LESSON XLVII.-JESUS FORETELS HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. In the way to Cæsarea Philippi. Matt. xvi. 13-28. Mark viii. 27-ix. 1. Luke ix. 18-27. And Jesus went into the towns of CESAREA PHILIPPI. And as he prayed, his disciples were with him. And he asked, saying, 'Whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered, Thou art the Christ, The Son of the living God. Jesus said, 'The Son of man must. be killed, and after three days rise again.' Peter said, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. Jesus rebuked Peter. And said, 'Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and Rise again. To life from Be it far from, &c. Peter may, in horror of the sufferings of his Lord, have thus replied. He Jesus rebuked Peter. condemned Peter's want of faith and obedience to the will of God, who ordained that his dearly beloved Son should die for the sin of the world. Come after me. Be my disciple; believe in me. Deny himself. Forego his own pleasure; renounce all ambition after worldly honours. Take up his cross daily. As a malefactor who bears his cross on which he is to be cru cified, so bear and suffer the Always obey my heavenly Father's will, and live righteously reproaches of ungodly men. and soberly in this evil world. Will save his life, &c. Thinks to save his life by falling in with the maxims of men for worldly gain. Shall lose it. Although he may live peaceably in this world, he shall be a loser in the world to come. Shall lose his life. Shall, for the sake of Christ, deny himself to the pleasures and honours of this world, he shall be raised to glory. shall come to be glorified in His own glory, &c. Christ his saints, and admired in them that believe. Of the holy angels. The ten thousand times ten thousand angels that shall be the minis ters of his justice, executing vengeance in flaming fire on all who deny him. of my words; . . of him also ILLUSTRATIONS. Jesus foretold his death, &c. commanded his disciples to take up their cross daily, and follow him. said, Whosoever shall lose his life for,' &c. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and,' &c. 47 LESSON XLVIII.-JESUS APPEARS IN GLORY, WITH MOSES AND ELIAS. The Holy Mount Hermon. Matt, xvii. 1-21. Mark ix. 2-29. Luke ix. 28-42. THE HOLY MOUNTAIN.The order of the history determines the Transfiguration to some mountain not far from Cæsarea Philippi-probably to some part of the ridge of Hermon, and to that part of it which runs out into the plain of the Jordan, about six miles from Cæsarea. The ancient and generally received tradition which fixes on TABOR, seems to have arisen from the confounding of the two mounts Hermon; one, the little Hermon, very near Tabor, in the south of Galilee; the other Hermon, north of Cæsarea Philippi. And many fixed on Tabor itself, account of its very contiguity, and its being most apart, in their mistaken view on Jesus taketh Peter, of the expression referring to James, and John his brothe place, that which con- ther, into an high mountain cerned the persons.-Mount Tabor is a mountain between apart to pray. And as he Nazareth and Tiberias, from prayed, he was transfigured 1,000 to 1,200 feet high, before them, and his raiment standing apart, and is the most striking mountain in was exceeding white Galilee. The foundations of a thick stone wall encircle the top, and both long before and after the Transfiguration it was occupied by a fortified city. snow. as And there appeared unto them two men, which were Moses and Elias; talk ing with Jesus, who appeared in glory, and spake of his de[1] Wh did Jesus take with cease which he should ac him? Into what did he take them? What was done as he prayed? What came out of the cloud? What did the voice say? they came to the multitude? What did Jesus say? What was done to the child? [2.] ON THE "EXPLANATIONS." PRACTICAL LESSONS. 1 To pray to God in private as well as to join with others in public. 2 To think much of Christ's sufferings. [shall follow. 3 To look for the glory that 4 To hear and do Christ's words. complish at JERUSALEM. A The When they were come Peter, James, and John. Jesus seems to have chosen these disciples, on several occasions, from the others. Not that they were set above the others, but because they were sufficient to establish as by two or three witnesses, which the law required, the doctrines they should preach, concerning his humiliation and glory. Transfigured. Changed in appearance: in his humiliation he took upon himself the form fested himself, as he shall be of a servant. He now mani seen in glory. Moses and Elias. Moses here is made to represent the saints raised from their graves, whom the Lord, at his second com ing, will bring with him. And Elias, in like manner, who was translated from earth to heaven in a chariot of fire, reprethe Lord's glorious appearing, sented the living saints, who, at are found looking for him, will be caught up, without passing through death, being changed in the twinkling of an eye. In glory. In the glorious when he comes again and all beauty which he shall have his saints with him. the sacrifice he would offer of himself in Jerusalem, to satisfy God's justice, for the sin of the world. Spake of his decease, &c. Of A bright cloud. Some bril liant appearance which hid all else from their sight. My beloved Son. The true Son of David, who shall reign in Jerusalem on the throne of his father David; whose name means, Beloved. Hear ye him. Hear what he says,and do his commandments. Fell on their face. Filled with awe at the voice they heard, and dazzled with the glory they beheld. [sane, but foolish. Lunatic. Meaning not in Mount Tabor is the traditionary scene of the Transfiguration, but we have chosen Mount Hermon, north of Cæsarea Phillipi. See "Treasury Harmony of the four Evangelists," Sect. 51. SYSTEMATIC BIBLE TEACHER. Our Future Plans. PART II. Of the Biblical narratives those recording the human life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ stand first in importance. Christ is the centre of revelation. To Him gave all the prophets witness; He was the grand antitype of Jewish ceremonialism; and He was the theme of the apostolic ministry and writings. His life on earth, as portrayed by the four evangelists, exhibits, on its Divine side, the will and character of Jehovah in relation to humanity, while on its human side it is a life of sinless, perfect, ideal manhood. As "God manifest in the flesh" His teachings, and doings, and sufferings, and death, exhibit in striking relief all the fundamental moral truths and doctrines of the Bible, together with that provision for human salvation which the Old Testament but dimly foreshadowed. Hence our Narrative teaching will begin with the Gospel History. This will be arranged simply in chronological order, the contents of the several gospels being thrown together so as to form one complete and continuous history. Then the geography of the Saviour's history will be clearly delineated, so that the teacher may readily understand himself, and make his scholars understand, the certain or probable spot upon which each event occurred. Graduation being essential to successful teaching, the Narrative lessons will be arranged into five grades, of which we recommend the use of the first four in the general school, and the fifth only in advanced Bible classes. F rst Grade classes contain the infants, or those who in a day-school would be in the alphabet classes; and for these simple lessons in the Gospel History are arranged and printed in large is the same as in the higher grades, but the matter (though in the words of Scripture) is abbreviated so as to suit the limited capacities of the little ones. In this grade it is proposed to teach the first verse of each hymn, and the corresponding question and answer in "Bible Voices," Part I.,side by side with the current lesson in the Narrative Department. This does not give the teacher too much to teach, nor the scholar too much to learn, while the blending of the three things-the Hymn, the Catechism and the Narrative— affords pleasant variety; thus a definite and satisfactory result is attained. In this Grade simple Morning and Evening and Sabbath Prayers, with short Graces before and after Meat, are also taught, for regular use—the object being to train the little ones, from the first in habits which shall involve a constant recognition of the Divine Being and of their obligations unto Him. The Second Grade represents classes somewhat advanced from the first, but not so as to be able to read fluently; hence enlarged (Narrative) lessons are provided for these, both in tablet and book form. The Catechism teaching here consists in the perfecting of that taught in the First Grade, with the addition of the Scripture Characters, from "Bible Voices," Part I.; the questions and answers of the Second Catechism, without the Scripture references; and the remaining verses of the hymns begun to be taught in Grade I. Between these two grades is also divided the work of teaching the Names of the Books of the Bible in their order so thoroughly that the scholar shall be able to find his way about the Sacred Book without that awkwardness and difficulty which makes its perusal a trouble instead of a pleasure to so many now. The Third Grade represents the Testament classes, and for these the substance of the narratives is given nearly entire and almost wholly in the language of the authorized version. The scholars' book here is " Gospel Lessons," Grade III. The Catechism teaching is Watts's Second Catechism, as arranged in "Bible Voices," Part II.,-with the Scripture references, and a Bible Lesson (optional) added-generally one question and answer for each Sabbath. The Fourth Grade represents the higher classes in the general school. The scholars' class book here is "The Steps of Jesus," which gives the four Gospel Narratives in the actual words of the authorized version, and arranged, with chapter and verse, as a consecutive history. Here the Catechism subject is taken from the Third, or Assembly's Shorter Catechism, as arranged in "Bible Voices," Part II., with the addition (for reading only) of Watts's "Preservatives from the Sins and Follies of Youth." The Fifth Grade is the true platform from which to study the whole Scriptures in their relation to Christ. The class book is the " Harmony of the Four Evangelists," in which the several gospels are set in parallel columns, and arranged for continuous reading. As our pages will contain, from month to month, the whole of the Lessons-including the text and all necessary helpsfor the first four Grades, we must transfer the lessons of this Grade (the "Advanced Bible Class ") to the pages of our new Magazine, "THE SUNDAY SCHOOL REFORMER,"* where the text of the Fifth Grade class book, "The Harmony of the Four Evangelists" (best edition) will be printed entire. We need scarcely add that these Narrative lessons are indentical with the well-known system of Mimpriss. This system has had a thorough and varied testing of many years. It has been used in the royal family and taught by appointment at our convict stations, and is known favourably through all classes of society between these two extremes as an efficient system of Sabbathschool, Day-school, Ragged-school, and Home, teaching. It will enter now upon a new career. In addition to the contents of the usual Manuals, from which we shall give the lessons entire in their order, we shall provide further notes and instructions for the teachers for each Sabbath, not forgetting to enable the superintendent always to test the work done in a few words, and without the necessity of prolonged preparation. In the first four grades our pages will provide everything necessary for the teachers from The first number of "THE SUNDAY SCHOOL REFORMER," together with the January |