EACH SUNDAY'S LESSONS.

A good conscience, too, will not let one pocket the fruits of another's sin.

There is no prize that sin can offer equal to the comfort of knowing that God is on my side. When He punishes evil, it is well to feel that none of its harvests are in my store.

Many things are apt to deceive us in judging of sin, just because we do not look far enough. If we could draw a circle round poor Asahel, and Abner his slayer, and Joab his brother, and think of nothing else, we could persuade ourselves that Joab was right in his revenge. The only safe rule is to ask, What will God say?

NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS.

II. John the Baptist Preaching and Baptizing.-MATTHEW III.

LESSON-SKETCH.

THE teacher may begin by picturing the scene:-the wilderness; the Jordan; the striking person of the Baptist; the crowds, the groups being particularized; Pharisees, Sadducees; soldiers, publicans. But nothing must be allowed to interfere with the spiritual significance of the scene; this gathers round THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN, the point which is kept steadily in view in our treatment of the Lesson. LESSON. -9:

either here or hereafter, those who did not give evidence of sincere repentance. All the rest were like trees to be cut down or chaff to be burned. But whilst Jesus would be so searching, He would be very mighty. He too would have a baptism; not external, but internal; not for bodily pollution, but for soul-stains; not of water, but the Holy Ghost. Good news for sinners, they could now get new hearts. The Baptist himself bows in reverential expectation of a Person, thus mighty to save: he counted himself unworthy even to touch His shoes. This Saviour was in the crowd; no one knew Him, not even John, John i. 26, 33: by and

by He stepped to the river's brink for baptism; something in John's heart said, "this is Jesus:" hence his objection. What was it? How did Jesus answer it? Then God spoke more plainly by a sight, a shape, and a sound. What were they? Thus was Jesus made known as Lord of the kingdom. But John had something to say about Jesus after the baptism, John i. 29, with Lev. xvi. 8-10. Here was the true "lamb" of the wilderness, carrying away the sins of the world. So sinburdened souls got good news; Jesus had come to take away the guilt and to destroy the power of sin,

AFTER-THOUGHTS.-HAVE YOU FELT THE BURDEN? God lets you feel it when the burden is small, the bearers young; sorrow at having done or spoken a wrong thing; helplessness in resisting, so that wrong is done again, spoken again: there is the burden; must get rid of it. Do NOT INCREASE THE BURDEN BY DELAYING REPENTANCE: note the effect of trade, friendship, habit. YOUR FATHER'S RELIGION AND YOUR MOTHER'S PIETY CANNOT STAND IN PLACE OF PERSONAL REPENTANCE. PRAY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT; He will make both repentance and faith easy to you.

NOTES.

I. THE BAPTIST; HIS DRESS, FOOD, etc.-See Luke i.; six months older than Jesus. His austere, ascetic appearance corresponded with the character of his preaching. Compare Elijah, 2 Kings i. 8. His clothing was not a camel's skin, but Coarse cloth woven of the hair of the camel.-The poorer classes of the East still eat "locusts." After throwing away the wings and legs, they cover the body with salt, and eat it either boiled or fried. The wild honey" may have been either the deposit of bees in the clefts of rocks, or a sweet gum exuding from the bark of aromatic shrubs; or both.

II. PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES.-The name "Pharisee" signifies one "separated," "distinguished" by his profession of piety and his strict observance of religious ceremonies. The Pharisees, as a religious party, prided themselves on strictly observing all Mosaic and traditional prohibitions, and upon their rigid separation from Gentiles, Samaritans, publicans, and sinners. The "Sadducees" were a party opposed to the Pharisees; they not only rejected traditions, but denied the inspiration of all the Old Testament except the books of Moses; they also denied all the deeper truths of Revelation, such as the immortality of the soul, the resurrection, and a future state.

III. THE BAPTIST'S SIMILITUDES.-V. 10-12. The axe indicates God's condemnation of unbelieving men, who are likened to trees that do not bring forth good fruit; "the axe laid to the root," shows that that condemnation already touches them, and the adverb "now" warns the unbelieving Jews of their speedy exclusion from the Kingdom of the Messiah. But the general principle extends through all time. The parable of the barren fig-tree may be used in illustration.— The shoes; compare Luke iii. 12. The Easterns wear sandals, fastened upon the foot by straps (latchets) passing over the instep. Amongst the Greeks, Romans, and Jews, the carrying of the shoes, or the handling of them, was the duty of meniai servants.-The fun. The threshing-floor of an Eastern harvest-field is generally a raised piece of ground at the corner. The sheaves are no sooner reaped than they are conveyed thither. The grain is trodden out by oxen, or beaten out by rods, and is then swept up and winnowed by the fan, a shovel made of wicker-work. The winnower throws up the grain and chaff to the wind; the grain returns to the fan, the chaff is carried away by the wind, and a large portion of it falls upon the floor again. When the work of the day is brought to a close, the grain is conveyed to the store-house; the chaff is either burned on the spot or kept for firing, especially for the use of blacksmiths and goldsmiths.

1875.]

EACH SUNDAY'S LESSONS.

LESSONS FOR INFANT-CLASSES.

II. The Voice in the Desert.

MATTHEW III. 3.-"The voice of one crying in the wilderness."

I. "The voice of one."-A great preacher, we know his name, and about his dress; his food; the place he lived in; and the work he did. How? From a picture left of him. It is in words; for the mind, not the eye. It shows us a man with rough clothing on, and a leathern girdle round his waist; he eats such food as he can get in the desertthe "locusts," large grasshoppers, now eaten by Arabs, and "wild honey" from stores laid up by bees in hollow trees and rocks; he stands talking earnestly to crowds of people who gather round him, coming out from busy cities, and towns and villages far away. But what sort of man was he? Jesus said of him, that no man who was ever born was greater than he! See how little our clothes and food, and where we live, have to do with true greatness. John cared nothing for these things, but only how he might best do the great work God had given him to do. May not even little children have something of this greatness? Let us now see,—

II. Where the voice spoke.-In "the wilderness." The place was the desert, among rocks, where grass and a few trees grew wild, and but few men lived. John cared for this as little as for the kind of dress and food he got; so, there he spoke to those who came. He was not always there. He went sometimes to the cities; and even found his way to the king, to tell him of his sin. Did he not fear the king's wrath? No, he feared God only. Wherever we are, God can find work for us to do. But we are told,

III. Who heard the voice. The people came in great numbers to hear it. What they heard was so strange, that when they went home they told others of this wonderful preacher, and these

came out; and so the fame of the voice spread, till all the people around flocked to hear it. A strange crowd around John, of many sorts of people. Some were men who had much knowledge and were proud of it, and thought themselves much better than other people. How sad when we are vain of what we know, or have! Some only came to see and hear the strange preacher. But even these feared as they heard what he said. There were soldiers, whose home was a long way off; and some wicked people, some sad and anxious. What a strange picture! The preacher in his shaggy garments! his earnest voice! the proud Pharisees the rough soldiers! the scoffing evil-doers! the poor, sorrowing, anxious men and women! all eagerly pressing forward to hear the "voice!" These people were different from one another in dress, homes, lives, wishes, ways; yetallwere alike in one thing. What was that? All were sinners. All in danger. Of what? Have we sinned? Are we in danger? Let us listen, then, to,

IV. What the voice said.-John had one message for all. He knew there was but one way out of their danger. He said to all, "Repent." What does that mean? Two things: to be sorry for having done wrong: to wish and mean to do right. The voice made many think of their bad lives, words, deeds; and of their danger, "the wrath to come," and how to "flee" from it! The voice, too, bade them all prepare for the coming of a Greater One than John. Who was that? Some believed the voice, and found Jesus. Some did not. The voice of John speaks to us. His words are left for us. What do they say? Do we need to be warned and to repent? Jesus has come o save us. Are we ready for Him?

LESSONS FROM THE CATECHISMS.

FIRST CATECHISM.-Lesson II.: What GOD is.
SECTION I. Question 2.

LESSON.

I. God is a Spirit.-Man has a spirit and a body too; and the spirit in him thinks, and makes his tongue talk and his hands move as it wishes. You can see his hand, you cannot see his spirit. God is a Being who cannot be seen, but who knows and does all things.

II. God is an Infinite Spirit.-This means that God is very, very much wiser, better, stronger, and greater than any one else. All the wisdom men and angels have God gives them; all the power there is in any one, or in any thing, came from God. If there are things which a being cannot know and

do, his wisdom and power are not "infinite." We say God is "infinite,” because there is no limit to what He is, or has, or can do.

III. God is an Eternal Spirit.—The last words of the answer explain what is meant by saying God is "eternal,”. God "always was.' It is a long time since the world was made, but God lived before that; for He made it. God always will be. He cannot die, or grow old, or change. When a deaf and dumb child was asked, What is eternity? she answered with her fingers, "It is the life-time of the Almighty."

(See also last Sunday's Lesson from the Second Catechism.)

SECOND CATECHISM.-Lesson II.: An Infinite Spirit. SECTION I. Question 2.

HINTS TO THE TEACHER.

TO-DAY's answer explains one of the words in last Sunday's answer. "Infinite." This word states how God differs from all other spirits. Deal with this subject very reverently. The teacher's manner should help his scholars to feel that God is so great," that He may only be talked about with earnestness and decorum. (See also the Notes on First Catechism Lesson, No. 2.)

LESSON.

I. Attributes.-These are what we think of as belonging to a person or thing, and without which we could not think of him or it as we do:-e.g., coldness, of ice; honesty, of a good servant; diligence, of a good scholar.

II. Infinite.-Nothing is infinite to which anything can be added, that is possible to belong to it. So we can seldom use the word in its strict sense, except when we are talking of God. We can speak of infinite space; because it is extension or room without limit, not to be added to: also of infinite duration, going backward without beginning, and onward without end. So the word "infinite" is said in the answer to mean, "not limited by any imperfection or defect."

III. God is an Infinite Being.-(1.) An Infinite Being is one whose attributes

are each and all without limit:—e.g., His knowledge is so perfect that He could not know, or be made able to know, more than He does. (2.) In the attributes of an Infinite Being there can be "no defect;" that is, no one is wanting which a perfect Being would have. If a being could have infinite knowledge. and at the same time be finite in "power," or without "goodness," he would not be an infinite being, because his "attributes" would be limited by "defect." But God has all excellencies, and each one is perfect. So He is rightly spoken of as an Infinite Spirit. [Wesley's Hymns, 232, ver. 3.]

IV. The Scripture-proof.-It could be shown that the Bible teaches all this about God, but many verses would have to be quoted in order to this. The verse learned is only a specimen of these.

[The remaining Lessons for January will appear next month.]

EXERCISES ON SCRIPTURE LESSONS.

MORNING LESSONS.

FEBRUARY 1. -ISRAEL'S SIN, AND GOD'S MERCY.-Psalm cvi. 34-48.

For repetition, verses 44, 45.