4. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. 14. ¶ And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Tarnished forms-torn leaves-but thou canst mend them, Dross consuming, turning dust to gold." LIBRARY.-J. R. Miller's "Making the Most of Life," "Transfigured Lives"; Goethe's "Tale of Tales," interpreted by Carlyle in one of his essays, where the fisherman's rough hut was transformed, by a light within from rough wood into solid silver, and from a common hut into a temple of exquisite workmanship. 4. IT IS GOOD FOR US TO BE HERE. 9-14. THEY CAME DOWN.-The disciples were not allowed to remain on the Mount, nor did the heavenly visitants remain. The disciples were to take their heavenly experience with them down into the sinful, suffering world below. High ExpeThe blessing was not lost because the experience did riences not continue. The transfiguration was a power, a comTransformed fort, a help all the rest of their lives. A deep experience in a Christian, a true revival in a church, is not lost be into Life. cause it does not continue in this form. It blesses all the remaining time, and one fails of his best usefulness unless he has had the transfiguration experience. A.D. 29. THIRD YEAR. THE TRANSFIGURATION. Carlyle on Carlyle, speaking of the Reformation, says, "Once risen into this divine white heat of temper, were it only for a season and not again, it (a nation) is henceforth considerable through all its remaining history. Nations are benefited for ages by being thrown once into divine white heat in this manner. And no nation that has not had such divine paroxysms at any time is apt to come to much." So the transfiguration experiences help us all the rest of our lives. Revival heights bless us evermore; and when they have passed away, and we have come down into the valleys, the blessings have not left us. the Refor mation. No one can measure the blessing of a shower by the amount of water that remains on the surface, nor the fruit on a tree by the length of time the blossoms of spring abide on its boughs. THE LEGEND BEAUTIFUL.-Only by descending from the mountain to the common daily life could the vision remain in their lives. In "The Legend Beautiful," in Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn," a monk had been longing and praying for a better life, and that he might see Jesus himself. At length, one day, the vision came, flooding the room with its radiant shining. While he was gazing entranced upon his Lord, the convent bell tolled the hour when it was his duty to go out and feed the poor. He hesitated, for he hated to leave the vision, and feared it would not remain for his return. Should he who, But he heard the voice, "Do thy duty; that is best; Leave unto thy Lord the rest. " 15. Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you ? bring him hither to me. 18. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him : and the child was cured from that very hour. 19. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20. And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove : and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. 22. And while they abode in Galilee Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men : 23. And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. 24. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He fed the beggars, and, returning, found the vision still there 'Hadst thou stayed, I must have fled."" MOUNTAIN TOPS AND PLAINS.-" God does not make the mountain tops to be inhabited; they are not for the homes of men. We ascend the height to catch a broader vision of our earthly surroundings, but we de not tarry there. The streams take their rise in these uplands, but quickly descend to gladden the fields and valleys below. We are to take these crystal waters to quench the thirst of others. Most are to descend to a commonplace life—to our farms, our shops, our study. I must soon take up the geological hammer and talk of fossils and skeletons. This is not a downfall, not a descent. Let life hold its true meaning and all duty becomes sacred." -Prof. Henry Drummond in a Northfield Address. REFERENCE. 14, 15. Chapter viii. 24-30. 20. GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED.-Small faith, but living, with large possibilities of growth. REFERENCE. "Say unto this mountain, remove hence," etc. See on chapter xxi. 21. REFERENCE. vii. 7-10, "Prayer." 25. He saith, Yes. And when he was come unto the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26. Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. A.D. 29. THIRD YEAR. THE TRANSFIGURATION. 27. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. 25. PREVENTED HIM.-πроéplacev, spoke before Peter had an opportunity to answer the tax collector. Prevented, in its older sense, to anticipate, get before, was a correct translation. Out of this grew the secondary meaning, to hinder" by getting before another. CHAPTER XVIII. 1. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2. And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. A.D. 29. Autumn. GALILEE. THIRD YEAR. NEAR THE CLOSE OF THE GREAT GALILEAN MINISTRY. I. WHO IS THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN?-We learn from the other gospels that there had been a strife among the disciples on this question. in the Kingdom of Heaven. THE SELF-SEEKING SPIRIT leads to Satan's kingdom, not to Christ's. It is the spirit of hell, not of heaven. It begets evils innumerable and sorrows unspeakable. "Fling away ambition; by that sin fell the angels." Aut Cæsar aut mullus, “To be Greatness first or nothing," leads to crimes and wars. It was Milton's Satan who said, "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." "How like a mounting devil in the heart rules the unreigned ambition." Whoever would be greatest in any kingdom must be greatest in the things which are the essential nature of that kingdom. Whoever would be greatest in the kingdom of literature must be great in literature, not in prizefighting. So he that would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven must be greatest in love, in self-denial, in faith, in service, in purity, and all the other virtues which make heaven what it is. 3. EXCEPT YE BE CONVERTED AND BECOME AS LITTLE ChilDREN YE SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.The same is true, in its degree, of the kingdom of Science. When men ceased to say what nature should do, and began like children to learn of nature what she was and what she was doing, the dawn of the kingdom of Science had begun. "Could every time-worn heart but see thee once again |