7. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10. Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things?

11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

We will transmit our Church, and State and Sunday school to those who come after us, greater, better, more useful, and more beautiful than they were transmitted to us, - by the power and grace of the Spirit of God in our hearts.

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7. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (Am. R., anew"). This is a most perfect metaphor expressing the changes of character and of life in the same person.

Illustration. "A Chinese Nicodemus came to a missionary's tent, some years ago, and asked about many things that he did not know. The missionary tried to teach him about God, but the man refused to believe anything he could not see and understand. The missionary pointed to a pot of water boiling over the fire, and said : Can you tell me how a cold match, cold charcoal, and cold water can in a few minutes develop light, fire, heat, and steam? When you can tell me how this water is made into invisible steam and then condenses into water again, I will tell you how God gives us life when we believe in Jesus Christ.' Mr. Delavan Pierson in Sun. Schl. Times.

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8. The wind bloweth where it listeth (Am. R.," will "); i.e. according to its own laws. You see the results, the effect, but no one can tell why it comes at a certain time, with a certain degree of force. Am. R., Thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. The Spirit's methods we cannot know, but the facts of the new life are as plain and certain as that the strong wind bends the forest trees. We may not know the day nor the hour when we are born again, but we may know the fact by the fruits. The impartation of life to man, to animal, and to plant is still, even in the brightest light of science, as great a mystery as ever. But the fact of life is a certainty.

"I may not know the compass of the plan

By which the stars shine in the heavens at night, But I may know as well as any man

That stars are shining, and may share their light.

"I may not know how blows the summer wind,
And whence? and whither? still unanswered be,
But I may feel its soothing touch, and find
Rest and refreshment in the breeze for me."
- G. A. Warburton.

III. GUIDANCE AND SUGGESTIONS AS TO QUESTIONS THAT OFTEN ARISE IN THE MINDS OF THE YOUNG. See verses 9-13. If even Nicodemus, in view of what Jesus had been teaching, asked Him, How can these things be? it is not strange that young people often ask the same question and are puzzled as to the application of these truths to themselves.

10. Jesus replies to Nicodemus, “Art thou the teacher of Israel, one who has studied the Scriptures, and understandest not these things?" (Am. R.). The young people of to-day will find the answers to their questionings, if they will study their Bibles and see in how many different ways these truths are expressed in varying circumstances. For what Jesus said in vs. 11-13 to Nicodemus, is true of the Scriptures now, especially the New Testament. They testify to facts which Jesus knew and revealed, having been in heaven, and come down from heaven on purpose to make them known.

First. "Ye must be born again, every one, and for every nation.

born of water and the Spirit " holds true of A minister lately said of his city to an evangelist, "Our city is known as the scum of the earth" (in parts)" and we want you to come over and help us to make it the cream."

"Ring out old shapes of foul disease;

Ring out the narrowing love of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old;

Ring in the thousand years of Peace.

"Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be."

These are what we need for ourselves and for the world. There is no other hope.

12. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye lieve, if I tell you of heavenly things?

be

13. And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

Second. The being born from above, born again, is not the completed Christian life, but only its beginning. The word "born" implies that it is the starting point of the new life, and that it must grow as a child grows to be a man, through education, and discipline, and storm and stress unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Eph. 4:13.)

Goethe's Tale of Tales. Goethe's wonderful Tale of Tales (especially as interpreted by Carlyle in his Essays) represents a fisherman's hut, rough and dark, as changed into solid silver by the shining of the lamp within, and soon even the form was changed into a beautiful temple of exquisite workmanship. So a holy soul within a body rough and uncouth as the fisherman's hut, will at last dwell in an exquisite temple of the Holy Spirit.

"It must not be expected by the child himself, or by his elders, that his religious life should be that of an adult. His religious life must have a growth, an evolution, an unfolding and training of his powers and possibilities almost without limit or end.

"The sprouting of a seed is but the beginning of the plant's life. But you cannot develop the plant unless it is alive. You cannot culture a grain of sand." The child, like a little seed,

"Holds a thousand green leaves folded tight,
Holds a thousand flowers, pink and white,
Holds a tree with its branches all complete,
And fruit that is juicy, golden and sweet."

Third. For those brought up in Christian families, or under Christian influences, the most part could not tell how or when they entered the Christian life. It may have been a decision to do a right thing, to resist and overcome a temptation. It may be on decision day, or at a religious revival. A large proportion of the best saints could not tell when they became Christians. The proof that it has taken place is in the results, in the Christian character and life, the bursting of the bud into flower.

The new life is like the coming of spring after the winter. No one can tell by feelings or appearances when spring really begins. There are warm spells early, and cold spells and frosts very late. But spring does come.

IV. FAITH THE WAY OF SALVATION, AN ILLUSTRATION, vs. 14, 15, 18. Jesus now uses a memorable and vivid story in the early history of the Jews, as an illustration of his teaching, as perfect and as simple as can be imagined.

1. The Israelites in the desert, on their way to the Promised Land, became weary and discouraged, and complained bitterly of their hardships, and uttered their complaints against God and against Moses.

2. Their punishment for their sins came in the form of fiery serpents, which abounded in the desert. They were called fiery from the burning, stinging sensation caused by their bite. "So inflammable is their bite that it is likened to fire coming through the veins; so intense its venom that the bite is fatal in a few hours."

No better emblem of sin and its results could have been given to the Israelites or to us. It infects the whole system. It inflames every evil passion. It is incurable by man alone. If permitted to go on, it is death. The world is full to-day of the sorrows, the burning remorse, the agonies of the body and of the spirit which come from the fiery serpents of sin.

3. The punishment made the people realize the awful evils of sin by the results. They acknowledged their sins, and prayed for forgiveness and salvation.

4. Moses was directed to make a brazen serpent, and place it upon a pole, and carry it through the camp, so that all could see; and whosoever looked upon this brazen serpent was cured. The looking was an act of faith, implying repentance and a return to obedience and God.

Referring back to this familiar illustration Jesus shows how sinful man shall be saved by faith in Him.

14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. "When Moses made the brazen serpent, he did not secrete it in

15. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

his tent but gave it an elevation at which all might see it. The lifting up of the Son of man is interpreted in 12: 33, as his lifting up on the cross. Christ was lifted up upon the cross to draw all men unto him. Christ crucified is the most conspicuous object in the history of the world. It is the centre around which the whole moral and religious warfare of the world is gathered.

Points of Comparison. (1) The painful and deadly nature of sin, like the bite of the fiery serpents. (2) It is incurable by human power. (3) The mode of lifting up, so that all may see. (4) The design was similar to save those who were dying. (5) The conditions of cure were the same looking, believing.

15. That whosoever believeth in him. Accepts him as Teacher, as Guide, and as Lord, turning from sin, repenting and forsaking it. "Whosoever " is better for each one than if he were called by name; for the same name might belong to another. But "whosoever" includes everybody, the meanest and wickedest, as well as the greatest and best. Should not perish. From the effects of sin, which naturally end in destruction of the soul and body.

But have eternal life (Am. R., " may in him have "). Eternal life is the life which nothing can destroy, which endures beyond the grave, and grows fuller and richer as the ages roll on. It is a present possession of the Christian, and does not begin with the world to come, though it continues in it. It is more than mere endless existence. It is the kind of life lived in heaven,

It is goodness, fulness of life, joy, peace, love. the kind of life God lives.

True Faith that God requires is not an arbitrary, but a necessary condition of salvation. For (1) if men do not believe Christ they will not obey his instructions about heaven and the way there. (2) Faith is the test of obedience. Christ is the sum of God's character; and the test is whether we will obey all God's commandments, and not merely such as we may choose. (3) Faith in Christ is a test of our loyalty to God and his kingdom. It is the choosing God, not only as our Saviour, but our King. (4) Faith in Christ draws us close to him in love as our Leader and Friend. (5) Faith is the act of receiving God into the soul. (6) Faith awakens every nobler motive of the soul, love for him who has done so much for us; duty, revealed in him who died in doing his duty; hope of like holiness and blessedness; love to men, exemplified on the cross.

The Way of Faith. Oh, I wish I had your faith!" cried the girl who was twentythree.

The woman who was seventy smiled into the troubled face.

"Hasn't your education taught you not to wish foolish things?" she asked, with her voice full of tenderness.

The girl looked at her in astonishment.

Why, what do you mean? I thought that you, at least, would think it the most important wish in the world!

"Child, would you think it wise to cry out that you wanted to play the violin like Elizabeth Dare ? "

Why, no

- yes I mean, it would be all right to wish, only you'd have to have the ability, and then practise six hours a day."

"Well?" her friend prompted her.

"You mean faith is like that?"

I mean that every child of God is born with the ability, but that it has to be cultivated by practice. Faith is a laboratory course, not a lecture course. My faith that you envy has come from going through all kinds of hard places through sickness and anxiety and losses of many kinds with God. Again and again I've come to a place in my life where I could see no way out, and I've cried,' God, You are taking care of this - help me to keep my hands off!" And God never failed. Whether the outcome was joy or sorrow, He was always there. And gradually I became more conscious of Him gave things to Him more quickly, kept my hands off more easily, till now it is my first thought to carry things to Him.

"Go and build your own faith, child — build it, bit by bit, out of your own experience as life brings it to you. God will give you the proofs of what you want, of Himself, of answer to prayer, of immortality, if you really seek them." —Condensed from the Youth's Companion.

16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

V. THE GREATEST THING, THE MOST MARVELLOUS THING, IN THE WORLD. THE LOVE OF GOD, vs. 16-18. 16. God so loved the world. Not merely heavenly beings, angels, and seraphim, and saints, but this poor, sinful, unworthy world, so far from him in character. It was this wonderful fact which the angels sang on the fields of Bethlehem, of good will toward men, toward all men. This verse is said to be " the best thing ever put in human speech." "Infinite riches in a little room." The treasure room of the London Tower. The salon carré of the Louvre.

I am told that the whole Bible has been photographed on thin plates, so that altogether it would make a package only as large as a fair-sized pea.

So the whole Bible, the whole gospel, the whole scheme of redemption, is condensed into the few words of this verse.

"O Jersualem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37.) "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live ?" (Ezekiel 18: 23.) "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God, wherefore turn yourselves and live." (Ezek. 18: 32.)

man;

The Proof of Love is what it does. God has given the highest possible proof of his measureless love by giving his only begotten Son. The one nearest to himself, the only one who holds this peculiar relation; so that it was really a giving of himself for it was not a throwing off the burden on another. There is no other certain proof of God's perfect love for all men than this. Nature gives us many hints of God's love; but there is so much which is terrible, which seems contrary to love, that we cannot be sure that God loves us, except by this gift of his Son. The argument is irrefutable, a morning star shining unclouded in every dark night of trouble." He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things." (Rom. 8: 32.)

Note the greatness of this love, in that Jesus, the Son of God gave himself freely that men might be saved.

And God showed this love toward those that hated him, disobeyed him, in wickedness that was intensely repulsive to his holy nature.

It is probable that the work of redemption for the universe is done in this world; that here is waging the great battle between good and evil, for all worlds and at all times. But the magnitude of the issue has nothing to do with the size of the battlefield. Who counts the inhabitants of Waterloo, or Bunker Hill, or Sebastopol, in order to learn what was done on those battle-fields ? The sympathy and thought of a family always goes forth most freely to the helpless, the sick, the wandering ones. So it is in the great family of God. All the good in the universe naturally turns to this lost and sinful and sorrowing world.

In Eph. 3 18 we are told:

of the breadth of the Love of God, as wide as the universe,

of its length,

of its height,

highest hope,

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as long as eternity,

as high as the heavens, beyond all glory of vision, higher than our

of its depth, which reaches down to the lowest sinner, to the depths of sin, ignorance, vileness.

Illustration. Mr. Spurgeon once saw on a country weather-cock what he thought was a strange motto, "God is Love," and asked his friend if he meant to imply that the divine love can be fickle as the wind. 66 No," said he, "this is what I mean which

ever way the wind blows, God is love."

faith

That whosoever believeth. The offer is unlimited. The only condition — is not arbitrary, but is the necessary condition of salvation, lying in the very nature of things; as that food provided will not save a starving man unless he eats, or that schools and libraries will not make him learned unless he studies.

17. God sent not his Son . . . to condemn (Am. R., " to judge ") the world. For

the world was lost and condemned for sin already. Christ declares the lost condition of men, recognizes it as the field for his work of redemption; but he came that the world through him might be saved. The world was already condemned (v. 18) and what the love of God and the coming of Jesus had to do, was to save men from condemnation.

And this is the work of the Gospel, of the church. The state is to punish, the church is to save, everywhere in prisons, in slums, among the worst of men, wherever there is wrong of any kind its one work is to save.

LESSON VI.-February 1I.

JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. - John 4:1-29. PRINT 4:5-14, 24-26. MEMORIZE vs. 13, 14.

GOLDEN TEXT. — Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.—1 TIM. 1 : 15.

John the Baptist, still preaching and baptizing at "Enon, east of the Jordan about 20 miles s. of the outlet of the Sea of Galilee. Here there is a remarkable group of 7 springs; not far from SUBJECT: The Story of Two Kinds of Bethabara and Bethany." — Sanday's Water. Sacred Sites.