YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY OF THE
DIVINITY SCHOOL

M . 13 . HARL AN' S +>
^PRIVATE LIBRARY.

The Christian Standard,

A Weekly Religious and Family Newspaper, devoted to the
Advocacy of Primitive Christianity.

EDITED BY
Isaac Errett, Cincinnati, J. S. Lamar, Augusta, Ga.

PRICE TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM.

R. W. CARROLL & CO., Publishers,
117 West Fourth Street, Cincinnati.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM:

A SEARCH AFTER'

THE LANDMARKS

PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY.

ISAAC ERRETT.

CINCINNATI:
R. W. Carroll & Co., Publishers.
1872.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by
R. W. CARROLL & CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
STEREOTYPED AT THE FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY.

TO
MY MOTHER,
WHOSE LIPS FIRST TAUGHT ME THE WAY
TO JERUSALEM J
' WHOSE HAND FIRST LED ME IN
THE " OLD PATHS JJ'
AND WHO STILL GOES BEFORE ME IN THE JOURNEY TO
THE HEAVENLY CITY J
THIS LITTLE VOLUME
IS AFFECTIONATELY AND DUTIFULLY
INSCRIBED.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.

CHAPTER I.
" Walk about Zion, and go round about her : tell the towers thereof. Mark
ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation
following. For this God is our God forever and ever : he will be our guide even
unto death." — Ps. xlviii. 12-14.
" Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." — Ps. Ixxxvii. 3.
WHAT hallowed memories cluster around
that sacred name — Jerusalem ! Jerusa
lem — "the city of the Great King," the metropolis
of the land of promise, the center of royal, sacerdo
tal, and prophetical potencies, whence divine influ
ences radiated to all the land, and to all the world.
In the eventful reign of the son of Jesse, what
splendid victories crowded one on another to fill
Jerusalem with joy, and make glorious among the
nations the name of Jehovah her God ! In the
halcyon days of the succeeding reign — before fac
tion had broken the unity of the twelve tribes, no
name was uttered with as pious a joy as Jerusalem; (7)

8 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
no land reposed in a peace as secure, or smiled
with as teeming a plenty, as the land of Palestine.
" Sitting, like an empress, between the eastern and
western oceans, the navies of three continents
poured their treasures at her feet ; and, awed by
her commanding name, the dromedaries of Midian
and Ephah brought spontaneous tributes of spice,
and silver, and precious stones. To build her
palaces, the shaggy brows of Lebanon had been
scalped of their cedars, and Ophir had bled its
richest gold. At the magical voice of the Sover
eign? fountains, native to distant hills, rippled down
the slopes of Zion ; and miraculous cities, like
Palmyra, started up from the sandy waste. And
whilst peace, and commerce, and the law's protec
tion, made gold like brass, and silver shekels like
stones of the street, Palestine was a halcyon-nest,
suspended betwixt the calm wave and the warm
sky; Jerusalem was a royal infant, whose silken
cradle soft winds rocked high upon a castle tower ;
all was serene magnificence and opulent security."
Joyfully and devoutly did the Hebrew sing, as he
looked on the dwellings of Zion :
" I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the Lord.
Our feet shall stand >„
Within thy gates, O Jerusalem 1
Jerusalem is built as a city
Where all associate together :
Whither the tribes go up,

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 9
The tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel,
To give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
For there are set thrones of judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem ;
They shall prosper who love thee.
Peace be within thy" walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces.
For my brethren and companions' sakes,
I will now say, Peace be within thee.
Because of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek thy good."
When he surveyed the grandeur and security of
her position, he sang ; ___
" Beautiful for situation,
The joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion;
On the sides of the north lieth the city of the Great King.
God is known in her palaces as a sure refuge."
When he would express the utmost confidence
of his soul in divine protection, he could say no
more than
«' As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
So the Lord is round about his people
From henceforth, even forever."
And when he would express the highest of
earthly honors and felicities
" The Lord shall record, when he counteth up the people,
That this man was born there.
Each one shall say — All my springs are in thee."
Even in a distant land, surrounded by haughty
and oppressive foes, her children looked back upon

10 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
the beloved city, over whose might and splendor
their crimes had called the tempest of God's wrath
to sweep in desolating power ; and hanging their
harps on the willows by the rivers of Babylon,
they wept when they remembered Zion. And
there, in chorus, they breathed the solemn vow:
" If I forget thee, O Jerusalem !
Let my right hand forget her skillfulness.
If I do not remember thee,
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ;
If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy."
Nay, the memories of Zion in her afflictions
and desolations are not less sacred than the more
joyful recollections of her greatness and prosperity.
With what sympathy and interest do we follow
Jeremiah as he walks sadly to and fro, amid the
ruins of the holy city, and listen to his plaintive
strains :
" Is it nothing to you, all ye who pass by ?
Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sor
row, whicE is done unto me,
Wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me, in the day of his
fierce anger.
The joy of our heart is ceased,
Our dance is turned into mourning.
The crown is fallen from our head ;
Woe unto us that we have sinned !
For this our hearts are faint;
For these things our eyes are dim,
Because of the mountain of Zion which is desolate ;
The foxes walk upon it."

WALKS ABOUT JER V SALEM. 1 1
But a greater than Jeremiah wept over the
doom of Jerusalem. Jn a triumphant' march to
her gates, amid the acclamations of a multitude
who strewed their garments and palm-branches in
the way, the Son of David turned aside to look
from the brow of Olivet upon the fated city ; and
as he saw, in prophetic vision, the Roman eagles,
the terrible siege, the years of misery, and bloody
faction, and horrid crime — the burning temple,
the crashing walls and towers, the myriad crosses
with their victims, the chained captives scattered
to the four quarters of the world, and the plow
share passing over the site of the holy city, he
wept over it, and said : " Oh that thou hadst
known, even thou, in this thy day, the things
which belong unto thy peace ! But now they are
hidden from thine eyes  O,
Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! thou that killest the proph
ets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee ;
how often would I have gathered thy children to
gether, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and ye would not! Behold, your temple
shall be left to you desolate. For I say unto you,
ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say,
Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the
Lord." To the Christian, however, who stands amidst
the richer splendors, and loftier dignities, and
grander triumphs, of the "Jerusalem which is

1 2 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
above," there is a deeper and higher interest in
the history of the city of David ; for he sees, in
her prosperities and adversities, but the prophe-
syings and adumbrations of the fates and fortunes
of the spiritual Jerusalem ; and he finds, along the
pathway of her history, indexes pointing him to
the inauguration of David's Son and David's Lord,
"upon the throne of David, and upon his king
dom, to order it and establish it with judgment
and with justice, from henceforth even forever."
Things that eye had not seen, nor ear heard, nor
heart conceived, under Jewish culture, bless and
glorify ^he membership of spiritual Israel, and
give a nobler meaning to the words of the He
brew bard :
" Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God."

CHAPTER II.
" They shall ask the way "to Zion with their faces thitherward." — Jhr. 1. 5.
LET us look at some of these guide-posts along
the path of Jewish history, where anointed
prophets havfe inscribed words of blessed promise
for the weary pilgrim, and pointed him onward to
the "better things "-of the spiritual reign of "the
root and the offspring of David — the bright and
morning star."
Listen, then! The "monarch minstrel" takes
down his harp, and wakes a joyful strain, in view
of the grand series of spiritual victories to be
commenced in Jerusalem, in the "last days."
" Jehovah said unto my Lord,
Sit thou at my right hand,
Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion :
Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beau
ties of holiness.
More abundant shall be the dew of thy youth, than the dew from
the womb of the morning.
The Lord hath sworn and will not repent,
Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. ('3).

14 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
The Lord at thy right hand
Shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
He shall judge among the nations ;
The field of battle shall be filled with the dead bodies of the slain ;
He shall smite the heads of mighty ones on the earth.
He shall drink of the brook in the way ;
Therefore shall he lift up his head." *
Does not that sound joyfully ? Let us set our
faces Zion-ward, and ask the way thither, and join
ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that
shall not be forgotten.
What have we here? The evangelical prophet
has left a testimony here. Read it :
" It shall come to pass in the latter days ;
The mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the
top of the mountains ;
And it shall be exalted above the hills.
And all nations shall flow unto it.
And many people shall go, and shall say,
Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah;
To the house of the God of Jacob;
And he will teach us of his ways;
And we will walk in his paths ;
For from Zion shall go forth the law;
And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
And he shall judge among the nations;
And shall work conviction in many peoples;
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks ;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation ;
Neither shall they learn war any more." t

• Ps. ex. f Isa. ii. 2-4.

WALKS ABOUT JER U SALEM. 1 5
Yea, indeed : " Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God!" Onward, friends, onward.
"Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of
Jehovah ; to the house of the God of Jacob."
Another testimony ! What strength we gain on
the way ! Here Micah repeats the beautiful prom
ises of Isaiah, and adds :
" In that day, saith the Lord,
Will I assemble her who halteth,
And I will gather her who is driven out,
And her whom I have afflicted ;
And I will make her who halted a remnant,
And her who was cast far off a strong nation ;
And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion,
From henceforth even forever.
And thou, O tower of the flock,
The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
Unto thee shall it come, even the dominion ;
And the former kingdom shall return to the daughter of Jeru
salem." *
Blessed promises ! What joyful times Jerusalem
will see ! " My feet shall stand within thy gates,
O Jerusalem ! " Stay ; here is yet another inscrip
tion bearing the name of Zechariah :
" And I will pour upon the house of David,
And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
The spirit of grace and of supplications ;
And they shall look on him whom they have pierced,
And they shall mourn for him

» Mic. iv. 6-8.

1 6 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
As one mourneth for his only son,
And shall be in bitterness for him
As one who is in bitterness for his first-born.
In that day there shall be a fountain opened
To the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
For sin and for the purification of uncleanness."
" In that day
Living waters shall go out of Jerusalem ;
Half of them toward the former sea,
And half of them toward the hinder sea ;
In the summer and in the winter shall it be." *
And this reminds us of Ezekiel's beautiful
vision,! m which he saw waters issuing, or rather
oozing from the temple, a mere streamlet, which,
growing as it flowed the length of a thousand
cubits, covered the soles of his feet; at the
distance of another thousand cubits, came to his
knees ; then, a thousand cubits further on, rose to
his loins ; and finally became a river that could not
be forded. On either bank of the river were very
many trees, of perennial leaf and abounding fruit
age, whose fruit was for meat and whose leaves were
for medicine. This river flowed, like the Jordan,
into the Dead Sea; and no sooner did its cleans
ing and healing power assert itself than that dark
sea of death teemed with life. " Every thing that
liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the waters

*Zech. xii. 10; xiv. 8. t Ezek. xlvii. 1-12.

WALKS ABOUT JER US ALE M. 1 7
shall come, shall live, and there shall be a very
great multitude of fish, because these waters shall
come thither ; for they shall be healed : and every
thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it
shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand
upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim — from
one end of the sea to the other — their fish shall
be according to their kinds as the fish of the great
sea, exceeding many."
What a blessed vision is this ! Living waters —
the pure, vitalizing, refreshing, invigorating truth
and grace of God — shall flow out from Jerusalem —
from the temple and the altar ; divine mercy shall
reveal itself from the heart of God, in limited and
unostentatious manifestations, like dripping waters
at first, but growing into a river oMife which car
ries blessings of salvation with it wherever it flows.
And here is this Dead Sea of unregenerate human
society — drinking in forever the mercies of God as
the Dead Sea swallows up the Jordan, and like that
sullen sea, making no return ! No greenness on its
banks — no life in its waters. All is greedy selfish
ness and gloomy death. But see : no sooner does
this river of life flow into it from the temple of
God than all is changed. The Dead Sea teems
with life. Fishers of men throng to its banks and
cover its waters, and their labor is rewarded with
great spoils. They gather into the gospel net " of
every kind," "exceeding many" sinners who had
2

1 8 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
been "dead in trespasses and sins," but now are
" alive to God," for every thing lives where these
waters come. A mighty regenerating power is to
go forth from Jerusalem, and this gloomy, dead
world of sin is to spring into new'life and beauty
and fruitfulness. Perhaps the vision will prove
more glorious in its meaning than we even dare
to think. But let us hasten on to Jerusalem, and
learn at least the beginning of the interpretation
of this wonderous vision — for these waters take
their rise in the city and the temple of God.
And here, as we journey on, is yet another wit
ness — the last on the way to Zion! Malachi
records here the last words of inspiration vouch
safed to Jewish prophets :
" Behold I will sefid my messenger,
And he shall prepare the way before me ;
And the Lord, whom ye seek,
Shall suddenly come to his temple,
Even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in.
Behold he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts." *
Verily "the last days" are drawing near. On
ward — we shall soon be there. Hold! see that
crowd ! Listen to that thunder-tone which breaks
on the desert's stillness ! Let us draw near. What
a rough exterior hath the speaker ! He looks, in
his hairy garments, like Elijah ; and he seems as

*Mal. iii. I.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 19
terrible. How his hearers tremble ! Ah ! well
they may. For his words are words of truth, such
as they have been unused to hear. Burning words
of earnest pleading and rebuke — bidding them
prepare for the approaching King, that shall sit on .
David's throne. It is the harbinger of the Christ !
And see ! there approaches one more majestic than
he — oh, how calmly beautiful ! Even that mighty
preacher fades into littleness before him, and
shrinks from his approach ! Yet he urges his suit,
and gains it. The preacher leads him into Jordan,
and baptizes him. See! he comes up, praying,
from that baptismal grave. Hark ! a voice from
heaven ! " This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom
I delight." Can it be ? Is this the " messenger of
the covenant " ? Oh yes, yes — thank heaven, it is
He : for, see, the Spirit-Dove descends from the
skies, and gives the heavenly unction. This is in
deed the Christ ! But he has— no crown on his
brow — nor is Jerusalem his home. His kingdom
is not yet come. His brow is sad and thoughtful.
He carries many sorrows. And see — strange sight
— wicked men hunt him and compass him with
wiles, and cover him with reproaches ! He teaches,
he entreats, he weeps over them, he labors for them,
he carries all their griefs — in vain ! They spurn
him, and hate his counsels ! They conspire to kill
him. He is mocked, scourged, condemned, and
dragged to death! He dies on the cross — the

20 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
bitter cross — between two thieves, while heaven
mourns, and earth trembles, and death and hell are
filled with tumult!
O Jerusalem ! thou hast slain thy King and
Saviour ! Thou hast drunken the blood of the
innocent. Thy cup of iniquity is full ! Can bless
ings ever come to thee? Surely the word of God
will not fail. He has promised to make thy walls
salvation and thy gates praise ! Yea, and it shall
be — for lo ! the crucified comes up from the guarded
sepulcher — stronger than death ; and bearing in
his victorious grasp the trophies of an immortal
victory, he announces to his chosen friends, that
" repentance and remission of sins shall be preach
ed in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem ! " * Behold him — he is about to step
into his chariot ; the angel-escort are waiting to
receive him ; he lifts his hands to bless his humble
followers ; and as he breathes his last blessing
and waves his hand in affectionate farewell, he says :
"Tarry ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endowed with
power from on high." " You shall be baptized in
the Holy Spirit not many days hence." f
Here, then, we pitch our tent " within thy walls,
O Jerusalem," and wait for the kingdom of the
Messiah. "Father! Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done on earth as it is done in heaven."

* Luke xxiv. 47. tActs i. 4, 5,

CHAPTER III.
" My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people." Isaiah lvi. 7.
THE interregnum, from the death on the
cross, when Jesus bowed his head and said,
" It is finished," to the descent of the Holy Spirit
on the succeeding Pentecost, was marked by events
of the utmost magnitude. The resurrection of the
Messiah ; his triumphal ascent to the heavens,
with the powers of darkness chained to his char
iot ; the elevation of glorified humanity to the
throne in copartnership with Divinity ; the trans
fer of the government of the universe to the Son
of Mary, amid the glad homage of all the angelic
hosts ; and the descent of the Divine Spirit to
earth to vivify the cause of the newly-elected King :
these are among the most grand and important
facts in the history of the universe. Standing, as
they do, in immediate precedence of the public
establishment of the kingdom of the heavens
among men, they give cheering promise of the
power of the approaching reign to elevate and en
noble our sin-oppressed and despairing nature.
(21)

2 2 WA LKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
In the impressive symbols of Daniel's visions,
while earthly tyrannies were set forth under the
images of monstrous beasts rising out of a stormy
sea, the kingdom of the Messiah, which was to
subdue and destroy all other kingdoms, found its
appropriate symbol in a man coming in the clouds
of heaven, and receiving from the Ancient of days,
dominion and blessing* The facts already noted
as occurring during the remarkable inter-reign be
tween the Passover and Pentecost, are in perfect
harmony with this ancient symbolic prophecy ; for
they clearly indicate a new government of the uni
verse, having especially in view the redemption
and glorification of humanity.
Rightly viewed, this is the great dividing line
in human history from- which to view all that pre
ceded, as preparing the way for the introduction of
the kingdom of God ; and all that succeeds, as
tending forward to the second coming of the Lord,
when " the everlasting kingdom " shall reveal the
perfect consummation of all that God has promised
to our race. The adventurer in Central America,
after many a struggle to conquer the difficulties of
his path, stands at last on the dividing summit,
from which he can view both oceans at once. The
prophets and historians of the Old and New Tes
taments have guided us to the dividing line in his-

* Daniel vii.

WA LKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 2 3
tory — the lofty summit of Mount Zion — from which
to view the eternity past and the eternity to come.
The ages of the past stretch away into remote an
tiquity, and here and there is seen a star of promise
to guide the voyager onward to " the beginning of
the kingdom of God." The ages of the future lie
before us, stretching out into a distance impene
trable to human gaze, and many richly-freighted
argosies are making their way over the deep, per
haps to some secure port, perhaps to storm, and
wreck, and ruin. But whatever fate may await
others, it is certain that the "old ship Zion,"
launched at Jerusalem in the year of grace 33,
which set sail on the stormy sea of time, under
the captaincy of Jesus, manned by apostles and
prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, bound
for the heavenly Jerusalem, and which has bravely
weathered the storms of eighteen centuries, will
pursue her • voyage with success, her sails filled
with propitious gales from the Spirit of grace, and
her destinies ruled by him who commandeth wind
and wave into obedience! She will, at the close
of the ages, enter the port of peace, bearing such
multitudes of ransomed souls, and freighted with
such trophies and monuments of the power and
grace of God, from earth's great battle-fields, as
will fill the heavens with joy, and make the uni
verse vocal with praise!
But in this number we intended mainly to note

24 WALKS ABO UT JER USA LEM.
the significance of a single fact in the history of
the interregnum referred to at the outset. So far
as human instrumentality was concerned, all the
hopes of the kingdom were centered in a little
band of feeble folk, numbering in all about one
hundred and twenty. They were poor, unlettered,
and unfriended. Yet they were to form the nu
cleus of that kingdom, of which it had been said,
that it should break in pieces earth's mightiest
empires, and should stand forever. To twelve of
this feeble band, Jesus had previously said — " Fear
not, little flock, it is the Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom."* "I appoint unto you a
kingdom, as my Father'hath appointed unto me:
that you may eat and drink at my table, in my
kingdom, and sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel."! The time is drawing
near for the fulfillment of this remarkable prom
ise. The Master told them, ere he ascended in
his triumphal car, " Tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye
be endued with power from on high." Now the
fact to which we call special attention is this :
The posture in which they waited for the kingdom
of God, was that of prayer. Luke informs us that
when Jesus ascended, " they worshiped him, and
returned to Jerusalem with great joy : and were
continually in the temple, praising and blessing

* Luke xii. 32. t Luke xxii. 28-30.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 2$
God."* " Then returned they unto Jerusalem, from
the mount called Olivet, . . . and when they
were come in, they went into an upper room,
where abode both Peter, and James, and John,
and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew,
and Matthew, James, the son of Alpheus, and Si
mon Zelotes, and Judas, the brother of James.
These all continued with one accord in ,prayer
and supplication, with the women, and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and with his brethren."! "And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they
were all with one accord in one place. And sud
denly there came from heaven a sound as of a
rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto
them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat on
each of them. .And they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit." J Thus we find, that during the ten
days from the Ascension to Pentecost, those who
waited for the kingdom of God, continued with
one accord in prayer and supplication, and re
ceived the kingdom as they knelt in prayer. The
new life from God descended on a praying people,
and in the spiritual temple, as in its type, the
house of God is a house of prayer.
When the temple of Solomon was finished, the
elders, and heads of the tribes, and chiefs of the

* Luke xxiv. 52. fActs i. 12-14. J Acts ii. 1-4.

26 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
fathers of Israel, were assembled at Jerusalem.
The ark of the covenant of the Lord was brought
forth from the tabernacle, and conducted with sol
emn pomp into the holy of holies, and lodged be
neath the spreading wings of golden cherubim.
Solomon, arrayed in royal magnificence, and sur
rounded by the multitudes of Israel, offered sacri
fices without number, according to the impressive
ceremonial of the law, while the full choir of the
singers of Israel — the sons of Asaph, Heman, and
Jeduthun — arrayed in white linen, with cymbals,
and psalteries, and harps, stood at the east end of
the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty
priests to sound with trumpets. Columns of
smoke rose to heaven from the altar of sacrifice:
" The harp awoke,
The cymbal clanged, the deep-tongued trumpet spoke."
In thundering chorus the vast choir repeated the
appointed praise — " O give thanks to the Lord, for
he is good; for his mercy endureth forever."
Heaven answered the praise of earth in the
descent of the cloud of glory "that filled the
house of the Lord." Now was uplifted the voice
of the king, and a prayer of wonderful sublimity
was breathed in the hearing of the multitude,
closing with these majestic, words : "Now, there
fore, arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place,
thou and the ark of thy strength ; let thy priests,

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 2?
O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy
saints rejoice in goodness ; O Lord God, turn not
away the face of thine anointed ; remember the
mercies of David, thy servant."
And as the praises had been answered with the
descent of the cloud of glory, the prayer was
answered by fire that came down from heaven and
consumed the sacrifices. "And when all the
children of Israel saw how the fire came down,
and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they
bowed themselves with their faces to the ground,
upon the pavement, and worshiped and praised
the Lord, saying : For he is good, for his mercy
endureth forever."*
'• Thus Salem spread her suppliant arms abroad,
Viewed the descending flame, and blessed the present God."
How beautifully expressive is all this of the rear
ing of the spiritual temple; the glory of the greater
than Solomon — the king and priest, who offers
prevailing intercessions, and presents a sacrifice
of infinite worth ; the joyful praises of angelic
choirs ; the ministrations of one hundred and
twenty priests! clothed in robes of righteousness,
and bearing the gospel trumpet ; and the outpour
ing of the Divine Spirit in answer to the praises
and prayers of the spiritual priesthood, who, "with

*2 Chron. vii. 3. fActs i. 15.

28 WA LKS A B 0 UT JER USALEM.
one accord," offered sacrifices of thanks and sup
plication to God.
We are aware that much stress is laid on the
extraordinary and supernatural character of these
facts. To a certain extent, this is just. If enthu
siasts and fanatics plead these facts as authorizing
an expectation of similar miraculous outpourings,
and similar divine inspirations, in answer to their
prayers, it is legitimate to argue the extraordinary
character of these displays, and to show that such
miracles can not now be looked for. Yet we insist
that there is a meaning even in these extraordinary
facts, which is the common property of the Church
in all ages. The descent bf the fire and the cloud,
at the dedication of Solomon's temple, was miracu
lous, but did not that cloud of glory permanently
dwell in the temple, and did not that miraculous
fire kindle a sacred flame, with which the sacrifices
were constantly consumed, and the incense was
continually burned ? Even so that Spirit which
miraculously descended, is to abide always in the
spiritual temple: and our spiritual incense of
prayer and praise is to be burned with sacred fire
before the Lord. The house of God is to be a
house of prayer for all people. That kingdom
which began in prayer, can only spread and
triumph as its citizens possess "the spirit of grace
and of supplications."
When the Jews returned from Babylon to rebuild

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 29
Jerusalem, their first work was to re-establish the
altar, that they might worship God acceptably.*
Ho ! all ye that would rebuild Jerusalem ! Begin
at the Altar. Expect the blessing of God in
answer to prayer. Unite "with one accord" in
prayer and supplication. Remember that the
Jerusalem church can only be revived among a
people who put all their trust in God, as did the
hundred and twenty to whom the kingdom first
came. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
When Jesus quoted th.e passage from Isaiah,
which stands at the head of this article, he added,
with grief and indignation, as he looked on the
prostitution of the temple to carnal purposes, "but
ye have made it a den of thieves!' And with a
whip of small cords, he drove out the money
changers, and them that sold cloves, who had no
higher view of religion than as a means of minis
tering to their earthly ambitions. Alas ! alas !
how many " thieves " have broken into the spir
itual temple! How the spirit of pure and humble
piety has been grieved away by the avarice, and
pride, and materialism which have crowded into
the house of God. Let us be careful, lest the
Lord come with terrible scourgings, to recover his
temple from these usurpations and defilements.
*Ezra iii. 2, 3.

30 ^ WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
For the benefit of many who plead earnestly for
Primitive Christianity, but who can not discern
between the naked record of a fact, and the mean
ing of the fact when recorded — who can not pray
in the family without a special precept, nor go to a
prayer-meeting without a divine injunction, telling
them in so many words to go to prayer-meeting —
for the special benefit of these good brethren, with
whom the letter is everything, and the spirit nothing,
we wish to remark emphatically, that the kingdom
of God commenced in a prayer-meeting. Will they
ponder well this fact ?
Dearly beloved brethren, be assured that as fast
as we come back .from Babylon to Jerusalem, we
shall come back from heartless formalism, pomp
ous ritualism, and materialistic philosophy, to an
earnest, joyful piety — the prayer of faith — the
sighing of the soul after spiritual communion — the
perseverance, "with one accord," in prayer and sup
plication, without which we can not enjoy that
kingdom of God which is "righteousness, and
peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."

CHAPTER IV.
THE DAY OF PENTECOST.
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come." — Acts ii. i.
THE feast of Pentecost was one of the three
great annual festivals of the Jews, at which
all their males were required to appear in Jeru
salem.* It was called Pentecost, from the circum
stance of its. being kept on the fiftieth day after
the first day of unleavened bread. "And ye shall
count unto you from the morrow after the sab
bath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of
the wave-offering ; seven sabbaths shall be com
plete : even unto the morrow after the seventh
sabbath shall ye number fifty days ; and ye shall
offer a new meat-offering unto the Lord."! It is
called the feast of weeks ;\ also, the day of first
fruits ;\ and again, the feast of harvest.^ This
feast seems to have had a twofold purpose : i. To
offer the first-fruits of the wheat harvest in bread,

*Deut. xvi. 16. f Lev. xxiii. 15-17. % Ex. xxxiv. 22 ; Deut.
xvi. 10, 16. || Num. xxviii. 26. §Ex. xxiii. 16.
(30

32 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
baked of the new corn. 2. To commemorate the
giving of the law from Mount Sinai. The fact of
its observance as commemorative of the giving of
the law rests, indeed, on Jewish tradition rather than
direct scriptural authority. Yet it is evident, from
Exodus xix., that the law was given on this fiftieth
day. The Jews came out of Egypt on the fifteenth
day of the first month,* and came into the wil
derness of Sinai the first of the third month,!
making forty-five days. On the second day of this
month Moses went up into the mountain, when
three days were given to the people to purify them
selves, % and on the third day, on the fifth of the
month, and the fiftieth from the passover, the law
was given.
It is not surprising that this should become as
sociated in the Jewish mind with the day of Pen
tecost, or that it should have come to be regarded
as an event to be celebrated on that day.
There were good reasons why this day should
be chosen for the public establishment of the king
dom. In a former number we mentioned some of
the prophecies that pointed forward to this time
and place for the development of the new order of
things. We now point to some of the types in
the beautiful symbolism of the Jewish religion, as
setting forth, in another form, the same result. In

*Ex. xii. fEx. xix. 1. % Ex. xix. 2, 10, II, 15.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 33
/
the Jewish worship there was the following order
of things :
1. The passover sacrifice.
2. The sabbath immediately succeeding.
3. The waving of the first ripe sheaf from the
harvest field, on "the morrow after the sabbath."
4. The Pentecost — fifty days thereafter, when
the law was given from Sinai, and when the first-
fruits of the harvest, in baked loaves, were offered
before the Lord.
In the spiritual dispensation it stands thus :
1. Christ, our paschal lamb, is sacrificed for us.
2. The sabbath — the last of Jewish sabbaths —
succeeds. 3. On the first day of the week — "the morrow
after the sabbath" — Jesus rises from the dead,
" the first-fruits of them that slept," and this first
ripe sheaf is waved before the Lord, in triumph
ant anticipation of the final ingathering of the
whole harvest, when saints and angels shall unite
to shout the Harvest Home.
4. Fifty days thereafter, " when the day of Pen
tecost is fully come," the law goes forth from Zion,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem ; and
the first-fruits of the gospel are presented before
the Lord, in the three thousand joyful converts
that day brought into the kingdom.
With these facts before us, we conclude —
(1) That as the first-fruits of the gospel are to
3

34 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
be found here — who, in their conversion and its
results, shall be an earnest of the subsequent tri
umphs of grace, we have a right to look here for
a model church — for a true exhibition of the pure
religion of Jesus.
(2) That as a New Institution is to be this
day established — the old covenant having lost its
force — we are authorized to look here for the laws,
and ordinances, and promises, which are to be of
perpetual force and authority until "the times of
the restitution of all things."
(3) That, therefore, the facts embodied in the
history of this day, properly viewed, will unfold to
us the true genius, spirit, and tendencies of Primi
tive Christianity, and reveal to us the means of
access to the joys and dignities of the kingdom
of God. We -particularly desire the reader to note
the reasons why a peculiar significance attaches
to this Pentecost, of which we have a history in
Acts ii.
a. The prophecies, which we quoted in former
numbers, found their fulfillment, or at least the
beginning of their fulfillment, at that time.
b. Our Lord* evidently points to it as the be
ginning of a new order of things.
c. The long-promised descent of the Holy Spirit,
with which the prophets connected deliverance on

* Luke xxiv. 47 ; Acts i. 4-8.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 3 5
Mount Zion and salvation from the Lord,* took
place on that day.
d. The entire college of apostles was present at
that time — the twelve men to whom the kingdom
was appointed.!
e. The kingly authority of the Christ was at this
time first proclaimed, and laws were here first is
sued in his name.
f. The gospel of salvation was here/tr the first
time fully announced, % the first converts were
made under the reign of the Messiah, and the
first church of Christ was planted. Moses is no
longer lawgiver; the Jews are no longer God's pe
culiar people.
Evidently, we have reached a new era.
We must, therefore, still tarry within these walls,
and " walk about Jerusalem, and count the towers
thereof," "for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
shall be deliverance."

> Joel ii. 28-32. t Luke xxii. 28-30. % 1 Cor. xv. 1-4.

CHAPTER V.

A SPIRITUAL REIGN.

" Nut by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shah become a
plain ; and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings of grace I
grace unto it 1 " — Zech. iv. 6-8.
" The kingdom of God Cometh not with outward show ; neither shall men say, _
Lo here I or Lo there 1 for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." — Lukb
xvii. 21.
THERE is grandeur, and even awfulness, in
the noiseless outgoings of the Almighty.
How quietly the great forces of nature operate, per
petually energized by the will of the Omnipotent — ¦
moving grandly on, without jar or discord, without
creak or friction, without a Lo here ! or Lo there !
But especially is it so in the spiritual universe —
where God reveals himself, not in the tempest, nor
the earthquake, nor the fire, but in the "still, small
voice." He silently moves on the great heart of
humanity, with invisible power ; and here and there
faith traces adoringly the "foot-prints of the Cre
ator," where, when he passed, his footsteps were un
heard. Standing on such a spot in human history,
what awe steals over the spirit as we say, with Jacob,
(36)

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 37
"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it
not!" In such scenes, though there be no visible
flames in the bush, we take our shoes from our
feet with profound reverence, and feel that the
ground whereon we stand is holy ground.
When we trace, in prophetic testimonies, the
glowing promises of the vastness and greatness of
Messiah's kingdom, we are apt to imagine, in our
poor human modes of thought, that there must
necessarily be great "outward show" attending its
development. This has been, and continues to be,
the fatal mistake of the carnal and the ignorant.
They discern not the value and the beauty of the
spiritual and invisible forces through which God
silently moves on the spirit of man — on heart and
conscience, and on all the instincts of his spiritual
nature, to lift him above the gravitations of mate
rialism, and guide him to his proper destiny. The
Scriptures clearly set forth, that the kingdom of
the heavens shall be inaugurated, and sustained,
and guided to its ultimate, universal triumph, by
an invisible, spiritual power. Its very announce
ment, as the kingdom of the heavens, carries this
suggestion with it. Daniel saw it as a little stone
cut out of the mountain "without hands" projected
by an invisible power against the image of gold,
and silver, and brass, and iron, and clay ; and re
ceiving its resistless momentum from a hidden,
divine source. When Solomon built his typical

3 8 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
temple — the materials were prepared out of sight
of the sacred edifice ; there was no visible work
wrought on them when brought to Jerusalem.
Noiselessly the sacred pile was reared.
" No workman's steel, no ponderous axes rung,
Like some tall palm, the noiseless fabric sprung —
Majestic silence!"
thus significally indicating the uprearing of the
spiritual temple, not by might, nor by power,
but by the Spirit of God — the apparently feeble
beginhings of a kingdom, stripped of all depend
ence on human aid, which, by the divine power
hidden in it, should break and grind to powder all
opposing kingdoms.
The responsive fact which meets and justifies
these types and prophecies, is the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Let us care
fully contemplate this fact, in its bearings on the
character and destiny of the kingdom of God.
Much stress has been laid on the argument, that
the displays of the power of the Spirit on the day
of Pentecost were miraculous. In controversy
with enthusiasts and fanatics, who still claim di
vine inspiration for their teachings, or with the
ignorant and superstitious, who look for marvels
and rapture0 in conversion corresponding to the
extraordinary displays of supernatural power in
that Pentecostal season, it is proper to argue the

WALKS AB 0 UT JER USA LEM. 39
question of miracles — to show that God bore the
apostles witness "with signs, and wonders, and
gifts of the Holy Spirit," and to point to the "gift
of tongues " as silencing all claims to spiritual illu
mination on the part of those who despise the
word of God — the teachings of the Spirit. But we
deny that this view of the question exhausts the
meaning of the fact under consideration. These
miraculous displays are but peculiar aspects — per
haps we ought rather to say, peculiar results — of the
fact, and not the fact itself. The fact is, the im~
mersion of the spirit of man in the Spirit of God —
the opening up of communication between the
Divine Spirit and human spirits — so as to estab
lish spiritual communion between heaven and
1 earth" It is frequently argued, with a view to carry
a point in favor of immersion, "that the sound as
of a rushing mighty wind, which filled all the house
¦ where they were sitting," * constituted a literal im
mersion. It is a weak and false effort in behalf
of a cause which can well afford to part with such
advocacy. It was not a baptism of their bodies in
any material element. The Spirit of God is not
material. It was an immersion of their spirits in
God's Spirit. The language which properly de
scribes it is, " They were all filled with the Holy
Spirit"! It is figuratively, but very beautifully,

* Acts ii. 2. t Acts ii. 4.

40 WALKS AB 0 UT JER USALEM.
called an immersion, to denote the fullness, the
completeness, the rich abundance of Spiritual illumi
nations,- energies, and influences, which previously
had been given only " by measure " — " here a little,
and there a little." As already remarked, one
Very important phase of this fact is, the "gift of
tongues." Another phase is — the dreams, visions,
prophesyings, etc., which marked the beginning of
the kingdom of God. But we repeat that these
do not exhaust the meaning of the fact of baptism
in the Spirit. The prophecies of the Old Testa
ment not only foretold supernatural displays of
wisdom and power, as in the passage quoted by
Peter from Joel, but also " seasons of refreshment
from the presence of the Lord." Thus sings
Isaiah :
" Fear not, O Jacob, my servant ;
And thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen,
For I will pour water upon him who is thirsty,
And floods upon the dry ground ;
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed,
And my blessing upon thine offspring :
And they shall spring up as grass amidst the waters,
And as willows by the water-courses." *
When John promised the baptism in the Spirit,
it stood in contrast. with a baptism in fire; and
while one was a fearful threatening against the im-
* Isa. xliv. 2-5.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 4 1
penitent, the other was a cheering promise to the
penitent and obedient who prepared to submit to
the approaching King. When Jesus stood up on
the last day of the feast and cried, "If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He who
believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, from
within him shall flow rivers of living water ;" John
adds, in explanation, "But this spake he of the
Spirit, which they who believe in him should receive ;
for the Holy Spirit was not yet come upon them,
because Jesus was not yet glorified." * The Spirit
whose descent was to ensue on the glorification of
Messiah, was, therefore, for "those who believe in
him," to be to them a fountain of life and refresh
ment. Again, when Jesus promised to his disci
ples the Spirit of truth, as Paraclete — advocate,
monitor, and comforter — it was "that he might
abide with them forever.'! This outpouring of
the Spirit, therefore, is the opening of a perpetual
fountain of spiritual life, refreshment, and joy for
all believers, while the kingdom of God endures.
We are not authorized to look for continual out
pourings of the Spirit ; but we are authorized to
look for permanent results — an abiding spiritual
presence — from that grand baptism in the Spirit
which marked the beginning of the kingdom of the
heavens. Before this kingdom was established,

*John vii. 37-40. t John xiv. 16.

42 WALKS AB 0 UT JERUSALEM.
spiritual influences were quite limited. The rich
est enjoyment of them was but an earnest of the
coming kingdom ; even as our present participa
tion of "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
Spirit " is but an earnest of the future inheritance
of boundless and endless felicity in the everlasting
kingdom. Reserving for another chapter some -further
meditations on the baptism in the Spirit, we will
note, before we close our present "walk about
Jerusalem," some points of contrast between the
kingdom here established, and the former economy
with Moses at its head.
i. The Mosaic economy was established, as Paul
says, on "a mount that might be touched," amid
"blackness, darkness, and tempest." It was a vis
ible, tangible, material thing. The kingdom of
Heaven brings us to "Mount Zion," to spiritual
realities, and links us, by faith, with the invisible —
"an innumerable company of angels, the general
assembly and church of the first-born, the spirits
of just men made perfect," etc.* It is, therefore,
"a kingdom which can not be shaken," for its
vital forces are beyond the reach of the changes
of the outer world.
2. That revealed God at a distance — to the sen
suous gaze, in external grandeur ; this brings him

* Heb. xii. 18-29. •

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 43
near, even into the spirit of man ; so that he dwells
in us, and walks in us, and is apprehended by
faith; and we are "builded together for a habita
tion of God through the Spirit." There the king
dom came with " outward observation ; " here it is
within us. We say this, not as advocating any
"unchurchly subjectivism" or individualism; but
we say it in opposition to an objective ecclesias-
ticism which savors much more of the law of the
letter than of the " law of the Spirit of life."
3. That offered a law "written and engraven in
stones ; " this engraves its law " on fleshly tables
of the heart," and writes its lessons, " not with ink,
but with the Spirit of the living God."
4. That afforded earthly, carnal blessings to sub
jects "born of the flesh;" this offers "righteous
ness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit," to sub
jects " born of water and of the Spirit." It has no
subjects who have not been quickened into new
life by the Spirit of God.
5. That prepared its subjects for a land of corn,
and wine, and oil, and milk and honey. This is
designed to prepare its citizens for "an inherit
ance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
away." Is it any wonder that Jesus said to his disci
ples, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and
. your ears, for they hear. For I say unto you that
many prophets and righteous men desired to see

44 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
the things that you see, and did not see them, and
to hear the things which you hear, and did not
hear them " ? or that the prophet should say of the
glories of this kingdom, "Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither hath entered the heart of man,
the things that God hath prepared for them that
love him"?
As we return, for the present, from the solemni-.
ties and wonders of this Pentecostal feast, let us
praise God for spiritual illumination and discern
ment to behold the superior glories of the kingdom
that " cometh not with outward show."

CHAPTER VI.
THE RESULTS OF SPIRIT-BAPTISM.
" Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
Zech. iv. 6.
WE are still contemplating the grand fact of
the baptism in the Holy Spirit. After
the general remarks already submitted, we are
prepared to notice, more in detail, the results of
that baptism.
I. It furnished immediate inspiration to the
apostles, to "guide them into all truth," according to
the Saviour's promise, that they might be able to
speak 'with infallible accuracy "all the words of
this life;" and that all the "deep things of God"
might be revealed, not in the words which man's
wisdom teacheth, but in words taught by the Holy
Spirit. 2. It bestowed the gift of tongues, that the great
scheme of salvation might be spoken to the different
nations in their respective languages ; that thus
all divine illuminations and divine persuasions —
the wisdom and eloquence of the Infinite Mind —
(45)

46 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
might be conveyed softly and encouragingly to the
heart of man. This gift of tongues deserves to
be well considered by all who look for conversion
by a direct exercise of converting power from
heaven ; for, even amid the supernatural displays
of power on Pentecost, all divine and saving
illuminations were conveyed through languages to
the various peoples assembled there. ,On the other
hand, to meet the encroachments of a dull, leaden,
soul-destroying materialism, it is important to ob
serve, that while language was employed as an
instrument of conversion, it was still, in every
instance of conversion, the work of the Spirit
of God ; that the Divine Spirit implanted divine
life in the spirit of every believer, so that none
did or could enter into the kingdom but such as
were begotten by the Spirit. We need, however,
no theory on this subject. Theories never turn
sinners to the Lord. If we but attend to the
demands made on our rational nature, and " hear "
attentively and honestly the words of life, the Spirit,
without theory, will infallibly work conviction and
conversion, and fill us with the life of God.
3. It furnished the signs and evidences of the
divine embassy on which the apostles went forth
to a rebel world.*
4. It gaveto the infant church supernaturally
• Heb. ii. 4.

WA LKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 47
endowed teachers and helpers, until the estate of
manhood should be reached.*
5. It affixed the seal of God to a world-em
bracing religion, condemning all sectionalism, caste,
and party ; and granting to Jew and Greek equal
tokens of divine favor.!
6. It gave to the church the divine Comforter as
a perpetual guest — to abide "forever." It was on
the disciples — not on the world— that the Spirit
descended: There is a sense in which the world
can not receive the Spirit — that is, in the sense of
communion — "because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him." % Miraculous endowments might
be, and sometimes, were, bestowed, without regard
to spiritual qualifications. || Therefore that " gift of
the Holy Spirit" which is consequent on repent
ance and baptism § — that sending forth of the Spirit
of Christ into the hearts of God's people, because
they are sons^[ — that divine manifestation of the
Father and Son to the believer, as a result of keep
ing the sayings of Jesus,** does not belong to the
class of miraculous endowments, and does not
depend on the same conditions. The whole Chris
tian life is contemplated in the Scriptures as a life
of union with God through the Spirit — a union

* Eph. iv. 1 1-16. fActs xi. 15-18; I Cor. xii. 13 ; Eph. i. 13.
% John xiv. 17. || Matt. vii. 22. § Acts ii. 38.
\ Gal. iv. 6. ** John. xiv. 21-23.

48 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
established when we leave our sins and give our
hearts and lives to the divine service; and ripened
and strengthened just as we come into more perfect
submission to the will of God. Heaven itself will
be but the perfection of that union and communion
begun on earth — eternal life but the full consum
mation of that spiritual life which is enjoyed in the
kingdom of God. Very impressively, therefore,
is the Spirit regarded in the Scriptures as the
"earnest" of our heavenly inheritance, and as the
" seal " of the covenant of grace.*
Christianity is a spiritual life. There can be
no heavenward movement that is not begun, carried
forward, and consummated by the Holy Spirit.
The early triumphs of Christianity were gained
when its votaries were shut out from all earthly
encouragements, and had to cast themselves on
God — on his living, spiritual presence, and power.
When prosperity led them away from this trust,
to a carnal confidence in wealth, and kings, and
cabinets, and armies, the original inspirations
and joys of the gospel were lost. It was no longer
a glorious life planted in the soul, and outflowing
from the soul in godlike enterprise, and " spring
ing up into everlasting life." Every religious
movement yet known, that has fallen into decay,
has fallen through the loss of spirituality. Begin-

*Eph. i. 13, 14; 2 Cor. i. 22.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 49
ning in the Spirit, they were so foolish as to end
in the flesh. Let us beware.
Brethren who plead for a return to Primitive
Christianity ! remember that it was concerning the
rebuilding of the temple it was said, "Not by
might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the
Lord of hosts." In external splendor the second
temple was greatly inferior to the first* Yet it
was said " the glory of this latter house shall be
greater than of the former," for it was to be honored
with the personal, presence of the Lord Jesus.
Though wearing an humbled form, so that the car
nal eye could behold in him no beauty, yet to the
spiritual eye he was "the only-begotten of the
Father, 'full of grace and truth ; " and his presence
in the temple was of infinitely more worth than
either the symbol of the divine presence between
the cherubim, or the dazzling exterior of the
magnificent pile which Solomon reared. And is it
too much to hope that when Jerusalem is rebuilt,
though there may be wanting the grandeur of the
miracles of the primitive age, it will be more than
compensated in the rich spiritual treasures of
"righteousness, peace, and joy" ? — that the glory
of the latter house will be greater than of the
former by the more glorious manifestations of the
spiritual presence of Christ — by that rich indwell-

• Hag. ii. 3.
4

SO WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
ing and outflowing love, without which all tongues,
and gifts, and toils are but as " sounding brass or
clanging cymbals"?
Surely, then, in seeking to restore Primitive
Christianity, we need to seek and pray for " the
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," that "walk
ing in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of
the Holy Spirit, the churches may be edified and
multiplied." *
At the time that this little stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands, all its earthly means
of success were found in one hundred and twenty
poverty-stricken men and women assembled in an
upper room in the city of Jerusalem. That was
the Augustan age. Imperial Rome, in the zenith
of her power, was the proud mistress of the world.
Her invincible armies — her untold treasures — her
arts and science — her philosophies and religions —
her centralized government — her fame and prow
ess, all strengthened her haughty pretensions, and
seemed to remove the charge of national vanity
from the prophecy that her greatness would be
" eternal." But where is Rome now ?
" The Goth, the Vandal, time, war, flood and fire,
Have dealt upon the seven-hilled city's pride.
She saw her glories, star by star, expire,
And up the steep barbarian monarchs ride,
•Acts ix. 31.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 5 1
Where the car climbed the capitol ; far and wide
Temple and tower went down, nor left a site :
Chaos of ruins ! who shall trace the void,
O'er the dim fragments cast a lunar light,
And say, ' Here was, or is,' where all is doubly night ? "
And what of that little band in the upper room
in the city of Jerusalem ? Ah ! they shook that
throne of the Caesars, and upset it ! They dragged
those hoary religions into the dust, and overturned
their altars ! They gave the idols of Rome to the
moles and to the bats ! They marched from victory
to victory, until " many crowns " adorned the head
of their Sovereign ! And though ofttimes going
through bitter conflicts, and meeting the assaults
of earth's mightiest powers, and wading through
rivers of blood, and seeming to have every hope
turned into despair, and life itself crushed out ;
still they live, after the lapse of eighteen centuries,
and that little church of one hundred and twenty
has become one of the great powers of the world,
moulding, restraining, and controlling hundreds of
millions of the most powerful races of men, in
the fairest portions of the world — an unconquered,
unconquerable, immortal potency, working its way
sublimely on to universal dominion.
What a commentary do these facts furnish on
the text which we beg leave once more to repeat :
" Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord
of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain ? Before Zerubbabel

5 2 WA LKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
thou shalt Decome a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone
thereof with shoutings of grace, grace unto it ! "
Let us sit down and rest awhile from these
perambulations, and meditate on the wisdom of
trust in God.
Here is a sweet little hymn that will do to sing
as we pursue our meditations :
Far down the ages now,
Much of her journey done,
The pilgrim church pursues her way,
Until her crown be won.
The story of the past
Comes up before her view :
How well it seems to suit her still —
Old, and yet ever new.
It is the oft-told tale
Of sin and weariness —
Of grace and love yet flowing down
To pardon and to bless.
No wider is the gate,
No broader is the way,
No smoother is the ancient path,
That leads to life and day.
No slacker grows the fight,
No feebler is the foe,
Nor less the need of armor tried,
Of shield, and spear, and bow.
Still faithful to our God,
And to our Captain true ;
We follow where he leads ,the way,'
The kingdom in our view, v

CHAPTER VII.
THE LITTLE FLOCK.
" Fear not, little flock ; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom:" — Luke xii. 32.
IT may seem strange that there should be only
this "little flock" of one hundred and twenty
to receive the baptism of Jesus in the Holy Spirit.
The promise made by John* gives rise to larger
expectations, in point of numbers, than are met by
the facts in the history of this day of Pentecost.
It must be remembered, however, that the ma
jority of those to whom the promise was made
belonged to the country of Judea rather than to the
city of Jerusalem, and could not be present. Yet
we should naturally look for a larger representa
tion of the penitents whom John baptized in the
faith of a coming Saviour and King. " Were there
not ten cleansed ? but where are the nine ? " Alas !
alas! even during the present ministry of Jesus,
under the loving gaze of his eye, amid the mighty
wonders and the merciful deeds of his mission, in

*Matt. iii. 5-1 1. (S3)

54 .WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
the presence of his tears and prayers, and speech
of matchless power, the multitude forsook him !
Let us learn to watch and pray! But here is a
little flock who " continued with him in his trials,"
on whom heaven's richest inspirations and highest
honors now descend. Let us look in upon them.
First, here is Peter — an honest, earnest, gener
ous, straightforward man — always prominent in the
apostolic group. The surname of Kephas — a stone
— given him by our Lord, was evidently intended
to indicate his future relation to the kingdom of.
the Messiah. Yet, as Neander justly remarks, "as
the influences of transforming grace, always attach
ing themselves to the constitutional character of
an individual, purify and ennoble it, so in this in
stance, what Peter became by the power of the
divine life, was in a measure determined by his
natural peculiarities." The immediate surrender
of all for Christ,* the promptness with which he
speaks his convictions,! the unyielding firmness
with which he clings to truth, % the eagerness with
which he ventures out on the stormy sea to meet
his beloved Master, || his indignant denial of the
possibility of his forsaking his Master in the hour
of trial, § his earnest dash, sword in hand, at the
enemies of Jesus : \ all these mark him as a de-

*Mark i. 18. fMatl. xvi. 16. % John vi. 66-69.
|| Matt. xiv. 24-29. I Matt. xxvi. 35. \ Matt. xxvi. 51.

WA L KS ABO UT JER USA L EM. 5 5
cided, honest, warm-hearted, generous man. His
errors were the reactions of a too earnest nature.
His great sin, in the denial of his Lord, was com
mitted under the most tremendous pressure of in
fernal power,* and does not at all reveal the true
character of the man. While it should warn every
man "to work out his salvation with fear and
trembling,'' it ought not to be regarded as a true
index to Peter's inner nature. Moreover, it ought
not to be forgotten that he was yet an unconverted
man — that the work of grace had not yet lifted his
soul out of selfishness into love.! His -soul now
immersed in the divine Spirit, he knows Christ
after the flesh no . more. J His renewed spirit
gathers about it the natural earnestness and bold
ness which belonged to him. He is fit to lead on
the attack on the kingdoms of this world. The
bitter memories of his downfall *will give intensity
to his zeal in bearing witness for truth.
Along with Peter stand James and John, the
sons of Zebedee and Salome. || These, too, were
men of great force of character. Like Peter and
Andrew, they left all and followed Jesus. § They
were called sons of thunder.^ They wished to call
down fire to burn up the inhospitable Samaritans.**

*Luke xxii. 31, 32. t Luke xxii. 32. t 2 Cor. v. 16.
I Compare Matt, xxvii. 56, and Mark xv. 40. j) Matt. iv. 21.
If Mark iii. 17. ** Luke ix. 54.

56 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
They would frown even on a good work performed
by one who followed not with them.* They sought
the chief places in the kingdom.! All these facts
indicate a nature earnest and determined — a na
ture which, unsanctified, might go far away into
sin and wrong, but which, constrained by the love
of Christ, became greatly powerful for good. The
early martyrdom of James by Herod Agrippa, $
shows that as an apostle he was a prominent and
zealous actor in the cause of the despised Naza-
rene. John blended many opposite qualities in his
life. He was gentle and stern, amiable and reso
lute, the loving disciple, and the indignant enemy
of false teachers. He presents such a union and
reconciliation of antagonisms as affords a charac
ter nearer perfection than any of the twelve. Yet
he had not the positiveness of either Peter or1
James. There was more of the meditative habit of
soul belonging to him, and it is not surprising
that he was known as "the disciple whom Jesus
loved." These three were specially favored by Jesus as
his confidants. There is a trinity of persons in
the Old Testament, especially approved of God,
Noah, Job, and Daniel ; || and this trinity likewise
in the New — Peter, James, and John. § They were

•Mark ix. 38. tMatt. xx. 21. fActs xii. 1, 2.
|| Ezek. xiv. 14. \ Matt. xvii. I ; Mark v. 37 ; Matt. xxvi. 37.

WALKS ABO UT JER USA LEM. 5 7
all men of decision, earnestness, integrity, and per
severing energy. They stand in bold contrast with
timid, wavering, time-serving slaves of policy ; they
are men, every inch of them. Their errors were
the errors of strong natures.
It must not be forgotten that, however sincere
and believing these men were, during the personal
ministry of Jesus they had but imperfect views of
the work to which they were called. They appear,
therefore, rather as men than as Christians. You
see them encompassed ofttimes with ignorance, and
swayed by passion. But after the divine illumi
nations of this day were poured in on their under
standings, and they saw the spiritual nature of
the reign of the Messiah, they come on the stage
as new men in Christ Jesus. The river Rhone,
which flows into lake Leman, a muddy, tumultuous
stream — a turbid mountain torrent — after losing
itself in that beautiful lake, flows out again a clear,
bright, laughing current, reflecting from its puri
fied breast the beauty and glory of the overhang
ing heavens. So into the great sea of a Saviour's
divine love, flow the selfish, troubled, carnal lives
of these chosen men. But when swallowed up and
lost in the wonderous love of Christ, their regen
erated natures flow out in a purified energy, in a
stream of life so clear, that the attractions of the
spiritual heavens that overspread their trusting

58 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
hearts are beautifully mirrored there. Christ is in
them now the hope of glory.*
Of the other apostles we know not so much.
Andrew evidently shared in his brother's earnest
ness of purpose.!
Philip, too, was evidently a devout and correct
disciple. $
Thomas, loving and zealous, yet incredulous, ||
we dare say, never forgot the rebuke which his in
credulity received, nor the emotions of his soul
when he cast himself before the risen Jesus, and
cried, "My Lord and my God! "
Bartholomew, if, as many argue, the same as
Nathanael, was " an Israelite indeed, in whom
there was no guile." And although, like many
good men, the victim of prejudice ; yet, having
learned the valuable lesson to "come and see," his
honest search was rewarded with discoveries which
will gladden his soul to all eternity.
Matthew, a tax-gatherer, no sooner heard the
voice of Jesus calling him from the receipt of
custom to follow him, than he " rose, left all, and
followed him." These few words contain a won
derful history. §
James the Less, known also as the brother of
our Lord,^[ was the son of Cleophas or Alpheus

* 2 Cor. v. 13-17. t John i. 35, 42. % Jonn i- 43-4^.
|| John xi. 16; xx. 24, 25 \ Luke v. 28. \ Gal. i. 19.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 59
and Mary, sister of the Virgin Mary.* He was
surnamed the Just, for the admirable holiness and
integrity of his life. Strict himself in the observ
ance of the law, he gained a strong hold on the
Jews of Jerusalem, and wielded an immense in
fluence for the honor of his Master.!
Simon, surnamed the Zealot, we know little of,
only as his surname may reveal his character.
Judas, surnamed Thaddeus, is supposed to be a
brother of James the Less, and is called the Lord's
brother, $ a phrase not used by the Jews with the
strictness that now governs it, but embracing other
blood relations, such as cousins.
Judas Iscariot, with the blood of the Innocent
on his soul, and the terrors of hell burning into
his inmost spirit, has madly rushed into eternity,
leaving but a single evidence that any spot in his
soul was unseared, in the terrible remorse that
drove him into self-destruction.
Matthias, chosen by lot to the vacant place, we
know nothing of, except as he received the ap
proval of this holy association of disciples.
To these we ought, probably, to add the seventy
whom our Lord sent out in pairs before his face
to proclaim the approaching reign of heaven. He

* Mark xv. 40, and xvi. I ; compare with John xix. 25.
t See an interesting tradition respecting James, by Hegesippus,
in Smith's Bible Die. Art. James the Little. % Matt. xiii. 55.

60 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
speaks of them as having "their names written in
heaven;"* and we may reckon them, therefore,
among the "heirs of the kingdom."
Then we have the four Marys :
I. Mary, the mother of Jesus, "blessed among
women." 2. Mary Cleophas, sister of the Virgin, wife of
Cleophas, and mother of James the Less, and of
Simon. She had been a steady follower of Jesus —
had ministered to him during his travels, followed
him to Calvary, was present at his burial, and pre
pared materials to embalm him. She was one of
those " Last at the cross and earliest at the grave."
3. Mary Magdalene, to whom our Lord first
showed himself alive after his resurrection.
Strangely enough, she has generally been re
garded as of vile character, and has been con
founded with the woman who was a great sinner,
mentioned in Luke vii. 37. Yet she is found
always in good society,! is generally first named,J
and was evidently a woman of property. ||
4. Mary, sister of Lazarus, who sat at the feet
of Jesus and learned the beautiful lessons of di
vine wisdom. After her brother was raised from
the dead, she anointed him with precious oint-

* Luke x. 20. f Luke viii. 2, 3. % Mark xv. 47 ; xvi. 1.
I Luke viii. 2, 3; Matt, xxvii. 55, 56; Luke xxiii. 55, 56.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 6l
ment, as a quiet and grateful testimony of an in
debtedness which words could never express. She
will soon receive a richer anointing from the hand
of her beloved Saviour.
No doubt Martha and Lazarus — the risen Laz
arus — were there, happy in the love of an ascended
Lord, who had loved them when on earth, and
often cheered their quiet home with his sacred
presence; and who loves them still, and makes
their hearts the home of his Spirit.
And we may likewise reckon Joanna and Su
sanna,* Zebedee (if living), Salome, the wife of
Zebedee,! and Luke.
These, and such as these, who had been asso
ciated with them all the time that Jesus went in
and out among them, $ made up the " little flock."
We may say of them, as Paul says of some of the
heroes of former times, " of whom the world was
not worthy:" They had literally "left all, and fol
lowed Jesus." They had braved the world's scorn
for his sake. They had severed the dearest ties
of home and kindred, that th^y might follow the
friendless, homeless Man of Sorrows. They had
clung to him through evil and good report. They
had exulted in his every prospect of success, and
mourned with him over the discouragements of

* Luke viii. 3. t Compare Matt, xxvii. 56, with Mark xv. 40.
J: Acts i. 21.

62 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
his mission. They had rejoiced in his wonderful
works. They had opened their humble homes to
him when he had not where to lay his head. He
had broken bread with them at their tables, healed
their diseases, and fed them with the bread of life.
He had mingled his tears with theirs when death
had robbed them of their household treasures.
Some of them he had called back to life again.
Many, very many blessed memories linked their
hearts and lives with his. They loved him —
deeply, devotedly loved him. They had given him
tears of sympathy, and looks and prayers of love,
even when his heart was breaking on the cross.
And now they shall share in his triumphs, and
glory in his power to save. He forgets them not
in the day of his exaltation. No sooner is he
lifted to the throne amid the acclamations of an
adoring universe, than he sends heaven's divinest
Messenger and Comforter, laden with richest gifts,
to cheer them with glad intelligence, and honor
them with high endowments and peculiar digni
ties. Yet even the highest and richest of these
are but the earnest of the final inheritance of the
saints in light, when the "little flock" shall have
become a "great multitude which no man can
number," and " the ransomed of the Lord shall re
turn and come to Zion with everlasting joy on
their heads ; and shall obtain joy and gladness, and
sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

CHAPTER VIII.
THE SERMON.
THE streets of Jerusalem are thronged with
eager crowds, making their way to the
Temple. They are prompted by an unusual ear
nestness, and rush in haste to verify the strange
reports they have heard of prodigy and miracle
among the despised Galileans.
From how many varying motives men act !
From how many angles of vision they view the
same events! Here are' multitudes prompted by
the merest curiosity — such as may be at any time
awakened in large cities by the report of marvel
ous occurrences. They look with worse than
sensuous, with merely sensual, gaze on the phe
nomena which invite their scrutiny — and they very
satisfactorily account to themselves for all that is
unusual in the scene by resolving it into a drunken
frolic of some ignorant fishermen ! When the
disciples saw Jesus coming to them on the sea of
Galilee, in the fourth watch of the night, walking
on the water, they were affrighted, and cried out,
// is a spirit. Thus their superstitious gaze trans-
(°3)

64 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
formed their beloved Saviour into a frightful
apparition. How often do we thus turn blessings
into curses, by ignorance and superstitious fear!
On one occasion, when a voice from heaven
answered the prayer of Jesus, some who heard it,
said, It thunderedl others said, An angel spake to
him ! Thus it still is. To the dull materialist, it
only thunders. He will bring every miracle and
every divine visitation within the range of his
materialism — rob it of God and spirit, and bottle
it up, or weigh it in scales, and subject it in all its
parts to the "invariable laws" of physical science.
An angel's voice is to him but a clap of thunder.
He can have no conception of the descent of the
Holy Spirit, except as he measures the miles from
the throne to Jerusalem, and applies the laws of
gravitation with a view to solve the mystery !
Happy he who has a simple faith, to recognize
angel-voices, to perceive celestial harmonies, to
listen to every voice of God ; that he may be
guided here and there along the highways of Time
to Bethels — where Jacob's ladder reaches from
earth to heaven — where angels come and go on
blessed errands, and the loving eye of his Heaven
ly Father looks down from the top of the ladder
to watch his sleep and quicken his dreams, and give
gentle benedictions to the weary pilgrim of earth.
But we are wandering. Let us go back to the
Pentecostal scene. It is very wonderful. I do not

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 65
now speak of the lambent flame — the various
languages spoken — the prophesyings, visions,
dreams, and unearthly raptures which are here
witnessed ; but of the new position of the apostles
of Jesus Christ. Once, when Peter said to his
Master, " Lo, we have left all and followed thee.
What shall we have therefore ? " He answered, " In
the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall be
seated on the throne of his glory, ye who have
followed me shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel." * Though there .is no
" outward pomp " of courts and cabinets and legal
tribunals to be seen to-day, yet that strange promise
begins to be verified. They appear, in the name
of the newly-exalted King, to arraign unbelieving
Israel at the bar of God in their own conscience,
and to prefer against them charges of most dar
ing and high-handed crimes against the Lord's
anointed. It is, we confess, a singular court. These
apostles are at the same time witnesses, and advo
cates, and judges! They testify, plead, and pro
nounce sentence! This might seem to outrage
our sense of justice, were it not for another very
singular fact ; the accused parties are allowed to
bring in a verdict in their own cases, respectively.
They are sued, each man, at the bar of his own
conscience. And so successfully was the suit

* Matt. xix. 28.
5

66 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
urged, at this first opening of the court, by Peter,
the chief speaker, or rather by the Divine Advo
cate, using Peter's organs of speech, that no less
.than three thousand brought in verdicts against
themselves, cried, Guilty ! guilty ! and threw them
selves on the mercy of the court ! We have said
that this was a strange position for the apostles.
A few years ago they were hawking fish about the
streets of the cities of Judea and Galilee — recog
nized only among the wealthy by the necessities
of such a traffic. Now they are leading multitudes
of the men that scorned them, spell-bound before
the majesty of truth, and flashing into their souls
such terrible convictions of unbelief and wrong as
bring them cowering and trembling before those
whom they had despised to plead for mercy ! They
are embassadors of King Jesus now. The Divine
Spirit has
" Furnished their tongues with wonderous words,
Instead of shields" and spears and swords."
But they are such words as cannonade the heart
and conscience with tremendous power — "casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing every thought into captivity to the obedi
ence of Jesus Christ."
Let us listen, then, to this first gospel sermon —
fresh from the heavens — glowing with the inspira-

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 67
tions of the Spirit of God, and sweeping like a
tempest in its power over the listening throng.
Never was a sermon reported which preachers of
the gospel have so much reason to study on their
knees, before God, as this. To seize its theme —
to catch its spirit — to learn truly its aim — will
make a successful preacher of any man who has a
heart to feel and a tongue td speak.
It will best serve our purpose to view it nega
tively, first of all, and tell what it was not.
I. It was not an effort to display ingenuity and
learning in showing up the beauties and mysteries
of the "last clause" of some curious text in the
Scriptures. What a fine chance for an eloquent
and "ingenious" sermon on this text: "Out of
him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out
of him the battle bow." * Or this : " One sea and
twelve oxen under the sea." ! How the preacher
might have glorified himself, and soothed the itch
ing ears of his hearers in an adroit management
of these texts !
2. It was not a discussion of doctrines. There was
no setting forth of theological dogmas, no attempt
to construct a theological system. Not one of the
doctrinal or ecclesiastical questions now dividing the
orthodox churches is mooted in this sermon.
3. It is not a philosophical discourse. Verily,

* Zech. a. 4. 1 1 Kings vii. 44.

68 WA LKS ABOUT JER USA LEM.
Christianity has a philosophy — a deep, beautiful,
gorgeous philosophy ; but not a philosophy to be
preached. The sermon is burdened with no
heavy materialism — no "thrice refined pabulum
of transcendental moonshine," no discussion of
"will," and "understanding," and "pure reason,"
and "innate ideas;" no attempt to explain the
modus operandi of conversion ; no theory of regen
eration ; no intricate and bewildering metaphysical
speculations. 4. It was not a rude assault on existing systems
of religion. How easily could the corruptions and
apostasies of the Jews have been made the theme
of a discourse of overwhelming power ! But no
prejudice is assailed, save such as stood' immedi
ately in the way of a favorable hearing.
5. It was not an attempt to discuss the political
aspects of the times, although the text quoted from
Joel, looking forward to the complete overthrow
of the Jewish polity, might have seemed to warrant
a discussion of the causes of the impending ruin.
Now, to look at it positively, we observe that
there is first an effort to propitiate the hostile audi
ence. They were laboring under very false im
pressions of the phenomena before them ; and
Peter seeks, in a true statement of the facts, to gain
their attention to the message he is about to
deliver. Quoting from their own prophet, Joel, a
prediction which, by the admission of their teach-

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 69
ers, referred to the days of the Messiah, he showed
them its literal fulfillment in the miracles before
their eyes. And thus giving a divine dignity to
that which seemed to the multitude but insane
ravings, he prepared the way for an attentive and
solemn hearing.
He then announces his theme — JESUS of
Nazareth ! The only gospel theme ! Many times,
we know, it is not a popular theme. Perhaps it
never was less popular, at the beginning of a ser
mon, than in this very instance. Yet it wrought
wonders. " The Jews require a sign, and the
Greeks seek after wisdom ; but we preach Christ
crucified — to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to
the Greeks foolishness; but to those who are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
God, and the wisdom of God." *
Then follows a plain, pointed statement of the
facts in the history of Jesus; his life, death,
resurrection, ascension, and glorification. These
facts are then proved. It is worth while to notice
the selection of proofs, as it shows a wise adapted-
- ness to circumstances.
Thus : With what directness and force do these
statements come home to the auditors! "Jesus
of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you,
by miracles and' wonders and signs which God did

• 1 Cor. i". 22-24.

70 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
by him in the midst of you,, as ye yourselves also
know ; Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken,
and by wicked hands have crucified and slain ! "
What an indictment ! What home-thrusts ! How
different from the soft, smooth, vague, general
izing of modern pulpits, which finds its chief
popularity in the fact that it aims at the universe,
and hits nowhere !
Skillfully does the preacher then select such
prophecies as his hearers admitted to refer to the
Messiah. On this he accumulates the testimony
of eye-witnesses, who had seen Jesus after he rose
from the dead ; and crowns it all with the witness
of the Holy Spirit, furnished in undisputed mira
cles now wrought in their immediate presence.
Thus, step by step, he ascends to a triumphant
conclusion, which confessedly carries in it the des
tinies of all his hearers : " Therefore, let all the
house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath
made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ."
It seems to me impossible to give more direct
ness and force to a sermon. The preacher grapples
with the understanding and conscience of his audi
ence lovingly, yet fearlessly. Every sentence is
freighted with conviction. There are no apologies.
He forgets himself in his theme and his intense
purpose of soul to work conviction in the hearts

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 71
of a guilty people, and he succeeds. Ere he is
done, thousands see their hands dripping with the
blood of God's Anointed, and cry out in great
anguish, " Men and brethren, what must we do ? "
Then comes instruction, after the work of con
viction is perfected ; pointing out, in simple terms,
the way of access to the mercy of God. " Repent,
and be baptized every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Finally, the sermon winds up with words of per
suasion and entreaty, appealing to the hearts of
the convicted auditors, and endeavoring to awaken
them to an immediate acceptance of the pai cloning
mercy of the Lord. " With many other words did
he exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this unto
ward generation."
This is the kind of preaching needed now. Un
happily, the dissensions and divisions of the relig
ious world call for much public investigation and
discussion. Circumstances often demand it. Yet
it should never be entered on, except as a matter
of stern necessity. To persuade men to believe
in the Messiah, to love him, and to obey him —
these were the only objects of apostolic labor. As
we return to the purity and integrity of Primitive
Christianity, we shall lose sight of self and sect,
and all else, and Christ will be "all in all."

CHAPTER IX.
THE LAW OF CITIZENSHIP.
" Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,
for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." —
Acts ii. 38.
THE apostles were "embassadors for Christ."
As such, they filled a place and exercised
an authority which can never belong to any others.
In the absence of the King, they administered all
the affairs of the kingdom, with the special promise
that whatever they bound on earth should be
bound in heaven, and whatever they loosed on
earth should be loosed in heaven. They had power
to open and shut the doors of the kingdom,* to
forgive sins,! to utter, infallibly, the truths of
salvation, $ and to exercise supreme authority in
all that pertained to the laws and ordinances of the
kingdom. || In the light of these Scriptures, the
dogma of apostolic succession is ineffably absurd.
Information touching the conditions of citizen-

* Matt. xvi. 19. t John xx. 22, 23.
X John xvi. 13. || Luke xxii. 28-30.
(72)

WALKS ABOUT JER USA LEM. 73
ship in the kingdom of heaven, may be gathered
from the following sources :
I. The ministry of John the Baptist, which, being
designed to "prepare a people for the Lord," must
necessarily foreshadow the genius and character
of the coming reign, and give at least a general
idea of the means of access to its blessings.
2. The teachings of the King himself : for al
though the kingdom was not, and could not, be
formally established until he had ascended on high,
yet he anticipated his inauguration in much of his
teachings. Indeed, "the kingdom of the heavens"
was his constant theme.
3. The teachings of the apostles. The passages
quoted above clearly show that the Spirit of truth,
in which they were immersed on this day of Pen
tecost, was to enable them to 'speak with infallible
certainty the whole counsel of God ; and, particu
larly, to furnish them with wisdom and power to
use " the keys of the kingdom " in opening its
doors to Jew and Gentile.
4. The official acts of these embassadors: so
that,- when we see them officially accepting per
sons to the privileges and rights of citizenship, in
the name of the King, we can have the fullest as
surance that their doings are ratified in heaven.
Let us apply to these sources of knowledge in
their order.
(1.) John came as a reformer, in the "spirit and

74 WALKS AB 0 UT JER USALEM.
power of Elijah," to rebuke and expose the sins
and corruptions of the age, and call the people to
repentance. He refused to receive any to his
baptism who did not "bring forth fruits meet for
repentance;" he baptized his converts "unto re
pentance," and "for the remission of sins," assur
ing them, however, that greater spiritual blessings
than his ministry could offer would be their por
tion when the kingdom should be established : " I
indeed baptize you in water unto repentance ; but
he that cometh after me shall baptize you in the
Holy Spirit.-"
We gather, then, that none can possibly enter
the kingdom without utterly forsaking their sins,
and renouncing their lusts ; and that only thus
can they be prepared for the refreshing and com
forting presence of the Spirit of God.
(2.) Not pausing to notice, in the teachings of
Jesus, the general views of the character and aims
of the kingdom, zat given in the Sermon on the
Mount, and in various parables, we call attention
to a few passages which speak more directly of
Ihe terms of admission to its dignities and enjoy
ments. " Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he can not enter
into the kingdom of God."*
That this is somewhat figurative and obscure,
*John iii. 5.

WALKS AB 0 UT JER USALEM. 75
and was not intended to be regarded as plain
speech, is, we think, evident, from the uniform
style of the Great Teacher when addressing those
who did not commit themselves to his cause. He
addressed such in parables.* Yet we may learn
from this passage, without seeking its explanation
in subsequent plainer teachings, that none can
possess the kingdom except as they possess a new
spiritual life. And that this new life from the
Spirit involves the renunciation of sin, and the
transfer of the sinner's affections to purity and
goodness, we should think at least to be probable
from the phrase " born of water," indicating emer
sion from this purifying element, as entering on a
new life, cleansed and regenerated.
"Except ye'be converted and become as little children, ye shall
not enter into the kingdom of heaven." f
We can not mistake here. All carnal pride and
ambition, such as led to the question, " Who shall
be greatest ? " is at war with the nature of this
spiritual kingdom, and must be renounced. Hu
mility and self-abasement, rather than pride and
ambition, prepare us to enter the kingdom.
" My kingdom is not of this world. . . To this end was I born,
and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness
unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." %

* See Matt. xiii. Comp. with John ii. 24, 25.
t Matt, xviii. 3. % John xviii. 37.

76 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
Whatever may be the force of the phrase "born
again," in the third chapter, this latter passage
would lead us to connect it with- that confidence
in the teachings of Christ, which in the last-quoted
passage is spoken of as constituting a person "of
the truth." To hear the voice of Jesus — to accept
and acquiesce in the truth he taught, to renounce
all pride, ambition, lust, and wicked works, and to
translate all of these new-begotten desires and
purposes into living language by obedience to the
law of naturalization described as being "born of
water" — these would seem, from our second source
of information, to constitute the means' of access
to the kingdom of God.
After his resurrection, when conferring embas-
sadorial powers on his apostles, Jesus uttered, in
plainer terms, the law of citizenship.
" He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." *
This teaches us that the work of the Spirit in
planting new spiritual life within us is realized
through faith; and that the phrase " born of water"
is equivalent to being baptized. The believer in
Jesus, then, who, through faith, renounces his sins
and rebellions, and is baptized into Christ, becomes
thus a citizen of the kingdom.
(3.) Proceeding to our third source of informa-

*Mark xvi. 164

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 77
lion, we hear Peter, to whom the keys of the king
dom were given, announcing to anxious supplicants
the law of induction, in the language which stands
at the head of this chapter : " Repent, and be bap
tized, every ONE OF YOU, IN THE NAME OF JESUS
Christ, for the remission of sins ; and you
shall receive the gift of the holy spirit."
In this instance we have,
I. Such a deep and pungent conviction wrought
by the Spirit, through the truth, as leads the sub
jects of it to ground the arms of their rebellion,
and cast themselves on the mercy of their sove
reign. 2. Repentance — renunciation of their old life, and
an immediate turning unto a new life of obedience
to Christ.
3. The public confession- and expression of all
this internal change, in the overt act of baptism ;
in which, immersed into death, and emerging into
a new life under the authority of the Lord Jesus,
they were "born of water," as they had already
been begotten by the Spirit ; and thus they en
tered into the kingdom.
(4.) The uniform practice of the apostles was,
to preach Christ as a Saviour to be trusted in, and
a Lord to be obeyed. And all believing penitents,
who were willing to renounce all other lordships
for Christ, and vow allegiance to him alone, they

78 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
immediately immersed, in the name of the Lord
Jesus* In previous chapters we have dwelt with some
emphasis on the spiritual nature of the kingdom
of God. It is not to be forgotten, however, that
it has a visible existence in the world — an organized
system of means and instrumentalities suited to this
strangely-combined nature of ours, in which the
visible and invisible, material and immaterial, phe
nomenal and essential, are so mysteriously con
joined. It has an objective as well as a subjective
aspect. We must expect its laws and arrange
ments to recognize the wants of this compound
nature. And we find, accordingly, the most ad
mirable adaptedness, in this respect, to our neces
sities, in the terms of salvation, as well as in all the
means and appliances on which we are taught to rely
for the preservation of spiritual life. As specimens
of these beautiful adaptations, we quote again some
passages touching the conditions of citizenship :
" Except a man be born of water (external) and
of the Spirit (internal), he can not enter into the
kingdom of God."
" He that believeth (internal) and is baptized
(external), shall be saved."

* See Acts viii. 5-12, and 26-39 ; ix. 1-18 ; x. 34-48 ; xi. 19-21 ;
xiii. 16-48; xvi. 12-40; xvii. 16-34; xviii. 4-8; xix. 17-20; xxvi.
22, 23 ; xxviii. 23.

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 79
" Repent (internal) and be baptized (external),
in the name of Jesus Christ." "Then they that
gladly received the word (internal) were baptized
(external), and the same day were added unto them
about three thousand souls."
The history of theological controversies alike in
regard to doctrine and polity is very largely the
history of extremes on this point ; religious theo
ries swaying men into mysticism, transcendental
ism, and lawless anarchy; and again into legalism,
formalism, and ecclesiastical tyranny.
A pure Christianity combines in beautiful har
mony the phenomenal and the essential ; and while
revealing to us a kingdom which cometh not with
outward show, and into which none but the spirit
ually renewed can find admittance, at the same
time assures us that, except they be born of water,
they can not enter it. The gospel, while proclaim
ing justification by faith to the sinner, has linked
with it the ordinance of baptism, ere the promise,
" shall be saved," can be lawfully approached ; and
while offering heaven to the "pure in heart," will
not suffer us to forget that none can be regarded
as such but those who " do his commandments."
Let us say, then, in view of all the premises
before us, that the great law of citizenship is
allegiance to Jesus as King. Internally, this in
volves supreme love of Christ, so that, for his sake,
all sin and wrong can be freely disowned ; exter-

80 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
nally, it involves baptism into Christ, in which this
total surrender of the heart and life to him finds
an expressive and symbolical utterance, and is
translated into the outward life in cheerful obedi
ence. The-question of citizenship settles the question
of pardon. Pardon is one of the constitutional guar
anties of the kingdom. One of the stipulated rights
of ,the citizen in the Constitution is, " I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins
and iniquities I will remember no more." Pardon,
divine protection, divine* knowledge, are all guar
anties to every citizen ; so that his right to the
Bible, to the throne of grace, and to the fountain of
mercy, can never be lawfully taken from him until
he forfeits his right to a place in the kingdom.*
There has been much controversy over the
phrase, " for the remission of sins," in Acts ii. 38.
The preposition eis has been put into many a
patent theological vice, and unmercifully twisted
and tortured into various shapes and meanings, to
compel it into a confession of some peculiar import
in this instance, that might save a favorite dogma
from destruction. Has it never occurred to these
sapient theplogues that if this member of the sen
tence — "for the remission of sins " — were stricken
out entirely, the meaning of the passage would be

* See Heb. viii.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 8 1
still the same ? The verse contains a reply to a
question. The question is, "Men and brethren, what
shall we do ? " that is, as all agree, zvhat shall we
do to be saved? None pretend that they were in
a saved state when this question was propounded.
Now the 38th verse contains the answer to this
question. The answer is, " Repent and be bap
tized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ." It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that
they were to repent and be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ, tliat they might be saved. We
repeat, therefore, that all the learned attempts to
save a drowning doctrine by criticism of eis, are
abortive. The gospel doctrine is not driven to the
necessity of fighting its battles on this narrow
isthmus, as if the gain or loss of a whole continent
depended on the issue. The disputed territory can
be yielded without damage to the question in con
troversy! So strong is truth — so vain is error!
The true genius of Christianity, as a scheme of
salvation, finds a grand illustration in the events
of this day of Pentecost. Three thousand sinners
— many of them of blackest dye — the murderers
of Jesus — find forgiveness through the very blood
they have shed. The first act of the newly-exalted
King is the pardon of these suppliant sinners !
The first entry made in the archives of his reign is
the names of these blood-stained rebels as candi-
6

82 WA LKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
dates for glory, honor, and immortality! The
Mosaic law spread gloom and terror over the period
of its introduction by the slaughter of three thou
sand offenders. The gospel made forever bright its
natal day by the deathless smiles of pardoning love,
conveying life, peace, and joy to three thousand
sinners ! It is the era of mercy. It is the full blaze
of the Sun of Righteousness, driving away the
darkness that shrouded the world in gloom. It is
the year of jubilee — the great day of atonement —
when the gospel-trumpet proclaims " liberty to the
captive and the opening of the prison-doors to them
that are bound ; " it tells of debts remitted, and lost
inheritances restored, and the return of ransomed
sinners frpm exile and bondage to their father's
house. It is the resurrection of humanity from the
grave of guilt and despair to a life of fellowship
with God, when the risen soul begins to plume itself
for an upward flight to everlasting joys. Already,
through the gentle and loving ministrations of the
gospel of peace, does God wipe away tears from the
eyes of mourners, and swallow up death in victory ;
and the glad songs of salvation that go up from ran
somed spirits in Jerusalem to the Saviour of sinners,
tell of heaven begun on earth — of guilty Jerusalem
made to bloom like the garden of God.
Bunyan, in one of his inviting works, called the
"Jerusalem Sinner Saved," has improved the les
son furnished in the pardon of the three thousand,

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 83
very skillfully. We can not do better, in closing this
chapter, than to introduce the quaint old preacher
to our readers in his earnest style of pleading with
sinners. " Say thou art a sinner, and I will hold with thee ;
say thou art a great sinner, and I will say so too ;
yea, say thou art one of the greatest sinners, and
" spare not ; for the text yet is beyond thee, is yet
betwixt hell and thee. 'Beginning at Jerusalem,'
has yet a smile upon thee. . . . Take, there
fore, encouragement, man ; mercy is, by the text,
held forth to the greatest sinners. Yea, put thy
self into the number of the worst. By reckoning
that way,, thou mayest be one of the first to find,
and mayest not be put off till the greatest sinners
are served ; for the worst sinners are first invited ;
consequently, if they come, they are like to be the
first that shall be served. It was so with Jerusalem.
I have one thing more to offer for
thine encouragement, who deemest thyself one" of
the greatest sinners ; and that is, thou art, as it
were, called by thy name, in the first place, to come
in for mercy. Thou man of Jerusalem, hearken to
thy call. Men do so in courts of judicature, and
presently cry out, ' Here, sir ; ' and then they shoul
der and crowd, and say, ' Pray give way, I am called
into the court' Why, this is thy case, thou great,
thou Jerusalem sinner ; be of good cheer, he calleth
thee. Why sittest thou still ? Arise. Why stand-

84 WALKS ABOUT JER USA LEM.
est thou still ? Come, man, thy call should give
thee authority to come. 'Begin at Jerusalem,' is
thy call and authority to come. Wherefore, up
and shoulder it, man. Say, ' Stand away, devil,
Christ calls me ; stand away, unbelief, Christ calls
me ; stand away, all ye my discouraging apprehen
sions, for my Saviour calls me to him to receive
pf his mercy.' Men will do thus in courts below,
and why shouldest thou not approach thus to the
court above ? The Jerusalem sinner is first in
thought, first in commission, first in the record of
names, and therefore should give attendance with
expectation that he is first to receive mercy of
. God. Christ pointeth over the heads of thousands,
as he sits on the throne of grace, directly to such
a man and says, ' Bring in hither the maimed, the
halt, and the blind ; let the Jerusalem sinner that
stands there behind, come to me.' Wherefore,
since Christ says to thee, ' Come,' let the angels
make a lane, and let all men give place, that the
Jerusalem sinner may come to Jesus Christ for
mercy." We have extended this " walk " perhaps too far.
Let us return for rest. We will only say, while
returning :
a. That the subjects this day brought into the
kingdom were volunteers. " Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power."
b. Their surrender was immediate. " The same

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 8$
day were added unto them about three thousand
souls." c. Their pardon was complete. No painful doubts
brooded over their pardoned souls.
d. The fruits of their conversion were most
precious. Some of these fruits we hope to gather in future
excursions. Meanwhile here is a sweet, inviting
song of mercy whose pleading strains should not
fall unheeded on the sinner's ear :
From the cross, uplifted high,
Where the Saviour deigns to die,
What melodious sounds we hear
Bursting on the ravished ear !
" Love's redeeming work is done ;
Come and welcome, sinner, come.
" Sprinkled now with blood the throne,
Why beneath thy burdens groan ?
On my pierced body laid,
Justice owns the ransom paid.
Bow the knee, embrace the Son ;
Come and welcome, sinner, come.
" Spread for thee, the festal board
See with richest dainties stored.
To thy Father's bosom pressed,
Yet again a child confessed,
Never from his house to roam —
Come and welcome, sinner, come."

CHAPTER X.
THE WATER SUPPLY OF JERUSALEM.
"Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water? "
2 Chkon. xxxii. 4.
IT is one of the sad evidences of the blinding
power of prejudice, that respectable, and some
of them learned writers, such as McLeod, Edwin
Hall, Cooke, Towne, Hibbard, Peters, and even
John Wesley, should have been willing to lend
the weight of their names to the ridiculous state
ment that Jerusalem could not furnish facilities for
the immersion of three thousand persons. John
Wesley says:
" Three thousand at one time, and five thousand at another, were
converted and baptized by St. Peter at Jerusalem, where they had
none but the gentle waters of Siloam, according to the observations
of Mr. Fuller : ' There were no water-mills at Jerusalem, because
there was no stream large enough to drive them.' The place, there
fore, as well as the number, makes it highly probable that all these
were baptized by sprinkling or pouring." *
And Dr. Peters is equally confident that the

* Doctrinal Tracts, p. 245.
(86)

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 87
scanty supply of water forbids the thought of im
mersing three thousand persons at one time :
" Where could the apostles have baptized three thousand converts
by immersion ? There was no river nor brook to which they could
resort in a short time, and only two public pools or bathing-places
in Jerusalem — Bethesda and Siloam. Bethesda was used daily for
cleansing sacrifices, and the blood and offal of the sacrifices were
washed into it, which, some have imagined, may have imparted to
the water its healing nature. At least it must have been an unfit
place for immersion. It was also in the hands of the priests, the
avowed and mortal enemies of Christ and his disciples. Th'ey
surely would not have given up the pool of Bethesda to the apostles
to be used as a. place of Christian baptism. It is probable, also,
that both Siloam and Bethesda were of insufficient dimensions to
allow the eleven apostles to use them at the same time for the pur
pose of immersion." *
And Dr. Hibbard says :
" They had no place for the immersion of such a multitude. As
to public pools, we have account of only two — Bethesda and Siloam.
Bethesda was in the hands of the priests. - It will not be pretended
that they would have surrendered their claims to the use of Beth
esda, in order to accommodate the apostles with a place for Chris
tian baptism. Both Siloam and Bethesda were probably of inade
quate dimensions to admit twelve men — much less the seventy
disciples — for the purpose of immersing." t
Let these extracts suffice as specimens of the
ignorance and prejudice to which even learned
and devout men abandon themselves — an igno
rance and prejudice the more amazing in the light

* Peters on Baptism, pp. 85, 86.
X Hibbard on Baptism, Part ii, p. 113.

88 WA LKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
of the positiveness of these reckless assertions.
These gentlemen, before writing so positively,
ought to have taken more careful and extensive
"walks about Jerusalem," and they would have
saved their names from association with such unau
thorized statements. A moment's sober reflection
should have satisfied them that facilities for im
mersion must have been found in abundance in
such a city as Jerusalem.
i. It is well known that in the East bathing is
a necessity, and that provision for frequent ablu
tions is made not only in every city, but in every
house. Thus Dr. Hibbard himself says of Pales
tine: " It was such a climate that originated the demand for baths,
pools, and fountains throughout the East, and made the practice of
bathing to be common. And we repeat it, it was this universal
custom of bathing — a custom so indispensable to pleasure, to decency,
and to health, among the Orientals — which more than any thing else
gave a bias to their minds to immersion instead of affusion." *
Yet this same Dr. Hibbard says of Jerusalem
that " they had no place for the immersion of such
a multitude"!
Home says :
*' It was one of the civil laws of the Hebrews that the bath should
be used (Lev. xiv. 8; xv. 8; xvii. 15, 16). We may, therefore,
consider it as probable that public baths, soon after the enactment
of this law, were erected in Palestine, of a construction similar to

* Hibbard on Baptism, Part ii, p. 152.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 89
hat of those which are so frequently seen at the present day in the
iast."* Josephus speaks of the "innumerable multitude"
that attended the annual festivals in Jerusalem.!
Every reader of the Old Testament .knows that
all of this "innumerable multitude" were required
on these occasions to be purged from legal defile
ments according to Numb. xix. Josephus makes
the number attendant on the Passover, 2,700,200.$
Tacitus gives the population of the city at 600,-
000. A writer in Smith's Bible Dictionary scouts
these estimates as absurd, and argues that the city
had not probably more than 75,000 when Titus
came against it. We do not admit his reason
ings. But taking his calculation of 45,000 as the
population of the city, and add to these the heads
of families, with their children, that came from all
parts to attend the annual festivals, and it will be
seen that provision must have been made for the
daily bathings of an immense multitude. To argue
that water could not be found to immerse three
thousand where bathings had to be provided for
hundreds of thousands, is simply ridiculous.
On the water supply of ancient Jerusalem, Dr.
Trail says:

•Int. Vol. II., p. 170.
1" Wars of the Jews, Book II., chap, iii., sec. I.
t Ibid, VI., ix. 3.

90 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
" Perhaps upon no city of the ancient world had greater cost been
bestowed, or more skill shown, in securing for it an unfailing sup
ply of water ; and such was the repute of Jerusalem in this particu
lar, that its strength as a fortification is frequently alluded to by
profane writers as including this grand and indispensable means of
sustaining a lengthened siege. Thus Strabo, having mentioned the
fact generally that Jerusalem, situated in the midst of a district des
titute of water, was itself abundantly supplied therewith, presently
afterward, and while referring to the capture of the city by Pompey,
states that he took it, notwithstanding its substantial munitions and
its being abundant in water, while all around was dry. To the
same purport is the often-cited passage in Tacitus (Hist. v. 12), who
describes the temple with its porticoes as a fortress ; and such in fact
it was, well fitted to sustain the frequent sieges to which it was
liable. ' Fons perennis aquae, cavati sub terra miontes : et piscinas
cisternseque servandis imbribus.' * A fountain of perennial water,
mountains hollowed out underneath, also fish-pools and cisterns —
rain water being preserved.' .... The terraced gardens, the
' paradises ' of the kings and nobles of Jerusalem, have long been
desolated; but even now, around the slopes of the hills may be
traced, mile after mile, the aqueducts whence these gardens drew
perpetual verdure, and which then poured their superfluous streams
into the bosom of Moriah  The series of writers from
Strabo down to William of Tyre, use almost the same phrases, at
once in describing the aridity of the region, and in attesting the fact
that within the city there was always water enough and to spare."®
Generally, in the sieges to which Jerusalem was
subjected, the besiegers suffered from thirst, and
the besieged from hunger. Scarcely ever is there
an intimation that the besieged suffered from a
want of water. When Pedobaptists insist that

* Trail's Josephus, p. 58, quoted in Barclay's " City of the Great
King," p. 292.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 9 1
there was not much water there, let them turn to
2 Chron. xxxii. 4 : "So there was gathered much
people together, who stopped all the fountains and
the brook that ran through the midst of the land,
saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come and
find much water?"
Not to dwell on the numerous evidences of the
extreme care taken in ancient times to supply this
city abundantly with water, in the ruins of ter
raced gardens, aqueducts, and reservoirs — evi
dences which are increasing as new explorations
are made — we call attention to the size of some
of the pools and other supplies of water that are
known to have existed, merely quoting, from nu
merous authorities, that of Eusebius, who, in tffe
fourth century, quotes Tirftochares as saying, " The
whole city flowed with water, so that even the gar*.
dens were irrigated of those flowing waters out of
the city." Not to speak of the brook Kedron,
which was evidently, in ancient times, just what
its name imports, nor of "the brook that ran
through the midst of the land,"* we call attention
to, 1. The Pool of Siloam.] This is 53 feet long,
18 broad, and although partly broken down, the
water is yet two or three feet deep in it. Jose
phus says of it, " This is the name of a fountain

*2 Chronv xxxii. 4. tjohn ix. 7, 11.

92 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
which hath ^sweet water in it, and that in great
plenty." 2. The Old or Upper Pool* Dr. Robinson gives
its length 316 feet, breadth 218, depth 18, cover
ing more than an acre and a half of ground.
3. The Pool of Hezekiah.\ Dr. Robinson gives
its dimensions as 240 feet long, 144 broad, cover
ing three-quarters of an acre of ground. To this
day the people freely descend to wash and to fill
their water-jars. It is supplied by an aqueduct
from the Upper Pool. The bottom is sloping.
4. The Lower Pool of Gihon.\ The same author
says it covers more than three acres of ground.
In the days of the Crusaders it was well supplied
with water. Dr. Barclay gives its dimensions as
260 feet by 600.
5. The Pool of Bethesda.\\ According to Dr.
Barclay, the main pool is about 131 feet broad,
and 365 in length; but its length is continued 142
feet further, where its breadth is only 45 feet. Dr.
Barclay, however, denies that this is the genuine
Bethesda. 6. Solomons Pools. These, as located by Dr.
Barclay, are some eight miles distant from Jeru
salem, three in number :
Upper Pool. — Length, 380 feet; breadth, at the

* 2 Kings xviii. 17, and parallel texts. 1 2 Kings xx. 20.
1 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4, 30. || John v, 2-4.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 93
upper end, 229 feet, at the lower, 236; greatest
depth, 25 feet.
Middle Pool. — Length, 423 feet ; breadth at
upper end, 160 feet, at lower, 250 ; greatest depth,
39 feet.
Lower Pool. — Length, 582 feet; breadth, at
upper end, 148 feet, at lower, 207 ; greatest depth,
50 feet. Dr. Barclay says : " More delightful swim-
pools than these heart could not desire ; and that
they were formerly used as such, is rendered highly
probable by the well-arranged flights of steps lead
ing into them." He says that unitedly they ex
pose a surface of water, when only half filled, equal
to an area of ten or twelve acres, possessing all
depths at all seasons or stages of water, from forty
or fifty feet in the center to the superfices on the
upper shelving rocks.
The original aqueduct leading from these pools
to the sanctuary has been discovered.* The most
recent statement we have seen of the pools of Je
rusalem, comes in the work just referred to, which
says: "The pools of which remains exist, are the
Birket Mamilla, Birketes Sultan, two pools of
Siloam, Birket Sitti Miriam, and a pool near the
Tombs of the Kings, outside the city; and the
so-called pools of Hezekiah and Bethesda within,

* See a very interesting work, recently published, entitled " Re
covery of Jerusalem," pp. 182-3.

94 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
besides three, of the existence of which there is
an undoubted tradition, one near the Jaffa Gate,
one near the Gate of the Chain of the Sanctuary,
and a third near the Church of St. Anne."
We have not spoken of the reservoirs and fount
ains which Josephus describes Herod as having
built in different quarters of Jerusalem, nor of sev
eral fountains and pools mentioned in the Old
Testament, of which scarcely any thing is known ;
nor yet of the private arrangements for bathing
that every-where abounded. Enough has been
said, however, to show that Jerusalem furnished all
needed facilities for the immersion not only of
thousands, but of millions*
Some writers, afraid to trust the silly assertion
of a want of water in the city, have argued that
the priests would not allow the Christians to use
the public pools. They forget that, as yet, no
opposition had been aroused against them ; that
they "had favor with all the people,"! and that,
even after this, "a great company of the priests
were obedient to the faith."J
Thus it is that the difficulties which ignorance
and prejudice create vanish in the light of truth.

sFor further information, see Robinson's Researches, Barclay's
City of the Great King, and Smith's Dictionaiy of the Bible, arti
cles Jerusalem and Pool.
t Acts ii. 47. % Acts vi. 7.

CHAPTER XI.
THE FRUITS OF CONVERSION.
" They continued steadfastly in the Apostles' teaching." — Acts ii. 42.
FROM the Christian point of view, human na
ture is fearfully alienated from God. Men are
not merely in error, and needing reformation, but
they are lost, and in need of salvation. The evils
afflicting humanity spring not merely from an unfor
tunate concatenation of circumstances, demanding
only an external remedy, but from a corrupted nature,
a deceitful heart, whose proclivities and gravita
tions are earthward, to selfishness and sin, and not
heavenward, to benevolence and holiness. The
Christian policy, therefore, is to work from within
outwardly, and not from ivithout inwardly. It
proposes to save the world by regenerating indi
vidual hearts. It busies itself with the fountain,
and whatever present obstructions may hinder the
full and steady flow of the stream, there breathes
in this divine system that sublime confidence in
the deathless energy of pure principles and pure
hearts, that it can patiently wait for ages without
(95;

96 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
despairing of the ultimate accomplishment of its
high purposes. False religions, false philosophies,
and false governments may check the flowing
stream ; it may be compelled to seek subterrane
ous channels, bubbling up only here and there in
a little spring in the wilderness, to refresh a few
lone pilgrims ; the ungodly world may deem it ex
hausted — but it will seek its true level, and reveal
its pent-up treasure in glorious outpourings, even
on hill-tops and mountain summits, coursing down
thence to the dwellers in the valley in glad streams
of refreshment, bearing messages of love and joy
wherever they flow. Hence all the virtues and
graces of Christian character are contemplated as
fruits, springing from a nature renewed by the Holy
Spirit. Our attention is therefore called, in the
history of the Jerusalem church, to the fruits of
conversion. We are informed that the* converts
"continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching
and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in
prayers." The first feature of Christian character brought
to notice here, is a delight in religious truth. This
is uniformly an evidence of a renewed nature. The
field of apostolic Christianity, which to the carnal
gaze is but a barren waste, and to the intellectual
observer but a curious territory, abounding in
fossil remains which might serve to adorn his
museum of wonders, becomes to the spiritual man

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 97
a very paradise of beauty and glory, where, in
bowers of unfading loveliness, on the banks of the
river of life, amid celestial harmonies, and fadeless
flowers, and deathless song, and the light of an
unsetting sun, he can hold fellowship with all that
is pure, and regale his spirit with the delectable
fruits of the tree of life, and slake his thirst with
the waters of salvation.
An impure spirit skulks in darkness, but a
purified spirit rejoices in the light, and finds health,
and bloom, and fruitfulness in the divine illumina
tions furnished by the Father of Lights in the
teachings of the apostles. In the spiritual, as in
the material creation, the first fiat is, Let there
be light. All life is sheathed in light. And as,
with the primitive man, God approached his heart
through his intellectual nature, so, in the new
creation, is man " renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him," that he may thus be
recreated " in righteousness and in true holiness."
Not more legitimately does the new-born infant
seek the pabulum of life in its mother's milk, than
the new-born child of God seeks supplies from
spiritual Jerusalem, " the mother of us all?" of the
"unadulterated milk of the word," which is fur
nished in the " apostles' teaching." In one sense,
every convert comes into the kingdom in the
possession of knowledge, as saith the covenant :
" They shall not teach every man his brother, and
7

98 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
every man his neighbor, saying, Know the Lord,
for they shall all know me, from the least to the
greatest; for I will be merciful to their unright
eousness, and their sins and iniquities I will
remember no more." This knowledge of the
pardoning love of God is possessed by the least
in the kingdom ; hence John could say, " I write
unto you, little children, because your sins are
forgiven you, for his name's sake." But the higher
and deeper knowledge of Christian life, such as
their expanding spirits would require, must, of
necessity, be beyond the reach of spiritual infancy.
Hence they must "leave the first principles of
the doctrine of Christ, and go on to perfection."
Let it-be observed that these converts continued
in the apostles' teaching. The instruction furnished
in the Jewish Scriptures did not meet the wants
of the higher spiritual life to which the gospel
called its subjects. It is the glory of the gospel
to reveal such truths as " eye had not seen, nor ear
heard, neither had entered into the heart of man."
True, the apostles were constantly referring to the
Jewish Scriptures ; but it was to dig out from their
depths occult meanings and hidden beauties, which
had been concealed for ages under the "types and
symbols of that pictorial religion. While the Jews
had been but worshipers in the outer court, chiefly
occupied with sensuous attractions, and spell- bound
by external charms, the apostles guided their con-

U VI LKS ABO UT JER USA LEM. 99
verts into the inner sanctuary — guided them, as
priests" of God, to the divine illuminations of the
seven-branched candelabrum, and even lifted the
veil that had hitherto concealed the awful glories
of the Shekinah, that they might bathe in the
uncreated light that streamed through the wings
of adoring cherubim, and rejoice their souls amid
the lights and perfections which our great High
Priest causes to pour in eternal streams, from
Urim and Thummim, upon the waiting souls of
his people !
I greatly fear that the teaching of the apostles
is undervalued. It was first communicated to
them from the lips of the Great Teacher himself,
warm with his own love, instinct with his own life,
bedewed with his tears, hallowed by his prayers,
and by a thousand touching memories and asso
ciations linked with its various utterances. It was
afterward reproduced by the Spirit of truth, who
brought all things to their remembrance that
Jesus had taught, and set them forth to their
rectified vision in aspects not seen before. They
are the perfection of divine revelations — the noon
tide glories of the Sun of Righteousness, shining
in the hearts of the apostles, and reflected from
these polished mirrors upon all believers, " to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ,'' that they, "beholding
as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, may be

I OO WAL KS ABOUT JER USALEM.
changed into the same image, from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
What the apostles taught the Jerusalem converts
in their oral communications, we are permitted to
possess in the various apostolic epistles contained
in the New Testament. These embrace a wonder
ful range and scope of instruction. They complete
the communications of the infinite mind, touching
God and man, creation and redemption, sin and
righteousness, death and life, heaven and hell, time
and eternity. They give us all needful counsel
concerning —
i. Christian Duties. •
2. Christian Dangers and Trials.
3. Christian Aids and Consolations.
4. Christian Destiny.
Under the first head they instruct us in the rela
tions between God and his children, the church and
her members, husbands and wives, parents and
children, rulers and subjects, masters and servants,
the aged and the young, the rich and the poor ;
and give such general rules and principles as may
safely guide a conscientious inquirer where special
precepts fail to apply.
Under the second division we class all the knowl
edge communicated to individuals and congrega^
tions, designed to ward off the attacks of false
teachers and the schemes of corrupt men, and to
unmask the devices of Satan. The efforts of

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 101
wicked and ambitious and fanatical men to subvert
the faith of the disciples, gave birth to some of the
most masterly vindications of pure Christianity,
such as have proved a tower of strength for the
pure in heart in every age.
The third division embraces a knowledge of the
offices and work of Christ, especially as the High
Priest of the Christian confession ; the work of
the Holy Spirit as Advocate, Monitor, and Com
forter; the everlasting love and providential care
of the Father ; the ministry of angels ; the exceed
ingly great and precious promises made to the
family of God, in view of which the burdened and
struggling spirit may approach the Throne of Grace,
and cast its every care on God. It embraces also
a knowledge of the life of the suffering Saviour,
and the examples of the heroes of faith, who, being
dead, yet speak, and live again in the hearts of
the toiling soldiers of the cross.
Finally, the apostles' teaching unveils the mys
teries of the spiritual universe, as far as our weak
mortality can bear to know the exhaustless glory
and awfulness of unseen worlds. The archangel and
the archfiend — angels and demons — spirits disem
bodied and spirits re-embodied — the blackness of
darkness and everlasting chains of Tartarus, and
the ineffable riches and splendors of the New
Jerusalem— hell's discords and heaven's harmonies
— the inheritance of saints in light, and the lake

1 02 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
that burneth with fire and brimstone — crowns,
thrones, scepters, harps, white robes, triumphal
marches, happy fellowships, festal rejoicings, and
regal dignities ; and, in contrast with all this, the
bankruptcy, nakedness, ugliness, filth, squalor, hate,
and anguish of the wicked, in- their hopeless aber
ration from light, and peace, and rest : these are
the sublime and tremendous utterances of the
living oracles from the lips of the apostles of
Jesus Christ.
What more could we ask ? What more could
heaven do for us ? Here every Christian may be
"furnished unto all good works." Here is the
divine armory whence the Christian may obtain the
whole armor of God ! Here is the magazine of God's
power, which the Christian can at any time unlock
by faith and prayer, and be made "strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might." Here are
supplies of refreshment for the hungry and weary
— bread of life and waters of salvation, to sustain
us till the wilderness is passed. Here we may, in
a word, " find all things that pertain to life and
godliness through the knowledge of Him who hath
called us to glory and courage."
It is said that the Jerusalem converts "continued
steadfastly in the apostles' teaching." This argues
two things :
I. The thoroughness of their conversion. Their
religious zeal was not mere froth on an agitated

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 103
surface — a mere sympathy kindled by a touching
appeal, to die in an hour. It was a deep convic
tion — a living, earnest faith — an honest purpose
to be right — a warm and strong love of Jesus —
which revolutionized their inner being, and awak
ened them to a new^life.
2. But it argued, also, the exhaustless attractions
of the apostles' teaching. It was not a shallow
doctrine, to be learned in a day, the novelty of
which would soon be lost. It was the stream which
Ezekiel saw flowing from the temple, which at first
covered the soles of the feet, but further along
reached to the knees, then to the loins, and finally
became a river to swim in. None need go away
from these teachings because they are of too weak
capacity to receive knowledge from the lips of the
apostles. Neither need the mightiest mind disdain
these oracles as beneath its powers. There is milk
for the babe — strong meat for manhood ; " shallows
where a lamb can wade — depths where an elephant
can swim;" simple utterances that can nestle in
the bosom of infancy, and gladden the heart of
childhood — and things "hard to be understood,"
and which the most piercing intellects of earth and
heaven have failed as yet to comprehend.
There can be no return to primitive Christianity
where there is not a supreme reverence for the
apostles' teaching. When the Jews returned from
Babylon, they found no permanent prosperity until

1 04 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
the law of the Lord was brought forth, and read,
and studied, and expounded, amidst prayers and
tears and shoutings. The people feasted and sent
presents to each other, because they understood the
words of the law. And embracing it with hearty
faith, they began immediately to walk in its light —
to forsake their sins — to restore lost ordinances,
until there was very great gladness. Jehovah made
his face to shine on them, and gave them peace.*
No people cati ever rebuild Jerusalem who do not
supremely love the Bible. No church can ever
spiritually flourish which is not constantly in
structed in the counsels of the Spirit. No elder
ship is worthy of the name which does not " feed
the flock of God" with this bread of life. No
individual can thrive in the affairs of his soul who
does not let the word of Christ dwell in him richly.
No sermons, essays, homilies, or commentaries are
of use, except as they serve to remove obstructions
from the pathway of the inquirer, or tear sluggish
ness from the soul of the sleeper, and lead him up
to the original fountain of life. If they become
substitutes for the Bible, they are pests, and curses,
and abominations. The entire Christian commu
nity should be familiar with the Holy Scriptures.
" Wisdom and knowledge " were to be the stabil
ity of the times of the Messiah. " All thy chil-

* Neh. viii.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 105
*
dren shall be taught of God," saith. the prophet,
"and great shall be the peace of thy children."
"Thy word was found, and I did eat it," saith Jere
miah, "and thy word was unto me the joy and
rejoicing of my heart." "More to be desired are
thy precepts than gold," saith David, " yea, than
much fine gold ; sweeter also than honey and the
honey-comb." " If thou criest after knowledge,"
saith Solomon, " and liftest up thy voice for un
derstanding ; if thou seekest her as silver, and
searchest for her as for hid treasures, then shalt
thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the
knowledge of God." " My mother and my breth
ren," saith Jesus, " are those who hear the word of
God and do it." " I commend you to God, and to
the word of His grace," saith Paul, "which is able
to build you up, and- to give you an inheritance
among the sanctified." " If we walk in the light,
as He is in the light," saith the beloved disciple,
" then have we fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us
from all sin." Yes, we repeat again, in light is life.
Ignorance is the great foe of spirituality^ The
flower, which shuts itself in from darkness and the
chills of night, and hides all its glories, meets with
joy the light of morning, unfolds its flushing
beauty to the rising sun, and yields its fragrance
to the breath of morn. And oh ! there is in this
dark world of sin and sorrow many a noble soul

1 06 WA LKS AB 0 UT JER USALEM.
that shuts itself in, in gloomy and barren loneliness,
amidst the darkness and damps and blight of the
dreary night of ignorance, which would rejoice to
greet the cheerful light of truth, and at the first
kiss of its glad beams would awake to life and
beauty and fragrance, "and rejoice and blossom as
the rose."
Let us say, in conclusion of this chapter, that, as
the primitive church had nothing but the Jewish
Scriptures and the apostles' teaching, and found
in these all that was needed for life and godliness,
so may the church now safely trust these, and
reject from her confidence all human creeds as
rules of faith and practice. Nay, it is utterly im
possible to return to Jerusalem without casting
aside all else, however revered and honored it may
have been, save the teaching of the apostles of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. " He that is of
God heareth us," says the Apostle John ; " he that
is not of God heareth not us ; hereby know we the
spirit of truth and the spirit of error."

CHAPTER XII.
FRUITS OF CONVERSION — THE FELLOWSHIP.
THE citizens of the kingdom of Christ were
called into most holy and blessed fellowships.
The formula of the act of naturalization — or, rather,
of spiritualization — was beautifully expressive of
this transition from the barren, desolate, bankrupt
condition of the sinner into the rich, holy, and joy
ful associations of the spiritual kingdom. They
were baptized " into the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Hence says
John, " That which we have seen and heard, declare
we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us ; and truly our fellowship is with the Father,
and with his Son Jesus Christ." Paul clearly
teaches that Christians come into fellowship with
the whole pure spiritual universe.* They have
fellowship with the apostles, being joint partakers
of all the fruits of apostolic endowments and labors.
Therefore Paul teaches, "All things are yours —
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas; . . .all

• Heb. xii. 22-24. (107)

108 WALKS ABO UT JERUSALEM.
are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."*
They have fellowship also with one another. "If
we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Being
common heirs of a common salvation, brought into
one brotherhood on a common level, they were
joint partakers alike of the benefits and of the toils
and sacrifices belonging to the Christian life. They
¦were partners] in a great enterprise, having in view
the redemption of the world, and as such they
brought into the firm all the means they could
muster, giving themselves to the Lord, to the
apostles, and to one another, as co-workers in this
calling.^ The term "fellowship," as used in Acts
ii. 42, evidently means the combined benevolence of
the converts, and expresses joint participation,
whether in giving or receiving. It is so used in
other passages. "It hath pleased them of Mace
donia and Achaia to make a certain contribution

* 1 Cor. iii. 21-23.
t The term translated fellowship in Acts ii. 42 {koincnia) carries
with it the idea of partnership, and sometimes finds this translation :
" We would not have been partakers [koinonoi) with them in the
blood of the prophets" (Matt, xxiii. 30). Which were partners
{koinonoi) with Simon (Luke v. 10). He is ray partner (koinonos)
(2 Cor. viii. 23). If thou count me therefore a partner {koinonos)
(Philemon 17).
X 2 Cor. viii. 5.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 109
(koiuoniau) for the poor saints at Jerusalem." *
" Praying us with much entreaty that we would re
ceive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship
(koinoniau) of the ministering to the saints"!
" They glorify God for . . . your liberal dis
tribution (koinonias) unto them and unto all." J " To
communicate {koinonias) forget not." || " Ready to
distribute, willing to communicate (koinonikous)." §
What this fellowship amounted to in Jerusalem,
may be learned from the following testimonies :
"And all that believed were together, and had all
things common ; and sold their possessions and
goods, and parted them to all men, as every man
had need." ^[ " Neither was there any among them
that lacked ; for as many as were possessed of
lands or houses, sold them, and brought the prices
of things that were sold, and laid them down at
the apostles' feet ; and distribution was made unto
every man according as he had need."**
This precise form of benevolent action did not
long continue. In a religion intended for all the
WQrld, there can be but few positive forms. While
the spirit may remain the same, it will seek develop
ment, under the law of liberty, in harmony with
circumstances, times, and places. Thus in the
church at Antioch, when Agabus signified by the

* Rom. xv. 26. | 2 Cor. viii. 4. J 2 Cor. ix. 13. || Heb. xiii. 16.
giTim.vi.i8. ^Actsii.44,45. **Acts iv. 34, 35.

1 10 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
prophetic spirit a coming dearth throughout the
land of Judea, there was a special contribution
made for the brethren in Judea, and sent to the
elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.* Again
we find the funds of the same church expended in
paying the traveling expenses of Paul and Bar
nabas.! The churches of Macedonia and Achaia
made special contributions for the poor in Judea.:}:
The most useful form of benevolent, contribution
in the primitive churches was a weekly contribution
— every disciple devoting to the church what he
could give, according as the Lord had prospered
him. ||
There were several reasons for the peculiar form
which the benevolence of the church in Jerusalem
assumed. i. In so vast a multitude of converts, no doubt
the large majority were poor. The " love of the
brethren," which, in passing from death unto life,
they all felt kindling in their hearts,- led the rich
to share freely their abundance with their poor
brethren. As among the tribes of Israel in the
wilderness, they gathered of the manna, "some
more, some less," but putting it all together, "when
they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered
much had nothing over, and he that gathered little

* Acts xi. 27-30. f Acts xv. 3.
X 2 Cor. viii. || 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 1 1 1
had no lack;" so here, throwing all their means,
great and small, together, and dividing to every
man according to his need, there was a brotherly
" fellowship," alike in giving and in receiving.
2. Many of these converts were from distant
places. It was important that they should be fully
instructed in the "apostles' doctrine" before they
returned home, that they might carry back to their
own lands the knowledge of this great salvation,
and be missionaries in the cause of Christ. They
were, therefore, supported by means of the "fel
lowship," until their missionary education was
completed. 3. The Spirit foresaw the calamities that, in a
few years, would overwhelm the church in Jerusa
lem. Persecution would scatter them abroad over
the earth. It was evidently designed to prepare
the whole host of converts to be effective preachers
pf the word, every one in his own sphere, and it
was wise, therefore, to spend for the common
benefit the treasures which otherwise must shortly
have fallen into the hands of their persecutors.
We find, accordingly, that when they were scat
tered abroad, "they went every-where preaching
the word." * The church at Jerusalem, therefore,
looms up before us as a great missionary institution,
expending all her treasures in the education of
19 Acts viii. 4.

1 1 2 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
preachers, to send them forth to other countries
with the glad tidings of salvation.
But we are not so much concerned now with
the peculiar form of this philanthropic offering, as
with the fact itself, that the Jerusalem church,
under the fresh inspiration of the gospel of love,
freely poured forth her treasures to do good.
The fruits of conversion were thus seen in the
conquest of selfishness, and the joyful consecra
tion of property, talents, and all else to God.
The love of Christ constrained them. The amazing
love of God in the gift of Christ, and .in salvation
through his name, had planted kindred sentiments
and desires in their ransomed spirits ; and they
freely gave all to him who had laid down his life for
them, that they might do good in his name. We
have a right, therefore, to regard this great liber
ality as a legitimate result of their conversion.
It is not our province, in these "walks about
Jerusalem," to follow this stream of life as it flows
out from the spiritual temple, to refresh the waste-
places of the earth. It would be a deeply interest
ing journey, to follow its course, and witness the
transformations in society from selfishness to love,
We will only cast a look that way, and remark, that
one of the grandest features of the primitive church
was its generous employment of property in the
service of humanity. We have already adverted,
incidentally, to the liberality of the Gentile churches,

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 1 1 3
a
whose history is given to us in the New Testament.
It was a free and generous outpouring from grate
ful hearts, and stood in bright contrast with the
selfishness of the Pagan world, and even with the
mechanical and interested bounties of the govern
ment of Rome. " During one of the three famines
which had desolated Rome under Augustus, that
prince, seeing provisions in his capitol for only
three days, had resolved to poison himself rather
than to fall a victim of the anger of the people.
Later, under Tiberius, the delay of the fleet which
brought the grain from Alexandria had almost
occasioned a sedition. From the height of his rock
at Caprea, the tyrant watched with anxiety the
arrival of the convoy on which depended his life
or his crown."
Claudius had just escaped a still graver danger ;
in short, in the most prosperous times, even, the
fortune of the large cities was ever, as Tacitus
says, "at the mercy of the winds and waves." Not
so where the spirit of Christ prevailed. "A prayer,
a word, in the name of Jesus, brought abundance
to the scene of distress." After the ravages of
the Visigoths in Gaul, and a war during which all
the crops had been burned, Patientius, bishop of
Lyons, imported, at his own expense, an immense
supply of corn ; filled with it two store-houses on the
banks of the Rhone and of the Saone, and caused
it to be gratuitously distributed to the famished
8

1 14 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
population of Aries, Avignon, Orange, Albey,
Valence, and Clermont. In the second and third
centuries, even amidst growing corruptions, the-
charity of the first age preserved much of its lus
ter. " Independently of the offerings made for the
eucharist or for the agapae, by the richest of the
community, the usage was that each of the faithful
should remit to the deacon or the bishop, every
week or every month, an offering proportioned to
his means, to be distributed to the poor." When
there were pressing demands on the treasury, there
were special contributions in which all participated.
There were many bright examples of unreserved
consecration of all to the Lord.
" Cyprian, at his baptism, sold, for the benefit of
the poor, all his real estate and even his gardens
which he possessed near Carthage."
" Gregory Thaumaturgus, when he wished to go
into solitary life, renounced all his property." s
"Many evangelists, when departing for their
missions, distributed their fortunes to the poor."
" Marcion, in his zeal as a neophyte, had given
to the church one hundred thousand sestertii,
which were restored to him when he was excom
municated." "After the torture and death of Sextus I., Law
rence, his deacon, foreseeing his own martyrdom
also, and the pillage of the church, assembled all
the poor he could find in Rome, and distributed

WALKS ABOUT JER USA LEM. 1 1 5
to them its treasures, without sparing even the
sacred vases, which he sold to assist them. The
prefect of Rome, informed of this liberality, and
not doubting that the Christians had in reserve
still considerably more goods, ordered the deacon
to deliver them to him. Lawrence asked three
days. At the end of this term, he showed to the
prefect, drawn up before the church, the blind, the
lame, the maimed, and the wretched of all kinds,
whom he nourished, saying to him, 'Behold my
treasures ; profit by them for Rome, for the em
peror, and 'for yourself.' "
"Cornelius, a bishop of Rome, tells us that to
ward the middle of the third century, his church
sustained ordinarily, besides a numerous clergy,
'more than fifteen hundred poor, such as widows
and persons afflicted with different evils.' "
When the barbarians had made incursions into
the cities of Numidia, and carried into captivity
a crowd of Christians, an appeal was made to
Cyprian for help. How different the response from
that generally made in modern times to appeals
for assistance in benevolent enterprise !
"Blessings upon you," said Cyprian, "for having
snown to us a fertile field where we can sow seed
which must yield to us an abundant harvest. Here
are a hundred thousand sestertii* which I have col-

* Between three and four thousand dollars.

1 1 6 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
lected among the clergy and people of this church
over which I preside. And if new perils threaten
you, we are ready to send you new assistance.
We only ask of you, in return, the tribute of your
prayers." But the time would fail to tell of Severus, Pam-
machian, Nebridius and Olympias, Paula and Fa-
biola, Claudian and Eutropia, Epiphanius, Paulinus,
Nepotian, Theodulus, and a host besides, who
freely surrendered fortune and fame, that they
might be like Christ; and Paulinus, bishop of
Nola, and Serapion, bishop of Thmuis, Who, having
given all away, sold themselves that they might
still have something to give. Nor can we pause
to speak of the alms-houses, hospitals, and other
public charities which the church fostered ; nor of
her influence in securing the co-operation of the
civil government ; nor of her silent power in soften
ing the horrors of Roman slavery, of war, and of
judicial severities and cruelties. These form very
bright pages in the churches' history, and should
be studied with delight by every Christian.
"In no respect is the apostate condition of the
church more clearly seen than in the loss of
the charity and benevolence of primitive times.
Selfishness and pride have usurped its place very
largely. There is a general unwillingness to listen
to demands for money. Christians have to be
approached artfully to secure even a trifle to a

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 1 1 7
good cause. We have mite societies to assist in-
keeping up churches ; donation parties, often with
the accompaniments of the fiddle and the dance,
to aid in the support of the ministry ; fairs, oyster-
suppers, etc., to procure money to pay for meeting
houses — costly houses of worship, with pews sold
or rented, where a bargain must be struck with a
popular preacher, whose talents can be made to
"pay." The generous freedom, the munificent out
pourings of purse and heart, which marked the "fel
lowship " of the primitive church — where are they ?
We are far from wishing to make these censures
too sweeping. We are aware of many noble ex
ceptions, of individuals, churches, and even of
denominational enterprises in Protestant Christen
dom; yet we will not consent to take off too much
of the edge of these remarks. The benevolence of
modern Christianity is limited. It is, as a whole,
unworthy the name and the cause of Christ In
seeking to rebuild Jerusalem, the fellowship must
be restored to its proper place. Not one, or two,
or three in a church must be known as liberal, but
the whole community must make it their honor
and happiness to work together and give together
for the Master's cause. It must become a study,
not merely how to earn money, but how to spend it,
judiciously and profitably, in the fear of the Lord ;
and how to employ all our gifts, in this divinely-
ordained co-partnery, each for the benefit of all.

1 1 8 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
We propose, then, in conclusion, a few questions
to the consciences of all who profess to labor for
the restoration of Apostolic Christianity.
Have you, like the Corinthians, " first given
yourself unto the Lord " ?
Do you regard yourself as a steward of God —
so that every thing you possess is but held in trust
for certain purposes ?
Are you, as a steward, employing talents, money,
influence, etc., all with a view to make life amount
to the greatest possible good ?
Are you rich ? Are you satisfying yourself with
doing as much as others? or are you anxiously
asking, " How much can / do ? " " Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do ? " Or are you figuring, with
anxious tact, to see at how cheap a rate you can
make your way heavenward ? Could you not save
much from luxury, dress, and equipage, without
abating aught of the comforts of life, and thus do
much more good to others ? Remember Him who
was rich and became poor for us.
Are you poor ? How much do you spend in
vain and silly effort to appear as well-dressed as
the rich, or to live in as fine a house as others,
and then say you are too poor to give ? While
declaiming against the pride and extravagance of
the rich, are you not imitating them, and rivaling
them as fast and as far as possible ? Will not God

WA LKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 1 1 9
hold you responsible for your little means, as well
as the rich for their abundance ?
Have you read lately Matthew xxv., especially
the closing portion ? Can you, in the light of that
chapter, "read your title clear to mansions in the
skies," while the duties of charity and benevolence
remain undischarged?
Would it not be well for those who are doing
nothing, to resolve to do something ; and for those
who are doing something, to resolve to do more;
and for those who are doing much, to resolve to do
as much as possible, until every disciple is devoted
to the work- of the Lord — cheerfully and unre
servedly ?
When we shall return with our whole heart to
the standard of original Christianity, and practi
cally exemplify its generous and loving spirit in
words and deeds of pure benevolence, for Christ's
sake, we may expect to share the blessing promised
by the prophet :
" Then should thy light break forth as the morning,
And thy health should spring forth speedily ;
And thy righteousness should go before thee ;
The glory of the Lord should be thy rearguard.
Then shouldst thou call, and the Lord would^answer;
Then shouldst thou ciy, and he would say, Here I am.
If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke,
The putting forth of the finger, and the contemptuous speech;
And if thou deal out thy bread to the hungry,
And satisfy the desire of the oppressed ;

1 20 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
Then should thy light rise in darkness,
And thine obscurity be as the noon-day;
Then the Lord would guide thee continually,
And satisfy thee in drought,
And make fat thy bones ;
And thou shouldst be like a well-watered garden,
And like a fountain whose waters fail not.
Those who belong to thee should rebuild the old waste places,
Thou shouldst raise up the foundation of many generations ;
And thou shouldst be called, The repairer of the breach,
The restorer of paths to dwell in." *

*Isa. Iviii. 8-12.

CHAPTER XIII.
FRUITS OF CONVERSION — PIETY.
THE gospel, in recognizing a spiritual nature
as belonging to man, laid the basis of some
thing infinitely more noble than a tame morality.
It asserted higher relationships than those exist
ing between man and man ; pointed to greater ex
cellency than can ever spring from the vaunted
righteousness of Pharisees ; and proposed a grander
destiny than could ever legitimately flow from the
love of one's neighbor. It reveals, back of all other
relationships, that between man and his Maker.
It teaches love to God before it speaks of love to
man. It enjoins "repentance toward God and
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ," before it presents
the lesson of "patient continuance in well doing."
It "brings salvation" before it teaches us to "live
soberly, righteously, and godlily in the world;" in
a word, it places piety before humanity, and in
cludes the less in the greater. Contemplating,
in the destiny of man, his perfect restoration to the
fellowship of God, it begins the work of prepara-
(121)

1 22 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
tion in his reconciliation to God here. Its sub
jects were therefore distinguished, not merely by
an external reformation of life, but by a pure and
gentle piety, which, linking their "souls with the In
visible, opened to them an inexhaustible fountain
of delights. The dark clouds of ignorance and sin
which had brooded over them, lending awfulness
and horror to every thought of eternity, were now
dispelled ; and in the light of the gospel they saw
a vast spiritual universe, peopled by innumerable
hosts of bright and happy beings, made forever
blessed in the smiles of everlasting love. No sin
was there, and therefore no sorrow. Its flowers
never faded, and its melodies never died away. Its
heavens were always bright, for "there was no
night there." Pure spirits, robed and crowned and
glorified, forever unfolding their immortal powers,
and uprising into higher dignity, rejoiced unceas
ingly in the presence of Jehovah. These new-born
citizens of the kingdom felt themselves associated
with all these spiritual hierarchies in holy bonds
of brotherhood. Nay, rising on joyful wings of
faith above even the tallest and brightest of these
sons of light, they cast themselves into the very
bosom of God, pleading the name of his beloved
Son, and claiming the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit ! It must needs be, that such faith as this,
such convictions and aspirations, should find a suit
able development in a piety as far above the ordi-

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 1 23
nary tone of worldly enjoyment as the heavens are
higher than the earth. Let us note the attributes
of the piety of the Primitive Church.
IT WAS GRATEFUL.
We have already had occasion to notice the per
sonal relation established between Jesus and his
disciples. Their conversion involved a personal
trust, love, and submission. They beheld in Him
the embodiment of all that was lovely and adora
ble ; they saw in his life, and death, and resurrec
tion, all that could inspire confidence in his
power to save. They therefore gave themselves
to him, and to God in him, to be his for evermore.
They were converted to no theory, loved no theory,
worshiped no theory. They loved, trusted and
obeyed Jesus Christ. This personal attachment
to the Hero of Salvation was designed to increase
and strengthen, as they should learn more of "the
excellency 'of the knowledge of Christ Jesus."
Hence we find them developing a grateful piety in
the "breaking of bread," "continuing steadfastly"
in the observance of this commemorative ordi
nance, to the honor of their Redeemer. It was
to them a feast of love, of sacred and touching and
joyful memories. As they gathered weekly* about

* It is contrary to our design to enter on a discussion of the vari
ous opinions of commentators and church historians, respecting the

1 24 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
the table of the Lord, and received the appointed
symbols of bread and wine, the sufferings and sac
rificial death of the Lamb of God, and their own
redemption through his blood, came vividly before
them. They loved to cherish the memory of their
dear departed Lord. They loved to recognize his
spiritual presence with his people. They loved to
anticipate his second advent, when they should see
him face to face/and cast their crowns before him,
and sing the song of salvation. This holy ordi
nance, therefore, was highly prized, as a means of
perpetuating the solemn memories of the cross, and
of binding their souls to the great center of attrac
tion — -Christ crucified. The Lord's day was not
to them a gala day, now and then returning, when,
by great preparation and unusual display, their cold
hearts might be sufficiently awakened and solem
nized to approach the Lord's table. Neither was
it a day of religious pomp and sensuous attrac
tions ; nor yet a day of stiff and ungainly formal-

daily observance of the Supper in the primitive church, and its con
nection with the agapce, or love-feasts, which evidently had an ex
istence in apostolic times. The daily "breaking of bread " referred
to in Acts ii. 46, may, and probably does, import the daily observ
ance of the Lord's Supper in connection with an ordinary meal;
and out of this practice may have grown up the love-feasts. But
what we certainly know is, that the Lord's Supper became a weekly
observance (Acts xx. 7), and that the love-feast had no necessary
connection with it (1 Cor. xi. 22).

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 1 2 5
ism, in which to atone for the sins of the soul by
the mortifications of the body. It was a day of
joyful memories and grateful inspirations, in which
" the disciples came together to break bread," in
affectionate remembrance of a bleeding Saviour,
and in humble appreciation of their obligations to
glorify God in body and spirit, as those who had
been bought with a great price.
IT WAS AFFECTIONATE AND CONFIDING.
In Christ, God became the Father of all believers.
Immediately on their adoption into the family, God
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. The Spirit bore witness
to their spirits that they were children of God.
The spirit of bondage was gone ; the spirit of adop
tion took its place. God was no longer at a dis
tance. He was "above all, through all, in all."
The infinite distance between God and man was
annihilated. They could love him, cast on him
every care, breathe out every wish and longing,
and trust even the most trifling interests of their
lives and homes in His hands, assured that "He
cared for them." Nay, when, in darkness and
doubt, they knew not what to ask for, they "were
comforted with the assurance that the Spirit helped
their infirmities, and that the very unutterable
groanings of their nature were translated into in-

1 26 WA LKS ABf) UT JER USALEM.
telligible language and eloquent pleadings at the
throne of grace. Their prayers, therefore, were
the yearnings and outbursts of earnest and trust
ing hearts. They prayed, they supplicated, they
deprecated, with filial reverence and trust. No
cold materialistic philosophy had frozen the life-
current of their faith in God. Beyond the realms
of materialism, they recognized spiritual existence,
and a " Father of spirits," with a universe of spir
itual forces and instrumentalities at command ; and
although they could not penetrate the mysteries of
spiritual life, they could sacredly trust the promises
of their spiritual Father, and joyfully experience, in
the depth of their own spiritual being, that "peace
which passeth all understanding," as the fruit of
implicit trust in his word. The Jerusalem Chris
tians were men of prayer. They " continued stead
fastly in , . . . prayers." In times of distress
they held meetings for prayer.* On every occasion
of special interposition of the hand of the Lord,
they prayed.! They went to the temple at the
hour of prayer. % In every important enterprise
they prayed. || In the hour of death the last
words that lingered on their lips were words of
prayer. §

sActs xii. 5, 12. f Acts iv. 31. X Acts iii. I.
| Acts vi. 5. \ Acts vii. 59, 60.

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 1 27
IT WAS CHEERFUL.
They "did eat their meat with gladness and sin
gleness of heart, praising God, and having favor
with all the people."* The fountain of this joy
was so deep that it did not cease to flow when
seasons of trial came. It was beyond the reach
of earthly change. These changes might trouble
the stream somewhat, but from the untroubled
fount of a heart at peace with God, the waters
were still "springing up into everlasting life."
"In the world you shall have tribulation," said
Jesus, "but in me you shall have peace;" and so
it proved. We therefore find them coming forth
from prison and judgment, " rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
name."! It is clear that there was nothing bur
densome or painful about, this religion. They
loved it. It made them happy. It anchored their
hopes " within the vail," so that they dreaded not
the storms which engulfed others in ruin. Jesus,
who had spoken peace on the sea of Galilee, was
still in the vessel, to rule the winds and waves ;
and they experienced, concerning Him, the truth
of what Peter afterward declared, " in whom, though
now you see him not,, yet believing, you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

* Acts ii. 46, 47. t Acts iv. 23-30; v. 41.

1 2 8 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.

IT WAS ALL-PERVADING.
"The multitude of them that believed were of
one heart and of one soul." * Their prayers were
united. No discord prevailed. True, Ananias and
Sapphira entered profanely into this spiritual temple
and defiled it. The Hellenists also suffered envy
of the Hebrews to distort their vision and disturb
their peace. These outbreaks of the old Adam
admonish- us that perfection belongs not even to
the best earthly state. Yet apart from a few such
humiliating exceptions, the church was "one."
Sectarian pride and clamor had not disturbed the
peace and purity of Zion. Selfishness fled con
founded from the splendors of divine benevolence.
The demons of lust, affrighted at the tremendous
exorcism which the name of Jesus had wrought, had
sought a resting-place far away from this scene of
holy brotherhood. Angels listened with joy to the
beautiful harmonies of the church of the first-born,
and leaned on their harps to catch an inspired
strain which their most skillful and rapturous
minstrelsy could never equal. The Holy Spirit
brooded over the scene of love and peace and joy
with fructifying warmth and energy, responding to
the pulsations of every praying heart in breathings
* Acts iv. 32.

WALKS ABOUT JER USA LEM. 1 29
of divine life and power, and shedding a heavenly
unction on every pure spirit that hungered, and
thirsted after righteousness. It was heaven begun
on earth — the re-opening of the gates of Paradise
to weary exiles, and their return to the tree of life.
And although the remains of corruption in their
earthly nature still connect them with a world of
thorns and" briers, of sorrow and death, and there
is a long pathway of toil and conflict between
them and the perfect heaven they seek ; still they
are permitted to sit together in " heavenly places,"
and to enjoy the "earnest of the inheritance of
the saints in light."
In going away from Jerusalem, Christians have
lost the "sacred fire" which there burned their
incense and consumed their sacrifices. Christianity
is no longer a life, a verity, an actual power, present
in us, vitalizing and refreshing to the soul. We
put far from us — even beyond the bounds of time
¦ — enjoyments and experiences which belong to us
here, and were designed to gladden all the scenes
ofj our pilgrimage. -" The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the communion of
the Holy Spirit," are the present portion of the
child qf God. There is bread- for our journey in
the wilderness. It is not all darkness and sorrow
here. There are means of rising on wings of
prayer above the storm, with a gaze as steady as
the eagle's, fixed on the Sun of Righteousness.
9

1 30 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
" He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ."
How different all this from the formalism, pride,
fashion, pomp, legalism, mechanical worship, and
sectarian rivalry which so disfigure the religion of
modern times ! Is it not evident that in pleading
for a return to Jerusalem, there is much more
involved than a war on some erroneous tenets of
sectarian creeds? To return to the purity, hu
mility, love, benevolence, concord, and piety of the
Jerusalem church, is no light matter. It calls for
something more than a busy clatter at the heels
of fleeing sectarianism. It demands at our hands
something better than a mere surface view of the
gospel facts and promises. It asks an advance
beyond the mere legalism which only recognizes
an arbitrary system of salvation, and sees no beau
tiful adaptations to the wants and cravings of our
inner life. But of this, more in another chapter.
For the present, we ask our readers to ponder
well the following inspired prayer, as embodying
thoughts of spiritual life, and yearnings after spirit
ual good, to which we greatly fear the multitudes
who now, throng the gates of Zion are strangers :
"For this cause I bow my knees to the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named, that he would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to
be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. I 3 1
inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend, with all saints,
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height, and to know the love of Christ which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all
the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able
to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask
or think, according to the power that worketh in
us, to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus,
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen!'*
We observed, in a former chapter, that the
church at Jerusalem was designed to be a model
church ~- that is, so far as the features and func
tions of a single church are concerned. But while
all the features of a pure Christianity are unques
tionably to be found here, it is an error to suppose
that they are to be found here in their best
developments — in their most symmetrical combina
tions. That church is seen on the page of Scrip
ture history only in its infancy. It was impossible
to develop, in a few years, the perfection of
Christian life. Nay, it was impossible, even in the
first century, to realize all that Christianity pro
poses in the elevation of humanity to purity,
benevolence, and piety. It has never yet been real
ized. The past history of the gospel is a history

*Eph. iii. 14-21.

132 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
of stern and terrible conflict! The religion of
Jesus has voyaged over very tempestuous seas ;
has breasted the waves of ten_.thousand persecu
tions and oppositions ; has fought innumerable
battles ; has been subjected to innumerable wrongs
and indignities ; and has struggled on its way
through long ages of storm and tempest, cheered
only by the light of a very distant star of millen
nial peace and triumph, whose beams, darting
athwart the night of a millennium of woe, still gave
assurance that " the Lord reigneth." We are
privileged to inherit all the confidence and assur
ance accruing from the struggles of the past — to
enter in and reap the harvest-fields that were
watered by the tears and fertilized by the blood of
the saints and martyrs of God. The smoke and
din of many battles have died away. Here and
there, over the battle-fields, we see monuments of
victory on which some hero of faith has inscribed
" Ebenezer ; " and now and then we see the foot
prints of Jehovah, where he has stepped in with
bare arm to make the nations tremble at his
presence. The religion of Jesus rises before us
like a tower of strength and beauty — around whose
base lie the wrecks of a thousand engines of
destruction that vainly attacked its foundations,
and on whose head, far above every storm, sweetly
reposes the sunshine of eternal truth !
The reaping time is approaching. The fruits of

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 133
ages are to be gathered in. Christian life ought
to appear in the masses, with a stateliness, and
strength, and majesty, which, in the past, have
only been seen in individual lives ; and Jerusalem
restored should shine with a ripe fullness of glory
far beyond what belonged to the primitive Jerusa
lem church. The glory of the latter temple should
be greater than of the former. Yet it is evident
that as yet we are far short of the primitive model !
There is yet much to be done. " Woe to them
that are at ease in Zion."

CHAPTER XIV.
THE OLD PATHS.
a
" Thus has Jehovah spoken :
Stand in the ways and look around,
And inquire for the paths of ancient times,
Which is the way of salvation :
And walk therein, and find a resting place for your souls I
But they said, We will not walk therein."
Jer. vi. 16, as translated in Lange's Bibel-vjerk
THE Jewish people had gone away from God
misled by false prophets who prophesied
smooth things, and encouraged them in false ways.
" For, from the least to the greatest, all are given to covetousness,
And from the prophet to the priest they practice deceit,
And healed the hurt of the daughter of my people most slightly,
Saying, Peace ! Peace ! And there is no peace." *
The truth had been corrupted by mixtures of
heathenism. The fruit of apostasy is always un
rest, confusion, bewilderment, and despair. The
people knew that they were wrong, and that the
judgments of a just God were impending ; but
they knew not the way of escape. Jeremiah there-

* Jer. vi. 13, 14.
C34)

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 1 35
fore directs them to search for the old paths, and
walk therein, that they might find rest to their
souls. "A criterion is given them," says Naegels-
bach, "by which to recognize the right way, viz.,
antiquity. The oldest is the true religion. Let
them examine the different religions of the primi
tive period, in order to find the oldest among the
old ways, which is then the way of good or well-
being." *
When we look at the condition of the religious
world to-day, it is too plain that Christians have
wandered far from "the paths of ancient times."
Christianity, as developed from the pulpit and the
press, and in daily life and church-life, is not the
pure, bright, joyous, loving, reconciling potency
we saw it to be when " the law went forth from
Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
Sects, schisms, rival ecclesiasticisms, jarring the
ologies, party strifes ; pride, fashion, extravagance ;
ritualism, formalism, blind enthusiasm ; hierarchies,
councils, creeds, originating and enforcing the
"doctrines and commandments of men :" all these'
are seen instead of the love, unity, peace, sim
plicity, humility, and spirituality of the primitive
church. Originally the church was one, and sects
were numbered among the works of the flesh ; \

•Com. on Jer. vi. 16.
t Gal. v. 20, where alpeoetc, sects, is translated in A. V. heresies.

1 36 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
now sects abound, and no unity is claimed, ex
cept for a church which is " invisible." Then, the
faith of the heart in Jesus as the Christ, the Son
of God, was the alone condition of admittance,
through baptism, to the fellowship of saints ; now
the path of the applicant is blocked by human in
ventions, and he can only come in as he tells a
suitable "experience," or subscribes to a human
creed of doctrinal and philosophical speculations,
or utters, by rote, the teachings of a catechism,
and submits to a priestly confirmation. Then,
none but penitent believers — willing confessors —
gained admittance, such as the Holy Spirit had
quickened into a new life and were "born of water"
in their baptism into Christ ; now, such as are
"born of the flesh" are, in their unconscious in
fancy, mechanically transplanted into the church.
Then, all the regenerate were " royal priests " in
the house of God, and they were "all one in Christ
Jesus ;" now, we have "laity," and "clergy," bishops,
archbishops, popes— even infallible popes, claiming
the attributes of the uncreated God. Then, the
simple faith and obedience which the gospel en
joined, brought peace, and joy, and hope, and love
to every heart ; now, a trust in speculative doc
trines and in dreams, visions, and psychological
experiences, leads to doubt and despair, and makes
religion the most difficult of all things to under
stand, and the most uncertain of all things to be

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 1 37
enjoyed. Then, the pure spiritual aims of Chris
tian life led believers away from the corrupt and
corrupting pleasures and ambitions of the ungodly
to a life of self-denial* and constant training for
heaven; now, conformity to the world is so uni
versal, and the distinction between the church and
the world so intensely doctrinal and ritualistic, that
the light which shines for the world's illumination
is the light of creeds and of rites, rather than the
light of "good works." Then, Christianity was a
life — a regenerate life of truth, holiness, philan
thropy ; now it is a doctrine — a very , Babel of doc
trines, confusing and confounding the inquirer —
bewildering his head and failing to purify his
heart. And, as a legitimate result of all this,
there is no progress, no onward march to subdue
the world to God. Protestantism, with its im
mense wealth of resources, is scarcely more than
holding its own ; Romanism, in its blind adherence
to an ignorant and corrupt past, is earning the
scorn and hate of its' own children ; and unbelief,
in various forms, is sapping the very foundations
of piety and humanity. There is crying need for
a return to the old paths.
Sometimes we are asked by bewildered minds,
Why all this diversity and contrariety among peo
ple professing to serve the same God, and to be-
¦ lieve in the same Bible ? Why are they not one,
as the Scriptures teach them to be ? How can we

138 WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM.
find the truth amid these clamors of contending
sects? We can best answer these questions by a
reference to the history of God's ancient people,
and the analogous history 6f the spiritual Israel.
Jerusalem, the city of God, the center of kingly
and priestly authority, and the fountain of law and
government to the covenant people of Jehovah,
was the type of that "Jerusalem which is above,"
the spiritual Zion, the church of the living God,
where God dwells, and whence flow light and life for
the salvation of the nations. Much in the history
of that city and people will, therefore, be found in a
sense typical — adumbrative — of the fates and for
tunes of the spiritual Jerusalem, the church of Christ
Babylon, the ancient center of apostasy, idol
atry, and tyranny — the oppressor of the people of
God — is made a type of a great and powerful spir
itual apostasy and tyranny, called in apocalyptic
visions, " Babylon the great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth." * The history of
that city and empire, as associated with the history
of Jerusalem and of the Jews, will also be found
significantly adumbrative, shadowing forth the great
features of the spiritual apostasy to appear in after
times. Without going into details beyond what our
limits will allow, and trusting to the intelligence
*Rev. xvii. 5.

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 1 39
of the reader in Old Testament records, we pro
pose to furnish an outline of the typical teachings
of this portion of Jewish history, and the corres
ponding developments in the history of the Chris
tian church.
1. The Jews, though highly favored as an elect
and covenant people, failed to listen to the voice
of God, and were led, by false teachers, into con
tinual departures from the divine law. They
" transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance,"
and broke the everlasting covenant." *
Christians, in like manner, although so richly
"blessed with all spiritual blessings, in heavenly
places, in Christ Jesus," departed from the faith,
and corrupted the truth and the ordinances of
God. The apostolic epistles give frequent evidence
that the spirit of apostasy was secretly but power
fully working even while the apostles were yet
with the church, and give warnings of a subsequent
development of that spirit in a stupendous empire
of falsehood and tyranny, which should long prevail
against the authority of Christ! Why this was
allowed, we can not tell. We only know, that in
church-life, as in the individual Christian life, and
as in Christ's own life, the cross comes before the
crown, and the pathway to high dominion • lies
through "great tribulation."

* Isa. xxiv. 5. t See 2 Thess. ii., comp. with Dan. vii. 7-27.

1 40 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
2. The Jews, because of their transgressions,
were carried captive into Babylon, * their " holy
and beautiful house was burned with fire," and the
city of God was laid in ruins.
So, too, spiritual Israel was led captive into
spiritual Babylon ; and the Jerusalem, whose spirit
ual loveliness and glory we have contemplated in
these " Walks," was laid low in the dust, and trod
den under foot for ages. The language of the
weeping prophet, who lingered among the ruins of
the ancient city, has a powerful significance when
applied to the antitype :
" The ways to Zion are mournful
Because none come to her appointed services.
All her gates are destroyed.
Her priests sigh ;
Her virgins are sorrowful ;
And she, herself, is in bitterness !
Her adversaries are exalted,
* Her enemies prosper.
For Jehovah hath afflicted her
For the greatness of her sins.
The young children are gone captives'
Before the adversary.
And departed from the daughter of Zion
Is all her beauty.
Her princes have become like harts
That find no pasture,
And go, without strength,
Before the pursuer." f

? See Jer. xxiii. 9-40, and parallel passages. f Lam. i. 4-6.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. 14I
Corrupt men "turned the grace of God into
lasciviousness, and denied the only Lord God and
our Lord Jesus Christ;" the pride of reason in
corporated heathen philosophy with Christ's doc
trine, until the. life and power of the latter were
largely lost; ambitious men headed parties, and
served their own lusts in making a prey of the
church of God. The humble and faithful pastors of
the church were supplanted by a bishop of lordly
pretensions ; the bishops of the large cities gained
control over surrounding churches, and soon claimed
diocesan authority. The bishops of the more im
portant political centers, such as Constantinople,
Alexandria, and Rome, climbed up to metropolitan
power and audacity. After long and fierce quar
rels among these, Rome established her claims «to
the primacy, which afterward developed into the
papacy, and has culminated in the claim of infalli
bility. During these changes, almost every feature
of the primitive church was lost, the supremacy of
Jesus and the authority of his apostles were sup
planted by the authority of councils and popes,
soul-liberty perished, the Bible was forgotten, and a
corrupt and ambitious hierarchy lorded it over God's
heritage, backed by the sword of the civil ruler.
3. There were some, who, like Jeremiah, lingered
among the ruins of Jerusalem, and wept over the
wreck of her power and greatness, refusing all
inducements to go to Babylon, preferring even

I42 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
the stones and dust of the forsaken city of God.
There were those also among the captives who
" wept when they remembered Zion," and who,
hanging their harps on the willows, sat down by
the river of Babylon and vowed to love Jerusalem
as they had never done before the hand of the
oppressor spoiled her of all her glory.*
And there were some who never left spiritual
Jerusalem — who lingered among her ruins, and
cried to God for her restoration. True witnesses
for Christ never failed from the earth. Under
various names, generally given by their enemies,
such as Paulicians, Novatians, Donatists, Wal-
denses, Albigenses, there were known bodies of
believers, often large and influential, who kept up
a" continued protest against prevailing corruptions,
and maintained a fearless advocacy, in the face of
persecution and death, of the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus. Many, too, who were in Babylon,
thought of Zion, and sighed for the day of release.
4. A time came for the Jews to return from
Babylon to Jerusalem. Under Zerubbabel, Ezra,
and Nehemiah the return was accomplished. Not
all came back, nor was the restoration of Jerusalem
the work of a day. By successive and toilsome
steps, amid great discouragements and oppositions,
were the city and the temple rebuilt.

• Ps. cxxxvii.

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 1 43
And in God's good time, the way was opened for
the return of spiritual Israel; and the cry of
reformers was heard sounding in the ears of the
captives in Babylon: "Come out of her, my people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and receive
not of her plagues." * The way was, prepared by
such hefoic spirits as Wycliffe, Huss, and Jerome of
Prague; and then arose Luther, Zwingle, Calvin,
and their compeers, to lead the captives l^ck. But
it was only a partial return. As the Jews who
first returned became disheartened, intermarried
with the people of the land, raised a spurious
progeny — speaking partly the language of Ashdod
and partly that of Canaan — and the law of God
was neglected, and the walls of Jerusalem remained
broken ; so was it with the reformers of the six
teenth century. They failed fully to restore
primitive Christianity. They formed unholy alli
ances of church and state, of faith and philosophy,
of divine and human authority ; and an impure
people, of impure speech, laid an embargo on
further progress, until other reformers came, as
Ezra and Nehemiah came to the Jews.
5. The work of those later leaders, Ezra and Nehe
miah, as typifying the work of reformation needed
among Protestants, is worthy of special attention.
(1.) They restored the law of God. Not merely

* Rev. xviii. 4.

144 WALKS ABOJJT JER USALEM.
in theory — this had been already done — but in
practice did they re-establish the neglected and for
gotten law of God in the hearts and consciences
of the people. * It is beautiful to see the multitude
standing for seven days, reverently and tearfully
listening to the words of God, and. seeking to un
derstand their meaning. " And Ezra opened the
book in the sight of all the people . . and
when he opened it, all the people stood up. And
Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God ; and all the
people answered Amen, Amen, with liftingup their
hands : and they bowed their heads and worshiped
the Lord with their faces to the ground." And
when the scribes "read in the book distinctly, and
gave the sense, and caused them to understand the
reading," "all the people wept when they heard the
words of the law." Soon joy succeeded to sorrow,
"and all the people went their way to eat, and to
drink, and to send portions, and to make great
mirth, because they had understood the words of the
law!' Here is a genuine revival — just such a re
vival as is needed now ! Could we see the people
thus eager to understand the word of God, thus
tearful and joyful over their discoveries of its
meaning, and forsaking all other teachings for the
word of God, we should have hope that Jerusalem
would be fully restored.

* Neh. viii.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. I45
(2.) They confessed their sins* In humility and
contrition they owned their wanderings and ac
knowledged their transgressions. There was no
attempt to evade a confession of the sins which
the law of God had clearly revealed to them,
nor did pride prompt apologies for their errors.
" Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon
us ; for thou hast done right, but we have done
wickedly: neither have our kings, our princes, our
priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened
unto thy commandments and thy testimonies,
wherewith thou didst testify against them. For
they have not served thee in their kingdom, and
in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and
in the large and fat land which thou gavest before
them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
Behold, we are servants this day : and for the land
that thou gavest unto our fathers, to eat the fruit
thereof, and the good thereof, behold we are ser
vants in it : and it yieldeth much increase unto
the kings whom thou hast set over us because of
our sins : also they have dominion over our bodies,
and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are
in great distress."
Alas ! alas ! that party pride and carnal ambi
tions hold the people back from such frank and
open confessions now! Could they come humbly

f Neh. ix. IO

146 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
before God, and for themselves and their leaders
freely own the sins and errors of the past in de
parting from the law of God, how soon would the
windows of heaven be opened to pour out a bless
ing on such as hunger and thirst after righteous
ness! (3.) They turned away from their sins, and re
turned to the law of God to keep it. This was an
actual reformation. In some respects it cost them
much to accomplish it ; but, though it demanded
the right eye, or the right hand, they did not shrink
from its requirements.
a. They had married contrary to the law, and
were required to put away their strange wives.
This was, no doubt, in many cases, a severe trial,
yet it was done that they might be loyal to God.*
So must we destroy all unholy alliances, and
divorce our souls from every forbidden association,
however dear, that we may be the Lord's only.
Human authority must be abandoned, human
creeds must be renounced, party names and party
associations must be forsaken, and the language
and the progeny of Ashdod be surrendered for the
pure word of God, the simple faith of primitive
times, and the "one body" of Christ.
b. They put away the "mixed multitude" that
had corrupted and discouraged them, because they

•Ezra ix, and x. 10 ; Neh. xiii. 23-30.

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. I47
found it written in the law of God that the Am
monite' and the Moabite should not come into the
congregation of God forever.* Thus must we dis
solve our connection with the unbelieving, and re
deem the church from all the carnalizing and cor
rupting influences of conformity to the world.
c. They put a stop to all traffic on the Sabbath ;!
they put an end to oppression, $ they began anew
their tithes and offerings according to the law ; ||
they restored the feast of tabernacles ;§ and what
ever they found written in the law of God, they
immediately revived its observance; and thus God
made them rejoice with great joy, so that "the joy
of Jerusalem was heard afar off." ^[
Would we restore the joy of primitive times ?
We must "stand in the ways and see, and ask for
the old paths, where is the good way, and walk
therein, and we shall find rest for our souls."
Have the ordinances of the gospel been forgotten
or perverted ? Restore baptism to its place as the
ordinance in which the believing penitent puts on
Christ and receives the assurance of the forgive
ness of sins. Restore the Lord's Supper to its
place as the weekly feast of Christians, in which
they commemorate the death of Jesus for their
sins. Restore the Lord's day as the glad, cheerful,

•Neh. xiii. 1-3. tNeh. xiii. 15-21. JNeb. v. 1-13.
| Neh. x. 32-39. J Neh. viii. 13-18. \ Neh. xii. 43.

1 48 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
holy day of bright memories, and joyful hopes, in
which we honor the memory of our risen Lord.
Have selfishness and covetousness restrained us
from the needed offerings for the work of the
Lord? Let us conquer selfishness, and bring in
the tithes into the storehouse, and make strong
the hands and hearts of the brave toilers in the
Lord's vineyard. Have sins of injustice and op
pression hidden the face of God from us? Let us
undo the heavy burdens, and learn to do justly,
love mercy, and walk humbly with God ; and again
the joy of Jerusalem will be heard afar off. This
return, "in letter and in spirit, in principle and in
practice," to the law of the Lord, will test us sorely,
and demand the surrender of many a cherished
idol, and bring us face to face with many a sacred
prejudice and many a valued earthly pleasure,
compelling us to decide between duty and worldly
interest, between the friendship of heaven and the
friendships of earth, between the claims of the
carnal and the spiritual, between the voice of con-
sience and the pleas of expediency ; and the heart
may be a field of terrible strife between the good
and evil that is in us ; but "looking unto Jesus,"
who, in the desert of temptation fought and con
quered for us, let us learn to cling to what is
written, and make the word of God bur refuge
from every keen assault of Satan, and victory will
come, and the clouds will clear away, and the

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 149
storm will cease, and the clear, calm, bright heavens
will let down angels to strengthen us and fill our
souls with the peace of God.
The reader may now, perhaps, better understand
the present confused state of the religious world,
and be able himself to solve the difficulty presented
in the spectacle of "numerous and diverse and even
hostile parties, all professing to love the same Sa
viour and walk in the light of the same Bible.
The recovery from the ignorance and superstition
and base soul-bondage of Babylon has been but
partial. We are still not entirely free from the
witchery of her golden cup of intoxication. Refor
mation is progressive, necessarily so. Zerubbabel
could not do Ezra's work, nor Ezra Nehemiah's.
They were each suited to the work given to him.
Past reformations are not to be condemned because
they did not accomplish every thing. But our sin
and folly is in clinging to the near past, and loving
too well the modern paths. We must break this
idolatrous attachment, and, with devout thankful
ness for all that has been accomplished to help us
on our way, still refuse to linger in the ways ex
cept to inquire for the " old paths."
Back of Westminster, and Geneva, and Witten
berg, we must push on toward Jerusalem, and
forget all doctrines and creeds of meu in perfect
devotion to the word that went forth from Zion, and
the word of the Lord that issued from Jerusalem.

1 50 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
May God enable us to realize, in its highest
spiritual sense, the prediction of the prophet : " In
those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the
children of Israel shall come, they and the children
of Jiidah together ; weeping shall they - go and
seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way
to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come,
let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual
covenant that shall not be forgotten." *
•Jer. 1.4, 5-

CHAPTER XV.
A WORD AT PARTING.
GENTLE reader, we have walked and talked
together, in the midst of hallowed scenes.
To the writer it is ever a source of refreshment to
dwell, even for an hour, among the sacred monu
ments and touching memories of the Holy Land,
" Over whose acres walked those blessed feet
Which eighteen hundred years ago were nailed,
For our offenses, to the bitter cross; "
and especially to be surrounded with the primitive
freshness," purity, and glory of Jerusalem Christi
anity. In these walks, scenes long familiar to his
mind have unfolded new attractions ; and truths
which he has been accustomed, from childhood,
to hear, have developed new beauties and riches.
The Jerusalem mines, so long neglected and almost
forgotten, teem with spiritual wealth. And while
the multitude are content to purchase these treas
ures from the traders in spiritual merchandise,
mixed with much alloy, and sadly deteriorated in
value ; and many others are content with the grains
('SO

1 5 2 WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
of gold lying on the surface, which they can gather
at the foot of the mountain — the mere washings
of the mine — it has been his intention to invite
earnest seekers to rich deposits of wealth, which
are only accessible to such as will "seek for knowl
edge as for silver, and search for her as for hidden
treasures." It was intended to give wider scope to these
excursions, and take into view the captivity of the
children of Jerusalem, and their return from Baby
lon. But other duties call him away from these
fields of inquiry ; and for the present, at least, he
must bid adieu to the reader, contenting himself
with a few closing observations.
It must, we think, be evident to all who have
studied the genius, spirit, and practical workings
of primitive Christianity, that the present condition
of even orthodox Protestant Christendom, testifies
to sad departures from the original model — to
numerous and grievous corruptions of the pure
religion of Jesus. While the Lord evidently has a
people in the earth, they are scattered,, peeled, and
broken. They are found, if not in the very city,
at least in many of the province's of Babylon.
Many, that started for Jerusalem, grew weary on
the journey, and settled down at various distances
from the metropolis, still within reach of the
meretricious charms of the Mother of Harlots, and
trafficking in many of her wares. Many more, in

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 1 5 3
hastening from Babylon, ran past Jerusalem. And
still others, while returning to Jerusalem, grew
discouraged, ere the temple was rebuilt, or the
walls re-established, and suffering the work of
restoration to fail in their hands, settled down
among the people of Ashdod, Ammon, and
Moab, and formed alliances contrary to the law of
God. Without entering at large into the mournful
details of the corruptions of the original gospel,
we would say that amid many bright features of
reformation, in the various Protestant movements,
which. we desire fully to appreciate, there have still
been many serious errors and failures. For many
of these there may be apologies and extenuations ;
but our business, at present, is not to apologize.
Among these errors and corruptions we note the
following: The substitution
I. Of human leadership for the Lordship of
Jesus. 2. Of sects for the church of Christ.
3. Of. human creeds for the word of God.
4. Of speculative philosophy for the gospel of
life. 5. Of acquiescence in party creeds and symbols
for faith in Christ.
6. Of dreams, visions, and raptures, for Bible
precepts and promises.
7. Of formalism for cheerful piety.
8, Of rigid and unprogressive ecclesiasticism for

154 WA LKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
the generous liberty and free development of the
primitive church.
9. Of pride, pomp, and fashion for the simplicity,
humility, and self-denying benevolence of the early
churches. We charge not all of these departures and cor
ruptions against every sect ; but we affirm that,
looking over the face of Protestantism, there can
be seen here and there and every-where, evidences
of some or all of these departures. The church of
Christ, as such, is not to be seen. But few sects
claim to be any thing more than "branches" of the
church ; and of those that do claim peculiar honors,
no one will allow the claim of another. Jerusalem
is not yet rebuilt.
As a people, the Disciples have unquestionably
taken true ground, in declaring the necessity of
going back of all parties and church creeds, to the
original starting point, and in utter forgetfulness
of the contentions and rivalries of opposing sects,
of seeking to learn the religion of Jesus as it was
taught by the inspired apostles, "beginning at
Jerusalem." To ascend above and beyond all the
muddy and tumultuous streams of religious life and
ecclesiastical history to the original fountain of
inspiration and of life, and receive from that fount
ain the crystal waters of salvation, is indeed a just
and noble enterprise. That much has been done
toward realizing this great object, may, we think,

WALKS ABOUT JER USALEM. 1 5 5
without vain boasting, be truly affirmed. We are
well assured that the religious world at large is
daily feeling the force of this plea for a retur.i to
primitive Christianity ; and that even while oppos
ing the plea, they are insensibly yielding to the
influence of the truths and principles which have
been evolved in the course of the controversies
of the last half-century. Among the ends accom
plished, with more or less success, we may mention :
(i.) The practical re-assertion of the all-sufficien
cy of the Bible as a rule of faith and practice.
(2.) Setting forth the New Testament as contain
ing the New Covenant, with all its instructions,
provisions, and obligations, in opposition to the
imperfect and preparatory teachings and require
ments of the Old Testament economies.
(3.) Calling Christians back to faith in the Son
of God, and obedience to him, as the basis of
Christian brotherhood and fellowship, in opposition
to human opinions and theological speculations,
which can only be the bases of sects, and must
always be the fruitful sources of schism.
(4.) Proclaiming the essential sinfulness of sec
tarianism — the evils of sectarian organizations and
creeds ; and the absolute necessity of a return to
the catholic unity of the primitive church, in order
to the conversion of the world.
(5.) The restoration to their original position
and import, of divine ordinances, which had either

1 5 6 WA LKS ABOUT JER USALEM.
fallen into desuetude, or lost their original mean
ing. (6.) Reproclaiming to sinners the original teifms
of pardon, and accepting them to baptism and
church-membership immediately on their confession
of faith in the Christ, the Son of God.
(7.) The faithful translation into English of the
original Scriptures, so as to avoid the acknowledged
errors and faults of King James's version, and
enable the multitude of English readers to avail
themselves of all the benefits of the progress made
in sacred literature and criticism for the last two
centuries. But we are far from thinking that there has
been complete success in this effort to restore
primitive Christianity. There has not yet been
sufficient time to accomplish it. There are some
things yet to be learned ; new bearings to be seen
in truths already acknowledged ; much of the vitaliz
ing energy of the acknowledged principles of this
reformation yet to be realized ; and many dangers,
attendant on the movement, to be guarded against
Among these dangers, we may be allowed to
mention some, which we think we see looming up
with rather threatening aspect.
a. In rejecting the theories which have so long
usurped the place of the gospel, there is danger of
theorizing against theories, until in the end it shall
only prove the substitution of one theory for another.

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 1 5 7
b. In opposing human creeds there is danger
of erecting the all-sufficiency of the Scriptures into
a dogma; and of mistaking this dogma for that
profound reverence for the word of God, and that
earnest longing after its teachings, which will lead
to the daily devout study and diligent appropria
tion of the divine testimonies, so as to make them
the food of the soiil. A controversial clamor
about the Bible's sufficiency is not exactly iden
tical with hungering after the bread of life.
c. In renouncing and denouncing ecclesiastical
tyranny, and eschewing human control over the
conscience, there is danger of perverting the
liberty of the gospel, and plunging into disorder
and anarchy, much, to the reproach of the cause
of Christ. It is possible to raise a cry about
ecclesiastical assumption until it shall become a
party watchword, take the place of argument, and
answer as an excuse for all disorder and misrule.
d. In repudiating mysticism, and casting doubt
on many of the raptures and lawless enthusiasms
of modern revivals, as leading to the rejection of
the Scriptures, and involving their subjects in ruin
ous delusions, there is danger of swaying off into
a semi-rationalism, which, in its heartlessness and
barrenness, is scarcely less to be deplored than the
extreme out of which it' has grown. A shallow
and conceited philosophy, when allowed to take
the place of plain Scripture teaching, soon makes

1 5 8 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
hopeless fools of its victims, and is terribly effec
tive in quenching the spirit of devotion.
If the writer may venture further in suggesting
"hints to the wise," he will say that among our
present needs, the following demand special atten
tion: (a.) The preaching of Christ crucified, so as to
enthrone Him in the hearts of men in supreme
dominion. This is better than theories of conver
sion — better than a brave tilt at Calvinism, or any
other ism.
(b.) A greatly increased diligence in the study
of the Holy Scriptures — without spectacles, even
of the most modern manufacture.
(c.) A deeper insight into the spiritual attrac
tions of the gospel — such as shall lead us to seek
after the "communion of the Holy Spirit," which
is the foretaste of heavenly bliss — the beginning
of everlasting life — the " earnest of the inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession."
(d.) A more cheerful, and elevated, and fervent
piety — a life of prayer and praise — of grateful love
and adoration, in the closet, the family, and the
church. (e.) A more complete conquest of the pride and
selfishness of the world — so as, in humility and self-
denial, to devote ourselves to the benevolent and
philanthropic aims of the Christian life. A deeper
sympathy with suffering humanity— such as will

WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM. 1 59
lead us in the footsteps of Christ, to labor for the
world's redemption.
(/) A lofty attachment to righteousness — so as
to make life a constant exemplification of truth
and justice — a living condemnation of all injustice,
oppression, and deceit..
(g.) A more vital faith in God, which will enable
us to throw ourselves sublimely on His strong arm
for support and do our duty, leaving the conse
quences in His hands.
Such, in our humble view, are some of the suc
cesses, perils, and wants of the present Reforma
tion, which have been suggested during these
" walks about Jerusalem."
We affectionately urge on the Disciples of Christ
a more minute and prayerful attention to the Jeru
salem gospel and the Jerusalem church. If we
were to name one class, above all others, to which
this study would be a benefit, we would designate
our young preachers, who are just coming on the
stage of action, and shaping their views and plans
of effort for a life-time. We feel like exhorting
them to study long, earnestly, and prayerfully, the
import of that phrase, "beginning at Jerusalem."
If they can go forth clothed with the simplicity,
humility, single-mindedness, and spirituality of
apostolic times, to preach Jesus the Christ lovingly
and bravely, and guide anxious sinners back to that
original fountain of mercy, under the outspread

160 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
wings of divine protection, to drink in the peace
and joy of pardoning love, and to receive the Spirit
of God into a purified nature; and thus prepare
them to bring forth all the fruits of righteousness
with great gladness, they will be indeed co-workers
with God, and will have unspeakable joy in the
assurance that their labors in the Lord are not in
vain. We believe that, for both literal and spiritual
Jerusalem, there awaits
" A future teeming with triumphal sounds,
And shape of glory;"
and none can labor in vain, who labor for the res
toration of the unadulterated gospel that went
forth from the ancient Zion.
If no other end is gained by these essays, we
hope our readers will be encouraged to make fre
quent visits to the scenes made forever sacred by
the Saviour's toils and sufferings, and by the mag
nificent triumphs of redeeming love. Though
stretching, in our gaze, over the wastes of eighteen
centuries, and gathering, in remote western lands,
the sacred memories of the Orient, Faith appro
priates all these influences of distant times and
places, as if they were immediately around us.
Moreover, the Friend of sinners, whose presence
hallowed those scenes, "ever liveth;" and the

WALKS ABOUT JERUSALEM. l6l
Spirit, whose wonderful manifestations and work
ings we have been contemplating, is still the same
unfailing, all-pervading, quickening, and comforting
Spirit of grace and truth- — the portion of every
purified and trusting heart.
" Then why should I dream of the earthly abode,
Of humanity clothed in the brightness of God ?
Were my spirit but turned from the outward and dim,
It could gaze even now on the presence of Him !
And what if my feet may not tread where he stood,
Nor my ears hear the dashing of Galilee's flood,
Nor my eyes see the cross which He bowed Him to bear,
Nor my knees press Gethsemane's garden of prayer;
Yet, loved of the Father, thy Spirit is near
To the meek, and the lowly, and penitent here ;
And the voice of thy love is the same even now
As at Bethany's tomb or on Olivet's brow."
Fare thee well, reader ! We go our several ways
from this hallowed ground, to other fields of labor.
May we meet again in the new Jerusalem, and take
many happy walks together in the city of our God !
There the toils of our pilgrimage shall be forgotten
amid the deathless joys of immortality ; the mem
ories of our struggles after truth, and of every
effort to realize the dignity of Christian life, will
shed a sweet influence over our glorified nature,
and give it more than an angel's bliss ; these stam
mering utterances will be exchanged for heavenly
eloquence; these admirations of Jerusalem's ex-

11

162 WALKS ABO UT JER USALEM.
cellency will ripen into glorious outbursts of im
mortal song; 'and in the ineffable splendors of
uncreated light, ransomed man shall rise into such
high and vast comprehensions of spiritual life, as
shall constitute, for eternal ages, "the fullness of
joy."

APPENDIX,

"POR the sake of many readers who have not access to
the larger works of ecclesiastical historians and Bib
lical critics and commentators, we append the testimonies
of a considerable number of these, touching the main feat
ures of the faith and practice of the primitive churches.
We wish it distinctly understood that we do not quote
these authors to prove what is of divine authority;, for
the inspired Word of God alone can establish this. We
are well aware that tendencies to apostasy were manifest
even in the days of the apostles, and that corruptions
in doctrine, government, and ordinances were of speedy
development after their departure ; so that we can not,
with certainty, go beyond the last word of inspiration
for that which is authoritative and final. But, as cor
roborative of New Testament facts, the history of the
second and third centuries has much value ; and in
that light we present it. We do not ask, either, that
the judgment of the eminent scholars and critics whom
we quote shall be taken for more than it is worth. But
that it is worth much, and should go far to confirm the
student of the New Testament as to the faith and prac
tice of apostolic times, is evident from this considera-
('63)

1 64 APPENDIX.
tion : on most points these men testify against their
own creeds and the practice of their own churches — a
sort of testimony which all who know the strength of
party attachments and the power of party prejudice will
admit to have great weight, inasmuch as it could only
be called out by the inexorable demands of truth, and
the indisputable evidences that history furnishes.
These testimonies could have been largely multiplied.
Many of the most positive and definite character have
been omitted, partly because they are already well
known, and partly because our space is limited. We
have aimed to give only such names as are admitted, in
the learned world, to have weight, and in almost every in
stance have made our quotations directly from the works
of the authors, so as to avoid all suspicion of incorrect
ness or unfaithfulness. In making our selections, we
have frequently preferred to give such authorities as are
not accessible to the mass of readers, and not generally
known, passing by equally satisfactory statements from
works with which the reading public are familiar.

"BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM."
The first of all the Christian churches founded by the
apostles was that of Jerusalem ; and after the form and
model of this, all the others of that age, were constituted. —
Mosheim, Ec. Hist., Harpers' ed., i: 46.
On this day, the new festival of Pentecost (the joyful,
happy, and blessed kingdom of Christ, which js full of
gladness, courage, and security) was founded. — Lechler in
Lange's Com. on Acts ii. 4.

APPENDIX. 165
The fact that the day of Pentecost is the birth-day of the
church has always been recognized. — Lechler in Lange's
Com. on Acts ii. 4, p. 53.
The original establishment of the Christian Church :
I. The circumstances under which it was accomplished :
[a) the Mosaic institutions were circumscribed and tem
porary in their character ; (b) the time (state of the world,
etc.) had arrived in which it accorded with divine wisdom
that mankind should receive a perfect religion. II. The
divine procedure: (a) introduction of gifts and forms which
primarily appealed to the senses ; {b) but were intended to
renew and sanctify the heart. III. The human agency em
ployed : (a) the preaching of the Word ; (b) the adminis
tration of the sacraments. IV. The results : (a) promotion
of the glory of God ; (b) salvation of immortal souls. —
Schaejfer in Lange's Com. on Acts, p. 60.
This book (Acts) is, therefore, a witness of apostolic doc
trine and primitive Christianity ; a rule and guide for the
government, the discipline, and the order of the church ;
an armory which furnishes the church with weapons in its
conflict with Antichrist ; a repository that offers a remedy
for every soul-destroying disease engendered by errors in
the faith, and offenses in the life and conduct of men ; a
storehouse which abundantly nourishes faith, patience, and
hope ; a mirror and a stimulus, promoting love and its ap
propriate works ; a treasury abounding in learning and
sound doctrine. — Starke, quoted in Lange's Acts, Int., p. 2.
The believers were constant and united in attention to
the four essential elements of all truly Christian associate
life — the instruction of the apostles ; brotherly fellowship in
active, self-denying love ; breaking of bread, /. e., partak
ing of the Lord's Supper in connection with the daily love-
feasts ; and prayer. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and
Son of Man, the fulfiUer of the whole Old Testament, was

1 66 APPENDIX.
the center of their faith ; and Christianity proved itself not
merely a theory, nor an emotion, nor a collection of moral
precepts and actions, but slife, in the deepest and most com
prehensive sense ; a power of God to make happy all who
believe in it. This was the pre-formative beginning of the
church. — Schaff's Hist. Ap. Church, p. 206.
The history of the distinctively Christian Church com
mences with the first great act of the risen and glorified
Redeemer : the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of
Pentecost. — Guericke's, Ch. Hist., p. 43.
This church of Jerusalem was composed of those only
who "gladly received the word and were baptized,"
Their unity of spirit was their " beauty, of holiness." This
church, so constituted, is the acknowledged pattern or
model by which other Christian churches were formed (1
Thess. ii. 14), since "the law was to go forth from Zion,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." This com
munity of Christians was also the arbitrator in spiritual
affairs during apostolic days, and must be allowed still to
be the standard of doctrine and practice to every Christian
church, aided as it was by all the wisdom of inspired teach
ers ; and particularly since no promise is found in the
Scriptures allowing us to expect those extraordinary aids
to qualify any men in forming any other church than the
New Testament presents. This Christian assembly, as it
was the first, so is it the mother-church in the Christian
dispensation. — Orchard's Hist. Baptists, i. 6, 7.
Next to the appearance of the Son of God himself on
earth, this [the Pentecostal baptism in the Holy Spirit] was
the greatest event, as the commencing point of the new
divine life, proceeding from him to the human race, which
has since spread and operated through succeeding ages,
and will continue to operate, until its final object is attained,
and all mankind are transformed into the image of Christ.

APPENDIX. 167
If we contemplate this great transaction from this, its only
proper point of view, we shall not be tempted to explain
the greater by the less ; we shall not consider it strange
that the most wonderful event in the inner life of mankind
should be accompanied by extraordinary outward appear
ances, as sensible indications of its existence. Still less
shall we be induced to look upon this great transaction — ¦
in which we recognize the necessary beginning of a new
epoch, an essential intermediate step in the religious de
velopment of the apostles, and in the formation of the
church — as something purely mythical. — Neander's Plant
ing and Training of the Church, Bohn's ed., i. 3

THE PRIMITIVE CONFESSION OF FAITH.
At the first there was no distinction recognized in the
church between the faithful and the candidates for bap
tism, or catechumens ; nor do I think that any vestige of
such a division of the people is to be found throughout
the whole of the New Testament — any, at least, that can be
deemed clear and indisputable. Whoever, through the
powerful operation of divine truth, had been brought to
profess a belief in Christ as the Saviour of the human race,
although they might in other respects be uninformed, and
various errors might still remain to be rooted out of their
minds, were yet baptized and admitted into the fellowship
of Christ's kingdom. — Mosheim, Corn., i. 181, note 2.
The church must be regarded simply as a community
composed of Christians. Its gates were opened only to be
lievers, or to those at least who professed the true faith. —
E. De Pressense, Early Years of Christianity, London ed.,
p. 298.
The act of baptism was preceded by brief instruction

1 68 APPENDIX.
respecting the main facts of the gospel history, and an
injunction of repentance and faith in Jesus as the promised
Messiah and the Saviour of the world. But the more thor
ough indoctrination in the apostolic truth came after. —
Schaff's Apos. Ch., p. 567.
At the first promulgation of the Gospel all who professed
firmly to believe that Jesus was the only Redeemer of man
kind, and who promised to lead a holy life conformable to
the religion he taught, were received immediately among
the disciples of Christ; nor did a more full instruction in
the principles of Christianity precede their baptism, but fol
lowed after it. — Mosheim, Ec. Hist., i. 80.
The only condition of admission to the church, was a
promise to live a new life, and an acknowledgment of Jesus
as the Messiah. — Hase's Hist, Chr. Ch., p. 41,
The Apostle Peter, in his answer to the inquiry of Christ,
"But who say ye that I am?" made the first formal con
fession of faith under the Christian dispensation. The an
swer, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,"
was regarded by the Redeemer as the doctrinal basis of his
kingdom upon earth; for "upon this rock" — this cordial
acknowledgment of his character and redeeming work —
he informed his disciples he would found his church. A
short and simple confession similar to this was made by
the early converts to Christianity. The candidate for ad
mission to the church, at his baptism, professed his faith in
Christ as the Redeemer of the world. The eunuch, baptized
by Philip, said solemnly, in connection with the administra
tion of the rite, " I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God." Along with this recognition of the deity of Christ
and his mediatorial work, admission into the church was
also connected with a confession of belief in the doctrine
of the Trinity. The baptismal formula, which was invari
ably used, in accordance with the solemn and explicit

APPENDIX. 169
command of Christ, naturally led to the adoption of this
doctrine into the confession made by the new convert from
Paganism or Judaism. And it would have been the deep
est hypocrisy and dishonesty in the candidate for baptism
to reject a doctrine that was taught and commended to him
by the officiating minister, at the very moment of his recep
tion into the church, and in the very phraseology of his
initiation. This confession, at first, was exceedingly brief
and simple, and not adopted by any formal action of the
church in its public capacity, for as yet, general councils,
or even local ones, were unknown. There is every reason,
nevertheless, for believing that the practice of confessing
one's faith was general and uniform among the churches.
Paul reminds Timothy of the "good profession" which he
had made before many witnesses (1 Tim. vi. 12) ; and in
1 Tim. iii. 16, there seems to be a summary that indicates a
current creed-form. The concurrent testimony of the prim
itive fathers goes to show that from the first, admission into
the church was connected with the public acknowledgment
of certain truths. — Shedd's Hist, of Chr. Doct., ii. 428-9.
Dr. Shedd further says, in reference to the so-called
Apostles' Creed :
1. No mention is made in the Acts of the Apostles of
any synod of the apostles in which they composed a creed
for the Christian church — a synod far too important to pass
unnoticed. 2. The fathers of the first three centuries; in
disputing with the heretics, while endeavoring to prove that
the doctrine of this creed is apostolic in the sense of scrip
tural and true, never assert that the apostles personally
composed it. Eusebius, for example, would certainly have
cited it as the apostles' work, if he had known or believed
it to be their's. 3. This creed is cited by the primitive
fathers with minor variations. Some of them omit the
clause relating to the "descent into hell;" others those

170 APPENDIX.
concerning the "communion of saints," and the "life ev
erlasting." This they would not have ventured to do, had
they known the creed to be an inspired document. —
Shedd's Hist. Chr. Doct, ii. pp, 430-31.
The first Christians used no written creed ; the confession
of faith, which was held necessary for salvation, was de
livered to children or converts by word of mouth, and
intrusted to their memory. Moreover, in the several inde
pendent churches, the rule of faith was liable to some slight
changes, according to the opinion and discretion of the
bishop presiding in each. Hence it arose that when the
creeds of those numerous communities came at length to
be written and compared together, they were found to con
tain some variations. This was natural and necessary ; but
when we add that those variations were for the most part
merely verbal, and in no instance involved any question
of essential importance, we advance a truth which will
seem strange to those who are familiar with the arigry dis
putations of later ages. But the fact is easily accounted
for : the earliest pastors of the church drew their belief
from the Scripture itself, as delivered to^them by writing or
preaching ; and they were contented to express that belief in
the language of Scripture. They were not curious to inves
tigate that which is not clearly revealed, but they adhered
firmly and faithfully to that which they knew to be true ;
therefore their variations were without schism, and their
differences without acrimony. — Waddington's Ch. Hist.,
London ed., pp. 26-7.
Writers sometimes speak of the "primitive creed;" by
which they do not always mean the creed of Peter, the old
est Christian creed of which we have any account — " Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This was the
only article of faith originally, deemed necessary to consti
tute a person externally a Christian. It presupposed, of

APPENDIX. 171
course, a belief in one God, the Father. But the Jews had
already been initiated into this belief. "Ye believe in
God," said Jesus; he adds, "Believe also in me" as the
" Christ," the "Anointed," the commissioned of Him ; the
only additional trjith the belief of which he required as
distinctive of the Christian profession. . . . And thus we
find that Jews and others, already acknowledging the exist
ence of the only true God, were, by the apostles, admitted
to baptism on simply professing, in addition, their belief
of the latter article.
We here see the origin of creeds. They were baptismal
confessions ; baptism being regarded as an initiatory rite,
by which a person was introduced into the community of >
believers — numbered among Christians. These confessions
were the symbol, sign, token, or mark of Christian faith,
as the ceremony of baptism was of Christian consecration.-
They embraced originally, as we have said, in addition to
the belief in one God over all, the Father (always tacitly
implied, if not expressed), one simple truth, that Jesus was
the Christ, the Son of God ; which was the primitive Chris
tian creed, as a belief in the one only true God constituted
the primitive Jewish creed. Other articles were added from
time to time, according to the discretion of individuals or
communities of believers. — Lamson's Church of the First
Three Centuries, pp. 315-16.
Believing that Jesus was the Messiah, they ascribed to
him the whole 'idea of what the Messiah was to be, accord
ing to the meanjng and spirit of the Old Testament prom
ises, rightly understood; they acknowledged him as the
Redeemer from sin, the Ruler of the kingdom of God, to
whom their lives were to be devoted, whose laws were to
be followed in all things : while he would manifest himself
as the Ruler of God's kingdom, by the communication of
a new divine principle of life, which, to those who are re
deemed and governed by him, imparts the certainty of the

'72 APPENDIX.
forgiveness of sins. This divine principle of life must (they
believed) mold their whole lives to a conformity with the
laws of the Messiah and his kingdom, and would be the
pledge of all the blessings to be imparted to them in the
kingdom of God until its consummation. Whoever ac
knowledged Jesus as the Messiah, received him conse
quently as the infallible divine prophet, and implicitly
submitted to his instructions as communicated by his per
sonal ministry, and afterward by his inspired organs, the
apostles. Hence baptism at this period, in its peculiar
meaning, referred to this one article of faith, which consti
tuted the essence of Christianity, as baptism into Jesus, into
the name of Jesus ; it was the holy rite which sealed the
connection with Jesus as the Messiah. — Meander's Planting
and Training, i. 21.
The first confession of Christian faith upon which the
church built its symbolism was the answer of Peter to the
question of Christ (Matt. xvi. 16). A similar simple con
fession was, without doubt, required of candidates for bap
tism in the time of the apostles (comp. 1 Tim. vi. 12, Acts
viii. 37, 1 Tim. iii. 16). The simplest, briefest form had
already been given in the baptismal formula itself (Matt.
xxviii. 19). The so-called Symbolum Romanum was prob
ably an older form than the present -'Apostles' Creed,"
though essentially the same with it ; the Symbolum Aquili-
ense, and Symbolum Orientale, of which portions are
preserved in Rufinus, are later, as are also the Regular
fidei in Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, and others. —
Guericke's Ch. Hist., p. 140, note.
In ordinary cases the sole condition required for baptism
was, that the persons to be baptized should acknowledge
Jesus as the Messiah, " declared to be the Son of God with
power, by his resurrection from the dead." In this acknowl
edgment was virtually involved the readiness of the new

APPENDIX. 173
converts to submit to the guidance of those whom Christ
had appointed as the apostles and teachers of his church ;
and we find that they were subsequently instructed in the
truths of Christianity, and were taught the true spiritual
meaning of those ancient prophecies which (if Jews) they
had hitherto interpreted of a human conqueror and an
earthly kingdom. This instruction, however, took place
after baptism, not before it ; and hence we remark a great
and striking difference from the subsequent usage of the
church. For, not long after the time of the apostles, the
primitive practice, in this respect, was completely reversed ;
in all cases the convert was subjected to a long course of
preliminary instruction before he was admitted to baptism,
and in some instances the catechumen remained unbap-
tized till the hour of death ; for thus he thought to escape
the strictness of a Christian life, and fancied that a death
bed baptism would operate magically upon his spiritual
coridition, and insure his salvation. The apostolic practice
of immediate baptism would, had it been retained, have
guided the church from so baneful a superstition.— Cony-
beare and Howson's Life and Epistles of Paul, i. 438.
We give from Tertullian, who flourished in the first
half of the third century, what he calls "the rule of
faith ' ' in his time :
The rule of faith is one only, unchangeable, and not to
be amended, namely, the belief in one sole omnipotent
God, the maker of the world ; and in his Son Jesus Christ,
born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate,
raised from the dead on the third day ^received into heaven,
seated now on the right hand of the Father, and to come
hereafter to judge the living and the dead, through the
resurrection of the flesh.— De virginibus velandis, c. I.
The same creed, for substance, is to be found in De prae-

!74 APPENDIX.
scriptionibus adversus haweticos, c. 13, and Adversus
Praxeam, c. 2. See Shedd's Hist. Doct, ii. 433, and
Pearson on the Creed.
Baptism, according to its characteristic marks, was desig
nated a baptism into Christ, into the name of Christ, as the
acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah was the original
article of faith in the apostolic church, and this was prob
ably the most ancient formula of baptism, which was still
made use of even in the third century. — Neander 's Planting
and Training, i. 161.
Nor did any apostle or any of their immediate disciples
collect and arrange the principal doctrines of Christianity
in a scientific or regular system. . . , There is, indeed,
extant a brief summary of Christian doctrines which is
called the Apostles' Creed ; and which, from the fourth
century onward was attributed to • Christ's embassadors
themselves. But at this day all Who have any knowledge
of antiquity confess unanimously that this opinion is a mis
take, -and has no foundation. Those judge far more wisely
and rationally, who think that this creed arose from small
beginnings, and was gradually enlarged, as occasions re
quired, in order to exclude new errors from the church.—
Mosheim, Ec. Hist., i. 79.

IMMERSION.

In this [the first] century baptism was administered in
convenient places, without the public assemblies ; and by
immersing the candidates wholly in water. — Mosheim, Ec.
Hist., i. 87.
The usual form of submersion at baptism, practiced by
the Jews, was transferred to the Gentile Christians. In
deed, this form was the most suitable to signify that which

APPENDIX. 175
Christ intended to render an object of contemplation by
such a symbol — the immersion of. the whole man in the
spirit of a new life. — Meander's Planting and Training,
i. 161.The sacraments of the primitive church were two — those
of baptism and the Lord's Supper. The ceremony of im
mersion (the oldest form of baptism) was performed in the
name of the three persons of the Trinity. — Waddington 's
Ch. Hist, p. 27.
Finally, as to the mode of administering this ordinance :
immersion, and not sprinkling, was unquestionably the
original, normal form. This is shown by the very meaning
of the Greek words (f}arm£a) baptize, (flawTiofia) baptisma,
{fjanno[i6r) baptismos, used to designate the rite. Then
again, by the analogy of the baptism of John, which was
performed in the Jordan [iv, Matt. iii. 6, compare 16 ; also.
(elfTdv lopSdvijv, Mark i. 9). Furthermore, by the New Tes
tament comparisons of baptism with the passage through
the Red Sea (1 Cor. a. 2), with the flood (1 Pet. iii. 21), with
a bath (Eph. v. 26 ; Tit. iii. 5), with a burial and resurrection
(Rom. vi. 4 ; Col. ii. 12). Finally, by the general usage of
ecclesiastical antiquity, which was always immersion (as it
is to this day in the. Oriental and also the Graeco-Russian
churches) ; pouring and sprinkling being substituted only in
cases of urgent necessity, such as sickness and approaching
death. — Schaff's Hist. Apostolic Church, pp. 568-9.
In a note on the same page, Dr. S. adds :
Indeed, some would not allow even this baptismus clin-
icorum, as it was called, to be valid, baptism ; and Cyprian
himself, in the third century, ventured to defend the aspersio
only in case of a necessitas cogens, and with reference to
a special indulgentia Dei (Ep. 76, ad Magn,). There were
ecclesiastical laws which made persons baptized by sprink-

176 APPENDIX.
ling ineligible to church offices. These were grounded,
however, not so much on the notion of the imperfection
of their baptism, as in the fact that they frequently received
it from fear of approaching death, and hence might not
have 'been so thoroughly prepared for it as others. Not
till the end of the thirteenth century did sprinkling become
the rule, and immersion the exception ; partly from the
gradual decrease in the number of adult baptisms, paitly
from considerations of health and convenience — all chil
dren having now come to be treated as infirmi.
Again on p. 570, while arguing that immersion is not the
only valid form of baptism, he yet admits, so far as the his
torical question is concerned, that "the impartial historian
is compelled by exegesis and history substantially to yield
the point to the Baptists." He quotes from Conybeare and
Howson's Life of St. Paul, i. 471, as follows :
It is needless to add that baptism was (unless in excep
tional cases) administered by immersion, the convert being
plunged beneath the surface of the water to represent his
death to the life of sin, and then raised from this momen
tary burial to represent his resurrection to the life of right
eousness. It must be a subject of regret that the general
discontinuance of this original form of baptism (though
perhaps necessary in our northern climates) has rendered
obscure to popular apprehension some very important pas
sages of Scripture.
On this Dr. Schaff remarks :
With this we entirely concur. It is well known that the
reformers, Luther and Calvin, and several old Protestant
liturgies, gave the preference to immersion ; and this is
undoubtedly far better suited than sprinkling to symbolize
the idea of baptism, the entire purifying of the inward man,
the being buried and the rising again with Christ.

APPENDIX. 177
Baptism was originally performed by immersion in the
name of the Trinity (by Marcion in the name of Jesus
only). In case of the administration of the rite to the sick,
sprinkling was substituted for immersion — a mode of bap
tism which Cyprian defends as entirely valid. — Guericke's
Ch. Hist., pp. i4(-2.
Baptism, which was the sign of admission into the
church, was administered by immersion. The convert was
plunged beneath the water, and as he rose from it he re
ceived the laying on of hands. — Pressense's Early Years of
Christianity, p. 334.
The form of baptism at first was, according to most his
torians, by immersion; but as Christianity advanced into
colder, climates, the more convenient mode of sprinkling
was introduced. — American Cyclopedia, Art. Baptism.
There can be no question that the original form of bap
tism — the very meaning of the word — was complete immer
sion in the deep baptismal waters ; and that, for at least
four centuries, any other form was either unknown, or
regarded, unless in the case of dangerous illness, as an
exceptional, almost a monstrous case. To this form the
Eastern church still rigidly adheres ; and the most illustri
ous and venerable portion of it, that of the Byzantine em
pire, absolutely repudiates and ignores any other mode of
administration as essentially invalid. — Stanley's Hist. East
ern Chitrck, Scribner's ed., p. 117.
Baptism in early times was generally administered bv
immersion. — Cassell's Bible Diet, Art. Baptism.
The language of the New Testament and of the primi
tive fathers sufficiently points to immersion as the com
mon mode of baptism. — Smith's Diet, of the Bible, Art.
Baptism.. [It is but just to say that the writer of this article
12

178 . APPENDIX.
expresses his opinion that in exceptional cases sprinkling
or pouring was substituted.]
It is, however, indisputable that in the primitive church
the ordinary mode of baptism was by immersion, in order
to which baptisteries began to be erected in the third, per
haps in the second century, and the sexes were usually
baptized apart. But baptism was administered to sick per
sons by sprinkling ; although doubts as to the complete
efficacy of this clinic (sick) baptism were evidently preva
lent in the time of Cyprian (middle of third century).
Baptism by sprinkling gradually became more prevalent,
but the dispute concerning the mode of baptism became
one of the irreconcilable differences between the Eastern
and Western churches, the former generally adhering to
the practice of immersion, while the latter adopted mere
pouring of water on the head, or sprinkling on the face,
which practice has generally prevailed since the thirteenth
century — but not universally, for it was the ordinary prac
tice in England, before the Reformation, to immerse infants,
and the fonts in the churches were made large enough for
this purpose. This continued also to be the practice till
the reign of Elizabeth ; and the change which then took
place is ascribed to the English divines who had sought
refuge in Geneva and other, places of the continent during
the reign of Mary. To this day the rubric of the Church
of England requires that if the godfathers and godmoth
ers "shall certify him that the child may well endure it,"
the officiating priest " shall dip it in the water discreetly
and warily ;" and it is only " if they shall certify that the
child is weak," that "it shall suffice to pour water upon
it," which, however, or sprinkling, is now the ordinary
practice. — Chambers's Cyclopedia, Art. Baptism.
The primitive mode of baptizing was by immersion, as
we learn from the clear testimony of Holy Scripture and

APPENDIX. 179
of the fathers. . . . That immersion was the ordinary
mode of baptizing in the primitive church is unquestion
able. . . . The innovation of affusion, or pouring water
on the baptized, afterward began in the Latin church, and
has become the general Western usa.ge.~Blunt's Diet, of
Doct. and Hist Theology, Art. Baptism.
Baptism (f3aT?Tio/ia, baptisma : the word fiatrTMfibz , baptis-
mos, occurs only three times, viz. : Mark vii. 8 ; Heb. vi. 2 ;
ix. 10). The verb jia-n-Tileiv, baptizein (from /?air-«v, bap-
tein, to dip,) is the rendering of Tabxl by the LXX, in
2 Kings v. 14. The Latin fathers render 0avriretv by tin-
gere (e.g., Tertull. adv. Prax., c. 26, " Novissime mandavit
ut tingerent in Patrem Filium et Spiritum Sanctum") ; by
ntergere (as Ambros. De Sacramentis, lib. ii. c. 7, " Inter
rogans es, Credij in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem ? Dix-
isti Credo ; et mersisti, hoc est sepultus es ") ; by mergitare
(as Tertullian, De Corona Militis, c. 3, " Dehinc ter mergi-
tamar"); see Suicer J-. v., avadba. By the Greek fathers
the word fiawTi&iv is often used, frequently figuratively, for
to immerse or overwhelm with sleep, sorrow, sin, etc. . .
See Suicer .r. v., flaimCa. Hence fla-ima/ia properly and
literally means immersion. — Smith's Bible Diet., Art.
Baptism. Immersion is peculiarly agre'eable to the 'institution of
Christ, and to the practice of the Apostolical church, and
so even John baptized, and immersion remained common
for a long time after ; except that in the third century, or
perhaps earlier, the baptism of the sick [baptisma clinico-
rum) was performed by sprinkling or affusion. .Still some
would not acknowledge this to be true baptism, and con
troversy arose concerning it — so unheard of was it at that
time to baptize by simple affusion. Cyprian first defended
baptism by r sprinkling, when necessity called for it; but
cautiously, and with much limitation. By degrees, how-

180 APPENDIX.
ever, this mode of baptism became more customary, prob
ably because it was found more convenient ; especially was
this the case after the seventh century, and in the Western
church ; but it did not become universal until the com
mencement of the fourteenth century. ... It would
have been better to have adhered generally to the ancient
practice, as even Luther and Calvin allowed ; vid. Storr,
Doct. Christ. Pars theoret., p. 291. — Lectures on Chris.
Theology, by George Christian Knapp, ii. 516-17.
Immersion was the usual mode of baptism, and the sym
bol of repentance. According to Meyer, repentance was
symbolized by immersion, because every part of the body
was purified. But in that case the whole body might have
been washed without immersion, We must keep in view
the idea of a symbolical descent into the grave, or the death
of sin, although this view, as explained in Rom. vi., could
not yet have been fully realized at the time. — Lange on
Matt. iii. 6.
All commentators of note (except Stuart and Hodge)
expressly admit, or take it for granted, that in this verse,
especially in owerdip^pcv and V7£PSV, the ancient prevailing
mode by immersion and emersion is implied, as giving
additional force to the idea of the going down of the old
and the rising up of the new man. — P. Schaff in Lange's
Com. on Rom. vi. 4.
The former mode of ablution, that is, by immersing a
person under the water, " burying him in baptism " (Col. ii.
12), and lifting him again out of it, was without any ques
tion the ancient custom, was doubtless the manner in which
Jesus was baptized by John. St. Paul, therefore, speaks of
our baptism as representing the death, burial, and resurrec
tion of Jesus, and as grounded upon that representation,
our being " dead unto sin," " buried with him by baptism
unto death" (Rom. vi. 4), renouncing sin and being

APPENDIX. l8l
acquitted of it, by rising again to walk in newness of life. —
Notes on the Gospels, by Rev. Charles Hall, D. D., i. 38.
Baptism also, among the Jews, was a thing to be shud
dered at, inasmuch as the whole body was dipped in a
stream, however cold. Accordingly, by both words the
passion of Christ is denoted : by the cup, his inward pas
sion ; the cup is therefore placed first : by the baptism,
chiefly his external passion. He was distended inwardly
with his passion [referring to the cup ; he was filled with '
the cup of anguish] : he was covered over [as a person bap
tized is with water] with his passion. . . . James, when
slain with the sword, drank the cup (Acts xii. 2) ; afterward
John was baptized in boiling oil, as ecclesiastical history
represents. — BengeTs Gnomon, note on Mark x. 38.
"Under the cloud," /. e., overshadowed by the cloudy
pillar, as in baptism we pass under the cloudy veil of
water; "through the sea," as through the waters of bap
tism. This agrees with the Rabbinical representation of
the cloud : " It encompassed the camp of the Israelites as
a wall encompasses a city." — Pirke Eleazar, c. 104, as
quoted by Dr. Gill. Compare also Num. xiv. 14 : " Thy
cloud standeth over them." — Stanley on I Cor. x. 1, 2.
Were baptized : entered by the act of immersion into a
solemn covenant with God, and became his church under
the law as given by Moses, God's servant — just as we
Christians are buried by our baptism in a solemn covenant
with God, and enter his church under the gospel as
brought in by Christ. . . . They passed under both
(the cloud and the sea) as the baptized passes under the
water. — A ford on 1 Cor. x. 1, 2.
This passage can not be understood unless it be borne
in mind that the primitive baptism was by immersion. —
Conybeare and Howson on Rom. vi. 4.

182 APPENDIX.
The (Jewish proselyte) baptism was administered in the
day-time, by immersion of the whole person.— Alford on
Matt. iii. 6.
Ablution in the East is almost a religious duty. The
dust and heat weigh upon the spirits and heart like a
load ; the removal is refreshment and happiness. And it
was impossible to see that significant act in which the con
vert went down into the water, travel-worn and soiled with
dust, disappeared for one moment, and then emerged pure
and fresh — without feeding that the symbol answered to,
and interpreted, a strong craving of the heart.^i7'. W.
Robertson's Sermon on the Pharisees and Sadducees at
John's baptism.
The observation of the Greek Church is this : that he who
ascended out of the water must first descend down into it.
Baptism, therefore, is to be performed not by sprinkling,
but by washing the body ; and indeed it can only be from
ignorance of the Jewish rites in baptism that this "is ques
tioned, for they to the due performance of this rite so super-
stitiously required the immersion of the whole body in the
water, that if any dirt hindered the water from coming to
any part of it, the baptism was not right ; and if one held
the baptized by the arm when he was let down into the
water, another must after dip him, holding him by the
other arm that was washed before, because his hand would
not suffer the water to come to his whole body. — Whitby
on Matt. iii. 16.
It being so expressly declared here and Col. ii. 12, that
we *re buried with Christ in baptism by being buried under
water ; and the argument to oblige us to a conformity to
his death, by dying to sin, being taken hence ; and this im
mersion being religiously observed by all Christians for
thirteen centuries, and approved by our church, and the
change of it into sprinkling, even without any allowance

APPENDIX. 183
from the Author of this institution, or any license from any
Council of the Church, being that which the Romanist still
urgeth to justify his refusal of the cup to the laity, it were
to be wished that this custom might be again of general
use, and aspersion only permitted, as of old, in case of the
clinics, or in present danger of death. — -Whitby on Rom.
vi. 4.
The mersion also in water and the emersion thence, doth
figure our death to the former (life) and reviving to a new
life. — Barrow's Sermon on the Doctrine' of the Sacra
ments. Rabbi Isidor Kalish communicated to the Christian
Union, published in New York, about the beginning of
1870, a statement concerning Jewish and Christian bap
tisms, from which we make the following extract :
But concerning baptism, all agreed, in ancient times,
that immersion of the body (not the clothes) in water was
necessary for a new member of the Jewish or Christian re
ligion. There was no sprinkling of water, as can be seen
by a description of the baptism which was performed by
John. See Matt. iii. 6, 16; Acts viii. 36. Yes, the Greek
expression, baptisma, used in the New Testament, shows
clearly that immersion of the whole body in water is re
quired. As baptism was a Jewish ceremony before the
time of Jesus, John the Baptist and the apostles surely per
formed it in the same way. and manner as the Jews did;
especially as it was not considered by the contemporaneous
Jews of John and the apostles as something new and extra
ordinary, and no Pharisee or Sadducee raised any objection
against it, as they did to many other performances, it is
certain that this ceremony was scrupulously done in Jewish
style.

184 APPENDIX.
We haye now presented quite a variety of testimonies
touching the meaning of the word Baptism, and the
practice of the primitive church in baptizing. As it. is
claimed by the advocates of pouring and sprinkling that
modern criticism has detracted from the weight of the
admissions of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and others who
wrote one, two, and three hundred years ago, we have
presented, generally, the testimony of scholars and his
torians of the present time, who have written in full
view of the ripest results of modern research. We
could readily have multiplied these quotations, but it
would only have been to repeat from other pens the-
same admissions.

INFANT MEMBERSHIP NOT APOSTOLICAL.
Baptism at first was administered only to adults, as men
were accustomed to conceive baptism and faith as strictly
connected. There does not appear to be any reason for
deriving infant baptism from an apostolical institution, and
the recognition of it which followed somewhat later, as an
apostolical tradition, serves to confirm this hypothesis. —
Meander's Ch. Hist., i. 430.
As the Church of North Africa was the first to bring
prominently forward the necessity of infant baptism, so did
they also join with it the communion of infants. — Ibid.,
p. 461.
We find, indeed, in one passage of Paul ( 1 Cor. vii. 14)
a trace, that already the children of Christians were distin
guished from the children of heathens, and might be con
sidered in a certain sense as belonging to the church ; but

APPENDIX. 185
this is not deduced from their having partaken of baptism,
and this mode of connection with the church is rather
evidence against the existence of infant baptism. The
apostle is here treating of the sanctifying influence of the
communion between parents and children, by which the
children of Christian parents would be distinguished from
the children of those who were not Christian, and in virtue
of which they might in a certain sense be termed a-yia, in
contrast with the an.adap.Ta. But if infant baptism had been
then in existence, the epithet ayta, applied to Christian chil
dren, would bave been deduced only from this sacred rite
by which they had become incorporated with the Christian
church. — Neander' s Planting and Training, i. 165.
i The principle of the Reformation, according to its mate
rial as well as formal relation, might easily lead to a fresh
examination of infant baptism, which, since the third cen
tury, had been held in general repute. For infant baptism
had received its authority through tradition, which, accord
ing to the Protestant principle, possessed no deserved
weight. The question, therefore, was, in this respect, how
the apostolic origin of infant baptism could be proved ; and
in reference to another point, how could faith, from which
every thing in the Christian life must proceed, be shown in
children. The reformers' had conformed to the prevalent
usage, and were first called from without to the examina
tion of it. The Zwickau enthusiasts who came- to Witten
berg, A. D. 1522, were zealous opponents of infant baptism ;
they raised a controversy upon it, and placed the Witten-
bergers in a state of embarrassment. Melancthon, in writ
ing to the Elector, declared that Satan had attacked them
in a weak place, for he knew not how he should refute
those enthusiasts : he thought it best not to dispute on this
subject, since this article was not of vital importance. On
Luther the doubts of the enthusiasts could not make such a

1 86 APPENDIX.
great impression : he knew how to relieve himself, though
he put down objections more by loud assertions than by
arguments. He granted that the church had power not
to baptize children, but his opponents could not prove
that infant baptism was against Scripture. Who could tell
whether God did not implant faith in early childhood as
in sleep ? Moreover, at baptism nothing else is done but
to bring them to the present Christ, who always receives
what is brought to him. These arguments prevailed, and
thus the necessity of infant baptism was .established. — Ne
ander' s Hist. Dogmas, ii. 692.
Infant baptism had not come into general use before the
time of Tertullian ; and this father, the most strenuous ad
vocate of original sin, nevertheless opposed paedobaptism,
on the ground that the age of innocence does not need
cleansing from sin. — Hagenbach's Hist. Doct, i. 198.
Before the close of this period (A. D. 1-311), the apostolic
origin of infant baptism was generally acknowledged in
theory, in the church, although the rite was not universally
practiced, particularly in the East. — Guericke's Ch. Hist.,
p. 140.
While stoutly arguing, with Schaff, for the probability of
an apostolic origin of the practice, Guericke nevertheless
says : " That this rite was actually practiced by the apostles
themselves, is not, indeed, capable of a strict and absolute
demonstration from New Testament data."
Again, p. 301, he says : " The necessity of infant- baptism
had already been very generally acknowledged in theory,
as early as the third century ; but it was not until the mid
dle of the fifth century that the exhortations of the most
distinguished church teachers to the actual practice of the
rite became generally effectual."
Regarded from the apostolic point of view, baptism can

APPENDIX. 187
not be connected either with circumcision or with the bap
tism administered to proselytes to Judaism. Between it
and circumcision there is all the difference which exists
between the theocracy to which admission was by birth,
and the church which is entered only by conversion. It is
in direct connection with faith, that is, with the most free
and most individual action of the human soul. As to the
baptism administered to the Jewish proselytes, it accom
panied circumcision, and was of like import. It purified
the neophyte and his family from the defilements of
Paganism, and sealed his incorporation and that of his
children with the Jewish theocracy ; its character was es
sentially national and theocratic. Christian baptism is not
to be received, any more than faith, by right of inheritance.
This is the great reason why we can not believe that it was
administered in the apostolic age to little children. No
positive fact sanctioning the practice can be adduced from
the New Testament ; the historical proofs alleged are in
no way conclusive. There is only one case affording any
ground for doubt, and those who attach more importance
to the general spirit of the new covenant than to an isolated
text, unhesitatingly admit that it is of no force.
Five baptized households are mentioned in the New Tes
tament. The family of Cornelius was baptized only after
the descent of the Holy Ghost on all its members (Acts x.
44, 47). The family of the jailer at Philippi had heard the
preaching of Paul and Silas : " They spake unto him the
word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house" (Acts
xvi. 32). The house then contained no child incapable
of comprehending the gospel. We read in Acts xviii. 8 :
" Crispus believed in the Lord with all his house." St.
Paul says (1 Cor. i. 16) that he baptized the family of Ste
phanas; and in the same epistle (xvi. 15) he mentions that
this family was the first fruits of his ministry in Achaia, a
statement which implies that all its members were con-

1 88 APPENDIX.
verted. The single doubtful case is that of the baptism of
the family of Lydia (Acts xvi. 15), but it loses this charac
ter when we connect it with the instances already referred
to. It appears to us evident that the family of Lydia was
the first fruits of Macedonia; as the family of Stephanas
was of Achaia. — E. De Pressense's Early Years of Christi
anity, pp. 336-37.
Though baptism, as the symbol of an inward change,
was conferred at first only upon converts to the Christian
faith, according to the prevailing modern opinion of Bibli
cal critics, yet at an early period the practice was intro
duced of baptizing infants, the church requiring security,
through certain sponsors, that the children should be
brought up to lead a godly and Christian life. — American
Cyclopedia, Art. Baptism.
The passage, on the one hand, is against the practice
of infant baptism in the apostle's time. For (1.) he would
hardly have provided an argument on the derivation of the
children's holiness from their Christian parent or parents,
if there had been a distinct act by which the children had
themselves been admitted formally into the Christian soci
ety ; and (2.) he would not have spoken of the heathen
partner as being "holy " in the same sense as the children
were regarded as holy, viz. : by connection with a Christian
household, if there had been so obvious a difference be
tween the conditions of the two as that the one was, and
the other was not baptized. — Stanley on 1 Cor. vii. 14.

DESIGN OF BAPTISM.
The words of Peter deeply impressed many, who anx
iously asked, What must we do ? Peter called upon them
to repent of their sins, to believe in Jesus, as the Messiah

APPENDIX. 1 89
who could impart to them forgiveness of sins, and freedom
from sin ; in this faith to be baptized, and thus outwardly
to join the communion of the Messiah ; then would the
divine power of faith be manifested in them, as it had al
ready been in the community of believers ; they would
receive the same gifts of the Holy Spirit, the bestowment
of which was simultaneous with the forgiveness of sins,
and freedom from sin ; for the promise related to all be
lievers without distinction, even to all in distant parts of
the world, whom God by his grace should lead to believe
in Jesus as the Messiah. — Meander's Planting and Train
ing, i. 19.
As Paul, in speaking of the church, presupposes that the
outward church is the visible community of the redeemed,
so he speaks of baptism in the supposition that it corre
sponded to its idea, that all that was inward, whatever
belonged to the holy rite and its complete observance, ac
companied the outward ; hence he could assert of outward
baptism whatever was involved in a believing appropriation
of the divine facts which it symbolized — whatever was re
alized when baptism fully corresponded to its original de
sign. Thus he says that all those who had been baptized
into Christ had entered into vital communion with him
(Gal. iii. 27) ; language which was applicable only to those
in whom the inward and outward coalesced. Hence also
he calls baptism the bath of regeneration and of renewal
of the Holy Spirit (Tit. iii. 5). And hence he says that
Christ by baptism has purified the whole church as a prep
aration for that perfect purity which it will exhibit in that
consummation to which the Saviour intends to bring his
redeemed (Eph. v. 26). — Ibid., i. 496.
Like the apostles, the first teachers of the church re
garded baptism, not as a mere ritual act, but as having its
objective results. " Baptism was to them not merely a

190 APPENDIX.
significant symbol, representing to the senses the internal
consecration and renewing of the soul, but an efficacious
medium for really conveying to believers the blessings of
the gospel, and especially the benefits of the sacrificial
death of Christ. — Gerrisch, Justin d. Mart., ii. 658, quoted
in Hagenbach's Hist. Doct., i. 198, note.
The primitive Christian baptism was neither a forced act,
like the baptism of the Saxons, for instance, at the order
of Charlemagne, nor a ceremony in the usual Baptist sense,
which imparts nothing new at all, but merely seals_ the faith
already possessed. The apostles never demanded full and
formal regeneration before baptism, but- simply an honest
longing for salvation in Christ ; which salvation was then
actually administered and sealed to them by baptism, and
afterward nourished and . developed by other means of
grace. "Repent," says Peter to the three thousand who
were baptized on the day of Pentecost after anxiously lis
tening to one short sermon ; " Repent, and be baptized
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re
mission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost;" thus placing these two blessings, the negative and
the positive, the remission of sins, and the bestowment of
the Spirit, as the effect, not the condition, of baptism. —
Schaff's Hist. Apost. Ch., p. 574.
Justin Martyr (A. D. 126) presents a valuable testimony
as to the view entertained of baptism in the beginning of
the second century. To prevent misconception and error,
he says that he shall " explain in what manner, being ren
ovated through Christ, we dedicate ourselves to God. As
many," he continues, " as believe and accept for true those
things which are taught by us, and profess their determi
nation to live conformably to them, are required, by fasting
and prayer, to seek of God the remission of their former
sins, we fasting and praying with them. They are then

APPENDIX. 19I
led to a place where there is water, and are there regener
ated in the same manner as we were regenerated : for they
are laved in water, in the name of God, the Father and
Lord of all; and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit. For Christ," he adds, "has said, that except ye be
regenerated ye can not enter the kingdom of heaven." In
arguing the necessity of regeneration, which he associates
with baptism as an act of faith, he says : " Since we are
born without our knowledge or consent, and (as heathens)
educated in corrupt morals and customs, therefore, in
order that wa may not remain children of necessity and
ignorance, but may become children of choice and of
knowledge, and obtain by water the remission of sins be
fore committed, the name of the Father and Lord of all is
pronounced over him who wishes to be regenerated, and
has repented of his transgressions." — Apol. I., p. 80.
Peter gladly imparts the instruction which they seek, and
may be regarded as fulfilling a special pastoral duty when he
explains the way of salvation to those who now were open
to conviction, or were awakened. He prescribes a twofold
duty, and promises a twofold gift. He demands that these
persons should (1.) change their minds (their whole moral
state should undergo change, pziavotm), and (2.) be bap
tized in the name of Jesus (i-zl ™ bvd/j.a-rt 'Ir/a. Xp., as an ex
pression of their faith in Jesus, or a recognition of him,
and as a pledge of their submission to him as the Lord and
Messiah). Peter assumes that his hearers already possess
a certain amount of knowledge concerning baptism as an
outward act, having derived it from the well-known prac
tice of John the Baptist, and also from the course pursued
by Jesus himself (John iv. 1, 2). Peter's demand, there
fore, embraces a change of mind, and faith, in addition to
the outward baptism. The latter is here viewed, on the
one hand, as a moral act of the person who is baptized,

192 APPENDIX.
but on the other hand (in consequence of the promise that
is immediately subjoined), unquestionably also as a meas
ure of grace proceeding from God. The apostle promises
to those who repent and receive baptism (1.) the remission
of sins, and (2.) the gift of the Holy Ghost. — Dr. Leckler
on Acts ii. 38, in Lange's Acts, p. 52.
Baptism is a divine act in so far as God separates the in
dividual from a perverse and sinful generation (uuffijre, in
ver. 40, implies that grace is a saving power to which man
yields), remits his sins, and bestows the Holy Ghost upon
him (ver. 38). This (<i0eff<c i/iapnav) apkesis hamartioon., is
unquestionably connected more intimately and directly
than the gift of the Holy Ghost with the baptismal act ; the
former (d<?s<nc) is indicated by the word etc (for the remis
sion, etc.) as the immediate purpose of baptism, and as the
promise inseparably connected with it, while general terms
are all that now succeed, viz.: "And ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost." — Ibid., p. 53.
Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins. — We have
here a noble testimony to the value which was assigned to
holy baptism by the pure apostolical church. It was not a
mere external ceremony, but a means of grace for washing
away sins, and was the first actual entrance into the church
of Jesus. (Ap. Past.). — Lange's Acts, p. 402.

NO PRIESTLY CASTE IN THE APOSTOLICAL
CHURCH.
Such a guild of priests as existed in the previous systems
of religion, empowered to guide other men, who remained,
as it were, in a state of religious pupilage, having the ex
clusive care of providing for their religious wants, and
serving as mediators by whom all other men must first be

APPENDIX. 193
placed in connection with God and divine things— such a
priestly caste could find no place within Christianity. In
removing that which separated men from God, in commu
nicating to all the same fellowship with God, Christ also
removed the barrier which had hitherto divided men from
one another. Christ, the Prophet and High Priest for entire
humanity, was the end of the prophetic office and of the
priesthood. There was now the same High Priest and
Mediator for all, through whom all men, being once
reconciled and united with God, are themselves made a
priestly and spiritual race. . . . When the apostles
applied the Old Testament idea of the priesthood to Chris
tianity, this seems to me to have been done invariably for
the simple purpose of showing that no such visible, partic
ular priesthood could find place in the new community ;
that since free access to God and to heaven had by the
one High Priest, even Christ, been opened once for all to
believers, they had, by virtue of their union to him, be
come themselves a spiritual people, consecrated to God ;
their calling being none other than to dedicate their entire
life to God as a thank-offering for the grace of redemption,
to publish abroad the power and grace of Him who had
called them out of darkness into his marvelous light, to
make their life one continual priesthood, one spiritual wor
ship springing from the temper of faith working by love —
one continuous testimony for their Saviour. Compare 1
Pet. ii. 9 ; Rom. xii. 1 ; and the spirit and whole train of
thought running through the epistle to the Hebrews. . . .
The essence of the Christian community rested on this :
that no one individual should be the chosen pre-eminent
organ of the Holy Spirit for the guidance of the whole ; but,
for the advancement of the Christian life and of the com
mon en-d, all were to co-operate— each at his particular
position, and with the gifts bestowed on him, one supplying
what might be wanted by another. . . . This notion
13

194 APPENDIX.
now of a peculiar people of God (a k;%oc tov &eou), applied
distinctively to a particular order of men among the Chris
tians, is wholly foreign to the original Christian mind. For
according to this, all Christians should be a people conse
crated to God, a iOJjqoq tov fieov, and even all their earthly
callings ought to be sanctified by the temper in which they
are discharged. ... It may be questioned, however,
whether the other notion, so much at variance with tne
primitive Christian idea, was actually associated from the
first with the appellation (iiXjipLitoi) kleerikoi, as applied to
the clergy. If we trace the history of its usage, it becomes
much more probable that this sense was brought into the
word at some later period, when a change had taken place
in the Christian mode of thinking, and the original sense
was forgotten. The word (nM/pog) kleeros signified origin
ally the place in the church which by God's providence had
been allotted to each, or the choice of the people directed
by that providence ; hence the church offices were particu
larly denominated (iCArjpoi) kleeroi, and the persons chosen
to them (Kknpumi) kleerikoi. — Neander's Ch. Hist., i. 249,
251, 272.
God is, indeed, in the Old Testament, said to be the in
heritance of the Levites, because a determined share of the
sacrifices and offerings made to God was in part to serve
them instead of an estate in land, such as was given to
each of the other tribes. But, I pray you, mark the differ
ence : nowhere is the tribe of Levi called God's inheritance,
though that expression is repeatedly used of the whole
nation. Concerning the whole Israelitish nation, Moses,
who was himself a Levite, says, in an address to God
(Deut. ix. 29), "They are thy people, and thine inherit
ance (lAfipoq) which thou broughtest out by thy mighty
power." The same persons are in the same sentence de
clared to be both the (fctog) laos and the (iJiTjpb) kleeros.

APPENDIX. 195
"What!" says the canonist, "at once laymen and clergy?
That is certainly absurd; the characters are incompatible."
Yet it did not then appear so to Moses. Now would "it be
thought reasonable or just, that what was allowed to be the
privilege and the glory of every Israelite under the more
servile establishment of Moses, should, under the more lib
eral dispensation of the gospel, be disclaimed by all those
disciples of Jesus who have not been admitted into the
sacred order, which they, for this reason, have called
clerical ?
When we recur to the use of the term in the New Testa
ment, we find one_passage, and but one, wherein it is ap
plied to persons (1 Pet. v. 3): "Neither as being lord's
over God's heritage (xXypuv), but being ensamples to the
flock." They are part of a charge given to the presbyters
or pastors, relating to their care of the people committed
to them, who are called God's flock — which they are com
manded to feed ; of which they are to take the oversight,
not the mastery : and to which they are to serve as pat
terns. The same persons, therefore, who, both in this and
in the preceding verse, are styled the flock, under the direc
tion of God's ministers, the shepherds, are also called his
clergy or inheritance, over whom their pastors are com
manded not to domineer. — G. Campbell's Lectures on Ec.
Hist, pp. 1 7 1-2.

BISHOPS.

The rulers of the church were denominated sometimes
presbyters or elders — a designation borrowed from the
Jews, and indicative rather of the wisdom than of the age
of the persons ; and sometimes, also, bishops ; for it is most
manifest that both terms are promiscuously used in the
New Testament of one and the same class of persons (Acts

196 APPENDIX.
xx. 17, 28 ; Phil. i. 1 ; Tit. i. 5-7 ; 1 Tim. iii. 1). These were
men of gravity, and distinguished for their reputation, in
fluence, and sanctity. — Mosheim' s Ec. Hist., i. 69.
While the Christian assemblies or churches were but
small, two, three, or four presbyters were found amply suf
ficient to labor for the welfare and regulate the concerns
of each : and over a few men like these, inflamed as they
were with the sincerest piety toward God, and receiving
but very moderate stipends, it was not required that any
one should be appointed to preside in the capacity of a
ruler or superintendent. But as the congregations of Chris
tians became every day larger and larger, a proportionate
gradual increase in the number of the presbyters and min-
isters/of necessity took place ; and as the rights and power
of all were the same, it was soon found impossible, under
the circumstances of that age, when every church was left
to the care of itself, for any thing like a general harmony
to be maintained among them, or for the various necessities
of the multitude to be regularly and satisfactorily provided
for, without some one to preside and exert a controlling
influence. Such being the case, the churches adopted the
practice of selecting and placing at the head of the council
of presbyters, some one man of eminent wisdom and pru
dence, whose peculiar duty it should be to allot to his col
leagues their several tasks, and by his advice, and every
other mode of assistance, to prevent, as far as in him lay,
the interests of the assembly, over which he was thus ap
pointed to preside, from experiencing any kind of detriment
or injury. The person thus advanced to the presidency
was at first distinguished by the title of " the angel " of his
church ; but in after times it became customary 'to style
him, in allusion to those duties which constituted the chief
branch of his function, "the bishop." In what particular
church, or at what precise period, this arrangement was

APPENDIX. 197
first introduced, remains nowhere on record. It appears
to me, however, that there are the strongest reasons for
believing that the church of Jerusalem, which in point of
numbers exceeded every other, took the lead in this re
spect ; and that her example was gradually copied after by
the rest in succession, according as their increase in size,
or their situation in other respects, might suggest the pro
priety of their doing so. . . . But the evidence which,
as I have stated above, I deem conclusive as to this point,
is this : that neither in the Acts of the Apostles, nor in St.
Paul's epistles, although in both express mention is fre
quently made of presbyters and deacons, do we find the
least notice taken of any church having been subject to
the authority or rule of a single man. — Mosheim' s Com.,
i. 169-70.
The presidency or chief superintendence of the whole
church rested with the apostles themselves. Next under
these were certain men of approved faith and authority,
who were distinguished by the Jewish appellation of pres
byters or elders. They were no doubt appointed to their
office by the apostles, with the consent of the people, and
gave their counsel, voice, and assistance in the government
of the church at large, or certain parts of it. . . . The
power of enacting laws, of appointing teachers and minis
ters, and of determining controversies, was lodged in the
people at large ; nor did the apostles, although invested
with divine authority, either resolve on or sanction any
thing whatever without the knowledge and concurrence of
the general body of Christians of which the church was
composed. — Ibid., p. 146.
It is also true that in the earliest government of the first
Christian society, that of Jerusalem, not the elders only,
but the whole church were associated with the apostles ;
and it is even certain that the terms bishop and elder or

198 APPENDIX.
presbyter were in the first instance, and for a short period,
sometimes used synonymously, and indiscriminately ap
plied to the same order, in the ministry. Frqm the com
parison of these facts it seems natural to draw the following
conclusions : that during the lifetime of the apostles they
were themselves the directors, or at least the presidents of
the church ; that, as long as they remained on earth, it was
not necessary, in all cases, to subject the infant societies to
the delegated authority of a single superintendent, though
the instances of Titus and Timothy clearly prove that it
was sometimes done ; and that, as they were severally re
moved from the world, some distinguished brother was in
each instance appointed to succeed, not indeed to the
name and inspiration, but to the ecclesiastical' duties of the
blessed teacher who had founded the church. The con
currence of ancient records confirms this last conclusion ;
the earliest church historians enumerate the first bishops
of Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Smyrna, Alexandria, and
Rome, and trace them in each case from the apostles.
And thus it came to pass that, for more than twenty years
before the death of St. John, most of the considerable
churches had gradually fallen under the presidency of a
single person entitled bishop ; and that, after that event,
there were certainly none which did not speedily follow the
same name and system of administration. — Waddington's
Ch. Hist, p. 21.
The pre-eminence of a single individual at the head of
the whole was too likely to operate as a check on the free
development of the life of the church, and the free action
of the different organs, in whom it was necessary to keep
alive a consciousness of mutual independence.
Besides. Christianity freely appropriated to its own use
such existing forms as were adapted to its spirit and essen
tial character. Now, in the Jewish synagogue, and in all

APPENDIX. 199
the sects that sprang out of Judaism, there existed a form
of government which was not monarchical, but aristocrat-
ical, consisting of a council of elders (npeafivTzpoi), presbu-
teroi, who had the guidance of all affairs belonging to the
common interest. To this form, Christianity, which un
folded itself out of Judaism, would most naturally attach
itself. The same polity, moreover, would appear most
natural wherever churches were founded among the Pa
gans, in any part of the Roman empire, for here men had
been long accustomed to see the affairs of state adminis
tered by a senate or assembly of decuriones. It is, to my
mind, an evidence of such an affinity between the ecclesi
astical and the civil form of administration, that at a some
what later period the clergy were denominated ordo, the
guiding senate of the community, since ordo stands pre
eminently for the ordo senatorum.
That the name (iirioiwrnu) episkopoi was altogether syn
onymous with that of presbyters, is clearly evident from
those passages of Scripture where both terms are used in
terchangeably (Acts xx., com. ver. 17 with ver. 28; Tit. i. 5
with ver. 7), and from those where the office of deacon is
named immediately after that of bishop, so that between
these two offices no third one could possibly intervene
(Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 1,8). This interchange of the two
appellations shows that originally they were perfectly iden
tical. Even were the name bishop originally nothing more
than the distinctive title of a president of the church senate,
- of a primus inter pares, yet even in this case such an in
terchange would be altogether inadmissible. So, too, in
the letter which Clement, the disciple of Paul, writes in the
name of the Roman church, the deacons are immediately
named after the bishops as the rulers of the churches. —
Neander 's Ch. Hist, i. 255-6.
The actual officers of the local churches were chosen as

200 APPENDIX.
circumstances called for them, after the model of the syna
gogue. Elders (irpeajS'uTepoi) were appointed to preside and
preserve order in the church, and deacons (diaicovoi) to take
charge of the poor, and to assist in every effort for the
common good. The elders were sometimes called by the
unassuming name of overseers (kirianoizo^), an appellation
more consonant with Grecian customs, and first adopted in
Grecian congregations. Both titles were as yet used indis
criminately, although in consequence of the personal influ
ence of some who presided in the churches, especially of
Jerusalem, the way may have been prepared, even then,
for the distinction which became so decided and general
in the first ten years of the next century. — Hase's Ch. Hist,
pp. 38-9.
But aside from this immaterial difference in origin
and signification (of presbyter and bishop) the two appel
lations belong to one and the same office ; so that the
bishops of the New Testament are to be regarded, not as
diocesan bishops like those of a later period, but simply as
congregational officers. . . . The identity of presbyters
and bishops in the apostolic church was also acknowledged
by the most learned church fathers, on exegetical grounds,
even after the Catholic episcopal system (which was sup
posed to have originated in the apostolate) had become
completely established. — -Schaff's Hist. Apost. Ch., pp.
523-4- In the single church, by apostolical ordinance, and partly
in accordance with the Jewish pattern of polity, elders,
TlpeapiiTepoi or 'Eiriraojroj, constituted the presiding officers.
That both names originally denoted the same office — as is
conceded even in the fourth century by Jerome (Comm. in
Tit. i. 7 ; Ep. 82 Ad. Oceanum, Ep. 84 Ad. Evagr., and Ep.
146 Ad. Evangelnm) ; by Ambrosiaster or Hilary of Rome
(Comm. in 1 Tim. iii. and Eph. iv. 11) ; also to some extent

APPENDIX. 20 1
by the Constitutiones Apostolica? (Lib. iii. c. 11); for sub
stance by Chrysostum also (Horn, i, in Philipp. i. 1), and
Theodoret (upon Phil. i. 1, and 1 Tim. iii.)— is plain from
the New Testament passages in which the names are used
interchangeably ; and in which bishops and deacons, with
out the mention of presbyters intermediate, are mentioned
as the only ecclesiastical officers in the single churches. —
Guericke's Ch. Hist., pp. 107-8.
This identity of the office of bishop with that of elder is so
very apparent in the New Testament that it was admitted
by the whole ancient church, even at the time of the rise
of the episcopate properly so-called. " The elder is iden
tical with the bishop," said St. Jerome, " and before parties
had so multiplied under diabolical influence, the churches
were governed by a council of elders." — Early Years of
Christianity, pp. 309-10.

DEACONS AND DEACONESSES.
From Jerusalem this arrangement spread to other
churches. For although others did not adopt the com
munity of goods, yet it was necessary every-where to pro
vide in some regular way for the poor and the sick, as well
as for the external services of the sanctuary. It is true
Acts xiv. 23 (comp. Tit. i. 5) speaks only of appointing
elders ; but we have express mention of deacons in the
churches at Rome (Rom. xii. 7), Philippi (Phil. i. 1), and
Corinth ; for the existence of a deaconess, Phebe, at Gen-
chrea (Rom. xvi. 1) certainly leads us to infer that there
were deacons there also, and the gift of " helps " (av-iMftysts ,
I Cor. xii. 28) must be understood particularly as a qualifi
cation for this office. And generally we must presume that
these officers- existed in all the churches planted by Paul,

202 APPENDIX.
as he gives to Timothy and Titus special instructions in
regard to their election and qualifications.
The business of these deacons consisted primarily and
mainly, according to the account of their institution, in the
care of the poor and the sick. This is not inconsistent
with the statement in Acts xi. 30, that the money collected
at Antioch was delivered to the presbyters at Jerusalem.
We must suppose the relation to have been such, that the
presbyters were the proper treasurers of the congregation,
and that the deacons distributed the contributions under
their supervision, and perhaps collected the alms. This
external charge, however, naturally came to associate with
itself a sort of pastoral care ; for poverty and sickness offer
the very best opportunities for instruction, exhortation, and
consolation, and according to the spirit of Christianity the
relief of bodily wants should serve only as a bridge or chan
nel for'the communication of the far more precious bene
fits of the gospel. The helps or ministrations (A^rtA^i/rac),
counted by the apostle- among the spiritual gifts (1 Cor.
xii. 28), relate perhaps to the whole compass of these works
of charity belonging to the deacons. Hence in the appoint
ment of deacons men were looked for of strong faith and
exemplary piety (Acts vi. 5, comp. v. 8) ; and Paul requires
that deacons be of good report, upright, temperate, free
from covetousness (to which their handling of the public
fund might be a temptation), and sound and well instructed
in the faith. This last specification, again, looks to their
participation in the pastoral work, and also in the business
of teaching. That these helpers at this time also preached
the gospel, when properly gifted, follows even from the
general liberty to teach ; and is besides explicitly confirmed
by the example of Stephen, the enlightened forerunner of
the great apostle of the Gentiles, and of Philip, also one
of the seven at Jerusalem. It was very natural that those
who distinguished themselves in this service by their gifts

APPENDIX. 203
and zeal, should be advanced to higher offices. — Schaff's
Hist. Apost. Ch., pp. 533-4.
Besides this class of helpers, we find in the apostolic
church the order of female deacons, or deaconesses ; which
was supplementary to the other office, and was kept up in
the Greek Church down to the thirteenth century. It is
commonly regarded as having originated among the Gen
tile Christians, where the women lived in greater seclusion,
and their intercourse with men was more restricted than
among the Jews. But aside from any rules of propriety,
the general need required that for special pastoral service
and the care of the poor and sick among the female part
of the congregation there should be a corresponding office.
Here was open to women, to whom the apostle forbade any
active part in the public assemblies, a noble field for the
unfolding of their peculiar gifts, for the exercise of their
love and devotion, without any departure from their natu
ral and proper sphere. By means of this office they could
carry the blessings of the gospel into the most private and
delicate relations of domestic life, and, unseen by the world,
might quietly and modestly do unspeakable good. To this
care of the widows, of the poor, and of the sick, as in the
case of the male deacons, various other services no doubt
came to be added, though we have no distinct account of
them. Among these we reckon the education of orphans,
attention to strangers, the practice of hospitality (comp. I
Tim. v. 10), and the assistance needed at the baptism of
females. t
The existence of such deaconesses in the apostolic church
is placed beyond doubt by Rom. xvi. 1, where Paul com
mends to the kind interest of the Roman Christians the
sister Phebe, probably the bearer of the letter, describing
her as "a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea."
In all probability Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis, who are

204 APPENDIX.
praised (ver. 12) for their labor in the Lord, served the
Roman church in the same capacity. — Ibid., p. 535.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
Probably in young and inexperienced congregations,
they (the, apostles and their delegates Timothy and Titus)
nominated the candidates themselves, simply calling for
the concurrence of the new converts. But assuredly they
always regarded "in this matter the wishes of the Christian
people, as may be seen from the direction in the pastoral
epistles, that none but men of blameless reputation should
be chosen to these dignities. The formal right of the con
gregation to an active concern in all its affairs can not be
questioned, though the actual exercise of this right is con
ditioned by the degree of their spiritual maturity. . . .
This view of the way of appointing congregational officers
is confirmed by the testimony of the apostolical father,
Clement of Rome, who says explicitly in his first epistle to
the Corinthians, that the apostle appointed bishops and
deacons "with the concurrence of the whole church." —
Shajf's Hist. Apost. Ch., pp. 501-2.
In regard to the choice of church officers — the first dea
cons were chosen by the church at the proposal of the
apostles (Acts vi.) ; and this was also the mode, certainly
at times, of making choice of the missionary preachers, or
evangelists. The first presbyters were appointed by the
apostles or their deputies (Tit., i. 5, compare Acts xiv. 23).
In the age succeeding (according to Clem. Rom. 1 Cor. c.
44), they were chosen " by other tried and capable men " —
without doubt elders or bishops — yet with the aid and con
currence of the whole church. — Guericke's Ch. Hist., pp.
IIO-II.

APPENDIX. 205 ,
Clement, in the passage referred to above, is reason
ing with the Corinthians concerning their conduct to
ward their rulers. His language is:
Wherefore we can not think that those may justly be
thrown out of their ministry who were either appointed by
them (the apostles), or afterward chosen by other eminent
men, with the consent of the whole church ; and who have
with all lowliness and innocency ministered to the flock of
Christ, in peace, and without self-interest, and were for a
long time commended by all.
In respect to the election to the offices of the church
[third century], the ancient principle was still adhered to,
that the consent of the community was necessary to- the
validity of the election, every one being at liberty to offer
reasons against it. The emperor Alexander Severus "was
aware of this regulation in the Christian church, and re
ferred to it in support of his wish to introduce a similar prac
tice in the appointment of civil officers in the provinces.
When Cyprian, during his separation from his church by evil
circumstances, nominated to church offices individuals about
his own person who had distinguished themselves in the
persecution, he apologized, both to the laity and to the
clergy, for this arbitrary procedure, which had been forced
upon him by the necessity of the times, and thus writes to
both : " We are accustomed to call you together for counsel
whenever any are to be consecrated to sacred offices, and
to weigh the character and claims of each candidate in
common deliberation."
The same principle was also observed in appointments
to the episcopal office. In the third century it was the pre
vailing custom (which, consequently, Cyprian derived from
apostolic tradition) for the bishops of the province, together
with the clergy of the vacant diocese, to proceed to the

206 APPENDIX.
election in the presence of the community, who, as having
witnessed the life and conversation of every individual on
whom the choice might fall, could therefore give the surest
testimony of his character. Cyprian conceded to the com
munity the right of choosing worthy bishops, or of rejecting
unworthy ones. — Neander s Ch. Hist, i. 277-8.
When a presbyter or bishop was to be elected, those who
presided over the church proposed certain candidates for
the office, of approved worth and ability. Of these the as
sembly at large pointed out by their suffrages, and not by
lot, him whom they deemed the most deserving ; and who
ever had the majority of votes in his favor was considered
as elected through divine preference. — Mosheim's Com.,
i. 104.
Of most of the apostolical churches the first bishops were
appointed by the apostles ; of those not apostolical, the first
presidents were probably the missionaries who founded
them ; but on their death, the choice of a successor de
volved on the members of the society. In this election the
people had an equal share with the presbyters and inferior
clergy, without exception or distinction ; and it is clear that
their right in this matter was not barely testimonial, but ju
dicial and elective. — Waddington's Ch. Hist., p. 23.

PUBLIC WORSHIP.

Justin Martyr, after describing the baptism of a be
liever, says :
After we have thus laved the consenting believer, we
take him to the place where those who are called brethren
are assembled, there to offer up earnest prayers in common
for ourselves and for him who has been enlightened (or

APPENDIX. 207
baptized), and for all others every-where ; that, having
learned the truth, we may be deemed worthy to be found
living in good works and keeping the commandments,
that so we may obtain eternal salvation. Prayer ended,
we salute each other with a kiss. Bread and a cup of water
and wine are then brought to him who presides over the
brethren ; and he, taking them, gives praise and glory
to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son
and the Holy Spirit, and offers up many thanks that we are
counted worthy to receive these gifts. Prayers and thanks
givings being ended, all the people present say Amen.
. . . Those we call deacons then distribute the bread and
wine and water — over which thanks have been offered — to
be partaken of by each of those present ; and carry a por
tion to the absent (Apol. I., pp. 82, 83 ; Otto, cc, 65, 66).
On the day called the day of the Sun, all, whether in
town or country, assemble in one place ; and the Memoirs
by the Apostles, or Writings of the Prophets, are read as
time permits. When the reader has finished, the person
presiding instructs the people in an address, and exhorts
them to imitate the excellent things they have heard. We
then all rise together, and pray ; after which, as before re
lated, bread and wine and water are brought (here follows
a statement of the observance of the Lord's Supper similar
to that already given). He adds, that a collection was then
taken, to which they who were wealthy, and chose, contrib
uted according to their ability and disposition ; and " what
is collected," he continues, "is deposited with the presi
dent, who assists with it orphans and widows, and those
who, in consequence of illness or any other cause, are in
want; those who are in bonds, and strangers sojourning
among us ; and, in » word, take care of all who are in
need." — Apol. I., c. 67, Otto.

208 APPENDIX.

BUT ONE CHURCH IN A CITY.
The epistles of the Apostle Paul give the clearest evi
dence that all the Christians of one city originally formed
one whole church. Yet we may easily suppose that some
parts of the church, without separating themselves from the
whole body and its guidance, held particular meetings in
the house of some person, whose locality was very suitable,
and who acted as the (Sidacicalog) didaskalos for the edifica
tion of such small assemblies. Thus it may be explained
how Aquila and Priscilla, while they sojourned at Rome,
or Corinth, or Ephesus, might have such, a small Christian
society in their own house. Yet it does not seem right to
consider these as absolutely separate and distinct churches;
for we could not suppose that such a company of believers-
would be waiting for the arrival of a person like Aquila,
who so often changed his residence ; they must have had
a fixed place of assembling, and their appointed overseers
(a presbyter or bishop, according to that supposition). In
i Cor. xvi. 20, the church, forming one whole (all the breth
ren) is expressly distinguished from any such partial as
sembly. In Rom. xvi. 23, a brother is mentioned in whose
house the whole church held their meetings. In Coloss.
iv. 15, after a salutation to the whole church, an individual
is specified and included in the salutation, at whose house
such private meetings were held. But it may be questioned
whether in such places as Rom. xvi. 14, 15 ("Salute Asyn-
critus  and the brethren that are with them." " Salute
Philologus  and all the saints that are with them"),
meetings of this kind are intended, or only those persons
who, on account of their family ties or connections in busi
ness, lived in intimacy with one another. — Neander 's Plant
ing and Training, i. 151.

APPENDIX. 209
Some scholars have imagined, indeed, that in the larger
cities there were several churches, with only one presbyter
or bishop to each ; that, consequently, the government of
congregations was from the first in principle, not demo
cratic, nor aristocratic, but monarchical. But this atomic
theory of a multitude of independent churches is refuted
by the passages just quoted (Acts xi. 30; xv. 4, 6, 23; xxi.
18; xx. 17, 28; Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14; Jas. v. 14; Titus
i. 5), in which the presbyters appear as a college; and by
the tendency toward organized association, which entered
into the very life of Christians from the beginning. The
household churches (tmtknalai ita-f oinov) frequently men
tioned and greeted, indicate merely the fact that the Chris
tians, where they had become very numerous, and lived
far apart, as in Rome particularly (the population of which
then exceeded that of Paris now), were accustomed to meet
for edification at different places. Such an arrangement
was perfectly consistent with the organic union of those
congregations as one whole, under the superintendency of
a common presbytery. Hence, also, the apostolical epistles
are never addressed to a separate part of the congregation,
an ecclesiola in ecclesia, a conventicle, but always to the
whole body of Christians at Rome, at Corinth, at Ephesus,
at Philippi, at Thessalonica, etc., as one moral person. — ¦
Schqff's Apost. Ch., pp. 526-7.

MORALITY AND PIETY OF THE EARLY CHRIS
TIANS.
In the letter of C. Pliny to the Emperor Trajan (A. D.
106 or 107), we have the following testimony:
And this was the account which they gave me of the
nature of the religion they once had professed, whether it
14

2IO APPENDIX.
deserves the name of crime or error ; namely, that they
were accustomed, on a stated day, to assemble before sun
rise, and to join together in singing hymns to Christ as to
a deity ; binding themselves as with a solemn oath not to
commit any kind of wickedness^ to be guilty neither of
theft, robbery, nor adultery ; never to break a promise, or
keep back a deposit when called upon. Their worship be
ing concluded, it was their custom to separate, and meet
together again for a repast, promiscuous, indeed, and with
out any distinction of rank or sex, hut perfectly harmless ;
and even from this they desisted, since the publication of
my edict, in which, agreeably to your orders, I forbade
any societies of that sort.

POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH NOT A SURE GUIDE.
Dr. G. A. Jacob, an eminent Church-of-England di
vine, in a recent work on " The Ecclesiastical Polity
of the New Testament," bears the following significant
testimony, with which we complete our quotations :
The opinion that we are bound dutifully to submit to the
authority, and ought to be guided by the practice and ex
ample of the church as it was in the first three, four, or
any other centuries, however prevalent and plausible, is
delusive and ensnaring. The church of the apostolic pe
riod is the only church in which there is found an authority
justly claiming the acknowledgment of Christian bodies in
other times. And such authority is found in this church,
. . . . because it was Under the immediate rule and
guidance of the apostles ; and it is. their infallible judgment
alone, as exhibited in this church, which has a legitimate
claim to our submission. Of the church of no other period

APPENDIX. 211
can the same be said, because the apostles had no succes
sors in their office. They stand alone, as the divinely-
inspired teachers, legislators, and rulers in Christ's church
and kingdom. . . . Nor can the nearness of the early
church [or of the "Nicene Fathers"] to the apostles' time
be with any effect pleaded in. behalf of its authority. For
it is not being near to truth and wisdom that makes men
true and wise. And there is unquestionable evidence that
soon after the apostles disappeared, the church was no
longer always guided by the spirit of truth and wisdom ;
but, on the contrary, gradually yielded to the seductions
of error — was corrupted by its contact with Judaism, Gnos
ticism, and Heathenism, and advanced more and more
along the downward road of superstition and formality.
. . . . Almost all the doctrines arid practices of Ro
manism are to be found only a little less intensified in times
long before the date of what is considered the commence
ment of the Papal system — beginning, indeed, at the end
of the second century ; making large growth, and gaining
strength and development, in the third and fourth ; and
numbering among its adherents, expositors, and supporters,
the greatest names of patristic divinity.

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The Christian Standard, a weekly Religious and Family
Newspaper, devoted to the advocacy of Primitive
Christianity, and opposed to Sectarianism.

Editors: Isaac Errett, Cincinnati, J. S. Lamar, Augusta, Ga.

The "Standard," in addition to the Religions reading (which
is ,its leading feature), gives the current news, and contains a vast
fund of information upon Farming, Mechanics, Manufactures, Min
ing, Domestic Economy, Literature, and the Markets, making it
pre-eminently a Family Newspaper, well adapted to the spiritual
and temporal necessities of the Christian.
The Standard has already attained the largest circulation of
any paper published among the Disciples, and, for the amount of
reading matter given, is much the cheapest. It is the aim of the
•ditors to make it a practical journal for the instruction of Chris
tians. Terms, $2.00 per annum, in advance.
SPECIMEN COPIES SENT FREE ! Remit by letter at the
risk of the Standard. Where possible, it is better to send money
by Registered Letter, Post-office Order, Draft, or Express.
Address, "CHRISTIAN STANDARD,"
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P

he Christian Quarterly,
Edited by W. T. Moore, W. K. PendTeton, Robert Graham,
Thomas Munnell, Isaac Errett, Alexander Proctor, S. E.
Shepard, is now complete for three years, in Three Octavo Vol
umes, and will be furnished in numbers, or bound.
Price, in Numbers, $3.00 per volume, or $9.00 for the set.
Bound, $13.00 per set, or $4.50 per volume.
The Best Thoughts of the Best Minds in the Christian Church.
Every Disciple should have this valuable work in his library.
Address, R. W. CARROLL & CO.,
117 West Fourth St., Cjnctnhati.

A NEW AND INTERESTING VOLUME OF'
Christian jjfjivgraphg.

:m::e3 moius
O F
Eldei\_ Jacob Ci^eath, Jf^
* BY
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ILLUSTRATED WITH A STEEL-PLATE PORTRAIT OF JACOB CREATH, JR.,

ENGRAVED BY SAMUEL SARTAIN.

One Volume t i6mo, uniform with "Walks About Jerusalem.'

PRICE, $1.25.

*T*HIS Biography of one of the most eminent of the Pioneer
Christian Preachers is intensely interesting. Much of the
book is autobiographical, Elder Creath having furnished many
incidents of a personal character, in his own graphic and powerful
style. The work covers a period in the history of the Church
when to be a Christian subjected one to obloquy and persecution.
R. W. CARROLL & CO,, Publishers,
«®"AGENTS. WANTED. 117 West Fourth St., CINCINNATI.

CHRISTIAN BOOKS,
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PUBLISHED BY

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Reason and Revelation, by R. Milligan,
Views of Life, by W. T. Moore,
Scheme of Redemption, by R. Milligan,
The Family Companion, by Elijah Goodwin, .
Life of Elder John Smith, by J. Aug. Williams,
The Living Pulpit of the Christian Church, with
28 Steel Portraits, . ...
Koinonia, the Weekly Contribution, by Jas, Challen,
Memoir of Elder Jacob Creath, Jr., by P. Donan,
Walks About Jerusalem, by Isaac Errett. Paper, 50c;
Cloth, 
Life of Alexander Campbell, by Dr. R. Richardson.
1 vol. ed. Cloth, §4 00; Sheep, ....

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Christian Tracts.
ioc. Each ; $i per Dozen ; $6 per Hundred. Excellent
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The Plan of Salvation, by Isaac Errett:
Connection between Baptism and the Remission of Sins, by W. K.
Pendleton.
The Fellowship, by Isaac Errett.
The Church of the Future, by W. T. Moore.
Confirmation, by W. f. Barbee. v
The Unity of the Holy Spirit, by % F. Powe.
Scriptural Exposition of the New Birth, by J. F. Howe.

fl^Any of the above sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price.
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BO-AGENTS WANTED. "®a

DR. RICHARDSON'S
LIFE OF ALEXANDER CAMPBELL,
COMPLETE in one volume, unabridged.
Containing over 1200 pp. Heading Matter, elegantly and substantially bound.
Fine English Cloth, $4. Leather, Library Style, $5.
* I "*HIS edition has been issued in answer to a general demand
¦*• that this elegantly-written and valuable Biography should be
brought within the means of all, and the Publishers now offer it
with full confidence that the Christian people will respond satisfac
torily. " This splendid work, hitherto published in two volumes, has
always had a large sale; but with a view to bring it within the
reach of persons of moderate means, it is now published, complete
in one volume, at $4.00 in cloth and $5.00 in sheep. It is a volume
of over 1200 pages, and contains the entire work excepting the
Preface, Appendix, and Table of Contents. It is just the thing to
meet the popular demand. Dr. Richardson is not only an elegant
writer, but his intimate associationwith Mr. Campbell during the
most eventful period of his life, enabled him to understand and un
fold his career so fully and correctly that the work carries an un
usual degree of historical authority with it. It is the only book
that fully presents the history and character of the Reformation.
Every preacher — especially every young preacher — should study it.
Every intelligent brother and sister should read it carefully. Buy
it. Buy one for your preacher. Buy two or three to circulate
among your religious friends." — [Isaac Errett, in Christian
Standard.  ,
THE LIFE OF ELDER JOHN SMITH,
With some account of the Rise and Progress of the Current
Reformation.
By JOHN AUGUSTUS "WILLIAMS.
ZFIZtTDE EISTG-XjISH CLOTH, $2.50.
"VT INE Thousand copies of this splendid Biography of the ec-
"*¦ ' centric but talented and pious " Raccoon Smith " have been
sold to delighted readers, and the demand still continues.
" This is one of the finest works of biography we have ever
read. The accomplished author has succeeded in doing that which
is the most difficult thing in this kind of writing: he has, without
exaggeration or fiction, added a charm to the life of John Smith
greater than it had before, even with his most intimate friends and
admirers. We knew him well, loved and admired him ; but we
seem to know him better, love and admire him more, through the
representation of this 'Life,' than ever before." — [Pres't Pendle
ton, in Millennial Harbinger.
R. W. CARROLL & CO., Publishers,
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