us, to give up our all and follow Christ. When we see men laying up riches in abundance for their children, we may reasonably say that they are laying up a great deal of temptation for them, which few perhaps will be able to withstand. But do we really require riches, to show God true service? (No, teacher.) Certainly not.

Were the disciples rich men?-(No.) Right; most of them were fishermen : but they, who had little and could not afford to lose it, left their all for Christ. Did Jesus promise to reward them for it? Compare, with ver. 28-31, Matt. xix. 27-30.

What is the meaning of the promise in ver. 30, he shall have a present and a future reward? It does not mean literally, does it, that we shall have an hundred-fold of houses, brethren, sisters, mothers?-(Oh no, teacher.) Certainly not; but we shall have that which will compensate us for the loss of them, God's grace.

Are God's children generally rich ?No; the reverse (Rom. ii. 3; 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18; 1 Pet. iv. 15, 16). But God has promised to give His children all things needful in this world; and we know that "godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come."

What rebuke to pride accompanies the promise in ver. 31?—It is as though Christ had said, even to Peter himself, "Though you have been first in following Me, though your future reward shall be great, still there may be some whose reward will be greater; for 'many that are first shall be last, and the last first.'"

But, my dear children, there are others -and it is a terrible thing to reflect upon-who will be neither first nor last in Christ's kingdom. God forbid it should be any of you. While you are privileged to do so, therefore, devote yourselves to God, that you may be among the number unto whom Christ shall say, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

EMILY.

A MISSIONARY LESSON.

Matthew xxviii. 16-20.

DEAR children, our blessed Saviour left a great work for His people to accomplish for Him, when He told them to "teach" or "make disciples of" all nations. It is a work that can only be carried on by relying on the promise which accompanied the order for its performance," Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world."

Who were the first missionaries ?Matt. x. 1-7. These were chiefly sent to the Jews; the Gospel was first to be preached to them. But did not Christ command the Gospel to be sent to the Gentiles also? In our lesson, ver. 19, "all nations are expressly mentioned. Refer to Mark xvi. 15; Luke xxiv. 47; Acts ii. 38, 39.

What is the present number of the earth's inhabitants?-It would be difficult to say exactly; but one estimate gives the number as one thousand millions, and of these five hundred or six hundred millions are heathen, and one hundred millions are Mohammedans. Now suppose when the cholera was so fatal amongst us, you had been told of some certain remedy for it, and you saw your neighbours dying around you, and yet you made no attempt to relieve them. Suppose you were to have said, "It is too much trouble, and it will expose me to danger if I go and tell them of this remedy; they must perish." How vile and selfish such conduct would appear! Well, if you do not help to send the Gospel of salvation to those who have it not, this is but a picture of your conduct.

Be sure the heathen are in danger of eternal death. (Rom ii. 12; iii. 9–19.) We know the remedy, the certain cure, of which they are ignorant. (Acts xvi. 31 ; Rom. iii. 21, 22; x. 13-15.)

What motive should constrain us to send this good news?-Our love to Jesus (2 Cor. v. 14, 15). If we really value the Saviour ourselves, we must desire that others should know Him too (Mark v. 19, 20; John i. 40-42, 45, 46; Acts ix. 17-22).

How can we help in missionary work? -By praying for God's blessing on those who go forth to preach to the heathen, that there may be more labourers (Luke x. 2), and that their work may have God's blessing (2 Cor. iii.; Eph. vi. 19; Col. iv. 3). By denying ourselves that we may have money to give, to enable missionaries to be sent out (Hag. ii. 8; Mark xii. 41-44; 2 Cor. viii. 2-5, 12).

What are the encouragements to missionary work?-Dan. xii. 3; Jas. v. 19, 20; Matt. v. 19; Isa. lv. 10, 11; Hab. ii. 14.

Remember also, dear children, if you are thinking of sending the Gospel to others, and yet are careless about your own soul, it is as if you were dying of cholera, and refused to take the remedy which you are sure will do others good. Or, to illustrate it in another way, I may say you are like the carpenters who helped Noah to build the ark, and yet perished in the flood, because, while they provided a means of safety for others, they did not use it for themselves (Cant. i. 6; 1 Cor. ix. 27).

MONICA.

REGENERATION.

John iii. 1-21.

To what class amongst the Jews did this man of whom we here read belong? What did he know of Jesus when he first came to Him?

Besides witnessing the miracles Jesus had worked in Jerusalem (see ii. 23), what, as a Pharisee, had Nicodemus heard of Christ ?-See i. 24-27. What proves his faith at this time to have been very weak?-(His coming by night.)

Did our Lord reprove him for his want of faith? What character does Isaiah give of Christ, which is exemplified by His gracious receiving of this timid man?-Isa. xlii. 3.

Did Nicodemus continue fearful?No, he soon confessed Christ before the council of the Sanhedrim (vii. 50, 51), and afterwards came forward in deeds of love, even when apostles forsook their Master and fled (xix. 39).

Did Jesus answer Nicodemus according to the words he addressed to Him? --No, Nicodemus had asked no question; the Lord's reply was rather in accordance with the thoughts He read in his heart. He knew that the Jews generally, and especially the Pharisees, prided themselves upon being Abraham's children, and, as such, thought themselves entitled to a place in the Messiah's kingdom (Matt. iii. 9; John viii.

33, 39): so Jesus at once set before him what he and all men need, before they can belong to His kingdom.

And what is needful?

How did Jesus mark the great importance of what He was teaching ?— By three times repeating the words "Verily, verily."

By his birth of Jewish parents, Nicodemus inherited the privileges of a Jew; and so each of us is born into the station to which our earthly parents belong; but, even be that birth ever so high, it belongs only to earth; "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," and before our souls can be fit for heaven they must have a new birth, a heavenly parentage.

Did Nicodemus understand our Lord's words as implying a great change?— Yes; but he only understood them in a carnal sense: then Jesus condescended to explain His meaning. In ver. 5 He tells Nicodemus of whom we must be born again, viz., of the Spirit, and gives an emblem, or outward sign, by which he might understand what is the Spirit's work; the heart of man must be thoroughly cleansed and purified by the Spiri as the body is by water.

To what did our Lord compare the working of the Spirit on the soul of man?-Ver. 8.

Why is the wind so fit an emblem of the Holy Spirit ?-Man has no power over it; and when it blows, though we

feel its effects, we know not where its breath first began; but its presence cannot be denied, it fulfils God's word (Ps. cxlviii. 8), and its work is manifested (Cant. iv. 16). So is it with the workings of the Spirit: sometimes God's Spirit is like the strong "north wind," breaking down all that rises against it in our hearts; or, again, like the gentle south wind," winning us to Himself by loving-kindness and tender mercies; but in whatever way it works, "pleasant fruits" will mark its course, fruits such as the Lord of the garden will own to be His. In St. John's epistle we are told many of the marks by which each is known who is born of God: he "believes that Jesus is the Christ" (1 John v. 1), " doth not commit sin " (iii. 9), "overcometh the world" (v. 4), "keepeth himself from the wicked one (v. 18), "loves the brethren" (iii. 14, iv. 7), "doeth righteousness (ii. 29).

Is this being born again, without which Christ declares no man can enter the kingdom of heaven, spoken of under any other terms in Scripture, which show us how complete the change must be? It is called being "a new creature" (Gal. vi. 15); "passing from death unto life" (Rom. vi. 13; 1 John iii. 14); a resurrection (Eph. ii. 5, 6; Col. ii. 12). God's word is very plain on this all-important subject; let us honestly try ourselves by it.

How did Nicodemus show that he did not yet understand these first spiritual truths?-Ver. 9. Did Jesus rebuke him for his ignorance?-Ver. 10. Yes, the Lord, who had suffered his weakness of faith because in that matter he had probably acted up to the light he had received, now rebukes him for his ignorance of that which he might have learnt. Had Nicodemus then opportunity of learning from the Old Testament the same truth Jesus now taught? -Ps. li. 10; Ezek. xviii. 31; xxxvi. 25-27. How was it he was so slow to receive Christ's teaching ?-1 Cor. ii. 14.

What claim did our Lord make of being the fittest of all teachers to explain heavenly truths? Where did He

mean He had seen what He spoke of? -John viii. 38.

Of what "earthly things" had He spoken to Nicodemus ?-Christ seems to allude to the new birth which must take place in us here on earth, if we would hereafter go to heaven, and which He had just illustrated by the earthly figures of water and wind. Of what "heavenly things" did He go on to speak?-Of God's love, of His own coming down as man to die for sinful men; the Lord also showed Nicodemus that He was more than merely "a teacher come from God," that He was now in His Divine nature still in heaven (end of ver. 13).

To what event in Old Testament history does Christ compare His own death? -Ver. 14. In what respects did Christ's sacrifice of Himself resemble the lifting up of the brazen serpent?— The Israelites were dying from the bite of deadly serpents, man was dying from the effects of sin; the brazen serpent was lifted up, Christ was lifted up on the cross; the brazen serpent was made in the form of the very thing that caused their death, Christ was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was counted sin for us; the brazen serpent had no poison, Christ had no sin; the Israelites lived when they looked up to the serpent in the wilderness, we may live by looking in faith to Jesus Christ. Surely never can we see sin so hateful as when we look at Christ dying on the cross; guiltless though He was, the imputed guilt of our sins cost the precious life of God's own Son.

What was it which moved God to save us at so great a price ?-Ver. 16: "God so loved the world; " His love is great beyond any measure by which we may calculate. We can only exclaim with St. John (1 John iii. 1), "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us!."

In what way are the benefits of Christ's death made our own?-Three times did Jesus affirm to Nicodemus the precious truth that he that believeth shall not perish (ver. 15, 16, 18). Our Lord added nothing to this: he that in simple faith clings to the Saviour hath

life, and he that does not so believe in Him must perish; faith is the grasp of a drowning man on the hand stretched out to save him.

How will the reality of faith be shown?-1 John iii. 3; Jas. ii. 14, 22, 26.

Jesus plainly declared that God loved the world, and sent His Son that the world through Him might be saved; and with equal plainness He tells us why all are not saved. What reason does He give ?-Ver. 19. What is then the cause of any being condemned?-Our fellow-creatures may not detect the evil, our outward behaviour may be comparatively free from sin; but if, when Christ's love is set before us, we turn from that light as from a test we fear, the Lord's own words assure us that He sees evil in our deeds, and knows that we love the darkness of our own hearts and deeds rather than the clear shining of His truth, which would discover or reprove them. Oh, think what a solemn truth we have set before us here: God is willing to save us; Christ was willing to die for us; He offers us salvation; and if we do not accept it, we are left without excuse, our condemnation must be on our own heads.

To whom was this precious teaching of our Lord first addressed ?- Nicodemus, though "a master of Israel," had come to Jesus Christ a very ignorant man, not knowing even the first spiritual truths; but his coming to the light of Christ's teaching proved that the truth was beginning to work in his heart; he continued to walk in it, till at last his deeds of faith and love in honour of his crucified Saviour abun

dantly manifested that they were "wrought in God." *

CHARLOTTE ELIZABETH.

tuousness. What is presumption in a religious sense?-Confidence, without a promise or command to rest on. To doubt, where God has spoken, is to presume to "make Him a liar."

Let us examine-I. The Scripture warrant for assurance; II. Its threefold connection with respect to the understanding, to faith, and to hope.

I. Scripture warrant, full and diversified; only a few passages must be referred to. Turn to 1 John v. 13. Throughout this epistle, different tests are given for this very purpose, that we may know. Compare chap. iii. 2, 14, 18, 19, 24; iv. 13. Look also at 2 Pet. i. 10, 11. Examples: Job xix. 25; Rom. viii. 38, 39; Ps. xxiii. 4; 2 Tim. i. 12; iv. 7, 8, 18.

II. We find in the New Testament the privilege of assurance connected with the understanding (Col. ii. 2); with faith (Heb. x. 22); and with hope (Heb. vi. 11). Let us take these in order, and see their distinct meaning and relative connection.

1. The full assurance of understanding. On what is the understanding to be exercised? There must be entire submission to the supreme authority of Scripture, and then a thorough repose upon the revelation God has given of Himself in His word. Why has God gifted us with powers of mind? Certainly that they may be used. And, although the fall has brought about the state we read of in Eph. iv. 17, 18 and

Cor. ii. 14, yet we must remember the Spirit is promised to Christ (Isa. xi. 2) as "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding," and through Him to us. See also 1 Cor. ii. 12. What duty then devolves upon us? To use our understanding in dependence on God's Spirit, to obtain a clear view of the truths and doctrines of the Bible, how they are related to each other and inseparably connected. Many never attain a full assurance, from mental indolence. They do not set themselves to comprehend God's plan for man's salvation. "An idle soul shall suffer hunger."

has our best thanks.

"

full assurance of faith (Heb. Then the understanding has ed, caught hold of a truth, e work of faith? To rest the a it. To what has the asf faith special reference ? 9-22; Eph. iii. 12; 2 Tim. rk the expression in this last hom"-not what "I have

The assurance of faith inrenunciation of self in every (Heb. xii. 2) looking unto Te alone is seen as the ground ptance with God. Refer to Let us keep in mind that ne gift of God." We cannot t, or earn it, or force it; but for it, and plead the promise 3, 14. Let it not be said of we not because ye ask not; " and receive not, because ye

full assurance of hope (Heb.

privilege, how linked with standing and with faith. ation of Himself in Christod and a Saviour"-appre- the understanding, and faith, is "the substance of," stands under, "things hoped e two or three of the objects 1 Thess. v. 8; Gal. v. 5; ii. 13; Rom. v. 2. And of the joy of having an ashope. But it is only in the iness that this blessing can "Its brightness is dimmed, s fades, its life withers in the of an unholy world." Comi. 10, 11; Heb. vi. 10-12; 1 John i. 7; iii. 21, 24.

then resolve never to be Iwe can say, "I know whom eved." This knowledge is believer by the Divine Spirit, the heart a clear assurance nce in the Redeemer. If we appy, holy, useful, we must we can adopt the language 66 My beloved is mine, and Yet, lest any should be disre must bear in mind that in s constitutional infirmity, rs weakness of faith, hinders