26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod,1 and Pontius

PARALLEL PASSAGES.

Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together.

28 For2 to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

29 And now, Lord, behold their

1Luke 23: 1-8. 2Ch. 3:18.

and the authority of the apostles settles the question. The Psalm was composed by David, on what occasion is not known. Why did the heathen. The nations which were not Jews. This refers, doubtless, to the opposition which would be made to the spread of Christianity. Rage. It means that the progress of the gospel would encounter tumultuous opposition, and that the excited nations would rush violently to put it down. And the people. The "heathen," Hebrew and Greek, "the nations," refer to men as organized into communities; the expression "the people" is used to denote the same persons without respect to their being so organized. Vain things means usually empty, as a vessel which is not filled, then useless, or that which amounts to nothing, etc. Here it means that they devised a plan which turned out to be vain or ineffectual. Barnes.

26. The quotation from the second Psalm is still continued. Christ. Messiah (Anointed) and Christ are Hebrew and Greek equivalents. Alexander. - Against the Lord. Hebrew, against Jehovah. Christ is "Jehovah" as the covenant God, revealing himself in his church. Jacobus. - The first verses are entirely occupied with the fruitless persecutions of the Redeemer, - -a thing which appears unseasonable. But on closer inspection this is seen to express a very deep feeling. The apostles were so thoroughly engrossed with the person of Christ and his affairs that they saw, even in their own suffer. ings, nothing but persecutions directed against Christ. Olshausen.

27. Herod. Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, the same who put John the Baptist to death, tetrarch of Galilee and Peræa. Pilate. Pontius Pilate, the sixth Roman procurator of Judea. Gentiles. Romans, Roman soldiers. It is not proper here to enter into an examination of the causes of this opposition. We may state the outlines, however, in few words. (1) The Jewish rulers were mortified, humbled, and moved with envy that one so poor and despised should claim to be the Messiah. They had expected a different monarch. (2) The common people, disposed extensively to acknowledge his claims, were urged on by the enraged and vindictive priests to demand his death. (Matt. 27: 20.) (3) Pilate was pressed on against his will by the impetuous and enraged multitude to deliver one whom he regarded as innocent. (4) The Christian religion in its advances struck at once at the whole fabric of superstition in the Roman empire and throughout the world. It did not, like other religions, ask a place amidst the religions already existing. It was exclusive in its claims. It denounced all other systems as idolatry or superstition, and sought to overthrow them. (5) Christianity was despised. It was regarded as one form of the superstition of the Jews. And there was no people who were regarded with so much contempt by all other nations as the Jews. (6) The new religion was opposed to all the crimes of the world. It began its career in a time of eminent wickedness. It plunged at once into the midst of this wickedness; sought the great cities where crimes and pollutions were condensed, and Dolly reproved every form of prevailing impiety. If it be asked (7) why the same religion meets with opposition now in lands that are nominally Christian, it may be remarked (a) that the human heart is the same that it always was, opposed to truth and righteousness; (b) that religion encounters still a host of sins that are opposed to it, pride, envy, malice, passion, the love of the world, and shame of acknowledging God; (c) that there has always been a peculiar opposition in the human heart to receiving salvation as the gift of God through a crucified Redeemer; and (d) that all the forms of vice and lust and profaneness that exist in the world are opposed, and ever will be, to a religion of purity and selfdenial and love. On the whole, we may remark here, (1) That the fact that Christianity has been thus opposed, and has triumphed, is no small proof of its divine origin. It has been fairly tried, and still survives and flourishes. (2) This religion cannot be destroyed; it will triumph. Opposition to it is vain; it will make its way throughout the world. Sinners who stand opposed to the gospel should tremble and be afraid; for sooner or later they must fall before its triumphant advances. Barnes.

28. These enemies did not meet for the object or with the design of fulfilling God's purposes, but God overruled their doings to accomplish his own plan. Men none the less do their worst. But how idle and vain their hostility, when it turns out that what they have done, God not only provides against, but predetermined and provided for beforehand. Jacobus. God's foreknowledge of a thing future does not impair the liberty of men's wills in the accomplishment of it. Whitby.

29. Our care should not be so much that troubles may be prevented as that we may be enabled to

threatenings and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness1 they may speak thy word,

30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thine holy child Jesus.

31 ¶ And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they

were all filled with the IIoly Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart,5 and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

PARALLEL PASSAGES.-1Vs. 13, 31. Ch. 14:3; 28:31. Eph. 6:19. 2Ch. 2:43; 5:12. Ch. 2:2, 4; 16:26. 4Verse 29. Rom. 15:5, 6. 2 Cor. 13:11. Phil. 2:2. 1 Pet. 3:8. Ch. 2:44.

go on with cheerfulness and resolution in our work and duty, whatever troubles we may meet with. Henry.

30. Nothing emboldens ministers more in their work than the tokens of God's presence with them and a divine power going along with them. Henry.-This prayer was entirely unselfish,- for the cause and not for themselves. Therefore the answer came.

31. Result of the prayer. Immediately, and as a manifest answer to their prayer, the place where they were assembled was shaken. This was a token of God's mighty power responding to their cry. He who will shake the nations, and once more shake not the earth only, but also heaven, shook that place of prayer. The term denotes a violent shaking, as of a tempest or an earthquake. As there was no natural cause for it, it was a miraculous token to them of the divine presence and protection. Observe: (1) All Christians, as well as ordained ministers, ought to speak of Christ with freedom. (2) Prayer is answered just as directly when offered by the humblest believer as when offered by this apostolic church, because the promise is for the sake of Christ to glorify the name of Christ. Jacobus. From this moment the meek and humble followers of Christ assume a new character. Their humility and meekness indeed do not desert them, but to these are added other qualities absolutely necessary for the great and important undertakings to which they are called. The influence of the Holy Spirit supported them in circumstances from which the mere fishermen would have shrunk. Brewster.

32. This description of the union of heart and the liberality which distinguished the disciples applies to all of them, as the unqualified nature of the language clearly intimates. Hackett. - All things common. Although an absolute community of goods existed, in a certain sense, amongst the first company of believers, it was not insisted upon by the apostles as a necessary feature in the constitution of the Christian church. We find many precepts in the Epistles which distinctly recognize the difference of rich and poor, and mark out the respective duties of each class; and the apostle Paul, in particular, far from enforcing a community of goods, enjoins those who were affluent to make a contribution every week for those who were poorer. (1 Cor. 16:2, 3.) Yet the spirit of this primitive system should pervade the church in all ages. All Christians ought to consider their worldly goods, in a certain sense, as the common property of their brethren. There is a part of it which by the laws of God and nature belongs to their brethren, who, if they cannot implead them for its wrongful detention before an earthly tribunal, have their right and title to it written by the finger of God himself in the records of the gospel, and will see it established at the judgment day. Bloomfield. This we cannot suppose to mean that they resigned all particular interest in the property they possessed; for some, we soon afterwards find, sold such possessions as they had that the proceeds might be disbursed to relieve the wants of the poorer brethren which they could not have done had they literally had "all things common" before. Even in our Lord's days, it seems that the apostles themselves did not relinquish all their private property. The Galilean fishermen did not sell their most valuable possessions, their boats, but still had them, and used them after our Lord's resurrection. It appears also that John possessed some property which he retained, and which enabled him to offer a home to the mother of Jesus. It is clear, indeed, that our Lord did not command the apostles to give up their property into a common stock; and it is equally clear that the apostles themselves did not enjoin it; for we shall presently hear Peter asking one who had dealt perversely in this matter, "While it remained was it not thine own, and after it was sold was it not in thine own power?" It was, therefore, an entirely voluntary act throughout, and by no means imposed upon the new converts or exacted from them by the apostles. The need to be met was instant and special, and such as did not exist afterwards among the churches formed among the heathen, where, consequently, we find nothing of this mentioned by the apostles in their Epistles, in which the practice actually enjoined was that every one should lay aside week by week "as the Lord had pros. pered him," some portion of his carnings for the poorer brethren. The converts in Judea, by the mer●

33 And with great power1 gave the apostles witness2 of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace3 was upon them all.

34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet and distribution5 was made unto every man according as he had need.

36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,

PARALLEL PASSAGES. -1Ch. 1:8. 2Ch. 1:22. Luke 11:48, 49. John 1:16. Verse 37; Ch. 5:2. 5Ch. 2: 45; 6:1.

fact of their adhesion to Christ, "suffered the loss of all things," unless they had property independent of the will, favor, or patronage of others; and the proportion of these was few. So deep an offence against Jewish prejudices cast them loose from Jewish charities, and involved loss of employment to such as were traders, and dismissal from their employments to such as were workmen and servants, producing a state of destitution which rendered extraordinary exertions necessary on the part of the more prosperous brethren; and how nobly they responded to the demands of this great emergency is shown in the record before us. This is no conjecture. It is illustrated and proved by what we actually see in opera tion at this day in Jerusalem. In that city some converts from Judaism are made; and no sooner does this appear than they are instantly cut off from all aid, support, and employment from the Jews there, and would starve but for the missionaries. Hence, great sacrifices are made by those on the spot for their relief. Kitto.-Observe (1) The religion of Christ, as here set forth, is the most perfect system of mutual aid which the world has ever seen. (2) The church is the institution above all others appointed by God to universal beneficence, -" to do good unto all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith." (3) Christians are just as much required to be charitable and liberal in their contributions as they are bound to be honest and true. An avaricious, grasping Christian is as much a contradiction in terms as a lying or stealing Christian. (5) The church ought to inquire into the beneficence of its members as strictly as into their fidelity and duty in any other respect. (6) True piety, after the example of Christ and his true members, will prompt to open-hearted liberality the world over. True Christian love will do more than new societies and new regulations. System is needed. Jacobus.

33. And with great power. The word "power" here denotes efficacy, and means that they had ability given them to bear witness of the resurrection of the Saviour. It refers, therefore, rather to their preaching than to their miracles. Gave the apostles witness. The apostles bore testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This was the main point to be established. If it was proved that the Lord Jesus came to life again after having been put to death, it established all that he taught, and was a demonstration that he was sent from God. They exerted, therefore, all their powers to prove this; and their success was such as might have been expected. Multitudes were converted to the Christian faith. And great grace, etc. The word "grace" means favor. And the expression here may mean either that the favor of God was remarkably shown to them or that they had great favor in the sight of the people. Barnes.-They preached a living and not a dead Saviour, and so should we. 34. See note on verse 32.

35. And laid them down, etc. That is, they committed the money received for their property to the disposal of the apostles to distribute it as was necessary among the poor. This soon became a burdensome and inconvenient office, and they therefore appointed men who had especial charge of it. (Ch. 6:1, 2, etc.)

36. Joses, Barnabas. Perhaps this name (Barnabas) was an honorable acknowledgment of his charity in selling his whole estate for the relief of poor Christians, and on account of the "consolation" they received thereby. Nelson. - Barnabas was afterwards associated with Paul in the labors of the ministry, being the first who introduced him to the apostles, and from his zeal and good conduct well deserved the praise here bestowed upon him. Stack. - Happy are the gospel ministers who, besides speaking comfort to the poor, can also dispense it from their means; but few of them have land or houses to sell, or silver and gold to give. This Barnabas is the same whose sister had a house in Jerusalem where the church was entertained. (Ch. 12:12.) Her son, John Mark, was the companion of Paul and of Barnabas his uncle, in their first missionary journey, on which they were sent forth by the church at Antioch. A Levite. A descendant of Levi, whose business it was to attend upon the priests, music, etc., in the service of the sanctuary. The whole tribe of Levi was devoted to the service of religion. Jacobus. Cyprus. An island in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, not far from

the coast of Phenicia. Pearce.

37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles'

feet.

37. Having land. According to the law mentioned in Numbers 18:20, a Levite could have no Inheritance in Israel, which, however, means only that the Levites as a tribe were not to have a share in the division of Canaan among the other tribes. It did not prevent a Levite from holding lands in Judea by purchase or otherwise, or in foreign countries. Pearce. Observe: (1) Every church member is' just as much bound to give up all for Christ as any minister is. (2) Members of the church who have the qualifications and means ought to devote themselves and their property to the great work of evan gelizing the world. (3) Until those church members who have lands and houses will give them up to the cause of Christ as the work requires, there will be no adequate progress made in the extension of the Saviour's kingdom. The church needs such "sons of consolation." Jacobus.

LESSON IX. MAY 28, 1876.

LYING UNTO GOD. ACTS 5:1-11.

[A. D. 33.]

CONNECTION.

The history of the infant church has presented hitherto an image of unsullied light; it is now for the first time that a shadow falls upon it. We can imagine that a sort of holy emulation had sprung up among the first Christians; that they vied with each other in testifying their readiness to part with everything superfluous in their possession, and to devote it to the wants of the church. This zeal now bore away some, among others, who had not yet been freed in their hearts from the predominant love of earthly things. Such a person was Ananias, who, having sold a portion of his property, kept back a part of the money which he received for it. The root of his sin lay in his vanity, his ostentation. He coveted the reputation of appearing to be as disinterested as the others, while at heart he was still the slave of Mammon, and so must seek to gain by hypocrisy what he could not deserve by his benevolence. Olshausen. -It was natural that those who thus manifested their love to their brethren and their devotedness to the service of the church should appear to great advantage, and be much looked up to in comparison with those who, though not strictly bound to follow such examples, at least had the same motives to disinterestedness and zeal. Those who abstained from this noble and generous course, unless prevented by some special and recognizable reasons, must, in such a state of society, have appeared in a strange and anomalous position, and could not fail to be held in less esteem, if only as "weak brethren." This was felt by a disciple named Ananias, and his feeling was shared by his wife Sapphira, a beautiful name, which the infamy of this woman has unhappily thrown out of use. They loved the praise of men, and could not be content to be held in less consideration than such bright examples as Barnabas; but on the other hand, they loved money quite as well, even better. They could not bear the idea of giving this price for the good opinion of others to which they aspired. They had not faith to cast their cares upon God, by giving up all they had for him. They feared they might come to want, they feared to endanger their comforts beyond recall, they wished to retain some security against the contingencies which the future might produce. In one word, they loved money, and had not the heart to part with it altogether. No doubt man and wife talked over this matter night and day, until they fell upon what both regarded as a brilliant conception, an admirable device for securing both objects, — winning the respect of the church without altogether abandoning their substance. It was known that they possessed an estate; this they would sell-really sell it. This every one would know; but it would not have been known what they received for it; for estates were not in those days sold by auction, and it is likely that the estate was away somewhere in the country, and not near Jerusalem. What so easy, then, as to give into the hands of the apostles, for the general good, a certain sum as the whole produce of the sale, reserving the rest as a secret treasure for themselves? They would thus enjoy their private comforts and satisfactions, their little securities against the time to come; and while thus pursuing very second-rate conduct, they would win the credit of first-rate sacrifices. What could be easier than this? Nothing. For "As easy as lying" is a proverb. It was altogether a most precious plot, neat and well compacted. In it nothing was forgotten-except God; everything was remembered -save him. Kitto.

-

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.

2 And kept back part of the price, (his wife being also privy to it,) and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

5:4.

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan2 filled thine heart to lie to3 the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why

PARALLEL PASSAGES.- 1Ch. 4:34, 37. 2Luke 22:3. Verse 9. 4Numb. 30:2. Deut. 23:21. Eccl.

1. But. Now the historian turns to the dark side of the picture in the history of the early church. Ananias. This name, quite common among the Jews, means "the grace of the Lord." Sapphira means "Beautiful." Yet all this is in the name, as Bengel suggests, while the habits are evil. It is twice mentioned that he did it "with Sapphira his wife," to show that it was the result of previous concert. Sold a possession. From verse 3, we infer that this possession was a field—a farm— landed property, as in the case of Barnabas. Jacobus.

2. Kept back part. Here it means that they secretly kept back a part, while professedly devoting all to God. His wife being privy to it. His wife knowing it and evidently concurring in it. And laid it at the apostles' feet. This was evidently an act professedly of devoting all to God. (Compare ch. 4:37, also verses 8, 9.) That this was his profession, or pretence, is further implied in the fact that Peter charges him with having lied unto God. (Verses 3, 4.) Barnes.-Avarice is a root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10), as illustrated in the cases of Judas and Ananias. Gerok. - The offering of Ananias demonstrates how little confidence we can place in so-called good words. Quesnel. His wife also being privy, etc. They sinned all the more grievously, as they could and should have dissuaded each other from the sin. Bengel.-Brought a certain part. No matter how large a part, since they professed that it was the whole, and it was not. Laid it at the apostles' feet. This was done in a solemn, formal act of devotion. It was probably done in public assembly, at the time of public worship, before the face of the congregation, and at the feet of the apostles, who acted in the name and authority of Jesus Christ. These are the features of the act which made it so aggravated an offence against God and the church, and which called for the severest punishment. Jacobus. -All sinners are guilty of this bringing "a part of the price." They will obey some of God's laws, they will do some of his good works, they will avoid some sins, but not all. They bring a part of the price and ask God to accept it as the whole.

3. Peter again acts as the representative and spokesman of the twelve. Satan is a Hebrew word meaning "adversary." As the same being is the tempter of our race from the beginning, the name Satan sometimes has that special meaning and is so used here. Filled thine heart must mean something more than to suggest or to encourage. The idea seems to be that of occupying or engrossing the whole man with some particular desire or purpose. Alexander. It was no extenuation of his fault that he committed it by suffering Satan to fill his heart. It is no more an excuse that a person is tempted of the devil than that he is tempted by the profit or gain of the sin. It constitutes, indeed, the very nature and essence of the sin his consenting to yield to that temptation, which could have had no power over him but by his own consent. S. Clarke.- To lie unto the Holy Ghost. At the very time that this pair of hypocrites pretend to be full of the Holy Ghost, they are found to be full of Satan and lying unto the Holy Ghost. This was the object of Satan thus to deceive the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity; and in these false professors this was the nature of the attempt as far as in them lay. It is called a lie unto the Holy Ghost, because it was a solemn counterfeiting before the church of a special spiritual grace and the profaning of a holy ordinance. That the Holy Ghost is a Person and not a mere influence, is plain from the language, He is lied unto, which could not be said of an influence; and in verse 4 this is said to be lying unto God. Hence we infer that the Holy Ghost is God. Jacobus.

4. Did it not, while it remained unsold, remain to you as your own property? and when sold was it not, i. e. the money received for it, in your own power? This language makes it evident that the community of goods, as it existed in the church at Jerusalem, was purely a voluntary thing, and not required by the apostles. Ananias was not censured because he had not surrendered his entire property, but for falsehood in professing to have done so when he had not. Hackett. - Not lied unto men, but unto God. So small was his crime as committed against men that it was lost sight of by the aposties, and the great crowning sin of attempting to deceive God was brought fully into view. Thus David also saw his sin as committed against God to be so enormous that he lost sight of it as an offence to man, and said, “Against thee, thee ONLY, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." (Ps. 51:4.) But unto God. It has been particularly and eminently against God. This is true, because, (1)