ensitive to defilement and failure, and were thus prepared to
appreciate the offers of Christ. The two voices chimed, John's voice
saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" the voice of their own conscience
crying for the taking away of sin. It is so still. The sense of sin,
the feeling of spiritual weakness and need, the craving for God, direct
the eye, and enable us to see in Christ what we do not otherwise see. We
are not likely to know Christ until we know ourselves. What is the man's
judgment regarding Christ worth who is not conscious of his own
littleness and humbled by his own guilt? Let a man first go to school
with the Baptist, let him catch something of his unworldliness and
earnestness, let him become alive to his own shortcomings by at last
beginning to strive after the highest things in life, and by seeking to
live, not for pleasure, but for God, and his views of Christ and his
relation to Him will become satisfactory and true.

IV.

_THE FIRST DISCIPLES._

"Again on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disciples;
and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and saith, Behold, the Lamb
of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed
Jesus. And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and saith unto
them, What seek ye? And they said unto Him, Rabbi (which is to say,
being interpreted, Master), where abidest Thou? He saith unto them,
Come, and ye shall see. They came therefore and saw where He abode;
and they abode with Him that day: it was about the tenth hour. One
of the two that heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother. He findeth first his own brother Simon, and
saith unto him, We have found the Messiah (which is, being
interpreted, Christ). He brought him unto Jesus. Jesus looked upon
him, and said, Thou art Simon the son of John: thou shalt be called
Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter). On the morrow he was
minded to go forth into Galilee, and he findeth Philip: and Jesus
saith unto him, Follow Me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the
city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto
him, We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets,
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said
unto him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto
him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and sai