t
He." We are tempted to stumbling. We are like to fall over the
mysteries of God's dealings with us. We are more able than ever before
to appreciate the standpoint occupied by Job's wife, when she said to
her husband, "Curse God, and die."

Then we have the chance of inheriting a new beatitude. By refusing to
bend under the mighty hand of God--questioning, chafing, murmuring--we
miss the door which would admit us into rich and unalloyed happiness.
We fumble about the latch, but it is not lifted. But if we will quiet
our souls like a weaned child, anointing our heads, and washing our
faces, light will break in on us as from the eternal morning; the peace
of God will keep our hearts and minds, and we shall enter on the
blessedness which our Lord unfolded before the gaze of his faithful
Forerunner.

XII.

None greater than John the Baptist, yet...

(MATTHEW XI.)

"Search thine own heart. What paineth thee
In others, in thyself may be;
All dust is frail, all flesh is weak;
Be thou the same man thou dost seek!

"Where now with pain thou treadest, trod
The whitest of the saints of God!
To show thee where their feet were set,
The light which led them shineth yet."
WHITTIER.

Christ's Appreciation--His Independence--The Simplicity of his
Life--His Place in the Devine Economy--The Spirit of Meekness--The
Greatness of Humility

While John's disciples were standing there, our Lord said nothing in
his praise, but as soon as they had departed, the flood-gates of his
heart were thrown wide open, and He began to speak to the multitudes
concerning his faithful servant. It was as though He would give him no
cause for pride by what He said. He desired to give his friend no
additional temptation during those lonely hours. We say our kind
things before each other's faces; our hard things when the back is
turned. It is not so with Christ. He passes his most generous
encomiums when we are not there to hear them. Christ may never tell
you how greatly He loves and values you; but while you lie there in
your prison, with sad and overcast heart, He is saying and thinking
great things about you yonder.

I. THE TIME CHOSEN FOR THE LORD'S COMMENDATION OF THE BAPTIST.--It was
when John had fallen beneath his usual level, below high-water mark,
that Jesus uttered his warmest and most generous words of
appreciation--"Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen
a greater