every thing that partakes of HIM; no countenances, no flowers, in the natural world, and no two Saints are found alike. A different grace and virtue is set before us in each. Fortitude in St. Stephen; love in St. John; earnestness in St. Peter; watchfulness in St. Andrew; in St. Matthew, freedom from covetousness; in St. James the Less, holy severity; in St. Bartholomew, guilelessness; in St. Luke, mercifulness; in the Baptist, mortification; in St. Paul, forgetfulness of self; in St. Barnabas, renunciation of worldly goods; in St. James the Great, a desire to be hid with GOD in the blessed Virgin, purity of heart. "But all these worketh that One and the self-same SPIRIT, dividing to every man severally as He will." Among those Saints of God which are solemnly recorded in the eleventh chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, in every one, in various shapes, faith is tried, but in each, with circumstances perfectly different; a different character, different temptations, a different course; each bears his own Cross, differing from that of another; each one may furnish to us lessons of Wisdom.

This is the "cloud of witnesses" with which we are encompassed day by day, in running the race that is set before us: they behold us in the midst of the same trials which they once underwent; with the same propensities to evil which they overcame; and with the same difficulties and temptations from without, besetting our path; and the same LORD to look to, as "the Author and Finisher of our faith."

In the meanwhile, for a short time, we are hurried from scene to scene, from hope to fear, from fear to hope, by an awful Hand that we see not; and then we are suddenly taken one by one away to appear before that Eye which has most narrowly watched us all the while, though we thought not of it.

SERMON CCCXVIII.

FEAST DAYS OF THE APOSTLES.

ST. LUKE xxii. 28, 29.

"Ye are they which have continued with ME in My temptations.

"And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My FATHER hath appointed unto ME."

If there is any one whom we greatly revere and love, we are particularly desirous to know what passes between him and his most intimate friends.

But it is for far higher reasons that we feel a very great interest in learning what took place between our Blessed LORD and those chosen few who shared His most intimate society in the flesh; and not only that, but who were commissioned, as it were, to stand in His own place upon earth, when He departed from it -His own Apostles and Disciples.

And it so happens, that a great part of what we read in the Gospels is the account of what thus occurred, not publicly before all the people, but privately between our LORD and these, His chosen companions, and, as He was pleased to call them, His friends. It is, indeed, highly interesting and instructive to trace out how our Blessed LORD dealt with them; the manner in which He first drew them to the society and knowledge of HIMSELF; the different ways in which He dealt with each of them according to their characters; His long forbearance with them in their ignorance

and slowness of faith; His gradual preparation of them for the high trust He was about to commit to their charge; and many other particulars, which will, from time to time occur to us as we trace out the account of His gracious intimacy with them.

Now that part of the history which we are chiefly apt to notice, is the first call of the disciples, when, as we read, He saw them -four of them—mending their nets on the sea-shore, for they were fishermen ; these were St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. James the Great, whom we commemorate on this day, and John, the beloved disciple. There is also another of whose calling we read, when he was engaged in his lucrative occupation, by the same lake, as a tax-gatherer-Matthew the Publican. Of all of which it is said, that when He called them, they forsook all, and followed HIM.

But then we are not to suppose, that when they thus instantly obeyed the call, and followed our LORD, that they saw HIм now for the first time. For St. John tells us in his Gospel, how it was that they first became acquainted with our LORD; it was not in this their native country of Galilee,—but in Judea, many months before, when they were attending on the teaching of John the Baptist; and John pointed out to them the LAMB OF GOD. Indeed, they were at that time themselves disciples of the Baptist―true disciples, no doubt, practising repentance, and made fit to see the Salvation of GOD. Andrew and John then went and stayed the whole day with our Blessed LORD, and the next day brought Peter also to HIM. St. Philip also and Nathanael were at the same time made acquainted with our LORD, and acknowledged in HIM the great power of God.

After this occasion, we read of the disciples being with CHRIST at the marriage feast at Cana of Galilee, where the water was made wine. So that, before they were called at the lake of Galilee, they were made fit for our LORD by His forerunner, the Baptist; and they had themselves witnessed His miracles, and been partakers of His heavenly instructions. It was in consequence of all this that they were so ready to obey His call, and to give up all things for His sake.

Another circumstance we must also remember with regard to this calling, that it was not on this occasion, when they were summoned to attend HIM, as HE found them by the lake, that they

were appointed to be Apostles, but only disciples; for an Apostle means one sent forth to teach; but a disciple, only a follower. It was some time afterwards that our LORD appointed them Apostles or Ministers of the Gospel. We read, that He went up into a mountain, and spent the night in prayer; and when it was day, He called for the disciples, and out of them HE appointed twelve to be Apostles. And some time afterwards, He sent forth also seventy other persons to prepare the way before HIM. Thus did our LORD constitute the three orders in His Church, as it had been of old in the law of Moses, and as it has been ever since in the Church; for HE HIMSELF was as the Bishop, and His Apostles as the Priests; and the seventy, who were afterwards sent forth, as the Deacons, or the third order.

But it was with these twelve Apostles that our LORD lived more especially in the closest intimacy, during His earthly ministry. We may observe, that many of His discourses were addressed to them alone; such as the explanation of those parables which He had delivered in public to the multitude; and the account of the end of the world, and the day of Judgment, in the latter part of St. Matthew's Gospel, which seems to have been to only four of the Apostles. And the appointment of the Holy Communion, and all the heavenly discourses which our LORD delivered on that occasion, were only in the presence of the twelve. So many of our LORD's words upon earth were only delivered to these favoured few.

And not only discourses, but some of the miracles also, seem only to have been done for the sake of some of the Apostles. Such was that miraculous draught of fishes recorded by St. Luke; such was our LORD's walking on the sea, and quieting the storm, and withering the barren fig-tree by His Word, and, probably, many others. And these miracles were doubtless not only a proof of our LORD's Power, but also a kind of teaching like the parables. What lesson, for instance, ever could have taught them trust in CHRIST for their bodily sustenance and support, when they gave up all things for His sake, so powerfully as that miracle of the fish that were taken at His Word? What could have set before them in so lively a manner as that miracle did, their great calling as fishers of men,-that ministry whereby the souls of men were to be brought into that Church, which was to

depend altogether on His Word, and the power of His Almighty Grace, by means of which they would succeed at last? What, again, could have fixed on their hearts and memory so deeply the heavy judgment which our LORD was going to show on guilty Jerusalem, as that destruction of the fig-tree? In like manner we may observe, that our LORD's miracles all contained some lesson of instruction. And thus did He graciously lead them by little and little to trust in His power, and believe in HIM, preparing them for the great trials they were to undergo; and even now, no doubt, great were the trials and difficulties which encompassed them, from the malice and persecution of the Jews, in following their despised and hated MASTER. In all these things, we can see how tenderly and carefully our LORD was training and teaching them; like as an eagle who takes her young ones on her wings, and by little and little teaches them to fly; to which the holy Moses has likened this gentle dealing of ALMIGHTY GOD'. And thus we find that our LORD sent them forth on a mission to preach and heal the sick in His Name, without purse or any provision for their journey, in order to show them how miraculously and carefully He would sustain them. And to this circumstance He afterwards alluded, when He was going to leave them; He appealed to them, and asked them if it had not been the case, that when thus sent forth in need of all things, they had actually wanted nothing to supply all their necessities. But then, when He was going to leave them, and their faith was confirmed,-HE told them that they must provide themselves with all these things, having the same faith in HIM, but taking natural means for their support like other Christians 2.

Indeed, much of our LORD's conduct in the Gospels, appears to have been intended for this gradual training of the Apostles, dealing gently with them until they were able to undergo greater trials. Thus we find that the great part of our LORD's ministry consisted in His flying from place to place, to avoid the persecution of the Pharisees, who were bent on killing HIM; so that His life itself, as well as His death, appears to have been a living sacrifice. Thus it was during the last year of His life especially; He fled

1 Deut. xxxii. 11.

2 Luke xxii. 35, 36.