beautiful elm-tree into my courtyard. I have been at work for some hours trying to dig it up, but as yet I have not succeeded. It is rather old for transplanting, but if one does it early in the year, and leaves sufficient of the roots, a tree will grow again quite well after it is transplanted, even if it were older that this one is."

I went forward to examine the tree. A deep trench was made round it, and its side roots were all cut at a proper distance from the stem. I thought a good push would certainly bring it over, and gave it one. But not a twig or leaf moved. I was astonished, and asked my friend,

"How comes it that the tree stands so firm, when nearly all its roots are cut, and it has thus so slight a hold on the ground?"

"The tap-root," he replied, "is still remaining; so long as that is not cut the tree stands firm."

I now heard the expression for the first time in my life, and asked,

"The tap-root? what do you mean by that?"

"Almost every tree," said the farmer, "has a taproot, which goes as directly down into the earth as the stem grows straight heavenward. So long as that root remains untouched the tree stands and grows. Were I now to fill in the trench I have dug, and leave the tree alone, it would feel the cutting off of its side roots but little; they would soon strike out again, and the tree would flourish as before."

We parted; I went on my way to my house, pondering over what I had heard. The tree was successfully transplanted; and now yonder elm stands beautiful and conspicuous in its destined place. Years have elapsed since this conversation, but I have never forgotten it. Many truths of Holy Writ, and many experiences of life that I have myself gone through, or observed in others, are made clear by it.

As every tree that is to be ornamental or useful must be transplanted to its proper place in garden, field, or orchard, so must each man be transplanted who is to bring forth fruit to God's glory. We all spring up by nature in a wild and barren state; and the weeds and briers of this sinful life, with its worldly affairs and engrossments, press on us, and hem us in, with their luxuriant and noxious growth, shutting out the beams of the sun of God's grace; and we pine away in the dark delusions that shut us in. Not till Christ himself transplants us into his garden can we be "trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." As an old tree will not bear transplanting, so it is but seldom that we see an old sinner torn from his evil habits and ways, and brought into the garden of Christ. The younger a tree is the more easily it strikes root in new soil. So also the earlier a soul is rooted in the principles of grace, reconciliation, and holiness, so much the more hope is there that he will take fast root therein.

As almost every tree has its tap-root, so each man has his darling sin, that one which holds him the fastest in the ground and kingdom of destruction; yea, that

makes him hold fast there against God, even when many other sins that opposed him to God's law are cut away.

As it is vain to cut away the side roots of a tree you wish to transplant, if the tap-root remains, so is it of no avail towards a man's salvation that he should give up this or that evil habit, and give himself to this or that virtue, if he has not got a new heart.

As the one chief root, if not cut away, is sufficient to maintain a tree upright in its position, and to enable it to strike out again those side roots that had been cut away, so one unslain lust or evil passion is quite enough for the enemy of souls to maintain his rule by in the heart. And in such a case the other evil inclinations which were repressed for a time soon shoot forth again, and regain their former strength.

Holy Scripture is full of warning examples, that establish the truth of what we have said. What was the cause that Balaam, he who had "heard the words of God, who saw the vision of the Almighty," repeatedly allowed himself to be tempted to try if he could not get the will of God changed? How came it that the rich young man who inquired so earnestly after the way of life, and whom Jesus loved, yet "went away sorrowful"? Whence was it that Judas, who was numbered among the twelve, and went about preaching, and working miracles in the name of his Master, at last betrayed that Master? In all these cases greed and love of gain was the master sin, which was not slain, and at last showed itself as the "root of all evil.”

In other cases it is sensuality which wounds and destroys the soul; "yea, many strong men have been slain by her" (Prov. vii. 26). So was it with Samson: he was free from many dangerous influences; he knew not fear; and excess and drunkenness, which have made so many strong ones weak, were far from him. But as Delilah "pressed him daily with her words, and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death, he told her all his heart" (Judges xvi. 16). And even so it was with Solomon, he who, as a young man, prayed to God for a wise and understanding heart, and was filled with wisdom from above. He, too, when old, "loved many strange women, and they turned away his heart so that he served strange gods."

A not less dangerous foe of the soul's salvation is love of honour and reputation. Many of the rulers among the Jews believed on Jesus, but would not openly confess him. Why not? "They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John xii. 43).

As in the Bible, so in our daily experience we meet plenty of instances where one unslain sin destroys all the beginnings of good in the man. How constantly it happens that a man hears the word of God gladly, declares his belief of the truth, wins the love of God's people, yea, has the name and appearance of a converted man; and yet, at last, appears evidently as a servant of sin, and therefore unconverted! And why? Because, while the side roots of the tree of sin had been cut through, the tap-root was not.

It is true that unbelief lies at the foundation of all other sins, and is the strength of them all. But unbelief puts itself forth constantly in connection with some particular ruling sin, in which it develops its chief strength. Therefore is it so highly necessary that we should recognize this. Reader! thou too hast thy darling sin. What is it? What is the thing in which you chiefly rejoice and set your happiness? What do you think of first and most when you are alone? When a heavy-laden ship is in danger of sinking, and must be lightened, the mariners cast that overboard the last which is most prized. What sin is it that you are the most unwilling to part with? When you think "I would fain be a Christian," what habit, or inclination, or passion stands most in your way, and is the hardest for you to lay aside? Think and pray over these questions before God, and you will soon discover your besetting sin--the tap-root of sin in you; and then, dear reader, cut it up, spare it not, or you are lost!

V. THE FAITHFULNESS OF A BELIEVING MAIDSERVANT REWARDED.

A CHRISTIAN Servant-girl was, in the providence of God, brought into a family among whose members the influ

ence of vital godliness was unknown. She waited on several young girls. Before they went to rest at night she frequently proposed that they should read aloud a portion of Scripture. The proposal was by no means to their taste; but as the maid won the love of all the family by her pleasant ways and constant good temper, the young ladies at last were inclined to gratify her, and granted her request. It seemed, however, as if they remained quite careless. After a time the maid sickened and died.

She was mightily strengthened by her faith in the gospel during the whole of her illness, and closed her eyes in the sure hope of eternal life. The strong consolation which thus brightened her death-bed, reminded her young mistresses after her departure of some of the truths which she had sought to bring before them by the Bible readings. They began to see somewhat of their vast importance, and gradually the greater part of the family was won to the gospel, and showed it by their Christian walk.

What fulness of joy is prepared for the faithful maid when, in the resurrection of the just, she will again meet those to whom in her lifetime she was made such a blessing!

I.

BARNABAS AND SAUL AT ANTIOCH.

A

ACTS xi. 24-30.

T Jerusalem progress was checked. The blood of the martyr Stephen was indeed the seed of the Church; but the seed was scattered abroad, and the harvest sprang in other lands. The apostles seem to have considered themselves bound as yet by the Lord's command to remain at Jerusalem, but they remained there in comparative seclusion. There was no great enlargement like that which they had enjoyed after Pentecost. The ruling classes, in alliance with the mob, had succeeded in driving away or silencing most of the disciples; Christ, rejected by his own, had now turned to the Gentiles. So the French rulers, by the massacre of St. Bartholomew, cast a shower of precious seed on other lands, and brought desolation for many generations on their own.

While the apostles were waiting in comparative inactivity at Jerusalem, tidings strange and stirring reached them from a distance. At Antioch, the Eastern capital of the Empire, a great number of the Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. Immediately the assembled brethren despatched Barnabas as their commissioner to examine the state of affairs, and act

according to circumstances. When he came to Antioch he saw the grace of God there. He had the second sight, for he had the new birth, and the spiritual perception was a faculty of the new man. He rejoiced in the progress that the converts had made, and exhorted them to follow on to know the Lord. The result of his preaching was a great number of new conversions. The expression employed here to indicate the decisive change is striking and suggestive-" Much people was added unto the Lord." It occurred before, v. 14. It represents an intimate vital union between the Saviour and the saved, like the union between the vine and the branches.

One fact worthy of special notice emerges here:-the ministry of Barnabas on this occasion was a ministry specifically intended for the edification of believers, and yet, in point of fact, it was eminently effective for the conversion of those who were without. The preacher addressed himself to the converted, and exhorted them to cleave to the Lord; and, as a direct result, many strangers were brought nigh. The word, aimed at the living for increase of grace, strikes the spiritually dead, and awakens them to newness of life.

Those who rightly divide the Word of truth, alternate between these two departments of effort. The word is addressed now to those who are within, and now to those

who are without. Yet in the ministry of the Sovereign Spirit, sometimes the word meant for edification is effectual for conversion; and sometimes the word meant for converting sinners is used for the growth of grace in believers.

"Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul." When the work of the Lord was at its height in Antioch, the worker went away from the city. He went away, although a great door and effectual was opened to him-went away because a great door and effectual was opened. He saw the door so wide and hopeful, that he determined to call in a colleague-—a colleague on whom his eye had for some time been set, and of whom he expected great things. Taking advantage of the proximity of Tarsus, he went to that city to summon the lately converted Saul to his aid. His own net cast into the sea at Antioch was so full, that he found it necessary to beckon to his partner in another ship for help to draw it to land. So, when a miner in the gold-fields has fallen upon a piece so large that he is unable singlehanded to remove it, he leaves it where it lies-leaves the precious lump buried in the ground-leaves it, though his heart is in it, because his heart is in it-and goes away in search of a friend who may help him to bear the treasure home.

I hope the two will not quarrel over the spoil when they come, for there is enough to make the fortune of both. Now there is an opportunity afforded to these winners of souls to make great gain. Not about this work and this treasure did Saul and Barnabas fall out. They agreed to share the labour and the reward: it was about another and a smaller thing that they afterwards quarrelled in a moment of unwatchfulness.

It has been an instinct of true disciples from the beginning hitherto, to concentrate all their available forces on a spot where success has already begun. The specific call for additional labourers is not strongest on behalf of places and populations that merely show great need; it is strongest on behalf of places and populations that are at once needy and promising. The call for help is ever more commanding when you are able to say, not only that there are many out of Christ, but also that not a few are coming in.

This is a beautiful feature in the character of Barnabas. Besides working faithfully himself, he has the skill to enlist others in the work. He doubtless prayed to the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers; but to his prayers he added pains: he went out and did what he asked the Lord to do.

Of all the disciples of that day, Barnabas was best acquainted with the talents and character of Saul. He had already (ch. ix.) introduced the convert to the apostles at Jerusalem, and now he introduces him to his great work among the Gentiles. At Antioch a mighty two-leaved gate was opened to the Gentiles for the first time, and it was appropriate that the apostle of the Gentiles should there begin to exercise and to magnify his office.

The historian notes, in passing, that the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Then and there the disciples began to be known by the name of the Lord that bought them. Looking to the result, this circumstance is memorable. We are not distinctly informed by whom this designation was first applied. We may gather, however, with a considerable measure of certainty, that the term was employed by the Gentile Greeks to indicate the disciples of the Nazarene. The name is not assumed in this book by the Christians themselves; and the unbelieving Jews would not employ it, for in their lips it would seem to concede that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. It is more likely, therefore, that the Gentiles, hearing that name continually from the lips of believers, employed it to designate the

sect.

The name is sweet, when it is true. But, alas! it has often been made contemptible in the world through the impure lives of those who bear it. To be called by his name is nothing, unless we be renewed into his like

ness.

The other name, most commonly applied in Scripture to designate our Redeemer, has experienced a similar diversity of use in the history of the Church. "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear!" And yet a Jesuit has become a synonym for all that is false and cunning and corrupt throughout the civilized world. What's in a name? Nothing, even though it be the highest of all names, unless the new nature be formed in him who bears it.

At this time certain prophets from Jerusalem warned the disciples at Antioch of a famine that should afflict the Empire at an early date. It came in the reign of Claudius it was severely felt in many provinces, but most of all in Judæa.

This announcement is introduced into the narrative not for its own sake, but on account of the fruit which immediately resulted in the form of contributions made out of their abundance by the believing Gentiles in Antioch, to sustain the believing Jews at Jerusalem in the day of their distress. These gifts have the peculiar fragrance of first-fruits. A very great harvest of charity for the sake of the common Head has since been reaped; and the latest reapings have been richest. Never and nowhere have the fruits of divine love, in the form of help to the needy, grown so great as in the wake of great wars lately waged on the far-separated continents of America and Europe. As the prospect of famine in Judæa drew out the love of Christians at Antioch, and exhibited in the love of brethren a glory to the Lord, so the great wars of recent times have generated a selfsacrificing helpfulness that has, both for its quantity and its quality, become the wonder of the world.

The power of Christ's love was made peculiarly manifest in the case of these contributions from Antioch, inasmuch as the contributors were mainly Gentiles, and the recipients Jews. What hath the Lord wrought? The sun has gone back on the dial. Surely the partition

wall has at length been broken down, and Gentiles and Jews flow softly into one.

Here too, in the first springs of that stream which ever since has flowed to bless the world, we learn one of the rules divinely prescribed for the management of charities Among the disciples (1) every man gave; and (2) every man gave as the result of a deliberate determination, a spontaneous act of his own will; and (3) every man gave according to his ability. There was a measure to determine the quantity of the gifts; and that measure was the degree of prosperity that God had given to each. But this measure was not mechanically applied by any external authority: it was determined in every case within the court of conscience, and by the contributor's own judgment.

The love of Christ, in giving himself the just for the unjust, supplied the power which impelled the early Christians into a life of benevolence; but while in this matter they gladly placed themselves under law to God, they refused to become the servants of men.

II.

HEROD VEXES THE CHURCH.
ACTS xii.

Is the beginning of chapter xi. we learned that sufferings separated those who were united; and so the truth was spread: in the end we learned that sufferings united those who were separated; and so, by contributing food to the Jewish Christians, the Gentile Christians bridged with love the dividing gulf, and permitted the body of Christ to flow into one.

When the converted Greeks at Antioch learned by prophecy that the brethren in Judæa would soon be in straits, they forthwith began to make contributions. Evidently they were cheerful givers. They would not murmur when the subscription list came round. They counted it blessed to give, and were ready. Before the calamity came, it was provided for.

The scene changes. From Antioch we are conducted back to Jerusalem again. After intimating that the door was opened among the Greeks, the historian proceeds to show that it was shut among the Jews. Indeed, it was the shutting of the door at Jerusalem that opened it at Antioch. When one channel was closed, the pent-up waters escaped by another. It was the persecution at home that drove the preachers abroad.

But now another stage of the process is exhibited. Closer and closer was the door shut at Jerusalem; wider and wider it opened toward the Greeks. By his apostles, as well as in his own personal ministry, Christ came unto his own, and his own received him not.

The king who appears here is Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod Antipater who slew the infants of Bethlehem, and son of Herod Antipas who beheaded the Baptist. He was mild in his natural temper, but fond of popularity. He persecuted the Christians not of his

own motion, but to please the Jews. Hence the rejection of Messiah lies articulately on the Jewish people and their priests. To please them, Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified; to please them, Herod Agrippa killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.

Hitherto the lives of the faithful apostles had been preserved. Like Daniel in the lions' den, they had been kept from the power of their enemies. The Lord reigneth; and for a time he threw a shield round the chiefs of the infant Church. While the flax is only smoking, he will not permit a blast to blow on it, lest the feeble life should be quenched; but when the fire has gained some head, he allows the blast to come, that it may be fanned into a greater fiame.

Keeping Judas out of view, this is the first breach in the apostolic circle. They had in some measure learned to walk by faith, and even the fall of an apostle will not crush them now. In the case of James, the Lord shows that he will not always interfere to protect his servants from their enemies; and in the case of Peter, he shows that he will interfere sometimes, lest the spirit should fail before him, and the souls that he has made. He will not suffer his people to be tempted above that they are able to bear.

The first martyrdom in the apostolic college marks for us a law of the kingdom. It illustrates the meaning of Messiah's word, “ My kingdom is not of this world!" Not an inch of this world's surface will Christ maintain for himself by the sword. The kingdoms of this world will one day be all his; but they will be subdued by the sword of the Spirit. It was Antichrist that gathered mercenaries from many lands to sustain the Roman bishop's throne, and crush the liberty of the Roman people.

Observing that no divine power was put forth either to protect James or avenge his death, this weak and unjust king ventured a step further in the same course. Finding that one murder procured him favour with the Jewish people, he determined to perpetrate another. Peter was designated as the next victim. He was arrested and imprisoned. The plan of the persecutor was to gratify the people by a public trial and public execution of the most distinguished follower of Jesus.

But the remainder of the king's wrath it pleased God in this instance to restrain. To this raging sea the word of its Maker came, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further."

"Peter therefore was kept in prison; but prayer was made," &c. This is a remarkable antithesis. Man proposes, but God disposes; and the prayer of faith reaches the Disposer's hand. James was suddenly seized and taken off; but in Peter's case there was time for the whole Church to unite in their prayer for his preservation. God in providence opened a door of opportunity through Herod's desire to keep all quiet till after the Passover: the Church eagerly entered that door. They "inquired" by a concert of prayer; and God in heaven was "inquired of" by them to do it for them.

Four times four soldiers were employed to guard the prisoner. The night was divided into four watches; and four watched at one time-two chained to the prisoner, and two on guard at the prison door.

On the morrow Herod meant to bring the victim out, for he will politically or hypocritically comply with the rule that no trial should take place on the feast-day. As soon as the service of God shall be over, we shall gratify the mob with the shedding of innocent blood! On the morrow! It seems a thin veil of one night's darkness that hangs between these wild beasts and their prey, that hangs between these suppliant disciples in John Mark's house and their great bereavement. The prayer-meeting is prolonged into the night-is prolonged to the morning. A mighty pressure is then brought to bear on the door of the kingdom-on the heart of the King. This is the violence that takes the kingdom by force. The pressure increases as the night wears on, and at last prevails. The Lord within the veil loved to feel that strain. He delights to answer such a cry.

Peter, meanwhile, was sleeping. That sleep was the triumph of faith. Peter's sleep in the prison that night was as much glory to God as his wakefulness would have been, although he had sung psalms till the rafters rang again. Peter slept in Gethsemane, with the two brothers, on the night of the Master's supreme agony. Then he slept through weakness of the flesh; now and here he sleeps through the strength of his faith. There he slept through weariness, although his Lord was enduring agony; here he sleeps in confidence, because his Lord was exalted to the throne of heaven, mindful and mighty to protect his own.

Argyle's sleep, an incident in Scottish history, commemorated by art in the Legislative Hall of Westminster, shines out as a bright particular star among the honoured deeds of our ancestors in a heroic age. The deep, placid sleep of the innocent Scottish noble on the morning of his martyrdom was a better testimony to his valour than any that could have been borne on the battle-field.

Here is a precious lesson for disciples in this latter end of the world. How sweet it is to lie down every night, reconciled to God in Christ, and at peace, ready, if the Lord should so will, to awake in the eternal world! This privilege need not be the rare attainment of a few; for it is offered as free as the air to all. "Whosoever will, let him come." "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

"The apostle sleeps; a light shines in the prison,
An angel touched his side:

Arise, he said; and quickly he hath risen,
His fettered arms untied.

The watchman saw no light at midnight gleaming,-
They heard no sound of feet:

The gates fly open, and the saint, still dreaming,
Stands free upon the street.

"So, when the Christian's eyelid droops and closes In Nature's parting strife,

A friendly angel stands, where he reposes,
To wake him up to life.

"He gives a gentle blow, and so releases The spirit from its clay;

From sin's temptations, and from life's distresses, He bids it come away.

"It rises up, and from its darksome mansion
It takes its silent flight,

And feels its freedom in the large expansion
Of heavenly air and light.

"Behind, it hears Time's iron gates close faintly,It is now far from them;

For it has reached the city of the saintly,
The New Jerusalem."-J. D. BURNS.

III.

ANTIOCH OCCUPIED FOR CHRIST.
ACTS xii. 2-25; xiii. 1.

THE account of Herod's death, introduced into the narrative, accords in all main points with the statements of Josephus. He had removed his residence from Jerusalem to Cæsarea, that he might be on the sea-coast, and in closer communication with Rome. On the occasion of a grand assembly, connected with an embassy from the commercial communities of Tyre and Sidon, he entered the theatre in his robes of state. His royal robes, studded with precious stones, glittered in the sun as he moved, and the obsequious multitude shouted, ascribing divine honours to their idol, according to the custom of Roman mobs. The judgment of God fell upon the frail mortal, and he died soon after of a most loathsome disease.

So died the persecutor; "but the word of God grew and multiplied." This precious note is inserted in the history for comfort to the Church in time of trouble. Fear not, little flock; greater is he that is for you, than all that are against you. The word, a living power, had free course through the nations when the feeble monarch who attempted to quench it lay in his grave. Thus Pharaoh and his army sank in the sea, while Israel, emancipated, praised the Lord and resumed their march.

If the princes and peoples of the earth should combine in an effort to destroy all the grain that exists—to stamp out the staff of life-they would not succeed. The seed has life in itself. Some of it, as the destroyers bore it to their bonfires, would be spilt upon the ground, and be lost to view. The lost would live and spring. From its resurrection a manifold return would be obtained; and the fields would be sown and ripen-seedtime and harvest would follow each other, after the foolish exterminators had returned to the dust. In like manner the efforts of persecutors have proved abortive; they have not been able to extinguish the word of life. God has secured that there shall be seed to the sower and bread to the eater, both in the temporal and spiritual spheres, even unto the end of the world.

"The word grew :" the expression is general; but in point of fact the widespread result was made up of many individual conversions, as a river is composed of many drops all obeying the same law. In ten thousand