"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God " (2 John 9).

It is not sound doctrine which makes us Christians, any more than good works makes us Christians; but as the good works which God has ordained for His people to walk in prove us to be true Christians, so does sound doctrine. Departing, therefore, from the doctrines which form the foundations of Christianity proves us to be only counterfeit Christians-not real, not born anew, not washed in the blood of the Lamb. Even in those who are real Christians, and who therefore could never surrender "the doctrine of Christ," whatever false doctrine they may intelligently hold in matters not fundamental, only proves there is self-will-unjudged pride. The doctrine of our heart tells plainly and unmistakably our state. A man after God's own heart gets his doctrine from God's own word; he is subject to it from end to end. He forces no part to introduce something of his own.

The very brief but sweet epistle in which our text is found warns a Christian lady against those who "transgress," that is, who are "progressive," as they call it now. They "abide " not in the doctrine of Christ; they invent something of their own, as though what God revealed at the beginning had grown out of date and were no longer true; or they wrest the Scriptures so as to make them say what they want them to say.

At no time perhaps since Christ came has this state of things been as prevalent as now. What need, hen, for watchfulness among the people of God! What need to live by every word which proceedeth from the mouth of God, and by it and prayer keep in close touch with God Himself! The men who depart most from the word of God plead most for "love." It is deception. "This is love," says the apostle of love, "that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, that, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it" (ver. 6).

"Confess your faults one to another." (James 5:16)

'There is perhaps nothing that contributes more to the general welfare of God's people than confessing our faults one to another when in anything we have wronged one another. It establishes Christian confidence, because we see the work of conscience. Even among men generally, what produces confidence is conscience; when conscience cannot be trusted, confidence departs.

Among those who love our Lord Jesus Christ, and know the truth, there is the greatest danger of a subtle form of self-righteousness which stands in the way of the confession of sins:we know that if we sin, it is because there is something wrong in our spiritual condition; we have not walked in communion with God; and to have all this suggested by confessing our sins is too much for our pride. Therefore we do violence to our conscience; we hide our sins; we even find some self-satisfying excuse for them; a crust gets over our souls, and our spiritual senses are blunted.

The Lord give us grace not to sin, but, if we have sinned, to have the needed humbleness of mind to make confession to whomsoever it is due.

"The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light" (Luke 16:8).
In Matt. 19:29 the Lord encourages the hearts of His own by telling them that "every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." There is need of encouragement in this, for on the way they may find themselves suffering from having forsaken some of these things for Christ's sake. The Lord knows this, and He would cheer them through the difficulties.

In our text, however, He would exercise their consciences by shaming them with the greater wisdom of "the children of this world." These have their all on earth, and they know how to invest so as to secure the earth and all the good things it has to give. But of His own Christ said, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world "; this is a fact; it depends not on their practice; by His calling they belong to heaven, and no more to the world; but as He looks at their practice, with sadness of heart He has to say, "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light," for they of this world know how to sow abundantly for the earth, that they may reap of the earth abundantly; but the children of light sow sparingly for heaven; and they, of course, will also reap sparingly.

Oh what loss for the people of God, whose only opportunity to sow for an eternal harvest is now!