thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 18 Verily, verily I say unto thee, When thou. wast young, thou didst gird thyself, and walk whither thou wouldest: but when thou art old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou 19 wouldest not. This he spake, signifying by what death he should glorify God.* And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, 20 Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, saw

the disciple whom Jesus loved, (who also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, 21 who is he that betrayeth thee?) When Peter

saw him following, he said to Jesus, Lord, 22 what of this man? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he remain till I come, what is that 23 to thee? Follow thou me. Then this report prevailed among the brethren, that that disciple should not die yet Jesus did not say unto him, He shall not die: but, If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to thee ?f 24 This is the disciple who testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we.. 25 know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they should be written every one,.

Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome, before John wrote this gospel.

The meaning of Christ was, either that John should live till he came in judgment to destroy Jerusalem, which was the fact or, that he should die a natural death, which was also true.

I

suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.* Amen.

* The world would not receive the books, &c. that is, would not credit them-by the world being meant the worldly-minded and irreligious. See chap. xvii. and 9th verse.

A CHRONOLOGICAL statement of the principal events in the life of Christ, according to the most learned critics; which may be of use in perusing his history, as given by the evangelists.

Sometime in the beginning of the year, after our Savior was twenty-eight, he was baptized by John, and retired for the space of forty days to the desert. Soon after he visited those places where John was exhorting, and two of his disciples followed our Lord. Not long after this event, he went into Galilee, and was at Cana, at a marriage, (probably of some family relation,) where he turned the water into wine. The first of March, he travelled into Capernaum, in the north of Galilee, and distant from Jerusalem about ninety miles. After preaching some weeks at Capernaum and vicinity, he went up to Jerusalem, which the fame of his miracles and doctrines had already reached. Here he drove the traders and brokers from the temple, and conversed with Nicodemus. He then left Jerusalem, and passed through the fields of grain on the sabbath, with his disciples, who gathered of the corn and did eat. In this journey, which was probably early in May,he visited Syehar and Cana, where he healed the nobleman's son. At the feast of Pentecost, he went again to Jerusalem, where he healed an infirm man; but soon departed, and left Judea for Galilee. And in

this part of the country he seems to have continued until the month of September. The last of this month was the feast of Tabernacles; and Jesus again visited Jerusalem. He here, at this period, restored a blind man to his sight. He then left Judea again, and preached more publicly and frequently in Galilee. He is rejected at Nazareth, the place of his youth and education. He goes to Capernaum and calls several of his disciples: heals ademoniac, or an insane person, and the mother of Peter's wife, &c. About this time, which was towards the close of the year, he delivered his sermon from the mount; healed a leper, returned to the lake of Gennesareth, (or sea of Galilee, as it is often called;) eured a demoniac, returned to Capernaum, restored the paralytic, and called Matthew. Soon after, he raised Jairus' daughter, designated his twelve disciples, and sent them out to preach his gospel. A few days from this, he raised the widow's son at Nain, and received a visit from the disciples of John, who came to inquire whether he was the Messiah. About this time also, he sent out the seventy to teach and preach through many parts of Judea. The ten lepers were also cured by him, and he visits Mary and Martha at Bethany. The feast of dedication approached, and he went again to Jerusalem. This was in December; and the Jews seeking to destroy him, he departed to Bethabara, near the Jordan, where he seems to have been joined by the twelve disciples-the beginning of January, A. D. 29, Jesus went to Bethany, near Jerusalem, where he raised Lazarus from the dead. About this time we may place the miracle of curing the man with a withered hand; after which he went again to the lake in Galilee, where he cured a dumb and blind demoniac,delivered the parable of the sower, &c. He then visited Nazareth : at which time Herod returned to Galilee. Our Lord then retired into Philip's territory, the most northern part of Judea, and fed the five thousand by a miracle,who were destitute of food. He preached in the synagogue at Capernaum and commenced his journey to the vicinity of Tyre and Sydon, (in Colo-Syria, or Phoenice,) on the coast of the Mediterranean and north of Judea. Returning from his journey, he miraculously fed the four thousand who were attending on his ministry. At Bethsaida, in Galilee, he gave sight to a About this time, (March,) his transfiguration

blind man.

took place, on mount Tabor. Again he went to Caper Laum: so that the people in this place frequently enjoyed the privilege of Christ's personal preaching, and yet believed not on him. A few days after he left Galileo for the last time-he entered Samaria, but altering his course, he visited Jericho, was entertained by Zaccheus, gave sight to blind Bartimeus, and arrived at Bethany-on Sunday, he went to Jerusalem-on Monday was the miracle of the fig-tree: and he also drove out of the temple the money changers and traffickers-Tuesday, he delivered several discourses-Wednesday, uttered the prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple-delivered some parables to his disciples, and supped at the house of Fimon. Thursday, he ate the passover with his disciples-Friday, was crucified.

PREFATORY REMARKS

ΤΟ

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

THIS history of the labors, journies and sufferings of the holy apostles is universally attributed to Luke, who wrote the gospel which bears his name. It was written soon after his gospel, and addressed to a Christian convert of distinction, who seems to have been desirous of knowing the history both of Christ and of the apostles. Luke accompanied St. Paul in part of his travels, when engaged in preaching the gospel to the heathen world: And from his acquaintance with the other apostles, was able to give a correct account of the events which took place soon after the ascension of our Lord, and before the conversion of Paul from Judaism to Christianity. This history may be considered a continuation of his gospel, and was probably written in the year 64 or 65. It embraces a period of about thirty-six years; and closes with Paul's first visit to Rome, where he remained as a prisoner for the space of two years. After this, St. Paul travelled through a great part of Greece, and again visited Rome, where he was put to death. But Luke has given no relation of this journey, and probably did not accompany the apostle during this period.

We learn from this history the manner in which Christianity was propagated in the world. For several years, the apostles remained in Judea, preaching the doctrines of the gospel to their own countrymen only, as they were directed by Christ. Fifty days after his resurrection, when the disciples were collected together for the purpose of religious intercourse and prayer, they were endued with gifts and powers of the divine spirit, by which they were qualified to perform miracles, and to speak languages which they had never studied. And this was according to the declarations of our Lord himself, as well as to the predictions of ancient prophets. Fer he had assured his apos