arable,--"God be merciful to me a sinner!" And he went on
offering this prayer till the loving Saviour heard and answered him,
and he went down to his house a saved and happy man.

Thus we see how this poor man learned the lesson of humility which
Jesus taught, and how much good it did to him.

And it is Jesus who is speaking to us and commanding us to learn this
lesson of humility, when we read, in other passages of Scripture,
such words as these:--"Put on therefore--humbleness of mind,
meekness, long-suffering." Col. iii: 12. "Humble yourself therefore
in the sight of God." James iv: 10. "Be clothed with humility." I.
Pet. v: 5. In all these places we have Jesus repeating his command to
us to learn the lesson of humility. And this command is urged thus
earnestly upon us because it is so important.

When St. Augustine, one of the celebrated fathers of the early
Church, was asked--What is the first important thing in the Christian
religion? his reply was--"Humility." "What is the second?"
"Humility." "And what is the third?"--the reply still was--"Humility."

And if this be true, we need not wonder that Jesus should have been
so earnest in teaching this lesson; or that he should have urged so
strongly on his disciples to learn it.

The _command_ of Christ is the first reason why we should learn the
lesson of humility.

_But the second reason why we should learn this lesson is, because of
the_--EXAMPLE--_of Christ_.

There are many persons "who say and do not." There are some ministers
who preach very well, but they do not _practise_ what they preach.
Such persons may well be compared to finger-boards. They point out
the way to others, but they do not walk in it themselves. But this
was not the case with our blessed Saviour. He practised everything
that he preached. And when he gave us his command to learn this
lesson of humility, he gave us, at the same time, his example to show
us _how_ to do it.

He was illustrating this command by his example when he washed his
disciples' feet. And this was only one out of many things in which he
set us this example. When he chose to be born of poor parents, he was
giving an example of humility. When he lived at Nazareth till he was
thirty years of age, working with his reputed father as a carpenter,
and during the latter part of the time, as is supposed, laboring for
the support of his mother, he was giving an example of humility. When
he said, "The Son of man came not to