as one of mere form without inward substance. Verily the veil is before their eyes.

But alas, if the heart be thus in the rank soil of the corruption of the sinful world and rebellious flesh, it must produce something much worse still than the barren leaves of the insincere profession of Christ, which of itself, it seems, is enough to provoke His curse. What then must be His judgment, in the day of His visitation on that "something much worse?" The very thought should amaze us with fear and confusion. If a false profession is abominable in His sight as a denial of His all-seeing eye, as an affront upon His power, as a tempting of His ever-present arm, what must be the open and direct abandonment of it, which so many make by their ungodly lives? To the heart then, to the heart let all go, as to the root of all in which they have any true and lasting concern. If its love be not of God, if its faith be not in Christ, if its hope be not of eternal life, if its fear be not of offending our Father which is in heaven, if its joy be not in serving Him, if its peace be not that of a conscience purged from dead works by the blood of Christ: but, on the contrary, if its love be set on earthly things, its faith be in the world, its hope be of this life only, its fear be of offending man,

its joy be in the flesh, its peace be that of a conscience seared by wounds which impenitence has allowed to fester, where is it then rooted indeed, and what fruit can it bear? "Where is it?" Such must be our daily watchword. And of this we may be certain, that if we know not where it is, it must be in the wrong place.

This dealing of our Lord with the fig-tree is a most apt introduction to that which He did when He had entered Jerusalem. There, in no long time afterwards, He stood amidst the professed people of God, and on the very spot of their most showy profession. He entered the Temple, and a most imposing spectacle was there indeed. The building itself was as magnificent as skill, working most artfully and at a most costly price in gold, silver, brass, in cedar, ivory, and marble could make it. But where was the inward substance which should be expressed by all this care concerning the outward form? Where was the temple of the pure heart among this people? There were clouds of smoke of burnt offerings, crowds of priests, throngs of worshippers. But where was the mercy which God preferred to sacrifice, because it gave it its real meaning? Where was the obedience which the Lord preferred to the fat of rams, in the offering of which

it was so essentially implied? There were seen the scribes with books in their hands containing the letter of Scripture. But where was the

spirit? There were the Pharisees with their long robes and phylacteries, and sorrowful faces. But where was the heart, which humbled itself that it might be exalted? There was music and song, uttering the sounds of praise and prayer, loud and sweet. But where was the contrite and thankful heart? The show was goodly indeed. All seemed to have been most studiously contrived to set forth the honour and glory of God. And who would have blamed the show had it been sincere? Thus this fig-tree, this general representative of all the fig-trees in God's Church, shewed abundance of leaves, put on a most inviting appearance.

And did the Lord Jesus, who had been so disappointed early on this day in satisfying His bodily hunger from the fig-tree, and was now spiritually hungry for the opportunity of joining heart with fellow-worshippers (for it was probably the hour of morning sacrifice) and offering to His heavenly Father in His own house the tribute of prayer and praise, and of receiving into His human nature the heavenly and spiritual food which was there conveyed to the heart of

the worshipper: did He meet with disappointment here also? He did indeed. Amid all this outward show of devotion they were holding a market in the courts of the Lord's house, and were turning the house of prayer into a den of thieves. So, as He had pronounced the doom of the fig-tree He was about to pronounce the doom of the Temple, and of all that worshipped in it. And as that doom came to pass, so was this about coming to pass as surely and irreversibly.

Here is a lesson for our hearts if we would keep them as temples in which Christ shall dwell by faith and the Holy Spirit through grace of sanctification. Let us tremble at the example which that people of God, which abused their Temple, presents to us. We wonder how they could come to such a mind as thus to violate the common decency of religious observance, and treat the Holy One of Israel with such heartless irreverence. But shall we continue to wonder after we have considered that nothing so hardens the heart, and makes it insensible even to the common sense and feeling which religion demands, as a life led after an inconsistent profession. It becomes blinded by such deceitfulness so as to be deprived of the very use of judgment on spiritual matters. It grows insensible to the force of

heavenly truth, and so can neither perceive nor obey that truth. Have we not before now, alas ! heard of persons, if we have not met them, who, from indulging in the habit of speaking falsehood, have in course of time become unable to distinguish truth from falsehood. A life of insincere profession has the same effect on men, only on a much larger scale, and with still more awful consequences. They grow insensible to the fact of its insincerity, quite indifferent to its discordance with the rule of true godliness. And thus is verified in false Christians now that which was verified in false Israelites then, Hearing they hear and do not understand and seeing they see and do not perceive."

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Such is the terrible lesson afforded by the events of this day. It is full of threatening and preparation for judgment. It gives us a foretaste, even amidst the fullest exhibition of the love of our Lord, of His character as Judge. We see that, if as a Saviour He can feel for us, pity us, love us, smile upon us with mercy and goodness, and bless us: so, as a Judge, He can feel against us, vent His indignation upon us, exhibit to us a countenance of terrifying severity, and dismiss us with a curse into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Now