taught; must have hated the sins which they denounced; must have loved the Gospel which they preached, and lived for that directed the hopes of others. ported by such conduct, was evidently that of honest

men.

heaven to which they Their testimony, sup

But it was not their own testimony only; the Holy Ghost bore witness with them. For whilst we admire and strive, even in our own humble sphere, to imitate their triumphant faith, let us still more adore the wonderful power of the Holy Ghost, which made them what they were, and which carried on the Gospel, conquering and to conquer, amidst such inveterate hostility on all sides. For it was not by human eloquence nor by worldly power, not by the pen nor by the sword, that our religion overcame the world: "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts1;" or, as the Apostles speak, "by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power:" that is, by open manifestation, through signs and miracles, that the Spirit of God was really with them. I could prove this to you from many parts of Scripture if our time permitted, but I will now merely mention a few striking passages which examine at your you may leisure. Such as Heb. ii. 4. Acts xiv. 3. 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5. Rom. xv. 18, 19. 2 Cor. xii. 12.

I told you that the Apostles were driven to Lystra and Derbe, other cities, as you will see, of the same province of Lycaonia; in which they did but fulfil our Lord's command-" When they persecute you in one city, flee ye into another "." At Lystra St. Paul

1 Zech. iv. 6.

2 Matt. x. 23.

healed a lame man who had been a cripple from his birth; which made such an impression upon the people that they exclaimed, "The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men: and they called Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Jupiter brought oxen and garlands, and would have offered sacrifices to them in the midst of all the people."

E. Yes; the heathens used always to crown their gods, and the victims offered to them, with chaplets of flowers.

M. And thus, you see, they would have worshipped the Apostles. So variable, Edward, is human opinion! The Apostles had come to Lycaonia as outcasts: now they are gods! and sacrifices are about to be offered to those who, a little while before, narrowly escaped stoning! Nay, more: wait a little, and these very people will join in stoning them! In the same city where St. Paul might have been worshipped, had he chosen it, as a god, he is presently stoned and left for dead!

E. Was it possible, Mamma?

M. It was, indeed; so fickle a thing is popular favour! How foolish, then, to live for it, or to make it in any degree a motive of conduct! Perhaps, if St. Paul had allowed himself to have been worshipped, he might have fared very differently. Men who come in their own name are often made much of; but not so those whose object it is to make known the truth, and to preach the name of Jesus. To worldly eyes there is nothing attractive in heavenly truth; and what the prophet said of our Lord is too true of His religion; it is "despised and rejected of

men'." You can imagine how distressed these devoted Apostles must have been, when they beheld those preparations for worshipping the creature instead of the Creator. The sight filled them with grief and horror, so that "they rent their clothes and ran in among the people, crying out and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you to turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven and earth, and the sea." And it was all they could .do, with words like these, to restrain the people from worshipping them.

E. And yet they stoned Paul; how was that?

M. It seems that some of their enemies from Antioch and Iconium arrived at Lystra just at this time, perhaps for the very purpose of renewing their persecution against the Apostles, and they persuaded the people to this cruel action. St. Paul, however, though stoned, was not killed. His cruel enemies after stoning him had dragged him out of the city, leaving his body probably exposed to the open air, intending that he, to whom a few days before they would have sacrificed oxen, should now be a prey to wild beasts or birds. But the disciples did not forsake him even in death, as it seemed to them; and, as they stood around his apparently lifeless body, the Apostle was restored, perhaps miraculously, to his sorrowing friends; for, to their great astonishment, "he rose up and came into the city." Thus unexpectedly "was their sorrow turned into joy 2" For awhile, however, St. Paul thought it better to leave Lystra, partly to

avoid his enemies, and partly perhaps to establish the Gospel at Derbe. There he succeeded in making a large number of converts; but, mindful still of those whom he had made at Lystra, he returned again to the place where he had been stoned, and from thence once more to Iconium and Antioch; exposing himself willingly to the violence of his enemies, for the sake of confirming and strengthening the souls of the disciples. Perhaps, he feared that the treatment he had met with might discourage them, and that it was of importance to see them again to cheer and comfort their spirits. But how did he do this? Was it by telling them that they need not look for such sufferings themselves? By hiding, at least in part, the real truth of their situation? No; not for a moment would the Apostle deceive them with any delusive promises but as Christ had taught him, so would he teach his converts to look for trouble in this world, and to make heaven their great concern! "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world:" these had been some of our Lord's parting words to themselves, and therefore they exhorted others "to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."

:

See Acts xiii. xiv. 1-22.

1 John xvi. 33.

173

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY EVENING.

CARE OF THE APOSTLES FOR THE GENTILE

CHURCHES.

E. What great care the Apostles seem to have taken of the Churches which they planted!

M. Yes; they watched over them with the most constant and tender concern; and this charge formed, it appears, at all times one of their heaviest anxieties; so much so, that St. Paul in one of his Epistles, after speaking of his varied sufferings as a minister of Christ, adds, "that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the Churches." It was in this spirit that, on leaving Pisidia, they provided the Churches there with a regular ministry, by ordaining elders in each 2, that is presbyters or priests, that they might each have their own pastor, and every flock its own peculiar overseer or shepherd. For Christ had given to His Church not only "Apostles "" to reveal to it the Gospel, or "Prophets" to expound the Scriptures, or "Evangelists" to preach the Gospel from place to place, but others who should be regular "pastors and teachers," constantly watching over the congregations of Christians, as shepherds over the flocks.

E. And when they had passed through the churches in Pisidia, where did St. Paul and Barnabas go next?

M. Into Pamphylia, where they preached the word at Perga, and then went down into Attalia, a sea-port town of the same province with a good haven. From

1 2 Cor. xi. 28.

2 Acts xiv. 23.

3 Eph. iv. 11.