efficient, faithful, durable, and disinterested: he is "a friend, that sticketh closer than a brother." But they often act towards him in a manner very unbecoming the relation, and induce him to ask, "Is this thy kindness to thy friend ?" It will be allowed that we can never discharge the obligations we owe him. We must lie for ever under the burden; but the "burden is light." Nothing is more painful than to be obliged to an enemy; but we feel otherwise when favoured by a benefactor we much regard and esteem. If I could save myself; if I could renew, keep, and glorify myself, I would infinitely rather my Lord and Saviour accomplished it; as it would show his love for me, and his presence with me; and I should endlessly feel myself indebted to him, and say, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. But though we cannot discharge our obligations, we ought to be sensible of them, and evince that we are willing to make him suitable returns, and, like the woman in the Gospel, to do what we can. Here, alas! he is often disappointed. He cannot indeed be disappointed as to fact, because his understanding is infinite; but he can be disappointed as to right. Surely he has a right to expect a certain kind of conduct from those he has so indulged; and not meeting with it he has surely reason to complain-and he does complain. "What more," says he, speaking of the Jewish church, "could have been done for my vineyard, and I have not done it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" And speaking of the same people under the emblem of a fig tree, "These three years," says he, "I come seeking fruit, and find none." Surely, as our friend, he has a right to expect that we should readily obey him. If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth ine. And as none of these commandments are unreasonable or unprofitable, and as they afford expressions of our attachment to him, they ought not to be grievous. But have we never drawn back, or turned aside; or been partial, or reluctant in duty? Have we always asked, with Saul of Tarsus, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" or resolved with Samuel, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth?" Surely, as our friend, he has a right to expect that we should own him, speak well of his name, and recommend him to others. Have we sought his glory? Have we laboured to advance his cause in the world? Have we endeavoured to make him known and endeared in the circle of our own connections? Have we not in some companies blushed to have found out what we profess to believe? Have we not been ashamed of him and of his words? He, though passed into the heavens, is not ashamed to call us brethren: and shall we deny him before men? Surely, as our friend, he has a right to expect that we should credit his word. We cannot offer a greater indignity to another than to disbelieve his declarations. The affront would be aggravated if he was a person remarkable for veracity, and we ourselves had always seen nothing in him but truth and faithfulness. But suppose he had added an oath, which ends all strife, to his promises? By disbelieving him then, we should charge him not only with falsehood but perjury. And is not this applicable to us? How should we tremble at the nature and consequences of unbelief? Ah! my Lord, I hear thee saying, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? Yes; I have not only contradicted thee-I have not only given thee the lie-but made thee to forswear thyself! and I cry out with tears, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." As our friend he expects that we should lay aside formality and reserve-that we should treat him with freedom and openness—that we should feel it not a task but a pleasure to come to his housethat we should never be afraid of offending him by the largeness of our applications, or wearying him by the frequency of our importunities. For he has commanded us to come boldly to the throne of grace; in every thing to make known our requests; to open our mouths wide; to ask and receive, that our joy may be full. But though we are not straitened in him, how straitened are we in ourselves! How cold, and distant, and suspicious, and fearful, often is our intercourse with him. How little do we honour him by our confidence! As our friend he expects that we regard his connexions. "Is there any left of the house of Saul," said David, " that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" Jesus has brethren and sisters on earth, who are afflicted and poor, and feel all the exigencies of life. But we may ask, "Since they are so nearly related to him, why does he permit their want and distress?" It is partly for our sakes. He deputes them to live among us, to receive the tokens of our attachment to himself. We cannot sigh for opportunities to testify our regard, by saying, “Oh, if he were in the world again as he once was, how would I minister unto him; how would I open my doors and entertain him"-For he is in the world. The poor we have always with us. What we do unto one of the least of these his brethren, we do it unto him. As our friend, if he has left us a memento to recall him to our minds, he expects that we should prize and observe it. Have we ever closed the eyes of a much loved connexion, and have we in our possession a picture of him? How much do we value, and how often do we contemplate the inanimate shadow. But suppose the painting should represent him in the attitude of dying, and dying for us, while endeavouring to save us from fire, or water, or the stroke of the murderer-What is his own supper but such a likeness? Does it not show forth his death? Is he not before our eyes, evidently set forth crucified among us, and sacrificed for us? Do this, he said, in remembrance of me. And can we undervalue it? Can we neglect it? Neglect it constantly? Neglect it often? Is this thy kindness to thy friend? Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Let us not be unwilling to receive the rebuke. It is indeed humbling; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Let us learn to demean ourselves towards him in future more properly. Let us watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again unto the Lord. Let us look on him whom we have pierced, and mourn. Let us grieve that he is wounded in the house of his friends. Above all, let us grieve that we ourselves ever grieved his Holy Spirit. Indeed, if I am his, and in a proper state of mind, nothing will affect me like this "I have acted an unworthy, an ungrateful part"-I have sinned against my best friend— "Sure were not I most vile and base, I could not thus my friend requite; He'd frown and spurn me from his sight." OCTOBER 5.-" Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also."-Acts xii. 1, 2, 3. PERSECUTION is a thing of which we happily know very little from experience. We are a sinful people, but blessed be God, persecution is not a national crime with us; yea, it is even punishable; and conscientiousness is placed under legal protection. But while we rejoice in our privileges, and pray that God would preserve and prosper a country in which we sit under our own vine and fig tree, and none can make us afraid; we do well to call to remembrance the former times, in which others endured a great fight of afflictions.-Four things are remarked concerning the persecution before us. First, the season-"Now about that time"-What time? When, as we see from the conclusion of the preceding chapter, a great dearth prevailed throughout all the world, in the days of Claudius Cæsar. Every public calamity is a judgment for sin, and calls men to repentance but it is dreadful when the design of Providence is frustrated, and men go on in their trespasses, and instead of returning to him that smiteth them, sin more and more against God. Yet so it was here. God's hand was lifted up, but they would not see and while famine was stalking among them, and they had cleanness of teeth in all their borders, they are fighting against God, in the guilty and cruel business of persecution. Secondly, the author-"Herod the king." Not the Herod under whom our Saviour was born: nor Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, who beheaded John: but Herod Agrippa, father of the king Agrippa whom Paul had almost persuaded to be a Christian. We know but little of him; and that little only shows his vileness. He reigned seven or eight years, and then departed disgracefully to meet a Being who will have a dreadful account to settle with tyrants and persecutors. Such wretches seldom die a timely and natural death. Here is the end of this child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness: "Upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." Thirdly, the victims. Some of them are only adverted to-He stretched forth his hands to vex "certain of the Church :" and nothing more is said of them. We have the names of many of the sufferers for Christ, together with some of their dying words, and letters, and works, and which savour fragrantly of the prison; but a very large portion of the noble army of martyrs are unnoticed in the annals of history. They are indeed recorded in the book of life, and Jesus will confess them before his Father and the holy angels: but they were driven into exile, or pined away by disease in their dungeons, or were secretly dispatched, a spectacle to angels, but not to the world and to men. One of these victims however is here named. "He killed James the brother of John with the sword." James was a preacher. In the Church of God the post of honour has always been the post of danger: and he was the more likely to be laid hold of, as he was one of the two apostles called Boanerges, or sons of thunder, because they were rousing, bold, and fearless in their manner. He was also one of the two who wished to call for fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans, and would thus have been (Lord, what is man!) a persecutor himself: but "Jesus rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of: for the Son of man is come not to destroy men's lives, but to save them." He was also one of the two sons of Zebedee, who persuaded their mother to desire a certain thing of our Lord: "Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom." But Jesus answered, "Ye know not what ye ask, are ye able to drink of the cup I drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them: Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with"-Looking forward in spirit at that very moment, and seeing John banished to the Isle of Patmos, and James beheaded of Herod ! Fourthly, the continuance-" And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also." And did it please the Jews? Then were they equally guilty. They who connive at the wickedness of others-who excite and encourage it, and feel a satisfaction in it, have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, and are partakers of other men's sins-Yea, according to the Apostles, they are the most criminal "who take pleasure in them that do such things." The perpetrators may be strongly tempted, but the beholders can plead no such excuse; their delight shows congeniality with the wickedness itself. But here we see how alive men are to the opinion and applause of their fellow creatures. Even the great can inhale incense from the vulgar: and even the wise are not senseless to the flattery of fools. What enemies are men to men! How they influence and corrupt one another! Alone the individual feels well; and resolves; and abides by his resolution-till he gets into company. Alone he feels the evidence of truth-Why then does he not hear it, follow it, avow it? A frown, a sneer, a laugh, a name! Did Felix think the Apostle deserving imprisonment? No. "But willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, he left Paul bound." Why did not many among the Pharisees believe on him whose miracles they could not deny? They did believe on him, but "feared to confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." Let us learn to act from principle; and dare to be singular if the course of duty demands it. Let this desire of approbation turn us towards God. Let us seek to please him. The attempt will involve us in no mean compliances; and it will be sure to succeed. We also see how, in a bad course, men proceed from evil to evil, and wax worse and worse. One sin renders another necessary, or prepares the way for it, and renders it easier. Let us guard against beginnings. Let us crush the egg before it becomes a fiery flying serpent. "When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death"-"He proceeded to take Peter also.". OCTOBER 6.-"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus."—Heb. xii. 1, 2. THE language is allusive, and in the style of the Apostle, the comparison is familiar. As one of the games, celebrated with so much pomp among the Grecians, was running in a race, he often borrows an idea from it, to express in a measure the nature of the Christian life. It is a "race." It is needless to multiply articles of resemblance. It is easy to see the impression Paul would make: no prize without running: no heaven without diligence and zeal. Religion demands the full exertion of all our spiritual powers, and allows of no indolence, no repose. Whatever view we take of it, whether as it regards our principles or our conduct, what we have to abolish or establish, to avoid or to pursue; or whether as it includes the duties we owe to God, our fellow-creatures, and ourselves;— it must appear a very active, laborious, and trying scene. It is a disgrace to the character of a Christian, and a contradiction to his profession, not only to turn aside or draw back, but to stand still, or look back, or even seem to come short. Advancement is not more obviously implied in the acomplishment of a race than progression is necessary in a course of godliness. We are therefore required to grow in grace. And Paul, exemplifying in his experience what he recommends in doctrine, says, "I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” This race is "set before us"-It is prescribed, marked out, made evident in the Scripture. It is not a concern into which we drop by chance; neither is it a course of our own devising. Religion is not will-worship, human inventions, the traditions and commandments of men. No authority is binding here but Divine. We have always one question only to ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" And he has in his word made things plain, in proportion as they are important, so that the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein, and he may run that readeth. He has also set before us the difficulties attached to this course, so that if we suffer we have no reason to complain. If, when we meet with them, we are tempted to despond or decline, we may say, O my soul ought I to be surprised? Am I deceived? when I gave in my unworthy name to become his follower, did he hide any thing from me? Did he not assure me that in the world I should have tribulation? Did he not say, If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me? This race set before us is to be "run with patience." We shall constantly need this grace. We shall meet with provocations and injuries; and we are not to revenge ourselves, or even render railing |