on God's blessing," thus uttering a truth implanted in every mind, but especially with regard to our spiritual life, which may be compared to the field that God cultivates. All depends on his influence and blessing, without which we can do nothing. 'Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God,' 2 Cor. iii. 5. How could we come to God if God had not first come to us, and enlightened us by his presence! He must bless our labor, and work in us both to will and to do. This work of God in us is a mystery, yet not altogether incomprehensible; it is like the visible and palpable influence of the sun upon us and our earth; for the truth of the one can be as little doubted by a reasonable being as the existence of the other; in both cases experience is an infallible teacher.

In order to exhibit this truth to our faith, the Holy Scriptures set before us a visible example of the invisible influence of God, and of the descent of his Holy Spirit upon our spirits. We may also be assured from our history, that if we seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all things that we need shall be added

unto us.

"On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the house-top to pray about the sixth hour. And he became very hungry, and would have eaten; but, while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth; wherein were all

And there came a
But Peter said, Not

manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill, and eat. so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven."-Acts x. 9-16.

THIS section of the chapter appears at first sight dark difficult, and not well adapted to general edification; but on examining it more minutely, we perceive in it the commencement of an unspeakable blessing to the human race. Like the rest of the Scriptures, it should be profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,' 2 Tim. iii. 16.

We see here also a manifestation from the invisible world, the beginning of a new creation and a great work of God; and if enlightened by his Holy Spirit, we shall observe in it another instance of his grace, his glory and his truth.

The history has hitherto made us acquainted with the disposition and character of the Centurion Cornelius. After he had been led by heavenly guidance to the knowledge of the one true God, and of his own sinfulness, he was filled with a desire of a nearer fellowship with Him, and sought after the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Although a Gentile according to the flesh, and thereby shut out from the house of Israel, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises,' Rom. ix. 4, yet he

was a true Israelite without guile, according to the spirit ;—and in fasting, praying and giving alms, had acted like one, as far as Gentile could. The grace of God now came nigh unto him, and for the strengthening of his faith and hope, the Almighty informed him by a heavenly messenger, what he was next to do,-human means were to be employed;-he must send to Joppa, to invite the Apostle Peter to come unto him; he it was that should tell him what he ought to do. The merciful God deals humanly with the children of men; how should it be otherwise, since he created man and constituted human nature as it is. A gardener acquaints himself with the nature and character of the plants which he wishes to cultivate, and suits his care to its necessities; so God, in his grace, adapts himself to the peculiar habits and wants of men, and deals humanly with human nature. To keep up this comparison, the natural root of the spiritual life of man lies already in his seeing and hearing. Blessed are the eyes which see what ye see.' The heavenly gardener descends upon the root of the soul's life, and tends and nourishes it, in order that it may grow up into a heavenly plant.

The shepherds at Bethlehem received the announcement of the birth of our Lord, by means of their bodily sight and hearing; so did Simeon and the wise men of the East. Come and see,' said Philip also to Nathaniel. He who had not seen the Lord could not be an Apostle, his resurrection and his ascension into heaven, happened visibly; and John, in the commencement of his epistle, lays great weight upon the fact, that he and the other disciples had seen with their eyes,

looked upon, and with their hands had handled the Word of Life. This beholding through the external senses, on the part of those disciples whom the Lord had chosen, was the beginning and germ of a spiritual acquaintance; on which account, those alone who had at an early period believed upon him, were esteemed worthy of seeing and conversing with him after his resurrection. The grace of God always influences us by degrees; every thing upon earth unfolds itself in the same manner, and even the formation of the world, and filling it with plants, animals, and men, took place gradually, and step by step. As the kingdom of heaven upon earth, grew up like a plant, and like a seed of corn, brought forth first the blade, then the stalk, and then the ear-so must it be gradually formed in the heart of man. That which is divine, is transfused into man, and God makes use of him as a fellow worker with himself, to spread abroad his truth. As Cornelius sent his servants to Joppa, so the Lord sent his servant Peter to Cæsarea, in order to open the eyes of Cornelius, and lead him to the kingdom of heaven. How gracious is our God and Savior in his treatment of the human race, and how dear unto the Lord are his people. An extraordinary preparation was required, and it was necessary that Peter should be instructed in a peculiar manner. Though God employs men in the execution of his commands and decrees, he never uses them like mere machines, nor does he, by force, drive his people along the right path; on the contrary, they must act and work along with him of their own free will, and from their own knowledge and conviction.

The nearer man stands to God, the more spontaneous is his service, and the further he is removed from him, the more must he, like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Joseph's brethren, be used by his heavenly Father, as a mere instrument, held in the bonds of darkness. 'If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.' John viii. 36. Simon Peter was chosen to open the door of the Great Shepherd's fold to the first Gentile and his household, and to lead them into it. Why was it Peter? Why was it not John or James? or Philip, who had already preached the gospel, and converted many in the neighboring Samaria, and of whom Cornelius had probably heard? Why was it not delayed till the conversion of Paul, the peculiar Apostle of the Gentiles? The answer is contained in our history. Peter was chosen to begin the work of converting the Gentiles, because he was the most opposed to God's universal grace, in willing the conversion of the Gentiles; it was therefore the more clearly proved to be the design and the work of God. The bondage of Israel in Egypt was loosed by Moses, and the kingdom of God was spread farthest by the persecuting Saul, both of them by nature and education the most unlikely to perform such glorious works. 'Base things of the world, and things that are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence.'1 Cor. i. 28, 29.

The gospel history has depicted with peculiar truth and openness, the natural disposition and character of the Apostle Simon Peter. The Lord had given him