+I. A thief is the man who uses, in order to keep up appearances,
that which does not justly belong to him,+ whether that appearance be
kept up by actually robbing his neighbour's pocket, or by delaying
the payment of his just debts, or by stinting God and man of their
dues in any way. Such a one has, for keeping up appearances, every
advantage up to a certain point, and that point is the moment of
detection. After that, all is changed. The detected thief is the most
miserable of men. Two ways only are open to him by which he can
endure life or carry on hope. One if these is to declare war against
society, and become an open instead of a secret offender; the other
is to begin anew, and strive to build up a fresh reputation under
more favourable auspices, it may be by shrewder and deeper deceit, or
it may be in the way of genuine repentance and amendment. It is hard
to say whether of these two is the more difficult or hopeless.
+II. Were we all true men, safe in our own consciences, fearless of
detection in any point ourselves, we should be ever ready to help up
an erring brother or sister;+ but it is just because we are afraid of
our own weak and unsound points that we are so reluctant ever to let
a tarnished character again brighten itself. It is hardly possible to
over-estimate the vast conspiracy which is arranged against the
delinquent's effort to be reinstated in the favour of his fellow-men.
III. It would be by no means uninstructive to inquire +how far these
feelings have influenced us in our views and practice with regard to
the punishment of crime.+ The last thing we believe in is
reformation. You may view this as a judicial consequence of guilt.
Terrible as may be the fears of a conscience dreading detection, far
more difficulty, far more anguish, far bitterer self-reproach, is in
store for the penitent struggling to regain peace and the fair name
which he has lost. He carries the past evermore, as it were, branded
on his brow, for men to see and avoid.
IV. While we rejoice and are grateful to God for His mercy to us, +we
should at the same time tremble at our own unworthiness, and ever
bear in mind our personal liability to fall into sin.+ In such a
spirit should we set about the blessed work of restoration, ever
looking on the fallen as our brethren, going to meet them across the
gulf which human Pharisaism has placed between them and us, the
undetected; as common children of that God whose grace is able to
raise them up again, bearing their burdens instead of disclaiming
them and letting them sink under their weight, and so fulfilling the
law of Christ.--_Dean Alford._
_The Restoration of the Erring._
+I. The Christian view of other men's sins.+--1. _The apostle looks
upon sin as if it might be sometimes the result of a surprise._
2. _As that which has left a burden on the erring spirit._ (1) One
burden laid on fault is that chain of entanglement which seems to
drag down to fresh sins. (2) The burden of the heart weighing on
itself. (3) The burden of a secret, leading a man to tell the tale of
his crimes as under the personality of another, as in the old fable
of him who breathed his weighty secret to the reeds; to get relief in
profuse and general acknowledgment of guilt; evidenced in the
commonness of the longing for confession. (4) The burden of an
intuitive consciousness of the hidden sins of others' hearts.
+II. The Christian power of restoration.+--1. _Restoration is
possible._ 2. _By sympathy._ 3. _By forgiveness._ 4. _In the spirit
of meekness._ 5. _The motive urging to attempt
restoration._--"Considering thyself," etc.--_F. W. Robertson._
_Brotherly Reproof._--1. A man must so reprove his brother as that it
may be most for the advancement of God's glory, best for winning him
to God, and least to the defaming of him abroad. He must pray that
God would guide his tongue and move the other's heart. We may not
traduce him to others, either before or after our reproof. 2. Every
reproof must be grounded on a certainty of knowledge of the fault
committed. 3. It is very requisite the reprover be not tainted with
the like fault he reproves in another. 4. The vinegar of sharp
reprehension must be allayed and tempered with the oil of gentle
exhortation. The word "restore" signifies to set a bone that is
broken. We are to deal with a man who has fallen and by his fall
disjoined some member of the new man as the surgeon does with an arm
or leg that is broken or out of joint--handle it tenderly and gently,
so as to cause least pain. 5. Every reproof must be fitted to the
quality and condition of him we reprove and to the nature of the
offence. 6. Must be administered in fit time when we may do the most
good. 7. Secret sins known to thee or to a few must be reproved
secretly. 8. We must be careful to observe the order set down by our
Saviour (Matt. xviii. 15).--_Perkins._
Vers. 2, 5. _Our Twofold Burdens._--1. The burden which every man
must bear for himself is the burden of his own sins, and from this
burden no man can relieve him. 2. If a man be overtaken in a fault,
we are to bear his burden by trying to restore him. 3. We are to do
this in the spirit of meekness, bending patiently under the burden
which his fault may cast on us. This spirit towards those who commit
faults is wholly at variance with the natural man's way of acting,
speaking, and thinking. We are to love our friends in spite of their
faults, to treat them kindly, cheerfully, graciously, in spite of the
pain they may give us. 4. Our Saviour has given us an example of what
we should wish and strive to be and do. The law of Christ is the law
of love.--_J. C. Hare._
Ver. 2. _Bear One Another's Burdens._--The law of Christ was
lovingkindness. His business was benevolence. If we would resemble
Him,--
1. _We must raise up the fallen._--This was hardly ever attempted
till Christ set the pattern. People went wrong, and the world let
them go; they broke the laws, and the magistrate punished; they
became a scandal, and society cast them out--out of the synagogue,
out of the city, out of the world. But with a moral tone infinitely
higher Christ taught a more excellent way.
2. _We must bear the infirmities of the weak._--Very tiresome is a
continual touchiness in a neighbour, or the perpetual recurrence of
the same faults in a pupil or child. But if by self-restraint and
right treatment God should enable you to cure those faults, from how
much shame and sorrow do you rescue them, from how much suffering
yourself.
3. _We must bear one another's trials._--With one is the burden of
poverty; with another it is pain or failing strength, the extinction
of a great hope, or the loss of some precious faculty. A little thing
will sometimes ease the pressure. In a country road you have seen the
weary beast with foaming flank straining onward with the overladen
cart and ready to give in, when the kindly waggoner called a halt,
and propping up the shaft with a slim rod or stake from the hedgerow,
he patted and praised the willing creature, till after a little rest
they were ready to resume the rough track together. Many a time a
small prop is quite sufficient.
4. _By thus bearing others' burdens you will lighten your
own._--Rogers the poet has preserved a story told him by a
Piedmontese nobleman. "I was weary of life, and after a melancholy
day was hurrying along the street to the river, when I felt a sudden
check. I turned and beheld a little boy who had caught the skirt of
my cloak in his anxiety to solicit my notice. His look and manner
were irresistible. Not less so was the lesson I learnt. 'There are
six of us, and we are dying for want of food.' 'Why should I not,'
said I to myself, 'relieve this wretched family? I have the means,
and it will not delay me many minutes.' The scene of misery he
conducted me to I cannot describe. I threw them my purse, and their
burst of gratitude overcame me. It filled my eyes; it went as a
cordial to my heart. 'I will call again to-morrow,' I cried. Fool
that I was to think of leaving a world where such pleasure was to be
had, and so cheaply." There is many a load which only grows less by
giving a lift to another. A dim Gospel makes a cold Christian; a
distant Saviour makes a halting, hesitating disciple.--_Dr. James
Hamilton._