The Christians After the Feast of Pentecost

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 steadfastly 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 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 continue 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 maimer 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 all-powerful 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 Old Testament 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 henceforth enter the field against you. We come no more with excommunications; no longer saying to the host of the Lord, “Cursed be he who does this or that!” Instead of approaching you with the pictures of a fearful judgment, and the raging flames of hell, we now advance to meet you with a cup filled with tears and drops of blood, — with a crown of thorns, — with a heart of love pierced by the sword of sin, — and with a bloody cross. “See!” we cry, “this crown was worn by the Son of the living God, in order that you might. receive a heavenly diadem t these tears were shed by Eternal love, that you might be happy and rejoice for evermore!” It is thus we come, the heralds of the new covenant; but, at the same time, no one is safe before us; our arms of might will break the stony heart of the most hardened wretch who fears neither God nor man; the most obdurate soul, whom no admonition and no threatening could move, when attacked by our weapons, falls, a sobbing and penitent child, into the arms of Jesus. Inspired with life by the breath of the gospel, those forms hitherto dead arose, who formed the first community at Jerusalem; it was a new species of resurrection, but henceforward a customary one; the word of the cross was now to evangelize the world, and call the spirituallydead out of their graves. Wherever the word is preached in all its simplicity and clearness, that Christ is our representative, that “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us!” — the justification of sinners by faith and not by works, and the accomplishment of the same through the sacrifice of Jesus once offered; — when this is proclaimed, and when this is heard, there arise alterations and reforms in the characters of men; for it is by means of these words that the Spirit operates, and it is through their preaching that he performs his miracles of spiritual creation.

Although there may be no terror, and the hair may not stand on end at the sound of these words, yet there is an inexpressible melting and softening of the heart; — although there maybe no fear and anguish, as amidst the thunders of the law, yet there is a prostration in the dust at the feet of Jesus; — although the limbs may not tremble, yet silent tears are dropping, which Jesus numbers; — and although we do not cry out as on Mount Sinai, “I exceedingly fear and quake!” we say what is far better, “Lord Jesus, I am thine for ever! If 1 only possess thee, I ask nothing more either in earth or heaven!”

The establishment of the first christian church appears surprising also when we contemplate its unexampled rapidity. Peter had not preached many moments when the greatest change took place; the desert bloomed, and three thousand dead became alive: never before had such things happened. How long were the prophets of old obliged to labour; how long must they exhort and entreat, cry and thunder, before they succeeded in leading one lost sheep out of error, or in bending one knee in true devotion before the throne of Jehovah! And even when ihey had so far succeeded, it often happened that ere they had time to depart, their toils broke asunder and their prey escaped them. In Jerusalem, on the contrary, all this wonderful draught of fishes remained secure; and what is still more extraordinary, the souls so lately won burst forth at once into a perfect life in the Lord, and henceforward stood with the apostles, as they themselves bear testimony, on an equal height of spiritual illumination and grace. It is impossible to deny that an entirely new operation of the Spirit here took place: he had never laboured in times past so joyfully and so powerfully; and never had he thus manifested himself to sinners, penetrating the heart and creating anew. How can we explain this? Had the house of God not been hitherto prepared for it? Or had the wings of the Spirit been first loosed and set free by the perfecting of the works of reconciliation? Or had his love towards sinners only been fully kindled, on beholding them clad before God in the beauty of their perfect Representative? Or did he now perform to the world his office of manifesting the Son of Man, and his work of atonement, more powerfully, more comprehensively, and more clearly, as a testimony how completely the great Pledge had succeeded in opening for sinners the path to the wished-for goal? Let the cause be what it may, it is enough that with the feast of Pentecost commenced a new period in the history of the agency of the Holy Spirit; and that henceforward more speedy conversions and more perfect results took place.

What, then, was the foundation on which the first christian church at Jerusalem was built? On that of the apostles’ teaching. Even this was new! All obscurity was now taken away; the temple of God was no longer raised upon the dark and ambiguous sentences of the prophets, but on the crystalline foundation of simple and unveiled truth. Instead of that symbolical wisdom with which the ancients had been obliged to content themselves, the church now possessed the treasures of divine revelation, both by means of oral communication and by writing: the trumpet whose notes had hitherto instructed them, gave forth a clearer and more intelligible sound; and that which their forefathers had beheld faintly sketched and afar off, now assumed to the eyes of their spirit a clear and distinct appearance. They stepped forth out of the twilight of prophecy into the bright noon-day light of its accomplishment; and might with reason repeat the words of the disciple, “Now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb!” The truths of the gospel were now lowered to the level of human comprehension, while during the days of the old covenant they had been raised to such a height amid the clouds of prophetic inspiration, that the eye could scarcely discern them. People could now, on the contrary, press around them and contemplate them nearly; for they knew what they possessed and believed; and the precious stones of doctrine were now divested of their coverings, and lay clearly displayed to the gaze of all beholders. The brightness and joy of perfect day took the place of the hopes and anticipations of the previous twilight; and instead of sighs and longings, and impatient expectation, the church enjoyed the delight and pleasure of possession.

II. We have already contemplated the strange and wonderful establishment of the first christian community; let us now consider their spiritual and social life. We perceive a sweet-smelling savour wafted around us, like the fragrance of a field which the Lord has blessed; and everywhere we turn our eyes, something totally new and unexampled arrests our attention. In the first place, the whole form of their spiritual life appears new; and yet there never was any want of spiritual life in Israel: what holy and pious men were Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, and many other servants of God in the ancient world! What heroes of the faith! Brows encircled with the radiancy of another world! Beacons shining through the night of time, and casting forward their radiancy to coming centuries! But of what avail is all this? They were saints of a different kind; and this the Saviour himself testified, when, his disciples wishing to call down fire from heaven as Elias did, he said unto them, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of!” You will easily perceive in what the difference consisted when I put their characters to the proof. If, in enumerating the virtues of the ancient saints, I praise the firmness with which they resisted the allurements of the world; the stedfast faith in which they relied upon God; the earnestness with which they strove to fulfil the demands of the law; and their fiery zeal for the honour of Jehovah, — you must allow that these men of God did indeed possess those virtues; but if I continue my praises in the following words, “How glorious those ancient saints appeared as the living images of the Son of Man! Jesus was reflected in their characters, their whole lives bore the seal and impress of the Lamb, and his spirit was manifested in all their words and actions!” — then you interrupt me; “No!” I hear you cry, “the colours of thy picture are false, and this is not the description of the saints of the Old Testament!” Most assuredly you are right. — The community in whose character the image of the Lamb was reflected, and out of whose form and constitution the splendour of the fairest of the children of men beamed forth — who, imitating the humility of their Lord, made themselves as servants — who received the poor and wretched with the arms of the tenderest compassion — who, when stoned by their enemies, instead of cursing them, said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!” — who repaid the wrath of their persecutors with prayers and intercessions for them — who, with the simplicity of children, were contented to be led by their Lord whithersoever he would, and to be moulded according to his pleasure like clay in the hands of the potter; men such as these were not to be met with during the days when Sinai was clad in its terrors; and they did not appear until a later and a milder time, when the miracle at the feast of Pentecost summoned them into life. It is true, the virtues of those who were then born again were called by the same names as the virtues of the ancient saints; nevertheless they were of a totally different species, and have a different colouring, form, and character, being far more beautiful and more heavenly. Nevertheless I say nothing in disparagement of the ancient saints: far from it! I only maintain that nothing resembling the community of Jerusalem blooms for us amidst the shadows of the law. One can discern in the children of the day of Pentecost the image of the Lamb who purchased and redeemed them; while in the character of the ancient saints, the fiery beams of that Majesty shine forth, in whose presence they stood with their countenances veiled. If you compare together Deborah and Magdalene, Elijah and John, you will easily perceive what I mean.

The love and brotherly unity which subsisted between the members of the community at Jerusalem strikes us also as something entirely new. They are of one heart and one mind; and a bond of affection unites those flowers of heaven together, such as the ancient saints never felt or witnessed. When we think, however, of Jonathan and David, of Elijah and Elisha, who can doubt that they loved each other in God? But they did not depend on each other, or live in each other’s affection, like the brethren and sisters after the feast of Pentecost. It was altogether impossible for them, and they could not have done it, for many reasons. In the first place, it had not been manifested to the ancient saints, as it afterwards was to those in Jerusalem, how unutterably the Lord loved them, and the secret had not been disclosed which makes that love so powerful; for it was only after the feast of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit manifested in what a mysterious manner Christians are united together so as to form one body with Christ: He the head and they the members; no one greater and no one inferior to the rest; and each equally near and equally dear to the Lord Jesus. No one now possessed any thing, whether temporal or spiritual, for himself alone, but looked upon it as common property. When any happy circumstance occurred to one of the brethren, the others rejoiced as though it had happened to all; for they regarded it as their Saviour’s salutation of love to the whole body. In like manner, when aught unfortunate befel one of their number, they all suffered. The thought was ever present in their souls, “One God shed his blood for all!” They constantly felt, * One arm of love encircles us!” And they had the perpetual consciousness, “On one bosom we recline, in one heavenly book our names stand written, and our cottages of peace are erected together in the same glorious forest of palms!” Those thoughts and feelings which the saints of old never could have enjoyed, were like oil to the love of the brethren; and how must they have strengthened their bond of love! They no longer knew each other after the flesh; but valuing their brethren according to what they were in Christ, beheld them clad in the garments of his righteousness, and altogether beautiful and glorious. How easy was it for them in this point of view to overlook personal errors and failings; and what a powerful means of preventing any bitterness or ill-will, when they were compelled to rebuke and reprimand one another! Each possessed righteousness in his representative, though not in himself; and for this reason willingly gave up his old Adam to be judged, seeing that his own and glorious property could not be taken away from him. He had no need to prize his own rags, since he knew himself to be clad in the raiment of the King of kings. Thus all these things were a powerful assistance to the brotherly love of the saints at Jerusalem, raising around it a barrier and a rampart which nothing could shake, and nothing destroy. Happy community! Glorious bond of union! Oh, that this love, which subsisted in the early ages, might return again, and that peace and concord might be restored to the church of Christ! If you look upon the social life of the Christians after the feast of Pentecost, you must confess that here also is something new and altogether unprecedented in the land. The believers are described as breaking bread from house to house, eating their meat with gladness and singleness of heart; praising God, and having favour with all the people. From this picture there shines forth a New Testament light, in more than one respect. A necessity for brotherly intercourse, a consecration of daily life, a social cheerfulness, and a holy gladness and freedom, such as the

ancient patriarchs never knew. The brethren at Jerusalem often met together; and why did they do so? Because they had far more numerous and more glorious things to relate than the lonely pilgrims during the days of the law. Each time they ate together in their cottages was like a solemn feast-day; for they knew that their Saviour was in the midst of them, as he had promised; and hence each house was a temple, the chamber where they met a sanctuary, the table an altar, and each morsel of bread a pledge of the love of Him who, though invisible, sat amongst them.

It would have seemed like blasphemy to the ancient saints had they prayed, “Come, Jehovah, and let thy presence be amongst us!” They only knew the Almighty in the clouds, on the wings of the storm, in the smoke of the sanctuary, behind the curtain, or over the cherubim; but of Jehovah under the humble roofs of their cottages, in their chambers, and at their social table, they knew nothing. The time had not yet arrived which was alluded to in the well-known words of Zechariah, “In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem, and in Judah, shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein.” It was on the wings of the Pentecost miracle that those happy days first descended to the reconciled earth. Eating their meat in gladness and singleness of heart, was the characteristic trait of the New-Testament saints: no longer was said, “Touch not this, and touch not that!” and the vexatious ceremonies of the law, having fulfilled their object, were no more required. Henceforth that which entered the mouth was not unclean, since by means of bread and wine they received spiritual grace, the grace of Him who gave them their heavenly food. Far from regarding monastic gloom as the sacrifice which a God of happiness required, they gave themselves up with a free conscience to gladness and cheerfulness. They did as the Apostle James recommends: “Is any merry 1 let him sing psalms.” And they rejoiced in the Lord always, remembering that sadness and gloom are unsuitable to the new covenant.

When we read in our text, “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;” we not only behold the mutual love which prompted them to regard the whole community as one person; but we perceive a superiority to earth, and a freedom from earthly cares, of which there is no trace in the biographies of the Old Testament. There is another novelty which strikes us, for the first time, after the day of Pentecost: the ancient saints seem to have regarded a long life upon earth as the most desirable of blessings; and the cry, “Take me not away in the midst of my days!” rose from their lips with the most impressive earnestness towards heaven. This is not to be wondered at. The hope of living to behold the fulfilment of one or other of those blessed promises which greeted them from afar, rendered dear to them their residence in this vale of tears; while, on the other hand, the view beyond the grave was so dark and cloudy in those days of the law, that they never had a desire to depart like the New-Testament Christians.

How different were the feelings of the Pentecost assemblage! The ties which bound Israel so fast to this side of the tomb had here been loosened; and the holy curiosity of the ancient patriarchs no longer found a place in the hearts of those children of the new covenant, for they had already beheld the greatest and most glorious thing which ever happened to the world — the incarnation of the Son of God. What the saints of old had regarded as the melancholy descent into the tomb, they looked upon as the most blessed and joyful moment in their whole existence. Death was deprived of its terrors, and their eternal home manifested so clearly, and brought so near by the eye of faith, that it seemed as though they walked much more in heaven above than on earth beneath; or as though they were strangers and pilgrims on a short and rapid journey to another existence. This longing for home filled their hearts unceasingly; and they resembled ships lying in the roads, ready to sail, that are waiting impatiently until a favourable wind shall arise. They desired to depart and be with Christ; and in looking forward to death and the grave, their only emotion was the longing desire that the Angel of Peace might speedily appear. They resembled the boy, of whom many of you have already heard, who, not very long ago, entering the chamber where the corpse of his beloved mother lay, and seeing his play-things, which had been left there by accident, exclaimed, weeping bitterly, “Who will have them ? — I want them no longer, for I am going to my mother in heaven!” Even so sounded the voices of those Christians. “Who will have them?” was constantly uttered by their hearts; and they were glad to find in the family ties, which joined the congregation together, an opportunity of disburdening themselves of the cares of their earthly possessions. The highest price did not appear to them too dear, if they could thereby purchase undisturbed peace in the contemplation of their eternal inheritance. Most truly were they a Jerusalem resembling that above! Wherever they went, they who beheld them discerned the morning splendour of eternity shining from their features; and the inscription on their banners always was, “lama pilgrim here, and a citizen of heaven!”

When we contemplate the new period in God’s government which commenced on the day of Pentecost, that which strikes us as the most important and glorious circumstance, is the relation in which the faithful now stood to their covenanted God. No one had hitherto experienced this heartfelt connexion with Jehovah; and it is perhaps the most peculiar characteristic of the church of the New Testament. “Praising God,” are the words in our text, and these words refer to this connexion. But did not the saints of old praise God? Most assuredly they did; yet it is only with regard to the members of the Pentecost congregation that this record of their praising God is preserved: for joy in Jehovah was the foundation of their spiritual life. As for the saints of the old covenant, their sins must also have been forgiven them, or they could not have cried, “Praise the Lord, O my soul!” but whenever they fell into a new error, or committed a new crime, it seemed to them as though the heavens were once more overcast with black thunder-clouds; their souls felt anew the whole weight of God’s wrath and terrible indignation; the threatenings of the law deprived them of peace; they no longer ventured to raise their eyes to Jehovah, and were oppressed with sorrow and trembling until they had offered sacrifice, and thereby received consolation. Thus, in constant succession, their minds alternated between the utmost anguish of soul and unutterable peace and tranquillity; and if at times one among them experienced a little longer than usurj the consciousness that his punishment had been remitted, and the curse taken away, this was the highest and greatest blessing which he ever enjoyed — his sole consolation and fountain of peace. He beheld in his own person a delinquent deserving death, to whom the King of kings had ia mercy granted his life; but that he should be much more than this — that he should stand justified, perfect, and spotless before the Eternal, was a thing unknown to him. The righteousness which we possess in Christ had not yet been manifested, but was veiled in those promises which even then greeted the saints from a distance.

How different were the circumstances of the New Testament Christians! Great and glorious disclosures were made to them by the Spirit; and, illuminated by the full noon-day light of the gospel, they knew precisely the relations in which they were placed.

III. A new creation of God, such as took place in Jerusalem, could not long remain concealed; for it was like a city upon a mountain, or a light upon a high place. In what relation then did they stand to the world, and the world to them? This question leads us to the contemplation of another glory of the Pentecost congregation, which was also new and peculiar. It is said in our text, “having favour with all the people.” The people could not refuse them its wonder, veneration, and love: but is it at all important whether the blind world praise or condemn us? As far as we ourselves are concerned it is of little importance, but for the Lord’s sake we should desire his name to be great and glorious. Would you not wish that the world might be constrained, even against its will, to confess you were very different from it — that you pursued the right path to the end, and employed your lives for the purpose to which they were given?

Would you not rejoice if the unconverted, and the enemies of the gospel, were obliged to confess,” Never were there such righteous people as these V I repeat, that, as far as you yourselves are concerned, it can be of no importance whether or not the world praise your humility, purity, patience, and love; neither case can be to your detriment or advantage. You must remember, however, that you do not live for yourselves, but for Him who purchased you with his blood. You were placed in this world to glorify him; you must praise him by word and deed, and in every thing seek his glory. How well did the community at Jerusalem fulfill their holy calling! — in them the rays of Christ’s beauty were reflected, like the image of the sun in the little dew-drop; and they stood a memorial of the grace of God, and of the creative power of his Holy Spirit, such as the world had never previously seen. Every ear that heard, and every eye that beheld, praised them as glorious; they were like a green field which the Lord hath blessed, or like a well-watered garden, in which was every flower of holiness and righteousness. They who approached them perceived the odours and the fragrance of another world; a love, such as grew on no natural soil, greeted them at the threshold; the breezes of Horeb were wafted around them; and instead of the Sinai terrors of the olden time, they were made partakers of that peaceful serenity which flowed like a river of Paradise through the midst of the little flock. Whosoever sought help, received it at the doors of this congregation of God; whosoever required counsel, or needed consolation and rest, found many here to receive him with arms of compassion, and tend him carefully day and night. He who desired to behold a city in this evil world, where, instead of selfishness and deceit, truth and brotherly love had their habitation, only required to visit Jerusalem; and, with whatever prejudices he came, the moment he entered the little community, they were dissipated like the clouds of mist by the morning sun. Thus this new Israel shone as a light in the presence of the Lord, fair as the moon, and beautiful as the morning dawn. Was it wonderful that these children of God found favour with the people? For wherever the divine beauty is reflected, the hearts of all must be won by it.

The life of such a community, endued so richly with the gift of the Holy Spirit, must of necessity manifest itself in apostolic activity. No day, therefore, passed in which its circumference was not extended, and some new name added to the brethren. This was the Jerusalem of which it was written, “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of he married wife, saith the Lord!” And what were the means by which they conquered every heart? It was not by negotiations and treaties, not by eloquent speaking, that they accomplished such great things: their only instrument was the gospel; their own lives were the means of converting many; and the net, with which they caught men, was the influence shed by their holy and devout conduct. Whosoever approached them was constrained to exclaim,” This is none other but the house of God; and this is the gate of heaven lu He was forced to confess that the foundation on which this living temple was built, must be a foundation of truth, and approved of by God; and with irresistible power the conviction was forced upon him, that these people were certainly in possession of the one thing needful. If, after all this, instead of swearing allegiance to their standard, he returned to the world, and to the darkness of the night of sin, he must purchase a hollow tranquillity by the most egregious self-deception, and an arduous struggle against his conscience and his better feelings; while, notwithstanding all his endeavours, a sting would still remain behind. Besides the silent influence which the holy lives of the Pentecost community exercised upon the multitude, they had another mighty engine of conversion, in the signs and miracles which God enabled them to perform, as well as in the soul-arresting announcement of the quickening influences of the word of God in each individual bosom. The preaching of the gospel was accompanied by such an Easter-incense of prayer and intercession, which in the name of Jesus ascended up to heaven, that it was impossible for a blessing not to accompany it. Was it strange, then, that the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved? This congregation might well have converted the world; for if ever there was an army of redeemed sinners that might make hell tremble, it was here: such a phalanx never having entered the field against it. The whole kingdom of darkness was threatened by this bride of the Lamb; and ere he anticipated it, the prince of the abyss was in danger of beholding the banner of Zion planted on his mightiest stronghold.

We now bid adieu to the Pentecost congregation; but can we help desiring, from the bottom of our hearts, that this temple of God might speedily arise out of its ruins! — that it might please the Lord to renew the image of his first glorious plantation in the christian church! It might soon take place; only grasp the cencer of Christ, ye children of grace; pray fervently in his name; storm the gates of heaven with his own promises; “and give him no rest till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” If ye do so, but a short time would elapse until every thing should be changed; the clouds would disperse, the desert would bloom, the wastes would look joyful, and from our mountains would resound the cry of joy and astonishment, “Behold the tabernacle of God among the children of men!” Amen.