The oldest known division of the Greek text of the Acts, by Euthalius, who lived in the sixth century, was into forty chapters. The present division into twenty-eight was made by Cardinal Hugo, in the thirteenth century, to facilitate the use of his Concordance to the Latin Vulgate, and was not adopted in the copies of the Greek text till the fifteenth century. The division into verses first appears in the margin of Stephens's edition (1551), and is said to have been made by him during a journey between Paris and Lyons. The actual separation of the verses, by printing them in paragraphs, appears for the first time in Beza's edition (1565), and although discontinued in the latest publications of the Greek text, still prevails in most editions of the English Bible and of other modern versions. The history of these divisions should be clearly understood, not only to prevent their being thought original, or even ancient, but also to deprive them of an undue influence upon the exposition of the text itself. The distinction of the chapters in this book is often injudicious and unskillful, and at best these conventional divisions are mere matters of mechanical convenience, like the paragraphs and pages of a modern book. J. A. A. The Book of Acts embraces the period from A. D. 31 to A. D. 64, in which there reigned as Roman emperors: (1) Tiberius (from 19th August, 14), until 16th March, 37; (2) Caligula, until 24th January, 41; (3) Claudius, until 15th October, 54; (4) Nero, until 9th June, 68. The great conflagration of Rome under Nero broke out on 19th July, 64 (Tac. Ann. 15, 41), whereupon commenced the persecution of the Christians. Meyer. It seems most probable that the book was written in Rome during the latter part of the imprisonment of Paul, narrated in the closing chapter. B. 1. THE former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and 2 teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had 3 given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and 4 speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the 5 promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with 6 water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time re- 7 store again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the 8 times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud 10 received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he 11 went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. THE ascension of Christ is the great pledge and proof of our eternal state; that our nature is for ever identified with his, so that as long as he is Man we must be happy, as one with Him; that the great value of this transcendent fact is, not merely that it is an example of our future ascension, but that it is our ascension begun—we in him having risen to heaven, we in him being at this time present before God, we in him being united with the eternal plans and procedures of heaven, so that we are for ever blended with Christ—his property—his purchased possession—the very members of his body; insomuch that they who succor his suffering disciples in this world shall be pronounced to succor himself. And if this be so —if Christ Jesus has thus borne with him our nature into the inmost sanctuary of heaven, if he has not hesitated to wear the form that Adam wore, in that Holy of Holies where angels tremble as they gaze—what ought to be our feelings, as we reflect upon this astonishing transit? How ought we to be animated, as we remember that a body spiritual indeed, but yet tangible and visible—a nature immaculate indeed, but yet human and ours—has been uplifted by the energy of indwelling Godhead, and set in the center of the Paradise of God! To know that it has happened mainly with a view to our own future exaltation; that it is but the prologue of a drama which is to take in the whole blessed company of the redeemed; that it is a preparatory measure which is to introduce an endless procession of future entrances like itself—saint after saint rising into the glory thus secured by this Captain of Salvation, and each met at the threshold by him who thus has scaled the skies that he might be there before us!—to know this, and to believe it, is to awake to emotions that annihilate earth and open heaven already to the exulting soul! W. A. B. 1. With these words we enter on a new stage of history and of doctrine, and they are words which connect it with the past. The links of Scripture uniting one part to another, and assisting our sense of the continuity of the whole, are worthy of especial notice. Thus does the Book of Acts at its opening attach itself to the preceding record; throwing back our thoughts on “the former treatise of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,” and then passing rapidly in review the last circumstances which connect the apostles with their Lord, as the instruments which he had chosen and prepared for the work which he had yet to do. Thus the history which follows is linked to, or welded with, the past; and the founding of the Church in the earth is presented as one continuous work, begun by the Lord in person, and perfected by the same Lord through the ministry of men. “The former treatise” delivered to us, not all that Jesus did and taught, but “all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up.” The following writings appear intended to give us, and do in fact profess to give us, that which Jesus continued to do and teach after the day in which he was taken up. T. D. B.—From the arrangement of these words in the original Greek, two things are plain which escape the English reader: First, there is an emphasis on the verb “began”; secondly, there is none on the word “Jesus.” The contrast is not that the former treatise related what Jesus began, and this relates what some other person or persons continued; but it is that the former treatise related what Jesus began to do and to teach; and this relates what he, the same Jesus, continued to do and to teach. A.—There was nothing then on the lips of the preachers of the gospel, but what had been “begun to be spoken” by its first preacher; and in following to their utmost the words of the apostles we are still within the compass of the words of the Lord Jesus. T. D. B. Mark expands and explains this statement to refer to Christ’s ministry, by the Spirit, through his witnessing disciples: “They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and con- firming the word with signs following.” B.—The Lord working with them. Yes! in all his rest he is full of work, in all their toils he shares, in all their journeys his presence goes beside them. Whatever they do is his deed, and the help that is done upon the earth he doth it all himself. This blessed conviction of Christ’s continuous operation in and for his Church underlies the language of this introduction. The Gospel records the beginning; the Book of the Acts the continuance; it is one biography in two volumes. Everywhere “the Lord” is the true actor, the source of all the life which is in the Church, the arranger of all the providences which affect its progress. The Lord adds to the Church daily. His name works miracles. To the Lord believers are added. The Gentiles turn to the Lord because the hand of the Lord is with the preachers. The Lord calls Paul to carry the gospel to Macedonia. The Lord opens the heart of Lydia, and so throughout. Not the Acts of the Apostles, but the Acts of the Lord in and by his servants, is the accurate title of this book. A. M. The kingdom of God was indeed first to be exhibited as a communion of men bound together by the same spirit, inspired by the same consciousness of God; and this communion was to find its central point in Christ, its Redeemer and King. As he himself ordered and directed all things in the first congregation of his disciples, so he was subsequently to inspire, rule, and cultivate this community of men by his law and by his Spirit. The revelation of the Spirit, shared by all its members, was all that was to distinguish it from the world, so called in the New Testament, that is, the common mass of mankind, as alienated from God. And Christ was gradually, through this community, his organ and his royal dwelling-place, to establish his kingdom as a real one, more and more widely among men, and subdue the world to his dominion. N. 2. Through the Holy Ghost. A remarkable statement, as showing how, to the very end, it was through the Spirit that he did and said everything; and this even after his resurrection. It was not as “God over all” that he instructed his apostles, but as the man Christ Jesus, full of the Holy Ghost. As Prophet, Priest, and King, he was anointed by the Spirit; and it was as one full of the Spirit, and on whom the Spirit rested (Isa. 11: 2), that he came to discharge these his offices. As our Moses, our Aaron, our David, our Melchizedek, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus we see him full of the Spirit for us, dispensing that Spirit to us according to our need, that we may come behind in no gift, but receive from him grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Bonar. 3. He shewed himself alive by many infallible proofs.** The resurrection of Christ was the great fact in proof of his divinity that the apostles were to preach. And the proof was ample to them. During forty days Jesus appeared ten or eleven times to one or many disciples, in various circumstances, for brief periods of time, when they could judge without excitement; by words and acts simple and significant establishing in their minds such an absolute conviction of the fact, that it controlled their after-life, and led them through persecution to death. B.—This period of the forty days was full of the future. During it, his discourses were concerning the kingdom of God—that is, the Church of the future—her constitution and her fortunes. During it were uttered by him those commandments by which their future course was to be guided. A. 4. He commands them to tarry in Jerusalem for the Promised Spirit.—They were to remain in order that the miracle of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them might be more striking and convincing, as wrought in the capital of Judea, and at the next great festival after the crucifixion, when strangers from all parts of the world would be gathered at Jerusalem, who would carry back the tidings of that manifestation into all lands; and also that the Christian Law might go forth from Mount Zion (Isa. 2: 3; Mic. 4: 2) and so show its harmony with the Levitical dispensation. W.—The promise of the Father.** Because it is the one sum and substance of all the Old Testament promises, in that dispensation which was especially declaratory of the Father's purpose and will: it is "the promise of the Father," as embracing in one all other promises, and as the inclusive blessing of the covenant, being no less than the entire renewal of man by the indwelling Spirit: a blessing unknown to the earlier dispensation, and by virtue of which the least under the latter covenant is greater than the greatest under the former one. This baptism by the Holy Ghost was to be the fulfillment of that which the baptism of John only foreshadowed. 5. Not many days hence.** Why was this especially the time for this indwelling of the Holy Ghost in our nature to begin? John furnishes us with the answer, when he tells us (7: 39), "the Holy Ghost was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified." On him, the inclusive head of our humanity, the Holy Spirit alighted in his baptism. To him the Spirit was given without measure. But the fullness of the outpouring of this Spirit from him over all flesh summed up in him, awaited the full acceptance of all our flesh in him, when he had by himself purged our sins and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High. It is this which so closely binds on the narrative of the Ascension to all that is to follow. It is this which makes the "not many days hence" so pregnant with deep meaning, as assigning to the greatest event in the Church's history its proper and only place. A.—The time is indefinite of purpose. "Not many days," says Chrysostom, "that they may hope, but he does not say how few, in order that they may watch." The interval was ten days. 6. The apostles' question about the kingdom** was a strange one, yet it had a grand measure of faith in him in it. He was the Restorer! They called him LORD, the same word used in the Greek Old Testament for Jehovah. But the question was all wrong in its meaning and spirit. It is at once the most affecting and conclusive proof of their "slowness of heart to comprehend" the essential truths Christ had been gradually disclosing all the way to his betrayal. B.—In spite of all that our Lord said and did during his lifetime, and even with the advantage of his second ministry, "speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God," the apostles never advanced till after the ascension to the understanding and apprehension of Christ's peculiar redemptive work. Even after having followed the finger of the Master from scroll to scroll, and from page to page, as he showed to them what was written in the law, the psalms, and the prophets concerning himself, they do not seem to have retained the meaning of the exposition. Their understandings though "opened" got closed again; and, instead of rising to the height of the great argument and learning to preach "repentance and remission of sin to all nations," they sank down into mere expectants of secular glory and national deliverance. This is evident from the fact that, on the very morning of the ascension, they actually proposed the question, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"—thus still dreaming about mere political ascendancy and national advantage, when such pains had been taken, by his opening to them the meaning of the law and the prophets, to make them understand that which had been said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth" (signifying by what death he should die), "will draw all men unto me." T. B. 7. One department of knowledge, our Lord here teaches us, is kept by God within his own power, or, in other words, is reserved to himself, and not laid open before the eyes of mortals. The coming history of the world, the future life of every individual man lies beyond conjecture. Even the events which are to affect his own kingdom of grace God has kept in his own power. He has disclosed a little, he has made the final winding up sure, but this is a region of knowledge where he reigns alone, and shares the particulars of the boundless plan with no other. T. D. W. If, from a prophetic text or two, we were able to count on our fingers how many years the world will last, such knowledge would puff up, and lead us to talk and speculate, instead of doing with our might what our hand finds to do. It is not enough that we submit to leave the ages and epochs in the Father's hand, because we can not wrench them out of it; we should be glad and grateful that he spares us such sights into the future as we should not be able to bear. It is the part of a dear child to read eagerly all that the Father reveals, and to trust implicitly wherever the Father indicates a design to conceal. "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find"—not predicting, but—"watching." In removing the speculative inquiry, he placed a great practical work in their hands. Arnot. He did not reveal to them plainly the fall of the Mosaic dispensation, accompanied with the destruction of the Jewish state, and scattering of the nation over the world for so many centuries. This was the breaking up of all that they clung to as patriots and Jewish believers. The whole foundation of their faith would be convulsed by the thought of it. It was only the unfolding of Christianity in its spiritual power, the fulfillment of types and sacrifices in more glorious realities, the transference of their affections to a higher fatherland, and the view of the heavenly beauty of the Jerusalem above, that could enable them to bear the loss of their gorgeous ritual, and the dispersion of their race. Ker. 8. How wisely kind is his answer! No rebuke now for dullness. Our Lord intimates that there shall indeed be a restoration, though not in the way, nor with the results, they imagined. The final results are in the Father's ordering. But, he says, turning to indicate the very way by which ultimately his kingdom should be established, and really answering their question in an affirmative spirit, ye shall receive power from the Holy Ghost and shall be witnesses unto me in the whole earth. "Strike in upon the work, and leave the issue with God" (Arnot). You shall be qualified for the work. Power shall be imparted to you by the Holy Ghost. Of that "all power given unto me," shall He bestow upon you, matching the gift always to your needs. Use the gifts bestowed in toiling to establish my kingdom in human hearts. And we know how, when Christ had ascended and the Holy Ghost had descended, they dropped out of thought for ever their old conceptions about rich rewards and lordly places in Israel's kingdom; how, taught by the Holy Spirit, they linked together in a beautiful completeness all that Christ had taught about humiliation, serving, and suffering, as the way to the kingdom, and faith in Christ with the inward joy and peace of God the Holy Ghost, as itself the kingdom. B.—Ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. In these words we have a brief table of contents of the whole book. The testimony in Jerusalem occupies the history as far as the end of chapter 7; in chapter 8 it spreads to all Judea and Samaria; in chapter 9 we have the preparation, by the conversion of the apostle to the Gentiles, for its being carried over all the world; in chapter 11 we pass from Jerusalem to Antioch, thence over Asia Minor and into Greece, thence, finally, to the world's great capital, Rome. A.—Mark the exactness with which he indicates the lines in which they should go on their journey of witness-bearing and service—the same which in their spirit bind all Christian sympathy and activity to the end of time. First, Jerusalem, their own city; next, Judea, their own country; then Samaria, their next neighbor, an enemy at that; and finally, the whole earth. B.—The charity that will convert the world is a charity that begins at home—begins, but does not end there. Unless our love be of such a kind as greatly to disturb a godless neighborhood at home, it will not set on fire a distant continent. We must go out to the uttermost parts with our message, but must let the men beside us feel the glow of our zeal as it passes by. The command of the Lord is still the rule for his people—beginning at Jerusalem, but not ending till we reach the uttermost part of the earth. Arnot. There is for all of us also a "Jerusalem," a "Judea," a "Samaria," if not an "uttermost part of the earth"—some well-dressed city with its ragged fringe of want and wickedness, some country district with its neglected and untrained families, some sophisticated brain that has gone astray from the old standards and home of the faith and set up its Gerizim rivalry—some that you can minister to by your charity and win back by your witnessing, if that witnessing is only as zealous as Peter's, and as patient as Paul's, and as loving as John's. F. D. H. 9-11. The Ascension and the Angel's Message.—His last words, "ye are my witnesses," spoken—and what intense significance this fact carries to all disciples!—He lifts his hands in blessing, and in the act of blessing rises. Of all that is sublime and tender in this beautiful and attractive life, nothing surpasses in power over a true human heart this spectacle, upon which we still are looking. The last act, an abiding memory to us of blessing; hands—once outstretched in cruel agony, shame, and death—now for ever outstretched with a benediction, from the living, risen, reigning Christ, of joy, of promised glory, and of everlasting life to every uplooking, fervid, trusting, hoping soul! And we know that the bright cloud that has taken will restore him, in that blessed day when we shall rise with all believers to meet him in the air. This is the message to us of the angels who spake from the hallowed spot on Olivet upon that bright day of Christ's ascension. B. 9. Our Lord after his resurrection seems to have done nothing like a common man. Whatever was natural to him before seems now miraculous; what was before miraculous is now natural. On earth he had no longer any local residence; his body required neither food for its subsistence, nor a lodging for its shelter and repose; he was become the inhabitant of another region, from which he came occasionally to converse with his disciples; his visible ascension, at the end of forty days, being not the necessary means of his removal, but a token to his disciples that this was the last visit—an evidence to them that “the heavens had now received him,” and that he was to be seen no more on earth “till the restitution of all things.” Horsley. Taken up. They saw with them, as Master, Comforter, Consoler, and Protector, a man, such as they saw themselves. If they saw not something of this kind, they were fain to think him absent; whereas he is everywhere present by his majesty. And it was needful that they should now begin to have spiritual views of him, as the Word of the Father, God with God, by whom all things were made; and these the flesh, which they saw, suffered them not to have. It was therefore expedient for them to be confirmed in faith by his converse with them during forty days; but it was more expedient for them that he should withdraw himself from their eyes, and that whereas upon earth he had been conversant with them as a brother, he should succor them from heaven as God, and they should learn to think of him as God. They would not think of the God, until the man were removed from them and from their sight; so that, when the familiar intercourse which they had had with the flesh was cut off, they might learn, even in the absence of the flesh, to think of his Godhead. Aug.—If faith and spiritual affection are the life of the Church, it was for the advantage of the Church that Jesus, instead of remaining in the midst of her, should go away. Before the departure of Jesus Christ there is no Church, but there is one immediately after. Those men who, after a long residence with their Master, put questions to him, and start doubts which almost make us blush for them, are after his departure enlightened, intelligent, resolute men. This Church, in which he leaves only his remembrance, and in which the visible signs of his power lasted only a very short time, still subsists, and even now, amid the decline of all belief and the overthrow of all systems, is the only thing which has strength, life, and a future. A. V.—Inasmuch as a cloud received him out of their sight, it was declared to them that the human form of the Lord which thus departed from among them has not disappeared into the air, but has entered heaven, the abode of God, and is there working and acting. But how? Entering heaven as the glorified King, it is concerning his kingdom that he is acting and working; but inasmuch as he is withdrawn from them, and no longer personally among them, it is not outwardly and visibly that he is thus working; not concerning a visible earthly kingdom, but only by that outpouring of the Spirit which he is gone up to receive, and concerning an inward and Spirit kingdom. A.—There is among us, ever since that wondrous day, a power beyond all powers, a strength to nerve the feeble heart, an unction to anoint the sightless eye, an energy to revivify the spiritually dead. There is a secret, subtile, unseen power—mightier than all that fabling romance ever dreamed of its magic—it is near us if we will but know it, within us if we will but call it—this is the heritage of the believing world ever since that day of Olivet. W. A. B. What tongue of the highest archangel of heaven can express the welcome of the King of Glory into those blessed regions of immortality? Surely, the empyreal heaven never resounded with so much joy: “God ascended with jubilation, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet.” It is not for us, weak and finite creatures, to conceive those incomprehensible, spiritual, divine gratulations that the glorious Trinity gave to the victorious and now glorified human nature. Certainly, if, “when he brought his Only-Begotten Son into the world, he said, Let all the angels worship him”; much more now that he “ascends on high and hath led captivity captive, hath he given him a name above all names, that at the name of JESUS all knees should bow.” And, if the holy angels did so carol at his birth, in the very entrance into that estate of humiliation and infirmity, with what triumph did they receive him now, returning from the perfect achievement of man's redemption! Bp. H. We see humanity glorified when the Son of man thus mounts his Father's throne; and not too high, assuredly, sounded the ancient vaunt of faith, “that our flesh is in the heaven.” “To-day,” so spoke the famed Chrysostom, in the most ancient ascension sermon of the Christian Church which has been preserved for us—“to-day are we, who do not seem worthy of earth, taken up into heaven: we win the royal throne; and the human race, who were driven by cherubim from paradise, take even a place above the cherubim.” Van O. 10. It is said that the apostles “looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up”; methinks it is so that we also, as we read or hear this wondrous event, should fix eye and heart upon that heaven which he, the first-born, has preoccupied; that we should feel that in him a portion of ourselves has departed thither, a sinless type of humanity, which keeps its place for the rest; and that our heart, in Christ, being already there, all else should struggle, with holy impatience, to follow. W. A. B. The final demonstration of his Messiahship is complete. Henceforth the Redemption of Jesus, his incarnation, his life, his redeeming death, his resurrection and ascension, enter as living truths, the most vital and grandest truths, into human history. Roman falsehood, Jewish malice, Grecian skepticism, can never crush them out of human thought, or palsy their ennobling power over human hearts. From soul to soul these eternal realities pass into possession; men feed upon them and grow pure and strong. The sphere of faith enlarges from generation to generation, and as it enlarges, new power, new joy, new hope exalts and strengthens man. S. W. F. Read in the gospels, repeated in sermons, faintly reflected in Christians, that matchless life is every day humanizing, stimulating, rebuking, consoling thousands; impelling to deeds of generous self-sacrifice and difficult self-conquest, which he was himself the first to exhibit, and inspiring with hope those lovers of their race who would otherwise despair of mankind. The perfection of beauty, a full-orbed Sun of Righteousness, there he stands and will ever stand, history’s great miracle and the world’s great hope, a sign that is still spoken against, but a name which is continually making progress, and daily working miracles. And ever since over Bethany he spread forth his hands and blessed the men of Galilee, a balm has lingered in earth’s atmosphere, which was not there before; and we all feel that earth will never again be so bleak since Jesus has been here, nor the grave again so dark since Jesus has been there; just as we feel that goodness has new charms since he showed us what it is, and that heaven has most nearness since he said, “I go to my Father,” and “Lo, I am with you always.” Hamilton. 11. He will come again; but times and seasons which man can not number will intervene. These are times of witnessing for all the disciples of Christ. They must receive the Spirit; they must be witnesses for Christ; they must begin at Jerusalem; they must reach the ends of the earth. After that shall the end be. The time seems long; and yet it is approaching quickly. That fixed star seems fixed indeed to our eyes; there it has stood in the deep of heaven, and glittered down on the upturned eyes of longing disciples these eighteen hundred years—the bright promise of his coming; but though it seems to stand still, it is moving; it is approaching. Be of good cheer, disciples, your redemption is nearer than when those Galileans first left their nets to follow Jesus. Arnot.—The return of Christ is that ultimate and yet most proximate point to which the believer constantly looks, toward which is all his hope, and from which he receives constantly the deepest impulses and motives for purification and diligent labor. The grace of God, bringing salvation, hath appeared—this is our sunrise—teaching us to wait for the appearing of our great God and Saviour—this is our perfect, never-ending day. A. S. This question, “Why stand ye gazing up?” is the first thing in the order of events, and in the Bible narrative, after the closing of Christ’s earthly ministry. Only a little breathing space was to be given them first to gather up their energies, and even that was not to be an interval of idleness. They were to go at once to Jerusalem, as the chosen headquarters of the great warfare for the world’s conversion, and their waiting there was to be like the waiting of the still midsummer elements, before the mountain winds sweep down and the tongues of fire leap out—a busy waiting—a preparation for this long campaign of many ages. They were to occupy the ten days from Ascension to Pentecost, with its mighty wind and flame, in making ready incessantly for the coming of the Holy Spirit to inaugurate their work. They were to be earnest and constant in prayer and praise. They were to cease wasting their time on the empty cloud through which the Saviour’s form had gone, that they rather might find and follow and possess for ever the living Saviour himself, in doing by faith the substantial service of his love, for his sake. F. D. H. 13. AND when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, 14. James the son of Alphæus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 15. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of 16 names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before con- 17 cerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, 18 and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed 19 out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called 20 in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his 21 bishoprick let another take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all 22 the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a wit- 23 ness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who 24 was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which know- 25 est the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might 26 go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. WHAT an epoch of prayer was that! So elevated are these ardent and consecrated souls toward heaven, so open toward God's spirit, so conscious that they have only to ask to receive, that devotion seems to have become an instinct, and they pray as they breathe. And what followed? The Church grew before men's eyes with such swiftness that a thousand converts were gathered in the time that it takes us to gather ten: in the short lifetime of a single generation the worship of Christ raised itself to power in the chief cities of three continents; the swords of all the Herods and Cæsars and their legions could not strike fast enough to cut down one Christian where twenty sprang up; hundreds were baptized in a day; the times of refreshing had come; the prediction was literally accomplished; the windows of heaven were opened, and the blessing was so poured out that there was not room enough to receive it. These were the fruits. How can we fail to connect together the fruit with the seed—the glorious movement and the motive power—the Church pure in doctrine and victorious in converting the world with the multitude of her members not only standing full-clad in all the panoply of the Christian warfare, but praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit? All along since the last of the twelve laid down his life, this rule has never had an exception—the Church has been both strong and pure, victorious abroad and peaceful with itself, just according to its spirit of supplication, according to its devotional nearness to Christ. F. D. H. 12-26. From the parting with their ascended Lord, with the vision still in thought of those hands outstretched in blessing, the apostles returned to Jerusalem. In a large chamber in the upper story of a certain house, probably the room already hallowed by their last intercourse with the Master, they gather together, and many other disciples with them. For ten days this first assembly of the Christian Church remained in almost continuous prayer, and in perfect unison of feeling, calmly expecting the fulfillment of the Lord's many promises respecting the Holy Ghost. Luke's Gospel tells us that "they went to the Temple daily," at the usual hour of prayer. The whole number was one hundred and twenty, and they are distinguished into four groups: the apostles, the women who had followed Jesus, his mother Mary, and his brethren—Mary seen for the last time in the beautiful attitude of prayer with the other believers, sharing their spiritual aspirations and sympathizing in their trust and hope, and equally looking for and depending upon the Holy Spirit; and his brethren, now also believing, rejoicing, expectant; and, lastly, the larger assemblage of disciples. Peter now proposes that the vacancy in the apostleship be filled. After consideration as well as prayer, resort was had to the lot to determine the choice of Christ. This was their last conformity to a usage of the old dispensation, for they were to have from henceforth a better guide to the will of God. Matthias was chosen and numbered with the apostles. Concerning him, as concerning several other apostles, we have no further definite information. This we know, they all fulfilled the ministry appointed them. Each had a history and performed a life-work whose record of fruitfulness and blessing shall be gratefully traced in the studies of the redeemed. With singleness of expectation and absolute assurance of faith, every heart in perfect oneness with every other, asking, as He had bidden, in his name, they quietly awaited the time appointed for the advent of the Comforter. B. 14. There was perseverance in the prayer of the primitive Church—“they continued.” There was unity in those early prayer-meetings—they prayed “with one accord.” The prayers were not soon broken off, and were not hindered by disagreements among the suppliants. They ascended straight to heaven in a pillar of pure incense, and descended soon in showers of blessing—a great refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Arnot. Mary. The Holy Spirit takes leave of her here, associated with the apostolic company of worshipers in the upper room at Jerusalem. She is one of those who there continue steadfast in prayer. How unlike the spirit and language of the Holy Ghost is that will-worship which takes her out of that holy fellowship and makes her an object of adoration! W. We see her to have been a devout Jewish maiden, a faithful wife, a loving mother, illustrating in her life a true womanhood. Her faith, her study of the Scriptures, her humility, her modesty, her fidelity—all commend her as an example of the character produced by the grace of God. Not a single hint is given of her sinlessness, or that she differed in her nature from Elizabeth or Anna, or any of those devout and loving women who followed Christ to the cross and early visited his sepulchre. Her honor, her peculiar blessedness consisted in this, that she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus. As woman in Eve bore her part in the fall, so woman in Mary bore her part in giving birth to him who is the Redeemer of the world. To the Church she sustains no official relation whatever. Christ himself expressly disclaims all such human relationship in his kingdom. The moment he appears she retires. A few allusions, and she vanishes from the scene. The apostles never once allude to her. She is put as entirely aside as if she never had existed. To those inspired men she is utterly unknown in any other relation to the Church than that of a simple believer, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is nothing in the early records, nothing in the early fathers of the Church for the first five centuries, which indicates that Mary was anything more than an honored member of the Church. S. W. F. John has nothing to say of her, or to report from her. If he had her with him even for years, speaking freely of what she knew, how many things could she have told him that we so much long to hear! And yet the apostle, beginning his gospel far back in the solemn arcana of the Eternal Word, and passing directly over Mary to speak, fourteen verses after, of “the Word made flesh,” gives not so much as a trace of mention concerning her maternal place and office in the story. Making no report of her conversations, he is equally silent as regards her death; telling never when she died, or how she died, or in what place she was buried. And it is well; for there was even a much higher necessity in her case, than in that of Moses, that her burial-place should be hidden from mortal knowledge. Otherwise it would be the center of a vaster idolatry than the world has ever known. The divine wisdom somehow took her aside, with a set purpose not to let her mix her human-story products, beautiful and graceful as they were, with Christ’s immortal life-word from above. H. B. 15. It is the commencement of God’s kingdom on which we gaze with quiet admiration, and it may be to us as though we stood beside the hidden source of a stream which thence speeds along to water regions vast beyond belief. These hundred and twenty persons, what a small beginning compared with the vigorous progress and the fair destiny! Still the spiritual kingdom of God stands toward the unbelieving world as for ten days the humble upper chamber stood toward the powerful and magnificent Jerusalem; yet it appears here, too, that the great question is not on what side is the majority to be found, but on what side is the truth. Van O. 18. It is natural to suppose that Judas hanged himself on some tree growing out of a precipice; and that the branch breaking, or whatever he hanged himself with, he fell down headlong, and dashed himself to pieces. M.—Supposing this part of Hinnom to have been the scene of the suicide, it fits in exactly to the narrative in the Acts. There are places with overhanging trees of various kinds, at which the rugged rock rises sheer up to forty or fifty feet; and supposing an individual to be suspended by the neck from a branch of one of those trees, there is nothing improbable in the branch breaking, in his falling body being torn by some jagged projecting stone as he descended, and in his being dashed to pieces by the hard rock at the bottom. The potter's field, which was purchased with the thirty pieces of silver, is shown on the same eminence. We found its soil to be clayey as we walked over it; and if you ask almost any potter in Jerusalem where he finds his material, he will direct you to this very Acedama. A. Thomson.—I felt, as I stood in the valley and looked up to the rocky terraces which overhang it, that the proposed explanation was a perfectly natural one. I was more than ever satisfied with it. Trees still flourish on the margin of these precipices, and in ancient times must have been more numerous. A rocky pavement exists, also, at the bottom of the ledges, and on that account, too, a person falling from above would be liable to be crushed and mangled, as well as killed. Hackett. with tongues in a few years: but the event of Pentecost remains in all its presence and all its power. The filling, teaching, indwelling Spirit is as much with us as he was with them. A.—The condition of the descent of the Holy Ghost with converting power in the Church is ever the same as at his first coming. Oneness of heart, and united, believing, persevering prayer on the part of Christ's banded disciples, will assuredly bring the largest blessing that is asked or desired. "For this I will be inquired of," is still the divine utterance, and the promise yet stands good, I will "increase with men like a flock." Prayers, unhindered by disagreements, by lukewarmness of desire, by diversion of interest and purpose, by wavering faith, or for- forgetfulness of the objects, will never be denied; they will be, must be answered, as God is true. B.—Every accessory, every instrument of usefulness, the Church has now in such a degree and of such excellence as was never known in any other age; and we want but a supreme and glorious baptism of fire to exhibit to the world such a spectacle as would raise ten thousand hallelujahs to the glory of our King. Let but this baptism descend, and thousands who have been but commonplace or weak ministers would then become mighty. Prayer earnest, prayer united, and prayer persevering, these are the conditions; and, these being fulfilled, we shall assuredly be "endued with power from on high." Arthur. have crucified both Lord and Christ! (Verses 32, 33, 36.) B. 19. This verse should be included in a parenthesis, and thus considered as conveying not the words of Peter but of the historian: which effectually answers the objection from the fact having happened but a few days before the speech was delivered. This also accounts for his calling the Syriac, which was spoken by the Jews at that time, their language. D. 24. Lord. This word, equivalent to the JEHOVAH of the Old Testament, and correspondent to it in the Septuagint version, is constantly applied to CHRIST in the Acts, where it is found nearly a hundred times, and is like a sacred key-note of the whole ever sounding forth his divine Lordship in the ear of the world. It is "the LORD JESUS" who is said by Peter to have come in and gone out among them. It is he who chooses Matthias; he who sends the Holy Ghost; he who adds believers daily to the Church; he who works miracles by the hands of his apostles. To the Lord Jesus, Stephen, the first martyr, looks up and prays at the hour of death. It is he who calls to the persecuting Saul from heaven; he sends Ananias to baptize; he sends Peter to Cornelius. He (says Peter) is Lord of all. Thus the mind is elevated from earth to heaven, and from the acts of envoys to the majesty and glory of the universal Lord and King, sitting on his heavenly throne. W.—It is not said, "Show whom thou wilt choose," but "whom thou hast chosen." There exists no more decisive proof of the absolute recognition of the divinity of our blessed Lord than this first prayer of his Church. That the prayer is made to him is undeniable. The very word in which he says (John 6 : 70), "Have not I chosen you twelve?" is also used here: if he chose the twelve, his it was to choose the new apostle. And, the prayer being thus made to him, there is in it attributed to him knowledge of the hearts of all men, and that divine foreknowledge which, before all secondary agents, determines the destiny of men. A.—25. The style of the gospel is admirable in a thousand different views; and in this, among others, that we meet there with no invectives on the part of the historians against Judas or Pilate, nor against any of the enemies, or the very murderers of their Lord. Pascal.—To his own place. In the eternal world every man has his place, and it is his own. No other can make it, and no other can occupy it, for him. Whatever may be in it outwardly, its essence lies in his own soul and in the condition to which he has brought it. Here in the last issue consists his misery or joy, for only through his soul can his share be measured in the universe of God and in God himself. And God has made the man's own soul witness and judge over itself. This difference only shall exist between the present and the future, that then—confronted with the eternal laws of truth and justice—the witness shall have no power of false testimony, and the judge be unable to use favor or sophistry. Men shall take their own place in the spiritual universe as bodies take their place in the natural—by the power of gravitation which is in them—nearer God or farther from him, as they have impressed the character upon themselves, and in nearness will lie life and peace—in distance, death and misery. Ker. 1. AND when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one 2 place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and 3 it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven 4 tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under 6 heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were con- 7 founded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak 8 Galilæans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and 10 Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of 11 Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. Jesus has ascended to his Father, but this other paraclete is to come and dwell in his people for ever. His office work is threefold: First, with reference to Christ's immediate disciples, he was the revealer— Jesus had instructed and opened truth to their minds; but their minds were weak, their memories treach- erous. This Holy Spirit comes to bring to mind his words, to strengthen memory, to fill them with the truth thus spoken in all its vividness and power, and open the true meaning of what was obscure and dark. Nor is this all. There were many things Jesus had for them, which they could not bear, were not able to receive, before his departure. These the Spirit should make known to them; these things to come he should unfold to them. This promise is the foundation on which the whole New Testament rests as the inspired truth of God. They spake, they wrote the things pertaining to Christ and his kingdom, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The second office is that of the convictor and regenerator. He is to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, of judgment; and as he convinces and convicts he is to renew and lead them to Jesus. On the day of Pentecost he first demonstrated this divine power; thou- sands were pricked in their hearts; thousands believed in Jesus. Ever since that time his presence has been revealed in conviction and conversion. Religion advances; Jesus is received; the gospel is victo- rious only as he brings the truth home to dead hearts of men. The third office is that of quickener, guide, and comforter. To the soul once penitent and believing, this blessed Spirit comes and quickens it to see and feel the fullness, and richness, and power of the truth as it is in Jesus; stimulates it to sacrifice and labor, excites to prayer, strengthens against temptation, supports and comforts amid trial, sorrow, and death. Jesus sends this divine Spirit to work in his Church and through its members. This is his great promise, and this completes the cycle of redemption. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, each in their office ministering life and salvation to the world. S. W. F. 1. The day of Pentecost. Pentecost is a (Greek) New Testament term, meaning fiftieth, indi- cating the celebration of this feast on the fiftieth day from that of the Passover. This is called in the Old Testament the Feast of Harvest; and also the Feast of Weeks, because it was seven weeks, or "a week of weeks," from the Passover. The Jews also called it "The Feast of the joy of the Law," as occurring, according to their tradition, on the very day when the Law was given from Mount Sinai, the fiftieth of the Exodus, from the night of the first Passover. And so this Feast of Pentecost associates the old covenant of the Law with the new covenant of the Gospel, the organization of the Old Testament Church under Moses with a partial ministry of the Spirit, with its reorganization under the apostles with the fullness of the Holy Ghost. In this we see the vital connection of the new covenant with the old. B.—At the Feast of the Passover the lamb was slain—at the Feast of Pentecost the Law was given. Coincident with the slaying of the lamb was the death of Christ; coincident with the giving of the Law was the descent of the Spirit. On the first Pentecost the Law was written on tables of stone; on the last came the Spirit to write the Law on the living tables of the heart. Arnot. In the old dispensation there were three great annual festivals at which the sons of Abraham went up to Jerusalem—that of the Passover, which com- memorated and renewed their gladness over their deliverance from the Egyptian house of bondage; that of the first fruits, when the earliest ripe sheaves gave joyous foretoken of the coming harvest; and that of Tabernacles, when for a season their tent- life was renewed, and they blessed God for their settled enjoyment of the promised land. But what was temporary and occasional in the former econ- omy, is permanent under the gospel; and the glad- ness of all these three festivals is united in the Christian life. The Pascal joy of deliverance—the Pentecostal gladness of first fruits in the possession of the earnest of the Spirit—and the Tabernacle re- joicing in the contemplation, from out the frail booth of the flesh, of "the city which hath founda- tions whose builder and maker is God"—these all combine to make the experience of the believer a continuous feast, which is not the less real because it is internal and spiritual. W. M. T. All in one place. It is not of the apostles only that the whole history is related. Throughout the latter part of chapter 1 we are in presence of the assembled believers, the hundred and twenty names of verse 15. In verse 23, it is "they" who "appoint two"; in verse 24, "they" who pray; in verse 26, "they" who give forth their lots; in chapter 2: 1, "they" who are "all with one accord in one place"; in verse 3, it is upon "each of them" that the fiery tongues rest. There is no change of subject throughout. And with this agree the words and acts of the twelve. A. Our Saviour Christ, who is Lord of the Sabbath, fulfilling the work of our redemption by his resurrection upon the first day of the week, and by his mission of the Holy Ghost miraculously the first day of the week, and by the secret message of his Spirit to the apostles and the primitive Church, hath translated the observation of the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week, which is our Christian Sabbath; that as our Christian baptism succeeds the sacrament of circumcision, and as our Christian pascha, in the sacrament of the eucharist, succeeded the Jewish passover, so our Christian Sabbath, the first day of the week, succeeds the Sabbath of the seventh day of the week; and that morality which was, by Almighty God, under that covenant, confined to the seventh day, is, by the example of Christ and his apostles to us Gentiles, transferred to the first day of the week. Hale. 2, 3. Suddenly came the fulfillment for which the disciples now, and the devout of their preceding generations, had waited. And in this his Pentecostal gift we find further evidence that Christ came to fulfill the long promise of the prophets. Two signs preceded, and one followed the immediate advent of the Holy Ghost: First, a sound, as of a rushing mighty wind, without a breath of movement in the air, a sound sweeping down through the still sky from the upper heaven, a sound, heard in its downward course by many in the immediate vicinity, taking the direction and entering into the very chamber where the disciples were sitting, and there ceasing. This was an expressive intimation to those who understood the symbolic use of the term wind, or breath, or spirit, as applied to the divine Spirit; it was an advance sign from heaven of his coming. Next, in addition to the sound appealing to the ear, instantly followed a light, as of flame, appealing to the eye. An appearance it was, of a body of flame, disparted and distributed in the form of tongues, one resting upon the head of each disciple. A brightness as of fire or flame, but like the bush at Horeb there was no burning. This miraculous light, with its peculiar form, also bore an expressive intimation, which we can as readily interpret. Spiritual light and spiritual energy, coming from the Holy Ghost into the heart, were the experience signified by the seeming flame. "The form of tongues signified that the tongue, the word, or speech, controlled by the Holy Spirit, should communicate all that is heavenly. That such a tongue of light and fire descended upon each individual present, was an emblem of that fullness of the Spirit imparted to each individual as a permanent gift." Thus these signs, audible and visible, impressively indicated the power and the mode of working of the Holy Spirit. More than this, they were specific pledges of the conquering might of the divine Spirit that should attend the preaching of Christ crucified and risen. B. Tell it wherever there are ears to hear, tell it to the ends of the earth, God hath spoken; man has not been forgotten; there is a gospel, a "speech of God"; questions affecting salvation are settled; and our way to holy living and happy dying traced by the Hand which rules both worlds. In strict keeping with the spiritual stamp of Christianity was the symbol which, once for all, announced to the Church the advent of her conquering power. The symbol is a TONGUE, the only instrument of the grandest war ever waged: a tongue—man's speech to his fellow man; a message in human words to human faculties, from the understanding to the understanding, from the heart to the heart. A tongue of fire—man's voice, God's truth; man's speech, the Holy Spirit's inspiration; a human organ, a superhuman power. Arthur.—The truth revealed is the condition and the instrument of the Spirit's working. Hence, only when the revelation of God is complete by the message of his Son, his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, was the full permanent gift of the Spirit possible, not to make new revelations, but to unfold all that lay in the Word spoken once for all, in whom the whole name of God is contained. A. M. 4. Immediately succeeding these miraculous manifestations is the advent of the Holy Ghost. Of this the simple sublime record is, They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. As of old "God was not in" this seeming of the "wind and the fire," but entered invisibly and inaudibly into the hearts of the disciples to breathe into them the fullness of spiritual life and light, to speak thereafter to them in "the still small voice," and to abide in them and with them for ever. Fullness and permanence characterize the influence and communication of the Holy Spirit from henceforth. Eitherto prophets and apostles, and all believers, had only received in lesser measure partial and limited foretastes of the divine working. B.—As the Son was working in the world long before his incarnation, so did the Holy Ghost also act upon mankind long before his effusion; as it was at the incarnation of the Son that the fullness of his life first manifested itself, so it was not until the effusion which took place on the day of Pentecost that the Spirit poured forth all his power. Ols. The normal guidance of the apostles by their Lord was not occasional, but habitual, not through separate interventions, but through the Holy Ghost dwelling in them. So the promise ran that it should be; and so in fact it was. The Day of Pentecost is the opening of the second period of the New Testament dispensation. It stands alone, as does the day which now we call Christmas: the one the birthday of the Lord, the other the birthday of his Church; the one proclaimed by praises sung by hosts in heaven, the other by praises uttered in the various tongues of earth. That change is significant: for now the Spirit conveys the true knowledge of the wonderful works of God into the recesses of the human heart. A dispensation is begun, in which the mind of God has entered into mysterious combination with the mind of man, and henceforth the revealing light shines, not from without, but from within. God at that time not only stirred, but taught, the hearts of his faithful people, and sent to them not only the warmth but the light of his Holy Spirit. T. D. B. 5. In Christ's time one might have spoken with truth of the omnipresent Jew. "The Jews had made themselves homes in every country, from the Tiber to the Euphrates, from the pines of the Caucasus to the spice-groves of happy Arabia." A mere catalogue of the cities where they had settled at that time—in the far East, in Egypt, in Syria, in Greece and her islands—is astonishing. With but few exceptions, they seem to have been everywhere a wealthy and, in general, an influential class. The decrees issued from time to time by the Roman Senate, favoring or honoring the Jews in the different cities of the empire, were very numerous, and throw much light upon their numbers, character, prosperity, and their civil and social relations and standing. Merrill. 6-11. Many of the more devout among these foreign Jews, under the then prevalent belief that the Messiah was about to appear, had fixed their abode at Jerusalem, permanently or for a time. These, with others who came up to this feast, were providentially prepared as witnesses of this great miracle. Subsequently, as the subjects of the renewing power and grace of the Holy Spirit, they were as providentially made bearers of the glad tidings to the nations among whom they dwelt, whose languages they had acquired from birth. Many of them were now gathered in the vicinity of the temple, and heard the strange sound that had fallen from the sky. Among this multitude came the disciples from the upper room, and, under the prompting and guidance of this new divine inspiration, one and another attaches himself to some group of foreigners, and accosts them in their own language with the wondrous message of the Holy Ghost concerning the crucified and risen Jesus. No wonder that "they were all amazed, and marveled" that Galilean peasants should "speak in their tongues the wonderful works of God"! Here were representatives of all nations: eastward, "the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and dwellers in Mesopotamia," from the heart of Asia; northward, strangers from "Cappadocia, Pontus, Phrygia, and Pamphylia," and the rest of Asia Minor; southward, from "Egypt, Libya, and Arabia"; and westward, "Cretes and Romans." B. Proselytes. After the captivity, the proselytes were for the most part willing adherents to the Jewish faith. With the conquests of Alexander, the wars between Egypt and Syria, the struggle under the Maccabees, the expansion of the Roman Empire, the Jews became more widely known, and their power to proselytize increased. The influence was sometimes obtained well, and exercised for good. In most of the great cities of the empire there were men who had been rescued from idolatry and its attendant debasements, and brought under the power of a higher moral law. The converts who were thus attracted joined, with varying strictness, in the worship of the Jews. They were present in their synagogues; they came up as pilgrims to the great feasts at Jerusalem. S.—These were the seed-vessels, now charged with precious seed, and then thrown back upon the countries whence they had come. Thus Christ was preached in many distant countries very soon after his own ministry was closed. A great harvest sprang in many lands from the seed that these worshipers found at Jerusalem—a great flame of spiritual life was kindled far and wide by these fiery tongues of the Pentecost revival. Arnot. 11. The miracle of tongues, what is it but a significant intimation of the appointment of Christianity to be the religion of the world? The gospel must speak all languages, and can and shall do so one day, because its deepest marrow and essence, really divine, is also human; not from man, nor according to man, but still for man, for all men without exception, adapted to the deepest, the unvarying cravings of humanity, and alone fitted fully to satisfy them. Van O. THE signs, and that which followed them—the speaking with tongues—were but indications of the deeper and greater event itself, the being filled with the Holy Ghost. The rushing wind and the tongues of flame passed away in a few minutes, the speaking 12. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth 13 this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men 15 of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my 16 words: for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 17 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last 18 days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters 19 shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream 20 dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my 21 Spirit; and they shall prophesy: and I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in 22 the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, 23 and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: and it 24 shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye 25 men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by 26 miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves 27 also know: him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of 28 God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised 29 up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden 30 of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for 31 he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and 32 my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave 33 my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made 34 known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men 35 and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and 36 buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing 37 that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the 38 flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the 39 resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 40 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right 41 hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he 42 hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the 43 heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until 44 I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that 45 God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. FROM the moment when the apostles saw their Lord ascend, they were in full possession of all the external facts of which they were appointed to bear witness. But they were not in possession of the spiritual meaning, relations, and consequences of those facts, and therefore the hour of their testimony was not come, and the interval was passed not in preaching but in prayer. As soon as the promise is fulfilled, they lift up their voice and speak. Never were men so changed. Who does not note the accession of boldness, faithfulness, and fervor! Their clear, firm testimony rises in a moment before the world, never hesitating or wavering, never to sink or change again, only manifesting more fully, as time advances, the largeness of its compass and the definiteness of its announcements. Ever after they speak as men would do who were conscious of a ground of certainty which could not be questioned, who could say that things “seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to them”; that their word was “not the word of man but the word of God”; that it was “the Spirit that bore witness”; that they “preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven”; that they “had the mind of Christ.” It is enough. The three testimonies concur—the testimony of him who gave the Spirit, the testimony of those who received it, and the testimony of the facts which ensued on its reception. Are we then at a loss to know what was the nature of the gift which the Holy Spirit brought for the purposes of the apostolic work? Certainly it was vast and various—“a sevenfold gift”; but its most essential part lay not in tongues and powers which witnessed to the gospel, not in the fervor and boldness which preached it, rather it was the Gospel itself. T. D. B. The First Preaching of Christ.—Peter’s address is bold and aggressive, not defensive, but his boldness is tempered with the “meekness of wisdom.” And, alike in his courage, his gentleness, and his wisdom, we discern the clearest, surest proofs of the power of the Holy Ghost. Nothing less than divine energy could have enabled these timid fugitives of six weeks before to face a multitude of the very men from whom they had fled—nay, more, intrepidly to confess the Master whom they had deserted. For Peter, the change is marvelous indeed! Not merely in the extreme of daring so soon succeeding to cowardice, nor in the confession of Christ again after his craven denial, but in the subjection of that rough, impetuous, indiscreet temper to the quietness of spirit and admirable judgment manifest in this whole discourse. He is still foremost, indeed—he would not be natural otherwise—but he is not forward. He refutes the rude charge of drunkenness at the outset, but with what mildness of manner and modesty of argument! And nothing can be wiser, no form of argument can be conceived as combining a more excellent judgment and temper, than the whole course of this introductory preaching of a completed redemption. There is here no direct assault upon Judaism, no reference to its lapse from spiritual truth and life into the barrenness of superstitious form. On the contrary, the Jewish Scriptures furnish his starting-point, his constant resting-place and reference. There is a clear implication running through this sermon (and through all other discourses of the Acts) that the old dispensation was the foundation of the new, the Jewish of the Christian; that the teachings, ceremonies, and events of the Jewish Church all bore with an intense significance upon the development of Christianity. And now, under the express inspiration of the Holy Ghost, Peter traces (and after him Stephen and Paul) these events which had wrought their wonder to the previous prophecies, and then conclusively shows that Christ himself is the Messiah of these Scriptures. But in the midst and at the close of his reasoning he tells them, with perfect quietness and simplicity of utterance, that they have delivered up and crucified this Jesus. 12,13. A large number were simply astonished at these marvels, and in utter perplexity that they could not account for them. Another class scoffed and sneeringly said, These men are frenzied with strong drink. (Sweet wine is referred to, not new, made by soaking dried grapes in old wine and pressing them a second time.) We see here, what was so often seen in Christ’s own history, of how little avail are miracles in affecting a hardened will and an unbelieving heart. 14,15. Peter affirms, for his companions and himself, that they are not drunken; and only refers to the improbability of any one being intoxicated at so early an hour (before nine o’clock). For all knew it was a universal rule among the Jews, bad and good, not to eat or drink before morning prayer, which was at this hour. 16–18. He has said, This is not intoxication; now he asserts that it is inspiration. What you see and hear is nothing else than the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel; and then he cites the prophet’s words. One well remarks here, “Even the illumination of the Spirit can never render the written word superfluous. The apostle, when filled with the Spirit, seeks a firm foundation in the word of prophecy” (2 Pet. 1 : 19). “The last days,” referred to here, include the whole period of the Spirit’s working—the entire Christian dispensation now far advanced. In this new dispensation, the prophecy notes as one point of advance that there shall be perfect equality in spiritual privileges. Not only shall the Spirit be poured out, far more largely and abundantly imparted, but in this outpouring of the Spirit all classes shall equally partake, without distinction of sex, of age, of condition, or of race. There shall be no longer a Court of the Women, or of the Gentiles, or even of the Priests, but all partition walls shall be broken down, and the very Holy of Holies opened for evermore to “Jew and Greek,” to “bond and free,” to “male and female,” since henceforth, inhabited by the same Spirit, “all are one in Christ Jesus.” These predictions may have manifold applications throughout these “last days.” Primarily, they refer to the near destruction of the Jewish state and nation. But they also apply to other nations, that serve not Christ and that hinder the progress of his gospel. And the symbols have in all cases the same meaning. The wonders and signs, of darkness and blood and fire and smoke, are portents of calamities that are familiar in the history of the past, and will be repeated yet more signally until the “great and notable day of the Lord shall come.” But while the predictions of judgment are general and spoken of the mass, the promise of salvation is individual and personal, and, like all the promises of the Old Testament and New, it is without limitation or exception. One condition only, calling on the Lord, implying a conviction of fearful personal peril, a belief that the Lord can and will save, a simple trust in him, and reliance upon his faithfulness to his own voluntary promise. With this condition as a permanent inward experience, Christians of this day, and of the very latest days, like those who were saved (every one) from the awful slaughter in Jerusalem, shall be surely delivered, and rejoice in the salvation of God. 22,23. Peter has accounted for the miraculous sound and gift of tongues. Now he turns to the main point of his discourse, that Jesus of Nazareth, the man they had known and crucified, now risen and exalted into heaven, had “shed forth this which” they had seen and heard (verse 33), and that the same Jesus is Lord and Messiah (verse 36). In introducing this central theme of the gospel, the apostle elevates correspondingly the style of his address. Including all foreign and native Jews, under their highest title, Israel, he respectfully solicits their attention, and lends dignity to the charge he lays plainly upon them. “Ye yourselves know,” he said, “that Jesus was sufficiently accredited to you by the miracles he did, and the wonderful events that attended him.” Precisely this had Christ himself said to them again and again, when claiming perfect unity with the Father in the power of working miracles. Then in the simplest but most explicit words, forbearing all irritating epithet, he declares that they, knowing these things, had apprehended and crucified him by heathen hands. They had done it, but God had determined the result, as Christ himself had affirmed, “The Son of man goeth as it was determined.” So we learn, signally, how man is guiltily free, because without compulsion save of his own evil passions, and yet God is holily sovereign. For we see in Christ’s death, on the one hand, the free acting of voluntary human guilt, and on the other, a fulfilled decree of God for human redemption. But neither divine decree in the interest of mercy, nor Christ’s willingness to suffer, changed their relation to their own murderous act, or relieved their consciences from the burdening guilt. B.—The act is declared to be wicked, yet it is equally declared to be by the “determinate counsel of God”; therefore, acts which are evil may be included in the plan of Providence. J. W. A. 24-28. Affirming of his own knowledge that God had raised this Jesus of Nazareth from death, he first assigns the essential reason, that the Lord of life could not be holden of death. So the predictions of the Old Testament assured them. And in proof he cites from the 16th Psalm, and expounds the words cited. David is speaking, not of himself—for in no sense could the words be fulfilled in his experience—but of Christ. B.—It may be conceived that in David the dread of corruption and of the dark valley of death awakened the longing desire of victory over it; and this the prophetic Spirit led him to see realized in the person of the Messiah. Now, in Psalm 16, death is contemplated, first, in relation to the body, and secondly, to the soul. The body is represented as guarded against the last effect of death, viz., corruption, and the soul is described as beholding indeed the dark place of shades (“hell,” or better, hades), but as speedily delivered from it and restored to the kingdom of light. The exactness with which these points were realized in the development of Christ’s life makes the prediction one of the most remarkable in holy writ. Hackett. 29-31. To insure their conviction that David is here predicting the Messiah’s resurrection, the apostle reasons further, simply but conclusively from the death and burial of David, and from his faith in the covenant God had made concerning Christ. Thus the threefold conclusion is reached, the glorious substance of this first proclamation of the gospel: This Jesus hath God raised up; having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye see and hear; therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this Jesus whom ye One of the blessed fruits of the day of Pentecost was that the Holy Spirit, who had spoken of old by the prophets and in the Psalms, now interprets their words by the apostles. On that day he founded in the Church a school of Scriptural hermeneutics. He declared on his own divine authority that certain Scriptures which he expounded by the mouth of Peter, inspired by the divine Teacher the Comforter, refer to Christ. He teaches us how they apply to Christ, and has given us a key for unlocking other prophecies of like import. W.—Here, too, we may see how the Old Testament, or Judaism in its purity, underlies Christianity, furnishing its foundation facts and proofs. Both are equally from God, and, of course, in harmony with each other. Each interprets the other. The new or Christian dispensation is the natural expansion of the old or Jewish. The principle of membership, faith, and the spirit of service and worship, are alike in both. The only difference is in the forms of obedience and devotion, and the extent of knowledge. B. 32. Witnesses. They knew that which they affirm. At first, in their anticipations of a visible kingdom, they would not believe that Christ would die. But they were compelled to believe the fact when it transpired. They did not believe that he would rise again; they even doubted the first report of it; they yielded at last to the direct, positive, visible fact, and, when thus convinced, they believed fully. Then it was they became witnesses of what their eyes had seen and their hands had handled; and assured of its truth, as a living confirmation of the divine gospel, they devoted themselves to the proclamation of this truth among the nations. S. W. F. 33. The great gift of the Spirit at this eventful hour came before the universe as the Father's endorsement of the scheme of salvation to which the Son was fully committed. It testified that henceforth the whole Deity—every perfection and power of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit—are at one in working for this sublime consummation, the redemption of the world to Christ. H. C. THIS view of the operation of the Spirit, as the medium through which the Lord Jesus wrought and taught, is carried through the whole course of the history which follows. As in the promise, so in the history, "The Comforter will come unto you"—"I will come unto you"—are but two sides of one and the same fact. On critical occasions and at each onward step the hand of the Master is made distinctly visible. The first martyr dies for a testimony, which is felt to be an advance on what had been given before, being understood to imply that "this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and change the customs which Moses delivered us"; and his words are sealed by the vision of his Lord in glory. The consignment of the gospel to the Ethiopian proselyte was another step in advance, and for this "the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip." The preaching of the Word to Gentiles, and their admission into the Church, was a greater step; and for this the Lord intervenes by the mission of an angel to Cornelius, by a vision and a voice of the Spirit to Peter, and by a kind of second Pentecost to the converts themselves. But when the greatest step of all is to be taken in the onward course of the gospel, then most visibly does the great Head of the Church make manifest his personal administration. A new apostle appears, not like him who was added before Pentecost, completing the number of the original college, and losing his individuality in its ranks, but one standing apart and in advance, under whose hand both the doctrines and the destinies of the gospel receive a development so extensive and so distinct that it seemed almost another gospel to many who witnessed it, and to some who study it seems so still. Thus does he, who at the commencement of the history was seen to pass into the heavens, continue to appear in person on the scene. His apostles act, not only on his past commission, but under his present direction. He is not wholly concealed by the cloud which had received him out of their sight. Now his voice is heard, now his hand put forth, and now through a sudden rift the brightness of his presence shines. And these appearances, voices, and visions are not merely incidental favors; they are, as we have seen, apportioned to the moments when they are wanted, moments which determine the course which the gospel takes, and in which a manifestation of divine guidance proves the divine guidance of the whole. T. D. B. 37. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and 38 to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall 40 call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from 41 this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking 43 of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs 44 were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things com- 45 mon; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had 46 need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from 47 house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. THE Christian faith is shown to us, in the Acts of the Apostles, working out its first simple developments in human society. In that plain picture, we see how this new force, this divine idea, acted on the world of living men and women; how it took possession of them, and organized them into a peculiar institution, which has lived on ever since—the Church. Christ's visible presence is withdrawn out of the world at his resurrection; but thenceforth he appears to mankind in the living body of his Church, which, holding in its heart and its hand his Spirit and his Word, takes the place of his physical form. F. D. H. Doubtless the form in which spiritual life now appears, differs in many respects from what it was at first; but in essence and principle it is the same, and all who are now gathered into the Church of the redeemed are really akin to the first confessors of the gospel. It is a church consisting of such as shall be saved; it is the spiritual body of Christ born of the Holy Ghost. It is wholly our own fault if we are not members of it; it is wholly the grace of the Lord if we are in truth brought into it. Van O.—Daily, ever since men were multiplied on the earth, have the saved streamed through the strait gate into life, and now a multitude whom no man can number inhabit the mansions of the Father's house. He added the saved to the Church: added them in the act of saving, saved in the act of adding. He does not add a withered branch to the vine; but in the act of inserting it, makes the withered branch live. "Daily" some are added: every day some; but only while it is day this process goes on. The night cometh wherein no man can work—not even the Son of man, Son of God. He is now about his Father's business: he is finishing the work given him to do. "To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts," for the day is wearing away, the day of grace. The night cometh, cometh—how stealthily it is creeping on!—the night wherein not even this Great Worker can work any more. Annot. 37. Effect of the First Preaching of Christ crucified, with the Power of the Holy Ghost.—Peter has proved to them, according to the clear statements of their own Scriptures, that Jesus was their long-looked-for Messiah; that they had rejected and slain him; but that he had risen, ascended, and from the throne of heaven had sent forth the Holy Ghost to teach, to convince, and to quicken. And the proof of the Spirit's convincing power we behold in this his first work upon multitudes of the guiltiest among the then living—of those to whom pertained the guilt of crucifying their own Messiah. Pierced in the heart, their understandings convinced, their feelings deeply stirred, and their wills mightily influenced by the combined force of the truth and the Spirit, they ask the one question of conscious guilt, What shall we do? Utterly self-condemned, their consciences demanding relief from the tremendous pressure of such guilt, they turn to these very Galileans whom they had despised, and with an awakened gentleness of penitence, answer back the address of Peter, Men, brethren! tell us, what shall we do to be saved? B. The divine Spirit may, and, for aught that appears to the contrary, must use the instrument of Truth in this, his first act, as well as in any and in every further operation. And when he speaks, he makes the deaf to hear, as well as the hearing to understand. "When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart," was the experience of the three thousand to whom Peter preached the gospel on the day of Pentecost, and whose hard hearts the Spirit pierced by what they heard. J. S. S. 38. The One Counsel and Promise of the Gospel to those convinced of Unbelief and Guilt.—The counsel is twofold: Repent and be baptized: likewise the promise, the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Christ, on the eve of his ascension, had instructed them to preach repentance and remission of sins in his name, and Peter now uses, so far, his very words. The word "repentance" means simply "change of mind," the reversal of a man's controlling thoughts, feelings, and aims of life. Sorrow forms no part of the meaning, but sorrow is involved in and precedes it. More than this, "godly sorrow," sorrow toward God, "worketh repentance,” leads to a radical change of sentiment, feeling, and purpose, with respect to man’s relation and duty toward God. Repentance, then, is the turning of the whole soul from self to God, and involves the breaking off from a selfish, sinful course of life, and the entrance upon a life of obedience, trust, and supreme devotion to God. And this repentance, while it is man’s own act, is not simply of his own unaided and spontaneous doing, and so meritorious; but it is performed under the prompting and with the help of God himself. And so in this, as in all else, salvation is wholly of grace. The cases before us admirably illustrate and impress this meaning of the familiar gospel term. The additional outward requirement of baptism was designed as an expression of their faith in Jesus as Messiah and Saviour, and of their open consecration to his service. On God’s part, it is his seal of acceptance and of his fulfillment of all the promises included in the covenant of grace. As Christ had commanded, baptism was administered in the name of the Three Divine Persons. Hence the expression here, in the name of Jesus Christ, signifies the recognition of his authority and the acceptance of his doctrine, his mediatorship, and his service. Of the twofold promise, enforcing the counsel or exhortation, the remission or forgiveness of sins stands foremost. So it stands first in David’s enunciation of mercies in that life-psalm of the grateful heart, the one hundred and third. It is first, not merely as it ministers quiet to conscience and heart, but as it changes the standing of the pardoned soul with reference to the law of God, and makes the further gifts of God consistent and meet. The gift of the Holy Ghost, next promised, refers not to any miraculous tokens such as they had heard that day, but to that indwelling and inworking of the divine Spirit which is given to every penitent believer in Jesus. 39. “The promise” is that of which he has been speaking (verses 17, 21), the quickening power of the Holy Ghost, and the “being saved” by Christ. To you and to your children this promise is given. To you, though you have crucified your Saviour. To your children, meaning, in the passage from Joel, and in similar passages in Isaiah and elsewhere, to your descendants or posterity. But the implication is clear, that children as children are also included. For from the first day of the covenant with Abraham, the children of every covenanting parent were distinctly recognized, and the recognition sealed by divine ordinance, as members of the Church and people of God. B.—We are expressly told that under Christ, in the New Testament, the same covenant is renewed, only expanded and deepened. Throughout, the law of descent is carefully respected. The hereditary tie is recognized. Offspring, at birth, are supposed to be bound up in the same bond of Christian privileges and helps which encircles their believing progenitors. F. D. H.—And to all afar off, is the simple widening of the hope and promise of the gospel to include Gentile with Jew. It is the plain intimation that the divine forgiveness and indwelling are in purpose designed, and in measure adequate, for the race of guilty men. 40. The Discourse prolonged but not reported, save in its Substance and Conclusion.—In keeping with the great essential truths already stated, he continued to testify and exhort. The order of these words, especially the dependence of exhortation upon testimony or instruction, is worthy of note. It intimates that what is called “exhortation” is Scriptural and useful, when it follows and is strictly based upon Scripture truth. Peter’s concluding exhortation is brief and to the point—“Save yourselves,” or be saved, by separating yourselves from this perverse and gainsaying generation, and so escaping its doom. 41. The Result of that Day’s Ministry of the Gospel with the Holy Spirit.—“Greater works than mine shall ye do,” said Christ, “because I go to the Father, and send upon you the Spirit.” And now, at the very outset, closely following his ascension to the Father, three thousand souls gladly receive the glad tidings, are baptized, and enrolled as members of the infant Church of Christ. An amazing fulfillment, too, of the word of Christ to the fisherman Peter, “From henceforth thou shalt catch men.” 42. Four Essential Elements in the Christian Life of these First Believers.—First, as most important, they received needed instruction from the twelve, and perhaps from others. This was as the Master had directed. After making disciples, and baptizing, then teaching more fully all things I have commanded—so ran the commission. And this is still the only wise, true method. After receiving and enrolling disciples, then instruct fully. Steadfast heed to instruction in God’s Word was and is needed, not only for personal growth in the Christian life, but for the great life-duty of every believer, of bearing witness concerning Christ. How well these early believers learned the spirit of Christ, we see from their continuance in fellowship. This means communication, not communion, and refers particularly to that self-sacrificing spirit of love to our neighbor and fellow which prompts to deeds of helpfulness, the actual communication of good in supply of his need. The idea is actualized in the facts stated in verses 44 and 45. The third particular, the breaking of bread, refers to the Lord’s Supper, which was naturally a divine means of deep and tender impression, as well as of confirming other instruction. Such is still its purpose, and may be, if rightly partaken, its increasingly happy effect. The last element of Christian life in the practice of which these first believers continued steadfast, was prayer. All other means and evidences of life or growth are vain where prayer, fervent, continuous, and expectant, is wanting. "Behold, he prayeth!" was the offered and accepted proof of Saul's conversion. And it is the surest, safest test of continued Christian life. 43. The Impression made upon the Multitude of Unbelievers.**—"Fear came upon every soul!" This shows how broad and deep was the impression wrought by the miracles and the preaching of those wonderful days. The great body of the people were subdued and awed. No voice of mocking was heard, no thought of persecution was cherished among them. Not till the instigators and leading actors in the Crucifixion, the chief priests and rulers, were aroused by hearing of these wonderful effects, did persecution begin. B. 44. All things common.** There was a special reason for this at Jerusalem, where converts to Christianity would be regarded by the Jews as renegades, and be cut off from domestic intercourse and from former means of subsistence. The need to be met was instant and special, and such as did not exist afterward among the churches formed among the heathen. K. 45. The Mutual Abounding Helpfulness of these First Christians.**—In this sharing and distribution of goods there was no surrender of personal rights of property, as Peter's words to Ananias clearly show. There was no "community of goods," as each proprietor himself sold and distributed such portion as he pleased. But as each one having possessions saw the needs of others, and felt the call and obligation to aid, he sold so much as his judgment prescribed, and "parted," distributed to them relief. That is, a conscientious judgment was exercised in connection with charitable feeling. There was no compulsion of apostolic commandment, nor any improper self-impoverishment. What heart conscience and judgment together dictated, they gave, according to the gospel principle of stewardship and trust (so thoroughly taught to and by the apostles). Alike in their worship, their helpfulness, their active ministry for Christ and for men, and in receiving their daily food, gladness and singleness of heart prompted them to blend, with all, the praises of God. How beautiful, yet natural, this conclusion of the briefly told story! And how natural, too, the recorded result of this harmonious, praying, self-denying, praising, happy fellowship! The accordant daily prayers and praises are heard and accepted. The single-hearted love to God and man, evinced in faithful word and helpful deed, deepens grateful devotion to the Lord of all grace. And as the blessed effect of answered prayer, accepted praise, and helpful word and deed, Christ, the Lord, adds to their number daily of the saved! And ever since, through the same instrumentality of human prayer and praise, of faithful, self-denying word and deed, the saved have been daily added to the blessed family of which Christ is the head! B. 46. In the temple.** The apostles and primitive disciples would not separate themselves from the Temple, but resorted habitually to it, that it might not be supposed that the gospel which they preached was at variance with the law of Moses, and that they might give a practical confirmation to their argument that Christ has been foretold by Moses and the Prophets, whose office it was to prepare the way for him. W. THE first representatives of the Christian Church on earth were the disciples, of varied name and pursuit—men and women who first adhered to Christ with intelligent faith in him, as the Saviour of the world. The first local and particular church was that formed in Jerusalem. But there was in fact little of "forming" in the matter. It formed itself, as it were. It was a collection of believing men and women, who were baptized in testimony of their Christian belief. All the organization there was about it appears to have been as exigencies arose, necessities required, and proprieties prompted. What Christ enjoined was, that every creature should believe on him as the personal Redeemer; that all who believe on him should observe his ordinances, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. Nothing beyond this do we find in the record. Our Lord always individualizes men. Faith in the heart of the particular man is the essential thing. All those who believed on him after this manner, gravitating toward a common center, naturally and voluntarily associated together, and so particular churches were formed and organized, by the election of their own officials and the administration of their own rules. So simply lies the whole matter in the New Testament. W. A. 1. Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the 2 ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid 3 daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered 4 into the temple; who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 5 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed 6 unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have 7 I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up 8 and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his 9 feet and ancle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered 10 with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people 11 saw him walking and praising God: and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at 12 the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that 13 which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and 14 John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly 15 wondering. 16 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye 17 at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we 18 had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God 19 of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the 20 presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One 21 and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, 22 whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through 23 faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which 24 is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, 25 brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, 26 which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, 27 he hath so fulfilled. 28 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the 29 times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus 30 Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the 31 times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy 32 prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall 33 the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in 34 all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, 35 which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and 36 all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have 37 likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant 38 which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the 39 kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent 40 him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. THE apostle enforces his exhortation to repent by an appeal to the final coming of Christ, not because he would represent it as near in point of time, but because that event was always near to the feelings and consciousness of the first believers. It was the great consummation on which the strongest desires of their souls were fixed, to which their thoughts and hopes were habitually turned. They lived in expectation of it; they labored to be prepared for it; they were, in the expressive language of Peter, looking for and hasting unto it. It is then that Christ will reveal himself in glory, will raise the dead, invest the redeemed with an incorruptible body, and introduce them for the first time and for ever into the state of perfect holiness and happiness prepared for them in his kingdom. The apostles, the first Christians in general, comprehended the grandeur of that occasion; it stood forth to their contemplations as the point of culminating interest in their own and the world's history, threw into comparative insignificance the present time, death, all intermediate events, and made them feel that the manifestation of Christ, with its consequences of indescribable moment to all true believers, was the grand object which they were to keep in view as the end of their toils, the commencement and perfection of their glorious immortality. In such a state of intimate sympathy with an event so habitually present to their thoughts, they derived their chief incentives to action from the prospect of that future glory; they hold it up to the people of God to encourage them to fidelity, zeal, and perseverance, and appeal to it to warn the wicked, and impress upon them the necessity of preparation for the revelations of that day. Hackett. 1. Strong as was the contrast in natural character and disposition between Peter and John, these were the two of all the twelve who finally drew closest together. The day of Pentecost wrought a great change upon them both, and by doing so linked them in still closer bonds. The grace was given them which enabled each to struggle successfully with his own original defects, and to find in the other that which he most wanted. It is truly singular, in reading the earlier chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, to notice how close the coalition between Peter and John became. W. H.—Now and for a considerable period, they are joint leaders of the apostolic band, Peter the speaker, John the counselor and inspirer. While on their way to the afternoon service of daily worship in the temple, they are accosted. It should be borne in mind that the disciples had no command to withdraw at once from the Jewish worship. According to the universal law of God's acting, there were no sudden or extreme transitions directed by the Holy Spirit. Judaism was not to be overthrown and obliterated, but gradually transformed by the infusion into it of the spirit of Christianity. Sacrifice and incense were to them merely symbols of the death now accomplished for sin, and the intercession now availing in the heavens. For a time, therefore, and with the purpose of using these ceremonials to impress the realities they shadowed forth upon other minds, the disciples retained their relation to the Jewish church, and conformed to its pure temple worship. We shall find the illustration of this in the further history. 2, 3. A Lame Man asks Aid of Peter and John at the Temple Gate.—The parallel to this case is the impotent man at Bethesda (John 5). That man was thirty-eight years a wreck. This one had never walked, and for forty years had been recognized and known as a helpless dependent cripple. For a long time he had been carried every morning to the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, there to solicit help from the multitude of passers-by. As the name implies, this was the most magnificent and costly of the nine chief gates. Forming the eastern entrance to the Temple, it fronted the holy place or sanctuary, and was more frequented than any other. (Vol. I., p. 623.) 4-6. Peter's Double Reply.—First, concentrating his gaze, with that of John, upon the suppliant, he answers, "Look on us!" They had learned the Master's method, and were now practicing it. He, almost always, tarried to question, or to interpose some act which required delay. And his purpose was always the same; to excite or deepen expectation, faith, hope on the part of the helpless needy one. He always helped the spirit first; led it to trust, and then deepened the trust by rewarding it with healing. So the twain disciples stirred the man to expect some gift—how much, he knew not. Then followed Peter's response to the man's entreaty: "Rise, walk, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth!" A stupendous, sublime faith in Christ's absolute Deity and Lordship stands out in these bold words! To these disciples he is indeed the living reigning God. His own spirit of mercy toward misery led them thus to invoke his willing might for deliverance of the wretched. And it is the title of the Cross by which they invoke his presence and favor, the name by which he was lifted up, by which he was already known, and by which he would draw all men unto him. Surely the poor sufferer had heard and knew full well this name, and the sound stirred his heart to more than expectation, even to faith. For there was no doubt or hesitation. He obeyed so far as he could, in his will and heart. And this was faith, a dawning feeble but real faith! 7, 8. The Restoration, and its Effects upon the Healed Man.—Not only by Peter's expression of utter dependence upon the power of Christ, but also by his act in taking the man's hand and lifting him up, do we distinguish the disciple's miracle-working from the Master's. Christ spoke, sometimes touched, but never used physical strength in connection with any miracle. This act of Peter has also significance, on one side, as proving his faith in his own bold command, to rise; and on the other, as indicating that faith to the man, and so helping to excite the corresponding faith and effort in his soul. The restoration which instantly followed, and the added miracle of instantaneous ability to walk and leap (for one who had never walked), proved and justified the word and deed and faith of Peter. And the restored man's exclusive praise to God, in entire disregard of the apostle for the time, as conclusively proved the reality of his faith, and of his recognition of Jesus Christ as Lord and God. So “his name, through faith in his name, made this man strong.” Like many miracles of healing, this may be regarded as a parable of redemption. It suggests these points: imperfection of a far deeper and more grievous kind as the universal birthright of the fallen soul; its helplessness and hopelessness of human cure; the limit of friendly interest and help, bringing the soul in the arms of faith, and pleading with God the prayer of faith; the sinner’s responsive willingness, desire, and faith; and the consequent healing and forgiveness in the name and by the Spirit of Christ. Obedience, willing submission to God is the first act of a returning soul. This man obeyed in his will and heart, and in this he did all that he could. So let every soul seeking life obey the first felt duty, obey it by prayer, or act of consecration, but obey it in will and heart. Then Christ’s Spirit will give life. We may well believe that this man’s soul was quickened to a peculiarly deep trust and consecration. In him, and in the many Christ had healed, apart from their natural joy and thankfulness for great restoration, there must have been wrought a depth and strength of conviction concerning his divine Messiahship that nothing could shake. “I, at least,” each must have said and often repeated, “I, at least, know him to be my Saviour and my Lord!” And how large the ministry and effective the testimony for Christ, of this vast company of the physically and spiritually healed, none can adequately measure! B. 9-11. Effect upon the People.**—For years he must have been one of the persons best known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this tended further to magnify the miracle when he appeared at the hour of public prayer in the Temple, “walking, and leaping, and praising God.” K.—They saw him restored, heard him praising God for his restoration, and knew that it was the same whom they had long noticed lying helpless at the gate; and they were filled with wonder and amazement. Isaiah’s prophecy had been literally fulfilled before their eyes, “The lame man shall leap as a hart.” Other wonders had the apostles performed during the now considerable interval since the Pentecost, but none so marked as this by the clearest proof of divine power. It was designed, we afterward see, as an occasion of another great discourse, another immense ingathering of saved souls; and also proved the immediate cause of the first hostile movement of the priests and rulers. The tidings of the miracle rapidly spread through the city, and a multitude of people thronged into the Temple. They gathered in the wide space, beneath the lofty double-pillared portico on the eastern side, called Solomon’s, because standing on a terrace which he had raised from the valley beneath. Here they found the healed man standing between Peter and John, holding a hand of each in token of his grateful affection to them, while still praising God for his restoring power. And with this visible, most affecting testimony before them, Peter, as a fisher of men, seizes his opportunity, and preaches again to the multitude Christ and him crucified. (Vol. I., p. 620.) 12. He answered, not to any uttered question, but as Christ so often is said to have answered, to the unspoken state or inquiry of the minds and hearts gathered around him. And as we have seen the power of Jesus’ name in the healing of this one body and soul, so in the result of this second sermon we see it in the healing of thousands of souls. 13-15. Their God had glorified, but they had denied and killed Jesus, the Prince of Life.**—It was no other than the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, their only, proudly acknowledged God, whose Son this Jesus was, whom they had just before rejected, scorned, and murdered. This great crime is pressed upon them in its particular aggravations by sharp contrasts. Peter thus helps them to see themselves and their guilty deeds as the God of their fathers sees it. The Holy Spirit directs and uses the charge to convince of the sin of not believing in Christ—everywhere, in all generations, the sin of sins, set down as the only sin that brings condemnation. So the apostle tells them that when Pilate, an uncircumcised, untaught heathen, sought again and again to rescue and release this Son of their God, they, whose accepted Scriptures plainly revealed his divine Sonship, yet pushed their cruel murderous hate to the very end, and killed their own Prince and Saviour. Still more to press their consciences, he contrasts with this pure spotless being, whose death they had demanded, the murderer Barabbas, whom they in their madness of unbelief had preferred and released from deserved death. “You spared,” he says, “the destroyer, and doomed to destruction the Saviour of life!” He concludes this clear, plain-spoken home-charge with the assertion, again, of the resurrection of Jesus, as a proof that he is the Prince of life. And he responds again to the Master’s word, “We are witnesses!” 16. Christ’s Name or Power, exerted in Response to Faith, had healed the Lame Man.**—“Ye delivered him up, denied him, preferred a murderer, killed him, but he, the Prince of Life, risen again and ascended, hath wrought this soundness in the man before you, because of our faith, and his, in his divine willingness and might.” B.—The old carnal thoughts of his mission had been left in his grave, and could never rise from it again. It was the “Prince of Life” who had risen from the dead; it was the “King of Glory” who had passed into the heavens. And no less did these facts declare the spiritual consequences of his manifestation, since they carried with them the implication of those three corresponding gifts, which we celebrate for evermore, saying with solemn joy, “I believe . . . the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” Toward these topics the preaching of Christ in the Acts of the Apostles continually turns. T. D. B. 17,18. Peter has spoken plainly. The truth of his charge made it severe. He sees the effect, and then practices another lesson he had learned from the Master. With gentleness and an excusing spirit he seeks to heal after wounding. So Christ had excused the three unwatchful disciples (Peter among them) during his agony, “The flesh is weak.” And so had he pleaded on the Cross for his slayers, “They know not what they do!” Now the disciple calls these murderers brethren, and repeats in substance that plea upon the Cross, “Through ignorance ye did it”; and still further goes his gentle, forgiving spirit (now so changed!), “as did your rulers.” And, as Joseph to his brethren, “Ye meant it for evil, but God for good,” Peter comforts them with the fact that their guilty deed God had overruled for (it might be) even their own salvation. All their prophets had announced this very deed of theirs as God’s way of showing mercy to transgressors. He means to assure them that Christ’s blood, though shed by them, was also shed for them, for their forgiveness and cleansing. 19-24. Recall and fix the meaning of these words. Repent is to change the mind, to reverse the current of thought, feeling, will, from self to God; therefore the Scripture says repentance toward God. Be converted is to change the life, to correspond with the changed thought and feeling. One result of this double, entire change is the utter erasure of the sin that our past life has set down in the Book of Account. So God says, “I have blotted out thy transgressions, and will not remember them any more for ever.” The other result is figuratively intimated here. There are diversities of interpretation concerning the times here spoken of. It would seem that the “times of refreshing” referred to the fullness of blessings possessed under the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, until the “times of restitution,” or restoration. These latter times, and their consummate blessings, avowedly attend and characterize the second coming of Christ. To all these blessings, promised by all the prophets, and especially by that prophet to whom Moses explicitly referred, by Christ himself, to all the blessings that he has introduced with his first coming, and all that he shall bring at his second coming, the repenting, returning, forgiving, believing soul has access now and hereafter. While from these “every soul who will not hear that prophet” shall be excluded. This is the substance of Peter’s earnest plea. It is made more effective with them, as it is based upon the declarations of Moses and all their own prophets. Compare Gen. 17 : 14 and Deut. 18 : 15-19. And now, in conclusion, he gathers and emphasizes the entire truth he has spoken, his charge of guilt, his excuse, his counsel and encouragement to repentance and faith in Christ. In the way of concentrated promise and appeal, 25, 26. He declares Jesus to be the Promised Seed of Abraham, the Son of God, sent to bless them, every One.—“Children of the prophets and of the covenant,” he calls them; those who have a hereditary interest and intimate connection with the prophecies and promises of God. Frankly Peter acknowledges their descent and their privileges, purposely classing himself among them to strengthen the force of his words that follow: “Unto you first,” in the fulfillment of this long-continued covenant, God has sent this Jesus, his Son, to bless you. But plainly and faithfully he tells them, what as a people they had long been ignorant of, that the main blessing of this their old and long-trusted covenant first made with Abraham was the turning away every one from his iniquities. Not restored temporal power or national exaltation, which had been their dream for generations, but the cleansing of their souls through the blood of Christ. And he intimates as clearly that without this saving from sin, through personal repentance and conversion, all the covenants and promises, through patriarchs and prophets, would be only occasions of a deeper condemnation. The discourse was rudely interrupted at this point, but not till it was completed. The effect is narrated in the next chapter. Two thousand more believed—5,000 men in all. We discern a wonderful comprehensiveness and unity in the discourse. The substance of all revelation, the purpose of all the divine counsels and acts from the beginning, the subject of all divine predictions by the mouth of successive prophets, the theme of all divine promises, center in and upon the person, the suffering, the sacrifice of Christ, upon the incomparable spiritual and eternal blessings he has brought with his first coming, and will bring with his second appearing. John sums it all up in a single sentence at the close of the inspired canon: The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy! discourses. They here believingly recognize that this combined agency of rulers and people against Jesus only accomplished the merciful purpose of God, and laid foundations for the establishment and spread of his gracious salvation in all the earth. And with this basis of faith in God's overruling power bringing to pass his purposed redemption, how simply unselfish and manly is the spirit and substance of their prayer! "Now, Lord, behold their threatenings!" No word or thought of vengeance against these malignant murderers and persecutors. Only, behold thou, and interpose as thou wilt, and when thou wilt! And for themselves, they ask no immunity from further persecution or danger, only that their faith and courage may not fail, that they may hold on in their work of testifying for Christ and preaching the Word. Not for the destruction of their enemies and the removal of obstacles, but for steadfastness to endure persecution, boldness to face and strength to surmount difficulties. They do indeed ask for God's miraculous interposition, but not for their help or comfort. Stretch forth thy hand in healing to give assurance that the Word is thine, and that Jesus is Lord and Christ. There is a wonderful simplicity and concentration of faith in God's Word and Christ's work embodied in this first prayer of the infant Church! And the faith was regarded in the instant answer. B. The one purpose of Christ's coming is to bless every one in turning him from his iniquities. Faith in his name, trust in his blood, with personal repentance and conversion, are the conditions of renewal by the Holy Ghost. And whatever period and blessedness are intended by the "times of refreshing and restitution," this is clear, that it is only the repentant and believing, the forgiven and sanctified of all nations, who shall know and experience all their meaning and reality. The Jew first—but the Jew as believer, not as Jew—and also the Gentile. Both discourses of Peter, with their effect, admirably interpret and illustrate the Holy Spirit's office work as described by Christ (John 16: 8-11). He convinces of the sin of sins, the not believing in Christ; of the justifying righteousness wrought by Christ through his substituted sacrifice; and of the judgment of God against the finally impenitent and unbelieving. B. These successive witness-bearings of Peter are all framed on one model, all strike the same note. In every one there is—1st, a Scriptural argument, more or less full, identifying Jesus with the Messiah of the prophets; 2d, a plain, piercing charge, laying the guilt of crucifying Christ to the door of his audience and judges; and 3d, a tender and pressing offer of mercy, through the blood of Christ, to his murderers. Arnot. The hearers of these discourses had been among the multitude who had answered Pilate, "His blood be upon us and our children!" That blood was upon all of them, upon the five thousand who believed and repented for their justification and eternal life, and upon the unrepentant and unbelieving for their condemnation and eternal death. So has it ever been, so is it now; in every individual case either the blood of forgiveness and blessing or of abiding wrath and curse. Whatever view be taken of Christ's second coming, let it be seriously considered that almost every page of the New Testament refers to the sublime fact and its consequences, in the way of appeal and motive to Christian practice and life, side by side with the fact and results of his first coming! B. 1. AND as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the 2 Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached 3 through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put 4 them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. 5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, and Annas 6 the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kin- 7 dred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and 9 elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, 10 by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from 11 the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which 12 was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were un- learned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they 14 had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they 15 could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the 16 council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jeru- 17 salem; and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further among the people, let us 18 straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they 19 called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to 20 hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things 21 which we have seen and heard. So when they had further threatened them, they let them 22 go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glori- fied God for that which was done. For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed. 23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests 24 and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, 25 and the sea, and all that in them is: who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, 26 Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and 28 Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to 29 do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may 30 speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with bold- ness. THERE is no power but life-power. You can not move a dying world by speculation, by eloquence, by majestic thought, by argument, by persuasion, except it be kindled, inspired, and accompanied by the Holy Spirit, except it be set on fire of love. If we would speak of Jesus to others, we must have been with him ourselves. If we would speak of heaven to others, and of God, and of sin, and of hell, with the tone and power of reality, with the vividness and fire of one thoroughly in earnest, we must be much with Christ in secret. A Christian can no more be a fervent messenger for God, while running on his own errands, with heart and mind absorbed in the things of this world, than he can serve God and mammon. G. B. C. There is no way under heaven to be interested in Christ, but by believing. He that believeth shall be saved, let his sins be ever so many or great; and he that believeth not shall be damned, let his sins be ever so little or few. Brooks.—If men need not go to heaven by the Cross, but by some other way, then the Cross may become an old, worn, unused way; no footfall of a traveler may cheer it, heaven may be filled through other avenues, and other songs than those of praise to the Lamb may echo through the arches of the upper Temple. If Christ is not the exclusive Saviour, then other Saviours could be made without the Cross, and the Cross is all an idle waste. We are lost men outside of God's kingdom. There is a way into it—Jesus Christ. There is a name, one name given whereby we can be saved. That name is Jesus. There has come from the sweet heavens over us no other. It is enough. We need no other. J. D. PETER'S second address to the people, upon the miraculous restoration of the disabled man, was in- terrupted by the officials of the Temple, who arrest- ed and imprisoned both apostles for the night. The next morning they were formally arraigned before the Sanhedrim, the supreme tribunal of the nation, consisting of the high priests Annas and Caiaphas and their kindred (of the same office), with the elders, or rulers, and scribes, to the number of sev- enty. These were the men who had tried and con- demned Christ. The reference (verse 2) to the resurrection recalls the singular fact that we hear nothing of the Pharisees after Christ's apprehen- sion, although up to that period they had been his leading opponents. At the trial and after it, the Sadducees assumed the chief direction and responsibility of the opposition and condemnation of Christ and the apostles. For to this sect belonged the chief priests and the more prominent of the rulers and scribes. B. 1. The captain. The officer of the priests and Levites who kept guard at the Temple—not a Roman functionary. The Romans do not appear, in the Acts, as persecutors of the apostles. The Sadducees. They said that there was no resur- rection. They foresaw that their own influence with the people would be impaired if the apostles suc- ceeded in convincing them of the truth of the resur- rection in Christ. Hence their activity against the gospel after the resurrection. The high priest and many of his assessors and associates were Sad- ducees. W.—We find the Sadducees established in the highest office of the priesthood, and possessed of the greatest powers in the Sanhedrim: and yet they did not believe in any future state, nor in any spiritual existence independent of the body. They do not appear to have held doctrines which are commonly called licentious or immoral. On the contrary, they adhered strictly to the moral tenets of the law, as opposed to its mere formal technicalities. They did not overload the sacred books with traditions, or encumber the duties of life with a multitude of minute observances. They were the disciples of reason without enthusiasm—they made few proselytes—their numbers were not great, and they were confined principally to the richer members of the nation. H. 6. Annas.** Annas is here called the high priest, and placed before Caiaphas, who was the high priest. The reason seems to be, that though Caiaphas was high priest de facto, being intruded into the office by the civil power of Rome, yet Annas was high priest de jure, and was regarded as such ecclesiastically. Hence our Lord was taken to Annas first (John 18: 13). Annas was the head of the Jewish hierarchy. The nominee of Rome, Caiaphas, had, as such, a subordinate place. W.—Pontiffs and priests, scribes and Pharisees, Herod and Pilate, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, condemned the Truth; they crucified and buried it; but it rose from the tomb and conquered them all, sending forth in its stead twelve preachers of the Word. Huss. 8-12. Peter's Good Confession of Christ, and Daring Impeachment of the Chief Priests and Rulers.—This judicial investigation gave Peter the opportunity which he boldly and faithfully used, while standing in the very place of his Master, of proclaiming Christ crucified as the only Saviour of men. Mark these particulars: Christ's promise that the Spirit should speak in them when they were brought before councils, was here fulfilled. Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost. He speaks respectfully and with dignity, recognizes their rightful authority in the terms of his address. He answers directly to their question, declaring that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth—using again to them the title of the Cross—the man stood before them whole. More than this, standing where his Master had stood when he had denied Him, the now rock-like apostle fearlessly charges home upon the very murderers the crime of Christ's crucifixion, and reasserts the offensive doctrine of his resurrection by the God of Israel. And to both the charge and the assertion they were silent. The crucifixion they could not deny, and concerning the resurrection they dared not now repeat their own previous falsehood that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus by night. But the brave and faithful preacher of Christ goes further still. He has asserted the facts of Christ's death and resurrection. Now he emphasizes the central truth of their own Scriptures, and asserts it to be the central truth of all divine revelation. This Christ, he tells them, the Son of God, whom they, the representatives of God himself in the nation and so the builders of God's spiritual house, had rejected, was himself the corner-stone of that spiritual fabric. So their own Scriptures declared. And then, plainly interpreting the figure as Jesus had done (Mat. 21), the apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, declares to all the race of sinning men the one supreme disclosure of heaven, that there is salvation in Christ, and in none other! The whole scene is deeply impressive—a reproduction in many points of the Master's trial! Arraigned before the same judges, the disciple also arraigns and by their own Scriptures convicts them of that crime of the deepest dye—the killing of the Son of God. Nay, he goes further, he preaches salvation through that very Cross to them by whom it had been raised, and, plainly as the Master, utters words of warning to the men before whose bar he stands! B. 10,11. The way in which the apostles referred to Christ is precisely the way in which he referred to himself. They do not profess to teach simply what he taught; they do not confine themselves to ideas which he put into words. These were not, in their estimation—valuable as they might be in other respects—the one thing needful, the saving truth, the unspeakable gift, the source and means of immortal life. No; it was not what Jesus had said that they dwelt upon, but what he was—what he had done. They preached HIM—they spoke of what he had "accomplished," and spoke of it in such a way as to show that he, personally, was the life of the world and the light of men, and not that he had simply taught or revealed it. T. B. 13. Better, "when they beheld the freedom of speech of Peter and John, having also previously known, etc.: and they recognized them, that they had been with Jesus." A. Effect of this Bold Address upon the Sanhedrim.—They wondered at the boldness of Peter and John, and well they might, for these unknown Galilean peasants, in the presence of the highest in the nation, had dared to turn defense into accusation. With no token of mere fanatics, but with respectful manner and manifest sincerity of conviction, they had spoken and acted. The council wondered too at the knowledge of the men, at their familiarity with and understanding of the Scriptures. And while thus marveling they remembered that this boldness and knowledge had been even more signally evinced by him whom they had crucified, and this likeness of the disciples to the Master led to the further recollection that they had seen Peter and John with Jesus. 14. They could do no more than marvel. They could make no reply, for there stood the man they had so long noticed and known; his very posture a proof, his silent gratitude and eager interest a further confirmation of the miracle. 15-18. Confuted and silenced, they confer together, and seek to quench the Spirit with the Truth by silencing the Human Agents.—The people, to whom Peter had twice preached, convinced of their guilt in crucifying Christ, had asked of the disciples, What shall we do for ourselves? But these proud priests and rulers, untouched in heart and will however convinced in understanding, ask of each other, What shall we do with these men? Gladly would they have stoned them, as soon afterward, when grown a little bolder through increasing malignancy and passion, they stoned Stephen. But now they dared do no more than forbid to preach, or even speak, the name of Jesus. So they forbade Peter and John to continue their work of witnessing for Christ. Mark here, that they said nothing about the further working of miracles. It was not the effect of miracles so much as the word that was preached in explanation of the miracle, the facts of Christ's death and resurrection, attested as the Son of God and Saviour of men by the miracle. So it has been ever since. The word about Christ, convincing of sin and offering mercy, this is the only influence under heaven which leads to repentance and faith, or which hardens the hard soul and stimulates the malignancy of the determinedly malignant. 19, 20. The Brave and Noble Answer of the Two Apostles.—Instantly, tarrying for no conference, of one mind and soul, yet with all respect to the tribunal, they first appeal the question back for further consideration and judgment by asserting this prohibition to be contrary to God's command; and then calmly say that they must speak that which God hath bidden. And, with all their previous knowledge of Christ, with the power of his character and words, with the events of his agony, betrayal, death, resurrection, and ascension, impressed in all their vividness of reality and sublimity of meaning by the Holy Ghost, how could these first heralds of the Cross and ambassadors of the Crucified fail to stand, in this crisis, for God and for the gospel! B.—They had seen and heard such things of and from Christ, they had received such a commission to proclaim him to the world, that it was morally impossible for them to obey the commands of the Sadducees. The courage to obey God rather than man proceeded from what had come under their own experience, from Christ's words, from his works, his life, his resurrection. But this outward experience could have inspired them with no such boldness, if it had not aroused an inward experience; if it had not attached them to Christ as a Friend, a Master, a Saviour, and a King. The influences of things seen and heard within their souls and in their lives created their strength to endure, to resist, to hope on amid discouragements, to believe in the efficacy and the triumph of the gospel. T. D. W. Here, at its outset, Christianity recognizes the full liberty of the individual conscience, and in so doing puts responsibility solely upon the individual. Thus it establishes the right and the duty of private judgment. B.—Bearing in mind the fact that a right to preach the gospel involved a right to organize churches, and through them carry on a systematic effort to change the religious life of the whole people, it is safe to conclude from these replies that neither civil nor ecclesiastical rulers are authorized to determine what forms of religion may be taught among the people. In obvious harmony with the apostles' language to the Jewish Sanhedrim was their conduct ever after. They acted on the assumption that religious truth should be laid before the mind of every man, in order that he might accept or reject it freely. Hovey. 21, 22. With Further Threats, the Sanhedrim direct the Release of Peter and John.—The manly appeal of the apostles is disregarded. It can not be answered or turned aside with reason. Afraid to go further with persecution, they resort to the persecutor's first and feeblest argument, threatening. 23-30. The First Recorded Prayer of the Christian Church.—Naturally, on their release, the two apostles sought their companions in the faith, the body of believers, and told their story. Then uprose from the hearts of the gathered disciples a simple Scriptural prayer, an appeal based upon what God had revealed of his own power and of his purposed redemption by Christ. All their preaching and prayer are confessedly based upon the very Word of God, apprehended and believed. Notice here, that it is to great truths rather than to special promises they refer. They rest their faith and appeal upon the sovereign might of God, and the certain accomplishment of his plan in the face of all opposition. (The quotations are from Psalm 146 and Psalm 2, and are made clearer by the whole context.) This prophecy of David concerning Christ had been first and most emphatically fulfilled by Herod, representing "the kings"; by Pilate, "the rulers"; by the Roman soldiers, "the heathen"; and the Jews, "the people." But it has had continuous fulfillment in the continuous conflict of Christianity with its foes. The point upon which they rest in this portion of the prayer is the same Peter brought out in his We see here a Church that prays, and just by this gives incontestable evidence of awakened inward life. Here is, moreover, a Church that prays for her servants. Although we may pray for ourselves, who among us pray for others? Especially what amount of personal and social prayer ascends from us in behalf of the ministers of the Word, from whom so much is required, who are so severely criticised, so often with or without cause condemned, and who must first receive before they can impart to others? Van O. 31. The Sublime Effect wrought outwardly by Miracle and inwardly by the Holy Ghost, in Response to their Prayer.—They had appealed to the might of God, and that appeal was responded to by the palpable interposition of his power in the shaking of the place where they were gathered. They had besought help to obey Christ's last word of direction, faithfully to witness for him, and the Pentecostal power was communicated afresh to them: they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Their one personal request was that they might, with steadfast, undaunted spirit, stand in the front of peril and declare the word given them to utter. And the answer is recorded in the very terms of their asking: "And they spake the Word of God with boldness." B. A congregation shows itself here which unites fervent prayer with unanimous work. They do not leave the work entirely to the apostles, but cooperate with them; and, as though reanimated by this awakened life in the Church, these last soon with greater boldness bear witness to the resurrection of the Lord. What think ye? Should no greater blessing be expected on such unanimous prayer and labor and struggle, than on the endless lamentations over both the friends and foes of the Lord, in which so many appear inexhaustible? Van O. 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: 32 and great grace was upon them all. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou 5 hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and 6 gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the 7 young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about 8 the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, 9 Yea, for so much.$^{8}$ Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are 10 at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her 11 forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. THE same Peter, who in Christ's name had spoken so gently, and even excusingly, to the very crucifers of Christ, here, in the same name, denounces the most fearful judgment of God against professed followers of Jesus. Thus the Gospel repeats the declaration of the Law, that God will by no means clear the guilty; while the injunction is sharply emphasized, "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." And the chief danger to the Church to-day arises not from outward assailants, but from inward corruption or unfaithfulness; from the false vows of counterfeit members or hypocrites; and from the incomplete vows or partial consecration of true members. Still Christ's word needs to be heeded by all, Take heed and beware of hypocrisy! Still the Holy Ghost exhorts, Pay unto the Lord thy vows, and Lift up holy hands! Without honest service, sincere, hearty giving as well as praying, let there be no guise of service, of charity or worship, for a Pharisaic show or reputation! Nothing in human character is so valuable, so beautiful, so Christlike, and therefore so all-essential as truthfulness. Regarded from a merely human aspect, it is the cementing force and safeguard of society. Falsehood, of word or act, is destructive of the order and peace of human fellowship, vitiates the currents of intercourse in the family, in traffic, in social life, and undermines the very foundation of the Church. And God's hatred of hypocrisy and regard of truth, read upon every page of his revelation, may be summed up in two or three statements: Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord; but they that deal truly are his delight! Of the dweller in God's holy hill it is said with a singular emphasis, He speaketh the truth in his heart! And the girdle of the Christian armor, that which binds and holds together the entire panoply, is truth! Then let every disciple of Christ, and every partaker of human fellowship, by word and by life, unweariedly emphasize the supreme worth, and exemplify the inherent beauty of truthfulness! B. "Jews and proselytes" had come up to the Festival of Pentecost from the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, of the Nile and of the Tiber, from the provinces of Asia Minor, from the desert of Arabia, and from the islands of the Greek Sea; and when they returned to their homes, they carried with them news which prepared the way for the glad tidings about to issue from Mount Zion to "the uttermost parts of the earth." But as yet the gospel lingered on the holy hill. The first acts of the apostles were "prayer and supplication" in the "upper room"; breaking of bread "from house to house"; miracles in the Temple; gatherings of the people in Solomon's cloister, and the bearing of testimony in the council chamber of the Sanhedrim. H. 32-35. The Beautiful Picture reproduced, of the Unity, Mutual Sympathy, and Helpfulness of the First Christian Disciples.**—We would read verse 33 first, and then 32, 34, 35 together. While all were filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake the word, the apostles, as ordained leaders and witnesses of the resurrection, were specially endued with power to impress the truth, and when necessary to work miracles in confirmation of the word. But as in all faith was working actively by love, so great grace, the marked favor of God, was upon and with them all. Then, as a token and evidence of this grace, the story of their oneness of spirit, of their true sympathy one with another, evinced by acts of self-sacrifice, by the sharing of their means with those who had any need, is here told again. It is repeated, we infer, partly because it is inherently so beautiful and effective as an example for all coming ages, and partly to introduce the two persons, Joses and Ananias, and to contrast their spirit and actions respecting this practical matter of consecrating possessions. B. This is a picture of what every Christian Church ought to be, and what every Christian Church will probably be, when the fullness of the Spirit shall be poured out in the last days. Here we meet with no factions or divisions on the part of the people, no jealousy, no party spirit. No desire of distinction disturbed the harmony of the primitive Church. The first law of their divine Master was fulfilled: mutual and holy love was the sacred bond of their union, the ruling principle of their life and actions. G. T.—They regarded themselves as one family, with one heart and one soul, with common needs and common joys and common sufferings. This is the perfection of that unity in his Church for which Christ prayed, and it showed as in a pattern what all should aim to realize in spirit. W. The elements of prosperity in a family or church of Christ are these: Christ preached, as God incarnate, crucified, risen and reigning; living in the Church and working through the Holy Ghost; and oneness of heart evinced in prayer and in mutual helpfulness. Where these are found, faith appropriates Christ's person and work, effectually pleads his power and promise, and "works by love." Thereby all essential conditions of life and prosperity are met. B. 33. With the apostles, especially in the Pentecostal period, the resurrection is the palmary proof, the invincible assertion of the truth of Christianity. That Jesus was literally risen was for the apostles a fact resting upon distinct evidence of their senses. Their first effort was to publish this fact, and so to let it do its proper work in the understandings and the consciences of men. When therefore the author of the Acts of the Apostles is describing the missionary action of the earliest Church, he tells us that "with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." H. P. L.—Everywhere they preach a "Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again." This event is presented by them not simply as the seal of his teaching, or more generally (to use the poor and shrunken phrase of later times) as the proof of his divine mission, but as itself the cause and the commencement of that eternal life which was consciously the hope of man. T. D. B.—As they looked with the eye of faith upon the interests of eternity, the relations and interests of time dwindled into insignificance, and with fearlessness, with simplicity, and with great power, gave they witness to the central and incontrovertible fact of the resurrection of Christ, and to the freeness and preciousness of the salvation that is in him, and left the event with God. Pursuing this course, Christianity was aggressive and triumphant. M. H.—This is our testimony still—a testimony concerning the risen Christ. This is the very core and kernel of our preaching. Our glad tidings are, "The Lord is risen." It is a risen Lord that we follow. It is to a risen Lord that we are conformed—a risen Prophet—a risen Priest—a risen King! Bonar. 34,35. With reference to the sale and sharing of their possessions, all that can properly be inferred is that there was a voluntary disposing of a portion only by the rich, and a distribution in accordance with the actual need of the poor. There was no community of goods, no giving up of all he had by any one. Neither example nor precept of such fatuity have we in the Acts or Epistles. But the grand principle is inculcated here most impressively—a principle that should characterize the disciples of Christ and the spirit of church fellowship in all time—that the strong should aid the weak, "especially those who are of the household of faith." The spirit of the Master and of his gospel lays a tax, proportional and voluntary, upon the worldly goods, as well as the personal sympathies and counsels, of more gifted believers in the interest of those less endowed. No other subject is more fully unfolded by Christ and the apostles than this of consecrated earthly possessions, and the teaching has been but imperfectly learned thus far. The summing up we read in the words of the final award, "Inasmuch as ye did it, or did it not, to these!" It is to be noted that the largeness of the gifts referred to here grew out of the peculiar circumstances of the case. Jewish prejudices would at once cast out the poorer believers from all customary employments, and so leave many entirely destitute. This was the case for many years, as we know from Paul's "gatherings for the poor saints at Jerusalem" in almost every foreign city. And the same circumstances produce like effects in heathen lands to-day. 36, 37. The True Spirit and the True Gift of Barnabas.—Joses, afterward called Barnabas, the first named convert from the priestly tribe of Levi (whose conversion was soon followed by that of "many priests," ch. 6), begins his long and useful career by the willing, glad consecration of a portion, it might have been all, of his possessions. His surname, "Son of Consolation," may have referred in part to this giving of his whole estate in help of the destitute, or to the special magnetism of his sympathy and wisdom of his comforting counsel. And, we remember, Barnabas it was who brought Paul to the apostles, and who was associated with him in his early missionary journey. 1-11. The beautiful picture of church fellowship is now to be sadly marred. The native evil of the heart shows itself even among the little band of Christ's proscribed followers. And, as throughout the Old Testament, the fact is shown, by way of contrast and comparison, in the history. We have had Barnabas with his attractive character and his true-hearted sacrifice. Now we have Ananias and Sapphira (with names only significant of "grace" and "beauty") illustrating falsehood in its most daring and impious form, a counterfeit offering to God himself. And the teaching by comparison goes further. It presents the two Personal Beings, the respective sources and inspirers of truth and falsehood, the Holy Ghost of God, and Satan, the unholy spirit of evil. The Holy Ghost fills the heart of the true disciples; Satan “fills the heart” of these two false professors. The timing of Satan’s appearance, at the outstart of the infant Christian Church upon its witnessing mission, was in exact accordance with his previous methods. As he came to Adam and Eve in the garden; to Cain, the first born man; to Nadab and Abihu at the commencement of Israel’s national life, and afterward to Achan in the first establishment of Israel’s power in Canaan; and above all, as without effect he came to Christ at the very outset of his personal ministry; so now and here, “when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them.” He would fain use the time of inexperience and feeble faith to detach one and another, and so undermine the power and destroy the life of the Church of Christ. Concerning this signal judgment of God, let two facts be borne in mind: 1. Many miracles of mercy had already been wrought, and many more were subsequently done during the ministry of the apostles. This is the one only miracle of judgment. So was it even under the Law of Moses as ministered by himself and the prophets. The many miracles were of mercy. Only at long intervals were single tokens of judgment. While in the personal ministry of Christ himself, we find none but miracles of mercy to men. His only direct judgment was against a fruitless, senseless tree. 2. The one manifest purpose of every direct judgment of God, in the Old and New Testament times, was to impart needful knowledge and warning when it was most needed, and so impressively that it would be heeded. Therefore it was in the critical time of inexperience and weakness, the very time when Satan was busiest, that the clear manifestation of God’s authority and might were most necessary as a warning to counteract the temptations of Satan. For this reason, the first Sabbath-breaker was stoned (Num. 15: 36); the first breach of a special commandment after Israel had taken possession of their inheritance, the concealed sacrilegious theft of Achan, was visited with death upon himself and his family; and now, the first impious deception and falsehood, under the guise of piety and worship, in the new-born Church, was thus decisively adjudged and punished. These and other cases of flagrant impiety demanded and received the open and palpable judgments of God, that his people might be warned, and the guilty taught, that he saw sin in the heart and would assuredly punish the sinner. No other means than those direct severe personal visitations could so well have wrought this necessary knowledge and conviction in their minds. 1-6. *The Sin, the Judgment, and the Doom of Ananias.—His sin was not the bringing “a certain part of the price,” for this he might rightly have done if he had done it avowedly. As Peter said, it was in his own power, subject to any disposition he pleased, after the money was received. But while—for selfish motives of some kind, we know—keeping back part of the money, he professed to have devoted all that he received. And this transaction was a public one, nay, was a part of worship in which all were associated, nay, further still, on his part it was an act of professed devotion to God himself. And he knew it was a lie. He was deliberately mocking God under pretense of worshiping him! Peter knew it too. By extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost he saw into the very heart of Ananias, knew the whole transaction; and by the impulse of the same Spirit he opens the whole to the assembled body of disciples by these successive burning questions, ending with the terrible affirmation, “Thou hast not lied to men, but unto God.*” Without a word Ananias fell to the ground dead. He was not prostrated by the shame of exposure, nor the sharpened sting of an aroused and terrified conscience, overwhelming as their force might be; but the direct fiat of God adjudged him to this instant doom. Not by any word or purpose of Peter, but solely by the act of God was the fiat executed. For this once, in the New Testament Christian history, “sentence against an evil work was executed speedily.” And the lesson was heeded. Great fear, fear of God, an intelligent fear of his searching vision and unerring sure judgment, and a dread conviction of the deadliness of sin, “came upon all them that heard these things.” In an orderly manner, and in accordance with the usual custom of burial on the day of death, the younger men then bore the body of Ananias to the place of interment outside the city. During their absence, for three hours, it would seem that the body of disciples remained together. At their return it was that Sapphira, ignorant of what had occurred, and doubtless supposing that the fraud upon which they had agreed had been successfully achieved, came in to the assembly. 7-11. The Falsehood and the Doom of Sapphira.—Peter gave her no time or opportunity to learn what had transpired. Instantly he asks the plain direct question as to the sum received for the land. And as instantly, unhesitatingly, she reaffirms in words the acted falsehood of her now dead husband. To this, her last utterance, Peter responds by stating the aggravation of their guilt, in their deliberate agreement to deceive and defraud the Spirit of God, and then prophetically announces her like fearful doom and burial with her husband. Speechless, also, she falls and dies! By the same hands her body is laid beside her husband. The bodies lie together in the tomb—the spirits together in the realm of eternal doom. Again the record declares, that great fear came upon all that heard as well as witnessed those things. Deep indeed would be the impression and long the memory of so awful a judgment of the manifest God! And thus was the infant Church taught and warned and guarded in her time of greatest weakness and need against corruption from within, especially against “that leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy,” an evil always greater and more demoralizing than persecution from without! Some Leading Truths.—While personal influence, even to the working in human hearts, is ascribed to Satan, yet his power is only that of temptation, and is resistible. It is the man that sins, by his own uncontrolled act of yielding to the temptation. Hence the helpful injunction, “Resist the devil, and he will flee.” Every human heart is under the influence of the Holy Spirit or of Satan, but under compulsion of neither. What the Holy Ghost has aimed to do in the saving of all that have been saved, he still seeks to do in behalf of the lost and imperilled. And what Satan has done to destroy, what he succeeded in accomplishing by his influence with Saul, Ahithophel, Judas, and now with Ananias and Sapphira, he seeks now, as earnestly, to do with every one. In this fearful twofold judgment we have God’s protest and refutation respecting the false tenet or belief, that because he is infinitely merciful and long-suffering, he will clear the guilty and transform hell into heaven. The voice of this judgment is, Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap: In no wise shall enter they who make a lie: For our God is a consuming fire. B. No matter whether the miracle happens once or every day. It is simply the type of a law inevitable and universal. Whether the outer stroke should ever be repeated or not, it was only the visible sign of a thing that is always going on while the world stands—unrighteousness blasted, lying exposed, the cheating man and the cheating woman, in spite of their skill in concealment, sent down at last to misery. F. D. H. 13. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. 12 And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. And by the hands of the apostles 15 were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the 16 shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were 14 vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. 17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the 18 Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and 19 put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison 20 doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people 21 all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the 22 prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, and found them not in the 23 prison, they returned, and told, saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man 24 within. Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests 25 heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and 26 teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without 27 violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they 28 had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, say- ing, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. 29. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than 30 men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him 31 hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to 32 Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. 33. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. Then 34 stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; 35 and said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as 36 touching these men. For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be some- body; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; 37 and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: 38 he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say un- to you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of 39 men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be 40 found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted 42 worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. “THEY ceased not to teach and preach Jesus the Christ.” Similar expressions continually recur in the Acts. No such announcements are heard in the Gospels. The preaching spoken of there is not of the person, but of the kingdom. In the Acts the two expressions are sometimes united, as when the Samari- tans “believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of the Lord Jesus”: and yet again, with more evident purpose, in the closing verse of the book, which describes the two years’ continuous ministry by the words “preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.” The two expressions are combined to show that the preaching of the kingdom and the preaching of Christ are one. All is founded upon the old Jewish expectation of a kingdom of God; but it is now explained how that expectation is fulfilled in the person of Jesus; and the account of its realization consists in the unfolding of the truth concerning him, “the things concern- ing Jesus.” The manifestation of Christ being finished, the kingdom is already begun. Those who re- ceive him enter into it. Having overcome the sharpness of death, he has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Those, therefore, who were once to “tell no man that he was Christ,” are now to make “all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom they had crucified, both Lord and Christ”; yea, they are to proclaim that fact to every nation under heaven. Through the blessed ordinance of a written word they have not ceased to do so now. To us they preach him still; a Christ “who died for our sins and rose again for our justification”; a Christ who saves without the Law, yet one who is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. So they preach, and so we believe. This was the beginning of the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope to the Church at its birth, and this begin- ning it will hold firm unto the end. It is for us to see that we bear our part in the long history of the faith, finding its reality in the joy of our own salvation, and transmitting its testimony to the generation to come. T. D. B. 12-16. Effects wrought among the People by the Apostles’ Preaching and Healing in the Name of Jesus.—These verses cover a considerable period of undisturbed ministry. The most appropriate order would probably be this: verse 13; the last sentence in verse 12; the first sentence in the same verse, attached to verses 15 and 16; and verse 14. Read thus, without any parenthesis, the meaning is clear and the narrative orderly and progressive. The rest, the multitude without, had been so impressed by the miraculous judgment upon Ananias that they stood in awe of the apostles as divine mes- sengers, and none ventured to join the company of believers unless drawn by a true faith and honest confession. Nevertheless they “magnified,” in their hearts honored, the character and work of the apos- tles. They had learned at least the difference be- tween false pretense and true service. Solomon’s porch was now the daily meeting and preaching place of the apostles. No other place was large enough for the concourse of believers and people. (Vol. I, p. 620.) The account given in verses 15 and 16 recalls similar statements respecting great periods and wide circuits of Christ's ministry in Galilee. Everywhere from within Jerusalem itself, and from the numerous cities adjacent, the sick and the possessed with unclean spirits were brought by multitudes to the apostles. And the result is told in the old language of the gospels, "they were healed every one." Not, we suppose, that any one was healed by the lengthened shadow of Peter's person, as he returned toward sunset from the crowded evening service in Solomon's porch. Yet we know that the sick were afterward healed by the touch of aprons and handkerchiefs that had been in contact with the person of Paul; and we remember how one was healed by the touch of a garment-hem. There may have been such faith, as these cases showed, in the placing of the sick within the line of the apostle's shadow, and if there was, God may have healed in like condescension to human ignorance and infirmity. But the text does not furnish any inference that there was such faith, or that healing was wrought by this means. The fact is stated to show the extent and pervasive character of the influence which had already gone forth from these few illiterate fishermen, within the city and outside of it. The "many signs and wonders" now "wrought among the people" were in answer to the first prayer of the Church. They were designed to honor the apostles in the sight, and so with the favor, of the people; that the people might interpose, as they did, to protect them against the assaults of the rulers. But, chiefly, their miracles of healing were wrought, like their Master's, to show how much God's mercy delighted to rejoice against his judgment, how much more willing were his helpful, gracious, loving purposes and acts, than his enforced strange deeds of judgment. And all these ends of miracle, we read, were accomplished. 14. Believers were the more added. This is the natural close to this whole statement. Even the terrible judgment combined with the multitude of healing mercies, in connection with the preaching of Jesus, produced far more faith than fear. Of the vast numbers who had been outwardly convinced by miraculous demonstration, many were inwardly touched by the truth concerning Jesus impressed by the present mighty Spirit of God. Multitudes both of men and women were added to THE LORD!—to Christ, not to the roll of the Church. Here, as before, the LORD, i. e., CHRIST, added to the Church the saved! but first—then, now, and ever—added to the Lord! as branches to the vine, by the principle and through the divine implanting of a spiritual life: living branches, and fruitful if living, in the living vine—these only are "the saved," these only make up the roll of the true Church, visible or invisible! B. 17-19. The apostles are brought forward to preach before the Sanhedrim the doctrine of the resurrection, by the agency of the Sadducees who denied it. The Sadducees imprison the apostles; but the angel of the Lord opens the prison doors. Thus Christ overrules the designs of the Sadducees, who denied the existence of angels, and makes the Sadducees themselves to be the means of showing to the world that his angels are ministering spirits, encamping about his Church. W.—As their hate increased, their malignity gave them increased courage to seize and imprison the apostles. While these imprisoned men are filled with the Holy Ghost, and leave all things quietly with God, their persecutors—into whose hearts we are continually permitted to see—are filled with Satan, and undertake themselves to carry out the devices he has inspired. But! This is a divine "but," which deranges all their plans. The excess, or "remainder," of men's wrath over what may be needful in the execution of his plans, God easily restrains, and generally by his usual methods of providence. Here, for the same purpose that he wrought by miracle, he sends an angel to release his first "ambassadors" to the world. Silently, and unnoticed by the slumbering guard, the prison doors are opened, and the rescued, newly animated disciples are bidden to resume their work for the Master. Go, as heralds go, not seeking safety in concealment, but before the face of the people. Utter the message of life—all of it—faithfully to all the people! It was a reaffirmation of the commission from their risen Lord, uttered under circumstances of implied approval, encouragement, and yet larger promise. And there was no hesitation or wavering in their response. Early in the morning, soon as the temple gates were opened, they gathered in Solomon's porch and taught the thronging crowds. B.—The Lord sent his angel and set his servants free. He showed the persecutors that they had no power over these men, "except it were given them from above." But having done this, the Master left the witnesses in their enemies' hands. His will was, that his servants should neither flee nor fight; that they should preach the Cross, and bear it; that they should overcome as he had overcome—by enduring. Arnot. 21-26. Then came the specially called meeting of the great Sanhedrim, showing how exasperated the priestly party were and how determined now utterly to destroy these teachers of Christ. "All the senate," i. e., all the elders of the nation, were called in to give counsel and add weight to the judgment of the Sanhedrim. The officers were sent to the prison, and excitedly returned with the wonderful story of an empty ward and carefully guarded doors and building. The meaning was, that there was full proof of divine interposition in the escape. And while the assembly were amazed and wondering what would come out of these marvels, one came with the intelligence that the men who had mysteriously disappeared out of their prison were boldly preaching again in the temple. At the instance of the high priest, the captain of the temple—the custodian of the sacred house—then went with his own band and quietly summoned the apostles into the presence of the assembled council. The obedient response of the apostles prevented any outbreak among the people. The strongly favorable feeling of the people in behalf of these persecuted disciples is the instructive and cheering fact of this portion of the narrative. Many causes combined—all of them noble and grand—to produce this feeling. These lowly but bold disciples had dared to come right from the prison to the sanctuary and stronghold of their own and their Master's persecutors, instead of fleeing from them. They spake with like boldness as they acted; repeating in calm and serious words the offensive doctrines. Here were evidences of their own truthfulness, of their belief in the word they preached, and of a wonderful strength of personal trust in the Christ they proclaimed and urged upon others. And their forbearance equaled their courage and truth. Though their release showed that superhuman power was theirs, yet they did not seek to employ it in opposition to the high priest and elders. Not to resist the rulers, not to smite with judgment-might the men who had accumulated a vaster amount of even more aggravated guilt than the false Ananias, but to heal the sick and suffering they used the might of miracle. And perhaps the "signs" most wonderful and powerful with the people were the signs of their Christlike spirit—their utterly unselfish lives and ministry—the avowed purpose of their preaching as well as the manifest ultimate object of their miracles, to save the lost soul! In palpable contrast to these "signs and wonders" of Christlike spirit and living, had been life-long presented before their eyes the selfish greed and rapacity, the open hypocrisy, and especially the utter lack of sympathy or care for others, which characterized the priests and rulers of that day above any other time even in Jewish history. Multitudes, therefore, of the common people heard these true-hearted apostles, also, gladly! They heard the words and read the life, and the Holy Ghost impressed his own truth in both forms, and wrought miracles of deliverance for multitudes of penitent, believing souls, more wondrous far than the angel's release of the imprisoned bodies of the apostles! 27,28. If we needed proof of the superior intelligence and shrewdness of these foremost priests and rulers, we have it in their discriminating appreapplication of the preaching and doctrine concerning Jesus as the source of the apostles' power, and of their own consequent danger. These men of the Sanhedrim cared nothing for mere miracles. They did not want to know, they wished not to know, how the apostles escaped from the prison; and passed that matter over in silence. But when the known companions of Jesus preach a spiritual religion, and declare a salvation of grace, when their preaching is attested not only by numerous and stupendous miracles, but by an unselfish, true, pure, and helpful life, when the religion they preach and practice stands forth in striking contrast with the teaching and life of authoritative Jewish teachers, and when, for all these reasons, multitudes from city and country are drawn to seek healing and find repentance in the name of Christ, no wonder these false hypocritical leaders take alarm, and seek to silence and destroy the apostles. But the charge they make of a design "to bring this man's blood" (purposely throwing contempt upon the name that the apostles had exalted) "upon them" is surprising, when we remember that these very rulers had led in that answering cry to Pilate, "His blood be on us and on our children." But they had an object in saying this now; they wished to create an impression among the people that the apostles were actuated by revengeful and hostile feelings in making the charge. B. 29-32. Critics have noticed the structure of Peter's brief defense as one of the finest specimens of pleading on record. It is a proof that the promise, "It shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak," was amply fulfilled. It is clear and cogent; it is very short, but it is long enough. The speaker says all that is needful, and stops when he is done. In this short space he defends himself, confounds his adversaries, and commends Christ to the bystanders. Arnot. Taking no notice of their attempt to create odium against himself and his companions, with manly boldness he repeats the main points of his previous address. Again he reverses the position of the parties, becomes himself the accuser of his judges, and preaches the gospel plainly to them. So did Stephen afterward, before that very same tribunal. 29. First, he declares directly, not as before in the way of appeal to their judgment, that God must be obeyed rather than men. In saying this, he boldly implies that they are commanding things contrary to God; and he justifies the disregard of their injunction solely on the ground of obedience to the higher authority of God himself. He does not deny the allegiance properly due to these rulers as the highest human authority in the nation. He claims and attempts no right of open opposition or organized resistance. But he must speak the word, and so obey the supreme command of God. B. How much the world owes to the word that Peter uttered before the Sanhedrim that day! It is the foundation of all the true liberty that exists in the world. On this rock—the word that the Holy Spirit spake by Peter's lips—has the liberty of the Church been built, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Leaning on this, human liberty has been able to maintain a footing on the world during the dark centuries that are past; and that liberty, wherewith the Son has made his people free, is waxing apace, as the dawn advances into day. Freedom of conscience—the subjection of a human spirit to God, and its emancipation therefore from all inferior control—is deposited here in the ground as a living seed. Thence it has sprung and spread; thence it will spring and spread until all superstition and tyranny shall be swept away. Arnot. 30. Next Peter reasserts the offensive doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus, carefully naming him whom they would not name. Still speaking as himself a Jew and to them as Jews, he declares that their God had "raised up Jesus," and unqualifiedly to their faces reaffirms the charge that they had slain him by crucifixion. It was true that Christ's blood was upon them. No words could be more direct or pointed; yet he instantly follows them with other words of promise and hope. 31. The same God, their God, had exalted this Jesus, who is already a Prince and Saviour—names well known to them as applied by Isaiah to the Messiah—by him to give repentance and forgiveness to Israel! The statement was very plain and the meaning very clear to them. All the facts of Christ's life—his character, his wondrous deeds and yet more wonderful words, his death and rising again—all accorded perfectly with the known and accepted teaching of their prophets. Even the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was distinctly promised. In all this Peter was speaking no enigmas to them. 32. In further asserting that the apostles are witnesses of all those things respecting Christ, Peter still refers them back to Isaiah (43: 10, 12, and 44: 6, 8), where the Lord the Saviour, Israel's King and Deliverer, utters these very words. Repeated by this Lord himself, after his resurrection, in the ears of the disciples, Peter now triumphantly responds to them, and affirms that they are his witnesses! And then, in support of their merely human testimony, and in conclusive proof of all these things respecting Christ, he refers to a divine witness, the long-promised and now received Spirit of God. This witness, the Holy Ghost, with his internal convincing testimony, he declares to these heartless, disobedient priests of the Temple, God will give to them that obey him. Thus calmly, without sign of personal feeling, save earnest, faithful kindness, in the very spirit of the Master, this brave apostle preached to the Sanhedrim the whole doctrine of Christ and the Holy Ghost; to them he offers salvation by repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, through the inworking of the Holy Spirit. 33-40. The Counsel of Gamaliel, and the Final Judgment of the Sanhedrim.—The same excessive madness of rage and hate that filled them against the Master was now excited toward the disciples. Under the first impulse, they would have done with these what they had done with him. But at this crisis God interposed for his people's sake, and raised up a helper in the person of the most influential and least moved of their number. Gamaliel, here referred to as one of the council or Sanhedrim, a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, and of high repute among the people, is said by the Talmud to have been the grandson of Hillel, the founder of the then leading Rabbinical school. They say further that he was the second and last who "obtained the name of Rabban, a title of the highest eminency and note of any among their doctors." Apparently he is the only one unmoved, and therefore apprehends the peril of murdering the apostles, and certainly, though unconsciously, he is actuated by a divine impulse in his interposition. But he shows masterly skill and judgment in reaching his object. He removes these hated men out of sight, and so takes away one stimulus and supply of their excited feeling. He tells his colleagues of their peril in undertaking this murderous scheme. He recalls two well-known instances, of many similar ones in the history of the time, where insurgent leaders had taken advantage of strong Jewish expectation and feeling, and undertaken the overthrow of the Roman dominion, but had been themselves slain and their bands dispersed. With the designed intimation that such would be the issue with the movement begun by the apostles, he counsels that these men be let alone. And then he enforces all by stating a fact and using it as a basis for a principle—the fact that man's plan or work can not stand as against God's; and the principle that one should wait for the actual issue to determine whether a work is God's or man's. From this method and reasoning of Gamaliel we may take this one bare grain of wisdom out of a full measure of folly and mistake. It is wise and right to deal tolerantly with errorists in sentiment; and intolerance with supposed error is always unjustifiable and wrong. In conclusive proof of this, we have Christ's spirit, his words, and his acts. But Gamaliel's principle, his main argument with his fellow-councillors, is essentially and most hurtfully wrong. It is conspicuously untrue, as applied to present results, in time, that all which fails to succeed is not of God. For many true churches of God in every age, and other beneficent Christian institutions, have been suffered to languish and become extinct. And we need not speak of unnumbered personal sacrifices of possessions and life for Christ and the truth. Only as applied to ultimate and eternal issues is it true that failure is God's condemnation. And as obviously, for similar reasons, it is untrue that seeming success and continuance in this life is certainly of God. David's teaching, as well as that of David's Lord, is clear and abundant upon this point. Nothing short of or prior to the final plaudit at the judgment is decisive of God's purpose and part in any life success. Further, Gamaliel's counsel is fatally defective in this, that not only as responsible men, but especially as accredited teachers of a divine religion, as the ministers of a divinely ordained worship, they were bound to ascertain if these men were not really on God's side, and if they were, to side with them. They had God's "counsel" in their Scriptures, and could compare it with the words and works of "these men." Nay more, as we have seen, Peter had expressly referred them to these Scriptures throughout. And all the facts of Christ's career and of the Pentecost, to which he had also referred them, were open to their knowledge, and abundant for their conviction of the truth. For these reasons their obligation was to inquire and to act according to their best knowledge, not to ignore the matter as of no concern to them. Perhaps they appreciated the counsel. Perhaps they did not feel quite strong enough to kill so many men in face of the protest of a friendly people. But they did not entirely "refrain"; for they severely scourged the apostles before they let them go. This scourging gave trifling relief to their wrath as well as their offended dignity; it served to show the people that they had not made so much stir without cause; and it would operate as a warning, if not to the apostles, to deter persons of feeble will and timid spirit from joining them. 41,42. The Joy and Unchanged Fidelity of the Apostles.—Thus far they had encountered threats, imprisonment, and scourging, but none of these things moved them except to joyfulness, that thus the force of their testimony might be strengthened. It is a beautiful expression, evincing a depth of humility and strength of devotion that is marvelous in such weak men as they had been: "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." The lesson of the Passion and the Cross, from which they had shrunk, was now fully learned! Released once more, they went again "to their own company" and to their appointed work of preaching Jesus Christ. This they did daily, in the Temple at the hours of concourse for worship, and in every house where they were welcomed. Christ had delivered them, in order that they might continue in the fulfillment of his commission. And for a considerable period again they had rest, while believers continued to multiply under faithful teaching, with the power of the Holy Ghost. CHRIST is Prince and Saviour. He rules in all whom he saves, and saves all in whom he rules. Christ rules among his enemies and protects his friends. His Church will abide against "the gates of hell," and his kingdom shall come. "The extension of this kingdom depends on the counsel of God and the work of man." Let us loyally look for the counsel and the needed grace, and faithfully do the work assigned! B. The Christian, if at least he is a genuine believer, can not constantly remain silent concerning Christ! The same thing which we see here in the apostles, the experience of every really living Christian confirms. To speak of the Lord may often be difficult; to be continually silent regarding him is impossible. Our privilege is too great for us to be silent; our vocation is too exalted for us to leave the testimony regarding Christ to others, since we are personally destined each in his own circle to be the light and the salt of the earth. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh; out of the animated word the life speaketh; and life alone is able to awaken life. Van O. 1. AND in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and 4 wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually 5 to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Pro- 6 chorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch: whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem 8 greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Liber- tines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with 10 Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against 12 Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, 13 and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false wit- nesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy 14 place, and the law: for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy 15 this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. THE transfiguration of Stephen is always a thing of the present, filled with a fresh life which touches our deepest nature whenever we look on it. Material scenes of the highest grandeur live only in the pages of history; and they become dimmer as distance intervenes. But spiritual greatness is everlast- ingly new, and we can be as closely in its presence as when it first appeared in the world. As time tests it and brings out its reality, we see and feel more of its ever-during power. Of this kind are all the moral evidences of the truth of the gospel, all the signs of the higher life which then entered the world, which never become old with years, but renew themselves in us as we open our souls to them. To this the form of Stephen belongs; not the angelic face alone, but the angelic spirit of which it was the index, a thing which never appeared in the world till Christ was heard of, and which true Christianity alone can reproduce. The canvas of that picture never decays, the dust of time does not gather on the features. It is no picture, for we may come and feel the life in it while we look, and share it as we gaze on the great object of his view. So true is it that we are come even now "to spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant." Ker. The things within affect the outward appearance, and find there perpetual expression. Facial bright- ness, if you have it—and you may have it with any kind of features—what is it but an overflowing from the light of God within? Calmness on the countenance is index to peace in the soul. Benignity appear- ing in the features is the flushing out of indwelling love. Keep soul-brightness, and the smile will some way ripple through. Keep soul-peace, and fear or misery will not settle on your face. Steel your heart with heroic purpose, and you will never go with bloodless lips and coward eye. Love God with heart and soul and strength and mind, and your neighbor as yourself, and you will never need to think of putting up a face-advertisement of what will be found within. The poor will bless you, and the fallen will look up in your face, as they looked in the face of Christ, and see pity and help written there. Be a Christian man through and through, in belief and practice, among fellow-disciples, among worldly people, and the Lord your God will put his "beauty" on you, in one or other of its many forms; and in some supreme moments of life, in suffering, in trial, in death, may give your friends beholding you the privilege and joy of looking as it were upon the face of an angel. A. R. 1. Hebrews. The Jews of Palestine and Syria, with those who lived on the Tigris and Euphrates, interpreted the Scriptures through the Chaldee paraphrases, and spoke kindred dialects of the language of Aram: and hence they were called Aramæan Jews. Grecians. Of the other part of the nation dispersed through those countries where Greek was spoken, Alexandria was the capital. They used the Septuagint translation of the Bible; and they were commonly called Hellenists, or Jews of the Grecian speech. The mere difference of language would account in some degree for the mutual dislike with which we know that these two sections of the Jewish race regarded one another. We can not be surprised that, even in the deep peace and charity of the Church's earliest days, this inveterate division reappeared, and that the old jealousy between the Aramaic and Hellenistic Jews reappeared. A murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, or of the Hebrews against the Grecians, had been a common occurrence for at least two centuries; and, notwithstanding the power of the divine Spirit, none will wonder that it broke out again even among those who had become obedient to the doctrine of Christ. H. Differences of feeling found expression in connection with the ministration to the poorer disciples. The complaint made by the foreign Jews that the widows of their number were neglected was probably just. But there is no implication of ill feeling or intentional injustice on the part of the native Jews who had charge of the daily ministration. These persons could not know the circumstances of the foreign widows, and the latter would not, naturally, press the statement upon them. 2-4. The apostles took prompt measures to remove the trouble. Their plan was to put definite responsibility for this special work upon men of conscience, heart, and eminent godliness. A division of labor was demanded at this point, and a new office grew out of this necessity, as every true office only can grow, or afterward subsist. We note, in passing, an indication here of the advance of the New Testament Church or dispensation over the Old. In the New, measures of administration are planned and set in operation as called for by actual occasion. In the Old, divine laws and ordinances are devised and published in anticipation of both ignorance and need. B.—The apostolic institution of the office of deacon seemed to grow naturally out of a providential occasion. That occasion illustrated what was likely to be a common and permanent want of the Church, a want clearly foreseen, no doubt, by those inspired men. It was simply the need of a systematic arrangement for distributing the Church's alms among her needy members equitably and satisfactorily. The apostles intended to secure such provision for needy Christians, in such a way as to relieve themselves of attention to it. They were called to the deaconry of the word, and would remit the deaconry of tables to other hands. These phrases illustrate the greater expressiveness of the original, in which one term is applied to both kinds of ministration. Nelson. The method of accomplishing their plan also accorded with the simplicity of the Christian system, and with the principle of equal personal right everywhere embodied in the gospel. The body of the members were hidden to make the choice of men for the new office, men of good reputation as well as good character, actually held in esteem as wise and true men, indicated as such by the manifest Spirit of God in their words and life; and, further, qualified by sound practical judgment. In a word, they were to select seven godly men for their aptness in administering these temporal affairs, and for their heart and skill in blending spiritual counsel with help. They were to choose, the apostles to put in place; how, we shall see. For themselves, the apostles, as ambassadors of Christ, concentrate all the purposes of their self-consecration in these two: prayer, and preaching of the Word. It is the ministry of the Word that God employs to save and sanctify. But it is through prayer, through the actual dependence of the man of God upon God in his actual preparation and utterance of the Word, it is through such an unceasing spirit of trusting request, that the minister of the Word receives the guidance and help which are vital to success in his ministering. 5-7. The Seven chosen and ordained Still Greater Expansion of the Church.—Of five of these seven men we know nothing save this record. The names are all Greek. Some, a majority certainly, were “Grecian” or Hellenist Jews; so that they knew and could help the foreign widows. But some, we infer, were native Jews, since Greek names were also common among these. The “appointing” by the apostles was, in its accompanying worship and in its outward form, simple and significant. There was a recognition of God in the call and appointment, and a resting upon his communicated grace and benediction to make the proposed service effectual; this was the meaning and design of the prayer. And there was a formal indication of setting apart to office in the name and by the authority of Christ; this was the meaning and design of the laying on of hands. And this is New Testament ordination. Perfect harmony was now restored, and, as before, the power of the Spirit and the Word was more widely exerted. As ever it had been, an earnest, harmonious, praying, and working Church, with a fervent active ministry, rejoiced in a great development of spiritual life, and in a large increase of disciples. And, as a signal proof of divine converting grace, many priests were obedient to the faith; men whose prejudices against the Christian doctrine were most intense, and who forfeited their birthright position and living upon the avowal of their belief in Christ. This was the culminating point of popularity and power with the primitive Church at Jerusalem. The Sadducees of the Sanhedrim had suspended their open persecution—the priesthood and the people were being gradually brought to respect the apostles’ influence and to heed their teachings. But, in God’s purpose, through men’s evil design, there came an assault from the old enemies of Christ, the Pharisees, who since his apprehension had withdrawn from the leadership of the opposition. The Sadducees had been compelled to cease their persecution, because the Pharisees had really sided with the apostles in the question at issue—the fact of a resurrection. But the old Pharisaic spirit began to be stirred by the plain preaching of the disciples; and, mainly through the bold fidelity of Stephen, speaking as his Master had done, a bitter intolerance and hatred grew up afresh among the Pharisees. And again, we shall see, the predominant influence of this sect with the people was successfully exerted to bring about the killing of the first martyr to Christ and his Cross. 8-10. Stephen maintains the Faith of Christ against opposing Pharisees.**—Brief but beautiful is the story of Stephen; beautiful because so eminently Christlike in temper, in self-forgetting fidelity to truth and to God, in clear reasoning upon the Old Testament Scriptures, in boldness of warning and directness of accusation, and in the final issue of trial before the same tribunal. Rapidly maturing under the tuition of the Holy Ghost, first, the outward gifts of miracle-working are added to his qualifications as servitor to the poorer saints, to keep pace with the expanding inward forces of faith and love; then, without formal indication of transfer, the Holy Ghost advanced him to the higher office of ministering the Word, as afterward Philip was similarly advanced. The fullness of the power of the Holy Ghost is shown in his discriminating and thorough exposition of the Christian doctrines of grace, in comparison with the Old Testament teachings, and in sharp contrast with gross and destructive Pharisaic errors. In his discussions, referred to here, with the men of the synagogues, as in his subsequent defence before the Sanhedrim, he lays down in outline and substance the doctrinal scheme afterward so sublimely expanded and applied by Paul. As a Hellenist or foreign Jew, Stephen was admitted to the synagogues mentioned in verse 9, of one of which he was probably a member. Of the synagogues in Jerusalem, some were established by the foreign Jews for their own use and for that of their sons, sent thither to complete their education at the schools and colleges which in most instances were attached to the synagogues. With the young men of these schools as well as the older members of the synagogues Stephen was thus brought into contact. And it was his decisive and irresistible preaching of Christ crucified and risen that awakened such intense hostility on the part of both older and younger adherents of the Pharisaic doctrines, and led to their determined and organized persecution against him. To one of these synagogues, that of the Cilician Jews, the young Saul of Tarsus then belonged; and the inference is strong, that he was a listener at least to these unrecorded words of Ste- Stephen, as he almost certainly must have been to the martyr's noble defense before the Sanhedrim. 11-15. The Arrest, Arraignment, and Charge against Stephen.**—Failing to find accusing testimony in his words or acts, as they had done with his Master, these malignant Pharisees sought false witness against him. By circulating the old charge of blasphemy against Moses and against God, they wakened afresh the hostile feeling of the bigoted people, who instantly joined the elders and scribes (the Pharisaic party) in seizing Stephen and hurrying him tumultuously before the Sanhedrim. B. It is evident, from the vivid expression which is quoted from the accusers' mouths—"this place," "this holy place"—that the meeting of the Sanhedrim took place in the close neighborhood of the Temple. Their ancient and solemn room of assembly was the hall Gazith, or the "Stone-Chamber," partly within the Temple court and partly without it. The president sat in the less sacred portion, and around him, in a semicircle, were the rest of the seventy judges. H. (Vol. I., p. 623.) There the charge is repeated and amplified by particulars which serve to unite all classes, Pharisees and Sadducees, rulers and people, in the common purpose of destroying the disciples as they had destroyed the Master. Perverting Stephen's language respecting Christ, as before they had perverted Christ's words respecting the Temple, they charge him with speaking against their holy Temple and Law, and with some truth: they add, predicting the overthrow of their national customs and worship by "this Jesus of Nazareth." Thus, in the person of Stephen, the issue is joined for the first time but finally between the people, hitherto favorable and friendly to the apostles, and the infant Church or company of believers in Jesus. From thenceforth the great commission takes on its broader terms, and those who bear it know that they who have begun its execution in Jerusalem must go forth into neighboring and distant regions. But for the central object of this malignant throng, the arraigned disciple before the already prejudging, condemning tribunal, for him who stands in the Master's place, environed by all the Master's peril, surely destined to the Master's doom, stands he as the Master stood, calm, unflinching, with the Master's promised peace in the heart and manifest upon the countenance? The record answers: They saw his face as it had been the face of an angel! He stood before them seemingly transfigured with a reflected glory, with the brightness of a seeming preternatural light. And yet, was it other light or halo than came from the inner soul of an already triumphant faith and hope in the near prospect of that fulfilled Christ-longing prayer, breathed forth at the moment of his heavenward flight? B. ears, mean those who hear and think and feel like Gentiles, like the heathen; and their sudden application to the Sanhedrim, instead of necessarily implying a departure from the theme of his discourse, is rather a tremendous summing of it up in the conclusion, that these proud representatives and rulers of the chosen people were in fact mere heathen. 1. THEN said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, 2 hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and 4 from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was 5 dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give 6 it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they 7 should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come 8 forth, and serve me in this place. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and 9 Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into 10 Egypt: but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: 12 and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in 13 Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to 14 his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph, 15 and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. So 16 Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, and were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of 17 Emmor the father of Sychem. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God 18 had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose, 19 which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated 20 our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house 21 three months: and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words 23 and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his 24 brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, 25 and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? 27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a 28 judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses 29 at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. And 30 when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an 31 angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the 32 sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 33 Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy 34 shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and 35 am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to 36 be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 37. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A Prophet shall the Lord your 38 God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, 39 and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. 44. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uneircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. God gave the covenant to Abraham for all believers in Jehovah Jesus! This is the original, ever vital charter of restored sonship to God and heirship with Christ. It is one and the same covenant of grace, unchanged amid all changes of outward dispensation and ordinance of worship. Upon this covenant, ratified and sealed in the blood of Christ, rest the hope of the generations living and to come, and the blessed life of all the dead in Christ. No histories so naturally and thoroughly impress us with the fact of God's providential supervision and control, as these of the prominent men in Israel's earliest period, including the three great progenitors of God's chosen people. Yet of all that are prominent until Moses, Joseph occupies a unique pre-eminence. Honesty in truthful speaking and pure, faithful action—an honesty avowedly the product of an exalting fear of God—formed a characteristic which shone in scarce another Old Testament leader, and which was conspicuously absent in many at some period of their career. This beautiful lesson, of so true and pure, so generous, forgiving, and beneficent a youth and man, may well be emphasized afresh, whenever brought to view. B. LIKE John the Baptist, Stephen had a brief but effective career; his words were bold and trenchant, and his death was that of the martyr. The source of his courage and endurance for Christ is disclosed in the expressions by which he is characterized: Full of faith and the Holy Ghost—full of faith and power. He believed, and therefore spoke and acted. The power of the Holy Ghost wrought in and by him. As the Jewish leaders could not gainsay his Christian teachings, nor deny the miracles done by him among the people, they resorted, as in the Master's case, to false witnesses. First, before the people, these charged him with blaspheming Moses and God. Then, when the people had been stirred up to arrest Stephen, and when the crowd stood with him before the Sanhedrim, the charge was that he had spoken blasphemous words against the Temple and the Law. For, they said, we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs (ceremonial rites) which Moses delivered us. For the understanding of Stephen's answer, note carefully that Stephen had taught that Christ was about to abrogate the Temple and its ceremonial service, and to introduce a new and more spiritual form of worship. The charge of blasphemy was false; but the statement upon which they based the charge was true. Stephen had so taught, and he proceeds directly to justify this teaching. Of himself he says nothing; attempts no personal defense, but in this, his last discourse, preaches the gospel as taught in God's dealings with his ancient people. The Jews had come to believe that the Temple, with its ritual worship, was a permanent divine institution. Therefore when Christ, and after him Stephen, intimated its abrogation of God, they were charged with blasphemy. One of Stephen's two objects was to answer and refute this charge. This he did by showing from the history, that from period to period, God had different places and methods of manifesting himself, and variable ordinances of worship. Many localities in alien and heathen countries he had made sacred by his presence. Differing forms of outward worship he had prescribed and accepted. His entire dealings with the Jewish nation were characterized all along by changes of dispensation and method, and by progress through change. Therefore it was not blasphemy to believe in another change. It was rather in accordance with his plans in the past to look for a further and even greater change. It was in harmony with the progress thus far manifest to expect a dispensation wherein God would make a fuller personal revelation of himself in connection with a more direct and spiritual worship. While Stephen's whole address implies that their Scriptures actually taught the advent of this new dispensation and its inauguration by the "Spirit of God," yet he refers to the Son of God as the authority for all that he has preached. But this Christ of God they had rejected and now denied. Therefore, as his second object, Stephen suggests successive points in the history bearing upon the claim of Christ, and upon their rejection of that claim. The persons referred to—Abraham, whose noted faith centered upon this Messiah; Joseph and Moses, David and Solomon, the signal types of Christ in office-work and in life experience—these persons suggested and enforced the claim of Christ. And the treatment of Joseph and Moses, here discoursed upon at large, as sharply impressed their treatment of Christ. As their fathers had disbelieved and rebelled against God, so they, his accusers and judges, were guilty of similar unbelief and rebellion: Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye! Of the Just One ye have been now the betrayers and murderers! In the outline of the history he chooses details which bear upon this double object, justifying what he had taught about the displacing of the Jewish by the Christian economy, and dealing faithfully with their souls, in the spirit of prophet and apostle. So, plainly and effectually, he transfers the charge of blasphemy from himself to them. 1,2. The Question of the High Priest, and the Formal Opening of Stephen's Reply.—"You are permitted to answer this accusation," was the meaning of the presiding high priest's words. And Stephen's personal address was respectful to the Council and friendly to the people. Like Peter, he claimed a common interest in their nationality and history, as God's chosen people. His argument and appeal, too, rested on the facts of their history. Both argument and appeal were honestly addressed to candid hearers. The argument was designed to instruct misguided Jews concerning their great error, their reliance upon the Temple glory and ritual as the source and hope of national continuance. And the appeal was intended to convince them of their sin in rejecting and crucifying Christ. One of his hearers, the only one that is mentioned by name, then a conscientious persecutor, but afterward a Christian leader, sums up Stephen's meaning in Heb. 1:1, 2. 3-8. Points of Abraham's History.—The brief clause, The God of glory, forms both a fine introduction to this discourse and a striking contradiction of the charge of blasphemy. His reference, as they well knew, was to the Shechinah or former visible glory above the mercy-seat. It was their God and his God, of whose dealings he was about to speak. And this glory of God Stephen saw at his death hour (v. 55). The first departure of Abram from Ur, Stephen said, was at the call of God. This we may infer from Gen. 11:31. The call was repeated at Haran, here called Charran (the Greek form). The summons to separate utterly from his idolatrous kindred and people was imperative, while the direction of his journey and place of his sojourn were indefinite. Yet with implicit faith he obeyed. And this absolute faith and heroic obedience justly stands commended in the Old Testament by God himself, by Christ and his teachers in the New. A chief lesson suggested is this: "There is no grace which God delights more to exercise and try than the faith of his people; as faith puts honor upon God, so doth God put honor upon faith; and faith never honors God more, nor is more highly honored by him, than when it is put upon the greatest exercise and trial." (Burkitt.) Not only does Stephen recall the forgotten faith of their father Abraham, but he reminds them that neither Abraham nor the twelve patriarchs, nor the nation which sprang from them, had for long centuries any temple or ritual, any city or even country that they could call their own. Thus he rebukes, indirectly but forcibly, their extravagant and idolatrous reverence for their Temple and its ceremonial, their capital and nationality. Further to emphasize this rebuke, he quotes the divine prediction to Abraham, that his seed should be enslaved and degraded for four centuries. Yet in all this homeless and oppressed period, Abraham and the patriarchs and their descendants practiced some kind of worship. So, Stephen intimates, as worship existed before Jerusalem and the Temple, it may exist when these are no more. And more, as God once called Abram from idolatry and neathenism, so he may call idolatrous Jew and barbarous Gentile to the exercise of Abraham's faith, and to the blessings of his covenant with Abraham. Mention of this covenant is made to show that God's promise of grace preceded by many centuries the law and customs given to Moses. The promise or covenant was simple and unalterable, while the ceremonials were many, various, and changeable. Take away the covenant, and there was left no ground or hope for worship. But take away the ceremonials, and the heart could worship just as well and truly. This, also, was a part of Stephen's answer. In predicting change or abrogation of the Mosaic customs, he surely had not blasphemed the God or the worship of Israel. 9-16. Outline of Joseph's Story.—Prominence is next given to Joseph's history to show how God's plan of his people's progress is developed by changes. Here, as at almost every step, the purposed advance is made by his interposing deliverance in peculiar crises of individuals or of the people. When some of his brethren would have killed Joseph, God led Reuben and Judah to save his life. When he was sold, God directed the event, and brought him to Egypt. And God rescued him from an unjust imprisonment and led him, by successive steps, to become a ruler and deliverer of Egypt and a savior to his brethren. Thus God was with Joseph to rescue and exalt him, and through him to bring the sons of Israel into Egypt for present safety and future increase into a nation. Seventy-five souls (cited from the Greek translation of the Old Testament) thus multiplied into two millions in four hundred years; their isolated compacted condition, even with servitude, kept them from the dispersion which must have ensued from the nomadic life of Canaan. All these facts Stephen glances at in support of his point, that at every age, in all change of circumstance, God was with his people, and was producing progress by changes, either small or great. Another reason for the fullness of Joseph's story may have been his singular resemblance to Christ, in his rejection by his brethren, his exaltation to power, and his deliverance of those who rejected him. 17-34. The Earlier Years of Moses.—At the expiration of the four hundred years of bondage (v. 6) occurred the time of the promise (v. 7). It would seem that the oppression had been comparatively light during nearly this whole period. At length, toward the end, arose a king of a new dynasty who beheld the wonderful increase of Israel's descendants with alarm. Various devices (Ex. 1) were carried into effect to destroy the young children among the Hebrews. And the burdens were made heavy and galling so as to induce Hebrew parents to consent willingly to the destruction of their male children. But all these events, also, God overruled to accomplish his purpose and promise. Two facts in this part of the narrative concerning Moses are to be briefly noted. One suggests Stephen's charge against them; the other forms part of his answer to their charge. The first is the rejection of Moses by his brethren when he would have delivered them. Indirectly the connection of Moses with Christ is here intimated. For like Moses, Christ was rejected as a deliverer by his brethren. The sequel of Stephen's words shows this to have been his meaning. And verses 26, 27 disclose this other point of analogy: that as Moses was "thrust away" because he urged right doing, so Christ was rejected because of his demand of righteousness in heart and life. The other fact, helping to answer their charge, is the manifestation of God to Moses in the burning bush. Five centuries before the Temple was built and its inclosure made holy ground, in an alien and afterward hostile country, God had sanctified by his presence a portion of the ground. So—Stephen suggests to their quick apprehension—when the Temple is removed, he may reveal himself elsewhere, nay, everywhere. Afterward, as before, he may be worshiped without a ritual. Afterward, as before, he may deal directly, spiritually, with the individual soul, without intervention of altar, priest, or sacrifice. 35-38. Moses, sent of God, Israel's Deliverer from Egypt, Leader in the Wilderness, Lawgiver, Prophet, and Mediator.—This Moses whom they refused is the emphatic thought in these four verses. He whom God sent as their savior from bondage, through whom he wrought stupendous miracles for their deliverance and preservation, through whom he transmitted living precepts and truths, and whose mediation he appointed and ofttimes graciously accepted, this Moses was refused by the people for whom he so faithfully wrought and interceded. And in the very midst of these weighty particulars respecting Moses occurs his signal prophecy of Christ. One, like unto himself, should deliver, teach, intercede for, lead, and provide for his people. Such a one, whose offices of redemption, whose coming, life, death, and resurrection, were further set forth by David and the prophets, Stephen here asserts that this Moses, their Moses, had promised in the future. And until Christ, no being answering in person and work to the promise had appeared. But this CHRIST had fulfilled to the letter every statement of prophecy, every particular of promise. This was the culminating intimation conveyed in the address of Stephen. With all that had occurred in the events of Christ's history and of the apostle's subsequent teaching and miracles, these keen-witted priests could not mistake his meaning. And if Christ were the prophet predicted by Moses, they could not but feel the charge as proven against them which they had brought against Stephen. For they were dishonoring Moses in rejecting Him whom Moses had foretold. 39-43. How Israel refused Moses and rejected God by turning to Idolatry.—Stephen refers only to their prominent sin as a conclusive illustration. The making and worshiping the calf of gold was an open defiance to God. And it was prefaced with scornful contempt of this Moses. Reminding his hearers of this to deepen previous impressions, he also tells them plainly what God did to the rebellious people: how when they turned from him he abandoned them to their own desires and left them to idolatrous worship. In verse 43 he refers to the unnatural and murderous sacrifices offered to Moloch and to the star-god Remphan (in Amos 5 : 26, Chiun), or Saturn worshiped under the image of a star. And he cites the threatening of God, afterward sorely fulfilled to their fathers, to drive them out into distant captivity. Thus plainly Stephen reminds them of their father's guilt and its punishment to point his own severe charge that follows. 44, 45. Their Possession of the Tabernacle an Aggravation of their Guilt.—In this structure, built and furnished under God's direction, the law of God was kept and the symbol of God's presence was visible. And God had shown his presence and power by driving out idolatrous nations from their promised inheritance. So that the generation in the wilderness and the after generations to David were without excuse for their disobedience and idol worship. B. 46,47. There is really a tacit contrast between David and Solomon, in favor of the former. Solomon, notwithstanding his wisdom and the splendor of his reign, holds a very inferior place to David in the Scriptures. This being well known to the priests and scribes whom Stephen was addressing, he employs it to enforce his argument, but tacitly and indirectly, lest he should appear to speak indecorously of so great and wise a king as Solomon. What is thus suggested or implied may be brought out more distinctly by a paraphrase. "So far is a permanent and solid temple from being essential to acceptable worship, that even David, the favorite of Jehovah, the man after God's own heart, whose darling wish it was to find a shelter and a home for his divine protector, was not suffered to erect the house which he had planned, and for which he had collected the materials, but it was Solomon who built it!" J. A. A. 46-50. Even the Temple shown by Solomon and the Prophet Isaiah to be an Insufficient Dwelling for the Lord of Hosts.—Their superstitious and idolatrous veneration for their temple, in which God had never visibly entered, Stephen rebukes, while he still more effectually refutes their charge of blasphemy "against this place." He reminds them that even Solomon, who built the first temple by express command of God, who had seen the symbol of lighted flame descend from heaven, God himself, enter and abide within the completed structure—even Solomon at that very time publicly declared that the Most High dwelleth not in, is not confined to, any hand-made temples. Nay, more than this, Stephen's mind, under its divine inspiration, expands to the wider, grander thought of Isaiah (66 : 1, 2), where his prophecies culminate in the sublime prediction of God's universal spiritual indwelling in human hearts. Then shall be no longer temple, ritual, nor priest. Then the framer of the heavens and the earth, he who formed and lighted every world, whose power holds or energizes all natural things, will be worshiped in spirit and truth! How grand the climax and how complete the proof, in the martyr's argument! How clear the prophetic prediction of the very change of dispensation announced by Christ and by Stephen, a change which these sharp-minded, convinced Jewish priests and rulers saw already taking place in the marvels of the infant Christian Church of Jerusalem! B. 51,52. One of Stephen's lines of argument was now completed. He had shown, by a simple but masterly historical deduction, the temporary nature of the ceremonial law, and of the Temple as a part of it, concluding by a reference to Solomon himself, and to Isaiah, who had foretold the same changes now foretold by Stephen. What link could have been added to this chain of proof? All that was left then was to take up and complete his other line of argument, designed to show, by means of the same history which he had been expounding, that the Jews had always been unfaithful to their trust, and that the abrogation of the present system was not only necessary to the execution of God's purpose as revealed from the beginning, but a righteous retribution of the sins of those by whom the system was administered. Having prepared the way for this conclusion by referring to the sins of Joseph's brethren, and of the Israelites in Egypt and the wilderness, he now suggests the conclusion itself, not by a formal inference, but by a terrible invective, summing up all that he had said on this point in a brief description of the men whom he addressed, and of the nation which they represented. As the ancient Israel had been rebellious and unfaithful, so the present generation had exactly the same character, and therefore might expect the evils threatened to their fathers. To them the prophets had applied the same reproachful epithets which Stephen here applies to his accusers and his judges. The compound terms, uncircumcised in heart and 53. Who have received the law, and have not kept it.** The Jews, as a nation, had betrayed the highest trust, and proved themselves unworthy of the greatest honor ever granted to a people. They, the recipients and depositaries of an exclusive revelation, had themselves endeavored to defeat the very end for which it was vouchsafed to them. Beyond this, accusation or invective could not well be carried. In point both of rhetoric and logic, Stephen could not have concluded more effectively. J. A. A.—They could deny nothing, for Stephen had stated only facts. The inferences they perfectly understood. The points he had made, in his own justification and in the plainly implied charge against them, Stephen knew that these sharp-witted leaders both apprehended and felt. They were prepared for a direct accusation, and Stephen's conscience as well as his argument pressed him to make it. So, as first the Master and afterward Peter, in the identical tribunal and before the very same priests and rulers, Stephen now reverses the position of the parties. Guided and girded by the indwelling Spirit of Christ, he fearlessly arraigns his judges for a far higher crime before a more august tribunal. Up to this point, he had only implied this charge and laid a broad foundation for it. But now, concentrating in one view the crimes of many generations of their fathers against God, he boldly affirms that of all these they have been guilty. As their fathers resisted the Holy Spirit of God in his partially exerted force, they have openly defied the same Spirit now manifest in his mightiest energy of blessing and life. As their fathers persecuted the prophets who announced the coming and the redemption of Messiah, the Just One, they have pursued to the death the Just One, the Christ himself. And as their fathers, so they have despised the holy Law of Jehovah. This Law they professed to honor as sent through their great leader Moses. He reminds them of an even greater dignity, upon which also they prided themselves, in its transmission to Moses through the instrumentality of angels. Yet this Law, in itself of divine origin and ordination, transmitted through agents so august and revered—this Law, which they had falsely charged him with blasphemy, they themselves had utterly disobeyed and dishonored. And in truth, as Stephen charged, they were not the true, the spiritual Israel. With all their proud boasting, they were only aliens and heathen. B. 54. WHEN they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with 55 their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and 56 saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see 57 the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they 58 cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a 59 young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and 60 saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 1,2. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout 3 the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison. 4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. THE death of Stephen is the New Testament translation, and he is to be set as the third with Enoch and Elijah, only higher, inasmuch as each manifestation of God rises while time moves on. It is a greater thing to overcome death than to be carried past it, and here it is no fire-chariot which lifts to heaven, but the outstretched hand of Christ, according to his own word, "I will come and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." In the death of Stephen it is intended that we should see how thin the veil is between the two worlds—how the Lord stands on the very confine, sending across his look and arm and voice, so that ere his servant left the earth he saw his heavenly master, heard his words, and returned his smile. And, in our own time, God lets us see how he can lighten the dark valley with his presence, and make his most beautiful gems sparkle in the coronet of death. He reveals to us in our Christian friends oftentimes such a beauty and tenderness of soul in the hour of parting, that we can see they were directing their look clear into the heavenly world, and we walking with angels unaware. The calmness and tender sweetness of the dying hour, the faith and patience and hope, are most evident tokens of the presence of Christ's Spirit; but may not the smile of more than human joy, the glow which sometimes suffuses the countenance till it is seen like the face of an angel, be the reflection of the look of Christ himself, and the first faint ripple of the waves of unutterable glory that are beginning to touch the feet and sparkle in the eyes of the awakening soul? Most sure, to those who have witnessed it, is the conviction that there must be light beyond, that this gleam is not from death's darkness but God's own day, and may well be encouragement to us "to hope in his word, and to wait for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning; yea, more than they that watch for the morning." Ker. 54. Deeply stung by the Direct, Incisive Charge of Stephen, the Leaders and People are maddened with Rage against him.—As he intended, his words are truthful home-thrusts that can neither be avoided nor turned aside. And where conviction does not melt into penitence, it hardens into a stronger hate, and flames into a fiercer wrath. So here, the hate and the wrath seek God's sent reprover. They would rend to pieces the Christlike man who now stands calmly before them, with eyes upcast, and with the "sheen of heaven" still upon his brow. 55, 56. His Vision of the Opened Heavens, the Glory of God, and the Man Christ Jesus standing at the Right Hand of God.—The very first words of Stephen were, The God of glory. These words comprised his theme. In the ways and working of this God, traced to his incarnation in Christ, he finds his justification and defense. And now this God confirms the martyr's truth by a palpable vision of his glory in vital association with the person of Jesus, the Son of man. Instantly the self-forgetting Stephen avails himself of the vision for his enemies' advantage. Virtually continuing his address, he fervently preaches Him whom he now beholds. With a testimony so clear and marvelous that demanded belief, he proclaims the risen and glorified Christ to these hardened men, if he may move them. Concerning this marvelous experience of Stephen, it was certainly true that a supernatural spiritual illumination was vouchsafed, which had all the effect of actual vision. The latter may have been added. But the purpose of this opened heaven and visible Christ seems to be clear and manifold. As it related to the martyr himself, it was designed to lend in this crisis hour special strength to his faith, and so give a tone of triumph to his final testimony. But there seems to be a more significant purpose and use intimated by the form of Stephen's declaration. To these very men, only three or four years before, Christ had said, Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God! Now Stephen affirms in their presence that this assertion of Christ is fulfilled: Behold, I see the Son of man standing on the right hand of God! Thus another most powerful testimony to the truth and Godhood of Christ is added to deepen the impression upon their minds. That Stephen's words are designed to be thus responsive to Christ's, we find strong confirmation in his use of the expression Son of man. Nowhere but here, in the Gospels, Acts, or Epistles, is this title applied to Christ except by himself. If here used by Stephen in responsive quotation or parallel, we have a reasonable explanation of his use of a title so solemnly appropriated by our Lord himself. A minor difference between the two utterances of the Master and disciple carries with it a touching suggestion. In Christ's words, and elsewhere, he is described as sitting on the right hand of God. Stephen beholds him arisen as if ready and waiting to welcome his first martyred disciple! 57, 58. Stephen is borne, with Outcry and Violence, out of the City and stoned.—The enraged leaders and people understand his meaning, but they scorn the Christ he declares to be God. To their blinded minds and envenomed hearts, Stephen's words only aggravate his guilt. Their cry of blasphemy now rings loudly out on the air. Then, without further form of trial, without a moment's respite or a thought of pity, the maddened throng seize this unbefriended man, drag him with insult and stroke through the Temple gate outside the city, and there maim and crush his body with stones to the death. B. Somewhere about the rocky edges of the ravine of Jehoshaphat, where the Mount of Olives looks down upon Gethsemane and Siloam, or on the open ground to the north, which travelers cross when they go toward Samaria or Damascus—with stones that lay without the walls of the Holy City—this heavenly-minded martyr was murdered. H. The witnesses, according to the law (Deut. 17:7), were required to cast the first stones and afterward to lead the rest, in the execution of sentence. They laid aside, therefore, the outer garment, or mantle, that their action might be freer. The garments were put in charge of Saul, who, in God's purpose, will ere long take this stoned man's place as witness to Christ. Saul's only human teacher was Stephen. He was instructed if not convinced by Stephen's address. He could not but have been impressed by the martyr's bold fidelity and utter self-consecration. He must have felt that sublime trust which expelled all fear and power of death. And deeply must he have been touched by the beautiful spirit that added to forgiveness of his murderers fervent intercession with God in their behalf. For Saul certainly, probably for many besides, Stephen's intercession availed as a means of ultimate conversion. B. It is deeply interesting to think of Saul as listening to the martyr's voice, as he antedated those very arguments which he himself was destined to reiterate in synagogues and before kings. There is no reason to doubt that he was present. And it is evident, from the thoughts which occurred to him in his subsequent vision within the precincts of the Temple (Acts 22:20), how deep an impression Stephen's death had left on his memory. We can not dissociate the martyrdom of Stephen from the conversion of Paul. The spectacle of so much constancy, so much faith, so much love, could not be lost. It is hardly too much to say with Augustine, that "the Church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen." H. 59,60. The Dying Prayers and the Death-Sleep of the Proto-Martyr.—For himself and for his murderers, he prays; as before, in like experience, the Master had prayed. Only this difference in the petition for himself: Christ had commended his spirit to the Father. But He had taught his disciples that they belonged immediately to Him; and that He would receive them again unto himself at death. So understanding and believing, Stephen simply responds, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! B.—Plainly in this prayer Stephen honored the Son even as the Son honored the Father when he prayed, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." As plainly neither the Master, nor this first martyr among his followers, questioned the separate existence of the spirit after death. O. E. D. And the prayer for his murderers is identical in spirit with Christ's upon the cross. Specially touching are the circumstances of this prayer. While crushing blows were overwhelming him and his life-blood was freely flowing, mindful only of their guilt and God's mercy, he gathers his last strength, kneels down—that they may see his attitude of prayer—and prays with full voice—that they may hear—for their forgiveness. Thus, in Christlike love, under circumstances never humanly matched, he deliberately leaves this last impression of his spirit and purpose. And this completes and crowns his ministry that day to them. He had "magnified Christ in his life" by Christlike fidelity and boldness. And now he "magnifies Christ in his death" by his tranquil and triumphant faith, and by his fervent intercession for his slayers. As he stands or kneels, the target of their murderous rage, their tumultuous, passionate outcry is met by his calm, patient endurance, his steadfast heavenward, gaze, his fervent prayer, his trustful self-commitment—and then his falling asleep! And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Sleep is Christ's word for death, which Luke and his teacher Paul have thoroughly learned. But how striking its use just here! Amid such tumult, while raging passions are actually venting themselves in violent outcry and murderous deed, how does this figure of perfect calmness in a soul departing from its crushed body add wonderful testimony to the truth and power of the Christ here appealed to! Now that they have silenced this faithful voice, and stilled this fervid heart in death, the Jewish priests and leaders seem to have prevailed. But they were the conquered, not the conquering, party. From that one sacrifice sprang many new-created souls, as gracious trophies of the power that from the planted seed brings life out of death. B.—The revelation of such a character at the moment of death was the strongest of all evidences, and the highest of all encouragements. Nothing could more confidently assert the divine power of the new religion; nothing could prophesy more surely the certainty of its final victory. H. At the martyrdom of Stephen, the malice of the Jews became, under the power of Christ, the means of proving that He, whom they had crucified, the divine proto-martyr, Jesus Christ, now reigning in heaven, is the source of all the courage of martyrs in the dying hour, and of all the hope which gives them a foretaste of bliss, and of all the charity which makes them love and bless their persecutors. W. The reader is not likely to die for his allegiance to Christ under a shower of stones, but how does he bear it when a single stone is thrown at him? He may be assailed by injurious words, which often wound more sharply, leave uglier scars, and are harder to be borne; and does he hold fast his serenity and good will? Trivial trials may be as decisive of character as martyrdoms. Many a disciple to-day in some obscure lot of suffering or want treads as closely in the footsteps of the Master as his first martyr Stephen. O. E. D. 1-4. The first seven chapters trace the founding of the Christian Church, and its extension among the Jews. The eighth and ninth chapters sketch some marked details of its transition from the Jews to the Gentiles. Stephen's bold declaration that the Temple and its service were to be laid aside struck directly at the most deeply rooted prejudices and feelings of the people. Against the apostles, who said nothing about the Temple, but simply preached Christ as the Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures, the people had taken no decided part. They had little sympathy with the priestly party, by whom mainly the apostles had been prosecuted. But now, thoroughly roused by Stephen's defense and not satisfied with his destruction, the people turn their persecuting rage against the body of believers in Jerusalem. Of this persecution Saul was the leader. And so sharp and fierce was the pursuit, that the Church fellowship was broken up, and its members compelled to disperse. In small detached companies they went into the whole region of Judea, and thence northward into Samaria; so fulfilling the terms of the Master's commission. A few, doubtless, remained with the apostles in Jerusalem. B. The martyrdom of Stephen forms an epoch in the early history of the Church, the date of which is the more interesting on account of its bearing upon Paul's life. But the narrative in the Acts supplies us with no chronological data, from the day of Pentecost in A. D. 30 down to the famine under Claudius and the death of Herod Agrippa I. in A. D. 44. That Paul's conversion followed at no long interval after Stephen's martyrdom seems clear; and various indications concur to place it somewhere within the limits of Caligula's four years' reign. Coming to narrower limits, we shall see that the strongest arguments and the best modern opinions concur in fixing the conversion of Paul about A. D. 37. S. 5. THEN Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And 6 the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and 7 seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, 8 were healed. And there was great joy in that city. 9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to 10 whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power 11 of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them 12 with sorceries. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, 14 and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent 15 unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down prayed for them, that they 16 might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they 17 were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and 18 they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this 19 power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said 20 unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may 21 be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is 22 not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if 23 perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art 24 in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, 25 Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. 26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south, 27 unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusa- 28 lem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran 30 thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what 31 thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he 32 desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his 33 shearer, so opened he not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: 34 and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or 35 of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and 36 preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: 37 and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I 38 believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: \* and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, 40 that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea. THE one theme of apostles and disciples all—of Peter, Stephen, Philip, Paul, and of the many here unnamed—was Jesus Crucified. This word of Isaiah about the Crucified and Hiscen One is preeminently that which moves the selfish dull heart. The preaching of law and morality either strikes against an antagonistic will or quiets the conscience by falling in with the self-righteousness of the heart. But to stir the soul to a needed sense of sin, and awaken the craving and the cry for peace and pardon, this can be effected by nothing save the sublime fact of a divine self-sacrifice for human guilt; nothing but the preaching and the telling of Jesus. B.—The treasurer had come from Ethiopia to Jerusalem with the burden of sin; he was going away with it, much as he came, when the Holy Spirit turned his eye to the Sin-bearer, the Lamb of God. He saw that the sin-bearing work was done; he accepted the divine testimony to that finished work; and in the acceptance of that testimony he found immediate joy. What he read was as blessed as it was true, and our joy comes from the same testimony to the same finished work. The passage of Scripture may be different; that matters not. There are a thousand passages, and a thousand testimonies, all bearing on the one cross, the one propitiation, the one Lamb of God, the one blood, the one sacrifice. Any one of these testimonies in the hand of the Holy Spirit can pour in gladness into the soul. Bonar. 5-8. Stephen's death, introducing a general persecution of the disciples, formed the turning point of the gospel's extension among the Gentiles. For they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Of the many, Luke, under inspiration, briefly refers to Philip, who had been a fellow-deacon with Stephen, and was also a Greek. Like the many who preached, this man was ordained to the higher ministry directly and only by the Holy Ghost. By the Spirit he is first led to a city of Samaria. We know not what city. But we may well infer that it was Sychar, where Christ had privately taught for two days with wonderful results. He performed no miracle, yet they acknowledged him to be indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. Now we see further fruit in their hearty reception of Philip's preaching, accredited as he was by many miracles. The simple recital of the effect wrought in his ministry is noteworthy: And there was great joy in that city. 9-11. The Previous Influence of Simon the Sorcerer in that City.—This man was one of a class who had existed from the earliest period in all the kingdoms of the East. With various names—soothsayers or sorcerers, magicians or conjurors—they pretended to possess supernatural power from the spirit world. In ignorant and credulous ages, when superstitions of every sort abounded, it was easy to delude by professed enchantments and by the assumption of a superior nature and force. Thus did the magicians in Egypt and the astrologers in Assyria and Persia. The Samaritans held this man in fear, "because for a long time he had astonished (not bewitched) them with sorceries." 12, 13. Effect of Philip's Preaching upon the Samaritans and upon Simon.—Mark what it was that Philip preached, and how he was accredited as from God. He preached the kingdom of God as opened by Christ: Christ, of whom they knew in their Scriptures, with whose teaching and recent death they were familiar. Against this the Samaritans opposed no prejudice of false Pharisaic teaching. To them, too, the miracles of Philip were proven to be real by their blessed effects in healing and restoring. Therefore they believed him, and received his teaching; while by Simon's wonders of jugglery, subserving no useful purpose, they had only been amazed. So God contrasted the real with the counterfeit miracle, and the real prevailed, as it had aforetime with Moses before Pharaoh. The people believed, and were baptized in testimony of their belief. And their belief, as subsequently proven, was genuine. But Simon believed also, and was baptized. He believed—what? Just that which his unenlightened mind understood of the statements of Philip. He believed in the bare fact of marvels pertaining to Christ's nature, life, and resurrection, because he saw absolute miracles: effects clearly supernatural, utterly overmatching his poor deceits. But of the spiritual aspects and truths lying beneath the outward statements and facts he had no discernment, and of course could exercise no faith. He believed in the miracles, and in the necessary inferences of fact suggested by the miracles, but no more. As the people had wondered at him, so, Luke says, he wondered (the same word translated "bewitched" before), as he closely watched Philip, and "the miracles and signs done." Only, like "the devils," he "believed and trembled." Yet, without an idea of spiritual saving faith, he went through the form of profession; he dared to attach himself to Christ's visible body. 14-17. The Mission of Peter and John to Samaria.**—The apostles as a body still directed and controlled the great religious movement. So had Christ ordained. As a body, without a primate, they sent Peter and John to Samaria so soon as they heard the results of Philip's preaching. John once would have called down destroying fire upon the Samaritans. Now he gladly seeks to bring upon them the blessed baptism of fire from the Holy Ghost. Together these fervid brother-apostles plead for this special power, and their prayer is answered. B. It is not surprising that the college of apostles, when they heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, should send a deputation to the place where the good work had begun; not because Philip was only a deacon, for he was more; or because they were jealous or suspicious of him; or because they doubted the sincerity or depth of the Samaritan conversions; or to show that the apostles, though this work began without them, still retained their old position; but because they were the constituted organizers of the Church, and as such not only authorized but bound to enter every open door, whoever might have opened it. J. A. A. They received the Holy Ghost.—The meaning seems to be clear. They, like all true converts, had received his ordinary gifts bestowed in regeneration. Now they receive the peculiar, extraordinary gifts of Pentecost, of special illumination and knowledge of truth. These gifts were needed in that crisis by many in various regions. And they were imparted here in connection with a special formality, the imposition of hands by these divinely guided apostles. 18,19. Simon's Sacrilegious Proffer and Request.**—Evidently Simon was not of the number who received the Holy Ghost, or he would not have made this request. He saw in others the effect of this special divine gift, and so was led to ask. He did not offer himself, as others had done, to receive the gift, but he offered money to buy it. And this offer, together with his proposed use of the power, plainly show what his spirit and purpose were. He wished to be the "great one" that he had before proclaimed himself. He would use this surpassing power as he had used his own trivial sorceries, for his selfish ambition, enrichment, and gratification. A fearful condition of heart indeed, that dared cherish and express such a sacrilegious purpose in the face of these servitors of the Most High God, nay, more, in presence of stupendous tokens of the manifest God himself. 20-23. Peter's Sharp Rebuke and Exposure of Simon's Impiety, and his Faithful Counsel.**—The apostle did not need a special gift to discern this man's spirit, for the attempt to influence them by money considerations showed plainly that he was controlled by selfish motives. Peter's rebuke was an outburst of holy indignation, not an utterance of divine judgment, as in the case of Ananias. The difference in the cases and circumstances accounts for his different dealing. Calvin interprets verse 20, "Thou art worthy to perish with thy money, when thou dost blaspheme the Spirit of God." The apostle tells him that his profession of Christ and his baptism were worthless, because his heart was not right in God's sight. He is still what he had been before, with the poison of sin embittering his nature and its servitude binding his life. Therefore he counsels repentance of this wickedness and prayer for forgiveness. As Peter had condemned the thought of Simon's heart, not the act it prompted, so now this is the point of the prayer he urges: "Pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." 24. Simon's Reply, showing only an Ignorant and Untouched Heart.**—No proper sense of sin was awakened by the apostle's warning. He was temporarily alarmed, but only on account of threatened punishment. Instead of praying as a consciously sinful penitent man for his own forgiveness, as Peter had bidden him, he selfishly begged the aposties to pray that the consequences of his sin might be remitted. Ignorant of the very rudiments of divine teaching, he dreams of forgiveness without either faith, repentance, or prayer of his own. And so he disappears from the history, without hint of after change in his stolid heart. 25. The Home Journey of the Apostles a Missionary Circuit through Samaria.—By the way of many villages of the Samaritans, in each of which they tarried to preach the gospel, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. 26-37. The spurious conversion of Simon is here contrasted with a true one, in connection with the same ministry. That was an enforced alarming belief in the mere miracle-working power of the Christ who was preached. This is a glad belief of the heart in Christ's personal love and full redemption. Another contrast we see in the sphere of Philip's ministry here. Multitudes heard, heeded, and believed, when he "preached Christ" in that city of Samaria. One man believed, when "he preached Jesus" in an untraveled highway. Yet he went willingly from the large "field" to the small; toiled far more, and preached as fervently to one man as to the multitude. Philip was obviously an excellent example to all who in Christ's name say, "Come." Another useful thought, of wide application in our New Testament study, is that both these instances of Philip's preaching, with its diverse effects, are given simply as sufficient illustrations of his whole ministry, and of the ministry of all who "went everywhere preaching the Word." They are designed to show how the gospel was carried abroad, and made effectual in winning individuals and communities. And herein lies the peculiar purpose and value of the Acts. All after individual experience and church history is shadowed forth or plainly exemplified in this book. 26. Philip's New and Special Commission.—He had finished his designed work in the Samaritan city. He is now called of God elsewhere. By the ordinary intimations of Providence the Spirit had guided him to Samaria. By an extraordinary message through an angelic messenger the same Spirit now sends him on a peculiar errand. The direction is simple in terms: Go to a certain road! Yet it is vague, for it indicates no point or place in the road. The road is one of many from Jerusalem to Gaza. It is a desert road, passing through a region without cities or villages. No point upon this road, no time, and no duty, are indicated. To realize how indefinite the direction yet how surely divine the appointment, remember that this road was sixty miles in length, and a considerable portion of it was "desert." But Philip at once obeyed. Like a commander who sails for a given point, with sealed orders to be opened there, he reached the place, and found his further procedure definitely marked. And, throughout, he was obedient to the heavenly vision. 27-29. His Meeting with the Ethiopian Chamberlain, and the Further Direction he received.—Himself on foot, he is overtaken by a chariot and its attendants. In the chariot sits a stranger, a high court officer of the reigning Queen of Ethiopia. He is returning southward from Jerusalem, where, as a Gentile proselyte of the Jewish religion, he had gone to worship. Now he is reading aloud, as he journeys, from a scroll containing the prophecies of Isaiah. This simple fact, showing his interest in the truth and earnest desire to understand and receive it, is evidence of some special influence of the Holy Spirit in preparing him to accept Philip's teaching. Thus we see the Spirit operating on both sides, sending the teacher, and making ready the heart to be taught and convinced. Nay, more, he leads this interested man's thought to the central theme of the Old Testament Gospel. And it is always thus. The Spirit of God prepares the agents and means and the heart itself in every case of true conversion. Now by an inward voice the Spirit bids Philip run after and overtake the chariot, which had passed on. Other subsequent divine directions to Philip appear in the part he took in the conference that followed. 30, 31. The Question of Philip and its Answer.—"Understandest Thou?"—A question of vital moment—now as then! "Ye know not the Scriptures," was Christ's bold declaration to the cultured Sadducees. And the question repeats itself, the charge lies against multitudes to-day who profess to read them. Frankly and humbly this Ethiopian, nobler in this frank humility than in his high position, acknowledges his ignorance. He asks the poor foot-traveler to sit beside him in his chariot, and to be his guide to the "understanding" of the Scripture. As frankly and as humbly Philip assents, and takes the equal place assigned him. 32-35. The Question of the Ethiopian and Philip's Answer.—He was reading the 53d chapter of Isaiah; the signal prophecy of Christ's vicarious sufferings, many times distinctly referred to. Seven centuries had passed since it had been recorded for the Jewish people. But it had never been apprehended, much less accepted, by the Jews; for it disclosed a suffering Messiah, and they looked only for a world-conquering and long-reigning king. Reading about this patiently suffering Servant of God, his heart is moved. He has heard no Jewish interpretation, and yet wishes to know to whom this sad story refers. A tradition of the Jews described the persecution of Isaiah, and his death by being sawn asunder. Is it then himself to whom the prophet refers, or some other man? silent wonder? But the key to it all lies in the prayer-chamber at Damascus, whence he issued as one awakened to new life. When a sinner prays in this manner, a future song of praise is made certain. Happy is he who has learned to pray in such a manner that even in heaven it may be termed prayer, and who can declare, "To me is mercy shown!" Van O. No better text for his one great theme could Philip desire. From it he began, and preached unto him Jesus. Jesus the suffering Lamb of God, taking away the sins of men. Not as fully as Christ upon his resurrection afternoon had expounded to the two disciples, on another road, all “the things concerning himself.” But, led by the Spirit, his words were satisfactory to this open-hearted, devout listener. He answered all the questions that were proposed, and at length the man’s mind was convinced that Christ was the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and his heart converted. There remained but one thing: avowedly to join himself to the company of Christian believers. 36-38. The Baptism of the Believer in Christ.—The Scripture has doubtless been explained by Philip in accordance with the direct command of Christ. So the newly converted man expresses his wish, and avows his purpose to stand openly on the Lord’s side, in the question, “What doth hinder me to be baptized?” If the reply of Philip belongs to the inspired account (v. 37), which is more than doubtful, it would seem that he had learned caution from Simon’s case. For he asks a heart-test of the man’s faith. Satisfied with the test, Philip descends with him to the water, and baptized him there. B. 39,40. These two were brought together by the agency of an angel, and now they are parted asunder by a miracle, but a miracle of wisdom as well as of power. For this sudden and supernatural removal of the preacher was a powerful confirmation of the doctrine which he taught, and had an obvious tendency to impress on the mind of the new convert this important truth, that although a man had been employed as the instrument of his conversion, yet the work itself was truly divine, and the glory of it due to God alone. R. W.—They met and parted in a few hours. But those hours were charged with experiences for ever memorable to both. As there had been great joy in the city upon Philip’s ministry there, so now the Christian eunuch goes on his way rejoicing, when his human guide had disappeared. For a divine companion, a perfect guide unto all truth, even the Holy Ghost who shows the things of Christ, is with him now. And Abyssinia traces to this man (Indich he is called) the source of that influence which made many of her people Christian in name. Philip was next heard of at Azotus or Ashdod, another of the five cities of the Philistines, north of Gaza. From that point he preached in all the cities on or near the sea-coast, including Lydda and Joppa, until he reached Cesarea. In Cesarea he made his home, and became an evangelist for that region. Here, twenty years afterward, he entertained Paul as his guest (Acts 21 : 8). Truths worthy of Thought.—Every saved soul, in the history to be read hereafter, will learn that a vast amount of labor and an accumulation of combined influences were expended by God in the saving. First, chief, and in all, the Holy Spirit; then the word and the providences of God; and in a place appointed, the human teacher and pleader. Another truth respects the actual work of the Holy Spirit in behalf of human conversion. On the one hand, every believer—preacher, parent, teacher, or simple disciple—just in proportion to the willingness and earnestness of his desire to do good, is specially prompted, guided, and enabled to speak or act effectively for Christ and for souls. And on the other hand, every unbeliever receives the same divine help, in proportion to his simple willingness to be taught and led of God. This double truth stands out in this incident: the entire control of all its details and issues, of its two characters and their actions by the Spirit of God. Let this be thoroughly pondered! B. THE preaching of the gospel, begun from Jerusalem according to Christ’s command, had embraced all classes of the Jewish name—the pure Jews and the despised Samaritans, the representatives of the dispersion, and the circumcised proselyte from the far southern region which Christ himself had called the ends of the earth. Such were the results accomplished about the epoch marked by the death of the Emperor Tiberius (A. D. 37), and distinguished also by the disgrace of Caiaphas and Pilate, the two chief actors in the death of Christ. S. 1. AND Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, 2 went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound 3 unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined 4 round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying 5 unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the 6 pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou 7 must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but 8 seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw 9 no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. 10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord 11 in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for 12 one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man named 13 Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done 14 to thy saints at Jerusalem: and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all 15 that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel 16 unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I 17 will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that 18 thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, 19 and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. EVERY great truth which is to win a triumphant way must become incarnate in some one man, and derive from a living, fervent heart that passion and power which constrain and subdue. So long as it remains in the cold region of mere ideas, it exercises no mighty influence over mankind. The truths of religion are not exceptions to this law. God, therefore, prepared a man, who was to represent in the primitive Church the great cause of the emancipation of Christianity, and whose mission it was to free it completely from the bonds of the synagogue. This man was Paul, and never had noble truth a nobler organ. He brought to its service an heroic heart, in which fervent love was joined to indomitable courage, and a mind equally able to rise to the loftiest heights of speculation, and to penetrate into the deepest recesses of the human soul. All these great qualities were enhanced by absolute devotedness to Jesus Christ, and a self-abnegation such as, apart from the sacrifice of the Redeemer, has had no parallel upon earth. His life was one perpetual offering up of himself. His sufferings have contributed no less than his indefatigable activity to the triumph of his principles. De P. By faith, Saul of Tarsus, journeying toward Damascus, exchanged the path of persecution for that of martyrdom. By faith, Saul filled the known world with the name of Jesus Christ, and did a work which no other human work has equaled, either in extent or in depth. By faith, Saul, victorious over a rebellious nature, attained to a height of Christian life which would have been judged above man, if it had not been realized in his history. "Go, and do likewise." It is not a question of strength—it is a question of faith. Monod. TARSUS of Cilicia, where Saul was born, was a city of wealth and culture. The education he received there was perfected at Jerusalem under the instruction of the greatest teacher of his time, the Rabban Gamaliel. What Saul became as a scholar, and with what fine fiber of heart and large capacity of intellect he was naturally gifted, we readily gather from his inspired letters. B.—Saul was born and spent his earliest days in the shelter of a home which was Hebrew, not in name only but in spirit. He grew up an Israelitish boy, nurtured in those histories of the chosen people which he was destined so often to repeat in the synagogues, with the new and wonderful commentary supplied by the life and resurrection of a crucified Messiah. The histories of Abraham and Isaac, of Jacob and his twelve sons, of Moses, Joshua and Samuel, Elijah, Daniel and the Maccabees, were the stories of his childhood. The destruction of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, the thunders of Mount Sinai, the dreary journeys in the wilderness, the land that flowed with milk and honey—this was the earliest imagery presented to his opening mind. The triumphant songs of Zion, the lamentations by the waters of Babylon, the prophetic praises of the Messiah, were the songs around his cradle. Above all, he would be familiar with the destinies of his own illustrious tribe. How little was it imagined that, as Benjamin was the youngest and most honored of the patriarchs, so this listening child of Benjamin should be associated with the twelve servants of the Messiah of God, the last and most illustrious of the apostles! H. 1,2. Saul's Self-moved Mission to persecute the Christians of Damascus.—This abrupt introduction of Saul is deeply stirring and suggestive. Here is a man of intense energy with a soul on fire with a purpose of serving God in the only way he knew, by destroying those whom he thought were overthrowing religion. Even then, as a persecutor, Saul boldly acted out his belief. And with what depth of passion is evident from these words, "breathing out slaughter," and from his own after statement, "I was exceedingly mad against them." B.—The position of Saul at the death of Stephen was due, not to natural cruelty, but to a perverted judgment. He thought he did God service by slaying the disciples of Christ. At this time his belief was that Stephen's doctrines were subversive of the true religion; and that the best way of checking a heresy was to put the heretics to death. These principles did not die out with the conversion of Saul. They survived, and deluged Europe with blood down to a very recent period. It is only now, in our own generation, that religious toleration has been established. Arnot. 2. The authority of the Sanhedrim of Jerusalem was very great, so that not only the Jews who inhabited the land of Israel, but the Babylonian and Alexandrian Jews, received its decrees, and obeyed them with reverence. They acknowledged the Sanhedrim as the bulwark of the oral law. They more especially submitted to its authority in accusations of heresy, and trial of false prophets, which the Sanhedrim alone was supposed competent to consider. The Romans, to whose power the whole of Arabia at this time submitted, granted to the Jewish council the power of imprisonment and scourging, not only over the Jews of Palestine, but over other synagogues, which willingly, in religious matters, yielded to the control of the Sanhedrim. G. T. 3-7. The conversion of Saul was like the call of a second Abraham. H.—It was the most striking and important individual conversion between Christ's ascension and his return to judge the world. In its results, direct and indirect, it is the largest single fruit that has yet been gathered from the tree of righteousness that the Lord by his death and resurrection planted in the world. No mere man, before or since, has filled so great a space in the scheme of Providence, or left his mark so wide and deep upon the world. The gospel is the greatest power that has ever operated on earth, and Paul was its greatest minister. Arnot.  Eastern Seaboard of the Mediterranean. (The position of the several places named should be carefully noted.) 3. Damascus is the oldest city in the world. Its fame begins with the earliest patriarchs, and continues to modern times. It was founded before Baalbec and Palmyra, and it has outlived them both. While Babylon is a heap in the desert, and Tyre a ruin on the shore, it remains what it is called in the prophecies of Isaiah, "the head of Syria." How important a place it was in the flourishing period of the Jewish monarchy, we know from the garrisons which David placed there, and from the opposition it presented to Solomon. And how close its relations continued to be with the Jews, we know from the chronicles of Jeroboam and Ahaz, and the prophecies of Isaiah and Amos. Its mercantile greatness is indicated by Ezekiel in the remarkable words addressed to Tyre—"Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.” Leaving the Jewish annals, we might follow its history through continuous centuries, from the time when Alexander sent Parmenio to take it, while the conqueror himself was marching from Tarsus to Tyre—to its occupation by Pompey—to the letters of Julian the Apostate, who describes it as “the eye of the East”—and onward through its golden days, when it was the residence of the Omniad caliphs, and the metropolis of the Mohammedan world—and through the period when its fame was mingled with that of Saladin and Tamerlane—to our own days, when the praise of its beauty is celebrated by every traveler from Europe. H. Saul’s journey of five or six days (140 miles) was nearly completed. Damascus, the queen city of the East, beautifully situated upon a fertile plain, between two broad streams rushing down from the foot of Hermon and the anti-Lebanon mountains, was now close at hand, perhaps visible in the distance. The anticipation of success and triumph in his persecuting work was in his heart as he pressed eagerly on. Suddenly his career was checked by a blinding light from heaven. B.—The light was that which the Jews called the Shechinah, or glorious presence of Jehovah, dwelling in the tabernacle—the divine indwelling majesty. It was the very light, the sacred light, which their fathers knew so well. It appeared at sundry times, and in diverse forms, for various purposes; now of mercy, now of judgment. It was this light that blazed out in the flaming sword; that appeared to Abraham in Ur of  Damascus. the Chaldees; that was seen by Moses in the burning bush; that shone out in the pillar of fire, and compassed the top of Sinai; that dwelt in the tabernacle and in the temple; that showed itself to Gideon’s father; that kindled the fire on Solomon’s altar; that was seen by Ezekiel departing, and by Daniel in his visions; that for four hundred years left the earth, but reappeared at Bethlehem to the shepherds and to the wise men; at Christ’s baptism; at the transfiguration; at Pentecost; at Stephen’s martyrdom; and now at Saul’s conversion; and afterward at Patmos. Such is the history of this wondrous light—the representation of Him who is light, and in whom is no darkness at all; of Him who is the light of the world; of Him who is the brightness of Jehovah’s glory. The history of that light is the Christology of Scripture. Bonar. As he was stricken to the earth, a voice distinctly articulates the question, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” In the double address, as also used by Christ to Martha and Simon, is designed both accusation and tender remonstrance; first (always) a convincing of sin, and then a gracious pity. Saul’s thought was of binding and punishing Christ’s disciples, and so doing service to God. Christ calls it persecution. And he identifies himself completely with these imperiled persecuted disciples: Why persecutest thou Me? In the thou, Christ further emphasizes Saul’s self-prompting in his cruel work. Then in answer to the question of the prostrate but uplooking man, “Who art thou Lord?” comes a repetition of the charge: I am JESUS of Nazareth whom thou persecutest! Here, too, again Christ identifies his suffering members with himself. And in a figure that was proverbial he counsels Saul against a vain and a hurtful resistance. These first words of Jesus were not merely enough to convince Saul of sin and draw his faith to Christ, revealed here as Jehovah through the known Shechinah, a symbol of dazzling light. This we know they did effect, and this was Saul's conversion. It was wrought as all other conversions are wrought, through truth convincing the conscience of sin and through the revelation of Christ as a divine Redeemer. It differed from others in the personal, visible manifestation of Christ. The transfigured God-man Saul saw, even as Peter and James and John had seen him "in the holy mount," and as Stephen had seen him through the opened heavens. So Paul distinctly affirms. But these first words of Christ did more than convert. They were imprinted so deeply upon Saul's very heart that they shaped all his after thought and teaching. A deep intense conviction of sin as unbelief in and rejection of Christ; an overwhelming conception of the inconceivable breadth and depth of the grace of Christ in saving and seeking; and a realization of Christ's identity with his disciples, especially of his living present sympathy with them in suffering—these great fundamental truths, rooted in the soul of Saul in this personal interview with Christ, form the staple and substance of his preaching and his epistles. Ofttimes he refers to this first experience as the source of his knowledge. That he is already converted, that his strong will is subdued, voluntarily subjected to the will of Christ, that his heart is humbled, utterly turned from persecution to devotion, that he is henceforth consecrated to Christ and to Christ's service, his answering question assures us: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? His question is a new request for another commission, for one directly opposed in its spirit and object to that which had sent him thus far on his journey. And this request is answered with a direction to arise and go into the city (Damascus). There he would receive instruction what to do. Thus far no human instrumentality had been employed. Saul had been apprehended, as he calls it (Phil. 3), grasped and taken possession of by Christ. For this end, too, all that was supernatural was wrought by Christ. But he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision! B. 8. Thus entered Saul into Damascus; not, as he had expected, to triumph in an enterprise on which his soul was set, to enter into houses and carry off prisoners to Jerusalem; but he passed himself like a prisoner beneath the gateway and through the street called "Straight," where he was led by the hands of others to the house of Judas, his dark and solitary lodging. H. 9. The Three Days of Blindness and Fasting.—A period and an experience of inestimable value. Without sight and food, the world shut out from every sense, that the spirit may have undisturbed communion with itself and with God. Thought upon his own previous life, upon the Old Testament disclosures of Messiah, upon the glowing words, the saintly spirit, and the glad sacrifice of Stephen, and thought upon his own part in that sacrifice. And now the Christ of Nazareth, seen by him as by Stephen, as the God of glory, had come into his heart. The Spirit of Christ was opening his understanding and inspiring his soul to fervent trustful communion with God in supplication and praise. So passed those days of thought, of confirmed convictions and purposes, of grateful adoration, of penitent joy, and of earnest yearning and pleading with God—days of special divine inworking and preparation for the work before him. 10-16. Christ sends Ananias to Saul.—A human instrumentality is now employed for Saul's further instruction and reception into Christian fellowship and ministry. The agent is an obscure disciple, unknown before and after this transaction. But he is supernaturally directed, and Saul supernaturally prepared to receive him, showing that Christ controls all human ministry. In the vision Christ directs Ananias to go to Saul, plainly intimating the change wrought in this persecutor by the words, "For, behold, he prayeth!" But, with the knowledge of Saul's slaughter of the saints in Jerusalem, and of his purpose in coming to Damascus, and otherwise ignorant of what had occurred to Saul, the faith of Ananias is not equal to so sudden and strong a demand. Frankly he tells his difficulty to the Lord, and without a word of reproach Christ removes it. "A chosen vessel is this intensely earnest enemy! He shall bear my name before kings and all peoples! For my name's sake he must suffer great things!" Yet Christ granted this sufferer, as since every sufferer for Him, to do great things also. B. 11. Behold, he prayeth. As he the Pharisee of Pharisees has never prayed before; he prays with the heart of a publican. Where prayer like this is uttered, a foe of Christ has been disarmed. Here is a light arisen for the blind, of which he had never dreamed when he sat at Gamaliel's feet; a light on the greatness of his own guilt, by which he, who had dreamed himself to be already on the summit of perfection, awakens on the brink of an abyss. But here, too, a thirsty soul is brought nigh to the spring of consolation, where refreshing is never sought in vain. Can we ever doubt again that in heaven an ear is opened to the prayer of penitence? Who has not, on the contemplation of the spiritual greatness of this Paul, trembled involuntarily in 15. A chosen vessel. It was a polished and capacious vessel that the Great King wrenched from the hands of the arch-enemy near the gate of Damascus. One of the clearest intellects that ever glowed in a human frame changed hands that day. Saul was a man of rare courage. He was a good soldier of the wicked one before he owned allegiance to Christ. He was Christ's chief enemy then in the world. He breathed forth threatenings and slaughter against the members of the Church, blasphemies against its living Head. God looks down from heaven on this man, not as an adversary whose assaults are formidable, but as an instrument which may be turned to another use. As clay in the hands of the potter this man lies. Saul of Tarsus, called to be an apostle, is a conspicuous example of Divine sovereignty. He did not first choose Christ, but Christ chose him. Arnot. 17,18. The Words of Ananias and the Result Wrought by the Holy Ghost.—Ananias at once obeys the heavenly vision, goes to the "street called Straight," enters the house of Judas and the chamber where Saul is lying, puts his hands upon those sightless eyes, and utters the message of Christ. Two things Ananias announces as the purpose of his mission, and connects with the laying on of his hands. One, the receiving again of bodily sight; the other, the being filled with the Holy Ghost. The latter, we have already learned, refers only to his extraordinary and miraculous gifts; for his quickening power had been already exercised at Saul's conversion. At once the darkness was exchanged for clear vision. Accepting the ordination and appointment of Christ, as duty and privilege, he formally joined himself to the living body of Christ, and by an ordinary believer was baptized. So the persecutor became a disciple and leader of the persecuted—the inveterate enemy a devoted adherent. And all without human agency. "An apostle," he said, "by the will of God, sent not from man nor by man, but by Jesus Christ." The leading points of profitable thought are found mainly in the impressions left upon Paul's heart by this memorable experience of conversion, impressions elaborately inwrought in his inspired letters for the help and comfort of believers. First of all, the facts of sin and grace, imprinted upon his soul by the question and responses of Christ, sin, as unbelief in Christ, and grace, Christ's compassionate seeking and saving the guilty, these are the truths which comprise the substance of the gospel. Next, Christ's absolute identification of his people with himself. His constant vision of every believer, and instant sympathy with every need and trial. With inimitable tenderness the words "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest" respond to the whole spirit of his last discourse and prayer. They prove, by fact, his oneness with his own after he had passed into the heavens! Again, suffering, in some form, is a vital part of the highest training for effective service. Saul's experience and teaching abundantly declare that the faithful follower raust, like the Master, be "made perfect through suffering." Another expression of Christ concerning Saul, a chosen vessel, the apostle dilates upon, in its twofold meaning, as applicable to all believers. Vessels for use—of varying capacity—that can only give of that which is first received; empty and useless unless filled by the grace of God, but, when thus supplied, made sources of blessing to others to the praise of God. And chosen—"elect of God and precious." Signally as this truth of God's choice is proven in Saul's conversion, as certainly is it proven by the experience of every true believer. And the teaching of this sustaining truth Paul expressly and only addresses to the believer, since the believer alone can fully and joyfully accept it. Yet another theme, in its grandeur of reality, was impressed indelibly upon his heart. It was the glory of the risen Christ. A living, glorified, Divine Saviour, who was and is Jesus of Nazareth! Glorying in the Cross because of the redemption wrought upon it, he glories, ever in a higher strain of rapture, in Jesus, the man of Nazareth, effulgent with light celestial and majesty Divine! B. 19. THEN was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straight- 20 way he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard 21 him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. 23. And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: but their laying 24 await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the 25 disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. And when Saul 26 was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid 27 of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the 29 name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay 30 him. Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Cæsarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. Is the fusing of Christianity and Judaism, what and who is needed? The man must be a pure Jew by birth, and by education imbued with the fullest and deepest knowledge both of the law itself and of that fabric of human traditional interpretation which the rabbis had built up around it. No less necessary is it that he should have been versed in the Greek tongue, which was then the universal vehicle of thought and argument; should have been trained in Gentile habits of joining thought to thought; and should have acquired that degree of acquaintance with heathen literature which might enable him to dispute with effect in Grecian schools and among Grecian audiences. These qualifications were united in Saul of Tarsus. And his personal qualifications were to the full as marvelous. Ardent, sympathetic, universal in his regards, and able to cast himself into every other man's position; within certain limits becoming all things to all men, but absolutely immovable as to compromise beyond these limits; carrying all in his heart, and making every man's griefs and joys his own; with tears for every sorrow, and glowing terms of endearment and congratulation ever on his tongue; master at the same time of the most melting exhortation and the keenest and most delicate irony; pouring out his words, which crowded one another to keep pace with the rapidity of his phases of thought, flying from proof to proof, and from one indignant refutation to another; sometimes seemingly forgetful of his main subject, while he pursues word after word which have sprung up along the path of his disputation, then returning to it again, in like manner again to desert it: till at last all these off-lying ideas and images and allusions are bound up together in the majestic and overwhelming conclusion. Such was the mind and such was the heart of which God made choice, to bring about the greatest revolution ever wrought in the history of man. A. 19-22. Saul straightway preaches Christ to the Amazed Jews.**—His obedience to the heavenly vision was instant, unquestioning, and whole-hearted. No thought had he of looking back, and none of measuring hindrances or of forecasting difficulties in his forward path. At the outset his conviction was as clear and decisive as it was intense and deep; and it remained unchanged to the end. And his courage was that of conviction, not of mere nerve or will. This bold fronting of danger for the preaching of Christ was first manifested now, and to his old associates. He had led them in their hatred and persecution of Christ and his disciples—now he would turn them, with himself, to the service of his revealed Lord. The same Saul, with aim and object of life reversed, he throws the same intensity into his new mission of love. As one who has seen the Lord, whose soul is taken captive by the Lord's grace to him, as one who believes, he must speak. He must bear testimony at least, that may help to counteract the evil he had done. No wonder that his former associates were amazed at the extreme change produced in him. They saw it was real, and felt that an incomprehensible power had wrought it. His honest consecration had a life and energy which contrasted with their formal and lifeless religion. B. That the bigoted persecutor, at the climax of honor with his own nation, and in the full career of success, should have suddenly cast in his lot with the Christians, and entered on the new course of self-sacrificing labor and suffering which made up the rest of his life, has often been esteemed of itself a complete evidence of the truth of Christianity. S.—Next to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the descent of the Holy Ghost, the gospel history has no testimony which equals the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. It has been felt in all ages; and many a reflective mind, hitherto unmoved, has yielded to the power of this page of the gospel. Monod. 23. Interval of Special Preparation in Arabia,** and Return to Damascus.—His spontaneous testimony borne for Christ, after brief stay—certain days, verse 19—he tells us (Gal. 1: 17) that he went into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. The interval spent in Arabia comprised nearly the whole of the three years (Gal. 1: 18) between his conversion and his first visit to Jerusalem. This interval is indicated in verse 23 by many or sufficient days. B.—As used by Paul (Gal. 1: 17), Arabia does not necessarily mean the wilderness of Arabia, commonly so called. Early Christian writers assign Damascus itself to Arabia; and the region of Auranitis, on the south of Damascus, is reckoned by Roman writers as belonging to Arabia. Luke passes over an interval of three years. And it is observable that “many days” are equivalent to three years in 1 K. 2: 38. W.  Windows on the Wall—Damascus. Like Moses and Elijah, he seems to have been led into the quiet of the wilderness for a period of needful thought and prayer. Thought upon the Old Testament Scriptures in their new light, upon his own previous career, upon the heavenly vision, the Christ of prophecy now disclosed to him in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; and prayer for guidance, for qualification to serve and teach, for needed inward discipline and training of spirit to do and bear. And gradually, as others are, was he guided by the Holy Spirit into truth. Not by any direct or independent revelation, but in connection with the studied Scriptures and the known facts of Christ’s incarnate career. Visions indeed he had, at intervals and in emergencies of his after-life. But here he was led to the right apprehension and full meaning of the written word, and of the teachings of Christ. The Spirit took of the things of Christ and showed them unto him. Yet let it be remembered that to the three days of blindness, and the three years of thoughtful study and prayer, five years of practice are added before he is fully charged with his great commission. God takes time to prepare those whom he specially employs. 23-25. Saul’s Escape from Damascus.—Returned again, he goes straightway to the synagogue. With even stronger faith and zeal, as his views of truth were wider, his skill in argument and force of statement were such that his old opponents could not meet or refute his teachings. And, since he thoroughly knew them and their views, his refutation of their errors would be especially pointed and effective. Naturally, therefore, Saul’s former associates became his most implacable foes. They conspired with the governor of Damascus to kill him (2 Cor. 11: 32, 33). But, from the overhanging window of a house upon an unguarded part of the wall, the disciples let him down into the open country, and he made good his first escape from persecuting Jews. The Lord has already begun to show him how great things he must suffer. 26-29. Brief Visit and Ministry at Jerusalem.—Paul’s own account of this visit we find in Gal. 1: 11-18. His chief motive was to see Peter and James. But even these leaders of the apostles (and he sought and saw none besides these two) doubted his sincerity. They would not receive him until Barnabas—who was from Cyprus, not far from Tarsus—who had learned the facts of Saul’s conversion, probably from himself, took the new convert to the two, and told them his marvelous story. For only fifteen days the three remained together. B. The first meeting of the fisherman of Galilee and the tent-maker of Tarsus, the chosen companion of Jesus on earth and the chosen Pharisee who saw Jesus in the heavens, the apostle of the circumcision and the apostle of the Gentiles, is passed over in Scripture in a few words. The divine record does not linger in dramatic description on those passages, which a mere human writing would labor to embellish. What took place in the intercourse of these two saints, what was said of Jesus of Nazareth, who suffered, died, and was buried, and of Jesus, the glorified Lord, who had risen and ascended, and become “Head over all things to the Church,” what was felt of Christian love and devotion, what was learned under the Spirit’s teaching of Christian truth, has not been revealed and can not be known. H. Boldly and effectively he proved his divine mission in presence of these veteran apostles. Boldly he entered the very synagogue of the Grecians where Stephen had taught, and effectively preached the same Jesus of Nazareth, conclusively refuting all opposing argument. And again, as their only way of silencing, they seek to slay him! 30. Sent to his Native City.—Not merely the  Modern Tarsus. counsel of the two apostles, but a positive command of Christ (Acts 22: 18-21), led Saul to leave Jerusalem and go to his own home. Another long interval in Saul's history here occurs, during which we only know that he remained in comparative retirement, preaching simply as other disciples did, without special appointment or formal ordination, as occasion called or the leading of the Spirit prompted. B. The early chapters of the Acts are like the narratives in the Gospels. It is often hardly possible to learn how far the events related were contemporary or consecutive. It is impossible to determine the relations of time which subsist between Paul's retirement into Arabia and Peter's visit to the converted Samaritans, or between the journey of one apostle from Joppa to Cesarea and the journey of the other from Jerusalem to Tarsus. H.—The interval of uncertain length, which he spent in Cilicia and Syria, after his flight from Jerusalem to Tarsus, is a blank in the story of the Acts; but some refer to this period the chief part at least of the perils and sufferings which he recounts to the Corinthians, including two Roman and five Jewish scourgings and three shipwrecks. At all events, we may safely regard this as the great probationary period of the apostle's ministry, in which, laboring alone and unaided by man, he was specially prepared for the wide field to which he was called when Barnabas came to Tarsus to seek his aid for the work at Antioch. S. 31. THEN had the churches rest throughout all Judæa and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. 32. And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. And there he found a certain man named Æneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, Æneas, Jesus 35. Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord. 36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is 37 called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they 38 laid her in an upper chamber. And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he 39 would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, 40 and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, 41 Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, 42 presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the 43 Lord. And it came to pass, that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner. "TABITHA was not a fashion-plate, but a model for every Christian female." She "looked also on the things of others," helped to bear the burdens of others, and "so fulfilled the law of Christ." Her methods were appropriate and womanly, as her spirit was Christlike. By this record not only, but by manifold organizations and bands that have wrought a similar work of love in every Christian age and nation, Dorcas being dead hath spoken and yet speaketh. She is one of three women (Mk. 12: 44; 14: 9) whose self-consecration was shown in their gifts and deeds, and whose memorial and eulogy have gone wheresoever the gospel has been preached. B. Dorcas died regretted; she was worth regretting, she was worth being restored, she had not lived in vain because she had not lived for herself. The end of life is not a thought, but an action—action for others. But you, why should you be regretted? Have you discovered spiritual truth like Paul? Have you been brave and true in defending it, like Peter; or cheered desolate hearts, like Ananias; or visited the widow and the fatherless in their affliction, like Dorcas? If you have, your life will leave a trace which will not soon be effaced from the earth. But, if not, what is your worthless self-absorbed existence good for but to be swept away and forgotten as soon as possible? You will leave no record of yourself on earth except a date of birth and a date of death, with an awfully significant blank between. F. W. R. 31. The Upbuilding and Increase of the Church in the Three Provinces.—This verse is a point of transition in the history. After brief statement of Saul's conversion and early ministry, Luke's narrative returns for two or three chapters to further incidents in Peter's career. No points of time are given in either case, as they were not needful to the purpose of the revelation. This purpose (and it should be carefully noted) was to show, by these few specific incidents, in what manner, and how rapidly and widely, the gospel was carried through the land, how effectively it was preached, and with what wonderful results in the conversion of men and the formation of churches. Many "had gone everywhere preaching the word," and founding communities of believers. So we find churches in Judea, Samaria, and even in far Galilee—this in spite of persecution, and as its indirect effect in scattering abroad disciples filled with the Holy Ghost. The "rest," or interval of freedom from persecution, here referred to, grew out of an intense excitement, which for a considerable period absorbed the whole thought of the Jewish rulers and people. B.—About this time a more urgent and immediate danger than the progress of Christianity occupied the mind of the Jewish people. The very existence of their religion was threatened, for the frantic Caligula had issued orders to place his statue in the Temple at Jerusalem. The historian of the Jews must relate the negotiations, the petitions, the artful and humane delays interposed by the prefect Petronius, and all the incidents which show how deeply and universally the nation was absorbed by this appalling subject. It caused, no doubt, a diversion in favor of the Christians; and the temporary peace enjoyed by the churches is attributed, with great probability, rather to the fears of the Jews for their own religious independence, than to the relaxation of their hostility against the Christians. This peace was not disturbed for about three years. The apostles pursued their office of disseminating the gospel in every part of Judea until Herod Agrippa took possession of the hereditary dominions. Milman. And so, through the providence of God, his people had needed quiet. The result of quiet is twofold. They were edified, or built up; referring to the inward life, not the outward organization. Advanced and strengthened internally, they made progress in spiritual life and its fruits. And they were multiplied, increased in the number of the saved. Mark the conditions of this increase! The walking, or going on and forward, actively meeting daily duties. Walking in the fear of the Lord, with filial reverence and obedience at heart. And walking in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, in the soul's resting upon the helpful interposition of the Holy Spirit at every needful point—this is the meaning of "comfort," as it is of "comforter" (the same word), applied by Christ to the Holy Ghost. These conditions fulfilled, inwardly strengthen, advance, and make fruitful the Church; they increase the vital force, they expand the graces, and make larger and richer the fruitage of the believer's life. 32-35. The Miraculous Healing of Eneas at Lydda, and its Blessed Results.—Peter's visit at Lydda and stay at Joppa (see map, p. 61) probably occurred while Saul was at Tarsus. Nothing like apostolic circuits or visitations seems to be even hinted at in the Acts until we reach Paul's history,  Lydda—the Modern Village. and that is purely exceptional in this matter, growing out of his exclusive appointment and work as the apostle to the Gentiles. As a body the apostles remained at Jerusalem controlling and guiding the general movements of the new Christian body or church. So Christ had ordained. But individual apostles, like other individual disciples, went as they were called by the Holy Ghost, upon specific missions. In such a mission Peter was now engaged, and in his journeying arrives at Lydda, an inland village a few (six) miles from Joppa. There he seeks the saints—a Scriptural term, and therefore a proper one if properly employed—signifying the holy; and descriptive of believers, all of whom are called to be saints. Among them—the connection implies—he finds a man for eight years crippled with palsy. There is here no testing or prompting of faith, as in the case of unbelievers, by question or address (Acts 3:4). But, addressing him as one who already believes, he simply announces a gracious, joyful fact: Jesus Christ maketh thee whole! For proof of this, the command is added: "Arise, and make thy bed." The doing for himself what for eight years had been done for him was conclusive evidence that his infirmity was gone and his strength restored. The widespread results of this miraculous healing furnish yet further verification of Christ's words (John 14:12), that greater works than His should be done in his name. Not only in Lydda, but over the broad, fertile, and beautiful plain of Sharon—reaching from Cesarea to Joppa—the tidings of the cure and the name of Jesus the healer were spread by grateful believing disciples, and many of the multitudes that dwelt in that vast region received Christ and were enrolled as his disciples. 36-42. The Character, Death, and raising to Life of Dorcas, and the Result wrought in Joppa.—Joppa ("beautiful"), on a high hill of the Mediterranean coast, distant forty miles from Jerusalem, was its seaport from the time of Solomon. This disciple of Christlike spirit was called Tabitha in the Aramaic tongue, used by the Jews, and Dorcas by the Greeks. The name signifies "gazelle," and, as an image of peculiar attractiveness, was often appropriated as a proper name for females. Though nothing is said of her faith, she had faith, for she was a true disciple. More and better, she proved faith's possession by its works. Her life was actively employed in helping disciples and others. She wrought with her hands, and gave from her store for the supply of poor and needy; especially for widows, who in that period and country were in peculiar need. That her motive was utterly single and unselfish, we know from the common high sentiment concerning her. When she died, this sentiment was at once manifest. All the Christian fellowship was moved to the deepest grief. In their yearning for comfort, and if possible for help in some unknown way from God, they instantly send to Peter, six miles off, asking that he hasten to do what he can in their grief and need. As they desired, Peter came at once, arriving before the interment, which ordinarily takes place on the day of death in the East. The body lay in an upper chamber, and was surrounded by “saints and widows,” that is, by fellow disciples and by those she had helped. With a natural and tender touch, Luke tells how these  Jaffa—Ancient Joppa. grieving but grateful beneficiaries recited her memorial. But Peter puts them all forth. He would be alone with God, especially when he had so great a request to urge, so mighty a boon to obtain. Kneeling down, he prayed! The spirit of the prayer, its intense fervor and its energy of faith, and the motive which he urged, the greater glory of Christ, we may know by the assurance given to Peter by the Holy Ghost—that inward assurance by which he was prompted to say, “Tabitha, arise.” His faith was in the divine power, and his word was guided by the divine spirit. In response to his faith, immediately upon the utterance of his word, “she opened her eyes,” and her spirit came again. To those who mourned her dead, “saints and widows, he presented her alive.” And joy takes the place of mourning. In all this, not Peter, but Peter’s Lord, is glorified. Therefore it was that, when the people of Joppa heard of this restored life of Dorcas, many heeded the preaching of Jesus the Restorer, and believed in him unto a higher, even an everlasting life. 43. Simon Peter tarries in the House of the Tanner Simon.—“Many days,” indicating a sufficient period for the work to be done, in connection with his stay there. The tanner’s business—that of preparing skins for different uses—was an unclean one, and therefore dishonorable in Jewish estimation, because it required contact with dead animals. But Peter’s Judaism is already so much modified, and his apprehension of Christ’s exposures of Pharisaic interpretation so clear, that he is willing to risk the uncleanness and the dishonor, by sharing the home and table of his namesake, the hospitable Christian tanner. B. 1. THERE was a certain man in Cæsarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the 2 Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much 3 alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the 4 ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 5 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto 6 him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send 7 men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: he lodgeth with one Simon 7 a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; and when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. 9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: and he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate, and called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there. 19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him. ALMS and prayers are branches from a common stem, which binds them together. That stem is the moral law of God; that law to which, though it be not the covenant under which (as Christian men) we live, we must yet be conformed as a rule of life. The law branches out into two great precepts—supreme and unbounded love to God, and love to our neighbor as to ourselves. Now, the man who really and habitually prays, the man who lives in the spirit of prayer, fulfills the first great branch of duty. True spiritual prayer—"the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man," such as was that of Cornelius—is the outcome and expression of a man's duty to God. Such prayer is called in Scripture "incense"; partly from its reaching the throne of grace, even as incense when kindled soars up to the sky; partly from its spiritual fragrance and acceptability. "Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the incense." And the man who gives alms, in the true spirit of almsgiving, is equally fulfilling the second great branch of duty. Devout almsgiving—such as was that of Cornelius, who "gave much alms to the people"—is the outcome and expression of a man's duty to his neighbor. Yet think not that the act passes no further than to our neighbor. It too, no less than prayer, comes up before God as a memorial. It too, no less than prayer, finds in the fragrant, soaring incense its Scriptural emblem and type. E. M. G. NOT only was God's covenant made with the Jewish nation, not only did he intrust that nation with his word and ordinances of worship, not only was Christ a Jew, and as he affirmed, "salvation was of the Jews," but the first Christian disciples, and the entire membership of the first Christian Church up to this period, were members of the Jewish Church, by descent or adoption. They were all imbued with the prevalent Jewish belief, respecting the essential importance of the leading Mosaic rites. They were filled with the Jewish feeling of their immense superiority as God's people over all other nations. It seemed natural to them, therefore, when Christianity was to be introduced among the Gentiles (and they knew that all nations were to receive the gospel), that it should be introduced under Jewish auspices and in connection with long venerated Jewish forms. The apostles, with others, were still imbued with these conceits and prejudices. Before God's work among the Gentiles can be begun, these teachers must be taught; their narrow, erroneous notions removed. First and emphatically they must know that in Christ Jesus the Gentile is equal to, is one with the Jew: "a fellow-heir, of the same body, and partaker of the same promise by the gospel." And this is the lesson conveyed by the vision to Peter, the man strongest in feeling and prejudice, the foremost, most energetic, whole-souled in active obedience, among the body of apostles. More fully afterward, and frequently, the same needed lesson was taught. It is conveyed to Peter in the first act of transition in the ministry of the gospel, from the Jew to the Gentile. A period this of marked significance, as a turning-point in the history of the Christian Church. And because so necessary, at this eminent juncture, to prepare the body of apostles and disciples for right ministry among the Gentiles, God added supernatural means to the natural. He connected a miraculous vision with many providences. As respects the latter, it is interesting to note how events are linked in with each other by God's plan and providence. Lydda was nigh to Joppa, so Peter was called from Lydda. Now, Joppa is so nigh to Cesarea that he is called from Joppa. Yet it is the Lord and the Lord's work that call. So God ever marshals providences in the way and for the discharge of our duty. Another point worthy of note is the analogy between this bringing together of Peter and Cornelius and that of Saul and Ananias. Each was prefaced with a double and responsive vision, and with instruction, from God; and a hindering difficulty removed from the minds of Ananias and Peter. 1,2. The Position and Character of Cornelius.—Cesarea, on the Mediterranean coast, about thirty miles north of Joppa and sixty northwest from Jerusalem, was lavishly built by Herod the Great, and made his residence and the civil and military capital of Judea. Now, it was the seat of the Roman procurators or governors, as is frequently intimated in the Acts. B.—The gospel made its first conquest over heathenism in this large city, named from the Roman Cæsar, a military stronghold and naval arsenal of the Roman power. And it made that conquest over a soldier called Cornelius, one of the noblest of Roman names—an officer of the Italic band—a cohort of Roman blood. In his conversion we may see a prophetic intimation of the submission of the great Fourth Monarchy to the mild yoke of the gospel. Devout. A worshiper of one God, in contradistinction to polytheists and idolators. In the providence of God, the military successes of the Macedonian and Roman monarchies had impaired the local reverence for national deities, and had cleared the ground for the planting of a purer faith. The diffusion of the Hebrew Scriptures and the decomposition of paganism had tended to produce a class of persons in all parts of the world who may be said to have been the seminary of the Gentile Church. These were "the devout," or God-fearing, of the Acts. Tired of polytheism, and yet unwilling to subject themselves to the ceremonial law, these "God-fearing" men received with joy the tidings of the gospel; they recognized in Christianity a religion which satisfied the wants of their nature, the requirements of their reason, and the yearnings of their hearts, without impairing any of the reverence with which they had learned to regard the God of the Old Testament, but rather, and much more, enlarging the ideas they had already conceived of his merciful purposes and glorious attributes. The apostles everywhere in their journeys met with this class of proselytes. W. Three centurions of the New Testament are referred to as favoring the truth, either in the person of Christ—as the centurion of Capernaum, and the witness of the crucifixion—or, as in this case, under such forms as the truth had been brought to his knowledge. The character here given him is specially attractive when we consider that he was only a truth-loving and -seeking man, looking for and taking it where he could find it, and voluntarily finding and accepting enough from the Jewish Scriptures and worship to make him devout—that is, to lead him to the true and filial fear and personal worship of God. Such a man we have here. Like Abraham, he influenced his household by imparting his own convictions of duty and worship. To God's poor or to God's call, he consecrated a portion of God's intrusted gifts. And in all, in the ordering of his own life, in the guidance of his household, and in his helpful alms, he looked upward continually for divine direction, acceptance, and blessing. All this is conveyed by the statement of inspiration. Only partially is he taught, but he heartily receives and faithfully acts out all he had learned of God and his will. And how many the evidences in all missionary history that God prepares heathen hearts for his gospel, and that with but little of truth and without specific human instrumentality he takes possession of many such hearts! 3-6. Cornelius is instructed by an Angel of God, in a Vision.—At the afternoon hour of prayer, or three o'clock, while himself at prayer, there appeared coming in to him a human form, marked in some manner intelligibly to him as a messenger from another world. To the certain sight and to the audible call of this supernatural being, the alarmed centurion uttered the briefest question in response. Two things are conveyed in the angel's message. Both intimate a superhuman knowledge: one in regard to the internal acting of the mind of God, the other in regard to God's will respecting the two men, Cornelius and Peter. First he says, God has heard thy prayers and beheld thy gifts, and he remembers both. This direct assurance, for the encouragement and greater trust of the centurion, none other than a heavenly messenger could give. Next, he directs Cornelius to send for Peter as his instructor, merely using his own superior knowledge to inform the centurion where the apostle was to be found. But, besides the simple encouraging assurance, the angel teaches him nothing. He is only a celestial guide to a human teacher! Because the occasion is so great and prophetic, the first opening of the fold-door to the "other sheep" of the great Good Shepherd, or the first breaking down of the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, therefore it is signalized by the sending of this messenger from heaven. But even God's angels, while they joyfully and triumphantly herald the advent, redemption, and glory of the Incarnate Son, have no part in the direct ministry of the gospel. For this ministry he exclusively uses and honors a human instrumentality. 7,8. Obedient to the Vision, Cornelius sends Three Messengers to Peter.—Gladly and instantly he obeys the divine direction. He selects and summons two household servants and a soldier of his band, all in sympathy with his devout feeling and life, to whom he could therefore fully unfold the vision and intelligently commit the peculiar errand and message. And on the same afternoon, the three men start for Joppa, arriving on the next day soon after noon. B. Cornelius was in Cesarea and Peter in Joppa—the Roman soldier in the modern city, which was built and named in the Emperor's honor—the Jewish apostle in the ancient seaport which associates its name with the early passages of Hebrew history—with the voyage of Jonah, the building of the Temple, the wars of the Maccabees. All the splendor of Cesarea, its buildings and its ships, and the Temple of Rome and the Emperor, which the sailors saw far out at sea, all has long since vanished. Herod's magnificent city is a wreck on the shore. A few ruins are all that remain of the harbor. Joppa lingers on, like the Jewish people, dejected but not destroyed. Cesarea has perished, like the Roman Empire which called it into existence. H.  Ruins of Cesarea. (From the north.) 9-16. What Peter saw while in a Trance.—On the next day at noon, within half an hour of the arrival of the centurion's messengers, Peter sought the secluded house-top, to lift his vision and heart heavenward, as he was wont. After his prayer, it would seem, while waiting the call to the noonday meal and craving food, the trance, or supernatural absorption of mind upon themes supernaturally suggested, took place. He saw heaven open—not, as Stephen, the heavens—but that bound of the visible upper sky which we call heaven, and above which we place the region of God's dwelling-place. Within the immense folds of a vast seemingly woven fabric, knit together by four suspending cords, and rapidly lowered from the cleft sky to the level of Peter's vision, he saw all manner of clean and unclean animals. And he heard a voice summoning him to kill and eat. To his respectful but distinct demur, that he could not partake that which was ceremonially unclean, the voice sharply forbade him call that unclean which God had made clean. No instruction by symbol could possibly be clearer, more decisive than this. The very method of it, the suddenness, swiftness, and repetition in the descent and ascent of this vast sheeted fabric with its strange contents, and the shortness and sharpness of the command and reproof, all were admirably suited to Peter's strong nature. More than the other apostles, and for them, he needed just such plain teaching. And he could neither misunderstand nor forget it, when the immediate event made its interpretation clear, and even lent after-force to the vision itself. B. There was then a distinction between clean and unclean, indicated by the calling of Abraham, but more explicitly by the Levitical rites and laws; yet appointed from the beginning, for we read of it in the time of Noah; a distinction applicable to men, to food, to dwellings, to land, to animals. This distinction was made by God for special ends, but at Christ's death the distinction had served its purpose. God interposed, and threw down the middle wall of partition; not rejecting the Jew, yet accepting the Gentile; not obliterating national distinctions, but making these no longer of any importance, and attaching to them no spiritual or religious privilege. Without lowering the Jew, he lifted up the Gentile; not making the Jew unclean, but the Gentile clean; so that from that time there should be (so far as access to God was concerned) "neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free." In the vision or trance, Peter was taught that the Gentile was now made as clean as the Jew; that God had done it, and that even he, though the apostle of the circumcision, must at once accept the verdict. Bonar. 17-20. The Messengers arrive, and the Spirit instructs Peter.—While he pondered the vision, the three men from Cornelius stand at Simon's door asking for Peter. This the apostle learns not from any human summons, but from the intimation of the same Divine Spirit who had previously produced the audible voice. The vision is thus linked with the three visitors and their errand. And the connection is confirmed by the positive Divine direction, that Peter should return with these men whither they went, and the conclusive assurance that the Holy Ghost had sent them on this errand. No explanation of the vision has been offered. But Peter is bidden to obey certain directions, to do something, and in the doing all his questions about the vision were to be resolved. Here is the same principle we meet at every step in the histories of the Old and New Testaments. It is that obedience leads to knowledge. "We shall know if we follow on." If any one wills to do God's will, he shall know. In what follows we find this principle again verified. Both Peter and Cornelius, in their implicit following of the Spirit's directions, learn that which they desire to know, and with knowledge receive larger grace. B. Points of Useful Thought.—We miss very much devotional joy, by the neglect of fragmentary prayer. In the intervals which separate periodical seasons of devotion, we need a habit of offering up brief ejaculatory expressions of devout feeling. The morning and the evening sacrifice depend very much upon these interspersed offerings, as these in return are dependent on those. Communion with God in both is assisted by linking the "set times" together by a chain of heavenward thoughts and aspirations, in the breaks which occur in our labors and amusements. Nothing else can do this so naturally as the habit of ejaculatory prayer. The spirit of prayer may run along the line of such a habit through a lifetime. So one may live in a state of prayer, "a devout man that prays always." A. P. The eyes which run through the whole earth behold also the searching soul struggling for life and light which it can not procure for itself. To the upright there ariseth light in the darkness; yet by degrees, through the use of means, only and alone through the preaching of a full and free gospel, of which Christ is the center, peace the basis, and grace the glad tidings. This man who fears God and worketh righteousness is pleasing to him, not in order that he may remain what he is, but that by the way of faith and repentance he may be received into the kingdom of God, without which there is no safety for those who in themselves are lost. Van O. Cornelius was recompensed for his prayers and alms by the visit of an angel, by the visit of an apostle, by the glad tidings of the gospel, and, to crown all, by the gift of the Holy Ghost. How striking an instance of the large and munificent scale on which God responds to the desires and efforts which his own free grace has prompted—of his "giving more" (as is his wont) "than either we desire or deserve"! How wonderful a fulfillment of the promise made by our Lord both to secret alms and secret prayers—"Thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly." E. M. G. Beneficence or almsgiving is always remembered of God, and ranks in his estimate with prayer or direct worship. It is counted a vital part of that obedience which is worship in act or life. It comes from the heart equally with that worship which finds expression in uttered prayer and praise. Prayer and alms equally show the presence of an operative faith and a living active love. The diversity of God's methods and the special adaptation of each to his particular purpose are illustrated in this case of Cornelius as compared with that of Saul. An obscure disciple baptized and received into the Church the great apostle to the Gentiles; and this because God would have his ministry from the first free from all human dependence. But this first pagan disciple, a purely Gentile member of the Christian Church, was received into Church fellowship, not even by Philip the evangelist who lived at Cesarea, but by the foremost of the apostles; and this because God would throw around an event so signal, prophetic, and glorious—the receiving of this first-fruit of a world harvest—all that could give it impressiveness and significance! B. Doubting nothing! That is the secret of liberty, of efficiency, of success in every work which is undertaken by men: a confidence in the practicability, in the value of the work, in the Divine authority which imposes it upon us as an obligatory work, and in the Divine providence and power which will bring it to a successful performance. R. S. S. 24. And the morrow after they entered into Cæsarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and 25 had called together his kinsmen and near friends. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius 26 met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, 27 Stand up; I myself also am a man. And as he talked with him, he went in, and found 28 many that were come together. And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlaw- 29 ful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; 30 but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore 31 came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what 32 intent ye have sent for me? And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this 33 hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in 34 bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remem- 35 brance in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose sur- 36 name is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when 37 he cometh, shall speak unto thee. Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast 38 well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear 39 all things that are commanded thee of God. 40 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of 41 persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted 42 with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus 43 Christ: (he is Lord of all:) that word ye know, which was published throughout all 44 Judæa, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed 45 Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and 46 healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses 47 of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew 48 and hanged on a tree: him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; not to 49 all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink 50 with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, 51 and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. 52 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him 53 shall receive remission of sins. 54 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell an all them which heard the 55 word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came 56 with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 57 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can 58 any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy 59 Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. 60 Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. TRUTH and mercy and self-devotion in men are greater than all miracles, and have the very essence of God in them. Therefore we are bound to thank him for every disinterested act performed by any man, for every generous and heroic deed, for the search after truth, simply because it is truth, by those great minds that seek her as hid treasure, for unpaid devotion to the cause of suffering and want, for the blessed feet that seek out shame and sin, and the lips that plead with them to bring them home contrite and forgiven. These are all testimonies to the greatness of the soul of man, and therefore to the being of God. Those footsteps are echoes of the feet of him who went about doing good, and help us to believe that he once walked our earth. Ker. In every nation, now that Jesus Christ has come, there is an equal access to the open door for every tongue and tribe and people. Under this new and heavenly reign of light and love which has been set up, all are free citizens. There are no external disqualifications. There are no internal incapabilities for being saved. All this Peter had just found out in a peculiar way, the vision of the four-cornered sheet three times let down from heaven, to show him that the ceremonial distinctions of things to be lawfully eaten, symbols of all other natural disqualifications, were abolished. The Gentile world which God has now liberated from its long neglect, "call not thou common." But go to it, preach to it, respect and love human nature in Cesarea just as much as in Jerusalem or Bethany: there is no difference. The gospel is no respecter of persons. Christ died for all. F. H. D. 24-33. After the narrative of the first Christian Pentecost, the second book of Luke scarcely contains a picture which in beauty and interest can be placed above that of the reception into the Church of Cornelius and his household. It is the history of the Gentile day of Pentecost. Moment worthy of eternal remembrance, when the first Gentile threshold was crossed for the first time by the feet of them who published peace, and the earliest beam of light dawned on the land of the shadow of death! Van O. The three messengers from Cornelius tarried over night in the house of Simon at Joppa. On the next morning Peter departed with them for Cesarea, a distance of thirty Roman miles. Six Jewish Christians of Joppa voluntarily accompanied him. The journey required a day and a half; so that they reached Cesarea the day following, or the fourth day after the vision of Cornelius. The centurion, anticipating the time of their arrival, had called together a considerable company, from his own and other friendly Gentile households. Whatever blessing is to come, he would extend its effects to as many as he could reach. Regarding Peter as one directly and especially sent of God, his mind ingrained with the Roman notion of deifying such ambassadors from heaven, the centurion would have rendered divine honors to the apostle upon his entrance. But instantly Peter checked his purpose, gave him his hand, and bade him stand; assuring him that he himself was only a man. After a moment's friendly converse, Peter went in to the gathered company. Without further reference to Cornelius, he first accounts for his—to them strange—presence, a Jew among Gentiles, by frankly declaring that God had taken away his Jewish prejudice; had taught him that all nations were equally acceptable to Him. He then asks why they have summoned him. To this question Cornelius replies by reciting his vision of the fourth afternoon before—the direction he had received, and his obedience to it—and then expresses the readiness of all present to hear all things commanded of God for Peter's utterance. 34, 35. Peter's Introduction: all Men and Nations alike before God.—The singular coincidence of the two miraculous visions, and the manifest spirit and desire of this company of Gentile souls, at once deepened into strong settled assurance the new view God had taught him of the relation of the Gentiles to the Gospel. And this conviction naturally first finds utterance, "I have thoroughly learned this, that God looks favorably upon Gentile and Jew alike, and on the single condition of filial fear in the heart, and integrity in the life." But Peter stops not here. His new knowledge of something that had always been true could not help Cornelius. If he had no more to say he need not have come. For if alms and prayers, with a devout and beneficent life, were sufficient for a man's justification before God, then this man and his company need no "words" of Peter "telling them how they may be saved." If Cornelius himself (not merely his prayers and alms) had been already accepted by God, then neither vision nor angel, neither Peter nor his gospel of Christ, neither divine nor human baptism would have been necessary or appropriate. But Peter saw in this "fearing God and working righteousness" only the indications that God had been preparing these devout hearts for the further essential knowledge of Christ, in his sacrificing life and death, his resurrection and exaltation; and for the instant glad acceptance of this justifying Saviour. And this is the "Word" he proceeds to preach. 36, 37. Substance of the Word preached, and the Sphere of its Proclamation thus far.—That Word God had sent to the children of Israel, and it had been published from the Baptist's coming in all the country of the Jews. These general facts they knew. But the substance of that Word, which they did not know, he here first sums up, in a clause and an included parenthesis: preaching peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all). No single word expresses so well and winningly the very heart of the gospel, in its design and effect upon human souls, as this word "peace." It is God's peace, for there is no other. And the giver is God, in the person of Jesus Christ his Son. There is no other giver, for He is Lord over all souls. And this proclamation of peace provided and proffered to men in their disquiet—disquiet because of sin and its consequent misery—fully meets, and it alone meets, the deepest most vital craving of the disturbed heart. How winning, how blessed then this divine gospel, with this its great disclosure—Christ, God over all, in good-will to men, bringing peace upon earth! 38-43. The Particulars of this Published Divine Gospel, the Facts of Christ's Incarnate Career, here testified to by Peter, and referred back to Previous Testimony by the Prophets.—The same facts that he has heretofore preached to Jews of every degree, he declares to this first audience of Gentiles. While he asserts Christ's Lordship over men, and his ordination as Judge of quick and dead in the great and final assize, he yet declares His humanity by the name Jesus of Nazareth, and tells of His ignominious death by hanging on a tree. By His anointment "with the Holy Ghost and with power," the apostle intimates Christ's threefold functions as God's appointed prophet, priest, and king for men, for only these three were anointed among men. His beneficent and blessed ministry is summed up in the simple but sublime record: He went about doing good! To all his marvels of divine power in healing and in casting out devils, to all his deeds of mercy and help, the apostle here interjects the fact that he himself was witness. Also His death upon the Cross, and His resurrection upon the third day, Peter declares. And here again he refers to his own personal witness and knowledge. He states a fact that thoughtful readers of the Gospel history have noticed, but which is nowhere stated in that history. It is that the risen Saviour showed himself only to disciples, never to unbelievers. The single object of the showing was to secure witnesses enough and of such a character as could testify and as would be credited. Such witnesses could not be found among unbelievers. They could only be found among honest disciples, and that after testimony strong and conclusive enough to overbear their previous honest doubt and unbelief. And the witnesses of Christ's beautiful and blessed life, they who had companied with him during the brief period of his ministry to men, who had known of his condemnation and death by the Cross, who had beheld him arisen and saw him ascend to heaven, these chosen witnesses (of whom Peter was one of the foremost) Christ had commissioned to speak unto all people that which they knew, and to testify that they had seen; and to declare that He, the ascended Redeemer, should finally reappear as the Judge of the quick and dead. Lastly, to complete, confirm, and crown these details of Christ's office-work on earth and in heaven, the apostle declares the sublime end and object of all: that whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. This, he affirms, is the witness of the prophets to Christ, thereby asserting that this is the ultimate supreme fact of the Old and New Testament Gospel. The same Being who is LORD and JUDGE of all is the SAVIOUR of all that trust in Him*. This Lord and Saviour—in his incarnate life of love, his death of shame, and his glorious resurrection and ascension, already often preached to Jewish rulers and people—by express command of God Peter now preached to this first-gathered company of Gentiles. And similar are the results which ensue. 44-48. Gentiles receive the Holy Ghost and are baptized, while Believing Jews stand amazed.—The prayers of Cornelius find now abundant answer. In the preaching of Christ all is revealed that he sought to know and receive. And not the centurion alone, but the whole Gentile company gathered at his call, listened, heeded, believed, and received the offered Saviour. And now, as ofttimes before upon Jewish multitudes, upon these first-fruits of the Gentiles descended the fullness of the power of the Holy Ghost, quickening, converting, and endowing with limited supernatural gifts. It was the Pentecost of the Gentiles, and they also spake with tongues, and magnified the grace of God in their salvation. This outpouring of the Spirit upon pagan hearers is the significant fact emphasized in the whole narrative. All the previous occurrences by miracle and providence had been definitely arranged to give the utmost prominence and significance to the introduction of the Gentiles into the Christian Church. And this mainly to make the deepest impression upon the minds of all Jewish disciples, apostles and Church members alike; to produce an unquestioning conviction that from henceforth the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile was, by God's own purpose and hand, for ever broken down. How much needed was this lesson and how hard it was to learn, striking as it did directly at the heart of a prejudice incorporated for ages in the very fabric of the Jewish mind, we may gather from the entire after-history of the Acts, and from large portions of Paul's leading epistles. The lesson was this: That Judaism was not the way of entrance to Christianity; that the ceremonial rites of the Jewish law were not in any wise conditions of admission to the Christian Church; nay more, that the Mosaic ritual was, in its two chief features, now replaced by two unbloody and simple sacramental symbols, whose significance better suited the new relations of the Church to Christ. Peter learned this now as the lesson of his vision at Joppa, and at once acted upon it. Taking advantage of the amazement and conviction of the Jewish disciples from Joppa, he puts to them the conclusive question of verse 47. "Uncircumcised as they are," he says, "they have received the baptism of God. Shall we refuse them the baptism of man, as appointed by Christ?" And, by the ordinance then administered at his command, Peter there declared, and afterward, upon his recital of the facts, the body of the apostles reaffirmed the declaration, that Gentile believers henceforth were to be received through the simple Christian symbol of baptism alone, and were entitled to full, equal right and privilege in Christian Church membership. B. Suggested Thoughts.—The scale of God's plans is large, and the fulfillment gradual and slow. For fifteen hundred years the Jewish people were the chosen recipients of his special regard and favors. But never for themselves alone. Instruments, favored indeed, but only instruments they were, trained by instruction and discipline, to testify of the one Jehovah, to receive and distribute his Word of Life. Yet, in the later centuries, God had also been training two other nations to take part in the great crisis of human history. Now that the Jewish nation has fulfilled its appointed function, all that is special in God's dealing ceases. Now that Greek and Roman are prepared for God's working in their behalf, above all, now that the time for humanity's divine redemption has fully come, and the work of that redemption is complete, now the promise and the salvation of God takes a breadth and reach that includes all nations. And it is this wide transfer of divine blessings, it is the universal proclamation of the redemption in Christ Jesus, that we read in the occurrence narrated here. Two expressions, found in this story in different connections, seem to be wonderfully adapted for inscriptions in our churches; one on either side-wall, where they may be read from pulpit and pew: We are all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God! Every word is emphatic and quickeningly suggestive. And the other is equally profitable: Who (i. e., God's preacher) shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved! Words that are spirit and life, words from Christ, about Christ, for Christ: words from the Word of Life, accompanied by the living Spirit, which are able to make wise unto salvation. Here we find the design, the sure, the only subject-matter, and right temper of preaching and hearing! Peter's first sermon to Gentiles may be beautifully and effectively summed up in its first and last expressions: Peace by Jesus Christ, Lord of all! Through his name every one who believeth shall receive remission of sins! Peace by pardon—redemption by faith! Now, too, the world, of Jews as well as Gentiles, in heart are craving the message of peace by Jesus Christ, and remission of sins by faith in his name. Now, too, individual souls—and many—like Cornelius are desiring, praying! Shall we not send far and wide the living voice with the living gospel? B. 1. AND the apostles and brethren that were in Judæa heard that the Gentiles had also re- 2 ceived the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of 3 the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and 4 didst eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded 5 it by order unto them, saying, I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four 6 corners; and it came even to me: upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I con- sidered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and 7 fowls of the air. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. But I said, 8 Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. 9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou 10 common. And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. And, 11 behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent 12 from Cassarea unto me. And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. More- 13 over these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: and he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men 14 to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; who shall tell thee words, whereby 15 thou and all thy house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on 16 them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord 18 Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. 19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto 20 the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they 21 were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. 22. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: 23 and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart 24 they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and 25 of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, 26 for to seek Saul: and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. 27. And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one 28 of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth 29 throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren 30 which dwelt in Judæa: which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Bar- nabas and Saul. By cleaving unto Jesus is meant that we hold fast to his religion, abhorring the thought of apostasy—that we adhere to him as the Revealer of truth, avoiding every heresy and error—that we rest upon him by faith as our atoning Priest—that we kneel to him as our King—that we cling to his example—that we keep near him as the source of all spiritual, sanctifying influence—and that we abide in him as our everlasting portion and ultimate good. Abiding in Christ is abiding in his service, walking in his will, doing that which shall please him, and living to his glory. And this derives new force from the consideration that holiness, whether of heart or conduct—in other words, cleaving to the Lord in duty—can by no means be secured, except by cleaving to him in acts of personal faith and affection. J. W. A. Let the central flame of Christian love burn in your hearts with an undying constancy and pureness. Let your sweet charity and patience and peace breathe as a fragrance throughout the society of believers. Let the sustaining and heavenly hope which comes through Christ impart its beauty to your character always, and shine with clear celestial luster throughout your life. Let your self-devoted labors for others reach out to them, and bring both them and us a blessing. Take what of influence from the spheres unseen you here may meet, and make it felt throughout the circles which you affect. Seek first of all in yourselves, at all times, the richest, brightest, most abounding experience of all that which the Spirit of God will work, through the gospel, in the hearts and minds of those who receive him; of all which study, prayer, and effort, beneficent action and the wisest self-discipline, can bring to the soul through Christ its Lord; of all which God imparts in his grace to those whom he chooses for his own. And then let this be spontaneously revealed, in endurance and in action, in your life and on your lips, in all the circumstances in which you may be placed. R. S. S. 1-18. This event was the crown and consummation of Peter's ministry. He who had first preached the resurrection to the Jews, baptized the first converts, and confirmed the Samaritans, now, without the advice or coöperation of any of his colleagues, under direct communication from heaven, first established principles which issued in the complete fusion of the Hebrew and Gentile elements in the Church. It was no mere acquiescence in a positive command, but the development of a spirit full of generous impulses, which found utterance in the words spoken by Peter on that occasion, both in presence of Cornelius and afterward at Jerusalem. But the Church at Jerusalem was slow to learn the lesson involved in the tidings that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. When Peter returned to Jerusalem, he was accused by "those of the circumcision" because he had eaten with the uncircumcised. But his plain narrative of the whole transaction, crowned by the argument that, in the outoutpouring of the Holy Ghost, he had recognized that same baptism of the Spirit which Christ had promised as the sign of his presence with the apostles themselves, silenced every objection, and opened every mouth in praise to God for the great revelation which marks this epoch in the history of the Church: "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." S. We note, here and throughout the Acts, in the record of personal contentions and church divisions, the same ingenuous frankness in telling the story of their own weaknesses and sins, that we read so often and plainly in the gospels. The bearing of this honesty of the sacred writers upon the truth of their writings is obvious. 19-21. The Gospel widely diffused through Persecution. Its first Great Triumph among Gentiles at Antioch.—The work of Christ thus far had only reached the limit of Palestine. As bidden at his ascension, the disciples had begun at Jerusalem, and  [Cyrene was the principal city of that district of northern Africa lying between Carthage and Egypt. It lies on a table-land with descending terraces to the sea. It was a Greek city, with a large settlement of Jews. B.] thence gone into Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Now a signal step in advance is taken; an earnest vital movement is begun among the Gentiles. I take recurs (v. 19) to the fact previously stated (8:4), only specifying regions where the scattered believers went, and the single class of persons (Jews) to whom they preached the Word. The time is indefinite and considerably prolonged. Phenicia, here referred to, was a province of Syria on the Syro-Palestinian coast of the Mediterranean, extending northward from Mount Carmel one hundred and thirty miles in a strip of land bounded by the Lebanon range. It included Tyre, Sidon, Barytus (Beirut), and other cities. Cyprus is the large island, distant sixty miles from the Phenician coast, noted at that period for its productions and commerce, and for the luxury of its inhabitants. (See map, p. 61.) After the dispersion of the disciples at Stephen's death these two populous regions were ultimately reached, and the gospel preached to the Jews. But we learn (v. 20) that some of these preaching disciples, natives of Cyprus and of Cyrene in Lybian Africa, were moved by the Spirit to go to Antioch and there to preach to Greeks. They were prompted, we can hardly doubt, by tidings of what had occurred in Cesarea; for their movement followed close upon Peter's ministry in the house of Cornelius. The method employed was the preaching of a personal Saviour, telling the story of Christ. Peter and Stephen to the Jerusalem Jews, Philip to the Samaritans and the Ethiopian, Peter to the Gentile company of Cornelius, and now these unnamed disciples to the Greeks of Antioch, alike dwelt upon the facts of Christ's person and history. They unfolded the truths of salvation incarnated in his serving life, his suffering death, and his triumphant resurrection and ascension. And as before, so now, "the arm of the Lord is revealed" as directing and energizing this ministry of men; so that "a great number believed and turned unto the Lord." Here we see the one only method of bringing truth and salvation effectually to men: man preaches peace by Jesus Christ, but God inspires and guides the preaching, and makes the truth preached quickening and sanctifying! B. Hence we learn how much was accomplished in the first Christian propagandism by the easy, natural, and spontaneous influence of laymen. The first successes of Christianity in foreign parts were on this wise. Individual believers, dispersed abroad in the providence of God, imparted to others those glad tidings with which their own souls were gladdened. In those passages in the Evangelists and the Acts which relate to the promulgation of the Gospel, we find three several words, all of which are translated into our English word preach. The original word in verse 19 is the very word we should have employed to describe simple conversation. Their hearts were full of Christ, and so they talked everywhere concerning him. It was with them as when the news of some joyful event is abroad in the city; it spreads in advance of all messengers, throbbing along amid high-wrought enthusiasm, reflected from the countenance and repeated from the mouth of all you meet. W. A. 22. Impression made upon the Mother Church in Jerusalem by the Tidings from Antioch.—They had learned that God had also given to the Gentiles repentance unto life. Here God summoned them to behold a great and marvelous work. He put upon them a new and vast responsibility. For Antioch was then one of the three or four greatest cities of the civilized world. Lying on the river Orontes, about twenty miles back from the northeastern angle of the Mediterranean Sea, inclosed by the Taurus mountain range on the north and Lebanon on the east, by its harbor of Seleucia inviting the trade of the great sea, and through the open country beyond Lebanon accessible to the caravans of the East, it had every advantage to attract multitudes of all classes from every portion of the world. It was now the residence of the Roman governors, as it had been the capital of the Syrian kings, from whom it had received grandeur and name. Of great size, with immense and costly public and private structures, with temples, groves, and gardens, attractive with statues and works of art, almost rivaling Rome in extent and variety of its population, and surpassing it in the luxurious abandonment and worthless character of the people, Antioch was at once the most brilliant and the most debased, the greatest and the worst of the Oriental Greek cities under the wide Roman rule. Many Jews had originally settled here, because unmolested in their religion. Under the pressure of their responsibility for helping on the movement of God's Spirit in this great and wicked metropolis, the mother Church at once sent Barnabas thither. We remember him, first as Joses (Acts 4:36), and next as the endorser of Saul to Peter and James. As a native of Cyprus and familiar with Antioch, himself also of Greek  Plan of Antioch. origin, with a transparently beautiful character and high natural and spiritual endowments, the selection and trust were eminently wise. Note here, however, that it is the Church body that sends, not the apostles; and that an unofficial Church member, not an apostle, is sent. From henceforth the apostles act as such only upon certain occasions which call for the exercise of their special commission from Christ. Thus it appears that the offices in the Church by Christ's appointment are limited to specific purposes, and always subordinated to the interests of the body of believers. 23,24. What Barnabas saw, felt, and did at Antioch, and what ensued.—He saw that which he had spiritual vision to discern, and spiritual desire to look upon. He saw the fruits of the grace of God, in a multitude of souls "turned to the Lord," that is, converted. And spiritual vision and desire, through sympathy, naturally begat spiritual joy: He was glad. Yet further, his quick, glad, deep sympathy seeks and finds its true relief in active helpfulness. He enters at once upon a ministry of instructive exhortation. Only the key-note and substance of that exhortation is given us here. But it is very rich and full in its instruction. Earnestly Barnabas counsels those who had turned unto the Lord to cleave unto Him with full consecration (so the word purpose implies) of heart. Cleaving or holding fast is only a keeping turned unto the Lord. Christ is the vital center of trust and of life; and through the heart's cleaving, or close living union, to Him, the soul's attachment and consecration is made firm and enduring. It is the old and always beautiful figure of the vine and its branches. Faith in the living Christ turns the heart to Him; and a grafting of the believer's life into His life holds fast the once-turned heart. But let it be always remembered that, as the graft continues to live by the unceasing transmission of sap from the nourishing stem, so the believer's life is maintained by unbroken communion with Christ. Personal love to a personal Saviour is made living and fruitful by continuous personal communion with Him! This is the one essential truth declared by Christ and by all these primitive preachers in preaching Jesus. The Christlike character of this "Son of Consolation" is here happily embodied in three particulars: his goodness of heart and life; the principle from which that goodness proceeded, faith; and the Divine agent who wrought the inward principle and actuated the outward life—who "worked in him to will and to do." Thus earnestly he taught the newly converted, and his inwrought faith and excellence confirmed his teaching. But the good effects were not limited to disciples. The same truths, so enforced by his manifest character through the Holy Ghost, reached and converted multitudes besides. 25,26. A Year of Ministry in Antioch by Barnabas and Saul.—The hope and prospect of a yet larger ingathering, and the promise of a great and permanent prosperity for the growing Church of Christ, prompted Barnabas to seek help. Naturally he turns to Saul. He had recognized a Divine purpose in Saul's conversion, and he, better than others, appreciated Saul's qualifications for effective ministry. Under divine impulse, therefore, and without conference with the apostles, he sought Saul in his home at Tarsus. Together they return to Antioch, and together minister to the increasing Church for "a whole year." Thus gradually still, and by no appointment of men, is Saul brought into prominence. For not yet has he been specially commissioned by the Holy Ghost and ordained to his world-wide work. And thus simply, by the labors of two unordained disciples, was the mother Church of the Gentiles founded. Thus quietly, without notice or knowledge of men, was established a new and second center around which the great movements of the Church were to circulate. Thenceforth the Church of Antioch held the same relation to Gentile Christianity as that at Jerusalem held to Jewish Christianity. Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.—As a natural consequence, as soon as they were seen to be characterized by something distinctive, as compared with other sects or parties among the Jews, they received a name taken from their peculiar doctrines and practices. And since the faith, the love, and the hope of this body of believers was concentrated upon the person and work of Christ, it was especially appropriate that they should be called Christians. The name, doubtless, originated with the Gentiles, and was distinctive only, given neither in mockery nor opprobrium. B.—This much at least is evident, that they who called themselves His disciples must in a conspicuous manner have separated themselves from those who did not believe the gospel; that not only their regard for Jesus and their assent to his commands, but their confession of the Christ as their Lord and King, was the cause of their receiving such a name. Van O. So from the world the Church received its best descriptive name; from heathen, in a heathen city, believers received their most appropriate and honorable title. "A Latin derivative from the Greek term for the Messiah, it is connected with the office, not the name, of our Lord." The term is derived not from JESUS, the Saviour, but from CHRIST, the anointed of God, referring to His appointed and accepted work. So believers are fellow-workers, not fellow-saviours, with him; Christians not Jesuits. For their work they "have an unction (anointing)  Modern Antioch. from the Holy One." B.—Derived from the three-fold office of Christ, the Anointed One of God, to be Prophet, Priest, and King of the world, the name intimates the obligation of those who bear it to faith in him, to worship through him, and to obedience to him as the Christ, and it also declares their participation in his unction. The name Christian is also a protest against all religious titles derived from human leaders. This name was not given at Jerusalem, but at Antioch, a Gentile city—an intimation of the future diffusion of Christianity throughout the heathen world. W.—Before this, they were called by the Jews Nazarenes, or Galileans; and by each other, disciples, believers, brethren, or saints. But they now assumed the name of their great Leader. D. 27-30. The Predicted Dearth, and the Christian Charity of the First Gentile Church to their Needy Jewish Brethren.—The prophets here referred to were simply men specially inspired with helpful messages of various kinds. This message was a prediction, but its purpose was obviously helpful. The matter of verses 27 and 28 is introduced here only to set forth the charity of the Gentile Church that followed. In that charity, kindred with previous similar acts of the Jewish believers at Jerusalem, we see the unity of the Christian spirit. And what was in the beginning has been, is now, and shall be until need and relief become obsolete terms. Here, each was willing to give, and gave what he could. Judgment and conscience determined the measure of obligation, and each gave heartily; and the combined gift, the first evidence of their fraternal affection, was sent by their teachers, Barnabas and Saul, to Jerusalem. B. One of the two events in the life of Paul which give us sure marks of time, is his journey from Antioch to Jerusalem with Barnabas, on the occasion of the great famine under Claudius, about the time of the death of Herod Agrippa I.—an event which we can fix with certainty to A. D. 44; and the visit itself could not be later than A. D. 45. S.—They carried from Antioch a contribution to sustain the Christians of Jewish origin at Jerusalem through the famine. From Jerusalem, and from Jews, came forth the spiritual things wherewith the Gentiles at Antioch were enriched; they only obey a law of the kingdom when they load the returning train with temporal gifts for Christian Jews in Jerusalem. Such reciprocal charities were eminently fitted to break down the partition walls and blend all believers into one. Arnot. 30. Elders. Hitherto Luke had applied the word to the elders of the Jews; henceforth the Elders are officers recognized in the Church. Thus the Church almost insensibly succeeds to the Synagogue, and supplies its place. W.—The office of presbyter, or elder, was the only permanent essential office of the Jewish church, and as such was retained under the new organization, without any formal institution, and therefore without any distinct mention in the history, such as we find afterward in reference to the organization of the Gentile churches, where the office had no previous existence, and must therefore be created by the act of ordination. J. A. A. 1. Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the 2 church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw 3 it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of un- 4 leavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth 5 to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing 6 of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keep- 7 ers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, 8 Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy 9 garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not 10 that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through 11 one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath de- livered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the 12 Jews. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother 13 of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. And 14 as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told 15 how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she con- 16 stantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued 17 knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place. 18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become 19 of Peter. And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judæa 20 to Cæsarea, and there abode. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's cham- berlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's 21 country. And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and 22 made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, 23 and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. 24 But the word of God grew and multiplied. THE kingdom of God on earth is in real, vital connection with his kingdom in heaven; so that there is—shall we say?—a sympathy between them; so that when a saint is smitten on earth, there is a sensa- tion conveyed to the upper sky. The Lord of saints and angels says, "Saul, why persecutest thou me?", a strange expression of the union of the "King of Glory" and his humble mortal friends! The mighty spirits that he has on high in his service take their share of interest in his kingdom below. Throughout the Scriptures we see them prompt to come down, in aid and in avengement of his oppressed saints. There will be a time when we shall have to go out from the prison-house of mortality, and from the world itself. And let us seriously think what previous course, what habits, what spirit prevailing through our life, will be likely to terminate in our finding such a messenger appointed to be with us at that hour— appointed to be with us, and not to leave us—to accompany us in an immense and amazing journey; that, whereas Peter came to be delightedly and collectively sensible of the grand intervention when he found himself alone in the street, we may become sensible of the wondrous reality of it, by finding ourselves in the presence of saints, and angels, and their supreme Lord! J. F. 1, 2. The Murder of James by Herod Agrippa I.—The three striking incidents of this chapter break for a moment the thread of the history. The connection is restored in the last verse. The killing of James and the taking of Peter occurred in Jerusalem about the time of the journey thither of Barnabas and Saul from Antioch. The closing verse records their return from Jerusalem to Antioch, after fulfilling their ministry as bearers of the first Gentile benefactions. James, the older brother of John and son of Zebedee, was one of the three admitted into the closest intimacy with Christ. Yet concerning him we have scarcely anything distinctive; no record whatever except in connection with his younger brother. And as his life, so his death is entirely unmarked by special record. Like John the Baptist, he was suddenly beheaded by an arbitrary kingly will, to gratify others. In each case the royal murderer was a Herod, son and grandson of the great Herod who slaughtered many children in a vain effort to destroy Christ. James was the first martyr among the apostles. He drank of the Master's cup, and was baptized with his baptism of blood, as Christ had declared; and was the first restored to Christ's abiding fellowship. B. Herod Agrippa I. (here only referred to) was the son of Aristobulus and Berenice, and grandson of Herod the Great. He was sent to Rome on his father's execution, and was brought up with Drusus the son of Tiberius. On the death of Drusus, he found himself excluded from the emperor's presence, and was besides overwhelmed with debt. Returning to Palestine, he obtained through his sister Herodias the protection of Herod Antipas, who made him governor of Tiberias. But a quarrel soon took place, and, after strange vicissitudes and adventures, Agrippa returned to Italy. He attached himself to the young Caius (Caligula), and having been overheard to express a hope for his friend's speedy succession, he was thrown into prison by Tiberius, where he remained till the accession of Caligula, A. D. 37. The new emperor gave him the governments formerly held by the tetracs Philip and Lysanias, and bestowed on him the ensigns of royalty and other marks of favor, and he arrived in Palestine in the following year, after visiting Alexandria. The jealousy of Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias was excited by these distinctions, and they sailed to Rome in the hope of supplanting Agrippa in the emperor's favor. Agrippa was aware of their design, and anticipated it by a countercharge against An- Antipas of treasonable correspondence with the Parthians. Antipas failed to answer the accusation, and was banished to Gaul (A. D. 39), and his dominions were added to those already held by Agrippa. During the brief wild reign of Caligula, Agrippa continued his faithful friend, and used his influence on behalf of the Jews. Having paid the last honors to his patron's remains, he smoothed the path of his successor to the throne by his activity and discretion in carrying messages between the senate and the praetorian camp. Claudius rewarded him with the kingdom of Judea and Samaria, in addition to his tetrarchy, and thus the dominions of Herod the Great were reunited under his grandson (A. D. 41). S. Herod Agrippa had courted the favor of the Jews. He had done much for them, and was preparing to do more. Josephus tells us that "he had begun to encompass Jerusalem with a wall, which, had it been brought to perfection, would have made it impracticable for the Romans to take it by siege; but his death, which happened at Cesarea, before he had raised the walls to their due height, prevented him." That part of the city, which this boundary was intended to inclose, was a suburb when Paul was converted. The work was not completed till the Jews were preparing for their final struggle with the Romans. H. He was the only king after the Great Herod, and the last one that reigned in Jerusalem. His son Agrippa received only a limited and qualified sovereignty. In this persecution of the Church at Jerusalem, Herod simply sought popularity as a means of power. To please the Jews, and aid his own plans, he directed the murder of James. And for the same reason he proceeded to take Peter also. B.—In his recollection of James, no such idea obtruded itself in his mind, as that the martyred apostle had ascended as a "swift witness" against him to the throne of Heaven. Whither he might suppose the departed saint did go, we can not conjecture; but he thought he might send another the same road without danger of ever hearing of it again, except in the demoniac applause of his mob. Peter would be easily found, and taken. He had not absconded from affright at the fate of his fellow apostle. Cowardice in behalf of his Lord had been shown once before; but that was the last time. The death of his great Master, and the love manifested toward Peter after he rose again, had devoted Peter to die for him, whenever fidelity to his cause should require the sacrifice. J. F. 3-5. Imprisonment of Peter and Prayer of the Church.—The arrest occurred early in the week following the paschal supper, during which only unleavened bread was eaten. By Jewish rules criminals could not be executed upon days of festival. Therefore Herod, intending a public execution, kept him until after the Passover feast was concluded. A quaternion was a detachment of four soldiers, constituting a watch. As there were four night-watches of three hours each, four quaternions were required. In the actual guard two were stationed at the gates, and two in the apartment with the prisoner. In Peter's case, a chain from either arm was linked to a soldier on either side. So securely "Peter was kept in prison." "But prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him." This fact is thus prominently set over against the other. Peter's rescue was humanly impossible, as the disciples knew. But they also knew that nothing was impossible with God, and that Peter's danger grew out of his faithful ministry for God. And they believed therefore that God would somehow answer the prayer he had bidden them to offer. So they prayed, earnestly, importunately; desisting not day by day through those remaining days of the trying of their faith. And God, who had delayed both the extreme peril and deliverance of Peter, thus gave the Church opportunity to intercede, and, in the result, occasion to know the efficacy of prayer. The sudden killing of James prevented such intercession for him. The deferring of Peter's death was taken full advantage of, and in the only method of help or hope available to them. 6-11. Peter's Miraculous Release, and his Correct Judgment concerning it.—The time of this release is to be carefully noted. It was not only the night before Herod's proposed public murder, but it was in the fourth watch or during the last three hours of that night. This we know from the fact that the escape was not discovered until the morning, when the fourth watch was relieved. But last night, as it was known to be by Peter, with no outlook of human hope for the morrow, he had laid him down between the two soldiers, and was enjoying the peaceful sleep of God's beloved. Once he had heard the word: "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." With Christ's doing, whatever it should be, he was content. While thus quietly sleeping the sleep of faith, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared beside him, and a supernatural light shone within the room. With strong grasp Peter is awaked and lifted to his feet, while his chains fall silently to the ground. Then, as bidden, he fastens his girdle, binds on his sandals, puts on his cloak or outer garment, and in half stupor follows the angel out. Between the first guard (of sleeping soldiers) and the second, and then through the outer iron gate, without human touch noiselessly opening before them, they pass. Onward through one street the silent angel accompanies the bewildered apostle, then suddenly disappears. By the fresh night air aroused from his bewilderment, Peter at once discerns the divine hand and purpose in his deliverance. His trusted Lord had sent a releasing angel, and thus foiled the purpose of Herod and disappointed the murderous spirit of the Jews. For reasons which we may conjecture, he determines, before concealing himself from Herod's pursuit, to acquaint the disciples with the fact of his miraculous rescue. With this purpose he seeks the house of Mary, Mark's mother, one of the homes where Christian believers were wont to assemble for private worship. The Mark here referred to is the author of the second gospel, and son in the faith to Peter. 12-17. How Peter was received by the Gathered Disciples.—Far as it was into the night, these wrestling seekers were praying still. It was the last night and their last opportunity to pray. For many days and nights their pleas had been ascending, and no answer had come. But not content with asking and seeking, they continued, almost against hope, in knocking at the door of divine mercy, with their urgent entreaty for help. And now while they are still speaking, God's answer, in the person of the released apostle, stands knocking at their house door. Yet, strange to say, when first they are told this by the maid who had responded to the summons and heard Peter's voice, they did not, could not believe. It seemed to them too marvelous to be true. They knew not of the miracle, and expected none; but they knew that nothing save miracle could avail. In their amazement they fell back upon an old popular notion, and said it must be Peter's guardian angel assuming his guise. But God's answer, Peter himself, continued knocking. So in a body, passing through the court to the gate, they open the small door and are amazed to behold the apostle. But he, instantly quieting their outburst of gladness, simply tells the story of his deliverance by the Lord, and they learn how their fervent intercessions have been answered. Their hearts are comforted, and their faith and patience strengthened. Thenceforth more earnestly they can pray; more faithfully labor or trustingly endure for a Lord so mighty and gracious. With a message to James, our Lord's own brother, acquainting him with what occurred, Peter takes leave of these disciples, and, because he knows it is God's will, goes to some place of concealment. And it may be added that Peter now retires finally from whatever prominence he had previously had, while this James presides over the councils of the remaining apostles. B. Peter's work is not ended. He will still labor much, till his last and fruitful labor of martyrdom; but since he has given to the evangelization of the world an impulse which will never be arrested, his part is no longer the same. If henceforth anything distinguishes him, if any preëminence can be claimed for him, it is that of humility. Who can read, who has ever read the letters of this holy apostle, without being struck with this character above all others? Where is the impetuous Simon who strikes the high priest's servant? Where the presumptuous Simon who dares to say to his Lord, "Though all should deny thee, yet will not I deny thee"? Where also is the Simon who denied his Master and his Friend? I now find only a man emptied of himself, and wholly full of his Saviour; a grave, meek, pious, modest servant of God and man; an admirable model of humility and candor. A. V.—He has achieved much—exactly that for which he was fitted. He has stood bravely in the front, and has both led and inspirited the band of disciples in their aggressive work for the Master. But now his special mission is done. Another, more broadly qualified by nature and training, Christ will now take up, to do for Him another larger and as brave a work. B. 20-23. In the fourth year of his reign over the whole of Judea (A. D. 44) Agrippa celebrated some games at Cesarea in honor of the emperor. When he appeared in the theatre on the second day in a royal robe made entirely of silver stuff, which shone in the morning light, his flatterers saluted him as a god; and suddenly he was seized with terrible pains, and being carried from the theatre to the palace, died after five days' agony a loathsome death, like those of the great persecutors Antiochus Epiphanes and his own grandfather. The miraculous and judicial character of his death is distinctly affirmed by the sacred historian: "Immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory." The Greeks of Sebaste and Cesarea, with his own soldiers, showed brutal exultation at his death, and the censure which the riot brought down from Claudius upon the Roman soldiers embittered their feelings toward the Jews to such a degree, that Josephus regards this as one of the chief causes of the Jewish war. S.—After his sudden and miserable death, his whole kingdom was again made a Roman province, ruled by procurators, two of whom, Claudius Felix and Porcius Festus, figure in the Acts of the Apostles. The last procurator was Gessius Florus, under whom the tragical fate of the Jewish nation, so long in preparation, was finally decided. P. S. 23. The angel of the Lord led forth Peter; the angel of the Lord struck Herod. That both acts were done by angels, mortals saw not; it was known only to the saints. Beng.—Luke, as a physician, was qualified to scrutinize natural causes, and was not at all likely to be credulous. He among the evangelists who was least likely to be carried away by a superstitious belief in supernatural agency, has been employed more than any other sacred writer to reveal to us the operations of invisible beings in the history of the Church. W. 24. The death of Herod relieved the Christians from persecution. But in their turn the Jews were troubled. The brief conciliatory rule of Herod was then finally exchanged for the rigorous tyranny of Roman governors. And the Jewish historian notes this providence in Herod's sudden death: that the third wall, which as planned by him would have made Jerusalem almost impregnable to the Roman assault, was left incomplete. So God rules! Peter lives and Herod dies. And the persecuted Church, delivered from the persecutor, again finds rest and prosperity. The Word of God grew and multiplied! Suggested Thoughts.—Christ directs all events in the interest of his people. Neither human nor satanic scheme or endeavor can avail to thwart his purpose or shake his "all power in earth." So all things must work together for good both to the trusting believer and the praying Church. Yet he has his own way in actually bringing good to pass, and uses various ways. Not always one way, or the way that seems to us the wise and suitable way. For he suffers a John Baptist, a Stephen, and a James to be murdered that human malice may be gratified, while he interposes to rescue a Peter and Paul. Yet how clearly do we see that his high and only blessed purpose is equally accomplished by the martyrdom of those and the deliverance of these! And throughout the history of the Christian believer and Church, we read the single sure lesson: that his non-interference or his interference with human schemes is controlled by an unerring wisdom and an unfailing love. An effective practical exposition have we here of Christ's teaching, that men should pray and not faint. Only one other prayer-meeting like this, in the importunity and persistence of the pleaders, do we find in this whole history. That one preceded and helped to bring the Pentecostal baptism. This one secured the very blessing they so fervently and continuously besought. And can any doubt that God hears and answers such prayer from every seeking and knocking two or three gathered in his name? An assuring truth is beautifully suggested in this prison-visit of the angel to the sleeping apostle. Not indeed by conscious spirit-ministers, but by providential interpositions and spiritual suggestions, does every child of God partake his personal watch and guard, and experience many wonderful deliverances. At the end, rather in the beginning of the true life, we shall read his doings now unknown, and adoringly praise his always rescuing and finally delivering grace! B. 25. AND Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark. 1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which 2 had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I 3 have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence 5 they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God 6 in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, 7 whose name was Bar-jesus: which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to 9 turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the 10 Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, and said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways 11 of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a 12 darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, 13 when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. WE enter upon the second great division of the Acts. The first (chs. 1-12) described the advent of the Holy Ghost; and, under his inspiration, the founding of the Christian Church among the Jews of Jerusalem and Judea, and the extension of Christianity into Samaria and among the nearer Gentiles. The chief result among the heathen was the founding of a second prominent Christian Church among the Gentiles of Antioch in Syria. This had been mainly the work of Barnabas and Saul. The second division of the Acts recounts the chief features of the fuller, more distinctive introduction of the gospel among the Gentiles of Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. It follows, therefore, mainly the career of Paul, Christ's special messenger to these Gentile nations. By comparing with this history of Luke Paul's own statements in his epistles, that incomparably signal career may be fully understood. This second half of the book also divides itself naturally into the twelve years of Paul's active missionary work, and his five years of labor in captivity. The twelve years of liberty include his Three Missionary Journeys. Times and periods should be definitely marked as a basis for an intelligent study of these Journeys. The periods and intervals referred to cover a duration of years, where the brief fragmentary accounts seem to indicate months. The First Journey (chs. 12 and 14) probably extended over a period of two years. Then succeeded an interval of two years or longer, spent mainly with the mother Church of the Gentiles at Antioch. Toward the end of this interval occurred the council at Jerusalem, where the great question of the relation of Gentile Christianity to Judaism was decided (ch. 15). The Second Journey (chs. 16-18) occupied about three years; and the Third (chs. 19, 20) almost four years. These are the most probable periods. But it should be remembered that the Book of Acts furnishes no basis for a detailed chronology. The principal dates are largely hypothetical. Paul's conversion is set down by scholars all the way from 33 to 41 A. D. The dates 35 or 37 A. D. are most largely accepted. The interval between his conversion and his setting apart for labor among the Gentiles is also variously estimated. Assuming 46 A. D. as the latter date, this interval, spent in preparation for his great life-work, extended nearly or beyond ten years. B.—Not Jerusalem, but Antioch, not the Holy City of God's ancient people, but the profane city of the Greeks and Romans, is the place to which the student of sacred history is now directed. During the remainder of the Acts of the Apostles our attention is at least divided between Jerusalem and Antioch, until at last, after following Paul's many journeys, we come with him to Rome. H. The relation of Paul to the two great Churches, the Jewish Christian of Jerusalem and the Gentile Christian of Antioch, should be carefully borne in mind. While his personal connection and his labors are exclusively with the Gentile Church, while Antioch is his point of departure and return, yet after every journey he goes also to Jerusalem, and recounts to the mother Church and its leaders the progress of the Divine work. Thus keeping up a close intercourse between the two great centers, he was himself a bond of union to the entire Christian Church. 1-3. The Call and Sending of the First Foreign Missionaries.—Antioch (in Syria), situated at the northeastern angle of the Mediterranean shore, long a flourishing city with a large mixed population, was now the eastern head- Antioch. There was everything in the situation and circumstances of this city to make it a place of concourse for all classes and kinds of people. By its harbor of Seleucia it was in communication with all the trade of the Mediterranean; and, through the open country behind the Lebanon, it  Paul's Gate, from the Interior. (The road from Antioch to Aleppo passes through the ancient gate now called Bab Paulos, or Paul's Gate.) was conveniently approached by the caravans from Mesopotamia and Arabia. It was almost an Oriental Rome, in which all the forms of the civilized life of the empire found some representative. Through the first two centuries of the Christian era, it was what Constantinople became afterward, "the Gate of the East." H. As we have already learned, this great mart of the nations had readily received the gospel, and organized a strong, distinctively Gentile Church; the only one that compared in vigor and efficiency with the mother (Jewish) Church at Jerusalem. Naturally this Gentile Church at Antioch became the starting-point of missionary effort among the Gentiles. The self-development (of course under Divine influence) of this new movement appears in the simple account. B.—We now hear, not of the  Distant View of Antioch, from the Aleppo Road. quarters of Imperial Rome. B.—Antioch was founded by Seleucus, and called after his father's name. He is said to have built in all nine Seleucias, sixteen Antiochs, and six Laodiceas. But by far the most famous of these cities was the Syrian mother Church only, but of churches in other parts. And in this multiplication of churches, let us not fail to observe how the Spirit, in his manifold gifts and strength, asserts his independence of mere official coöperation of men. The founding and ruling of the Church, the orderly assembly of believers, is bound to the appointed offices and officers in the Church; but the spread of the gospel from heart to heart, from the living voice to the pricking conscience, is not thus bound. Every Christian is not a church officer; but every Christian is a witness of Christ, and, if need so be, a missionary of Christ to his brethren. A. It is while the Church and its leaders are engaged in worship and fasting for some special object, that the direction of the Holy Ghost comes to them. Christ's great commission they must often have pondered. The missionary spirit of the gospel, exemplified by the Church at Jerusalem, must have been begotten among them. Their new name of Christians must have impressed a new sense of responsibility for extending the truth and power of Christ among their own peoples. In a word, they must have reached a pondering, questioning state respecting their duty in this matter; and this great question may have been that which engaged them now in special worship and fasting, when the summons of the Holy Ghost was received. How the will of the divine Spirit was made known, does not appear. But it was distinctly communicated. A specific work is referred to, and definite persons are designated as divinely appointed agents in this work. Obedient to the direction, the Church at Antioch, in connection with another service of prayer and fasting, laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and sent them forth upon the first divinely organized mission to the Gentiles. Of the five persons mentioned in the first verse, one, Manaen, is noted by Luke as having been in childhood the foster-brother of Herod Antipas, the murderer of the Baptist, and the mocker at the arraigned and bound Christ. Herod was now a dethroned, wretched exile upon the banks of the Rhone. The note is appended seemingly to emphasize the contrast in character, life, and destiny between the two foster-fellows—one a despiser, the other a disciple, of Christ. In reference to the transaction narrated in the second and third verses, two things are to be carefully observed: 1. This was not Paul's call to the apostleship, but his summons by the Holy Ghost to the exercise of the gifts and functions of that office. The Scriptural facts pertaining to the apostolate of Paul and of the Twelve are strikingly similar. Christ personally called the Twelve, as by miraculous personal manifestation he called Paul. He trained and exercised the Twelve in a preliminary period of instruction and of itinerant practice in preaching, as he similarly trained and practiced Paul. Not until the Twelve were specially endowed with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and were called by Him, did they enter upon the exercise of apostolic functions. And not until Paul was now similarly endowed and called by the Holy Ghost did his work as an apostle begin. Thus Paul's experience corresponds precisely with that of the Twelve. Only his natural gifts and acquired culture were superior, and his special training during his retirement and early ministry occupied a longer period. So that his whole preparation was more thorough and complete, as demanded by the higher, broader work with which he was intrusted by the Master. 2. In this transaction we see also the agency of the Church at Antioch joined with that of the Holy Ghost. This double agency, the human with the Divine, is employed simply and only in connection with a work. This action of the Church had reference to a work to be done by those previously appointed of God to the office. The act of laying on of hands was designed not to confer the Spirit nor to impart authority, but was a sign in recognition of the Spirit's appointment and of his designation to this mission. And for the wisest reasons, the same combined agencies are always demanded in the actual sending forth to the ministry of the gospel. A brotherhood of believers, either directly or through their official leaders and representatives, must have reasonable assurance of a Divine call to the office, before they can properly set apart and send forth any to actual service in the ministry of Christ. And none may rightly go forth to such ministry except through the warrant of such double sending of the Spirit and the Church. So it is said here, that the Church sent them away; yet it is immediately added, "they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed." 4, 5. Their Missionary Ministry is begun at Salamis in the Island of Cyprus.—From Seleucia, fifteen miles distant from Antioch, Barnabas and Saul sailed to Cyprus, landing at Salamis, a chief city on the eastern side. B.—As Antioch had been chosen as the second resting-place of the Church because of its Gentile character, it was natural that the missionaries should be guided by the Holy Ghost, not eastward, to the land of primitive history and of the springs of Judaism, but to the west, where lay the Gentile world with its intellect, and its arts, and its arms, to be won for the gospel of Christ. Westward—but whither? As they stood on the coast looking seaward, the native island of Barnabas lifted its blue hills in the horizon. The guidance of the Spirit fell in with the yearnings of the apostle's heart, and Salamis in Cyprus witnessed the opening of the first missionary teaching. A. Cyprus lay in a through route to Asia Minor, which was the nearest unvisited sphere of missionary labor, and therefore the next in order according to Christ's command. Cyprus itself had long before, probably soon after Pentecost, received the gospel; and Christian disciples were there. Hence no note occurs of any stay or success there on the part of the two missionaries. Of necessity they passed through the island on their way to the mainland, and they labored as they went. They preached exclusively in the synagogues on this island. And everywhere it was Paul's custom to go first to these Jewish centers, and to stay there until his message was openly rejected. Two reasons he had for this course. There were the Jews, ever the objects of  Island of Cyprus. (About 140 miles long, with a breadth of 40 miles for its greater portion.) God's first choice and care, and still, by Christ's command, the first recipients of the glad tidings. And in the synagogues were the Gentile proselytes: men who had renounced heathen notions and practices, and were seeking a knowledge of the true God. These proselytes formed a needed link for a ready transmission of the gospel to the Gentiles. For these reasons, the synagogues afforded the most suitable places and the best opportunities for their Christian ministry. 6-12. The Judgment upon Elymas the Sorcerer, and its Effect upon the Roman Deputy.—Paphos, on the western end of Cyprus, the city where Venus is fabled to have risen from the sea, and noted throughout Greek history as the templed center of her infamous worship, was now the residence of the Roman deputy, or proconsul. Here, and through this chief man, was opened the first door of access to the Gentile world. Luke's accuracy in the use of the differing titles of the Roman provincial governors is instructive. In consolidating his imperial rule, Augustus, that he might leave some semblance of the old republican authority and yet retain exclusive control of the army, divided the numerous provinces into two classes. The government of one class—the provinces where a peaceful administration could be secured without soldiery—he relinquished to the Senate and people. In the title of the governors of these Senatorial provinces, Proconsul, was reproduced the name of Consul, which had long represented the Senate's administrative power. The second class of provinces was known as the Imperial, and of these Cesar retained absolute control. In these were quartered bodies of military under the command of Cesar's governor. As the Emperor's representative, this governor was called Procurator, from a name (Prætor) long the symbol of supreme personal authority and of military command. He was also called in the larger provinces (as in Syria) the Legate, or commissioner of the Emperor; and in subordinate districts (as in Judea) the Procurator, or high steward. All these distinctions are accurately noted by Luke in both "treatises." Here the term used indicates a proconsul of a senatorial province. And we learn that in 27 B. C. Cyprus had been relinquished by Augustus to the control of the Senate. This Sergius Paulus is characterized as a man of intelligence. Yet, like many of the Roman patricians of his time, he was credulous because bred in superstition. Reaching out on every side for a larger knowledge of hidden things, he encouraged pretenders to occult learning and professors of the magic arts. Such a one is introduced to us here, a renegade Jew and an impostor, falsely claiming superhuman inspiration and the power of magical working. From him the deputy turns away to these new teachers, in his unsatisfied thirst for a fuller disclosure of truth. Seeing how strongly the proconsul is impressed by the words of the apostles, this Bar-jesus (in the Arabic form, Elymas), the magian or wise man (rather than sorcerer), interposed with sophistries and denials to counteract the effect of truth from heaven. But this form of opposition, like that of violent persecution, is also overruled by God as a means of greater good. Where truth and falsehood are in open conflict, as here, the result is never doubtful; for truth is God's, and He will maintain its supremacy. An issue so sharply made, between the two respective agents of the Evil Spirit and of the Holy Ghost, needs at this important juncture an instant and decisive settlement. Therefore, by inspiration, Paul in the presence of the governor at once denounces this Bar-jesus, or son of the Saviour, as the child of the devil. This apostate Jew, who was accounted by cultured yet deceived Romans as a revealing seer and sage, the apostle charges with an excess of deceit and mischief; declaring that he is an enemy and perverter of all truth and righteousness. And he pronounces God's instant judgment upon his daring impiety in withstanding the truth. The fulfillment of this judgment of temporary blindness followed. So the evil spirit in the person of Elymas was vanquished by the good through the agency of Paul. And the punishment so suited to the offense—the seeking to blind others—suited too to the reformation of the offender, was also adapted to impress and convince the lookers-on. It so affected the governor that he received the word of Paul as the word of life. Whether he became a personal convert and Christian disciple, we are not informed; but the inference that he did so acknowledge Christ is a reasonable one. The fact, merely, of the apostle's change of name, from Saul to Paul, is here stated. So long as restricted to labor among the Jews, he retained the Hebrew name, Saul. Throughout his apostolic ministry to the Gentiles, he was known under the Latin and Hellenistic equivalent name of Paul. The change is noted here at the turning-point of his life and work, in direct connection with the first prominent Gentile convert. As double names are common in the New Testament among Jewish disciples, both names may have been his from infancy. But from thenceforth onward, upon the name and ministry of PAUL is concentrated the deepest thought, the highest, most grateful appreciation of Christian believers in every age. 13. From Cyprus to Perga. Return of John Mark.**—From the island home of Barnabas they sailed northward to the mainland of Asia Minor; up the river Cestrus seven miles to Perga, in the district or province of Pamphylia. This region adjoined Cilicia, in whose chief city Paul was born; and in the principal portions of which he had previously labored among the Jews. It is no longer Barnabas and Saul, but Paul and his company, or those around him; intimating his new central position and prominence, which continued to the end of his career. John, whose surname was Mark (the author of the gospel), had accompanied Barnabas and Saul on their return from Jerusalem to Antioch. As their assistant he had gone with them through Cyprus and as far as Perga. Now he leaves them for his mother's home at Jerusalem. Whether discouraged at the prospect of privation and peril, or dissatisfied with the transfer of leadership from his uncle, Barnabas, to the younger Paul, or whether the double attraction of an older and stronger attachment, to his mother and to Peter his father in the faith, drew him back to Jerusalem, can not be determined. That Barnabas justified his departure, while Paul regarded it as unjustifiable, we learn from the subsequent quarrel and separation of these two missionaries, occasioned by Mark's withdrawal. The incident with its sequel illustrates the old lesson of human infirmity as characterizing the best of Christian men. It is pleasant to know that afterward Mark worked so heartily with Paul that, at the close of his ministry, this apostle expressed his highest esteem for the evangelist, and the warmest appreciation of his helpfulness. B. 1. Greek Element in the Providential Preparation.**—Two of the monarchical lines, descended from Alexander's generals, were the Ptolemies, or the Greek kings of Egypt, and the Seleucidæ, or the Greek kings of Syria. Their respective capitals, Alexandria and Antioch, became the metropolitan centers of commercial and civilized life in the East. Both became the residences of Roman governors, and both were patriarchates of the primitive Church. But before they had received either the Roman discipline or the Christian doctrine, they had served their appointed purpose of spreading the Greek language and habits, of creating new lines of commercial intercourse by land and sea, and of centralizing in themselves the mercantile life of the Levant. The Acts of the Apostles remind us of the traffic of Antioch with Cyprus and the neighboring coasts, and of the sailing of Alexandrian corn-ships to the more distant harbors of Malta and Puteoli. Of all the Greek elements which the cities of Antioch and Alexandria were the means of circulating, the spread of the language is the most important. That language, which is the richest and most delicate that the world has seen, became the language of theology. The Greek tongue became to the Christian more than it had been to the Roman or the Jew. H.—Those remains which have come down to us are especially rich in the expressions of spiritual truth, and in terms which are adapted to illustrate the Bible, so that, though the doctrines of the gospel are new and divine, hardly a term required to be modified in order to adapt this language to the purpose of expressing them. In the time of Christ whatever was written in Greek became accessible to all who, by their religion (as the Jews), or their intelligence (as the Greeks), or their power (as the Romans), gave character to their age, or conferred distinction on their nation. J. A. 2. The Roman Element.**—Rome's dominion was not a pervading influence exerted by a restless and intellectual people, but it was the grasping power of an external government. The idea of law had grown up with the growth of the Romans; and wherever they went they carried it with them. Wherever their armies were marching or encamping, there always attended them, like a mysterious presence, the spirit of the city of Rome. Universal conquest and permanent occupation were the ends at which they aimed. Strength and organization were the characteristics of their sway. Greek science and commerce were wafted by irregular winds from coast to coast; but Roman legions, governors, and judges advanced along Roman roads, which pursued their undeviating course over plains and mountains, and bound the city to the farthest extremities of the provinces. When all parts of the civilized world were bound together in one empire—when one common organization pervaded the whole—when channels of communication were everywhere opened—when new facilities of traveling were provided—then the Messiah came. The Greek language had already been prepared as a medium for preserving and transmitting the doctrine; the Roman Government was now prepared to help the progress even of that religion which it persecuted. The manner in which it spread through the provinces is well exemplified in the life of Paul: his right of citizenship rescued him in Judea and in Macedonia; he converted one governor in Cyprus,  was protected by another in Achaia, and was sent from Jerusalem to Rome by a third. 3. The Jewish Element: The Dispersion.—As the intellectual civilization of the Greeks and the organizing civilization of the Romans had, through a long series of remarkable events, been brought in contact with the religious civilization of the Hebrews, so the dispersion of the Jewish people made this contact almost universal in every part of the empire. Their dispersion began early, though early and late their attachment to Judea has always been the same. The first scattering of the Jews was compulsory, and began with the Assyrian exile, when, about the time of the building of Rome, natives of Galilee and Samaria were carried away by the Eastern monarchs; and this was followed by the Babylonian exile, when the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were removed at different epochs. H.—In Babylon and the neighboring region a multitude of them had remained after the close of the captivity. A colony of them had been planted at Alexandria by its founder, and there they became so numerous as to occupy two out of the five sections of the city, but were not confined to these quarters. In Egypt, in the first century of our era, there were not less than a million of Jews, constituting an eighth part of the population of the country. In the flourishing city of Cyrene they formed a large portion of the inhabitants. Nowhere, outside of Palestine, was the Jewish population more numerous than in Syria and Asia Minor. At Antioch they constituted a powerful body, and enjoyed there privileges analogous to those of their brethren at Alexandria. From Syria they passed over into Asia Minor, forming settlements in all the principal towns. Besides the natural emigration from Syria, Antiochus the Great had transplanted to that region two thousand Jewish families from Mesopotamia. Among other places, Ephesus and Tarsus were noted seats of Jewish communities. In Crete, Cyprus, and other islands, there were synagogues crowded with worshipers. From Asia the Jews had found their way into the cities of Macedonia and Greece. Athens, Corinth, Thessalonica, Philippi, are among the places where were Jewish settlements. Jews were found in Illyricum, and early penetrated to the northern coasts of the Black Sea. The Jewish prisoners brought by Pompey to Rome afterward received their freedom. The district across the Tiber was principally occupied by them. An embassy of Herod to Augustus is said to have been accompanied by eight thousand Jewish residents of Rome. Among other towns of Italy, Caprca, and especially Puteoli, are known to have had a Jewish population. Apart from permanent residents of Hebrew extraction, Jewish merchants made their way to every place in the Roman Empire where there was any hope of profit from trade. Thus the Palestinian community, though still the religious center of all the Jews, comprised within its limits only a portion of this ubiquitous nation. Capable of making a home for himself anywhere, the Jew was specially adapted to the state “which was to be built on the ruins of a hundred living polities.” G. P. F.  Provinces of Asia Minor. (There are twelve divisions of Asia Minor commonly recognized. Three were on its southern coast, Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia; three on its western, Caria, Lydia, Mysia; three on its northern, Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Pontus; and three in the interior, Cappadocia, Galatia, Phrygia. Caria, Lydia, and Mysia constituted the Roman province of Asia, and it is in this limited sense that the word Asia is used in the New Testament—e. g., Acts 2:9; 16:6, 7. The seven churches in Asia (Rev. 1:4) accordingly were in this region, viz.: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, though the last named was in Phrygia, and therefore farther inland than the rest. W. H. G.—After the Roman provincial system was established in Asia Minor, the boundaries of the provinces were variable. The two districts, Pisidia and Lycaonia, mentioned Acts 13 and 14, were politically attached to one or other of the contiguous provinces. Yet each had its chief town, which had been its capital: Antioch in Pisidia, and Iconium in Lycaonia. B.) 14. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the 15 synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye 16 have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning 17 with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in 18 the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. And about the time of 19 forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven 20 nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the 21 prophet. And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of 22 Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine owe heart, which shall fulfil all my will. Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead: and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: but he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. THE promise goes beyond "pardon," and proclaims "justification" as the portion of every man who believes. When "justified" as well as "pardoned," we are taken up to the level of the unfallen and sinless; nay, we are treated according to the character and deservings of Him through whom the justification comes. We are made to stand where he stands, and to receive the righteous favor which he receives. Yes; we are justified from all things. Our whole person is accepted; and everything, great or small, that was against us is taken out of the way. All this simply in believing! Not working, nor feeling, nor striving, nor wrestling, but simple believing. It is our believing that introduces us into the condition of justified men; it is this believing that God acknowledges; it is this believing that the conscience responds to; for that which we believe is the one justifying thing, the one thing which is well-pleasing to God, and which pacifies the conscience. We have to do with a propitiation completed on the Cross. In crediting God's testimony to that propitiation, we have pardon; and in accepting the promise annexed to the testimony, we know that we have it; because God is true. Bonar. 14. The Pisidian Antioch lay a hundred miles north of Perga, on the central table-land. Like the Syrian Antioch, it was founded by Seleucus Nicator, one of the four successors to Alexander's divided kingdom, and named after his father, Antiochus. It was a considerable city, and had been made by Augustus a Roman colony. Its previous history, and the added distinction conferred upon it by the emperor, together with its connections with the east and west, rendered it a point of great importance in the extension and establishment of the Christian Church. Here, as in every considerable place in the Roman Empire, Jews formed part of the population, with Greeks, Romans, and natives. And, though few (as indicated by their single synagogue), they possessed great influence, and had made many proselytes, especially among Gentile women. This marked influence of the Jews appears in all the events of Paul's missionary career. On the first Sabbath in Antioch the Christian missionaries, as usual, first sought the synagogue. B. 15,16. There are certain traditional peculiarities which have doubtless united together by a common resemblance the Jewish synagogues of all ages and countries. The arrangement for the women's places in a separate gallery, or behind a partition of lattice-work; the desk in the center, where the reader, like Ezra, may "open the book in the sight of all the people"; the carefully closed Ark (on the side of the building nearest to Jerusalem) for the preservation of the rolls or manuscripts of the law; the seats all round the building, whence "the eyes of all them that are in the synagogue" may be "fastened" on him who speaks; the "chief seats," which were appropriated to the "ruler" or "rulers" of the synagogue, according as its organization might be more or less complete—these are some of the features of a synagogue, which agree at once with the notices of Scripture, the descriptions in the Talmud, and the practice of modern Judaism. On their entrance into the building, the four-cornered Tallith was first placed like a veil over the head, or like a scarf over the shoulders. The prayers were then recited by an officer called the "Angel" or "Apostle" of the assembly. The sacred roll of manuscript was handed from the Ark to the Reader by the Chazan, or "minister," and then certain portions were read according to a fixed cycle, first from the Law and then from the Prophets. The Reader stood while thus employed, and all the congregation sat around. The manuscript was rolled up and returned to the Chazan. Then followed a pause, during which strangers or learned men who had "any word of consolation" or exhortation rose and addressed the meeting. And thus, after a pathetic enumeration of the sufferings of the chosen people or an allegorical exposition of some dark passage of Holy Writ, the worship was closed with a benediction and a solemn "Amen." To such a worship in such a building a congregation came together at Antioch in Pisidia on the Sabbath which immediately succeeded the arrival of Paul and Barnabas. Proselytes came and seated themselves with the Jews; and among the Jewesses behind the lattice were "honorable women" of the colony. The two strangers entered the synagogue, and, wearing the Tallith, which was the badge of an Israelite, "sat down" with the rest. The prayers were recited, the extracts from "the Law and the Prophets" were read, the "Book" returned to the "Minister," and then we are told that "the rulers of the synagogue" sent to the new-comers, on whom many eyes had already been fixed, and invited them to address the assembly, if they had words of comfort or instruction to speak to their fellow Israelites. The very attitude of Paul, as he answered the invitation, is described to us. He "rose" from his seat, and, with the animated and emphatic gesture which he used on other occasions, "beckoned with his hand." H. 17-39. In its method, this first recorded discourse of Paul resembled that of Peter at Pentecost, and the defense of Stephen. Each of the three speaks as a Jew to Jews; takes the Jewish history and Scriptures as the basis of the doctrines advanced; specially refers to God's choice and conduct and care of Israel, and to the prophetic revelation of a Messiah to come and to suffer; and each declares that the Messiah has come, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; that he has suffered death and has risen again through the power of God. Paul here outlines the history until David's reign; then abruptly turns from it because he has reached his theme, God's crowning mercy and promise to David, the actual advent of Messiah. He cites the Baptist's testimony (as one well known and accredited by all Jews as a prophet) to Christ's true and sole Messiahship. Then he preaches Jesus and the resurrection, and adds a clear announcement of the central doctrine of Christianity, justification by faith. More sharply than either Peter or Stephen, he contrasts the latter with justification by law. 26-37. "The Word of Salvation" includes the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus.—To you the saving word is sent, he says emphatically, for your sacred prophecies, being exactly fulfilled in his death and resurrection, demonstrate that Jesus is indeed the long-desired Messiah and Redeemer. Yet, he adds with reference to both the crucifiers and the friendly buriers of Christ, unwittingly they fulfilled all that was written of him; and this although the words of the prophets were heard by them every Sabbath. He does not excuse the rulers' guilt, neither does he sharply denounce it. His aim seems to be to press upon his hearers their deeper responsibility in now receiving this knowledge which Christ's crucifiers did not so clearly possess. With the statement of the two facts (of crucifixion and the resurrection as disclosed in their Scriptures), he proceeds with a broader sweep of thought and in warmer tones of personal feeling to press this word of salvation, or these glad tidings, upon them. Not only was this the tenor of prophetic disclosure, but the sacrificial death and the resurrection, the eternal life and reign of Jesus comprised the very substance and complete fulfillment of God's original and oft-repeated promise to the fathers. This grand point Peter and Stephen had made. From first to last Paul insists upon it. By sacrifice and ceremonial, by prophecy and promise, in history and psalm, through symbol and fact, through dark saying and plain, the entire Old Testament revelation comprises, as its one only theme, Messiah, the Son of God and Son of man, the self-moved offerer, the divinely appointed and accepted offering for the sin of man. His voluntary death, His self-resurrection, His quickening power and eternal sovereignty—these are included in the promise of mercy first to Adam, afterward to Abraham and his descendants, emphatically to David; these comprise the substance of all ancient revelation. They are the facts upon which we rest, and which make the Old Testament one promise of glad tidings, still of vital force and value to all who receive the Christ of God. So Paul teaches here, and so we must believe. In verses 33 to 37, referring to prophetic promises in the psalms seemingly made to David and concerning him, he shows their higher reference to the resurrection of David's Lord and Son. As matching his own purpose here, in citing from the second psalm (v. 33), we may take Paul's assertion that Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection of the dead." He shows from further passages that after resurrection Christ shall never die again (as David died and saw corruption), but will live and reign eternally. And in the light of this Messiah's unchangeableness of being, he illustrates the certainty of the mercies promised through him. In all these citations and statements, Paul is only adding to and enforcing the Scriptural proofs of Christ's resurrection and abiding life, because this was the main fact to be substantiated; first, as having been foretold, and next, as having been fulfilled. Upon this, as Paul elsewhere plainly asserts, hangs the entire truth of Christianity, and the sole hope of guilty man. 38, 39. Remission of Sins and Complete Justification from the Condemning Hold of Law, the Sure Result of Faith in this Crucified, Risen, and Reigning Redeemer.—In these and the previous verses we find the germ thoughts of the Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians. The manner in which Paul introduces this root doctrine of justification by faith is in keeping with its vital character. He uses a form of bold and earnest proclamation. He assumes the fact of their sinfulness. He says nothing directly of the way of forgiveness and justification. This he has distinctly hinted at in announcing Christ's death and resurrection as glad tidings, and as the fulfillment of God's great promise of mercy. But he emphasizes the fact that there is re- remission of sin, and deliverance from the law's condemnation, in Christ, through His achieved redemption. Forgiveness and remission of sins "through this one" (not this man) had been already preached by Peter and others. But they had said nothing about being justified, about a sinner's being accounted righteous, or treated by God as though he were righteous. Righteousness was the great text and theme of the Pharisees. But until this convert from their ranks uttered these words (v. 39), the true relation of a sinner to the law of perfect righteousness had not been expressly stated by any Christian teacher. Scholars are agreed in charging a translation (v. 39) which seems to teach that the law does justify from some things, and Christ makes up the deficiency. Contrary to this, Paul says: "From all [sins], from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses, by Him every one who believes is justified." The law justifies from none! Christ justifies the believer from all! Therefore all effort to keep the law as a means of divine acceptance is both useless and evil. Faith, which Christ calls a work, "the work of God" (or that God commands), a simple utter reliance upon His mercy in Christ, this is our part and our only part in the supreme matter of being accounted righteous and so treated by Him. And this grand vital principle of justification by the heart's faith, now first clearly proclaimed, really gave to the sacrificial system of Moses all its meaning and utility. The sin-offering, prescribed and presented under the law to expiate even the smaller offenses, implied as the condition of its efficacy an underlying sorrow for the offense, and a reliance upon the mercy that accepted a substitute sufferer in the offender's place. So, strictly speaking and most truly, the law of itself could do nothing for forgiveness or justification. The lawgiver's act alone accepted a substitute for the offender. Thus the Old Testament and the New are in accord upon this vital matter. The Jew, standing upon the ceremonial law of Moses, finds there the New Testament principle of forgiveness through a substituted sacrifice. Only in the ancient offering the victim was a typical one, and a true spiritual deliverance lay in the offerer's faith that God would provide a real and sufficient sacrifice. Thus far in this first discourse (of which we have at least a complete outline) Paul proves the facts of the gospel from their familiar Scriptures. Earnestly he proclaims Christ's sacrificial death, resurrection, and eternal life, as God's fulfilled promise of grace, and therefore as glad tidings. And he urges their acceptance of this word of salvation, their personal trust in Christ, in order that they may be delivered from the law's condemning power. Jesus Christ, he says, is the Messiah of ancient promise. In exact fulfillment of your inspired prophecies, He lived and died, He rose and lives for ever! Then, believe in Him! Or, if you will not believe, then beware! His closing word of warning, which, like Peter, he foreknows will be needful, is taken from Hab. 1 : 5. The original prediction had been fulfilled by the Chaldees upon their fathers. He uses it again, thus strongly enforced by one fulfillment, to impress the tremendous peril impending over them. In little more than twenty years its second fulfillment came upon the whole Jewish people, for they renewed their rejection of God's mercy in the person and saving work of His own incarnate, risen, and reigning Son. 42, 43. The Earnest Request and the Private Conference that followed Paul's First Discourse.—According to the better reading, all who had heard (as they were leaving the synagogue) besought him to repeat his teaching on the next Sabbath. This request showed an intense interest on the part of the body of Jews and Gentile proselytes in the new doctrine of Paul. In many of both classes, so strong was their instantaneous faith, that they followed Paul and Barnabas to their tarrying-place, in order to receive further instruction. At once recognizing the grace of God that had wrought the faith, the missionaries simply but fervently exhorted these infant converts to continue trusting in and looking for the same Divine grace. This phrase, "grace of God," is here first presented in the large sense of reconciliation and redemption by Christ's saving work. In connection with a reliance upon this grace, the converts were also counseled to distrust and avoid self-righteous attempts at legal obedience. And the whole exhortation was in accordance with the great truths of Paul's discourse. 44, 45. The Immense Gathering of Pagan Gentiles, and the Consequent Envy and Malice of the Jews.—The intervening week had been one of general discussion of the strange doctrines, by all classes in the city. So, when the next Sabbath came, the apostles were greeted with an immense multitude of pagans anxious simply to hear the wonderful words which had been reported. They hungered for truth—"to hear the word of God"; for no mention is made of a single miracle, by which they might have been attracted. And this moving of almost a whole city was the effect of a single sermon, and of its widespread report by Gentile proselytes. Was not this ample assurance that God's time had come, and His purpose in the conversion of the Gentiles was now to be fulfilled? But the Gentile multitudes, whose presence rejoiced the hearts of the missionaries and their true disciples, only stirred the Jews to envy. B.—Their spiritual pride and exclusive bigotry was immediately roused. They could not endure the notion of others being freely admitted to the same religious privileges with themselves. This was always the sin of the Jewish people. Instead of realizing their position in the world as the prophetic nation for the good of the whole earth, they indulged the self-exalting opinion, that God's highest blessings were only for themselves. H.—And yet their own prophets had declared that the Messiah, "the glory of his people Israel," was also "a light to lighten the Gentiles." Now, inflamed by jealous envy and arrogance, with passionate violence of speech, they railed at and so blasphemed "the word of God spoken by Paul." 46, 47. The First Plain Announcement of God's New "Election" of the Gentiles.—The apostles meet the calumnies and blasphemies of the fanatical Jews with bold and sharp reply. "This Messiah whom you reject," say they, "bade us first utter the word of salvation to you. But since you will not receive it, since by your own act in deliberately rejecting it, you count yourselves unworthy of eternal life, He bids us turn to those who are now heeding his call." The words of self-pronounced verdict have only the simple but terrible severity of truth. They do but anticipate the self-conviction of all once enlightened but finally lost souls in the day of final judgment. They have judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life! Paul and Barnabas turned from the Jews to the Gentiles in Antioch. And in many other places, this turning was subsequently repeated, and similar scenes were enacted. And now, for more than eighteen hundred years, God's covenant people have turned from their own Messiah, and "through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles." Yet we know that God hath not utterly "cast away his people" (Rom. 11). They shall be restored to the faith and joy of God, and be incorporated into the grand spiritual kingdom of Messiah on the earth. And, as in the earlier ages they were chosen as the medium of conveying God's light and promises to the world, so in the later ages their conversion shall furnish a sure testimony to the consummation of all prophecy and promise, in the latter-day glory of Messiah as King over all peoples. 48, 49. This Antioch, also, became the center of a widespread and mighty Christian movement under the joint labors of the two apostles and their new disciples. "Throughout all that region the word of the Lord was published." By so extended and successful a work among the Gentiles, first in the city, and afterward in the country around Antioch, did the Holy Ghost honor the very outset of their mission. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed. The word here employed signifies more than mere disposition or preference. It includes the idea of determination. And the passive form of the word shows that this determination is exercised upon the subject by another. That other can only be, clearly is, God, who “worketh in” the believer “to will and to do.” The fact here asserted is the divine disposing of these Gentile believers to eternal life. In this, as in other fuller and more explicit teachings, the intimation is conveyed that all things pertaining to salvation, like all proviprovidences bearing upon the earthly life, are ordered and arranged according to the purpose and by the power of God. Believing, then, is the effect of no accident or whim of man, of no purpose originating with man, unmoved from without. “No man can come to me,” said Christ, “except the Father draw him.” Rightly apprehended and gratefully received, this is a most inspiring and comforting truth. But the connected truth, indicated in the injunction “Work out your own salvation,” though not referred to here by Luke, always finds place in the exposition of God’s working in us. For it intimates that the divine ordering neither annuls nor directly counteracts man’s own agency in the matter of salvation, any more than in providences affecting the outward life. Every believer knows that he was won, not arbitrarily forced, to submission to the wiser, better will of God. Except the power of divine grace had first persuasively drawn his heart, he never would have submitted; so that gratitude was blended with gladness in his blessed experience of being “made willing.” Both truths—God’s determining or working in us, and our yielding yet working out our own salvation—are clearly revealed; the one to impress the supremacy of divine grace, the other to enforce the sense of human responsibility. And the opposite results, of faith and unbelief, may be thus summed up: God’s determination, with which man’s will is in unison, admits to the everlasting kingdom; while man’s own sole inclination and decision excludes from the kingdom. And the personal consideration may be added, that though we can not harmonize the two revealed facts, of God’s ordination to life and man’s uncontrolled choice of life or death, yet any and every one may practically reconcile them by believing! 50-52. Persecution, instigated by the Jews of Antioch, led the Two Missionaries to Iconium.—This first great success aroused great opposition. So it was ever afterward. “A wide door and many adversaries,” is Paul’s terse statement of a uniform fact in his entire experience. The chief cause of offense, in this and subsequent persecutions, was not the preaching of the Cross and the Resurrection. It was the extension, directly and without any condition, to the Gentiles of the divine privileges and promises exclusively claimed by the Jews. This enraged both Jews and  Antioch in Pisidia. proselytes, when they saw the Christian movement spreading widely and the Christian doctrine taking root among the people. It was easy to stir up the female proselytes, and natural to incite them to employ their great influence with the leading men to oppose this new and hated religion. And this fact, often repeated in Paul’s history, finds singular corroboration in the statement of a writer (Strabo) familiar with the region of western Asia. He expressly states that in religious opinions the influence of the women was controlling with the men. From the systematic persecution thus brought against the apostles, they retired to Iconium, on the western border of Lyconia, and on the confines of Pisidia, Galatia, and Phrygia. Not through fear, but in accordance with the express instructions of Christ, they withdrew, in companionship with their invisible Lord. But the persecution that compelled them to flee did not harm the Church they had planted. The same Lord who went with the rejoicing apostles to Iconium, remained with the new disciples at Antioch; so that they, too, were filled with joy in the Holy Ghost. Persecution can not injure the cause or set back the course of truth. The periods of sorest trial have often been those of greatest progress to the Church. Opposition stimulates true Christian principle; it nerves courage and strengthens faith by evoking the prayer that brings the power of the Holy Ghost. B. 1. And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, they were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about: and there they preached the gospel. 8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: the same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them. 19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia: and thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the disciples. STILL, as at first, through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven. To that end even our glorious Leader, the Captain of our salvation, is "made perfect," not in the infinite and eternal perfection of his nature, but in the perfectness of his condescending incarnation and mediatorial sympathy—made perfect "through suffering." Sublime mystery of God! Gracious wonder of our redemption! Why should we complain of the sorrow that we ourselves, by our disobedience, have created? of the sorrow that ends, not begins, our real misery? the sorrow that is as much the needed pathway and natural preparation of the joy of immortality with our Lord—joy that no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived—as the night is the needed preparation of the morning, or hardship the natural path from the wilderness of the far country to the peace of the Father's house? F. D. H. 1-4. The district of Lycaonia extends from the ridges of Mount Taurus and the borders of Cilicia on the south to the Cappadocian hills on the north. It is a bare and dreary region. Of the whole district, Iconium was properly the capital; and the plain round Iconium may be reckoned as its great central space, situated midway between Cilicia and Cappadocia. This plain is spoken of as the largest in Asia Minor. H.—Iconium was a populous city on the western border of Lycaonia, on a main line of communication between east and west. It has had a signal history since, and still exists as Konich. Its extended connections and intrinsic importance led the apostles to remain for some months, until driven away by the persecuting Jews. (See map, p. 94.) As at Antioch, the missionaries preached for a "long time" in the synagogue at Iconium. By the grace of Christ (here and throughout the Acts referred to as the Lord), they were enabled so to speak that a great multitude believed. More than this, the  Konich—Ancient Iconium. same Lord, in testimony of his presence, confirmed their words by miracles "done by their hands." Only here, and some years after at Ephesus, was this special confirmation of many miracles granted to Paul's ministry. In each of these cases, as in every single miracle, there was special call and fitness. 5-7. The wide division of sentiment among the entire population, which followed the long-continued faithful preaching of the apostles, shows what great results that preaching had wrought. Here the Jews succeeded in engaging the rulers and influential Gentiles in the persecution of Paul and Barnabas. Warned of the purpose to assault and stone them, the apostles fled to Lystra, in the interior wilds of Lycaonia. They fled, not from fear, but in obedience to their Lord's direction to continue their work elsewhere. But the seed was largely sown in Iconium. In some hearts it was left to grow; in others, the very persecution that drove the apostles away led to questionings and stirrings of conscience. So opposition helps, as well as hinders, a good cause. At Lystra, and afterward in Derbe, where were no Jews (therefore no synagogue), and but few of the more cultivated Greeks, "they preached the Gospel" for another considerable period. (See map, p. 94.) 8-10. Healing of the Life-long Cripple at Lystra.—Like the man at the Temple gate, similarly healed by Peter, this one had never walked. Aside upon some thoroughfare, he was sitting—not begging, for he asked no alms. At that point, among others, Paul chanced to preach. The man not only heard, but his heart was opened, like Lydia's, to receive the words spoken by Paul. This the apostle saw, when his attention was drawn by the man's intent gaze. And it was in response to the faith in Christ which he discerned in the man's soul, that Paul, in the very spirit and manner of the Master, and under His inspiration, bade him test his faith by the attempt to stand upright. The test was sustained, and the man not only stood, but leaped and walked. The miracle was twofold: The withered members were made perfect, and without any previous practice he instantly put them to their highest exercise and use. So the man's faith led to the healing of the body, in addition to the saving of the soul. It was one of Christ's own familiar works, only done invisibly, through the instrumentality of his honored apostle. 11-13. Worship offered to Paul and Barnabas.—Besides the beneficent effects of the miracle upon the man himself, and in the assurance afforded to the new disciples, it greatly excited the rude superstitious people. Their gods were only deified men; and Jupiter, the mightiest among them, was the tutelary or protecting deity of their city. As was customary, they had honored him by erecting either temple or statue, or both, outside but near the main gate. Mercury was the frequent companion of Jupiter in his expeditions to the earth. According to a then current legend (given at length by Ovid), these two divinities had visited in disguise Lycaon, from whom the name of the district was derived. It was natural, therefore, that this people should think that Jupiter and Mercury had come again to them in the likeness, or disguised forms, of Barnabas and Paul. 14-18. The Missionaries' Intense Repulsion of such Worship, and Paul's Fervid Address.**—Rending their garments, as the strongest, most convincing expression of grief and horror, they ran in among priests and people. Then, as soon as attention was gained, Paul first earnestly expostulates, and then preaches such a gospel as they could understand. "We, too, are but men like yourselves, subject to all manner of suffering and disease, and to death! We come not here to receive divine honor, but to tell you of the true God!" From their unreal gods—"their vanities"—he turns their thoughts to the one Jehovah. To these ignorant, uncultured heathen, who deified certain forces of nature, or counted as gods imperfect men, he declares a personal God. This God he reveals as living and life-giving—the architect and builder of the visible universe, the patient ruler and wise disposer of nations, the gracious author of providence, the giver of every good gift. Nature and providence "witness" to the being, the working, and the bounty of such a personal, creative God. This, as Paul afterward wrote (Rom. 1 : 18-21), left them without excuse for their atheism. To no further statement or appeal were they susceptible. No knowledge had they of the Jewish Scriptures. Nor with these rude people could Paul's reasoning upon the facts of natural religion take even that broader grasp with which afterward he sought to reach the more cultured Athenians. Yet, with all that the apostles did and said, they with difficulty checked the proposed offering of sacrifice. 19,20. The Stoning of Paul and the Departure from Lystra.**—The same Jews who had driven the missionaries out of Antioch and Iconium, hearing of their successes, followed them to Lystra. Here they accomplished what they had failed in doing before. Easily persuading these credulous and fickle Lycaonians that the apostles were deceivers, and thus securing their participation, these Jewish emissaries stoned Paul in the streets of Lystra, dragged his supposed lifeless body through the city gate, and cast it forth without the walls. At Iconium, where many miracles were wrought in confirmation of their teaching, they were protected from stoning. Here the one miracle, which had occasioned the paying of divine honors, was followed by this dishonoring treatment, as if to stamp a deeper conviction of the mere humanity of the man they would have worshiped. They stoned Paul—not Barnabas. Signally is the controlling spirit and fervid zeal of the great Apostle manifest in this exclusive direction of the Jews' fury against Paul. In that affecting summary of his experiences (2 Cor. 11 : 25) he includes this: Once was I stoned! B.—Once he stoned another, and once he was stoned himself. What a crowd of memories must have rushed up when he felt his spirit swooning away under the stone shower! This would seem the echo of his own dread act. Stephen's heroic death must have left its mark deep on the heart of the converted Paul. Arnot.—As the disciples gathered, in grief and doubt, about his ruthlessly handled body, Paul rose up; and, for their confirmation in faith and courage, went with them again into the midst of his foes. That this was a merely natural recovery from so severe a stoning, is scarcely credible. Only God's special shielding protected that frail body from many a vital stroke. And only a supernatural restoration could instantly give back their use to the fearfully bruised members. In this word, disciples, we have the first mention of converts in Lystra. Among these disciples, and probably one of Paul's converts at this visit, was Timothy. This we learn by comparing Acts 16 : 1 with 2 Tim. 3 : 10, 11, and 1 Tim. 1 : 2. 21-24. Conclusion of the First Missionary Journey.**—Derbe, whither they went from Lystra, was the farthest eastern point they visited. Here they rested long, and preached in peace. And Paul's reference in 2 Tim. 3 agrees with the absence of any note by Luke of persecution in Derbe. After making many disciples, they returned homeward on the identical route of their previous journey as far as Perga. They could have taken the direct and much shorter route into the low plain of Cilicia, descending through the pass known as the "Cilician Gates," and have sailed from Tarsus to the Syrian Antioch. But the new disciples needed instruction, comfort, encouragement, and especially organization. Therefore they retrace their steps, and go again to the scenes of their persecution, to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (in Pisidia). B.—Their specific task this time was different. They set themselves on this occasion to confirm the souls of the converts, and exhort them as to their subsequent course. The Christians in those places were already born, but they needed to be nourished into strength. The first necessity is to see that they are in Christ, and the next to see that they grow strong in the Lord. Corresponding with their specific object, the burden of the missionaries' preaching this time is, "Continue in the faith." And for the rest,  (Lystra is identified with the ruins Bin-bir-Kilisseh, at the base of a conical mountain of volcanic structure, named the Korradogh. S.— The present ruins extend over a space of a mile in length and about three quarters of a mile in breadth. Besides a countless number of ruined houses, the ruins of more than twenty large buildings may be counted. Some of these are not seriously injured. It is plainly evident that all these buildings were constructed from the materials of a still more ancient city, and one of great splendor. This home of Timothy is unique for situation, as it must have been beautiful. The view across the plain to the walls of Iconium is extremely picturesque, and the disciple of Paul had but to climb the cliffs above his own house, to enjoy a splendid view of Lycaonia and parts of Cappadocia. L. H. Adams, 1871.) the warning word rings clearly out, "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." Arnot. This return journey through Pisidia and Pamphylia is memorable for the first record of the appointment of permanent officers, here called Elders, for the teaching and guidance, the comfort and government, of the churches. We have already had an incidental mention of such officers, even in the churches of Judea. Much more did the newly planted churches which Paul and Barnabas were leaving to themselves need to have the means of edification and order complete within themselves; and so they ordained them ELDERS in every church. S. this view of the gospel was of no less vital moment to the Jew than to the Gentile. If the Jewish believers were thrown back on the Jewish law, and gave up the free and absolute grace of God, the Law became a mere burden, just as heavy to the Jew as it would be to the Gentile. The only hope for the Jew was in a Saviour who must be the Saviour of mankind. S. —Thus the young disciples were not left long without institutions and order. For edification, discipline, and defense, each community was constituted a corporation, and in each corporation elders were ordained. It was on the second visit of the missionaries that this was done. An interval was permitted to elapse that the fittest men might emerge; and already the rule, “Lay hands suddenly on no man,” was practiced before it was prescribed. Arnot. 25-27. After tarrying also at Perga, to “preach the word,” they sailed from the seaport Attalia, at the mouth of the Cestrus, direct for Antioch, their point of departure. Between two and three years had been occupied in this first missionary tour. Only some of the prominent events, enough to show the character and details of the entire work, are recorded in these two brief chapters. The breadth and depth of the sowing, and the reach and force of the results directly and ultimately achieved, can not be gathered from this mere outline. The mother Gentile Church, now comprising sevseveral churches, was convened to hear “all that God had done with ‘its missionaries,’ and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.” This was the first missionary meeting. And the whole Church had concern enough to come together and hear the new and marvelous story. Their interest was intensified by the fact that it was their own venture, as well as the first that had been undertaken among the Gentiles, and that it was a saving effort in behalf of their own peoples. Both the commission of Christ and the call of the Holy Ghost still make the missionary enterprise the cause of the Church, and still put its efficient support upon the conscience and heart of all Christian disciples. The rehearsal of the missionary’s work has lost none of its interest to a true-hearted believer or Church. As the Divine agent who supervises and gives success to missions, the Holy Spirit still opens the door of faith unto all peoples to whom He sends preachers of the truth. 28. In Antioch, Paul and Barnabas returned to their old ministry, and remained quietly at their toll for about two years. B. 1. And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren, and said, Except ye 2 be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and 3 elders about this question. And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. 4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the 5 apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to 6 circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and 7 elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much dis- puting, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word 8 of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving 9 them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, 10 purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the 11 neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe 12 that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what mira- cles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken 14 unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of 15 them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; 17 and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, 18 who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the 19 world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gen- 20 tiles are turned to God: but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of 21 idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. 22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, 23 and Silas, chief men among the brethren: and they wrote letters by them after this man- ner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the 24 Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye 25 must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: it seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with 26 our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our 27 Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same 28 things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no 29 greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep your- selves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. 1,2. The issue raised, first at Antioch (v. 1) and afterward at Jerusalem (v. 5), was vital to Christian faith and experience. Its correct decision involved the very continuance of Christianity in the world. The conflict here begun has never ceased through the ages. Whether salvation is of grace alone, or of grace and human works combined, was, has always been, still is, the question at issue. The result in the one case is spiritual liberty and peace; in the other, bondage to a formal lifeless ritual, and disquiet in self-righteous working. The issue was rightly decided here; but sixteen centuries later it had to be decided again, through the apostolic Reformers. Antioch was the center and life-spring of the evangelical movement among the Gentiles. The form of the question, here first raised, pertained to the relation of these Gentiles to the ancient Jewish ritual. Especially it turned upon the necessity of their circumcision, as the initial rite of admission into the kingdom of God. The parties, who at Antioch made the broad and positive assertion that this rite was an essential condition of salvation, were false brethren; so Paul declares (Gal. 2). Professed members of the Christian flock, they were yet actuated by nothing higher or other than the baleful spirit of Jewish proselytism. All the way from Jerusalem to Antioch they had come on a self-prompted mission, not to preach the gospel to those who had it not, nor to rejoice with those already rejoicing in the Christian hope, but to counteract the effects of a gospel faithfully preached. Instantly and sharply Paul (Gal. 2) resisted the intrusion and antagonized the efforts of these false brethren. As fearlessly as before he had encountered the assaults of Jews without, he now meets this new attack from Jews within the fold. He knew that the Jewish believers might properly continue for a time to honor the rite of circumcision as a long familiar obligation; but that it never had been designed for and could not now be imposed upon Gentile believers. He knew, moreover, that this particular demand was a mere introduction to a larger claim—even the whole cumbrous ceremonial of the law of Moses. To accept this ritual law would be to perpetuate the old covenant upon the ruin of the new Christ, he knew, had declared the old to be outworn and useless, not to be patched upon with the new and living. The old yoke and burden of ceremonial, Christ had replaced with fresh, glad, living truth, to be learned of Him. By this truth, He had said, the receiving soul would be made free and find rest in Him! These Judaizing proselyters would take away this freedom and rest. They would despoil the gospel of Christ of all that made it a gospel—a proclamation of glad tidings. They would subvert the foundation of the Christian scheme, by denying the sufficiency of faith in Christ as the sole complete condition of salvation. And Paul further knew that the perpetuation of the Jewish spirit of exclusivism, by making Gentile believers into Jews, would continue to foster among all, Jews and Gentiles, the pride and arrogance which had for centuries cursed and destroyed God's ancient people. So much at least, as to the first raising of this question at Antioch, we may gather from Paul's own narrative to the Galatians. He sought no counsel, for he needed none to instruct him, and took small part in the after conference. But the question had a vital concern to all believers, then and thenceforth. Many of the Syrian Christians were troubled and unsettled by these persistent Judaizing teachers. For their comfort, nay more, for the future being, not merely the well-being and peace, of the Church in that and in every age, a wise and authoritative decision was essential. So the Church at Antioch and its two great leaders obeyed a special Divine direction to seek such decision from the apostles and the mother Church of the Jews at Jerusalem. 3,4. A deputation, including Paul and Barnabas, was cordially received at Jerusalem, and the story of the two missionaries rehearsed. This was the first personal interview of the apostles (except Peter and James, Gal. 1: 18, 19) with Paul, although fourteen years or more had elapsed since his conversion. He speaks (Gal. 2: 9) of a private interview, in which the great leaders, Peter, John, and James, gave to Barnabas and himself the right hand of fellowship. At this interview, doubtless, Paul narrated for their information the efforts of the Judaizers at Antioch, and how he had successfully opposed them. 5,6. Very soon the same question was formally presented to the apostolic body. This second time it was brought forward and more broadly stated by comparatively honest Pharisaic believers. "It was essential," they claimed, "that the obligation to observe all the ceremonial law of Moses should be enforced upon all Christian believers, Gentile and Jew." At once the apostles met the issue as one demanding careful and solemn consideration. They assumed no reliance upon their infallibility as apostles, but invited the whole body of Jewish believers to confer with them upon the matter. Only thus could the deliberation be thorough, the decision unanimous and effective. 7-9. Much discussion followed the statement of the question. The sincere Jewish objectors to Paul's free reception of the Gentiles could make this strong case: "God had appointed the ceremonial institutes of Moses, especially circumcision, as a sign of covenant with himself and a seal of admission into his kingdom. He had never repealed these ordinances. Nor had Christ formally abrogated them. Nay, in his person and his teaching he had recognized and honored them." To these points, mainly true, the sufficient answer would be this: "God's appointment of the Mosaic ritual was exclusively for the nation he had chosen, not for the Gentiles. The ceremonial observances were designed exclusively to teach and influence that people, to make Himself known and his saving purpose in Christ, to lead them to obedience and worship, and so fit them for earth and heaven. This he would do by these special symbols, for introductory and temporary use. But, through the misleading blindness and long disobedience of that people, that which he had devised for good they had perverted to evil. All this Christ had abundantly affirmed, and so emphatically implied the repeal of these misused, now actually useless, ceremonies. More than this, He had declared that the truth should make them free from the yoke of ordinances; that true worship was heart worship, without reference to the Temple. And, as a final chief point, the whole law of sacrifice was abrogated by its fulfillment in the death of Christ." Such might have been the main points of argument presented on either side in the protracted discussion which preceded the address of Peter. Without any assumption of superiority, Peter clearly presents three facts as the unanswerable grounds of a right decision in the matter. The first was that "God himself had 'a good while ago' introduced the innovation complained of. Fourteen years before, in connection with Peter's special ministry to Cornelius and his company, God, who knew the hearts of those Roman Gentiles, in response to the simple faith he saw in their hearts, had given them the Holy Ghost, his very Pentecostal gift to Jewish believers. He had thus disregarded and so broken down the dividing wall of long effete and meaningless ordinances. Nay, more, to show that God himself had substituted faith for circumcision, Peter affirms that God had purified their hearts by faith*; had taken away (without circumcision and by faith) that uncleanness whose taking away had been before only symbolized by circumcision. 10. The second fact (based upon the first), Peter asserts under the form of a direct charge against the Jewish objectors. "You are tempting God, in seeking to put this yoke, which neither you nor your fathers could bear, upon these Gentile disciples, to whom it has never been commanded. Not merely undirected and useless work is this, but by it you are hindering and imperiling, instead of aiding, their salvation." They and their fathers had long felt the law of Moses to be an intolerable burden. Its ceremonials were wearisome and meaningless, and in its moral precepts broken and sanctions incurred they could find no relief for a guilty conscience, no hope of eternal life. The law—they knew by experience—could give the knowledge of sin, but not the knowledge of salvation. 11. With the third fact, he completes their overthrow. Simply, faithfully, as taught by the Spirit of Christ, he declares that for them as Jews, as well as for the Gentiles, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only thing sufficient, and it alone is sufficient for salvation and eternal life. Thus Peter reaches Paul's conclusion. He too affirms that the Jewish rites, though appointed and long honored of God, are now not essential, not longer binding even upon the Jew. Nay, they are hindering and hurtful; impediments in the way of the gospel. 12. The simple narration of Barnabas and Paul follows the unanswerable facts and appeal of Peter. Paul entered into no argument, nor did he directly touch the question at issue. He only told what wonders of grace God had wrought among the Gentiles, at their hands—how his Spirit had been poured forth—what multitudes had believed, and proved their faith to be divine. And this statement of the effects following upon the simple testimony to the crucified, risen, and reigning Jesus, without word of Temple or sacrifice, of ablution or circumcision, or of any outward ordinance of the Hebrew economy, this was all the part that Paul took in the great Conference at Jerusalem. But his fervent words were intently heeded, and wrought a deep impression upon “the multitude.” 13-21. James, “the Lord’s brother” (Gal. 1: 19), to whom Christ specially disclosed himself after his resurrection, closed the discussion. B.—From this time he appears as the head of the Church at Jerusalem, having virtually the character and standing of an apostle. G. P. F.—His high repute for wisdom and excellence had long given him a foremost place in the Church of Jerusalem; while the austere tone of his piety and his strong sympathy with Jewish legalism and prejudice gave him the greatest weight with the Christian Pharisees. His address accords with these peculiarities of character. He refers to Peter by his Hebrew name, and to the testimony of the Old Testament prophets upon the question before them. Appealing particularly to the prophecy of Amos, he confirms by the word of God the facts of God’s working, narrated by Peter and Paul. The passage cited speaks of the typical kingdom of David, and the once stately temple structure as now fallen; and of the spiritual kingdom and Church of the “greater David” that shall rise upon the ruins. It declares that a worldwide, all-inclusive, permanent Christianity shall succeed to the narrow, temporary Jewish system; and so implies that the Jewish is only the preparation for the Christian. And God, the foreknowing and foreplanning, had ordained this from the beginning. His ultimate plan included a Church in which Gentile as well as Jew should receive salvation by faith in the name of his Christ. So, infers James, it is in accordance with this purpose declared by the prophets, that God is now “taking out of the Gentiles a people for his name.” Therefore, he concludes, we may not interfere with His work among the Gentiles, by troubling them with ceremonials that He has laid aside. Thus, in harmony with Peter, James conclusively advocates the exemption of the Gentile Christians from the ritual burdens of the Mosaic law. Only upon certain matters bearing upon educated prejudices and unrecognized sin, he recommends a frank expression of opinion; and this in aid both of Jewish and Gentile believers. The result, embodied in the letter, was the fruit of honest and thorough consideration of the working and the word of God, by good and inspired men. The conference was conducted in the fear of God, without bigotry or assumption on the part of any, but with the simple desire of all to ascertain and declare the mind of God. 22-29. Points in the Letter to the Gentile Churches.—This first written document of the New Testament was necessary, in order that the judgment of the Apostolic Church upon so vital a matter might be accurately conveyed to the entire Gentile world. It was borne by trustworthy messengers—Silas (called Silvanus by Paul) and Judas Barsabas. It was addressed to the Gentile Christians of Syria and Cilicia. The introduction—much the longest portion—expresses a strong judgment respecting the original parties to the issue now decided by the apostles and brethren. The Pharisaic opponents of Paul and Barnabas are characterized as troublers and subverters of souls—thus sustaining all that Paul says of them to the Galatians. Their demand of circumcision and other legal observances as essential to salvation is declared to be soul-destructive, and their mission wholly unauthorized. For Barnabas and Paul the letter expresses only warm affection, and a deep appreciation of the suffering and self-sacrifice in which they were the pioneers of the great missionary host of Christ. The 28th and 29th verses contain the formal decision of the question submitted. B. The decision of the Holy Spirit, given them as leaders of the Church, is laid down as the primary and decisive determination on the matter; and their own formal decision follows, as giving utterance and scope to his will and command. A.—The apostles, and those joining with them in this act, claim for their own decision a divine authority, as having been suggested or inspired by the Holy Ghost. J. A. A.—By this decision, the apostles and Church at Jerusalem—the natural guardians of whatever it might have been right to preserve in the ancient dispensation—gave their solemn and final approval to that version of the gospel which Paul had preached by the revelation given to him. The emancipation of the Gentile converts from Jewish rites involved far more than their personal liberty. It abolished that separation of the race of Israel from the other nations, of which circumcision was the sign and seal; and, in place of the divine favor of which they boasted as the sons of Abraham, acceptance with God was offered to Jew and Gentile in common through the new spiritual bond of faith in Christ. And, as the speech of Peter declares, Four things they recommend the Gentile Christians to abstain from. Three of these touched merely the law of charity and kindness as between Gentile and Jew. They were: the use of meats that had been offered in sacrifice to idols; the blood of slaughtered animals, often used at idol feasts; and things strangled, or cattle that had not been slaughtered but suffocated in their blood. There were two reasons for the prohibition of these things, which in themselves were not sinful. First and chiefly, out of proper regard to the educated prejudices of the Jews, who detested and were scandalized by these idol sacrifices and methods of preparing them. Secondly, the restrictions were greatly helpful to the Gentiles also. They aided in disentangling them from the old connections of heathenism, and in breaking the force of life-long idolatrous customs. The fourth prohibition respects a positive sin, yet is here classed with things indifferent. No more striking proof than this do we find of the utter lapse of morality itself out of the heathen systems of religion. For no form of personal impurity was in these systems counted a sin. Obviously upon this point there was necessity for the instruction of Gentile believers, and the awakening of a conscience of sin respecting this matter of "fornication." And proper deference to the Jews also required this restriction, for they were scrupulously sensitive to the crime of unchastity. B. This letter is a model of Christian toleration. It is not weighted with anathemas: it does not even use the tone of command: it is not the promulgation of a decree. After explaining the cause of the disputation, it goes no further than to tell the churches they would do well to conform to the resolutions passed at Jerusalem. The letter recognizes the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as shared by all who took part in the council. De P. 30. So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the 31 multitude together, they delivered the epistle: which when they had read, they rejoiced for 32 the consolation. And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the breth- 33 ren with many words, and confirmed them. And after they had tarried there a space, they 34 were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. Notwithstanding it pleased Silas 35 to abide there still. Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. 36. And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in 37 every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. And 38 Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not 39 with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they de- parted asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; 40 and Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of 41 God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. 1. Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father 2 was a Greek: which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the 4 Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were 5 ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily. 6. Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were for- 7 bidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they 8 assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Mysia 9 came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of 10. Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering 11 that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore loosing from 12 Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. THE collision of natural affection in Barnabas with the somewhat unchastened, untempered zeal of Paul produced a contention between them. Sharp words passed and mutual recriminations, and the feelings of both parties were exasperated—alas! so much so that they found it impossible to work together; they must henceforth choose different spheres of duty. How? Are these apostles? Are these two of God's most eminent saints? Are these two eminent pillars of the Church of Christ? Yes, apostles, and saints, and pillars, not as our fancy portrays them, nor as they are now, in the calm and deep repose of Paradise, but as they were in the struggles and collisions of daily life. E. M. G.—Since this incident did occur, it is good that it is recorded; since, if it gives us much to lament, it gives us not a little to learn. It humbles us to perceive the relatively small, but not the less disfiguring, blemish on such revered countenances. Frequently the best men are sadly inconsistent; and, even in the most eminent Christian, nature at times is stronger than education! And this first dispute of which we read in the annals of God's kingdom, by what a countless number of others has it been followed in later ages, frequently from causes yet more trifling. Van O. 30, 31. The Reading of the Letter, and its Happy Effects upon the Gentile Christians.—It was not the requisitions of the apostolical epistle that excited joy at Antioch, but the comforting assurance that their faith was not vain, or their souls in jeopardy. J. A. A.—The Gentiles were confirmed in their freedom from the ceremonial law; and the yoke of that law was broken for the Jewish believers. Unity and peace were established between Jew and Gentile; and both were indoctrinated anew, with fresh authority from the Holy Ghost, in the blessed simplicity and pure spirituality of the Gospel of Christ. Thus, once and for all time, was decided the question of spiritual liberty or bondage, of grace or works. The full points and reasonings of the decision are found in Paul's matchless Epistles to the Romans, the Corinthians, and the Galatians. And the world has needed them. For centuries without them, it relapsed into a civilized idolatry and barbarism. Brought again into the light at the Reformation, they have proved their power afresh for these three hundred years. And they are needed, above all needs of humanity beside, in all their blessed power to-day! 35. Returning from Jerusalem with Silas and Judas, Paul and Barnabas resumed for a short period their customary labors in Antioch and the adjacent region of Syria. Gal. 2 : 11-21. Peter's Temporary Weakness and Defection at Antioch.—During this interval, according to the order of Paul's narrative, occurred that strange conduct of Peter, for which Paul felt constrained publicly to rebuke the older apostle. With the thrice-uttered monitory question and solemn charge of his risen Lord graven on his soul, with all the special help and continuous inworking of the Holy Ghost, and even after many years of unflinching boldness under the severest tests of fidelity, yet here, for a very brief period, we find Peter enacting over again the old cowardice and dissimulation. This he did by disowning his own recent intense protest in the Council; by trampling under foot the Gospel principles respecting social intercourse with Gentiles, which he had so long and so signally illustrated in his practice. On his first arrival at Antioch he fellowshiped freely with Gentile believers. But to gratify certain brethren by complying with their strong Jewish prejudices—and this out of mere deference to their high position in the Church at Jerusalem—Peter withdrew from the society of the Gentiles. There was here no question of a wise expediency, or of proper consideration for tender consciences, respecting things non-essential. As it had been long years before, his yielding was prompted solely by a weak fear of man. And not only did he withdraw, but he led others, including even Barnabas, to withdraw with him; and Paul charges them all with "playing the hypocrite" in the matter. Such conduct was peculiarly reprehensible, as promoting a divisive influence at this most critical period in the introduction of Christianity. It was a positive sanction, by one who had long been the foremost of the Apostles, of the very heresy that the Jewish council had just condemned; viz.: that circumcision, and not faith, was essential to salvation. And this heresy was now, in every place, assaulting and endangering the life of the infant Church. While Paul's rebuke was personal, it went argumentatively to the very heart of the question at issue. In its complete statement of the essential principles of the Gospel as compared with the Law, it presents a grand epitome of his chief Epistles. That the rebuke was rightly received, and was effectual in reënforcing Peter's courage and faith, and so restoring him to fidelity, is evident. For in one of his own letters he refers to "the Epistles of our beloved brother Paul," "Epistles in one page of which his own censure is recorded." But, temporary as was this defection of one so thoroughly taught and tried, it is a strange sad story. It impresses a fact and points a warning that may well be pondered by the best, the strongest, and most active Christian soul! 36-39. The Quarrel between Paul and Barnabas.**—This second painful occurrence followed not long after. It was a sharp personal discussion, in which each had some reason on his side, yet both were faulty. They only proved that they were, as they had said to the Lystrans, men of like passions as others. The plain story of imperfection indicates an authentic and honest record. It suggests a strong presumption of the truth of the narrative, as well as the genuine earnestness and positive convictions of the men. Good men they were; both set apart by the Holy Ghost; old friends and long work-fellows in eminent service, signally honored and prospered of God. Yet, in connection with the proposed renewal of this very work for God and man, they quarreled—nay, more, they finally parted asunder. It was a matter bearing upon personal peculiarities that led to the quarrel. Paul's ever unyielding principle could make no allowance for what seemed to be, and probably was, weakness in John Mark. Barnabas, who had just before himself yielded to Peter's wrong example, could more readily overlook Mark's weakness. His love, too, to his young kinsman, who had now returned from Jerusalem ready for toil, and his strong desire to have Mark permanently engaged in Christian work, joined possibly with some remaining vigor of the old nature, led him to persist to the point of entire separation from Paul. But God overruled the result to double the work and the workmen. Instead of two went forth four; and into two fields of labor, instead of one. And no bitterness was left behind, for we find Paul afterward speaking of Barnabas as his equal in active and successful toil; and of Mark as his "fellow-laborer," "profitable to the ministry," and a "comfort" to himself. We may add, that good men as well as earnest missionaries have differed ever since. And, as here, God has forborne with their imperfections, and in many cases He has wrought a greater good out of their personal differences. While we have no record of the labors of Barnabas and Mark in Cyprus (as we have none of the many other laborers—apostles and disciples), the ultimate marked success of the gospel in Cyprus may justly be attributed in great part to their faithful and efficient ministry. 40,41. The Second Missionary Journey of Paul.**—More than two years had elapsed since his return from the First Journey. The Second was begun A. D. 51, and occupied between three and four years, including eighteen months at Corinth, until A. D. 54. The account is included in chapters 15 : 40, 41 to 18 : 22. The 41st verse, with the first twelve verses of chapter 16, merely outline a very long course of travel and labor, covering many months. With Silas, he goes through the provinces of Syria (in part) and Cilicia, Phrygia and Galatia, visiting their chief cities, and tarrying again in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and the neighboring Antioch. At length, from Troas, on the coast, he crosses to Europe, and preaches first at Philippi in Macedonia. A fact of special interest, to be noted here, is that Paul had no further thought in starting out than to visit the churches already established, in the field previously visited by Barnabas and himself. From place to place, and definitely from Asia to Europe, he was led by the Holy Spirit; and, as he was directed, he went. B. 41. Syria and Cilicia.** In consequence of the range of Mount Taurus, the Eastern (or "Flat") Cilicia has a greater geographical affinity with Syria than with Asia Minor. Hence "Syria and Cilicia" appears in history almost as a generic geographical term, the more important district being mentioned first. Within the limits of this region Saul's activities were first exercised in studying and in teaching at Tarsus, and in founding those Churches which were afterward greeted in the Apostolic letter from Jerusalem as the brethren "in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia," and which Paul himself confirmed after his separation from Barnabas, traveling through "Syria and Cilicia." H. (See map, p. 94.) 1-5. Timothy ordained and joined to Paul's Missionary Company.**—Paul had reached the familiar region of Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium, ascending into Lycaonia from Cilicia through the pass known as the Cilician Gates, a great fissure in the Taurus Range, extending eighty miles north and south. Living in Lystra, Timothy had probably been converted under the ministry of Paul, four or five years before. From his mother and grandmother he had received impressions of truth in earliest childhood. And since his conversion to Christ he had specially commended himself to the brethren in the three cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (2 Tim. 2 : 10, 11). This "good report from those without" (1 Tim. 3 : 7), together with Paul's own impression of his Christian character, and of his fitness for ministry in the Gospel, led the apostle, under divine guidance, to impress him into Christ's service. Gladly and gratefully Timothy gave himself to missionary toil, and, "after he had made a good confession before many witnesses," was solemnly set apart by the laying on of the hands of Paul and of the elders in those churches. And from thenceforth the relation between the apostle and this youthful disciple was most intimate and tender. A son, indeed, in the depth and constancy of Paul's affection, as well as "in the faith," was this earnest, single-hearted Timothy accounted by the apostle; as many touching passages in his two Letters amply prove. Paul had two sufficient reasons for circumcising Timothy, before inducting him into the ministry: the chief one was that as an uncircumcised Jew Timothy could not be admitted into the synagogues, nor listened to with respect by the unconverted Jews. Besides this positive necessity, no principle was compromised in the case of Timothy. Further, Paul was willing to avail himself of this opportunity (as he did of one other, Acts 21) practically to correct certain misrepresentations that his enemies had made against him—the same that had been made against the Master: that he had despised and blasphemed the law of Moses. And it is to be noted that Paul's refusal to circumcise Titus, while at Jerusalem (Gal. 2 : 3-5), was perfectly consistent with his action here. For Titus was a Greek—a heathen born; with no claim to the Jewish rite or privilege. Those who demanded his circumcision did it upon the express grounds that the Gentiles must become Jews before they could become Christians; that the burden of ceremonials must be assumed, and especially circumcision, as an essential condition of salvation. All this was in direct contradiction of the principles affirmed by the Council: that the Gentiles were free from the yoke of the Mosaic Law; and that faith, not circumcision, was the only essential to salvation. In the case of Titus, Paul was intolerant in defense of vital principles. In the case of Timothy, he was tolerant of mere prejudices, that he might help the more effectually to remove them; that unconverted Jews might not be repelled from the Christian teacher and the Christian truth. In this case, he "became unto the Jews as a Jew, that he might gain the Jews." And that no inconsistency was thought of or recognized in this action we know by the statement immediately following, respecting the decrees of the Council. 6-8. After preaching throughout the Region of Phrygia and Galatia, they pass over Asia to Troas.—Under the names of Phrygia and Galatia, whose boundaries are entirely indefinite, the central tableland region of Asia Minor is here referred to. At this time Paul must have planted the churches of Galatia, though Luke makes no record here. For these churches are referred to as confirmed by Paul in his next succeeding journey (Acts 18 : 23). B. Luke makes no mention of any of Paul's Epistles, or even of the fact that he wrote a single Epistle; and yet, in dictating the Acts by the agency of Luke, the Holy Spirit appears to have his divine eye on what had been already given, or would be hereafter given, by himself to the world in those Epistles by the hand of Paul. Here is the ground of the argument handled by Dr. Paiey in his "Horæ Paulinæ." The Acts and the Epistles are from one Spirit. No wonder that there is a beautiful harmony among them, more deeply felt because not the result of effort and art, but of oneness of origin from the Spirit of truth. W. How they were forbidden by the Spirit of Christ to preach in Asia—the Roman province bordering upon the Ægean Sea—and how hindered from going northeastward into the larger province of Bithynia, we are not informed. The curiosity that desires to investigate such a question is wholly ungratified by the Scripture. Paul was made to understand the mind of the Spirit, and—the only real point of rational interest—he obeyed it! And, to every one cherishing the same obedient spirit, the mind of God will in some assured way be made known. Why their proposed movements were thus divinely hedged round on every side save that of the sea, is clearly intimated in the summons that so soon followed: to cross the sea, and enter Europe! So plainly it appears that the Gospel's first marked entrance into Europe was definitely directed by the Lord Christ. 9,10. Paul's Vision at Troas.—Alexandria Troas, this seaport and free city, upon or near the site of ancient Troy, had been named. B.—Nearly four centuries had passed since the Macedonian conqueror crossed the narrow strait of the Hellespont, to overthrow the great despotism that enthralled Asia; and now, near that plain of Troy, on which Alexander stayed to indulge the dream of rivaling the fame of his ancestor, Achilles, at the very city named in the conqueror's honor, Paul beheld in vision another "man of Macedonia," uttering the cry of the western world suffering beneath the despotism of sin, and calling to the soldiers of the Cross, "Come over and help us." The power which had led Europe to the armed conquest of Asia was the first to invite conquest from the spiritual force of which Asia had been the primeval cradle. S.—This vision is still perpetuated. The cry of humanity in its sense of need—its guilt and wretchedness, its helpless, hopeless despair—is still sounding now from East to West, as then from West to East. It comes from every heathen continent, and from the many islands,  Northern Shores of the Ægean Sea. (Note Troas, in the province of Asia; the seaport Neapolis, at the head of the Strymonic Gulf; Philippi, on the Via Egnatia; Thessalonica, at the head of the Thermale Gulf; and Berea.) to the Church of every region, and to the Christian of every name. B.—And it has been abundantly shown that it is death to a Church or a Christian either not to hear this cry, or, having heard it, not to heed it. Riddle. Luke, “the beloved physician” and “the brother whose praise is in all the Churches,” who, in his native place, Antioch, had labored with Paul, joined the three missionaries at Troas. Although the historian of all these events, and the companion of Paul in a large part of his journeying, he nowhere alludes to his presence otherwise than by the words “we” and “us” in the narrative. 11,12. From Troas across the Ægean to Neapolis and Philippi.—Paul’s “immediate endeavor to go into Macedonia” was succeeded by finding a vessel about to sail for Neapolis. B.—And these four men go on board the vessel—Paul, with his fervent soul and his strong intellect; Silas, with his zeal and his prophetic gifts; Luke, with his scholarly culture and professional accomplishments; and Timothy, with his youthful earnestness and as yet undeveloped powers for work. These four men, guided by the Divine Spirit, COME TO EUROPE! And that ship has in it the seeds of all that is to be developed in the religion and learning, the philosophy, legislation, art, science, and everything else that has made European nations the acknowledged regal masters of the world. T. B.—The very elements prospered this outward voyage; so that their course was direct, by Tenedos, Imbros, and Samothracia; and the eighty miles was accomplished in two days. Macedonia was previously a prominent kingdom of ancient Greece, now a Roman province. It had been a military kingdom, and its cities had not received the culture of Athens, nor shared the commercial prosperity of Corinth. The truth, therefore, had a readier reception, and found fewer obstacles than afterward in those cities. From Neapolis, a Macedonian harbor on the Strymonic Gulf, they followed for ten miles one of the great Roman roads, over a lofty ridge extending from Mount Pangæum, and then descending into the plain of Philippi. Upon this plain, B. C. 42, Anthony and Augustus (afterward emperor), in a final, decisive battle, had defeated Brutus and Cassius. As a monument of that signal victory, Augustus had planted a Roman colony upon, or near, the site of the older Macedonian city. Of the border-tract of Eastern Macedonia, which formed the barrier against Thrace with its barbarous hordes, Philippi was the chief city. As a colony, settled with freedmen and veteran soldiers, organized as to its government, laws and social customs on the model of imperial Rome, and as a frontier defensive post, its privileges and its distinction were great. B.—And now a Jewish apostle came to the same place, to win a greater victory than that of Philippi, and to found a more durable empire than that of Augustus. H. 13. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to 14 be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were 15 spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. 16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of 17 divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: the same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which 18 shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of 19 her. And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the 20 rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly 21 trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many 23 stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners 26 heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands 27 were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we 29 are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down 30 before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he 33 took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and 34 all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. And 36 the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: 37 now therefore depart, and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust 38 us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they 39 were Romans. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them 40 to depart out of the city. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed. On the same page of Scripture there is the record of two most remarkable conversions, as different from each other as any two processes of mind, leading to the same result, can by possibility be. Lydia, the purple-seller of Thyatira, became a Christian through the gentle opening of the heart, as by the quiet river-side she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul. The Philippian jailer is converted, on the other hand, in a manner such as might be expected from the previous habits of ignorance and vice in which, we may reasonably suppose, he had been sunk. The critical, all-important question for all of us is, whether we be indeed Christ's at present, and are following the lead of his Spirit; if so, how we were brought to Him, whether by the quiet drawings of gratitude and love, or by the gradual growth of reflectiveness and our experience of life's hollowness, or by the trepidations of alarm, is but of little moment. E. M. G. Strike from the world's history what has been done for Jesus' sake—go back along the track of time, and erase the deeds that have been wrought, the self-denials undergone, the bocks written, the lives lived, the martyrdoms endured, the stern missions begun and prosecuted, and how poor would the world be! Strike out the love to Jesus that human souls have felt, and all that it has prompted them to do, and what a waste would the past eighteen centuries present! The blackest pages of human history have been illumined by some deeds of true glory that love to Jesus has begotten. When wickedness has been most rampant, there have ever been some who have sung their songs in the night, irradiated the moral gloom with their light, and been ready to seal their affection by their blood. J. D. 13. In Europe, as in Asia, Paul preaches chiefly in the cities and large towns, that a deeper and broader impression may be made at the first, and the truth scattered more widely afterward. For, in ancient as in modern times, the populous centers exercised a controlling influence over social and religious customs. But the first announcement of the gospel in Europe—in Philippi—was remarkable both as to the place and the hearers. Nothing could have been more simple and unassuming. In the city was no synagogue. Nor did Paul find an opening for highway preaching. But out of the city, by a still river-side, in a spot where a few godly women, Jewish proselytes, were accustomed to meet and pray together on the Sabbath, the apostle began his work in Europe. It was only a quiet talk about Christ, while speaker and hearers sat together in a little group. But, like the Master at Jacob's well, Paul throws into this simple ministry as much earnestness of purpose and thoroughness of instruction as afterward he employed in addressing the vast multitude of cultured Athenians. And this unreported conversation produced a rich harvest, while the grand discourse at Athens was almost barren of fruit. 14. A woman was Paul's first European convert; from Thyatira, a city in the province of "Asia." So that the first convert in Greece is from the very province in Asia Minor where the Spirit had forbidden them to preach. And the Lord opened her heart; the same Lord that had sent his ambassadors from Asia into Europe. The process of her conversion seems also very natural and simple. Her heart, once closed, is now opened; not by force, but in a way suited to a free intelligent nature. For it was opened to truth, which contained only high, pure, divine, blessed motive. It was opened to hear, to heed, to receive gladly with all the grasp of intellect and heart, with all the energy of will in self-consecration, the truths of life, "the things spoken of Paul." B.—The Lord had laid words on Paul's lips suited to find entrance to her heart; He has bestowed on her the listening ear to receive the voice of truth, the opened eye to see its light. And where now the last doubt gives way, and it is given her by grace to believe in Christ, how completely is sketched forth the blessed change which has had place first in her mind, but thereafter in her whole life and destiny! Van O. 15. Then followed the confession of her new faith, her baptism, and her grateful offer of hospitality and Christian service. Altogether the story is an attractive and instructive Christian idyl. B.—With the baptism of Lydia that of her "household" was associated. Whether we are to understand by this term her children, her slaves, or workpeople, or all these collectively, can not easily be decided. But we have here an example of that family religion to which Paul often alludes in his Epistles. The "connections of Chloe," the "household of Stephanas," the "church in the house" of Aquila and Priscilla, are parallel cases. H. Christianity adopted and shared the distinguishing characteristic of Judaism as a family religion. The children of Jews were accounted heirs of the covenant. And it would seem that, if Jewish Christians had been denied this same relation, they would have demanded it, and a great controversy must then have arisen. Whether there were or not infants in any of the several baptized households can not certainly be determined. But the unexplained and unqualified mention of households surely implies that infants were included. B.—Who can believe that not one infant was found in all these families, and that Jews, accustomed to the circumcision, and Gentiles, accustomed to the lustration of infants, should not have also brought them to baptism? Beng.—The practice of infant baptism does not rest on inference but on the continuity and identity of the covenant of grace to Jew and Christian, the sign only of admission being altered. A. And we have here the first example of that Christian hospitality which was so emphatically enjoined, and so lovingly practiced, in the Apostolic Church. The scenes by the river-side, and in the house of Lydia, are beautiful prophecies of the holy influence which women, elevated by Christianity to their true position, and enabled by divine grace to wear “the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,” have now for centuries exerted over domestic happiness and the growth of piety and peace. H. 16-21. For the first time in Paul’s experience opposition and persecution came directly and exclusively from the Gentiles. The motive, too, was entirely disconnected with his religious teaching. It came from human hate produced by disappointed selfishness; and this was occasioned by a humane action. B.—A poor bond-girl, possessed with a spirit which was supposed to inspire oracles like those uttered by the Pythoness at Delphi, drove a gainful trade for her masters in the oracles which she vended, probably to the wild natives who frequented the market outside the city walls. As Paul and his companions went out to the place of prayer, she followed them with the continued cry, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” S.—Repeating this for many days, her words must have become known throughout the city. At length Paul, in the very spirit of the Master (of compassion for the possessed and of indignation toward the satanic possessor) and after His manner, under His inspiration and in His name, commanded the evil spirit to come out of her. The whole account—Paul’s spirit and words, and Luke’s statement of the consequent fact (that “he came out the same hour”)—shows that she was a demoniac, or “one possessed with a devil.” Though the evil spirit in her, whether by constraint or with malicious purpose, gave true testimony to the missionaries, yet the source whence it came would taint the testimony itself. Therefore Paul, like his Master, would none of it. B. The whole history of the Acts shows that the direct agency of the Evil Spirit is made subservient to the cause of Christ. In the case of Ananias (5: 3-5) he is made to preach to the world a perpetual warning against the sin of sacrilege; in the case of Simon Magus (8: 20), against the sin of simony. In the case of Elymas at Paphos (13: 10-12), Satan is defeated and Christ is glorified. Satan meets the apostle in Philippi, and flatters him by the mouth of her whom he had possessed. But his adulations are rejected, and he is cast out, and the Gentile world is taught that the spirit in their divination and oracles is a spirit of darkness. 19. The hope of their gains was gone. A clew to the powerful motive of persecutions against Christianity. Both the persecutions from Heathenism, mentioned in the Acts, are from this source. In the account of both, the word craft occurs; here, and in 19: 24, 25. As Blunt remarks: “The Priesthood, in all its branches, contemplated the advance of Christianity with dismay. It emptied their temples, curtailed their sacrifices, reduced their profits, exposed their frauds.” 20. Being Jews. Christianity was hated as Judaism by the heathens, and as worse than heathenism by the Jews. It had to contend against Judaism and Heathenism, and it triumphed over both. W. The owners’ investment had lost its value, and the law had no remedy to meet the case. Caring nothing for their own souls, they cared not for this one now released from such terrible thraldom. Their gains were their supreme thought and care. Since these were hopelessly gone, in their rage they sought revenge by stirring up the ignorant populace, who had a superstitious interest in the girl’s sooth-saying, to assault the strangers and drag them into the forum. There, before the magistrates (the Duumviri, or prætors), concealing the facts, they cunningly resort to another charge. Referring to Paul and Silas only as Jews, they accuse them of introducing customs not lawful for Romans to receive. Their charge had a color of reason in the laws which prohibited Romans from forsaking their religion. But its chief force and its success with the magistrates lay in the facts: that the Jews had been just then expelled from Rome, and that Philippi, a Roman colony—i. e., a Rome in miniature—may and ought to imitate the metropolis. This race-prejudice, and just enacted example of intolerance, instantly won the magistrates to an illegal and iniquitous compliance with the will of the mob. 22-24. The Scourging and Imprisonment of Paul and Silas.—By command of the two magistrates, the lictors rent off with violence the garments so that the flesh was bare, and laid many stripes upon them. B.—It is difficult for us to estimate the severity of this punishment. The victim was beaten on the naked flesh with thick rods by trained professional executors. The insignia of a Roman ruler consisted of a bunch of rods tied together like a sheaf, and an axe protruding from the end of the bundle. The rods symbolized secondary, and the axe capital, punishment. Arnol. No inquiry was instituted, no time or means of defense afforded; not even the opportunity to plead their Roman citizenship. This fact Paul would not now thrust upon them for many good reasons; all of them for the furtherance of the gospel, as we hereafter see. One may be referred to here. Paul, like his Lord, opened not his mouth before these persecutors. “As seeing Him who is invisible,” he endured that severe Roman scourging that he might illustrate to those believers, and to all thereafter, the spirit of self-sacrifice and the force of trust under the fire of suffering. At Corinth, not long after, writing to the Thessalonians, he recalls this cruel experience, “how we were shamefully entreated at Philippi.” Then, with their backs lacerated, they are thrown into prison; and, as if more dangerous and guilty than other criminals, their feet are painfully distended and shut up immovably in "the stocks." By this unrelieved position of constraint and distention the pain of their bruised bodies is intensified. Yet through the afternoon, and up to the midnight hour, their faith and fortitude held firm. 25, 26. Their Praying Song in the Night, and the Consequent Earthquake.—They prayed in song to God. Their song was prayer, their prayer was song. What they sang we may infer. For David's trustful utterances would well suit their needs and their hearts. Yet not these alone; for theirs was a larger knowledge, a richer experience of a realized Lord and Comforter. And out of that revealed experience, how readily their souls could pour themselves out in trustful rejoicing and fervent intercession! Their praising prayer was a sermon, too, to a strange congregation; for the prisoners heard. What was its ultimate effect, we know not. But none of those listeners used the opportunity for escape, when unnaturally the earth was shaken, and supernaturally the doors were opened and their chains loosed. They must have felt what we know: that there was a connection between these marvels and the sublime utterances of praise and supplication that preceded them. Right well are we, here and in this, assured that God is the hearer and answerer of prayer. 27, 28. The Prison-Keeper's Suicide hindered by Paul.—By the stern Roman law, death was the penalty of a jailer's unwatchfulness and the escape of his prisoners. Finding the doors wide open and inferring that the prisoners had fled, in his proud Roman despair he was about to take his own life, as the only honorable alternative for retrieving the disgrace. Suicide, among the Romans, was accounted not only lawful, but under irretrievable misfortune was regarded as a virtue. B.—And this very city, Philippi, had been famous in the annals of suicide. Here Cassius, unable to survive defeat, covered his face in the empty tent, and ordered his freedmen to strike the blow. Here Brutus bade adieu to his friends, exclaiming, "Certainly we must fly, yet not with the feet, but with the hands." And many of their adherents ended their last struggle for the republic by self-inflicted death. H. The same prison lamps that revealed to the keeper the open doors would, through those doors, reveal the jailer to Paul, and his purpose would be conjectured by the drawing of his sword. And now the eager sympathy of the apostle's heart on the instant coöperated with God's purpose in the earthquake and the supernaturally opened doors. That purpose was not the release of the prisoners, but the awakening of the jailer's conscience so that a saving impression might be made upon his hardened heart. Paul's loud, impassioned cry was but the seconding of God's saving purpose toward the man. And with what sublime emphasis did that cry, forced out of Paul's Christlike, loving heart, Do thyself no harm! sum up the supreme design of Christ's infinite love, as expressed in his redemption and revealed through his gospel. 29-32. The Keeper's Question and Paul's Answer. The Word pressed home upon Opened Hearts.—The instant revulsion of feeling consequent upon such an appeal, enforced by the assurance that none had fled, joined with the earthquake shock and the evidences of miraculous visitation—all combined to arouse in his conscience a new and overwhelming fear. It was not a dread of temporal danger; for all was quiet now, and his armed assistants were at his side. It was the kindling of sensibility, through a fear wrought in his callous spiritual nature by these startling tokens of a Divine presence and an unseen world. Impelled by this fear, out of the depths of his aroused soul, as he cast himself at the feet of Paul and Silas, came the intense yearning cry, "What must I do to be saved?" Those oft-repeated and widely-reported words of the frenzied girl must have left an impression upon his ignorant, superstitious nature. He now felt, in his confused, amazed terror, "These men must be servants of the most high God, to show the way of salvation." And so the question forms itself to the inward craving of his consciously lost soul: "To be saved, what must I do?" That this was his condition and this his meaning, the answer of the faithful men of God clearly shows. Sirs, or Lords, he had called them, as in his heathen thought he prostrated himself in almost worship before them. Believe, is their answer, not in us, but in the one only LORD, Jesus Christ! and thou shalt be saved! They saw, in his trembling and in his despairing cry, his strong conviction of sin, his craving for deliverance, his yearning to know and willingness to do what was demanded of him; and they said all that could be said to any wretched, sinful soul of man. They put into their answer the whole gospel. They declared all that is essential to human salvation. They demand no "doing" of the man save faith, or trust: faith in the Person of Christ—trust in His redeeming work. And who this Christ was, what saving work He had done, what it was to trust this Saviour and to receive Him, Paul instantly went on to tell this eagerly listening man, and the members of his household who were now gathered around them. There was no magical suddenness in these conversions. From this summary text, the Word of the Lord—about the Lord—was clearly spoken to all; and they, like Lydia, with hearts now opened by the Lord, heard and heeded, believed and rejoiced. 33,34. The Good Works that follow the Transformed Keeper's Faith.—The rude, harsh, almost brutal nature becomes at once tender and sympathetic. Before they apply the baptismal water, to seal by outward sign his sacramentum or oath of allegiance to his new spiritual Lord, he washes their wounds left by the scourge. Then in humble, thankful gladness of spirit he makes them welcome guests at his table and in his home. And this change from previous reckless inhumanity to kind treatment and generous hospitality gave full assurance of the inward change wrought in his heart. These first-offering duties fulfilled, were the fruit and proof of that faith which worketh by love. 35-40. The Release of the Missionaries, and their Departure from Philippi.—Early the next morning the magistrates—as the result either of reflection upon their hasty and illegal procedure or of relapse into indifference about the matter—sent a message, in careless or contemptuous tone, dismissing the prisoners. This message was joyfully communicated by the keeper to Paul. But now the Christian principle, properly self-respecting and mindful of the ends of human justice, stands manfully for the vindication of outraged personal rights. Yet not merely for their own sake. For Christ's sake they had silently borne the suffering; but for Christianity's sake they make the protest against the infraction of law by its appointed administrators. Paul's main object was to honor and help Christianity; to secure respect and protection for the Christian believers in Philippi. These believers he would encourage and embolden to fidelity. Upon the magistrates and people he would impress a higher estimate and respect for the Christian movement. All this he effectually accomplished by proclaiming their Roman citizenship; by denouncing the injustice of a punishment without trial and condemnation; and by demanding an acknowledgment of the inflicted wrong as open, and a release as public, as had been their arrest and imprisonment. Very willing were these now alarmed magistrates to humble themselves by coming to the prison; and publicly to confess their own injustice by personally entreating these Roman citizens to come forth to liberty. For Roman law, so harsh to others, was very partial to the interests and jealous for the rights of Roman citizens. And that law, under penalty of death to the magistrate infringing it absolutely forbade the application of the scourge to the person of a Roman, and that a Roman should be punished without trial and judgment. Thus the Christian leaders were justified before all; and in their persons Christianity was honored. Through these occurrences and the apostle's generous forbearance in declining all appeal to Rome against the magistrates, the infant Church at Philippi started upon high vantage-ground in the compelled respect of the rulers and people. Beginning with these two households—of Lydia and the nameless prison-keeper—it seems to have well maintained the spirit and teaching of the great Apostle. Going from the prison as innocent men, for their own dignity's sake as well as to leave parting words of instruction and comfort with the new disciples, they tarried awhile at the house of Lydia. Then, leaving these first Macedonian converts to the care of Luke (and, perhaps, Timothy), Paul and Silas set forth on their journey. B.—We do not see Luke again in the Apostle's company till the third missionary journey and the second visit to Macedonia. At this exact point of separation, we observe that he drops the style of an eye-witness and resumes that of a historian, until the second time of meeting, after which he writes as an eye-witness till the arrival at Rome and the very close of the Acts. He appears again on a voyage from Philippi to Troas (Acts 20: 56), as now he has appeared on a voyage from Troas to Philippi. H. Of all the churches which Paul founded, the Philippians seem to have been the most free from fault, and the most attached to himself. In the Epistle which he wrote to them we find no censure and much praise; and so zealous was their love for Paul, that they alone (of all the churches which he founded) forced him from the very beginning to accept their contributions for his support. We might suppose from this that they were a wealthy church; yet Paul tells us that "in the heavy trial which had proved their steadfastness, the fullness of their joy had overflowed out of the depth of their poverty, in the richness of their liberality." C. 1. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalo- 2 nica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, 3 and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, 4 whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted 6 the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These 7 that have turned the world upside down are come hither also: whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one 8 Jesus. And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these 9 things. And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go. 10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who com- 11 ing thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the 12 scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of 13 honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they 14 came thither also, and stirred up the people. And then immediately the brethren sent 15 away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed. WHAT true nobleness is and how it manifests itself, according to God's estimate, is here disclosed by the Holy Ghost. It is that open-heartedness that searches, and ponders, and receives God's own word of in- struction and direction. It is that childlike receptiveness of heart that not only believes and trusts in God, but habitually delights in his truth and tests his promises. The truth of God is adapted to the whole spiritual being, and is the only thing that meets and satisfies all its needs. As its reception is necessary to the knowledge of God, so the heart-appropriation of its promises is essential to their actual experience. Therefore, of all searching and study, this in itself best rewards the soul; while it alone, through an in- wrought faith and hope, insures the rich return of God's continual blessing. B. I believe that the Bible is to be understood and received in the plain and obvious meaning of its pas- sages; since I can not persuade myself that a book intended for the instruction and conversion of the whole world should cover its true meaning in such mystery and doubt that none but critics and philoso- phers can discover it; and that he is the most accomplished Christian scholar who hath been educated at the feet of Jesus. Daniel Webster. THE vast territory subject to Rome was covered with a network of magnificent roads, which moved in straight lines, crossing mountains and bridging rivers, binding together the most remote cities, and connecting them all with the capital. The deep ruts, worn in the hard, basaltic pavement, and still visible even in places far from the metropolis, show to what extent they were used. Five main lines went out from Rome to the extremities of the em- pire. These, with their branches running in what- ever direction public convenience required, were connected at the seaports with the routes of mari- time travel. A journey might have been made upon Roman highways, interrupted only by brief trips upon the sea, from Alexandria to Carthage, thence through Spain and France, and northward to the Scottish border; then back through Leyden, Co- logne, Milan, eastward by land to Constantinople and Antioch, and thence to Alexandria; and the distance traversed would have exceeded seven thousand miles. The traveler could measure his progress by the mile-stones along all these roads. G. P. F. 1-4. At Thessalonica Paul preaches Christ and founds a Church.—From Philippi to Thessalonica —one hundred miles a little south of west—Paul traversed one of the great Roman roads. The Via Egnatia extended across Macedonia nearly east and west, five hundred miles, from the Adriatic to the river Hebrus in Thrace. Thessalonica was about midway between these points. Amphipolis, an his- toric city, thirty-three miles from Philippi and Apollonia, a further thirty miles, were convenient tarrying places on the three days' journey; the third bringing them thirty-seven miles to Thessa- lonica. (See map, p. 112.) Thessalonica, at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, was then the capital and chief city of the Roman province of Macedonia. Originally called Thermae, it was renamed by Cassander, who rebuilt it in honor of his wife Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander the Great. This name had been given her by Philip as a memorial of a signal victory in Thessaly. Fronting the sea, built in successive tiers upon a steep, rocky ascent, it was a beautiful city; and, under the Romans, a populous and wealthy commercial center. B.—Before the founding of Constantinople, it shared the trade of the Ægean with Ephesus and Corinth. Through the middle ages, it never ceased to be important; and it is at the present day, under the name Salonica, the second city in European Turkey. The reason of this continued preëminence is found in its geographical position:  Salonica—Ancient Thessalonica. (See map, p. 112.) on the inner bend of the Thermaic Gulf; on the sea-margin of a vast plain watered by several rivers; and at the entrance of the pass which commands the approach to the other great Macedonian level. We see at once how appropriate a place it was for one of the starting-points of the Gospel in Europe; and we can appreciate the force of Paul's expression a few months later, when he says that from them "the word of the Lord had sounded forth like a trumpet, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place." H.—Attracted by the great advantages for trade, the number of Jews was large; and it has remained so until the present day, when it is estimated at nearly one third in a population of seventy thousand. Into their synagogue, "as his manner, or custom, was," Paul went upon the first Sabbath after his arrival. His theme was Christ—a suffering Messiah—and one risen from the dead. His sole authority, his only ground both of argument and appeal, was the Jewish Scriptures. As at Antioch (ch. 13) so here—and everywhere—always "out of the Scriptures," he "opens" or explains, and "alleges" or proclaims, "Christ crucified, the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." His basis of statement, like his Master's, is, "It is written." And responsive to the risen Master's expression to the two disciples on the road, "Ought not Christ to have suffered?" is this of Paul, "that Christ must needs have suffered!" Doubtless, too, responsive to the Master's proof from "Moses and the Prophets" was Paul's unfolding of the Christ; in the types, the sacrifices, the promises and the prophecies of the old covenant. The meaning of the ought and the must needs, as applied to Christ's suffering, was explained, as he has reasoned it in his Epistles: that God might be just and yet the justifier of the sinner, penitent and believing in Jesus. Three weeks he continued his ministry in the synagogue. Then, although a few of the Jews believed, the greater number arrayed themselves against Paul. Compelled to desist from preaching in their synagogue, he remained for a considerable period—at least three or four months—laboring among the Gentiles, and with great success. Besides the few Jews, "a great multitude" of Greek proselytes, and many of the "chief women," believed, and were divinely led to cast in their lot with Paul and Silas. In so comparatively brief a period was created and organized that Church of the Thessalonians to whom not long after Paul addressed his two Epistles. As we learn from these Epistles, a chief topic of his preaching at this time had been the second coming of Christ in regal majesty. It is not, therefore, surprising that the unbelieving Jews (who had listened to purpose) should instigate the mob to accuse these Christians of setting up another king, one Jesus. 5-9. Jason and Other Disciples dragged before the Rulers and accused, but released on Bail.—The Jews were again the persecutors, and from the same cause as at Antioch—envy that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs to the promises of God. Yet their pride neither disdained nor scrupled to employ the worst elements of the populace, the vagabond and vile idlers around the market-place. This rabble they stirred up to gather at the house of Jason and demand the surrender of Paul and Silas. When these could not be discovered, they seized the disciples found in the house and dragged them before the rulers. Their exaggerated statement respecting Paul and Silas, in the introduction to their charge against Jason and the rest, affords striking evidence of the widespread and deep impression made by the Gospel in the few years of Paul's ministry. "These men have turned the world upside down!" is the testimony by which, while designing to calumniate and injure these preachers of Jesus, they only prove their fidelity and success. The charge is the old one against Christ—of disloyalty to Cæsar. Yet the loyalty of these accusing Jews, like those before Pilate, was only a cloak and pretense. The charge had a peculiar significance in Thessalonica. For it was, by special favor of the Roman emperors, a free city, with elective magistrates and a representative legislature. And these high privileges of self-government were conditioned upon strict fidelity to Rome. Hence the charge of committing or inciting treason would be jealously heeded by magistrates and people. But unlike the magistrates (prætors) of Philippi, who yielded to the mob's demands, these rulers, or politarchs (a term meaning "governors of the citizens," also accurately used by Luke, and a title still existing in an inscription upon an entrance archway), acted as became their judicial character. Either they received the explanation that Christ had given Pilate of His kingship over the empire of truth with the heart as the sphere of his rule, or they were satisfied that no treason was intended. For they released Jason and his companions, after receiving security for their pledge that no more trouble should ensue. Partly in compliance with this pledge, but chiefly for the safety of Paul and Silas, and the prosperity of the infant Church, "the brethren immediately sent them away by night to Berea." 10-12. The Berean Jews compare the Apostle's Preaching with the Word of God. Their Consequent Faith.—In Berea Paul keeps up "his manner" of going first to the synagogue, notwithstanding his discouraging reception by the Thessalonian Jews. This city, forty-five miles southwest of Thessalonica, still remains under the name of Verria, with a population of eighteen or twenty thousand. The record of the Jews of Berea—a considerable body—is most honorable. The mass of the nation, especially the highest in office and culture, had everywhere before rejected the claims of Christ without investigation, through contempt and pride. These Bereans were characterized by a far different temper and a nobler spirit. What Christ had vainly urged upon the Jews at Jerusalem (John 5 : 39), they did; and as a body for the first time was this "searching" done in the spirit of candid and earnest inquiry. Their nobleness—so is their spirit characterized by the Holy Ghost—was evinced in a mind attent to hear and awake to perceive, and a heart willing to receive the new truths and thoroughly to investigate their authority and their claims. Therefore, day by day, as Paul taught, they tested his teaching by its agreement with the Scriptures to which he appealed. Thus going to the divine source, without any bias of prejudice or partisanship, they honestly sought for truth, applied their minds to its test, and formed their own judgment upon the evidence divinely furnished. So they most honored the Word, and best seconded the efforts of its preachers. And so searching, as Christ commanded, they found, as Christ had promised: they believed! Would that all thoughtful souls were thus noble! Would that preachers in the study and the pulpit, hearers in the pew, and readers in the home, were all free from the unconscious trammels of preconceived opinions, of educated prejudice or trained partisanship, respecting the truths of the Divine Word! Would that all were habituated to simple, honest, earnest, prayerful search to know nothing but the mind of God, as disclosed in the Scriptures He has given us by inspiration. 13,14. Paul sent away from Berea, because of Persecution stirred up by Jews from Thessalonica.—Only a few weeks, at the most, did he probably remain in Berea. During this period he sought, but was unable, to revisit Thessalonica (1 Thes. 2 : 18). With the same spirit and purpose as in his First Journey he was pursued to Lystra, the envious, hating Jews sought to break up his good work in Berea. And they employed their usual method, of instigating the people to mob violence. But the "brethren" anticipated their plans by sending away Paul. Many of them escorted him (not "as it were," but) even down to the sea, as the quicker and safer way of escape, and the more direct and expeditious route to some place of destination. Some went with him as far as Athens, and returned with his message to Silas and Timothy. B. That the apostle had no deliberate purpose of going to Athens seems clear from the statement that the brethren at Berea sent him away to go to the sea; and then his conductors, guided no doubt by circumstances, such as what vessels happened to be sailing, brought him to Athens. The distinctive divine call which appointed him the Apostle of the Gentiles is made all the clearer from the slowness, not to say reluctance, with which he is urged on from Jerusalem to Cilicia and Syria, from Asia Minor to Europe, from the Jewish settlements in Macedonia to Athens and Corinth, as if the voice were repeated at every step, "Depart! for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles." Paul was no rash adventurer, rushing forward in his own strength to the conflict with Greek philosophy and Roman force. S. Of the future of this Berean church we are not informed. Silas remained with it for a considerable period longer. And Timothy took part in his care of it, until Paul sent the youthful evangelist (in his stead) to exhort and confirm in their faith the Thessalonian believers. But the noble character of its members, their remarkable freedom from prejudice, and their instant hearty acceptance of the Word, seem to authorize the belief that theirs was an unusually attractive history; developing no peculiarities of doctrine or practice that required a distinctive epistle from their great Christian founder. B. 16. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw 17 the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, 18 and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange 19 gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof 20 thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know 21 therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that 23 in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye 24 ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with 25 hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he 26 giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, 27 and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might 28 feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we 29 are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's de- 30 vice. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men 31 every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assur- ance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. 32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, 33 We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit 34 certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. By no means so strange to the ear of the ancient world was the doctrine of the future life, and of the resurrection of the body, as was this doctrine, That Truth is every man's concernment, every man's right, and every man's most necessary possession. The apostolic voice, sounding throughout the ancient world, and calling upon "all men everywhere to repent, and to believe the gospel," besides its direct religious import, carried an inevitable, though latent inference, which has effected the greatest of all the revolutions that have marked the intellectual condition of mankind. This challenge to repent and to believe awakened in every bosom a sense of responsibility altogether new, putting as it did every human being in a position of direct relationship to God, the Judge of all, and fixing in the minds of all a deep conviction that the difference between truth and error is of infinite consequence to men individually. Never, until it was proclaimed by the apostles, had it been surmised, either by Greek or Jew, that Truth, sacred Truth, the brightest daughter of the skies, might be vulgarized, and offered to the acceptance of the mass of mankind. In the ancient world, Truth, whether theological or physical, was, like the costly perfumes of the East, an exquisite luxury, which should be found only within marble palaces. But in the modern world, and this vast change is attributable mainly to the spread of Christianity, truth has become, like the very breezes of heaven, common property, and is everywhere sweet, salutary, free. I. T. THE order and course of Paul's Second Journey is easily remembered by noting its three geographical divisions—the first including Asia Minor; the second, Macedonia, with the cities of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea; the third (upon which we now enter), Greece, then called Achaia. Athens and Corinth were its principal cities. (See map, p. 129.) 16,17. Athens, forty-six miles east of Corinth, was situated three to four miles from the coast of the Saronic Gulf, though connected by a wall-inclusive with its seaport, Piraeus. It had long been distinguished above other ancient cities in art and philosophy, in learning and culture; noted, too, for its statesmen and warriors. Even in its subject and 1. The Agora, or market, upon a low level in a central locality—a place of concourse for traffic, for worship, and for public discourse or discussion. 2. The Museum, upon a hill (south of the Agora). 3. The Pnyx, an inclosed rocky eminence (on the west of the Agora) where political assemblages met. 4. The Acropolis, a towering temple-crowned height on the east, with a table summit (1,000 by 500 feet), long appropriated to the structures and offices of worship. 5. Another separate rocky eminence (on the north of the Agora, between the Pnyx and the Acropolis), the Areopagus, or Mars Hill—so called from the legendary trial of that god. A flight of sixteen steps, cut in the stone, led up from the Agora to the Areopagus. Here was the seat of the supreme tribunal, which sentenced eminent State criminals, and adjudicated upon questions of religion. No other place was so appropriate for the proposed theme of Paul's discourse. All these five centers of popular interest were still great sanctuaries of art, religion, and history. They were still resplendent with temple - structures, porticoes, and altars; edifices of the rarest architectural beauty, consecrated to the gods and to the glory of  Athens—the Acropolis. declining condition under the Romans, it was still outwardly magnificent—still famous for its trophies of art, its schools of science and philosophy. It was still the university of the world, and its people retained all their pride of knowledge and culture. There were mainly five great centers of public attraction, centers of renowned historic transactions. the nation. They were filled with the master-pieces of statuary, by Phidias and his creative successors, representing all mythical and imaginary divinities, and all memorable persons and events in the long brilliant history of this widely known and famous city. But all this glory of art and history was perverted to the uses and corrupting effects of idolatrous worship. Appreciating, as Paul could, the grandeur and beauty of its architecture and sculptures, the high culture and renowned deeds represented in its monumental statuary, his heart was yet profoundly saddened by the waste and misuse of these products of genius in their subservience to a worship which was the medium of all selfish and vile gratification. Destitute of all knowledge of God and of sin, without any high aim or object in living, their religious sentiments, beliefs, and ceremonies of worship, nay more, the very ministry of art, taste, and culture, encouraged and wrought only a shameless profligacy. The popular estimate of the character of their gods was such that Seneca said, "that no other effect could possibly be produced, but that all shame on account of sin must be taken away from men, if they believe in such gods." Beholding the multitude of idols, to which such a character was attributed and such worship rendered, no wonder that Paul's spirit was stirred within him. No wonder that with the Jews in the synagogue, and with the Greeks in the Agora or market, he reasoned (not disputed), and preached his old theme—Jesus and the Resurrection. 18 21. Here, first, Christianity came in contact with human philosophy: especially with the two systems most at variance with its pure and elevating principles. Daily, for many days, he entered this new arena, where men congregated for worship or gossip, for trade or discussion; and in temple, bazaar, or cloister, boldly avowed and pressed home the Christian truth upon all of every creed and class who would listen. Of the four great schools of philosophy, which had their origin and seat in the city of Socrates, only the representatives of two seem to have here encountered Paul. No reference is made to disciples of the two more distinguished philosophers, Plato and Aristotle; the former, as pupil of Socrates, founder of the Lyceum, and the latter of the Academy. B.—It is observable that no mention is here made of the Peripatetics, Academics, or Platonists, whose doctrines were not so much opposed to Christianity as those of the Stoics and Epicureans. Indeed, they may be said to have in some degree prepared the better part of the world for the reception of the gospel. W. In a remarkable conception respecting the Teacher from heaven whom the world needs, occurs this prophetic utterance of Plato: "This just person must be poor, and void of all qualifications but those of virtue alone. A wicked world will not bear his instructions and reproofs; and therefore, within three or four years after he begins to preach,  Plan of Athens, showing the Agora, or Market, the Pnyx, the Areopagus, the Acropolis, and the Museum. he should be persecuted, imprisoned, scourged, and at last be put to death." B. Epicureans, or Philosophers of the Garden, owed their name to Epicurus, who died at Athens in B. C. 270, leaving his house and garden to be the constant seat of his philosophy; which was accordingly maintained there till the time of which we are now reading. He taught that the highest good and great end of existence was serene enjoyment, which his followers interpreted as meaning pleasure, and that often of the grossest kind. He ascribed the creation of the world to chance; and, although he acknowledged the existence of the gods, described them as indifferent to human interests and human conduct. The Stoics, or Philosophers of the Porch, were so called from the Stoa Pæcile, or Painted Porch, adjoining one of the Athenian squares or markets, where their founder taught at the same time with Epicurus. The Stoics acknowledged the supremacy of moral good, and even affected to deny the difference between pain and pleasure. They also acknowledged a supreme God and a providence; but the former confounded with the world or universe, the latter governed by a fatal necessity. In later times, the Epicurean system was a favorite with the Greeks, and the Stoicai with the Romans, as suiting their national characters respectively; but each had adherents in both races. J. A. A.—In Epicureanism, it was man's sensual nature which arrayed itself against the claims of the gospel; in Stoicism, it was his self-righteousness and pride of intellect; and it is difficult to say which of the two systems rendered its votaries the more indisposed to embrace the truth. Hackett. With mixed curiosity and scorn, Paul was heard by these disciples of Epicurus and Zeno. Some called him "babbler," literally, a bird that picks up seeds; then, a scrap-beggar about the marketplace; and last, a reporter of idle tales picked up anywhere. Others, according to the Greek notion of peopling all worlds with spiritual powers or demons, said, He is telling us of new demons or deities. Still they were so much interested in Paul's teaching that they asked him to address them more formally and at length, from the inclosure of the Areopagus adjoining, and led him up the stony steps to a rock-hewn platform. B. He had brought the new truth, to proclaim it in this capital of men's intellectual life. In his person, on his landing at the Piraeus, the morning light of the new age rose on a second continent. Yet everything about him was appallingly bleak, every face was unfriendly. Any courage less valiant than that of the Son of God in his heart must have quailed before the overpowering splendor and despotism of the old heathenism, in the very stronghold of its dominion. Athens was the brain of the world. The apostle had come to it, as fearless of its sophistries and arrogance as he had been of the swords and dungeons of Syria. He had come to say: "You classic Greeks, artists, poets, philosophers, are seeking after wisdom; but the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisest of you. One  The Areopagus and the Acropolis. God made you; one Saviour died for you. Your Olympus is a fiction. I preach unto you Christ, and him crucified, the wisdom of God and the power of God; your Saviour, if you will be saved." How right that this should have been spoken from the Athenian Areopagus, the hill-top of that luminous center of the old pagan civilization: where Stoics and Epicureans and soldiers—philosophy and pleasure and power—Alexandria and Corinth and Rome, and the three continents, could hear! F. D. H. Not only in Athens, but no doubt often in his circuit through Greece and its colonies, he stood surrounded by the sarcastic curiosity of Stoics, Epicureans, and Academicians. He knew, on such occasions, in what spirit he was listened to, as a busy and babbling zealot of the Jewish superstition. He could penetrate—nay, he could feel a sympathy with the erudite scorn of his auditors: he understood the sentiment with which men of high culture give ear, for a moment, to a tale of wonder which they have condemned as absurd before it is commenced. In the oblique glance of the half-closed eye, in the sneer that played on the lip, he read the mind and the malice of every sophist. He could mentally change positions with his auditors, and at the moment while uttering the "strange things" of the gospel could feel as they felt—the harsh and abhorrent character both of the principles and of the facts which he had to announce—Jesus, the Galilean teacher—crucified—raised to life—constituted Lord and Judge of men, and now giving repentance for remission of sins. This was his burden, at Antioch, at Ephesus, at Nicopolis, at Corinth, and at Athens! I. T. 22,23. The Introduction and Theme of Paul's Discourse on Mars Hill.—The outlook upon the city from the memorable rocky height upon which he stood, the character of his audience, and the special purpose for which they were now gathered about him, help us to some just appreciation of the courage of the man, and of his wonderful skill in shaping his discourse. In it we find a rare combination of prudence and courtesy, of wisdom, fidelity, and boldness. Never was Paul's own counsel to Timothy (2 Tim. 2: 24), especially its one particular, apt to teach, more signally illustrated than in this introduction and in the plan of his address. He does not (as our translation unhappily expresses it) charge them with being "superstitious" or with "ignorantly" worshiping. He simply speaks of their exceeding devoutness or reverence for their gods; and characterizes their worship by borrowing the very term inscribed on their altar. As a wise and model reformer, he knows that truth expels error as light banishes darkness. He seizes his oppor-  Ancient Altars: 1, 2. Egyptian. 3, 5. Assyrian. 4. Babylonian. tunity, not to denounce heathen priestcraft and impure worship, but to proclaim the true God and explain true worship. With a divine guidance he masters the peril of his position by turning its very difficulties into a means of education and of conviction. As often before, in the manner of Christ, he uses things familiar to the Athenians to teach them great and sublime truths they had never apprehended. With this purpose and in this spirit he refers to the multitude of altars (not devotions, but objects of devotion), and takes his theme from an inscription upon one: (literally) TO GOD UNKNOWABLE. This God, whom they unknowingly worshiped, and whom they thought to be unknowable, Paul proclaims to them. And he addresses them as men of intelligence, and of capable judgment, in all things showing them proper respect and courtesy. B. The religion of the Greek had in it a kind of attractiveness, but it took all the grandeur out of the universe. Instead of seeing the supreme God and Father everywhere and in all things—shining in the beauty, dazzling in the glory, giving in the fruitfulness, speaking in the truth—he saw himself imaged there. It was man's universe, not Jehovah's. He humanized the clouds, the forests, the rivers, the seas; peopled them with deities and half deities, with satyrs and fauns, with muses and nymphs, each of which represented some side of man's nature. He set upon everything his own image and superscription. If there was any real and mighty God, any power irresistibly making for righteousness and yet overflowing with love, the Greek had pushed him afar off and out. At best there remained but a horrible dream of God in his conception of all-comprehending and relentless fate. The altar "to the unknown God" became the only Greek altar which was in any sense an altar to the true God. D. S. G.—Paul declared the unknown God, whom the Athenians ignorantly worshiped, to be the great Creator of the world, in whom and by whom all things were made, and exist. From the visible proofs of his providence, in his government of the world, he leads them to the consideration of his spiritual nature; and thus condemns the idolatrous worship of the Athenians, while he gradually unfolds to his philosophical audience the important truths of their accountableness and immortality, which were demonstrated by the fact of Christ's resurrection from the dead. G. T. 24,25. God, the Creator, Ruler, and Life of the Universe needeth no Service of Men's Hands.—The independent, unlimited, absolute source and controller of all manifest existences is separate from and superior to all. In this implied statement, without directly controverting the polytheism of the Greeks, or particular notions of Epicurean or Stoic, Paul yet overturns the main points of all their systems. For he announces a personal God, against the Greek belief in material deities; he declares "the unity of the Godhead, against Polytheism; the creation of all things by him, against the Epicurean theory of a fortuitous concourse of atoms; of his government of the world, against the Stoical doctrine of Fate and the Epicurean notion of indifference" (Wordsworth). With temples on every side, majestic and beautiful, but structures of human hands, he yet boldly asserts (as Stephen before him to the Jews) that in hand-made temples the Lord—the Master—of heaven and earth does not dwell; to them he is not confined. Nay, more, with thousands of altars smoking with offerings, and ten thousand idol-shrines laden with costly gifts and with food and drink, from those who thus supplied their dependent deities' needs, Paul as boldly announces the new and elevating truth, that the Maker and Giver of all needs no ministry of those He has made. And amid innumerable forms of idol gods, wrought in gold and silver and stone with every ingenious device of finest human art, he hesitates not to tell them that the Godhead is not to be conceived of or symbolized under such graven or chiseled forms. So boldly and wisely Paul disclosed the positive and fundamental conceptions relating to the one only living and true God. Having thus declared the unity of God, with his creatorship and control of the universe, he turns to consider the corresponding unity of man, and his place and work in God's plan. B. Up to a certain point in this high view of the Supreme Being, the Philosopher of the Garden, as well as of the Porch, might listen with wonder and admiration. It soared, indeed, high above the vulgar religion; but in the lofty and serene Deity, who disdained to dwell in the earthly temple, and needed nothing from the hand of man, the Epicurean might almost suppose that he heard the language of his own teacher. But the next sentence, which asserted the providence of God as the active, creative energy—as the conservative, the ruling, the ordaining principle—annihilated at once the atomic theory, and the government of blind chance, to which Epicurus ascribed the origin and preservation of the universe. Milman.—And when the Stoic heard the apostle say that we ought to rise to the contemplation of the Deity without the intervention of earthly objects, and that we live and move and have our being in him—it might have seemed like an echo of his own thought—until the proud philosopher learned that it was no pantheistic diffusion of power and order of which the apostle spoke, but a living center of government and love—that the world was ruled, not by the iron necessity of Fate, but by the providence of a personal God—and that from the proudest philosopher repentance and meek submission were sternly exacted. H. 26-29. Mankind one in Nature, limited and controlled as to Time and Place; yet Children of God, supplied by his Providence, and designed for his Companionship.—Heathenism had never attained the conception of unity in the origin or in the history of the race. According to the common belief, different races or nations had a different origin, and each its independent mission and history. Humanity had no common ties of interest, association, and destiny. This erroneous belief, which suggested and fostered the idea of many gods, Paul corrects by the assertion that God had made all nations of one blood. Especially he cuts up by the root the conceit of the Athenians that they came of an aboriginal stock, and were thus distinct from and superior to all others. B.—The Greeks were a fine race of men; and they knew it. They trusted in themselves that they were intellectually and physically beautiful, and despised others. Mankind were divided in their conception into two great sections—Greeks and Barbarians. They would not admit a community of race with other peoples. Arnot.—Paul tells them that they belong to the one race, made and controlled by the one God; that this God is not far from them; that he can be sought and found by them; nay, more, that he has made them in order that they might seek his fellowship, and so find that supreme good for which their souls had long been craving and unconsciously groping. B. Till Christ came, this majestic fact in our condition, that our little human tent here is overarched by an infinite heaven of light and love which really opens and pours down a living influence upon us, scarcely anywhere broke through the pagan shadows. Here and there, in some half-awakened soul, there was a religious dream or guess—some glimmer of the light that was to rise on rich and poor alike—some Athenian thinker, such as Paul found "feeling after God, if haply he might find him"—some solitary flash like the Stoic maxim, "Deny thyself and aspire," almost worthy of the Son of man—some morning-star like the reason of Plato. But these harbingers of the day only cast slender streaks on a few hill-tops, showing how broad and deep the darkness lay on all the lands below. F. D. H. Not far from any one of us. Paul purposely calls this to mind in addressing the men of Athens, who were accustomed to represent their gods as in Olympic rest and self-satisfaction, throning it high above earth and her puny inhabitants. He was really within reach of their hand; they had not to climb to the height of heaven, or to descend into the depths of earth, but merely to look within their own bosoms, in order to discover unmistakable traces of him. Van O. Then he advances to the idea of the fatherhood of God. To conciliate their minds toward this grand truth, he cites one of the many vague conceptions of this fatherly relation (of Jove), found in passages of the Greek mythical poetry. The words quoted are found in an astronomical poem of Aratus, a native of Soli in Paul's own province of Cilicia; and also in a hymn to Jupiter by Cleanthes of Lycia. The point which Paul makes (v. 29) of our childship to God, as proving image-worship to be irrational, is presented in the same conciliatory spirit. "As we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think," etc. But he puts his point clearly and strongly. If we, possessing such intellectual and spiritual forces, are sprung from Him, we must conceive of God as something other and higher than a mere metal or stone image. This human spirit can not proceed from the stone or metal forms which human hands have shaped. Human hands can not create the Creator of this breathing, moving, living fabric of body and soul. 30, 31. Their Past Ignorance God had overlooked; but now, in the Light from the Incarnation, the Cross, and the Resurrection of Christ, all are enjoined to Repentance and Trust; and Disobedience must encounter only Stern Condemnation.—Two further instances of Paul's moderation and forbearance occur in the simple phrase, "the times of this ignorance." One, that the weightiest charge he makes against corrupt heathenism is its ignorance. The other, that he does not make even this a personal charge against his listeners; he only includes them in a general way with the cultured heathen of many centuries. Yet, though so courteous and conciliatory, he is faithful. For he does charge these intelligent and polished Athenians with ignorance. And, while intimating that God forbore with (not "winked at"—a figure the word will not bear) the ignorance of past generations, suffering it to pass without special interference of his grace or reproof, sending no messengers to them as he did to the Jews, yet, in God's name, he now commands their repentance, as sharing the common guilt of men. In his previous daily preaching, the apostle had taught some of them about repentance and faith in the crucified and risen Christ. Now he presses the obligation upon all to confess and turn from sin; and enforces God's command by the great, decisive fact that they, with all mankind, must stand before Christ in an appointed day of judgment. And, in completion of his appeal, he adds, that Christ, now impliedly the Saviour, is proven by the resurrection to be then the Judge! B. There is a day appointed wherein the Son of man will appear in sensible glory, and exercise his judicial power upon angels and men. He is now "seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high," and the celestial spheres are under his feet: universal nature feels the power of his scepter: he reigns in the hearts of the saints by his Word and Spirit, and restrains the fury of his enemies in what degrees he pleases: but still his servants are in distress, and his rebellious enemies insolently break his laws; and the curtains of heaven conceal his glory from us: therefore a time is prefixed when in the face of the world he will make an eternal difference by rewards and punishments between the righteous and the wicked, and his government shall have its complete and glorious issue. Bates. 32-34. Results of Paul's Discourse to the as- sembled Athenians.—Wise, forbearing, and conciliatory as was his address, the indirect preaching of personal guilt, accountability, and condemnation to the haughty self-righteous Stoic and the pleasure-seeking Epicurean, and especially the mention of a resurrection—counted by all classes an impossible absurdity—at once broke up the audience, and "Paul departed from among them." B. Paul rightly divided that day the Word of Truth, and the Word divided the hearers into distinct and well-defined groups: into mockers, hesitators, and cleaving believers. The mockers, whether socially higher or lower, were in spirit the hardest and coldest of the company. They were fast and free livers. They enjoyed life, and kept the thought of death away. They went away laughing at the truth of God and the God of truth. The hesitators, convinced in their consciences that the testimony of the apostle had all the air of truth, did not dare to scoff; but, wedded to their own case and pleasure, they were not willing to take up the cross and follow Christ. Accordingly they made a respectful apology to the preacher and went away. The third class cleaved to him and believed; that is, while this man's lips were the channel through which the Word of Life reached them, the ultimate longing of their hearts—their ultimate grasp—reached and rested on Christ crucified, whom Paul preached. They cleaved to Paul, but they believed in Christ. Arsad. A few converts were gained; but one of the large and intelligent class whom he had aimed to reach. With his name is intimated his membership of that most ancient Athenian tribunal comprising only men of the highest integrity and greatest distinction. The lesson of this failure was of great value to Paul; and he has written it in full in the first three of his Epistles. Among communities of the ignorant, the hardened, and even the wealthy and profligate, as in Asia Minor and Macedonia, and afterward in Corinth and Ephesus, the gospel found ready and abundant entrance. But in this city, which represented the highest attainments in human wisdom and genius, it could obtain no foothold. Paul's utter failure here to found a church of Christ not only showed that "the world by wisdom knew not God," but that mere human wisdom is the mightiest hindrance to the introduction of the knowledge of God, and to the acceptance of a gracious salvation. Is every age, the same two states of mind comprise the chief hindrances to the entrance and converting energy of the truth of God. On the one hand, a worldly heart and the love of pleasure, exemplified by the Sadducees among the Jews and the Epicureans among the Greeks. On the other, the pride of reason and of self-righteousness, exemplified by the Pharisees and the Stoics. Behind these two hindering states of mind and helping to produce them, were the two leading heresies of ancient and modern times: one—the doctrine of the Stoics—that confounds God with his entire creation, or pantheism; the other—that of the Epicureans—which denies a God in creation, or materialism. B. God can dwell only in himself, where he was before he made the world. He is Himself his temple. Nevertheless, he has built as many temples for himself as there are living hearts that love him; in these he desires to dwell, to be known, and to be adored. Aug. In every age, those who in any measure realize the force of truth are to be classified as were Paul's hearers in Athens: those who dare deride it; those who hesitate and put off obedience to its demands; and those who take it to their hearts. B. 1. AFTER these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a cer- 2 tain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their 4 occupation they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and 5 persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. 6. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. 7. And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that 8 worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians 9 hearing believed, and were baptized. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, 10. Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set 11 on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12. And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord 13 against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, This fellow persuadeth men to 14 worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, 15 reason would that I should bear with you: but if it be a question of words and names, and 16 of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. And he drave them 17 from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things. 18. And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head 19 in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he 20 himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. When they desired him 21 to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; but bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if 22. God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. PAUL does not forget, even when he is living for the higher aim, the care meanwhile necessary for the things of this world. Faith in the earthly task, not less than in the heavenly calling, is here shown in its true nature and in its high significance. The preacher of the gospel and the tent-maker are not two distinct persons, but one and the same; in a higher and lower sphere, animated by the same principle, and with the question on his lips: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" He shuns not to declare the whole counsel of God; but there is in Corinth no more faithful, honest, conscientious artisan than he. Van O.—The having a trade, besides enabling him to present an example of quiet industry to his converts, gave him scope for the exercise of self-denial and almsgiving. The extra work and weariness which the trade entailed was a means of keeping under his body and bringing it into subjection; while the money which it brought in to him was employed in relieving the wants of others as well as his own; for he says to the elders of Ephesus: “Ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak.” E. M. G. Let none be ashamed who follow a trade; but only let those be ashamed who live to no purpose, and are idle. The souls of those who are always at work are purer and stronger; for the idler speaks and does many vain things. But he who labors aright does not easily allow anything useless, either in work, word, or thought, for his soul is always directed to a life of labor. For we are the disciples of the fishermen, of the publicans, of the tent-makers, of Him who was brought up in the carpenter’s house. Chrys. 1. Paul finally withdraws from Athens and goes to Corinth.—After his brief work and its scanty results, he goes from intellectual but idle Athens, with nothing living but its memories of past eminence, to busy, bustling, crowded Corinth. Forty-five miles apart, both cities were in Greece, or the Roman province of Achaia. This province comprised the mainland south of Macedonia, and the peninsula called Peloponnesus, or island of Pelops. A neck of land, itself a barren plain, about four miles across at the narrowest part, joined the peninsula with the mainland. Called the Isthmus (afterward giving a name to similar strips of connecting land), it was washed on the western side by the  Greece Proper and Peloponnesus. (Note the positions of Athens and Corinth; the Saronic Gulf, between the two cities; the Gulf of Corinth, west and north of Corinth; and the Isthmus, between the two Gulfs.) Gulf of Corinth, flowing in from the Adriatic Sea; and on the eastern by the Saronic Gulf, a great inlet of the Ægean Sea. Across the northern end of the Isthmus ran a mountain ridge, having only three defiles, or passes. The southern end was also protected by a ridge (on the east and middle), and by a lofty rock-citadel rising abruptly to a height of two thousand feet, called the Acrocorinthus. Between the ridge and the rocky height was a ravine, and on either gulf side a level place. At the base of the northern slope of the Acrocorinthus, "just within the Isthmus, on a table-land descending in terraces to the low plain," lay the city of Corinth. By two seaports—Lechaeum on the Western Sea, and Cenchrea on the Eastern—it could send forth its ships westward and eastward into all waters, and to all the ports of the known then world. And to save time and avoid peril, vessels from either port were borne over the narrow Isthmus, thus affording larger opportunity for interchange of commodities in the transit and tarry. The ancient city, i. e., the Grecian Corinth, had had a memorable history. It had colonized the shores of the Ionian and Ægean Seas with noted cities. It had established an early historic fame for success in arts and arms, and in manufacture, as well as for commercial greatness and prosperity. But the Greek Corinth lasted only until B. C. 146. B.—In that year, by an insult to the ambassadors of Rome, it drew down that terrible destruction which Cicero describes as the extinction of the "light of Greece." Excepting the temples and the buildings on the Acrocorinthus, the city lay in ruins for a century, till it was rebuilt by Julius Cesar in B. C. 46, and the new Colonia Julia Corinthus was made the capital of the Roman province of Achaia.  Corinth and the Acrocorinthus. and the residence of the proconsul. Rapidly recovering its ancient wealth, as a place of great commercial and manufacturing enterprise, it regained also its infamous celebrity as the most dissolute of Greek cities, and a chief seat of the worship of Aphrodite; while at the same time it was second only to Athens in intellectual activity. S.—It is now an inconsiderable town of two thousand inhabitants with few remnants of the splendid buildings which gave name to the Corinthian order of architecture J. A. A. Not only by its intense activity and its world-extended commerce was Corinth fitted to be a Christian center, but its people comprised the three main elements upon whom the apostle sought to impress the truths of the gospel. There were in largest numbers the native Greeks of every class and degree of culture. As a Roman colony, there were also a great number of Romans, as is intimated by the Latin names in Rom. 16, that epistle being written from Corinth during Paul's second visit. And that a chief settlement of Jews was at Corinth, we know from its commercial distinction, and their universal prominence as world-traders, and from Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians. And at this time many had been banished from Rome by Claudius. For these reasons, Paul was guided in the selection of Corinth as the first great center of European Christianity. B.—Corinth claims a conspicuous distinction as the residence of the apostle during his most critical contests, both with Jews and Greeks, in defense of the very essence of the gospel; as the place whence he wrote his first apostolic letters—the two Epistles to the Thessalonians; as the Church to which he addressed those other two epistles, which not only contain the fullest directions on matters of Christian faith and practice, but which reiterate, in terms unequaled in human language for simplicity and force, the one great central truth of the whole gospel—Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. S.—From Corinth also, upon his second visit (and third journey), he wrote his most elaborate and instructive Epistle to the Romans. 2,3. Takes up his Abode with Aquila and Priscilla.—Though natives of Pontus in Northeastern Asia Minor, these Jews had resided in Rome, until recently expelled thence with others by Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor. But we find a kind Providence in that edict of Claudius that drove these childless, well-to-do tent-makers with their sympathetic, refined natures from Rome to Corinth. This was God's care of Paul's personal comfort, and his arrangement for the missionary's self-supporting toil. Thus, during the most effective and trying period of his whole career, with the "open door" for the gospel and the "many adversaries," Paul had a home, congenial fellowship, and what he also greatly needed then, a means of invigorating, physical toil and of independent subsistence. Tent-making he had been taught as a trade in early life, in accordance with universal Jewish usage. This was based upon the idea that without some means of honest livelihood the temptation might arise to knavery or theft. "Teach thy son the law, and teach him a trade!" was the Talmudic instruction to fathers. The latter custom still obtains in the East, and to some extent in Germany and Russia. We may add that the use of tents was and still is very great in those regions; and tent-making has always been a large and important business. The material—still largely used—was a cloth of goat's hair, which was obtained chiefly from Paul's native province of Cilicia. From the fact that Aquila had a house in Corinth, and afterward another in Ephesus (1 Cor. 16 : 19), and one also in Rome (Rom. 16 : 3-5), it would seem that he conducted an extended and prosperous business, at the same time laboring with his own hands. So that his example, as well as that of Paul, affords a signal illustration of the precept: Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord! They showed that daily labor, hand-toil or brain-toil (both equally honorable), consists perfectly with and helps to promote spirituality of mind and consecration of heart. It is further to be noted that Paul had other and special reasons in laboring for his own support among the Greeks of Corinth and Achaia. It was not a pride of personal independence that led him to forego in his own behalf the Christian law of ministerial support upon which he so earnestly insists in writing to these very Corinthians (1 Cor. 9 : 7-14). But he "would not be burdensome to them"; nor would he give opportunity to selfish, sharp-eyed Greeks, in or out of the Church, to charge him with seeking theirs and not them. Lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ, summed up his assigned reasons for declining support from the feeble, partially instructed Corinthian Church. 4-6. His Brief Ministry in the Synagogue, and how brought to a Close.—Until the arrival of Silas and Timothy—probably for some weeks—he wrought daily through the week, and on the Sabbath earnestly preached in the synagogue to Jews and Greeks. During this period, until after the encouraging vision and words of Christ (vs. 9, 10), Paul seems to have passed through something like Elijah's one experience of excited depression, though without any corresponding act of defection. Speaking of this period, he tells the Corinthians that he was with them in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling; while the tone of both Epistles implies his intensely moved yet depressed frame of mind at this time. And the occurrence in the synagogue, with the special manifestation of Christ immediately following, confirms an impression derived from these Epistles, that the whole of this first Corinthian visit was a time of ordeal and crisis, a period the most active, trying, and decisive in his entire apostolic career. Yet this depressed state of mind did not arise from personal timidity, for of this, like Elijah, he had none. But his utter failure in Athens, the vastness of that brilliant but most flagrant corruption in the midst of which he stood alone for God, his deep sense of impotence to cope with such tremendous forces of evil, the hardened perversity of the Jews against the truth and their virulent hatred against himself, and his own felt desolation and utter loneliness although naturally so self-reliant—these combined causes stirred all his soul within him. In this excited yet depressed condition Silas and Timothy found him; and, while relieving his loneliness with their human sympathy and spiritual fellowship, they stimulated his spirit the more by their encouraging news from the Churches of Thessalonica and Berea. As Christ was straitened till his baptism of suffering was accomplished, so Paul, under this state of unworldly excitation, was straitened in his work of testimony for Christ. And this intense pressure of spirit wrought itself out in direct fervent appeals to the Jews—to God's own people, who ought to have heeded. But almost as one man, with only a single known exception, they opposed Paul and blasphemed their own Messiah, Jesus. And, under the same intense sense of crisis, the apostle symbolically protests, as their prophets were wont to do, by shaking his raiment; emphatically asserts his own clearance from the guilt of their destruction; and, with warning solemnity, places that guilt upon themselves. 7, 8. Forsakes the Synagogue, and preaches in the Court of Justus's House.—As before, at Antioch of Pisidia, Paul departs from the Jewish house of worship. But he goes not far, and with him goes the synagogue's chief ruler as a Christian disciple. In an adjoining house, gladly opened to him by another convert to Christ—a Roman proselyte named Justus—he resumes his fervent faithful ministry. In this new preaching-place, accessible to all of every race and creed and station, many Corinthians were drawn in to hear the truth; and many, besides Crispus and Justus, believed, and confessed Christ in their baptism. B.—From this, as well as several other passages, we find that, when the parents, or heads of households, became Christian believers, so did their children. All were baptized together. So, in one place, we read of "the church which is in the house of Nymphas"; showing that such a group of believers, comprising parents and their children, might constitute a church of itself. How much beauty and sanctity there would be in such a spectacle—a church in each house—and how mightily the world would gain in Christian order, purity, and power, if it were generally realized! F. D. H. 9, 10. The Manifestation and Encouraging Charge of Christ.—This vision and the subsequent prosecution before Gallio seem to have occurred very soon after Paul's departure from the synagogue; and while he was still "in weakness and fear and much trembling." Discerning this state of His apostle's heart and the sense of insufficiency that was enfeebling his faith, and foreknowing the greatness of his labor and conflict in the protracted ministry before him, Christ, by this miraculous appearance and word, forearms while forewarning Paul. B.—"I have much people in this city"—serving now at heathen altars, slaves now of the grossest vices, nevertheless they are my people; and here you are to abide, from these vile dust-heaps to gather out my jewels—they have not chosen me, but I have chosen them; not for their merits, but out of my mercy chosen them before the foundation of Corinth, or of the world itself. If God's ways are equal, unless there was one rule for the sinners of Corinth and another for us, none are chosen from regard to their merits, or saved through their own ability—salvation being all of grace, pure and undeserved. T. G. Enough for this single-hearted worker and trustful disciple were the two simple clear declarations of his Master: I am with thee, and I have much peo- ple in this city! No longer could he fear, or would he hold his peace. We believe and therefore speak! were among his after words to this very people (2 Cor. 4 : 7-13), verified beforehand in his present large and blessed experience among them. And his Lord's assurance of abundant success was with him only a stronger stimulus to persistent exertion. 11. Summary of Eighteen Months' Ministry in Corinth.—His labor was great, his encouragements and discouragements were many and signal. A large church was formed in Corinth, and smaller ones in Cenchrea and at other points in Achaia; for here, as everywhere, his ministry reached to many of the places accessible from the capital. Meanwhile Paul failed not to keep up communication with the infant churches of Macedonia. During this period, too, were written the Two Epistles to THE THESSALONLANS. These were the first written Epistles; and the first of Paul's nine Letters to Churches, though the last in the order of our New Testament. Of these two Epistles, the first was prepared and sent soon after Timothy's arrival at Corinth with encouraging intelligence from the church at Thessalonica. Some months later, after receiving further information, the apostle sent the Second Letter to emphasize and confirm the instructions of the First. These Epistles furnish hints of his state of mind: his zealous absorption and success in his labors, his determination of self-support, and his keen sensitiveness to the hostile spirit of the Jews. B.—It is notorious that the order of the Epistles in the New Testament is not their real or chronological order. The mere placing of them in their true sequence throws considerable light upon the history; and, happily, the time of the composition of the more important Epistles can be stated with sufficient certainty. S. 12-17. Prosecution of Paul before Gallio.—This immediately followed the night-vision and promise of Christ; and in the result that promise was verified. The Jews were the persecutors. They assaulted Paul and brought him to the judgment seat of the proconsul Gallio. The accusation was the same for which Paul and Silas had been illegally scourged and imprisoned at Philippi. But Gallio (the brother of Seneca) had intelligence to discern the truth of the case, and courage to declare an independent judgment upon it. Like Lysias and Festus afterward, he refused to adjudicate upon religious questions outside of their bearing upon Roman law. In his decision, he ruled out the charge which the Jews had made. Not only this, but Paul's accusers were disgracefully driven from the judgment-seat. Even further than this, when the Greeks present immediately turned upon these accusing Jews and beat their leader Sosthenes, the new ruler of the synagogue, Gallio suffered it to be done in his presence. And so, as Christ had said, "no man set on Paul to hurt him." His work went on not only without hindrance, but the influence of Greeks and Romans thus indirectly favored the Church and its teacher. 18-22. Conclusion of the Second Missionary Journey.**—His work in Corinth for the time was done. Having entered the city alone, after eighteen months of bold, fervent toil, he left it with many converts and an organized church. Another organization in Cenchrea, and congregations of disciples at other points in Achaia, were additional fruits of his labor. B. Much importance should not be attached to the fact, incidentally mentioned here, that he had his head shorn in Cenchrea, before embarking, on account of a vow. Paul's idea of liberty under the gospel did not go the length of forbidding liberty. He bore witness that those who made any of these observances their righteousness before God, shut themselves out from Christ; but, when any one was justified through faith in the Redeemer, Paul and his fellow-apostles allowed the convert unlimited liberty to observe or not observe the Jewish ceremonial. Arnot.—With the Greeks it was usual only for slaves to wear the hair cut short; and to have appeared with it cut short at Corinth among the Greek Christians might have exposed him to ridicule and his preaching to contempt. He acted with prudence, therefore, in not cutting off his hair till he was on the point of quitting Greece. W. From the eastern harbor of Corinth, by the great route of commerce, he crossed over the Ægean to Ephesus, the emporium of the Asian coast. Here a few days' preaching proved so acceptable to the Jews that they prayed him to tarry. But he promised to return to them; and, leaving Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus, sailed to Cesarea. After a brief visit to Jerusalem, a greeting and report to the apostles and the Church, Paul returned for the last time to Antioch. About three years, from A. D. 51 to 54, this Second Journey had extended. B. 23. And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over ail the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in 25 the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing 26 only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way 27 of God more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which 28 had believed through grace: for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shew- ing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ.1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the 2 upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much 3 as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were 4 ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him 5 which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were 6 baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, 7 the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the 8 men were about twelve. And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space 9 of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multi- tude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of 10 one Tyrannus. And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were 12 brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and 13 the evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We 14 adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Seeva, a Jew, 15 and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, 16 and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house 17 naked and wounded. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephes- 18 sus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many 19 that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted 20 the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. THE surface of our reading has immensely enlarged, but not the limits of human life. Our morning newspaper must be scanned; we must sweep the whole horizon, and be posted in the world's news. And then the race is working out great problems; thinkers are flinging their thoughts to the winds for the revolving arms of the printing press, and we must keep pace with the march of advanced thought. Many of the books are professedly religious, and so commend themselves to our consciences, and so piquant and palatable as to commend themselves to our taste. Thus, all unwittingly, while we believe in the Bible, praise it, we only read it by snatches. We fail to feed upon it with the keenness of relish and thoroughness of digestion essential to our highest profit. Hence arises a generation eloquent about the Scriptures, but not mighty in them. An. The great question which we should be anxious to be able to answer in the affirmative is this, "Are we receiving the Holy Ghost since we believed?" Have we been ever since, and are we still, receiving the Holy Ghost? O blessed above all blessedness, if we can say that this is true of us! O blessed with a blessedness most complete, if we only do not too entirely abandon ourselves to enjoy it! Elect of God; holy and beloved; justified and sanctified; there is nothing in all the world that could impair or destroy such happiness, except we ourselves, in evil hour, believed it to be out of the reach of danger. T. A. 23. Commencement of Paul's Third Missionary Journey.—Recall the chief periods of Paul's apostolic career thus far: The First Journey of two years or more in Asia Minor; an interval of more than two years in Antioch and Syria; the Second Journey of three years or more through Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia; and an interval of a few months at Antioch. Now he undertakes his Third and last Missionary Journey; again through Asia Minor, tarrying only among the churches in Phrygia and Galatia, abiding in Ephesus, and then visiting Macedonia and Achaia. The period of this final circuit (recorded Acts 18: 23 to 21: 17) covered about four years, from the summer or fall of A. D. 54 onward. During this period Paul wrote the Epistles to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, and to the Romans. 24-28. An Episode concerning Apollos.—With a few glimpses, Luke here introduces a remarkably fine natural and Christian character, and a history though brief yet rich in instructive suggestions. Apollos, like Paul, was chosen by Christ for his great and special work. He was taken out of the very region where, and from the class by whom, the Old Testament Scriptures had been translated three centuries before into the now world-language. Taught all the learning and trained in the culture of the schools of Alexandria, he had applied all his acquired resources with his great natural gifts to the study of his own Scriptures. Through some undisclosed teacher, the testimony of the Baptist to Christ and some of the leading facts of Christ's life and ministry had been brought to his knowledge. Enough he had heard to trace the correspondences of that Life with the Old Testament prophecy and promise; and to produce a conviction that Jesus of Nazareth was the expected Messiah. Though uninformed of the eventful issue of that Life, and of the marvels of Pentecost that followed the Ascension, his faith yet fastened itself, like Abraham's, to a dimly revealed Deliverer. To this Redeemer he consecrated himself and all his culture. Under divine prompting, he became a self-appointed evangelist of the Messiah; telling in fervent words all the gospel he knew, the gospel of the Prophets as fulfilled. While Paul is traversing the provinces of Phrygia and Galatia, Apollos is led by the same Spirit to Ephesus, where Aquila and Priscilla had been some time abiding. No wonder that these tent-makers were intensely stirred when this man of bright intellect and burning zeal suddenly appeared in the synagogue at Ephesus; and, like another John, seemed by his eloquence and might of Scriptural truth to be preparing the way of the Lord. For, partially taught as he was, note Luke's description (vs. 24, 25) of his qualifications and his spirit. An eloquent man—one who could understand his subject and his occasion; who could grasp and use his points of argument and appeal with clearness, force, and fervor; mighty in the Scriptures, in the substance and spirit, not in the letter, of the truth of God; instructed in the way of the Lord, so instructed only by the Lord's own Spirit; fervent in the spirit, with a soul kindled and ever aglow with a Godlike love for God and man; he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord—in private and public, without weariness or ceasing, unfolding and impressing the Scriptures of truth, those Old Testament Scriptures which Paul afterward affirmed, "are able to make wise unto salvation." These particulars may well be pondered, if we would learn the true secret of an evangelist's success. Quick to discern these divine gifts and the missionary spirit of Apollos, yet perceiving how defective was his knowledge of the gospel, the tent-makers sought to instruct him in the fullness of the truth which they had received from Paul. They recognized as their vocation, if not to preach, to teach more perfectly this divinely called preacher. Again, by this teaching, as often before in this apostolic age, God honors the common priesthood of believers. While the apostles, and after them other appointed ministers, had due honor and a definite vocation, yet, in emergencies and for special purposes, unordained disciples ministered the Word and the ordinances. So, after Stephen's martyrdom, the scattered members of the infant Church went everywhere preaching the Word. So an obscure believer was Christ's messenger to Saul, to declare the truth and admit to the Christian fellowship. And in this case of Apollos, two simple disciples, and one a wo- God as magnified in his thorough and beautiful Christian spirit. And if we trace through his subsequent history, and read all that Paul wrote concerning him, we find an absence of self-assertion, a retiring modesty, a spirit of humble, earnest helpfulness, blended with boldness and intense fervor. Watering that which Paul had planted, building upon Paul's foundation in Corinth, yet, when a party would form itself around himself as a Christian leader distinct from Paul, he withdraws to Ephesus, and toils thenceforth under the counsel and guidance of the veteran apostle. Simply but clearly are the two chief functions of the gospel preacher intimated in connection with the work of Apollos at Corinth (vs. 27, 28). He helped them much which had believed through grace; and he mightily convinced those that were unbelieving. 1. At the End of a Considerable Journey, Paul settles down in Ephesus.—Timothy seems to have accompanied Paul throughout this Third Circuit; Titus in the earlier, and Luke in the later part. The route from Antioch was, as in the previous journey, over the Cilician plain, through the "Gates," the noted pass of the Taurus Range, into the high table-land of Lycaonia; thence through Cappadocia into Galatia, and then through Phrygia to the Ægean coast. Besides confirming and strengthening the churches everywhere throughout this journey, as specially charged by the apostles and brethren in Jerusalem he took order for future collections in behalf of the poorer Christians in Judea. Paul declares that he was "forward to do" this, that the helpfulness of Gentile to Jewish Christians might promote a closer spiritual unity and fellowship between them. To Ephesus Paul now comes, in accordance with his previous promise (18 : 21). And Ephesus proved to be his working-center during the greater portion of this Third missionary tour, as Corinth had been during the larger half of the Second. For Ephesus, like Corinth, was a great world-center of commerce, population, and influence. These two cities shared  Site of Ephesus. man, were guided to this needed ministry of instruction by the Spirit of Christ. The manner in which their joint ministry of help and guidance was accepted and acted upon by Apollos furnishes yet further evidence of the grace of the highest position of prominence and power with Rome and Antioch. And in all these world-centers Paul planted an effective and aggressive Christianity. B. From the frontier of Phrygia a tract of country extends to the Ægean, which is watered by two of the long western rivers, the Hermus and the Meander, and which is celebrated through an extended period of classical history, and is sacred to us as the scene of the churches of the Apocalypse. Laodicea is in the basin of the Meander; Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia are in that of the Hermus; Pergamus is further to the north, on the Caicus. Between the Hermus and the Meander is a smaller river, named the Cayster. And here, in the level valley of the Cayster, in a situation preëminent among the excellent positions which the Ionians chose for their cities, Ephesus was built, on some hills near the sea. H. (See map, p. 94.) Originally the royal city of the kings of Ionia, it passed successively under the control of Persia and Lydia, until B. C. 129, when under the Roman rule it was made the capital of the province of Asia. Upon the great line of commerce east and west, the meeting place of vessels from all points of the Mediterranean, connected by great roads with the interior markets of the East, the most central point between east and west, it naturally drew together Jew and Greek, Roman and Oriental. It was, moreover, a free city, though the mass of its population was Oriental in origin and in worship. Reason enough we discern why Paul should tarry so long and toil so arduously here! 2-7. The Holy Ghost falls upon Twelve Disciples of John the Baptist.**—Christian disciples they were, for the word is only used of such, and because Paul recognizes them as believers. Like Apollos, these men had not heard of the descent of the Holy Ghost. To Paul's question, "Did ye receive the Holy Ghost?" (referring not to the regenerating power, but to the extraordinary gifts which then so frequently followed conversion), they replied: "We did not even hear whether the Holy Ghost is," i. e., is given; whether these miraculous gifts have appeared. They had understood and practiced repentance toward God, and some vague yet real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; but they had not heard Christ's disclosures about "another Comforter, the Holy Ghost," nor had they experienced his special Pentecostal gifts. John had taught Christ's true Messiahship. This was his central truth: Behold the Lamb of God! So much these men knew, when they were initiated by baptism into the religion which John taught. That religion included as its two main doctrines repentance or reformation of heart and life, and trust in that Lamb of God of whom John was the forerunner and herald. After brief colloquy with these believers in the Messiah, Paul made clear what was vague, and fully unfolded Christ's career to His Ascension, and the sending of the Holy Ghost ten days thereafter. And now, with vastly enlarged vision of spiritual truth, and with deepened faith, "they were baptized into" (as better representing the chief idea of incorporation) "the name of the Lord Jesus." Again, as before, the laying on of the apostle's hands was followed with the miraculous gifts (the speaking with other tongues, and by special inspiration, i. e., "prophesying") of the Holy Ghost. And upon these twelve disciples Paul laid the foundation of the great Church of the Ephesians. This singular incident (we note in passing), as well as the similar history of Apollos, shows how slowly the knowledge of the essential facts of Christianity was spread abroad. It further indicates the depth and force of the impression made upon the whole Jewish people by the brief yet powerful ministry of the Baptist. Nearly thirty years had now elapsed since his beheading by Herod, yet at two widely separated points we find so rich and precious fruit of his faithful testimony. B.—The incident is also important as showing that those who are in a truly believing state of mind believe more or less of Christian truth according to their opportunities of knowledge. Abraham's faith was probably as strong as that of Paul, but not so extensive. This gives us great hope for those who are ignorant, but not for those who reject the truth when made known. If one has "faith" he will hold "the faith" as soon as he can properly discover it; without "faith," holding "the faith" is a dead orthodoxy. Riddle. 8-10. Three Months in the Synagogue on the Sabbath, then Two Years in the School of Tyrannus daily, Paul preaches the Word of the Lord Jesus.**—Though Aquila and Priscilla are not mentioned here, we have seen them so lately instructing Apollos, and we find them so soon again sending salutations to Corinth in the apostle's letter from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16), that we can not but believe he met his old associates. It is even probable that he again worked with them at the same trade: for in the address to the Ephesian elders (20 : 34) he stated that "his own hands had ministered to his necessities"; and in writing to the Corinthians he says (1 Cor. 4 : 11, 12) that such toil had continued even "to that hour." H. First, three months in the synagogue he spake boldly. His theme, as at Thessalonica, was that of the Baptist. It was that doctrine of the kingdom of God which was the key to Christ's whole ministry. To the Jews, who were still looking for a visible world-empire, he faithfully declared and pressed home the truth respecting "the kingdom of God within them," as the condition of entrance into the final glory of the everlasting kingdom. But his bold fidelity was offensive because his truth was unwelcome. They hardened themselves against his appeals by willfully refusing to believe. Nay, further, they dared publicly revile the truth of God and to belie the Christian way of believing and living. Thereupon, as at Corinth, Paul withdrew his disciples from among them. As the house of Justus at Corinth, so here the school of Tyrannus became—and for two years continued—the daily meeting-place of the Christians and the chief preaching-place of Paul. (From the lack of any note of the man, it would seem that this was a hired room where previously a Greek philosopher of that name had been wont to teach.) And for yet nine months longer, making three full years (20 : 31), in this great central city Paul maintained his sublime work of publishing the Christian truths. Doubtless he made many brief tours into the interior, and possibly crossed the Ægean to Corinth; for of such movements we find some indications. So it was that all the inhabitants of pro-consular Asia “heard the word of the Lord Jesus”; a fact confirmed even by heathen writers. And during this period most, if not all, of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse may have been planted. Of four congregations in that province, those of Ephesus, Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis, Paul speaks definitely in Col. 1 and 4. 11, 12. Paul’s Work for God attested by Specially Adapted Miracles.—For a second time, and the last, in Paul’s history we read of many miracles wrought in connection with his ministry. The occasion—always the same—is some specially demanded attestation of God’s presence, speaking and working through him. As in the case of Moses before Pharaoh, and as in Paul’s own previous experience before the deputy in Cyprus, an issue was raised here between the antagonistic powers of light and darkness. On the one side were numerous sorcerers, pretended exorcists, and magic-workers, apostles of falsehood and impurity with whom Ephesus was teeming, from all lands; and on the other, Christ’s apostle of truth and purity. To give sharpness and force to the decision of this issue, an unquestioned and signal manifestation of Divine power was essential at this juncture in this infested city. Hence, besides the miracles wrought by the hands of Paul, God wrought special wonders in connection with him, yet without his direct intervention. Not the relics of a dead saint, but aprons and handkerchiefs used by a living one in his honest, hallowed, daily toil, were made means of imparting a healing power, like that of Christ’s garment-hem to the suffering woman’s touch. Those who sought them for this purpose had faith in the application, and God condescended to meet and reward the faith. But only for the time and occasion. There was no second-hand use, for there was no second-hand faith of superstition. The unusual form of these miracles—therefore called special—was adapted to meet the leading superstition of Ephesus. These very supernatural effects, so publicly wrought and so conclusively real, were designed to confute and triumphantly confuted all professed magical or talismanic claims. Especially did they challenge comparison in their effects with the charms and amulets constituted by the utterance or transcription of the famous mystic symbols or sentences known as the Ephesian Letters, thrice graven upon Diana’s image. In connection with these admirably adapted miracles—which have no parallel in apostolic or other subsequent times—Luke is careful to note (17) that it was the name of the Lord Jesus, not that of Paul, that was magnified. B.—Eustathius says that the mysterious symbols called “Ephesian Letters” were engraved on the crown, the girdle, and the feet of the goddess. When pronounced, they were regarded as a charm; and were directed to be used, especially by those who were in the power of evil spirits. When written, they were carried about as amulets. The study of these symbols was an elaborate science: and books, both numerous and costly, were compiled by its professors. H. 13-16. So conclusively real and certainly Divine were the “special miracles” wrought in connection with Paul’s preaching, that “certain wandering Jewish exorcists undertook to name over them who had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” This blasphemous appeal was not only damaging as its utter failure showed them to be counterfeits and pretenders; it involved the absurdity of a feebler evil agent, with a means confessedly not understood, much less controlled, attempting to dispossess a stronger. In these words, too, the sons of Sceva practically confessed that they had no faith in and stood in no personal relation to Christ; that they were not warranted therefore in such a use of His name; that their own claim to supernatural power was false; that, unlike them and all other sorcerers, Paul was a true man, successfully engaged in a work helpful to man and so honoring to God; and that in this work he was in living alliance with Divine power. Furthermore, this wicked, absurd, and humiliating appeal brought out another demoniac attestation to the truth of Paul’s mission and the conquering might of Christ. “Jesus I acknowledge,” as Ruler over the world of evil and good, “and Paul I know,” as His minister, “but who are ye?” promptly answered back the kindred spirit whom they could not exorcise. And assaulting two of the seven brothers, he rent off their clothes and drove them wounded from the house. 17-20. Effect of the Word and its Accompanying Miracles, and of the Overthrow of the Jewish Exorcists, upon Believers in Magic and Dealers in Sorcery.—To all the dwellers in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, Paul's faithful preaching of Jesus, the special marvels connected with him, and the discomfiture of the sons of Sceva, had become known. Through this knowledge Christ's name was magnified and multitudes believed. Luke notes the special effects of the strikingly exhibited superiority of the divine miracles over the human counterfeits. On the one hand, many who had previously believed (18), and yet had not thrown off the early superstitious faith in magic arts, now formally confessed their folly and renounced all connection with sorcerous practices. And on the other, many of the sorcerers, of those "who practiced magical arts," openly brought together and burned the parchment rolls, transcribed laboriously and at great cost with the secret formulae and mystic symbols of the magic art, accumulated through previous ages. That these became also Christian believers is evident from the cost and completeness of their voluntary sacrifice. They did not make gain of that which they now knew to be only evil; but showed their sincerity of repentance by utterly and openly destroying the books that might have been sold for a great sum. The money-value thus deliberately sacrificed by constraint of Christian principle amounted to many thousand dollars. Thus, as always, a genuine faith wrought an honest purpose; a purpose that will sacrifice at any cost and hazard every hindrance in the way of obedience to God and helpfulness to man. A sharp lesson, not only upon sacrifice but upon sincerity, these converted sorcerers of Ephesus convey to many professedly converted men and women in their business dealings. In this connection the 20th verse presents a remarkable summary of Paul's work in Ephesus: So mightily grew the WORD OF GOD, and prevailed! The breadth of the sowing of truth, the depth of its rooting, its vital force in the heart and its rich fruitage in the life, are here referred to. Of these great and wide results, the submission and sacrifice of the sorcerers, just alluded to, afford signal examples. The opposite, selfish course of Demetrius and his workmen present as signal exceptions. B. 21. AFTER these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see 22 Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. 23 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named 24 Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto 25 the craftsmen; whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, 26 Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned 27 away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia 28 and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, 29 and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions 30 in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself 31 into the theatre. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned 32 with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana 33 of the Ephesians. And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing 37 rashly. For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor 38 yet blasphemers of your goddess. Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them 39 implead one another. But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be de- 40 terminated in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's 41 uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. CONCEIVE the apostles of Jesus Christ, the tent-maker or the fisherman, entering, as strangers, into one of the splendid cities of Syria, Asia Minor, or Greece. Everywhere they behold temples on which the utmost extravagance of expenditure has been lavished by succeeding generations; idols of the most exquisite workmanship, to which, even if the religious feeling of adoration is enfeebled, the people are strongly attached by national or local vanity. They meet processions, in which the idle find perpetual occupation, the young excitement, the voluptuous a continual stimulant to their passions. They pass a magnificent theatre, on the splendor and success of which the popularity of the existing authorities mainly depends, and in which the serious exhibitions are essentially religious, the lighter as intimately connected with the indulgence of the baser passions. They behold another public building, where even worse feelings—the cruel and the sanguinary—are pampered by the animating contests of wild beasts and of gladiators. They encounter, likewise, itinerant jugglers, diviners, magicians, who impose upon the credulous, and excite the contempt of the enlightened. Such must have been among the overpowering difficulties they condemned and defied. Milman. 21, 22. The Ultimate Plan of Paul's Further Journey. Timothy and Erastus sent before.—In 2 Cor. 1 : 15, 16, a slightly differing plan is referred to. He had intended to pass through Corinth "to Macedonia and to come again out of Macedonia unto Corinth"; that is, to give them a second benefit in this journey. But this purpose was changed, to spare them, that he might not grieve them, or come to them in sorrow or severity (2 Cor. 1 : 12 ; 2 : 10). The First Epistle explains all. Sad intelligence reached him in Ephesus of divisions and contentions in the Corinthian Church, of uncensured gross immoralities, and of the scandalous profanation of the Lord's Supper. Instead of the sharp rebuke, which he would have personally administered had he gone first to Corinth, he remains still longer in the province of Asia, and from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16 : 8) writes the admonitory words of his First Epistle to the Corinthian Church. B.—While arranging his plans so as to give his disciples at Corinth a space for repentance before his arrival, he stimulated them to that repentance, and gave directions for that reformation of their disorders which would prepare for his coming to them in joy and peace, by writing this letter. Its contents give decisive indications of its date and place: it was written after Paul's second visit to Galatia; after the mission of Timothy, and Erastus; and after the change in the apostle's plans. Paul alludes to his being still in Asia, and at Ephesus, whence he was contemplating his departure at the ensuing Pentecost; circumstances which fix the date to the spring of his last year's residence at Ephesus (A. D. 57). S.—After that, he decides to delay still further and to go first to Macedonia, that he might learn the effect of his First Letter. While in Macedonia he receives gratifying tidings, to which he refers and responds in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, written from Macedonia. Then he goes to Corinth, and after wintering there is brought on his return journey to Jerusalem. Luke, writing here after the event, simply narrates Paul's actual journey. The tarrying "in Asia" (in Ephesus) covered another period of nine months, which completes the three years of chapter 20 : 31. During these latter months occurred the events that follow in this chapter. 23-28. Demetrius, a Manufacturer in Silver, craftily excites the Workmen to Riotous Demonstrations against the Christian Movement and its Leaders.—Again, this movement is characterized as "that way"; meaning the Christian way of believing and living. Some knowledge of the temple, the image  Coin of Ephesus, exhibiting the head of Nero and the Temple of Diana. and the worship of Diana, the tutelary deity of Ephesus, is essential to a clear understanding of the appeal of Demetrius and the resulting commotion. B. One building at Ephesus surpassed all the rest in magnificence and in fame. This was the Temple of Artemis or Diana, which glittered in brilliant beauty at the head of the harbor, and was reckoned by the ancients as one of the wonders of the world. The sun, it was said, saw nothing in his course more magnificent than Diana's Temple. It consisted essentially in horizontal entablatures resting on vertical columns. These colonnades were erected as subsidiary decorations round the cell which contained the idol, and were, through a great part of their space, open to the sky. The Temple was 425 feet in length and 220 in breadth, and the columns were 60 feet high. The number of columns was 127, each of them the gift of a king; and 36 of them were enriched with ornament and color. All the Greek cities contributed to the structure. The national pride in the sanctuary was so great that, when Alexander offered the spoils of his eastern campaign if he might inscribe his name on the building, the honor was declined. The value and fame of the Temple were enhanced by its being the treasury, in which a large portion of the wealth of Western Asia was stored up. If the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was magnificent, the Image enshrined within the sumptuous inclosure was primitive and rude. It resembled an Indian idol rather than the beautiful forms which crowded the Acropolis of Athens. The figure, which assumed an emblematic form above, representing the life of all animated beings as fed and supported by nature, was terminated below in a shapeless block. The material was wood. A bar of metal was in each hand. The dress was covered with mystic devices; and the small shrine, where it stood within the Temple, was concealed by a curtain in front. Yet, rude as the image was, it was the object of the utmost veneration. Like the Palladium of Troy—like the most ancient Minerva of the Athenian Acropolis—like the Paphian Venus or Cybele of Pessinus—like the Ceres in Sicily—it was believed to have “fallen down from the sky” (v. 35). One of the idolatrous customs of the ancient world was the use of portable images or shrines, which were little models of the more celebrated objects of devotion. They were carried in processions, on journeys and military expeditions, and set up as household gods in private houses. H.—Such were the “silver shrines for Diana,” largely manufactured by Demetrius; small portable models of the Temple, and containing a figure of the goddess. These shrines were in great demand, not only in Ephesus and the province of Asia, but among all nations and in all countries; and hence the business of their manufacture was extensive and lucrative. The great annual festival of Diana, the patron deity of Ephesus, took place in her own month of May; when the rude wooden image of the goddess was exhibited to the multitude, and, in her honor, games and dramas were publicly celebrated. Of this opportune occasion Demetrius took advantage to stir up the idle and excitable Greek populace. Yet with all his shrewdness he is constrained to confess the immense power and success of the Word, in the very facts upon which he bases his inflammatory appeals. That the craftsmen in image molding and carving were out of work he declares to result from the preaching of this Paul. By him, “much people in Ephesus and throughout all Asia” (that is, the broad strip of the western seaboard of Asia Minor, the province of Asia) have been turned away from Diana's worship, and led to disbelieve in gods made with hands. He further praises the true character, methods, and effects of the Gospel, shows where the real power of its preacher lies, and how God honors that power, by the words: This Paul hath VERSUADED much people! To reason and motive they have intelligently and voluntarily responded with faith. And that these are undeniable facts, he appeals to the workmen: Ye see and hear all this! Naturally his first argument based upon such facts touches the selfish side. “This craft of ours—the making of these silver temple-models—by which we get our living, is in danger of being done away. Nay more, in time our occupation will become absurd and be accounted disgraceful.” Next he appeals to the religious and national feeling of the gathering townspeople, as well as of the workmen. He warns them that the success of the Christian teaching means the decline and overthrow of the Diana-worship, and of the supremacy of their regal city Ephesus. Arguments so artfully set forth, having so much foundation in fact, and touching his hearers at every personal and practical point, appealing to their imperiled living, to their religious faith, such as it was, and to their patriotic feeling, could not but succeed in inflaming their wrath to the utmost. With a mighty outcry, which expressed all the substance of their superstitious faith and patriotic devotion, Great! Diana of the Ephesians! the surging crowd of artisans and people that had gathered at the speech of Demetrius went tumultuously through the streets, increasing as they went, until they poured, a vast throng, into the great theatre. 29-41. Proceedings in the Theatre.—This is believed to have been the largest open-air structure of its kind ever constructed by the Greeks—capable of seating 50,000 persons in its many semicircular tiers of stone seats, rising from the stage floor. The still visible remains show its vast dimensions. Two of Paul's Macedonian disciples, companions in travel, were seized by the mob on the way, and borne into the theatre. Paul was kept back from entering by some "of the chief of Asia," or Asi-archs. B.—These were men (ten in number) annually elected from the wealthiest, most distinguished and influential citizens of the whole province, to conduct the sacrificial worship and to preside over the games of the Artemisian festival, to provide the necessary expenses, and to see that due order was maintained. They held for the time a kind of sacerdotal position; and when, robed in mantles of purple and crowned with garlands, they assumed the duty of regulating the great gymnastic contests, and controlling the tumultuary crowd in the theatre, they might literally be called the "chief of Asia." H.—Some of the men honored with this high office at this festival were so friendly to Paul, if not to the Christian teachings, that they besought him not to expose himself to unnecessary peril by venturing into the excited and turbulent throng. Confusion and uproar filled the vast amphitheatre. Probably by Alexander the coppersmith (2 Tim. 4:14), the Jews sought to clear themselves of the odium and charge against the Christians. But the angry, blinded crowd recognized no distinction and would hear no defense. For two hours they filled the air with their senseless shout, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! Then came among them their highest magistrate, a secretary, or recorder, who kept the archives, and prepared and published all state papers; and who, in various other ways, officially represented the people of the free city of Ephesus. This officer was chosen by themselves, his presence was familiar, and his judgment trusted. B. The speech is a pattern of candid argument and judicious tact. He first allays the fanatical passions of his listeners by a simple appeal. Then he bids them remember that Paul and his companions had not been guilty of profaning the Temple, or of calumnious expressions against the goddess. Then he points out that the remedy for any injustice was amply provided by the assizes, or by an appeal to the proconsul. And he reminds them that such an uproar exposed the city to the displeasure of the Romans; for, however great the liberties allowed to an ancient and loyal city, a tumultuous meeting which endangered the public peace would never be tolerated. So he tranquilized the multitude, and formally dismissed the assembly. Thus God used  View of the Theatre at Ephesus. the eloquence of a Greek magistrate to protect his servant, as he had used the right of Roman citizenship at Philippi, and the justice of a Roman governor at Corinth. And, as in those cases, the narrative here concludes with the notice of a deliberate and affectionate farewell. H. The town clerk said, "These men are neither robbers of churches nor blasphemers of your goddess." It would appear from this that Paul had proceeded at Ephesus with the same caution which he had displayed at Athens. He effectually undermined all idolatry by preaching Christ; but he did not fly in the face of what his audience considered sacred. His argument was always grave and considerate. He would not needlessly trample on the prejudices of the heathen. Arnot. Nothing more hinders men from going to or going from an opinion than the interest they have by holding it. Men do not care so much for the opinions they hold as for what they hold by their opinions. Many a man thinks what Demetrius said: "This craft, by which we have all our wealth, is like to be set at naught." Hence they begin to fly in the face of truth, and oppose it with outrageous rage, so dearly sweet, and sweetly dear, is their darling gain. When once the copyhold of gain and honor is touched, men begin to look about them, and will never call godliness gain, because gain is their godliness. V. derful token of God's power and love, they celebrated the Eucharistic feast. This act was combined, as was usual in the apostolic age, with a common meal; and Paul now took some refreshment after the protracted labor of the evening, and then continued his conversation till the dawning of day. H. 1. AND after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, 2 and departed for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts, and had 3 given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return 4 through Macedonia. And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, 5 Tychicus and Trophimus. These going before tarried for us at Troas. And we sailed away 6 from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. 7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until 8 midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered 9 together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down 10 from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and 11 embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of 12 day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little com- forted. 13 And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for 14 so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we 15 took him in, and came to Mitylene. And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogylium; and the 16 next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hastened, if it were possible for him, to be at Jeru- salem the day of Pentecost. THREE years of faithful labor had been given to Ephesus and the accessible regions of the interior country. Many churches had been planted, including some or all of the seven addressed in the Apocalypse. The First Epistle to the Corinthian Church had been written. Timothy had been sent into Macedonia, and Titus to Corinth: both to superintend the great work of gathering contributions from the Gentile churches for the Christian poor of Judea. Titus had also been charged with a report to Paul of the reception given to his First Epistle by the Church of Corinth. 1-6. In these six verses is compressed the story of ten months' journeying and tarry: from Ephesus to Macedonia and Greece, and back to Troas. Three Epistles—the Second to the Corinthians, and those to the Galatians and the Romans—largely supplement Luke's brief record here. They detail many incidents, and fully disclose Paul's state of mind; the causes of his anxiety, the special objects and aims of his toil, and the sources of his comfort. They further show that, intellectually, this was the most active period of his career. From 2 Cor. 2 : 12 we learn that, after leaving Ephesus, he first tarried at Troas, preaching for some weeks to welcome ears the glad tidings, while anxiously waiting the return of Titus from Corinth. Titus failing to come, Paul sailed for Macedonia, landing as before at Neapolis, and crossing the mountains to Philippi. Here he was rejoined by Timothy; and very soon after was comforted by the news brought by Titus from the Church at Corinth. Under mingled emotions awakened by this intelligence, in conjunction with Timothy, he then wrote THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CHURCHES OF CORINTH and of the province of Achaia, and sent it by the hands of Titus, who was charged with completing the collection successfully begun. This time and place of writing are intimated by the following facts: B.—It was written after the troubles that had befallen the apostle in Asia; after his preaching and disappointment at Troas, his arrival in Macedonia, and the consolation received there by his meeting with Titus; while he was engaged in making the collection for the poor at Jerusalem; and in anticipation of a renewed visit to Corinth. This Epistle reveals to us what manner of man Paul was when the fountains of his heart were stirred to their inmost depths. Every reader may perceive that, on passing from the First Epistle to the Second, the scene is almost entirely changed. In the First, the faults and difficulties of the Corinthian Church are before us. The apostle writes of these, with spirit indeed and emotion, as he always does, but without passion or disturbance. He calmly asserts his own authority over the Church, and threatens to deal severely with offenders. In the Second, he writes as one whose personal relations with those whom he addresses have undergone a most painful shock. The acute pain given by former tidings—the comfort yielded by the account which Titus brought—the vexation of a sensitive mind at the necessity of self-assertion—contend together for utterance. The highly wrought personal sensitiveness, the ebb and flow of emotion, so peculiarly characteristic of the Epistle, are as intelligible as they are noble and beautiful. We see what sustained him in his self-assertion; he knew that he did not preach himself, but Christ Jesus the Lord. S. From Philippi the apostle went upon a preaching tour westward “as far as Illyricum,” on the Adriatic (Rom. 15 : 19), thus “completing (at least in outline) the evangelization of the Eastern division of the empire, preparatory to a movement upon Rome itself.” Referring to this extended circuit, Luke says: “When he had gone through these parts, he came into Greece, and there abode three months.” The three winter months (of A. D. 57-58) at Corinth are those here alluded to. Occupied with the settlement of disturbing questions and disorders in that church, with an oversight of other churches in the province, and with “the care of all the churches” that he had founded, the apostle yet found time for the composition of two kindred Epistles: one to the Galatians, the other to the Romans. Of these the former, which was first written, is a sort of ground-plan to the latter. THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS was written in the early part of this winter at Corinth. Some think that it was prepared and sent before leaving Ephesus. It was aimed at the grand hindrance everywhere encountered in these earliest churches: the Judaizing doctrine that sapped the very life of the Christian system, by taking out of it all that was spiritual and essential, and leaving an outward, heartless, lifeless ceremonial framework. Abrupt, severe, and self-asserting against the men attempting insidiously to inculcate this destructive teaching, and seeking by falsehoods to supplant Paul in the attachment of the disciples; sometimes ironical even toward those easily deceived disciples; yet his tone of sadness and intense affection shows Paul’s heart firmly set upon rescuing and saving them. THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, the master-work of Paul, which has ever since formed the chief foundation of Christian theology, was certainly written at Corinth. Paul writes as the guest of Gaius, one of the most conspicuous members of the Corinthian Church. He sends salutations from Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, from Timotheus his fellow-laborer, and from Sosipater, whom we presently find accompanying him on his voyage from Greece to Asia (Rom. 16 : 23). He mentions the completion, not only in Macedonia, but also in Achaia, of the collection, which he was then on the point of carrying to the poor saints at Jerusalem. B. This sacred mission of charity was now the only remaining hindrance to the gratification of a desire which he had cherished for many years, but which his labors in the East had hitherto postponed, to visit the Church of Rome, and even to extend his western mission as far as Spain. His great work of breaking up new ground, of planting the churches, which his successors, like Apollos, were to water, was now  Troas, from Tenedos. done in the Greek division of the Roman world. “But now having no more place in those regions,” is a striking description of a completed work (Rom. 15 : 20-28). It is very striking that, ardent and long-cherished as was his desire to see his Christian brethren at Rome, he speaks of its approaching fulfillment as but a passing visit, on his way to break 7-12. Thus we have the interesting story of the evening meeting at Troas, with its showing of the manner of primitive gatherings for worship; and its illustrative argument for the first-day Sabbath, for the observance of the Lord's Supper, and for the sermon (not the after "speech until midnight"), as parts of an orderly Christian service. B.  Interior of Oriental House. The place was an upper room, with a balcony projecting over the court. While Paul was continuing in earnest discourse, an occurrence suddenly took place which filled the assembly with alarm, though it was afterward converted into an occasion of joy and thanksgiving. A young listener, whose name was Eutychus, was overcome by heat and weariness, and sank into a deep slumber. He was seated or leaning in the balcony; and, falling down in his sleep, was dashed upon the pavement below and was taken up dead. Confusion and terror followed, with loud lamentation. But Paul up virgin soil for the good seed in Spain. Yet the very errand of mercy to Jerusalem, which he regards as but a temporary delay of his inroad upon the West, was the cause of his being sent as a prisoner to the capital, where his two years' enforced residence provided for the work he had to do both among Jews and Gentiles. S. 3,4. To disconcert a Jewish plot against his life, Paul returned toward Syria by way of Macedonia. The seven persons named as companions of the journey—possibly bearers of the collection, and in some sort representatives from the Gentile Churches to the mother Jewish Church at Jerusalem—sailed over to Troas in advance of Paul and Luke. For this no reason is given. 6. At Philippi, where we left Luke (16:17), he rejoins Paul, and continues with him to Rome. At once we note more specific statements of time and place, and particulars of incident and address. was enabled to imitate the power of that Master whose doctrine he was proclaiming. He went down and  Ruins of Assos. [Assos was a seaport of the Roman province of Asia, in the district anciently called Mysia. It was situated on the north shore of the gulf of Adramyttium, about seven miles from the opposite coast of Lesbos. A good Roman road, connecting the central parts of the province with Alexandria Troas (TROAS), passed through Assos, which was about twenty miles from Troas. These geographical points illustrate Paul's rapid passage through the town. He took the much shorter journey by land, and thus was able to join the ship without difficulty, and in sufficient time for her to anchor off Mitylene at the close of the day on which Troas had been left. 8.] fell upon the body, and said to the bystanders: "Do not lament; for his life is in him." With minds solemnized and filled with thankfulness by this won- 13-16. To gain further time at Troas, and perhaps to get special strength from solitary communion with Christ by the way, Paul walks the twenty miles between Troas and Assos, while the ship with his companions doubled the promontory of Lectum. From Assos their course lay by the islands of Lesbos (of which Mitylene was the capital), Chios, and Samos, to Miletus. B. 17. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when 18 they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came 19 into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with 20 all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befel me by the 21 lying in wait of the Jews: and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but 22 have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both 23 to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord 24 Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the 25 things that shall befel me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, say- 26 ing that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count 27 I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, 28 which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And 29 now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, 30 shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from 31 the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 32 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost 33 hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his 34 own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among 35 you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse 36 things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the 37 space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, 38 brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you 39 up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no 40 man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have minis- 41 tered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, 42 how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the 43 Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. 44 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they 45 all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words 46 which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto 47 the ship. "It is more blessed to give than to receive"; that is, it is more Divine, more Godlike. God who receives so little gives all. He fills his eternal year with an incessant bounty. The very law of his life is self-impartation, self-sacrifice. Dwelling in the perfect ineffable delights of his single yet manifold being, he had no need of us or of anything that we can do—no need except the need of infinite love. To surround himself with creatures to whom he could give of his own life, whom he could train through sun and shadow, sorrow and joy, to enter into his rest; by labors and sacrifices which transcend our thought to make them partakers of his divine nature and eternal peace; to give, and give, and always give; to crowd earth and time, heaven and eternity, with his good gifts; and, all gifts in one, to bestow himself upon us—this has been the work of God, this his commentary on the words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Cox. This “word of the Lord Jesus” found no place in the evangelic histories: it lay silent in loving hearts, or flowed in whispers from loving lips when the disciples met after their Master had departed, until, spoken by Paul on the seashore to the weeping elders of Ephesus, it was recorded by Luke, his companion, for the use of the Church in all coming time. When the Lord intimated that the blessedness of giving is the greater, he did not intimate that the blessedness of receiving was small. He proclaims in one sentence the twofold truth, that the joy of his people in obtaining salvation is great, and his own in bestowing it is greater. Arnot. 17. Finding that the vessel might tarry long enough, Paul sends to Ephesus (thirty-seven miles distant) a request that the elders of the Church would meet with him at Miletus. (See map, p. 94.) As he was hastening, with limited time, to Jerusalem, and must abide by his present opportunity, this was the only safe course to secure the interview he sought. At once responding to his call, the elders from the one or more congregations of the Church at Ephesus received from the apostle the touching and instructive farewell address recorded in verses 18–35. As a representative discourse, it ranks with the Epistles. Especially in the memories of Christian work to which it appeals, and in the truth it imparts respecting the personal relations and duties of the eldership, it resembles many of Paul’s Epistles. B.—What Paul said to the elders of Ephesus on this occasion, he said through them to the other presbyters, not only of that province, but of the whole Church, not only then, but ever since and through all ages; for which end it has been left on record. J. A. A. 18–21. What his Spirit and Ministry among them had been.—They had been daily witnesses (he said) of his manner of life; of his humility and helpfulness in Christ’s service; of his true, deep sympathy with human sorrows; of his tearful urgency with perishing men (2 Cor. 2 : 4 ; Phil. 3 : 18);  Ruins of Miletus. and of his own trials through Jewish malevolent plotting. They knew that in his preaching he had been utterly unaffected by thought of personal danger or popularity; that he had withheld nothing of needed truth; that he had not, with one-sided partiality, dwelt upon peculiar or novel aspects of truth, but had urged only and all that which was profitable “to the use of edifying,” or building up: the whole counsel of God in its purity and fullness! And this faithful “showing,” this fervid “teaching” of the Christian truth had been his practice, not only in the school of Tyrannus and in other gathering places of disciples, but in every accessible household. From house to house, and from soul to soul, day by day had he borne the glad tidings with Christlike desire and yearning. To all classes and races, to the hostile Jew and the sneering Greek, his one theme—that which, fully expounded, includes all other essential saving truths—was repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is the inward change of the spirit and the life; a reversal of the current of the controlling thoughts, desires, aims, and affections; a turning and a supreme setting of these upon God, in place of self. It is wrought by “godly sorrow,” or sorrow toward God for the penitent’s sin (2 Cor. 7 : 10). B.—Faith is personal trust in this personal Redeemer, as the Saviour from the guilt and pollution of the sin we repent of, and as the atoning Mediator through whom alone we can approach God when we have repentance toward God. The two increase together in the life of a Christian. Riddle.—He who preaches the repentance and the faith here spoken of, in all their fullness and variety, will need to seek no other topics, and may humbly boast of having kept back nothing that was profitable to his hearers. J. A. A. 22-24. Paul's Feeling in View of the Unknown Future.**—He refers to a constraint of spirit inwrought by a sense of duty, impelling him into the midst of peril. What else is to transpire besides already familiar bonds and trials he knows and cares not. For the same Holy Ghost who is to him "a prophet of afflictions is also a comforter in afflictions." So that he can bravely declare himself fearless and unshaken in prospect of any evil. Nay more (using his favorite figure of the race), he holds life itself of less account and worth than the successful completion of his ministry for Christ and for souls. Live he gladly would, and triumph he will if only he can finish his supreme work of testifying the gospel of the grace of God! (Compare 2 Tim. 4 : 7 and 1 Cor. 9 : 24.) B. Finish my course with joy. Of such joy, it would be difficult to find a more striking example than that afforded by the late Dr. Payson. "To adopt the figurative language of Bunyan, I might date this letter from the land of Beulah, of which I have been for some weeks a happy inhabitant. The celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me, its breezes fan me, its odors are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. The sun of righteousness has been gradually drawing nearer and nearer, appearing larger and brighter as he approached, and now he fills the whole hemisphere, pouring forth a flood of glory, in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams of the sun; exulting, yet almost trembling, while I gaze on this excessive brightness, and wondering, with unutterable wonder, why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm. A single heart, and a single tongue, seem altogether inadequate to my wants. I want a whole heart for every separate emotion, and a whole tongue to express that emotion." J. W. A. 25-27. Paul's Solemn Final Appeal and Asservation touching his Fidelity as a Preacher of the Gospel.**—With full consciousness of the dignity of this high office, alluding to himself as the herald of a Divine King and Kingdom, he solemnly invokes their testimony to his faithfulness in "teaching every man and warning every man," so that his soul is freed from all blood-guiltiness in the destruction of any. B.—The form of expression is striking and memorable. It is borrowed from the crime of murder, and the method by which guilt is ordinarily brought home to the criminal. In many cases conviction depends on blood being found on the clothes of the murderer. Hence in almost all cases of violence we hear of desperate efforts being made by the terrified evil-doer to efface the stain. This is the conception that leaps into the apostle's mind. He can not hope that all who have heard the gospel from his lips in the city are now in Christ. If they die in their sins, how unspeakable the loss—the loss of a soul! He shudders at the thought: and in order to quicken their diligence when they should return to their labor, he endeavors to impart some of his own anxiety to the elders. He in effect invites them to look to their hands and garments to make sure that there is no blood on them. Arnot. 28-32. His Impressive Injunction to Fidelity, and his Loving Commendation to God and his Grace.**—The English version has hardly dealt fairly in this case with the sacred text in rendering the original word (v. 28) overseers; whereas it ought here, as in all other places, to have been "bishops," that the fact of elders having been originally and apostolically synonymous might be apparent to the ordinary English reader, which now it is not. A.—It is scarcely necessary to remark that in the New Testament the words episcopos (bishop) and presbuteros (elder) are convertible. H.—In the sending forth of Saul and Barnabas we learned the truth which Paul here declares: that in every genuine appointment of bishops (or elders) it is the Holy Ghost who selects, calls, and appoints to the office and the work. No valid ministry is exclusively man-made. In Paul's case we further learned that God puts upon some body of spiritual men the outward countersigning and sealing of his calls and appointments to spiritual office. The work of these divinely called bishops or elders is "to shepherd the Church of God"; to nourish with truth, to lead into the way of Christ, to watch over and guard against the entrance of evil, and to administer such rule and discipline as is divinely delegated. The term "flock" is applied by the prophets to the Old Testament Church; and it is Christ's favorite figure. The supreme motive to fidelity, Paul here indirectly states: Christ's purchase of his Church with his own blood! B.—"Ye were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ." But Paul says more. By one of those bold figures which man could never have dared to think of, had not God first taught him to use them, he raises yet higher the amount of this ransom. As though determined that none should be ignorant of its amazing worth, he says, when speaking of the Church, "God hath purchased it with his own blood." C. B.—This is here called the blood of God as being the blood of that man who is also God with us—God manifest in the flesh. D.—His possession, purchased with his blood—a double argument, the mightiest and most sublime! Preceding the charge to take heed to the flock, to do intelligently and faithfully this shepherd-work, is an intensely momentous personal charge. Take heed to yourselves! Applied here to office-bearers in the Church, equally just, appropriate, and relatively important is its application to Christian parents, teachers, and lay workers in every sphere. The measure of each one's ability and responsibility for good is that of each one's accessible and attainable grace. What grace is promised is to be realized by one's own seeking, receiving, appropriating, and using. The taking heed to one's self is this seeking and using. A really helpful, comforting, quickening influence in a man comes alone from a heart first divinely helped, comforted, and quickened. The stream can not rise higher than the fountain, nor distribute a larger volume than it receives. Close and unbroken communion with God is the sole condition and means of receiving the knowledge, the guidance, and the help which it is the Christian worker's privilege and duty to impart. There is an imitative way and a mechanical spirit in doing what may be counted Christian labor. A thoughtful writer justly hints that a great deal of work for and in the Church may be the same in kind and in its actuating spirit as that done in a bank, a manufactory, or in the conduct of a government. Therefore, that his soul may be actuated by the higher, positively divine, and spiritual constraint of the love of Christ, and so that he may press that love effectually upon others, every Christian worker needs this warning to take heed to himself. From the point of human frailty too, the warning presses urgently. No one, however strong or pure, unselfish, humble, or faithful, in past life and service, but needs this counsel. Not only take heed lest ye fall, but that ye may be "stodfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." sure of heroism was it that induced such fixed resistance to the counter-entreaties of such and so many loving friends. But the terms in which he declares his persistency of self-devotion are very touching. As expressing the purest, sublimest affection to Christ and to Christlike human friends, this answer has no human parallel: What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but to die for the name of the Lord Jesus! This tender, lofty utterance furnishes a fitting counterpart to the many strong assertions of consecration and self-sacrifice with which his Epistles so richly abound. And the instant carrying out of this loving and unselfish protest with an unflinching heroism, fixes in our minds an immovable conviction of the apostle's absolute truthfulness in all his high professions of devotion to his Lord. awed by the imminent peril, so unruffled in spirit by the rude handling of the mob and the soldiers, the only calm, self-possessed man in the vast, excited, surging throng; noting, too, the self-respect and native dignity in his reference to his own birth-city, and the proper respect to Roman authority evinced in the form of his request, the Roman commander yields to the unconscious mastery of so brave and courteous a spirit, and grants Paul the only liberty he asks, the liberty of speech. And this very liberty he seeks, not for his own sake, but for theirs. He would speak to the people, God's people and his. He would use this his grand opportunity as Christ's herald to proclaim his Messiahship to this vast multitude of his "fallen" Israel. Though many strange places were occupied as a pulpit by this matchless pioneer preacher of the Cross, none was so striking as this, the stairway between the Roman quarters and the venerated area of Jewish pride and worship. And the vast auditorium became strangely still. For even the mad, murderous mob was awed into a temporary quiet, as this unresisting yet undaunted, strong-hearted man, standing chained to two mailed men, stretched forth his manacled right hand to summon their attention. And he closes these inimitably beautiful, instructive, and affecting words of direct address with a simple loving commendation to God and to the word of his grace. By that gracious word of truth and promise, inwrought into the thoughts, the desires, the aims, and the life (he declares), God is able to build them up, and to give them the inheritance of those made holy. Favorite figures both, and richly expressive! Progress in the Christian life is gradual, by adding grace to grace; and so the holy character is divinely builded up. An inheritance is given only to children, and in its nature is a possession whose tenure is firm and lasting as the being of the possessor. These farewell words are full of application to preacher and teacher, and to hearers. They show what to preach or teach: not merely that which is novel or learned, beautiful or stirring, but, with all that is attainable of these, that matter, style, and manner always and only contribute to the one supreme end of profitable teaching. And they intimate a fact that can not be too frequently or deeply pondered: that with every utterance and reception of God's truth there comes to speaker and hearer either positive blessing or positive guilt! B. Here we are taught: Our general business: serving the Lord; our special work: taking heed to ourselves and all the flock; the substance of our doctrine: repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; the places and manner of our teaching: publicly, and from house to house; the object and internal manner: warning every one, night and day, with all humility of mind and with tears; the faithfulness and integrity that are requisite: I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you; I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God; the innocence and self-denial to be used: I have coveted no man's silver or gold; the patience and resolution to be exercised: none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus; and once more, the motives to engage us to all this: the Holy Ghost has made us overseers; the church we feed is the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Write this upon your hearts, and it will do yourselves and the Church more good than twenty years' study of those lower things which often employ your thoughts; which, though they get you greater applause in the world, yet, if separated from these, will make you but "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals." 1. AND it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto 2 Patara: and finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth. 3 Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and 4 landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden. And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to 5 Jerusalem. And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: 6 and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. And when we had taken our leave one 7 of another, we took ship; and they returned home again. And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day. 8 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Cæsarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and 9 abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophecy. 10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judæa a certain prophet, named 11 Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man 12 that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to 13 Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. 15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. There went 16 with us also certain of the disciples of Cæsarea, and brought with them one Mnason of 17 Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge. And when we were come to Jeru- salem, the brethren received us gladly. THE noble answer of the Apostle is as simple as it is sublime. To understand what it means is easy; to share in its sentiment is to make high attainment in grace. We need not ask ourselves if we could say this. Living a life of love to Christ, we may be sure that when he places us in such circumstances as those of Paul, his "grace will be sufficient for us." For most of us, it may require more grace to take up the trivial duties and to endure the petty trials of our lives, than to utter some kindred senti- ment in times of great trial. Riddle.—The time will come when we shall rejoice, not so much because we had been comforted in sorrow and met with great prosperity, as because the will of God had been fulfilled alike in us and through us. How pure and serene is our life when that will alone directs us, and when not a trace of our own will remains behind! With such a frame of mind we become like unto God. Bernard. 1-7. Journey from Miletus to Cesarea.—The day of the painful parting on the shore at Miletus, Paul and his company ("after we had torn ourselves away," Luke says) sailed southward before the wind to the island of Cos, forty miles. Thence rounding the point of Cnidus, they continued on to the larger island of Rhodes, opposite the southwest- ern corner of Asia Minor. This island has always "held an illustrious place among the islands of the Mediterranean"; and its capital (of the same name) was famous for its colossal bronze statue, 105 feet high, the chief of the seven world-wonders. B.— No view in the Levant is more celebrated than that from Rhodes toward the opposite shore of Asia Minor. The last ranges of Mount Taurus come down in magnificent forms to the sea; and a long line of snowy summits is seen along the Lycian coast, while the sea between is often an unruffled expanse of water under a blue and brilliant sky. Across this expanse and toward Patara, a harbor near the farther edge of these Lycian mountains, the apostle's course was next directed. H. At Patara he found, in a vessel bound over the open sea to Phenicia, a favoring providence by which his progress toward Syria was hastened. The 340 miles to Tyre was run in about two days. Here the vessel tarried seven days for change of cargo. And here Paul sought for and found a small com- pany of Christian disciples, with whom he remained in happy, helpful fellowship, ministering the word and ordinances. Another beautiful and impressive picture of the harmony of Christian communion and the strength of Christian affection was witnessed on the Tyrian shore at the hour of parting. "They all brought us on our way, with wives and children" (the first definite mention of the latter in the Acts): "and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed." By the same vessel they sailed southward thirty miles to Ptolemais, the ancient Aecho (Judges 1:3) and modern Acre. Having the best harbor on the Syrian coast, and an easy access to the great central plain of Esdraelon (the natural passage-way of armies and caravans to and from the East), this celebrated locality has ever been the landing-place and starting-point of hostile enterprises and commercial ventures; and therefore it has been termed “the key of Syria.” At Ptolemais Paul remained one day with the brethren, and the next day traveled by land the thirty-six miles to Cesarea. (See maps, pp. 61, 94.) 8,9. Philip the Evangelist and his Four Daughters.—After a silence of twenty years following upon  Ruins of Tyre. Philip’s ministry in Samaria and to the Ethiopian treasurer, we meet him in Cesarea, which had ever since been his home. Cesarea—the seaport built by Herod the Great, and named in honor of the Emperor Augustus—was sixty miles northwest from Jerusalem, and was the residence of the Roman governors (or procurators) of the province of Judea. The incidents connected with Cornelius, narrated in chapter 10, and with Herod Agrippa, chapter 12: 19–23, occurred here. Concerning the four daughters of Philip, Luke merely relates impressions made by what seemed peculiar in their history: that they had all remained unmarried, and that all had received the gift of prophecy referred to by Peter (Acts 2: 18). He seems to use the term prophecy in its ordinary meaning, as a divine inspiration to interpret and unfold truth, not to predict future events. He states no connection on their part with the subsequent prediction of Agabus. He does not even imply that they, like the disciples at Tyre (v. 4), had foretold Paul’s coming trouble. 10,11. Agabus predicts Paul’s Bonds and Imprisonment.—This prophet we have met before (11: 27–30) as the foreteller of famine in the reign of Claudius. He comes now down from the interior hill country, perhaps from Jerusalem, to forewarn Paul of assault and arrest at the capital, whither he is bound. In imitation of the expressive symbolic acting sometimes employed by the ancient Jewish prophets (Isa. 20: 2; Jer. 13: 1; Ezek. 4: 1, etc.), this Christian prophet took Paul’s girdle, and with it bound his own hands and feet. Using the prophetic form of the Old Testament, “Thus saith the Lord,” yet changing it to suit the new dispensation of the Spirit, he cites the Holy Ghost as explicitly announcing Paul’s capture and imprisonment in Jerusalem. The prediction was fulfilled not many days after. 12–14. Entreaty of the Christian Disciples, with Paul’s Reply, and their Acquiescence in Christ’s Recognized Will.—The correctness of the previous prophecy of Agabus, and the vivid symbol whereby he now impressed this prediction, produced in their hearts a deep conviction of the certainty of future evil to Paul at Jerusalem. Under this conviction they unitedly besought him not to go to the place of danger. They interpreted the mission and intimation of Agabus as a warning given to avoid and so avert the peril. But Paul understood it better. Long years before, at the very outset of his sublime career, he had learned from his Lord what “great things he must suffer for his sake.” And frequent experience had already verified this word, and made its meaning familiar. So that these new, more specific and intense premonitions of coming trial, clearly intimated by the Holy Ghost (outwardly by various prophets, and inwardly by impressions upon his own consciousness), carried their full weight of meaning to his spirit. Yet his steadfastness to duty, though confronted here with a prospect of danger unto death, yielded not. No ordinary mea- Responding to the impression produced by these intense words of Paul, recognizing in them a clear indication of that divine will by which his career had been so marvelously guided, the true-hearted disciples ceased all further opposition, and acquiesced in his decision as expressing the will of the Lord Jesus. And the fact is singularly suggestive, that the very disciples who would have hindered Paul's arrest at Jerusalem, by that arrest were privileged with an unrestrained fellowship with him for two long years. 15. From Cesarea to Jerusalem. Conclusion of Paul's Third and Last Missionary Journey.**—The word carriage, used here in the sense of "things carried," as in Judges 18: 21 and 1 Sam. 17: 22, would be better rendered baggage. The whole phrase here employed is expressed by one Greek participle, and indicates the packing of their effects in preparation tion for departure. B.—They packed their baggage or luggage. Paul and his companions were not privileged on their sacred errands with exemption from the common inconveniences of travel. So he had a "cloak" that he "left at Troas with Carpus," and requested Timothy to bring. An ancient military historian calls the luggage of his army "impedimenta." And human life, whether in travel or at home, has its necessary encumbrances. O. E. D. 16,17. Still under the care of the disciples at Cesarea, Paul then completed his third and last great missionary tour at Jerusalem. The subsequent return to Antioch, as in the two previous journeys, was prevented by his arrest and imprisonment. B.—This fifth visit of Paul to Jerusalem since his conversion is the last of which we have any certain record. The state of the city, thronged with the excited multitudes who had come up to the Feast of Pentecost, might well recall to him not only the warnings that had encountered him at every step, but the deed of blood in which he himself, twenty-five years before, had played the part for which he never ceased to feel remorse. S. Twelve years of unhindered travel and ministry, substantially covering the Greek portion of the Roman Empire, he had been permitted to accomplish. Five years of ministry in bonds—mainly in Cesarea and Rome—he is now to enter upon. This ministry is for the most part private, exercised in behalf of individuals or of small gatherings of disciples. Its public part, which is that chiefly reported and recorded, consists of successive defenses, which, in the result, prove to be aggressive triumphs, of Christianity. B. 18. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought 20 among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; 21 and they are all zealous of the law: and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to cir- 22 cumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the mul- 23 titude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this 24 that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; them take and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are no- 25 thing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from 26 strangled, and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. 27 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they 28 saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted 29 this holy place. (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, 30 whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and 31 forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the 32 chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and 33 the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he 34 had done. And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the 35 castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for 36 the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him. 37 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak 38 unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men 39 that were murderers? But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. 40 And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. 18-26. An Endeavor to remove the Unfounded Suspicions of Believing Jews, which became the Occasion of Paul's Arrest by Unbelievers.—On the day succeeding the first private reception and welcome given to Paul and his company, a more public conference was held with James and the elders of the Church. To them Paul made full report of his ministry among the Gentiles; and they rendered a united thanksgiving for what God had thus wrought. Then, knowing well the temper of the Jewish Christians and their misapprehensions concerning Paul and his teaching, and realizing the crisis existing in the relations between believing Jews and Gentiles on account of Paul's position and teaching, the elders wisely sought to bring about a desirable unity. This they did by suggesting that the apostle should take a simple part in an ancient ceremonial of the Jewish law. If we would form an intelligent and fair judgment respecting this counsel and Paul's compliance with it, these considerations must have due weight. With convincing power and world-wide acceptance Paul had preached salvation by grace, through a justifying faith, resting and centering alone upon Christ's sacrifice and exaltation. This doctrine indirectly yet positively antagonized the long-cherished reverence and reliance of the Jew, Christian or unbeliever, in behalf of his legal or ceremonial obedience and worship. B.—Paul had opposed the external observance of Judaism only so far as the justification and sanctification of men were made to depend upon it. It was his principle that no one should abandon the national and civil relations in which he stood at the time of his conversion except for important reasons; and in accordance with this principle he allowed the Jews to adhere to their peculiarities, among which was the observance of the Mosaic law (1 Cor. 7: 18). N.—Yet the apostle had taught that the ceremonials instituted by Moses were not essential to salvation. He had declared the Gentiles to be free from all obligation to the Jewish ceremonial law. And this freedom of the Gentiles James and the elders were careful to recognize afresh, even while counseling Paul to conciliate the large body of Jewish Christians. But Paul was falsely charged with going further and saying more than this. The charge came from the false brethren—a few in every church, who had professed Christianity and entered its fold only to misuse their position by perverting honest disciples back to the old, formal, and lifeless Judaism. This insidious, undermining work (we remark in passing) was the great obstacle and hindrance in the introduction of Christianity; and to its counteraction Paul's greatest intellectual and personal efforts were addressed. That these false teachers should have reported, and that the large numbers of sincere Christian Jews should have believed, that Paul had gone a step further and forbidden the practice of long familiar Jewish rites, is not strange. Much less was it strange that these Jewish Christians should be prejudiced against the apostle, and alienated from him and from the Gentile disciples. For, remember, this was with them a period of painful transition, in which all the old fixed religious convictions and habits were to be exchanged for, supplanted by, the new; the old involving, too, so much outward doing, and gratifying a natural self-righteousness, while the new demanded an inward spiritual faith, and gave self no resting-place. Consider, also, that the training of these "many thousands of Jews who believed" had instilled in them a peculiar reverence for the Mosaic institutions, as originating directly with Jehovah, and hallowed by centuries of observance. They could not but be "all zealous of the law," and regard with alarm and almost aversion the man who was charged with causelessly desecrating that which they counted divine and held so dear. No place nor time was so opportune to correct this false charge, to make the correction reach as far as the falsehood had been disseminated, even wherever Paul had been or was known. The Jerusalem Church was the center and source of Jewish-Christian sentiment. It everywhere led and controlled this sentiment. Christian Jews, too, were here from every part of the world that Christianity had reached. The false report corrected and the prejudice based upon it broken here and among this representative multitude, they would die out and disappear elsewhere. Proving to this vast throng of believing and unbelieving Jews, he would prove to all everywhere that he still recognized the ceremonial law as from God, and as such still revered and regarded it. He had shown this, indeed, in coming to this great festival. He had shown it by circumcising Timothy, and by his own vow and ceremonial at Cenchrea. But now he will prove it again in the sight of all the Jews—in their very Temple. Thus he will again "become a Jew to Jews, that he may gain the Jews" (1 Cor. 9: 19). Four men of the Jerusalem Church, who had taken a temporary Nazarite vow (Num. 6), were about entering upon the ceremonial purification by which the vow was completed. The elders' counsel was that Paul should associate himself with these men in this closing ceremony, and himself defray the expense of the offerings to be presented in the Temple. B.—Not that he should make himself a Nazarite, but merely that he should perform such preparatory rites as would enable him to take part with these Nazarites in the conclusion of their solemn service. J. A. A.—This counsel Paul willingly accepted, and proceeded to act upon. From the fact that the apostle was seized by unbelieving Jews while engaged in this ceremonial service with the avowed design of conciliating Jewish believers, it has been inferred, even by so wise a man as John Knox, that the policy here advised and carried out was inconsistent with true Christian principles. But it certainly harmonized with those principles as laid down in the Epistles to the Corinthians and the Romans. And the record here gives no support to such an inference. The history that follows rather intimates that the end sought may have been fully attained. The knowledge that Paul was assaulted while showing his regard for their law (he having been some days visibly engaged in the ceremonial) may have drawn out the deeper sympathy of Jewish Christians in his behalf; and so more firmly united the great body of Jewish and Gentile believers in the subsequent persecutions and perils of their common Christian faith. 27-30. Paul assaulted by Jews and dragged from the Inner Court of Israel into the Outer Court of the Gentiles. (See Vol. I., Sec. 178.)—A low balustrade of stone, with pillars at regular intervals inscribed with a warning to Gentiles against entrance into the sacred limits beyond, fenced off the Inner Court of Israel from the Outer Court of the Gentiles. One of the stones containing this inscription was recently discovered in the Mohammedan cemetery by Mr. Ganneau. (See Vol. I., p. 621.) It was within the fenced Inner Court, open only to worshiping Israelites, that some Ephesian Jews (of the province of Asia) encountered Paul—whose person seems to have been well known—with his band of Nazarites. Mistakenly inferring that one of these men was an Ephesian Greek (also well known to them), and too much blinded by hate to see clearly, they rushed upon the apostle, and loudly summoned the crowd of worshipers to aid in seizing him. With the same breath they denounced him as a renegade Jew, whose false, malevolent teaching everywhere among the Gentiles had spread suspicion and created hostility against the people, the Law, and the Temple of the Jews; a renegade, who even now dared to pollute the sanctity of this holy place by bringing into it Greeks (rather Gentiles, in accordance with the prevalent New Testament antithesis of Jews and Greeks). Such a charge instantly stirred to fury the masses always congregating at this festival period in and near the Temple, as the words were swiftly circulated among them. Responding to the wild cry of Help, as if Paul were the assailant and their sanctuary needed defense against his sacrilegious assault, the excited crowd fell upon the apostle, and, dragging him down into the Gentile Court, sought to beat him to death. Then the great doors of the "Beautiful" gate were closed by the Levites, to exclude the rioters from the holy court, and to prevent its possible profanation by bloodshed. In the words of this false charge against Paul (v. 28), again we note (as often before) the evidence furnished by enemies of the vast extent and effectiveness of this apostle's work for Christ and men: This is the man—that hath taught all men everywhere! Unbelievers and believers—all had heard, or heard of, him. B. The extreme corruption and wickedness, not only of the mass of the Jewish people, but even of the rulers and chief men, is asserted by Josephus in the strongest terms: "For that time was fruitful among the Jews in all sorts of wickedness, so that they left no evil deed undone; nor was there any new form of wickedness, which any one could invent, if he wished to do so. Thus they were all corrupt, both in their public and their private relations; and they vied with each other who should excel in impiety toward God and injustice to men." At the same time Josephus testifies to the existence among them of a species of zeal for religion—a readiness to attend the feasts, a regularity in the offering of sacrifice, an almost superstitious regard for the Temple, and a fanatic abhorrence of all who sought to "change the customs which Moses had delivered." G. R. 31-33. Interposition of the Roman Tribune, and Binding of Paul. (See Frontispiece, Vol. I.)—The fortress Antonia (the castle here referred to) stood alone on a precipitous rock, near ninety feet high, at the northwest corner of the Temple. It was likewise a work of Herod the Great. The fortress was seventy feet in height. It appeared like a vast square tower, with four other towers at each corner, three of them between eighty and ninety feet high—that at the corner next to the Temple above a hundred and twenty. From this the whole Temple might be seen, and broad flights of steps led down into the northern and western cloisters, or porticoes, of the Temple, in which, during the Roman government, their guards were stationed. Milman. Instantly upon receiving tidings of the uproar from these guards, the chief captain—or tribune, commanding one division (one sixth) of a Roman legion of six thousand men—hastened down with a body of soldiers into the Temple Court. The only thought of this man, Lysias by name, in interposing his armed force, was to check the turbulence of a Jewish mob, or to suppress a riot. He cared not about saving an innocent man from murderous violence. With a theory that Paul was a certain well-known insurgent leader, he was rather inclined to second the purpose of the infuriate Jews. His seizing and binding Paul seem to have been only the preliminary steps to this. Yet, with the Roman style of justice, he demands of Paul's assailants to know who their victim was, and of what they accused him. 34-36. Paul borne up the Castle Stairs amid Malignant Outcries of the Jews.—No accusation could they make. Their hate furnished the only reason for their violence. To rescue Paul from this violence was the tribune's duty, and therefore he commanded the soldiers to whom the apostle was chained to bear him up the stairway of the fortress. And as this was done, the same passionate, murderous cry that thirty years before had rung through the vast area of the Temple Court and Castle was heard again: Away with him! Before, it was actuated by hatred to Divine purity, truth, and love, incarnated in the person of Christ; now, coming from another generation filled with like malevolent spirit, it is hatred to Christ's most faithful witness and messenger. 37-39. Brief Colloquy between Paul and Lysias.—As the absent governor's representative, the tribune felt the grave responsibility, not only of preserving the public peace, but of dealing (as he supposed), in the person of this prisoner, with a fanatic insurgent, an Egyptian Jew, whose efforts at insurrection had troubled the whole administration of Felix. This Egyptian impostor had gone into the great Desert of Judea with four thousand assassins, secretly organized into bands. B.—He returned with thirty thousand men, whom he had deluded into the belief that he was the Messiah, and that he would restore the kingdom to Judah; he encamped on the Mount of Olives, threatening to overpower the Roman garrison, and promising that the walls of Jerusalem should fall down. He was attacked by Felix, and his followers dispersed or slain, the Egyptian himself escaping. S.—We find in Josephus a full account of the transaction, which happened under the government of Felix, and, what is remarkable, Josephus does not mention his name, but everywhere calls him "the Egyptian," and "the Egyptian false prophet." M. H. Surprised at the ease and naturalness with which Paul addressed him in Greek, "as these insurgents probably communicated with their followers only in the dialect of their country," the Roman captain puts a plain question of fact, to which Paul answers as plainly. He said, "I am a Jew; not a characterless vagabond from Egypt, nor even a native of Judea (where insurgents and insurrections were bred), but a citizen of refined and wealthy Tarsus in Asiatic Cilicia." This direct, clear answer swept away at once the tribune's suspicion. More than this, too, did Paul's intelligent address and courageous bearing accomplish. Beholding him so un- The whole scene is sublime beyond expression. Like all the marked events and crises of Paul's grandly effective career, it neither requires nor admits any imaginative gloss or coloring. All these signal incidents are best apprehended and most impressively conveyed in the simple form of the Scriptural record. B. 40. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, Men, brethren, and fathers, near ye my defence which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldst know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldst hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. 17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncon- 26 demned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take 27 heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said 28 unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, 29 With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief cap- tain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. 1-16. Paul's voluntary statement, or first de- fense, was made to the maddened Jews massed in the vast Outer Court of the Temple, from the top of the stairway to the adjoining fortress Antonia. His quiet poise of manner and his respectful, dignified courtesy of address helped to calm their excitement. By calling this mob of persecutors Brethren, he both acknowledged and claimed a common nationality with them. The old men who were there, priests, rulers, and rabbis, of eminence as leaders and teach- ers, some of whom had just repeated the act of thirty years before by stirring up the people to per- secution, Paul yet addresses with the venerable term Fathers. His use, too, of the Hebrew tongue (that is, the then current Aramaic or Syro-Chaldaic dialect of Palestine, which had gradually supplanted the older Hebrew of Judea since the captivity) helped further to attract their attention and to con- ciliate their feeling at the outset. With great wisdom and tact he shapes his whole address. He defers to their manifestly hostile feel- ing by calling it a defense (Greek, apology). He avows himself a Jew, refers to his pure Jewish blood, his place of birth, and his early and thorough training in the knowledge and practice of the law, at Jerusalem. He recalls that which they also well knew of his early life. He repeats the story of his surpassing zeal and frenzy in the active persecu- tion of Christian disciples; how he went even to Damascus for this purpose, under commission of the high priest and elders. He thus dwelt upon his fiercely fanatical career in order that the question might arise in their minds by anticipation, what had wrought so extreme a change. Surely they must feel and know that nothing less than an irresistible motive, a conviction of truth absolutely conclusive, could have turned a man of such indomitable, fiery zeal so utterly against himself and his kindred and associates, against all his previous beliefs, practices, prejudices, and hates. Then he tells the marvelous story of his conver- sion. He details the miracle of Christ's appear- ance and words by the way; and the subsequent visit and message of Ananias in Damascus. He characterizes Ananias as "a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there"; and declares that he spake in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. By the God of their fathers, therefore, he had been changed from a persecutor into an advocate of Christ. Pass- ing over the interval of three years, he proceeds to narrate a miraculous occurrence in Jerusalem. 17-21. Christ's Second Appearance in the Tem- ple, and his Command that Paul should go forth to Distant Foreign Nations.—It was while in the Tem- ple, and while praying there—thus implying his loyalty to the Jewish sanctuary and its worship, and disproving the charge of hostility and profanation— that Christ came to him again. Not in a foreign country and an alien temple, but in their own sacred, time-hallowed precincts, where their own Jehovah had manifested his presence and recorded his name, this Christ had appeared to him. So appearing in Jehovah's Temple, Paul suggests by implication, this Christ must be from God, their God. As it was the fervency of prayer that ushered Paul's spirit into a state of trance, so it was his need of direction, in- tensely felt and fervidly expressed, that brought Christ a second time into close personal communion with him. This interview is not referred to in Luke's previous account (ch. 9). Paul introduces it here to explain and justify his going to the Gen- tiles. From this point of view, the colloquy with Christ is specially instructive. Christ's reason for Paul's instant departure from Jerusalem—"for they will not receive thy testimony concerning ME"—implies His knowledge that Paul's great desire was to remain and preach Christ among the Jews of Jerusalem. This desire Paul makes even more evident to his present hearers by show- ing how he demurred to Christ's command. They knew, he said, what a persecutor of Christians he had been; and this fact would give his new testi- mony for Christ the more weight with them. Thus Paul more than hints to the listening Jews that his strong desire was to remain among his own people. But he goes on faithfully to recite Christ's impera- tive direction (His only reply) to depart, and to min- ister among far nations. 22,23. Why and how Paul's Address was in- terrupted.—To the story of the apostle's life and conversion, even to the statement about Christ's second appearance, the vast throng crowding the Temple area had listened silently and intently; and they remembered well the miraculous part of it the next day. They seem to have felt the man's sincerity. They uttered no doubt respecting his main assertion, that a direct power from above and not any influence of other minds had transformed the persecutor into the disciple of Christ. But when he spoke “this word”—better, this saying, referring to the whole direction of Christ—then instantly was aroused the old, deep-seated, and incurable envy and jealousy at the thought that the Gentiles could be fellow-heirs with them of Jehovah’s promised mercy, and subjects of their glorious Messiah. Then, on the instant, reason and reverence were forgotten; all sense of right and justice was overborne in a great outburst of mad rage. Although their Prophets and Psalmists had plainly proclaimed the ultimate world-wide ministry of the Messiah and the extension of God’s saving mercies to all peoples, the Jews had never accepted the fact, could never abide the thought. For its statement by Christ they rose upon him at Nazareth and during the week of his passion. For this statement they murdered Stephen; and, at Antioch and Corinth, had sought to murder Paul. And now, in their frantic impotence of wrath, they shout out their murderous execrations and demands, rending off and tossing up their outer garments, with handfuls of dust, into the air. 24-26. Paul’s Announcement of Roman Citizenship arrests the Examination by Scourging.**—By the violent outcry of the Jews not only was Paul silenced but the Roman commander was led to infer that the apostle’s defense (which the captain had not understood) had only strengthened their conviction of his guilt. Partly from this impression, and partly to gratify the Jewish populace (always a politic custom of the Roman rulers), the tribune directed that he should be tortured to confession by the scourge. The implements of such extorted confession (here called examination), including the posts, the binding thongs, and the knotted whips, were always at hand in a Roman fortress. “But when they stretched him out for the whips,” or as they were binding him to the inclined post with leather thongs, Paul asserts, as at Philippi, his Roman citizenship. This he does in a sharply pointed question to the centurion charged with the scourging. To punish an untried and uncondemned Roman, especially to torture such a one with the scourge, was by Roman law one of the highest crimes. At once the centurion hastens to his commanding officer with the warning intelligence that Paul was a Roman. 27-29. The Tribune’s Second Colloquy with Paul, and its Effect.**—Instantly the astonished and alarmed chief captain came to his prisoner (girded for the scourge) to know if it were really so. Not for a moment did he doubt Paul’s assertion; for death was the penalty of a false claim to Roman citizenship. Such citizenship involved the highest political rights and civil privileges. It was acquired chiefly by parentage or purchase. By “a great sum” Lysias had purchased it. To Paul it had descended by inheritance. Paul’s appeal had instant full effect. The thongs were untied and he removed from the dishonoring implements. Lysias, too (like the magistrates at Philippi), was greatly alarmed, because the mere binding of Paul to the scourge-post might have been punished with death. But now, as before, the apostle manifested no aggrieved or vindictive feeling. In part it had been a just self-honor, but chiefly regard for the dignity of the great cause he represented, that led him to declare his citizenship. He was always willing to suffer shame when such suffering was demanded by, or would in any wise further, his ministry of Christ and of truth among men. Otherwise, in the interest of Christianity, he claimed all the honor and respect due to a true manhood, and all the rights of human citizenship. B. At first under the republic all Roman soldiers were Roman citizens. “But in proportion as the public freedom was lost in extent of conquest, war was gradually improved into an art and degraded into a trade.” With the distinction between the praetorian and legionary soldiers all necessary connection between citizenship and military service ceased to exist. In strict conformity with this state of things we find that Claudius Lysias was a citizen by purchase, not because he was a military officer. H. Wholly at a loss what to do with the apostle, compelled to keep him in custody for the safety of his life, having received vastly higher impressions of Paul’s character and standing, yet still ignorant who he was, and what the crime alleged against him by the Jews, Lysias naturally seeks the aid of the Sanhedrim, or great Jewish Council. He therefore summons its members to assemble on the morrow for a hearing of the case, hoping thereby to obtain sufficient understanding to guide his own future course. B. 30. Ox the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their 1 council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before 2 God until this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to 3 smite him on the mouth. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the 4 law? And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? Then said Paul, I 5 wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil 6 of the ruler of thy people. But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son 7 of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the 8 multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, 9 nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but 10 if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among 11 them, and to bring him into the castle. And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. 12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under 13 a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they 14 were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing 15 until we have slain Paul. Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would inquire something more 16 perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him. And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told 17 Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man 18 unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to 19 bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is 20 that thou hast to tell me? And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would inquire some- 21 what of him more perfectly. But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a 22 promise from thee. So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, 23 See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Cæsarea, and horsemen 24 threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; and provide 25 them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor. And 26 he wrote a letter after this manner: Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix 27 sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: 28 then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into 29 their council: whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have no- 30 thing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell. 31 Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to 32 Antipatris. On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the 33 castle: who, when they came to Cæsarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him. And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia; I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall. 1. The Assertion with which Paul first breaks the Silence.—God had used the tribune Lysias (acting for the governor, Felix) to rescue Paul, and then, for his continued safety, to hold him in arrest. Now he makes of the tribune's desire to know more of Paul a new opportunity for the apostle. This opportunity, like every circumstance and position in which Paul was placed during his period of liberty or of "bonds and imprisonment," is made by him an occasion "for the furtherance of the gospel." The Council, or Sanhedrim, was assembled in a hall connected with the Temple chambers. (See diagram, Vol. I., p. 623.) Into this hall Paul was "brought down" from the castle. Here Lysias remained while the military guard retired a little distance, yet ready to interpose (as they did) for his protection. Almost twenty-five years had elapsed since Paul had intensely endorsed the Council's murderous persecution of Stephen, and had been the chief instrument of this supreme judicatory in its vindictive pursuit of Christ's disciples. Now he stands before them as the chief object of their hate, with no responsive hate; altogether unmindful of himself, calmly and undauntedly ("looking stedfastly," Luke says) he studies their faces and their spirit. Then he asserts a self-respecting dignity by opening the anomalous proceedings. He claims a position of perfect equality, by addressing them as Brother Men. He shows that he understood the tribune's object by speaking of himself; and in Greek, that Lysias too might comprehend. As best answering a question touching his criminality, he affirms his own truthful and righteous life. In the spirit and manner of the Master's question, "Who convinceth me of sin?" he challenges them to gain-say the assertion that he had been true to God and man; that in the main his aims, his plans, his deeds, had been single and right. Paul asserts no doctrine or practice of perfection here; but a fact based upon God's gracious inworking. And he does it, not only to justify himself before Lysias, but to sharpen the contrast with their professed righteousness, which was hypocrisy. B. 2,3. The High Priest's Unjust Command and Paul's Indignant Rejoinder.—Ananias had been appointed high priest in A. D. 48. In A. D. 52 he was sent to Rome to answer before Claudius on a charge of oppression brought against him by the Samaritans. The result is doubtful; but the best solution seems to be that Ananias was not formally deposed, but, upon the murder of Jonathan (who had been appointed in his place during his suspension) in A. D. 57, he resumed his functions. The high priest's character for violence and lawlessness suggests that a guilty conscience assumed the guise of zeal against blasphemy, when he ordered the bystanders to smite Paul on the mouth. S.—It was not to be tolerated that a man who stood arraigned there as an apostate from the religion of his fathers should assert his innocence. The mouth must be shut that uttered such a declaration. Hackett. It was not the proposed indignity to himself (which, from the question of the bystanders, we may infer was not actually committed), but it was the glaring injustice and hypocrisy of the man who commanded it, that instantly turned the prisoner into a judge and condemner. But Paul's words were not an imprecation, nor an outburst of passion, or even of righteous indignation. Severe as was the figure he used—thou whited wall—and sharply as the implied charge of falsehood was hurled back against the high priest, more severe was the whited sepulchre which Christ used, and more directly and sharply were His terrible denunciations pointed against hypocrites. Paul speaks, too, in God's name; and he assigns the unlawful command of Ananias as the ground of this announced judgment from God. B.—On each of the many such hypocrites who sat before him, the apostle might well denounce the doom, "God shall smite thee"; and there is no difficulty in regarding the special fitness of his words to Ananias—who was deposed by Felix two years later and afterward murdered by the Sicarii—as one of the innumerable examples of unconscious prophecy. S.—Concerning Ananias, Josephus states that in a tumult begun by his own son he was besieged and taken in the royal palace, where having in vain attempted to hide himself in an old aqueduct, he was dragged out and slain, about five years after this. D. 4,5. The Bystanders' Question and Paul's Reply.—The partisans to whom the high priest's unlawful command had been directed, seem to have been so far affected by Paul's boldness as to substitute a rebuking question for the smiting on the mouth. In their question, however, they defended, not the unlawful order, but the sacred office of the high priest. They charge Paul with reviling God's high priest. In the apostle's answering avowal of ignorance respecting Ananias and his high-priestly office, we find one of those Scriptural difficulties which has had many proposed solutions. It seems obvious that Paul did not speak ironically, or as confessing and apologizing for a heedless or intemperate exclamation. Nor did he have reference to the abolition of the priestly office by Christ. Still less did he mean to deny the title of Ananias on account of his suspension from and subsequent usurpation of the high priest's functions. His supposed defect of vision seems also to be ruled out, by his "stedfast looking" at the outset, and by his clear discernment of the two main elements, Sadducaic and Pharisaic, comprised in the Council. Besides the established character of Paul for sincerity and for clearness of perception, there are natural considerations of fact which sustain the view that he honestly pleaded ignorance of the person of the high priest. Ananias had not succeeded to the office until ten or more years after Paul's conversion. He was not necessarily the presiding officer of the Sanhedrim. Nor, when presiding, was it customary always to wear the distinctive robes of the high-priesthood. This was only demanded when performing official duties in the Temple. Respecting this reply of Paul we note further: (1) That he simply justifies himself as to the charge of reviling brought against him. He does not withdraw nor apologize for the condemnation he had uttered against Ananias. That remained: its force and justness unshaken by the attempted diversion of the high priest's adherents. (2) That Paul, by citing from the law (Ex. 22 : 28), distinctly implies that he still holds that law, which he is here charged with rejecting, as the guide and rule of his life. The quotation, thus regarded, further shows that the apostle in this whole colloquy was now speaking, as he declared he had lived, seriously and conscientiously. 6-9. Paul ends the Useless Conference by dividing his Adversaries. Strife between the Pharisees and Sadducees.—Knowing well that he can have neither fair hearing nor just judgment from a body so prejudiced and hostile, with no hope of achieving good by further direct exposition of Christian truth, he wisely and rightly divides his adversaries, and so abruptly breaks up an unsought, anomalous, and useless conference. Not as some mistakenly read it, by a trick suddenly conceived and carried out for his own advantage, but in a way that perfectly accords with the true missionary spirit and work. The state of dissension between these two great parties which for generations divided the nation had always been familiar to Paul. Nay, more, he had always sided with the Pharisees as respects their points of difference with the Sadducees. With them he had shared a belief and hope in the resurrection from the dead. Apprehending, as they did not, its ultimate relation to the risen Christ, he could truly declare that his preaching of this doctrine had subjected him to this inquisitorial process before the Sanhedrim. And now he uses this very examination to emphasize, and so call attention to, the great doctrine upon which the two rival sects were chiefly divided; knowing and designing, indeed, thereby to raise an issue that would break up the Council. B. —He had not come to Jerusalem to escape out of the way of danger; but, at the risk of bonds and death, to reconcile the sincere Jews, if possible, to the gospel as the fulfillment of the Law. He desired to prove himself a faithful Israelite by his very testimony to him whom God had raised from the dead. Both these objects might naturally be promoted by an appeal to the nobler professions of the Pharisees, whose creed, as distinguished from that of the Sadducees, was still, as it had ever been, his own. Of that creed, faith in the risen Lord was the true fulfillment. He wished to lead his brother Pharisees into a deeper and more living apprehension of their own faith; and, seeing now the hopelessness of gaining over the Sadducees, he made a last appeal to the party of which there remained any hope. S. He needed no expedient, for he was then in Roman hands and under Roman protection. It was no pretense to serve a turn; it was the genuine language of his heart. In all his other speeches at this crisis the same idea reigns predominant. "I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come: for which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why is it judged by you a thing incredible if God raises the dead?" It is the self-same sound which we heard in the first discourse given us from his lips, when he cried to the Jews of the Pisidian Antioch, "Now we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again." And when we read his mind upon this subject more fully in 1 Cor. 15, and indeed in the whole of his writings, we see how truly the resurrection of Christ did, in his view, include the realization of all the hopes with which the Old Covenant was pregnant; how entirely it was to him the cause and actual commencement, as well as the pledge and promise, of the resurrection and the life to man. T. D. B. 8. The Sadducees believed in neither angel nor spirit; they rejected the doctrine of a future life, and denied the resurrection of the dead. They were the rationalists of their age. They accepted the law, admitted the Divine mission of Moses, and belonged to the Hebrew Church; but they did away with everything in the constitution of humanity and its relation to God which could sustain the edifice of anything like a high religious life. Eternal life, in the sense of a future immortality, was exploded altogether. T. B. The immediate result was “a sudden paroxysm of their usual antipathy and party zeal,” an array of the two parties against each other, and an assumption, for the moment, of Paul’s defense by the more numerous party of the Pharisees. Seemingly referring to the apostle’s account on the preceding day of Christ’s two miraculous appearances, the Pharisaic scribes assert their belief that he is the true man he claims to be, and that a spirit (or angel) may have spoken to him, as he had said. True to their belief in spiritual messengers from heaven, using (if the sentence be genuine) the very words of Gamaliel (5 : 39), they declare that they will not fight against the God who sends spirits by harming this man to whom he may have sent them. 10. Paul’s Second Rescue from Actual Violence by the Tribune Lysias.**—The controversy between the rival sects grew so sharp, and the actual strife around the person of Paul became so fierce, that the Roman commander was constrained to interpose his soldiers again, and almost forcibly to withdraw his prisoner. Not that Paul, an obscure prisoner, was of any special account. But for the life of Paul, a Roman citizen, he would be held responsible. Besides, he has learned something, if not all he desires to know, about this man. What he has learned has satisfied him that his prisoner is no criminal and deserves no punishment from Jew or Roman. And all that he has heard and seen has greatly raised his estimate of Paul. It has prepared him to take the decisive and costly measures for Paul’s deliverance which follow in the history. 11. Another Night-vision of Christ.**—Once before, at Corinth, and once after, in his ocean peril, came such a divine personal visitation for the needed cheer and stay of Paul’s spirit, questioning about the present, and depressed concerning the future. Not for his own Christian comfort or peace in trusting; for his faith was adequate to his mere personal needs. But Christ came, partly to acquaint him that his work in Jerusalem was finished, and that it was approved; but chiefly to assure him concerning his longed-for work at Rome—to let him know that he should finish his course with joy, and the ministry received of the Lord Jesus (20 : 24). B. So, then, he was to be guided by that unerring Hand, though by a path he had not proposed, to the goal he had so much desired; and we can understand the calmness which this assurance gave him amid the trials of the following years. S.—It upheld and comforted him in the uncertainty of his life from the Jews, in the uncertainty of his liberation from prison at Cesarea, in the uncertainty of his surviving the storm in the Mediterranean, in the uncertainty of his fate on arriving at Rome. So may one crumb of divine grace and help be multiplied to feed five thousand wants and anxieties. A. 12-35. Defeat of a Conspiracy to assassinate Paul by his Removal to Cesarea.**—The plot was well laid, and endorsed at least by the Sadducean members of the Sanhedrim. Such vows were not unusual with the Jews; and absolution was readily obtained if they were found impossible of accomplishment. The ready admission of Paul’s nephew, and the instant compliance with Paul’s request by the centurion, and further, the immediate audience and heed given by the tribune to the young messenger, show how strong an impression the apostle had made upon them. Both officers recognized and at once responded to his prompt judicious action. B.— The details of his acting exhibit a decisive example of the actual union and harmony between the present purpose of God and the responsibility of men for duty on their own sphere. It was determined that Paul’s life should be saved from these dangers, and that determination was made known to him. He knew for certain that these schemers could not take his life; he knew for certain that the power of God was pledged effectually to frustrate their designs; yet with this knowledge Paul laid his plans skillfully, and executed them with secrecy and energy, for the preservation of his own life, precisely as if he had thought that all depended on his own skill and promptitude. This shows conclusively that in Paul’s mind a belief in the decrees of God did not conflict with the obligation to diligent duty on the part of men. He framed and conducted a counterplot to defeat the conspiracy of the Jewish priesthood with as much zeal and care as if he had not obtained previous assurance of his safety. This simple history is most precious as an inspired commentary on some difficult doctrines. It does not indeed make the doctrines easy of comprehension; it does not relieve them of mystery to our minds; but it is fitted to show us that no view of the divine purposes can be right that in any measure tends to slacken human zeal and energy. To be assured that it is God that worketh in them, is the best of all motives to induce intelligent Christians to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2 : 12, 13). Arnot. The Roman commander was fully aware that Paul’s life was not secure even in the citadel. B.—The crime of assassination had become fearfully frequent in Jerusalem. Neither the sanctity of the Temple protected the unsuspicious worshiper from the secret dagger, nor did the majesty of the high priest’s office secure the first religious and civil magistrate of the nation from the same ignoble fate. Milman.—Hence the tribune Claudius Lysias, upon learning of the vow of these fanatic zealots against the apostle's life, the same night sent his prisoner under a strong protecting guard to Felix, the procurator or governor (of the Imperial Province of Judea), who resided at Cesarea. B. 30. Ox the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their 1 council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before 2 God until this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to 3 smite him on the mouth. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the 4 law? And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? Then said Paul, I 5 wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil 6 of the ruler of thy people. But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son 7 of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the 8 multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, 9 nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but 10 if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among 11 them, and to bring him into the castle. And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. 12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under 13 a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they 14 were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing 15 until we have slain Paul. Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would inquire something more 16 perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him. And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told 17 Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man 18 unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to 19 bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is 20 that thou hast to tell me? And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would inquire some- 21 what of him more perfectly. But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a 22 promise from thee. So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, 23 See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Cæsarea, and horsemen 24 threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; and provide 25 them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor. And 26 he wrote a letter after this manner: Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix 27 sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: 28 then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into 29 their council: whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have no- 30 thing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell. 31 Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to 32 Antipatris. On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the 33 castle: who, when they came to Cæsarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him. And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia; I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall. 1. The Assertion with which Paul first breaks the Silence.—God had used the tribune Lysias (acting for the governor, Felix) to rescue Paul, and then, for his continued safety, to hold him in arrest. Now he makes of the tribune's desire to know more of Paul a new opportunity for the apostle. This opportunity, like every circumstance and position in which Paul was placed during his period of liberty or of "bonds and imprisonment," is made by him an occasion "for the furtherance of the gospel." The Council, or Sanhedrim, was assembled in a hall connected with the Temple chambers. (See diagram, Vol. I., p. 623.) Into this hall Paul was "brought down" from the castle. Here Lysias remained while the military guard retired a little distance, yet ready to interpose (as they did) for his protection. Almost twenty-five years had elapsed since Paul had intensely endorsed the Council's murderous persecution of Stephen, and had been the chief instrument of this supreme judicatory in its vindictive pursuit of Christ's disciples. Now he stands before them as the chief object of their hate, with no responsive hate; altogether unmindful of himself, calmly and undauntedly ("looking stedfastly," Luke says) he studies their faces and their spirit. Then he asserts a self-respecting dignity by opening the anomalous proceedings. He claims a position of perfect equality, by addressing them as Brother Men. He shows that he understood the tribune's object by speaking of himself; and in Greek, that Lysias too might comprehend. As best answering a question touching his criminality, he affirms his own truthful and righteous life. In the spirit and manner of the Master's question, "Who convinceth me of sin?" he challenges them to gain-say the assertion that he had been true to God and man; that in the main his aims, his plans, his deeds, had been single and right. Paul asserts no doctrine or practice of perfection here; but a fact based upon God's gracious inworking. And he does it, not only to justify himself before Lysias, but to sharpen the contrast with their professed righteousness, which was hypocrisy. B. 2,3. The High Priest's Unjust Command and Paul's Indignant Rejoinder.—Ananias had been appointed high priest in A. D. 48. In A. D. 52 he was sent to Rome to answer before Claudius on a charge of oppression brought against him by the Samaritans. The result is doubtful; but the best solution seems to be that Ananias was not formally deposed, but, upon the murder of Jonathan (who had been appointed in his place during his suspension) in A. D. 57, he resumed his functions. The high priest's character for violence and lawlessness suggests that a guilty conscience assumed the guise of zeal against blasphemy, when he ordered the bystanders to smite Paul on the mouth. S.—It was not to be tolerated that a man who stood arraigned there as an apostate from the religion of his fathers should assert his innocence. The mouth must be shut that uttered such a declaration. Hackett. It was not the proposed indignity to himself (which, from the question of the bystanders, we may infer was not actually committed), but it was the glaring injustice and hypocrisy of the man who commanded it, that instantly turned the prisoner into a judge and condemner. But Paul's words were not an imprecation, nor an outburst of passion, or even of righteous indignation. Severe as was the figure he used—thou whited wall—and sharply as the implied charge of falsehood was hurled back against the high priest, more severe was the whited sepulchre which Christ used, and more directly and sharply were His terrible denunciations pointed against hypocrites. Paul speaks, too, in God's name; and he assigns the unlawful command of Ananias as the ground of this announced judgment from God. B.—On each of the many such hypocrites who sat before him, the apostle might well denounce the doom, "God shall smite thee"; and there is no difficulty in regarding the special fitness of his words to Ananias—who was deposed by Felix two years later and afterward murdered by the Sicarii—as one of the innumerable examples of unconscious prophecy. S.—Concerning Ananias, Josephus states that in a tumult begun by his own son he was besieged and taken in the royal palace, where having in vain attempted to hide himself in an old aqueduct, he was dragged out and slain, about five years after this. D. 4,5. The Bystanders' Question and Paul's Reply.—The partisans to whom the high priest's unlawful command had been directed, seem to have been so far affected by Paul's boldness as to substitute a rebuking question for the smiting on the mouth. In their question, however, they defended, not the unlawful order, but the sacred office of the high priest. They charge Paul with reviling God's high priest. In the apostle's answering avowal of ignorance respecting Ananias and his high-priestly office, we find one of those Scriptural difficulties which has had many proposed solutions. It seems obvious that Paul did not speak ironically, or as confessing and apologizing for a heedless or intemperate exclamation. Nor did he have reference to the abolition of the priestly office by Christ. Still less did he mean to deny the title of Ananias on account of his suspension from and subsequent usurpation of the high priest's functions. His supposed defect of vision seems also to be ruled out, by his "stedfast looking" at the outset, and by his clear discernment of the two main elements, Sadducaic and Pharisaic, comprised in the Council. Besides the established character of Paul for sincerity and for clearness of perception, there are natural considerations of fact which sustain the view that he honestly pleaded ignorance of the person of the high priest. Ananias had not succeeded to the office until ten or more years after Paul's conversion. He was not necessarily the presiding officer of the Sanhedrim. Nor, when presiding, was it customary always to wear the distinctive robes of the high-priesthood. This was only demanded when performing official duties in the Temple. Respecting this reply of Paul we note further: (1) That he simply justifies himself as to the charge of reviling brought against him. He does not withdraw nor apologize for the condemnation he had uttered against Ananias. That remained: its force and justness unshaken by the attempted diversion of the high priest's adherents. (2) That Paul, by citing from the law (Ex. 22 : 28), distinctly implies that he still holds that law, which he is here charged with rejecting, as the guide and rule of his life. The quotation, thus regarded, further shows that the apostle in this whole colloquy was now speaking, as he declared he had lived, seriously and conscientiously. 6-9. Paul ends the Useless Conference by dividing his Adversaries. Strife between the Pharisees and Sadducees.—Knowing well that he can have neither fair hearing nor just judgment from a body so prejudiced and hostile, with no hope of achieving good by further direct exposition of Christian truth, he wisely and rightly divides his adversaries, and so abruptly breaks up an unsought, anomalous, and useless conference. Not as some mistakenly read it, by a trick suddenly conceived and carried out for his own advantage, but in a way that perfectly accords with the true missionary spirit and work. The state of dissension between these two great parties which for generations divided the nation had always been familiar to Paul. Nay, more, he had always sided with the Pharisees as respects their points of difference with the Sadducees. With them he had shared a belief and hope in the resurrection from the dead. Apprehending, as they did not, its ultimate relation to the risen Christ, he could truly declare that his preaching of this doctrine had subjected him to this inquisitorial process before the Sanhedrim. And now he uses this very examination to emphasize, and so call attention to, the great doctrine upon which the two rival sects were chiefly divided; knowing and designing, indeed, thereby to raise an issue that would break up the Council. B. —He had not come to Jerusalem to escape out of the way of danger; but, at the risk of bonds and death, to reconcile the sincere Jews, if possible, to the gospel as the fulfillment of the Law. He desired to prove himself a faithful Israelite by his very testimony to him whom God had raised from the dead. Both these objects might naturally be promoted by an appeal to the nobler professions of the Pharisees, whose creed, as distinguished from that of the Sadducees, was still, as it had ever been, his own. Of that creed, faith in the risen Lord was the true fulfillment. He wished to lead his brother Pharisees into a deeper and more living apprehension of their own faith; and, seeing now the hopelessness of gaining over the Sadducees, he made a last appeal to the party of which there remained any hope. S. He needed no expedient, for he was then in Roman hands and under Roman protection. It was no pretense to serve a turn; it was the genuine language of his heart. In all his other speeches at this crisis the same idea reigns predominant. "I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come: for which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why is it judged by you a thing incredible if God raises the dead?" It is the self-same sound which we heard in the first discourse given us from his lips, when he cried to the Jews of the Pisidian Antioch, "Now we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again." And when we read his mind upon this subject more fully in 1 Cor. 15, and indeed in the whole of his writings, we see how truly the resurrection of Christ did, in his view, include the realization of all the hopes with which the Old Covenant was pregnant; how entirely it was to him the cause and actual commencement, as well as the pledge and promise, of the resurrection and the life to man. T. D. B. 8. The Sadducees believed in neither angel nor spirit; they rejected the doctrine of a future life, and denied the resurrection of the dead. They were the rationalists of their age. They accepted the law, admitted the Divine mission of Moses, and belonged to the Hebrew Church; but they did away with everything in the constitution of humanity and its relation to God which could sustain the edifice of anything like a high religious life. Eternal life, in the sense of a future immortality, was exploded altogether. T. B. The immediate result was “a sudden paroxysm of their usual antipathy and party zeal,” an array of the two parties against each other, and an assumption, for the moment, of Paul’s defense by the more numerous party of the Pharisees. Seemingly referring to the apostle’s account on the preceding day of Christ’s two miraculous appearances, the Pharisaic scribes assert their belief that he is the true man he claims to be, and that a spirit (or angel) may have spoken to him, as he had said. True to their belief in spiritual messengers from heaven, using (if the sentence be genuine) the very words of Gamaliel (5 : 39), they declare that they will not fight against the God who sends spirits by harming this man to whom he may have sent them. 10. Paul’s Second Rescue from Actual Violence by the Tribune Lysias.**—The controversy between the rival sects grew so sharp, and the actual strife around the person of Paul became so fierce, that the Roman commander was constrained to interpose his soldiers again, and almost forcibly to withdraw his prisoner. Not that Paul, an obscure prisoner, was of any special account. But for the life of Paul, a Roman citizen, he would be held responsible. Besides, he has learned something, if not all he desires to know, about this man. What he has learned has satisfied him that his prisoner is no criminal and deserves no punishment from Jew or Roman. And all that he has heard and seen has greatly raised his estimate of Paul. It has prepared him to take the decisive and costly measures for Paul’s deliverance which follow in the history. 11. Another Night-vision of Christ.**—Once before, at Corinth, and once after, in his ocean peril, came such a divine personal visitation for the needed cheer and stay of Paul’s spirit, questioning about the present, and depressed concerning the future. Not for his own Christian comfort or peace in trusting; for his faith was adequate to his mere personal needs. But Christ came, partly to acquaint him that his work in Jerusalem was finished, and that it was approved; but chiefly to assure him concerning his longed-for work at Rome—to let him know that he should finish his course with joy, and the ministry received of the Lord Jesus (20 : 24). B. So, then, he was to be guided by that unerring Hand, though by a path he had not proposed, to the goal he had so much desired; and we can understand the calmness which this assurance gave him amid the trials of the following years. S.—It upheld and comforted him in the uncertainty of his life from the Jews, in the uncertainty of his liberation from prison at Cesarea, in the uncertainty of his surviving the storm in the Mediterranean, in the uncertainty of his fate on arriving at Rome. So may one crumb of divine grace and help be multiplied to feed five thousand wants and anxieties. A. 12-35. Defeat of a Conspiracy to assassinate Paul by his Removal to Cesarea.**—The plot was well laid, and endorsed at least by the Sadducean members of the Sanhedrim. Such vows were not unusual with the Jews; and absolution was readily obtained if they were found impossible of accomplishment. The ready admission of Paul’s nephew, and the instant compliance with Paul’s request by the centurion, and further, the immediate audience and heed given by the tribune to the young messenger, show how strong an impression the apostle had made upon them. Both officers recognized and at once responded to his prompt judicious action. B.— The details of his acting exhibit a decisive example of the actual union and harmony between the present purpose of God and the responsibility of men for duty on their own sphere. It was determined that Paul’s life should be saved from these dangers, and that determination was made known to him. He knew for certain that these schemers could not take his life; he knew for certain that the power of God was pledged effectually to frustrate their designs; yet with this knowledge Paul laid his plans skillfully, and executed them with secrecy and energy, for the preservation of his own life, precisely as if he had thought that all depended on his own skill and promptitude. This shows conclusively that in Paul’s mind a belief in the decrees of God did not conflict with the obligation to diligent duty on the part of men. He framed and conducted a counterplot to defeat the conspiracy of the Jewish priesthood with as much zeal and care as if he had not obtained previous assurance of his safety. This simple history is most precious as an inspired commentary on some difficult doctrines. It does not indeed make the doctrines easy of comprehension; it does not relieve them of mystery to our minds; but it is fitted to show us that no view of the divine purposes can be right that in any measure tends to slacken human zeal and energy. To be assured that it is God that worketh in them, is the best of all motives to induce intelligent Christians to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2 : 12, 13). Arnot. The Roman commander was fully aware that Paul’s life was not secure even in the citadel. B.—The crime of assassination had become fearfully frequent in Jerusalem. Neither the sanctity of the Temple protected the unsuspicious worshiper from the secret dagger, nor did the majesty of the high priest’s office secure the first religious and civil magistrate of the nation from the same ignoble fate. Milman.—Hence the tribune Claudius Lysias, upon learning of the vow of these fanatic zealots against the apostle's life, the same night sent his prisoner under a strong protecting guard to Felix, the procurator or governor (of the Imperial Province of Judea), who resided at Cesarea. B. We may be surprised that so large a force was sent to secure the safety of one man; but we must remember that this man was a Roman citizen, while the garrison in Antonia, consisting of more than a thousand men, could easily spare such a number for one day on such a service. The utmost secrecy, as well as promptitude, was evidently required; and therefore an hour was chosen, when the earliest part of the night would be already past. At the time appointed, the troops, with Paul in the midst of them, marched out of the fortress, and at a rapid pace took the road to Cesarea. The foot-soldiers proceeded no farther than Antipatris, but returned from thence to Jerusalem. They were no longer necessary to secure Paul's safety; but they might very probably be required in the fortress of Antonia. It would be in the course of the afternoon that the remaining soldiers with their weary horses entered the streets of Cesarea. The centurion who remained in command of them proceeded at once to the governor, and gave up his prisoner; and at the same time presented the dispatch with which he was charged by the commandant of the garrison at Jerusalem. H. 1. AND after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain 2 orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, 3 and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, we accept it 4 always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency 5 a few words. For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: 6 who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged 7 according to our law. But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence 8 took him away out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examin- ing of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him. 9 And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. 10 Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Foras- much as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more 11 cheerfully answer for myself: because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but 12 twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, 13 nor in the city: neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this I 14 confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my 15 fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of 16 the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a 17 conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. Now after many years I came 18 to bring alms to my nation, and offerings. Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me 19 purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult. Who ought to have been 20 here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me. Or else let these same here 21 say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council, except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead 22 I am called in question by you this day. And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain 23 shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. And he commanded a centu- rion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his ac- quaintance to minister or come unto him. 24 And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he 25 sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way 26 for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent 27 for him the oftener, and communed with him. But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound. Amid the superficial cares and pleasures of a worldly existence a man's deeper nature may slumber; the surface-ripple of the stream of common life may fill the sense and lull the soul to sleep, but to almost every one there come occasions when the smooth current of the life of sense is interrupted, and his true self is roused to a temporary wakefulness. In the stillness of the lonely sick-bed, amid worldly reverses, in declining health, or under bitter bereavement—in such passages of man's history, the soul, eternity, God, become for the moment real things, and the most thoughtless and worldly-minded is forced to pause and think. Or, again, when the man listens to some very earnest exhibition of divine truth, or is brought into contact with one who is living a very holy, pure, unselfish life, a painful impression of his own deficiencies—a transient glimpse of a nobler, purer ideal of life, to which his own presents a miserable contrast—may visit his mind. Instead of seeking true comfort by the steady, however painful, contemplation, and then, through God's grace, by the deliberate, persevering correction of its evil self, the mind too often seeks a speedier but most unreal satisfaction, by forgetting its convictions, and seeing itself only in the false glass of the world's opinions. Thus, with many, life is but a continuous endeavor to forget and keep out of sight their true selves—a vain eluding and outstripping of a reality which is still ever with them, and to the consciousness of which they must one day awake. Caird. 1-9. Renewed Accusation against Paul by the Jews, before the Tribunal of Felix.**—Very promptly (within five days) was Paul followed to Cesarea by Ananias and some of the Jewish elders. They brought with them a professional Roman advocate, Tertullus, whom they had hired to prosecute Paul before the Roman governor. Among themselves there was no one competent to encounter Paul; and they would conciliate Felix by employing a Roman pleader. Flattery and falsehood characterized this man's address to Felix. Abuse and falsehood made up his charge against Paul. Artfully as his encomium is framed, it is false in all its points. Historical facts (mainly from the Jew Josephus and the Roman Tacitus) show the reverse of "quietness" in the nation, and of "worthy deeds" wrought by "the providence" of Felix; and that instead of "thankfulness," Felix was followed to Rome with the sharpest accusations by the Jews. B.—Felix was appointed (A. D. 53) partly at the instance of Jonathan, the then high priest. He ruled the province in a mean, cruel, and profligate manner. Tacitus says, "By every form of cruelty and lust, he wielded the power of a king in the spirit of a slave." S. The charge against Paul is threefold: treason against the Roman power—"a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world"; heresy against the law of Moses—a ringleader of the Christians; and sacrilege—a profaner of the Temple. And Tertullus closes his address with the further falsehood, that the Sanhedrim would have judged Paul lawfully, if Lysias had not interfered. To all these false charges, stated vaguely and without a single specification, the high priest and his colleagues personally assented; "saying that these things were so." 10,11. Introduction of Paul's Defense.**—Although twice before Paul had spoken what he called a defense—first before a vast crowd of Jews in the Temple area, and again before the assembled Council or Sanhedrim—yet this is his first actual defense, as he now stands before an imperial tribunal, the governor representing the person and authority of the emperor. Receiving the usual signal according him a hearing in reply, Paul frankly expresses his readiness to answer before Felix, because of his long residence among the Jews and of his consequent familiarity with the matters now in issue before him. Not a word of flattery here, but a proper recognition of the intelligent and unprejudiced character of the tribunal before which the apostle is now really on trial. For the comparatively long period of six or seven years Felix had been in Jerusalem and Cesarea. In both places were many Christian disciples. In Cesarea many Roman soldiers, after Cornelius, had received Christianity. He knew enough of these matters to appreciate the particulars of Paul's answer, and to determine the case on its merits, as he did by not condemning Paul. His failure to acquit and release grew out of other selfish causes, as we know. And it may be added that with his opportunities of knowing the current events “among the Jews throughout the world,” Felix must have heard of such “a pest and mover of sedition” as Paul’s accuser alleged him to have been, if the charge had been true. Paul notes another fact at the outset. He declares that Felix can readily ascertain that little more than a week had elapsed since the things directly complained of occurred. Including his journey to Cesarea and the five days’ imprisonment there, it had been only twelve days since Paul had gone to Jerusalem to worship; and only eight or nine days since his arrest in the Temple. 12,13. His Denial of Treason, and Challenge of his Accusers to the Proof.**—In terms of unqualified denial he meets the first charge—of sedition. Worship, not the plotting of insurrection, was the object of his so recent visit to Jerusalem; and while worshiping he was found and arrested. He had not even spoken in public, much less by artful harangue sought to gather disaffected persons either in the Temple, the synagogues, or the city. This particular and emphatic denial he enforces by a challenge to his accusers, there present, to produce proof of this, their only criminal charge against him. 14-16. His Confession of the Second Charge, the So-called Heresy of Christianity; and Justification, by the Jewish Law and Prophets, of his Avowed Christian Faith, Hope, and Life.**—He avows himself to be a conscientious adherent of the new, or Christian, way of believing and living. In denial of their accusation of heresy (or the introduction with schismatic spirit of a false religion—which was their meaning in using the term heresy or svet) he affirms that this was the way of their fathers. Boldly confessing his faith in Christ, he asserts the unity of the Christian belief with the old covenant and promises “written in the law and the prophets.” No apostate was he from his fathers’ God or faith, he assures Felix, who shared the Roman dislike to any one’s abandonment of his own national modes of worship. To Jew and Roman he uses his opportunity thus implicitly to declare that Christ was the center, soul, and substance of all the truths and promises given to Israel; that Christianity was the true outcome and ultimate fulfillment of spiritual and vital Judaism. As Christ its founder had said, it did not destroy but it fulfilled all the law and the prophets. And in confirmation of his general assertion, he adds the specific declaration that in common with many of his accusers, and with the mass of his nation, he holds steadfastly to the fathers’ hope of a resurrection from death, through the promise and power of the fathers’ God. To this hope he had distinctly appealed a few days before, when standing before the Council in the Temple. In accordance with this belief and hope in the resurrection (common to Jews and Christians), he further affirms his conscientious endeavor to meet every obligation to God and man. He strives as the athlete or warrior, only his struggle and warfare is within the soul. His supreme aim and constant effort was to keep his conscience from striking against stumbling-stones of accusing purpose, wrong thought, or evil deed. Not that he always or ever perfectly attained, or succeeded in this high endeavor, but he always exercises himself—habitually practices—toward attainment, ever “pressing toward the mark.” B.—And if the Apostle of the Gentiles, a man great in the faith, found it necessary to maintain constantly a military watchfulness and practice, how presumptuous in any of us to count on keeping the course, and acquiring the crown, by an indolent wish to be safe, without a constant watchfulness, an energetic effort, and a more than military sternness in laying aside every weight, and the sin that doth most easily beset us! Arnot. 17-21. His Refutation of the Third Charge, of Profaning the Temple.**—One chief purpose of his visit to Jerusalem he states with great simplicity, as properly introducing his denial of this charge. He came as the almoner of help, not as the fomenter of disturbance and source of injury to his nation. And it is to be noted that this incidental statement, so drawn from him, is the only allusion in the Acts to the fact that Paul had been engaged for four years in gathering collections from all the Gentile churches in aid of the poor Christian Jews of Judea. In the Epistles, especially those to the Corinthians and Romans, Paul frequently refers to this matter (Rom. 15: 25, 26; 1 Cor. 16: 1-4; 2 Cor. 8: 1-4). Repeating part of his previous assertion (in denial now of their third charge), that he had neither gathered a crowd nor stirred up tumult in the Temple, he impliedly and truthfully charges “certain Jews from Asia” with doing this very thing, and so profaning the sanctuary. These Jews, he yet further declares, found him engaged in appropriate temple worship, actually making offerings after undergoing ceremonial purification. And he makes a sharp point upon his present accusers, and a just argument in his own defense, in demanding that those Asiatic Jews, his real accusers, should meet him face to face, and sustain their accusation and assault upon him in the Temple. Since these, however, were absent, did not care or dare to appear against him, he turns with a bold challenge to the Jews present, the Sadducean members of the Council. He demands their own personal testimony upon the facts that occurred when he stood before the Sanhedrim. With a keen thrust that they could not parry, he asks if the utterance of the hated truth of the resurrection was not the only charge of evil-doing that they could bring against him. There was no rejoinder to Paul's fearless, simple, conclusive reply. As the accusation of Tertullus was artificial and vague, flattering and false, so the defense is natural and plain, specific, complete, and manifestly sincere. And, as always, he finds his opportunity to preach Jesus and the resurrection, and to testify his own Christian faith and hope, and his Christlike love to God and man. 22, 23. By the Decision of Felix, Paul is held in Easy Confinement.—The after-statements show conclusively that Felix virtually decided the case in favor of Paul. But he wished to retain, as far as possible, the favor of the Jews. He therefore pronounced no actual decision, simply putting off the two parties upon a pretext of seeking further information from Lysias. Verses 26 and 27 disclose his real motive in declining to release Paul. The apostle's condition, however, was not a hard one. He was simply kept in a custody that protected his threatened life, and provided for his needs; while his friends in Cesarea (including Philip and Luke), and those from abroad, had free access to him. So the word of God was not bound. Freely and abundantly did Paul preach the faith in Christ. That this was with the full knowledge and consent of Felix, we clearly infer from his sending for the apostle to "hear him concerning that faith." And this state of things continued for two years. So that we may regard Cesarea as another great working-center of Paul, to be classed with Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus, and afterward Rome. 24-26. Paul's Faithful Reasoning with Felix and Drusilla, and its Effect.—Drusilla was a daughter of Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12: 1, 21), and sister of Agrippa II. and Bernice (25: 13). She left her husband, the King of Emesa, to live with Felix. The suggestion of sending for Paul, doubtless, came from her. "A Jewish princess must necessarily have been curious to hear some account of what professed to be the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy." As curious, too, she may have been to hear about this widely bruited religion of the Nazarenes. Never did this master of skill and fitness in discourse more conclusively prove this mastery than in the bold, faithful reasoning whose main drift and conclusion is here recorded in three words. In these words, after expounding the faith in Christ (which they asked to hear about), or the scheme of redemption foreshown in the Jewish Scriptures, he sums up a suitable application to these hearers. Before him sat an unjust judge—a cruel, rapacious governor. To him he discourses about righteousness, i. e., "rightness, justness, in thought, word, and deed toward all—toward God and toward man." To a Roman libertine noble and a profligate Jewish princess cess he expounds the Christian gospel of purity. And upon both, self-condemned by conscience, he presses the fearful fact of a judgment to come, which each must meet. Yet this Christian apostle makes no personal charge, utters no personal denunciation. He only leaves the truth to work in the soul. Hence no anger against Paul was stirred in the breast of Felix. The fear awakened in him was wrought, not by Paul, but by the Holy Ghost through the truth. The object, as well as the cause, of his dread was the Divine Law and the Divine Judge now so vividly disclosed by the apostle. That Felix was alarmed showed that he was not past feeling, not dead to the appeal of saving truth. In his alarm we read sure evidence of the convincing power of the Holy Ghost, reproving of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And in the feeble, palliative half-purpose of future response with which he appeases the sharp demands of a troubled conscience, in the postponing reply with which he turns aside the faithful appeal and dismisses the friendly appellant and preacher, we find the precise point and form of his resistance to the Holy Ghost. The terrified prison-keeper at Philippi was ready and willing for the instant saving response, "What must I do?" The alarmed governor was neither ready nor willing now. And though the convenient season came, though he often called for Paul and "communed with him," yet the same state of feeling never returned. His avarice and other lusts regained their mastery. Every salutary fear and impulse was forgotten, and all spiritual sensibility for ever crushed out. He only sought, with Paul's connivance, to gain selfish advantage by the apostle's release. B. How has the intimidated and yet unrepentant Felix become the living and most striking type of millions! Again and again is repeated the same pretext, and with the same self-deception. There is no set purpose to harden the heart against receiving the truth; there is merely absence of determination immediately to surrender. The word of truth is not rejected, but obedience to its dictates is put off to a more convenient season: the child puts off till he shall be a youth, the youth till he shall be a man, the man till hoary-headed age; the gray-beard till he shall be stretched upon his deathbed. So innocent and natural appear many of the pleas on which men excuse themselves from compliance with the highest demands, that many a sinner shall himself stand utterly dismayed when before the judgment-bar of God the last covering of shame shall be flung aside for ever. Van. O. 27. Though convinced of Paul's innocence, Felix left him in custody, that he might induce the Jews to withhold complaints at Rome against his administration. But this unprincipled procedure  Ruins of Cesarea. also failed; for the men he thus sought to please followed him with accusations to Cesar's judgment seat. B.—In the following year, the city of Cesarea, where Paul was thus kept a prisoner, was the scene of one of the frequent and frightful tumults between the Jews and the Syrian Greeks, A. D. 59. Felix was denounced to the emperor for either ordering or conniving at a massacre of the Jews, and he was recalled to answer for his conduct at the same time that Domitius Corbulo succeeded Ummidius Quadratus as prefect of Syria. This was two full years after the beginning of Paul's imprisonment in May, A. D. 58, and Porcius Festus, who accompanied Corbulo as procurator of Judea, would reach his destination about July, A. D. 60. S. The apostle's captivity of five years was mainly spent in Cesarea and Rome. His whole career strikingly illustrates the method of God's Spirit in planting Christianity chiefly in the great cities. Paul's first center of Christian labor was in Antioch. For more than three years he toiled in this capital and chief city of Syria. A similar period was spent in Ephesus, the most influential center of Asia Minor. Two years he abode in Corinth, the leading city of Greece. And in the period of his captivity he labored two years in Cesarea, the political capital of Judea, and two years in Rome, the world's center. B. 1. Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Cæsa- 2 rea to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against 3 Paul, and besought him, and desired favour against him, that he would send for him to 4 Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him. But Festus answered, that Paul should be 5 kept at Cæsarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither. Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any 6 wickedness in him. And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Cæsarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be 7 brought. And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. 8 While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the 9 temple, nor yet against Cæsar, have I offended anything at all. But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be 10 judged of these things before me? Then said Paul, I stand at Cæsar's judgment seat, where 11 I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto 12 them. I appeal unto Cæsar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, an- swered, Hast thou appealed unto Cæsar? unto Cæsar shalt thou go. 13. And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Cæsarea to salute Festus. 14 And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, say- 15 ing, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix: about whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against 16 him. To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer 17 for himself concerning the crime laid against him. Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to 18 be brought forth. Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusa- 19 tion of such things as I supposed: but had certain questions against him of their own super- 20 stition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and 21 there be judged of these matters. But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the 22 hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Cæsar. Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him. 23. And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at 24 Festus' commandment Paul was brought forth. And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live 25 any longer. But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that 26 he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him. Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and especially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have some- 27 what to write. For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him. 1-12. Paul's Arraignment before Festus, and his Appeal to the Emperor.—About midsummer of A. D. 60 Porcius Festus arrived in Cesarea, the Roman capital of the province of Judea, and as- sumed the procuratorship. At once he goes up to Jerusalem, the Jewish metropolis. Instantly he is besought by the high priest (Ismael, who had suc- ceeded Ananias) and leading Jews to bring Paul to Jerusalem for a new trial. Two years had passed, yet the hatred of the Sadducaic members of the Sanhedrim remained as bitter and their purpose of assassination as determined as ever. Their malevo- lent feeling had originated in the vast Christian work Paul had wrought. It had been fostered and intensified by the effective use he had made of his prison liberty at Cesarea, in still further spreading the Christian truth almost before their very eyes. In all his labor, perhaps most of all in this Cesa- rean ministry, he had been undermining their pres- tige and destroying their power as leaders of the Jewish people. B.—The whole history of Paul's imprisonment, the conspiracy of the fifty Jews, with the consent of the Sanhedrim, their petition to Fe- tus to send him from Cesarea, with an intent to murder him on the road, are facts which correspond to the character of the times, as described by Jo- sephus, who mentions the principal persons recorded in the Acts, and paints their profligacy in colors even stronger than those of Luke. G. T. Festus declines to send Paul up to Jerusalem, and so the murderous project is foiled and the apos- tle's life is saved. But he invites the Jews, by those in authority as responsible accusers, to renew their charges against the apostle before him at Cesarea. The day after his return, the parties met again be- fore the same tribunal. The character of the "many and grievous complaints against Paul" is intimated in his answer. He had not violated Jewish law, nor profaned the Temple, nor incited sedition against the emperor. It was the trial before Felix re- peated; vague and false assertion on the accusers' side, and explicit, truthful denial on Paul's part. And the issue was the same, in that Festus was satisfied of the apostle's innocence as respected Roman law, and refused to condemn him. But Festus, too, like Felix, "wished to do the Jews a pleasure." He therefore makes to Paul the very proposal which he himself had rejected when made to him by the Jews at Jerusalem. He asks if the apostle is willing to be tried in the Sanhedrim's presence at Jerusalem. But Paul declines, in words that sharply imply the injustice and wrong of the governor's request. He understood the situation perfectly. He knew the peril of assassination on the journey. He knew that to the cause of righteousness nothing would be gained and much would be lost by a trial in Jerusalem. He stood now at the chief seat of the Imperial power, in the capital of the Province, before the tribunal of Cesar. Here he had a right to be judged; and only the governor (as he fearlessly tells him) had a right to sit in judgment upon him. He further boldly declares that Festus well knew that he had done no wrong to the Jews. Therefore he will not even submit to trial in their presence. Influenced by these just and self-respecting considerations, when Paul found that Festus was hindered from releasing him by the clamorous opposition of the Jews, he was constrained (as he tells the Jews of Rome, 27:18, 19) to appeal unto Cesar. By those few potent words he transferred the issue and its decision from the Provincial to the Imperial tribunal, from the Procurator to the Emperor. Thus also he relieved Festus, protected his own life, and insured his long-desired visit to Rome. We can not but note, in passing, the simple dignity and steadfast courage of the apostle, his conscious rectitude and dependence upon God so finely expressed in his whole spirit and answer. He is willing to die if he has done aught worthy of death. But he will not be wrongfully adjudged to death, through the hate and malice of his unchristian foes. To avert this, he promptly uses his power of peremptory appeal as a Roman citizen. 13-27. Festus, constrained to accept Paul's appeal to the emperor, was yet embarrassed by the case. He was about to send a prisoner against whom he could specify no charge. At this juncture, the king, Herod Agrippa, came with his sister Bernice to greet and congratulate the new governor. B. Herod Agrippa II., the son of Herod Agrippa I., was at Rome when his father died. He was only seventeen years old, and Claudius made his youth a reason for not giving him his father's kingdom, as he had intended. The emperor afterward gave him the kingdom of Chalcis (A. D. 50), which was vacant by the death of his uncle Herod (A. D. 48); and this was soon exchanged for the tetracchies of Iturea and Abilene, to which Nero added certain cities of the Becapolis about the Lake of Galilee (A. D. 52). But beyond the limits of his own dominions Agrippa was permitted to exercise throughout Judea that influence which even Paul recognized as welcome to a Jew who saw in him the last scion of the Asmonean house. He gratified his hereditary taste for magnificence by adorning Jerusalem and Berytus with costly buildings, but in such a manner as mortally to offend the Jews; and his relations to his sister Berenice (or Bernice), the widow of his uncle Herod, were of a very doubtful character. But his one leading principle was to preserve fidelity to Rome. S. Naturally Festus spoke with his princely Jewish guests concerning the perplexing case of Paul; and as naturally Agrippa expressed a desire to hear the apostle. Such a hearing was gladly ordered by Festus, in hope of finding relief from his perplexity. Into the midst of a great assembly of the noblest Jews and Romans, with Agrippa and Bernice and Festus, Paul was led. After a brief statement of the facts by the governor, Agrippa gave Paul permission to speak for himself. Paul, we remember, had volunteered his defense or story before the Jewish mob in the Temple area. He had asserted his pure and truthful life, and affirmed his hope of resurrection, before the whole Sanhedrim. He had made a formal defense against formal charges before Felix; and he had summarily repeated this defense against summary charges before Festus. Still another, the fifth and last, statement he makes now before the Jewish king and high Roman officials. All these addresses, and the history out of which they grew, have come to successive generations of Christian believers in every age and nation. They have helped to enlarge our estimate of the man, and to expound more fully the recorded truths of his grand Epistles. B. 1. THEN Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul 2 stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself: I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am 3 accused of the Jews: especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and ques- 4 tions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. My man- ner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, 5 know all the Jews; which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after 6 the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged 7 for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, 8 king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? 9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of 10 Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put 11 to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted 12 them even unto strange cities. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and com- 13 mission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with 14 me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and say- ing in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick 15 against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou 16 persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this pur- pose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and 17 of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and 18 from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness 19 of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Where- 20 upon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: but shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judæa, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. 21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. 22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should 23 come: that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the 24 dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth 25 make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words 26 of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing 27 was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou 28 believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. 29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. 30 And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and 31 they that sat with them: and when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, 32 saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa unto Fes- tus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Cæsar. Both almost, and altogether.—What matters it to the skillful seaman, that with helm in hand, and eye continually upon sea and sky, he has carried his well-trimmed bark over many a league of ocean, and filled her with the treasures of other lands, and steered her through many a rocky channel, and carried her through many a furious gale, if, just as the haven is in sight, the tempest takes her and whelms her in the deep? And what matters it if we be almost, if we be not altogether, Christians? Hanna.—It is he that holdeth out to the end that must be saved; it is he that overcometh that shall inherit all things; it is not every one that begins. Agrippa took a fair step for a sudden. “Almost,” saith he to Paul, “thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Ah, it was but almost; and so he had as good have never been a whit; he stepped fair indeed, but yet he stepped short. O this almost! I tell you, this lost his soul Bunyan. 1-5. After expressing his satisfaction in stating to the king Agrippa the matters in issue between the accusing Jews and himself, Paul proceeds to vindicate his consistency as a true spiritual Israelite, while he explains and justifies his mission as the apostle to the Gentiles. What he was known to be as a Pharisee, when and how he was converted and commissioned by Christ, and how he had fulfilled his commission in accordance with the teachings of Moses and the prophets: these comprise the leading points in this instructive address. 6-8. Paul asserts the Chief Ground of the Jews’ Accusation to be his Preaching of the Messiahship and the Resurrection of Christ. His Appeal to Agrippa.—This hope of a Messiah he declares to be based upon the promise of God to the Patriarchs and Leaders of Israel. They had not received the fulfillment; hence a future life was essential if God’s word to them was true. And the true Israel, even all that remained of the twelve tribes, following the faith and hope of the earlier generations, were still looking for the fulfillment of the promise. He had found the Messiah in Jesus of Nazareth; and the proof of his Messiahship he saw in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. And, knowing the Sadducean tendencies of Agrippa, he turns upon him with the pointed argumentative question, Do you think a resurrection incredible, knowing all that God has done in Israel, knowing, too, God’s promise of a deliverer, who should be a conqueror of death? 9-11. His Prejudices had been Bitter and his Hostility Virulent toward Christ and his Disciples.—Taking up the account of himself from verse 5, he narrates how with a conscientious enmity he had persecuted and imprisoned those he now knew to be saints, as he himself was now persecuted and imprisoned. “I gave my voice, or vote, against them.” Whether this word is to be taken literally, implying his act as a member of the Sanhedrim, or figuratively (as it may be), signifying only a moral assent to proceedings in the synagogues, can not be decisively determined. A strong objection to the former and favorite view is that it is wholly unsupported by other evidence, especially by other words of his own. And the fact, if it was a fact, of his membership of the great Jewish Council would have sharpened many an argument, and strongly enforced all that he says of himself in Phil. 3 and elsewhere. 12-18. Paul’s Second Statement of his Conversion sion and Commission by Christ.—The first had been given to the Jews from the Temple stairs (ch. 22). (Compare both statements with Luke’s account, ch. 9.) Paul has spoken of his own mad hostility to the name and to the saints of Christ. How this hate was changed to love, and this hostility to supreme devotion, he proceeds to tell. B. The apostle knew so well the fruit which the world would gather from his conversion, that he employs it as a favorite argument in his preaching. Of the five discourses by him, which have been preserved to us in the Acts, two derive their subject from this event, not to speak of the repeated allusions which he makes to it in his Epistles. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the gospel history has no evidence equaling the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Monod.—Nowhere throughout the Sacred Annals is the power of divine grace over the sinful heart so fully shown as in his sudden change from a self-righteous, fanatical persecutor of Jesus and Christians, to a humble, self-sacrificing servant of Christ and his Church; nor is it easy to see how an honest inquirer can resist a fact so confirmatory of the gospel as the open advocacy of its faith by the most logical, accomplished, and determined spirit that ever battled on the side of its enemies. Bethune. His appointment to preach and what he was instructed to preach to the Gentiles, are the main points in this address, the last and most complete made by the apostle. The sublime themes of his testimony and the grand results of his ministry he sums up in these four realities of spiritual experience: 1. Divine enlightenment—a vision of God and knowledge of the truth he has disclosed. 2. A turning or conversion, and so a deliverance, from the kingdom of darkness and the enslaving power of its Prince into the kingdom of light and of God. “Darkness and light are common figures of the New Testament, not only for ignorance and knowledge of spiritual things, but for the states of which these are necessary incidents, a state of sin and one of holiness.” (J. A. A.) 3. Forgiveness of sins. 4. An abiding inheritance with the saints in glory. Of this pardon and inheritance Dr. Arnot says: “The gift, like the work, is twofold: it removes from a believer what he deserves, and bestows upon him the deserts of his Redeemer. The birthright of condemnation is taken away, and the birthright of sons is conferred. Christ has taken your portion, and you obtain his. The pardon and the inheritance go together." Of all these spiritual effects and experiences, Christ declares to Paul, there is one condition essential for every soul's reception. It is FAITH IN ME—trust, not in human works or offerings, not in creeds, in ceremonials, or in descent, but in Christ alone! B. The germ of all Paul's epistles, the key-note to which all his writings are but the melody that follows, the mighty voice of which all his teaching is but the prolonged echo, we find in these words: "To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in Me." What of Paul's gospel is not here? Man's ruin, man's depravity, the state of darkness, the power of Satan, the sole redemptive work of Christ, justification by belief in that, sanctification coming with justification, and glory, rest, and heaven at last—there they all are in the very first words that sounded upon the quickened ear of the blinded man when he turned from darkness to light. A. M. 19, 20. He affirms his Instant Obedience and his Steadfast Fidelity to the Heavenly Call of Christ.—This is one of the grand points of instruction and personal application in Paul's whole career. He began on the instant, where he was, to obey. He sought on the instant and ever afterward (for now twenty-four years) to know and to do the Lord's will. Day by day had he gone on as directed. He had sought to win men back to God, to reveal Christ and His complete work for man's redemption, that they might trust, repent, and return to God; that, with a divinely renewed heart and reversed life, they might do works meet for repentance. 21-23. He goes on to say that, for this work of seeking to obey God and save men, the Jews had sought to kill him in the Temple. But God had been his deliverer, so that his ministry had been continued until now. And he adds the supreme fact that all he taught was in exact agreement with Moses and the prophets. This fact utterly overthrew all the charges of his accusers, and convicted them of rejecting the law and the prophets, which was the crime alleged against himself. For the Jewish Scriptures disclosed a suffering Messiah, who should rise from the dead, and who should bring a bright and glad redemption to the Gentiles. B.—That Christ should suffer, should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the Gentiles: these are the three chief points in the writings of the prophets; and precisely these three were most of all unwelcome to the Jews. The first gave them offense, the second was denied by them, and the third awakened their envy. Starke.—There was never any that understood the Old* Testament so well as Paul, except John the Baptist and John the Divine. He dearly loved Moses and Isaiah, for they, together with King David, were the chief prophets. The words and things of Paul are taken out of Moses and the prophets. Luther.—These truths which Paul had preached, his accusers had disallowed and willfully rejected; and in justifying himself so fervently and conclusively, he preaches a living, burning gospel of Christ to Festus and Agrippa, and to the brilliant court in which they were central and sovereign. 24-26. The Excited Exclamation of Festus, and Paul's Calm Reply.—To the Roman governor, deeply stirred by Paul's impassioned utterance, the apostle's words yet conveyed no meaning. B.—What Paul had said of a resurrection from the dead accomplished in Jesus as the first fruits, of a person coming from the Jews who should enlighten not only his own people but even the Gentiles, among the rest the polite and learned Greeks and Romans, and of the manner in which this was revealed to him—all this would lead such a half-thinker and pagan as Festus to conclude roundly that Paul was a visionary enthusiast. D.—"Much learning," or "many writings," had turned his brain, the idea being suggested by Paul's many allusions to Moses and the prophets. But Paul, "taught from the fullness of a heart which divine grace had convinced and blessed that Christianity is no fable and that faith is not madness," replies with quiet Christian courtesy: "Not frenzied or mad, most noble Festus, but I speak of things that are real, and with perfect soundness of reason!" And instantly he refers for confirmation of his words to Agrippa, as one to whom the main facts of Christianity (of which he had spoken) were well known. B. This thing was not done in a corner. The existence at this time of one called by his followers Christ, the place of his teaching, his execution by Pontius Pilate, Procurator of Judea under Tiberius, the rapid spread of his doctrine through the Roman world, the vast number of converts made in a short time, the persecutions which they underwent, the innocency of their lives, their worship of Christ as God—are witnessed to by heathen writers of eminence, and would be certain and indisputable facts had the New Testament never been written. Tacitus, Suetonius, Juvenal, Pliny, Trajan, Adrian, writing in the century immediately following upon the death of Christ, declare these things to us, and establish, so firmly that no skeptic can even profess to doubt it, the historical character of at least that primary groundwork whereon the Christian story, as related by the evangelists, rests as on an immovable basis. These classic notices compel even those who set no value on the historical Christ to admit his existence; they give a definite standing-point to the religion, which might otherwise have been declared to have no historical foundation at all, but to be purely and absolutely mythic; they furnish, taken by themselves, no unimportant argument for the truth of the religion, which they prove to have been propagated with such zeal, by persons of pure and holy lives, in spite of punishments and persecutions of the most fearful kind; and they form, in combination with the argument from the historic accuracy of the incidental allusions, an evidence in favor of the substantial truth of the New Testament narrative which is amply sufficient to satisfy any fair mind. G. R. "Few persons, perhaps," says Isaac Taylor, "give due attention to the relative position of the Christian history, which stands upon the very point of intersection where three distinct lines of history meet, namely, the Jewish, the Grecian, and the Roman. These three bodies of ancient literature alone have descended by an uninterrupted channel of transmission to modern times; and these three, by a most extraordinary combination of circumstances, were brought together to elucidate the origination of Christianity. If upon the broad field of history there rests the common light of day, upon that spot where a new religion was given to man, there shines the intensity of a concentrated brightness." The Jews had their own literature; they had been formerly conquered by the Greeks, and the Greek language was in common use; they were also a Roman province, and "during more than a century, in the center of which stands the ministry of Christ, the affairs of Syria attracted the peculiar attention of the Roman Government. No other people of antiquity can be named upon whose history and sentiments there falls this triple flood of historic light, and upon no period in the history of this one people do these triple rays so precisely meet as upon the moment when the voice of one was heard in the wilderness of Jordan, saying, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord.'" Well, then, might an apostle say, "These things were not done in a corner." It was in Jerusalem that Christ arose; in Asia Minor—the theatre of history from the first. It was, perhaps, the only place on earth in which a Roman governor would have called the three languages which contain the literature of ancient civilization into requisition, to proclaim at once the accusation and the true character of Christ. M. H. 27, 28. Paul's Appeal to Agrippa, Agrippa's Reply, and Paul's Rejoinder.—To the Roman Festus Paul's words had no meaning. But to the Jew Agrippa, familiar with the writings of the prophets, and to the grandnephew of Herod Antipas, familiar with the facts of a living, crucified, and risen Jesus of Nazareth, Paul has been powerfully preaching Christianity (while defending it) by exhibiting its unity with the Mosaic covenant and Prophetic promises. In here giving his preaching a personal turn (not offensively, for he compliments Agrippa's intelligence and judgment), he takes high ground as becomes the ambassador of Jehovah, and uses a lofty tone of utterance. We must infer that something he saw in Agrippa's expression, some manifestation of feeling (not certainly scorn or contempt), led the apostle to make this sudden appeal to the Jewish king, and so instantly and impressively himself to answer his own appeal. King and Jew as he was, in face of the disparaging charge of madness by Festus, Agrippa had so felt in his inmost soul the power of the truth, and of Paul's own mighty force of conviction, that his remarkable confession was forced almost unconsciously from his lips. His reply seems to be a parry, and to show that he had felt a thrust. About the meaning of this reply, as well as the spirit that actuated it, there is a difference of judgment among scholarly interpreters. The two words rendered almost are literally in small. The words rendered altogether in verse 29 are literally in great. The noun to be supplied may be either time, effort, degree, or measure. That Agrippa refers to the little time or effort used by Paul in this brief address, as insufficient to make of him a Christian, and that he speaks ironically or even indifferently (an interpretation favored by many modern commentators), seems to be out of keeping with all that precedes and follows. It accords neither with the subsequent course of Agrippa nor with the previous words of Paul; and still less with the serious, sympathetic, and fervent tone of Paul's instant rejoinder. Agrippa's sudden breaking up of the conference after Paul's manly, touching expression of good will, surely intimates something other than a jesting or indifferent state of mind. And his serious, almost regretful words to Festus about Paul's liberty that immediately followed, with their implied tone of sympathy with the apostle, can scarcely consist with an ironical or heedless spirit; so that we must still hold to the older and the widely accepted interpretation, which takes the words of Agrippa as spoken in earnest, and under some slightly aroused feeling. "In some small degree or measure ('almost' being too strong) thou persuadest me!" And with this interpretation admirably agrees Paul's large-hearted response. The picture is one of rare beauty and sublimity, as the words finely illustrate the spirit and epitomize the substance of his gospel. A prisoner, whose Christlike spirit and whose burning words had fascinated their attention, stands in the attitude of blessing while he prays: Not in small but in great degree would I have you and all who hear me to know and rejoice as I know and rejoice in Christ and the Christian life. And, holding up his chained hands, he adds to his prayer for them, "except only these bonds." In this noble close to his crowning defense, the absoluteness of his faith and the strength and breadth of his unselfish, yearning benevolence stand out with wonderful distinctness. "King," he says, "or high noble and ruler, as you are, there is for you a higher crown and a more enduring kingdom that I would to God you might share." A Christian Agrippa knew Paul to be. What a Christian was Paul had already described in the inward and spiritual experiences referred to in his great commission from Christ. These experiences were not the result of outward relations, of ordinances, ceremonials, or of church connections. They consisted in an understanding opened to and illumined by the truth, a heart touched and broken, and a will made submissive by the Spirit of Christ. In other words, a Christian was one who knew, who trusted in, obeyed, and rested on Christ; whose ruling thought and affection and whose constraining principle of life was Christ's love to him. Such a one was not Agrippa. However strongly moved, as Felix had been, like Felix he deliberately rose up, turned away his thought, and went back to his selfish, dissolute life. He might have been fully persuaded had he yielded to the divine influences so mightily proceeding from Paul's heart and lips. But he grieved away the Spirit, remained "joined to his idols," and God "let him alone"! Retaining his nominal and idle faith in the prophets, this last Prince of the Herods lived a self-seeking, useless life, in dependence upon Roman favor, long after his nation had been destroyed by Roman arms. Yet, like all the marked personages whose careers are referred to in the Sacred Record, this man, by this single utterance, in connection with what preceded and followed, remains to point an instructive and warning lesson. B. Verily, we need not long remain in uncertainty who at that moment was the greatest in the palace! And all the spiritual greatness of Paul is the work of the Holy Ghost, who has entirely renewed him, and has exalted him above the moral littleness around him, nay, even above himself; so that here, in the fullest sense of the words, even when he returned to his lonely dungeon, he left the field as conqueror. Van O. 1. AND when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and 2 certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aris- 3 tarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends 4 to refresh himself. And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, be- 5 cause the winds were contrary. And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6 And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us 7 therein. And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against 8 Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; and, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was 9 the city of Lasea. Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, 10 because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and 11 ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner 12 of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and 13 lieth toward the south west and north west. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. 14 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And 15 when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. 16 And running under a certain island which is called Claudia, we had much work to come 17 by the boat: which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, 18 fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. And we 19 being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; and the 20 third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. 21. But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm 22 and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any 23 man's life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, 24 whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before 25 Cæsar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of 26 good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. PAUL had been declared by Festus innocent of crime under Roman law; and by Agrippa alike innocent of offense against Jewish law. But his appeal had been made and could not be recalled. He must be sent to Rome, as God had purposed and promised. The voyage thither (recounted in this chapter) is one of great interest in itself, as well as on account of its chief result—the carrying of the Christian Gospel to the world's central capital, from whence it was destined to go forth in the fullness of time with its fullness of blessing to humankind. The details of this entire voyage, especially its nautical and topographical points, have been thoroughly elucidated in a volume by an educated English gentleman—James Smith, of Jordanhill (London, 1848 and 1856). With the single purpose of exhaustively investigating and interpreting Luke's narrative, he mastered all accessible information bearing upon the ship-building and navigation of the ancients; consulted experienced seamen and modern log-books, as well as ancient statements and accounts of voyages, respecting the actual navigation of the sea route taken by Paul's vessel; and, during a winter's residence in Malta, carefully examined the various localities of that island. In the judgment of Biblical scholars, he has shown that while the writer of this chapter could not have been a seaman, since his language is not technical or professional, yet he must have been an eye-witness of the facts he has recorded, because of his accuracy and consistency in all the parts of his description. According to the same judgment, Mr. Smith has explained many previously obscure points, and contributed new and invaluable evidence in support of the historic truth and the credibility of this Book of the Acts. The arts and instruments of modern navigation were unknown to the ancients. They had neither chronometer nor compass, sextant nor chart. The place of the sun by day, and of the known stars by night, gave them general lines of direction when out of sight of coast lines. As compared also with modern construction, the ships were rude and frailty fastened. They were built with high, sharp stern as well as prow; generally with one great mast near the stern. Their square sails enabled them to sail rapidly before the wind; while against it they could make but feeble headway. For rudders they used two broad-bladed oars, projecting from either side at a little distance from the sharp stern. The "rudder bands" were ropes attached to these oar rudders, by which they could be lifted from the water and fastened to the vessel's side. B.  Stern Portion of Ancient Vessel, showing the Two Oar Rudders and Anchor Cable. 1. Festus can be proved, almost with certainty, to have succeeded Felix as procurator of Judea in A. D. 60—in the autumn of which year, therefore, Paul was sent as a prisoner from Cesarea to Rome. From the latter date we can safely reckon back, through his two years' imprisonment at Cesarea, to the Pentecost of A. D. 58, as the date of his last arrival at Jerusalem. S. Luke here relates that, "when Paul was sent from Cesarea to Rome, he was with the other prisoners committed to the care of Julius, an officer of the Augustan cohort," that is, a Roman cohort, which had the honor of bearing the name of the emperor. Now it appears from Josephus that when Felix was procurator of Judea, the Roman garrison at Cesarea was chiefly composed of soldiers who were natives of Syria. But it also appears that a small body of Roman soldiers was stationed there at the same time, and that this body of Roman soldiers was dignified with the title of Augustan, the same Greek word being employed by Josephus as by the author of the Acts of the Apostles. And when Festus, who succeeded Felix, had occasion to send prisoners from Cesarea to Rome, he would of course intrust them to the care of an officer belonging to this select corps. That this select body of soldiers bore the title of Augustan, was known of course to Luke. But that, in the time of the Emperor Nero, the garrison of Cesarea, which consisted chiefly of Syrian soldiers, contained also a small body of Roman soldiers, and that they were dignified by the epithet Augustan, are circumstances so minute, that no impostor of a later age would have known them. And they prove incontestably that the Acts of the Apostles could have been written only by a person in the situation of Luke. G. T. 2. (For this voyage, see small maps on pp. 61, 94, and the large map opposite title-page.) The Roman Empire had no packet service, nor were ships of war usually employed for the transport of prisoners from the provinces to Rome. But for such a purpose, as well as for ordinary passengers, ample opportunities were furnished by the great lines of commercial traffic over the seas. There were the main lines, of which the most important in the East was that of the vessels that carried the corn of Egypt from Alexandria to Italy, and particularly to the port of Puteoli; and it was in two such ships that Paul made the chief portions of his voyage. Then there was the coasting trade, which (in the Levant) was chiefly conducted by the Greeks of Asia Minor, of whose vessels we have already seen Paul making use. It was in such a ship, belonging to Adramyttium (a seaport of the province of Asia, in the district called Mysia), that he now set sail, with other prisoners, under the care of Julius, a centurion, whose conduct in the sequel entitles him to a place among the military worthies of the New Testament. The number of the prisoners appears to have been considerable. But Paul was cheered by the society of "the beloved physician," and of the Thessalonian Aristarchus, his constant fellow-traveler, who had accompanied him from Macedonia, and now became his fellow-prisoner at Rome. That the voyage was commenced about the end of summer, in order to reach Italy before winter, is evident from the subsequent mention of the Great Fast. S. 3-5. From Cesarea to Myra in Lycia.—The route lay northward along the Phenician coast to Sidon, thence under the lee, that is (the wind being south), on the northward side of Cyprus, over the sea adjacent to Cilicia and Pamphylia. At Sidon, where the vessel touched for purposes of trade, Paul was permitted to visit Christian friends. This courteous treatment, followed by like consideration and respect throughout the voyage, shows the strongly favorable impression made by Paul upon Julius, as previously upon Festus, Agrippa, Felix, Lysias, and the Asiarchs of Ephesus. 6. "At the port of Myra in Lycia, they fell into the great line of the Egyptian corn-trade, and found a corn-ship of Alexandria bound for Italy; to this vessel Julius transferred his prisoners." That this ship was large, with a tonnage of five hundred to a thousand tons, we infer from the number of persons (276) added to her freight; and also from "the known fact that the Egyptian merchantmen were among the largest in the Mediterranean." We note the intimation of Luke's presence (we) for the first time since Paul's arrival at Jerusalem. With himself he doubtless includes Aristarchus. 7-13. From Myra to Crete.—Sailing very slowly westward, after many days they reached Cnidus, a city at the southwest extremity of Asia Minor, on the point of the long, narrow peninsula (now called Cape Crio) where the coast line turns northward. Thence standing out to sea, the wind compelled their course toward the eastern end of the island of Crete. Doubling the promontory of Salmane, upon the eastern extremity, they moved westward under the southern side of the isle, as far as a place of anchorage (still) called the Fair Havens. Here, compelled to await fair winds, the navigation having now become "dangerous," Paul interposes the first of his warnings in terms which imply that he spoke under divine guidance, as well as with much former experience of "perils in the sea." His counsel was that they should winter in the comparatively safe harbor where they were. But the master and others in charge of the ship, in concert with the centurion, decided to set sail, and endeavor to make the better harbor of Phenice, farther westward and northward upon the island. They were fully agreed with Paul that the favorable season for sailing had passed, and that the voyage to Italy ought not to be continued. But they would not let well alone, and wished to make both safety and comfort doubly sure. They thought the short sail of forty miles might be accomplished without peril. But the event proved their mistake. On a summer-like day, "when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose," that is, thinking that they could safely and swiftly reach the harbor of Phenice, about the 18th of October they sailed out from the Fair Havens westward along the southern shore of Crete. 14-17. Caught suddenly by a Typhonic Wind from the Northeast, they are driven under the Lee of the Island Claudia.—Only five miles west of the Fair Havens the southern coast line of Crete turns sharply (in a right angle), receding directly northward at a point now called Cape Matala. This point had scarcely been turned, and their direction changed for Phenice (distant thirty-five miles north-northwest through an open sea), when the soft south wind was suddenly succeeded by a north-easter, "sweeping down the gullies of Mount Ida with all the fury of a typhoon. The sailors, accustomed to those seas, recognized their dreaded enemy by its well-known name Euroclydon." Unable (according to Luke's graphic account) to face or eye the wind (possibly a reference to the painted eye upon the vessel's prow, for adornment and symbol), they were compelled to scud south-westward before the gale. So they were driven twenty-three miles through the open sea to the small island Claudia. Running under the lee of this island, they took advantage of the slight shelter and smooth water, first, to lift their boat (towing at  Southwest Coast of Crete, and the Island Claudia. the stern) out of the sea; next, to undergird the ship; and last, to lower the gear. The undergirding (now called frapping in the English navy) consisted in passing rope or chain cables under the keel at right angles with and over the gunwales, "and then drawing them tight by means of pulleys and levers." These "helps" were always part of the ordinary equipment of ancient vessels. They served to brace the entire framework of hull and decks, and to counteract the strain caused by the single mast with its large square sail. "This precaution," says Admiral Penrose, "was taken, not only because the ship might strain her planks and timbers and become leaky, but from the fears that, if the gale continued from the northeast, they might be driven into the deep bight on the coast of Africa, where were the greater and lesser Syrtis so much dreaded by the ancients, and by these means of security be enabled to keep together longer, should they be involved in the quicksands." (See large map opposite title-page.) And for both reasons, too, but especially the latter—"lest they should fall into the quicksands"—they lowered the gear. Had the ship continued to run before the wind, she would have been driven directly into the Syrtis bay of quicksand. To avert this, they lowered the heavy main yard and sail with all the weighty masthead gear, and set in its place a small storm-sail. This was so adjusted as to bring the vessel's head as near to the wind as possible and to prevent her from falling off into the trough of the sea. The nautical term which describes this arrangement is lying to. It is the common method of weathering out a gale. B. 18-20. Tossed in the Tempest, they lighten the Ship, and for Eleven Days hopelessly await the Issue.—Lying to under a storm-sail, with her starboard (or right) side to the wind, would keep her head well off the African coast, and cause her to drift a little to the north of west at the rate of about a mile and a half an hour, or thirty-six miles a day. S.—“It can be shown that this position would give her a drift motion precisely in the direction of Malta, the place on which she ultimately struck.” As in the ship of Jonah (1 : 5) so here, they first lightened the ship in part, and the next day with the passengers' help “cast out the gear that had already been sent down on deck.” B. Then followed “many days” of continued hardship and anxiety. No one who has never been in a leaking ship in a continued gale can know what is suffered under such circumstances. The strain both of mind and body—the incessant demand for the labor of all the crew—the terror of all the passengers—the hopeless working at the pumps—the laboring of the ship's frame and cordage—the driving of the storm—the benumbing effect of the cold and wet—make up a scene of no ordinary confusion, anxiety, and fatigue. To this despair was added a further suffering from want of food, in consequence of the injury done to the provisions, and the impossibility of preparing any regular meal. Hence we see the force of the phrase which alludes to what a casual reader might suppose an unimportant part of the suffering, that there was much abstinence. H. 21-26. Paul's Cheering Assurance of Ultimate Deliverance.—“Under that dark sky, and in that hopelessly drifting ship, there appeared the light of joy and life; for it held no Jonah fleeing from duty, but a Paul bound in spirit to testify for God also at Rome.” Timed indeed to the need of these three hundred souls were his hopeful, encouraging words. But first he reminds them of their error in disregarding his counsel at the Fair Havens. This he does, not to reproach them, much less to vaunt his own superior wisdom, but to give them a basis of confidence in his present comforting assurances. “Had my words in Crete been heeded,” he said, “ye would have been spared this injury and loss. But now, even in this crowning hour of your utter exhaustion and hopelessness, I bid you be of good cheer; for no man among you shall perish!” And then he announces to them the vision vouchsafed to him in the night: how, as so oft before in his own crises of need, the angel of that God whose he was and whom he served had stood by him, and promised him a gift of the life of all that sailed with him. Under these circumstances of helpless, hopeless peril, how strangely solemn the utterance of such words by a seemingly obscure, frail man! With what intensity of marvel must they have heard his simple assertion of a divine vision and of a pledge so adequate for hope and cheer even in this awful emergency! His God had recognized his need and would interpose for his deliverance. And not for his rescue only, but for his sake in a strangeness of mercy would deliver all who sailed with him—would bring them all safely through the billows now gaping wide for their destruction. And their faith and hope in these strong, bright words of promise were reinforced by Paul's own grand confession of trust in the God whose merciful purpose he had just announced to them. How must the souls of even those godless men—Roman soldiers, Egyptian sailors, Jewish, Greek, and Oriental passengers—then have been moved by such steadfast, invincible assurance so calmly expressed, in tones that rang clear above the tempest roar! That they will be saved by his God is not Paul's mere opinion. There is a must be here, as in the 24th verse. And the must, in both cases, expresses nothing less or other than God's purpose, which Paul knows will be surely fulfilled. But like all prophetic vision and announcement, this of Paul is only partial; it reveals no detail of the approaching events. He assures them of all that he knows. Not when, where, or how, but simply that all shall be saved, at some unknown time, upon a certain unknown island. Only the ship will be lost. Therefore be cheerful and trust the God whom I serve—the true God! So this brave, large-hearted man of God, who by fervent intercession brought blessing upon those associated with him, impressed their hearts with the sublime lesson of faith in God, of dependence upon his purpose and reliance upon his promise, even in respect of that which was most improbable. B. 27. But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, 28 about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, 29 and found it fifteen fathoms. Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast 30 four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though 31 they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the 32 soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. 33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. 34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an 35 hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. 36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. And we were in all in 37 the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. And when they had eaten enough, 38 they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea. 39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a 40 shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed 41 the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the 42 waves. And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim 43 out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and 44 get to land: and the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land. 27-32. How the Chief Part of the Fourteenth and Last Night was spent.—For a fortnight the vessel had been storm-stricken, and had steadily drifted westward through the sea of Adria. [Not the Adriatic Gulf, but that part of the Mediterranean lying between Greece and Sicily, which in ancient times was called the Adriatic Sea.] B. A gale of such duration is by no means unprecedented in that part of the Mediterranean, especially toward winter. A naval officer writes thus: "In October, 1839, I left Malta in a powerful steam-frigate, and encountered Euroclydon (or, as we call it, a Levanter) in full force. We were four days without being able to sit down at table to a meal, during which time we saw 'neither sun nor stars.' Being charged with dispatches, we forced the vessel through, though with much injury. Had we been a mere log on the water, like Paul's ship, we should have drifted 'many days.'" H. At midnight the sailors inferred that some land was nearing them. (This expression accords with their notion that the ship was the chief thing.) They distinguished the peculiar sound made by the breaking of the sea against and over hidden rock-reefs. The upper coast line of the eastern portion of Malta (as far as Koura Point, the eastern limit of St. Paul's Bay) runs in the same general direction as the supposed course of the drifting ship; so that they would hear the breakers for a considerable distance, yet would not strike upon them. More than this, actual measurements taken upon the supposed line of drift correspond precisely with the soundings here recorded by Luke. But at length the fear of striking upon hidden rocks led them to take in the storm-sail and oar rudders, and to cast out anchors from the stern. B. —Ships of any size had several anchors; here we have four. The most powerful anchor, the "last hope," was called the sacred; and we may well suppose that the remembrance of the night when his ship rode out the storm in the Maltese bay, with her straining cables passed out into the darkness, sug-  Part of Island of Melita, with course of the vessel, point of anchorage, and place of beaching. gested the image of the Christian's sole but certain hope, "which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the vail" (Heb. 6:19). The ship anchored by the stern, not only as the best means of checking her course and preventing her swinging round on to the rocks, but to be in readiness to run ashore as soon as daylight enabled them to choose a proper spot. Nelson anchored his fleet by the stern both at the Nile and Copenhagen; and, after the latter battle, he stated that he had been that morning reading the 27th chapter of the Acts. S. &H. 30-32. Selfishness, showing itself Cowardly, Deceitful, and Inhuman, frustrated by Paul.—The sailors were willing to leave soldiers and passengers (utterly helpless without them) to destruction; and they used a natural pretext to deceive those they would desert. But Paul, by divine suggestion, discerned their purpose. He knew, without inspiration, that the soldiers could not work the ship, and that without miracle all could not be saved. Never in any contingency depending upon a miracle, in this exigency he speaks the right word to the right persons. He wastes neither time nor breath by appeal to the sailors. He simply tells the soldiers and their commander that their safety is impossible if the sailors are allowed to enter the small boat (now lowered to receive them). Very promptly the soldiers settle the matter by cutting the boat adrift with their short, sharp swords. Thus compelled to share the fate of all on board, thenceforward the self-interest of the seamen was engaged in the work of saving all. An objector to the doctrine of a divine purpose as sovereignly controlling human affairs thinks that he finds support from Paul's two positive assertions, in verses 22-24 and 31. In the former, the apostle assures all of safety, and affirms this to be God's purpose and promise. In the latter, he declares a certain human action to be an essential condition of such safety. As one important point in answer to such objector, mark that Paul does not, in the former case, affirm God's purpose to be unconditional, or independent of human acting; so that there is no contradiction in his after-statement concerning the sailors abiding by the ship. Mark further, that all divine purposes respecting human experiences are necessarily connected with, and so far dependent upon, human agencies and instrumentalities. In the case before us the connection is (supernaturally) disclosed, and we see how God's purpose may depend upon men's acting; and we also may see that such dependence is simply part of (and comprehended in) His broader, all-inclusive plan. In our own experiences, similar in principle to this, we can not always know God's purpose, and therefore can not certainly discern its human conditions or dependencies. Rightly apprehended, then, these two utterances of Paul convey needed instruction, while enforcing trust and imparting comfort. B. 33-38. At Paul's Urgent Request, and upon his Renewed Assurance of Safety, they all take Meat. The Cargo then cast out.—For the fourth time in this memorable voyage and tempest (vs. 10, 21, 31) Paul the prisoner comes forward as the counselor and comforter of those who seemed to have his life and liberty at their disposal. J. A. A.—In the first faint glimmer of the dull dawn, he goes among the exhausted seamen and soldiers, now half famished from want of prepared meals for a fortnight, and urges them to take a full supply of food. There was need for this also in the carrying out of God's purpose in their final deliverance. His argument is their health, or better, their safety. The full meal would strengthen them for the labor of casting out the cargo, and for the exposure and fatigue in reaching the shore. Paul sustains his appeal by his renewed assurance of their safety, and then strengthens it by the contagious force of his own faith and example. Before them all, first, he shows his own trust and loyalty to God by his outspoken thanks to Him. Then he eats the bread for which he has given thanks. And this grand exhibition of unselfish humanity, of undaunted faith and courage, with his simple, sublime recognition of God's mercy, added to all his previous noble acts and words, constrained all those two hundred and seventy-five souls to cheer and hopefulness; "and they also took meat." In this humane counsel we see the human side of the Christian gospel finely illustrated. Christ's apostle is Christlike in his thorough, practical sympathy with bodily needs. He shows God to these heathen souls as the carer for their bodies and the giver of their daily bread; and by exemplifying a grateful spirit, helps to awaken it in their hearts. Thus refreshed in spirit and invigorated in body, as their final preparation for the morning's attempt to beach the vessel, with the first dawn they all—sailors, soldiers, and passengers—proceeded to cast out the cargo of wheat into the sea. This freight was untouched so long as there was a possibility of saving the vessel. Now that vessel and freight must be lost, the casting out of the latter may "enable them by a lighter draught of water either to run into any small harbor, or at least closer in with the dry land, should they be obliged to run the ship on the rocks or beach." The same writer (Admiral Penrose) suggests yet another probable reason for throwing the wheat overboard. "From the ship having been so long pressed down on one side, the cargo had shifted, so that the ship heeled to that side. To bring her upright, and enable her to be more accurately steered and navigated toward the land at daybreak, it would be useful to throw out as much of the wheat as time allowed." 39-41. An Inlet discovered into which they enter, and run the Ship aground.—At broad daylight, the sailors saw before them a bay with a smooth beach. Into this bay and upon this beach they decide "to thrust the ship." Three things, in way of preparation, were simultaneously done by the skilled Alexandrian mariners: 1. They cut the anchor cables and left the anchors in the sea. (Our version is quite astray here.) There was no object in saving the anchors, and they needed to economize both time and labor. So "they committed them" (the anchors) "unto the sea." 2. They loosed the rudder bands. They did not, as some readers understand it, cut the ropes that managed the rudders, but the lashings by which these oar rudders were fastened, after being drawn up out of the water. B.—The ships of the ancients were not steered, like ours, by a single rudder hinged on at the stern, but by a pair of broad-bladed oars or paddles, each acting in a rowlock or through a port-hole, according as the ship was small or large. Traces of the two rudders are found in the time of Louis IX.; and the hinged rudder first appears on the coins of King Edward IV. Hence the steering apparatus of the ancient ships was named in the plural. In the case before us, when four anchors were let go at the stern, it would of course be necessary to lash or trice up both paddles, lest they should interfere with the ground-tackle. When the ship had to be steered again, and the cables were cut, the lashings of the paddles would of course be unfastened. S.—3. They hoisted up the foresail to the wind. Not the mainsail, which with its yard and heavy gear had already been thrown overboard. "This artemon was the foresail, carried on a small foremast, which may be seen raking over the bow in representations of ships on Roman coins." The foresail thus set would enable them "to steer freely, to steady the vessel's course, and to press her farther on upon the land." In this connection Dr. Howson cites the following from a letter in the London "Times" of December 5, 1855: "The Lord Raglan (merchant-ship) is on shore, but taken there in a most sailor-like manner. Directly her captain found he could not save her, he cut away his mainmast and mizzen, and, setting a topsail on her foremast, ran her ashore stem on." B. Thus they drove right ashore, stem on, and the bow stuck fast on the muddy beach. But then it proved that the spot they had mistaken for the bottom of a creek was at the mouth of the little strait separating the islet of Salmonetta from the main land, "a place where two seas met." The swell of the open sea, rolling in from the north through this channel, dashed the hinder part of the ship to pieces; but the fore part, fixed "upright and immovable," afforded a refuge to the voyagers while preparing to escape to shore. S. The rocks of Malta disintegrate into extremely minute particles of sand and clay, which form a deposit of tenacious clay and mud. A ship, therefore, impelled by the force of the gale into a creek with a bottom such as has been described, would strike a bottom of mud, into which the fore part would fix itself and be held fast, while the stern was exposed to the force of the waves. J. Smith. The island was unquestionably Malta; and it is almost equally certain that the scene of the shipwreck was that to which local tradition has given the name of St. Paul's Bay, on the northeast coast of the island. The direction of the ship's head when she lay to off Claudia, and her estimated rate of drift, were just such as to carry her to Malta in the fourteen days, and she could make St. Paul's Bay without first touching any other part of the island, which from this point trends to the southeast. A glance at the chart is of itself enough to show how her course was guided by that special providence which so plainly announced itself to Paul. The ship was borne in the darkness so near to Koura Point, the southeast headland of the bay, that the breakers striking its rocks gave the warning to anchor just in time to avoid striking on the opposite shore; and the soundings are precisely those mentioned in the narrative. She anchored off the  St. Paul's Bay, Malta. Salmonetta in the distance. east point of the islet of Salmonetta, which would appear from that point of view to join the mainland, with its beach of sand or mud. S. 42-44. The Prisoners saved by the Centurion, and all escape to the Land.—The stern strictness of Roman discipline is seen in the soldiers' counsel to kill the prisoners. B.—Their plan, unlike that of the sailors (v. 30), was not to save their own lives, but to fulfill their trust as guards over the prisoners. It was more in accordance with their notions of military honor and discipline to kill the prisoners than to suffer them to escape by swimming to shore. This would imply that the soldiers themselves scarcely expected to escape. Such stern fidelity had made the Romans conquerors of the world. Riddle.—Here Paul is only the occasion of the fulfillment of God's announced purpose of saving all. Julius is God's instrument, and that through his own acting, under the natural impulse of his friendly feeling for Paul. Another equally instructive illustration of the coworking (without sign of conflict or difficulty) of God's purpose and agency with man's. For Paul's sake the centurion spared all the prisoners, and so contributed to the accomplishment of God's purpose, and for the same Paul's sake God had spared centurion and soldiers. B. It is better for all in the ship that they have a Paul on board, hastening to execute God's commission on the earth, than to have a Jonah fleeing from his work, and hiding from his Master. It was God's will that this messenger should publish the gospel in Rome; and his purpose shall stand. The tumults of the people had already been stilled; and now the waves of the sea must hear and obey the same Divine command. Neither tumult will be permitted to swallow up the "chosen vessel," until it has discharged its precious burden on the appointed spot. Arnot. When Dr. Chalmers wished to preach a sermon on a topic on which all men have to think, on which all churches have opinions, and which has sadly suf- fered from irreverent and injudicious handling, namely, Predestination, he selected the 31st verse in connection with the 22d. He proceeds to show that there is no contradiction between the two statements, that God's decree is carried out by means, and includes the means; that when he settled the security of the two hundred and seventy-six lives, he settled also that the sailors should be at their posts; that their duties should be done; that at the critical time they should "lighten the ship," "take up the anchor," run before the wind and "loose the rudder bands," hoist up the sail to the wind, and so run her "aground"; that they who could swim should swim, and the rest, as they best could, "escape safe to land." And even so, argues the great preacher, no certainty of assurance as to the result, no decree of God, even if we certainly knew it, is to diminish one jot of that zeal, industry, and diligence, in the use of means which the Lord contemplates in the decree, and will not permit us to disregard. His people do come to eternal life—"they shall never perish" (John 10:28); but it is not by apathy, and neglect of the fitting, appointed means, but through repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus. And what was true in the perils of the sea is just as true in that more momentous voyage on which we embarked the day we were born, of which the end is to be safety in the haven of eternal rest, or a shipwreck of the soul, terrible beyond description or conception. J. Hall. watch him: but he has met attached and pitying friends, and his chains grow lighter, and their love deepens the sense of God's love within his soul. Cox. 1. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And 2 the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us 3 every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and 4 fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath 5 escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the 6 fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. 7 In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was 8 Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and 9 prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, others also, 10 which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed: who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary. 11 And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the 12 isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three 13 days. And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day 14 the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli: where we found brethren, and 15 were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went toward Rome. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage. We all know one who was known to stand very high in Christ's divine regards, and who for eighteen hundred years has stood very high in the regard, affection, admiration of the whole Christian world—and this is a description of his ordinary life: "In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." It was not every day that companies of friends came to meet him, so that he could "thank God and take courage." But every day found him on the road; and although he was not always what you would call "happy," yet keeping his uprightness, keeping his "good conscience toward God and man," and his life-purpose unbroken, in the habit of a noble self-sacrifice, giving all his days and all his being to Christ, he certainly went along a path of light, that shone more and more unto his perfect day. If we read our lives in the light of his—to say nothing at present of the yet grander and purer life after which his was fashioned, and from which all its inspiration came—we shall see what a poor thing it is to be always hankering after happiness: and what a noble thing it is to keep the line of duty! And what a safe thing it is, by God's grace, to settle the whole being in uprightness; for "unto the upright," be they of high or low degree, "light ariseth in the darkness." A. R. 1,2. The island.** That this island, here called Melita, was the modern Malta, can not well be doubted. The positive reasons for the common belief as to the place of the shipwreck are, that the traditional evidence sustains it; that Malta lies in the track of a vessel driven by a northeast wind; that the reputed locality of the wreck agrees with Luke's account; that the Alexandrian ship in which they reembarked would very naturally winter there; and that the subsequent course of the voyage to Puteoli is that which a vessel would pursue in going from Malta. Hackett. Independent calculations made by several experienced naval officers as to the rate at which a ship would drive before the wind in such a storm as that described above, agree almost exactly in the singular conclusion that the vessel, on the fifteenth morning after leaving Crete, must have been precisely where tradition has assigned the place of the apostle's shipwreck. J. A. A. The native islanders were of Phenician descent. Using neither the Greek nor Latin languages and customs, then dominant over the civilized world, they would be classed as barbarians. So Luke employs the term; and Paul also comprehends all mankind under the distinction of Greeks and barbarians. "And to this day the African coast over against this island is called Barbary." But this "barbarous people" showed the higher refinement of a genuine courtesy and hospitality in their cordial reception and care of the shipwrecked passengers and crew. 3-6. The Double Misjudgment of the Islanders concerning Paul when bitten by the Viper.**—Paul was again illustrating the practical side of Christianity by taking his share in the necessary work of gathering materials for fire. In this he only exemplified Christ's word about the greatness of serving. Soon after laying his armful of sticks upon the flame a poisonous viper thrust itself up, and, fastening its fangs upon Paul's hand, swung its whole body clear of the heating wood. It was roused from a torpid state to sudden activity by the intense heat. The sharp-eyed natives saw the reptile hanging from the apostle's hand. They knew that the poisoned fangs, by which only it could hang, were bedded in the hand; and they knew the virulence of the poison now in contact with the life-blood. Inferring nothing else but Paul's instant death, with an instinctive feeling of natural retribution tion for crime, they count the viper a Nemesis, a revenger of blood. "This man is doubtless a murderer," they say to each other, "whom justice still is tracking and hath found, even after his deliverance from the sea." B.—This is the very basis of all natural religion; the idea of the connection between guilt and retribution. In some form or other it underlies all mythologies. The sleepless, never-dying avenger of wrong; the Nemesis who presides over retribution; the vengeance which suffereth not the murderer to live; the whips and scorpions of the Furies—it seems the first instinct of religion. F. W. R.—But they erred, as the ignorant and superstitious always err, in limiting the agency and sphere of retribution to this life, and in taking the actual experience of calamity as proof of guilt. Luke's narrative seems to imply that Paul had suffered the reptile to hang for a moment. Yet, while they were speaking about him, Paul quietly shook it off into the fire, "and suffered no harm." Then for a long time the islanders continued to watch him closely, expecting to see the natural effects of such an envenomed bite, in sudden inflammation and death. But when the result disproved their previous notion, they went to another extreme of misjudgment. Now Paul was a serpent-charmer, and to these people of Oriental origin an object himself of worship as possessing the power of miracle. This conclusion, like the other, was not so much out of the way for men untaught in any principles of true religion. For there was a miracle enacted here; and none but a divine power could enact it. Paul was the only being that they knew to be concerned with the transaction. The poison had been injected into his veins, and he had been unharmed by it. He must possess divine power. We remember that the Lystrans exactly reversed this process of judgment about Paul. They first counted him worthy of worship and then of death. The Maltese first judge him deserving of death, and afterward of worship. Both judgments are mistaken. Instead of being a murderer or a god, he is, as Bengel quaintly suggests, a man of God. As these islanders went no further than uttering their impression of Paul's divinity, the apostle took no notice of their mere notion. He knew that their error would soon be corrected by the events. As always, however, he utilized the influence it gave him, by exemplifying still more the Godlike spirit of his Master as well as by transferring to Christ all claim and right to true Deity. 7-9. The Hospitality of Publius, and Paul's Return of Kindness to all in a Large Ministry of Healing.—Publius is here called the first man or primate. The reference is neither to his birth, rank, nor wealth, since his father would be his superior. By inscriptions (in Greek and Latin) upon a stone pillar in Malta, discovered 1747, it seems to refer to an established official title. He was, probably, the legate of the praetor of Sicily, to which province Malta belonged. The three days' hospitality of Publius was well repaid by Paul in the miraculous healing of the father. Concerning the Greek term dysentery here used by Luke, Dr. Hackett has this note: "No other writer of the New Testament exhibits this sort of technical precision in speaking of diseases. The disorder with which the father of Publius was affected was dysentery combined with fever. It was formerly asserted that a dry climate, like that of Malta, would not produce such a disorder, but we have now the testimony of physicians resident in that island, that it is by no means uncommon there at the present day." Yet more effectually was Paul introduced and authenticated as God's true messenger by this signal marvel of cure. In this and the previous incident of the viper, we find a remarkable verification of Christ's promise (Mk. 16 : 18). And it would seem that the three months which followed were filled up with a double Christlike ministry of healing and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. 10. Grateful Returns from the Islanders attest the Success of his Ministry.—"They honored us, and they laded us!" Luke writes. Neither honors nor gifts were bestowed in any wise as remuneration for the healing or the ministry of Paul. Nor were they other than he might properly receive. The hearts of these barbarians had been intensely moved by the kind and unselfish ministries of these Christian missionaries. They naturally desired to reciprocate so great favors. The honors they rendered could be no more than simple attentions and tokens of respect and gratitude. The gifts were things necessary for their supply and comfort in the further voyage; some of which they had lost in the shipwreck. And the statement indicates that outward honors and benefits, if bestowed with a right spirit, may be accepted and enjoyed, if received with the same spirit. B. In what a great variety of places and circumstances do we find Paul! Here we have him in an island, to which in all probability he had never come if he had not been thrown upon it by a storm; and yet it seems God has work for him to do here. Even stormy winds fulfill God's counsel; and an ill wind indeed it is that blows nobody any good. His ill wind blew good to the island of Melita, for it gave them Paul's company for three months, who was a blessing to every place he came to. Henry. 11-15. The Further Voyage and Journey to Rome.—After three months' detention at Malta, early in February, A. D. 61, Julius and his prisoners sailed in another Alexandrian ship, "that had wintered in the isle." Castor and Pollux, the name or sign of this vessel, were twin heroes, sons of Jupiter and favorite gods of the Greek and Roman sailors. Their images were either set as a figure-head, or painted or carved on each side of the prow. Their first stopping-place was Syracuse, the chief city of the province of Sicily, eighty miles distant (east of north). Here they tarried three days for purposes of trade. Thence they "made a circuit," or beat up (as Mr. J. Smith explains the term) to Rhegium, eighty miles farther. This seaport of Italy, now called Reggio, lies upon the promontory at the south entrance of the straits of Messina. After one day's detention, a fair south wind carried them swiftly northward one hundred and eighty miles to Puteoli. B.—At the rate of seven knots an hour, the passage would be accomplished in about twenty-six hours, which agrees perfectly with the account of Luke, who says that, after leaving Rhegium, they came "the next day" to Puteoli. Before the close of the first day they would see on the left the volcanic cone and smoke of Stromboli, the nearest of the Liparian islands. In the course of the night they would have neared that projecting part of the mainland which forms the southern limit of the bay of Salerno. Sailing across the wide opening of this gulf, they would, in a few hours, enter that other bay, the bay of Naples, in the northern part of which Puteoli was situated. Its southeastern limit is the promontory of Minerva, with the island of Caprea opposite, which is so associated with the memory of Tiberius, that its cliffs still seem to rise from the blue waters as a monument of hideous vice in the midst of the fairest scenes of nature. The opposite boundary was the promontory of Misenum, where one of the imperial fleets lay at anchor under the shelter of the islands of Ischia and Procida. In the intermediate space the Campanian coast curves round in the loveliest forms, with Vesuvius as the prominent feature of the view. But here one difference must be marked between Paul's day and our own. The angry neighbor of Naples was not then an unsleeping volcano, but a green and sunny background to the bay, with its westward slope covered with vines. And little did the apostle dream, when he looked from the vessel's deck across the bay to the right, that a ruin, like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, hung over the fair cities at the base of the mountain, and that the Jewish princess, who had so lately conversed with him in his prison at Cesarea, would find her tomb in that ruin, with the child she had borne to Felix. In this wide and sunny expanse of blue waters, no part was calmer or more beautiful than the recess in the northern part of the bay, between Baize and Puteoli. Baize was a place of resort for the invalids and fashionable idlers of Rome. Puteoli, on the opposite side of this inner bay, was the Liverpool of Italy. Between them was that inclosed reach of water, called the Luerine Lake, which contained the  From Melita to Rome. oyster beds for the luxurious tables of Rome. Still farther inland was that other calm basin, the Lacus Avernus, which an artificial passage connected with the former, and thus converted into a harbor. Not far beyond was Cumæ, once a flourishing Greek city, but when the apostle visited this coast, a decayed country town, famous only for the recollections of the Sibyl. H. At Puteoli the voyage was completed, and here they found brethren, unnamed disciples, with whom (the centurion consenting) they seem to have tarried seven days for rest and Christian converse. By this delay the news of Paul's arrival was communicated to the Christians of Rome, so that they could send a double deputation to meet him on the journey thither. That journey lay for the most part over the Appian Way. This was the oldest and most noted of the Roman roads, the great line of communication (from the south) with the Eternal City. It was constructed three centuries before Christ by the censor Appius Claudius. Upon a foundation of concrete, large blocks of basaltic lava were so closely fitted and cemented as to resemble a natural rock formation. Besides the milestones marking the whole distance, post-stations for relays of horses and for the comfort of travelers were established every twenty miles. Five hundred years after Christ, "notwithstanding the traffic of so many ages, the stones were not displaced, nor had they lost their original smoothness." At two well-known stations on this road—Appii Forum, forty-three miles from Rome, and the Three Taverns, ten miles nearer the city—Paul and his company were met and warmly welcomed by deputations from the Roman Church. Of the origin and founding of this Church we have no information. Three years before Paul had written to its members his grand Epistle, expressing his strong desire to come among them. And now this fervent greeting, the first he had ever received in advance of his coming, deeply moved the apostle's heart. Here was the proof of a great work that God had wrought in the world's capital, and the earnest of a yet larger work, in which God would employ his ministry, and concerning which Christ had already given him an assurance of success. Therefore, with glad and hopeful spirit, this trusting, brave apostle, as he grasped these welcoming hands, thanked God, and took courage! B. From the point of the present he looks backward and forward. All the past of his life he seems to count only a preparation; his work lies still before him. It is a beautiful character that is displayed here in two great hemispheres: for the past it is devout gratitude; for the future, filial confidence. For the future this true, bold man: took not comfort but courage. Arnot.—How can we help being touched by such incidents as this? They set this great hero and champion of the faith before us as a man of like passions with ourselves. He feels as we should have felt. He is dejected and inspirated by the very causes which tell on us. Like us he sees all things in "hues borrowed from the heart." God is not nearer to him nor more truly with him now that he has reached Appii Forum, or the Three Taverns, than he was before; his chains are not removed; the soldiers still surround and And through all the brief remaining journey, as he passed along the great Appian Way, retinued by this humble band of Christian disciples, and as at length a conqueror for Christ, though a prisoner, he passed through that memorable gateway of triumphal entrance by crowned victors, how must that word of Christ, spoken in the prison of Antonia, have cheered and strengthened his heroic soul: Thou must bear witness of me at Rome! B.—“And so we came to Rome.” In such a manner as this Paul had not thought to come to Rome; the goal was reached, but by what a different road from that which he proposed! For this end had the Roman chief captain torn him from the hands of the Jews; for this had an unscrupulous governor violated, in regard to him, that justice which he now must seek before a higher tribunal; for this, then, had all the hatred of his foes been constrained to coöperate for the fulfillment of his ardent desire. And now at last his feet stand within the gates of pagan Rome; he comes accused as a malefactor, but yet one to whom the opportunity of freely declaring the gospel shall not at first be wanting. Perhaps he would himself have desired this crisis to have arrived earlier, but the Lord's hour only struck now, and at the close we see that it was best thus. The Euroclydon had damaged his vessel, but had at last cast him ashore on the island of Malta; the poisonous serpent had twined round his arm without abating his courage; all God's waves and billows had gone over his bowed-down head, but the end of it all is, that the intuition of his heart has deceived him as little as the promise of his Lord, and that he now with his own eyes beholds Rome in all her glory and in all her degradation. What a moment was this in the annals of the kingdom of God, when this plain inhabitant of Tarsus, unmarked and unencumbered, made his entry into the world's capital, in which he shall at once win so many subjects for the spiritual kingdom of God, and lay the first foundations of the transformation of pagan into Christian Rome! Van O. 16. AND when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the 17 guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from 18 Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Who, when they had examined me, would have 19 let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Cæsar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. 20 For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because 21 that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judæa concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came 22 shewed or spake any harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. 23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, 24 both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And 25 some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the 26 Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27 for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and 28 understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will 29 hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. 30. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in 31 unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. THE apostles uniformly appealed to those audiences who were most capable of examining the evidences of Christianity, and were at the same time prejudiced against its doctrines. Jerusalem, the seat of the doctors, the judges of religion, was the first place in which, by the command of their Lord, the disciples preached Christ crucified. They were, therefore, not afraid to have their cause tried by the most rigid test of Scripture, and in the very spot, too, where that Scripture was best understood. When the same apostles carried this gospel to heathen countries, they went to Cesarea, to Antioch, to Thessalonica, to Athens, to Corinth, to Ephesus, to Rome, to the very places where learning flourished most, where sciences were best cultivated, where imposture was most likely to be detected, and where the secular power existed in the most despotic manner, and could at once have crushed them, if they could have been proved to be impostors, or if they had not been under the immediate protection of Heaven. They preached Christ crucified, where it was the most solemn interest of the Jews to disprove their doctrine, that they might exculpate themselves from the murder of Jesus Christ. They preached the same Christ, and the vanity of idolatry, where idolatry existed in the plenitude of its power; and where all its interests required it to make the most desperate and formidable stand against those innovators. G. T. 16. Paul surrendered by Julius to the Custody of the Prefect of the Praetorian Guard.—The name of Christ borne by the chosen vessel has now been brought to Rome. It had passed from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria; and now it had reached those seven hills which, politically, were the loftiest pinnacle of the earth, and from which it might be carried by the natural channels to the whole circle of subject nations. Wonderful were the ways of God in reaching this result. The imperial legions must furnish an escort, and the imperial exchequer must pay the passage. Even to the stormy waves of the Mediterranean the word of the Lord had come in power: Destroy not this frail vessel, for it bears a blessing to the Western world. Arnot. Ancient Rome was not, like modern Rome, impressive from its solitude, standing alone, with its one conspicuous cupola, in the midst of a desolate though beautiful waste. Within a circuit of little more than twelve miles more than two millions of inhabitants were crowded. It was a vast city, covering the Campagna, and almost continuously connected by its suburbs with the villas on the adjacent hill, and with the bright towns which clustered on the sides of the mountains. Over all the intermediate space were the houses and gardens, through which aqueducts and roads might be traced in converging lines toward the confused mass of edifices which formed the city of Rome. Here no conspicuous building, elevated above the rest, attracted the eye or the imagination. Ancient Rome had neither  Rome—the Forum. [Three well-known Corinthian columns of the best period of art under the emperors remain near the base of the Palatine. They are popularly called the remains of the Temple of Jupiter Stator; perhaps they are part of the Temple of Castor and Pollex. H.] cupola nor campanile. Still less had it any of those spires which give life to all the landscapes of Northern Christendom. The Coliseum, the Basilica of Constantine, and the baths of other emperors, and many other buildings which are now regarded as the conspicuous features of ancient Rome, did not then  exist. The Pantheon still remains, as a monument of the reign of Augustus. The city was a widespread aggregate of buildings, which, though separated by narrow streets and open squares, appeared, when seen from near Aricia, blended into one indiscriminate mass: for distance concealed the contrasts which divided the crowded habitations of the poor and the dark haunts of filth and misery from the theatres and colonnades, the baths, the temples and palaces with gilded roofs, flashing back the sun. Entering the city by the Porta Capena, or gate of the Appian Way, Julius and his prisoners moved on, with the Aventine on their left, close round the base of the Cœlian, and through the hollow ground which lay between this hill and the Palatine; thence over the low ridge called Velia, where afterward was built the arch of Titus, to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem; and then descending, by the Sacra Via, into that space which was the center of imperial power and imperial magnificence, and associated also with the most glorious recollections of the republic. The Forum was to Rome what the Acropolis was to Athens, the heart of all the characteristic interest of the place. Here was the Milliarium Aureum (the Golden Milestone), to which the roads of all the provinces converged. All around were the stately buildings, which were raised in the closing years of the republic, and by the earlier emperors. In front was the Capitoline Hill, illustrious long before the invasion of the Gauls. Close on the left, covering that hill, whose name is associated in every modern European language with the notion of imperial splendor, were the vast ranges of the palace—the “house of Cesar” (Phil. 4 : 22). Here were the household troops quartered in a praetorium attached to the palace. And here Julius gave up his prisoner to Burrus, the Praetorian Prefect, who was the official custodian of all accused persons who were to be tried before the emperor. H.—It was a Providential circumstance that prisoners, who were sent on appeal to Rome, were consigned to the custody of the Chief of the Imperial Guard. Thus Paul’s words became manifest in Christ (Phil. 1 : 12), and the gospel was brought home to the hearts of those of Cesar’s household. W. The strongly favorable report of the centurion Julius concerning Paul, together with the absence of all criminal charge in the official statement of Festus, secured for the apostle at the outset the singular liberty of dwelling outside the prison precincts. At first he abode in a lodging, or guest-chamber of some devoted Christian friend (perhaps Aquila), and afterward in apartments permanently rented (his own hired house, verse 30); both dwellings being in the vicinity of the Praetorium, and not far from the Jewish quarter. But, though privileged in living thus privately, and perhaps having large liberty in going abroad through the city, a praetorian soldier was ever his guard. At home and abroad, by day and night, in his public and social conferences and his private worship, his arm was always linked by a chain to that of a sentinel attendant. As this companion guard was frequently relieved, it naturally occurred that Paul became intimately known to a great number of praetorian soldiers; and this, he intimates (Phil. 1 : 12, 13), happened “for the furtherance of the gospel.” Many touching allusions he elsewhere makes to this always binding chain, though never in tone of complaint. He counts himself the prisoner of the Lord, not of Nero. 17-22. Paul’s First Interview with the Jewish Leaders in Rome.—To the Jew first, had been the invariable rule of his Christian ministry; and this rule he maintains to the end. Though, like his Lord, so often rejected in his fervent endeavor to bless his own people, still, as he had written to the Roman disciples three years before, “his heart’s desire and prayer was that Israel might be saved.” And now prompt, as always, to do what his heart moved him to do, at once he summons the elders and rulers of the synagogue and others socially prominent among the Jews to a conference in his own dwelling. This he did because he could not go to them or properly appear in their synagogue. By this early conference he would anticipate the coming of his accusers from Jerusalem. In his address, he answers to the prejudices that might have arisen against him from information previously transmitted concerning his missionary career. And he fairly states and answers the accusations that had actually been made against him. But his tone is frankly conciliating and generous throughout. He makes no accusation even against his accusers, save that involved in his appeal. No anger had he, much less malice against them, notwithstanding their murderous hate against him. And concerning the whole Jewish people—his nation, he touchingly calls them—he has nothing to say against them. At this interview he simply justifies himself with regard to the circumstances in which they find him, appealing to Cesar. Though (he said) he had offended against neither Jewish law nor custom, yet the violent opposition of the Jews had constrained him to this appeal. How mistaken this opposition was, that had made and kept him a prisoner, he intimates by the declaration that the highest, truest hope of the Jews found its fulfillment in the grand facts of Christianity. Upon these facts he afterward rests the justification of his strange career and seeming apostasy. In reply, the leading Jews first refer to what Paul had said about his appeal. Neither by letter nor by messenger from Jerusalem had they heard of any accusation against him. They implied that they had heard of him, by their request to know what he thought concerning this new sect (of Christians). Not only had they heard of the rapid and wide extension of Christianity by report of Jews that opposed it, but for some years a congregation of Christian disciples had maintained a living and effective organization beside their synagogue in Rome. That they spoke so cautiously, and subsequently made no demonstration of hostility against Paul, is readily accounted for. The apostle was held in special favor by the chief officer of Nero’s household; and the Jews of the synagogue were themselves subject to persecution, so that they were powerless to persecute the disciples of Christ. Of Paul’s old accusers of the Sanhecrim we hear no more. They did not follow him to Rome because, with their trivial charges against the apostle, they could hope for no better success from the Emperor than from his Judean deputy. 23, 24. Paul's All-day Exposition of the Kingdom of God, and Testimony to Christ as its King; and the Effects of his Preaching.—Many others accompanied the chief Jews on the day appointed. At an early hour they gathered in his apartment. As always, so now for the last time, Paul takes as his theme that doctrine of the kingdom of God which was the central truth of the Old Testament and of the New; that great disclosure of the prophets which was still, as it had been for centuries, the supreme thought and hope of the whole Jewish people. In their interpretations of the prophet's meaning, in their understanding of the nature of the kingdom, in the person and character, the experiences and achievements of the King, lay the vital difference between the natural and spiritual Israelites, between the Jew and the Christian. Again Paul follows the very line of his risen Lord's exposition to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. B.—Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he showed these hearers that the predicted kingdom is not limited to one nation, but coextensive with the world; that if it be limited for a time, it is limited like a seed, only until the set time come for its indefinite multiplication and expansion. He showed them that the King, though universal Lord, yet suffers and dies—gives his life a ransom; that his kingdom is not of this world; that he is King of thoughts, not of armies; that he wins by love—by enduring. He showed them that in Jesus of Nazareth all the conditions of the expected Messiah were fulfilled; he employed the law to shut them up unto the gospel. Arnot. From his first reported speech at the Pisidian Antioch, which bases all upon the Scriptures, still he goes on with the Scriptures in his hand, till he stands and is judged, "believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets"; and finally parts from the Roman Jews after "persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses and out of the Prophets, from morning till evening." This then is the position taken at the beginning and fought for to the end; and it is a striking sight to see how resolutely Paul insists that he and his doctrine are the true representatives of the Law and the Prophets, while he is being persecuted and cast out, as having betrayed and blasphemed them. T. D. B.—And as his theme and method were the same which had characterized his whole ministry among the Jews of Judea and Syria, of Asia Minor and Greece, so was the result. A few were won to faith in the Christ; but the many disbelieved the teachings of their own Scriptures, and rejected the suffering Messiah whom those Scriptures so plainly disclosed. 25-29. Paul's Fearful Farewell Words of Warning.—With these solemn words of the Holy Ghost, spoken by Isaiah, Christ had opened his teaching by parables (Mat. 13 : 14, 15), and had finally closed his ministry among the Jews (John 12 : 40). And now Paul, as if himself commissioned by the Holy Ghost as a prophet of the New Testament, sadly redelivers the same message, enforced by the awful emphasis of the Master's double utterance. Thus the apostle, under divine direction, formally and finally seals up the gospel offer to God's disobedient and rejecting people. B.—This part of the original prediction has the form of an ironical commission or command, in which the prophet is required to stupefy and blind the people, which is only a strong and paradoxical mode of commanding him to do his duty or perform his office, with an accompanying intimation of its actual effect upon the people, through their own perversity and unbelief (compare the similar command of Christ in Mat. 23 : 32). In this fearful process there are three distinguishable agencies expressly or implicitly described—the ministerial agency of the prophet, the judicial agency of God, and the suicidal agency of the people themselves. J. A. A.—Spiritually blind and deaf under the brightest light of the gospel and its plainest proclamations, hardening the heart against the most gracious offers of healing and life, and arming themselves against their own salvation with weapons of eternal death, justly were they at last given over by God, and sealed up under incurable obstinacy! D. And, we add, the warning is equally applicable to Gentiles who will not hear, and who similarly reject the salvation of God, sent now to them. They who make themselves blind and insensate by willfully closing their eyes against the light and hardening their hearts against the grace of God, shall assuredly experience the same exclusion from hope, and be for ever debarred from entrance into the fellowship and joy of God. B. Close of the History.—Here, so far as the Scripture narrative is concerned, the curtain falls upon the contest of Jewish unbelief against the things that concerned their salvation. And this we incline to regard as the very reason why the history of the Acts breaks off. As the narrative which illustrates the command of Jesus to his apostles, to "preach the gospel to the whole world, beginning at Jerusalem," it opens with the opening of that commission at the religious center of the world; it traces the successive offers to the Jews of Judea, Samaria, and the dispersion; to proselytes and Hellenists, in all the provinces that they frequented; and it shows how their general disbelief caused the Gentiles to be received step by step into their place of privilege; till the apostle, bringing back the offerings of those Gentile converts to bless his countrymen at Jerusalem, was finally rejected by them, and sent in chains to Rome. There, in the capital of the world, the unbelief of the last section of the Jewish family, to whom he revealed their Messiah, completed the first stage in the history of the diffusion of Christianity, at which the mass of the Jewish race are, for the time, cut off from the kingdom of God. They are not, however, finally left in this fallen state. If the last recorded words of the apostle's living voice proclaimed at Rome their present sentence, the enduring records of his pen, gathering up the substance of the ancient promises, had already embodied, in writing to the Church of Rome, that prophetic announcement of their restoration, the mystery of which remains to be fulfilled, and those three wonderful chapters of the Epistle to the Romans (9-11) may be regarded as a supplement to the Acts. The spread of the gospel over the purely heathen portion of the world belongs to the new chain of history which comes down to our own time; the end of which will be found linked with the fulfillment of the promises concerning the Jews. S. 30,31. Paul's Unhindered Ministry of Two Years in Rome.**—Fully and boldly, to all that visited his humble abode, he proclaimed the establishment of that kingdom of God (foreannounced through the prophets) by the incarnation and the life, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of the Lord Jesus. And this prolonged, successful, and unfettered ministry of the "prisoner of the Lord" fitly completes this succinct and well-defined account of the great process by which Christianity was carried from its cradle at Jerusalem, not only to its secondary homes in Antioch, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus, and other cities of inferior rank, but also to its throne in the Eternal City, the locality selected for its highest exaltation and its most profound abasement. J. A. A. But this history of the planting of the Kingdom of Christ in the world stops short of the mighty convulsion which was shortly to pronounce that Kingdom established as the divine commonwealth for all men. The work of Paul belongs to the preparatory period. He was not to live through the time when the Son of man came in the destruction of the Holy City and Temple, and in the throes of the new age. The most significant part of his work was accomplished, when in the Imperial City he had declared his Gospel "to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." But his career is not abruptly closed. Before he himself fades out of our sight in the twilight of ecclesiastical tradition, we have letters written by himself (the four Epistles to the COLOSSIANS, to PHILENOM, to the EPHESIANS, and to the PHILIPPIANS), which contribute some particulars to his external biography, and give us a far more precious insight into his convictions and sympathies. S.— From these Epistles we learn that the apostle, though subjected to the restraining and ungenial presence of the Roman sentinel to whom he was chained, was also privileged with the congenial fellowship of long-attached disciples. Among these were Luke and Timothy and Mark; Aristarchus of Thessalonica, Epsphros of Colosse, and Tychicus of Asia; and that Demas who for some time "did run well," but concerning whom at the very last Paul was constrained to write the sad words: Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. B. So long as he lived, whether free to travel or shut up in prison, Paul would not resign the daily "care of all the churches." One means he had of promoting their welfare daily and hourly, the constant and earnest prayer, which his Epistles prove to have been a chief occupation of his solitude. But he was not shut out from intercourse with the churches themselves. The four Epistles, which are perhaps but some among many that he wrote from Rome, are linked together by a striking resemblance of tone, thought, and argument, as well as by internal marks which place the time of their composition beyond reasonable doubt. They were all written toward the latter part of his imprisonment at Rome, for all refer to the expectation of his release. There is the best reason to believe the prevailing tradition that, after an imprisonment of two years, Paul's case was heard by the Emperor and decided in his favor. The precision with which Luke specifies the duration of Paul's imprisonment justifies the inference that it came to an end at the close of the "two years," that is, in the spring of A. D. 63. S. As Luke concludes his history with Paul's abode at Rome, before his journey into Spain, we may infer that he wrote both his gospel and the Acts while the apostle was still living, of whose actions he was himself an eye-witness, and by whom it is very probable this book was revised, as the ancients also say his gospel was. D. The apostolic period we regard as closing about A. D. 100; as the life of John, according to reliable tradition, reached over into the reign of Trajan, A. D. 98-117. This space of seventy years may be again divided into three subordinate periods: 1. The founding of the Christian Church among the Jews, or the labors of Peter. 2. The founding of the Christian Church among the Gentiles, or the labors of Paul, who took the lead in the work of missions during the years 50-64. Through his instrumentality Christianity becomes gradually more independent of Judaism; until, by the destruction of Jerusalem, the last cord that bound the Christian Church to the Mosaic economy is broken. 3. Then follows the final summing up and organic union of Jewish and Gentile Christianity in one fixed, independent whole. This is the work mainly of John, who outlived all his colleagues, and accompanied the Church through the threatening dangers and errors of the last thirty years of the first period to the threshold of the second, thus forming the connecting link between the two. These three stages in the development of the apostolic church have their local centers in the cities of Jerusalem, the mother church of Jewish Christianity, Antioch, the starting-point of the heathen missions, and Ephesus, the later residence of John and the principal seat of the process of amalgamation, which he completed. At the same time Rome witnesses a similar amalgamation, and becomes a center for Christianity in the West. P. S. Probable: Interval of Five Years between the First and Second Imprisonment of Paul.—It is now generally admitted, first, that the historical facts mentioned in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus can not be placed in any portion of Paul's life before or during his first imprisonment in Rome; and, secondly, that the style in which these Epistles are written, and the condition of the Church described in them, forbid the supposition of such a date. C. From these Epistles, without encroaching upon the domain of conjecture, we draw the following conclusions: 1. Paul, at some time after leaving Rome, must have visited Asia Minor and Greece, for he says to Timothy, "I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I was setting out for Macedonia." On his way to Macedonia, it is reasonable to suppose that he made a circuit like those of former days—by Antioch and Asia Minor, staying at Colosse, where he had asked Philemon (22) to prepare him a lodging. After being once at Ephesus, he was purposing to go there again (Tit. 3 : 12), and he spent a considerable time at Ephesus. The First Epistle to Timothy proves the magnitude of his work in this city which had been so long the scene of his former labors. The Gentile churches, of which that of Ephesus may be regarded as a type, had begun to feel the want of a more perfect organization. Beginning this work himself, and carrying it out through the ministry of Timothy here, as of Titus in Crete, he had occasion to place on permanent record, in the Epistles written to direct their action, the great principles of ecclesiastical order. 2. He paid a visit to Crete, and left Titus to organize churches there. He was intending to spend a winter at one of the places named Nicopolis, probably the celebrated city in Epirus. 3. He traveled by Miletus, Troas (where he left a cloak or case and some books), and Corinth. 4. He is a prisoner at Rome, "suffering unto bonds as an evil-doer," and expecting to be soon condemned to death. At this time he felt deserted and solitary, having only Luke, of his old associates, to keep him company; and he was very anxious that Timothy should come to him without delay from Ephesus, and bring Mark with him. Accused no longer merely about questions of the law, but as a common malefactor (for so the Christians were regarded in the Neronian persecution), with no Julius to recommend and no Burrus to protect him, Paul's state may be inferred from the words, feebly rendered in our version, "wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer" (or felon), "even unto bonds" (2 Tim. 2 : 9)—bonds more like those at Philippi than his former chain at Rome. But even now, as well as then, he could add, "but the word of God is not bound"; and the converts, whose names appear for the first time in this Epistle—Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia—derive a special luster from their profession being made amid such dangers, and from its contrast to the falling away of older friends. The interval, whether longer or shorter, exhibits the apostle to us in one of the most interesting aspects of his life, as "a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Christ to life everlasting." An attentive reader of the Second Epistle to Timothy will observe how the glorious principles which sustained the apostle in the prospect of martyrdom are stated for the very purpose of fortifying the disdisciple. And how these principles sustained the apostle's own mind, and put the climax to the moral grandeur and spiritual glory of his career, can be told in no words except his own. S. The Martyrdom of Paul.—The privileges of Roman citizenship exempted Paul from the ignominious death of lingering torture, which had been lately inflicted on so many of his brethren. He was to die by decapitation; and he was led out to execution beyond the city walls, upon the road to Ostia, the port of Rome. Through the dust and tumult of a busy throng, the small troop of soldiers threaded their way silently, under the bright sky of an Italian midsummer. They were marching, though they knew it not, in a procession more truly triumphal than any they had ever followed, in the train of general or emperor, along the Sacred Way. Their prisoner, now at last and for ever delivered from his captivity, rejoiced to follow his Lord "without the gate." The place of execution was not far distant, and there the sword of the headsman ended his long course of sufferings, and released that heroic soul from that feeble body. Weeping friends took up his corpse, and carried it for burial to those subterranean labyrinths where, through many ages of oppression, the persecuted Church found refuge for the living and sepulchres for the dead. Thus died the Apostle, the Prophet, and the Martyr, bequeathing to the Church, in her government and her discipline, the legacy of his apostolic labors, leaving his prophetic words to be her living oracles, pouring forth his blood to be the seed of a thousand martyrdoms. Thenecforth, among the glorious company of the Apostles, among the goodly fellowship of the Prophets, among the noble army of Martyrs, his name has stood preëminent as the great teacher of a universal redemption—the herald of glad tidings to all mankind. C. BETWEEN Gospels and Epistles there is need for a connection of a more internal kind. During the intervening time the doctrine was not only spreading, it was clearing and forming itself, or rather was being cleared and formed by the hand of its divine author. This was effected through a certain line of events and through the agency of particular persons. With these events and persons the Book of Acts is occupied. It begins at Jerusalem, it ends at Rome. Between these two points questions have been settled, principles carried out, and divinely implanted tendencies disclosed. Especially have the relations of the gospel to Jew and Gentile been fixed for ever. But the rejection of Jews and admission of Gentiles were not the only result of this long history. Another result has been involved in it: Christianity itself has been finely drawn out of Judaism, the delicate and intricate relations of the two systems being dealt with in such a way, that (so to speak) the texture of living fiber has been lifted unimpaired out of its former covering, leaving behind only a residuum of what was temporary, preparatory, and carnal. In fact, the doctrine of the gospel has been cleared and formed; cleared of the false element which the existing Judaism would have infused into it, and formed of the true elements which the old covenant had been intended to prepare for its use. T. D. B. (Basis of Conybeare and Howson.) | A. D. | Biography of Paul. | Contemporary Rulers in Rome and Judea. | | --- | --- | --- | | 36 | (?) Paul's conversion [supposing the three years of Gal. 1 : 18 Judaically reckoned]. | | | 37 | (?) At Damascus. | Death of Tiberius and accession of CALIGULA (Mar. 16) | | 38 | (?) Flight from Damascus to Jerusalem; thence to Tarsus. | | | 39 | (?) During these years Paul preaches in Syria and Cilicia, making TARSUS his headquarters, and probably undergoes most of the sufferings mentioned at 2 Cor. 11 : 24-26, viz., two of the Roman and the five Jewish scourgings, and three shipwrecks. | Death of Caligula and accession of CLAUDIUS (Jan. 25), Judea and Samaria given to Herod Agrippa I. | | 40 | (?) | | | 41 | (?) | | | 42 | (?) | | | 43 | (?) | | | 44 | He is brought from Tarsus to Antioch (Acts 11 : 26), and stays there a year before the famine. | Death of Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12). Cuspius Fadus (as procurator) succeeds to the government of Judea. | | 45 | He visits Jerusalem with Barnabas to relieve the famine. | | | 46 | At ANTIOCH. | Tiberius Alexander made procurator of Judea (about this time). | | 47 | | | | 48 | His "First Missionary Journey" from Antioch to Cyprus, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, and back through the same places to ANTIOCH in Syria. | Agrippa II. (Acts 25) made king of Chalcis. Cumanus made procurator of Judea (about this time). | | 49 | | | | 50 | Paul and Barnabas attend the "Council of Jerusalem." | | | 51 | His "Second Missionary Journey" from Antioch to Cilicia, Lycaonia, Galatia. | Claudius expels the Jews from Rome (Acts 18 : 2). | | 52 | Troas, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and CORINTH—Writes 1 Thessalonians. | | | 53 | At CORINTH Writes 2 Thessalonians. | The tetrarchy of Trachonitis given to Agrippa II.; Felix made procurator of Judea. | | 54 | (Spring)—He leaves Corinth, and reaches (Summer)—Jerusalem at Pentecost, and thence goes to Antioch. (Autumn)—His "Third Missionary Journey." He goes to Ephesus. | Death of Claudius and accession of NERO (Oct. 13). | | 55 | At EPHESUS. | | | 56 | | | | 57 | (Spring)—He writes 1 Corinthians. (Summer)—Leaves Ephesus for Macedonia, (Autumn)—Where he writes 2 Corinthians, and (Winter)—To CORINTH, where he writes Galatians. | | | 58 | (Spring)—He writes Romans, and leaves Corinth, going by Philippi and Miletus (Summer)—To Jerusalem (Pentecost), where he is arrested, and sent to Cesarea. | | | 59 | At CESAREA. | Nero murders Agrippina. | | 60 | (Autumn)—Sent to Rome by Festus (about August). (Winter)—Shipwrecked at Malta. | Felix is recalled and succeeded by Festus. | | 61 | (Spring)—He arrives at Rome. | Embassy from Jerusalem to Rome, to petition about the wall. | | 62 | At ROME. (Spring)—Writes Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians. (Autumn)—Writes Philippians. | Albinus succeeds Festus as procurator. | | 63 | (Spring)—He is acquitted, and goes to Macedonia (Phil. 2 : 24) and Asia Minor (Philem. 22). | | | 64 | (?) He goes to Spain. | Great fire at Rome (July 19), followed by persecution of Roman Christians. | | 65 | (?) In Spain. | Gessius Florus made procurator of Judea. | | 66 | (Summer)—From Spain (?) to Asia Minor (1 Tim. 1 : 3). | The Jewish war begins. | | 67 | (Summer)—Writes 1 Tim. from Macedonia. (Autumn)—Writes Titus from Ephesus. (Winter)—At Nicopolis. | | | 68 | (Spring)—In prison at Rome. Writes 2 Tim. (Summer)—Executed (May or June). | Death of Nero in the middle of June. | | 70 | Destruction of Jerusalem. | | OBSERV the point at which we have arrived, by the time that we finish the book of Acts, and open the Epistle to the Romans. The facts of the manifestation of Christ have been completed, and have been testified in all fullness and certainty by the witnesses chosen of God. They have not only testified of the facts, they have summed them up; have announced their scope and purpose in the counsels of God, as effecting the redemption of the world, and have called men to partake in the fruits of that redemption by believing and being baptized. They have given this testimony, not as of themselves, but with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, whose witness is united with their own, and whose indwelling presence is given also to those who receive the testimony, in order to open its meaning and to seal its truth. Thus a holy Church is formed, which gradually proves itself catholic, and shows at once its power of expansion and its spirit of unity; and within its protecting framework there exists a communion of saints, a common participation in the same spiritual possessions by all whom a union with Christ has separated and sanctified to God; and thus men are joined to the Lord and united with each other, and rest in the consciousness that they have found the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. In its fundamental articles the creed is now complete. To this point the book of Acts conducts us, and at this point it leaves us. The Father revealed, the Son incarnate, the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven—redemption wrought, salvation given, the resurrection of the body, the eternal judgment, the second death, the life eternal—new principles of thought, new standards of character, new grounds of duty, new motives, new powers, new bonds between man and man, new forms of human society, new language for human lips—all coming at once upon men's minds, placed them, as it were, in a different world from that in which they had lived before. At the same time they carried into that world of thought all the tendencies, infirmities, and perversities of our nature, and revealed truth had to settle itself into lasting forms, to find its adequate expression, and to have its moral and social consequences deduced, under a variety of influences uncongenial to itself. So critical a period, on which the whole future of the gospel hung, would seem to cry aloud for a continued action of the living Word of God; such as might, with supreme authority, both judge and guide the thoughts of men, and translate the principles which they had received into life and practice. The Lord recognized this necessity. He met it by the living voice of his apostles; and their Epistles remain as the permanent record of this part of their work. They are the voice of the Spirit speaking within the Church to those who are themselves within it, certifying to them the true interpretations and applications of the principles of thought and life which as believers in Jesus they have received. Christ has been received; Christian life has commenced; Christian communities have been formed; and men's minds have been at work on the great principles which they have embraced. Some of these principles in one place, and others of them in another, have been imperfectly grasped, or positively perverted, or practically misapplied, so as to call for explanation or correction; or else they have been both apprehended and applied so worthily, that the teacher, filled with joy and praise, feels able to open out the mysteries of God, as one speaking wisdom among them that are perfect. These conditions of mind were not individual accidents. Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, supplied examples of different tendencies of the human mind in connection with the principles of the gospel—tendencies which would ever recur, and on which it was requisite for the future guidance of the Church that the Word of God should pronounce. It did pronounce in the most effectual way, by those letters which are addressed by the commissioners of Christ, not to possible but to actual cases, with that largeness of view which belongs to spectators at a certain distance from the scene, and with that closeness of application which personal acquaintance dictates and personal affection inspires. Thus the fuller expositions of truth contained in the Epistles are based on what the first principles of the gospel had already wrought in human hearts; and its doctrines are cleared and settled, developed and combined, in correspondence with the ascertained capacities and necessities of believers. T. D. B. There is a most observable wisdom in that arrangement of the revelation of God to man, by which so large and important a portion of its contents is conveyed in the peculiar form of epistles; of epistles, which, being the exact medium between the familiar flow of ordinary discourse and the methodical precision of the essay, may be said to unite all the characteristic advantages and avoid the peculiar deficiencies of both. Christianity, eminently a practical institute, is taught by practical models; its blessed Founder's precepts live and move embodied in his life; his apostles—like Himself—are not more the deliverers of doctrine than the earnest leaders of action. And just that we may for ever know them as such, we have them with us, not merely in the historical portrait of a contemporary, nor yet in elaborate treatises of their own, where the distinctive personality of the writer might be almost wholly absorbed in his subject—but in letters, that spring out of action and breathe its earnest spirit; in letters, where the soul spontaneously paints its own glowing picture; in letters, the vivid, unconscious transcripts of the inmost heart. W. A. B. The Epistles resemble the Gospels in their combination of intrinsic unity with extrinsic diversity. As Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all set before us the same Jesus Christ, so do Paul, James, Peter, John, and Jude, all teach one salvation, one calling, one Comforter, one life, one Church, one hope of the Lord's appearing, one fellowship in faith and love. But, as the evangelists diversify their narratives—each one writing according to his own bent of mind and his own special information, and with adaptation to the persons for or to whom in the first instance he wrote—so do the apostles write variously, in accordance with their intellectual individuality, and with due reference to the state of the churches, or the circumstances of the persons whom they address. The books of the apostles were letters, not decrees; and their directions and commands were accompanied by affectionate persuasions and appeals. They wrote not—"I command you, my people"—but "I beseech you, my beloved brethren." With all his masculine vigor Paul had a wonderful persuasive tenderness. Peter wrote with a beautiful humility. John often used the address of kindness "Beloved," and wrote as a father to his "little children." It is this combination of authority with gentleness, after the manner of Christ himself, which charms us in the Epistles, and makes them so effectual for the inculcation of truth at once on the understanding and on the heart. D. F. The doctrinal portion of the New Testament consists of thirteen Epistles of Paul, two of Peter, three of John, one Epistle of James, one of Jude, and the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews, written according to one view by Paul himself, according to another conjecture, by one of his pupils and fellow-laborers, Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos. Most of Paul's Epistles—the two to the Thessalonians, the one to the Galatians, the first to Timothy, the one to Titus, the two to the Corinthians, the one to the Romans—and the Epistle of James, were composed before the Gospels and the Acts, between the years 50 and 60. The Epistles to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, to Philemon, to the Philippians, the second to Timothy, as also the Epistle to the Hebrews and the two Epistles of Peter, and probably that of Jude, belong in the seventh decade, most of them between the years 62 and 64. John's epistles with the fourth Gospel bear all the internal marks of having been written after the destruction of Jerusalem and toward the end of the first century. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/butler/