themselves unto the Lord." And there has been a time in the experience of every Christian, when he has done the same. And he L has often renewed the surrender since. And the more he reflects upon it the more he approves of his conduct, and glories in the thought that he is not his own, but the Lord's. Yet when he adds, and whom I serve; some may be ready to say, "Ah! Paul did serve him. He was called to be an Apostle; to preach the Gospel, to write Scripture, to plant churches, to work miracles. Never did one man perhaps do so much in glorifying God and serving his generation as he-But what can I do? Can ) I serve him?" But let it be observed that the service of God is not confined to great offices and talents. These do not depend upon us, but are dispensed by the Lord of all as he pleases; and he looks to the heart, and where this is towards him, desires are actions.) Where there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not. He sees benevolence where nothing is given; and martyrdom where nothing is suffered. "Let her alone; she hath done what she could." "No blank, no trifle Nature made or meant. The service of God is very extensive, and is not to be confined to what many only mean by it. It reaches further than express acts of devotion. The means of grace are indeed both duties and privileges; and they who do not value them are either in an unconverted or a backsliding state. In a proper frame of mind good men will sanctify the Sabbath, repair to the sanctuary, and retire to read the Scripture, and pray and meditate. But they will regard these things only as means of grace, in the use of which they renew their strength, and gain fresh supplies of the Spirit of Jesus Christ to enable them to fill up Christianly the whole of their stations in life. They therefore serve God in the week as well as on the Sabbath, and in their own dwellings as well as in the temple. They acknowledge him in all their ways; and whether they eat or drink, or whatever they do, they do all to the glory of God. A constant regard to his word as their rule, and his honour as their end, elevates common actions into moral, and moral into spiritual; and thus the magistrate while on the bench, and the traveller while upon the road, and the tradesman while in the shop, and the labourer while in the field, and the mother while training up her infant charge, are all doing the work of the Lord, and have the testimony that they please him. Servants, besides their known, usual, regular course of action, are liable to particular and occasional calls of service which cannot be previously prescribed. Thus we are to observe the movements of Providence, and fall in with those duties which grow out of events. In this spirit David said, "on thee do I wait all the day" holding himself always in readiness to receive orders, and in effect asking, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" "They also serve that wait." There is a suffering as well as a doing service. God is never more pleased than when we deny ourselves, and show that we love him above all, and are willing to leave all, and lose all, for his sake. As the exercise of the passive graces is the most difficult, so perhaps it is the most impressive. We peculiarly glorify God in the fires. We are witnesses for him; and testify to the excellency of the principles, and to the power of the resources of the religion we profess. We show that his grace can support us when every other dependance fails, and his comforts cheer us when all other springs of refreshment are dried up. When by accident or sickness we are led in from active scenes, we! fear we are going to possess months of vanity, while perhaps we are entering some of the most useful parts of our life. If we endure as Christians, the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon us; and by cur patience, submission, peace, and joy, some around us are instructed, some convinced, some encouraged-while perhaps superior beings are excited to glorify God in us-for we are a spec tacle to angels as well as unto men. But what is the nature of the service in which we shall be engaged in the heavenly world? when we shall have dropped all our intir. mities? and our powers will be equal to our work and our wishes? "Therefore are they before his throne, and serve him day and night in his temple." "His servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face." 23. OCTOBER 22.-"There stood by me this night the angel of God."-Acts xxvi How Paul was now engaged we know not. Perhaps he was praying. This is the resource of the Christian in every storm; and to this the promise is made, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee." Nor can we determine where he was. Con sidering that he was a prisoner, and so many on board, it is not likely that he had a cabin to himself. Yet he seems to have been alone at least the privilege was personal and individual. There were near three hundred in the ship, but none of them was aware of what was passing with Paul. The Lord, in the same assembly, and in the same seat, can hold communion with one, and not with another. "Lord, how is it," said one of the disciples, "that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" The ques tion implies wonder; but our Saviour had promised the distinction. Luke was in the ship, but Paul only has the vision. All the par takers of Divine grace are not allowed the same indulgences. All the apostles were not to witness the raising of the ruler's daughter, and our Lord's transfiguration and passion; but only Peter, James, and John; and though he loved them all, John is called the disciple whom Jesus loved. It was not Luke, but Paul, that was to appear before Nero-Paul was the sufferer; and Divine comforts correspond with our trials, for "as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so the consolation aboundeth by Christ." Two things are observable. First, the messenger: the angel of the Lord. We know little of angels. The name is expressive of their office, rather than of their nature. They seem to have been the first beings created; they are proverbial for wisdom; and excel in T strength yet they do his commandments, and hearken unto the voice of his word. He saith to one, Go, and he goeth; to another, Come, and he cometh; and to each of them, Do this, and, whatsoever it be, he doeth it: for it is his will alone they regard; and they are always satisfied and delighted with it. They are elevated above us in rank and estate, yet they are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto them that shall be the heirs of salvation. Such honour and happiness have all the household of faith: the highest of God's creatures are their servants; they rejoice over them in their repentance, encamp round about them in trouble and danger, convey their souls at death into Abraham's bosom, and in the morning of the resurrection will gather together their bodies from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. They will be our associates for ever-We are come to an innumerable company of angels. Secondly, the season: this night. It was dark, pitch dark: not one star appeared. How was the angel to find Paul far off upon the sea in such a dense obscurity? We are not to judge of their senses by ours. They see not as man seeth. The darkness hideth not from them, but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to them. It was a period of extremity. The Lord could have given Paul the assurance before he had been so long tossed with the tempest; but it was withholden till all hope that they should be saved was taken away. This is what his people have often experienced. His reasons for delay are founded in wisdom and in kindness. He would destroy creature-confidence, and yet teach us never to despair with regard to himself. His conduct shows us that nothing is too hard for the Lord; at eventide it shall be light. It also displays his glory more to cure when the disease has been pronounced desperate, and all other physicians have withdrawn. Hence he abode two days in the same place, after he heard of the case of Lazarus, and was glad for the sake of his disciples that he was not present to recover him from his sickness, as it would confirm their faith more to see him raised after he had been dead four days. OCTOBER 23.-" Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar: and, Jo, God have given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit, we must be cast upon a certain island."-Acts xxvii. 24-26. LET us observe the angel's address to Paul; and Paul's address to his companions. The angel's address contains two things. First, an admonition. "Fear not, Paul." There is nothing by which Christians honour their religion more than by confidence in danger, and cheerfulness in trouble. It would therefore have been lamentable had Paul on this occasion failed in spirit; and exposed himself to the reproach Eliphaz unjustly applied to Job: "Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees." Yet it would seem that the frame of his mind began to be weak and wavering. He had nature in him as well VOL II. 19 as grace. He had eaten nothing for a length of time, and was exhausted with fatigue. He knew what it was to be enervated. In one of his epistles he speaks of being "in weakness, and fear, and much trembling." In such a case the body depresses the mind; and a man has hardly the command of his own principles. Was Paul afraid whether he had done right in appealing unto Cæsar? Did he begin to shudder at the thought of appearing before such a monster as Nero? Or was he afraid of sinking? The Lord knew his frame; and remembered that he was dust. Secondly, an assurance. "Thou must be brought before Cæsar? This was the appointment of God; and it was to answer very important purposes. There his bonds were to be made manifest in the palace, and in all other places. There he was to testify the gospel of the grace of God, and to induce others to speak the word without fear. There he was to make converts to Christianity, and converts even in Caesar's household. Such was the design of God, and as this purpose must be accomplished, Paul's preservation was secure. Even a providential destination has rendered the fulfiller of it invulnerable, and insured his success, as far as he moved in the line of God's appointment. We see this in the case of Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus. All our times are in his hands, and we are immortal till our work is done. The assurance includes not only himself, but the whole company: "And, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee." The angel could have rescued Paul, and left the crew to perish; but to save them all for his sake was attaching importance to Paul, and putting honour upon him. And in this way the Lord magnifies his people now. The world knoweth them not, yet it is owing to them their very existence is continued. They are the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. Nations are blessed for their sakes: and though now they are overlooked because they are not heroes and statesmen, in the annals of heaven they are called the repairers of the breach, the restorers of paths to dwell in. "I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God." Observe also Paul's address to his companions in tribulation. It was tender: "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer." Paul had a feeling heart; and the state of his fellow-sufferers; their pale faces; their haggard looks; their shrieks when the vessel rolled or plunged: the thought of so many perishing, and perishing for ever-for there were in all two hundred threescore and sixteen: all this deeply affected him. He therefore now rejoices on their behalf, and eagerly hastens to alleviate their terror and anguish; and hopes too that the long-suffering of God would prove their eternal salvation. It was confident: "For I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." Thus he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able to perform. Owing to this he felt as safe and composed as if already on shore. We have every reason to believe what God has spoken; and not only is his honour, but our own profit, concerned in our believing it-It is the only way to solid comfort in such a world as this. Surely if ye will not believe ye shall not be established. But thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon thee, because he trusteth in thee.—It was predictive: "Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island"-not a continent, but an island, and a-certain island-and we must be cast upon it, that is, wrecked there; the vessel will be destroyed, though the passengers will be preserved. Why does he mention and particularize all this? To be a sign; that when the fact should have taken place, all might be persuaded that Paul spoke from divine authority. This is the design of all prophecy; it is not to amuse and perplex us in the previous study, but to confirm our faith by the event; as our Saviour more than once remarked, "These things I have said unto you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass ye may believe." The prediction was soon followed by the accomplishment: "And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita." And how was Paul viewed then? When he first came on deck they probably considered him an enthusiast, if not an impostor; and if they did not revile him they pitied his weakness, that he should expose himself to so many hardships and dangers for the sake of one Jesus who had been crucified, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. But the storm convinced them that Paul had good reason for his attachment and confidence. While they were filled with confusion and horror, he knew whom he believed, and was not ashamed of his hope. They called every man upon his god, but none of them could hear or save their suppliants. But Paul's master could save to the uttermost: and he not only delivered his servant, but the entire crew for his sake-So he can bring our adversaries to our feet, and make them know that he has loved us-So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous, verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth-For their rock is not as our Rock, our enemies themselves being judges. OCTOBER 24.-"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."-Mark ix. 24. How many subjects are there, concerning which a Christian is frequently compelled to express himself in these words-"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." This is the case sometimes even with regard to the being of a God. It may seem almost impossible that we should feel any doubt with regard to a truth so obvious and undeniable as the Divine existence. Many would probably deem a discourse against atheism altogether unworthy of their attention. They would observe that Moses, in the book of Genesis, does not attempt to prove a Deity, but takes it for granted; and that only a fool would say in his heart, there is none. Yet who has never, in any instance or degree, been affected by this folly? And who, while he acknowledges that no truth can be so unansweredly proved, does not feel that no fact is so confounding? Who has not been dazzled into a momentary blind |