1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen:

3 To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you have heard of me.

5 For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

7 And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power.

8 But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come on you: and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.

9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

11 Which also said, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.

12 Then returned they to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where stayed both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

15 And in those days Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)

16 Men and brothers, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.

17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.

18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out.

19 And it was known to all the dwellers at Jerusalem; so as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.

20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his position as bishop let another take.

21 Why of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

22 Beginning from the baptism of John, to that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

23 And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

24 And they prayed, and said, You, Lord, which know the hearts of all men, show whether of these two you have chosen,

25 That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN

Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?

Act 1:11

The words contain a reproach. Christ had left His disciples not a barren legacy of sorrow and idleness, but an inexhaustible fund of joy and an inheritance of practical labours for His sake. And so with the angel s words ringing in their ears they returned to Jerusalem and, after tarrying for the promise of the Holy Ghost, flung themselves into practical labours of Divine mission.

I. Gazing into heaven.

(a) It is possible to spend our energies in mourning over sin and in longing to leave the world in which God has placed us.

(b) We may regard heaven as a distant place, forgetting that God and Christ and heaven may be found here and in this life.

(c) We may spend our energies in thinking about heaven, forgetting the heaven that lies about us.

Men speak of the earthly and the heavenly life; but in this division there is the danger that men will forget God altogether.

II. The lesson of the Ascension. Is it not expressed in the Collect with Him continually dwell ? That is a prayer to enter heaven here and now. This can only be done by prayer and by realising His Presence more fully.

Rev. H. G. Hart.

THE ELECTION OF ST. MATTHIAS

The lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Act 1:26

The lesson of the festival of Matthias is emphatically one of encouragement.

I. The electors. First, note what a little band it was that gathered together to elect an Apostle in the place of the traitor Judas. The number of the disciples was about one hundred and twenty, and we are told by the historian Gibbon that the Roman Empire at that time contained a population of one hundred and twenty millions just one to every million. It was enough to make their hearts sink when they thought of the work that had been given to them. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Surely their hearts must have failed them when they thought of that.

II. Not the men but the work. And then notice, secondly, that of that little band nay, of the inner circle of that little band, the chosen twelve, with Matthias among their number, how little we know of their individuality! If we take out of their number St. Peter and John, and perhaps Matthew, and St. Thomas, and St. James, we know little or nothing of the rest. Just a saying here and a saying there, and nothing more. Why is that? Is it not to encourage us that the great thought is not the men but the work? The one great object they had before them was not to make a name in the world, not to hand down names that should be remembered and perhaps adored, but simply to give themselves up to the work of the Master.

III. The greatness of the work. And then, thirdly, notice what a great and enduring work it was. Let us look back on the world as it is presented to us at that time nineteen hundred years or so ago. There was one man who was lord of half the nations of the earth in power none could vie with him; in the wisdom of this world but few. What is left now? Here and there a name, and here and there a ruin. But, at the same time, there issued forth a nation among the most despised of the earth, twelve poor men with no sword in their hands, and but scantily supplied with the stores of human learning. They went forth north, south, east, and west, into all quarters of the world. They were reviled, they were trampled under foot; every engine of torture, every mode of death, was employed to crush them. And where is their work now? As has been eloquently said, It is set as a diadem on the brow of the nations.

Rev. J. H. Cheadle.

Illustration

There is in Westminster Abbey a well-known monument to the two greatest revivalists of old times the Wesley s, and on that monument are three sentences, taken from the arguments and the sermons of John Wesley. These three sentences seem to describe for us the three aspects of the great work of the Apostles and of the Church. When we think of it in the past we seem to think of it in these words: All the world is my parish words which sound rather egotistical, perhaps, when referring to John Wesley alone, but words which express a great truth when we think of the workers in God s Church. Thus runs the second sentence: God buries His workmen, but carries on His work. It is God Who is working in, and by, and through men, working out the salvation of the world. And the third sentence is: The best of all is that God is with us. Whether we look on the Church as a whole, and God s work being done in the world; whether we look on that little part of it that we ourselves are privileged to do whichever it be, this sentence rings true in our hearts, The best of all is that God is with us.