THIS passage is the continuation of that which we considered last Sunday. We saw there that St. James exhorted his hearers to receive with meekness the engrafted Word, that is, Christ and His law. He now continues,—" It is not enough for you to hear about the Word; to hear without obeying is self-deceit. Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only" (cf. St. Paul, in Rom. ii. 13). The words are a warning not to think that hearing the Law of Christ with the outward ear, or receiving the outward Sacraments of Christ, are sufficient,— Christ's Law must be obeyed; He must be "formed in us" (Gal. iv. 19). For if any, &c.] The Word of God shews us what we ought to be, and what we are. But, if a man see his spiritual face in it, as he beholds the face of his birth in a mirror, and then turns away to other pursuits, with no heed to what he has seen, he straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into, &c.] The Greek word translated "looketh into," implies "bends himself down so as to gaze carefully." The same idea is conveyed in Ps. i. 2; cxix. 97. The law of liberty, of emancipation from evil, of obedience to God, "whose service is perfect freedom" (cf. Gal. v. 13). He who contemplates this law, and continueth therein, shall be blessed in his deed (Matt. xii. 46-48; vii. 24-27). If any man among you think himself religious.] The word " religious " means "observant of the outward service of God," "attentive to his religious duties." This passage is a very remarkable and telling one, coming from St. James. He was outwardly the most religious man in Jerusalem, according to the Jewish standard of religion (see Introduction, p. 31). Yet he tells them that this is of no use alone. If a man bridle not his tongue, if he drown the voice of the Invisible Lord and Teacher with the sound of his words and the tumult of his passions, then he is deceiving his own heart, and his religious service is vain. But by doing the commands of the Invisible Lord, they would be confessing His authority and their relationship to Him; that would be religion towards God and the Father. And His commands are, Mercy and Charity; they form the worship which He most loves (Is. lviii. 6, 7; Micah vi. 8; Matt. xxv. 36-43). Any service without these is unclean. The fatherless and the widow are under God's especial care (Ps. lxviii. 5, cxlvi. 9). Charity towards them was much needed in Jerusalem at that time (see Acts ii. 44, vi. 1, xi. 30). The pure and undefiled is evidently in contrast with the ceremonial purity and cleansings of the Jews (see Mark vii. 4-8; Heb. ix. 10; Matt. xxiii. 25-27). To keep himself unspotted from the world.] The world, with all that it contains, is a snare to us all; we are all tempted to live for it, to be enticed by its evil lusts. It is a source of continual defilement to us. By our new birth we are raised above the world; are made citizens of a better country. Therefore, our part is to live as citizens of heaven, and keep ourselves free from earthly pollution (see John xvii. 15; 1 Tim. v. 22). THE ASCENSION DAY. Acts i. 1-11. THE former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the Apostles whom he had chosen to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion, by many infallible proofs; being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the king or, con stituted by dom to Israel? And he said unto them, The former treatise is, of course, the Gospel. It gave an account of all things (i. e. all things which the Evangelist deemed to be necessary for the instruction of Theophilus) that Jesus began to do and to teach. The word "began" expresses the determination of the author to go back to the very beginning, and so to make the chain of Sacred history complete. His gospel of Jesus Christ begins with the angel appearing to Zacharias; the Acts of His Apostles with the Ascension of their Lord to the right hand of God. On that day He gave commandment to them whom He had chosen. On this latter expression compare John ii. 23–25; xv. 16. This command, or charge, He is said to have given by His Holy Spirit (cf. Acts xx. 28). This is one of the offices of the Holy Ghost to the Church, namely, to instruct its teachers. He shewed Himself alive, &c.] Matt. xxviii. 17; Luke xxiv. 30, 43; John xx. 26, xxi. 13; 1 Cor. xv. 6-8. Being seen of them forty days, i. e. at intervals during forty days, as the Greek expresses. He appeared to them from time to time, to demonstrate, on the one hand, the reality of His resurrection, on the other, the fact that, though they had known Him after the flesh, yet henceforth they should so know Him no more. He appeared and disappeared suddenly. During His appearances He spoke of things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, i. e., apparently, shewed them the fulfilment of the Old Testament in Himself (Luke xxiv. 45), and bid them hope for the Spirit which should guide them into all truth. We can certainly trace a great spiritual growth in the Apostles during these forty days; the soil was preparing for the reception of the Father's Promise. It is noteworthy that the present is the only passage which fixes the date of the Ascension as forty days after the Resurrection. He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem. Obedience, patient waiting upon God; these were the first duties required of the Apostles for their mighty work; to "stand still, and see the salvation of God" (Ex. xiv. 13). Moreover, it was needful that there should be an outward Unity in the Foundation of the Church. The disciples would go forth into all the earth, and be separated; but, first they were to be anointed with One and the Self-same Spirit. So the Prophet's words would be fulfilled, the Law would "go forth from Sion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem." The promise of the Father is called by our Saviour a Baptism. The baptism of John involved a confession of sin on the part of the receiver, but not the taking away of that sin; nor, by consequence, the giving of a new life. It was not a baptism of regeneration. But he told those who came to him,-" He who cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." The words of our Saviour, therefore, which are before us here, shew that the fulfilment of John's words were now at hand. The Apostles were to be baptized with the Holy Ghost, "not many days hence." This baptism would purify them from evil, and give them power to go forth as the heralds of life in Christ. The Christian Church, the body which was ordained to be the witness of Christ's Redemption, was to be born, to begin its life, through the incoming of the Spirit of Life. When they therefore, &c., i. e. at some meeting like that recorded in Luke xxiv. 36. They asked Him," Wilt thou at this time restore again [or, as Dr. Wordsworth renders it, 'fully establish'] the Kingdom of Israel?" The question shows how much they still needed the grace of the Holy Ghost to enlighten them. They still regarded the Kingdom of Christ as a visible kingdom, with earthly Jerusalem for its capital city. His answer bade them leave such questions to God. It was enough to know that Christ's Kingdom would come. He had bidden them to pray for it. But both the belief and the prayer led them to look up to God as the Fulfiller of the Promise. He had established the times and the seasons by His own power; in His own time His will would be established. Meanwhile it was sufficient for them to be assured that they should receive power by the gift of the Holy Ghost. In this power they should become witnesses of the Lord "in Judæa, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." These latter words might serve to mark a three-fold division of the Acts. The Apostles "received power," (Ch. ii.)—were witnesses at Jerusalem for about three years (Chs. iii.-vii.),— then the Gospel was preached throughout Judæa, and in Samaria (viii.). Saul's conversion (ix.) and St. Peter's vision formed the preparation for the complete extension of it. The answer was calculated to show them that their idea of the Kingdom of Christ was an insufficient one. It was to extend not over Israel only, but to the end of the earth. While He was speaking, He was taken up. It is not, "He vanished out of their sight," as at Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 31). They saw him lifted up from the earth, carried higher and higher, until a bright cloud hid Him from their gaze. As they watched Him with longing eyes, two angels appeared to them. The suddenness of the vision is expressed in the "behold!" The angels bid them gaze no longer, but return to do His bidding. He had commanded them to bear witness of Him to the world. When the work was done, when His will was accomplished, then He should come again, as suddenly, as visibly, as He ascended. This, then, is one of the lessons for Ascension Day. He who ascended, shall come again to judge the quick and the dead. ST. PETER, as we have seen in the Introduct on, is writing to his scattered countrymen to prepare them for the downfall of Jerusalem, their centre of unity. His exhortation will apply to us, equally as to them, seeing that we also look for the end of all things, when Our Saviour Christ shall come from Heaven to judge the quick and the dead. The end of all things is at hand, for death comes swiftly. Therefore it behoves us to be sober, thoughtful, earnest of mind (cf. 1 Tim. ii. 9.), and to watch unto prayer (cf. Mark xiii. 13; Eph. vi. 18). And above all things, since all duty rests upon Love, since Love is the fulfilling of the law, and without it "all our doings are nothing worth" (Collect for Quinquagesima), we must have fervent (or " continuous ") charity, stretching out from the beginning of life to its close, for charity covereth a multitude of sins. This is a quotation from Prov. x. 12. It is also quoted in James v. 20. But how does it cover them? By hiding our neighbour's faults, as far as we can, from one another, by preventing sin, by making intercession for sinners in prayer. Alford excellently says, "It is a truth from which we need not shrink, that every sin which love hides from man's sight, is hidden in God's sight also." Use hospitality without grudging (cf. Rom. xii. 8). And not only so; besides hospitality in worldly things, we are exhorted to communion in the gifts of the Spirit. Each man, even as he received a gift, that is, any gift of the Holy Spirit (Rom. xii. 6; 1 Cor. xii. 4), even so minister the same one to another. You are members one of another, the same Holy Spirit is given to you as a body, each man has his own gifts of that Spirit. They are intended for you to use for the common good; they are not your own, you are to minister them as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. The Greek word for "manifold" is the same that is used in Eph. iii. 10 (see note on it, p. 65). He gives instances. The power of speaking as a preacher, or with tongues, is a gift of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. xii. 8). He who speaks is to speak as the oracles of God. He is to hold his gift in such reverence, with such a sense of responsibility, that he shall treat his words as committed to him by God, and therefore necessary to be spoken most carefully. If any man minister, whether money or power of heal ing, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, i. e. let him also look upon it as an ability committed to him by God; to the end, that God in all things may be glorified. God is glorified when the praise and thanksgiving which are His due are given to Him. And he who ascribes all his powers and gifts to God is thus praising Him. The Apostle adds, through Jesus Christ, because as all gifts come to us from God through Our Lord Jesus, so the ascribing them to God through Him is the proper way of rendering honour to God. To whom, i. e. God the Father. Amen is here the expression of the Apostle's strong feeling as he meditates upon the great love of God manifested to us through Jesus Christ. 1 distributed WHITSUNDAY. Acts ii. 1-11. THEN the day of Pentecost was fully W come, they were all with was found that language. founded, because that every man heard in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven1 tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. [Now when this was noised abroad,2] the when this multitude came together, and were con 2 Now sound went abroad, And they were all amazed, and marvelled saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews, and Proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. THE disciples (about 120 in number) had spent the days which followed our Lord's ascension in unceasing joy and praise as they waited for the fulfilment of His promise (Luke xxiv. 53.) When the day of Pentecost was fully come, the feast both of the first-fruits of the harvest and of the anniversary of the giving of the Law, they were all with one accord in one place. What place it was is not stated; probably it was that large upper-room in which the Lord had kept His last Passover and the Apostles had chosen Matthias (Mark xiv. 15; Acts i. 15). And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind. The blowing of the wind was from the beginning a symbol and token of the presence and operation of the Holy Ghost (Gen. i. 2; Ps. xviii. 10, civ. 4; Ezek. xxxvii. 7-9; John iii. 8). And there appeared unto them tongues distributed. They parted themselves off like streams from one source, and were distributed upon each. This appearance, too, had its counterpart in the Old Covenant, in the lightnings which were seen flashing through the darkness of Sinai (Ex. xix. 18). But both phenomena were but outward signs of an inward change-they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. There is a special significance apparently in the season which was chosen for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Pentecost was, first, the feast of the ingathering of |