em. "And ye are witnesses of these things."

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth."
"The Word was God." "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy." These Scriptures, in their most comprehensive sense,
include the all of the divine manifestation in the flesh. The Lord is
the life of all the things written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms. Their spirit, or spiritual significance
is all confined to the testimony they bear to the Emmanuel, the God
with us. Hence "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,"
very much as the spirit of man is the life of his body. In the early
part of his ministry he had told these very disciples that he came to
fulfill the law and the prophets. He fulfilled the law of the
Decalogue or Ten Commandments to the extent of every jot and tittle,
from its lowest natural to its highest spiritual requirement and
significance. The prophecies likewise all centered in him, and found
in him their fulfillment; not, however, in their fullest development,
for eternity alone will witness this; but they disclose in him their
spirit and life. "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."

These eleven disciples, from this time on to do the work of apostles,
had been with the Lord in nearly all of his public ministry and life.
They knew how he had overcome in temptation; how victorious he had
been in his conflicts with the accusing and fault-finding Jews, and
how patient and forgiving he had been in his trial before Pilate and
the high priest. They were witnesses of the purity of his character
and life; of the disinterested love he bore toward all within his
reach; of the good will toward men manifested by his going about doing
good wherever he went. But the point above all other points in his
character in which all poor sinners are most deeply interested is the
duty and work he here laid upon these eleven apostles: the commission
he gave them, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached
in his name. They were witnesses of his mercy so often shown to
sinners of the lowest and vilest character. Did he ever send one away
empty? If you will read the four Gospels in which are recorded the
life of Jesus Christ you may be surprised to see how often he said,
"Thy si