BY C. F.

Lesson 3. January 17.

THE BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION OF JESUS.-Matt. 3:13-4:11.

13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

14.

But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15. And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

16. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

17. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

I. Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards an hungred.

3.

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread,

4. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that procedeth out of the mouth of God.

5. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6. And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

8. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

IO. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get the hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

II.

Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

GOLDEN TEXT—And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Matt. 3:17.

In our development of the Higher Self (Jesus) we must exercise spiritual understanding in the use of the powers of the Spiritual plane. When we

have denied and freed ourselves from the limitations of the personality, which is the baptism of John, there descends into consciousness a quickening power, swift, innocent, peaceful — of which the dove is typical. This descent, and opening of the heavens, is not outwardly observed. Jesus alone discerns it; there is also established a unity between the Son and the Father-a consciousness of pleasure and satisfaction follows- "this is my beloved Son

in whom I am well pleased."

In order to have this experience it is not necessary to hear a thundrous voice in the air above us making this proclamation—it is a matter of consciousness. When you have acknowledged and given up some error thought, and opened your heart to the Spirit, and affirmed its presence and power, you will have this descent of peace, and the inward pleasure and joy which comes to an obedient child.

But a second movement of mind follows. Every time we open the soul to the Spirit, and receive its baptism, there is a consciousness of added power in every department of being. We are not familiar with this new and untrod realm of forces; the Spirit has driven us into a wilderness where nature is waiting our directive hand to bring forth lavishly. We see all about us opportunities in the material world to make profit, and the personal sense, the devil, suggests that we proceed to do so. But the Spiritual man, with his higher understanding, says, "No, I shall live under a law in which God, the Universal support of Man and Nature, shall supply me through the power of the Word." Speak words of Truth every day about the wonderful possibilities of your God as a Supply Power, and you will demonstrate this law.

The consciousness of an exalted spiritual understanding lifts one up to the very pinnacle of the temple, and the personality says you are so high in your spiritual perception of the Divine Law that you are not subject to the Natural law-you can right

now, without further experience with these untried forees, do marvellous things to astonish men. But the Higher Understanding says it is not lawful to attempt to do marvellous things before understanding the law - this is tempting or bringing into manifestation the Lord, or Higher Law, before we know how to handle it. We are trusting to angels, or forces outside of ourselves, to guard us and protect us from the results of our ignorance. When we have mastered these inner assumptions of ignorance, and mentally put ourselves in Divine Order, then the thoughts of God, angels, will minister unto us and become our servants.

The "high mountain" to which personality carries us in our spiritual uplift, is the consciousness of power over mortal thoughts in all its earthly avenues in human consciousness. A personality with a strong desire to rule the minds of men, can take advantage of this Spiritual force and through it gradually build up and establish in the world a religious system. Thus personality can be exalted in the name of Spirit, and worldly rulers pay it homage in the name of the Lord. But this is the selfish desire of mortal thought to exalt itself— to claim its rights in the sight of men, and demand their loyalty and allegiance. The one in spiritual understanding says to this tempter, "Get thee

hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

Lesson 4. January 24.

JESUS REJECTED AT NAZARETH.— Luke 4:16-30.

16. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

17. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19.

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

20. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

21. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

22. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?

23. And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.

24. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

25. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

26. But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

27.

And many lepers were in Israel at the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

28. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,

29. And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they mignt cast him down headlong.

30

But he passing through the midst of them went his way.

GOLDEN TEXT- He came unto his own and his own received him not. — John 1:11.

Spiritual Man (Jesus) has to demonstrate his divinity. He makes large claims in proclaiming his mission, and produces apparently meager demonstrations. He explains that he is sent to those only who in the sight of a higher power are ready for his ministry. This excites the ridicule of his people, and they reject him. This is a natural attitude of those who look to the without instead of the within.

In our individual development of this higher principle we are apt to belittle its unlimited capacity by measuring it with what we have accomplished. This is no criterion. A thousand mortal ideas of incapacity may cumber our brains, and prevent the action of this Mighty One who has all power. Instead of ridiculing his claims, and in our ignorance rejecting him, we should seek in all ways to make our minds receptive to the larger ideas which he represents. The first step in this direction is to read out

of the Book of Law the prophetic description of the work which this Christ is to accomplish, and apply it to ourselves. This is what Jesus is described as doing, then he "sat down". - he rested his case in this statement of universal truth.

Whoever can see the spiritual truth of the character of man is ready to take this stand and affirm, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Whoever makes these statements, with a sincere desire to carry them out, will be inspired by the Spirit, and the ministry through him be finally accomplished.

But this ministry to the masses is to be preceded by an individual preparation. "Physician, heal thyself." The words of the Scripture were "graciously" received when applied in a general sense, but when the matter of personal reform is suggested. it is found that a prophet is not acceptable in his own country.

It is not necessary that a teacher or healer be perfectly wise and whole himself in order to instruct and heal others, but there must be that progressive state of mind that is day by day "overcoming." If you have done some of the works you have fulfilled the law. There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, but he was sent to but one, and many lepers in the time of Elisha, but Naaman only was healed. The world is full of religious instuctors who are in the dark themselves, and are making but little effort to get into the light. These are the "blind leaders of the blind." Whoever is in this blind state will find the light by daily affirming the "gracious words which proceedeth out of his mouth." Remember these words are true of the Man Universal, which we everyone are in Spirit.