been bred to the fishing-trade, resumed their occupation. Here, af. ter they had fruitlessly toiled all night, and were returning to shore without having taken any thing, Jesus assumed an unknown appearance, aud advised them to cast their nets on the right side of the vessel; when, to their great surprise, they inclosed a great number of fishes. John presently suggested to Peter, that the person who had given them this advice, must be their master Jesus. Peter thereupon, without more delay, cast himself half naked into the sea to come the sooner to him. Coming all to land they found the Lord, with a fire ready made, with fish broiling on it, and bread standing by; whereto he bids them bring of the fishes they had taken, and makes them dine with him. After dinner, Christ draws from Peter a threefold profession of his love, to oppose perhaps to his former tripple denial of him: and thrice commanded him to take care of and feed the flock he committed to his charge; and after wards in a figurative speech, foretold the death Peter should die. Peter, according of the forwardness of his temper, desirous to know the fate of the other disciple John, asked what would become of him? To which Je. sus answered, If I will that he stay till I come, what is that to thee? fol. low thou me. S. Did Jesus mean that John should Tive till he returned, or came again from heaven? T. No: but only till he should come in judgment to take vengeance on the Jews. So that the sense of our Saviour's words is this: If my pleasure is, that he live till the dissolution of the Jewish state, &c. and so indeed John did. For though Peter is supposed to be put to death in the reign of Nero, John lived til! the days of Trajan, which was a bove an hundred years after our Saviour's birth, and thirty years from the time of the destruction of Jeru salem, and the dissolution of the Jewish state. S. Where did Jesus appear to the eleven aposles and the five-hundred brethren at once? T. On mount Tabar, as it is generally thought, a mountain in Gallilee, where they were assembled by his appointment. And the occasion of this meeting, was to bear witness, that he now finally, before he ascended into heaven, and when he was invested with all power both in heaven and on earth, did commission and command his apostles to make all nations his disciples, and to baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and to teach and press them to observe all his precepts. He also enabled them to work signs and wonders, and to confer that power of such converts as they should think proper, for the propagation and confirmation of his faith; and he promis ed to be aiding and protecting them, and to be present with them, as their sovereign and supreme head, unto the end of the world. S. Was the crucifixion of our Saviour, and his wonderful resurrection, made known, or taken notice of at Rome? T. Yes it appears from several passages in ancient authors, that Pilate informed the emperor Tiberius of the whole of this great transaction: that this emperor proposed to the senate the putting our Saviour's image among the number of the gods; and though divine providence hindered the senate from doing it, yet the emperor had so good an opinion of the per.son and religion of Jesus, that he expressly forbad the Christians to be persecuted. S. What did our Saviour mean when he told his disciples that he would be with them to the end of the world? T. This promise was made, not to all Christians in general, but only to those whom Christ authorised to teach and baptise in his name, as the words themselves and the occasion of speaking them plainly shew and it contains a full declaration of our Lord's intention, that they should always be my, as well as till that time. And hence we may assure ourselves, that the ministry of the word and administration of the sacraments are a stand ing and perpetual ordinance, to continue in the Christian church throughout all ages; and that all the faithful ministers of Christ, in what part of the world soever God shall cast their lot, and in what time soever they shall happen to live, may comfortably expect Christ's gracious presence with their persons, and his blessing upon their labours. S. How long did Christ continue upon earth, after his resurrection ? T. Forty days, during which, he at several times communed familialy with his apostles, with incontestable proofs of the truth of his resurrection, that they might be witnesses of it to all people over all the world. These forty days were almost expired when he ordered all his apostles, and some of his select friends to attend him at Jerusalem, and amongst other things, charged them not to depart from that city till he had poured upon them the Holy Ghost, which he had promised to give them. S. What reason was there for the wonderful dispensation of the Holy Spirit? T To enable them to be powerful witnesses of our Lord's resurrection, and, consequently, to convince the world that he was the true Messiah, or the prophet, who was to come to be the Saviour of it: and therefore St. Peter speaks thus to the Jews, Ye have killed the prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. Also to enable them to give an exact account (as far as divine wisdom saw it necessary) of what our Saviour did, and taught: and therefore himself tells them, that the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, should testi fy of him, and bring all things to their remembrance, which he had said unto them. And also, to inake them able ministers of the New Testament, or able to acquaint Christians with all saving truths, and to teach them all things, that Christ had commanded to be observed throughout all the ages of the church and upon the strength of this promise, Christians in all ages have believed, that the apostles and writers of the New Testament, both spake and wrote, as they were directed by the Spirit of God; & accordingly have received their doctrines, not as the words of men, but as they were in truth, the word of God. S. Why did Christ order the apos. tles to tarry at Jerusalem, till the loly Ghost descended upon them? T. Of all places, the apostles would least of all have chosen Jerusalem to tarry in, had not our Lord positively commanded them to continue there.For Jerusalem was now a place justly abhorred and detested by them, as reeking fresh with the blood of the holy and innocent Jesus; and yet Jerusalem is the place chosen by Christ for the pouring forth of his holy Spirit upon his apostles; because there was the greatest company of spectators to behold it, and to be converted by it; and because there had been the scenes of his greatest humiliation, & therefore, there he was minded to shew forth his power and glory. S. Where was this meeting held T. In a private place. But when he had finished all his work, Jesus finding them still possessed with an opinion of his earthy reign, to turn their thoughts from it, and forbidding them to enquire of the time and seasens which God had kept in his own power, he goeth out with them, and led them to that part of mount Olivet which was nearest Bethany; where, having blessed them, he was taken away from them, ascending gradually in a cloud that surrounded him, and carried up into heaven with triumph; where being received into his glory he sits at the right hand of God to intercede for us. As the apostles beheld him ascending, two angels appeared to them, assuring them he should one day descend in like manner, as they now saw him ascend. S. Has God, whom I always be. lieve to be a pure spirit, hands? T. This is one of those expressions wherein the Holy Ghost condescends to our capacity, by attributing to God the parts and gesture of an human body. The hand is the chief instrument of exerting our strength, and there. fore, often used to denote the power of God. The right hand is the usua place cf honor and respect, & therefore this denotes the highest diguity. Sitting in like manner intimates a state of ease and rest, and is properly the posture of those that are in power and authority, of kings upon their thrones, and magistrates in courts of justice. Therefore Christ's sitting at God's right hand implies that the same glory &.power, which, as the Son of God, he did, before his incarnation, enjoy with his Father from all eternity, his human nature is now made partakers of in the highest heavens; & that he is invested with absolute authority and dominion over the whole world, which he shall one day judge; and till that day come, it is the duty of allmankind to reverence and obey him, as their rightful king and universal Lord. CHAP. IX. The Apostles retire to an upper Room, and ebuse Matthias in the Place of Judas, to be an Apostle. The Descent of the Holy Ghost. How the Holy Ghost (perated on the Disciples of Christ. The Disciples speak strange Languages and work Miracles: Are persecuted by the Jewish Rulers; imprisoned and whipped. The Apostles ordain seven Deacons. The Martyrdom of Stephen, and Life of St. Paul. T. They being about an hundred and twenty in all, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, being now fully assur ed by his assumption into the heavens, that Jesus was the Son of God. They continued therefore to assemble daily privately in an upper room, possibly at the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; or at the house of some other disciple; it being customary for private families in those days to have oratories or chapels on the tops of their houses, where they met to hear the law read, and to treat of any religious matters. This interpretation of the upper room some chuse to adopt, rather than that, which supposeth it to mean an upper room in the temple; for it is scarce credible, say they, that the priests & Levites, who had so lately persecuted their master unto death, would permit a company of fishermen and Ga. poor lileans, to assemble in such numbers, within the verge of the temple. S. What did the disciples in this upper room? T. They paid their adorations to God; and amongst other consultations for the support and government and future settlement of the church, which had become the chief corner store, they proposed two of their members to draw lots, (a way frequently used both by Jews and Gentiles for determining doubtful and difficult cases, especially in the election of judges and magistrates) which of them should be found worthy to succeed Judas in the apostleship, from which he by his transgression had fallen. S. Who were the two disciples proposed on this occasion? T. Joseph, surnamed Barsabas, who was one of the seventy, and related to our Lord according to the flesh; and Matthias, another of the seventy disciples. S. What preceded this manner of choice? T. The congregation made a solemn address to God, that he would condescend to direct their choice; and that he, who knew the hearts of all men, would be pleased to shew which of these two he saw best qualified for so sacred a function. S. Upon whom did the lot fall? T. On Matthias; who was ac cordingly admitted into the number of the apostles. S. Who was this Matthias? T. He had been a continual atChrist had founded, and of which he tendant upon, and a disciple from 1 the time Jesus was baptised of John, to his ascention. And if any credit can be given to his life, said to be translated from the original Hebrew in the 12th century by a monk at Treves, he was born at Bethlehem, of an illustrious family of the tribe of Judah; had been well educated; did preach in the Christian faith in Palestine; and was first stoned to death by the command of Annnaus the Younger, and then his head severed from his body, soon after the martyrdom of Janies the Less. But if we believe the Greeks Matthias preached and died at Colchis. S. Did Jesus send the Holy Ghost upon his apostles, &c. as he had promised? T. Yes: for, as they were assembled in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God, which is the Holy Ghost, descended with a sudden prodigious noise, or like a tempestuous wind, which was accompanied with a kind of fiery exhalation reserabling the shape of a tongue cloven at the tip, resting upon each of the disciples. And from this moment of time they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake diverse languages. plentiful manner, as the first fruits of our Lord's ascention into heaven; and to remind us, that the gospel began to be published by the apostles on the same day, that the ancient law was given to the Hebrews. S. What effect had this descent of the Holy Ghost? T. It gave them courage to quit the retirement of the upper room, and boldness and ability to preach the gospel publickly, to all the inhabitants and strangers then at Jerusalem, in the several languages of each person they met. Peter began his preaching, with a defence of him. self and his brethren against the absurd cavils of their enemies, who represented these extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, as the effects of drunkenness. And afterwards the word of the gospel was taught with such reason and efficacy, that no less than three thousand souls were converted, that day, to the faith of Christ. These were the beginnings of the Christian church of Jerusalem, which, by the agreement of its mem bers, their charity, union, and assiduity in exercises of piety, every day increased. S. Did not the apostles work mi. S. What am I to understand by the racles also? day of Pentecost? T. Pentecost is a Greek word, that signifieth the fiftieth. And this day was particularly so called by the Jews, because it was one of their annual festivals, known also by the name of the feast of weeks; because it was observed on the fiftieth day, or seven weeks after the passover. But the Christian church celebrates this feast at the same distance of time from our Saviour's resurrection, to commemorate the gif's of the Spirit which were then poured out in a Nn T. Yes: Peter and John going into the temple to pray, and seeing a poor man, then forty years old, and who was a cripple from the womb, lying at the gate of the temple, to ask alms of those that entered in, they miraculously cured him in the sight of all the people, by invoking the name of Jesus. S. Did the sanhedrim take any no. tice of the apostles? T. The success of Peter's address to the peple, who stood amazed at the miraculous power which he ex |