The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 156

the tendency, it is not necessary to fix 11ny blame on him, Nor on Paul. Who did not wish him to prolong lo.et words? What a spirit moved him I What a message he had, nnd bow much for years to come, for the souls of not a few and for the collected disciples t~ere, might depend_ on hi~ not omitting to say, and t,o say at leisure, and to ~ay touchingly, the word given him I Yes; we would think nothincr of the small hours being reached, 11nd the many lights in the upper chamber fading kfore the return of the sun, were it the converse of merely human affection that detained ns-men and women and families together, The people at Troas had learnt the superior power and "o'ermastering attraction" of Divine affection and Divine discourse. III. How WITH SOVEREIGN EASE CHBIBT TRAXBMUTEB THE MOST INOPPORTUXJI: CALAMITY INTO MERCY'S CHOICE MEMOBIALB. T~e calamity no doubt seemed inop- portune. The disciples had already learned, of their own grateful will, to come together for reiicrious exercises on "the first day of the week," and to "break bread" tocrether. Paul a;d probably some of his companions, if not all of them (ver. 13), had desired to stay with the believers for the service of praise and prayer, of exhortation and of the communion, and perhaps had strained a point to stay over that " first day of the week." And hearts were full that evening. There was not any general weariness. And Paul was speaking that same hour what the Spirit gave him to speak. Had he spoken less, it would have been "the Spirit's course" that he was restraining, not his own vanity, not his own inconsiderateness. The confusion in that natural but solemn assembly, the disturbance to thought, and the pain of mind especially to some, -these were quite enough to unhinl!:e the occasion. The peaceful stream of holy thought and of deep-flowing joy was checked. Yes; but not long. The Master is again present, and "by the hands" of Paul works, all things considered, a "special miracle." And the service goes on. Thought sinks deeper, faith triumphs more proudly, and in many a glowing heart great was the joy. The meeting gathers impulse from its pause, and, a bright morning dawning upon it, offered a dim type of the morning, brightest of the bright, when the calamity of the present life and the broken service of the lower Church, and even the deepest, fullest, purest joy of the now redeemed heart shall give way to a. safety which no foe can surprise, a service that shall ask no rest, and a joy that shall be supreme.-B. Vera. 11-36.-Mingled fide'lity and tenderness: an ezample for Christian ministers. Perhaps there is no other place in which we have so much of the nature of personal detail respecting Paul from his own lips. For the most part in his Epistles, there is a singular abstinence on his part from personal references. They seem to abound here. Without doubting their bare justification, we desiderate some other and higher account of them. May not this be found in a twofold consideration ?-(1) that Paul has desiinedly and probably also of Divine design treated Ephesus as the centre from which the light and truth of Christ 11nd the typical order of bis Church were to spread throughout a very wide district; &nd (2) that Paul is divinely directed here to leave a forcible and a touching example to later generations. He examples the extent to which the fidelity &nd love of apostles, and of all spiritual successors of apostles, ought to be on the look out, and the limits within which also they ought to be restrained, in respect of those portions of the Church over which men may have had the leading oversight. The modem Church surely cries out for admonition, in these very senses supplied by this long passage-whether on the part of its members or of its ministers. The most sacred, most responsible love on earth is too often regarded as a relationship that may be lightly entered upon, and is treated as one that may be, not only lightly broken, but when broken perfunctorily forgotten. The study of this passage must help to inspire very different views. From this farewell address of Paul to those whom he had specially invited to meet him, lest it should be the last time, the chief impres- aions left on us are these. I. PAUL'S UNMOVED CONFIDENCE IN HIS MISSION. .All that is spoken personal to him- self, and all that is spoken personal to the Ephesian elders, is spoken for the honour and glory and prospeots of the gospel of Chrst. The "ministry .•. of t~stiiying the gospel of the grace of God" is his steadfast supreme thought. It appears 10 and through all II. PAUL'S UJIMOVED 0ONFIDEN0E AS TO WHEREIN CONSISTS ITS E~ACT OPERATION UPON MEN. If it is his last exposition ~ the saving messag'.l of hill "ministry." it shl, A0TS-O. ~  1G2 THE ACTS OF 'l'HE APOSTLES, [oH, u.1-38.