pity is pity which passes from emotion into practical and redemptive action. Of such pity only does Christ say “Blessed are the merciful or pitiful.” Compassion which does nothing is in the New Testament[27] regarded as a form of pernicious hypocrisy. And the merciful shall obtain mercy. Here we get a great law of the divine dealing. God deals with us as we deal with our fellow-men. In the Old Testament[28] it is said “With the merciful thou, God, wilt show thyself merciful; with the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect; with the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward.” And again, in our Lord’s parable,[29] when the servant who had been let off his debts by his master was found to deal unmercifully with his fellow-servant who was indebted to him, the remission was cancelled, and the weight of his old debt fell back upon him, to teach us that God deals with us as we deal with our fellow-men. Thus again, in view of the last great day, our Lord says “Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these my brethren, come ye blessed, inherit the kingdom.” So in our Lord’s Prayer, we pray “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.” Do we want to know how our Lord will regard us at the last day? We can find the answer by considering how our face looks, not in mere passing emotion, but in its serious and deliberate aspect, towards our fellow-men. God deals with us then, as we deal with our fellows. Nor need we confine the principle to God’s dealings with us. The same law is observable in the treatment we receive at men’s hands. On the whole we can determine men’s attitude to us by our attitude to them. Almost all men have their best selves drawn out towards a really compassionate life. “Perchance for a _good_ man――one who is not only just, but good――some would even dare to die.”[30] “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” VI “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”