E. "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the Apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband."

M. In the first place, then, you see there was a profession of peculiar piety in the conduct of Ananias and his wife, which was quite uncalled for, and which, we are constrained to fear, must have proceeded more from a vain-glorious desire to stand high in the opinion of the Apostles, than from a real love to the name or the cause for which they were engaged. The Christians

were not obliged to part with their possessions; the Apostles did not demand it of them as a proof of their sincerity; on the contrary, the mark of honour conferred upon Barnabas shows that his liberality was as unlooked for, as it was gratifying.

E. But had not Ananias a right to keep the money which he had obtained by the sale of his own land?

M. Yes; a right to retain his property if he chose, but not a right to practise deceit. He need not have sold the land at all, and when it was sold, he might have used the money as he chose. There was no compulsion, as I said, to give any of it, certainly not to give all. The distress of the Christians was probably great, as it was occasioned by persecution, and it might call for extraordinary exertions; but to part with every thing for the sake of the Church, was distinguished charity, and, as such, was noticed in a distinguished manner in the case of Barnabas. Ananias's fault consisted in aiming at the character of a most distinguished and generous lover of the brethren (another son of consolation), without deserving it; nay, by deceit and falsehood. They wished to make a fair show of religion, and to be reckoned among the people of God; therefore they sold their land, intending perhaps at the time to give the whole value of it to the Apostles; but they did not count the cost beforehand, and when the time came for parting with the wealth which in their hearts they loved so much, their courage failed them; the sacrifice was too great.

E. And yet they still wished to have the credit of it? Their sin was certainly much greater than I imagined at first. I do not so much wonder at the punish

M. No; the cause of religion was at stake here, as it was in the case of Gehazi; of that religion, the foundation of which had so lately been laid upon the cross; the express object of our Lord's death having been to destroy the works of the devil. How would this object have been defeated, if the Apostles had encouraged sin in the Christian Church, or allowed it to pass unreproved! Might it not have been said that they, who called men to repent, were after all not so particular; or that for the sake of enriching the Church, they could be bribed, as it were, to wink at covetousness; or that, professing to be particularly guided by the all-seeing Spirit, they could, nevertheless, be easily imposed upon? Surely the success and honour of the Gospel demanded that such an attempt to pervert it, and to deceive its chief teachers, or rather its Divine Teacher, the Holy Ghost, should at once be met with a signal punishment. The punishment was an awful one; but awful was the offence, even against the Holy Ghost present in the Apostles of Christ. The miracles of the Gospel are for the most part of a gracious kind: we hear of life restored over and over again; but never of life destroyed till now; for punishment is God's "strange work."

E. I see now what the Apostle meant when he said to Ananias, "Why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?" It was an attempt to impose upon those to whom the Holy Ghost had given the power of looking into the secrets of men's hearts.

M. Yes; and he might also be said to "lie to the Holy Ghost," because he had made a vow or promise to God of the whole price of the field; he had consecrated the money to the service of God, and then

taken it back again; and, as this matter was known to no human being but his wife, and was entirely between God and his own soul, he is said "not to have lied unto men, but unto God." Ananias and Sapphira had seen the wonderful effects of the descent of the Holy Ghost, and yet thought they could deceive the Apostles, and that holy Being who guided them. It was an awful mistake; and they soon found that "God is not mocked." And that how fearfully! Ananias no sooner heard the words of the Apostle, than he fell down dead, and was carried out, and buried. And his wife, Sapphira, who came in three hours after, without having heard any thing of what had happened to her husband, having boldly repeated the same falsehood with her lips which her husband had told in his actions, she too fell down immediately at the feet of Peter, and was carried out, and buried by her husband. What an awful union was theirs! united in the works of the flesh, and united in "the end of those works, which is death."

This was a tremendous miracle, indeed! Who can read of it without trembling? Well might fear, great fear, come upon all those that heard it: a salutary dread, no doubt, of sin, and of the Apostles' power to punish it. It is "when God's judgements are abroad, that the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." Let us learn then, from this painful history, the danger of sin, and, in particular, of any kind of deceit or falsehood. "Lying lips are an abomination unto the Lord;" and so is every false way. May we utterly abhor them too! Those who allow themselves even in habits of insincerity, much more of falsehood, know not what they may bring upon themselves at

last; they may go on perhaps for a length of time unchecked, but sooner or later, some fearful Providence may check them in their guilty course, and overwhelm them with ruin for ever!

See Acts iv. v. 1-10.

FIFTH SUNDAY EVENING.

THE APOSTLES DELIVERED BY AN ANGEL.

M. We can easily imagine, Edward, that the last Miracle wrought by the Apostles, being of so awful and strange a character, would have a great effect upon the public mind. Being so unlike any thing they had ever witnessed before, it naturally attracted very general attention: not that the Apostles rested here. By "the terrors of the Lord" they had doubtless persuaded many to repent; and now they gladly return to those more gentle and winning methods which they were usually permitted to employ. Accordingly, we read of "many signs and wonders" wrought by their hands among the people, not in a corner, but, as it were, upon the house-top; for the Apostles now sought deliberately the most public places and opportunities for making known the Gospel. At this time, for instance, we find them all assembled in that porch or portico of the Temple called Solomon's; a place of public resort, as it was also a noble and spacious structure.

E. But was it large enough to hold all the disciples, now that they were become so very numerous?