"You take that heap of stones at the end of this lot," said Mr. Girard, "and pile them up on the other side, in just the same way, and I will give you a dollar." The man did so, and received his dollar. The next morning he came again, and was told, by his strange employer, to move the stones again, and put them where he had found them at first. And so he went on every day, for a week, carrying the stones first here and then there,

but never complaining, nor asking any questions. On Saturday night, after Mr. Girard had settled with the man, he said, "I like you, my friend. There is no nonsense about you. You do just what you are told to do. Many men would have objected to doing the work over and over again. Now, you shall have work, as long as I have any to give to any one."

This is the way in which God wants us to obey him. This was the way in which John the Baptist obeyed; and this was one of the things that helped to make him great. Let us learn this lesson as he did.

And then the fourth lesson that John's greatness teaches us, is the lesson of—COURAGE.

When he began his work as a preacher, he was not afraid of any one. He was not afraid of the common people, but told them plainly of their sins, and exhorted them to repentance. He was not afraid of the priests and Pharisees. He knew how wicked they were, and when he saw many of them coming to his baptism, he reproved them boldly, and said,—“O, generation of vipers, who hath warned you, to flee from the wrath to come?" He was not afraid of the great but wicked Herod, who was then the ruler of Judea. Herod liked John. We are told that "when he heard him, he did many things" that John told the people to do, and "heard him gladly." Mark vi: 20. But, though Herod was kind to him, John was not afraid to speak to him, plainly and faithfully, about his sins. Herod had enticed away from his own brother Philip, Herodias, his wife, and had married her while her husband was still living. This was a dreadful sin. It was breaking the seventh commandment. John spoke to Herod on this subject, and told him, boldly, that it "was not lawful for him to have his brother's wife." Herod did not seem to mind it much. But it made Herodias very angry. She persuaded Herod to put John into prison. And, not satisfied with this, she never rested till she got an order from Herod to have him put to death. Herod's executioner came into the prison one day, with his sword in his hand, and “beheaded John in prison." The head of John was given to Salome, the daughter of Herodias. She brought it to her mother.

Such was the end of this great man. But while we mourn his sudden, and early, and cruel death, we cannot but admire his courage.

And the Bible teaches us that if we learn to love God, it will make us bold and courageous as John was. We shall be "bold as a lion." Prov. xxviii: 1. We shall be "as the goodly horse in the battle." Zech. x: 3. We shall be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ." II Tim. ii: 3. We shall be like a defenced city, with iron pillars, and brazen walls. Jer. i: 18. Our "faces will be like like flint." Is. 1: 7, and "like adamant," Ezek. iii: 9. We shall be "not ashamed." Rom. i: 16. We shall be "in nothing terrified." Phil. i: 28. Here is an illustration of the way in which a boy may show this kind of courage:

A poor boy was attending school, with a large patch on the knee of his trowsers. One of his schoolfellows nick-named him "Old Patch," and

tried to raise a laugh on him. “Why don't you fight him?" cried one of the boys. "I'd give it to him," said another. "Oh!" answered the brave boy, "you don't suppose I'm ashamed of my patch, do you? For my

part, I'm thankful for a good mother, to keep me out of rags. I'm proud of that patch for my mother's sake."

That, was the highest kind of courage. Many a man has courage enough to walk up to the mouth of a cannon, who has not courage enough to bear to be laughed at.

And here is an illustration of true courage in a soldier:—

One of the best generals of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, was General Von Zeiten. He was an earnest Christian man, and never was ashamed to own and honor his Saviour. On one occasion he declined an invitation to dine with the king, because it was the day for the communion at the church he attended, and he desired to be present there. King Frederick was an infidel, and the next time General Zeiten appeared at his palace, he tried to make a jest of the holy communion of the Lord's Supper, and the other guests laughed at the king's remarks.

Zeiten shook his gray head solemnly, stood up, respectfully saluted the king, and then, with a firm voice, said:

"Your majesty knows very well that in war I have never feared any danger, and often boldly risked my life for you, and for my country. I am still animated by the same spirit; and to-day, if it were necessary, and your majesty commanded it, would willingly lay my gray head at your feet. But, there is one above us who is greater than you and me―greater than all men. He is the Saviour and Redeemer, who died also for your majesty, and has bought us all with his own precious blood. This Holy One, I can never allow to be mocked, or insulted; for on him rest my faith, my comfort, and my hope, for this world and the world to come. It is in the power of this faith that your brave army has fought, and conquered. your majesty undermines this faith, you undermine, at the same time, the welfare of the State. I salute your majesty."

If

This noble confession of his Saviour by the brave old soldier, had a great effect upon the king. He felt that he had done wrong in trying to make a jest of the religion of his general, and he was not ashamed to acknowledge it. He gave his right hand to the general, and placing his left hand on the old man's shoulder, he said with much feeling:

“O, happy Zeiten! how I wish I could believe as you do. I have the greatest respect for you. This shall never happen again."

This was true Christian courage. like that which helped to make John the Baptist great.

Thus we have spoken of four important lessons taught us by studying the greatness of John the Baptist. We have before us the lesson of temperance; the lesson of humility; the lesson of obedience; and the lesson of courage. May God help us all to learn these lessons, and practice them, and then, like John the Baptist, we shall be "great in the sight of the Lord."