very puagcnt aad powerful feelings by mcaas of energetic oratory ; but these, if they ar'J not real, profound coavictioas, will be temporary, if not even mo111/Jntary; they are not the _esseati~I thiag. Repcataace wi~l, at ~oi_ne time, include strong feeling of abhorrence of sin, but 1t may not commence with v1v1d and convulsive emotions, and is not to he identified with these, 2. Change of outward behaviour, It is indeed true that, when really penitent, the idolater will abandon his idolatry, the thief his dishonesty, the drunkard his intemperance, the liar his falsehoods, the truculent man his violence, etc. ; but it must be remembered that men sometimes change their habits for other reason~ than those of religious conviction. Amendment in outward behaviour, valuable an,\ desirable ns it is, does not constitute" repentance unto God;" it has also to be considerer\ that there may be, and often is, the truest repentance where there is no alteration of conduct observable by man. The essence of repentance is the turning of the heat~ to God, and therefore of the life; it is that "change of mind" which consists in thu soul turning from forgetfulness of God to thoughtfulness about him. from indifference 10 his claims to earnest consideration of them, from unwillingness to own his sway to a perfect readiness to yield everything to him, from the guilty retention of our powers for ourselves to a cheerful surrender of ourselves and our days to the livin:,; God, our Father and our Redeemer. Thence will follow all the compunction for sin and all the change of conduct which the past career of the soul will demand. Of this "Greek and Jew" alike have need: the Greek (the Gentile) has need to change his thought of God, and the Jew his also; whether from superstition,or from indifference, or from formality, all have to come into a different relation to God-that of humble subjection to his will and surrender to his service. II. THE AC0EPTAN0E OF JEsus CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOUR. "And faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." -The faith of which Paul testified to Greek and Jew was, we are sure, a living power. It was not a mere passive assent to a form of sound words. It was more than an intellectual acceptance of certain propositions. It w~s the cordial, hearty acceptance by the soul of a Divine Saviour and Lord; it WM the soul in all its need welcoming a Redeemer in all his strength to save and bless. It meant that acceptance of Jesus Christ in which the soul, conscious of sin and condem- nation, flees to him as to the Rock in which it can hide; in which the heart, recognizing its rightful Lord, goes to him in glad self-surrender, and yields itself to him that he may (1) guide it in his own paths, (2) use it for his own glory, and (3) conduct it to his own kingdom.-O. Vers. 22-32.-Paul at Milstus: the forecast which ea:aUs. Paul had received intimations "in every city" (ver. 23) that "bonds and afllicLions" were in store for him; he looked forward with absolute certainty to personal suffering of some kind; but this assurance was so far from daunting or depressing him that his spirit rose on strong and eager wing to the full height of such apostolic opportunity (Matt. v. 10-1~)- The anticipated future, with its bonds and its sufferings and possibly death itself, raised the soul of the man, exalted him; and he stands before us in the noblest stature to which even he ever attained. Loftier words never came from human lips than these (vers. 22-24). His spiritual exaltation included-- I. CHEERFUL ANTICIPATION OF PERSONAL SUFFERING. "I go bound in the spirit," etc. He felt as one who already wore the bonds and was happy in the boud_age. He was already "the priooner of the Lord," and was proud thus to esteem himself. So far from casting a.bout to see whether there was any open door of escape, he gladly went forth to meet the trials that were in front. II. SUBLIME INDIFFERENCE TO BODILY ESTATE. "None of these things move me,, (ver. 24). He was not affected by considerations which are everything to most men ; they did not make him wince; he could be poor or rich, hungry or full, confined or at liberty,-it mattered not to him so long as he was following and serving Christ. And h~re is the explanation of his nobility; it sprang from - Ill. AnsoRP'lllON rn THE SAVIOUR'S WORK. "Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I mlght finish," etc. (ver. 24). "To testify the gospel of the grace o[ ~od "-this was thv commanding, all-controlling, all-consuming passion of hjs soul. It impressed everything else into the service; it burnt up everythiug that sto0tl m the way. .It waa the dominating force under which every other power ranged itself obediently, 154 THE AC'l'S OJ<' 'l'llE APOSTLES. [en. xx. 1-3S.
IY. Co~FIDIKG PRAYER. "I comn,end you to God," etc. (ver. 32). Lcl\ving theso cou,·erts e.nd, e.s lie surely believed (ver. 25), to sea their face no more, ho left them in the hands of God; he trustfully comt~\itted them tD ttlmighty love, to Divina wisdom, to. the .. faithful Creat-0t." A l:ik1!30tl thing it is for the dcpttrting minister, for the dymg pare?t, to leave his peopli, or his family to the render-ea.re of him who will mnke go~ the kmdest and f-tulleat of his promises. , ' • Ex~LTEn HOPB, '"An inherit~nce ~mong nil them whi~h aro sanctified" (vcr. 32). l anl cont.muully looked. forward to the time when he and his converts should meet in the hcavr.uly kingdom; this helped to sustain him under persecution e.nd disappoint- me?l H~ turned from the shnme which was put upon him by man to the glory ,vh1eh waited to be revealed, and his heart was more than satisfied. This should be the result of our contemplation of the future; it should lead to inward exo.lta.tion. It should lead to (l) such devotedness to the work we are doing for our Master'that we shall rise above the fear of mnn, and even welcome the losses we endure for Christ's 8nke; (2) the devout committing of ourselves and of our charge to the love and faithfulness of him who is unfailingly gracious and true; (3) a. sustaining, a.nima.tin(J' hope, in whose blessed radiance a.II earthly experiences a.re lighted up. But in orde~ to this there is presupposed in us what there was in Paul (4) an entire surrender of ourselves to the Lord J·esus Christ himself.-C.