^ PRINCETON, N. J. <^^ 
 
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SYNOPTICAL LECTURES 
 
 aN THE 
 
 BOOKS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. 
 
SYNOPTICAL LECTURES 
 
 BOOKS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. 
 
 DONALD FRASEE, M.A., D.D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 METAPHORS IN THE GOSPEL3," " SPEECHES OF THE HOLY APOSTLES," ETC. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES, 
 
 ZEPHANIAH— REVELATION. 
 VOL. IL 
 
 JTourtl? ©Uition* etarefuIlH retiscn t|)rouG|jout* 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET. 
 
 MDCCCLXXXVI. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOL. 11, 
 
 
 PAGK 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Zephaniah 
 
 I 
 
 I. Thessalonians 
 
 . 185 
 
 Haggai 
 
 8 
 
 II. Thessalonians 
 
 . 195 
 
 Zechariah 
 
 i6 
 
 I. Timothy 
 
 . 204 
 
 Malachi . 
 
 27 
 
 II. Timothy 
 
 
 . 215 
 
 Transition from the Ole 
 
 
 Titus 
 
 
 . 223 
 
 Testament to the New 
 
 36 
 
 Philemon . 
 
 
 . 231 
 
 St. Matthew . 
 
 43 
 
 Hebrews . 
 
 
 • 239 
 
 St. Mark . 
 
 54 
 
 James 
 
 
 . 249 
 
 St. Luke . 
 
 (>3 
 
 I. Peter . 
 
 
 . 260 
 
 St. John . 
 
 74 
 
 II. Peter . 
 
 
 . 270 
 
 Acts of the Apostles 
 
 90 
 
 I. John 
 
 
 . 280 
 
 The Epistles . 
 
 III 
 
 II. John . 
 
 
 . 291 
 
 Romans 
 
 119 
 
 III. John . 
 
 
 . 300 
 
 I. Corinthians . 
 
 129 
 
 JUDE . 
 
 
 . 308 
 
 II. Corinthians 
 
 138 
 
 Revelation.— No. i 
 
 . .316 
 
 Galatians 
 
 147 
 
 No. 2 
 
 . 327 
 
 Ephesians 
 
 156 
 
 No. 3 
 
 . 339 
 
 Philippians 
 
 165 
 
 No. 4 
 
 . 349 
 
 COLOSSIANS 
 
 175 
 
 
 
 
SYJfOPTIOAL LECTURES. 
 
 ZEPHANIAH, 
 
 Habakkuk lived probably in the reign of Josiah. Zephaniah 
 did so to a certainty; and, with his contemporary Jeremiah, 
 deplored the perversity of his countrymen, and foreboded their 
 punishment. 
 
 The prophet gives his family descent for four generations ; 
 and if his ancestor Hizkiah or Hezekiah was, as is quite posssible, 
 the king of that name, he was of royal extraction. He does 
 not, however, place before us his own personality in his writings, 
 or even express his own thoughts and wishes. His book of pro- 
 phecy throughout is spoken by Jehovah. It is most strictly 
 " the word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah." 
 
 A large portion of it is occupied with reproofs of sin and calls 
 to repentance. From this we infer that Zephaniah prophesied 
 before the reformation of worship enforced by King Josiah, 
 or that the reformation did not deeply penetrate the national 
 conscience. In Judah, the princes, priests, and people were 
 corrupted in life, and prone to idolatry ; so the contemporary 
 prophets, who were faithful to God, were compelled to cry aloud 
 against this obstinate degeneracy, and spare not. Jehovah was 
 said to search Jerusalem with candles, that he might drag to light 
 the proud and self-indulgent. Stern reproofs were given by the 
 mouth of Zephaniah to the princes who wore a foreign dress and 
 copied lieathen manners, the merchants laden with silver, and the 
 
 VOL. II. A 
 
2 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 voluptuaries who cast off the fear of the Lord. They were 
 warned of a day of judgment drawing nigh. The fate foretold 
 in Hezekiah's time had been postponed, but was not averted. 
 
 We shall not analyse this book in detail. Consisting as it 
 does of reproofs to Jerusalem, and menaces to Judah and the 
 neighbouring nations, it had a much stronger interest for the 
 ancients, than it has for us. Yet it is only fair to Zephaniah to 
 observe that he surpasses all the minor prophets in the com- 
 prehensive view which he takes of the Divine administration of 
 the world, and that on his page truths appears which stretch 
 across all dispensations. Some of these we shall point out. 
 
 I. A preacher of righteousness must go beneath the surface 
 of human life. As a servant of the Lord who searched 
 Jerusalem, Zephaniah detected and exposed the absence of faith 
 and corruption of morals in all classes of Jewish, society. 
 
 So did the greatest Prophet of all, and His forerunner. 
 John the Baptist, the preacher of repentance, knew how to 
 strike at the besetting sin of each class of men that came to him, 
 and spared not. He did not say the same words to the people, 
 to the publicans, and to the soldiers ; but had a special searching 
 word for each.* The Lord Jesus, the master preacher of 
 righteousness, was not satisfied with the outside of the cup and 
 platter, but looked beneath the surface, and told men what was 
 in their hearts ; exposing the hollowness of a religion of fasts, 
 tithes, and prayers, while the heart was impure, and the life 
 unrighteous. 
 
 Surely something like this is always essential to effective 
 ministry. It must dive beneath the surface, and expose the 
 secrets of the heart. Not content with a profession of religion, 
 it must examine, or provoke self-examination, whether char- 
 acter is pervaded, and the conduct of life really influenced, by 
 religious principle. It must search the visible Church, as the 
 Lord searched Jerusalem with candles, and smite "the men 
 who are settled on their lees," or who under a nominal Christi- 
 * Luke iii. 7- 1 4. 
 
ZEPHANIAH. 3 
 
 anity conceal a moral laxity or a spiritual indifference. The 
 Lord sent prophet after prophet thus to rebuke iniquity in 
 Jerusalem, before it fell under the power of the Chaldeans : 
 He renewed the same strain of prophetic warning through 
 John the Baptist, and the Messiah, before the same city fell 
 under the power of the Komans ; and doubtless He will revive 
 the prophecy of reproof, the searching ministry of righteousness, 
 and preaching of repentance, before there comes on Christendom 
 the great and terrible day of the Lord. 
 
 Indeed, nowhere is the habit of speaking smooth things, 
 and assuming the surface to be a faithful index of what lies 
 beneath, more fallacious and injurious than in the moral and 
 religious sphere. Many faces are but masks, and appearances 
 proverbially deceive. Kich men are often very poor, and gay 
 men very wretched. The sorrowful have inward joy ; and those 
 who seem most prosperous are perhaps ill at ease, and full of 
 foreboding. Rough men have tender hearts ; and soft-spoken 
 people are hard and cruel. So also a form of godliness proves 
 nothing. At the Lord's house, men worship idols of their own 
 fancy ; and fresh from prayer, they devise mischief, and work 
 wickedness. The servant of God must have eyes to see this, 
 and a mouth to speak of this without fear of man. 
 
 Such a servant in Christian times was John Chrysostom, 
 when with pungent eloquence, and at every risk, he denounced 
 the corruption of Constantinople. Such was Bernard of Clair- 
 vaux, who during his whole life testified against the evils of 
 his Church, and admonished the ''people, clergy, bishops, and 
 popes themselves, with all plainness of speech. Such was 
 Savonarola, who at Florence declaimed against the vices of all 
 orders of men, and effected a wonderful though short-lived 
 reformation of manners. Such was Latimer, who with a 
 glorious courage exposed the Church superstitions, and preached 
 the gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sin's to London and 
 to England. We want such ministry again, with discernment 
 of the times, to weigh the prevailing religion justly, to expose 
 fearlessly the evils, hypocrisies, and proud impieties that are 
 
4 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 among ns, and to cry aloud in the name of the Lord — "Repent 
 ye " — " Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." 
 
 11. There is wrath to come,— a great " dies irae." It stood 
 before the eyes of Zephaniah— a dreadful vision. " The great 
 day of Jehovah is near, and hastening greatly. A day of 
 wrath is that day, a day of anguish and pressure, a day of 
 wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day 
 of clouds and thick darkness." * All Scripture speaks of the 
 wrath as well as the mercy of God ; His severity as well as 
 His goodness ; and the vista of the future, so far as concerns 
 the impenitent, closes with " the day of wrath and revelation 
 of the righteous judgment of God, who wall render to every 
 man according to his works." t 
 
 It is this passage of Zephaniah which suggested the famous 
 old Latin hymn, referred to in a former lecture — " Dies irae, 
 dies ilia ! " Its title is — " De novissimo Judicio ; " and it 
 describes the universal tremor at the appearing of the Judge. 
 It cries for pardon of sin, and a place with Christ's sheep at 
 His right hand. It w^as written in an age of little Christian 
 light, being ascribed with probability to Thomas of Celano in 
 the thirteenth century. Accordingly, it is scarcely a hymn to 
 be sung by a child of God in whom perfected love has cast out 
 the tormenting fear of judgment; but it is in fine harmony 
 with the sombre language of the prophet, and seems to quiver 
 before the indignation of the great and terrible God. 
 
 III. In time — not in eternity — God calls nations to account. 
 This is largely illustrated in the greater prophets, especially 
 Isaiah and Jeremiah ; and it is intimated here more briefly by 
 the predicted fate of the Philistines, Moabites, and Ammonites. 
 For their inveterate hostility to Israel and Judah, these nations 
 were to be overthrown and their territories laid utterly waste. 
 Every one knows that this is come to pass. Philistia is a 
 sparsely inhabited pasture-land, and the whole region of Moab 
 * Chap. i. 14-16. t Rom. ii. 5, 6. 
 
ZEPHANIAH. 5 
 
 and Ammon lies desolate. Then, the area of judgment is 
 shown to be more extensive, by the mention of two distant and 
 powerful nations — Ethiopia in the south, and Assyria in the 
 north-east, but reckoned by the Jews as in the north, because 
 the invading armies of Assyria marched from north to south 
 through Palestine. The sword of the Lord can reach Ethiopia. 
 His hand can also destroy Asshur, and make Nineveh a barren 
 waste, where wild animals roam, and the pelicans dwell in the 
 ruined buildings of what was once a populous city. * Every 
 one knows that this also has come to pass — evincing the power 
 of the Lord to judge the strong nations as well as the feeble, 
 and to abase those that walked in pride. 
 
 The New Testament says less of nations than the Old, and 
 for an obvious reason. In the times before Christ, the people 
 of God were a constituted nation with an earthly capital at 
 Jerusalem, and an earthly inheritance in Canaan. In contrast 
 with them, usually in hostility to them, stood other nations of 
 the world. But now the people of God are constituted and 
 united as the Church, chosen out of all nations without dis- 
 tinction, and spreading among all nations, having no earthly 
 capital or boundary, and having an "inheritence laid up in 
 heaven." Therefore, there is not the same sharp and obvious 
 contrast between the Church and the nations, as there was be- 
 tween Israel and the nations. The Church exists in this nation 
 or that, and will reach into all nations. It does not resolve 
 itself anywhere into a nation, but it influences and blesses by its 
 presence every people among whom it has penetrated. 
 
 At the same time, since there is such a thing as national 
 character, and national action cannot possibly be quite neutral or 
 colourless in regard to morals and religion, but must either help 
 or hinder the truth and Church of Christ ; nations are, in this 
 dispensation also, the subjects of a Divine scrutiny and judgment. 
 This, too, may be traced along the course of history, and is not 
 reserved to the great day. Just as of old time, God punished 
 the nations very distinctly and severely, because of their hostility 
 * Chap. ii. 12-15. 
 
6 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 to His people, so now He punishes nations sooner or later for 
 persecuting His saints, hindering His Church, or giving favour 
 and support to any doctrine or institution subversive of the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 Some men seem to hold that, because genuine Christian faith 
 and experience must have their seat in the individual mind and 
 heart, a nation as such cannot recognise or take anything to 
 do with revealed religion. Th^y bid the nation take care of 
 itself, its property, liberty, and political position, religion being 
 confined strictly to the individual and to the Church. But the 
 action of a nation can never be thus limited ; it cannot promote 
 even its own interests without appealing to the principles which 
 are inculcated in the Christian revelation ; and it cannot avoid 
 the friendly or unfriendly bearing of its laws, institutions, and 
 functionaries towards Christ and the Church. For such bearing 
 it is responsible to God. Let no one say that this is Old Testa- 
 ment doctrine inapplicable to a more spiritual dispensation. 
 Among the last things revealed in that last book of prophecy 
 which closes the New Testament, we find the kings and nations 
 as such dealt with by Christ. The King of kings shall smite 
 them, and rule them with a rod of iron. Nay, more, after the 
 Millennium, nations, deceived by Satan, shall be punished for 
 their hostility to the camp of the saints and the beloved city — 
 " And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them." * 
 
 In what way or ways a nation may best serve Christ and 
 the Church is a question of practical discretion which may be 
 answered differently in different countries. What we protest 
 against is the modem theory that a nation as such cannot 
 recognise Christian truth, unless all the citizens are converted, 
 and cannot sustain a religious obligation. A sure way, this, to 
 impoverish national character, and degrade the whole conception 
 of public duty. 
 
 lY. The happy issue of all the prophetic periods will be, that 
 the Lord will dwell among His people. " Sing, daughter of 
 * Rev. xix. 15, 16; XX, 7-9. 
 
ZEPHANIAH. 7 
 
 Zion ; shout, Israel ; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, 
 O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy 
 judgments, He hath cast out thy enemy : the King of Israel, 
 even the Lord, is in the midst of thee ; thou shalt not fear evil 
 any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou 
 not; and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord 
 thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty One who will save ; 
 He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, 
 He will joy over thee with singing." * 
 
 The Book of Zephaniah ends with an announcement of the 
 ultimate restoration of the Jews, and of the Lord's delight in 
 His redeemed people. He will rest among them as Jehovah. 
 Such is the view of this prophet, who speaks not of Messiah, 
 but always of Jehovah and His chosen nation. 
 
 This, however, cannot be without blessing to the Gentiles 
 also. The receiving of Israel will be to them as life from the 
 dead. Then, the Lord Christ will dwell in His love, not among 
 the Jews only, but among the Gentiles also ; and, as He died 
 for them all, so will He joy over them all with singing. Thus 
 the language proper to Judah is for us also the language of our 
 most sacred hopes. We are come to Mount Zion with songs ; 
 and as the children of Zion sing, lo ! the Mighty Saviour sings 
 " in the midst of the congregation ; " He joys over them with 
 singing. 
 
 * Chap. iii. 14-20. 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 HAGGAL 
 
 As between Isaiah and Jeremiah, so also between Zephaniah 
 and Haggai, there lies a gap of fully a hundred years. We 
 have reached the first of those prophets who lived after the 
 return of the Jews from their exile in Babylon, and who are 
 usually styled the Prophets of the Restoration. Ezra and 
 Nehemiah are the historians of the period ; Haggai, Zechariah, 
 and Malachi are the prophets. 
 
 Of this first of the three, nothing is known with certainty ; 
 though the Rabbinical tradition is very probably true, that 
 Haggai was born in Babylon during the captivity, and went to 
 Jerusalem with the first expedition of Jews, who returned to 
 their own land under the decree of Cyrus. Like Habakkuk, he 
 is styled " the prophet," and may therefore be supposed to have 
 been well known for his prophetic gift ; but this book consists 
 simply of four addresses regarding the Temple, delivered by 
 Haggai within the short space of three months. 
 
 We call them addresses. The prophet Haggai was no poet."'^ 
 His style is animated, but not imaginative or exalted. He has 
 no bold figures of speech, no visions, and no parables : but in a 
 plain straightforward manner delivers his message from the Lord 
 concerning the immediate duty of the Jewish settlers at Jeru- 
 salem, and the destined glory of the Temple which they had 
 begun to build. 
 
 This was not a matter of patriotic interest merely, or even of 
 
 * True, that the names of Haggai and Zechariah are prefixed to certain 
 of the later Psalms in the Septuagint version, and in the Peshito Syriac ; 
 but this probably means that those Psalms were introduced into the public 
 service on their authority. 
 
HAGGAL 9 
 
 ordinary religious duty. The Temple occupied a position in 
 that dispensation, which no earthly sanctuary can claim in the 
 age of the Gospel. It was the authorised seat and centre of 
 religious life and fellowship. The destruction of the Temple 
 by the Babylonian army had been for the time a fatal blow to 
 the sacred pre-eminence of Jerusalem. If, after such interruption, 
 and the exile in Babylon, there was to be a real restoration of 
 Jerusalem's pre-eminence, and a renewal of the Divine covenant 
 with the Jews, it was essential that the Temple should be rebuilt ; 
 and that, in rebuilding it with their own hands, the people should 
 practically and earnestly express their desire to be received again 
 into fellowship with Jehovah, worshipping at His altar, and 
 hiding under the covert of His wings. 
 
 The Book of Haggai consists, as we have said, of four 
 addresses. They are divided thus : — 
 
 Chap. i. i-ii, with a notice of its effect, chap. i. 12-15. 
 
 Chap. ii. 1-9. 
 
 Chap. ii. 10-19. 
 
 Chap. ii. 20-23. 
 
 I. The first is spoken to Zerabbabel the prince of the house 
 of David, and to the high priest Joshua. The one was the 
 head of the government, having been appointed by the Persian 
 monarch to be Pechah or Pasha at Jerusalem ; the other, as we 
 should say, the chief ecclesiastic. The object of the address is 
 to rouse those leaders and the people under them from a sort 
 of apathy into which they had fallen regarding the erection of 
 the Temple. 
 
 We know already from Ezra, that the adversaries of the Jews 
 misrepresented their Temple-building to the king of Persia, and 
 obtained an order to stop the work. At the death of this king, 
 Artaxerxes, it was again open to the Jews to resume their 
 building on the authority of the original decree of Cyrus ; but 
 the people had grown cold and timid, and wished to put off the 
 work to a more convenient season. It was at this juncture that 
 the voice of Haggai began to be heard.*" 
 * See Ezra v. i, 2. 
 
lo SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 The Jews pleaded inability to proceed further with so great 
 an undertaking. The Lord asked by His prophet, whether it 
 was a time for the people to seek their own ease, and neglect 
 His Temple ? They had made for themselves comfortable houses, 
 and lived in dwellings which were covered in, and even elegantly 
 finished. Was it fitting, that after the foundations of the Lord's 
 House had been laid, it should have no completed walls, or pro- 
 tecting roof — a house lying desolate 1 The Jews were assured, 
 that this neglect of the Temple, far from being a profitable course 
 for themselves, really hindered the prosperity of their city. The 
 only way to obtain the favour of their fathers' God was to resume 
 the interrupted work — go to the mountain forest, bring wood, 
 and build the house. 
 
 The good effect of this address is recorded in the end of the 
 first chapter; also in the fifth and sixth chapters of Ezra. 
 Within three weeks from the delivery of the message, the 
 rubbish was cleared away, materials were collected, and the 
 builders were actually engaged on the wall of the Temple. 
 
 IL The second address was designed to correct a tendency to 
 discouragement and depreciation which began to appear. It 
 was delivered to the same great officers as the first, the prince 
 and the chief priest ; and also to the people generally, described 
 as the remnant or residue. 
 
 At the time when the foundations were laid, the old people 
 who had seen the grandeur of the former Temple wept at the 
 contrast. And now, again, after the first burst of enthusiasm 
 for the work was past, discouragement crept over the citizens as 
 they began to trace the proportions of the new building, and 
 perceived how short it would come of the splendour of Solomon's 
 Temple ; and yet, further, how it would fail to realise those pre- 
 dictions of a house of God's glory which had issued from the 
 fervent lips of Isaiah and Ezekiel, — " Who is left among you 
 that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see 
 it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing?" To correct 
 this spirit of feebleness, Haggai was directed to assure the 
 
HAGGAL II 
 
 Jews of the presence with them of the Lord of hosts : " Fear 
 ye not." 
 
 The words which follow (chap. ii. 6-9) have engaged the 
 attention of all careful students of the Bible ; and, indeed, in 
 these sentences lies the chief interest of the Book of Haggai. 
 The prophecy of a universal shaking is quoted in the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews — "He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I 
 shake not the earth only, but also heaven."* When Israel 
 came to mount Sinai and received the law, the earth shook ; 
 but in a later age, not earth only, but heaven too, shall be 
 shaken ; the only unshakable thing being the kingdom given 
 to the saints — "a kingdom that cannot be moved." This word, 
 however, as originally spoken to encourage the Jewish builders, 
 must be read as an assurance of the Divine power to prostrate 
 those great forces of the world before which the Jewish remnant 
 seemed so small and feeble. What if adversaries should deride 
 their building, or hinder it; what if the new Persian king, 
 Darius, whose disposition toward them had not yet been ascer- 
 tained, should frown upon them? Jehovah of hosts was with 
 them, and it was in His power, and in His purpose, to shake 
 the nations. The Persian empire would fall before the Grecian. 
 The Grecian would break into parts, and those parts would fall 
 before one another, and before the Eoman. The Koman, in its 
 turn, would be shaken and broken up. Why, then, should the 
 Jews be cast down or disquieted 1 Poor as their second Temple 
 looked, it was acknowledged by the Almighty Jehovah, and had 
 its part to play in the long preparation for that Kingdom which 
 is to survive all kingdoms, and concerning which it had been 
 already revealed, that " the saints of the Most High shall take 
 the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever 
 and ever." f 
 
 Then follows the promise — " And the desirable things of all 
 
 nations shall come." Early interpreters referred this to the 
 
 Messiah, and the influence of their interpretation may be seen 
 
 in the Vulgate, and other versions. The erroneous rendering in 
 
 * Heb. xii. 26. + Dan. vii. 18. 
 
12 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 the English Authorised Version has been used without misgiving 
 by preachers without number ; and it is quoted as the found- 
 ation text of the interesting Hulsean Lectures for the year 1846 
 by Archbishop Trench, which are entitled, "Christ the Desire 
 of All Nations; or, The Unconscious Prophecies of Heathen- 
 dom." It is an attractive and profitable theme. But the 
 plurals in the Hebrew leave no doubt about the meaning. What 
 is promised is the homage of nations * bringing their treasures 
 as gifts of goodwill to the House of the Lord in Jerusalem.! 
 
 It is true that the fulfilment of this word was hindered by 
 the unbelief of the Jews. But the promise itself is not with- 
 dra-wn : it is expanded and ennobled in the last and best vision 
 of Jerusalem, — " The nations shall walk in the light of it ; and 
 the kings of the earth do bring their glory into it. And the 
 gates of it shall not be shut at all by day ; for there shall be no 
 night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the 
 nations into it."| 
 
 The question remains. What is the special glory promised to 
 the second Temple in the words — "The glory of this latter 
 house shall be greater than of the former, saith Jehovah ; and 
 in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of Hosts " ? It 
 has been usually explained as a prediction that Messiah would 
 come into that house ; as indeed He did come into the Temple 
 which had been enlarged and embellished by Herod the Great. 
 Strict interpretation, however, must hold, that it is the glory 
 and honour of the nations brought to Jerusalem which is to fill 
 the Temple. This promise also, or this continuation of the 
 promise regarding the treasures of the nations, the Jews did not 
 obtain because of their unbelief. It is reserved for a future era 
 when Jerusalem shaU be holy. Only, it was undoubtedly a 
 beginning of the blessing, when Immanuel was born, and 
 brought into the Temple, where he was hailed as the con- 
 
 * Hitzig renders, "The pick of the nations shall come," scil., with 
 offerings to the Temple. 
 
 + The parallel Scriptures are Isa. Ix. 5-7 ; Ixi. 6. 
 :;: Rev. xxi. 24-27. 
 
HAGGAI. 13 
 
 solation and glory of Israel. Consequent on His appearing is 
 the future glory of His kingdom, and the filling of holy Jeru- 
 salem with peace. 
 
 III. The third address consists of an appeal to the priests, 
 and an instruction to the people. Its object is information and 
 encouragement. 
 
 The priests, as appointed not only to conduct Divine service, 
 but also to teach the law of God, were interrogated on two 
 points ; and their correct answers are recorded. To the first 
 question they replied, that there could be no transmission of 
 holiness from one object to another, or consecration by mere 
 contact, — a principle that cuts deep into all ritualism. To the 
 second they answered that pollution, or ceremonial uncleanness, 
 could be transmitted, and in particular that it was incurred by 
 contact with a dead body. Such was the law. 
 
 On the basis of these declarations, the prophet warned the 
 people, that they and their city were not sanctified or protected 
 by any outward observances whatever. On the contrary, they 
 had incurred disfavour with God, and therefore had suffered 
 "from blight, withering, and hail." The Lord required of 
 them to arise and build; and from the day on which they 
 should put their hands zealously to the work of His house, He 
 was ready to bless them with fruitful seasons. 
 
 IV. On the same day on which the third address was deli- 
 vered to the people, the fourth was spoken to Zerubbabel, the 
 governor of Judah, with a view to support the courage of that 
 prince. Whatever shaking and overturning might ensue, he 
 was not to fear, for the Lord would make him " as a signet 
 ring " with which He would not part. It is a strong Oriental 
 expression to denote what one holds precious, and will not put 
 away or surrender, for no man of consequence in the East is 
 ever without his signet ring."*" 
 
 Zerubbabel represented the house of David which was never 
 * Compare Jer. xxii. 24-26. 
 
14 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 to be forgotten before God, till Christ should come, the great 
 Son of David, and Heir of the kingdom. This promise there- 
 fore is just a renewal of the all-important Messianic promise 
 — "the sure mercies of David" — in the form and language 
 appropriate to the period. " I have chosen thee, Zerubbabel, 
 saith the Lord of Hosts," * is tantamount to an assurance that 
 the house of David, though reduced in dignity for a season, was 
 not cast off, and that Messiah would come in the line of Zerub- 
 babel This we know to have been fulfilled, for that prince's 
 name appears in both the genealogies of Jesus, given by the 
 evangelists Matthew and Luke. 
 
 Indeed Zerubbabel himself, in his great enterprise of building 
 the Temple, is a sign of Jesus Christ, who builds on a rock His 
 Temple, the Church. Adam suggests Him as the Covenant 
 Head, Melchisedec as the royal priest, Isaac as the heir of 
 promise, Joseph as the rejected one who became a prince and 
 saviour, Moses as the redeemer and mediator, Joshua as captain 
 of the host, David as the man of affliction and of victory, 
 Solomon as the prince of peace, Jonah as the buried one who 
 rose again, and so also Zerubbabel suggests and illustrates the 
 position of our Lord as the Builder of the Church, which is the 
 Temple of the Holy Ghost. This honour He took not to Him- 
 self ; but was chosen and called to it, like Zerubbabel ; and in 
 it, He derives strength and comfort from the thought that He 
 was not and is not left alone in the work ; that the Father who 
 sent Him was with Him, and is with Him, doing all things by 
 Him as the signet ring of supreme authorit3^ 
 
 All the building of the Temple is ascribed to Zerubbabel 
 His hands laid the foundation, and his hands finished the 
 house ; yet many willingly worked with and under him. So 
 now, all the building of the divine Temple is by and of Christ 
 
 * This designation of God occurs with marked frequency in the books 
 of the Post- Exilian Prophets. It marked the strong feeling of the restored 
 Jews against idolatry. The nations worshipped the hosts of heaven : but 
 they worshipped the Jehovah who made and ruled their stars in their 
 array. 
 
HAGGAI. 15 ; 
 
 Jesus. " Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain : 
 
 that build it." But there are those who build with and under | •■, 
 
 Christ. It is the highest position, and the noblest occupation 3 
 
 to which we can aspire. By all means let us pray for the peace j 
 
 of Jerusalem ; but let us do more, — put our hands to the work | 
 
 of building that holy and beautiful house which surpasses all , 
 
 earthly and material structures, because it consists ^of living > 
 stones in spiritual fellowship. 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 ZECHARIAH, 
 
 A VERY important book is before us; and one in which are 
 some things hard to be understood, 
 
 Zechariah was contemporary with Haggai, and is mentioned 
 along with him in the Book of Ezra. He took, however, a 
 wider scope than that prophet, and a longer perspective. 
 Haggai preached the duty of rebuilding the Temple. Zechariah, 
 in order to instruct and inspirit the people, had night visions 
 from the Lord, reaching far into the future of Judah and the 
 nations, with glimpses of the Messiah to come, and of days of 
 joy, peace, and holiness destined ultimately for Jerusalem. 
 
 Some have supposed that this prophet met a violent death, 
 and that he is the "Zacharias, son of Barachias," whom our 
 Lord mentions as having been "slain between the Temple 
 and the altar ! " * But it is far more probable that our Lord 
 referred to the earlier prophet Zechariah, who was " stoned 
 with stones at the commandment of the King Joash in the 
 court of the house of the Lord." t To this it has been ob- 
 jected, that a prophet slain in the reign of Joash could not be 
 spoken of as the last martyr in Jerusalem, because Manasseh 
 afterwards filled the city with innocent blood. But the ex- 
 planation is simple. The Second Book of Chronicles stands 
 last in the Hebrew Bible, and the Zechariah mentioned in that 
 book is the last-named witness for Jehovah who suffered death 
 for his testimony. Our Lord, therefore, specified Abel and 
 this Zacharias as the first and the last martyrs mentioned by 
 name in the Old Testament Scriptures. 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 35. f 2 Chron. xxiv. 20-22. 
 
ZECHARIAH. 17 
 
 The Book of Zechariah breaks into two at the close of the 
 eighth chapter ; and, like the Book of Isaiah, has been assigned 
 by some critics to two dififerent authors. But with this differ- 
 ence, that the second part is ascribed to an earlier, not a later, 
 pen. It is regarded as a fragment of an unknown author of 
 the times before the Captivity, w^hich was appended to the 
 Book of Zechariah, that it might not be lost. But there is no 
 sufficient internal proof of this; and no external evidence 
 whatever. 
 
 It certainly is strange that, the evangelist Matthew, citing a 
 passage from the eleventh chapter of this book, attributes it 
 to the prophet Jeremiah, " Then was fulfilled that which was 
 spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the 
 thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was valued, whom 
 they of the children of Israel did value ; and gave them for 
 the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me." * Some account 
 for this as a mistake in transcription — a slip of the pen. An- 
 other and better explanation is, that the evangelist had in 
 mind the writing of Jeremiah about the potter in the i8th 
 and 19th chapters of his book ; and, regarding Zechariah's 
 mention of the potter's field as a continuation, gave, in the free 
 inexact way in which evangelists and apostles quote the Old 
 Testament, the name of the earlier and more important prophet 
 to his reference. 
 
 Kow of the scope and contents. 
 
 I. The first part — (chap, i.-viii.) — requires a careful analysis. 
 
 I. The introduction (chap. i. 1-6). — This is somewhat stern 
 in tone. It recalls the disobedience of the former generation, 
 and the consequent displeasure of God manifested in the down- 
 fall of Jerusalem, and in the long captivity of the Jews. From 
 this, the people are warned not to be like their fathers, lest 
 they should incur the same displeasure. "Keturn unto me, 
 saith Jehovah of Hosts, and I will return unto you." 
 
 This warning, combined with the simultaneous exhortations 
 * Matt. xxvii.*9, 10. 
 VOL. II. B 
 
i8 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of Haggai, produced a good effect. The people in Jerusalem 
 turned to Jehovah, and resumed the building of His Temple. 
 Five months after they had resumed it, the prophet Zechariah 
 had in one night — 
 
 2. A series of visions, intended to console and encourage 
 the feeble struggling colony of Jews. 
 
 (i.) The riders among the myrtle-trees (chap. i. 7-17). — 
 The valley in which the low myrtle-bushes grew was, no doubt, 
 a sign of the land of Judah under national depression, yet ever 
 dear to God. The riders were the messengers of God sent out 
 through the earth, to survey its condition, and to lead on the 
 judgments with which it was to be shaken. They reported by 
 their leader to the angel of Jehovah, who had led Israel through 
 the wilderness and watched over them, that there were no 
 signs of shaking — i.e., the shaking of all nations predicted by 
 Haggai. The whole earth was at rest. The Angel of Jehovah 
 then pleaded for pity to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, and 
 received from the Lord a favourable answer. On which, the 
 prophet was directed by an interpreting angel, of whom we 
 read again and again, to intimate the resolution of Jehovah to 
 smite the secure nations, and show kindness to the cities in 
 the Holy Land. 
 
 (2.) The four horns and four artisans (chap. i. 18-21). — The 
 horn of course is the symbol of power. Four horns scatter- 
 ing Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, are either to denote hostile 
 powers from all quarters, or to correspond with the four empires 
 in Daniel's vision. But God prepares a smith to ^'fray" each 
 horn; i.e., a power to quell and affright each and all of the 
 world-powers that " lifted up the horn over the land of Judah." 
 
 (3.) The man with the measuring-line (chap, ii.) — The Jews 
 were discouraged by the contrast between the city they were 
 rebuilding and that in which their fathers had dwelt, as well 
 as by the contrast between the Temple of Zerubbabel and that 
 of Solomon. But this vision gave assurance, that Jerusalem 
 should yet have a wider extent than ever it had known, and 
 should be safer than ever it had been ; for Jehovah would be 
 
ZECHARIAH. 19 
 
 " a wall of fire round about, and the glory in the midst of her." 
 Zion is called to rejoice over this prospect ; and all flesh is to 
 " be silent before Jehovah, because He is arisen from the habi- 
 tation of His holiness." 
 
 (4.) Joshua the high priest before the Angel of Jehovah 
 (chap, iii.) — In order to the establishment of Jerusalem in 
 the Divine favour, there must be a removal of iniquity ; and 
 to meet anxiety of conscience on this score was this fourth 
 vision given. The very priesthood, emphatically called to 
 represent the holiness of Israel, was chargeable with sin. 
 Satan, as accuser, hungering for the condemnation of the 
 guilty, stood at the right hand of the high priest, according 
 to that Jewish custom which placed the accuser at the right 
 hand of the accused.* But the Lord freely justified Joshua, 
 and the people of Jerusalem represented by him ; forgiving 
 their sin, and, by a change of Joshua's raiment, intimating 
 their acceptance in His sight. So Satan was rebuked by this 
 act of free grace to the " brand plucked out of the fire," f i.e., 
 to Joshua and the remnant rescued from Babylon, restored from 
 the captivity. 
 
 Then followed an address to Joshua in regard to the walk, 
 or course of conduct, befitting a judge in God's house. With 
 this, too, there was a brief promise of the Messiah, under the 
 name already given by Isaiah and Jeremiah, the Sprout or 
 Branch from the genealogical tree of David. And then was 
 set before the high priest a stone watched over by seven 
 protecting eyes. It was to be carved and placed in the Temple 
 as the "headstone.":}: The chapter ends with a prospect of 
 peace and prosperity. " In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, 
 shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under 
 the fig-tree." 
 
 (5.) The candle-stick and two olive-trees (chap, iv.) — The 
 candlestick itself, or rather the lamp-stand, is suggested by that 
 
 * See Psalm cix. 6. 
 
 + This expressive figure occurs in an earlier prophet. See Amos iv. 1 1. 
 
 X Chap. iv. 7, 10. 
 
20 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Avliich used to stand in tlie holy place ; but the pipes for con- 
 ducting the oil, and the olive-trees for supplying it, are 
 additions in the vision. 
 
 The people of God were yet to shine in His light. The 
 power so to shine was to be imparted, not by might or power, 
 but by the secret supply of holy oil — the Spirit of the Lord. 
 The ministration of the Spirit was to be through the two 
 olive-trees, or "sons of oil," i.e., through the kingly and priestly 
 institutions, at this time represented by Zerubbabel and Joshua, 
 and afterwards to be united for ever in the Messiah. 
 
 The fourth and fifth visions are of great value to the Church, 
 and are often expounded in her pulpits. The former teaches 
 the great doctrine of justification by grace ; the latter that of 
 sanctification and power for service, or of life and light in the 
 Spirit. 
 
 (6.) The flying roll (chap. v. 1-4). — It is a solemn w^arning 
 of the curse of God upon thieves and perjurers ; and, the size 
 of the roll corresponding exactly with the dimensions alike of 
 the holy place in the Tabernacle and of the porch of Solomon's 
 Temple, intimated that judgment would be meted out to sinners 
 in Jerusalem according to no common standard, but the very 
 measure of the holy place or holy calling of Israel. 
 
 (7.) The woman in the ephah (chap. v. 5-1 1). — This was for 
 encouragement in reformation of life. Wickedness personified 
 was removed from the land of Israel, — borne far away to the 
 land of Shinar, a distant region, as the sins of Israel were 
 carried away by the scape-goat into the wilderness. But the 
 sin was not forgiven; it was judged and punished, having a 
 weight of lead cast upon it. And the transfer was not to 
 the desert or land of forgetfulness in which forgiven sin is lost, 
 but to Shinar as the seat of the Tower of Babel, and the sign 
 of that future Babylon in which the w^oman Wickedness has 
 her seat — " the mother of harlots and abominations of the 
 earth." 
 
 (8.) The four chariots (chap. vi. i-S). — These were the 
 signs of coming events among the powers of the world. The 
 
ZECHARIAH. 21 
 
 number, four, always stands for world - universality. The 
 chariot horses expressed by their colour the course of history. 
 Red spoke of war ; black, mourning and death ; grisled bay 
 (piebald or roan ?) probably pestilence and varied judgment ; 
 white, victory. The going forth of the black horses, and the 
 white after them, into the north country, implied the fall 
 of Eabylon ; which city, about three years after this vision, 
 revolted against the Persians, and was completely destroyed by 
 Darius. The fall of Babylon was the good news of judgment 
 in the Old Testament, as the fall of mystic Babylon is the good 
 news of judgment in the New. 
 
 So end the visions. Perhaps the sixth and seventh should 
 be counted one ; and, if so, the series was complete in seven. 
 
 3. A symbolic crowning of the high priest (chap. vi. 9-15). — 
 A deputation of Jews had arrived from Babylon with an 
 offering of silver and gold for the Temple.* The prophet was 
 directed to take them with him, and, making crowns of the 
 precious metals, to place them on the head of Joshua the high 
 priest. These crowns were afterward to be laid up in the 
 Temple. This is full of Messianic promise. A high priest of 
 Israel never M^as entitled to wear a crown ; and Joshua got this 
 distinction only as a sign of the Christ, the man whose name is 
 the Branch or Offspring of David, and in whom the priestly 
 and kingly offices are combined. " Behold the Man whose 
 name is the Branch, and He shall grow up out of His place, 
 and He shall build the Temple of the Lord : even He shall 
 build the Temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, 
 and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He sliall be a 
 priest upon His throne : and the counsel of peace shall be 
 between them both." 
 
 4. A didactic passage, delivered two years after the pre- 
 ceding exhortations and visions (chaps, vii., viii.) 
 
 From Bethel, messengers came to the priests and prophets of 
 Jerusalem. In the authorised version Bethel is translated 
 " the house of God," as if the messengers came from the 
 
22 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Temple ; but this cannot be, for the Temple is always Beth- 
 Jehovah, never Beth-El. The question proposed by the men 
 of Bethel was, whether the days of mourning and fasting 
 for the destruction of Jerusalem were still of obligation. 
 Zechariah received an answer for them from the Lord, and 
 delivered it not to them only but to " all the people of the land 
 and the priests." The message is in four parts : — 
 
 (i.) It is taught, that God regarded not at all these fasts 
 of the Jews, but required obedience to His word (chap. viii. 
 
 4-7)- 
 
 (2. ) It is taught, as formerly an d fully by Isaiah, that the 
 Lord took pleasure in justice and mercy ; and that it was not 
 for non-observance of fasts, but for their moral degeneracy, 
 that He had punished their fathers (chap. vii. 8-14). 
 
 (3.) It is promised that the Lord will now favour Jerusalem ; 
 and the people are exhorted to proceed with the building of the 
 Temple, and to put evil away from among them (chap. viii. i— 17). 
 " As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me 
 to wrath, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I repented not ; so again 
 have I thought in these days to do good unto Jerusalem and 
 the house of Judah ; fear ye not. These are the things that 
 ye shall do : speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour ; 
 execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates ; and let 
 none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour ; 
 and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, 
 saith the Lord." 
 
 (4.) It is promised that the fast days which the Jews of their 
 own accord had appointed, shall be turned into happy feast 
 days ; and all nations shall cling to them, sharing their blessings, 
 and seeking among them the knowledge of God. This reaches 
 forward into the times of Christ, and is already in part fulfilled. 
 The Israelites have affected all nations for good, and will do so 
 yet more powerfully ; because " to them pertain the adoption, 
 and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, 
 and the service of God, and the promises." * 
 * Rom. ix. 4. 
 
ZECHARIAH. 
 
 23 
 
 II. The second part — (chaps, ix.-xiv.) is, throughout, pro- 
 phetical without visions; and some passages are very deep. 
 The arrangement, however, is easy enough. We find two 
 oracles, each occupying three chapters. 
 
 I. The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach 
 (chaps, ix.-xi.) — The name occurs in Assyrian inscriptions as 
 that of a district between Damascus and Hamath; as indeed 
 is indicated in the text of Zechariah. 
 
 The beginning of the ninth chapter foretells, with wonderful 
 precision, the conquering march of Alexander the Great along 
 the Phoenician and Philistine shore. The old Tyre had been 
 on the mainland ; but, after its capture by Nebuchadnezzar, the 
 Phoenicians rebuilt the city on an island about half a mile from 
 shore, and with high walls made it apparently impregnable. 
 There they accumulated riches — " gold as the mire of the streets " 
 — and, sitting secure, they defied the might of Alexander. The 
 great Macedonian, however, seized on the ruins of old Tyre on 
 the mainland, ran a mole from the shore to the island with pro- 
 digious labour, and, after a siege of seven months, took the city 
 and burnt it — thus, against all probability, fulfilling the pro- 
 phecy of Zechariah to the very letter. From Tyre the conqueror 
 marched along the coast, and destroyed the once powerful cities 
 of the Philistines. But to Jerusalem and its Temple he did no 
 hurt, as is here foretold."^ The daughter of Zion was to rejoice, 
 for to her the Messiah would come. His entrance would not 
 be like that of Alexander. He would ride, not on a war horse, 
 or in a chariot, but on a young ass in lowliness, as the promised 
 King of Judah and Jerusalem, f 
 
 The rest of the ninth chapter (ver. 11-17) is supposed to 
 point to the successful wars of the Maccabees. Then follow 
 (chap. X.) exhortations to prayer, and assurances of the complete 
 redemption and restoration of the covenant people. The Messiah 
 is indicated as the true Shepherd of Israel, and contrasted with 
 a foolish shepherd (chap, xi.), who forsakes the flock. Surely 
 
 * Chap. ix. 8. 
 
 + Compare Zech. ix. 9 with Matt. xxi. 4-1 1. 
 
24 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 this chapter was in the mind of our Lord, when He contrasted 
 Himself as the Good Shepherd with the hireling, who fleeth 
 because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.* 
 
 2. The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel (chaps, xii.- 
 xiv.) The old comprehensive word Israel is restored, making a 
 better contrast than Judah with the land of Hadrach. This 
 last oracle is one which deserves and requires most careful 
 study. 
 
 After assurances of success and victory, we read of a future 
 sorrow of the people of Jerusalem moved by the Divine Spirit, 
 and of their poignant repentance as they look on Him — the 
 Christ whom they have pierced. This began to be fulfilled on 
 the day of Pentecost, when many were pricked in their hearts ; 
 but it awaits a greater accomplishment in the time when all 
 Israel shall turn to the Lord. For those penitent mourners 
 cleansing is provided, so that they are washed from sin ; and a 
 refining process prepares them to take their place as the people 
 of God. It is also predicted, that the Good Shepherd would be 
 smitten with the sword — the sign of justice and judgment— and 
 not with the rod, the sign of fatherly chastisement. The sheep 
 were then to be scattered ; t but the Lord would keep His own, 
 and refine them in the fire "as gold is refined." 
 
 The last chapter perhaps no one quite understands, or can 
 understand till it be fulfilled. It seems to stretch beyond our 
 time to the favour which is to be shown to Jerusalem in the 
 last days. The interest revolves entirely around that city. 
 There is a wide combination against Jerusalem ; it is attacked 
 and ravaged ; there is a time of trouble and sorrow. Then the 
 Lord suddenly appears in terrible majesty, cleaving the very 
 earth by His footstep ; and the hostile nations flee before Him. 
 " Then the Lord shall be king over all the earth ; in that day 
 shall there be one Lord, and His name one. "J Or, as Jesus 
 said, "There shall be one flock, and one Shepherd." § There- 
 after living waters go out from Jerusalem. It becomes the 
 
 * John X. 12-14. t Compare Zech. xiii. 7 ; Matt. xxvi. 31. 
 
 t Chap. xiv. 9. § Johu x. 16. 
 
ZECHARIAH. 25 
 
 religious centre for all peoples and kindreds of the earth, and a 
 holy city in every detail of life, having this for its motto, 
 "Holiness to the Lord" In the old Jerusalem, these words 
 were graven upon a plate of pure gold, worn by the high priest 
 on his mitre, because he represented the holy calling of the 
 entire nation of Israel. In the future Jerusalem, this title is to 
 be everywhere and on all — inscribed on every character, every 
 life, and every possession. In the old Jerusalem, the pure 
 worship of Jehovah was sadly marred by imported heathenism, 
 so that the Canaanite was brought into the House of the Lord 
 of Hosts. Into the future Jerusalem nothing that defiles shall 
 enter. The people shall be all righteous. 
 
 This great prophecy seems to us a first sketch of what we 
 have in the end of the Book of Eevelation.* Jerusalem is 
 there assailed, and the nations that come against it are consumed 
 with "fire from God out of heaven." Afterwards, it becomes 
 the centre to which all the nations flow, bringing their riches 
 and glory to its gates ; and it is described as undefiled and holy 
 to the Lord. Then, a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, 
 proceeds out of the throne of God and the Lamb. The corre- 
 spondence is most exact, and the earlier revelation ought to be 
 interpreted by the later. 
 
 Such is the Book of Zechariah. Apart from its specially 
 Jewish aspect and interest, it has great value for us all : — 
 
 (i.) In its moral teaching, regarding the truth, justice, and 
 mercy which God requires, and which are vastly more import- 
 ant than any number of solemn fasts. 
 
 (2.) In its frequent references to Christ. This book greatly 
 fortifies the argument from prophecy for the authority of Holy 
 Scripture, and the divine origin of Christianity ; while it at the 
 same time profits and edifies all of us who read it reverently, 
 by keeping the Saviour before us in His personal history and 
 His official relation to His people. Zechariah says with Isaiali, 
 that Christ should be the Branch that would grow up from the 
 root of Jesse. He says with David, that Christ would be both 
 * See Hev. xx. 7-9 ; xxi. 23 ; xxii. I. 
 
26 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 a Priest and a King. Then, he adds, that this King would not 
 be such as the nations of the world obeyed. He would be just, 
 and having salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass. He would 
 be the Good Shepherd of Israel ; and yet the people would re- 
 ject Him; the sword of the Lord would smite Him; and His 
 own sheep, whom He called by name, would be scattered. The 
 very price for which Judas Iscariot actually betrayed his Master 
 is mentioned in this book ; and the use made of it is indicated. 
 The money was given for the potter's field. 
 
 We read Zechariah to little purpose if we only exercise our 
 ingenuity over his visions, and do not bend our spirits in 
 adoration before that Holy One, whose coming he announced, 
 — the Son of David, the Priest-King, the Shepherd-Saviour, — 
 Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of the living God. 
 
( V ) 
 
 MALACHI. 
 
 Of this last of the canonical prophets nothing is known. Some 
 have taken Malachi to be an official designation, not the writer's 
 proper personal name ; but there is no sound reason for disturb- 
 ing the natural interpretation of the opening verse. We may 
 fix the time during which he flourished as in the days Nehe- 
 miah ; for he reproves those sins in Jerusalem against which 
 that faithful leader contended, and describes the condition of 
 the people exactly as it appears in his history. Thus, of the 
 three prophets of the restoration period, Haggai and Zechariah 
 were contemporary with Joshua and Zerubbabel ; but Malachi 
 came later, and w'as associated with Nehemiah. He was to 
 that vigorous reformer such a coadjutor as Isaiah had been to 
 Hezekiah, or Jeremiah to Josiah in an earlier age. Accordingly, 
 there is no question in his book of building the Temple. It 
 was built and dedicated; and the prophet addressed himself 
 rather to the moral and spiritual reformation of the priests and 
 the people. 
 
 Now the evils reproved by the prophets of this period were 
 not the same with those against which the prophets before the 
 captivity declaimed. No longer was it necessary to condemn 
 debasing heathen superstitions, for the proneness to these was 
 corrected by the stern discipline of the captivity : but now 
 there appeared that confidence in the righteousness of dead 
 Avorks from which issued the Pharisaism of the future, and that 
 murmuring unbelieving spirit from which Sadduceeism sprung. 
 Against these evils Malachi reasoned and expostulated in 
 trenchant and forcible terms, aiming mainly at the correction 
 
28 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of the faults prevalent in his own time, but also foretelling 
 things to come, — the advent of the Lord to His Temple, and 
 the searching of hearts at His appearing. 
 
 The opening passage, fundamental to all that follows, con- 
 sists of five verses (chap. i. 1-5). It is important to observe, 
 that " the burden of the word of the Lord " is " to Israel," as 
 it also is in the last oracle of Zechariah."^ The people restored 
 from captivity are recognised as representing all the tribes ; and 
 while the tribal name Judah still occurs, the national name 
 Israel also reappears ; and it is the God of Israel who speaks 
 by His prophet to all the sons of Jacob. 
 
 In the opening address, the people are reminded of Jehovah's 
 love to them; and their condition, as sous of Jacob, is con- 
 trasted with that of the descendants of Esau. It was of God's 
 good pleasure that Jacob was preferred to Esau, and destined 
 to the covenant blessing before the twin brothers were born. 
 After many centuries, the descendants of both fell under the 
 power of the Chaldeans, and their territories were laid waste. 
 But while Idumea lay desolate — an inheritance for jackals of 
 the desert — the land and cities of Israel began to recover popu- 
 lation and prosperity. Because of this, the Lord asserted a 
 special claim on Israel for devout and grateful service. 
 
 Reproof of the sins of the priests (chap. i. 6-ii. 9). — They 
 had no earnestness, but were content with a cold perfunctory 
 service at the sanctuary. They offered polluted bread and cheap 
 sacrifices, having no deep reverence for Jehovah as the Father 
 and the Master of Israel. In this they were all the more 
 blameworthy, because they were the a])pointed ministers — the 
 priests of the Lord who is "a great King," and to whom the 
 incense and offerings of a universal homage are due. Not such 
 were the early priests. The Lord speaks thus of His covenant 
 with Levi, when the sacred order was first established in that 
 tribe, — " My covenant was with him of life and peace ; and I 
 gave them to him that he might fear, and he feared Me, and 
 stood in awe of My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, 
 * Zech. xii. I. 
 
MA LA CHI. 29 
 
 and vmrigliteoiisness was not found in his lips : he walked with 
 Me in peace and uprightness, and did turn many away from 
 iniquity ; for the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they 
 should seek the law at his mouth : for he is the messenger of the 
 Lord of Hosts." * The charge against the priests of Malachi's 
 time was that they had corrupted the covenant of Levi, or 
 departed from the purity and equity originally prescribed to 
 their order; and the Lord therefore "made them contemptible 
 and base before all the people." 
 
 The reproof is administered in the most vigorous terms, 
 because it was more important than ever to Israel to possess a 
 faithful priesthood. Now that the kingdom of David was in 
 abeyance and the voices of prophets were not to be heard for 
 generations, the priests had an increased responsibility, as the 
 religious and moral leaders of the people. 
 
 II. Condemnation of marriage with the heathen (chap. ii. 
 10-16). — From the priests, the prophet turns to the people, 
 and condemns marriage with alien women, as the fruitful 
 source, in the past history of their nation, of departure from 
 the worship of the one living God. He also denounces, as 
 connected with this evil, the divorce of Israelite wives for 
 frivolous causes. He declares, that the Lord will not allow 
 violations of the marriage covenant to pass with impunity, but 
 will punish the man who, because a new fancy strikes him, 
 puts away the wife of youth. The Lord " hates putting away," 
 and does not permit divorce, save only for adultery, which is 
 in itself a virtual dissolution of the marriage covenant. Now, 
 this misconduct was especially reprehensible in men of Israel, 
 because of the holy calling of taht nation. The fifteenth verse 
 of the second chapter, which has perplexed many readers, puts 
 the case thus, — " And did He not make one 1 " (Did not God 
 make Israel one family, and then one nation, separate from 
 others 1 yet, this was not from any exhaustion of Divine 
 resources.) — "The remainder of the Spirit was with Him." 
 - * Chap. ii. 5-7. 
 
30 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 (He might, if He had so pleased, have called other nations.) 
 "And wherefore one?" (Why did He, then, isolate this 
 people to Himself 1) "That He might seek a godly seed." 
 Therefore, to put away Israelite wives, and marry daughters 
 of the heathen, would he to contradict the whole purpose of 
 God, and to defile what He desired to be a holy nation and 
 peculiar people. 
 
 The New Testament contains the same law of divorce as 
 the Old, and requires it to be strictly guarded against caprice 
 and self-will. But it has a more lenient doctrine in regard 
 to the children of a Christian married to a heathen. Israel 
 was exclusive ; the Church is comprehensive ; and, therefore, 
 although it was rash and improper for one of the early Chris- 
 tians to marry a heathen woman, or for a Christian woman to 
 take a heathen husband, such unions were not to be violently 
 broken, as they were in Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah. 
 The children of such unions were accounted not profane, but 
 holy, and were claimed as members of the Church. Nay, this 
 rule held good when, of two persons who married as heathens, 
 one became a Christian, and the other remained an idolater. 
 The Church was open to their children. 
 
 ' III. The day of the Lord (chap. ii. 17-iv.) 
 
 The sceptical spirit, which afterwards characterised the 
 Sadducees, was already at work among the people. They 
 wearied the Lord with their bitter words, charging Him with 
 indifference as the Judge of Israel. " Ye say, Every evil-doer 
 is good in the eyes of Jehovah, and He delighteth in them ; 
 or, where is the God of judgment?" 
 
 In disapproval and reproof of such charges, a tone of judicial 
 severity is given to the prediction of the Divine advent which 
 follows. It is net "God your Saviour will come," but "the 
 Lord will come " — the God of judgment of whom you speak as 
 though He were not, or as if you had nothing to fear in His 
 presence. In the language employed, there is something like 
 a blending together of the first and second advents of Christ. 
 
MALACHL 3r 
 
 His first was for salvation, and His second will be for judg- 
 ment; but His first was also for judgment of this world, and 
 His second will be to the saints that look for Him, a coming 
 without sin unto salvation. 
 
 The messenger who should j^repare the way of the Lord was 
 the Elijah of chap. iv. 5 — the Baptist of the Gospel story, to 
 whom, indeed, the parallel passage in Isaiah (chap. xl. 3) is 
 expressly applied by an Evangelist. As the preacher of 
 repentance, John epitomised all the prophetic teachings and 
 warnings that went before, marked the close of the period 
 which belonged to Moses and the prophets, and made way 
 for Him who should come after him and be preferred before 
 him. 
 
 Then, says the prophecy before us, "the Lord shall come 
 suddenly to His Temple." His day is announced as a day of 
 searching and purifying ; * and so it actually was, as we learn 
 from the Gospel narrative. The Child brought into the Temple 
 was "for the fall and rising up of many in Israel, and for a 
 sign to be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts 
 might be revealed." t The presence and the ministry of Jesus 
 on earth brought to light the true dispositions of men around 
 Him, exposed the hypocrites, and roused the slumbering 
 enmity of the selfish and the proud. They had no cloak 
 for their sin. He sat as a Refiner, separating by His holy 
 Word the silver from the dross — silver in which His own 
 image might be reflected, while the dross perished in the 
 judgment. 
 
 It had been alleged that Jehovah took pleasure in evil-doers. 
 On the contrary. He now declared by His prophet that He had 
 withheld the blessing from the Jews of that day, just because 
 they did evil in His sight. | They defrauded Him of the tithes 
 and offerings due for the Temple service, robbing God — as so 
 many professing Christians rob Him still, giving nothing, or 
 nothing like what they ought, for His service, and shabbily 
 worshipping at the expense of other people. In vain they pray 
 * Chap. iiL 2-4. f Luke ii. 34, 35. X Chap. iii. 7-15. 
 
32 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 God to send them showers of blessing. He requires them to 
 prove Him, not with words of praj-er in lieu of offerings, but 
 with the offerings which they owe to Him, and which they 
 cannot withhold without dishonesty. 
 
 Contrasted with the scoffing and insincere, were the devout 
 and humble men who feared Jehovah, and who " spake one 
 with another," to encourage their faith and patience. These 
 were not overlooked, far less confounded with the evil-doers. 
 They were registered in a book of remembrance before the Lord, 
 and will be to Him for a treasured possession in the day. when 
 the distinction shall be made manifest between the righteous 
 and the wicked — those who served Jehovah, and those who 
 served Him not. 
 
 In the last chapter, language still more vivid is used regard- 
 ing the day of the Lord. It has had a fulfilment at His first 
 advent, for John the Baptist quoted from this chapter concern- 
 ing the sifting of the floor, the gathering of the wheat into the 
 barn, and the burning of the chaff with unquenchable fire ; but 
 the most ample and conspicuous fulfilment remains for His 
 second coming. The "Sun of Righteousness" arose when 
 Christ came who is the Light of Life. That Sun will shine 
 forth again in great glory, and the unrighteous shall not be able 
 to stand before the Righteous One. 
 
 Then, just as the Old Testament is being closed, Moses and 
 Elijah are recalled, the two witnesses who afterwards appeared 
 on the Holy Mount. The next to the last verse bids the Jews 
 remember jMoses and his law ; the last verse tells them to look 
 for Elijah the prophet. Prophecy was now to cease till the 
 forerunner of Messiah should appear. The law and the prophets 
 were to be until John ; and he would be the " Elijah who was 
 to come." The Elijah spirit was to breathe again in that brave 
 preacher in the desert, who should stand against the strong 
 current of national unrighteousness, and turn back the hearts of 
 a degenerate people to their pious ancestry. And yet, as Elijah 
 succeeded only with a portion of the nation in his time, and 
 could not avert the great catastrophe of Israel, so John the 
 
MALACHI. 
 
 33 
 
 Baptist was to prevail with only a portion of the Israel 
 of his time, in whose hearts the way of the Lord was 
 prepared, and judgment must fall on the impenitent and 
 the proud. 
 
 Elijah-ministry will reappear before the great and terrible 
 day of the Lord. There will be a disturbance of vain security, 
 a solemn call to repentance, which some will obey, and some 
 refuse ; and then the Lord shall come to judge the world in 
 righteousness. 
 
 So ends the Book of Malachi. So ends the Old Testament 
 with the stern words, " Lest I come and smite the land with a 
 curse." The New Testament has a sweeter close: "The grace 
 of the Lord Jesus be with the saints." 
 
 This book is often quoted in the New Testament, and has 
 several memorable sayings in great favour with Christians. 
 Such are — 
 
 1. The promise of universal homage to the Lord, couched in 
 the language of the Old Testament worship, but to be rendered 
 by us in the simplicity which befits the times of the New 
 Testament. " From the rising of the sun even unto the going 
 down of the same. My name shall be great among the Gentiles ; 
 and in every place incense shall be offered unto My name, and 
 a pure offering : for My name shall be great among the Gentiles, 
 saith the Lord of hosts." * Some plead this mention of incense 
 as sanctioning its use in Christian worship ; and the " pure 
 offering" has been interpreted as "the holy sacrifice of the 
 mass." But rites in the Old Testament are not to be satisfied 
 by rites in the New. They signify spiritual sacrifices. The 
 incense of our dispensation is prayer ; and the " pure offering " 
 willing obedience. 
 
 2. The promise of Christ as a Refiner. " He shall sit as a 
 
 refiner and purifier of silver." Such is the efi'ect of His word 
 
 * Chap, i, II. 
 VOL. II. C 
 
34 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and providence, under the operation of the Spirit now present 
 in the Church. Refining of silver is a slow and delicate 
 process ; but Christ has patience and skill enough,* gradually to 
 refine the hearts and characters of them that are His, and, 
 cost what it may to flesh and bloody He will deal with them, 
 and watch over them, till they reflect His image and like- 
 ness. 
 
 3. The promise of a book of remembrance for those who fear 
 the Lord, and think on His name. There be many who fear 
 not the Lord, and refuse to have Him in their thoughts. They 
 join hand in hand in evil fellowship. Their words are stout ; 
 they cry Aha ! aha ! The Lord hears them, and will yet cover 
 them with everlasting confusion. But the Lord hearkens, or 
 bends an attentive ear, to hear the voices of all who gather 
 together unto His name ; and His eyes are upon the faithful of 
 the land that they may dwell with Him. Devout fellowship 
 here, a meeting of the saints, their hearts burning within them, 
 is more noticed in heaven than all the splendour of courts, and 
 all the debates of parliaments. Little matter what the world 
 thinks or says of those who thus help one another's faith and 
 constancy : the Lord designs them for His treasure, and their 
 names are written in heaven. precious words of promise ! 
 " They shall be mine ! " A treasure to Christ ! and so to the 
 Father also; for our Saviour said, *'A11 Mine are Thine." 
 There is a sweet interchange of possession between Jesus Christ 
 and His loving followers who " think on His name." He is 
 theirs, and they are His. He is their portion, and beauty, and 
 chief joy. They are as seals on His heart and arm, and as 
 precious jewels in His crown. 
 
 4. The promise of the Sun of Righteousness, with healing 
 under His wings. As the beams of the sun give health, colour, 
 and growth to living plants and animals ; so Jesus Christ gives 
 health to the sick at heart, joy to the depressed, and growth to 
 
MALACHI. 35 
 
 those who would follow after righteousness. It is a good hymn 
 ''for the Christian's Sabbath day." 
 
 " Thou, glorious Sun of Righteousness, 
 
 On this day risen to set no more, 
 Shine on me now to heal, to bless, 
 
 With brighter beams than e'er before. 
 Shine on, shine on, eternal Sun ! 
 
 Pour richer floods of life and light, 
 Till that bright Sabbath be begun, 
 
 That glorious day which knows no night." 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 , TRANSITION FEOM THE OLD TESTAMENT TO 
 THE NEW. 
 
 After Ezra the scribe and Malachi the prophet, a long silence 
 of God fell upon Judah. He who had spoken to the fathers in 
 the prophets made a solemn pause of about four centuries, and 
 then spoke again in His Son. 
 
 The interval, however, was by no means a dull or insignifi- 
 cant period in the history of the Jewish nation. It was a time 
 of widening thought, and of great political vicissitude. Widen- 
 ing thought ; for the Jews became familiar with other countries 
 and other modes of mind, and learned the language and culture 
 of the Greeks. Pohtical vicissitude ; for they were under the 
 Persian emperors — then under the Greek — then under the 
 tyranny of the Syrian kings — then independent, under the 
 Maccabees — and, when Christ came, subject to the Idumean 
 Herod, the proteg^ of Kome. 
 
 It was also a time of considerable mental activity. Although 
 no addition was made to the Sacred Books, the Canon of which 
 was reckoned complete, the study of letters was encouraged, 
 and sacred learning was prized. In the third century b.c. the 
 Septuagint version of the Old Testament was begun at Alex- 
 andria, and in course of the next century was completed. This 
 contributed greatly to the diffusion of a knowledge of Holy 
 Scripture wherever the Greek language was used. In Judea, 
 and in the Jewish colonies, a considerable religious literature 
 was produced, specimens of which are extant in the books 
 called the Apocrypha. Synagogues rose in importance, and the 
 Law was read with paraphrastic comments which were written 
 
TRANSITION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. 37 
 
 down in the Targums. To prophets succeeded commentators, 
 doctors, scribes, and lawyers. It was a time of reflection and 
 analysis. Then, as usual at such periods, sects and parties 
 formed themselves within the House of Israel. Some revolted 
 against the pedantry of the prevailing school of interpretation 
 and prescription, and struck out in the direction of scepticism : 
 these were the Sadducees. A greater number pleaded for 
 minute strictness ; but, while professing to magnify the Law, 
 really overshadowed and enfeebled it with their traditions: 
 these M^ere the Pharisees. 
 
 Such is our own time. The Canon of the New Testament is 
 complete. No visions come ; no voices speak from heaven. 
 Now it is that critics, commentators, and disputants abound. 
 The Church widens her knowledge, and learns by passing through 
 vicissitudes. But parties form; schools of religious thought 
 compete for disciples ; sects watch and resist each other, — and 
 there is no lack of the leaven of the Sadducees and Pharisees. 
 So it was, till Christ came. So it is, till Christ come again. 
 
 But, to return. The New Testament begins on the same 
 ground on which we have finished the Old, the same Judea, yet 
 not the same ; politically and intellectually it is greatly changed. 
 We are among new ideas, the out-growth, or in part the im- 
 portations, of the four hundred years of interval. 
 
 When the new time, or fulness of time arrived, the first thing 
 was not the writing of the New Testament. We read therein 
 of Christ and the Church ; but Christ came and went, and the 
 Church was formed and grown to some strength before a word 
 of the New Testament was written. The Scriptures honoured 
 by Christ and the early Church were the books of the Old 
 Testament ; and the Word of the Lord which won such victories 
 at Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, and Thessalonica, was not the 
 written Gospel as we have it, but the oral Gospel, the spoken 
 testimony to Jesus, with an argument specially addressed to the 
 Jews regarding His fulfilment of the law and the prophets. 
 But, after this oral testimony had spread abroad, it seemed good 
 to the Holy Spirit, who now dwelt in the Church as the glorifier 
 
38 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of Jesus, to inspire a few men — eight or nine — to write down 
 in books what should be profitable to all future generations of the 
 Christian Church. These books, twenty-seven in number, form 
 what we call "the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ." They were not written, like those of the Old 
 Testament, over a space of many hundred years, but were all 
 produced within one generation. They may therefore be more 
 freely compared with a view to their correct exegesis. 
 
 It is very important to have just conceptions of the New 
 Testament in its relation to the Old. 
 
 I. It is a continuation of the Old. To read the New 
 Testament apart from the Old is to sever it from its base of 
 support, and so to hinder or obscure its interpretation. Here are 
 not two separate trees of life, but one and the same. It has the 
 Pentateuch for its deep roots, and then a grand old trunk of 
 history, from which go out strong boughs of Hebrew poem and 
 prophecy. It had a time of rest, during which it added nothing 
 to its growth ; but then it began again to spring upwards in a 
 solid stem of the history of Christ and the early Church, and 
 to throw out new branches of apostolic teaching, till the loftiest 
 point was reached in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ 
 — and so the Scripture was complete. 
 
 Let no one suppose that it is an accidental or a mechanical 
 conjunction which brings the Old and New Testaments together. 
 There is a living oneness, a binding unity of origin, doctrine, 
 and purpose. They have the same informing spirit, and 
 constitute one organic whole. The Old underlies the New at 
 every part. The New rests on the Old, and is developed out of 
 it, though also adding much to it. It is not enough to trace 
 references, or to find resemblances between detached passages. 
 The whole of the Old Testament prepares for and sustains the 
 whole of the New. The same living God communicates with us 
 in both, and reveals Himself — His character and will, holiness 
 and love, grace and glory. Through Holy Writ, from Genesis to 
 Revelation, run the same great thoughts — God a just God and a 
 
TRANSITION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. 39 
 
 Saviour — man a sinner, man a saint — angels of God, the devil 
 and his angels — sin, death, righteousness, life— the peace and 
 strength of faith — the sovereignty of grace — sacrifice, priesthood, 
 redemption by blood, prayer, love, hope, obedience, holiness — 
 judgment to come. In treating of these, the New Testament is 
 not a beginning of revelation, but strictly a continuation, while 
 not a repetition, of the Old. 
 
 II. It has a structural resemblance to the Old. Differing as 
 they do in bulk, the Old and New Testaments have a certain 
 similarity of order, all the more striking that it must have been 
 unintentional on the part of man, and indicates the moulding 
 wisdom of the Holy Ghost, 
 
 Look at the arrangement of each. First come histories ; 
 then reasonings and teachings ; last of all, prophecies and 
 visions. From all the sacred books of the East, the Bible is 
 distinguished by the large proportion of narrative in each of 
 its grand divisions, so that all its reflections, arguments, and 
 admonitions rest on a basis of veritable facts. This marks the 
 wisdom of God, who knows the mind of man, and its cravings 
 for a solid foundation to its thought ; and this also proves the 
 fearless truth of the sacred writers, who multiplied historic 
 statements of the most minute kind, and references which would 
 at once expose fictitious writing to detection. 
 
 Then, more minutely. — The Old Testament opens with the 
 genesis of man and of all things that concern him ; the New, 
 with the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. The books 
 of Moses have their parallel in the books of Jesus by the evan- 
 gelists ; the last of the former (Deuteronomy), full of the words 
 of Jehovah, having its evident correspondent in the last of the 
 latter (St. John), full of discourses and sayings of the Lord 
 Jesus. Joshua's history, and the subsequent historical books, 
 full of exploits and vicissitudes, are paralleled in the Acts of 
 the Apostles. Then, for the poetical books and the didactic 
 parts of the prophetical, we have the Epistles of the Servants 
 of Christ. And, as the Old Testament ends with predictions 
 
40 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and visions, so does the New with the words of the prophecy 
 of the last book, so full of heavenly visions — " the Revelation 
 of Jesus Christ which He gave to His servant John." 
 
 Kor is this all. Besides the similarity of arrangement, we 
 find something quite unique in the way of Divine expression 
 throughout all the Scriptures ; the same voice of majesty — the 
 same method of teaching by history and biography rather than 
 by argumentation — the same calmness and unflinching fidelity 
 of narrative — the same sounding forth of mercy and of judgment 
 — and the same fearless reproof of all unrighteousness and 
 ungodliness of men. 
 
 The more we reflect on these things — the similarity that 
 runs through a book so various as the Bible, and the general 
 correspondence in the structure of its parts — the more we 
 perceive the absurdity of regarding it as a mere fortuitous 
 assemblage of old Hebrew and Greek works. As well persuade 
 us that the polished stones in the Temple at Jerusalem tumbled 
 fortuitously into their places, or that the stars have their posi- 
 tions and move in their courses by some happy accident. 
 
 III. It is an advance upon the Old. 
 
 1 . As respects the messengers of God. To the fathers God 
 spoke in the prophets, by many stages, in portions as He saw 
 fit, and in diverse ways, — communicating through visions and 
 dreams, by signs and prodigies, by angelic messages, or by laying 
 His word as a burden on the spirit of the prophet which he 
 burned to deliver. Oral revelation preceded Scripture. The 
 prophets spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. There- 
 after, so much of the oral communication as God thought fit to 
 make permanent, was embodied in writing by Moses and the 
 prophets ; and, as the speaking was directed by the Holy Spirit, 
 so also was the writing. It was Theopneustic Scripture. 
 
 In these last days God has spoken in His Son, far above all 
 
 prophets and all angels, the Heir of aU things. Not all that He 
 
 spoke,* but so much of His communication as God has seen meet 
 
 to preserve for the benefit of the Church is conveyed to us in 
 
 * See John xx. 30, 31 ; xxi. 25. 
 
TRANSITION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT, 41 
 
 the 'New Testament, which is also Theopneustic Scripture.* 
 Thus we have on record sayings, parables, replies, and discourses 
 of Christ, containing those deep things of God which underlie all 
 Christian doctrine and hope. But avowedly these were incom- 
 plete, and needed further explanation, combination, and develop- 
 ment. So the Son of God continued to speak after His ascen- 
 sion in His witnesses and preachers, on whom descended His 
 Holy Spirit; and then, so much of their teaching as was to 
 edify the Church in all time coming was also enshrined, under 
 the guidance of the same Spirit, in the writings of the JSTew 
 Testament. Now, it may be, that Luke is no greater than 
 Samuel, or Simon Peter than David, or Paul than Isaiah, or 
 John than Ezekiel or Daniel ; but their writings have a certain 
 advance in dignity, from the fact that they followed the mani- 
 festation of the Son of God, and were composed to publish the 
 preciousness and develop the teachings of Him who spake as 
 never man spake. 
 
 2. In the light and fulness of the revelation itself. f The 
 New Testament is much less than the Old, but the smaller 
 proportion of letter contains the greater proportion of spirit. 
 There is no longer an array of laws and statutes, or a hand- 
 writing of ordinances. Shadows have given place to substance ; 
 elements and rudiments to perfection ; minute regulations to 
 profound principles ; patterns of heavenly things to heavenly 
 things themselves. In the old time, there was dimness as of 
 light coming through a veil ; in the new time, we have unveiled 
 faces, and God's own marvellous light. 
 
 The contrast between the dispensations is uniformly to the 
 advantage of the later. Accordingly the New Scriptures share 
 the distinction of the dispensation to which they belong ; 
 having to set forth a better covenant, better sacrifice, better 
 promises, a better hope, better priesthood, and a better 
 sanctuary. The heavens seem to open more fully and brightly 
 over us ; and, because Jesus is there, we can look steadfastly 
 up into heaven. 
 
 * See 2 Pet. iii. 16. t See 2 Cor. iii. 
 
42 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Herein is implied no disparagement of the Old Testament, 
 but simply the recognition of the fact that the Bible is a pro- 
 gressive Book, and that the second division, containing more 
 advanced and developed truth, is to rule our interpretation and 
 use of the first division ; not the first to determine the mean- 
 ing of the second. There has been a bettering as well as 
 a lengthening of revelation regarding theology, ethics, and 
 worship. God is the same God in both Testaments; but in 
 the New, God is more known — duty more exalted — holiness 
 in principles and motives based on fellowship with God in 
 light — love is shown to be the sphere in which the God of 
 light and the children of light abide — and worship is through 
 free access to the Father, by one Spirit, through Christ Jesus. 
 "And so" — to use the words of one of the Bampton lecturers 
 — " the great course of divine teaching has reached its highest 
 stage. After slowly moving on through the simple thoughts 
 of patriarchal piety, through the system and covenant of the 
 law, and through the higher spirituality of the prophets, it 
 rose suddenly to a lofty elevation, when God spoke to us in 
 His Son; and even higher yet, when the Son ascended into 
 glory, and sent down the Holy Ghost to take up His unfinished 
 word and to open mysteries. Each stage of progress based 
 itself on the facts and instructions of that which went before. 
 The law was given to the children of Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob ; the prophet spoke to those under the law ; Jesus Christ 
 came to those who had been taught by the prophets ; the Holy 
 Ghost instructed those who had received Christ." ^ 
 
 Thank God ! we have a complete Bible, the Scriptures of 
 truth : yet we need more — we want the Spirit of the truth. 
 Teach us, Lord Jesus ! with the illumination of the Holy 
 Ghost, causing Thy Word to enter into, quicken, and guide us ; 
 so that we, obeying Thee as a Prophet, may be purged from all 
 sin by Thee as our High Priest, and, at Thy coming and Thy 
 kingdom, may reign with Thee in glory everlasting ! Amen ! 
 * Canon Bernard's Lectures on the Progress of Doctrine. 
 
( 43 
 
 ST. MATTHEW. 
 
 The four histories of Jesus Christ were not the first written of 
 the Books of the New Covenant, but are 'placed first in order 
 because they furnish the basis of facts for all that follow. 
 They are four independent accounts of one inimitable life. 
 They have a perfect harmony ; but it is best seen, not in the 
 sort of mosaic that has been formed by piecing and fitting to- 
 gether extracts from those books, but in the intelligent survey 
 of each narrative from its proper point of sight. They may be 
 compared to four portraits of the same countenance^ or four 
 views of the same building taken from different stand-points. 
 By the combination of the four, we have an advantage that no 
 one account could possibly yield, for a full conception of the 
 character and career of Jesus. 
 
 Many other comparisons have been found for these books. 
 Augustine described them as four great trumpets sounded to 
 gather the Church from the east, west, north, and south, into a 
 holy unity of faith. Calvin, following Chrysostom, saw Christ 
 riding forth in a triumphal chariot, drawn by four steeds."^ 
 Bengel's figure was that of the four parts in music, which may 
 
 * "Evangelicam historiam a quatuor testibus divinitus ordinatis prodi- 
 tam quadrigis non abs re comparo, quia ex apta concinnaque hac harmonia 
 videtur consulto Deus quasi triumphalem currum Filio suo parasse, unde 
 toti fidelium populo conspicuus appareat, et cujus celeritate terrarum 
 orbem perlustret. Nee vero inscite Augustinus tubis similes facit quatuor 
 Evangelistas, quarum clangor omnes mundi plagas impleat, ut ab Oriente, 
 Occasu, Meridie, Septentrione in sacrum fidei consensum accita Ecclesia 
 confluat. " — Calvini in Novum Tcstamentum Commentarii. Epistola Dcdica- 
 toria. 
 
44 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 sometimes be sung apart, but blend together to form a perfect 
 harmony. More ancient than any of these comparisons — for it 
 comes from Irenseus — is that which likened the four evangel- 
 ists to the composite cherubic symbol — the man, the lion, the 
 ox, and the flying eagle. Better than this, and also very 
 ancient — for it comes from Jerome — is another, which likens 
 these books to the four streams into which the river of Eden 
 was parted as it flowed out into the world. 
 
 The Gospel was and is, properly, the oral message of salvation 
 in Christ delivered to mankind. The urgent question among 
 His servants was, how to have the Gospel preached to every 
 creature — " How shall they believe without a preacher 1 " But, 
 from the very success of their preaching, necessity arose for 
 written records to preserve the Gospel from those variations and 
 corruptions which always weaken the value of unwritten tradi- 
 tion. To meet this want four books were produced, not by 
 any appointment of the Church, but by the independent action 
 of four writers under the Divine guidance — two of whom were 
 apostles, and two the companions of apostles. Other narratives 
 also appeared, but the four which we reckon canonical are the 
 only ones which, from their first publication, were reverenced 
 in the Church ; and they are largely recognised and quoted in 
 the Christian literature of the second and third centuries. 
 Though commonly called the four gospels, they are properly 
 the one Gospel in four forms — the Gospel of Jesus Christ ac- 
 cording to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 
 
 Of Matthew, also called Levi, we know this much : that he 
 was originally a toll collector, was called by Christ to be a 
 disciple, and was placed among the twelve apostles. He de- 
 scribes himself " as a man named Matthew, sitting at the place 
 of toll," near the Galilean Sea or Lake. He tells that, at the 
 call of Jesus, he arose and followed Him ; and also that Jesus 
 sat at meat in his house in the company of many publicans 
 and sinners; but he leaves it to Luke to tell, that he had 
 "made a great feast in his own house." In the list of the 
 apostles, he enters his name as " Matthew the publican," and 
 
ST. MATTHEW, 45 
 
 he has not written a word to exalt himself, or to take away the 
 reproach of the class to which he had belonged. He does not 
 record the story of Zaccheus, chief of the publicans at Jericho, 
 or the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican in the Temple. 
 On the other hand, it is he, and no other, who gives us that 
 saying of the Lord, in which the publicans are joined with 
 "the harlots," as believing John the Baptist, and going into 
 the kingdom of God. 
 
 Matthew remained in Jerusalem, or, at all events, in Pales- 
 tine, for many years after the ascension of Christ. In Palestine, 
 he wrote this book for the use of the Jewish Christians. He 
 is said to have written first in Hebrew, and afterwards to have 
 produced this Gospel, as we have it, in Greek. In this, there 
 is nothing to surprise or perplex; for many authors have 
 written in two languages to secure for their works a greater 
 circulation and influence. Josephus wrote his History of the 
 Wars of the Jews in Hebrew, and then in Greek. Calvin 
 wrote in Latin and in Prench. Bacon and Milton wrote in 
 Latin and in English. But scholars are able to show that the 
 Greek Gospel of Matthew in our canon of the New Testament 
 is an original work and no mere translation."^ 
 
 The circumstance that this narrative was originally prepared 
 for Hebrew Christians accounts for many of its characteristics. 
 It gives prominence to the Messianic royalty, and very frequently 
 points out the fulfilment of ancient prophecy. It always keeps 
 before the reader's mind the statement contained in its opening 
 sentence, that Jesus Christ was "the Son of David, the Son of 
 Abraham." Matthew traces the genealogy from Abraham, not, 
 as Luke does, from Adam ; and the genealogy itself is the legal, 
 not, as in Luke, the lineal, t He tells of the birth of the 
 
 * See this point well discussed in Dr. George Salmon's Historical Intro- 
 duction, Lect. X. 
 
 + " Both genealogies, without doubt, give the descent of Joseph — the 
 universal belief till the sixteenth century, — St. Matthew His legal descent 
 showing that our Lord was Solomon's heir (2 Sam. vii. 13-17 ; i Chron. 
 xvii. 14), though the line of Solomon failed in Jehoiachim (Jer. xxii. 29, 
 30) ; and St. Luke His natural descent, showing that He was lineally 
 
46 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 " King of the Jews ; " and describes the people, in amazement 
 at some of our Lord's miracles, exclaiming — "Is not this the 
 Son of David 1 " He gives the parables always as concerning 
 " the kingdom of heaven " — a phrase peculiar to this book, and 
 indicating the elevation of the old theocracy into a kingdom of 
 heavenly privilege and promise- by Jesus Christ. Latin words 
 he uses rarely ; and does not think it necessary to explain Jewish 
 phrases and usages. 
 
 This Gospel has much in common with the Epistle of St. 
 James, which was written about the same time, and addressed 
 to Israel as " the twelve tribes scattered abroad." The admoni- 
 tions of that epistle regarding the perfect law, the higher 
 righteousness, the doing of the word, the taming of the tongue, 
 the virtue of gentleness, the reward of patience, and the royal 
 rule of love and equity, all have their foundations in those 
 sayings of Christ which are recorded by St. Matthew. 
 
 " Other characteristics of the book before us are due to the 
 personal habits of the evangelist. It has a methodical arrange- 
 ment ; such as we should expect from one who, as a collector of 
 taxes, had been a man of business, trained to system and exact- 
 ness. Matthew does not run on in the order of time, as a mere 
 annalist; but groups discourses, parables, miracles, and pro- 
 phecies by themselves, in a topical order, and with a certain 
 power of combination that produces an admirable effect." ■**■ 
 Another feature of the work, which we trace to his individuality 
 is this — he pays special attention to what was said by his 
 Divine Master in regard to the civil authority, and the duty of 
 paying taxes or tribute. Naturally so, since he had been an 
 official of the civil service, and had collected the dues in Galilee. 
 When our Lord was interrogated concerning the lawfulness of 
 giving tribute to Caesar, both Mark and Luke say that He called 
 for " a penny," but Matthew has it — " Shew me the tribute 
 
 descended from David (2 Sam. vii. 12 ; Ps. Ixxxix. 35, 36), through Nathan. 
 — WestcoU's Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, 4th Edition, p. 312, 
 note. 
 
 * See Rev. Edward A. Thomson on the "Four Evangelists," p. 24. 
 
ST. MATTHEW. 47 
 
 money ; " so that it was not with any coin at haphazard, but 
 with the coin ready for payment as tribute before Him, that He 
 gave His memorable answer, "Render unto Caesar the things 
 which are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's." * 
 At an earlier period, a question had been raised at Capernaum 
 regarding the payment of the Church rate, or tax for the Temple. 
 Matthew is the only evangelist who describes the incident. The 
 collectors, who acted, not under the civil government, but under 
 the Sanhedrim, inquired of Simon Peter whether his Master 
 would pay such tribute. The Lord explained to His disciple, 
 that, the Temple being His Father's House, He was not under 
 this obligation ; nevertheless, lest a refusal should be miscon- 
 strued. He provided, in the mouth of a fish from the lake, the 
 exact sum required for Himself and Simon Peter. Matthew 
 took careful notice of such matters. They interested the mind 
 of the quondam publican. 
 
 When we come to analyse this gospel, and aim at some con- 
 venient classification of its contents, we are struck, though not 
 satisfied, with the ingenious suggestion of a great German ex- 
 positor,! who sees in the order of this gospel to the Hebrews a 
 resemblance to the Pentateuch. Thus he arranges it in five 
 parts. The first chaptei? of Matthew is " the book of the genera- 
 tion of Jesus Christ," and corresponds to Genesis. The second 
 chapter begins with the slaughter of infants at Bethlehem, and 
 the escape of Jesus, as Exodus began with the slaughter of 
 infants in Egypt and the escape of Moses. The Sermon on the 
 Mount in Galilee is of course the counterpart to the law given 
 from Mount Sinai. The eighth chapter opens with the cleansing 
 of a leper. We have then reached what answers to the Book of 
 Leviticus. When we come to the tenth chapter, we read of 
 the organisation provided for the Church under the twelve 
 apostles, corresponding to the narrative in Numbers of the 
 ordering of the twelve tribes of Israel under their princes. At 
 the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel, where the ministry in 
 Judea begins — a ministry of reproof, exhortation, and prophecy 
 * Chap. xxii. 17-22. f Delitzsch. 
 
48 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 — we enter on the parallel to the Book of Deuteronomy. The 
 whole ends with the death and implied (not affirmed) ascension 
 of Jesus, and with directions for the future guidance of the 
 Church, just as the Pentateuch ends with the death and implied 
 ascension of Moses, and with directions for the future guidance 
 of Israel. 
 
 The general features of the analogy thus touched upon are 
 extremely interesting, but it is a thing to be deftly touched, 
 not closely handled. We shall really make more of a less in- 
 genious but more commonplace arrangement. Thus — 
 
 I. The introduction, chaps, i., ii. — This is occupied with the 
 pedigree of " the King of the Jews " — His nativity — the homage 
 paid to Him by the Magi — and the persecution directed against 
 His life by "Herod the king." It is shown that in all these 
 things the words of ancient prophets were fulfilled. Five 
 quotations are given in the introduction — from Isaiah, Micah, 
 Hosea, Jeremiah, and the fifth (chap. ii. 23), not with verbal 
 accuracy from any of the prophetical books as we have them, 
 but most probably a free rendering of a passage in Isaiah. 
 Doubtless, in these and similar interpretations, so abundant in 
 this book, we have specimens of the exposition of Moses and 
 the prophets which our Lord gave to the disciples after He was 
 risen from the dead;* which Matthew, of course, heard, and 
 hearing, could never forget. 
 
 II. The prelude to the ministry of Christ, chaps, iii.-iv. 11. 
 — The long silent voice of prophecy was heard again, for a 
 prophet like Elijah, yet more than a prophet, the promised fore- 
 runner of the Messiah, appeared. It is no part of this evan- 
 gelist's plan to give any account of the origin and birth of this 
 prophet. " In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in 
 the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom 
 of heaven is at hand." f But the evangelist is careful to show, 
 
 * See St. Luke xxiv. 27, 44, 45. + See St. Luke iii. i, 2. 
 
ST. MATTHEW. 49 
 
 according to his manner, that the appearance of this preacher of 
 repentance fulfilled an ancient oracle in Isaiah. 
 
 Then Jesus is seen baptized at the river Jordan, anointed 
 with the Holy Ghost, and receiving testimony from heaven to 
 His Divine sonship. There followed immediately the ordeal of 
 temptation. In the wilderness, the scene of John's preaching, 
 Jesus was tried and proved. And when His unrecorded tempta- 
 tions were overcome, and the threefold recorded temptation was 
 repelled, the Man Christ Jesus was ready for His ministry. 
 The Holy Spirit had rested on Him as a dove, and the evil 
 spirit was defeated by His stedfastness in faith. Then began — 
 
 III. His ministry, as a Prophet mighty in word and deed 
 (chap. iv. 12-XX. 34).* 
 
 I. In Galilee (chap. iv. 12-xviii. 35). We have said that 
 Matthew is not addicted to chronological order in his narrative. 
 He omits the first year of our Lord's ministry, which was spent 
 partly in Galilee, and partly in Judea ; including a visit to Jeru- 
 salem, In this time fall the incidents described in the earlier 
 chapters of the Gospel according to St. John. Matthew, desirous 
 to set forth the great prophet before the eyes of his countrymen, 
 starts from the time when "John was cast into prison." That 
 faithful witness being silenced, the Prophet greater still lifted 
 up His voice in Galilee. He resided for a time at Capernaum, 
 on the Lake shore — thus again fulfilling, as Matthew is careful 
 to notice, "that which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet.'* 
 But Jesus was by no means a mere preacher to Capernaum. 
 " He went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and 
 preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of 
 
 * As Godet points out in his Studies of the Neio Testament, five grand 
 discourses of Jesus are embedded in the narrative : — 
 
 1. Sermon on the Mount, Chaps. 5-7. 
 
 2. Charge to the Apostles. Chap. 10, 
 
 3. Seven Parables of the Kingdom. Chap. 13. 
 
 4. Instruction on Church Discipline. Chap. 18. 
 
 5. Prophecies of Judgment. Chaps. 23-25. 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
50 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 sickness, and all manner of disease among the people ; and His 
 fame went throughout all Syria." 
 
 The gracious ministry in Galilee is related after this 
 manner : — 
 
 (i.) The Prophet, fulfilling the old law and prophets, re- 
 veals the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, declares 
 its blessedness, points out its searching, spiritual character, 
 and gives direction to those who would be its subjects con- 
 cerning almsgiving, fasting, prayer, and obedience. 
 
 (2.) The Prophet, thus mighty in word, shows Himself 
 mighty in deeds, and is approved by great signs and wonders. 
 So, after the Sermon on the Mount, we have two chapters 
 recording a close succession of miracles. These acts of healing 
 suggest a reference to the words of Isaiah — " Himself took our 
 infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." The series of miracles 
 is closed with a repetition of the general statement. " Jesus 
 went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their syna- 
 gogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing 
 every sickness, and every disease among the people." "^ 
 
 (3.) The Prophet, moved with compassion on the multitude, 
 and surveying the wretched condition of the sheep of the house 
 of Israel, sends out disciples to propagate more widely the 
 blessings of His ministry. The twelve whom He chose were 
 plain men, unconnected with the priesthood, uninfluenced by 
 the rich, unsophisticated by the schools, standing quite clear 
 of the competing sects of the period ; yet men of character, of 
 intelligence, and of varied ages and dispositions, so as to secure 
 the width of mind and heart necessary for the institution of 
 the Church, which was to reverence them as its patriarchs and 
 
 (4.) Then the Prophet resumes His personal ministry, which 
 begins to conflict more and more sharply with the predominant 
 school of religious opinion, as represented by the scribes and 
 Pharisees, Parables now appear, being used to teach the 
 mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. They disclosed truth to 
 * Chap. ix. 35. 
 
ST. MATTHEW. 51 
 
 the disciples, and at the same time veiled it from those who 
 were hostile — thereby again fulfilling a "prophecy of Isaiah." 
 At this time, too, other mighty acts are done ; and the disciples 
 begin to speak of their Master as the Son of God."^ On the 
 mount of transfiguration, there is a vision of the King in His 
 beauty, with a renewal of the testimony from Heaven to His 
 Divine Sonship. 
 
 The result of this ministry in Galilee may be thus summed 
 up : Jesus, by teaching and wonder-working, established His 
 claims as Lawgiver and Prophet ; developed His great doctrine 
 of the kingdom of heaven ; provided for the continuance and 
 spread of His teaching through the apostles ; and condemned 
 the formalism and hypocrisy of the prominent religious leaders 
 of the time — the Pharisees, lawyers, and scribes. 
 
 Then follows His ministry — 
 
 2. In Judea and Jerusalem, occupying about three months. 
 
 Attended by great multitudes, Jesus leaves Galilee, and 
 comes " into the borders of Judea beyond Jordan." On the 
 way, He encounters the opposition of the Pharisees ; but He 
 moves on, foreseeing His decease at Jerusalem, and sublimely 
 willing to die. As He approaches the city. He speaks more 
 than ever of the kingdom, and answers all manner of questions, 
 telling of the relation of little children to the kingdom — of 
 the difficulty of the entrance of rich men — of rewards in the 
 kingdom — and of the right hand and left of the King. Two 
 blind men at Jericho, hearing the tread of a great multitude 
 escorting some one to Jerusalem, connect it in their thoughts 
 with the restoration of David's throne, and cry, " Have mercy 
 on us, Lord, thou Son of David." 
 
 That which St. Matthew most fully relates of our Lord at 
 Jerusalem must be marked as a separate division. It is — 
 
 IV. The passion (chaps, xxi.-xxvii. 66). A week was 
 occupied thus : — 
 
 Sunday. — The triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 
 * Chap. xiv. 33; xvi. 16. 
 
52 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Monday. — S^ent in the Temple. The fig-tree withered for 
 showing leaves and having no fruit — a sign of Israel's con- 
 dition. Under the leaves of profession in the Temple, the Lord 
 had looked anxiously for fruit of righteousness, and found 
 none. 
 
 Tuesday. — Again spent in the Temple, in a severe discussion 
 with Herodians, Pharisees, and Sadducees. The Lord com- 
 pletely answered and silenced them all ; and, with words of 
 terrible warning and sorrowful farewell. He left the Temple, 
 never to re-enter it. Thereafter, seated apart on the Mount of 
 Olives, He prophesied to His disciples of things to come, and, 
 by a succession of solemn parables, enforced the duties of 
 watchfulness and diligence in view of His second advent. 
 
 Wednesday. — Spent in Bethany ; so far, at least, as Matthew 
 indicates. A pause before the deepest sorrow. 
 
 Thursday. — The first day of the feast of unleavened bread. 
 Preparation and observance of the Passover. Institution of 
 the Lord's Supper. Agony in the garden. Betrayal and 
 capture of the Saviour, who was led away in the night to the 
 high priest's palace. 
 
 Friday (iSth Ilarch, a.d. 29). — The arraignment first before 
 the high priest and the Jewish council, and then before Pilate 
 the Roman governor. The condemnation to death — crucifixion 
 — mockery — death — attendant prodigies — and burial. 
 
 Saturday. — In the tomb, which was guarded by soldiers. 
 The Sabbath of the Passover. 
 
 The details of passion week are given by this evangelist with 
 fulness, and with apposite references to the Scriptures which 
 were fulfilled. In the last scenes strong contrasts are brought 
 out. Jesus witnesses a good confession, while Peter denies 
 Him. Judas goes out in despair to hang Himself — Jesus is 
 led out in holy meekness to be crucified. Priends reverently 
 bury the Lord, and Mary Magdalene and the other Mary **sit 
 over against the sepulchre" — the chief priests and Pharisees 
 "make the sepulchre sure," that it may retain His body, 
 "sealing the stone and setting a watch." 
 
ST. MATTHEW. 53 
 
 Y. The resurrection, and the commission to the apostles 
 (chap, xxviii.) 
 
 To the last, Matthew is true to his characteristics. Writing 
 in Palestine, and, in the first instance, for the Jews, he is care- 
 ful to expose the falsehood and absurdity of the report which 
 had been concocted at Jerusalem, and circulated throughout the 
 nation, that Jesus had not risen, but that His disciples had stolen 
 away His body while all the watch of soldiers slept. Then, 
 being himself a Galilean, and having given in his narrative 
 great prominence to the ministry in Galilee, Matthew, so soon 
 as he has affirmed the resurrection, shows us the Lord returning 
 to that province, and meeting His disciples at a mountain there 
 by appointment. The Risen One is still the Prophet who in- 
 structs disciples; but He is also the King. Jerusalem has 
 rejected Him ; but He has received from the Father " all power 
 in heaven and in earth." This is the " Heir of all things." 
 The first sentence of this Gospel traces His descent from 
 Abraham. The last sentence recalls the promise to Abraham, 
 that in his seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed, for it 
 is the command of Christ to the eleven — " Go ye therefore and 
 make disciples of all nations." 
 
 St. Matthew shows us the great Prophet on three mountains, 
 all of them in Galilee, (i.) The mountain of the Beatitudes, 
 on which He taught the things that concerned the kingdom of 
 heaven. (2.) The mountain of Transfiguration, on which He 
 conferred with the two eminent prophets — Moses and Elijah. 
 (3.) The mountain of the appointed meeting after the resurrec- 
 tion, where He commissioned those who were to go out — preach, 
 baptize, and teach in His name. But what is this to US'? 
 Where is this kingdom of heaven 1 It is where disciples are, 
 where the baptized are, where the teachers and the taught abide 
 in Christ's word — for heaven is there on earth. The Lord 
 Himself is there. The King is with His subjects ; the Prophet 
 with His disciples — " alway, even to the consummation of the 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 ST, MARK. 
 
 Matthew was one of the twelve apostles. There is no evidence 
 that Mark was even a follower of Christ during His earthly 
 ministry ; but he was afterwards a companion of apostles, and 
 composed his narrative from apostolic information and testimony. 
 Without doubt, he is the "Marcus, my son," mentioned in the 
 First Epistle of St. Peter, and it may therefore be assumed that 
 he was converted through that apostle's word. He has also 
 been very generally identified with "John, surnamed Mark," 
 the nephew of Barnabas, of whom we read frequently in the 
 Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of St. Paul. 
 
 About the Gospel written by Mark there has always been 
 the same belief in the Christian Church — viz., that this is sub- 
 stantially the account of his Lord and Master given by Simon 
 Peter. One of the earliest writers, Papias, calls Mark "the 
 interpreter of Peter." Irenaeus calls him "the disciple and 
 interpreter of Peter," and says, " He gave forth to us in writing 
 the things which were preached by Peter." Similar testimony 
 comes from Clement of Alexandria and others. 
 
 It is corroborated by internal evidence. The book before us 
 has quite the Petrine energy and impulse. Its connective words 
 are " straightway," " quickly," " immediately ; " * and the narra- 
 tive never lingers, always moves on. It mentions scarcely any- 
 thing of which Peter was not an eye-witness ; and it has the 
 gra|)hic touches which indicate personal observation. It omits 
 several things related by the other evangelists as reflecting 
 
 * These various terms stand for the one Greek word evdew, which 
 occurs no fewer than forty-one times in this short Gospel. 
 
ST. MARK, 55 
 
 honour on Peter, while it explicitly tells whatever was fitted to 
 humble him. Thus, it is not mentioned that he walked on the 
 sea ; or that, when he made confession of his faith, the Lord 
 pronounced him blessed, as a man taught of the Father ; or that 
 he was the first apostle who saw the Master after His resurrec- 
 tion. On the other hand, it is told that Peter tried to dissuade 
 Jesus from going to Jerusalem to "be killed," and was "rebuked." 
 The sin of Peter in denying his Lord is given in the fullest 
 detail, with the fact, stated nowhere else, that the cock "crew 
 twice:" and it is simply said that "Peter wept" — not "wept 
 bitterly." It is carefully recorded, that Mary Magdalene was 
 the first human being to see the Lord after the resurrection ; but 
 the only mention of the apostle Peter is this, — "The angels 
 said to the woman, Go your way, tell His disciples and Peter, 
 that He goeth before you into Galilee." All this bespeaks the 
 right feeling of that great apostle, and the holy tenderness with 
 which, in old age, he recalled the bearing of the Lord toward 
 himself in certain passages of his history that he could never 
 forget. 
 
 It is strange that this book should ever have been taken for 
 a mere abbreviation of that which precedes it. True, that 
 many of the things told by Mark are also described by Matthew, 
 but the second evangelist is quite independent of the first, and 
 has his own characteristics. 
 
 There is a tradition that St. Mark wrote from Rome. At all 
 events, his Gospel has not the Jewish aspect of St. Matthew's, 
 but seems to have been intended mainly for Gentile Christians. 
 It is, therefore, very sparing of quotations from the Old Testa- 
 ment. Aramaic expressions are given, as they lingered in the 
 memory of the apostle Peter, but are then interpreted, as — 
 " Talitha-Gumi, which is, being interpreted. Damsel, I say unto 
 thee, Arise ; " " Ephphatha, that is. Be opened ; " " Corban, 
 that is to say, A gift;" "Abba," "Father;" "Eloi, Eloi, lama 
 sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me ? " In the style there are frequent 
 
56 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Latinisms ; * and there is a certain Latin directness — a Koman 
 vigour throughout all the narrative. 
 
 The graphic strokes of St. Mark have been noticed by all 
 careful readers. They show not only the careful observation of 
 Peter as a companion of the Lord, but also the minute accuracy 
 with which [Mark reported the words of the venerable apostle. 
 This evangelist tells how Jesus looked, and deeply sighed ; 
 what emotions He displayed, and what impression was produced 
 on the multitude. Moreover, in many scenes that are described 
 by the other evangelists, Mark, by the addition of a few words, 
 increases the vividness of the picture. 
 
 He does not record discourses of our Lord at length. He has 
 only four parables — one of them peculiar to this Gospel, viz., 
 that of the seed growing secretly ; + and they all relate to 
 "the kingdom of God," not "the kingdom of heaven." The 
 great characteristic of the book is its practical tone. Jesus 
 speaks in it by His mighty acts. "While Matthew tells de- 
 liberately and systematically what " came to pass," and how it 
 fulfilled the Scriptures of the prophets, Mark has no pauses or 
 comments, but carries on the history with energy from scene to 
 scene ; and if he does relate at any length the sayings of the 
 Lord, selects those of controversy and decision. The nucleus 
 of the whole seems to lie in words which Simon Peter spoke 
 in the house of Cornelius at Caesarea. The Gospel is given as 
 that "which was published throughout all Judea, and began 
 from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached ; how God 
 anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with 
 power ; who went about doing good, and healing all that were 
 oppressed of the devil ; for God was with Him. And we are 
 witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the 
 Jews and in Jerusalem ; whom they slew and hanged on a 
 tree : Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him 
 openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before 
 of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He 
 
 * Kp('ij3i3aTos, (TTTt/cofXaTCj/j, -rrpaiTuptov. 
 t Chap. iv. 26-29. 
 
ST. MARK. 57 
 
 rose from the dead."* This statement finds a perfect ex- 
 pansion in the work of St. Mark. 
 
 The first sentence furnishes the title — *' The beginning of the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Jesus is usually- 
 addressed as Eabbi or Teacher ; and the title " Lord " is with 
 evident purpose omitted. It is used by no one but the Gentile 
 woman of Syrophenicia. Matthew describes the leper as say- 
 ing — "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean;" but 
 Mark has it — " If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." 
 Matthew makes the disciples at the Last Supper say, when 
 they heard of a traitor — " Lord, is it I ? " But Mark has 
 simply — "Is it I?" Matthew makes the disciples in the 
 tempest cry — " Lord, save us, we perish." Mark has it — 
 " Teacher, carest thou not that we perish 1 " Matthew makes 
 Peter say on the mount — " Lord, it is good for us to be here ;" 
 but Mark has it — " Kabbi, it is good for us to be here," We 
 have no doubt that these instances indicate the judgment of 
 the apostle Peter, that the title " Lord " was properly applicable 
 to the Saviour only when He had passed from His humiliation 
 into His state of exaltation. This is confirmed by the fact 
 that, in the very end of this Gospel, the title is used — "So 
 then the. Lord Jesus, after He had spoken unto them, was re- 
 ceived up into heaven. . . . They preached everywhere, the Lord 
 working with them." It is also in harmony with the manner 
 of Peter's address on the day of Pentecost — " God hath made 
 that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." 
 
 Let us examine the structure, and survey the contents, of 
 this book. It has been described as a series of victorious 
 onslaughts on the part of Christ, followed by withdrawals from 
 the scene of conflict. We prefer to call it a record of earnest, 
 vigorous, gracious activities, with notices of those solemn 
 pauses and times of retirement, which the Master gave to 
 Himself and His disciples. Within the space of nine chapters, 
 the Evangelist mentions eight occasions on which Jesus sought 
 absolute solitude for quiet and for prayer. 
 * Acts X. 37-41 
 
58 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 I. The introduction is concise (chap. i. 1-13). Nothing is 
 said of the birth or childhood either of the Forerunner or of the 
 Saviour. There is no mention of Bethlehem. Joseph is never 
 named in any part of this Gospel ; and Mary only once in an 
 incidental question."^ This book is written with a view to tell 
 the public career and action of " Jesus the Son of God ; " so it 
 begins with the appearance of the Baptist in the prime of his 
 manhood, and the emerging of Jesus from the obscurity of 
 Nazareth to be baptized by John in the river Jordan. The 
 account is brief, and that of the Temptation briefer still. Yet, 
 there Mark has something to tell, which neither Matthew nor 
 Luke has mentioned — "He was with the wild beasts." He 
 was the second man, the last Adam, having dominion over the 
 beasts of the Held, and beginning even in a wilderness to restore 
 Paradise. 
 
 II. Mighty acts in Galilee (chap. i. 14-ix.) 
 
 Like the parallel division of the first Gospel, this part com- 
 mences from the date of John's imprisonment. Whenever the 
 Forerunner was silenced. He who should come after him began 
 to display His wisdom and power. So, the evangelist shows us 
 Jesus preaching in the northern region of Palestine — calling 
 His first disciples by the sea- shore — teaching with authority at 
 Capernaum — healing diseases, and casting out unclean spirits. 
 At the end of the first chapter, the Mighty One withdraws from 
 notice for a season — a thing which Mark is specially careful to 
 record — " Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but 
 was without in desert places." 
 
 Then the ministry is resumed at Capernaum with the healing 
 of a paralytic; the multitude are filled with wonder; the 
 traditionists are ofi'ended; more disciples are called, so as to 
 complete the number of the twelve. The hostility of the 
 scribes and Pharisees becomes more intense ; and Jesus moves 
 to and fro — ^journeys to the coasts of Tyre, to the region of 
 Decapolis, to the parts of Dalmanutha, and to the towns of 
 * Chap. vi. 3, 
 
ST. MARK. eg 
 
 Caesarea-Pliilippi. The precision with which every incident 
 of those journeys is related proves the information to have been 
 furnished by one who was a close companion of the Saviour, 
 and a witness of His mighty works. Thus, it is said that, 
 when Jesus would heal the deaf man at Decapolis, " He took 
 him aside from the multitude ; " when He opened the eyes of 
 the blind man at Bethsaida, " He took him by the hand, and 
 led him out of the town ; " when the demoniac child was " as 
 one dead, insomuch that many said, He is dead," Jesus " took 
 him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose." 
 
 In the end of this part we find the Redeemer in Capernaum 
 again, teaching His disciples, and preparing for the journey to 
 Jerusalem, where He should be delivered into the hand of men, 
 and be killed, and rise again the third day. 
 
 III. The journey to Jerusalem (chap, x.) 
 
 The narrative is condensed, but wonderfully full of interest. 
 The good Master meets the opposition of the Pharisees, and 
 exposes the earthliness of their views; sets forth the true 
 nature of the kingdom of God, and the necessity of entering it 
 as little children; raises the thoughts of His disciples above 
 earthly treasures, and again prepares them for His own 
 sufferings, and the ordeal through which they must pass at 
 Jerusalem. At Jericho, on this journey, He gives the last 
 proof of His healing power recorded in this book, in opening 
 the eyes of Bartimeus, who thereupon, filled with gratitude 
 and drawn by love, follows Jesus in the way. 
 
 IV. Passion week in Jerusalem (chaps, xi.-xv.) 
 
 The events of that solemn time are narrated very much as 
 they are by St. Matthew. But St. Mark has his special 
 touches here also. Thus, only he tells where and how the ass 
 was found, that was used for the triumphal entry. We feel 
 sure that Peter must have been one of the two disciples who 
 were sent to fetch it, when we read the minute statement — 
 
6o SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 '•They went their way, and found the colt tied at the door 
 without in the open street ; and they loose him." 
 
 Only he, writing of the fig-tree which had leaves and no 
 fruit, contributes the information, that " the time of figs was not 
 yet." Therefore, it could not be that the tree had been stript 
 of its ripe fruit. Its leaves were those of an ostentatious 
 barrenness — fit emblem of the degenerate Judaism of that time. 
 We also have from Mark the observation, which surely came 
 from an eye-witness, — "the fig-tree was dried up from the 
 roots." 
 
 Only he tells that the woman who anointed Jesus in the 
 house of Simon at Bethany, "broke the alabaster flask." It is 
 just such an incident as Simon Peter would have remembered 
 and appreciated. 
 
 Only he tells of the young man who was seized in the garden 
 as a follower of Jesus, and fled, leaving his linen cloak behind 
 him. From what is told of his dress, he appears to have been a 
 Jewish ascetic, not wearing the " sindon " or linen cloak over his 
 other apparel according to custom, but casting it about his naked 
 body, in token of unusual rigour in self-denial and self-mortifica- 
 tion.* This apparition in the night has probably a symbolical 
 meaning. Under the law, the high priest took two goats for a sin- 
 offering on the great day of atonement. The one was to be slain ; 
 the other, with Israel's sins confessed on its head, to be sent away 
 into the wilderness. The one expressed atonement for sin by 
 the shedding of blood ; the other the removal of sin far away 
 into a land of eternal oblivion. This double type in the law 
 seems to have found a visible counterpart. The man Christ 
 Jesus and the young man unnamed were taken at the same 
 time by force. Tlie one went to die, that His precious blood 
 might atone for the sins of His people ; the other went away 
 into darkness naked, and in that condition of shame, vanished 
 in the night. The uncertainty as to whither he went, coupled 
 with the fact that he is never seen or mentioned again, com- 
 
 * We attach no credit to the tradition that this young man was no other 
 than Mark himself. 
 
ST. MARK. 6i 
 
 pletes the correspondence with the scape-goat — " the goat for 
 Azazel." There is at least a suggestive correspondence with 
 the ancient rite'; although in our redemption the young man 
 in the linen cloth is nothing, and Christ is all in all. By 
 Him we have alike the expiation of our sins, and their banish- 
 ment into eternal oblivion. 
 
 V. The resurrection and ascension (chap, xvi.) 
 Here the narrative is as brief as that of Matthew ; and some 
 would make it still more brief, for the authenticity of ver. 9-20 
 is much disputed. We are glad that the passage has been 
 retained in the Revised Version. It is hardly possible to think 
 that this book ended with the statement that the women " were 
 afraid." In the Greek it would have ended with the insig- 
 nificant word ya'f. Possibly the last page of the original 
 manuscript was lost, and this paragraph subsequently added. 
 Whether it was composed by St. Mark or by some other 
 disciple, it is certainly ancient, and carries canonical authority. 
 It seems to us an apposite and worthy conclusion. Therein we 
 have the appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene ; the visit 
 of the Lord to the disciples while they sat at meat,* and the 
 charge to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every 
 creature." 
 
 Nothing is said of the time, long or short, spent by the 
 Risen One on the earth. We have to go elsewhere to learn 
 that the time was forty days. But here we have a statement 
 of the ascension in terms of noble simplicity — " So then, the 
 Lord Jesus, after He had spoken unto them, was received up 
 into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God." It is 
 well added by Mark, as the mouth-piece of that Simon Peter 
 who had grown old in his apostolate, and had seen in many 
 places the power of the Lord to obtain victories by the Gospel 
 — " They went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord 
 working with them, and confirming the word with signs 
 following. Amen." 
 
 * Compare Acts x. 40, 41. 
 
62 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 At first, Jesus ordained twelve, " that they should be with 
 Him." This had been their privilege, and this their only 
 strength in the days of His sojourn on the earth. But it was 
 expedient that He should go away, and sit down on the right 
 hand of God. After the Ascension, his servants on earth could 
 not be " with Him ; " but He w^as " with them," living in them, 
 and working with them, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 St. Matthew has it as a word of assurance — " Lo ! I am 
 with you always." St. Mark has it as a fact of which there 
 were abundant proofs when he wrote. The Lord had been with 
 His servants. Nay, more — the Lord had wrought with them, 
 and confirmed the word with signs following. Thus closes the 
 gospel of action. Having shown us Christ the Son of God 
 working His mighty works on earth, it ends by showing that 
 He, though now received up into heaven, still works mightily 
 in and by His servants on the earth. Let us ask Him to give 
 to us the word with freshness, and to confirm it by such signs 
 as the Church of the present day needs, and the world will be 
 forced to acknowledge as divine — consciences pricked, pride 
 subdued, hearts changed, lives amended, evil dispositions cast 
 out, spiritual infirmities and moral disorders healed. 
 
( 63 ) 
 
 ST. LUKE. 
 
 Luke or Lucas is the same name as Lucanus, as Silas is also 
 Silvanus. The Latin poet Lucan, the author of the " Pharsalia," 
 was a contemporary as well as namesake of our evangelist, but 
 the fame of the former fades away, while that of the latter 
 ever grows. Our Luke appears to have been a Gentile. He 
 may have been a proselyte to " the Jews' religion " before he 
 joined the Church of Christ. It is certain that he was already 
 a Christian when he met St. Paul at Troas."^ Thereafter he 
 became a companion, and proved himself an attached and 
 faithful friend, of that great apostle. Besides the charm of 
 intellectual and spiritual sympathy, he must have been of 
 service and comfort to St. Paul in his infirmities, for Luke 
 was a physician — "the beloved physician." This does not 
 imply rank, for the freed-men were often trained as physicians ; 
 but it does imply education and culture ; and of these quali- 
 fications the two works we have from the pen of St. Luke give 
 considerable evidence. 
 
 There is a legend of his having been a painter ; and this 
 has led to the placing of academies of painting under his 
 saintly protection. One of our recent poets exclaims : — 
 
 "Give honour unto Luke, evangelist, 
 
 For he it was (the ancient legends say) 
 Who first taught Art to fold her hands and pray. " f 
 
 But it is a mere idle legend, and not very ancient. There 
 
 was a Florentine painter of the twelfth century, named Luca 
 
 Santo ; and there was an earlier Greek hermit of the name of 
 
 * Acts xvi. II. t Rossetti. 
 
64 SYNOPTICAL LLCTURES. 
 
 Lucas, who used to paint the Blessed Virgin. In all likelihooJ, 
 one or other of these executed the old dark pictures and 
 images now ascribed in Italy to St. Luke. 
 
 This Gospel is addressed— quite in the Greek manner, not 
 Jewish — to Theophilus, an esteemed Christian friend of the 
 evangelist. Him we suppose to have been an Italian ; for 
 Luke always explains to him the positions and distances of 
 towns in Judea and Galilee; but when in the Acts of the 
 Apostles (also written for Theophilus) he has to mention 
 Syracuse, Ehegium, Puteoli, Appii-Forum, and The Three 
 Taverns near Eome, he does not think it needful to give any 
 such explanations. 
 
 Written, as this Gospel is, by a Gentile to a Gentile, it has 
 peculiar atti actions for us. Not that there is any denial of the 
 priority of Israel. Indeed, it is here that we have the angelic 
 promise, that the Lord God would give to Jesus " the throne of 
 His father David." It is here that emphasis is laid on a certain 
 afflicted woman being ''a daughter of Abraham," and on 
 Zaccheus being " a son of Abraham." But words and aspects 
 of grace to the Gentiles, and to mankind at large, are recorded 
 too ; and, in reading these pages, we feel that we have got out 
 of a mere Hebrew zone of thought, and are receiving the 
 gospel of humanity. 
 
 It appears from the dedication that various fragmentary and 
 rudimental memoirs of the Lord Jesus were already in circula- 
 tion. These are not to be confounded with the apocryphal 
 Gospels which are extant, and which are evidently of a later 
 date, and full of fables. The records to which Luke refers 
 have perished, having been completely eclipsed and superseded 
 by the canonical writings. 
 
 The evangelist proposed to himself to write the life of Christ 
 with strict accuracy, and to "set in order" things of which 
 Theophilus had already been informed by preachers. To this 
 task he addressed himself carefully; and, in consequence, his 
 work has more of the character of consecutive history than any 
 of the other Gospels. Materials are diligently gathered, and 
 
ST. LUKE, 65 
 
 facts are woven together into a very complete narrative, with 
 copious references and dates in true historical style. There is 
 also a larger sweep than is taken by Matthew or Mark, for 
 this book carries us back anterior to the birth of the Fore- 
 runner, and forward to the ascension of Jesus Christ, and the 
 return of His disciples to Jerusalem with great joy. It begins 
 with a priest of the Old Covenant burning incense in the Temple 
 of the Lord — the multitude praying without. It ends with the 
 disciples of the New Covenant "in the Temple, praising and 
 blessing God." 
 
 Let us point out in detail a few of the characteristics of this 
 book not yet adverted to. 
 
 I. It has traces of St. Luke's profession. He dwells much 
 on the healing of the sick, and the devotion of the Master to 
 this way of doing good. He tells of the mission, not of the 
 twelve only, but also of the seventy to " preach the kingdom of 
 God, and to heal the sick." Only he mentions the proverb 
 quoted by our Lord at Nazareth — "Physician, heal thyself." 
 More minutely than others, he defines the condition of the 
 afflicted ones brought to Jesus. He says — The leper was " full 
 of leprosy ; " the centurion's servant was " sick and ready to 
 die;" Simon's wife's mother "was ill of a great fever" (a 
 technical term) ; the woman infirm for eighteen years " was 
 bowed together so that she could in nowise lift up herself ; " the 
 woman with an issue of blood " had spent all her living upon 
 physicians, neither could be healed of any." This last case 
 Mark expresses very unceremoniously, as he would have re- 
 ceived it from Simon Peter — " She had sufi'ered many things 
 of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was 
 nothing bettered, but rather grew worse." Luke, however, is 
 most explicit about the emanation of healing virtue from the 
 Saviour — " Jesus said, Somebody hath touched Me ; for I per- 
 ceive that virtue has gone out of Me." — " The whole multitude 
 sought to touch Him ; for there went virtue out of Him, and 
 healed them all." * 
 
 * Chap. viii. 46 ; vi. 19. 
 VOL. II. E 
 
66 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 2. Stress is laid on our Lord's humanity. We mean by 
 this, that he was both human and humane. 
 
 In this book, the human existence of Jesus is laid parallel 
 to our own. He is " the fruit of the womb ; " the babe or 
 infant; the child; and then the boy."* His subjection in 
 childhood to Joseph and Mary, and His increase in wisdom 
 and stature, and in favour with God and man, are mentioned 
 here and only here. So also we are indebted to Luke for the 
 information that, at His baptism, Jesus was "about thirty 
 years of age." Then, all through the history, prominence is 
 given to the human feelings, sympathies, and sufferings of our 
 Lord. 
 
 This was congenial to the evangelist, for evidently he also 
 was a man humane and tender-hearted. He always indicates 
 whatever specially appealed to gentleness or pity. Thus, it is 
 he who tells that the children brought to Jesus were "infants" 
 (a circumstance unfortunately overlooked by the painters) ; 
 that the daughter of Jairus was an " only daughter ; " and the 
 demoniac boy at the foot of the mount of transfiguration an 
 *' only child." 
 
 St. Luke takes more notice than others of the women of 
 gospel story. Much that we know of the Virgin Mary is 
 derived from this Gospel exclusively, and all that we know of 
 her cousin Elizabeth. It is here that the women whom Christ 
 had healed, and who ministered to Him of their substance, are 
 named — Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's 
 steward, and Susannah. And, though we have much that is 
 deeply interesting about Martha and her sister Mary in the 
 fourth Gospel, it is here, and here only, that we find the 
 exquisite little story of Christ's visit to their house — Martha's 
 anxious busy hospitality, and Mary's quiet attention to His 
 word. 
 
 "Widows in particular are remembered by St. Luke. Only 
 here we read of Anna in the Temple, " a widow of about four- 
 score and four years ; " and of the importunate widow in the 
 * |3/)^0os, Tatdiov, ttScs. 
 
ST. LUKE. 67 
 
 parable ; and of the widow of Nain following the dead body of 
 her " only son " to the grave. In the last-named instance, the 
 evangelist is careful to say that, " when the Lord saw her. He 
 had compassion on her, and said unto her. Weep not ! " also, 
 that when He raised the dead man, "He delivered him to his 
 mother." 
 
 All the parables as recorded by Luke have a specially human 
 and humane aspect. They are not given as illustrations of a 
 kingdom. Matthew always begins — " The kingdom of heaven 
 is like unto," &c. Luke never thus, except in the parables of 
 the mustard-seed, and leaven.* His style is this — " A sower 
 went forth to sow ; " "A certain man went down from Jeru- 
 salem to Jericho ; " " The ground of a certain rich man brought 
 forth plentifully ; " "A certain man made a great supper ; " 
 "A certain man had two sons ;" "A certain man had a fif^- 
 tree ; " " There was a certain rich man who was clothed in 
 purple and fine linen." 
 
 3. Special heed is given to what concerns the salvation of 
 sinners. In this we may trace the influence or stamp which 
 St. Luke's mind received from St. Paul ; at all events, the 
 harmony of his mind with that of the great preacher to the 
 Gentiles. It is here, and only here, that we read of the 
 woman who was a sinner, that came to Jesus' feet; of the 
 salvation which came to the house of Zaccheus on the day 
 when our Lord entered it ; and of the grace shown to the dying 
 robber on the cross. Here, too, and 'here only, that we have 
 the publican praying in the Temple as a sinner, and going 
 down to his house justified ; and the series of parables, so 
 encouraging to those who feel their unworthiness — the lost 
 sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, that were found with joy. 
 
 4. There is frequent mention of prayer. St. Luke it is 
 who mentions, that Jesus " was praying " when the Holy 
 Ghost descended upon Him ; that He retired into the wilder- 
 ness and prayed ; that He went up into a mountain, and con- 
 tinued all night in prayer before He appointed the twelve 
 
 * Chap. xiii. 18-21. 
 
68 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 apostles ; that, on the mount of transfiguration, " He was 
 praying," when "the fashion of His countenance was altered; " 
 and that, when Jesus " was praying in a certain place, when 
 He had ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach 
 us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." In this Gospel, 
 too, it is that we find those parables which encourage prayer. 
 These are, (i), the story of the man who knocked at his neigh- 
 bour's door till he got bread ; (2), that of the unjust judge and 
 the widow ; and (3), that of the Pharisee and the publican. 
 
 The stress thus laid upon prayer is another indication of what 
 may be called the Pauline tone of St. Luke's mind, and conse- 
 quently of his Gospel. 
 
 So much of the characteristics of this book. "WTien we try 
 to epitomise its contents, and arrange them in divisions, we find 
 some difficulty from the continuous strain of the history, which 
 glides on without break or interruption. But, after the inscrip- 
 tion or dedication to Theophilus, we may trace the following six 
 parts : — 
 
 L Details of the annunciation and nativity (chaps, i., ii.) 
 These are peculiar to this Gospel. 
 
 We have the parentage, promise, and actual birth of the 
 Forerunner, John. We have the annunciation, conception, and 
 nativity of Jesus. The narrative is beautified with holy songs, 
 and describes the meek faith and joy of the blessed Virgin. 
 
 The vision of angels seen by the shepherds is told by Luke 
 only, as the vision of the star seen by the magi is related by 
 Matthew only. All Christendom speaks of the song of the 
 angels, but the evangelist has no such expression. "There was 
 with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God 
 and saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
 good will toward men." To sing like an angel has become 
 proverbial, but it will be found that the sacred writers never 
 describe an angel as singing. Songs belong to the Redeemer and 
 the redeemed. 
 
 In the beginning of this Gospel, and nowhere else, we read of 
 
ST. LUKE. 69 
 
 Simeon and Anna, and of those " who looked for redemption in 
 Jerusalem ; " also of the visit of Jesus to the capital, at the age 
 of twelve years, and His conversation with the doctors in the 
 Temple. 
 
 II. The introduction to the ministry (chaps, iii.-iv. 13).— 
 This consists, as in the first Gospel, mainly of these three : the 
 preaching of John the Baptist with awakening effect; the 
 baptism of Jesus by John; and His temptation in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 III. The ministry in Galilee (chap. iv. 14-ix. 50). — Matthew 
 at once describes Jesus as preaching the nearness of the kingdom 
 of heaven; and the first discourse reported by him is the 
 sermon concerning the beatitudes of the kingdom, and its laws 
 of righteousness. But Luke shows Him in the synagogue at 
 "Nazareth, where He had been brought up," preaching the 
 Gospel to the poor, and proclaiming the acceptable year of the 
 Lord. The great discourse, or sermon on the mount, he gives 
 at a later period, in an abbreviated form, and without any 
 mention of the kingdom. 
 
 Though the parables and miracles do not all fall within this 
 division, it is convenient to speak of them here. St. Luke 
 narrates more parables than St. Matthew, and about the same 
 number of miracles. Peculiar to him are the parables of the 
 two debtors, the good Samaritan, the friend at midnight, the 
 rich fool, the barren fig-tree, the great supper, the lost drachma, 
 the prodigal son, the unjust steward, the rich man and Lazarus, 
 the unprofitable servants, the unjust judge, the Pharisee and 
 the publican, and the talents. Peculiar also to him are the 
 following miracles :— The first draught of fishes, the raising of 
 the widow's son, the healing of a woman with a spirit of 
 infirmity, and of a man with the dropsy, the cleansing of ten 
 lepers, and the healing of Malchus. This enumeration shows 
 us at a glance what a valuable addition to our knowledge of 
 Christ we obtain from the pen of St. Luke. 
 
70 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 lY. The journey to Jerusalem (chap. ix. 51-xix. 44). — This 
 is described with fulness. We see the Lord wending His way 
 slowly through Galilee and Samaria, healing and teaching; 
 sending out the Seventy in His name; confuting and re- 
 proving the scribes and Pharisees, and preparing His own 
 mind and those of His immediate companions for His rejection 
 and decease at Jerusalem. 
 
 His approach to the capital is related with great pathos, and 
 at the same time with the most scrupulous accuracy. Whether 
 one takes the route from Bethany over the southern shoulder 
 or that over the crest of Olivet, there is a first glimpse of 
 Jerusalem, which is soon lost through inequality of the ground, 
 and then suddenly a splendid view of the entire city. The 
 evangelist distinctly indicates this. The first view is implied 
 in the words — " And when He was come nigh, even now at 
 the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of 
 the disciples began to rejoice." While the attendant multitude 
 rejoiced, and Jesus replied to the murmuring Pharisees, they 
 were passing over the intermediate dip in the ground. Then, 
 we have the second and much clearer view of Jerusalem, with 
 its effect on the Saviour's mind, in the sentence — " And when 
 He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it." * 
 Luke is true to his plan of writing a gospel of humanity, when 
 he shows us the Saviour's tears. 
 
 Y. The Passion (chap. xix. 45-xxiii.) — The days of passion- 
 week are not marked so carefully as they are by St. Matthew ; 
 but there is a full report of our Lord's controversy with His 
 enemies in the Temple, and of His discourse of encouragement 
 and prophecy to His disciples. One story of this period Luke 
 has in common with Mark ; and it is not found in Matthew, 
 viz., that of the widow who cast her two mites into the treasury. 
 "And He looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts 
 into the treasury," &c. t It seems strange that our Lord 
 *' looked up" to the treasury; but the explanation is easily 
 * Chap. xix. 37, 41. t Chap. xxi. i. 
 
ST. LUKE. 71 
 
 found in the parallel narrative — " And Jesus sat over against the 
 treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the 
 treasury.""^ Being in a sitting posture, the Lord must have 
 looked up to observe those who cast in their offerings. It is a 
 small point, but every one knows how the minuteness of a 
 coincidence may increase its evidential value. 
 
 In the account of the last supper, we are again reminded of 
 the intimacy between St. Luke and St. Paul. The account 
 given by the former, differing as it does somewhat from that of 
 the other evangelists, agrees with the language of the well-known 
 passage in i Corinthians xi. St. Luke has, after the giving of the 
 bread, the words — "Do this in remembrance of me" — which 
 Matthew and Mark have not, but Paul has. He seems also, 
 like Paul, to mark a pause or interval between the bread and 
 the wine ; and has the words — " This cup is the New Covenant 
 in my blood " — while Matthew and Mark have — " This is my 
 blood of the New Covenant." 
 
 We have said that the healing of Malchus in the garden, and 
 the penitence of one of the crucified robbers, are found in this 
 Gospel only. So also is the arraignment of Christ before Herod. 
 St. Luke seems to give us a Roman rather than a Jewish account 
 of our Saviour's trials and sufferings ; and it has been plausibly 
 conjectured that he, while living at Csesarea, the chief seat of 
 the Roman garrison, gathered details from some of the soldiers 
 who had been under Pontius Pilate's orders at Jerusalem. This 
 would account for his intimate knowledge of things which could 
 not come under the direct cognizance of persons without the 
 judgment hall, or standing at a distance from the cross, but 
 which the soldiers in charge of the prisoner must have seen and 
 heard. It may be added, that it is Luke who gives us the 
 name of the place of death as Calvary. The other three evan- 
 gelists use the Hebrew name Golgotha. 
 
 YI. The Resurrection and Ascension (chap, xxiv.) — This 
 section has great interest and value. It describes the early 
 * Mark xii. 41. 
 
72 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 discovery by the women of the emptiness of the tomb, and 
 Peter's unfeigned amazement when he verified the fact. There 
 follows an account of our Lord's walk with two disciples to 
 Emmaus, and their recognition of Him "in the breaking of 
 bread." If this had been represented as His first appearing on 
 that day, it would have contradicted other accounts ; but it is 
 not so. When the two disciples hastened back from Emmaus 
 to Jerusalem, they were told of an appearing of Christ prior to 
 that which had been vouchsafed to them — " The Lord is risen 
 indeed, and hath appeared unto Simon." Now, of this inter- 
 view we have no other mention by the evangelists ; but it is 
 important to notice the corroboration by St. Paul — " He rose 
 again the third day according to the Scriptures, and He was 
 seen of Cephas, then of the twelve." * 
 
 Much stress ,is laid on the connection between the passion 
 and the resurrection ; and this also is a favourite theme with 
 St. Paul. Three times we have it in the last chapter of this 
 Gospel — " The Son of man must be crucified, and the third day 
 rise again " — " Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, 
 and to have entered into His glory V — "It behoved Christ to 
 suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." In like manner, 
 in the Epistles of Paul, we read of Jesus " delivered for our 
 offences, and raised again for our justification ; " self-humbled, 
 and therefore by God highly exalted. 
 
 True to the last to the human aspect of his Gospel, St. Luke 
 describes the Risen One as breaking bread, and even eating of 
 fish and honey-comb, to assure His disciples of the reality of 
 His body; speaking of it as having "flesh and bones;" and 
 showing His hands and feet which had been pierced upon the 
 cross. Then is related the ascension of the Man of love, bless- 
 ing with outstretched hands, and carried up into heaven to 
 obtain from the Father, and to shed forth upon the disciples, 
 the best of blessings — the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Such in brief is this inestimable narrative. It begins with 
 joy at the Nativity ; and it ends with great joy at the Ascension. 
 * I Cor. XV. 4, 5. 
 
ST. LUKE. 73 
 
 It brings Jesus very near, as One with whom we may enjoy 
 companionship. The Saviour here described is not a being who 
 is neither quite a God nor quite a man, but One who, being 
 verily God, also became verily man. This is our flesh and 
 blood. " Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and 
 blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same." * 
 
 This comes well before the Gospel according to St. John, 
 which is the record of the Son of God. Under St. Luke's 
 guidance, we trace the Son of man from His mother's womb to 
 the cross and the grave, and from, the grave to heaven. Our 
 Lord's return to the Father is represented rather as an assumption 
 than an ascension into heaven. *' He was parted from them, 
 and carried up." 
 
 * Heb. ii. 14. 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 ST. JOHN. 
 
 This is the spiritual Gospel — the most filled with the glory of 
 the Son of God — the most imbued with His mind — and the 
 most occupied with His own words of eternal life. We must 
 read it, while with joy, also with deep reverence, for heaven 
 lies about us, and a cloud of glory hangs upon the page. All 
 devout students have spoken of this book with peculiar venera- 
 tion and tenderness. It is finely said by a German author — 
 " In the perusal of St. John's writings, I always feel as if I saw 
 him before me at the Last Supper, lying on his Master's breast. 
 I am far from understanding all that I read, and often it seems 
 to me as if St. John's meaning were floating at a distance before 
 my eyes ; still even then, when I am gazing into a passage alto- 
 gether dark to me, I have yet a strong presentiment of some 
 great and glorious thought which I shall one day be able to 
 understand." * 
 
 There is no need to expatiate on this evangelist's personal 
 history. The son of Zebedee and Salome, the brother of James, 
 the intimate friend of Peter, the youngest of the apostles, and 
 the survivor of them all — John is as well known as Paul him- 
 self throughout all the Church. 
 
 This book is certainly one of the last written in our New 
 Testament. There are internal indications of its having been 
 composed after the fall of Jerusalem. Thus — "Bethany was 
 ni<Th unto Jerusalem." " He went forth with His disciples over 
 the brook Cedron, where ivas a garden." "In the place where 
 He was crucified there was a garden." After the siege and fall 
 * Claudius, quoted by Besser. 
 
ST. JOHN. 75 
 
 of Jerusalem, no doubt gardens were devastated, and the general 
 aspect of localities greatly changed. True, we read — " There is 
 at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool ; " but this does not 
 weaken our inference, because the pool of Bethesda is known 
 to have remained long after the Roman destruction of the city. 
 Internal evidence, in fact, supports the old tradition, that St. 
 John wrote this work about the end of the first century."^ 
 The place of publication is supposed to have been Ephesus. It 
 certainly was some place at a distance from Palestine ; for 
 John, though himself a Galilean, writes of " the Jews " — " the 
 feast of the Jews " — " the manner of purifying of the Jews." 
 
 Let us consider (i.) The purpose of this book; (2.) Its 
 characteristics; (3.) Its structure and contents. 
 
 I. The purpose or object of this Gospel has been variously 
 represented. 
 
 It has been thought that John wrote in order to supplement 
 the memoirs of Christ previously written by Matthew, Mark, and 
 Luke. Now, it is extremely probable that he had seen one or 
 more of these books, which were well circulated before the 
 close of the first century ; and, on this very account, omitted 
 from his work many important facts related by the previous 
 evangelists. John says nothing of the conception and nativity 
 of Jesus — His baptism, temptation, transfiguration, parables, 
 exorcisms — the Lord's Supper — the agony in the garden — the 
 ascension into heaven. On the other hand, he records many 
 things that greatly enlarge our view of the Saviour's ministry, 
 and help us to a more full understanding of the duration and 
 significance of His public life than we have derived from the 
 three preceding narratives. So far as they inform us, the 
 ministry only began from the imprisonment of John the Baptist, 
 and occupied about a year; but we now learn that it really 
 
 * The Neologian view, which dates this work in the second century, and 
 ascribes the doctrine of the Logos to a disciple of Philo, has been trium- 
 phantly refuted by Luthard, Godet, Westcott, Salmon, and others. We 
 have no room for the discussion. 
 
76 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 covered at least two years and a quarter, and perhaps three 
 years. Yet, history was certainly not the chief object of St. 
 John. His purpose was deeper than that of a writer of 
 memoirs ; and the help he gives us on chronological questions 
 is of a quite incidental, one may almost say, accidental 
 character. 
 
 It has also been maintained, that this book was written for a 
 controversial purpose, to confute the Gnostic heresy. Now, it 
 is certain that St. John vehemently opposed those who denied 
 the Son, and therein denied the Father also ; and that in his 
 old age, he contended with Cerinthus, a leader of Jewish 
 Gnosticism at Epliesus. It is also plain that this Gospel is so 
 written, in harmony with the three Epistles of St. John, as to 
 furnish the Church, after his decease, with weapons of truth 
 against the perilous errors which seducing spirits brought in. 
 But, it is one thing for a history to be so written as to establish 
 controverted truth ; another thing for it to be written with a 
 ruling polemical purpose. The former is fair, but the latter 
 never commands perfect confidence. Now, this Gospel is the 
 former, not the latter. It is a faithful record, and not a polemic 
 in disguise. 
 
 But why theorise on the object of this book? It tells its 
 own purpose. " These things are written that ye may believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing ye 
 may have life through His name.* The venerable apostle writes 
 to elevate the whole Christian conception of Jesus, and to sus- 
 tain faith in Him as the Christ, the Son of God, in whom we 
 have life. He does not address himself to prove this by facts 
 and reasonings, but soars at once to the heights of Divine ex- 
 istence, and sets out from a beginning or ever the world was. 
 He is the teacher of Divine manifestation to man, as St. Paul is 
 of the Divine reconciliation of man. His purpose, therefore, is 
 to show us how the divinity was manifested in Jesus Christ 
 upon the earth, and what unbroken union tliere was and is 
 between the Father and the Son. 
 
 * Chap. XX. 31. 
 
ST. JOHN. yy 
 
 II. The characteristics of this book in thought and style are 
 strongly marked. 
 
 1. In thought it is very deep — full of theology and of 
 symbolism. It goes beyond the ordinary thinking of a narrative, 
 — even of a sacred narrative, and has a combination of philo- 
 sophical reflection with poetical elevation ; while it retains a 
 Hebrew cast of thought, and, like the Book of Revelation, has 
 its roots deep in the Old Testament. 
 
 A succession of events is marked, but vaguely, by the phrases 
 " after this," " after these things." It is no object to this evan- 
 gelist to give mere notes of time. All the incidents are selected, 
 and the conversations, discourses, and acts of Christ are grouped 
 with a view to their inner meanings, and the expression in sign 
 and symbol of far-reaching truths. 
 
 2. In style St. John is peculiar and very effective. He has 
 not so large a vocabulary as St. Luke, but knows how to use 
 distinctive words. Thus, only he has " the Logos," and " the 
 Only Begotten," as titles of our Saviour ; " the Paraclete " as 
 a designation of the Holy Spirit ; and the description of Christ's 
 death as His being '' lifted up." There are also terms not ex- 
 clusively his, which he employs with marked and emphatic 
 frequency, e.g., the Life, the Light, the Lamb, the Truth. 
 
 The sentences are constructed with extreme simplicity, but 
 they are often singularly strengthened by the recurrence of im- 
 portant words, thus : " In the begirming was the Word, and the 
 Word was with God, and the Word was God ; " " He was in the 
 world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew 
 Him not ; " " If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not 
 true. There is another that beareth witness of Me ; and I know 
 that the witness which he witnesseth of Me is true." * Sentences 
 thus formed are grouped together in paragraphs, so that the eifect 
 of the composition, while inartificial, is singularly powerful 
 "The multiplication of simple elements issues in a result of 
 acknowledged grandeur. The words seem to hang about the 
 reader till he is forced to remember them. Each great truth 
 * Chap. i. I, ID ; V. 31, 32. 
 
78 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 sounds like the burden of a strain ever falling upon the ear with 
 a calm persistency which secures attention. And, apart from 
 forms of expression with which all are early familiarised, there 
 is no book in the Bible which has furnished so many figures of 
 the person and work of Christ, which have passed into the 
 common use of Christians, as the Gospel of St. John. ' / am 
 the Bread of Life;' '7 am the Light of the World;' */ am 
 the Good Shepherd;' ^ I am the Vine,' are words which have 
 guided the thoughts of believers from the first ages." * 
 
 It should also be noticed here that it is the custom of this 
 evangelist to intersperse his narrative with reflective or explana- 
 tory comments. Matthew, Mark, and Luke never do this. They 
 confine themselves to pure narration, only venturing to translate 
 a foreign word, or quote an appropriate Old Testament prophecy; 
 but John is always looking into, and thinking over, the words 
 and actions of his Lord. Thus he explains the language of 
 Jesus regarding the rebuilding of the Temple in three days ; 
 remarks that His question to Philip about buying bread for the 
 multitude did not spring from any perplexity ; interprets His 
 promise of living water on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles ; 
 and accounts for the words of Caiaphas as to the expediency of 
 one man dying for the people.! 
 
 III. The structure of the Gospel is well worthy of careful 
 attention. It proceeds on a thoughtful symmetrical plan. 
 
 I. The introduction, or prologue (chap. i. 1-18). Mark goes 
 back to the beginning of the Gospel ; Matthew farther back, to 
 Abraham ; Luke still farther back, to Adam ; Moses went back 
 to the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth. 
 But John reverts to a period yet more remote, the beginning of 
 the manifestation of God, who yet never began, but eternally 
 was. 
 
 This evangelist has been called " the Divine," because he is so 
 much occupied with the Divine existence, and the manifestation 
 
 * Dr. Westcott's '* Introduction to the Study of the Gospels," 4th Edition, 
 p. 268. 
 
 t Chap. ii. 21, 22 ; vi. 6 ; vii. 39 ; xi. 51, 52 ; also chap. xii. 33. 
 
ST. JOHN. 79 
 
 of the Divine glory in the person of the Son. Now the Son is 
 not created or made, but " only-begotten of the Father ; " and, 
 as such, is " a partaker of that incommunicable and imperishable 
 essence which is sundered from all created life by an impassable 
 chasm." * To the Son is given in this book the significant 
 title, "the Word" (Logos), the Expression of God implying 
 perfect declaration of the thought. The Word is the revealer 
 and the revelation of the Invisible God. 
 
 In the introduction, the Logos is set forth, (i), in His Divine 
 nature and efficiency, and, (2), in His relation to the world — 
 His creatorship — His quickening and illuminating power over 
 men — His entrance into the world by incarnation, and taher- 
 nacling among men. The Only Begotten is possessed of "glory," 
 and this thought pervades the whole book. In miracles the 
 Lord showed forth His glory ; and in death the Son of Man 
 was glorified. This prologue, in fact, furnishes a sublime basis 
 for all true Christology ; exhibiting our Lord in His relation to 
 God, to the world, and to Israel, and in His contrast with 
 Moses; "for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth 
 came by Jesus Christ." 
 
 Brief mention is made in the introduction of witnesses to 
 Christ. " There was a man sent from God, whose name was 
 John." He is never called the " Baptist " in this book. " The 
 same came for a witness." And whence came he 1 St. Luke 
 tells of the parentage and youth of John the Baptist, but these 
 things are nothing to the purpose of this evangelist. In St. 
 John's view, all things are of God. The true Light came forth 
 from God ; and the witness to that Light was " a man sent 
 from God." Then the testimony of the witness John is cor- 
 roborated by that of the apostles — "We beheld His glory, the 
 glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father." The apostle- 
 evangelist had the most intimate friendship with Christ ; but 
 he will, on no account, name himself, even as a witness. He 
 speaks of the Baptist as "John," and as though there was no 
 other John than he. He is particular in his notices of his 
 * Canon Liddon's Bampton Lectures, 2d ed. p. 233. 
 
8o SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 fellow-apostles ; distinguishes Simon Peter from Simon Zelotes, 
 Judas not Iscariot from Judas Iscariot ; gives the surname of 
 Thomas, Didymus ; and mentions that Philip, Andrew, and 
 Peter, were all of the town of Bethsaida ; but when he would 
 allude to himself, it is as " that other disciple," or " the disciple 
 whom Jesus loved." 
 
 2. The manifestation and rejection of Jesus Christ (chap. i. 
 19-xii.) This section develops the emphatic sayings in the 
 prologue, that Christ was the true light of life ; that He was 
 in the world, and the world knew Him not ; nay, that He came 
 to His own things in Immanuel's land, and His own people, 
 Israel, received Him not. 
 
 In the time of His manifestation, our Lord had many wit- 
 nesses ; and they are thus arrayed before us. 
 
 (i.) The witness of John. This is furnished in his reply to 
 the queries of the priests and Levites from Jerusalem; his 
 testimony addressed to his own disciples, that Jesus was the 
 Lamb of God who should take away the sin of the world, with 
 a statement that he had seen the Spirit descending from heaven 
 like a dove, and abiding upon Him ; the repetition on the 
 following day of the saying — "Behold the Lamb of God;" and 
 another very full and important testimony of John addressed to 
 his disciples at ^non, near to Salim, in which he pointed out 
 the Son of God as the Bridegroom, and the One who, coming 
 from heaven, is above all. 
 
 (2.) The loitness of disciples. Those who found Christ, or 
 were found of Him, testified of Him to others. Thus Andrew 
 witnessed to his own brother Simon ; and Philip to ISTathanael ; 
 and the woman at Sychar to the men of that town ; and thp 
 man who was healed at Bethesda to the Jews, telling them 
 " that it was Jesus who had made him whole." 
 
 (3.) Tlie witness of signs. Miracles are never called by this 
 evangelist dvmfiiic, mighty acts, as in the other Gospels ; but 
 always arnMiTa^ signs — expressing the character of Jesus, and 
 showing forth His glory. Their influence in attracting faith, 
 as well as admiration, is particularly dwelt upon. Thus, it is 
 
ST. JOHN. 8i 
 
 written, *' This iDeginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, 
 and manifested His glory ; and His disciples believed on Him." 
 — " Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover on the 
 feast-day, many believed in His name, when they saw the signs 
 which He did." * 
 
 The Lord referred also to other, and even higher witness — 
 the testimony of His Father in the ancient Scriptures, wherein 
 Moses and the prophets wrote of Him. And the truth estab- 
 lished by so many witnesses was always this : that He was the 
 Son of God, and that He had not come of Himself, but the 
 Father had sent Him, 
 
 Now let us trace the manifestation. 
 
 (i,) To the Jews (chap. ii. 13-iii.) 
 
 According to this Gospel, Jesus repaired early in His ministry 
 to Jerusalem. He, whose right it was to reign, came to the 
 capital city ; but not yet to claim the throne. His first work 
 was to cleanse the Temple ; and this He did as the Son of 
 God — purging His Father's house. Of the miracles which He 
 wrought at that feast in Jerusalem we have no detailed 
 account, but they induced many to believe on His name ; 
 and a ruler of the Jews, named Nicodemus, went so far as 
 to visit Jesus by night, and make this avowal — "Rabbi, we 
 know that Thou art a Teacher come from God; for no man 
 can do these signs which Thou doest, except God be with him." 
 Then to this representative man of Jerusalem, our Lord un- 
 folded earthly and heavenly things, affirming the necessity of 
 regeneration, and the love of God in redemption. 
 
 After this, Jesus retired for a little, with His disciples into 
 the rural parts of Judea. The next stage of His manifestation 
 was — 
 
 (2.) To the Samaritans (chap. iv. 4-42). 
 
 The Saviour made Himself known to a sinful woman by 
 Jacob's well at Sychar, forgetting hunger, thirst, and weariness 
 in the joy of finding one sheep that was lost, one child that 
 
 * Chap, ii, 11-23. See also chap. iv. 46-54; v. 36; vi. 14; vii. 31 ; 
 X. 21, 37, 38, 41, 42 ; xi. 4, 45. 
 
 VOL. II. F 
 
82 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 had gone astray. Her case contrasts with that of Mcodemus 
 at Jerusalem. The Pharisee was told of the birth of water 
 and of the Spirit, and of the redeeming love of God ; but he 
 went away in the night, afraid of the Jews, and for the time 
 held his peace. This woman was told of the water of life, of 
 worship in the Spirit, and of the Father's love ; and she, 
 having no Pharisaic pride to combat, or Pharisaic position to 
 forfeit, spoke with a changed heart and roused conscience, and 
 could not hold her peace — " Come, see a man which told me 
 all things that ever I did : is not this the Christ 1 " The Lord 
 went into the town of Sychar, and tarried there. He did no 
 mighty works. Miracles or signs were not asked for, because 
 conscience was at work among the Samaritans, and many 
 believed because of His word. 
 
 (3.) To the Galileans (chap. iv. 43-54). The people of the 
 northern province did not hunger for His word as did the 
 Samaritans. Except they saw signs and wonders they would 
 not believe ; and such reception as they gave Him was only 
 for His works' sake. Now, here also one prominent case is 
 quoted. As at Jerusalem we have seen Jesus conversing with 
 Nicodemus, and in Samaria, Jesus talking with the woman of 
 Sychar; so also in Galilee, we see Jesus answering the sup- 
 plication of " a certain nobleman " from Capernaum. But He 
 went not into the town as He had done at Sychar, because it 
 was a work of healing, not the word of salvation, that was 
 sought. The son of the nobleman was cured ; and the father 
 *' himself believed, and his whole house." 
 
 It is impossible not to mark a design in these successive 
 narratives. Jesus visits the three great divisions of the country, 
 showing Himself mighty in word and deed ; and in each, a 
 representative person is brought into near communication with 
 Him. 
 
 Then the story returns to Jerusalem. Jesus stands alone, 
 maintaining against the Jews His claim to be the Son of God 
 sent into the world. By " the Jews," we are to understand 
 the rulers and leaders, not the multitude. When Jesus healed 
 
ST. JOHN. 83 
 
 ail impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, they resented the 
 act of mercy, because it was done on the Sabbath-day. They 
 could not rise above rigid forms and legal prescriptions, or 
 understand the divine working and super-Sabbatic authority of 
 Jesus as the Son of God. After a while, they were again 
 irritated by the opening of the eyes of a blind man in Jeru- 
 salem — also on the Sabbath-day. 
 
 The controversy over the first of these miracles is reported 
 at length ; and then the Lord is shown to us again in Galilee. 
 He feeds the multitude, and He walks on the sea. He speaks 
 marvellously in the synagogue at Capernaum of Himself as the 
 true bread, and of tlie life of the world to be found in eating 
 the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man. 
 
 Again, the Lord is in Jerusalem at the feast of Tabernacles, 
 teaching in the Temple ; vindicating His Divine mission ; and, 
 on the last and great day of the feast, inviting all who were 
 athirst to come to Him and drink. The evangelist explains 
 this of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which believers on Jesus 
 were soon to receive. 
 
 The four chapters which follow illustrate the truth that 
 Jesus Christ is light and life. They are in pairs ; the first 
 pair showing the light, and the second the life. In the 8th 
 chapter Jesus proclaims Himself 'Hhe light of the world." He 
 does so in the morning when the light was fading from the 
 colossal lamp-stands of the Temple which were lit at the Feast 
 of Tabernacles, and the sun which illuminates the world was 
 rising in the East. There ensued a sharp conflict of words 
 with the Jews, who at last took up stones to stone Him whom 
 they could not confute. But " He went out of the Temple, 
 going through the midst of them, and so passed by." The 9th 
 chapter continues and completes the manifestation of the light. 
 Jesus, having affirmed His own dignity as " the light of the 
 world," displays His power by opening the eyes of a man who 
 had been "blind from his birth." The loth chapter reveals 
 our Saviour as the life, having such sayings as these : " I am 
 come that they may have life;" "I give unto them eternal 
 
84 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 life." Then, as the 9th chapter illustrated His enlightening 
 power, the nth exhibits His quickening power. He raises 
 Lazarus from the dead, and shows Himself to be " the resur- 
 rection and the life." 
 
 The 12 th chapter closes this great division of the Gospel, 
 and seals the condemnation of the Jews. The Son of God was 
 manifested and rejected. Certain Greeks inquired after Him, 
 but of the Jews it is thus written : " Though He had done so 
 many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him." 
 His last testimony to the people of Jerusalem is given in these 
 solemn sentences : " Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on 
 Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me : and he 
 that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me. I am come a light 
 into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me may not abide 
 in the darkness. And if any man hear My words, and keep 
 them not, I judge him not ; for I came not to judge the world, 
 but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth 
 not My sayings, hath One that judgeth him ; the word that I 
 have spoken, the same shall judge Him in the last day. For 
 I have not spoken for Myself ; but the Father which sent Me, 
 He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I 
 should speak. And I know that His commandment is life 
 eternal : whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said 
 unto Me, so I speak." * 
 
 3. The Passion (chaps, xiii.-xix.) St. John does not relate 
 the institution of the Lord's Supper, though he refers to the 
 Pascal Feast, and describes an action of Jesus after supper 
 which had a deep symbolic meaning, — the washing of the 
 disciples' feet. 
 
 Peculiar to this Gospel is the record of many gracious words 
 spoken by Christ between the last supper and the betrayal into 
 the hands of His enemies. First there is a conversation, in 
 which Peter, Thomas, Philip, and Jude all take part. Then 
 the Lord pours out a long and sweet discourse of love, union, 
 peace, fruit-bearing, consolation of the Spirit, and victory over 
 * Chap, xil 44-50. 1 
 
ST. JOHN. 85 
 
 the world. This is again followed by his high- priestly prayer — 
 a passage which has always been regarded as a sort of "holy of 
 holies " in the Scripture, so full is it of sublime thought and 
 Divine intimacy. Bengel said truly of the 17th chapter of 
 this Gospel, that it is " in the words of it the most simple, but 
 in the sense of it the most profound in all the Bible." 
 
 Though this evangelist does not mention the agony in the 
 garden, he is very explicit in regard to the trial and crucifixion 
 of Christ. Many incidents are mentioned by him only; e.g., 
 that the band who came to take the Saviour " went backward 
 and fell to the ground " when He confronted them ; that Simon 
 Peter was the disciple who smote the servant of the high 
 priest; and that the servant's name was Malchus. This last 
 point would have come naturally within the cognisance of John, 
 for he was acquainted with the high priest and his household ; 
 and Simon Peter being dead when this book was written, there 
 was no longer any reason to conceal that the bold stroke of the 
 sword was by his hand. In this Gospel only, we find our 
 Lord's language to Pontius Pilate about the kingdom not of 
 this world, and the royal dignity of a witness to the truth ; 
 also the exclamation of Pilate, " Ecce homo ! " Then, in 
 describing the actual crucifixion, John is the only writer who 
 tells us of the division of Christ's garments by the soldiers ; 
 His committal of Mary His mother to this disciple's care ; and 
 the piercing of His side after death with a spear, causing blood 
 and water to gush out. Of this last outrage John was an eye- 
 witness : " He that saw it bare witness, and his witness is true ; 
 and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe." 
 We may add that it is in this Gospel only, that we behold 
 jS'icodemus the ruler of the Jews associated with Joseph of 
 Arimathea in burying the body of Jesus with fragrant spices. 
 4. The Resurrection and its evidence (chap, xx.) 
 This section also abounds in fresh matter. It contains the 
 beautiful story of Peter and John hastening to the sepulchre on 
 hearing of its empty condition from Mary Magdalene. 
 
^6 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 " At dawn of morn 
 From her sad couch she sprang forlorn, 
 She sought to weep with Thee alone, 
 And saw Thine open grave, and knew that Thou wert gone, " 
 
 It tells of the Lord's appearing and speaking to Mary Magdalene 
 in the morning ; and then, passing by the appearings vouch- 
 safed to the other Mary with Salome and Joanna, to Simon 
 alone, and to the two disciples at Emmaus, relates the important 
 visit of the Lord to His disciples in Jerusalem " on the same 
 day at evening." 
 
 After the salutation of peace, and the exhibition of His 
 hands and His side to prove that it was truly He, (i.) the 
 Lord appointed to His disciples an embassy. " As my Father 
 hath sent Me, even so send I you." They had seen that He 
 had sought for Himself no earthly grandeur or kingdom of this 
 world, but had brought light into the world by testifying of the 
 Father. Now were they to go out and testify of Him, spreading 
 light in the midst of darkness, and life in the midst of death ; 
 preaching good tidings, publishing peace. (2.) Then He conferred 
 on them a qualification. " When He had said this, He breathed 
 on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." 
 The Spirit had rested on Him as the Father's witness ; and the 
 same Spirit must rest on them as His witnesses. The fulness 
 of this blessing, however, was not enjoyed till the day of 
 Pentecost. The Lord breathed on the disciples when He gave 
 them their commission; but they did not begin to act upon 
 that commission till the Holy Ghost descended upon them in 
 power after fifty days. (3.) Jesus also gave to the disciples on 
 that night a high prerogative. " Whose soever sins ye remit, 
 they are remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye retain, 
 they are retained." It is a gross error to interpret this of 
 priestly shriving or absolution. It is to be explained by the 
 parallel passage in the Gospel of St. Luke, that " repentance 
 and remission of sins should be preached." * And it is to be 
 gathered from the Acts of the Apostles how this prerogative 
 * Luke xxiv. 46, 47, 
 
ST. JOHN. 8; 
 
 was actually understood and used by those in whom it was 
 vested. They made no terms with sinners, granted no 
 indulgences, and prescribed no penance. They declared God's 
 pardon to the penitent, and His wrath against the impenitent.* 
 When they went further, it was in the exercise of apostolic 
 care over the Churches, retaining sins on some for a w^arning, 
 as on Ananias and Sapphira stricken with death, and Elymas 
 with blindness, and on some excommunicated for a season, 
 " delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the 
 spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord." 
 
 After eight days the Lord appeared again in like manner, to 
 convince the apostle Thomas of His real bodily resurrection. 
 That disciple may be called the sceptic among the twelve ; not 
 that he had anything in him of the flippant Sadducee, but that 
 the constitution of his mind made it impossible for him to 
 beheve strange tidings, even though he wished them true, 
 until he had evidence which his sober judgment could approve. 
 Now, every class of honest mind, the sceptical as well as any 
 other, has its place and use both in the Church and in the 
 world. Our Lord receives all. He knows how to deal with 
 the stubborn Thomas as well as wdth tlie impulsive Peter ; and 
 in satisfying the doubts of the former, removing the obstruc- 
 tions to his peace and joy in believing, the Saviour has 
 furnished an additional security to us all that He has indeed 
 risen from the dead. Even Thomas was satisfied, and, passing 
 from joy to absolute certainty, he "answered and said unto 
 Him, My Lord and my God." 
 
 5. The Epilogue or supplement (chap, xxi.) This was no 
 doubt written by St. John, but at a later period than the rest 
 of the book. It relates the second miraculous draught of fishes ; 
 and the breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, in which 
 the food prepared by Jesus was joined with that which the 
 seven disciples had caught — showing us that the joy of fellow- 
 ship between the Saviour and the saved is fed alike by that 
 which He provides directly for them, and by that which they, 
 * See Acts ii. 38 ; iil 19 ; x. 43. 
 
88 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 through His grace, and at His word, are enabled to attain. 
 What joy was theirs on that morning, who saw the Lord, and 
 did eat and drink in His presence, treated as His guests, fed as 
 His children ? And after the repast came another joy. Simon 
 Peter was restored, and, having been questioned three times 
 regarding his love to Jesus Christ, received commission as a 
 shepherd of the flock of God. The interrogation was intended 
 not merely to remind him gently of his three denials of his 
 Master, but also to intimate the essential connection between 
 love to the Chief Shepherd, and the feeding and leading of His 
 sheep and lambs. Love is the motive that should actuate all 
 pastors and spiritual guides ; and love is the very pasture into 
 which the lambs and sheep must be led. 
 
 Walking by the Lake, the Son of God was pleased to give 
 prophetic hints of the martyrdom of St. Peter, and the pro- 
 longed life of St. John. Nothing is said of His ascension. 
 Our last view is of the good Master pacing the shore, attended 
 by Peter and John. We see not the end of that path, for, while 
 they thus walk, the book closes — the curtain of silence falls. 
 
 To all this testimony of the evangelist, the early Church put 
 a grateful amen — " We know that his testimony is true." We 
 also, remote though we are in time, may add emphasis to this : 
 we may know that the testimony of St. John is true, and may 
 laugh to scorn the efforts of some modern critics to shake the 
 authority of this Gospel, when we have proved its divine 
 power over ourselves, and experienced its divine sweetness. 
 It is a bed of spices, a hill of frankincense, a garden of pleasant 
 fruits, in which all devout spirits may meet the Holy One — 
 the Lovins and Beloved. 
 
ST, JOHN. 89 
 
 Thus tlie four evangelical Narratives made known the 
 Saviour. 
 
 The first, written in Palestine, showed to Israel the Messiah. 
 
 The second, written at Rome, showed to the Gentiles the 
 mighty One. 
 
 The third, written in Greece, showed to all men the compas- 
 sionate Son of Man. 
 
 The fourth, written in Asia Minor, the ancient seat of Theo- 
 sophy, revealed the Logos incarnate, the Son of God. 
 
( 90 ) 
 
 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 This second work of St. Luke occupies a most important posi- 
 tion as the sequel to the Gospels, and the foundation for the 
 Epistles. Though at some periods it has been treated with a 
 strange neglect, it must always receive prominence and com- 
 mand attention whenever Church life is revived, and searching 
 ecclesiastical questions are agitated. Nothing, indeed, tends 
 so much as the study of the Acts of the Apostles to give men 
 a comprehension of missionary enterprise, and a grasp of sound 
 Church principles. 
 
 Other treatises, under the same name, were issued in the 
 second century ; but this excels and outlives them all. Yet, 
 the name is not very sufficient, or even accurate. Of several 
 of the apostles no acts are described ; and, on the other hand, 
 some are prominent in the story who never were reckoned 
 among the apostles, e.g., Stephen, Philip, and Barnabas. More 
 properly, this is the book of the acts of the glorified Redeemer 
 through His Spirit-guided apostles and preachers on earth. It is 
 a continuation of St. Luke's GospeL The former treatise, written 
 for the use of Theophilus, recorded the beginning of the sayings 
 and doings of Jesus. This resumes the narrative, and shows 
 that the activity of Jesus was not stayed or even reduced by 
 His assumption into heaven, but was put forth all the more, 
 because He had ascended up on high, and sent down the Holy 
 Ghost to inspirit, instruct, and extend the Church. 
 
 Much that this book contains St. Luke was able to testify as 
 an eye-witness, for he was with St. Paul at Troas ; accompanied 
 him to Philippi; after some years rejoined him at Philippi, 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 91 
 
 and went with him to Jerusalem. Thereafter he was with the 
 apostle on his way to Rome ; was with him in the storm and 
 shipwreck on the coast of Malta ; and abode with him in the 
 great city. Probably, this history was written at Rome in the 
 year a.d. 6;^; for St. Paul reached that city a.d. 61, and we 
 must allow for the two years during which he had stayed " in 
 his own hired house." We do not make the date later than 
 A.D. 63, because it was concluded before the issue of St. Paul's 
 appeal to the Roman emperor. 
 
 The chronology presents some difficulties. But there are 
 four events of secular history incidentally mentioned, the dates 
 of which are pretty well fixed. They are these ; the dearth in 
 the days of Claudius Caesar (chap. xi. 28) ; the death of Herod 
 Agrippa (chap. xii. 23) ; the decree of Claudius expelling Jews 
 from Rome (chap, xviii. 2) ; and the recall of the governor, 
 Felix (chap. xxiv. 27). By the help of these notes of time, it 
 can be shown that this history covers about thirty-four years ; 
 and the dates of some of the principal events in the early 
 Church can be determined, e.g., the conversion of Saul of 
 Tarsus, a.d. 37, and the holding of the Christian council at 
 Jerusalem, a.d. 50. 
 
 The introduction (chap. i. 1-12) is of great importance. It 
 tells us that the Lord Jesus remained on the earth for forty days 
 after His resurrection. The time is significant. After His 
 baptism in the river Jordan, our Lord spent forty days in the 
 wilderness, and now, after His baptism into death, He spent 
 forty days on the earth, being for most of that time withdrawn 
 from human view. With the one period of withdrawal He 
 marked the beginning, and with the other the close of His 
 manifestation as the Saviour. 
 
 During the forty days. He put the fact of His resurrection 
 beyond doubt ; for " He showed Himself alive by many in- 
 fallible proofs." The appearances were certainly twelve or 
 thirteen in number, at various places, in various circumstances, 
 to one, to two, to many witnesses ; and, in every case, the firm 
 conviction was produced on their minds, and avowed at the 
 
92 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 first opportunity to others, that " it was the Lord." Moreover, 
 during those forty days, the Master gave commandments in the 
 Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen, and spoke of the 
 things pertaining to the kingdom of God. The Holy Ghost 
 had not yet descended on the apostles ; but Jesus spoke to 
 them in that power, and His words were afterwards potent in 
 their hearts, when they also had received the power from on 
 high, and began to speak in the Spirit, preaching or heralding 
 the kingdom of God. 
 
 This interval of time between the resurrection and ascension 
 also availed to prepare the apostles for the manner of their 
 Lord's future intercourse with them, and with the Church. It 
 was a period of transition between the time when His friends 
 could "company with Him," and the new time when He should 
 be with them always, and yet taken out of their sight. Risen 
 from the dead, He had a body still, but not the same bodily 
 conditions and restrictions as before. He showed Himself, or 
 withdrew Himself from view, at His pleasure. The disciples 
 knew that He was always near ; but could not tell when, or for 
 how long a time, He would appear. 
 
 At last, when the forty days were completed, the Lord com- 
 manded the apostles not to depart from Jerusalem, as they, 
 being Galileans, would naturally have done ; but to " wait for 
 the promise of the Father." Then, in their sight. He was 
 assumed into heaven. It was a departure for a longer season, 
 much longer than any previous withdrawal. But it is such an 
 absence as consists with a continual presence, too ; and, at an 
 hour that men think not, it will terminate in a glorious appear- 
 ing. So the apostles were assured by "two men in white 
 apparel : " * " Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
 heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into 
 heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go 
 
 * Angels, no doubt ; but we should not say " angels assuming human 
 form," for we have no reason to suppose that they have any other shape. 
 They serve the Divine family ; and the servants have the same form with 
 the " heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 93 
 
 into heaven." Recognise in tins the secret of all the acts, and 
 all the patience of the apostles. They knew that though the 
 Lord had ascended, He was not far from any one of them. He 
 had sent the Holy Spirit into their hearts. Some had glimpses of 
 His excellent glory. Stephen saw Him ; so did Paul ; so did 
 John. And all looked for Him to receive them to Himself. 
 Then no more periods of absence, and no more tribulation in 
 the world ; but " for ever with the Lord." 
 
 The key to the whole structure of this book is to be found 
 in the introduction — "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me, (i), both 
 in Jerusalem ; (2), in all Judea, and in Samaria ; and (3), unto 
 the uttermost part of the earth." 
 
 I. The witnessing Church at Jerusalem (chap. i. 13-vii.) 
 In Galilee, " five hundred brethren at once " had assembled 
 very recently ; but in Jerusalem the whole number of disciples 
 who clave together after their Lord's ascension was a hundred 
 and twenty. This number included the devout women, because, 
 though it was not fitting that women should exercise the apos- 
 tolate, or become Church rulers, discipleship and Church mem- 
 bership were from the first open to them equally with the other 
 sex. In Christ Jesus there was "neither male nor female." 
 How wise and respectful is the mention of the mother of Jesus 
 in the primitive assembly — " The apostles continued with one 
 accord in prayer and supplication with the women, and Mary 
 the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren."* At jSTazareth, 
 in her youth, the Virgin Mary had waited meekly and trustfully 
 for the Power of the Highest to overshadow her, in order to 
 the conception and birth of Christ. In the same spirit she now 
 sat and knelt among " the women," waiting for the Power of 
 the Highest to descend in order to the birth of the Church. 
 How different is this from the place which superstition has 
 assigned to the mother of our Lord ! It is thought not enough 
 that she should be blessed among women ; so she is represented 
 as a goddess above all — a protectress to be invoked — a crowned 
 * Chap. i. 14. 
 
94 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and sceptred queen of heaven to be conciliated in order that she 
 may exert her authority over the Son of God. It is all irreve- 
 rent and untrue. 
 
 The only act in which the company of disciples engaged 
 before Pentecost, was the filling up of the place from which 
 Judas Iscariot fell. As the Church was now about to be 
 founded, it was necessary that there should be twelve apostles, 
 not eleven. " The wall of the city had twelve foundations, 
 and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."* 
 But the brethren could not appoint an apostle. They did what 
 they could : they chose two names, and of these the Lord 
 unseen indicated by the lot that He appointed Matthias. The 
 brethren did not ordain Matthias. It is simply stated that he 
 " was numbered with the eleven apostles." 
 
 After a week of united prayer — glorious precedent for all 
 such concerts of prayer in after times — the day of Pentecost 
 arrived. In the Temple were offered, according to the law, the 
 first fruits of the harvest. In the assembly of the disciples, 
 there was a gathering to God in "Christ of the first fruits of 
 redemption. It was the birthday of the Church of God. The 
 Holy Ghost descended ; and that not in a faint or tentative 
 manner, but with fulness and power, and with attendant pro- 
 digies. Then Simon Peter, to whom it belonged to take the 
 initiative and to open the kingdom of heaven with the key 
 which the Lord had entrusted to him, opened it at Jerusalem, 
 by preaching Christ in death and resurrection to an astonished 
 multitude. After he had opened his mouth on that day, no 
 miracle was wrought. The Church was founded on apostolic 
 testimony, or born of the Spirit with the word of truth. It 
 was a birth auspicious of a great career. The Church started 
 into life with thousands of believers ; and daily the Lord added 
 saved ones to the number. 
 
 Then signs following. A lame man was healed at one of the 
 gates of the Temple in the name of Jesus Christ of Kazareth ; 
 and Simon Peter took advantage of the impression produced on 
 * Rev. xxi. 14. 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 95 
 
 the people to deliver a second public address, preaching repent- 
 ance and forgiveness of sins to the men of Jerusalem. 
 
 The Church now numbered about iive thousand, and the 
 Jewish authorities could not see its progress without alarm. 
 They tried to deter the apostles, and to suppress their testi- 
 mony by force. Judaism was plainly in the wrong, for it had 
 no reply of argument, but only the senseless one of persecution. 
 All the more disgraceful, too, the attempt to concuss the apostles 
 into silence, as coming from the Sadducees, the liberal party 
 in " the Jews' religion." They were offended by the preaching 
 of the resurrection from the dead ; and a liberalist or ration- 
 alistic party can be quite as bitter as any other, as unfair and 
 tyrannical, when their pet doctrines, or denials of doctrine, are 
 called in question. When Peter and John stood before the 
 Sanhedrim, it was with a very different bearing from that 
 which they showed, but a few weeks before, when their Master 
 was brought as a prisoner into the high priest's palace. Then 
 Peter denied his Lord, and John held his peace. But now 
 Peter and John astonished the council by their boldness. 
 
 Discharged with threats, they returned " to their own com- 
 pany ; " and there was a joyful burst of thanksgiving to God. 
 But out of the very enthusiasm of the Church its first internal 
 danger sprung. A generous impulse led the disciples to cast 
 their earthly possessions into a common fund. Partakers of a 
 common earthly peril and heavenly hope, they would share 
 everything together. Not that any rule was enacted to that 
 effect, or any condition enforced. It was a temporary com- 
 munism, entirely voluntary and optional. But, unfortunately, 
 there always are persons who wish to pass for Christians of 
 the highest and most generous type, while yet their hearts 
 are covetous and selfish ; and, to gain or support their reputa- 
 tion, they must betake themselves to deceit. Such were Ananias 
 and his wife Sapphira, who pretended to devote all to the 
 common fund, while they reserved a part. A terribly sudden 
 death inflicted on each of them, warned the Church of the guilt 
 and danger of lying to the Holy Ghost. 
 
96 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 After this, " believers were the more added to the Lord, 
 multitudes both of men and women ; " and, as a consequence, 
 the conflict with the authorities in Jerusalem was renewed. 
 The internal danger being purged away for the time, external 
 danger succeeded. The apostles were arrested; and, though 
 rescued from death by the considerate speech of Gamaliel, a 
 learned Pharisee, they were cruelly beaten for the name of 
 Jesus. But as the winds that rock and scourge the branches 
 make the tree to strike its roots more widely and deeply in 
 the ground, so did these troubles, confirm and establish the 
 Church. 
 
 The rapid increase of numbers rendered it necessary for the 
 apostles to disengage themselves from the less spiritual employ- 
 ments which had required their attention, such as the super- 
 intendence and distribution of the common fund, and to devote 
 their 'time to the higher functions of testimony and prayer. 
 The *' outward business," or " serving of tables," was committed 
 to seven deacons, chosen by the disciples at large, and ordained 
 by the apostles with prayer and imposition of hands. It was 
 the first new wheel introduced into the simple machinery, and 
 introduced only as and wdien the actual need arose. The 
 names of the seven are Greek, and indicate that tliey were 
 Grecians or Hellenist Jews. This was fitted, and no doubt 
 designed, to satisfy the Grecians who had murmured against 
 the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily 
 ministration. As the first deceit in the Church was connected 
 with property, so, also, was the first dissension; for "the love 
 of money is a root of all evil." 
 
 One of the deacons has the glory of being the first martyr 
 furnished by the Church. The violent but glorious death of 
 Stephen closes the first division of the Book of Acts. Jeru- 
 salem, having crucified the Master, now stoned one of His 
 disciples. Stephen saw the Master in Heaven ; committed his 
 spirit to Him; prayed for his murderers, — and then "fell 
 asleep." He lost his life for Christ's sake, and found it. He 
 was faithful unto death, and won that crown of life which his 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 97, 
 
 very name, Stephen, seemed to predict for him. His death 
 suggests to us Bunyan's description of the departure of Mr. 
 Valiant- for-truth across the river to the Celestial City. He 
 made his will, which was this, — "My sword I give to him 
 that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and 
 skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with 
 me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles, who 
 will be my rewarder now." "When Mr. Yaliant-for-truth went 
 into the river, he said, "Death, where is thy sting?" And as 
 he went down deeper, he said, "Grave, where is thy victory?" 
 " So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on 
 the other side." 
 
 The Church at Jerusalem was agitated by this outbreak of 
 violence, but could not be suppressed. Indeed, from the death 
 of Stephen it took a new impulse, and began to spread abroad. 
 
 II. The witnessing Church in Judea and Samaria (chaps, 
 viii. ix.) 
 
 The apostles remained at their post in Jerusalem ; but per- 
 secution scattered some of the disciples, and the Spirit of the 
 Lord led them to Samaria.* In the rural parts of Judea, they 
 had only to enlarge the work begun at Jerusalem ; but in 
 Samaria they struck new ground. They dealt with a people 
 who were neither Jews nor Gentiles, but were of mixed origin, 
 and occupied an intermediate position. 
 
 At the city of Samaria, Philip, a colleague of Stephen, 
 preached with power,, and healed many. Tidings of the work 
 having reached Jerusalem, the Apostles Peter and John came 
 down on a special mission. Then Samaria had its own Pente- 
 cost ; for, after prayer, the Holy Ghost was received, and, 
 under the ministry of Peter, the kingdom of God was opened. 
 At Samaria, too, the Church had its early dangers, from the 
 same source as at Jerusalem — the love of money. There was 
 a certain magician, named Simon, who had received baptism, 
 
 * It was the very track followed by the Lord Jesus Himself. See John 
 iii. 22, iv. 4, 
 
 VOL. II. G 
 
98 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 but tliougM that spiritual gifts might be bought with money, 
 and displayed for money. St. Peter sternly rebuked him ; and 
 to this day his name is infamous, for we stigmatise the un- 
 hallowed purchase of a spiritual position as simony. 
 
 The two apostles, returning from the chief city, preached tlie 
 Gospel in the villages of the Samaritans : and at many places 
 throughout Palestine the work of the Lord began to appear. 
 On the way from Jerusalem to Gaza, the treasurer of the queen 
 of Ethiopia, a heathen by birth, but a Jewish proselyte of the 
 gate, was converted and baptized by Philip. At Lydda and the 
 neighbouring maritime town of Joppa, Simon Peter healed the 
 sick, and even raised the dead. ''And many believed on the 
 Lord." 
 
 The great event, however, of this period was the conversion 
 of Saul of Tarsus. In those days, this young Pharisee was 
 going to and fro like a very dragon, " breathing out threatening 
 and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." But the 
 Saviour whom he persecuted in His members met Saul in the 
 way, and changed that eager foe into a loving friend. He 
 called Jesus, Lord ; and at Damascus he received the Holy 
 Ghost, and was baptized. Then he preached Christ in the 
 synagogues, exposing himself to the very persecution which he 
 had so recently kindled against the Church. Now men breathed 
 out threatening and slaughter against him. The Jews took 
 counsel to kill him ; but the brethren took counsel for his 
 safety, enabled him to escape from Damascus, and, after he had 
 gone to Jerusalem and Csesarea, sent him to his own city, 
 Tarsus. 
 
 So ends this part of the history. " Then the Church througli- 
 out all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, had peace, being edified ; 
 and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the 
 Holy Ghost, was multiplied."* 
 
 IIL The witnessing Church going forth to the ends of the 
 earth (chap, x.-xxviii.) 
 
 * Chap. ix. 31. 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 99 
 
 The interest passes from Jerusalem to Caesarea, the seat of 
 Gentile government ; and we read of what may be called the 
 Gentile Pentecost. It was preceded by prayer. It was sig- 
 nalised by preaching, the preacher being the same as at Jeru- 
 salem, and the truth preached substantially the same. Simon 
 Peter bore witness to Jesus Christ in life, death, and resur- 
 rection ; omitting references to the Old Testament, but adding 
 these statements for the Gentiles — that Jesus " is Lord of all," 
 and that He is appointed "the Judge of quick and dead." 
 Again the 'power came. Peter preached, and God wrought. 
 " The Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word." They 
 spoke with tongues, and magnified God. Again the apostle 
 Peter found himself in a scene of blessed commotion, for it was 
 a day of the right hand of the Most High. Then, with a wise 
 promptitude, he commanded that those Gentiles should "be 
 baptized in the name of the Loi'd." 
 
 A memorable day for all nations. It introduced " the times 
 of the Gentiles." Prom that hour, to us sinners of the Gentiles 
 are preached the unsearchable riches of Christ. On us is shed 
 forth the gift of the Holy Ghost. " God hath also to the Gen- 
 tiles granted repentance unto life." 
 
 Caesarea, however, was no sufficient or suitable centre for 
 Gentile Christianity ; and our minds are taken away to Antioch, 
 where the Church was planted by unnamed Hellenist preachers, 
 and then watered by two men of illustrious name — Barnabas, 
 whom the apostles sent down from Jerusalem for the purpose, 
 " for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of 
 faith" — and Saul, whom Barnabas fetched from Tarsus. At 
 that time, Antioch was a city of beauty, wealth, and Greek 
 culture. Josephus says that it was the third city of the empire. 
 The Church there prospered greatly ; and having much intelli- 
 gence and missionary spirit, made Antioch a sort of Jerusalem 
 for the Gentile world. It was there that the distinction be- 
 tween the Church and the synagogue began to be openly per- 
 ceived ; for the disciples got a new name, no doubt from the 
 heathen who saw that they were something more than Jews • 
 
loo SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and they "were called Christians first at Antioch." The name 
 was, in the early ages, covered with opprobrium, and exposed 
 those who bore it to suffering ; * but it has long ago become a 
 glorious title on the earth, and we have nothing better to say of 
 any man than that he is a genuine Christian. 
 
 The Church at Antioch showed its faith by its works, and 
 sent a loving gift to the brethren in Judea, who were in straits 
 by reason of a " great dearth." Barnabas and Saul carried the 
 gift to Jerusalem, and handed it over to the elders. Of the 
 appointment of these officers we have no account ; but St. Luke 
 seems to mention their existence as a matter of course, for elders 
 were apoointed over the Church in every city. In congregations, 
 chiefly of Hebrew origin, they were called elders or presbyters ; 
 in those of Greek origin, bishops or overseers. Accordingly, 
 St. Peter and St. James, writing to Hebrew Christians, use the 
 word presbyter or elder, t St. Paul, in speaking and writing to 
 Churches of mixed origin, uses both presbyter and episcopos, 
 elder and bishop. That these were at first equivalent terms is 
 frankly conceded by our best commentators and ecclesiastical 
 writers, even of the prelatic school, as by Alford, EUicott, Hatch, 
 and Lightfoot. The last named, in his excellent dissertation on 
 the Christian Ministry appended to one of his commentaries, 
 not only admits that in the apostolic writings presbyter and 
 bishop are "only different designations of one and the same 
 office," but recognises the existence and action of the primitive 
 presbyteries; and states that "as late as the year a.d. 70 no 
 distinct signs of episcopal government have hitherto appeared 
 in Gentile Christendom." Similar testimonies might be ad- 
 duced from the great ecclesiastical writers on the Continent 
 down to the present day, including authors as far apart from 
 each other as Dr. Dollinger and Dr. De Pressense. Whatever 
 argument may be added for prelates or diocesan bishops, it is 
 certain that the Church of the first century, while founded by 
 apostles, exhorted by prophets, and extended by evangelists, 
 
 * After this it occurs only twice in the New Testament. (Acts xxvi. 
 28: I Peter iv. 16.) t i Peter v. i, 2; James v. 14. 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. loi 
 
 had two orders of officers, and only two — presbyter-bishops, and 
 deacons."* 
 
 The errand of Barnabas and Saul leads back the history 
 to Jerusalem, and, as it left that city on the martyrdom of 
 Stephen, so it returns to tell of the martyrdom of James, the 
 brother of John. Herod Agrippa I. had crept by flattery to the 
 throne of his uncle, Herod the Great, and sought to keep his 
 seat by pleasing the Jews. Accordingly, he beheaded this 
 prominent apostle, one of the three most intimate companions 
 of Christ. He also imprisoned one more prominent still, Simon 
 Peter; intending to put him to death, as a spectacle to the 
 people, after the feast of the passover. His purpose was foiled 
 by the united and persevering prayers of the Church ; for Peter 
 was delivered out of prison by an angel of the Lord. It is one 
 of the finest incidents in this book ; and just such an incident 
 as we should expect to find in a history written by St. Luke, 
 for, as we have already noticed in his Gospel, it is charac- 
 teristic of him to pay special heed to the subject and the use 
 of prayer. 
 
 Soon after this, an angel of the Lord came on a different 
 errand, and in an hour when the persecutor Herod was inflated 
 with pride, smote him so that he died of a loathsome disease. 
 There is a grand stroke of contrast in these words — "He was 
 eaten of worms and gave up the ghost ; but the word of God 
 grew and multiplied." Since that day, the word has outlived 
 many a proud hater of its doctrine, and many a persecutor of 
 its witnesses. And to-day it is fresh as ever, and as full of 
 vitality. As many as receive and love it are bound up with 
 that conquering Church, which survives all the Herods of the 
 world, inheriting the life everlasting, and the world to come. 
 
 A great part of the third division of this book— a full half 
 of its whole contents — is occupied with the missionary work of 
 St. Paul and his companions, and with the sufl'erings and 
 testimonies of that apostle, as a prisoner for Jesus' sake. 
 * See Phil. i. I ; i Tim. ii. 
 
I02 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 The missionary journeys are three in number. 
 
 I. The expedition of Paul and Barnabas to the island of 
 Cyprus, and the Asiatic provinces of Pamphylia and Pisidia 
 (chaps, xiii. xiv.) 
 
 The starting-point was Antioch. The moving and directing 
 power was the Holy Ghost. By Him were chosen for the work 
 two men — the two whom the Church at Antioch would naturally 
 have been most reluctant to spare — Barnabas and Saul. At 
 the time when they were selected, their destination was not 
 revealed ; but when they set forth, the divine wisdom of the 
 choice became apparent. Barnabas was a Cypriote ; and they 
 were to sail to Cyprus. Saul was of Tarsus in Cilicia; and 
 they were to go into that country, and the regions lying behind. 
 Their individual characteristics, too, formed a happy combina- 
 tion. Barnabas was genial and venerable ; Saul fervent and 
 eloquent, and the more disposed to co-operate with his senior, 
 because it was Barnabas who had first introduced him to the 
 confidence of the brethren at Jerusalem, and who had sought 
 his help to teach and foster the Church at Antioch. 
 
 So they went forth, sent by the Holy Ghost, and sent by the 
 Church. With John Mark as their attendant, they took ship 
 at Seleucia, the port of Antioch, and, landing in Cyprus, 
 traversed the extent of the island, preaching in the Jewish 
 synagogues. At the town of Paphos, they rebuked and judged 
 a certain sorcerer ; and the pro- consul of the island, Sergius 
 Paulus,* believed. 
 
 After this, Saul is called Paul, and takes the more prominent 
 part in the work. 
 
 From the island the missionaries made for the mainland at 
 Perga in Pamphylia, at which place John Mark left them, 
 returning faint-hearted to Jerusalem. But they proceeded to 
 Antioch in Pisidia, where Paul delivered, in the synagogue, the 
 
 * The accuracy of St. Luke is constantly receiving confirmation. The 
 name of this pro-consul has been discovered on an ancient inscription at 
 Soli. 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 103 
 
 first of all his addresses -which is on record. It is remarkable 
 for its clear statement of a doctrine afterwards dilated on in the 
 Epistles, viz., The justification through faith from all things 
 from which men could not be justified by the law of Moses. 
 The Gentile population of the town received the message of the 
 Gospel more readily than the Jews ; and the latter, always 
 violent in their intolerance, obtained the expulsion of the 
 missionaries. So they went on to Iconium, where similar 
 results followed ; and thence to the cities of Lycaonia, preach- 
 ing the Gospel with success. A deed of healing at Lystra 
 induced the superstitious natives to take them for gods in 
 human form. And yet after this, the mob, at the instigation 
 of certain Jews, fell on St. Paul, and stoned him, till they 
 supposed he was dead. But God raised him up. 
 
 Wisely and courageously, the two missionaries then returned 
 over the same route, and organised the Churches they had 
 founded, ordaining elders in every city, to feed and guard the 
 flock of God. So, by their presence and their word, they con- 
 firmed the souls of the disciples. Then they returned to 
 Antioch, and at a great missionary meeting gave in their 
 report. " When they were come, and had gathered the Church 
 together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and 
 liow He had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles. And 
 there they tarried no little time with the disciples." 
 
 Between the first and second missionary journeys of St. Paul 
 is inserted a most important.; record — that of the first Church 
 Council, held at Jerusalem for the discussion and decision 
 of the great question of Gentile Christian liberty. It shows 
 us that religious and ecclesiastical problems ought to be judged, 
 not by rulers and parliaments of the kingdoms of this world, 
 but by those who are entrusted with spiritual jurisdiction in 
 the house of God. It shows us, also, that local differences 
 should not be left to produce local dissension and schism, but 
 should be submitted by reference or appeal to the collective 
 wisdom of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. 
 
I04 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 2. The journey of Paul and Silas through Asia Minor, 
 Macedonia, and Greece (chap. xv. 36-xviii. 22). Now, the 
 history touches classic spots — Troy, Philippi, Athens, and 
 Corinth. 
 
 The proposal of Barnabas to take his nephew Mark on tlie 
 second expedition did not- please Paul ; and the two friends, 
 after a sharp dispute on the point, parted company. Paul took 
 with him Silas, a prophet from Jerusalem ; so that they together 
 represented the apostles and prophets, the two orders of witness 
 fundamental in the Church. 
 
 St. Paul's first idea was simply to revisit the Churches which 
 had been planted on his former journey. So he took his way 
 through Asia Minor; and from the dark region of Lycaonia, 
 drew to himself a new companion who became very dear to him 
 — Timothy, his own son in the faith. Overpassing the limits 
 of his first expedition, he came to Troas, or Troy, on the ^gean 
 Sea, where Luke joined the missionary company. 
 
 It was at Troas that a mystic summons was given to the 
 apostle to pass over into Europe. In a vision a man of 
 Macedonia stood before him, and said — " Come over and help 
 us ! " Construing this vision as an expression of the will of 
 Christ, Paul at once set sail with his companions, made a 
 swift voyage across the narrow sea, and then travelled by land 
 to the city of Philippi. 
 
 The apostle's first convert in Europe was Lydia, whose heart 
 the Lord opened. She was one of a group of devout women, 
 who met for prayer by the river side, there being no synagogue 
 in Philippi. No sooner was she baptized and her house, than 
 opposition to the work of God began to appear. It came, as 
 formerly at Paphos, and afterwards at Ephesus, from the heathen 
 demonism. An outcry was raised against the missionaries, and 
 they were unjustly beaten and imprisoned by order of the 
 praetors. But the Lord rewarded them by the conversion of the 
 keeper of the prison, who was saved through faith with all his 
 house, and forthwith was baptized. 
 
 Thessalonica was the next town of importance which they 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 105 
 
 visited. Being a place of commerce, it contained many Jews, 
 and had a synagogue. There, according to his custom, St. Paul 
 delivered his testimony ; arguing three points — that the Messiah 
 promised in the Hebrew Scriptures w^as to be a sufferer — that, 
 having suffered, He was to rise again — and that Jesus fulfilled 
 these conditions, and was the very Christ. His success, however, 
 was small with his own nation ; and the Thessalonian Church 
 was formed almost entirely of Gentiles who "turned to God 
 from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His 
 Son from heaven." * When the Jews stirred up the heathen 
 rabble against Paul and Silas,t they departed, by the advice of 
 tlieir fellow Christians, to the town of Berea. Considerable 
 success attended them there ; but tumults again arose, and Paul, 
 being the most obnoxious to the Jews, left the country, his 
 companions, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, remaining for a while in 
 Macedonia. 
 
 The apostle knew not whither he w^ent ; but a ship was 
 found on the coast bound for the Piraeus, and it carried Paul 
 toward the great seats of Gentile knowledge and influence. 
 Athens heard him discoursing of the true God, and of Jesus and 
 the resurrection. He was the greatest teacher that had ever 
 opened his mouth in that city of philosophers ; but it knew him 
 not. The wisdom of Athens did not appreciate the wisdom of 
 God. A few believed — among them a judge of the Areopagus, 
 — but as for the curious questioners of Athens, Paul " departed 
 from among them," and never visited their city again. 
 
 Special mention is made of "a woman named Damaris," 
 converted at Athens. Surely Lydia and her companions at 
 Philippi had prayed for a blessing on their own sex, for at each 
 city visited by the missionaries we read of female converts. 
 At Thessalonica there were " of chief women not a few ; " at 
 
 * Thess. i. 9, 10. 
 
 t St. Luke is careful to give the proper designation of magistrates : 
 Politarchs at Tliessalonica, Asiarchs at Ephesus. The former of these 
 titles, which does not occur in extant classical authors, has lately been 
 discovered on an arch which once spanned the main street of Thesi^alonica. 
 
io5 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Berea, " of honourable women which were Greeks not a few ; " 
 and at Athens, though only one woman believed, the circum- 
 stance is mentioned, and her name is embalmed in the undying 
 record. 
 
 St. Paul went on to Corinth, the other great city of what was 
 then called Achaia, or Greece proper. He dwelt there with 
 Aquila, a devout Jew, of whom, and of his wife Priscilla or 
 Prisca, we have many favourable notices. "Being of the same 
 trade," he wrought with them, and earned his own bread. 
 Fine subject for a thoughtful painter — far above Hercules at the 
 distaff — the great-souled apostle sitting among his Christian 
 friends, making tents ! Grand patience of the ardent spirit ! 
 Paul was fit to direct others, for he knew how to repress himself. 
 He could tell when to advance, for he understood when to 
 rest and be still. Yet he was never idle. While working 
 at his trade, he "prayed always" for the Churches so lately 
 planted in Macedonia, wrote his two letters to the Thessa- 
 lonians, and discoursed every Sabbath in the Corinthian 
 synagogue. 
 
 The Jews, unable to confute him, had recourse to their usual 
 Aveapons of calumny and violence. They stirred up a tumult, 
 and aimed at his life ; but it happened that Gallio, the brother 
 of Seneca, was pro-consul at the time ; and he, not from any 
 regard for Paul, but from a thorough Koman contempt for the 
 Jews and their questions, drove the accusers of the apostle from 
 his presence. 
 
 Soon after, St. Paul rapidly concluded this great missionary 
 expedition. Silas and Timothy had rejoined him at Corinth ; 
 but on his return to Asia, his companions were Aquila and 
 Priscilla. He sailed from the port of Cenchrea to Ephesus, and 
 thence to Caesarea. Having paid a brief visit to Jerusalem " to 
 salute the Church," he returned to Antioch, his starting point, 
 where he and Silas had been " recommended by the brethren to 
 the grace of God." So ends the second missionary journey, by 
 which the circle of the gospel was greatly widened. 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 107 
 
 3. A journey througli Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece, 
 ending at Jerusalem (chap, xviii. 23-xxi. 17). 
 
 St. Paul took his course through Galatia and Phrygia, 
 strengthening the disciples in the interior of Asia Minor. While 
 he was thus occupied, another was breaking up the fallow ground 
 at Ephesus. It was Apollos of Alexandria — fervid, diligent, 
 eloquent, mighty in the Scriptures. When he came to Ephesus, 
 he was no more than a disciple of John the Baptist ; but he was 
 privately initiated by Aquila and Priscilla into the Christian 
 doctrine and life. It is a pleasing incident. The good tent- 
 maker and his wife did well to discern the promise of usefulness 
 in this new preacher, and, not exposing his defect of knowledge, 
 to teach him privately. And Apollos did well gratefully to 
 accept their kind instruction. 
 
 He went over to Corinth, where "Paul planted, and Apollos 
 watered." While he was there, Paul reached Ephesus, the 
 populous and licentious capital of the province of Asia. His 
 ministry in that city lasted for two years; was marked by 
 great power, and crowned with notable success. He began with 
 twelve disciples, who were in the same position as Apollos had 
 been — a position of approximation to Christianity, being subjects 
 of John's baptism. Having brought them into the Church, St. 
 Paul made a vigorous effort for the conversion of his country- 
 men, who were still trusting in Moses and the Law. He spoke 
 boldly in the synagogue, till the opposition became so violent 
 that he thought fit to organise the disciples separately in a 
 school or lecture-hall. He also contended with great power 
 against the prevailing heathenism. Signs and wonders were 
 wrought in the name of Jesus ; superstitious arts were exposed, 
 and books of magic openly burnt ; a large Church was formed, 
 and set in order under many elders or bishops. But this 
 success led, as usual, to popular tumults, stirred up by designing 
 men. At Ephesus, those who incited the mob were not Jews, 
 but Pagans, jealous for the honour of the goddess Diana, and, 
 still more, for their profitable traffic in silver shrines — the 
 
io8 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 small models of the temple and idol which it was the fashion to 
 set up in private houses. 
 
 St. Paul went on to Troas, and thence passed over into Mace- 
 donia and Greece. His stay, however, was brief, for, after three 
 months, he resolved to return to Jerusalem. Luke, who accom- 
 panied him with several other friends, describes the interviews 
 of Paul with the bands of disciples, on his way to Jerusalem, as 
 a series of pathetic farewells. At Troas, he continued his part- 
 ing speech till midnight. At Miletus, when he had spoken to 
 the elders of Ephesus, "he kneeled down and prayed with them 
 all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed 
 him, sorrowing most of all for the word which he had spoken, 
 that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied 
 him unto the ship." The disciples at Tyre, unable to turn him 
 from his purpose, also attended him to the ship with their wives 
 and children : " and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed." 
 The voyage ended at Ptolemais, now St. Jean d'Acre. Paul and 
 his friends made their way thence by land to Csesarea, where 
 warnings and forebodings were renewed. But the apostle, like 
 his Master, " stedfastly set his face to go up." And so the 
 journey ended. " When we came to Jerusalem, the brethren 
 received us gladly." 
 
 The remainder of the book is occupied with the history and 
 testimonies of St. Paul as a prisoner, chap. xxi. i8-xxviii. 
 
 The slightest spark was sufficient- to kindle against him the 
 wildest fury of the Jews in their own city, Jerusalem. Accord- 
 ingly, a false outcry that he had profaned the temple excited a 
 terrific tumult which nearly cost him his life. Well might he 
 say of himself — "As dying, and behold we live." From the 
 clutches of the mob at the gate of the temple he was rescued by 
 the Eoman Chiliarch or military tribune, and immediately after, 
 without a tinge of angry passion, made a calm and courageous 
 defence of himself in the hearing of the people. At first they 
 listened to him ; but, so soon as he spoke of his mission to the 
 Gentiles, they interrupted him with frantic cries. 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. icg 
 
 On the next day, lie was brought before the Sanhedrim, to 
 answer for himself ; and, had it not been for the Roman soldiers, 
 he would have met the fate of Stephen. The trial ended in a 
 scene of furious uproar; and the apostle was withdrawn into 
 the castle, where his spirit was cheered by a vision of the night, 
 in which the Lord Jesus Christ appeared, and told him that he 
 would " also testify at Rome." 
 
 The violence of the Jews, and the discovery of a murderous 
 plot against the life of St. Paul, induced the commander, 
 Claudius Lysias, to send him, under guard, to Csesarea. There 
 he was arraigned before the governor, Felix, on the accusation 
 of the Jews, and made a straightforward and crushing reply. 
 Nevertheless, he was unjustly detained; and, at the recall of 
 Felix, had been already for two years a prisoner. 
 
 The successor of Felix was Festus, a careless man of the 
 world. He would not concede all that was asked by the Jews, 
 but, wishing to show them some favour, proposed to St. Paul to 
 go up to Jerusalem to be judged. The prisoner, standing on his 
 right of Roman citizenship, at once appealed to Caesar. He 
 would not buy his liberty, as he might have done from Felix, 
 with a bribe ; but he would avail himself of any protection 
 afforded by the laws of the empire. 
 
 A visit of Herod Agrippa 11. to salute the new governor 
 gave an opportunity, at this time, for a noble address from the 
 apostle — the last public testimony which he delivered in 
 Palestine. It convinced every one of his innocence. But he 
 must needs go to Caesar's judgment-seat, and testify for Christ at 
 Rome. 
 
 He was placed with other prisoners under the charge of a 
 considerate Roman officer, named Julius, and embarked in a 
 coaster of Adramyttium. Luke and Aristarchus accompanied 
 him as friends. At the port of Myra, they went on board a 
 corn ship of Alexandria, bound for Italy. The voyage proved 
 most unprosperous. After a long and terrible storm, they ran 
 ashore on the coast of Malta ; but, though the vessel was com- 
 pletely broken up, all who were on board came safe to land. 
 
no SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 On the island they were kindly treated,* and, after a time, re- 
 sumed their voyage in another corn ship, which had as a " sign " 
 at her prow, Castor and Polhix, the Dioscuri, i.e. the twin 
 brothers, who were regarded as patrons and guardians of the 
 sailors on the Mediterranean Sea. They made Syracuse ; then 
 Rhegium; then Puteoli, and there landed. Italian disciples 
 now welcomed the much-tried apostle. He went on to Rome ; 
 and as he approached the city, and saw Roman Christians come 
 out to meet him, Paul "thanked God and took courage." 
 
 The book ends with a description of the apostle dwelling at 
 Rome in a hired house, under the custody of a soldier — the 
 mildest form of imprisonment. Prom that "hired house," he 
 wrote some of his chief epistles ; and there he " received all 
 that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and 
 teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 with all confidence, no man forbidding him." 
 
 What a marvellous history ! What acts, what sufferings, 
 what testimonies, what successes ! What strong points the 
 gospel has seized, and what a sweep it has taken from Jerusalem 
 and Antioch to Rome ! 
 
 It is enough. Many other things we might wish to know 
 that are not recorded, in this book ; but it is complete for its 
 own wise ends, and not a fragment. It is (i) a record of the 
 founding of the Church against which the gates of Hades shall 
 not prevail ; (2) a history of the mighty acts of the Son of Man 
 who is in heaven, through the witnesses and disciples on earth, 
 guided by His Spirit ; and (3) a mine of wholesome doctrine, 
 heavenly comfort, and impressive example for Christians always, 
 to the end of the age. 
 
 * Again the title of the chief magistrate is carefully noted. Publius 
 (or Poplius) was the Protos or Primus of the island. 
 
( in ) 
 
 THE EPISTLES. 
 
 By oral preaching and teaching the apostles and evangelists 
 gathered men to Jesus Christ, and formed them into churches 
 of the saints. The Epistles supplement the oral testimony, 
 survey the condition of the churches, and, with a view to their 
 education and guidance, descant upon Christian doctrine, dis- 
 cipline, and practice. For this reason it is that all persons of 
 religious culture find so much spiritual food in the Epistles. 
 They were composed for the express purpose of feeding the 
 Church, and impressing sacred truth and duty on the followers 
 of the Lamb. 
 
 They are twenty-one in number, and thus more numerous 
 than either the historical or the prophetical books. Of the 
 twenty-one, thirteen are ascribed to St. Paul, one to St. James, 
 two to St. Peter, three to St. John, one to St. Jude, and one 
 (the Epistle to the Hebrews) is anonymous. 
 
 In the Vulgate the Epistles of Paul are placed first, and this 
 arrangement has been followed in modern versions. It is also 
 the order of many Greek manuscripts, but not of the oldest, or 
 of the greatest number; for they place what are called the 
 general Epistles after the Book of Acts, and before the letters 
 of Paul. 
 
 A point of greater importance is the right ordering of St. 
 Paul's Epistles. We have them placed apparently with some 
 reference to their size and importance, and not at all in the 
 order of time in which they were written. The great doctrinal 
 
112 THE EPISTLES. 
 
 Epistle to the Romans stands first. Then come the two ecclesi- 
 astical and admonitory letters to the Greeks ; then six to 
 churches in Asia Minor and Macedonia ; and lastly, four letters 
 to individuals. In this order we shall consider them, as we 
 have already studied the books of the Prophets, though we lose 
 much by not following the natural order of time. That order 
 begins with the ist Epistle to the Thessalonians, and ends with 
 the 2nd Epistle to Timothy, arranging the thirteen Epistles of 
 St. Paul in three classes, as follows, with their probable dates : — 
 (i.) Those written before the apostle's Roman imprisonment, 
 — six in number — viz., 
 
 ist Thessalonians, a.d. 53. 
 2d Thessalonians, a.d. 53. 
 ist Corinthians, a.d. 57. 
 2d Corinthians, a.d. 58. 
 
 Galatians, a.d. 58. 
 
 Romans, a.d. 58. 
 
 (2.) Those written during the Roman imprisonment, of which 
 there are four — viz., 
 
 Philippians, a.d. 62. 
 Ephesians, a.d. 6t,. 
 Colossians, a.d. 6t,. 
 Philemon, a.d. 63. 
 
 (3.) Those written after the Roman imprisonment, of which 
 there are three, the last being produced during the second im- 
 prisonment, and quite at the close of the apostle's life — viz., 
 
 ist Timothy, a.d. 65. 
 
 Titus, A.D. 66. 
 2d Timothy, a.d. 67 or 68. 
 
 There is no difficulty in understanding why so large a pro- 
 portion of the Canonical Epistles should have issued from the 
 
THE EPISTLES. IT3 
 
 Apostle Paul. It was he who most abounded in missionary- 
 labours, and was the champion of Christianity, not in little 
 Judea, but in the great world. Many churches he planted, 
 others he visited and taught. Over all of them he kept a loving 
 and watchful eye ; and there came upon him, in his riper years, 
 a care of all the churches. It appears, too, that he had a most 
 extensive acquaintance with the Christian workers in the cities 
 of Asia, Greece, and Italy. The range of his correspondence 
 resulted from the width of his influence, and the warmth of his 
 sympathy ; and the tone of it, as illustrated in the specimens 
 which remain to us, was one of noble fidelity to truth, with 
 deep and thoughtful afifection. 
 
 St. Paul was no neophyte, but an experienced Christian 
 teacher when he began to write the Epistles. He is believed 
 to have been converted a.d. 37, and the earliest of his extant 
 letters was not written till a.d. 53, when he had thought much 
 and suffered much as a Christian, having preached the Word 
 for sixteen eventful years. His whole ministry extended over 
 about thirty years, and his Epistles were all composed during 
 the latter half of that ministry, or within the fourteen years 
 preceding his martyrdom. 
 
 But have we all his Epistles ? It has been strongly main- 
 tained that we must have them all, on the ground that all the 
 writings of an Apostle were entitled to the rank of sacred 
 scriptures, and that no scripture has been allowed to be lost. 
 But this is a baseless assumption. All the words and works of 
 our blessed Saviour are not found on record ; and if sayings of 
 the Son of God, which might have been preserved, have been 
 allowed to be lost, why should it be supposed that all the 
 written words of His apostolic servants must have been saved 
 from the hazards of time as necessary to the completeness of 
 holy Scripture? Enough of St. Paul's correspondence with 
 Churches and with Christian brethren is preserved for the 
 information and direction of the Catholic Church in all time 
 coming. But in the First Epistle to the Corinthians there is 
 an allusion to a previous letter sent to that Church : and in the 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
114 THE EPISTLES. 
 
 Epistle to the Colossians we read of one sent to Laodicea, which 
 might also be read at Colosse. Possibly the latter of these may 
 be the Epistle to the Ephesians, sent as a circular letter to the 
 congregations in the province of Asia ; but the former is surely 
 a lost Epistle. What Calvin has said of it seems to us quite 
 reasonable, — " That Epistle of which he speaks is not at this 
 day extant, nor is there any doubt that many others have been 
 lost : but it is enough that those remain to us which the Lord 
 foresaw to suffice." * If many of St. Paul's letters have been 
 lost, we may infer that letters of the other apostles are also 
 lost. In course of their ministry they must have had occasion 
 to write many epistles besides those which kind Providence has 
 preserved for our learning, and which the whole Church receives 
 as canonical and inspired. 
 
 Before we enter on a detailed examination of the Epistles, 
 let us say something on their general characteristics, and on the 
 relations in which they stand to the written Gospels. 
 
 I. General Characteristics. — Considered in whole, the 
 Epistles are — 
 
 1. Didactic, icithout the stiffness of dissertation. — They in- 
 culcate the doctrines of our faith in their full development, yet 
 not in the form of dogma, or with elaboration of reasoning and 
 exposition. They have argumentative passages, and statements 
 of truth evidently compacted with care ; but their tenor is 
 epistolary, and they teach with the easy grace and quick transi- 
 tions which are proper to that style.* 
 
 2. Comprehensive without the formality of system. — Very 
 wide, indeed, is the range of the Epistles. They deal with the 
 
 * " Ista epistola, de qua loquitur, hodie don exstat. Nee dubium, quin 
 multae aliae exciderint : sed satis est, quod nobis supersunt quas sufficere 
 Dominus providit." — Comm. in i Cor. 
 
 t On the adaptation of the epistolary form of composition to the indi- 
 vidual genius and disposition of St. Paul, see Farrar's Messages of the 
 Books, pp. 148-150. 
 
THE EPISTLES. 115 
 
 character of God, the person and work of Christ, the salvation 
 by grace, the origin, course, and conflict of spiritual life," the 
 blessings of justification, adoption and sanctification, the place 
 and use of the law, the promise of the inheritance, and the 
 hope of glory. They treat of the nature, calling, and constitu- 
 tion of the Church, the discipline essential to its prosperity, 
 the duties of its officers and members ; they also describe the 
 obligations of Christian men in the family and in society, and 
 touch on some of the most minute questions of conduct and 
 intercourse. Throughout all this teaching there runs a perfect 
 intrinsic consistency, without the trammels of thought and 
 phraseology in which our systematic writers are bound. In 
 itself system is good, and it is possible to extract from the 
 Apostolic Scriptures a systematic and formulated theology ; but 
 we cannot be too thankful that the sacred writings, and especi- 
 ally the Epistles, were not composed in that method, but have 
 a play of thought and feeling, a variety and elasticity, which 
 invite and interest readers of every intellectual grade. 
 
 3. Authoritative, wWiout dictatorial hardness. — In every 
 Epistle there is a very explicit claim of right to admonish, and 
 even command, to correct, reprove, and set in order. Although 
 St. Paul was sensitively unwilling to press his authority, he 
 always set forth that he was an Apostle of the Lord, and as 
 such, had power to speak and write what every Church was 
 bound to hear, receive, and obey. St. James used the language 
 of direction as well as exhortation, and spared not reproof and 
 threatening, St. Peter took a milder tone, simply exhorting as 
 an elder : and St. Jude, though dealing with evils and errors 
 in trenchant terms, did not press his own authority -, but St. 
 John laid great stress on the truth of his record, and would not 
 permit in any quarter opposition to his apostolic precepts. 
 
 This tone of firmness was needful in the first age of the 
 Church, when there were so many questions to be settled, so 
 many errors to be shunned. Still the books of the Apostles 
 were letters, not decrees; and their directions and commands 
 
ii6 THE EPISTLES. 
 
 were accompanied by afifectionate persuasions and appeals. 
 They wrote not — "I command you, my people" — but, "I 
 beseech you, my beloved brethren." "With all his masculine 
 vigour St. Paul had a wonderful persuasive tenderness. St. 
 Peter wrote with a beautiful humility. St. John often used 
 the address of kindness — " Beloved," and wrote as a father to 
 his "little children." It is this combination of authority with 
 gentleness, after the manner of Christ Himself, which charms 
 us in the Epistles, and makes them so effectual for the inculca- 
 tion of truth at once on the understanding and on the heart. 
 
 II. The Relations which the Epistles bear to the 
 Gospels. — The oral Gospel is of course pre-supposed and pro- 
 ceeded on. Apostles preached before they wrote. They 
 preached to make men Christians ; they wrote to instruct the 
 Christians more fully what to believe, and how to live and 
 walk as became saints. In the Epistles, the facts of the Gospel 
 are not formally and consecutively stated, except once (i Cor. 
 XV. 1-8) ; but they are constantly adverted to, and everything 
 is based upon them. All truths centred in, and all comforts 
 and commands emanated from, the Christ of the Gospel, who 
 had been put to death but was alive for evermore. 
 
 But what of the relations which the Epistles bear to the 
 written Gospels ? 
 
 I. It may strike a reader as surprising that the Epistles do 
 not quote from the Gospels, or once mention any of those 
 miracles of Christ, which are so fully narrated by the evan- 
 gelists. The explanation is that the Epistles preceded the 
 Gospels in time, though the latter precede them in canonical 
 order. It is just possible that the Gospel of St. Matthew may 
 have been produced before St. Paul began to write to the 
 Churches; but those of St. Mark and St. Luke were un- 
 doubtedly of a later date than almost all of his Epistles ; and 
 the fourth Gospel was not written till Paul, Peter, James and 
 
THE EPISTLES. 117 
 
 Jude had all finished their course. There are in St. Paul's 
 letters a few sayings which appear to be quotations of the 
 words of Jesus, "^^ but the Apostle may have had these sayings 
 of the Lord directly from his companion Luke, even before the 
 third Gospel was written. The Epistles then rested, not on 
 the four Gospels as written documents, but on the person and 
 character, words and life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, 
 as these were known to the Churches at the beginning through 
 preaching, and through those narratives alluded to by St. Luke 
 in the preface to his Gospel as already in circulation among 
 the brethren — fragmentary narratives long ago superseded by 
 the canonical records of the four evangelists. 
 
 2. The Epistles contain doctrine more advanced and developed 
 than the Gospels. On this account it is sometimes charged 
 against us, that we are disciples of Paul of Tarsus, rather than 
 of Jesus of Nazareth, and that all our theological views of 
 atonement, justification, righteousness, election, and the like, 
 are only Pauline conceptions which we have improperly placed 
 above the simpler and wider teachings of the Saviour. Now, 
 it is not difficult to show that all the theological conceptions 
 referred to, are expressed or implied in the Gospels, and have 
 the sanction of the Divine Master. But we avow without 
 hesitation, that they are more fully taught in the Epistles, and 
 for a very good reason. The words of Jesus Christ were spoken 
 to Jews and Galileans, not yet persuaded of His Messiahship, 
 or to those who had just been persuaded, and had become 
 disciples. To them He revealed as much as they were able to 
 hear with profit, and turn to good account. He told them of 
 the Father, the way of access to Him, and the spirituality 
 essential to an entrance into the kingdom of heaven. So teach- 
 ing, he used words and similitudes, rich in meanings and 
 inferences which were not on the surface obvious to all His 
 
 * Compare i Cor. ix. 14 ; i Tim. v. 18, with Luke x. 4, 7. 
 
 „ I Thess. V, 2. ,, Luke xii. 39 ; Matt. xxiv. 43. 
 
 ,, I Tim. iv. 8. ,, Luke xviil 29, 30.. 
 
Ii8 THE EPISTLES. 
 
 liearers. Indeed, the full import was not then plain to any 
 hearer, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given. But the Epistles 
 contain the teaching of men enlightened by the Holy Ghost after 
 the ascension of the Son of Man, and are, in the strictest sense, 
 the Scriptures of our dispensation. Accordingly, they go further 
 into Christian doctrine and guidance, being adapted to a period 
 when the Spirit of truth is come to guide us into all the truth. 
 
 3. The Epistles resemble the Gospels in their combination 
 of intrinsic unity with extrinsic diversity. As Matthew, Mark, 
 Luke, and John all set before us the same Jesus Christ, so do 
 Paul, James, Peter, John, and Jude all teach one salvation, one 
 calling, one Comforter, one life, one Church, one hope of the 
 Lord's appearing, one fellowship in faith and love. But as the 
 evangelists diversify their narratives, each one writing according 
 to his own bent of mind, and his own special information, and 
 with adaptation to the persons for or to whom in the first 
 instance he wrote ; so do the apostles write variously, in accord- 
 ance with their intellectual individuality, and with due reference 
 to the state of the churches, or the circumstances of the persons 
 whom they address. This will appear as we consider their 
 Epistles in detail; but we may here observe that there is a 
 special sympathy between individual evangelists and individual 
 apostles. Thus, — James accords with Matthew ; Peter, who is 
 followed by Jude, accords with Mark ; Paul, with Luke ; and 
 John, with himself. 
 
 Dr. James Hamilton has said that "the Epistles, rich in 
 devotion, laden with the finest of the wheat, are the fruitful 
 fields which fill the Church's granary." Let us go out into 
 those fields, and pluck the ears of corn. And may the Holy 
 Spirit, now in dispensation, guide us step by step, as we move 
 through these rich enclosures of His own teaching in the holy 
 apostles, till we reach at the end of them all the last book of 
 Scripture, unique and sublime, and see the heavens opened, and 
 the glory of the Lord unveiled ! 
 
( 119 ) 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 For years before St. Paul saw the city of Rome, he was 
 impressed with the importance of planting Christianity firmly in 
 that capital of the world. He therefore cherished a strong 
 desire to visit the imperial city, and kept himself informed of 
 the condition of the brethren who dwelt there. In time of war, 
 a good general knows well the importance of seizing command- 
 ing positions, and discerns them by a sort of intuition. St. 
 Paul had this faculty, as a leader of that little army which, with 
 spiritual weapons of warfare, went forth to subdue the nations 
 to Christ; and, while journeying in the East, he kept this 
 steadily in view : "I must also see Rome." 
 
 This great Apostle, however, did not war after the flesh, or 
 push his way hither and thither according to his own will. 
 Most humbly and patiently he waited the order of Providence, 
 and followed the indications of duty given to him by his Lord 
 and Master in the Spirit. Thus his visit to Rome was delayed 
 for years ; and when it did occur, it was not that of a missionary 
 going at pleasure, but that of a prisoner appealing to the em- 
 peror for his liberty. During the period of delay, it liappily 
 occurred to St. Paul to write a letter to the brethren at Rome ; 
 and he marked his sense of the importance of instructing and 
 encouraging the Christians at the metropolis by composing for 
 them an epistle more full and elaborate than he sent to any of 
 the other Churches, even to those that he most deeply loved. 
 
 It appears to have been written at Corinth, during the Apostle's 
 second residence in that city, and was transmitted under the 
 care of Phoebe, a deaconess of the Church at Cenchrea, which 
 
120 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 was a small seaport on the Saronic Gulf. Never did woman 
 carry a more precious document. 
 
 The authenticity of the letter is admitted even by the scep- 
 tical critics ; and we need hardly say that its contents are of 
 immense value to Christian theology. Divines have given to it 
 the most anxious and arduous study. Luther wrote of it with 
 enthusiasm as a book " which every Christian man should know 
 by heart — word for word, and feed upon as the daily bread of 
 his soul." Calvin, whose Commentary on this Epistle has been 
 justly called "a masterpiece," said that "whosoever obtains a 
 true understanding of this Epistle has an open door to reach the 
 most hidden treasures of Scripture." We might add many more 
 eulogistic testimonies ; but, in fact, every one who has studied 
 the firm texture of its thought and the intense force of its argu- 
 ments and appeals, will speak with admiration and reverence of 
 the Epistle to the Romans. 
 
 It is quite unknown by whom the Gospel of Christ was first 
 conveyed to Rome. Not by any of the apostles, but probably 
 by those " strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes," who were 
 at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and heard the testimony 
 of St. Peter. At the time when St. Paul wrote, there were 
 many Christian labourers in the great city — men and women, 
 well known to the Apostle, and beloved for the truth's sake, and 
 for their work's sake. They do not seem to have been as yet 
 organised in one ecdesia. They are not so addressed, nor is 
 there any mention of their bishops and deacons. Probably the 
 severity with which the Jews at Rome had been treated by the 
 Emperor Claudius led the Christians to avoid visible organisation 
 for a season. So we read in the last chapter of the Epistle of 
 churches, or groups, in various private houses.* Salutations 
 are sent to these, and they are directed to salute one another, 
 avoiding divisions and offences. This state of matters appears 
 to have continued till the Apostle's arrival at Rome, three years 
 after his letter. Even then there is no mention of " the Church," 
 nor were they bishops of Rome who met St. Paul at Appii 
 * Chap, xvi. 4, 5, 10, ri, 14, 15. 
 
ROMANS. 121 
 
 Forum, as the bishops of Ephesus had previously gathered to 
 him at Miletus. There were brethren, accustomed to meet for 
 worship in household companies, but there was no compacted 
 and influential Church. 
 
 These brethren were by no means all, or even chiefly, natives 
 of Italy. They were Hellenist Jews, whose minds had been 
 opened by travel, commerce, and knowledge of the world, with 
 whom were associated some of the Gentiles who had been pro- 
 selytes to the Jews' religion, and so had a measure of preparation 
 for the faith and fellowship of Christ. Indeed, for two centuries 
 the Hellenism continued. Latin Christianity was born in Africa, 
 not in Italy ; and its first eminent writer was Tertullian. What 
 sprung up in Rome was a Jewish-Greek Church, having its 
 scriptures, prayers, and hymns in Greek.* 
 
 St. Paul was peculiarly fitted, by his culture and experience, 
 to deal with such a community. And we cannot sufficiently 
 wonder at the perversity which associates the Church of Rome 
 with the name of St. Peter, who cannot be proved to have ever 
 entered the city, and whose alleged episcopate or popedom of 
 nearly a quarter of a century can easily be disproved, instead of 
 with that of St. Paul, who wrote to and visited the brethren 
 there before the Church was organised, exercised a powerful 
 ministry there during his long detention as a prisoner, and cer- 
 tainly finished his course by martyrdom at Rome.f 
 
 What we have said of the first Christians at Rome, as either 
 Hellenist Jews, or Gentile Proselytes, helps to explain the tenor 
 of the Epistle, which addresses both Jews and Gentiles, but 
 assumes in all an acquaintance with those Scriptures of the Old 
 Testament which the Jews and Proselytes alike revered. 
 
 The Epistle consists of three parts : — 
 
 * See Milman's History of Latin Christianity, book i., chap. i. 
 
 + " It is not without significance that, among the frescoes of the Cata- 
 combs, the only figure of an apostle which is represented separately from 
 the rest of the twelve is that of St. Paul, described as PAVLVS PASTOR 
 APOSTOLVS, side by side with a figure of the Good Shepherd. In none 
 of the Catacombs is St. Peter specially designated by name or attribute." 
 — Marriott's Testimony of the Catacombs, p. 74. 
 
122 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 I. An argumentative exposition of the Salvation throuyli faith 
 in Jesus Christ. — This is considered the doctrinal division, and 
 occupies eight chapters. 
 
 After the introduction, which is characteristically courteous 
 and impressive, St. Paul expresses his readiness to preach the 
 Gospel at Kome; and immediately declares what to him was 
 the great value of that Gospel — its Divine power to save mankind 
 — the Jew first indeed, but also the Greek. The Gospel revealed 
 the righteousness of God. Man needed this Gospel because of 
 his own unrighteousness by which the wrath of God was incurred. 
 The charge of unrighteousness the Apostle brings first against 
 the Gentiles, describing in unsparing terms their departure from 
 God and shocking degradation of life ; and then against the 
 Jews, as transgressors of the law in which they boasted, and as 
 circumcised in the flesh only, and not in the heart. The con- 
 clusion is, that Jews and Gentiles were "all under sin." 
 
 Throughout the discussion, constant reference is made to law 
 and justice : and this is characteristic of the Epistle. When 
 St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he gave prominence to 
 wisdom, for the Greeks sought after wisdom. But Rome M'as 
 the city of imperial law, and the great seat of jurisprudence and 
 government. It was therefore fitting that to Jews and Gentiles 
 residing there, should be addressed this demonstration of the 
 position of mankind, as transgressors condemned by Divine law 
 and justice, and unable by deeds to justify themselves. The 
 world centred at ancient Rome : and in a letter sent to Rome 
 was the whole world proved and pronounced to have "been 
 guilty before God." 
 
 This representation of all mankind as under sin and con- 
 demnation, determines the view of salvation in Christ which 
 predominates in the Epistle to the Romans. The question 
 which presses is that of justification ; and no one can interpret 
 the Epistle who does not keep this before his mind. How was 
 the law of God to be established, the justice of God maintained, 
 and at the same time the guilty sinner justified in His sight ? 
 The Gospel answers the question ; because in it the righteous- 
 
ROMANS. 123 
 
 ness of God is revealed in saving sinners by faith in Jesus 
 Christ, without the deeds of the law. This is taught in the 
 end of the third chapter. Then the fourth shows that justifica- 
 tion by faith was a blessing conferred on Abraham, and implied 
 in the Psalms of David. " Abraham believed God, and it was 
 counted to him unto righteousness." We too are accepted, if 
 we believe in God who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. 
 We have the blessedness which David describes as pertaining 
 to the man "unto whom God imputeth righteousness without 
 works." God is righteous in so justifying us ; and we, being 
 accepted as righteous through faith, have peace with Him, and, 
 standing in His grace, rejoice in the hope of His glory. 
 
 Having thus shown the position of those who embrace the 
 Gospel, the Apostle goes on to compare and contrast the fall of 
 the many into condemnation through one man disobedient, with 
 the admission of many into justification through one Man 
 obedient. The leading thought is still the judicial, not the 
 moral, — "As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all 
 men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of One the 
 free gift came upon all men to justification of life." * 
 
 Anticipating the objection that a gratuitous justification 
 would operate to the detriment of holiness, and encourage self- 
 indulgence, St. Paul expresses his abhorrence of such a misuse 
 of the doctrine, and proceeds to expound the nature of union to 
 Christ, as securing victory over sin, along with immunity from 
 condemnation. He shows that believers are bound up with 
 Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection ; and that this 
 union, delivering them alike from legal terror and from legal 
 hope, induces new and loving obedience. They become dead 
 to the law by the body of Christ, that, in union or marriage to 
 Him as their risen Lord and life, they may live and bear fruit 
 unto God. So the apostle establishes that sanctification as well 
 as justification is by the grace of God only, not through bondage 
 to the law, but through union to Christ in liberty. Then, in 
 the sublime and animated strain of the eighth chapter, he 
 * Chapter v. 18. 
 
124 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 expatiates on the safety of those who are in Christ, the indwell- 
 ing and witness of the Spirit of adoption, the hope of glorious 
 resurrection, the security of salvation in the purpose and calling 
 of God, the reality of His act of justification, and the immuta- 
 bility of His love in Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 So ends the first part of the Epistle. Its key-words are those 
 formed from dUrt — right, righteousness, righteous judgment, 
 just, justify, justification. Whosoever holds fast the proper 
 meaning of these terms may find his way through the whole 
 discussion : but whosoever confounds the judicial and the moral, 
 can never do so, for he fails to see the problem with which the 
 Apostle deals, and therefore must fail to grasp the cardinal truth 
 of salvation which the Apostle inculcates, viz., that while the 
 law of God condemns, God freely justifies us through faith in 
 Christ the propitiation for our sins, and in union with Him as 
 our crucified and buried, but now risen Saviour. 
 
 II. A statement of the rejection of Israel, and calling of the 
 Gentiles — This theme occupies the 9th, loth, and nth chap- 
 ters. 
 
 Many of the Jews at Kome refused the Gospel. We find 
 them, at the time of St. Paul's arrival, disowning the Christians, 
 as "a sect everywhere spoken against." The Apostle therefore 
 proceeds to account for the unbelief of his own nation. To 
 him who loved them with all the afiection of his nature it was 
 intensely mortifying to see that the Stone of Salvation was, to 
 the great majority of the Jews, a stumbling-stone and a rock of 
 ofi'ence. Yet this did not perplex him, for he was a student of 
 the Old Testament, and found the defection of the Jews and 
 the calling of the Gentiles foretold by the prophets Hosea and 
 Isaiah. It was also clear to him that the time had arrived for 
 a change in the dispensation of Divine mercy, in accordance 
 with a Divine sovereign purpose which might not be disputed or 
 gainsaid. Only a remnant of Israel remained true to God by 
 believing in Christ ; and this was " according to the election of 
 grace." His salvation, indeed, was free to the Jew as to the 
 
ROMANS. 125 
 
 Gentile,* but then it was free to the Gentile as to the Jew ; 
 and the offence thereby given to the Jews led to their rejection 
 of the Gospel and their estrangement from God. During this 
 estrangement they were to go on as before reading Moses, and 
 boasting in the law ; but they were unconsciously to change 
 places with the Gentiles in relation to God. Those that had 
 been near to Him were to be put far off, and those who had 
 been far off were to be made nigh. 
 
 This, however, is not the final doom of Israel. It is the 
 sentence upon them for a season or dispensation. " Hardening 
 in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles 
 be come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved." The prophetic 
 eye is given to the Apostle, so that he sees a happy issue for 
 both Jews and Gentiles. "God hath shut up all unto dis- 
 obedience, that He might have mercy upon all." 
 
 Then, as the first part of the Epistle ends with enraptured 
 persuasion of the love of God, so ends the second part with 
 admiration of His wisdom and knowledge : " for of Him, and 
 through Him, and to Him are all things ; to whom be glory for 
 ever. Amen." 
 
 III. Practical counsels and salutations. — These are contained 
 in the 12 th and following chapters. 
 
 By the mercies of God, which they have tasted, the Chris- 
 tians are besought to live in devotion to Christ and in love one 
 toward another. Diligence, brotherly kindness, humility, 
 prayerfulness, and sympathy are affectionately commended to 
 the brethren. Then they are instructed as to obedience to 
 civil rulers, and the obligation to pay tribute for conscience' 
 sake. Christ Himself had been accused of disloyalty to Caesar, 
 and it was a frequent charge against the early Christians that 
 they cherished a treasonable spirit, and incited to tumults. It 
 is an allegation which has been made with equal falsehood 
 against earnest evangelical Christians in times much more 
 recent. St. Paul could not but know that an intelligent 
 * Chap. X. 11-13. 
 
126 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Christianity must tend to promote human freedom, and shake 
 the thrones of injustice and tyranny. But it was not for the 
 Christians to evade the payment of taxes, or show disrespect to 
 the government under which they lived. Though it were a 
 heathen Caesar who reigned, the command of Christ was clear 
 to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the 
 things that are God's. 
 
 The duty of brotherly kindness is then enforced with refer- 
 ence to a controversy which had sprung out of the greater 
 question of the union of Jews and Gentiles in Christ. Some 
 had scruples about eating flesh, lest they should partake of that 
 of animals which had been slain in heathen sacrifice. Others 
 made light of such scruples, as well as of the importance which 
 was attached to the religious observance of particular days. 
 The Apostle holds the scrupulous brethren to be weak, but 
 urges on all parties to have mutual patience, respect one another's 
 conscientious views, and let each one live to the Lord accord- 
 ing to his own light or sense of duty. It would well become 
 the strong to waive their liberty rather than cause the weak 
 brethren to stumble. "The kingdom of God is not eating 
 and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost." Then follows those words of loving wisdom, " Let us 
 therefore follow after the things of peace and the things of 
 mutual edification." " Now the God of patience and consola- 
 tion grant you to be likeminded one toward another, according 
 to Christ Jesus ; that ye may with one mind and one mouth 
 glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 " Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received you, 
 to the glory of God." 
 
 From the fourteenth verse of the fifteenth chapter to the 
 end, the Epistle * is in a more easy and familiar strain, and 
 
 * Critics have suggested that the several breaks near the end of the 
 Epistle are due to its having been sent to more than one Church with a 
 separate conclusion for each. They also remark on the singularity of so 
 many personal greetings being addressed to a community which the 
 Apostle had not yet visited, and suppose that these were really sent to 
 
ROMANS. 127 
 
 tells of the Apostle's labour in the Gospel— his desire to go to 
 Rome, his hope to do so on his way to Spain, and his intention 
 to go to Jerusalem, bearing the contribution of the foreign 
 churches to the poor saints in Judea. After this we have the 
 commendation of Phoebe, the bearer of this Epistle, and greet- 
 ings to many of the saints, beginning with the good tentmaker 
 Aquila and his wife Prisca, who played so useful a part at 
 Corinth as well as at Rome ; — " Unto whom not only I give 
 thanks, but also all the Churches of the Gentiles." Let every 
 reader of the sixteenth chapter mark well, — (i.) That the saints 
 then known at Rome were living men and women, to whom 
 messages could be sent, not departed personages, canonised by 
 authority, and appealed to in prayers; (2.) That no priests,' 
 monks, or nuns are mentioned, but family life is alluded to 
 more than once as that which became saints; (3.) That there 
 is no allusion to St. Peter or a Holy See, or to any obligation 
 lying on the Christians in Italy, or elsewhere, to have and 
 obey a Pope. Meyer remarks that this Epistle is " destructive 
 of the historical basis of the Papacy, in so far as this is made to 
 rest on the founding of the Roman Church, and the exercise of 
 its episcopate, by the Apostle Peter." * 
 
 After commendation to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 (chap. xvi. 20), there are salutations from the Christian friends 
 who were with St. Paul, and from Gains his host. Tertius, 
 who has acted as scribe, takes his opportunity to testify that 
 he is no mere instrument of writing, and that his heart also 
 goes forth in affectionate greeting to the brethren at Rome. 
 Then a second benediction, — "The grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ be with you all. Amen." 
 
 One cannot but think that as Tertius laid down the reed 
 which he had used, the Apostle took it into his own hand, and 
 added the sublime sentence of doxology, with which the Epistle 
 
 Ephesus, not to Rome. This, however, is pure conjecture. It finds 
 favour with some sober-minded scholars, e.g., Professor Lumby [Introd. to 
 N. T. pp. 222-225). But see Meyer's note in his able Commentary. 
 * Introduction to Comment., sec. 2. 
 
128 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 ends. God was able to establish the brethren according to St. 
 Paul's Gospel, which was something more than " the gospel of 
 the kingdom," for it was a proclamation of the unseen Christ 
 as the Saviour of the world. And, as in the Gospel which St. 
 Paul preached, and this wonderful Epistle which he has written, 
 the Divine wisdom is brightly displayed, the doxology is in 
 these words : — "To God only wise, be glory through Jesus 
 Christ for ever. Amen." 
 
 The Epistle to the Eomans begins with the power of God, 
 then declares His righteousness, and closes with adoration of 
 His wisdom. It is so with the heart that receives the great 
 truths with which this Epistle deals. It begins its new 
 experience under the power of God who raised up Jesus Christ. 
 It finds peace through the declaration of His righteousness. 
 And then it rests in admiration and adoration of His wisdom 
 in planning, providing, and applying the salvation of the world 
 through Christ Jesus. 
 
( 129 ) 
 
 /. CORINTHIANS, 
 
 The old Corinth of Greek history was destroyed by a Roman 
 general in the year B.C. 146. The city called by that name in 
 the New Testament was a new Corinth, founded by Julius 
 Caesar, about 100 years before the Gospel was brought to it by 
 the Apostle Paul. In his time it was a flourishing city, the 
 capital of Achaia, and had quite outstripped in importance its 
 old rival, the city of Athens. The Roman pro-consul of Greece 
 resided at Corinth, and there was a large population of Romans 
 and Jews, as well as native Greeks. 
 
 St. Paul's first missionary visit to the Corinthians ex- 
 tended over a year and a half, during which period he lived 
 with Aquila and Priscilla, and wrought with his own hands to 
 earn his daily bread. At the outset he preached, as his custom 
 was, to the Jews; but rejected by them, he instituted the 
 Church, apart from the synagogue, and ministered as the Apostle 
 of the Gentiles. Some men of mark, as Crispus, the ruler of 
 the synagogue, and Titus Justus, a proselyte, were converted 
 and baptized ; but the Corinthian Church was mainly a Gentile 
 one, and the questions there discussed were not Jewish, did not 
 turn on the value of circumcision or the obligation of the law, 
 but were such as concerned a people just converted from idolatry, 
 and emerging from the corruption of heathen life in a city of 
 Greece. 
 
 St. Paul stayed for even a longer period at Ephesus, where 
 he laboured ardently for three years. Between the capital of 
 Greece and that of Asia Minor there was constant communica- 
 tion, and the Apostle was kept informed of the progress of the 
 
 VOL. II. I 
 
I30 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Corinthian Churcli which he had planted, and which, after 
 him, the eloquent Alexandrian Jew, Apollos, had " watered " or 
 fostered. It would seem from a statement in his second 
 Epistle,* that he himself paid a brief second visit to Corinth, 
 which is not mentioned in the Book of Acts. It is certain that 
 in his anxiety to preserve that Church from error, he sent over 
 his assistant Timothy, who had been with him on his first 
 visit, to call his teaching to remembrance and revive his in- 
 fluence, before he should himself return to the city. " For 
 this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved 
 son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remem- 
 brance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in 
 every Church. ISTow some are puff'ed up, as though I would not 
 come to you ; but I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will." t 
 
 There are traces too of correspondence. Aware of the lax 
 tone of morals which prevailed in Corinth, and of the necessity 
 of strictly guarding the purity of the Church, the Apostle wrote 
 a letter to the Christians there " not to have fellowship with 
 fornicators." This seems to have drawn in reply a letter of 
 inquiry, which was intrusted to the hands of Fortunatus, 
 Achaicus, and Stephanas|, in which various questions were 
 submitted for the Apostle's determination. His answer to this 
 Corinthian letter occupies a large portion of the canonical 
 Epistle before us. 
 
 This is the most varied and comprehensive of all the weighty 
 letters of Paul, and exhibits throughout his fine tact and 
 practical wisdom. It is less theological than the Epistle to the 
 Romans ; more casuistical in the good sense of that term. It 
 says nothing of the law or of justification, discusses no doctrine 
 whatever save that of the resurrection, but treats in a masterly 
 manner of. love, purity, conscience, discernment, and reverence 
 in the Church of God. 
 
 The general arrangement of the Epistle is obvious enough. § 
 
 * 2 Cor. xiii. I. f Chap. iv. 17-21. + Chap, xvi, 17. 
 
 § See the plan of this Epistle in the Commentary of the late Dean cf 
 Westminster, p. 23. 
 
/. CORINTHIANS. 131 
 
 After tlie salutation and introduction, we have three great 
 divisions, followed by admonitions and salutations at the close. 
 The letter begins in St. Paul's best manner with courteous, 
 generous, and pious words. The Corinthian Christians are 
 saluted according to their holy calling, and thanks are given for 
 the grace of God bestowed on them by Jesus Christ and their 
 rich endowment of spiritual gifts while waiting for their Lord's 
 coming. Before a word is uttered on the faults of the Corin- 
 thians, it is beautifully said, "God is faithful, by whom ye 
 were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our 
 Lord." Then begins the body of the Epistle. 
 
 I. Remonstrance with the Corinthians on two matters lohich 
 had been reported to St. Paul (chaps, i. lo-vi.). 
 I. Their contentions (chaps, i. lo-iv.). 
 
 It distressed the Apostle to hear of schisms or factions witliin 
 the Corinthian Church, raising, as rival watchwords, the names 
 of missionaries and teachers. The friends of Gentile liberty 
 cried " Paul ; " the admirers of eloquence no doubt cried 
 " Apollos ; " those of the circumcision cried " Kephas ; " and 
 others, probably priding themselves on their independence of 
 all human teachers, said, with an exclusive spirit which has 
 often uttered the same boast in our own times, " And I of 
 Christ." 
 
 For himself St. Paul earnestly disclaims all desire to be the 
 head of a party. He had been so cautious as to avoid baptizing 
 Corinthians with his own hands, lest he should be accused of 
 baptizing into his own name. He had preached the Gospel, for 
 to this end Christ had sent him forth. Eecalling this, he 
 expatiates on the simplicity and efficacy of the Gospel, and 
 declares his resolution to know nothing among the inquisitive 
 and disputatious Greeks but "Jesus Christ — Him crucified." 
 This topic might be stigmatised as foolishness, but in his con- 
 viction it contained the manifold wisdom of God, and it would 
 approve itself as such to all who were enlightened by the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
132 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 As to Apollos, who had followed Paul in evangelical labours 
 at Corinth, the Apostle is in no wise jealous of him, and does 
 not for a moment suspect him of fostering the spirit of faction. 
 This is quite evident from his desiring his " brother Apollos " 
 to return to that city.* But he presses on the Corinthians to 
 remember that both Apollos and he were not masters, but 
 servants, by whom they believed ; that they were builders, but 
 the building was not their house ; it was God's temple. The 
 Church was not for the ministry, but the ministry for the 
 Church, and the Church for the Lord. 
 1^ 2. Their laxity in Church discipline (chaps, v. vi.). 
 
 The corruption of morals which was common in the heathen 
 society of Corinth, invaded the Church. It is a danger which 
 always besets young Churches planted among dissolute popula- 
 tions. They are very liable to have their members seduced 
 into fleshly sins which prevail around them, and are not repro- 
 bated by public social opinion. A very gross case had occurred 
 at Corinth. A member of the congregation had incestuously 
 married his step-mother, and was in this the more inexcusable, 
 inasmuch as this was a wickedness which even the heathens 
 abhorred. The Church should have cleared itself of the evil 
 by expulsion of the offender ; and now St. Paul, in the exercise 
 of his apostolic authority, sentences the guilty man to excom- 
 munication, and appears even to go further, and to intimate 
 some Divine infliction of bodily sufl'ering, a destruction of the 
 flesh, with a view to the correction and ultimate salvation of 
 the sinner. 
 
 The admonition to the Christians to put away from among 
 them that " wicked person," leads the Apostle to dwell for a 
 little on the subject of judgment. The Church was to have its 
 own court of discipline ; and it was a shame for the Christians 
 to carry their disputes before the heathen magistrates. Of 
 course this does not mean the abolition of lawyers and magis- 
 trates, or the denial of a right of appeal to courts of public 
 justice in a Christianised state of society. It rather apj^lies to 
 * See chap. xvi. I2. 
 
I. CORINTHIANS. 133 
 
 such a case as that of two Christian converts at the present day 
 in China, taking a dispute before the mandarin, and exposing 
 the Christian name to discredit, instead of settling the matter 
 before or within the Church.* The lesson, however, as against 
 litigiousness is good for every place and all time. The argument 
 also is clear for a court of discipline and a power of self -purifica- 
 tion in every Christian assembly. It is a shame that the 
 internal administration of the Church of God should be brought 
 before magistrates, or submitted to courts of civil and earthly 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 Eesuming the subject of fleshly sins, the Apostle warns the 
 Corinthians not to abuse the doctrine of liberty, and points out 
 the heinousness of all violations of the seventh commandment 
 as inconsistent with true union to Christ, and the consecration 
 of the body to God, who dwells in His people by the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 II. Replies to the questions of tlie Corinthians (chaps, vii.- 
 xiv.). 
 
 The queries put to St. Paul, concerned three matters of 
 urgent practical importance : — and though the circumstances of 
 our churches are very different, the principles laid down by the 
 Apostle in reply, are still of the utmost value to the constitution 
 of Christian society. 
 
 T. Of marriage (chap. vii.). — The nuptial state had always 
 been highly honoured among the Jews, but the Greeks at this 
 period, often disparaged it, in order the more freely to gratify 
 vicious inclination. Thus the question of its advantage was 
 yet unsettled in the minds of the Corinthian Christians. They 
 had written to St. Paul about it ; and he treats the topic at 
 some length, and with special reference to their circumstances. 
 In other Epistles, he refers to marriage, in terms of entire 
 cordiality and respect ; but, as the Corinthians had known it, 
 matrimony was little better than a shelter from incontinence, 
 and St. Paul discusses it mainly in that view, declaring 
 * See Matt, xviii. 1 5- 1 7. 
 
134 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 marriage to be good, and lawful, but rather giving the higher 
 praise to celibacy, which was his own condition. This, however, 
 was not for all persons and times ; it was for the impending 
 crisis,* the days of trouble which were at hand, and in which 
 a Christian witness or martyr would find it an advantage to 
 have few earthly ties. In this matter, the Apostle is careful to 
 explain that he gives his own judgment, and nothing more, for 
 concerning this the Lord Christ had not left any command. 
 
 2. Of the feasts of idolaters (chaps, viii.-x.). 
 
 This question seems remote from us, but it presented a 
 very serious difficulty in the first century, and caused great 
 difiference of opinion in the Church. The meat, or animal 
 food, used at public and private feasts, was largely or wholly 
 furnished from sacrifices offered to the gods. Was it possible 
 for Christians to partake of such feasts with their friends and 
 neighbours, without indirectly involving themselves in the 
 guilt of idolatry ? The scrupulous party, including, doubtless, 
 the Jewish Christians, said "No." Others, who may be 
 regarded as the liberal party, maintained that, since the idols 
 were nothing, the meat might be eaten without any question 
 of conscience being fairly raised. St. Paul himself takes the 
 liberal view, but charges those with whom he agreed to remember 
 in such matters, how much is due to brotherly love, to respect 
 scruples which they did not share, and not to exercise their 
 liberty at the cost of wounding the consciences of their brethren. 
 For his own part, he will abstain from meat, utterly, and for 
 ever, rather than make his brother stumble. He enforces these 
 counsels by a fearless reference to the self-abnegation which 
 he had practised during his own residence at Corinth. Let 
 the members of the Church follow him, who had not sought 
 his own profit, but followed Christ, " Who pleased not Him- 
 self." The whole passage beautifully combines the Christian 
 exemption from petty scruples with the Christian regard, and 
 tender consideration, for all brethren in the Lord. 
 
 3. Of worship in the assembly of God (chaps, xi.-xiv.). 
 
 * Chap. vii. 26-28. 
 
/. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 135 
 
 The Corinthians appear to have claimed the Apostle's approval 
 for their fidelity to his directions, and he gives them a general 
 commendation, but marks some grave exceptions. 
 
 It had displeased him to hear that Christian women appeared 
 in the assembly, and even prayed and prophesied without that 
 covering on the head, which was usual in the country, and the 
 absence of which gave them an air of undue boldness. What 
 we are to extract from this, as a lesson for all times and 
 countries, is, that Christian women everywhere, but especially 
 in the assembly of worshippers, should avoid display, and 
 express in costume and demeanour, modesty and sobriety of 
 taste. 
 
 It had displeased him to hear that the Lord's Supper, the 
 precious feast of unity and love, had been profaned by party 
 spirit, and even by greediness and excess. Uniting it to an 
 evening meal, the Corinthians irreverently forgot the distinction 
 between their own supper and the Supper of the Lord. To 
 correct this, St. Paul solemnly rehearses the manner and words 
 of the Holy Supper as received by him from the Lord, and 
 formerly delivered to them by his own lips. He warns them 
 to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink 
 of the cup in memory of Christ crucified. To eat and drink 
 otherwise would be to incur judgment from the Lord. This 
 caution has often been misinterpreted and misused, so as to 
 appal ill-instructed and timorous minds ; but it is really 
 levelled against irreverence, and the want of brotherly kindness 
 and spiritual discernment. 
 
 It had displeased him to hear that in the Corinthian assembly 
 there was much rivalry and ostentation as regards spiritual gifts, 
 and that the power of speaking " in a tongue " was more esteemed 
 than that of prophesying. — This leads the Apostle to teach the 
 unity of the Church as a many-membered body having diverse 
 functions and gifts, each limb and organ having need of every 
 other, and all pervaded by one spirit of life : then to expatiate, 
 in one of his most celebrated and admired passages, on the excel- 
 lence of love ; and thereupon to urge that the gift most useful 
 
136 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 to the Church should be held in highest honour. " He that 
 prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, 
 and comfort. He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself, 
 but he that prophesieth edifieth the Church." 
 
 Of form and ritual in the Church service we read nothing ; 
 but two ruling principles are laid down — (i.) Everything was 
 to be so done that the Church might "receive edifying." (2.) 
 All things should be " done decently and in order " — without 
 tumult or confusion. 
 
 III. Refutation of those at Corinth ivho denied the resurrection 
 (chap. XV.). 
 
 Those who heard St. Paul at Athens mocked at the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead ; and no doubt this doctrine seemed quite as 
 absurd and incredible to the Greek inhabitants of Corinth. 
 Some of these, even when converted to Christ and acknowledging 
 His resurrection, would not credit a resurrection of His disciples. 
 "How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the 
 dead?" 
 
 The Apostle repeats his Gospel in which the resurrection of 
 Christ occupied a cardinal place. Then he dilates on the 
 certainty of the resurrection of the just as secured by the 
 resurr^tion of their Lord and His power over death. He gives 
 some most important hints on the nature cf those bodies in 
 which the saints shall rise ; and then concludes with a sublime 
 challenge to death and the grave, and the anticipation of their 
 condign defeat at the coming of Christ and the resurrection of 
 all that are His. 
 
 Of the resurrection of the unjust, St. Paul writes nothing in 
 this Epistle, because it had not been brought before him in 
 reports or letters from Corinth, and a statement of it was not 
 necessary for his purpose. 
 
 The Epistle closes with admonitions and salutations. If the 
 Corinthians would enjoy a blessed resurrection, they should be 
 " steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the 
 
/. CORINTHIANS. 137 
 
 Lord." Then, as to a certain good work in which the Apostle 
 was much interested, the contribution for the poor saints in 
 Palestine, he exhorts them to store up money for this purpose on 
 every Lord's day. It was a system which he had already estab- 
 lished in the churches of Galatia. Those who have made trial 
 of it in our own times believe it to be the best system for every 
 family and every church. 
 
 Kind messages and greetings follow : and St. Paul, taking the 
 pen from his amanuensis (who was, probably, " Sosthenes the 
 brother "), writes his salutation with his own hand.* The last 
 words are, — " My love be with you all in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Such is this great Epistle, which steers its way through many 
 perplexing questions with consummate ease, because with the 
 wisdom of a godly simplicity. Not all the sages of Greece 
 together could furnish to the world a treatise comparable to 
 this. What was Plato's doctrine of the Kepublic in comparison 
 with Paul's doctrine of the Church, or what is Plato on the 
 immortality of the soul to Paul on the resurrection of the dead 1 
 
 How charming is Divine philosophy ! 
 
 Not harsh and crabbed as dull fools suppose ; 
 
 But musical as was Apollo's lute, 
 
 And a perpetual feast of nectar" d sweets 
 
 Where no crude surfeit reigns. 
 
 * "Afflicted in all probability with ophthalmia, it was impossible for 
 him, without pain and difficulty, to write his own letters. He therefore 
 employed the aid of an amanuensis. But, partly to express his own personal 
 interest in the last few words of blessing and greeting, partly to prevent 
 the disgraceful forgeries which existed even at that early time, he authen- 
 ticated every letter with his own signature and written benediction." 
 
 " St. Paul first adopted this final authentication or badge of cognisance 
 in 2 Thess. iii, 17 ; and implies that he means henceforth to use it." — 
 Farrar : Messages of the Books, pp. 156, 157. 
 
 Dr. Farrar adds a valuable note on •• Early Christian Pseudopigraphy." 
 
( 138 ) 
 
 //. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 If the first Epistle to the Corinthians is the most varied and 
 comprehensive of St. Paul's letters, the second is the most 
 personal and impassioned. It is not systematic, argumen- 
 tative, or expository, though full of matter and of force. Its 
 distinctive merit is, that while everywhere exalting Christ, it 
 shows us the man Paul of Tarsus, the follower of Christ, as he 
 actually was, in labours, anxieties, suspense, and suffering ; how 
 sensitive and emotional, how tender and generous, and yet 
 against false teachers how stern and resolute. It is not at all a 
 treatise or essay constructed on a plan, but a warm outpouring 
 of the Apostle's heart. Erasmus long ago compared its course to 
 that of "a river which sometimes flows in a gentle stream, 
 sometimes rushes down as a torrent bearing all before it, some- 
 times spreads out like a placid lake, sometimes loses itself, as it 
 were, in the sand, and breaks out in its fulness at some un- 
 expected place." 
 
 The letter was written in Macedonia, and very likely in the 
 city of Philippi. The associate of the Apostle is not Sosthenes, 
 as in the first Epistle, but Timothy. The address is (as in the 
 first) to the Church of God at Corinth, and to the saints round 
 about in Achaia, i.e. to the Christians in Greece. Then the 
 Apostle at once begins by praising the Father of mercies and 
 God of all consolation, and telling the Corinthians of distress 
 through which he had passed, and in which he had found Divine 
 comfort abounding in Christ. 
 
 For convenience of discussion, the Epistle may be arranged 
 in three sections. 
 
//. CORINTFIIANS. I39 
 
 I. The anxieties and consolations of St. Paul as a minister of 
 the Gospel (chaps, i.-vii.). 
 
 During the latter part of the Apostle's stay in Asia, his dis- 
 tress of mind had been almost insupportable. His long labour 
 at Ephesus had ended in tumult and confusion ; and to the 
 vexation which this occasioned was added his intense concern 
 to know how his first letter to Corinth had been received by the 
 brethren, and what effect it had produced. This, too, brought 
 another trouble upoii St. Paul. He had intimated his intention 
 to revisit Corinth, and was exposed to ill-natured reflections 
 on his delay to do so, as though he were fickle of purpose, or 
 "used lightness." He felt such an imputation keenly, and 
 therefore in the opening paragraph of this letter disclaims all 
 levity in connection with the momentous work of the Gospel, 
 and explains that it was *'to spare" the Corinthians he had 
 delayed his visit. He would give time for his first Epistle 
 to take effect, and would await tidings of its reception by the 
 Church. 
 
 After his deep affliction in Asia, when he " despaired even of 
 life," the Apostle went to Troas, hoping to meet Titus there, 
 and through him to obtain the long-desired tidings from Corinth. 
 But Titus came not, and St. Paul was so disheartened that he 
 could not at that time give himself to Christian work. " When 
 I came to Troas to preach Christ's Gospel, and a door was opened 
 unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found 
 not Titus my brother : but taking my leave of them, I went 
 from thence into Macedonia." * Even in Macedonia, among 
 the Christian congregations he loved so well, the Apostle still 
 felt the oppression of suspense till Titus actually came. " For, 
 when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but 
 we were troubled on every side ; without were fightings, within 
 were fears. Nevertheless God that comforteth those that are 
 cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus ; and not by 
 his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was 
 comforted in you when he told us your earnest desire, your 
 * Chap. ii. 12, 13. 
 
140 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 mourning, your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoiced the 
 more.""* It was nnder the full flood of feeling stirred in his 
 heart by the coming and the report of Titus, that St. Paul with 
 Timothy indited this second Epistle. 
 
 How finely characteristic of this Apostle is the sudden rising 
 out of his own distress into exultation over the Gospel and the 
 preciousness of Christ ! Whether in Asia Minor or in Macedonia, 
 he never lost his consciousness of dignity and responsibility as 
 a minister of the New Testament. "Now thanks be unto God, 
 who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh mani- 
 fest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place." t 
 Even that journey which St. Paul took in such depression of 
 spirit was a triumphal march for the Gospel, and spread a 
 fragrant "savour of Christ," like the incense in the public 
 procession of ancient conquerors. Sweet and life-giving was 
 that savour to believers; unwelcome and so deadly to unbelievers. 
 Thus the apostolic preacher felt himself to be lifted above the 
 common range of things. He was on a mission of life or death 
 in every place ; and, far from viewing this as a function easily 
 fulfilled, wondered and trembled at the charge — " And who is 
 sufficient for these things 'i " 
 
 Throughout three most memorable chapters, the 3d, 4th, and 
 5th, the Apostle expatiates on the ministry which he bad re- 
 ceived, and which sustained him in every place, so that he 
 fainted not. It was of the New Testament excelling the Old 
 Covenant in life and glory. It was a dispensation of light and 
 clearness, not of veiled faces. St. Paul was entrusted with a 
 manifestation of the truth in men's consciences — a message of 
 reconciliation to their hearts. Invested with such a ministry, 
 he bore all things for Jesus' sake. "In all things approving 
 ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, 
 in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in 
 tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings ; by pureness, by 
 knowledge, by long-sufi'ering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, 
 by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, 
 * Chap. vii. 5-7. Chap, ii. 14. 
 
n. CORINTHIANS. 141 
 
 by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the 
 iJft." * 
 
 These chapters abound in sayings or sentences which are 
 much used as texts of evangelical discourse. If a preacher 
 wishes to dwell on the grand theme of Christian testimony, he 
 cannot do better than cite the verse, " We preach not ourselves, 
 but Christ Jesus, the Lord ; and ourselves your servants for 
 Jesus' sake." If he would speak of the transforming power 
 exerted by the contemplation of that theme, he may find its 
 best expression in the words, " We all with unveiled face be- 
 holding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into 
 the same image from glory to glory, as by the Lord the Spirit." 
 If he would express the result and evidence of believing union to 
 Christ, he has this weighty sentence prepared for him, " If any 
 man be in Christ, there is a new creation ; the old things are 
 passed away, behold, they are become new." So also, if one 
 should desire to preach on God's way of peace, or on present 
 support in labours for Christ, or on the future reward and joy, 
 he cannot fail of fitting texts in the three chapters we have 
 named.t 
 
 The elucidation of these great sayings of the Spirit of Christ 
 in Paul is not for a synoptical lecture. What we now concern 
 ourselves with is the strain of the whole. Before us we find a 
 man of keen susceptibility, acutely conscious of suspense and 
 suffering, sensitive as to the place he had in the confidence and 
 affection of others, but upheld tlirough all difficulties and toils 
 by his persuasion of the value of that Gospel which w^as com- 
 mitted to his trust — walking by faith and not by sight, con- 
 strained by the love of Christ, resting on His death and resur- 
 rection, and labouring as one who could look at things not 
 seen, and anticipate the solemn day of his appearing before the 
 Bema or lordly seat of Jesus Christ. In the fear of the Lord 
 he persuades men — he prays them in Christ's stead to be recon- 
 ciled unto God. How can such a man be accounted for, his 
 life and character explained, except on the ground that he had 
 
 * Chap. vi. 4-7. t See chap. v. 19-21, iv. 16, iv. 17, v. 10. 
 
142 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 a Divine embassy, carried in liis heart and on his lips the 
 Gospel of God, and was himself absorbed in the love of Jesus 
 Christ 1 It cannot be supposed that he underwent so much, 
 and in such a spirit, without any sufficient motive. Nor can it 
 be reasonably held that the motive by which he was actuated 
 was one of selfish or worldly ambition. Paul was unquestion- 
 ably a man of shrewdness and ability, and one who knew man- 
 kind. It must have been quite evident to him that, by the 
 course he took, he made himself not rich in the world but poor, 
 not famous but infamous. In early life he had enjoyed the 
 good opinion of his own nation, as a rising hope of the Pharisaic 
 party, and a vigorous persecutor of the Christians. This was 
 now turned to opprobrium. And the great world through which 
 he moved, and in which he was so competent to play a dis- 
 tinguished part, scorned him as a witless fanatic. What 
 animated him to hold on his way under such obloquy if not 
 some motive far above mere ambition ? What gave such eleva- 
 tion and endurance to his character if not the consciousnes of a 
 Divine mission to preach the Gospel of salvation, and the all- 
 mastering power of love responding to the love of Him, the 
 unseen Lord, " who died for us, and rose again " ? 
 
 In the end of the 6th chapter occurs a passage which comes 
 in abruptly, but is very weighty and forcible. It is an exhorta- 
 tion to purity of Church communion. Various hypotheses have 
 been devised to account for the insertion of the paragraph at 
 this place ; but it is enough that the Apostle is writing out of 
 a full heart (chap. vi. it), and on that account disregards 
 methodical sequence. He wishes to have the Corinthians 
 enlarged in faith and love, but this is not to be brought about 
 by latitudinarian indifference or by conformity to the world. 
 Alas ! for the Church that makes itself broad by embracing in 
 one believer and unbeliever, light and darkness, the clean and 
 the unclean. The word "Be ye enlarged" must be taken 
 along with the word "Be ye separate." The first must preserve 
 from bigotry — the second from degeneracy ; and charity must 
 go hand in hand with faith and holiness. 
 
//. CORINTHIANS. 143 
 
 The first part of the Epistle now draws to a close. God, 
 who comforts them that are cast down, had comforted Paul by 
 the coming of Titus. The trusty messenger whom he had 
 longed so much to see stood before him, and brought a report 
 which was on the whole satisfactory. " He told us your earnest 
 desire, your mourning, your zeal toward me, so that I rejoiced 
 yet more." The Corinthians had given a hearty welcome to 
 Titus, and on receiving the first Epistle had been grieved 
 and sorry for the evil which they had previously connived at. 
 As to the particular case of which the Apostle had written, they 
 had subjected the man "who had done the wrong" to a dis- 
 cipline severe, yet not inexorable. On hearing these tidings, St. 
 Paul feels renewed confidence in the Corinthians, and, with 
 his characteristic generosity of temper, tells them so. At the 
 same time he hears with displeasure of a party at Corinth who 
 impugned his apostolic authority, and has something to say on 
 the subject before he concludes his letter. 
 
 11. Touching the collection for the poor saints in Judea. — 
 The second division occupies the eighth and ninth chapters, 
 and forms the only specimen extant of apostolic teaching on 
 the duty and privilege of giving money to God and the poor. 
 It speaks emphatically of the self-impoverishing love of Christ, 
 as that which moves the heart to give. It describes a cheerful 
 spirit in givers as pleasing to the Lord. It uses the stimulus 
 of example to increase generosity, and exhibits the anxious 
 desire of the Apostle — a care which all who institute collections 
 ought to imitate — that the charge be not laid unduly on a few, 
 but be divided fairly among all who are under a moral obliga- 
 tion to share in the work. 
 
 The Apostle tells those in Achaia — which was the southern 
 province, that he had been speaking of their readiness to give, 
 and had even boasted of them to their brethren in the northern 
 province. In this way he had stirred the Macedonian Chris- 
 tians to begin the collection, and with excellent effect ; for, on 
 his return to Macedonia from Asia, he had been astonished at 
 
144 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 tlie liberality shown by the poor congregations of Philippi, 
 Thessalonica, and Berea. Now he feels some concern lest the 
 Corinthians should not justify his boasting. Though they had 
 begun first, they had allowed their collection to be forgotten or 
 neglected. He is about to send Titus again to them, with two 
 companions, to receive the proof of their love. Therefore he 
 warns the Corinthians that it will be a grief and shame to him 
 if they are found unready, and if his boasting regarding them 
 shall prove to have been an exaggeration and a mistake. 
 
 It is well to mark how much attention the foremost of all 
 the apostles gave to such a matter as the collection of money. 
 Men who love the ministry of the Word usually feel it distaste- 
 ful and irksome to occupy themselves much with pecuniary 
 arrangements and efforts ; and it is quite according to Scripture 
 that they should "not leave the Word of God to serve tables," 
 but should remit the management of money in the Church to 
 deacons in whom the brethren have confidence. But it is not 
 scriptural or safe for them to ignore altogether the doctrine and 
 practice of giving. They ought rather to follow the example 
 of the Apostle Paul, in keeping in mind the collections that 
 ought to be made, and stirring up the Christian people to do 
 liberally and cheerfully for the cause of Christ and the relief of 
 His poor. 
 
 It is not right to let the money of the Lord's house be col- 
 lected and managed on mere earthly principles. The treasury 
 of His temple is holy. Those who put money into it should 
 be reminded that Christ sits over against the treasury. Those 
 who give contributions ought to regard them in the light here 
 thrown around them by St. Paul, exercising liberality under 
 the grace of God, making an offering with the same reverence 
 as belongs to prayer and praise, and with such an overwhelming 
 sense of the Lord's goodness as will lead them, not to speak 
 of their own gifts, but to repeat with humble joy the words 
 which close this second part of the Epistle : ''Thanks be unto 
 God for His unspeakable gift." 
 
IL CORINTHIANS. 145 
 
 III. The vindication of St. Paul's apostolic autliority 
 (chaps, x.-xiii.). — No longer is Timothy associated. The writer 
 is "I, Paul, myself." And the tone becomes very firm, some- 
 times even stern and sarcastic. 
 
 A strong anti-Panline party had arisen at Corinth, headed 
 hy certain teachers, here designated "false apostles." In reply 
 to their objection that he had brought no commendatory letters, 
 St. Paul maintains that he needed none, and that the converts 
 under his ministry formed for him a sufficient testimonial. In 
 knowledge, in labours, and in sufferings, he was not a whit 
 behind the very chief of the apostles. It was painful to him 
 to be obliged to make such statements. *' I am become a fool 
 in glorying ; ye have compelled me : for I ought to have been 
 commended of you : for in nothing am I behind the very 
 chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. Truly the signs of 
 an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, 
 and wonders, and mighty deeds." Self-assertion is sometimes 
 needful, and may be quite compatible with unfeigned humility 
 before the Lord. The brethren at Corinth were being misled 
 by men who envied and calumniated the very founder of their 
 Church. In such circumstances St. Paul was bound to 
 vindicate himself, and to show how fully his apostolic position 
 was evidenced by his apostolic life, his fruitful labours, patient 
 sujfferings, and abundant revelations. 
 
 Then he gives warning, that on his approaching visit to 
 Corinth he " will not spare." Those who have demanded some 
 proof of Christ's speaking in him, shall have proof enough if 
 they compel him to use sharpness according to the power which 
 the Lord has given him " for building up, and not for pulling 
 down." 
 
 With these words (chap. xiii. 10), the substance of the 
 Epistle may be said to end. Nothing remains but a concluding 
 counsel, salutation, and benediction. These form a sweet and 
 graceful close, all the more welcome after the keen and indignant 
 tone of some of the previous sentences : 
 
 " Finally, brethren, rejoice ; be perfected ; be comforted ; be 
 
 VOL. II. K 
 
146 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of the same mind ; live in peace ; and the God of love and 
 peace shall be with you." 
 
 After the salutation follows the benediction invoked from 
 the Holy Trinity in the form now so familiar through constant 
 repetition in Church Service. Those who quote it, sometimes 
 change the order so as to begin with the love of God the 
 Father ; but there is good reason for the order in which St. 
 Paul wrote the sentence. He begins with the favour of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, which in his own time of need had been 
 promised as sufficient (chap. xii. 9). This grace of Christ 
 leads into the love of God, and this love is central in bene- 
 diction. In this home and rest of the human spirit, believers 
 are kept by the communion of the Holy Ghost. Therefore 
 this closes and perfects the blessing, — "The communion of the 
 Holy Ghost be with you all." 
 
( 147 ) 
 
 GALATIANS, 
 
 Considered simply as a production of St. Paul, this Epistle is 
 very characteristic of the man, full of his force and earnestness. 
 Considered as a part of Holy Writ, clothed with a Divine 
 authority, it is a work of the Holy Spirit, of great value to the 
 Church, as a vindication at once of the grace and of the holi- 
 ness of the Gospel. 
 
 It was St. Paul himself who first preached the Gospel in that 
 inland district of Asia Minor which was called Galatia. Two 
 visits paid by him to that region are mentioned in the Acts of 
 the Apostles.* It appears from allusions in the Epistle that 
 on his first visit the Apostle was suffering greatly from a thorn 
 in the flesh, — some humiliating and enfeebling ailment; but 
 the impulsive Galatians received him with delight, "as an 
 angel of God." f After the elapse of about three years he 
 paid a second visit to that district, and went through it in order, 
 "strengthening all the disciples." But he met a comparatively 
 cold reception ; and after his departure the Galatian Churches 
 were more and more alienated from him through the influence 
 of a party hostile to his teaching on grace and liberty. At 
 length this mischief grew so serious that the Apostle thought 
 it needful to write to the Churches of Galatia, and to remon- 
 strate with them on their fickleness of spirit, and their de- 
 parture from the truth. 
 
 The Galatians were Gauls or Celts who had emigrated from 
 the West and seized on a great part of Asia Minor. In course 
 of time they were hemmed in within a district, and at last fell 
 * Acts xvi. 6, xviii. 23. f Chap. iv. 13-15. 
 
148 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 ■under the all-subduing power of Rome. In the East they had 
 become enervated and corrupted, and, mingling with the old 
 Phrygian race, whom they had vanquished, had adopted many 
 of their religious ideas and customs. But they retained the 
 faults of the Gallic and Celtic nature, and were not only 
 impetuous but unreliable, incapable of sustained purpose, 
 reckless, vainglorious, and contentious. 
 
 Thus the population out of which the Galatian Churches 
 were gathered was a semi-barbarous mass of degenerate Gauls 
 mingled with passionate Phrygians. Among these there dwelt 
 a considerable number of Jews, for Antiochus the Great settled 
 two thousand Jewish families in Lydia and Phrygia, and the 
 descendants of these must have overflowed into Galatia. Others 
 were no doubt drawn thither by the pursuits of commerce, for 
 the country was rich, and much of the trade from the far East 
 to the shores of the ^gean passed through the Galatian cities. 
 These men brought a very disturbing element into the Churches, 
 for the Jews who lived far from Jerusalem were often the 
 most fanatical in their Judaism ; and in point of fact, though 
 dangers from heathen looseness did beset the Galatian Churches, 
 the greatest trouble arose from men who inculcated the 
 obligation of circumcision, and justification by the law of 
 Moses. 
 
 There can be no question that the Epistle before us was written 
 subsequently to the Apostle's second visit to Galatia. No 
 sooner was he relieved as to the state of the Churches in Achaia 
 by the coming of Titus, than his mind was burdened about the 
 errors of the Galatians, for at this time there came on him 
 " daily the care of all the Churches." So he wrote this letter, 
 as we suppose, after his second to the Corinthians, and just 
 before the Epistle to the Romans. There is internal evidence 
 of this. The strain of self-vindication which marks 2 Corin- 
 thians is continued in Galatians. There is, on the part of the 
 writer, the same sensitiveness as to the confidence which the 
 Churches placed in him, the same affirmation of his apostolate, 
 the same vehemence against the false teachers who depreciated 
 
GALATIANS. 149 
 
 his authority, and perverted his Gospel. Then there is a pre- 
 paration for the Epistle to the Romans in the consecutive setting 
 forth of doctrine and practice. This may be called a first draft 
 of that more finished and rounded production; this the bold 
 but somewhat fragmentary assertion of truths which are there 
 more comprehensively and systematically taught. 
 
 This letter has none of the joyful and affectionate expressions 
 with which the other epistles of Paul begin. The salutation is 
 almost stern. The first words are, " Paul an apostle," his apostle- 
 ship having been disputed; "not from men," but from God, 
 therefore not like that of the false apostles ; and " not through 
 man," but directly through Jesus Christ, who had appointed 
 him, and therefore on a par with the apostolate of the Twelve. 
 At the same time St. Paul would have the Galatians understand 
 that he was not alone in his view of their misconduct. " All 
 the brethren " who were with him concurred with him, preached 
 the same Gospel, and grieved to hear of its perversion. 
 
 He does not write to the Galatians as "called saints," but 
 addresses them simply as " the Churches of Galatia." This is 
 the more remarkable, because though there was a low moral 
 tone at Corinth with much party spirit and confusion, the Apostle 
 addresses the brethren there as sanctified in Christ Jesus. The 
 reason of his greater reserve toward the Galatians seems to be 
 that they had trifled with the light imparted to them, and were 
 guilty of unfaithfulness to the Gospel. Yet there is love in all 
 his severity. He wishes the Galatians grace and peace, and 
 reminds them of the death of Jesus and the will of God " to 
 deliver us from this present evil world." 
 
 The letter thus begun proceeds in an order which admits of 
 an easy threefold division. Each section contains two chapters. 
 
 I. A vindication of St. PauVs apostolate (chaps, i. and ii.). — 
 It was charged against him that he had never been duly set 
 apart, or constituted an apostle by ecclesiastical appointment or 
 ordination. He grants it, and glories in it. The apostolate 
 originated with Christ only, and could not be conferred by men, 
 
ISO SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 or transmitted from one generation to another. It came not 
 from man, or even through man, but directly from the Lord. 
 Even the case of Matthias did not contravene this principle, for 
 he was chosen by the Lord, and was not ordained to apostleship 
 by the brethren. 
 
 St. Paul dwells on it with great emphasis, that he has been 
 chosen of the Lord and not of man, and taught by revelation of 
 the Lord, not by conference with flesh and blood. JSTo word of 
 any apostle was used to convert him to the faith, but he was 
 arrested by a vision on the way to Damascus. Then his relation 
 to the Gospel is unique, for it had been directly revealed to him 
 by the Lord. Even when he met and conferred with those who 
 had been apostles before him in Judea, he did not ask or derive 
 from them any sanction for his message and work, but exchanged 
 fraternal salutations. 
 
 Indeed, at Antioch he had actually been obliged to remonstrate 
 with the Apostle Peter, and withstand him to the face, rather 
 than allow Christian liberty to be limited or compromised. St. 
 Peter knew well, for he had been taught by a vision at Joppa, 
 that he was not to count the Gentiles unclean ; and yet with a 
 touch of his old weakness in the hour of trial, he played false 
 to his principles, to propitiate the Judaic party at Antioch, and 
 separated himself from the Gentile brethren. St Paul, who 
 had thought out the question far more thoroughly than the 
 Galilean Apostle, openly remonstrated with him, and maintained 
 the equality of the Gentiles with the Jews under the new dis- 
 pensation of grace. 
 
 A very perplexing incident is this to those who think that 
 St. Peter was pope, and therefore infallible : a very clear dis- 
 proof, we think, of any such proposition. But, on the other 
 hand, we should be careful not to press it to a conclusion unduly 
 derogatory to that great Apostle. He had fits of infirm purpose 
 after his bravest movements ; but, while it is highly honourable 
 to Paul that he openly withstood his senior, rather than betray 
 or compromise the rights of the Gentile Christians, it is also 
 extremely creditable to Simon Peter that he, a pillar in the 
 
GALATIANS. 
 
 151 
 
 Church, submitted to such a rebuke with humility, and, far from 
 resenting it, mentions his junior in his last Epistle with special 
 distinction as " Our beloved brother Paul." 
 
 The first section of the Epistle closes with a terse statement 
 of the Apostle's personal relation to the law and to grace. The 
 passage (chap. ii. 19-21) is termed by Bengel "summa ac 
 medulla Christianismi." "Through the law," Paul was dead to 
 the law, that he might live to God. In that consciousness of union 
 with Christ, which he afterwards explains more fully in his 
 Epistle to the Romans, he regards himself as crucified with the 
 Lord, and thereby conclusively separated from his old self-life 
 under the law, and brought into a newness of life, as by resur- 
 rection, — a life which had no root in Saul of Tarsus, but issued 
 from Christ living, by the Spirit, in the new man, Paul of 
 Damascus. His career thenceforth was by faith in the Son of 
 God, who loved him, and gave Himself for him."^ 
 
 II. An exposure of the folly of relapsing under legal bondage 
 (chaps, iii. iv.). — This forms the main theme of the Epistle. 
 
 It begins with a vigorous interrogation, — " foolish (in- 
 considerate) Galatians ! who hath bewitched you,t before whose 
 eyes Jesus Christ crucified was placarded (proclaimed) ? " What 
 bewitched them, or cast an evil spell over them, was the " dif- 
 ferent gospel " of false teachers who drew them back under the 
 law, insisted on circumcision in the flesh, required the observ- 
 ance of Jewish festivals, and inculcated justification by works. 
 In the view of St. Paul this was a declension from liberty to 
 bondage, and from the Spirit to the flesh ; not a mere alteration 
 or even distortion, but a downright reversal of the Gospel of 
 Christ. He fights against it with the sword of his mouth. 
 The Galatians have been misled by their new teachers through 
 a misuse of the Old Testament ; and therefore St. Paul refers 
 them to the ancient Scriptures, and shows them that the pro- 
 
 * " Observe the fxi and vvkp kjiov as expressive of the conscious and 
 assured ^(iucia in the fides.'' — Meyer, in loc. 
 
 t "0 insensi Galatse, quis vos fascinavit?" — Vulg. 
 
152 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 mise of grace to Abraham preceded by hundreds of years the 
 law of works through Moses, and that the law was added really 
 to prepare for the time of richer .grace in Christ, shutting men 
 up " unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." All 
 who are of faith are blessed with Abraham. All who are of the 
 works of the law are under the curse, for it is WTitten, " Cursed 
 is every one that continueth not in all things which are written 
 in the book of the law to do them." 
 
 The Apostle shows that the law has condemning power, but 
 that no man is justified thereby. He then points out the 
 beneficial training influence of the .law, preparing for the Gospel, 
 leading on to Christ as the pedagogue in ancient cities led 
 children to the master, and charged with a moral guardianship 
 of His people, while yet immature or under age. Thus the 
 whole dispensation of the law was one of subordinate rank, 
 conducting to the higher dispensation of the Gospel. It had 
 ordinances in the flesh, as circumcision. It had an earthly 
 sanctuary at Jerusalem. It had a very imperfect realisation of 
 Sonship, — " The heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing 
 from a servant, though he be lord of all, but is under tutors and 
 governors until the time appointed of the father." It had a 
 minute prescription of holy seasons and observances, which are 
 now void of meaning, — mere "weak and beggarly elements." 
 A man under the la.w was required to observe days, months, 
 times, and years, but no such obligation lies on a man under the 
 Gospel. In Christ we have redemption from the curse of the 
 law, and exemption from its tutelage and constraint. We 
 have the adoption of sons, the Spirit of adoption, and the holy 
 liberty of heirs of God according to the promise. 
 
 This is illustrated by a striking reference to the family of 
 Abraham. An allegorical meaning is found in the two mothers, 
 Hagar and Sarah, and their sons, Ishmael and Isaac. They 
 represent in contrast the law and the promise, bondage and 
 liberty. Hagar the bondwoman, Ishmael the son after the flesh, 
 Sinai the mountain of the law in Arabia, the Jerusalem beneath, 
 occupied by the Christ-rejecting Jews — all these are on one side. 
 
GALATIANS. 153 
 
 and are connected with Abraham, but not according to the 
 promise. On the other hand, believers on Christ are related 
 through the Gospel to Sarah, the free-woman, Isaac, born after 
 the Spirit, and the Jerusalem which is above, which is free, 
 which is the mother of us all, and which will yet come down 
 out of heaven from our God. 
 
 If the Galatians had understood this contrast, they would 
 never have hearkened to the false teachers, or allowed themselves 
 to be again entangled with the yoke of bondage. 
 
 III. A practical exhortation. — In St. Paul's view, bondage 
 of conscience is sure to lead to a fleshly walk — liberty of heart 
 in conscious sonship and heirship to a spiritual walk before God 
 (chap. V. vi.) Faith works by love ; and liberty is not license 
 to please oneself, but a freedom from evil restraints in order 
 to render loving service to God and the brethren. The Apostle 
 sets forth two alternatives and contrasts — (i.) The Spirit against 
 the flesh; (2.) The cross against the world. 
 
 I. The spirit is born of the Spirit.* It is the sacred vitality 
 and sensibility, animated and guided by the indwelling Spirit 
 of Christ Jesus. It is known by its fruit. Men often speak of 
 the fruits of the Spirit, but the Apostle is careful to say fruit — 
 one holy fruit or result, comprising many virtues. Love is the 
 juice of the fruit, sweet to God and man ; joy, its beautiful 
 bloom ; peace, long-suff'ering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, 
 form its mellow softness ; faith is its consistence, and also forms 
 its characteristic and incomparable flavour ; temperance is the 
 rind of the fruit, binding it together, keeping it fresh, and 
 preserving its good qualities from waste. 
 
 The flesh is born of the flesh— human nature under inherited 
 and accustomed sinfulness. It acts from self will, and builds 
 up a religion of self-righteousness. Its works are manifest : not 
 its fruit, nor even its work, because it has no inward harmony 
 to produce unity of result : but its works in great profusion 
 appear. The Apostle gives not a catalogue of them, but a few 
 * John iii. 6. 
 
154 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 specimens, describing them as the sins of sensuality, idolatry, 
 malice, and excess.* 
 
 On this the Galatians are exhorted to walk in the Spirit, and 
 to develop that which is first named in the fruit of the Spirit, 
 viz., love. "Let us not be vainglorious, provoking one another, 
 envying one another. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so 
 fulfil the law of Christ." 
 
 2. The cross of Christ against the world. The new teachers 
 in Galatia maintained the obligation of circumcision, and wished 
 to glory over the submission of the converts to a fleshly rite. 
 St. Paul, who now regarded such rites as mere rudiments of the 
 world, would glory only in the cross of Christ, by which he was 
 quite separated from the world, and brought into the new 
 creation. He testifies that in Christ Jesus that creation availed 
 everything, but circumcision and uncircumcision availed nothing. 
 He points to the very size and firmness of his handwriting as 
 indicating the intensity of his conviction and the solemnity of 
 his admonition, " Look you in what large letters I write with 
 mine own hand."t He began the Epistle with allusion to 
 Christ's death as intended to deliver us from this present evil 
 world ; and now he ends it by declaring that the cross of Christ 
 obliterates mere worldly rudiments and fleshly distinctions in 
 religion. There is a new creation, with a new atmosphere of 
 motive and sympathy, a new life in the Spirit, a new hope to 
 cheer, and a new principle to actuate, viz., faith which works by 
 love. 
 
 To walk according to the rule of a religion in the flesh and 
 of the world can only end in confusion. But the Apostle has 
 a benediction for as many as walk according to this rule of 
 new creatureship. " Peace be on them and mercy, and upon 
 the Israel of God," as distinguished from the mere Israel after 
 the flesh which boasted in the law. 
 
 So Paul makes an end. Let who will impugn his relation 
 to Christ, he bears "the stigmata of Jesus" in the marks of his 
 good fight of faith, and his many afflictions. Then, breathing 
 * See chap. v. 19-23. f Chap. vi. ii. 
 
GALATIANS. 155 
 
 always tlie disposition befitting an apostle of the Lamb, he 
 concludes, not with menaces or curses of the law, but with a 
 kindly prayer for the Galatians, — " Brethren, the grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen." It is the only 
 Church epistle in which this form is used ; and an emphasis 
 lies on spirit as against the flesh. No grace can possibly come 
 upon the flesh. It is crucified with its afi'ections and lusts. 
 The grace of the Lord Jesus is with our spirit, or not with us 
 at all : and His Spirit is to bear witness with our spirits that 
 we are children of God. 
 
 This Epistle may in one sense be called obsolete. The 
 Jewish form of a false gospel Ave never think of. No one 
 among us supposes that the way of salvation is to be found in 
 fleshly circumcision, and in strict observance of the laws of 
 Moses, and the traditions of the Jews. But in other forms 
 false gospels abound. The truth as it is in Jesus, where not 
 denied, if often badly adulterated. A religion is taught which 
 derives all its strength from form and tradition ; and the only 
 thing that avails in Christ Jesus — viz., the new creation — is 
 unthought of, or referred to some sacramental ceremony. To 
 combat these errors the Epistle to the Galatians is fresh and 
 powerful as ever. It was a true instinct which led Martin 
 Luther to give much of his time to the exposition of it, in 
 order to establish the doctrine of faith ; and we want it still 
 to smite self-righteousness and religious externalism root and 
 branch, and to teach that a man, in order to be justified, must 
 believe in Christ, and, in order to be sanctified, must be 
 crucified with Christ. The Epistle is full of animation, argu- 
 ment, and reproof ; but above all and best of all, it is full of 
 grace. So it teaches a lesson for all time — that sinners are 
 saved by grace, and saints are preserved by grace. Just 
 because it impresses these great truths, the Epistle to the 
 Galatians can never fail to hold a place of honour in the lips 
 of faithful preachers, and in the grateful appreciation of all 
 the enlightened children of God. 
 
( 156 ) 
 
 EPHESIANS, 
 
 The Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians bear very directly 
 and specially on the condition of the Churches to which they 
 were sent, and cannot be appreciated or even understood with- 
 out some knowledge of local and historical circumstances. The 
 case is quite different with the Epistle to the Ephesians. It is 
 not even absolutely certain that the designation is a correct one, 
 for the words "in Ephesus" are wanting in one of the very 
 oldest manuscripts. The absence of those local allusions, 
 personal messages and salutations, which abound in the other 
 Epistles, makes it probable that this letter was so composed as 
 to be of use to the neighbouring congregations in the province 
 of Asia, as well as to the saints at Ephesus ; and early copies 
 may have been transmitted to them."^ It was written from 
 Eome, during St. Paul's first imprisonment there. His mind 
 was then in its highest vigour, and his spirit full of life and 
 liberty. Accordingly this Epistle is distinguished by a lofty 
 eloquence. It has not the abruptness or the swift exchange of 
 question and answer which characterise the two Epistles that 
 precede it; but it has large declarations of truth, and outpour- 
 ings of desire in which clause is linked to clause till the 
 sentences fill and swell with great conceptions. 
 
 The Ephesian converts are described in the Acts of the 
 Apostles as publicly burning their books of sorcery.t The 
 value of the books is put on record — 50,000 drachmas, or 
 
 * Bishop Lightfoot has described this Epistle as " a circular letter to 
 the Asiatic Churches, which got its ultimate designation from the metro- 
 politan city." f Acts xix. 18, 19. 
 
EPHESIANS. 157 
 
 ;£"i875. Truly they were well recompensed when they got 
 this Epistle to lead them, not into magic and sorcery, hut into 
 the mystery of Christ, and hidden wisdom of God. They had 
 burned evil and superstitious volumes, and they obtained a 
 book which cannot be valued in silver and gold — an Epistle of 
 wonderful breadth and power, full of riches of the mind, and 
 the warm flow of a master spirit. 
 
 After a salutation and benediction, which are in the Apostle's 
 usual manner, the letter launches forth at once upon the copious 
 spiritual blessings which God has conferred upon His people in 
 Jesus Christ. Its tenor throughout may be called doctrinal 
 and practical, as is the case in the Epistles to the Romans and 
 Galatians ; but no very exact division can be marked. Enough 
 that three chapters relate to Christian privilege, and three to 
 Christian duty. The first part describes our standing in grace ; 
 the second treats of our walk and warfare. 
 
 I. The first part (chaps, i.-iii.) is mainly doctrinal, and the 
 doctrine is of salvation by grace. This, however, is not main- 
 tained so controversially as in the two doctrinal Epistles we 
 have just mentioned. The question how a man may be 
 justified is not discussed. The law is mentioned only once. 
 The great themes are the spiritual blessings bestowed in Christ, 
 and the formation and calling of the Church. 
 
 There is a distinction, not often marked by readers, between 
 " us " and " you." The Apostle declares what God had done for 
 " us " — i.e. for those who first hoped in Christ, and carried the 
 gospel of His grace into the province of Asia. In the splendid 
 opening passage (chap. 1. 3-12), St. Paul does not describe the 
 blessedness of the Ephesians, for he uses the words "we" and 
 " us." Writing in the assurance of God's love, he tells of the 
 eternal purpose of the Father — redemption by the Son, accept- 
 ance (being enveloped in grace) in the Beloved, the obtaining 
 of the inheritance, and the ultimate design of the Father to 
 gather together in one all things in Christ. Within a few 
 verses there is a copious recital of spiritual blessings ; and all 
 
158 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 are traced "back to their foundation in the eternal love of God. 
 Then the Apostle addresses the Ephesians as " you also," and 
 declares that the same privileges and consolations are opened to 
 them. Having believed the word of truth as soon as they 
 heard it, they share all things with those who had hoped in 
 Christ before them. Nay, " ye are sealed with that Holy Spirit 
 of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance." They who 
 receive the Gospel at second hand, or by transmission from 
 others, are placed at no disadvantage. For all believers there 
 is the same inheritance with Christ, and there is the same 
 earnest of that inheritance. Moreover, in every case — whether 
 of the earlier or the later believers, the "us" or the "you," — 
 the spiritual blessings emanate from the same source — the 
 purpose and pleasure of God ; and all tend to the same issue — 
 " unto the praise of His glory." * 
 
 The first chapter ends with a sublime prayer of intercession 
 in behalf of the Ephesian saints. St. Paul desires their 
 spiritual illumination. They have the spirit of life ; he asks 
 for them the spirit of wisdom. They have a holy calling ; he 
 asks that the eyes of their hearts may be opened, so that they 
 may know " the hope of His calling." They have forgiveness 
 through the death of Christ : he asks that they may know in 
 themselves the power which God put forth in the resurrection 
 of Christ from the dead. The prayer ends with mention of the 
 exaltation of the Saviour, and His headship over all to the 
 Church, which is His body. Then these thoughts run through 
 all the remainder of the Epistle. It recognises the heavenly 
 places, and sees the Church in elevation with Christ, regarding 
 it as His mystical Body, His holy Temple, and His ransomed 
 Bride. 
 
 The second chapter is full and clear on the salvation which 
 is in Christ. It shows in what a pit of moral death and de- 
 gradation God found the Ephesians, and to what an elevation 
 He had raised them, actuated throughout by his own "great 
 love." They were dead in sins, and He quickened and raised 
 * Chap. i. 12-14. 
 
EPHESIANS. 159 
 
 them in Christ. They walked in the course of the world, and 
 He lifted them up to sit in heavenly places. 
 
 The thought occurs again and again that all this is conducive 
 to the glory of God in the ages to come. It shows now, and 
 will show to those ages, the exceeding riches of His grace, for 
 the salvation is " by grace through faith." Works are excluded, 
 for two reasons : (i.) Boasting must be excluded (chap. ii. 9) ;* 
 (2.) Good works are the ordained result of salvation (chap. ii. 
 10), and so cannot be its cause or ground. Salvation is not of 
 works, because it is in order to works ; and nothing is gained, 
 but everything lost, by disturbing the Divine arrangement. 
 
 This Epistle, however, treats not so much of the salvation of 
 an individual, as of the privilege and dignity of the saved com- 
 munity. It proceeds to show that the separation of Jew and 
 Gentile is abolished in Christ through His peace-procuring 
 death ; that they are alike reconciled to God, and moulded into 
 one body, grouped in one citizenship, builded together into one 
 temple, fitly framed together as an habitation of God in the 
 Spirit. Such union is no human device ; it is the Divine will. 
 Whatever the original quarries from which the living stones are 
 hewn, whatever the ignorances and prejudices of those who are 
 converted to Christ, those stones are to be brought together, 
 compacted in fellowship, and edified or upbuilt in love, so that 
 the whole temple may grow together in the Lord. St. Paul 
 loves the illustrations of a temple and a body,t and interchanges 
 the expressions proper to each. Thus he writes of the growth 
 of the temple, and the upbuilding of the body in love.J 
 ■ The position of Gentile believers in the body of Christ, and 
 in the heirship with Christ, was "a mystery," i.e. a thing long 
 hidden, but now revealed in the Spirit. To St. Paul especially 
 had this mystery been made known by revelation, and by him 
 was it declared as a great distinction of this age or dispensation. 
 Now, it was not a new thing that the Jewish saints should be 
 
 * Compare Romans iii. 27. 
 
 t The combination of ideas rests on John ii. 19-21. 
 
 + Chap. ii. 21 : iv, 6. 
 
i6o SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 the temple of the Lord, or the heirs of promise. Neither was 
 it a new thing in revelation that Gentiles as well as Jews 
 should be saved through the Messiah ; for this was known to 
 Abraham, announced by Isaiah, and preached by Simon Peter. 
 But it was a mystery now for the first time disclosed, that the 
 saved Jews and Gentiles should form one Temple, one Body, 
 one Church of the living God, moving on to the inheritance of 
 the saints in light. So a new wonder rose not only on the 
 minds of men, but on "the principalities and powders in the 
 heavenly places," — the wonder of the Church unperceived 
 before, displaying to heaven and earth the manifold wisdom of 
 God. 
 
 The third chapter ends, like the first, with a prayer of glow- 
 ing spiritual ardour. On his bended knees at Rome, the 
 apostolic prisoner beseeches the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ for the saints in far distant Ephesus, that they may 
 have a more powerful indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and a 
 richer experimental acquaintance with the love of Christ, which 
 passes knowledge. Then this first part of the Epistle, having 
 opened up the doctrine of the Church, concludes with a 
 doxology to God " in the Church." Glory to God the hearer 
 of prayer, and the mighty Worker in us, " to all the generations 
 of the age of ages," — throughout all the sublime procession of 
 the ages to come ! 
 
 11. The practical part of the Epistle begins at the fourth 
 chapter, which opens with directions for the Christian walk. 
 If the Ephesians were sitting in heavenly places as respects 
 nearness and access to God in Christ, that privilege ought to 
 induce a holy and consistent walk on the earth. It would ill 
 become them — it ill becomes any one, to glory in celestial 
 privilege, unless there be an honest endeavour to purify the 
 terrestrial life. Before their conversion the Ephesians had 
 walked according to the course of this world. After it they 
 are bound to walk worthy of their new calling ; and this is 
 explained further by the following expressions — walking not as 
 
EPHESIANS. i6i 
 
 other Gentiles walk, walking in love, walking as children of 
 light, walking circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.* 
 
 It is a high vocation which Christians receive, but it requires 
 a lowly mind. It should be pursued " with all lowliness and 
 meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, 
 endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
 peace." From this exhortation the Apostle is led to open out 
 the blessed doctrine of sevenfold unity, and to show the 
 provision made by our ascended Lord for preserving the oneness 
 of His saints, and the harmonious growth of the Church. He 
 has given to His people (i.) apostles, and (2.) prophets; these 
 being for the foundation of the Church ; (3.) evangelists for its 
 extension ; and (4.) pastors and teachers for stationary work of 
 consolidation and instruction. These are given in order to the 
 "perfecting," or thorough equipment and training of saints to 
 their " work of ministry " in truth and love.t 
 
 Outward conduct depends on inward principles. To walk in 
 purity requires a renewal in the spirit of the mind. So we must 
 learn Christ, and the truth as it is in Jesus. The old man 
 must be put off. Such is the comprehensive rule to be carried 
 out, as conscience directs, into particular applications. A blow 
 must be struck at the very constitution of sin, and then sins 
 may be mastered in detail. Specimens of this are given in 
 regard to the breach of certain commandments of the moral 
 law. 
 
 Breaches of the 9th Commandment — See chap. iv. 25, 31. 
 Breaches of the 6th Commandment — See chap. iv. 26, 31. 
 Breaches of the 8th Commandment — See chap. iv. 28. 
 Breaches of the 7th Commandment — See chap, v. 3-5. 
 
 But a merely negative renewal is ineffective, is indeed im- 
 possible. The new man must be put on, viz., the image of 
 Christ with the life of Christ. This is "after God," created 
 within us ; and its element is " righteousness and holiness of 
 * Chap. iv. I, 17 ; v. 2, 8, 15. _ + Chap. iv. 11, 12. 
 
 VOL. IL " L 
 
l62 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 truth," in happy contrast with the old man's "lusts of 
 deceit." 
 
 Then the exhortations accumulate. "Be ye therefore imi- 
 tators of God, as dear children ; and walk in love, as Christ 
 also loved us and gave Himself up for us." " Now are ye light 
 in the Lord ; walk as children of light." Men so enlightened 
 should walk cautiously, redeeming the time and discerning 
 their Lord's will, hut not gloomily or despondingly, for they 
 should speak and sing as they go, heing filled with the Spirit, 
 making melody to the Lord Jesus, and giving thanks always 
 for all things to the Father in His name. 
 
 The law of love implies mutual submission and concession. 
 " Subjecting yourselves one to another, in the fear of Christ." 
 This is the principle of church-fellowship, and as the nucleus 
 of the Church is the family, the Apostle proceeds to show how 
 the law of submission in love ought to pervade domestic life. 
 A wife should submit to her husband in love, as the Church to 
 Christ. A husband ought to love his wife as his own body, 
 for so Christ loved the Church. Children should obey their 
 parents in the Lord, for this is right : and fathers should 
 remember the law of love in training their children, — " Provoke 
 not your children to wrath, but • bring them up in the nurture 
 and admonition of the Lord." So also ought servants to obey 
 masters, and masters to treat servants as in the fear of the 
 Lord Christ ; servants showing " good will," and masters 
 "forbearing threatening," because both parties are under a 
 Christian obligation to walk in lowliness and love. 
 
 At the tenth verse of the sixth chapter begins a very vigorous 
 passage of admonition. The saints have been regarded as 
 seated in heavenly places : they have been admonished to walk 
 humbly on the earth : and now they are bidden to stand in the 
 evil day. " Stand against the wiles of the devil " — having 
 done all, " stand " — " stand therefore, having your loins girt 
 about." 
 
 As a child of light pursues the way of his duty he meets 
 many adversaries, and the worst of these are unseen. They 
 
EPHESIANS. 163 
 
 are infernal principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of 
 this world, who seek to delude in regard to the supernal things, 
 employing wiles of the devil, shooting forth fiery darts of the 
 wicked. But God has provided for the child of light a panoply 
 for the evil day — (i.) The girdle of truth, giving strength and 
 comeliness to Christian character. (2.) The breastplate of 
 righteousness, or rather the coat of mail, which covers the body 
 all round from the neck to the thighs, guarding all the vital 
 parts. (3.) The shoes, or rather the war-boots (caligce) of the 
 preparation of the gospel of peace, indicating firmness of tread 
 and alacrity of spirit. (4.) The shield of faith over all, 
 defending the armour as well as the armed man, capable of 
 being turned hither and thither to meet every attack, and of 
 quenching fiery darts. (5.) The helmet of salvation, i.e. the 
 hope of salvation."^ This protects the head, the seat of thought 
 and principle. A Christian must beware how he loosens his 
 helmet. If his good hope be relaxed, he may be seriously 
 wounded in the head. (6.) The sword of the Spirit, the 
 searching, piercing word of God. The sword is a weapon use- 
 ful both for attack and for defence ; but at is of little service 
 in unskilled hands. Whoso would be a good soldier of Christ, 
 must not only possess such a sword, but learn to wield it. 
 (7.) All prayer, without which the strongest and most ex- 
 perienced may be worsted in the evil day. All great Christians 
 have excelled in, and prevailed by persevering, vigilant, and 
 affectionate prayer. 
 
 The Apostle adds a request that the Ephesians would pray 
 for him, yet not that he should be delivered from bonds at 
 Rome, but that he might speak boldly in that great city, as he 
 ought to speak. Such was his noble passion for preaching 
 Christ. Then a kind notice of Tychicus, who bore this letter 
 to Ephesus, draws it to a close. 
 
 The actual conclusion is sweet and gentle. "Peace be to 
 the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the 
 Lord Jesus Christ." Peace of reconciliation they had : now 
 * Compare i Thess. v. 8. 
 
l64 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 let tliem have peace of obedience, and of communion with God 
 and with one another. Faith they had, and so were saved by- 
 grace : now let them have increase of faith for the conflicts 
 they must endure, and with it much love, in order to stand 
 together, grow together, walk together, and be edified together. 
 The last sentence is, " Grace be with all them that love our 
 Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." * No one loves Him as He 
 ought to be loved ; and we may be thankful that the blessing 
 is not for those that sufficiently love Him, but for all that 
 sincerely love the Saviour. Blessed is every one who can 
 truly say — " Lord, Thou knowest all things ; Thou knowest 
 that I love Thee." 
 
 * The Revised Version has "in incorr aptness," a rendering which aims 
 at very close translation, but is clumsy English. 
 
( i6: 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 Not combative, like the Epistle to the Galatians, or perhaps 
 so profound as the Epistle to the Ephesians, what is now before 
 us is a loving and edifying letter from St. Paul to a Church 
 which had a very strong hold on his affections. It was 
 through his own labours that the Church of Philippi was 
 founded, in the conversion of Lydia, and the baptism of her 
 and her household, the deliverance of a female slave possessed 
 with a Pythonic spirit, and a wonderful conversion of the 
 jailer, followed by the baptism of him and his household.* 
 His first mission closed abruptly, but he visited the Philippians 
 again, and through his friends and emissaries maintained a 
 close friendship with them. Their loyal affection to him was 
 proved by substantial gifts repeatedly sent to supply his wants ; 
 and although St. Paul was a man of fine sensitiveness in regard 
 to obligations, he had no scruple in accepting such kindness 
 from his children in the Gospel at Philippi. It was a gift 
 from them, sent through Epaphroditus, which was the occasion 
 of this Epistle. It reached St. Paul during his captivity at 
 Rome, and he sent back through the same Epaphroditus this 
 letter of thanks ; but wrote it with such fulness of teaching 
 and consolation, that the Philippians must have felt the obli- 
 gation to be on their part still. It was a small matter that 
 they ministered in carnal things to one who ministered to them 
 in spiritual things so abundantly. 
 
 The letter alleges no doctrinal error against the Philippians ; 
 nor does it reprove any sin or practical fault. It opens easily 
 
 * On the significance of these three conversions, see Bishop Lightfoot 
 on this Epistle. Third edition, pp. 51-56. 
 
i66 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and graciously. Nothing is said of St. Paul's apostleship, for 
 at Philippi it had not been called in question. The epistle 
 professes to proceed from " Paul and Timothy, servants of 
 Jesus Christ," for these had laboured together in Macedonia ; 
 and it is addressed to " all the saints in Christ Jesus which 
 are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." It is a very 
 important description of a primitive Christian community. The 
 Church was formed of saints in Christ Jesus — partakers of the 
 holy calling, persons separated to God in Christ. Its officers 
 were in two orders, not three." Pirst were the bishops, over- 
 seers, or superintendents ; certainly not diocesan bishops, pre- 
 lates, or church princes, but the elders who took the oversight 
 of the flock in and around the town of Philippi. After them 
 came the deacons, practical men chosen from among the brethren 
 to handle and administer Church affairs, and to consider the 
 case of the poor. 
 
 To the saints with the bishops and deacons, Paul and Timothy 
 wish grace and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Then the Epistle proceeds as in the name of Paul 
 only, — a real letter, not a treatise, not an argument, not a 
 sermon, not even a tract, but a letter which flows on without 
 stiffness or precision, as some silver stream may wind among 
 the fertile meadows. 
 
 All that we can attempt is to indicate what is most pro- 
 minent in each of the four chapters. 
 
 I. The magnanimity of tJie Apostle (chap. i.). — This is not all 
 that we have in the chapter, but it is very conspicuous. Though 
 St. Paul is in bonds, and to a man of his active temperament 
 the restraint must have been very irksome, he seems quite to 
 forget his own affliction in his loving care for his children and 
 friends at Philippi, whom he has in his heart, whom he loves 
 in the tenderness of Christ, and for whose progress he earnestly 
 prays. 
 
 The cause of the Gospel is everything to him ; personal ease 
 or comfort nothing. His bonds at Kome sit light upon him, 
 
PHILIPPIANS. 167 
 
 provided the Gospel be not bound. And he has been severely- 
 tested on this very point. Some preachers unworthy of that 
 dignity, actuated by a spirit of envy, had preached in Rome, 
 hoping to render more galling the Apostle's bondage. He is 
 quite aware of their factious tempers and discreditable motives ; 
 but with rare and splendid magnanimity, he looks over and 
 beyond those peevish preachers to the great end which the 
 proclamation of the Gospel was fitted to promote — the glory 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoices that in any way his 
 Divine Master's name is made known within the great and 
 populous city of Rome. " What then ? notwithstanding, every 
 way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached ; and 
 I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." It is one of the 
 most nobly unselfish sayings in all history ; the utterance of a 
 sweet and loving spirit, purified from all petulant feeling, 
 absorbed in the name and glory of the beloved Saviour. 
 
 Yet it was not a very clear or complete gospel that the envious 
 and contentious preachers delivered. In all probability, they 
 belonged to that Judaizing party which everywhere opposed 
 the doctrine of St. Paul ; and we have seen that the Apostle, 
 writing to the Galatians, handled such persons and their 
 devices with severity. The question arises. How is the stern 
 reprobation expressed in that Epistle to be reconciled with the 
 magnanimous allowance in this 1 The explanation lies in the 
 different condition of the Churches. In Galatia, the teachers 
 whom St. Paul denounced, were disturbing and misleading 
 congregations that had previously received the Gospel in its 
 simplicity and holy liberty. They subverted that Gospel, and 
 brought the unstable Galatians again under a yoke of bondage. 
 But at Rome, the great difficulty was to make Christ known at 
 all to the mixed population of the vast metropolis ; and it was 
 something gained, to have the Saviour preached, even by men 
 who were ill-affected toward His apostle. Best of all, to have 
 well-affected preachers, but at such a time, and in such a place, 
 better any preachers than none at all. Though the men referred 
 to were themselves actuated by a very unbrotherly spirit, they 
 
i68 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 might at all events arrest the attention of some to the name of 
 Jesus Christ. Let them cast out demons, if they can, in His 
 name ; St. Paul will not forbid them. 
 
 Bondman or freeman, living or dying, the Apostle is resolved 
 that Christ for him shall be supreme, and he will desire nothing 
 more than to be the means of glorifying and magnifying his 
 Saviour. On earth he will be a living sacrifice : and if he be 
 delivered to death, the Lord's will be done and His name 
 exalted. '' To live is Christ " — a manifestation of Christ, who 
 is at once the strength, the model, and the end or object of 
 holy living. *' To die is gain " — escape from conflicts, tempta- 
 tions, slanders, and persecutions — reception into the presence 
 of the Lord. What to choose St. Paul perceives not, and feels 
 as one hemmed in and at a loss. He is content to live ; more 
 than content to die. His mind is like a ship at anchor with a 
 fair wind, detained for some good reason in the roadstead, yet 
 eager to lift the anchor, spread the sails, and set out to sea. 
 By duty and affection he is bound to the Church on earth ; yet 
 he is much drawn to the Lord in heaven, and has a desire to 
 depart. 
 
 Here, again, see how large-souled and devoted a man is Paul 
 the prisoner. He wants to be with Christ, and considers death 
 M^elcome in any cruel form, because departure to the Lord " is 
 very far better " than any continued life upon earth ; but for 
 the good of others he is willing to abide in the flesh. He 
 began by sacrificing his position and religious reputation as a 
 Pharisee in order to labour in the Gospel : in pursuing that 
 labour he relinquished all worldly ease, emolument, and com- 
 fort : and now he is content to forego for a while even the 
 highest joy of all — that of being with Christ — provided that 
 there is still work for him to do on earth in the advance- 
 ment of his fellow Christians, their "furtherance and joy of 
 faith." 
 
 II. The mind of Christ (chap. iL). — At the 27th verse of 
 the first chapter, the Apostle commences an exhortation to the 
 
PHILIPPIANS. 1,69. 
 
 Philippian saints regarding their calling and duty as citizens of 
 the kingdom of heaven. The same idea of citizenship recurs 
 in the end of the third chapter ; and there may be a special 
 reason for the use of such language in this Epistle. St. Paul 
 writes from Kome, the greatest city of the world ; and those 
 to whom he writes are at Philippi, which was a Roman " co- 
 lonia," and therefore politically a miniature of Rome itself. 
 It was there that the Apostle alarmed the praetors, who had 
 imprisoned him, by announcing himself a Roman citizen."^ This 
 incident must have been fresh in the memory of the Philippian 
 believers as well as in his own, and in all likelihood suggested 
 his appeal to them that they should bear themselves as 
 the freemen of a holy city, and partakers of a heavenly 
 calling. 
 
 He then teaches that harmony, kindness, humility, and un- 
 selfishness are the ornament and strength of a Church, while 
 discord, selfishness, and vainglory are its bane and shame. He 
 sets before the Philippians the mind of Christ as the essence of 
 practical Christianity ; and expatiates with enthusiasm on the 
 condescension and exaltation of our Lord. 
 
 The Saviour was rich in divine glory and dignity, subsisting 
 in the form of God, and yet counted not His equality with 
 God a thing to be clutched and anxiously retained. For our 
 sakes He was willing to take a place of subordination for a time, 
 and to say, " My Father is greater than I." So He emptied 
 Himself, not of divine being and perfections-^for that could not 
 be— but of the divine radiance and inapproachable majesty. 
 He took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the 
 likeness of men. He was not mere man; yet He was very 
 man, being born of a woman ; nay, more, as a man He humbled 
 himself, and was even among the fisherman and peasants, who 
 followed Him, " as one that serveth." He became obedient to 
 God under the law, and so continued " until death." Death 
 came to Him on the cross ; and such was His mind that He 
 would not save Himself and come down from the cross, but 
 * Acts xvi. 36-39, 
 
I70 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 looked on the things of others, and gave Himself for us an 
 offering and sacrifice in lowliness and love. 
 
 On account of this, " God has highly exalted Him " in resur- 
 rection from the tomb, in ascension from the earth, and in 
 session at His own right hand far above all heavens. God has 
 also " given Him a name above every name." On earth He de- 
 clared the Father's name, and now is His own name declared ; 
 nay, that very name Jesus, which was placed above the shame- 
 ful cross, is destined to universal homage. ISTow is the Crucified 
 One confessed as Lord to the glory of God the Father. 
 
 Such is the path which all Christian hearts are to trace ; 
 learning to follow Christ in His mind, to be lowly, self-sacrific- 
 ing, patient for the good of others as He was, and so to prove 
 "blameless and harmless children of God without blemish." 
 
 III. The path of Christian attainment (chap. iii.). — Warning 
 the Philippians against those who would insist on circumcision 
 in the flesh, which he calls " concision " or mutilation, St. Paul 
 describes the true circumcision by spiritual marks. They who 
 have it worship by the Spirit of God, rejoice in Christ Jesus, 
 and, far from glorying in the flesh, put no confidence in it 
 whatever. 
 
 On this last point the Apostle dwells, telling his own reli- 
 gious experience. He had fleshly grounds of confidence — 
 
 (i.) Katal and hereditary, in his pure Hebrew extraction. 
 
 (2.) Ritual, in his punctual circumcision. 
 
 (3.) Orthodox, inasmuch as he was a Pharisee by education 
 and choice, zealous for the traditions of his people, and blame- 
 less as touching legal righteousness. 
 
 Thus he had stood as high as any votaries of the concision 
 could pretend to be, and higher than they ; yet he had aban- 
 doned self-confidence altogether to cast himself down at Jesus' 
 feet. In this mind he continued, after years of trial and toil, 
 prizing above all things the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ, and renouncing all grounds or pretexts for boasting in 
 order to be found in Him, and to be wrapped round in the 
 
PHILIPPIANS. iyt 
 
 righteousness of God by faith. He seeks a complete identifica- 
 tion with Christ in the power of His resurrection and the 
 fellowship of His sufferings, for such is the Divine order, that 
 elevation in life and privilege should prepare for a descent into 
 tribulation.* His thoughts even reach forward to the glorious 
 reunion with Christ and the saints at the era of ther esurrection 
 of the just "from among the dead." He hopes to attain not 
 merely to an dvdaraatc, for a resurrection of the dead every one 
 will see, but to an s^avdaraalcj the eclectic resurrection of those 
 who are Christ's, for they " shall rise first." 
 
 The things aimed at and hoped for with Pauline eagerness 
 are not reached at a bound. There is a path of progress. 
 Christian life begins in our being "apprehended by Christ." 
 Its advancement is in growing likeness to Christ Jesus. It is 
 a race in which one must always forget the past and " stretch 
 out after the things in front." No otherwise can the prize of 
 the calling on high be won, or the goal reached of a perfect 
 conformity to Christ, involving unbroken and happy fellowship 
 with Him. 
 
 The "prefected" are not here — they are with the Lord, wait- 
 ing for the redemption of the body. But " the perfect " t are 
 here, for by these are meant the more mature Christians, the 
 grown up in contrast with those who are children and not men : 
 and these perfect ones are admonished to show their ripeness of 
 wisdom in a loving Christ-like walk. The Apostle had himself 
 shown such an example to the Philippians ; and, at a time when 
 the New Testament Scriptures were only beginning to be writ- 
 ten, when Christian morality was new, and the false teachers 
 were " evil-workers," it was of great service to the Churches 
 that St. Paul could say, " Que and all of you imitate me," and 
 that the converts who had not seen the Master, could study in 
 the character and career of the servant the essential difference 
 between an earthly and a heavenly walk. 
 
 * Compare chap. iii. lO. with Rom. v. 1-3. 
 t Chap. iii. 12, 15. 
 
172 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 IV. Exiiortations to saints (cliap. iv.). — The Philippians, like 
 the Thessalonians, are addressed as not only the Apostle's "joy," 
 but his " crown." These Macedonian Churches formed chaplets 
 or wreaths round his head, showing that he had not run in vain 
 or laboured in vain. They are exhorted — 
 
 1. To steadfastness in the Lord; chap. iv. i, reverting to L 
 27, 30. With the most affectionate urgency does St. Paul 
 insist on this abiding in Christ as the " blissful centre " of all 
 religious thought and life. So he had written to the Thessa- 
 lonians, "Now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord." 
 
 2. To unity in the Lord; chap. iv. 2, reverting to ii. 2, 14, 
 15. Euodia and Syntyche seem to have been Christian women 
 of position and influence among the Philippian disciples. What 
 set them at variance we know not ; but the dissension between 
 them was unhappy for the Church, as likely to engender a 
 factious spirit : so the Apostle makes direct appeal to them to 
 "mind the same thing in the Lord." He does not look into 
 the dispute between them. Enough that it was not a matter 
 for which the harmony of the Church should be broken. The 
 thing which Euodia and Syntyche ought to mind was the 
 lowliness of Christ Jesus (chap. ii. 3-5). Appeal also is made 
 to Epaphroditus, under the designation " true yoke-fellow," to 
 help the Christian workers at Philippi — both women and men. 
 And all were to unite in the happy conciliation. 
 
 3. To joy in the Lord; chap. iv. 4, reverting to ii. 18, iii. i. 
 This Macedonian Church had endured a great trial of affliction, 
 and was yet to have more suffering for Christ's sake. The 
 more need for the saints to have the joy of the Lord for their 
 strength. It was a good and healthy thing for them to rejoice 
 greatly, and rejoice always in Christ. Yet in this joy must be 
 no headiness or vainglory. It is a time for self-control in the 
 presence of all men. "The Lord is at hand." 
 
 4. To devotion ; chap iv. 6, 7. " Have no anxieties, but in 
 everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let 
 your requests be made known to God." It is assumed that the 
 saints have peace with God, as persons justified by faith. Now 
 
PHILIPPIANS: J73 
 
 comes an additional blessing upon them as they pray. " The 
 peace of God" — a calmness truly divine — shall guard their 
 hearts and thoughts in Jesus Christ. 
 
 5. To a thoughtful obedience ; chap. iv. 8, 9. It is im- 
 portant to contemplate with steady purpose all forms and 
 illustrations of moral beauty and excellence. The Philippians 
 are in this way to strengthen their best aspirations and 
 sympathies ; and then, keeping before them the Apostle's 
 teaching and example, they are to do the will of God. Here 
 too there is great reward — nay, the greatest. Prayer with 
 thanksgiving will bring to them "the peace of God." Obedience 
 will bring to them " the God of peace." 
 
 The Epistle ends with frank and grateful acknowledgment 
 of the kindness shown to St. Paul by the Philippians. They 
 had done well to communicate with his affliction. He can 
 never repay such friends in temporal things, nor do they at all 
 desire it j but being poor, he makes many rich, for he conducts 
 them to the bounty of God. " My God shall supply all your 
 need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now 
 unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
 After the doxology, a postscript is added to convey the 
 greetings of Christians at Rome to those at Philippi. "The 
 brethren who are with me greet you." These are the special 
 friends and comrades of the Apostle who were in immediate 
 communication with him. " All the saints salute you, chiefly 
 they that are of Caesar's household." Such was the apostolic 
 and original Church of Rome — " the brethren," and " all the 
 saints." Still no sign whatever of a Pope, no trace of a hierarchy, 
 and no dead saints, but living ones. A strange place Caesar's 
 household to hold some of those saints ! They lived in the palace 
 of the Emperor Nero, not far from that Pretorian camp in 
 which the bonds of St. Paul were manifest.* The soldiers of 
 the Pretorian guard knew the imprisoned Apostle well ; and 
 even some of the retainers of the cruel Emperor had been turned 
 to the Lord. It was not required of them by Paul, nor did 
 * Chap. i. 13. 
 
174 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 they feel bound in their own consience to surrender their situa- 
 tions and withdraw from Nero's house. Better that they should 
 shine as lights in that dark place, and walk as saints in Caesar's 
 palace. 
 
 Then a sentence of commendation to the grace of Christ 
 concludes this holy and beautiful Epistle, which tells us how 
 to live and how to die, how to renounce and how to attain, how 
 to endure and how to rejoice. " The grace of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ be with your spirit." 
 
( 175 ) 
 
 COLOSSI AN S. 
 
 The Epistle to the Philippians has carried our thoughts into 
 Macedonia in Europe. This recalls them to Asia Minor, Colosse 
 or Colossee being an ancient town of Phrygia, on the Lycus, 
 within a few miles of Laodicea and Hierapolis. The Church 
 there was not founded by St. Paul,— had never been visited by 
 him. Epaphras, himself a Colossian, seems to have planted 
 Christianity among his countrymen. Paul calls him his " dear 
 fellow-servant ; " and having during his first captivity at Rome 
 heard the report of Epaphras concerning the condition and 
 dangers of the Colossian Church, the Apostle wrote this letter 
 to encourage the faithful, and to expose the errors, doctrinal and 
 practical, which threatened to seduce the Church. 
 
 It resembles the Epistle to the Ephesians. It has the same 
 doctrine of the mystery of God, the headship of Christ, and the 
 contrast between the Old Man and the New ; the same counsels 
 for family life ; and the same exhortations to sing praise, to 
 pray, and to walk wisely, redeeming the time. Yet the Epistles 
 are quite independent of each other ; and this to the Colossians 
 is chiefly distinguished by its clear and emphatic Christology. 
 It is not the most fluent or elegant of St. Paul's letters, but it 
 is forcible and full of thought. It is decidedly polemical, like 
 the Epistle to the Galatians, but combats a diff'erent class of 
 errors. The Galatian Churches were infested with a Pharisaic 
 or self-righteous spirit, fostered by Judaising teachers who 
 gloried in circumcision and the Mosaic law. But the Phrygian 
 Churches seem to have been very seriously tainted with a sort 
 of semi-Jewish mysticism, — a combination of the Jewish 
 
176 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 asceticism or Essenism with the beginnings of that Gnosticism 
 which exercised such a fascinating and bewildering influence in 
 the Post-Apostolic age. The former element in this compound 
 led to rigorous prohibitions for curbing of the flesh, and in the 
 end produced, as Ultraism always has done, a greater license. 
 The latter element introduced a false cosmogony, and a wor 
 shipping of angels, with a mystic but most unreal wisdom.* 
 Against all this mass of error St. Paul directs his vigorous 
 polemic. 
 
 He begins in his usual manner with kind words and prayers, 
 then inculcates and defends Christian doctrine, and proceeds to 
 detailed exhortations and instructions for the Christian life. 
 The transitions, however, are not abrupt. The letter passes 
 from prayer to teaching, from teaching to remonstrance, and 
 from remonstrance to practical counsel or kindly message, with 
 the ease and swiftness of a strong current of thought. 
 
 After the salutation, in which we find that Paul associates 
 with himself his trusty friend Timothy, the Epistle proceeds 
 as follows : — 
 
 I. Thanksgiving and prayer (chap. i. 1-12). 
 
 I. In their thanksgiving to the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, Paul and Timothy put emphasis, as in other 
 Epistles, on faith and love as the proofs of saintship. They 
 had heard with joy from Epaphras of these evidences of spiritual 
 life among the Colossians, — 
 
 (i.) Their "faith in Christ Jesus," the prime distinction of 
 Christians. 
 
 (2.) Their " love to all the saints," and this for no earthly 
 object, but "for the hope laid up for you in heaven." It was 
 "love in the Spirit;" and the faith, hope, and love abode 
 together, as our Apostle had written to the Corinthians. 
 
 (3.) Their fruitfulness in the Gospel. This, which denotes 
 righteous and useful living, is traced to divine truth received 
 into the mind and heart. The word of the truth of the Gospel 
 
 * See Bishop Lightfoot on the Colossian Heresy, in Comm., p. 73, &c. 
 
COLOSSI A NS. 177 
 
 proved itself at Colosse, as everywhere, the incorruptible 
 seed of holy and obedient lives in all those who cordially 
 embraced it. 
 
 2. Having given thanks for the signs of grace which appeared 
 at Colosse, the two servants of Christ prayed daily for the brethren 
 in that city. Such was their high ideal of spiritual attainment, 
 such their confidence in the Hearer of prayer, that, whenever 
 they heard favourably of the Christian life of individuals or 
 churches, they on that ground prayed the more earnestly for 
 growth and progress. In this case they prayed that the Colossian 
 saints might have — 
 
 (i.) Fulness of knowledge. They did know the Lord. The 
 petition was that they might know more fully and thoroughly ; 
 and this not at second-hand, or by merely imbibing or copying 
 the conceptions of other minds, but with a constant and genuine 
 penetration, — "in all spiritual wisdom and intelligence." So 
 the true gnosis is set up against the false ; nay, it is epignosis, 
 advanced and thorough knowledge. 
 
 (2.) Holy consistency, expressed as walking up and down 
 so as to please the Lord in doing His will, and bearing fruit in 
 every good work; as in the work of faith, of patience, of 
 liberality, of testimony. This, too, connects intimately with 
 the epignosis, " increasing in the knowledge of God ; " for 
 while knowledge of His will should conduce to holiness, 
 holiness by a reciprocal moral action conduces to more perfect 
 knowledge of Himself. 
 
 (3.) The infusion of divine strength for the Christian walk 
 and work, for growth and fruit-bearing. This dynamic grace 
 is the secret of " patience and longsuffering with joyfulness," — 
 surely a touching and expressive description of the life of faith 
 on earth. It is a sober suit in which that life is wrapped, but 
 it has golden threads of hope and joy inwrought. 
 
 '(4.) Fervent gratitude. This is the proper outlet for joyful- 
 ness, " giving thanks to the Father." The position of sinful 
 men is indicated as under the power of darkness ; their inherit- 
 ance is the blackness of darkness for ever. The position into 
 
 VOL. II. M 
 
178 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 which the Father has brought the children of faith is one of 
 blessed light in "the kingdom of the Son of His love.'' In 
 light is found the sphere of their inheritance as saints; and 
 thanks are ever due to the Father who has made them fit for 
 the portion of this inheritance, and whose good pleasure it is to 
 give them the kingdom. 
 
 Without even closing his sentence, the Apostle advances to 
 what may be called — 
 
 II. The Doctrine of the Epistle (chap. i. 13-29). — St. Paul 
 expatiates on the privileges and resources which the saints 
 possess in Christ, the Son of God's love. 
 
 He, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the 
 forgiveness of sins, is the very Image of the Invisible God, or 
 Personal Expression of God. Though He was manifested in 
 the flesh, and took place among creatures, He is really the 
 First-born, anterior to every creature ; * nay, more, the Creator 
 of all in heaven and in earth. By the Son, who is the Word 
 of God, all things were made ; and not only by Him, but in 
 Him, through Him, and for Him. *'He is before all things, 
 and in Him all things cohere." Creation has in the Eternal 
 Word its productive energy, its harmonising principle, and its 
 final cause. Therefore it can never suffice to assign to our Lord 
 a place however exalted among creatures, or to rank Him in a 
 heavenly hierarchy. He is essentially and eternally divine. 
 
 At the 1 8th verse of the ist chapter begins a declaration of 
 Christ's glory in the Church. He is the Head of the Body, in 
 a relation of vital union and authoritative direction to the 
 whole Church of all times, and to every part of the Church in 
 detail. The duty of the Church is to "hold the Head," i.e. to 
 cleave to and obey Jesus Christ. 
 
 He is the Beginning or Source of the new creation, for He is 
 
 the "First-begotten from among the dead." Thus He is 
 
 twice called the Prototokos — (i.) Of, or anterior to, every 
 
 creature j not one of the creatures, and therefore competent to 
 
 * See Lightfoot's admirable note in Comm. 
 
COLOSSIANS. 179 
 
 "be the Creator of all. (2.) From the dead, having been among 
 them, and having risen ; therefore competent to be the Author 
 and Source of the Church, which has the secret of its life in 
 the power of His resurrection. 
 
 In all this one Divine purpose reigns, that in all things the 
 Son of God's love might become pre-eminent — might take and 
 hold the first place or primacy. And this is the prominent 
 thought in St. Paul's mind through the whole Epistle — the 
 elevation, pre-eminence, and all-sufficiency of Christ. He dilates 
 still further on the qualification of our Lord for this glorious 
 supremacy. "All the fulness was pleased to dwell in Him." 
 " In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Deity bodily." "^ There 
 seem to have been in the Colossian Church, even at this early 
 period, speculations about a pleroma or plenitude of being, such 
 as afterwards became so rife among the Gnostics. From this 
 pleroma it was supposed that various beings and agencies issued 
 intermediate between God and man. St. Paul condemns these 
 speculations^ by claiming for the eternal Son all the pleroma, the 
 full aggregate of Divine qualities and energies. Nay, more; 
 in Him was, and is, the true plenitude, not of Divine qualities 
 merely, but of Deity — not TlieioUs, but TheotSs.f This doctrine 
 of ''the fulness," as taught by St. Paul, is no airy speculation, 
 but a helpful, practical truth. " And ye are being filled up in 
 Him who is the head of every principality and power." J There 
 is therefore no need to worship angels, or to apply to inferior 
 mediators. Christians ought not to go for help to any princi- 
 pality or power, for they are in Him who is the Life and Lord 
 of all. They need not consult the esoteric wisdom of any school 
 of Gnosis, for they are in Him " in whom are hidden all treasures 
 of wisdom and knowledge." Nor is there any profit for them 
 in submitting to the ordinances which belonged to a dispensation 
 of imperfection. These are "a shadow of things to come, but 
 the body is of Christ." 
 
 * Chap. i. 19 ; ii. 9. 
 
 f For the difference, see Trench, N. T. Synon., sec. 6. 
 
 J Chap. ii. 10. 
 
I So SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Having carefully affirmed the personal and Divine pre-emin- 
 ence of our Lord, the Apostle also inculcates the true doctrine of 
 reconciliation through Him, as against the notion evidently- 
 propagated in Phrygia of partial reconciliations through angelic 
 mediators. The teaching on this point closely corresponds with 
 that which has been given in the Epistle to the Ephesians. 
 The reconciliation extends to all things in earth and heaven, 
 and issues in a new harmony of the universe. At present, it is 
 extended to sinners of the Gentiles through the death of Christ. 
 To preach this is the Apostle's joyful occupation. Eor this he 
 puts aside all thought of his own comfort and ease, and is 
 willing to endure any trials and sufferings in the footsteps of 
 his Lord. Let the Phrygians boast if they will of their ancient 
 mysteries. St. Paul has a nobler boast. He deals with a 
 glorious mystery of God, which is no gloomy secret, but a truth 
 brightly revealed — viz., " Christ in the Gentiles, the hope of 
 glory." It is not merely the preaching of salvation to the 
 Gentiles, for that was never hidden ; but the reception of the 
 Gentiles into the mystical Body of the Lord, and into the co- 
 inheritance of glory. This, too, is only one stage toward the 
 ultimate triumph of Divine power and grace — the recapitulation 
 and reconciliation of all things to God in Christ. They who 
 dealt with what the ancients called mysteries kept many of their 
 disciples in a position of imperfect development, and admitted 
 only a favoured few to a knowledge of their arcana. On the 
 contrary, the Apostle, as a steward of the Christian mystery, 
 proclaims his desire to "present every man complete" — i.e. 
 thoroughly initiated, enlightened, and established in Christ Jesus. 
 
 On this doctrinal foundation rests all 
 
 III. The exliortation to Christian life (chap, ii.-iv. 6). 
 
 First, the position of men under grace is definitely stated. 
 They have been circumcised with the circumcision made without 
 hands — i.e. morally and spiritually cleansed and renewed. 
 Their union with Christ is expressed in their baptism, wherein 
 they renounce the heathen manner of life; and it is such a 
 
COLOSSIANS. i8i 
 
 union that they are not only slain and buried with Christ, but 
 also raised up with Him through faith in the quickening opera- 
 tion of God.* This involves separation from sin in the new 
 life to which they are pledged, and deliverance from the rehgion 
 of mere ordinances, which has so great a hold on unregenerate 
 men. The latter part of the second chapter is devoted to a 
 vigorous protest against the imposition of ascetic restrictions, 
 and the whole system of presumptuous speculation combined 
 with specious humility, which was being pressed on the Chris- 
 tians at Colosse. Death with Christ (ver. 20) should be esteemed 
 as separating for ever from the rudimentary directions and 
 ordinances belonging to the world ; and those who have passed 
 through this great change should not allow their hberty to be 
 over-ridden by precepts of austerity, which have no sanctifying 
 power whatever, and " are not of any value against the indul- 
 gence of the flesh." History has sadly confirmed this view of 
 the tendency of the ascetic principle carried to extreme. From 
 its false and unhealthy view of the inherence of evil in matter, 
 and its confounding of " the flesh " with the body, it has led 
 to the apparently opposite extreme of gross licentiousness. 
 JSTowhere has been seen such base morality, in easy alliance with 
 fictitious piety, as in men and in sects that have proclaimed 
 their contempt of the body as a dungeon of the spirit and a re- 
 straint on the free action of the soul. 
 
 According to St. Paul, the Christian life in man originates in 
 resurrection with Christ, and is braced and purified by the con- 
 sciousness of such resurrection. Since believers in Christ are, 
 in a moral and spiritual sense, raised with Him, they are bound 
 to seek the things which are above, and to mind those things 
 rather than objects which are beneath. Duties on the earth 
 are, of course, to be fulfilled, and the occupations of common 
 life must be pursued ; but the habitual preponderance of thought 
 and aff'ection is due to objects that are heavenly. The Christian 
 is to be — not by fits and starts, but by habit and repute— con- 
 
 * Compare chapter ii. 11, 12, with Rom. iv. 24 vi., ^-6; Eph. i. 19, 
 20 ; I Pet. iii. 21, 22. 
 
1 82 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 versant with heaven. His life is properly a heavenly life, 
 "hid with Christ in God." It is only "members" that he has 
 on the earth — not his life, and certainly not his treasure. 
 
 This position conferred on believers through grace is thus 
 used as an argument for personal endeavours to be holy. Thus 
 — (i.) Ye have died ; " therefore put to death your members on 
 the earth." Carry out the principle of the extinction of the 
 life in sin, as respects your members in detail, the past instru- 
 ments and servants of unrighteousness. (2.) Ye have put off 
 the old man, and put on the new; therefore put on in detail 
 the attributes of Christian character. These properties the 
 Apostle enumerates, giving great prominence, as was his wont, 
 to sweet and lowly virtues, and assigning the highest place to 
 love as '' the bond of perfectness." 
 
 Having admonished the Colossians further to let the peace of 
 Christ be the supreme umpire in their hearts, and to have their 
 minds imbued richly with His word, St. Paul proceeds to give 
 directions for domestic virtue and happiness, quite similar to 
 those contained in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Every relation 
 of life is to be sanctified, and everything done " in the name of 
 the Lord Jesus." Wives are to do what is fit in the Lord : 
 children, what is well pleasing to the Lord : servants, to do 
 their work as to the Lord : and masters, to bear in mind that 
 they have a Lord or Master in heaven. 
 
 Three general exhortations are added : — 
 
 I. To prayer with thanksgiving (chap, iv, 2-4). — It should 
 be persevering and persistent ; " continue in prayer." It should 
 be vigilant ; " watching in the same." Long continuance in 
 prayer might induce listlessness ; therefore the hint to be alert 
 and awake. It should also be thankful ; " with thanksgiving ; " 
 an element in devotion, and an essential charm of Christian life, 
 which St. Paul never forgets. Then, being well assured of the 
 value of intercessory prayer offered by saints and faithful 
 brethren, the Apostle says in behalf of himself and Timothy, 
 " Withal praying also for us, that God may open to us a door 
 for the Word." It is remarkable that St. Paul, though in 
 
COLOSSI ANS. 183 
 
 "bonds, did not solicit prayer that he himself might be set free. 
 The same Lord who sent His angel to liberate St. Peter from 
 the prison at Jerusalem was able to deliver the Apostle of the 
 Gentiles from His captivity at Rome. But St. Paul did not 
 ask his friends to pray for this. His anxiety was for the open- 
 ing of a door for the "Word, that whether as prisoner or freeman, 
 he might speak the mystery of Christ in the great city of Rome. 
 
 2. To wise walking, with redemption of the time (chap. iv. 
 5 ; comp. Eph. v. 15, 16). — Christians walk wisely, when they 
 act with circumspection, looking well to the way that they take, 
 so as to avoid those pits and ditches into which "a prating 
 fool" will fall. They are to consider the influence of their 
 example, not only on those within the Church, but on those 
 without. Unbelievers observe closely, perhaps suspiciously, the 
 behaviour of professed believers ; and they will pay little heed 
 to words, however wise, if unsupported in those who speak them 
 by a discreet and upright walk. " Redeeming the time " always 
 accompanies practical wisdom. It is meant, that a Christian 
 should seize and use well every opportunity to do good, and to 
 promote the glory of Christ. 
 
 3. To gracious speech (chap. iv. 6). — Though pious speech 
 may be rejected as cant, when not sustained by corresponding 
 conduct, it is when so supported a great instrument of good. 
 Let it be " always with grace " as befits the utterance of men 
 under grace ; and let it be " seasoned with salt," not dull, 
 prosy, or insipid, but having point and pertinency so as to be 
 relished and remembered. Old classic authors spoke of dis- 
 course as agreeably seasoned with salt when it was interspersed 
 with witty sayings ; "^ but too often the wit of the heathen de- 
 generated into what St. Paul would regard as profane and 
 indecent jesting. f It is a fine Christian accomplishment to 
 have pithy and even witty speech, always well-toned, and 
 guarded from any taint of grossness or irreverence. 
 
 ly. Personal references, messages and salutations (chap. iv. 
 * Cicero de Orat. i. 34. t Ephes. v. 4. 
 
i84 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 7-18). — These are of great value in tracing the 'history and 
 friendships of St. Paul, and some of them receive additional 
 interest from the Epistle to Philemon, who was a Colossian. 
 His runaway slave Onesimus is mentioned as a " faithful and 
 beloved brother," and his relative Archippus is admonished to 
 look well to the ministry which he had received in the Lord. 
 There occurs a kind notice of John Mark, the nephew of 
 Barnabas. The Apostle had at one time been dissatisfied with 
 him on a missionary journey ; but the subsequent conduct of 
 Mark had effaced any unfavourable recollection. Luke is men- 
 tioned affectionately; Demas coldly. Probably Paul already 
 perceived in him a man not weaned from the world. 
 
 At the close the Apostle gives his own salutation in auto- 
 graph. Perhaps, as he rose to do so, the clanking of his chain 
 suggested to him to add, " remember my bonds." But there is ' 
 no more of this — no whining over his unhappy lot. His great 
 heart yearned over the Church in the love of Christ ; and he 
 hastens to add, *' The grace be with you ! " The grace of the 
 Head be with all the members ; the grace of the Lord with all 
 the servants ! A sweet note on which to rest as the music of 
 this profound Epistle dies away. They who love the Lord, and 
 wish to do all things in His name, have daily need of grace ; 
 and the Lord has for them all the grace they need to guide, to 
 support, to console, to purify. 
 
 " I need Thy presence every passing hour. 
 What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power ? 
 Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be ? 
 Through cloud and sunshine, abide with me ! " 
 
( 185 ) 
 
 I, THESSALONIANS. 
 
 Without doubt this is the earliest of the extant writings of 
 St. Paul, and indeed the first book in the New Testament in 
 order of production. If not so indicative of intellectual power 
 as some of the epistles that followed, it reveals as vividly as 
 any of them the Apostle's generous and affectionate nature. It 
 was he who, along with Silas and Timothy, first preached Jesus 
 Christ in Thessalonica, and planted the Church there in the 
 face of vehement opposition from the resident Jews. At that 
 time the town was one of great importance in Macedonia ; and, 
 while the old cities of Ephesus and Colosse are now repre- 
 sented by mere heaps of ruins, Thessalonica exists at this day 
 as the town of Saloniki, one of the chief places of European 
 Turkey. A considerable proportion of the modern population 
 are Jews. 
 
 The missionary visit of St. Paul to this Macedonian city 
 was short, but the brethren there always retained a warm place 
 in his heart. Persecution drove him to Berea, and thence by 
 sea to Attica. At Athens he was soon rejoined by Timothy, 
 who had remained in Macedonia. St. Paul sent him back to 
 the Thessalonians, to " establish them and comfort them con- 
 cerning the faith," while he himself went on to Corinth. At 
 that city he spent a year and a half, during which period 
 Timothy returned with a good account of the Thessalonian 
 Church. This greatly cheered the Apostle, and led him to 
 write the letter now before us, which is one not of argument, 
 controversy, or reproof, but of confirmation and encouragement. 
 " But now when Timothy came from you unto us, and brought 
 
i86 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good 
 remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we 
 also to see you : therefore, brethren, we were comforted over 
 you in all our affliction and distress by your faith : for now we 
 live, if ye stand fast in the Lord." 
 The Epistle is in two parts : — 
 
 I. The first comprises three chapters, and deals mainly in 
 reminiscence of the past intercourse of St. Paul with the 
 Thessalonians, and in joyful recognition of their steadfastness. 
 
 After salutation, the Apostle begins in his usual manner with 
 thanksgiving to God. In this case he gave thanks that the 
 Thessalonians possessed the essential elements of a strong 
 Christian life, viz., faith, hope, and love ; each of these evinced 
 appropriately, faith by its work, hope by its patience, love by 
 its toil. 
 
 This life sprang from the reception of the Gospel. The 
 Thessalonians had received the Word " in much affliction with 
 joy of the Holy Ghost." A beautiful expression this, and one 
 which in all ages has found illustrations in Christian experi- 
 ence. The Word is received into the heart in a time of 
 trouble, and lo ! there is a joy in the Spirit that relieves the 
 pain, and turns the water into wine. 
 
 The Thessalonian converts were chiefly Gentiles, and the 
 effect of the Gospel testimony on them was that they " turned 
 from idols to serve the living God, and to wait for His Son 
 from heaven." It now gladdened the Apostle to know that this 
 young Church showed a bright example to others. The word 
 which the Thessalonians had embraced did not lie supine in 
 their hearts, but sounded out from them again, corroborated 
 and commended by them to all the regions of Macedonia and 
 Achaia. They had begun well (i.) in ^^^^ service of the living 
 and true God, with renunciation of all idols; (2.) in the hope 
 of glory to be revealed at the second coming of the Lord; 
 (3.) in the knowledge of a perfect shelter from " the wrath to 
 come," provided in Christ Jesus. 
 
7. THESSALONIANS. 187 
 
 St. Paul reverts to the memorable days of liis "entrance in'' 
 to Thessalonica with the Gospel of God, and of his loving and 
 disinterested labours there. His anxiety had been to please 
 not men, but the heart-searching God : and this raised him, as 
 this only can raise any Christian preacher, not merely above 
 the fear of man which brings a snare, but also above that 
 hunger for praise which is ruinous to all simplicity of purpose, 
 and all genuine dignity of character. 
 
 The Apostle can now rejoice in the fruit of his labour, but 
 does so without any tinge of vainglory. Along with his 
 friends Silas and Timothy, he gives thanks to God without 
 ceasing for the success of the word which was preached. And 
 over the converts at Thessalonica he rejoices with trembling. 
 Their firmness is as life to him ; and he feels that their apos- 
 tasy would bring to him something like the bitterness of death. 
 " Now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord." St. Paul had 
 tenderly watched over the Thessalonians as a nurse or loving 
 mother over little children; and if they should disappoint 
 him, they would inflict on his faithful heart a cruel wound. 
 There was cause, too, for anxiety. The disciples at Thessa- 
 lonica were from the first exposed to persecution on account 
 of their faith. The Apostle had stayed with them only for a 
 few weeks, and after a little time Silas and Timothy had also 
 left them. They were a congregation of young untried Chris- 
 tians, and even their elders could have had little experience. 
 Nevertheless they had thus far stood firm in the Lord ; and the 
 tidings of their steadfastness regaled the spirit, and strengthened 
 the life of the missionary Apostle. We are reminded of the 
 fervent desires of Samuel Rutherford for his flock at Anwoth 
 — " Oh how rich a prisoner were I, if I could obtain of my 
 Lord the salvation of you all ! What a prey had I gotten to 
 have you all caught in Christ's net ! My witness is above ; 
 your heaven would be two heavens, and the salvation of you 
 all as two salvations to me." 
 
 While St. Paul is thus thankful for the fruit of his ministry, 
 
i88 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 he does not expect to see or enjoy all the result during his 
 mortal life. He will wait for this till the day of Christ. " For 
 what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing 1 Are not even 
 ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming ? 
 For ye are our glory and joy." This faithful servant is well 
 content to continue his labour, run his race, and endure afflic- 
 tion, waiting for his full reward till his Master shall come. 
 Then will the saints of Macedonia be to him a chaplet of 
 victory — his glory and his joy. 
 
 II. The second part occupies two chapters, deals with the 
 future course of the Thessalonian Church, and blends exhorta- 
 tion and consolation beautifully together. 
 
 1. Be pure; chap. iv. i-8. The morals of the Gentiles were 
 shockingly corrupt, and ^what we call sins against the seventh 
 commandment were scarcely considered disgraceful at that 
 period. Those of the Gentiles who were received into the 
 Church were in some danger of relapsing into old habits ; and 
 the whole tone of Christian life was apt to be injured by the 
 dissolute manners of surrounding society. Therefore this 
 prominent warning against sensuality. 
 
 2. Be industrious; chap. iv. 9-12. It is finely said, that 
 there is no need to write to the Thessalonians concerning 
 brotherly love, but they are exhorted to grow therein and to be 
 diligent and honest in all their affairs. No doubt some of the 
 Thessalonian converts had lost their livelihood on account of 
 their new faith ; others, excited by their new position, by their 
 sufferings for Christ, and by the hope of His speedy advent, may 
 have become negligent in business, and given up steady work 
 for daily subsistence. The Apostle, therefore, with that practical 
 sagacity which his enthusiasm never clouded, warns them not 
 to become burdensome to others, but to m^aintain a proper 
 independence. " Study to be quiet, and to do your own business, 
 and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you ; that 
 ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and may 
 
/. THESSALONIANS. 189 
 
 have lack of nothing." Mendicant friars would have found little 
 favour with St. Paul. 
 
 3. Be comforted concerning the departed; chap. iv. 13-18. 
 The Thessalonian Christians dwelt much in thought on the 
 second coming of Christ, and were probably in daily expectation 
 of that event. They therefore grieved much over any of their 
 number who died without seeing the Lord, having an impression 
 that such persons would be excluded from the glory about to be 
 revealed. It was a point on which they had not been instructed, 
 and the result of their mistake was that they sorrowed over 
 their dead as the heathen did who had no hope. This miscon- 
 ception, therefore, the Apostle corrects. We find his very words 
 used three hundred years thereafter by John Chrysostom in one 
 of his finest sermons, with a view to repress excessive grief at 
 the death of Christian friends. " You may grieve and weep ; 
 but give not way to despondency, nor indulge in complaints. 
 Believe me, I am ashamed and blush to see unbecoming groups 
 of women pass along the market-place, tearing their hair, cutting 
 their arms and cheeks, and all this under the eyes of the 
 (Heathen) Greeks. For what will they not say? Will they 
 not mutter concerning us, *Are these the people who philo- 
 sophise about a resurrection ? Indeed ! How poorly their 
 actions agree with their opinions ! ' We ought to thank God 
 not only for the resurrection, but also for the hope of it, which 
 can comfort the afflicted soul, and bid us be of good cheer 
 concerning the departed, for they will again rise and be with us. 
 If we must have anguish, we should mourn and lament over 
 those who are living in sin, not over those who have died 
 righteously." 
 
 Mark well the consideration with which St. Paul comforts 
 mourners. He says nothing of a priestly prerogative to deliver 
 them from purgatory, or of the efficacy of masses said for the 
 repose of the dead. Such fictions were unknown to apostles. 
 JSTor does he try to stanch grief with commonplace reflections on 
 the inevitableness of death, with affirmation of the immortality 
 
I90 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of the soul, or even with assurances that the bereaved will soon 
 rejoin their departed friends in heaven. Such are the consola- 
 tions often administered to mourners now-a-days ; but St. Paul 
 deals in none of them. His doctrine for comfort is, that the 
 saints who sleep in Jesus will return with Him, and be in the 
 glory at His appearing. Far from losing anything by having 
 died, they shall rise first. Then there shall be joined to them 
 the generation of Christians on the earth, transfigured into the 
 likeness of Christ, and caught up in the cloud to meet Him. 
 Thenceforward the whole assembly of the saints shall be for 
 ever with the Lord. 
 
 Such is the hope of Christians, and their consolation regarding 
 the departed. Death is a mere parenthesis — a sleep for a season. 
 There may be great individual blessedness, but there is no 
 saintly gathering at death. We must look beyond. The 
 consummation, as of the apostolic joy, so also of the happiness 
 of reunited saints, cannot be till the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 4. Be vigilant; chap. v. i-io. Times and seasons connected 
 with the Lord's coming are not to be chronologically fixed by 
 any of His followers, for the Father has reserved them in His 
 own power. But this the saints at Thessalonica knew perfectly, 
 for it was among the first principles of Christian truth, that the 
 day of the Lord will come on a world at ease and unprepared, 
 as a thief comes unexpectedly in the night. The men of the 
 world will not recognise the sign of His approach, and therefore 
 will incur a sudden destruction. But the day of the Lord will 
 not so come on His people. Whatever gloom may gather on 
 the world, the followers of Jesus are not of the night or of 
 darkness. They are not to " sleep " as other men, but to " watch 
 and be sober." They must be awake, alert, and of good courage, 
 armed as is needful in this time of patience, while they w^ait 
 for the Lord, ''having put on the breastplate of faith and love, 
 and for an helmet the hope of salvation." 
 
 5. Be orderly, and helpful to each other; chap. v. 11-15. 
 
I. THESSALONIANS. 191 
 
 Here are valuable directions for the collective life and internal 
 peace of the Church. It is a brotherly society, in which every 
 one is so far his brother's keeper that he is to seek his brother's 
 welfare. Kindness, consideration, patience, are to mark the 
 intercourse of Christians. Special respect also is due to those who 
 preside over the congregation. While there is no sanction for 
 the Church tyranny which treats the redeemed people of Christ 
 sa a helpless laity, dependent on and subject to a priesthood, 
 there is clear authority for so much superintendence as will 
 protect the Church from individual caprice and popular disorder. 
 Neither the title of Presbyter nor that of Bishop is found in this 
 Epistle. Eut the class of officers who bore these titles in the 
 primitive Christian Church is evidently indicated by the words, 
 " Them that labour among you, and are presiding over you in 
 the Lord, and admonish you." 
 
 6. A group of brief counsels which deserve minute attention ; 
 chap. V. 16-24. 
 
 " Eejoice evermore." This is the inspiriting watchword of 
 St. Paul to the afflicted Macedonian Churches. So we find it 
 in Phil. iii. i, iv. 4. 
 
 "Pray without ceasing." This of course does not exact 
 incessant efforts of conscious prayer, but requires a devotional 
 habit or bent of mind. And it means to persist in prayer, 
 whatever our hindrances, misgivings, or discouragements, — to 
 continue in supplication for a definite object till it is reached, 
 or the will of God regarding it is sufficiently ascertained. 
 
 "In everything give thanks." A duty this which St. Paul 
 never forgets, and which he considers no mere optional exercise. 
 It is of obligation, because it is God's will concerning us in 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 " Quench not the Spirit." There is a holy fire kindled in 
 Christian hearts ; but restraint of prayer or neglect of thanks- 
 giving, hindering the operation of the Spirit, tends to extinguish 
 that fire from heaven. One may put out a fire by pouring 
 water on it ; or one may simply let it go out by neglecting it — 
 
192 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 neither feeding nor stirring it when it is low. The Apostle 
 warns the Thessalonians not to quench the fire of the Spirit, 
 either by the water of discouragement, or by the negligence of 
 a prayerless, thankless mind, implying that they were respon- 
 sible for cherishing and stirring the fire in their own hearts. 
 The next sentence indicates that the caution is also directed 
 against the suppression of spiritual gifts in the Church. 
 
 "Despise not prophesy ings." These were utterances in the 
 Spirit, more direct than the ordinary tenor of teaching, and 
 directed to the edification of the Church. The Corinthians did 
 not give due place to prophesying, preferring the more showy 
 gift of tongues; and this Apostle wrote to correct their ill- 
 judged preference. " Covet to prophesj^, and forbid not to 
 speak with tongues." He is anxious that the Thessalonians 
 should not fall into the same mistake. He wishes them not to 
 make light of prophesyings, for these tended to " edification, 
 exhortation, and comfort." 
 
 " But prove all things : hold fast that which is good." Not 
 to despise does not mean to receive with a blind, unreasoning 
 credence. The saints are to cultivate a spiritual discernment or 
 judgment, and to exercise it under a grave responsibility. If any 
 speak with tongues, there is to be interpretation of tongues ; if 
 any bring a doctrine, there is to be a trial of the spirits ; if 
 prophets speak, hearers are to judge. This, too, not to encourage 
 interminable controversy and loose thinking in the Church, but 
 in order to "hold fast that which is good." 
 
 " Abstain from every kind of evil." In order to hold fast 
 the good, it is necessary to hold no evil in any of its forms. It 
 may array itself in a form of godliness, "for Satan himself is 
 transformed into an angel of light ; " but it should be detected, 
 unveiled, and utterly rejected. 
 
 "And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly." It 
 is the God of peace who, having reconciled a people to Himself, 
 purifies them for His service. It is the God of peace who will 
 bruise Satan under their feet. In another Epistle we read : 
 
I. THESSALONIANS. 193 
 
 "The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our 
 Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good work to do His 
 will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight."* 
 In the divine sanctification the whole man is embraced. As 
 every part of a redeemed man is separated to God by the con- 
 secrating blood of Christ, so every part is cleansed and renewed 
 by the indwelling Spirit of Christ. In the order of sanctifica- 
 tion the spirit of a man is first named, because the Spirit of 
 the Lord dwells in and associates Himself with our spirit. 
 From that shrine the Divine Spirit propagates His influence 
 through the entire constitution of man. The God of peace 
 purifies the soul and controls the life-movements of desire. 
 Then the good work extends to the physical frame. The body 
 being redeemed, is also sanctified, and its members are yielded 
 as instruments of righteousness unto God. 
 
 Thus the saints are to be "preserved blameless unto the 
 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." When they stand before 
 Him at His advent, they will not be impalpable shades, but 
 appear as complete men, having spirit, soul, and body. Spirit, 
 however, will predominate to a degree that is now impossible, 
 for the body itself in the resurrection state will be spiritual, 
 and will with unflagging energy sustain the untiring soul and 
 spirit in the service of the Lord. 
 
 " Alas ! " one cries who feels himself hard pressed in the 
 conflict with evil, "this perfect sanctification will never be 
 fulfilled in me." !N'ay, but be of better cheer. There is 
 Another and Greater than you interested and engaged in this. 
 "Faithful is He who calleth you; who also will do it." 
 
 With a few words of salutation and benediction, the Epistle 
 concludes. Its distinctive features are easily remembered. 
 Addressed to a people who had recently received the Gospel, it 
 recognises their freshness of life and ardour of hope. It is, 
 therefore, a book well suited at all times to young Christians. 
 It furnishes tests of conversion, corrects errors of inexperience, 
 warns against vain security, and conveys in a most compact 
 * Heb. xiii. 20, 21. 
 
 VOL. II. N 
 
194 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 form wise counsels for the Christian life. It gives prominence 
 to that which should always stand before the minds of disciples 
 young and old — the coming of the Lord from heaven. In 
 every respect it is an Epistle worthy to "be read unto all 
 the holy brethren." 
 
( 195 ) 
 
 II, THESSALONIANS, 
 
 The occasion and the drift of this letter are obvious enough. 
 It is a sequel to the previous Epistle, and probably followed it 
 in course of a few months. It issues from the same persons, 
 Paul, Silas, and Timothy; and the joint origin is expressed 
 throughout the Epistle more than in any other of the apostolic 
 letters. Thus it is written : " We are bound to thank God j " 
 " we glory in you ; " " we pray always for you ; " " we beseech 
 you, brethren ; " " pray for us, that we may be delivered ; " " we 
 have confidence in the Lord ; " "we commend you, brethren ; " 
 "we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you." Only once 
 the individuality of St. Paul breaks out, "Remember ye not, 
 that when I was yet with you, I told you these things 1 " At 
 the end he gives his autograph salutation, which was a guarantee 
 of genuineness in every letter. 
 
 The objects which Paul, Silas, and Timothy had in view in 
 writing, were plainly these two; (i.) To correct misconstruc- 
 tions of what they had taught, both orally and in their first 
 Epistle, regarding the second coming of Christ. (2). To repeat 
 and enforce the exhortations of that Epistle to patience, industry, 
 and good order in the Church. The tone of the letter is not so 
 buoyant as that of the first ; but it is conceived and expressed 
 with the same tender affection, as of a father charging, and a 
 nurse cherishing her children. 
 
 The chapters in this book are sufficiently well arranged ; but 
 we prefer to be guided by the two ^objects in view as already 
 indicated. 
 
196 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 I. Correction of misconstruction and mistake regarding the 
 coming of the Lord (chaps, i ii.). 
 
 From the first, the Church in Thessalonica had been much 
 persecuted and afflicted. Those Jews who obeyed not the 
 Gospel, stirred up the heathen Gentiles of the city and neigh- 
 bourhood to oppress the Christians. The missionaries, Paul, 
 Silas, and Timothy, escaped their malice ; but all the more 
 vehemently did the persecution rage against the new com- 
 munity of apparently defenceless Christian brethren. Now 
 those brethren had heard the Apostle and his companions 
 speak of a great day of the Lord ; and in the first Epistle they 
 were told of the suddenness with which that day of the Lord 
 should come. Doubtless they had also learned from prophetic 
 scripture, for those of them who were Jews and proselytes were 
 acquainted with the Greek version of the Old Testament, that 
 the day of the Lord would be one of wrath and woe, a terrible 
 ordeal, a time when all hands shall be faint, and every heart 
 shall melt. It seemed to them in their simplicity, that this 
 day of the Lord had come, for it was a time of tribulation and 
 anguish. They knew that Christ Himself had not yet appeared, 
 but they surmised that the day of the Lord had " set in ; " and 
 they were shaken in mind by the thought. 
 
 To remove this mistake, two explanations are given : — 
 I. It could not be the day of the Lord, because He will come 
 to give not trouble, but rest to His Church, and tribulation to 
 His and her enemies. It is true that He will judge His people 
 with equity, but in the sense of vindicating them from reproach, 
 and defending their cause. They are not to suffer at His 
 coming, but to rest from all suffering, to glorify their Deliverer, 
 and be glorified in and with Him. But woe to the troublers of 
 His people in the day when He shall be revealed from heaven 
 with His mighty angels ! To them he will recompense tribula- 
 tion, and punish them with everlasting destruction. 
 
 The fact that the Thessalonians were in tribulation, ought to 
 have proved to them that the day of the Lord had not set in. 
 They were evidently in the day of the patience of Christ, and 
 
//. THESSALONIANS. 197 
 
 not in the day of His judgment. Therefore they should con- 
 tinue in the meekness and obedience of faith, looking to their 
 Lord, and waiting for Him without agitation or alarm. 
 
 This part of the Epistle concludes with a beautiful prayer 
 put up by the three missionaries, at Corinth, for the Thessa- 
 lonian converts. " We pray always for you, that our God 
 may count you worthy of the calling, and fulfil every good 
 pleasure of goodness and work of faith, with power ; that the 
 name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in 
 Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." * That God would count the Thessalonians worthy of 
 the holy calling, or worthy of the kingdom of God (ver. 5), 
 cannot mean that He would reckon them to have earned or 
 deserved it, for such merit would nullify the doctrine of grace. 
 It must mean, that He would mould their dispositions into 
 harmony with their calling, and prepare them for His kingdom 
 and glory. And how 1 Ey filling them with all goodness, such 
 as is well pleasing in His sight, and inspiring their faith with 
 augmented energy. Then glory at the appointed era, the com- 
 ing of the Lord. He is now glorified on the earth in the hearts 
 of beHevers by the Holy Spirit, and glorified in heaven by and 
 with the Father. But at His second advent, He will be glorified 
 in His saints ; and they will be taken up into the glory with 
 Him. 
 
 2. It could not be the day of the Lord, for certain events 
 which had not yet come to pass must precede the advent. 
 There must first be " the apostasy ; " and out of the apostasy 
 would issue an opponent of God and of Christ, who must reveal 
 his proud and lawless nature, and then be destroyed " by the 
 epiphany of the Lord's coming." 
 
 The passage in which this is set forth is perhaps more difficult 
 of interpretation than any other in the apostolic letters, epito- 
 mising as it does, in a few sentences, the working of evil in the 
 Church through many centuries till the advent of Chirst. It is 
 likely that Paul, Silas, and Timothy themselves had but a dim 
 * Chap. i. II, 12. 
 
198 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 foresight of the things signified in their prophetic words, and 
 had no idea whatever of the time which should elapse before 
 all should be fulfilled. 
 
 The first part of the prediction is plain enough. The shadows 
 of apostasy began very early to fall on the Church. Germs of 
 error 'were soon mixed with the good seed of truth. A haughty 
 spirit crept into the Christian Presbyterate. The Church which 
 everywhere had begun with a chaste "simplicity toward 
 Christ," * fell away from her first love and singleness of heart. 
 Simplicity of faith was in course of time corrupted by Gnostic 
 speculations, and credulous traditions : simplicity of worship by 
 externalism and ritualism : simplicity of order by hierarchy 
 culminating in Popery. A mystery of lawlessness — not neces- 
 sarily rejecting all law, and therefore anarchic, but rejecting the 
 law of the Lord — was already at work even in the days of the 
 Apostles ; and they foreknew that in after times " many would 
 apostatise from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits." This 
 is a most important fact in view of the history of doctrine and wor- 
 ship. It is assumed by those who adhere to the superstitions 
 of the Latin Church, that because the Holy Ghost descended 
 to abide in the Church which the apostles founded, a divine autho- 
 rity and value must attach to everything that has descended 
 to us as the belief or practice of the great mass of professed 
 Christians. Not so; for the apostles themselves predicted 
 *' the falling away," and we have to take good heed lest things 
 be palmed on us as of catholic and heavenly authority, which 
 are the mere remnants or dregs of that great apostasy. 
 
 The interpretation of this prophecy becomes more arduous as 
 we advance. Out of the Apostasy is to be produced and un- 
 veiled, at a time undetermined, the Man of Sin, the Son of 
 Perdition, the Lawless One, or quintessence of the whole 
 mystery of lawlessness. This is not to be explained of the false 
 Christs — those pseudo-Messiahs of the early ages, who led away 
 none but Jews after them. Nor is it to be referred to the many 
 Antichrists spoken of by St. John, — teachers of error regarding 
 * 2 Cor. xi. 3. 
 
//. THESSALONIANS. 199 
 
 the person of the Lord, asserting that Christ had not come in 
 the flesh. To the Oriental Church, Mohammed, when he arose, 
 seemed to be this Man of Sin. From the eleventh century, as 
 the Papacy reached its grand climacteric, some surmised that 
 this was no other than the pope; and the Protestant Churches 
 at the Keformation generally accepted this view. On the 
 contrary. Popish controversialists have found in this passage 
 Luther and Protestantism. 
 
 Certain features of the Man of Sin are undoubtedly exhibited 
 in the Roman Papacy — especially the overweening pretension 
 and arrogance. But in other points the correspondence is not 
 at all so obvious. We read of " the coming " {Taoovffia) of the 
 Man of Sin, — an expression which can scarcely be applied to 
 the rise of the Papacy. Then the description is of one who is 
 audacious in impiety, exalting himself above every one called 
 God, or that is an object of worship, and exhibiting himself 
 *'that he is God." This does not suggest to our minds a high 
 priest of superstition, such as the Pope of Rome. And we can 
 scarcely say that the Man of Sin, as God sitting in the temple 
 of God, means the pope seated on high at a great festival in 
 St. Peter's, unless we are prepared to admit that the Basilica 
 of the Vatican is the temple of God. In fact, nothing has 
 occurred in the history of Christianity adequate to the fulfil- 
 ment of this oracle ; and therefore we fear that a terrible im- 
 personation of arrogant impiety is yet to be revealed. 
 
 The meaning attached to the Lawless One must govern the 
 interpretation of '* the thing which hinders " his manifestation. 
 The fathers seem to have understood the phrase as an allusion 
 to the Roman imperial Government. But the solution of the 
 whole passage must probably wait the further development of 
 events. Its use is to warn us that the opposition to God and 
 to Christ has not yet come to its worst on the earth. There 
 is yet to be revealed the climax of human pride and wilfulness, 
 aided by the working of Satan ; but its doom is also written. 
 The Lord Jesus " shall slay that Lawless One with the breath 
 
200 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of His mouth, and destroy him by the manifestation of His 
 coming." 
 
 Meantime, the mystery of lawlessness works on in opposition 
 to " the mystery of godliness ; " and the only security against 
 its wiles and the strong delusion in which its victims are bound, 
 lies in personal belief and experience of the truth as it is in 
 Jesus. " We are bound to give thanks to God alway for you, 
 brethren beloved of the Lord, that God chose you from the 
 beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief 
 of the truth : whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the 
 obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Learning, 
 talent, fervour, laboriousness — none of them will protect from 
 strong delusions in religion. Nothing preserves but union to 
 Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit through belief of the 
 Gospel. Brethren so established will stand fast in the faith, 
 and hold fast the apostolic instructions. 
 
 This part of the Epistle, like the preceding, ends with a 
 loving, consolatory prayer — all the more welcome after the 
 unveiling of such an ominous future. " Now our Lord Jesus 
 Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, who loved us, and 
 gave us eternal consolation and good hope in grace, comfort 
 your hearts, and stablish them in every good work and word. " * 
 
 II. Repetition and enforcement of practical admonitions 
 (chap. iii.). 
 
 The writers of the Epistle express their supreme confidence 
 in the Lord as establishing and guarding the converts at 
 Thessalonica, and rely on their obedience. Then they again 
 pray for them : " The Lord direct your hearts into the love of 
 God, and the patience of Christ." t It is not "the patient 
 waiting for Christ," as in the Authorised Version, though that is 
 good ; but it is sympathy with the very patience of Christ, who 
 during this time of opposition to His word — when His cause is 
 obstructed by "unreasonable and wicked men," — has long 
 patience, and sits calmly in heaven expecting till His enemies 
 * Chap. ii. 1 6, 17. f Chap. iii. 5. 
 
77. THESSALONIANS. 201 
 
 are made His footstool. This patience His people are to share, 
 that they may also have part in His victory. 
 
 The expressions, "the Lord," "the Lord Jesus," "our Lord 
 Jesus Christ," are peculiarly frequent and emphatic in this 
 short Epistle. In the Lord's faithfulness, the Thessalonian 
 converts are safe. In His name, they are to be obedient to the 
 injunctions of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, and evince their 
 opposition to the spirit of lawlessness. If a brother shows 
 himself unruly and self-willed, they are to break fellowship 
 with him. Yet the great principle of Church discipline is to 
 be remembered — that it is for correction, not for vengeance or 
 punishment : " Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish 
 him as a brother." 
 
 With that broad, practical sense which should never be 
 forgotten in religious instruction, the writers renew their 
 admonition to the Thessalonians regarding honest, self-sup- 
 porting industry. Probably it was an effect of the agitation 
 among them about the day of the Lord, that some of the 
 Christians had renounced daily work, and were living in a 
 feverish anxiety or excitement. Those who did so burdened 
 unduly the funds' of the Church, or lived at the expense of 
 others ; so the Epistle conveys to them a very terse injunction, 
 " that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." 
 
 How often have we seen men, of little force of mind or 
 character, caught by some wind of religious enthusiasm, hasten 
 to put away their business, abandon their profession or trade, 
 and set forth to preach, to open mission halls, and advertise 
 evangelistic addresses, and plunge into expensive enterprises on 
 what they call " faith ! " It amounts to this, that they expect 
 their fellow-Christians to work and support them, though those 
 brethren were never consulted as to their fitness for the public 
 position they have assumed. The results are very unsatis- 
 factory. Incapable men assume places of observation, and 
 meddle with the things of Christ and the Church at their own 
 instance ; a disorderly aspect is given to religious society ; and 
 Christian people are subjected to an incessant din for money, 
 
202 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 in order to sustain men who ought never to have left their 
 ordinary callings. If one be duly called and appointed to 
 undertake such work in the Church as demands all his time 
 and strength, he is entitled to a livelihood for himself and his 
 family — he may "live of the Gospel." But persons not so 
 called and appointed have no right to place themselves on 
 Church support, and call it "living by faith." Scandal would 
 be avoided, and purity of motive placed beyond question, if 
 such persons would "with quietness work, and eat their own 
 bread." 
 
 In unsettled times unstable men run to and fro, and innu- 
 merable self-made ministers and missionaries press themselves 
 and their projects on public attention and support. One sets 
 up his mission here, another his hall there, a third opens a 
 tabernacle for divine worship and service of his own accord, 
 just as he might open a shop. Then almost every one prints 
 and circulates his report, tells how many sinners he is saving, 
 and concludes with a list of kind donations. It may be all 
 well meant, but it is a system of confusion, and not without 
 elements of serious danger. There is no intelligent combina- 
 tion of Christian work ; there is no proper superintendence of 
 workers, or sufficient guarantee for their life and doctrine : and 
 withal, there is, on account of the desultory and fussy character 
 of these efforts, an extravagant waste of Christian resources. 
 
 By all means let faith grow exceedingly, and let charity 
 abound. But let this disorderliness be discouraged. "The 
 Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in all ways." * 
 Now, peace is to be kept by the observance of God's own order 
 in the Church, by a modest reluctance to be chargeable to our 
 brethren, unless they duly call us, or the Master, by special 
 indication which the brethren recognise, appoint us to public 
 work, and by that quietness of spirit which has far more effect 
 in commending the Gospel than ever so much religious forward- 
 ness. In fact, there is nothing better as a corrective of the 
 unseemliness to which we allude, than to recall the following 
 Chap. iii. i6. 
 
77. THESSALONIANS, 
 
 203 
 
 passage from tlie first Epistle to the Thessalonians, — "Comfort 
 yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also you do. 
 And we beseech you, brethren, to know those who labour 
 among you, and are presiding over you in the Lord, and ad- 
 monish you ; and to esteem them very highly in love for their 
 works' sake. Be at peace among yourselves." * 
 * I Tliess. V. 11-13. 
 
( 204 ) 
 
 L TIMOTHY. 
 
 "We now reach a group of three letters by St. Paul, commonly 
 called the Pastoral Epistles. They are addressed to Timothy 
 and Titus, his companions in travel and labour, and are ex- 
 pressed at once with the ease of a familiar friend, and with the 
 ripe wisdom of a father in Christ. 
 
 No name is more closely connected with St. Paul's career 
 than that of Timothy, a native of Lystra, a town not very 
 remote from the Apostle's birthplace at Tarsus. Though his 
 father was a Greek and a heathen, his mother and grandmother 
 were devout Jewesses, and trained him from childhood in a 
 knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. He was converted 
 to Christ through the preaching of St. Paul, on his first visit 
 to Lycaonia, and was, no doubt, baptized at the same time. 
 On his second visit to the district, the Apostle took special 
 notice of Timothy as "a disciple well reported of by the 
 brethren at Lystra and Iconium," and adopted him as his 
 missionary assistant. Nay more, he even circumcised him, out 
 of deference to the Jews, that his usefulness might not be 
 prejudiced on account of his semi-Greek extraction, and that he 
 might obtain free admission into synagogues. Thereafter the 
 young missionary was ordained by " the laying on of the hands 
 of the presbytery," St. Paul himself being present, and laying 
 on hands along with the presbyters; but the place at which 
 this was done is not mentioned, nor is it said whether this 
 was Timothy's introduction to office in the Church, or his desti- 
 nation to a particular work, as Saul and Barnabas had been 
 destined to their missionary expedition by the laying on of the 
 hands of prophets and teachers at Antioch. 
 
/. TIMOTHY. 205 
 
 From that time Timothy enjoyed intimate companionship 
 with St. Paul ; and, being employed by him on special missions 
 of importance and difficulty, justified the confidence which the 
 Apostle had reposed in him.* It does not appear that he was 
 a man of commanding ability or overwhelming eloquence. He 
 was not fitted for a position of first consequence in the Church ; 
 and if we may judge from the repeated and urgent exhortations 
 to courage and vigilance which are addressed to him, may have 
 been naturally of a gentle and even somewhat irresolute dis- 
 position ; but Timothy had noble qualities of piety and faith- 
 ful affection ; and that man must ever be honoured in the 
 Church of God who, for full sixteen years, possessed the love, 
 deserved the confidence, shared the labours, and alleviated the 
 sorrows of the great Apostle Paul. 
 
 Without doubt it was near the end of St. Paul's life and 
 ministry that he wrote the Pastoral Epistles. After his first 
 imprisonment at Eome, during which he despatched his letters 
 to the Ephesians, Philippiaus, Colossians, and to Philemon, he 
 resumed his itinerant ministry for a few years, revisiting former 
 scenes, and perhaps entered on some new ground also. On this 
 apostolic circuit he left Timothy at Ephesus, and Titus at 
 Crete, to represent his authority, and establish order in the 
 Churches. 
 
 The letter before us was sent to Timothy while thus acting 
 as an apostolic delegate. It begins with a formal statement of 
 the apostleship of St. Paul, not as though Timothy could doubt 
 it, but because the letter was intended to sustain the position 
 and authority of the Apostle's messenger. We may best 
 apprehend the scope of the Epistle, and recollect its contents 
 if we regard it as an apostolic charge to an apostolic com- 
 missary. The charge may be said to concern these four matters, 
 Doctrine, Public Prayer, Ministry, Management of the Christian 
 community. 
 
 I. Doctrine (chap. i. 3-20). — Timothy himself was well 
 * Phil, it 19-23. 
 
2o6 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 grounded in the truth, but many who obtained an audience in 
 the congregations of the period were not so ; and the Apostle 
 bids his friend protect the Church at Ephesus from those who 
 disseminated Jewish traditions of fables, allegories, endless 
 genealogies, and the like, which were all connected with per- 
 versions and misuses of the law, and tended to promote 
 disputes, not " the dispensation of God which is in faith." 
 
 "The law is good if used lawfully." It is well used to 
 deter and restrain the vicious, but ill-used to excite disputation, 
 or feed self-righteousness. God in this dispensation is made 
 known as " the Saviour-God ; " and the commandment or charge 
 given by Him to ministers of the New Testament has for its 
 great aim " love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, 
 and faith unfeigned." In opposition to those " who desired to 
 be teachers of the law," St. Paul describes the truth com- 
 mitted to his trust as the *' Gospel of the glory of the blessed 
 God." 
 
 In fact the beginning of this letter is not unlike that of the 
 Epistle to the Galatians. Here, as there, the Apostle asserts 
 his Gospel against all the perversions and confusions of the 
 teachers of legalism ; and then proceeds to state in what manner 
 he had been entrusted with that Gospel. But in this letter 
 his tone is more gentle than in the other. He recalls with 
 grief his early zeal against the Church, and extols the grace 
 which had saved him, and put him into the ministry. 
 
 Now as a father he charges his son Timothy to be faithful 
 in the New Testament ministry; and closes this part of the 
 Epistle by a warning allusion to certain men who had " made 
 shipwreck concerning the faith." Two of these he mentions 
 by name — Hymenseus and Alexander — whom he had been 
 obliged to excommunicate. He uses the strong expression 
 "whom I delivered unto Satan," i.e., he had excluded them 
 from the Church which is under Christ, and so replaced 
 them in the world which is under Satan, that they might be 
 corrected and healed by the discipline, and "learn not to 
 blaspheme." From this is plainly to be inferred, though some 
 
/. TIMOTHY. 207 
 
 have denied it, that men may be justly excommunicated for 
 false doctrine, as well as for bad morals. 
 
 II. Public Prayer (chap. ii.). — Concerning this it is 
 taught — 
 
 1. That it should have a large scope, and cover the interests 
 of all mankind. Special emphasis is laid on the duty of 
 intercession in behalf of the kings of the earth, for whom, 
 while they were heathen and hostile to the Gospel, the early 
 Christians may have hesitated to pray. There must be no 
 narrowness in the spirit of the praying assembly. God cares 
 for all men ; Christ is provided for all men. Therefore let 
 the prayer of the Church ascend to God through Christ in 
 behalf of " all men." 
 
 2. That it should be offered with due decorum. Prayer 
 was to be made in every place by the men " lifting up holy 
 hands without wrath alwi disputing." Obviously there was to 
 be much freedom in public prayer, but all the more need of a 
 guarded reverence, and a careful avoidance of contention and 
 disorder. We are reminded of the well-known words of Jeremy 
 Taylor, "Prayer is the issue of a quiet mind : 'tis the daughter 
 of charity and the sister of meekness ; and he that prays to 
 God with an angry, troubled, and discomposed spirit, is like 
 one that retires into a battle to meditate, and sets up his closet 
 in the outquarters of an army." 
 
 Another point of necessary decorum relates to the bearing 
 of women in the assembly. They were not at liberty to take 
 the same public part in prayer as the men ; though this rule 
 was not to be interpreted as an absolute forbiddal to let their 
 voices be heard, for there is a passage in a previous Epistle 
 which implies that a woman duly qualified might pray or 
 prophesy in the assemblies of the saints, only with covered 
 head.* And the stress in the passage now before us is laid 
 on the duty of the Christian women to attire themselves 
 modestly, so as not to attract attention to themselves in the 
 * I Cor. xi. 5-15. 
 
2o8 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 congregation, but"; in a gentle and inobtrusive spirit to devote 
 themselves to good works. 
 
 Whatever might be allowed in regard to prophecy and 
 prayer, the rule is absolute that a woman may not teach or 
 rule in the Church. Of course she may preach or publish the 
 Gospel to " them that are without," under those conditions of 
 feminine propriety which nature itself suggests : she may also 
 teach her own sex and have authority over them and over 
 children ; but she may not teach publicly in the assembly of 
 saints, or " usurp authority over the man." 
 
 St. Paul supports this position by a sudden reference to the 
 origin of our race. The man was first formed, then the woman 
 to be his help-meet. The woman, not respecting the headship 
 which the Creator had placed in the man, acted for herself, 
 and so was deceived. The man was not deceived, but fell 
 through compliance with the wish of her whom he ought to 
 have guided and controlled. Nevertheless, salvation for the 
 woman, and for the man also, is " through her childbearing," 
 i.e. through that seed of the woman, the Child of the Virgin, 
 who has bruised the serpent's head. 
 
 III. Official Ministry (chaps, iii. iv.). — Two orders of official 
 ministers are recognised — bishops and deacons. Timothy 
 needed not to institute these, for there were bishops at Ephesus 
 several years before St. Paul left him there. When the 
 Apostle was on his voyage to Jerusalem, the elders of the 
 Ephesian Church met him at Miletus, and were addressed by 
 him as those whom "the Holy Ghost had made bishops." 
 There can be no doubt that a Church so well organised had 
 deacons also. 
 
 The superintending officers of the Church were bishops or 
 overseers. Every well-ordered congregation in primitive times 
 had its presbyter-bishops, ruling in love. The Apostle does 
 not, in this Epistle, lay down the authority for such an episco- 
 pate ; he refers to it as an office well known, and says that 
 whoso aspires to it, "desires a good work." But let such 
 
/. TIMOTHY. 
 
 209 
 
 aspirant give heed to the qualifications requisite. He " must 
 be blameless, husband of one wife (not having two or more 
 wives living),* sober, discreet, orderly, hospitable, apt to teach, 
 not given to wine, not a striker,! but mild, averse to fighting, 
 void of avarice, ruling well his own house, having his children 
 in subjection with all gravity ; not a neophyte." It will be 
 observed that all the requirements, with the single exception 
 of aptness to teach, are moral qualities, giving authority of 
 character, and commanding respect. The bishop might or 
 might not have much intellectual power ; but it was essential 
 that he should have moral weight, enjoy a good reputation in 
 society, and show the Christian people how they too ought to 
 behave themselves in the Church of God. 
 
 The second order of Church officers is that of deacons, who 
 are appointed, not for general oversight, but for kindly service 
 and the practical details of administration. Those also are 
 required to have a grave, unblemished, and unselfish character, 
 it being essential to their usefulness that they should enjoy the 
 respect and confidence of their brethren. Notice is also taken 
 of the qualities which the wives of the deacons ought to possess. 
 Of the wives of the elders nothing is said, because those officers 
 exercise authority which women may not share. But deacons 
 are occupied with matters of detail in gathering the offerings 
 of the Christian people and caring for the Church poor ; and 
 in such work their wives may be helpful or hurtful according 
 to the measure of their discretion. There were in primitive 
 times deaconesses, a female order which may with great advan- 
 tage be revived ; whereas there never were elderesses, or 
 bishopesses, because functions of church government may not 
 
 * "In the corrupt facility of divorce allowed both by Greek and Roman 
 law, it was very common for man and wife to separate, and marry other 
 parties during the life of one another. Thus a man might have three or 
 four living wives. We believe it is this kind of successive polygamy, rather 
 than simultaneous polygamy, which is here spoken of as disqualifying for 
 the presby terate. " — Conybeare in loc. See a good discussion of this regu- 
 lation in Fairbairn on the Pastoral Epistles, Appendix B. 
 
 t The clause, " not greedy of filthy lucre," appears to be an interpolation. 
 VOL. II. O 
 
210 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 be put into female hands ; the woman may not " usurp autho- 
 rity over the man." To restore and reorganise the ministry of 
 woman in the Church is one of the pressing duties of our 
 time ; but to place female pastors in charge of congregations, 
 as has been done by some eccentric people in America, is to 
 transgress all propriety, and to contradict the plainest instruc- 
 tions of Holy Writ. 
 
 The fourth chapter conveys a warning of dangers to come, 
 well fitted to quicken the vigilance of the bishops and deacons. 
 The Church of the living God, "the pillar and ground of the 
 truth," was to be assailed by pernicious errors : the mystery of 
 godliness to be opposed by "seducing spirits, and demoniac 
 teachings." St. Paul had told the Ephesian elders at Miletus 
 that, after his departure, grievous wolves would ravage the 
 flock, and perverse teachers should arise from among them- 
 selves. In this letter he returns to the same subject, and, 
 intimates, as by express revelation of the Spirit, "that in the 
 latter times some shall depart from the faith." Timothy 
 therefore was to be on his guard, and to put the brethren on 
 their guard against ascetical teachings suggested by seducing 
 spirits, which induced apostasy from the grace of God and from 
 the purity which is in Christ, 
 
 lY. Management of the Christian community (chaps, v., vi.).- 
 I. Of the elders. The qualifications of the elders as bishops 
 have been already described : now the Apostle speaks of the 
 deference with which they should be treated. Timothy him- 
 self was not to rebuke one of them ; and he might not receive 
 an accusation against an elder, except before witnesses, that 
 the character and influence of a ruler in the Church might not 
 be whispered away. 
 
 Much controversy has revolved round the following words : 
 
 " Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double 
 
 honour, especially those who labour in the word and teaching."* 
 
 The question is whether this sentence sanctions lay-elders (so 
 
 * Chap. V. 17. 
 
/. TIMOTHY. 21 r 
 
 called) to rule, and a clerical elder for preaching and teaching. 
 It seems to us that to found on these words a separation of 
 elders into two entirely different classes, is to put more strain 
 on the sentence than it will fairly bear. The distinctive func- 
 tion of all the elders in any congregation is to rule in truth 
 and love, to superintend and supervise the flock.. In the dis- 
 charge of this duty, they are to teach, and. so " feed the flock " 
 according to their opportunity and ability. But it is in harmony 
 both with Scripture and with common sense, and it is found 
 in practice most expedient, that one of the elders, by natural 
 adaptation, by special training,, and by spiritual endowment 
 more fitted than others to teach, should be charged with 
 the public instruction of the people, and occupy the Christian 
 pulpit. 
 
 2. Of godly women. " Entreat the elder women as mothers ; 
 the younger as sisters, with, all purity. Honour widows that are 
 widows indeed." How different this advice from the tyranny 
 of the secret confessional, at which the priest questions a woman 
 at his pleasure, and compels her to disclose to him every secret 
 of her mind ! How different too from that false ideal of a 
 religious life which forbids marriage and imposes on the young 
 cruel and unnatural vows, is the language of ^this wise Apostle ! 
 He assumes that religious women may marry ; lie expresses a 
 wish that the younger women should marry. There is not even 
 any objection to a widow marrying again. All that is reproved 
 in this passage is the conduct of a widow who, professing to be 
 weaned from all earthly pleasure, had devoted herself to the 
 service of the Church, and afterwards returned to the world in 
 a second marriage. To prevent the scandal of such cases, it is 
 directed that none should be enrolled among the Church widows 
 under the age of sixty years. 
 
 3. Of public rebuke. This duty is to be performed with 
 fidelity, and above all, with impartiality. It is also essential 
 that he who rebukes with authority be himself blameless. " Be 
 not partaker of other men's sins : keep thyself pure." But 
 words are added to show that purity does not require austerity, . 
 
212 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 — " Drink no longer water, but use a Kttle wine for thy stomach's 
 sake and thine often infirmities." 
 
 4. Of slaves. The early Christian Churches contained many 
 members, and even office-bearers, who were slaves,* and on their 
 behaviour the credit of the Christian name in no small degree 
 depended. Now our holy religion always was and is hostile to 
 human slavery, but it did not abruptly change the long estab- 
 lished relations of society ; it acted more slowly but surely in 
 its proper character as a directly moral and spiritual force, 
 producing, indirectly, great political and social effects. The 
 Apostle therefore would stir up no servile insurrection, but would 
 trust to the spread of a nobler faith and a more just and gentle 
 spirit for a permanent abolition of slavery. Timothy is to charge 
 the Christian bondmen and bondwomen not to bear themselves 
 proudly, or exhibit a rebellious temper before heathen masters, 
 lest prejudice should arise against the name and doctrine of 
 God. Such slaves as have Christian masters are not to behave 
 as though the spiritual liberty, equality, and fraternity in the 
 Church effaced the civil distinction previously existing. Slaves 
 are still to serve with patience and with due respect, trusting 
 to the influence of the Gospel in ameliorating their condition, 
 and sooner or later putting an end to that system of bondage 
 which was unjust in itself and mischievous in its influence on 
 public and private morals, but which, being long and deeply 
 rooted all over the Roman Empire, could not be safely eradicated 
 in a day. 
 
 The principle here laid down, so characteristic of the practical 
 moderation and sagacity of St. Paul, is capable of application 
 even where slavery has ceased. It condemns a tendency some- 
 times shown to make church-fellowship a pretext for social 
 disrespect, and a warrant for a sort of intrusive familiarity. 
 The Apostle admires meekness and patience in those who are 
 
 * Pliny, in his famous letter to the Enjperor Trajan, regarding the 
 Christians in Bithynia, reports his having put two female slaves to the 
 torture, who were *' said to ofiBciate in their religious functions." Very 
 likely they were deaconesses. 
 
/. TIMOTHY, 213 
 
 placed at an earthly disadvantage ; and, without discouraging 
 aspiration and progress, gives high praise to a virtue which is 
 now rather out of fashion — contentment. " Godliness with 
 contentment is great gain." 
 
 5. Of injury to the Church from covetousness : After all, it 
 was a natural and reasonable desire which burned in the heart 
 of the slave — the longing to be free. But there is another 
 desire which goes to a most unreasonable extreme, and in all 
 times has wrought great damage to human souls — the craving 
 to be rich. So the Apostle Paul speaks out very distinctly on 
 this point : " They who aim at being rich fall into temptation 
 and a snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown 
 men in destruction and perdition."* Then follows a saying 
 which is very often inaccurately quoted: "A root of all evils 
 is the love of money." Who has not seen this in actual life ? 
 Avarice, engrossing the heart, exerts an injurious effect on the 
 whole character, hardens and narrows the affections, and tends 
 to make men timid, mean, tyrannical, and suspicious. The man 
 of God is happy who sets his heart on better treasure, " righteous- 
 ness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." 
 
 Keturning to this subject (chap. vi. 17), St. Paul shows that 
 it is not the possession of riches which he condemns, but the 
 greedy love of them. No doubt there were some, though not 
 many, rich men among the Christians at Ephesus, and in other 
 large cities, even at this early period. Timothy was to exhort 
 them to (i.) humility of mind; (2.) faith in the living God, 
 who is the rich Giver ; and (3.) open-handed beneficence. And 
 further, to assist in overcoming the resistance of selfishness, it 
 is added that a right use of riches here, in good actions dictated 
 by good motives, will have recompense of reward in the life to 
 come. When the avaricious are by their own actions sunk in 
 destruction and perdition, the M^ell-doers and generous givers lay 
 hold on eternal life. 
 
 A final charge to Timothy brings the letter to a close. He 
 is to hold fast the Gospel truth, and shun the errors, subtleties, 
 * " Tristis gradatio," remarks Bengel. 
 
214 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and boastings which are already preparing that plague of 
 Gnosticism, which so long and so seriously infested the early 
 Church. 
 
 It is not within our plan to dwell on particular sayings or 
 texts ; but a reader of this Epistle will find it full of memorabilia* 
 Many of its phrases are household words in the Church ; and 
 some of its compact expressions have found their way into the 
 minds of. persons who seldom, if ever, read the Bible. 
 
 There are words in this book for all classes and all uses ; but, 
 as a whole, it is intended for the study of Christian ministers, 
 and other thoughtful men. Indeed, there are very few Church 
 questions on which this apostolic letter does not cast some 
 valuable light. 
 
 As we read the Book, we perceive it to have been written 
 throughout under a profound sense of the majesty of God. He 
 is lauded as "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only 
 wise God." He is " the blessed and only Potentate, the King 
 of kings, the Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling 
 in the light which no man can approach unto." In the same 
 adoring temper of mind should the Epistle be perused and 
 pondered. We shall understand it best when we are ourselves 
 profoundly impressed with the hope of the coming of Christ, 
 and the thought of the majesty of God. "To whom be honour 
 and power everlasting. Amen." 
 
 * See chap. i. 5, 15 ; ii. 5.; iii. 16 ; yi. 6, 10, 12. 
 
( 215 ) 
 
 //. TIMOTHY. 
 
 When we hear of the death of a cherished friend, we are glad 
 that we have preserved his last letter to us ; and its contents 
 seem all the more weighty and precious that we can hear from 
 him no more. Before us is the last letter extant of that 
 powerful letter-writer, the Apostle Paul. It proceeded from him 
 during his second imprisonment at Rome, and shortly before 
 his martyrdom, which occurred a.d. 67 or 68. Addressed to 
 Timothy, his child in the faith, and companion in labour, it is full 
 of fatherly kindness, and breathes throughout a grave and tender 
 spirit. Its object is to inform Timothy of the dangers which 
 now threatened the Apostle, to fortify his courage, and to bid 
 him come shortly to his now aged friend, bringing Mark with 
 him from the East. 
 
 In reading this letter, we are struck by four particulars in 
 which Paul the servant was made like his Lord. 
 
 I. The sense of loneliness. As the Lord Jesus at the end of 
 His career was left alone, all His disciples having forsaken Him 
 and fled, so was Paul in his last sufferings alone. Ko disciple 
 or friend ventured to stand with him before the cruel Emperor. 
 " At my first defence no man took my part, but all forsook me." 
 Nevertheless, there was consolation for the forsaken one. As 
 the Master said, *' The Father is with Me," so the servant said, 
 " The Lord stood by me, and strengthened me." * 
 
 During St. Paul's first detention at Rome, he suffered Httle 
 more than restraint, and was freely visited by Christian brethren, 
 But on the occasion of his second imprisonment, those who 
 * John xvi, 32 ; 2 Tim. iv. 16, 17. 
 
2i6 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 identified themselves with him dreaded, or actually incurred, 
 personal danger. On the Jews and Christians indiscriminately 
 lay at that time a culumnious charge of having set fire to the 
 city of Rome ; and St. Paul, as a Jew by birth, and a ringleader 
 of the obnoxious Christians, was in a very critical position. In 
 the circumstances, few of the brethren had sufficient courage to 
 acknowledge or visit him. All the Asiatic Christians at Rome, 
 afraid to compromise themselves, turned away from the Apostle. 
 Two of these are named ; and in contrast with them is mentioned 
 one faithful friend, who was probably an Ephesian — Onesiphorus, 
 who, all the more that he knew the perilous condition of St. 
 Paul, diligently sought him out, and refreshed his spirit.* 
 
 The Apostle felt it a hardship to be in bonds as a male- 
 factor ; t and peculiarly trying to his affectionate nature to be 
 deserted, or, at all events, unvisited by his brethren in the Lord. 
 Demas, who had been a companion during the first imprisonment, 
 had now forsaken him, "having loved this present world." It 
 is not meant that he had renounced Christianity; but he was 
 not sufficiently weaned from the world to associate at all risks 
 with the apostolic prisoner ; and, intent on his own comfort, he 
 departed to safe quarters in Thessalonica. The faithful Tychicus 
 had been sent by the Apostle himself to Ephesus; and other 
 friends were scattered. Still Paul was not quite alone. There 
 were those who sympathised and communed with him ; and 
 four of these receive honourable mention, viz., Eubulus, Pudens, 
 Linus, and Claudia. But the only close companion of the 
 venerable sufferer was that " beloved Physician," who ranks 
 among the most important of the New Testament writers. 
 " Only Luke is with me." Then the Apostle, with that keen 
 love of friendly companionship which distinguished him, desired 
 the presence of Timothy and of John Mark too, for, as we have 
 noticed in the Epistle to the Colossians, though the latter of 
 these had once been the occasion of disagreement with Barnabas, 
 he had grown in the esteem of St. Paul, who had found him 
 *' profitable in ministry." 
 
 * Chap. i. 15-18. t Chap. ii. 19. 
 
II. TIMOTHY, 217 
 
 Excepting always Jesus Christ, our perfect Example, there 
 never lived a man who presented a finer combination of tender- 
 ness and courage than the Apostle of the Gentiles. Himself a 
 warm friend, he appreciated the friendship of others. He loved 
 the company of good men and the sympathy of good women ; 
 and with proportional acuteness he was pained by the desertion 
 of his former associates. As he drew near the end of his course, 
 he longed to have with him the familiar faces of old friends. 
 But no abandonment by weak and timid brethren could bate 
 one jot of his courage as a witness for the Lord. Alone and 
 undaunted he stood before the Emperor. No matter what might 
 befall him, he felt assured that the Lord Jesus would deliver 
 him from every evil work, and preserve him " unto His heavenly 
 kingdom." * 
 
 IL The contemplation of martyrdom. 
 
 We have always regarded it as enhancing the self-devoting 
 love of Christ, that He clearly foresaw His death at Jerusalem ; 
 and, far from shunning it, thought of it, spoke of it, and re- 
 solutely went up to meet it. Something like this we trace in 
 His servant Paul. He knew that bonds and imprisonment 
 awaited him in every city, and he went from city to city to 
 endure them. At last, as " Paul the aged," he sees death draw 
 near — cruel death — with opprobrium and violence ; and he 
 betrays no shrinking. He also is to suffer for the elect's sake, 
 though not as an atonement. He is cheered by "the joy set 
 before him," and looks through sufferings to the bright reward.t 
 
 What conformity to Christ ! Whether on a journey or at 
 rest, at liberty or in bonds, in enforced silence or in the place 
 of testimony, St. Paul lives not to himself ; and he cannot die 
 to himself. He lives for the cause of the Lord Jesus and the 
 good of His people : and for these ends he is not unwilling to 
 die. 
 
 Wliat good hope, too, in Christ! "If we suffer, we shall 
 also reign with Him." The venerable man does not conceal 
 * Chap. iv. 18. t Chap. ii. 10. 
 
2i8 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 from himself that this imprisonment will end in martyrdom ; 
 and is not sorry to think that his struggle is nearly over, and 
 his work almost done. " I am already being poured out " — a 
 willing sacrifice for Christ and the Church (ffTivdo/j,ai), "and the 
 time of my departure is at hand. The good strife I have striven ; 
 the race I have completed; the faith I have preserved." So 
 much he can say looking back, and enjoying the testimony of a 
 good conscience. Looking forward, he troubles not himself 
 about the manner of his death. Will it be by the cross, by the 
 wild beasts, or by the sword 1 Little it matters to the saint. 
 Far beyond death he looks to the day of the appearing of Jesus 
 Christ. That unjust judge, the Roman Emperor, may sentence 
 him to die; but no manner of death can strike terror into a 
 man who sees afar off the Righteous Judge conferring upon him 
 a crown of righteousness, and not on him only, but on all the 
 faithful servants who love their Lord's appearing."* 
 
 Ill The foresight of evil. Through this Epistle runs a vein 
 of sadness as regards the progress of error and degeneracy among 
 the Christians. There are urgent warnings against unprofitable 
 logomachies and profane babblings; and men are indicated 
 whose teaching would eat like a gangrene into the life of the 
 Church, t 
 
 Here, again, the servant is like his Lord. Jesus Christ before 
 His death predicted many sorrows, the rise of false prophets, the 
 abounding of iniquity, the unwatchfulness of servants, and the 
 exclusion of foolish virgins from the palace of the King. In 
 like manner, St. Paul before his death foretells perilous times, 
 the exorbitant selfishness and wilfulness of men, their impatience 
 of healthy doctrine, and heaping up of teachers " after their 
 own lusts." 
 
 Is it asked, When shall these things be ? The prophecy casts 
 its dark shadow over a large proportion of what is called Church 
 
 * Chap. iv. 6-8. 
 
 t Hymenaeus and Philetus, in their view of the resurrection, appear to 
 have been forerunners of Swedenborg. 
 
11. TIMOTHY. 219 
 
 history. Such history, notwithstanding its noble records of 
 missionary heroism, covers a melancholy progress in degeneracy 
 of life and apostasy from the truth. Theodoret, in the fifth 
 century, wrote on this part of the Epistle — " I think that it is 
 our time which is here predicted. For our life is full of these 
 evils ; and, while we bear about us an aspect of - piety, it is the 
 image of wickedness which we produce by our works." Over 
 and over again have the words of St. Paul been applied to periods 
 of moral confusion and decay, and these have been pronounced 
 to be emphatically " the perilous times." "Would that the times 
 were past ! Our fear is that the prediction is not yet exhausted. 
 In so far as civilisation is not pervaded and controlled by a 
 belief of the truth, and a sense of responsibility to God, its 
 tendency is to increase ingenious selfishness ; and there is danger 
 of a generation of men being produced more wilful, boastful, 
 pleasure-loving, and proud, than the world has yet seen, ready 
 to hoot down the healthy doctrine of the Gospel, and to cast off 
 with scorn all religious restraint. The very possibility of such 
 a danger ought to incite faithful servants of Christ to " preach 
 the word ; be instant in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, 
 exhort with all longsufi'ering and teaching.""^ 
 
 ly. The exhortation to fidelity. 
 
 The Lord Jesus, before He sufi'ered, encouraged His disciples 
 to bear the hatred of the world, and exclusion from the syna- 
 gogues for His name ; and He exhorted them to love as brethren, 
 and to stand firm as witnesses. St. Paul pursues the same 
 strain. He is quite aware of the progress already made by false 
 doctrine, notwithstanding all his efforts to prevent it, and he 
 has prevision, in the Spirit, of heavier evils to come ; but he 
 will not give up the battle while he lives, nor advise his friends 
 to cease from the conflict as a hopeless one. St. Paul would 
 be ashamed of those brethren in modern times who recoil into 
 mere individualism, and sit with long faces in quiet chambers, 
 deploring the ruins of Christendom. Himself a soldier who 
 * Chap. iv. 2. 
 
220 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 had fought a good fight, he will persevere in training good 
 soldiers of Christ, and sending them out to the battle. He 
 seeks to brace the courage of Timothy to suffer along with him 
 for the Gospel, to hold fast the form of sound words received by 
 him from apostolic lips, to keep the good deposit entrusted to 
 him, committing it again to faithful men ; to endure hardness 
 as a good soldier ; to show himself " to God approved, a work- 
 man not ashamed ; " to " watch in all things, endure afflictions, 
 do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of the ministry."* 
 The Epistle is in this respect a strong tonic from a wise 
 physician. It is the blast of a trumpet blown by a veteran 
 hero. 
 
 Consider the motives and encouragements with which St. 
 Paul urges his son Timothy to be faithful and brave. 
 
 I. The gift of God in him, the y^dotsfia. bestowed on him 
 through the imposition of the Apostle's hands. This was his 
 spiritual endowment for service, and it was his duty to stir or 
 kindle it into lively action ; nay, the Spirit of God rested on 
 him, and he was to keep the doctrine and charge entrusted to 
 him " by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." As for the 
 deposit committed to St. Paul, he knew that the Lord was able 
 to keep it; and Timothy should rely for the keeping of his 
 " deposit " on the Spirit of the Lord, f 
 
 It is also shown to Timothy that the spirit given to the 
 servants of Christ is not one of " cowardice," | shrinking from 
 the duty of testimony because of the risk or contempt which it 
 may incur. On the contrary, it is the spirit of (i.) Power from 
 on high ; sufficiency which is of God, ability in Christ, power 
 to speak or be silent, as duty to the Lord may require ; power 
 of endurance, and power of resistance ; power for fighting the 
 battle and for running the race ; (2.) and love, seeking not its 
 own — love which tends to cast out fear, and, more than any 
 other influence, nerves to arduous toils and perilous enterprises — 
 love in the truth, which makes the Christian calm and strong ; 
 and (3.) a sound mind, represented in the Greek original by 
 
 * Chap. iv. 5. t Chap. i. 12, 14. X Chap. i. 7. 
 
//. TIMOTHY. 221 
 
 one word which occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. 
 It denotes sobriety of mind, capable of self-correction and self- 
 control; a well-schooled and well-balanced mind, that sees 
 things in their just proportions and relations, and avoiding 
 narrowness, feverishness, and exaggeration, moves on with 
 vigour in the paths of duty. 
 
 2. The certainty of Christian doctrine, as founded on the 
 ancient Scriptures. The false teachers erred, because they knew 
 not the Scriptures, and could not recognise the harmony be- 
 tween those writings and the apostolic testimony. Timothy, 
 on the contrary, knew the Scriptures from childhood under 
 maternal instruction ; and, when he heard from St. Paul the 
 testimony of the Gospel, the youth grasped it as the key to the 
 Old Testament, and rejoiced. All his previous studies were 
 illuminated in the light of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Then far be it from him to swerve from the truth ! Let him 
 remember the apostolic testimony, and abide therein. Let him 
 continue to search the Scriptures ; for the study, good for a 
 child, is also perfecting to a man of God. " Every Scripture 
 theopneustic is also profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, 
 and discipline which is in righteousness, that the man of God 
 may be complete, throughly furnished for every good work."* 
 
 3. The approval of the good Master during the time of 
 service. A soldier is separated from ordinary civil life to serve 
 the crown. Timothy is admonished that a soldier of Christ is 
 separated to His service, and ought to think only of pleasing 
 Him. It is not for the warrior on a campaign to study his 
 own comfort and convenience. "No soldier on service en- 
 tangleth himself in the affairs of (civil) life, in order that he 
 may please him who hath enrolled him." To the same effect 
 is the language regarding "a workman not ashamed," but 
 " approved to God," and " a vessel for honour, sanctified, 
 serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work." f 
 
 4. The expectation of the Lord's appearing. As in all his 
 writings, that *' great day " is here kept steadily in the Apostle's 
 
 * Chap. iii. 16, 17. + Chap. ii. 4, 15, 21. 
 
222 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 view. The sacred deposit is to be kept "against that day," 
 when it is to be accounted for. St. Paul cannot reward Onesi- 
 phorus for his kindness, but desires for him the Lord's mercy 
 "in that day." He cannot control "Alexander the copper- 
 smith," but the Lord will deal with that man " according to his 
 works." He expects for himself a day of death or departure, 
 but he looks for a crown of righteousness " at that day," when 
 death shall be swallowed up in victory. 
 
 The charge to Timothy is very solemn : " Before God and 
 Christ Jesus, who shall judge living and dead, and by His 
 epiphany and His kingdom." * There is something here to stir 
 every mind. Prepare, man, to meet thy God ! Bow down, 
 sinner, at the feet of Christ Jesus, now unseen, but present 
 to save ; or, when He appears, thou shalt be driven from Him 
 into darkness. Watch and pray, believer; for thou knowest 
 not the day or the hour wherein the Lord shall come. Work 
 on, patient servant, in the hope of His appearing ! If thou 
 suffer with Him, thou shalt reign with Him. If thou labour 
 for Him, thou shalt rest with Him. Finally, for those exercising, 
 like Timothy, a public ministry, let much prayer be made, that 
 they may obey the precepts here delivered by the Apostle Paul, 
 as with his dying breath — 
 
 By day and night strict guard to keep, 
 To warn the sinner, cheer the saint, 
 Nourish His lambs, and feed His sheep. 
 
 Chap. iv. I, 
 
( 223 ) 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 Of Titus we know little; but this circumstance does not 
 materially affect the value to us of the Epistle wliich was 
 addressed to him by St. Paul. Like the first letter to Timothy, 
 it is clothed with an official rather than a personal character. 
 
 In the Acts of the Apostles Titus is not mentioned ; but we 
 learn from Gal. ii. that he was with Paul and Barnabas 
 when they went to Jerusalem on the question of Gentile 
 exemption from circumcision. He was a Greek, and was not 
 circumcised.* Indeed, of all the fellow-labourers of St. Paul he 
 appears to have been the one most disconnected with Judaism. 
 Timothy was of semi- Jewish origin, and was circumcised ; Luke 
 was probably a pure Gentile, but appears to have been a Jewish 
 proselyte before he became a Christian ; but Titus came straight 
 from Gentile heathenism into the Church of God. 
 
 This we know, that Titus was much employed by St. Paul on 
 special missions, and possessed his full confidence as a man of 
 prudence and energy. On that journey to the East, which 
 intervened between his first and second Roman imprisonments, 
 the Apostle, having left Timothy at Ephesus, left Titus also in 
 Crete, to represent his authority and complete the organisation 
 of the Church. To the island of Crete the Gospel must have 
 been carried soon after the day of Pentecost; for among the 
 Jews and proselytes then present in Jerusalem, and addressed 
 by the Apostle Peter, some are said to have been " Cretans." 
 
 * Dr. Farrar thinks otherwise, and gives his reasons in his Life and 
 Work of St. Paul, vol i. pp. 412-420. But the great preponderance of 
 opinion, ancient and modern, is against him. We are fortified in our 
 judgment by Bishop Lightfoot's Commentary on GaL ii. 3-5. 
 
224 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 About thirty years after, when Paul left Titus there, the Gospel 
 was spread throughout the island. There was a congregation in 
 every city ; and ancient Crete was famous for the number of its 
 cities. It was the Apostle's wish that Titus should perfect the 
 ecclesiastical order of those congregations ; acting, not as a 
 prelate, for prelates were not yet known, but as an apostolic 
 commissary to organise and adjust. 
 
 The letter of instructions now before us was written in all 
 probability a few months after the first Epistle to Timothy. It 
 is brief in form and condensed in style. It deals mainly with 
 practical matters, but also contains two very precious statements 
 of salvation by grace. 
 
 The designation of the Apostle in the opening of his letter is 
 full and striking. He writes as ** a servant of God and apostle of 
 Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect." He is no mere 
 exponent of religious opinion, but teaches that righteousness of 
 God in the Gospel which was revealed from faith to faith. He 
 is also occupied with " the full knowledge of the truth which is 
 according to godliness." The expression is well chosen, for it 
 is an invariable mark of divine truth that it promotes goodness 
 in those who with their hearts receive it. With this he has 
 " hope of eternal life, which God, who lies not, promised before 
 eternal times." Already that life is possessed by believers in 
 Jesus Christ, for it is the gift of God ; but they still hope for 
 its full fruition, perfection, and manifestation, according to the 
 good confidence expressed in another Epistle : " When Christ, 
 who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him 
 in glory. ""^ 
 
 I. The instructions of the Apostle to Titus relate — 
 
 1. To the superintendence of congregations. 
 
 2. To the exhortations proper to be addressed to various 
 classes in the Cliurch. 
 
 I. Superintendence or episcopate. It is impressed upon Titus 
 that a Church without elders is defective in its appointments ; 
 * Col. iii. 4. 
 
TITUS. 225 
 
 and he is directed to ordain such officers in every city of Crete. 
 Nothing can be more clear than that the Apostle regarded the 
 order of presbyters as that which is universally and permanently 
 required in the Church for pastoral superintendence, and that 
 he knew no distinction between presbyters and bishops. While 
 directing the ordination of the former, he thus describes their 
 qualifications : " If any be blameless — for a bishop must be 
 blameless, as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry," 
 &c. (chap. i. 5-9). 
 
 But " lay elders," many will say, cannot surely be bishops. 
 We know nothing of lay elders : but if what are meant are elders 
 engaged in worldly professions and trades, it is surely obvious 
 that most if not all of the primitive elders were of that class. 
 A newly-formed Christian congregation did not support all its 
 elders as a clergy. It was enough that men of good repute 
 among the Christian people were ordained to take the oversight 
 of them in the Lord. They sustained themselves as before, and 
 tended the flock of God as they had opportunity, and according 
 to the gift bestowed on each. These were the bishops. We 
 grant that many details of ecclesiastical administration may be 
 left to be regulated according to the course of events and the state 
 of Christian society : we believe it to be eminently expedient 
 that public teachers and preachers should be set quite free from 
 secular business and care, in order to give all their time and 
 strength to sacred study and church work : but we are at a loss 
 to see why any other episcopate should be wanted now than that 
 of elders ordained in every city, and combined together for the 
 general welfare of the Church throughout an island, a province, 
 or a kingdom. 
 
 The qualifications of presbyter-bishops are prescribed to Titus 
 in much the same manner as formerly to Timothy. Stress is 
 laid on temper and character ; the only intellectual condition 
 being that of aptness to teach and handle the faithful word. 
 It was indispensable that the bishops should show a good 
 example to the flock. It was also well that they should be 
 competent to instruct and exhort the brethren within their 
 
 VOL. II. P 
 
226 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 district or charge, and so to use the word of the Lord as to 
 convince gainsayers. 
 
 The appointment of such superintendents of the congregations 
 in Crete was all the more necessary because of the character of 
 the opposition to the Gospel on that island. There were many 
 vain talkers and deceivers, chiefly of Jewish origin, who from 
 corrupt and avaricious motives ingratiated themselves with 
 unsuspicious families, and by their teachings in the houses of 
 the people subverted the Christian faith. This was the more 
 to be deplored because the natural character of the Cretans was 
 such as to facilitate the pernicious devices of those teachers. 
 The Apostle quotes a line from the old poet Epimenides, who 
 lived in Crete 600 B.C., and described the people as false, fierce, 
 (^?j|/a), and gluttonous. The Gospel as the power of God was 
 quite able to elevate and purify even such a population, but the 
 deceitful and coarse character of the inhabitants made the task 
 a difficult one, and gave advantage to those who disturbed the 
 peace of the Churches and corrupted Christian life. Therefore 
 was it needful that elders should be ordained to watch over the 
 congregations, and put those vain talkers to silence ; needful 
 too that Titus himself should severely correct those of the 
 Christians in Crete who had been "giving heed to Jewish 
 fables, and commandments of men that turn from the 
 truth."* 
 
 A death-blow to the errors of the false teachers is dealt in 
 the memorable statement, " Unto the pure all things are pure ; 
 but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure ; 
 but both their mind and conscience are defiled." A saying this 
 liable to serious abuse if it be pressed too far and taken by itself, 
 without other teachings of the Apostle regarding the things 
 which must be absolutely shunned ; but a saying which, rightly 
 apprehended and applied, is as an axe laid to the root of the 
 whole theory of purification by externalism and ceremonial. 
 It is a clean heart that is wanted. An evil heart pours out 
 defilement over everything — a clean heart purifies all that it 
 * Chap. i. 14. 
 
TITUS. 227 
 
 approaches, and shakes off the taint of moral infection and 
 decay. 
 
 2. Exhortations fit to be addressedto various classes in the 
 Church. — Titus is charged to "speak things in harmony with 
 the healthy instruction " * of the Gospel. There is no need to 
 descant on these. The admonitions are quite plain and prac- 
 tical, and call not for comment, but for obedience. 
 
 AVhat aged saints should be, both men and women, is first 
 told. Then what the younger saints should be, both young 
 women and young men — emphasis being laid on steadiness and 
 sobriety of mind, as bearing promise of a discreet and honour- 
 able career. Titus, being himself a young man in comparison 
 with Paul, is charged to practise as well as preach, and to com- 
 bine good works with doctrine incorrupt. 
 
 Knowing the restless, intractable nature of the population of 
 Crete, the Apostle adds a special admonition to those of the 
 Christians there who were slaves. They are to be subject to 
 the masters to whom they belong by law and usage, and to 
 beware of contradicting and of purloining. It is a beautiful 
 thought, and one which must have been most consolatory to 
 the slaves in Crete, whom public opinion regarded as little 
 above cattle, that they by patience and fidelity, even in their 
 condition of life, might actually " adorn the doctrine of God 
 their Saviour." 
 
 Titus was also to exhort the Christians to beware of insub- 
 ordination to the government. Magistracy is an ordinance of 
 God ; and His people, while fully at liberty, and even under 
 obligation, to alter and reform in all constitutional ways what- 
 ever is amiss in the social and political state of the country in 
 which they dwell, are bound by the highest considerations of 
 religious duty to respect government, to love peace, to pay 
 tribute, and show that honour for rulers and judges which is 
 an essential element and safeguard of human civilisation. 
 
 II. Evangelical motives to holiness and nieehiess. — These 
 * Chap. ii. I. 
 
228 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 are powerfully stated in two notable passages of this 
 Epistle. 
 
 In both of til em the salvation proclaimed in the Gospel is 
 shown to be of God. And it is characteristic of the Pastoral 
 Epistles to refer saviourship to God (i Tim. i. i, ii. 3, iv. 
 10; Tit, i. 3, ii. 10, iii. 4). As Paul grew old, the thought 
 of the love of God loomed larger to him, as it does to all ex- 
 perienced Christians. 
 
 I. Of the first of these passages (chap. ii. 11-14) it has been 
 well said, that it "is one of the loca classica for biblical 
 theology, and one of the comparatively few places in the 
 Pastoral Epistles which furnish important contributions to our 
 knowledge of the doctrinal system of Paul. We here find 
 most perfectly fused together, and penetrating each, faith and 
 life, doctrine and duty, theory and practice." * The passage 
 runs thus : " The grace of God, salvatory to all men, hath 
 appeared, training us to the intent that we, denying ungodli- 
 ness and worldly lusts, may live soberly and justly and piously 
 in this present world, waiting for the blessed hope and mani- 
 festation of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us 
 from all iniquity, and purify to Himself a treasure-people, 
 zealous of good works." Thus everything in salvation is moved 
 by the grace of God, which not only rescues men from con- 
 demnation, but gives them a new aim in life, turning them 
 from sin to righteousness. By the action of grateful motive 
 and the operation of the Holy Spirit, grace persuades, impels, 
 and educates to a new life of sobriety as respects self, justice 
 towards others, piety towards God above. 
 
 This new life is no dull or melancholy thing. It has a 
 blessed hope. It is indeed impelled by one epiphany of Christ, 
 and attracted by another. From the first in grace, it has its 
 motive and instruction ; toward the second in glory it stretches 
 forward, and, in the hope of that glory, it is cheered and puri- 
 fied. We are schooled to moderation in all things by the 
 * Dr. Van Oosterzee in Lange's Comment, 
 
TITUS. 229 
 
 thought that the Lord is at hand. We are kept from fainting 
 in the trial of our faith by the assurance that it will be " found 
 unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus 
 Christ." We turn away from sin, because we look for that 
 Saviour who gave Himself for us in order to deliver and cleanse 
 us from all evil. We are His treasure-people, not our own, 
 and He will come to claim us. Therefore we are under the 
 strongest obligation and inducement to be "zealous of good 
 works." 
 
 Such was the doctrine of salvation taught by St. Paul, and 
 committed to Titus. They do not teach as the Apostle taught 
 who proclaim redemption from punishment, and scarcely touch 
 on redemption from iniquity. Neither do they who throw the 
 second advent of our Lord into the background, or say that it 
 is equivalent to the day of our death, or treat it as a point of 
 secondary importance and doubtful disputation. On the con- 
 trary, the hope of His appearing is a mighty instrument of 
 practical discipline and purifying in the Christian life and 
 patience. 
 
 2. With a view to commend meekness, gentleness, and 
 lowliness of heart, St. Paul would have the Christians remem- 
 ber how much they themselves had needed forbearance from 
 men and compassion from God. He sketches in dark colours 
 their former sinful state, and then dilates on the fulness of the 
 salvation which had come to them from the Divine " kindness 
 and philanthropy " (chap. iii. 4-7). There was no ground of 
 self-boasting. Works of man's righteousness had no part in 
 the matter. According to His own mercy, in which He de- 
 lights, not even according to man's thoughts of or cries for 
 mercy, but according to the mercy itself, deep and boundless, 
 God has saved us. 
 
 In saving us, God purifies and quickens us in " the laver of 
 regeneration," of which the laver in the court of the tabernacle 
 was a visible eign in Israel, and the laver of baptism is a visible 
 sign in the Church. This is followed up by " the renewing of 
 the Holy Ghost " developing and confirming the regeneration in 
 
230- SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 character and life. It is the great feature of our dispensation 
 that the Holy Ghost is " shed on us abundantly through Jesus 
 Christ our Saviour." Under the teaching of the Spirit we are 
 brought into a new position and a new consolation : (i.) Justi- 
 fication by grace ; (2.) heirship with Christ according to the 
 hope of eternal life. 
 
 The inference from this is, that they who have obtained such 
 mercy ought to show mercy. They who are forgiven should 
 forgive. They who have been saved through the Divine kind- 
 ness ought to be " gentle, showing all meekness unto all men." 
 Nay, the Apostle desires Titus to dwell much and frequently on 
 these evangelical truths, in order to induce believers to be 
 fruitful in good works. Many questions and disputes are 
 " unprofitable and vain," but the truths of salvation by grace 
 *' are good and profitable unto men." 
 
 The Epistle closes with a few personal messages and an 
 affectionate greeting. We hear for the first time of "Zenas 
 the lawyer ; " and it is pleasant to think of the union in Christ 
 of what are called the learned professions, when Zenas the 
 .lawyer and Luke the physician met with Paul the theologian 
 and preacher. Apollos is again mentioned, and it is evident 
 that he was a man of mark in the Greek Churches of the 
 period. Though he began his ministry with defective views, 
 he had been wise enough to listen to instruction ; he had there- 
 fore become an effective missionary, and was esteemed and 
 valued by the Apostle Paul to the end of his career. 
 
 Expressions used in the end of this letter indicate to us a 
 duty for which the evangelistic activity of our own time may 
 furnish frequent opportunity. It is that of helping and for- 
 warding missionaries, " so that nothing be wanting to them." 
 Let our Churches not only be ordered after the apostolic direc- 
 tions, and instructed in the apostolic doctrine, but also con- 
 siderate and generous in furthering the propagation of the 
 Gospel ; and then the benediction which St. Paul pronounces 
 on the faithful in Crete will fall on them also, — " Grace be with 
 you all." 
 
( 231 ) 
 
 PHILEMON, 
 
 What is before us is a private letter from St. Paul to a Chris- 
 tian gentleman of Colosse; and we rejoice to find him the 
 same man in private communications as in public addresses and 
 epistles. We recognise the courteous manner, the ardent 
 mind, the devout Christ-exalting spirit. Timothy is joined 
 with Paul in the salutation, but throughout the letter it is the 
 Apostle only who speaks. 
 
 The occasion of the Epistle is easily gathered from its con- 
 tents. Philemon was a man of position, who had been con- 
 verted to the Christian faith under St. Paul's ministry, probably 
 during the stay of the Apostle at Ephesus, for he had never 
 visited Colosse. Apphia, so cordially greeted along with 
 Philemon (ver. 2), was doubtless his wife; and Archippus, 
 named not here only but also in the Epistle to the Colossians,* 
 a son or other near relative. The house was resorted to for 
 Christian worship ; for Paul and Timothy send greeting to the 
 Church in the house. 
 
 Among the household slaves was one named Onesimus, by 
 birth a Colossian.t He was not a Christian; and, giving way 
 to the temptation to " purloin," % which must have been 
 strongly felt by slaves who had no rights of property, he de- 
 frauded his master and absconded. He bent his steps to Rome, 
 where he might easily escape detection among the multitudes 
 who thronged the capital of the world. Arrived there, he 
 found the impunity he sought, and probably enjoyed a little 
 time of idleness and riotous living, while he squandered his 
 
 * Chap. iv. 17. t "Who is from you."— Col. iv. 9. X Titus ii. lo. 
 
232 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 booty; but his money came to an end, and when the brief 
 madness of his indulgence was over, and the companions of 
 wasteful hours had deserted him, Onesimus was left alone with 
 an empty purse and an unquiet conscience. 
 
 St. Paul was then in Rome, suffering his first imprisonment. 
 He was under the care of a soldier who was responsible for his 
 custody, but was allowed to live in "his own hired house." 
 The house, in all likelihood, was some such hut as the Emperor s 
 minions and freedmen occupied in the neighbgurhood of the 
 palace ; but it was the " St. Paul's Cathedral " of the time, and 
 many resorted to it for instruction and fellowship. We have 
 already been informed that Paul "received all that came in 
 unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those 
 things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.""^ 
 
 To this house Onesimus repaired in his distress. It may 
 have been that he went in, as by accident, but more probably 
 he went because he knew that this Paul was the very preacher 
 through whom his master had become a Christian, and he had 
 been wont to hear his name mentioned in Philemon's house 
 with veneration and esteem. St. Paul, on the contrary, knew 
 nothing of him or of his history, but preached to him, as to all 
 comers, the Gospel of the blessed God. While he did so, the 
 Spirit of the Lord opened the heart of this hearer, so that he 
 was begotten again of the word of truth ; for the Apostle writes 
 of him as " my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my 
 bonds." 
 
 How the grace of God follows the unwortliy ! Onesimus had 
 possessed in Colosse every advantage for learning the Christian 
 doctrine, but he learned it not. He then loved the darkness 
 rather than the light. But the good Lord willed not that he 
 should perish; and the grace which he refused at Colosse 
 followed him to Rome, found him, and prevailed with him 
 there. If his master had given him up as a worthless and 
 wicked man, the Lord had not given him up. But, as his 
 master was a Christian, we shall rather suppose that he prayed 
 * Acts xxviii. 30, 31. 
 
PHILEMON. 233 
 
 for the man wlio had despitefully used him ; and if so, it ^vas 
 in answer to such prayer that Onesimiis was guided to Paul's 
 house in Kome, and thus brought under the power of the truth 
 as it is in Jesus. 
 
 Not his sin only Avas shown to the runaway, but also the 
 blood of Christ that acquits and cleanses from all sin. The 
 Apostle preached forgiveness of sins, and the sinner before him 
 received it in faith. His heart was thus <' sprinkled from an 
 evil conscience," and the man became a new creature, raised to 
 a new position in Christ, filled with new desires, and fitted for 
 new fellowship. The slave became a freedman of Christ. The 
 runaway became a brother beloved of an Apostle and of saints. 
 So pleased with him was St. Paul that he would gladly have 
 retained him to cheer and help him in his bonds ; and gladly 
 would Onesimus have tarried at Rome for such a purpose. But 
 he confided to the Apostle the shameful manner and reason of 
 his flight from Colosse, and Paul sent him back to Philemon 
 with this letter explaining the circumstances, and intimating an 
 earnest desire that Onesimus might be kindly received. He 
 was also so thoughtful as to mention Onesimus at the same 
 time in his letter to the Colossian Church, certifying him as " a 
 faithful and beloved brother." "^ He was not to be suspected 
 or taken in with a grudge ; but, being in Church fellowship in 
 one city, was certified as entitled to the same fellowship in 
 another. 
 
 The letter to Philemon is a model of tact and delicacy. 
 Luther calls it " a charming and masterly example of Christian 
 love." Erasmus, thinking most of its outward form, remarks 
 that " Cicero never wrote with greater elegance." 
 
 There is a celebrated writer of antiquity with one of whose 
 compositions this Epistle may be compared. Among the writ- 
 ings of the younger Pliny is extant a private letter to his friend 
 SabinianuSjt interceding for a freedman who had deserted the 
 service of this friend, and incurred his displeasure. Pliny's 
 
 * Col. iv. 9. 
 
 t Letters of Pliny the Consul, Bk. ix., Epistle 21. 
 
234 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 style is graceful ; but those who have compared the two letters 
 will say, without hesitation, that St. Paul's is equal in tact to 
 the other, and far superior in the motives and considerations 
 which he urges on his friend Philemon. 
 
 A moment's reflection will show that the tact was not super- 
 fluous; the case required to be carefully handled. St. Paul 
 would commend Onesimus, yet not excuse his fault ; ameliorate 
 the condition of the slave, yet not interfere with the legal 
 rights of the master ; propose what he might enjoin, but pre- 
 ferred to ask for love's sake. There is much skill evinced in 
 courteous and persuasive forms of expression. There is also a 
 real pathos in the letter, lit up with gleams of that humour 
 which St. Paul had in common with all men of robust and 
 vigorous minds.* 
 
 Philemon had suffered loss, but the divine Providence had 
 turned his loss to gain. He lost an "unprofitable" servant, 
 and got a "profitable" one.t He lost a careless and dishonest 
 slave, and he got "a brother beloved, both in the flesh," or 
 in earthly relations of life, " and in the Lord," in spiritual 
 communion with Christ. The lawfulness in God's sight of 
 retaining a Christian brother in slavery, however lenient, this 
 Epistle does not discuss. The Gospel, as we have already seen, 
 was essentially opposed in spirit to human slavery; but it 
 abolished that system of organised injustice, by changing the 
 dispositions and minds of men, and inducing a new state of 
 public opinion, not by stirring servile insurrections, or social 
 revolutions eff'ected by force. It was enough for St. Paul's 
 purpose that Philemon should receive Onesimus heartily as a 
 Christian brother. Let his own conscience, let his Christian 
 instincts tell him, whether he should relegate such a man to 
 domestic slavery, or set him free to return to the Apostle, if he 
 so desired, and to promote the spread of that Gospel which had 
 wrought upon himself so great a transformation. 
 
 Let us pause here to muse on the wisdom of Providence 
 
 * See Rev. S. Cox on Private Letters of St. Paul and St. John. 
 
 t Ver. II. The name Onesimus in Greek means useful or profitable. 
 
PHILEMON. 235 
 
 which turns the unprofitable into the profitable, and, through 
 temporal loss, brings to us higher riches. A possession or a joy 
 departs from us for a season, only to be received again in a 
 nobler and more lasting form. That such is the way of Pro- 
 vidence may not, indeed, appear to every eye. The return may 
 be in quite a different form from the departure or loss. It is 
 not the same Onesimus ; it is a better one. But such is the 
 experience of all who truly fear the Lord ; losing in one form, 
 and finding in another ; a departure for a season, and a receiv- 
 ing for ever. A Christian loses his own life, and finds it; 
 loses earthly joys, and finds heavenly ones ; loses earthly 
 friends, but is destined to find them in a brighter sphere and a 
 more glorious body. Thy brother is dead : " thy brother shall 
 rise again." 
 
 Of this there is a parable in creation every year. The summer 
 beauty departs, the flowers die, the trees lose their foliage, the 
 fields of corn become fields of stubble, and Nature seems bereft 
 of vigour, colour, and power to delight. Eut it is only for a 
 season, and then the forces of Nature revive, and all its lost 
 charms return. Its decaying, departing life is born again in 
 the smiles of a new spring, and invigorated by the glow of 
 another summer. Year by year we lose, and yet our loss is 
 turned to gain. So is it in our human life. God lets losses 
 come to us, and chilling cares fall on our hearts, but they do us 
 good in the latter end. They even make us more prosperous. 
 If anything of value is taken away, it is somehow bettered and 
 restored. There must be winter in our lot ; but He who is the 
 God of our life conducts us to a spring and a summer that shall 
 never end. Temporary losses are thus transmuted into lasting 
 gains, and light affliction for a moment into "a far more 
 exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 
 
 St. Paul had confidence in Onesimus that he would now 
 prove as valuable to Philemon as he had been worthless before. 
 His strong desire was that his former master, and the Church 
 at Colosse, should, without misgiving, receive Onesimus on his 
 return into the "fellowship." This, indeed, is the great thought 
 
236 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of the letter. There is a fellowship in Christ which overrides 
 all outward distinction, swallows up a thousand upbraidings, 
 and makes masters and servants brethren in the Lord. It is 
 the warm, generous, sacred communion of saints. 
 
 But what of the wrong done to Philemon by his servant ? It 
 is pretty clearly implied that Onesimus had purloined his 
 master's property. It is certain that, by absconding, he put his 
 master to some loss ; and the Apostle does not pass this over in 
 silence, but touches' the point with great delicacy, and in a 
 Christ-like spirit. " If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee 
 ought, put that on mine account; I, Paul, have written with 
 mine own hand, I will repay ; not to say that thou owest unto 
 me even thine own self besides." * 
 
 We follow Luther in regarding this interposal of Paul in 
 behalf of a wrongdoer, as a touching illustration of the inter- ■ 
 posal of Jesus Christ for the transgressors. It is only too possible 
 to talk fluently of Christ's suretyship for sinners, and at the same 
 time live quite out of harmony with that truth, a self-seeking 
 and self-contained life. But St. Paul entered into the mind of 
 his heavenly Master, and lived in sympathy with His great 
 suretyship. Because and as Christ had loved him, and borne 
 his sins and sorrows, therefore and so Paul loved poor Onesimus, 
 and took his liabilities on himself, made himself responsible for 
 the wrongdoer who could not atone for his own transgression. 
 
 We admit that the illustration is defective. The relation 
 subsisting between a master and his slave, even in its mildest 
 and most tolerable form, cannot accurately or adequately 
 represent the relation subsisting between the holy God and us 
 His creatures, for He is a Father as well as a Master. But then 
 He is a Master as well as a Father ; and in this view, the illus- 
 tration here suggested has some point and value. God has been 
 good and merciful to us : His providence kind, His law most 
 e(iuitable. Nevertheless, we have returned evil for good, 
 departed from Him, disobeyed and robbed Him. Say that we 
 are brought to feel in conscience the guilt and shame of this, 
 * Ver. 18, 19. 
 
PHILEMON. 23y 
 
 yet we cannot make compensation for it, and therefore are 
 afraid and unwilling to return to God. Lo ! One on whom we 
 liave no claim, and who Himself has done no wrong, interposes 
 for us. It is all of grace : and this is the plea of Him who re- 
 conciles us to God. " Receive them as Mj^self. Put the wrong 
 which they have done, or the debt they owe, on Mine account." 
 
 This gave encouragement to Onesimus, dispelling all his fear. 
 It was written in the letter — " Keceive him as myself." If 
 Paul should go to Colosse, would he be rejected by Philemon? 
 Certainly not. Would Paul be gladly received? Assuredly. 
 Then Onesimus will not be rejected ; Onesimus must be gladly 
 received. 
 
 Let a sinner, any sinner, so return to the God whom we have 
 offended, and from whom we have fled. Jesus Christ inter- 
 poses for him as Mediator. He will be received in Christ, for 
 Christ, and even as Christ. The transgressor, pleading for 
 pardon through Christ, and pleaded for by Him, can no more 
 be rejected than He can be ; must as certainly be received as 
 Christ is received, and loved as Christ is loved. 
 
 We can imagine the approach of Tychicus and Onesimus 
 to the town of Colosse. The former carries the letter to the 
 Church ; but the latter will not show himself to the Church, or 
 claim his privilege there as a brother in the Lord, till he has 
 been to his master's house, and delivered the private letter from 
 St. Paul. His bearing is grave, and his demeanour subdued, 
 for he cannot forget the foolish and sinful way in which he had 
 left that house, probably a few months before. But he is not 
 afraid, for he thinks of what Paul has said in the letter which 
 he carries in his bosom ; and he is glad that, at all events, it is 
 not the police who have brought him back ; it is repentance ; 
 it is love, and the sense of duty. When he reaches that 
 familiar door, the servants, whose ajDartments in ancient houses 
 were on either side of the entrance, recognise him, wonder at 
 his return, and are struck by a certain serenity of aspect and 
 refinement of bearing, for which they cannot account. But 
 Onesimus cannot stay to give explanations to the servants ; by 
 
238 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and by he will tell them all ; but his first interview must be 
 •with the master himself. So he makes straight for the chamber 
 of Philemon, and casting himself at his feet, delivers to him this 
 letter from St. Paul. It is read aloud, not without tears of joy. 
 Philemon embraces the lost one found ; Apphia breaks forth into 
 singing ; Archippus gives solemn thanks to God. The Church 
 in the house gathers quickly to receive the " good tidings from 
 a far country," and to welcome the new-born brother into the 
 lioly family. 
 
 These circumstances we merely imagine and infer ; but there 
 can be no question that the intercession of Paul with his friend 
 had complete success. Least of all can there be a question of 
 any sinner's safety who returns in the name of Jesus Christ, 
 whom Paul preached, to the presence of God. Let him be 
 assured of a profound and cordial welcome. There is joy in 
 the Church on earth, and joy in the presence of the angels of 
 God ; for all that dwell in heavenly places are made glad by 
 one sinner who repents. 
 
 Perhaps some self-righteous one, even in Philemon's house- 
 hold, thought the joy uncalled for, and took umbrage at such 
 interest being shown in one who had behaved so ill. He would 
 shake his suspicious head, and say that it were better to wait 
 awhile, and be quite sure that Onesimus was really changed. 
 To forgive him so easily might encourage him to repeat the 
 offence. So men grumble at the grace of the Gospel, and think 
 that free forgiveness is a dangerous thing. So the elder 
 brother in the Parable complained bitterly that the fatted calf 
 was killed for his younger brother immediately on his return, 
 whereas for him not even a little kid had been slain. But the 
 Divine mercy is not to be checked by ungenerous suspicions ; 
 it will rejoice at once, and exceedingly, over the sinner re- 
 claimed. It was not to be apologised for as an amiable impulse ; 
 it was the right thing to do; "it was meet that we should 
 make merry, and be glad ; for this thy brother was dead, and 
 is alive again ; and was lost, and is found." * 
 * Luke XV. 32. 
 
( 239 ) 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 Every student of the Bible recognises the immense value and 
 significance of this book, as unfolding the relation of the New 
 Testament to the Old. It is called an Epistle, and ends in the 
 epistolary fashion ; but it begins like a treatise, and its general 
 tenor is that of careful exposition and statement, with a view 
 to instruction and comfort. 
 
 It is curious that the Revised Version retains the title — 
 "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews," for the 
 manuscript authority for this is insufficient, and the Pauline 
 authorship has been in dispute from the earliest times, and 
 was rejected by Luther, Erasmus, and Calvin at the time of 
 the Reformation. It is a question on which no absolute deci- 
 sion can be reached, for Christian antiquity was divided in 
 opinion just as modern critics and commentators are. Origen 
 could not find out the truth about it in the third century any 
 more than we can in the nineteenth, and said, " As to who really 
 wrote the letter, truly God knows." * 
 
 As to the dissimilarity between the work and the acknow- 
 ledged Epistles of St. Paul we are not greatly moved by the 
 change of topic or of argument, for the Apostle may have had 
 much more versatility than our critics suppose. But we can- 
 not account for the immense difference in style. That of the 
 Epistle before us is more balanced and rhetorical, less eager 
 and parenthetic, than was the manner of Paul. These sonorous 
 sentences and rounded paragraphs are not his. 
 
 On the other hand, which of St. Paul's associates was capable 
 * In Euseb. : H. E. vi. 25. 
 
240 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of thinking out such a discourse as this ? It must have been, 
 if not himself, one of his circle, because of the allusion to 
 Timothy at the close. It could not have been Luke, for we 
 know his style, and it is quite different. There is some ancient 
 sanction for the selection of Barnabas ; but if the extant Epistle 
 which goes under his name be genuine, it shows a great inferio- 
 rity to this work both in thought and in diction. Apollos 
 has been the favourite of modern conjecture ever since he 
 was suggested by Martin Luther. He has this advantage, that, 
 having left behind him no acknowledged works, he cannot be 
 proved incapable of composing this Epistle ; and the descrip- 
 tion of him in Acts xviii. 24 contains the very qualifications 
 requisite. 
 
 It would unduly swell and burden our Lecture to treat this 
 question in the extreme detail of which it is capable.* On the 
 whole we are inclined to rest in the judgment expressed by 
 Origen, as preserved for us by Eusebius. He thinks that the 
 Greek of the Epistle is better than St. Paul's, but "the 
 thoughts contained in it are wonderful, and do not fall behind 
 those in the acknowledged letters of the Apostle. ... I should 
 say then that the thoughts are those of St. Paul, but that the 
 words and the arrangement {tj d's (fiodotg xa/ rj Gmdictg) are due 
 to some one who set down from memory what the Apostle 
 had said, and, as it were, commented on the utterances of his 
 teacher."t No one is more likely to have done this great ser- 
 vice than Apollos. 
 
 The " Hebrews," as distinguished from the Hellenists, seem 
 to be Christian Jews of Palestine, in contrast with Christian 
 Grecians, or Grsecised Jews who were "scattered abroad." 
 Those Hebrews, though acknowledging Jesus to have been 
 the Christ, made a slow and reluctant transition from the Old 
 economy to the New, and tenaciously clung for a considerable 
 time to that very separation of Israel from the Gentiles, which 
 
 * A skilful statement of it, at once scholarly and succinct, may be found 
 in Dr. A. B. Davidson's Short Commentary on this Epistle (1882). 
 t Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 25. 
 
HEBREWS. 241 
 
 the Church of God was to traverse and ignore. An instructive 
 glimpse of their attitude is given in St. Luke's account of St. 
 Paul's introduction to the Presbytery of Jerusalem,* on which 
 occasion the presbyters impressed it on the missionary Apostle, 
 that though the Gentiles had certain acknowledged liberties, 
 the " thousands of Jews " who believed in Christ were " all 
 zealous of the law." They seem even then to have supposed 
 that the distinction of Jew and Gentile was to continue in 
 the Church ; the former occupying the higher platform, and 
 ** walking orderly" in the law; the latter on a lower level, 
 indulged with easier regulations and conditions. 
 
 Those Hebrew Christians continued to resort to the temple 
 in Jerusalem and to observe the sacred feasts ; but after a time 
 they were not permitted by the Jewish authorities to do so. 
 They were treated as renegades and apostates, plundered of 
 their goods, and cast out from those holy places which they 
 and their fathers reverenced. It was a heavy blow and sore 
 discouragement. Loving their nation, zealous for the law, 
 devoted to the temple, they seemed to be, for their faith in 
 Jesus, cut off from the commonwealth of Israel, and put into a 
 worse position by far than their brethren of and among the 
 Gentiles. It is this sorrow and perplexity which the writer of 
 the Epistle recognises with sympathy ; and he therefore makes 
 it his object to strengthen and cheer the Hebrews, by showing 
 them- the mutual bearings of the Old Covenant and the ISTew, and 
 proving to them that they possessed as Christians far more than 
 they had been deprived of, — a better priesthood, better altar, 
 better sacrifice, and better sanctuary. From the promise of the 
 writer to "see" those whom he addressed (chap. xiii. 23), it is 
 inferred that they could not be the Hebrews of Palestine 
 generally, but must have been grouped together in one city. 
 Be it so. It is not possible, and were it possible, it would not 
 be of much consequence to determine the place. Enough that 
 the Epistle was directed to a Church composed of Hebrews 
 exclusively, unmixed with Gentiles or even with Hellenists. 
 * Acts xxi. 18-25. 
 
 VOL. II. Q 
 
242 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 In course of the treatise, doctrine and appeal are mingled ; 
 but, to speak generally, the former predominates in chaps i.-x. 
 1 8, and the latter in the remaining portion of the book. 
 
 I. The doctrine of the Epistle, adapted to reassure and fortify 
 the discouraged Christian Hebrews, amounts to this : that 
 though they should have to forfeit ancient privileges at the 
 temple for the name of Jesus, they were gainers and not losers; 
 they had the best portion and the highest worship ; and as men 
 of faith, they had communion with all the ancient believers 
 who trusted in God. 
 
 Without preface, the writer at once discourses of the dignity 
 of Jesus Christ the Son of God. In having Him for their Lord 
 the Hebrews had one far greater than any of whom they and 
 their fathers boasted. 
 
 1. Greater than the Prophets (chap. i. 1-3). — Alike in the 
 former and the latter times, God had spoken : but in the days 
 of old, the Divine communication to the fathers was " in the 
 prophets," whereas now it comes to us "in His Son." The 
 prophets were many ; and the messages of God were conveyed 
 to them, and delivered by them in many portions (not com- 
 pletely), and in various ways and measures. The Divine 
 revelation through them was real and precious, but it was 
 fragmentary, and preparatory to something better and more 
 perfect. This was given when God sent His own Son, and 
 spoke in Him, the Logos, and the Amen. Why then should 
 the Christian Hebrews fear that they had lost Moses and the 
 prophets 1 They had these still, and with them a prophet 
 greater than them all — the Revealer of the Father, and Witness 
 to the truth. 
 
 2. Greater than the Angels (chap. i. 4-ii.) — The Son of God, 
 essentially and immutably Divine, is undeniably superior to the 
 angels who are created beings. But not only so ; Jesus, Son of 
 man as well as Son of God, is elevated above angels in 
 dignity and power. He has by inheritance obtained a more 
 excellent name than they. 
 
HEBREWS. ,., 
 
 The Jews boasted that their law was given by angels at 
 Mount Sinai. But it is shown to the Hebrew Christians, that 
 more glory belongs to the great salvation, as at first spoken by 
 the Lord. Angels are bright spirits serving God and the heirs 
 of salvation ; but Christ is the heir of all. The world to come 
 IS put, not under the angelic servants, but under Jesus Christ, 
 the Son of Man, who took for a little the place of a servant, and 
 was made "lower than the angels for the suffering of de'ath," 
 but on that very account is " crowned with glory and honour,'" 
 and constituted Lord of all. 
 
 3. Greater than the Leaders of Israel— Moses and Joshua 
 (chap, in.-iv. 13).— Here the Epistle touches a matter at once 
 most delicate and most important. Dr. Saphir has said: "It 
 IS hardly possible for Gentiles to understand or realise the 
 veneration and affection with which the Jews regard Moses the 
 servant of God. All their religious life, all their thoughts 
 about God, all their practices and observances, all their hopes 
 of the future : everything connected with God is with them 
 also connected with Moses. He was to them the great apostle 
 the man sent unto them of God, the mediator of the Old 
 Covenant."* The Christian Hebrews were in no wise to 
 disown or disparage Moses; but are exhorted to consider a 
 greater Apostle, or Sent One ; not a servant, as Moses was, in 
 the house of God, but the Son presiding over His own house 
 Let the dignity of Moses, his great services, and noble fidelity 
 be fully acknowledged; yet Christ Jesus is worthy of more 
 glory than he. 
 
 Moses was not able to lead the people into the Land of 
 Promise. Joshua succeeded him, and planted the tribes 
 victoriously in Canaan. Yet there is a rest, which the heart of 
 man requires, into which no warrior, however devout and 
 dauntless, can conduct. The Psalms pointed to this when 
 speaking of a people entering into God's rest; and He who can 
 give them such rest is a leader and commander greater than 
 Moses or Joshua ; this is Jesus Christ. 
 
 Saphir's Lectures on Hebrews, p. 1 73. 
 
244 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 4. Greater than Aaron (chap. iv. 14-x. 18). — The discussion 
 of priesthood, involving the whole question of access to God in 
 worship, forms the central theme in the Epistle. The Jews 
 boasted much of the hereditary priesthood, and especially of 
 the high priesthood in descent from Aaron. But such priest- 
 hood, though to be honoured as an ordinance of Jehovah, had 
 an inherent defect. It was transferred from one man to 
 another ; and it was confined to a worldly sanctuary, not reach- 
 ing into heaven. The Christian Hebrews are assured that they 
 have risen and not fallen in the privilege of priesthood, for 
 they have in Jesus, the Son of God, a Great High Priest, who 
 fulfils all the essential conditions of the Aaronic priesthood, 
 and greatly excels it inasmuch as He continues for ever in 
 His office, and the sphere of its exercise is " heaven itself." * 
 In that high sphere, He needs not to stand daily like the priests 
 of Israel, ministering and offering the same sacrifices, for He 
 has presented one all-sufficient sacrifice for sins, and therefore 
 "has sat down on the right hand of God." 
 
 Having been contrasted with Aaron, our Lord is compared to 
 Melchisedec, the royal priest of Salem in the days of Abraham. 
 The chief point of similarity is that the priesthood is con- 
 stituted by the Divine oath. It is therefore intransferable and 
 inexhaustible, being " not after the law of a carnal command- 
 ment, but after the power of an endless life." Why then 
 should the Christian Hebrews be ashamed or alarmed at being 
 disowned by the high priest and the council in Jerusalem 1 
 They had in their Saviour a merciful and faithful high priest, 
 who could feel for their infirmities, succour them in trials, and 
 " save to the uttermost " all who approached and worshipped 
 God through Him, " because He ever lives to make intercession 
 for them." 
 
 As we have observed, the question of the priesthood opens up 
 the whole subject of access to God, of the purging of worship- 
 pers from sin, and their acceptance in worship. So the differ- 
 
 * See an important note on " the Priesthood of Christ " in Dr. A. B. 
 Davidson's Comm,, pp. 146-154. 
 
HEBRE WS, 
 
 245 
 
 ence between the Old and ^N'ew Covenants is explained, and the 
 latter is shown to have the better promises and the more com- 
 plete provision for Divine service. The sacrifice on the cross 
 far transcends all the sin-offerings and burnt-offerings on altars 
 under the law. The w^orshipper through Christ is purged from 
 sins and perfected through His blood. He is admitted, not 
 into "holy places made with hands," but into " heavenly places 
 themselves." The veil being rent, he goes into the Holiest by 
 the blood of Jesus. This discussion of access to God forms one 
 of the most important sections of the Epistle, and helps more 
 than any other part of Holy Writ to form and guide our minds 
 on the relation of the two Testaments to each other, and on the 
 perfecting of worshippers through one Supreme Offering, in 
 contrast with their imperfection even under the divinely- 
 instituted ritual of the prior dispensation. 
 
 II. When the writer has completed his statement on this 
 subject, and shown that the Christian Hebrews needed not to 
 concern themselves about admission to, or exclusion from, the 
 Temple still standing at Jerusalem, he warmly appeals to them 
 to stand fast in Christ, and not cast away their confidence 
 (chap. X. T9, &c.) He addresses them as brethren who are 
 admitted to a far nobler temple " by a new and living way," 
 and who have a High-priest over the house of God. Thereupon 
 he exhorts them to draw near to God in fulness of faith, to hold 
 fast the profession of their hope, and to consider one another in 
 order to incite themselves and others to love and good works. 
 He also bids them, because they were cast out of synagogues, 
 assemble themselves together for mutual exhortation ; and 
 warns them in the most solemn terms of the sin and doom of 
 apostasy. 
 
 A saying of the book of Habakkuk, already quoted twice in 
 
 the undoubted Epistles of St. Paul,* is cited here also — " The 
 
 just shall live by faith." Then the mention of faith as the 
 
 requisite principle of life and of patient endurance to the end^ 
 
 * Rom. i. 17 ; Gal. iii. 11. 
 
246 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 suggests and introduces a very impressive declaration of its vital 
 and victorious power in the great and good of ancient times. 
 The faith which lived and triumphed in them was a hearty- 
 reliance on God, and a confident persuasion of things unseen. 
 It is shown that by such faith the ancient worthies pleased 
 God, acted, endured, and conquered as His people. Thereupon 
 the Hebrew Christians are exhorted, as in the presence of so 
 many witnesses, to run their race, or press through their struggle 
 with steadfastness, " looking unto Jesus," who is not merely an 
 example of faith, but its "author and perfecter." So doing, 
 they would not be at variance with the fathers and heroes of 
 their nation, as the antichristian Hebrews alleged : they were 
 treading in the steps of illustrious ancestors, and evincing an 
 endurance similar to theirs. Let them, therefore, bear their 
 affliction as chastisement sent in love ; and let them look away 
 from the most eminent servants to the pre-eminent Master, 
 "Jesus, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, 
 despising the shame." 
 
 In the course of his exhortation, the writer recurs to the 
 contrast between the Old and New dispensations, and in a very 
 grand passage (chap. xii. i8, &c.) likens it to the diflference 
 between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. The former was 
 earthly, a mount that might be touched, and that was enve- 
 loped in the terrors of the law. The latter is the citadel of the 
 Son of David, and is connected with the heavenly kingdom. 
 Sinai may be taken on the way to Jerusalem, no doubt, but is 
 far from it. Zion is at Jerusalem, the city of peace. At that 
 " city of the living God " we are come to " myriads of angels in 
 full assembly." The law was given at Sinai "by a disposition 
 of angels ; " but the tribes entered not into the company of 
 those heavenly messengers, who brought no comfort to the 
 people who were under the law, but rather increased the terror. 
 Now all is changed under grace. The angels are " sent forth 
 to minister to heirs of salvation ; " and the worshipping Church 
 is surrounded by the convocation of angels in their myriads, 
 
HEBREWS. i47 
 
 who add their chorus to the song of the redeemed.* The 
 tribes of Israel, God's first-born of nations, encamped at Sinai, 
 and were numbered there. At Zion we are come to "the 
 Church of first-bom ones," not written on earth, but enrolled in 
 heaven. The people at Sinai durst not approach God because 
 He was terrible to them in the law of unperformed command- 
 ments. They were afraid that they should die. But at Zion, 
 through the faith of the Gospel, we are come "to God the 
 Judge of all," for we call on the Father, who, without respect 
 of persons, judges according to every man's work. Thus also 
 are we joined to the ancient believers — not parted from them. 
 We are come to the spirits of just men, who without us could 
 not be prefected, but now are perfected with us in Christ. 
 We are brought into the august company of Abraham, Isaac, 
 Jacob, and the prophets, with all the faith-pilgrims of pre- 
 Christian times. We are come, not to Moses, the mediator of 
 the old covenant, who stood between the law-giving Jehovah 
 and the law-bound people, but to Jesus, the mediator of the new 
 and better covenant; and not to that blood which Moses, as 
 mediator, sprinkled at the inauguration of the first covenant, 
 but to that precious blood — His own blood — which is sprinkled 
 by the Mediator of the new on the book, on the sanctuary, and 
 on the people.! It is added that this blood "speaks better 
 things than Abel." The question for Cain and Abel was that 
 of entering the presence of God, for they with their parents 
 were exiles from the holy place. Abel did well to sacrifice a 
 lamb, for there is no re-entrance without shedding of blood. 
 Ey this sacrifice he, being dead, yet speaks. But the blood of 
 sprinkling to which we are come speaks yet " better things " — 
 gives assurance of full atonement made, and a way opened into 
 the Holiest of all. 
 
 The end of the book is quite in the epistolary style, and in 
 
 many turns of expression suggests to us the manner of St. Paul. 
 
 It is occupied with brief counsels and admonitions; and its 
 
 tone is impressive and affectionate. There are exhortations to 
 
 * See Rev. v. ii, 12. f Exod. xxiv. 3-8. 
 
248 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 brotherly love, hospitality, purity, contentment, respect for the 
 leaders of the Church, thankfulness, and beneficence. " With 
 such sacrifices God is well pleased." But still the main stress 
 is laid on the duty of steadfastness in Christ. The Hebrews 
 are to consider " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 for ever," and to bear reproach for His name. If they be cast 
 out of the temple and synagogues, so let it be : they must "go 
 forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." 
 
 We must repeat that this book should be read and interpreted 
 throughout under a recollection of the fact that it was addressed 
 to Hebrews, and skilfully adapted to the condition of the native 
 Christians in Palestine a few years before the downfall of 
 Jerusalem. Nevertheless the Epistle is most profitable to 
 Gentile Christians also. The Bible of our religion is formed of 
 the books of the Old and l!^ew Testaments ; and it concerns us, 
 even though our fathers never were under Moses, to know the 
 order in which divine truth has been revealed to mankind, and 
 divine privilege conferred on believers. Invaluable therefore to 
 us is the book which explains more clearly than any other how 
 the New Testament was enfolded in the Old, and the Old 
 Testament is unfolded in the New. 
 
 Though we be Gentiles in the flesh, we become Abraham's 
 children through faith ; and we too are reached by the beautiful 
 prayer of benediction which occurs very near the close of this 
 Epistle. " Now the God of peace, that brought again from the 
 dead * our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through 
 the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every 
 good work, in order to do His will. Himself working in you that 
 which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ ; to 
 whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
 * "This is the only place where our author mentions the resurrection. 
 Everywhere else he lifts his eyes from the depth of our Lord's humiliation, 
 passing over all that is intermediate, to the highest point of His exalta- 
 tion." — Delitzsch. 
 
( 249 
 
 JAMES, 
 
 James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee, died at Jerusa- 
 lem as a martyr by the sword of Herod the king. James the 
 brother of Jude, also called the Lord's brother,* son of Alpheus 
 or Clopas, then became prominent in the apostolic band ; and 
 it was he, Peter and John, whom Paul recognised as pillars of 
 the Church at Jerusalem. It appears from many passages that 
 he exercised a presidency over the elders in that city.f 
 
 James the son of AljDheus seems to have devoted all his 
 apostolic labour to Jerusalem. Resembling in tone and language 
 one of the ancient prophets, he was commonly called " the Just," 
 and revered for his devout habits and austere manner of life. 
 With great courage and integrity he persisted in lifting up the 
 testimony of Jesus among a population rapidly becoming de- 
 moralised, and rushing fanatically on their own destruction. His 
 end was, like that of the elder James, by martyrdom ; for he 
 was stoned and beaten to death by the scribes and Pharisees 
 before the last Roman siege of Jerusalem. 
 
 It was he who wrote this Epistle, " to the twelve tribes of 
 
 * The most probable explanation of this, in our opinion, is that Joseph 
 and Alpheus were brothers, and that, on the death of the latter, Joseph 
 took his widow and children under his own care. So James, Joses, Jude, 
 and Simon, and their sisters grew up under Joseph as their foster father, 
 and were regarded, according to undoubted Jewish usage, as the brothers 
 and sisters of Jesus, Joseph's reputed son. After Joseph's death, Mary 
 his widow, and Mary the widow of Alpheus, sisters-in-law, lived in close 
 intimacy, their children growing up side by side ; and when Jesus was 
 crucified, these two Marys stood by. The sister of Mary the Blessed was 
 Salome, the wife of Zebedee. 
 
 f Acts xii, 17, XV. 13, xxi. 18; Gal. ii. 9, 12. 
 
250 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 the Dispersion." Though he had expressed the mind of the 
 apostles and brethren at Jerusalem regarding the liberty of 
 Gentile believers,* St. James never seems to have addressed 
 himself in any way to the Gentiles. His use of the expression, 
 " the twelve tribes," shows that he regarded those who were 
 called Jews and Israelites in his time, whether dwelling in 
 Palestine or scattered through the East, not as the mere 
 descendants of Judah and Benjamin, but as the representatives 
 of all the tribes of Israel, the tribal distinction of territory 
 having been lost for many generations. The Epistle to the 
 Hebrews was written to Christian Jews probably in Palestine ; 
 this, to Christian Israelites scattered over other lands ; the first 
 Epistle of Peter to those of the Jewish dispersion who dwelt in 
 Asia Minor. These books form a trilogy ; and though written 
 without any concert, were probably composed about the same 
 time, between a.d. 6i and 67. 
 
 We have found that, in order to interpret correctly the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews, it is necessary to consider the state of Jewish 
 Christians in Palestine at that period, and the trial of steadfast- 
 ness through which they were obliged to pass. In like manner, 
 for the interpretation of this Epistle, we ought to reflect on the 
 position and temptations of Christian Israelites scattered through 
 the cities of the Roman world. The revolt of the Jews against 
 the Romans drew nigh. Everywhere they were in an impatient 
 mood, scarcely caring to conceal their revolutionary spirit. The 
 increasing severity of their heathen rulers provoked them to 
 fanatical commotions and tumults. It was thus a jarring, 
 threatening period. The national mind of Israel was in a state 
 of fermentation and dangerous excitement ; and in a few years 
 there came the final rupture in that open war against the Im- 
 perial power, which ruined the Jewish State, and left Jerusalem 
 desolate. 
 
 At such a time the position of the Christian Jews was a 
 very difficult and delicate one. They loved their nation, and 
 could not but be affected by the patriotic impulses which were at 
 * Acts XV. 13-21. 
 
JAMES, 251 
 
 work in the breasts of their kindred. Yet they had been 
 warned by the Lord Jesus of the impending fate of Jerusalem 
 and the Temple; and knew that it was a suicidal course to 
 provoke the Emperor and resist his armies. They themselves 
 suffered at the hands of the heathen, being confounded by 
 them with the non- Christian Jews ; but they could not, as 
 Christians, make common cause with their brethren after the 
 flesh, for these were inflamed with a chimerical hope of 
 Messiah appearing to deliver them from the Romans, whereas 
 Christians knew and believed that the Messiah had already 
 come, had been rejected by Israel, and had pronounced with 
 tears the doom of their holy city. So the disciples of Christ 
 among " the tribes scattered abroad " were forced to bear, not 
 only the oppression of the heathen, but also the reproaches and 
 upbraidings of their own countrymen for holding aloof from the 
 revolutionary patriotic movement of the time. 
 
 St. James writes to comfort and admonish them. He does 
 so as a Hebrew Christian and no more ; as one who " walks 
 orderly and keeps the law." Those whom he addresses are 
 the people of God, not in a newly-formed relation or recon- 
 ciliation, but according to a long-established and recognised 
 national calling. He does not enter at all on the vocation or 
 'constitution of the Church of God, or on the doctrine of resur- 
 rection with Christ, and elevation to heavenly places in Him. 
 AVhat this Apostle does is to admonish such of his nation as 
 acknowledged Jesus the Lord of glory, to keep the perfect law, 
 or "do the word," as Jesus had taught in the Sermon on the 
 Mount. Indeed the Epistle has much affinity with that 
 beautiful discourse. It is ethical rather than theological. 
 Patience, obedience, justice, charity, meekness of wisdom, low- 
 liness, reliance on God in prayer, these are its great ideas. 
 
 The depreciation of this book by Martin Luther was caused 
 by his rash assumption that it contradicts the doctrine of St. 
 Paul on justification. There may be a superficial appearance 
 of contradiction, but there is really no ground whatever for 
 alleging collision and .contrariety between these two Apostles. 
 
252 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 The teachers from Jerusalem who obstructed the ministry of 
 St. Paul, and, in one instance, misguided St. Peter, may have 
 claimed to be champions of the views held by St. James, but 
 clearly without warrant or authority, for they denied the Chris- 
 tian liberty of Gentiles, which he fully conceded, and they 
 demanded the subjection of all disciples, of whatever origin, to 
 the customs and laws of historic Judaism. This was not accord- 
 ing to the mind of St. James ; and it is worthy of notice that 
 St. Paul, while denouncing those teachers, never says or im- 
 plies that he himself differs from the Apostle James, for 
 whom, indeed, he takes every opportunity of showing his 
 respect. On the other hand, St. James never opposes or con- 
 troverts St. Paul. He takes a smaller range than the Apostle 
 to the Gentiles, and writes to a different class of readers, and 
 for a somewhat different purpose. But the two supplement 
 each other, and are in deep harmony as good and faithful 
 servants of the Lord of glory. 
 
 The Epistle before us, assuming rather than stating the 
 Christian doctrine and hope of salvation, inculcates what is 
 right and seemly in Christian practice. It may be arranged in 
 five parts, but not according to the usual five chapters. 
 
 I. Exhortations for the time of trial (chap. i. 1-18). 
 
 The Christian Israelites stood, as we have seen, in a position 
 of great difficulty between the heathen who oppressed their 
 nation and the great body of the Jewish nation itself, be- 
 coming every day more restless and discontented. They needed 
 patience, wisdom, unwavering faith. If they felt a temptation 
 to evil, they must not ascribe it to God, after the manner of 
 those fanatical Jews who claimed Divine sanction for all their 
 misdeeds. " God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth 
 He any man." Evil is contrary to His nature, and detrimental 
 to His glory. St. James falls back on thoughts already com- 
 municated by Christ, — " One is good, even God." " Your 
 Father in heaven is merciful." "Your Father in heaven is 
 perfect." The Apostle ascribes to God supreme bounty. " All 
 
JAMES. 253 
 
 good giving, and every perfect gift, is from above." And he 
 points to the majestic purity and unchangeableness of God, 
 " the Father of lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow 
 cast by turning." As a great student of Scripture has said, 
 " God is always in the meridian." 
 
 II. Protest against religious formalism and pride (chap. i. 
 
 i9-ii-)- 
 
 Pharisaism was the besetting sin of the Jewish religious 
 
 mind, and it easily found its way into the Church. Christian 
 converts from the twelve tribes had been wont to see a high 
 reputation in religion sustained without purity of heart, weaned- 
 ness from the world, or activity in love, and they required to 
 be put on their guard against a sort of baptized Pharisaism, 
 fuU of good profession, but barren of good fruit. Accord- 
 ingly St. James warns them against irritation of temper, and 
 coldness or negligence in obedience. Let the word of salva- 
 tion be received in meekness, and obeyed with heartiness. A 
 forgetful hearer does not receive the word into his heart, and 
 is, as the Lord said, like a foolish man who built his house on 
 loose sand. The contrast to him is a doing hearer who retains 
 the word, not so much by force of memory as by practical 
 obedience. He is " blessed in the doing ; " for he is as the 
 wise man who built his house upon a rock. 
 
 Another feature of Pharisaism was its contempt of the com- 
 mon people ; "* and this, too, was apt to reproduce itself in 
 Jewish Christianity. There was a danger of extreme defer- 
 ence to rich and influential persons, while the poor were despised 
 in the assembly or synagogue. The Apostle lifts a very distinct 
 warning against this, showing it to be at variance with the 
 royal law of love. He exhorts to brotherly kindness, not in 
 manner and speech only, but in action. " If a brother or sister 
 be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto 
 them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled ; notwithstanding 
 ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, 
 * John vii. 48, 49. 
 
254 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 what doth it profit ? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is 
 dead, being alone." 
 
 True faith evinces itself in fraternal consideration and charity. 
 Dead and formal faith betrays itself in heartless selfishness. 
 Such is the teaching of that famous passage (chap. ii. 14-26), 
 which many writers have been at pains to " reconcile " with St. 
 Paul's doctrine of gratuitous justification. But there is really 
 no need of skilful, ingenious reconciliation. We have only to 
 observe with common fairness the scope of each Apostle, in 
 order to see that the one in no wise opposes or weakens the 
 other's teaching. St. Paul, writing against legalists, affirms 
 that a sinner is justified before God by grace through faith in 
 Christ, without deeds of the law. St. James, writing against 
 formalism, selfishness, and pride within the Church, declares 
 that a Christian who says, " I have faith," and does not live 
 and act as a believer ought, condemns himself. Words un- 
 supported, and even contradicted by conduct, stand for nothing. 
 Evidence is demanded that the faith professed is real, not pre- 
 tended, living, not dead; and he who cannot produce such 
 evidence is not justified as a Christian. 
 
 Both the Apostles allude to Abraham ; and the references are 
 of great importance to the interpretation. St. Paul shows that 
 Abraham was justified by faith before Isaac was born. God 
 counted him righteous. St. James refers to a period at least 
 fifteen years later, and shows that the righteous Abraham was 
 justified by works, i.e., was proved to be a man of living faith 
 when he " offered Isaac his son upon the altar." 
 
 The whole doctrine is contained under a beautiful figure once 
 used by our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Paul teaches that we must 
 be in union with Christ by faith, as the branch is in the vine, 
 else we perish. St James teaches that the branch which 
 appears to be in the vine must bear fruit, else its union is a 
 mere semblance, and it will be, as so much dead wood, cut 
 away. 
 
 III. Warning against bitterness and strife (chaps, iii. iv. 12). 
 
JAMES. 255 
 
 Boasting of faith without love is apt to be allied with over- 
 confidence in teaching, and an excessive use of the tongue. 
 The fanatical Jews in the Apostolic age seem to have multiplied 
 teachers, and given unbridled license to disputation. St. James 
 will have the Christian Jews on their guard against this evil. 
 " My brethren, be not many teachers." It is a warning which 
 English Christians of the present day may do well to consider, 
 for there is an extraordinary cacoethes docendi, and all sorts of 
 persons take upon themselves to deliver addresses on religious 
 truth. 
 
 From this the Apostle is led to dilate on the duty of govern- 
 ing and taming the tongue. He describes it as ''an unruly 
 member " of the body, and an exciter of strife and bitterness. 
 This part of the Epistle is marked by a profusion of telling 
 illustrations. In rapid succession we have the horse controlled 
 by the bit in his mouth ; the great ship and small helm ; the 
 little spark and mighty fire ; the taming of wild creatures of 
 the air, on the land, and in the sea ; the fountain of water ; 
 the fig-tree, the olive, and the vine. Indeed the whole book 
 displays a fine combination of terseness in statement with bold 
 imagination. It is nervous and strong in the body of itd 
 teaching, yet admirably relieved and illustrated by tropes and 
 similes. It is also marked by pungent and memorable sayings, 
 some of them worded with great precision and beauty : e.g., the 
 description of the sevenfold excellence of wisdom from above : 
 " first pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and 
 good fruits, impartial,"^ and without hypocrisy." 
 
 In the fourth chapter, the Apostle continues to inveigh 
 against selfishness, bitterness, pride, and that love of the world 
 which he, after the manner of the prophets, calls adultery. He 
 insists on humility, and submission to God. He places before 
 his readers as absolute contraries, God and the devil. So long 
 as they resisted God, they drew nigh to the devil and became 
 
 * The translation of dStd/cpiros is uncertain. The Revised Version has 
 " without variance," Dr. farrar suggests " without vacillation." The 
 word occurs here only. 
 
256 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 subject to him. They ought to resist the devil, and draw nigh 
 to God. There is also a strict forbiddal of calumny and de- 
 traction. " Speak not evil one of another, brethren." Alas 
 that such admonitions should be needful ! Yet needful they 
 certainly are, for petty slander and evil speaking of brethren 
 are constantly breeding mischief and unhappiness in Christian 
 society. St. James here again falls back on the word spoken 
 by our Lord. " Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with 
 what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged."* We cannot 
 but form our private estimate, more or less favourable, of our 
 brethren in the Lord : but judgment should be left to Him 
 " who is able to save and to destroy." 
 
 IV. Remonstrance arjainst an arrogant spirit (chap. iv. 13- 
 V. 6. 
 
 One of the vain thoughts of man's heart is the presumption 
 that he may map out his time at his own pleasure. St. James 
 reminds us that time is to us quite uncertain ; the duration of 
 our life is beyond our control : " it is even a vapour that 
 appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away." It is 
 according, not as we will, but as the Lord Jesus Christ wills,! 
 that we live, "and do this or that." 
 
 Another display of arrogance was the oppression of the poor, 
 an oJ0fence more than once referred to with displeasure in the 
 Epistle. Though the law of Moses contained so many provisions 
 for the protection of poor Israelites, it is evident, from the 
 Gospel histories, that the rich Jews in the days of our Lord 
 treated the poor with scorn. J There was great danger of the 
 same haughty spirit betraying itself among the Christian 
 Israelites : and therefore the Apostle, very much in this instance 
 also following the strain of ancient prophets, denounces avari- 
 cious men professing to be Christians, who ground the faces of 
 
 * Matt. vii. I, 2. 
 
 t The letters D.V. should stand for Domino (not Deo) Volente, Jesus 
 is "the Lord," and our times are in His hand. 
 + Luke xvi. 14, 19-21. 
 
JAMES. 257 
 
 the poor and defrauded labourers of tlieir hire. Here, too, he 
 seems to recall the words of the Lord Jesus, " Woe unto you 
 that are rich ! for ye have received your consolation. "Woe 
 unto you that are full ! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you 
 that laugh now ! for ye shall mourn and weep." * 
 
 V. Concluding admonitions (chap. v. 7-20). 
 
 These relate to the patience of hope, intercessory prayer, and 
 brotherly kindness. 
 
 The day of deliverance out of all distress is to be the day of 
 the coming of the Lord. St. James teaches this exactly like St. 
 Paul. For that day the Christians of the twelve tribes ought 
 to wait patiently, cheered by the example of the prophets, and 
 the deliverance of Job as narrated in their ancient Scriptures. 
 In affliction they should pray. In joy they should " psalm," 
 i.e. strike the chords of the lyre or harp, and sing. In sickness, 
 they had resources unknown to those outside the Christian pale. 
 "Let them call for the presbyters of the Church." + It is 
 assumed, rather than enjoined, that the presbyters would anoint 
 with oil, for such is the chief curative resource of Oriental 
 nations ; and it was better that the Christians should be thus 
 attended to by their own elders, than that the physicians con- 
 nected with the heathen priesthood should be called in. The 
 elders would anoint " with oil in the name of the Lord :" and then 
 the stress is laid on the prayer of faith which they would offer up 
 
 * Luke vi. 24, 25. 
 
 t How preposterous is the citation of this passage (chap. v. 14, 15) as a 
 scriptural warrant for what is called in the Papal Church extreme unction, 
 a sacrament supposed to convey grace to the souls of the dying — sacramen- 
 tum exeuntium / The precept that elders, while anointing the sick with 
 oil (words which virtually cover all sound medical prescriptions), should 
 pray over them, is changed into a direction that a priest should come in 
 when recovery is hopeless, for so the Council of Trent ordains, and should 
 touch certain portions of the dying man or woman's body with oil, to pre- 
 pare the soul for departure. The elders are altered into a priest ; and 
 the healing of the sick by remedies and prayer is turned into a sacramental 
 ceremony by which a sick man is made ready, not to recover, but to die ! 
 VOL. II. li 
 
258 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 in the sick chamber. This would obtain, not only the healing 
 of the body, but that forgiveness of sins without which indeed 
 bodily healing is but an outward and temporary benefit. The 
 sick brother was to confess and deplore his sins, and, on the 
 prayer of the elders, he would be pardoned, and his soul " saved 
 from death." It was the way of the great Physician Himself 
 to heal by His word, though in some cases he touched the 
 subjects of His cure, and even applied a simple remedy.* In 
 one memorable instance, when He even raised the dead. He 
 did so avowedly through the prayer of faith, t It was also His 
 manner to combine bodily healing with spiritual recovery and 
 the forgiveness of sins. Thus in raising up the paralytic at 
 Capernaum, Jesus said to him, " Thy sins be forgiven thee ; " 
 and when He cured the infirm man at the pool of Bethesda, 
 He bade him " sin no more." 
 
 As to the sick brother's confession of sin, it is surely with a 
 wisdom higher than his own that the Apostle refrains from 
 saying " Confess your sins to the presbyters," and generalises 
 the exhortation thus, "Confess your faults one to another." 
 Thus no sanction is given for the requirement of sacramental 
 auricular confession to presbyters, much less to one priest in 
 secret, who never reciprocrates the confidence by confessing his 
 faults in the ear of those who have unbosomed themselves to 
 him. Christians are to confess to each other their faults against 
 each other, in order to brotherly forgiveness and reconciliation. J 
 They are also, when afflicted in body or burdened in conscience, 
 to confess to each other, in brotherly confidence, their sins 
 against . God, in order that when they pray for one another, 
 they may know what to pray for, and may make intercession 
 with intelligence and sympathy, and not in mere vague and 
 general terms. 
 
 The Epistle before us is unlike those of St. Paul, in having 
 no salutations, messages to individuals, or allusions to personal 
 history or friendship at the close. It ends with encourage- 
 
 * Matt. viii. 3, 15, ix. 29 ; Mark vii. 33 ; Luke xxii. 51 ; John ix. 6, 7. 
 t John xi. 41, 42. + Matt, xviii, 21-35. 
 
JAMES. 259 
 
 ment to the faithful to convert or recover any who had been 
 deceived or beguiled into a departure from the truth, and had 
 relapsed into the ranks of the Jewish opponents of the Gospel. 
 He who by prayer and loving effort converted such a one, saved 
 a soul from death, and covered that soul's multitude of sins 
 with Divine forgiveness. Salvation of the soul, though a very 
 common phrase now-a-days, is seldom mentioned in Holy Writ,* 
 the mission of Jesus Christ having been not for souls merely, 
 but for the redemption of men, for the salvation of sinners. 
 But here, as we have seen, it is parallel to the healing of the 
 body : and it is a boon so much greater, as the death which a 
 soul can suffer exceeds in terror that which the body can 
 endure. 
 
 What we have said of the Epistle to the Hebrews, may be 
 repeated of this letter to the Twelve Tribes. It is written for 
 our learning too, who are Gentiles after the flesh. We have 
 need to cultivate patience, meekness, and a temper of lovino- 
 obedience. We do well to learn the lesson from "James, the 
 Lord's brother." Learning it, we also shall be of Jesus' family. 
 "He stretched forth His hand towards His disciples, and said, 
 Behold My mother and My brethren ! For whosoever shall do 
 the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My 
 brother, and sister, and mother." t 
 
 * The chief instances are Heb. x. 39 ; i Pet. i. 9. 
 t Matt, xii, 49-50. 
 
( 26o ) 
 
 /. PETER, 
 
 The individual character of Simon Peter seems to be better 
 known to ns than that of any of the disciples of our Lord, 
 illustrated as it is in many incidents of the evangelical narrative, 
 and in the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. The 
 book before us was written in his old age ; and shows a heart 
 warm as in his youth, a spirit still fervent and courageous, but 
 combined with a deeper self-knowledge and humility. Here is 
 Peter strengthening his brethren, as the Lord enjoined him. 
 
 The date of the Epistle is probably a.d. 64 or 65 : and the 
 place of composition, Babylon. Whether this was the Eastern 
 Babylon, or a cryptograph for Rome, is still a moot point 
 among scholars."^ The address is " to the sojourners of the Dis- 
 persion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." 
 The expression, the hiaevood, was a well-understood desig- 
 nation of Israelites scattered among the Gentiles. There 
 are not wanting in the Epistle indications of a recognition of 
 Gentile Christianity : t but it is certainly intended as a com- 
 munication to the Jewish Christians in Asia Minor. There is 
 obvious propriety in this ; for, (i.) Simon Peter was the Apostle 
 of the circumcision, as Paul of the uncircumcision. Therefore, 
 while not at all denying the standing of Gentile believers in 
 the Church, he writes to those whom his apostolic ministry 
 specially embraced. (2.) It was from the lips of Peter that 
 Jews and proselytes from the regions of Asia Minor first heard 
 the Gospel at Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost ; -and it was 
 most fitting that he should undertake to instruct and exhort 
 
 * Our latest critics, e.g., Renan, Farrar, Lumby, and Salmon, pronounce 
 in favour of Rome ; but Dean Howson gives good reasons for the contrary 
 opinion. — Horce Petrince, pp. 131-135, and App. C. + Chap. ii. 9. 10. 
 
/. PETER. 261 
 
 those early converts, and such as had heen added to their 
 number in the years that had elapsed since they received the 
 word of the Lord and were baptized. 
 
 St. Peter announces himself " an apostle of Jesus Christ," 
 not a prince of apostles, but one of the twelve. In neither 
 of his Epistles is there the slightest trace of that love of title 
 and pre-eminence which has been so conspicuous in the bishops 
 of Rome who pretend to be his successors. 
 
 There is no allusion to the organised Churches of Asia Minor, 
 because the letter is intended for " the Dispersion ; " and in 
 the Churches Jews and Gentiles were united. There is, how- 
 ever, reference to "the elders," and their episcopate of the 
 flock of God. 
 
 It is easy to see that the Apostle's object is to confirm the 
 Jewish Christians throughout Asia Minor in the faith and hope 
 which some of them had received at Jerusalem under his own 
 ministry, and which had been widely diffused through the 
 labours of Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, and other preachers. 
 Therefore the Epistle is not at all a doctrinal treatise, but, re- 
 cognising fundamental truths, and often reaching back into the 
 Old Testament by quotation and allusion, it seeks to establish 
 its readers in their Christian convictions and patient confidence : 
 " I have written briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is 
 the true grace of God wherein ye stand." 
 
 In fact, this letter much resembles an earnest, and some- 
 times impassioned, oral address, and can scarcely be said to 
 have a distinct topical arrangement. The salutation is grave 
 and consolatory. The Jews had always been taught to trace 
 their religious calling and privilege to the Divine election of 
 their nation. St. Peter ascribes the yet higher calling 
 and privilege of those among them who believed in Jesus 
 Christ to their election, "according to the foreknowledge 
 of God the Father." Their position in Christ was due 
 to Divine electing love, as truly as their prior position 
 as children of Abraham and disciples of Moses. Nothing less 
 than the grace of the Holy Trinity made them Christians ; for 
 
262 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 the choice and foreknowledge of God the Father led to " sancti- 
 fication of the Spirit," and " sprinkling of the blood of Jesns 
 Christ." 
 
 After the address and salutation, the Epistle proceeds as 
 follows : — 
 
 I. A statement of salvation in Christ, and of the influence 
 which the possession of such a salvation ought to have on 
 character and life (chap. i. 3-ii. 10). 
 
 Most characteristically this Apostle rushes at once into an 
 animated passage on the Christian hope and the inheritance of 
 saints. He then cheers "the sojourners of the Dispersion" 
 among their manifold trials by assurances of the abounding 
 mercy of God, His powerful keeping of believers, and the 
 triumphant issue of well-tried faith at the appearing of Jesus 
 Christ. In this exordium we find faith, hope, and love — 
 these three, after the manner of Paul. The saints are "kept 
 through faith ; " they have a trial of faith ; and the end of 
 their faith is " the salvation of souls." They are " begotten 
 again to a living hope by the resurrection of Christ." They 
 have love to the unseen Saviour in whom they believe. Faith 
 is not enough without hope and love, or hope without faith 
 and love, or love without faith and hope. But from the three 
 issues "joy unspeakable and full of glory." 
 
 St. James looked on the Gospel as " the perfect law of 
 liberty." St. Peter regards it as the accomplishment of pro- 
 phecy, and so places it before his readers in a light which they 
 were sure to appreciate. He affirms that what was now being 
 preached with the accompanying power of the Holy Ghost was 
 no strange thing. It had been the subject of prophetic 
 testimony in the past, and even of angelic contemplation and 
 study. So this Apostle had taught in all his addresses to the 
 Jews ; * and he repeats it here to the believers of " the circum- 
 cision," in order to enhance the value and confirm the truth of 
 that great salvation which he had oraUy proclaimed. 
 * Acts ii. 16-36, iii. 18-26, iv. 11. 
 
/. PETER, 263 
 
 As to the way of salvation in Christ, St. Peter is quite in 
 harmony with St. Paul; has the same doctrine of atoning 
 blood, of resurrection to newness of life, and of the edification 
 of the saved as living stones built together into " a spiritual 
 house." He does not, however, enter at all so fully into the 
 ground of salvation, or discuss such points as reconciliation, 
 justification, and adoption. Neither has he any of the anti- 
 Judaising polemics, so prominent in some of the Pauline 
 Epistles. What St. Peter is most intent upon is the practical 
 influence which ought to be exerted on character and conduct 
 by the conscious possession of salvation in Christ. Christians 
 should be resolute, vigilant, patient, obedient, holy, full of 
 brotherly love, a people publishing by their lives the attributes 
 of Him who has called them "out of darkness into His mar- 
 vellous light." It is not that men are to live well in order to 
 be saved, but that they should live well because the God of 
 all grace has saved them. On this the teaching of the Epistle 
 is very definite. Christian pilgrims on the earth, are to pass 
 the time of their sojourning in reverence toward God, " foras-^ 
 much as they know that they are redeemed with the precious 
 blood of Christ." They are to love one another because they 
 are partakers of the same regeneration, "being born again of 
 incorruptible seed." They are to live to the Divine praise, 
 because they are the people of God, and have obtained mercy. 
 They are to lay aside all ungraciousness of temper, forasmuch 
 as they " have tasted that the Lord is gracious." * 
 
 II. More definite exhortations as to holy living in the world 
 (chap. ii. ii-iv. 19). 
 
 The Apostle seems to come closer to his readers ; addresses 
 them as " beloved ; " and affectionately urges them to live as 
 those who were delivered by Jesus Christ from this present evil 
 world. They should not give rein to fleshly lusts, as the 
 heathen did around them. Bearing in mind that the reputa- 
 
 * They are also to desire for their growth " the milk," which is for the 
 understanding (KoyiKOP), and for the affections (fiSoXoj').— Chap. ii. 2. 
 
264 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 tion of the Gospel was committed to them, they should give no 
 sort of colour or countenance to allegations freely brought 
 against the early Christians of immoral excesses and orgies, 
 and of insubordination and disloyalty. On the latter of these 
 charges, as well as the former, St. Peter is very careful to put 
 the Jewish Christians on their guard. He teaches the duties of 
 subjects to the civil government, and then of servants to masters 
 in domestic government. It was a time of harshness and op- 
 pression, and the patience of subordinates was severely tried. 
 The Apostle directs and comforts them by pointing to the 
 perfect model of a sweet and holy patience in Jesus Christ 
 suffering for us, and " leaving us an example that we should 
 follow His steps." From this he proceeds, after the manner of 
 Paul, to discuss the mutual relation of husband and wife ; and 
 shows how in this also Christians ought to live as the Lord's 
 servants and handmaids, raising the conjugal union, and the 
 family life consequent upon it, far above what was usual among 
 the Gentiles who knew not Christ. Then follows a general 
 admonition to kindness, courtesy, hospitality, and the encoun- 
 tering of enmity and persecution in the world with a good 
 conscience and a tranquil heart. 
 
 In this part of the Epistle there are sudden stretches of 
 thought far back into the Old Testament. The submission of 
 the Christian wife to her husband is recommended from the 
 example of " holy women in the old time," and especially of 
 Sarah, who "obeyed Abraham, calling him lord." The long- 
 suffering of God while His people are ill-treated in the world is 
 compared to His long-suffering " in the days of Noah while the 
 ark was a preparing." Salvation itself is illustrated by the 
 preservation of J^oah and his family, *' eight souls," in the ark 
 by the waters of the flood. Both here and in his second Epistle 
 St. Peter dwells with emphasis on the history of Noah and the 
 Deluge. He sees judgment brooding over the world, and 
 especially over the Jewish people, and Jerusalem, their holy 
 city. There is deliverance only in and with Christ. And in 
 the Apostle's ears there still ring with solemn sound those 
 
I. PETER. 265 
 
 words which many years before he had heard from his Master's 
 lips : " As the days of l^oah were, so shall also the coming of 
 the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the 
 flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in 
 marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and 
 knew not imtil the flood came and took them all away ; so shall 
 also the coming of the Son of man be." * 
 
 Then the manner of salvation, as well as the necessity for it, 
 is taught from the history of ISToah. He was delivered "by 
 water," passed through the death in which others were swal- 
 lowed up, was concealed or buried out of sight for a time, and 
 then emerged as by resurrection to render to God his sacrifice 
 of praise. So are we saved by baptism into the death of Christ, 
 by burial with Him through " baptism into death," and by 
 resurrection with Him who is risen and gone into heaven. 
 Then and therefore have we good cause to offer our sacrifice of 
 praise to God continually. 
 
 But the reference which is most frequent and emphatic is to 
 the suffering and dying of the Lord Jesus. The message is : 
 Suffer innocently and patiently ; for so Christ endured. Eejoice 
 that you are partakers of His sufferings. There had been a 
 time when Simon Peter tried to dissuade his Master from going 
 up to Jerusalem to suffer ; and at that city he drew the sword 
 to resist his Master's arrest in the garden of Gethsemane ; but 
 now he better understood the sorrow in the garden and the 
 anguish of the cross, for he saw the salvation of the world and 
 the patience of the Church centering in and secured by that 
 meek and willing Sufferer. 
 
 In the Epistle to the Hebrews troubled Christians are bidden 
 to look for strength to the sympathising Saviour in heaven, 
 " for He is able to succour them that are tried." In this Epistle 
 they are exhorted to recall their Lord's passion on earth, and 
 learn patience from His example. They are also to rejoice in 
 hope of glory at His coming. St. Paul had written to the 
 Komans, " If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also 
 * Matt. xxiv. 37-39. 
 
266 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 be glorified together." St. Peter has the same thought, " that, 
 when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with 
 exceeding joy." * 
 
 This part of the Epistle ends with a word of encouragement 
 to such of the Jewish Christians in Asia Minor as were in 
 suffering, to commit to God "the keeping of their souls in 
 well-doing." Jesus suffered at the hands of men "for well- 
 doing," not " for evil-doing ; " and on the cross He committed 
 Himself to Him that judges righteously. So should His people, 
 not in dying only, but in all time of trial. Whatever it may 
 cost, whatever risks it may involve, let them keep to well- 
 doing ; and as they have received in faith the salvation of their 
 souls, so let them commit the keeping of their saved souls in 
 the right way to the "faithful Creator," whose "will" is con- 
 cerned in their affliction, no matter whence it arises, and whose 
 loving wisdom can always evolve out of it good to His afflicted 
 ones, and glory to His holy name. 
 
 III. Councils to Presbyters, and to the people in Christian 
 fellowship (chap. v.). 
 
 In the opening of the Epistle, St. Peter takes the title of 
 apostle ; but the apostolate was not an office to be continued 
 in the Church. Apostles were gifts to the Church, not officials. 
 The permanent office of superintendence is, as we have else- 
 where learned, that of presbyterate or episcopate. t So St. 
 Peter, in addressing those who occupied that office, calls himself 
 their "co-presbyter," and bids them "feed the flock of God, 
 episcopising it." % Without doubt he has in mind the charge 
 he had himself received from the Lord, — " Feed My lambs : 
 
 * Chap. iv. 13 ; Rom. viii. 17. 
 
 t What do they mean who assert that no definite mode of Church 
 government is prescribed in the New Testament ? We have been anxious 
 not to give any undue prominence to the subject, yet we have been obliged 
 to take notice of it in the Acts of the Apostles, in three of St. Paul's 
 Epistles (Philemon, I Timothy, and Titus), and here also. Everywhere 
 the testimony is clear for the presbytero-episcopate as the proper govern- 
 ment of the Church. + Chap. v. 2. 
 
7. PETER, 267 
 
 keep My sheep : feed My sheep." He has no thought of be- 
 queathing the charge to one supreme bishop at Rome or any- 
 where else. He transmits it to all the presbyters, bidding them 
 regard the Christian people, not as their flocks or followers, but 
 as the flock of God, and both tend and nourish that flock as 
 they shall be answerable to the Divine *' Shepherd and Bishop 
 of souls." Their episcopate should be exercised not reluctantly, 
 but with cheerful good- will; not covetously, but of a ready 
 mind ; and not overbearingly, " as lording it over their charge, 
 but as patterns to the flock." Not by domineering authority 
 are the Lord's people to be led, but by the charm of Christ-like 
 goodness, the attraction of love, the beauty of holiness. 
 
 A cheering promise is given to presbyters who are gentle and 
 faithful toward the flock: "When the Chief Shepherd shall 
 appear, ye shall receive the amaranthine crown of glory." 
 When the Lord comes He will reckon with all who have had 
 place as overseers and guides to His sheep and lambs, and will 
 crown them, or not crown them, according to their fidelity. A 
 hireling shepherd may get what he seeks — filthy lucre ; but he 
 will have no crown. A lover of pre-eminence may lord it for a 
 little while, but he will be put among the last and lowest when 
 Christ appears. The dutiful elder or diligent bishop may or 
 may not have appreciation now ; but his reward is sure when 
 the Archpastor or Archbishop, the Great Shepherd of the 
 sheep, returns in glory. 
 
 Direction follows for mutual loving subjection in the Church, 
 though the word church is avoided throughout the Epistle ; * 
 and to this are added exhortations similar to those given by St. 
 James, to humility before God and steadfast resistance to the 
 devil, who, as a roaring lion, threatened to devour the Chris- 
 tians, going about to deter them, and to foment cruel persecu- 
 tion against them. 
 
 The closing benediction is very beautiful. It is invoked 
 
 * An awkward fact for the Romanists. When will a Pope write a 
 letter full of the meekness of Christ, and without once mentioning the 
 Church ? 
 
268 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 from "the God of all grace." St. Peter does not, like some of 
 our modern enthusiasts, speak of " Jesus only." * He repre- 
 sents it as the object of Christ's suffering, "that He might 
 bring us to God;" and of His resurrection and glory, "that 
 your faith and hope may be in God." His readers are to "call 
 on the Father." They " believe in God," " are the people of 
 God," are to " sanctity the Lord God " in their hearts, are to 
 "live according to God in the Spirit." So their guardian is 
 "the God of all grace," vrhose resources of goodness and love, 
 wisdom and power, no human need can ever exhaust. Having 
 " called us to His eternal glory in Christ," this God will un- 
 questionably guard and support us all the way to His eternal 
 glory, and not permit any of us to fail. The Apostle's petition 
 is, that after the brethren " have suffered a little while," the 
 God of all grace may make them perfect. Or rather, for the 
 amended Greek Text gives this as a strong assurance and 
 promise instead of an optative benediction, we read in the 
 K.V. : "The God of all grace Himself shall perfect, stablish, 
 strengthen you." 
 
 " To Him, the God of all grace, be the dominion to the ages 
 of the ages. Amen." Let all the people of the Lord say 
 Amen. Let none of them seek their own glory or boast of 
 their own might ; but let all, catching the spirit of this precious 
 Epistle, hope in God, live in the world as pilgrims, and wait 
 patiently for Christ. 
 
 The last words of the book appear to recall some of the 
 parting words of the Saviour before He died. St. Peter had 
 heard his Lord say, "Love one another as I have loved you;" 
 and he writes, " Greet ye one another with a kiss of love." 
 He had heard the Lord say, " These things I have spoken unto 
 you, that in Me ye might have peace ; " and he writes, " Peace 
 be with you all that are in Christ." 
 
 * When the prophets disappeared on the Mount of Transfiguration, the 
 three disciples saw Jesus only. But how puerile to found on this a sort of 
 theological direction ! 
 
/. PETER. 
 
 269 
 
 A TABLE 
 
 OF REMINISCENCES OF JESUS AND HIS WORDS IN THE 
 EPISTLES OF ST. PETER. 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 npare Chapter i. 3, 
 
 with John xx. i ; Mark xvi. 7. 
 
 
 8, 
 
 ,, 
 
 „ 29. 
 
 
 10, II, 
 
 ,, 
 
 Luke xxiv. 26, 46. 
 
 
 19, 
 
 J, 
 
 John i. 29, 36. 
 
 
 23. 
 
 ,» 
 
 Matthew xiii. 23. 
 
 
 ii. I, 2, 
 
 ,, 
 
 „ xviii. 1-4. 
 
 
 4,5, 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, xvi. 18. 
 
 
 7,8, 
 
 ) , 
 
 „ xxii. 42-44. 
 
 
 13, 17. 
 
 ), 
 
 Mark xii. 13-17. 
 
 
 20, 23, 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, xiv. 54-65. 
 
 
 25, 
 
 5, 
 
 Luke XV. 3-7; John x. 11-16 
 
 
 iii. 15, 
 
 ,, 
 
 Mark xiv. 66-72. 
 
 
 19, 
 
 ,, 
 
 Luke xvi. 23. 
 
 
 iv. 7, 
 
 ,5 
 
 Mark xiii. 35-37. 
 
 
 8, 
 
 5J 
 
 John XV. 12. 
 
 
 14, 
 
 ,, 
 
 „ xiv. 26, 27; XV. 18-21. 
 
 
 V. 2, 
 
 ,, 
 
 „ xxi. 15, 18. 
 
 
 5, 
 
 ,, 
 
 „ xiii. 4, 5. 
 
 
 6, 
 
 ,, 
 
 Luke xiv. 11. 
 
 >» »» 
 
 7, 
 
 ,, 
 
 Matthew vi. 31-34. 
 
 II. PETER. 
 Compare Chapter i. 14, with John xxi. 18, 19. 
 „ „ 16-18, ,, Mark ix. 2-8. 
 
 „ „ ii. I, „ „ xiii. 22. 
 
 „ „ 5, ,, Matthew xxiv. 37-39, 
 
 6, ,, „ xi. 23, 24. 
 
( 270 ) 
 
 //. PETER, 
 
 The authenticity and authority of this book have been much 
 disputed. Some of the early versions of the ISTew Testament do 
 not contain it ; and though its existence can be traced certainly 
 to the second century, its right to be received as Holy Scripture 
 was not established till the formation of the Canon in the fourth 
 century. Origen and Jerome themselves received it, but state 
 that it was rejected by many. In modern times its Petrine 
 authorship is utterly denied by not a few scholarly critics, some 
 of them at all events not chargeable with neology. Calvin ex- 
 pressed doubt on the point; De Pressense has said of it, "It 
 seems to us impossible to admit with any certainty its authen- 
 ticity ; " * and Godet thinks that it must be excluded, " if not 
 from the Canon, at least from the number of the genuine apostolic 
 books." t 
 
 Whatever the degree of weight due in such a matter to the 
 hesitation of the early Church, the Epistle shows itself intrinsi- 
 cally worthy of its place in the New Testament. It has, we 
 admit, many points of dissimilarity with the undisputed first 
 Epistle ; but it may very well be a sequel to that communication, 
 and indeed it is just such a sequel as the state of the Asiatic 
 Churches at that period would have required. "Why imagine 
 a pseudo-Peter of a later generation writing such a book as a 
 
 * "Early Years of Christianity," Eng. Ed., Note I. 
 
 + "Studies on the New Testament," Eng. Ed., p. 204. 
 
 The unsparing assault on this Epistle made by Dr. E. A. Abbott in the 
 Expositor for 1882 created a painful sensation. He has, however, been 
 well answered by Dr. George Salmon, Introd. to N. T. pp. 626-653. 
 
//. PETER. 271 
 
 cunning fabrication under the Apostle's name — an anonymous 
 writer, so gifted and yet so false 1 
 
 The book professes to be composed by the Apostle Peter shortly 
 before his martyrdom. It is addressed to believers in Christ, 
 without any specific direction, as in the first Epistle, to Jewish 
 converts in Asia Minor. Its character is hortatory, not argu- 
 mentative or even didactic. The first Epistle was written to 
 fortify Christian brethren in the endurance of afflictions from 
 without. This bids them watch against dangers within the 
 Church, in the form of deceptive teachers and mocking sceptics, 
 who would turn them away from the hope of the Gospel. 
 
 The exordium is almost as vigorous and fervid as that of the 
 first Epistle ; and illustrates the same tendency of St. Peter's 
 mind to rush at full force into his theme. Those to whom he 
 writes had "obtained precious faith," — equally precious with 
 that of the apostles and first servants of the Lord. It was faith 
 " in the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ ; " the 
 clinging attachment of the heart to the righteous Father, and to 
 that Just One, who is our way to the Father. To all who in 
 this sense believed the divine power had imparted, and continued 
 to give, all requisites for life and godliness through the knowledge 
 of Him who had called them. To them were given the promises 
 of God, very great and precious, with a view to the promotion of 
 holiness : ** that by these ye might become partakers of a divine 
 nature, having escaped from the corruption which is in the 
 world by lust." 
 
 When the Apostle mentions the divine promises, his soul 
 seems to kindle. In earlier days he had been too confident in 
 his own promises ; as when he said, " Although all shall be 
 offended, yet will not I. If I should die with Thee, I will not 
 deny Thee in any wise." But he learned his own weakness 
 when the cock crew ; and in old age he makes no mention of 
 the promises of men, but extols the unfailing promises of God. 
 
 The possession of precious faith lies at the foundation of 
 Christian dispositions and life. St. Peter exhorts the believers 
 to diligence in the culture of such dispositions, and the develop- 
 
272 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 ment of such a life. They who are joined to Christ in faith, 
 and have received the promises, ought to add in their faith 
 moral courage ; in this again, knowledge ; in knowledge, self- 
 control ; in self-control, patient endurance ; in patience, godli- 
 ness; in godliness, Philadelphia; and in brotherly kindness, 
 love. Thus seven good qualities are to be built on "precious 
 faith," superadded to it or developed from it within the character 
 of a diligent Christian. On the contrary, a negligent Christian 
 adds nothing to his faith, and therefore loses its advantage 
 and comfort, is blind to his position and calling, has a contracted 
 view, of the things of God, and, forgetful of the pardon of sins 
 which he received on faith, lives in uncertainty of mind and 
 inconsistency of conduct. The Apostle encourages the brethren 
 to escape from mischievous uncertainty by assiduous self-culture ; 
 to become assured and happy believers, waiting for an entrance 
 with unfaltering step into the kingdom of our Lord. 
 
 After this, for confirmation of faith and an incentive to dili- 
 gence, St. Peter refers to the testimony of apostles and the 
 writings of ancient prophets. The apostles had not followed 
 reports or myths of vague authority, but had been companions 
 of Jesus Christ. Simon Peter himself, with two others, had 
 seen the Master's glory in the Transfiguration, and heard the 
 voice of God " on the holy mount." After the resurrection, the 
 Lord had indicated to him that he was to die a martyr's death 
 of violence ; and he was the more anxious to impress the truths 
 of the Gospel on the younger generation around him, in order 
 that, after his decease, they might " have these things always 
 in remembrance." There is something very significant in the 
 Apostle's language about putting off his tabernacle, taken along 
 with his allusion to his presence at the Transfiguration. On 
 the mount he had proposed to build tabernacles, in order to 
 retain Jesus, Moses, and Elias in heavenly majesty on the earth 
 — " not knowing what he said." But now he knew a more ex- 
 cellent way. He would put off his own tabernacle, and, when 
 absent from the body, be present with the Lord. 
 
 The testimony of ancient prophecy was that which our Saviour, 
 
//. PETER. 275 
 
 after the resurrection, opened to His disciples ; and, if we may- 
 judge by the reports we have of St, Peter s addresses at Jeru- 
 salem, he followed his Master's example, and repeated His in- 
 terpretations. Such teaching suited the Jewish mind; and 
 Christians "of the circumcision" received much confirmation of 
 their faith from giving heed to the sure word of prophecy. St. 
 Peter reminds them that the " prophecy of the Scripture " is not 
 a prognostication of the future by far-seeing human minds, but 
 the utterance of holy men under the impulse of the Holy Ghost, 
 going quite beyond their personal knowledge or suggestion. To 
 the same effect is his statement in the first Epistle, that the 
 prophets themselves searched "what or what manner of time 
 the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." 
 
 As we pass into the second chapter, we find the tone of this 
 book changed from grave exhortation to stern warning and even 
 severe denunciation. Having set before the brethren the light 
 to which they should take heed, the Apostle puts them on their 
 guard against false lights that would lure them to destruction. 
 There had been pseudo-prophets among the people of Israel; 
 and in like manner there would be pseudo-teachers in the Church. 
 The Lord Himself had said, " Beware of false prophets." St. 
 Paul gave warning that such should arise. St. John and St. 
 Jude describe them as already producing a baneful effect on 
 Christian faith and life. St. Peter here points out their 
 pernicious ways, and affirms their doom. Those who should 
 "bring in heresies (i.e. divisions) tending to destruction," he 
 stigmatises as denying "the Lord," for by their wilfulness and 
 disobedience they would set aside all His authority. Their chief 
 lure would be licentious living, and their chief motive would be 
 avarice. History soon showed that such warnings were required ; 
 for in the end of the first century, and in the second, teachers 
 appeared, and sects were formed, that brought infamy on the 
 Christian name by their unruly principles and shameless lives. 
 
 The Apostle pronounces the doom of those wicked men, 
 establishing the certainty of retribution by reference to three 
 great judgments of God : — 
 
 VOL. II. s 
 
274 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 (i.) The angels that sinned God spared not; hut, having ca?t 
 them down to Tartarus or the Ahyss, holds them there in bonds 
 of darkness. Those fallen angels are now "reserved unto 
 judgment." 
 
 (2.) The old world, filled with corruption and disorder, God 
 spared not, but swept it with a deluge in judgment, preserving 
 "Noah the herald of righteousness, an eighth person," *.e. at 
 the head of the entire preserved company of "eight souls," as 
 already described in the first Epistle.* 
 
 (3.) The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah God condemned to 
 overthrow, f burning them to ashes ; and delivered Lot, a 
 righteous man, who had witnessed with disapproval and vexation 
 the vile deeds of the people among whom he dwelt. 
 
 These instances are adduced to prove that " the Lord knows 
 how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the 
 unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment." He 
 will not permit trouble to be so prolonged as to crush the spirit 
 of His people. He knows when and how to deliver them by 
 shutting them up in some ark of safety, or making them flee 
 betimes to His mountain of strength. On the other hand, 
 though the unjust may seem to have long impunity, they cannot 
 elude the judgment of God. The hand of His justice, invisible 
 but irresistible, has hold of them every moment, and will keep 
 its hold till the day of judgment and fiery indignation. 
 
 Woe, woe to all who demoralise Christian society ! Such is 
 the tenor of this chapter, and of the Epistle of Jude. Woe to 
 those who obliterate the distinction between Christian and 
 heathen life, encouraging licentiousness, despising authority, 
 indulc^ino- a railing, contemptuous spirit, and attending the love 
 feasts of the Church with impure eyes and hearts ! Their course 
 is in harmony with the vile counsel of the prophet Balaam, who 
 was the anti-Moses of his time, and prevailed against Israel, not 
 by direct attack, but by a crafty and licentious device. In 
 his steps walked those antichristian men who beguiled and 
 corrupted unstable souls. That they had known Christ made 
 * I Peter iii. 20. f The word used is "catastrophe." 
 
77. PETER. 275 
 
 their "wickedness all the worse. " It had been better for them 
 not to have known the way of righteousness, than, having known 
 it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto 
 them." They betrayed an inward baseness and uncleanness of 
 soul which suggested a comparison with animals which were 
 counted vile by the children of Israel. " It has happened unto 
 them according to the true proverb,* the dog is turned to his 
 own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing 
 in the mire." 
 
 The chapters in this Epistle are not ill arranged. At tlie 
 beginning of the third, we find a pause or rest in the fervid, 
 even fiery diction of the Apostle. But he soon resumes the 
 strain of denunciation with reference to that scoffing spirit which 
 should manifest itself " in the last of the days." He shows, 
 according to his manner, that this had been predicted by ancient 
 prophets who had prevision of the Christian times. That 
 scoffing spirit would be in alliance with the libertine tendency 
 already treated of ; and it would show itself under the form of 
 materialistic scepticism, asserting the stability of nature, and 
 deriding the thought of any serious disturbance of the order of 
 the universe by an appearing of the Lord from heaven. 
 
 The Apostle remarks that they who so speak forget the changes 
 which have already passed over the face of nature : and does 
 not hesitate to say that, as those who ridiculed the warnings of 
 Noah were refuted by the judgment of water, so those mockers 
 of the last days shall be refuted by the judgment of fire. 
 
 Is it inferred from the long periods that elapse, that the Lord 
 God is slow in action, or slack in fulfilment of His word ? The 
 answer is ready : "Let this one thing not escape you, that one 
 day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years 
 as one day." f Before the Lord time is not as with us. Bengel 
 says, " God's oenologium diff'ers from the liorologium of mortals." 
 
 * "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly." — 
 Prov. xxvi. II. No doubt there is a reminiscence of Matt. vii. 6. 
 
 t Chapter iii. 8. The latter part of this verse is taken from Psalm 
 xa 4. 
 
276 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 We have an hour-dial, but the Everlasting One has an age-dial, 
 on which He evolves His eternal purposes. 
 
 The true moral interpretation of God's long delay in judgment 
 is furnished in the following words, "He is longsuffering to 
 us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should 
 come to repentance." God showed His longsuffering before the 
 flood, when His Spirit strove with man ; before the destruction 
 of the cities of the plain, whose wickedness He endured till in 
 all Sodom there were not ten righteous men ; before^the expulsion 
 of the Canaanites, whom He tolerated for hundreds of years, till 
 their iniquity was full ; before the captivity of Israel and of 
 Judah, with whom He remonstrated and pleaded by the voices 
 of many prophets ; and before the downfall of Jerusalem, over 
 the infatuation of whose inhabitants were shed the precious tears 
 of His only begotten Son. In similar forbearance He allows 
 length of days to notorious sinners ; sends repeated admoni- 
 tions to their consciences, and prolongs their opportunities 
 of repentance. 
 
 " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief ; in the which 
 the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the ele- 
 ments shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth also and the 
 works that are therein shall be burned up." Forbearance may 
 be long, but it will end abruptly. Then comes sudden judg- 
 ment, with crashing ruin and a blazing sky. The earth itself, 
 on the stability of which the scoffers count so confidently, will be 
 wrapped in all-dissolving fire. How long or short will be that 
 day of judgment no mortal man can tell. We are warned not 
 to apply the scale of human days to the day of God. But what 
 it most concerns us to know, is that the day will come surely 
 and suddenly. There is a likelihood that it will be brief, just 
 because the judgment is to be so strong and sweeping ; for it 
 has been the way of the Lord, while prolonging the discipline 
 of chastisement for His children's good, and the time of repent- 
 ance for the return of sinners, to make a short work of judg- 
 ment on the earth. 
 
 Having warned the scoffers, St. Peter concludes by exhorting 
 
//. PETER. 277 
 
 the believers to vigilance and piety. What is to other men a 
 fearful prospect should be by them expected with a solemn joy. 
 It is incumbent on them to use well the present time, and serve 
 Christ with diligence during this period of toil and struggle on 
 the part of the Church, patience and longsuffering on the part 
 of God. The saints should look for, and by their longings 
 speed forward the appearing of the day of God. Their hopes 
 reach quite through, and past the dissolution of this present 
 visible cosmos^ to a new creation, or construction of the heavens 
 and earth, of which the glory will be that ''therein dwelleth 
 righteousness." * On the present earth, righteousness lives by 
 dint of constant watchfulness and prayer; for it is in an 
 ungenial atmosphere, the world being full of unrighteous men 
 and their unrighteous deeds. On the new earth, righteousness 
 shall dwell at home ; having not a place in the world by suffer- 
 ance, but the whole world to itself. There will be matter, but 
 no materialists; sense, but no senualists; men dwelling in 
 bodies without the lusting of the flesh, and on an earth with- 
 out an earthly mind. There will be no devil or demon in 
 heaven, or air, or earth; no unclean spirit, or ungodly man. 
 The people will be all righteous, and the Lord their God will 
 dwell among them : " His people they ; and He His people's 
 God." 
 
 In addressing and exhorting the saints, St. Peter makes an 
 interesting reference to the teaching of his "beloved brother 
 Paul." Perhaps some of the erroneous teachers of the time, 
 keeping alive and exaggerating the report of the difference 
 between those apostles at Antioch, were wont to represent 
 them as at variance in the doctrine of salvation. We know 
 that this is quite the mode of some of our modern critics, who 
 describe the Pauline theology as very different from the Petrine, 
 and from the Johannine. They construe variety as though it 
 were discrepancy, and views which are the complement of each 
 other, as though they were in contradiction. How condemna- 
 * Chapter iii. 13 ; the promise is in Isa. Ixv. 17; the vision in Rev. 
 
278 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 tory of their conclusions is this circumstance, that St. Peter 
 refers his readers to the writings of St. Paul! It plainly 
 appears, (i.) That St. Peter loved and honoured the apostle who 
 had once " withstood him to the face," knowing how to distin- 
 guish the faithful wound of a friend from the cruel stab of an 
 enemy; (2.) That the writings of St. Paul were, at that early 
 period, regarded as of authority, not merely in the particular 
 Churches to which they were sent, but in the Church at large ; 
 (3.) That although there are acknowledged difficulties in the 
 Epistles and in other Scriptures, and though these are misin- 
 terpreted by incompetent persons, no argument ought to be 
 founded thereon against the right and duty of appeal to Holy 
 Writ. No composition has been so twisted and wrested as 
 Sacred Scripture. So much the worse for those who misuse it. 
 It is " to their own destruction ; " but the Scriptures cannot be 
 destroyed, and to them should all religious questions be taken 
 with competent learning and spiritual power of insight. The 
 ultimate rule of faith is not what the commentators say, or 
 what the fathers teach, but what the Lord has said, and what 
 the beloved Paul, beloved Peter, or other apostle or prophet 
 has written for our learning under the guidance of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 Once more St. Peter uses the word " beloved," affectionately 
 warning the believers not to be " led away." It is the very 
 expression used by St. Paul in regard to Barnabas at the time 
 when Peter " was to be blamed ; " ^ but the danger was now in 
 the opposite direction. Barnabas had been led away by the 
 error of those who exaggerated the office and obligation of the 
 law. Those whom St. Peter warns were in danger of being 
 led away by the error of " the lawless " or Antinomians. He 
 indicates the great corrective of all such perversions in the 
 memorable words — " grow in the grace and knowledge of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : " in the grace or favour of the 
 Lord, as trees and flowers grow in the sunshine, bearing fruit, 
 and shedding fragrance ; in the knowledge of the Lord, learning 
 * Gal. ii. 13. 
 
//. PETER. 
 
 279 
 
 Christ and the truth as it is in Jesus, in order to stability in 
 faith and integrity of life. 
 
 **To Him — our Lord and Saviour — be glory both now and 
 to the day of the age ! " * From Him descends all grace. To 
 Him redound all glory ! 
 
 * Chap. iii. 18 : a unique expression, probably suggested by verse 8. 
 
( 280 
 
 /. JOHN. 
 
 This book is called, properly enough, an " Epistle general," for 
 it has no specific direction to any local Church, and takes no 
 notice of any distinction between Jewish and Gentile Christians. 
 Its date is fixed with great probability about the year a.d. 90. 
 At that time Peter, James, and Paul had departed to be with 
 the Lord; of all the apostolic band only John survived, and 
 with deep fatherly affection surveyed the whole Church of God. 
 His writing is parental and even tender in its tone, but never 
 weak or timorous. The aged John is still a " son of thunder." 
 As in his Gospel, so also in this Epistle, he gives much promin- 
 ence to the eternal life which we have in Christ, and the 
 sonship of Christians in and under the Divine Sonship of their 
 Lord. He keeps the eye fixed on the glory of the Son with 
 the Father, and denounces all doctrines and theories subversive 
 of that glory. 
 
 It is by no means easy to analyse this book, and arrange its 
 contents in sections ; and the difficulty arises from the habit of 
 St. John's mind to revolve round a few central thoughts, and to 
 pour out intuitions, rather than conduct discussions or build 
 up arguments. Life, light, love, sonship, righteousness, know- 
 ledge, faith, victory over the world — such are his favourite and 
 often reiterated themes. 
 
 The proem or exordium (chap. i. 1-4) is in obvious affinity 
 to that of St. John's Gospel.* It starts from a lofty summit 
 
 * There is much to recommend Bishop Lightfoot's suggestion that this 
 Epistle was prepared and circulated as a companion work to the Fourth 
 Gospel. The mention of " the water and the blood " would have been 
 unintelligible without the narrative of the crucifixion by the same Apostle. 
 
7. JOHN. 28 1 
 
 of Christian truth; and declares the Logos, the manifested 
 Life, the Son in the bosom of the Father. With this high 
 doctrine, and this Divine Personality, the Church had to do 
 " from the beginning : " but at the end of the first century, 
 there were teachers who pretended to go beyond and soar above 
 the elements of Christianity as known to the original disciples. 
 These the Apostle withstood, desiring to keep the Church faithful 
 to the primitive simplicity, and to that Prince of Life whom 
 he had himself so intimately known. To continue in the faith 
 and knowledge of this eternal life would be to enjoy fellowship 
 Avith the apostles. To depart from this would be to forfeit all 
 such privilege. The very object of St. John in writing was, 
 that the holy fellowship might be preserved joyful and 
 inviolate. 
 
 The key to the whole interpretation lies before us in the 
 words, " These things write we nnto you, that your joy may be 
 full." The object of the Epistle is Christian joy : and this 
 is found (i.) In fellowship with God and the apostles and 
 saints, under certain conditions of fellowship here described ; 
 and (2.) In victory over the world, and over the spirit of error 
 therein. 
 
 L Fulness of joy is attainable only in the fellowship * which 
 follows on union to Christ, and reconciliation to God in Him. 
 It is a communion of spirit, with a community of interests and 
 resources ; a common aim, and common cause ; common 
 enemies, and common friends ; common aversions, and common 
 delights. 
 
 When the Lord Jesus was on earth. He declared the Father ; 
 and spoke of the abiding of the Father and the Son with His 
 loving and obedient followers, t But the teaching was too high 
 for His disciples until the Holy Spirit fell upon them, and 
 enhghtened them in the full knowledge of Him with whom 
 they had held so close, yet, on their part, so imperfect fellow- 
 * KOLPuvia, more than fellowship ; having all things in common. 
 
2S2 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 ship. When the Spirit rested on them, they knew that they 
 had fellowship " with the Father and with His Son Jesus 
 Christ. The Holy Ghost was not only on them as a Spirit of 
 illumination, but in them as the Spirit of adoption ; so had the 
 apostles communion with the Father as His children, and with 
 the Son as His brethren ; and were lifted up into fellowship 
 with the most exalted relations revealed to us as subsisting in 
 the Holy Trinity. 
 
 Now the fellowship into which the apostles were admitted is 
 open to all believers, because "the communion of the Holy 
 Ghost " is not for a few favoured men at the beginning of the 
 Church, but for all the followers of Jesus. It being so, there 
 is none of the twelve from whom we would rather hear this 
 message : " Have fellowship with us," than from " the disciple 
 whom Jesus loved," and who lay on His bosom at the Last 
 Supper. H any man ever knew the high delight of Christian 
 fellowship, surely it was John ; and he it is who writes in order 
 that all who believe may enter, if not into the same personal 
 human intimacy, into what is more exalted still, the same 
 spiritual communion with the Lord. 
 
 The apostolic theologian proceeds to state the moral con- 
 ditions of such fellowship. They are determined by no 
 arbitrary appointment, but by the nature and character of God, 
 and allow of no compromise or evasion. 
 
 I. God is light. When He dwelt among men in the person 
 of Christ, light shone in darkness, but the darkness com- 
 prehended it not. They who dwell in darkness cannot at any 
 time be in unison with Him; they who walk in darkness 
 cannot have fellowship with God. 
 
 Light is clear and open. If a man walks deceitfully, and 
 has not the truth in him, but a lie, he offends against the 
 perfect integrity of God, and has no fellowship with Him. 
 Light is inviolably pure. It takes cognisance of foulness and 
 corruption, yet receives no soil, contracts no stain ; shines on 
 what is base and noisome, keeping itself unsullied, undefiled. 
 If a man becomes contaminated with evil, and has fellowship 
 
/. JOHN. 283 
 
 with " the unfruitful works of darkness," he has no fellowship 
 with God. 
 
 These principles are absolute, and cannot be modified under 
 any circumstances whatever, because they rest on the essential 
 and unchangeable nature of Him with whom we have to do. 
 But, lest the mention of this drive any timid spirit or tender 
 conscience to despair, St. John beautifully introduces evangelical 
 statements of the provision made for keeping the followers of 
 Jesus in communion with God as light. 
 
 (i.) For true-hearted disciples there is unfailing cleansing 
 efficacy in the blood of Christ. If they do not conceal or deny 
 their sins, but honestly confess them, they have ever renewed 
 forgiveness, and daily cleansing from all unrighteousness. 
 
 (2.) For those who long to be quite freed from sin, and yet, 
 alas ! find that they do sin, there is " an Advocate with the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." The Epistle to the 
 Hebrews describes our Lord as the High Priest, our ever-living 
 Intercessor with God : this Epistle points to Him as our 
 Advocate or Paraclete with the Father. The former official 
 action is based on the character of Christ's death as a burnt- 
 offering ; and its object is to gain acceptance for believers as 
 worshippers of God, and to obtain succour for them when they 
 are tempted, or are made to suffer for righteousness' sake. The 
 latter rests on the atonement as a sin-offering, and its object is 
 to obtain from the Father the pardon of His children, when 
 they have offended, and incurred His displeasure. 
 
 (3.) The new and heavenly birth inaugurates a life of resist- 
 ance to sin (chap. ii. 29-iii. 9). Regeneration is a birth into 
 righteousness. The children of divine grace are, by the whole 
 tendency of their new nature, doers of righteousness ; and are 
 purified as well as gladdened in the hope of their manifestation 
 as children of God with Christ at His coming. The divine life, 
 or " seed of God " in them, is utterly opposed to sin ; cannot 
 will to sin any more than God Himself can so will. 
 
 The view of the Apostle on this subject is a very simple and 
 sweeping one. He sees two families, the one of God, the other 
 
284 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of the devil. They who pertain to the former cannot commit 
 sin ; they who are of the latter always commit sin. Not that 
 this describes men in their actual conduct, for at the best they 
 liave many inconsistencies and commixtures of good and evil, 
 but it brings out in bold relief the radical opposites of good and 
 evil disposition. The former is of God ; and so far as men act 
 out the new nature imparted by His Spirit, they do righteous- 
 ness, and cannot commit sin. The latter is of the devil ; and 
 in so far as men do unrighteousness, they cut themselves off 
 from God, and are, as our Lord said to the Jews, of their father 
 the devil. What renders the children of God inconsistent and 
 imperfect, is that their conduct is not the sole and suitable 
 development of the Divine seed, the germ of holy life which 
 is in them. There lurks in them still a seed of evil, which is 
 not allowed to dominate, but which does succeed in marring 
 their moral and spiritual character, and casting them into 
 grievous practical contradictions. 
 
 2. God is love. He displayed His love in the mission of His 
 only begotten Son ; but as men met His manifested light with 
 a non-comprehension, which sprang out of their love of dark- 
 ness, so they met His manifested love with an unbelief which 
 sprang from enmity to Him. Only when this enmity is removed 
 is it possible to know and have fellowship with God in His 
 love. "He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God 
 in him." 
 
 The love of which the Apostle speaks is much more than a 
 genial or kindly temper of mind, a human amiability. It is a 
 love which is "of God;" which in perfection characterises His 
 nature, and among men is felt and exercised by those only who 
 are born of Him. It is a divine disposition, into the possession 
 of which we are born from above. The only begotten Son gave 
 it expression on earth, showing the very love of God in His 
 benevolence and patience, His words, and deeds, and sufferings. 
 The same love ought all the children of God to manifest in their 
 tempers and actions ; and men who show it not at all, prove 
 that they are not of God, but of that " wicked one." 
 
/. JOHN. 285 
 
 The objects of love on the part of the children of God are 
 their Father in heaven, and their brethren on earth. 
 
 We love God. This is assumed, as involved in our Christian 
 profession (chap. iv. 20, 21). It is right, it is even natural, 
 that, when we know God and believe His love to us, we should 
 love Him. But He is unseen, and our love to the unseen may 
 melt into a mere dreamy sentiment. If we would love with 
 such love as God has shown, we must regard objects that we 
 see, and that with patience, kindness, and self-sacrifice. The 
 objects of such love are with us. They are our brethren. If 
 we find them faulty, and feel it hard to love them, are not we 
 ourselves more at fault before God, and yet He loves us"? 
 "And this commandment have we from Him, that he who 
 loveth God love his brother also." 
 
 This obligation of love is pressed again and again in the 2d, 
 3d, and 4th chapters. It is the commandment of the Lord, 
 that we love the brethren : it is the message which the Apostles 
 had heard from the beginning ; it is the proof of our having 
 passed from death to life ; it is the evidence that God dwells 
 in us. 
 
 Such are the great requisites for fellowship with the Father 
 and the Son. God is light ; and it is a communion in the 
 light. God is love ; and it is a fellowship of love. 
 
 II. The second great thought of the epistle is Victory. Ful- 
 ness of joy is to be reached only through conquest of the world 
 as respects both its attractions and its errors. 
 
 St. John looked round upon a world openly opposed to the 
 Gospel, and alienated from the life of God : so he wrote, "The 
 whole world lieth in the wicked one." Human society around 
 us at the present day may not be described in exactly the same 
 terms as were applicable to the cities of Asia Minor at the end 
 of the first century. It is in many respects ameliorated and 
 refined. ^Nevertheless, in its tenor of thought and opinions, its 
 pursuits, pleasures and ambitions, our modern world must be 
 characterised as opposed to the purity and gentleness of Christ, 
 
286 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and averse to the whole conception of a spiritual kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 Now Jesus Christ, in the days of His flesh, overcame the 
 world by His union of heavenliness with humility. The prince 
 of this world had nothing in Him, could not stir in Him any 
 earthly craving or ambition ; for the love of the Father occupied 
 all His soul, and excluded all love of the world. The followers 
 of Jesus are in fellowship with Him and with His Father in 
 overcoming the world which environs them, cherishing heavenly 
 aspirations with an humble mind, and so giving to the god of 
 this world no room or vantage-ground. "He that is begotten 
 of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him 
 not." 
 
 I. The Christian is not to yield to the world's attractions 
 (chap. ii. 15-17). It has three lures — (i.) Lust of the flesh — 
 the pampering of the animal appetite and propensity ; (2.) Lust 
 of the eye — roaming over objects of desire, covering a vast field 
 of vanity and self-will ; (3.) Pride of life — the ostentation 
 and vainglory of worldlings. Such were the lures in the first 
 temptation in the garden. " The fruit was good for food," — 
 lust of the flesh. It was " pleasant to the eyes," — lust of the 
 eyes. " And to be desired to make one wise," — pride of life. 
 Such again were the lures in the temptation in the wilderness. 
 " Command that these stones be made bread," — lust of the 
 flesh. '• Cast Thyself down" from the temple pinnacle, making 
 a scene and sensation in the sacred courts — lust of the eye. 
 "All the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, w'ill 
 I give Thee," — pride of life. 
 
 Temptations like these the prince of this world constantly 
 repeats. A Christian must not yield to them. He must not 
 love the world, or the things that are therein, for such love 
 excludes from the heart the love of the Father, and renders 
 divine fellowship impossible. Even such happiness as the 
 world can yield is very brief, for " the world passes away " 
 like a pageant on the stage ; while, in contrast with it, " a doer 
 of the will of God abides for ever." Keen lovers of the world 
 
/. JOHN. 2P7 
 
 are like so many children toiling with might and main to build 
 forts of snow that the first warm rain will melt, or to raise 
 towers of sand on the seashore that the next tide will sweep 
 away. 
 
 The duty of conquering the world is charged emphatically on 
 young men. Being naturally prone to aspiration, they should 
 beware of wasting it on trivial or unworthy objects. If they 
 would be men of God, they must struggle against an ignoble 
 ambition as well as against an easy self-indulgence ; and in so 
 doing they resist not so much the world as that evil spirit 
 which is in the M'orld. " I write unto you, young men, because 
 ye have overcome the wicked one." 
 
 2. A Christian must not listen to the spirit of error which is 
 in and of the world. In the days when this book was written, 
 seducing teachers propagated very unsound doctrine respecting 
 the person of Jesus Christ, undermining the truth of His proper, 
 genuine humanity. Those were Gnostics and Docetics, who 
 assumed the Christian name, but were really possessed by a 
 spirit of Antichrist ; for, in overturning the apostolic doctrine 
 concerning the Lord's person, they destroyed the whole 
 Christian faith, denying the Father and the Son. Well might 
 the success of such teachers fill the mind of the venerable 
 Apostle with grave forebodings. His years drew to a close, 
 and after him the Church would be without any of its authori- 
 tative founders, the Apostles of the Lamb. It is peculiarly 
 important to observe what it was on which he placed reliance 
 for the preservation of the Church from doctrinal and practical 
 corruption. It does not occur to him to say that the Apostolic 
 See of Rome was to be occupied in all time coming by a 
 succession of popes, vicegerents of God on earth, and that each 
 of these popes was to be the supreme and infallible guide of 
 the whole Church. This is just the place Avhere such a revela- 
 tion should be made, if the thing were true ; but it is as clear 
 as possible that the thought of a continuous, infallible papacy 
 never entered into the mind of the Apostle John. He saw 
 nothing for it but that Christian people should bear their own 
 
288 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 responsibility for the acceptance and maintenance of primitive 
 truth, and the rejection of false prophets and seducing teachers 
 wherever and whenever they arise. They are to look to the 
 continuance in their own minds and hearts of the word "heard 
 from the beginning," — i.e., the doctrine originally delivered by 
 the holy apostles and prophets. They are to cherish the anoint- 
 ing which is received from Christ, — i.e., the Spirit of truth who 
 abides in the saints and teaches them all things. The pre- 
 servative against error is the preoccupation of the mind with 
 primitive truth vitalised and enforced by the Divine Spirit. 
 But with this the people of Christ are to exercise caution and 
 discretion in regard to teachers, and so " try the spirits " on 
 some cardinal question, such as that of confessing the real 
 humanity assumed by the Son of God. Such was the apostolic 
 advice at a time when " many false prophets had gone out into 
 the world." It is surely a counsel very applicable in the present 
 hour, when false teachers form, as much as ever, the peril of 
 the Church ; when not incidental points are assailed, but central 
 truths of Christianity are first treated vaguely, then held lightly, 
 then disparaged, and finally denied. 
 
 Our Apostle always goes behind men to the spiritual forces, 
 good or evil, by which they are actuated. So behind the false 
 teachers he beholds the spirit of Antichrist in the world. This 
 spirit, guilty of denying the coming of Christ in the flesh, was 
 to be overcome by Christians identifying themselves with their 
 Lord in the flesh, evincing their union with Him in His 
 humiliation when He overcame the world, and living their life 
 in the flesh, as St. Paul has it, "by the faith of the Son of 
 God." 
 
 The great secret of victory is thus declared — " Whatsoever is 
 born of God overcometh the world : and this is the victory that 
 overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that over- 
 cometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son 
 of God 1 " * What is born of God overcomes the world ; there- 
 fore the Holy One of God, Immanuel, overcame it. All who 
 * Chap. V. 4, 5. j 
 
/. JOHN. 289 
 
 are born of God through the Gospel have faith in Jesus as the 
 only begotten Son, and so enter into His victory. They are no 
 more of the world, but of God. Their confidence is placed in 
 Him ; their treasure found in Him ; and so their fellowship is 
 real with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 
 
 It will be remembered that St. John gives it as his great 
 object in writing the fourth Gospel, to lead men to "believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God," so that believing 
 they " might live through His name." * The conclusion of 
 this Epistle is impregnated with the same purpose. It is 
 shown that our faith in the Divine Sonship of Christ should 
 rest on a most perfect heavenly testimony; "the witness of 
 God which He has testified of His Son." 
 
 This witness is threefold ; by the Spirit, the water, and the 
 blood. It is an external and historical witness. It also becomes 
 an internal and experimental evidence to believers. " He that 
 believes on the Son of God, has the witness in himself," i.e., 
 the triple witness of the Spirit clarifying the mind, the water 
 cleansing the heart, and the blood purging the conscience, so 
 that there is obtained an inwrought certainty of the Divine 
 Sonship of Jesus Christ, which no surface objection or suggested 
 doubt can shake. We are reminded of a fine stroke of Bunyan, 
 in his allegory of the " Holy War," when he names " Captain 
 Experience " among the chief officers who routed and slew the 
 army of 10,000 Doubters that came against the city of Mansoul. 
 There is nothing so impervious to doubts as a sound personal 
 experience of Christ's saving power and love. 
 
 Believers on the Son of God have life in Him, and should 
 know that they have it.t Then they are to use their privilege 
 of filial prayer through Christ, in order that their friends and 
 brethren may have life also. Some indeed were going out of 
 the Church, denying the Father and the Son, and so involving 
 
 * John XX. 31. 
 
 t Eternal life is manifested (chap, i. 2) ; promised (chap. ii. 25) ; given 
 (chap. V. II) ; experienced and enjoyed (chap. v. 12, 13). And Jesus 
 Christ is that life (chap. v. 20.) 
 
 VOL. II. T 
 
290 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 themselves in death : and the Apostle remarks, " I do not say 
 that you should ask any question further about such a case." 
 But for a brother who commits a more ordinary sin, or act of 
 unrighteousness, that mars or weakens, but does not deny the 
 life, one who is himself alive in Christ should pray to God 
 with confidence to be heard.* 
 
 • Of success in prayer, preservation from sin, and mastery 
 over the world, this is the grand secret : Jesus is the Son of 
 God, and we who believe are sons of God in Him. If we lose 
 the consciousness of this sonship, the wicked one touches us. 
 If we grieve the Spirit of adoption, the wicked one may taint 
 and stain us. But if we feel and act as sons of God in the 
 world, that wicked one, however much he may plot against us, 
 touches us not, finds no point d^appui. We are in a life that 
 he cannot quench ; for we are in the True One, the eternal life. 
 
 For us, in such a position and calling, to love the world, 
 would be to commit gross idolatry. Do we not know " the 
 true God?" How can we bow down before any shrines of 
 world- worship ? "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." 
 
 * Mark the distinction between ahiu} and kyorrdu) in chap. v. 14-16. 
 
( 291 ) 
 
 77. 3^077^. 
 
 Like St. Paul's Epistle to Philemon, this is a private letter 
 rescued from the long-perished correspondence of the Apostle 
 John. It seems to have been written about the same time as 
 his first or general Epistle, for it breathes the same spirit, im- 
 presses the same truths, and guards against the same anti- 
 christian errors. 
 
 May we not say that this letter, clothed with the dignity of 
 Holy Scripture, gives a sort of apostolic sanction to private 
 letters on religious themes 1 We have seen that the Apostles 
 preached, taught, disputed, and exhorted by word of mouth ; 
 nay more, that some of them wrote down, and in so far as was 
 possible without printing, published their views of truth and 
 duty for the guidance and edification of Churches. All these 
 modes of propagating and defending the faith are still employed 
 under the sanction of their great example. But there are 
 persons who cannot speak well, who shrink from public teaching, 
 and still more from controversy, and who do not care to write 
 even a short treatise for the press ; who yet have quite a faculty 
 for writing private letters ; and surely it is well that they have 
 the high sanction of St. John for that mode of disseminating 
 and commending the truth. Some who have been well able to 
 preach and to compose religious treatises have given much time 
 to letter-writing, and with excellent results. Not only have 
 their letters been useful to their own correspondents ; but being 
 published and circulated, they have reached many other hearts. 
 It is in this way that Rutherford is known to multitudes who 
 
293 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 never read a word of his sermons or controversial works ; and 
 the same remark applies to such English divines as Romaine 
 and John Newton. Many Christian scholars and busy pastors 
 have cultivated letter- writing as a very effective way of preaching 
 to individuals and families, reclaiming wanderers, and comforting 
 mourners. On this principle acted Bengel, Doddridge, Wesley, 
 Cowper, M'Cheyne, and many others. Devout women also 
 have helped many by their letters, e.g., Madame Guyon, Lady 
 Powerscourt, and Miss Adelaide Newton. Indeed it is generally 
 recognised as in many respects the best way in which friend 
 can deal with friend on the topic of personal religion ; and at 
 the present day, probably there is not a mail-bag of any size 
 made up in the United Kingdom, which does not contain a 
 letter, or letters, touching the salvation in Christ, and the hope 
 of eternal life. 
 
 At the same time, this is a mode of communicating and im- 
 pressing the truth that requires much discretion. It is not fair 
 or wise to send to a friend or relation at a distance, who longs 
 for family intelligence, a mere tissue of good advices and quota- 
 tions from the Bible : and few things are more irritating to a 
 thoughtful or a busy man, than a long letter, however well 
 meant, in which there is no idea above the most obvious 
 commonplace, but holy names and phrases are copiously used, 
 with abundant interlinings and interjections thrown in to make 
 the platitudes emphatic. If we take the Epistle before us as a 
 sanction for edifying religious correspondence, let us not fail to 
 observe how short it is, how terse and pointed ; how courteous 
 and wise, yet how completely free of tiresome reflections and 
 hackneyed sentiment. 
 
 That this is not only a private letter, but one addressed to a 
 Christian lady, is another point of great significance. It is a 
 tribute to the position of respect to which woman is raised by 
 the influence of our holy religion. Apart from Christian ideas 
 and usages, how little is woman accounted of even at this day 
 in the lands of the Bible ; how little regard is paid to her mental 
 and moral capacity ! An Oriental is astonished to find that of , 
 
//. JOHN. 293 
 
 the canonical books which form our Bible, two, viz., Ruth and 
 Esther, actually bear the names of women. This circumstance 
 of itself has suggested quite a new estimate of woman's position 
 toward God and His Word. But still more significant of that 
 position, is this second Epistle of St. John, a canonical book of 
 Scripture, consisting of nothing else but the letter of an 
 Apostle to a Christian lady and her children. 
 
 No one knows the lady's name. The letter was doubtless 
 sent by a private messenger, and the writer inserted neither his 
 correspondent's name, nor his own. It was enough to describe 
 himself as by emphasis " the presbyter," and to address his 
 friend as " elect lady," * one who was manifestly chosen of God, 
 and was for her gracious qualities beloved by all around her 
 who "knew the truth." The matters most prominent in the 
 Epistle, are St. John's appreciation of female piety, his joy over 
 young Christians ; and his very decided resistance to all who 
 propagated antichristian error. 
 
 I. Apostolic doctrine on female piety. — Of all the twelve, who 
 so fit to speak or write on this subject as John, who had the 
 pious Salome for his . mother ; nay, more, with whom the 
 blessed mother of the Lord had resided from the day of the 
 crucifixion to the day of her death? During long years, in 
 his own house at Jerusalem, he had seen the most favoured of 
 all women, and marked in her the beauty of holiness ; and no 
 man could know better than he what should be the character 
 and walk of women who trusted in Christ. 
 
 In this point of view, it is well worthy of notice that St. 
 John has not a word to say, in any of his writings, of the 
 superior hoHness of perpetual virginity. Some of the Christian 
 fathers— e.pr., Cyprian and Jerome— wrote ecstatic rubbish 
 about the dignity of the state of virgins, and their nearer 
 approximation to God. But wdth St. John we are in an earlier 
 and healthier age. Among the visions which he saw in Patmos 
 
 * Some take the word ** Lady " as a proper name, and style this a letter 
 to Kyria. It is a point of little moment. 
 
294 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 there is one of 144,000 men who followed the Lamb, and 
 they "are virgins;" but the expression is symbolical, and 
 denotes a virginity or chastity of soul as opposed to the defile- 
 ment and harlotry of an apostacy from Christ. In the didactic 
 writings of the Apostle there is not a word about forbiddal to 
 marry ; and, in his references to Christian womanhood, no 
 allusion to the vows which nuns are required to take, or to the 
 separation of sisterhoods from family and social life. The elect 
 lady to whom this letter was sent, and her "elect sister," 
 mentioned near to the end of it, were Christian matrons dwell- 
 ing in their own houses, and nourishing their own children. No 
 mention being made of male heads of their households, it is 
 probable that these matrons were widows ; yet they are not 
 advised to seclude themselves from society. They were mothers 
 of families, and they did well to honour and serve Christ in 
 family life. No doubt this involved some family care ; but it 
 is in the midst of domestic duty, and, in some measure, through 
 the discipline of domestic labour and anxiety, that God has 
 been pleased to train some of the most saintly and useful 
 women that the Church has ever seen. 
 
 Let no woman say, " Were I unmarried, or had I no family, I 
 might do something for Christ — visit a district, attend evening 
 meetings, take part in societies, and the like ; whereas, with a 
 husband and children constantly requiring me, I can be of no 
 use as a Christian." It is a grievous mistake. The true state 
 of the case is quite the contrary. A woman is of great use as 
 a Christian, who walks with meekness of wisdom along the 
 commonplace ways of life, loving her husband, and training her 
 children in the Lord. It is not difficult to persuade women to 
 attend meetings, and devote time to various kindly activities ; 
 but it is important to persuade them that Divine service 
 begins at home, and that the patient and affectionate discharge 
 of maternal and domestic duty is acceptable and beautiful in the 
 sight of God. 
 
 As the teaching of this Epistle is opposed to the enforced 
 seclusion of religious women from social and family life, so 
 
11. JOHN, 295 
 
 also does it repudiate all reliance on mere raptures and ecstasies 
 as evidences of personal religion. Woman, as well as man, is to 
 show piety by a steady, consistent obedience to the known will 
 of Christ. The proof of her " election of God " is in her walking 
 in truth and love ; and " this is love, that we walk after His 
 commandments." When St. John wrote these words he was 
 an old and experienced man. He had seen many, who once 
 appeared full of fervent feeling and lofty aspiration, turn aside 
 from Christ ; and now the only evidence of a vital Christianity 
 on which he relied was that of a daily and hearty compliance 
 with the commandments of God. 
 
 II. Apostolic joy over young Christians. — It was in all pro- 
 bability at Ephesus, a busy city to which young men flocked 
 from the country behind, that the aged John saw some of the 
 children of this lady, and was pleased with their demeanour 
 and conduct. In writing to her, he mentions this in words 
 which must have filled her heart with pure motherly delight. 
 " I rejoice greatly that I found (some) of thy children walking 
 in truth." They were not young children, for they had left 
 home, and had some occupation, as indicated by the expression 
 " walking up and down," or having their course of life in con- 
 formity with truth. But their Christian walk as young men 
 might be traced to the Christian training they had received in 
 childhood. It was therefore a fitting subject of congratulation 
 in such an Epistle as this. The mother could have no greater 
 joy than to receive such testimony to the conduct of her absent 
 children ; and the Apostle had no greater joy in his old age 
 than to see among the Christian flock the happy result and 
 reward of parental training, example, and prayer. Amidst the 
 anxieties for the future of the Church which brooded over him, 
 he had this comfort, that the'cause of his Lord would not lack 
 defenders in generations following, so long as pious mothers 
 brought up their children to know the truth, and sent them 
 forth to walk therein. 
 
 There is a species of cross-grained old Christians who have 
 
296 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 seldom a word of good cheer for the young, and are very ready 
 to taunt them with inexperience and shallowness. Now, if 
 young disciples are fussy and pretentious, let them be rebuked 
 and better taught ; but when, according to the measure of grace 
 given to them, ".they walk in truth," it is cruel and unjust that 
 their seniors in the Church should refuse to them that genial 
 sympathy which a youthful disposition so keenly appreciates. 
 The fact is, that the oldest Christians, if they be right-minded 
 men, are or should be the most concerned about the young 
 generation, and rejoice the most when children and youth are 
 found walking in truth — i.e., cleaving to Christ, the truth, and 
 walking up and down in His name. The oldest and most 
 experienced shepherds devote the most watchful care to the 
 lambs, and the wisest as well as the kindest of our old pastors, 
 teachers, and private Christians, are they who attach most 
 consequence to the religious training and development of chil- 
 dren and of young men and maidens in the Lord. 
 
 III. Apostolic loarnings in regard to those who propagated 
 antichristian error (yeises 10, 11). — The refusal of hospitality 
 was certainly a very severe mark of disapproval ; but let it be 
 observed — (i.) That the direction is given for the protection of 
 a private house from an infection more deadly than any disease ; 
 (2.) That the house was that of a woman, apparently a widow, 
 who, as such, was especially exposed to the devices of those 
 designing men whom the Apostle indicates; (3.) that the 
 warning is not against all who hold religious error, but against 
 the zealous propagators of false doctrine, who undermine the 
 faith and actually mislead the souls of men. 
 
 The heresy which was spreading at the time when St. John's 
 Epistles were written was a denial of the true manifestation of 
 the Son of God in the flesh. At a later period men were found 
 to deny the proper and supreme divinity of our Lord, but the 
 first errors related to His humanity. Those who imported into 
 Christianity old Oriental notions of the essential impurity of 
 matter would not allow that the Son of God had really assumed 
 
//. JOHN. 297 
 
 a body of flesh. But by this denial they destroyed the whole 
 faith and comfort of the Gospel. The Apostle John never 
 alludes to them but in terms of stern disapproval, for he well 
 knew the doctrine of the person of Christ in two distinct 
 natures, Divine and human, to be essential and fundamental. 
 Whosoever denied this doctrine, on one side or the other, 
 imperilled the Church and risked the separation of his own 
 soul from God. " Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not 
 in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in 
 the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son." 
 
 The Apostle Paul had described the false teachers as creep- 
 ing into houses, and leading " captive silly women " * (woman- 
 lings). St. John knew that such was still the policy of those 
 who spread error and fomented discord in the Church ; f and 
 therefore he charges the elect lady not to admit such false 
 prophets within her doors, or give them any heed or 
 countenance. 
 
 Let not the direction of the Apostle be misunderstood. It 
 has no reference to a case of want or distress. No matter 
 what a man's opinions may be, when he is in danger, or pain, 
 or in trouble, he ought to receive our good offices. If our own 
 enemy, or the enemy of our dearest convictions, hunger, we 
 should feed him ; if he thirst, we should give him drink. The 
 warning in this Epistle relates to hospitable and familiar inter- 
 course ; and even in that view, it warrants no discourtesy to 
 our fellowmen on the ground of their holding what we consider 
 to be serious errors, nor does it require us to mingle exclusively 
 with persons of our own religious persuasion. So to restrict 
 our acquaintance, and narrow our social life, would be to pay 
 a poor homage to truth, and to limit most unwisely our range 
 of usefulness. What the Scripture before us really enjoins is, 
 that we are not to regard and treat as brethren those who are 
 actively engaged in undermining the faith. We must not bear 
 
 * 2 Tim, iii. 6. 
 
 t The heresiarchs of the early centuries were notorious for the support 
 they sought and obtained from female disciples. 
 
298 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 ourselves toward them so as to imply that all doctrines are to 
 us indiflferent, and that the propagation of antichristian error is 
 merely the diffusion of a legitimate variety of opinion. So to 
 do would be to encourage teachers who ought to be discouraged 
 and disowned, and to involve ourselves in some complicity with 
 the evil results that sooner or later ensue on false doctrine. 
 Freedom of discussion is an important element of civilisation, 
 but the Church cannot admit that a cardinal doctrine, like that 
 of the person of our Saviour, is open to question. However 
 popular such admissions may be among those who have exalted 
 freedom of opinion into an idol, to our thinking they savour 
 more of an unprincipled and restless liberalism than of that 
 charity which rejoices in the truth. 
 
 In dealing with this subject, the Apostle John was actuated 
 by a deep concern for the glory of Christ, the usefulness of 
 His servants, and the destiny of His people. If those false 
 apostles and prophets were to be welcomed in the houses of 
 well-known Christians, then the faith of the Church was indeed 
 shaken, and the Apostles had laboured in vain, and spent their 
 strength for nought. " Look to yourselves, that ye do not lose 
 those things which we have wrought, but that ye receive full 
 reward." Not even the Apostles, much less the ordinary 
 ministers of the word, can keep the truth in the minds of 
 their hearers, or preserve them from ultimate loss and failure, 
 if they will not use circumspection, but will throw themselves 
 open to every teacher, every influence, and every book, and 
 allow fundamental truths of the Gospel to be disparaged or 
 denied in their houses. Convictions of truth wrought by 
 or under evangelical teaching are thus lost; and the reward 
 of faith and steadfastness is diminished, if not entirely for- 
 feited. 
 
 Let the Christian people aim at a full reward for themselves ~ 
 and for their teachers. Let them beware of unwatchfulness 
 and of yielding any encouragement to false doctrine, lest they 
 spoil the work of such as are labouring for Christ in word and 
 
//. JOHN. 299 
 
 doctrine, and lessen their own profit in the knowledge and 
 grace of God. Why should they lose a "full reward " % " If 
 that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in 
 you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. And 
 this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal 
 life."* 
 
 * I John ii. 24, 25. 
 
( 300 ) 
 
 ///. JOHN, 
 
 The third Letter of St. John resembles the second. It has the 
 same style, same brevity, same recognition of the truth and of 
 Christian life as a walk in truth, the same mode of beginning 
 — the writer not naming himself, but sufficiently indicating 
 himself as "the presbyter," — and the same statement at the 
 end of a preference for personal intercourse and conversation 
 over communication by means of paper and ink. There is also 
 that combination of tenderness with sternness which we always 
 trace in the Apostle John. But the position of his corre- 
 spondents differs. The letter to the lady recognises her in 
 family life, and warns her against the admission of pernicious 
 teachers into her domestic circle. The letter to the man refers 
 more to public standing and responsibility, as "before the 
 Church." 
 
 The great interest of this Epistle for us lies in its disclosure 
 of the joys and sorrows of the last of the Apostles. When St. 
 Paul was alive and at the height of his influence, when there 
 came upon him daily the care of all the Churches, the strain 
 on his sensitive spirit was enormous. He was filled with joy, 
 plunged in sorrow, tried by suspense, vexed by ingratitude, 
 hurt by misrepresentation, hindered by prejudice, cheered by 
 sympathy ; now pleased, now pained ; now exultant, now cast 
 down ; and bore upon his large and patient heart a vast respon- 
 sibility. But Paul was dead, and so were all the Apostles, save 
 John only ; and he in old age was emphatically " the pres- 
 byter," for he was patriarch of all the Churches of Asia. His 
 position was not one of mere presidential dignity. It involved 
 
111. JOHN. 301 
 
 both anxiety and toil. Those young Churches, with their 
 inexperienced leaders, having trouble within their borders, and 
 troubles all around, gave the aged Apostle much to think of, 
 and frequent grounds of concern. He was no longer able to 
 make long journeys in person, and, like all elderly people, 
 began to feel writing irksome ; but he found it necessary to 
 interpose by messengers and letters in order to adjust the 
 difficulties and correct the errors that disturbed the Christian 
 community. 
 
 In some measure it is so with all public men ; especially so 
 in ecclesiastical life. One can never do much good in the 
 Church without hard labour, or fill a position of importance 
 without multiplying anxieties and vexations, as well as encour- 
 agements and joys. 
 
 Three men are brought before us in this Epistle : Gaius, to 
 whom it is addressed ; Diotrephes, who is blamed ; and Deme- 
 trius, who is praised. 
 
 I. Gaius was a well-beloved Christian. We have no right 
 to say that he is the same as the Gaius of Derbe, mentioned 
 in Acts XX. 4, or the Gaius whom St. Paul baptized at Corinth, 
 and whose hospitality that Apostle enjoyed and celebrated, for 
 the name was a very common one.* But the remarkable hospi- 
 tality of Gaius, the friend of John, gives some countenance to 
 the theory that he was no other than Gaius the host and friend 
 of Paul. At all events he was a man of kindred spirit. 
 
 For this good disciple the Apostle desires health and pros- 
 perity. Prom the reports which he had received of the conduct 
 of Gaius toward brethren in the Lord, St. John infers that 
 his soul was prospering, or moving in a right way, and there- 
 fore prays that in all respects it may go as well with him as it 
 does in his spiritual life. Alas ! how seldom can we put it 
 thus ! We see many a hale and prosperous man, for whom 
 we can fervently wish that his soul prospered as much as his 
 body and his outward estate ; but we do not often see spiritual 
 * I Cor. i. 14 ; Rom. xvi. 23. 
 
302 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 prosperity, as in Gaius, the most prominent and indisputable 
 characteristic of the man. 
 
 Proofs of the soul-prosperity of Gaius are mentioned as 
 follows : — 
 
 (i.) His adherence to the truth in Christ Jesus. The anti- 
 christs of the period had no effect on him, for he was *' of the 
 truth," — begotten again of the word of truth, sanctified through 
 the truth, rooted in the truth, possessed and pervaded by the 
 truth. Perhaps he was not competent to debate with and 
 refute the false prophets and plausible sophists of his time ; 
 but he could hold his own ground against them, because the 
 truth in Christ was not a mere opinion which he held at will, 
 and might let go ; it held him by the power of God ; it was 
 the life of his spirit and joy of his soul ; so that it was impos- 
 sible to move him from his steadfastness. 
 
 (2.) His kindness to brethren in the Lord. Certain disciples 
 on a missionary tour had come to the town where Gaius lived. 
 They were moved to make such a tour by the love of 
 Christ. For His name's sake they had gone forth, giving 
 every proof of a disinterested spirit. The' prophets, sorcerers, 
 and thaumaturgs of the time exhibited their powers for money, 
 and made religion quite a mercenary affair ; but the Christian 
 missionaries very properly took no gifts or contributions from 
 the heathen to whom they preached, lest their motives should 
 be misconstrued, and the honour of the Gospel compromised. 
 They went on whatever resources of their own they possessed, 
 assisted by the kindness of the groups or congregations of Chris- 
 tians scattered among the heathen. 
 
 We learn that when those missionary volunteers had been 
 haughtily disowned by Diotrephes, Gaius kindly received them, 
 although they were " strangers " to him, or personally un- 
 known.* When they reached Ephesus, they made a mission- 
 
 * Dr. Cox makes Gaius "a layman," and Diotrephes "a vain loud 
 specious priest." He says, " Strangers came to layman Gaius when turned 
 from his pastor's door, and in these strangers he recognised brethren." — 
 
///. JOHN. 303 
 
 ary report to tlie Church there, and, in doing so, mentioned 
 this timely act of Christian love. The Apostle thereupon 
 wrote to Gains, to commend his conduct, and to encourage in 
 him the disposition to welcome such brethren, and so to bear 
 himself as a " fellow-worker for the truth." 
 
 The spread of the Gospel among the heathen, now as then, 
 cannot be conducted by the whole Church, but it ought to 
 engage the attention and interest of the whole Church on 
 earth. All Christians are not required to leave their homes 
 and go out on this errand ; but those who do, whether for a 
 shorter or a longer time, should have encouragement and aid 
 from those who do not render personal service. If they under- 
 take a protracted term of foreign labour, they may receive a 
 yearly allowance with travelling expenses, as our modern custom 
 is. In every case, those brethren who obviously devote them- 
 selves to such work under disinterested motives ought to receive 
 hospitality, and to be forwarded on their way by the Christians 
 resident in any place at which they arrive ; so that all may 
 have some share in so holy an enterprise, and be " fellow-workers 
 for the truth." 
 
 Indeed this principle is applicable to Home as well as Foreign 
 Missions. Over and above the stated provision made for wor- 
 ship and instruction in the Church, there is need of evangelistic 
 preachers to bear Christ's name across even a Christian country, 
 and through the dense populations of modern cities, preaching 
 the Gospel to careless thousands who live without God in the 
 world. This also, while necessarily carried out by individuals, 
 is properly the work and should be the concern of the whole 
 Church. They do not break down Church order, rather they 
 perform an important Church duty, who support and encourage 
 approved itinerant preachers in such communities as our own, 
 relieve them from temporal cares, and "bring them on their 
 journeys after a godly sort." In such a way a Christian who 
 
 (Rev. S. Cox on Private Letters of St. Paid and St. John.) This is, to say 
 the least, gratuitous. Not laymen only have been hospitable ; or priests 
 and pastors only arbitrary and ambitious. 
 
304 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 has no personal aptitude for missionary service may be a " fellow- 
 worker for the truth." 
 
 It is well to observe that Gaius is thus honoured in Holy 
 Scripture, and embalmed in blessed memory, not for any sur- 
 passing powers he possessed, any social influence, or any quali- 
 ties of intellectual eminence, but for truth and love in daily 
 life, and for a simple unpretending act of kindness. These are 
 the things which men often neglect, thinking it necessary to 
 show their religion in more ambitious and conspicuous ways. 
 But there is really no better proof of personal Christianity than 
 that which Gaius furnished in his adherence to the truth at 
 a time when many departed from it, and his brotherly kind- 
 ness to those who had no other claim on him than their service 
 to the Lord whom he loved. Always and everywhere that 
 man is to be highly esteemed in the Church, who combines firm 
 convictions with a generous heart, who walks in holy truth and 
 heaven-born charity. 
 
 II. Diotrephes was the reverse of Gaius ; a man ambitious, 
 domineering, and ungracious. It does not appear whether he 
 held any recognised office in a congregation, or was one who 
 pushed to the front from mere wilfulness and a desire to 
 dictate to others. Either because he was a Jewish Christian 
 and disliked the Gentiles, or because he had no hearty zeal for 
 the truth, he felt no interest in missions to the heathen. If 
 strangers came on such errands he let them alone, and would 
 not give them any reception or recognition in the Church. 
 
 It appears further this Diotrephes had made light of the 
 Apostle's authority. He "doth not receive us" — "prating 
 against ns with wicked words." The man was, in the worst 
 sense of the term, an Independent. He would have no one 
 interfere with the decisions of the local Church ; and in that 
 local Church he would take the lead, and dictate as to who 
 should or should not be received. This is a kind of ecclesias- 
 tical polity which, notwithstanding all its assertions of freedom, 
 gives peculiar facilities to a man like Diotrephes. Ey the 
 
///. JOHN. 305 
 
 influence of his wealth and position, by the very force of his 
 will, or by forming and leading a compact party, he contrives 
 to dominate over a local Church or congregation. Then the 
 quiet Christians, not wishing to quarrel with such a man, 
 shrinking from collision with his overbearing temper, and 
 having no recourse or appeal to a higher authority or broader 
 tribunal, either become his helpless creatures, or break away in 
 a mood of vexation to form another Church, fondly, but often 
 fallaciously, hoping that into it there will come no new 
 Diotrephes. What is the cure for such petty tyranny, but that 
 some moral authority should be exercised over particular con- 
 gregations? The Apostle John, while he lived, would not 
 allow any local Church to be isolated in its own self-will, and 
 controlled by the arrogance of one man. He would put down 
 the prating words and disrespectful conduct of Diotrephes. Is 
 there to be no remedy for such evils now, because the Apostles 
 are dead ? To us it appears evident, that in the constitution of 
 the Church, as an organic society, provision should always exist 
 for checking little popes, as well as for preventing one or more 
 great ones ; for guarding the just liberties of all parties and 
 persons in Christian fellowship ; and for securing a unity of 
 action in regard to missions and all good works. 
 
 III. Demetrius was, like Gains, a man after the Apostle's 
 own heart. Perhaps he was the leader of the missionary band. 
 Perhaps he was the bearer of this letter. In either case, St. 
 John sends to Gains a very high testimonial in his favour. 
 Not only did all the brethren who knew him testify to his 
 character ; not only did the Apostle add the emphatic expression 
 of his own good opinion ; but the truth itself bore testimony 
 to Demetrius. He so walked in it that it was familiar with 
 his footsteps, and knew him well. He so reflected it in its 
 influence on his character and life, that, while he bore witness 
 to the truth, the truth in turn bore witness to him. This man 
 was an Epistle of Christ known and read of all. 
 
 In this letter there is no mention of the antichristian teachers 
 
 VOL. II. u 
 
306 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 of the period. The range of thought is within the orthodox 
 Church, and embraces the action of brethren, the efforts of 
 missionaries to the heathen, the assistance to be given to them, 
 the duty of promoting the spread of the truth, and the necessity 
 of repressing individual ambition and intolerance. 
 
 The two private letters of " the Presbyter " taken together 
 show us the thoughts of an Apostle regarding Christian woman- 
 hood and manhood for all generations. The woman is not to 
 be a mere household drudge, but she appears to most advantage 
 in the domestic sphere. Her best credentials are found in her 
 children nourished and trained in Christ from their earliest 
 recollections, and, when they go out from her into the busy 
 world, walking in the truth ; and the beauty of her character 
 and example is most impressively evinced in her love to the 
 saints, and willing obedience to the commandments of God her 
 Saviour. Then the essentials of Christian disposition are just 
 the same in the man as in the woman ; but his range is wider 
 and more exposed to view. It is true that man also has 
 domestic duties. A Christian man is bound to provide for his 
 own house, and to rule his household in the fear of the Lord ; 
 but he sustains other relations to society and to the visible 
 Church in which it is indispensable that his religious character 
 should be approved. He is " before the Church." It is in his 
 power, more than in that of a woman, to further or hinder the 
 cause of the Gospel in the city or country where he dwells. It 
 is, therefore, incumbent on him to walk openly " in the truth," 
 to receive Christian " strangers " for their work's sake, to avoid 
 the indulgence of a self-pleasing and domineering temper, and 
 to do good to all as he has opportunity, " especially to them 
 that are of the household of faith." 
 
 The model for both the woman and the man is Jesus Christ. 
 He bore witness to the truth at every risk, and obeyed and 
 suffered in perfect love. Let none but Christ " have the pre- 
 eminence." Let the thought of his sublime ascendency suppress 
 and put to shame all petty ambitions among His disciples. 
 
 Jesus is the Perfect Man, in whom all are complete ; for 
 
///. JOHN. 307 
 
 " neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without 
 the woman in the Lord." She who would be as " the elect 
 lady," must look not so much to even the best of women as to 
 Jesus. He who would be kind as Gains or exemplary as 
 Demetrius, must look not to saints and Apostles so much as to 
 Jesus. He who would shun the offensive spirit of Diotrephes 
 should look steadfastly to Jesus, and consider the self-abnegation 
 and humility through which He passed to glory. 
 
 Further communication with Gains St. John defers till they 
 meet, and can "speak face to face." Meantime he says, after 
 the manner of his heavenly Master, " Peace to thee ; " and adds 
 simply and naturally, " The friends salute thee ; greet the friends 
 by name." 
 
( 3o8 
 
 JUDE. 
 
 JuDE probably is the "Judas, not Iscariot," of St. John's 
 Gospel.* He was three-named — Judas, Lebbeus, Thaddeus, 
 and was a brother of that James whose Epistle to the Twelve 
 Tribes we have already considered. They were sons of Alpheus 
 or Clopas, and Mary, and were brought up and reputed as 
 brothers of the Lord Jesus. We cannot, however, set down the 
 identity of Jude the writer with Jude the Apostle as a certainty, 
 for the reference to "the apostles" in the lytli verse rather 
 tells against it, and it is disputed by good critics. 
 
 The short book before us was probably written in Palestine, 
 or some part of Syria, not long before the fall of Jerusalem. 
 It is an Epistle General or Catholic, addressed to all saints ; 
 but its strain is Jewish, like the Epistle of James, and it 
 presupposes in its readers a knowledge of Hebrew history and 
 tradition. While it has much in common with the Epistle of 
 James, it has even more with the second Epistle of Peter, 
 which greatly resembles it in its vehement invective against 
 those profligate teachers who had begun to disturb and defile 
 the primitive Church, f During the last quarter of the first 
 century, some of the Asiatic Churches were notoriously infested 
 by a class of separatists and sectaries who, magnifying their 
 knowledge, and exaggerating their liberty, led impure lives, and 
 encouraged others to do likewise, virtually importing the heathen 
 licentiousness into the very bosom of the Church. 
 
 * John xiv. 22. 
 
 t The letter of St. Jude seems to be the earlier of the two, and is the 
 more impetuous. 
 
JUDE. 309 
 
 It appears from verse 3 that St. Jude had wished to write of 
 "the common salvation," but felt obliged to put aside that 
 sweet and welcome theme in order to warn the saints of the 
 evils already introduced into the Christian community, and 
 exhort them to present a firm resistance to those corrupting 
 influences. The fair prospects of the early Church were 
 already shaded. The face of the new creation showed spots 
 and blemishes. 
 
 One characteristic of the leaders of this apostasy was wanton- 
 ness. They made the mercy of God in Christ a mere shield to 
 cover their self-indulgence. Instead of purifying their hearts 
 through belief of the truth, they abused the divine grace, as 
 though it relaxed the obligation of continence, and gave some 
 latitude to immorality. So they disgraced the Christian name 
 by living as the heathen, and sheltering their vices under an 
 assertion of divine favour and religious liberty. They were the 
 forerunners of the Antinomians of later times, and of many 
 w^ho, without exposing themselves to that designation, have 
 allowed themselves to continue in sin because grace abounds. 
 It is a sort of presumptuous wickedness which has wrought 
 much havoc in the Church all through her history, and it is\y 
 no means at an end. Rather it is to be feared that it will 
 spread far and wide in the luxury and epicurism of the last 
 days. 
 
 Another characteristic was wilfulness. The men denounced 
 by St. Jude did not deny the name of God or of Christ, for 
 they vaunted themselves as Christians; but they rejected the 
 Lord's authority. St. Peter described them as '" denying the 
 Master that bought them : " * St. Jude writes that, "they 
 deny the only Master, our Lord Jesus Christ." t Therefore 
 their religious profession was vain, because they kept not the 
 words of^ Christ, but sought their own will, and followed their 
 own devices and desires. 
 
 With their loose morals, mocking spirit, and boastful words, 
 those men were, in St. Jude's opinion, followers of Cain, of 
 * 2 Peter ii. i. f yerge 4. 
 
3IO SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Balaam, and of Korah, rather than of Christ. As Cain, for 
 envy, hated and slew his brother ; so did they envy and destroy. 
 As Balaam, for filthy lucre's sake, gave such counsel as led 
 Israel into disgraceful sin; so did these men, for their own 
 covetous ends, beguile unstable souls. As Korah rebelled 
 against Moses, and raised dissension in the camp of Israel ; so 
 these men prated against the Apostles, and stirred disafi'ection 
 in the Church. They went to the love-feasts of the Chris- 
 tians ; but, like rocks which break the surface of a lake, they 
 only disturbed and marred those feasts of brotherly kindness. 
 There was no spiritual life or blessing in them. They were 
 as " clouds without water," making a show, but really dry and 
 empty. They were as trees, late in autumn, yielding withered 
 fruit ; nay worse, as trees whose roots are torn away from the 
 soil, and which are therefore incapable of yielding any fruit 
 whatever. They were as wild waves of the sea, restless, toss- 
 ing up impurity, "foaming out their own shame." They were 
 as " wandering stars," or comets that flash into view, but de- 
 part into unknown distance and darkness again. 
 
 On the punishment which awaited such men, St. Jude is 
 terribly emphatic. He recalls to mind great judgments in the 
 days of old; the destruction of the murmuring unbelieving 
 Israelites in the wilderness ; the reservation of fallen angels to 
 future punishment ; and the burning of " Sodom and Gomorrah 
 and the cities about them" as with an eternal fire, i.e. a fire 
 out of which there is no restoration, a condign and final judg- 
 ment. The memory of those terrors, illustrating the holy 
 severity of God, should admonish the saints to give no counten- 
 ance whatever to the ungodly men who had " crept in " to the 
 Christian community. " These dreamers defile the flesh, des- 
 pise dominion, and rail at dignities." 
 
 In course of this reproof and invective, St. Jude introduces 
 two very remarkable references to Old Testament worthies — to 
 Moses, and to Enoch. 
 
 The tradition regarding Moses is supposed to be familiar to 
 the readers of this Book, and the allusion to it is made with a 
 
JUDE. 311 
 
 view to expose the presumption of the false teachers in dis- 
 paraging dignities. "Yet Michael, the archangel, when con- 
 tending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, 
 durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The 
 Lord rebuke thee." * We should not have known this incident 
 unless St. Jude had embodied the tradition in his Epistle; 
 any more than we should have known the names of the 
 Egyptian magicians who withstood Moses and Aaron, if St. 
 Paul had not mentioned Jannes and Jambres. Michael, the 
 archangel, appears in the Book of Daniel as a great prince with 
 God, and the protector of the holy nation, Israel. In this 
 capacity he was occupied with the burial of Moses, Israel's 
 great lawgiver and leader. All that is told in Deuteronomy 
 is, that "he (indefinite) buried him (Moses) in a valley in the 
 land of Moab over-against Beth-peor ; but no man knoweth of 
 his sepulchre unto this day." f One form of the tradition is, 
 that the devil sought to prevent Michael from giving to Moses 
 honourable burial. Another, and the one we prefer, is, that 
 the devil opposed the resurrection of the lawgiver's body. But 
 the point for which St. Jude makes the allusion is this— the 
 archangel did not speak haughtily or contemptuously to that 
 mighty spirit of evil, a celestial dignity before he fell; but 
 said, " The Lord rebuke thee." In the same spirit is conceived 
 Zechariah's vision of Satan accusing the High Priest of Israel 
 before the Angel of the Lord, and defeated in his accusation 
 by a declaration of the Lord's mercy in plucking this brand 
 out of the fire. The same form of expression is used, " The 
 Lord rebuke thee, Satan." Many thoughtless men speak of 
 the devil in terms of jocularity and contempt. J It is the cheap 
 courage of ignorance. But the archangel, who knows the 
 strength of Satan,§ does not venture so to speak, but solemnly 
 refers the archfiend to the judgment of God. 
 
 * Verse 9. f Deut. xxxiv. 6. 
 
 X This tendency has appeared strongly in literature : witness Ben Jon- 
 son's Comedy " The devil is an ass," and Burns' " Address to the De'il." 
 § Rev. xii. 7. 
 
312 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 The tradition of Enoch's prophecy is, in some respects, even 
 more singular than that of Moses' grave, inasmuch as there 
 is some reason to think that St. Jude refers to an apocryphal 
 work entitled the Book of Enoch. The book is repeatedly 
 mentioned by early Christian writers ; but was for a long time 
 lost, till, in the year 1773, an Ethiopia copy of it was found 
 in Abyssinia, and brought to England by the traveller Bruce. 
 Other manuscripts have subsequently been obtained ; and now 
 the book is well known by translations into German and 
 English. The prophecy of Enoch, cited in this Epistle, occurs 
 near the beginning : and the prophet, more than once, describes 
 himself as "the seventh from Adam," i.e. the seventh genera- 
 tion, Adam being counted the first. There is a significance in 
 this according to the ancient symbolism of numbers. Enoch 
 was the Sabbatic man who w^alked with God. Perhaps there 
 is a similar significance in the fact that he lived on earth three 
 hundred and sixty-five years, a year for each day of the solar 
 year, and then did not die, but " was not, for God took him " 
 to pursue his years elsewhere. 
 
 For the Book of Enoch, as a whole, no authority can be 
 derived from the citation of a single passage. It is the produc- 
 tion of an unknown writer, and is certainly not older than the 
 first century B.C. At no time has it been reckoned among 
 Canonical Books. All that needs be maintained regarding it 
 is, that it contains at least one authentic and genuine utterance 
 of the venerable Enoch, traditionally transmitted from the 
 earliest times. Noah may easily have heard it from his grand- 
 father Methuselah, the son of Enoch. It prepared him for the 
 judgment of God by water in his own lifetime. And he may 
 have delivered the oracle to his descendants, to prepare the 
 post-diluvian world for another and a still greater judgment. 
 In its ultimate fulfilment pointed to in the Epistle, the oracle 
 announces the coming of the Lord with holy myriads for the 
 judgment of the Great Day, and the descent of flaming fire on 
 those who have corrupted Christendom itself, and filled the 
 earth again with wilfulness, wantonness, and injustice. "As 
 
JUDE. 313 
 
 the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of 
 Man be." 
 
 There need be no surprise that an Apostle should quote any- 
 thing from an apocryphal book. Apocryphal means uncanoni- 
 cal, but not fictitious or worthless. Why should not a passage, 
 itself known to be genuine, be quoted from the Book of Enoch, 
 as well as a tradition about the body of Moses inserted without 
 any written authority or reference whatever, or quotations made 
 in the Old Testament from " the Book of the Wars of Jehovah," 
 and from "the Book of Jasher;" or references given to the 
 Books of Nathan the Prophet, Gad the Seer, Iddo the Seer, 
 and the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite? None of these 
 works were ever received as canonical scripture. 
 
 Much of the Epistle of St. Jude is thus occupied with the 
 wicked men who abused, under pretext of using, liberty in 
 Christ. Their conduct is exposed, and their doom pronounced 
 without flinching. But the Apostle addresses the saints on 
 their own line of duty, and affectionately urges them to " con- 
 tend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered " to them, 
 and not to allow it to be tampered with. He will also have 
 them keep themselves pure from the contamination which was 
 being brought " unawares " into the Church. 
 
 Five times in course of the Epistle a word occurs which is 
 variously rendered in the Authorised Version, keep, reserve, 
 preserve. The "beloved of God the Father" are regarded as 
 " preserved by Jesus Christ." In contrast to them are pointed 
 out those angels who are "kept in everlasting chains," and 
 sinful men " for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness 
 for ever.".* The Christians are then admonished to keep them- 
 selves in the love of God, z'.e., in the possession and enjoyment 
 of divine love as the true element and elixir of a spiritual life. 
 And how? (i.) By building themselves up on their most holy 
 faith. So the faith was to be contended for, not with a view to 
 barren controversial victory, but because Christian character 
 must be built thereon. It was delivered to the saints in order 
 * Verses I, 6, l^. 
 
314 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 that they might continue in it, and not he moved away from 
 the hope of the Gospel. (2.) By praying in the Holy Ghost ; 
 for the Divine Spirit (which the false teachers had not, ver. 
 19) helps infirmities, corrects errors, subdues pride, cures 
 lethargy, kindles fervour, and teaches believers how to pray, 
 and what to pray for as they ought. Between the ascension of 
 their Master and the day of Pentecost, the disciples, and Jude 
 among them, prayed much for the Spirit. After the day of 
 Pentecost it became their privilege, and continues to be ours, to 
 pray in the fellowship of the Spirit, through the mediation of 
 the Son, to the Father of mercies and God of all consolation ; 
 the Spirit within us making intercession with unutterable pant- 
 ings of hope, deep sighs of the heart for the manifestation of 
 the glory of the sons of God. 
 
 St. Jude does not forget to express this hope. "While he 
 shows us ungodly men and seducers with their " fearful looking 
 for of judgment," he exhorts those who keep themselves in the 
 love of God to "look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 unto eternal life." " give thanks unto the Lord, for He is 
 good, for His mercy endureth for ever." 
 
 There follows an admonition to deal discreetly and kindly 
 with those unwary persons who were being beguiled ; and the 
 Epistle ends with doxology. The men who were working so 
 much mischief in the Church followed their own impulses, 
 *' walked after their own ungodly lusts." On the contrary, the 
 men who escaped the contamination were kept not by their own 
 will or wisdom, but by the grace of God. They did indeed 
 keep themselves ; but the ultimate secret of their success was 
 that God kept them. The word employed is stronger than that 
 on which we have remarked above. It means, to guard and 
 protect from all adversaries. Glory then is ascribed to the only 
 wise God our Saviour, who, in a time of delusion and apostasy, 
 is able to keep His people, not infallible, but unfallen. There 
 is no excuse for sin. There is no necessity any more to serve it, 
 or to live as debtors to the flesh. There is no permission to fall 
 and rise at pleasure. The object of the Divine Saviour is to 
 
yUDE. 3T5 
 
 keep His own from falling. And well it is for tliem that He 
 should so keep them, even though it may require reproofs 
 and chastisements. These will never come without cause from 
 "the only wise God." Happy is he who, with simplicity of 
 lieart, casts his foolishness at the feet of the Saviour's wisdom, 
 and put his weakness into the hand of the Saviour's strength, 
 saying, 
 
 "Hold it fast, 
 Suffer me not to lose my way, 
 And bring me home at last." 
 
 He is able to do this. As Rutherford says : " Our Lord and 
 Chief Shepherd will not want one weak sheep or dying lamb 
 that He hath redeemed. He will tell His flock, and gather 
 them all together, and make a faithful account of them to His 
 Father, who gave them all to Him." Says the Apostle : He 
 will "present (or set) them faultless before the presence of His 
 glory in exceeding joy." What a contrast to the blackness of 
 darkness this " exceeding joy " ! Joy to the saved when they 
 see their Saviour as He is, and joy to the Saviour when all that 
 are His are gathered together unto Him. " To the only God 
 our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, 
 dominion and power, before all time, and now, and to all the 
 ages ! Amen." 
 
( 3'6 ) 
 
 REVELATION. 
 No. I. 
 
 GENERAL FEATURES AND CLAIMS OF THE BOOK. 
 
 The title of this extraordinary book is " Apocalypse of Jesus 
 Christ, which God gave to Him, to show to His servants what 
 things must come to pass shortly." Thus it is an unveiling of 
 our ascended Lord, for the instruction and comfort of the Church 
 which, not seeing Him, loves Him and waits for Him. God 
 gave it to Him, and He by His angel signified it to His servant 
 John. This mode of expression is maintained throughout the 
 book. In other writings of John we read of the Father and 
 the Son, but in this always of God and Christ, or God and the 
 Lamb. 
 
 It is possible to lay too much stress on the word "shortly'' 
 in the title. Some writers have inferred from this that the 
 things disclosed as future were or are to occur in quick succession ; 
 others, that the entire prophecy of the book must refer to the 
 immediate future. But it is not safe to found so much on a 
 word of this description, or on the phrase (chap. i. 3, xxii. 10) 
 "the time is near." The apparent distance of objects depends 
 on the power of the eye, the intensity of the light, and the 
 condition of the atmosphere. The same principle regulates the 
 seeming distance of events disclosed in prophecy. Dangers 
 distant in respect of actual time may appear to a seer imme- 
 diately impending ; and happy changes, though remote, are by 
 vivid hope brought near. Hence an alertness of language in 
 regard to both the perils and the prospects of the Church, and 
 
REVELATION. 317 
 
 especially that great event which is the supreme object of New 
 Testament prophecy — the second appearing of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The writer of the book is Christ's servant John. He takes no 
 title of ecclesiastical rank or official dignity — "John to the 
 Seven Churches of Asia ; " and this simplicity surely favours 
 the belief that he is no other than the Apostle John, one of the 
 sons of Zebedee. Any other of the name, such as John Mark, 
 or the alleged Presbyter John of the second century, would have 
 described himself more fully.* The beloved disciple, in his old 
 age the sole survivor of the twelve, was too well known in the 
 province of Asia, and altogether too eminent in position, to 
 require, when addressing the Churches in and near Ephesus, 
 more than the simple announcement of his name. 
 
 The place in which the revelation was given to John was the 
 small island of Patmos, one of the group called the Sporades, 
 lying about 24 miles off the coast of Asia Minor, f The Apostle 
 was there " for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus," 
 and the tradition is that he had been banished thither by order 
 of the Emperor. Whither this occurred under Nero, a.d 57-68, 
 
 * Bleek (Lectures on the Apocalypse) has put the argument for this 
 later John as plausibly as possible, but there is no basis for it excepting 
 some rather vague words of Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., lib. iii. 39), reporting a 
 statement of Papias, who was not a model of exactness. The evidence in 
 favour of the Apostle John as the writer is both internal and traditional, 
 and can never be shaken. The most recent Rationalistic critics indeed 
 concede this, with the view of proving that since this work is by St. John, 
 the fourth Gospel cannot be his. But Dr. William Lee (in Speaker's Com- 
 ment.), and Dr. Milligan have successfully shown the harmony of the two 
 books, both in doctrine and in structure. 
 
 + The modern name of the rocky isle is Patino. It is twenty-eight miles 
 in circumference. " Patmos has been in one respect singularly favoured. 
 The Turks have never visited it ; none dwell on the island, and the 
 moderate tribute which they exact has been punctually paid, and sent by 
 the islanders themselves to Smyrna. No mosque has ever been erected on 
 the spot rendered sacred by the vision of the Apocalypse. Slavery has 
 been unknown ; piracy has never been practised." — Imper. Bible Diet., Art. 
 Patmos. 
 
 On the influence of the locality and its surroundings on the sacred vision's, 
 see Dean Stanley's Sermons in the East, p. 230. 
 
3i8 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES, 
 
 or under Domitian, a.d. 81-96 is a much disputed question. 
 There is a great proponderance of ancient authority in favour of 
 the later date ; yet many modern critics, on alleged internal 
 grounds, maintain the earlier. They are influenced by exegetical 
 considerations. For example, they find the enigmatic " Number 
 of the Beast " in the words Neron Csesar in Hebrew characters. 
 But it is strange, to say the least, that Irenseus, living in the 
 second century, had never heard of this solution, and refers the 
 Book to the reign of Domitian. 
 
 Renan dates it very precisely in the reign of Galba, a.d. 68, 
 and is followed in this by our more recent Anglican interpreters, 
 e.g. Plumptre, Lumby, and Farrar. The visions are supposed to 
 indicate events of that troubled period, and the approaching 
 downfall of Jerusalem. It is held without scruple that the 
 seer fell into some serious mistakes. He shared a popular 
 delusion, that Nero was not really dead, and would shortly 
 reappear ! He expected that the Roman army would subdue 
 Jerusalem for three years and a half, but would not take the 
 Temple ! He also looked for a successful insurrection of the 
 Provinces against the Imperial City (chap. xvii. 16-17), whereas, 
 after Nero's death, the power of Rome was more firmly 
 established than ever ! How could a book, containing such 
 egregious mistakes, and openly falsified by events within a year 
 or two after it was written, ever have gained repute or authority 
 in the Church ? 
 
 Canon Medd not only holds the Apocalypse to have been 
 written before the fall of Jerusalem, but regards Jerusalem, not 
 Rome, as the Babylon of the book. The "kings of the land" 
 are the tetrarchs. The object of the whole is to announce 
 Christ's coming in judgment to destroy the old Jerusalem and 
 bring in the new. The millennium is "the now current 
 dispensation."* 
 
 Such theories of interpretation change the book from a 
 prophecy into a not very difficult forecast of events close at 
 hand. We cannot accept this. The Apocalypse seems to us to 
 * Bampton Lectures for 1882. Note 11. 
 
REVELATION. 319 
 
 have a wider and longer range ; and we see no sufficient reason 
 to doubt the statement of ancient authors and the settled 
 opinion of Christendom, which dates the work nearly thirty 
 years after the catastrophe of Jerusalem. 
 
 The book being entitled the Unveiling of Jesus Christ, opens 
 with this announcement of His appearing — "Behold He cometh 
 with clouds, and every eye shall see Him ; and whosoever they 
 were that pierced Him ; and all tribes of the earth shall wail 
 because of Him." We seem to hear again the words of our 
 Lord in that great prophecy which He pronounced while He sat 
 on the Mount of Olives a day or two before His death — a 
 prophecy which underlies much of the phraseology of this book : 
 " Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven ; and 
 then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see 
 the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and 
 great glory."* 
 
 To this grand event all the Revelation steadily tends ; but it 
 takes a wide scope as it proceeds. John is commanded to write, 
 (i.) the things which he had seen, i.e. the vision given to him 
 of the Son of man; (2.) the things which are, i.e. wonders in 
 heaven ; and, (3.) the things which shall come to pass hereafter, 
 i.e. future judgments, defeats, and victories. 
 
 I. The manlier of the Book. This is singularly fitted to its 
 high theme. The Revelation is quite removed from ordinary 
 prose composition, and ought to be regarded as a grand Christian 
 poem, requiring for its interpretation some measure of idealistic 
 power. John is the Vates of the New Testament Scripture, at 
 once the prophet and the poet. 
 
 But the book is not poetical only ; it is symbolical throughout, 
 and in this respect is congruous with the mental characteristics 
 of the Apostle John, who, as his Gospel indicates, delighted in 
 figurative and symbolic teaching. Most copious and varied are 
 the Apocalyptic symbols ; and they must be carefully studied, 
 and consistently and soberly interpreted. If a symbol be taken 
 * Matt. xxiv. 30. 
 
320 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 to mean one thing here, and another there, the hook is made the 
 sport of random, haphazard, capricious conjectures. 
 
 (i.) There are symbols in number's, e.g. : — 
 
 4, the number of the earth, or mundane space; — 4 
 quarters, 4 winds, 4 living creatures, &c. 
 
 7, the number of completion and of rest. Its half, 3J, 
 is the sign of broken and limited operation ; but when 
 a Divine cycle of creative work or providential govern- 
 ment is indicated it is marked by 7. The sign of 
 protracted labour, never reaching rest, is 666, the 
 number of the wild beast. 
 
 10, the number of the world's activity and development. 
 Therefore, both in the Book of Daniel, and here, a 
 world-power has 10 horns. 
 
 12, the number of Church order and plenitude, as 
 formerly it had been the signature of All-Israel; 12 
 stars, 12 gates, 12 foundations, 12 apostles, 12 fruit 
 harvests from the tree of life. 
 
 From 10 and 12 are formed greater numbers, 1000, 144, 
 and 144,000. 
 
 (2.) There are symbols in colours, e.g. : — 
 
 White, denoting purity (white garments), righteousness 
 
 (a white throne), joy (a white cloud), victory (a white 
 
 horse). 
 Red, for bloodshed and war. 
 Purple, for imperial luxury and pomp. 
 Emerald green, for patient, winning grace. 
 Black, for calamity and distress. 
 
 (3.) There are symbols in animated fo7^ms : — 
 
 The Zoa, composite figures, expressive of the whole life 
 in creation, and the redemption of the whole creation 
 to God. 
 
REVELATION. 321 
 
 The lamb, a symbol of Jesus Christ, as He once suffered, 
 
 and is now enthroned. 
 The eagle, indicating swift movements in the region of 
 
 thought and opinion. 
 Horses, representing movements on the earth. 
 A wild beast, a cruel trampling power. 
 Frogs, unclean spirits. 
 Locusts, all things that waste and torment. 
 
 (4.) There are symbols in the elements and forces of nature : — 
 
 The air = the sphere of life, and of intellectual and 
 spiritual influence. 
 
 The earth = the place of nations. 
 
 An earthquake = sudden shaking of nations. 
 
 The sea = human society tossed and troubled. 
 
 A cloud = the chariot of Divine manifestation. 
 
 A storm of lightning and hail = a great crisis or judg- 
 ment. 
 
 These may suffice as examples of apocalyptic symbols. But 
 they are only specimens of what might form a much longer list. 
 
 In its symbolism, and in the whole tenor of its prophecy, this 
 book rests on visions of an earlier date, especially those imparted 
 to Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. It is vain to attempt an in- 
 terpretation of it without considerable familiarity with the Old 
 Testament, for, though written in Greek, the Book is entirely 
 Hebrew in its images and allusions. There is also a very marked 
 connection, as we have hinted, with that prophecy of the Master 
 which He poured into the ears of His disciples on the Mount ot 
 Olives. In particular, there is the same scenic or panoramic 
 combination of events remote from each other, but having the 
 same character and intention. Two, if not more, horizons of 
 judgment are in view at once, the nearer a foreshadow of the 
 more distant. 
 
 Yet another characteristic is to be noticed, while we speak of 
 the manner of this Book. It is no "fine phrensy," but a 
 
 VOL. II. X 
 
322 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 wonderful work of divine art, curiously wrought and most deli- 
 cately balanced. This is carried out into the most minute detail, 
 while it is shown on a large scale in the parallelism of the great 
 cyclical visions. Only the most careless reader can suppose the 
 Book to be tangled and confused. It is a masterpiece of con- 
 struction, fitted and bound together by wisdom from above. 
 
 11. The contents of the hook are far too rich and copious to 
 have any adequate treatment in such lectures as this. But the 
 following general features of the Revelation may be noted : — 
 
 1. It is a book of the connection of things in earth with 
 things in heaven. In the sense it gives us of this connection 
 lies the secret of the awe we felt when we read or heard it read 
 in our childhood — an awe which grows upon us in advancing 
 years, and is not gloomy, but good and healthful, calming our 
 spirits with the assurance that heaven lies about us, and heaven 
 is open, and the angels of God are near. 
 
 The reader is not left on the earth to peer into a distant 
 heaven, but borne into heaven, and thence made to see, as through 
 masses of cloud and rolling mists, the things that come upon 
 the earth. There are announcements and scenes in heaven 
 prior to changes and movements on earth. There are voices 
 from the throne, notes of golden harps, sounding trumpets, cries 
 of disembodied souls, and choruses of song that peal through 
 the universe. Strong angels pass to and fro, making epochs in 
 human history, and changing the affairs of the Church and of 
 nations. What we call the course of events is compassed by 
 spiritual agency unseen. Earth touches heaven. Alas ! it also 
 touches hell. 
 
 2. It is a book of strong moral contrasts. Good and evil, in 
 and around the earth, are brought out in sharp distinction and 
 stern alternative. There is no compromise, no shading or 
 blending of moral opposites, or attempt at concord between 
 Christ and Belial. A deep decided line is drawn between the 
 righteous and the unjust, the holy and the filthy, the Lamb and 
 the wild beast, the throne of God and the abyss, Michael with his 
 
REVELATION, 323 
 
 angels and the dragon with his angels, the Bride and the harlot, 
 New Jerusalem and great Babylon. 
 
 3. It is a book of very definite teaching on redemption by 
 blood. This, which is expressed or implied in all the Scrip- 
 tures, has in the Eevelation a marked and solemn emphasis. . 
 Those who are now protesting against what they call a " blood 
 theology " may do some good in exposing coarse materialistic 
 expressions ; but let them beware lest they even seem to con- 
 demn this holy Apocalypse, which, in the midst of its most 
 heavenly scenes, celebrates the atoning blood. Saints sing, 
 and angels speak of redemption by the blood, cleansing in the 
 blood, and victory by the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 4. It is a book of protracted conflict. For this we are 
 prepared by the last-written Epistles, 2 Timothy, 2 Peter, i, 
 2, and 3 John, and Jude, which give warning of fiery trials 
 at hand, and of ominous departures from the faith. Some men 
 turned aside after Satan, others gave way to indifi'erence and 
 selfishness, contentions were rife, and antichrists many. . Pro- 
 phetic intimations made the prospect darker still, for the Spirit 
 spoke expressly of perilous times in the last days, marked by 
 extreme moral perversity and the appearance of " scofi'ers walk- 
 ing after their own lusts." Indeed, in reading the later 
 Epistles, we seem to feel the air charged with elements of 
 confusion and tempest, and to see dark clouds hanging on the 
 distant hills. We look for a stormy sequel, and we find it in 
 this Revelation of troublous times, of the patience of Christ in 
 His members, of tribulation and martyrdom, woe to the in- 
 habitants of the earth, and war even in heavenly places. 
 
 In this respect also, it is a book for present-day reading. 
 Christians need to be trained in patience, and braced for con- 
 flict. Because they have peace with God, they should expect 
 assaults of the devil, danger in the Church, and tribulation in 
 the world. It is well also that triflers and trimmers should 
 know that ease in Zion is not safe for the children of Zion, 
 and that they should hear a deep voice sounding from this 
 book, " Art thou for God or for Baal 1 Wilt thou follow the 
 
324 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 world, seeking its smiles, and * wondering after ' its greatness, 
 or follow the Lamb in the faith and patience of saints ? " 
 
 5. It is a book of judgment brought forth to victory. The 
 Lamb is the leader and commander of the faithful ; and He 
 makes war, and conquers. From the wrath of the Lamb kings 
 and mighty men flee. The prince of the world is punished. 
 ]^ations are judged. On the earth, the sea, the rivers and 
 fountains of waters, the sun, the throne of the Beast, the great 
 river Euphrates, is poured out the wrath of God. The " harlot," 
 sitting on many waters, is judged, and the blood of God's 
 servants avenged. At last the whole confederacy of evil is 
 hurled down in one stern crash of ruin, and plunged into *'the 
 lake of fire." The doctrine of penal retribution is deeply en- 
 graved on the Book : and the God whom it honours is a God 
 of judgment. With solemnly repeated emphasis it points the 
 militant Church to the epoch of deliverance and triumph at 
 the appearing of Jesus Christ, and makes the assurance of this 
 stronger and brighter as days of rebuke and blasphemy draw 
 on. 
 
 A Book with such characteristics fitly concludes the Holy 
 Bible. Full of allusions to ancient visions, prophecies, and 
 songs, it brings the whole continuity of Scripture to a sublime 
 and worthy close. At last the patience of patriarchs and saints 
 is rewarded ; the longings of Israel and of the Church are ful- 
 filled ; and the glory of God shines unhindered on a scene of 
 righteousness and peace. 
 
 In the end of the Book appears that Holy City for which 
 Father Abraham and all the children of faith have devoutly 
 looked. This is society pure, stable, and well-governed. 
 " Take from the Bible the final vision of the heavenly Jeru- 
 salem, and what will have been lost? Not merely a single 
 passage, a sublime description, an important revelation, but a 
 conclusion by which all that went before is interpreted and 
 justified. We should have an unfinished plan, in which human 
 capacities have not found their full realisation, or Divine 
 preparations their adequate result. To the mind that looks 
 
REVELATION. 325 
 
 beyond individual life, or that understands what is needful to 
 the perfection of individual life, a Bible that did not end by 
 building for us a city of God, would appear to leave much in 
 man unprovided for, and much in itself unaccounted for. But, 
 as it is, neither of these deficiencies arises. Eevelation decrees 
 not only the individual happiness, but the corporate perfection 
 of man ; and closes the book of its prophecy by assuring the 
 children of the living God that He hath prepared for them a 
 city."* 
 
 Paradise, too, is restored ; not, however, a solitary place, 
 where one might hide among the trees or sleep in the wood, 
 but a garden of pleasure in the very city of the saints, watered 
 by the pure river that flows from the throne, and beautified 
 with fruitful trees of life in the broad street of the city, and 
 on either side of the river. 
 
 Surely a book like this ought not to be treated with neglect, 
 or remain unstudied in a kind of indolent despair. It is true 
 that Luther, intent on dogma, was impatient of these visions ; 
 and men like Schleiermacher, not to speak of more sceptical 
 critics, here and abroad, have treated the Apocalypse with scant 
 respect ; but, on the other hand, it is a book which grows in 
 the estimation of devout Christians, and promises to become of 
 more and more service to the Church amidst the increasing 
 confusions and perplexities of Christendom. A prejudice has 
 been raised against it in sober minds by a class of confident 
 soothsaying interpreters, who explain the Eevelation as though 
 it were a prospective narrative of the annals of Western and 
 Central Europe, by help of Gibbon's " History of the Decline 
 and Fall of the Roman Empire," RoUin's " Universal History," 
 Sismondi, Alison, and the ', Times] newspaper. But it ouglit 
 always to be remembered that the book itself is a Divine pro- 
 duction, and in no degree responsible for what may have been 
 spoken or written about it by men of infirm and excited 
 judgment. 
 
 A notion prevails that the Apocalypse suits dreamy students 
 * Canon Bernard's Bampton Lectures, p. 287. 
 
326 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 and unpractical devotees, but can be of little use to men wbo 
 are occupied with the hard prosaic tasks of life. We hold the 
 contrarj^ opinion. It is the dreamy or fanciful mind that needs 
 such reading least ; the toilworn and careworn man who needs 
 it most : as a relief from what is depressing to spiritual life and 
 hope, a stimulus to the nobler aspirations, and a reminder that 
 around, above, and beneath all the affairs and fortunes of 
 mankind, moves on the mystery of God. How welcome too 
 should be this Book to the tried and sorrowful, who are made 
 to see their brethren in tribulation clad in white robes, having 
 " garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness," and to hear 
 glorious voices sounding from the habitation of God's throne 
 on high ! 
 
 It cannot be denied that there are formidable difficulties in 
 the interpretation; but even when the mind is baffled as to 
 exact meanings, and the understanding appears to be unfruitful, 
 the heart is refreshed as by a heavenly aroma, transcendent 
 truths sink into the mind in a manner we cannot explain, and 
 holy suggestions and comforts interpenetrate our spirits with 
 delight. 
 
( z-^i ) 
 
 REVELATION. 
 No. II. 
 
 THE SEPTENARY CYCLES. 
 
 If we read this Book cursorily, we are apt to think that it is 
 fuU of poetic license and allegorical exaggeration ; and that one 
 should be satisfied to gather from it general lessons and im- 
 pressions, without any attempt at exactness in detail. But a 
 closer examination shows that the Kevelation is as far as 
 possible from being a rhapsody. As we have said in our last 
 lecture, it is a Book most carefully constructed, curiously 
 wrought, nicely arranged, and skilfully balanced. Just as 
 ancient Hebrew prophecy in its most impassioned utterances 
 obeyed the rhythm, and even observed alphabetic and acrostic 
 rules of Hebrew poetry, so this prophecy of the New Testament 
 has a perfect internal order, and, if one may use such an ex- 
 pression, artistic symmetry. 
 
 Prominent in the Book are certain septenary series. One of 
 these — that of the seven thunders — is not declared, but " sealed 
 up," and, therefore, not to be interpreted.* But the four great 
 series are declared — viz., the seven Churches addressed ; seven 
 seals broken ; seven trumpets blown ; seven bowls poured out. 
 
 A preliminary question must be considered before we look 
 into these series in detail. It relates to the principle on which 
 each series is constructed, and on which the various series are 
 connected together. The prevailing school of comment on this 
 Book — at least since the Reformation — has been that of con- 
 * Chap. X. 1-4. 
 
328 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 tinuous history, finding in these visions the course of events in 
 Christendom partly fulfilled and partly unfulfilled. Some of 
 the interpreters are preterists, and allege that all is accom- 
 plished ; others are futurists, even extreme futurists, assigning 
 the whole Book of Revelation to the Jews after the first resur- 
 rection. But the mode of historical interpretation, carried out 
 with so much patient learning by the late Mr. Elliot,"^ has had 
 the most general support, and forces on us the inquiry, Does 
 each series, taken by itself, indicate a course of consecutive 
 events? And do the various series follow each other in a 
 direct line of time, so as to form, in anticipation, a continuous 
 history of the Church ? Our answer must be in the negative ; 
 and for the following reasons : — 
 
 1. The, number seven is certainly symbolical of a divine com- 
 pleteness ; and it is against all the principles of symbolism to 
 explain a septenary series as meaning seven actual events, no 
 more and no fewer. Of course this objection applies quite as 
 strongly to the reckoning of several series numerically on 
 chronological tables, as indicating fourteen, twenty-one, or 
 twenty-eight successive dates in Church history. 
 
 2. The annals of Christendom refuse to arrange themselves 
 in harmony with such a theory of the Apocalypse. It has been 
 attempted to assign the seven seals to Rome Pagan, the seven 
 trumpets to Rome Christian, and the seven bowls of wrath to 
 Rome Antichristian. It has been held that the seals denote 
 the overthrow of heathenism, and the success of the Emperor 
 Constantine ; that the trumpets announce the irruption of the 
 northern barbarians, and the defeat of the Moslem power ; and 
 that the bowls of wrath began to be poured out at the French 
 Revolution in the end of the last century, and are being poured 
 out still. But it is a vain and desperate attempt to lay these 
 prophetic series alongside of the actual annals of Europe. The 
 efi'ort to arrange such history in three or four grand divisions, 
 and subdivide into twenty-one or twenty-eight successive 
 epochs, has led, on the one hand, to such puerile handling of 
 
 * " Horse Apocalypticae." 
 
REVELATION. 329 
 
 Scripture, and, on the other, to such capricious and arbitrary- 
 emphasising of particular events and dates, as is positively 
 repulsive to a sober and reverent mind. Better the most vague 
 and hazy conception of the contents of this Book, if accom- 
 panied by some recognition of its poetic grandeur, than a 
 prosaic interpretation brought about by fixing, in the most 
 arbitrary way, on particular passages of European history, 
 slighting other events perhaps quite as important as those 
 which are selected, and passing over centuries in silence. 
 
 (3.) There is a parallelism between some of the series in 
 question, that points to a conclusion quite at variance with the 
 theory of historic continuity. This is particularly obvious in 
 the case of the series of trumpets as compared with that of vials 
 or bowls. They go over the same course of events, and are 
 synchronous, not successive. The latter reiterates the lessons 
 and warnings of the former, according to that fashion of 
 doubling or repeating the sense which belongs to Hebrew 
 poetry, proverb, prophecy, and dream. Who can read Old 
 Testament prophecy and psalm without being struck by the use 
 made of refrain and iteration 1 And why should we not see in 
 the duplicate dreams of Joseph and of Pharaoh,* and in the 
 virtual repetition of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of successive 
 empires in a dream of Daniel,t a hint of the manner in which 
 the visions of John are connected together and ought to be 
 interpreted ? 
 
 In fact the prophetic movement is not in straight lines from 
 one date to another, but in mighty cycles or wheels, more or 
 less coincident ; and one may say of them in the words of 
 Ezekiel, " As for the rings, they were so high that they were 
 dreadful." But it is not meant that one cycle is a mere re- 
 petition of another. There is eschatological progress. There is 
 an indication of growing intensity of good and evil. The tragic 
 element especially becomes more prominent : and with increas- 
 ing severity, each series or cycle of judgment moves the world 
 further on towards the last judgment in the great day of God. 
 * Gen. xxxvii. 5-1 1, xii. 1-8. t Dan. ii. 31-4S, vii. 
 
330 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Now, let us look into the series with as much minuteness as 
 the plan of our lectures will permit. In every case there is a 
 vision of glory preceding and introducing a cycle of fluctuation, 
 distress, desolation, and judgment. A vision of Christ, or a 
 pre-celebration of His triumph, is the invariable forerunner of 
 an earthly crisis and a scene of conflict. 
 
 I. Seven Churches addressed. 
 
 1. This series opens with a vision of the Son of Man in great 
 majesty, as the living Inspector of the Churches.* He appears 
 to John in the long robe of priestly and kingly dignity. His 
 eyes glow and pierce as a flame of fire, for nothing can elude 
 His sight. He has something of terror in His aspect, for He is 
 about to speak terrible things in righteousness, and to smite 
 with the " sharp two-edged sword of His mouth," In His hand 
 are seven stars ; and at His feet seven candlesticks — signs of 
 the Churches with which He is about to deal. 
 
 2. Then comes seven messages to seven Churches of Asia.t 
 They are addressed to the angels of those Churches ; for no 
 
 man (but John himself) is spoken to in the Apocalypse. The 
 Book is occupied with ideals and symbols ; so each Church is 
 represented by its angel, just as in the visions of Daniel there 
 are angels of the nations — of Greece, Persia, and Israel. J 
 Whatever of praise or blame is meant for the Church is sent, 
 not as in the plain apostolic way to the saints with their 
 bishops and deacons, but in apocalyptic fashion to the angel 
 who takes charge of that Church under Christ. 
 
 Seven Churches are selected in the province of Asia, where 
 the Apostle John, in his later years, wielded a patriarchal 
 influence. These were not all the Churches in the province, 
 but seven are taken to represent the whole visible Church ; 
 and such seven, as in their diversities of faithfulness and un- 
 faithfulness, zeal and lethargy, give opportunity for the most 
 various counsels, reproofs, and promises with a view to the 
 profit of the Church in all time coming. 
 
 * Chap. i. 9-20. t Chaps, ii. iii. t Dan. x. xil 
 
REVELATION. 331 
 
 Then this complete cycle of Churches is prophetical. We 
 do not mean this in the sense vehemently urged by some writers, 
 that they cover and predict seven actual successive stages of 
 Church history. Such a theory contradicts the symbolical 
 meaning of a septenary cycle, and is burdened by the awkward 
 fact, that its keenest supporters cannot agree on the details of the 
 historical application which they suggest. But the Epistles or 
 messages to those Churches, do certainly illustrate conditions of 
 the Church at large, and of particular Churches, which return 
 again and again ; tendencies to decay of love, relaxation of dis- 
 cipline, and formality of spirit ; controversies, labours, and the 
 keeping of " the Avord of patience." Alas ! there will be luke- 
 warmness in many hearts when the Lord is at hand, when the 
 Judge is standing at the door. It is, however, no more than a 
 prophetic glance that we find in the first series. The element 
 of prediction becomes much more prominent in the cycles that 
 follow. 
 
 The seven messages are constructed exactly on the same plan. 
 The Lord announces Himself under a title or titles appropriate 
 to the nature of the message which follows, or the condition of 
 the particular Church. Then the formula — "I know thy 
 works." The body of the message or the Epistle comes next; and 
 the conclusion consists in each case of a promise to every one 
 who should overcome the evil which invaded that particular 
 Church, and of a summons to "him who has an ear," to "hear 
 what the Spirit saith to the Churches." 
 
 The Church in Ephesus is commended for good discipline, 
 but admonished in regard to a decay of Christian affection, and 
 called to repent. The Church in Smyrna is warned of coming 
 tribulation. Pergamos and Thyatira are charged to give no 
 place to the libertine sectaries that molested them. Sardis is 
 reproved for formalism ; and Philadelphia praised for fidelity. 
 The Church in Laodicea is rebuked for self-confidence and 
 lukewarmness, and charged to buy the best blessings of the 
 Lord. 
 
 So ends the first and simplest series. 
 
332 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 II. Seven seals broken. 
 
 1. This series, too, is introduced by a glorious vision.* The 
 Divine throne is seen in heaven, surrounded by twenty-four 
 thrones for the presbyters who represent the redeemed Church, 
 and by four composite cherubic figures, instinct with life, 
 symbols of the vital powers of creation in harmony with re- 
 demption. These all praise the Lord ; but the creation, 
 symbolised by the Zoa, only [speaks of the Lord, while the 
 Church represented by the presbyters, speaks to Him, saying, 
 "Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and 
 power." 
 
 In the right hand of God is seen a sealed roll : and Jesus 
 Christ, appearing as a lamb which had been slain, takes the 
 roll amidst loud acclamations of praise, and proceeds to open 
 its seven seals. Thus while the preliminary vision to the first 
 series represents Christ as the inspector of the Churches, this 
 reveals Him as the powerful ruler in the midst of the throne, 
 who "has prevailed to open the roll, and to loose the seven 
 seals thereof." t 
 
 2. The roll of Divine purpose, as unfolded in seven portions, 
 seal by seal, producing the following results : J — 
 
 (i.) A figure of conquest on a white horse, white being the 
 colour of triumph. 
 
 (2.) A figure of civil war on a red horse, taking away peace 
 from the earth. 
 
 (3.) A figure of dearth or scarcity on a black horse, black 
 being a sign of mourning. 
 
 (4.) A figure of devastation; death riding on a livid horse, 
 
 * Chap. iv. 5. 
 
 + Mr. C. E. Fraser Tytler, in a work httle known, " The Apocalyptic 
 Roll" has arranged what follows as on the two sides of an Eastern roll or 
 deed of inheritance, and illustrated the effect of the gradual unrolling of 
 the document, as seal after seal is broken. He claims that " no sooner 
 are the seemingly complicated and entangled visions of the unveiling 
 placed on such a roll than they at once assume coherency, and harmony 
 takes the place of seeming confusion." 
 
 X Chap, vi.-viii. I. 
 
REVELATION. 333 
 
 with Hades like a hearse, or moving, yawning grave, following 
 after. This devastation proceeds under the four forms mentioned 
 by the old prophets, — war, famine, pestilence, and the ravages 
 of wild beasts. (Compare chap. vi. 8 with Ezek. xiv. 21.) 
 
 These four judgments being directed against life on the 
 earth, are successively announced by the four Zoa. Evidently 
 they coincide with the " beginning of sorrows " foretold by our 
 Saviour in His great prophecy or eschatological discourse, 
 delivered on the Mount ofj Olives three days before His 
 death. (See Matt. xxiv. 6-8.) 
 
 (5.) The martyrs are to be avenged, but not yet. The Lord 
 had said in the discourse to which we have just referred, — 
 " Then shall they deliver you up to the afflicted, and shall kill 
 you ; and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake." * 
 When the fifth seal was broken, John saw the souls of the 
 martyrs, like the life-blood of ancient sacrifices, poured out at 
 the bottom of the altar. They cried, as once the blood of Abel 
 cried to God from the ground; and they were clothed with 
 favour, and bidden to rest awhile till the cup of persecution 
 was full. 
 
 (6.) Universal panic. A great earthquake denotes the con- 
 vulsion of society. Portents in the sky announce revolution 
 and disaster.t It is supposed by the terrified dwellers on 
 earth to be the great day of the wrath of the Lamb, that Dies 
 iroe of which the Latin Church sang with a cowering spirit in 
 times when superstition had dimmed the faith and hope of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Preces meae non sunt dignae, 
 
 Sed Tu bonus fac benigne, 
 
 Ne perenni cremer igne ! 
 
 Confutatis maledictis, 
 Flammis acribus addictis, 
 Voca me cum benedictis. 
 
 * Matt, xxiv, 9. 
 ^ + Such signs of distress and fear are found in Isaiah, Hosea, and Joel, 
 but the chief passage for comparison is Matt, xxiv. 29, 30. 
 
334 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 Oro supplex et acclinis, 
 Cor contritum quasi cinis : 
 Gere curam mei finis. 
 
 Before tlie seventh seal is broken, and as we seem to draw 
 near " the crack of doom," there is introduced a vision of the 
 sealing or preserving of God's servants in the Tribes of Israel.* 
 Nor are the chosen men of Israel the only blessed ones. A 
 countless multitude appears of all nations, kindreds, peoples, 
 and tongues. These redeemed ones have come out of "the 
 great tribulation " which had scourged the earth ; and they keep 
 a "feast of tabernacles" before the throne and before the 
 Lamb. Then at last, — 
 
 (7.) Not crash or tumult at the breaking of the seventh seal, 
 but " silence in heaven ; " a sign that all the occupants of 
 heaven acquiesce in the judgment past, and await the judgments 
 still to be unveiled. 
 
 Thus another cycle is accomplished ; but the mighty wheel 
 does not stop. It begins a new revolution. 
 
 III. Seven trumpets blown. 
 
 1. The introduction to this series is a rite of high solemnity 
 in the presence of God.t There is a presentation of the prayers 
 of saints with incense ; and, as a sign of the answering of those 
 prayers "by terrible things," there is a casting down of altar- 
 fire upon the earth. The same golden censer that wafted up 
 the incense, receives and pours down the fire. Thus the way 
 is prepared for a series of devouring judgments. 
 
 2. Seven angels "prepared themselves to sound" the 
 trumpets which were given to them, as seven priests blew 
 their horns before the fall of Jericho. The results which 
 ensue are arranged in several respects like those which follow 
 the breaking of seals. Thus, in either case, there is a dif- 
 
 * Chap. vii. Here also the foundation is laid on our Lord's discourse. 
 See Matt. xxiv. 31. 
 
 t Chap. viii. 2-6. Comp. Ezek. x. 1-7, following the marking of God's 
 servants in Ezek. ix. 
 
REVELATION. 335 
 
 ference marked between the first four and the remaining three. 
 There is an interval between the sixth and seventh, occupied by 
 two episodical visions. The greatest intensity of terror is 
 under the sixth ; and then, as under the seventh seal there was 
 silence in heaven, so, under the seventh trumpet, the mystery 
 of God is finished. 
 
 The effects produced, as the trumpets are successively blown, 
 may be summarily stated thus : * — 
 
 (i.) Havoc on earth. 
 
 (2.) Convulsion; part of the sea turned into blood. 
 
 (3.) Bitterness, 
 
 (4.) Darkness. 
 
 All these woes fall upon "a third part" of the earth, the sea, 
 the rivers and fountains, and the heavenly orbs. There is a 
 marked reserve. The judgments recall the plagues of hail, 
 flood, and darkness that fall on Egypt ; and like those plagues, 
 they stop short of extermination, being intended for humiliation 
 and warning. 
 
 (5.) The letting loose of a helhsh malice for a season. t 
 
 (6.) The loosing of "four angels, which are bound in the 
 great river Euphrates." That river, which was mentioned by 
 Isaiah and Jeremiah as the source from which chastisement would 
 come to Judah, must represent the peoples and multitudes that 
 sustain the mystic Babylon (chap. xvii. 15) ; and a great force 
 among them, held in for a time, breaks forth. A mighty host 
 goes out to kill and slay. 
 
 After seven thunders have been uttered, and vision had of the 
 death and resurrection of two witnesses, J the last step in the 
 series is reached. 
 
 (7.) Great voices are heard in heaven. Under the seventh 
 
 * Chap, viii, 7-ix. 21, xi. 15-18.' 
 
 f Renan regards the opening of " the pit of the abyss " as a singular 
 anticipation of a reopening of the crater of Vesuvius ten years later ! 
 
 X The allusion seems to be to Moses and Elias (chap, xi. 6) ; but two 
 witnesses stand for sufficient testimony. See Matt, xviii. 16 ; i Tim. v. 
 19- 
 
336 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 seal, heaven was silent ; but now " great voices " proclaimed 
 the world-sovereignty of " our Lord and of His Christ, and He 
 shall reign for ever and ever. Therefore the Church, repre- 
 sented by the twenty-four presbyters, give solemn thanks to the 
 "Lord God Almighty." 
 
 Some of the historical interpreters give definite meanings to 
 this series in a wonderful fashion. The first trumpet announces 
 the invasion of Italy by Alaric, the second is blown for Genseric, 
 the third for Attila, the fourth for Odoacer. Then the fifth 
 sounds for Mohammed, the scorpion locusts that have power for 
 four months meaning one hundred and fifty years of the 
 dominion of the Saracens ; and the sixth trumpet proclaims the 
 Turkish invasion of Christendom and capture of Constantinople. 
 Professor Murphy explains the first as announcing the fall of 
 Judaism ; the second the decline of Paganism ; the third the 
 rise of Christian heresy ; the fourth spiritual depotism ; the 
 fifth Antichrist (apparently Popery) ; and the sixth the rise of 
 Islam.* All this seems to us arbitrary in the extreme. The 
 cycles of visions repeat the same lessons and warnings, 
 announcing judgments and distress of nations before the 
 coming of the Lord. Yet they are, as we have said, not mere 
 repetitions. The revelation under the trumpets is an advance of 
 that under the seals. It shows more fully the agencies to be 
 employed for and against the Church, and mentions evils and 
 oppositions which are yet more clearly developed under the 
 next revolution of the wheel. 
 
 IV. Seven bowls of wrath poured out. 
 
 I. Here also there is first a scene of heavenly worship and 
 triumph, t Victors stand by the crystal sea mingled with fire, 
 as on a shore of safety, singing " the song of Moses, the servant 
 of God, and the song of the Lamb." We are, of course, 
 reminded of the song of Moses and his triumphant host on the 
 shore of the Ked Sea. In that ancient ode of victory, they 
 
 * " Book of Revelation," translated and expounded by Jas. G. Murphy, 
 LL.D., 1882, pp. 62-81. t Chap. xv. 
 
REVELATION. 
 
 337 
 
 sang " Who is like unto thee, Lord, among the gods 1 Who 
 is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing 
 wonders ■? " In this they sing, " Great and marvellous are Thy 
 works, Lord God, the Almighty ; just and true are Thy ways, 
 Thou King of the nations. Who should not fear, Lord, and 
 glorify Thy name, for Thou only art holy ? " 
 
 This prepares for judgment on oppressors. Seven angels 
 come out of the temple ; and to them one of the Zoa delivers 
 seven golden bowls or goblets full of the anger of the ever-living 
 God. The action of the living creature is significant, because 
 the plagues or blows are about to fall on the various regions of 
 creation, the earth, the sea, the fresh waters, and the sun. 
 
 2. As the bowls are successively poured out by the angels, 
 the seven last blows or plagues fall upon men,* and recall several 
 of the plagues inflicted on Egypt. The parallel between these 
 and the judgments under the trumpets is very remarkable. 
 
 Trumpets. 
 
 (i.) Fire and blood on the earth. 
 
 (2.) Fire and blood on the sea. 
 
 (3.) Wormwood on rivers and foun- 
 tains of water. 
 
 (4.) Darkness of sun, moon, and stars. 
 
 (5.) A fallen star — the opening of 
 the abyss — darkness — locusts. 
 
 (6.) Loosing of four angels in the 
 Euphrates, and issuing of a 
 great host to hurt and destroy. 
 
 (7.) Consummation, with announce- 
 ment of Divine judgment : 
 voices, thunders, lightnings, 
 and hail. 
 
 Bowls. 
 
 (i.) Grievous sore on the earth. 
 
 (2.) Blood in the sea. 
 
 (3.) Blood in rivers and fountains 
 of water. 
 
 (4.) Scorching heat from the sun. 
 
 (5.) Darkness on the throne of the 
 Beast, and in his kingdom. 
 
 (6.) Drying \ip of Euphrates — 
 appearance of three unclean 
 frog-like spirits — gathering of 
 kings to war. 
 
 (7.) Consummation, with announce- 
 ment of Divine judgment : 
 voices, thunders, lightnings, 
 and hail. 
 
 Is it not quite plain that these do not describe consecutive 
 periods of history 1 They have such a coincidence, as plainly 
 indicates that they set forth, by line upon line, and in the old 
 Hebrew style of repetition with expansion, the same principles 
 of Divine judgment. And so soon as we perceive this, we are 
 quite cured of that fashion of interpretation which finds, under 
 * Chap. xvi. 
 
 VOL. II. Y 
 
33S SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 the first bowl, the atheism of France at the end of last century ; 
 under the second, the bloody guillotine ; under the third, the 
 •wars of Napoleon I. ; under the fourth, the political paroxysm 
 of the year 1848, &c. &c. It is a flighty and hazardous way 
 of handling sacred prophecy. 
 
 The woes under this cycle hurt none of the servants of God. 
 As the plagues in Egypt fell on the enemies of Jehovah, but 
 not on Israel, so the last plagues will faU on Christ-rejecting 
 powers and peoples of the world, but touch none of the followers 
 of the Lamb. " Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, 
 and shut thy doors about thee : hide thyself for a little moment, 
 until the indignation be overpast. For behold, the Lord cometh 
 forth out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for 
 their iniquity ; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall 
 no more cover her slain." * 
 
 * Isa. xxvi. 20, 21. 
 
( 339 ) 
 
 REVELATION, 
 No. III. 
 
 ADVERSARIES. 
 
 Like the prophetical parts of the Old Testament, this Book has 
 much to say of the hostility which the cause of God must 
 encounter on the earth. It refers in a most uncompromising 
 tone to the enemies who organise and lead this hostility, describes 
 their temporary success, their pride and cruelty, but shows that 
 their end is ignominious destruction. The whole subject, how- 
 ever, is idealised. The ancient prophets specified by name the 
 hostile nations and their kings ; but the seer in Patmos has no 
 command to denounce human adversaries. He exposes wicked- 
 ness, and predicts its defeat and punishment under symbolical 
 forms, as the genius of the Apocalypse requires. 
 
 I. The Adversaries unveiled. 
 
 The disclosure is gradual. Under the first cycle (Churches), 
 mention is made of Satan's synagogue at Smyrna and Phila- 
 delphia, Satan's throne at Pergamos, where a faithful martyr 
 had been slain, and of an ominous resurrection of the doctrine 
 of Balaam, and the idolatry of Jezebel. Under the second cycle 
 (seals), we read of a cruel power that had slain many for the 
 Word of God and the testimony which they held, and was yet 
 to kill others, "their fellow-servants and brethren.'' Under 
 the third (trumpets), we see a wild beast rise out of the abyss, 
 and kill the two prophetic witnesses. But it is between the 
 third and fourth series that the great discovery of devil-inspired 
 hostility is made; and immediately after the fourth cycle 
 
340 
 
 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 (bowls), the perdition of enemies is shown to the seer in terrible 
 detail. 
 
 It has always been the policy of evil to counteract good by 
 counterfeit or parody. So there appear (i) a Triad of the 
 dragon, the wild beast, and the pseudo-prophet, as a blasphe- 
 mous caricature of the Holy Trinity ; and (2) a wicked city, 
 Babylon, as the counterpart to the holy city, Jerusalem. 
 
 I. The Triad of Antichristianity.* The dragon, the wild 
 beast, and the pseudo-prophet have the same will and purpose, 
 and act in a certain order of subordination, the third to the 
 second, and the second to the first. The dragon gives his 
 power to the wild beast, which in turn leads men to worship 
 the dragon. Then the wild beast gives his power to be exer- 
 cised by " another beast," who is a false prophet, and who in 
 turn induces men " to worship the first beast." 
 
 The parody here is as obvious as it is profane. 
 
 Holy Trinity. 
 
 (I.) The Father of lights, the God 
 of truth, who "loves the Son, 
 and has given all things unto 
 His hand." 
 
 (2.) The Son, the Lamb of God, 
 the King of glory, who has 
 sent the Holy Ghost in power 
 to guide men into truth and 
 peace. 
 
 (3.) The Holy Spirit, who has come 
 down from heaven to testify 
 to the Lamb and impress His 
 name and image on the saints. 
 
 Blasphemous Trinity. 
 
 (i.) The great dragon, the father of 
 lies, the ruler of the darkness 
 of this world, who has given 
 power to the beast. 
 
 (2.) The wild beast, arrogant and 
 cruel, whose power is exercised 
 by a false teacher, misguiding 
 men, and doing great wonders. 
 
 (3.) The pseudo-prophet, coming up 
 out of the earth, and impress- 
 ing on men " the mark, even 
 the name of the beast or the 
 number of his name." 
 
 What is revealed in this Book concerning these three adver- 
 saries may be summarily stated as follows : — 
 
 (i.) The great red dragon is the "old serpent" of Genesis. 
 He is called devil (slanderer), and Satan (enemy), f The 
 original serpent became, in later tradition, a dragon, or com- 
 bination of serpent and crocodile, and was supposed to emerge 
 * Chaps, xii., xiii. f Chap. xii. 9. 
 
REVELATION. 341 
 
 from the waters. He appears in the stories of many nations. 
 In Persian mythology, Mithra conquers the dragon Ahriman. 
 In the Greek, Apollo delivers his mother from the serpent 
 Python, and Perseus rescues Andromeda from the dragon of 
 the sea. In Scandinavia, Sigurd, the hero, vanquishes a 
 dragon : and the Christian myth of St. George and the dragon 
 is known to every one. All these monsters are shadows of the 
 great Apocalyptic dragon, who shows seven crowned heads and 
 ten horns, in token of worldly ambition and glory. 
 
 In a heaven-picture appears " a woman clothed with the sun, 
 and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 
 twelve stars." These symbols recall Joseph's dream, in which 
 his father was the sun, his mother the moon, and the eleven 
 stars were his brethren.* We infer that the woman is Israel, 
 the virgin daughter of Zion. The old serpent, having been 
 warned long ago to expect punishment from the woman's seed, 
 watches anxiously in order to destroy the "Son given " to 
 Israel so soon as born. This child is the Messiah, born to 
 rule nations. We know that Herod, acting for the dragon, 
 sought to kill the young child. But the providence of the 
 heavenly Father preserved Him, and, after His work on earth 
 was done. He returned to the father; "He was caught up to 
 God and to His throne." 
 
 There the dragon could no longer assail the virgin's Son, for 
 he had been cast down from heaven with his angels, never to 
 enter it again. He therefore turned his wrath against the 
 woman, but prevailed not ; for, though sore tribulation fell 
 on Judah and Jerusalem, the Church in Israel was saved. 
 The Christians had no force with which to resist the " flood " 
 that threatened them, but they betook them to the wilderness, 
 and " the earth swallowed up the flood." At Pella the mother 
 Church of Jerusalem was saved and nourished, so that the rage 
 of the dragon came to nought. This, too, was for "a time, 
 and times, and half a time," viz., the 3J years of the Eoman 
 invasion of Judea. Thereafter the dragon proceeded to stir 
 * Gen. xxxvii. 9. 
 
342 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 up persecution throughout the world against the Hebrew 
 Christians, and those of other nations who joined their fellow- 
 ship. "And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and 
 went away to make war with the rest of her seed which keep 
 the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus." 
 
 (2.) The Wild Beast The meaning of this symbol is obvious 
 to a reader of the Old Testament.* It denotes not a spurious 
 religion, but unhallowed strength and violence. It expresses 
 what is gross and ignoble by the downward look to the earth, 
 and what is fierce and ruthless by a trampling rending force. 
 The spirit of the beast goeth downward ; and the energy of the 
 wild beast is used to ravage and destroy. 
 
 Out of the sea, i.e. from the midst of troubled nations, 
 emerged the wild beast before the eyes of the Seer ; a dreadful 
 monster, having the agile frame of a leopard, the paws of a 
 bear, and mouth of a lion, with seven heads and ten horns. 
 It combined all the bestial forms seen by Daniel ; and must 
 be understood as recalling and condensing in one formidable 
 power all the old-world despotisms that oppressed the Israel 
 of God. 
 
 The beast took up the persecution of the saints which the 
 dragon instigated. Therefore it can be nothing else than that 
 Roman imperialism which sent the Apostle John himself into 
 exile for his faith, and became throughout all the known world 
 a merciless tyrant to the Christians. The nations ruled over 
 by this empire worshipped the dragon ; for the adoration of 
 heathen gods and goddesses is stigmatised in the New Testament 
 as a mere devil or demon worship.! 
 
 It may not be denied that during its long career, for it comes 
 down into our own century,! the Roman empire conferred im- 
 
 * See Ps. Ixxx. 13 ; Ezek. xxxi. 2 ; Dan. vii. ; Hosea xiii. 7, 8. 
 
 f See I Cor, x. 20 ; Rev. ix. 20. 
 
 + A.D. 1806 Francis II. resigned the old imperial crown, and became 
 Emperor of Austria. See Professor Bryce's " Holy Roman Empire," fifth 
 edition, p. 366. 
 
REVELATION. 343 
 
 portant benefits on mankind. But it is represented by the 
 repulsive symbol now under consideration, in so far as it 
 appalled the nations by its severity, and tried the patience and 
 faith of saints. All world-tyranny, all use of brute force to 
 repress spiritual life and movement, in whatever age, falls under 
 the same symbol of the wild beast. 
 
 (3). Another Beast, also termed the pseudo-prophet. Though 
 this adversary has the cruel ^disposition of a wild beast, he does 
 not go forth to push and to rend by violence. His power lies 
 in plausibility of speech, and the performance of signs and 
 wonders, his object being to deceive the dwellers on the earth, 
 and cause them to worship, not himseK, but the first beast. To 
 put it briefly : the first is unhallowed power ; the second, un- 
 hallowed wisdom. The first has protected the second, and the 
 second has supported the first. 
 
 In the presence and service of the great despots of antiquity 
 stood their " wise men," magicians, soothsayers, astrologers, and 
 priests. These men never took part with the oppressed people, 
 but supported the arbitrary power by which they themselves 
 were fostered. So it was in Egypt (Exod. vii. viii.) ; and so 
 in Babylon (Dan. i. ii. iv. v.). In like manner the Roman 
 Court harboured priests, soothsayers, and augurs, who in turn 
 were the obsequious servants of the imperial despotism. "* It 
 seems to be this influence which is expressed by the false pro- 
 phet of the Apocalypse, an impersonation of deceit, opposing 
 the spirit of truth by lying wonders, and even by " calling 
 down fire from heaven in the sight of men." 
 
 The pseudo-prophet induced men to worship the image of 
 the wild beast, i.e. the imperial statue or effigy. Emperor- 
 worship was a familiar thing in Ancient Babylon. The im- 
 mense golden image which Nebuchadnezzar set up represented 
 
 * There was a god of the augurs and magicians, who was said among 
 the Etrurians to have been born out of a furrow or hole in the ground. 
 He was represented with the two horns of a ram. The coincidence with 
 the origin and form of the second beast is worth notice. See Hislop's 
 "Two Babylons," third edition, p. 376. 
 
344 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 his own imperial grandeur."^ To fall down before that image 
 was to revere his power and serve his gods. Without even 
 the intervention of a statue, Darius was made an object of 
 adoration, and prayer was forbidden to be offered to any other 
 god for thirty days. At Kome also, and wherever the Eoman 
 power was felt, the emperors were deified even in their lifetime 
 at the instigation of the heathen priesthood : and just as at 
 Babylon devout Jews were subjected to the test of presenting 
 religious homage to the despot, so throughout the Roman Em- 
 pire the test applied to Christians was that of paying the same 
 homage to the figure of the emperor, or image of the beast. 
 If they refused compliance, they were at once liable "to be 
 killed." t 
 
 In other modes, and in later times, unholy wisdom has 
 counteracted that which is from above ; but the primary mean- 
 ing of the symbol now before us surely is the priestcraft and 
 sorcery that supported and served a persecuting empire. 
 
 2. A wicked . city, Babylon, which " made all nations drink 
 of the wine of the wrath of her fornications." 
 
 There is here symbol on symbol. The city is shown to the 
 seer as a woman impure and proud, shameless and cruel. He 
 lost sight of the pure woman whom the dragon hated in " the 
 wilderness ; " and now, in " the wilderness," he sees an impure 
 woman whom the dragon favours and the wild beast supports. 
 What is this but a professed Church become spiritually 
 unchaste, i.e. idolatrous, and resting on the Christ-hating 
 world? The harlot on the beast is corrupted religion seated 
 on worldly power. When ancient Jerusalem admitted heathen 
 gods and altars within its precincts, it was said that "the 
 faithful city had become an harlot." But Babylon was the 
 very metropolis of idolatry joined with impurity and pride ; 
 and the woman whom John saw had upon her forehead this 
 
 * Compare Dan. ii. 37, 38, with iii. I -7. 
 + Pliny's Letters, Book x. 67. 
 
REVELATION. 345 
 
 terrible name, "Mystery,* Babylon the great, the mother of 
 harlots and abominations of the earth." 
 
 The angel tells St. John unambiguously, " The woman which 
 thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of 
 the earth." f This can be no other than Eome ; and certainly 
 Kome became the metropolis of heathenised Christianity, allied 
 with a thoroughly Babylonish arrogance and cruelty. 
 
 It is evident, too, that the apostasy here pointed out 
 reaches far and wide. The mother of harlots corrupts many 
 kings and nations. She has the support of the empire, the 
 kings, the peoples, multitudes and tongues. What is indicated, 
 therefore, is not only a proud departure from the primitive 
 "simplicity toward Christ," but one that is diffused over the 
 earth and boasts of being oecumenical. 
 
 When the adversaries of the Lord have reached the height 
 of their ambition, judgment begins to fall on them from 
 heaven. 
 
 II. The Adversaries destroyed. The last to appear is the 
 first to perish, and the first is the last. 
 
 I. The wicked city falls. The plagues of Babylon " come 
 in one day : death, and. mourning, and famine." The harlot 
 is stripped and burnt. Of course the fall of the city is to 
 be taken symbolically, and not as the actual destruction of 
 walls and buildings. It is the overthrow of the great organisa- 
 tion of apostate Christianity — an overthrow so complete as to 
 fill the world with cries of astonishment. J But then much joy 
 will be in heaven, for the removal of the harlot will make way 
 for the appearing of the faithful Church, the wife of the Lamb : 
 the destruction of Babylon clears the Apocalyptic stage for the 
 disclosure of the holy city. 
 
 * Mystery is in the New Testament a thing long hidden, now developed 
 and disclosed. f Chap. xvii. 18. 
 
 i The doom of the apocalyptic Babylon recalls Isa. xiii. xiv. xlvii. ; Jer. 
 1. li. 
 
3^6 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 2. The wicked Triad is broken up and destroyed. 
 
 The wild beast and his supporter, the pseudo-prophet, perish 
 together. After the fall of apostate Christianity there will 
 still be hostility to Jesus Christ on the part of kings and 
 nations of the earth. Having thrown off a corrupt and idola- 
 trous religious system, they will be averse to all religion, and 
 resist the claim of Christ to be " King of kings and Lord of 
 lords." 
 
 A great contest ensues, to which the hosts are gathered under 
 the sixth bowl of wrath (chap. xvi. 14). But the actual con- 
 flict does not occur till after the fall of Babylon, which is under 
 the seventh bowl or vial. * This battle is symbolical, not 
 literal. We are never to think of the Lord Jesus Christ as 
 asserting His rightful power on the earth by onsets of cavalry, 
 or the slaughter of wild beasts, princes, and soldiers, amidst 
 the screaming of vultures assembled for a ghastly feast. The 
 only sword wielded by the King of kings is the sword of His 
 mouth, and no weapons are seen in the armies from heaven 
 that follow Him. His sharp mouth-sword or word suffices to 
 slay the opposing kings and armies — i.e. to subdue and ex- 
 tinguish national opposition to Christ ; but that mouth-sword 
 has no effect on the beast and the pseudo-prophet. It is not 
 even applied to them. They are cast alive into a "pool of fire 
 and brimstone." Thus these formidable symbols of evil activity 
 are committed to an element which totally consumes. In other 
 words, the influences which they represent and impersonate 
 come to such an end that they can never rise or reappear among 
 the sons of men. 
 
 Last of aU comes the doom of the dragon. He has been cast 
 out of heaven into the earth, f Let that be the first stage of 
 his discomfiture. The second will be when he is bound with a 
 chain and cast into the abyss, there to be confined for a 
 thousand years. Though sin will not be wholly expunged 
 from the earth during that period, the active power of the 
 * Chap. xix. 17-21. t Chap, xii. 9. 
 
REVELATION. 347 
 
 tempter will be restrained, and the saints will be free from his 
 wiles as well as his fiery darts. 
 
 But the dragon is to be let loose again, and wickedness will 
 have a brief revival on the earth. Satan will come out of 
 prison incorrigible and incurable as he entered it — the inveterate 
 impersonation of malice and deceit. Terrible fiend ! The sight 
 of Eve's innocence stirred in him no pity. The manifestation 
 of the Son of God brought him to no repentance. A thousand 
 years of restraint in the abyss teach him no submission. He is 
 no sooner at large again than he resumes his old employment of 
 deceiving the nations and assailing the saints. 
 
 But the cup of his iniquity is full ; and he reaches the third 
 and final stage of his discomfiture. The confederacy which he 
 leads against the holy city is scattered by devouring fire from 
 heaven, and then he himself is overtaken by his doom. " The 
 devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and 
 brimstone, where also are the beast and false prophet ; and they 
 shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.""^ After 
 all his pride and power as god of this world, to this ignomi- 
 nious end must he come, to lie powerless in the baleful pool. 
 It is not, as the mediaeval notion was (not yet extinct among 
 us), that the devil is to be a king in hell, tormenting at his 
 pleasure lost souls of men, but that he himself is tormented ; as 
 hitherto the most active of sinners, hereafter the most helpless ; 
 as more wicked than others, so in the end more miserable. 
 
 It is in many respects a gloomy theme that we have discussed, 
 but it is one that may not be omitted or ignored. It certainly 
 conflicts with that complacent philosophy of history which 
 bids us look forward to unbroken progress and improve- 
 ment. The Bible, and this book especially, while giving to our 
 hope brighter prospects than any human philosophy or even 
 poetry has conceived, warns us of enemies that will never be 
 reconciled to God, and must be punished, and of apostasy 
 which will incur the heavy judgment of the Almighty. We 
 * Chap. XX. 10. 
 
348 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 wait for His judgments, because without them the brighter 
 prophecies can never be fulfilled. 
 
 " Haste then, and wheel away a shattered world, 
 Ye slow-revolving seasons ! We would see 
 A world that does not dread or hate Christ's laws, 
 Where violence shall never lift the sword, 
 Nor cunning justify the proud man's wrong, 
 Leaving the poor no remedy but tears." 
 
( 349 ) 
 
 REVELATION. 
 No. IV. 
 
 CONSUMMATIONS. 
 
 Through dark vistas of judgment our thoughts are conducted 
 to wonderful results of brightness and peace. The marriage of 
 the Lamb, the millennial reign, the beloved city of the saints, 
 paradise restored, a new heaven and new earth, the end of pain 
 and sorrow, the everlasting kingdom, all dependent on and 
 secured by the appearing of Jesus Christ — such are the glorious 
 issues of this Book of prophecy. 
 
 The subject is one which ought to be treated with much 
 circumspection and caution, for two reasons — 
 
 (i.) We must not be positive about the order of time. 
 Prophecy is not so constructed as to map out the future in 
 chronological succession to every eye. The prophetic glance 
 may dart from one salient point to another, leaping over long 
 intervals of time ; and we may not speak of one future event 
 following closely on another but with great diffidence. It is 
 also to be remembered that the events of our own era were 
 veiled from students of Old Testament prophecy as regards the 
 order of accomplishment ; and this should serve as a warning 
 against confident assertions of the exact course of fulfilment 
 awaiting the Apocalyptic predictions in this Book. 
 
 (2.) There is a serious difficulty about the second coming of 
 Christ. Many passages in both Testaments connect His advent 
 with the establishment of His kingdom on the earth ; and it is 
 taught in the 19th chapter of this Book that He will be re- 
 
350 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 vealed from heaven with attendant saints before the millen- 
 nium ; that He will then subdue His enemies, and introduce a 
 reign of righteousness and peace. There are, however, many- 
 other passages, of equal authority, which describe our Lord as 
 coming with flaming fire to judge the world; and the last 
 judgment is certainly after the millennium.* On this inter- 
 preters have broken into parties, as pre-millennialists and post- 
 millennialists ; and then, as is not uncommon in controversy, 
 each party, occupying itself with the parts of Scripture which 
 favour its distinctive theory, becomes more and more confident 
 in its own opinion. 
 
 We believe that both views are true, and have good support 
 in Holy Writ. The language of inspiration regarding the 
 Parousia of our Lord covers both the pre-millennial and the 
 post-millennial view, though in a way which we may not yet 
 be able to apprehend or explain. Partisans on either side may 
 demur to this statement, on the ground that the predicted 
 coming of our Lord is to be one decisive event ; and they may 
 demand of us to take one side or the other, to choose one horn 
 of the dilemma ; but we decline to admit any dilemma in the 
 case. It is not within the power of man to tell us now what 
 may or may not be enclosed within the truth and fact of the 
 Lord's second coming. Only the future can determine. The 
 prophecy regarding Messiah in the Old Testament seemed to 
 intimate only one advent for all purposes ; but we now perceive 
 that it covered a double advent, a coming in weakness, and a 
 coming in power; a coming to sufi'er, and a coming to reign. 
 There is no reason why the prophecy in the ]^ew Testament 
 regarding the second advent may not unfold a double import ; 
 the more so that the language touching the resurrection of the 
 dead, though often seeming to point to one event, unfolds a 
 double import, a resurrection of the just, and a subsequent up- 
 rising of the unjust. 
 
 It is clear that Christ will come to quell His adversaries, 
 reward His servants, and bring in millennial peace; but it is 
 * Chap. XX. 1 1- 15. 
 
REVELATION, 351 
 
 not clear whether or not that appearing will be visible to the 
 world at large. Enough that it will be quite appreciable by 
 His saints. He will interpose in such a way that they who 
 follow Him in the great battle of God Almighty, will know right 
 well Who it is by whom they are led, and to whom the victory is 
 due ; and they who reign in life upon or over the earth will 
 know well who it is with whom they reign as kings and priests 
 to God. But this does not exhaust the prophecy of His appear- 
 ing. At the last day He will come in His glory, seen by every 
 eye, to judge the quick and the dead. Let us endeavour to 
 keep all this truth honestly in mind. Much better retain all 
 the affirmations of Scripture concerning the second advent, even 
 though we may be at a loss, to adjust them together, or see their 
 consistency, than take one or the other half of what the Bible 
 has said, and arrive at a very simple view and positive conclusion, 
 through means of a one-sided, partial interpretation. 
 
 With the caution which these considerations teach, let us try 
 to group together the lessons of the Apocalypse regarding the 
 things hoped for. 
 
 I. The millennial blessedness. Whether or no one thousand 
 ordinary solar years are intended, a definite period is fixed, 
 during which the meek shall "inherit the earth," and the king- 
 dom under the whole heaven shall be " given to the people of 
 the saints of the Most High." 
 
 Strange to say, there are those, and some of them interpreters 
 of great reputation, who hold that this period is already past. 
 But any explanation of the millennium which makes it enclose 
 the dark ages of Europe, is to us incredible ; and nothing but 
 respect for some of those who have propounded such a view 
 prevents our calling it absurd. Others (as Dean Yaughan) take 
 it to be an indefinite expression for the whole Christian dispensa- 
 tion ; but this puts the whole Book out of joint, and creates 
 far more difficulty than it removes. 
 
 All we know about the future millennium is, that the saints 
 shall no longer suffer on the earth, but reign. The Church, 
 
352 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 which is the bride of the Lamb, will shine forth in glorious 
 perfection. Here, again, symbol is heaped upon symbol The 
 " Wife made ready " is seen as a holy and beautiful city,* in 
 contrast to the harlot who has been judged, and who also 
 appeared as a city cruel and impure. 
 
 The vision of Holy Jerusalem recalls a similar one in the 
 Book of Ezekiel.t When that prophet was in exile, and the 
 city of Jerusalem was desolate, he was " brought in the visions 
 of God into the land of Israel," and set upon " a very high 
 mountain, by which was the frame of a city on the south." He 
 proceeds to describe that ideal city and its temple. Now was 
 John in exile, and Jerusalem lay desolate ; and he was taken 
 "in the spirit," or in the visions of God, "to a great and high 
 mountain," where he saw Jerusalem in splendour " descending 
 out of heaven from God." 
 
 The city described has within it the glory of God ; a bright- 
 ness as of jasper, or rather of what we call the diamond, clear 
 as crystal. A city gate 'in the east was the seat and symbol of 
 justice and power. This city has twelve magnificent gates, 
 each one " a several pearl." The gatekeepers are holy angels. 
 The names inscribed on the gates are those of the twelve tribes 
 of Israel, God's covenant people, in contrast with the "names 
 of blasphemy " seen on the mystic Babylon. 
 
 The foundations of the walls are twelve precious stones ; and 
 on them are inscribed " the names of the twelve Apostles of the 
 Lamb," not one, as St. Peter, but all the twelve complete. 
 This indeed is noble fame. Where are the names of those who 
 treated the Apostles with contumely as the offscouring of all 
 things ? The high priests and elders who imprisoned them, 
 the emperors and governors who sat in judgment on them, 
 where will their names be found "? In oblivion or in infamy ? 
 But the very foundations of the city of God must crumble away 
 before the names of the twelve Apostles can be lost. 
 
 The wall is great and high : and the city itself a cube of 
 unparalleled size. That which Ezekiel saw was very vast, as 
 
 *^ Chaps, xix. 7, 8, xx. 9, xxi. 9, &c. t Ezek. xL 
 
REVELATION. 353 
 
 measured by an angel. But we are not to literalise the 
 measurements in one case or the other. In Hebrew sym- 
 bolism, all consideration of symmetrical form is subordinated 
 to that of religious significance. And it is as absurd to mate- 
 rialise the holy Jerusalem as it is to literalise the cherubic 
 figures. 
 
 The city is of pure gold, a symbol of entire sacredness. In 
 Scripture, silver is the metal of commerce; gold of royal 
 dignity and sacred value. It is especially mentioned that " the 
 street " is of pure gold ; not the streets, but the broad way or 
 place of civic concourse. It is implied that daily intercourse, 
 public opinion, and social life will all be pure and holy to the 
 Lord. 
 
 Mere externalism in Divine worship is ended. No more 
 need of temples made with hands, for the Lord God Almighty 
 and the Lamb are the temple of the holy city. Nay, the very 
 sun and moon shall be needless in the blaze of Divine glory, 
 shining on the city of the saints. 
 
 There are kings and nations, not dwelling in the city, who 
 bring ofi'erings and homage to its gates. This, too, is in con- 
 trast with what has been said of great Babylon, which weak- 
 ened the kings of the earth who supported it, and hurt the 
 prosperity of nations. The crowning glory of Jerusalem in 
 this vision is its purity. The earth itself will not be purged 
 of all impurity till it is renewed by fire ; the nations, even in 
 millennial times, shall not be free of plagues, for they require 
 " healing ; " but the city, symbolic of the Church, will admit 
 no unclean persons, idolaters, or liars, but those only " who are 
 written in the Lamb's book of life." 
 
 blessed Civitas Dei / The ransomed shall see it with still 
 greater joy than filled the way-worn and war-worn Crusaders, 
 when at last they looked on the city which had drawn them 
 from afar, and shouted Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! 
 
 The vision is prolonged so as to show us Paradise restored. 
 The waters of Eden and the tree of life reappear. The former 
 flow in one shining river from the throne of God and the Lamb 
 
 VOL. II. z 
 
354 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 which is within the city."*^ The latter stands " in midst of the 
 street," or chief place of concourse, open to all the citizens; 
 and such trees line both banks of the river, yielding fresh fruit 
 every month. The curse which fell on man for disobedience in 
 Eden is now removed. It is a paradise of obedience. The 
 servants of God openly honour and serve Him ; therefore they 
 shine in His light, and reign for ever and ever. 
 
 Yet this " for ever " has its bounds. It goes to the end of 
 the millennium, but there is much beyond. We have seen 
 that there will be, after the saintly reign on the present earth, 
 a revolt of wickedness. Instigated and led by the devil, a host 
 of adversaries will surround and threaten " the camp of saints 
 and the beloved city." But God will defend His own, and 
 bring all this embattled wickedness to a sudden and terrible 
 end. "Fire came down out of heaven and devoured them." 
 . . . "Whosoever was not found written in the book of life 
 was cast into the lake of fire." f 
 
 Then, for those who are written in the book — 
 
 II. Eternal glory. The farthest stretch into the future 
 vouchsafed to the seer is that of a new birth of the world which 
 man inhabits. J Many thinkers and bards of ancient times 
 sighed for a new birth of nature. This hope is alike in the 
 Gretk philosophers and the Sibylline books. But to us it is 
 no mere dream of students and poets ; it is the promise of God 
 according to St. Peter ; it is the vision that St. John had in 
 the Spirit ; and we are with the Apostles and prophets when 
 we look through all the' periods of tribulation and judgment to 
 that glorious change. 
 
 " The first heaven and earth " pass away. These words are 
 not used with scientific precision. They are in harmony with 
 the phraseology of the first chapter of Genesis, where we read 
 that " God called the firmament heaven," and " the dry land 
 
 * This also is a reproduction of the river which Ezekiel saw issuing from 
 the sanctuary and giving life whithersoever it flowed, — Ezek. xlvii. 
 t Chap. XX. 7, 15. + Chap. xxi. i. 
 
REVELATION. 355 
 
 earth." Heaven and earth just express : man's ^dwelling-place, 
 with that element of air in which we move and are enveloped. 
 
 We have learned from the Second Epistle of St. Peter that 
 this "passing away" will be with a great tumult of fire. 
 Every one now believes that this globe has undergone in long 
 past ages more than one great change, ere it was ready to be 
 peopled by Adam and his descendants. If, as many think, it 
 was occupied in one or other of its former conditions by a pre- 
 Adamite race, it militates not at all against our faith, rather it 
 strengthens it by analogy. What we believe is that another 
 great change is to ensue, the present earth and sky passing 
 away, in order that a new dwelling-place may be prepared for 
 the children of God. 
 
 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth," — the same, yet 
 not the same, because gloriously renewed in symmetry and beauty 
 by the Almighty power, and adapted to the residence of beings 
 of a higher physical, intellectual, and moral order than the 
 children of Adam — viz., the children of the resurrection ; a 
 world as far superior to this as this excels the dismal earth that 
 existed before the Creator fitted up Adam's dwelling-place, a 
 scene of vast thickets and marshy flats, where, through the 
 gloom, huge saurians sought their prey and " dragons tare each 
 other in the slime." 
 
 In the arrangement of heaven and earth described in Genesis, 
 the sea has prominent mention ; but in the new home of the 
 blessed, St. John saw "no more sea;" no separating waste of 
 briny waters ; sweet fountains and rivers of pleasures, but no 
 cruel, restless, stormy sea. 
 
 The saints are gathered to God in safety while the old world 
 is being wrapped in fire and the new world is bom. Then they 
 occupy it. The holy city, new Jerusalem,* comes "down from 
 God out of heaven." At last Abraham's vision of faith is 
 
 * Observe the distinction in name between the millennial city (chap. xxi. 
 10) and the eternal city (chap. xxi. 2). At chapter xxi. 9, the revolving 
 wheel takes us back from the new earth to the millennial peace on the pre- 
 sent earth. 
 
356 SYNOPTICAL LECTURES. 
 
 realised to the full; "a city which has foundations, whose 
 builder and maker is God." The millennial saints, and all the 
 holy ones of all time, have a congenial home. God is with 
 them, for the era is reached when Christ shall have delivered up 
 the kingdom, and "God shall be all in all." There is no more 
 death or even pain, and sorrow is ended, all tears having been 
 divinely wiped away. If this world has been a vale of tears, 
 a bed of pain, a field of death, it shall have its bright counter- 
 part in that world where joy is full, anguish unfelt, death 
 impossible. 
 
 At the same time that these glowing prospects are disclosed, 
 it is most distinctly and carefully laid down that they belong to 
 none but the holy and obedient. " He that overcometh shall 
 inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My 
 son ; but to the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and 
 murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all 
 liars, their part shall be in the lake which burneth with fire and 
 brimstone ; which is the second death." 
 
 The epilogue to the Book of Revelation (chap. xxii. 6-21) 
 corresponds to its brief prologue. It enforces the authority of 
 the Book, and emphasises the hope of the Lord's coming. The 
 order of speech in it seems to be this : — 
 
 The angel, v. 5. The Lord, v. 7. The seer, v. 8. 
 
 „ V. 9-11. „ V. 11-20. „ V. 20, 21. 
 
 The angel (of chap. i. i) dwells on the faithfulness and truth 
 of the Revelation. The Lord says, " Behold, I come quickly," 
 and pronounces a blessing on him who keeps the sayings of 
 this Book. The seer adds his testimony, " I John am he that 
 heard and saw these things."* Again the angel announces the 
 imminence of the things revealed, and draws a deep line between 
 the righteous and the wicked. The Lord repeats the intimation 
 of His coming ; proclaims Himself the first and the last ; defines 
 who they are that will be admitted into the holy city, and who 
 * Notice the same turn of expression in John xxi. 24 and i John i. 1-3. 
 
REVELATION. 357 
 
 will be shut out, warns against all tampering with " the words 
 of the book of this prophecy ; " and then, for the third time, 
 declares, "Yes, I come quickly." The seer replies with the 
 grand and simple prayer, "Amen. Yes come, Lord Jesus !" * 
 
 The twenty-second chapter is a noble conclusion of the Book, 
 and the Book a noble conclusion of the Bible. The last sweet 
 note of a piece of music dwells in the listener's ear. Even 
 though in a lengthened piece there may have been many 
 varieties of musical expression, and among these wild piercing 
 strains and pealing tumults of sound, the composer and per- 
 former take care to produce the last notes round and soft, to 
 fill, soothe, and satisfy the sense. And may not this Book of 
 prophecy be likened to a mighty oratorio in which there is one 
 all-prevailing, oft-recurring air, " Behold, the Lord cometh ! " ? 
 There is a splendid burst of sound, then a sustained difficult 
 passage, then a gentle or a pensive melody; now a solemn 
 recitative, and then a high strain and grand chorus of sublimity, 
 in which, from the open heavens, myriads of voices join. But 
 as this magnificent composition draws to a close, the notes are 
 loving, simple, and sweet. After ecstasies that move every 
 power of the imagination and every feeling of the heart, all is 
 ended in a prayer that Christ would come, and a kindly bene- 
 diction of all saints. So terminates not this Book only, but 
 the Bible, the complete book of God, and therefore the book of 
 love. The words fall with soothing cadence, and linger with 
 us when more brilliant passages are lost. " The grace of the 
 Lord Jesus be with the saints." 
 
 * Compare John xxi. 23. 
 
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