soms, but "by their fruits ye shall know them." This is the test of the quality of the tree. And by this test Jesus wishes that all His ministers and all His

of

people should be tried. The fruits that grow upon a tree of the Lord's planting are the fruits of the Spirit of God, which are plainly laid down in Gal. v. 22-24: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." In proof of the accuracy the test which Jesus proposes He appeals to the common experience of men. We expect the fruit invariably to correspond with the nature of the tree. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" And our Lord assures us that, in this instance, the experience of men is founded on a sound principle. For "every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." The fruit of the tree is its natural produce; and if the heart of a man has been really renewed by the Spirit of God, the fruits of righteousness will be brought forth, to the praise and the glory of Christ. But if any man, whether an office-bearer or a private member of the Church of Christ, be destitute of the grace of God in his heart, the fruits will speedily manifest themselves in

an unholy and unsanctified life. "Will he always call upon God?" is the emphatic question which Job asks concerning the hypocrite. He may be outwardly zealous before man, but the exercises of the closet will be few, cold, and formal. The fruit will be speedily apparent in his life and conversation. The tree is corrupt, and it will soon be seen that its fruit is evil. And mark the end:

V. 19. "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Not only is the man who brings forth evil fruit doomed to be punished, but every man who bringeth not good fruit. Many content themselves with a kind of negative Christianity. They think it quite enough if they do no injury to their fellow-men. But the commandment of God is exceeding broad. It requires that true Christians should be "blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world: holding forth the word of life." Both the Christian minister and the Christian man ought to strive and pray, not merely that they may be negatively harmless, but positively good, manifesting in their whole conduct and character the sanctifying influence of that truth which they profess to believe. But if in the all-seeing and heart-searching eye of Jehovah, the fruit shall be found not unto holi

ness, whatever may have been the outward profession, that tree shall be hewn down by the Great Husbandman and cast into the fire. It is an unprofitable tree in the Lord's vineyard, and therefore it will be cut down as a cumberer of the ground. The same figure is used by John the Baptist in reference to the whole Jewish nation, Matt. iii. 10; "And now the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Our Lord having shown the invariable end of every unfruitful minister and professor in the Church of Christ, draws the conclusion

V. 20. "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." It is plain from the whole strain of our Lord's remarks in this searching passage, that we must carry about with us the constant impression that Christianity, if it exist in the soul, will influence the life. Religion is a living, operative principle. Wherever it is found the heart has been changed, a new creation has sprung up in the soul, instead of the thorn has come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar has come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a sign, for an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. In such a case the fruit shall assuredly be unto holiness, and the end shall be everlasting life.

CHAPTER II.

NECESSITY OF BUILDING OUR HAPPINESS AND HOPES ON CHRIST ALONE.

MAT. VII. 21-29.

THE Conclusion of this remarkable Sermon on the Mount is peculiarly solemn. Jesus calls upon His hearers to press with all earnestness into the kingdom of God. He warns them that the gate is strait and the road narrow, but still the difficulty of finding access is with Him a powerful argument for diligence, and perseverance, and earnestness on the part of all who would wish to become partakers of the privileges of the kingdom on earth, and to enjoy the eternal blessedness of the kingdom in heaven. The Redeemer next proceeds to remind His hearers of the real character of those who shall at last appear before God in Zion.

V. 21. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

The plain meaning of this passage is, that true acceptable religion does not consist in hypocritical professions of attachment to Christ, but of a sincere and cheerful obedience to His holy will. Jesus must not. be understood as here disclaiming the title of Lord, for on another occasion we find Him saying to His disciples, "ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well; for so I am." And for this very purpose hath Jesus been exalted to the right hand of the Father, "that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Nor is it a mere human attainment thus to call Jesus Lord, for an apostle expressly tell us that "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." But saying in the text is obviously opposed to doing. It is not with the heart that confession is made in such a case, but with the lips only. So that the question of Christ in the parallel passage of Luke vi. 46, is quite appropriate; "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" The use of the word Lord implies submission and dependence, and in the mouth of a true disciple supposes a heart subdued under the power of Christ, and sweetly constrained by His grace. And the repetition of the term Lord, Lord, is intended to denote that the hypocrisy of which Jesus speaks in this passage is of the most aggravated kind. It is no ordinary profession of attachment to His person, and acknowledgment of His authority.