so far was placed on a level with the poorest of the people. That sick son became his greatest mercy and blessing. If this nobleman's son had not been sick, then the father would never have found a Saviour. The nobleman having heard of the fame of Jesus, and of His miraculous power, "he besought Him that He would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.”

Let us learn here a very practical lesson, namely, that where there is faith in the power, there may be something of dictation as to the method. The nobleman did not see that the power which could heal was independent of time and space. He needed to be taught this, and the lesson was given him under circumstances which would save it from oblivion. "He went about doing good," says the Gospel, marking His path with blessings, consoling every sorrow, healing every disease and every infirmity; and these were the proofs of His divinity which He gave to men.

The nobleman's prayer was "Come down ere my child die." He believed Jesus had power to heal, but he believed it was a limited power, that it was restricted to personal con

tact with the object. Jesus replied to him in what seemed to be a rebuke: "Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe." It is evident that the nobleman was driven to Christ by the sense, the foreboding sense, of the loss of his son, and not drawn to Christ by a perception of the blessings that Christ had to give. Yet the Lord Jesus revived him. The nobleman was overwhelmed with a sense of the suffering of his son that he scarcely heard the rebuke.

How true to human nature is this! How like what we are! He could scarcely listen to the Divine lesson, so mighty and strong within him was the human and the paternal sympathy.

Herein we are taught the secret of persevering prayer. The nobleman continued to cry for relief, he prayed fervently, prayed constantly, "Come down ere my child die."

Christ answered the nobleman's prayer, but not in the way that the nobleman expected. So will He do with us. Christ then said to the nobleman, "Go thy way, thy son liveth."

What was true then is true now. Christ's word spoken at Cana provoked its echo at Capernaum; sickness fled from his victim, and

left this memorial in its flight: "Truly this was the Son of God." Christ is now in His holy place, and we are upon the earth; but if His word can travel five miles and heal that nobleman's son, the same word can travel from His throne in the loftiest heaven, cleave its way, unspent in its transit, unweakened by the distance, and go into the sick man's heart, into the dead man's grave, and into the guilty man's conscience, and speak words of resurrection and life. There is a connecting and transmissive wire between heaven and earth; there is a communication with the skies and the very throne of God.

What adds to the glory of this miracle performed by Our Lord is this: The same word that cured the sickness of the son, cured the scepticism of the father, for it is added: "And the nobleman believed." This teaches us that no man ever interests himself in the welfare of another without receiving a reflex blessing in doing so. It is God's law, that in watering others, we shall be watered ourselves.

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WE shall not follow with a discussion of all the miracles wrought by Jesus Christ, but select a few of the more prominent, so as to show that the Lord possessed power to control the forces of nature, and at His bidding or touch, the very forces of nature are made to serve a higher and a nobler end.

Hence, we call attention to "The hungry multitude, and how they were fed," "to the lepers, and how they were healed," "to the blind, and how they received their sight."

The people thronged eagerly in crowds to hear the word of the Son of God. In vain did He retire to the desert to avoid the multitude. They followed Him even there, forgetting to provide themselves with food. Poor people, they were like a flock without a shepherd! There was no one to teach them the way to heaven, and as Jesus came to be their Guide,

and their Shepherd, He could not cast them off. And He said: "I have compassion on the multitude, for behold, they have followed Me for three days." "I will not send them away fasting, lest, perhaps they faint on the way.'

Addressing Himself to His disciples, He asked them: "Have you any bread?" And they said: "Master, we have only five loaves and two fishes, but what is that for such a multitude?"

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No matter," said the Lord, "make the people sit down, and bring Me the loaves and fishes." The disciples did as they were told, whereupon the Saviour blessed the loaves and fishes, and broke, and gave to them to distribute to the people, and after all had eaten there yet remained twelve baskets filled with the fragments which were left. Our Lord performed a similar miracle on another occasion, when He fed four thousand men with seven loaves and a few fishes. The feeding of the five thousand with a few loaves and fishes is undoubtedly one of the most striking of our Saviour's miracles. It was performed in the presence of five thousand witnesses. These were not only spectators, but they were the recipients of the favor shown,