THE BAPTISM.

I TOLD you that Zacharias, the father of John, was very old when his son was born; and, therefore, was not likely to live to complete his son's education. He therefore took

him, while he was yet very young, into a wild and remote part of the country, and gave him into the care of a few holy people, who had retired to those solitudes to pass their lives in quiet and devotion.

John, who is called the Baptist, for a reason which this story will explain, was no doubt informed, either by his father or his instructers, or by the inspiration of God, of the great duty which he was to perform; and as he was to be the harbinger, the forerunner, and the first witness of the appearance of the Savior, he remained from youth to manhood in this retirement, preparing himself, by prayer and fasting, for his sacred office.

He was dressed in rude clothes, made of camels' hair, and wore a leathern girdle or belt round his waist. His food was as simple as his dress, and he lived chiefly on locusts and the wild honey which he found in the wilderness; for

the holy people with whom he lived thought it their duty to be plain in their dress and simple in their food.

At length, when he had attained full manhood, John, by God's command, came forth to tell the people that the Savior of the world was about to appear among them; and he therefore entreated them to repent of their sins, to leave their wicked ways, and to be baptized; that is, to be washed in water, in the name of God, as a religious ceremony.

The people were very much struck by John's powerful preaching; and many were so much convinced, that they begged him to tell them what they should do to obtain the favor of God. This he did, and all who really intended to leave off their sins, were baptized by him in the river Jordan, on the banks of which he generally preached, on account of the convenience of the water; for, in those hot regions of the world, springs and fountains and rivers are not everywhere to be found, as in our cooler climate.

One day, when John was engaged, as usual, in receiving and baptizing the numbers of people who flocked to him from all quarters, he saw, to his great astonishment, Jesus himself approach among the rest. He could scarcely believe that our Savior really intended to be baptized, because he well knew that He had committed no sin which had need to be washed away; and, feeling his own un

worthiness to perform this rite for the all-perfect Son of God, he humbly said to Him,- It is I, who have need to be baptized by Thee; and comest Thou to me?'

'Suffer it to be so, now,' said our Lord; for it is our duty to fulfil all righteousness;' he meaning, that He Himself was to be the first to perform all those duties which He ordained to His disciples.

When John, therefore, found that it was His pleasure to have it so, he obeyed, and baptized the Lord Jesus, as he had the rest of the people, in the river: when, lo! as Jesus was coming out of the water, the heavens above were opened, and the Spirit of God was seen, in the likeness of a dove, descending, till it rested on His head.

The shape of a dove was probably chosen to denote the pure and peaceful nature of the holy religion Christ was about to establish; for the dove is well known as the most gentle of all birds.

When the Holy Spirit lighted on our Savior, a voice was heard from on high, saying,- This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!'

THE TEMPTATION.

SOON after our Lord had been baptized, he left the banks of the river Jordan, and went into the wilderness, where one of the most instructive events of his life was now to happen; - I mean his temptation by the devil.

I have told you that our Savior's history was an example for our conduct in life. Now the chief danger to which we are exposed is the temptation arising from the sinful. desires, the bad appetites and the vicious passions, which are excited in our hearts: it therefore pleased our Lord to afford to us, very early in his ministry, three important les

sons.

First, that all men, even the wisest and holiest, are liable to temptation.

Secondly, by what means those who desire to be wise and holy should endeavor to resist it.

A third important lesson is taught us, in the time in which our Lord was tempted; for it was immediately after his baptism, when, had he been capable of sin, he would have been cleansed from it, that the tempter was permitted to assail him, in order to show us that human nature is so

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disposed to evil, and our best resolutions are so weak, that even when we think we are the safest, we are as liable as ever to the temptations of the world.

It seems, from the reports of travellers, that the wilderness to which our Savior retired, is the most dreary, melancholy place that can be imagined: no inhabitants — no houses no cottages, not even trees or herbage, — nothing but naked rocks and barren mountains, infested by wild beasts, whose dreadful howling must add to the horrors of the scene.

Forty days and forty nights our Lord spent in this dismal place, during which he ate nothing, being supported without food by the power of God; but towards the close of them, his bodily strength failed under so long a fast, and he began to suffer the human affliction of hunger.

Then it was in that season of distress-that the devil began a succession of temptations. And first he tempted our Savior by the most pressing of his sufferings, hunger. 'If thou be the Son of God,' he said, 'command that these stones be made bread.'

That is as if he had said, 'show an impatience of God's will, which has appointed this trial for you; murmur against his commands as too severe; and attempt, by your own power, to relieve yourself from those wants to which it has been His pleasure to subject you.'