THE CHRISTIANS AFTER THE FEAST OF

PENTECOST.

ACTS II. 41-47.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common ; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

WHEN Our Saviour said in the Gospel of Matthew, "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he," he meant that there was no one then living, no, not even Peter, James, or John, to be compared to his forerunner. In the days when Jesus spake these words, his disciples were in gospel light and

illumination, far behind the man who was able even then to cry out, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" and who had already found in Christ the friend and bridegroom of his soul. During this period, John the Baptist was most assuredly the greatest of the followers of Christ; but there came a time when even the least among the Christians was greater than John; and it commenced on the great day whose remembrance we solemnize by the festival of Whit-Sunday-I mean the day of Pentecost. Now, for the first time, that which our Lord expressed by the words, "the kingdom of heaven," was actually to be seen upon earth: the new-testament church came into existence; and it was those who were, spiritually speaking, born on the Feast of Pentecost, to whom our Lord referred in the expression, “he that is least in the kingdom of heaven." How deep, and at the same time how true, do his words now appear! for, in all respects, the humblest brother in this newly-founded church stood higher than John. But methinks I hear you inquire, Was the church of the faithful different then from what it was previously? It was so in more than one respect. The Holy Spirit, as well as Christ himself, now stood in quite a new and different relation to believers; and it naturally followed that the life of those men, spiritually as well as externally, should also assume a new and different form. That new thing which, according to the ancient prophets, the Lord was to do upon earth, was now accomplished; for a church similar to that which had just sprung into existence, had never before been seen upon earth. Of this we shall easily convince ourselves, by contemplating, for a few moments, the first Christian community at Jerusalem. The first thing which arrests our attention, is the efficacy of the Holy Spirit exemplified in a new manner, showing the commencement of a new period in God's government.

The form and manner of the church's establishment is new : the spiritual and external life of its members has a new aspect; and their spiritual influence upon others is also

new.

I. Has any thing more beautiful taken place since the beginning of the world, than the glorious planting of the word which we contemplate to-day? The life of heaven seems indeed to have established its dwelling-place in this vale of tears. A community, dedicated to God, consisting of three thousand souls; but a community such as neither Moses, Elias, nor any of the ancient saints had ever beheld. Alas! the country where this living memorial of the grace of God and of the creative power of his Holy Spirit once stood, is now waste and desert, surrounded by the confusion of Babel and the barbarism of the crescent; and what is still more melancholy, this flower-garden of earth has entirely disappeared, and nowhere is to be found any thing approaching to the beauty and glory in which it flourished at first in Jerusalem. The church of our times, in comparison to the apostolic, resembles a field whose verdure has been dried up and withered; the model of this temple of God, however, still remains preserved to us. It has not only been saved from oblivion in the writings of the apostles, but the hand of God is always depicting it in fresh colours. Not only does the Almighty contiuue to build according to this beautiful model; but, in the same fashion, that glorious building will be erected whose image is already faintly discernible in the mirror of prophecy, whose golden pillars shall extend from pole to pole, and whose circumference shall span the whole earth, from the rising up of the sun to its going down. It must, therefore, be of the greatest importance for us to contemplate the original form of the church of Christ, and to examine minutely the peculiar character of the first Christian community.

Even the manner in which this church was founded may well surprise us. Whether we contemplate the instruments who effected it, the means which the pouring out of the Holy Spirit called into existence, the rapidity with which the building proceeded, or the foundation on which this beautiful temple was erected, we must indeed confess that nothing similar had ever taken place before, and that a new era had most certainly begun. The instrument who effected this was, as you are aware, a poor fisherman from the Galilean sea,-a man whose mind had been formed in no prophetic school, much less exercised in the task of converting and instructing; and who had been, only a few short days before, so poor in spirit, so ignorant, and so unqualified for speaking, that at first sight Simon seemed the most unfit to be entrusted with the establishment of a new church, particularly one which was to be formed from such stubborn materials as an antichristian community. And yet it is this same Simon, whose tongue, like an allpowerful sceptre, lays three thousand souls prostrate in the dust at the feet of Jesus, and commences a complete revolution in the spiritual world, such as there is nothing to be compared to in previous history, not even in that of the most glorious instruments whom God employed in olden time, with all their dazzling eloquence, and the miracles which stood at their command. This circumstance shows us that we have arrived at a new period in God's government. We behold here the actual presence in this world of the Holy Spirit, and a new form of his efficacy and miraculous agency, such as we do not find mentioned in sacred history as having taken place in any previous age of the world.

The means by which the first Christian church was called into existence was the word.. But what sort of word?-a word like that of Noah, when he threatened the children

of men that a deluge of water should overwhelm them, and that the Spirit of God would no longer strive with them? Or a word like that of Moses, "Cursed be he that continueth not in all the words of this law, to do them!" Or like the prediction of Jonah, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" No, it was none of these; it was neither a curse-bringing, a thundering, nor a destroying word, although it was unutterably powerful and penetrating. It was a word which healed at the same moment that it wounded; and raised up and exalted the instant it cast down: it excited neither fear nor anguish, but, on the contrary, melted the heart and kindled love: it was the word of the cross-the message of salvation in Christ. Ye remember the sermon of Peter, that Jesus who was crucified has been made by God both Lord and Christ, and that whosoever will call on his name shall be saved, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! This was the sum of his discourse, and this constituted its weight and impression, its power and sharpness. During the OldTestament time, the sleepers were awakened by the thunders of the law; the gospel of the future Saviour was then only preached to the afflicted as a consolation, and not employed to awaken and arouse the dead, for as yet it was too dark, and veiled in too much obscurity. It was its accomplishment which first gave it the power of penetrating and softening the heart. Nevertheless, during the days of the old covenant, the time had been clearly predicted when friendly lips should preach glad tidings to the nations, when a glorious gospel should call dry bones into life, and when a people should be born unto the Lord, not under the terrors of Sinai, unto bondage, but amidst the gentle breezes of Horeb, to the freedom of children and heirs with Christ. This time commenced with the day of Pentecost; and it is a strange battle-array in which the ministers of God

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