the text in its spiritual teaching. Rest in the Lord Jesus yourself, but endeavour to bring all your family into the same peace, "that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou." Surely if you have been set free from the iron bondage you ought not to want urging to keep with all sacredness this holy day, which the mercy of God has hedged about, nor should you need exhorting to rest in the Lord, and to endeavour to lead others into his rest.

In Deuteronomy vii. we have another use of this remembrance. Here the chosen people are commanded to keep separate from the nations. They were not to intermarry with the Canaanites nor make alliances with them. Israel was to be separated, even as Moses said, "thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God." And the reason he gives in the eighth verse is this: "the Lord redeemed thee out of the house of bondmen." Ah, brethren, if we are redeemed from among men, if there be a special and particular redemption, as we do believe, by which Christ loved his church and gave himself for it, then as the specially blood-bought ones we are under solemn obligations to come out from the world and to be separate from it. Did not Jesus say of his redeemed, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world"? Therefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate.

In the eighth chapter redemption is used as an argument for obedience, and they are exhorted not to forget the laws and statutes of the Lord, and above all warned lest in the midst of prosperity their heart should be lifted up so as to forget the Lord their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. The same argument runs through the eleventh chapter, and it is a very clear one. We ought to render glad obedience to him who has wrought us so great a deliverance.

We find in the thirteenth chapter that the redemption from bondage is used as an argument for loyal attachment to the one and only God. The tendency of the nation was to idolatry, since all the countries round about had gods many and lords many; but the Lord commanded his people to put to death all prophets and dreamers of dreams who might seek to lead them away from the worship of Jehovah. "Thou shalt stone him with stones that he die," says the tenth verse, "because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You must not have another God, for no other God delivered you: worship him to whom you owe your all.

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Our own text is set in the following connection. If a man entered into forced servitude, or came under any bonds to his fellow man among the Jews, he could only be so held for six years, and on the seventh he was to go free. "And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee." The Lord's people should be considerate of those who are in their employment. The recollection of their own bondage should make them tender and kind to those who are in subservience to themselves, and never should a Christian man be

ungenerous, illiberal, severe, churlish with his servants, or with any who are dependent upon him. Be large-hearted. Do not be angry at every little fault, nor swift to observe every slight mistake; and be not for ever standing on your exact rights, litigious, sticking out for the last half-farthing, as some do. I am almost sorry if a mean, stingy man gets converted, for I am afraid he will be no credit to Christianity. There should be in a man redeemed with the blood of Christ something like nobility of soul and benevolence to his fellow men, and so even this stern book of the law teaches us.

I have no time except to remind you that they were bound to keep the passover because of their deliverance from Egypt as we find in the sixteenth chapter at the first verse. "Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night." So let us also take heed unto ourselves that we keep all the statutes and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. Let us keep the ordinances as they were delivered unto us, and neither alter nor misplace them. Hold fast the truth and be not moved from it by the cunning craftiness of men. according to the teaching of Scripture in all things, keeping the good old way, because the Lord our God redeemed us, and his truth is unchangeable.

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Walk

Again, in the sixteenth chapter, verses 10 to 12, you have the great redemption used as an argument for liberality towards the cause of God: they were to give unto the Lord rejoicingly of that which the Lord had given to them. "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee; and that because of the twelfth verse, "Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.' In the twentysixth chapter the same teaching is reduced to a set form, for they were there commanded to bring each one a basket of first fruits and offer it unto the Lord, saying "The Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me.' Need I even for a moment impress this duty upon you?

Last of all, in the twenty-fourth chapter there remains one more lesson. We are there exhorted to be careful concerning the fatherless and the widow (Deut. xxiv. 17). A generous spirit was to be exhibited towards the poor. They were not to fetch in all their sheaves from the field if any were forgotten, nor to scrape up every single ear of corn from among the stubble, as some do in these days, nor to beat their olive tree twice, nor to gather the grapes of their vineyard a second time, but they were to leave something for the poor. This was the argument:-When you were in Egypt, when you had to make bricks without straw, how glad you were to turn your children in among the stubble to gather a few ears to make a loaf of bread; and now the Lord has given you a better land, therefore deal well with the poor. Brethren, let the needy never be forgotten by you; do not be miserly, do not imitate those farmers who would comb their fields with a small-toothed comb if they could, sooner than the poor should

glean, raking it and raking it again and again. No, the ransomed Israelites were not even to pick all their fruit, for the argument was, "Would not you when in Egypt have given anything for a bunch of those grapes which grew in the gardens of the rich?' Think, therefore, of the poor and deal kindly with them, even as you would wish others to deal with you.

With this I close. Be ye thoughtful of all your fellow-men. You that have been redeemed with price, be ye tender-hearted, full of compassion, putting on bowels of mercy. In spiritual things take care that you never rake the corners of your fields. Do not rob the gospel of its sweetness. There is a class of preaching out of which the last ear of wheat has been taken. Their gospel is criticised into nothing. The sceptical commentators come in and pick nearly every bunch of grapes, and then the modern thought gentry devour the rest. The preaching of modern times is as an olive tree beaten till not a trace of fruit remains. Let it not be so with us, but let the preacher say, "I was a bondman, and therefore I will drop handfuls on purpose for poor souls in trouble.'

Brethren, be very considerate to seekers. Look them up. Talk to them after the sermon. Say a word to those sitting in your pew which may encourage their poor trembling hearts to lay hold on Jesus Christ. Remember that thou wast a bondman: the smell of the brickkiln is upon thee now, my brother, my sister: thou hast not yet cleansed all the clay from thy hands with which thou didst work in mortar and in brick. Then do not become selfish, unloving, unkind, but in all things love thy neighbour as thyself, and so prove that thou lovest the Lord thy God with all thy heart. God bless thee. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-Deuteronomy vi. 1-15; xxiv. 17-22; xxvi. 1—11.

HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK "-152, 660, 810.

COMPASSION ON THE IGNORANT.

A Sermon

DELIVERED BY

C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity."-Hebrews v. 2.

THIS is a part of the necessary qualification of a priest. Under the old law there were priests who were taken from among men in order that they might speak to God for men, and might speak to men for God. They were taken from among men, not from among angels; and they were taken from men compassed with infirmity, and not from absolutely perfect men like those in heaven, in order that they might be familiar with sinful and suffering men, and on a level with them. When the people of Israel came to them they saw that they were speaking to persons who knew and understood their weaknesses and sorrows, and not to exalted beings who would look down upon them with serene indifference. They felt that they could approach their priest without the awe which creates a freezing distance, as though a yawning crevasse opened between; and when they spoke to their friend, the minister of God, they felt that they could tell him their trials and troubles, for he had felt the same, and therefore was able to console and comfort them. Many a kindly word the good man spake before he sent them back to their houses, which he never could have spoken unless he had been a man himself "compassed with infirmity." Loving them and being such as they were, he was able to have patience with the many strange cases which came before him; he was not soon vexed by their stupidity, but listened carefully to what they had to say, trying to solve their difficulties, and to meet their cases. He knew that he too was weakness and folly itself before his God, and his own afflictions and tremblings made him feel that he must be gentle to others since the Lord had been tender to him. It was, in the all-wise providence of God, ordained that the sons of Aaron should be men compassed with infirmity that they might compass others with sympathy. Men No. 1,407.

admire an iron duke for war, but who could bear an iron priest in the hour of trouble? A brazen wall is good for a defence, but we need a breast of flesh and blood for consolation. Give me for a spiritual comforter and guide, not an infallible pontiff, nor a thrice-crowned spiritual lord, but a brother of my own condition, a friend possessed of a nature like my own.

After mentioning this fact, which is stated in the text, I would bring forth two remarks which will constitute the essence of our discourse. The first is, that compassion and forbearance are two great qualifications for doing good to our fellow-men; and, secondly-and upon this I shall dwell at length-that both of these are found pre-eminently in our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore we may with boldness come to him. May the great Spirit whose teaching is our sole means of profiting bless our meditation.

I. First, then, COMPASSION AND FORBEARANCE ARE TWO THINGS

WHICH ANY MAN WHO WOULD DO GOOD TO HIS FELLOW-MEN OUGHT TO POSSESS TO A VERY LARGE DEGREE.

You will have plenty of use for all the compassion and all the tenderness that you can possibly command, for this will help to draw around you those who are ignorant and out of the way. Men will not gather to some individuals: they are too hard, too cold, too stern. They seem cut out of stone, they have no feeling; or else they are dry and leathery, and have none of the juice of humanity in them-no warm blood-no milk of human kindness, and you are not attracted to them. Who loves a bag of old nails, or a sack of sawdust? And yet some men and women are almost as hard and dry. If you want to draw people around you, you must have sympathy with them: compassion magnetizes a man, and makes him attract as the loadstone fascinates the needle. A big heart is one of the main essentials to great usefulness. Try and cultivate it. Do not let another man's sorrow fall upon a deaf ear as far as you are concerned, but sorrow with the sorrowful, and have compassion upon the ignorant and those that are out of the way they will soon perceive it, and they will do to you as they did to your Master, of whom we read, "Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners." Men will cluster around you like bees around their queen, they will not be able to help it; they will not wish to help it. Love is the queen bee, and where she is you will find the centre of the

hive.

By this same spell you will hold those whom you gather, for men will not long remain with an unloving leader: even little children in our classes will not long listen to an unsympathetic teacher. Great armies of soldiers must be led by a great soldier, and children must be held in hand by child-like instructors. When human beings surround an uncompassionate personage they soon find it out, and fly off at a tangent as if by instinct. You may collect people for a time by some extraneous means, but unless they perceive that you love them, and that your heart goes out with desires for their good, they will soon weary of you. The multitude still clung to the skirts of Jesus, even to the last, whenever he preached, because they saw that he really desired their good. You, dear friend, must have compassion if you are to keep up the attention of those whom you address. The earth is held together by the force of