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:o this day the ¥afl of Moses upon th^ir hearts: and no other hook in mtx war reseda Him. Bit if we receive *b.^ reveUtioii of this chapter, that Chriat i5 cr,r/.e a l:::Lt ii:^«> the world, that whoaoeTer beliereth <m Him «h«>u!d not abide in darknesa, then nay we, like the Apo-'tl'^ of oM, wiik in the Ksrht, and, in all the joy and peace of b^lievrn:?, beL'^ld the elorr of GoD in the Smx of Christ Jesu? !

MAmcH 26—JcLT 25— ^Notsmbba 21.

ST. JOHN, Chaf. 13-

Hb who was about to shed His blood for the world's redemption, symbolized its cleansing efficacy to His disciples hy the act of washing their feet preparatory to the institution of the Last Supper.

Shall we not all hence learn to wash our hands in innocency and so to approach His altar ?

The beautiful picture drawn by the Evangelist is full of interest. The lesson of humility; the symbolic purification; the assurance that he that is already washed needs not a regeneration, but only a renovation (for this appears to be the meaning of v. 10;) the duty of the servant to imitate the example of his Master; all should be impressed on our hearts, when we read this chapter. Moreover, we seem to be instructed by the omissions of the beloved disciple, as well as by his direct teaching. The absence of any record of the institution of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper silently (164) March ^6-^uly 25\ I'AMILT READINGS. [November 21

assures us how perfectly satisfied He was with the previous records of the earlier Evangelists: on that head notiiing more remained to be said; and therefore he was silent: but with reference to the conduct of our Lord to the traitor on that occa:^on> the supply of some farther facts was needed; and therefore he recorded them.

None of the Evangelists was so competent to explain this sad portion of the history of the traitor as St. John. He, favoured with the nearest seat to our Lord, reclining on the same couch, aad leaning on His breast, received from the earnest Peter the signal of inquiry, and sought from the Jiord the knowledge of the betrayer. The reply would seem to have been given privately to John himself— perhaps to be intimated to Peter and to James, the two other most favoured of the twelve — and this would account in a natural manner for the general ignorance that prevailed concerning the Lord's meaning, when He said farther, addressing the traitor, but publiclyy " That thou doesf, do quicHy."

When we read our .Lord's expijesaion of triumph on the departure of Judas, it would seem to impr.ess the mind with the idea that the glory of God. consists in the expulsion of evil. The holy and affectijonate tone immediately resumed by Christ, when He was l^eft alone vfith His faithful ones, implies a relief experienced by Himself at the absence of that only follower whose disposition wast essentially evil, and whose downward tendencies ^exe ^o niarked.

This gentle and beautiful tone mar^s^ the. whole of the discourses of Christ that are recorded from henqe up to the eighteenth chapter.

The glory of QoD.and t;he love of Christ had free course among His loving disciples; but the presence of Judas seems to have been a bar to its utterance, and the stream did not flow freely until the impediment was removed. Alas! for

those who are " hinderers of the word ! " How many pure (165) af«rcA27— Jm^^] family KBADINGs. [AbvcmW22

and lovely thoughts are checked, how much utterance of what is true and holy prevented, by the presence of one ungodly person! The joy of a family may be destroyed, or the peace of a society broken, by one unhallowed member! May we have g^ace to seek the sanctifying Spirit of Christ to keep us all pure in His service, and to enable us to glorify the Father in following His example.

The conclusion of the chapter records a warning against indiscreet zeal. Thus amid disciples of the present age, active profession and personal courage would often usurp the place of passive endurance and meek and prayerful faith. For those especially who are thus led astray, was the narrative of Peter's fall written.

March 27— July 26— November 22.

ST. JOHN, Chap. 14,

The blessed assurance of our Redeemer's love, and His promise to prepare a place in the eternal mansions for them that love him, is fraught with as much comfort to us as to

those to whom it was personally addressed. Our troubled hearts, in the midst of the strifes and vexations of the world, may here find rest and peace. Christ in very deed hcLS gone to prepare a place for us. His perfect atonement for sin has restored to our race the Father's forfeited love; His glorious revelation has ensured to us the fulfilment of the Father's promises; His personal mediation has procured the grace of the eternal and sanctifying Comforter; His living power has called and incorporated us into Himself: so that walking, speaking, and living in Him, who is our way, and truth, and life, we have by Him, in the unity of the Spirit, free access to Him whom we may now address as Our Father which is in heaven! (166)

3ftfrc^ 27..-Jif/y 26] FAMILY RSADiyGS. [November^

In reflecting on this most comforting portion of Holy Writ, we can well imagine one whose heart has not yet been quickened by the enlivening Spirit of GoDj, looMng upon the words of Christ as an incomprehensible mystery: and many indeed, who have only received a dawning illumination from the day-spring from on high, and are not yet sufficiently experienced in the Word to ga^e undazzled on the Sun of Righteousness, may find therein things hard to be understood. But let not such be discouraged. Like Thomas, they may be in doubt; like Philip, in a paxtial unbelief; but let them only, like those disciples, come to Christ for a solution of their difficulties, and they too shall receive the promise; yea, and the gift of that ^^

other Comforter," whose special office it is to teach all things to the

believing suppliant, and to bring to remembrance the blessed words which Christ hath spoken.

Nor need such experienoe any hindrance from the revelation—

seemingly contradictory—that the Father is greater than He to whom thev are exhorted to come for aid. This is in fact one of our greatest comforts. Had Christ only been revealed to us in the omnipotence of His divinity, we should have shrunk in fear from the revelation, even like the Jews around Sinai: but our encouragement is, that we may come ^ to him as an elder brother. Born, living, and dying—acting, suffering, reasoning, and feeling like ourselves, we can come to him in the perfect confidence that He will be touched with our infirmities, and will sympathize with all our yearning desires for more perfect communion with divinity. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, He alone is competent to mediate on the side of Deity; inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood, He can with equal fitness mediate on the side of humanity : and thus we derive comfort, hope, and assurance in coming to Him for aid, who said with equal truth, (167)

" I and my Father ai-e One/'^ even while He admitted " my Father is greater than I."

Let the repetition of the words, " let not your heart be troubled,"

bring peace and assurance to every believing heart. Away from Christ, we may and must have tribulation—for the world is full of it, and the servants of the prince of the world have nothing in Christ—

but in Him we may have peace from the war which we are now waging with the world, the flesh, and the devil, even the peace of Gop which passeth all understanding!

March 28— July 27— Novembbr 23.

ST. JOHN, Chap. 15.

•

OuE blessed Lord's byBtem <xf illustrative teaching seems again exhibited to us in this chapter; The conclusion of the last had led us

to believe th^ domestic instruction closed: and it was probably while'paeeing through' the vineyards on His way to the mount of Olives MMi His fdUowers, that he took occasion to impress upon them, from the sensible objects around, the true nature of the relationship that existed between Himself and Hi-s disciples.

The illustration used by our Lord was not unfamiliar. David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah had all spoken of the Jewish Church under the figure of a vine: but Jesus here reveals Himself as the true vino, and His Father as the husbandman. The law had indeed had a shadow of good things to come; but the body was of Christ. The vine of the Israelitish communion was but the shadow cast before of the more comprehensive Christian commonwealth; the communion of saints who were to be gathered together in one in Christ Jesus !

And how true and living an union that was which was to subsist between Christ and His members, is shewn alike by (168) March QS^July 27] FAMILY HEADINGS. [November 2S

its inseparable closeness as by its consequent fruitfulness.

Love was the cement that was to bind them in one : loving benefits conferred by the Master; loving service rendered by the disciple. The power of fruitfulness was bestowed by Christ; the exhibition of that power was to be shewn by those who desired to abide in Him. And encouragement to increased love on the part of the disciple, is held out by the assurance of friendship to the obedient on the part of the divine Lord! Christ has made known His will to us as to them, and we therefore like them are elevated into the rank

of friends of Christ! They who wilfully remain in ignorance of His will, by slighting His word—these are but servants still. " The servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth;" but to those among us who both know His will and do what He.

commandeth, the gracious words may again be repeated: henceforth I call you aot sorvsuats; I have called you friends!

And this dignity should be sa much the more appreciated by those on whom it is bestoWed, becaoise it has been not of their own procuring, but derived' irona; Christ's special grace : we have not chosen Him but He has chosen us, that we should bring forth fruit and that our fruit should remain!

But this choosing an the paart of Christ must, let it never be forgotten, must place us in a padfafol position with regard to many. In choosing uB into Hiniself, He has chosen us out of the world: and therefore ite must eipect that the world will hate and persecute us^ when we'faithfully cleave to Him whom the pifinoe of this WDrld most hateth. The antagonism that exists between Messias and Satdn tv^ill be shewn forth till the end of time in the followers of each : and we who are, we humbly trust, on the Lord's side, are encouraged to fight the good fight of faith, in the assured promise of the witness of

the Spirit of Truth to our souls, corroborated by the external testimony of those who were with Christ on earth from the beginning of his holy career. (169)

March 09^July OS] FAMILY READINGS. INovember 24

Ma ROB 29— July 28— Novembkr 24.

ST. JOHN, Chap. 16.

If the Apostles were still actuated by carnal feelings and hopes of the earthly kingdom which they supposed Christ was to establish, they must have experienced severe disappointment when persecution, excommunication, and death" were announced as the consequence of their fidelity to Him!

At the first, these announcement? had not been made. Our Lord had rivetted the attachment of His followers before He made known to them the severity of the lot they were to endure for His sake. And so it is commonly now. Our love is confirmed before our faith is severely tried: else how could we endure the bitterness with which the cup of life is sometimes filled ? But love is the stay on which faith is to rest, and even our sorrows at the occasional withdrawal of Christ's presence become turned into joy by the renewed manifestations of the gifts of the Comforter, whom He sends because He has departed for a season from us !

But the passages in this chapter allude to a single and definite withdrawal of Christ from the Apostles—to that "little while " when He was to enter the regions of the grave, and* take captivity captive before ascending to tJie Father. And here He distinctly reveals the fact, that without this departure—without His death—the gift of the Holy Ghost could not have been procured for man ; " if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you."

Moreover some of the oflBces of the Holy Ghost axe here also revealed. It is by Him that the world is convinced of the sin of

unbelief: it is by Him that the doctrine of justification by the death of Christ is made known'to man:

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-MarcA 29—Ju/y 28] FAMILY readings. [November 2^

it is by Him that an assurance of futur;e judgment and final triumph over the dominion of sin is conveyed to the soul. He too it is Who gives guidance to the faithful; Who, together with the Father and the Son, exercises divine govq;:n-ance over Christ's followers; and Who gives to them that wisdom and prudence whereby they are able to penetrate even into the mysteries of futurity.

In the sorrow of the prospect of Christ's withdrawal, we can all.

sympathize; whether we look upon Him as a dear friend and guide, or as a covenanted Lord and Head to the disciples: but we ought still more to sympathize with the delight that must have been experienced by them, when they had the promise of Him that could not lie, that He would see them again, and fill them with everlasting peace and joy !

And here we are called on to notice the alteration now first made in the doctrine of prayer. When our Lord, at an early period of His ministry, had taught His disciples how to pray, He had revealed the fact of God's paternity, but had not revealed how that paternity was secured to them. Here He bids them pray to the Father through Himself, and promises to reveal more fully the paternal and filial relationship that existed between them. That promise was continuously fulfilled throughout the remaining revelations of the New Testament: and now both Jew and Gentile may know that it is alone through Him that they both have access by one Spirit to the Father !

The clearer revelation of Christ brought forth not merely the Apostles' gratitude, but an axdent declaration of their faith.

Alas, for the weakness of man I this very profession was but

a prelude to desertion, read by the unerring knowledge of their Lord as immediately to occur. But what comfort do we derive from the closing remarks of our Lord ! In Him, peace is to be found. The world that strove so bitterly with Him (171) JlforcA dO—Jti/y 29] FAMILY READINGS. [yot^mber^

was foiled in the contest and overcome. We, then, who have but a minor contest to endure with the same enemy, may now wrestle confidently in the strength of our Master, knowing tfalit He that is for us is mightier than he that is against us; and that where the Son of God has triumphed, the army of the saints may march onward secure of victory I

March 30— July 29— November 25.

ST. JOHN, Chap. 17.

We shall have read the Holy Gospels to Uttle profit if we have not learned ere this to feel that truth, which in the chapter before us is specially revealed, that thiis is life eternal, to know the only true God and'Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Our life is hid with Christ in Gdd>! ahd'a|part &oin the Son we have, and dan have, ho perfeidt knowledge of the jFather.

The beautiful prayer which composes this chapter concentrates as it wer^ into one foctis the loving unselfishness of the Saviour's character. It is a kind of spiritual summary of His life on earth, shewing bow His entire career was one of undeviating endeavour to glorify the Fadier in bringing man to salvation. Having loved His own, He loved them unto the end, and offers especial supplication that, in the midst of the world's tribulaiions^ they should be preserved £rom the snares of the wicked one*

And in this holy prayer, there is one peculiar passage that we should be cold and heattleas* indeed, if we did not read with comfort and with thanksgiving. Christ prayed not for Apostles and Evangelists

alone; not for those only who had followed Him with self-denying fidelity in His painful course on earth; but "for those also who should believe in Him through theu- word I" So that we who now read in faith the holy record, and believe and are sure that (172)

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, experience the blessed sensation that we too have an interest in the Redeemer's prayer! O

that this thought were deeply and abidingly impressed upon our souls! Then should we itdeed feel His words to be spirit and life to us, assuring us that He who had begun a good work in us would perform it until the day of His second coming !

And surely nothing less than this; nothing short of an undeviating reliance on God's promises and God's unfailing love, revealed to us by His Spirit for His dear Son's sake, will be sufficient to maintain our fidelty unshaken through the many storms and buffets of this weary world. It is oftentimes its very weariness that drives the bewildered soul to the shelter of that only haven where peace is to be found, the knowledge of the love of Christ. Tossed to and fro amid the storms of life, men learn to *^ pray unto the Lord, and 80 are at the haven where they woidd be." But whether we are first led to Christ by the winning encouragement of His endearing sympathy, or driven to seek His all-powerful aid by the extremity of our need, a full and unwavering reliance on His power and Will to save us, is that which alone can bring to our souls that peaice of God which passeth all understanding!

Preserving then the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life, let us calmly pursue the allotted duties of our several stations, walking by faith and not by sight: and, strong in our dependence upon Him who is mighty to save, we may fearlessly and hopefully anticipate the answer to that prayer, " Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me! "

Do not such blessed encouragements thrill the souls of the faithful with a longing aspiration like that of David,

*' When shall I come to appear in the presence of God !" (173)

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March Ql^July 20] FAMILT READINGS. [Nooember ^

March 31— July 30— November 26.

ST. JOHN, CiiAP. 18.

The dignified submission of the Eedecmer to the force sent to take Him into custody, together with His affectionate care to preserve His

followers from harm, are related more fully in the chapter before us than by any of the other Evangelists. The fact also of heathen soldiers being employed to take Him is here demonstrated, for while St. Luke speaks of the captains of the temple—a title supposed to apply to the Priests who superintended the watches which were set round it—St.

John alone describes the chief officer by the title of Chiliarch, which shews that he held a command in the Roman army. Thus the traitor was indebted to the Heathen for executing the plan which the Jew had contrived, and the force of Jew and Gentile were united to crush and destroy the Holy One, who came with a message of salvation both to Gentile and to Jew!

The prophecies of David were remarkably fulfilled in the betrayal and trial of Christ He that did eat bread with Him lifted up his heel against Him : it was not an enemy that did Him this dishonour, but His own familiar friend whom He trusted: the assembly of the wicked enclosed Him: the Heathen raged: the people imagined vain things : the kings of the earth, Herod and Pontius Pilate, set themselves; and the rulers—Annas, Caiaphas, and the Chief Priests—

took counsel together, against the Lord and against His anointed.

Nor were these and other prophecies of David the only ones fulfilled. The marginal reading of the twenty-second verse of this chapter is, that " one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with a rod;^^ and herein we are powerfully reminded of the mysterious announcement of Micah, " They (174) March S\—^uly 30] FAMILY READINGS. [November^

M

shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. Abundant instances of Prophecy might also be adduced from Isaiah and others, shewing how these " holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," when they shewed the things to come of the rejected Messias.

Wonderfully too was the prophecy of Christ Himself now about to be fulfilled ! (St. Matthew, xx. 19.) The Koman governor would fain have washed his hands of the matter, and left the punishment of the Nazarene to His own nation and the chief priests. But it was not so ordained. The death that He was to die was the death of the cross, to which, being a Roman punishment, the Jews had no power to condemn Him: and Pilate's weakness in signing the death warrant of one whom he thrice declared innocent, became a fresh testimony to the prophetic power, as his writing the title for the cross did to the kingly office of Jesus.

And was there no testimmiy to His office of a Priest as well as to those of King and Prophet ? The leading characteristics of the priestly office are—Intercession, Oblation, and Atonement. The first of these was ilhistrated in, the words— " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." The second, in the oblation of Himself,

'^ into thy hands I commend my spirit." The third,' in the pouring out of that atoning blood which was shed for the whole world's redemption, and which, applied to the sinner's heart by faith, cleanseth fi:om all sin !

Let us not leave this chapter without a reference to that question which Pilate uttered, but without waiting for a reply. He whom Pilate condemned was The Truth that Pilate professed to seek, and if we attain to a knowledge of Him, that Truth shall make us free for time and for eternity.

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Apriil^JufySX] FAMILY READINGS. [November 97

April I— July 31— November 27.

ST. JOHN, Chap. 19.

The fear of Pilate must be ascribed to one of two causes: either he was afraid because, the Jews being exceedingly tenacious of their religious rites, he feared their rising in a seditious movement, if he withheld the condemnation of one accused by them of blasphemy: or

impressed by the awful dignity of our Lord, the idea that " He made Himself the Son of God " struck a sympathetic chord in His own bosom, and led Him to hesitate ere he passed sentence upon one who might, by some mysterious exercise of power, wreak a fearful vengeance upon all who would insult His Majesty.

And from the inquiries that immediately follow the record of his fear, this last would seem to have been the real reason : an idea that meets with corroboration, first, from the subsequent endeavour on the part of Pilate to release Him whom he had newly learned to fear ; and, secondly, from the title which he wrote (probably not so much from derision as from a feeling of hesitating respect), and persisted in retaining after the Jews had protested against its purport.

There is something eminently touching in the simple record of the new fact which St. John alone relates : the charge given to himself to become a son to her whom all nations were to call blessed. Does not this teach us that, even the hour of death is not so to separate us from our holy relationships commenced on earth, but that an affectionate and thoughtful care may be bestowed upon those we leave for a time behind us ? Though death severs the holy ones of God, it does not sever them for ever ; and the departing saint, who is about to enter into his rest, may plead the example of his Head for thinking with gentle and kindly

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April l~-Jvfy SI] t'AMILt RBADINGS. [November 27

solicitude on the social and temporal comforts of those from whom He departs for a season.

The fulfilment of the ancient scriptures, which is recorded in this chapter, failed to affect the mind of the generation in which they occurred : a moral phenomenon which has often been re-produced since that age, and corroborative of the scripture doctrine of the hardness of heart of the natural man, which resists the offered influences of grace and does despite unto the Holy Spirit of God !

But even amid that wicked and adulterous generation, some were fou^d at all times bold enough to bear testimony to the Messiaship of Jesus. Simeon and Annaj and die wise Gentijes in His infancy; His Apostles and the longing followers of His te^Lchii^g in life; the beloved disciple, the watching Marys, and the penitent malefactor on the verge of the, grave ; Joseph and Nicodemus a,fter His temporary death ! In tbe midst of betrayal, denial, desertion, condemnation. He left not Himself entirely without witness: and these, like the little cloud, small as a man's hand, that rose out of the horizon, were, but the precursors of that great cloud of witnesses to His truth, which have since encompassed and overshadowed the vhole moral .world.

Let us look then reverently with the eye of faith upon Jesus entombed. As the daughter of Jairus, He is not dead but sleepeth.

The body of death is paying the penalty of sin, that they who are grafted into Him who once animated it may live unt9 righteousness.

The wages of sin are now paid. Satan's account against man is discharged. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit!

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AfHl^^^MffUBil] FAMILY BBADING8. [JVbwM&er 28

April 2— August 1— November 28.

ST. JOHN, Chap. 20.

Therb must have been deeply exciting disputations among the disciples on the morning of the first Lord's Day. John at least would seem to have been convinced of the resurrection (v. 8.); Peter was probably so: but Mary remained still doubtful, until convinced by the voice of her risen Lord: and the other disciples continued unbelieving after they had heard these testimonies, until they were corroborated by Simon Peter and the two disciples on their return from Emmaus.

All moreover were affrighted and terrified, and thought they saw a

spirit when the Lord first appeared among them as they were assembled together.

How hard is man to be convinced of the truth 1 And yet the whole history of superstition would seem to demonstrate ike truth of the natural rejoinder — how ready is man to believe a falsehood !

Is not this double fact a painful corroboration of the corruption of man's heart? The bias to evil is perpetually manifested, positively; the indisposition to God is as perpetually exhibited, negatively.

Even the gladness of the convinced disciples was not without an exception. One faithless one was still left among the eleven. Thomas Didymus—whether from fear, doubt, indifference, or a reckless despondency—was not with his brethren when Jesus proved His resurrection by His presence among them. The doubter requires sensible evidence; he will only walk by sight! In the case of Thomas, the sensible evidence he demanded was mercifully vouchsafed: but it was accompanied by a solemn encouragement to believers, which itself conveyed by implication a warning against the scepticism (178)

April 2-^August I] fAMILT READINGS. [NBvmber^

he had manifested. His confession of faith was indeed received by his forgiving Lord, but a blessedness, by im-plication richer than his own, was pledged to those who should henceforward walk by faith rather than by sight!

There seems also a lesson to be learned from this history of Thomas, which should teach us " not to forget the assembling ourselves together, as the manner of some is." The assembled worship of the faithful was blessed by a revelation of the presence of Jesus. They had previously been taught that He would be present with those who were gathered together in His name, and now that pledge was fulfilled to them. Thomas, however, the absent one, lost this blessing; and his heart was thereby hardened in unbelief. But when on the second Lord's day, led doubtless by the renovating spirit of grace, he

was joined to the sacred assembly of the faithful, then was he too blessed together with them, and led to believe with the heart unto righteousness, and to make confession with the mouth unto salvation!

How much of blessing, then, may they lose, who wilfully neglect the sacred duty of public worship !

Solemnly and impressively does the Evangelist close this chapter. He recites with dignified simplicity the object of his work; the encouragement of faith by the influence of his testimony, and the assurance of everlasting life to them that receive it! Our reason, our interest, and our affections are thus alike enlisted on the side of duty.

May we have grace to receive the call which his voice sounds in our ears; to recognize the weight of his testimony, to follow the leading of our advantage, and to respond to that affection which invites our own in return, by believing unto life eternal!

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Afnl^^AngM»t2] fiMILT READINGS. [November 29

April 3— August 2— November 29. ST. JOHN, Chap. 21.

The study of the closing chapter of the latest of the Evangelists seems to afford a fitting opportunity for collecting into one view the appearances of our Lord after His resurrection, which are recorded in the four Gospels which we have now perused. These appear to have been—^first to Mary Magdalene alone, secondly to Mary with the other women, thirdly to the two disciples going to Emmaus, fourthly to Simon Peter, fifthly to the assembled disciples without Thomas; and all these took place on the first Lord's day, or day of the resurrection: sixthly to the disciples assembled with Thomas, seventhly to Peter and the rest at the lake of Tiberias; eighthly to five hundred brethren at once, most probably at mount Tabor, also in Galilee; and ninthly at Jerusalem to the eleven, whom He led out as far as to Bethany previous to His Ascension.

The exact place of our Lord's Ascension is not a matter of revelation.

Tradition points out a spot at the top of one of the hills of mount Olivet, as that whence He ascended : but there is nothing at least to forbid the pleasing idea that His Ascension took place from that spot, where, in the tenderest exercise of human sympathy and divine love.

He had revealed Himself as the resurrection and the life, and given such prospective proof of His power over Death, at the grave of the buried Lazarus 1

Our Lord's triple charge to Peter, now first recorded, to exercise His own office of a spiritual shepherd, seems like a kindly rebuke of that zealous but inconsistent disciple's triple denial, coupled with a perfect forgiveness of it: but whatever may have been its full meaning, the closing charge to ^' follow Him," may be wholesomely sounded in our ears as well as in his. We are all too apt to busy ourselves in other people's

matters, rather than to fulfil our own duties: like St. Peter, (180) April S^Augtat Q[] FAMILT READINGS. [iVbvemfter 29

■we wander from the commission bestowed on ourselves to speculate concerning the probable lot of others. Let the repeated commission of our Lord *' follow thou me/' coupled with the rebuke

*'what is that to thee ?" keep us henceforward more closely to the discharge of our personal duties !

We have now arrived at the conclusion of the four Gospels. "We have perused the testimony of these holy and inspired men to the truth, the power, and the love of the anointed Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us ask of ourselves, as in His presence, what have we profited by their record ? Have we grown in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ by the perusal; or are we no more learned in the good tidings He has revealed than we were before we commenced our present course of reading ? If this be the case, we are indeed worse than heretofore: for every means of grace (and there are few if any more powerful than the written word,) slighted and unimproved, turns into an accusation stored up for that

fearful day, when we shall have to give accoimt for all things done (and for things left undone) in the body!

Let us then conclude our reflections with a determination under grace, to receive with meekness and obey in humility the precepts of that engrafted word which is able to save our souls: striving in all zeal and love to follow the holy example of Him who died for our sins and rose again for our justification: and testifying to the world around, that we are very members incorporate into His mystical body, and that the life we now live in the flesh we live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us I END OF THE COMMENTARY ON TBB

GOSPEL ACC0BDIN6 TO ST. JOHN^ (181)

COMMENTARY

ON TBI

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

April 4— August 3— Notember 30.

THE ACTS, Chap. 1.

As the personal history of our Lord and Sayiour Jesus Clirist draws to a conclusion, the history of ''the Church which is His body^, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all/' commences. The good tidings of the grace of God brought to man by Christ having been recorded, the Holy Spirit proceeds next in order to inspire the record of the Acts of the Apostles, which sprang necessarily out of their faith in those good tidings.

St. Luke commences this, his second, book by giving a more succinct and specific account of the Ascension than had been revealed in any of the Gospels. He informs us moreover of an important point of doctrine, when he records that, though the Holy Ghost was not yet given, it was still through that Divine Person that Jesus gave commandments to His chosen Apostles.

In the angelic annouu cement made by the white-robed messengers of the Lord to the watching Apostles, the great remaining truth of the Gospel was revealed. The second

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Aprili—AuguitS] FAMILY BBADINOS. ^November 90

. coming of Christ was now no longer a speculation or a mystery. A»

they had seen Him go into heaven, so they now knew He would return. His own prophecy to Nathanael, that He should see heaven open, and angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man, was now fulfilled: and they who witnessed the marvellous fact were led to look forward to the fulfilment of that other prophecy of His—

''That.thereafter they should see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven!"

And their faith in the fulfilment of this prophecy led them immediately to set about the work which their ascended Lord had commissioned them to do. Their business was to prepare the world for the second coming to judgment of Him, whose first coming was for redemption: and accordingly, their first public act was to elect one of their number, who was qualified to act as a witness of that resurrection, which proved the redemption of man from death to have been perfected.

Their mode of action on this occasion is intensely interesting, as calculated to form a precedent in the Christian Church. Their election of the new Apostle was founded upon faith in the prophecies and promises of Holy Scripture (v, 16-22); upon prayer for direction (v. 24,6); and upon trust in God (v, 26). He upon whom the lot fell was received as duly commissioned, and enrolled accordingly among the number of the Apostles: the inward call was confirmed by the outward; and by this a separation was made between Joseph Barsabas and Matthias, such as had not existed before: the latter became a Minister and an Apostle, and the former did not: the one became one of the twelve ; the other remained a private member of the Church.

And this distinction is deserving of note, because it shews us clearly the footing upon which the Christian ministry C183) April5^Avgtui 4] FAMILY RBADIN08. [Decemher I stands: that they who are ordained to any holy function are set apart from the laity by an act of God^ and have a peculiar office and mission to Ailfil in the Church of God. Like the Baptist^ they are to herald the coming of Christy and announce that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But at the same time that this distinction is revealed, there is a special testimony recorded to the value of the character of him who was twt ** ordained to be a witness with the Apostles of Christ's resurrection," which seems meant to shew, that there was no disparagement of Joseph in the election of Matthias.

The one was holy and blessed in his private, as the other in his public, duties: for, in addition to his patronymic or family name of Bar-Sabas, it is stated that he was sumamed the Just: a distinction that would neither have been accorded by the brethren nor revealed through St. Luke, unless it had been deserved.

May we not hence learn to trace with grateful hearts the providence of God in the midst of private and social, as of public and ministerial life ? It was as much the act of God that Joseph remained a private christian, as that Matthias was numbered among the Apostles. One Will made them each what they were : and so we, whatever be our respective position in the Church, may recognize divine love in calling us at all to His knowledge, and humbly confess, like the holy Paul, that it is by the grace of God we arfe what we are !

April 6— August 4— December I.

THE ACTS, Chap. 2.

The gift of the Holy Ghost was a glorious testimony that God was reconciled to man through Jesus Christ, When God was offended with man, He confused their one (184)

^pril d^August 4] FAMILY READINGS. [December I language and speech so as to divide them: when He was reconciled to them through the atonement of His Son, He sanctified that previous confusion by giving His Apostles one truth to proclaim, and giving them all tongues in which to proclaim it. The former cause of division under His displeasure was made now a means of re-union under His love! It is interesting also to trace how the infant Church took early form and development on its emancipation from its Mosaic Chrysalis. The Jewish Sabbath was fulfilled, when Christ "

entered into His rest and ceased from His own works as God did from His," and all belonging to Him *' rested the Sabbath-day, according to the commandment": thence sprang the Lord's Day, a phoenix from its ashes, when the resurrection brought new life to the world, and commenced a new era in its history; a day confirmed to the souls of the disciples as specially the Lord's, by the fulfilment thereon of the promised gift of the Comforter. The Jewish Priesthood was fulfilled, when Christ, the High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, and then sent forth His own messengers to teach all nations and evangelize the world. The Jewish Passover was fulfilled, when Christ our passover was sacrificed for us, and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world left to the believing a commemoration, instead of a type, of the one oblation of His Body and Blood. The feast of Pentecost was fulfilled, when the first fridts of the Spirit were waved on high by our great High Priest, as an earnest of an abundant harvest to His glory through time and in eternity.

The first preaching of Christ to the Jewish nation by His Apostle Peter—so late a weak apostate, now, after the efiusion of the Holy Ghost, a bold witness for the truth—is in the highest degree instructive as well as interesting. He

commences with an appeal to their faith in prophecy by (185) AprilS^August 4] FAMILY READINGS. [December I

telling them that this gift was what they were bound in duty to expect^ and should receive with gratitude. He then adduces farther testimony from their ancient scriptures to prove that David had led them to expect the elevation^ not of himself, but of some descendant who was to spring from him: this prophetic testimony he applies to the crucified and risen Jesus of Nazareth, of whose miracles themselves had personal knowledge: and, finally, he calls upon the whole house of Israel, if they needed farther testimony of His Messiaship, to examine himself and his fellow Apostles who were the witnesses of the Lord!

Clear, rational, and argumentative, the preaching of the Apostles, of which the first address of St. Peter is no unfit specimen, was calculated to convince the mind as well as to win the afifections of Jew and Gentile alike. Even in this instance, where the preaching was meant especially for the former, the latter were not forgotten : they who " were afar oflf" were not unnoticed, while they that were nigh by the covenant of circumcision were personally addressed! And here we may tiace another development of the Church through the Law, when the Abrahamic and Mosaic rite of circumcision, which involved a physical separation of the Jewish from the Gentile family, was to be lost in the moral rite of *^ Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins," which was to embrace within the promised influence of the Holy Ghost both these great branches of the human race.

At the close of the chapter, we have an exhibition of the beautifrd harmony of true belief. Were we holy and true, like these primitive brethren, the world around would say of us as they admiringly said of them, " Behold, how these Christians love one another! "

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(186)

ApriiA—At^Mtd) V4MILY HEADINGS. IDtcmber 2

April 6— Acgcst 5— December 2.

THE ACTS, Chap. 3.

Fersetekance in holineee should mark the Christian's career. Peter and John did not slack from the privilege of daily public prayer because they were now gifted with plenary inspiration by the Holy Ghost. They seem to teach UB by their actions that the more we have received from God the more we are bound to pay. The temple was the nucleus that was to expand itself, under the divine energy of Him who dwelt therein, into the Church; and so long as the Apostles remained at Jerusalem, they " continued daily with one accord in the temple " for the purposes of public prayer and instruction, though they " broke bread," or received the Eucharist *'at home," (according to the marginal reading); probably in the " large upper room" of that house where the Last Supper was celebrated; where also subsequently abode the eleven; and where the miraculous effusion of the spirit had been vouchsafed to them.

The time had now arrived when the power of Christ was to be shewn forth in a new and marvellous manner, through His chosen servants.

The preaching of the cross of Christ was not to be a barren course of mere instruction. The Apostles were gifted with a living power, which should manifest to the world that" the Lord was working with them, confirming the word with signs following." The previous chapter informed us, that " many wonders and signs v done by the Apostles:"

the present tells us, that the specially recorded was wrought " in the name of Ji Christ of Nazareth."

The second sermon of St. Peter, which we have read, was calculated, like the first, to make a deep impres C187)

AprU 6 ^Augutt 5] family READIKOf. [Dtcember^

on the Jewish mind. Twice therein he applies the holy title of the Son of God to Jesus : in his former discourse he had spoken of Him as the descendant of David according to the fleshy and here he preaches Him as the Son of Him who was the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, as well as of David. He alludes moreover to a stream of prophecy (as though it must be well known to them) firom the words of Moses, and from the time of Samuel through the later Prophets,

which should have led them to expect those events which had been realised in the history and person of Jesus, the true Messias.

But when the preacher had convinced them of their sin; and probably had seen from the emotions they manifested that they were convinced of it; it is very beautiful to observe how he—a man of zealous and even fiery temperament—at once adopted the holy and loving tone of his glorified Master, and even pleaded their excuse before themselves, that he might win their afiections to the cause of holiness I He shewed them at the same time how deep a curse the spirit of Ignorance bears with it, inasmuch as it was thus that they had wrought out those sad events which the prescience of God had foreseen and revealed.

And we should not faU to observe that, in preaching Jesus as a Saviour who had come '^ to bless them, in turning away every one of them from his iniquities," he leads his repentant hearers to look forward with hope and joy to that second advent of Christ, which he characterizes as a time of refreshing and of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets, since the world began. And assuredly that advent must be so regarded by all who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and love His appearing: but let us not forget that the same coming, which will be so joyous and glorious to the (188) faithful sons of God by adoption, will be most fearful and terrible to those who neglect and despise it! While " the dead in ChriBt shall rise first" in bliss, and " they that are alive and remain shall be caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall ever be with the

Ixird," the same great Being shall be " revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Ix>rd and from the glory of His power."

Let us ask of ourselves, among which of these classes do we expect to be enrolled ?

April 7— August 6— Decembe THE ACTS, Chap. 4.

As our Lord's promise of miraculous aid had been fulfilled, Eo were the Apostles to be convinced of His prophetic power in another direction—the arising of persecution because of the "Word. Ofiended as the Jews in general were by the doctrines of the cross, the Sadducees were especially grieved at the resurrection from the dead (which they denied) being preached through Jesus: they accordingly determined to have recourse to the strong arm of authority to restrain the spread of the obnoxious doctrine.

Notwithstanding, howerer, this first imprisonment of Peter and John which is here recorded, the numbc believers was rapidly on the increase, and the hundred twenty had already grown into a multitude of five thous a signal proof of the blessing of GoD on the commi gathered together in His Son's name, and a warning i cases not to despise the day of small things, since, ii (189) Aprai-^Augutte] FAMILY READIKQ8. [December Z

Lord's hand, ** the little one may become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation ! "

In the address of St. Peter to the Sanhedrim, in defence of himself and his brother Apostles, we find him strengthened by the Holy Ghost to fulfil his office as a witness of the resurrection of Jesus.

Again, too, we find him corroborating his statements by reference to the prophecies they acknowledged true; and declaring to the rulers who had crucified Him the solemn doctrine of salvation only by the name of Jesus Christ.

Thus in the first three instances that the inspired record gives us of Apostolic preaching, we find the broad principles of the Gospel plainly and impressively set forth; viz.—^the perpetual witness borne by the law and the prophets to the coming of the Messias; of Jesus of Nazareth being that promised Messias; and, consequently, the only Author of salvation to man.