when each side owes it to the other to make concession. The spirit that strives only for victory is not the spirit of Christ. We should, a.s his disciples, count it e.n honnnr and a joy to concede, when we conscientiously can do so, to Christian brethren who differ from us. III, THAT WE MAY LEAVE UNIMPORTANT MATTERS TO THE SETTLEMENT OIi' TIME, The po.rticular precepts which James and those who thought with him desired to have enforced hR.ve long since disapp,·ared. Their observance at the time was exp,-dient, .for Moses had in every city them that preached him, etc. (ver. 21). But when the special reasons for conformity were removed, then they fell through. Where the 11eace of a Church or e. large Christian community is at stake, we do well to accept small matters which are unessential; time is on our side. IV. THAT CHRISTIANITY BAS PURIFIED AND PROPORTIONED PUBLIC MORALS, Jt SUi'• prises and shocks us to read of abstinence from meat which had been offered to idols, and from things strangled, being placed side by side with abstinence from the sin of fornication, as if, in morals, these things stood on the same level. We feel that the latter is e. thing so utterly and inherently bad that the former is not at all comparable with it in heinousness of offence, The fact is that we think thus because our holy religion bas pmified our thoughts, and taught us to see ceremouial and moral offences in true perspective. But wherever Christianity bas been corrupted, where the traditinns of men have overlaid its simplicity with their ceremonialisrn, we find this defective view prevailing. It was necessary, at that time and in the then condition of the world, formally and expressly to disallow a custom which we now shudder at and shrink from as a sha~eful sin. V. THAT DECISIONS, WHEN ONCE ATTAmED, SHOULD BE COURTEOUSLY A...'ID CAREFULLY CARRIED OUT, (Vers. 22-33.) The Church at Jerusalem, thon;:sh on the main point it had yielded to the Church at Antioch, did not give way sulkily or grudgingly. It did not dismiss the deputation with a cold and formal resolution. It sent able and influential men, with letters, to accompany Paul and Barnabas, and these greeted the Syrian Church and laid the matter fully before them. So that, in the end, the two communities understood one another and rejoiced in one another the more. ·what is done in Christ's name and cause should be done with utmost courtesy and with perfect thoroughness. VJ. 'l'HAT WE MAY REST HAPPY IN THE ALL-SEEING WISDOM AND ALL-EMBRACING LOVE OF Goo. (Vera, 14--18.) James intimated that what was then h::11 pcni!lg was only the fulfilment of the Divine intention. God knew from the beginninc: what he should accomplish, and he purpose(! the recovery and redemption of the whole Gentile world. 1. When we are baffled by the perplexities of the way, let us remember that all things are in the hands of the omniscient One, 2. When we are distressed by the disappointments and difficulties of our work, let us be consoled by thinking that God means to restore mankind ; bis wisdom and his love will prevail, though we see not our way and though our fears abound.-O,
Ver. 26.-Self-sacrifice for Ghrist. There are two classes of men of whom we are reminded by these words of the Jerusalem Church. J. THOSE WHO ARE READY TO SACnIFICE THEIR LIVES FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING BUT THE BEST AND HIGHEST. The soldier for victory; the sportsman for excitement; the explorer for the gratification of curiosity; the Alpine climber for credit; the artist for fame ; the sailor for love of the sea, etc. There is no lack of men who risk liti:, for something. But we have to consider that while (1) there is a touch of nobility in some of these cases which wins our admiration; yet (2) often the end is not worth the sacrifice,-life and all that life means to its holder and to thorn who r1re related to him and dependent on him are too precious to be parted with for a slight object, too valuable to be sacrificed for any but a serious and great end. And (3) wheu thus lost, it 18 _often laid down from instinct or passion rather than from principle. There is some- th!ug essentially unsatisfactory in it; for it is a material loss with no corresrouding gam, It brings sadness to the heart, loneliness and misery to the home, and does not bring adequate consolation to the mind. 11, '!'HOSE W'HO RECOGNIZE THE IllGHEST AND THE BEST BUT SACRIFICE LITTLE OB NOTumo To IT, We should, perh'.lps, say to him; for: 1. The highest and best meet in lZ THE AOTS OF THE APOSTLES. [on. xv. 1-41.