believer should have neither party nor preferences, save in the degrees of holiness to be found in the Church. He is a part of the Bride, he is a branch of the Vine, he is a member of the Body, and his aspiration ever is, that the number of the elect may be completed quickly, and the glory of the Head shed over all the members. He knows there is but one Temple, one Vine, one Bride of the Lamb, one great, glorious, redeemed Church-the saints, all saints, and in his heart, and in his supplication, he can embrace them all. Names and parties go for nothing; he recognises, with his Master, only two distinctions, saints and sinners, sheep and goats, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. This breaks the bonds of sectarianism, and enlarges the soul into the dimensions of Divine love; this lets into the darkness and littleness of our minds something of the expansive force of the hidden life which circulates through all saints, and makes them eternally one in Christ Jesus. Those who have not made the trial, do not know how hard it is to love and pray for the saints, who do not walk in the same paths with themselves; and the best way to get over this narrow-mindedness is to meditate much on the love of God, which, like light from the sun, flows forth abundantly, and in thus beholding the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory.

XIV. PRAYER FOR INDIVIDUALS.

"And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the Gospel." (Ver. 19).

The heart of the apostle is not filled with anger against his persecutors; nor does he pray for vengeance upon the enemies of the Lord. He does not think of his danger, but of the testimony which he is to bear for his

Master; he is, indeed, confined, but his soul is free; and whether free or incarcerated, whether in Jerusalem or in Rome, his one aim is to proclaim to all men that Gospel of grace which gives "liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Isa. lxi. 1). He asks the prayers of the Church, not for his liberation, but that words may be given him, that he may be filled to overflowing with the materials of the Gospel history, and qualified to utter it with demonstration and power. He wants utterance. What a gift speech, language, oratory, discourse is, especially when it concerns God, or the Spirit of God, or the Incarnate Son, in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily! He wants utterance to tell out the great, big idea of God's infinite love in Jesus Christ! It is not eloquence, but utterance! The thing is eloquent enough if you can only get it out-only get it uttered! Tell the tale of Jehovah's love; glory only in the cross; pray for words, big, round, holy, burning words, that with open mouth, and loving heart, you may make known the mystery of the Gospel. Give no thought to mere eloquence; your place and position speak for you; the prison is an eloquent place; the stripes and the fetters speak for you; the roaring of the lions is an eloquent voice, and the martyr's prayer (Acts vii. 54-60) surpasses Tully, Demosthenes, and Chatham. But let us bridle the fancy, and keep close to the text. Here, then, in our text we have the following important facts-(1.) That prayer, prayer on the part of the people, as well as on the part of the pastor, is absolutely necessary to the right preaching of the Gospel in Christian congregations (Acts iv. 29, Col. iv. 3, 2 Thess. iii. 1). Without this the promised blessing cannot be expected. Without this the preacher, the prisoner, and the martyr lose a main part of their power. Love is the great uniter, and

prayer is the offspring of love. When the people abound in prayer, the minister will not lack utterance; and the result will be zeal for the glory of God, and love to the souls of men. The highest office is the apostolic, and it did not deliver Paul from trials and dangers, but increased them greatly; nor though he had constant fellowship with God, and the Spirit of God miraculously dwelling in him, could he dispense with the necessity of prayer. The holier we are, the more we see and lament our vileness. Nearness to Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, reveals the sin-spots on our white robes; and we may add, that in proportion as we imbibe the spirit of our Master, must we encounter the hatred and opposition of the world. (2.) Boldness is a New Testament virtue. The apostle wished to speak with boldness, or you may connect boldness with the following clause thus-"He worked with all boldness to make known the mystery of the Gospel" (see Phil. i. 20, John vii. 4, Col. ii. 15, Acts ii. 29, iv. 29, 31, xxviii. 31). This bold, earnest manner of stating the truth is in entire accordance with the nature and claims of the Gospel, which everywhere appeals to human guilt, and the necessity of atonement and mediation. Life and death depend upon your words, ye heralds of the cross; crowns of glory, or everlasting ruin, are the alternatives placed before men; be in earnest, as becomes such a message, and proclaim with boldness the saving doctrines of the cross. (3.) The apostolic preaching, indeed the Christian ministry generally, is appointed to make known the mysteries of the Gospel. God is no longer the unknown and unapproachable God, whose throne is surrounded with darkness and terror; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, hath declared Him; the fountains of salvation are opened to all, and the ministry of the Spirit is to make it known to mankind. The apostles were not

appointed to be sacrificing priests, as the Papists blasphemously pretend, but to make known the mysteries of the Gospel. The Gospel ministry is to teach, not to sacrifice, seeing Jesus has, by one offering, perfected for ever all that are sanctified. Paul will make known this mystery to all the world; there is no concealment, no preaching of the atonement with reserve, as the half Papists among us would do. Nor should the word mystery frighten any one, as if there were more mysteries. in Grace than in Nature, in the redemption than in the creation of the world. There is, in reality, less mystery in the word than in the work of God. We know a great deal more about the resurrection of the dead, and the Divine Persons of the Godhead, and the Incarnation of Christ, and the Holy Spirit the Comforter, than we do about the eternity of God, the creation of the universe, or the essence and attributes of the human soul. As for the essence of matter, we know nothing about it. Mystery is not with us as with the heathen, something which we are bound to conceal, but something which God has commissioned us to make known. Tell all the perishing there is eternal life for them in Jesus, but think not to expound all its glories; proclaim upon all the winds of heaven the mystery of all mysteries, that God is love, but leave the everlasting ages to sound the depths of that ocean. Preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified; tell forth the tale of His love to sinful man, and if they will not hear, proclaim it to the desert winds. But still there remains much to be told-many of the depths and heights of redeeming love which we shall only begin to understand when, enlarged in our faculties, and purified from all defilement, we arrive at the many mansioned house of our Father in heaven.

XV. THE AMBASSADOR IN BONDS.

"That I may preach the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." (Ver. 20.)

This is the same mystery for which he says (Col. iv. 3), "I am in bonds" (comp. 2 Cor. v. 20). For the Gospel's sake I execute the office of an ambassador in a chain. The chain, the one chain, some take to be the chain with which he was bound to the soldier that guarded him ; or the singular may be taken for the plural, as our translators have done, as simply designating his bondage (Acts xxviii. 20). Bengel has a fine thought here, "Mundus habet legatos splendidos, Christus vinctos." Yes, indeed, it is true the world has splendid ambassadors, and Christ's are in bonds; yet, if ye consider it well, there is much to be envied in these despised messengers and ambassadors of the Gospel. They can sing in their prisons songs of surpassing sweetness (Acts xvi. 25); sometimes, too, the radiance of heavenly light shines into the dungeon, and gilds their chains with glory (Acts xii. 7). They seem wonderfully composed in their afflictions, and what is most remarkable, their temper is never embittered, nor do you hear any complaint out of their mouth. They seem to be denizens of some higher sphere, where a perpetual serenity pervades all hearts; they turn the cheek to the smiter, and like their Master, when dying under murderous hands, breathe only the spirit of forgiveness and love (Acts vii. 54-60). There seems to be in all this something truly wonderful and divine, something which the reason would prefer to the most splendid embassies. Behold Paul in the prison and Cæsar on the throne, and tell me which you would prefer to be! The Cæsars are dead, and their decrees