The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 334

the party of the persecutors, in which he had been the most active member• none seemed rea(ly to take up the work which had so completely dropped from bis i1ands, nnd by his secession the whole party was depressed nnd disorganized. But it followed chiefly on the fact that the attention of the Jewish rulers was turned away from the disciples to resist an attempt made by Caligula to have his statue erected in the temple at Jernsalem. The importanoe of resting-times for nations, Churches, and individuals should be shown, and the ways in which they u~ually come may be pointed out, '£hein•alue is illustrated in connection with our text, from which it appears that when, in a resting-time, the Church was edified, it was found to be also muUiplied; or, to express it in other forms, inter11al culture is the best guarantee of exte1·nal success. We dweil on two things. I. SoUL-OULTORE AND ITS INTERNAL SIGN'S, Piety, from the Christian point of view, is e. new and spiritual life, with which our souls are quickened by the Holy Ghost. Ilut in its beginnings it is young, feeble, untested life, like that of the young seedling or plant. Cuiture is demanded. The young life must be nourished into strength; and while the expressions of the life, in leaf and branch and flower, need to.be watched and guided a.right, the gardener's supreme anxiety is to maintain and to increase the vitality. And so, while apostles give good counsel for the ordering of Christian conduct, their supreme anxiety concerns the culture of the soul's life. They would have their disciples "grow in grace and in the knowledge [experimental] of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." It is to such forms of" edification " that Churches are directed in their quiet resting-times. Two signs were given e.s indicating that this "edifying" work was healthily progressing. 1. There was holy walking. " Walking in the fear of the Lord." Christian conduct and conversation was" as becometh the gospel of Christ.' The relations of the members to each other were kindly and brotherly, and the character of the disciples was increasingly satisfactory. 2. There were signs of heart-joy. The dirlciples were evidently enjoying the "co1Ufort of the Holy Ghost "-the inward sealing of the Spirit, the power of his impulses to righteousness, aud that happy sense of adoption which he gives. When the soul is efficiently cultured, its signs are apparent in these two things---:joy in God, and holy living, Joy in God includes joy in his worship and his work. Holy living includes the nourishing of all graces and virtues into fulness and beauty and power. illustrate by the commendations of the living Christ to such Churches as Ephesus, Smyrna, and Philadelphia. lL SouL-CULTURE AND ITS EXTERNAL POWER. For evidently the two things, edifi- cation and multiplication, are intentionally connected, and the one is, in some important respects, the cause of the other. We may say that multiplying a Church is one of the certain consequences of its edifying, for the well-nourished and truly spirjtual Church has power: 1. By its witness. Such life must find expression, (1) '!'here is the silent yet mighty force of its unconscious influence. (2) There are the active labours to which it is inspired. 2. By its attraction. For wherever there is holy walking and evident heart-joy in God men are inclined to join the company. Such heart-joy all would find. Such holy walking seems to say," Come with us, and we will do you good; for verily the Lord is with us." Distinguish carefully between the spasmodic and impul- sive successes of revival times, and the steady witness and work of edified Churches and edffi,ed Christians in all ages. And conclude by impressing the moral value of the forces that strictly tend to edification, such as the example and character of our saintly ones, and the labours of those who instruct in Christian truth and duty. Such forces are sometimes most imperfectly estimated and are even undervalued, because their results are not easily counted; yet God's Word t.eaohes us that in the way of edifying comes the truest power for multiplying.-R. T. Ver. 34.-.A bodily absent Christ may 'be a spiritually preeenfpower. .Attention is directed to the rem,rkable fact that St. Peter spoke to 1Eneas as if the Lord Jesus were actually present in the room; and that he was present is proved by the healing which followed upon the invoking of his power: "Jesus Christ waketh thee whole I" The words must have sounded very strangely to those who first beard them, They sound strangely to Ill!. Jesus Christ was not there. No one saw hi~. No ~almi?~ look _from Jesus quieted the sufferer. No hand of Jesus touched and qmckened mto hie the s10kly man. No voice of Jesus_1poke the words of healing power. 'l'he Jc~us of Bethesda, 011. u:. 1--43.] TllE ACTS OI+' 'l'llE APOS'rLES. 331