stars. The work of Christ is not associated with that of John. The Baptist is but tho forerunner-the pioneer opening up the wo.y for the glorious King. I. l'Ill,PARATION FOR CHRIST IS NEEDED. The Jews were not fit to receive their Messiah ; they needed the preliminary work of the prophet of the wildemese to make them rightly susceptible to the new influences of the kingdom. The world will not welcome its Saviour till the way has been made ready for his approach. Individual men and women are far from the kingdom of heaven, and the intervening district is wild and impassable till God makes a providential path across it. 'l.'he plouO'hman must precede the sower. It is the work of John the Baptists to break up the fallow ground. Sometimes the messenger comes in the form of a great sorrow. Men are arrested and aroused, made to feel their helplessness and their need, Then, but not till then, they may rPceive the kingdom. 11. THE METHOD OF PIIEPARATION MAY DE VERY UNLIKE THE METHOD OF SALVA· TION. John the Baptist is very different from Jesus Christ, 'l'he one iR a recluse, the ot:her a brotherly, sociable Man; the one lives in a wild, antique fashion, the other quite simply and naturally; the one speaks in thunder, the other in the still, small voice of sympathy and "sweet reasonableness." Nevertheless, John prepares for Jesus, The furnace that melts out the ore is harsh and fierce, yet it is making the metal rea<ly for the goldsmith to work up into his beautiful design. Most un-Christlike experiences may bring us near to Christ. Ill. THE ESSE:!."'TIAL PRELIMINARY TO THE RECEPTION OF CHRIST IS REPENTANCE. The burden of the Baptist's message was" Repent I" It is not to be eupposed that he only preached the word. He must have laboured to produce the thing ; he must have made it his aim to lead his hearers to a deep sense of their sin. Until a man owns his guilt he will not seek pardon. The reason of this is obvious directly it is percoived that salvation is just deliverance from sin; for who would wish for such a salvation while still clinging to his evil babits? To such a person Christ would appear not at all as a deliverer, but rather as an invader, as a robber who came to steal the choice treasures of the heart. IV. REPE!."'T.ANCE IS ENCOURAGED BY THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, That kingdom is near at hand ; therefore the Baptist urges hie hearers to lose no time in makin~ themselves ready for it. The vision of the better life reveals the shame and horror of the life of sin. If there were no hope there would be no repentrmee; in such a state the awakened conscience could only plunge the soul into remorse-which is hell. Therefore the message of the Baptist must be twofold. It is not right or wise to preach of sin by itself, nor to try to induce repentance chiefly by painting the guilt of the past in the blackest colours. The anticipation of Christ is the best inducement to repentance.-W. F. A.
Ver. 8.-The fruit of repentance. John sees a great danger. His preaching is immensely popular. Even the insincere are drawn under the spell of his oratory, and his rousing eloquence is enjoyed on its own account by many who refuse to obey its ideas. He is the lion of the season, and society runs after him as after the latest fashion. To one in dead earnest, as John was, this must have been perfectly abhorrent. Then no doubt there were sentimental, superficial hearers who were really impressed by his preaching for the time, but on whom the effect of it was merely emotional. Buch people needed to see that they must have a repentance deeper than the tears of a day. J. REPENT.ANOE MUST BE IN THE WILL AS WELL .AB IN THE EMOTIONS. It is easy to feel sorry for the wrong one has done ; yet this feeling may not carry with it any determi- nation not to repeat the wrong. A wave of emotion may sweep over the soul, and during its passage all love of sin may be buried, and only the most becoming ideas appear on the surface. But they will be but froth and foam melting into nothing, and they will vanish with the retreating wave, leaving the hard rock beneath quite unmoved. There is no real repentance until the will is touched, until the penitent resolves to abandon his sin and to seek a better life. He may well see that he cannot do this himself; his sin is too strong for him, and the better life is above his reach. Repentance is nut regeneration, but it is a sincere desire for a new life, an honest determination to seek it, II. 'l'BUE lll!'.PENTANCE WILL REVEAL ITBEl,F IN CONDUOT, It has its fruits. No· one can be really tlll'ning round from sin and setting his face towards the light without on, w.1-17.] 'fHE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 83