simple confidence in God's promises. Though you may not during your lifetime see great results from your efforts, still be assured of it, that your labours are not in vain in the Lord; and perhaps when your bodies lie mouldering in the dust, your glorified spirits will look down from that bright region above, upon the seed which you now sow, bringing forth abundant fruit. Remember the blessed promise remember whose promise it is, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

VI.

NATHANAEL UNDER THE FIG-TREE;

OR,

RELIGION IN SECRET.

"Nathanael saith unto him, whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.”

JOHN i. 48.

"THEY are not all Israel, who are of Israel;" honest appearances may deceive, upright pretensions may be false, righteous professions may be hollow; but here Christ has found an honest, upright, righteous man-not only in appearance but in reality--and looking upon him he exclaims, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile !" These words are an expression of astonishment. its hypocrisy wolves walked about in sheep's clothing, Pharisaism had become fashionable; it was but natural therefore, that Christ, on finding this remarkable exception to the general rule, should say in wondering accents, "Behold an Israelite indeed !”

The age was noted for

He

Nathanael was well deserving of this praise. had shown himself an earnest inquirer after the truth. When Philip told him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph;" his immediate reply was, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Evidently Nazareth had, from some cause or another, a very bad name; its inhabitants were notorious for their wicked practices, and were held in abhorrence by the rest of their countrymen ; so degraded seems to have been their character, that Nathanael thought it hardly possible that any good thing, much less the Messiah, should come from among them; and in this, no doubt, he partook of the universal opinion of the day. Yet, he did not allow any prejudice of this kind to prevent him ascertaining the truth in reference to Philip's statement. Obedient to the call, "Come and see," he proceeds at once to Jesus; and having satisfied himself with the evidence he receives of our Lord's Divinity, he frankly declares, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." Here is an Israelite indeed; here is a true son of the ancient patriarch; here is one who embraces the truth, though coming from an unexpected quarter. His generous conduct is very different from that of narrow-minded men. They are generally so confirmed in their prejudices, and so attached to their opinions,

that they scarcely ever give their opponents a fair hearing; and even when they condescend to do that, it seldom happens that they are convinced. Though you defeat them in argument, they will still adhere to their creed; and that, simply because it is their creed; or what is even worse, because it is the creed of the particular party to which they belong. Surely nothing can be more unprofitable than to reason with such men.

Now, when Christ had spoken these approving words, Nathanael asked him, "Whence knowest thou me?" Here we may observe that no false modesty induces him to refuse the compliment; he does not blush and bow his head in pretended shame; he does not say, "Rabbi, I don't deserve to be spoken of in such flattering terms, I am nowise. better than other men, my humble virtues are not worth mentioning." No; he does not speak thus;. for he knows too well that Christ's words are true, and as a straightforward man he cannot contradict. them. His only wonder is that Christ should be so intimately acquainted with his character; for they were by no means familiar with one another; this being the first time they had ever met. I have no doubt but Nathanael was a truly humble man for all that; were it not so, Christ would not have called him an "Israelite indeed;" but his was the unostentatious humility of a noble soul, which

would not sacrifice the truth in order to display itself.

There are different opinions as to the meaning of the words, "When thou wast under the fig-tree." There is a tradition extant that Nathanael was concealed under a fig-tree by his mother, during the massacre of the children of Bethlehem; and was thus saved from a violent death. But this, even though it were true, could scarcely have been the circumstance referred to by Christ. He referred to something that had transpired under the fig-tree, which gave him warrant to say, "Behold an Israelite indeed." It was customary in the East to retire under the cool shade of a tree, for private prayer and meditation. To this custom the prophet Micah refers, when he says, "They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid." The probability, therefore, is that Nathanael, being a devout man, was wont to withdraw from the busy scenes of the world, to worship God under a certain fig-tree, which he had set apart for the purpose. There he used to ponder over the sacred oracles, to long for the promised Messiah, to hold converse with his heavenly Father. It was to this then that Christ must have referred-his intercourse with God IN SECRET.

The main design of the gospel of John is to prove the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ; in the