and we are inclined to say life is lost. But so long as there is a whole eternity in which to develop the preparation of time, that should never be said. A deep lesson for life to most of us is, that the great achievements are to be done not on this side, but on the other side of death. Nowhere does faith show itself more clear and victorious, than in one who goes on to the very end laboriously cultivating every power, although no outlet for exercise is visible. To be irritably and fretfully anxious for a field in which to display one's talent, is to fail in trust. The calm, unsolicitous endeavor after the perfection of our nature, and the committal to God of the instrument when it has been tempered, to use where and when He pleases, is a noble achievement of faith. And so, if we are relegated to obscurity, or compelled to be passive when we are willing to be active, and when we think our instruments are ready, let us spend the time not in fretting but in preparing, -in strengthening our wills, kindling our inspirations, cultivating our faculties, and then, when the word falls upon our listening ears, we shall be ready to say, "Here am I; Thou hast called me at last, and I am before Thee with all my powers and my oppor

tunities." Jesus Christ spent eighteen years at Nazareth in silence. The result of them was,"a few years of action, but of action concentrated, intense, infinite. Not one word, not one deed, which did not tell, and which will not tell, upon the universe forever. Eighteen years of silence, and then the regeneration of the world accomplished, His Father's business done!"

CHAPTER IV.

John Baptist and the Baptism of Christ.

"Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: nevertheless he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

WE

"He the last star of parting night,

And we the children of the dawn."

E are justly suspicious of summary judg ments on so complex a thing as a man's life and work. Human life and character are so mixed and mysterious, that we do not care to have the secret of a man's history packed into a neat epigram. But of John the Baptist we have a brief judgment passed by the Master and the Judge of souls. "Among them that are born of women," said He, "there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: nevertheless he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Here we have an anticipation of the judgment-seat, and here we have also some justification of our suspicion of human judgments, for neither in one part of the judgment nor in the other do

we find what we should have expected to find. There are men in history whom we should be inclined to place higher than John; and certainly we should shrink from saying that the least and humblest believer was greater than he. But the judgment of Christ is our unerring guide, and, after glancing at the history, we shall dwell upon what it tells us of the greatness and littleness of John the Baptist.

In the first period of John's life we find him in the wilderness, weary of the hollowness and untruth of the world. He went into the desert to commune with his own soul. During that period his mind had intimate converse with the prophets of the old covenant. The marks of their influence and that of the desert scenery appear prominently in his after teaching. He was not alone in the desert in vain. Away from the deceit of man, he found truth at last. The whole truth was not disclosed to him, but a message was given which he might with certainty communicate to his generation. The message once gained, he could not waste it on the desert air. He had to pay the debt he owed to his kind. The word burned within him; he was weary of forbearing, and could not stay; and, without taking time to adapt

his ways and speech to the polished uses of society, this strong son of the desert presented himself before the startled Jews, and proclaimed. that he was the forerunner of the Messiah, and that the Messiah was near at hand-even at the door.

It is in accordance with the way of God to guide history by a gradual process,―to give men indications of His coming work and will. Streaks herald the dawn, and the dawn the day. The long line of prophets had foretold the coming of Jesus, but still the day lingered, and their voices had become silent. Time, however, had not ceased to flow, and time brought with it the coming of Christ. When He was near, John was appointed to give warning, and to tell them that the Saviour, whom they had long looked for, was at last nigh.

He had to tell them, further, that they were not ready for His coming. Their life, unreal and sinful, must be thoroughly reformed before they could meet the King with welcome. The King was coming to lay His axe to the old Jewish tree. He came with His fan in His hand thoroughly to purge His floor, and to cast the chaff into the fire. Repent!" was the message of this stern prophet, a message not addressed to one.

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