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Dearly Beloved in the Lord^ In dedicating to you the second part of my Lectures on the Acts of the Apostles, I hiive but to accom- pany them with the fervent prayer, that, by the bless- ing of the Holy Spirit, what was spoken in so much weakness, may be made instrumental to your edifica- tion and improvement. It is «' not by might nor by povrer, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts," that the work of grace is commenced, carried on, and accomplished. May this preaching which is " not with any enticing words of man's wisdom," come t* you "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power," and so promote the Lord's gloiy in your spiritual be- nefit, is the earnest and affectionate petition of, Brethren, Your servant for Jesus' sake, WILLIAM COGSWELL. ^ Halifax, April I7ih, 1887. . ddttlMMnnu*^ 0, ■• mm^^ -■.»* A^ V r/ ■^^ f iO- A'A-^ / •^ tTZvL. A.^- rr' ^ -/' V^^ / ^^, y~ / >t7/: ' > PliEPACE. Iw presenting this little volume to the public, the Author feels that the Lectures it contains are even less qualified to sus- tain the judgment of the critical eye, than those of the first part. It is not in any af- fected disregard of criticism that he makes this confession, for he is duly sensitive to its decision 5 but in the hope of averting its severity, by a repetition of the simple na- ture of the object had in view in the publi- cation. VI PREFACE. That object is simply to be useful (o those who wish for scriptural instruction, and to present, in a plain and practical view, the varieties of Christian example, which the early Church affords. That this object may be in some degree attain- ed, notwithstanding the imperfections in the manner of its pursuit, is the Author's humble hope. He desires here to record his gratitude to the God of all grace, for many testimonies to the usefulness of the former pubUcation, and to express his hope, that by the blessing of the same gra- cious Father upon the present undertak- ing, it may tend to His glory in the edi- fication of some one soul, and so his work shall not be in vain in the Lord. •m "^r CONTENTS. LECTURE I. Acts. iii. 1—10. The occasion — Review of particulars mentioned at the close of Chapter II. — The case now detailed pro- bably one of those there alluded to— The Scriptures a plain man's guide, and a plain man's interpretation generally the safest and best — The healing of the cripple — Distinction between our Saviour's miracles and those of His Apostles ; they wrought in His Name ; He in His own Name — Their conduct an txample to all believers — The miracle now wrought KB illustration of true faith. •m LECTURE IL Acts iii. 11 — 2(J. Tke Saviour at the grave of LazaruB—Th* Apo9tle» till CONTENTS. BCtnarcd by the snme Spirit— The unbcliof of tho Jowssuipnsin^r__TlKMli(rtMenco between them and ourselves— I'owoilossiiess of any events by thorn- selves to pr.Hluco conversion of heart--KneonraKe- inont from the ehnngc in IVtor to the timid believer in Christ— Fetor an exainpio of tho faithful i)reach- ing ot the Gospoi — li^norunco no excuse for sin— Call to repentance and conversion— The death and resurrection of Christ, the great motive and means ol conversion. LECTURE III. Acts iv. 1—18. The assault commenocd upon the Gospel plrmt- Thft reason of the Sadd.icoes joinir.ir i„ ii_The Saddu- coe.^ of the present day equally opposed to a spiritu- al rcJimTcction- Growth of the Church in spite of opposition-Persecution more favourable to vital piety than worldly ease-Want of the spirit of prav- er in the Church now-B\iithfulness of the promise As thy days, so shall thy streneth b«"— Jesus th« Cornerstone— Jesus, tho only Name by which wo cuii be saved. '* LECTUEE lY, Acts iv. 18—17. " Not many mi^'hty, noble, or learned called"— Their circumstances unfavorable to vital ^jodlincss— As- tonishment of the Chief Priests and Elders at recoa- nizmg Peter and John— '' They took knowled'^e of them that they had been with Jcq^s ''—'I'me Chris- tians now recognized by the same token, by their I -.r. CONTENTS. u cfynwWirtSon with Josus in prayer, nnd in Hb WorH -.This eominuiiion evidenced l»y their conduct Mil convcrsiition-Dctern.inalinii of the Chief Prieata nnd Bihlers witii regard to tho Apostles— lt8 weak- ness and viciouKnesa— A picture ofilie spirit ol tlitt world throughout. LECTURE V. ■m-.p^. r Acxaiv. 13—22. Decision of the Chief Priests comrnunicnted to the A- postiea— Their reply to it— Instructive to the Minis- ter of the Gosper, and to tho private Christian- Responsibility of the Minister of the Gospel with re- card to the preaehinj,' the trnth-CI,;irftc to Ministers fit their ordination-The aversion of the natural heart to the truth, and its too frequent influence upon the statements of the truth— '* Duties are ours ; conse- quences belong to God"-Rcspon8ibihty of the pri- vate Christian— His duty to speak of the things of Christ, and to declare to othera how gracious the Lord is— Deficiency in this respect among profess- ing Christians— Effect of Peter's reply upon hie audience— Natural conscience an insuflicient n»oni- tor— How far its influence does extend—" Tjiey tband notain;? how they might punish them"-- 1 he Christian to be careful that no occasiwj be found agiaiiist him, except concerning tho law of hU w«a. LECTURE VI. Acts iv. 23—31. Tho Apostles among their own company— The sweet- \ CONTENTS. "5***'C^y "apathy— No sympathy like the fellowship of Christian minds— The sympathy of the ApoBtlea* company manifested in united and harmonious pray- er— Instruction to be gathered from their prayer-- Comfort in tLe recognition of the Lord'r ruling pro- ridence—The illumiudtion of the Spirit manifest in their apphcation of Scripture—Jesus Christ is the Anointed of whom David speaks— They that suffer with Jesus shuM also reign with Him— The Apostles' jirayer is not for exemption from trials, but for grace to glorify God in them— The honor of Christ dearer to t!ie true Christian than life- The answer to their prayer— The Lord ia a God that heareth prayer. LECTURE Vil. Acts iv. 32—87. The fellowship of the Apostles and "their own com- pany" strengthened by peculiar circumstances— i he same principle actuating the whole body of behavers— This the effect solely of the power of .Diivir.e grace— How different' the aspect of the Christian world now— Yet the spirit which ani- mates true Christians now is the same— Obliga- tion to such a spirit— Strong p-oof of the since- rity of the early Christians— The love of money a great obstacle to the truth— The triumph of the Gospel over it— How this vi-^tory is seen in the Christian— Satisfaction to the Apostles in viewing the success of the truth— The connexion between lauh and the reception of grace— Conclusion. i: LECTURES ON tHt ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. LECTURE h ACTS IJt, l.~10. Now PETER AND JOHN WENT VP TOGETHER INTO TKK T^MPLft AT THE HOUR t>« FHAITKR, B£«Me THfi NINTH HOUR. And ▲ CERTAIN MAN, :.AMB FROM Hlft mother's WOMB, WAS CARRIED, Wrtr( eiirtet upK«> a deseripitbn of Oiie of tbog« \\'«fndf^S top^ljkjb he had thus alllii^ ied. Ind«fed some cOrtirffettlatora' hicvt thought, that the tioic at whic4s Petei' arid John went up to the tem|iJle, wAs the B>i»th hour, or three o'clock itvtbe afternoony of the'sattie day of Peiitecas*, onvvbieh sueli wotidorfttl events had ak^dy ts^sea piisefiK Um it csin l>ardly beuecessmry^ in a c«9i •Pa. cii. is; jLECTUREI. like the present, to bring any other argu- ment against the probability of this idea, than the certainty that no one reading the narrative \vithout reference to that opini- on, could have thought of its being so. — Indeed in a matter of so little real import- ance, it were hardly worth our while to have remarked upon that opinion, but for the iSake of grounding upon the remark the suggestion, that, in the perusal of the Ho- Jy Scriptures, the meaning which is first presented to a plain understanding, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, that is in the habit, not of building upon isolated texts, but of comparing spiritual things iWith spiritual,* is generally the safest and the best, as well with regard to the doc- trines as the , plain facts of Scripture. — There are those, indeed, who even in the great and fundamental doctrines of justifi- cation and sanctification, surround the sub- ject with such a cloud of explanations and •1 Cor. ii. 19, LECTURE I. 7 qualifications, as a plain man can scarcely find his way through : such as the unlear- ned reader could never have imagined; and such as, in m,any cases, would de- prive him of the comfort and the strength, which the simply scriptural view of those greai doctrines is calculated to aflford him. Now it is the precious characteristic of the Gospel that it is preached to the poor!* Far be the attempt to throw the least dis- paragement upon human learning, as an handmaid to the Spirit of the Lord in His teaching : but we are told, that in itself it is no assistance to the reception of th« simple doctrines of the Gospel into the heart, but that if any man would be wise, he must become a fool that he may b« wise.f If there be danger of any essential mistake in the plain reception of the words of Scripture, according to their simple and obvious meaning ; if there be any necessi- ty for comprehending all the various syg- *Matt. xi. i. 1 1 Gor. iii. 19. JKi ' . in gaping astonishment, beholding the an- imation and activity, and listening to the delighted praises, of the renovated s-jfTer- er. There are several particulars in the briefnarrative of this striking scene, that • John, i. 46. LBCTTUWE I. 18 arff wort>»y orotrr rej^ird. And' first, ^«*Mi may observe the distinction at once pef» «eptible between the manner in which our Say trespasses,! ^nd made me, tho' vile in inyself, accepted in the Beloved." || G ' look, Brethren, which is yours, carnal reason, or a confiding faith. That ye may have a better evidence than that of mere feeling to decide by, observe a moment longer the conduct of .the renovated cripple. He entered into the Temple walking and leaping and prai- sing God. It was thus that he acted un- • dcr the sense of a great temporal mercy ; and can there be really the belief of the • Rom. vii. 18. I Ct>i. ti. 1^. t Rom. vii. 25. ■|}£ph. i. Q. i 4. " I'' f ' ll ' 22 LECTURE I. possession of that great spiritual blessing, the forgiveness of sins, in a soul that is not warmed by it and quickened to walk in the Lord's ways, and to go on from day to day praising God with the lips as well as in the life ! Impossible ! Faith work- eth by love.* The belief of so much love for us on God's part, where it is a real belief, must lead those who believe to love Him. Love hath its seat in the heart; but from the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speakjt the hand will act.— To this then. Brethren, let all your ex- amining of yourselves be directed; not to the discovery of some grounds in your- selves, on which to build the hope of ac- ceptance; but to the ascertainment whe- ther ye be in the faith ;J and may God in His abundant grace so assist you in the examination, that ye may discover your true state, and be led, for a remedy for ill your transgressions, to the sweet, the precious, the prevailing Name of Jesus. *tiai. V. 6. tMait. xii. S4. ^9 Cor, xiii. 5. i LECTURE IL ACTS III, 11.-28. Ann A» THE LAMK MAN WHICH WAt HEALBO R«tl» PETER AND JOHN, ALI. THE PEOPLE RAN TOGE- THER UNTO THEM, IN THE PORCH THAT IB CALL- KD BOLOMON's, GREATUY WONDERING. AnD WHKK PETER SAW IT, HK ANSWERED UNTO THE PEOPLE, YE MEN OF ISRAEL, WHT MARVEL YE AT THlt t OR WHY LOOK YE SO EARNEHTLY ON US, AS THOUG^K BY OUR OWN POWB-R OR HOLINESS WE HAD MAX)* THIS MAN TO WALK? ThE GoD OF ABRAHAM, AND OF ISAAC, AND OF JACOB, THE GOD OF OUR FA- THERS, HATH GLORiriED HIS SON JesUS ; WHOM YE DELIVERED UP, AND DENIED HIM IN THE PRE- SENCE OF PILATE, WHEN HE WAS DETERMINED TO LET HIM GO. But ye DENIED THE HOLY ONE AND THE JUST, AND UE.^IRED A MURDERER TO BE GRAN- TED UNTO YOU ; A^P KILLED THE PRINCE OF LIFB, WHOM God hath raised from the dead; where- of WE ARE WITNESSF.S. AnDHIS NAME, THROUGH FAITH IN tI3 NAME, HATH MADE THIS MAN • TRONO, WHOM YE SEE AND KNOW ; YEA, THB FAITH WHICH IS BY HIM HATH GIVEN HIM THIB PERFECT SOUNDNESS IX THE PRESENCE OF Y0T7 ALL. And wow, brbthrbn, i wot that turow«« riMMBHiei F r r ; % 1 i ., 1, • . 24 LECTURE n. I I * i ' I -: j; IGNORANCE VE DID IT, A8 DID ALSO VOUR RULER*. But those things, which God befork had shew. ED BY THE MOUTH OF ALL HIS PUOPHETS, THAT Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that VOUR sins may be blotted out, w. .:n the times of refreshing shall come from the presence OF THE Lord ; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which befoue was preached unto you: whom THE heaven must RECEIVE UNTIL THE TIMES 0» RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS, WHICH GoD HATH SPOKEN BY THE MOUTH OP ALL HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN. FoR MoSES TRULY SAID UNTO THE FATHERS, A PROPHET SHALL THE LoRD TOUR God raise up unto you of your breth- ren, LIKE UNTO me; HIM SHALL YE HEAR IN ALL THINGS, WHATSOEVER HE SHALL SAY UNTO YOU. And IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT EVERY SOUL WHICH WILL NOT HEAR THAT PROPHET, SHALL BE DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE. YeA, AND , ALL THE PJIOPHETS FROM SAMUEL, AND THOSE THAT FOLLOW AFTER, AS MANY AS HAVE SPOKEV^ HAVE LIKEWISE FORETOLD OF THESE DAYS. Ye AR e' THE CHILDREN OF THE PROPHETS, AND OF THE COVENANT WHICH GoD MADE WITH OUR FATHERS, SAYING UNTO ABRAHAM, AND IN THY SEED SHALL ALL THE KINDREDS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED.— Unto you first, God, having raised up his sow Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning a- WAY KVEAT ONK OF YOU FROM HIS INKJUITIES. WtfEN- the Lord Jesws steiod at the ^fat*e's mouth, from which he soon aft«r- vrards^oalled forth in renovated strength tfe«^ departed Lazarus, he lifted up His voicfi: ift proisfr tet God^ tha^ He liad^^heard LECTURE 11. 25 Him. "And I knew" He said "that Thou hearest me always, but because of the people that stood by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me."* And we may suppose, that whatever motives of tenderness to the sufferer, and of desire to relieve so tried a fellow-creature, may have influenced the Apostles' breasts, in bid- ding the cripple at the Beautiful gate arise and walk, their great aim was that Jesus might be glorified, their great desire that the people that stood by might be led to the acknowledgement of the JName, by which such wondrous things were wrought, and to the following of that Jesus whose blood was shed for their forgiveness. An opportunity of asserting the honor of that Name soon resulted from the miracle they had wrought by it. For as tne man that \vas healed held them fast, and, while bless- ing and praising God as the cause, could not refrain from expressing his gratitude to * John, xi. 42. .,..,^,..K3£t-l « T* Lcpxyp? }{. 1 f ' tti^.m a^ ^b.q instrurnqnts of jiig r^ppvw^ .ft? P^PPJe »'^n to^ejlier fq them^^j^a^lv. \Y^ntlering. " \V9 qannot b^t \v^o^d^^ c^t ^jio asto^pish- "rnent qxcited by this miracle anions those vyho, for so long a tipe, had been ac^us- ponied to meet the blessed Jesus as He went aJ)ovt doinrr good, and he^alin^ those^l^at Were oppressed olthe Deyil.* We should suppose, ^l^at, after three j^'ears of suc^l a iXiinijStry as lie had exercised on cartb^ they could no more have been surprised at a^ny wonder that should me^et their eye, J^ut our surjirise al^ the gaping wonder f,»th which they regarded thijj, i^ira9uipys- J^ renovated mun must bje le^s than, ou^ ^mazement, tljiat, afteij aU they^ had seeix a^d heard, they still looked on in unbelief. Ipagine such scenes, my ^reljhr^n, anio^ig, ourselves, as vyer^ of eyery J practice in the sight of God. — H^ye circumstances so changed, that men ijp^ust be no longer address:ed in the same language as St. Peter used to his assem^ blod bearer's? (s sin less hateful, in the sigl;it; of Go,d, beca,use it is committed by one who bears the name of Cijiristian, in- stead of Jew ? Is the Saviour less,rejept- eA i;iow by thos.e, whp, though baptized, into. l^\p name, give themselves to th.a service of the worl^ and sin, than He>w,a;i, by thpsQ who nailed Him to the prpss, prc- fer:ring a murderer to Him ? Or doqs a participation in Gospel privileges, by. those wljpse lives are a practical denial oftftQ.Gi^^p^l^ ^orldjy» selfish, idlie, aM Ml III fc 86 LECTURE II. unprofitable, render a complete and tho- rough change of heart less necessary, than to those that had never heard of Christ, or having heard of Him, yea and seen Him, had refused still to come to Him that ihey might have life. Nay ! surely not : a change in outward privile- ges, a difference in the period of the world at which men live, a difference in the cha- racter of the dispensation whose shadow they enjoy, makes no difference in the necessity of the change of heart, of the spiritual application of the truth to every man's conscience, and of an individual in- terest, to be enjoyed by each one for himself, in the promises and precepts of the Gospel of Christ Jesus, On every otie, therefore, that has a soul to be saved, must be pressed the sense of his corrupti- on, his defilement, and his guilt. To e- very one must it be the constant endeavor to bring home the conviction of the soul's i-»«ifii»«»,l /4nrM«o f? if ir r>r ifis Tkrvl jiif Ion \'^\T rxfOrt- LECTURE 11. 87 tice, and of the heinousness of every the smallest transgression that has stained it, in the sight of a pure and holy God. The preaching of the Gospel will have beert in Vain to every one, on whom it has not f^- tened the charge of his iniquity and sin, nn* to whom it has not discovered his lost nM perishing condition. The Gospel is inde€d <' glad tidings," but the very gladsome- ness of the message arises from the con- dition of those to whom the message comeji. 'f The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,>^* saiih the Lord Jesus by His prophet and afterwards, appropriating the words, iMi His own person, " because he hath an- ointed me to preach the Gospel to tbc pcor 5 He hath sent me to heal the bro-^ ken^hearted, to preach deUverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised-"t To any then but the poor, the broken-- hearted, the captive, the blindj thebmiti- •I&. lxi.l. f twice, iv. i». 38 LECTURE ir. If- :« I i k ed, there arc no glad tidings brought ; and it must therefore he the first object of the ambassador of Jesus, to convince all, and every one for himself, that t'lcy are in just such a state. It may be offensive, it must be humbling, to have every refuge taken from the soul, and to see no alter- native left but the acknowledgement of the heart's vileness, and the soul's pollution and desert of wrath ; but until it is so, the Gospel falls pointless on the ear ; it comes but as a physician's visit to a person in full health : it comes but as the promise of his freedom to one that never knew the pres- sure of a fetter, that never felt restraint upon the impulse of his will. On this point then, Brethren! as it is my usual object, let it yet again be my endeavour, to sug- gest to you the examination of yourselves. Hai'e ye ever seen, and known and felt the misery of your condition? Have ye ever found the remembrance of } our sin to be grievous, and felt its burden to be intoler- LECTURE II. 39 able?* These arc not questions of course, my beloved Brethren! they arc not to be answered as mere words of form ; but O! ask them, O! answer them, as in the sight of that Holy One who seeth the hearts. In addressing the multitude that sur- rounded him, St. Peter mentions a feature in their conduct, which, though it did not excuse, yet did in some measure account for the sinfulness of their conduct. << I know, brethren," he says, "that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your ru- lers." So far indeed from admitting this as an excuse for their conduct, he follows up this admission, and the declaration that God hath overruled their ignorance to the accomplishment of his own purposes in Christ Jesus, by the earnest exhortation to repent and be converted. He gives it, indeed, what weight it may have in keep- ing them from the despair, which a due consideration of their guilt might throvr » CorifesBion in the CommunioB Service. 40 LBCTUKt II. ■ i ' H I' them into, by affording them a hope that they had not sinned utterly past forgivo- ness; but no more. He allows it not as any justification of their conduct ; he ad- mits it not as any palliation of their guilt. CJould such a plea be admitted, then might every sinner that has ever lived upon the earth have some excuse to urge, when the Lord enters into judgment with him. It is the sad description of the lost, that the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God, should shine unto them.* It is indeed, it must be in ignorance, that any can go on in a state of unconversion, of worldliness, of unbelief. It must be because they are ignorant of themselves, aad of the vile blackness of their own hearts. It must be because they are ig- nqrant of the true character of the world, how hateful even its friendship is in the ^ «. Cor. IT. 4. LECTURE II. 41 tight of God t It must be because they ore ignorant of God, of the purity, the perfection, the holiness of His nature, and of the impossibiUty, which arises from the character of His perfections, that any thing unclean can enter into His presence. But, can this ignorance be an excuse to them? ()! certainly not to any that have been within hearing of the Gospel,— to any to whom the solemn truths of God's word have been addressed, -to an} that have been told of their corruption: and urged to flee OS guilty sinners to the cross of Jesus. How often is the poor sinner met with,*" v/ho, when prest upon the truths of salva- tion, replies, '' I have no learning, I am a poor ignorant creature, I cannot under- stand these matters." How often too are lliey to be found, who, tho' they woald spurn the iaiputation of ignorance in other matters, will contentedly put away from them the solemn truths of God, with the t Jnriipc:. iv 4. I 1 41 LECTURE II. u i reniart, '' 1 cannot enter into these sub- tlotios; such speculations about faith and H'opks are too mysterious for me 5 my doc-? trine is that he who do^s his best to serve his generation and to please his God i* saft) enough. '^ But it requires no learn- ing to perceive the blackness of sin 5 thera is no great mystery in the doctrine, thai except a man be born again, he cannol seethe kingdom of God;* there is not much speculation in the truth, that it is by grace men arc saved through faith ;f thai by works no flesh living can be justified ;f that he that believe th in Jesus, and he onlyj hath everlasting life.§ O, no! Brethren! the difficulty is in the perverse- ness of the will ; the mystery arises froa\ Uiat willing ignorance, which will not ask of God the wisctpn^ that it lacks ; the sub- tlety ia. in that deceitfwineas of «in, which hardens, the keart against conviction, and • John, iii. 3. X Gal. ii, le. t Eph. ii. 8. i Juhn, iii. S6. IXCTURE n. 4S ie sub- ith and ay doc-^ 3 serve jrod is learn- ; there ?, that cannot is not it is by ;t thai ind he >5 nol •vejrse- ;)t ask e aub- which ij and flatters it into security, and self-satisfiao- tion, and ease. From such a state of ignorance as this, the Apostle calls upon his hearers to arise. ^' Repent ye and be converted." And he points them to the same Jesus, whom they by wicked hands had crucified a»d slain, as the only way through which they could repent and turn to God. " Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning away every Qoe of you from his iniquities." And to leave them no further excuse either for ig- norance or for prejudice, he shews them that this blessed Jesus was the ordained of God ; that it was He of whom their own great a wgiver had spoken as the prophet ihat was to be raisied up to them superior to himself; that it was He of whom Samuel and the propheta had not only testified, but had foretold these very things which had come to pass ; yea, that He was that v«ry promised seed of whom it had been <^«^ 1 h t s • ^ i ■ * ♦ 1 u LECTURE IL said to Abraham, LECTURE II. 45 Lord's house, and even been partakers in the Sacrament, we therefore are Christi- ans. These things are priveliges, indeed, and means of grace, but they are means, whose only importance is in their conduct- ing us to the end, — a spiritual regenera- tion, and a life of faith in Jesus. Yes, thoy are privileges which but increase our solemn responsibility to repent and turn to God. Jesus may be seen in them : and His Name, through faith in His Name, can make the helpless sinner strong : yea, the faith which is by Him, gives perfect soundness to the vilest sinner that hears His voice, arises and walks. To you, my Brethren ! is a crucified and risen Jesus now set forth, as the ordinance of God, appointed ere the worlds were made for your justification, your accep- tance, your conversion to God. Unto the Jews first, but unto you now, hath God sent Him, by His word and Holy Spirit, to bless you by turning away eve- if 4G LECTURE II. If ry one of you from your iniquities. His Name, by Aiith in His Name, alone can make you whole: His blood alone can cleanse you : His rigbteousness alone can cover you : His obedience unto death a- lone can answer for you. Repent ye tiierefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ; that so, by the gathering in of wanderers into the fold, His kingdom may be hastened in Hii own good time ; that so the times of re- freshing may come from the presence of the Lord : that so He may send again Christ Jesus, who hath already been preached unto you ; whom the heavens must receive, until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His prophets since the world began. The Lord bring it to pass, according to His good pleasure ! Yea Lord, Thy Kingdom come ! Amen. Even so, come^ Lord Jesus! mm LECTURE III, ACT3 IV, 1.— 12. Awn AS THET SPAKE UNTO THE PEOPLE, THE PniEBTd, AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE TKMPLE, AND THE 8AD- DUCEE8, CAME UPON THEM, BEING GRIEVED THAT THEY TAUGHT THE PEOPLE, AND PREACHED THROUGH Jesus the resurrection from thk DEAD. And thev laid hands ON them, and put them in hold unto the next day ; FOR :t WAS now eventide. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed ; AND THE NUMBER OF THE MEN WAS ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND. And it came ro pass on the morrow, that THEIR RULERS, AND ELDERS, AND SCRIBES, AND Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John and Alexander, and as many as wepeok THE KINDRED OF THE HIGH PRIEST, WERE GATHER- ED together at JERUSALEM. And WHEN THET HAD SET THEM IN THE MID8T. THEY ASKED. Mr II 48 LECTURE III. WHAT POWER, on BY WHAT NAME, HAVE YE COXR THIS? Then Peter filled with the uolv GHOST, SAID UNTO THEM, YE RULEK8 OF THE PEO- PLE, AND ELDERS OF ISRAEL, IF WE THIS DAY BE EXAMINED OF THE GOOD DEED DONE TO THE IMPO- TENT MAN, 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 THE DEAD, EVEN BY HIM DOTH THIS MAN STAND HERE BEFORE YOU WHOLE. ThIS IS THE BTONE WHICH WAS SET AT NOUGHT OF YOU BUILD- ERS, WHICH IS BECOME THE HEAD OF THE CORNER. Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none other name under heaven giv- EN AMONG MEN WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED. At the first out-pouring of the Holy Spi- rit, when, under His ntiraculous influ- ence, the Apostles spoke to the assembled multitude in all their different languages, and caused the collected throng from every nation under heaven to hear each in his own tongue the wondrous works of God, there were some who mocked.* Their opposition went no farther than mockery 5 but why ? because the prejudice of man or the malice of the Devil was not aroused • Aetg, ii. ^—13. LBCimR>& lU^ 49 against the budding of Ih^ Gospel! muatAjjd seed ?t Nay ; but because tbe^ Lord^* ey^r was on it, and He would not suffer it to I be tried by the fierce heat or stormj^ blast, before he had nurtured it into sonw degree; of stren gth to- bear it . The A posr- ties had on that occasion found the faithr Culnessr of their ascended Lord: fbc it had been given them in the hour of tinauT ble^ what they should say.J They had found the fruitfulness of the bold aod'faathr' iltii exhibition of His word : for they had gathered in, as vhe first-fruits of the Goay pd^ into the church of Christ, three thotv sand souls. § By the experiences than^; which they had had*, of the disinclinnticmoj? many to receive the truth;; and by ther tniai? they had made* of their Lord's fuith&ilnanlr md' love^ they wsere prepared fur thar fuu* t^r issues which awaited them in their ofb« r.eer. Nor had they long to waitu Th«r opportunity they had gained o£ addresi^ I ^1 *' 80 LECTURE ITT. Nig another large assemblage of the peo- ple, on the occasion of the cure of the crip- ple's lameness, was an opportunity perinit- ted to tlie chiWron of tlie world and of the Devil, at tlie Arch-enemy's instigation, to begin their assault upon the Gospel plant. As the Apostles, Peter and John, spake- unto the people, the priests, and the Captain of the temple, and theSadducees eame upon them. They were actuated- by different motives, the two principal of which are recorded. The priests, and captain of the temple, or chief of the band of Levites, to whom the custody of th6 temple was in weekly rotation entrusted, were grieved that they taught the people: They liked aot this instrusion upon what they considered their right ; they consid- ered not the wondrous nature of the call which had been given the disciples; they \yere unwilling to admit the possibility, that two such unlearned and plain men could truly teach the, things of God., LECTURE III. 51 The Sadducees, who had taken advantage of priestly prejudices,, lo urge the priests and Levitcs to a foremost part in the op- position, had themselves the gravest charge to hring against the doctrines which these dlsciplf's taught. They were grieved, bd- cause the Apostles preached through Je- sus the resurrection of the dead. The distinguishing feature of the Sdd- ducees' doctrine was their denial of any spiritual existence, and of the immortality of the soul; and, as a consequence of this,. the denial of any rewards and punishments in a future state. The Pharisees, on the contrary, confessed all these truths ; but looked upon the strictness of their own morality, and their rigid observance of outward forms and ceremonies, as giving them an abundant title to the rich rewards reserved ibr the righteous. Let us re- member this difference in our future consi- derations. The great design of our Lord, and the ixcroBEm. ^^Jr©tit'lrettTlency of His preacbing, -was to 'Tepresent the spirituality of the law lof "Ood; that BO, convincing His hearers of ^tbe impossibility of their rendering Ruch «n dbedience as a perfectly spiritual and 'hdly God could accept, He might lead tliem to Himself, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world:* This doe- "trine would not suit the spirit of the Pha- Tisees, who had made void the spirituality j:H*»God's law by their traditions,! and car- mwd not their observance o( the law he- yond (he punctilious attention to the mere ttelter of its demands. And, accordingly^ ^ffom the beginning to the close of Hisca- rcmr, the Pharisees were Mis bitter, His ^«on8tant, His inveterate opponents. The i>addiicees seem to have distij^«^VMshed "ihBmselves but little among the adversaries a[ His teaching. It mattered little upon itiBir «y^em, to what exten the spirituali- ty of iie law was carried; for so that they ^Rer, xiU.d. fMark vii. »3. TV as to law «of rcrs of g auch lal and tt Jead in from iS doc- ePha- ituality id car- iw he- e mere iingly^ lis ca- T, His The VMsked Tsaries e upon 'ituali- it they LECTURE III. 55 had its protection, and enjoyed its privile- ges, and escaped its penalties now, they looked no further. But the Apostles of the risen Saviour, jusily regarding the doc- trine of the resurrection, as the great proof of the whole scheme of Christianity, brought it prominently and holdiy forward. It was He whom God raised up, of whom they spake. It was the Frince of life whom God had raised from the dead, as they were witnesses, whom they announ- ced, and through whom they further preached the resurrection of the dead. — Their preaching aims a blow at once, then, at all the Sadducean system. It cuts at the very root of all their cherished noti- ons. But did it merely strike at some fa- vourite notion, some cherished doctrine ? O ! more, much more than this. It struck ? at all their peace, their comfort, their in- dulgence. Connected with the thought of a resurrection from the dead, must always be the idea of a future retribution. And *'2 il . t:- , .1 '^'-— -"- '^■''' I » I'' I 94 ij«fcM!i«m. - k with whtet feelings could they cdtitdtttplot^ (hfe Very possibility of a judgment to Codife, Whtfse whole lives were formed upon th^ piinciple, Let us eat and drink, for to- ihOrtOVr Ive tlie,*— whose whole cOndUot arid conrcrsation were for this world a- MHe, aiming only at its pleasures, drfef^d- iH^ only its pains. "Nay, aWay with sUeh fellows,^' would they surely cry: « stop s«ch tinwelcome tidings; down jwri(h niislaVoUry doctrines such as these!" And the unwilling dread of their own errOr, ind'the fear of admitting the very possr- bility of their being wrong in a point, whidb vitally affected all their peace, would add winscs to their determination to crush thesfe' notions even in the very bud. Thfere are Pharisees and Sadducees ift Omp4\ times, as itiuch as there were ih Jtiwrsh. And still are the two clasies^ whidh'We might so name, among themo^t d^cidied opposers of the truth ais it H ih LicTtrttfc !ii. 55 codify pon th>j for to- condUot orld a* drfef^d- iy with y o?y: wn jivUh " And 1 errbr, ^ possi- , which uld add sh thesfe' icces ift were ih clasies^ he mo^t it is ih Jwus. We dwell not upon the reftetn- Mancte between the Phtirise6s of old, and those whose self-rightebusriess, and pride, jJVkl self-complacency, the doetrine df a free salvation thrdi^gh the blood of J^sos, provided as mdch for the meanest and the Vilest, as for the loftiest slhd most mordi, if dnly Ihey will dOme to Jesus that thdy itttty Ifave life, mo^t mortally offehds. Ouf present attention belongs to the Saddu- c^j^s'of'the preserit day. And among the Warmest opponents of the GroSpel trrtthis, are found those whose liVes, addictfed to the world, inimersed in pleasures, fed 6n tbt applause and hondr df this paSSlog sd^ne, le^ve them no hope, if they alone ate«afe who are converted to God, rak^d (fXiih their state of trespasses and sin's to newness and holiness of Jifc, and living, by tfee faith of Jcl^us, evisn as Jesu« lJv6d. They are grieved j that we pi^each throti^h J*sus the resui^rectiOn of the de^d. It is riot iMde^-tbe truth, that this fi^aJl body^ hav- « h 58 LECTURE III. r I I I: ing been turned to its dust, shall rise again from the grave to be rc-united to the soul for ever; it is not this that grieves them. But this resurrection of the body is an cmbl(?m of a spiritual resurrection from the death of sin unto the life of righteous- ness, which must take place in the inmost soul, before it can have a hope of entering heaven. It represents to us a change, a thorough, an entire, a spiritual change of heart, which must be wrought, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in all that would hope to enter into the Lord's kingdom. — And this, the worldly, for they are the Sadducees, like not. They love the pre-, sent scene, its vanities, its delights; they are contented with its honors, its applause, its wealth ; they wonder what harm there is in the innocent amusemccts and harm-, less gaieties of life: and mark that man " fanatic," who would bid them come out and be separate from the recreations, the pursuits, and joys in which the worldly BBCTVICE |[I. ^ live. They acknowledge another worW, but 'they live Ibr this : theiy Fecognize the God of Heaven, but they worship the God of this world : they speak of'the Spi- rit of the Lord, but he, whose sway they own, is the Spirit ithatworketh in the chil- dren of disobedience.* O ! then, what death to their hopes, the solemn truth, Ye must be born again If What confusion to their expectations of heaven, the an- nouncement. Except ye be converted, ye cannot see the kingdom of God.} If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.1i What a mystery to them the Scripture, by which the heirs of hea- ven are pourtrayed. The Spirit of 'God beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God.|| O ! are there any such before me, who are led through the worldliness of their own lives, and their fondness for • Eph. ii. 2 t John iii. 7 t Matt, xvili. 3. IT Rom. viii. 9, fl Rom. Yiii. 16. 11 8as;, . „« w Mi- , 88 LECTURE in. the pleasures and indulgences of life, i^ dislike the truths which set before them the need of a spiritual change, and urge on them the absolute, the indispensable necessily of the conversion of their hearts to God? Let me intreat you, Brethren! to consider whether ye are not, not only fight- ing againi^t God, but sinning against your own souls. Yes, }^ur own consciences must tell you, that could ye be transplanted just as ye are to heaven, ye would have no fit- ness for it 5 ye could not, as ye are, enjoy it. Ye have no relish for its joys: no taste for its employments: no love for Him who fills it with riis presence. Either heaven or you, then, must change; judge ye, which ? Either God or your souls must alter; say ye, which? I say not, Brethren, that there is any peculiar, or aggravated sin in the pleasures or indulgences of the world: that there is any merit in abstaining from them, thut abstinence from them is any Burc mark of a Christian mind, or that LlSCtURE III. 69 there is any peculiarly damning guilt in entering into thorn : but this I say, that the love of them is a mark of an uncon- verted heart: a fondness for theth an evi- dence of an unchristian spiiit: the enjoy- ment of them, inconsistent with that con- versation in heaven, which he aims at maintaining, who is looking for his Savi- our, the Lord Jesus.* ' 'f^^ow - Notwithstanding, however/the opposiii-^ on which the preaching of the Apostles excited; yes, even in the midst of that op- position, many of them which heard the word believed, — so many that the whole number of the members of the Christian church, exclusive of women and children,; was five thousand. There are those who consider this to have been the number of persons brought into the fold of Christ on. this particular occasion. But a careful pe^- rusal of the narrative, and of the particular form of the sentence which records the 1 1 ^ m III p ^PhH.iii. 20. m mcTUtmm: ■ P ! ( raatteiTj. can- scarcely afford a tanfirmatk^ of thisopinton. Independently of theim?* probability tiiat a larger fruit sfaeuld be vojuchsafed upon this occasion, tlianiwaa^ gathered into the fold on the? day^oftiie fijTSt miraculous outpouring of the Molji Spirit^ we can scarcely suppose, th^itsucjir a wondBrful evint, ifife hadiso taken pi acej. would have received such a mere inxiidan- taif notice; The structure o£ the sentence, even* a® it is. in our translation, but moce es:pec!ally as ife standis in the ojiigimdi^ TWOJuDi-lfiad us rather t*o consider the: bis^ tarian as markdng, as; he: passed, the pi«i>' gress- which the yet infant cause of Ghtristx and- His Gospel had allready made. Man^ of t-hem that heard the word belitLved': and hy their addition^ the number of tira mfii» alone: -ftat composed- the; Church wasj OKuier upf tfit liwe thousand. When we: look faaclr upon the chaos^ whlckhiid taken plaeey Imthe* shoBt tka^ between the first, aasembiiiig of the little LECTIIRE IM. 61 natiolt lid be; of' tlife ktsucJy JteHce, moi!r 16! fas*- 3 piH3F>' Clwht Man^ di: and a mfin t tkam i little imndj that bad jv»t parted with their Lord, :and the gathering which we have hrcre ob- served, hovtr wonderfiil appears the -opera- tioaa of that Spirit through whose grace it had heen eiFected. The number of names together when first they niet in the u})per roam at Jermsalem, comprtsing every sex and age, was twit -one hundred and twenty.* Btrt oow they reckon the finen akwie o^f their company by thowsands. So mightily grew the word of the Lordaad prevailed. f And it grew amiid opposition, aad ilau- mbed, even when the haad of persecution was stretched out agaiast those that pro- claimed it. Yes; the Arch-enemy of aouis appears not yet to have learnt the les- son, in which he has since attained such latal skilly that the most daiigerous wea- pon, with which the purity, ike spiriiMaii- ty, and the i»crease of tfee ber of His faithful followers^ how great is the obligation to ex^tend your petitions beyo«d the limits, of your own ne- cessities: and to let your souls go forth be- fore the Lord in earnest supplication for • 1 Pet. ii. a. f £z. XXX vi. 37. LECTURE llf. (65 your dying fellow-.ainiiers, that the Spirit may be with each wojrd in whatever weak- ness spoken in ^he Lord'^ Name, and that He may manifest himself, ne Wlieyersi are built up a spiritual hoiiae..* Qh Ilim alone they can with sjrfety resii. From Him alone they derive all their value ami their beauty in the eyea of God. He loooketh in His lore and naercy at the Corner Stone. And all the atones, from whatever hole of a pit they raay have been digged,! that are cemented with the hJood of God, and united to this Comer Sttone,. are safe in &uch a union only : amd in that union partake the Fa- ther's k)T5e^ and sfeare the glory which, fc>r His own Name's, sake, He puts upon this honored stone. O^ Brethren I are ye built up in Hiro, united to Him by H\» own blood : clothed with His righteousness, filled with His grace? Then when He shall bring forth the headstone with shout- ings, crying, Grace, Grace unto it,J shall ye be sharers in the glory of the Living Stone. • 1 Pet. ii. 5. t Is. li. 1. t Zee. iv. 7. ff tasateS^^f—A 70 LECTURE III. f ♦.. But there is no salvation in any other ; there is none other name under heaven- given among men, whereby we must be saved, but the one only Name of Jesus. In making this so important declaration, the Apostle turns from the question of the cure effi cted upon the suffering body of a fellow creature, to point out the efficacy of the same way for the healiwg of the souPs diseases, and for the deliverance of his fellow-sinners from sin, and micery, and death. The one remedy for all the most desperate cases as w^ell as (hose that shew but the first symptoms of mortality, is the same, the Name of Jesus! There is no other way. Salvation is of the Name of Jesus only. There have been many ways, which either tlie unassisted darkness of the na- tural mind hath groped after, or a bor- rowed glimmer fiom the light of revelation hath disclosed 5 and there are many ways, LECTURE III. 71 which men, with the revelation cf God's way a their hands, have mingled up more in accordance with their ov/n wishes, their prejudices, or their pride, by which they hope, if God is the merciful Being they take him to be, to enter heaven : but to one and all, — to the frigid system of the mere moralist, and the motley mixture of grace and works, which others build upon, as well as to the dark gropings of the hea- then, it must be replied, Let what excel- lences there may be attached to your several plans, there is one argument destructive of them all,-t.hey are not the Lord's plan. His way is the Name of Jesus, and there is NO salvation in any other. To the ig- norant sinner, to the guilty sinner, to the aroused sinner, to the polluted sin- ner, the Name of Jesus is proposed as the sovereign cure. Look unto Him and be saved:* for He is made of God • la xlv. 92. m\ 72 XECTC3REI1I. Wisdom, and 3R.%titiB0«$nesB, aoad Saocti- ificalioQ, amd ilcdfimptioii, to every o»e tbaJt bdieveth m Hian.f G! then, Bretihren, let me urge «ffi you this (me thing, JBlxamine yowr^v^esj whe- 1i\er ye are in the faith J of Him. Try yurseives by scriptural Le&ts: aad the £*Grd give you graoe, that i&ndiug there is mo salTation in any other, ye may buiid upom thistlt only Name wiierehy ye can be ^Ted, the Name of JESUS. Il ; i t i,Cor. i. 30. t 2 Cor. xiii. 5. I ii i LECTURE IV, ACTS IV, 18—17. Now WHBK THKY SAW THE B0LDNEB8 OF PETER AND JOHN, AND PERCEIVED THAT THEY WERE UNLEARN- ED AND IGNORANT MEN, THEY MARVELLED ; AND THEY TOOK KNOWLEDGE OF THEM, THAT THBY HAD BEEN WITH Jesus. And beholding the man WHICH was healed STANDING WITH THEM, THEl COULD SAY NOTHING AGAINST IT. BuT WHEN THEY HAD COMMANDED THEM TO GO ASIDE OUT OF THE COUNCIL, THEY CONFERRED AMONG THEM- • ELVES, SAYING, WhAT SHALL WE DO TO THESE MEN? FOR THAT INDEED A NOTABLE MIRACLE HATH BEEN DONE B\ THEM IS MANIFEST TO ALL THEM THAT DWELL IN JERUSALEM ; AND WE CANNOT DE- NY IT. But that it spread no further among THE PEOPLE, LEf US STRAITLY THREATEN THEM, THAT THEY SPEAK HENCEFORTH TO NO MAN IN THIS NAME. Had we seen and known less of the clia- racter of the audience which St. Peter f 'I N 74 LECTURE IV. had just addressed, we might have surely expected a more powerful impression to have been made both by the intrinsic im- portance, and the solemn delivery, of His reply to their question. The direct charge upon them of the leading part they had ta- ken in the crucifixion of Jesus; the so- lemn assertion of the exaltation of that same Jesus, by the hand of God, to the head of the corner ; the repeated reference of the miracle they had wrought to the sole power of His Name, thro' iiiith in His Name; and the extended announcement that there was no salvation, — that is, ei- ther from present misery or eternal woe, in any other, since that was the only Name under Heaven by which they could be saved : these were important matters in themselves, and appear to have been de- livered with an earnestness, a boldness, and a zeal, which we should have thought likely deeply and savingly to impress the hearts of those that heard him. But wi% LECTURE IV. 75 are thus early taught the truth of what St., PauJ afterwards announced as characteris- tic of the Gospel, that not many learned, not many noble, not many mighty are called.* The same charge which was now made against these Rulers, and Elders, and High Priests, attended with the exhibiti-. on of the saving power of the Name of Je- sus, had already been addressed with won- drous efficacy, through the accompanying power of the Spirit of the Lord, to the. hearts of thousands of the common people. The number of those from among this class that believed in the Lord, had been just stated as amounting to five thousand men. But, with but rare exceptions, just enough to shew that there is no impossibility in the way cf the rich, the learned, and the great, this same Gospel appears to have been addressed almost in vain to the ex- alted in station, m 'ignity, in wealth, When, indeed, the je . isembled on the pre- • 1 Cor. i. U. m Wi 70 LECTURE IV. Jrcnt occasion beheld the boldness of Pe- tor and John, they marvelled. They won- dered at the mighty power with which the words of such unlearned men were clothed. They wondered at the moral courage, with which men, so unaccustomed to such scenes, were enabled to stand up in the face of so august an assemblage, and bold- ly to proclaim a Name which that assem- bly had already cast out, and which they now affected at least to despise. They marvelled to see such things. But their feelings were no otherwise excited, than to such a mere wonder at such an extra- ordinary event. No conviction seems to have fastened itself upon their mind r there was no pricking of the heart, no eager cry, Men and Brethren, what shall we do? But ah! how much isit so still. How ma- ny still are compelled to wonder at the trnnsforming power of the Name of Jesus, and to express an unwilling acknowledge- ment of the efficacy of that Name alone to if LECTURE IV. 77 n the support of the weak, the comfort of the cast down, and the turning the hearts of sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,* who yet are so fortified by self-complacency as not to feel, or so incased in prejudice as not to acknowledge, their own need of a change, and to apply as convinced sinners to the xNamcof Jesus. Men are not in- deed now urged in vain, in nominally Christian lands, to the bearing of the Name of Jesus ; since it were deemed un- charitable to deny the name of Christian to any that have been baptized, though their whole lives may have been practical denials of the faith of Christ. Nor, in- deed, if the faith of Jesus be compatible with worldliness of conduct, and the un- conversion of the heart, would it be true that there is any peculiar difficulty in bringing the learned, the wealthy, and the noble to such a faith as that. But • Acts, \xvi. 13. i ■ H 78 LECTURE rV. to that faith of Jesas which workf-th by love :* to that faith vrhose effect is seen in the change of the heart : to that faith which ieacleth to self-denial, to separation from the world, and the single devotion of body, soul, and spirit to the Lord's ser- vice, it must be painfully confessed, that either the higher temptations, or the stroziger prejudices, or the greater pride of the mighty, the learned, and the rich make them hardest to be brought. Kais^ ed by superioriiy of education, or guarded by the customs of society against the gros- ser vices which deform humanity, and ig- norant of that spirituality of God's charac- ter, which requireth truth in the inward parts,! and condemns as sin every aliena- tion of the mind from Him, and everv failure in that perfect love of Him which His law demands, they are harder to be convinced of their sinfulness, and to be shewn the necessity of that righteousness • Gal. V. 6. t P«. li. «, tficrURE IV. 79 of God, which is by faith alone upon all that believe.* Imbued, perhaps, with high principles of worldly honor, accustomed to the respect with which their fellow-men regard their talents or their worth, or sa* tisfied with the comforts, the station, the enjoyments which wealth provide*, ihejr are more difficult of access to the humbling truth, tnat as guilty sinners they need the blood of Jesus as much as the meanest and vilest of their fsllow-creatures, and harder to be taught the vanity of all things present, and to be led to the pursuit of that one thing, x^-hich alone is needful, l^hey can sometimes Wonder at the forti- tude, with which, in the most trying cir- cumstances of penary Or privation, the ad- ditional burden of an agonized body is en- dured ; they can sometimes marvel at the peaceful joy, in which the soul of tried and weary pilgrim is sustained hf faith in the loving arm of God, as seen reconciled • Rom. iii. 22. «t ('■ II 60 LECTURE IV. in Christ Jesus. They can sometimct marvel at the boldness and the fervor, with which men, ignorant in other respects, can give a reason of the hope that is in them,* and appeal to the law and to the testimony,! to the word and promise of the Lord, as the ground of their confidence be- fore God. But while they wonder, and arc in many cases constrained to confess that the power of the Lord has been pre- sent to effect the change they marvel at too often, alas ! their wonder results but in a confirmation of their prejudices, and the hardening of their hearts. The Chief Priests and Elders appear to have imagined, that in the tomb where the body of the crucified Jesus was laid, were buried all the dangers they had anti- cipated to their church and nation, from the continued exhibition of his pretensi- ons, and of the wondrous miracles by which they were supported. Imagine, then, their •1 PeJeriii. 15 f Is. Tiii. 20. LECTURE IV. 81 surprise, and we may sup '^r ,, i,. dismay as w II, at ptrceivinc; His place supplied by others manifesting the same powers; and not diverting the people's minds by nov/ pretensions, but exhibiting all their powers in confiruiation of His claims whom they had thought for ever • need. Ima- gine their surprise and their vexation, when, having their attention called to the Name of Jesus, and being led by it to look more earnestly upon the men that stood in the midst, they recognized them as disciples and followers of Him whom they had slain. " They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." They remembered them row as men whom they had seen with Him, when they laid wait for Him in the temple, to catch Him in His words. And in recognizing their persons, they could not but recognize their spirit- also, and perceive, that while the same miraculous power had been exhibit- ed by them in healing the diseased, there «• ■iri li.i' li IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3)

rbmisiag, and undecided ? Let me ask yoii, Brethren, by what signs men could take knowledge of you that ye have been whh Jesus; how may you be recognized as his spiritual followers ; how n»ay ye be manifested that ye are not the children of the world ? The signs and tests which ihe Lord hath given you are plain enough, Tbey that are Christ's have crucified the fieSh with its alFections and lusts.* If any maabe in Christ, he is a new creature-t If any man will come after me, let him ^eny himself, and take up his cross daily, und follow me.J By this shall all men 4£inbw that ye ate my disciples, if ye hav« love one for atiother.§ Love not th« ♦ Gill. V. 24. I Luke ix. 23. t2Cor. V. 17. § John xiiir 35. 1 LRCTURE IV. 9! ■ World, neither the things that are in Wve "World. II Know ye not that trie friendship of the world is enmity with God?1f O judge yourselves by those tests, examine yourselves whether ye Ic in the faith ; re- membering that every professor of yitjbl godliness, is as a city set upon a hill, and that to every one of tliem is in some degree entrusted the honor of the Saviour^ ■whose he professes himself to be. And, O! aim, by such spiritual communion with Jesus in His word and ordinances, at ha- ving His impress so stamped upon yo«, tiiat men may take knowledge of you that ye have been with Jesus. The recognition of these two Apostles, as having been followers of Christ Jesus, coupled with the undeniable nature of the miracle that had been wrought by them, and aided probably by some uneasy reflec- tions, with regard to the part they had ta- ken in the execution af the same Jesus, II 1 John ii. 45. IT Barnes iv. 4. Ill 92 LECTURE IV. ': ■« through faith in whose name the miracle of healin;; had been wrought, and ahiiost as 'Teat a miraclu been eflectcd in the chun- ged spirit of these unlearned and ignorant men, seems to have not a little disconcert- ed this dii^nified assemblage. At a loss how to act concerning them, they put them forth a little, that they might confer upon 80 important a nu^tter, as they evidently felt it. And now behold the principles of 'iN'orhHy wisdom, in operation aga'.nst the counsels of the Most High. They are o- bligcd nov; to confess, as thoy had before been compelled to acknowledge in the case of Christ himself,* that indeed a notable miracle was done; and that however their own inclinations might lead them to cast suspicions upon its reality, yet the publici- ty of the act, and the notoriety of his cha- racter and condition who had been healed, had so affected the minds of the people that had witnessed it, that an attempt to • Joha xi. 47. fli T ■^p ii^>"*p LF.cnrRR IV, 93 deny it would only expose the wenk-nt^ss of their ju^lgment, and the inveteracy of their rage. 8^ut what effect has the un- deniable nature of the miracle upon their minds ? Might we not suppose that it would lead theui to institute further enqui- ries, and, in a spirit of candour, to call for further proofs of the claims the Apos- tles grounded upon the exercise of such powers ? But when the God of this world hath blinded the mind, how dark the infatuation, how thick the cloud by which the judgment is perverted, and the true exercise of the reason impeded. Their only object is to prevent the spread- ing of the fame of such a miracle, and to check the progress of a cause, whose truth, their efforts against such a testimony in its favour strongly corroborated. Their de- sign was only how to put them down whom God would exalt. Their deliberate deci- sion was, that, though the Name of Jesus had been proved so powerful in a confess- If 94 LECTURE IV. 9 I' cdly good and benevolent work, and llio' the Apostles had declared their firm con- viction, that there was no salvation in any other, ana that this was the only Name under Heaven, given among men, by which salvation could be attained, yet they should be commanded, yea, and straitly threatened in case of disobedience, not to speak any more in the Name of Jesus. Flow weak in judgment, as well as vicious in principle, does such a determi- nation seem ? Yet we need not consider it as peculiar ir the Jewish assemblage, before which Peter and John had so bold- ly and faithfully proclaimed the Name of Jesus. It is a picture of the opposition which the natural man, undcir whatever outward aspect, has always made against the truth of God. There is an inability to ^oaiprebend the things of the Spirit of Gud, and a consequent inability to under- jstand and enter into the feelings by which '♦ LECTURE JV. 95 of as those that have received the Sph'it of the Lord are actuated, which always produ- ces weakness of judgment and error in principle, in the nature of the opposition by which they that love not the truth would check its progress. Or rather should we say, that there is a Mighty One dwelling on high, wiiose cause the truth as it is in Jesus is, who turns even the furiousness 01 men to U is praise, and refrains the fierceness of them. It was His over-ruling might-, v/hich caused the fame this miracle had altainod so to act upon the minds of ti»e chief priests and elders, as ^o repress the violence o^ their wishes a;.':ainst the infant cause of Christ. It is the same overruling power wliich now prevents the natural heart from those outbreakings against the simplicity of the truth a^ it is in Jesus, which, if the feel- inirs of that heart alone were consulted, would soon be manifested. But as the Lord looketh upon the heart, He seeth P^f HSF" m LECTURE IV. I H I' 'I ii I. ■ there the enmity against Flim, which still exists, in whatever way it may shew itself, or however its display may be controlled. And how awful must be the reckonin^r to Him, which every iieart must render, whose natural enmity to Him and to His cause is unsubdued, whose feelings un- changed, whose affections unrenewed ! And such is the heart of every one that has not fled to Jesus, of every one who is not in Christ, a new creature, having the Spirit of Christ, living by the faith of Christ, seeking only the glory of Christ, and looking for and hasting to the com- ing of the day of Christ. O Brethren, that day is coming : how shall ye meet it, whose hearts are yet unchanged, unre- conciled, unrenewed, ihisanctified ? Tlie day i' coming that shall burn as an oven,* when the Lord shall come and discern be- tween the righteous and the wicked, be- tween him that serveth God, and him that •Mai. iv. 1. LECTURE IV. 97 fierveth him not.f The righteous are they only who are clothed in the righteous- ness of Christ. And all that are not in Him by faith, are classed in one general description among the wicked. If then the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ?J O, le^ the yet unconverted sinner think of this, and ask himself solemnly this question ; and may the grace of God impress it, and bring you all and every one, my be- loved Brethren ! to that only refuge from the wrath to come, the Lamb of God, the chief corner stone, the only Saviour Je- sus. 41 .11 fMaU iii. 18. Jl Peter iv. 19. 1^) LECTURE V, ACTS IV. IS— Z2. AWD THEY CALLED THEM, AND COMMANDED THKM IfOT TO 8-PEAK ^T ALL NOR TBACH IN THE NAME OF Jesus. Hut Peter and John answered and *AID -UNTO THBM, WHETHER IT BE RIGHT IN THE BIGHT OF GOD TO HEARKEN UNTO YOU MORE THAN 'UNTO €iDD, JUDGE YE. FoR WE CANNOT BUT SVEAK THE THtNGB WHICH WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD. 'So, WHEN THEY HAD FURTHER THREATENED THEM, THEY LET THEM GO, FINDING NOTHING HOW THEY MIGHT PUNISH THEM, BECAUSE OFTHE PEOPLE: FOR ALL MEN GLORIFIED GoD FOR THAT WHICH WA« DONE. For the man was above forty years old, ON WHOM THIS MIRACLE OF HEALING WAS SHEWED. The result of the solemn deliberation, in which we left the Chief Priests and Scribes and Elders and Rulers engaged, is here before us. They called again be- fore them men who had exhibited the power of the name of Jesus, in healing the LECTURE Y. 99 diseased bodies of their fellow creature!^ and charged them to speak that Naro^ na more. Sad symptom this of their benevo- lence ! They called before them men, who had declared their belief that in the Name of Jesus only was salvation to be found, and charged them to speak that Name no more. Sad feature this of the blindness and perverseness of their hearts? Not only doth the Lord refrain the furi- ousness of man, but turns their very wis- dom into folly. The wisdom of this world ' is foolishness with God;* nay, in Ihii case, it is foolishness even in the eyes of man. But what was the effect of such a charge upon the hearts of the Apostles 1 What should we expect its effect to be, if he of whom they had so spoken, had been but a human friend ? Had he been one to whom they v/ere merely bound by ties of friendship or >: the salvation of their souls could on!y b© effected by their being brought to an inter- est in Jesus, they might Icl i them to His Name, through faith in His Name .J This faith iia 'Oh rrst, is, in all who are truly parlakers of it, a fiiith working by the same ]oivey§ which influenced the A- postles' hearts. The effect of this love will be, must be the same in all that are truly influenced by it. It will act upon all that are truly believers in Jesus, and have been made partakers of the preeious- Kkuss of Hiis salvation, in leading them to gjorjfy Jlim in all things, and in every thing, to aim at .setting forth His praise- This, doubtless, will be chiefly done in the fvthole tenoi' of the life, by acting, in the duties of life, upoc Christian principles; exhibiting, in the charities of life, a Chris- lian :feeling ; practising, in the habits of life, a Christian self-denial ; and maintain- ingy in the j^daiionships of life, a Christian XAQ^*i^'i^ §jGal.v. «. LECTURE V. Ill conversation and conduct. This silent preaching of a Christian life is certainly more powerful than all the eloquence, which words can embody in speaking the praise of Jesus, while the life is a con- tradiction. But where there is a Chris- tian life, can the lips be silent in the praise of Christ? Where the sinner has found Christ precious as his reconciliation and his peace with God, cnn his tongue f^ frain from speaking of Him in whom kb soul delightethl When the heart is Cull of love to Chiist, as it will be if the Spi- rit of Christ be there, will not Us abun- dance overflow in the words of prayer and praise of Christ? If so be that the soul hath tasted that the Lord is gracious,* can it refrain from inviting fellow-sinnera to come and see that the Lord is gracious, yea, to taste and see how ^ood the Lord is?t O! surely, my Brethren, it is a s^d symptom of the deficiency of the love of • 1 Pet. it. S. t Pa. xzx'iv, 8. I: ' I ''*f 11 \ 112 LECTURE V. Christ in the heart, when the name of Je- sus and His salvation are seldom and re- luctantly brought forward in the conversa- tion and intercourse. Surely we need no stronger proof of the unchristian nature of worldly pleasures and worldly society, than the fact how incompatible the menti- on of Jesus and His salvation would be with their enjoyment. If there be a time at which the things of Jesus are unsuita- ble, a pursuit in which the glory of Jesus is set aside, an occupation in which the mention of His name is ill-timed and inju- dicious, surely those so engaged are not like servants watching [for their Lord,* they are not ready for His coming as a thief in the night,t they have not their conversation in heaven, where Christ sit- teth.J And, surely, we can have no sad- der proof of the lukewarmness of profess- ing Christians, and of their deficiency in that love which is shed abroad in the heart » Luke xil. 37. t - rui. iii. 10. ^ PhU. iii. 20. LECTURE r. 113 by the Holy Spirit, than the reluctance and he;^^ ution and backwardness which are so often fuund about speaking of the things of Christ, and engaging in serious conversation. A standard of piety is but too generally set up, which comes far, far indeed, short of the pattern either of Christ himself or of His early Church; which admits of many compromises with the world, and allows a worldliness of conduct and a style of conversation differ- ent indeed from the scriptural model. And alas ! it is not alone the case with the worldly, but even with professing Chris- tians, that the charges to such self-denial, and living by faith upon Christ, and li- ving above the world, and doing every thing to the glorv of God, and in the Name of the Lord Jesus, as the Scriptures them- selves contain, are considered to have a savor of enthusiasm, and to be more spe- culative than practical in their nature. Ypf cnvnlv vvA mnv vpouv fn flip Snvloiir's l2 J ' I m 1 '^ )! tl 114 LECTURE V. declnration, whose truth every day's expe- rience must confirm that out of the abun- diince of the heart the mouth speaketh;* and can we help seeing from that truth, that if the heart were really at peace with God, and by the influence of the Spirit filled with His love, we could not but speak the things which we have seen and heard, we could not but speak o^ Jesus and of His love. If indeed our hearts were really fill- ed with the love of Jesus, not only would it no the an ef!()rt to speak of Him, but it would be pain to us to be silent, we ihould scarcely be able to reft'uin ourselves. It would be with us as with the prophet Jeremiah. 'M^ecause the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a de- rision daily, then I saiJ, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name ; but His word was in mme heart, as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was w^eary with forbearing • Matt. xii. S4. jP^*''* LECTURE y. 115 ' and I could not stay."* G, my Brethren, believers in Jesus, surely there is need that the Lord revive His work among us :t that the Spirit of the Lord come, and breathe njpon these dry bones, that they may live.J And for this He will be en- quired of. He will be entreated by His people.H Having then this confidence, that whatsoever we shall ask according to His will He heareth us,|| O, come ear- nestly and confidingly to Him through Jesus Christ, and plead with Him for the Spirit. O, wait on Him for a large mea- sure of His grace, that being no more conformed to the world, but being trans- formed by the renewing of your minds,§ and the restoration of decaying graces, ye may still follow after, if that ye may ap- prehend thnt for which also ye are appre- hended of Christ Jesus.** This reply of Feter had, however, no *Jer. XX. 8, 9. f Hub. iii. 3. JEzek. xxxvii. 9. , IT Rzek xxxvi. 37. I| I John v. 14. § Rom. xii. 2. ^«Phil. ia. 12. t -* i ; i! 116 LECTURE V. Other effect upon his hearers and judges, than to call forth the enforcement of their command by further threats. So treach- erous a monitor is the mere natural con- science, when unenli:>htened by the Spirit of the Lord. There was an appeal made to their consciences, such as we should have supposed they could not resist. But, however conscience might have v^hispcrcd of the strong ground of the Apostles' ap- peal, we see its effects no otherwise mani- fested, than in the increase of severity a- gainst the name they advocated, the addi- tion of fiercer restrictions upon the free- dom of their speech in His cause. Con- science, then, certainly^ performed not her duty here ; nor can it truly exercise an enlightened and spirituaV judgment upon things which relate to the kingdom of God. In the forfeiture of the Diviie im- age \Yhich was enstamped upon the new^- ]y formed man at his creation, conscience no longer, until the i^ • • 4-f- *-* r.-.rl and LECTURE V. 117 same image is renewed upon it by the converting grace of God, a fair reflection of the mind and will of God. This is not only so where by a couise of abandoned iniquity, the conscience has been seared ; but experience shews it to be the case in every unenlightened, unconverted man. It is a deficiency in the faithfulness of con- science, which, humanly speaking, makes it so difficult to convince sinners of their sin, and to make all,--the merely moral, however strictly moral, as well as the pro- fane or lewd,— to seethe need of a com- plete and thorough change of heart. Con- science fails in her part, and suffices not to bring home to the soul the sinful na- ture of every thought or desire, which wanders from God alone, and the pollu- ting nature in the sight of God, of every the smallest sin, be it only a wandering thought. It is not until the Spirit of God beo-ins to work, that the conviction of sin, is brought Lome with any power to the con- wlB, 'I IIS LECTURE V. I Jl science. Whatever strivings there may have previously been, and whatever unea- siness may have arisen from the suggesti- ons of conscience, even in its fallen state, it is only when the Spirit of the Lord comes in His power upon the soul, that the nail is fastened as by the Master of Assemblies, and the word of wisdom is as a goad* to urge the soul from its past wanderings and neglect of God into His spiritual service. When the power of conscience, and its sufficiency for the dis- cernment of right and wrong are asserted, the mind turns, for a sad denial of the fact, to the many deathbed scenes in which poor sinners are seen hurrying into eternity pro- fessing their readiness to depart, and wil- lingness to meet their Judge, on the mere ground of their never having done harm to anyone, and repelling all aUempts to con- vince them of their utter sinfulness and need of a Saviour's blood and His right- • Eceles. xii. 11. ML. m^ LECTURE V. 119 eousness to cover them, by the insuffici- ent plea of best endeavours, and sincerity of service. O, my Brethren ! if any s^ich are here, yet spared from the bed of death, tak« not such comforts as these to your bosom, bu% as the first step to real peace in Jesus, take the word of God, and, with earnest prayer for the enlightening influence of the Spirit of truth, judge your- selves by it. Bring your thoughts, your motives, your words, your actions, all to this test, and see whether it will leave you one thing to rest your souls upon. O, no! it cannot ; and when you find it cannot, may you be led to Jesus as the only Name 'Whereby ye can be saved. But while conscience is thus an insuffi- cient guide as to our spiritual state, when unenlightened by the Spirit of God, we see how far its influence does extend in this condition. The Apostles' judges threatened them, but their own consciences did leii tthem, that they had no sufficient 120 LECTURE V. 1 1 ground for any further proceeding. They found in them nothing how they might pu- nish tiiem, because of the people ; for from the age of the person healed, who had been above forty years a cripple, the mi- raculous nature of the cure was so pal- pable, that all men glorified God for that which was done. They found nothing how they might punish them. They could not charge them even with a deficiency of respect for them, still less with any real oflfence. The enemies of Daniel were forced to give a similar testimony to his character. " We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him con- cerning the law of his God."* Our Savi- our the Lord Jesus hath denounced a woe against His disciples, when all men should speak well of them,t and declared that they were blessed, when men should per- secute them.J St. Paul hath testified, *Dan. vi. 5. f Luke vi. 26. t Matt. r. 11. ^% LKCTCllE V. 121 that all that will live godly in Christ' Jesus shall suffer persecution.* And St. Peter declares to his disciples, that it is even hereunto they were called.f Vari- ous have been the modes in which, from the days of Cain and Abel, he that was born after the flesh persecuted hini that was born after the Spirit J But O, how important is it, that the Christian should look well that he suffer not as an evil- doer,|| and that he give the enemies of the truth no occasion at all against him, except concerning the law of his God. Be it reproach, be it injury, be the cross what it may, it is of all things necessary to remember, that it be borne for Christ^s sake. Ye have never been culled upon, my Brethren, to resist unto blood, stri- ving against sin.H It is not for man to say, however, but that such a day may yet come. And assuredly, though persecution • 2 Tim. iii. H. t 1 Pet. ii. 21. X Gnl. iv. 29. B I Peter iv. 15. H Heb. xii. 4. J 122 tECTURE ▼. may not be unto death, the more spiritu- ally, and decidedly, and consistently, and after the pattern of Christ ye walk, the more will the enmity of the carnal heart be provoked. But O, aim, my Brethren, by continual supplication for the Spirit of the Lord, and communion through Him with the Father and the Son, at being so conformed to the image of Christ, that none other offence can be taken at you than on that ground ; and that, whatev- er times may be in store for the Church of Christ, ye may with St. Paul, and in his spirit, be ready, if such should be the liord's will, not to be bound only, but also to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus!* • Act«» Kxl IS. s -: piritu- ^, and c, the I heart ithren, pirit of h Hitn ing so , that at you ^hatev- vhurch and in uld be only, of the LECTURE VI, ACTS IV. 23-31. AhD BKINO LBT OO, THBY WENT TO THEIR OWIf HOW- PANY, AND REPORTED ALL THAT THE CHIEr PniEBT» AKD ELDERS HAD SAID VNTO THEM. AnI5 WHKIC THEY HEARD THAT, THEY LIFTED UP THEIR VOICH TO God WITH one accord, awd said, Lord, thoo XRT God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is ; WHO DT the MOUTH OF THY SERVANT DAVID HAST BAID« Why riD the heathen rage, and tbe people IMAGINE VAIN THINGS ? THE KINGS OF THE EARTH utood up, and the rulers were gathered to^ oether against the lord, and against hi* Christ. For of a truth against thy holy CHILD Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, botk herod and pontius pilate, with the gentiles, and the people of israel, were gathered to- gether, for to do whatsoever thy hand awd thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lo!id, behold their threateninos: AND GRANT VNTO THY tEHVAWTS, THAT WITH ALL 124 LECTURE VL BOLDNESS TIIET MAY SPEAK THY WORD, BY flTRETCK- IIN'O FORTH THINE HAND TO HEAI^ ; AND THAT MIUNS AND WONDERS MAY BK DONE UY THE NAME OK THY HOI.Y CHILD JeSUS. AnD WHEN THEY HAD PRAYED, THE PLACE AVAS SHAKEN WHERE THET WERE ASSEMBLED TOGETHER 5 AND THEY WERE ALU FILLED WITH THE HOI.i GHOST, AND TUEY BPAKE THE WORD OF GoD WITH BOLDNESS. We have been encased, in our consider- •a"rt M ation of the previous part of this Chapter, upon a vieu' of the Apostles^ conduct, when brought before rulers and councils for the Name's sake of Jesus. We have seen, in this view, abundant proofs of the faithfulness of their Master's promises. They had no need to take thought, what they should say or what they should speak 5 for it had been given them in the name hour, what they should speak.* We have seen in this view abundant evi- dences of the change that had been etfect- ed in their own hearts, by the effusion of the Spiiit upon them. For they had been raised above the fear of them that could * Matt. X. 19. ^1 L. IXCTURE VI. ns HETCK- THAT If AMIS ZY HAI> 5 THET RE ALL. 8PAKK sider- apter, [iduct, •uncils B have of the imises. what should in the peak.* nt evi- effect- sion of d been could I till the body and then had no more thaa they could do, and had been enabled to act with a simple reference to Him, who can destroy both soul and body in hell,» fearing above all things to deny Him, — fearing, more than all their enemies' threats, the very idea of keeping back what the Lord had bid them speak. From this contemplation of the boldness nnd the firmness of the Christian character, in the presence of its foes, we turn as (o a subject of yet livelier interest, to a view of the sweetness and loveliness of that character, in the midst of brethren and friends. Being let go, because their judges could find none occasion against then), the Apostles Peter and John came nnto their own company. By their own conipan}^ is probably meant the same band of one hundred and twenty, which had ori- ginally assembled in the upper room at Je- rusalem,! after the ascension of the Lord • Matt. X. 28. t Acts i. IS, 15. ' - - r\ !« ^ 126 LECTURE Vi. • .1 Jesus. And there, in the mid^^t oftleir own friends, tbcir brethren and sisters in 4^hrist Jesusy they un' osom themselves, j»peaking of a!! that had befallen them, tell- mg of all that God had done by them, re« fH^rtng all the rage and threats of man ex- tited in opposition to the Name and raiise of Jesus. r There is a peculiar sati:.faction and com- Ibrt to the mind of man, in the assurance o( others' sympathy. The very joys which ddiight lis here attain a double sweetne.^« from their being shared by those we love. The very charms of nature, whieh attract and fascinate the gaze of the admirer of the b^jauties of the Lord's hand in His works, seem to be invesied with a double loveli- ness, if there be but a friend— a loved com. panion, by, to whom wq can turn and say, How beantifid this is ! . . , But if syn>palhy be thus the sweetener of joys, it is in a peculiar manner the so- lace oi^ the heart's sorrows. B9. the at- LECTURE Vl. 127 f their ers in selves, L, tell- ri, re- an ex- le «nil 1 com- urance wbich ;etness J love, attract ' of the works, loveU- d CQIil- rn aD(i . •> seien^r the at- Miction wbut it may, be tbe sorrow, which presses on the soul, so grievous as to de- fy the power of the sublimest motives, and the sweetest words to administer the balm of consolation ; there is in the tear of sympathy, in even the voiceless expres- sion of real feeling for the sntTerer, a com- fort which the most overburdened heart must open to receive, a soothiag sweet- ness which the most troubled spirit can- not reject. Yet there is no sympathy to be afforded by the most refined friendship, grounded upon mere human motives and cemented by mere human principks, which is to be at all compared to the fel- lowship of minds, whose kindred is the brotherhood of the Gospel. Judge not of this, ye who know not the Gospel in its sweetness ; whose hearts have never been engaged by the expansive power of the true principle of love to Christ, and know not the overflowings of its affections in the tender regard for all tlac members of 128 LECTURE VI. Be?" i I I -i\ i If 1 Christ, hi8 converted brethren and friends. Judge not of tliis, ye who recognize not the power of the Nair- *' Jesus, in the eniraiioment of the feeli. and affL^ctions of the soul, and have never found it to be as ointment poured forlh,* captivating the senses, and imparting the sweetness of its savor to all, whatever their eartlily lot, that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. It is a sweetness which they alone can know, who, not in name and form alone, but in the true feeling of affection, recognize as brethren and sisters, all that are truly be- lievers in the Lord Jesus, li is a fcllow- Bhip which they alone can enter into and enjoy, whose fellowship is with the Fa- ther and with His Son Jesus Christ;t T?ho are, not only in profession, but in spirit and truth, accustomed to come to the fulness of the Lord Jesus, and draw from Him the Spirit, and the Spi- rit's fruits, love, joy, peace, gentleness, •Cant. i. S. 1 1 John i. S. LECTURE VI. 129 goodness and truth.* But, O! to those that have thus known Christ, as their com- mon fountain of all light, and grace, and lift^, their common way of reconciliation to the Father, and of access to the store- house of His blessings, to the treasury of that loving kindness which is better than the life itself ; J there is a sweetness in mu- tual sympathy, there is a loveliness and a strength in the tie that binds their hearts, which the world cannot imagine when un- witnessed, cannot understand when seen. The strongest tie which binds mere earth- ly friends is liable to injury by every change of circumstances ; yea, even a friendship such as that of David and Jona- than, if it be cemented but by human af- fection, can at best last no longer than the grave. But that fellowship which is in Jesus among the members of His body, is one which is cemented by the blood of Jesus, for ihey are built up in Him as live- •Gftl. V. 32. :tP»-^»'»-^ 130 LECTURE VI. ii i i '] 'J 1 |i : t ' ' ■ - !!i ly stones in the same spiritual house rf it is based upon the love of Jesus : for it is because He so Joved them that they so love one another : J it is as enduring as the eternity of Jesus ; for as neither life nor de.Uh can separate them from His love,|| bo neither can it quench that love which is derived from Him, and shall have its fulness only in Him when united to Him in glory. The heart of a true believer in Jesus, however naturally prone to reserve and even to suspicion, is drawn out at once by the marks of true discipleship e- Yidenced by any one with whom he meets: and strangers to each other in the flesh, yea, those that have never seen each o- ther's face, know, and feel for, and sym- pathize with, and pray for each other, with a brotherly kindness and affection, which mere earthly friendships know not. It was to a sympathy such as this that the Apostles betook themselves, when they 1 1 Pet. ii. 5. } 1 John iv. 11. |) Rom. viii. 83, S9, LECTURE VI. 131 came and reported all that the Chief Priests and Elders had said unto them. A sym- pathy this was, not grounded upon mere personal attachment to ihem as men, not growing out of their situation as merely tried, and threatened, and imperiled men; but flowing from their common interest in the great salvation, and awakened now by their mutual anxiety for the honor of the Name of Jesus, their mutual sense of His preciousness to themselves, and their lively and longing desire, prevailing over all mere earthly motives, that nothi'ng might impede the course of the word of God, and interfere with the healing beams of the Sun of Kighteousness. A sympa- thy this was, not limited to a mere anxi- ety about the perils to which they were exposed, and to a desire of comforting them under their present trials ; but mani- festing itself in longings and in prayers, that above all things they might still be permitted to glorify the Name of Christ, 133 LECTURE VL ^i Mi I : 1 I'. m ■f whether it wern by life or by death, and in desires that whatever might be their temporal portion, whatever the cup that they must drink, the baptism they must be baptized with, they might be sustain- ed by the arm and comforted by the pre- sence of the Lord. In the manifestation of this sympathy, when their trials had been reported, we have a sweet evidence of a Christian spirit. They lifted up their voices with one ac- cord, in prayer to God. They spent not their time in mere condolences with their threatened brethren ; they let not their sympathies escape in the mere expressions of fellow-feeling ; but they eame with them at once to God, they joined with them at once and with one accord in re- ferring all their trials to Him, who knew exactly what they needed and had in Him- self all the supplies of grace, of comfort and of strength, upon which th I i ^' '!■ 1 N pulse, leading the whole company to break forth simultaneously in the very same words of prayer. Nor, we must confess, does there appear any sanction for the o- pinion, that they used on this occasion a precomposed form. The unanimity, we should suppose, was rather seen in the immediate manifestation of a desire to commit the matter in prayer to God, and in the heartiness of the response, by which the petition of some one of the num- ber was adopted by the rest. It does not appear to have been an occasion of public worship; but one of social intercourse and communion with the Lord and with one another. In this intercourse, they follow- ed at once the impulse made upon renew- ed minds by the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit, being led by His grace at once to seek the face of Him whose help they needed. To suppose that on all these occasions the Apostles and their company acted under miraculous influ- LECTUKJE VI. 137 fi' ence. would be to deprive believers in Jc- su« ij» the preseiat day of much of the ef- fea of their example. We may derive from a consideration af the petition with which they now ap- proached the throne of grace, some useful instruction. Let us observe, first, the invocation of the Deity with which their prayer begins; " Lord ! thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that in them is." A recognition such as this of the supremacy of God, and of His crea- ting and preserving power, is at all time* desirable, as an indication of the reverence and awe with which a creature draws nigh from such an infinite distance to ad- dress the Omnipotent Creator. Rut ther* are times, and those times of trouble, in which such a recognition of the overruling power of the Lord's providence is not merely expressive of awe and reverence foritUe Lord, but is peculiarly a source oi 1^0 iT ■* I % i ^ i| I n M i ,1 ■ 1 u 138 LECTURE VI. comfort to the soul. It is coDiforting to know when earthly comforts fail, and to express the knowledge, that their failure comes from the ordinance of the sovereign IjOrd, who withdraws such sources of con- solation that we may appreciate more fully the riches that are in Him. It is comfort- ing, when opposition or persecutions assail us from without, to know and to acknow- ledge the overruling power of God, by whom alone such things are permitted, by whom they are kept in check, by whom they are turned to work together for good to those that love God,* by whom they all, when they have worked His will, shall bo put to flight. In many a trouble, in many a tribulation, in opposition, even in perse- cution, the remembrance that the Lord HEiaNETiijt and that greater is He that is for us than the enemies, spiritual or bodily, that can be against usj{ is a com- fort, a stay, a rock, and tower of defence • Rom. viii. 23. f P*- xcviii. 1. X J John, it. 4. LECTURE VI. 139 to the soul. Thus did they,— thus may every believer in Jesus, approach the Lord, seeing His sovereign power enga- ged for their protection and final con- quest over all their enemies. Let us notice, secondly, the effect of the Spirit's grace upon their minds, visible in His having enlightened them to per- ceive and apply to their present circum- stances those prophecies and promises, with regard to whose reference to the Christ they were before as much in the dark as their unbelieving brethren. That game vail, which is still upon the hearts of the Jews in reading the Old Testament Scriptures,* clouded their view also of the meaning of the prophecies and types of that sacred Volume, until the illumination of the Spirit removed it ; for they under- stood not these things which the prophets had spoken at the first, but when Jesu» was glorified, then remembered they that •2Cor. iii. li. H' 1- ' ; ti • « i', t ft 140 LECTURE VL these things were written of Hm^ and that they had doae these things unto Hiai.* We fittd now, upoc ail occasiofts, a readiaess of apphcation of the sacred words of the prophets, whioh, as distin- tinguished from their former dulivess, can only be accounted for by the promise made of old, Thy children shall be all taught of God,t and by tJie later declara- tion of the Lord Himself, When He the Spirit of truth is come, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembranee.J The application which they make of the words of David is important, not alone as shewing us the scripture in wbio^h they found present comfort, but also as giving us authority to see in many other portions of the Psalms, which refer to the Lord's Anointed, a disti-nct relation to the Christ of God, the Holy child Jesus. He was the Anointed against whom th& •John xii. 16. t Is. Hv. IS. t Matt. xiv. 26. LECTURE VI. Ul kings of the earth stood up and the ruleri took counsel together,* reconciling their former differences, as Herod and Pilate did, over the blood as it were of an inno- cent victim, and uniting their vain rage, to bring upon themselves the guilt of what v^rithout the permission of the Lord they were unable to effect, but what the hand and counsel of the Lord had deter- mined before should be done.J He is the Anointed, of whom in many portions of that precious book the Royal Psalm- ist speaks, pointing our eyes continually to the Christ, as His own stay and shield, — marking in prophetic words the dealings both of God and man with Him the Christ, as the Anointed Mediator, Pro- phet, Priest, and Kii.g of His people,— and detailing most precious instances of spi- ritual experience, found in the intercourse of his own soul with the Lord's Anointed, such as the most advanced and enlighten- • Pa. ii. 3. X ^ct» iv. S3. w Mi ':|| { III U2 LECTURE VI. cd child of God may find it a high priyi- lege to be able to adopt as his own. Their use of these words of David is also important, as conveying to every believ- er, that suffers in that way for the Name's sake of Christ, the consolation which they derived from it. They saw that what had befallen the Apostles was a part of that one work of suffering, which Christ Himself underwent in His own body, and still does in His suffering members. Thus the Saviour himself addressed Saul, whose persecuting career began not till after the Lord was ascended irito the heavens, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ?♦ And sweet indeed is the consolation thus afforded to the tried follower of Christ, to know that in all his afflictions he is suffer- ing with Christ ; for it is a faithful saying, If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him : if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.f •Acts, ix. 4. t2 Tim. ii. n, 12. ;a: f LECTURl: VI. 14B But kt US) as we shall h^te liifte, ho- tice) thirdly, the object of their prayet*. We do not then find them, as we might at first thought have imagined, supplica- ting their Lord's protection against thfe dangers that threatened tbetii. We dO not find them pleading earnestly with the Liord to turn back the rage of their ene^ miep upon themselves 5 nor even to mani^ fest His power in frustrating the purposes of wrath, which men were forming against the preachers of the Name of Christ. Nay; wc find them leaving all these things to God, content either to be full or to be hungry, to abound or suffer need,* yes, and now really willing, if the Lord willed it, both to be boUnd and sulFet death for His Name's sake 5 but we hejrr their cry ascend with one accord to God, that He would be pleased to grant them ah inil^rease of boldness in speaking His word, and Infenifest Himself by stretching forth • Phil. iv. 12. :#. hi I ;)^ i i ', h-v U4 LECTURE VI. His hand, not to consume their enemies, as some of them had before asked permis- sion to pray,* but to heal the diseases of Iheir troubled brethren, to heal the rank- ling wounds of their enemies' malicious spirits, to heal the smitten consciences of those, to whom a sense of guilt in cruci- fying the Lord of glory might be brought home. Yea, still we hear them cry unto the Lord, not that honor might be put upon themselves, but that the Name of Jesus might still be magnified, and that signs and wonders might yet accompany the proclamation of that Name. Here then, my Brethren! we have a view of the object which is above all others dear to the Christian's heart, dearer than . his own advancement, dearer than his own exemption from suffering or sorrow, — the honor of the Name of (jhrist, and the in- crease of His Kingdom. Let me ask you, Brethren ! how dear is this object « Luke ix. 54. Ka S- LECTURE VI. 145 to you ? What evidence do ye thus give of the mind of Christ dweUing in the dis- ciples of Christ 7 O ! search and look, my Brethren ! that you may know that which is of all things most important to know, whether ye belong to Christ or no ! And let us lastly obssrve the answer to their petitions. " The place was shaken where they were assembled together : and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake the word of God with bold- ness." It appears probable, that there was some sensible manifestation of the Spirit upon this occasion, bearing the Lord's answer not to their hearts only but to their outward senses also ; that as they were gifted with the power of speaking every language on the day of Pentecost, so now by some similar communication, not probably of equally wonderful charac- ter, they were endowed with an additional degree of boldness in using those tongues to the glory of the l^ord. Yet, surely, I Vi ^ if: (, t I r r UQ LECTURE VI. the answer which they thus received, mi* raculous as was its nature, conveys to us the assurance tliat the prayer of faitb ahali enter into the ears of the Lord of Hosts ; and that, as the glory of His Son is so precious t) Him, they who particu- larly aim it) their petitions at the glory of tihe Saviour shall receive the blessing from the fiOrd, and righteousnesss from tjie God of their salvation.* Yes ! this is the confidence that we of the present day, as well as the immediate followers of the Saviour, may have in God, that if W^ ask any thing according to His W:1I> Hb heareth us.f .What a field for contemplation is thus opened before us, in the view of tho laord's manner of answering *he prayers of His people that call upon Him. The manner is ns various as is the variety of circumstances, of hab's of mind, of ne- ^^^sities, under which petitions asceod to , * . • P$. xxiv. 5. 1 1 John v. 14. LfiCTURE VI. HI His throne. But the matter of import- ance is, Brethren! do we know the fact,— have we ever had personal experience ia feur own cascj that the Lord of Hosts iM a prayer-liearing, prayer-answering God. What do ye, my Brethren ! know of Hir* ts suchl Have ye ever known the sweet f^rivilege of communion with Him; aiwt found Him pitiful to you, as a father piti. eth His children,* and heard His voice, in the dealings of His providence or of His grace, speaking to your souls 1 Have ye ever known what it is to commit all things to Him, to cast all your care upon Him, knowing that He careth for you ;t ai^<^ seeking only that Christ may be magnified in you in whatever way He pleases, have ye known the sweetness of an answer from the Lord, filling you with the Spirit, and giving you increased boldness in the faith ? Brethren ! these are privileges of the • Ps. ciii. 13. 1 1 Pet. V. 7. i ! * i^l ijl r: I! " ■ ! 'M S a I; il us LECTURE VL true believer, the self-denying, Christ-ex- alting disciple of the Cross. O, may the Lord give those that have enjoyed them grace to know and prize them more and wore ; may He this day commence the .work of such grace in all that have not yet been partakers of it, for the glory of the precious Name whereby alone we must be saved, the Name of Jesus. LECTURE VIL ?ACT8 IV. 83-87. Ajfb TH« MUI.'riTODE OP TttEM THAT BBLtEVISl^ WKR* OF ONE MEAllT AND OK ONE HOVV *. NKITHEH SAilD ANV OF THEM THAT OUGHT OV THB THINGS WHICK W-EiPOtfSESaKD WAS HIS OWN ; HOT THEV HAD ALL THIXGH COMMON. AnD WITH OllKAT I'OWKK GAVE 'THK AtOSTLKS WITNESS Olr THE 11 K8U Iin ECTION OfT THE LORD Jesus: and gkkat grace was upok i^iftjjM ALL. Neither was there any amonicI them that lacked : for as many as were pos- »jK>v8ons of lands* or houses sold them, Ak© RROUtiHT the prices OF THE THINGS THAT WERE SOLD, AND LAID THEM toOWN AT THE APOSTLE^* FEET : AND DISTR I UUTION WA« MADE UNTO EVERV WAN ACCORDING AS HE HAD NEED. AND Jo»EB, WHO BY THE APOSTLES WAS SITRNAMED BAUNABAa, (wttlCH 13, BEING INTE'RPRETKD, THE SON OF CON- i*0LAriON,) A LEVITE, and OF THE COUNTRT af" CYPRUS, HaViNO land, SOLD XT, AND BROUOriip THE MONEY, AND LAID IT AT THE APOBTLEs' FEET. o2 150 LECTURE VII. i I1 1 i I ( ■ ' i\ i i 1 1 t i - 7 || ' n\ ■f ■\ ^ 1 1 rj. In the portion of this sacred narratire whicli was made the subject of our last con- sideration, we traced the Apostles from their public exhibition of the principles of the Gospel in the face of opposition and danger, lo the sweetness of their retired communion with their great flead and with one another. We were permitted to gaze on them, as in their separation from the noise and tumult and hatred of the world they freely and unrestrainedly held converse with one another, and, in a sense of the trying circumstances in which they were placed, approached with reverence and awe, and yet with childlike confi- dence and love, the mercy seat of grace. It was surely a grateful contemplation to behold these tried men mingling their voi- ces with tlieir brethren in one harmonious accord of prayer to God, and to witness the tenderness of Christian sympathy with which as disciples of the sawe Saviour, children of the same Father, filled with LECTURE VII. 151 they the same Spirit, sharing the same trials, and travelling to the same home, they bore one another's burdens, and so fulfdled the law of Ciirist.* But there is now presented to our eyes a wider and more extensive contemplation still. It might have been that in the sym- pathy and brotherly affection, wit'i whick the little band of an hundred and twenty re«;arded their tried brethren Peter and John, there was much that might be supposed to be mere human feehng min- gled up. They had now for some two or three years been together followers of the Lord Jesus : they had together been the subjects of His tender reproof, His gen- tle admonition, His heavenly teaching: they had together been witnesses of, and we may suppose, been sharers in the contempt and scorn with which the Pharisees regarded Him, and all that believed on Him, and in the penury and the hardship of His suf- » Gal. vi. 2. i : t 1512 LfeCTUfefe Vll. i •fering lot, when he had not wherfe to lajr His head ; they had together shrurik from that fearful Scene, in which the Lord was delivered into the hands of wicked men; had together shared the comfort of His gracious message that they should go he- fore Him to G'^lilee; had together enjoy- fed those blessed manifestations of His presence after His resurrection, in which He breathed peace upon ihem ; and toge- ther had seen His precious form vanishing in the cloud, as He returned with the na- ture He had redeemed to His Pather^ii throne. Such a community of sorrow and of joy, df suffering and of exaltation, might well •indeed be supposed to have bound their hearts to one another in the strongest ties. Yet when we look to the more ex- tensive influence of the same principle oT 'love, and perceive it to have its operati- on, not alone upon the hearts of a few tri- ed and trusted companions and friends, LECTURE VII. 153 but upon the affections of a multitude, comprising thousands in its reckoning, we are surely constrained to feel, that it was no mere human principle which operated in such a manner, but that the Spirit of Jesus had been at work, impressing, the command of Jesus upon the hearts of those whom He had drawn to the Name of Jesus, and producing the testimony of discipleship of which the Lord had spo- ken, when He said, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another.* It was surely a blessed testimony to the power of Divine grace, and the truth ot the religion of Christ Jesus, that the multitude of them that believed in His Name were of one heart, and of one soul. The last account we had of the numbers of the believers presented us an aggregate of five thousand menf without reckoning their families. And to look from the professedly Christi- • John xiii. S5. f Acts iv. 4. 11 ill I » I ll-l f 154» t^CtURE Vrt. an world of the present day back to those times, doth it not seem more extraordina- ry than any of the miraculous exertions of Divine power upon the bodies of the diseased, that such a multitude as that, drawn from various grades, and situations, and circumstances, comprising persons of so many different nations, professions, and pursuits, was knit together as one man, — one in their love for God, one in their af- fection for one another, one in the aim of their life, one in the hope of their calling, one in the unanimity of their purpose, one in the prospect of their home. If this picture of unanimity of purpose, of feeling, and of affection were that which was generally presented by the early Church, well might it indeed draw forth the heathen's exclamation, " See how these Christians love one another !" Oh! how much have we to mourn, that the face of what is called tlie Christian world presents so different an aspect now ! G> those ordina- ertions of the I that, lations, sons of ns, and man, — iieir af- aim of jailing, se, one urpose, : which ; early V forth e how »' Oh! at the world LECTURE VH. J55 And yet should we take as the distinc- tive limits of the Christian world, not the geographical boundaries of the lands to which the Gospel of C^hrist Jesus has been brought, nor even tlie palings of the visible communions of what profess to ba Christian Churches, but the marks which Christ Jesus has himself set up as distin- guishing His disciples, a lively faith in Him, producing love to Him, denial of self, and separation from the world, as im true fruits, it may be hoped and trusted that the spirit of the Gospel, as evidenced in the conduct of the early Church, may still be found largely to prevail. It ought not to be so great matter of surprise, that when the large portion of the world have no more of Christianity than the form, and have undergone no change which distinguishes them from their fellow-crea- tures of two thousand years ago, but a change of name, — being called Christians instead of heathens, and having the form of \ ^ 1 H > ■". I 'i! 156 LECTURE VII. Christian godliness without the power,* — they should be so little distinguished by that which is the result only of the active influence of the Spirit of Christ upon the heart, a love for the brethren and follow- ers of Christ. For we repeat our belief, that ii will still be found, that even those who conscientiously ditfer on some points of divine truth, and yet hold the great essentials of the Gospel i evelation, not as matters of speculative belief, but of practical influence upon their hearts, will be found to hold their differences in a spirit of love ; and, in the great point of the increase of the Lord's king- dom in the salvation of touls, they will be stili as of one heart and soul m the singleness of their pursuit of the Lord's glory, the similarity of their views of Christ and dependance upon His blood and righteousness, and tlicir anxiety to bring all to whom God gives them oppor- • 2 Tim. Hi. 6. si I ■ • LECTURE VII. 157 'er,* — led by active on the follow- beliefj t even 1 some )l(l the slation, but of hearts, erences i great J king- ey will m the Lord's ews of blood iety to oppor- tunity, to the knowledge and love of the same Saviour. Yet, Brethren, however this may be as to the matter of fact, there cannot be a question of the obligation, which both the precept of Jesus and the example of those who were first and most purely in- fluenced by His precepts lay upon all that now profess and call themselves Christians, for the cultivation of such a spirit of universal charity towards all man- kind, and especially of such spiritual love and union with those who are heirs with them of the grace of life,* and have ob- tained the like precious faith with them- selves, through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.t No change of circumstances, no comparison of condition which can be instituted between the first ages of Christianity and the present day, can negative or at all di- minish the force of the Saviour's test of His. • 1 Pet. iii. 7. t.2 Pe«- >• ». m 'iV rli iS^ LECTVRE Til. fdllowfert,-*" By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have loVtf 0ne towards another;^' nor the weight of that commandment, which St. John states himself to have received from Him, that **h6 which loveth God should love his brother also.*'* The family of taie bre- threh and sisters of Chrisi Jesus is but dil6, and the family badge is not, we are eortstrained to believe, any difference of Ibrm, or distinction of denomination, but Ihe love of Jesus, and the single-hearted desire of His glory, shewn in humility of «J>irit, in the control of the evil tempers, the mortification of the flesh, and the ac- tive devotion of body, soul, and spirit, as Opportunity is permitted, to the praise and «6rvice of the Lord : nnd where that badge is found, there will the heart of th6 Irttfe Christian be drawn out in lov6, and l6iiderncjss, and affection, and sympathy, i« towards a menrber of the same family, a s JLECTURIS VII. IB9 pilgrim in the same wilderness, a fibareri^ the same trials, and a fellow-heir of the same glorious home. O! tpply then to yourselves, my Breth- ren, the test which the words of John svip^ ply you, We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.* Have ye this love for all your fellow-Christians ? Are your hearts thus drawn out towards all that give evidence that they are the children of God ? Are your affections interested in all that shew that they love the Lord Jesus, and seek His glory, and desire His praise, and ar* hastening towards His kingdom? It is an ^asy thing to say we wish for the welfare of all our fellow-beings; but does yovr conduct shew that your ruling principle if that love to (Christ, which manifests itself in a spiritual union of heart and soul with all that shew they love Him U>o 1 O, Brethren! the time is short; each day re*- * 1 Juboi iii. 14. «fW^ -■-■ 1 1 j ' i 1 • 1 \\\n ^ 100 LECTURE VII. minds us as it pa6:,es5 how short the time is, and hew needful it is, as we would be f^und ready to meet and welcome the Lord Jesus, to cultiv.-xte that spirit of love which we know characterizes the many mansions of our Father's house, and which constitutes so large a part of the operati- ons of His grace, who maketh His disciples meet for the enjoyment, as He has previ- ously given them a title to the possession, of the inheritance of the saints in light. The proof which these early disciples gave of the sincerity of their profession, and of the reality of their love for all the brethren in Christ Jesus, is one which cannot be mistaken. " Neither said any of them, that aught of the things that he possessed was his own, but they had all things common ; neither was there any a- mong 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 ^iL LECTURE VII. 161 Apostles' feet ; and distribution was mad« unto every man according as he had need.'' A demand of conduct such as this it was, which sent away gritved the young ruler that came to Jesus, desiring to know what good thing he should do that he might in* herit eternal life.* And from his day to the present, among the greatest enemies which vital godliness has to contend a- gainst in its appeals to the heart of man, is found pre-eminent the lore of money, the root of uli evil,t the love of the posses- sions, the comforts, the enjoyments, th# indulgences, the station, and the import- ance in the \ orld, which attend the pre- sence of wealth. It is not alone hf, whom even the world stigmati? s as a miser, with whose sordid love of \ e met* dust of the earth the principles of the Gospel 1 ve to contend but with th« Igye of wealth ui those of its forms, which •Luko xviii. I'S. T% 1 1 Tim. vi. If.. m LtCTVRS. VH. i i lii i ill It I w are by ike world considorod iu many ret- |«CU praiseworthy, and lo some of which Saian, transformed into an an^rel of light, brings an It is written, as their sanction* : Whtiii the Gospel triumphs o\er sucip a.n enemy as ihis, it brings wiih it ai onoe iUi fjlainest credentials as being the i>ower o( God. It shews the energy of the Di- vme Spiiit, introducing and inipres^inj^ (he saving doctrine of the cross of Christ u^n the hoart, that cross by which the ^orld h crucilied to the believer and be iwUo the world,* when the sinner is thus eanvinced of the utter uselessness of present things, except as they may be employed for the Lord's glory, and is so awakef>€4 lo a sense of his responsibility to God, as .l-^gards the possess,ions with which be haft ,l)©en endowed, as to say and feel that 4>cxne of the things which he has are bn .€»wnj but arc at the v«ry present iponkeat t . ♦Gal. vi. U. » m'^ I lECTURE Til. 163 y rei- ' which r light, !)ctioiu such i Oboe |>ower le Di* es-injt; Christ ;h the nil he s thu0 iresenit cloved [)t], as that re bk) Diikeqt Ihe I-*ord'B, «nd to be occupied tiH He cometh, with a simple reftrencc to His Name, at\d the benefit of HU creatures. The triumpli of tlie principlea .of the Gospel ovex that love of eas<> and indulgence of pride, and spirit of indcpen- .