of
evil in the present and evil in the future. Live in Christ, 'the same
yesterday, and to-day, and for ever'; and _His_ presence shall make all
_your_ past, present, and future--memory, enjoyment, and hope--to be
bright and beautiful, because all are centred in Him.

JUDGING, ASKING, AND GIVING

'Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2. For with what judgment ye
judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall
be measured to you again. 3. And why beholdest thou the mote that
is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in
thine own eye? 4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull
out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own
eye! 5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own
eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of
thy brother's eye. 6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them
under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 7. Ask, and it shall
be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you: 8. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he
that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he
give him a stone? 10. Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a
serpent? 11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in
heaven give good things to them that ask Him? 12. Therefore all
things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so
to them: for this is the law and the prophets.'--MATT. vii. 1-12.

I. How can we help 'judging,' and why should we not 'judge'? The power
of seeing into character is to be coveted and cultivated, and the
absence of it makes simpletons, not saints. Quite true: but seeing into
character is not what Jesus is condemning here. The 'judging' of which
He speaks sees motes in a brother's eye. That is to say, it is
one-sided, and fixes on faults, which it magnifies, passing by virtues.
Carrion flies that buzz with a sickening hum of satisfaction over sores,
and prefer corruption to soundness, are as good judges of meat as such
critics are of character. That Mephistophelean spirit of detraction has
wide scope in this day. Literature and politics, as