"Three things equalize," says Bishop Hall; "the grave, the judgment-bar, and the pulpit. The grave makes no difference; the judgment-bar makes no difference; and the pulpit should know none." Daniel addressed Nebuchadnezzar as a common man: God," says he, "in whose hands thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity." John the Baptist was as rough as the garment he wore; and he was not ashamed to tell Herod, that magistracy itself is not above law: "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." James the First said of one of his chaplains, "Why this man always preaches before me as if death stood at his elbow." Why death does always stand at the preacher's elbow; and he ought to be able to say with Baxter, "I preach as if I should never preach again; and as a dying man to dying men." Nothing was so obnoxious to the Jews, as the announcement of the vocation of the Gentiles and yet Isaiah was very bold, and said, "I am found of them that sought me not; I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a people that was not called by my name." Nothing would have been so gratifying to the Galatians, as that the Judaizing doctrines that some of them brought should be tolerated: “But," says the Apostle, "if I seek to please men, I should not be the servant of Christ :" and therefore he could appeal to the elders of the Church of Ephesus, and say, " I am free from the blood of all men; for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." If the minister go on in this course, he will ensure the satisfaction of his own mind, and the veneration of the wise and good, and gain the conviction and approbation of those that ridiculed and condemned him; and, in a little time, his God will say to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

Thirdly, THE PEOPLE. "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.' Verily this may be called, as it has been, the golden age of Christianity; we may well exclaim, "How has the gold become dim! how has the fine gold changed!" What a beautiful representation have we here! Here is a glorious scene! Compared with this, what are all the trappings of the worldly sanctuary, or what the scarlet (excuse the language of Scripture) the scarlet of the whore of Babylon?

The people are here described by four things. The first regards their number. There was "a multitude" of them. Now, there is something very remarkable in this fact and yet it accords with our Saviour's declaration, who always represented his kingdom as very small in the beginning, like a little leaven in the meal, and like a mustard seed in the ground; but then this little leaven was to leaven the whole lump, and this mustard seed was to become a mustardtree, large enough for the fowls of the air to sleep in the branches thereof. Accordingly so it was: our Saviour first opened his mind to twelve, then to seventy; the common people heard him gladly and many among the poor

were evangelized; and some even of the rulers believed on him. Then we read of "five hundred brethren at once," on the Galilean mount: and then we read of one hundred and twenty in an upper room at Jerusalem; and then three thousand were pricked in the heart under one sermon, and cried out, "Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved?" And this, you will observe, was all in the very place where he had been crucified and many of these we have reason to believe, were his murderers, or, at least, that they had been accessories, taking pleasure in them that did it. This is not all; in a little time, in the same place, we find five thousand more: and all this in distinction from those who were "daily added to the Church of such as should be saved." And then we read, that "the word of the Lord increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of priests were obedient to the faith." And then we also read of "all the churches throughout all Galilee, and Samaria, and Judea ;" and so of others. This was "the Lord's doing; and it is marvellous in our eyes." "So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." We are very ready to concede, that success, by itself, is no absolute proof of the divinity of a cause; for what shall we do then with Mahometanism and Popery? But we contend, that here the case is so unspeakably peculiar, and that the instrumentalities employed were so perfectly, in themselves, inadequate to the result, that the effect must induce us to exclaim, "This is the finger of God."

The second particular regards their character. "The multitude believed." This term "believed," simply signifies, having a mental persuasion, or giving credit to the subject submitted for consideration. The subject reported by the apostles had been unknown, or held in contempt, before: but now the people received it as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation; and they now received it, not as the word of man, but as it was in truth, the word of God. And the belief became the germ of godliness in the soul, and the influence of it worked effectually in them that believed. Is this always the case with belief? There are some persons who contend that all belief is necessarily influential, and must operate according to the nature and importance of the truth received. We readily allow that it ought to be so; and it would be so if men were in a proper state of mind; but man is not now in a proper state of mind; he is in a fallen condition; and much of the fall appears in the derangement of the powers and operations of his soul: so that he now can see and approve better things, and yet follow worse; so that the clearest decisions of his judgment, the fullest dictates of his conscience, shall be counteracted by his passions and lusts. I will mention, not a proof of this, but a demonstration of it, at once. You all know and believe that you shall die; there is no one thing you believe with more firmness. Now I ask you, then, What influence has this belief over you? Do you live as dying creatures? Or, rather, do you not live as if you were expecting to live here always? The same will apply to any other subject. James, therefore, shows the inutility of that faith which consists in a credence of the truth, without a change of heart, without its working by love, and overcoming the world. You believe! what is this? Believe! so do the devils: the devils believe, and tremble, and remain devils still. A wicked man may hold the truth in unrighteousness. "Take heed, therefore," says St. James, "he is a vain man who says he has faith, and has not works." Can faith save him? Yes, it can: but not such faith

as he is speaking of. See to it, therefore, that ye are not satisfied with a persuasion of mind, without a renovation of heart. See to it that your faith is more than a consent to truth as credible; see that it be always accompanied with the disposition which the Scriptures have connected invariably with the faith that justifies before God. Such a disposition is to be seen, not only in your assent, but in your consent; not only in your submission, but in your acquiescence; because, with your approbation of the way must be connected your application of the way. Your belief must be seen in your coming to his feet, and crying out, "Lord save, or I perish;" in your love to his dear name; in your readiness to forsake all for him; in your mourning for sin; in your hungering and thirsting after righteousness; in the little account you make of this world, and the largeness of your store in the world which is to come.

"The multitude of them that believed were

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The third regards their unity. of one heart and of one soul." One object employed them; one cause engaged them; one principle swayed them. It must be obvious to you all, that the views, and tempers, and habits of men are very various; and, therefore, they are only to be brought into a state of social connexion by an object that is important and interesting-mutually important and interesting. All of you can find such a subject as this in the Gospel; and, therefore, in the language of prophecy it is said, that "all nations shall flow unto it," as so many streams flowing from different sources towards the same fulness-the sea. When the brazen serpent was erected in the midst of the camp, it became the centre of attraction and regard; all who were wounded and dying were of one heart to look towards it. Our Saviour, in allusion to this, says, I, if I be lifted up (on the cross), will draw all men unto me." If there were but one well for the inhabitants of a village or a town, why they must all repair to this, or perish. Said Jacob, when he was dying, "Unto him shall the gathering of the people be:" Isaiah said, "To him shall men come." Joseph had all the corn in the country, and therefore all the famishing multitude, who wished for relief, were of one heart and soul in sending to him for succour. So it is here, "It hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;" and therefore, says he, "Every man that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me." Did you ever observe the language of Isaiah here? "The wolf also," says he, "shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cocatrice' den." You are not to take this literally; and for this reason -because you see the effect here mentioned is to be produced by the diffusion of the Gospel; for, he adds, "They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." You are to take it metaphorically. The creatures described, are, in their nature, repulsive to each other; so they very properly represent the strongest prejudices and passions, which render men inimical to each other, and lead them to bite and devour one another. This was particularly the case at this time: Judea was divided by sects and parties, and was torn and distracted by feuds and animosities, as it had never been before; public,

private, political, and religious—they extended through every family, and destroyed every thing like happiness there: the hearts of the fathers were turned from their children, and the hearts of the children were turned from their fathers. Here was a state! And can all these become one heart and one soul? Yes. How? By being brought under the almighty influence of the Gospel and this was the case, the ferocity of disposition gave way to the meekness and gentleness of Jesus Christ: then that restlessness of man, which had been like the sea, which casts up mire and dirt, was stilled by the peace of God which passeth all understanding. Then they strove together for the faith of the Gospel; they were perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment: they were of one heart and one soul; one in their need of these blessings, one in their desire after them, one in their valuation of them, one in their concern to diffuse them, and to extend them to all their fellow-creatures. Having given up themselves to the Lord, they give up themselves to each other by the will of God, in testimony of their joint satisfaction with their new views, and the harmony of the sentiments and principles which they had embraced. Regarding only now the religious public welfare, they "looked not each man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." They were as one family; they were as one body; where if one member suffers, all the members suffer with him, if one member be honoured, all the members rejoice.

You will note here, that as they were now so numerous in Jerusalem, they must have worshipped in many rooms; for they had no buildings, for ages after this, appropriated to divine worship: they must have worshipped in many places, and have been addressed by as many preachers. Not that they were divided: but though divided into so many parts, there were no parties among them; they had not yet learned to be carnal and walk as men, saying, "I am of Paul, and I of Apollos." They could say with Paul, "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity:" they could stretch forth their hands, towards the disciples, as the Saviour did, and say, "Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father in heaven, the same is my mother, and sister, and brother." Such was the genuine effect of Christianity in its original lustre, and such we are fully persuaded will be the result of it again, when the Spirit shall be poured out from on high. The reason why we have so little of this in our day is, because, with all our professions and advantages, we live so little at the centre of Christianity; because we lay so much stress on things which the Scriptures have left at large; because we are disposed to look too speculatively, too fantastically, too metaphysically-I was even going to say, too mathematically, into the things of God. We are divided into too many sects and parties: Calvin must have his complete scheme of Calvinism; and Arminius his system of Arminianism; and various others must have their systems, to the exclusion of every other scheme. But from the beginning it was not so: they who were thus filled with the Spirit of God present an example for our imitation. They were satisfied with the words the Holy Ghost used, without requiring a mere definition of creed; though in some cases their ideas were less perspicuous than could be desired, yet if they were disposed to rest the whole weight of their salvation upon Christ, and make him the centre of their union, and give him the glory of his Godhead, why they all had given them the right hand of fellowship. Being thus knit together in love,

they felt themselves so united that they forgot (or rather they never knew) the distinctions that since have been introduced among us. Though the present day has been so sullied by the mistakes, and contentions, and animosities of professing Christians, yet, blessed be God, the disposition formerly manifested is not entirely abolished. There are some things still, proving that, while we receive the truth as it is in Jesus, and live under the influence of it, we shall live as brethren, and be pitiful and courteous, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. President Edwards observes, in describing the revival of religion under his ministry, that after preaching his first sermon, he observed a very peculiar and striking effect. When the service was over, and the congregation had withdrawn, two families, in different parts of the church remained, as if by joint consent. After a while he went out and addressed them: he then found, that these two families had been living for a considerable time at variance; but now that the Holy Spirit was poured down, they felt a mutual determination, that they would not leave the house of God, until they had been reconciled and embraced each other in his bosom.

Lastly, they are described by their liberality. "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common." You have heard often of the communion of the saints; here you have the thing literally. These Christians resemble the Jews, when they went out into the wilderness to gather manna: "He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack :" their property, by a conventional giving and receiving, being intermingled, became a kind of joint-stock, from which every man drew according to his need.

A few words here will be necessary, by way of explanation or qualification. I need not tell some of you how this example was abused by some early heretics, who pushed the thing so far as to plead even for a community of wives, and goods in every thing. This we presume-for it is not easy absolutely to determine; for all their vilenesses and abuses are first introduced ambiguouslybut we presume, that this is the mystery of iniquity which the St. Simonians in France have been endeavouring to establish there; and for which some months ago they came to London, but in vain: for though as a people I believe we are the most credulous on the face of the earth, and every folly and every delusion imported from the Continent, as soon as it is imported into the English soil, flourishes rankly, at least for a time; yet, blessed be God, they could not succeed here. "But," says Solomon, “What is there concerning which we may say, See this is new?" Truth is like the sun; it rises daily, and regularly, and performs the same course: but errors are like comets, they have their periods of return, some of which are speedier and some slower. Some fanaticisms which have abounded of late, seem as far as we can judge from history, to have returned once in about fifty years: quite often enough.

But, my brethren, to return to the subject before us: it would be a wild and extravagant opinion to support, and draw as a needful inference from this part of the subject, that all distinctions of property ought to be destroyed. But in the last two years there have been some individuals in the West of England, who have been victims to such delusions; who have acted upon this principle, and