lieveth in him shall receive remission of of them, whose name was Cleopas, answersins. (10.) The Gospel. St. Luke xxiv. 13. BEHOLD, two of his disciples went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that while they communed together, and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were hold en, that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And one solemnity of the Easter festival the Church has set apart the two following days after Sunday, for the exercise of religious duty: to the end that we might have leisure to confirm our faith in the grand article of our Saviour's resurrection, and to exert our devout affections in all those happy consequences that are deducible from it. Nelson. (10.) In this speech of St. Peter, the apostle gives an account of the word and preaching of our Lord, and also of his resurrection from the dead; "Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead." But, it may be said, why not to all the people? Would not so public a display of the miracle be be more convincing, and free from all suspicion of fraud? Perhaps it might but neither had the Jews, who rejected a long series of public miracles, which were continued even while our Lord hung on the cross, any right to prescribe conditions for their believing the resurrection; nor is there wanting a sufficient body of evidence to establish this beyond all power of the gainsayer and unbeliever; as will appear from these few considerations. ing, said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word, before God and all the people: and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to-day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, who were early at of fraud, in the followers of Christ. But finding that the body had, notwithstanding all their care, disappeared from the sepulchre, and that the guard, having seen an angel, had become like dead men, they resort to the very conduct which they affected to condemn, to fraud and subornation of false witnesses. For, when some of the watch came to the city, and shewed the chief priests what was done, they gave money to the soldiers, desiring them to say, that while they slept his disciples had stolen him away; and promising to secure them against punishment from the governor. This strange proceeding speaks fully for itself; and like many other impostures ends in its own confusion. For, out of their great zeal to prove the charge, they make the soldiers prove too much: they bring their testimony to a fact, which in the same breath they declare to have happened while they slept. Compare this deliberate system of fraud, this readiness in contriving, and assurance in upholding a palpable and odious lie, with the reluctant assent of our Lord's disciples, with their candid account of their own slowness of conviction, with the simplicity and integrity of the whole narrative; and you will on the one hand, discover the father of lies too successful with that unhappy nation; and, on the other, be led to adore the God of truth for thus manifesting himself by such plain and evident signs. Again, The apostles, who were witnesses of the resurrection, had, upon the death of their Master, and before this event took place, given up all for lost, and nearly consigned themselves to despair. Even his own predictions of the event seem to have been forgotten, or little relied upon. The first revival of their hopes was occasioned by his resurrection: and, as this change cannot be otherwise accounted for, so neither were they at all likely to be deceived in a matter about which they were at first very incredulous, and in which they had several opportunities to be satisfied. Above all, Although Christ did not appear to all the people after his resurrection, yet they wanted not convincing proof that he was risen. "The chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days I will rise again : command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people he is risen from the dead; so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch." This attention and vigilance are remarkable, and shew the extreme caution of those sagacious enemies to prevent all possibility | they could not fancy themselves endued with the Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. (11.) Tuesday in Easter-week. The Collect. ALMIGHTY God, who through thine only begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; we humbly beseech thee, that as, by thy special grace preventing us, thou dost put into our minds good desires; so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect, through Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. the sepulchre; and when they found not his ❘ and them that were with them, saying, The body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them who were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said; but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further: but they constrained him, saying, Abide with us; for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, when he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, gift of various tongues to preach, and other miracu- For the Epistle. Acts xiii. 26. MEN and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath-day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though persuaded by greater arguments of his power, the miraculous circumstances of his death, and the glories of his resurrection: and by walking in the secret paths of the divine counsels hath commanded us to adore his footsteps, to admire and revere his wisdom, to be satisfied with all the events of providence, and to rejoice in him, if by afflictions he makes us holy, if by persecutions he supports and enlarges his Church, if by death he brings us to life. Provided we arrive at the communion of his felicities, we must let him choose the way: it being sufficient that he is our guide, and our support, and "our exceeding great reward." For therefore Christ preached to the two disciples going to Emmaus the way of the cross, and the necessity of that passage, that the wisdom of God might be glorified, and the conjectures of man ashamed. (11.) From the narrative contained in this day's Gospel, in which our Lord discourses of the necessity of the death and resurrection of the Messiah, we may learn, as he taught the two disciples, not to take an estimate of the counsels of God by the designs of men; for God by ways contrary to numan judgment brings to pass the purposes of his eternal providence. The glories of Christ were not made pompous by human circumstances: his kingdom was spiritual: he was to enter into felicity through the gate of death: he refused to do miracles before Herod, and yet did them before the people: he confuted his accusers by silence; and did not descend from the cross, when they offered to believe in him, if he would, but left them to be | ing of our Lord. 2. Whilst his discourse lasted, they knew him not; but in the breaking of bread he discovered himself. For he turned their meal into a sacrament, and their darkness to light: and, having to his sermon added the sacrament, opened all their discerning faculties, the eyes of their body, and their understanding too: to represent to us, that, when we are blessed with the opportunities of both those instruments, we want no exterior assistance to guide us in the way to the knowing and enjoyBp. Jeremy Taylor. they found no cause of death in him, yet de- | lieve are justified from all things, from sired they Pilate that he should be slain. which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets, Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. (12.) The Gospel. St. Luke xxiv. 36. JESUS himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of an honey-comb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were by the law of Moses." Neither the purifications of the Jewish Law, nor the merits of man, however applied, will be effectual to man's salvation. The one may be preparatory to that happy state, and the other a genuine fruit of faith; but, as a meritorious cause, we must rely solely on the sacrifice of Christ. "The law made nothing perfect, but it was the bringing in of a better hope." Therefore, the same apostle says in another place, "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law;" a faith productive of every blessed, every sanctifying grace. The apostle concludes this discourse with a solemn warning taken from one of their own prophets, and calculated to make a deep impression on their minds. "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which he shall in no wise believe, (12.) This discourse affords a correct notion of St. Paul's preaching. He is addressing those who were believers of the Jewish law, and therefore founds his argument in the early history of their nation, as St. Peter and St. Stephen, for the same reason, had done before him. From the tendency of the Jewish dispensation, and the express language of the prophets, he deduces the necessary and actual appearance of the Saviour Jesus. "Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, (that is, native Jews and devout Gentiles,) to you is the word of this salvation sent;" an expression according with our Saviour's own declaration, that "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name" among "all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." A summary of our Lord's death and resurrection is next recited, and a suitable application | though, a man declare it unto you," though it be made. Then follows the grand conclusion to which both the law and the prophets had only been preparatory. "Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." The justification of man by the faith of Christ, in opposition to the "works of the law," or any human works, is the doctrine of St. Paul, and the true doctrine of the Church. "By him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified laid before you, in the plainest manner, supported by the clearest and most incontrovertible evidence. This passage evidently refers to the approaching ruin of the Jewish people; and this solemn admonition leads to this important conclusion, that the only way, by which a Jew might secure himself from being involved in this national evil, was by embracing Christianity. This indeed is the way, the only way by which all temporal evils may be written in the law of Moses, and in the Pro- | of the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. phets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures; and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. Amen. The Epistle. 1 St. John v. 4. The First Sunday after Easter. (13.) The Collect. ALMIGHTY Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification; grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wicked ness, that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth, through the merits avoided: at least it is the way by which they may be converted to real and substantial blessings. Happy shall we be if the application of this passage does not rest upon ourselves! for, though the Jewish veil may not be upon our hearts, yet the darkness of iniquity, and the impenetrable darkness of infidelity, may spread themselves over many souls, even in the brightest region of the Sun of righteousness. That this may not be our case, let us pray, in the language of our Liturgy, that "God, who did teach the hearts of his faithful people, by sending to them the light of his Holy Spirit, would grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with him, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen." Brewster. (13.) The Octaves of the principal feasts were in the ancient Church particularly observed, and on them was commonly repeated some part of the service of the festival., Thus till the last Review, the Collect used on Easter Day at the first communion in Edward's first book, and still retained, was repeated on the first Sunday after Easter, and the Collect at the second Communion, which, at the last revisal, was transferred to the first Sunday after Easter, expressly commemorates the Resurrection. This was called Low Sunday, the solemnization of Easter being again observed, though in a lower degree. The Latin Ritualists, and other of their writers, style it Dominica in albis, the Sunday of Albes, or white vestments. The vigil of Easter was the most solemn time for Baptism, and on the Sunday after Easter the Neophytes, or WHATSOEVER is born of God, overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood: and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that newly baptized, laid aside, and committed to the repository of the Church, the white baptismal garments, which, from their being signs of the purity received at Baptism, were called Chrisoms, and were worn eight days, including Easter Day and Low Sunday. [Octo dies Neophytorum. Austin.] The Chrisoms were preserved in the public repositories of the Church, that they might te produced in evidence against such as should violate their solemn baptismal vows. With reference to this practice, the Epistle for the day was probably selected. It exhorts them that are born of God by baptism, to labour to overcome the world, as they at their baptism had promised and vowed. The Gospel mentions Christ's appearance to his disciples after his Resurrection, his breathing upon them, and commissioning them to remit and retain sins; thus conforming the truth of the Resurrection. This week was formerly devoted to two different purposes: to the contemplation of the mystery of baptism, and of the Resurrection: and two offices (or rather a double office) were appointed for each day, which were consecutively read. If these two respective offices any where remain separate, and distinct, it is only in the Church of Milan. SHEPHERD. The Collect for the day reminds us of the reason of Christ's death, namely, our sins: and of the end of his resurrection, namely, our justification: and thence teaches us to pray for grace to serve God aright. Suitable to this is the Epistle, which re minds us of our new birth by Christ's resurrection, and of the blessed fruits and effects of it. The Gospel continues the great subject of Christ's resurrection, and contains the means used for con believeth on the Son of God, hath the wit- | of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the ness in himself: he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life. (14.) The Gospel. St. John xx. 19. THE same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear vincing the disciples of the reality of it, the effects it had on them, and the public blessings that were conferred thereupon. Dr. Hole. (14.) The great and glorious things, which our blessed Saviour hath done for mankind, are not intended to excuse his followers from action; but to enable them for it, and to render them successful in it. Therefore, from the contemplation of that conquest, which by his death and resurrection he hath already won, the Church very fitly and naturally leads us, in the Epistle for this day, to that, which every disciple of Jesus is expected to aspire after, and to gain in his own person. The world is one of those enemies, against which every Christian engages solemnly and formally, at the instant of taking that profession upon himself in baptism. And our entering into this covenant, the new relation we contract there, the new life we then begin and engage to lead, and the communications of God's Holy Spirit, received in that sacrament, to strengthen, and enable us to persevere, in the faithful discharge of those engagements, do in effect make up our second and spiritual birth. So that the persons "born of God" are baptized and faithful Christians; and the Scripture now in hand does not only imply the necessity such lie under of fighting and conquering, by saying, that "whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world;" but it acquaints us, what weapon is put into their hand for that purpose, by adding, "And this is the victory, that overcometh the world, even our faith." By the "victory" we are to understand the means or instrument of obtaining it; and by "our faith" is intended the belief of the Christian religion, as it is delivered down to us in the Gospel, and summarily contained at ver. 5, in this one article, that "Jesus is the Son of God." Hereby are implied, a firm assent to the truth of his doctrines, a steadfast reliance upon the merit of his sufferings, and an assured expectation of his glorious promises; doctrines, which a person divine could not have taught, had they not been true: sufferings, which, because undergone by a person divine, cannot but be of infinite worth and efficacy; promises, which a midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. (15.) person divine can and will make good to the uttermost; and therefore to men whose minds are possessed with this belief, the difficulty of overcoming the world is more than balanced, by that absolute certainty of a future reward, and by the excellence of that reward; a reward incomparably, inconceivably beyond any happiness this world can give: a reward peculiar to them, who are content to despise and reject the present less, in prospect of the distant greater bliss: which this Son of God hath pledged his truth most solemnly for; nay, hath already invested human nature in, by exalting our flesh to the right hand of the Majesty on high. In virtue of this faith it was, that difficulties and dangers, seourgings and imprisonments, tortures and death, have been encountered, endured, defeated, triumphed over, by that glorious and invincible army of prophets, apostles, and martyrs, who have fought this good fight, and approved themselves more than conquerors in it. And what should hinder us from being equally successful? Their passions and infirmities were the same. Our arms and assistances are the same. Human nature, and the Christian religion, continue unchangeable in every age of the Church. They conquered not through their own strength, but through him "that loved them;" and he "that loved them" loveth us also. (Rom. viii. 37.) And, provided we be careful not to degenerate from such principles and such examples, he will be equally ready to sustain us in our combat, and to recompense us for it, and after it, with the same crown of life and righteousness. Dean Stanhope. (15.) It is to be observed here, that Christ renewed his disciples' commission for the work of the ministry. They were probably much discouraged with the remembrance of their faint-heartedness in the time of his sufferings: he now therefore commissions them anew, and sends them forth with these words, "As my Father hath sent me," that is, to preach, plant, and propagate the Gospel, "even so send I you." By the same authority, and for the same ends in part, for which I was sent by my Father, do I send you; namely, to gather, to |