and in the course which it behoves us to run. We whose mental vision is obscured by the walls of flesh which surround it, can have no conception how near they may be to us in spirit. What a blissful thought that we belong to the heavenly host of glorified spirits, who at this present moment are full of love towards us, and anxiously looking forward to our speedy reunion! And what a joyful thought for us, that we shall soon be with them through all eternity! Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!

As we

'It doth not yet appear what we shall be.' ourselves live here below in a mortal and imperfect body, and as our knowledge, even that which we derive from prophecy, is but imperfect; so also is the church of our Lord upon earth. Although as an everlasting covenant of peace, it is grounded upon the unchangeable grace and mercy of God our Savior, and preserves this truth as its most valued treasure, yet while here it is only the beginning, and not the fulfilment, although it looks forward to eternal life, yet outwardly, it is subjected to all the changes and chances of this mortal life; although secure of victory, yet it must always be struggling to attain it. The saints are commanded to perfect themselves here, till they all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,' Eph. iv. 13. He that has commenced this work is able to accomplish it, for we know that when he shall appear, the believers out of every nation shall become like unto him, for they

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shall see him as he is.' If the Lord, according to his promise, shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,' how much more shall he change and glorify his church, which is his own body! Then shall it become the church triumphant, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God illuminated by the glory of the heavenly Father. 'He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son,' Rev. xxi. 7.

We behold in the house at Cæsarea which was blessed with such grace and peace, a beautiful picture of the community of the Lord, which he has gathered together upon earth, and built upon an eternal foundation, as well as of that future church, which the Lord by means of his messengers, shall gather out of every nation, and tongue, and people, to praise him in heaven with unspeakable joy and happiness, for ever and ever. And we may well apply to this first congregation of God amongst the Gentiles, the words which Paul uses in comparing the law with the Gospel : • For if that which was done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious,' 2 Cor. iii. 11.

NOTES.

NOTE A. p. 14.

Augustine and Theophylact, with most of the modern commentators, think these to be the same person; and, accordingly, the word & Tais, Matt. viii. 6; which Krummacher supposes to mean child, is rendered, in our authorized version, servant, a signification which it frequently bears in classical Greek; from the great similarity between the attendant circumstances, there is every reason to believe the miracle as related in Matt. viii. 5-13, and Luke vii. 1-10, to be the same; on the part of the author there seems to be some slight confusion between the two narratives, which, however, can only be discovered by referring to the original.

NOTE B. pp. 14, and 75.

Another translation of this passage (1 Cor. i. 26,) has been proposed, which makes it much more consistent with the Apostle's argument, by merely substituting the active for the passive voice in the case of the words in Italics, (are called), which are not in the original, and which must, therefore, be supplied according to the translator's view of the context. Paul had been speaking of the sin of the Corinthian Christians in causing divisions by following 'Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas,' as leaders of parties, and affirms that there was nothing

St.

to recommend the Gospel either in the mode in which it was preached, as not being with wisdom of words;' nor yet in the preachers of it, such as the fishermen of Galilee,' and he adds, 'for ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, call you; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.' &c.

NOTE C.-p. 15.

British Theologians are divided in opinion as to Cornelius being a proselyte or only a devout Gentile; in Townsend's Arrangement of the New Testament, there is a very learned dissertation appended to Acts x. to prove that the Gospel was preached first to the Jews in Palestine; secondly, to the proselytes; and lastly, to the Gentiles:-to the second of which classes he supposes Cornelius to have belonged. Krummacher, however, thinks differently, and the reasons advanced by him are not without weight. Had he been a proselyte, Peter would not have hesitated to receive him into the community of Christians by baptism, nor would he have been called in question by his Jewish brethren for so doing, as the multitude said of those filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, 'We hear proselytes speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God,' Acts ii. 10, 11.

NOTE D.-p. 42.

In this circumstance, we may perceive, how Peter continued faithfully to observe the rules and customs of Judaism ; little aware that they were soon to cease and give place to the worshiping of God in spirit and in truth.' Many of the rites