The altitude of a mountain is the measure of its solitude, for as its eminence increases it overpasses the companionship of lesser peaks. This is true even of worldly position, and Tennyson said, after one of his last interviews with Queen Victoria, "She is so lonely on that height; it is terrible!" Consider then the altitude and solitude of the Master's spirit. The situation in Gethsemane is typical of his whole life; the world, outside, alien and hostile; a few of his disciples at the garden gate, sympathetic but dull of understanding; Peter, James and John closer to the Master and comprehending more his purpose and his struggle; but far beyond them all, under the trees, Jesus himself, fighting out his battle alone with God! Think of the times when the Master, trying to get his disciples to understand him and failing, forced to say even at the end, "I have many things to tell you, but ye cannot bear them now," must have longed for the sympathetic companionship of some human friend who really could enter into his profoundest purposes and share his spiritual experiences.

Review in your thought now the burdens of the Master: the discouraging handicaps of the Jewish field in which he worked, the inadequacy of the men who were his instruments, the calumny and hostility with which his saviorhood was greeted, the imminent certainty of his own crucifixion and the persecution of his friends, and finally the loneliness of his own soul. From what you know of men, what would be the natural effect of such a cumulation of burdens and hostilities? Would you not expect anyone so circumstanced to be gloomy and morose? Yet, consider that all we said of the Master's joy is true, in the face of all this array of troubles. His radiant cheer was never submerged by them. Would you not expect anyone under such conditions to grow anxious, worrying over his threatened work? Yet the Master's confidence never wavered. Even when Mary Magdalene anointed his feet with ointment, and he said that it was for his burial, he added, "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her" (Matt. 26: 12, 13). Can you easily imagine anyone, facing what the Master faced, without becoming cynical and discouraged? Doctor Jefferson has noted in this connection the words of Lord Randolph Churchill in a letter to his wife in 1891: "More than two-thirds, in all probability, of my life is over, and I will not spend the remainder of my years in beating my head against a stone wall. There has been no considera

tion, no indulgence, no memory or gratitude-nothing but spite, malice and abuse. I am quite tired and dead sick of it all, and will not continue political life any longer." In the light of this natural human outburst, think of the patience, the persistent faith, the unconquerable good will of the Master. Would you not expect anyone, enduring what he endured in a good cause, to have his faith in God shaken? Trouble strips a man of all his borrowed faith and drives him in on his own resources. In prosperity a man may believe in God in common with his friends and may rejoice in social worship; but in trouble, all artificial props arc knocked away, and he can rely on no more faith than that which he possesses in himself. Joy says we; sorrow says I. Joy says. "Come worship the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together." Sorrow says, "O my God, my soul is cast down within me." Think of how many people find that they have no real faith when they are so driven in upon themselves. Then consider the Master's perfect reliance on his Father, even in the agonies of crucifixion saying, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit."

What think ye of Christ? Is it any wonder that the Church's thought has been irresistibly drawn to him as the fufillment of Isaiah's fifty-third chapter?

STUDY VI.

The Master's Sincerity

DAILY READINGS

First Day, Sixth Week

Isaiah 29:13-15. And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them; therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

Woe unto them that hide deep their counsel from Jehovah, and whose works are in the dark, and that say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

Matt. 15:7-9. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying

This people honoreth me with their lips;

But their heart is far from me.

But in vain do they worship me,

Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Note that one of the strongest passages in the prophets against hypocrisy is a favorite with the Master. We can picture him reading and pondering it, and, not content with its historical reference, seeking the meaning of the same spirit in his own day. Let us this week catch for ourselves the Master's feeling about sincerity and hypocrisy, and let us think of the new forms in which they clothe themselves in our generation. It is easy to condemn the Pharisees now; they are dead. But it will cost a searching struggle for some of us to give up our own contentment with the

approval of man who "looketh on the outward appearance", and seek inwardly to be such persons that we have the approval of God, who “looketh on the heart."

Second Day, Sixth Week

Matt. 23:5-10. But all their works they do to be seen of men; for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ.

In the light of this passage define the hypocrisy that Jesus so much abhorred. Does it not consist in caring little for the real goodness and usefulness of life, so long as an admirable, or at least respectable, appearance can be maintained? How modern this sin is! Some one has written: "He stands having his loins girt about with religiosity and having on the breastplate of respectability. His feet are shod with ostentatious philanthrophy, his head is encased in the helmet of spread-eagle patriotism. Holding in his left hand the buckler of worldly success and in his right the sword of 'influence', he is able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Compare this picture with the original portrait in Ephesians 6:10ff, for which the Master himself might have sat.

Third Day, Sixth Week

Matt. 6:2-6. When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.

And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner

chamber, and having shut_thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.

The secret of hypocrisy is the desire to appear well without paying the price that being right costs. We love to be highly regarded by men; we make their approval our standard; and we learn that we can meet this standard, for a while at least, by outward appearance. It is of this that Jesus is thinking in Luke 16:15, "Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God knoweth your hearts." Think frankly of ways you have deliberately tried to cover the real truth by outward appearance, for the sake of gaining approval in your family, in your college classroom, in your church. Consider the ignobility of this; and, in contrast, the nobility of being a person of whom those who know him best may say, as Spurgeon said of Gladstone: "We believe in no man's infallibility, but it is restful to feel sure of one man's integrity."

Fourth Day, Sixth Week

Matt. 5:13-16. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matt. 6:1-2. Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.

How do you explain this apparent self-contradiction of Jesus? He tells us so to live that men may see our good works; and then he warns us not to do our righteousness to be seen of men. Does not the explanation lie in the fact that there are two kinds of hypocrisy? With the latter sort, where a man tries to appear better than he is, we are familiar; but we must face the former kind, where a man is willing to appear worse than he is. If a man is a follow