Fourth Week, verse 32-38. Cornelius continues his reasons for sending for Peter; Peter begins to preach Christ to them. Verse 31. "Thy prayer is heard." We may gather from this, that this message was an answer to prayer; and if so, we may suppose that it was sent up for further light into the way of salvation, which he felt his need of. This, with every other instance of grace, illustrates that text, "the path of the just is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Prov. iv. 18. Verse 34, Romans ii. 2., and St. Peter's own words when accused by the Jews of eating with persons uncircumcised, Acts xv, 9, illustrate this. His mouth had before been shut to a Gentile sinner, now God had opened his eyes to see that there was no longer with God any respect, to Jew more than Gentile. Verse 35. The case of Cornelius illustrates this; as one fearing God and working righteousness he was accepted of him; that is, his prayer was regarded, according to Rom. x. 12, 13, yet a preacher of the Gospel was needed to instruct him in that faith whereby he alone could be saved. Rom. x. 14. PRAYER. O THOU, who didst send thine Apostle Peter to preach peace by Jesus Christ to Cornelius, we praise thee that thou hast not left us to grope our way in darkness, but by the same blessed name hast guided our feet into the way of salvation. Blessed Jesus, who art "Lord of all" thy family, extend, we beseech Thee, thy dominion amongst the thousands in every quarter of the world that join with us in learning this thy word. If any are seeking after thee in much ignorance, oh! send thy ministers to publish to them the glad tidings of Gospel light and salvation; if any are trusting in their prayers and alms, oh! shew them their false security; direct them to thine only name;-and let all that know thy salvation, give the praise to thee who hast loved them and washed them from their sins in thine own blood, and made them Kings and Priests unto God, even thy Father, for ever and ever. "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High."-Psalm xlvi. 4. THERE is a river, from whose source The gentle rills of comfort flow; And sacred duties mark the road. The faithful soul, the contrite heart,* Through life's oft clouded, varied scene, The glories of the realms of light. * Isaiah lvii. 15. +1 Kings viii. 10. 11. Rev. H. A. SIMCOE, (Penheale-Press,) Cornwall. od nob Se&ivino ei bose odd tadi feronse ni SEED-TIME. MARCH may justly be called the seed month. The Sower now goes forth, and anxiously commits his precious treasure to the ground, in the full assurance that the vegetative powers of nature will reward him for his labour thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold. The operation of sowing is indeed simple and common; but does the husbandman ever stop to consider the inexplicable change his seed must undergo before his expectations can be realized? A moment's reflection will be sufficient to shew that the vegetation of seeds D is one of nature's wonders, or rather of nature's God: for, as an old writer observes, 'nature is nothing less than the order of the divine works.' Let us imagine, if we can, a man who had never seen this order exemplified in this particular instance, and he would be just as ready to disbelieve that plants and trees could spring from seed cast into the earth, as we are to calculate upon the certainty of the fact. What resemblance is there indeed between the future plant, and the seed from which it springs? How little could mere reason, without experience, venture to predict the result that follows from a few handfuls of grain scattered over the soil! What if we adopt the supposition of some Naturalists, and imagine that each seed contains the embryo, or image, of the future plant? What if it should be true, that the acorn is only the gigantic oak in miniature? How does this lessen the difficulty of understanding this natural miracle; and why may we not as well believe, with mankind in general, that the seed is only a seed, a mere rudiment or principle, which acquires by degrees all the properties and forms which it afterwards becomes possessed of. After all that might be said or written on this subject, St. Paul's conclusion is the best and wisest, "God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." Interesting as it might be to understand something further of this mystery of the natural world, it is of more importance to remark the beneficial consequences of this operation, and to be thankful to that providential wisdom which so orders it that when a man has cast his seed into the ground, it springeth up and groweth night and day, he knoweth not how. The practical use then to be made of this mystery, is to learn another lesson of dependance upon God. We have only to watch how much of the operations of vegetation the Creator still keeps, as it were, in his own hand, to have a forcible commentary upon that petition, "Give us this day our daily bread." Surely that man who does not draw near to God whilst engaged in those operations which especially require his blessing, and which cannot fail to remind him how many things must work together for his good, if indeed he obtains the end he seeks for, is more ungrateful and inexcusable than even the heathen. They (to use the words of the pious Flavel) when they went to plough in the morning, laid one hand upon the plough to speak their own part to be painfulness, and held up the other hand to Ceres, the supposed Goddess of Corn, to shew that their expectation of plenty was from their supposed deity."* But if in natural operations, we ought continually to remember who it is that giveth the increase, in spiritual things our duty is not less plain and striking. The success of the Gospel is compared by Christ to a grain of mustardseed, "which is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, so that the birds The same excellent writer, remarks That it is to be feared many Christians lay both hands to the plough, and seldom lift up heart or hands to God when about that work.' He gives us also the following pithy anecdote, which we especially commend to the agricultural reader's notice. There was a husbandman that always sowed good seed, but never had good corn; at last a neighbour came to him and said I will tell you what probably may be the cause of it-you do not steep your seed. No truly, said the other, nor did I ever hear that seed must be steeped. Yes, surely, said his neighbour, and I will tell you how-it must be steeped in prayer.'-See Husbandry Spiritualized, chap. 9. |