TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

THE UNFINISHED TOWER.

ST. LUKE XIV. 28, 29, 30.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it, begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

We must all of us have noticed-and it is an apt illustration of the last of these three verses—a sight, which may commonly be seen on the outskirts of large towns, viz., an unfinished house-a house from which the builders have been taken off-the scaffold poles removed, the ground about it boarded up, the whole work evidently at a stand still.

Sometimes we see it remain in this condition for years. And the house left thus unfinished, without windows, without doors, perhaps without a roof, soon begins to suffer from the weather. The mortar perishes, the bricks get loose, and by little and little, the whole building becomes a ruin.

I say we have all seen such unfinished deserted work, and when we see it, we may have been reminded of this saying of our Lord in the text-This man began to build, but was not able to finish.

It is possible that our Lord Himself may have seen such a building in His walks about Galilee. We know it was His custom to pass by nothing unnoticed-we know that He drew from the commonest objects with which He was surrounded, or which came under His observation, lessons of Divine wisdom. But be this so or not, we have in these words of His about the tower left unfinished, matter deeply instructive, matter that we shall surely do well to ponder and lay to heart.

And, first, let us mark the connection of these verses with what goes before them.

Looking back to the twenty-fifth verse of this fourteenth chapter of St. Luke, we hear our Lord speaking of the self-sacrifice, the utter renunciation of their own ease and pleasure-the giving up of their home lifebreaking away from the dear ties of wife, and child, and kindred, which they must be prepared for who would be indeed His disciples. If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brother, and sister, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.

This He said to the multitude that followed Him. He said it, we may think, to humble them, and to try them. They had seen His miracles, and profited by them-and they thought that nothing would be so delightful as to be always with Him—always within reach of His wonder

working hand, always within hearing of His words of comfort-in short, one of His disciples.

But if they thought that such a life would be an easy life, that no sacrifice were required in it, they were mistaken. And this is what the Lord here makes plain to them. The man who would come after Him, must bear his cross-the man who would cast in his lot with Him, must have his heart in a great measure set free from earthly affections.-Were they prepared for this ?-were they prepared to give up all—to give up anything—in order to be His disciples?

Having thus plainly told them what difficulties there were in the way of a Christian life-and be sure brethren, His words on this subject reach beyond the Jews—our Lord goes on to enlarge upon and illustrate the subject, in the parable that follows-the parable as we may call it, of the "unfinished tower."

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it, lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Now, remembering what goes before, the object of this parable would seem to be this-to warn the multitude who desired to be His followers, to count the cost of such discipleship before-hand-not rashly to make promises of adherence and fidelity, lest they should not be able to continue with Him, and so falling away, become a laughing-stock to the unbelieving Jews around them.

This, I think, is the main drift of the parable-and so

it is explained in the heading of this fourteenth chapter in our Bible, where we read-" Those who will be Christ's disciples to bear their cross must make their accounts beforehand, lest with shame they revolt from Him afterward."

And this is a most wholesome lesson for us all. We all require to be reminded, and reminded continually, that the taking upon us the solemn promise to be Christ's people-His faithful soldiers and servants-is no light matter; but rather one that ought to be gone about with deep seriousness, much counting of the cost, many anxious prayers that we may cleave stedfastly to our engagement.

And further, we all need to have it impressed upon us that the service of Christ, the following Him in full discipleship, going ourselves in His very steps, putting on the same mind that was in Him-easy as it is to talk about, is of all things most hard to realize, is a work that calls for all our efforts, the utmost watchfulness, and perseverance, and self-denial, and cannot then be accomplished, except He also work with us and in us.

But this will be seen more strongly if we dwell for a little on the figure which the Lord employs in this parable-For which of you intending to build a tower.

This word build may well serve to describe our Christian life. And thus we find it used elsewhere in the Scriptures. Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. . . . rooted and built up in Christ Jesus. . . . building up yourselves on your most holy faith.

For building is a gradual work. It goes on slowly, especially at the first. The part of the most importance,

the foundation, has to be laid with the greatest care, and takes long laying. Neither does it make any shew at the beginning. For the earliest courses are hid in the ground. It is only when the walls reach a certain height, that we can judge at all what the house will be like. But at the first, as I have said, the work goes on out of sight. The builders are not idle-they are busy with removing the earth, and digging deep, and finding a solid basis for their work to rest upon-busy in a word with the foundation.

And so ought it ever to be with our Christian life. If it is to be a work that will stand, that will not give way before the first blast of tribulation or trial, it must be a gradual work. The foundation of it must be laid early, and well. And therefore, brethren, it is, that we so often insist upon the importance of a good education, therefore, it is, that we urge you who have the care of children, to teach them betimes the fear of the Lordto lay in their young hearts a good foundation of sound religious principles.

For depend upon it, if we neglect this, if we are at no pains to form good principles in our children, if we do not teach them the good and the right way early, they will suffer by our neglect ever afterwards. No after-care, no building at a later period, will supply the grievous loss of a good beginning. The house in the parable--not the parable before us, but the well known parable in the sixth chapter of St. Luke-the house that stood against the flood-that stood unshaken, when the one below it, on the sand was swept utterly away-was a house, whose builder had digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock!