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HUESTI3. 1882. 65 ax-j o i j i PREFACE. It has long occurred to the author that volumes of sermons, discussing the principal passages in certain special books of Scripture, might be of considerable advantage to readers, and especially to young minis- ters. Under that impression, he ventures with much diffidence to put the present volume in the hands of the publishers. Cardiff, 1882. Kiifcml a/'for>3.t VIII. THE TKMPLES OF GOD. " P.ut Solomon built Him an house," Sec. — Acts vii. 47-50 . »59 CONTKNTS. xi IX. PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. PACK "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth (h)Wii from Jerusalem unto (Jaza, which is desert," &c.— Acts viji. 26-40 176 X. THE CHARACriR OK ST. VWU "Hut the Lord said unto him, Go thy way : for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to hear My name hcfore the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." — Ac is ix. 15 . • . XI. 196 m DORCAS. **N')w there was at Joppa, a certain disciple named Tabith.a, which by inferi)retatii)n is called Dorcas : this woman was full of good works and almsdecds which she did," die. — Acts ix. 36-42 217 XII. THE COMPREHENSIVKNKSS OF THE GOSPEL. '' And he saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, ns it had been a great sheet knit at the four cortiers, and let down to the earth," &c. — Ac;rs x. 11, 12 . 240 XIII. THE CHURCH AT ANTIOCH. " Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Plienice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only," &c.— .Acts xi. 19-26 2C6 !-4 •■ if: (ON IK NTS. XIV. THE CUNVKk.SlON OK I.YDIA. I'M.K "And a certain wfjnian named I.ydia, a seller of pur[»lc, of th<; city of Tliyatira, which worslii[>ii€d GckI, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul," &c.— Acts xvi. 14, 15 , , jr,o I : XV. THE UNKNOWN GOD. " For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to tmk i;nkn()WN god. Whf)ni there- fore ye ignoranlly worship. Him declare I unto you." — Acts xvii. 23 303 I. power from on Ibiflb. (Inaugural.) " But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you."— Ac IS i. 8. It Ib generally agreed among critics that the Acts of the Apostles was written by "Luke, the beloved physician." There are certain graces of style which point to him as the author. Evidentlv, he was a more polished writer, a more accomplished scholar, than the other evangelists. He is somewhat fond of long words, of compound words, of words admitting many prepositions before them. It is altogether a more classical style. In the Acts, as well as in the third Gospel, we discover these characteristics, and the diction alone would go a long way to prove that the two treatises were the products of the same mind. It was customary some years back in Kngland, and, indeed, the custom has not quite died out yet, for the author to dedicate his book to a gentleman of influence and standing. And in early ages the same custom seems to have prevailed, and we find that St. Luke dedicated his two books «! ill ■!i'! i , POWKK FROM ON lllCill. ! !f to "the most excellent Theophilus " — a Christian gentleman of title and position in the old world. Luke hints in the preface to the Acts that there is a connection between the two books, that they are related to each other. The word which points out the connection is " icgan." From its position in the original, this word is enjphatic. "The former treatise " — namely, the Gospel — " have I made, O 'i'heoj)hilus, of all that Jesus began to do and to teach." In the Gospel you have the account of His first works and first words, of what He did and said in His state of humiliation; in this second treatise, says Luke, I propose to carrv on the history com- menced there; this will form the second volume: it will relate what Jesus continues to do and teach among men. His work did not cease with His death — He still works on in the world. The title of this book, as you are aware, is not inspired ; and it WDuld be a better index to the purpose which the writer had in his eye, if it were styled, not the Acts of the Apostles, but the Acts of Jesus Christ through His Apostles. In the Gospel you have the historv of what He did in His state of humiliation ; in the Acts of what He was still doing in His state of exalta- tion. And this is the right view to take of church history : it is the record of the works of Jesus — of the manifestation of the working of a supernatural power in the world. Then he proceeds to give a short summary of His appearances during the forty davs that elapsed be- tween His resurrection and ascension. He touched ill I'OWER I'ROM ON HIGH. Ihristian I world, at there lat they li points position e former made, O ) and to It of His and said treatise, )ry coni- volunie : jid teach with His le title of 1; and it hich the the Acts througli e history in the of exaha- )f church Jesus — of )ernatural ry of His apsed be- ; touched J 1 upon this point in the last chapter of his Gospel. but he now looks at it frouj a diflerent standpoint. There it is recorded as the climax of His lite here upon earth, the last act of His career among men ; here it is recorded as the introduction to His life in a glorified state. This is stated in the third verse : "To whom He also showed Himself bv manv in- fallible proofs." The word rendered "showed" does not mean continuous showing; it means showing as in a vision; He came, He went, and that is all thev knew about it. His appearances were revelations from the invisible world; from that world He came, to that world He vanished. It was the beginning of a new and hiirher life. Durinc; these seasons in which He came out of the invisible world, He held high and sacred fellowship with His disci|)les; He spoke to them oF the things pertaining to the King- dom of God. The words I have read as a text were spoken in His last interview with them ; thev are [lis parting words : " Ye shall receive power after that the Holv Ghost is come upon vou, and ve shall be wit- nesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." The subject which solicits our attention is the nature of the power which Christ promises to His disciples; in other words, we shall endeavour to answer the question, IVIiat is the nature of the power necessary to regenerate and save the hiwian race ? I. Let us show what it is not. IT. Let us sliow what it is. :»' i i tl POWER FROM ON HIGH. I ii! I I. Let us look upon the subject on its nkgativk SIDE. I. We should sadly misunderstand the words of the Saviour did we attach to them the idea o^ physical power. The current literature of the day sometimes speaks of "muscular'Christianity;" but it is super- fluous for me to add that that is not the Christianity of the New Testament. This has nothingr at all to do with the muscle ; it is radically different from physical force. But men oftentimes forget this. They once thought they could resist the spread of Christianity by physical means. But could they? No. They could no more prevent the success of Christianity by throwing the Gospel into prison than our Government could stop the lightning on its path by calling out the volunteers. Subsequently, men thought they could materially assist the Gospel by bringing it into alliance with the political organi- zations of the world. But could they ? No. Perse- cutions never made saints yet. The axe can never infuse new life into the tree. But is there anything that can? Yes, the Spring can. In like manner, the axe of the executioner, or the rack of the in- quisitor, or the stake of the persecutor, can never quicken a soul dead in trespasses and sins. The power Christ promised is not physical. " The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God." a. It is not miraculous power. They were already endued with this, though no doubt a great increase was subsequently made to it. This was not the I POWKR FROM ON HIGH. 5 power the world stood principally in need of. Mira- culous power cannot save men. Men saw Jesus performing miracles — openinir the eyes of the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf, and raising the dead to life — and still remained in their unbelief. " Send Lazarus to my brethren/* said Dives, in torment, to Abraham, "and they will listen to him." But what was the patriarch's reply ? " If they believe not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they believe though one rose from the dead." A miracle would not ei. gender faith in their hearts. We read that, after the resurrection of Jesus, " Many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of their graves, and went into the Holy City, and appeared unto many." Imagine a company of ghosts walking to town together and appearing to many 1 Well, many believed? No; not one. Miracles will not save men. We would rush to perdition through a battalion of ghosts. 3. Neither is it the power of eloquence. " And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excel- lency of speech, or of wisdom, declaring unto vou the testimony of God." I admit there is tremendous power in words ; they breathe, they burn, they move the soul. But there is one thing they cannot do — regenerate the soul. They are not adequate to do that. You all know that there is an invention to electrify dead bodies; by brinjrins: the dead into con- tact with the electric battery, they can be made to imitate the living ; they look, they stare, they move, they gesticulate : there is the semblance of life, but iil' POWER FROM ON HIGH. i ! P u not the reality. And I have seen, under powerful and eloquent sermons, stout-hearted sinners start from their seats. I have seen them weep ; I have seen them pray. Well, they are alive? Not they — they are only the dead acting the living. Let the electric current which flows from the preacher sub- side, and they will fall back to their former torpor and indifference. What are many of the so-called revivals? Electric shocks disturbing the dead, but leaving them dead notwithstanding. Eloquence can move men, but it cannot save them. Eloquence, like the wind, moves the sea from without, but that which saves must move it from its own depths. Eloquence works upon the soul ; that which saves must work i?i the soul. I do not disparage elegance of language and eloquence of style; but this I know, that Paul's preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. It is jrenerallv acknowledeed that the New Testament diction is not in the best classic stvle. The fact is — there is danger in polishing too much. One can easily compose a sermon that the most critical hearer cannot detect a flaw in it. Ask him an hour afterwards what he remembers of it, and he finds it difficult to tell you. The sermon was so refined that it shot rio;ht thronfrli the soul instead of enterinof into it and remaininir there. Polish is commendable up to a certain point — to the point of showing, instead of concealing, the material under- neath. I never like to sec an article of furniture so highlv polished that I cannot say of what timber it is made — whether it is pine or oak, ash or mahogany. iill POWER FROM ON HIGH. powerful ers start ; I have )t they — Let the :her sub- er torpor so-called dead, but lence can loquence, but that 1 depths, ich saves : elegance s I know, no; words dged that st classic shinsc too that the it. Ask ers of it, rmon was Lil instead Polish is ; point of al under- rniture so timber it lahogany. i Let every article be polished so as to show and not to hide its native worth. And so in regard to com- positions. Let king-thoughts ride in royal chariots; let them be surrounded by servants in liveries; but beggarly thoughts ought to carry about them a proof of their own poverty. I do not disparage eloquence; we want more of it in the pulpit. At the same time, we must not forget that eloquence will not regenerate men. The power Christ promised His disciples was not word power. 4. Neither is it the power of logic. It is trite and commonplace to say that argument cannot convert a soul. Conquer a man in argument, and, as a rule, vou only confirm him in his error. Last Monday I was looking at a picture which bore the title, " Con- quered, but not Subdued." The young lad was evidently conquered by his mother. There he stood, with his face half turned towards the wall : but there was determination in the mouth, defiance in the eve, anger in the nostrils; he was conquered but not sub- dued. Drive a sinner in argument to a corner, so that he cannot move, yet he can sink, and sink he will to his own hell. You have all seen sheet-lijrht- nings; they flash, they dazzle, but they never kill And arguments after all are only sheet-lightnings — flashing, dazzling, enlightening, but not killing in the sense in which Paul says that he was slain. I say nothing against logic : have as much of it in the pulpit as you can; but, after all, logic will not save the world. God can never save you by argument ; the world will defy the Almifrhty in a debate. There ;. t il ii I II 8 POWKR FROM ON HIGH. is argument in the Bible ; and argument is indispens- able : but it is not bv arefument that men are made new creatures. The power that Christ promised the disciples is not that of logic. 5. It is not the power of thought. All of us know by experience and observation that ideas wield im- mense power in the world ; that brilliant thoughts exercise a kind of magic influence on those that hear them : yet we must admit that the power of ideas is not that which saves. The Bible does not claim superiority on account of its ideas. I believe, of course, that it contains the sublimest ideas, the pro- foundest thoughts ever clothed in human language : but it is not upon its literary or intellectual character that it rests its claim to the homage of mankind. Indeed, vou may study the Scriptures for sixty years, vou mav be the best Biblical scholar in the land, and be at last a castaway. It is not the ideas of the Bible that save. The history of preaching abundantlv proves this. Read the sermon which was preached bv Peter on the day of Pentecost, and it will not strike vou as sparkling with ideas ; it will not astonish you with the profundity of its thoughts. Sermons that display as great mental calibre had been preached before, and have often been preached since. The sermon on the Mount, and the sermon that Paul preached on Mars* Hill stand higher on the intellectual and philosophic side; and yet they made but few converts. Why? Because the power of thought is not the power that saves. Look again from the pulpit to books. It is not the most intellectual POWKR FROM ON HIGH. books that have been mainly blessed to the salvation of souls. Take the "Analogy" by Butler; no book in the language perhaps displays more solid intel- lectual power; yet I question very much it" there are twenty people now living that would point to the " Analoiry " as the means of bringing them to Jesus. I may be mistaken, but that is my impression. I have heard a great many people praising it, referring to it, saying they are indebted to it, but not one ascribing his salvation to it. But read the " Dairy- man's Daughter," by Legh Richmond; or the "Anxious Inquirer," by John Angell James; and vou do not find the millionth part of the mental power in them that you find in the " Analogy ; " but there are thousands in England to-day who trace their conversion to these books. It is another power than that of thought which saves. I do not say that thought is not necessary; but it is not of itself adequate to bring about the desired change. No one will think that I wish to cast discredit on any of the excellences I have enumerated. I know the fox is ready enough to say the grapes he cannot reach are sour; and that man is too ready to sav "it is nought, it is nought," of every accomplish- ment which he has the misfortune to be without. What I say is, — they are not of themselves adequate to save the world. They are very valuable in their own places. If a man is possessed of much bodilv viirour, he can do nothingr better than consecrate it on the altar of Christianity. We have, perhaps, too many delicate students and too few robust fishermen 'f! I ffWf 10 POWER FROM ON HIGH. I ii'li I' 'Mil. I ! I ll I : occupying the pulpits oF our land. If a man is en- dued with the gift of eloquence, if he is able to speak with enticing words, let him by all means enlist his talent in the service of Christ. The more eloquent he is, the better for him and for the churches. Only let him not calculate upon it as the chief element in the salvation of sinners. If a man is able to produce beautiful roses and delight his congregation with them Sunday after Sunday, by all means let him produce them ; only let him take care to make his roses as God makes His — never a rose without a thorn, to prick the conscience of the hearer, and to spur him onward in the Divine life. Let the sermon please, if possible; but, like Peter's sermon on the day or Pentecost, it ought to prick the consciences of men. Let it be beautiful, if possible ; but let it first be use- ful. In making rocks God's principal object was sol'Jity; but, as most of you know, He has etched the hard stones with lines of bcautv and mvstic figures of every description. Usefulness first beautv afterwards. If a man is blessed with a powerful intellect and a vivid imagination, let him by all means preach sermons which radiate with light and sparkle with ideas. Only a week or two ago, manv of us were reading in a popular serial an address delivered by a great trans- Atlantic preacher to stu- dents, in which he warned them against preaching great sermons. I could not help whispering to my- self in readino; it — "Better warn them airainst preach- ing small sermons. We are not in danger of great- ness overmuch in Endand. It is not the irreat, but POWKR FKUM ON HIGH. II Lii IS en- to speak enlist his eloquent s. Only cment in ) produce /ith them I produce 3 roses as thorn, to spur him n please, le dav or s of men. St be use- )ject was as etched d mystic 5t beauty powerful m by all light and cro. manv n address ;r to stu- ^reachins: icr to mv- It preach- of great- [rrcat, but ■ ■? 'a the small sermons, that empty our churches; it is not the aTcat,but the small sermons, that allow men to sink deeper and deeper in worldliness and sin." Have as manv human excellences as you can ; after all, they will not change the heart of man. All the powers I have enumerated had been tried before Jesus Christ came to the world, and found wanting. Demos- thenes, the prince of orators, had li"ed and died, and the world was unredeemed. Plato, the prince of thinkers, had lived and died, and the world was un- redeemed. Aristotle, the prince of logicians, had lived and died, and the world was unredeemed. Homer, the prince of poets, had lived and died, and the world was unredeemed. If man is to be saved, a new power must come to the field. II. We now move on to consider the subject on its POSITIVE SIDE. I. What, then, is the power which Christ pro- mises to His disciples '' In the Gospel it is called ^^ power from on high," a power which has its source in worlds above us. The great want of the world was a power to uplift it out of its state of degrada- tion and sin — a power to upraise it. There was power from beneath working in this world, drag- ging it down to the abode of woe. The historv of the world previous to the day of Pentecost shows that it was sinkinu: lower and lower in the scale of morals. But history shows that since that time humanity has been jrraduallv ascendins; and pro- iiressinir. What brout that the great God has descended upon men, and thrown into their hearts the infinite impulse of His own' eternal nature. The disciples, as we sec them in the pages of the Gospel, are weak, timid, hesitant creatures; but at last the Holy Ghost came down upon them, overshadowed them, pervaded them, threw into their souls His own profound im- pulse, and thenceforth they walked the earth as Divine men, as inspired heroes. The power of God was working in their hearts ; the power of God was makimr them able nnnisters of the New Testament : and we must have the same power in the present day, and, thank God, it has been neither withdrawn nor withheld. The Christian life is a Divine life. The life we lead here in the flesh is supernatural. When we speak of the supernatural in the pulpit, we look back across the vista of eighteen centuries, and fix on a point far away in the distant horizon of history. But that is only a portion of the New Testament idea, and not the whole. Christianity is from first to last a supernatural religion — not a remembrance of the supernatural in the past, but its perpetuation throughout all ages, even to the end oi the world. Supernatural forces are lodged in the Christianity of to-day ; they make themselves felt by the men of to-day. Every sincere Christian leads a supernatural life; t'-: i. :i\^ f m their intellectual life. But no sooner was the Spirit poured abundantly upon them on the day of Pente- cost than they began to speak. "They were filled with the Holv Ghost," savs the narrative, "and began to speak." A man may have a little of the Spirit and be able to observe silence; but if he is filled with the Spirit he cannot hold his peace. "Necessity is laid upon me to preach." From their irrepressible desire to speak, many of the onlookers concluded they were labouring under the effects of " new wine." One of the first symptoms of intoxica- tion is a strong tendency to speak. And herein there is a superficial likeness between " being filled with wine" and "being filled with the Spirit:" in either case there is a powerful desire to speak. A few chapters further on, the magistrates "straitly threaten the disciples that they speak henceforth to no man." What say they ? " We cannot but speak " — a power too mighty was working within them for them to be able to keep it in check. The Holy Spirit was fermenting within them and burst- ing through all restraints. In the Book of Job this spiritual impulse is aptly compared to new wine working, seething, expanding in "the bottle till it either sends the cork off flying or breaks in pieces the bottle. " Elihu said, I will answer also my part; I also will show mine opinion. For I am full of matter." We are often devoid enough of matter; but Elihu, true to the nature of ail enthusiastic young men, says, " I am full of matter, the Spirit within me constraineth me. Be- \'\>' THE DAY OF PKNTECOST. 23 the Spirit of Pente- /ere filled ve, " and tie of the t if he is lis peace, rom their onlookers effects of P intoxica- nd herein eing filled pirit : " in speak. A " straitly ceforth to innot but ig within ck. The ind burst- is aptly xpanding off fiying lid, I will opinion, n devoid nature of n full of me. Re- I :1^ hold, mv bellv is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles. I will speak that I mav be refreshed " — on the margin, " that I may breathe." There was a spirit within him, he says, constraining him ; he felt ready to burst ; he there- fore spake that he might escape the sad catastrophe. Ill like manner a new power, here called the Holy Ghost, entered the hearts of the apostles and de- manded full vent, and forthwith they began to speak. Thev could not but speak. This spiritual intoxica- tion could not be restrained within the old barriers. No ; thev at once began to speak as if they laboured under the exhilarating influence of " new wine." They are drunk, exclaimed the spectators. They are drunk, intimates the historian of the Acts, but not with the new wine of earthlv vineyards ; rather are thev excited with the micrhtv influences of the Holv Spirit. And need there is, my friends, that vou experience this Spirit within you constraining vou, this Spirit which whilst you speak makes you excited and enthusiastic, this Spirit which neces- sitates you either to speak to the people or else explode in your studies. II. You will further observe that the disciples began to speak with other tongues. Ti) speak with new tongues is a power inherent in all men ; do not men speak with new tongues every year ? Some of you can converse in two or three or more languages other than that in which you were born. What then did the Spirit do ? He quickened 4 u tl 24 THK DAV OF I'JiNTJlCOS T. i , this power to an unusual degree, He infused into it fresh enersrv. The miracle consisted in the raniditv with which knowledge of other tongues was acquired. The first miracle recorded in the Gospels is the turn- ing; of water into wine. There is nothins: unnatural in that miracle. Do we not see water turned into wine every year in the vintages of Europe? The supernatural in the act did not consist in turning water into wine, but in turning it instantaneously. The rapidity of the change it was that constituted the miracle. And the first miracle reported in the Acts is of a similar nature. The ability to speak with foreign tongues is natural enough ; are not manv of our friends living witnesses? The super- natural consists rather in the suddenness, the in- stantaneousness which characterises the whole pro- ceed in o;. But is it possible, asks the Rationalist, to acquire mastery over a new lans^uasie thus? We answer that we cannot explain the phenomenon, we can only form an approximate opinion. We know that among our acquaintances some acquire knowledge with much greater rapidity than others. One will acquire an accurate mastery over a foreign tongue in one year, whilst another will require three years. Who can tell how quickly the human intellect may acquire it when filled, invigorated, inspired by the superabundant energies of the Holy Ghost? Sir William Hamilton tells us of a servant girl who, under the excitement of fever, repeated with ease and accuracy long and intricate passages from various 111!' TIIK DAY OF I'KNTKCOST. 25 ed into it e rapiditv , acquired, the turn- unnatural rned into pe ? The 1 turning taneously. onstituted :ed in the ' to speak ; are not "he super- 5, the in- hole pro- o acquire '^e answer I, we can enow that enowledtre One will rn tongue iree years, .'llect may t?d by the lost? Sir girl who, with ease )iTi various authors in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Where learnt she thcin? She only occasionally overheard her old master read them to himself as he was walking up and down a passage in his house, and under the fiery excitement of fever she could repeat them with mar- vellous exactitude. He quotes several other instances to the same effect. This seems well nigh incredible to the student pondering for years over his classics and failincr at last to make much progress in them. If that be the case under the excitement of fever, is it incredible to vou that the disciples spoke with foreign tongues under the quickening influences of the Holv Spirit? Let God but touch one of the springs of the mind and it displays wondrous power. Man, as he now is, is only a degenerate specimen of man as he formerly was. " There were giants on the earth in those days.*' Adam in innocency could learn more in five minutes than we can in five years. He could instinctively, intuitively make language, a much more formidable task than to learn one alreadv made. And man, as he now is, by no means furnishes us with a standard by which to measure the man of the future. Let sin be cast out, and the wound it has inflicted on the mind be healed up, and nian will a^ain learn a new lanojua2:e with as much facility as Adam made a new one at first. The Spirit descended on the disciples in the plentitude of His power, and forthwith they fluently discoursed in new tongues without undergoing the drudgery of learnins: them. The Holy Spirit, it is admitted, ennobles other i ti .■i!i 26 Tin: DAY or pkntkcost. ' faculties; then why not the faculty to speak with other tongues? He filled Bezaleel and Aholiab, and made them skilful in all things pertaining to the efficient workmanship of the Tabernacle, And I believe He still endows men with the knowledge necessary to the successful prosecution of Art. Any- how, the chiefest works of art have been executed in connection with and under the patronage of Chris- tianity. When the religion of the New Testament appeared, the arts and sciences were at a very low ebb. But before long the new religion poured a new spirit into society ; it soon became evident that a divine power had been introduced into the world. It began to ennoble the intellect of the race. Just as you have seen a tree, after being dug around and well manured, budding out in early spring with fresh vitality, so Christianity enriched the human mind; a new spirit found ingress into it, and it began to sprout. Poetry revived under its genial, benign influences — the best poetry of the world is Christian. Painting grew under the shadow of its wing — the grand pictures are nearly all representations of scenes in the life of the Saviour. Music and Architecture also have chiefly flourished on Christian soil and in immediate connection with Christian worship. It is noteworthy that Christianity exerts great influence on the sciences also — greater, perhaps, than many at first siirht are ready to concede. When did the revival of Science and Literature take place in F^urope ? Not till the revival of Christianity came to pass in the da\s of Luther. The Reformation in II lliiill III! in:::!! THK DAY OF PKNTKCOST. a; the Church led to a reformation almost as great in philosophy. When did Science make the discovery that the sun is the centre of our system ? Not till Luther discovered that Christ, the Sun of Righteous- ness, is the centre of religion. Luther and his coad- jutors first discovered the true centre of spirits, and then was the discovery made of the true centre ot the planets. Many, doubtless, will smile at this connection as fanciful and artificial ; but I believe it to be vital and organic. The impetus the effusion of the Spirit gave the Church on the day of Pente- cost ceased not till it moved and disturbed the whole ocean of knowledge. The same spirit continues to be the moving and refining power in modern civilisa- tion. Stephenson was once asked. What was the power that pulled the train along the rails? He answered. The Sun. The sun was not the immediate power — that was the fire under the boiler; but he knew that science could trace back the fire of the coal to the fire of the sun. Yonder shining sun is the ultimate power which drags the heavy trains along the rails, and propels the stately steamers through the mighty main. And if you inquire what power it is that is now working in the heart of civilisation, that is pushing upward and forward all that is good and true and fair — I answer. The power of the Spirit of Christ. The sun shines not simply to promoter growth and nourish life upon our earth, but also in all the worlds revolving around him as their centre. And Jesus Christ sheds His Spirit, not simply to fructify His own Church, but to f ' •>i i I 28 TIIK DAV OK I'i:.\Ti;C()ST, stimulate men to greater activity and to secure them better success in all brauches of" enterprise aiul knowledge. As the sanctification of the race progresses, as sin, which lies like au incubus on the heart oF humanity, hindering Free movement, will be expunged, we may expect corresponding celerity in our acquisition of knowledge. I should not be at all surprised to find that the lofty mental state in which the apostles found themselves on the present occasion is the normal state of man ; in other words, that what we in our present sinful condition call supernatural is the true natural. Daniel was thrown to the lions' den, and the lions hurt him not. That we call supernatural : yet T am not sure but it is the true natural — the stale in whicli man was placed in Paradise, and in which he will find himself ajjain bv and bv. Adam minded freelv with the beasts in f2den, and received no hurt. Jesus Christ, the " model man," was forty days in tlie wilderness with the " wild beasts," and not one of them i.idde an attempt upon His life; and we read that in the remote future the lion and the lamb will lie down to- gether, and a little child will lead them. The three voung men in BaDylon were cast into the fiery furnace, and the flame did not singe a hair of their heads. That we call supernatural : yet I am not sure but it is the true natural — the condition in which man found himself at first, and in which he will find himself again. Man was not subject to death either natural or accidental before the entrance of sin into li THE DAV OF PENTIXOST. 39 the world — fire would not consmnc him; and man re- deemed will be delivered iVom the law oF death — he will go through the fire and not be burnt. Jesus Christ walked the sea, and l\'tcr trod the waves to meet Him. That we call supernatural: yet I am not sure but it is the true natural — the state in which man found himself in the Paradise of (;ld, and ill which he will find himself again in the Paradise re ft\~\f- I r*iacr\n ic t'niu__t-nr> Pnt Tf-inrr Prpsrf i I I), it. ■lil; more than fills its place. Were I asked which 1 would rather have, the Gift of Tongues as bestowed by the Spirit on the day of Pentecost or the Gift of Tongues as bestowed by the Printing Press of modern times, I would answer. Lord, give ii:c the printing press. Here all languages are accessible to us; here we can speak to the distant nations of the earth, and they can epeak to us ; here we have fixed in deep, indelible characters, the words and the thoughts of the towering geniuses of the race. What the gift of tongues did for the Church of the Pente- cost, the printing press has done for the Church of the Reformation. In the library attached to this college you are more highly favoured than if you stood in the Upper Chamber and were numbered with the apostles when "cloven tongues like as of fire" appeared unto them and " sat upon each of them.'* Another reason for the cessation of the miracle is this — the labourers are more abundant. In the primitive Church there were only a few labourers, whereas there was a whole world to evangelise. There were only a few reapers, whilst the field was co-extensive with the habitable globe, and white already to the harvest. * The Pentecost was the harvest feast ; and now the disciples are commissioned to gather in the harvest of humanity. But how are thev to set about their task ? They are but a small company of illiterate people for the most part, and how c^re they to accomplish their work? God gives them their tools ready made — He hands them their f\4 THE DAV OF PKNTKCOST. 37 sickles sharpened for work. Had they to prepare their own instriiiucnts, to acquire knowledge of laniiiiages in the usual way, the night would have come on, and their ardour would have cooled before their work had been connnenced. But now that exigency exists not. There are workmen enough, millions in the British Isles alone, to say nothing of Europe and America; we have ample time to provide our own tools and do our work too. There are Christians en()u<»'h in England alone to learn all the lansfuag-es of the earth, and to preach the Gospel to every creature in the tongue wherein he was born in less than ten years, without in the least disturbing the ordinarv course of business at home. God supplied the ancient Church with the gift to speak with new tongues without undergoing the preliminary toil of learning them ; for it had no time to go to Athens or Alexandria to study languages — it had only just time to make the circuit of the earth, proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ. But when the Church became sufficiently numerous to afford time to master the different languages in the usual way, and yet perform its appointed task, God withdrew the miracle. To continue it would be to patronise indolence, and do for believers what they can easily do for themselves. The present Church, therefore, is no whit behind the Church of the apostles. It has lost nothing; it has gained much. But it is objected that it has lost the gift to speak with tongues. I have been trying to show it has not lost it, that it speaks with ivi h \ 38 THK DAY OF PENTP:COST. |h!, ■(!' Jiiiriii^ ' , 11 I'M 1 more tongues to-day than it ever did before. True, the manner of bestowing it is different; but the manner is nothing, the fact is everything. The miracle has ceased, but the blessing enveloped in the miracle remains. Indeed, the necessity for miracles arises out of the want and not of the wealth of the age in which they are performed. That miracles were performed in the age of the apostles but are not performed now, proves that they lacked some- thing which we possess : the miracles were wrought to supply a conscious void which has since then been filled. If Jesus Christ miraculously turns water into wine in a certain wedding, it is a proof of deficiency in that wedding. Fortunate are the parties who can get married without the need of a miracle to cover their poverty. If Jesus Christ miraculously multiplies the loaves and fishes, it is a proof of deficiency in the neighbourhood where the miracle is performed. Happy the congregations and happy the neighbour- hoods which do not require miracles to supply their material wants. If Jesus Christ miraculously heals the sick, it is a proof of a serious defect in the medical art of the age. Lucky the ages in which medical knowledge is suflficiently advanced to heal the sick without the aid of a miracle. The miraculous ages are always the most im- poverished spiritually in the history of the world. The deliverance of Israel from Egypt is marked by miracles. But the necessity for them arose out of the moral dearth of the times. The consciousness of God had almost become extinct in the Hebrews 4 M THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 39 True, but the g. The d in the miracles 1 of the miracles but are d some- wrought ben been ater into ciency in ) can get ver their iplies the V in the jrformed. ighbour- ply their isly heals ;t in the n which to heal as well as in their idolatrous oppressors. As this consciousness grew in depth and richness and vivid- ness, the miraculous in their history continued to wax smaller and " beautifully less," till in the reigns of David and Solomon — the richest period materially, intellectually, and spiritually in the history of the nation — it ceased altogether. When the spiritual reached its height, the miraculous quite disappeared. But in subsequent reigns spiritual religion rapidly declined : in the days of Ahab the land was spiritu- ally a desolation — the consciousness of God had as:ain become dim. In those days therefore the gift of miracles was again revived in the persons of Elijah and Elisha; but mark — it was spiritually the most imbecile age since the redemption from the bondage of Egypt. Again spiritual religion revived and reached its climax in the times of the Maccabees ; but henceforth decay set in, and when the Saviour appeared on the scene infidelity was rife among the Sadducees, and hypocrisy rampant among the Pharisees. Cant had taken the place of life. Everywhere in Judaea and out of it, the epoch was the most degraded in the annals of the race. The gift of miracles was therefore granted once more ; but the necessity for it arose out of the hard-hearted- ness, the moral obtuseness, the total absence of the consciousness of God in the souls of men. Miraculous is always in inverse proportion to spiritual power; where the latter grows the former declines. Will miracles be again revived in the Christian Church? Not unless spiritual religion be '1 I: I •I I, 40 THK DAY OF PKNTKCOST. tfi iM' ' ^11 .1!"'' I I i;i. ill i' iH: ■ !l threatened with speedy extinction. As long as the Divine life in the Church will continue deep and vigorous, miracles will be withheld. But should there happen a universal apostasy from spiritual Christianity, as St. Paul seems to dimly intimate, the power to work miracles may be again restored to the Church. "But let no man deceive vou bv any means ; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling; awav first." And if there come a fi^eneral fallino; awav, what then ? The analosfies of history point to the probability of a renewal of the gift of miracles. As miracles were wrought at the dawn of history when the foundations of the Jewish Church were laid ; and as they were wrought at the noon of history when the Jewish Church merged into the Christian ; who knows but they will be performed again at the eventide of history, when the affairs of the present dispensation will be about to be wound up, and the Christian Church about to enter upon its glorified state? Be it yours, however, by cultivating spiritual religion in your- selves and others, to keep the evil day away, when ' miracles will be required to maintain the supremacv of Christianity and to keep alive the consciousness of God in the race. IV. They began to speak with other tongues the wonderful works of God to men of other nations. " There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven ; and they were all amazed and marvelled, saving one to another, THE DAV OF I'KNTECOST. 41 Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born ? " Increased life always demands increased scope for its exercise. A large addition was now made to the spiritual life of the Church — " they were all filled with the Holv Ghost;" and this increased life manifests itself, as it always does, in a strenuous effort to diffuse itself. Every life is difflisive accord- ing to its volume or internal vigour. There was no power to spread itself in religion under the Old Testament, not because there was any arbitrary decree forbidding it, but because it possessed not the internal force or momentum necessary to do so. The local, national character of the Old Testament Church arose out of the feebleness of its inward pulse, the great scarcity of its spiritual force. The Spirit was given in very scanty measures, just enough to pre- serve life but not to multiply life and replenish the earth. That Judaism should cover only a small portion of the globe was an absolute necessity, for it could maintain its life only by concentration. If the fire on the hearth be small, there is but one way of keeping it burning and glowing — it must be heaped close together. Let the coals be scattered, and the fire will die out : concentration is necessary to keep it alive — the coals njust keep each other warm. And under the Old Testament only a few sparks came down from heaven to earth; hence it was necessary to gather them together within the narrow confines of Palestine — scatter them and the in , ' '} 42 THli DAY OF PENTECOST. 1 ];!'!! ! '■l fire will die out. Just sufficient power resided in Judaism to preserve life but not to extend it. And in the days of the Saviour the life was well nigh gone, the fire was nearly extinguished. The zeal for sacred things evinced by the Pharisees and Sadducees was only painted fire, and painted fire will never burn. There was not enough genuine fire in the current religion to consume the least impurity. Fire — hot, hissing, glowing — was the great need of the age. " I indeed baptize you with water," exclaims the Baptist ; but water can only cleanse the surface, it can onlv wash away the impurities of the skin. Thev required another baptism, which would penetrate into the depths of their nature, cleansing them from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. " I indeed baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." And on the day of Pentecost the prediction is fulfilled. The fire first burns into the hearts of the disciples, then it begins to extend its area, and now it threatens to burn up all the stubble of the world. This increased life reveals itself instinctively in a desire to enlarge its circumference. This desire is not so much the result of reflection as the spontaneous outcome of the new nature. Whenever the presence of the Spirit is powerfully felt in the Church, it is invariably followed by a renewed effc^rt to evangelise the world. Let the spring impart new life to the roots of the trees, and the life will at once be trans- mitted to the branches, covering them with abundant foliasre. Let the warm, genial months come round, '■M THE DAV OF I'KNTKCOST. 43 revivinc^ the drooping nature of the bird after the lonir drcarv winter cold, and the bird shows it ini- niediatclv in his song. He does not sing because he thinks he ought; he sings because he cannot help it; he sinirs because he must — the necessity arising out of the jovousness of his little heart. And it is a poor wav of promoting the evangelistic zeal of the Church to demonstrate constantly what she ought to do. Ought, alas ! in the history of man is only one step removed from nought. What then should we do ? Why, assemble ourselves together in the Upper Chamber, and continue with one accord in prayer "till the promise of the Father" be fulfilled. In- creased life will instinctively claim increased room ; additional fire will naturally throw out its light and heat beyond the old boundaries. Herein consists the great desideratum in the evangelistic life of the Church of this century ; and it would be well for our Presbyteries and General Assemblies to remember this — it is useless to spend days to lay down rules for the guidance of the Churches unless we also help to supply them with motive power. We trust too* much to plans and organisations — there is too much reflection and self-consciousness. We want more spontaneity, more self-forgetfulness, more enthusiasm, more life. I do not cry down organisations; they are very valuable in their proper place. But what are they after all ? They are only cisterns ; and cisterns, though of the most approved pattern and of the most finished make, are not of much use to quench .|;r4! 44 THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 1! Ii; n ! 3 the burning thirst of humanitv. I do not know that the Pentecostal Church had inanv organisations to win the world to Christ; but I do know that she had the water of life to give freely to all who were in need. The modern Church can boast of multi- tudinous organisations; and so far she can claim superiority to the early Church, for cisterns after all are serviceable. But I am afraid we are too well pleased with our organisations, admiring their out- ward shape and glitter, whilst oblivious of their emptiness and hollowness. What glorious cisterns are the Missionary Societies of this country! Thev have silver pipes connecting them with every country under heaven ; the waterworks are laid to convey the water of life to every thirsty soul. But the results are seldom proportionate to the expenditure. The cisterns too often run dry. The coffers may be full of money o * they may be empty ; but in either case, Mammon claims the Report to himself, and says to he assembled multitudes in the annual meeting, " Without me ve can do nothino;.'* I want these and kindred societies to believe, I want the Churches to believe, I want you and me to believe, that with- out him we can do a great many things, that without him we can do all the more important things. I want Christendom to believe less in monev and more in the Holy Ghost — l.o believe less in splendid organisations and more in divine influences — to believe less in cisterns and more in water. How few the triumphs of Christianity at home and abroad'. How tardy its onward march! Why? THE DAY OF FENTi:C(>ST. 45 what is the cause ? Lack of funds, answer our secretaries. Nay, sirs, lack of life, lack of piety, lack of the Holy Spirit of God. Had the apostles funds to back their efforts? Had St. Paul a large society canvassing the country on his behalf? And vet he preached the Gospel from Jerusalem to Illy- ricuin, and from Illvricum to the coasts of Spain. Rely on it — Gold will never cast out devils. Oh that God would breathe into our missionary and educational institutions the breath of life, and then they would become quickening spirits on the earth. •* 'Tis life, whereof our nerves are scant, More life, and fuller, that we want." Reflection on the part of the Church is not to be discouraged. But stock-taking will not clothe the naked — you must have warm-hearted charity to do that. We spend too much time in surveying our property, and meanwhile our enthusiasm considerably abates. The Greek Church took stock of all the doctrines of Christianity, and reduced them into carefully-worded articles : she took the exact measure- ment of our spiritual life and formulated it into fine- spun definitions. But in reflection she lost her ardour, in speculation evaporated all her life. The most orthodox Church became practically a dead Church. I respect orthodoxy, but I prefer life. I respect fashion, I like men to conform to fashion, I like them to be orthodox in their mode of dressinir ; but if the fashion tends to kill men and women, if it presses unduly upon the free circulation of the blood, ! -! " i II 46 THE L;AY OF FKNTECOST. then — away with orthodoxy, give rne life and liberty and fair play. The Greek Church bound herself so tightly round the waist with definitions of trath that she could not breathe; she wound herself so ingeniously in the web of dogma that she could not move ; she actually died of orthodoxy. She continues to hold all the vital truths of Christianity — she, in- deed, first evolved them and explained them in her councils. She continues to wear all the habiliments of the living. But I have not heard of her sending out missionaries to evangelise the heathen ; I have not heard of any special effort on her part to dis- seminate the truth and carr\ the torch of light to the dark places of the earth. She has the name to live but is dead. What then is required to awaken within her the old life and incite her to new adven- tures? A fresh effusion of the Holy Spirit. The new life would perforce snap the strangling cords of dogma; and the Greek Church would again become a mighty power on the earth. What is wanting to make Roman and Protestant Churches more powerful for good in the world ? Another outpour- ing of the Holy Ghost. We have cisterns enough, pray for the livmg water : channels enough, pray the River of Life may flow therein : machinery enough, pray the Spirit of the living creature to enter the wheels, and then it will do more work and make less clatter — it will run with greater speed and keep less noise. V. The disci r]e« bcr^an to speak with other THE DAV OF PENTECOST. I : tont^ues the wonderful works of God to people of other nations, that they also might bk filled WITH THE Holy Ghost. " Kepent and be bap- tized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Truth, though it be Christian truth, cannot fill man ; it cannrtl satisfy our nature. God alone can do that. And we must endeavour to convey not only the truth of Christ, but the spirit of Christ to our hearers. " Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." This, of course, implies that human nature is capacious enough to take in the Spirit, which can be affirmed of no other nature in this world. Mi*^^ is both finite and infinite — finite in his powers, but infinite in his wants. God is too great for our powers. He baffles our understanding, He puzzles our imagination. *• Imagination's utmost stretch In wonder dies away." But if He is too great for our powers. He is not too great for our wants. If He is too vast for our reason. He is not too vast for our hearts. He alone can fill us. Therefore, in order to conceive ade- quately the greatness of man, and to kindle within us the "enthusiasm of humanity," which was so characteristic of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, let us not think so much of our abilities as of our necessities. Our abilities are limited enouorh, but our necessities arc verily b()undk's«» " Let us make 1 1 !• i I '■< ! I '< \}\ , ,' ■: 4H THE DAY OF PKNTKCOST. if! I % ' % i^- M\ man in our image, after our likeness ; " and He made him in the similitude even of His infinitude, in our powers we are finite indeed, but in our wants we are infinite, and God alone can satisfy us. " They were all filled with the Holy Ghost." Thus we know God more bv our wants than by our understanding. We apprehend Him better as a Being supplying our need than as a Being squaring with our reason. This is the God of the Gospel — a Being filling the emptiness of humanity. God in His Son fills the emptiness of human nature: God in His Spirit fills the emptiness of human persons. A question is discussed in philosophy — Can a finite mind know an infinite God ? Some answer No, and others answer Yes. Sir William Hamilton and his school answer No ; and from their standpoint they are right. In their philosophy man is only a logical machine, and it is impossible to bring God within the compass of a syllogism. In their system man is a compound of powers, and as such he can never " search out the Almighty to perfection.'* But man is^ something besides a bundle of powers, — he is a bundle of wants, if I may be allowed the expression ; and through his wants he can know God. Do not say I cannot know the Infinite Being: I have infinite wants within me, and through the Infinite within I can know the Infinite without, and receive Him in the ample plenitude of His power and grace into my soul. We know God through the necessitous side of our nature. How does the infant six months old know his mother? He knows 13 THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 49 her by his wants. He knows not whether she is rich or poor, accomplished or unlearned, beautiful or plain. The child knows nothing about all that; but there is a side of his nature by which he thoroughly knows her^-he knows her through his need. When he is hungry she feeds him j when he is cold she warms him ; when he is in pain she soothes him. He knows her as a mother, and the mother is the quintessence of the woman. How do we know God ? Just in the same way, as a God supplying our need and filling the void in our nature. "They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.** We may be filled with Him also — so filled as to convince unbelievers, not only that we have been with God, but that He dwells in us of a truth. There is a curious invention to fill the human body with electricity. If you only approach the body so filled, it will shoot forth sparks of wild lightning. But all connection between the body and the earth must be severed ; the man must stand on a non-conducting material, else the electric fluid will flow out as fast as it flows in. In like manner we may be recipients of the Divine fire — we may be filled with the Holy Ghost. And sometimes we feel as if we were getting full, we emit divine sparks at the approach of others. They are convinced that God is in us of a truth. But ere many days pass, the hallowed influences have all flowed out. We have been in too close contact w'th the world in its dissipating frivolities and gay pleasures; our enthusiasm has died, our zeal has been u j) ; ; it ' i rp THK DAY OF PKNTKCOST. ifili' ii'l :i^ , i!,ii 'ill quenched. Worldliness is the great sin of the Church in our century — it robs us of the Divine in Christian experience. Oh, for another Pentecostal baptism ! We need the Spirit now as much as ever to convert un- believers, and to stir up the dormant energies of the Church. Why is it ministers and other Christian workers see so little fruit to their labours? Why is it the success is not commensurate with the brgani- sations? Why is it we preach from month to month and have no souls for our hire ? Some answer. The poverty of your sermons is the reason ; preach better and you will have better success. That we can im- prove much in the matter and style of our preaching, I admit. But I do not think the true reason lies there ; for I read in the Bible of another Preacher who had in glorious perfection all the qualities we lack, — spiritually-minded above the children of men, spending nights and days in earnest prayer and deep meditation on solitary mountain-tops — the best master of genuine eloquence the world ever witnessed. " Never man spake like this man." And yet He did not succeed very well. After spend- ing years in the ministry. He had not more than one hundred and twenty admirers at the day of His death. Every qualification met in the preacher, and yet He made but comparatively few converts. " He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." The coldness of the people of Capernaum palsied the arm of the blessed Saviour, and froze His ioving words on His lips. A cold Church, an un- THE DAY OF FKNTKCOST. 5' believing Church, robs itself of the choicest blessings of heaven. Let it not blame its ministers for its non-success — roses will not grow in Greenland, trees will not blossom at the North Pole. Many a minis- ter has failed for a season, not so much because of his owr incompetency as because of the unhealthi- ness of the climate in which He was labouring. " Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south ; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." i 1 ■ i ♦-. III. .1 ';' > ■% Zbc Xante flDan at tbe (Bate of tbe C;emple {Hitsp'ial Sunday.) " Then Peter said. Silver and gold have I none ; but such as I have give I thee ; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nanareih rise up and walk."— Acts iii. 6. What time had passed between the events recorded in the previous chapter and the events recorded in this we do not positively know. But one thing seems pretty evident — that the excitement of the Pentecost had subsided, that the Church had settled down in quiet and peace, and had partly ceased to draw public attention to itself. Several months, no doubt, intervened between the concluding history of the second chapter and the interesting story con- tained in the third. The miracle of healing described in che context appears to have been the first performed by the apostles since the ascension to heaven of their Lord and Master. True, we read in the closing verses of the second chapter "that many wonders and signs were done by the apostles ; " but the words are generally taken to be prospective rather vhan re- THK LAMK MAN AT TH K GATK OF THK TKMPLK. 5^ trospective. The first of those " works and signs *' we take to be the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. Let me have your attention, if you please, to two points. I. The lame man, II. The cure of the lame man. I. The lame man. We are told that he was " lame from his mother's womb." Many become lame through accident or sickness; but this man was born a cripple. Luke, who was a physician, gives us to understand the cause of his decrepitude. His description of the healing process — or rather of the healing act, for there was no process — is very expressive : "Imme- diately his feet and ankle-bones received strength." His lameness was owing to a weakness in, and perhaps, malformation of, the ankle-bones. The man had never walked — he was born a cripple. But that hardly suffices to describe his helpless condition. The context shows that there was not the least strenjrth in his feet, not enoucrh even to allov ' of the use of crutches. We know many lame men, but most of them are able to move about with the help of artificial supports. But this man was so utterly helpless that he could not even avail himself of the aid of a crutch — he was obliged to be carried, like a new-born babe, from one place to another. Not that there was any weakness in his bodv, all 1 >. I i I 54 THK LAMK MAN AT TIIK the weakness was in his ankles ; he could not put an ounce of weight upon them — they bent under him like a bruised reed. Raphael, in his cartoon illustrating this portion of sacred story, seems to have seized this feature. He has drawn at a little distance from him another deformed man, who, however, is able to hobble along by the help of a crutch. But he has drawn this man without a crutch near him. But I think Raphael was mis- taken in drawing his legs in a stiflf, rigid form ; it was not rigidity in the ankles he was suflTering from, but extreme weakness. " Immediately his feet and ankles became firm.'* Before, there was no firmness in them ; his feet were quite loose in their sockets, twisting about like whipcord. And not only was he lame — that of itself was a sore misfortune, and hard enough to bear; but in addition to utter impotence he was in downright poverty. He was a cripple and he was a beggar too. It is difficult to conceive a more pitiable condition. " A certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the Temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the Temple." There were several reasons why the gate of the Temple had been selected as a propitious place for begging. For one thing, crowds of people were coming and going through it at least three times a day. Beggars generally select public thoroughfares. Besides, the people who were coming in and going out were the best men and the best women in Jeru- sal( GATK OF THE TliMPLK. 55 salem; the impious, unsympathetic rabble did not care to resort daily to the Temple at the appointed hours of prayer. It is the cream of society that frequent places of worship, and by cream I do not mean exactly the richest men, but the best men. Moreover, men in going to and coming from church are in a better mood for considering the poor and supplying their wants than in the tumultuous whirl of business. Those who go to the Temple to observe the first table of the Law, which commands loving and serving God, are better disposed to observe the second, which enjoins loving and serving our neigh- bours. And it is a fact that almost all the alms of the world are administered at the gates of the Temple; almost all the charitable institutions of the world are dependent for their moral and pecuniary support, and almost all the benevolent movements of society are dependent for their success, on them that go up to the Temple at the hour of prayer. Just think of all the charitable institutions of London. Where does the revenue come from ? Mainly from the pockets and the hearts of those who attend on the public worship of God. If money is needed for the better support and the greater efficiency of the hospitals and dispensaries of the metropolis, to whom is appeal made ? Why, to the Temple-goers. I never was honoured with a letter from the Lord Mayor of London, till he thought money was re- quired to carry out his humane object. Maybe that everv man of science and cverv man of business also p: i il !' i, 56 TIIK LAMK MAN AT TIIK received 9, letter from him, which, however, I doubt ; but I am sure every clergyman of the Establish- ment, and every minister of Nonconformity, were honoured with a courteous epistle. Do I find fault? Certainly not, — I look upon it as a great compli- ment to Christianity. When money is needed to assuage the world's griet to relieve the world's distress, men go straight to the gate of the Temple to beg. They are tryincj to found an Hospital Satur- day, but they have founded an Hospital Sunday. It is an irrefutable testimony to the worth of Chris- tianity. A week or two ago I was reading a leading article in one of the daily papers. That paper and others had been warmly advocating private contributions towards the relief of the famine in India. So far, good. These papers which are going to supersede the pulpit, and do away with preaching (which means, of course, that the writers of the papers con- sider themselves much abler and cleverer than we poor ministers, so given are men to think of them- selves otherwise than they should think), these papers had been loud and eloquent in their appeals for money. But the money did not come. Other appeals were made, louder and more eloquent. But the money did not come. As a last resort, what did the powerful paper with "its largest circulation in the world ** propose to do ? To have a collection in the churches, forsooth ; the Mansion House Com- mittee were to go to the gates of the Temple to beg ! The churches could at once swell the Famine Fund, m n\TK OP TIIK TI'MPIJ:. .57 it was paid, to the desired dimensions, and \vc were forciblv summoned to do our duty. Mind, I sav not a word against a collection in the churches in aid of the Famine Fund ; let the churches but understand that a million sterling is necessary to help to feed the suflbring Hindoos, and the million sterling will Ix; iujmediatelv forthcoming:. But where were the readers of the paper, I shoidd like to know ? Where the " larc-est circulation in the world " ? Could not the "Almighty Press" squeeze a little money out of its numerous readers? The appeal for money, for- sooth, must be made to the churches! Do I find fault? Oh, no; it is a high comj)liment to Chris- tianity, and a noble, though unintentional, compli- ment to the ministers thereof — they teach their hearers to be charitable at least, a virtue which the papers fail to teach their readers. The journalistic magicians struck the rock, and what did they elicit? Sparks of fire. Only the rod of Moses can make it flow a living stream to quench the thirst of the suffering millions. But Christianity is dying fast; the world can do without the churches? No, my friends "ot as long as there are the lame to help, and the blind to lead, and the hungry to feed, and the poor to succour. Christianity is founded, not so much in the powers as in the need" of the race. All the beggars flock to the gates of the Temple. They sometimes sit at the gates of Trade, but they are sternly told by the voice of authority in buckram to "move on." Thev sometimes sit at the jrates of Pleasure and of Fashion, but none save the dogs :(■! li' ■U' ' ^1 H: '1. 1 '1 I'll : If 1 -1 '\'% if *'? 58 THK LAMK MAN AT THK deiirn to take notice of them. The beggars know that the Temple is the great ahnshousc of" the world, and at its gates they sit in large companies, asking alms of them that pass by. There were about ten gates to the Temple in Jerusalem, all of them very costly and very superb, mostlv overlaid with silver and gold. The Jews did not as a rule grudge the most lavish expenditure upon the adornments of tlie Temple. But there was one gate far surpassing all others in costliness of material and magnificence of design, generally known as the Gate of Nicanor. The majority of commentators favour the view that this was the gate called Beauti- ful, at which was placed the inipotent beggar. I, for one, should like to see to e\ery temple in Christen- dom a gate called Beautiful ; and I should like to see standing at the gate Lady Bountiful, to administer comfort to the blind, the halt, and the sick. I have been somewhat fortunate in my text to-day — it serves a double purpose; it serves the purpose of calling vour attention to the state of the building in which we are assembled, and the desirableness of renovating it — a subject, as already announced, to be submitted to your kind consideration during the coming week ; it also serves the purpose of kindling your love towards the poor and the afflicted, and of practically enlisting your sympathies in their favour. God's house should always be about the most beauti- ful house in the neighbourhood, and God's people must not complain if they are called upon to con- tribute of their carthlv possessions towards its adorn- li GATE OF THE TEMPLE. 59 ment. If our congregations increase annually in wealth, God expects a part of it to flovv to the sanctuary. Trade must do homage to religion, and " offer unto it gifts — gold, frankincense, and myrrh." When the Church was in a state of comparative poverty, a mound of earth hastily thrown up with a rude spade served it for an altar — and the mound of earth was acceptable in the sight of God. But when the Church increased in numbers and advanced in refinement and civilisation, the altar of earth was justly superseded by an altar of shittim wood over- laid with brass ; instead of the rude mound, there was to be a little artistic work. Finally, when the Church had multiplied in numbers, and had increased in possessions, God was not satisfied with the mound of earth, nor with the altar of shittim wood over- laid with brass; thenceforward the altar was to be of wood overlaid with fine gold. Do Christians increase in wealth ? Let a portion of it flow to the sanctuary of the Highest ; let there be built a gate called the Beautiful. And at the gate let there stand a sister of mercy to administer alms to the helpless and forlorn. " And now abideth Beautv and Charitv, these two ; but the greater of these is Charity." If we cannot get the two, Beautv and Charity, then let go Beauty and let us follow after Charitv. *' Covet earnestly the best gifts." However beautiful was the gate of the Temple, more beautiful in the siajht of God and His holy anircis were the hands which in tenderness and sympathy gave alms to the cripple that sat by. B:'auty of : 1 r\ I \ M 60 T/rIK LAMK MAN AT THK if 1; ^1 Mn ...' ;* t \l Stone and of metal is not to be compared with beauty of disposition and of character. Young people, do you covet beauty? Let me tell you, you can all acquire it ; and beauty acquired is incomparably better than beauty born. " Blessed is he that con- sidereth the poor." Yes, and beautiful too. Once upon a time, says the legend, a dispute aiose between three young ladies as to which had the most beautiful hand. One sat by a crystal stream and dipped her snowy hand into the water, and held it up. Another plucked strawberries till the ends of her tapering fingers were pink. Another gathered violets till her hands were fragrant. Thereupon an aged woman passed by, hungry, emaciated, decrepit. ** Who will give me a gift," said she, "for I am poor?" All the three young ladies denied her her request; but a poor peasant girl, who stood near, unwashed in the stream, unstained by the pink of strawberries, unadorned with flowers, gave her a simple gift and cheered the aged pilgrim. Then, turning back, she asked the young ladies, with voice musical and sweet, what they disputed about, and they told her and 'ifted Mip their beautiful hands for her to decide. * Beautiful, indeed 1 " exclaimed she, with radiant countenance. " But which is the most beautiful ? " asked thev. ** It is not the hand that is washed in the purling brook," said she ; " it is not the hand that is tipped with delicate pink; it is not the hand that is garlanded with fragrant flowers ; it is the hand whicli gave a gift to the destitute that is most beautiful." And as she spoke her body was slowly ;!■; I! GATK or THE TEMPLK. 6\ transfigured, her wrinkles gradually vanished, her ?tafr suddenly dropped, and there flew up to heaven, in a blaze of glory, the radiant form of an angel of God. We know not the angels we pass by in con- tempt in the streets. They solicit alms, and we turn a deaf ear ; they pray for help, and we give them a rebuff; but some day we will possibly dis- cover that out of that wasted form of clay will emenje. an ancel of God. An "anjrel of God** did I say? I wish to correct myself and say, not an angel but a child of God. " And the beggar died, and was carried bv the anircls into Abraham's bosom.'* II. The cure of the lame man. " Peter and John went up together into the Temple, at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour," or three o'clock in the afternoon. The apostles did not abruptly sever themselves from the old dispensation ; sudden ruptures never take place in the Kingdom of God. First, there is a division iji the Church, then a division J'rom the Church. That was the case at the establishment of Christianity ; first, a division in Judaism, next a division from Judaism. That was the case at the time of the Protestant Reformation ; first, a rent in Catholicism, then a rent from it. That was the case in the history of the Establishment in our own country ; first, a schism in the body, then a schism from the bod v. In the present day we witness another division in the Mother Church ; ere many years roll by we siiall witness a division from it. I ! ill ^ \ I i ii : i Jll'l 1 r4 ■' i; » r l^ il 62 THK LAMK MAN AT IHK The heathen who adojDted Christianity were called upon to break off at once their connection with idols; for between Christianity and idolatry there could be nothinff but sheer antaironism. But the Jews who adopted Christianity were only gradually weaned -from Judaism, because between Judaism and Christianity there was no radical opposition; they were both moving in the same line of religious development. One could not be an idolater and a Christian; but one could be a Jew and a Christian. " Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of prayer." As they were about to enter, their attention was called to the impotent man that sat by the gate, begging. " He asked an alms of them." He had long ago ceased hoping for anything else. However lofty his aspirations in early youth, they were now all dead and "buried, without hope of a better resur- rection." He did not now expect to be anything other than a life-long cripple or anything better than an abject beggar. F'orty years of helplessness and beggary will kill ambition in the most sanguine heart. We have known people who had been lying on a ued of suffering for ten years; at the close of the ten they had no ambition even to rise. If you spoke to them at the close of the first year, you would discover a shade of discontent — they had a strong desire to get up and walk. But at the end of ten years the most fierv spirit is quite tamed — ten vears close confinement makes the lark foro-ct the way to fly. " He asked an alms of them." GATE OF rilK IJCMl'LK. 6.1 *' And Peier, fastening his eyes on him with Jolin, said, Look on us." They fastened their eyes on him. There was, perhaps, an unusual earnestness about his entreaty, or, which is more Hkely, the apostles must have felt an inward movement of soul, a sudden stirring of the Divine life, a powerful operation of the Holy Spirit, a vivid consciousness that they were richly endowed with supernatural powers. " They fastened their eyes on him " — there was terrible earnestness in their gaze, unspeak- able compassion in their looks. " They fastened their eyes on him." Is not this a characteristic feature of Christianity — that it fastens its eyes on the destitute and the sick ? Science fastens its eyes on inanimate matter ; Art fastens its eyes on beautv. Art going up to the 'I'cmple to pray — which, by the bv, it seldom does in our day and generation — would fix its gaze on the " Gate called Beautiful," and would turn away in disgust from the loathsome object that was craving alms of the passers-by. But Christianity going up to the Temple fastened its eves on the poor cripple; and ever since her eyes have reverted in the direction of the helpless and forlorn. Science seeks out the secrets of the world ; Art seeks out the beauties of the world ; but Chris- tianity seeks out the ills of the world, and strives hard to remove them. "They fastened their eyes on him." There is a irreat deal in a look. The words of the Bible are brimful of meaning. There is often more philosophy in one of its sentences than in a score of large, pretentious octavo volumes. ■ ^i! ' u I i li S' ill ^4 THE LAMK MAN AT THE "Draw out thy soul to the hungry." Is it not enough to draw out the purse to him? No — "draw out thy soul." Is it not enough to draw out food and raiment ? No — " draw out thy soul to the hungry ; " let thy «oirit flow out in tenderest sym- pathy and deepest compassion, " They fastened their eyes on him, and said unto him, Look on us ; " and thereupon the sympathising eyes of Peter caught the wondering eyes of the bv^ggar, and the latter felt a strange sensation, like a stream of electricity, thrilling his entire system. " And Peter said. Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankles received strength," The man sought alms ; but the apostles gave him what was better — thev ravj him health. Health without money is infinitely better than monev with- out health. Moreover, by endowing him with health they were conferring on him the ability to earn money; by imparting the greater they were also giving the lesser. In this the miracle was a "sign," and typifies to us the Divine method of saving the world. The Gospel does not directly aim at improving men's circumstances; it aims at improving men themselves. But no sooner does it bring about a moral improvement in the men than the men bring about a noticeable improvement in their surroundings. The Gospel converts the man ; the man converts the house. The Gospel does not GATli OF THE TKMFLE. 65 directly aim at increasing the material riches of a nation; it aims at increasing its funds of spiritual health ; but no sooner does the nation feel new blood palpitating in every limb and member than it shakes off the letharffv of centuries, and marches fearlesslv forward in the upward path of discovery and enter- prise, and, as a natural consequence, riches flow in plentifully to its exchequer. The Gospel came to a world crippled in all its powers and fettered in all its faculties. It said unto it, *' In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." "And im- mediately the world's feet and ankle-bones received strength." It forthwith began a career upward and forward, and Christianity has indirectly added enor- mously to its material riches. Which are the richest and most flourishing nations in our day? England, America, and Germany, the countries that have received most abundantly of the life and health that are lodged in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. There is a philosophy, and an admirable philosophy it is in many respects, whose direct object is the improve- ment of men's circumstances. Its language is. Give men better houses, higher wages, purer air, more wholesome water, and by improving their circum- stances you will improve their constitutions. That is the philosophy which boasts of the name of Utili- tarianism. But what says Christianity ? I have in my possession the elixir of life, and I will endeavour first to improve the constitutions of men. I will give fetft to the lame, and eyes to the blind, and health to the siick, and hope to the desponding; I _ i i\ i i Ill r 1] 66 TllK LAMK MAN AT 111 K will Strive to improve irien, for I know that no sooner will men feel beating within them new and potent energies than they will set aijout to improve their external condition. Men reed better houses, and purer air, and more wholesome water; but the great want of men is life — more life; and I have come hat they mieht hn k Vh: r^M 1 hav;i it n ore abundantly. "In the naav" or Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk/ Ut-''jtarianism docs men good, Christianity makes them good. The Apostolic Church had no silver and gold, it had only health to impart. But it is in the power of the modern Church to give both money and health. The apostles going up to the Temple had not a penny in their possession which they could give to the destitute and disabled ; but assuredly the modern Church cannot plead poverty. Silver and gold the Church now-a-days has, and of its silver and gold it is occasionally called upon to give, Ihere are in this huge city over eighty hospitals, and you will find on inquiry that every hospital is well-nigh full — full of people who have not the means to pav for professional attendance at home; and it is a duty incumbent on the Churches to maintain these institutions in a state of high efficiency. Hospitals in a special sense are the earliest and mellowest fruit of our holy religion. The idea of an hospital received shape, form, and life in the early Christian Church. I do not mean to deny that there were feeble at- tempts in that direction in days prior to the coming of Christ in the flesh ; but among His followers the GATE OF THE Tl-Ml'LK. 6; idea first became a principle, a duty, a power, and an inspii. ion. And whero was the first hosj)ital founded ? I read that it was in that verv/ citv where the aposj ; of 'ove laboured for a quarter of a cen- ttirv ; wl/ re Sunday after Sunday the venerable man repeated the w^rds, ' LittJj children, love one an- other;" where first was proclaimed in distinct utter- ance the glorious truth, "God is love;" there — in Ephesus, the home of John — was first founded an hospital for invalids. And by what names were hos- pitals first known in modern civilisation? Lazarcttoes ; the very name bears on its forefront the stamp of the Gospel — lazarettoes, from the touching story of Lazarus sitting at the rich man's gate. And who founded the great hospitals of this metropolis ? They were founded, the greater number of them, by Christians, and largely endowed by Christians, and dedicated for the most part to Christians. Saint Bartholomew's, Saint Luke's, Saint George's, — with a few exceptions the hospitals are all saints ; they are the precious legacies of the Christianity of the past; they have a strong claim on the Christianity of the present. Silver and gold the apostles had not; silver and gold we have : and may we deem it our duty, not to say our privilege, to make ample provision for the poor sick among us ! But I also trust that in acquiring money, we have not lost what is of incomparably greater value, the faith and the courage to say to poor humanity, *' In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." When Thomas Aquinas visited Rome, ■li !'? 68 TIIK LAMK MAN AT I HIi it il! II I 'I W !! m liir;:! and was shown the gorgeousness of the Papal palace, the Pope, it is said, remarked to him, "The Church in our reign cannot say, * Silver and gold have I none.'" "No," replied Aquinas, "neither can it say, * In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.'" The Church had gained in wealth since apostolic times, but it had lost in spiritual force ; and the loss more than counterbalanced the gain. Mv friends, what think vou is the state of the Church in our own aire and country ? She cannot say " Silver and gold have I none " — those words would be a lie on her lips. Silver and gold, I am glad to sav, she has ; in that there is a clear gain on apos- tolic times. But if we have gained in the beginning of the verse, can we say we have not lost in the con- clusion thereof? Can we say without mockery to men around us, " In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk"? I hope we can. Hundreds who go into hospitals founded by Christian philanthropy, and supported by Christian charity, hundreds who go in as helpless as the poor cripple at the gate of the Temple, come out "able to stand and walk." But I trust that in a still deeper sense it is true. Have we not witnessed the power of the Gospel in our own midst, giving strength to the weak and life to the dead ? Speak of miracles ! Why, miracles have been per- formed in our very neighbourhood. Men dead in trespasses and sins have risen in newness of life ; men crippled in the spiritual nature have received strength; men weak in their feet and ankle-bones have received fresh power — they now enter the Temple, they run in GATE OF THK TEMPLK. 69 the way of the Divine commandments, they leap for jov like harts on the mountains of spices. The Church is fast increasing in riches ; let us prav that it nriay also increase in the power to impart health to men " lame from their mother's womb." r VI isi ti '■; 1 I! 5 It I 'i ' I 'T IV. Zbc fivBt pereccution of tbe Cburcb. " And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the Temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from tlie dead." — Acts iv. x, a. The healing of the impotent man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple created intense excitement among the people, and drew a large multitude together into the porch or colonnade of Solomon. " When Peter saw it, he answered unto the people " — he dealt with the question naturally rising in their hearts. A por- tion of the sermon is reported in the third chapter ; but before he brought it to a proper conclusion, he was rudely interrupted by the Temple police and " put in hold " till the following morning. " Rudtly interrupted," I say, for the historian evidently wishes to convey that idea. " As they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came upon them " — rushed sud- denly upon them and carried them away with violence. A careful reader will easily perceive that Peter does not follow out his train of thought to a proper conclusion. He breaks off suddcnlv in the middle. * ;li THK I 1Kb I I'KRSKLUTION OF I UK CHURCH. 7 1 "Unto voii first," Siivs he in the last verse of the preceding ehapter, "God having raised His Son Jesus, sent Ilini to hless yon in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." " Unto you first ; " but the first always requires a second, which, however, is not forthcoming. He was abruptly stopped in the progress of his discourse and put, together with John, in custody for the niirht. But why was Christianity then and afterwards persecuted in the persons of its ministers? Why did the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees come suddenly upon the aj)()Stle8 and put them in prison? The second verse answers: "They were grieved because they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." In this verse we find in simple words the true philosophy of all persecution. 1 : I. The authorities were oflfended because the apostles taught. II. They were offended because they taught the people. III. They were offended because they taught the people through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. I. The authorities were offended because the apostles TAUGHT. They v'ere "grieved." The language means that they were vexed and annoyed ; the sight filled them with pain and roused their indignation. This is emphatically true of the priests. Account for it as you like, but the priests looked i I \\\4 Hi ill .1 . M 72 THK FIRST PKRSKCUTION OF THK CHURCH. l\ i : upon theirisclvcs as the onlv lawfully constituted teachers oi" the people, and viewed with jealous eye any agency that was likely to put their authority in jeopardy. They were vexed and annoyed that the apostles should take upon themselves to teach. I. They considered that the apostles were not personal/]/ qualified to discharge the important duties of public teachers. A little further on it is said thev perceived they were "unlearned and i.^norant men.** The translation is not so felicitous as might be wished. The word " unlearned " refers to their educational disqualifications : it nieans they had not been regularly trained in Rabbinical lore — thev were not brought up to letters — they v./ere "agrammatoi." Men in every age lay undue stress upon "Grammar." Not to have been trained in the public schools is of itself almost sufficient to secure the verdict against any man who aspires to the office of a teacher. And the apostles had not been to the accredited colleges of the nation, they had not ''* learned letters." That of itself was enough to seal their doom in the minds of the authorities. The " priests " and their un- scrupulous confederates burnt with indignation that "unlearned men" should presume to teach. Human nature is ever the same. The priests are still grieved that men who are no scholars should undertake to decide what is truth and what is error. But were not the priests right? Was not lack of scholarsliip a fatal drawback? It is necessary we should learn to distinguish between scholarship and lc"irni!i• i i - the shameful degradation of the people. The priests knew, through the instinct of self-preservation, that the enlightenment of the people meant virtuallv their deposition. They, therefore, persecuted the Sowers of Light. The Jewish nation had at this time sunk into blacker ignorance than in any previous period in its history. " Woe unto you, lawyers, because ye took away the Key of Knowledge; ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering ye hindered." A fearful charjre that to be brought against the avowed leaders of a people 1 They had taken awav the Key of Knowledge. They denied the people all opportunity to study the Divine Word and all in- centives thereunto, and eventually fell into the same ^'ntellectual sloth that they were encouraging in others. They took away the Key, and made no use of it themselves. The people had to receive implicitly and unques- tioninglv the word of priests and rabbis as to what the W.H of God was; or worse still, they had to believe implicitly and unquestioningly their interpre- tation. They were denied the right to search and judge for themselves. "This people who knoweth not the law are cursed." A terrible power this to be lodged in the hands of any body of offici-fls, however upright and scrupulous — the power to iiicerpret God to men, whereas those men have neither the power nor the right to check, correct, or in any way modify the interpretation. The Jewish priests had now the monopoly of the Divii'^: Word, which means that they had in their own hands the destiny of man both THE FIRST PERSECUTION OF THE CH URCfl. 79 in this world and that which is to come. This monopoly plunged the peoj^lo into an elaborate svstem of lifeless traditions and burdensome suj>er- stitions. And when the apostles demanded back the Key and desired to lead the people into the hidden dwelling place of truth, with what reward did they meet? "The priests and the Captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came suddenly upon them " and cast them into prison. Does that surprise you? I know it does not. History repeats itself: and the history of Judaea has been enacted over again in Christendom. The Key of Knowledge was taken awav from the teeminu; populations of European lands, and the Scriptures were allowed to lie in an unknown lano;uacre. What had God to say to His creatures? Mankind had to wait obsequiously upon the priest for an answer, and what a horrible answer they got we know onlv too well. Luther on the continent and Wycliffe in England endeavoured to unlock the treasures, to translate the Scriptures into the popular language, and to scatter broadcast the knowledtre of the Divine Will. What rewards did they receive at the hands of the high officers in Church and State? Thev were cursed, vilified, excommunicated, and hunted about like partridges on the mountains. Neverthe- less the translation of the Bible into the vernacular of Germany, and the translation of it into the ver- nacular of England, caused the Papal hierarchy to topple to its ruin in those countries. Wherever the Scriptures were translated into the popular lan- ' ^1 if r: ' -1 • 1 ' ■ ,5 1 1. ! ; Mo THE FIRST PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH, jrnage and distributed among the masses, the Papal superstition fell. Mark that well. Where does it still stand? In countries where the Bible is not translated, or, if translated, not distributed among the people. Priests still forbid laymen to peruse and expound the Scriptures for themselves — thcv must believe on authority ; and whosoever dares dispute the Papal authority is put under the withering ban of the Church. The essence of Ronianism is to believe on authority ; the essence of Protestantism to believe on proof. 3. Others felt annoyed on civil grounds. Thev would say as all despots have in effect said — " Know- ledfn^ is power. If you educate the people, you put into their h;\nds a most dangerous weapon which they have not the wisdom to use. What if they apply it to the dread purpose of revolution? We do not deny that knowledge is in itself good; but it is capable of being converted into infinite evil; and he who undertakes to teach the people is playing a dangerous game ; and to avert the evil, we will refuse the good." That has always been the language ' f despotism, spiritual and political ; and forthwith it proceeds to fetter, and if need be, to kill the cham- pions of popular education. The apostles appealed to the people and strove to enlighten them ; the authorities therefore rushed upon them suddenly and put them in hold. No doubt, knowledge is a tremendous power. All knowledge is, and especially religious knowledge ; and often, alas ! it has been converted to mean, :l TUK FIRST I'KKSECUTION OF THE CHURCH. 8l vulgar ends. But are we to reject the use of a thing because oF its frequent abuse ? Do not have fires, and you will have no conflagrations. Are we then to banish fires from our houses, because other houses have been burnt down? It mav be aflRrnied that Knowledge multiplies evil. I admit it; but my answer is — It multiplies good more abundantly. "The law entered that the oflfence might abound." Is that a valid objection against the law? Would it be better if the law had never entered ? Certainly not ; for " where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Law proved in the long run more advan- tageous to good than to evil. Light, no doubt, does multiply the shadows ; shall we on that account declaim against the sun? You can have a world without shadows if you like, but it must be a world without light — a dreary, gloomy, wretched world enough. III. We have seen that the authorities were en- raged on account of the character of the teachers, and on account of the character of the tauixht. I have now to remark that the principal cause of the offence was in the character of the teaching. " They were grieved because they taught the people and preached through Jesus " — in Jesus — ^' the re- surrection from the dead." I. The teaching of Peter and Jol^n reflected deep discredit on the /r/^///za/i()f the nation. How? Did they raise their voices against them or incite the people to rebellion? No. But they could not "preach :li tSi TUK I'IRST I'KRSKCUTION Oi' THK CHURCH. I 't by the example of Jesus the resurrection from the dead ** without fixing a deep stain on the courts of the nation. The leadintif members of those courts had con- spired together against the Christ, had condemned Mini to death, had delivered Him to wicked hands to be crucified ; but yet God had raised liim up from the dead. That was the burden of their ministry. Now the resurrection of the Saviour was a complete vindication of His character ; but to vindicate His character was to brand the character of His judges. Therefore those judges were irritated beyond measure that they should preach by the example of Jesus the resurrection from the dead. In their furious madness the infant Church saw the fulfilment of the prophee\', " Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing ? " (ver. 25). You have seen a spirited unmanageable horse snorting wildly and plunging desperately — his eyes flashing fire, his nostrils breath- ing thunders. That is the very figure used in this chapter to describe the raging of the Jewish autho- rities against the Gospel — they were like wild beasts, filled with foolish and unreasonable fury. 2. Their teachino; moreover was nt /v. The Phari- sees were very nuich in love with the old. The more ancient an interpretation the better it was. The fathers were deemed wiser than their descen- dants. And the Pharisees considered themselves the conservators of the old — the stout champions of orthodoxy. But what is orthodoxy? Is it love of the truth? Not alway. but love of an old wav of presenting the truth. Love of the truth is about TFIP' FIRST PFRSKCUTIUN OF THK CHURCH. S^ the finest excellence that can belong to man ; but love of a special mode of presenting the truth and an uncompromising hostility to all others disj)lays pitiable narrowness and bigotrv. The Pharisees were the champions of orthodoxy, and in con- federacy with the other sections of the Jewish Church put the apostles on their trial for healing the lame man. The Sanhedrim assembled — the court had to decide between orthodoxy and hetero- doxy. The miracle they could not deny ; from the first they admitted the genuineness of the cure of the impotent man. The question was, " By what power or by what name have ye done this?" The gist of the examination was this : " We do not deny the validity of the miracle, we are not here to inquire into its genuineness or spuriousness ; but we should like to know who gave you the authority, and in whose name you have performed it." In other words, they only inquired into the legality of their commission — they only wanted to know if they were orthodox. And the whole trial turned upon that hinge. Were the apostles orthodox, yea or no? You know the conclusion they arrived at — the aj)()stles were branded as heretics and forbidden to heal or to preach any more in the name of Jesus. We should never forget, in the study of Church history, that the apostles, and even the blessed Saviour himself, were charged with heresy and persecuted to death on account of it. This teaches us two lessons. The first is that we should be careful not to reject any doctrine because >) I I H ! ,1 m ^, f^"^ ^ \T V^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I |50 "^^ ii^HI ^ iU 122 u? lift ^" HJil |l.25 1 u 1 1.6 - - ^ 6" - ► ' Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ;'l!| \ i!; 84 THE riRST PERSKCUTIUN OF THK CHURCH. of its novelty, nor call the advocates of new opinions hy bad, unpopular names. Every truth — of science as well as theology — was considered heresy on its first promulgation. Christianity was considered a damnable heresy by the Jewish Church ; Protes- tantism was put down as a fearful perversion of sound doctrine by the Ronian Catholic Church ; and many views now labelled " poison " by the Pro- testantism of the day will be incorporated in the creed of the Church in a century to come. The heterodoxy of one age is the orthodoxy of the next. Truth is first crucified, then raised from the dead, then exalted to the throne and adored. The hetero- doxy of one age is the orthodoxy of the next. Truth is first crucified, then raised from the dead, then exalted to the throne and adored. The heterodoxy of the first century has been the orthodoxy of the eighteen centuries succeeding. The next lesson is not to refute what we deem heresy by imprisonment. Jesus Christ argued with the people of Jerusalem, and they took up stones to cast at Him. It is a very easy but a very foolish way to meet an argument with a stone. And yet it has been the universal practice till recently ; opinions have been punished with incarceration and sometimes with death. The Christians hold certain views concerning life and death, and according to the text the Jews persecute them. Among Chris- tians again, certain parties hold views different from the majority and they are burnt. Roman Catholics persecute Protestants, and Protestants in their turn THE FIRST I'liRSECUTION OF THE CHURCH. 8*; persecute one another. Mankind are extremely slow to learn that it is a mean, dastardlV) cowardly thing to kill a man for an opinion. 3. Their teaching, moreover, flatly contradicted that of an influential section of the hierarchy. The Sadducees are here mentioned by name. We are in comparative ignorance concerning the creed of these men ; but we know enough to make the statement tliat it was in the main necative. It was not so much believing as disbelieving. They were the sceptics of the day, denying the resurrection and the future life. They probably prided themselves on how little they l)elieved. They would no doubt style themselves broad thinkers ; but certainly they were not broad believers. Breadth of thought is in our time, too, preferred to breadth of faith. But there is some- thing fundamentally wrong, it appears to me, with the man whose broad thinking leads to narrow be- lieving. I suspect that lax thinking is mistaken for broad thinking ! Indeed I have no hesitation in asserting that those who consider themselves broad thinkers are about the laxest thinkers I know. Broad thinking should always lead to broad believ- ing, and where the faith is feeble, it is to me a proof positive that the thinking is lax. Anyhow the Sadducees conspired with the other parties to peremptorily suppress the teaching of the apostles. They especially felt aggrieved that they should preach " by the example of Jesus the resur- rection from the dead." They were much irritated, and therefore conspired to put the disciples out of i: •Ml -i .,1 ^ ! 86 THK firsjT persecution of the church. iill lira the way. In the Gospels the merciless hostility of the Pharisees is in the forefront — the Sadducees flit to and fro in the background. But in the Acts the fierce enmity of the Sadducees it is that comiis to the forefront, whereas that of the Pharisees partly recedes; for in the Acts the fact and the doctrine of the resurrection find a more prominent place. The Pharisees were the most active opponents of Jesus Christ, but the Sadduceqs were the most active opponents of the apostles, for the reason already ad- verted to — that they were mainly the witnesses of His resurrection. The priests, and especially the Pharisees, would be deemed a very credulous people ; the Sadducees, on the other hand, a very critical and sceptical people. The first prided themselves on their much faith, the others on their little faith. The first had a very long creed, the others a very short creed. The Pharisees would be classed with the orthodox, the Sadducees with the free thinkers. But you perceive here that both parties were alike cruelly inspired by the detestable, bloodthirsty spirit of persecution. Scep- ticism knows how to imprison and behead its oppo- nents as well as superstition. Judging from the rash diatribes of infidelity, you would think that super- stition — in other words, religion, for all religion is put down as a species of superstition — is the only source of persecution. If I mistake not, infidelity is a still more prolific source. Fierce persecutions, instigated by narrow-minded priests, stain the annals of the oast. I fear from the drift of much of modern |ia|. THK FIRST PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH. «^7 thought, and the deep tone of supercilious bitterness assumed by many of the avowed champions of un- belief, that persecutions instigated by bigoted atheists will stain the annals of the future. The believers — to our sorrow we confess it — did put to death the independent thinkers of the past; the free thinkers, I fear, will retaliate with a vengeance and put to death the believers of the future. But have not the champions of infidelity always advocated liberty of action, of speech, and of thought? Yes, they have; not, however, because the central principle of infidelity is favourable to liberty, but rather because liberty was denied them. Refuse a despot his freedom, and forthwith you convert him into a champion of the people's rights. Infidels claimed liberty at the hands of the authorities on personal grounds — not because their teaching in its inner spirit was favourable to it. Unbelief, not faith, is the real source of persecution. Let men believe in Cod, and that He is stronger than the devil ; let men believe in truth, and that it is more potent than error ; let men believe in right, and that it will and must prove triumphant over might — let men believe all that energetically, truly, profoundly, and they can afford to be patient, they will see the futility of re- sorting to any force save the intrinsic force of truth, they will learn to be tolerant, they will extend to others as they claim to themselves liberty of thought and of speech. The truth of liberty is based in religion, not in unbelief. What has unbelief done on behalf of liberty ? It has written. What has t 1 1 i t : !: ! i il S8 TFIK FIRST PKRSICCUTION OF TIIK rmiRrfl. ii i ■j •■ v. m w Christianity done? It has hied. Infidels have pleaded for it, but Christians have died for it. Liberty, like every other good, is founded upon suffer- ing. But the suffering of whom ? Not of infidels, but of saints. Infidelity, we admit, has given some- thing to the cause of freedom — it has given liberally of its ink. liut Christianity has given liberally of its best blood. " Before there are men who demand liberty and digest the theory of it, there must be other men who take it, and who suffer for havinir taken it. If lil)erty is consolidated with speech and pen, it is founded with tears and blood ; and the sceptical apostles of toleration conveniently usurp the place of the niartyrs of conviction." " What we want," rightly observes a revolutionary writer, " is free men rather than liberators of humanity." In fact, liberty comes to us above all from those who have suffered from it. " The priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees " rushed suddenly upon the apostles and " put them in hold." Did their imprisonment check the mighty progress of the Gospel ? Nay, rather did it help it forward. " Many of them that heard the Word believed." Times of persecution are generally times of much spiritual prosperity. Some of the early martyrs had for their mystic symbol a candle surrounded by a crowd of angry men puffing as hard as they could to blow it out; but the harder they puffed the more brightly burnt the candle. The more Christianity was persecuted the more lustrously it shone in the darkness around it. Tlie Knglish Reformers were Tin: MUST I'I'RsKCIJTION OF TIIM CHURCH. 89 fsorelv harassed, hut did thev ahandon the cause of Protestantism? No. Some of them devised an anvil for their coat of arms with the striking motto, " The anvil hath broken many hammers." They stood still, and let the persecutors hammer away at them with miirht and main. Christianity did not dcrline — the anvil broke all the hammers. Protes- tantism still flourishes; Christianity is to-day the mightiest power in the w jrld. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." •■ ! ' Hi :i i f ■ t I ; J |iH i l< !l mi V. Hpoatolic ZcnchinQ. I '\v "lliey taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." — Acts iv. a. A TOLERABLY full report of two or three of St. Peter's sermons is given us in the Acts, and we may take for granted that those reported are fair speci- mens of his ordinary preaching. A striking likeness runs through them in style and matter. As to style he deals largely in quotations from the Old Testa- ment, and shows how those quotations were fulfilled in the historv of Jesus Christ. He continually holds up to the contemplation of the Jews the striking correspondence between the writings of the prophets and the life and death and resurrection of the Saviour, adducing this correspondence as a proof of the Messiahship of the latter. Then in respect of matter, it may be summed up in one sentence — " Whom ye have slain, but whom God hath raised up." It was not necessary for the apostles to bear witness to His death, for that was as well known to the public of Jerusalem as to themselves. He was put to an " open shame," and nobody disputed the fact. But APOSTOLIC TEACHING. yi His resurrection was not an " open " triinnph — He allowed not Himself to the public, but to the select company of His followers. His resurrection, there- fore, resolved itself into a matter of testimony, which testimony formed the chief burden of apostolic teaching. Accordingly we find the resurrection of Christ to be the refrain to every public utterance of theirs — it formed the peroration to every sermon. Reading the Epistles we cannot help observing a slight difference in the tone of the teaching. The resurrection is abundantly affirmed in them also : but still the atonement of Christ receives more attention than His resurrection, and the doctrinal significance of the resurrection more than the fact. How then to account for this difference? On this wise : in the Acts the apostles are speaking to men without the Church, in the Epistles they are speak- ing to men within the Church. Addressing un- believers, they dwell on the simple facts of the Saviour's history, especially His death and resur- rection. Addressintr believers, thev make a move forward, and taking the bare facts for granted, they expatiate on the doctrinal significance of those facts. When I spoke to you before from these words I treated them in their relation to the context, and propounded as the subject of our discourse — The Philosophy of Persecution. To-day I shall isolate them, and propound as a fit subject for our medita- tion — The Teaching of the Apostles. The text divides itself into three sections : — m ■ i i \ I a t ( t 'ii m. If *i;! il ml ir l\ If 1 I ]: g3 AI'O^TOr.IC TKACIIINO. I. They taught. II. They taught the people. III. They taught the people through Jksus the RESURRKCTION FROM THE DEAD. I. They taught. Now the idea of "teaching" is compounded of two elements. The first consists in drawing out the mind and making it work on the object-matter presented to it. The second consists in presenting the object-matter to the mind, in bringing within its ken the proper materials of knowledge. The first is represented in the word education, the second in the word instruction. The same twofold process is observable in the world of senses. First, there must be power in the eye to see. Next, there must be liuht outside the eye as an element in and on which the faculty of sight may exercise itself. Eyes without light are purposeless ; light without eyes is useless ; good eyes and good lijlht are necessary to clear vision. I. Now Christianity is an educator of men in the first sense — it teaches them to think. That is the meaning of the word " educate " — to lead out the mind, to develop its dormant faculties. And this the Gospel is eminently calculated to do. Science, no doubt, demands thought ; but it is too abstruse and too dry to excite thought. But the Gospel not only demands it, but is eminently adapted to excite it. The masses of men expend, perhaps, more thought upon religion than upon any other subject. The little thinking they do is chiefly in connection ! • AI'OSTOLIC TKACHING. 95 with the religion of Jesus Christ. And it stimulates thought not only in the vulgar, but also in the learned. Sav what vou will, Christianitv has ealled forth more thought than either philosophy or science. Go to tiie British Museum — look at the piles of books tliere. I hazard the opinion that four out of every five discuss the problems of Christianitv, some favourably and others adversely. There is a subtle, indescribable quality in Christianity eminently cal- culated to provoke thought. Just as the rising of the sun drives away slumber, the rays thereof quietly but eflectuallv ticklinsr the drowsy eve into wake- fulness, so Christianity pours such a flood of white radiance on the eves of the mind that it feels con- 4 Strained to open them. Without doubt, Christianity is a wonderful provocative of thought. It stimulates the human mind wherever it goes. Previous to the advent of Christ, human thought in Judaea was calm as a lake on a summer eve; but no sooner was He born than great excitement blazed up throughout the land. " When Herod heard these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him." " When He entered, the whole city was moved, saying. Who is this ? " The presentation of Christianity to the mind con- strains thought; and in the exercise of thouirlu the world learns to think. The angel Uriel came down to Eden in search of the devil — so at least it is pictured in the " Paradise Lost ; *' and noticing a toad crouching at Eve's ear, he touched it with his mystic wand and up sprang an angel. A fallen one. V ' I r ■ ( ;h t i V I 94 APOsrOLlC TKACIIINQ. li II l|i it is true, but an angel still. Christianity possesses similar powers of transformation. If it only touch the rude, unlettered boor, there gradually will be unfolded a holy angel, glowing with enthusiasm for all that is noble and divine. Cast a glance at the wide, wide world. Which nations are the foremost in civilisation ? The nations which have come most largely under the influences of Christianity. The religions of the heathen nations are to-day the greatest obstruction on the way of their progress. Up to a certain point they induced a mental movement for- ward — they developed thought; but through that point there runs a hard and fast line beyond which their adherents cannot go. Mahometanism is now acting as a restraint on the growth of the Arab and other tribes subjugated to its yoke. At first it infused into them a new life — they made several rapid strides forward ; but now it acts as an irksome check. Buddhism acts like a niirhtmare on the nations of the East. Up to a certain stage it ad- mitted and encouraged growth in the millions of India and the adjoining countries; but now they have been stationary for manv a lonsr centurv — thought is practically dead. The religion of Con- fucius presses like an incubus on China; thicker than the reputed great wall environing the empire, it eflectually restrains all tendency to expansion. Those religions have subsisted long; but they have sub- sisted by repressing the mental and spiritual develop- ment of the nations respectively professing them. But no one will hazard the opinion that Christianity APOSTOLIC I KALllINti. Vj has lived by restraining the intellectual activity of the people professing it. On the other hand, Chris- tianity provokes thought. Philosophy taught the learned to think but entirely neglected the masses. But Christianity aims at making every man a thinker, thereby restoring the creation to its pristine ideal. Man — what is its derivation? A Sanskrit word meaning a thinker. Man, mind, thinker* Man, to be man, must be a thinker. And Chris- tianity, aiming at the development of man in the totality of his being, must teach him to think. Not only to be^ to do, and to suffer, but also to think. 2. Christianity is an educator of men in another sense — it teaches them to know. That is the mean- ing ot the word " instruct " — to pile up in the mind the proper materials of knowledge. No amount of hard thinking answers its ultimate purpose, unless it leads to knowing. Now Christianity brings the materials of knowledge within the reach of the human mind. An essential condition of knowledire is that there be something to be known, that the subjects be capable of human cognition ; for what lies beyond our scope is to us as if it were not. And Jesus Christ and His apostles taught the people in the sense that they presented to them, and urged on their attention, subjects of the greatest moment ; thev brought Divine liirht to the mind, and in some cases into the mind. Therefore, Christianity is aptly described as a Revelntion : that is, it brought Divine verities within the sweep of our intellectual vision, verities which Ix'fore lav inaccessible to us. ■1 n ! i ) < i» ■, , ,' ■r.ii 96 APOSTOLIC TEACHING. This confers a vast advantage on us as compared with the mighty minds which lay outside the sphere of Revelation. The illustrious philosophers of old had learnt to think, but had never learnt to know. They are renowned, not for the amount of their knowledge, but for the amount of their thinking. Their proficiency in thinking was astonishing — indeed, they evolved and formulated the laws of thought for all succeeding generations. Nevertheless it was very little they knewj the quantity of their knowledge was small, and the quality thereof poor. Great thinkers but small knowers. The act of thinking they did well, but the materials of knowledge such as thev sousrht and longed after lav too far for them. They had excellent eyes, keen and practised; still they did not see very far, and what little they did see was shrouded in obscuritv. Why ? Did the fault lie with the eyes ? No ; they had good eyes, but they lacked light. But this much-needed light the Gospel abundantly supplies. " I am the Light of the World." The ancients were straining their eyes to see in the dark; but we enjoy the light of day ; we can, therefore, see more without straining than they by straining. Our eyes, maybe, are not so strong as theirs; but we can see more notwith- standing, because the medium through which we see is clearer, and the objects have been brought nearer. " Learn to think," was the maxim of ancient philo- sophy. " Learn to know as well as to think," is the maxim of Christianity. 3. Thinking answers not its paramount purpose APOSTOLIC I EACHING. 97 except as it leads to knowing; and Christianity as a system of instruction conjoins thinking and knowing, tlicreby perfectly fulfilling our idea of teaching. There is a school of philosophy which disparages undulv mere thinking, which runs down inordinately the metaphysics of the ancients, and which advises men to turn aside from those high and abstruse subjects, and to confine their thinking to physical science — to that region where thinking will lead to positive knowing. This school — sometimes called the Positive, and sometimes the Utilitarian — judges the thinking by the subsequent knowing, it estimates thought by its material results. Now Christianity avoids this extreme — it encourages thinking more or less for its own sake, and presents to the mind grand and momentous problems where the thinking does not always lead to positive knowing. Instead of joining the positive philosophy to exclude meta- physics, the genius of Christianity is certainly in sympathy with it, the profoundest Christian thinkers in every age feeling impelled by a kind of natural instinct to grapple with the questions which baffled the giants of ancient days. Another school of philosophy swings to the other extreme — it unduly exalts thinking, and seems unwisely to disparage knowing. " If God," says Lessing, " was to hold Truth in one hand, and Search after Truth in the other, and offer me my choice, I should with all deference choose the Search after Truth in prefer- ence to the Truth itself." Students of history will be a})lp to recall memorable sayings of other illustrious o ■ . ; E t ) I i y« APOSTOLIC ri: ACHING. ri; , > H :) authors to the same effect. They seem to put the whole value of study in the mental perfection the mind attains in the continued exercise of thinking. No douht the reflex influence of study on tlie mind is valuable, and Christianitv fully acknowledges it. But they put too little stress on the Truth itself. To think is well, but to know is better. To hunt for Truth is commendable, but to catch Truth is more satisfactory. The Greek philosophers hunted well — " they were mighty hunters before the Lord;" but it was very little they caught. We do not hunt so well, nevertheless we catch more. The children in our Sabbath schools know more of God and the soul and eternity than the most accomplished writers of classic times. Christianity lays more stress on think- ing than the Positivists ; it lays more stress on know- ing than the Transcendentalists; and thus it is the reconciliation of the opposite schools of philosophy. It does not impose on us the difficult task of making a choice between Search after Truth and Truth itself — it encourages the one and imparts the other. It bids us seek for Truth, assuring us at the same time we shall not seek in vain. Seeking will inevitably lead to finding. Thus Christianity fulfils the two- fold idea of teaching — it stimulates thought, and it gives knowledge. V- .liJ II. They taught the people. Keen students of history, sacred and profane, are able to discern two stages in relii^ion. I. The first is that in which is awakened within APOSTOLIC TEACHING. 99 us Reverence for the High — worship of that which is above us. Man is born without reverence; and the first essential in the education of the race as of the individual, is to cultivate a sense of reverence, especially for that which is above us; in other words, reverence for God. This the religion of the Old Testament was eminently calculated to produce. The God of Judaism was strong and holy, and separated from humanity by an awful gulf — pre- cisely the Being to awaken the sense of reverence in the worshippers. He is seldom ever mentioned in the Old Testament but some sublime epithet or magnificent description is appended; for the prime object of the Old Testament religion was to engender reverence in the human breast. The religions of nature served to ens!;ender fear: but a relis;ion of Revelation, such as Judaism, was necessary to en- gender reverence. And it may safely be alleged that Judaism answered its purpose well in this respect — the sense of reverence became very powerful in the Hebrew people, so powerful that they always bowed respectfully at every mention of the Divine Name, so powerful that at last they shrank from pro- nouncing it at all. Such reverence is spurious, you say. Perhaps; but the spurious always bears testi- mony to the genuine, imitation always bears witness to reality. That, then, is the goal of Jewish culture —profound reverence for the High. a. But Christianity marks a second stage in religious culture — it teaches us to reverence not only that which is Above us, but also that which is .ii,' n i I .' ; I TOO APOSTOLIC TEACHING. Under us. It teaches us not only to render worship to God, but also to compassionate and succour those who are below us in the social scale. This con- stitutes a characteristic feature of Christianity — it endeavours to teach the " people," to alleviate the lot of the great masses of men. Contemplate for a moment Plato's Republic — the ideal commonwealth of ancient philosophy. The population thereof is divided into three classes — the philosophers who govern, the soldiers who fight, and the people who serve. But what is the condition of the people? Why, they are immured in slavery the most abject and helpless, without even a hope of escape. Plato never entertained the idea that the vast bulk of mankind are capable of being enlightened, elevated, made pure and wise. But Jesus Christ cherished a larger hope of the human race, and addressed Him- self directly not to a few choice and trained spirits, but to the "great multitude," and it is recorded that the "common people heard Him gladly." John the Baptist sent to ask Him the evidences of His Messiahship. "The blind receive their sight," replied He, "the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up," and, as the crowning proof, " the poor have the Gospel preached unto them." This latter sentence mav be translated in two ways — " the poor have the Gospel preached unto them," or "the poor have taken to preach the Gospel." Either rendering suits our purpose admirably, and either way the marvel is equally great. " Poor pe;)ple have taken to the preaching of the Gospel" APOSTOLIC TKACHlNG. lOI — that is a marvel indeed. " How knoweth this man letters, having never learnt? Is not this the Carpenter?" Yes; but a Carpenter who has set about to revolutionise society and remodel the world. Were not the apostles men of poverty? And yet they turned the world " upside down " and held out hopes full of the divinest inspiration to the down-trodden, toiling millions from whose ranks they had emerged. And have not the majority of Christian ministers ever since risen from the ranks of the poor, and have always carried with them their large, plebeian hearts? The Gospel has been preached by the poor, and that is a mighty wonder. But it has also been preached to the poor. "The poor have the Gospel preached unto them." The Saviour adduces this as the crownins; evidence of His Divine descent, a more convincing evidence than even His miracles. It was easier to suspend the laws of nature than reverse the usages of society, easier to open the eyes of the blind and raise the dead than to attend to the wants, physical and spiritual, of the poor. The people were deemed "accursed" even by the Shepherds of Israel. But here at last has appeared a Teacher who lovingly cares for the poor, who strives to enlighten the poor, and who takes the part of the poor against their un- scrupulous and heartless oppressors. " Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mightv, not many noble are called ; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." In the estimation of the then governors of society :' I m : \ . •I I t I ■ •ill !' i 1 i: s; f \-\ iliin I02 APOSTOLIC tp:aching. the poor were degraded into the low level of "things." Thev were classed with the chattels on a rich man's estate. They were deemed not persons but property. But the Gospel has redeemed them from their servile condition and invested them with the dignity of personality. They are no longer serfs or beasts of burden — the Gospel bestows on them full and perfect liberty. But the foundations of society are being removed, exclaim the alarmists. Just so ; and it is time they were removed. The Gospel intended from the first to remove them ; but not at once, else society would fall to rack and ruin. The Gospel has brought salvation full and free, temporal and spiritual, to the poor; and the good work will not cease till the man who produces will be more honoured than the man who consumes, and the man who tills more respected than the man who kills. ** Rank is but the guinea's stamp, Man is the gold for all that." Hitherto the poor have been the gold without the stamp, though few comparatively have possessed the penetration to see the precious ore underneath the rough exterior. The gold before going into the mint is valuable ; but the gold purified, stamped, and curiously wrought will add much to its intrinsic worth. 3. But it must not be forgotten that Christianity does not abolish reverence for the High — it cultivates reverence for the High and reverence for the Low. Did it promote one only, it would in the long run !■; .1 '* ■ i APOSTOLIC TKACHING. 103 drive the world to an unhealthy and perilous extreme. It is the genius of Christianity that it eliminates nothing that was good in the world before it, that it is not the contradiction of anything that was noble in ancient religions or philosophies but its comple- ment. It inculcates the worship of that which is Above us, and active sympathy with that which is Below us, thereby beautifully balancing the two extremes. Did it teach the first only — reverence for the High — it would establish gigantic despotisms on the earth, and authority would crush out freedom. Did it teach the second only — reverence for the Low — it would establish anarchy, and freedom would destroy all authority. But laying due emphasis on both, it serves as the mainstay of authority on the one hand, and the sure guarantee of liberty on the other. To the subjects it says — Submit yourselves to those who are above you. To the rulers it says — Respect the liberty of those who are under you. And thus touching the two extremes of government and filling all the space between, it is the very religion which covers all the world's wants ; and notwithstanding all that is said to the contrary, it does cover them. "Thy commandment" — yes, and Thy Gospel too — " is exceeding broad." " They taught the people.* >t III. "They taught the people and preached THROUGH JESUS THE RESURRECTION FROM THIi DEAD." This constituted the burden of apostolic teaching ; with it every sermon wound up. And i li 1^1 f' j III m n I ! > A < ' I04 APOS'IOLIC THACHING. t. .1 it was not a truth which simply concerned . the aristocracy of knowledge. No ; it concerned the people and carried a message of salvation to the whole race. I. They preached the fact of the resurrection. "They preached through Jesus — by the example of Jesus — the resurrection from the dead." "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all wit- nesses." " We are His witnesses of these things." Their business, therefore, was not to form an irre- fragable chain of argument, but to bear witness. Tlie language of the text is beautifully framed accordingly — " They taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." They preached it. They did not argue on the matter and weigh probabilities — they simply announced a fact. The saires of the old world had thouacht and argued much, but left the subject in a state of chaotic uncertainty. The apostles adopted a different method — they simply bore witness to a fact abundantlv certified by their bodily senses. Much sophisticated reasoning has been woven around the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But it behoves believers and un- believers alike not to forget that it professes simply to be an historical event to be verified or contradicted like other events of history, only if they like they may insist upon stronger testimony. Men form theories concerning the resurrection, and make it stand or fall according to theories. They test tlie genuineness of the fact as it squares with their pre- conceived notions. But is that the riirht method? ^i"iii APOSTOLIC TEACHING. lO J No; the right and the philosophic method is to test the correctness of the theory by its harmony with the fact. What professes to be an historical fact must be judged by historical evidence. First establish or invalidate the history: then fashion vour theories accordingly. "They preached through Jesus the resurrection from the deau." What evidence did thev bring forward ? The undoubted witness of their bodily senses — they saw Him dead, they saw Him alive again. These are two great palpable facts — death and life* — concerning which any honest man's testimony is as weighty as that of the most accom- plished chemist of the age. Death — that is a fact patert to the senses of any man. " Well," preached the apostles, "Jesus Christ was crucified on Calvary between two thieves. He expired on the Cross, and was buried in the new grave of Joseph of Arimathaea." " But," they added, " we saw Him alive again re- peatedly, we ate and draiik with Him after we had seen Him buried in the grave." And the testimony of the twelve was strongly supported by that of half a thousand. We require no theories to confirm or confute that — it is an historical fact to be accepted or rejected upon historical evidence. But the Rationalists reply — "The evidence you adduce would suffice to establish any ordinary fact in history — half the evidence would be enous;h to establish beyond controversy any event in the history , of Greece or Rome ; but no amount of evidence can serve to establish the miraculous." That indeed is theorisins; with a vensrcance ! But vou will notice \, .1 ! ii « I I! ,.,, , , io6 Al'ObTOLIC TKACIIING. S'l I !': J", ■!l \ t ^ •v.l 1 4 .; iill' that Riich reasonini]^ whifts the ground of the argu- ment — it uncousciouKly removes the resurrection of Jesus Clirist frouj the reahn of history to the pro- vince of science. On the ground of history thev cannot contest the resurrection of Jesus — all the evidence is in its favour, and there is not a particle of evidence against it. What then is the resort of sceptics? They contest it on the gromul of science. As^ain we must remind them that the resurrection of the Saviour is primarily an historical question. No amount of evidence can establish the miraculous! Then did they see miracles with their own eyes, still they would not believe. But any candid inquirer can sc-c that such reasoning is not reason but unbelief. "The man who denies that God can ])erform miracles," says Rousseau, himself not on terms of aniity with the Christian religion, "is not fit to be reasoned with — he should be sent to the lock-up." To aver that miracles are not possible — to God — is not wisdom but insanity. And the language of Rationalism on the subject of the resurrection of Christ is not reason but the height of unreason. We undertake to satisfy the require- ments of reason, but not of unbelief. "Jesus Christ is risen," earnestly cried half a thousand primitive Christians, whose honesty and integrity no con- temporaneous controversialist dares injpugn. Renan, an author of European reputation, undertakes to write a " Life of Jesus." Are n)iracles possible ? Is Jesus risen? "Impossible," cries the dainty critic. But mark — he cries " Impossible," in the preface to APOSTOLIC TKACHINO. 107 his book, instead of in the coiichision ; at the coiii- nunceinent of the investigation, whereas the scien- tifie or induetive method so iiuieh vaunted in the present day, and that rightly, preserihes that the word should not be uttered till the close, if uttered at all. Miracles impossible! "The man who proclaims that," says Rousseau, " is not fit to be reasoned with — he should be sent to the lock-up." Modern apologists should not depart from the line marked out by the apostles — the old evidence is still the best. The resurrection of Jesus is a matter of history and not of science. 2. They further preached the doclrine of the re- surrection. Christianity is first a religion of facts ; and out of tlic facts grow the doctrines. The order of the New Testament books rc|)resents the normal growth of Christian truth. First the Gospels, next the Epistles, First the foundation in history, next the development in doctrine. Jesus Christ is risen from the. dead. What, then, is the legitimate con- ehision? That there is life after death. There is life before death. Yes, says Christianity, and there is life after death. You demand a proof. Here it is — Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Eternity is de- scribed by the great English poet as — *• That undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns." On that we have two remarks to make. First, if no traveller has returned, then it is illogical of infidelity to declare that beyond the grave there is nothing, "No traveller returns." Well then, how does it I ^ t H ' |i '1^ I Mil til 1 Iff J 'll:IM|: loH ai'ostoi.k: 'n:A( iun(». prouontuT death to Ik* aniiihihition ? " No traveller retiiruH" — then the (|iiestion reiiiaitm oju'ij. Our sceoiul remark Ih — the poet Heareely hits oil* the truth. ** I'Voiii whoHc hoiirn no traveller returnn," sings lie. " Hut Irom whose bourn one 'IVaveller has returned," answers Christianity; "Jesus Christ died and is risen again." And iF one traveller has returned, it is a strong presumptive prooF that the other travellers eontinue in existenee, and that we may entertain the hiessed hope that they too will return. "They that arc in their graves shall eome forth." The return of the distinguished "'IVaveller," "travelling in the great- ness oF Mis strengtiu" i'mm the shades oF death has imparted a new inspiration to poor, tremliling, dying humanity. There is a way out oF the grave. An ancient writer represents the Fox going out one day on a prowling expedition. As he journeyed he came to the mouth oF a cave, whence issued a voice inviting l)im in. But the wary Fox, having first carcFully examined the entrance, answered, " Not to-day, For I see the Footsteps oF all creatures leading in, but I see the Footsteps oF none leading out." Now that cave represents to our imagination the grave ; the wav oF the whole earth led into it, but there were no Foot- steps leading out oF it. Well, is there a way out? Christianity answers with a firm, unFaltering voice, " Yes, they that arc in their graves shall come Forth." We demand the prooF. It answers, "One has come forth, even Jesus, the first-Fruits oF them that sleep." 3. " Preaching through Jesus the resurrection From the dead," the apostles* doctrine was much in ad- |:i:i|l: APOSTOLIC TKACIIINO. 109 viiiitT of tlic liiglicut Grnti/r tcarhiuir. Philonophv uiu'caHingly rcturiit'd to tliiH f'ai^ciiiHtiiii; prohlciii ; Ixit it» lUtc'ranccH wen; vague, wavcriiiir, aiul coiitradic- torv. Now the iiiiniortalitv n\ man divideH itnclf into two branches — the eoutimied exiRteuee of th«r honl, and the renewed existence of tlic hody. Ih the sold ofniafi immortal? AiieH panHcd, it appearH, he- forc the hnman mind was sunieientiy edneated to launch the qnention. Hut with the hirth of reflec- tion, however, the (piention came to the front. I)oe« the spirit within perish utterly in death? fs the grave the be-all and end-all of n»an ? Philo- gopliy could not return a decisive answer — it could only hope. When the faeultjes worked harmoni- ously and the heart was tuned to praise, the hope was vigorous and hounding, and the language radiant with a strange lustre. But when the waves of ad- versity ran high and sorrows nndtiplied, the hope seeuied to die utterly. Philosophy vacillated much. Take the other question — Will the hody survive death? Is the material part of our nature to he raised from the grave ? I am not aware that ancient speculation concerned itself about the question. IMiilosophy is a complete blank upon the 8ul>ject. The idea of the resurrection of the Ixjdy never occurred to Socrates or Plato — so improbable was it and so far removed from the region of uninspired thought. St. i'aul wound up his oration on Mars* Hill as usual by a reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ : " Whereof lie hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the in N i:l *l I! , i I I , i '] f . i- no APOSTOLIC TEACHING. r :• 'i ■ 1 : , , , lii Ii ^it ■V >'. ■ : I ^i| s 1 ('» ': :, .11 !l iH! :;:| i!;ii ilPl ^ IJI 'III I dead." What effect had this proclamation upon his audience, composed as it was of "certain philosophers of the E})icureans and of the Stoics," the two chief schools of philosophy in that century? " And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked ; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter." They listened respectfully to his speech, fraught though it was with truth destructive of their pride and idolatry, till " he taught through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." This doctrine, so novel and apparently absurd, amused them much —they jeered and mocked — they laughed outright. The meeting broke up with convulsive laughter. The immortality of the soul they believed in after a fashion; but the resurrection of the body — thev never heard of it, and laughed outrageously at the very thought! But these two questions occupy a large place on the pages of the New Testament, and to both the answer is in the affirmative. " They preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Not the least uncertainty is discernible in its teach- ing: and if you demand a proof, here it is — Jesus Christ died and is risen airain. Man in the entire- ness of his nature is to live in a world beyond the grave. What was only a plausible guess to the ablest philosophers is a demonstrated truth under the Gospel economy ; and a demonstrated truth, not to the elite of society, like the problems of Euclid, but to the vast body of the peojile. The proof lies within the i^cope of the common under- APOSTOLIC TEACHING. 1 I T Standing. Thus a truth which was too high for a Socrates or a Plato to reach, is the common heritage of the meanest man who treads the streets of a Christian city. " Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there have not arisen greater than Socrates and Plato; notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than they." Truths they only timidly and confusedly conjectured are the commonplaces of the Christian Church. Talk of philosophy and boast of philosophy — why, Christianity has made truths beyond the ken of philosophy the common inheritance of the common people. Christianity has raised the masses of men to a loftier altitude of knowledge than the sublimest philosophers of the old world ever achieved, notwithstandinii: their strenuous life-lonij efforts. "Thev taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." 4. Their teaching is also much in advance of Judaism, Is man immortal ? Very little is said on the matter in the Books of Moses. No doubt the immortality of the soul is implied, but it is not clcarlv expressed. Jesus Christ perceived it and beautifully evolved it in His conversation with the Sadducees; and we, reading the Pentateuch under the strong light reflected upon it by the Gospel, can perceive it in certain other passages. But it is doubtful whether the ancient Jews perceived it. But as you come on to the Psalms, the consciousness oF the immortality of the soul becomes stronger and more definite; Sheol becomes an important word in 1. !^ i I ^Uv\ 112 ATOSTOLIC TKACHING. the writings of David and the Prophets. IndeeJ, some three or four passages teach the resurrection of the body, thereby exalting Judaism above paganism. But still the fact confronts us that when the Saviour appeared, Jewish opinion was divided as to the pre- cise teaching of Judaism. The Sadducees, taking their stand on the Old Testament, denied man's im- mortality. The Pharisees, taking their stand on the same Scriptures, maintained it. The common people, it would seem, did not concern themselves much about it — as much as they could do was to exist here. Now turn to the pages of the New Testament and observe the progress which has been made. This truth sparkles from every page. It is made a j)owerful factor in private life. It is no longer a doctrine to be referred to occasionally, but a doctrine which has become the headstone of the corner, and upon which the whole fabric of religion is made to depend. Under the Old Dispensation it is a truth grasped only by the noblest saints, and by them only in their divinest moments; the majority of saints do not seem to have attained to it at all. But it is the inalienable possession of every saint now — it is a doctrine preached to the people ; and instead of arriving at it after a long life of painful effort, we make our departure from it. Instead of being the goal, it is the starting point. We often fall very low in our spiritual experience, but never below this doctrine. At our lowest ebb we believe in a life beyond the tomb. But this marked the highest point of religious experience under the Old Testa- i' APOSTOLIC TEACHING. I 'J inent. Moses, Job, David, Isaiah — great saints all ; but " the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than thev." The truth, which is only sparingly revealed in the Jewish Scriptures and feebly appre- hended by half a dozen eminent saints, shines upon us from every chapter of the New Testament, and is become the common property of everv believer. We do not half realize the benefits the religion of Christ has conferred upon the world. To say the least, it has popularized the best thoughts of Judaism and the best thoughts of Pairanism — it has made them the working thoughts of the workiiig world. That is something, at any rate. But is that all ? No ; it has converted their guesses into uncontroverted lertainties. It gives certitude to the human mind — it has brousrht lite and immortalitv to liirht, Certi- tude respecting the future, a rock under my tottering feet. Oh ! that it is which I want and which I possess in the Gospel. Pascal lent the mighty energies of his soul to solve the problems of the universe; he tossed long on the waves of doubt ; at last he received the testimony of the Gospel with the faith of a little child, and found what he wanted — certitude, and with certitude, rest. Pascal died ; but inside the lining of his coat was found a document, and on it the memorable words — " Certitude. . . . Joy. . . , God of Jesus Christ, not of the philosophers and savans. . . . Oh ! that I may never be separated from Him." Christianity gives certitude, and certi- tude, joy. " They taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." H i! • VI. On Deacons. And In those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, Ijc- cause their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." — Acts vi. 1-3. I i < Hitherto the Church has made very satisfactory progress. Every day it makes new converts, and now it counts its members by the thousands. True, it had come once or twice into serious collision with the authorities ; but it enjoyed much favour with the people. But in the sixth chapter of the Acts a new state of things is inaugurated. In the first verses we are made acquainted with a great danger arising from within — " there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews." In the last verses we are made acquainted with a great danger arising from without — the " people " joined the | authorities to persecute the adherents of the new [I religion. In this atmosphere of internal dissatisfac- | tion and external persecution takes place the creation '' I 'B (iN DEACONS. J '.5 of an office, which has played an important part in the history of the Christian Church, the conditions of its first existence foreshadowing in some detrrce the conditions surrounding it ever since. The election into office of the seven men whose names are here given us took place to quell the internal discontent, but unfortunately it indirectly led to a , more cruel persecution than had yet befallen the youthful community. The sulycct, then, of the present discourse will be The Dlaconate, Three points. First, the origin of the office ; second, the duties of the office j third, the qualifica- tions for the office. I. The Origin op the Office. I. We are introduced to a class of people here called Grecians. ** There arose a murniurin 4 ^* il 1' .V IL I; ! Hi 11 M ,iii i' I M'-:^ m M /It; !■ lilliiiS 1 26 ON DEACONS. of Church-work — hard and fast lines are not known in the Kingdom of God. Their chief duty is to manage the finances of the Kingdom ; but that done to their own and others' satisfaction, they may extend the sphere of their usefulness, and assist in the further- ance of truth and goodness. The public mind is confused upon this subject. Preachers of the Word, on the one hand, are supposed to have no right to meddle with the service of tables; the right they indisputably have, but the expediency may be ques- tioned except in very rare cases. On the other hand, deacons are supposed to be guilty of pre- sumptuous encroachment when they take upon them occasionally to preach. If I have read the New Testament aright, they are guilty of nothing of the kind ; and no rules should be enacted by any body of Christians to forbid them to exercise dili- gently the gifts with which nature and grace have endowed them. No hard and fast lines are drawn in the New Testament between different offices in the Church ; we see them in this chapter diverging, in the following chapters we behold them again merging — Stephen and Philip " preach the Word ** with irresistible power and succe .. Everywhere in the Apostolic Church are traceable the liberty and elasticity of life. "The tools to him who can use them." 3. The deacons are to "serve the tables" of the ministers. This is not expressly stated, but it is implied. We may rcsr assured that the " seven," whilst waiting on the tables of others, did not leave m ON DKACONS. 1^7 the apostles* table empty. Be it far from me to en- courage "love of filthy lucre" in our ministers; but this I may venture to say — if they have the love, they for certain lack the "Mucre." One important object in the institution of the diaconate was to relieve the preachers of anxiety and distraction in the zealous pursuit of the work peculiar to them- selves. Is the modern diaconate a drag or a help to the ministry? A large number of deacons, I know, are useful, excellent men — all honour to them ; but there is a small minority who are a disgrace to any Christian community. These latter believe it the dutv of the minister to collect the monev, and their vocation to treasure it, forsooth ! Be it remembered that the first duty of deacons is to " serve tables," ap.d especially the tables of their ministers, that they may **give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word," Paul " fought with beasts in Ephcsus," and many a modern minister has to fight hard all the year round to drive the wolf from his door. 4. They are to " serve the tables " of the po(yr. This was about the most impoverished period in the history of the Jews. In the reign of Solomon gold was as plentiful as stones ; but in the Saviour's day the country was reduced into a state of abject poverty. " I have been young and am now old ; vet have I not seen th* ritrhteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." The critics stumble ovei* that verse, and declare David was mistaken, for the seed of the righteous have often had to beg bread. But 128 ON DEACONS. I !! ill ii'f David was not writing of other ages but of his own. In his reign commerce was so prosperous and wealth so equally divided that he never saw a good man nor his children — no one who had the least thrift about him — failing to obtain an honest living. But affairs had much deteriorated in Judea since then ; in the first century of our era, the country was so pillaged by Rome and its myrmidons that the population had no heart to work. Mendicants everywhere flocked the highways. " The poor ye have always with you." Many of them joined the Jerusalem Church, and the exceptional poverty called forth exceptional liberality. Many, " having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet." At their feet. Money should always be kept at people's feet. Many keep it in their safes, and alas ! many in their hearts. But the primitive Christians kept it at their feet. " They laid it at the apostles* feet." But the two-fold duty of almoners and preachers overtasked them ; the " seven men " were therefore elected to receive the offerings of the rich and judiciously to expend it for the benefit of the needy. In this institution of the diaconate we discover the first germ of the philanthropic efforts of modern civilisation. Judaism doubtless stood alone among ancient religions for the hunriane feeling pervading it. In proof of this I need only adduce the Mosaic law in reference to pawns or pledges. " If thou at all take thy neiglibour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down ; for that is his covering onlv, it is his raiment for his f? ON DKAlONS. 129 skin: wherein shall he sleep? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that 1 w ill hear ; for I am gracious." Nevertheless its higliest result was nesrative — not to oppress or defraud. Being the first gta<'"e of religious culture, Judaism consisted in not doing evil rather than in doing good. The Old Tes- tament dealt in prohibitions rather than in positive injunctions. The law said, "Thou shalt not;" the Gospel says, "Thou shalt.'* There is " not" in nine out of the Ten Commandments. Judaism was an elaborate system of " nots" — in every sense neg^ative. You were not to injure your neighbour in his person, life, or property. But the Gospel bids you do some- thinsT to benefit your fellow-creatures, to mitio-ate their misery, to lighten their burdens, to deliver them from physical and moral evil. What was Christ's character? "He went about domg good." Before, all that was demanded of a good man was that he should refrain from oppressing the defenceless or maltreating his dependents; now it is his imperative duty to alleviate the manifold evils under which they groan. Jesus Christ travelled the country succouring the poor and " healing all manner of sicknesses and diseases among the people." His Spirit passed into the Church He established — the members sold their estates to clothe the naked and feed the hungry. In the text a committee of seven is organised to supervise the distribution of the doles. Occasional outbursts of benevolent impulses were witnessed in previous ages and other countries; now for the first tinje was a deliberate effort made to reduce impulse \ !M. A i^pi i ■; '. 'U-' ' .: '.!« ■ ;•( 130 ON DKACONS. into system and benevolence into an organisation. The " seven men of honest report " constituted, [ believe, the first "board of guardians " in the world. Individual efforts there were before to relieve sufTerin*'- and want; now for the first time existed a society moved and animated by love of the poor. Modern civilisation is replete with " boards '^ — Poor Law Boards, School Boards, Boards of Guardians, and Boards of Health. But they are all natural develop- ments of the board or " table " of which the text speaks, to " serve tables ^' being precisely the same as to serve boards. In the Gospels we witness the conce})tion, in the Acts the birth of philanthropy. 11 i ' I ri|ji: i-'wi i i III. The Qualifications for the Office. Of course I shall treat only of those mentioned in the text. 1. The first qualification is integrity, "Choose ye men of honest report," — men of uprightness and straightforwardness. The funds being entrusted to their care, it is of prime importance that they be men above suspicion. During the lifetime of the Saviour, Judas, it is stated, "kept the bag" — he was the treasurer of the common stock. What sort of character did he bear? John answers, "Judas was a thief" — he pilfered from the bag. It is there- fore of great consequence that men of strict integrity be put into this office. 2, Next comes piety, " Full of the Holy Ghost." A deacon needs the Holy Ghost quite as much as a minister. The judicious management of money ON DEACONS. ^3^ contributed by religious charity is arduous work, and requires the special aid of God's Spirit. Pecuniary interests occupy the middle ground, and are pecu- liarly liable to corruption. You have noticed the border counties between England and Wales — they are the most neglected counties in the kingdom. Go into England proper, and the inhabitants are moral, religious, and tolerably educated. Come into Wales proper, and the population on the whole takes a deep interest in all social and religious movements. But between England and Wales lies a narrow belt of land much neglected; we are obliged to send mis- sionaries there as we do to India or China. Thus there is a border land betwixt the Church and the world which Christians are very apt to overlook. Come to the vital truths, and profound interest is at once evinced ; but where the business of the Church verges on that of the world men are prone to grow listless. You want the Holy Ghost to " serve tables ! " It is popularly imagined that, if a man is "full of the Holy Ghost," he cannot attend to temporal duties, that he is only fit to sing and pray and go off into holy ecstacies. But it strikes me you do not want a very great deal of the Spirit to do that ; but I tell you what — you want a great deal of Him to give and collect money, and to collect even more than to give. You require a great deal of the Holy Ghost to leave cfT listenincr to an enjoyable sermon in the middle to attend to a trivial duty at the door —only a man " full of the Holy Ghost " can do I i 1 J J I 11 132 ON DEACONS. j i,'d 1 ■ 1 i ii i ]- T t'l 1 • , ., i ' 1 ! jl i: it: !;>• 1 jl' ! 1 i :' i! . (, !'■ I ■ij i ' i : ^1 11 i 4 i 1 that. Anybody can sit in his pew and be delighted with an able sermon eloquently delivered — you do not want much of the Holy Ghost to accomplish that. But to go to church when a weak brother is holding forth, to sit and look gracious when the common platitudes are droned out — oh, only a man "full of the Holv Ghost" can do that! Show me a church's collection books, and I can estimate pretty nearly how much of the Holy Ghost that church has. A church of 100 members giving .5^50 a year towards the support of the Gospel at home, and its propagation in foreign parts, has not much of the Spirit. " But oh, the hivyl in the prayer meetings 1 " Hwyl or no hwyl, you have not much of the Spirit. Wolff elaborated a system to reduce all truths of philosophy into truths of mathematics; and, if I had the leisure, I could invent a system to reduce the truths of theology into truths of arithmetic. A man says, "I have faith." "Show me thy works," urges James ; the works are the measure of the faith. You say, " We have had a powerful revival in our neighbourhood — the Church was baptized with the Spirit." I answer. Show me your collection books; I can tell what you received by what you give; a small collection means baptism by sprinkling; a large collection — well, baptism by immersion. The best men to "serve tables" are men "full of the Holy Ghost." 3. The third qualification is wisdom. That a man is honest is not enough. That he is honest and pious is not enough. He must be h(Miest, pious, ON DE.VCONS. ^33 and wise. Without wisdom his administration will do incalculablv more harm than jxood. The Churches often overlook this attribute. If a man is upright in his worldly calling, and faithful in his religious sphere, he is thought by his fellow-members to be abundantly qualified for the diaconate. No ; he must be also a man of wisdom, or better not ordain him at all. What is wisdom ? A right application of know- ledge (gnosis). But this implies two things. First, that he possess the knowledge to be applied. A deacon should be " mighty in the Scriptures." Ignorance should never hold office in the Church. It has been repeated till it is a truism that God does not need our knowledge to carry on His Kingdom and extend its frontiers — that He can ' dispense with all human means. But it has been appositelv answered that if He does not need our knowledge, certainly He can do without our ignorance. Of the bishop or minister it is said that he must be "apt to teach" — he must have the power to impart know- ledge. This is not necessary in a deacon, but it is necessary that he " hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience." If he is not able to give know- ledge, he must be able to receive it and hold it. Second, that he possess tact to apply his knowledge in the pursuit of his official duties. Men require to be manajred with irreat delicacy and discernment. They are very sensitive instruments to play upon — a rude touch may snap the strings, and in vain you afterwards endeavour to o:ct them to " discourse I ' I: ■i'.' 1 . '''' !f iji '<: 11 I >:! 1 |! 11' : '34 ON DKACONS. sweet melody." Tact is indispensable; without it no success can follow. You have heard of Phaeton, the son of Sol ; he was desirous of driving the chariot of the sky. Many persuaded him against the attempt, as he had not the necessary practice to guide with a steady hand its fiery steeds. But he insisted on driving; and you know the result — he broke his own neck and sent horses and chariot spinning through infinite space. His intentions were good, but his skill was defective. And we have known men taking into their hands the reins of church-government — upright, pious men enough, no doubt ; but for lack of tact they drew upon them- selves no end of personal discomfort, drove the Church over the precipice and plunged it into in- extricable confusion. Remember — wisdom is an indispensable qualification to make a deacon. *,■ 1] m 111; I VI r. Zbc firat Cbriatian fIDartijr* •' Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blas- phemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caii.clit him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, whicli said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law : For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." — Acts vi. 11-15 ii I In the first five chapters of the Acts the writer con- cerns himself chiefly about Peter. But in the sixth and seventh chapters our attention is directed to Stephen. Then in the eighth chapter the story of Philip is graphically told us. Upon what principle can we account for these variations in the history? Are we to look upon the Acts as a haphazard col- lection of fragmentary biographies, each complete in itself and to be studied separately? I think not. The Book of Acts is composed upon a clear definite principle, to wit, what Jesus continued to do and teach after His ascension through the instrumentality of His followers. In the first five chepters this principle is illustrated best in the doings and savings ! \ I ! ; I ! U li 'I I' I;!! 136 TIIK IIKST tllKIsriAN MARTYR. of Pctcr. But when another steps on the arena of Chnrch life in whom this truth is shown in a stronirtT hght, IV'ter is at once dropped; in the sixth and seventh chapters Stephen it is that occupies the fore- front. 'I'hc avowed object of the writer is not to show ns I*eter bnt the "Hand of the Lord;" and His hand in the present stage of the narrative is more distinctly seen in the life of Stephen than in that of Peter. The anthor exercises severe jndgnient, adopting or rejecting his materials as they serve or do not serve to illnstrate the principle he has laid down in the opening verses. We shall now then proceed to an examination of the different elements constituting the character of Stephen : and I doubt not, if we look steadfastly, we shall see him transfigured before our eyes, and ** be- hold his face as it had been the face of ?i'^ angel." T. Stephen as a man. The third verse gives us to understand that he was a man of " honest report : " literally, a man "well testified of"-:-the public bore him good witness. I. This means that he was an honest man; and not only honest, but that he had a reputation for honesty. Some people are honest in the strict sense of the word ; but they habitually push bargains so hard that their honesty is suspected. They tread so near the line dividing integrity from fraud, that the public entertain grave doubts respecting the legiti- macy of their dealings. But it is a duty imperative on every man to avoid the perilous extreme bordering i;i TIIK riRST CIIRISTfAN MAmVR. >37 on theft, and to n[)f)enr lioiicst as well as he honest. Aiin at living not only above dishonesty l)ut ahovc suspicion as well. " Provide things honest." Is that all? No; "provide things honest in the sight of all men." Not only be upright, but convinee others of vour uprightness. Let your life be honour- ahle, entirely exempt from meanness and triekery. " So shalt thou find favour and irood understandiniz; ill the siirht of God and man." "Good under- st.nuling:" on the margin, "good sueeess." An unsullied reputation for integrity helj^s a man for- ward even in business — it wins the confidenee of the public. 2. But the words further imply that he was a. good man. Underlying his honesty was his goodness. He was good and he seemed good. His goodness was conspicuous — he was spoken well of by all who knew him. This thought is more elaborately wrought out in one of the pastoral EjMstles : " Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are with- out." That is, a deacon should not only stand well in the family and in the Church, but he should stand well in the world. Mis character should be so hright as to compel unbelievers to pay him homage. Our first duty then is to be ijood, our second to con- vince others of our goodness. We should first be liirht; we should then "shine as lisrhts in the world." Our goodness should be characterised by that beauti- ful sheen which arrests the attention and commands the admiratioM of beholders. " Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good ■ hi '3» THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. u works, and glorify " — yourselves? No; but "your P'ather which is in heaven." This means that the character should be sweetly transparent. I can look at the wall, but not through the wall ; but I can look at the window, and through the window, and see what is on the other side. And a good character should be clear as glass, or, to use the Biblical illus- tration, transparent as light — a character men can not only look at but look through^ and see God be- hind and beyond. II. Stephen as a christian. His character as a Christian is given in the fifth verse. He was " full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." The v/ords, " of honest report," denote his moral character, the out- ward look of his life, his proper standing in the estimation of men. The words, " full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," denote his spiritual condition, the inward state of his soul, his standing in relation to God. I. He was "full oi faith." This means that he was a strong, healthy believer. Faith was not only the root principle but the master passion of his life. Wavering or doubting was quite foreign to his ex- perience. He was a powerful robust Christian, put- ting the whole weight of his destiny to rest on the revelation of Jesus Christ. " Full of faith." Some of his fellow-members in the infant Church were exceedingly weak in the faith, shy, tiniid, vacillating; but Stephen's spiritual life was deep and vigorous. He put unbounded confidence in the new religion; ^^m^ ^ THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. J 39 he " held fast his profession " — not feebly and loosely but fast. " A man full of faith." " By it the elders obtained a good report." Not a great report, per- haps, but a good one. Other factors, such as learn- ino" and riches, are necessary to obtain a great report. But faith alone, if strong, will secure you a good report ; and a good report is better than a great one. Stephen was " full of faith," and therefore obtained a good report in the annals of the Church; and in virtue of his faith he " still speaketh," and is still spoken of. 2. But he was also " full of the Holy Ghost ; " and to be " full of the Holy Ghost " is better than to be "full of faith." Faith at best is only the human aspiring after the Divine; but to be "full of the Holy Ghost" is for the human to possess the Divine. To trust God is good, to have Gud is better. " Full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." One may be " full of faith " and yet not " full of the Holy Ghost." Many of the saints under the Old Testament were "full of faith," but none of them were " full of the Holy Ghost " — this is the sole prerogative of saints under the New Testament. Abraham was "strong in faith," but at no time was he "full of the Holy Ghost." Under the old dis- pensation the Spirit was given in measures limited and scanty, because, in the language of St. John, "Jesus was not yet glorified." Hence human nature even in the choicest saints was not by any means remarkable for its Divine virtues, that is, the dis- tinctive virtues of Divinity. The faith of Abraham f * I , ! 140 TIIK FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTVR. i Ji; has never been excelled., but the character of Abraham has often been excelled — the ancient patriarch was guilty of sins which under t\u; present dispensation would blast for a lifetime the reputation of any Christian professor. The worthiest of the Old 'I'estanicnt saints fell into sins which could not he tolerated on any consideration in the Christian Church — we should have to expel unccremoniouslv the great majority of them as unfit for the "com- munion of saints.'* Do not misunderstand me: they were incomparably better than the world around them ; all I sr.y is, that they were immeasurablv inferior to the saints of the New Testament. Even in tlieir most excellent virtues we detect a smack of earthiness foreign to the type of piety prevalent in the pages of the New Testament. The " Holv Ghost** is the distinixuishinii; feature of the economv under which we live. The apostles before the Pentecost were " full of faith,*' but on the Pentecost were they " filled with the Spirit;** and as a natural conse(juence a process of refinement was then com- menced unknown to the religious experience of the Jewish Church — humanity was elevated to a hic^her plane by a sudden rush of fresh energv, it became half divine. Religion shook off its grossness and coarseness; the character of its professors became nuich more Jine. Under the Old Testament the Holy Ghost was "upon** men — the Holy Ghost was "upon** Simeon; He was a kind of extraneous power unable to pervade, leaven, and illuminate the nature. But under the New IVstament He is "in" THK FIRST CHRISTIAN MAKTVR. 141 braliam •ch was insatioii of any he Old not be Ihristian Duiously ; "com- Liid mi' : 1 around lasurably ;. Even imack oF i^alcnt in J « Holv economy ore the Pentecost natural en coni- e of the la higher became less and became lent the Ghost traneous late the IS " in » ,ji^.,j — a sweeteninir, hallowing influence, refining; the very fibre of our being. " Full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.** The saints of the Old Testament yearned for God ; but the saints of the New Testa- ment possess God. "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Haptist ; notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom (;f Heaven is greater than he.** Why? Because the least in the King- don) of Heaven has Ciod within him as an actual possession. Stephen is full not only of faith but also of the Holy Ghost. He is the divinest character yet developed in the Church of God f>n earth. There is a tiuich of superhuman delicacy about his Hie which, before, neither grace could j)rocluce nor art imitate; the Divine interpenetrates the human and makes it beautifully luminous. The iron cold has the same pro|)erties as the iron heated, but it is not in the same state. The iron cold is black and dull ; the iron heated is white and vivid — the fire imparts to it its own qualities. Thus Stephen was pervaded by the refining fire of God ; he shook off the gross- ness and earthiness clinging to our nature and lived fit the white heat of the Divine Life. His whole being was transfused with celestial brightness, and therefore his character grew in fineness of texture. When he is first introduced to us (vi. 5), it is said he was "full of the Holy Ghost.'* When we bid him farewell (vii. ^^) at the close of his career, it is still stated he was "full of the Holy Ghost" — the participial form of the words indicatin