Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.

But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Cæsar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.

For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.

And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judæa concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee.

But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.

And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.

And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed

not.

And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,

Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive :

For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.

And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,

Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

COMMENT.-On arriving at Rome, Julius delivered up his prisoners to the Captain of the Prætorian Guard, Burrhus, at that time a favourite of the Emperor Nero. The trial, however, could not take place till the accusers should come, and Jerusalem was in a tumultuous state, unlikely to attend to such a matter, while witnesses would be also required from the Greek cities where Paul was accused of causing disturbances. While thus waiting, he was permitted to live in a hired house, guarded, however, by a soldier

to whom his left wrist was always chained. This was regarded as a very mild form of captivity, since he was able to see his friends freely, and probably to go out, still chained to his keeper.

The first thing he did was to send for the rulers of the Jewish Synagogue at Rome. There was a large colony of Jews at Rome. They had first been brought thither by Pompey, and settled on the further side of the Tiber, and though often misused, they flourished and increased. Since their banishment by Claudius they had returned in large numbers, and were very wealthy and prosperous in the early years of Nero, gaining many proselytes among the Roman ladies, but they seem to have held themselves a good deal apart, and the officials of the synagogue had, it appears, had no communication from Jerusalem, or from the Eastern cities about St. Paul. They seem to have taken no notice of the Christian community-partly Jew, partly Gentile, which had grown up beside them, its Jewish members being probably men of no rank or

note.

But Paul, once a member of the Sanhedrim, and a man of high education, could not be brought to take his trial at Rome without entering into communication with them. He therefore explained to them how entirely guiltless he was of any transgression against the Law, and how he had been constrained to use his right of appeal as a Roman citizen, adding, that it was for the "hope of Israel," i.e., the Messiah that he was thus bound. The Jews replied that they had heard nothing about him, and were willing to hear him speak, and he then began his usual course of proof of the Messiahship of JESUS from the Law and the Prophets, convincing some, but failing with many more. He ended by applying to them the words spoken to Isaiah when the mission was given from the Throne of God in the Temple, telling so sadly of the wilful deafness and blindness of the people (Is. vi. 9, 10). Very near was now the judgment then foretold soon would the cities be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses without man, and the land utterly desolate.

Here St. Luke ceases, and we gather St. Paul's further history from his letters.

LESSON LXXXIV.

THE SLAVE ONESIMUS.

A.D. 64.-PHILEMON.

Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer,

And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:

Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,

Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;

That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.

Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,

Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:

Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:

Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels :

Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel :

But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.

For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever;

Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?

If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.

If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;

I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord.

Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.

But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.

There salute thee Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus;
Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow labourers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Amen.

COMMENT.-Whilst St. Paul was living in his own hired house at Rome, there came to him a runaway slave, from the city of Colosse in Asia Minor. We have no account of St. Paul's visit to Colosse, but as it was one of the cities in the neighbourhood of Ephesus, it must have been during the years he spent there that he went to this city. There he converted, and probably lodged with, a wealthy Greek, named Philemon, who had, as usual, a household of slaves. One of these, Onesimus, afterwards ran away, apparently having been guilty of some dishonesty, which he feared to see discovered. No one had ever been like that stranger who had been with his master. He had treated the slaves as brethren; he had spoken of true freedom, and it was to him that the thought of the fugitive slave turned. Seeking him out at Rome, Onesimus told his story, and was tenderly heard. He was shown the full light which he had come to seek, and then was baptized, and thus became "the Lord's freeman." But, though St. Paul would gladly have kept one so loving about him, it was his duty and that of Onesimus to return him to his master. It was in the power of a master to put a runaway servant to death, or punish him severely ; but, as a Christian, it was Onesimus's part to submit. Christianity was not to teach rebellion or disobedience, but to soften the harshness and do away with evil institutions, and over this special one of slavery the victory has been very slow. The private letter of Paul, in which he interceded for Onesimus to Philemon, has been preserved by inspiration, as a perfect lesson on the way of dealing with the rights of others. Most graceful is its courtesy and tenderness in its greeting to Philemon's wife Apphia, and his son Archippus, an elder or priest of the Church, and then in its pleading, thoroughly owning Philemon's power and Onesimus's wrongdoing, but undertaking to make up whatever the master might have lost at his own expense, and then pleading for the slave. He might, he says, command with authority, since Philemon was his own disciple; but he had rather entreat as a favour, that the repentant culprit should be received not as a servant so much as like a brother beloved. He too was a

son in the faith to St. Paul, and thus was a brother in the Gospel to his master, and though all submission and restitution was offered on his behalf, his master is entreated to receive him, even as Paul himself. So we see how the wrongdoer should repent, and how his repentance should be received. Onesimus went under the escort of Tychicus, his Ephesian friend, who would protect him till he arrived at his master's house; and there is full reason to believe that Philemon obeyed the request, and set him free, and that the runaway slave ended his days as third Bishop of Ephesus, while Archippus, the son of Philemon, was Bishop of Laodicea.

St. Paul at this time had good hope of his own deliverance, and of coming to Colosse. In his greetings join Epaphras, a Colossian himself, who had lately arrived, and reported of the state of the Church, also Aristarchus, one of his constant companions, who had come with him from Thessalonica to Jerusalem, St. Luke, and likewise Mark. For it would seem that Mark, who had repented of his weakness, and laboured well in Cyprus under Barnabas, had since been sent to the great Apostle at Rome, and had truly made his peace with him. No doubt the two holy friends had exchanged messages of reconciliation, though they had not met face to face. One more name occurs, that of Demas, and by and by it calls up sadder thoughts.

LESSON LXXXV.

THE LETTER TO THE CHURCH OF COLOSSE.

A.D. 64.-COL. ii. 8—23; iii. 1—4.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.