SABBATH EVENING FIRESIDE BIBLE CLASS.

CHRIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
August 6th.

What is the next Messianic prediction in Ezekiel? Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27.

What was the law of sprinkling for the unclean? Num. xix. 17-19.

What lesson was this meant to teach? Psa. li. 2, 7.

Where is this idea of purification first connected with the Messiah? Isa. lii. 15.

In what passage of the New Testament is it fully explained? Heb. ix. 13, 14.

From what else does Christ sprinkle us? Heb. x. 22.

Are pardon and sanctification inseparably connected? Acts xxvi. 18, last half.

August 13th.

Where does the water flow from in the vision of the holy waters? Ezek. xlvii. 1.

Where does salvation originate? John iii. 16. Rev. xxii. 1.

What are the four stages in the progress of the holy waters? Ezek. xlvii. 3-5,

Is the Divine life in the soul progressive? 2 Pet. i. 5-7.

Did the holy waters carry life with them? Ezek. xlvii. 9.

What did Christ say to the woman at the well? John iv. 14.

What other two blessings resulted from holy waters? Ezek. lxvii. 12. Rev. xxii. 2.

August 20th.

What name does the coming Deliverer bear in Daniel? Dan. vii. 13, 14.

Is this particular prophecy claimed by Christ as belonging to Himself? Matt. xxvi. 64. Where is the coming to judgment similarly described? Rev. i. 7.

Does Christ claim to be the judge of men? Matt. xi. 27. John v. 22.

What token have we of His appointment as judge? Acts xvii. 31.

What other testimonies have we to the truth of this? Rom. xiv. 10. 2 Cor. v. 10. Acts x. 42.

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What does 'the Christ' literally mean? Luke iv. 18, second clause.

Is the death of Messiah represented as violent? Dan. ix. 26.

What words in the verse show that it was entirely for the good of others? A. G. F.

PRIZE BIBLE QUESTIONS.

SENIOR DIVISION.

22 Between what two points of Jewish Bible history do we lose distinct traces of dates-the year, the month, the day?

23 Solomon's name signifies 'the Peaceful:' what modern Christian name (not surname) has precisely the same meaning?

24 Give the name of the tutor of Solomon.

JUNIOR DIVISION.

22 Who brought sad calamity upon himself by following the advice of young companions, and despising the counsel of his father's friends?

23 What young man received great spiritual blessing because he highly valued the society of a servant of God?

24 What young woman was remarkably blessed because she chose the society of a believer?

PRIZE ESSAYS.

I. Prizes of the value of £1 10/ and 10/ respectively will be given for the best and second best Essay on

"The Life and Times of Hezekiah, king of Judah."

II. Prizes of the value of £1 10/ and 10/ respectively will be given for the best and second best Essays on

"The Life and Labours of the Apostle

Peter."

Competitors not to be above eighteen years of age. Essays to be sent to Rev. JOHN KAY, Coatbridge, N.B., not later than 1st November, 1876. Each Essay must be accompanied by a sealed envelope, containing the motto prefixed to the Essay, together with the name, address, and age of the writer.

N.B.-The name of the writer must on no account be affixed to the Essay.

Read the Word of God in the second chapter of Ruth.

Let us Pray.

O Thou who givest life and breath and all things, we bless Thee for Thy great goodness, in the bounties of Thy Providence. Thy good. ness is new every morning. Daily it comes to us in daily food, and raiment; and when the night wraps us round and round, Thou dost draw around us the curtains of Thy never-failing protection. Every loaf on our table tells of Thy goodness. Our health is Thy gift. Our power of thought and reflection comes from Thee. And unto Thee we are indebted for all that we have, and all that we are.

O Thou giver of all good, help us to feel our dependence upon Thee; make us truly thankful to Thee, and help us to use all Thy gifts as ladders up which our hearts rise to Thyself.

We thank Thee for Thy best gift, even Jesus Christ, the Son of Thy love. We bless Thee for His birth and childhood, for His life and death, for His resurrection and ascension to Thy right hand. May we be gentle as He was gentle, forgiving as He was forgiving. And since only the spirit of Christ can make us like Christ, give us, O our Father in heaven, His Spirit to dwell in us.

We are unworthy to seek this, still more unworthy to receive it; but we pray for this, and every other blessing, for the sake of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We need pardon, for we have sinned against Thee. Evil thoughts have risen in our minds. Evil feelings have exercised dominion over our hearts. Evil words at times have been on our lips. We confess our sins. We acknowledge our sinfulness. We pray for pardon for Jesus' sake. We pray for a new heart for Jesus' sake. We pray for the help of the Holy Spirit for Jesus' sake.

Thou hast made summer and winter. The reviving breath of spring comes from Thee. And all the glory of autumn, its beauty and fulness, is the gift of Thy goodness.

Thou

hast spared us to see another harvest season. We have looked on the ripening fields: oh, that we may be growing riper in love to Thee, and in likeness to Christ! Leaves are beginning to fall: may we remember that we all do fade as a leaf. Winter will soon be around us: may we be enabled so to live, that for us the winter of death and the grave will be followed by the springtime of a blessed resurrection. All Thy

works praise Thee, corn fields and happy harvest homes. We, too, praise Thee through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let us again praise God in the ciii. Psalm, first eight lines and last eight.

The text is in Isaiah ix. 3: They joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest."

The harvest is a time of joy. You have stood among the growing grain, and listened to its sound of abundance, when the autumn breeze was rustling a thousand ears on a thousand stalks, and every stalk seemed to say, 'Praise the Lord, for He is good.' You have heard the song of the reapers, as bending to their work, the ripe corn fell before the sickle, and was speedily gathered and folded to the binder's bosom. You have watched the heavily laden carts, sheaves piled on the top of sheaves, slowly proceeding to the farm yard, and imagined that there was a feeling of satisfaction both in man and beast. And perhaps you have been present in some farm house when the harvest home' was being kept. A cheery fire burned on the hearth. Light shone in every eye. Gladness reigned in every heart. The crops were all secured. The last sheaf was gathered in. The barn yard was filled; and over the clean swept fields, the big-eyed harvest moon was casting her broad benignant smile. No wonder the inmates of the farm gave themselves up to joy and rejoicing.

I. Harvest joy is joy BEFORE GOD.

God has never left Himself without witness, in that He did good; giving us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons; filling our hearts with food and gladness. The autumn comes every year with its testimony to the goodness of God. But men forgot God in His gifts. And so God taught His people of old to connect the harvest with Him from whom it came. Thrice every year they were to appear before God. The first sacred festival was in April. This was the Passover, and marked the beginning of the Barley Harvest. The harvest came from God, and so they must present the wave sheaf in acknowledgment that all was from Him. The second festival was Pentecost, and marked