of the Com

birth and afterward. We read of them in the Gospels. John had the Old Testament only, contain

h. As yet he has not thought as we do of Jesus and the Messiah being the same person. It is not easy for us to put ourselves in his place, and leave out of ou

escendants could be saved from the power of Satan and the consequences of sin. We do not know how much our first parents understood of this coming One: but we feel assured that they believed this promise, and through repentance and faith in this Saviour, they at last entered a more glorious paradise than the one they lost. That promise faded from the minds of many of their descendants and wickedness increased. But God had not forgotten it. John could fin

"Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house! for Thou hast spoken of Thy servant's house for a great while to come." John must have been taught b

t thinking this was another name for his cousin Jesus. John would find other names describing His character. His eye would rest on such words and phrases as these-"Holy One;" "Most Holy;"

d is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty

, but with a present meaning, saying, "The Child is born!" As he read the prophecy of Haggai, uttered more

uld come upon Him. We read in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, how He was to be "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, ... wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, ... brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers, ... and make His grave with the wicked." We know that all this happened. We think

pass. For the present we leave him in Bethsaida, increasing in wisdom and stature. So is also his cou