return, baptism has a fixed and irremovable place. And the very men who had the baptism of the Holy Ghost, in its glorious fulness, both preached baptism in water, and administered it, and did not surrender it, even when it was misused. Christ Jesus, to whom the Spirit was given without measure, said, "It becomes me to be baptized in order to fulfil all righteousness;" and Peter distinctly proclaimed that the indwelling of the Holy Ghost was a reason for baptism in water, and not a reason against it, when he said, "Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" God Himself says, in Ezekiel, that the gift of the Spirit is intended to issue in obedience to all His laws. "I will give them a new spirit, and I will take away the heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them." IV. But I was baptized when I was an infant: will not that suffice? Not if you are really to attend to the Lord's will in the precise way in which He directs. For, first of all, the act itself was not according to the New Testament pattern; it was a sprinkling, and not an immersion. Secondly, the place of the act was not according to the divine order. The direction is-teach, and then baptize; believe, and then be baptized. We have no warrant to change the relationship, any more than we have, according to the laws of England, to marry actual infants, or to sign contracts before we write them. Moreover, the act, whatever it was, and whenever it came, was not your own, and cannot in any way be regarded as your obedience to the will of the Lord Jesus. If, then, you have any felt craving after personal and full obedience to the commands of Christ; if you experience any deep desire to seize any opportunity of attesting your homage and devotion to Jesus Christ; if you wish, with a blameless fidelity, to do ALL you can, and not as little as you can, to show your love to Him who gives Himself to you, you will say at once, "I need to be baptized;" and you will find your baptism an occasion of fortified faith, deepened devotion, and holy joy in Christ Jesus the Lord of your life. JOHN CLIFFORD. What is Success ? "FOR even the best men in the Church at Glamerton, as, following apostolic example without regard to circumstance, they called each separate community of the initiate, were worldly enough to judge of the degree of heavenly favour shown them-not by the love they bore to the truth and to each other, not by the purity of their collective acts and the prevalence of a high standard of morality in the individual— poor as even these divine favours would have been as a measure of the divine favour-but, in a great degree, by the success which attended the preaching of their pastor, in adding to their esoteric communion, and, still worse, by the numbers which repaired to their Court of the Gentiles-their exoteric congregation." G. Macdonald, in "Alec Forbes"-p. 312. Preparation of Lessons. A PAPER FOR TEACHERS. BY REV. T. BARRASS. PREPARATION has to be made in the most ordinary affairs of daily life. We should not be very much gratified when sitting down to partake of food for the body unless some attention had been given to the preparation; and it will certainly follow that not less care should be exercised in preparing food for the mind. It is universally acknowledged that ministers must prepare for their congregations; and wilful and indolent neglect on their part will soon diminish the number of those who listen to them. It is frequently said that the work of Sunday school teachers is next in importance to that of ministers, and therefore there should be the most careful endeavour so to prepare as to arrest attention, convey instruction, and produce impression. In In former times preparation was considerably neglected. There was no systematic course of study. The lessons were chosen at random, and, not unfrequently, when the class was assembled. some cases the time was occupied by reading chapter after chapter, rather than "by giving the sense, and causing them to understand the reading." Now the International Lesson System supplies a judicious selection of portions of Scripture, made by competent men. The lesson is chosen, and you know beforehand what it will be, while "helps" of various kinds are provided month after month, so that you have no lack of materials; still you must study for yourselves; you must select and make your own what others have placed at your disposal, and that will generally be the most instructive and useful lesson on which you have bestowed the most thought and prayer. I admit that some of you have but little time, and therefore advise you to seize the earliest opportunity of commencing your preparation. There is in many of us a tendency to put off our duties as long as we possibly can, and then we either work at high pressure, or, feeling that time is short, do our work carelessly. If the preparation of lessons be left until the end of the week, other things will crowd upon you, your thoughts will not flow freely, you will feel disheartened, and think it is of no use trying, and that you had better give up the work. Your comfort and efficiency will be greatly promoted if you form the habit of reading the lesson for the next Sunday very early in the week. Think about it as yon walk, or work; turn it over in your minds, gather illustrations from your daily duties, from your reading, or from the objects around you, and note them down, that you may know where to find them, or it is likely they may be absent when you want them. In the cultivation of this habit you will seem to have much more time than you expected, as you will be led to employ the odd minutes which are so often wasted when there is nothing definite to engage your thoughts. Prepare the outline of your lesson carefully. Unless you have a plan on paper, or in your minds, your lesson will be discursive, without connection and without point. It will be helpful to you, and beneficial to your scholars, if you arrange your thoughts naturally and systematically. Do not take the outlines which others have made, but make your own. Not long ago I was in a museum, in which there are art treasures of great value. In several of the rooms I saw artists, who were engaged on paintings, and I observed that they first sketched their plan, and afterwards, with much labour and skill, filled in the picture. It is so with the architect and the minister. You will, some of you, find this difficult at first, but practice will make it easier; and often the main thoughts will strike your minds on the first reading of the lesson. Of course you will not always form just the same kind of outline, but vary it according to the nature of the subject, and the capacities of your scholars. Assuming that you have your plan, you must then work it out, and clothe your skeleton with flesh until it stands out in beautiful proportions, and is instinct even with life itself: you must therefore study your lesson very thoughtfully. Ascertain its meaning; look out the various truths which it contains, and which you desire to convey to the minds of your scholars, and present them in such a way as will be likely to keep up the interest, and increase it, until you bring the lesson to a close. Let your introduction be short and striking, naturally leading to the subject in hand; let your exposition be clear and scriptural; your illustrations such as will give light and pleasure; and your application such as will send your children home thinking about what they have heard, and desiring to carry out in their lives the truths which have been brought home to their hearts. You may find this course difficult for a time, but conscientious and persevering effort will overcome difficulty and make your work easier and pleasanter also. I have been asked whether it is desirable, in every case, to reserve the application to the close. I think not. It is well to have variety, and you may often apply the different points with propriety and force as you pass along. With regard to the position of the application," Mr. Spurgeon said, not long ago,-" The custom used to be always to finish a sermon with a practical conclusion, but he found that the sinners had learned to expect this, and got themselves ready for it. He therefore now brought in his practical conclusion in a part of the sermon where it was not expected, and so took a shot at them when they were not on their guard." Sometimes when you try to prepare, your minds will seem blank, and the lesson will appear to be beyond your grasp. Copy the example of Sir Isaac Newton, who said "I keep holding a subject before me, and it gradually opens, and I see into it." Do not forget to offer the prayer: "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." If you feel you are doing your best you may consistently seek the Lord's help, and may go to your class with an approving conscience; while, if you have wilfully neglected preparation, you will be ill at ease, and can scarcely expect the Divine blessing. It is certain you cannot impart knowledge until you have first acquired it. It is equally certain that, as a rule, the more ample and accurate your preparation is the more confidence and comfort you will feel in teaching. The children will very soon know whether you have come prepared to teach them, or whether you are like a clergyman of whom PREPARATION OF LESSONS. 18 I once read, who said to the late Bishop of Lichfield, "Why, my lord, I often go to the vestry, even without knowing what text I shall preach upon; yet I go and preach an extempore sermon, and think nothing of it." The Bishop replied, "Ah, well, that agrees with what I hear from your people, for they hear the sermon, and they also think nothing of it.” It is said of the late Dr. Chalmers that "he prepared as carefully for his class of Sunday scholars as for his class in the university." The more completely you store your minds with all matters of geography, history, or doctrine, referred to in your lesson, or fitted to throw light upon it, the more interest will be awakened in the class; and this preparation is particularly needful now, as the young are receiving, in the day schools, an education far superior to that which was formerly given. It is exceedingly desirable that you seek for variety in dealing with different classes of subjects, and adapt your teaching to the circumstances and attainments of your scholars. Preparation suitable for an advanced class might be unsuitable for an infant or elementary class, as when a "tract distributor, in an army hospital, gave a tract on dancing to a soldier who had lost both his legs." This caused no small amusement among his comrades. How much may be learned from the Great Teacher. How singularly appropriate were His addresses to the condition of His hearers; and how familiar and instructive were the homely illustrations which He made use of. He refered to objects that were around them, such as the vine, the salt, the city on a hill, the sower. He pressed into His service the flowers of the field as well as the customs of men to give point to the lessons He wished to impress on the memory and heart. So you will find it helpful if you can gather illustrations from scenes and circumstances familiar to your scholars. Throw "If Let your preparation be made earnestly and prayerfully. your heart into your work, and look up for help to him who says, any man lack wisdom let him ask of God." It is God's word you have to teach, and human souls you have to profit. There is no small responsibility resting upon you. Your work is of transcendent importance, and may result in infinite and eternal good. The ends at which you aim are such as an angel might gladly labour to secure, and such as Jesus lived, suffered, died, and rose again to accomplish. The young people entrusted to your care are, alas, too much inclined to evil, while around them are temptations to sin; and innumerable enemies are striving to ruin them for ever. Do you not therefore need, with all your heart, to devote yourselves to this work. Intense earnestness on your part will be contagious, and will be felt by the children. A solemn and earnest spirit should lead you when you sit down to study your lesson to cry to the Father of lights that He may enlighten your minds, and cause you to understand, and rightly to divide His word; and may also shed His love in your hearts by the Holy Spirit given to you. Thus, with minds enlightened from above, and hearts inflamed with heavenly love, you will the better understand the word of God, you will sympathize the more deeply with its pure teachings and benevolent purposes, and be the more fitted to instruct the minds of your scholars, impress their hearts, and renew their lives. A teacher who thinks lightly of his work, and attends to it in a fitful and inconstant manner, is not likely to do much good; but he who devotes himself with selfsacrificing zeal and believing prayer to his duties will assuredly be useful, and will hear the voice of the Great Master saying to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Some of the most useful teachers I have known have had very few early advantages, and have been employed in daily toil; but they have loved their classes and prayed much for them, and have striven to improve their own minds. They have devoted some portion of their time each day to the increasing of their stores of knowledge. They have read suitable books, and thought about them, and have laid up in their memories the things that were fitted to interest and instruct. It has been their constant endeavour, whether at home or elsewhere, to become wiser, holier, and more useful. Nor is it possible to be too earnest in such a work. To save even one soul from death is surely an object sufficiently noble and exalted to lead every Sunday school teacher diligently to seek the qualifications necessary for the efficient discharge of his duties." While preparing your lesson, do not forget to seek that you may also be prepared. "Thou must be true thyself, if thou the truth wouldst teach; If any of you are discouraged, and are thinking of giving up the work because of supposed unfitness, or apparent lack of success, I would say to you-consider what redeeming love has done for you; lay yourselves afresh at the Saviour's feet; and "Be not weary in well doing." UNRECORDED WORTH.-The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric facts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.-George Eliot. |
