18:6-8 . And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith — “If the repeated, importunate cries of the afflicted do at length make an impression on the hearts even of men so wicked as to glory in their impiety, injustice, and barbarity, they will much more be regarded by God; most gracious, who is ever ready to bestow his choicest blessings, when he sees his creatures fit to receive them. Arguments of this kind, taken from the feeling goodness, or even from the imperfections of men, to illustrate the superior and infinite perfections of God, were often made use of by Jesus, and with great success, in working the conviction designed. Such appeals force their way directly into men’s hearts, bear down all opposition, and make a lasting impression.” And shall not God avenge his own elect, &c. — So the true disciples of Christ are continually termed in the New Testament, being chosen of God to be his peculiar people instead of the Jews, whom he rejected because they rejected Christ: who cry to him day and night — A just description this of God’s real people; though he bear long with them — Though God may bear long with the wicked, and seem deaf to the cries which his people send up to his throne day and night for deliverance, the just view which he has of their affliction will, in due time, move him to punish severely their enemies. Though this was spoken, as has been intimated above, with a particular reference to the destruction of the Jews, described in the preceding prophecy, yet the sentiment expressed is applicable to all cases in which God’s people are oppressed by their enemies. I tell you, he will avenge them speedily — “Or rather, suddenly; for so ?? ????? may signify. Besides, Scripture and experience teach us, that in most cases punishment is not speedily executed against the evil works of evil men; but that when the divine patience ends, oftentimes destruction overtaketh the wicked as a whirlwind, and by its suddenness becomes the more heavy.” To understand the passage thus, “removes the seeming opposition between this clause and the end of the precedent verse, the reconciling of which has given rise to several strained criticisms, and probably to the various readings found there; not to mention, that it agrees exactly with the subject in hand, the destruction of the Jewish nation having been represented by our Lord in this very discourse, as what would be exceeding sudden and heavy. See Luke 17:24 .” — Macknight. Thus also Dr. Doddridge: “It is plain God might wait long, and yet at length execute a speedy and sudden vengeance. Compare Psalm 73:19 ; Habakkuk 2:3 ; and especially Sir 35:18 ; to which Grotius supposes there is an allusion here.” Several other interpretations of the passage have been proposed, but none of them appear to be so probable as this, nor to be justified by the text. When the Son of man cometh — Namely, to execute judgment on the Jewish nation; shall he find faith on the earth? — Or rather, in the land; namely, the land of Judea; the word ?? often signifying, not the earth in general, but some particular land, or country, as in Acts 7:3-4 ; Acts 7:11 , and in numberless other places. The believing Hebrews were evidently in great danger of being wearied out with their persecutions and distresses. Or, by faith here may be meant the belief of the particular truth which Christ had been inculcating, namely, that God would, in due time, avenge his elect, and signally punish their oppressors; and the question may imply, that when Christ should come for that purpose, faith in his coming would be in a great measure lost. Accordingly, it appears from 2 Peter 3:4 , that many infidels and apostates scoffed at the expectation of Christ’s coming, which the godly in those days cherished. Luke 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Luke 18:9-10 . And he spake this parable — Having in the preceding parable guarded his disciples against faintness and weariness in prayer, he here guards them against the contrary extreme of self-confidence: unto certain — For the conviction of certain persons in his train; who trusted in themselves that they were righteous — Who had a high opinion of their own piety, and on that account despised others as greatly inferior to them, both in holiness and in the favour of God. Observe, reader, these persons were, properly speaking, not hypocrites: the Pharisee here mentioned was evidently not a hypocrite, any more than he was an outward adulterer; but, mistaking his real state and character, he sincerely believed himself to be righteous, and accordingly told God so in the prayer which none but God heard. Two men went up into the temple to pray — It seems it was not the hour of public prayer, but they went thither to offer up their personal devotions, as was usual with pious people at that time, when the temple was not only the place, but the medium of worship; God having promised, in answer to Solomon’s request, that whatever prayer should be offered in a right manner in, or toward that house, it should, therefore, the rather be accepted. Christ is our temple, and to him we must have an eye in all our approaches to God. One a Pharisee — As if he had said, One of that sect so honoured among them; and the other a publican — Whom they were used to number with the most contemptible of mankind. Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are , extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. Luke 18:11-12 . The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself — The original clause, ??????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????????? , it seems, should rather be rendered, standing by himself prayed these things. Read thus, it is characteristical of the sect, who always affected to dread pollution from the touch of those whom they considered as their inferiors in piety. Thus this Pharisee kept himself at as great a distance as he could from the miserable sinner who had entered the temple with him, as if he feared being defiled by coming near him, or any other person less holy than himself. God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men — That is, not as the generality of my countrymen; extortioners, ( ??????? , rapacious, ) unjust, adulterers — Such are they, but I thank God I am not like them: or even as this publican — A great many good things he here says of himself, which we may suppose to be true. 1st, He was free from gross and scandalous sins. He was not an extortioner, not a usurer, nor an oppressor to his debtors or tenants, but equitable and kind to all dependant upon him: and not rapacious, seizing other men’s property under false pretences. He was not unjust in any of his dealings, did no wrong to any man; did not take advantage of any man’s ignorance, want of experience, or necessity, in buying or selling. He was not an adulterer, but had possessed his vessel in sanctification and honour. 2d, He attended the ordinances of God, and used all the means of grace, and not only those that were most commonly used, such as reading the word of God and prayer, but even fasting; yea, he fasted twice in the week, and that partly as an act of temperance, and partly as a help to devotion. This the Pharisees and their disciples were wont to do, keeping two private fasts every week, namely, on Mondays and Thursdays, as the primitive Christians did on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thus he glorified God with his body. Yet this was not all, for, 3d, He gave tithes of all that he possessed, according to the law, and so glorified God with his property. Many of the Pharisees were wont to give one full tenth of their income to the house and worship of God, and another tenth in alms to the poor. The sum of this plea is, I do no harm; I use all the means of grace; and I do all the good in my power. This was his righteousness, and of this righteousness, it must be observed, he gives God the glory, at least in appearance, ascribing it not to himself but to God, for he says, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men, &c. — And yet this Pharisee, notwithstanding all this, was not in a state of acceptance with God, but in a state of guilt, condemnation, and wrath. And what then will become of many professing Christians, who are so far from going beyond this Pharisee in any of these branches of righteousness, that they fall far short of him in every one of them. But why was not this Pharisee accepted of God? 1st, Because he trusted in this righteousness, (which, after all, was very imperfect,) not being acquainted with himself, nor knowing how far he came short of the glory of God, and how he was involved in sin and guilt. Hence he was not humbled before God, nor brought to experience that true repentance toward him, without which there is no forgiveness. 2d, Because he evidently thought highly of himself; nay, and boasted of his fancied righteousness, dwelling upon it with delight, even in his prayers; as if all his business at the temple had been to tell God Almighty how good he was. He went up to the temple indeed to pray, but, it appears, forgot his errand: for in what he said there is not one word of prayer: he was so full of himself, and his own goodness, that he thought he had need of nothing, no, not of the favour and grace of God. 3d, His giving God thanks for his righteousness, although, if it had been done in a proper spirit, it would have been a good thing, yet in him seems to have been a mere piece of formality, savouring of pride; and being, properly speaking, a praising of himself rather than of God; and such a praising of himself as implied the highest contempt of others, and particularly of his fellow-worshipper, the publican. Luke 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Luke 18:13-14 . And the publican, standing afar off — 1st, Under a sense of his being unworthy to be permitted to draw near to God, or to go up among his people into the court of Israel, though probably a Jew, he stood at a distance in the court of the Gentiles, probably without the stone wall, termed by the apostle, the middle wall of partition, which Gentiles and unclean Israelites were not permitted to pass. Or, if it seem more probable, from the Pharisee’s mentioning him in his prayer, that he was in the same court with him, and within his view, as Salmasius thinks, then, his standing afar off implies, that he came no farther than the gate, being so self-abased that he would not go near the Pharisee, whom he esteemed much more holy than himself. Thus he owned that God might justly behold him afar off, and send him into a state of eternal distance from him, and that it was a great favour that God was pleased to admit him thus nigh. 2d, Standing thus at a distance, he would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven — Much less his hands, as was usual in prayer. He lifted up his heart indeed to God in holy desires; but, through shame and humiliation, did not lift up his eyes in holy confidence and courage. His iniquities were gone over his head as a heavy burden, so that he was not able to look up; and his downcast looks were an indication of the dejection of his mind at the thoughts of his sinfulness and guilt. 3d, He smote upon his breast — In a holy indignation at himself for sin. “The sinner’s heart first smites him in a penitent rebuke, 2 Samuel 24:10 ; and then he smites his heart with penitent remorse.” — Henry. 4th, His address to God was the very reverse of that of the Pharisee: as full of humility and humiliation, as the Pharisee’s was of pride and ostentation; as full of repentance for sin, and desire toward God, as his was of confidence in himself and his own righteousness and sufficiency. This prayer of the publican was short; fear and shame hindered him from saying much, sighs and groans swallowed up his words: but what he said was to the purpose, God be merciful to me a sinner — Observe, reader, 1st, He owns himself to be a sinner, and guilty before God, which the Pharisee did not, but spoke as if he were pure from sin. 2d, He has no dependance but upon the mercy of God. The Pharisee had insisted upon the merit of his unblameable conduct, his fastings and tithes; but the poor publican disclaims all thought of merit, and flees to mercy as his city of refuge. 3d, He earnestly prays for the benefit of that mercy, O God, be merciful, be propitious, to me, forgive my sins; be reconciled to me, and receive me graciously. And blessed be God that we have his prayer on record as a prayer answered. Our Lord Jesus, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secret is hid, who is perfectly acquainted with all proceedings in the court of heaven, assures us that this poor, broken-hearted penitent went to his house justified rather than the other — And so shall we, if we pray for the same blessing in the same spirit of penitence, humility, and fervour, through Jesus Christ. The Pharisee, doubtless, thought if one of them must be justified, and not the other, certainly it must be he rather than the publican. But Christ affirms the contrary: I tell you, says he, with the utmost assurance, and declare it to you as a most momentous and interesting truth, which it concerns you all to believe and lay to heart, that this publican was justified, and not the Pharisee. The self-righteous Pharisee goes away rejected, his sins are not pardoned, nor is he delivered from condemnation; but the publican, upon his penitent and humble address, obtains what he asked; and him, whom the Pharisee would not have set with the dogs of his flock, God sets with the children of his family! Christ, having finished the parable, made an application of it to the persons for whose sake chiefly it was delivered, by repeating his favourite and well-known maxim, He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. See on Matthew 23:12 . Upon the whole, “this parable teaches us several important lessons: as, that the generality of men are great strangers to themselves, and ignorant of their own characters; that they oftentimes thank God in words, while their hearts are by no means penetrated with a due sense of them; that a man may be very ready to censure others, without ever forming a thought of reforming himself; and that, in a certain sense, we may be clear of open and scandalous sins, while we are full of inward spiritual wickedness, pride, envy, malice, and hypocrisy. To conclude: by propounding this parable immediately after that of the importunate widow, our Lord has taught us, that although our prayers must be very earnest and frequent, they should always be accompanied with the deepest humility; because no disposition of mind is more proper for such weak and frail beings as men to appear with before the great God, than an absolute self-abasement.” — Macknight. Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Luke 18:15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it , they rebuked them. Luke 18:15-17 . They brought unto him infants, &c. — The contents of these verses we had Matthew 19:13-15 ; Mark 10:13-16 ; where see the notes. The passage very fitly follows the story of the publican, as a confirmation of the truth which was to be illustrated by that parable, that those shall be accepted with God and honoured, who humble themselves, and that Christ has in store for them the choicest and best blessings. Luke 18:16 But Jesus called them unto him , and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Luke 18:17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. Luke 18:18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Luke 18:18-30 . And a certain ruler — The following account is given us both by Matthew and Mark; from whom we learn, that he was a young man, and very rich: but only Luke informs us that he was a ruler, or magistrate. For an explanation at large of this whole paragraph, see notes on Matthew 19:16-30 ; Mark 10:17-27 . Yet lackest thou one thing — Namely, to love God more than mammon. Our Saviour knew his heart, and presently put him upon a trial which laid it open to the ruler himself. And to cure his love of the world, which could not in him be cured otherwise, Christ commanded him to sell all that he had. But he does not command us to do this; but to use all to the glory of God. Luke 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is , God. Luke 18:20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. Luke 18:21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Luke 18:22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. Luke 18:23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. Luke 18:24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! Luke 18:25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Luke 18:26 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Luke 18:28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. Luke 18:29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Luke 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. Luke 18:31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. Luke 18:31-34 . Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, &c. — See notes on Matthew 22:17-19 ; Mark 10:32-34 . They understood none of these things — They could not but understand the literal meaning of what our Lord said. But as they could not reconcile this to their preconceived opinion of the Messiah’s kingdom, they were utterly at a loss in what parabolical, or figurative sense to take what he said concerning his sufferings; having their thoughts still taken up with the temporal kingdom. Luke 18:32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: Luke 18:33 And they shall scourge him , and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. Luke 18:34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. Luke 18:35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: Luke 18:35-43 . A certain blind man, &c. — Of the miracle here recorded, see on Matthew 20:29-34 ; Mark 10:46-52 . Luke 18:36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. Luke 18:37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. Luke 18:38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Luke 18:39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Luke 18:40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, Luke 18:41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. Luke 18:42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. Luke 18:43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it , gave praise unto God. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end , that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; lete_me Luke 18:1-14 Chapter 11 CONCERNING PRAYER. WHEN the Greeks called man ? ???????? , or the "uplooking one," they did but crystallize in a word what is a universal fact, the religious instinct of humanity. Everywhere, and through all times, man has felt, as by a sort of intuition, that earth was no Ultima Thule, with nothing beyond but oceans of vacancy and silence, but that it lay in the over-shadow of other worlds, between which and their own were subtle modes of correspondence. They felt themselves to be in the presence of Powers other and higher than human, who somehow influenced their destiny, whose favour they must win, and whose displeasure they must avert. And so Paganism reared her altars, almost numberless, dedicating them even to the "Unknown God," lest some anonymous deity should be grieved at being omitted from the enumeration. The prevalence of false religions in the world, the garrulous babble of mythology, does but voice the religious instinct of man; it is but another Tower of Babel, by which men hope to find and to scale the heavens which must be somewhere overhead. In the Old Testament, however, we find the clearer revelation. What to the unaided eye of reason and of nature seemed but a wave of golden mist athwart the sky "a meeting of gentile lights without a name" now becomes a wide-reaching and shining realm, peopled with intelligences of divers ranks and orders; while in the centre of all is the city and the throne of the Invisible King, Jehovah, Lord of Sabaoth. In the breath of the new morning the gossamer threads Polytheism had been spinning through the night were swept away, and on the pillars of the New Jerusalem, that celestial city of which their own Salem was a far-off and broken type, they read the inscription, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord." But while the Old Testament revealed the unity of the Godhead, it emphasized especially His sovereignty, the glories of His holiness, and the thunders of His power. He is the great Creator, arranging His universe, commanding evolutions and revolutions, and giving to each molecule of matter its secret affinities and repulsions. And again He is the Lawgiver, the great Judge, speaking out of the cloudy pillar and the windy tempest, dividing the firmaments of Right and Wrong, whose holiness hates sin with an infinite hatred, and whose justice, with sword of flame, pursues the wrong-doer like an unforgetting Nemesis. It is only natural, therefore, that with such conceptions of God, the heavens should appear distant and somewhat cold. The quiet that was upon the world was the hush of awe, of fear, rather than of love; for while the goodness of God was a familiar and favourite theme, and while the mercy of God, which "endureth for ever," was the refrain, oft repeated, of their loftiest songs, the love of God was a height the Old Dispensation had not explored, and the Fatherhood of God, that new world of perpetual summer, lay all undiscovered, or but dimly apprehended through the mist. The Divine love and the Divine Fatherhood were truths which seemed to be held in reserve for the New Dispensation; and as the light needs the subtle and sympathetic ether before it can reach our outlying world, so the love and the Fatherhood of God are borne in upon us by Him who was Himself the Divine Son and the incarnation of the Divine love. It is just here where the teaching of Jesus concerning prayer begins. He does not seek to explain its philosophy; He does not give hints as to any observance of time or place; but leaving these questions to adjust themselves, He seeks to bring heaven into closer touch with earth. And how can He do this so well as by revealing the Fatherhood of God? When the electric wire linked the New with the Old World the distances were annihilated, the thousand leagues of sea were as if they were not; and when Jesus threw across, between earth and heaven, that word "Father," the wide distances vanished, and even the silences became vocal. In the Psalms, those loftiest utterances of devotion, Religion only once ventured to call God "Father;" and then, as if frightened at her own temerity, she lapses into silence, and never speaks the familiar word again. But how different the language of the Gospels! It is a name that Jesus is never weary of repeating, striking its music upwards of seventy times, as if by the frequent iteration He would lodge the heavenly word deep within the world's heart. This is His first lesson in the science of prayer: He drills them on the Divine Fatherhood, setting them on that word, as it were, to practise the scales; for as he who has practised well the scales has acquired the key to all harmonies, so he who has learned well the "Father" has learned the secret of heaven, the sesame that opens all its doors and unlocks all its treasures. "When ye pray," said Jesus, replying to a disciple who sought instruction in the heavenly language, "say, Father," thus giving us what was His own pass-word to the courts of heaven. It is as if He said, "If you would pray acceptably put yourself in the right position. Seek to realize, and then to claim, your true relationship. Do not look upon God as a distant and cold abstraction, or as some blind force; do not regard Him as being hostile to you or as careless about you. Else your prayer will be some wail of bitterness, a cry coming out of the dark, and losing itself in the dark again. But look upon God as your Father, your living, loving, heavenly Father; and then step up with a holy boldness into the child-place, and all heaven opens before you there." And not only does Jesus thus "show us the Father," but He takes pains to show us that it is a real, and not some fictitious Fatherhood. He tells us that the word means far more in its heavenly than in its earthly use; that the earthly meaning, in fact, is but a shadow of the heavenly. For "if ye then," He says, "being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" He thus sets us a problem in Divine proportion. He gives us the human fatherhood, with all it implies, as our known quantities, and from these He leaves us to work out the unknown quantity, which is the Divine ability and willingness to give good gifts to men; for the Holy Spirit includes in Himself all spiritual gifts. It is a problem, however, which our earthly figures cannot solve. The nearest that we can approach to the answer is that the Divine Fatherhood is the human fatherhood multiplied by that "how much more" a factor which gives us an infinite series. Again, Jesus teaches that character is an important condition of prayer, and that in this realm heart is more than any art. Words alone do not constitute prayer, for they may be only like the bubbles of the children's play, iridescent but hollow, never climbing the sky, but returning to the earth whence they came. And so when the scribes and Pharisees make "long prayers," striking devotional attitudes, and putting on airs of sanctity, Jesus could not endure them. They were a weariness and abomination to Him; for He read their secret heart, and found it vain and proud. In His parable { Luke 18:11 } He puts the genuine and the counterfeit prayer side by side, drawing the sharp contrast between them. He gives us that of the Pharisee, wordy, inflated, full of the self-eulogizing "I." It is the prayerless prayer, that had no need, and which was simply an incense burned before the clayey image of himself. Then He gives us the few brief words of the publican, the cry of a broken heart, "God be merciful to me, a sinner," a prayer which reached directly the highest heaven, and which came back freighted with the peace of God. "If I regard iniquity in my heart," the Psalmist said, "the Lord will not hear me." And it is true. If there be the least unforgiven sin within the soul we spread forth our hands, we make many prayers, in vain; we do but utter "wild, delirious cries" that Heaven will not hear, or at any rate regard. The first cry of true prayer is the cry for mercy, pardon; and until this is spoken, until we step up by faith into the child-position, we do but offer vain oblations. Nay, even in the regenerate heart, if there be a temporary lapse, and unholy tempers brood within, the lips of prayer become paralyzed at once, or they only stammer in incoherent speech. We may with filled hands compass the altar of God, but neither gifts nor prayers can be accepted if there be bitterness and jealousy within, or if our "brother has aught against" us. The wrong must be righted with our brother, or we cannot be right with God. How can we ask for forgiveness if we ourselves cannot forgive? How can we ask for mercy if we are hard and merciless, gripping the throat of each offender, as we demand the uttermost farthing? He who can pray for them who despitefully use him is in the way of the Divine commandment; he has climbed to the dome of the temple, where the whispers of prayer, and even its inarticulate aspirations, are heard in heaven. And so the connection is most close and constant between praying and living, and they pray most and best who at the same time "make their life a prayer." Again, Jesus maps out for us the realm of prayer, showing the wide areas it should cover. St. Luke gives us an abbreviated form of the prayer recorded by St. Matthew, and which we call the "Lord's Prayer." It is a disputed point, though not a material one, whether the two prayers are but varied renderings of one and the same utterance, or whether Jesus gave, on a later occasion, an epitomized form of the prayer He had prescribed before, though from the circumstantial evidence of St. Luke we incline to the latter view. The two forms, however, are identical in sub stance. It is scarcely likely that Jesus intended it to be a rigid formula, to which we should be slavishly bound; for the varied renderings of the two Evangelists show plainly that Heaven does not lay stress upon the ipsissima verba . We must take it rather as a Divine model, laying down the lines on which our prayers should move. It is, in fact, a sort of prayer microcosm, giving a miniature reflection of the whole world of prayer, as a drop of dew will give a reflection of the encircling sky. It gives us what we may call the species of prayer, whose genera branch off into infinite varieties; nor can we readily conceive of any petition, however particular or private, whose root-stem is not found in the few but comprehensive words of the Lord's Prayer. It covers every want of man, just as it befits every place and time. Running through the prayer are two marked divisions, the one general, the other particular and personal; and in the Divine order, contrary to our human wont, the general stands first, and the personal second. Our prayers often move in narrow circles, like the homing birds coming back to this "centered self" of ours, and sometimes we forget to give them the wider sweeps over a redeemed humanity. But Jesus says, "When ye pray, say, Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come." It is a temporary erasure of self, as the soul of the worshipper is absorbed in God. In its nearness to the throne it forgets for awhile its own little needs; its low-flying thoughts are caught up into the higher currents of the Divine thought and purpose, moving outwards with them. And this is the first petition, that the name of God may be hallowed throughout the world; that is, that men's conceptions of the Deity may become just and holy, until earth gives back in echo the Trisagion of the seraphim. The second petition is a continuation of the first; for just in proportion as men's conceptions of God are corrected and hallowed will the kingdom of God be set up on earth. The first petition, like that of the Psalmist, is for the sending out of "Thy light and Thy truth;" the second is that humanity may be led to the "holy hill," praising God upon the harp, and finding in God their "exceeding joy." To find God as the Father-King is to step up within the kingdom. The prayer now descends into the lower plane of personal wants, covering (1) our physical, and (2) our spiritual needs. The former are met with one petition, "Give us day by day our daily bread," a sentence confessedly obscure, and which has given rise to much dispute. Some interpret it in a spiritual sense alone, since, as they say, any other interpretation would break in upon the uniformity of the prayer, whose other terms are all spiritual. But if, as we have suggested, the whole prayer must be regarded as an epitome of prayer in general, then it must include some where our physical needs, or a large and important domain of our life is left uncovered. As to the meaning of the singular adjective ????????? we need not say much. That it can scarcely mean "tomorrows" bread is evident from the warning Jesus gives against "taking thought" for the morrow, and we must not allow the prayer to traverse the command. The most natural and likely interpretation is that which the heart of mankind has always given it, as our "daily" bread, or bread sufficient for the day. Jesus thus selects, what is the most common of our physical wants, the bread which comes to us in such purely natural, matter-of-course ways, as the specimen need of our physical life. But when He thus lifts up this common, ever-recurring mercy into the region of prayer He puts a halo of Divineness about it, and by including this He teaches us that there is no want of even our physical life which is excluded from the realm of prayer. If we are invited to speak with God concerning our daily bread, then certainly we need not be silent as to aught else. Our spiritual needs are included in the two petitions, "And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation." The parenthesis does not imply that all debts should be remitted, for payment of these is enjoined as one of the duties of life. The indebtedness spoken of is rather the New Testament indebtedness, the failure of duty or courtesy, the omission of some "ought" of life or some injury or offence. It is that human forgiveness, the opposite of resentment, which grows up under the shadow of the Divine forgiveness. The former of these petitions, then, is for the forgiveness of all past sin, while the latter is for deliverance from present sinning; for when we pray , "Bring us not into temptation," it is a prayer that we may not be tempted "above that we are able," which, amplified, means that in all our temptations we may be victorious, "kept by the power of God." Such, then, is the wide realm of prayer, as indicated by Jesus. He assures us that there is no department of our being, no circumstance of our life, which does not lie within its range; that "The whole round world is every way Bound with gold chains about the feet of God," and that on these golden chains, as on a harp, the touch of prayer may wake sweet music, far-off or near alike. And how much we miss through restraining prayer, reserving it for special occasions, or for the greater crises of life! But if we would only loop up with heaven each successive hour, if we would only run the thread of prayer through the common events and the common tasks, we should find the whole day and the whole life swinging on a higher, calmer level. The common task would cease to be common, and the earthly would be less earthly, if we only threw a bit of heaven upon it, or we opened it out to heaven. If in everything we could but make our requests known unto God that is, if prayer became the habitual act of life we should find that heaven was no longer the land "afar off," but that it was close upon us, with all its proffered ministries. Again, Jesus teaches the importance of earnestness and importunity in prayer. He sketches the picture for it is scarcely a parable of the man whose hospitality is claimed, late at night, by a passing friend, but who has no provision made for the emergency. He goes over to another friend, and rousing him up at midnight, he asks for the loan of three loaves. And with what result? Does the man answer from within, "Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee"? No, that would be an impossible answer; for "though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth" { Luke 11:8 }. It is the unreasonableness, or at any rate the untimeliness of the request Jesus seems to emphasize. The man himself is thoughtless, improvident in his household management. He disturbs his neighbour, waking up his whole family at midnight for such a trivial matter as the loan of three loaves. But he gains his request, not, either, on the ground of friendship, but through sheer audacity, impudence; for such is the meaning of the word, rather than importunity. The lesson is easily learned, for the suppressed comparison would be, "If man, being evil, will put himself out of the way to serve a friend, even at this untimely hour, filling up by his thoughtfulness his friend's lack of thought, how much more will the heavenly Father give to His child such things as are needful?" We have the same lesson taught in the parable of the Unjust Judge { Luke 18:1 }, that "men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Here, however, the characters are reversed. The suppliant is a poor and a wronged widow, while the person addressed is a hard, selfish, godless man, who boasts of his atheism. She asks, not for a favour, but for her rights that she may have due protection from some extortionate adversary, who somehow has got her in his power; for justice rather than vengeance is her demand. But "he would not for awhile," and all her cries for pity and for help beat upon that callous heart only as the surf upon a rocky shore, to be thrown back upon itself. But after wards he said within himself, "Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming." And so he is moved to take her part against her adversary, not for any motive of compassion or sense of justice, but through mere selfishness, that he may escape the annoyance of her frequent visits lest her continual coming "worry" me, as the colloquial expression might be rendered. Here the comparison, or contrast rather, is expressed, at any rate in part. It is, "If an unjust and abandoned judge grants a just petition at last, out of base motives, when it is often urged, to a defenseless person for whom he cares nothing, how much more shall a just and merciful God hear the cry and avenge the cause of those whom He loves?"* (*Farrar.) It is a resolute persistence in prayer the parable urges, the continued asking, and seeking, and knocking that Jesus both commended and commanded { Luke 11:9 }, and which has the promise of such certain answers, and not the tantalizing mockeries of stones for bread, or scorpions for fish. Some blessings lie near at hand; we have only to ask, and we receive - receive even while we ask. But other blessings lie farther off, and they can only be ours by a continuance in prayer, by a persistent importunity. Not that our heavenly Father needs any wearying into mercy; but the blessing may not be ripe, or we ourselves may not be fully prepared to receive it. A blessing for which we are unprepared would only be an untimely blessing, and like a December swallow, it would soon die, without nest or brood. And sometimes the long delay is but a test of faith, whetting and sharpening the desire, until our very life seems to depend upon the granting of our prayer. So long as our prayers are among the "maybes" and "mights" there are fears and doubts alternating with our hope and faith. But when the desires are intensified, and our prayers rise into the "must-be's," then the answers are near at hand; for that "must be" is the soul's Mahanaim, where the angels meet us, and God Himself says "I will." Delays in our prayers are by no means denials; they are often but the lengthened summer for the ripening of our blessings, making them larger and more sweet. And now we have only to consider, which we must do briefly, the practice of Jesus, the place of prayer in His own life; and we shall find that in every point it coincides exactly with His teaching. To us of the clouded vision heaven is sometimes a hope more than a reality. It is an unseen goal, luring us across the wilderness, and which one of these days we may possess; but it is not to us as the wide-reaching, encircling sky, throwing its sunshine into each day, and lighting up our nights with its thousand lamps. To Jesus, heaven was more and nearer than it is to us. He had left it behind; and yet He had not left it, for He speaks of Himself, the Son of man, as being now in heaven. And so He was. His feet were upon earth, at home amid its dust; but His heart, His truer life, were all above. And how constant His correspondence, or rather communion, with heaven! At first sight it appears strange to us that Jesus should need the sustenance of prayer, or that He could even adopt its language. But when He became the Son of man He voluntarily assumed the needs of humanity; He "emptied Himself," as the Apostle expresses a great mystery, as if for the time divesting Himself of all Divine prerogatives, choosing to live as man amongst men. And so Jesus prayed. He was wont, even as we are, to refresh a wasted strength by draughts from the celestial springs; and as Antaeus, in his wresting, recovered himself as he touched the ground, so we find Jesus, in the great crises of His life, falling back upon Heaven. St. Luke, in his narrative of the Baptism, inserts one fact the other Synoptists omit that Jesus was in the act of prayer when the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended, in the semblance of a dove, upon Him. It is as if the opened heavens, the descending dove, and the audible voice were but the answer to His prayer. And why not? Standing on the threshold of His mission, would He not naturally ask that a double portion of the Spirit might be His that Heaven might put its manifest seal upon that mission, if not for the confirmation of His own faith, yet for that of His fore runner? At any rate, the fact is plain that it was while He was in the act of prayer that He received that second and higher baptism, even the baptism of the Spirit. A second epoch in that Divine life was when Jesus formally instituted the Apostleship, calling and initiating the Twelve into the closer brotherhood. It was, so to speak, the appointment of a regency, who should exercise authority and rule in the new kingdom, sitting, as Jesus figuratively expresses it { Luke 22:30 }, "on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." It is easy to see what tremendous issues were involved in this appointment; for were these foundation-stones untrue, warped by jealousies and vain ambitions, the whole superstructure would have been weakened, thrown out of the square. And so before the selection is made, a selection demanding such insight and foresight, such a balancing of complementary gifts, Jesus devotes the whole night to prayer, seeking the solitude of the mountain-height, and in the early dawn coming down, with the dews of night upon His garment and with the dews of heaven upon His soul, which, like crystals or lenses of light, made the invisible visible and the distant near. A third crisis in that Divine life was at the Transfiguration, when the summit was reached, the border line between earth and heaven, where, amid celestial greetings and overshadowing clouds of glory, that sinless life would have had its natural transition into heaven. And here again we find the same coincidence of prayer. Both St. Mark and St. Luke state that the "high mountain" was climbed for the express purpose of communion with Heaven; they "went up into the mountain to pray." It is only St. Luke, however, who states that it was "as He was praying" the fashion of His countenance was altered, thus making the vision an answer, or at least a corollary, to the prayer. He is at a point where two ways meet: the one passes into heaven at once, from that high level to which by a sinless life He has attained; the other path sweeps suddenly downward to a valley of agony, a cross of shame, a tomb of death; and after this wide detour the heavenly heights are reached again. Which path will He choose? If He takes the one He passes solitary into heaven; if He takes the other He brings with Him a redeemed humanity. And does not this give us, in a sort of echo, the burden of His prayer? He finds the shadow of the cross thrown over this heaven-lighted summit for when Moses and Elias appear they would not introduce a subject altogether new; they would in their conversation strike in with the theme with which His mind is already preoccupied, that is the decease He should accomplish at Jerusalem and as the chill of that shadow settles upon Him, causing the flesh to shrink and quiver for a while, would He not seek for the strength He needs? Would He not ask, as later, in the garden, that the cup might pass from Him; or if that should not be possible, that His will might not conflict with the Father's will, even for a passing moment? At any rate we may suppose that the vision was, in some way, Heaven's answer to His prayer, giving Him the solace and strengthening that He sought, as the Father's voice attested His Sonship, and celestials came forth to salute the Well-beloved, and to hearten Him on towards His dark goal. Just so was it when Jesus kept His fourth watch in Gethsemane. What Gethsemane was, and what its fearful agony meant, we shall consider in a later chapter. It is enough for our present purpose to see how Jesus consecrated that deep valley, as before He had consecrated the Transfiguration height, to prayer. Leaving the three outside the veil of the darkness, He passes into Gethsemane, as into another Holy of holies, there to offer up for His own and for Himself the sacrifice of prayer; while as our High Priest He sprinkles with His own blood, that blood of the ever lasting covenant, the sacred ground. And what prayer was that! how intensely fervent! That if it were possible the dread cup might pass from Him, but that either way the Father's will might be done! And that prayer was the prelude to victory; for as the first Adam fell by the assertion of self, the clashing of his will with God s, the second Adam conquers by the total surrender of His will to the will of the Father. The agony was lost in the acquiescence. But it was not alone in the great crises of His life that Jesus fell back upon Heaven. Prayer with Him was habitual, the fragrant atmosphere in which He lived, and moved, and spoke. His words glide as by a natural transition into its language, as a bird whose feet have lightly touched the ground suddenly takes to its wings; and again and again we find Him pausing in the weaving of His speech, to throw across the earthward warp the heavenward woof of prayer. It was a necessity of His life; and if the intrusive crowds allowed Him no time for its exercise, He was wont to elude them, to find upon the mountain or in the desert His prayer-chamber beneath the stars. And how frequently we read of His "looking up to heaven" amid the pauses of His daily task! stopping before He breaks the bread, and on the mirror of His upturned glance leading the thoughts and thanks of the multitude to the All-Father, who giveth to all His creatures their meat in due season; or pausing as He works some impromptu miracle, before speaking the omnipotent "Ephphatha," that on His upward look He may signal to the skies! And what a light is turned upon His life and His relation to His disciples by a simple incident that occurs on the night of the betrayal! Reading the sign of the times, in His forecast of the dark tomorrow, He sees the terrible strain that will be put upon Peter's faith, and which He likens to a Satanic sifting. With prescient eye He sees the temporary collapse; how, in the fierce heat of the trial, the "rock" will be thrown into a state of flux; so weak and pliant, it will be all rippled by agitation and unrest, or driven back at the mere breath of a servant-girl. He says mournfully, "Simon, Simon, behold. Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not" { Luke 22:31 }. So completely does Jesus identify Himself with His own, making their separate needs His care (for this doubtless was no solitary case); but just as the High Priest carried on his breastplate the twelve tribal names, thus bringing all Israel within the light of Urim and Thummim, so Jesus carries within His heart both the name and the need of each separate disciple, asking for them in prayer what, perhaps, they have failed to ask for themselves. Nor are the prayers of Jesus limited by any such narrow circle; they compassed the world, lighting up all horizons; and even upon the cross, amid the jeers and laughter of the crowd, He forgets His own agonies, as with parched lips He prays for His murderers, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Thus, more than any son of man, did Jesus "pray without ceasing," "in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving" making request unto God. Shall we not copy His bright example? shall we not, too, live, labour, and endure, as "seeing Him who is invisible"? He who lives a life of prayer will never question its reality. He who sees God in everything, and everything in God, will turn his life into a south land, with upper and nether springs of blessing in ceaseless flow; for the life that lies full heavenward lies in perpetual summer, in the eternal noon. Luke 18:18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Chapter 22 THE ETHICS OF THE GOSPEL. WHATEVER of truth there may be in the charge of "other-worldliness," as brought against the modern exponents of Christianity, such a charge could not even be whispered against its Divine Founder. It is just possible that the Church had been gazing too steadfastly up into heaven, and that she had not been studying the science of the "Humanities" as zealously as she ought, and as she has done since; but Jesus did not allow even heavenly things to obliterate or to blur the lines of earthly duty. We might have supposed that coming down from heaven, and familiar with its secrets, He would have much to say about the New World, its position in space, its society and manner of life. But no; Jesus says little about the life which is to come; it is the life which now is that engrosses His attention, and almost monopolizes His speech. Life with Him was not in the future tense; it was one living present, real, earnest, but fugitive. Indeed, that future was but the present projected over into eternity. And so Jesus, founding the kingdom of God on earth, and summoning all men into it, if he did not bring commandments written and lithographed, like Moses, yet He did lay down principles and rules of conduct, marking out, in all departments of human life, the straight and white lines of duty, the eternal "ought." It is true that Jesus Himself did not originate much in this department of Christian ethics, and probably for most of His sayings we can find a synonym struck from the pages of earlier, and perhaps heathen moralists; but in the wide realm of Right there can be no new law. Principles may be evolved, interpreted; they cannot be created. Right, like Truth, holds the "eternal years"; and through the millenniums before Christ, as through the millenniums after, Conscience, that "ethical intellect" which speaks to all men if they will but draw near to her Sinai and listen, spoke to some in clear, authoritative tones. But if Jesus did no more, He gathered up the "broken lights" of earth, the intermittent flashes which had played on the horizon before, into one steady electric beam, which lights up our human life outward to its farthest reach, and onward to its farthest goal. In the mind of Jesus conduct was the outward and visible expression of some inner invisible force. As our earth moves round its elliptic in obedience to the subtle attractions of other outlying worlds, so the orbits of human lives, whether symmetrical or eccentric, are determined mainly by the two forces, Character