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spiratiou by which the mercury may
be caused to ascenil.
With a conviction of this need in
my own church, and after securing
information from other pastors, with
a desire to do something toward vi
talizing this service, and with the hope
of unifying it throughout our Church,
the writer wrote Secretary Magill,
suggesting the preparation by his
committee, of a series of topics for
each week of the year and publishing
the same on folders similar to the
topics used by the Young Peoples So
cieties. Mr. Magill very courteously
replied, and began to take steps to
do thi3. He was fortunate in securing
permission to use the topics for 1917
arranged by Dr. William H. Roberts,
which are used extensively in the U.
S. A. Church. The Committee of Pub
lication has issued a very attractive
folder for the year 1917, which can be
secured for the small cost of $1.00
per hundred. Our Church papers have
willingly consented to furnish a week
ly treatment of the topics.
My experience, and that of a num
ber of pastors with whom I have
talked, has taught me the value of
using such topics and having the
printed lists placed in the hands of all
church members. Many who cannot
attend the prayer meeting use the
topics in their devotional readings at
home. It so unifies the studies that
inspiration is secured and interest de
veloped which makes the prayer meet
ing a service worth while. It is ear
nestly hoped that very many of our
pastors will adopt the topics for their
prayer meetings during 1917. Note
also the advantage of studying each
month about the missionary work of
the Church.
Jas. E. Green.
Boonville, Mo.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
JOHN THE BAPTIST AXD JESUS.
Jan. 14, 1917. John 1:19-34.
Golden Text: "Behold the Lamb
of God that taketli away the ain of
the world." John 1:29.
With these verses we begin the earth
ly history of our Saviour as recorded
by John. Some time previous to this
Jesus had come to John while he was
baptizing, and had been baptized by
him. He then went away into the
wilderness where for forty days he
was tempted by the devil. Probably
immediately following his temptation
he returned to the neighborhood In
which John was preaching. By this
time John's preaching had attracted
a good deal of attention, so that the
rulers of the Jews became Interested
and wanted to know who he really
was. So they sent a special deputa
tion of priests and Levites, men who
would be best fitted to ask the ques
tions of him, and to receive his an
swer, as they were specially connected
with the worship of God, and the study
of the Scriptures.
At this time the Jews were expect
ing the coming of the Saviour, who
had long been promised. They real
ized that the time for the fulfilment
of the prophecies was at hand. And
so when this great preacher appeared
they naturally thought that he might
be the Messiah. When John was asked
If he was, he denied it and said, "I
am not the Christ." They knew also
that It had been predicted that Elijah
was to come as the forerunner of the
Messiah, and so they asked if he was
Elijah, and again he said he was not.
Mose3 had prophesied that a great
prophet should arise in Israel, and
they wanted to know If he was that
prophet, and again John said that hs
was not Then came the question,
"Who art thou? What sayeth thou
of thyself?" John in reply said that
he was only a Voice crying in the wil
derness, in accordance with the proph
ecy of Isaiah, who was to come before
the days of the Messiah, and prepare
a way tor his coming. In that country
good roads were very rare, and so
when the king wished to travel from
one part of the country to another
heralds were sent out to order tlfe
people along the way to build and re
pair the roads over which the king
would travel. John was Bent to pre
pare the hearts of the peoplo to re
ceive their king.
In all of his replies to their ques
tions John shows an example of true
humility. Had ho claimed to be the
promised Messiah no doubt the people
would have rallied to him and have
been ready to receive and proclaim
him the king, but he made no such
claim. He would only claim that he
was the "Voice," not even a speaker.
The voico is but the means of pre
senting the thought of the mind. John
does not even claim to original? the
thoughts which he utters, but is mere
ly the spokesman for God. Our
Saviour said of John, "Among them
that are born of women, there hath
not arisen a greater than John the
Baptist." Matt. 11:11. When he
made no claim to being any great one
these messengers of the rulers wished
to know why he was baptizing. They
seem to have expected that the Mes
siah or Elijah would baptize, but if
he was not one of these they would
like to know by what authority he
was administering this ordinance.
John's statement was that he was
only baptizing with water. It may
be noticed that nothing was said to
him about the method of his baptism,
showing that he made no change in
the form with which they were fa
miliar, and which no Jew would have
attempted to change, without the au
thority of the rulers. In another place
it is said that John baptized unto re
pentance, showing that he consid
ered it the ceremonial cleansing with
which the Jews were familiar. When
they had committed sin, there were
certain ceremonies which they must
perform in order to be cleansed from
their sin. One of these was sprink
ling with water, which they called
living water, that is, water taken fresh
from a running stream. Very naturally
in the performance of this ceremony
they would go to the edge of the
stream, and as they usually were bare
footed, or wore only sandals, it would
be very natural for them to step out
a little way into the water to be sure
to get clean, pure water for the sprink
ling. It is to be noticed that John
said, I baptize with water, and not
in water.
He seems to imply that baptism Is
a part of the preparation which is to
be made for the coming of the Mes
siah. It was the evidence of the people
having repented of their Bins. He tells
them that the one for whom he is
?preparing the way, is now standing
among them, although they know him
not. One of the sad features connect
ed with this history is that many of
these people really never knew him.
That la, they never realized his claim
to be the Saviour of the world, and
not knowing him as their Saviour,
they could not be saved, and so it has
been through all the ages. John said
to his hearers that the one to whom
he referred was so much worthier
than he of their esteem, and confi
dence, that he was not worthy himself
to do for him what was considered the
most menial service of untying the
strings of his sandals. So far as we
know, these messengers did not ac
cept the preaching of John. What re
port they carried back to Jerusalem
we do not know. We know that very
few of the rulers ever accepted Jesus.
The same thing is true to a pitiful
extent even to this day. There are
thousands and millions of people
among whom Christ stands, and yet
who never accept him. Christ stands
among the people of the world in
every Christian life. In every sermon
that is preached, in every church that
is built, in every good work that is
done in his name, In every manifesta
tion of his providence, yet there are
many who cannot recognize him In
any of these things, and failing to ac
cept him, they go the way of all those
who havo rejected the Saviour.
The day after the messengers came
to John, he saw Jesus coming to him.
and said to those about him, "Behold
the Lamb of God, that taketh away
the sin of the world." All through
the history of the Jews, the lamb had
been offered in sacrifice as represent
ing the Saviour to come, and so God
has now presented His Son as a
lamb for sacrifice. This sacrifice was
to pay the debt of the sin of the world.
John continues by saying that this
is the one that he referred to the day
before as being so much greater than
himself. He says that he did not
know him liimself, until he received
a special revelation from God. Wheth
er he means that he did not know
Jesus personally, or whether he did
not know what his real character waB,
we do not know. Their mothers were
cousins, but John grew up in Judea,
and Jesu3 in Nazareth, and it may
have been that they never met each
other until Jesus came to be baptized,
though it would seem from all the his
tory that John knew him as a man,
but did not know him as to his being
divine. When Jesus came to John to
be baptized, John told him that he
did not need to be baptized, but that
John himself had better be baptized
by Jesus. This would seem to Imply
that John knew the sinless character
of the man Jesus, and felt that he
had no sins to repent of, and so did
not need to be baptized. John said
that he was baptizing because he knev*
that the time had come when the Mes
siah was to be made manifest to Is
rael, and that God had told him that
the one upon whom he saw the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove,
and abiding upon him would be the
Messiah. Upon Jesus he saw this
Spirit descending, and, therefore, he
knew that Jesus was the promised
Messiah, and so he could say to the
people, "Behold the Lamb of God, that
taketh away the sin of the world."
This Saviour that John pointed out
is the only Saviour that the world has
ever known.
Some years ago Dr. Joseph Cook
delivered a famous address at the Par
liament of Religions In Chicago, fol
lowing advocates of Eastern philoso
phies. In this speech he said, turning
to the latter: "Gentlemen, I beg to
introduce a woman to you who has
had a great sorrow. She has blood
stains on her hands, and do what she
will she cannot wash them out. She
has been driven to desperation In her
distress. The blood is the blood of
a murder, and nothing can take away
the stain. Is there anything in your
philosophies or religions that will tell
this woman how to get rid of her great
sin?" Of one and then another of the
prominent representatives of human
theories he seemed to ask his ques
tion as though expecting an answer.
Then he said, "You have said nothing
that tells us how the stain of sin can
be washed from a human'life." Then,
lifting his eyes, he said: "I will ask
another. John, can you tell this wo
man how she can get rid of thjs awful
sin?" The great audience listened
breathlessly as Dr. Cook seemed to wait
for an answer. And then he said:
"Listen, John Is spvaking, 'If we con
fess our sins, he Is faithful and Just
to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness . . . the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us
from all sin."
A noted English preacher, the Rev.
G. Campbell Morgan, has related an
experience at one of his evangelistic
services in London. A hardened crim
inal came forward to the altar seek
ing salvation. Mr. Morgan knelt be
side him and pointed him to Jesus as
the Lamb of God who could cleanse
him from all his sins. And he who
had been a great sinner believed and
was converted. Then Mr. Morgan saw
the mayor of the city, a man of high
morals and greatly respected, kneeling
at the same altar, and to him, as to
the criminal, he pointed out the Lamb
of God who alone could take away
Bins, and in humble self-surrender the
mayor, too, accepted Jesus as his Sa
viour. A short time before this ihe
mayor had sentenced the criminal to
imprisonment, and there at tho altar
the two shook hands white tears of
Joy ran down their cheeks. For the
worst of sinners and for the best of
moralists there is the same Saviour.
In none other i3 there salvation, for
neither is there any other name under
heaven, wherein we must be saved. ?
Tarbell.
THRFK ESSENTIALS FOIl SUCCESS
IN TEACHING
To my fellow-laborers in the Sunday
school work, greeting. May 1917 find
us all with a great vision of the im
portance of our work, glowing enthusi
asm for the privilege of our work, and
genuine consecration for the accomplish
ment of our work.
When asked what is your part in
church work, have you ever answered
in a deprecatory sort of way, "Oh, I am
only a Sunday-school teacher"? Do not
so answer. More regrettable still la
the attitude of some teachers who re
gard theirs as a task supposed to be
necessary which they may as well as
sume as anyone else, or of those other
teachers who accept their position
cheerfully but with no appreciation
whatsoever of its responsibility, accept
ing it as they do an invitation to spend
an afternoon with a friend ? if the
weather is favorable and nothing more
interesting for that date comes up, they
will be there at the appointed time.
It is impossible to overestimate the
importance of our work. There is no
Christian service which is more worth
while, none which brings greater hap
piness to the doer, than Bible teaching.
Let us gain a clear vision of the great
ness of our high calling and of the vast
ness of its issues, for ours is the match
less privilege of setting the trend of
souls toward God and the service of
hands toward others.
"It is a great challenge to one,"
writes Miss Slattery, "to take half an J
hour now and then and think definitely
of the important matters which hinge
and turn upon the teacher as upon a
pivot. That half hour clarifies my vi
sion and brushes away the clouds of
petty detail that often hide the sun ?
children's ideas about God, boys' atti* flj
tude toward sin, girls' thoughts about ?
duty and service, young people's ideas '
of lives of self-sacrflce and loyalty to '
great ideals, turn overy Sunday upon
the life and work of teachers, as upon/'
pivots. When all has been said and \
done in the great work of improving j
equipment, and the splendid task of
increasing efficiency, the teacher re
mains the pivotal point. This is a great,
challenge, a clear call. It should sen
every teacher to whatever sources can
be found to increase his knowledge of
people and facts; it should send every
teacher to the great Book with a deep
enlng hunger to realize in life its pur
poses and plans; It should send us all
into the presence of our God sincerely
often, and With longing to learn of Him