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LITTLE GEORGIE'S SERMON.

ITTLE Georgie was very fond of playing at being a minister. Even before he could speak quite plainly, he used to build for himself a pulpit in the nursery, and standing there address his little sister. And what do you think he said? This is what he said oftenest, 'Be good, and don't be naughty.'

Little Georgie's sermon was a very short one, but it meant a great deal, and it reminds us of a sermon to children that was written three thousand years ago. The writer was a poet and a musician, a shepherd and a soldier, and he became a king. His sermons were all poems, arranged to sweet music, and they were written in a very wonderful manner. He tells us himself, that when he wrote these poems, he was only a pen in the hand of the Holy Spirit. Is it not wonderful that the Holy Spirit should have whispered into his mind words for the children? Would you like to know of which of his words little Georgic's sermon reminded us? We shall tell you part of that old, old sermon to the little ones

Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days, that he may see good?

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.'

These lines were written for children to commit to memory, and if you think of their meaning, you will see that it is very like little Georgie's sermon, 'Be good, and don't be naughty.'

But perhaps some of our young friends will say as little Georgie sometimes said, I want to be good, and not to be naughty, but the badness always comes, and I can't keep it away.' Good King David felt so too, and so in another poem he teaches us to pray, Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.' We can never be good till we have washed in the blood of Jesus

"There is a fountain filled, with blood,
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.'

On New-year's-day friends often express for each other the wish, 'A good new-year and many happy returns of the season.' This is the very wish David speaks of when he says, What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days, that he may see good?' and then he tells us what we must do if we would have this good wish fulfilled; He says, 'Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile,' &c. That we may be able to obey these precepts, would it not be well to begin the new-year with David's prayer-

'Do thou with hyssop sprinkle me,
I shall be cleansed so;

Yea, wash thou me, and then I shall
Be whiter than the snow.

HOME LESSONS FOR THE LORD'S DAY. WHO IS HE?

WHAT think ye of Christ? whose

G son is He? That was the text of the sermon we heard to-day, mamma, and the minister told us that when Jesus was in the world, even the learned Scribes and Pharisees did not know that the Christ, the promised Messiah was to be God as well as man. When Jesus asked them, "Whose son is He?" they only answered, "6 The son of David," and they could not tell why David called him Lord!'

'And can you answer the question which so puzzled the Pharisees. If David call Him Lord, how is He his son?'

'Yes, mamma, Katie replied, Christ is David's Lord, because He is God Almighty, and He is David's son, because Mary His mother was descended from King David.'

"The truth that Christ is God, as well as man, is clearly revealed in every page of the New Testament, and in many portions of the Old, and yet even in our own day many learned men, like the Pharisees of old, deny that Jesus is the Son of God, and only regard Him as the son of David.'

'Did the Jews not understand the prophecy where Jesus is called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace?'

'The Jews knew well that that prophecy and also the 110th Psalm quoted by Jesus, both referred to the Messiah, but their minds were so filled with the expectation of an earthly prince, who should sit on King David's throne, that they never thought of the Messiah as divine. They looked for one who should deliver them from the Romans, not for a divine Redeemer from sin, and when they read the Scriptures the veil was on their hearts, so that they could not understand them.'

'And mamma, did they not believe when they saw the wonderful miracles Jesus did?' asked little Maggie.

'Only those who were taught by the Holy Spirit believed. When Jesus healed a man who was deaf, dumb, and blind, some of the Pharisees were so very wicked that they said that He had cast out the evil spirit by Satan's power. They knew that man could not do such a miracle, and yet they would not believe Jesus when He told them that He had done it by the finger of God.'

'Some of the Jews believed that Jesus is God, mamma, 'added Katie, 'for Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

Yes, Peter and many others believed, and if you read Jesus' answer to Peter's confession, it will tell you why they did so. Matt. 16. 17.'

'And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.'

"These words explain to us why men now, as well as in the time of our Saviour, have so many different opinions concerning the person of the Lord Jesus. It is only those who are taught of God who think rightly of Christ:

'What think you of Christ is the test?

To try both your state and your scheme : You cannot be right in the rest,

Unless you think rightly of Him.'

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Willie, you might repeat the answer in the Catechism to the question, Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?'

The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever.

That answer is a very clear statement of Scripture truth, concerning the person of the Lord Jesus, the only Redeemer. It tells us who He is that we may believe on Him, and is the first of a series on His work of redemption, a very interesting portion of the Catechism. The last portion you learned shewed us our sinful and miserable, lost and ruined condition by nature; this shews us One mighty to save. cannot mistake the meaning of the answer you have now repeated, it is so plain, it tells us of the greatest wonder in the world's history. Harry, you know what is the most wonderful event that ever took place in the world?'

You

'That was when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, mamma.'

'That is the wonder of wonders. That the eternal Son of God, the King of kings, should have laid aside His glory, taken a human body, been born in a stable and laid in a manger, that He might redeem us from death is the great mystery into which angels look with adoring wonder.

"Cold on His cradle the dew-drops are shining, Low lies His bed with the beasts of the stall, Angels adore Him, in slumber reclining,

Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all."

'Willie, you can tell me some things from the life of Christ which shew us that He was really a man like ourselves, with a true body and a reasonable soul?'

'He was born a babe, and grew to manhood as we do. He was hungry in the wilderness, and wearied and thirsty when He sat by the well. He fell asleep in the little ship, He wept by the grave of Lazarus, and He died on the cross and was buried.'

'All these circumstances shew us that the Son of God was partaker of human nature, that He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He took

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not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. He needed to take a human nature that He might die for us, and He needed a divine nature to be able to save us from death. Could He have been our Redeemer had He been only man?'

'No, mamma,' little Maggie replied, 'a man could not save us though he was ever so good, but we know that Jesus is God, because He healed so many sick people, made blind men see, and raised the dead. No one but God could do these things.'

'Yes, we know that Jesus is God, and so able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. Those who tell us that Jesus is only a very holy man, a perfect example for our imitation, leave us without a Saviour, for no man can redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him. It is because He is both God and man in two distinct natures, and one person for ever, that He is an all-sufficient Saviour.'

'And, mamma,' added Willie, 'the minister told us that Jesus could not be a good man at all if He was not God, because He told the people over and over again, a great many times that He was God, and no good man could say such a thing.'

'Certainly not. What an awful sin it would be for any mere man to say that he was God. And yet this was what Jesus constantly affirmed, and what He was at last put to death for affirming, and He shewed the truth of what He had said, by rising again from the dead on the third day. Who but God could destroy death. Do you remember what Thomas said when Jesus shewed him the print of the nails?' 'He said, My Lord and my God.'

The divinity of Christ is the truth on which all our hopes of salvation depend; Jesus cannot be our Saviour unless He is our Lord and our God.'

Charlotte Elizabeth was on one occasion trying to explain the way of salvation to a deaf and dumb boy, in whom she took a great interest. She told him that Jesus stood in the room of sinners, that He had obeyed God's law, and borne the punishment of sin instead of them. But the boy

asked how could one stand for so many?' After thinking for a moment, Charlotte Elizabeth saw a pile of rose leaves in the room. Taking her ring from her finger, she held it in one hand, while she lifted a bunch of the withered rose leaves with the other, and holding out both hands to the boy, she said, 'one and so many.' He grasped the idea at once, and said, 'the one was worth far more than the many,' and thus he learned the meaning of the expression, the precious blood of Christ.' That dumb boy not only learned to know the truth about Christ, but he learned to know Him as His own Saviour.

'Tis eternal life to know Him;O how He loves.'

I LONG TO SEE THEE, JESUS.

I LONG to see Thee, JESUS,

And dwell with Thee on high, To wear the robe of glory,

And never, never die!

I long to see the angels,

And be like them above;
And share for aye the glory
Of Thy eternal love!
I long to see the mansions
So beautiful and fair;
To tread their golden pavements,
To breathe their balmy air:
I long to see my Saviour,

And join the blood-bought throng,
Who round His throne for ever
Praise Him in lofty song.

I long to love Thee, Jesus,
In perfect fulness there;
Unmarr'd by sin or weakness,
By frailty or by fear!
But oh! I am so sinful,

So weak, so poor, so blind!
I NEED THEE, GREAT PHYSICIAN!
To heal my sinful mind.
Then, never leave me, Jesus,

Let not my footsteps stray;
Be THOU my Guide, my Shepherd,
Lead Thou me on my way:
And then, at last, dear Jesus,
May I with joy serene
Behold Thee! and for ever

UPON THY BOSOM LEAN! WILLIAM OUIN.

(Tune 83 or 52 in Hynms and Tunes for Forenoon Services' will be found very suitable for the above.)