SERMON XLIX.

THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.

ACTs, ii. 48.

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

WE

E have here a beautiful picture of the primitive Church, drawn by the pencil of inspired truth, and remarkable for that hallowed simplicity which characterized the first disciples of our blessed Lord. It is a picture which we cannot too attentively contemplate. The more we are conformed in our faith and practice to the Church in the apostles' days, the nearer we shall approach to perfection. They had been but a little while deprived of the personal instructions of Christ; the Holy Spirit had been recently and abundantly poured out upon them; there had been no time for the growth of human corruptions. Under these circumstances it is reasonable to suppose, that the primitive. Church was correspondent to the will and precepts of the Lord, and worthy to be imitated as far as the situation of things would permit, in all succeeding generations.

In discoursing, therefore, from the words which I have selected for the guide of our meditations, it will be my endeavour to ascertain, in the first place, who they are of whom the narrative speaks ; and then enlarge on the particular things which the text relates concerning them.

When that power from on high, for which the apostles were commanded to wait in Jerusalem, had been visibly poured out

upon them on the day of Pentecost, we find them assembled with the disciples, in number about an hundred and twenty. In the midst of these, Peter, standing up with the eleven, delivcred the first apostolic sermon of which we have any record. It was a sermon worthy of him upon whom Christ had said he would build his Church. Its effects fulfilled this extraordinary promise. His audience were affected to the heart, and anxiously inquired of him and the rest of the apostles, what they should do. Upon being instructed by Peter in the nature and necessity of baptism, and of that faith and repentance which would qualify them to receive it, they were baptized by the ministry of the apostles; and in that day there were added to them three thousand souls. Now these are they to whom my text refers; these who by baptism, had been incorporated into the mystical body of Christ, and desired to be saved through his mediation. They were all the members of the primitive Church.

Let us then proceed to consider particularly, what the Holy Ghost hath recorded concerning them. "They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

By the apostles' doctrine we are to understand, that "form of sound words first delivered unto the saints;" that gospel which they had received of the Lord Jesus, and were commanded to preach to every creature. It is called the apostles' doctrine, because of their authority to teach and explain the principles of Christianity. As yet, there was no written word of the New Testament. But the Holy Ghost called all things to the remembrance of these first ministers of our Lord, whatsoever he had spoken unto them, and guided them into all truth. They, therefore, were the "priests" of whose "lips" the people were to seek knowledge." Their doctrine was the doctrine of Christ. In this doctrine the primitive Church continued steadfastly, that is, they were constant in their attendance upon it, single-hearted in their reception of it, and steady in their adherence to it. They were not moved from it by any seducing principles of unqualified teachers, nor by any specious reasonings of their own minds.

Listening to the apostles as to the ambassadors of Jesus, they received their word in the love of it, and, grounded and settled in the faith they taught, were ready to seal their assent to it with their blood.

The fellowship, in which they continued steadfast, admits of a more various explanation. It may signify that spiritual and mysterious union by which they were related to Christ, and members one of another; or it may refer to that mutual communication of their temporal comforts and cares, which was so beautiful a feature of the primitive Church. It is probable that the word in its connection with the text, embraces both these significations. "They were of one heart and one mind, neither said any that aught of the things which he possessed was his own. They jointly participated in the blessings of the gospel, and had the same care one for another which they had for themselves." It was this noble disinterestedness, this union and love, this unexampled charity, that attracted towards the first Christians the admiration and favour of all the people. Such a communion exists between the sincere disciples of the Redeemer in every age. They have a fellowship in their faith, they have a fellowship in their hopes, they have a fellowship in their joys, and though a community of goods is scarcely a practicable, certainly not a requisite thing, yet have they in effect a fellowship in their temporal concerns. For what Christian who hath this world's goods can see his fellow Christian in want, and withhold from him the things which are needful for the body, without violating his relation to Christ, and to the members of his body? If this sacred fellowship of the Church were more manifest to the world in the lives of its members, it would contribute not a little to the reputation of Christianity, and much to the happiness of its professors. How lovely is the picture of the manners of the first disciples, which is preserved in the chapter from which the text is selected. Read it, my brethren, at your leisure. Contrast it with the diversity of opinion, the wavering faith, the pride, and above all, the enormous selfishness, which mark the present day, and you will perceive one cause of the prevalence

of infidelity, and one reason why Christians, themselves, are unacquainted with half the felicities of their faith.

Among those who reverenced "the apostles' doctrine," and continued holy fellowship, we should expect to find a fondness for social worship, and a readiness at all times to commemorate the love of their Lord, and the ties of their relation to each other. Accordingly, of the primitive Christians it is added, that "they continued steadfastly in breaking of bread, and in prayers." We do not find, so long as the temple continued standing, that the disciples of our Lord absented themselves from it at the hours of prayer. For many reasons, they conformed, at first, to the religion of their country, so far as it was not incompatible with the principles of their faith. But at stated times, particu larly on the first day of the week, they assembled together for the purpose of Christian worship. We find always with them, one or more of the ministers to whom Christ had given charge of the tidings of salvation. In their employment, when assembled together, we have a model of the proper services of the Christian sanctuary. They are, prayer in the general sense of it, including all parts of devotion, and the celebration of the Lord's supper. To these was added the preaching of the word, for the edification of the people. Sacraments could not have been administered but by persons appointed to the office, and as none had been yet appointed by men, we necessarily conclude, that the ministry in the primitive Church was of Christ's appointment. It should seem, too, from the text, as well as from many other passages of Scripture, that it belonged to them to declare the doctrines of the gospel. From which two facts, from the nature of things, and from the practice of succeeding ages, we may reasonably infer, that they also led the devotions of the congregation.

Such was the worship of the first Christian Church. There are two things in their conduct worthy of particular observation; that they all attended steadily upon the services of public worship; and that they never failed, when they were assembled together, to unite in the celebration of the holy sacrament.

Nature dictates that men, who are social beings, who enjoy common blessings, and are liable to common evils, should render a social worship to the Almighty. How much more, then, is it the duty of Christians, who have received one common salvation, to assemble themselves together, that they may acknowledge their common Lord, and through his name, render to the ever blessed God the homage which he claims of his adopted children. Accordingly, in the purer ages of the gospel every member of the Church was present in the assembly of the saints. It was part of their life to attend upon the public service of their God. They were not content, like many of their degenerate posterity, with occasionally visiting the sanctuary, but every Lord's day were, with one accord, in one place! And, doubtless, they found the advantage of it. For "blessed are they who dwell in thy courts. They will be always praising thee." "Where two or three are gathered together in thy name, thou art there in the midst of them."

Whenever the primitive Christians assembled for the purpose of public worship, they all joined in the celebration of the Eucharist. This appears to have been a principal object of their meeting together on the first day of the week. Every man who relied for salvation on the offices of the Redeemer, felt it his duty, in the way which the Redeemer had appointed, to commemorate his death, and, consequently, qualified himself to discharge this duty worthily. Impressed with the greatness of the salvation which had been wrought for them, filled with reverential affection for the being who, through the sacrifice of himself, had obtained this salvation, it was their most pleasant social employment, to place before their God and each other, the hallowed memorials of his death; and in these memorials, the pledges of his and his Father's love, and in this love, the ground of their obligation to love one another. Yes, this sacrament, to which, once in the month, a very small part of the Christian community is persuaded to come, was, in the ages of primitive purity, administered every Lord's day, and to all who, by baptism, had been made members of the Church.