The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 20

the imn.ge of the vanished Jesus in the world of pious thought. He ia the indefinable link between the world of sense and the supcrsensual. We cannot n.nalyze the truth, We see it, we feel it, by the spiritual a,sthesis; and this is better than all definition. m. 'l'HE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ANGELS' WORDS. We gaze into the mysterious Divina beyond of our life. Our limited horizon melts into the Infinite. What was moro knowable than the living and loving Jesus of Nazareth? Here at last the spell o( Divine sileuce seemed to have been broken, and the unutterable One had uttered himself in an articulate voice, and the undefinable and inimitable in form had clothed himself in a form recognizable by all. Yet now this form melts again into the indefin- able; this 'l'oice ceases in a hush of mystery restored. Well m11y we stand g11zing into the ether. Was the whole an illusion 't Not so; but what God has once reve11lod remains a spiritual possession for all time. And more ; it is the pledge that God will repeat the revelation. Christ will come again; the cloud will reappe11r; out of the mystery voices will again be heard, the express Imago will again stand clear for recog- nition. Here is a Divine process; out of the indefinable into the definable, b11ck to the indefinable ag&i.n. Christ appears to disappear, a.gain to reappear; and so "That one Face, fe.r from vanish, rather grows; Becomes our universe that feels and knows I" Let us t.l1ink that "every cloud that veileth love itself is love.n In those alternate revcalings and hidings of God from us lies the trial of faith, more precious thl\D golcl.---J. Vers. 12-26.-The interoal between the .Ascensum and Pentecost. I. THE SCENE IN TIIE t:TPPEB nooH. Obedient to the Lord's command, the disciples return to Jerusalem. A certain upper chamber,probablyin a private dwelling, became the first Christian Church. Epipbauius says that when Hadrian came to Jerusalem, he found the temple desolate and but few houses standing. This" little church of God," however, remained; and Nice- phorus says that the Empress Helena enclosed it in her larger church. It was probably the room in which the Supper had been celebrated, and was to bo associated with the power of the risen, as it had been with the sufferiag of the humiliated, Christ. 1. Tlte assembly. It represented all varieties of character, gifts, aud graces. Peter tho eager, John the mystic, James the practical, Thomas. the sceptical, and others. The feminine element, destined to play so large a part in the life of.the Church, was also represented. 2. Its employment. It was engaged in the highest e::i:ercise of the spirit. Prayer is action; as action may be itself a. prayer. And there are times of waiting for all, when prayer is the only possible action. The transactions between the spirit and God are the most real of all, and are ever followed by significant results. It was social prayer. '!'rue prayer requires both solitude at times and at times society. We need the heir, of one another in the pursuit of truth. Plato spoke of the "joint striving of souls ' in philosophy. Common prayer is the joint striving of souls to lay hold upon the strength of God. "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.n It was persevering, continuous prayer, as all exertion of the spirit must be to attain worthy ends. Thus was the mind of the Church calmed, and its intelligence cleared for insight into the business of the kingdom. II. 'fHE DISCOtrBl!E OF PETEB. 1. It rest, on the past. He begins by pointing to a fulfilment of Scripture. The present event is thus constantly identified in apostolic thought with some word from the past. Nothing befalls except by Divine law. And in the words of poets and prophets of the past, whatever their original meaning, hints o( other meanings are to be found. All language is indeed fossil poetry ; and as in the earth's strata plants are found to which living organisms correspond, so in the realm of moral law past and present are in inner and profound connection. 'l'o the traitor sketched in Ps. wx. (also ciL and lv.) the features of the unhappy Judas closely corresponded. False and wicked relations of conduct repeat themselves in history, and incur the like doom foreshadowed by the prophetic consciousQess. 2. It finds hints for pr~t duty in the paat. The fragment of a verse from a psalmist ran, " His office let another take." Conduct must run on the line of precedents. Often an old proverb or example may give us our clue. A memory for the old sayings of Scripture an.d other ancient lore may guide the judgment~ or serve RB a fi11~er-pos* to ~hll will, OIi, I, 1-20,) THE AOTS OF THE APOSTLES.