moral acts!

881

those who either get into wrong moral states, or do wrong auiqi oft i solq & insnimtong of $75 la mi $75d We are sometimes told that in tigreat attempts it is glorious even to fail. The devil's attack on Jesus was undoubtedly a"great attempt," but we question if his experience was this that it was glorious to fail"What a contrast there -must have been between his state of mind and that of Christ's at the close of the encounter! Satan gained nothing by it. It did not add to his happiness or renown, "On the contrary, it must have augmented his misery. It were not easy to do justice to the disappointment and the gloom which must have gathered over his spirit. How the thought of failure must have tormented him, and damped for a while his zeal as a doer of evil!The failures of the wicked are always much sadder than the failures of the righteous. But the encounter with the devil was immensely advantageous to Jesus. It exercised, and consequently strengthened, his virtue. It deepened his joy. How glad He must have been when all was over, that He had repelled the adversary! His gladness must have been heavenly in its nature. Moreover, the devil's departure was the signal, for the descent of a troop of ministering angels: "And behold, angels came and ministered unto him" Or, as Milton puts it

So Satan fell; and straight a fiery globe

Of angels on full sail of wing flew nigh,

Who, on their plumy vans, received him soft omdeqs tor From his uneasy station, and upbore, moram no As on a floating couch, through the blithe air."

Apparently none took part in the moral duel between Jesus and the devil except themselves.Alone Christ wrestled with the antagonist of nature, God, and the universe," and cast him down, but the terrible conflict was beheld by a "cloud of witnesses." God was a spectator of it, and angels were interested spectators of it. Besides the human there are other eyes. Accordingly, as soon as the battle was ate an end, Jesus found Himself the centre of a bright circle of jubilant, adoring, and ministering angels. They had seen all dead Bw odt vi heb

ال

f

that was going on, and, under divine guidance, they became visible and ministrant at the right time. Their coming was not accidental, but intentional. God sent them to mark his interest in his Only Begotten Son, and express his sympathy with Him in the splendid victory which He had won; and in the angels that were despatched with the needed succour, He would have willing messengers. One sees not how the angels could have helped Christ whilst the encounter lasted, but it is" obvious that earlier interference on their part would have detracted from the glory of the victory which, single-handed, Jesus achieved over the devil. Had they congregated round Christ sooner it might have been thought, whether justly or unjustly, that the devil's defeat was due to angelic intervention fully more than to Christ's moral rectitude. What was the number of the angels, or how they acted in relation to Jesus, " are points which we cannot determine. Perhaps they

1

Perhaps too they From Tid saw of Ne - "Sung heavenly anthems of his victory Over temptation and the tempter proud."

Booth "And joy'd to crown

I

The victor's head,res 977

When Satan flew

Before his frown."

The object of their visit was to do Jesus good; and there were many ways in which they could be of service to Him. The evangelist contents himself with saying that they minis tered to Him; and he leaves us to infer what a blessed thing it must be to have angels for our attendants.' It was worth Christ's while to resist the devil. By repelling him, ' He attracted angels. Elijah was miraculously fed by one angel in the wilderness; but a company of angels waited on Christ, and richly supplied the wants by which He was at the moment pressed. His trust in God had its reward. The

Father did not suffer his beloved Son to perish of hunger By the hands of angels he provided for Him; and their ministering to Jesus should teach us that, if the world is over-run with bad angels, it is no less full of angels whori delight to serve God, and minister to the heirs of salvation," de baboon ona dala Iedotaq,ob now tadi eloeme writ As regards the world, there is a diversity of opinion amongst men. Some praise it; others condemn it. We sympathize with both parties. It is a grand, rich, beautiful, and suitable world; but it is not in earthly society, or things, to fill thei human soul. The soul is too big for that; and, as compared with heaven, earth is a desert drear." Sin has converted the world into a wilderness; and it is a wilderness with a devil in it; he, "as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." There is no escaping him. Indirectly or directly he brings himself into contact with us, and tries to make us wicked and wretched like himself. No strange thing befel Jesus when He found Himself face to face with the tempter. He crosses the path of us all, and we must either vanquish him, or submit to him. It lies with ourselves to decide which it shall be. The world we inhabit is a world of trial. It is more. It is a world of temptation. It is wrong to seek temptation. Jesus did not. There is no need to seek it. It finds us; and we are obliged either to resist it or yield to it. We cannot shun it by leaving the solid land and taking to the sea, or rushing into the desert. Some places are fuller of temptation than others; but where is it nott 'It' meets us in the quiet village and in the crowded T city, with its bustle and din. It meets us at the fireside, and in the counting-house, or the workshop. Where did the conflict between Christ and the devil take place In the wilderness! To Satan all temptation may be traced, and his plants himself between every one of us and heaven. God does not approve of him tempting us; but as he suffers us to tempt each other, so he suffers the devil to tempt us. What, then, should we do relative to the devil? What did Jesus do? He resisted him; and so may we,

SO

'should we.

1.We should carry about with us as though it were a part of ourselves, the shield of faith-faith in the truths of the Bible, and, above the "Christ of God." 1, the truth 200 Wanting it, how can we quench the fiery darts that fly thick about us? Drawing daily upon the strength of Christ, we should bravely fight the devil, and there are a thousand reasons why we should. He is not invincible. God never permits any to be tempted beyond what they can bear. Satan cannot compel us to sin; and overcoming him lands us, so to speak, among the angels. It draws them down. Temptation on its under side is a most mysterious and difficult subject. "Clouds and darkness are round about it,” and we should express ourselves regarding it with more than ordinary caution; but the true way to turn it into a source of blessing is to to resist it. There is a wide difference between

ob in resisting it and yielding to it. To encourage the devil is to drive the angels away; whereas, to put the devil to flight is to secure the ministering presence of the angels Literal angels may not visit those who conquer him, as did Jesus; smose but real angels will. We cannot resist temptation without greatly increasing our happiness, and strengthening our virtue; and on these, and the like grounds, must rest its justification. Abraham's faith was put to a severe test when lihe was commanded to slay or sacrifice his son Isaac, and what 370was was the consequence? It was mightily invigorated. The winds of temptation, sweeping over "trees of righteousness," fand, rudely shaking them, cause them to take firmer root. If we would have angels for our companions, we must pay the price demanded-oppose a stern front to the devil. Sare

G. CRON, B.A.

Ho (Christ) walked in Judea eighteen hundred years ago. His sphere melody, flowing in wild native tones, took captive the ravished (souls of men, and, being of a truth sphere melody, still flows and sounds, though now with thousandfold accompaniments and rich symphonios, through all our hearts, and modulates and divinely leads

hithem. &wors „Itiwolgard salt to woly a thun CARLYLE.

Apostles.

"Loo to tin')" oft er Ila sveln „Þar sldið douft vlt de atual voit oop ww una void, da nisan 77 sdd) lo dienorte mult

Able expositions of the AcTS OF THE APOSTLES, describing the manners, customs, and localities described by the inspired writers; also interpreting their words, and 19 harmonizing their formal discrepancies, are, happily, not wanting amongst us. But the eduction of its WIDEST truths and highest suggestions is still a felt desideratum. To some attempt at the work we devote these pages. We gratefully avail ourselves of all exegetical helps within our reach; but to occupy our limth any

lengthened archæological, geographical, or philological remarks,

space

to miss

our aim; which is not to make bare the mechanical process of the study of Scripture, -flibut to reveal its spiritual results. Denims di no noiiusquoT Jum "ti tuoda bavor qus

SUBJECT: Paul's final Visit to Jerusalem; or, the Apostle as a Prisoner defending himself before the People. £74. And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and of beckoned with the hand unto the

And when there was made

great silence, he spake unto the Hebrew tongue, saving,

Men, brethren, and fathers, hear yer my defence which I make how unto you," &c.—Acts xxi. 40, and xxii. 1–29. n. 9.it surge of Petal, bill

bound with we

PAUL appears before us now in a new condition; he is a prisoner; he was "bound with two chains." (Acts xxi. 33.) In this condition we shall find him now in every chapter to the close of his memorable life. He closes his 1 Connection with this city by two defences of himself the edone addressed to the people, and the other to the great 'council

of the nation. We have now to notice HIS DEFENCE BEFORE

11 THE PEOPLE.

1970

of

This subject will take us from the last verse ‹bf ́› the This s 21st chapter to the 30th of the next. Indeed, the last verse of the 21st ought 21st ought to have been put as the first of the 22nd cliapter; the division is unfortunate, unjustifiable, and unwise. The position from which the apostle delivered his defence before the people is noteworthy. He "stood on the stairs." The stairs were thes steps leading from the the area of the temple into the castle of Antonia, and up which he dhad been forcibly borne by the soldiers. (Acts xxi. 2, 5.)

His position was a commanding one, standing on an elevation commanding a view of the temple, with crowds assembled at