golden age. Every passing year brings its compensation for losses, and increases the store of the heavenly treasure. The pilgrim faces the eternal morning whose light shines on a path that grows brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. Browning makes his Rabbi voice the Christian spirit when he sings:

Grow old along with me.

The best is yet to be,

The last of life for which the first was made;

Our times are in his hand,

Who saith, "A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God; see all, nor be afraid!"

III. This miracle is prophetic of the growing influence of Christ.

It is recorded that "His disciples believed on him." But did they not already believe on him? Did not Andrew believe when he brought Peter to Jesus? Did not Philip believe when he exclaimed, "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write"? And these others, who had left their homes and attached themselves to him as his disciples, were they not all believers? Certainly they believed on him. But their hesitating faith, struggling against outward appearances and inward misgivings, leaped up at once at this act of divine authority into triumphant strength and henceforth dominated their lives. Belief is not a fixed and final thing, an act of the intellect accepting certain dogmas once and for all time. Belief is a living thing, a personal devotion, a loving fellowship, that grows with the soul's growth into a faith triumphant over the world. And as its progress in the heart of the believer, so is the progress of faith in the world. From this quiet beginning in a humble Galilæan home the conquest of a world is prophesied. Already has the little company who believed on him grown to a host innumerable. The dis

ciple who records this humble beginning was to have his eyes dazzled by visons of the glories of Christ's kingdom, as he waited on the lonely isle. And for the fulfilment of the prophecy of this world-conquest we yet wait in confident hope.

The method of enlarging faith is also indicated here. Mary already believed in her Son. Did she expect him here to work a miracle? Probably not. But in the quiet years of life in Nazareth she had learned to trust him and to depend upon him. He was always transcending her knowledge and surpassing her expectation. He had outgrown her understanding, but not her love and trust. And her faith is strong enough to prompt the ready message, "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." She does not know what he will do, but she has learned that it is always the right thing that he does. The exercise of the faith we have, and the swift and unquestioning obedience to his commands, these are always the conditions of the larger manifestation of his glory. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me . . . and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him."

Such are some of the prophecies of this first miracle. Its message is so plain and so commanding that it is strange that it should so often be set aside by those who see in this miracle little beside arguments for one side or the other of the temperance debate. The temperance question is certainly one of the most important and vital problems of modern society. The Bible has no lack of teaching that may help our solution of it. But there is little in this miracle that bears upon it. Because Christ made and drank wine in Galilee in the first century, we certainly have no right to assume that he would countenance that stronghold of Satan, the modern saloon, or approve of the social drinking customs of modern society.

This miracle points forward with prophetic finger to the

time when this, with all other vexed social problems, shall become obsolete, when all society shall have been transformed by the power of the Son of God, and the city of God, wherein dwelleth righteousness, established among men. That greater miracle is being wrought before our eyes. We have seen races redeemed, nations emancipated, hoary iniquities banished, savage islands made the abodes of peace. And as we experience his power in the renewing of our own hearts, and witness the gradual redemption of human society by his transforming influence, shall we not, like the disciples of old, at each new manifestation of his glory, give ourselves to him with new enthusiasm, in ever growing and ever conquering faith?

Edward McArthur Noyes.

34

CHRIST AND NICODEMUS

JOHN 3: 1-16

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Jesus' reply to the polite address of Nicodemus furnishes the key to their interview: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This saying has been judged a hard one. It puzzled the first man who heard it, and it has disturbed countless number since. Men have argued about it and twisted it one way or another till it has wrought mischief with their thinking and their acting. But the saying is too important to be neglected because some lives have stumbled over it. For it is a saying of Jesus, who is still "the truth" for us. And he speaks it to Nicodemus, who comes sincerely, if cautiously, to ask wisdom of the new rabbi. The Pharisee may not be a full disciple, teachable and trustful, but he is at least interested, respectful, well-disposed, and it is inconceivable that our Lord should try to mislead him. The answer is meant to be frank and helpful.

And then the words deal with a matter of deepest concern. It is nothing less than God's will, the finding of it, the doing of it. The burden on the mind of this visitor to Jesus is like that which brought the other ruler to him— "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Perhaps the thought of Nicodemus has greater regard to the welfare of his nation, with which his own life is bound up. But it is one inquiry, at bottom, whether for

the individual or the whole Israel: how is God's favor to be secured, his promise of blessing attained? It is the perennial question of the human heart to which Jesus addresses himself. It is to face the wistful look of an old and needy world that Jesus turns. No word he has to utter can be more momentous than the one which is to answer this call.

And then he indicates the weightiness of his word by the way he begins it-"Verily, verily." "Amen, amen," that is the solemn asseveration by which Jesus used to introduce his more emphatic sayings, and that is the way this saying starts, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee." It is like the lifting up of the hand, by which one solemnly swears to speak "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

And the utterance is not for Nicodemus alone, or for his race, but for all mankind. It has added importance from the fact that it is a universal word, bearing no more on the Jews' case than the Gentiles', having no greater insistence for that man in the room alone with Jesus than for the men and women of to-day. "Except a man"-that means any and every one. It means you. Except you are born anew you cannot see the kingdom of God.

Because Christ uttered it, to an honest seeker after truth, concerning a difficult matter, with utmost emphasis and as a word for the world, this saying commands our careful regard. We must know what it means.

There is nothing confused about its language, and its idea seems to be plain. The saying involves a mystery but it is not vague. It asserts the absolute necessity of a new birth in order to entrance into, or even real perception of, the kingdom of God. The figure is bold but it is intelligible and in accord with all Christ's teaching. The whole message of this kingdom is of something new. It is a new covenant, of a new way, to a new life. There is a new doctrine, a new commandment, a new creature; "the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new." The end