of light or flame, as in the former instance. And, indeed, the greatness of the occasion-being the first practical opening of the church to the Gentiles-might both require and explain such a manifestation. It is clear, at all events, that nothing like this had occurred since the great Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit. Many had, since then, received the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, but none in this manner. Such gifts had been bestowed after baptism, and upon the imposition of the apostles' hands. But here it was direct and signal, and even before baptism; as distinct and plenary as on the day of Pentecost.

What course Peter himself might have taken, had not this sign been given, it may be hard to say. We should suppose, from the tenor of his discourse, that he would have admitted them to baptism, on declaring their belief in the Lord Jesus; and it is only his subsequent conduct at Antioch, in reference to the general question, that leaves the matter open to any doubt. Our own impression is, that he would have admitted these Gentiles into Christian fellowship; but that he would have been eventually led to regard the case as exceptional, and as affording no precedent without such special previous warrant as he had in this instance received. But although Peter himself might have been prepared to receive them into the bosom of the church, it is doubtful whether the 'brethren' who had accompanied Peter from Joppa would; and it is nearly certain that others at a distance would not have recognised the propriety of such a step, unless this extraordinary sign had been previously given. We may, therefore, conclude that it was given for the purpose of rendering the will of God indisputably manifest, and of showing that the course which Peter took was not only in accordance with it, but absolutely required by it. It was calculated to prevent the brethren then present from offering any such opposition as might have cast a damp and a doubt over the proceeding, and it was suited to stop the mouths of any who might afterwards call it in question.

Accordingly, no sooner did Peter witness this sign, and hear

It

these Gentiles speak with tongues and magnify God,' than he exclaimed, 'Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?'-words, the very cast of which suggests that he was far from certain that the Jewish prejudices of the brethren might not yet be opposed to this step, or, at least, that they could only have been overcome by such a manifestation of the divine purpose as that which had now been given. But there was not, and could not be, any answer to such an argument. was not for man to withhold the baptism of water, where God had given the baptism of the Spirit. Peter, therefore, ' commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.' By this it appears that he did not himself baptize them. Indeed, it seems that the apostles very rarely did baptize with their own hands.1 This office was, on the present occasion, doubtless discharged by the brethren who accompanied him; and he might prefer to use their ministry, that the expression of their concurrence might thus be rendered the more explicit. To express their gratitude to Peter for the great benefits he had been the instrument of imparting to them, as well as that they might be further instructed in the way of life, Cornelius and his friends implored him to tarry with them certain days.' It is not directly stated that he consented; but it appears from the sequel that he did, and was thus involved in the charge afterwards made against him, of 'going in to men uncircumcised, and eating with them. The latter clause must refer to this subsequent intercourse, for Peter did not previously eat with them. By doing so now, he showed that, at least under certain circumstances, he considered himself loosed from the obligation of ritual precepts. It does not seem, however, that though living with Gentiles during this time, he partook of forbidden meats; for of this there is not a word in the charge afterwards made against him in reference to these transactions; nor, indeed, does it appear that any converted Jews did so till after their final dispersion.

When the tidings reached Jerusalem that the Gentiles had

11 Cor. i. 14-17.

received the word of God, the feeling excited there was not generally one of thankfulness. Feeling on this point doubtless varied among different individuals; but there were certainly many who would not bring themselves to think with any complacency that the gospel was not the exclusive privilege of the Jews, or that it could be reached otherwise than through Judaism. By these Peter was warmly censured for his conduct, when, shortly after, he returned to Jerusalem. Then, in his own vindication, the apostle 'rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it in order unto them.' At the close of his plain recital of the circumstances, he merely added this cogent and unanswerable remark: 'Forasmuch, then, as God gave them the like gift as He did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God?' To the credit of the brethren at Jerusalem, they, on hearing this, not only held their peace,' but 'glorified God' for the extension of his mercies to the Gentiles. They doubted so long as it seemed that Peter had acted on his own judgment and discretion; but when he made it plainly appear that the will of God had been clearly manifested, they abandoned their ground of opposition, and cheerfully acquiesced in the conclusion, ‘Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.'

Cæsarea was a city of Palestine, situated on the coast of the Mediterranean, between Joppa and Carmel, and about thirty-five miles north of the former. It was founded by Herod the Great, who named it in honour of his friend and patron, Augustus Cæsar. It was chiefly celebrated for its harbour, formed by a colossal breakwater built in the form of the segment of a circle, and for a great temple dedicated to Cæsar. It was largely a Gentile city, and soon became the political capital of Palestine.

The re

It is strange that Cæsarea is now a desolate ruin. mains of its breakwater, wharves, temples, palaces, and churches, thickly strew the winding shore, and rise in heaps of ruin and rubbish among the sand-hills adjoining. A medieval wall encompasses it on the land side, enclosing an area of about half a mile long and a quarter broad. In the southern wall is a gate, still nearly entire. It was doubtless by it Philip entered the city, for

it opens on the road to Joppa. On a rising ground, a little within the gate, stand four massive buttresses, the only remains of the cathedral in which Eusebius, the father of ecclesiastical history, presided for a quarter of a century.

Cæsarea occupies a place of some importance in later New Testament history. Philip resided in it; Herod Agrippa died in it; Paul passed through it repeatedly in his missionary journeys; and from its harbour he sailed when going a prisoner to Rome.

Forty-sixth Week-First Day.

A MISTAKE. ACTS X. 34, 35.

THE Apostle Peter, near the close of his second Epistle, has a very interesting allusion to the Epistles of our beloved brother Paul.' In them, he says, there are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.' It is open to conjecture whether Peter may not have become aware, at the time he wrote, as we are now aware, that some of his own words-those with which he opened his address to Cornelius-had been thus perversely and ruinously wrested' from their proper meaning. The words are, 'Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.'

It has been urged that these expressions sanction the notion, that there are in every nation men who, fearing God and working righteousness,' are, on such grounds alone, 'accepted with Him,' or entitled to salvation, and receiving salvation; that any one, ignorant or regardless of the revealed covenants, but believing in a supreme God as the Creator of heaven and earth, and walking righteously according to the measure of his light, needs nothing more for salvation; that, in short,

'He can't be wrong whose life is in the right,'

is the true saving doctrine.

Without pausing further upon this notion than to remark, that for a life to be in the right, not merely correct moral conduct, but correct motives and principles of conduct, are needed, it may be asked, What need was there, then, to Cornelius for the doctrines of the gospel, which Peter came to