authority of the head of the kingdom of good. His own moral consciousness tells him that it must be so, and he has the declaration of God to confirm it. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord" (Isa. liv. 17).

III. What has been occasionally manifested in the outward life, and what is always the inner experience, will one day be universally visible to all the universe. The revelation of God tells us that there will be a universally visible manifestation of the submission of the evil to the good. And our sense of justice demands that it should be so. A day will come when, at the name of Incarnate Goodness, "every knee shall bow "(Phil. ii. 10), and the servants will have a portion of like reverence. "The sons also of them that afflicted Thee shall come bending unto Thee; and all they that despised Thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of Thy feet" (Isa. lx. 14).-See also Rev. xx. 4. It is also revealed to us when this visible manifestation shall take place. "In the end of this world," at the close of the present dispensation, "the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom ail things that offend, and them which do iniquity. then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matt. xiii. 40-43). "For this manifestation of the sons of God" they wait with "earnest expectation; creation groans" for it; Christ Himself awaits it at "the right hand of God" (Heb. x. 12, 13; Rom. viii. 19-22).

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS.

At one time or other, in one respect or other, the ungodly serve and crouch to the godly. Sometimes they that fear the Lord are lifted up to honour, and then the evil men bow themselves before them. Sometimes, again, the righteous wax rich through God's blessing on their labours, and then come the wicked to their gates for alms and relief. Not only the poor ones, but the great ones, who yet are wicked ones, seek and sue now and then with all submission to the godly for their counsel and help. And I cannot tell how, but such a majesty there is in the godly oftentimes, that most desperately wicked men reverence their faces, and are silent or courteous in their presence.-Muffet.

This is not the general rule in the present dispensation. Righteous Lazarus bowed at the rich man's gate (Luke xvi. 20). But "the upright shall have dominion over the wicked in the morning" (Psa. xlix. 14; Mal. iv. 1-3). "The saints shall judge the world" (1 Cor. vi. 2).—Bridges.

There have been instances in which this proverb was verified in a very

remarkable manner. The Egyptians bowed down before Joseph, and Moses, and the Israelites. The proud king of Babylon almost worshipped the captive Daniel, and Elisha's favour was solicited by three kings, one or two of whom were bad men.-Lawson.

The wicked serve the righteous; and whether they do it knowingly, they do it wholly, and through eternal ages.-Miller.

In times of worldly prosperity, and while the wicked flourish, there is none more lifted up in pride and bravery of outward shows than they are; there is none, then, less esteemed, and more despised, than the good and righteous are. They shall give long attendance before the gates give way to them, and when they are entered a proud eye shall mightily overlook them, a scornful language shall throw them down at their feet. Wherefore Augustine calleth riches wings, by which men in pride fly not only above others, but themselves also. But if the time alter, and either some storm of common calamity beat upon them, or else the hand of God privately seize on them, then none

are more dejected than the wicked, none then more esteemed than the righteous are by them. Then their ways are to the gates of the righteous, and much bowing there is to entreat

their prayers unto God, and to obtain help and comfort from them. Then Dives, but fearing hell only, already sees Lazarus in heaven, and fain would come unto him.-Jermin.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES 20 and 21.

AN AGGRAVATED CRIME, A QUESTIONABLE VIRTUE, AND A PRESENT BLESSING. I. A fourfold sin. A man who despises or hates his neighbour sins-1. In the simple exercise of the feeling. Hatred, or even the act of despising another, is in itself a sin. Here we must distinguish between hatred of the person and hatred of his practices-between despising a man himself and despising his actions. God Himself hates and abhors evil character, but he makes a distinction between a man's character and the man. To hate or to despise any human creature is devilish. 2. By hating or despising him for his poverty. Poverty is a calamity often-always a burden and a cross. It is that for which a man should be pitied, and on account of which he should receive the sympathy of his fellow-men. Poverty is a burden heavy enough in itself, to add to it in any way is diabolical. 3. Because he hates and despises his fellow-sufferer. It is not a man beneath him, of whose trials he is ignorant, but his neighbour, one with whom he is on a level. The proverb speaks of one poor man hating another. Cases are not uncommon in which men who have risen from poverty to wealth hate and despise the class from which they have risen even more than those do who were born to rank and wealth. And sometimes men who have risen are hated by those whom they have left behind in the race. But for a poor man to dislike and to despise another poor man for his poverty, is a most unnatural and aggravated crime. A common calamity generally makes men feel a kinship for each other. Those who partake of a common lot generally feel a common sympathy. The poor do not generally hate and despise the poor. The poor man who does commit this sin against his neighbour commits a double sin against himself, for he knows himself the trials of his poor brother, and, therefore, does not sin through ignorance or inconsiderateness. 4. Against God. God "putteth down one, and setteth up another" (Psalm lxxv. 7). It is His ordination that "the poor shall never cease out of the land" (Deut. xv. 11). They are His especial care (Psalm xii. 5, etc.), and He will count any addition to their burden as a wrong to Himself.

II. A questionable virtue. "The rich hath many friends." Friendship with a rich man may spring from social equality. There is a natural tendency in men who are equals in anything to form friendships with each other. Men of the same moral standing do so, men of the same intellectual attainments are attracted to each other, and men who are equals in social rank and in wealth are, by the force of circumstances, often thrown into each other's society, and so a friendship which is real may be formed. But it is a more questionable bond than that which unites men in the two first-mentioned cases. It may be only a counterfeit of the genuine article, and it is nothing more if wealth is the only bond. Friendships formed upon similarity of intellectual and moral wealth have a far firmer foundation, because they rest upon what is inseparable from the man himself, while friendship founded upon riches has for its foundation what may at any time take to itself wings and fly away. Or the friendship may be one of social inequality. A poor man may attach himself to a wealthy man. This, too, may be genuine. The friendship may be built upon something which both value more than wealth; but if the friendship of the rich with the rich is

regarded with doubt, and requires adversity to test it, much more does the friendship of the poor for the rich. The proof of the genuineness of the metal is the fire, the proof of the seaworthiness of the vessel is the storm, and it is an universally recognised truth that the proof of friendship is power to come uninjured through the fire and storm of adverse circumstances.

III. A present blessedness. "He that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he." 1. Happy because "it is more blessed to give than to receive "(Acts xx. 35), because gladness always comes to the heart when an effort has been made to lighten another's burden. 2. Happy in possessing the gratitude and confidence of his poor brother. 3. Happy because he wins the favour of God. (See on verse 31).

ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE 20.

The bees were haunting the flowering trees in crowds, humming among the branches, and gathering honey in the flowers. Said Gotthold, "Here is an image of temporal prosperity. So long as there is blossom on the trees, and honey in the blossom, the bees will frequent them in crowds, and fill the place with their

music; but when the blossom is over, and the honey gone, they too will disappear." Temporal gain is the world's honey, and the allurement with which you may entice it whithersoever you will; but where the gain terminates, there likewise do the love and friendship of the world stop.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS.

Ver. 20. Alas! it is a mystery of knowledge to discern friends: "Wealth maketh many friends" (chap. xix. 4); they are friends to the wealth, not to the wealthy. They regard not qualis sis, but quantas, not how good thou art, but how great. They adinire thee to thy face, but inwardly consider thee only as a necessary evil, yea, a necessary devil. . . . Worldly friends are like hot water, that when cold weather comes, are soonest frozen. Like cuckoos all summer they will sing to thee, but they are gone in July at furthest; sure enough before the fall. They flatter a rich man, as we feed beasts, and then feed on him.-T. Adams.

How former friendship etween two persons may be transformed into its opposite on account of the impoverishment of one of them, is impressively illustrated by our Lord's parable of the neighbour whom a friend asks for three loaves (Luke xi. 5-8).—Lange's Commentary.

The same word in the original which signifieth a friend signifieth a neighbour also, because a neighbour should be a friend. But though a rich man hath friends far and near, a poor man is hated even of his neighbour. He

that best knoweth his wants and should most of all pity them, doth least regard him and use him worst. He that is nearest at hand to help him is farthest off from helping him. Wherefore the neighbourhood of man being so bad, God becometh his neighbour, and as it is in the Psalms (cix. 31). He standeth at the right hand of the poor to save him."―Jermin.

Verse 21. The impenitent is the poorest among men; and he who neglects him, and lets him go on in his iniquity, of course, is a cruel sinner. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that lead many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.' He who despises his neighbour "sins," literally "misses," blunders." He wastes a splendid opportunity, not only for his neighbour, but for himself. The appeal is to self, and is made more intense where, instead of "despising" our neighbour, we actually "devise evil" against him (See next verse).—Miller. 1. There is sin against the arrangements of God's providence. 2. Against the frequent and express commands of His word (Deut. xv. 7-11): Luke xii. 33; xiv. 12-14). 3. Against the

manifestation of Ilis distinguishing love. God has not only avowed Himself jealous for the poor, but "to the poor the gospel is preached," and of those who become the subjects of God's grace, and heirs of glory, a large proportion belong to this class. 4. In the contempt of God's threatened vengeance against all who neglect them, and of His promised special favour to all who treat them with kindness.- Wardlaw.

We show our contempt of the poor, not only by trampling upon them, but by overlooking them, or by withholding that help for which their distress loudly calls. The Levite and the priest that declined giving assistance to the wounded traveller on the way to Jericho, were notorious breakers of the law of love in the judgment of our Lord. The Samaritan was the only one that performed the duty of a neighbour.-Lawson.

Through the gate of beneficence doth the charitable man enter into the city God makes some and suffers The loaden

of peace
rich, to help the poor;
some poor to try the rich.

would be glad of ease: now charity lighteneth the rich man of his superfluous and unwieldy carriage. When the poor find mercy they will be tractable; when the rich find quiet, they should be charitable. Would you have your goods kept in peace? First, lock them up by your prayers, then open them again with your thankful use, and trust them in the hands of Christ by your charity.-T. Adams.

He that hath mercy on the poor maketh the other's misery to be his own happiness, and as the other is comforted by it, so is he blessed by it. Blessed he is by the poor and his prayers for him, blessed he is by God and His favours upon him. Tabitha had reached out her hand to give unto the poor, and Peter reacheth out his hand in delivering her from death. She had bestowed clothing on the poor, and life is bestowed upon her. Wherefore the exhortation of Chrysostom is, "those things which God hath given us, let us give Him again, that so with advantage they may be again made ours."-Jermin.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE 22.

A FATAL ERROR AND A CERTAIN GOOD.

I. The mistake of devisers of evil. 1. They err in relation to the success of their plans. They think that their wicked devices will succeed, or they would not go to the labour and trouble of devising them. But they make a fatal mistake, because they ignore another plan, which embraces theirs. They forget that there may be a circle of action outside their circle, which may circumvent ail their schemes. A man may look at the sea from the lower deck of a vessel and think he can see all that is to be seen. But his thinking so would only prove him to be a fool. The man at the masthead can see much further. A traveller on a plain may have an extensive view, but he who is on the mountaintop takes in all that he can see, and much besides. So it is with the man who devises evil. He can see a little way before him and around him, he thinks, therefore, that he can take in the whole situation at a glance, and can see what is needful for him to do and what can be accomplished to bring his plans to pass. But there is more beyond; God takes a higher position and has a wider outlook. He takes in not only all that the wicked man has seen, but much that he does not see. "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong" (Job v. 13). The device of Haman was so well planned that it seemed to him certain of success. Mordecai's God had a plan which embraced and out-flanked that of the murderer. The device of Joseph's brethren seemed to embrace all that was necessary to accomplish his ruin, but it was utilised by the righteous Ruler of the Universe to bring to pass his exaltation. The device of evil against the

But

Divine Son of God is the most palpable instance that the universe has ever seen of the short sighted error of wicked men. 2. lle errs because he will meet with retribution in his own person. Human rulers are sometimes involved in much perplexity because, although they know that plots are being woven against their government, they are not only at a loss to find a plan by which to bring home the crime to the conspirators, but feel they have no force strong enough to punish them if they are convicted. But God is never at a loss either for means to defeat the purposes of those that devise evil, or to punish them for their devices. He is never driven, by want of power, to yield to those who oppose the good-who work iniquity. (See Homiletics on chap. xii. 12-14, page 268.)

II. The reward of devisers of good. "Mercy and truth." 1. Even a deviser of good needs mercy. The very act of devising good sometimes brings a man to need mercy of his fellow-man. Daniel devised nothing but good to the king of Babylon, but his very uprightness made him an object of envy and brought him into a condition to need mercy. Or a deviser of good may err in judgment. The best intentioned man is liable to make mistakes. No human being, however benevolent his life, can claim to be exempt from moral infirinities which will sometimes mislead him. Every man therefore needs that his fellow creatures should mingle charity with their judgment of him and with their conduct towards him. And he always needs mercy from God. No saint of ancient or modern times has ever been beyond the need of God's mercy, although their very name implies that they are devisers of good. 2. He equally needs truth. He needs to be able to depend upon the word of another, he needs a certainty of being justly dealt with. A man's success in business largely depends upon his being able to rest upon the fair dealing of others. He wants truth in others to meet his own truthfulness-as he strives to deal justly, and to love mercy, so he desires to be dealt with justly as well as mercifully. 3. Both these needs shall be met. Sometimes by men, always by God. Experience and history furnish us with many exceptions to the first. Those men of God who have been most eminent devisers of good have often met with anything but mercy and truth from those whom they have desired to benefit. Ignorance or envy has risen up against them, and so the missionary has been slain by the club of the savage abroad, and the reformer has been made the mark of slanderous tongues at home. But everyone has found the testimony of the inspired word to be true in his own experience: With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful. With an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright (Psa. xviii. 25).

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS.

If wicked men employ their thoughts to contrive mischief, and show so much diligence in the service of sin, although they have such a miserable reward, let God's people exercise the same diligence in the service of righteousness, by seeking out and seizing opportunities of doing good, and their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.Lawson.

Scripture traces actions to principles. Wicked as it is to do evil, it is far more hateful to devise it (see verse 17).

Devising evil, therefore, if it comes not to the act, shows the purpose (chap. xxiv. 8).—Bridges.

To him who lays himself out in planning and executing designs of benefit to others, there shall be "mercy and truth." From his fellow-men he shall experience universal love and esteem. He shall find sympathy in bis distresses and reverses, faithfulness in dealing (for if anything will secure a man from being cheated and defrauded, it will be a character for disinterested