the ascension, it is not merely the deity of Christ, but Christ altogether, God and man in one Person, the same Christ that lay in the manger as a helpless child, and that bare the sins of the world on the cross, who is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, the ruler and the judge of the world. For Christ became man not for a season only, but for all eternity. For he certainly received the whole of human nature, body, soul, and spirit, into a personal union with his divine nature, and this union cannot possibly be ever dissolved. Besides, our redemption confessedly depends on our connection with the Redeemer, and that connection depends on the fact that he is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones. All that Christ has done and suffered for us, would be without advantage and in vain, if he should cease to be true man. But as certainly as he was raised, body, soul and spirit, to the right hand of the Father, so certainly he will, as the first-born among many brethren (Rom. 8: 29), hereafter draw us to himself, and make us joint-heirs of his eternal glory (Rom. 8: 17), if, namely, we have truly received in ourselves the power and the merit of his death and resurrection.

CHAPTER II.

THE PROMULGATION OF SALVATION BY THE APOSTLES.

§ 161. The Design and Significance of this Period.

"So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by THE WORD OF GOD." (Rom. 10: 17.)

"Built upon THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLEs and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord." (Eph. 2:21, 22.)

1. THE great salvation had now been secured in the person of the Redeemer. He had offered an atoning sacrifice by his death for the sins of the whole world, which was of eternal validity and infinite value, and brought to light in his resurrection the powers of eternal life by which all things are renewed. Still, salvation in Christ is extraneous, remote from the human race and productive of no advantage to it, until it is personally appropriated and received into the very sources of man's life. Now it is the office of the Holy Spirit to communicate and appropriate salvation. The first and immediate condition, accordingly, on

which further progress in the kingdom of God depended, was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh, which the prophets had already predicted (as Joel 2: 28, &c.), and Christ had distinctly promised (John 14: 16; 16: 7, &c.). The condition, on the part of man, on which salvation is appropriated, is Faith, that is, the cheerful, entire and confident surrender of the whole individual to the salvation which is offered in Christ. Now faith cometh by hearing (Rom. 10: 17) the preaching of the Gospel, inasmuch as without the latter, such a surrender to a salvation that is given historically, is not possible; on this account Christ commissioned his disciples to preach the Gospel to every

creature.

2. But this preaching is derived from the Word of God, since God alone can make known the deep mysteries of his grace in a credible, sure and reliable manner. The apostles consequently needed an immediate divine illumination (Inspiration, Theopneusty), by which their doctrine was preserved free from every error, and the full knowledge of salvation was generated in their spirit. Their instructive intercourse with their divine teacher had already sown in their spirit the living seeds of the Word, but it was only under the special superintendence of the Spirit of truth sent by Christ, that these could bring forth the fruit of saving knowledge and doctrine. Many precious words of their Master still lay as an unknown and unemployed treasure in their hearts, respecting which they needed the explanations of the Holy Spirit; Christ had, besides, reserved many things, which they could not yet bear, and had promised that the Spirit should thereafter guide them into all truth. (§ 133. 2.) The mere oral preaching of the apostles was not sufficient; it did not satisfy the wants even of their own times. The word that was simply heard was easily darkened in the mind and forgotten; it required a continual renewal and a stable and unchanging support, which the apostles could not furnish to particular congregations at a distance, unless they communicated their instructions in a written form. Their oral preaching could still less satisfy the wants of succeeding centuries, since the sound doctrine of the Gospel, on which the saving faith of the world was to be established, would have been subjected to losses, perversions, and admixture with

foreign matter through human error, and could not have served as a firm, unchanging, eternally reliable foundation of salvation. The great and momentous task of this period, consequently, was— the exhibition of the Word of God of the New Testament, as the living source of all religious knowledge, as the impregnable tower of faith, as the unchangeable foundation of every subsequent promulgation of salvation.

3. Another task assigned to this period, connected with the former, and not less momentous, was the establishment of the Church on the foundation of the Word of God. The Church (considered as contentum) is the organized union of those who are received through regeneration of water and of the Spirit into the communion of the life of Christ (the body of Christ, Eph. 1: 22, 23; 1 Cor. 12: 12-27); the Church (considered as continens) is the institution by which all the members of this communion are held together and encircled-the sphere of action of the Holy Spirit, wherein he calls, gathers, enlightens, justifies, and sanctifies all Christendom on earth, and preserves it in Jesus Christ in the one true faith; the Church is, under the care and superintendence of the Holy Spirit, the guardian of the Word of God, the fosterer of all divine knowledge and all divine life among men, and the distributer of heavenly grace through the Sacraments entrusted to it. Like the protection, preservation and extension of the church in every century, its very foundation also is the work of the Holy Spirit, accomplished through the apostles whom He chose and endowed with many extraordinary and miraculous gifts of grace.

OBS. 1.— A charisma or gift of grace is a natural endowment of the spirit enlarged and sanctified by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The different gifts of grace which were exercised in the apostolic Church are enumerated in 1 Cor. 12: 1-12, and 28-30.

OBS. 2.-The Acts of the Apostles ( 184.) constitute the source whence the history of the apostles is derived.

§ 162. The Day of Pentecost.

1. Acts 1: 13, &c.

After the ascension of the Lord, the disciples (one hundred and twenty in number) abode, according to

his command, in Jerusalem, and continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, waiting for the promised outpouring of the Holy Ghost. It was, however, needful that the significant number of the twelve apostles, which had disappeared after the departure of Judas, should be restored previous to that event, in order that, after it had occurred, they might go forth to the twelve tribes of Israel (Acts 26: 7; James 1: 1) as the messengers of the Messianic salvation. Peter, the most energetic of the disciples, as well as occupying a prominent position among them, which the Lord had already assigned to him, adopted measures for filling the vacancy. Two persons were appointed, who were deemed to be qualified, as they had heard the discourses and seen the acts of the Lord from the beginning-Joseph, called Barsabas, and surnamed Justus, and Matthias; after the disciples had prayed, they gave forth their lots, and the latter was chosen.

OBS.-It has been supposed by some that (according to Acts 1: 4,8) the Eleven possessed no authority to complete the number of Twelve, particularly before the Spirit was poured out, and that the Lord himself had appointed the Twelfth apostle, namely Paul, to whom the call would be given at the proper time. But this view excludes the important fact that the Twelve had been specially appointed for the twelve tribes of Israel, and that the peculiarity in the case of Paul, consisted in his commission, as the Thirteenth, to be the Apostle of the Gentiles (Acts 9: 15; Rom. 11 : 13, &c.; § 167).

2. Acts 2:1, &c. - In the mean time, the feast of Pentecost arrived. The disciples were all with one accord engaged in prayer in the place in which they usually assembled, which was, probably, Solomon's porch (Acts 3:1, 11; 5:12; § 81, OBS. 2). And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. A body of fire and of light moved above them, then parted, and descended in distinct tongues of fire on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The miracle, which seemed to be a striking phenomenon in the natural world, drew large numbers of the people together, among whom were also many of the strangers who had come to keep the feast. Every man heard the unlearned Galileans speak, in his own tongue

wherein he was born, the wonderful works of God; they were all amazed, and said: "What meaneth this?" Others mocking said: "These men are full of new wine." Then Peter arose and addressed the people, being the first who announced that the work of salvation was completed. He declared that the disciples who spoke were not drunken, but that the prophecy of Joel (§ 100. 2) respecting the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh was fulfilled before all; he declared, further, that Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, whom they had crucified, but whom God had raised up and exalted unto the right hand of glory, as David already predicted concerning him (Ps. 16: 10; 110: 1), had now poured out his Spirit upon his disciples. When the people heard these things, their hearts were pierced, and they asked, full of concern for the salvation of their souls: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter answered: "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. 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." Then they that gladly received his word, were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

OBS. 1.-The first Pentecostal season of the New Testament is the fulfilment of the typical festival of the Old Testament (2 49. 2). The first sheaves of the great harvest in the field of the kingdom of God (Matt. 9: 37; John 4: 35) were offered to the Lord of the harvest in the new temple of the Spirit (John 4: 23). The church of the people of God of the old covenant had, on the same day, centuries ago, been founded on the demands of the Sinaitic Law, but now the Church of the new covenant was founded on the fulfilment of the Law and sealed with the first and the most wonderful outpouring of the Spirit. It was said in the former case: "Thou shalt ;" but it is now said: "Thou canst" (Ezek. 36: 27). The Spirit of God is the eternal uncreated light of all spirits, a divine fire, which, while it consumes all that is ungodly, enlightens, warms and animates every creature. Hence the Spirit appeared here in fire, as he appears in water in ordinary Baptism, and completed the regeneration of the disciples, who had already been consecrated in the water of the baptism of John to the new life that proceeds from Christ; they are now first