The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 378

nnd in the Divine culture attention to Lt is equally needed. It mo.y even be said of our Lord's p.eparation of his apostles for their work, that he stored their memories with his 1vords and his works, so that there might be the material on which the Holy Spirit could hereafter work," bringing all thino-s up into remembrance" on fitting occasions. Consider- " L STORING MEMOBms. Illustrate what anxious work this is to the parent, the school teacher, and the professor. Due effort is made to ensure (1) adequate stores; (2) well-arranged stores; (3) clearly apprehended stores; (4) moral stores. Two things are found necessary to the holding of things in memory-(1) they must be clearly apprehended; (2) they must be sufficiently repeated. It is found that we hold things in measuI'81l of safety dependent on the amount of attention which we have given to l hem. Apply these principles to the storing of our memories with reli~ious facts and principles; dwelling on the importance of requiring the young to learn the Scriptures, :ii demanding from our Christian teachers clearness of statement and efficient repetition; showing that, as in St. Peter's case, a rnan only has the right truth or principle at com- mand, on occasions of need, if these have previously been lodged in the memory. The ~kill with which our Lord, in his time of temptation, fetched the right weapons from the Scripture armoury with which to defeat and silence his foe, reveals to us the fact that his memory had been well stored with Scripture during his childhood and youth. The duty of seeing that our own mind is well furnished, and that the mincls uf those directly under our influence are well furnished, with Scripture facts and truths "nd principles, should be earnestly pressed. We can do no better service to the young \nan to fill up their thou~hts and hearts with "thoughts of Christ and things Divine." II. KEEPING XEMORY·STORES. There is one grcnt law which applies to the efficient rntention of &ny kind of knowledge we may have. It is that wa keep adding more Hores of the same kind. We virtually lose out of memory facts relating to botany or astronomy unless we keep on adding to them new botanical or astronomical facts. And the same law applies to religious things-they will fade down and seem to die out of memory unless we constantly add to them. We retain by increasing. Show how this should be a powerfa.l motive urging us to keep up our daily soul-culture, our read- ing of the Word, our meditations in the Divine truth, our attendance on the means of grace. We cannot keep what we have unless we set ourselves in the way to get more. III. USING IIEMOBY-STORES. Just this St. Peter does in connection with our text. Something occurred whlch suggested a sentence his Lord had once employed. He :iardly knew that he had put it among his memory-stores, but he had been attentive to every word that fell from his Master's lips, and they came up before him at the moment when he could use them wisely. We often think that there must be much more in our memories than can ever be of service to us, and we even think that it is useless to teach the young so much of Scripture and of Catechism and of hymns. But no man can foretell what situations unfolding life may make for him, or what moral demands it will present. Take any life, and it will be found full of surprises, and it is a very great thing to ensure that we are reasonably prepared for all possible situations. St. Peter could not have imagined himself in the house of Cornelius and set upon using that particular sentence. So we shall find, as life progresses, that (1) occasions come for the use of our memory-stores ; (2) circumstances help to recall them; and (3) God's Spirit brings them up before ns, and aids us in finding their proper application and use. The well-furnished godly memory is no accident. It is a part of the Christian culture, and therefore, for ourselves and for those on whom we are called to exert our influence, we come under solemn and weighty responsibilities. An interesting illustration of the use of a godly memory in time of pressure and need is found in Ezra viii 21-23, where Ezra's remembrance of God's promises to and gracious ways with his people in the olden time, gave him strength for an arduous and perilous undertaking.-R. 'l'. Ver. 18.-" Repentance unt.o life." This expression is not the one which we should expect the Christian brethren to use in the circumstances. 'l'he sentence would seem clearer to us if it read, "'!'hen hath God also to the Gentiles granted admission into the kingdom of Christ," or " to share in the salvation of Christ." The prominence of the word "repentance," lllld its place as the initial step to "life," are remarkable and aug~  (lit, xt. 1-30.J 'tilln ACTS OF TUE APOSTLES. 375