VIII.

Hindrances to the Divine Life.

"Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.”—MATT. xviii. 7—9.

T is characteristic of true love to be self-forgetful

IT

and self-surrendering. Suffering for and with the loved is hailed with satisfaction by the loving. There is a tenderness of heart that makes the loving, jealously watch themselves, lest they should say or do what would grieve the loved. It is the result of the opposite spirit, against which the Lord Jesus here utters this denunciation. To some, these words of Christ seem harsh and severe. There are even in the Christian Church, those who have not risen to the glory of the life of love, who are still too selfish to enter into the

blessedness of self-surrender. There are some who crave for comfort, who long for peace, who like to hear the word "Blessed," and the invitation "Come;" who sentimentalize about the Lord, dwelling on His gentleness and tenderness, ignoring the fact that Christ could not love as He does if He could not hate, that He could not be the tender One if He could not be the wrathful One. He could not say "Come," if He could not also say "Depart," nor "Blessed" unless He could say "Cursed." But whatever may be wished, there is no being in "the narrow way" without encountering its difficulties, no wearing the crown without bearing the cross. How plainly Christ teaches! He does not allow any to be deluded. How perpetually is threatening linked with promises, words of invitation and love with awful denunciations against those who receive not the message. There is to be no parleying with the world, no compromising with evil, no yielding to temptation. "If any man love father and mother more than Me, he cannot be my disciple." To the disciple who was at the dangerous point of yielding to the soft endearments of home, and thus, ready to forsake Him, Christ sternly and authoritatively exclaims, "Let the dead bury their dead, but come thou and follow me."

And so here, "Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!"

What Christ means by an offence, is anything that entices to evil or forms a hindrance to good, thus causing woe to the world and sorrow to the righteous. If there be the spirit of self-surrendering love, this woe will serve as a guard. It is as though Christ put up the danger signal. Let that be seen, it is enough, though the kind of danger is unknown. In a certain sea there is a sunken rock. Mariners know of its existence, but the exact spot is unknown; what should we think of those seamen who did not steer their vessels as far as possible from its supposed locality. Shall we curiously inquire what is an offence, or, calculating how near we can approach to what we think an offence, without injury to ourselves. It ought to be enough for us, that our Lord denounces the evil and those who commit it. Sad is it for the world, when those who profess Christ say or do what is wrong, but sadder still for the man or woman who is guilty of the wrong. We know not the mighty power we wield over each other and in society. One false step, one bad word, one wicked deed, one weak yielding to temptation, may appear of small importance —but it is not really so-for nothing stands alone. There is an intertwining, interleaving of lives, a subtle secret welding and moulding of interests and relationships ever going on, of which the results and fruits must eternally abide. Our Lord foresaw with His Omniscient Eye, what evils would arise in His Church, and in His

prescience declares such offences must be; but to deliver His disciples from the dominion of that arch enemy to human progress and Christian vitality— fatalism-He plainly declares "Woe unto him by whom the offence cometh." No philosopher can clear up the mystery of the origin of evil, nor reconcile perfectly the foreknowledge of God with the responsibility of man; but one thing is clear, that God foreordains souls to be free, and that foreknowing evil does not involve fore-ordaining. "Sin may appear a necessity in our poor logic, but it is not so in our consciousness." We feel that the sinful act is ours, that we are its originating cause, that our moral instinct will not allow us to charge it upon any object out of us, upon any decree concerning us, or upon any arrangements antecedent to us. The simple act is ours. feel it, hence our self-crimination and remorse. argument can destroy the feeling. Though Heaven foresaw all the demons in our nature that have figured in human history, and all the wicked deeds even to the utmost minutiæ, they were not the less demons on that account.

We

No

But if it must be that offences come, must it be by us if in this world where evil and good are waging war, and Satan is fighting against Christ, there must be obstructions in the way of the right and good, is there no way by which those who love the true, the pure, and the Christlike, can be free from these

the way.

offences. Yes, thank God, Christ Himself points out "Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." Are our hearts warm with the love of the Lord Jesus? Have we felt the sweetness of self-surrender to Him? Do we know and rejoice in the knowledge that he is calling us to be perfect as our Father in heaven? If not, this saying of Christ's will seem hard and harsh. It tells us that to enter into life, that is, to live in Christ, like Christ, and with Christ, there must be selfdenial. That if the world is to be free from offences, each individual must free himself. Wherefore""why"-how practical, how personal is the Lord Jesus! Look to thyself, be thou the one without offence!

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"Wilt thou avoid being the man on whom this woe is pronounced ?—then cut off all occasion of offence in thyself first." If it be through what in itself is good and precious, even that must be parted with. The "hand," "the foot," "the eye," are used