APOSTACY-Definition of. The canon law defines apostacy to be a wilful departure from that state of faith which any person has professed himself to hold in the Christian Church. J. Farrar. APOSTACY-Various Kinds of. The more ancient Christians distinguished several kinds of apostacy.-1. That of those who relapsed from Christianity to Judaism. 2. That of those who blended Judaism and Christianity together. 3. That of those who so far complied with the Jews as to communicate with them in many of their unlawful practices, without making a formal profession of their religion. 4. That of those who, having been Christians, voluntarily relapsed into Paganism. The perversion of Christian to Judaism, Paganism, or other false religion, was punished by some emperors with confiscation of perty; capital punishment was added, in later times, in case of the apostate's perverting others. The term apostate is in Church history applied by way of emphasis to the Emperor Julian, who, though he had been nominally Christian, when he came to the throne renounced the Christiar religion, and used every means in his power to reestablish Paganism in the empir APOSTLE-Meaning of. pro J. Farrar. The term is generally employed in the New Testament as the descriptive appellation of a comparatively smali class of men, to whom Jesus Christ entrusted the organisation of His Church and the dissemination of His religion among mankind. J. Brown. APOSTLES-Characteristics of. It was essential to their office-1. That they should have seen the Lord, and been eye and ear witnesses of what they testified to the world. (John xv, 27; Acts i, 21, 22.) 2. They must have been immediately called and chosen to that office by Christ Himself. 3. Infallible inspiration was also essentially nccessary to that office. 4. Another apostolic qualification was the power of working miracles. 5. To these characteristics may be added the universality of their commission. J. McLean. APOSTLES-Death of the. Matthew is supposed to have suffered martyrdom or was slain with the sword at the city of Ethiopia. Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria, in Egypt, till he expired. Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece. John was put into a cauldron of boiling oil at Rome, and escaped death. He afterwards died a natural death at Ephesus, in Asia. James the Great was beheaded at Jerusalem. James the Less was thrown from a pinnacle or wing of the Temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller's club. Philip was hanged up against a pillar, at Hierapolis, a city of Phrygia. Bartholomew was flayed alive by the command of a barbarous king. Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to the people till he expired. Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Simon Zelotes was crucified in Persia. Matthias was first stoned, and then be headed. Dr. Haven. APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. Apostolical succession, as taught sometimes, means simply this--a succession of miraculous powers flowing in a certain line. The true apostolic succession is-not a succession in an hereditary line, or line marked by visible signs which men can always identify, but a succession emphatically spiritual. The Jews looked for an hereditary succession; they thought that, because they were Abraham's seed, the spiritual succession was preserved; the Redeemer 'God was able of those told them that" stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” F. W. Robertson. APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION-Impossible. Apostolical succession is no more possible as a law for the Church than an equivalent theory would be in the world of art. Think of trying to institute in such a way the right and the gift of teaching beauty! Think of an hierarchical pretension in the artistic world, claiming that only the students upon whom Raffaelle, or Michael Angelo, or Murillo, or Rubens, or Reynolds, or West, or Turner, or Allston, had laid his hands, were rightfully consecrated and equipped to paint, and to educate the taste of men! By all means have studies, and studios, and thorough intercourse with the masterpieces of ages. But leave room for genius-its freedom, its new methods, and its fire. And do not try to conduct the potent and volatile essence of inspiration, which flows only from the laying on of God's hand, along the fixed methods of any confederation. T. S. King. APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION-Test of. Though you have a straight line of apostolic successors, if your work is poor, you are not in the line of succession; and if your church does not make full-grown men, it is not. I do not care anything about the line of succession of my grapes, if my vineyard brings forth better wine than your vineyard does. You may say that yours came from those that Noah planted; but they are not so good as mine, after all. For by their fruit ye shall know them. And the best of all churches, as of all orthodoxies, and all doctrines, and all usages, and all governments, is this-What is their effect upon the generations of men? H. W. Beecher. APPEARANCE—Judging by. Christianity as the religion of this Man, and His poor Apostles? But you are not to judge Jesus and His religion by the appearance, any more than nature and man. Righteousness is the only legitimate rule of judgment: "Judge righteous judg ment." John Bate. APPEARANCE-no Rule of Happiness. We are shallow judges of the happiness or misery of others, if we estimate it by any marks that distinguish them from ourselves; if, for instance, we say that because they have more money they are happier, or because they live more meager Were men to be guided by the appearance of things only, in forming their judgment, how erroneous and deceptive would it be! The sun would be no more than a few miles distant and a few inches in diameter; the moon would be a span widely, they are more wretched. For men are and half a mile away; the stars would be little sparks glistening in the atmosphere; the earth would be a plain, bounded by the horizon a few miles from us; the sun would travel and the earth stand still; nature would be dead in winter and only alive in summer; men would sometimes be women and women men; truth would often be error and error truth; honest men would be rogues and rogues honest men; wealth would be poverty and poverty wealth; piety would be wickedness and wickedness piety. In fine, there is scarcely any rule so deceptive as the rule of appearance; and there are multitudes who, in many things, have no other rule by which they form their judginent. Hence the errors of their speech and life; the ridicule and blunders into which they plunge themselves before the world. John Bate. I remember a pretty apologue that Bromiard tells: A fowler, in a sharp frosty morning, having taken many little birds for which he had long watched, began to take up his nets, and nipping the birds on the head, laid them down. A young thrush, espying the tears trickling down his cheeks by reason of the extreine cold, said to her mother, that certainly the man was very merciful and compassionate, who wept so bitterly over the calamity of the poor birds. But her mother told her more wisely, that she might better judge of the man's disposition by his hand than by his eye; and if the hands do strike treacherously, he can never be admitted to friendship, who speaks fairly and weeps pitifully. Bp. Tayler. If appearance were the only rule of judging, what would you say of Jesus in His humble birth; in His lowly training; in His fasting and temptation; in His servant-form; in His persecutions from the people; in His poor disciples; in His bloody sweat; in His base trial; His mock kingship; His ascent up Calvary; His crucifixion with two thieves; His dying exclamation? What would you y of allied by much more than they differ. The rich man, rolling by in his chariot, and the beggar, shivering in his rags, are allied by much more than they differ. It is safer, therefore, to estimate our neighbour's real condition by what we find in our own lot, than by what we do not find there.. Surely, you will not calculate any essential difference from mere appearances; for the light laughter that bubbles on the lip often mantles over brackish depths of sadness, and the serious look may be the sober veil that covers a Divine peace. You know that the bosom can ache beneath diamond brooches; and how many blithe hearts dance under corte wool! Dr. Chapin. APPEARANCE-no Rule of Inequality. You say that the poor man who passes yonder, carrying his burden, has a hard lot of it, and it may be he has; but the rich man, who brushes by him, has a hard lot of it too-just as hard for him, just as well fitted to discipline him for the great ends of life. He has his money to take care of; a pleasant occupation you may think; but, after all, an occupation with all the strain and anxiety of labour, making more hard work for him day and night, perhaps, than his neighbour has, who digs ditches, or thumps a lapstone. And it is quite likely he feels poorer than the poor man, and, if he ever become self-conscious, has great reason to feel meaner. And then, he has his rivalries, his conpetitions, his troubles of caste and etiquette, so that the merchant, in his sumptuous apartments, comes to the same essential point, "sweats and bears fardels," as well as his brother in the garret; tosses on his bed with surfeit, or perplexity, while the other is wrapped in peaceful slumber; and if he is one who recognises the moral ends of life, finds himself called upon to contend with his own heart, and to fight with peculiar temptations. And thus the rich man and the poor man, who seem so unequal in the street, would find but a thin partition between them, could they, as they might, detect one another kneeling on the same platform of spiritual endeavour, and sending up prayers to the same eternal throne. Dr. Chapin. APPEARANCES-Deceitful. They that seem best to the world are often the worst to God; they that are best to God seem worst to the world. When the moon is highest to the earth, she is darkest to heaven; when she is highest to heaven, she is darkest to the earth. So often men most glorious to the world are obscurest to the Divine approbation; others, obscure to the world's acknowledgment, are principally respected in God's favour. Man would have cleared the Pharisee and condemned the publican, when they both appeared in the Temple together-the one as it were in the choir, the other in the belfry; but Christ's judgment is, that the publican departed rather justified. T. Adams. The world is still deceived with ornament. In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But, being season'd with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil? In religion, What damned error, but some sober brow Will bless it, and approve it with a text, Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? There is no vice so simple, but assumes Some mark of virtue on its outward parts. How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars, Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk! And these assume but valour's excrement, To render them redoubted. Look on beauty, And you shall see 'tis purchased by the weight; Which therein works a miracle in nature, Upon supposed fairness, often known decencies. And even the complexion of some, with its red and white, is more unsubstantial than all the rest, for it is in danger of being washed away by the first shower. It is strange to meet people whose personal signification in life is that of a shop-window exhibiting lace and jewelry; strange to encounter men in whose place we might substitute a well-dressed effigy, and they would hardly be missed. Of course appearances should be attended to, and are good in their place. It is right that we should honour society by our best looks and ways. But it is not merely ridiculous, it is sad, to think how much in the street, where humanity exhibits all its phases, is appearance, and but little else. Dr. Chapin. APPEARANCE OF EVIL. A President Adams, the elder, was once within twenty miles of home when overtaken by the Sabbath. He had been delayed by impassable snow-banks. sickly family at home required his presence. His clerical friend, with whom he lodged, told him he thought the circumstances of his case would justify his travelling on the Sabbath. His reply was, that to those who witnessed it, it would have the appearance of evil, as they would be ignorant of the justifying circumstances. The friends of the Sabbath would be grieved to see him apparently disregard the sacredness of the day; and those who wished to be free from its restraints, would rejoice to have him to sanction their indulgence by his example. Anon. APPEARANCE OF EVIL-Abstain from. A thing may have the appearance of evil, and not be evil in itself, just as an apple may have the appearance of sweetness and soundness, and yet be both sour and rotten in reality. Why, then, are we to abstain from the appearance of evil? 1. Because the most judge by the appearance, and would therefore judge us wrongfully. 2. Because in this judgment our characters would be damaged and Christianity be defamed. 3. Because by following the appearance we should promote and encourage evil itself. 4. Because we are positively commanded. 5. Because it is directly inconsistent with the good which we profess. 6. Because by abstaining we neither go against conscience nor our interests. John Bate. A Christian is called to refrain from some things, which, though actually right, yet will not bear a good appearance to all inen. I once judged it my duty to refuse a considerable sum of money which I might lawfully and fairly have received, because I considered that my account of III. In the ark was the pot of manna; to show that in Christ is the life, comfort, and spiritual nourishment for our souls. V. The two tables of the law were in the ark, the ark kept them; which might signify Christ's keeping the law perfectly for us, and delivering us thereby from the curse of it. the matter could not be stated to some, to whom a different representation would be made. A man who intends to stand immaculate, and, like Samuel, to come for- IV. The ark had a crown of gold about ward and say, "Whose ox, or whose ass, it; signifying the majesty of Christ's have I taken ?" must count the cost. I kingdom, or His regal power. knew that my character to me was worth more than this sum of money. By probity, a man honours himself. It is the part of a wise man to waive the present good for the future increase. A merchant suffers a large quantity of goods to go out of the kingdom to a foreign land; but he bas his object in doing so he knows, by calculation, that he shall make so much more advantage by them. A Christian is made a wise man by counting the cost. R. Cecil. APPLAUSE-Posthumous. Great minds had rather deserve contemporaneous applause, without obtaining it, than obtain without deserving it; if it follow them, it is well, but they will not deviate to follow it. With inferior minds the reverse is observable; so that they can command the flattery of knaves while Eving, they care not for the execrations of honest men, when dead. Milton neither aspired to present fame, nor even expected it; but (to use his own words) his high ambition was "to leave something so written to after ages, that they should not willingly let it die." And Cato finely observed, he would much rather that posterity should inquire why no statues were erected to him, than why they were. C. Colton. ARBITRATION—Advantage of. Arbitration has this advantage, there are some points of contest which it is better to lose by arbitration, than to win by law. But as a good general offers his termis before the action, rather than in the midst of it, so a wise man will not easily be persuaded to have recourse to a reference, when once his opponent has dragged him into a court. C. Colton. VI. When the ark was set in the temple of Dagon, Dagon fell down and broke to pieces: so when Christ and His truth are set up in a man's heart, or a nation, sin and idolatry will go down. VII. Where the ark was there was the glory of God; and when that departed, the glory of God departed: so where Christ's blessed Gospel is, there is the glory of God, but when Christ leaves a people, takes away His Gospel, the glory of God goes from that people. B. Keach. ARMOUR OF GOD-Whole. It is reported, by the poets, of Achilles, the Grecian captain, that his mother, being warned by the oracle, dipped him-being a child-in the river Lethe, to prevent any danger that might ensue by reason of the Trojan war; but Paris, his inveterate enemy, understanding also by the oracle that he was impenetrable all over his body, except the heel, or small part of his leg, which is mother held him by, when she dipped him, took his advantage, shot him in the heel, and killed him. Thus every man is, or ought to be, armed cap-a-pie with that panoply,--the whole armour of God. For the devil will be sure to hit the least part that he finds unarmed; if it be the eye, he will dart in at that casement by the presentation of one lewd object or other; if it be the ear, he will force that door open by bad counsel; if the tongue, that shall be made a world of mischief; if the feet, they shall be swift to shed blood, &c. Spencer. ARK OF THE COVENANT-a Type of armour of God, that ye may be able to Christ. withstand in the evil day, and having done St. Paul. all, to stand. I. The ark was an assurance of God's presence amongst His people: so Christ is the cause and assurance, that God in a gracious way is present with us. II. Where the ark was there it was lawful to offer sacrifice, and nowhere else; which might show that our acceptance in God's sight is through Jesus Christ. Put on the WHOLE armour of God, that ARMOUR OF GOD-Use of the. 1 stored with every part of the best armour not be victorious over his enemies, nor will Of all the various parts making up the armour of God, there is none provided for the back, showing to us that the Christian warrior was never meant to run from his enemies, but fight the good fight of faith, that he may lay hold on eternal life; and also that if any opposition came from the rear, he might be stimulated and impelled to run all the faster towards his heavenly inheritance. Ibid. ASCENSION OF CHRIST-Design of the. Spirit of Life! with Thy pure love inspire My longing spirit as it upward turns,— Kindle and nurse to strength the heavenly fire Which in my penitence so feebly burns. 1. To confirm the prophecies. 2. To heaven may be said to have been an in stance of Divine simplicity and sublimity combined, which scarcely has a parallel. While in the act of blessing His disciples, He was parted from them, and was carried up, and disappeared behind a cloud. There was no poinp; nothing could have been more simple. How can the followers of this Lord and Master rely on pomp and ceremony to spread His religion, when He, its founder, gave no countenance to such appeals to the senses of men? Had some good men been consulted about the manner of the ascension, we can imagine the result. N. Adams. ASPIRATION-Boundless. O for a bliss unbounded! Far beneath Every man is born with aspiration. It does not develop in every man. Neither do half the buds in trees blossom. But they are there. And there is aspiration in every man, whether though it may not blossom. Aspiration you suspect or not, and means tendril, twining, or anything else by which one vines upward, holding on by the way to whatever will support it. Some plants take hold by winding around, some by little roots, some by tendrils, some by hooks, and some by leaves that catch like anchors. But these things take hold not for the sake of staying when they take hold, but only that they may climb higher. And so it is with men. We clasp things above by every part of our nature, one after another, not for the sake of remaining when we take hold, but that we may go higher. In other words, when in the crdinary experience of life we gain satisfaction, we do it almost only by feeding on each other. When we attain development, we do that in the same way. The soul feeds on soul, whether for satisfaction or development. H. W. Beecher. |