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not being represented as remarkably impious, or profligate, the lesson contained in his history will be of much more general application than might at first appear. Many actually live as the man here described; more go, though not so far as he, yet as far in such godless indulgences as their circumstances permit; and still more have their affections set on them, though they cannot get at them. In reading this description, then, it becomes us all to be jealous over ourselves, lest we virtually cherish the same spirit, and thereby expose ourselves to the same condemnation.

This case, however, addresses itself most directly to the rich and prosperous. Undoubtedly, wealth exposes men to many temptations to forget God, to look no farther for happiness than to earthly gratifications, and even to become proud, oppressive, and profligate. "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" said our Lord; and, in explanation of that saying, he added, "How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” What a curse do riches become, and what an occasion for lamentation do they present, when they are the means of ruining the soul! "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl, your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten; your gold and silver are cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire."

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"Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter." But all this will become more and more plain and impressive as we proceed.

What a contrast to the outward condition of this rich man is presented in that of him of whom our Lord thus speaks, "And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores!" The word Lazarus, may be so derived as to signify either, no help, or, help in God. According to either of these derivations, the name was well chosen, and very descriptive of this man, who had no help but in God. Poverty will prevail, in different degrees, at different times and places; but we are told that "the poor shall never cease out of the land." Such penury may be necessary, partly in the way of punishment, and for the manifestation of the evil consequences of misconduct, in the case of some; and partly in the way of mercy, for the spiritual training of others; and it is obvious that it affords scope for the exercise of benevolence, on the part of those who

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are more favourably situated as to outward circumstances. In these varied distributions, the agency of Divine Providence is devoutly to be acknowledged. "The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them." As for the man here mentioned, he was in abject poverty, having neither sufficient food to satisfy his hunger, nor sufficient raiment to cover his diseased body. Being unable to work for his bread, he was constrained to beg for it. He was a beggar, not from choice and indolence, we may be sure, but from necessity; for no man of piety would be guilty of preying on the public, who is able to support himself, or would needlessly and voluntarily resort to habits of low and idle vagrancy, which are so annoying to others, and so likely to destroy all good principle and good feeling in himself, and which, therefore, ought, as much as possible, to be discouraged.

In addition to his extreme poverty, Lazarus laboured under severe bodily distress. He was 66 full of sores," which had so enfeebled his body that he could not walk; he was therefore carried from place to place, and laid down where relief might be expected to be afforded to him. We cannot, indeed, by any means, look on this particular way of proceeding with poor, disabled persons, as the best which can be adopted; for it would be far better that they were provided for in some settled home. Nevertheless, the plan of carrying out the infirm poor is natural enough in a very simple state of society, and is better in any case, than that they should be left to pine in want, unseen. Thus, we read, in the Acts of the Apostles, that when Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, "a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple." At the rich man's gate, then, lay the poor, diseased Lazarus, " desiring to be fed," anxious to have his hunger satisfied, though it were but

*Acts iii. 1.

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+ 'Exilvμav. Elsner thinks this word should be here rendered," being contented, "or," reckoning it a great matter;" and remarks that the word used for, "being delighted," in the Septuagint of Isa. lviii. 2; and for, "being contented," by Lysias, Orat. xxiv.

"with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table." This seems to have been a common proverbial expression; for, when Jesus said to the woman of Canaan, who came worshipping him, and imploring his help, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs," she replied, "Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table." The desire of Lazarus was modest, and he would have been contented with little. We are not told whether that little was granted or not. It may have been that he was relieved in that way, for there is nothing said to the contrary; and, though the rich man was graceless and godless, we are not therefore obliged to suppose that he was destitute of the common feelings of humanity. Nor, though we were to suppose, not merely that such scanty relief, but much more abundant supply, was granted, would it follow that he was, properly speaking, a good man, or one who would not have been lost for ever; for we must not be so forgetful of the first principles of Christianity, as to imagine that a pittance given to the poor from his abundance, or even the most splendid donations, can secure deliverance from hell, and admission into heaven, for the man who " neglects the great salvation," and lives and dies in nature's condemnation and unregenerateness.

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This poor man was full of sores: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." Whatever may be in the idea that this process has something of a soothing and healing nature, the circumstance is here stated as an aggravation* of Lazarus' misery. He had none to take proper care of his ulcers. Isaiah's figurative description was, in this case, literally true: "His whole head was sick, his whole heart faint. From the sole of his foot, even unto his head, there was no soundness in him; but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores: they were not closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." It could not have been, on the way to glory as he was, that Lazarus made a studious display of his sores; for it is certain, that those beggars who are the most ostentatious of misery, and the most clamorous in proclaiming their wants, are by no means generally the most afflicted and most indigent. The situation of Lazarus was such that he could not conceal his sores from the public eye, and this at once demonstrated and aggravated his sufferings. Thus, destitute of the necessaries of life, of

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'Moreover," ¿λλa xa, nay, but also-in addition to the painful circumstances mentioned before.-Grotius, Beza, Calvin.

health, and of friends, he dragged out, to human appearance, a wretched life, till death terminated his sorrows.

Such was the outward condition of Lazarus: but what was his character? Though we have not any particular description of this, yet, from his admission into heaven at last, it is necessarily to be inferred that he was a believing and a holy man. He was one who, though poor, in the literal sense, was rich in treasures of grace. Though he could scarcely obtain crumbs of the bread that perisheth, he feasted abundantly on "the bread of life." Though in rags, he was clothed in the garments of salvation. Though his body was sick, and full of sores, his soul was healed and cleansed by the great Physician. Though heavily smitten, he bowed to the stroke, and welcomed all his heavenly Father's will.

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On this branch of the parable we may found the general observation, that outward circumstances furnish no criterion of men's spiritual state and character, or of the favour or displeasure of God. "No man knoweth either love, or hatred, by all that is before him.” On the one hand, some wicked men, with whom the Lord is angry every day, are very prosperous. "Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens; and their tongue walketh through the earth."- Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world: they increase in riches." This should teach us all not to set too high a value on outward advantages, but to desire chiefly those blessings which are connected with God's favour here, and which are a pledge of his presence hereafter. On the other hand, it often happen's that the Lord's people are in very depressed and afflicted circumstances, so that, if in this life only they had hope, they would be of all men the most miserable. Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?" This should teach those who are in a lowly and afflicted condition to see to it that they have an interest in the unsearchable riches of Christ, and be possessed of the consolations of the gospel. If such be their attainments, then they will be " as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."

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The second branch of the parable of the rich man and

Lazarus is, their death, and the state into which it introduced them. This branch includes the 22d and 23d verses.

The poor man and the rich man both died. This change is common to all. Some die in prosperity, and some in adversity. "One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them." The high and the low fall under death's stroke. The prince and the beggar meet in death's domain; "the small and the great are there." Saints and sinners die; but the result, to the two classes, is very different. Saints die, that they may escape from sorrow, and be for, ever with the Lord-sinners, that all their hollow joys may expire, and that they may go " to their own place.'

In this case, "it came to pass that the beggar died." In his last moments, he would be refreshed, we must suppose, with divine support, and the most glorious prospects, and death would put an end to all his wants and pains for ever. How sweet, to poor and afflicted believers, the moment when they are taken away from the evil to come, when they enter into peace, and rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness! There is nothing said of Lazarus' funeral. Doubtless, his body was put out of the way by some means. It was, probably, borne to the narrow house by a few persons almost as poor as he had been himself. He died unlamented and unregretted by the public, if they did not even feel pleased that the world was rid of an unpleasant burden. Yet not uncared or unhonoured was he in his departure; for "he"-that is, his soul, which was truly himself—" was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." We are told that the angels are "all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." We are also informed, more particularly, that they have charge of the saints on their ways or journeys. The words of the Psalmist* are applicable, not only to Christ himself, but to each of his followers: "The Lord shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.' It is nothing more than these declarations would lead to expect, that the angels would not desert, but attend, with peculiar care, the people of God, in their last, and * Ps. xci. 11.

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