e, but it remains, and is as real to-day as it ever was, and
there is neither wisdom nor kindness in ignoring the distinction.

The phrase of our text may sound harsh, and might be used, as it was by
the Jews, from whom it was borrowed, in a very narrow and bitter spirit.
Close corporations of any sort are apt to generate, not only a wholesome
_esprit de corps_, but a hostile contempt for outsiders, and
Christianity has too often been misrepresented by its professors, who
have looked down upon those that are without with supercilious and
unchristian self-complacency.

There is nothing of that sort in the words themselves; the very opposite
is in them. They sound to me like the expression of a man conscious of
the security and comfort and blessedness of the home where he sat, and
with his heart yearning for all the houseless wanderers that were
abiding the pelting of the pitiless storm out in the darkness there. The
spirit and attitude of Christianity to such is one of yearning pity and
urgent entreaty to come in and share in the blessings. There is deep
pathos in the words, as well as solemn earnestness, and in such a spirit
I wish to dwell upon them now for a short time.

I. I begin with the question: Who are they that are outside? And what is
it of which they are outside?

As I have already remarked, the phrase was apparently borrowed from
Judaism, where it meant, 'outside the Jewish congregation,' and its
primary application, as used here, is no doubt to those who are outside
the Christian Church. But do not let us suppose that that explanation
gets to the bottom of the meaning of the words. It may stand as a
partial answer, but only as partial. The evil tendency which attends all
externalising of truth in the concrete form of institutions works in
full force on the Church, and ever tempts us to substitute outward
connection with the institution for real possession of the truth of
which the institution is the outgrowth. Therefore I urge upon you very
emphatically--and all the more earnestly because of the superstitious
overestimate of outward connection with the outward institution of the
Church which is eagerly proclaimed all around us to-day--that connection
with any organised body of believing men is not 'being within,' and that
isolation from all these is not necessarily 'being without.' Many a man
who is within the organisation is not 'in the truth,' and, blessed be
God, a man may be outside all churches, and