But no Roonor do thoy hon.r of tho n.ppronohlng f11mine In ,Jnrlm:l thn.n they mn.ke oolleotionH, ovory mrin according to hlH nbility, for tho roliof of thoir follow-OhrlRtin.nH, and eond two of tholr moRt trusted mombere to c11rry tho gil't from Antioch to Joru- anlom. l:!uroly a bonutiful Hight, that loving-cnp pasHed from Gentile to Jow, 11 plcdgo of tholr unity In Josue Uhrist. :.l. Tli~ defon~ of the Ohivrch of JeruHalem a_qainRt the t11ra11n71 of Ui, world, 'l'ho strong hand of unRcrupulous power hnR Riain ono of their most vo.llo.nt londore. Anothor granter still iR shut up in e. dungoon, expecting immedint,o den.th, 'l'he wholo Ohurcl1 Is in d11n~or of doHtruction. It must dcfoud itRolf again>1t its torrlblo foe; It must Hlmrpon its Hworcl; it m•tHt put on itR o.rmour; it must prepnro for the fight. Ancl how doos It do this? Our Hecond picture shows us. It ia ni*h t. 'l'ho grcnt city is hushed in sloop; itA hum hnR consecl. '!'ho wenry n.ro nt roHt. l'ho prisoner's eyoH nro closccl in forgotfulnoHH, and nil thingH arc Rhronded in darkness. Bnt in ono house in tho city sloop hns no pince, Under its roof are ~atherod together many of tho soldiers of Jesus Chri~t. And in that denrl hour of the night thoy n.ro watchin,( unto prayer. From ono nnd nnothor tho voice of prayer nnd supplication is going up to I-Ionvon-pmyor for Potcr's snfety; prnyer for tho prosorva.tion of tho Church; prayer for the mighty help of tho lloly Ghost; prayer for holy patience; prayer for holy couro.go; pro.yor for wisdom how to act o.ncl for strongth to act; prayer for tho wea.k in fnith ; r,rnyor for the tempted 11nd irrcsoluto; pmyer for their enemies, persecutorn, nn,\ 1l11ndorcrs ;-in short, every v11riety of the cry, " Lear! us not into temptation, but deli vcr us from ovil l" is brcnkiug the stillness of tho ni_!!;ht, ancl is the Church'~ preparation for battle nnd for Yictory. 3 o.nd 4. We hn.ve in thcso the portra,iture of two individurd members of God's 0/iwrch. 'l'ho first, James, we see only in his death-the blesseddenLI, of a martyr of Josue Christ; n deo.th which tolls of tho life which went before, and also of the life that shnll follow after anJ have no end. Ho was e. son of thunder in his nssaults upon tho strongholds of Satan; a witness for Jesus Christ and his cro8s and his enlvo.tion, boforo tho ho.rd mo.torialiem of Romnn power and the witherrtl formo.lism of Jewish bigotry and hypocrisy. .As we think of him, e.s of his saintly brother John, wo think of the unworldly faith with which, lenvin~ his father and o.11 tho.t ho had in this worlJ, ho was obedient without delay to the calling of Jesus Christ; we think of the indignant zeal which flashed out when tho Master whom he loved waH rejected by the Samaritans; we think of him as persevering steadily, through ten ye1m of opposition and contradictioll from olders, and priests, nn,l Ph1uisocs, and Sadducee~, ill tho one great purpose for which he lived, at the end of which, M he had long sinco been warned by the Lord, there wns n cup of sufl'erillg to bo drunk, and a baptism of blood to be baptizod with. But ho shrank not nor drew bnck. 'l'o him to live was Christ, nnd to die wo.s go.in. .And so his end came-the end of his toil. But surely ho ls among those whom his brother John saw ill vision half a century afterwards: "I snw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for tho Word of God, . . . and they lived ancl roigued with Christ u. thousu.nd years.n Blessed ill his death o.ud glorious in his resurrection, ho will shine forth with u. brighter glory in tho kingdom of his Fnthor thall .Agrippu. his murderer did in his silver robo of marvellous texture ill the theatre of Crosarea. Our last portrait is that of Simon Poter, tho Galilrean fisher- man, called by Josue Christ to be fisher of men. Who.ta life was his I-gathering three thou~and souls into his net o.t the very first haul; laying the foundations of tho.t building which during eighteen centuries and a half ho.a gone on growing towards those vo.st proportions which will nt lo.st fill the whole earth and mingle with tho skies in its length, nnd breadth, nnd depth, and height; unlocking the gates of the kingdom of heavon with his keys of office for rnyrio.ds and millions to enter in. What e. life of toil o.nd dan~er I-journeying, prenching, healing, teaching, like his Di vino Master before him, with hill life ever in his hu.nd; now escaping, now returning to the scene of persecution, but always intent upon the work of Christ. Ah I surely he has fallen at lrist; the hand of tho tyrant hall found him out. Ho is fast in prison. He is fastened with two chains to his jailors. He id sleeping his last sleep on eorth. To-morrow's sun will rise upon him for tho last time, and before it is noon he will havo joined his brother Jamee in the land where all things nre forgotten, So thought man. So thought the Jews. So thought .Agrippa. So thought Peter himself when ho closed his eyes in sleep under the protection of God's wings. So had God not ordained. The night watches hRd advanced, 'l'he i;rcnt city lay in stillness and darkness. The sons of to: i THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, [OB. XU. 1-25.
and of rlel\sure had nil ll'ft the busy thoroughfares, and the streets were a desert. But l.o I t~e iron gl\te of ihe prison opens noiselessly upon its hinges, and two men issue !orth mto the open way. They ~alk rapidly along, and then one vanishes and only 0110 1s left.. He stops for a ~1o~uents thought, and then goes to the house of Mary. Yet another mom~nt.! and he 1s m the midst of a praying Church, which he never thought to have seen agam rn the flesh ; and the brethren are all around their great primate, whom they_ thought to have s_cen no more for ever. It was a great surprise, But how great the Joy to know that 1t was God's doing I Now they knew that their dancrers their ~on:ow~, their fears, ~nd t~eir prayers, were all known of God, Now they l~ne~ that their lives were precious m God's sight, and that he that was for them was stronger th~n be that ~as_against them. Peter's hour was not yet come; bis work was not yet timsbed, and till 1t was, all the power of Herod and all the expectntion of the people of the Jews would be baffled and disappointed, not a hair of his head should perish• and instead of the Church being wasted and destroyed, the Word of God should gro~ nnd multiply. It is gro"ing and multiplying still, Peter's work is not yet finished, \\'hat be b~gan !s still going on.. The overseers are still feeding the flock of Chl'ist; and they with him, when the chief Shepherd shall appear, shall receive a croWD of glory that fadeth not away.