gives you a bright world." In the poor cripple, that lies helpless by the wayside, God says to the passing crowd, "Be thankful to me for those agile limbs that carry you about." The blind, the idiotic, the crippled, the deformed, are sacrifices for the public good. They are God's homilies to the millions, demanding gratitude to Him for perfection in faculty and limb. Who can tell the spiritual good that this poor cripple accomplished, as he lay daily at the gate of the temple, observed by the hundreds that passed to and fro for worship? Observe

Fourthly: The scene of this miracle. "At the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful." Some suppose this was the gate called Nicanor, which led to the court of the Gentiles, to the court of the women. Others suppose that it was the gate to the eastern entrance of the temple, commonly called Susan or Sushan; the latter is the common and the more probable supposition. Josephus says, "Of the gates, nine of them were everywhere overlaid with gold and silver; likewise the posts and the lintels. But one, without the temple, made of Corinthian brass, did much exceed in glory those that were overlaid with gold and silver." At this gate began the inner temple, as distinguished by Josephus from the outer temple; this being the most frequented gate of the temple, and in the vicinity of Solomon's porch, the cripple was placed there as the best position for appealing for charity to the passing crowd.

His position there implies on behalf of himself and those who carried him to that spot-(1) That his condition was such as had a claim upon the charity of others. So it verily was. Such cases as his demand our compassion and our aid. They are means which God has appointed for the practical development of our benevolence. (2) That the exercises of piety are favorable to the display of benevolence. Why was he carried to the gate of the temple? Not merely because of the multitudes that passed to and fro; other positions, such as the public streets and commercial thoroughfares, might have been selected, were this the only reason. He felt, undoubtedly, that the men who approached God in

worship, were, above all, men disposed to help his suffering children. Piety is the fountain of philanthropy. Indeed, there is no true love for man that does not spring from love to God. If a man loves the Infinite Father, he is sure to show sympathy with His suffering children.

Observe— Fifthly: The method of the miracle. Observe the order. (1) Peter arrested his attention. Peter, fastening his eyes

It would seem

their eyes on this man—

upon him with John, said, Look on us." that Peter and John both fastened threw their glance right into his. The eye, when it is the organ of a great living thought, is a mighty organ. A divine electricity often streams through it. They fastened their eyes on him, that he might fasten his eyes on them, so that a kind of spiritual contact might take place; that they might connect him with the divine that was in them. (2) Peter assured him of his own temporal poverty. The poor man having had his attention arrested, expected that he should receive from them what he desired-alms; but in this he was disappointed by the declaration of Peter, "Silver and gold have I none." As if he had said, "Money, I have none; I am poor in this world; but such as I have-the power that God has given me to help others-I will employ on your behalf. It is recorded that Thomas Aquinas, who was highly esteemed by Pope Innocent IV., going one day into the Pope's chamber where they were reckoning large sums of money, the Pope said to him, "You see that the Church is no longer in an age in which she can say, 'Silver and gold have I none."" "True, holy father," said Aquinas; "neither can she say, 'Rise up and walk.'" A Church may be secularly rich, and morally poor. A man like Peter may be without money, and yet have God with him and in him to work His will. (3) Peter challenged his faith. "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." They wrought their miracle in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The apostolic miracles were all performed in the name of Christ, according to His own command and promise. (Mark xvi. 17, 18; John xiv. 12; Acts ix. 34, ix. 40, x. 28, xiv. 9, xvi. 18.)

254 HOMILETIC GLANCE AT THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

"In the name," that is, by the delegated power, "of Jesus of Nazareth." "Jesus of Nazareth," an allusion to the contempt with which that name was popularly regarded. "Rise up and walk." The man might have said, "You have mocked me; I cannot move a limb, I have never walked a step." Peter's command implied that a faith and volition were required on the part of the cripple. (4) Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him up. "In this, as in many of our Saviour's miracles," says a modern expositor, "the healing word was attended by an outward touch or gesture serving to connect the miraculous effect with the person by whom it was produced. (Matt. viii. 15, ix. 25, xiv. 31, xx. 34.) Such was the order or method, with which the miracle was wrought. The simple and minute account of the successive steps, gives to the whole narrative a living reality. Observe

Sixthly: The indubitableness of the miracle. Immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength. "And he, leaping up, stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God." (1) Look at the effect upon the man himself. The poor cripple who had never used his limbs for forty years, “stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God." Though the cure was well-nigh instantaneous, yet there is a great gradation observed. First, strength came into "his feet and ancle bones;" then he leaped up; then stood; then walked; then entered the temple. The man's frame bounded with new energy; his soul was flooded with divine joy and praise; and his limbs were agile and blithe, expressing these emotions. Who can describe, naywho can imagine the man's emotions, &c.? (2) Look at the effect upon the people. "All the people saw him walking and praising God." The miracle was public. It was not wrought in a corner; it was almost in the height of day, and before the eye of the multitude. The subject of the miracle was well-known. 66 "They knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple." Many had seen him lie there, year after year, a helpless cripple at the gate. The

people, therefore, were "filled with wonder and amazement." They were struck with astonishment. "All the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering." The whole neighbourhood felt the shock; Jerusalem was awe-struck.

The use that Peter makes of this miracle as a Text, will appear in the next paragraph.

(To be continued.)

Germs of Thought.

SUBJECT:-A Call to the Utmost Expansiveness in Religious Sympathy.

"For all things are your's; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's."-1 Cor. iii. 21-23.

Y

Analysis of Homily the Six Hundred and forty-ninth.

THE Church has not always treated its ministers rightly. Even in apostolic times, there were those professing to be disciples of Christ who would extol one minister to the depreciation of others. In the Church at Corinth, there were those who were of Paul, and those who were of Apollos. The attendants on a Christian ministry may be divided into two classes.

First Those who esteem the doctrine because of the teacher. There are not a few in all congregations who accept doctrines simply because of the strong sympathies they have with the preacher. They become so strangely fascinated with the preacher, that they will accept the most crude, as profound; the most blasphemous, as sacred. Paul seems to have had those in his eye, when he wrote this chapter. He alludes to men in the Church at Corinth, who had been taken more with the teachers than with their doctrines. There were some there

who admired the philosophic reasoning of one preacher; and others, the brilliant eloquence of another. This is a mistake, as bad as it is prevalent. The man who accepts a doctrine because of the teacher, sins against truth, and degrades his own nature. The other class of attendants on a Christian ministry, are

Secondly: Those who esteem the teacher because of his doctrines. A man who preaches to them, they feel is estimable only as he embodies and propounds the true doctrines of the Gospel. However commanding his eloquence, beautiful his imagery, cogent his reasoning, or graceful his actions, if he is not the organ of the Divine in doctrine, he is to them as "sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." The impropriety of glorying in teachers, rather than in their doctrines, is strikingly illustrated by three things in the text.

"All things are And Paul pro

"Whether Paul,

I. THE UNIVERSE IS FOR THE CHURCH. yours." "All things "-not some things. eeeds to catalogue some of the "all things." First The ministry is for the Church. or Apollos." There is no agency on earth more valuable than the Christian ministry. In every way it serves man—intellectually, socially, materially. But its grand aim is to restore the human spirit to the knowledge, the image, and fellowship of its God. Now this ministry, in all its varieties, is the property of the Church. Why, then, should it glory in any one form? Let those who like Paul, take Paul, and be thankful, and not find fault with those who regard Apollos as the most effective preacher. Pitting one minister against another is unworthy the Christian character.

Secondly: The world is for the Church. By the world we mean the earth with all its beauties and blessings. In the sense of legal possession, the world of course is not the property of Christians, nor is it the property of others. For he who claims the largest numbers of acres, has but a handbreadth compared with its numerous islands and vast continents. Yet in the highest sense it is the property of