who shall "tell him what he ought to do." When his messenger arrived, Peter had just seen a vision, in which he had been told not to call that common or unclean which God had made clean. He at once perceived that there was a connexion between the Centurion's messenger and the vision; and when he arrived, and heard Cornelius's words, he made the speech which is before us. The Epistle for Easter Monday, therefore, contains the first announcement of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ which was made to the Gentiles.

God is no respecter of persons (cf. 2 Chron. xix. 7; Rom. ii. 11; 1 Pet.i. 17); but in every nation, &c.] The Apostle was now realizing the truth that, though God's love had been a mystery, hidden in part from the Gentiles in past times, yet that it had from the beginning included all mankind. God's purpose was not changed now; only the time was ripe for the declaration of that purpose, to Jew and Gentile alike. The Apostle had not fully realized this before; now he perceives that in every nation those who have shown by their deeds that they desire to see God, have their desire. It matters not that they do. not belong to the stock of Abraham,—the word of salvation is sent to them.

St. Peter goes on to say that the word was sent first to the children of Israel, of peace through Jesus Christ. With the mention of this Name the Apostle seems, as it were fully to realize the idea for the first time that "He is Lord of All," and so puts in this parenthesis. Then he goes on to recount the great points of our Saviour's life.

Began from Galilee (cf. Luke iv. 14. vii. 17, ix. 6). The translation is right in substance, but the original is much more forcible. "The thing, the doctrine which was preached, was Jesus of Nazareth. Everything rested on Him, on His Divine Person, both God and Man. You were taught concerning Him, that God anointed Him." We notice that here, as in the Gospels, our Lord's ministry is stated to have begun with His Baptism (see note on Epistle for First Sunday after Easter). Why He was thus anointed and endued with power we are then told,—that He might go about manifesting His glory by doing good; healing all that were oppressed of the devil in soul or body (cf. Luke xiii. 16; Matt. xi. 2-6; Is. lxi. 1–3).

For God was with Him.] St. Peter is keeping hitherto to facts which were well known. His good works were seen and confessed by all: one devout Jew, at least, had used the very expression,-" that God was with Him" (John iii. 1). He now proceeds to say:-"What I have hitherto said is well known to you all; we are witnesses of what followed, of all things which He did in Judæa and Jerusalem, but chiefly of His Resurrection. That was the event which constituted the glad tidings which the world was now to hear,-that Christ was the Lord of Life, and that He brought Life and Immortality to light. Hence it is, that a student of the Acts of the Apostles will notice that the Resurrection is always the doctrine on which the Apostles dwelt. They said little or nothing of doctrine about Christ-only inculcated the fact as that which was the centre of the whole Gospel, that He had risen from the dead. Peter states by way of introduction to this great theme, "Whom they slew and hanged on a tree." We must notice the word "they." It was the work of the Jews, and St. Peter is addressing Gentiles (contrast his language to the Jews, Ch. ii. 23, iii. 14).

With regard to the Resurrection, it will be noticed that the Apostles were witnesses of it, not the Jews generally. They had not recognized Him as the

Christ of God, His Lordship over life and death would therefore have had no meaning to them (Luke xvi. 31; John xii. 37).

Who did eat and drink with Him,] Were therefore sure that He was indeed risen.

Having then seen Him risen, the Apostles were commanded to proclaim Him the Judge of the living and the dead. The belief in Christ the Judge goes hand in hand with the belief in Christ the Risen Saviour, and is continually united with it. God hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man (John v. 26; cf. Acts xxii. 31).

This then is the lesson which the Church teaches us in the Epistle for Easter Monday:-He Who rose from the dead shall come to be our Judge. Blessed shall they be who are able to stand when He appeareth.

TUESDAY IN EASTER WEEK.

Acts xiii. 26-41.

EN and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbathday, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead: and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I

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begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another Psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

WE had yesterday an account of St. Peter's first preaching to the Gentiles, and we saw there that the foundation of his preaching was the Resurrection of Christ. In the Epistle for to-day the Church has brought before us St. Paul's first Missionary Sermon. It was addressed to the Jews in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia. Having first shown how God had prepared the way for Christ in the Old Testament, he continues in the words before us (ver. 26), "Children of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God (i. e. any Gentile proselyte that there may be here), to you is the word of this exhortation sent."

He tells them how the Jews at Jerusalem rejected Him, and finally put Him to death (ver. 28, 29). Then comes the "word of salvation," But God raised Him from the dead. Notice the contrast between what man did and what God did · (cf. Ch. ii. 23, 24, 36, iii. 14, 15).

This then is the Gospel, that God hath raised up Jesus, according to what was foretold in the Old Testament. St. Paul in addressing Jews was careful to point out to them how their own Scriptures foretold the great event.

His first quotation is from the second Psalm, which foretells the victory of Christ over the nations. God has set His King upon His holy hill of Zion, has declared the decree," Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten (or proclaimed) thee."

St. Paul has shown in other places that the Resurrection was the proclaiming of Christ as the King; in that event He was "declared to be the Son of God with power," a King, and a Saviour (Rom. i. 4; cf. Acts v. 31).

The next quotation is from Is. lv. 3. In that glorious prophecy of Christ, mankind are invited to come to the fountain and drink of the water of life freely (read ver. 1-3). The fulness of the blessings promised lies in the words "I will give you the sure mercies of David," i. e. all the blessings assured to you in the covenant made with David. So then St. Paul says, "All the blessings which were thus promised, and which you fully expect because they are in your own Scriptures, are fulfilled in this,-that Christ is raised from the dead. Blessedness unspeakable for you and your children lies in that." Then he quotes Ps. xvi. 10.

Wherefore—i. e. because God hath promised the sure mercies of David, and these are all to be found in Christ-He saith, Thou wilt not, &c. The one, says the Apostle, follows from the other; God's sure and holy mercies are bound up in Christ, therefore God would not suffer His Holy (or sure) One* to see corruption.

It may be granted that David spoke primarily concerning himself in these memorable words, -he knew that he was in God's hands, because he set God always before him; therefore he knew also that God would hold him safe even in death, and would show him the path of life. Even so believed all the patriarchs of old, "for they looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." "But their faith was connected with their belief in a Person. "I know that my Redeemer liveth therefore in my flesh I shall see God." David's hope therefore concerning himself was based upon the hope in Christ, which he received from the Holy Ghost. "David," as St. Paul says, "served his own generation;" his hope sufficed for himself, and influenced his actions towards others; but it only concerned himself. The hope of mankind rested not on him; his words were not fulfilled in himself, they must have a universal application. They received it in Christ. He served, not His own merely, but all generations, seeing that in Him should ALL be made alive.

The first result of the Resurrection as being that which man longs for most, is the forgiveness of sins,-Justification. The Jews had commands given them by the Law of Moses: they could not obey them; there was always a sense of falling short. St. Paul tells them therefore that in the obedience of Christ they could find rest to their souls; He had obeyed for them, let them therefore

It will be noticed by students of Greek, that the same word is used where our version has "sure" and "holy."

have faith in Him, be clothed with His Spirit, and so have a share in His obedience.

Then their

And he concludes with warning them not to disbelieve this great doctrine. In believing it, they would find forgiveness and acceptance; in the rejection of it, they would be left without hope; for there is no other name whereby to be saved, but that of Christ. He quotes from Hab. i. 5, a passage in which the vengeance of God is foretold in the coming of the Chaldeans. fathers would not hear, and the wrath of God fell and consumed them: so would it be now. The "coming of the Lord" was at hand,--the day of vengeance on Jerusalem. Let them flee to Christ for succour, before the evil day should come.

We know that the greater part of them despised the warning, and wrath came upon them to the uttermost.

Thus again we see how the Church bids us to look upon the Resurrection of Jesus, and not to pass by it without heed. If we have no part with our Risen Lord, we are yet in our sins, and the wrath of God remains upon us.

Omit all

is.

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.

1 St. John v. 4-12.

HATSOEVER is born of God over

and the water, and the blood and these

is age we receive

victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world, but he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God? This is he that came
by water and blood, even Jesus Christ;
not by water only, but by water and
blood and it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For
there are three that bear record [in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:
and these three are one. And there are
three that bear witness in earth,']* the spirit

ness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life.

*It is now all but universally agreed by commentators that these words were not written by St. John. They are not found in any Greek MS. older than the 16th century. Internal evidence is also against them. Supposing them genuine, they could only be regarded as parenthetic; and it is very difficult to imagine that St. John would insert so solemn a statement of the doctrine of the Trinity in a parenthesis. The history of the words probably is that some writer of the 4th or 5th century wrote them as a gloss in the margin, and that some later transcriber inadvertently copied them into the text.

THE opening of this chapter may be summed up as follows:-He who believes that Jesus is the Christ--the Saviour of the world—is a child of God. A child of God will love his Father; and he who loves God will love all men, because they are his brethren. But how are we to know that we really love God? By asking ourselves whether we keep His commandments; for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. To do so is hard to those who do not know Him as their Father; but to those who do, it is not hard: for whatsoever

I

is born of God overcometh the world. Wherever anything or any person has been begotten of God, that thing or person may be sure of being stronger than an enemy of God. As far as he is of God, so far he is stronger than evil; the more he realizes his sonship, the less power has the world against him.

This leads us on to understand the next sentence. We have said, the more he realizes his sonship, the more he really believes that God is his Father, the stronger he is. St. John has so put it :-"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

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We will pause for a moment on the words world, and faith. The world," in St. John, always means the visible things of creation, on which if we cast all our care, we do evil. It is all that is opposed to God and the strivings of His Spirit, just as "Heaven" comprehends all which is unseen and eternal. Faith is the conviction of the reality of the things which are unseen. We do not, strictly speaking, believe in things which we see; we know them. We believe in things which the senses cannot recognize. We believe in God, who is invisible; in the redemption wrought by Christ; in His work of intercession; in the power of His Spirit to sanctify us and to dwell in our hearts, to direct and rule them. "Really to believe in these," says St. John, "is to overcome the world."

This is He who came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ.] It is probable, though not certain, that St. John is alluding to the fact recorded in his Gospel xix. 34. That fact was regarded by him as a symbol of the great doctrine which he is teaching here. He says that Christ came by (or through) water and blood, that is, He came bringing to men two signs of His Office and Work, namely, Water and Blood. His Baptism was the key to the first part of His Ministry. Then He was filled with the Holy Ghost and was proclaimed the Son of God. From that time He began His work, and went about proclaiming the Kingdom. But the Work was not complete: He came not by water only, but by water and blood. His death was the consummation and crowning point of the whole.

So to His people He has given the sacrament of water, of grace for the beginning of the Christian life; and of blood, the memorial of His death, the sign of grace continually given. He comes to us by both. The water alone suffices not. That typifies cleansing, as the blood is the pledge of Atonement made, and of continual Life given.

But there is a third testimony needed to complete the testimony of the water and the blood, namely, that of the Spirit. It is the Spirit that beareth witness. The sign would be of no avail unless there were a witness in men's consciences to its power. It was so in Christ's case. God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost and with power. It is so in the case of His people. The water bears witness of the life which He gives; the blood, of His atonement: the Spirit bears witness by actually renewing us in the spirit of our minds and transforming us into His own likeness. The evidence of Christianity lies both in its outward signs and in its inward power. It was well said by a late divine, "If you want a proof of the truth of our religion, I will give you a convincing one-Try it.”

For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in One. They are all different witnesses, but they all unite together to testify to the power of Christ upon the soul. The Holy Ghost within us, the two Sacraments without, all bear witness to our peace.