Chapter XLVII: A Great Victory (2)

Oh, children! Let our decision be for Jesus! All through our lives, let our one purpose be that He shall be our Lord and our King. We shall not be sorry by and by that we have decided so.

But Judas had made his evil choice; he had set going a thing which he could not now stop. And when he realized that the chief priests had really condemned Jesus, Judas would have given everything he possessed to undo what he had done. But it was too late.

He hurried back to the chief priests with the money in his hand, and he exclaimed, "I have sinned; I have betrayed the innocent One!"

But they said, "What is that to us? You must see to that!"

So he threw down the thirty pieces of silver in the Temple, and went and hanged himself.

Oh, poor Judas! What good was his money to him then? "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Then the chief priests took up the silver and consulted as to what they should do with it, because it was "the price of blood," and they might not put it into God's Treasury; and they decided to buy a field, called the Potter's field, to bury strangers in. And that field was called "the Field of Blood" ever afterwards. We read in the Bible that, five hundred years before that, it was foretold by the prophet Zechariah that all these things should be done, when Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver.

* * * * * * *

So Jesus was brought before Pilate, and stood there in all His majesty and humility, and Pilate asked Him, "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" And Jesus again left no excuse to those who condemned Him. Though He had answered nothing when the false witnesses spoke against Him, though He answered nothing now when the chief priests and elders accused Him, yet, to give Pilate an opportunity of believing and accepting Him, He answered him at once—

"You have said what I am—a King. To this end was I born, and for this
cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness of the truth."

Then Pilate told the chief priests that he found no fault in Him.

When Pilate found it impossible to quiet the chief priests, though he told them he could find no fault in Jesus, he decided to send Him to Herod, who was at Jerusalem at that time.

And when Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, because he had heard of Him, and hoped to have seen a miracle done by Him.

So he asked Jesus a great many questions, but He answered him nothing.

And the chief priests stood and vehemently accused Him.

And Herod and his soldiers mocked Him and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him again to Pilate.

Now at the feast of the Passover, the Roman governor pleased the Jews by setting free a prisoner whomsoever they asked for. So, because Pilate did not like the Jews, and knew that they had delivered Jesus up for envy, he offered to release to them Barabbas, who was a great robber, or "Jesus who was called Christ"?

So Pilate went back to the judgment-seat and sat down. And it was quite early morning yet.

Then his wife sent down in haste to him to have nothing to do with condemning Jesus, because she had had a dreadful dream, and she knew that Jesus was a just man.

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas.

Pilate was sure that Jesus was not worthy of any punishment; but when he found that the Jews were raising a great tumult, and that they charged Pilate with not being Cæsar's friend, if he allowed Jesus to be the King of the Jews, Pilate was afraid.

He was more afraid of the Jews than of God! And so poor Pilate made his great decision. And he, like Judas, made it on the wrong side!

So he called for water, and when it was brought to him, he washed his hands before all the people, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it."

Then Pilate said to them, mockingly, "Shall I crucify your King?"

But they cried the more exceedingly, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"

And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.

Then Pilate released Barabbas to them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

XX. The Soldiers Mocked Him

So when Pilate had sentenced Him to be crucified the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered together the rest of the soldiers, and began to mock at the dear Lord whom we love so much.

They clothed Him with a purple robe, and they plaited a crown of long sharp thorns and put it on His loving head, and then they put a reed in His hand and bowed down to Him, and mocked Him saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

Jesus did not mind being called the King of the Jews, because He came on earth to be their King; He was only sorry that they would not love Him, or have Him for their King and Saviour.

Ah, how it must have cut Him to the heart in all His pain, to have them mock Him, and beat Him on the head, and spit upon Him, and pretend to worship Him.

If our hearts are filled with grief that He could have suffered so much, should we not love Him more than ever; and turn away from the sins which He died on purpose to save us from?

So Pilate went outside again, and said to the Jews, "Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him."

Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns, and Pilate said, "Behold the man!"

But the Jews burst out again with the cry, "Crucify Him!"

And Pilate said, "Why, what evil hath He done?"

But the Jews told Pilate that Jesus had made Himself equal with God, and so He must die.

Then Pilate was more afraid than ever, and went again into the hall, and asked Jesus where He had come from?

But Jesus gave him no answer.

At length the Jews clamoured so loudly, and told Pilate that he was not Cæsar's friend, that though Pilate longed to release Jesus, when he heard them say that, he gave in to them, and brought Jesus forth for the last time, saying to them, "Behold your King!"

And they all cried out, "Away with Him, crucify Him!"

"The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now:
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty Victor's brow.

"The highest place that heaven affords
Is His, is His by right:
The King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And heaven's eternal light."

XXI. Jesus Carrying His Cross

And after they had mocked Jesus, they took off the gorgeous robe in which Herod and his soldiers had dressed Him, and they put His own clothes on Him again, and led Him away to crucify Him.

And Jesus—the King of glory—went forth, carrying the cross on which He was to be crucified for us!

Thus our dear Lord left the city where He had been rejected and condemned, bearing His heavy, cruel cross.

I think He must have fainted beneath its weight, for we are told that when they came to the gate of the city, they met a man, Simon the Cyrenian, coming in from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry the cross after Jesus.

A great multitude came out after them, and the women who had followed and loved Jesus were mourning and grieving at their dear Lord's sorrowful fate.

But Jesus turned to them and told them not to cry for Him, but for all the sorrow which was coming upon Jerusalem because the Jews would not have Him for their Saviour.

And there were two other men led out with Jesus to be crucified at the same time. They were called malefactors, because they had been very wicked.

So the whole great company went outside the city walls, and they bring Jesus to a place called "The Skull." They offered our dear Lord some wine and myrrh to drink, but, when He had tasted it, He would not take it.

Then they crucified Jesus, our King, and the two malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left, and Jesus in the midst.

Children, in all His dreadful sufferings and sorrow, what is it we hear from those dear lips?

Then Jesus said,—

"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

XXII. The Cross of Jesus

We pause at this picture, dear children, with awe and reverence, and as we gaze upon it our hearts are filled with love and grief.

"Did Jesus bear that cruel death for me?" we whisper to ourselves. "Was my name on His heart when He hung all those hours on the cross? Were my sins pardoned by His most precious blood, which flowed from His bleeding side?"

If we can answer a solemn "yes" to these questions, then the cross of Jesus our Saviour is the place where henceforth we can find joy, and thankfulness, and strength.

On the cross where Jesus was crucified, a piece of parchment was nailed. This was generally done, so that people should know what the crime was for which any one was to suffer this cruel death.

But Pilate had nothing to charge Jesus with. He had said over and over again, "I find no fault in Him." And when he sat down to write His accusation on the parchment, he wrote—

"Jesus of Nazareth—the King of the Jews."

This writing was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near to the city, and many were passing backwards and forwards at this Passover feast time.

And Pilate wrote it in Hebrew and Greek and Latin.

The Jews did not at all like what Pilate had written, and wanted him to take the writing down. They said, "Do not say that He is the King of the Jews! But say, He said He was."

But Pilate would not alter it. "What I have written, I have written," he said.

So when Jesus died, He had only this accusation—that He is King!

And the people stood beholding.

They saw the four soldiers carry away His raiment, to divide it between them. But when the soldiers found that His coat, or under-robe, was seamless and woven in one piece, they cast lots for that; so that the Scripture, written hundreds of years before, might be fulfilled, "They parted My raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots." These things, therefore, the soldiers did.

Then the rulers who were standing by mocked Him, saying, "He saved others, why did He not save Himself and come down from the cross?"

Dear children, do you know why Jesus did not come down from the cross?

"He knew how wicked man had been,
He knew that God must punish sin;
So, out of pity, Jesus said
He'd bear the punishment instead.

"And so He died! And this is why
He came to earth to bleed and die:
The Bible says He came from heaven,
That we might have our sins forgiven."

Perhaps some of you may think that the cruel nails held His dear hands and feet so fast that He could not come down?

But that was not the reason—oh no!

It was love that made Him stay there—love to you and to me. He stayed there that He might die for us, that His precious blood should be shed to pay the price for our sins.

The two thieves who were crucified on either side of Jesus, joined with the Jews in reproaching Him; but after a while one of them began to think of Him as He hung there in all His patience and love, and he was sorry that he had spoken against Him. He rebuked the other thief, and told him that they both were condemned justly, "but this Man hath done nothing amiss," he said.

And then we can picture him, turning his poor suffering face towards the loving Saviour who hung beside him, and we can almost hear him saying, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom!"

And Jesus answered and said, "To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise!"

Ah! He was the King of Love! Not a reproach to that sinful man; not a word that now it was too late; nothing but love and cheer and tenderness. "Verily I say unto thee, To-day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise!"

Oh, does not this tender Jesus make your heart grow warm with love?

Though He was racked with pain, He could cheer one who was suffering by Him; though He was dying for the sins of the whole world, He could save one single soul who turned to Him in faith.

God sent a great darkness over all the land from twelve o'clock till three o'clock, while His holy Son was dying on the cross.

No one can tell all the depth of woe and loneliness which Jesus suffered while the load of our sins rested upon Him; but the more we understand it, the more we shall love Him for His great love.

"When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

"Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

"See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down:
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet?
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

"Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

"To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
For ever and for evermore."

Now there were standing by the cross of Jesus, His mother, and His mother's sister Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw His mother, and John, the disciples whom He loved, standing there, He charged him to take care of His dear mother; and John took her to his own home from that hour.

And now everything was done which the Scriptures had said should happen; and Jesus, knowing this, said, "I thirst!"

And one ran and filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

And when Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished!" And He gave up His spirit into His Father's keeping; and then He died.

XXIII. The Sealed Tomb

Now when the centurion who was in charge of the soldiers who crucified Jesus, saw all the things that had happened—His wonderful love and patience, His dying words, the darkness and the great earthquake,—he feared greatly, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

And there were many women there, standing as near as they dared. Among these was Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had cast seven devils; and Mary the mother of James and Joses; and Salome the mother of Zebedee's children, James and John, the disciples who had been with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and at other special times during His ministry.

So these women stood and waited near the cross all those long hours till the evening, to see what they would do with their Lord.

And when the evening had come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph.

He was a counsellor and much respected among the Jews; and when the Lord had been condemned by them, he had not consented to what they had done. He was looking for the Kingdom of God, like many other godly Jews at that time.

So he brought fine linen to wrap the precious body of Jesus in; and sweet spices for His burial.

And he went boldly in to Pilate and begged him to give him the body of Jesus.

So Pilate gave him leave, and Joseph hastened back to take Jesus down from the cross, and to wrap Him in beautiful pure linen, and to carry Him away to his own new tomb which was in a garden close to Calvary.

We are told by those who have been there, that just beneath that hill outside Jerusalem called The Skull, there is a garden with a tomb in it, cut out of the rock. It is thought by some, that this is the tomb in which Jesus was laid; but no one can be quite certain that this is so.

At any rate, we are told in the Gospel of John that the garden was near at hand. And here they buried the body of our dear Lord, and rolled a great stone across the door of the sepulchre.

And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw where He was laid, and sat down over against the sepulchre to watch.

But the next day, the chief priests and Pharisees came to Pilate, to remind him that Jesus had said while He was alive, that He was going to rise again from the dead on the third day.

So they begged Pilate to command that the sepulchre should be made sure till the third day, lest Jesus' disciples should come in the night and steal His body away, and pretend that He had risen as He had said, which they thought would be a worse mistake than all!

And Pilate answered, "You have soldiers who can watch, go and make it as sure as you can."

So they went back, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting men to keep watch all night.

XXIV. The Resurrection

They had sealed the grave to make all sure, and they had set a watch that no one should come to steal the body of Jesus; and the women and those who loved Him and had followed Him, left the tomb at last, and went to their own homes.

They had forgotten that the Lord Jesus had told them, over and over again, that He would rise from the dead on the third day.

But it was impossible that the grave could hold the Son of God, when the time came for Him to rise.

He tasted death for all of us; but He also rose from the dead to show that God was satisfied that He had atoned for our sins.

Very early on the first day of the week, which is our Sunday, Mary Magdalene, and Salome, and "the other Mary," came to the grave with spices and sweet-smelling ointments to anoint the body of Jesus.

And as they went along, they said to each other, "Who shall roll away the stone for us?" For they knew that it was very large and heavy!

But when they got there, the stone was already rolled away.

So they entered into the tomb, and they saw a young man sitting there on the right side, clothed in a long, white garment, and they were very frightened.

But he said to them, "Do not be frightened; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: He is risen; He is not here: look at the place where they laid Him. And go and tell His disciples, and Peter, that if they go into Galilee they shall see Him, as He said to them."

At first they were so frightened at the shining angel that they ran away, and did not tell any one. But very soon, while it was yet very early, Jesus met Mary Magdalene (out of whom, we read in the 8th of Luke, He had cast seven devils), and when she had seen Him and He had talked with her, she knew certainly that He was the Lord; and she ran and told His other disciples who were mourning and crying because they thought He was dead, and that they should never see Him again.

And do you not think, too, that Peter must have been very glad indeed of that special message which the Lord Jesus sent to him?

We read afterwards that the Lord also appeared to Peter; but we do not know what He said to His sorrowful disciple. All we do know is that Jesus forgave him.

And this is what He will do for us, children, if we ask Him to forgive us. He will comfort us with the assurance of His love and pardon, and He will help us to go on again like He did Peter.

Meanwhile the soldiers who were watching at the tomb were very frightened at all that had happened, and went and told the chief priests all about it.

So when they had consulted together, they gave the soldiers money, and told them to say that the disciples of Jesus had come in the night and had stolen His body.

So that saying was believed among the Jews from that time.

But Jesus was alive! He showed Himself over and over again to His own disciples; and so that there should be no mistake, He came one evening into the midst of the room where the disciples and those who were with them were assembled, and said, "Peace be unto you!"

They were all so frightened, thinking that they had seen a spirit, that Jesus told them to touch Him and to look at the marks of the nails in His hands and feet; and when they could hardly believe for joy, He asked them to give Him some food, and He sat down and ate it before them, explaining to them in loving words that it was necessary for Him to die, but also necessary for Him to rise again, that He might obtain eternal salvation for all who will obey Him.

XXV. On the Shore at Dawn

On the day of the resurrection, two of the disciples of the Lord Jesus were walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus, and as they went along they spoke of all that had happened, reasoning together about it.

And as they walked, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they did not know Him.

So He asked them what they were talking of, and why they were sad?

And Cleopas answered, that He must be a stranger in Jerusalem if He did not know what had so lately happened there.

And Jesus asked them, "What things?"

So they told Him it was about Jesus of Nazareth who had been a mighty prophet, but now had been crucified; and how they had hoped that He was to be their Saviour.

Then Jesus told them that if they had only believed, they would have understood that the Scriptures had foretold that Christ must suffer to atone for sin, and then to enter into His glory.

So He explained in all the Scriptures the things about Himself—but still they did not know Him.

Then they came to the village, and they pressed Him to abide with them; and while they sat at supper Jesus blessed the bread, and brake it, and gave to them.

Then their eyes were opened, and they knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight.

So they rose up the same hour and hurried back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples together, who were full of the joyful news that the Lord had risen indeed, and that He had appeared to Peter.

Then Cleopas and his companion told their great news, and as they did so, Jesus Himself stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace be unto you!"

* * * * * * *

Now I must tell you how Jesus showed Himself to six of His disciples and Nathanael at the sea of Galilee, sometimes called Tiberias.

Peter had proposed one evening to go to fish on the lake, and the others had said they would go with him. But all that night they took nothing. When the morning dawned they were cold and hungry, and as the light came back they saw some one on the shore who seemed to be waiting for them.

They did not know that it was Jesus and even when His voice came to them across the water, asking if they had anything to eat, they did not recognize it.

But when the stranger called to them to cast their nets on the right side of the ship, and they found a lot of fish, John began to guess Who it must be, and he said to Peter, "It is the Lord!"

Then Peter threw on his fisher's coat and cast himself into the sea to get quickly to his beloved Lord, and the rest hastened to follow in a small boat, dragging the net full of great fishes.

When they landed on the beach, they found that Jesus had prepared for them. He knew that they were cold and hungry, and they saw a fire already lighted, with some fish being cooked on it, as well as bread to eat with it.

Then Jesus told them to bring some of the fish which they had caught; and He said to them, "Come and break your fast." But none of the disciples durst ask Him, "Who art Thou?" knowing that it was the Lord.

Jesus then came to them, and gave them fish and bread, and satisfied their hunger. But oh, what must it have been to have His presence, and to see Him once more, face to face!

You can picture them as they sat in that clear morning air with Jesus close to them and how they must have listened to every word that fell from His dear lips. And what do you think was the message that He wanted them to remember, above all, from that resurrection breakfast table?

When they had finished their meal, Jesus turned to Simon Peter—Peter who loved Him so truly, and yet who had denied Him,—and He said tenderly to him three times, "Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me?"

And Peter answered each time, "Yes, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee!"

And Jesus said to him words like this: "Then, Peter, if you love Me, feed My lambs, and feed My sheep!"

Jesus did not mean, children, that Peter should turn into a shepherd. No; He wanted Peter to understand that among the people of God, whom God often calls His flock, there would be little lambs—children—who would want cherishing, and sheep who would want feeding, with the Bread of Life.

I think this was the message of that resurrection breakfast table: "If you love Me, tell others of My great love!"

XXVI. Going to the Father

At length the time came for the Lord Jesus to return to heaven, to be at His Father's right hand.

So one day He led His disciples out of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives.

He did not tell them to wait for Him at Gethsemane that day! All sorrow and suffering were now past for Him. He had finished the work which His Father had given Him to do, and now He had only to bless His disciples, and ascend up above the clouds to live with His Father.

During the forty days since His resurrection, He had appeared to them many times, and had told them many things about the kingdom of God, and about the Holy Spirit who was soon to be sent to them to be their Comforter.

And now having led them out as far as Bethany, He blessed them, and while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

While they looked earnestly up to heaven, two angels stood by them in white clothes, and said to them, "Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen Him go into heaven."

Then they returned back to Jerusalem with great joy.

It was the thought of Jesus being in glory which gave them great joy; and His promise that He would come again some day, made them happy and hopeful.

They had lost His dear bodily presence here; but He said that though He was in heaven, He would be with them here too, even to the end of the world.

This is what He says to us, dear children, to-day! He says, "I am with you all the days, and I am coming again to receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

Jesus wants us all to set to work for Him. He has left us a charge to tell others about His love in dying for us, that they may come to Him to be blessed.

We may not be able to do very much, but we can try to please Him every day by being obedient, faithful and loving; and while we listen to His voice saying to us from the glory, "Surely I come quickly!" We can answer Him with adoring love,—

"Come, Lord Jesus!"

XXVII. When the Earth was made Beautiful

Long ago, before this earth was made ready for us to live on, if you had been able to look at it, you would have seen nothing but mist, and darkness, and water!

And as you think about it, you wonder very much how it all was.

If you were asked, you would say that the earth is a great round ball, and that it hangs up in the sky without anybody holding it up!

You cannot explain how that is, and you find it very difficult to understand how it can be.

Perhaps you wonder who made the earth? And how did it get hung up in the sky, and who keeps it there?

So I am going to tell you about it.

A very, very long time ago, a great deal longer ago than you or I can count, for the Bible tells us that it was "In the beginning," God made the heaven and the earth.

The earth on which we live now, where there are trees and beautiful flowers, and horses and cows, as well as men and women and children, was quite empty then. It was always dark there in those days, and all the ground was covered with water!

You can think how desolate it must have been: nothing to be seen but mist and darkness!

But God had not forgotten this earth of ours.

And we read another thing in the Bible about "In the beginning," and that is, that Jesus the Son of God was "in the beginning with God."

That is such a comforting thought! Before our world was prepared for us to live on, Jesus was with God in Heaven!

You children love your fathers and mothers very much; you like to go on their messages, and to do what you can to help them, do you not? The Lord Jesus loved to do God's will, and to carry out all His Father gave Him to do.

And what do you think God did give Him to do? Perhaps you have begun to guess!

God His Father gave Him the wonderful work of making our earth, and preparing it all for us to live on!

It says in the Bible "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."

So the first thing that happened when God began to prepare this earth for men to live on, was that God's Spirit came and "brooded" over the dark waters that covered the earth.

You wonder what that means? Perhaps you have seen a hen sitting day after day on the nest of eggs, and "brooding" over them till they get warmth and life?

Well, that is what the word means! God's Holy Spirit came near our earth, and surrounded it with His warmth and love.

And then God said, "Let there be light!" or "Let the light come!"

And lo! Instead of the dark waters and deep shadow, there came a shining over the earth; and God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.

Next to the day and night, God made the air and the sky and the clouds. And He told the sea to stay where it was, and the sky to stay above the earth, and He called the sky Heaven.

But still there was no land to be seen; so in His wonderful power, God told the sea to go back to a certain distance, and then the mountains and the hills and the plains stood out, and the earth was ready to be furnished for us men, who were to live on it.

So God our Father, and Jesus Christ our Saviour, and the Holy Spirit our Comforter, all prepared this beautiful earth for us.

It is God's power (by His wonderful laws) which holds the earth up in the sky, so that it does not tumble out of its place.

And it is His power which brought the trees and the grass, the flowers and the corn, the fruit and the vegetables to make us happy.

And now came something else.

God planned for us to have the beautiful sun to cheer us, and to tell us what time of day it is; and He gave us the moon to shine at night, and also to remind us what time of the month we have reached. He set them in the sky to make us happy, and to remind us every day of His love and power. Then God made the fishes and the birds, the cattle and the sheep, as well as the lions and tigers, the horses and the elephants.

And not only the large animals, but the little ants and bees and caterpillars—everything that lives on this earth.

But there were no men or women or children there, yet.

Then God talked to the Lord Jesus about it; for we are told in the first Chapter of Genesis that He said "Let us make man . . . after our likeness."

So God made Adam and Eve, and blessed them, and promised to give them some little children, and told them He had made everything on the earth to make them happy and to do them good.

And then God saw that His work was very good; nothing had been left out, it was perfect! Every leaf was perfect, every flower, every insect, every animal, every star; all were very good!

Thus the heavens and the earth were made, and God rested on the seventh day, and blessed the seventh day, because in it, He rested from all His work which He had done.

This is why we have Sunday; and we shall find that in keeping His day of Holy Rest, we too are promised a great blessing for "in keeping His Commandments there is great reward."

XXVIII. Adam and Eve

When God made the earth ready for men and women and children to live in, He made a beautiful garden called Eden, and there God put Adam and Eve who were the first man and the first woman.

In this garden they were very good and happy. God himself used to come down and talk to them in the cool of the evening.

He told Adam and Eve that He had made everything for them, and that the trees with their sweet fruit were for their food.

But God gave them one command. He said they were not to eat the fruit of one particular tree in the garden. God knew the fruit of this tree would make Adam and Eve very unhappy, if they ate it.

Now I must explain to you that there were some of God's angels who had been very disobedient, and they had been shut out of heaven because they would not obey God.

Adam and Eve were very happy, as I said, and they did not think of disobeying God till Satan (that wicked angel who tries to make us do naughty things) hid himself in a serpent, and came to Eve and began to talk to her.

Eve was not surprised that a serpent could talk to her, for so many wonderful things were around her, that she listened to him, and answered him, without thinking it was any harm.

This is how temptation often comes to us, children!

Satan began by asking Eve a very clever question. He said, "Are you sure God has said that you may not eat of every tree in the garden?"

Then Eve said eagerly, "We may eat of every tree except one; but if we eat of that one we shall have to die!"

Then the serpent said to Eve, "You will not have to die! You will only be a great deal more wise than you are now!"

And so Eve looked longingly at the tree, and when she saw that the fruit looked so nice, and heard that it would make her clever, she forgot all about obeying God, and picked the fruit and ate it, and gave some to Adam her husband, and he ate it too.

Oh, how sad was their disobedience, and what sorrow it brought on them and their children!

So the Lord God sent them out of the beautiful garden, because there was in the midst of the garden the Tree of Life, and God did not wish them to eat of that tree now.

So He put angels at the gate of Eden with a flaming sword, to keep the way of the Tree of Life.

Then Adam and Eve went out sorrowfully from their lovely garden, and Adam had to work very hard in digging the ground to plant things to grow for that food.

Eve was very sad too, and in the end they both had to die, as God had said.

But God is very pitiful, and when He was telling Eve how wrong she had been, and what a cruel enemy the Serpent was, He promised her that some day a Deliverer should come, who should destroy the serpent, Satan.

This Deliverer is Jesus Christ our Saviour, Who came to earth to live and to die for us, that He might undo all that Satan had done to hurt us, and make all who will trust Jesus, happy in heaven for ever.

And in the Revelation, we read a beautiful promise, which tells us something about Heaven that we never could have guessed when we saw poor Adam and Eve driven out of Eden—

"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life,
which is in the midst of the Paradise of God!"

XXIX. Cain and Abel

By and by God gave Adam and Eve two sons. The eldest was named Cain, who helped Adam till the ground; and the younger was named Abel, who was a keeper of sheep.

After a time, both these young men brought an offering to the Lord; and the Lord accepted the offering of Abel, which was a lamb from the flock, but He could not accept the offering of fruit which Cain brought.

Perhaps you wonder at that, dear children? But I will try to explain it to you. God looks on the heart, and Abel's heart was obedient. He brought that which God had appointed as the way to come to Him. But Cain was not obedient; he thought that the fruit of the ground which he had taken such trouble to grow, would do just as well!

So when he found that God did not accept his offering, he was very angry, and his countenance fell.

And the Lord said to him, "Why are you angry, Cain? If you do well, shall it not be accepted? And if you do not do well, a Sin-offering lies at the door."

I think that GOD meant Cain to understand that it was only by a Sacrifice that we can come near to Him. And when, all through the Old Testament, we read of the sacrifice of a lamb as an offering for sin, God accepted the lamb, because He looked on to the time when the Lord Jesus would be "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

But Cain did not heed God's gentle persuasion, that he too could bring a sin-offering; and presently, when he was alone with his brother, he got more and more angry, and at last rushed at him and struck him and killed him!

Oh, the misery of poor Cain! No one can tell how he longed to undo that cruel deed. No one knows the sorrow and punishment of his whole life.

Children, let it be a warning to us not to let anger and jealousy live in our hearts, but let us pray every day, "Deliver me from Satan, the Evil one, who would tempt me to sin against Thee, and accept me, for Jesus' sake!"

XXX. The Escape from Sodom

Then the two angels rose up and went towards Sodom, and the Lord remained talking with Abraham.

He told Abraham that He intended to destroy Sodom, because the city was so very wicked!

Now Abraham knew that his nephew Lot was living there, and he begged God to spare Sodom if there were fifty good people there. And the Lord promised to spare it if there were!

But Abraham began to fear there were not so many; and he kept on asking the Lord, till at last he got down to ten! and the Lord said He would spare it for ten's sake.

And then the Lord went on His way, and Abraham went back to his home.

But when the angels got to Sodom, they could not even find ten who loved God!

They found Lot and his family, and urged them to escape for their lives across the plain, and not once to look behind them, for Sodom was going to be burned all up!

So Lot escaped with his wife and two daughters and fled for his life. But his wife was disobedient to God's message, and turned to look back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

And so the great and wicked city was destroyed by a terrible judgment from the Lord, but Lot was saved!

Dear children! God has sent Jesus to be our Saviour, let us fly to Him from our sins, and so be safe for ever in His happy, happy land.

XXXI. The Tower of Babel

"What a great tower!" says someone. "And how high it is! Look; the houses are so small down there on that great sort of field, and the tower is going to be built higher still, because, you see, it is not finished!"

You are quite right! That beautiful tower never was finished, though it was begun four thousand years ago!

I told you about the Flood; and this is the next story after the Flood.

You remember that when the rain stopped, and God allowed the waters to go down, the tops of the mountains began to be seen, and then the green fields were uncovered, and Noah and his children and all the animals were able to come out of the Ark, and to begin to live on the earth again.

But, alas, as men began to increase on the earth, they began to forget God, and the way He had saved them in the Ark. But they remembered the flood, and they thought in their pride, that they would build a very high tower whose top should reach to Heaven, so that no flood could overwhelm them any more.

But there was another thing they forgot; and that was God's promise to them, that He never would send a flood to destroy the world again.

Then God came down from Heaven to see all that the men on the earth were doing. And when He saw their pride and their forgetfulness of Him, the Lord said, Let us go down and prevent the men from understanding each other's speech.

And when God had done this, the men could not speak to each other about their work as they used. It was just as if someone were to speak German or Italian or Spanish to you and expect you to understand.

So the men could not build any more, for no one could understand what the others said. So they left off building and were scattered to all parts of the earth; and the city they had tried to build was called Babel—which means Confusion.

But God did not forget His servant Noah, nor Noah's good son Shem. He took care of Shem and of his children after him, and by and by of Shem's grandchildren and great-grandchildren, till at length Abraham was born.

And Abraham had the great honour of being called The Friend of God!

Perhaps you think how much you would like to be called such a name as that?

Then let all of us who would like to be called God's friends set out to be obedient.

God has put in the Bible rules which are to guide us every day. If we follow them, that is being obedient.

Do you remember what the Lord Jesus said about that, when He was on earth?

Here are the words,—

"Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."

"For whosoever shall do the Will of My Father which is in Heaven,
the same is My brother and sister and mother."

XXXII. The Friend of God

"Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy father's house, unto a land which I will shew thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee . . . and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

So Abram obeyed, and went out from Ur of the Chaldees, and came into the land of Canaan.

God had given Abram most wonderful promises, as well as frequent assurances of His love. He was also very rich, for God had given him a great deal of money, and many sheep and oxen and camels.

But there was one thing which God had not given Abram, which he longed for very much; and this was a little child of his very own.

God loved Abram, and He would not have denied him his desire without some wise and loving reason.

God promised Abram that he should have a son, but He wished to prove to all the world, and to the angels who are looking on at what happens on this earth, that Abram could trust Him, and trust His promise even though he should have to wait twenty years for it.

Abram had brought his wife Sarah, and his nephew Lot with him, when he left his own country; but after a time he and Lot had so many sheep and oxen that there was not grass enough for them all; so Lot chose the land towards Sodom, and Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan.

One day the word of God came to Abram in a vision or dream, saying, "Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward!"

Then Abram told the Lord how he wanted a son of his own, for he had no one to take all his riches by and by, except the servant who managed his property.

And God promised Abram that he should have a son of his very own.

And God led him out in the night when all the beautiful stars were shining in the deep blue sky, and God said, "Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars if thou be able to count them"; and God said, "So shall the number of your children be!"

And Abram believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness.

Do you not think, children, that as Abram walked on those lonely mountains in Palestine, that he must often have thought "God has promised all this land to me and my children!" And then, when he looked up at the stars at night in the clear atmosphere, that he must have been lost in wonder at the thousands and thousands of stars which he saw, and have said to himself, "God promised so shall my seed be!"

The Lord Jesus, in the New Testament, tells us something about Abraham which we do not read in Genesis.

He said "Abraham rejoiced to see my day, he saw it and was glad!"

How wonderful it is that God notices and remembers when we try to please Him, and sees our hearts when nobody else can!

At length Abram was ninety years old, and the Lord appeared to him again, and told him that his name should not be called Abram any more, but Abraham, because he was to be a father of many nations. And then God told Abraham that very soon he and Sarah were to have a little son, and that his name was to be called Isaac.

So one day Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent in the heat of the day, when he looked up and saw three men standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them and bowed himself to the ground.

Perhaps Abraham guessed that one of the three men was the Lord; for afterwards he did not seem at all surprised when the Lord spoke to him, and promised to give Sarah a little son very soon.

At any rate he begged the three men to rest beneath the tree while he hastened away to prepare food to refresh them.

Then he took butter and milk and a young calf which he had cooked, and set it before them and he stood by under the tree, and they did eat.

Then they asked him where Sarah was, and Abraham answered that she was in the tent.

And the Lord said, "I will certainly return and Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son."

Now Sarah was just inside the tent, and when she heard the words, she laughed within herself.

And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I of a surety have a child?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, and Sarah shall have a son."

And Sarah was ashamed that she had doubted God's promise, and she denied, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid.

But the Lord said, "Nay, but thou didst laugh."

XXXIII. In a Thirsty Land

This is a nice story for children, because it tells us that God listens when children pray, and sympathizes with all that happens to children.

The boy you see in the picture is almost dying for want of water. Perhaps none of you children know how dreadful it is to be really very thirsty, and have nothing to drink, however thirsty you may be.

Hagar, the mother of the boy, is very sad. She knows that the bottle is empty, and she cannot see any sign of a well, or of a spring of water, in the great sandy desert which stretches in every direction as far as the eye can see.

Ishmael is her one child, and God has allowed them to be sent out into the wilderness, with only a bottle of water and as much bread as they can carry; for Hagar had been turned out of her home, and had been obliged to take that long and dangerous journey, because of the unkindness of her mistress Sarah.

But God was watching over her and Ishmael. He would not allow anything to really hurt them, and in His great pity, He sent to save them when all other help had failed.

By and by there was not one drop of water left in the bottle, and Ishmael had no strength to walk any further.

Hagar knew that all hope was over, now that Ishmael could not walk another step! So she laid him down under a little shrub that grew there, and went some little distance off, for she said in her grief, "I cannot bear to see him die."

So she sat down in her misery and cried bitterly.

But God heard the voice of the lad, and He sent His angel to call to Hagar from heaven. "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the lad, where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him in thine hand; for I will make of him a great nation."