as the paint wears off-and those beautiful Flowers of Nature, which are ever fresh and lovely, and fill the air with their fragrance! Which does our love resemble? Is it only put on? Is it a mere imitation? Or is there a healthy bloom about it, which shows that it has a living root, and that it is a plant of God's own planting?

He that has had much forgiven loves much. Then, are we to conclude that to be true disciples we must needs have been great sinners? Is it an advantage to have committed multiplied transgressions? Are we to suppose that the wider a person has wandered from God, the nearer (if he has been brought back at all) he will live to Him afterwards-the more sin, the more love? Shall we say that to have sinned but little-to have been kept from gross offences-instead of being a blessing and a mercy, and a matter of thankfulness, may prove a hindrance to any strong, deep feeling of love to the Saviour?

No, it cannot be so. It is those who feel their sins the most-they are in their own sight the greatest sinners; they know their debt to be not fifty merely, but five hundred, pence;

and they, like St. Paul, regard themselves as

"the chief of sinners. Yes, these are the ones who love much. They are ready to say, "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

:

Pray that God, by His Holy Spirit, may convince you of sin, show you to yourself, strip off the covering which makes you seem better than you are, and send you as a guilty one to Christ, that He may pardon you; and that, feeling how much you have been forgiven, and how large your debt is, which has been paid for you, you may look up, and say, "Whom have I in heaven but thee?" "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee!"

153

THE NEIGHBOURLY SAMARITAN.

LUKE X. 30-37.

"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour

unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

WE will deal with this Parable as we have done with some of the others, and try if we can find out, in the first instance, what led to its being spoken.

There is no difficulty in discovering this in the present case; and indeed the whole Parable is so clear and simple, that it scarcely needs a word of explanation.

It appears from v. 25 that a certain Lawyer (that is, a man skilled in the writings of the Jewish law) stepped forward from among the crowd, and put what he considered a difficult question to our Lord. He freely acknowledged it to be our duty to love God with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves. But he asks, Who is my neighbour?

Now, to this short question Jesus might have given an equally short answer. He might have replied, "Every one is thy neighbour." But instead of that, He takes the opportunity of shewing whom we ought to look upon as our neighbour, by a most beautiful and touching Parable. It was this

A certain man had occasion to make a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho, which was a town about fifteen miles off. Now, in those days there were but few travellers, and probably no public conveyances. The road was through a rocky and mountainous country, and robberies were by no means unusual.

As the Traveller proceeds on his lonely way, he is attacked by Thieves, who strip him of everything, even of his very raiment; and then leave him by the road-side almost in a dying state.

Happy, for him, if the first passer-by proves to be a man of a kind and tender heart! Happy for him, if the first step he hears brings him the help which he so greatly needs! Let us see.

A person is passing along the road, and. soon comes up to the very spot where the: wounded man is lying. Does he stop and gladly offer him all the assistance in his power? One would expect it of him; for he turns out to be a Jewish Priest, a teacher of others, and one who ought to have known. something of the law of kindness. But no; he just casts a glance at his suffering brother, and then passes onward on his way.

Presently another comes up. Ah, perhaps,