-

you; we have a command from God to proclaim the everlasting Gospel to every creature; it was the last command that God our Saviour gave upon earth. We have great respect for you; we would do everything to oblige you; we shall speak of you in the most courteous terms; but when it comes to conscience, obligation, duty, we have no choice but to do what God commands us, and to take the consequences at your hands." And then Peter said boldly, "The God of our fathers". your fathers and my fathers" raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on the cross." What an awful charge! simply, courteously stated, but most cutting, every word of it. The God of our fathers raised from the dead "-the token of his approval-" that very Being whom ye condemned and hanged upon the cross. And I will tell you more," says Peter, as if, while showing them what their own duty was as apostles, he could not help telling them that there was salvation even for the chiefest of sinners-" this very Christ hath God exalted to be a Prince❞—whom all men must obey-" and to be a Saviour"-in whom all men may have forgiveness

-"in order to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. Now when they heard this," it is said, "they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them." Here was your nature and my nature. What an awful proof of the dreadful apostasy into which man has fallen, when words so meek, truths so solemn, facts so easily within reach of authentication, instead of bringing them down on their knees in confession of sin before God, only stirred up their hearts to slay the men that made them known! Truly "the heart of man is

deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"

Then there stood up in those days one, personated in many an eminent and talented individual in every age, called Gamaliel. His advice seemed to be, and would appear to many in the present day to have been, great common sense; and yet it was the very reverse. He told them a short history. He said, "Other men have made pretensions of a similar sort; other fanatics have appeared; they have all passed away; their followers have perished with them. In all probability, Jesus of Nazareth is just like Theudas and Judas of Galilee; and these apostles just like their fanatical followers; they will pass away too. And therefore we had better just let them alone; the best way is to let the thing die out of itself." Now, the fact was that Christianity made such claims that the Pharisees were more consistent. I can see no medium between resisting the Gospel as the most flagrant imposture that ever was palmed on mankind, or accepting the Gospel as the very wisdom of God, and the power of God unto salvation. It demands the whole soul, its love, its veneration, its devotedness, its service, its sacrifice: and its demands are so great, its pretensions so lofty, that if they be not real, the sin of Ananias and Sapphira is nothing to the sin of Paul, and Peter, and John. But Gamaliel thought that it was a delusion, a cheat; and at all events he was too busy about other matters of greater importance, as he thought, to enter into the discussion of what he supposed to be the claims of a parcel of fanatics. But then he said, with a good deal of Turkish fatalism about him, "Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to

no;

nought "—well, that is quite true-"but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it." It seems to me that, instead of concluding that way, he ought to have said, "Investigate it, examine its claims; and if it be of man, resist it, and if it be of God, accept it." But he said, "But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." He believed in, not predestination, but clearly in absolute fatalism, that everything would end right, that they had better let it alone; but if this were of God, it would stand. "And to him they agreed;" but such was their lingering hostility to these men, and to the truths that they taught, that they thought they had better just beat them, by way of showing them how cordially they hated them, and how little sympathy they had with the sentiments they preached. "And after they had beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go."

If Christianity had been an imposture, it never could have gone through such an ordeal; but because it was a reality, everlasting truth, the inspiration of God, the words of eternal life, it not only outlasted all, but triumphed over all; and in the very place where its authors suffered, it arrayed around it the noblest trophies of its power, the grandest monuments of its saving health.

CHAPTER V. 41-43.

PERSECUTION - EVIDENCE OF CHRIST'S APPROVAL - MISSIONARY APOSTOLIC PERSEVERANCE-TEACHING AND PREACHING-SUBJECTS OF THE MESSIAH-GOD IN OUR NATURE-THE ATONEMENT-PRACTICAL CHARACTER-RESULT OF RECEIVING IT-CHRIST'S INTERCESSION--CHRIST'S SECOND ADVENT-APOSTOLIC PREACHING, PLAIN, PRAYERFUL.

WHEN Christ sent forth the apostles to preach the everlasting Gospel to every creature, he warned them that their path to bliss would be no flowery one, but that bonds and pains, and imprisonment and martyrdom, necessarily sooner or later awaited them. What Christ predicted as the penalty they would have to pay for their faithfulness, they found meet them everywhere in their actual experience. They were threatened by the Pharisees; they were cast into prison by the tumultuous and irritated mob; they were misrepresented; every crime was imputed to them; and when even an apology was made for them that seemed in some measure to justify the crowd in letting them loose, they were beaten, and commanded no more to teach and preach in that name. Were the apostles surprised at this treatment? Not the least; they received the penalties they were treated to as matters of course; they recollected the prediction of their Lord; and when that prediction came to be fulfilled in their experience, they viewed it as a credential of their apostleship, as proof of the faithfulness of their mission, and they were

strengthened and encouraged to go on; they looked on these sufferings as clearly marks of approval. Had they not suffered, they would have thought that the world had grown so improved, that it needed not their teaching, or that they had become so unfaithful, that they had failed to utter the truth in all its fulness, and with all the fervour with which they ought; and therefore their worst persecutions had in their bosoms great comfort to them,-they were proofs that they were in the right way, doing the right thing, in the right name, in the right spirit, and for the right end. And when one has a right cause behind one, and a sublime object before one, one can endure a great deal in fulfilling the mission entrusted to him. We read that they rejoiced notwithstanding; they rejoiced that they were counted. worthy to suffer shame for Christ's sake.

A Stoic can bear pain, and be insensible to it; at least he thinks he ought to do so: a Christian takes the pain, feels its stings acutely, and feels them the more from the elevated sensitiveness of his soul and nature: but in the midst of the pain, and in spite of all their bitterness, he rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory. He can say with the prophet of old, that "though the fig-tree should not blossom, and though the herd should be cut off from the stall, and the labour of the olive should fail, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation." A Christian never loses the true fountain of his joy. He has Him within him who sweetens blessings that are given, and is a substitute for blessings that forsake him, and is with him, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, his comfort in the time of trouble. Besides, the apostles felt, and this made them take their sufferings more joyfully,