Part 14

So the king gave him leave, but set him a time to come back; and Nehemiah went all the long way to Jerusalem. It was quite as bad as he had heard. The houses were all down, only here and there one standing; and when he went out on his ass at night to view the ruins, there was a heap of stones where a gate should be, and a hole where a wall should be.

So Nehemiah stirred up all the Jews, and they set to work to build the wall to keep out the robbers. Then the enemies laughed at them, and said a fox could break down all they built; and when they went on, people used to come and attack them, so that they had to work with swords ready to fight, and always on the watch to come to help if they heard a trumpet blown. But they kept on, and the wall was built and the gates set up; and they were safe once more from enemies coming in among them.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who was Nehemiah? 2. What made him sad? 3. Who were living at Jerusalem? 4. What had happened to it? 5. What did Nehemiah do when he heard this sad news? 6. How did God begin to grant his prayer? 7. What did the king ask him? 8. What did he tell the king? 9. Where did he go? 10. What did he find there? 11. Why did they want a wall? 12. What did he set the Jews to do? 13. How did they build? 14. Who tormented them? 15. But what was finished at last?

THIRD READING.

"The joy of the Lord is your strength."--_Prov. 5:17._

GOOD Nehemiah built up the wall of Jerusalem; and his friend Ezra did all he could to teach the Jews to keep the Law of God rightly. It was Ezra who gathered together the five books of Moses, and collected the writings of the prophets, and wrote out the history of the kings, and put nearly all the Old Testament in order as we have it now.

And Ezra and Nehemiah took care to teach the people to keep the Sabbath again, as the Fourth Commandment had taught them. Nehemiah used to have the gates of the city shut up, that no stranger might bring any burthen in, and that no one might come in to sell or buy on God's holy day.

And then they kept the Feast of the Tabernacles. It was a most beautiful feast. All the people went and cut down great boughs of myrtle, olive, pine, and citron, and willow trees, and built up arbors with them, where they lived for seven whole days, to put them in mind of how their fathers had lived when they came out of Egypt.

And on the great day of the feast, every Jew went up to the Temple with a green bough in his arm, and stood in the court, and all the priests came out on the steps with palm-branches, and with silver trumpets. Then the trumpets were sounded, and everybody waved their branches for joy. And the priests began a beautiful rejoicing psalm, and at its most joyful verses the people waved their palms again.

At night all the court of the Temple was lighted up with great lamps, to put the people in mind that the Lord is our light. How beautiful it must have been, and how happy all the people were to have come back from worshipping idols, and being punished in a strange land, to praise their own true God once more, who blessed and made them happy.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who were the two good men who governed the Jews? 2. What did Ezra collect together? 3. Who taught good men how to write the Bible? 4. What parts of the Bible did Ezra put together? 5. What commandment were Ezra and Nehemiah careful about? 6. How did they keep people from breaking the Fourth Commandment? 7. What great feast did they keep?

Fortieth Sunday.

_THE COMING OF THE LORD._

FIRST READING.

"The fulness of the time was come."--_Gal. 4:14._

THERE was a long time after the Jews came home during which we do not know much about them. Only they had quite left off worshipping idols, and stood out bravely when a bad king wanted to make them do so.

But they were not good in other ways. They quarrelled among themselves a great deal. One set, who were called Pharisees, were very proud and hard-hearted; and another set, who were called the Sadducees, would not believe or obey any of the Bible that was written after the time of Moses--none of the Prophets nor of the Psalms.

These two sets quarrelled so much that they allowed a fierce strange nation to come in and make themselves their masters. These were the Romans, whose city was Rome, in Italy. They were fierce soldiers, and wanted to make the world all their own.

One of their generals, whose name was Pompey, was so daring that he forced his way into the Holy of Holies, where no one was allowed to go but the High Priest once a-year. He was disappointed to find nothing there, only an empty chamber, without any image or likeness; and the Jews were much grieved and distressed. It was always said that nothing ever went well with Pompey afterwards.

QUESTIONS.

1. What sin had the Jews left off? 2. But were they grown good? 2. Who were the two parties? 4. What was amiss with the Pharisees? 5. What would not the Sadducees believe? 6. What came of their quarrels? 7. What sort of people were the Romans? 8. Where was their home? 9. What did they want to conquer? 10. Where did their general make his way? 11. What was the Holy of Holies? 12 What did he find there? 13. Why was there no image there? 14. What commandment forbids the worshipping any image? 15. Who alone was allowed to go into the holy place? 16. How often? 17. What was said of Pompey after he broke in?

SECOND READING.

"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.--_Luke 1:32._

THE Romans set up a strange king over the Jews. His name was Herod, and he was an Edomite--that is, a descendant of Jacob's brother Esau. He believed in the true God, and began to make the Temple much more beautiful than it had been since it had been built up after the Jews came back from Babylon. But he was a very wicked and cruel man, who killed his own wife, and made everybody afraid of him; and the Jews were very unhappy under him.

They had one hope, and that was, that it was just about the time when God had promised to send a Holy One into the world to save them and set them free; and they thought He would be a great, mighty king, like David, who would conquer Herod, and drive away the Romans, and have a crown and throne brighter than Solomon's.

And just then an angel was sent from God to the little town of Nazareth, where there lived a young maiden, quite a poor woman, but most good and holy, a descendant of the great King David. The angel told her that she was highly favored, for she was to be the mother of the Son of the Highest, for the Holy One who was to be born of her should be the Son of God; and when He was born, she was to call His name JESUS, which means the Lord our Saviour, because He should save His people from their sins; and Mary said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

QUESTIONS.

1. Whom did the Romans make king of the Jews? 2. What nation did Herod belong to? 3. Who was the forefather of the Edomites? 4. Whose son was Esau? 5. What sort of man was Herod? 6. What did he do to please the Jews? 7. But how did he treat them? 8. Whom did he put to death? 9. What were the Jews hoping for? 10. Who had promised that Holy One? 11. What did the Jews think He would be? 12. Who came to say He was coming at last? 13. To whom was the angel sent? 14. What was her name? 15. Where did he live? 16. What did the angel tell her? 17. Who would be born of her? 18. Whose Son would He be? 19. What was she to call Him? 20. What does Jesus mean? 21. What did she answer?

THIRD READING.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." _Luke 2:14._

THE blessed Virgin Mary lived at Nazareth; but it was God's will that the holy Son of God should be born at Bethlehem, the little town where David used to live and keep his sheep. The Romans sent out orders that everyone should go to their proper home to have their names set down, and pay a piece of money.

So the Virgin Mary had to go, with a good man named Joseph, a carpenter, who was to be her husband. Such a number of people had come there that there was no room for them in the inn, and they had to go to a stable--a cavern underground--where the oxen and asses were.

And it was there that the Holy Child of Mary, the Son of God, was born, in the stable where the cattle were. The blessed mother wrapped Him in baby-clothes, and laid Him in the manger, among the hay and straw.

None of the people in the inn knew or cared; but there were shepherds on the hill, keeping watch over their flocks by night. The angels came down to them, and told them that to them was born that day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD, and that He was a Babe lying in a manger.

As soon as the angel had said that, many other angels, who were very glad that poor men below should be saved, all began to sing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men."

So the angels and the shepherds kept the Saviour's birthday, and we keep it upon Christmas-day.

QUESTIONS.

1. What was David's town? 2. But where did the blessed Virgin Mary live? 3. How came she to go to Bethlehem? 4. Where had she to rest? 5. Why could she not go to the inn? 6. Who was born in the stable? 7. Where was He laid? 8. Who were told of it? 9. Who told the shepherds? 10. What did the angels sing? 11. Why were they glad? 12. Why are we glad? 13. What is the birthday of our Lord?

Forty-first Sunday.

_THE CHILDHOOD OF OUR LORD._

FIRST READING.

"We have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him."--_Matt. 2:2._

THE shepherds were not the only people who came to see the blessed Lord JESUS when He was a little Infant. Far away in the East, God showed a bright, beautiful star to some wise men, and taught their hearts that it was the sign that the great King was born.

They set out on their journey to Judea, to see and honor Him; and when they came, they asked, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews, for we have seen His star in the East, and are come to worship Him."

This made Herod afraid, for he thought this must be a king who would take his kingdom from him. He made the learned men among the Jews look out in the prophecies where Christ should be born.

They found it was to be at Bethlehem, and he told the wise men so, and desired them to let him know when they found the King, that he might come and worship Him too; but he did not really mean to worship Him, but to kill Him.

However, God Himself showed these wise men where to find our blessed Lord, for the same star that they had seen in the East came out again, and went before them, and came and stood over where the young Child was. And though they saw a little Baby, and a poor mother holding Him in her arms, they knew He was the Lord and King; and they worshipped Him, and offered Him the gifts they had brought.

There was gold, and there was frankincense, which means the sweet-smelling, costly powder that was burnt in the Temple; and myrrh, which is a precious gum which comes out of trees, and is used to preserve and keep things good.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who came to see our Lord? 2. Where did they come from? 3. What had they seen? 4. What did they ask? 5. Whom did they ask? 6. What did Herod say? 7. Did he want to worship? 8. What did he want to do? 9. How did the wise men find the way? 10. Whom did they see? 11. What did they offer Him? 12. What were the gifts? 13. What is frankincense? 14. What is myrrh? 15. Why did they worship Him?

SECOND READING.

"Arise, and take the young child and His mother."--_Matt. 2:13._

HEROD was afraid that the new-born King of the Jews would take away his kingdom. So he meant to kill Him as soon as he could find out from the wise men where He was. But the wise men never came back to tell him, for God spoke to them in a dream, and warned them to go back to their own country another way.

And God also spoke to Joseph the carpenter, the blessed Virgin Mary's husband, and told him to take the young Child and His mother, and flee into the land of Egypt, and stay there till they should be told to come back, for Herod was seeking the young Child to destroy Him. Joseph obeyed, and the whole family fled into Egypt, and lived there for some years.

When Herod found the wise men did not come, he was very angry; and to make sure of killing Him who was to be King of the Jews, he was so cruel and wicked as to cause all the babies in Bethlehem, of two years old and under, to be put to death.

We call them the Holy Innocents, because they were the first who died for Jesus Christ's sake. It seemed very sad then, but they have been happy and glorious ever since in heaven, and always will be. But God had taken care of Him, and He was safe in Egypt; and there they stayed till our Lord was about three years old, and then the wicked King Herod died.

QUESTIONS.

1. What did Herod want to do? 2. Why could he not find our blessed Lord? 3. Who warned the wise men? 4. Whom did Herod murder? 5. What do we call those Babes of Bethlehem? 6. But whom did he not find? 7. For where was our Lord? 8. Who had taken Him there? 9. Who was Joseph? 10. How did Joseph know He was to go to Egypt?

THIRD READING.

"Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."--_Luke 2:52._

WHEN Herod died, Joseph brought our blessed Lord and His mother back from Egypt, and went to live at Nazareth. We do not know any more about Him till He was twelve years old, and then He went up with Joseph and His mother to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of the Passover. That great feast the Jews always kept in remembrance of the night when God delivered them out of their troubles in Egypt.

When the time came for going home, the blessed Mary and Joseph could not find the Child Jesus. They thought at first that He was among the other boys of the company who had come up from Nazareth, and they went on a day's journey; but when He did not come back to them in the evening, they turned back to Jerusalem to seek Him. They looked for Him during three days all round the city, and found Him at last in the Temple, among the boys who came to be taught by the learned men there.

Everybody who listened was astonished at His understanding and His answers; but when His mother came to call Him, He went home with her directly; and He obeyed her and Joseph in everything, and helped and worked for them, though He was really their God and King.

That was to teach us all how good children should behave at home to their fathers and mothers, for Joseph was like a father to Him, though His real Father is God. And as He grew older He lived on with them, and worked as a carpenter with them till He was thirty years old. So, you see, He knows just what it is to be one of us, and a poor hard-working man. For God from heaven came to be one of us men, and just like us.

QUESTIONS.

1. When did our blessed Lord come back from Egypt? 2. Where did He go and live? 3. How old was He when we hear about Him again? 4. Where did He go then? 5. What feast did they go to? 6. What was the Passover to put people in mind of? 7. What happened when it was time to go home? 8. How long was He lost? 9. Where was He found? 10. What was He doing there? 11. What was everyone surprised at? 12. What did He do when He was called? 13. How can you do like Him when you are called from what you like? 14. How did He always behave to His mother and Joseph? 15. How can you try to be like Him?

Forty-second Sunday.

_THE PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY._

FIRST READING.

"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."--_Matt. 3:2._

THE blessed Lord Jesus lived at Nazareth, and worked there as a carpenter until He was thirty years old, so that He has felt how we live here, and knows what our feelings and ways are by trying them.

When it was nearly time for Him to begin to set up His kingdom, a holy man was sent to make ready for Him. This man's name was John, and he lived out in the rocky and bushy country on the bank of the river Jordan, dressed in a coarse garment woven of camel's hair, and living on the locusts and wild honey he found there.

He stood there telling everyone who came that the kingdom of God was going to begin, and that those who wished to belong to it must repent and give up their sins. All who would feel and own their sins he took down to the river and bathed and washed them, to show how some day they would have their souls washed, just as their bodies were washed now.

This washing was called baptising, and he is always called John the Baptist; but he always told the people that there was One coming who was greater than he was, and that this Holy One would baptise them with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

QUESTIONS.

1. How long did our blessed Lord live at Nazareth? 2. What did He do there? 3. Who was sent to prepare His way? 4. Where did John live? 5. What did he wear? 6. What did he eat? 7. What are locusts? 8. What did he tell the people? 9. What were they to be sorry for? 10. What is repenting? 11. What did he do to those who repented? 12. In what river did he wash them? 13. What was this washing called? 14. What was he called? 15. Who did he say was coming? 16. How would that One baptize them?

SECOND READING.

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."--_Matt. 3:17._

ONE day, as John was baptising, Jesus came to him, and desired to be baptised. His mother and John's mother were cousins, and John knew He had never done one wrong thing in all His life, and had nothing to repent of. So he said, "I have need to be baptised of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" Then JESUS answered, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.

Then John baptised Him; and as they were coming up out of the water, the heaven above was opened, and there came God the Holy Ghost, taking a shape like a dove, and rested upon the Head of Jesus, and there was God the Father's voice speaking out of heaven, and saying, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Then John the Baptist knew that Jesus was the Son of God, and the great King whose way he had been sent to prepare.

And this was the beginning of baptism, or christening, as we call it. We are all baptised into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and made to belong to Jesus Christ.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who was John the Baptist? 2. Where did he baptize? 3. Who came to him to be baptized? 4. What relation was the blessed Virgin to his mother? 5. What did he say? 6. Why did he say so? 7. What was the answer? 8. What happened after the baptism? 9. Who came down from heaven? 10. Who spoke from heaven? 11. What did God the Father's voice say? 12. What did John know then? 13. Whose Son is Jesus? 14. How had John been preparing His way?

THIRD READING.

"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."--_Matt. 4:7._

OUR Lord Jesus had come into the world to conquer the Devil, to whom Eve had given power over it when she ate the fruit.

So He went up into a lonely place in the wilderness, that He might meet the Devil, and stand up against all the temptations that had led Eve astray. He was there forty days, with nothing to eat; and the Devil came and said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." But He would not do it at Satan's word; and so as Eve fell by eating, He stood by resisting hunger.

Then the Devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, in one moment of time, and said, "All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me." But though Eve had been tempted by seeing the beauty of the fruit, our Lord was not led astray by all the glory and beauty of this world. So He conquered again.

Then He stood with Satan on the top of a high wall, with a precipice below; and Satan tempted Him to cast Himself down, so that the angels should come round and bear Him up, and all might see He was the Son of God. It was just as Satan had told Eve, that she would be like a God if she ate the fruit; and He said, "It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

Satan left Him then for a time, and the angels came and waited on Him. That was the beginning of His victory over Satan and sin. And every one of us must fight our battle too. Whenever we are inclined to be naughty, Satan is tempting us, but we must try to be strong and drive him away; and our Lord Jesus will help us if we only try, and will drive him away.

QUESTIONS.

1. What had our Lord come into the world for? 2. When had Satan become master of the world? 3. Where did our Lord go? 4. What was the first temptation? 5. Why would not He make the stones into bread? 6. What was the second temptation? 7. What did Satan want Him to do? 8. What was the third temptation? 9. Who would have come round Him? 10. Would He let them show that He was God? 11. What did He say to Satan? 12. What did Satan do? 13. Who came to wait on our Lord? 14. Who had been conquered?

Forty-third Sunday.

_THE CALLING OF THE DISCIPLES._

FIRST READING.

"Behold the Lamb of God."--_John 1:36._

NOW that John the Baptist knew that JESUS was, indeed, the Son of God, whom he had been sent to proclaim, he began to point Him out, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." There were two poor fishermen, who had come out to listen to John, who heard, and who went to JESUS and asked, "Master, where dwellest Thou?" He said, "Come and see."

Their names were Andrew and another John. They stayed all one night with Him, and saw and felt that He was so great and holy that no one else could be the Christ who had been promised to come and save the world; and John was always the nearest and best loved of all to Him.

Andrew went and told his own brother Simon, whom our Lord named Peter, which means a rock; and they brought two more of their friends to see Him, whose names were Philip and Nathanael. When JESUS saw Nathanael coming, He said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"

Nathanael asked how He could know him. Our Lord answered, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." Then Nathanael said, "Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel." For he had been alone under the fig tree, and nobody who was not God could have seen or known he was there; and our Lord said that because he believed, he should see greater things than these.

QUESTIONS.