were still in life, they might yet escape; so he begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them, lest they also should come to that place of torment. Ah, why did he not care for them in this way before? Why did he not, while yet living, seek safety for his own soul, and try to turn them also into the right way? Doubtless, in life, care for their souls had been as far from his mind as care for his own. He had feasted with them many a time, but never sought God with them. Now at length he cares for them in another way, but not till it is too late.

Oh, ye who have ungodly brothers, children, relatives, friends, make use of the present time to warn them. Be not so cruel as to hold your peace, while yet your words may reach them. No wonder the rich man did not warn his brethren, for he had no sense even of his own danger. But if God by his grace has led you to repent and believe, then you ought to have a deep and awful sense of the danger those are in who are without Christ, and to leave no means untried for bringing them to him. True, the work must be God's, but you may seek to be his instruments. Do not put this off; use the opportunities which you now have. Do not wait till the great gulf lie between you and them, or till that other great and unpassable space be placed between you which separates the living from the dead.

And you who are living without God, see that you do not refuse to hear the word of warning which those who love you and care for your souls may give you It costs them much perhaps to give it, far more than you think; and perhaps it is only after much conflict and prayer that they can bring themselves to speak.

Be not angry with them, do not turn away in displeasure, and thus wound their hearts and rob yourselves of good. Take what they say as a message from God; for it comes to you by his providence. The time will come when those who now warn you will be able to do so no more; hear them while you may. One who warns you in love is a friend indeed.

The miserable man's second request met with no better success than the first. His brothers, Abraham reminds him, had Moses and the prophets: "let them hear them." The word of God and the appointed means of grace were within their reach, and were sufficient, if rightly used, to serve as a warning, and to lead them into the right way.

But he still pleaded. He too had had Moses and the prophets, but he had not attended to them; and well he knew that his brothers were living in like neglect. But let Lazarus go to them, let one appear from the place of the dead, and carry them a message from the unseen world, and then surely they would repent. The word of God and the usual means of grace they might neglect; but a voice from the dead they could not disregard.

Abraham's

So one would think; yet it is not so. answer is remarkable: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." If the careless and ungodly despise God's message when it comes to them in his appointed way, there is no reason for thinking that they would attend to it however it might come. A voice from the dead would startle, yet it would not of itself convert. An impression it would doubtless make, but not a lasting and saving one, unless God wrought by

his Spirit in the heart; and the Spirit can work by the gentlest and quietest means, and does in fact make use of those that are usual and common far more often than of those that are strange and startling.

Let us lay this solemn parable to heart. There is no one more solemn for here our Lord does, as it were, lift the veil that hides from our view the world to come. The rich man and Lazarus had their time on earth, and each had his appointed lot, and means, and opportunities; and then they died, and were separated for ever. We are now passing through life, and each of us has his own peculiar lot, and before us lies the eternal world and the great separation. Where are our hearts? What is our life? Whether we be rich or poor, strong or sickly, is a question of comparatively little moment: the great question is, what is the state of our souls in the sight of God? They of old time had “Moses and the prophets": we have far more, for we have Jesus and the gospel. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Abraham's bosom and the great gulf may be figures, but what they represent is plain, solemn truth. There is a happy place to which all true believers go when they die, and there is an endless separation between them and all others. The only safety is to flee in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ; and then, in watchfulness and prayer, and in the daily endeavour to do the will of God, to wait for his appearing. "Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing."

XXXIII.

THE UNJUST JUDGE.

"And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" LUKE Xviii. 1-8.

HIS parable is different from most. Here the dealings of God are compared with those, not of a good man, but of a bad man. This is remarkable; but, as we shall see presently, it does but add force to the lesson of the parable.

Our Lord's object was to teach perseverance in prayer; and this he did by showing that God will certainly answer prayer, though he may seem for a time to disregard it.

The parable represents a judge in a certain city, or town. There are such still in all the towns of the East; they are much the same as our magistrates. This man was a man of no principle: he feared not God, nor regarded man; he had no wish to do justice. A widow of the place had been injured by some one, and brought her cause before him. We are plainly

meant to understand that it was a just cause; yet the judge paid no attention to her; and though she came again and again, he would still do nothing for her. He cared nothing whether she had justice done her or not. But the widow kept on coming continually, till the judge was quite tired of her and her cause; and so at last he determined to see her righted, -not because he cared for justice, but merely that he might get rid of her. He did not even pretend to have a better motive: "Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet, because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me."

Now follows the application: "And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily." Shall the unjust judge at length attend to the widow's cry, merely to rid himself of her; and shall God, the righteous Judge, refuse to hear those who call upon him? Shall a mere selfish feeling prevail with this bad man, and shall the God of mercy and truth be deaf to prayer? Impossible. If the unjust judge heard, much more will God hear. If importunity and perseverance at length prevailed even in this case, much more will they prevail with God, who has told us to pray, and has promised to hear. This is the lesson of the parable.

But our Lord adds, "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ?" Notwithstanding all the promises to prayer, will the Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes again, find men living in dependence upon God, seeking the Saviour in faith,