are we exhibiting the greatest possible madness and folly, but we are adding guilt to guilt; for we have in addition to all our other transgressions, that grievous transgression of rejecting mercy when mercy has been offered. Seek then the Physician that the Gospel presents. And if any of you, and I trust there are many, have not only been convinced of sin, but have found a remedy in Christ, I would say to such, be thankful for such grace. There is no blessing in all the catalogue of God's rich mercies for which we have such reason to be thankful as the gift of his own Son. Express your gratitude to him for that gift, and show that you are grateful by consecrating yourselves to his service. Live to his glory, and seek to show forth his praise; and although we may be surrounded by much infidelity and iniquity, yet let it be our part to let our light so shine before God, that the wicked, seeing our good works, may glorify God our heavenly Father.

THE VISIT OF BARNABAS TO THE CHURCH OF ANTIOCH.

REV. F. A. COX, LL.D.

MARE STREET CHAPEL, HACKNEY, NOVEMBER 1, 1835.

Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad.”—Acrs, xi. 23.

THE history of the proceedings of the primitive Church, as they are detailed in the Acts of the Apostles, is of the most interesting description. We are introduced, upon divine authority, to a knowledge of their favours, their difficulties, their self-denials, and their happy successes. The first ministers of the Gospel, who were some of them also its first martyrs, devoted themselves with self-denying zeal and perseverance, to the great work of evangelizing the world; sowing the seed of the everlasting Gospel, which sprang up and bare considerable fruit in the regions of Asia Minor. It is instructive and important to observe, too, the peculiar manner in which the providence and grace of God were manifest in raising up and qualifying particular individuals for the performance of special and prescribed duties: and there is nothing more delightful in the history of the Church, from the first period of its institution to the present moment, than to trace this preparation in the course of providence, of particular persons for particular labours in the Church of Christ. "One star differs from another star in glory;" but every star has its appropriate light, and its appointed place, and combines with every other in the harmony of the external universe. Every member, and every minister especially, of the Christian Church (who are compared with these stars), has each his appropriate sphere of labour in the Church of Christ, and all in combination, by the grace of God, deriving their light from the great central luminary, from Christ himself, reflect it in their ministrations and labours upon the dark benighted world. Barnabas was a man eminently qualified in the primitive Church for the discharge of those duties to which he was called, and to which reference is made with regard to one particular service in the words of our text: Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad."

I shall take occasion from these words, in the first place, to specify the object, as well as the occasion, of the journey of Barnabas on this occasion: and, in the second place, to shew you the gratifying character of it. The object of his journey is distinctly specified in the connexion of the passage, when he went down to Antioch: and the gratifying character of the journey is intimated in the words of our text, "Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad "

Let us inquire for a moment into THE OCCASION AND OBJECT OF HIS Journey. We are informed distinctly, that the church at Jerusalem had its members scattered by the power of persecution, and that they went about in various directions to preach the Word; and "the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. How wonderfully God frequently renders subservient to his own cause, the vehemence and hostility of men whose efforts are in a contrary direction! They had thought by persecution to extinguish the infant cause of the Redeemer, and by scattering its disciples, to scatter its truths to the winds. But God renders this the very means for the more extensive diffusion of the Gospel; the wider spread of it, the sowing of it in those places which had been hitherto waste and desert, till the prophecy was fulfilled, "There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountain; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon."

Now when these individuals went forth in different directions, tidings came of their success, and word that the Lord was with them, " and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad." Barnabas, therefore, undertook this journey at the instigation, and under the sanction of the brethren at Jerusalem, who sent him forth upon hearing the tidings of the success of the Gospel in that country and region; and he went accordingly.

How different are the objects for which persons travel and journey! There are some persons who travel only for the purpose of business, to promote their secular concerns and welfare. We do not object to this; for we are exhorted to "be diligent in business" while we are "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." The religion of Jesus does not detach man from the sphere which Providence has assigned him, or deny our pursuit of those avocations which belong to ordinary life, and stand in immediate connexion with the comfort or respectability of existence. The religion of Jesus does not claim that we should withdraw from society into the desert and into solitude; but that we should fulfil our obligations and duties. Still the pursuit of secular business is not the highest object that we can conceive as the object of travel and journey; nor would the pursuit of business have been, in any case, an object so great and so important as that which was the occasion of the journey of Barnabas when he went down to Antioch, and to which this reference is made. There are some persons whose journeys contemplate individual pleasure, enjoyment, recreation, or self-indulgence. These, it must be admitted at once, are not the highest ends for which we might journey and travel. The highest purpose is that to which Barnabas consecrated his labours, and for which the brethren at Jerusalem sent him forth, which was thus to investigate the state, and trace the progress of religion: this was his great and glorious object. Barnabas went not to Antioch upon a mere matter of business; much less did he go, sent by the brethren of Jerusalem, upon an excursion of pleasure: but he went to investigate the state of religion; to look into a subject which was so powerfully present to the attention of the apostles, when tidings came from Antioch of the success of the Gospel which was preached and published there

I may remark, further, that there were some considerations which rendered it peculiarly proper and desirable to send Barnabas upon his errand. He was

in himself a man of discriminating judgment, and sound and elevated piety. He stood connected with these eminent brethren in the Church at Jerusalem. (We are running no parallels, but stating the fact with regard simply to this messenger of the churches, Barnabas, who was sent upon this errand.) The apostles made a wise and happy choice in sending one like him to look into these concerns, to investigate the state of religion there, and to consider the nature of those tidings which had reached their ears at Jerusalem. But there were proprieties in this arising from other considerations, to say nothing of the excellence of the character of Barnabas. These, of course, must have been contemplated by the apostles who sent him; but there were these considerations: sometimes reports are made to us from a distance, of the state of things, as it concerns religion, as well as other affairs, which are altogether untrue and unsatisfactory. Sometimes these reports originate in a way which we cannot well explain: but they do originate, they are propagated, they are sent abroad, they are circulated to a great distance. And when these reports are of a highly pleasing and gratifying kind, it is of great importance that an investigation should be established into their reality and truth, because sometimes reports which have been exhilarating, have proved to be, after investigation, altogether unfounded. Now when the church at Jerusalem heard of the progress of the Gospel, that the hand of the Lord was with them, and that multitudes believed and turned to the Lord in Antioch, it was evidently desirable, and was a proper step in them, to commission one of their number to go and investigate the truth of this statement, that they might not be deceived, but that they might rejoice if the tidings proved to be well-founded. Barnabas, therefore, went forth to Antioch.

Sometimes statements that are made, even with regard to the progress of religion, if they be not untrue are exaggerated. The passions, the prejudices, the self-flattery of men, and many other considerations and feelings, sometimes induce them, without any intention to depart from true and veracious statements, to make statements, which, as coloured by their own passions and prejudices, are substantially untrue, because they are exaggerated. Now when they heard such happy and wonderful tidings of the state of things in Antioch, and the progress of the Gospel there, it was natural, it was desirable, and it was wise, that they should institute a proper inquiry into the subject, and that they should send forth an individual on whom they could rely, to bring them tidings, or to give them information as to the real truth of these statements, whether they were exaggerated or not. Barnabas, therefore, went down to Antioch at the desire of the brethren, to communicate the fact with regard to these tidings, as to the reality of them, and as to their exaggeration or otherwise.

Then in the case of Barnabas there was another consideration. The mission of a person from an important body would be gratifying and encouraging to persons who were newly converted to the truth, and to the churches which were at a distance from their immediate residence. We cannot but imagine, that when Barnabas went down to the city of Antioch, from this important body at Jerusalem, composing the primitive church, from the apostles of the Redeemer, that he would be received with kindness and with joy, and that it would tend very much to the encouragement of those individuals that were associated in church communion there, to receive a person from them, to see the face of one

who represented them, and to hear from his own lips tidings of the state of things in Jerusalem, of the progress of religion there, of the intention of those eminent individuals with regard to the future, as well as to inquire into the facts and state of things as they had occurred in the city of Antioch. Barnabas, therefore, was commissioned for this important purpose by the apostles; and we are informed, "Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad."

These missions of kindness, and of benevolence, and of inquiry, therefore, are of apostolical sanction and origin, and the vigilance of those who composed the primitive churches, and their zeal, was apparent, and their self-denial was manifest, in commissioning individuals thus to go and investigate the state of religion in particular places, and to bring tidings thereof, that they might joy with the joys, and mourn with the sorrows of others, and that they might be enabled, in those spiritual conferences which they afterwards held together, to devise means, on the ground of well assured information, practically and immediately, for the wider extension of the Gospel, or the drawing closer together in the bonds of Christian fellowship, those who were dissociated by place, while they were united in love. Such was the occasion, and such was the general object of the journey of Barnabas, when he was sent down by the brethren from Jerusalem to Antioch.

I hasten now, in the second place, to remark, from the record of this passage, THE GRATIFYING CHARACTER OF THIS VISIT: "Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they whould cleave unto the Lord." You will observe, my brethren, that Barnabas found occasion for joy in seeing the grace of God. He might have seen many other things, but they did not attract his eye; at least, they did not attract his heart. He went down to Antioch for one object. He might have seen as he passed the beauties of nature, and in the city the splendours of architecture, and in society many things to interest or to entertain him; but what he most wished to see, and to ascertain was, the grace of God; and when he saw it, it made him glad.

But how could he see the grace of God? Why, he saw its effects; he saw what was the result of the operations of the Divine Spirit accompanying the labours of his faithful ministers and servants there. He saw religion, he saw purity, humility, faith, holy zeal, union, spirituality of mind and character, and a conduct becoming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This he saw; and in seeing this, he beheld the grace of God. How so? Because no natural principles could have produced these effects; because nothing but the Spirit of God can subdue and sanctify a sinner's heart; because in no one single instance can the sinner be converted to God, but by the omnipotent operation of his grace: and wherever that takes place, wherever an individual is converted to God, there we see, not the operation of human principles, but the undoubted proof of the grace of God. Who can turn man from the error of his way but God? Who can cleanse the polluted spirit but God? Who can sanctify and save the sou!, but He who shed his blood for the remission of our sins, and who gave the promise of the Father, which was fulfilled in the descent of the Holy Spirit