That we may do it, let us give earnest heed to the prayer of our master’s Christ, for the answer is not doubtful: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name. . . . and now come I to Thee, and these things I speak. . . . _that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves_,” (John xvii. 12, 13). III. NOTES OF THE LAST SERMON PREACHED BY REV. F. STORR, M.A., _February_ 12, 1888. Matthew xi. 9, 10: “_But what went ye out for to see_? _A prophet_? _Yea_, _I say unto you_, _and more than a prophet_. _For this is he of whom it is written_, _Behold_, _I send my messenger before thy face_, _which shall prepare thy way before thee_.” I PROPOSE to you for your own reading and meditation and self-examination during the season of Lent the life and history of John the Baptist. Seek out all the special passages which allude to him, and pass them not lightly over, and see and mark the great reformer, still more the great forerunner. That which may be done at any time is too often not done at all; thus our Church has wisely set before us certain seasons for meditation on certain subjects. * * * * * Some do not approve of services in unconsecrated buildings. I confess it seems to me that such are not very assiduous in their attendance in consecrated buildings! No, we want a heart for these services; we want the Holy Spirit to make us know that we are dying creatures—that we must all stand before the Judgment-seat of Christ. “It is high time to awake out of sleep” (Rom. xiii. 11). Glance at the leading features of John’s life:— 1. Self-discipline. 2. The Witness. 3. The closing scene of his life. 1. If you notice particularly Matt, iii., Luke i., John iii. (towards the end of the chapter), Luke iii., Mark vi., you will have before you the comprehensive features of John the Baptist’s life. Let me direct you to his credentials. This is the man who was prophesied of seven centuries before the coming of the Lord, not in Isaiah xl. only, but in Malachi iv. 5. He went into the wilderness, the less inhabited country. He probably had tried Jerusalem; it is not unlikely that he had consorted with the learned Jews. He found little encouragement, it may be. Then he cast himself on the Lord—HE never disappoints. We shall ever and anon (God grant always) cast ourselves on Him—there is no disappointment there. The world disappoints, friends disappoint, there is very much disappointment in our own hearts. God never disappoints.