charges, or all elements and results of guilt. And not
only there is absolution from guilt, but the absolved is
treated as righteous, or is reinstated in the Divine favour.
Blessed truth ! not acquitted only, and left with a brand
upon him, but regarded as if sin had never been com-
mitted ; freed from the penalty, and also accepted by the
righteous Judge. This justification is in Him, and
through what He has done, the righteousness He has
brought in, and the sufferings He has endured. But it
is not a blessing thrown upon the world at large, like the
gifts of Providence of which all are partakers. It is pos-
sessed only by " all who believe." Every citizen of Israel
had it not, though a Saviour had been raised up in Israel.
In former times of deliverance, when the sword had been
102 PAUL AT ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA.
uplifted to smite the oppressor, or a wise edict had been
promulgated, the entire community had felt the advantage
without individual effort or concern. But now only he
who believed was justified. There must be personal
recognition of the Saviour, and the conscious reception of
His claims.
The apostle does not stay to describe what belief is,
nor tell his audience what things were to be believed.
They were well aware of what they were summoned to
believe to wit, the address now delivered to them. Jus-
tification is promised to belief in the apostolic statement
as to Messiah, who was the Son of David, the embodi-
ment of ancient oracle, the fulfilment of divine promise,
and the realization of the nation's prayers and hopes.
" Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved." " He that believeth is saved." All spiritual
blessing depends on faith, for " with the heart man believ-
eth unto righteousness." How can any one who rejects
Christ, receive of Christ's ; how can he who spurns the
provider, expect to enjoy the provision? He comes with
gifts, but the unbelieving heart retorts " Thy gifts be to
thyself." It opens not to admit the Saviour, and excluding
Him, it of necessity shuts itself out from His salvation. It
cannot be otherwise. Sinners are not saved against their
will are not rapt upward in a fiery chariot from earth
to heaven. Their own consent is asked, and is given by
the exercise of faith. But any one may have this faith,
and every one who has it is justified every one in that
assembly whatever his rank or character without dis-
tinction of sins or classification of sinners. So broad is
JUSTIFICATION NOT BY LAW. 103
the apostle's statement " all who believe are justified " in
Jesus ; nay, more " justified from all things, from which
ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Not as if
there were some things from which the law of Moses could
justify, and others to secure justification from which it was
inadequate. The phrase is all things all elements of
charge or indictment; but from none of these could the law
of Moses secure acquittal. Christ justifies from all things
the law of Moses could justify from nothing. The cere-
monial law was a shadowy picture of things to come ; it
prefigured this justification, but figure is not substance.
It might absolve from the charge of ceremonial impurity,
yet " the blood of bulls and of goats " could not take away
sin. And the moral law, since it condemned fallen man, did
not and could not justify him; for though " ordained unto
life, it was found to be unto death." " What things soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God." " Cursed is every one that continueth
not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do
them. 7 ' Only he who should obey it perfectly, could hope
to be justified by it ; but " all have sinned." The law
discovers man's sinfulness, and the more its spirituality is
understood, the more awful will his guilt appear. Yet the
Jewish nation vainly hoped for justification by works ; in
its folly it sought life from a law which had wrought its
death.
The apostle thus brought his illustration to a point, at
which either faith or rejection would be developed. This
declaration of the incapability of the Mosaic law for justifi-
104 PAUL AT ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA.
cation, must have rasped across the mind of his hearers.
They gloried in the law, for it was their pride and orna-
ment ; and in obedience to it, they not only observed the
Sabbath, and had that day assembled in the synagogue, but
they also kept themselves distinct from heathen nations.
How they must have gazed when this bold stranger so
addressed them! His conclusion must have been a sad
disappointment. They had listened with delight, as he
recounted their ancestral glories and spoke of their great
heroes ; they must have marvelled, as he told them of a last
Saviour nay, one of David's lineage, who had died, but
now lives and lives for ever ; and they would eagerly
stretch forward to learn what deliverance eclipsing all
others was to be ascribed to Him. Their awakened fancy
may have painted a national resuscitation, before which
the scenes of the Exodus and of the return from Babylon
should be shorn of their lustre. What shall David's Son
God's Son the immortal Kedeemer, achieve for them ?
victory, when they should have the honour of binding
" kings in chains, and nobles in fetters of iron " redistri-
bution of power and territory, when judgment should be
given " to the saints of the Most High," and they should
" possess the kingdom " royal pre-eminence, when " the
forces of the Gentiles should come unto them " or equit-
able and benignant jurisdiction, when "the mountains shall
bring peace to the people, and the little hills by righteous-
ness ?" Such a picture may have been gradually gathering
before the mind of the synagogue, and assuming consistency
and colour, as they listened to the words " Be it known
unto you, men-brethren," when suddenly it was dashed by
DOOM OF UNBELIEF. 105
the announcement, that the issue of the whole was forgive-
ness of sins, and not only so, but their own law was underrated
and set aside. And has it come to this ? Is this really the
whole result after so glorious a prologue? They could
not bear it: chagrin and unbelief were too plainly seen
on numerous countenances. The speaker well knew what
emotions and conflict his words would create. He knew it
from himself, when, some time before, he heard Stephen
" speak blasphemous words against Moses," and soon after
consented to his death. And therefore, so warned, he con-
cluded with an awful fulmination. He did not implore or
argue ; he did not dissolve in tears ; he saw the impression
already produced on not a few of them, and he hurled against
them this tremendous menace " Beware therefore, lest
that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets ;
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish : for I work
a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise
believe, though a man declare it unto you."
The quotation referred originally to the invasion of
Palestine by the Chaldean armies. Such a devastation
appeared impossible to the men of that day; nor could
they for a moment imagine that the fane of Solomon
could or would be laid in ruin. Though they had been
repeatedly warned of that "work," they refused to credit
it. But God did work the work when the troops of
Nebuchadnezzar sacked the city, and burned the "holy
and beautiful house." A similar doom was impending
over Judea; the Komans were about to come and take
away their " place and nation." This destruction, though
told them, they would not believe. The Jews would not see
106 PAUL AT ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA.
their guilt in crucifying Jesus, and therefore could not forsee
their punishment. National sins bring national penalty,
and history is but a series of such retributions. The God
of nations is even now on His tribunal, and as nations have
no hereafter, and their organic existence is so brief and
uncertain, therefore are they judged and punished in the
present life. While the apostle warned his hearers that
the rejection of Messiah would assuredly bring upon the
nation its last and most terrible catastrophe, his present
audience might imagine that they should escape the
national havoc, bloodshed, and captivity, because, resident
in Antioch, they were so far from the scene. But these
ancient words had at the same time a personal reference to
them. If they were despisers, and a smile of derision
might be seen on the faces of some if they were wonder-
ing, and it were the surprise of incredulity if they did not
appreciate the apostle's message, and accept the forgive-
ness by faith in Christ which he had announced they must
perish. His message was strange, but true ; their refusal to
receive it was fatal ; and, " knowing the terror of the Lord,"
he endeavoured to persuade them. For, it is either forgive-
ness or endless misery awful alternatives. " He that
believeth is saved ; he that believeth not is condemned
already." The character man dies with is irreversible, lasts
for ever. What he is when he leaves the world, he is for
eternity. What an inducement now to believe ! Despise
not, wonder not, but believe and live. Threatenings of wrath
are no idle fulminations. " How shall we escape, if we
neglect so great salvation ?" And may not our nation take
the warning to itself ? What has been done to other people
THE EESULT. 107
may fall on it not, perhaps, physical evil, flood, or earth-
quake, but spiritual visitation.
" What, then ! were they the wicked above all,
And we the righteous, whose fast-anchored isle
Moved not, while their's was rocked like a light skiff
The sport of every wave ? No, none are clear,
And none than we more guilty. But, where all
Stand chargeable with guilt, and to the shafts
Of wrath obnoxious, God may choose his mark
May punish, if he please, the less, to warn
The more malignant. If he spared not them,
Tremble and be amazed at thine escape,
guilty England, lest he spare not thee."
We may now for a moment glance at the result.
According to the correct reading of the next verse, the
sense is " And they (that is, the apostles) having gone out,
they (that is, the rulers who had asked them to speak) be-
sought that these words might be preached to them the next
Sabbath;" or it may be, as the people were going out they
besought a request complied with, as is stated in verse 44.
More fully are we told in the next verse. " Now, when the
congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious
proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas : who, speaking to
them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God."
The sequence of events seems to be, that Paul and Barnabas
withdrew first, leaving the congregation still assembled,
though on the eve. of breaking up; and that as soon as
the meeting was formally dissolved, many groups of Jews
and proselytes made up to the speakers, had an interview
with them, and received an earnest exhortation to continue
in the grace of God to persevere in cherishing present
convictions as to the truth of the gospel and its being the
108 PAUL AT ANTIOCH IN PISID1A.
spiritual fulfilment of the old economy. " If ye continue
in my word," Christ had said, " then are ye my disciples."
During the week the excitement was great ; the novel
oration was the universal topic of reference and discussion ;
the two strangers would neither be silent nor inactive in
the interval; and the consequence was that when the
Sabbath came round, "almost the whole city" was gathered
to hear the word of God that new revelation which he had
vouchsafed to the world. The Jews could not bear the
spectacle ; indignation and jealousy filled them at the
apparent popularity of the new faith, as it supplanted theirs ;
and, true to their bigotry, they were found contradicting and
blaspheming opposing in a spirit of impious scorn. They
had a recognized superiority among the Gentile races from
their possession of a true and spiritual belief, and had won
over many converts. They could not tolerate the loss of
this prestige, and they must have been cut to the heart
that many of their own people and of the proselytes seemed
to be captivated. Their rage could not be vented in a
simple denial ; that denial must be barbed with vituperation
of the apostles, or a profane caricature of Him whom they
proclaimed. The scene kindled Paul and Barnabas, and
they spoke in holy boldness offered no apology, dealt in
no personalities, uttered no words of vindictive surprise or
impetuous recrimination. They solemnly declare that what
they had been doing, and were going to do more fully, was
warranted by the conduct of their Jewish antagonists, and
was in harmony also with God's own revealed purpose and
prediction. The Jews put away spurned the divine
message, or in the more awful phrase of the apostle, " Ye
JEWISH OBSTINACY. 109
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life." They
pronounced a fatal verdict upon themselves, since, by
refusing to accept salvation, they declared themselves not
worthy of it. Why, then, should it be longer held out
to them ? It was not ignorance, which might be excused ;
it was not doubt, which might be enlightened ; it was
not hesitation, which might be quickened: but it was
decided, violent, and defamatory refusal, which would
not profit by discussion, and put an end to all hope of a
happy change. This being your character and self-pro-
nounced doom, " lo, we turn to the Gentiles " not in other
countries still to be visited, but in this very city. They
began with the synagogue : two Sabbaths had they been
in it, but they felt at perfect liberty now to go to the
forum; to apply themselves at once to the gentile con-
science, and offer the gospel without respect of race or
blood. Their meaning is, not that they were to turn to the
Gentiles for the first time, nor was it a vow never to
labour again for the conversion of the Jews. Their con-
duct was in harmony with the inspired oracles " For so
hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be
a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation
unto the ends of the earth." The words are originally
applicable to the Messiah, but He and His are identified,
and an injunction laid upon the Head thrills in its power
to all the members. The light was to flash first upon the
Jews, but it was also to be carried to the Gentiles, bringing
the knowledge of salvation and life. No wonder that the
poor heathen were glad when they heard that they were not
to be excluded, but were formally embraced in the divine
110 PAUL AT ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA.
plan no wonder that they " glorified the word of the
Lord."
And the result was, that " as many as were ordained to
eternal life believed." The gospel spread with rapidity in
the district. But the enmity of the Jews could not be
appeased; the more the gospel prospered, the more ran-
corous grew their rage. They would not reason, nor yet
condescend to toleration ; but their ingenuity helped them.
They enlisted proselytesses of high rank, who employed
their influence over " the chief men of the city " to effect
the expulsion of the agitators. Women are rarely ranged
against the gospel. In its introduction high honour had
been conferred upon them. "Blessed art thou among
women," was Gabriel's salutation to the mother-maid;
" she hath done what she could," was the Lord's eulogy
on another Mary; and to a third, as she stood by his
tomb, and did not recognize her risen friend in the dim
light of the morning, he simply said "Mary," and the
familiar tone at once excited the joyous response, "Kab-
boni." Last at the cross, they were first at the sepulchre.
This attachment to Jesus was no temporary outburst ; it
remained after the ascension, and its influence has not
yet subsided. But these devout women heathen women
gained over to Judaism, formed an exception, and wrought
with female art against the preachers. A storm of persecu-
tion burst upon them, and on being driven out " they shook
off the dust of their feet against them " in obedience to
a solemn ceremonial which the Master had prescribed.
But the disciples left behind were not depressed; suffer-
ing and menace failed to overawe them; a divine source
SPIRITUAL GLADNESS. Ill
of gladness, which no earthly influence could shut, had
been opened within them they " were filled with joy
and with the Holy Ghost." The Divine Spirit was the
source of this joy. It might have been expected under
such a crisis, that they should be "cast down," even
though they adhered to their profession; it might have
been thought that fortitude and resignation was the highest
that could be anticipated of them. But they rose far
above this negative attitude, and were filled with joy.
It was not like a few scanty pools on a rocky beach after
the surge had retired; the tide overflowed the entire channel.
This emotion is independent of circumstances ; it is influ-
enced not by what is without us, but by what is within us.
Thus Jesus, on the eve of His own death, over its sacred
emblems, and in a scene of sorrow and sad farewells, said
to the eleven, " These things have I spoken unto you,
that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might
be full."
When shall such spiritual gladness fill the churches?
Why should our joy be so tardy and dull at best like a
gleam of sunshine through the clouds of a winter's day ?
Has not our privilege been continued without pause, and
is not the Spirit still promised? Or is it that the world
intervenes and the heart is distracted, and that its joys are
feeble because they are dissipated? The early church
rejoiced under persecution, for it brought them so close
to Jesus that no stranger intermeddled. In the midst of
surrounding gloom, they blessed and welcomed the radiance
which cheered them. The Spirit filled them, for there was
no rival ; He had their hearts all to Himself, and He took
112 PAUL AT ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA.
complete and undisturbed possession. Shall not our prayer
be Come down, Divine Gladdener, and enter our souls ?
Without Thee we are weary and languid. Others are
usurping Thy place, or labouring to share it with Thee ;
dispossess them, we entreat Thee, and fill us wholly and
always with Thyself. Let Thy presence lighten our bur-
dens and dispel our glooms. Lift us to rapture, as the
" power of the Highest" overshadows us. Open our hearts
to Thy genial influences, and let no night fall on them and
close them again. Let Thy absence be our moan, and
may we never grieve Thee so that Thou shalt depart. Let
there be in us no darkness to scare Thee ; no sensuality to
withstand and provoke Thee; no worldliness to compete
with Thee; no sullenness which will not yield at Thy
touch : so that we may sing the hallelujah in no cold and
constrained melody as we come into the possession of "joy
unspeakable and full of glory."
VI PAUL AT ICONIUM.
ACTS xiv. 1 5 ; 2 TIM. iii. 11.
ICONIUM was forty-five miles southeast from Antioch, and
was reckoned sometimes to Phrygia and sometimes to
Lycaonia. It was a city filled with a miscellaneous popu-
lation, like all the Greek cities of the east. Jews were
there, and, indeed, where were they not ? Greeks, too, were
numerous, and there might be some remnants of its earlier
or native people ; but all were placed under the controlling
power of Rome. The mode of evangelical operation was the
same here as at the city from which they had just been so
ungraciously expelled. They did not seek out new devices,
that they might incur less enmity ; or so modify their
message as to mitigate the repugnance which it might
create. But as usual, and without hesitation, they entered
the synagogue together, and addressed the assembled
audience. They would not fling off the Jews, though
the Jews had flung off them. They would not usurp
God's part, and judge them before the time ; for they had
drunk into the spirit of Him who had shed tears, the
last He shed for others, over doomed Jerusalem. They
would yet wrestle with Jewish obstinacy, though it so
often repelled and scorned them. They would try it
again and again, still again and yet once more, with unex-
hausted attachment and patience. They, therefore, repaired
H
114 PAUL AT ICONIUM.
to the Jewish meeting ; and, though the substance of the
address is not given, its result is briefly stated.
In this section the character and effect of the apostle's
eloquence are presented to us, and these we may briefly
consider. " They so spake, that a great multitude, both
of the Jews and also of the Greeks, believed." From
the effect produced, we can argue as to the oration deliv-
ered. These persons credited what the apostles uttered.
It is belief of evangelical truth which is ascribed to
them, and therefore we infer that evangelical truth had
been proclaimed to them. The address might be much the
same as that at Antioch, already recorded. They so spoke
in such a manner, that many believed. Therefore they
proclaimed the gospel as truth, and surrounded it with
such evidences that it commanded assent. The persons
addressed were not summoned to believe a romance or a
story without a voucher ; but the truth, armed with proof,
produced conviction and faith within them. And they
proclaimed the gospel as saving truth ; not as idle specula-
tion, or as common truth, which, though credited, has no
power over heart or life. No, they held it up as the only
means of safety, and pressed it on the conscience so ten-
derly and pointedly that "a great multitude" were brought
under its influence. Their minds accepted it on evidence,
and their hearts took it home as " the power of God and
the wisdom of God." Many of the Jews believed, therefore
the gospel must have been preached as the fulfilment of the
Old Testament; for the Jew would only receive it as in
unison with his scriptures, as verifying the oracle of the
prophet, and proving itself that reality which the priest and
JEWISH MALICE. 115
altar had so long foreshadowed. Many also of the Greeks
believed, and therefore the gospel must have been held out
to them as a divine testimony, and as the means of a sure
and immediate deliverance from sin and death.
And this belief was the end contemplated, the end for
which Paul and Barnabas spoke and suffered. To create
and sustain it was the one object of their oratory, and no
other effect would satisfy them. Every result coming
short of it disappointed and vexed them, for, without
faith, salvation was not secured, and on this their hearts
were set. To create a commotion, and be the observed of
all observers ; to excite wonder, and set the crowd on talking
about their addresses ; to be stared at, while they moved
from place to place, as tellers of the marvellous, as wander-
ing rhapsodists to such an unworthy motive they were
strangers. But even to impart information on their high
themes, to bring men's attention to God and his Son, to
stir up the careless to think of the soul and eternity,
simply to communicate knowledge or impart impression
such a result did not of itself suffice them. 0, no ; they
longed to give that instruction which, appreciated by the
intellect, should also be grasped by the heart, and to lodge
such convictions as should ripen into saving belief.
So soon as such an effect was produced, a sharp distinc-
tion between two parties was at once apparent. The Jews
might not be able to disprove the new religion, but they
could bring it and its adherents into disrepute. They
therefore so misrepresented the teachers in their motives or
actings, in their opinions or purposes, as to make the
"Gentiles evil-affected against" them. It might be easily
116 PAUL AT ICONIUM.
done by a bold caricature, satirical ingenuity, or direct
and unblushing falsehood. Whatever might be the pro-
cess, the result was that the unbelieving Jews "made
their minds evil-affected against the brethren " literally,
" made bad their souls " the brethren being the new con-
verts, whether of heathen or Hebrew extraction. This un-
principled opposition detained the missionaries to confront
it, and therefore "long time they abode " in Iconium. Such
was the amount of their success, and such the enmity it
had provoked, that they resolved to remain, to live down
the calumnies uttered against themselves, and to confirm
the disciples. And they spake boldly undismayed by the
danger. It was no cowardly and private interview that
they held, they did not crouch because threatening assailed
them. Nor did they exchange a verity for a perhaps,
descending from certainty to probability. Neither did they