It is easy to say, that such ought to put their trust in the Lord, and not to let earthly affairs fill them with anxious cares; but a sudden change from affluence to poverty may severely try the faith of the sincerest follower of Christ. In such circumstances the brother needs the sympathy and help of his brethren; and they should come to his aid more liberally and cheerfully than men of the world ever do. It is almost incredible, and yet it is true, that professors of Christ's name can be found who are actually ashamed of those who have suddenly become poor. Some will even shun them, while they covet the companionship of those who have acquired their wealth by dishonourable means. Where the man is appreciated for his own sake, such conduct is, of course, impossible. The true believer will cling the more closely to the brother in such trying circumstances, simply because he needs his help the more.

When affliction enters the family in the form of sickness and death, then the tender, loving sympathy of the Christian brother is specially grateful. “A friend in need is a friend indeed." Those who have been in similar affliction are best able to sympathize with the afflicted brother and to cheer him. But all the brethren should make his case their own. Much may be done to relieve suffering, to encourage faith, and to cheer the heart. And in sickness, especially on the death-bed, no Christian should be without the aid of his brethren. Whatever balm may be needed, they should furnish it, as far as it is in their power. In this respect the primitive Church is a model for all ages. The Church laid to heart the afflictions of a brother, and helped him to bear them. She gathered around her martyrs, and cheered them on their way to

POVERTY AFFLICTION.

337

martyrdom, as is strikingly illustrated in the case of Polycarp. Then, when one member of the body suffered, all the members suffered with it.

The same law of duty applies to all kinds of adversity. Christian love is never better applied than when it seeks and helps the most needy and the most neglected brethren. That is work the most like Christ's and the surest of heaven's approval. Priests and Levites can be spared from the Church of Christ, but good Samaritans are in great demand. Social affinities and other causes will, naturally, draw the believer more closely to some brethren than to others. But however proper this may be, the spirit of Christ should, at the same time, draw him to the tried, the suffering, and the afflicted brother, simply because he needs his help.

We can sum up the whole matter by saying, that the ideal unity of Christian society gives the law for the love and conduct of brother to brother. All the social conduct in Christian society is to spring from the living consciousness of this unity, and its aim should be to make the real Christian society correspond with the ideal. On this whole subject the realization of the social truths in John's First Epistle, and in I Cor. 12, 13, is of special importance. All have the right spirit who can heartily say:

"Before our Father's throne

We pour our ardent prayers:
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,

Our comforts and our cares.

"We share our mutual woes,

Our mutual burdens bear,
And often for each other flows

The sympathizing tear.”

338

FOURTH DIVISION.

CHAPTER XVI,

CHRISTIAN LOVE IN ITS APPLICATION TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIANS.

MUCH that has already been said is applicable to believers in their association with non-believers. This need not be repeated here. In this chapter it is the aim to notice those things which make the duties of Christians to non-believers peculiar.

As the Christian must sustain other than purely spiritual relations, so he must also expect to enter into association with worldly men for other than purely spiritual aims. The moral law for all such associations is, never to enter into relations which are sinful; never to countenance evil; never to deny, explicity or implicity, the Christian character; and never, in worldly affairs, to ignore the religious relations and duties. But important as these relations may be, it is the religious influence of the believer which chiefly concerns us here. The better to understand that, it will be convenient to divide the chapter under different heads.

The believer's religious aim for associating with non-believers.

THE BELIEVER'S AIM LIKE CHRIST'S. 339

In this, as well as in every other respect, Christ's course is the model for believers. The Pharisees judged him according to the rule that a man is known by the company he keeps. They regarded all association with sinners as an evidence of similarity of character and congeniality of taste. The Pharisees, being carnal, could not appreciate the spiritual motives of Jesus. Though he was the farthest removed from sinners in character and disposition, Jesus nevertheless frequently entered into conversation with them, and showed deep sympathy for them. In associating with them he accomplished his mission to seek and to save that which was lost. It was his aim to free them from the dominion of sin, and to make them children of God and heirs of glory.

Jesus wanted his disciples to be like himself in spirit, and their work like his own. "Follow me," so often spoken by him, meant more than merely to walk after him. It evidently meant to make him the model, and to strive in all things to be and to do like him. And all that he taught his disciples, by word and miracle and example, was calculated to fit them to do the same kind of work that he performed. His call to them was, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." That this applies specially to the first disciples and to ministers, is true; but it also applies to all believers. And so far as the believer associates with non-believers for a religious purpose, his aim should be the same as that of Christ-to win them from sin and bring them unto God.

this as the aim.

Christ's example and command are sufficient to fix
Other considerations, however, serve
God's grand aim with reference to

to confirm this.

man is his redemption from sin and his full restoration to the image of God; and in this all who have the mind of God must be in harmony with him. The believer walks with God and is his co-worker. But the very nature of the believer's love establishes the same aim. He loves the soul of the non-believer, which is also the object of the love of Christ and of the Father. This soul he loves, not merely for what it is, but also for its capacities and possibilities. Though steeped in sin, it may become pure and a radiant reflection of the divine image. Genuine love for the soul will seek for it that which is highest ; this is its redemption and its immortal glory.

When the believer appreciates God's saving love, Christ's work, and the soul's inestimable value, it is no wonder that he is seized with an intense longing and deep yearning for lost souls, such as interpret the seeking and dying love of Christ. The only wonder is, that those who are Christians can be so indifferent to the condition and fate of those termed "lost" by the Gospel The indifference, and even apathy of some professors of religion can only be explained by their unbelief, or else by their utter failure to appreciate the value of man, the destructiveness of sin, and the power of redemption.

2. The nature of the spiritual work in behalf of non-believers.

This work differs materially from that performed by the believer in behalf of his brethren in Christ. The latter, as we have seen, is partly destructive, partly constructive. The non-believer also has faults, which are to be removed; and he may also have much that is worthy of being developed, excellences