I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord! neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him."

Here we have set forth before us the entrance-door into the sanctuary of the Gospel, humility. When Christ calls us to come unto him that we may find rest to our souls, and when, in accordance with the grace of his Spirit, we rise up to follow him, the very first step must be marked by this grace: to go after a meek and lowly Master, with a haughty and unhumbled heart, is impossible. No, the broken heart and the contrite spirit bring the poor penitent into the presence of his God, with the down-cast eye, and the abased heart, and cause him to smite upon his breast and cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner." And this humility of his mind is caused by the revelation of his own heart to himself-its deceitful workings, its enmity against God, and its proneness to evil: and so vile does he appear so unfit to come into the presence of God-so covered with sin like a garment-so polluted with the filthy rags of unrighteousness, that his heart takes up the language of the Patriarch, "I abhor myself." His humility is that of self-abasement and self-condemnation, not that of mere condescension; he is not as a rich man bending low to enter the humble door of the poor peasant he is like the beggar full of sores at the rich man's gate, feeling himself in want of all things, and content with the least, the meanest portion from the master's table.

Let this then be deeply impressed upon our minds. If we are now on our road to Zion-if we are in the narrow way thither, we must have passed through the strait gate of Christian humiliation. An unhumbled Christian is a contradiction in terms. But let us also remember that it is not only at the entrance of the Christian pathway that

the heart must stoop; as we advance, the same spirit must characterize us. It must continue not only to exist, but also to grow and increase in us. It is a Christian grace which must be watched over, and cherished diligently: we are little aware of the tenderness and delicacy of the plant, or how soon the breath of self-complacency and spiritual pride causes it to droop and wither. It is indeed one of the most difficult, as it ought to be the most constant exercise of the true believer, to keep alive the spirit of genuine humility in his soul. He does not perhaps find that its lustre is so much tarnished in his outward dealings with his fellow-men; but the probings of his heart within reveal to him with increasing clearness every day of his Christian experience, the numberless and constant movements of a soul not yet completely brought into subjection-not yet wholly lost to itself, and given to God. How often does the disciple of Jesus, who will gladly wash the feet of his brethren, and who will bear with Christian meekness the opposition and hatred of the world, mourn in secret over the spirit of self-love and self-exaltation, which rankles within his soul, as he feels and shrinks under the wounds of mortified vanity, caused by the real or apparent slight of some friend.

Let us then constantly bear in mind that the peculiar habit of the Christian is "humility." "Be clothed with humility" is the maxim of one Apostle; while it is significantly enforced by another, "put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." "Let this mind be in you, which was also in him;" a mind full of meekness, and humility; and then this will be a root of blessed confidence, seeing that "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." Oh blessed Jesus, may we ever take the lowest room; happy indeed to be in thy presence, though the meanest

there, and ever prepared to "esteem others better than ourselves."*

Such then was the humility which our blessed Master practised, such was the lowliness of mind which he enjoined. We cannot but refer here to a custom that prevails in a section of the visible Church of Christ, which, though proudly arrogating to itself an apostolic succession, has yet forfeited all claim to the "Apostles' fellowship," inasmuch as it has altogether departed from the faith and purity of the "Apostles' doctrine." The custom to which we allude, and which professes to be derived from the incident in the chapter before us, is the following:-at stated periods the Bishop of Rome performs the public ceremony of washing the feet of some poor people: this is to mark the humility of the "vicar of Christ;" and how is this done?-why, the Pope cannot perform this act without using a silver bason, and having attendants around bearing the most costly materials to assist; nay, in some of the records of this mockery of humility, we find that kings and princes have been his servants and attendants on these occasions. let us look on this scene and that. The man of sin, with all the pomp and circumstance of Pharisaical ceremony, forcing himself into the semblance of an act of humility,— the Master, the King of kings, the High Priest of our profession, simply manifesting the meekness and gentleness, which shone in every act of his life, and which so adorned and beautified "the man Christ Jesus." How painful to

Yes,

* The want of humility is that which spreads discord throughout communities, which breaks the unity of the spirit, dissolves love, and separates chief friends;-it brings all denominations of Christians into hostile collision with one another. The pride of being "the greatest" is the canker which eats out the spirit of the Gospel from the heart and taints the profession of the Gospel with the poisonous atmosphere of the world-it is the sharp sword which cuts in twain the Gordian knot of godly love and Christian unity.

think that so pure and lovely an act of condescension on his part should be turned into one of unmingled pride, haughtiness, and ostentation!

But there is another practical inference of great importance to be derived from the incident under our notice. The act in which our Lord voluntarily engaged was not one of necessity. It was not absolutely needful that the feet of the disciples should be washed at that particular time, it was only for their additional comfort. While then he manifested in the act his great humility, he testified also his great kindness towards them. He gave the most undoubted evidence of his readiness and willingness, not only to relieve their wants, but even in apparently trivial things to add to their enjoyment. What a halo of softened light does this shed around our Divine Master-how it wins the affections, and captivates the heart! Were the mighty and glorious features of his character alone to be developed-were his truth and his holiness alone to appear in stern and severe majesty, the eye would be dazzled and the spirit shrink abashed and dismayed: but such beauteous traits of the tenderness of his character irresistibly draw our regards to him; they awaken our confidence, while they cause our hearts to glow, and the eye of our faith rests on the "King in his beauty"-"the Chief among ten thousand," the "altogether lovely."

And here, moreover, is a feature of character in which we ought to aim at more close and accurate resemblance to him; if actions ever utter a voice, this gracious act of the Saviour says to us, "Be ye kind one to another." Oh what a world this would be, if each vied with his neighbour, not in the mere discharge of duty alone, but in warm, heartfelt acts of kindness-if we waited not for a distinct call from the necessity of the case to stretch forth the hand,

but rather sought for occasions to bring all around us within the influence of an affectionate kindness which continually struggled for expression, and in its acting would not be restrained. This scattering of the warm beams of a heaven-enlightened heart to all around, is one of the grand characteristics of the religion of Jesus. Were we to endeavour to express in two words the genius of that religion, we would say that it is concentrative and expansive; it is concentrative, because when the believer is awakened from his death-slumber, his first spiritual act, under the blessed agency of God the Holy Ghost, is to apply to himself the great and glorious scheme of Redemption, to gather into his own soul all the store of quickening grace, supporting love, and precious promise of the Gospel, as if the whole rich provision supplied there had reference to him alone. There is not a word which his new-born spirit does not claim as a portion of his inheritance; there is not a fragrant flower, there is not a sparkling gem, there is not a rod of strength, which can be found within the compass of Emmanuel's land, that he feels may not be taken as his heritage for ever. If his eye rests upon the sharp and glittering arrow of conviction as it lies upon the page of truth, his own heart is probed by its searching point; if the Balm of Gilead is there, his own heart is healed by it;—if glory, honour, and immortality meet his view as the rich promises of God, his own heart feeds upon them. He draws all the beauty, all the glory, all the excellence, all the loveliness, all the peace of the word of God to himself; through his Divine Master, there is not a ray of light which has ever beamed from heaven on this sinful world, which is not directed into his spirit, collected into the focus of that soul, which from being a dark chamber of carnal thoughts, is made by it "full of light."