fallen woman at the well; or as the sympathising
Brother of Humanity, weeping for Lazarus, and drying the tears of the
widow; or as the Teacher, speaking as never man spake; or as the Meek
Sufferer, bowed down in Gethsemane, silent before the jibing crowd,
praying for those who nailed Him to the Cross, we must accept the
perfect life, the perfect pattern, and declare--"He hath done all
things well."

But turning from this subject in its wider sense, let us look specially
at the miracle of to-day's Gospel. A man is brought to Jesus, deaf,
and having an impediment in his speech. It is a well-known fact that
those who cannot hear sounds are usually unable to utter them
correctly. Now let us regard this miracle from a spiritual point of
view. There are among us many who are spiritually deaf, and cannot
speak aright. And it is because they are deaf to the voice of God,
that they speak amiss. God utters His voice in many different tones,
but their ears have waxed heavy and they cannot hear. God speaks to us
by the _Voice of Nature_. This world has a myriad of voices for those
who have ears to hear. There is the voice of praise and thanksgiving
going up from singing bird, and rustling forest, and rushing waterfall.
Every flower is an altar of pure incense, offering its sacrifice of a
sweet-smelling savour. "Earth, with ten thousand voices, praises God;"
and yet some of us hear nothing of these things because we are
spiritually deaf. Again, God speaks to us by the _Voice of
Conscience_--a still, small voice, speaking from the innermost
sanctuary of our soul. And some of us hear it not. They have stopped
their ears like the deaf adder, and so they go on wilfully
sinning--deaf to the Voice of God. I have read how a notorious
prisoner, who had been convicted of many serious crimes, was found to
have the whole story of our Lord's crucifixion marked upon his breast.
How utterly deaf to the voice of conscience that man must have been!
Although he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus, yet he was
the slave of the worst sins.

My brothers, we all bear the sign of the Cross, given to us in our
Baptism, and if our ears have become deaf to the Voice of God, that
cross is a witness against us. Sometimes we hear of a man being
arrested who has on him a certain letter, which marks him as a deserter
from the army. Are there any among us who feel that God has set that
fatal mark on them: the sign that they, once soldie