Children. Yes.

Miss M. Now to what does our Lord compare the righteous ?

Kate. To the sun.

Miss M. Yes, He says that they will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Now read Daniel xii. 3.

Elizabeth reads. "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

Miss M. You see that Daniel here makes use of the same comparison, and a beautiful one it is. Think how great a privilege it will be to be allowed then to shine forth in the kingdom of God, our heavenly Father. Those, whose light has shone before the world, will shine themselves as the sun in heaven. Now there is one thing more I wish you to observe. What harm could the tares do-could they hurt the wheat in any way?

Susan. Yes; they could prevent it from growing.

Miss M. And so may we, if we are like the tares, prevent or hinder those who would be good, if it were not for us, from doing what is right. And surely if any thing can add to our grief, when we are shut out from the kingdom of God, it will be to see some one of us, some one perhaps that we loved, doomed to everlasting punishment: some one that, if it had not been for us, would have been called forth to shine as the sun in the kingdom of God. Let us, then, children, learn from this parable to be like the wheat, which the Son of man sowed, that at the last day we may hear the summons, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the

kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

CHAPTER IV.

THE PARABLES OF THE GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED, AND OF THE LEAVEN.

Matt. xiii. 31-33. Mark iv. 30-32. Luke xiii. 18-21.

"THE kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. . . . The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."

Miss Morton. We have again another parable relating to the sowing of seed, but you will see that it is intended to convey a very different lesson from the two others. What are we told about mustard seed? Jane. That a man sowed it in his field.

Miss M. Yes; but what does our Saviour say is its quality ?

Mary. It is the least of all seeds.

Miss M. Exactly; and now tell me what it be

comes.

Elizabeth. "When it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Miss M. What does the seed mean?

Kate. The first dawning of life in the soul of a Christian.

Miss M. Yes, which gradually becomes greater, till at last it shines unto the perfect day, just as the mustard seed grew into a large tree.

Miss M. Did you ever watch the beginning of daylight?

Mary. Yes, teacher, I have.

Miss M. Did it become light all at once?
Mary. No.

Miss M. First you saw a glimmer of light in the east, and then the pink light on the clouds, and then it became brighter all at once when day began to dawn.

Mary. Till at last the sun rose, and every thing looked quite bright.

Miss M. The light of divine truth shines just like that in the soul of a Christian; first very faintly, but gradually quite clearly, till he is at last enabled to be "a burning and a shining light" to others. To whom did our Lord apply that description?

Kate. To John the Baptist. John v. 35.

Miss M. There is also another application of this parable to be made. It shows the greatness of Christ's kingdom, as compared with its small beginning. An angel appeared not to some great queen or princess, but to a poor woman of the name of Mary. Christ was not born in a beautiful palace, but-where, Mary? Mary. In a manger.

Miss M. He then went and lived in the town of Nazareth. Nathanael's exclamation when he heard that Christ was a Nazarene shows how that city was despised. What was the exclamation ?

Emily. "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ?" John i. 46.

Miss M. What did the Jews say when they heard of His mighty works? Matt. xiii. 55, 56.

Charlotte. "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? and his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things ?"

Miss M. Again, whom did Christ choose as His first disciples? The nobleman whose son He healed, or Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; or the centurion, whose account of himself was, "I also am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it;"-did Christ choose any of these for His disciples? Charlotte. No; some poor fishermen.

Miss M. Yes; and the Christians were at first a small band, despised by the heathen amongst whom they dwelt; but the grain of mustard seed is indeed. grown into a lofty tree, for their religion has now spread over almost the whole civilized world, so that Isaiah's prophecy is indeed fulfilled. You may read it to me. Isa. xlix. 22, 23.

Susan. "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt

know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me."

Miss M. Our next parable conveys the same lesson. What analogy can you trace in them? I mean, is there any thing alike in the growth of the mustard seed and the leavening of meal?

Mary. Both the processes are unseen.

Miss M. Yes; and so it is with the working of the Holy Spirit in the heart of man, invisible to us, and only to be discovered by its fruits. What fruits are to be expected from us?

Jane. The fruits of the Spirit.

Miss M. And what are the fruits of the Spirit ? Read Ephesians v. 9.

Jane reads. "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth."

Miss M. You may also read Galatians v. 22, 23. Ellen reads. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

CHAPTER V.

THE PARABLES OF THE HID TREASURE, THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, AND THE NET.

Matt. xiii. 44-50.

AGAIN, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom