dwelling of some large-hearted disciple, in whose upper
chamber the sacred feast was observed. It would appear
that at first in Jerusalem, when the disciples kept free
table, or " had all things common," every meal was a
sacramental feast, or that it was connected with every
meal, as it had been with the paschal banquet. It was
therefore not as with us, the mere emblem of a feast
only the symbol of a symbolical feast. Out of this old
practice may have sprung its early division into a love
feast and a sacrament. The church at Troas may have
possessed no regular organization, but the disciples could
THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK. 297
meet in hearty fellowship, and eat and drink in memory of
the crucified One. Twice had Paul been in that city
before ; the first time when he was hurried across to Europe,
and again on his second visit to Macedonia, when he seems
to have lingered some time waiting for Titus. During
this third visit he stayed a week, and preached on the
Lord's day.
The disciples must have rejoiced at their privilege, and
eagerly embraced it. What could keep any of them back
from enjoying Paul ? Alas ! that so many in modern times
regard so little the first day of the week, or weary on
it only for the coming of the second, reckoning Sunday
a mere interruption between Saturday and Monday, or
otherwise profaning it in the pursuit of lawless pleasure or
pastime. And even of those who " come together," how
many stay away for very trivial reasons, a passing cloud
throwing a chiller shadow upon their souls than it does
upon the earth, and betokening a fall in their religious
affections deeper than the depression of the barometer. If
one may thus absent himself, why may not all ; the
minister, too, as well as any of the people ? Who keeps
at home for such a paltry reason from a scene of secular
enjoyment, or the place of ordinary business ? Are there
not many sicknesses so cunning in their coming and going,
so endowed with forethought as never to invade a week-
day, but to appear with the dawn of Sabbath and dis-
appear on its evening? Is it not a law of our nature
that difficulties grow with indulgence, and if weather
regulate church-going, other barriers will soon make them-
selves be felt irregularity followed by long pauses, and
298 PAUL AT TROAS.
ending in utter spiritual remissness and death. Does not
such fluctuation in duty deprive one of the divine promise,
and may it not rob him of the very word which was
adapted to his benefit? And if heaven is an eternal
Sabbath for which this recurring Sabbath prepares, how
can any one hope to enjoy it who cries out as to "the
weariness " of the periodical rest on earth who finds not
exceeding luxury in social worship, or who regards not
the day which God has blessed and sanctified as the
happiest, holiest day of all the seven ?
" Light of light ! enlighten me,
Now anew the day is dawning ;
Sun of grace ! the shadows flee,
Brighten Thou my Sabbath morning.
With Thy joyous sunshine blest,
Happy is my day of rest!
" Kindle thou the sacrifice
That upon my lips is lying ;
Clear the shadows from my eyes
That, from every error flying,
No strange fire within me glow,
That Thine altar doth not know.
" Let me with my heart, to-day,
Holy, holy, holy, singing,
Rapt awhile from earth away,
All my soul to Thee up-springing,
Have a foretaste inly given
How they worship Thee in heaven.
" Hence all care, all vanity,
For the day to God is holy ;
Come, Thou glorious Majesty,
Deign to fill this temple lowly :
Nought to-day my soul shall move,
Simply resting in Thy love ! "
THE INSPIRED MEN OF THE THEOCRACY. 299
" And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples
came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them,
ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech
until midnight." Paul preached unto them the Trojan
church. Preaching was his function. It was the high
office to which he had been set apart by Him whom He
preached. The inspired men under the Old Testament
did not preach. They proclaimed the will of God in
a variety of forms. Moses enacted statutes, prescribed
duty, and predicted national results, as patriot and legis-
lator ; Joshua, after his sword was sheathed, swore the
nation to fidelity ; Samuel judged and taught with divine
authority; David sang as saint and king, and gave
utterance to emotions common to the church in every
age ; Elijah challenged and battled for God in days of
idolatrous degeneracy ; Solomon embodied his experience
in pithy and pointed sentences each as a ll nail fastened
in a sure place " and even in that book where he calls
himself " the preacher," he declaims chiefly on the vanity
of human pursuits and enjoyments. The prophets as a
body portrayed present obligation and future crises. The
burdens pronounced by Isaiah ring over Babylon, sweep
through the wilderness, and are borne up the Nile.
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel interest themselves with
national affairs and theocratic history and relations. Oba-
diah seals the fate of Edom, and Haggai and Malachi
censure the selfishness of their age. These old seers
foretold Messiah, but did not exhibit Him ; they pictured
Him, but did not preach Him. Their style is often dark
in its gorgeous drapery. Figure and hyperbole, sudden
300 PAUL AT TROAS.
changes and dramatic visions distinguish them. Now it
is the warlike note of a trumpet, and now it is the wail of
a dirge ; now it is a peal of thunder, and now a night of
woe and havoc ; and now a flood of that " unearthly lustre
which ne'er was seen on sky or shore." But the apostle
preached taught the simplest truths in direct and plainest
shape, threw around them no embellishment, but placed
them under clear sunlight, so that each might perceive
and comprehend them. He spoke not of the fortunes of
nations, but of churches ; detailed not the annals of king-
doms, but strove to make each man's history an image of
Christ's, dating from a new birth and opening into life
eternal. His work was with souls their condition and
duty ; and he portrayed the one and enforced the other so
lucidly and fully, that each saw himself in the portrait,
and recognized his obligation in the appeal
The Greek critic Longinus says, " that Saul of Tarsus,
as an orator, was the first who excelled in undemonstrated
statements," which probably may be taken by us as mean-
ing that he spoke and wrote with such a consciousness of
truth, that he did not reason out his assertions as if they
might be doubted, or state premises and draw formal syllo-
gistic conclusions. His was no artificial rhetoric, elaborated
according to rule and method "We also believe, and
therefore speak." He threw out his glowing thoughts
rudely sometimes, but never feebly ; in broken sentences
and disorderly constructions, but ever with a force that
proved his sincerity, and tended to beget a sympathy
with his fervour. He who delivers an oracle must speak
very differently from a practised sophist. He who had
PREACHING HIS WORK AND WONT. 301
seen the Lord in glory could not tell of Him in tardy or
doubtful terms, could not waste his time in wading among
neutral questions, and could not speak as if he were pro-
pounding some philosophic novelty which needed a high
effort of logic and oratory to recommend it.
Paul preached unto them it had been his wont. It
was his usual mode of address. Wherever he found
himself he preached. If he travelled, it was to preach ; at
the stages where he rested he preached, and when he came
to the end of the journey he preached. No matter who
composed his audience the Jew or the Gentile, the
rustic or the intelligent, the philosophical people of Athens
or the debauched residents of Corinth he preached. He
never feared frown nor scourge, the sneer of the sophist
nor the senseless laugh of the profligate. Meet with
him where you will, you hear him preach. You do
not discover him surveying ruins or measuring temples,
admiring works of art, or mingling with the populace for
the sake of amusement, that he might smile at their follies
or learn their customs. You do not find him at Troas
exploring the scenes of the great legend, the " tale of Troy
divine," before which Achilles fought, Agamemnon ruled,
Ulysses counselled, and Ajax heaved his strength "the
bulwark of the Greeks " by the banks of the Simois and
Scamander. No; every man he beheld filled him with
sorrow and hope, for that precious soul was soon to pass
into the presence of the Judge. He saw him as Christ
saw him ; not as a Greek or a Jew, a rich man or a poor
man but a human being, guilty and helpless, to whom
salvation might be offered, and by whom it should be
302 PAUL AT TEOAS.
accepted ; saw his soul in its value and destiny undone
if unbelieving and urged him to accept Christ and His
cross. And therefore he preached, " warning every man,
and teaching every man in all wisdom."
Paul preached unto them; what else could he do?
Necessity was laid upon him " Yea, woe is unto me," says
he, " if I preach not the gospel." What other substitute
for preaching can be devised ? Ceremonial will not do ;
souls may perish in ignorance amidst genuflections and
music. Satire will not suffice. What effect had Juvenal
and Martial on their age, or on the world ? It is far from
being a perfect work to cast contempt on society for its
frivolous and unmanly attachments ; to expose the hollow-
ness of civilization, and call its pursuits a sham. To
exhaust the vocabulary of scorn and vituperation, or to
denounce with bitterest eloquence the want of faith and
sympathy, exposing what is evil, without pointing what is
good and wooing men to do it ; to throw gleams of ethereal
beauty over the darkest picture of man and his misery,
with the genius of a poet and the grim mood of a prophet,
and yet to open up no refuge for him, and ply him with
no arguments to rush into it is only to mock him to give
him a stone for bread when he is hungry. This is not the
preaching of the apostle. His was a nobler work. If
he cursed, he likewise blessed ; if he thundered, he also
wept; if he scathed and killed, he at the same time
brought life and health. It is no gospel to tell men what
they are, without showing them what they might be ; to
prove them dupes and wretches without pressing upon
them truth and blessing. One can conceive the glee of a
THE GLORY OF PREACHING. 303
fiend as he alternately frightened and soothed men
indulging in the work as a prime gratification for it did
no good, but only inflicted misery. But far different was
Paul. He taught salvation preached Christ ; showed the
path of glory ; never spoke of guilt without speaking of
the blood of expiation; never expounded our condition
without inviting us to deliverance ; or declared our destiny
without assuring us that life and immortality have been
brought to light. If preaching was the presentation of the
good news, what else could the apostle do than preach ?
Paul preached unto them; what better could he do?
Had he any other news which could be called good news,
or any other speculation fraught with spiritual power and
joy? Was there any salvation but by the cross any
other road to heaven but that by Calvary ? He had no
alternative gospel, and he allowed no choice. He might
have done many things might have prelected on Jewish
history or Grecian philosophy; delivered his views of
man's mental and moral nature; described what he had
passed through the peoples he had seen, and the scenes he
had visited ; how he had been lacerated by the scourge,
and tossed upon the billow ; delineated what was striking
in his experience of men and manners sometimes the
materials of a comedy, and oftener those of a tragedy ; or
he might have given readings from the bards of Judea,
or the orators and dramatists of Greece. But with such
employment never could he have saved a soul, or gathered
a church. Preaching far excels philosophy and oratory,
and yet it is genuine philosophy and living oratory. No
romance equals in wonder the story of the cross; no
304 PAUL AT TEOAS.
shapes of wonder have the divine style of Christianity;
and no mode of speaking can surpass, in pathos and pene-
tration, that of a man to his sinful fellows, on the themes
of God and eternity, Christ and heaven. A sermon is not
a harangue constructed so as to be praised for its depth,
its fancy, or its elaborate paragraphs ; nor is it a piece of
rhetoric to be executed before an admiring audience. The
preacher is not like Demosthenes declaiming on Mace-
donian invasion, Cicero on Catiline's conspiracy, Chatham
on continental hostilities, Burke on the French revolu-
tion, Pitt on democratic aggression, Fox on the repeal
of an obnoxious tax, Canning on the balance of power,
Brougham on slavery, or Peel on fiscal regulations. For he
has a higher aim than to repel the invader, and deliver
his country from change, turmoil, or tyranny a higher
aim than to emancipate the fettered, secure peace among
nations, or fill their harbours with ships and their ware-
houses with costly imports a higher aim than to raise
and enlighten the masses, loosen the shackles of com-
merce, and lighten the springs of industry, so that none
may stand "in the market-place idle" because no man hath
hired him, and every one hired be amply compensated for
bearing the " burden and heat of the day." These may be
the results, but they are not the end. While the preacher
may not withhold himself from the advocacy in its place of
any just and liberal measure having man's good in view
in any respect his aim stretches beyond all those aims ;
for they may be enjoyed, and yet the object of the gospel
not be realized.
Nor must he wait till those ends be secured. Shall
POWER OF THE GOSPEL. 305
the physician abnegate his function, and refuse to attend
the sick man till he is convalescent? The gospel does
not haughtily stand back from the slave, and refuse to
embrace him till his chain be broken, but it gives him
spiritual hopes and freedom in his captivity. It does not
pause at the frontier of a nation groaning under tyranny,
but it enters and gives its liberty to the oppressed. It
meets man in any condition, and cheers and blesses him.
It needs not civilization to precede it. It does not require
that man shall have all that earth can give him, ere it turn
his hope to heaven. No ; as it finds him, it appeals to him
and bids him believe it. Still, though it be independent of
external influences, its results are all of an ennobling
character, and it gives stability to education, liberty,
government, and commerce. The advancement of man's
spiritual good tends to elevate his temporal condition.
It gives him the consciousness of being a child of God and
an heir of immortality, and teaches him to act in no sense
inconsistently with his dignity and prospects. It leads its
disciple to glory, but forgets him not on his journey toward
it. His title to heaven enables him to assert his posi-
tion on earth. Christ has bought him, and why should he
be the slave of man ? If he can be free, he will " use it
rather." He may not at all times succeed, but, though
the day of his death be the first day of his emancipation,
he has been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, and
he enters into rest. Is not this the glory of the gospel,
that it salutes man everywhere and in every condition?
It is not ashamed of his fetters, nor repelled by the colour
of his skin. It shrinks not from the gloom of the dungeon,
U
306 PAUL AT TEOAS.
or the dreariness of the work-house, and revolts not at the
bleeding couches of the hospital. It is neither awed by
a coronet, nor shamed away by the bared and cold hoari-
ness of age. It offers itself as freely to him in purple and
fine linen in the mansion, as to him who is huddled in
rags at the gate. It crosses the frontier and laughs at the
sentinel's bayonet ; it has its good centurions in the army ;
it enters the barrack in spite of its dissipation ; its sunshine
fills the cottage; nay, it "is found in kings' palaces,"
and it triumphs in the midst of licentiousness and blood
"They that are of Caesar's household salute you."
Paul preached unto them what better could the apostle
do than preach ? preach with all that power which distin-
guished him, as well as with that knowledge and applica-
tion of the scripture, that keen insight into human nature,
that perfect mastery of motives, that entire self-abnegation,
and that earnest and repeated pressing of his theme upon
his audience, for life and death were at stake by which
his reported addresses are characterized. He was unpre-
tending, indeed, in appearance, feeble in health, and agitated
by the various passions of his soul ; his strength was in
his frailty; "his speech was contemptible," "rude," as he
admits, possibly in accent and gesture, but glorious in its
theme, and mighty in the faith and fervour of him who
employed it
" Weary souls by thee are lifted ;
Struggling souls by thee are strengthened ;
Cloud of fear asunder rifted ;
Truth from falsehood cleansed and sifted ;
Lives like days in summer lengthened."
It may be inferred from the narrative, that, as an apostle,
307
lie presided at the ordinance of the Supper. How memo-
rable such a scene in that church on the night when Paul
broke the bread of life in the Master's name, and gave
thanks over it after the Master's example ! From the lips of
that weak and worn-out traveller, what words of truth and
power would flow! How he would speak of the death of
Christ he who had himself been "crucified with Christ!"
With what impressive power he would revert to the scenes
of the last sufferings the agony in the garden, the capture
and trial, the sentence and the scourging, the procession to
the cross, and the torture endured upon it, till He "bowed
His head and gave up the ghost ! " How he would glow
as he spoke of that love which the Kedeemer displayed
in dying for lost souls ; of the meekness of His character
and the openness of His heart ; of the tears He shed, and
the wise and affectionate words which He uttered ; of the
deeds of mercy He did, and the pure and fascinating life
which He led ! How his heart would melt, and his accents
thrill, as he repeated the words " Take, eat ; this is my
body." How he would speak, as he felt from the deeps
of his own enraptured experience, words of electric power,
stirring those whom he addressed into kindred emotion.
The eating of bread and drinking of wine betoken a
feast and a family circle. Might not the apostle dilate on
that love which Christians should display to one another
each loving the image of Christ praying for one
another's welfare, and striving together for it ; drawing the
bonds of the gospel closer round them ; "kindly afFectioned
one to another" "in honour preferring one another?" O
what a cheering banquet it must have been, with the
308 PAUL AT TKOAS.
principal part of the conversation sustained by Paul, on
his last journey to Jerusalem, and under the solemn im-
pression that his career was drawing to a close. The
fragrance and softness of heaven would breathe in his
words, as he counselled the communicants to remember
Jesus, to grow in faith on Him, to pray for more likeness
to Him, to serve Him yet more devotedly, and suffer for
Him yet more joyously to bear Him in their hearts, and
manifest Him in their lives.
The apostle "continued his speech till midnight"- the
interview, as being the last, was naturally prolonged. There
were "many lights in the upper chamber" the moon was
but young and the assembly cared not though they were
seen of all men. A young man seated on the bottom of the
unclosed window became overpowered with sleep, and fell
into the court from the " third loft," in which the upper
room was situated. But the consternation at this fearful
incident was hushed at once, when Paul, acting like Elisha,
" went down and fell on him, and, embracing him, said,
Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him" as restored
to him by miracle. After the miracle the conversation was
renewed, and carried on till the morning broke upon the
heights of Ida : then the sad farewells were exchanged
" so he departed.'*
XIV. PAUL AT MILETUS.
ACTS xx. 1738.
ON leaving Troas, the companions of the apostle took
shipping for Assos, and left him to walk to that town
by land. The distance is twenty-four Roman miles, and
we do not know why the apostle preferred a solitary
pedestrian journey, but we are told, "for so had he
appointed, minding himself to go afoot." No doubt he
wished to be as long with the Trojan converts as possible,
and he saved himself a tedious voyage, as the vessel had
to round the promontory of Lectum before it reached
Assos. He met his company at Assos, and embarking
with them " came to Mitylene," the capital of Lesbos, a
voyage of about thirty miles. The next day they were
" over against Chios," the modern isle of Scio ; the follow-
ing day they arrived at Samos, remaining for the night
at Trogyllium, and on the morrow they came to Miletus, a
seaport about thirty miles from Ephesus. The reason why
the apostle did not visit the latter city is thus given
"For Paul had determined to sail by 7 ' that is, past
" Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia ;
for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jeru-
salem the day of Pentecost."
The apostle could not go himself to Ephesus, either
lest his presence should be the occasion of another tumult,
310 PAUL AT MILETUS.
or lest his journey to Jerusalem should "be retarded, and
his arrival before Pentecost rendered impossible ; nor could
he summon the entire church to him, as such a large con-
course might have excited suspicions, and led to dangerous
consequences. But he convened the elders, as the rulers
and representatives of the church, and delivered them his
counsels. His very words seem to have been preserved,
and thus he spoke " Ye know yourselves, from the first
day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been
with you during the whole time, serving the Lord with
all humility, and with tears and trials befalling me through
the plots of the Jews ; how I have kept back none of the
things which are profitable to you, so as not to tell and to
teach you in public and from house to house, testifying
both to Jews and also to Greeks repentance towards God
and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. And now,
behold, I go bound in spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing
the things about to encounter me there: save that the Holy
Ghost testifies to me from city to city that bonds and
afflictions await me (in Jerusalem). But I hold my life of
no account, not even so precious to myself as to finish
my course with joy, to wit the ministry which I have
received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the
grace of God. And now, behold, I know that you all,
among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, shall
see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to witness
this very day that I am clear from the blood of all ; for I
have not kept back from declaring to you the whole counsel
of God. Take heed to yourselves, therefore, and to all
the flock in which the Holy Ghost has made you over-
WARNING AND FAEEWELL. 311
seers, to feed the church of God which He has purchased
with His own blood. I know that after my departure
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the
flock. And also out of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverted things, so as to draw away disciples
after them. Therefore watch, remembering that, for the
space of three years, night and day I ceased not with
tears to warn every one of you. And now, brethren, I
commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, even
to Him who is able to build you up, and give you an
inheritance among all them that are sanctified. Silver, or
gold, or raiment of no one did I covet. Ye yourselves
know, that to my wants, and to those who were with me,
these hands ministered. In all ways (by example as well
as by doctrine) I showed you that it is bounden on you so
to labour as to support the helpless, to remember, too, the
words of the Lord Jesus, that Himself said i It is more
blessed to give than to receive/ "
312 PAUL AT MILETUS.
INTRODUCTORY APPEAL TO THE PAST HIS FIDELITY.
The apostle begins by appealing to their own experience
of himself. His whole conduct was patent to them " Ye
know from the first day that I came unto Asia after what
manner I have been with you at all seasons " the entire
time. His object is not to glorify himself, or so to picture
his life as to induce their admiration, as if they had not