rage; and supposing that Jesus was at Bethlehem, he was resolved yet to carry his wicked design against him into effect. He could not, indeed, learn which was the infant he wanted; but to make sure of his mark, he ordered some of his officers to go to Bethlehem, and kill all the children that were two years old and under, thinking that by killing the children of that age he should be sure to kill the new king.. The wicked king Herod was so cruel that history tells us he even slew thre eof his own sons; no wonder then that he had a heart so hard as to kill the poor little infants in Bethlehem.

When Herod was dead, Joseph was again spoken to by an angel in a dream; and, being ordered to return, he left Egypt and went to live at Nazareth.

Account of John the Baptist, the Forerunner of

Jesus Christ.

MATTHEW III.

Another testimony to Jesus being the Messiah is stated by St. Matthew. It is that the Messiah was to have a forerunner; or, as great men used to have footmen or heralds going before them, to clear the way for them, so Jesus was to be announced to the world by a prophet. And in those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea."-This was

the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord;" which the prophet Isaiah foretold in the fortieth chapter of his prophecy.

John the Baptist-the name by which he is distinguished from John the Evangelist-was a priest of the order of Aaron, though we do not find that ho ever ministered in the temple; but we shall have occasion to notice more about him as we proceed through the four Gospels.

The subject on which John the Baptist preached, was repentance; the theme of his discourses was-" Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

The dress of John the Baptist appears to have been singular enough; but it was the dress in which the prophets usually appeared-perhaps a camel's skin with the hair on it, or a garment of hair, which was very rough; for in such plain robes the prophets used to dress. John's meat

was also as singular as his dress, for he lived chiefly on "locusts and wild honey."

"Then

It appears that John by his preaching attracted great crowds. went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan;" not that every person in Jerusalem and Judea, and round about them, heard him at the same time, nor that every person heard him at all, --but Matthew means that the crowds were great from all parts of Jerusalem and Judea, and they were of all sorts, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, pharisees and publicans. To these he spoke in bold language, and warned them to flee from the wrath to come! And he told them not to boast about Abraham being their father, that is, not to boast that they were Jews descended from Abraham; but to bring forth good fruit, that is good works, as a good tree brings forth good fruit; and so, if they wished to be thought the children of pious Abraham, they must be pious like Abraham.

Our Lord Jesus from his childhood till now, when he was almost thirty years of age, had lain hid in Galilee.

"It is supposed that John the Baptist began to preach and baptize about six months before Christ appeared." Prior to his entering on his ministry, Christ underwent the ceremony of purification; and John baptized him, though he felt reluctant to do it, and thought it too great an honour when Christ went to him for that purpose. After this was done, John saw the heavens opened, as it were; the sky looked all clear, and bright, and glorious, to his eyes, and the sweet influences of Divine grace were coming gently and yet strikingly upon Jesus, "like a dove"-that is, in some form

of light resembling the appearance of a dove, and mild as a dove,—or as a dove descends, and hovers, and lights.

John also heard a voice speaking from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Thus was Jesus declared to be the Son of God.

In this chapter you read of "the Pharisees and Sadducees;" their names will often occur in these Gospels. I will next tell you who they were.

The Pharisees" were a sect or set of men among the Jews, who professed to observe the law of God more than any others; they made a great show of their religion outwardly, and took care that everybody should take notice of them when they prayed, or did any religious service. They contrived, by these means, to gain the favour of the multitude, and their influence was at last so great, that they filled many of the best offices. They taught that men could merit heaven, and so they would not need a Saviour.

They believed that the soul

The Sadducees" were a sort of Infidels. died when the body was dead, and denied that the body would rise again. As they believed there was neither reward nor punishment in another world, they did not leave sinners to humble themselves before God, or to receive their deserts from him, but punished offenders against the law in the severest manner. While the Pharisees believed in traditions, these people believed only in the written law of Moses.

The Temptation of Jesus Christ.

MATTHEW IV.

Jesus, having received mighty strength of soul to resist all sin, was now, by the Holy Spirit acting powerfully on his mind, caused to go up into the mountains of the wilderness, where, being alone, engaged in holy exercises, the devil was allowed to tempt him, as he does us, to sin. Some think that the devil appeared to him in a bodily shape; but he could tempt Christ, as he tempts us, without taking any bodily form.

Moses fasted forty days and forty nights before he delivered the law to the people of Israel; and Christ fasted forty days and forty nights before he entered upon preaching the Gospel. Thus, he was further prepared, by self-denial and holy communion, to engage in his work. During this time, his nature was supported as was that of Moses, but at the end of the time

he was exceedingly hungry. Then it was that the tempter made the first attack upon his mind, and said, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Now this was tempting Christ to doubt whether he was the divine person which he really was. Jesus could have turned the stones into bread if he would, for he afterwards turned water into wine; but he was not going to lower his divine dignity at the suggestion of the tempter, and he said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." By this he meant, that God's word told us to rely upon him to find us bread when we wanted it, and that those who trusted in him need not require the power of working miracles to produce bread from stones, but only let them trust in God, and he would provide for them. The passage which our Lord quoted, you will find in the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, and in the third verse. Satan then urged the Saviour to go to the pinnacle-or the top of the temple in Jerusalem, which was not far off. While he was here, standing over the holy city of Jerusalem, Satan suggested to him to cast himself down; and then further suggested that it was written in the word of God, "He shall give his angels charge over thee," so that he could try by this whether what God's word said was true. Jesus directly replied, with an answer from Scripture, "It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." To tempt, is to try or put to the test; and we are never to run into danger to see if God can bring us out of it. The above words are quoted from the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, and the sixteenth verse.

Christ was still troubled by the tempter; and having ascended a very high mountain, which commanded a large view of the surrounding countries, while viewing their extent, he showed him "all the kingdoms of the world,” and presented to his mind their vast dominion, if he would only serve Satan. Perhaps his suggestion was something like this: that with his mighty power, he should have all the idolatrous world immediately for his subjects, if he would conform to their customs, and justify their rites, and give honour to their false gods. Here Jesus both baffled and drove the tempter away; for he said, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Here, finally, our Lord referred to the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, and the thirteenth

verse.

Thus this vile enemy was driven away, and offered no more suggestions, for he saw that he could make no impression upon the mind of Christ, as he too often does upon our minds, when we think and do what is evil.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

After this Jesus was comforted by angels.

415

John had been cast into prison, and Jesus now began to preach; so, leaving Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, which was a province of the land of Judea; and thus a prophecy was accomplished about his appearing there to give the light of knowledge to the darkened understandings of men.

Now it was that Jesus began to choose some disciples who should attend him on his journeys, learn his doctrines, and see the wonderful things he would do, so that they might bear witness about them after he had left the world.

Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw Peter and his brother Andrew, fishing; and so-for the reason just named-he bade these fishermen follow him, for he would make them "fishers of men;" meaning, that they should no more catch fish, but he would employ them to bring sinners to be saved by him. Soon after, he saw James and John, who were fishermen also, and were in a ship, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called to them in the same way, and they also followed him.

Jesus now proceeded in preaching; and, in addition to this, he worked miracles, or did many things beyond the reach of natural means to do; and so St. Matthew gives us yet another evidence that he was the Messiah-the Anointed Saviour.

Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount.

MATTHEW V, VI, VII.

We now come to what is called our Lord's Sermon upon the Mount. It contains the beatitudes, or declarations of blessings made by Jesus. His first words are-"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." By these he means all humble souls who feel their need of a Saviour, as a truly poor man feels his need of charity. While many a proud rich man, and many a proud poor man too, shall be shut out of heaven, such a humble poor soul shall have a rich portion there.

Then he proceeds: "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted;" that is, they that are sorry for their sins, and grieve that they have offended against a good God, shall be pardoned for Jesus Christ's sake." Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth;" angry persons, full of resentment at every affront, can never enjoy any comfort