SERMON XXXIII.

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

ACTS ii. 42, 43.

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul."

ALTHOUGH Almighty God has in his just judgment permitted his church, once "glorious, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," to be as it were cast down to the earth, and defiled in the dust-though to her may be too truly applied what the prophet Jeremiah spake of the Jewish church in her affliction: "Her adversaries are the chief: her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions-and from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed;" though such, I say, be alas! the condition of Christ's visible church among us, at least to a rightly discerning eye, yet, blessed be God's holy name for it, we are not yet so far quite cast off, but that there still remains some ground, however faint, for consolation and hope. Whereon this our hope may be founded, is plainly a subject well worthy the consideration of thoughtful churchmen; and, as such, I shall now briefly request your attention to this one inquiry, whether it be not in our power to believe and to live as the first Christians did? because if this be in our power, it is evident that the door of hope and comfort is not yet closed against us, nor is it impossible but that living and dying according to the pattern of our forefathers in the Christian faith, the members of the primitive church, we may trust, as they did, being partakers of Christ's sufferings here, to be allowed in the day when he shall be revealed, to be like them "glad also, with exceeding joy."

Of the Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem from all parts of the world, to keep the feast of Pentecost, about seven weeks after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, a very considerable number were so wrought upon-first by the great miracle of the languages, and then by the reasoning of the apostles-that they could not but profess themselves ready to follow at once the guidance of men whom they were constrained to acknowledge as no other than the messengers and ambassadors of the Most High. "Men and brethren," said they, "what shall we do?" To which their earnest question the apostle's answer was as decisive as it was encouraging. "Repent," said he, "and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For (added he) the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call," without distinction of Jew or Gentile. And then the apostle continued his admonitions to them at considerable length, "saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation;" that is, he urged on them in a practical way, and with words of warning and caution, the danger they were in, either if they should refuse to embrace the Christian profession so offered to them, or if embracing it, they should afterward settle down into an unholy or careless course of life.

They, however, the history says, "gladly receiving his word," readily submitting themselves to the obliga tions of the Christian covenant, were admitted to be "baptized the same day, to the number of about three thousand souls." And at first, at least, whatever might have been the case afterward with some of them, theirs was not a mere external lukewarm profession, they really endeavored to live accordingly-"they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer. And fear came (or was) upon every soul."

Under these five heads there seems to be set forth to us in a general view, the religious course of life and practice entered on by the first Christians; those who

were members of the church within a twelvemonth after the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus.

If we can follow their example, surely we cannot be very wrong; if we neglect it, we cannot be very right. And this, I say, is a point highly deserving the consideration of all serious minds, of all who are in earnest about their salvation, of all who do not wish merely to feel safe, but to be so. And, alas! how few are these all.

You will observe that in the primitive church, religion was the chief thing on people's minds; they applied themselves in earnest to it, or as our translation well expresses it,"continued steadfast".

1st. In the apostles' doctrine; 2dly. In the apostles' fellowship; 3dly. In the breaking of the bread; 4thly. In the prayers;

and all this because

5thly. Fear (that is, awe and reverence, and a deep sense of the truth of the gospel) was on every soul.

First, It is said, "they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine."

The word "doctrine" means, in the original, "teaching," or "instruction ;" and in that sense merely is, apparently, sometimes to be understood in the New Testament, as for example, when it is said "the people were astonished at our Lord's doctrine," that is, at the authority and dignity with which he delivered his instructions, for so it is explained: "He taught them as one that had authority [of his own] and not as the Scribes" [mere expounders]. And St. Paul warning Bishop Timothy of the corruptions into which professing Christians should fall, admonished him to stand firm nevertheless, not to fail either in zeal or in patience: "Reprove," said he, "rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine;" that is, with unwearied teaching and instruction: and other places might be mentioned not unlike.

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Nevertheless, I suppose, the word "doctrine" has oftentimes a more confined and particular meaning, with reference, that is, to the great special concerning truths offered to the hearts (I say the hearts, rather than the minds) of true believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thus, for example (Acts xiii.), it is said of the Roman officer, Sergius Paulus, that he was "astonished at the doctrine of the Lord;" that is, at the statement of Christian truth set forth by the apostles, and confirmed by miracle. Again, St. Paul, in the first chapter of his epistle to Titus, describing the qualifications of a Presbyter, says, he should be one who can maintain (or stand up for) the faithful word or argument "according to the doctrine;" for so it is originally, though translated "as he hath been taught." In the short second epistle of St. John, the doctrine of Christ is three times mentioned, as above all things to be maintained by all who would lay claim to the name of Christian. To which may be added, that St. Paul congratulates the Christians in the city of Rome, that they had proved the sincerity of their conversion by their course of lifefor," says he, "ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you;" referring their thoughts as it may seem to the profession of Christian truth made in their baptism-in fact, what we term the creed, and what St. Paul calls "a form of doctrine," a type, or model, or rule of Christian truth.

From these and other passages which might be alleged, we may conclude that when it is said of the first Christians, that "they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine," we are to understand that they resolutely assented, both with their hearts and their lips, to those great fundamental principles of the gospel which the apostles set before them-and this, notwithstanding every difficulty, whether from within or without their own prejudices or the scorn or persecution of the world from whatever quarter the opposition might be offered, "they continued steadfast."

We observe, in the next place, what the sacred his

torian asserts of the members of this primitive church, that they "continued steadfastly also in the fellowship (or communion) of the apostles," as well as in their doc

trine.

This word, sometimes translated "fellowship," and sometimes "communion," seems to imply intimate union and sympathy, as of the members of the body one with another, so of all with the Head.

It is sometimes used to express the great mystery of God's condescending love, in uniting his church to himself by the mediation of his Son, and the sanctification of his Spirit; and sometimes it expresses the union of true believers in the visible church, each in their several stations, held together by the bonds of obedience and love, and avoiding all schisms and divisions as contrary to the doctrine which they had received.

This spirit of love and unity the first Christians most carefully cherished-thus they continued steadfastly in the apostles' fellowship and communion-and as long as they did so continue, the divine blessing was on them; but when some began to break the bonds of this unity, and to fall away into sects and divisions, we read in the letters of the apostles, how highly displeasing this their conduct was to the great invisible Head of the church.

We are told, thirdly, of this church of the first Christians, that they continued steadfastly in breaking of bread, or as it is originally, "the breaking of the bread;" that must mean of course the celebration of the holy feast of their Lord's body and blood, in the manner in which he himself appointed, when he said to his apostles, "Take, eat, this is my body;" "Do this in remembrance of me."

That this is the meaning of the expression, "breaking of bread,” we cannot doubt, both because such particular mention is made by all the sacred historians, of our Lord's breaking the bread at the institution of the holy Eucharist; and also because we are told repeatedly, that the apostles, as part of their public devotional duties, did break bread with the other Christians; and farther, because St. Paul expressly says, "the bread which we