istent with themselves; but not so the
Saviour. With what authority did He rebuke their selfishness, their
duplicity, their sin; and yet how confidently could He appeal to His
bitterest opponents as to the simplicity and purity of His own character
and life--"Which of you convinceth _Me_ of sin?" The proud and
supercilious Pharisees sought "to entangle Him in His talk;" they charged
Him with blasphemy, with disregard for the Sabbath, with breaking the
law, and they disputed His authority to act as He did; but their cunning
could not ensnare, their threatening could not intimidate. Satan sought
by a threefold temptation to turn Him aside; he desired Him to question,
in the first place, the providence of God, then to tempt an interposition
of Providence by exposing Himself to unnecessary danger, and finally to
fall down and worship him; but our Lord indignantly repelled the tempter,
and maintained His purity; and "angels came and ministered unto Him." "I
must work the works of Him that sent me," was the motto of His life--the
simple purpose of His mind; nor did He shrink from any portion of that
work however hazardous and difficult. "My meat," said He, "is to do the
will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work."

In this simple purpose of the Saviour's mind and conduct we have a
beautiful example. Nothing is so difficult, in days like these, as the
maintenance of a pure and simple mind. Duplicity, deception, and
selfishness pervade all ranks and conditions of men. You find them in
the shop, in the market-place, in the family, and alas! in the church
itself; and nothing but a resolute resistance, directed and sustained by
the grace of God, can make the Christian proof against these evils. O
imitate the Saviour. Mark out for yourselves a definite line of conduct,
consistent with your Christian profession, and adhere to it firmly, in
spite of custom or contempt, and in the prospect of death itself.

Simplicity produces unity. There is nothing complex in the character and
life of Christ. Every part is in perfect keeping with the whole. His
teaching, His miracles, His conduct, illustrate each other, and combine
to prove His true Messiahship, and exhibit the perfection of His life.
If there were glaring inconsistencies in the history of Jesus--if the
four Evangelists had written documents which could not be harmonized--if
the moral teaching, and the moral conduct of Christ were at variance--if
His pretensions w