The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 149

which they can survey with grateful pleasure. It wltB well with Paul, for when he lmd to turn his eye bac~war~ on I\ ministry which had been fulfilled, be could regard it with pure and ciev0ut grat1ficauon. 'l'hat we may stand in that enviable position in which he uow stood, we must be able to remember- !. LoWLY•llTh""DED CONSEOBATION TO THE SERVIOE OF GoD. "From the first day that I came in into Asia . . . I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind" (vers. 18, 19). The man who spends his days in spiritual pride, or godless unconcern, or arrogant infidelity, will, if not in the later years of this lifo, from the other side of the grave, look back on bis earthly course with bitterest shame, with fearful pangs of remorse. He who in old age C3.n survey an entire life yielded, with a. dPep sense of dependence and obligation, to the living God and the loving Saviour will have a cheering ray to light up his shaded pa.th. Well may youthful lips take up the strain- • 'Twill please us to look back t.o - That our whole lives were thine.• II. FIDELITY IN otra SPECIAL SPHERE. Paul could feel that, as a minister of Jesus Christ, be had done bis work thoroughly, conscientiously, faithfully, a.s in the eye of Christ himself. " I kept back nothing, . . . I have taught you publicly, and from .house to house" (ver. 20); "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God " (ver. 27); "I ceased not to warn every one . . . with tears" (ver. 31). He baJ thrown the utmost energy of his soul into his work; he had wrought good "with both hands earnestly." Whatever our vocation may be, it will be a sorry thing to have to recall to our memory duties ha.rdly and punctiliously discharged, just gone through decently and creditably; still worse to have to remember duty left undone or miserably mismanaged. Pleasant and gratifying, on the other hand, to feel that we went to our work with agile step and eager spirit, went through it with conscientious care, and threw into it our utmost strength. Heartiness and zest to-day mean a harvest of refreshing memories for to-morrow. III. E?.'DDRAKCE OF TRIAL. Paul reflected that he had served the Lord "with many tears and temptations [trials] P (ver. 19). These trials unto tears were hard to bear 1iatiently at the hour of endurance, but it was a comfort and satisfaction to his spirit afterwards to think that they had never withdrawn him from his confidence in Christ or from his post of active service. The secure and strong position of manhood is all the more satisfactory for the yoke that was borne in youth; the qui11tude of age is the more acceptable and enjoyable for the struggle or burden of middle life; the rest and rejoicing of the future will be the sweeter and the keener for the toils and the troubles of this present time. The evils that have been left behind, when taken wt:tlkly and acquiesced in nobly, materially enhance the blessedness of the hour of freedom and felicity. IV. THE DILIGENCE TH.AT MEANS HONESTY AND THAT INCLUDES BENEFICENCE. (Vers. 33-35.) It is not only that (1) we should pay the debts which we have formally and deliberately incurred; but that (2) in a world where we are daily receiving the benefit of the toils and sufferings of past ages and of our contemporaries, we are bound, in all honesty, to do something in return-something by which our fellows and, if possible, the future shall be enriched; (3) where self-support is not positively demanded, it may be wisely rendered, in order (as with Paul) that there may be no reason for injurious suspicion; and (4) we should strive to gain enough that we may spare something for the strengthless and dependent-so labouring that we "may support the weak," and know the greater blessedness of giving, according to the Word of our Lord (ver. 35; see Eph. iv. 28; Heb. xili. 16).-C. Ver. 2L-Paul at MiletU6; the substance of Christian doctrine. Surely we havo here an excellent summary of distinctive Christian doctrine. These two things aro the essentials of Christian truth. Without repentance there can be no living faith; without faith there can be no real spiritual life; with both of these, a man is a recog- nized citizen of the kingdom of God, an inheritor of eternal life. There must he- L THE TUilNIXG OF THE HEART AND LIFE UNTO Goo. This is what constitutes repentance. Repentance may include, but is not constituted by: 1. Strong feeliugB of llOrrow and sLame in view of past sin. It is possible and even common to produce on. n:. 1-38.] THE AOTB OF 'rHE APOSTLES. 1:,3