tion of their being convened to transact some immediate and pressing business. The fact is mentioned with the simple brevity, and exactly in the same manner that an historian would use in referring to a customary practice. To suppose these meetings purely accidental, when we take the situation of the Apostles into the account, were most unreasonable. In the disappointment of their hopes of temporal grandeur, and in their dread of the enraged Jews, they would not have met together, except by particular appointment, or in compliance with an usual custom. But for what purpose could they assemble by particular appointment? Not surely to arrange any ordinary concerns of this world, at a time when they were shuddering at the cruelty of persecuting power; much less for recreation and amusement when, in bitter anguish of heart, they were lamenting the loss of a revered Lord and Master. It can scarcely, then, be doubted that they came together agreeably to custom, and for religious objects, at a season when religious sentiments must have had fullest possession of their minds. Humbled into a true sense of the nothingness of earthly things, and bending under the stroke of recent bereavement, they must have met as they had been wont, for the purpose of mutual advice and exhortation, and of soothing their wounded spirits with the consolations of religion. There

prostrate in prayer, they would lift up their devout supplications to God, that they might be strengthened to endure the trial which they had reason to anticipate, and that they might be enabled to contend successfully against the persecuting enmity of Pharisaic domination.

The occasion and the specified times of these meetings constrain us to infer that they were the stated seasons of divine worship, which proves, not only the early practice of assembling on the first day of the week for religious exercises, but that it was a practice sanctioned by the authority of the Apostles. Following their bright example, let us in seasons of gloom and sorrow, seek alleviation, where alone it can be found, in the promises of the gospel, and the hopes which it inspires. There are times when the cares of life press heavy upon the heart, when the mind sickens at the prospect of the future, and when the bosom throbs with unutterable grief; at these times indulge not the fallacious expectation, that care can be banished by redoubled ardour in those occupations which, upon trial, will be found to be only vanity, and to terminate in vexation of spirit. Not all the busy scenes of life, not all the revelry of pleasure can sooth the disquietude of an aching heart. Let the victims of misfortune, let the weeping mourner, let all who are tortured with silent grief, or wearied with the

frowns of the world, fly to the temples of the Lord, beyond the vestibule of which no sorrow will pursue those who worship there in the warmth of unfeigned piety. Let them pour out their souls before the throne of their Saviour and their God, and, as they kindle with the fervour of devotion, the beams of the Sun of righteousness will gradually dispel the clouds which have gathered around their head. A ray of comfort will be darted into the heart which has been beating with anguish; attendance in the congregation will be found a delightful service; and as the fascinations of the present scene vanish away, the glories of the future world will rise to the mind's contemplation, and, exulting in the mercies of redeeming love, the soul will be elevated to a state of peace and hope, unassailable by the light afflictions of the present hour.

But to return to the passage before us. The Evangelical history records that on both the days when they were met together, the disciples were honoured with the visible presence of our Lord, which marks, in the most emphatic manner, his approbation of their conduct. He appeared on the first day of the week, or sunday, and then absented himself till the following sunday when he appeared again, while they were assembled together, which stamps with his sacred authority both the object for which they were assembled,

and the stated return of it. For what purpose, except to distinguish this day above the rest, did he suffer the intervening week to pass without a repetition of his visit? At the first he gave them his solemn benediction, " Peace be with you;" and in confirmation of his resurrection from the grave," he shewed unto them his hands and his side." At the second visit he repeated the benediction. He ordained or commissioned them to preach the gospel, and to plant the Christian church; "Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed upon them, and said unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained." In all this solemn and religious service there is something which seems very like the celebration of a Christian sabbath. The transaction, considered in all its bearings, must be allowed to shew, in no ambiguous manner, the Apostolical custom at the period of holding weekly assemblies and the concurring approbation of Christ.

The historian of the acts of the Apostles informs us of another transaction which establishes the practice at a later period. "We sailed away from Philippi, says he, after

the days of un

leavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in

five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight" The object of this meeting being to break bread, to participate in the Lord's Supper, and to receive the word of exhortation, for Paul preached unto them, clearly proves it to have been a religious assembly. The time specified, the first day of the week, and the manner in which the disciples are stated to come together, are plain indications of a practice already familiar. The expressions "when the disciples came together," imply that they were not specially summoned; and in this the meeting was evidently distinguished from the assembly of the elders of the church, recorded in the same chapter, which was convened by St. Paul. Nor, though the apostle tarried with them seven days, is there mention of any meeting, except on the first day of the week; and why did he preach on that day rather than any other, if it had not been the time of their usual assemblies? "He had his choice of all the days; but probably the wind not being favourable for sailing, he did not chuse to call the church together before their usual time of meeting, and before that went from

Acts xx. 6, 7.

Ibid. ver. 17. et seq.