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I. THE SCENE IN THE UPPER ROOM. Obedient to the Lord's command, the disciples return to Jerusalem. A certain upper chamber, probably in a private dwelling, became the first Christian Church. Epiphanius says that when Hadrian came to Jerusalem, he found the temple desolate and but few houses standing. This "little church of God," however, remained; and Nicephorus says that the Empress Helena enclosed it in her larger church. It was probably the room in which the Supper had been celebrated, and was to be associated with the power of the risen, as it had been with the suffering of the humiliated, Christ.

1. The assembly. It represented all varieties of character, gifts, and graces. Peter the eager, John the mystic, James the practical, Thomas the skeptical, and others. The feminine clement, destined to play so large a part in the life of the Church, was also represented.

2. Its employment. It was engaged in the highest exercise of the spirit. Prayer is action; as action may be itself a prayer. And there are times of waiting for all, when prayer is the only possible action. The transactions between the spirit and God are the most real of all, and are ever followed by significant results. It was social prayer. True prayer requires both solitude at times and at times society. We need the help of one another in the pursuit of truth. Plato spoke of the "joint striving of souls" in philosophy Common prayer is the joint striving of souls to lay hold upon the strength of God. "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. It was persevering, continuous prayer, as all exertion of the spirit must be to attain worthy ends. Thus was the mind of the Church calmed, and its intelligence cleared for insight into the business of the kingdom.

II. THE DISCOURSE OF PETER.

1. It rests on the past. He begins by pointing to a fulfillment of Scripture. The present event is thus constantly identified in apostolic thought with some word from the past. Nothing befalls except by Divine law. And in the words of poets and prophets of the past, whatever their original meaning, hints of other meanings are to be found. All language is indeed fossil poetry; and as in the earth's strata plants are found to which living organisms correspond, so in the realm of moral law past and present are in inner and profound connection. To the traitor sketched in Psalm 69, (also 109. and 55.) the features of the unhappy Judas closely corresponded. False and wicked relations of conduct repeat themselves in history, and incur the like doom foreshadowed by the prophetic consciousness.

2. It finds hints for present duty in the past. The fragment of a verse from a psalmist ran, "His office let another take." Conduct must run on the line of precedents. Often an old proverb or example may give us our clue. A memory for the old sayings of Scripture and other ancient lore may guide the judgment, or serve as a finger-post to the will. This might run into superstition; as when men in the Middle Ages turned over Virgil's pages for a clue to decision in cases of perplexity. But in the case of the apostles there is no reason to believe (but the contrary) that their habit, in common with all the devout, of falling back on old sayings checked the full and free exercise of their independent judgment.

III. THE SELECTION OF A FRESH WITNESS of the Resurrection.

1. "Witnesses for Christ" is perhaps the largest designation of the "office" to be filled. An "apostle" is one sent - a man with a mission; and the mission is to witness. Of what? Above all of the Resurrection; for it is this which made the gospel a power in the world. "Assurance is given to all men" that Jesus was the Son of God with power, and possesses all the functions of majesty, by the resurrection from the dead. We can hardly conceive how the gospel should have spread without this testimony. Hence the importance of the present business.

2. The mode of selection. It blends human intelligence with the recognition of Divine determination. The call to any function proceeds from God, and is contained in the gift or capacity. Yet God requires us to cooperate with him through all the sphere of freedom. The use of means towards a decision does not exclude the Divine wisdom, but reposes upon it. The junction of the Divine and the human will in such solemn acts is real, though impossible to explain. First, then, there is an exercise of human judgment, and two distinguished brethren are selected. Here the human choice already recognizes the Divine indication in the existence of observed gifts and graces. Next there is prayer, sacramentally sealing the union of Divine with human thought, and seeking a fruitful result. Lastly, there is the casting of lots, in which the human intelligence confesses its inability for the last decision, and surrenders itself utterly to the guidance of God. The lot falls on Matthias; and he is "voted into" the company of the eleven. Two extremes are to be avoided in the crises of affairs. One, to passively "leave everything to God," which really means to excuse one's self from the trouble or thought. The other, to take the whole burden of responsibility on ourselves, which means to move from our point of support. Thus we topple over into weakness and deeper uncertainty. Let faith be at the root of all our thinking; the scales of judgment stand firmly on the Wisdom that works through and in the activity of finite minds. - J.

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KJV: Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

WEB: Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.