blessings would not come to them except they, as moral agents, exerted those powers with which they were endowed in a way suitable to the end; and hence he directs them to repentance and baptism. "Repent, and be baptized," &c. If the baptism here is a baptism of water, in those two things we find, first, an internal effort involving a renunciation of evil, and the second, an external effort involving the expression of that renunciation. Repentance is the internal effort involving the renunciation of evil. The word "repent," which etymologically and at first meant after-thought and reflection, means in the New Testament sense, a moral change of mind -a thorough revolution in character. This revolution implies great internal effort on man's part. It is not a something imparted from without, it is something produced within. It implies profound reflection upon our conduct, renunciation of the evil connected with it, and a determination in future to pursue a holier course. Baptism is an external effort involving the expression of that renunciation. Peter does not explain to these men what baptism was. They, being Jews, knew its meaning well. They knew it as revealed in the Levitical system; they knew it as it had been just applied to them by John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan; and by the disciples of Jesus who baptized even more than John. They knew that it was a symbol of spiritual cleansing. The language of Peter, perhaps, taken as a whole would mean, "be cleansed from your sins within by repentance, and symbolically express that cleansing by being baptized in the name of Jesus."

John the Baptist had predicted, in connexion with Christ's mission, a baptism of the Spirit. "I indeed," said John, "baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." And Jesus Himself, just before He left the world, promised this baptism of the Spirit. "For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." This baptism of the Spirit-a baptism that cleanses VOL. XIV.

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the soul from all moral impurities—is, after all, the essential thing; a baptism this, of which water-baptism is at the best but a symbol, and without which it is but an impious sham.

(3) He directs them to the gracious promise of Heaven to encourage them in the course of conduct required. "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." The promise he here points to, is that which he held forth to the multitude in the preceding verse, the promise of the Holy Ghost. This promise he had referred to in the introduction of his discourse, when he quoted the words of Joel: "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh," &c. This promise he assures them was for them and their posterity, "you and your children." To you, bad as you are,-you that spat in his face, you that derided Him, you that plaited the crown of thorns, you that placed it on His bleeding brow, you that put on Him the purple robe of mock royalty, you that rent the heavens with the cry "away with him, away with him," you that railed at Him when He hung upon the cross, you that gave Him gall to quench His burning thirst—the promise is to you. "Every one of you." "What a blessed every one of you is here," says Bunyan. "To your children." To your posterity down to the latest period of time, it shall echo on the ear and shine on the face of "the last of Adam's race." To those here, and to those everywhere. "To those that are afar off." Not only to Jews who were scattered in different countries, but to Gentiles also. To men on every zone of the globe. "To all that the Lord our God shall call." On whom does He not call? His words are gone out to all the earth. His call in the Gospel is to all. Blessed promise this. It is a rainbow that encircles the world. It reflects the rays of the upper heavens, and heralds universal sunshine for the race.

Such is the substance of the apostle's wonderful Sermon. We say substance, for the whole is not here. We are told that "with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Be

saved from the sins of a crooked generation. Does not this new order of religious ministry, now inaugurated by Peter, stand in sublime and censuring contrast to much of the ministry that is called "Evangelical" in these days? It has none of the dogmas that form the staple ministry of many pulpits now. There is nothing here about the election of some and the reprobation of others. Nothing here about the

perseverance of the saints, nothing here about a forensic justification. No theory of the atonement is propounded here. Nothing is here about the moral ability or inability of the sinner. No metaphysical theologizings of any kind are here. CHRIST, in His relation to the men and women, the good and bad, who stood before him, was the grand theme of Peter's discourse. As a speaker he steps forth with a distinct object in view, namely, the awakening the souls of the multitude. to a true sense of their sin, and he employs an argument most philosophically suited to gain his end; it was an argument to convince them that they had murdered their Messiah. He understands the subject thoroughly; he feels it profoundly; and he speaks it with all earnestness and point. There is no attempt to be smart, or quaint, elegant, or grand in his speech. Such things, with ranting declamations, and oratorical flourishes, suit the hollow-hearted, self-seeking demagogue, but are ever revolting to a soul in genuine earnest. His words were few, clear, direct, arranged with logical skill, and uttered with a voice intoned by the Spirit of the Living God.

(To be continued.)

Germs of Thought.

SUBJECT:-Jacob's Death-bed.

"All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one aecording to his blessing he blessed them. And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.”—Gen. xlix. 28–33.

Analysis of Homily the Six Hundred and Forty-second.

THIS is a and standing his many glaring

CHIS is a brief, simple, and touching record of the death

imperfections of character, occupied a position in the world's history and displayed qualities of excellence which attract to him the thoughts of the devout in all subsequent times. He stands as one of the grand mountains in the landscape of history, rugged, deformed and hideous in many a part, it is true, still studded along its slopes with many spots of refreshing loveliness.

cant.

years of few and

The account which he gave of his own life, when an old man, to Egypt's proud despot, was sadly affecting and signifiJacob said unto Pharoah, "the days of the my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years, evil have the days of the years of my life been." "Few and evil" are weighty words that characterize with greater or less accuracy the life days of all. Shortness and sadness mark our sojourn here. The last day of Jacob's life has now

dawned, and the last hours are about striking. He is on his death-bed, and it is in this posture we have to study him now.

Three things deserve our attention :-His affection for the living; His sympathy with the dead; His magnanimity in all.

I. HIS AFFECTION FOR THE LIVING. From his death-bed he sends a summons to all his children to attend-" and Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days." While all are around him, he speaks to each in the presence of all; some he reproves for their faults, others he commends for their virtues, and with the spirit of prophecy upon him, he fortells with remarkable accuracy the place that each should hold in the world's history.

After this he blesses them all. "He spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them." The particular blessings he pronounced upon each we know not; we may rest assured, however, that they were all of a spiritual character. We may rest assured that the dying patriarch commended each to the loving guidance of the Everlasting Father. Two things are noteworthy concerning the parental affection which expresses itself now on his death-bed.

First: His affection was impartial. He gathered them all together; the twelve were there. To each he spoke, and for each he craved a blessing. He had, as a father, before been guilty of partiality, (Gen. xxxvii. 3,) which led to serious evils in his family, and brought grief to his old age; but he does not show that now. To love all alike where the degrees of character were so dissimilar, would be impossible, yet on this occasion he feels and shows an equal interest in the wellbeing of each of his offspring. He exhibits no parental favoritism now. Such favoritism is an evil which parents should ever be careful to avoid.

Secondly: His affection was religious. "He blessed them;" by which we understand that he invoked the benediction of God upon them. Their spiritual and eternal happiness was