W6 J90f REVISED EDITION SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS ON THB GOSPEL OF JOHN , ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ALL SOURCES PICTURESQUE GREEK WORDS LIBRARY REFERENCES TO FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS REFERENCES TO CELEBRATED PICTURES FOR THE USE OF Pastors, Sunday-School Teachers, Leaders of Prayer Meetings, and the Home BY REV. K. N. PELOUBETT, D.D., Author of "Select Notes" on the International Lessons, Suggestive Illustrations on Matthew, Acts, etc. A. J. HOLMAN & COMPANY PHII,ADEI,PHIA COPTXIGHT, IS98, BT E. R. HbRRICK & COMPANY Copyright, 1901, by A. J. Hoi,man & Company All Rights Reserved. PREFACE For twenty-fire years I have prepared an annual volume of Select Notes on the International Suiiday-School lessons. But as Paul died daily, so I die yearly ; aud it has been the dream and hope of my later life to fill out the omitted chapters and verses, improve and revise the past work up to date, and make a permanent commentary on the New Testament. The plan is to bring the latest, the most scholarly and the best light upon the Bible, in a condensed and practical form, into the pulpit, the Sunday-school and the home. I have been encouraged to hope that this work would not be useless from the feet that the total sale of the Select Notes approaches a million copies. On consulting, however, with booksellers and publishers, the opinion was almost unanimous that such a commentary must not be too large. This necessitates the leaving out of the illustrations, which many testify to as especially helpful in my previous volumes. It was therefore decided to publish the illustrations in separate volumes, of which this volume is the third one issued. It is thus possible to furnish a greatly increased number of illustrations, and literary references, which have been selected with care from a large and growing accumulation. In the preface to a new department in the Biblical World, "Material from English Literature Illustrative of the International Sunday-School Lessons," it was excellently said that "it is always a stimulating and liberalizing influence to discover how life itself, or any theory about life, has presented itself to men and women of large inteUigence and deep emotional experience. Their embodiment of any theme gives us flrst the facts of Ufe as seen by an expert in the study of man, and also the theory by which he interprets these facts and traces them to an issue. As we foUow a single thought from mind to mind, it gains color, point, definiteness ; it becomes rich, human, aUve. "We have not in this process forsaken the Bible for literature. The Bible has simply gone out through literature and found its own. "What the Bible has itself inspired is used to bring home to men what the Bible directly teaches." The same principle is equaUy true of the ' ' chambers of imagery " in Nature. The wise Milton asks, — "What if Earth Be but the shadow of heaven, and things therein Each to the other Uke, more than on earth is thought." IV PREFACE In these volumes there is a sincere endeavor to open some of the doors to these • 'chambers of imagery," and to remind our readers of some of the treasures of literature bearing on the themes concerning which the apostle John has written ; and in both cases to suggest more than is. told, to be an " open sesame " to the uncounted treasures in these fields. AUBURNDALE, MaSS., September, 189S. CHAPTER TITLES. Vsja»8prers, JOHN. Tilles'V si the incarnation. s2 Cana, the Miracle in the Home. .3 The New Heart. Nicodemus. 4 The Water of Ufe. 5 The Bethesda Cure. 6 The Bread of Life. 7 The Feast of Tabernacles. 1 Freedom by the Truth. ^ Christ the Light of the World. {0 Christ the Good Shepherd. li The Lazarus Chapter. j2 The Bethany Chapter. 13 The Lords Supper. i4 The Comforter. i? The Vine and its Branches. 16 The Spirit of Truth and Peace. 17 The Lord's Prayer. 18 The Trial. i? Crucifixion. IP Resurrection. 1 Lovest thou Me. LiFB OP Christ. Birth of John the Baptist. Birth of Christ. Childhood and Youth. ^1 Mch. Ministry of John. Baptism of Jesus. The Temptation. Jiu^e. B. Q-5' Dec, B.C. ;¦ & c 4 to 2 A. D. 36. A. o. z6. Jan. A> D. 27. Vbar op Bbownings. First DisdplS^ First Miracle. First Reform.. N First Discoune., First Tour. First Samaritan Disdplft- First Work of Galilean Mi^ istry. 11. Year of BBVELorassiT- Earljr woik in GaHlee. Miracles of Power. Choice of the Apostles. Sermon on the Mount. ' Miracles of Help. Parables. Miracles of Faith. Death./ Mch. i 27 F'eb Apr. Sum mer. Dec. Apr. Sum-f' roer. Aut umn. III. Year of Teaching AND Working. Death of John the Baptist. Discourses and Miracles. Tbe Trafisfiguration. Growing Opposition. Jesus and the Children. John, chaps. 7-10. Final Departure from GaKIee. 3rhe Good Samaritan. Teachings about Prayer. Parables about Watching. The Prodigal Son. Mch.Sum mer. Aut> umn. Last Tbrbe MoNxaa. Raising: of Lazarus. , On the way to Jerusalem. Parables. Supper at Bethaay. Triuinpbal entry. Cleansing of teraple. Last Great day of Teacb ing in Temple. Rest at Bethany. Lord's Supper, Getfasemane Trial, Crucifixion. Re6urrc9tion, A8C«nsi99. A, D, Jan.Feb. Mch., Ap. 1' Ap. 2| Ap.3, Ap.4| Ap.Si Ap. 6 Ap.7 Ap. 9 My 18 KbM.Stf fl [V] Matt.JUarJk Ujjca. John*, J'jhn. Chlfa- Temptac .Blrtik. ' buwL- tfno. .Fltst Tear. St. JOHN. Pictures and Ancient Emblems. — ' 'As one of the series of Apostles, St. John is always, in Western Art, young or in the prime of life ; with little or no beard, flowing or curling hair, generally of a pale brown or golden hue, to express the delicacy of his nature, and in his counte nance an expression of benignity and candor." — Mrs. Jamieson. Putting together the various symbols of his ofiice as represented in art, sometimes separately and sometimes combined iu one figure, we note that (1) as an apostle his symbol is the sacramental cup in his hands ; (3) as an Evangelist he is accompanied by an eagle ; (3) as a prophet he holds a book often with a pen. 1. From the Sacramental cup in the hand of John, a serpent is seen to issue, probably an allusion to the reply given by our Saviour when the mother of James and John requested for her sons the place of honor in the Kingdom of heaven, "ye shall indeed drink of my cup." 3. TJie book or scroll, represents John as a prophet. Domenichino represents him as young and beautiful, in an ecstacy of inspiration, with " a scroll in his hand, looking upwards as one to whom the glory of the heavens had been opened ; you see it reflected in his eyes, while love, wonder, devotion, beam from his beautiful face and parted lips ; behind him hovers the attendant eagle, holding the pen in his beak." 3. Tlie eagle represents him as the Evangelist, " The early images of the Evangelical symbol are uniformly represented with wings for the same reason that wings were given to the angels, — they were angels, 1. e., bringers of good tidings." The Evangelist flew on swift wings of love over the world. But first the eagle soared highest into the heavens and his eyes gazed at the Sun of righteousness, looking into the face of the Holy One. 1 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS " Supra Goelos dum coDScendit Summi Patris comprehendit Natum ante Siecula; Pellens nobem nostrso molis Intuetur jubar solis JohaDDes ia aquila.'' Laiin Hymn of Adam of St. Victor, in Aip. Trench') Latin Hymns. " Sec, far above the starry height, Beholding, with unclouded sight, The brightness of the sun, John doth as eagle swift appear, 8till gazing on the vision clear Of Christ, the Eternal Son." Translated hy E. H. Plwmptre, D. D. Legends of St. John. — " It is related by Clement of Alexandria that when St. John was at Ephesus, and before he was exiled to Pat mos, he had taken to his cai-e a young man of promising qualities of person and mind. During his absence he left him under the spiritual guidance of a certain bishop : but, after a while, the youth took to evil courses, and proceeding from one excess to St. John another, he at length became the leader of a band of rob- and the bers and assassins, who struck terror into the whole coun- Eobbers, try. When St. John returned to Ephesus, he went to the bishop and demanded ' the precious deposit he had left in liis hands.' At first the priest did not understand him ; but when St. John explained the allusion to his adopted son, he cast down his eyes with sorrow and shame, and told of what had befallen. Then St. John rent his garments and wept with a loud voice, and cried out, ' Alas 1 alas I to what a guardian have I trusted our brother ! ' And he called for a horse and rode towards the forest in which the robbers sojourned, and when the captain of the robbers beheld his old master and instructor, he turned and would have fled from his presence, but St. John by the m,ost fervent entreaties, prevailed on him to stop and listen to his words After some conference, the robber, utterly subdued, burst into tears of penitence, imploring forgiveness ; and while he spoke, he hid beneath his robe his right hand, which had been sullied with so many crimes ; but St. John, falling on his knees before him, seized that blood -polluted hand and kissed it, and bathed it with his tears ; and he remained with his re-converted brother till he had, by prayers and encouraging words and affectionate exhortations, reconciled him with Iloavon and with himself. " This beautiful legend is the subject of some old engravings, in which St. John is represented embracing the robber, who is weeping on his neck, having flung away his weapons. It has been, however, too rarely treated ; I have never met with a picture of the subject ; and yet it abounds in picturesque capabilities ; the forest background — the con trast of youth and age — bright armor, flowing drapery, and the most striking and aflfe'cting moral, are heVe all combined." — iifrs. Janiie'^&n, ST. JOHN 3 An Apologue of St. John. — " Another very pretty apologue relat ing to St. John is sometimes included in a series of subjects from his lips. Two young men who had sold all their possessions to follow him, afterwards repented. He, perceiving their thoughts, sent them to gather pebbles and faggots, and on their return, St. John changed these into money and ingots of gold, saying to and Two them, ' Take back your riches and enjoy them on earth, as Toung Men, you regret having exchanged them for heaven 1 ' This story is represented on one of the windows of the Cathedral at Bourges. The two young men stand before St. John with a heap of gold on one side, and a heap of stones and faggots on the other." — Mrs. Jamieson. LiBRABY. — Mrs Jamison's Sacred and Legendary Art, Vol. I, pp. 157-172. Pictures. — Darer's St. John and St. Peter (Munich) St. John, by Domenichino, (several pictures, one at Leigh Court, one at St. Peters- burgh, one at Milan) ; by Raphael, (Marseilles) ; by Correggio, (Duomo at Parma) ; by Perugino (Bologna). SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS I : 1-5 CHAPTER I. THE INCARNATION, THE LOGOS AND GOD. In the beginning was the Word, 'Ev apx'n ^v 6 Ao-yos, And the Word was with God, Kal 6 Ad^yos ^v irpos tov Qiov, And the Word was God. ^al ©eos ^v 6 A670S. The same was in the beginning q,^^^ .^ ^^ ^p^^- ^pj,^ .^^^ q,^^, with God. THE LOGOS AND THB WORLD. All things were made by him; IldvTa SI' airov I'yeveTO, And without him was not anything Kol X'"P'''S airoO i-ys'veTO ovSe ev o made that was made. vevovev, THE LOGOS AND MANKIND. In him was life ; 'Ev avriS Jwt) ¦^v, And the life was the light of men. ^al t) Jut) -^v to (|>ws twv dvepuiruv. THE LOGOS AND SIN. And the light shineth in darkness; Kal to 4>"S ev rrf (TKOTCq. 4>aCvei, And the darkness comprehended ^al ti o-KOTta airb ou KaTeXaPev. it not. The Word, (6 X6-yos) : Logos. " This expression is the key-note and theme of the entire gospel. A670S is from the root X.67, appearing in Xt7 grace given in fresh measure, as former grace is improved, each grace being a step to a higher; or, (2) grace given to His cluldren, corresponding to each grace in His own nature, — love like His love, purity like His purity, the presence of the Holy Spirit in them as it was in Him. " Not only the freeness of Divine grace is sug gested by this e.xpression, but also its adaptation to every state and want of the renewed man, as he passes on from chUdhood to maturity in the Divine life." — Dr. Hovey, in American Commentary. Chorus your Virtues. — " In the famiUar scripture (3 Pet. i. 5-8), ' Add to your faith virtue, ' etc. , ' the word translated ' ' add " eirixopti-y^- o-oTE, from xop'nvos {choregos, a leader of a chorus), has been anglicized, and is our word 'chorus.' Peter says, ' Chorus your faith.' Sustain it with the music of aU the weU-tuned graces of heaven. The first vioUn leads in rendering the grand masterpiece of the musical genius. The com position would be grand were the first violin the only instrument to render it. The sweep of the music would be vast. There would be 24 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS I:I5, l6 melody and thrUling chords. But the first violin is not left alone. It is chorused and sustained. The second violin takes a part. The third vioUn takes a part. The flute takes a part. The deep-toned trumpet takes a part. The bass viol takes a part. The rolling drum takes a part. The tinkUng cymbal takes a part. And aU together, and in per fect unison, sound out the one grand conception of the one grand mind, and all together chorus the leading instrument. As you listen you are reminded of the words of the Apocalyptist, when he describes the music of the skies, and declares that it is like the sound of many waters and the voice of the mighty thunders. Such is the figure of the Apostle Peter. He says, ' Let the grace of faith lead in the grand song of life. Let it pour out its clear, triumphant music upon the listening world. Its music is sublime; but compel it not to sing alone. Chorus it. Chorus it. Chorus it with boldness. Chorus it with knowledge. Chorus it with self-mastery. Chorus it with steadfast endurance. Chorus it with piety. Chorus it with love for the brethren. Let all the graces pour out their deep-seated and soul-stirring music, so that the listening world may have a large anticipation of the heavenly harmonies, and a grand rehearsal of the song that is sung bythe choir of the redeemed.' " — David Greg^, D. D., in the Heaven Life. The Lesson op Grace for Grace " is that one grace is given instead of another. We cannot live to-day on the strength of yesterday's food, but each day has its own bread. Yesterday's sunshine will not light th'e earth to-day, but there is other sunshine ready each new morning. When you were in sorrow a while ago, /Jod came to you and comforted you in wonderful ways — through his promises, or through a human friend who brought you blessing, or through a book whose words were like a heavenly lamp pouring its light upon your darkness. When a new sorrow comes, that old comfort cannot be used again; but you will have other comfort for your new sorrow — comfort in place of the comfort which is past." — J. R. Miller, D. D. The Need op Grace and Graces — The Religious Porcupine.— "The porcupine is a fitting symbol of the disagreeable. With his long, sharp spines sticking out in every direction, he wounds aU who venture to touch him. Some assert that he has a habit, in his more than usuaUy disagreeable moods, of shooting off his quUls like darts, and thus wounding those at a distance from him. In our books on natural history these animals are described as quad rupeds; but we have seen a species of biped that, if not identical, is certainly very closely related to them. We find them in our churches, I : 15, l6 ST. JOHN 25 and occasionally they make their way into the prayer- meeting, though they are not regular attendants there. Their religion is of a kind pecuUar to themselves, and they wear it as a porcupine does his quills." — Rev. George H. Hubbard. Prologue. Grace for Grace. •i- Gems Need to be Polished. — No gem reveals its true beauties in a natural state. The diamond in the rough is most unatti-active; its per fections are hidden under a hard crust, which can only be removed by its own powder. The deep velvet hue of the sapphire, the brilliant red of the ruby, the soft clear green of the emerald, only display them selves after the lapidary has used his skiU in cutting them into facets and polishing them. There are, of course, plenty of polished stones which are not gems, and plenty of polite people who are not of high moral worth; but the necessity remains that gems should be polished and Christians refined. — Dr. Dickson. How ^ve Gain Grace for Grace. — " In the Royal GaUery at Dres den may be often seen a group of connoisseurs, who sit for hours before a single painting. They walk around those halls whose walls are so eloquent with the triumphs of ai-t, and they come back, and pause again before that one masterpiece. Weeks are Studying spent yearly in the study of that one work of Raphael, a Master- with its matchless forms. In our picture gaUery of Bible piece. characters we may study many beauties of form and feature, but for the masterpiece we must return continuaUy to our Lord Jesus Christ." — Prof. Austin Phelps in Tlie Still Hour. Gazing at the Christ We Become Like Him. — ' ' Years ago in a Roman palace there hung a beautiful picture, upon which crowds went to gaze. Among them a young painter unknown to fame went daily to look upon it. until his soul was refreshed by its beauty, and a great longing came into his heart to copy it, but he was sternly refused per mission. He returned repulsed, but not discouraged. Day and night its beauty haunted him. Copy it he must. Daily he came to the palace, coining early and leaving late, and, sitting before the picture gazed upon it tdl it grew into him, and became Studying part of himself, and one day he hurried home to his easel a Painting and began to paint. Each day he came and gazed at the at Kome. picture, and then went home and reproduced bit by bit, unweariedly, patiently, something of its beauty. Each fresh day's look cori-ected the last day's faults, and as he toiled his power grew, and his 26 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS I:I5, l6 hidden genius blazed out. Months after in that humble studio there stood such a wonderful copy of the Vatican picture that those who saw it could not rest untU they had seen the beautiful original. " — Our Own Magazine. Power of Dwelling Among the Good. — Plato would exclude from his model Republic, not only all bad poets and writers, but bad workmen of every kind; because by viewing what was ill-proportioned and out of harmony, the minds of the people would be injured. "Being trained by iaiages of evil, as in a bad pasture land, they would establish imperceptibly, little by little, some Plato's mighty evil in their soul. But rather should we seek for BepubUc. such craftsmen as by help of a good natural genius can investigate the nature of the beautiful and becoming; in order that our youths dwelling as it were in a healthful place may receive advantage on all sides; and so receive some service from fine productions, just as a breeze brings health from healthy places.'' Library. — Among the booklets we have The Face of Christ, by Katharine Pearson Woods, " an old legend retold for Christmas." It is a sweet and tender little story of an artist who had sold his soul to Satan, but as his last work determined to paint the face of Christ, which he did with such effect that it transformed his whole life. Power op Good Thoughts.,— Do we realize the power there is in the companionship of our own thoughts. ' ' Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise," thinking on these things, abiding with the Beautiful, the Good and the True, transforms the soul, as the Christ-lamp iu the flsherman's hut, in Goethe's Tale of Tales, transformed its rough boards and beams into an exquisitely wrought temple of solid silver. Library. —See Carlyle's Essays for an interpretation of Goethe's Tale of Tales. It was said of William Pitt, the younger, the Prime Minister of Eng land at twenty-three years of age, that no one ever entered his closet, if it was for only five minutes, who did not come out of it a stronger and braver man than he was when he went in. New Revelations to Continued Study. — " The noblest objects never disclose their best meaning at first sight. Sir Joshua Reynolds Prologue. Grace for Grace. I : 15, 16 ST. JOHN says that when he visited Italy to make the acquaint ance of the celebrated masterpieces, he was mucli cast down. The renowned masters maintained toward him a quiet and dignified silence ; they refused to confide to him their thoughts. He gazed steadfastly j, and could not behold their glory. Persevering, how ever, the pictures gradually began to raise their veUs, and permit him to have an occasional peep at their rare beauty : they softly whispered to him a few of their secrets ; and as he continued unwavering in his devotion, they at last flung away their reserve, showed themselves with an open face, and revealed to him the wealth of beautiful ideas that was lodged in them. As with pictures, so with characters. The diviner the life, the closer the inspection requisite to under stand it. But of all characters, ancient or modern, none demand so much intent gazing as that of Jesus Christ. Potences perfectly novel in the history of the world exert their subtle influence; the human and the Divine, the grace and the truth, are so closely associ ated, that not at once do we grasp the radical idea, and perceive its subdued, tempered beauty. The depth and manifoldness of Christ's character form the reason for the well-nigh two hundred lives and har monies which have been launched upon the world. A difficult character to understand fully, for its beauty only grows upon us by degrees. Every age discovers a new trait; every fresh generation perceives a fresh exceUence ; and thus from age to age He increases in loveliness in the estimation of men. He continues to reveal to the loving earnest gaze His glory, 'the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.'" — J. Cynddlan Jones, D. D. Seeing Christ prom all Sides. — "One of our American artists, wishing to perfect for himself a portrait and a bust of Shake speare, took the death-mask from the face of the poet, and Photographs had twenty or thirty photographs made, from every possible of angle of vision, that he might get the fullest light on every Shakespeare's point of face and head ; then came the portrait on the can- Mask. vas, and then the stately head in marble." — Dr. R. S. Storrs. " Thus, in many aspects, the Lord walks before us in grace and truth, and from many aspects can we see Jesus as He is, and gain from Him grace for grace." Grace by Grace Used. — The best means of getting more grace is to use the grace we already have. It is the law of all life, especially of spiritual life : " Whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance." It is becoming an acknowledged truth by educators, 28 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 1:17-20 17. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18. No man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 19. If And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20. And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. that hand- work well and f aithf uUy done, educates the mind. Hand- work for Christ in the use of graces, increases the graces in the soul. No one really knows a thing tiU he does it. 18. The Invisible Things op God, Declared by Christ. — ' ' There are even material agents in existence around us so subtle as to elude the cognizance of the senses. There are powers in nature whose ever-pre sent influence we perceive, yet which themselves are never directly dis cerned. The varied forms and colors of material objects around us the eye can detect, but not the latent electricity that pervades them. The masses and motions of the planetary bodies are appreciable by the sight ; but the keenest organs of sense cannot see gravitation, cannot detect that mysterious power, as it flies through space, binding orb to orb. And if thus on the confines, so to speak, of the material and spiritual worlds, there are agents impalpable to sense, much more, when we pass those limits, do we enter into a region where bodily organs fail us, and a vision and faculty far more divine are needed. Who has seen thought ? What eye has ever rested on that mysterious essence which we designate mind, soul, spirit? If it be that spiritual intelligence surround us, if millions of spiritual beings walk the earth both when we wake and sleep, yet, as they pass hither and thither on their heavenly ministries, does the faintest sign of the presence of these glorious beings ever flash on the dull sense of man? Nay, are we not dweUers in a world of embodied spirits, holding continual intercourse with them, witnessing constantly the proofs of their existence and the effects of their activity : yet has one human spirit ever become visible to another ? No ! it is but the forms of spirit that are visible to sense. We see in the busy world around us the mere houses of souls. In this sense, then, God is now and ever must be invisible. If even a finite spirit cannot be seen by the bodily eye, how much less the infinite spirit ? " — John Caird, D. D. Seeing God. — It is impossible to see God any farther than we are like Him. The man born blind cannot even conceive of the flowers of sight. The man who does not love cannot conceive of what love is. What is true of physical sensations is probably true of spiritual vision. In I : 21-23 ST. JOHN 29 A. D. 26. Summer and A utu7nn. ^%'ndernes.'« of Judea. John Preparing the Way. 21. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, 1 am not. Art thou that Prophet? And he answered, Xo. 22. Then said they unto him. Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23. He said, I am the voice of one crying in tbe wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.the Popular Science Monthly a statement about possible senses and sensations was given, as here condensed : " Sound is the sensation pro duced on us when the vibrations of the air strike on the drum of our ear. When they are few, the sound is deep ; as they increase in number, it becomes shriUer and shriUer; but when they reach 40,000 in a second they cease to be audible. Light is the effect produced on us when waves of Ught strike on the eye. When four hundred miUions of milUons of vibrations of ether strike the retina in a second, they produce red, and as the number increases the color passes into orange, then yeUow, then green, blue, and violet. But between 40,000 vibrations in a second and four hundred miUions of milUons we have no organ of sense capable of receiving the impression. Yet between these limits any number of sensations raay exist. We have flve senses, and sometimes fancy that no other is possible. But it is obvious that we cannot measure the infinite by our own narrow Umitations. " It is quite probable that there are as many possibUities of spuitual knowledge and feeling, of which we as yet know nothing, but only as we gain them can we even see in His fullness our God whose powers are infinite. AU that we can see is revealed by His works, and especiaUy by Jesus Christ who not only reveals what God is, but implants the new Ufe, as the purity of heart by which we can see what He reveals. 18. Hath Declared Him, eJi]'yiio-aTo, from Ik, forth, and Ti-yEopiai, to lead the way. hence to lead the ivay into the meaning of any thing, by words, to interpret, to translate. "Therefore e|TJYniris, exegesis, is interpretation or explanation. The word «{>)yT'^s was used by the Greeks of an expounder of oracles, dreams, omens, or sacred rights. Thus Croesus, finding the suburbs of Sardis aU^e with serpents, sent to the soothsayers (IfriYnTos) of Telmessus (Herodotus, i., 78)." — 31. R. 'Vincent. John is caUed " a voice " because (1) He was the utterer of God's thought. (3) ' ' The whole man was a sermon. " (3) He called attention not to himself, but to his message, as does every true preacher and teacher, (4) Himself weak and insignificant, like words, sound, motion in the air, he yet produced a mighty effect on the souls of men. 30 SUGGESTIVE lLI.UbiKii.iiui\o r -? 24, And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25. And they asked him, and said unto him. Why baptizeth thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet? 26. John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not ; 27. He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 28. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was bap tizing. 29. If The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith. Behold the Lamb of God, whioh taketh away the sin of the world ! Make Straight the Way op the Lord. — Dr. TrumbuU in his Studies in Oriental Social Life, speaks of the narrow streets of Alex andria packed with half naked cripples, blind beggars, veiled women, men in bright-colored garments, children in The Herald none, donkeys trotting through the crowd, when, suddenly, in out of all this confusion, a sharp, clear voice was heard, Alexandria. " Take care, to thy right, to thy left," from a lithe-limbed young Egyptian, gayly dressed, with his loins girded, coming on the run, swinging a light staff in his hand, and repeating his cries to the throng in the street to make way for those who were to follow. Close behind him came an open carriage, drawn by a span of showy horses, containing an officer of the government. Thus John came to bid men, and customs, and prejudices, and useless forms, and sins of all kinds to stand aside and let the Prince of Peace come to their hearts and to their nation. Another method of preparing the way was by building and repairing highways when the king of a country was to pass through. The roads there are so exceedingly bad that this is a necessity. " A ' king's high way ' had to be carried through the open land of the wUder- ness, vaUeys fllled up, and hiUs leveled (the words used Preparing are, of course, poetical in their greatness), winding by- the Way. paths straightened for the march of the great army." Ellicott. " On going from Cairo to the pyramids, over an exceptionally good road, the traveler wUl not fail to be told that it was built for the Prince of Wales, or for the Empress Eugenie, or for the Khedive him self, or even, rarely, for Napoleon the Great. " — Pro/. Isaac Hall. Library. —An example is given in Stanley's Through the Dark Con tinent, I., 198. 39. Which Taketh Away the Sin of the World. — " I have read of one who dreamed a dream, when in great distress of mind about religitjn. He thought he stood in the outer court of heaven, and he 31 A, », 26, Sutnmer and Autumn. The liamb of God, I : 24, 29 ST. JOHN saw a glorious host marching up, singing sweet hymns ^ and bearing the banners of victory, and they passed by him through the gate, and when they vanished he heard in the distance sweet strains of music. ' Who are they ? ' he asked. ' They are the goodly fellowship of the prophets, who have gone to be with God.' And he heaved a deep sigh as he said , ' Alas, I am not one of them, and never shall be ; I cannot enter there.' By and by there came another band, equally lovely in appearance, and equaUy triumphant, and robed in white. They passed within the portals, and again were shouts of welcome heard within. 'Who are they?' he asked. ' They are the goodly fellowship of the apostles.' ' Alas,' he said, ' I belong not to that feUowship, and cannot enter there.' He stiU waited and lingered, in the hope that he might get in ; but the next multitude did not encourage him, for they were a noble army of mar tyrs. He could not go with them, nor wave their pahn branches. At last, as he walked, he saw a larger host than all the rest put together, marching and singing most melodiously, and in front walked a woman that was a sinner, and the thief that died on the cross, hard by the Saviour ; and he thought : ' There wiU be no shouting about them.' But to his astonishment, it seemed as if all heaven was rent with seven fold shouts as they passed in. And the angel said to him : ' These are they that are mighty sinners saved by mighty grace.' And then he said : ' Blessed be God, I can go in with them.' And so he awoke. Blessed be God, you and I too can go in with that company. I cannot hope to go in anywhere but with'that company. Such is my own sense of how I expect to enter heaven, and we wiU go together, brother sin ner or sister sinner, trusting in the precious blood and washed in the blood of the Lamb. God grant it may be so.'' — Spurgeon. The Dying Words of Rev. Dr. Alfred Cookman : — He lay upon his dying couch, Sustained by grace ; amazing grace ! For while pain racked each quivering nerve. Heaven's glory shone upon his face. For he was washed, Washed in the blood of the Lamb. " If now my Lord should come and ask If life or death my choice would be, I'd say. My Lord, I have no choice. Do thou as seemeth good to thee. 80 sweetly am I now Washed in the blood of the Lamb. 32 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTKAiiUiMc ^ . j_, ^ 30. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man wbich is preferred before me; for he was before me. 31. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, there fore am I come baptizing with water. 32. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33. And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, thesame said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 35. H Again the next day after, John stood, and two of his disciples' 36. And looking upon Jesus as be walked, he saith. Behold the Lamb of God ! " I had a vision lying here : Methought my sainted father came And holding me in love's embrace He drew me on toward the throne, And said, when near that glorious place, This is my son. Washed in the blood of the Lamb. " My brother came to greet me now. Rejoiced to find me safe at home ; Then leading rae to Jesus' feet, He said, my Lord, Alfred has come, My brother dear. Washed in the blood of the Lamb. " Two arms around ray neck were thrown. Two lips were closely pressed on mine ; My precious boy exulting cried. The glory Lord be ever thine ; My papa's here. Washed in the blood of the Lamb." With eyelids closed, he seeraed to see The fiery chariot by his side, One last fond look on loved ones here. Then with triumphant voice he cried, " I'm sweeping through the gates. Washed in the blood of the Lamb." - Juniata. 35. The First Disciples op Jesus. — " The headwaters of a river are places of enduring interest." "The Sources of the Dee, says Rev. W. Wynne Peyton, in his Memorabilia of Jesus," are in the highest and longest mountain plateau in Britain, 4800 feet Headwaters above the sea. Numerous springs bubble up from a granite of the Dee. I : n, 38 ST. JOHN 33 37. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they fol lowed Jesus. 38. Then Jesus turned, and saw tbem following, and saith unto them. What seek ye? They said unto him. Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted. Master), where dwellest thou ? A, D, 27, February. The First Disciples John and Audreiv, floor — I have counted 26 of them — forming little pools which unite their waters into a tiny stream." " This geographical sanc tuary of headwaters is not known to many even in this crowded land of ours. Ducal and royal palaces are built on the banks of the Dee lower down, and pleasant homes aU along its course, and a University city at the mouth of it." The headwaters of the great Christian world, its flrst ideas and emotions, its first methods, its first disciples, are of great interest to us aU. Note the Self-Renunciation op John, wUling to yield up his appar ent success for the honor of his Master and the salvation of men. But his very success was in his apparent defeat. Success His work was to prepare men for the Saviour, and lead by Defeat. them to him, and the more successful he was, the sooner his disciples would leave him and foUow Jesus. A good teacher is always preparing scholars to graduate. His success is in having his scholars leave him for the life for which he has been preparing them. Reference. — See under iu : 29. " Others shall sing the song." 36. Behold the Lamb op God. — The Ulustration is in the paschal lamb, through which aU who obeyed were saved from the destroying angel, and began the journey through the WUdemess to the Promised land. LlBRAiiY. — Poem on Alfred Cookman, "Washed in the blood of the Lamb." But now the Blood op the Lamb, — • ' Bids sins of a crimson-like dye Be spotless as snow, and as white, And makes such a sinner as I As pure as an angel of Ught. " Taketh away the Sin of the World. — The earnest ones, both as individuals and as a nation, were like Lady Macbeth, washing her a 34 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS I : 39-41 39. He saith unto them. Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day : for it was about the tenth hour. 40. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him. We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. hands in vain endeavor to cleanse away the spots of sin. They were like the man in Ethelwyn Wetherald's poem, — " I talked with you to-day, all three — Two of you lurked unseen — Yourself, the boy you used to be And the man you might have been. You never knew that silently They smiled at you unseen, — The ardent boy you used to be And the man you might have been." 38. What Seek Yb? — The answer each person makes to this ques tion both tests and determines his character and his destiny. For what port are you steering? What road have you The Aim chosen to travel? What is the aim and purpose of your of Life life, — Jesus, the Kingdom of God, goodness, usefulness, or selfishness, worldly success, money, pleasure? One way leads to heaven, the other to hell. 39. Come. They Abode with Him. — " His feeling is that if any man wants to see Him, He wants to see that man. The old proverb, Tres faciunt Ecclesiam, " Three make a church." is always true when oneof the three is Jesus. " — Dr. 0. F. Deems, LL. D. Some one has said (hat President Mark Hopkins sitting on a log with one student, was a University, Contrast this simple, natural, quiet coming to Christ with the sudden conversion of Paul. " There was no struggle, no agony ; they saw the light, the fulness of grace and truth, and Many Gates gladly and lovingly followed it."— Bp>. H. W. Warren. to the Either way is good, if only we really come to Christ. The City of God City of God has gates on every side, and it makes little difference from which direction we come, or through which of its twelve gates we enter, if only we come within. I : 39-41 ST. JOHN These disciples came to Jesus, because with Him 4" were all the things their souls needed, as the hungry i>, d. 27, man is attracted to food, and the chiUy man to the fire, and the thirsty man to the streams of water. Fitrua^y . Tlie First Disciples John and Andreiv. 41. He First Findeth his own Brother Simon. — This is an example of the parable of the leaven in "^ which one particle acts upon another tdl the whole is leavened. ' ' Introduced into the meal it communicates a change to the whole mass analogous to that which it is itself experiencing. One part mixed with '-,000 parts trill change tlie whole in a few hours. It had long been a mystery how so smaU a quantity of one substance should be able to effect such a change upon so large a mass of another. But the discovery that leaven con- Leaven tains a fungus plant which mtUtiplies with prodigious rapidity, and is sustained by the matter into which the leaven is intro duced, furnishes an explanation. This yeast plant consists of myriads of cells, scarcely more than one three-thousandth of an inch in diam eter. Note the two principles : (1) It needs but a very smaU quantity of leaven to proiluce a complete change in a very large amount of farinaceous matter, ('i) It is only necessciry to start the process in one or a few spots in order to have it permeate the entue heap ^unless, as in bread, the process be stopped by heat). ' The whole secret of the spread of Christianity over the world is in this figure of the leaven.' — President Hitchcock. Pasteur has demonstrated, to the acceptance of the whole scientific world, that ferments are not portions of lifeless organic matter; but are actual Uving organisms, and that the fermen tations which they occasion is a nece? sarv consequence of manifesta tion of their vital activity and growth." — P-of. W. H. Thomson, M. D. LiBRAEY. — President Hitchcock's Religious Truth Illustrated from Science. "The Catalytic Power of the Gospel." Prof. Wm. H. Thom son's Parables and their Home, " The Parable of the Leaven." T'he Ten to Strangers, is an organization in the C.ilvary Baptist Church of Wasliington, D. C. It grew out of ' ' The Kings Sons." which. like "The King's Daughters," consisted of ten persons pledged to some kind of Christian work. There are now twelve or fifteen members, but they go under the old name. One part of their work is to go around to all the leading hotels of Washington each Saturday afternoon, and obtain the names of the young men who are guests for the Sabbath. To each of these they send a personal letter of invitation to the Calvary Baptist Church and Sunday School. The result is a very large attend ance of young men at that church, more than at any other church iu 36 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS I : 59-41 the city. Of course " The Ten to Strangers " are on hand to welcome those they have invited. One incident was of interest. A young man at a certain hotel took llis invitation from the post-oifiee box, gUineed at it, and threw it away. The clerk picked it up, put it in another envelope, nnd laid it in his box. At tea-time he had this second invitation. He threw it away, but by the kindness of the clerk it was again put in an envelope, so that at bed time he had a third invitation. He was astonished, but threw it aside. However, at breakfast, the letter of invitation in a new em elope was beside his plate. When he received this invitation the fourth time, he made up his mind that if any church w-ould send liim four invitations in one evening, it was time for hini to go there and see \\liat il meant. Ten Times One is Ten.— Edward Everett Hale's capital story, Ten limes one is Ton, shows us clearly how the reli,ti,ion of Christ may be made to fill the whole earth by the personal eifort of Christians. .Add ing to his motto " Look up. not down; look out, andnot in; look for ward, not back; .and lend a hand," the love and salvation of Jesus Christ, each Christian may lead others to Christ, till the whole I'arth shall be filled with the knowdedge of the Lord, as the waters eo\er (lie sen. " Look up " legions, " Ten times one is ton " societies have sprung in> in many plaees, and are widely spread. Nearly all the 500 students of Wellesley CoUege belong to " Ten times oue is ten" companies. The Brotherhood op St. .VNDuiav and Philip was named frora the work of these two early disciples in leading others to .lesus. There are now nearly 400 societies. A Pastor's Record. — During nearly aU my pastorate. I kept a record concerning those who united with the ihurch, of various things pertaining to the beginning of their religious life. Under one heading was the instrumentality through whieh they became Christians ; and in the givat majority of cases it was through personal invitation or influ ence. " The Bee-hunter in .Vmeriea puts a piece of hon(\vcomb into a box, and catches a bee lie then covers the box, and very soon the bee fills hiraself with the liouoy. Heing let loose it finds its way homo, and in a little tirae returns, but not alone. He brings hia eoinpanions willi liim, and in turn they brin,i;- their companions, till the box is fllled with a full swarm of bees. Let every Sunday scholar and every attendant at a Christian church do likewise. If th(\v have tasted that word whieh is sweeter than honey, let them bring their companions and nei.glibors with them." — Biblical Illnstralor. A. D. 27. I'cbruary. The First Disciples John and Andre IV. I : 39-41 ST. JOHN 37 The Power of Units. — "This teaches us the ^ 4> immense pother of iiu'its. All nature bears witness to this power. How are the tremendous tliroes of the earthquake propagated ? Simply by each unit com municating the vibratory shock it has received to its neighbor. But by this action cities may be overthrown. Howarethe waves of the sea rolled up mountain liigh? 4" •i Only by each drop of water communicating its momentum to the next drop. But In this way ships are wrecked. How have great masses of population been transferred from Europe to our own shores ? Chiefly by the sending by individuals for their individual friends. This is the way great movements begin and are carried on . This is the way Christianity be,f,'an, and in the same way it has spread over the globe." — A. F. Schauffler, D. D. Growth of Units. — " If you want to see how this power of the unit grows, just take a pencU and flgure out how many years it would take for the whole world to be converted, if each year each disciple were to win one other to follow the Lord. Suppose that you start with only ten miUion true disciples, how long would it take to Christianize the world? Would one hundred years accomplish the task ? Much less. The whole would be done in seven years." — Schauffler Examples. — "I do not know who was instrumental in calling Mr. Moody to Christ, bnt, whoever he was, if he never did another thing for Christ, he did much. In New York, Mr. Moody. years ago, a city missionary found a poor Jew. He strove to lead him to the Messiah, and succeeded. In after years that Jew became a missionary himself, and a bishop of the Episcopal Church, and translated the Word of God for millions of people. No one knows the name of tliat missionary but a few of his friends, though thousands know the ii,ame of the distinguished Missionaries. convert. Years ago, in Russia, a Catholic priest so preached that a young mechanic who heard was converted. That mechanic became a missionary, and translated the Bible twice over for two different nations, learned nineteen languages, and was a most useful man. Few ever heard of the priest, but many thousand knew of his convert. Probably no preacher ever had as great success as Mr. Spur geon. He has had many thousands added to his church, and has estabUshed thirty-six missions in London. Yet, as Spurgeon. he tells the story, he was converted by the preaching of an obscure preacher, whose very name I never have heard. Millions know 38 SUGGESTIVE' ILLUSTRATIONS 1:39-41 of Mr. Spurgeon who will never, till the judgment day, hear the name of his benefactor. Japan owes the late Joseph Nessima a boundless debt of gratitude for his wise and unceasing labors for the kingdom, in his native land. But does it owe ^nothing to those who in this land Nessima, led that student to the feet of the Saviour ? If God wUl not forget a cup of cold water, will He forget The Cup of a deed that is done for Him in bringing some one else to Cold Water. a knowledge of the truth ? If this be true, it yet may be also true that God shall use you for the conversion of a Moody or a Spurgeon or a Moffat. A child can light a match that shall set a city on fire. An unknown Great Sesults man can draw a bow at a venture that shall smite a king from Little between the joints of the harness, and turn a battle. So in Things. things spiritual you and I, feeble though we may be, can start a succession of causes that shall result in blessing untold millions of our feUow-creatures. — ..4. F. Schauffler, D. D., in Sunday-School Times. We cannot move the train, but we can turn the lever that lets on the steam. We cannot blow up the rocks at Hell-gate obstructing navi gation to New York, but a little child touched the electric button and the work was done. The little maid could not cure Naaman of his leprosy, but she sent him to the prophet who could heal him. We Have Found the JIessiah. — Hiero, the King of Syracuse, set the great mathematician Archimedes to work on what is called the Crown Problem, namely to ascertain whether a crown made for him ostensibly of gold, was or was not aUoyed witli baser metal, and if it was, with how much. Archimedes was puzzled till one day as he was stepping into a bath, and observed the water running over, it occurred to him that the excess of bulk occasioned by the intro duction of alloy could be measured by putting the crown Eureka, and an equal weight of gold separately into a vessel fiUed with water, and observing the difference of overflow." He was so over joyed when this happy thought struck him, that without waiting to put on his clothes he ran nude through the streets to his home, shouting Eureka, Eureka, e3pT|Ka, "I have found it, I have found it." This word has been adopted as the motto of the state of California in allusion to the discovery of gold there. LiBR.\.RY. — Encyclopedia Br-if. "Archimedes," and Century Dictionary, " Eureka," and "Crown Problem." I : 42 ST. JOHN 39 42. And be brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said. Thou art Simon tbe son of Jonah : thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. A. B, 27, February. Simon Peter Becomes a Disciple, (The Third.) 43. Simon. — Shalt be Called Cephas, — a Stone, A Rock. — " Although in the West we are less likely to have different forms of our names for different languages, the thing is not unheard of. Some of the German Schneiders, settling in the United States, have translated their name boldly into English as Taylor. So, Loewenstein is apt to becorae Livingstone, by trans-phonetics rather than by translation. National names change quite freely. The Changes German, for instance, is a "Deutscher" at home, an of Names. ' ¦ AUemandais " in France, a " German " in England and the United States, and a " Nimsawi " among the Arabs." — Sunday School Times. Seeing Peter the Apostle, in Simon the Fisherman. — "As the eye of the cunning lapidary detects in the rugged pebble, just digged from the mine, the polished diamond that shall The Dia- sparkle in the diadem of a king ; or as the sculptor inthe mondinthe rough block of marble, newly hewn from the quarry, be- Pebble. holds the statue of perfect grace and beauty which is latent there, and waiting but the touch of his hand, — so he who sees all, and the end from the beginning, sees oftentimes greater wonders than these. He sees the saint in the sinner, the saint that shall be in the sinner that is ; the wheat in the tare." — Abp. Trench. The Statue So Jesus saw Peter the rock, in Siraon the fisherman ; in the Matthew the writer of the Gospel, in the publican; Paul the Eock. apostle, in Saul the persecutor. So Michael Angelo saw a marble angel in the neglected block. "Thus with somewhat of the seer Must the moral pioneer From the future borrow ; Clothe the waste with dreams of grain. And on the midnight sky of rain Paint the golden morrow." — Whittier' s Barclay of Ury. Simon Becomes Peter. — "In a gallery in Europe there hang side by side Rembrandt's first picture, a simple sketch, imperfect and faulty ; and his great masterpiece, which all men admire. So in the two 40 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 1:42 names, Simon and Peter, we have first the rude fisherman who came to Jesus that day ; and second the man as he became during the years when the friendship of Jesus had enriched his life."— J^. R. Miller. Note the transformation of character through the knowledge and service of Jesus. Simon, the simple fisherman, "hot-headed, rash, impulsive, whose uncertainty and hastiness brought him and his into many troubles," became Peter the Apostle, the rock, firm and strong. Recall. — How Jacob, the supplanter, became Israel, a Prince with God. Alexander the Great said to a soldier named Alexander, but proved a coward, that he must either change his character or his name. Power Through Prophetic Hope. — "This greeting yields its meaning when we recall the character of the person addressed. Simon was hot-headed, impulsive, rash, unstable. When his name was men tioned on the Lake of Galilee, there arose before the mind a man of generous nature, frank and good-hearted, but a man whose uncertainty and hastiness had brought him and his into many troubles. " What must the thoughts of such a man have been when he was told that the Messiah was present, and that the Messianic Kingdom was standing with open gates ? Must he not have felt that this might con cern others, — decent, steady men like Andrew, but not himself ? Must he not have felt that instead of being a strength to the new Kingdom, he would prove a weakness. Coming in this mood he is greeted with words which seemed to say to him, I know the character identified with the name ' Simon, son of John ; ' I know aU you fear : I know how you wish you were a man like Andrew, and could ofler yourself as a ser viceable subject of the new Kingdom. But no, thou art Simon ; noth ing can change that, and such as you are you are welcome ; but thou shalt be called Rock, Peter." " The men standing around, and knowing Simon well, might turn away to hide a smile ; but Simon knew the Lord had found him, and uttered the very word which could bind him forever to Him. Simon became Peter, a new man." — Marcus Bods, D. D. There is a mighty power in the revelation to us of the possibilities of our Uves. " Fear not to build thine eyrie in the heights, Bright with celestial day. And trust thyself unto thine inmost soul I : 43-46 ST. JOHN 41 A. D. 27. February. Call of Philip, (Fourth Disciple) 43. ^ The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him. Follow me. 44. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto bim. We have found bim, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there auy good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto bim. Come and see. In simple faith, alway ; And God shaU make divinely real The highest forms of thine ideal." Library. — Mrs. Margaret Preston's Poems, ' ' The Ideal and the Real . " Follow (aKoXotiflei). — " Often used in the New Testament with the special sense of following as a disciple or partisan. See Matt. iv. 20, 22 ; ix. 9 ; Mark i. 18 ; John viii. 12. Also with the meaning of cleav ing steadfastly to one and conforming to his example. It appears in the noun acolyte, or acolyth, or acolythist, a church-servant ranking next below a subdeacon, whose duty it was to trim the lamps, light the church, prepare the sacramental elements, etc. Under the Byzantine emperors the captain of the emperor's body-guard was called Acolouthos, or the Follower." — Jf. R. Vincent, Word Studies. Library. — See Scott's Count Robert of Paris. 46. Can Ant Good Thing Comb Out op Nazareth. — " There is Uttle reason for charging special moral turpitude against the people of Nazareth. The Judaean simply looked down upon Nazareth as the urbane inhabitant of a great city is supposed to look down upon a back woods settlement. The inhabitants of a college town in the East would hardly turn to the new settlement of Nosuchplace, in Blank Territory, for a teacher of culture. That was the way the Judajan felt with regard to Nazareth." — S. S. Times. Note how many of the greatest men have come from parents and places, whence you would least expect them. Come And See. — Do not stop to theorize, but inquire into the facts. The religion of Jesus is not a mere theory ; it is proved abundan Jy by 42 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 1 : 43-4'-' facts. We would convince men of its truth by what it has done. The Uves that have been made better, the fact that it does change for good all those who receive it into their hearts, that wherever it enters a com- numity or a nation it elevates them — these are the convincing proofs: First — Looking. — See what Christ has done for others. Compare Christian lands with aU others. Take two maps; color one according to the morals, the happiness, the blessings, of the different peoples, making the best white, and darkening the shades as the picture grows darker. Then take the other map, and color it according to the preva lence and purity of its Christianity, and the two maps wUl agree. Where ever is the most Christianity, there is the most of every good for man. Look at the effect of conversion to Christ on your friends and neighbors. Library. — Missions and Science — The Ely volume of the A. B. C. F. M., showing the effects of Christianity. Gesta Christi, by Rev. Dr. Bruce. Dr. 'Oen.n.iB' Missions and Social Science. The Parliament of religions gives the theories of other religions, but the true comparison would be a Parliament of Nations showing what each religion has done, and its effects upon the people under its infiuence. Second — Inquiring. — Learn the experience of others. Hear their testimony as to what Christ has done for their souls. It may seem the utterance of excited feeling, and yet, if, like the queen of Sheba, you ever experience the same, you will declare that the half has not been told. Third — Experiencing. — Only by going to Christ, and experiencing for ourselves, is it possible to understand the fulness of blessing, the glory and peace of the soul that loves Him with all the heart. This test never fails. Library. — Nelson on Infidelity, shows how almost universal is the acceptance of the Bible by those who have thoroughly investigated; and how its acceptance is universal by those who experience its truths. " Experience settles most conclusively the question of whether he is the Christ or not. Objections wiU rattle harmless, like bullets on iron plates, against a faith which can adduce the blessed results of faith as its vindication. It would take a good deal of argument to persuade the blind man that he was wrong in saying ' Once I was blind, now I see.' " — McLaren. Reference. — See under v. 39, " Near-sighted spectacles." I : 47. 48 ST. JOHN 47. Jesus saw Nathiinael comiug to Him, and siith ot hira. Behold an Israehte indeed, iu whom is no guile! 48. Nathanael saith unto him. Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto bim, llcfore that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the lii^ troo, I saw thee. 43 A.D, 27, Februar Nathanael, (The Fiftli Disciple.) The Orchard. — Mr. Spurgeon tells a story of a man who was invited to come into an orcliard and eat some of the fruit. He refused, for he said that he had picked up some of the apples by the roadside that fell from those trees, and they were poor and bitter. The owner replied that those trees were placed there on purpose, so that the boys would not be attracted into the orchard to steal. But come inside, and there the apples are delicious. So it is with those who taste only the outside of Christianity, its self-denials, its labors, its restrictions, but do not experience its real blessings. 47. No Guile (SiXos). Properly, a bait for fish, and related at the root to SeXea^o), to catch with a bait, or beguile. See on beguiling, 2 Pet. ii. 14. The true Israelite would be the true child of Israel after he had ceased to be the supplanter. — Vincent. Hence he was without deceit, or bad purposes hidden under plausible appearances; simple, straightforward. True sincerity, unblinded by prejudice, undistorted by selfishness, is the condition of soul, to which are given the largest and best truths and the richest spiritual blessings. It is like the windows of clearest and purest glass through which the light and visions of all that is with out, come undimmed and undistorted. Guile and prejudice are like the twisted spots in the glass, like frostwork or cobwebs on the windows. Library. — With this interview compare the opening scene in Goethe's Torquato Tasso. Act 1. Scene 1, where the princess listens gladly : " When of an able man, the thought profound Developed skilfuUy with subtle tact. Doth not perplex and dazzle, but instruct " 44 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 1 : 49-5 1 49. Nathanael answered and saith unto him. Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art tbe King of Israel. 50. Jesus answered and said unto him. Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou ? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51. And he saith unto him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. 50. Thou Shalt See Greater Things than These. — The reward of believing is larger views of God and truth. Those that seek to know and do God's will shaU see far greater things than the past has known — higher experiences, more abundant fruits of the Spirit, more souls con verted, larger triumphs of the gospel. Every step upward widens the prospect. Every experience prepares the soul for fuller experiences. All training in music, in art, in knowledge, fits the mind for new visions and sweeter experiences. 51. The Angels op God Ascending and Descending. — Referring to Jacob's dream at Bethel. Jesus is the reality of which Jacob but dreamed in his ladder from earth to heaven. Through him ascend prayers, desires, worship, love to God; and through him descend from God, answers to prayer, new life, help in daily duties, wisdom, truth, the Holy Spirit, the love of God. He leads upward through a shining way to heaven and God. That philosopher was a wise man, who, boasting of his garden where he walked and thought, was found by his friends in a very small enclos" ure. "Is this your boasted garden— this narrow place?" they said. "Yes," replied he, "it is not very long, or very broad, but, oh, it is ivondrous high ! " Through Different Wats. — "We have here the account of the way in which five disciples were brought to receive Christ. All came into personal connection with Him, but each in a way of his own, suit able to his own state of mind and feeling. The flnding of the one was not the finding of the other. For John and Andrew there was the talk with Jesus through the hours of that never-to-be-forgotten evening- For Simon — the heart-searching word, convincing him he was known, and his future read off. For PhUip — a peremptory command; and for Nathanael — a gracious courtesy disarming him of prejudice, assuring him of a perfect sympathy in the breast of the Lord. Thus there are those who seek Christ, those who are brought by others to Christ, those whom Christ seeks for Himself, those who come without doubts, and those who come with doubts. Each soul must deal with Christ for himself." II : I., 2 ST, JOHN 45 CHAPTER IL CANA, THE MIRACLE IN THE HOME. 1. And the third day tbere was a marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and tbe mother of Jesus was there : 2. And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. Pictures. — Marriage at Cana, by Paul Veronese (one at Paris, another at Dresden), G. Dore, by Giotto (Arena Chapel, Padua), by Tintoretto, (Salute, Venice). A, D. 27, Feb. or March. CANA OF GALILEE. FIRST YEAR OF JESUS' MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. The First Miracle, ^Vater Changed to Wine, Value of this Miracle. — " From a very early period the church has recognized the importance and signiflcance of the miracle. Of the fifty-two marble sar cophagi originally found in the catacombs of Rome, and now pre served in the Museum of St. John Lateran, no less than sixteen have carved upou them a rude representation of Jesus touching with a rod two, three, four, five or six, water-pots standing on the ground — the number varying according to the skill of the artist, or the space at his disposal. In the frescoes and Pictures mosaics of numerous churches and consecrated buildings, of this the incident has been depicted in a great variety of ways ; Miracle. and Tintoretto exhausted his genius in giving expression to its wonderful beauty, in his great picture in the church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice. It is the ' gate beautiful ' by which one enters the sacred temple of Divine truth. It is the illuminated initial which represents, in a pictorial form, the nature and design of the kingdom of heaven as revealed unto men. It is an acted parable of the whole gospel ; a type and image of all the work of Jesus, opening up a vista of light far into the ways of God. The miracle of Cana comes into the raidst of the previous natural Ufe of Jesus like a star out of the blue profound, like a well out of the dry mountain side, like a rare, unknown flower appearing among the common indigenous plants of a spot. It gave to the stream of the world's course a new motion and a new direction, without whieh it would have become a stagnant bog — a dead sea.'' — Rev. H. MacMillan, D. D. 46 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 11:1,2 2. Jesus was Called to the Marriage. — The marriage feast which often continues several days, with feasting, telling tales and riddles and other amusements. There is as much display as possible, with swing ing lamps and flying flags in the neighboring streets. The fact that Jesus necessarily for his mission remained unmarried has led many to imagine that celibacy was the highest and purest mode of life, and convents and nunneries were holier than homes. Plato in his Model Republic (Bk. V.) presents as an Jesus and ideal that " the wives of these guardians are to be common, the Home. and their children also common, and no parent is to know his own child, nor any child his parent. The children were to be brought up by the state with no family life. But Jesus gave his high est sanction to marriage and the family, by working His first miracle in a home, and at the making of another home. Not friendship, but the love of husband and wife, of parents and children, is the master passion, the highest earthly ideal of love ; for at its best it is the per fection of friendship. A company of men once asked each other which of their acquaintances they would choose if they had to live six months on a desolate island with only one companion. Every true husband and wife should be able to stand that test. Marriage expresses intimate fellowship with God, the mutual love and delight Marriage in one another, the protecting care on the one hand and per- as a Type. feet trust on the other, the unity of purpose, of character, of hope, the abiding forever in one perfect home, all of which belong to the union of Christ with believers (Isa. 61 : 10 ; 62 : 5 ; Hos. 2 : 19 ; Matt. 9 : 15 ; John 3 : 29 ; Eph. 5 : 31, 32). Why Jesus Emphasized the Home. —The homes of a country make it what it is. The centre of power for buUding up a country in virtue, religion and prosperity, lies in the home. The battle of Science has for its central point, its Waterloo, the origin of life : the religious warfare centers around the Cross, the Alcyone of all religious forces ; the moral battle is about the Home. Mrs. Hunt says that the Star of Bethlehem for temperance stands over the schoolhouse. The Star of Bethlehem for morals and religion stands over the Home. The Home is the place nearest Paradise on earth, a hint of the Eden of the past, and a prophecy of Paradise regained. , Home is a University, a Training School, a Sunday School, all in one. Home is a large part of the real " University exten sion '' movement. There is something in it, if rightly used. Home a to train every faculty of the mind, and be a lesson book School of for every science, — chemistry, biology, bacteriology, mental Morals. II : I, 2 ST. JOHN science, moral science, pedagogy, poUtical economy, mathematics, art, music and every other science. Thus the daUy home duties are one of the very best schools for buUding up a noble character. There is something in the home to train each virtue and each grace. On this tree may grow every fruit of the Spirit. Home does not narrow, it broadens. What nobler work is there than training immortal souls for immortal life ? 47 A, D. 2 7, Feb. or March. cana of Galilee. FIRST VE.^R OF jesus' MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF BEGIN.MNGS. The First miracle. Water Changedto 'fVlne, Garden of the Hesperides. — According to the Greek legend, as interpreted by Ruskin, when Jupiter, tho type of ruling, manly power, was married to Juno, the goddess of the household. Earth, came to the wedding and brought as a wedding present a branch fuU of golden apples, which Juno sent to the Garden of the Hesperides, the Greek paradise far over the western sea. in order that A Type the most precious fruit should grow in the loveliest garden of Home. of the world. Over these golden apples she placed as guard the four daughters of Atlas, who sustained the world, and of Hesperis, after whom the daughters and the garden were named. These maidens were named ^^gle. Brightness : Erytheia. Blushing, Modesty ; Hestia, the Spirit of the Hearth ; and Arethusa, Ministering. The Hesperides gar den of modern times is the Home. Home and Crime. —(1.) Mr. KingsmiU, in his Prisons and Prisoners, gives the result of his inquiries as to the origin of the criminal courses of a large number of prisoners. Summing them up, we find that at least four out of five had their origin in bad homes, or the want of homes. ('2.) The Superintendent of the Providence, R. I., Reform School said that such was the case with nine-tenths Testimony of those who were sent to his institution. (3.) Col. Gardner from Ee- Tufts for ten years had the oversight of all the youth in formatories. Massachusetts, under IT, who were sentenced by the courts. Of the 20. 000 thus brought under his charge, he stated to me that not more than one- tenth had any homes that could be called homes. (4.) For 20 years I have kept careful account of the family influences around those who united with the churches under my charge ; and I find that one or both parents of seven- eighths were Christians. The Persian Juftak. — We are told of the Persian bird Juftak, which has only one wing. On the wingless side the male bird has a hook, and 48 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS i.L:i,z the female a ring. When thus fastened together, and only when fast ened together, can they fly. The human race is that Persian bird, the Juftak. When man and woman unite, they may soar sky ward, scorning the ground. — Gail Hamilton. The tendency Two or of modern times is for the men and boys to feel that they More to have little responsibility for the happiness and culture of Make a the home. But they are responsible, and should do their Home. very best to make the horae the happiest place in the world. Both influences are needful. Both together keep the home restdts from being one-sided. Husband and wife are different, so that each may sup plement the other, so that each may look up to the other as the better one, because each is superior in some things. If Christ Came to Our Home. — See on 12: 1. Jesus in the Home. — (1) Note His life as a youth in His own home. Luke 2: 39, 40, 51, 52. (2) Note His life in other homes — of Matthew, Mat. 9:9-13; of Zaccheus, Luke 19:1-10 ; of a ruler of the Pharisees, Luke 14: 1 ; at Bethany, John 11: 1-5 ; 12: 1-3. Jesus in Social Life. — This picture of Jesus at a wedding feast, and at the houses of Publicans, of Pharisees, of loved friends at Bethany, brings Him very near to us, as sharing our human feelings, our enjoy ments as well as our sorrows. The Marriage Feast. — The feast, which celebrates the marriage, expresses the abundance, the joyousness, the social pleas ures, the satisfaction of every want, the variety, "the Social Life feast of reason and the fiow of soul," found in the a Type of religious life (Isa. 25: 6 ; 65; 13); that life is not all " a grind- the ing at the mill," a time of toU and sacrifice, but also of Spiritual. spiritual refreshments, of joys unspeakable, of exquisite satisfaction and rest. Even the hard duties are sweet because inspired by love; they are the alabaster boxes of precious ointment poured out upon the loved one. Jesus loves to have us happy, and approves of pure pleasures in their place, and makes them more deUghtful by His presence; and His presence will keep us from wrong words or deeds. Where to Find Saints. —We often look in the wrong places to find saints and heroes and martyrs. They may sometimes, indeed, be found II : I, 2 ST. JOHN 49 in hermits' cells, oftener on beds of sickness ; but for the most part they are men and women burdened with cares, pressed with daily labors, thronging the streets of traffic, busy with a thousand duties, craci fied on invisible crosses, winning battles on the unseen battleflelds of the heart. They are men and women in useful social life, rejoicing in God and goodness, using God's good gifts as not abusing them. A.D. 27, Feb. or March. CANA OF GALILEE. FIRST YEAR OF jesus' MINISTRY, THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. The First Miracle. ¦Water We can live this present life in better health, in t^viffne fuUer strength, in more abundant labors through a joyous plenty and social eating together. It removes some of the friction of living. We cannot think of heaven as a place of famine. But aU this should be universaUy diffused, wisely used, like the feasts and social life of heaven, of which these should be types, and to which they should be invitations, and aU made subservient to the higher life. The soul that is starving in its longings, its tastes, its love of art, music, beauty, information, worship, love, never can do its best work for God or man. Lamps in the Tomb op Terentia. — Jeremy Taylor describes some lamps in the tomb of Terentia as burning brightly in the darkness of the tomb, but going out when brought forth into the light, as a type of Christians, whose piety burns brightly in the darkness of persecution and trouble, but goes out in the light of prosperity. Mr. Rogers, com menting on this, says that it by no means follows that all darkness is good for the Christians, for ' ' then the bright lamps of which Taylor speaks would irradiate only a tomb." Social Feasts a School op Self-Denial. — The feast itself is a giv ing, especially if made to those who need it as Christ suggests. It is fuU of fellowship, of outpouring, of generosity. There is an oppor tunity for curbing the appetite ; of self-restraint from that which is harmful in kind or in amount, to ourselves or others ; of imparting to those less fortunate, of incitement to sending spiritual food to starving souls. Social Life as an Instrument. — Note how Jesus used social life as a means of preaching the gospel and helping men. It brings the spiritual leaven in contact with the meal that should be leavened. 4 so SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS II: 3 -8 3. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him. They have no wine. 4. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee ? mine hour is not yet come. 5. His mother saith unto the servants. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 6. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the puri fying of tbe Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 1. Jesus saith unto them, flll the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to tbe brim. 8. And he saith unto them. Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 3. The Mother of Jesus Saith to Him. — " Such frankness of com munication of small needs to Jesus is the natural result of familiar fel lowship with Him. It is the privilege of love to hear and to speak of all trifles that concern the beloved. If we were on more intimate terms with Jesus, instinct would set us to tell Him Telling everything that affected us, whether the blows that fell on SmaU us were crushing like those of a steam-hammer at full Troubles power, or slight like the tap of the same machine which to Jesus. will scarcely crack a nut. If a worry is too small to speak of to Christ, it is not large enough to perturb us. But frankness must not dictate to Him what to do. If we trust His love and wisdom, we shaU be content with having told Him the symptoms of our ailment. The patient does not tell the doctor what treatment to adopt. " — Dr, McLaren. If God cares for sparrows, and the grass of the fleld, for the atoms and molecules of creation, how much more wiU He care for you, even you "of little faith." 4. Woman, ^xlvai — This in the original conveys no thought of disre spect, but was a highly respectful and affectionate mode of address, as when we would say "lady." Jesus used it in his tender interview on the cross. The Emperor Augustus used it in addressing Egypt's charm ing Queen Cleopatra. "Take courage, O woman, and keep a good heart." In the Iliad (xxiv. :30) King Priam uses it in speaking to Hecuba, his queen. 8. Six Waterpots — Filled Them to the Brim. — " It is God's way to pour out his bounty, not only in abundance, but in superabundance. We may well believe that He created not barely sufficient for the hour, but a superabundance which remained after the departure of the II -.g, IO ST. JOHN 51 9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted tbe water that was made wine, aud knew not whence it was, (but the servants whicb drew the water knew,) the governor of the feast called tbe bridegroom, 10. And saith unto him. Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse ; but thou hast kept the good wine until now. guests." — Abbott. Note how it is with God's gifts of sunshine, of electricity, of seeds and flowers. Mr. Ruskin says that you can tell which are the most beautiful forms by their greater abundance. A. B. 27. Feb. or March. CANA OF GALILEE. FIRST YEAR OF jesus' MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. The First Miracle. W^ater Changed to Wine, Draw Out Now. — ' ' What ! art thou aU day fllling thy heart with earth, and dost thou look to draw heaven thence at night ? " — Gurnall. 9. Water That was Made Wine. — WhUe no one can prove that the wine which Christ made was wholly unfermented, it is equally cer tain that no one can prove that it had intoxicating qualities. It may have been the ideal wine, the delicious, healthful juice of the grape fresh from the vines, just as God is making it now every autumn. It is interesting to note that in aU references to the Lord's Supper, the word " wine " is not once used in the New Testament in connection with it, but always "the cup" or "fruit of the vine," so that that divine insti tution never lays a feather's weight in favor of intoxicating wine. " The modest water touched with grace Divine, Confessed its God, and blushed itself to wine." " Unde rubor vestris, et non sua purpura, lymphis ? Quae rosa mirantes tam nova mutat aquas ? Numen, Convivae, prassens agnoscite Numen : Lympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit." — Epigramatica Sacra, 1634. ' Whence the redness, and the purple not its own, in your clear water ? What rose so new transforms the wondering waters ? Deity, O guests, recognize the deity present : The conscious water saw its God and blushed." 52 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 11=9, 10 The First Miracle a Type of Christ's Miraculous Works. — "The change of water into the luscious juice of the grape (far more than into fermented wine) is the sign and symbol of aU which Christ is evermore doing in the world, ennobling aU that He touches, making saints out of sinners, angels out of men, and, in the end, heaven out of earth, — a new paradise of God out of the old wilderness of the world. For the prophecy of the world's regeneration, of the day in which His disciples shall drink of the fruit of the vine new in His kingdom, is eminently here.'' — Trench. " With His Divine alchemy He turns common things into radiant mysteries ; yea, every meal into a eucharist, and the jaws of the sepulchre into an outgoing gate." — Macdonald. God's Transformations in Nature. — Nature is fuU of symbols of this transforming work of the gospels. Some of our most beau tiful flowers have been developed from common weeds. The most luscious apples are the transformed offspring of the common crab-apple. The diamond is transformed charcoal. Whitest paper fit for a queen's message or poet's inspiration is made from beggar's rags, Roses grow out of the vile ground. Out of the common things of life, its duties and cares, God is making the gold of heaven ; out of trials and disci pline, crowns of righteousness ; out of daily joys and burdens, the songs and harps of angels. The Miracle at Cana. — Dear Friend, whose presence in the house. Whose gracious word benign. Could once at Cana's wedding-feast Turn water into wine, — Come, visit us, and when dull work Grows weary line on line, Revive our souls, and make us see Life's water glow as wine. Gay mirth shaU deepen into joy. Earth's hopes shall glow divine, When Jesus visits us, to turn Life's water into wine. The social talk, the evening fii-e, The homely household shrine, II : 9, IO ST. JOHN 53 ShaU glow with angels' visits, when The Lord pours out the wine. For when self-seeking turns to love Which knows not mine and thine, The miracle again is wrought. And water changed to wine." — James Freeman Clark, D D. Transformation, Not Creation. — "Jesus made wine of water ; not wine without water." A, ». 27, Feb. or March. CANA OF GALILEE. FIRST YEAR OF JESUs' MINISTRY, THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. The First Miracle. Water Changed to Wine, -{'- " The commonest joys, if only they are not foul and sinful, are capable of this transformation. If we bring them to Jesus, and are ¦ glad in the Lord,' He will ennoble them, and they wiU tend Taper in to enoble us. A taper plunged into a jar of oxygen blazes Oxygen, more brightly. Without Christ's presence, earth's joys at their best and brightest are like some fair landscape in shadow. When He comes to hallow them, — as He always does when He is invited, — they are like the sarae scene when the sun blazes Sunshine out on it, flashes from every bend of the rippling river, ou the brings beauty into shady corners, opens the fiowers, and Landscape. sets all the birds singing in the sky. Joys on which He can let the sunshine of His smile fall will be bettered and prolonged thereby; joys on which He cannot, are not for His servants to meddle with. If we cannot make tlie sign of the cross over our mirth, and ask Him to bless it, we had better be sorrowful than glad. If we keep Him out of our mirth, ' the end of that mirth is heaviness,' however jubilant may be its beginning. "But Christ can not only change the water of human joy into the wine of heavenly gladness, but He can drop an elixir into the cups of sorrow, and change them into cups of blessing and sal va- Elixir of tion. One drop of that potent influence can sweeten the Joy in bitterest draught, even though many a tear has fallen into Cup of it. He can make Marah into Eliiu, and can calm sorrow Sorrow. into a willing acquiescence not whoUy unlike happiness. Jesus wiU repeat ' this beginnin.g of miracles ' in every sad heart that trusts to hira." — A. McLaren, in Sunday School Times. 10. Thou Hast Kept the Good Wine Until Now. —The world gives the best first, but at last " it bitetli Uke a serpent and stingeth like an adder." Jesus gives His best things last. The farther we go with 54 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS II: II 11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory ; and His disciples believed on him. Him, the greater the good, the deeper the joy. More especially will this be so when we come into the heavenly life. There is always " more to foUow." "The best is yet to be. The last of life, for which the first was planned." Christ's Giving and the World's Contrasted. — " Every sin smiles in the first address, and carries light in the face and honey in the lip ; but when we 'have well drunk.' then comes 'that which is worse,' a whip with six strings, fears and terrors of conscience, and shame and displeasure, and a caitiff disposition, and diffidence in the day of death. Jesus keeps the best wine to the last, not only because of the direct reservation of the highest joys till the nearer approaches of glory, but also because our reliahe-j are higher after a long friction than at the first essays, such being the nature of grace that it increases in relish as it does in friction." — Jeremy Taylor. The Tragedy of the Life op Sin and crime, especially of the drunk ard. " At the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. At the first, it sparkles and cheers; at the last, it poisons and maddens. At first, it excites mirth and song ; at the last, it produces sorrow and curses. Atthe first, it is an affair of good feeling and fellowship; at the last, it is an affair of feuds, fighting, and murder. At the first, it is a cup of exhilaration in the hands of thoughtless youth; at the last, it is a ' cup of fearful trembling in the hand of an offended God.' At the first, there is a joyful anticipation of good times to come; at the last, there is ' fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.' At the first, it is the wine of pleasant fellowship; at the last, it is the ' wine of the wrath of Almighty God, poured out without mixture.' At the first, it is the agreeable excite ment of an evening; at the last, it is the long-drawn agony of an end less perdition. At the flrst, it is the grateful stimulus of an hour; at the last, it is the ' worm that never dies, and the fire that never shaU be quenched.' " — Anon. Contrast. — "Jesus keeps the best for the end. Time cannot cloy His gifts, but advancing years make them more precious and necessary. In His service, ' better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.' Note the description in Revelation, chs. 21, 22, as the picture of what Jesus does at last for all His people." II: II ST. JOHN 55 The Unearned Increase. — ' ' When real estate is conveyed from one person to another, the conveyance includes not only the ownership of the property in question, but also the right to whatever increase in value may come to it after its purchase. It some times happens, also, that the unearned increase is the principal part of a bargain." All life is unearned increase. We think so much of our planting and watering that we sometimes forget that God gives the increase. His gifts to the planted seed are an hundred fold more than the seed. — Condensed from H. C. Trumbull, D. D. "i A,B, 27, Feb. or March. CANA OF GALILEE. FIRST YEAR OF jesus' MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. The First Miracle. IVater Changed to W^ine. 11. This Beginning of Miracles (o-TnieCuv) .— Signs. Four names for miracles are employed in the Gospels : 1. Dunameis, powers, might Luke (10 :13; 19 : 3'i'), translated miracles in Mark 9 :39 and elsewhere. These are the manifestations of Divine power, deeds which only God can do. 2. Terata, wonders (Mark 13 : 23, etc.). The Four Marvelous deeds exciting wonder and calling attention to Names God as their doer. 3. Sameia, signs ; the usual word iu of Miracles. John, sometimes translated miracles in the common version. These are the signs or evidences of Jesus' Divine mission, and of tlie truth He taught, and of the nature of God. 4. Erga, works (John 7 : 3, 21). The natural acts and products of His being, wrought by His own Divine power. Each roiracle of Christ has aU four of these characteristics. What is a Miracle ? — A miracle is the personal intervention of God by His will into the chain of cause and effect in nature. It is not " breaking of the laws of nature," nor " the suspension of the laws of nature," nor any change in the laws of nature, but simply God's doing with His infinite power the same quality of action, though vastly greater in degree, that we do every hour wlien we Definition exert our personal will amid the forces of nature. I lift up of Miracle. a book. The act is a new personal force, which raarks the power of my will. It breaks no law ot nature, suspends none. It is the same when God, by His infinite power, lifts up a mountain or raises the dead. It is His personal will touching nature and showing that God Himself is there. Just as a friend can grant a favor, or tho owner of a factory stop a part of the machinery to rescue a child caught in the wheels. Miracles as Signs. — Every miracle of Christ was worthy of Him and of God. They were signs (1) of His divine nature. They v/ere as S6 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS II: II natural to Him as the Son of God, as our common acts are to us. 2. They were signs of His mission as a transforming power. 3. They were signs of His work as undoing the evU which sin and Satan had brought into the world. 4. They were signs of His good will to men, His desire and His power to help men under all circumstances. 5. They were signs of His spiritual teaching. Each miracle was an acted par able. 6. They were signs of the character and nature of God. 7. They were signs that God is in all the operations of nature, as Franklin's kite and the lightning flash are signs of the electricity that pervades nature, or a falling apple is a sign of the law of gravitation. The Flag as a Sign. — " The transformation of water into wine is the finger post which points us to a far off land. It is the Union Jack, a piece of painted calico, but which expresses an invisible and loved abstraction, our country; the homeland of the soul." — W. W. Peyton, Memorabilia of Jesus. This Miracle Shows the Presence of God est all Nature. — There is plenty of evolution, both in the realm of nature and of grace, but God is in it all. "What you fiU the vessel with, that you must draw out." Of itself the water can never become grapes or wine. As long ago as Augustine, it was said that Jesus in this miracle did rapidly what the God of nattire does sloivly every autumn. " What the clouds pour forth is changed into wine by the operation of the same Lord. But at the latter we do not marvel because it happens every year." "A dead man rises again; men marvel: so, many are born daily, and none marvel. Yet it is a matter of greater wonder for one to be who was not before, than for one who was, to come to life again" (Augustine). This miracle of Christ was a sign that all the changes and growths, all the evolutions of nature, are the work of God. Acorns Becoming Oaks. — There is a story told of an Eastern king, which illustrates God's work in giving growth. He was seated in a garden, and one of his counselors was speaking of the wonderful works of God. "Show me a sign," said the king, "and I shall believe.'' " Here are four acorns," said the counselor; " will your majesty plant them in the ground, and then stoop down for a moment, and look into this clear pool of water ? " The king did so. Oriental "Now," said the other, "look up." The king looked up Fable. and saw four oak trees where he had planted the acorns. " Wonderful ! " he exclaimed; "this is indeed the work of God." "How long were you looking into tbe water ? " asked the counselor. " Only a second,'' said the king. " Eighty years have passed as a second," said II: II ST, JOHN 57 the other. The king looked at his garments; they -f were threadbare. He looked at his reflection in the water; he had become an old man. " There is no miracle here, then," he said angrily. " Yes," said the other; " it is God's work, whether he do it in eighty years or in one second. " — Sunday School Times. A. D, 27. Feb. or Marck. CANA OF GALILEE. FIRST YEAR OF jesus' MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. Finding God in Nature. — Some men look at the ''Mirsuj'ie^* world as one would who should go into a factory and water trace the process of cloth raaking by the machinery to'win'^ alone, as if there was no master-mind that made the machinery, and continuaUy controlled it. Here is the finished cloth; what made it? The loom wove it. But the owner moved the loom ? No; it was moved by this band. Then he drew the band ? No; it was moved by a wheel. But he turned the wheel? No; it was turned by the water-wheel. Certainly he makes that go. No; it is driven by the river. And the river ? Comes from the clouds. Thus he traces the whole process, and does not see any human intervention. And yet it is all controUed by the mind of the man who stands beside him. Daily Marvels of Miracles. — " There is none greater to my mind (although not usuaUy classed as such) than that a minute acorn should develop into a towering oak, or the human ovum 1.240 of an inch in diameter, become ultimately a being physically, moraUy and inteUectu aUy worthy of its gi-eat Creator." — Richard Owen, M. D., LL. D. The Miracles of Nature. —Men cry out for signs, but we may see miracles enough every day. I read that Aaron's rod budded, and I am astonished. But last spring I saw a cause of greater astonishment — thousands of bare rods budding and blooming blossoms in the hedges. I saw no one do it, and yet the trees were being daily clothed with thicker foUage. Was not that wonderful ? I read that the manna came down daily from heaven to the wUderness, and I am amazed. But I see a cause of greater amazement every year: I see your bread coming, not down from heaven, but up from the earth, a much more unlikely place, every day in the spring. — J. Cynddyllan Jones, D. D. Manifested Forth His Glory. — It was the shining forth of what was in Him, the revelation of His true nature, power and character, as the flame reveals the glory of the candle, as the inner light reveals the marvelous beauty of the pictured window. 58 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 11:11 The Button, and the Columbian Exposition. — Just before the opening of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, there was a simple button that appeared like any other electrical button, and gave no signs of the mighty forces it held in leash. But just after 12 o'clock President Cleveland pressed that button firmly, and all the marvelous hidden powers connected with it were manifested. "At the instant the drapery feU from the golden figure ofthe 'Republic,' backed by the classic peristyle, she stood forth in radiant beauty welcoming the world. From the electric fountains jets of water shot seventy feet into the air, the mist falling upon the upturned faces of the cheering crowd. But above their cheers came the deep thunder of the guns fired from the white and gold huU of the Michigan lying in the harbor. Steam whistles filled the air with a shrUl din and the deep chiming of far-off bells added to the uproar, It was known in a vague way that the President was to press a golden key and that the electric communication with the machinery was to start the fair, but no one realized how intricate was this machinery, how infinite the ramifi cations of that electric spark, until the great fountains threw up their geysers seventy feet iuto the air and the rumble and hum of wheels in Manufactures BuUding and the clatter of machinery in all parts of that area of a mUe square or more told the story of the final consummation of scientific thought. In previous expositions the possibilities of elec tricity have been limited to the -mere starting of the engines in Machinery HaU, but in this it made a thousand servants do its bidding, and from the great AUis engine and the mammoth fountains down to the minutest acts where power and touch were requisite, the magic of electricity did the duty of the hour. When the President closed , he turned to the right, touched a button, and instantly the whole scene was trans formed. Flags unfurled or hurried up to the tops of their staves; fountains threw their clouds of white spray into the air; the steam yachts blew their whistles, cannon thundered, the people shouted and the orchestra struck up ' My Country, 'tis of Thee.' It was the scene of a lifetime. Nobody who beheld it can ever forget it." The Miracles Showing the Glory of Christ. — We should gaia a clear conception of this peculiar, rich and abundant miraculous accompaniment of the Son of Man. It surrounds Him like the halos the old painters cause to radiate around their pictures of Christ; or as the space around the infant Jesus in Raphael's The Num- Sistine Madonna is filled with angel faces. A considerable her of portion of the gospels is occupied with accounts of rairacles. Christ's Thirty-six are described in the gospels, half of them Miracles, II: II ST. JOHN 59 repeated in more than one gospel; so that there are sixty- seven reports of distinct miracles, besides the large number noticed but not recorded in detail. In spirit, we can see accompanying Him, like the invisible twelve legions of angels ever ready at His call, or the unseen armies that surrounded Elisha at Dothan, the vast multitude of those whom He had healed and saved — those whom He had raised from the dead, those from whom He had cast out devils, the blind He had made to see, and the lame that now walked, the lepers He had cleansed, the deaf He had caused to hear, the sick He had restored to health. A. B. 27. Feb. or March. CANA OF GALILEE. first year of jesus' ministry. the year of beginnings. The First Miracle. Water Changedlo "Wine, Showing the Future Glory. — The miracles not only revealed what Christ was, but suggested the blessings and powers that yet were to be unfolded in His kingdom, as the telephone, telegraph, electricity, and the thousand inventions which bring comfort into life, are hints of what life yet shaU be for all in the millennial days. And His Disciples Beueved on Him because they saw His true nature, worthy of their utmost confidence. The miracle was God's sig nature to His teachings. His endorsement of Him as His messenger. In the Grecian story the giant Antceus, in wrestling with Hercules, doubled his strength when he touched the earth. And our faith renews its strength when it touches the ground of fact. Moral Miracles. — " When a man declares to me, ' I cannot believe in miracles,' I reply, ' I can, because I have witnessed them.' ' When and where?' ' On a certain street in this city is a man who was a week ago given over to every form of vice and brutality, and who is now a good citizen, an honest workman, a kind husband, a loving father, a pure, upright man. Surely, that is such a miracle as makes me forever believe in the possibUity of miracles. ' " — Prof. Drummond. Luther's Sign in the Heavens. — "I have been struck by a fine instance of this discernment of God, not in miracles, but in the ordinary course of Providence, which occurs in the history of Martin Luther. It was a time when things were going very hard with him, a time when aU the human props of the Reformation seemed ready to fall away. It was then that ' I saw not long since,'' cried Luther, "a sign in the heavens. Then you begin to listen for some startling prodigy. A fall ing star, a pillar of fire, a blazing cross held out against the sky. Cer- 6o SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS II : 12-17 12. H After this he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother, and his breth- ren, and his disciples; and they continued there not many days. 13. t And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14. And found in tbe temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting : 15. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen ; apd poured out tbe changers' money, and overthrew the tables ; 16. And said unto them that sold doves. Take these things hence ; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. 17. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. tainly some miracle is coming. But hear what does come. ' I was looking out of my window at night, and beheld the stars, and the whole majestic vault of God, held up without my being able to see the piUars on which the Master had caused it to rest. Men fear that the sky may fall. Poor fools 1 Is not God always there ? ' That is aU. Thatis his 'sign in the heavens.' It is a miracle, but only that old miracle that has been shown nightly since the heavens were made.'' — Phillips Brooks' Sermons, p. 181. Library. — In W. C. Prime's "Along New England Roads" (Har pers', 1892), "A VUlage Discussion," there is a capital illustration of the nature and possibilities of miracles. Also quoted in note to Van Dyke's " Gospel for an Age of Doubt," pp. 420-424. Pictures, Cleansing of the Temple, by F. Kirohbuck ; Castiny out the Money Changers, by Hoffman ; by Giotto. 14. Found in the Temple Those That Sold Oxen, etc. — " We must picture to ourselves, in addition to all the stir and bustle inseparable from such traflic, the wrangling and bitter words and reckless oaths which necessarily grew out of it with such a people as the Jews." "The history of Christian churches has not been altogether without parallels that may help us to understand how such a desecration came to be permitted. Those who remember the state of the great cathedral of London, as painted in the literature of Elizabeth and James, when mules and horses, laden with market produce, were led through the aisles of St. Paul's as a matter of everyday occurrence, and bargains were struck there, and burglaries planned, and servants hired wUl feel II : 12-1/ ST. JOHN 6l "I- that even Christian and Protestant England has hardly •f' the right to cast a stone at the priests and people of a » 27 Jerusalem. " — Ellicolt. April ^-le' Library. — Milman's Annals of St. Paul's, p. 286. jeri^alem FIRST YEAR. Compare the use of some of the Paris churches cioan.sing during the French Revolution ; and the occupying as Temilfe a stable, of the Refectory of the Church of Ste. Marie delle Grazie, Milan (on whose waUs is da "^ Vinci's great painting of the Last Supper), by the Cavalry of Napoleon (contrary to his order), in 1796. The attempts at the restoration of this picture, " in 1726 by Bellotte, an indifferent artist, and in 1770 by Mazza, a wretched dauber," were almost as great a desecration. Changers of Money (KepjioTio-Tois.) — "The kindred noun Klpfto, -money, which occurs only in ver. 15, is from Kctpu, to cut into bits, and means therefore small coin ; ' small change,' of which money changers would require a large supply. Hence changers of money means, strictly, deal ers in small change. Matthew and Mark use koXXuPio-t^s (see ver. 15), of which the meaning is substantially the same so far as regards the deal ing in small coin ; but with the difference that k6\XuPos, the noun from which it is derived, and raeaning a small coin, is also used to denote the rate of exchange. This latter word therefore gives a hint of the pre mium on exchange, which John's word here does not convey." — M. R. Vincent in Word Studies. Need op Money Changing. — " The yearly temple tax of half a shekel due from every Jew, however poor, could not be received except in a native coin called the temple shekel, which was not generally current. Strangers, therefore, had to chan.ge their Roman, Greek or Eastern money, at the stalls of the money changers, to obtain the coin required. This trade gave ready means for fraud, which was only too com mon." — Maclear. "The pilgrims brought with them the coinage of their own country — Syrian, Egyptian, Greek, as the case might be — and their money was either not current in Palestine, or, as being stamped with the symbols of heathen worship, could not be received into the treasury of the temple." Library. — Blany readers will recall the passage in Sesame and Lilies, where Ruskin says : " You have despised Nature ; that is to say, all the deep and sacred sensations of natural scenery. The French Revo lutionists made stables of the cathedrals of France ; you have made 62 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS II : 12-17 race-courses of the Cathedrals of the earth. Your only conception of pleasure is to drive railway carriages around their aisles and to eat off their altars." Library. — Two chapters in Dr. Gordon's How Christ Came to Church, " The Temple of God is Holy," and " Cleansing the Temple," showing the effect upon the church of Christ's coming. Cleansing Each His Own Pew. — " Dr. H., one of the skUled phy sicians of old-time Philadelphia, was a member of the Society of Friends, though not always strictly obedient to their rules. He was called on at one time by a committee of the ' meeting,' who expostu lated with him upon his want of conformity in some respect. He heard them patiently and in silence, and then said. ' Friends, I have had a dream wbich I would like to teU you.' They agreed to hear him, and the old gentleman proceeded : ' I dreamed that the whole Society of ,Friends were collected in our great meeting house, and attending to the business of the church. The subject under discussion was the filthy condition of the meeting house, and the means of cleansing it. Many plans were proposed and discussed by the prominent members, who sat in the upper seats ; but none seemed likely to answer the purpose, untU one little man who occupied a seat on the floor of the house, and had not taken part in the discussion, got up and said, ' Friends, I think that if each one of us would take a broom and sweep immediately around his own seat, the meeting house would be cleaned. '" — H. L. Hast ings, D. D. Cleansing Each Before His Own House. — You know the story of the man who, after a winter's storm, went to the city council to com plain that the paths were blocked with snow, and suggested an elabor ate, and finely comprehensive scheme, for its removal. " But," said a councillor, "there is no need for this fine scheme, let each citizen sweep the snow from before his own house, and the thing is done." So, per haps, we may flnd that if each seeks to overcome the evU in the little world within himself, the wiiole will be cleansed. The Cobwebbed Church and the Cyclone. — A friend writes to me from a distant state that in his town there has for many years stood a church, the denomination of which I will not in this presence mention. But such a church has been seen in other parts of the world. He says that for many score of years the spiders have woven their webs in the corners and have partially hidden the desk itself, that the carpet remains only in rags, that the seats are many of them eaten by worms and A.D, 27. April g-i6. The Passover. JERUSALEM. FIRST YEAR. First Cleansing ofthe Tcmble, II: 12-17 ST. JOHN 63 whittled by roguish boys. One day not long since & Young People's Society desired to hold a meeting in that church. They petitioned the ofiicers of that church for the privilege of having it one evening in the week to hold their reUgious services there ; but one of the good old officers of the church, too good to remain on this side of the bright gates, said that he was afraid that if the young people came into the church they would not behave reverently toward that sacred place. But the permission was at last granted to that society, and they went in with their brooms and their sponges for the purpose of rejuvenating the old ark of a building, when lo ! one of the officers who had consented to their presence came forward and said, " No, no ; lay not unholy hands on this sacred place." One of the number said, " But, grandfather, look at that cobweb in yonder corner; is it not a disgrace to have a cobweb here ? " " O no, you young people are working a dangerous revolution. Remember that our prayers have been strained through that cobweb for twenty-five years." "Such a church as that has existed in more places than one, and many an old father in Israel has sat down in the dust, thanking his stars, not his Providence, that he had the opportunity to sit in the old place where brooms never come, where water is never seen, and where spiders are not interfered with in their share in the worship. But my friend writes to me that in the last cyclone that swept over that part of the country, only a few weeks ago, the lightnings descended and struck that old chimney and tore it apart, and the winds lifted the roof and carried it over into the next yard. The rains descended upon the old pews, and the grace of God came down upon the old pulpit, and the Christian Endeavor Society now hold open-air meetings ; aU of the denominations meet under the blue sky, perhaps under the stars, I know not. They have torn up the old carpet, and have cleared out the spiders ; the old saints in Israel, — God bless them every one ! — the old saints have departed from the ancient walls, and the new have come in under the Ught God let in by his own mighty cyclone." — Russell H. Conwell, D. D., LL. D. This Temple is Defiled by all sinful habits and customs, by errors of doctrine, by worldliness of spirit, by lusts of the flesh, by selfish ambitions, by wrong temper, by sins of every kind. These not only defile the temple, but keep others from worshipping and loving God. Christ Cleanses the Temple. — His first work in converting a soul, in reviving the church, is to cleanse away sin : "He is like a refiner's 64 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 11:12-1/ flre, and like fullers' soap; and He shall sit as a reflner and purifler of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver." (Mal. 3:2, 3). The Temple of the Sun. — I read once of an old Persian king who desired the architects of his kingdom to build a temple for the sun, and he offered an enormous prize to the one that should buUd the best temple. He allowed them to build at his own expense, he furnishing all that was necessary, and allowing them to draw the plans, and then execute their work. After some ten or flfteen years the temples were finished, and the king was invited to come and inspect them. The first was a mass of the most magnificent granite, and it was carved in the highest style of architecture ; tho king admired its grandeur, and said it was very beau tiful. He went on a little further, and came to the second, and lo ! this was made of burnished metal ; so glittering that as the king looked upon it, it flashed back the radiance of the sun. The king said it was a good deal like the sun itself. Then the third architect took him to see the temple which he had built, and lo ! it was a magnificent structure of the most transparent glass. There were no The Three carvings whatever, scarcely enough wood to hold the glass. Temples. It was all glass, open to the light of day. And the architect said, " Behold the sun's true temple ! not built for the purpose of reflect ing the glory of man, and the genius of man, while the sun is shut out of the interior, but built so as to open every side for the sun himself to go in and pour forth his own glory and beauty in every part." He said, " Go within, and there you will not find a single corner but is open to receive the sun, and he has entered in to possess it for himself." The king went in, and lo ! the temple was fuU of the sun on every side, and he exclaimed, " Happy architect ! you have built the true temple for the sun, because it is one that the sun himself cannot but possess, and dwell in." — Unknown. So the way of cleansing from dark ness is by letting in the light; from the spirit of evil, by the indwelling of the spirit of God. Library. — Dr Chalmers' Astronomical Sermons, "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection." Rev. Charles G. Finney, D. D., the Oberlin divine, "had a great aversion to debt and hesitated about dedicating church edifices that were not paid for or completed. When he consented to do this he some times prayed: '0 Lord, we offer this house to Thee. It is not yet fin ished, indeed, but we remember that we have frequently offered II : lS-25 ST. JOHN --.*•¦•¦ 9-lf- j The Passes ¦:r, JERUSALEM. FIRST yK.\R. Ifirst Cleansing ofthe Temple. If. 1 Then answered the Jew? and said unto him. What sign j shtwesi thoa unto us. seeing that ihou doest these things? A. D. 2 19. Jesus answered and said unto them. Destroy thi> temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20. Then said the Jews. Forty and six ye:irs was this temple in bnilding, and wilt thoa rear it up in three days ? 21. Bnt he spake of the temple of his body. 2-. When therefore he was risen from the dead, bis disciples remembered that he had said this unto them ; and they believed the Scriptnre, and the word which Jesus had said. '»' ^ 2o. •" Xow when he was in Jemsalem at the passover. in the feast jjy, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. -^. But Jesus did not commit himself uuT ? T'Gea\ because he knew all vi*'.. 25. And needed not that anv should tesiifv of mau ; for he knew what was in ourselves to Thee and Thou hast accepted as, though Thou knowest that we are far from being finishes! vet." " IT. The Zeal of Tkcve House Hath Eaten me ITp. — Zeal adds greatly to the power of a man. The executive force of any moving object is measured by the mass multipUed by velocity. How Jesus was Able to Accomplish so Great a Work Alone.— (1) By the force of His zeal multipUed by His character. 1 2^ The great drift of the laws of God. and tlie pervasive conscience, were on His side. ^3^ The consciousness of wrong made the evil doers weak. Library. — Jceeph Cook"s Monday Lectures. Conscience, " Solar Self Culture." ¦¦ Other things being equal Csesar's eye goes down whenever it meets, and does not possess, the solar look." Scott's MannioH : — '* Thus oft it haps that when within They shrink at sense of secret sin, A feather daunts the brave ; A fools wUd speech confounds the wise And proudest princes veil their eyes Bef ore their meanest slave." IS. "The question. What sign showzst Thoc unto rs. was absurd. It was to ask for a Ught to see Ught with, a sign of a sign. " — Dods. 22. When Therefore He was Risen. —Then it became plain what Jesos meant, and how perfect was the sign. 5 66 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS II : 18-2$ His body was the temple of God. The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed through the destruction of His body on the cross. The resurrection of Jesus, after three days restored the temple of His body. The Spiritual temple of God's people, fiUed with the Holy Ghost is the fruit of the resurrection of Jesus. 25. He Knew What was in Man. — As the maker of a watch knows what is in the watch because he made each part. The Roentgen rays, that show through wood and cloth and flesh what is within the body, give a faint hint of Christ's insight into the soul of man. Mr. Titbottom's Spectacles. — George WiUiam Curtis published some years ago, a volume entitled, "Prue and I." In it is a chapter called " Mr. Titbottom's Spectacles." The magical quality of these spectacles was that, when their owner looked through them at people, he ceased to see people as they ordinarily appeared on the street ; he saw their real essential character personified. Wonderful were the revela tions that were made. He looked at one man and saw nothing but a ledger. Another was simply a billiard cue. Another a jockey cap. Another a pack of cards. He looked at women, and one was a broomstick. Another was a fashion plate. A thu'd was a needle, and so on. Ill: 1-5 ST, JOHN 67 CHAPTER III. the new he.\rt. 1. There was a mnn of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews : 2. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God : for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 8. Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4. Nicodemus saith unto him. How can a man he born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, aud be born ? B. Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a mau be born of water and 0/ the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. A. D, 27. April. Time OjT Passovej; ~.i']tich 'Zoas Apriltf-ii,that yc.ir. FIRST YEAR. THE VE.^R OF BEGINN'LNGS. JERUSALEM. in AN upper chamber.The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus. Nicodemus, aud the New Birth. Pictures. —-Vu'ode?)i!(s meeting Jesus at night, by Rembrandt ; by Tintoretto. 1. Nicodemus the Hamlet op the New Testament. — "For cen turies scholars have spoken of this interview between Christ and the young ruler, as • the great refusal.' Dante, wandering with Virgil through the Inferno, thought he saw the young ruler searching for his lost oppor tunity. For this ruler was the Hamlet of the New Testament. Like the Prince of Denmark, he stood midway between his conscience and his task, and indecision slew him. It has been said that Hamlet could have been happy had he remained tn ignorance of his duty, or had he boldly obeyed the vision which called him to action. It wat, because he knew more than he had the courage to do that a discord arose, which destroyed the symmetry and sanity of his mind. His madness grew out of the breach between his enlarged aud haunting sense of right, and his faltering ability to face and fulfill it. Thus also the tragedy of this voting ruler's life grew out of the fact that the new aspuation made his old contentment impossible, and compeUed him either to go on with boldness to better things, or to go back to emptiness and misery. Beholding him, Christ loved him for what he was, and pointed out what he might become. He knew that the better was a great enemy of the best. For Christ had the double vision of the sculptor." 68 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 111:1-5 " Bef ore him was the mass of marble, rude and shapeless. But the outer shapelessness concealed the inner symmetry. Only the flying chips could let loose the form of glowing beauty hidden within. And before that youth he lifted up a vision of still better things. He set the youth midway between the man he was and the man he might become. He bad achieved so much that Christ would fain lead him on unto per fection itself. When the husbandman beholds his vines entering into leafage and blossom, he nurtures the vines on unto fruitage. When Arnold finds some young Stanley ready to graduate, he whispers : ' One thing thou lackest ; let aU thy life become one eager pursuit of knowl edge.' And to this youth who had climbed so high came the vision of something fairer and better stiU. Going on before, Christ lured bim forward, even as of old the goddess lured the Grecian boy forward by rolling rosy apples along the path. But the interview ended with the 'great refusal.' And the youth went away, not angry or rebellious, but sad and deeply grieved at himself. For now he knew how far his aspiration outran performance. Like Hamlet, indecision palsied action. Contentment perished, for the vision of perfection ever haunted him. At flrst Christ's words and look of earnest affection fllled his heart with a tumult of joy ; but having fallen back into the old sordid self, the very memory of his Master's face became a curse and torture. And so the vision blighted that should have blessed." — N. D. Hillis. 2. Came to Jesus by Night. — " A striking iUustration of this might have been seen in Safed during the earlier months of this year. When the shadows had crept up from the dark sea, through the deep sur rounding vaUeys, and wrapped the tall Jermuk in twilight, round by the back of the old castle hill, through the grove of ancient olives,' and along by the base of the ruined fortiflcations, several youths of the nobler sort from among the Jewish inhabitants regularly took their cautious way to the house of the teacher, from whom they eagerly listened to the truth as to the kingdom of God. The outbreak of bitterness against one who two years ago displayed too obvious sym pathy with the Christian cause, showed conclusively that their caution was not without justiflcation. " — Rev. William Ewing in Sunday School Times. 3. Except a Man be Born Again. — ovweev, from above, anew, afresh, over again, denoting repetition. — Thayer. Whoever is born again, is born anew, born from above. This is a most perfect metaphor express ing the changes of character and of life in the same person. Ill: 1-5 ST. JOHN 69 Born op Water and op Spirit. — (1) Water may •?• refer to Baptism as the prescribed door into the out ward visible Kingdom of God, as the heavenly city with gates, or a Kingdom with bound- Many Mean- aries ; while the Spirit is the naturaliza- ings, AU tion into the Kingdom. (2) Water may Correct. be but a symbol of the cleansing work of the Spirit. (3) Water may refer to the great truths which underlie the Sacrament of Baptism, the putting away of the old, unclean nature, and the rising to newness of life. There are two factors in Salvation, the cleansing from sin, the putting off the old nature ; and the implanting of a new life, a new heart. These inter pretations may all be true, as a tree has several branches. We find examples abundantly in the nat- * ^ ural and in the intellectual world. Air is to breathe, but it has many other uses, it holds the rain, it carries the cloud chariots, it holds the particles which disperse the light ; it is the means of sound and aU music. AU these and more are true, and we need not reject the others because we hold to one. A, B. 27. -¦iprll. Time 0/ Passover, ivhich was April^-16, thai year. FIRST YEAR. THE VKAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. in AN upper chamber. The First RecordedDiscourse ot Jesiis, Nicodemus, aud the New Birth, " The New Birth is not a constitutional change, the impartation of new faculties or new powers to-the soul. It is a greater change than this, a change of character ; the supreme inclination of the affections is changed. A converted man thinks, reasons, remembers, imagines, now ; and he did all these before conversion. A regenerate heart feels, desires, loves, hates, now ; and it did all these before. But the chief subjects of thought, of love, of hatred, are changed ; they are revolutionized. It is the most radical change of which human char acter is susceptible. It is a change from sin to holiness." — Prof. Phelps, in The New Birth. Changed by the Lamp Within. — The Tale of Goethe, interpreted by Carlyle in one of his essays, " a piece which is wonderful even among the works of that supreme literary artist," represents a rude fisherman's hut, " through which a light placed within breathed a new life and an immortal beauty. By virtue of the lamp locked up within it, the hut had been converted from inside to the outside into solid silver. Ere long, too, its form changed, for the noble metal shook aside the acci dental shape of planks, posts and beams, and stretched itself out into a noble case of beaten ornamented workmanship." The rude hut became an exquisitely beautiful temple. ¦JO SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTR.VTIONS III : !-$ Library. — A Study of Conversion inthe American Journal of Psy chology for Jan. 1807. " The professor has been at work tliree veiu-s collecting statistics on the psychology of conversion. The science of the century kneels by the cradle of the child, and says that conversion is a normal step in the unfolding of a child's life. AVlien normal steps are neglected there may be an abnormal product. He takes the child from ten to nineteen years of age, and shows that the critical period of life is between these two ages." It's on the Inside. — ' ' While walking down the street one day I passed a store when the proprietor was washing the large plate glass show window. There was one soiled spot, which defied efforts to remove it. After rubbing hard at it, using much soap and water. and failing to remove it, he found out the trouble. ' It's on the inside," he called out to some one in the store. Many are trying to cleanse the soul from its stains. They wash it with the tears of sorrow ; they scrub it with soap of good resolves ; they rub it with chamois of morality, but still the consciousness of it is not removed. The trouble is, ' It's ou the inside.' It is the heart which is bad. If the fountain is bitter the stream will not be sweet. Nothing but the blood of Jesus, applied by the mighty hand of the Holy Spirit, can cleanse the inside, for God's spirit alone can reach the ' inside.'" — E.v. ' ' Pruning a Crab apple Tree will increase the crop of sour apples, but if you want sweet fruit, you must graft in the old stock, a sacch arine variety. You cannot substitute morality for religion. A new principle produces the fruits of righteousness. Morality prunes; religion engrafts." — Ram's Horn. A Change op Moral Nature. — "It is not easy to impress on younger children the importance of a change of nature, because — whatever they may be taught to repeat — they do not realize that their nature is sinful. Perhaps the best method is to use such an iUustration as this: — As the tiger-cub, though harmless, has in it a ferocious nature ; which will be dcvdoped by-and-bye, so is it with you and sin- pray then for the new heart now — the change wuU be harder as you grow older. The same lesson is taught by the well-known anecdote of the great painter who painted from life a picture of a bright little child, calling it Innocence, and many years after painted another picture from life of a convicted felon, calling it Guilt. It turned out that the felon was no other than the once bright little chUd grown up. III:.i-5 ST. JOHN 71 Other illuBtrations of the necessity of an inward and spiritual change : — The heart the mainspring of action, like that of a watch. — No use to cut down weeds; they must be rooted uj). — A wax figure can be made like a man, and mechanism can give it motion; but it has no life; so an outwardly religious man, without the Spirit." — Eugene Stock. A.D. 27, April. Time 0/ Passover, ¦which ivas April g-i6, that year. FIRST YEAR, THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. in AN upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus, Nicodemus, and the New Birth. The Second Birth. — " The second birth impresses the image of God on every regenerate soul. It may not as yet be developed in every part, but all its parts are there in germ. It is not a partial but a complete result which regeneration effects. It is not one mem ber, a hand, or a foot that is born, but a body, a com plete equipment of the soul in aU graces. The whole character is regenerated, so that the man is fitted for all the duties of the divine life whensoever these duties shaU come before him. A human child does not need additions made to it to fit it for new functions; it requires growth, it requires nurture, it requires education and the practice of human ways, but it requires no new organ to be inserted into its frame; once born, it has but to grow." — 'E^of. Marcus Dods. The Wild Rose Renewed. —Mr. Beecher says: " Natural roses are comparatively humble by the side of ciUtivated ones; and it is culture that has made the difference. Yet there was in the wilding the power of development. " He means that there lies in the wild rose the power of being developed, but it is by the outside power of man putting into the wild rose a life that was not there before. The Poet Says : — " You may grind them both in the self-same mill, You may bind them, heart and brow; But the poet will follow the rainbow still. And the other will foUow the plow." And they will so long as their inner hearts and life are diflerent. A changed life will depend upon a changed nature. How the Briar Became a Rose. — ' ' Once there was a briar grow ing in a ditch, and there came along a gardener with his spade. As he dug around it and Ufted it out, the briar said to itself, ' what is he doing that for; doesn't he know that I am only an old worthless briar? ' But 72 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : I-5 the gardener took it into the garden, and planted it amid his flowers, while the briar said, 'what a mistake he has made, planting an old briar like mj-self among such rose trees as these ! ' But the gardener came once more with his keen-edged knife, and made a slit in the briar, and, as we say in England, ' budded it with a rose; ' and by-and-by, when summer came, lovely roses were blooming on that old briar. Then the gardener said, ' your beauty is not due to that which came out of you, but to that which I put into you.' " — Mark Guy Pearse. Changes Wrought by Christ. — " John Chrysostom ingeniously remarks that the animals which went out of Noah's ark went out the same as they came in. The crow went out a crow; the wolf, a wolf; the fox, a fox. ' But the church transforms the animals she receives into her bosom ; not by any change in their substance, but by the extir pation of their sin.' The magic wand of a Circe formerly metamor phosed men into brutes; but the Divine Word changes the brutes into true men. Yea, more than this; it changes them into angels (Isa. 11 : 6-9; 1 Cor. 6:9-11)."— Choice Notes. The Cracked Bell Restored. — "Yonder is a cracked bell. How again to restore it ? By one of two methods. The first is to repair the bell, to encompass it with hoops, to surround it with bands. Neverthe less, you can easily discern the crack of the bell in the crack of the sound. The only effectual way is to remelt the bell, recast it, and make it all new ; then it will ring clear, round, sonorous as ever. And human nature is a beU suspended high up in the steeple of creation to ring forth the praises of the Almighty Creator. But in the fall in Eden the beU cracked. How again to restore it ? By one of two ways. One is to surround it with outward laws and regulations as with steel hoops. This is the method adopted by philosophy as embodied in practical statesmanship, and, no doubt, there is a marked improvement in the sound. Nevertheless, the crack in the metal shows itself in the crack in the tone. The best way is to remelt it, recast it, remold it, and this is God's method in the Gospel. " — Rev. J. C. Jones, D. D. Snowflake From a Drop op Water.— " A drop of water lay one day in a gutter soiled, stained, polluted. Looking up into the blue of the sky it began to wish for purity, to long to be cleansed and made crystal line. Its sigh was heard, and it was quickly Ufted up by the sun's gentle fingers — up, out of the foul gutter into the sweet air, then higher and higher ; at length the gentle winds caught it and bore it away, and by and by it rested on a distant mountain top, a fiake of pure white Ill: 1-5 ST. JOHN 73 beautiful snow. This is a parable of what the grace of God does for every sinful life that longs and cries for purity and holiness." — From "Making the Most of Life," by Rev. J. R. Miller, D. D. Library. — The Poem " Beautiful Snow," in Snow- flake Album Am. Tract Soc. and Suggestive Illustra tions on Matthew. Re-shaped by Christ. — The story in the verses below is told of the statue of David, at Florence, by Michael Angelo. The version used is that given by Dr. A. MacLeod, in one of his beautiful " Talks to the ChUdren," entitled "Re-shaped by Christ." " In a fair and ancient city, 'Neath the blue Italian sky ; Where rich treasures art has gathered. As the years rolled swiftly by ; Treasures vast of painting, sculpture. Rare mosaic, carving strange ; Stands a statue that has witnessed Four long centuries of change. Long ago a block of marble To that city fair was borne ; Marble free from stain or flaw-mark, Pure as pearly cloud of morn. And the rulers sought a sculptor, Bade him carve a statue grand. That it might adorn their city, Fair as any in the land. But the sculptor's hand, unskilful, Marred the beauty of the stone, It was cast aside as worthless, Left unheeded and alone ; Covered o'er with dust and rubbish. Vanished all its beauty rare ; So it lay — spoUt, ruined, wasted I Lay through many a wearied year. TiU a young and unknown sculptor, Passing by, with thoughtful brow. A, D, 27, April. Time of Passover, ivhich was Aprilq-i6, thai year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. ierusalem. in AN upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus, Nicodemus, and tlie Nenr Birth. * 74 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : I-J Saw the stone, and said, " An angel Hides within it even now." " Take the stone, and free the angel," Said the rulers, half in scorn. Many a day the artist labored. Until one fair summer morn, Saw the statue stand completed ; And the rulers proud declared He had found the hidden angel In the marble once so marred. And in place of highest honor Glad they set the statue fair ; While the city rang with praises, Of the sculptor's skill so rare. Read ye not a deeper meaning In this tale of long ago — Story of a soul's salvation From the depths of sin and woe ? Made by God in perfect beauty. Crown of all His Eden bright ; Ruined, lost by sin and Satan, Hidden far from love and light. Till the Great, the Heavenly Artist, Cleansed away each soU and stain, Carved and shaped, untU in beauty Shone God's image forth again. Then the Master's hand removed it To the place prepared above. While the heavenly city echoed Praises to redeeming love. "^ Dr. N. MacLeod. The Transformed Menagerie. — Geo. Dana Boardman has a capital article in the 'Ne-w YorTs. Independeiit of December 18, 1890, on "The Transfigured Menagerie," in which he tells how Jesus Christ organizes the warring elements of the soul. "It is not by annihUating the pas sions; it is by transfiguring them. For example: Jesus Christ takes the instinct of accumulation and turns it into moral acquisition; the instinct of ambition, and turns it into a means of philanthropy; even the instinct of vengeance, and turns it into forgiveness — Uterally over coming evil with good. , . . He is taming the wild, growUng' gnashing menagerie of mankind, slowly but surely transflguring it into the city of God." Ill: 1-5 ST. JOHN 75 Transformations. — Bare roots into fiowers. Char coal into diamonds. The precious metal aluminura, of which our common clays are largely composed " can become ruby, topaz, amethyst, sapphire, or emerald," and is now in the process of becoming one of the most largely used and useful of metals. So God changed Saul into Paul, the courtier Moses into the deliverer, the profane fisherman into Peter with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. A, D, 27, April. Time of Passover, which was Aprilq-i6, that year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. IN AN upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Josus, Nicodemus, and the New Birth, Isaiah's Prophecy of changes — the desert into the rose garden, gold instead of brass, silver for iron, and brass for wood. Ezekiel's Prophecy of the new heart in place of the heart of stone. And his illustration of the restora tion of Judah from the valley of dry bones, which became clothed in flesh, and when he prophesied "Come from the four winds, O Breath (Spirit), and breathe upon these slain," they lived, an exceeding great army. Jewels from the Slbie op the Streets. — Mr. Ruskin, in hia Modern Painters, tells that the black mud or slime from a foot-path in the outskirts of a manufacturing town — the absolute type of impurity — is composed of four elements, — clay, mixed with soot, a little sand, and water. These four may be separated each from the other. The clay particles, left to follow their own instinct of unity, become a clear, hard substance so set that it can deal with light in a wonderful way, and gather out of it the loveliest blue rays only, refusing the rest. We call it then a sapphire. The sand arranges itself in mysterious, infi nitely fine paraUel lines, which reflect the blue, green, purple, and red rays in tbe greatest beauty. We call it then an opal. The soot becomes the hardest thing in the world, and for the blackness it had obtains the power of reflecting all the rays of the sun at once in the vividest blaze that any solid thing can shoot. We call it then a diamond. Last of all, the water becomes. a dew-drop, and a crystalline star of snow. Thus God can and does transform the slime of the streets into pure and shin ing jewels flt for His home in heaven. General Booth in His Darkest England puts forth his scheme for the saving of the " submerged tenth," and as the fruit of his wide observation and life-long labors, puts first of all in his scheme, " The first essential that must be borne in mind as governing every scheme "J^ SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : I-5 that may be put forward is that it must change the man when it is his character and conduct which constitute the reasons for his faUure in the battle of life. No change in circumstances, nor revolution in social condition, can possibly transform the nature of the man. Some of the worst men and women in the world, whose names are chronicled by history with a shudder of horror, were those who had all the advantages that wealth, education, and station could confer or ambition could obtain. The supreme test of any scheme for benefiting humanity lies, first — in the answer to the question: What does it make of the individual ? " LlBR.\Ry. — Kid's Social Evolution. Prof. Phelps' Tlie New Birth. Library. — The sermon on the heart, in D. W. Whittle's Gospel Pic tures and Story Sermons. Library. — There is a fine illustration of the necessity of a right heart, a living soul of goodness, in order to have part in the resurrec tion of the just, to be found in Whately's ' ' Future State," p. 222-4: the ichneumon fly destroying the "psyche" or soul in the caterpillar, so that no butterfly is produced from the larva. The same is found in Whately's Annotations on Bacon's Essays, p. 17, 18. His biology must be modified somewhat by the later investigations of modern science, but the illustration will still hold. Necessity op the New Birth. — " Perhaps the necessity of the second birth may be more clearly apprehended if we consider it from another point of view. In this world we find a number of creatures which have what is known as animal life. They can work, and feel, and, in a fashion, think. They have wills, and certain dispositions, and distinctive characteristics. Every creature that has animal Ufe has a certain nature according to its kind, and determined by its parentage ; and this nature whioh the animal receives from its parents determines from the flrst the capabilities and sphere of the animal's life. The mole cannot soar in the face of the sun like the eagle ; neither can the bird that comes out of the eagle's egg burrow like the mole. No training can possibly make the tortoise as swift as the antelope, or the antelope as strong as the lion. If a mole began to fly and enjoy the sunlight it must be counted a new kind of creature, and no longer a mole. The very fact of its passing certain limitations shows that another nature has somehow been infused into it. Beyond its own nature no animal can act. You might as weU attempt to give the eagle the appearance of the serpent as to try to teach it to crawl. Each kind of animal is by its birth endowed with its own nature, fitting it to do certain things, and making other things impossible. So is it with us : we are born with Ill: 1-5 ST. JOHN 77 certain faculties and endowments, with a certain nature ; and just as aU animals, without receiving any new, individual, supernatural help from God, can act according to their nature, so can we. AVe, being human, have a high and richly-endowed animal nature, a nature that leads us not only to eat, drink, sleep, and fight like the lower animals, but a nature which leads us to think and to love, and which, by culture and education, can enjoy a much richer and wider life than the lower creatures. Is there anything which so distinctly separates us from the lower animals as our capacity for God and eternity ? " ¦+ A. D. 27. April. Time o/ Passot'cr, wlticJt was April g-i6, that year. FIRST VE.\R. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. INAN upper CHAJIBER. Tlie First Recorded Discourse of Jesus. Nicodemus, and the Necessity op a Radical Ch.^nge. — "A man has '*''*^ Birth. bought a farm, and he finds on that farm an old ^ "J" pump. He goes to the pump and begins to pump. And a person comes to him and says, ' Look here, my friend, you do not want to use that water. The man that Uved here before, he used that water, and it poisoned him and his wife and his chUdren — the water did.' 'Is that so?' says the man. 'WeU, I wiU soon make that right. I wiU find a remedy.' And he goes and gets some paint, and he paints up tlie pump, putties up all the The holes, and flUs up the cracks in it, and has got a fine-look- Painted ing pump. And he says, ¦ Xow I am sure it is aU right.' Pump. You would say, ' What a fool, to go and paint the pump when the water is bad ! ' But that is what the sinners are up to. They are trying to paint up the old pump when the water is bad. It was a new well he wanted. When he dug a new weU it was all right. Make the fountain good, and the stream ivill be good. Instead of painting the pump and making new resolutions, my friend, stop it, and ask God to give you a new heart.'' — Dwight L. Moody. O for a man to rise in me That the man I am mav cease to be." - Tennyson. Illustrations of Transformation by a Power from Without. — One of the questions which have been puzzling metaUurgists, but wliich now has largely been solved is " to discover some way by which the metal aluminum can be profitably extracted frora clay. The substance is literaUy as plentiful as dirt. It is found all over the globe. It is as light as wood, as soft as lead or as hard as Aluminum steel accordingly as it is tempered, it does not rust, it can from Clay. 78 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : 1-5 scarcely be broken and can receive a fine polish. It is the ideal metal. The present is the iron age, but the golden age will, in all likeU- hood, be, strange to say, the aluminum age. The metal is a fine iUustration of what the Christian should be. He is the ideal ma,n. Without a developed spiritual nature a human being is only half a man. He has to be transformed from the common clay by the powerful touch of the Spirit in regeneration." Transformations op an Ash-Bakrel. — " You'U be surprised to know what comes out of that dreadful-looking place. Let me teU you a few of the things the picker finds, and you'll see that the fairies of the story books never performed any greater marvels than every day come from the hands of common workmen. Beautiful cloth worth several dollars a yard comes out of the ash-barrel, the most exquisite of papers, balls and buttons of ivory, the daintiest of toUet soap, and the nicest of jelly, the phosphorus that we want for our matches, coal to burn, and furs to keep us warm, solder, boneblack, and leather, and — dear me ! I couldn't tell you in an hour aU the strange things the ashman carries off in that dismal-looking bag of his. " In fact, there is not one thing that goes into the ash-barrel but goes through changes so wonderful that we are glad to pay a great price to get it back into the house in its new shape." — Olive Thome Miller. Perfumes, Whence They Came. — ¦ " As to perfumes, there are some which are really oils and others extracted from flowers. There are others which are made artiflcially, and curiously, most frequently out of bad-smelUng compounds. The fusel-oil, separated out in the distil lation of spirits, has a peculiarly nasty and sickening odor. It is used, after treatment with acids and oxidizing agents, to make the oil ot apples and the oil of pears. Oil of grapes and oU of cognac are little more than fused-oU largely diluted. Oil of pineapples, on the other hand, is best made by the action of putrid cheese on sugar, or by dis- tiUing rancid butter with alcohol and oil of vitriol. This oil is largely used for making pineapple ale. Many a fair forehead used to be damped with "Eau de Millefleurs" without knowing thatits essential ingredient was got from the drainings of cow houses, though now it can be obtained cheaper from one of the constituents of gas tar. Out of the latter is got oil of bitter almonds, so largely used to perfume soap and confectionery.'' How weU this illustrates the attractive character, the charm of grace which God can produce by his transformations of men by the new heart and new life implanted by the Holy Spirit. Ill: 1-5 ST. JOHN 79 The Sunset Clouds, Whence Came They. — One looks at the sunset glories of the sky, the clouds shin ing in many radiant colors as if a thousand rainbows had been scattered in fragments along the horizon ; and it seems as if there were the very gate of heaven ; he looks at the snowflakes so pure, so beautiful, — and he asks. Whence carae these? They came from the salt waters of the sea : they came from muddy reptile- haunted marsh and fen ; they came from road-side pools. They were raised to the sky by the sun, and are now glorifled by his rays. A. D, 27. April. Titne o/ Passover, which was April g-i6, that year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. IN AN upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus. „ „, Nicodemus, Illustration op the Changes Which Christ andthe Brings to Men. — The queen visited a paper mill. At "^^^ Birth. the door of this room was a great multitude of poor, 4" ^ dirty men and women and children, bringing old bags on their backs, fllled with bits of rags, and paper and the like, all exceedingly filthy. These were rag-pickers, who had picked these old things out of the streets and gutters of the great city. " What do you do with all these vile things ? " said the queen. ' ' Why, madam, I make paper out of them. " " But these rags ! Why, sir, they are all colors, and how do you make them white?" " Oh, I have the power of taking out all the dirt and the The Queen old colors. You see that scarlet and that crimson, yet I in the can make even scarlet and crimson, the hardest colors to Paper Mill. remove, become white as snow." " Wonderful, wonderful ! " said the queen. He then showed her aU the machinery, how they bleach the rags, and make them white ; how they grind them into pulp ; how they make sheets, and smooth them and dry them, and make them beautiful. The queen was astonished and delighted. A few days after, the queen found lying upon her writing-desk a pUe of the most beautiful polished paper she had ever seen. On each sheet were the letters of her own name, and her own likeness. How she did admire it I She found also a note within, which she read. It ran thus : "Will my queen be pleased to accept a specimen of my paper, with the assurance that every sheet was manufactured out of the contents of those dirty bags which she saw on the backs of the poor rag- pickers ? " — Rev. Dr. John Todd. And on this paper, made from rags, can be written the best literature the world has seen, the noblest love ever experienced, the highest truths God has revealed to man. 8o SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 111 : I-S " The soul of music slumbers in the shell TUl waked and kindled by the Master's speU ; And feeUng hearts, touch them but rightly, pour A thousand melodies unheard before." Power of Transforming Grace.— " However great a sinner one may be he need never despair at any time in his life of the divine mercy, for, as there is no tree so thorny, knotted, and gnarled but what it can be planed, polished, and rendered beautiful; so, in like manner, there is not a man in the world, however criminal, or however great a sinner he may be, but that God may convert him in order to adorn his soul with all the virtues and with the most signal graces." — Fra Egidio. "Morality divorced from religion is a flower without root, which may bloom for a while, but in the end must wither away ; religion without morality is — nothing at all ; worse than nothing, for it is a sham." — J. Monro Gibson. The Swan and the Heron. — The necessity for a new heart was illustrated by Mr. Moody in a recent address, by the Legend of the Swan who came from the skies, and invites the Heron to soar upward with him. He pictures the beauty of the clouds, the glories of the stars, the charming landscapes, the flowing streams. The Heron asks in reply, "Are there any snaUs there?" Not for aU these pure glories would he leave his mud and snaUs. The Fact not the Hour op Conversion. — Because there must be a new birth it does not follow that every person must know the hour or the year when he began the new life. A large 'When the proportion of the best saints could not tell when they be- Child Be came Christians. This is especially true of those who begin comes a Man. young. The chUd cannot teU the hour when he becomes a man. Joining the church is like becoming a citizen at 21, and casting the first vote. The new Ufe is like the coming of spring after the winter. No one can tell by feeUngs or appearances when spring 'When Spring really begins. There are warm spells early, and cold spells Begins. and frosts very late. But spring does come. So it is impossible to know when the sun rises on a The Minute cloudy day, but in due time we know the fact, that the of Sunrise. night is gone and the day has come. Ill : 1-5 ST. JOHN 8l Reversing A ship reverses her course often in a the Course, large circle, and it is almost impossible to teU the exact point where the course runs in an opposite direction. Who can tell when a seed begins to grow. A. D. 27, April. Time of Passover, which was April g-i6, thai year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. IN an upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus. Nicodemus, and the New Birth, The New Birth but the Beginning op the New Life. — ' ' The birth of a child is but the beginning of its life, and beyond that are yeai's or ages of develop ment, growth, evolution, and unfolding and training of powers and possibilities almost without limit or end. " The sprouting of a seed is but the beginning of the plant's life. But you cannot develop the plant unless it is aUve. Y'ou cannot culture a grain of sand. " Heaven is not reached at a single bound. But we build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies. And we mount to its summit round by round." " If Christianity is a Life, it must begin with a birth ; if a journey, it cannot be taken unless we set out ; if an Education, we must deter mine to commence the education ; if Labor in God's vineyard we must go into the vineyard and begin." — James Freeman Clark, D. B. " Of this little seed that I hold in my hand (apple seed) some one has told us that it " Holds a thousand green leaves folded tight, Holds a thousand flowers, pink and white. Holds a tree with its branches all complete. And fruit that is juicy, golden and sweet." — Anon. Not a Hard Command, but .v Blessed Privilege. — "Ye must be born again " is a privilege even more than a command. It means hope, growth, noble experiences, higher life. It is not an obstacle, but a door ; not a bar, but a gate ; not a hindrance, but a bridge, a stairway, even steps to glory, the reaUzation of Jacob's dream. The New Lipe. — " There is a life so high, pure and rich, that it can not be attained by any culture of any present faculties, however excel- 6 82 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : (5-8 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is bora of the Spirit ig spirit. 7. Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye must be born again. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit. lent. It must be born. No culture makes a rose a bird, bird a man, natural man a spiritual chUd of God. How glad we are 1 There is more for us than we anticipated or could acquire. How much richer is life after birth than before I How little can the unborn know of the wider life of the born ! As little do the flrst-time born know of the Ufe- hopes, joys and spiritual possibUities of the second-time bom.'' — Bp. Warren. The Seed and the Plant. — I once saw the artist, Frank Beard, draw a picture of the ground with seeds in, and all manner of rocks and grubs and roots in the way. The seeds seemed to hear the invita tion of the warm sun, and began to swell with life. Mr. Beard seemed to hear their voices, questioning whether Frank Beard's they should rise above ground or remain where they were. Picture. Some sprouted, and growing against a rock, turned back and withered away. Some were eaten by the grubs and never rose to the light. Then he pictured those, who in spite of all diflSculties, rose above ground into the sunUght and air, changing their dark and damp life for the higher and fresher, and grew up with green leaves and flowers and fruits. Open to All. — As the sunlight calls the seeds — aU seeds — to come up into the new life, so the Spirit of God broods over every soul. It need not wait; it need but answer to the influence and invitation. New Life Implanted in the World. — All geologists teU us that there was a time when there was no life in the world. Life must have been implanted before it was possible for it to become the beautiful world it is now. In the account of Creation in Genesis the word Create is used only of three epochs, the origin of Matter, of Life, of the Soul of man. No efforts to originate matter, or life, or soul, have proved successful. God put them into the world. After that the word used is Made, implying development, evolution, growth. A type of what God does in the Spiritual life of man, and the blessings which result. 6. ThatwhichisBornoftheFleshisFlesh.— "By the word 'flesh' He signifies the appetites, desires, faculties, which animate and govern 111:6-8 ST. JOHN 83 the body, as weU as the body itself — the whole equip ment with which nature furnishes a man for life in this world. This natural birth gives a man entrance into much, and forever determines much, that has important bearings on his person, character, and destiny. It determines all differences of nationality, nf temperament, of sex ; apart altogether from any choice of his it is determined whether he shall be a South Sea Islander or a European ; an antediluvian living in a cave or an English man of the nineteenth century." — F^of. Dods. A.D. 27 April. Time oy Passover, which was April(j~T.6, that year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM IN AN UPPER CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus, Nicodemus, Life Only From Life. — Prof. Drumraond, in his and tiie Natural Law in the Spiritual World, illustrates this truth by the scientific doctrine of Biogenesis. God's works illustrate His Word. The law of nature is that only life can produce life, and therefore any object can rise into the kingdoi^7 above it only by means of new life imparted to it from that higher life, i. e., by being born from above. A stone cannot grow into a plant. The mineral kingdom cannot enter the vegetable kingdom except by plant-life imparted to it. The vegetable kingdom cannot be changed into the animal kingdom except through the imparting to it of animal life. There is no power of development of one into the other. ''Spontaneous generation is a heresy so Biogenesis. thoroughly discredited now, that scarcely an authority in Europe will lend his name to it." Each lower kingdom must be born froQi that above, in order to rise into it. From the plane of the lower life the qualities of the higher are inconceivable. It must be born from above even to see the kingdom that is above it. The same i« true if we ascend from the animal life to the spiritual life. Life from above must be imparted to our natural life before we can enter or even see the spiritual kingdom. Qod's spiritual life imparted to our souls makes us God's children, and places us in the sjiiritual kingdom of God. " From the analogies of Biology we should expect three things ; first, that the new life should dawn suddenly; second, that it should come 'without observation; ' third, that it should develop gradually." It is a New Birth that is Required. — " No care spent on our con duct, no improvement and refinement of the natural man suffices. For flying, it is not an improved caterpillar that is needed, it is a butterfly; it is not a caterpillar of finer color or more rapid movement or larger proportions, it is a new creature. We recognize that in this and that 84 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 111:6-8 man we meet there is something more than men naturally have; we perceive in them a taming, chastening, inspiring principle. And We mourn its absence because even when a man is dutiful, affectionate, temperate, honorable, yet if he have uot grace, if he have not that peculiar tone and color which overspread the whole character, we instinctively feel that the defect is radical, that as yet he has not come into connection with the Eternal; that there is that wanting for which no natural quaUties, however exceUent, can compensate— nay, the more lovely and complete the natural character is, the more painful and lamentable is the absence of grace, of Spirit.'' — M. Dods. 8. The Wind Bloweth Where it Listeth, Willeth, Pleaseth. — " At the pauses of the conversation, we may conjecture they heard the wind without, as it moaned along the narrow streets of Jerusalem ; and the Lord, as was His wont, took His creature into His service — the ser vice of Spiritual truth." — Canon Liddon. So is Every one that is Born of the Spirit. — The Spirit's methods we cannot know, or why He influences just when or where He does, or how He imparts new life. But the facts of the new life are as plain and certain as that the strong wind bends the forest trees. We may not know the day nor the hour when we are born again, but we may know the fact bv the fruits. " When Coleridge said, ' By what manner of working God changes a soul from evil to good, how he impregnates the barren rock with gems and gold, is to the human mind an impenetrable mystery, in all cases alike,' he uttered only what every thoughtful mind feels. But this is very far from affirming that the change itself, the result of God's work ing, is an enigma. A change of character, in itself considered, is one of the most intelligible of historic facts. — Prof. Phelps. 9. How can These Things Be ! — It would be impossible to the insect in its chrysalis state to observe the laws which are made for the trans formed state — for the worm to know the laws whioh make the summer fly seek the sunshine and live upon the flower — as it must " be bom again " and enter upon a new existence before it can keep the laws of that existence. — Stamford. The man born blind cannot comprehend what vision is with all its- powers. 111:9-15 ST, JOHN 85 9. Nicodemus answered and said unto him. How can these things be ? 10. Jesus answered and said unto him. Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness. 12. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things. 13. And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, ei)en the Son of mau which is in heaven. 14. T[ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : 15. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. A, D, 27, April. Time of Passover. luhich was April q-ii, that year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. in AN upper CHAMBER. The First RecordedDiscourseof Jesus. Nicodemus, and the Nevv Birth, -I' The German students have what they caU the " Spinach argument." The old lady says, " I am glad I don't like spinach, for if I did I would have to eat it, aud I hate it." Wind, Spirit, Birth. — ' ' These strongly set forth that so far from discouraging action, they are strongest incentives to it. For the wind is not " mysterious " in any such sense as to mean causeless or capri cious. It is not independent of law. Mathematicians can go far in describing the properties of curves ; but flre a rifle, twirl a half-crown, or toss a ball into the air, which are the simplest and most familiar of acts, and though every convolution exactly obeys mathematical and physical laws, yet where is the Newton or the Leibnitz that could trace these in detail, and sum up for us so complex and intervolved a com putation ? So the Spirit's infiuences are inscrutable, in great part, from the nature of the case. They deal with the most involved and inter- warped of aU problems. They have to do with free agency, duty, destiny, and diversities of individual temperament and circumstances." — Dr. Guthrie. 11. We Speak that we do Know. — "A handful of knowledge is worth more than this auditorium full of ignorance. One solitary thing that you know enough to die for, is worth ignorance enough to jostle the stars in their courses." — Dr. McKenzie. 14. Moses Lifted Up the Serpent in the Wilderness. — "Mosea made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of 86 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 111:9-1$ brass, he Uved." The flery flying serpent, with its poisonous bite and its deadly maUce, was the vivid type of the evU of disobedience to the Divine command, infusing its malign venom into the whole nature of its victim. The serpent of brass was not venomous, though it bore the Ukeness of the deadly plague. It was not flying, gUding from tent to tent, but captured, still, hoisted triumphantly upon the pole, a sign of its conquest. The serpent in Hebrew and Christian Uterature through out was emblematic of evil, uot as in raany Oriental religions, of heaUng or deliverance." — Pulpit Commenta-ry. The Serpents. — "To this day a mottled snake, with fiery red spots- upon its head, abounds at certain seasons in the Arabah. It is the dread of the flshermen, and is peculiarly dangerous to the bare-legged, sandaled Bedouin. So inflammable is its bite that it is likened to fire coming through the veins ; so intense its venom, and so rapid its action, that the bite is fatal in a few hours. The body swells with a fiery eruption ; the tongue is consumed with thirst ; and the poor wretch writhes in agony tiU death brings relief. This horrible pest suddenly appeared in the camp of Israel in prodigious numbers. From crevices in the rocks, from holes in the sand, from beneath the scanty herbage, these flery-headed snake-demons swarmed into every tent. There was no running away from them, and kUling seemed hardly to diminish their numbers. On every side there was a cry of anguish ; men, women chUdren, racked wdth the flery torture ; none able to save or even to help another. ' And much of the children of Israel died ' (Numb. xxi. 6)." — Biblical Illustrator. GuiDO's Picture. — " Not long ago I saw a picture of this by Giudo. In the foreground strong men were writhing in the death agony ; some are paUid in death ; some hopelessly lifting eyes, bloodshot and ghastly, to the sacred emblem at the right hand of the picture, and already a new life throbs within them ; joy flushes the countenance with unex pected hues of health. But in the centre is a mother, despair in her eye, Ufting her babe -with both hands, that it may gaze on the saving sight. Why does not the chUd look up ? Ah ! it is too far gone ; the deadly bite has penetrated to the central springs ; it hangs its head ; it droops ; it wiU not look ; it gives one throe of anguish, and dies in the mother's uplifted hands. Oh 1 the unutterable pathos of that mother's look ! "— A. Wilson, B. A. Sin is like a flery serpent, often beautiful in appearance, and secret in its approach. But the effects are pains that only flre can express. It infects the whole system. It inflames every evU passion. It is inctrrable III:9-IS ST, JOHN by man alone. If permitted to go on, it is death. The world is full to-day of the sorrows, the burning remorse, the agonies of the body and of the spirit which come from the fiery serpents of sin. Compare the old serpent, the Devil, the tempter and destroyer of men. ¦i- A.D. 27. --\pril. Time o/ Passover, which was April 9-16, thai year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS JERUSALEM. IN an upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus. Nicodemus, and the New Birtli, The Serpent a Type op Sin and of Healing. — From the earliest times tbe serpent had been regarded as man's most dangerous enemy, — more subtle than any beast of the field, more sudden and stealthy in its attack, and more certainly fatal. The natural revul sion which men feel in its presence and their inability to cope with it seemed to flt it to be the natural representative of the powers of spiritual evU. And yet, strangely enough, in the very countries in which it was recognized as the symbol of all that is deadly it was also recognized as the symbol of life. And as it was early discovered that the most valuable medicines are poisons, the sei'pent, as the very "personification of poison," was looked upon as not only the symbol of all that is deadly, but also of all that is health-giving. And so it has continued to be, even to our own days, the recognized symbol of the healing art, and, wreathed round a staff, as Moses had it, it raay still be seen sculptured on our own hospitals and schools of medicine. The Brazen Serpent an Illustration of Christ. — (1) Its design was the same, to save suffering, sinful, dying men. (3) It was made in the form of the fiery serpents, but was itself perfectly harmless. So Christ was made sin for us, took the form of our sinful human nature, was subject to human conditions, yet without sin. (3) Like the serpent, Christ was lifted up upon the cross to draw all men unto Him. Christ crucified is the most conspicuous object in the history of the world. It is the center around which the whole moral and religious warfare of the world is gathered. It is the Alcyone around which all the stars of heaven are circling. So that by both enemies and friends the cross is made prominent, and all may hear of the Saviour. (4) The power of healing was not in the serpent, but in God through the serpent. The cross has no power in itself, but God has there shown His infinite love and power for salvation. Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, on the cross, and through that to glory. 88 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 111:9-15 The Shadow of the Cross. — " In a well-known picture, a modem painter has given an imaginary incident in the youth of our Lord. It is the carpenter's shop. Boards sawn for use are propped against the walls, the floor is strewn with chips and curls of wood and heaps of sawdust, various tools mingle in the confusion, or are placed in the rack ready for use. Mary is kneeling close beside the Christ, the level rays of the setting sun strike through the casement, and as the young carpenter draws Himself to His fuU height and extends his arms, a shadow as of one crucified is- thrown on the opposite wall. Mary, at least, sees that shadow of the cross. The shadow of the cross rests on all the incidents and words of His public life. Nowhere does the sun of His life shine in a clear sky. The darkness is denser here and thinner there, but it is everywhere ; ' as the twiUght creeps noiselessly into evening's sunniest nooks, and quietly masters aU the land without the witmowing of its sUken wing being heard or seen.' Calvary is a low hiU ; but it casts a long shadow." — F. B. Meyer, D. D. 15. Whosoever Believeth in Him . . . Eternal Life. Christian's First View of the Crucified One. — When his long car ried burden feU from his shoulders, " then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, ' He has given me rest by sor row, and Ufe by His death.' Then he stood a whUe to look and wonder ; for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked, therefore, and looked again, even tiU the springs that were in his head sent the water down his cheeks. Now as he stood looking and weeping, behold three shining ones came to him and saluted him with ' Peace be to thee ; ' so the flrst said to him, ' Thy sins be forgiven thee ; ' the second stripped him of his rags, and clothed him with change of raiment ; the third also set a mark on his forehead, and gave him a roll with a seal on it, which he bid him look on as he ran, and that he should give it in at the celestial gate ; so they went their way." — Pilgrim's I*rogress. The Source op Lovely Character. — "There lived once a young girl whose perfect grace of character was the wonder of those who knew her. She wore on her neck a gold locket which no one was ever allowed to open. One day, in a moment of unusual confldence, one of her companions was allowed to touch its spring and learn its secret. She saw written these words : ' Who-m having not seen 1 love.' That was the secret of her beautiful life. She had been changed into the game image." — Prof. Henry Drummond in The Changed Life. 111:9-15 ST. JOHN 89 Faith and Salvation. — A check, no matter how wealthy the man that signed it, is not of any use unless the one who possesses it has faith enough to present it. The doctor cannot cure a man who will not trust him enough to take his medicine and follow his directions. A guide cannot lead one through forest and desert unless he trusts him enough to follow his guidance. •!• " John Habberton tells us of a preacher who visited a sick man whose house was fllled with poisonous gases from a neglected drain. Talking of faith the preacher said to him, ' You don't need to use more faith, but you do need to use some chloride of lime on that drain if you want to get well.' " — H. L. Hastings. The faith that works is the faith that saves. A.D, 27. April. Tij/te 0/ Passo'z'cr, which was April ^-xt, that year. FIRST YEAR. THE YE.\R OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. IN AN upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus. Nicodemus, and the New Birth, Look Up, — A man once dreamed that he was in a deep pit, sinking fast in the mire ; feet, knees, body, neck, gone, down beneath the sur face, when he heard a voice, " Look up." Looking up he saw a star, and, while gazing at it, he began to rise. Then, congratulating himself on his escape, he turned his eyes from the star to himself, and immedi ately he began to sink again. All efforts of his own to rise but sank him deeper ; and, when almost gone, he again heard the voice, " Look up." Then once more gazing at the heavenly star, he began to rise higher and higher till he was almost free ; then, turning to help himself and to remove the mire clinging to him, he forgot to look up, and again he sank. Once more the voice came, "Look up : for only while you look you rise." And looking steadfastly, he rose from the mire and was saved. ' There is Ufe for a look at the crucified One, There is life at this moment for thee ; Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved, - Unto Him who was nailed to the tree 1 " " The faith of the Head Is the faith that is dead ; The faith of the Heart Is better in part ; 90 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : l6 16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso ever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. " But the faith of the Hand Is the faith that wUl stand; For the faith that will do Must include the first two." Christ's Cure of the Paralytic (Luke 5: 18-26) is an Ulustration of true faith, not merely "a strong conviction of any doctrine about Christ, but a strong trust and confidence in Christ," founded on what they believed about Hira, not philosophicaUy, but practically. They cotUd not have confidence in Him unless they had some true faith about Him, and the truer their faith about Him, the stronger their confidence in Him. (3.) Faith is necessary in order that the sinner may be led to go to Christ. (3.) It is necessary because it is the accepting of the forgive ness. It is the taking God at His word when He promises to for give. (4.) It shows a state of heart and mind which makes it safe to forgive. Otherwise forgiveness would increase sin, not remove it. (5.) Whosoever has real faith in Jesus will forsake and hate sin and love and obey his Lord and Saviour. " Run, John, and work, the Law commands. Yet finds me neither feet nor hands ; But sweeter news the Gospel brings. It bids me fly and lends me wings." — John Berridge. One Faith, Many Experiences. — "UnhappUy the experience of John Bunyan or of some other person, has been erected into a standard by which that of other men is tried ; and in some regions a Christian wiU be asked, 'Wereyou long inthe Slough of Despond?' as though the Slough of Despond were a Divine institution, and the only way of sal vation lay through it. Andrew FuUer put the question to an aged saint, who replied, ' I was never there at all, sir ; I went straight to the cross of Christ.' That was the Scriptural way ; and it is to be remarked that the Scriptures place nothing between the sinner and the cross, nor do they clog the free message with a single qualifying condition. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved I" — Biblical Illus trator. 16. God so Loved the World. — Luther calls this verse The Little Gospel, or The Little Bible. For the whole gospel, yea the whole Bible, is condensed in these few words: Ill: i6 ST. JOHN 91 On the tiny retina of the eye is pictured a wide extended landscape in its minutest details — mount ains, rivers, forests, flelds, cities, villages. Peter Bayles, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, wrote the whole Bible in so small a space that it could be enclosed in the sheU of a common walnut. In our day, I am told that the whole Bible has been photographed on thin plates, so that altogether it would make a package only as large as a fair-sized pea. So the whole Bible, the whole gospel, the whole scheme of redemption is condensed into the few words of this verse. This verse is said to be " the best thing ever put in human speech." "Infinite riches in a little room." The treasure room of the London Tower. The salon care of the Louvre. •4- A. D. 27. April. Time 0/ Passover, which was April ^16, that year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. IN AN upper CHAMBER. Tlie First Recorded Discourse of Jesus. Nicodemus, and the New^ Birth. God So Loved. — Harry Morehouse once preached for seven consecu tive nights on that wonderful word "so;" for in it is summed up all the Father and Son have done for the salvation of the world. — A. F. Schauffler, D. D. The Sum op All Loves. — " If an angel were to fly swiftly over the earth on a summer morning, while the pearly dew of heaven rested on the flowers, and go into every garden — the king's, the rich man's, the peasant's, the chUd's — and were to bring from each the choicest, love liest, sweetest flower that blooms in each, and gather them all in one cluster in his radiant hands, what a beautiful bouquet it would be I And if an angel were to fly swiftly over the earth into every sweet and holy home, into every spot where one heart yearns over another, and were to take out of every father's heart, and every mother's heart, and out of every heart that loves, its holiest flower of affection, and gather all into one cluster, what a blessed love-garland would he behold ! What a holy love would this aggregation of all earth's loves bel Yet inflnitely sweeter and holier than this grouping of all earth's holiest afl'ections, is the love that fills the heart of our Father in heaven." —Rev. J. R. Miller, D.D. The Weathercock. — Mr. Spurgeon saw on a country weather-cock what he thought was a strange motto, " God is Love," and asked his friend if he meant to imply that the divine love can be fickle as the wind. " No," said he, " this is what I mean — ivhichever way the wind blows, God is love; through the cold north wind, the biting east wiad. 92 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : l6 still God is love, as much as when the warm, genial breezes refresh our fields and flocks." God loves men so that He uses every possible means for their salvation. The greatest is His love in Jesus Christ. He sends joys and sorrows, both to bring us to our Saviour. The Marvelous Love op God. — It has been objected to the gospel that it was not possible that the Inflnite God, having created countless worlds so immense that this world is but a grain of sand to them, should select this little obscure corner of the universe as the place where His only Son should become flesh, live and die for the salvation of the minute inhabitants thereof. Even Christians feel the power of this difficulty. But note (1) the opposite aspect of creation. The micro scope reveals thousands of living creatures perfectly formed and cared for in a drop of water. There are 100,000 million, million, million atoms iu a cubic inch of gas, each one perfectly made. Now if God is so great that He can care for each of these, how much more wiU He care for the immortal souls He has created. (3) It is altogether prob able that the work of redemption for the universe is done in this world: that here is raging the great battle between good and evil, for all worlds and all times. But the magnitude of the issue has nothing to do with the size of the battle-fleld. Who counts the inhabitants of Waterloo, or Bunker Hill, or Sebastopol, in order to learn what was done on those battle-fields ? (3) The sympathy and thought of a famUy always goes forth most freely to the helpless, the sick, the wandering ones. So it is inthe great family of God. All the good in the universe naturaUy turn to this lost and sinful and sorrowing world. Micromegas. — Look down at one of the nests of those smallest ants, which are made in our paths. It is very hard to think of ourselves as relatively smaller than such insects, and that less than such an ant-hiU is to the whole landscape, is our solar system itself in comparison with the visible universe. " When the traveler from the great star Sirius (where, according to the author of Micromegas all the inhabitants are proportionally taU, and proportionally long lived) discovered our own little solar system, and lighted on what we call the majestic planet Saturn, he was naturally astonished at the pettiness of everything compared with the world he had left. That the Saturnian inhabitants were in his eyes a mere race of dwarfs (they were only a mile high, instead of 24 mUes like himself) did not make them contemptible to his philosophic mind, for he reflected that such little creatures might still think and reason ; hut when he learned that these puny beings were also corresnoadinelv Ill: 16 ST. JOHN 93 short lived, and passed but 15,000 years between the cradle and the grave, he could not but agree that this was like dying as soon as one was born, that their life was but a span and their globe an atom. " Yet it seems that when one of these very Saturn ian dwarfs came afterwards with him to our own little ball, and by the aid of a microscope discovered certain animalculae on its surface, and even held con verse with two of them, he could not in turn make up his mind that inteUigence could inhere in such invis ible insects, till one of them (it was an astronomer with his sextant) measured his height to an inch, and the other, a divine, expounded to him the theology of some of these mites, according to which all the heavenly host, including Saturn and Sirius himself, were created for them." — Prof. S. P. Langley, in Century, Feb., 1887. LrBR.4.RY. — Chalmer's Astronomical Lectures. A. D. 27. April. Time of Passover, wh ich was April<)-i6. that year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. IN AN upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus* Nicodemus, and the New Birth. In Raphael's Sistine Madonna the space around the Christ-child is fllled with angel faces, to show the interest the heavenly world has in Him. Love the Greatest Thing in the World. — The description of Love in 1 Corinthians, 13, shows that love is not merely the ' ' greatest thing in the world," and the best thing in the world; it is also, in its fulness, the hardest thing to attain in the world. The picture in this chapter of what human love at its best is, gives us a hint, a faint image of what God's love is. The Spectrum op Love. — Professor Drummond says, "Love is a compound thing ; Paul tells us it is like light. As you have seen a man of science take a beam of light and pass it through a crystal prism, as you have seen it come out on the other side of the prism broken up into its component colors — red and blue, and yellow, and violet, and orange, and all the colors of the rainbow — so Paul passes this thing. Love, through the magniflcent prism of his inspired intellect, and it comes out on the other side broken up into its elements. And in these few words we have what one might call the Spectrum of Love, the analysis of Love. WiU you observe what its elements are ? Will you notice that they have common names ; that they are virtues which we hear about every day ; that they are things which can be practiced by every man in every place in life ; and how by a multitude of small things and 94 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III: l6 ordinary virtues, the supreme thing, the summum bonum, is made up? ' ' Light is a something more than the sum of its ingredients — a glow ing, dazzUng, tremulous ether. And love is something more than all its elements — a palpitating, quivering, sensitive, living thing. By synthesis of all the colors, men can make whiteness, they cannot make light. By synthesis of all the virtues, men can make virtue, they can not make love." " As every lovely hue is Ught, So every grace is love." — From The Greatest Thing in the World. Heart Power. — " They teU us," said WendeU Philips in one of his speeches, " that this heart of mine which beats so unremittingly ia this bosom, if its force could be directed against a granite pillar, would wear it to dust in the course of a man's life. Your capitol is marble, but the pulse of every human mind is beating against it. God wiU give us time, and the pulses of men shall beat it down." Such is a hint of the mighty power of God's love beating against the stony hearts of men. If anything can touch and soften them, or wear away their sin it is the love of God. Love Leading to Repentance. — "A pious physician had access to a jail, and tried to minister both to the souls and bodies of his patients in prison. One day he pleaded with a murderer to seek pardon. He urged all the motives of the Gospel to repentance he could command, and threw his whole soul into the plea. The murderer was cold and obdurate ; excused his crimes by quoting the example of David, Solomon and other Scripture characters. In fine, he said, " I don't know that I have much to repent of." This from a murderer was terrible. Anxious, however, to do all he could, the physician invited a dear friend — an aged, devoted man — to visit him. The old man consented ; and when the doctor again ventured into his cell he was surprised to hear him say : ' Doctor, you don't understand your business. You come here to do good — to beneflt the souls of us poor prisoners ; but you don't go about it right. You always urged me to ' repent — to repent ; ' but, doctor, do you suppose there is one poor fellow in this prison who doesn't know he must repent if he would be saved ? That dear old friend of yours that you left behind understood his business. He came here ; sat right down by my side. He looked, indeed, like a really good man. With a look full of tenderness, he said to me, ' John, wasn't it gracious good ness on the part of the Almighty that he should have loved us so much Ill: i6 ST. JOHN 95 as to send his only and wellbeloved son into the world to save such sinners as you and I ? ' Why, doctor, that word ' /' killed me — it killed me dead. I couldn't get over it. That that holy man should put hiraself on thesame level with me — a vile murderer, neither fit to live nor die ! I cannot keep it out of my thoughts. It is working its way to my heart.' " — Christian at Work. Reference. — The Robber. Page 2. Legend of St. John and the -i- A, D,27, April. Time of Passover, ivhich was April g-\6, that year. FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JERUSALEM. IN an upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse of Jesus, Nicodemus, and the New Birth. Beauty and the Beast. — (The foUowing sugges tion is from an editorial in the Sunday School Times). " It is a quaint conceit, that story of ' Beauty and the Beast,' and it is a strangely attractive one. It has even been called ' the most beautiful of aU nursery tales.' And, Uke many another fairy tale or folk-lore myth, this attractive story contains an important truth, a germinal principle, enfolded in its figures of speech. " ' Beauty' is a lovely young woman, whose loveliness of spirit gives added charm to her loveliness of outer being. She is unselfish and tender-hearted, and ever prompt to see the best in others and to minister to their necessities. In her loving desire to be of service to her father, she finds herself in an enchanted palace, where the host is a repulsive appearing ' Beast.' Instinctively she shrinks from one of so unlovely exterior ; but she recognizes in him a reverent devotion to herself, and an ever watchful and considerate affection toward her, coupled with a certain sadness of heart as if in personal trial and suffering ; and her habit of generously seeing and approving the best in others, causes her to view even the repulsive ' Beast ' with kindly interest, and to be grateful for his loyalty in her service. ' ' Cheered and encouraged by her favor. Beast ventures to draw nearer to Beauty in his reverent devotion. At length, overcoming her antip athy, she begins to love the soul hidden beneath the unattractive appear ance. No sooner does Beauty love Beast as he is, than he is transformed into a handsome youth and she has a lover prince." Is not this a type of the transforming power of the love of God for sin-defiled man ? God sees the best in him, the dim reflections of His own imagfe, the prophecy of all that he may become, the glorious fruit age of the seeds of possibilities in his soul. " Look long enough On any peasant's face here, coarse and lined, — You'll catch Ant'nous somewhere in that clay. 96 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : lO As perfect-featured as he yearns at Rome From marble pale with beauty ; then persist, And if your comprehension's competent, You'll find some fairer angel at his back. And much exceeding him as he the boor, And pushing him with empyreal disdain Forever out of sight." And when the man is conscious of this wonderful love of one so unworthy, his heart begins to change, and his nature to be transformed by love. God's Love the Source op Salvation — " God Gave." — There has been an impression that Christ came to make God love men instead of hating them. One or two of our hymns, wrongly understood, have favored this impression. But here we are told that God's love was the origin of salvation for men ; that Christ came because God loved men before he came. Tennyson's poem, " The Victim,'' expresses the demand of Odin and Tlior for a victim, but bears no resemblance to the feelings of God, who gave up His Son because He loved men. The Atonement. — The atonement has been called an unjust and mean doctrine, because it allows another to suffer in our stead. But look at it a moment. Two things are necessary to the atonement. (1) That the being who makes the atonement shall be so closely related to God, that the suffering shall express God's feeling against sin. The sufferings of man, or angel, or the archangel nearest the throne, could not do tills. Only God's own Son, only God Himself, can make an effectual atonement, and save the sinner while he vindicates the law. (2) The atonement must be voluntary. For God to /orce any innocent person to suffer for the sins of another, would be unjust in the extreme. When the Greeks were besieging Troy, and met with ill success, the priest, Calchas, told them that the only way to appease the offended goddess, and gain the victory, was to sacriflce to Diana, Iphigenia, the beautiful daughter of King Agamemnon. And these brave men of old are said to have taken her by strategy and force, and brought this inno cent girl to the altar to slay her in their stead. This sacrifice (though she was rescued) was unworthy of them, was mean and unjust in the extreme. But whenever any persons have offered themselves, as Hora- tius and his comrades at the bridge of Rome, or the nobles of Calais to Henry the Sixth, the sacrifice was the height of heroism. This is the soul of greatness and goodness in all ages. We did not compel Christ, God did not compel him, but he freely offered Himself for us; and the Ill : i6 ST. JOHN 97 only meanness or injustice is not to love Him and 4^ serve Him for it with all our hearts. clJO. I A.D. 27. .A/*,-:.'. T:m^ i .f Pass.^ c, ' 'u'iicji ¦:fjs Ap'-:.'g-i6, .- '^ai I JI cj ,-. I FIRST VE-\R. THK ^ K-Ut OF 1 EKGINMNo^. ierusalem. In an upper CHAMBER. The First Recorded Discourse ' of Jesus, Nlrodemus. and (he >ie»v Birth. The Contrast. — •• This attitude of God toward the world is in suggestive contrast with that in which the gods of paganism are represented. Thus Juno says to Vulcan; • Dear son. refrain: it is not weU that thus A god should suffer for the sake of men.' •Diad'xsi., 379. And ApoUo to Neptune: Thou would'st not deem me wise, should I contend With thee, O Neptune, for the sake of men. Who flourish like the forest-leaves awhile. And feed upcai the fruits of earth, and theu Decay and perish. Let us quit the field. And leave the combat to the warring; hosts." •Iliad," xxi., 461. -167. Mau has no assurance of forgiveness even when he offers the sacri fices in which the gods especially dehght, " Man's sin and the Divine punishment therefor are certain: foririveness is uncertain, dependent upon the arbitrary caprice of the C'^is. Human life is a Ufe without the certainty ef grace " ^Najtlshach, • Homerische Theologie ">. Mr. Glad stone observes; • No Homeric deity ever wUl be found to make a per sonal sacrifice on beh!»lf of a human cUent ' (" Homer and the Homeric Asre.'U., 3c>->." — M. R. Vinccui. in T'\ird .:?'i(cfit"s. A Royal Gift. — Plutarch, the Greek historian, tells a story to this eilect: ¦• An ancient kine once gave a present of a lartre sum of money to a personal friend, .iiid was gently taken to task for his generosity. ' What ! ¦ was his astonished exclamation, ' woiUd you not have me be liberal? Let the world know that when the king gives he gives geuer- ouslv, like a king."' Thb Pro>of of God's Love. — There is no other certain proof of God's perfect love for aU men than this. Nanire give? us many hints of God's love: but then? if so much which is terrible, which seems contrary to love, that we cannot be sure that God loves us. except by this gift of His Son. The argument is irrefutable, a morning star shining unclo.ided 98 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : 17-21 17. For God sent not hia Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him might be saved. 18. IT He that believeth on him ia not condemned ; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19. And thia ia the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than Ught, because their deeds were evil. 20. Por every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest hia deeda ahould be reproved. 21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeda may be made manif eat, that they are wrought in God . in every dark night of trouble. " He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us aU things ? " — (Rom. 8: 33.) " Could we with ink the ocean fill, Were all the sky of parchment made. Were every single stick a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, — To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroU contain the whole Though stretched from sky to sky." 17. God Sent Not His Son Into the World to Condemn the World. — " A great American writer has told us that when he was a boy the conception of God which he got from books and sermons was that of a wise and very strict lawyer. I remember weU the awful con ception of God which I got when I was a boy. I was given an illus trated edition of Watts' hymns, and amongst others there was one hymn which represented God as a great piercing eye in the midst of a great black thunder cloud. The idea of God which that picture gave to my young imagination was of a great detective playing the spy upon my actions ; as the hymn says : ' Writing now the story of what little chUdren do.' That was a bad book, and a bad idea which it has taken me years to obUterate." — Prof. Drummond, in A Life for a Life, " The Angelus." (ReveU). I had something of the same feelmg in my own childhood, drawn not from the teaching I received, but from such stories as that of the father taking his son to steal apples, and after he had looked on all sides to see if any one saw them, the boy said, Father, you forgot to Ill: 17-21 ST, JOHN 99 look np ; and that of the astronomer seeing with his telescope some boys seven mUes away robbing an orchard. It was a long time before I realized that God saw the good as weU as the bad, that He was far more anxious to see the good than the bad in us, that He might cherish every faintest desire to be better, and fan the flame of every flickering spark of aspira tion and longing for Him. A,D, 27. .¦iprii, Tirm cf passoTer, which ZL-as -¦ip^ii g-l5, tnat year. FIRST ^¦K,\R. THE ¦i'X.Ut OF BEGCCXIKGS. JERUSALEM. IN .AN UPPER CHAMBER. Xhe First Recorded Discourse of Jesus, Nicodemus. and the >"ew Birth, IS. CosDESESZD Already, as a ship is condemned because unfit to saU ; condemned by his own con science and the law of God, as a sinner unfit for heaven. " The condemnation here spoken of is not of the judge, but of the architect. It is a customary thing to appoint a committee to examine a bridge or a buUd- , \ ing, but if either is condemned as unfit for use, * * the architect merely proclaims that repair is needed ; he refers to the past, not to the future. He says, not that they are to be destroyed, but that he wiU not guarantee them for a sinsle moment, that the haU or budding is not safe for a meeting-place, and that the bridge is not fit to be a vehicle of commerce between man and man. The whole word Ues in the word already. Some here may have read that w^onderful story of George EUot's. ' Daniel Deronda,' and remember the marvelous character in it. Mordecai, who, by the mysticism of his mind, is represented as having gone back. He became possessed with the idea that he was a bridge over ¦which the whole world was passing : he felt the feet trampling over his life, and they weighed him down with agony. Never was Mordecai so Uttle of the madman as when he pos sessed that thought. Whether we realize it or not, the idea is true. Every one is a bridge for the whole world. The world would not have been the same if you had not Uved, and what is that but saying you are a means of transport for the generations ? Therefore it is of the more value that some are labeled, • Conderaned already ; ' to hear a voice warning us back from the gUded parapet, from the painted structure, from the gaudy edifice ; for the fraU planks are ready to faU into the mighty cauldron, seething below. Stand back untU the rotten materials are renewed and welded together.'' — G. Matheson, D. D. Every On"e That Doeth Evil HIateth the Light. — Tum over a slab of stone or rotting wood, and you wiU see thousand of insects that flee in every direction to escape the Ught and who would soon perish beneath the direct rays of the sun. Place the slab upon the green sward, and in a few days the grass and flowers beneath wiU turn yeUow as if to die. IGO SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS III : 22-30 22. 11 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea; and then he tarried with them, and baptized. 23. 1[ And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. 24. For John was not yet cast into prison. 25. U Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. 26. And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all Tnen come to him. 27. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. 28. Te yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30. He must increase, but I Tnust decrease. The Furies. — "The Greeks gave to the Erinyes, the Furies of the Romans, the name ' Euraenides ' (The WeU-disposed Ones). It is a puzzle to explain why the Greeks should have given this name to the ' Erinyes ' (Furies), depicted as terrible avengers of crime, armed with scourges, and with serpents entwined in their hair. The new Diction ary of Classical Literature and Antiquities gives us the traditional explanation of this as a euphemisra, bestowed on these tremendous avengers when they ceased from tormenting Orestes, upon his acquittal by the Areopagus of the crime of matricide. It also tells us that the Greeks took the word Erinys to be derived from one or other of various words signifying to pursue or be angry. That the Rev. G. W. Cox, a disciple of Professor Max Mulier, has given in his Comparative Mythol ogy something more substantial than these old guesses we are quite convinced, though well aware how Professor Whitney has chaffed him for some extravagances. Erinys is the Greek form of the Sanskrit Saranyu, a name given to the dawn-goddess Ushas, and descriptive of the light creeping up the sky. It is in the thought of the graciousness of the dawn that the name of the Erinys, the WeU-disposed, originated. But there is nothing so dreaded by the guilty as the light which exposes him. Hence the transformation of the Sanskrit dawn-goddess into the Greek conception of the Erinys, as hunting the criminal to the death." — Review of the " Dictionary of Classical Literature." 39. He That Hath the Bride, etc. — " In the marriage customs of the East is an explanation of this verse, as given in Dr. TrumbuU's 111:31-36 ST. JOHN lOI 31. Ue that cometh from above is above all;, he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth : he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth ; and no man receiveth his testimony. 33. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. 84. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 35. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath bim. A.D, 27, Sttiitjner and A ittuntn. FIRST YEAR. YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. JUDEA. Jesus and John, Disciples of Jesus Begin to Baptise. * of God abideth on Studies in Oriental Social Life, pp. 60-63. It is toward the close of the long ceremonials and processions that the bridegroom, escorted to the door of his bride's apartments, enters and is permitted to lift the veU of her who became his wife by betrothal. It is perhaps the flrst time that either has seen the other's face. All the possibilities of a lifetime center then in a single look. If the Oriental bridegroom is satisfled with his bride, when her veil has been lifted, he goes to the outer door of her room and announces his hearty ratiflcation of the match that has been made for him by his representatives. This announcement is immediately taken up by the women who are waiting outside, and their cries of joy send the knowledge of it to watchful listeners far and near. Among those whose hearts are thrilled with gladness by the wel come intelligence that the bridegroom is made happy in the possession of his bride, no one can be more keenly grateful than ' the friend of the bridegroom,' who has conducted the negotiations which led to this event. ' His joy is fulfilled.' ' He must increase, but I must decrease.' The friend of the bridegroom has no longer a mission when the bride groom's true mission is entered upon. John's work was done when the work of Jesus was begun. " — H. C. Trumbull. My Triumph. — " Others shall sing the song. Others shall right the wrong, Finish what I begin. And all I faU to win. What matter, I or they ? Mine or another's day, So the right word be said. And life the sweeter made ? " — Whittier. 34. Giveth Not His Spirit by Measure (see on 1:16). — "The phUosophic Hamerton teUs us the story of a woman who worked in a I02 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATONS 111:31-36 cotton factory in one of the great manufacturing towns in Lancashire, and who, in an excursion, went for the flrst time to the coast. When she caught the earliest glimpse of the Irish Sea, the expanse lying out before her eyes looking like the limitlessness of the ocean in its rush and roU of biUows, she exclaimed, as she drew "Enough of one boundless breath of freshness and glory, ' At last, here Something." comes something there is enough of 1 ' Those who come to the boundless abundance of the Gospel, who look out on the wide, fathomless sea of infinite love, may say, with a thousand fold more emphasis and deUght, ' At last, here comes something there is enough of!' ' Enough for each, enough for all. Enough forevermore,' " — C. S. Robinson, LL. D. IV : 1-4 ST, JOHN 103 CHAPTER IV, the W.A.TER OP LIFE. 1. When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2. (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3. He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. 4. And he must needs go through Samaria. A, D. 27. December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST "i-E.^R. THE Y"EAR OF BEGINNINGS. Discourse with the 'Woman of Samaria, 4. He Must Needs Go Through Saiiaeia. — It is interesting to note how many and how great things come into our Uves incidentally emd aside from the direct purpose we are pursuing, just as this whole chapter with its teachings was, in God's providence, an incident in a simple and necessary journey. See what has grown out of Livingstone's explora tions, and Stanley's search for him. See what has growm out of Colum bus' effort to flnd a shorter passage to India. Many of our best inventions were the incidental result of a search for other things. Many most useful and helpful things are by products, as for instance in the case of petroleum. Jesus Bedjg Wearied with His Journey. — "There is a certain comfort in knowing that Jesus was weary, that He grew tired as His work pressed Him, that He felt the need of rest and longed for it. It sometimes seems as if we ought to feel stronger than we do, and as if we were to blame for not being able to bear up without giving way to weariness. But if Jesus felt weariness in His life-work, and yielded to it without sinning, we also are entitled to be tired and to take rest, as a part of our likeness to Christ." — H. C. Trumbull. Weary in. Not Weaey of. — George Whitefleld, as he was going out to preach in Exeter, N. H. , the sermon which proved his last, being "more fit to go to bed than to preach," looked up and said, "Lord Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not weary of it. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for Thee once more in the flelds, seal Thy truth, and come home and die." 104 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : I-4 The Quality of the Water in Jacob's Well. — " The question why the woman of Samaria should have gone to such a distance as Jacob's well when a copious fountain gushed forth from the mountain side close by, does not present any diflSculties to any one famiUar with the locaUty and the people. The waters of Jacob's well have a great local reputation for purity and flavor amongst the natives of El-Askar and Nablus. The exceUence of various supplies of water and their respective qualities are a favorite topic of conversation with Easterns, and in a hot climate, and where other beverages are almost unknown, it is not sur prising to find that the natives are great connoisseurs as to the quality of water. Pure water is the universal beverage, in Mohammedan dis tricts at any rate, coffee, lemonade, etc., being reserved solely for guests and special occasions. The people, therefore, as we should expect, have a keen appreciation of the various quaUties of different waters, to a degree which we can scarcely realize in more favored cUmes. " The numerous springs of water at Nablus are, from the nature of the soil, mostly of very hard water, very ' hea'vy,' as the natives express it. They not unjustly attribute many of their complaints to this cause, and speak with longing of the ' light ' waters of Gaza and various other places. " Now Jacob's well has a reputation amongst them of containing cool, palatable, and refreshing water, free from the deleterious quaUties of their other suppUesof water. Frequently I have been told that after eating a hearty meal (and a hearty meal with them is something appaUing I ) a good draught of water from this particular weU will dis perse the feeling of abnormal fulness in a remarkably short space of time, and, moreover, make one ready for another good meal in an incredibly short space of time. " The copious fountain at El-Askar gushes forth from the very bowels of rocky (limestone) Mount Ebal, and is therefore of particularly hard (' heavy ' ) water. The woman, would, therefore, gladly take her jar to this celebrated well for a supply of drinking water. ' ' Although thirty feet and more of rubbish has found its way into Jacob's well, the supply of water even now lasts till the month of May, most years, or even later. The source of supply to this well has not yet been accurately ascertained, but it is doubtless greatly due to percolation and rainfall. The latter may account partly for some of its special qualities as to ' lightness ' (softness). " It is not uncommon in the east to send to a great distance for a sup ply of drinking water, as you may know, especially by those who can afford to do so. The woman of Samaria may, if poor, have been hired to convey the water for some richer person. When at Nablus I used to send to a certain spring some mUes or so from my house for drinking IV : 5, 6 ST. JOHN 105 5. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with Itis journey, sat thus on the well : and it was about the si.xth hour. A, D. 27, December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. Discourse ^t'ith tlie ^Voinan of Samaria. water, and soon quite a regular little cavalcade repaired to this spring every morning and evening to supply the richer families with water which the Eng lish doctors recommended ! Bishop Blyth, of Jerusalem, sends three miles from Jerusalem, to Ain Karim, for his water supply." — Dr. Henry Baily, of the Church Missionary Society at Ndblus. Quarterly state- -ment Palestine exploration fund. Sat Thus on the Well. — As God has made the world full of streams to satisfy our bodily thirst, so He has raade it full of springs to satisfy our natural longings and desires. And by every fountain of earthly good Jesus stiU sits, pointing men to the higher and better things of which it is a hint and a type. By earthly pleasure He would point to heavenly and spiritual joy; by earthly riches He would teach us of treasures in heaven; by earthly love He would point to heavenly love; by earthly desires to heavenly desires; by earthly activity and business to zeal and earnestness in the kingdom of God. Jabob's Well a Type. — Jacob's weU was originally considerably more than 100 feet in depth, with living water at the bottom. Maundrell in 1697 reports it as then 105 feet deep with 15 feet of water. Later measurements, by Dr. WUson, in 1848; by Capt. S. Anderson, R. E. , in 1866, and Lieut. Conder, in 1875, make it 75 feet deep, and usually no water appears on the surface in the summer; because the well has been fiUed in with an accumulation of rubbish and stones. Capt. Anderson, who was let down into the well by a rope, with great difficulty, found "a Uttle pitcher lying at the bottom unbroken, and this was an evidence of there being water in the well at some sea sons, as the pitcher would have been broken had it fallen upon the stones." He says: " It is probable that the well was very much deeper in ancient times, for in ten years it had decreased ten feet in depth. Every one visiting the well throws stones down for the satisfaction of hearing them strike the bottom, and in this way, as well as from the dgbris of the ruined church built over the well during the fourth cen tury, it has become fiUed up to probably more than a half of its original depth." I06 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : 7, 8 7. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water; Jesua saith unto her. Give me to drink. 8. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) This weU was a type of the Samaritan reUgion. OriginaUy they had the Uving water of the flve books of Moses, and drank from them as Jacob and his sons did from the water of the Shechem weU. But the water became stagnant. They never went beyond Moses, and tasted of the fresher waters of the prophets. The weU became flUed up with forms, and prejudices, and the mere outward letter of the law, tUl the pure waters were largely covered up. Is there not the same danger for us to-day ? 7, 8. A Little School. — Jesus was the teacher. He had one scholar, a disreputable women of voluble tongue, a very unlikely scholar. But Jesus taught as faithfully, as freely, with as large and glorious truth, as if He were speaking to a multitude. He taught in a conversational man ner. " The Fourth Gospel may be caUed the Gospel of the Conversa tions. " He adapted His teaching to His hearers. Compare and contrast His method, and the truth He presented to this woman, with the con versation with Nicodemus. He was successful, for He gained His- scholar ; and she brought other scholars to His teaching. Give Me To Dkink. A Truce. — "Among us even an enemy might ask or receive a drink of water without fear of compromising himself or his opponent ; but not so in the East. There the giving and receiving of a drink of water is the seeking and the making of a cove nant of hospitaUty, with all that the covenant implies. It is not, indeed, like a covenant of blood, or a covenant of Saladeen salt — indissoluble ; but it is like a covenant of bread-sharing, and the which makes a truce, for the time being, of the deadUest Drink of enemies. Aboolfeda tells, for example, of the different Water, receptions awarded by Saladeen to the king of the Franks on the one hand, and to Prince Arnald of Caracca on the other, when the two Christian leaders were received in his tent by the victorious Saracen after the battle of Hatteen. Saladeen seated the Christian king by his side, and gave him drink cooled with snow. When the king, having tasted it, offered it also to Prince Arnald, Harmozan Saladeen protested, saying, " This wretch shall not drink Srinks in of the water with my permission ; in which there would be the Pres- saf ety to him ; " and then, rising up, he smote off the head ence of of the prince with his own sword. Over against this we are Omar, IV : 7, 8 ST, JOHN 107 told that when Harmozan, a Persian ruler, surrend ered to the Khaleef Omar, the successor of Aboo Bekr, and was brought a prisoner into the presence of his captor, he asked at once for a drink. Omar asked him if he were thirsty. "No," he said; "I only wish to drink in your presence, so that I may be sure of my life." He was assured that he might rest perfectly secure; and that assurance was kept." — H. C. Trum bull, D. D. A.D, 27. December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. Discourse with the TVomau of Samaria. The Wise Approach.- — Jesus' request was an act of the nicest tact. " He asks a favor and puts Himself under an obUgation. No line of proceeding, it is well known to all wise people, would be more likely to concUiate the woman's feelings towards Him, or to make her wUUng to hear His teaching." — Bp. J. C. Ryle. So in Ecclesiastes, we are told that the Wise Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, words of delight, like ' ' the words of grace " which Jesus spoke (Luke iv. : 22). We are reminded of the words of Lucretius : " Nam veluti pueris absinthia tetra medentes, Cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum Contingunt mellis dulci, flavoque Uquore, Ut puerorum setas improvida ludificetur Labrorum tenus, interea perpotet amarum Absinthl laticem, deceptaque non capiatur, Sed potius tali pacto recreata valescat." Attracting to the Truth. " As those who heal the body, when they seek To give to children wormwood's nauseous juice. First smear the cup's rim with sweet golden honey. That infant's thoughtless age may be beguiled Just to the margin's edge, and so may drink The wormwood's bitter draught, beguiled, not tricked. But rather gain thereby in strength and health." De. Rer. Nat. iv. 11-17. — Cambridge Bible on Ecclesiastes. The Stab of Bethlehem Mirrored in the Well. — Jesus used the common, everyday , natural objects as a means of illustrating and teach ing spiritual and eternal truths. "There is a beautiful tradition regard ing the weU of the Wise Men between Jerusalem and Bethlehem — that loS SUtU'.l'STlVE ILLUSTRATIONS 1\':0, 10 ;>. Thou .saith tho woman of Snmiinnuulo him, Uow is it that Uuni, boiiin u .low, aslii'st druik of mo, whioh am a woman of Samarm? for tlio .lovv.s Imvo no lioaliujjts with tho Sauiarituiis. 10. .losus iinsworod and siiul uulo hor. If thou kuowo.st tlio t;itt ot God. nnd wlio it is that siiith to ilioo, Uivo mo to liiuik; thou woiiUiost li:ivo asked ot liim. nnd he would havo givoii tlioo liviiij; water. when the Eastern M!i.s;i had at one time lost tlie f;iiidiiiu'e of llu> Mystic St;ir, while stooping over this fountain, thoy saw it once iimie relleeted ill its w:itoi's ; forthwith it guided them to tho plaee wIumc Ihe _\ouiij; child was -when tliev saw the star they rejoiced with exeeediiit;- i;ie;it joy." — ./. li. -Mac Pull'. />. P. So this woman found the star of liellile- hem niinoied iu the well at Syeh;ir, and it bocuuio lo her a fountain of salvation, a tiansligured well ever after. FiNinNi) thk Hust TiiiNos in the (.\n'i!Sii'. OP Daily Pi riics. — " l.iko the Wise Woiiuui of Jlediiin. this SiUii;iril;\n woman I'ouiul tlio Lord, white .she was oiii;:ioed iu her eoininon ovorvdav work, of dniwiiis; water for tho laborers in the tield. ' It is tbe devil Ihal meets us when we are idle.' Tho angel of the Ijord appeared lo the shepherds while thev were Uoepin.i;' wateh iivor their lloeUs by iii.nht ; Matthew wns called at the receipt of eiisloiu ; Teler aud .Viulrew wore lishin.t;- ; .laiiu'.i and John wore ineiidiug their not. F.lisha was plowing when Klijali cast his ninnllo upon liim, and said. ¦ I'ollow mo.' Sjiul was sooUiiig his father's asses, wlioii ho met with Saiiiuel, who anointed him king over Israel."— ll'm. ,/<(//, D. ./>. 9. TiiK Jf.w.'-; ll.vvK no Dk.m.inu--; With thk Sam mjiiwns soeiidly, and in friendly inlereoiiiso. This separni ion was all the more iiiloiiso boeaiise they had so niueh in common. People in Ihe sunn* family mul near noi.iihboi's quarrel in oases when there would be lui contention if tlioy wore not so ncnirly related. I'lio rivalry botweeii business nion is far the grealost hetwocMi those iu the same Inisiuivss. Ohurohos Ihiit are iioiirly aliUoofton oonlciid to;;otlier iiKiro oarnoslly than those wliioli are their antipodes in faith and fonius. .Instis Bl!f.,\KINU Down ruf.-HMiii't'.. — It would not ho oiisy lo llnd in modern times a uioro dilUonlt position as to riioi\ social ooiulitions, mid ri>li,i;ious intolorn.noo than that whioh .lesns hold nt this time. lie wished to gain tlio .Tows lo his 0!lns(^. and yt>t to oonvorso willl this woman nnd with tho Samaritans would oxoile their projudioes iiKiiinft IV : 9, IO ST. JOHN 109 Him. But He went straight forward in the path of duty, leaving tho consequences with (lod. The greater the mind, the nobler the oluinioler, the more assured the position, the less power thei'e is in iirejudice. Prejudice. — We often look at men not as through a clear glass, but as through a colored glass, or as reflected in one of those mirrors which distort every feature. A, D. 27. December. CLOSK OF THE MIJ^T YEAK. TUl-: YEAR OF lii-;i;iNNiNGS. DIw<-ourHo tvlth thi> W^oman of Sum aria. " The difference is as great between The opti(« seeing as the objects seen. All manners take a tincture from our own. Or come discolored through our passions shown." — Pope. 10. If Thou Knewest. — "A ship, after long buffetings with the storm, driven hither and thither, and making no port, was without water ; and its crew, fainting with thirst, hailed a passing vessel with the cry, ' Water, water I ' The answer came back, ' Let down your buckets ; you are surroundeil with fresh water.' They were off the coast of Brazil, in the otitllowof the Amazon, which Ship at the pushes its tide of living waters away out into the Atlantic Mouth of a hundred m'iW'.>:i.'' — Siiiulay-Scliool Times. " So we, sur- the Amazon. rounded on all hands by (rod and upheld by Him. and living in Him, yet do not know it, and refrain from dipping our buckets and drawing out of His life-giving fulness. Wo pass .all our life alongside of that which would ni.ike all eternity different to us, and yet, for lack of knowledge, for lack of consideration, for lack often of one hour's serious, heart-searching thought, the thin veil continues to hide from us our true and lasting blessedness.' — Doiln. "A lady, examining one of Turner's pictures, remarked : 'But, Mr. T., I do not SCO tliese things in nature.' 'Madam,' replied the artist, with pardonable niiii'cle, ' don't you wish you did?' She had not the trained capacity to see, but the possibility was doubtless in her.'' 10, 14. Living Water. A Well op Water Sprinoino up into EvERL.vsTiNCJ Life, — "Life! Life! Eternal life I " was the cry of Christian as he ran frora his home in tbe city of Destruction with his fingers in his ears, refusing to look behind him. IIO SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTR.VTIONS IV:II-I4 11. The woman saith unto him. Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and tbe well is deep: from whenoe then hast thou that living water f 13. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, whioh gave us tho well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle ? 18. Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall bo in hira a well ot water springing up into everlasting life. It is impossible to fancy what is meant by the Tree of Life (in Genesis). Like the fabled tree of the Persians, or like that of India, it may have yielded the food and drink of immortality. — Gcikie. Thirsts op the Soul. — Every person has certain great thirsts of the soul. He is full of wants, of longin,!;s. of desires. He needs love, for giveness, immortal life, the friendship of God, holiness, happiness, knowledge, usefulness, heaven, a larger sphere, and broader life. The larger the soul, the more and greater are its thirsts. Civilization, proj(- ress, goodness always increase tlie thirsts of the soul. The number and quality of these thirsts are the measure of the man. The gretitness of any being is measured (1) by the nuniber of his desires and thirsts; (3) by tlioir quality; (3) by their capacity, intensity. All growth of the soul is by means of these thirsts and their satia- faction. It is a sickly soul that has no appetite. Heaven is not the quiet of "Nirvana," but larger vision, more and purer desires to be satisfied. You can not bo satisfied without the desires. Every time wo thirst after righteousness, and the thirst is sat isfied, we have a larger vision of what righteousuess is, a more heavenly thirst, and a lar.ner, fuller, sweeter satisfaction. Library. — Compare tho discussion between Soor:ites and Callicles in Plato's Gorgias, 4!)1. " Socrates : The life, then, of whioh you are now spe:iUin,g is not that of a dead man, or of a stone, but of a cormorant; you mean that he is to be hungering and eating ? " Callich's : Yes. " Socrates: And ho is to be thirstin.t;- and drinking? "Callicles: Yes, that is what I mean; he is to havo all his desires about him, and to be able to live ha]ipily in the gratification of them." This World can Never Satisfy the Soul. — Its ambitions, its thirsts after wealth, power, pleasures, are never satisfled by what this IV: II-I4 ST. JOHN III A, D. 27, December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. Dl8conrse ivith the 'Woman of Samarta, world can give. Much less can this world satisfy the spiritual thirsts of the souL "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." " Traverse the desert, and then you can teU What treasures exists in the cold, deep well. Sink in despair on the red, parched earth, And then you may reckon what water is worth. The gnawing of hunger's worm is past, But fiery thirst lives on to the last." — Eliza Cook. Seeking satisfaction in this world is like trying to quench the thirst by drinking the salt waters of the sea. The more we drink, the thirstier we are. It is Uke a mirage, appearing water while it is a desert. Examples. — Solomon tried all that the world can give, and under the most favorable circumstances, yet found all to be vanity and vexation of spirit ; Byron, with rank and wealth, and aU manner of pleasure, faUed of content and happiness, says : " Count o'er the joys thine eyes have seen. Count o'er thy days from anguish free. And know, whatever thou hast been, 'Tis something better not to be." Alexander conquered the world, but it did not satisfy his soul; and, if he could have conquered all the worlds that stud the heavens, he would still have wept for more. For God has not created a single human soul so small and poor that all the material universe can fill it. All Uterature is full of expressions of the failure of worldly things to satisfy the soul. Thirst in a Russian Mine. — There is a Russian story of one who entered a diamond mine in search of great riches. He filled his pockets with great gems, and then threw them away to make room for larger ones. At length he became very thirsty, but there was no water there. He heard the flow of rivers, but they were rivers of gems ; and he has tened forward at the sound of a waterfall, but it was a cascade of jewels. He was very rich in precious stones, but he was dying of thirst, and his riches were worse than useless. 112 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : 1 1-14 Library. — Johnson's Rasselas describes one who in the happy valley was so discontented that he with great difficulty climbed over the moun tains and escaped. Wm. Watson's Poem, The Eloping Angels, suggests a somewhat simOar idea. " They have spent their lives in heaping up colossal pUes of treasure, which stand, at the end, like the pyramids in the desert sands, holding only the dust of kings." — H. W. Beecher. "Earthly desires obtain temporary satisfaction, and then resume their sway. Our whole life is made up of intermittent desires and partial satisfaction, of passion and satiation, of ennui and then of some new longing. This fiow and ebb, ebb and flow, of desire belong to the very nature of human appetite. More than that, huinan desire is never really satiated." — Pulpit Commentary. The Unsatisfying Nature op Worldly Things. — As a cup of pleas ant wine offered to a condemned man on the way to his execution ; as the feast of him who sat under a naked sword hanging perpendicularly over his head by a slender thread ; as Adam's forbidden fruit, seconded by a flaming sword ; as Belshazzar's dainties overlooked by a hand writing against the waU ; such are all the delights of the world. " An Asiatic traveler tells us that one day he found the bodies of two men laid upon the desert sand beside the carcass of a camel. They had evidently died from thirst, and yet around their waist was a large store of jewels of different kinds which they had doubtless been crossing the desert to sell in the markets of Persia." — Hurlbut's Notes. The LrvTNG Water Jesus GIives. — Jesus Christ by the living waters He gives, satisfies every thirst of the soul. As many sided as man is, so many sided is the religion of Jesus. As He has made music for the ear, light and beauty for the eye, water for thirst, food for hunger, so He has something to meet every want and satisfy every thirst of man. Even the wants of our physical nature are not perfectly satisfied except through Him. Our food is not perfect unless we eat and drink to the glory of God, and have with it not only " the feast of reason and fiow of soul," but the flow of gratitude and love. Our natural wants must be transflgured to be perfect. He transforms the whole life, and makes the desert to blossom like the rose. IV : II-I4 ST, JOHN Christ does not give us a cup of water which we can 4' drink up and the contents be exhausted, but a foun tain of water in our own souls, ever flowing, ever fresh, inexhaustible. This is what completes the gift and makes it perfect. It is not a cistern, but a foun tain. It is not outside ; it is within us. Repbrence. — See on vii ; 37. II- A, D. 27. December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. Disco nrse virlth the Woman of Samaria, Inexhaustible Waters. — The living waters are "^ * inexhaustible because there is no limit to the sources of supply, just as the fountains and springs are filled from the limitless ocean, by means of God's " cloud chariots.'' A Contrast. — -A parable tells us of a man shut up in a fortress and obliged to draw water from a reservoir which he may not see, but into which no fresh stream is ever poured. The A Parable diminution increases daily; how would he feel each time of of Life. drawing water? Life is a fortress, man is a prisoner. He draws his supplies from a fountain fed by invisible pipes, but the reser voir is being exhausted. We had life yestetday ; we have it to-day : but we shaU not have it on some day that is to come." — Foster's Essays. A Law op Hydrostatics. — "Water, by a well-known law of hydro statics, never rises above its own level ; and so the best of earthly joys and rills of pleasure, can rise no higher than earth ; they begin and terminate here. But the living water with which Christ fills the soul, springing from heaven, conducts to heaven again. Flowing from the Infinite — flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, from the city of the crystal sea — it elevates to the Infinite. It finds its level in the river of the water of life which fiows in the midst of the celestial paradise. And just as on earth, so long as our mighty lake reservoirs are full of water and the channel unimpeded, the marble fountain in street or garden sends up, on the gi-avitation principle, its crystal jets in unfailing constancy ; so (with reverence we say it) never shall these fountains of peace and joy and reconciliation and hope cease in the heart of the beUever until the mighty reservoirs of Deity are exhausted; in other words, untU God himself ceases to be God. Everlasting life is their source, and everlasting life is their magnificent duration. " — J. R. Macduff. The Well of Jacob and the Well op Nazareth. — - ' ' The Saviour's Ulustration may appear more significant by reference to two sources of 8 114 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : II-I4 supply, open and plentiful in His day. That by which He sat — Jacob's well — must have collected chiefly surface water, and was therefore largely dependent on changing conditions. It is empty now ; the thirsty traveler may wait in vain for any one coming to draw. If he let down his pitcher into the dark depths, it wiU only be broken in pieces on the stones at the bottom. The other is the spring to which the youthful Jesus must often have gone with His motherj at the .base of the northern slopes in Nazareth. From its cool, deep source in the heart of the hUls, through all the intervening centuries, it has bubbled up ; and it is pouring forth its fresh sparkling stream to-day, the life of the city, the fertiUty of the vale. Many are the cisterns and wells, broken and dry ; the living water alone remains when aU other sources have failed." — Rev. William Ewing in S. S. Times. Library. — French's Poems, "Chidher's Well," "which bestows on whoever drinks it eternal beauty, youth and wisdom." Suggestive Hlustrations on Matthew, v : 6. The Well is Deep, down into the very secret places of the earth. God's spiritual wells are deep. They reach down into the very depths of His nature and His providence. We must often go deep in order to obtain the best results of the Uving water. " There used to be a weU near here with good water, but it was neg lected. Some rubbish got in, then part of the surrounding soil, and as it was not cleared out at once it got worse, tiU Rubbish in it is as you see it, quite choked up. I wonder if there is the Well. any water atthe bottom?" "How much this old weU is like some Christians," thought I, " the divine life is ' a weU of water,' but are there not many supposed to be Christians as to whom we wonder if there is any water at the bottom ? " — Christian Age. Sir, Give Me This Water. — " Life is fuU of broken measures, Objects unattained ; Sorrows intertwined with pleasures. Losses of our costliest treasures, Ere the heights be gained, " Every soul has aspiration StUl unsatisfied : IV: 15 ST. JOHN 115 15. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Memories that wake vibration Of the heart in quick pulsation. At the gifts denied. " We are better for the longing. Stronger for the pain : , Souls at ease are nature wronging ; — Through the harrowed soul come thronging Seeds, in sun and rain ! " Broken measures, fine completeness In the perfect whole : Life is but a day in fleetness ; Richer in all strength and sweetness. Grows the striving soul." A. D, 27. December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. Discourse with the "Woman of Samaria, The Cistern and the Well represent two methods of giving, — by a definite quantity, as money can be given, or by a living fountain, as character, strength, health. These two different methods of giving can be seen in many things. It is one thing to impart to another the con tents of a certain book, another to give him an education by which he can learn any book. It is one thing to teach a scholar a single tune, it is another to give him the musical culture and taste by which he can play any music. It is one thing to let another see by the Ught of your lamp, it is another to light his own lamp, in which case the supply is inexhaustible (apply Jer. 3 : 13). The Inexhaustible Supply. — In the Norse legends Thor (after whom our Thursday, Thor's day, was named) was tested as to his great powers in various ways. At one time a drinking-horn was given him to drain, but it continued always fuU. He learned afterwards that it was con nected with the ocean, and he could not drink it dry till he had drained the whole ocean. So the Uving waters which Jesus Christ gives us can never be exhausted, for they have their supply in the limitless nature of God. Reference. — See xiv : 3. The Fountain of Eternal Youth. — (The story of Ponce de L6on and his search for the fountain of immortal youth has been beautifuUy Il6 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : 15 described by Hezekiah Butterworth, of the Youth's Companion, Boston, in a poem read at an authors' reading : " There carae to old Ponce, the sailor. Some Indian sages who told Of a region so bright that the waters Were sprinkled with islands of gold. And they added, ' There Bimini rises, A fair land of grottoes and bowers. And a wonderful fountain of healing Upsprings from its gardens of flowers. That fountain gives life to the dying. And youth to the aged restores ; They flourish in beauty eternal Who sail from those life-giving shores,' Then answered old Ponce, the sailor : ' I am withered and wrinkled and old, I would rather discover that fountain Than a country of diamonds and gold.'" With a cheerful heart the old sailor started on his voyage, and came to Florida, which he so named frora its verdure and flowers. But his search was vain, and he returned home. But — " StiU he thirsted in dreams for the fountain — The beautiful fountain of youth." ' ' One day the old sailor lay dying On the shores of a tropical isle, And his heart was rekindled with rapture. And his face lighted up with a smUe. The Azores arose in his dreaming, AntUles with their sun- fruited trees. Fair Florida's calm Easter morning. In the light of the opaline seas, And as there in his dreaming uplifted The widening horizons of old. There broke on his wondering vision The city of jasper and gold. 'Thank the Lord! ' said old Ponce the, sailor, ' Thank the Lord for the light of the truth, I am now approaching the fountain. The beautiful Fountain of Youth, StUl, stUl the horizons are rising. The waves of a wider sea roU, IV: 15 ST. JOHN And all the bright hopes I have cherished "f Await the far voyage of my soul.' The cabin was silent ; at twilight "7 A.D. 27. December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. Discourse with the Woman of Samaria. His soul had gone forth to discover The beautiful Fountain of Youth. And so methinks it is ever. As the wide waves of destiny roU, There are fountains of Ufe for aU visions In the infinite voyage of the soul. And though our fair Floridas vanish, And the forms of bright visions depart. Yet, some day, each soul will discover All fountains that spring from the heart. No noble dreams ever wiU perish. No high aim shaU miss its reward, For every true hope that we cherish Is an iris of promise from God ! " — Hezekiah Buttei-worth. Library. — Whittier: Poems, " The Well of Loch Maree,'' referring to the description in Pennant's Voyage to the Hebrides. My Cup Runneth Over. — (1) Men are cups, capable of holding great and blessed things. Each desire, each possibiUty is like a cup. (3) God is the cup-filler. (3) There are empty cups, so full of the world, as the bottom of Jacob's well with stones and rubbish, that there is no room for the living water. (4) Full cups, overflowing with the water of life. — From Sermon by Rev. O. G. Phipps. The Bells of Is. — One of the most popular legends of Brittany is that relating to an imaginary town caUed Is (pronounced Iss), which is supposed to have been swaUowed up by the sea at some unknown time. There are several places along the coast which are pointed out as the site of this imaginary city, and the fishermen have many strange tales to teU of it. According to them the tips of the spires of the churches may be seen in the hollow of the waves when the sea is rough, whUe during a calm the music of their bells ringing out the hymn appropriate to the day rises above the waters. Similarly, as it has always seemed to me, amid the submerged masses, deep down at the bottom of the ocean of human life, there are Il8 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV :-l6-2I 16. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her. Thou hast well said, I have no husband : 18. For thou hast had five husbands ; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband : in that saidst thou truly. 19. The woman saith unto him. Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain ; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21. Jesus saith unto her. Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. yearnings and desires for a better Ufe, that ring sadly and perpetually. It has been the aim of my life to Usten for these, and where I have detected them, to present the only answer — the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. — F. B. Meyer. Preface to his book The Bells of Is. Library. — Compare De Quincy's description of the sunken island of Savannah la Mar, in his Opium Eater. Two Philosophies of Life. - — There are two worldly phUosophies of life, (1) that of Solomon in Ecclesiastes, of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam in the Rubdiydt, the Epicurean, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die;" and (2) that of the Buddhist Nirvana, interpreted in Arnold's Light of Asia, which kUls the " soul-thirst," the "mother of desire," by ' ' constraining passions tUl they die famished, in a blessed, sinless, stirless rest." " Over against these two phUosophies, the one of which seeks to satisfy desire, the other of which seeks to kiU it, Christ puts the mystic teaching of His parable to the woman of Samaria. The secret of happiness is, and always must be, not some thing apart from the soul, but something within it — a true spontaneous Ufe springing up within. Happiness is not to be found by getting what we want; happiness is not to be found by tearing from the soul the mother of desire, and ceasing to have wants. Character is happiness. We are happy when we have resource within ourselves; when in us there is a fountain of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, springing up spontaneously into eternal Ufe.'' — Lyman Abbott. 16-18. Awakening Thirst. — " In prompt response to her faith, Jesus says, ' Go, call thy husband, and come hither.' The water which He means to give cannot be given before thirst for it is awakened. And in order to awaken her thirst He turns her back upon the shameful wretchedness of her life, that she may forget the water of Jacob's weU in thirst for relief from shame and misery. In requiring her thus to face the facts of her guilty life, in encouraging her to bring clear before IV: 22-26 ST, JOHN II9 A.D. 27. Decetnber. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEi\R OF BEGINNINGS. Disco nrse ivlth the Woman of Samaria, 22. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we wor ship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true wor shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 2-1 . God is a spirit : and they that worship him must worship him. in spirit and in truth. 25. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ : when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. TTinri all her sinful entanglements, He responds to her request, and gives her the flrst draught of living water." — Dods. Jesus kindly shows the woman her sinful character, convinces her of sin, in order that she may feel her need, and then seek for the waters of eternal life. This convincing of sin and need as a preparation for further Ught and life is Ulustrated evei-ywhere. No one will seek a physician unless he feels sick, or take food unless htmgry, or read good books without a thirst for knowledge. 21. Neither in this Mountain, nor yet in Jerusalem. — ' ' Jesus, where'er Thy people meet, There they behold Thy mercy-seat; Where'er they seek Thee thou ai't found, And every spot is haUowed ground ! " Sir Matthew Hale found that prayer gave a " tincture of devotion " to all secular employments; that "itwas a Christian chemistry, con verting those acts which are materially natural and civU into acts truly and formally reUgious." He discovered in habitual devotion what Herbert calls "the elixir " of Ufe. " This is the famous stone That turneth aU to gold ; For that which God doth touch and own Cannot for less be told." — Dr. Stoughton. Library. — Whittier's Poems, "The Chapel of the Hermits," — Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more For olden time and holier shore; God's love and blessing, then and there, Are now and here and everywhere. 120 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : 22-26 22. Ye Worship Ye Know Not What. — " We have read of a lady missionary in India who on visiting a certain town found the place smitten with cholera. She gave to some of the patients a specific foi cholera, and ordered further supplies of the medicine for other sufferers. On her return she was deUghted, on meeting the chief man of the place, to hear him say, ' We have been so much benefited by your medicine that we have decided to accept also your God.' To prove the reality of what he said, he led her into their temple, where she saw the empty bottles arranged in order on a shelf; and immediately the whole com pany of natives prostrated themselves upon the floor in worship to the bottles as a god. It is quite possible that very Christian people may sometimes fall into an analogous idolatry. An excessive reverence or admiration for certain formulas of worship, capable of conveying a true blessing when the worship is reaUy in the Spirit, but useless as empty medicine bottles when the Spirit is lacking, may not be so remote in character from the worship of empty bottles." — Rev. D. Berger, D. D. 24. In Spirit and in Truth (Iv irveviiaTi Kal dXiieECa). — " Spirit (irveOno) is the highest, deepest, noblest part of our humanity, the point of con tact between God and man (Rom. i. 9) ; w^hUe soul (<|n>X''i) is the principle of individuality, the seat of personal impressions, having a side in con tact with the material element of humanity as well as with the spiritual element, and being thus the mediating element between the spirit and the body. The phrase in spirit and in truth describes the two essential characteristics of true worship : in spirit, as distinguished from place or form or other sensual imitations (ver. 31); in truth, as distinguished from the false conceptions resulting from imperfect knowledge (ver 32)," — M. R. Vincent. 37. His Disciples Marveled that he Talked with the Woman.— " Let us not fall into the mistake of the disciples, and judge men good enough to buy and sell with, but quite alien to the matters of the kingdom." " There is a day in spring When under all the earth the secret germs Begin to stir and glow before they bud. The wealth and festal pomps of midsummer Lie in the heart of that inglorious hour Which no man names with blessing, tho' its work Is bless'd by all the world. Such days there are In the slow story of the growth of souls." IV: 27-34 ST. JOHN 121 V A. D, 27, December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGINNINGS. Discourse with the IVoman of Samaria, 27. II And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woraan : yet no man said. What seekest thou? or. Why talkest thou with her? 28. The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29. Come, see a man, which told me all things that oyer I did: is not this the Christ? SO. Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. 31 . IT In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33. Therefore said the disciples one to another. Hath any man brought him aught to eat ? 34. Jesus saith unto them. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Discovery of the African Diamond Mines. — " I have heard that one of the diamond flelds of South Africa was discovered in this wise. A traveler, one day, entered the valley and drew near to a settler's door, at which a boy was amusing himself by throwing stones. One of these stones fell at the stranger's feet, who picked it up, and was in the act of laughingly returning it, when something flashed from it which stopped his hand and made his heart beat fast. It was a diamond. The child was playing with it as a common stone; the peasant's foot had spurned it; the cart wheel had crushed it, till the man who knew saw it and recognized its value. " The story often comes to my mind when I am thinking of the soul. Was it not the same careless treatment the soul was receiving when Jesus arrived in the world and discovered it. . . . In every child of Adam He perceived the diamond. The rags of the beggar could not hide it from His eyes nor the black skin of the savage, nor even the crimes of the evil doer." — James Stalker in Imago Christi. 39. Come, See. — Christians desire others to be Christians, only better and happier Christians than themselves, — like them "except these bonds "of remaining sins and imperfections. The Ship of Humanity. — Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes once compared the world to a ship loaded with humanity, and sinking in the waves; while the evangelical church people had got out of it into their little boats, and were singing with all their might " We are safe." as they rowed lustily to the shore. But that is no true picture of the true church, 122 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : 35-38 35. Say not ye. There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest ? behold, I say unto yon. Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields,- for they are white aheady to harvest. 36. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal : that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37. And herein is that saying true. One soweth, and another reapeth. 38. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors. whose shout is not only " We are safe," but " Here is the way of safety for aU ; come and let us row you to the shore." Reference. — See on Chapter 1 : 35. Library. — E. E. Hale's Ten Times One is Ten. The Expansive Power op Christianity. — " The work of the Spirit of God in the heart is not a fiction, not a form, but a hfe. To use the simUe of this narrative, it is a fountain not only ' springing up ' (bub bling up), but overflowing its cistern, and the superfluous supply gouig forth to gladden other waste places. Not the mass of stagnant water without outlet, but the clear, sparkling lake, discharging its rush of living streams which sing their joyous way along the contiguous vaUeys, and make their course known by the thread of green, beautifying and fertilizing as they flow. Or, if we may employ another figure, let it be the stone thrown into the same stiU lake. The ripples formed are deep est in the centre. Christianity is deepest in the heart in which its truths have sunk ; but its influence expands in ever- widening concentric circles, tUl the wavelets touch the shore. Religion, intensest in a man's own soul and life, should embrace family, household, kindred, neigh borhood, country, until it knows no circumference but the world ! Christianity breaks down all walls of narrow isolation, and proclaims the true brotherhood of the race. Selfishness closes the heart, shuts out from it the rains and dews and summer sunshine ; but Christianity, or rather the great Sun of light, shines ; the closed petals gradually unfold in the genial beams ; and they keep not their fragrance to them selves, but waft it all around. Every such flower — the smaUest that blushes unseen to the world — becomes a little censer swinging its incense-perfume in the silent air, or sending it far and wide by the passing breeze." — J. R. Macduff, D. D. 34. My Meat is to Do the Will. — ' This world is no blot for us nor blank. It means intensely and means good — To flnd its meaning is my meat and drink." — Browning. IV : 35-38 ST. john 123 The Power op the Mind Over the Body has con tinual iUustration both in experience and m the obser vation of medical men. A new interest wUl often entirely remove weariness. Dr. Forbes Winslow says, " The physician is daily caUed upon in the exercise of his profession to witness the powerful effects of mental emotion upon the material fabric. He perceives that moral causes induce disease, destroy life, retard recovery. . . . Such influences are admitted to play an important part either for good or evU." — Ob scure Diseases of the Brain. There is not a natural action in the body, whether voluntary or involuntary, that may not be influenced by the peculiar state of the mind at the time. — Dr. John Hunter. So spiritual work. Christian conversation, prayer meetings, may refresh and renew body as weU as spirit. A.D. 27. December. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. THE YEAR OF BEGJNNINGS. Discourse with the Woman of Samaria, This Meat was the indwelUng Spirit of God, sustaining grace. A faint type of it is afforded in earthly experiences by the strength which seems often to be imparted to even a feeble mother in the hour of her chUd's sickness, and which carries her through vigils which, but for her love, it would be impossible for her to sustain. Her work is not her food : her love and faith are her food, and sustain her for her work. No Christian can Uve by or on his work ; nor did Christ. — Abbott. 35. White Already to Harvest. — "In Palestine neither all the sow ing nor aU the reaping of the fields is done at one and the same season. As soon as one crop is out of the ground another is prepared for. Ploughing and sowing f oUow close upon reaping and gleaning. Differ ent crops require different lengths of time for their maturing ; and, as a consequence, the planting for one crop wUl sometimes be going on while another crop near it is almost ready for the harvest. As soon as the flelds are cleared, in the midsummer or in the early autumn, the ground is ploughed, and the winter wheat or some other grain is sowed, in advance of the rainy season. Again, between the early and the latter rains of the springtime, there will be ploughing, and the sowing of barley or oats or lentUs for a later crop. In the second week in April I saw on the Plain of the Comflelds, not far from Jacob's weU, the grain already well ripened toward the harvest, while just south ward of that region, and again, two days later, just northward of it, I saw ploughing and planting going on ; so that I might have been in 124 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : 39-42 39. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified. He told me all that ever I did. 40. So when the Samaritans were come nnto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them : and he abode there two days . 41. And many more believed because of his own word ; 42. And said unto tbe woman, Xow we believe, not because of thy saying : for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. doubt, from my own observations, whether that were the time of seed- sowing or of harvest ; and so it is likely to have been in the days of Jesus. It is obvious that there were within the eye sweep of Jesus and His disciples the signs of seed-sowing on the one hand and of ripening harvest on the other ; and that it was by caUing attention to these two processes of nature in so close proximity of time and space that Jesus taught the lesson He would have his disciples there receive. His dis ciples were shown that even whUe seed-sowing for one crop was going on in the natural world there might be also a making ready for an ingathering of former crops ; so that sowing and reaping should go on together." — ff. C. TrumbuU, LL. D. 36. Both Rejoice Together. — The foundations of the lighthouse deep down in the sea, and forever hidden from view, are as essential to the safety of the passing vessels, as is the lamp upon its top radiating Ught far over the waters. The early inventors of the rude machines which have been perfected by later men of genius were as essential to flnal success as those who perfected the inventions. 42. Now We Believe, Etc. — " I have read that Benjamin FrankUn tried to convince the farmers of his day that plaster enriched the soU. AU his phUosophical arguments faUed to convince them ; so he took plaster, and formed it into a sentence by the roadside. The wheat com ing up through those letters was about twice as rank and green as the other wheat, and the farmers could read for months, in letters of U'ving green, the sentence : Tliis has been plastered." — Advocate of Holiness. The Better Foiis'DA'noN of Faith. — The same house is worth vastly more when on good foundations than when on poor f otmdations. Some IV: 43-46 ST, JOHN I2S 43. 1[ Xow after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. 44. For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in his own country. 45. Then when he was oome into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jeru salem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast. 46. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. houses in the Back Bay of Boston were found falling because they were built on poor foundations. They were almost unsalable. Put granite foundations under, and the houses are useful and valuable. Dec. A. D. 27, Or Early tn Jan. A. D. 28. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. BEGINNING OF THE GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. CANA OR CAPER NAUM. Healin«:of the Noble man's Sou, " Near the plaee where Christ talked with the Samaritan woman now stands a Baptist church, with a regular congregation of a hundred persons." — Jewish Jlcssengei: 44. No Honor in His Own Country. — "They had not discovered the greatness of this Galilean, although He had lived among them for thu-ty years ; but no sooner do they hear that He has created a sensation in Jerusalem than they begin to be proud of Him. Every one has seen the same thing a hundred times. A lad who has been despised as almost half-witted in his native place goes up to London and makes a narae for himself as poet, artist, or inventor, and when he returns to lus village everybody claims him as cousin. Jlontaigne complained that in his ow^^ country he had to purchase publishers, whereas elsewhere pub lishers were anxious to purchase him. ' The farther off I am read from my own home,' he says, ' The better I am esteemed.' " — Marcus Dods. No Man .k Hero to His Valet. — The great Julius C^sar, who "bestrode the narrow world like a Colossus," "notwithstanding his fiery energy and lightning-like swiftness of thought and act, was of a rather fragile make, and an almost feminine deUcacy of texture.'' His friend Cassius had once saved him from drowning in the Tiber, and bore him on his shoulders. As Eneas did from the flames of Troy, upon his shoulder The old Anchises bear ; " and had seen him in a fever, and heard him groan and cry, some drink, Titinius, Uke a sick girl." ' Give me 126 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : 43-46 " And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world Did lose his lustre." Even Cassius could not see the greatness which aU the world has since seen, nor understand how Csesar was so much greater than he ; but exclaimed : ' " It doth amaze me. How Csesar A man of such a feeble temper should Seemed to So get the start of the majestic world. His And bear the palm alone." Companions. See the whole passage in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Act I. , Scene 3. The proverb says truly that no man is a hero to his own servant. Not because he is not really a hero, but because heroism is an invisible spirit, and, when its symbols and pageantries are laid aside, it seems as if heroism were laid aside with them. When a hero or a saint is seen to eat and drink, live and dress, like an ordinary man, weak where some are strong, ignorant of some things that others know, it is almost impossible to look through these things and recognize the hero or saint. Were Socrates to walk our streets as he walked those of Athens, with " his thick lips, snub nose, corpulent body, and personal ugliness," scolded by his wife at home, and walking in mean dress and bare feet in the pubUc streets and workshops, " careless where or when or with whom he talked," how many of us would have recognized under this Thersites mask the features of a god, or have Socrates. imagined that this raan among the miUions of his age would march down the centuries the foremost of them all ? No man in a cloud ever comprehended the cloud. Put it far away in the sunset sky, then you can see the cloud. Stand close against a mountain : you see stones and bushes and trees and soU and rocks, but you cannot see the mountain. Stand off, off in the distance ; there alone can you see the mountain. 46. The Miracle on Behalf op the Nobleman's Son has been regarded by some semi-skeptical writers as another version of the miracle in behalf of The Centurion's Servant, Mat. 8 : 5-13, both belonging to Capernaum, and having some slight points of resemblance. How easUy two different events that have many points of similarity might be con fused by critics centuries after the events, may be Ulustrated hy facts in a neighboring town. A number of years ago a maiden lady named IV : 43-46 ST, JOHN 127 Mary Ann Morse left to the town of Natick, Mass., for a public library, a sum of money amounting in the end to over $60,000. A third of a century later another Mrs. Mary Ann Morse left $150,000 to the same town for a hospital. One was a Morse by birth, the other by marriage. The Morses were not even re lated. And yet a critic a thousand years hence would be almost sure that these two events were but mis taken variations of the sarae event, so unlikely is the truth of the true account given above. Uary Ann Morse Legacies. Dec. A, D. 27, Or Early iit Jan. A. D, 2S. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. BEGINNING OF THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. CANA OR CAPER NAUM. Healing of the Noble man's Son. Library. — "In Scott's Old Mortality, lioid Evan- dale discerns at once the extraordinary qualities of Henry Morton, which had escaped the notice of his kinsfolk and friends." Consuelo, ' ' advising Anzoleto to quit Venice, reminds him that no per son is a prophet in his own country. This is a bad place for one who has been seen running about in rags, and where any one may come to you and say, ' I was his protector, I saw his hidden talent. It was I who recommended him and procured his advance.' " Dr. O. W. Holmes declares that the opinion of relatives as to a man's power ' ' are commonly of Uttle value, not so much because they over rate their own flesh and blood, as some may suppose ; as because, on the contrary, they are quite as likely to under-rate those whom they have have grown into the habit of considering like themselves." — Jacox. Jacox' s Secular Annotations, Series I, pp. 143-147, contains a number of other instances. One of the old sophists tried to prove that it was impossible to walk. The philosopher with whom he was arguing did not attempt any refu tation, but simply walked. So the best assurance of what Christ can and wiU do for us is what He has done. He has written aU over the history of Christianity in letters of Uving light : Jesus can help us in our every need. Having Seen All The things He Did at Jerusalem. — " When the elevated railroad was flrst started in New York the people were a little timid about riding on it ; so the proprietors of the road took great pleasure in apprising the public of the fact that this road had been sub jected to a moat abnormal and enormous tonnage, and that consequently people of ordinary weight might deem themselves quite safe in traveling over that road. I feel the same way about the four gospels — that I 128 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS lV:43-40 can take my way to heaven above the din and dust of daily life because this elevated road has had all Germany upon it, and that as yet it has given no sign of instability. " — Francis L. Patton, LL. D., President of Princeton University. Moral Miracles. — "When a man declares to me, ' I cannot believe in miracles,' I reply, 'I can, because I have witnessed them.' 'When and where ? ' ' On a certain street in this city is a man who was a week ago given over to every form of vice and brutality, and who is now a good citizen; an honest w^orkman, a kind husband, a loving father, a pure, upright man. Surely, that is such a miracle as makes me forever believe in the possibility of miracles.'" — Pro/. Drummond. In the Grecian story the giant Antseus, in wrestling with Hercules, doubled his strength when he touched the earth. And our faith renews its strength when it touches the ground of fact. 46. A Certain Nobleman Whose Son was Sick. — " The site of Capernaum is famous to this day for the number and the malignancy of its fevers. The country lies low, and the land round about is marshy; so that during the hot season the conditions are favorable for producing fevers ofthe worst sort." — S. S. Times. " The simplest and obvious use of sorrow is to remind of God. Jairus and the woman, like many others (as this nobleman), came to Christ from a sense of want. It would seem that a certain shock is needed to bring us in contact with reality. We are not conscious of our breathing till obstruction makes it felt. We are not aware of the possession of a heart till some disease, some sudden joy or sorrow, rouses it into extra ordinary action. And we are not conscious of the mighty cravings of our half-divine humanity ; we are not aware of the God within us, tiU some chasm yawns which must be filled, or till the rending asunder of our affections forces us to become fearfully conscious of a need." — F. W. Robertson. Painter Saved by Destroying His Picture. — " Sir Thomas Thorn hill was the person who painted the inside of the cupola of St. Paul's Church, London. — After having finished one of the compartments, he stepped back gradually to see how it would look at a distance. Beneath the scaffolding, and at a depth which caused dizziness, even to contem plate, vvas tbe hard stone floor of the buUding. Gradually receding, with his eye intently flxed on the painting, he had reached the very edge of the scaffolding without being aware of his danger. Another step, and he would have been dashed to pieces on the pavement below I At this instant a scectator perceiving the imminent danger of the artist, IV: 47-54 ST, JOHN 129 47. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son : for he was at the point of death. 48. Then said Jesus unto him. Except ye see signs aud wonders, ye will not believe. 49. The nobleman saith unto him. Sir, come down ere my child die. 50. Jesus saith unto him. Go thy way ; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. 51. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 52. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him. Yesterday at the seventh j, j, hour the fever left him. 53. So the father knew that it ivas at the same hour, in the which Jesus said nnto him. Thy son liveth : and himself believed, and his whole house. 54. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. Dec. A. D, it. Or Early in Jan. A. D. 28. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. BEGINNING OF THE GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. CANA AND CAPER NAUM. Healing of the Noble man's Son. and fearing if he called to him he would look behind him, and faU from mere dizziness, suddenly snatched up one of the brushes and dashed it against the picture. Sir James, transported with indignation, sprang forward to save the remainder of his work from ruin. His rage, however, was soon changed into gratitude, when his deUverer explained the reason of his conduct, and showed him that by marring the painting he had saved the life of the painter." — John Dowling, D. D. So God sometimes mars the beautiful pictures of peace and health and pleasure we are cherishing too intently in our lives and hopes, in order that he may save our souls from destruction. 47. When He Heard . . . He Went Unto Him. — " Imagine, if you can, the condition of a country in which there are no doctors, where the healing art is oiUy practiced by a few quacks, who rely more on charms than on physic for their cures. Such is now, and such was Palestine in our Lord's day. There, untU the medical missionaries were sent by several English societies, there was not a physician in the land, and even now there are very few. In such a country as this, with sick and crippled in every viUage, picture the eager excitement when the news spreads that there is a good physician arrived in town ; that he has healed a flerce demoniac by a word, and a great fever by a touch." — H. D. Tristram, D. D. , LL. £>., in Sunday-School Times. 9 130 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV ; 47-54 Physicians in the East. — " No one is more sought after in the East than the hakeem or physician. Let it be known that one of a traveling party of Europeans is a doctor, and aU the sick persons in the neighbor hood make their way to his tent for free treatment. The lack of ade quate medical facilities in the East is noted by every traveler ; and it would hardly be possible to overestimate the amount of suffering caused by this lack. That is the reason why the Frankish hakeem can go safely where no other Frank dare go ; and it may be said reverently that it is also one of the reasons why our Lord took upon Himself the character of a hakeem or healer. Those whom no other appeal would bring flocked to Him because they beUeved Him to be a powerful hakeem. It is also one of the reasons for the success of medical missions. " — H. C. Trum bull. Library. — R. F. Horton's "Cartoons of St. Mark," " The Cartoon of Healing;" Trumbull's "Studies in Oriental Social Life,'' "Calls for Healing in the East." Whittier's Poems, " Our Master." — " The healing of the seamless dress Is by our beds of pain — We touch Him in Ufe's throng and press. And we are whole again." The love and devotion of the family center in that one who is sick, or feeble, or in trouble. So we know that God loves and cares for us in our weakness and lost condition ; and our very needs, instead of dis couraging us from going to God, should be an argument for beUeving He will help us. Our very interest and care for the sick is the assur ance that much more wiU our Heavenly Father care for us. Faith and Foot-Power. — In a little book. Saint Indefatigable, is related the following incident: "When we had diphtheria here (the Shelter for Destitute Children), there were twenty cases among the children, and no one would watch. Our president. Miss Jackson, and Mrs. Searle, both knew our need, and both believed we would get assistance. Miss Jackson went home to pray over it. Mrs. Searle commended the praying, and added, ' A little foot-power ivill he needed to go with it ; so while Miss Jackson prays, I wiU furnish the foot- power.' Thus through the prayer of faith and the feet of faith, the necessary nurses were secured." — H. L. Hastings in The Christian. IV : 47-54 ST. JOHN Not long ago two Uttle girls on their way to rohool were in danger of being late. One of thera proposed to kneel down by the roadside and pray that they get there in season. The other replied, "No, let us skim it along as fast as we can, and pray as we go." 131 Faith and Means. — The nobleman had not much faith, but it was real faith, and he made use of what he had. He could not cure his boy, but he could apply to One who could. We cannot swim across the ocean, try we never so hard, but we can go to the steamer. To sit still, and not use the means God has made is not a mark of faith, but of folly or super stition. D. Dec. A, 27, Or Marly in Jan, A, D, 28, CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. BEGINNING OF THE GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. CANA AND CAPER NAUM. Healing ot the Noble man's Son. 48. Except Ye See Signs and Wonders. — ' ' These two words mark the two chief aspects of miracles; signs, the spiritual aspect, whereby they suggest some deeper truth than meets the eye, of which they are in some sense symbols and pledges ; and wonders, the external aspect, whereby their strangeness arrests attention." — Westcott. Evidence op Miracles. — Note that he does not throw any slight upon miracles as evidences of His divine mission, for He is continually doing them, and referring to them as evidences (John 14: 11). What he taught was that the faith, having its origin and strength in these external signs, was an inferior kind of faith, having less influ ence on the Ufe and character ; while that faith which grew out of a receptive nature, which hungered and thirsted after righteousness, which felt that the teachings of Jesus were divine because they fed the soul and met its spiritual needs, was a higher and better faith. He there fore wished that the Jews had a deeper spiritual nature, a stronger desire to know and obey the truth. Before them was a golden stair way to the highest character, and to the knowledge of God and of Jesus as their friend and Saviour. They were sitting on the first step and resting there. Jesus said to them, climb up higher, do not rest here. By these things become acquainted with God, learn His goodness and power, and then come to Him moved by these higher and nobler motives ; just as a great Atlantic liner starts out of its dock by the aid of tugs, but when fairly on her way, leaves them behind, and steams across the ocean by means of a stronger power within her. 132 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS lV:47-54 Jesus thus was leading the nobleman to a higher faith, Spurgeon in his sermon on this miracle names the Leadings, (1) The spark of faith, faith seen in the spark ; (2) The fire of faith, struggling to maintain itself, increasing, proving by the smoke that the fire is burning within ; (3) The conflagration of faith, " The little spark of faith in the breast of the nobleman is lit by Jesus into a clear and enduring flame for the Ught and comfort of himself and his house." Compare Dante's three immoral works, "Hell," " Purgatory," " Para dise.'' Miracles as Object Lessons. — Miracles were object lessons, express ing the love and forgiveness and corafort from God. Every one was a parable and a sermon. Every one made it easier to trust in God and love him. They caUed the attention of the people to the gospel. They rang the beU that summoned them to spiritual blessings. And when ever in answer to prayer he guides to the right physicians and the right means of cure, he as really heals men as if he worked a miracle of healing. The tree that grows from the seed is as truly a work of God as if created at once by a word. "He was not a bad genealogist who said that Iris (The Rainbow) the messenger of heaven, is the child of Wonder." — Thecetetus (Jewett's Plato, iv. p. 303). 49. Sm, Come Down Ere My Child Die. — ' ' Poole compares the nobleman to Naaman, who had faith enough to come to Elisha's door to be healed of his leprosy, but was stumbled because Elisha did not put his hand on the diseased place, but only sent him a message. (3 Kings V. 11)." True Prayer. — " Most of us can recall the story told by Dr. James Hamilton : It appears that a Scotchman of his acquaintance was in very much the same trouble as this nobleman. His wife besought him to pray that the life of their dying baby might be spared. True to his old instincts, the good man kneeled down devoutly, and went out on the weU-worn track, as he was wont to do in the prayer-meetings at the kirk. Through and through the routine petitions he wandered along helplessly, until he reached, at last, the honored quotation : ' Lord, remember thine ancient people, and turn again the captivity of Zion 1 ' A mother's heart could hold its patience no longer: 'Eh, man !' the IV : 47-54 ST. JOHN 133 woman broke forth impetuously ; ' you are aye drawn out for the Jews, but it's our bairn that's a-deein'.' Then, clasping her hands, she cried : ' Oh 1 help us. Lord, and give our darUng back to us if it be thy holy wUI ; but if he is to be taken away from us, make us know thou wUt have him to thyself 1 ' That wife knew what it was to pray a real prayer ; and to the throne of grace she went, asking directly what she wanted most." — C. S. Robinson, LL. D. Dec. A. a7. Or Early in Jan. A. D. 28. CLOSE OF THE FIRST YEAR. BEGINNING OF THE GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. CANA AND CAPER NAUM. 50. And the Man Believed the Word. — "One 1!**1I"J^*' , , „ , T .... the Noble- day, when Napoleon I. was reviewing his troops in man's Son. Paris, he let fall the reins of his horse from his hands j^ j, upon the animal's neck, when the proud charger gal loped away. Before the rider could recover the bridle, a common soldier ran out from the raiiks, caught the reins, stopped the horse, and placed the bridle again in the hands of the Emperor. ' Much obliged to you, captain,' said Napoleon. The man immediately believed the chief, and said, ' Of what regiment, sire ? ' Napoleon, delighted with his quick perception, and ready trust in his word, replied, ' Of my guards ! ' and rode away. As soon as the Emperor left, he laid down his gun saying, ' Ho may take it who wiU ; ' and instead of returning to the ranks whence he so suddenly issued, he started for the company of staff oflS- cers. They were amazed at his apparent rudeness, and disobedience of orders ; and one of the generals contemptuously said, ' What does this fellow want here?' 'This feUow,' replied the soldier proudly, 'is a captain of the guards.' ' You 1 my poor friend: you are mad to say so,' was the answer of the superior officer. ' He said it,' repUed the soldier, pointing to the Emperor, still in sight. ' I ask your pardon, sir,' said the general respectfully ; ' I was not aware of it.' And so the soldier came duly to his post as a captain of Napoleon's Guards. " 53. At the Same Hour. — The telegraph and telephone give us some faint idea of omnipresent power. A man can send you his wprd of help when thousands of miles away from you. The machinery in the world's Exposition at New Orleans in 1884-5 was set in motion from Washington by the President of the United States touching a knob. Jesus Christ in heaven is just as near us as if he stood by our side. AU natural and all spiritual powers are under His control and can be used for our help. Binqhamton Water- works. — " The building we entered (at Bing- hamton, N. Y.) was furnished with a HoUey engine. As we stood by 134 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IV : 47-54 the steam-gauge, we observed constant and considerable changes in the amount of steam produced. As there was no cause apparent in or about the engine itself, we asked for an explanation. ' That,' said the engineer, ' is done by the people in the city. As they open their faucets to draw the water, the draft upon our fires is increased. As they close them, it is diminished. The smallest child can change the movements of our engine according to his wiU. It was the design of the maker to adjust his engine so that it should respond perfectly to the needs of the people, be they great or small.' Just then the beU rang, the furnace-drafts flew open, the steam rose rapidly in the gauge, the engineer flew to his post, the ponderous machinery accelerated its movement. We heard a general alarm of fire. ' How is that ? ' we asked. ' That,' he said, ' was the opening of some great fire-plug.' 'And how about the beU? What did that ring for?' 'That,' he said, ' was to put us on the alert. You saw that the firemen began to throw on coal at once.' How much more wUl God's heart respond to every prayer of his creatures. That engine was one of the grandest triumphs of science; the power of the prayer of faith is one of the greatest triumphs of divine wisdom and love." — Prof. J. P. Gulliver. 53. Thy Son Liveth. — Jesus Christ is Uving now and is working through His people in the same directions as when visible on earth. As He promised His disciples (John xiv. 12), he is healing more sick, opening more blind eyes, binding up more Christianity broken hearted than he did in Palestine, 1,800 years ago. and HeaUng, Wherever the gospel prevails, life is prolonged, many Uves are saved, hospitals spring up, the sick are cared for, the means of healing are increased. So in all things the gospel blesses our lives in this world, multiplies comforts and enjoyments, ministers to prosperity, to beauty, to education, to helpful arts. To see this, compare the Christian with the heathen world. Medical Missions. — " The medical mission is the outcome of the living teachings of our faith. I have now visited such mis sions in many parts of the world, and never saw one which Testimony was not healing, helping, blessing, softening prejudice, of IsabeUa diminishing suffering . . . teUing in every work of Bird Bishop. love and of consecrated skill of the inflnite compassion of Him who ' came, not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.'" — Isabella Bird Bishop. limRkRY. — "The Philanthropies."— A Colony of Mercy describes what Christianity is doing for aU forms of disease in a town in Ger- IV: 47-54 ST, JOHN I3S many. A saint of olden time was taunted with the poverty of his community. In reply he pointed to the sick and the suffering, and said, " These are my treasures." R. S. Storrs' The Divine Origin of Christianity Indicated by Its Historical Effects. Dr. Dennis' Christian Missions and Social Progress is not only intensely interesting in itself, as easily the flrst on this subject, but gives a long list of books for further research. Dec. A. D. 27, Or Early tn Jan. A. D. 28. CLOSE OP THE FIRST YEAR. BEGINNING OF THE GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. CANA AND CAPER NAUM. Healing of the Noble man's Son. " The new age stands as yet Half built against the sky, Open to every threat Of storms that clamor by; Scaffolding veils the walls And dim dust floats and faUs, As, moving to and fro, then- tasks the masons ply." — William Watson, 136 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V:i-3 CHAPTER V. THE HEALING AT BETHESDA. 1. After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 3. Sheep Market, — Rather Sheep Gate, on the east of the city, south of the Temple. Probably used for the sheep to be oflered in sacriflce, especially at the Passover feast. The sheep market was usually just outside of the gate. A. D. 28. Early in April. The Passover that year was March 29 to April 5. second year of Christ's public ministry. the year of development. early in the GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Fool of Bethesda. * Bethesda. — Commonly interpreted The House of Mercy. Though other interpretations are given. Library. — Compare "The Colony of Mercy," in the Teutoburger Forest, where the " SUly Valley" was changedtothe "Happy Valley." Library. — As to its site, see Thomson's Land and Book, Vol. I., ' Southern Palestine and Jerusalem," p. 458-461. The Pool op Bethesda. — (1) The " Palestine Exploration Fund " locates this pool " in the N. E. angle of Jerusalem, just inside the east waU, about 150 feet north of the Via Dolorosa." The chief evidence is the discovery here (during the restoration of the Church of St. Anne given to Napoleon III. by the Sultan) of remains of an ancient bathing pool with inscriptions and fragments of statues testifying to its curative effects. Among them was ' a white marble foot, bearing a dedication in Greek characters, showing it to be the offering of a thankful Roman woman named Pompeia, healed at the pool of Bethesda ; " just as we see in some Catholic churches in Europe the images of the Virgin hung with votive offerings. I saw many such in the Cathedral at Bordeaux, around the image of the Virgin of the Bon Nouvelles. V:i-3 ST. JOHN 137 "A site more probable from the nature of the pool itself is the Fountain of the Virgin, on the west side of the Kedron, under the Jerusalem eastern wall, south of the Temple Area, near to what is probably the Sheep Gate. It is about 1,300 feet N. E. of the Pool of SUoam, and connected with it by subterranean passage. This is an intermittent fountain or pool. ' Dr. Robinson found that the water in this fountain rose and fell at intervals, giving it an intermittent character corresponding somewhat to the irregular troubling of the waters spoken of by the impotent man.' " — Wm. M. Taylor. A.D. 28, Early in April. The Passover that year was March 29 to April 5. second year OF Christ's public ministry. the year of development. early in the GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. " It is very intermittent. The basin is quite dry; then the water is seen springing up among the stones. On one occasion Tobler saw it rise four and a half inches with a gentle undulation on another it rose for more than twenty-two minutes to a height of six or seven inches, and came down again in two minutes to its previous level. Robinson saw it rise a foot in flve minutes. He was assured that this movement is repeated at certain times twice or thrice a day, but that in summer it is seldom observed more than once in two or three days. These phenomena present a certain analogy to what is related of the Bethesda spring. Eusebius speaks also of springs in this locality, the water of which was reddish, evidently due to mineral elements, but, according to him, to the flltering of the blood of victims into it." " There is a spring of this kind at Kissengen, which, after a rushing sound about the same time every day, commences to bubble, and is most efficacious at the very time the gas is making its escape. This spring is especially used in diseases of the eye. '' — Tholuck. The Cause ofthe Intermittent Flow. — " Undoubtedly the physical explanation of the irregular flow peculiar to the underground water course traceable from tbe Pool of Siloam up to a fountain-head ou the north of Jerusalem, is a siphon-outlet by which the contents of its uppermost receptacle or reservoir is discharged. An outlet closed to the air, issuing from the lower level of a receiver of drainage, and as it departs rising to the upper level, but as it continues to depart faUing (still air-tight) below the lower level again, would empty all at once the receiver of its slowly collected water, and then its stream would cease until the chamber had once more filled to the top by infiltration. While I3S SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : I-3 it continued to nm, this stream would flush aU the pools along its course from that of the Serpents on the north, to that of SUoam on the south : at Bethesda it would occasion what in the time of our Lord was called 'the troubling of the water.' Each descending flood was accom panied with so much rush, bubbling, gurgling and other noise of activity, as to advise the patients waiting in the porches when to bathe." — Prof. J. A. Paine, Ph. D. Mineral Springs impregnated with minerals to such a degree as to possess medicinal properties are found in many parts of the world. The ancients ascribed supernatural properties to mineral springs, and their priests, especiaUy those of jEsculapius, placed their sanctuaries near them, as at the Alkaline Springs of Naupha, and the Gas Springs of Dodona. Such places were provided not merely wdth baths, hospitals and medical schools, but also with theatres and other resorts for amuse ment. PhUostratus says that the Greek soldiers wounded in the battle on the Caicus were healed by the waters of Agamemnon's spring, near Smyrna. Josephus says that Herod sought relief from his terrible dis ease in the Thermal Springs of CaUirrhoe. The most celebrated bathing place of the Roman Empire was the Hot Sulphur Springs of Baiae, on the Gulf of Naples. — American Cyclopedia. Library. — On the many intermittent springs in Iceland and in Wyoming on the Fire-Hole river, see ' ' Geysers " in the Encyclopedias. 3. Great Multitude op Impotent Folk. — Compare Zola's description of the Grotto of Lourdes. "A perfect Court 'des Miracles 'of human woe roUed along the sloping pavement. No order was observed, ail ments of aU kinds were jumbled together ; it seemed like the clearing of some inferno, where the most monstrous maladies, the rare and awful cases which provoke a shudder, had been gathered together. . . . Every deformity of the contractions foUowed iu succession, twisted trunks, twisted arms, necks askew, aU the distortions of poor creatures whom nature had warped and broken. " Through fear lest the output of the source should not suffice, the Fathers of the Grotto only allowed the water of the baths to be changed twice a day. And nearly a hundred patients being dipped in the same water, it can be imagined what a terrible soup the latter at last became. It was like a frightful consomme of aU ailments, a fleld of cultivation for every kind of poisonous germ, a quintessence of the most dreaded contagious diseases." — Lourdes, pp. ISO, 151. V:i-3 ST. JOHN 139 How Helpless man is to save himself from the disease of sin may be Ulustrated by ^schylus' " Pro metheus Bound ; " by VirgU's Laocoon, with his sons in the coUs of the great serpent (Book II. ), of which statues may be seen in most art gaUeries ; by the young man in Paris, who was examining a guillotine, and, from curiosity, lay down on the plank under the knife, and found himself fastened there, unable to escape without aid from others. "The Ghauts of the Hindoos at the present day are structures of a very simUar character to these Bethesda porches." "Any English or German Spa presents substantiaUy the same scene." — J. Hutchi son, D. D. A. B. 28. Early in April. The Passover that year was Ma rch 2g to April 5. second year of Christ's public ministry. the year of development. early in the GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. Waiting for the Moving op the Water. — ' ' Many are waiting for some singular emotion, remarkable impression, or celestial vision. Tens of thousands are waiting in the use of means and ordinances and vows and resolutions, and have so waited time out of mind, and waited in vain. " — Spurgeon. The Troubling of the Pool. — * " Not when Bethesda's pool a tranquil mirror lay. Kissed into radiance by an Orient sun. But when the angel stirred its crystal depths, The wondrous power of healing was begun. Calm and unruffled by a troublesome thought Like fair Bethesda's pool a soul may lie Bathed in the placid sunlight of content, WhUe seasons of rich grace are passing by ; But when the Spirit stirs the sluggish depths Until its calm gives way to wild unrest, Then comes sweet healing, and the sin-sick heart, Dropping its burden there, finds peace and rest." — Minnie E. Kenney. The Still Pool and the Flowing Pool. — " There are hundreds of churches in our land that are suffering weakness because they have not drunk at the fountain of perpetual youth. The meaning we may iUus- *NoTE. — This expression and the whole of verse 4 are wanting in the best manu. scripts, and were probably a marginal reading that some one copied into the text. But that the waters were troubled is told us in verse 7. 140 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V: I-3 trate. There is in your vicinity a pool of water, and you are thirsty. You come to it, and look, and find it foul, with a green scum on its surface. You do not drink. Another pool is near. You come to it, and look, and find it as clear as crystal. Many slake their thirst there, and flnd in it health. Both pools have one thing alike. They both receive water, but the character of the fountain is that it gives. ' In a stiU pool devils swarm,' is a Russian proverb." — C. H. Daniels, D. D. Lipe and Healing in the Troubled Waters. — There never was a time when many things were more unsettled, in a more continuous and ruffled flow than to-day. I hear much criticism of the Sunday schools, many experiments, many suggested ideas, rainbows on the mist that rises from these moral Niagara Falls. I listen to secular educational experts, and there is the same restless movement, conflict of opinions, melting of the old metal fixtures into a freely moving flux. There is a like awakening confusion in Bible study, and the forms of theology. At first it seemed as if everything were being unsettled, and that soon we would all be like Noah's dove, with no place on which to rest. But these movements mean life, they mean better things. They are the striving after solid foundations. All growth means movement. All life means change, not sudden, like an earthquake or revolution, but the change as of spring from winter, of houses from forest trees, of cities from green fields. " Republics exist only on the tenure of being constantly agitated." " Agitation is not a disease nor a medicine ; it is tho normal state of the nation. Never, to our latest posterity, can we afford to do without prophets to stir up the monotony of wealth, and re-awake the people to the great ideas that are constantly fading out of their minds — to trouble the waters that there may be health in their flow." "A republic is nothing but a constant overflow of lava.'' Agitation " is not the cure but the diet of a free people— -not the homeopathic or allopathic dose to which a sick land has recourse, but the daily cold water and tlie simple bread, the daily diet and absolute necessity, the manna of a people wandering in the wilderness." "If the Alps, piled in cold and stUl sublimity, be the emblem of despotism, the ever-restless ocean is ours, which, girt within the eternal laws of .gra'vitation, is pure only because never %ti\\." — Wendell Phillips, Speeches and Lectures, "Public Opinion." Library. — See Suggestive Illustrations on Matthew, p. 30. The quo tation from Prof. Scripture's Thinking, Feeling and Doing, concerning the frog which was boiled to death because there was no agitation. V:i- ST. JOHN 141 A.D. 28. Early in April. The Passover that year was March 29 to April 5. second year of Christ's public ministry. the year OF DEVELOPMENT. EARLY IN THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda, The Bethesda Pool A Type. — (1) " Behold here aU "^ ^« sickness cured by one hand and one water. O all ye that are spiritually sick and diseased, come to the pool of Bethesda, the blood of Christ : do ye complain of the blindness of your ignorance ? Here ye shall re ceive clearness of sight ; of the distemper of passions ? here ease ; of the superfluity of your sinful humors ? here evacuation ; of the impotency of your obedience ? here integrity ; of the dead witheredness of good affec tions ? here life and vigor. Whatsoever your infirmity be, come to the pool of Bethesda and be healed. " — Bishop Hall. (3) " Men build the porches, but the healing is God's work. We can build a shelter for the sick who come to be cured, but God cures them. The pool can do without the porches, but not the porches without the pool. Therefore God does not build any chapels by miracles. If men want to have houses to worship in, God says, ' that is your work : you must toU, and you must collect, and you must give, and you must pay for it. You can buUd the brick porch, but it is for Me to make it a Bethesda, a house of mercy unto thousands.' " (3) " The porches were only of value as they led to the pool. In other words, the porch was of no good to any man except he went beyond it. Do you observe, too, that those who filled the porches were just the very ones we want to see fiUing our sanctuaries ? They were not only sick ones in those porches. They were something better. They were those who knew themselves to be sick. They came there with a special purpose, and that purpose was to be healed." (4) ' ' The water was nothing until the angel touched it. The medicine is nothing until God blesses it. The physician of himself is powerless. let him be never so clever in his profession. What is it then that is needed? It is the blessing of the angel of the covenant resting on the means that are used — it is God commanding health through their instrumentality. But you and I may say, ' Brother, we cannot make you whole, we wish we could, but there is a Bethesda which, by the Lord's blessing, may, and we can build a porch to help you get there and stay there.'" — A. G. Broivn, D. D. (5) The crowding of the pool of Bethesda, — the House of Mercy or Grace, — strongly resembles our frequenting of ordinances, a practice which many continue in very much the state of mind of this paralytic. Thev are still as infirm as when they flrst began to look for cure; it seems aa if their turn would never come, though they have seen many remark able cures. Press them with the Lord's question, " Are you expecting to be made whole. Is that your purpose in coming ? "— Marcus Dods. 142 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 4-9 4. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water : whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time m that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7. The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool : but while I am coming another steppeth down before me. 8. Jesus saith unto him. Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. (There is a shorter way to health, as we see in the foUowing verses) : (6). A Contrast. — At Bethesda only the flrst comers had seeming opportunity for healing. The Gospel is abundant and free to aU. The healing of one does not hinder, but helps, the healing of others. (7) . The waters of Bethesda might become impure from the diseases cleansed, but the fountain of the Gospel is forever pure, with inflnite power of healing. 6. Wilt Thou Be Made Whole? — There are some invalids who are not cured, because they will not be healed ; they wiU not rise ; they wiU not walk ; they wiU not work. Yet it may be that for their Ulness the work so detested is the only cure or aUeviation. — MacDonald. Many are not saved from their sins because they do not wish to be healed. They are not wUling to forsake their sins ; they are not wiUing to take up the work for Jesus that lies close at hand. Illustrations of this are seen every day. What use in offering work to a man that does not want to work, or a book to one who does not wish to read ? There are often those whom we could help to an educa tion if they hungered for it, or to business if they would leave off their bad habits and be wUling to work on business principles. As some beggars would consider it a calamity to get rid of their rags or inflrmities, because they get their living by them. 8. Rise, Take Up Thy Bed and Walk. — Here were the trio of man's part in salvation — faith, work, obedience. Jesus' command to do something was the most natural and proper thing for the salvation of the man. V:4-9 ST. JOHN 143 To do it required faith. In the doing of it faith came, and power to do. Faith that obeys is the faith that saves. UsuaUy the question of faith comes to us in some concrete act, and life or death turns upon that act, not because it is so powerful in itself, but it is a test and occasion of faith. " Christ cures the sick, not by what He does to them, but by what He does in them, and by what He thus arouses them to do in and for themselves. God delivers us from our appetite, our pride, our vanity, our covetousness, not by taking from us our sinful ap petites and passions, not by plunging us impotent into an angel-troubled bath and bringing us out potent, we passive all the time, but by stirring up within us a resolute wiU and purpose to vanquish every sin and unworthiness, and by giving us the power in the effort to exercise it. For every St. George the dragon is vanquished only by the heroism wrought in St. George's heart. The ApoUyon is not taken out of the path of Pilgrim ; God conquers ApoUyon for him, because God puts courage and resolution in Pilgrim's heart. Let no man pray for victory unless he is willing God should answer by giving him a battle to flght." — Lyman Abbott, D. D. A. D. 28. Ea rly in April. Tlic Passover that year was March 29 to April 5. SECOND YEAR OF CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF DEVELOPMENT. EARLY IN THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. Salvation by Arousing the Will Power. — "In all that redemption of nations and races which Christ is working out through the centuries. His method is the same. God saves the nation, as the individual, by appealing to its manhood, arousing its wUl power, and in a true sense setting it to save itself. The boon of free dom, of national life, is not given to the passive recipient gently kneel ing ; it is encircled with flre, and only the people with a heart and a tempered sword can win it. To aU the prayers of Protestants in the dawning of the Reformation in England the answer is the reign of Bloody Mary. If you are worthy of religious liberty, you can have it. To all the prayers of Puritans in the time of the Stuarts the answer is the Civil War. If you are worthy of freedom, you can have it. To all the prayers of the American colonists the answer is the American Revo lution. If you can endure Lexington and Bunker Hill and Valley Forge, then you may have Yorktown. To all the prayers of anti- slavery Christians, seeking the emancipation of the Nation and the Negro, the answer is Vicksburg, Antietam and Gettysburg. To aU the prayers of God's people to-day, seeking any hope for the Christian con version and sanctification of paganized wealth and paganized poverty, paganized culture and paganized ignorance, the answer is — we know not what ; only we know that whenever we come to Christ asking for 144 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V:I0-I5 10. H The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day : it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 11. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12. Then asked they him. What man is that which said unto thee. Take up thy bed, and walk? 13. And he that was healed wist not who it was ; for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said nnto him. Behold, thou art made whole : sin no more, lest a worse thing oome unto thee. 15. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.high places in His kingdom. His answer is always the same : Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am about to be baptized with ? In short, what is all history but a repetition of the incident of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda? — a nation hoping for some miraculous troubUng of the water that wiU bring it mystic healing, and a voice saying to it, ' Rise, take up thy bed thyself, and walk.' What is it but a Moses saying to his people, ' Stand stUl and see the salvation of the Lord,' and the Lord answering, ' Wherefore criest thou unto me ? speak unto the chUdren of Israel, that they go forward.' " — L/yman Abbott, D. D. 10. The Sabbath Day — Not Lawful for Thee to Carry Thy Bed. — " There are two ways of destroying the Sabbath ; one by dis regarding its principles ; the other, quite as effectual, by smothering them under an immense number of artificial interpretations and pro hibitions, which keep the letter of the law, but utterly destroy its spirit. The Pharisees took this latter course with the utmost ingenuity, almost Satanic shrewdness of f oUy. It was impossible to keep the Sabbath on their plan. The conscience was continuaUy bound with fetters. There could be no true, loving Sabbath spirit. " The law commanded them to do no work on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees based on this 39 principal prohibitions. Then they made a multitude of decisions as to the definite things these 39 permitted or forbade. For instance, reaping and threshing were forbidden, hence it was asserted that plucking grain was wrong because it was a kind of reaping, and rubbing off the husks was a sin because it was a kind of threshing. " Grass was not to be trodden, as being akin to harvest work. Shoes with nails were not to be worn, as the nails wotdd be a ' burden,' and a ' burden ' must not be carried. A taUor must not have his needle about V : i6 ST. JOHN 145 16. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, aud sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. him towards sunset on the Friday, for fear the Sab bath should begin wliUe he was yet carrying it." — Eugene Stock. ' ' To break the Sabbath rather than suffer hunger for a few hours, was guilt worthy of stoning. W;is it not their boast that Jews were known The Fhari- over the world by their readiness to die sees' Inter- rather than break the holy day ? Every pretation of one had stories of grand fidelity to it. the Sabbath The Jewish sailor had refused, even Law. when threatened with death, to touch the helm a moment after the sun had set on Friday, though a storm was raging, and had not thousands let themselves be butchered rather than touch a weapon in self-defense on the Sabbath ? " — Geikie. .\. D. 2S. Ea rly in .April. Tite Passo'.^rr that Yc.ir i^'as Ma 'r.h 29 «.' .-Ipril 5. SECOND VE.\R OF CHRIST'S PUllLIC MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF DEVELOPMENT. E.^RLY IN THE GREAT GAL1LE.\N MI.NISTRV. The Pool of Bethesda, "The vitality of these artificial notions among the Jews is extraordi nary. Abarbanel relates that when, in 149'2, the Jews were expeUed from Spain, and were forbidden to enter the city of Fez, lest they should cause a famine, they lived on grass ; yet, even in this state, ' religiously avoided the violation of their Sabbath by plucking the grass with their hands.' To avoid this they took the much more laborious method of groveling on their knees and cropping it witli their teeth." — Cam bridge Bible for Schools. Their devotion to the Sabbath was, right, but their method of apply ing it was false in the extreme. A set of hard, definite rules binding the conduct, instead of great principles planted in the heart, always leads to evil, to inconsistency and hypocrisy, and smothers the true life under a load of mere outward forms, as King Henry, angry with his courtiers, locked them into the dining room and smothered them with roses and flowers. Or as a man might seek to preserve his house by refusing to sweep down the cobwebs or clean away the mildew or drive away the moths or pull down the scaffolding, lest he injure the house. 14. Sin No More, Lest a Worse Thing Come. — " What the past sin was to which the Lord aUudes, we know not. but tbe man himself knew weU. This much is, however, plain to us, that Christ did connect the 10 146 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 16 man's suffering with his individual sin. However imwiUing men may be to receive this, bringing as it does God so near, and making retribu tion so real and so prompt a thing, yet it is true not the less. As some eagle pierced with a shaft feathered from its own wing, so many a suf ferer, even in this present time, sees and cannot deny that it was his own sin that fledged the arrow of God's judgment, which has pierced him and brought him down. And lest he should miss the connection oftentimes he is punished, in the very kind wherein he has sinned against others (Judg. i. 6, 7; Gen. xUi. 21; Exod. xxxv. 6, 15; Jer. U. 49; Hab. u. 8; Rev. xvi. 6). The deceiver is deceived as was Jacob (Gen. xxvii, 19, 24; xxix. 23; xxxi. 7; xxxvU. 32): the violator of the sancti ties of family life is himself wounded and outraged in his nearest and tenderest relations as was David (2 Sam. xi. 4; xiU. 14; xvi. 22); the troubler is, troubled (Josh. vU. 25). He has no choice but to say like Edmund in ' King Lear,' ' The wheel has come fuU circle, I am here.' And many a sinner who cannot thus read his own doom, for it is a flnal and fatal one, yet declares in that doom to others that there is indeed a coining back upon men of their sins. The grandson of Ahab is himself treacherously slain in the portion of Naboth (2 Kings ix. 23) ; WiUiam Rufus perishes, himself the third of his f amUy who does so, in the New Forest, a chief scene of the sacrUege and the crimes of his race." — Abp. Trench. 16. Therefore did the Jews Persecute Jesus. — The position Jesus took as to the Sabbath was like a red flag to a wild bull, It was like a spark to the powder magazine of their hate and opposition. They feared that the sky was falling, when Jesus brushed away the clouds that hid the stars. They thought the ceUing would fall when he brushed away the cobwebs. They had buUt their hopes Uke insects' nests on the scaffolding of the temple, and when Jesus tore down this scaffolding of tradition, their pride, their positions of honor and power were certain to go with it, and therefore they opposed his efforts at reform. Bas-relief in Verona. — In the great old church of Verona was a bas-reUef , a beautiful work of the fifteenth century. For some reason it was covered with mastic and hidden for more than one hundred years, and entirely forgotten. In 1630 an earth- Traditions quake shook off the mastic, and revealed the Ufe of Christ Hiding the in its ancient beauty. A simUar experience occurred in the Truth, church of Santa Croce in Florence, where Giotto's pictures were covered up by the Medici, but rediscovered in 1863. So when Jesus thrust aside the traditions with which the Pharisees had covered V:i7 ST. JOHN 147 17. H But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. up the beautiful Sabbath rest, they thought that the shrine itself was being destroyed, instead of being restored. Sidney Smith in one of his speeches relates the story of a neighbor of his, who had grown rich and pros perous, while all the time he had a painful form of dyspepsia. A doctor comes to him and offers to cure him. The man refuses. "Take it away! Why, I have grown rich and prosperous with that dyspepsia I " imagining that the very thing which hindered him was essential to his success. A, D, 28. Early in April. The Passover that year was March 29 to April 5. second year of Christ's public ministry. the ^¦ear of development. early in the GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. Worshiping the Cross Instead op Bearing It. — In that beauti ful book. The Cross Bearer, one of the pictures represents a person who, instead of bearing his cross, had set it up in the ground, and crowned it with fiowers, and was worshiping it. The Lord stands by, and says, "I commanded you to bear your cross, not to worship it." The Pharisees worshiped the Sabbath, but did not use it for its spiritual life and blessing. Fault-finding Obscuring Virtues. — The Pharisees saw what they regarded as a fault, but were blind to the great good deed Jesus had done ; like the man who saw a fly on a church steeple, but did not see the church; or the other who saw a toad in Paradise, but not the fruits and flowers. I once read a fable of a man who, desiring to go to sleep, set his tame bear to watch and drive away the flies. Wlien a fly lit upon his face, the bear raised a great stone and crushed the fly, but killed the man also with the blow. Compare Hawthorne's weird story of "The Birth-mark," in his Mosses from an Old Manse, where a man killed his almost perfectly beautiful wife in his efforts to take from her face one small birth-mark. 17. My Father Worketh Hitherto. — The Father's working is a pat tern for our working. For six days the Lord was making heaven and earth, these days being divine days of long duration, and ending with the creation of man. Since then has been his seventh day. 148 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V:!/ wherein he has rested from the work of creation. No new species of plant or animal is known to have been created since man. Nothing since has required the exercise of creative power. Yet God has not been inactive, but has continued the necessary operations of nature, and has been working for the redemption of man, both of which are Sabbath labors. He works thus until now. And I WORK, in just the same way, on the Divine plan, with equality of wUl. There is uo record of Jesus doing a single secular work on the Sabbath. The eating and drinking necessary for existence, of course, were performed by him. But his works on the Sabbath were works of mercy, of religion, of teaching, of helping men. And these are our Sabbath works. There is no shadow of excuse in Christ's conduct or teaching for a Sabbath spent in worldly pleasures and recreations. Of the 36 miracles recorded as performed by Jesus, seven were miracles of mercy on the Sabbath. Jesus removed the rubbish with which Pharisaic rules had encumbered the Sabbath, and made it a day of freedom, of worship, of joy, of raercy. But Jesus did not abrogate the Sabbath nor the fourth commandment. It is absurd to suppose that he took from his ¦written Word a law which remains written on our natures, and which he wishes us to keep. The Sabbath is earthly rest to give opportunity for heavenly activities, as worship, fellowship with God, study of His wiU, feeding on heavenly food, works of mercy and kindness. The ' ' thou shall not " s of the fourth commandment are a fence around the Sabbath garden, to keep out worldly cares and labors, and the crowd of pressing daily duties, as a fence keeps out of the garden the cattle and beasts that would destroy its fruits and flowers. The fence is for the sake of the garden. It produces no fruits, it makes no flowers grow. And it is folly to spend aU our time ornamenting the fence while we neglect the fruits and flowers for which the garden exists. The fence leaves a free fleld for the cultivation of all the fruits of the spirit, and the graces of heaven. " Why does not God keep the Sabbath ? " asked a caviUer of a Jew, " Is it not lawful," was the answer, "for a man to move about in his own house on the Sabbath ? " Library. — The Rambler, No. 30, vol. 1., has an aUegory on Sunday observance. 18. Sought the More to Kill Him. — But their efforts served only to bring out more clearly the claims and power of Jesus ; as the cannon V: I8-20 ST. JOHN 149 18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. 19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, hut what he seeth the Father do : for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth : aud he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. ball shot to the enemy into the fortress of Sevastopol opened within it a spring of water. •i- A, D, 28. Eariy in .'Ipril. The Passover that year was 3'Iarcii 29 to April 5. SECOND YEAR OF CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF DEVELOPMENT. EARLY IN THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. Og, king of Bashan, lifted a huge stone to throw at the armies of Judea, but God made a hole in it, and it slipped over his head, and made him fast forever. — Wendell Phillips. The Father Loveth (iXet) the Son. — " To love is expressed by two words in the New Testament, ^CKla and aYairdcD. ' A.ya.Tra.ui indicates a reasoning, discriminating attachment, founded in the conviction that its object is worthy of esteem, or entitled to it on account of benefits bestowed. i\.\la represents a warmer, more instinctive sentiment, more closely allied to feeling, and implying more passion. Hence a.-^a.ir&.a is represented by the Latin diligo, the fundamental idea of which is selection, the deliberate choice of one ont of a number, on sufficient grounds, as an object of regard. Thus ^iKlut emphasizes the affectional element of love, and d-yairdu the intelligent element. Socrates, in Xeno- phon's "Memorabilia," advises his friend Aristarchus to aUeviate the necessities of his dependents by furnishing means to set them at work. Aristarchus having acted upon his advice, Xenophon says that the women in his employ loved (i^CKom) him as their protector, while he in turn loved (T|7dTra) them because they were of use to him (" Memora- biUa," ii., 7, § 12.) Jesus' sentiment toward Jlartha and Mary is described by d-yairr), John xi . 5. ) Men are bidden to love (dYairav) God (Matt. xxu. 37; 1 Cor. viii. 3) ; never (|>i\«tv, since love to God implies an intel- Ugent discernment of His attributes and not merely an affectionate sentiment. Both elements are combined in the Father's love forthe Son (Matt. iii. 17; John iii. 35; v. 20). 'Avdirr) is used throughout the panegyric of love in 1 Cor. xiii,, aud an examination of that chapter will show how large a part the discriminating element plays in the apostle's concep tion of love. The noun dYdirr] nowhere appears in classical writings. 150 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V:2I-24 21. Por as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 22. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23. That all men should honor tho Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. As Trench remarks, it "is a word born within the bosom of revealed religion." 'Epdu, in which the idea of sensual passion predominates, is nowhere used in the New Testament. Trench has some interesting remarks on its tendency toward a higher set of associations in the Pla tonic writings (Synonyms, p. 42). — Prof. M. R. Vincent, Word Studies. Showeth Him All Things That Himself Doeth. — We can know but little of God's infinite plans, and many things would seem plain and beautiful if we saw the whole, which are inscrutable and mysterious to us now. We gain visions of God's plans through His prophets, as windows with an outlook into infinity, but we Savage can no more understand them all than a man born blind and Lit- can comprehend all that the eye can see : or than a savage erature, in his native wilds can be made to understand the wonders of civilization, literature and science. But Jesus saw God's plans as a whole, and could do His work gladly and hopefully in view of the final results, and the completed scheme. Reference. — See xi. 6, " The fly on a cathedral piUar." Godet illustrates this active revelation on the Father's part by the simile of the father in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth, showing the Son the things He made and the method of making them. This simile, however, being external, is apt to misdirect the mind. 31. Quickeneth Whom He Will. —Makes them aUve, gives life to. Life is the greatest gift that can be conferred on any one ; and next to this is more life. Think what the life of Pentecost, the life of heaven, has done for man. V: 21-24 ST. JOHN 151 Whatever crazy sorrow saith. No Ufe that breathes with human breath Has ever truly longed for death. 'Tis life whereof our nerves are scant. Oh, life, not death, for which we pant. More life and fuller that we want. — Tennyson. 4-- LlBRARY. — The Tattler, No. 96, vol. 3, contains an essay by Addison, on "Every worthless man a dead man." A. D. 28. Early in April. The Passover that year ivas March 29 to April 5. second year of Christ's public ministry, the year of development. early in the GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. * The Mysterious Fire. — ' ' The pUgrims of Bunyan's allegory gazed with puzzled astonishment on the fire which blazed brightly whUe water was being poured on it. The mystery was solved, however, when they were conducted outside the buUding and saw a man sending in large suppUes of oU to the fire-place through a secret channel. So with aU who have spiritual life ; it is given and sustained by One who feeds the strength of all His saints." — J. L. Hurlbut, D. D. 23. Hath Committed All Judgment Unto the Son. — See ver. 27. " Because He is the Son of Man " He belongs to the race, has the feeling and experience of our natural infirmities, being tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Retzsch'S Game op Chess. — " Suppose it were perfectly certain that the life and fortune of every one of us would one day or other depend upon his winning or losing a game at chess. Don't you think we would aU consider it a primary duty at least to learn the names and moves of the pieces? Yet it is plain that the life, fortune, and happiness of every one of us depend upon our knowing something of the rules of a game inflnitely more difficult and complicated than chess. The chess-board is the world ; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe ; the rules are what we caU the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that this play is always fair, just, and patient ; but also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mis take, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. To the man who plays weU, the highest stakes are paid ; and one who plays ill is check mated, without haste, but without remorse. My metaphor wUl remind some of you of the famous picture in which Retzsch has depicted Satan playing at chess with man for his soul. Substitute for the mocking 152 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 21-24 flend in that picture a calm, strong angel, who is playing for love, as we say, and would rather lose than win, and I would accept it as an image of human life." — Prof. Huxley in Lay Sermons, p. 31, 23. Honor the Son. — Library. — Carlyle's jHeroes and Hero Wor ship. ' ' No nobler feeling than this of admiration for one higher than himself dwells in the breast of man. It is to this hour, and in all hours, the vivifying influence in man's life." 34. He That Heareth and Believeth is Passed prom (Out op) Death Unto (Into) Life, as one passes out of one kingdom into another ; or out of darkness into the daylight. How blessed it is to have a Saviour who is more than wUling to bestow the greatest of blessings on everyone who is willing to receive it. " It is said that once Mendelssohn came to see the great Friburg organ. The old custodian refused him permission to play upon the instrument, not knowing who he was. At length, however, he granted him leave to play a few notes. Mendelssohn took his seat, and soon the most won derful music was breaking forth from the organ. The custodian was spellbound. At length he came up beside the great musician and asked his name. Learning it, he stood humiliated, self -condemned, saying, ' And I refused you permission to play upon my organ.' " There comes One to us and desires to take our Uves and play upon them. But we withhold ourselves from Him and refuse Him permis sion, when if we would but yield ourselves to Him, He would bring from our souls heavenly music." "A perfectly holy life would be a perfect song. At the best on the earth our lives our imperfect in their harmonies ; but if we are Christ's disciples we are learning to sing while here, and some day the music will be perfect. It grows in sweetness here just as we learn to do God's will on earth as it is done in heaven. " Only the Master's hand can bring out of our souls the music that slumbers in them. A vioUn lies on the table silent and without beauty. One picks it up and draws the bow across the strings, but it yields only wailing discords. Then a master comes and takes it up, and he brings from the little instrument the most marvelous music. Other men touch our lives and draw from them only jangled notes ; Christ takes them, and when He has put the chords in tune He brings from them the music of love and joy and peace." — /. R. Miller, D. D. V: 25-29 ST. JOHN 153 25. Verily, verily, I say unto you. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : aud they that hear shall live. 26. For as the Father hath life iu himself ; so hath he given to the Son to have life iu himself; 27. And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Sou of mau. 28. Marvel uot at this ; for the hour is coming, in the whioh all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29. And shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. A. D. 28. Early in April. The Passover that year ivas Mit rch 39 to -¦Ipril i. SECOND YEAR OF CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY. THE -^E.-VR OF DEVELOPME.N'T. EARLY IN THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of , „T , .,, Bethesda. We are but organs mute tul a master touches the keys — "^ Verily, vessels of earth into which God poureth the wine; Harps are we, silent harps that have hung in the willow-trees. Dumb tiU our heart-strings sweU and break with a pulse divine. ' -+ 25, 27. Son op God; Son op Man. —The real Saviour of man must be the Son of God. (1) That He may have aU power to save; (2) That He may be omnipresent wherever man and his needs are; (3) That He may be ever beyond and above man, always drawing him upward; (4) That all the love toward Him may be also love to God; (5) That He may be able to make atonement for sin. He must at the same time be the Son of Man. (1) That He mav reveal Himself to men; (2) Tliat He may not only sympathize with thern, but that they may know and feel His sympathy; (3) That thus He may reach and touch then: hearts; (4) That He may be able to make atonement for their sins. 25, 28. The Resurrection of Life. — ' ' Oh, if there were no resur rection, how could we bear it ? Would not the thought crusli us down for very grief into the same open grave ? Many of you wiU have read the famous vision of him who saw a bridge of threescore and ten arches, which spanned the rolUng waters of a prodigious tide, and how the Genius said to him, 'The bridge thou seest is Human Life; consider it attentively.' ' And as I looked more attentively I saw several of the passengers dropping through the bridge into the great tide that flowed underneath it; and upon examination perceived that there were innumerable trap-doors concealed in the bridge, which the passengers no sooner trod upon, but they fell through them into the tide and immediately disappeared. My heart was fllled with a deep melancholy 154 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V:30, 31 30. I can of mine own self do nothing : as I hear, I judge : and my judgment is just ; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. 31. If 1 bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. to see several dropping unexpectedly in the midst of mirth and joUity, and catching at everything that stood by them to save themselves. Multitudes were very busy in the pursuit of bubbles that gUttered in their eyes and danced before them; but often, when they thought them selves within reach of them, their footing failed and dowu they sank.' ' Alas ! ' said I, ' man was made in vain ! How is he given away to misery and mortality ! tortured in life and swaUowed up in death I ' " — F. W. Farrar. " Think you the notes of holy song On MUton's tuneful ear have died ? Think you that Raphael's angel throng Has vanished from his side ? " Oh, no ! we live our Uves again, AU warmly touched or coldly done. The pictures of the past remain, — Man's works shaU foUow on. " Still shaU the soul around it caU The shadows that it gathered here; And painted on the eternal waU, The past shall re-appear. " We shape ourselves the joy or fear Of which the coming life is made. And flU our future atmosphere With sunshine or with shade. " The tissue of the life to be We weave in colors aU our own, And in the fleld of destiny We reap what we have sown." 27. Execute Judgment. See under 16:11. 39. Resurrection of Life; Resurrection op CoNDEMNA'noN, A German writer represents a good man as coming, after his death, to V -• 3j ST, JOHN 155 A. D. 28, Early in .-Ipril. The Passo^^cr that yciir was A/arch 09 to -¦Ipril 5. second year of chrlst's public ministry. the year of development. early in the GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. 82. IT There is another that beareth witness of me ; and I know that the witness whioh he witnesseth of me is true. 88. Ye sent unto John, aud he bare witness uuto the truth. the gates of heaven, and welcomed to its glories. An angel was commissioned to be his conductor and teacher. First he took him to a point where he could see the most feai'ful representation of sin when it had brought forth death. It was a fearful place, peopled with everything hateful, loathsome, and wretched. His guide bade him look still farther down the dismal vault, and farther still, where were objects more anguished, and loathsome, and haggai'd with wasting woe. He bade him concentrate his vision on an object more hideous and disgusting than he ever could have imagined. "That," said his conductor, "in the ages of eternity would have been you, had you not repented and believed- Behold the woe and degradation from which you have been saved by the compassion of your Saviour I " His guide then took him to a point from which could be seen the glories of the redeemed . He saw the highest ranks of angels, he heard their songs and haUelujahs, and was ravished. He was directed to look far beyond all these, and there he beheld an object more beautiful than tbe highest saint who had been longest in heaven, more bUssful than seraph or archangel. He heard music ineffably more sweet than any which flowed from the harps of the angels nearest the throne. The excess of glory overpowered him. Then said his conductor, "That beautiful and enraptured being is yourself many ages hence. Behold the glory and the bliss to which you ai'e exalted through the salvation of the Redeemer." A Vision ofthe Future. Mystery of Immortal Life. — ' ' One more thing I might mention is immortality. St. Paul said it was a mystery. Writing to the Corinth ians, being well aware that he had not made aU things clear to his friends there, he asked this question th.at he might reply to it: "Tlie dead are raised up, you say, but how are the dead raised up? What is the body with which they come ? " "When he told them it was not any plainer than before. He said: "Yon put a grain of wheat into the ground and it parts with the form of its life and reappears as grain. God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him." Tlien he changed the Ulustration and said: " It is like a boy buUding a snow house. He goes inside the snow house, and by and by the snow melts, but the boy does 156 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 34-37 34. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. 35. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. 36. H But I have greater witness than tliat of John ; for the works whioh the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. ZI And the Father himself, whioh hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Te have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. not melt. So this earthly-house of our tabernacle is going to melt away, and then we are going to be out in the open. But with what body do we come? In your own body ; a body like Christ's body." "Explain it more fuUy." I cannot now ; you will know soon enough ; you are not in a great hurry to know. If Christ should come, or you should die to-night, you would know. Don't be impatient ; only know that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap. If a man lives a selfish life up to the moment of his death, he wiU begin the selfish life the moment afterwards. There is no break in life. There is no shock in crossing from world to world more than when a ship saUs across the meridian." — Alexander McKenzie, Northfield Echoes, 1897, No. 3. 80. Not Mine O'svn Will, But the Will of the Father. — " The end of life is not to do good, although many of us think so. It is not to win souls, although I once thought so. The end of Ufe is to do the wUl of God. That may be in the line of doing good or winning souls, or it may not. For the individual, the answer to the question, " What is the end of my Ufe?" is "To do the will of God, whatever that may be." Spurgeon repUed to an invitation to preach to an exceptionaUy large audience, " I have no ambition to preach to 10,000 people, but to do the wUl of God," and he declined. If we could have no ambition past the wiU of God, our lives would be successful. The maximum achievement of any man's life, after it is aU over, is to have done the wiU of God. No man or woman can have done any more with a Ufe : no Luther, no Spurgeon, no Wesley, no Melancthon, can have done any more with their lives, and a dairy maid or a scavenger can do as much. There is no happiness or success in any lif e until that principle is taken possession of." — Prof. Drummond. 35. He (John) Was a Burning and a Shining Light, Xiixvos, a lamp, a light-bearer, as contrasted with <|>tos, light. John was a lamp lighted by God. Jesus was a Light shining of Himself. V : 34-37 ST. JOHN 157 Caxdle Ejeblems, — " EmblematicaUy ministers are caUed candles (Zech. iv. ; Rev, i., xi. 4). The Rabbis were caUed ' Candles of the Law; Lamps of the Light.' Light and fire were symbols of God (chap. i. 4, ui. 20). Lamps are required only in the sun's absence, so at Christ's coming John disappears. The church is symbolized under the sign of a candlestick (Rev. i. 'iO). Caravans in the desert at night are preceded by a briUiant lantern, which Ughts aU who follow. Should the bearer be careless, ' Let your Ught shine ' sounds from aU. Christ was never caUed, like John, a ' Ught- bearer ; ' the word Ught as appUed to Him is entirely diflerent." — IF. H. Van Doren, D. D. 4- A. D. 28. Early in .-ipril. The Passoz^cr t'utt year zoiis .^[jrch 2q to -April 5. SECOND -i-E-tK op CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY. THE YE.\R OF DEVELOPMENT. E-\KLY IN THE GRE.\T GALILEANMINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda, Library. — Spurgeon's Sermons in Candles (Armstrong ct Co.) is fiUl of capital iUustrations from lamps and Ught. The book grew out of a lec ture, which arose from a statement made by Mr. Spurgeon in address ing the students in his coUege. He said that a sermon without iUustrations was Uke a house without windows. One student remarked that the difficulty was to get iUustrations in any great abundance. " Yes," I said, -'if you do not wake up, but go through the world asleep, you cannot see iUiLstrations, but if your minds were thoroughly aroused, and yet you could see nothing else in the world but a single taUow candle, you might find enough iUustrations in that luminary to last you for six months." This statement drew forth, as it were, a groan of unbelief. '• WeU," I said, " I wtU prove my words,'' and the attempt to prove them produced the first lecture which, twenty-five years later, had grown into this book, fuU of iUustrations on this verse The Torch-Bearer. — John was not a permanent sun ; he was the torch which cannot bum without consuming itself. Critics have inter preted the article as signifying the torch par excellence, as aUuding to Sir. xlviu. 1, "the word (of Elias) shone Uke a torch,'' and as compar ing John to the weU-knowu torch-bearer who walked before the bride groom in the nuptial procession ; but the article simply means the Ught, of which there never was more than one in the house. — F. Godet, D. D. BOENlsa AND SHTSiNa Ltves. — Some shine, but do not bum : others bum, but do not shine. True grace in the soul does both. Basil thun dered in his preaching and hghtened in his Ufe. Of the martyrs Rogers 158 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 34-37 and Bradford it was difficult to decide whether their eloquence or their holiness shone the brighter. — Van Doren. Seeing the Light a Man Carries. — "A man was sent up a dan gerous mountain by night to Ught a beacon. His friends, anxiously watching, could not see him as he went, but they could see the Ught of the lantern that he carried." Men should see not us, but our good deeds. Burning. — Gives heat, warmth, comfort, purification. Shining. — Gives light, life, color, beauty. Epitaph on a Vanished Star. — " On pure white stone whereon, like crown on brow, The image of the Vanished Star was set ; And this was graven on the pure white stone In golden letters — While She Lived She Shone."— Jean Ingelow. Light Shining. — " Lamps do not talk, but they do shine. A light house sounds no drum, it beats no gong, and yet far over the waters its friendly spark is seen by the mariner. So let your actions shine out your reUgion. Let the main sermon of your life be Ulustrated by aU your conduct.'' — Spurgeon. A man once said, "I have no more influence than a farthing rush light." "Well," was the reply, "a farthing rush light can do a good deal. It can Ught a light-house lamp that will save many a ship. It can start a fire that will keep many a creature from freezing to death. It can enable the wayfarer to read the directions on the guide-board; it can give you light to read God's Word." Light from Martyr Fires. — When Bishops Ridley and Latimer were going to the stake in Oxford, to be burned as martyrs, Bp. Lati mer said, " Be of good cheer. Master Ridley. We shall light such a candle, by God's grace, in England this day as, I trust, shall never be put out again." Willing for a Season to Rejoice (dYoWioo-flfjvai) in His Light. — The word for rejoice means to exult, to glory in. "They were V : 38-40 ST, JOHN 159 38. And ye have not his word abiding in you : for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. 39. IT Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. attracted by His brightness, not by His warmth." — Bengel. They basked in His rays, but the lamps of their souls were not kindled by His. 4- A.D. 28 Early in April. The Passover that year was March 29 to April 5. second year of Christ's public ministry, the year of development. early in the GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. 36. The Works that I Do Bear Witness op Me. The Pool -What an array of witnesses they might have found Bethesda. had they wdshed to learn the truth ! Here a company of those who had been lame, but now were running to tell the story of their heaUng ; there a band of those who had been blind, but now could see ; lepers who had been cleansed; demoniacs clothed and in their right mind; sick raised from their beds, and dead brought to life again; sad hearts comforted; sinful souls redeemed; ignorant minds enUghtened; wandering ones restored. 37. The Father Himselp hath Borne Witness of Mb. — In the British Art Exhibit at the Columbian Exposition, there was a remark able picture of a blacksmith's shop. All ¦ the homely details — the smoky waUs and rafters, the lurking shadows, the forms and faces of the men showing in the half-lights — were portrayed with singular fideUty. But the greatest artistic triumph appeared in the marvelous reflec tion upon a boy's face, of Ught from an unseen forge. The ruddy glow, iUuminating the sturdy flgure and honest features of the rugged fellow busy with his work, was simply wonderful. The Bright No need to picture the red flames of the forge beyond ; Kefleotion. their existence was distinctly evident. The bright reflec tion proved their presence and their power. So it is always. A vivid reflection is invincible proof of Ught somewhere. While hands are busy with common work, the face may shine with radiant reflection of light divine, and the quiet life may be illuminated, if the worker wUl keep near to the Unseen Source. — From ' ' Bright Threads," hy Julia H. Johnston. 39. Search the Scriptures. — " Thy Word is Uke a deep, deep mine; And jewels rich and rare. l6o SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 38-4O Are hidden in its mighty depths. For ev'ry searcher there. Thy Word is like a starry host, A thousand rays of Ught Are seen to guide the traveler. And make his pathway bright. Thy Word is like a glorious choir, And loud its anthems ring. Though many tongues and parts unite. It is one song they sing. Thy Word is like an armory. Where soldiers may repair, And flnd for life's long battle day. All needful weapons there." Dr. Fuller's Experience. — " Lord, this morning I read a chapter in the Bible, and therein observed a memorable passage whereof I never took notice before. Why now, and no sooner, did I see it ? For merly my eyes were as open, and the letters as legible. Is there not a thin veil laid over Thy Word, which is more rarefied by reading, and at last wholly worn away ? . . . I see the oil of Thy Word wiU never leave increasing while any bring an empty barrel. " " The Old Testaraent will still be a New Testament to him who comes with a fresh desire of information. How fruitful are the seeming bar ren places of Scripture. Bad plowmen which make balks of such ground ! Wheresoever the surface of God's word doth not laugh and sing with corn, the heart thereof within is merry with mines." — Thomas Fuller, in Good Thoughts for Bad Times. Butterflies or Bees. — "To some the Bible is uninteresting and unprofitable because they read too fast. Among the insects which sub. sist on the sweet sap of flowers there are two very different classes. One is remarkable for its imposing plumage, which shows in the sun beams like the dust of gems ; and as you watch its jaunty gyrations over the flelds and its minuet dance from flower to flower, you cannot help admiring its graceful activity, for it is plainly getting over a good deal of ground. But in the same fleld there is another worker, whose brown vest and strong straightforward flight may not have arrested your eye. His fluttering neighbor darts down here and there, and sips elegantly wherever he can find a drop of ready nectar ; but this dingy V:38-40 ST. JOHN l6l plodder makes a point of alighting everywhere, and wherever he aUghts he either finds honey or makes it. If the flower-cup be deep, he goes down to the bot tom ; if its dragon mouth be shut, he thrusts its lips asunder ; and if the nectar be pecuUar or recondite, he explores all about till he discovers it, and then, having ascertained the knack of it, joyful as one who has found great spoil, he sings his way down into its luscious recesses. His rival of the painted velvet wing has no patience for such dull and long-winded details. But what is the end ? Why, tho one died last October along with the fiowers ; the other is warm in his hive to-night amidst the fragrant stores which he gathered beneath the bright beams of summer. To which do you belong ? — the butterflies or the bees ? Do you search the Scriptures or only skim them ? '' D. D. A. D. 28. Early in April. The Passover that year ivas March 29 to April 5. second year of Christ's public ministry. the year of development. early in the GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda, -4- — J. Hamilton, Unmeasured Depths of Scripture Truths. — The Scriptures are Uke a mine over which we have often walked without knowing the treasures beneath our feet. They are like the powers of nature, which have always contained the treasures of the telegraph, telephone, of electricity, of steam for power, of coal for warming, and yet men did not know these riches for ages. ' ' In olden times a duke craved from a king his daughter's hand in marriage. The king answered by handing him a rough iron ball. Indignant, the duke threw it to the ground, when lo! a spring struck, the ball opened and displayed a silver chicken; this, a golden egg ; this, a marriage-ring, complete and gorgeous, set with precious diamonds.'' So the Bible contains hidden treasures, enclosed one within the other. The more we study, the more we shall flnd. Blank Pages of the Bible. — "I dare say none of you ever saw a kind of ink used for secret writing. Common ink, you know, leaves a very plain mark on the paper ; but this ink of which I ara speaking, fades away directly it is used, and the paper seems to be blank. But if that sheet of paper is held to the fire, the writing comes out and can be read easily. Now to a great many people the pages of the Bible, especi ally of the Old Testament, seem all blank, without any beauty or inter est. But if you learn to read God's word with care and intelligence, above all, if you pray to God to show you the true meaning, the pages 11 l62 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 38-4O which seemed blank before wiU be fuU of interest for you," — H. J. W. Buxton, M. A. LiRRARY. — Rogers' Eclipse of Faith, "The Blank Bible." Enough to Guide, More to Learn. — Any one can easily know enough of the Scriptures to see the way to heaven, and to be guided safely through life ; as a chUd may know enough of nature for the ordinary purposes of living. Yet, as in God's works of nature there are untold treasures, and aU that even modern science has gained is but a little spray from the great ocean, a small sheaf from the boundless harvest of good things God has laid up for man's blessing, so there are yet untold treasures in the Word of God. We are like children who having learned to read and speU, imagine that we have some concep tion of the vast and glorious literature into which the simple letters of the alphabet can be formed. " Upward we press, the air is clear And the sphere-music heard ; The Lord hath yet more Ught and truth To break forth from His word." Library. — In Washington Irving's Alhambra is a story of "The Moor's Legacy." A vast treasure was hidden within the mountain, but it required three things to obtain it, — diligent search, certain written words and the living voice. These three best reveal to us the treasures of the Scriptures. Scriptures, What They are Like. — " It is said of some of the mines of Cornwall that the deeper they are sunk the richer they prove ; and though some lodes have been followed a thousand and even fifteen hundred feet, they have not come to an end. Such is the Book of God. It is a mine of wealth which can never be exhausted. The deeper we sink into it, the richer it becomes." — Rev. Charles Graham. The Scriptures are like a mansion with many rooms opening into one another. You open one door and it reveals several other doors. The more we study the Scriptures the more we see there is to learn. It is the same with nature. A piece of glass becomes a lens by whioh whole worlds are revealed in heaven. The electricity which, in some form, has been kno'wn for ages, becomes light and power. Library. — See the interpretation by Ruskin of a few lines of MUton's Comus, in his Sesame and Lilies. V : 38-40 ST. JOHN 163 Near-Sighted Glasses. — A ministerial friend of mine was very nearsighted in his boyhood. TUl he was twelve years old he never saw a distant prospect or viewed a landscape. AU talk about such things was mere uncomprehended imagination to hira. At that age his father gave him near-sighted spectacles, and for the first time he knew what a landscape was. It was like the creation of a new world, though that world had always been there, but unseen. An experi ence like this has been mine in reference to some portions of the Bible. Deeper and long continued study, and the help whioh others have given me, were the near-sighted spectacles which revealed the new world to me. A, D, 28. Early in April. The Passover that year ivas March 29 to -April 5. SECOND YEAR OF CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF DEVELOPMENT. EARLY IN THE GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY^ The Pool of Bethesda. -i- Aids to Vision. — We can often see a thing very clearly after it is pointed out to us, which yet entirely escaped our notice before. A pic ture explained by an artist has been a new picture ever since, though we had seen it many times. A fact of nature pointed out by a scientist ba-c; Ulumined some portions of God's works which were unknown before. Buskui's fifth volume of Modem Painters has opened the eyes of many to see in clouds and trees and leaves a multitude of things which were unseen, though plain before the eyes. The same is true of many of the best books. RusKiN's Bible Training. — John Ruskin. in his autobiography, teUs of the foimdation on which the character of this remarkable man was reared. "After our chapters (from two to three a day, according to their length), the first thing after breakfast (and no interruption from servants aUowed, none from visitors, who either joined in the reading or had to stay upstairs, and none from any visiting or excursions, except real traveling) I had to learn a few verses by heart, or repeat, to make sure I had not lost something of what was already known : and with the chapters thus graduaUy possessed from the first to the last, I had to learn the whole body of the fine old Scotch paraphrases, which are good, melodious, and forceful verses, and to which, together with the Bible itself, I owe the flrst cultivation of my ear to sound." " Though I have picked up the elements of a Uttle further knowledge — in mathematics, meteorology, and the like, in after life — and owe not a little to the teaching of many people, this material instaUation of my mind in that property of chapters I count very confidently the most precious, and, on the whole, the one essential paurt of my education." — John Ruskin. 164 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V:38-40 "Young writers are often advised to give their days and nights, if they would acquire a good English style, to the reading of this or that author. Our advice is that they read the Bible — read it aloud, until ear and brain become saturated with its sound and phraseology, and the heart with its truths." — Ruskin. Finding the Bible by seeking the truth there, loving and obeying it, is like lighting up the dark wires of an electric light or the black iron of a gas-pipe. It is like the clearing away of a fog. The Bible is like a microscope, showing us the wondrous depth, extent, and pervasiveness of man's sin and God's love and providence, and of His law. It is also like a telescope, bringing the distant heavens near, showing the marvellous reach of God's wisdom, power, and love. Foot Lamps. — I heard not long ago as an illustration of the text " Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet," that in Jerusalem men sometimes walk the dark and narrow streets with a candle upon the toe of their boots as miners here carry them upon their hats. The story was regarded as doubtful by one who had Uved long in Jerusalem. But last summer at Saratoga, in the house of Panza, which is a reproduction of an ancient house of Pompeu about the time of Christ, I saw a foot from that city with the larap upon it, and a statement that it had been dis covered that such was once the custom. Let the Bible be held close to the path in which we walk, that we may avoid the dangers and keep the way. The Bible Interpreted by Love. — "You have heard of the story of the blind girl who, when her fingers became callous, cut her finger tips to make them more sensitive. This, however, only made them harder, and then she could not read her Bible at aU. At last, after bitter weep ing, she kissed her Bible a farewell. To her intense joy, that kiss revealed to her the fact that she could read the raised words with a touch of her lips. Ever after she kissed into her soul that precious Word." — £r. M. Scudder, D. D. Not Understanding the Scriptures. —(1) Sometimes they are mis represented, as if one were dressed up in such strange clothes that hia friends do not know him. (2) Men often read, not to find what is in the Bible, but to find what they want in it. So Ruskin says that people V: 38-40 ST. JOHN 165 see in nature not aU there is, but what they look for. (3) Men look at the Bible with prejudice, as if through a colored glass or one of those mirrors which distort the features. -HE" A.D. 27. Ea rly in April. The Passover that year was March 29 to April 5. SECOND YEAR OF CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY. THE YEAR OF DEVELOPMENT. EARLY IN THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. Story of Nansen. — "Among the personal effects which Dr. Nansen took with liim was a phonograph. Into this his Avife had sung her sweetest songs, and his babe Ufted up its infant voice. In the loneliness of the far north he could again hear the familiar accents and reenter the home circle. Fatigued, here was rest. If ever discouraged, here was cheer. If ill, loved voices would bring a balm. Did you ever think of the Bible as a phonograph, into which God has spoken? When life seemed more dreary than the icy Arctic, have you ever turned to the book for com panionship and courage ? Into it God has spoken for your hours of sorrow, of weakness and trial. For aU the moods of men the Bible has a message. For each condition in life, for every experience, it has direction and wisdom. Let us learn from the explorer the superior value of the Bible as a vehicle of comfort and rest to the soul." — Rev. Warren P. Flanders. * How TO Search THE Scriptures. — "As the apes in the story, who, finding a glow-worm on a very cold night, took it for a spark of fire, and heaped ujj sticks upon it to warm themselves by, but all in vain, so do they lose their labor that, in the warrantable search of Divine truth, busy themselves about sounds of words, and so deceive their own souls, crying out, like the mathematician in Syracuse, ' I have found it, I have found it,' when indeed they have found nothing to the purpose." — Bib. Illustrator. Search the Scriptures by Learning by Heart. —The best portions of the Bible should be learned by heart. Such verses will be a constant education both of heart and mind. It will bring us into intimate com munion and companionship with the best people and the best thoughts in the world. We repeat them in our walks ; we let them shine within us during our daUy tasks. Search the Scriptures, by Reading them consecutively, a whole book at a sitting. Search the Scriptures by Taking a Broad View of Them, as an artist views a landscape, or a geographer studies a country. l66 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 38-4O When one who has been accustomed to study the Bible only by single texts, or detached portions, first sees them combined into one beautiful whole, as in a period of divinely guided history, or the perfect life of Christ, the vision comes to him almost like a new revelation. Separate colors and forms are one thing ; the cathedral window made out of them is another and diviner work. Individual events are like sentences written on the sky in letters so large that but one word can be read at a time. The consecutive history is the story those words reveal when seen and read together. A single star reveals the glory of God, but the whole universe of stars has meanings and glories the single star can never show. " Oh that I knew how aU thy Ughts combine, And the configuration of their storie ; Seeing not only how each verse doth shine. But aU the consteUations in their glorie." One of the best fruits of the Higher Criticism is found in the increased attention it has awakened toward this method of study. The method is of value whatever the knowledge or estimation of the restdts which some of the critics have reached. Search the Scriptures by Mining, or as a botanist studies flowers, or a farmer the soil. Studying the words and phrases of the Bible often reveals treasures over which we have walked unconsciously aU our Uves. Many of our words contain whole poems ; others are volumes of history or phUosophy. Dr. Burton says: "Take up the commonest words of daily speech, and put them to your ear, and they wUl sing Uke sheUs from the sea. There are whole poems in them, epics, idyls of every sort." In Luke 10: 40, Martha asks Jesus to bid her feter Mary help her. The word for help is a compound word oTjvavriXdpiiToi, sun together with, anti, "over against, on the other side," and labetai, "to take hold of." So that the thought is that Mary take hold of the burden on the other side, and lift it together u-ith Martha. The same word is used but once more in the New Testament, in Rom. 8: 26, where we are told that the Spirit helpeth our inflrmities. The Spirit takes hold of the burden of our inflrmities, on the side over against us, and bears them together with us. Again in Acts 2: 36, " my flesh shall resi in hope," the word resi means to dwell in a tent or tabernacle. " It is a beautiful metaphor,'' says Professor Vincent ; " My flesh shall encamp on hope ; pitch its tent there to rest through the night of death, untU the morning of resurrection." V:3S-40 ST. JOHN i6; The Bible is full of such picturetsiiue and poetic •i' ¦words. 1 A. D. as. Seaechdco thk Sckiptureis by JilKyNS OF Art. — ' .^^ 'i^^'Z'Z- Mr. Rnskiu says that " grejit nations write their auto- .Vj "•-.¦« -ni .-.• Wc^rapliies in three manuscripts — the book of their deeds, the book of their words, aud the book of their art. Not one of these lxx»ks can be understood unless ¦we read the two other*.' Teachers can often gain Kith vividness and light from the numerous pictures of BiMe scenes bv the createst artists. SECOS'-"" I'K.KS CtF Christ's pveuc M1S-.S7KV. THE %-K.\R OF rsvsLO^MKNT. E.\R1.V '.N THS g.vl.:lb,ocMiN;>rRV. The Pool ethesda. A PEOrtlAK LiTERAKY TEST. — " In a certain ov^Uege i B^tiJ*/. where the Bible is usuaUy studied one hour in a week. I at the first exervise of the freishman class for the coUege year ISM-^. thirty-four young men were paresent — thirty-three of whom were connected with religious organiza tions. There were nine Congregationalists, nine Presbyterians, five Meth- ovlists, three Eviptists. two of the Reformed Church, two Jews, one Free IxiptisT. oue Unitarian, and one Roman Catholic. They were about twenty years old. To test the biblical knowledge of these tliirty-four college students, this college president wrote out on the blackboard tYveuty-rwo quorstions from the writitigs of the most notevl English- speaking poet of the present century. Alt"red Te:;;iyson. with whose writings aU educated persons aie more or less famUiar. Thes^ twenty- two extracts aU contained references or allusions to the Holy SK-riptures. These are aU given in the New Tork Indtependent for November S. lji'4. with the nsults of the test. Of the twenty-two I select only those referring to the (jospels. With pencil and paper before them, the thirty -four students were requested to explain what Tennyson referred to in each passage. 1 ' • My sin w^is a thorn Among the thorns that girr Thy brow," — ^¦it>c\\¦5^¦,i C."-:.'V,-y:V-^j. 3 •• Arimathtean J<>=eph."" — r?it Holg GrxuX S " For I have dun;; thee pearls and find thee swine." — The Last T-'.tmamcr.t. •4 " Perha^ like him of Cana in Holy Writ, Our Arthur kept his best until the last." — J^.; Bolg Graii. 5 • ¦ The church on Peters rock. "" — Qiiofn .V ; -jr. 6 •• Follow Light and do the Right — for man can half control his doom — Till yv>u find the deathles Angel seated in the vacant tomb." — Latislcy HaU. S i.-rj IV .: -s A -icr. l68 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V : 38-40 Here is the result of the examination : 35 of the 34 understood the allusion in No. 1 . , and 9 faUed. 11 of the 34 understood the allusion in No. 2 . . and 23 faUed. 13 of the 34 understood the allusion in No. 3 . . and 33 failed. 34 of the 34 understood the allusion in No. 4 . . and 10 faded. 9 of the 34 understood the allusion in No. 5 . . and 35 failed. 16 of the 34 understood the aUusion in No. 6 . . and 18 failed. It might be well to test our older scholars' knowedge inthe same way by these passages. Or, still better, sometime, with the whole list, and with some of the more than five hundred passages in Shakespeare which contain references or allusions to the Scriptures. In Them Ye Think Ye Have Eternal Life. — Green, in his Short History of the English People, Chap. VIIL, gives a marvelous testimony to the effect of the printed Bible in Elizabeth's reign. " No greater moral change ever passed over a nation than passed over England dur ing the years which parted the middle of the reign of Elizabeth from the meeting of the Long Parliament. England became the people of a book, and that book was the Bible." Its literary and social effects were great, "but far greater was the effect of the Bible on the character of the people at large." " One dominant influence told on human action." " The whole temper of the nation felt the change." " A new concep tion of life, a new moral and religious impulse spread through every class." — J. R. Green, M. A. " Be thou my star in reason's night; Be thou my rock in danger's fright; Be thou my guide mid passion's sway; My moon by night, my sun by day.'' Dean Milman to his Bible. 40. Ye Will Not Come to Me. — "All una voided is the doom of destiny," is the language of moral weakness; but faith makes quick reply, " Yes, when avoided grace makes destiny." This is the thought which gives such unutterable sadness to wasted lives — "It might have been otherwise.'' They were not powers of evil alone which took the soul by the hand and led it into the labyrinth of the world. The angels of love, the voice of mercy, the Spirit of God, were near to raise the mind and to direct the life. This is the element which creates all true and high tragedy, and without which the creations of human genius are but a medley of irrelevant disasters, and not a true picturing of character and life. This one feature it is which sets (I speak for myself) V: 41-47 ST. JOHN 169 41. I receive not honour from men. 42. But I know you, that ye have not tbe love of God in you. 43. I am oome in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. 44. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? 45. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father ; there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whora ye trust. 46. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me : for he wrote of me. 47. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? 4* A.D. 28. Early in April. The Passover that year was March 29 to April 5. SECOiND YEAR OF Christ's public ministry. the y'ear of development. early in the GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. The Pool of Bethesda. the play of Macbeth foremost in the great trUogy of our own Shakespeare ; and this thought that it might have been otherwise, as it is the pivot of all human tragedy, so does it furnish the most pathetic power of the divine utterances, for there is no pathos equal to that which is the cry of love over a glorious life which might have been saved, and was not ; which might have been made lustrous with high and holy deeds, but was not. And when it is power and love weeping over the reckless waste of man's noblest heritage ; when it is boundless power — unbounded save by the high homage it pays to the creatures it has made ; when it is infinite love which wiU do all to save the offspring of its hand, except degrade ami unman him by irresistible coercion ; which scorns because it is love, to enforce a homage which is unwillingly ren dered — then every element of tragedy is present ; love, yearning power only limited by its self-imposed restraints, looking forth in sadness, not upon human helplessness, but upon human wilfulness. This gives the most touching pathos to divine records. I have searched through liter ature, I have read many a touching and tender passage, I have read the tear-awakening lament of "In Memoriam," I liave been stirred to gen erous passion by the loving lines of Hood over the unfortunate for whose life society seemed responsible, I have listened to the frenzied waU of Hecuba in her abounding grief, I have seen the old Greek hero baffled by the darkness and I have heard his cry for light ; but I have never met with pathos so moving as the cry of Omnipotence and Love, " Ye wUl not come to me that ye might have life ! '' — Christian Union. ' So from the heights of Will Life's parting stream descends And, as a moment turns its slender rill Each widening torrent bends. I/O SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS V:4I-47 Prom the same cradle's side From the same mother's knee. One to long darkness and the frozen tide One to the peaceful sea." — O. W. Holmes. 44. How Can Te Believe, etc. — In a recent lecture (1893) before the students of the Chicago Theological Institute, Mr. Moody gave the fol lowing object lesson: "The Spirit cleanses the believer through the Word. People close up their Bibles and then wonder why they do not become holy." He then took a pitcher of water and began to pour it into a bottle fllled with a dark fluid. The water drove out the fluid, and was rapidly making the contents look clear. Then he put the cork in the bottle and continued to pour the water. " That," he said, " Ulus- trates the people who stop up their minds with unbeUef . The Word does not get in, and their minds are poisoned and tainted with evU. Many people sit in church with their minds corked up, and the minister pours on the Word, but it all goes outside. The people should be pre pared to receive the message as much as the minister to give it." The Temple op Honor and Virtue. — " There was a people once by wisest counsels steered, Who Temples twain to Virtue and to Honor reared. Excepting through the flrst — they stood so wall to wall — No one within the second one could get at aU. As forecourt unto Honor's Temple, Virtue's stood, ' Through merit praise is reached, ' such was the moral good. An age did those two temples thus together stand And all was noble-toned and prosperous in the land, But long ago did Virtue's solemn temple fall, And Honor's shrine, profaned, is open now to all." — Oriental, in Foster's Cyc. Illustrations. VI: I ST. JOHN 171 CHAPTER VI. the bread of life. 1. After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. A WHOLE TEAR, the SECOND YEAK of Christ's min istry — the TEAR OF DEVELOPMENT, intervenes between chapters V and YJ, recorded in Matthew 4: 12-14:13 ; Markl:14-6:':9: Luke 4: 14-9:9. A. D. 29. fust f< '>rt" !ke Passflz cr, :,''>, '.-^ TtJ.r April 16-24. THIRD ^ K.AR DURING THE GRK-^T CAT ITF.^N MINISTRY'. PL.\IN OF butaih.\ belonging TO BETHSAID.\. JOHN B,\PTIST BEHE.ADED IN M.ARCH, .A. D. 29. JUST BEFORE THIS MIRACLE. JESUS BETWEEN 3^ -AND 33 Y'E.ARS OLD. Feeding the Five Thousand. 1. jEsrs went over the Sea of Galilee. — Two reasons are given, both growing out of the maityrdom of John at Castle Macherus. by Herod Antipas. (1) The first was the need of going outside of Herod's dominions : for in the excitement Herod might seek to murder Jesus Himself and His disciples, for they were as opposed to Herod's crimes as was John. The sliadow of His own fate a year later feU over Him. The populace were doubtless greatly excited over this event, and there was danger of a poUtical revolt, which was entirely contrary to the plans and purposes of Jesus, but which might center around His person. We see how the people tried to make Htm a king immediately after the feeding of the five thousand (John 6 :15). It is quite probable therefore that Jesus was having another fierce battle with the First tempter Uke that in the third temptation in the wUder- Season. ness. when He was oflered aU the kingdoms of the world and tlie glory of them ; for the night foUowing he spent in prayer upon the mountain side. (,'-.) The other reason was the need of rest for the disciples. They had been sent over GalUee to heal and preach, a part of their training, and when the news of John's murder Second reached them they hastened to Jesus as chickens run to their Season. mother when the hawk is saiUng over their heads. There was chance for rest at Capernaum. They needed this restful retirement (1) for physical rest ; C-) for instruction in review of their labors ; (3) for communion with God , (4) 172 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS VI : 2-4 2. Aud a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which lie did on them that were diseased. 3. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. for that wider and truer view of their work which comes from seeing it as a whole, as a landscape is seen from a mountain top. The Need of Rest. — No one can do his best work without periods of rest from work. Every tree and plant must have its resting time. We put our hyacinths in the dark, a few weeks if we would have them bloom well. There is a kind of crystalizing process, an " unconscious cerebration," going on in the mind and in the soul during these periods of rest. Moreover, the fountain needs often filling if it would fiow freely, and we cry out : — " O bliss of bUsses, to be freed Frora all the cares with which this world is driven, With liberty and endless time to read The libraries of heaven." Resting Times. — "It was a grand, if one-sided saying of one of God's workers : ' Let us toU on now. There will be time enough to rest in eternity.' The most willing workers need times of rest on earth. So the stiUness and restfulness of night succeeds the stirring day, and the quiet Sabbath rest comes round after six days of labor. But what would Ufe be if it were aU passed in night and rest ? That man only can enjoy rest who has w^on it by honest work. Bunyan's armed man had to fight through opposing ranks before he could sit down to rest and banqueting. Hercules won the rest of Olympus through toUs and sufferings. Even the Olympic gods passed through the fiery ordeal of battle before they could enjoy the divine calm of Olympus. It is true that a rest remains for the people of God ; let us not forget the further truth, that we must 'labor ... to enter into that rest.'" — Sunday School Times. 2. Because They Saw His Miracles. — "Signs," signs of spiritual truths, of His goodness and love. The way to draw crowds to the gospel is to have something which men need, in a form that appeals to their hungering souls. There is little use in ringing the bell, be it never so loud, to call men to empty tables. It is the gold that draws men to the Klondike mines. VI: 5-7 ST. JOHN 173 5, H When Jesus then lifted up hia eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat ? 6. And this he said to prove him : for he himself knew what he would do. 7. Philip answered him. Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. Jesus did not repulse any because they came to Him from the lower motives ; but He sent them away with better ones. The motives that lead men to good ness are not necessarily the motives of those that live goodness. They are steps to the house, not the rooms of the house. They are roads to the city, not the city itself. If even " Of our vices we can frame A ladder, if we will but tread Beneath our feet each deed of shame," how much more is it true of our lower motives ! A.D. 29. April. fust before the Passover, which was April 16-24. THIRD YEAR DURING THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. plain of butaxha belonging TO bethsaida. JOHN BAPTIST BEHEADED IN MARCH, A. D. 29, JUST BEFORE THIS MIRACLE, JESUS BETWEEN 32 AND 33 YEARS OLD. Feeding the Five Thousand. 3. He Sat with His Disciples, teaching them, teaching the multi tudes and healing their sick (Mk. 6 : 34 ; Luke 9 : 11). Jesus knows our temporal wants as well as our spiritual. But now, as then. He ever leads us through earthly to Teaching and spiritual blessings. The lower are the means to the higher. Healing AU workers for Jesus must follow this example. Chris- Should Go tianity is a river of blessings fiowing through the world, Together. blessings to the bodies and minds, as well as the souls of men. And blessing the body is a proof of its power to bless the soul, and of the sincerity of those who teach and preach. 5. The Hungering Multitudes — The people "as sheep without a shepherd," wandering from home, weary, sick and hungry, was a picture of the great world. The people need eternal A Picture of life ; they need to have their souls nourished and strength- the World. ened ; they need to be satisfied with love and forgiveness and hope and faith and courage ; they need happiness and comfort and peace and health ; they are dying for want of the bread of life. Pictures — Feeding of the Five Thousand.- (Seville, Spain) by Giotto (St. Peter's, Rome). -By Dore, by Murillo 174 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS VI : 8, 9 8. One of hia disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9. There is a lad here, which hath tive barley loaves, and two small fishes : but what are they among so many ? Jesus Had Compassion on Them. — Sojourner Truth was seeking her stolen child, without money or influence, or knowledge of what to do. She thought to herself, God has money and aU I need; then she went to Him and said, " O Lord, if I was as rich as You be, and You was as poor as I be, I'd help You; You know I would; and oh, do help me." And He did. Pictures. — Christ the Bread of Life. — Plockhorst. Christ the Con soler. — Ary Scheffer, Plockhorst. Healing the Sick. — C. Schonherr; Benj. West. He Saith unto Philip.— By combining aU the accounts the conver sation at this time would be about as foUows: Jesus (speaking to Philip, whose home was at Bethsaida, and who therefore was acquainted with the region and the people), — " 'Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat ? " (John). Philip. — " Two hundred pennyworth (|34 worth) of bread is not suffi cient for them, that every one of them ¦may take a little " (John). The Apostles. — " Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge and get victuals " (Luke). Jesus. — " Give ye them to eat '' (Luke). The Apostles. — "Shall we go and buy two hundred penny worth of bread, and give them to eat ? " (Mark). Jesus. — " How many loaves have ye ? Go and see " (Mark). 6. This He Said to Prove Him. — ireipd^wv, tempting, the same word that is used of the temptations of Jesus. God tries and proves men, putting them to the test to prove whether they are worthy, and by that actto help make tbem more worthy; whUe Satan tempts men, thatis, puts them to the test with the desire and endeavor to influence them to evil. Proving is intended to have a double result: (1) to show what one is, and (2) by this process of testing, to strengthen the good. Philip was tested, both to prove his faith, his insight, his wisdom, the results of his training, like a school examination, and also to increase these qualities. Life an Education Because a Probation.— Life is both a probation and an education ; a probation through the process of education, and an education through the probation. VI:8, 9 ST. JOHN 175 1. The trials of life are to prove what we are, to see if we are fltted for larger things. We are tested in the use of the ten talents to prove whether we are fitted to rule the ten cities. The rope is tested by a weight, not to break it, but to see if it is fitted to hold up more precious things. The ship is tested, not to destroy it, but to see if it is strong enough to carry costly freight and precious lives through the storm. 2. The meaning of trial is not only to test worthiness but to increase it, as the oak tree is not only tested by the storms, but toughened by them. " The fire doth not only discover which is true gold, but makes the true gold more pure." — Gurnall. " The good are better made by ill, As odors crushed are sweeter stiU." — Rogers. " But noble souls through dust and heat Rise from disaster and defeat The stronger." — Longfellow. A. D. 29. April. fust before the Passover, which was April 16-24. THIRD YEAR DURING THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. plain of butaiha belonging TO bethsaida. JOHN BAPTIST BEHEADED IN MARCH, A. D. 29, JUST BEFORE THIS MIRACLE. JESUS BETWEEN 32 AND 33 YEARS OLD. Feeding the Five Thousand. Note that it is a sign of God's favor to have trials. " If ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sons" (Heb. 13:7). It is because God sees something in us worth proving, some good material that can be made better, some hidden possibilities, that he puts us to the test. 9. A Lad With Five Barley Loaves. • ests of the kingdom of God. Thus: - The young can serve the inter- ' ' What time the Saviour spreads his feast. For thousands on the mountain side, One of the last, the least. The abundant store supplied." — Lyra Innocentium. Compare the little maiden who told Naaman of the prophet who could heal him. Great Blessings Through Common Persons.— For the insignificant, the commonplace who make up the greater portion of mankind, there is either no gospel or it is Christ's. 1. For the world of wealth, power, brute violence, sceptical intellect is inflated with its own self-importance. The conceitedly clever will revel in his power to wound the inferior capacity. "This multitude that knoweth not the law is accursed," says 176 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS VI : 8, 9 religious pride. •' These persons are not in society," says a fashionable pride. " Mankind is composed of 1,000,000,000 persons, mostly fools,'" says intellectual pride. See how Christ in His every word and action set His face against all this. He instantly made use of the poor lad's barley loaves and fishes. His symbols of the kingdom were a little leaven, a handful of loaves and a grain of mustard seed; the widow's mites receive His commendation. A Little Multiplied by God Becomes Great. — "Most of us have only one talent, but he who has one talent sometimes makes ten of it. We have only five barley loaves, etc., which indeed in themselves are useless, but when given to Christ He can make them enough to feed five thousand. Take the one instance of kind words of sympathy and encouragement. "When Count Zinzendorf was a boy at school, he founded amongst his schoolfellows a little guild which he called the ' Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed,' and thereafter that seedling grew into the great tree of the Moravian Brotherhood, whose boughs were a blessing to the world. The widow's mite ! When they laughed at Saint Theresa, when she wanted to build a great orphanage and had but three shilUngs to begin with, she answered, ' With three shillings Theresa can do nothing ; but with God and her three shUlings there is nothing which Theresa cannot do.' Do not let us imagine, then, that we are too poor, or too stupid, or too ignorant, or too obscure to do any real good in the world wherein God has placed us. " If you bring no gift how can God use it ? The lad must bring his barley loaves to Christ before the five thousand can be fed. Have you ever attempted to do as he did? Have you, even in the smallest measure, or with the least earnest desire, tried to follow John Wesley's golden advice ; ' Do all the good you can, by all means you can, in all the ways you can, to all the persons you can, in all the places you can, as long as ever you can ? " — Farrar. Examples —Howard, Caret. — Has there been a nobler work of mercy in modern days than the purification of prisons ? Yet that was done by one whom a great modern writer sneeringly patronized as the "dull, good man John Howard," Is there a grander, nobler enterprise than missions ? The mission of England to India was started by a humble, itinerant shoemaker, William Carey. These men brought to Christ their humble efforts, their barley loaves, and in His hand, and under His blessing, they multiplied exceedingly. " We can never hope," you say, "to lead to such vast results." So they thought. Library. — Browning's The Boy and the Angel. . VI IIO, II ST. JOHN 177 10. And Jesus said. Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had ejiven thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down ; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. Christ's Way of Blessing. ^ " Oh, not in strange portentous way Christs miracles were wrought of old The common thing, the common clay. He touched and tinctured, and straightway It grew to glory manifold. The barley loaves were daUy bread. Kneaded and mixed with usual skiU ; No care was given, no speU was said, But when the Lord had blessed, they fed The multitude upon the hiU." — 2726 Outlook. A. D. 29. April. fust before the Passover, which was April 16-24. THIRD YEAR DURING THE GREAT GALILEANMINISTRY. plain of butaiha belonging to bethsaida. JOHN, BAPTIST, BEHEADED IN MARCH, A. D. 29, JUST BEFORE THIS MIRACLE. JESUS BETWEEN 32 AND 33 YEARS OLD. Feedina: the Five Thousand. 10. So the Men Sat Down. — Either the companies consisted some of one hundred, and others of fifty, each arranged on three sides of a square, according to Roman custom ; or they were arranged in fifty triclinia, or three sides of a paraUelogram, each consisting of a hundred men. With their bright-colored Oriental dresses (gay red, blue, and yeUow, wliich the poorest wear), these men presented an appearance which recaUed a briUiant garden in the early summer, with numerous flower beds. " And when He had given thanks, 'looking up to heaven''' (Luke). Thus recognizing the Giver of aU good. ' ' 'Twas seedtime when he blessed the bread, 'Twas harvest when he brake." On an old teapot that belonged to the Wesleys is found the following grace, by John Cennick : — ¦ " Be present at our table. Lord ; Be here and everywhere adored ; These mercies bless and grant that we May feast in paradise with thee. " 12 178 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS VI: ID, II " We thank thee, Lord, for this our food. But more because of Jesus' blood ; Let manna to our souls be given, The bread of Ufe send down from heaven." He Distributed to His Disciples, and His Disciples to Them that Were Set Down. — Jesus conferred great honor on the disciples in making them the instruments of conferring his bounty. So let teachers, pastors, parents, not do all things themselves, but use scholars and children, whenever it is possible, in the works of mercy. Our duties and our privUeges are not measured by what we can do of ourselves, but by what God is wiUing to do through us. We cannot turn the machinery of the factory, but we can let the water on to the wheel. We cannot push the steamship across the ocean, but we can let on the steam for the engine to do it. The Disciples Co-working with Jesus. — Jesus could have rained down maima, so that each person could have picked up enough just before him to supply aU his needs. But he chose to work in such a way that there must be co-operation on the part of his disciples before the multitude could be fed. In using human instrumentalities to supply human need, the Master most beautifully exemplified the way of pro pagating his truth. Gain by Giving. — ' ' Christ's provision is more than enough for a hungry world, and they who share it out among their feUows have theu- own possession of it increased. There is no surer way to receive the full sweetness and blessing of the Gospel than to carry it to some hungry soul." — Maclaren. Churches thrive in their spiritual life when they most distribute to others the gospel God has given to thera. A church once being in debt, voted to turn aU its contributions into that channel till the debt was paid. But the contributions grew sraaUer and the How debt did not. Afterwards, they gave to aU objects of Churches benevolence, and they prospered themselves financiaUy. Thrive. A missionary church doing most and giving most for the heathen is most prosperous at home in all spiritual usefulness. In dividuals will find the same rule holding true. They gain spiritual life by imparting it. They gain clearer views of truth by teaching others. Ttey grow richer in all that is best in Ufe by giving freely of the money God gives them. VI:io, II ST. JOHN 179 This is especiaUy true of teachers. Mr. B. F. Jacobs says that "God has skimmed the church and put the cream into the Sabbath school." It seems Teachers, to me that even more than this, teaching in the Sabbath school changes the skim milk into cream. " The fountain that gives what it receives is fresh and clear and beautiful. The bog that receives and does not give is malarious, foul, reptUe-haunted. This miracle was a symbol of that love which exhausts not itself by loving, but after aU its outgoings upon others, abides itself far richer than it would have done but for the multiplying which there ever is in a true dispensing. " — Trench. A city grows rich by receiving and giving forth. It is a focus of commerce, A desert neither receives nor gives, and it always remains barren and poor. Every heart that receives and gives forth grows rich in holiness and love and everything that belongs to its commerce. *- -1- A. D. 29. April. fust before the Passover, which was Arpil 16-24. THIRD YEAR DURING THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. plain of butaiha belonging to bethsaida. JOHN, BAPTIST, BEHEADED IN MARCH, A. D. 29, JUST BEFORE THIS MIRACLE. JESUS BETWEEN 32 AND 33 YEARS OLD. Feedtag the Five Thousand. Library. — The Poem of the "Two Sacks of Wheat." One man kept his untU it rotted away. The other sowed his broadcast and reaped a harvest. Compare. — The widow's cruse of oil and barrel of meal (1 Kings 17 : 9-16). " As the widow's oU increased, not in the vessel, but by pouring out ; as here the barley bread multiplied, not in the whole loaf but by break ing and distributing ; and as the grain bringeth increase, not when it lieth on a heap in the garner, but when scattered upon the land, so spiritual graces are best improved, not by keeping them together, but by distributing them abroad." — Saunderson. The Unfailing Cruse. — " Is thy cruse of comfort failing f Rise and share it with another, And through all the years of famine It shaU serve thee and thy brother. Love divine will fiU thy storehouse ,' Or thy handful stiU renew ; Scanty fare for one will, often, Make a royal feast for two. I80 SUGGESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS VI: 10, II " For the heart grows rich in giving ; All its wealth is living grain ; Seeds which mildew in the garner, Scattered, fill with gold the plain. Is thy burden hard and heavy ? Do thy steps drag wearily ? Help to bear thy brother's burden : God will bear both it and thee. " Is the heart a well left empty ? None but God its void can fill ; Nothing but a ceaseless fountain Can its ceaseless longing still. Is the heart a living power ? Self-entwined, its strength sinks low. It can only live in loving. And by serving, love will grow." — 3Irs. Charles. Exporting Religion. — "When the Massachusetts legislature were discussing the propriety of granting an act of incorporation to a mis sionary society, one of the members remarked that it seemed to be an arrangement for exporting religion, when in fact we had none to spare. He was answered that religion was a commodity of which the more we exported the more we had left. The man who strives to shut up fire in order to preserve it will soon find he has nothing left but ashes. We get the best fire by throwing it open that others may share its warmth. We get the purest water for ourselves by allowing it to flow on and bless others." — Rev. H. L. Hastings, D. D. The Arithmetic op God. — " This is the arithmetic of the kingdom. Earthly arithmetic says, ' Give and want.' Heavenly arithmetic says, ' Give and grow rich.' " — Schauffler. (1.) " He multiplied by division, ' distributed.' (2.) He added by sub traction, ' filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves.'"— IK H. Van Doren, D. D. " The story of this miracle presents us the contrast between the arith metic of man and the arithmetic of God. To human sight it was thus : One person, a lad, a slave ; five cakes ; small cakes, barley cakes, plus two fishes, very small fishes — 5,000 men — women — children — and children, ravenous little eaters I Loaves is a misleading word to West. ern ears. It implies something large, whereas the loaf spoken of in the narrative was about the size of our ordinary griddle-cake or buckwheat VI: IO, II ST. JOHN iSl cake. Divide one of those into a thousand equal parts. and see if one of those parts is worth even a star'ving man's effort to put it in his mouth. But Orod's arith metic is not ours. With him one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight." — Dr. Deevis. The hope of the worlds salvation is in the wonderfid power of God in midtiplyini: the Utiles : the numbers, the wealth, the power of Christians are enough for the salvation of the world, if they wUl distribute what God ^ives them, ani if His blessing goes with it. The reason is that in the Divine arithmetic God himself is the mnltipUer. This may be iUustrated by what man is doing. Coal multiplied by man's skill is infinitely mtdtiplied into force, warmth, iigrbrs. electric cars. Iron mtdiipUed by man become steam enrines. laihoads, steam ships, cannon, needles. watch.springs and a thousand other things. And so of many other tbinirs. Two men representing an uuportant msrirunon * * w^ere once in great straits for their cause, when one said to the other. • I am 0, you are 0, but Chrisr is 1: and that makes ICv. With Christ behind us we must succeed." A. D. -- j.«.-rr--. r- iici r. .ij TKl.KD VE_4R r.^LlNG THK C-Ri.AT , M3XISTKV. PI_AIX OF i butaih.a belonging TO ! BETHS-UDA. ¦ j;>K>-. aUiPnST, j J^^SAI^HT IX I siAjtcH, .*. r. =:, o:j>. Feedliuc the FiTe Thousand. Training by Wohs. — President EUior of Harvard University, in a late lecture sr Brooklyn, recognized daily labor as an important and ¦wholesome part of education, and advocates manual trainLnc in s-chrols for those who cam; or otherwise obtain the accuracy, patience, fore thought and go.' 1 iu.l^menr developed by accurate hand-work. The principal of a larg^? city schocd told me that the manual training was au aid in the inteUectual smdies of the pupils. S-.^ Jesas in this miracle s