But think how strange it would have been in olden times, if, when the kinsman had come forward and most kindly paid the redemption price, the poor bondsman had preferred captivity, and refused the liberty thus freely purchased for him by his brother. Such things apparently did happen sometimes, though they appear to us almost impossible; for, in Exod. xxi. 5, the servant is described as plainly saying, ‘I love my master . . . I will not go out free,’ and, when he said that he was taken to the door-post, and his ear was bored through in token that he was a slave for life. I do not know whether that often happened in ancient days, but I fear it is a very common occurrence now. The Son of God has become a kinsman on purpose to redeem, and as a kinsman has redeemed us by His blood. He has come to the master, and having broken all his legal power, has proclaimed liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; but there sits the slave, content in his slavery, and plainly says, ‘I love my master; I will not go out free.’ How many are there even amongst ourselves thus indifferent to liberty! They know there is a deliverer; they have heard it: they have read it: they believe it. They know their kinsman has paid the ransom, so that, according to the covenant, they may be free. But they love the old sins, and the old ways, and the old habits, and they have no wish to be set free. They like the old associations, and a change of heart might cause a separation from their wives and their children, so they had rather go on as they are, the slaves of sin, the bondsmen of their own corruption. Is it unjust that such persons should never be set free? If the bondsman of old deliberately went to the door-post that his ear should be bored, was it unjust that he should be bound a slave for ever? and if any one of us with the grand offer of the freedom of the Gospel fully before him, prefers his bondage and will not accept the purchased freedom, is it unjust that that man should remain a miserable slave? Oh, that I could persuade those who have thus far been sitting still content with their captivity, to accept the freedom which their kinsman now offers them, so that henceforth we may change our note, and instead of saying, ‘The ransom is paid, come home and enjoy your freedom,’ we may say to them in the full enjoyment of their Father’s loving home, ‘Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free.’ V. RUTH. ‘And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance; redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.’—RUTH, iv. 6.