done in exceptional circumstances, was indeed worthy to be embalmed in the memory of a nation, and celebrated in a nation's song; but it was exceedingly dangerous to reckon it an example worthy of imitation in the letter. So, accordingly, we find that this sect of the Zealots, which at the first existed and acted out its principles with the consent both of the rulers and the people, soon degenerated into lawless pests. Their pretended zeal became a cloak for self-aggrandisement. They made it their business to stir up rebellion against the Romans, that they might profit by the confusion. They scrupled not to put to death prominent citizens, under the pretence of vindicating the liberty of the nation against those who were in correspondence with the oppressors, that they might enrich themselves with the spoil. During the siege of the city they stirred up tumult and faction within; and the national historian ascribes to them the chief blame of the disastrous issue of the war. From his surname we know that one of our Lord's apostles had belonged to this sect of the Zealots. This is all that the Scriptures tell us of him. The traditions concerning him are contradictory. They agree in this, that the first scene of his labours, after leaving Palestine, was Egypt. It is interesting for us to know that, while one tradition tells that he went thence to Mesopotamia, whence he passed in company with St. Jude into Persia, where they both suffered martyrdom, another traces his course from Egypt to Cyrene and Africa, and tells that, in his burning zeal, unquenched by storm and cold, he steered his course westward and northward to the British isles, where, at the hands of our idolatrous fathers, he received the martyr's crown.

The one certain fact which we have on Scripture authority-that he belonged to the sect of the Zealots-is, when we think of it, replete with instruction.

It is instructive that Christ chose one of his apostles from what in his time had degenerated into a turbulent political sect. The greater number of the twelve were indeed chosen, as the greater number of his followers in all ages must be chosen, from the plain, hard-working classes, who occupy no extreme position in society. But there were, at least, two of the apostles who belonged to what may be termed the exceptional classes. These two were called from opposite extremes of Jewish society. The one was a publican, one of the class that went to the extreme of not only acquiescing in the Roman domination, but of accepting office and emolument under the conquerors. The other was a Zealot,-one of the sect that went to the opposite extreme of continual overt rebellion against the Roman power, of turbulently and lawlessly seeking to assert the national liberties. The class from which the one was taken, was outlawed because it so entirely disregarded the sanctities of the Jewish law and the traditions of the nation, as to enter into alliance and hold communion with the uncircumcised. The class from which the other was taken, was outlawed because it carried its zeal for the law and for the national traditions to the length of lawless and bloody deeds of vengeance. The extremes met in this, that being both-though on opposite sides beyond the pale of respectability, they had sunk to the level of the estimate in which they were held. They had come to care for nothing but enriching themselves, by oppression and violence, at the expense of those who shunned and scorned them. Our Lord, who came to seek and to save that which is lost, did not fear to stretch out his hand to the publicans on the one side, and to the Zealots on the other. He did not shrink from the reproach of lack of patriotism, through being esteemed the friend of publicans and sinners. Nor was He hindered, by the danger of being suspected of sedition,

from calling a Zealot to follow Him. No class is beyond the pale of his allembracing sympathy. There are gates to the heavenly city that look toward the east and the west, the north and the south. On one gate is engraven the name of Matthew the Publican, on another the name of Simon the Zealot. All are welcome-those, alike, who through covetousness, and those who, through fanaticism, seem farthest away and most deeply degraded. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.'

It is further instructive, that one of Christ's apostles was specially the representative of zeal. Our Lord called more than one of his disciples from those who were distinguished by zeal for what was wrong. He numbered one of the Zealots among the twelve apostles; and he who was born out of due time, but was not a whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles, was one who, concerning zeal, persecuted the church. That same apostle, who knew and himself exemplified more than most the spirit which should distinguish the followers of Christ, thus assigns the reason why his heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel was that they might be saved: For I bear them record, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.' Those who are zealous for what they deem true, even though it should be for what is inconsistent with Christianity-nay, even those whose zeal is to destroy the Christian faith-have in them that which can be made most subservient to the cause of Christ. The Saviour is able to redeem and regenerate their misdirected zeal, to baptize it with his Spirit, and to direct it to what is for the honour of his name and the good of his cause; and when thus it is purified, it is a noble offering to lay on his altar. In the records of God's kingdom, under the former dispensation, we find that zeal had a most important place. The great deliverer and lawgiver of Israel, before he was called to his high office, had displayed his zeal by smiting the Egyptian whom he saw oppressing a Hebrew. The priesthood of Aaron's house was declared a perpetual priesthood because of the zeal of Phinehas. The representative prophet could truly say, 'I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts.' The best of the kings-David, Hezekiah, and Josiah-were distinguished for their zeal in fighting for the honour, or labouring for the reformation of the kingdom of God. And Nehemiah, the restorer of the waste places, and the reformer of the nation, disorganized by the long captivity, was distinguished by the same characteristic.

Though it appears under the new dispensation in mellower and purer form, zeal is an essential feature of Christian discipleship. He who is our great Example began and closed his ministry in Jerusalem by an act of zeal. With a scourge of small cords, He drove the traders from the temple, overturning the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves. He was clad with zeal as a cloak. His disciples remembered that it was written of Him, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.' Among the earlier disciples, besides this Simon the Zealot, there were two who were called Sons of Thunder, and who, in their zeal for their Master's honour, would have had fire come down from heaven to consume the village whose inhabitants would not receive Him. There was another whose zeal made him draw his sword and smite the high priest's servant in the garden of Gethsemane. Among later disciples this grace was highly commended, whether it was exemplified, as at Corinth, by vehement desire to vindicate the purity of the church's communion, or, as in the same church, by munificent liberality in behalf of the poor saints. The only one of the seven churches of Asia to whom there is not one word of commendation mingled with the

Lord's reproof, is the church of Laodicea, which most signally lacked this characteristic. To it He says, 'I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, I will spue thee out of my mouth.' His exhortation to it is summed up in this word, 'Be zealous therefore, and repent.' It was thus not without meaning that, among the apostles, in whose various distinctive characters we see representatives of all the prominent features of the Christian's life, our Lord numbered one who was the special representative of zeal.

It were well for the church of our time if the character of this obscure apostle were more earnestly studied. Amid all the bustling activities of the church, there is, I fear, a lack of that zeal which burned in darker days, when, in Reformation struggles, or under the banner of the Covenant, she was called to resist unto blood, striving against sin. What zeal for ordinances was displayed when the wells of salvation were springing only on moorland and field, and when they could only be reached, as was the well of Bethlehem by David's mighty men, through blood! What zeal for truth and liberty was displayed, when our ancestors forsook fathers and mothers, and wives and children, and brothers and sisters, and houses and lands, and went forth to do battle against fearful odds for Christ's crown and covenant!. There is as much call for zeal now as then. We need the ordinances as sorely as did they, we who live amid the distracting bustle of a money-making, moneyloving time,—and yet we come to them irregularly and observe them listlessly. There is as much call for zeal now as then-now, when iniquity is coming in like a flood, when the mass of ignorance, squalor, and unbelief at our doors is gaining ground upon us, and when the church is growing old and well stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. Would that He who came to send fire on the earth would kindle his fire of zeal amongst us, and by the breath of his Spirit fan it into brighter flame! It is yet further instructive, that of him who among the apostles was the special representative of zeal, we should learn from Scripture nothing but his name. We cannot doubt that he whose temperament had led him to join the sect of the Zealots, would, when he became a Christian, be very zealous in his Master's service, and yet he has left no visible monument of his zeal. It is not essential to true zeal that a man make himself prominent. It is, indeed, only a spurious zeal that seeks to assert itself, like that of Jehu, when he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and took him up into the chariot, and said,. Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.' The purest zeal is often to be found in lowliest paths of Christian usefulness. The intensest fires are not always those that send the farthest gleam. Many a Christian's career, that began brilliantly, and attracted the notice of crowds, has come to an untimely end; while humble and unnoticed servants of the Master are holding on their way, revolving in their appointed orbits round the Sun of Righteousness, and moving with increasing rapidity as they draw nearer to Him, like the planets which move with accelerated velocity as they approach the sun, until at length they burn with his fire and find rest in his bosom. Let us not wait for wide platforms and public spheres wherein to display our zeal. Let us do the work that is given us, let us accept the position the Master has assigned us, and therein let us be zealous in his service. Our names may find no place in the records of the church on earth, our deeds may be forgotten here, but they will be remembered when the books are opened; and if we have been faithful in a few things, He will make us rulers over many things.

B.

EARNESTS OF THE POWER OF PREACHING.

It was in the City-halls of Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, in places hallowed by no memories of past worship, by no consecrations to divine service, where, after the early persecution, the first assemblies of Christian worshippers were held. There were many things in those old buildings out of harmony with the purpose of those who met in them for Christian worship. The architecture, the ornamentation, the very furniture were pagan. Statues of the gods and busts of the deified emperors ranged up on every side. The buildings were used for public business, were, in fact, courts of law; but, in the ordering of Providence, it was there, and not elsewhere, within walls in which nothing that was external had associations for the Christian life, that those first public and lawful assemblies of Christians met to hear the word. They were still a people only emerging from obscurity. They were coming up out of clouds of obloquy and persecution, a new, untried power in society, to front a world lying in wickedness, and in the ear of that world to announce a divine purpose of social regeneration.

Endeavour to form some idea of the world which preceded that time.— It was still the Roman empire. The wide reach of that empire included Britain, the Rhine, the Danube, the Euphrates, and the northern seaboard of Africa. The Mediterranean Sea had become a Roman lake.' On the shores of this vast lake lived and worshipped nations tributary to Rome. At the beginning of the Christian era, with the solitary exception of the Jewish nation, the whole circle was ignorant of the revealed word, and grew up to idolatry. Countries, shores, mountains, woods, and streams, and cities were consecrated to false gods, and believed to be their dwellingplaces. Every trade had its tutelary deity. Every event in life was under the care of a separate celestial power. Games and arts and battle-fields were, in the closest manner, interlaced with the popular mythology. Rich temples crowned the brows of rocks, and nestled in woody dells. Shrines, from which audible responses of the gods were alleged to be given forth, were established at commanding points. Powerful priesthoods were leagued together to serve and support those resorts of devotion. Devoted worshippers brought the homage of their affections and their means, and laid them on the altars. As in all pagan nations, the temple and the state were bound together by law. Laws, armies, civil institutions stood like walls around the shrines. And all the currents of national existence-all the fears, and hopes, and habits, and prejudices of the people-streamed out continuously in their defence.

When Christian worshippers met in the City-halls of the empire, nearly the whole was changed. The temples were razed; the shrines were forsaken; the deities had become the jest of crowds. The world had changed its faith, its principles, and its aims. Churches stood in the squares of Imperial cities. The citizens were moved, often to madness, by their interest in Church affairs. Look at that Roman army going forth to battle before this change took place. Examine its banners, its arms, its watchwords: they are all pagan. Look at that same army after the change. It has exchanged its pagan banners for Christian ones. Where the images of Roman gods had been stamped upon their armour, you would now see symbols of the Cross. The men go into a Christian church to be blessed before going out to battle: they return to it to pray when the battle is over. I do not suppose these soldiers had been converted. I do not assume them to have been other than

rude fighting men. I am only pointing out the visible marks of a mighty change. But these marks could never have impressed themselves in this way if the change itself had not previously taken place in the inner and hidden regions of the empire's life. Externally, things might only seem to be changed; but at the heart of the empire was a real core of Christian life, moulding and re-shaping the souls of men, and bringing new thoughts, new feelings, and new ways into the life of man upon the earth.

This change, so vital and widespread, so full of seed for the future, was the result of Christian preaching.

A few preachers-men of simple hearts, undistinguished hitherto had left their homes in Judea three centuries before, and gone forth, despised and persecuted, into the midst of all that idolatry and pagan life. They went forth in the power of the testimony of Jesus.' They went direct from the grave of their Master. They stood up in the towns and countries. They visited, and simply testified of what they had heard and seen. They carried the strange tale to human ears, that a divine Saviour had been in their company, had been crucified for the sins of the world, had been dead and buried, and was now risen, alive, and on the throne of heaven. They proclaimed the gospel of the resurrection to a dying world, to a world whose institutions were in the grasp of death, and whose hopes were limited to this earth. In their Master's name they offered eternal life to men and an immortal blessedness beyond the grave. And power went forth in their preaching. And the heart of the world was changed; and the fashion of the world's countenance was altered; and paganism began to give place to Christianity; and new hopes, new fears, new principles, new aims took possession of the human soul; and humanity entered on a new career.

A thousand years roll on. The Roman empire has buried its Cæsars and crowned its Popes. All Europe is under their sway. A domination more potent, more deeply-rooted than the old Romans ever knew, rested on the European mind,—a domination intense and terrible, grasping human life from its birth onwards, and retaining its grasp for eternity itself. No man was free; no nation was free. Europe was a great whispering gallery,' and every whisper found its way to the ear of the Papacy. Kings, armies, peoples went and came as it gave commandment; and they went and came in darkness. The darkness which rested on the world at the coming of Christ had returned. Christianity as an universal influence was all but dead. The most horrid blasphemies usurped its place in the minds of men. The truth itself was confined to a few humble and unnoticed districts of the earth; but it was a crime to spread its light. Light was un-Catholic, un-Papal, un-Roman. The people were debased and blind. The ministers of religion were steeped in profligacy and vice. Men mumbled over some Bible names, but their mumbling was idolatry. Jesus was no longer King. Dead saints and martyrs were enthroned in his stead. His cause was virtually dead.

Such was Europe at the close of the fifteenth century. Such was then the Christian faith. No cause was ever more completely lost among men than the cause of Christianity at that time. Before the next century had closed, the cause was regained; and at the close of the century following, the darkness was broken up, the bondage loosed, and the universal Pontiff a mere Roman king. Light rested on men's hearts and flashed from their faces in the intercourse of life. The nations drew new energy from the change, and started on a new career. Life, society, art, commerce received new principles, and were animated by new vitalities. Nobleness, humanity,