Sabbath Evenings at Home. BY THE REV. J. JORDAN, VICAR OF ENSTONE. (Continued from page 191.) B. C. 1451. THE NINTH PROMISE OF A SAVIOUR AS A PROPHET. DEUTERONOMY XVIII. 15-19. P.-As the time approached when Moses was to be taken away from the people of Israel, and they would necessarily feel the loss of such a leader, he was commissioned of God to take this opportunity of comforting the people with a promise, which was not to be fulfilled completely until a much later day. This promise is to be found in Deut. xviii. 15-19: read the whole passage over, and then ask any question on it you like. C.-What is a prophet? P.-He is one who makes known the will of God to man. Sometimes he foretells distant events in this life, foreshowing what the Providence of God designs to bring about. Prophets were frequently sent of God to the people to warn them of their sins, or of his judgments if they did not repent. C.-Is not this then a temporal promise, for the prophet would come in this life? P.-If his office had been limited to this life, it would have been a temporal promise only, but much more than this is spoken of here; the prophet is promised of a different character from that which such persons generally were. For what is the circumstance that Moses reminds the people of, as having occurred at Horeb? C.-They had been so terrified by the voice of God, that they besought him not to speak to them again, lest they should die, but to let Moses speak for him. P.-This is in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and the fifth of Deuteronomy, and God says that in thus asking they have done well, "they have well said all that they have spoken," Deut. v. 28. They, however, had asked only for Moses to speak with them. Now Moses would die, and then the people would be left again without any one to speak for them. But God is so merciful to man that he is "ready to give us more than either we desire or deserve;" and now that the time of Moses' death draws near, He commands him to tell the people that a prophet shall be provided for them such as they have desired, one who can plead with God for i them, and whose voice they shall rejoice, and not be afraid to hear. was such a prophet? Who C.-Jesus Christ. P.-Yes, he is our Mediator, pleading between us and God, and reconciling us sinners to his Father and our Father, by his own precious blood. This, then, is a gracious promise of a Saviour from God, and one upon which the Jews had great reliance, as we see frequently alluded to in the gospels. One of the questions asked of John the Baptist was, "Art thou that prophet?" and he answered, "No," John i. 21: again the people said, "This is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world," John vi. 14; and, again, Of a truth this is the prophet," John vii. 40. 66 B. C. 1451. THE TENTH PROMISE OF A SAVIOUR AS A ROCK. DEUTERONOMY XXXII. 1-4. P. We have already seen that Moses had promised the people of Israel a Saviour, first as an angel, and, se condly, as a prophet; we have now to consider a third type or figure, under which the same promise was repeated to them. This you will find in Deut. xxxii. 1-4, which you may, therefore, read over. C.-Whom does Moses mean when he calls upon the heaven and earth to hear him? P. He means all created things, whether those that obey his laws in heaven, or men who should be his ministers on earth; and so he calls upon all his servants, in heaven and on earth, to hearken to what he has to say. C.-And what is meant by his doctrine dropping as rain, and his speech as dew? P-Rain and dew, the small rain and the showers, are the refreshings which God sends in different ways upon the earth we inhabit, and all that grows upon it; and Moses means that as by these the tender herb and the grass are nourished, so those who will receive the doctrine he teaches, shall be strengthened and refreshed by, the truths taught to them. He then begins to praise God, and calls him by a certain name; What is that name? C.-He is the Rock. P. And to what did Moses refer when he said that God was the Rock? C.-But how is it here promised that our Saviour was to be our Rock? P.-St. Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians, chap. x. ver. 4, tells us that the children of Israel "did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ? " C.-Oh! then, that at once tells us that the Rock meant Christ? C.-I do not exactly know, unless it was to the rock from which the water came in the desert. P. That is it. As the rock had on that occasion been the means, under God, of supplying their extreme necessity in the wilderness, so would God be to them on every occasion a rock fruitful of help and blessing to them in the time of trouble. P.-Certainly it does so; and our Saviour himself on one occasion speaking to his apostles, called himself the Rock; for when he had asked them whom they believed him the Son of man to be, and Peter, speaking for them all, said in reply, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He told them that this confession they had made was the rock upon which he would build his church, so that the gates of hell, that is, the strength of hell, should not prevail against it; Matth. xvi. 18. Thus we are enabled to understand other passages of the Scripture as speaking of our Saviour in the same way, as in the Psalms, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength, the Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower,” Ps. xviii. 1, 2. And since all these things are spoken of our Saviour and of God, therefore it is evident that he is God! A REWARD FOR A LIE. BY THE REV. T. WITHEROW, OF MAGHERA, IRELAND. WHERE a ship strikes upon a rock, or | duty bound, we will strive to set a buoy upon the place, that they who pass may in future be the better able to avoid it. the sounding-line tells of shallows, men sometimes place a buoy, which floats upon the surface of the water; and when the passing sailor sees the painted log rising and falling with every swell of the tide, he knows that danger is near, and he is warned, and keeps off. We think we know a spot on which more than one or two have received damage, if not shipwreck; and, as in A Sabbath-school teacher, whom we know.well, and whose labours in the great cause have, we believe, been blessed, brought one morning to the school a number of catechisms for distribution to his class. One or two of his scholars said they had catechisms, all the others said they had none. Those said her mother: "you did as you "Remember that, dear Eliza, and never be a liar." "You know, dear mamma, I went to the school this morning with neighbours Jane and Sarah. They told me along the way how their mother had bought each of them a new catechism on last market-day; and they said, if I once saw how pretty their books were, I would not look at my own old one any more. Our teacher asked us all when we went in, if we had any catechisms, and each of those who said they had not, received one from him as a present. Jane, after all she told me, by the way, denied that she had any, and got a new one. Sarah did the same. When it came to my turn to be asked, I told the truth, that I had one at home. So you see, mamma, I must be doing with this old catechism; but, had I told a lie, I would have got a new one." This conversation came to the knowledge of the teacher; and although he │ had acted with the purest motives, and as many judicious teachers would have done under the same circumstances, he felt that in this expression of his kind. ness there was a temptation to commit sin, and determined that in future he would run the risk of giving a present to one who would not need it, rather than give what might appear to his scholars a reward for a lie. We would have all sabbath-school teachers to "Do not repent of what you did," make the same determination. "Not at present," said Eliza, "but as I was reading something lately I think I could find it. O yes! Here it is: Rev. xxi. 8, All liars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.'' " Reviews. What is the Pope? By ANGELO TAC- The Mother's Friend. A Monthly MagaCHELLA, T. C. 8vo. 32 pp. Partridge and Oakey. zine. B. L. Green. FRAGMENT of a volume announced for ublication, entitled, "A Farewell to Come," and brought out at this juncture warn Englishmen and their rulers not admit the policy which would lead the ation to a recognition of the Pope, whose wer, temporally, is viewed as but a hadow, while his ecclesiastical authority that which he seeks to assert in the urt of Queen Victoria. MOST instructive volume, evincing uch diligence and discrimination. We ok with much interest for the next vo me. The History of Independency. Vol. III. A BOOK quite to our taste. Snow. rotestantism in France, from the Earliest Ages, to the reign of Charles IX. Monthly Series. Religious Tract Society. UITE equal to any of its forerunners in terest and real solid worth. SUNDAY-SCHOOL teachers would sometimes find a Magazine suitable for the parents of children a great acquisition; and the little thing before us, for cheapness and liveliness, may meet the want. We do not altogether like the style of some of the articles; poor people appreciate good taste, and we like the idea of writing up rather than down. Lectures on the Bible. By JOHN EADIE, Entelligence. BOOKS RECEIVED. Magic: Pretended Miracles and Natural Religious Tract Society. Look Up; or, Girls and Flowers. Reli- Come to Jesus. By NEWMAN HALL. THE ISLE OF WIGHT SUNDAY-SCHOOL NION.-(From a Correspondent.)-At he request of the Committee of this nion, Mr. Wm. Groser and Mr. Chas. feed, of London were deputed by the Parent Committee, to visit the schools, nd attend a conference of teachers, eld at Newport, on Sunday the 16th, nd Tuesday the 18th of April. Mr. Groser visited five schools in Newport, containing 742 scholars, 158 teachers; and one evening-school at Carisbrook of 80 scholars. The Rev. G. W. Conder presided at the Conference, and the meeting was well attended, although the weather was very wet. Many questions came under discussion, and the proceedings were characterised by great earnestness, and an evident desire for information. Mr. Reed, in a most clear and forcible manner, replied to all the questions proposed by delegates from various towns and villages in the island. A tea-meeting was held in the Queen's-rooms, and subsequently | zation. the public meeting, in the Baptist 29 The meeting was addressed by the Chairman, and several ministers and other gentlemen, and also by Mr. Reed, to whose practical and important remarks the meeting listened with unbroken attention, and at the close of his speech steps were taken to give more effect to the Union here. A committee was proposed, to adopt such steps as might be thought necessary to extend and improve the present organi 1664 scholars 1608 WEIGHHOUSE SUNDAY-SCHOOL.-A very interesting meeting of the children of the above school took place on Wednesday, the 17th ult., when the Rev. Thomas Binney kindly presided; and, with his usual adaptation, admirably conducted the proceedings of the evening. There were about 200 present, who sat down to a bountiful supply of cake and tea; after which a pleasing feature of the meeting was introduced, that of the distribution of the annual rewards to those who from their good conduct and early attendance during the past year merited them. Suitable addresses were afterwards delivered by the Rev. Adam Lillie," of Toronto, and Messrs. Jennings, Bristed, Langford, and Livens; at the close of which (the doxology having been sung and prayers offered,) the happy group dispersed. HULL.-On Easter Monday, April 24, the Twenty-ninth Anniversary of the Hull Sunday-school Union was celebrated. There are in Union, 147 schools; 3316 teachers; 13,685 scholars, and 68 adults. The following statistical returns had also been received from the majority of the schools, viz. :-Teachers, who were formerly scholars, 342 male, and 391 female. Teachers, members of Christian churches, 1961.-The number of scholars able to read the Scriptures, 7351.-The number of volumes in libraries, 9951. The average attendance of scholars during the year 1847, was 10,041. Resolutions were proposed and seconded by the Rev. Thomas Stratten, Wm. M Conkey, Ebenezer Morley, W. J. Stuart, C. J. Donald, J. Brown, and others. CHARLTON.-On Easter Monday, the Wesleyan Society held their annual Sabbath-school tea-meeting. Mr. T. Moody, superintendent of the school, presided; and after tea it was resolved that the superintendent should form a catechumen-class, consisting of the teachers, elder scholars, and junior members of the Society. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH SCHOOL, MARYLEBONE.-The first annual teameeting of the children attending this school, was held in the school-room of the church, George-street, Bryanstone square. A large number of the children were in attendance. When they were. all seated, they sung, "Be present at our table Lord," &c. Tea being over, they sang together the well-known hymn, "Around the throne of God in heaven, Ten thousand children stand," &c. After which, Mr. Bilby entertained them t by some suitable magic lantern views. On the conclusion of the exhibition of the magic lantern, a verse of th national anthem was sung; and prio to the dismission of the children, on of those in the senior class returne thanks for himself and his fellow scholars, to Mr. Banks, the superin tendent of the school, and the Rev. Wit Chalmers, pastor of the church, for th kindness they had manifested; whic having been briefly responded to b those gentlemen, a collection was mad by the senior scholars on behalf of th dismissed highly gratified by the even Chinese mission, and the children wer ing's entertainment. |
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