anxiety and the eagerness here expressed. Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Such a question, however, might be asked of a physician, and he might have no hope to give. He might be forced to acknowledge that the case was one for which he could offer nothing.

It is not so with the apostle. He has a ready answer, and a certain promise.

38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, 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. 39. For 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.

With such confidence does Peter answer, and speak "as one having authority." He describes the issue as sure and certain. Repent, and be baptized and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Ye shall receive both pardon for the past, and grace for the future. Your transgressions shall be forgiven, which at present exclude you from the favour of God: and your nature shall be renewed, which has hitherto been averse from his will. Ye shall be baptized "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The Father will receive you: the Son has made atonement for you the Holy Ghost will sanctify you. Thus shall ye become members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven.

Such should be the blessing upon their repentance and their faith; the blessing which should be made over to them in baptism.

41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized : and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

42. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers,

So mighty was the effect produced upon that assembly. What was required of them was great indeed. It was required that they who had joined with the rest of their countrymen in rejecting Christ, should now acknowledge that he was the promised Messiah: nay more, that in him alone they could obtain "remission of sin." Others might not have been partakers of the same guilt but their general spirit had been, no doubt, the spirit of men self-satisfied; approving themselves as righteous; "resting in their knowledge of God" and of his law, and believing that "they had need of nothing." 1 Now their views must be wholly changed. They must confess themselves sinners in the sight of God, who had no hope but in his mercy: they must accept the terms of pardon offered by him, and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the remission of sin.

Such, and no less, was the repentance, the change required. And yet so strong was the emotion produced upon their hearts, that three thousand persons received the word gladly, were baptized, and became the first fruits of the death of Christ, the first members of that comwhich no man can number.

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The Lord had made an express promise, that although they had been few who followed him whilst on earth,

1 Rom. ii. 17.

and became his avowed disciples, it should not be always So. "When He, the Comforter, is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on me: of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye see me no more of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." "

We see, now, the explanation and the fulfilment of that promise. That so many, even three thousand souls, should so suddenly and so gladly receive the word, and be baptized as believers in Christ, can be ascribed to nothing but the Spirit of God taking away the veil from their hearts, and enabling them to see that all the promises to which their nation had been looking, all that "Moses in the law and the prophets had written," was now fulfilled in Him whom God had made "both Lord and Christ," but whom they "with wicked hands had crucified and slain."

It was no slight change, and required no small resolution. They would soon experience the truth of the Lord's warnings, when he said, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." They would have much to encounter from their friends; and many who had been their friends, would become their enemies. Brother would rise against brother, and a son would be at variance with his father. Nevertheless, they continued stedfast in the apostles' doctrine, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. The Pharisees are no longer regarded as their examples of sanctity, nor the priests or scribes resorted to for knowledge and instruction.

2 John xvi. 8-11.

The apostles had become their teachers, for they "had the words of eternal life." In their doctrine and worship they continued stedfast. Sacrifice and burnt offerings they no longer trusted to, as their mode of access to God. Those had been superseded by the one great sacrifice once offered for sin, of which the worship of the Law was but the type and shadow. This sacrifice they commemorated, and appropriated to themselves by the breaking of bread, as the Lord's body had been "broken for them," and as he had commanded them to do "in remembrance of him." And a new encouragement was given to their prayers; for he who was now their Teacher and Lord, had assured his disciples, that "whatever they should ask the Father in his name, he would grant it."s "For the Father himself loved them, because they had loved the Son, and believed that he came forth from God."

Here, then, was at once the interpretation and the accomplishment of the Lord's mysterious words: “I, when I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Three thousand souls, to which numbers were daily added, became the first fruits of the truth, now authoritatively declared and divinely enforced, that Jesus had been lifted up upon the cross, had died the death of sinners, that he might deliver from death as many as should repent and believe in his name. On "this rock," on the basis of this truth, he had declared that his Church should be built, of which the first stones were now laid at Jerusalem, and of which the superscription is, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men."

3 1 Cor. xi. 24.

5 John xii. 32.

4 John xv. 16; xvi. 27.

6 Matt. xvi. 18.

XVIII.

APPOINTMENT OF DEACONS.

ACTS i. 1.

1. And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

2. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

3. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

4. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

THE body of Christians which had been formed during the short period succeeding the Lord's ascension, presented a singular case. There was a community which, together with their families, must have consisted of thirty or forty thousand persons, of whom a large proportion were without the regular support arising from ordinary business or labour. Some, we must suppose, had been deprived of this, directly or indirectly, in consequence of their conversion. The enmity with which they would be treated, as departing from the common faith, and acknowledging Jesus to be the Christ, would pursue them in their vocations,