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The Day of Judgment.

MATT. XXV. 31-40.'

WHEN the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy Angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungered,2 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. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? when saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."3

I "Together with the present description must be read St. John's account of the Vision revealed to him of the same great Judgment" (Rev. xx. 12-15).

2 "I was an hungered."] "The Ten Virgins' taught the blessedness of inward grace; 'The Talents' taught the blessedness of a faithful use of God's gifts; here we are taught the blessedness of acts of charity. Each unfolds to us a different principle on which our judgment will depend, and this in order to bring the one point as forcibly as possible to our consciences. It would be a great error to take any one of these three passages, and to suppose that the one point it puts forward is the only one which will be brought into judgment. We must not only compare Scripture with Scripture, but also combine Scripture with Scripture, if we would know the truth."

3 "Inasmuch as ye have done it."] "How wonderful is the privilege and blessedness of almsgiving! To minister to the poor is to minister to Christ. Even the 'cup of cold water' shall not lose its reward."-Canon How.

"Flatter not yourselves that judgment is a great way off, when you know not how near death is, which will close your account. Therefore be ye also ready."

-Dean Sherlock.

Sins of Omission.

MATT. XXV. 41-46.

"THE 'HEN shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” *

1 See the foregoing parable of “The Talents” (Matt. xxv.), and mark well why "the unprofitable servant" was condemned. "It is not that he had done those things which he ought not to have done, but only that he had left undone those things which he ought to have done. It is for sins of omission, not for sins of commission that he is condemned. So here: the condemnation of those on the left hand in the great Judgment is 'Inasmuch as ye did it not.' Surely among the moral upright and respectable there are many 'unprofitable servants!'"- Canon How.

"Be Thou my soul's preserver,

For Thou alone dost know

How many are the perils

Through which I have to go;

O loving Jesu, hear my call,

And guard and save me from them all. Amen."

O blessed Saviour, Who, when Thou shalt at the last day come to judge the quick and the dead, wilt render to every one according to his works, either reward or punishment; give me grace so to pass this earthly pilgrimage according to Thy holy Will, that at that day I may be (through Thy merits) thought worthy to be received into Thy Heavenly mansion, there to praise and bless Thee with the holy company of blessed Saints and Angels for evermore ; and be merciful to me. Amen."-Litany of Bishop Andrewes.

"If thou despisest the Will of a gracious God, when He inspires thee with thoughts of good, thou wilt bitterly feel the terrible Will of an avenging God." -St. Hier.

"All our acts here shall have their full and exact equivalent and recompense in judgment."-Rev. A. W. Thorold.

An Act of Love.

MATT. xxvi. 1, 2, 6-13.

"WHEN Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said unto

His disciples, Ye know that after two days is the Feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on His head, as He sat at meat. But when His disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, He said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon Me. For ye have the poor always with you; but Me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on My body, she did it for My burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."

'Our Lord, Whose deep sympathy with the poor was shown by His assuming their condition, by His lifelong ministrations for them and among them, and by His laying upon His followers this injunction, 'Sell that ye have, and give alms,' even He abundantly vindicates an appropriation of the alabaster box, which did not leave a single doit of its value for the poor--which consecrated it and its contents exclusively to His own honour. Mary, believing what even Apostles were slow to believe, that He would shortly meet with a painful and cruel death at the hands of His enemies, and fearing that under these circumstances His followers would be debarred from access to His sacred Body, used her store of costly oil to embalm Him by anticipation; she could not endure the thought that He should go without this outward visible sign of the homage which her heart, and the hearts of all His true disciples, had so long paid Him. The lesson, therefore, is that any costly or expensive article bestowed upon His service, with a view to do Him honour thereby, may be full as acceptable to Him, and as graciously accepted, as if it had been employed in some work of active benevolence, or converted to the use of some charitable institution. Remember this in connection with the restoration and decoration of Churches, a work so common in these days. Of course this work may be engaged in from a mere delight in the beauties of art, . in which case it may no doubt be the sign of a cultivated mind, but is no sign at all of a sanctified heart, and has no religious value whatever. But suppose a man's motive in decorating a Church, or in giving some costly article. to be used in the Church's services, to be a sentiment of indignation at seeing anything shabby, mean, or cheap, used in ministrations to Christ, and a feeling that we ought to give Him of our very best and costliest, . . . in this case we may not 'murmur against him. Our Lord not only vindicates Mary for acting as she has done, but crowns her action with a wreath of imperishable renown. Her fame is to be as widely spread as His own glad tidings. So that the word stood fast in her case, 'Them that honour Me, I will honour."".Goulburn's "Cathedral System."

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"Now

The Supper with the Twelve.

MATT. xxvi. 17-25.

WOW the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Passover? And He said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with My disciples.' And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover. Now when the even was come, He sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, He said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto Him, Lord, is it I?2 And He answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me. The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.3 Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said."

I "

'Blessed the house chosen for such a feast! But it must be made ready for the visit of the Divine Master. What saith He to us? If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me' (Rev. iii. 20). Are we then making ready?" See Luke xii. 37. 2 "Lord, is it I?"] "Let us not pass by this solemn scene without applying it to our own hearts. Are there none of us who have eaten and drunk with Christ, and yet are ready to betray Him? who have knelt at His holy Feast, and yet in our lives have denied Him? Let each solemnly ask the question, Is it I?"

3... "In His solemn prayer to His Father, Jesus calls Judas 'the son of perdition' (John xvii. 12). How awful to think of one so near to Christ and yet so lost! That such a thing should be possible is a terrible warning to all such as have great privileges, and much outward nearness to Christ and holy things."-Canon How.

"O Thou Who, at the hour of eating the Passover, didst institute the Sacrament of Thy Supper, a holy and perpetual memorial of Thy precious Body and Blood; make us thankful and diligent partakers of the same, that we may eat and drink thereof, never to condemnation, but always to the obtaining remission of our sins, and all other benefits of Thy Passion, and save us."Bishop Andrewes' "Devotions."

"That, unworthy though we be,
We may ever dwell with Thee,
Grant us, Holy Jesu. Amen."

"A

The Institution of the Lord's Supper.

MATT. xxvi. 26-34.

ND as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My Body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My Blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." And when they had sung an hymn,3 they went out into the Mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad (Zech. xiii. 7). But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto Him, Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended.* Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice."5

"The best commentary upon our Lord's words is to be found in His own wonderful discourse in John vi., and in the thoughtful study of the words of His Apostle St. Paul (1 Cor. x. 16, 17, xi. 23-29). Next to these, perhaps no more valuable statement of doctrine upon this sacred subject exists than that contained in the last five answers of the Church Catechism."-Canon How. 2 "The Holy Communion is by Christ made the type of the Heavenly marriagefeast."-" "Brighstone Sermons."

"Before Thy Death this Feast Thou didst ordain,

The antidote against eternal pain;

Thy Saints will imitate Thy loving care,

And by the Altar for the Cross prepare."-Bishop Ken.

3 " There can be little doubt that this refers to the Passover Psalms. No one can read these Psalms (especially cxviii.) without seeing how many portions must have been singularly suitable to our Lord this night.'

4 "We must not fail to note how self-confidence is ever the herald of an approaching fall."-Canon How.

5་་ Preserve me, gracious Lord, from a presumptuous opinion and dependence on my own strength without the aids of Thy grace; let me see in this sad instance my weakness without Thy assistance, and my ruin without Thy help.”— Bishop Wilson.