anything to come between himself and the Heavenly Father. Surely,
nothing is more to be desired than the unclouded vision. "Thou shalt
have no other gods before me," is the first of the Commandments brought
down from Sinai and its primacy is endorsed by the Saviour: the sixth
Beatitude expresses the same supreme requirement. No false gods, not
even self--the most popular of all the false gods--must be permitted to
come between man and his Maker.

Christ put into simple words some of the great rules for the
interpretation of life. "By their fruits ye shall know them," has become
a part of the language of the civilized world. "Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles?" He asks. "A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." Here a
great spiritual principle was announced. We must consider the _nature;_
nothing less than a change in the nature can change the fruit. A bad
heart is just as sure to bring forth bad thoughts and bad deeds as the
thistle is to bring forth thorns. And so the good heart is just as sure
to yield good deeds as the grape-vine is to yield grapes or the fig-tree
is to yield figs. Look at the _tree_, therefore; the fruit will take
care of itself.

In the Sermon on the Mount, in which He embodied such a wealth of moral
precept and spiritual counsel, He warned against investments in that
which would divert the affections from the great purpose of life. "Lay
not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven." "For where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also." It was the heart that He dealt with--always the heart, in
which man does his decisive thinking and out of which are "the issues of
life."