Vers. 6-8.-The hope of the promise. It is a thing of deepest interest a.nd signifi- cance that we ca.n note so clearly, so repeatedly, what it wa.s ever la.y so close to the heart that craved the better, that was not dead, that reached towards light. It was ever that one transporting hope that grows out of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the hope of future a.nd eternal life, the vista. of a.n abiding city, a. heavenly Canaan, and for their behoof "an house not made with hands." We learn here that, under whatever various aspects a.nd with whatever needful accompa.niments- 1. THE OLD ORIGINAL REVELATION W.AB .A REVELATION OF WHAT BllOULD BE THE CON- TRADICTION OF SIN'S PRONOUNCED WORK, DEA.Tll. The hope of the promise wa.s the hope of eternal life and of heaven. II. Tll.AT TIIIS FIRST REAL REVELATION SHAPED ITSELF IN THE FORM OF .A " PRO- MISE," " MADE OF Goo," TO .A OERTA.IN FEW, WHO WOULD HALLOW IT ABOVE .ALL ELBE THEY llAD, _ Ill. THAT IT WAS ONE LONG REMEMBERED, 0LUNG TO TENACIOUSLY, .ABD IN THESE RESPECTS WELL JUSTIFYING ITS DIVINE ADAPTATION, IV. THAT, MISUNDERSTOOD THOUGH IT llillGHT BE, IT TURNED ON TllE BESUB.REOTI0N OF THE DEAD, IN ONE TREMENDOUS INST.ANOE 01!' IT, NAMELY, THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS. V. THAT, THE FATAL WEAKNESS AND BIN 01!' THOSE TO WHOM THIS PBOJ'dll!E, AN HEmLOOM BO PREOIOUS, WAS GIVEN, REVEALED THEMSELVES, WHEN THE VERY HOUR OF UNSPEAKABLE GLORY 0AME, AND WITH IT TllE TEST 0.AlllE, .AND NATURE REGARDED REVELATION AB "INOBEDIBLE," .AND THE EYES 01!' NATURE DISCREDITED THEIR OWN TESTIMONY, THOUGH THE DIVINE FAOT WAS THERE, TllE BESURRECTION OF JESUS! One of the correctest commentaries on the letter and the spirit of this striking a.nd beaul;iful passage and the similar parallel passages, is found in the exquisite little poem of J. H. Newman, entitled" Moses seeing the Land."
"My father's hope I my ahildhood'e dJeam I The promise from on high I Long wo.ited for I its glories beam Now when my death is nigh. "l\Iy death is come, but not decay; Nor eye nor mind is dim; Tito keanness of youth's vigorous day Thrills in ea.oh nerve and limb. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLtS. [oll. XXVI. 1--82.
"BlP•t scene I thrice welcome Bfter toil- If no deceit I view ; Oh, might my lips but press the soil, And prove the vision true I "Its glorious heights, it.a wealthy plaina, Its many-tinted groves, They call I But ho my steps restraina Who chastens whom he loves. • Ah I now they melt . . . they e.re but shad01 . • • I die I-vet is no rest, 0 Lord I in store, since Canaan fades But seen, and not possest?" B. 'Ver. 11.-The reck7e.~s "1,Shing to asS'ltme tM moral responsi'bilities of others-an rcrYeedin_q madnes.~. We are to understand this extraordinary verse to reveal rather what 1':iul confesses it was in his heart to do, and in the nature of his own actions to cause otben; to do, than what he succeeded in doing, in all respects. The two or three touches ~ive us a wonderfully and strangely vivid picture. And suggest, not so much for Paul who confessed and forsook his evil way, but for many others who do neither the one nor tbe other, how suicidal their course, when, uncontent with the weight of their own responsibilities, they would presume to tamper with the conscience of others, and lade themselves with some share in all that is most dread of the moral nature of their fellows. Let us notice that those who will forcibly seek to interfere with the moral and religious convictions of others do- I. Rm. THE GREAT JIIllK OF INFLUENCING OTHERS TO BIN AGAINST TBEm OWN CONSCIENCE. !L J'RESUME TO SUPPOSE THEIR OWN OONSCIENOB TO BE THE AllSOLUTELY SAFl!I STANDARD. !IL ExPoSE THEMSELVES, ON NO GREATER WARRANT, TO STAYING A GOOD WORK THAT OTHERWISE WA.B GROWING IN THE BEA.RT OF ANOTHER. IV. VERY POSSIBLY AV.AIL TO lllAXE PRONOUNCED BLASPHEMERS, BACKSLIDERS, APOSTATES. V. BECOME AT LE.ABT !!TUMBLING-BLOCKS TO OTHERS, AND CAUSES OF LOBS AND PEBHAPS OF D.'FD.'ITE llENTAL PAIN AND DISASTROUS CONFLICT TO THEM. .Against every one of these courted responsibilities Christ's own clearest wa111ings are offered, and his calmest, most solemn judgments pronounced upon those who taught them.-B. Ver. 18.-The a.acended &vwwr', description of his own 1JJOrk amoog men. From the suddenly opened window of heaven into the suddenly opened ear of Paul, the ascended Jesus conveys in very brief the description of the work his gospel is to accom- plish in the heart and life of the saved. The present description is fivefold. Each various representation of Christ's work in the world invites our grateful, loving atten- tion. Each such fresh representation throws fresh hues of beauty and of loveliness upon our own appreciation of the work. Jesus says here that he sends Paul to do five things for men, in his Name, by his warrant, through aid of his power. I. To RESTORE A FACULTY. Whatever things men see, who see not Christ, Divine truth, the deep needs and grand opportunities of their own souls, they see the unim- 1,ortant instead of the all-important. This is not to have the eye open, but shut. - !I. To TURN RESTORED VISION FBOll THE DREAD VANITY OP DARKNESS TO ALL THE WEALTH OP LIGHT AND OP WHAT LIGHT O.A..N SHOW. The power Jesus gives he satisfies. The craving he implants he provides for, The hope he awakens he will not deceive. The eye he opens shall not wander and grope and bemoan darkness, dimness, vague mist, but field after field of higher light and Diviner prospect shall teed its rejoicing sense. fil To RESCUE MEN FROM A FIEBCE, LONG, CONFESSED TRBALDOH AND STARTLB THEIi WITH RENEWED TITLE OF SONS OF Go», INSTEAD OF BLAVEB OF SAT.AN. IV. To GIVE TH.EJ4 TBE BJ:ALING1 00.lfll'ORTING, A.BBUBING PBEBENT GIFT 01' PABDOX Ott, XXVI. 1-32,] THE AC'rS OF THE Al'OSTLEB. 281