sus used parables
freely. We are told that--"without a parable spake he not unto the
people." St. Mark xiii: 34. He used parables among his disciples for
two reasons: these were to help them to _understand_, and to remember
what he taught them.

We have a great many of the parables of Jesus in the gospels. A full
list of them will contain not less than _fifty_. It would be easy
enough to make a sermon on each of these parables. But that would
make a larger work than this whole LIFE OF CHRIST, on which we are
now engaged. It is impossible therefore to speak of all the parables.
We can only make selections, or take some specimens of them. We may
speak of five different lessons as illustrated by some of the
parables of Christ. These are--_The value of religion: Christ's love
of sinners: The duty of forgiveness: The duty of kindness: and the
effect of good example_.

_Well then, we may begin by considering what Jesus taught us of_--THE
VALUE OF RELIGION--_in his parables._

The parable of The Treasure Hid in the Field teaches us this truth.
We find this parable in St. Matt. xiii: 44. Here Jesus says, "The
kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which
when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and
selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." The words "kingdom
of heaven" are used by our Saviour in different senses. Sometimes, as
here, they mean the grace of God, or true religion. And what Jesus
teaches us by this parable is that true religion is more valuable
than anything else in the world.

The next parable, in the forty-fifth and forty-sixth verses of the
same chapter, is about The Pearl of Great Price. This teaches the
same lesson. It reads thus:--"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a
merchantman seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl
of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." By this
"pearl of great price" Jesus meant true religion, as he did by the
treasure hid in the field in the former parable. And the truth he
teaches in both these parables is that religion is more important to
us than anything else in the world. Let us look at some incidents
that may help to illustrate for us the value of religion.

"Jesus Makes Everything Right." A poor lame boy became a Christian,
and in telling what effect this change had upon him, these are the
words he used to a person who was visiting him: "Once every thing
went wrong at our house; father was