Creator as in "the height of heaven, beyond the stars," unable to see "through the dark clouds." They had no practical faith in the doctrine that He personally superintended the affairs of men, marking even the conduct of individuals, abhorring the evil and approving the good. All things to their view seemed to come alike to all. The translation of Enoch would

tend mightily to correct this error. The best man amongst them is elected as the recipient of distinguished honour. In the translation of Enoch, God seemed to say," Although there is only one man amongst the millions of his age, who loves and honours me, that one lonely man I observe, I know, I will reward. He that honoureth me, I will honour!'" It teaches men

Fourthly: That the mastering of sin is the way to a grand destiny. Why did Enoch reach such a sublime destiny as this? He "walked with God." He overcame the world, the flesh, and the devil. He extricated himself from the sinful forces that tied him to the earth. The world was no longer a congenial sphere for him. He was fitted for heaven, and to heaven he was borne. It is ever so. Just as a man overcomes sin, and walks closely with his Maker, he gets translated. Matter loses its hold upon him, and he comes more and more under the attractions of the world to come, until at length he is not, for God hath taken him. Enoch's translation is, after all, scarcely more than the type of the death of pre-eminently holy men. Before the final day dawns, they . feel their body is dead because of sin, their spirits alive because of righteousness.

"And

III. HE TAUGHT THE WORLD BY HIS PREACHING. Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment," &c. From this it would seem that Enoch was a preacher. He taught by words as well as actions. In truth the words of such a man were actions. What he said, his life made luminous and mighty. Jude gives a specimen of his preaching, and it includes three things

First The advent of the Judge. "The Lord cometh." Probably he referred to that awful advent which was just at hand, in that deluge which engulphed the world. It is a solemn truth, that the Great Judge is always coming to the sinner. "Be ye ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh." But there is a grand final coming still awaiting this old earth. Whether Jude referred to this, or not, it is clearly and frequently held out in the Book of God. John saw it in vision. "I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire." The scene overawes us with silence. Our poor descriptive words would be impertinence, if not impiety. His preaching includes

:

Secondly: The gathering of the saints. "With ten thousands of his saints:-a definite number for an indefinite multitude. He will not come alone. The Great Sun will draw the planets after Him. When the Lord appeared to the Jews in the wilderness, He came "from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints." And Christ Himself tells us, 66 "He will come with all his holy angels." It

includes

Thirdly: The conviction of sinners. "To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." The wickedness of men

consist in "deeds" and "speeches." On the day of judgment every sinner will be convinced, Enoch teaches, of every ungodly deed and every ungodly speech. This moral conviction is the most terrible feature of that final day. It is not the manifestation of the Judge outside the sinner, grand and awful as that will be, that will be the most distressing. It is his coming into the soul, carrying his court into the conscience, that will be the terror of that terrible event. Conviction will be carried into every sinner's inmost nature; the wrong of every ungodly deed and speech will be poignantly felt. This conviction implies two things. (1) A wonderful action of the human memory. For a sinner to be convinced of all the wrong things he has done, those wrong things must be recalled. Memory must open their graves and bring the ghastly monsters up to life. The circumstances of that period will be such as to act so mightily on the laws of association, that the whole of a man's past history shall give up its dead. This conviction implies. (2) A consciousness of freeedom through the whole of the past life. If the sinner felt that he had not been free in his conduct, that he was necessitated to act as he did by the internal tendencies of his organization, or the external circumstances which surrounded him, he would not experience the conviction. It is the consciousness of his freedom now that will give the scorpion sting to the memory of forgotten crimes.

Is not Enoch one of the world's great teachers? He throws his light down the ages, and his beams fall on us in this house to-night.* Let us walk as he walked, and we shall reach a destiny not less sublime. That "faith" in the invisible and the eternal, which transfigured and translated him, we may have even in a higher form. For have we not higher revelations and higher aids? Let us "follow those who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises."

This is one of a series of Discourses now being delivered in Stockwell Congregational Church, on the World's Great Teachers.

3 Homiletic Glance at the Acts of the

Apostles.

Able expositions of the Acrs OF THE APOSTLES, describing the manners, customs, and localities described by the inspired writers; also interpreting their words, and harmonizing their formal discrepancies, are, happily, not wanting amongst us. But the eduction of their 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 limited space with any lengthened archæological, geographical, or philological remarks, would be to miss our aim; which is not to make bare the mechanical process of the study of Scripture, but to reveal its spiritual results.

SUBJECT: Paul's Journey from Casarea to Malta; or, the Voyage of Life.

"And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul, and certain other prisoners, unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. And, entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us," &c.— Acts xxvii. 1—44.

PAUL

AUL has done with Cæsarea; he leaves it to return no more. Before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, he had so triumphantly refuted the charges of his enemies and established his own innocence, that Agrippa said, "This man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed to Cæsar." But he has appealed to Cæsar, and "to Cæsar he must go." The whole of this chapter is a history of his voyage so far as Malta, and the history is one of thrilling incident, and great moral significance. Its nautical details, which are very full, have borne the test of the most searching investigations. We cannot perhaps better treat this remarkable history than first, by going through each verse with critical observations, and with homiletic reflections: and then using the whole as an illustration of the voyage of human life.

I. A CRITICAL OBSERVATION OF THE HISTORY, WITH HOMILETIC * See "The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul." By JAMES SMITH, Esq.

HOMILETIC GLANCE AT THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 251

REFLECTIONS. "And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul, and certain other prisoners, unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us." The determination mentioned here, does not refer to the purpose to visit Rome, which is expressed in verse 12, of chapter xxv., but to the manner and time of going there. It was by sea, and immediately. The "we" includes Luke the historian, and Aristarchus a Macedonian Christian. They deliver Paul and certain other prisoners. Who the other prisoners were, or what were their crimes, we are not told. With these criminals, Paul, the incorrupt and incorruptible, was delivered by Festus and others, into the custody of "Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band." And he is now in one of those merchant vessels on which, in those days, even generals and princes had to depend for transit from one part to another of the great empire. The ship was lying in the harbour of Cæsarea, and was bound for Adramyttium, a seaport of Lycia, on the western coast of Asia Minor. Aristarchus is mentioned elsewhere as Paul's companion in travels. (Acts xix. 29; xx. 4; Colossians iv. 10.) "And the next day we touched at Sidon, and Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself." One day's sail brought them to Sidon. The Gospel had been preached in Phoenicia long before (chap. xii. 19), and no doubt there was a Christian community at Sidon, some of the members of which, through the courtesy of Julius, Paul was now permitted to visit. The centurion gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. His friends there would probably furnish him with supplies that would minister to his comfort during his long and perilous voyage. Why did the Roman soldier treat Paul with this consideration? Was it because of the good opinions which Festus and Agrippa had expressed, or was it because

*See "Conybeare and Howson" for an excellent description of the ships and navigation of the ancients.