First, the selection.

"They appointed two.' Why two is not stated. It is a possible circumstance, though I will not say that it is the fact, that these were the only two who fulfilled the requirement of St. Peter of having gone all the time in and out with Jesus from the ceasing of John's ministry till Christ's ascension. It strikes me forcibly that this was the reason of the number being confined to two only. By the 21st and 22nd verses you will observe the requirement: 'It is therefore necessary of the men who accompanied us all the time in which the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, having begun from the baptism of John until the day in which He was taken up, that one of these become a witness with us of His resurrection.' Whether, however, this was the reason or not, two were appointed, and two only. Having fixed the number, they prayed for divine guidance; that God, who knew the heart of all men, would indicate which was the one to be elected in the place of Judas; in order that the one so elected might go to his proper place or office, and take his part in the ministry and apostleship of the twelve, filling up that office from which Judas departed. And having thus prayed they proceeded to the choice, and as stated by lot. Why, we cannot say. Whether it was of their own motion that they did it, or whether they had any command to proceed in this way from the Lord Jesus, or any revelation upon the subject, we cannot say. To decide a matter by lot was not an unfrequent practice among the Jews, and had been instituted by Divine command in reference to certain things.* The most simple way of choosing or deciding a thing by lot was to put two stones, or some other substances, with the names of persons inscribed on them, into an urn, or something of the kind, and after prayer to put in the hand and draw out one of the lots, and then the case was decided. Whether this was the plan adopted on this occasion, we cannot say; but whether it was, or was not, all present intended the plan adopted to be decisive, and accepted it as a solemn appeal to God to decide the question as to which of the two was to be appointed. And the decision was agreeable to all. It was no sooner known that the choice had fallen upon Matthias than it was assented

* Num. xxvi. 55; Josh. xiii. 6; Judg. xx. 9; I Chron. xxiv. 5; John, xix. 24.

to by all-viewed as God's appointment, and the matter concluded. The lot,' it is said, 'fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.' We have in this an illustration of a passage in the book of Proverbs: 'The lot is cast into the lap: but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.' God Himself, too, further sealed the choice on the day of Pentecost, by sending down the Holy Spirit in His miraculous influence and power upon Matthias as well as upon the eleven other Apostles; a plain intimation that the whole had met with His entire approbation, and was from Himself.

Now, having referred to this incident in the proceedings of the Apostles and disciples of Christ during the days which intervened between the ascension of Christ and the day of Pentecost, namely, the choice of Matthias to fill up the vacancy which occurred by the defection of Judas in the apostolic number, we return to the course which the Apostles and disciples pursued during those days, and would have continued, without break by any business, had it not been for the necessity of filling up the apostolic number in the appointment of Matthias in the place of Judas. And that course is pointed out in the 14th verse, 'These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.'

Now with reference to this we have, first, to consider the place of assembly. Where was it that they thus continued in prayer and supplication? Not in a splendid building, in a place of elaborate architecture, beautifully conceived and expensively carried out. No; but in an upper room of some house in Jerusalem. They returned into Jerusalem from Mount Olivet the 12th verse tells us. And then, in the 13th verse, it is stated: And when they were come in, they went up into the upper room where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphæus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.' It appears from this, I think, that it was the lodging apartments of the Apostles while they stayed in Jerusalem. At whose house no one knows. The fact has never been definitely recorded. It evidently belonged to some one who loved the Saviour, to whom His name was dear, and who was not ashamed to acknowledge those upon whom He had conferred, and was about to confer, abundant honour. It is possible that it was the very room

selected by our Lord to hold the feast of the passover in with His disciples before He suffered! The disciples came to Jesus,' it is said, 'saying unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the passover? And He said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, My time is at hand: I will keep the passover in thy house with My disciples. And he will show you a large upper room furnished; there make ready.' It might have been, perhaps, at this man's house where the Apostles went on their return from the Mount of Olives, and where they sojourned while in Jerusalem, and where the great event happened which took place on the day of Pentecost. But wherever it was, and at whosesoever house it was where the Apostles lodged, the proprietor of the house was honoured in receiving such men into it; and doubtless he partook of the blessing which in a short time was to be poured out upon those who were assembled in it, realizing the truth of the Scripture which says, 'Them that honour Me, I will

honour.

And the disciples retiring to a private room to hold their meeting for divine worship, and communion the one with the other, was an omen almost of what would afterwards take place at different periods with the after-disciples of the Lord Jesus, in their retiring to private rooms, caverns, and secret places, to hold communion with one another, and to worship Him whom their souls adored. It is not the case in this country now, but it has been, and in many other countries also. When times of persecution have come over the church the followers of the Son of God have sought hidden places where they might meet together to read God's word, to hear it preached, to exhort and edify one another, and offer up their prayers to Him on whom they depended, and to whom they looked for support and comfort under their times of trial. The first three centuries witnessed scenes of this kind without end under heathen governments, and similar scenes have been witnessed in myriads of instances under the reign of Antichrist. Times, however, have changed: scenes of this kind have generally passed away, and the followers of Christ may generally sit under their own vine and fig-tree, none daring lawfully to make them afraid.

In the upper room, however, mentioned in the text, there were present with those assembled it would seem

some women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brethren. As Joseph is not mentioned with them, it is probable that he was dead, and that Mary was a widow at the time. And it may here be noticed that no mention is made of her in the Scriptures after the day of Pentecost; and, when it is said that the brethren of Jesus were there, it may not mean, perhaps, brothers literally, but relatives. Hence, in the 13th chapter of Genesis and 8th verse, Abraham is represented saying to Lot his nephew: Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we are brethren.'

But though only the persons we have mentioned appear to have been present with the Apostles on the occasion referred to, yet on other days more were assembled. Hence it is said, in the 15th verse, that on one of those days (that is, on one of the days intervening between the ascension of Christ and the day of Pentecost), when Peter stood up to address those assembled, there were one hundred and twenty disciples present. The room, therefore, must have been a large one to hold so many; and generally the upper rooms of private houses in Jerusalem were large, capable of holding a goodly number of persons.

He

But though we hear of only one hundred and twenty persons present when Peter addressed them, on the occasion referred to, we are not to suppose that Jesus had no other disciples, and that these were all. No, since, when He met His disciples in Galilee before His ascension, we read of there being present five hundred brethren at once. had not so many disciples in Jerusalem as in other parts. His labours throughout His ministerial course were chiefly away from Jerusalem, and that because of the hostility to Him of the chief priests and elders, they constantly seeking His destruction. But whoever were there, there was no jarring string among them: they were there with one accord,—they all had the same object in view, looked for the same thing, waited for the influence of heaven to descend upon them-for the Holy Spirit to be given them. This blessing they longed for; it was uppermost in their hearts. And they hoped for it, not only for themselves, but for the honour of Jesus and the good of others. As the thirsty ground gasps for showers, so these persons gasped, all of them, for this time of refreshing to come to them from the presence of the Lord. And they asked for

it, as well as desired it. It was not only in their hearts,. but on their lips: They all continued with one accord,' it is said, 'in prayer.' Their tongues uttered what they wished, but in what way it is impossible for us to say. They could not have had one set-form or mode of expression for them all to use at the same time. That is entirely out of the question: it could not be the case. It is possible that one might have succeeded another in offering prayer audibly, expressing his or her own views and feelings; and those being in unison with the views and feelings of the others, that they assented to what he or she uttered, and joined in his or her expressions, heart and soul, fervently but not loudly. We can scarcely suppose that day after day, through the days referred to, that they sat silent, without expressing their wishes and desires by lip and mouth. If they did not utter their prayers loudly, one after another in succession, then I conceive that they must have more or less been all praying at one and the same time, expressing their wishes with their lips, uttering with the mouth the feelings and desires of their hearts, but with reverence, with solemn awe, fervidly, but noiselessly. In this case, had we been present and seen the collected assembly, we should have seen each one engaged in communion with God, heard a fervid breathing-forth of the feelings of the heart, and witnessed devotion, adoration, hope, love, all founded on the firm belief in the promise of Christ, depicted on every countenance, each person not regarding anything in connection with his neighbour, but personally engaged with God. Such a scene was never witnessed before, and probably never will be again: nothing, perhaps, will ever resemble it till the time when the church of Christ shall be presented to Himself ‘a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish,' and when there shall arise the united exclamation from all, Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

Amen.'

But those assembled thus together in the upper room in Jerusalem referred to in my text not only continued as we are told in prayer, but in supplication: 'These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.' Now