+III. The insincerity of the false teachers was apparent in their not keeping the law themselves, but in boasting of the number of their converts to its external observance.+--"For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh" (ver. 13). The Judaists were not only cowardly, but insincere. It was not the glory of the law they were concerned about, but their own success. If they had tried to convert the heathen, however imperfect might be their creed, they would have merited some respect; but, like some religious troublers to-day, they selected for their prey those who were already converted. They practised their wiles on the inexperience of young believers, as they expected to gather from that class the greater number of proselytes of whom to make their boast. "Their policy was dishonourable both in spirit and in aim. They were false to Christ in whom they professed to believe, and to the law which they pretended to keep. They were facing both ways, studying the safest not the truest course, anxious in truth to be friends at once with the world and Christ. Their conduct has found many imitators, in men who make godliness a way of gain, whose religious course is dictated by considerations of worldly self-interest. Business patronage, professional advancement, a tempting family alliance, the _entrée_ into some select and envied circle--such are the things for which creeds are bartered, for which men put their souls and the souls of their children knowingly in peril." +Lessons.+--1. _The false teacher may be the occasion of much mischief and spiritual loss._ 2. _He succumbs in the presence of suffering._ 3. _He is more anxious for public success than for the spread of the truth._ _GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._ Ver. 12. _The Odium of the Cross of Christ._ +I. The history of the cross.+--It is a history of sin on our part, and of suffering on the part of Christ. What a change has been produced in the moral aspect of the universe by the preaching of the cross! +II. The odium connected with the cross.+--There is odium and suffering connected with the cross still; in some shape we shall suffer persecution for it. If we will lead a holy life, then suffering, persecution, reproach, hatred and ill-will, sarcasm, wit, ridicule, and obloquy will be cast upon us. It was said by one, when several were expelled from one of our universities, that "if some are expelled for having too much religion, it is high time to begin to inquire whether there are not some who have too little." If we speak of the reproach of the cross, what should that reproach be? Not that you have too much religion, but that you have too little, and that many of you have none at all.