THE PRAYER.

Merciful God, who condescendest to hear the prayers of thy people that call upon thee, bestow upon me the spirit of prayer; and grant me such a faithful expectation of thy mercy in answering the prayer of thy servants, that I may thankfully acknowledge thy hand when the answer shall be made manifest. Increase my courage in maintaining my christian course, and my confidence in thy gracious promises. Give me wisdom in applying them, and earnestness in pleading them, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. AMEN.

FIFTY-FIFTH PORTION.

Paul's conference with the Jews at Rome. PLACE.-Rome.

TIME.-A.D. 59.

May God, for the sake of Jesus Christ, give me the Holy Spirit, that I may understand this portion of His Holy Word, and profit by it.

THE SCRIPTURE.

ACTs, chap. XXVIII. verses 17 to 29.

AMEN.

And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the 17 Jews together and when they were come together, he said unto them, "Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Who, when they had examined me, would 18 have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when 19 the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Cæsar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause therefore have I 20 called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." And they said unto him, 21 "We neither received letters out of Judæa concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee. But we 22 desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against." And when they had ap- 23 pointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were 24 spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among them- 25

selves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, "Well spake 26 the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; 27 and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I 28 should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of 29 God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.

EXPLANATION.

The third day after arriving at Rome, the apostle Paul sent for the principal men amongst the Jewish residents, who accordingly came to his lodging. He assured them, that he was not brought as a prisoner to Rome in consequence of any offence which he had committed against the Jewish laws or customs. In the enquiry too concerning his conduct which had followed, after he was committed to prison by the Romans in Jerusalem, it had plainly appeared that he had done nothing which would have exposed him to capital punishment. The Roman authorities therefore would have set him at liberty, as they only took cognizance of such offences amongst the Jews. But as the Jews had protested against this, the apostle had been under the necessity (he said) of making an appeal to the emperor's court, not however with any intention of making there any accusation against his countrymen. This was the reason why he had sent for the Jews at Rome, in order that he might explain to them personally what was the occasion of his imprisonment. In fact the true ground of the matter was, that he maintained and proclaimed the truth of that which was the real hope of Israel—the fact of the Messiah having come to be the Saviour; and it was for this that he was chained to the soldier in the manner they saw him at that time.

The Roman Jews replied to Paul, by assuring him that they had not received any written communications from Jerusalem about him, nor had any Jews who had arrived at Rome from that city stated any thing against him: but they were glad, they said, of the opportunity of knowing

what really were his religious opinions; for they had heard of him as being a christian, and they well knew that the people who were so called were generally much abused.

In consequence of this desire, a day was named on which Paul was to explain the gospel to them; and at the appointed time, a great number of Jews came to his house. Then he laid open the doctrines he was commissioned to teach, and shewed them the nature of the kingdom of God as proclaimed and prepared by the Lord Jesus Christ. He proved what he said, by references to various parts of the Old Testament, both to the historical and prophetical books. This important discussion occupied them the whole day from morning till evening-some of the Jews believed what Paul preached-and others rejected his doctrine. And as the two parties could not come to any agreement amongst themselves, they left Paul, who suffered them to depart, after earnestly giving them one single warning. He referred them to that awful passage in the prophecy of Isaiah, which the Holy Ghost, upon sending forth the prophet on his mission, applied to the Jews of old-the ancestors of those to whom the apostle was now speaking. Isaiah had been commanded to declare to them that, while they heard indeed with the outward ear, they would not so hear with the understanding as to receive the truth; and that while they saw with the outward eye, their heart would not see and acknowledge God's power. And why? because their hearts had grown fat by self-indulgence and pride, and their ears were incapable of hearing, and they shut their eyes obstinately against the light; not being willing to see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, so that they should be converted, and restored by the healing power of the Lord. The apostle concluded this warning, (which he evidently meant was also applicable to those present), by informing them that the salvation of God was extended beyond the limits of the covenant with Abraham; -that the gospel of Christ would be preached to the heathen, and that they would hearken to it.

After hearing this solemn warning the Jews left him, and were engaged amongst themselves in violent discussions upon the subject.

APPLICATION.

The

1. Paul was especially the apostle to the Gentiles; but we have already seen that, though this was his commission, and the particular sphere allotted to him, yet wherever he went, he did not venture to preach the gospel to the people of other nations until he had first offered it to the Jews; thus manifesting the apostolic view of the intention of our Lord's command, "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke xxiv. 47.) We find this carried out to the very last instance which is recorded in Scripture history. As soon as Paul arrived at Rome, he immediately conferred with the Jews in that city. expression, "after three days," is well known to apply in Scripture to the third day; and as the apostle must have arrived late on one day, he was probably delivered to the Prætorian commander, and obtained his lodging on the day after his arrival; so that his sending for the chief Jews on the third day, proves that it was the very first thing he did. Although he made his own case the apparent reason for sending for them, yet he did not fail plainly and openly to tell them of the "hope of Israel," for which he was bound; and this was done in such a manner as led to the appointment of a particular day, on which he should proclaim the gospel to a large body of the Jews at Rome. We may learn from this, that the gathering of the "remnant according to the election of grace from amongst the Jews," (Rom. xi. 5), must be a matter of no small moment in the great purposes of God by the gospel; and therefore that, if we would expect a blessing upon our efforts to send the preachers of the gospel to heathen nations, we ought to follow the apostolic example, (so far as circumstances will permit), by endeavouring at the same time to send the gospel amongst the Jews.

QUESTION.

What degree of comparative importance do I attach to the duty of endeavouring to communicate to the Jews the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? In what light do I look upon the efforts made for this purpose? What do I

give, in order to forward it? How do I pray with reference to this point?

2. Paul had a personal object, as well as a public one, in sending for the Jews on his arrival at Rome. The Sanhedrim at Jerusalem might have sent their own report of the charges they had made against him; and he acted wisely in at once asserting his innocence. But in so doing, he shewed the christian temper with which his boldness was characterized. He had indeed been forced to appeal to the emperor's court; but he had no desire to bring any charge against the enemies, who had been so obstinately bent upon his destruction. He disclaimed any such intention; it was enough for him that he had been able by his appeal to escape out of their hands, who would have shed his blood; but having escaped, he had no desire for revenge. Thus he was acting upon the directions which, under the teaching of the Holy Ghost, he had addressed to the christians in Rome more than four years before (Rom. xii. 17-21); and he was overcoming evil with good. This is the spirit in which every christian should speak of those who have proved themselves to be enemies. Each christian may defend himself; and take every wise means of avoiding the evil intended for him. But he must be satisfied with this, without retorting the evil which has been cast upon him, or even advancing true charges unnecessarily against those who may have desired to bring false ones against himself.

QUESTION.

How have I acted when an opportunity has occurred of exposing the evil conduct of those who have behaved unkindly to me? Have I contented myself with saying only as much as was really necessary? or have I felt it to be necessary to say as much as I could against them?

3. It was a fearful passage from Isaiah which St. Paul applied to the Jews who refused to attend to the gospel of Christ, when they ought to have received it in the love of it as their salvation. Our Lord had before applied the same passage against those to whom he was preaching his discourse of parables. (Matt. xiii. 10-15.) And