the exposition.

1. Judge not. Let a man examine himself rather than his neighbour. When
Peter saw the young man refusing to make a sacrifice for Christ, he
complacently remembered his own sacrifices, and thought he had done
remarkably well. Ah, Peter, Satan desires to have thee that he may sift
thee as wheat; but what by the Master's rebukes addressed to him, and
what by prayers poured out for him, he will be saved; yet so as by fire.
You left all, you say, to follow Jesus; and how much was that? a share
in a boat and some nets, both probably the worse for wear. Ah, Peter, if
you had been as rich as this young man, I am not sure whether you would
not have done as he did,--gone away, sorrowful indeed, but away from
Jesus!

Disciples of Christ that are poor, should beware of judging the
disciples who are rich. You were enabled to break the tie that bound you
to the earth; and you see a neighbour struggling with the yoke still on
his neck. Be not high-minded but fear. The line that bound you was a
slender cord; the line that binds that brother is a cart rope. He, if he
is set free at a later day, may be first in the day of reward, and you
last.

2. All whom the Lord meets and calls are sent to work, and all go. From
the moment they meet the Master till the evening of life's labour-day,
they work for him. They not only labour for the Lord, they labour "in
the Lord." Thus it is not a pain but a pleasure; it is their meat and
their drink.

God needs not our work, but we, for our own sakes, need work in his
kingdom. He can find other servants; but if we refuse his call we shall
never find a "good Master."

3. The true spirit of a worker is love to the Master, and to the work
for the Master's sake. The moment that a thought of merit glides into
the servant's heart, it brings him down, not indeed from the number of
true disciples, but from the highest to the lowest class there.

Among the motives that, in these matters, sway a human heart, there are
two forces equal and opposite: one is a humble, broken-hearted
consciousness that you deserve nothing, and receive all free; the other
is a self-righteous conceit that your valuable services deserve a great
reward. If this latter spirit is the main spring of your activity, it
determines your position to be altogether outside of the circle of true
believers; if it intrudes more or less as a temptation, and tinges with
self-righteous blemishes a substantial faith in Christ, it