thrown, along with the whole kingdom of darkness;

and that Jesus of Nazareth was in reality the Savior of the world,' who should deliver the men of all ages and all nations from the power of evil, and make them, through the Holy Spirit, able to receive salvation, and be partakers of the fellowship of God. His innumerable deeds of almighty power and love, were performed and written, as John says in his Gospel, ' that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name,' chap. xx. 31.

For God was with him.'-What great and glorious things the Apostle expresses in these few words, which at first sight appear too simple, because they are frequently used in the Holy Scriptures with regard to other men. Abimelech said to Abraham, 'God is with thee in all that thou doest;' of Joseph, it is said, 'the Lord was with him,' meaning, that God made all he did to prosper in his hand.' Nicodemus said to Jesus, 'No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.' God was with Joshua and also with Elias, when the Lord harkened to the voice of a man.' But these words, when used of the Son of God, have a much higher sense, and a deeper meaning. He alone could say of himself, 'I and the Father are one; he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; I am in the Father, and the Father in me.' These are the precious words which our Lord Jesus speaks of himself, thereby dis

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closing his nature and character, and to which his own miracles, and afterwards those of his disciples, bore testimony.

Our Apostle, in reference to the promise in the old covenant, with which Cornelius was acquainted, uses the expression, God was with him,' with which his prophetical name, Immanuel, or God with us,' beautifully corresponds. Jesus of Nazareth has appeared as the Immanuel of the human race, in order that the whole earth might become a land of Immanuels. We behold in the human form of the Son of God, and in his earthly pilgrimage, our own human nature exalted, and, in looking towards him, we may exclaim, God is also with us! The Lord of heaven, who in all things became like his brethren, and was not ashamed to call himself brother, is our new and our true Adam. No man cometh to the Father but by him; He is the way, the truth, and the life-He in us and we in him; He is the vine, we are the branches; He is the shepherd, and we are the sheep. This is the signification of his name, Immanuel! Hosanna be to him who has come, and who will come again! Amen.

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CHAPTER IX.

PETER'S SERMON.

THE APOSTLES THE WITNESSES OF CHRIST.

'YE shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth,' Acts i. 8. Thus spake the Lord Jesus to his disciples, when, after his work on earth was accomplished, he led them up the Mount of Olives, and ascended from thence into heaven. After they had received the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle fulfilled gloriously and wonderfully the commission of their ascended Lord, converting nations to the Gospel, by the testimony of their mouths and by their written words.

How simple and deep, how natural, and yet how divine, are their narrations, both of the actions and words of Jesus Christ! That disciple whom the Lord loved in his Gospel, his first Epistle and his Revelation, gives us a glimpse both of his own spirit and that of all the Apostles. The word with which the first Epistle begins are particularly worthy of remark. It was composed in his old age as bishop of Ephesus, and in reference to his then nearly concluded ministry; but both in it and in the commencement of his gospel, his heart seems to expand, and we can clearly perceive, in the midst of his fatherly earnestness, the same spirit of love which

prompted him to lie on the bosom of his much loved and now glorified Master. That which was from the beginning,' he writes, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life; that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that our joy may be full.'

With what depth of feeling does the Apostle speak here of his ministry, and of his bearing witness to Jesus Christ, and the truth of his Gospel! His language struggles with his thoughts and sensations, and he strives to express the dignity of his office, and the glory of his heavenly Master. The Word which was from the beginning, that life which is eternal, had appeared to them who were to be his messengers,-they had seen it with their eyes, had looked upon it and touched it with their hands, that which they had seen and heard they now announced, in order that all who heard and received it might have fellowship with the Apostles,that they might become Apostles also, be made partakers of the same happiness, and enjoy the same fellowship with the Father and the Son.

How could the high object and dignity of the Gospel testimony be more simply and strongly laid before us, than in these words? All the Apostles thought and felt as John here expresses himself, they even ventured to offer themselves as examples to the faithful in their knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in their

conformity to him, as in 1 Cor. xi. 1. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ,' and in Phil. iii. 17, 'Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so, as ye have us for an ensample.'

May the Lord awaken in our souls the lively wish to be in simplicity of heart and love, like those men who first bore testimony to 'the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God,' and may he enable us to do this by the power of the Holy Spirit!

' And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem.'-Acts, x. 39.

WITH these words the Apostle Peter interrupts his narration of the actions and character of the Lord Jesus. We, he says, his disciples and Apostles, were eye and ear witnesses of the great and wonderful manifestation of God, in his Son Jesus of Nazareth. John says,' we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' We, the witnesses chosen of God, did eat and drink with him,' says our Apostle in verse 41, laying great stress on his own testimony, and that of his fellow-apostles, for the greater a thing is in itself, the more testimony does it require, and so much the more important is the office of a witness.

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For this first testimony, we must thank the word of reconciliation, which has reached us, and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, has inspired the world as with a new life: this word lives, and will ever live among us, for it is a spring of life proceeding from God himself, which cannot be dried up, and which flows for ever.