the courte~y, with which the whole discourse wa8 uttered, and the absence of the lesat appoafl\nce of egotism or vain-glory in the whole style of hie preach in,,., we ahall fefJ\ that we havo ln,leed a good model in this primary sermon for us to copy, and that in proportion as we frame our own sermons upon thi~ great example we may hope to be like St. Peter in the abundance and fulness of our success. IV. AND BOW WONDERFUL IN THEIR QUALITY AND IN THElB ABUNDANCE WERE TUI': FilUITS OF THAT PROTO-PREDICATION OJ' THE GORPEL. The hearts of stone turned to henrts of flesh, and pricked to the quick with the stinging sense of sin ; the blood- stnined crucifiers of the Lord hastening to wash away their sins in the mystical waters of holy baptism; the bold deniers and blasphemers of the Lord confessin,!; him to be both Lord and Christ; the scoffers who had said, "These men are full of new wine," now acknowledging them as brethren, and inquiring of them, "What shall we do?" and in one hour three thousand souls added to the company of the disciples. From that moment the Church stood out before the world ae a house built upon an imperishable rock. It took its form nnd shape among men as a building of God, the habitation of his Spirit, never to be taken down. And it has stood ever since, defying the power of weather and of time; and it will stand through all the fluctuations of human opinion and the convulsions of human institutions, till he whom St. Peter proclaimed as Lord and Christ shall appear in his glory, and his Church shall be glorified with him. 0 Lord, add to thy Church daily, through the power of thy preached Word, such as shall be saved I Vers. 31-41.-Holy 'baptism, As the sermon prea.ched by St. Peter on the day of Pentecost was the first sermon preached in the Church of God, so the baptism of which we have hero an account was the first ministrntioil of that sacrament. Our Lord's last command to his apostles was, "Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. :uviii. 19; Mark xvi. 16; eh. i. Ii), and now for the first time that command was carried out. A few points of special interest and importance are brought out in the narrative of this first Christian baptism. '" I. ITS CLOSE CONNECTION WITH PnEACJIING, Here St. Peter preaches the Word with power, the hearers are pricked in their heart, and by his directio:1 they are baptized, and so put in possession of the promised salvation. In like manner, in Mark xvi. 16, faith comes by bearing the gospel preached, and baptism is the complement of faith. The first baptism of Gentile believers-that recorded in eh. x. 48-was the fruit of St. Peter's sermon to the house of Cornelius. II. 1TB DISTINCTIVE FEATURE as the "one baptism for the remission of sins." So Ananias said to Saul, "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins" ( eh. xxii. 16). And St. Paul teaches that we are baptized into the death of Christ, and so are freed from sin. And so in the Baptismal Service we pray that the water may be sanctified to the mystical washing away of sin, and that those who come to it may receive remission of their sins; and St. Peter spe,iks of those who turn away from the holy commandment delivered unto them as having forgotten that they were "purged from their old sins" (2 Pet. i. 9). The element of water points distinctly to this character- istic feature of the sacrament of baptism, as appears in the prophecy of Ezekiel," Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be cle'l.Il: from all your .filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you " (Ezek. :uxvi. 25 ). III. THE NECl:3SITY OF BEPENTANCI!: AND FAITH ON THE PART OF T!IE BAPTIZED, as it is written, "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the J\ame of Jesus Christ," where repentance is expressly named, and faith is necessarily implied in the 'phrase, being baptized "in the Name of Jesus Christ." And this is exactly the teaching of the Church iu the Catechism, where the answer to the question, " What is required of persons to be baptized?" is, "Repentance, whereby they forsake sin; and foith, whereby they stedfastly believe the promises of God made to them in that s,,crnment." IV, 'fBE 0llEAT GIFT PROMISED TO THOSE WHO, HAVING TRULY REl'ENTED ANn BELIEVED THE OOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM, have been baptized into Christ, viz. the gift of the Holy Ghost. "Repent, and be baptized . . . and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and t11 your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Upon this promise w11 60 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [ou. n.1-41.
i;ball nll do well to fix our tbongbts, and to put in our own individual claim to its fulfilment. To have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in us is our birthright, ns we are Christ's. Our common likeness to Christ as the Head of the Christian family depends upon our possession of the portion of the one Spirit which is given to all that arc Christ's. He is the Fountain of all true wisdom, holiness, and love in man; nnd the p:reat Christian rite of baptism is manifestly incomplete unless we actually possess the great gift which iR promised to us in that sacrament. We shall have read in vain the inspired history of the first Christian baptism on the day of Pentecost, when the gift of the Holy Ghost to the newly baptized was surrounded with such striking incidents, and its connection with holy baptism was made so visible and apparent, if we disconnect in our own thoughts the grace of baptism with such an actual indwell- ing of the Holy Spirit in our hearts as shall make us holy in thought, word, and deed. Rather this striking and, one may say, awful narrative should fall upon the car of the whole Church as a message to urge us who are "afar off" to be at one with those who were "near," in surrendering ourselves to the Holy Ghost to dwell among us and in us ae in the holy temple of God.