preached, nnd the sacraments be ,July mini8tered according to Christ's ordinance In all those thingM tl,at of necessity are requisite to the same." The great day of Pentecost was the true birthday of the Church; the gift of the Hol_y Ghost then sent down from heaven knit together the disciples into one body, the mystical body of Christ. St. Luke gives us, in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, a description of the Church at that time. "Then they that gladly received the Word were baptized: . . . a,,d they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Tht1ij tl,e notes of the Church, according to Holy Scripture, are bar,tisrn, fellowship with the apostles, the doctrine of the apostles, the holy comrnnnion, public worship. 'l'he Church is also one, for it is one body in Christ, united into 01re fellow- ship by the indwelling of the one Spirit. It is holy, because it is being sanctified by the Holy Ghost; all its members are dedicated to Go<l in holy baptism; they are all pledged by that dedication to follow after holiness of heart and life. It is catholic, because ii is not confined to one nation, like the synagorgue, but universal, world-wide, open to all who receive the Word of God. It iH apostolic, because it is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone; anti because it continues in the doctrine and fellowship of the apostles. It is the bride of Christ. "Christ loved the Churcll, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Wonl, that be might present it unto himself a glorious Church, not having ,spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but ~bat it should be holy and without blemish.n • 3. The Church of the Thessaluniana. Now there was a branch of the one Church at Tbessalor.ica. (1) It wa.J the second Church founded in Europe. The first was at Philippi, a small place, though a Roman colony. Thessalonica was a populous city, the metropolis of Macedonia. God trlants his Church everywhere. It embraces a.II who will accept the gospel-poor and ricb, ignorant and learned; it meets the deepest needs of all places alike-the quiet country and the stirring city. (2) It was already organized. It had .its ministers (eh. v. 12, 13), and its l\esemblies for public worship (eh. v. 2i). Short as St. Paul's visit ·Nas, he had. it s, ems, ordained elders there, as he was wont to do in every Church (Acts xiv. 23), and had provided for the regular meetings of the brethren. (3) lt was in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. '£his was its essential chare.cteristic. As Chrysostom says," There were many lt,,c/\.710"lci1, many assemblies both Jewish and tJ1eek. St. Paul writes to that assembly, that congregation, which was in God. It is a high axaltation, above all other possible dignities, to be in God.n Thessalonica. ~onnerly lay in wicked- ness, in the evil one (1 John v. 19), in the sphere of his activity. ~ow, th,; Church there was in God. 'l'he presence of God was the very atmosphere in which the Church lived and moved. It lay in the everlasting arms, encircled with his embrace, ;parded l,y his love. 'l'he words imply a close iutima.te union, an exceeding great iepth of love e1.'ld tendemese, a very great and profound truth, which does not admit of formal definitiun, and cannot be adequately expressed in langu~ge; but it is realized, in a greatGr or les~ degree, in the inner life of those true members of the Church who abide in that ·misible, but most holy nnd most blessed, union with the Lord. God had breathed l•ito the· Church of the Thessalonians the breath of life-that new life, 1ha.t 3terual ljfe, which consists in the personal knowledge of God. That life is in his Son. Christ is the Life. "He that bath the Son hath life." The Thessalonian Church was in the Lord Jesus Chri,t, as it was in God. "We are in him that is true," says St. Joh'l, "aven in his Son Jesus Christ. Tbis is the true God, and eternal life." The Church is in Christ, then surely Christ is God. The Church cannot be said to be in any creature; in !,t. Paul, for inBtance, or in any other of the holiest saints of God. Such an assertion would be unmeaning, blasphemous. Then in the first verse of the first of St. Paul's Epistles (the least dogmatic, some say, of all his Epistles, possibly the earliest of the New Testament writings), he distinctly teaches the great doctrine of the divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "In Christ,"" in the Lord," is a constant formula of St. Paul's; he is never weary of repeatiug it, never weary of enforcing the great truth that the Christian lives in Cllrist. llere he asserts the same thing or the Church as a whole. It is in Obrist, living in his life, holy in his holiness, stroug in his strength, glorious (John ll.viL 22) in his glory; the glory of his presence now. the glury uf eternal life with him henceforth in heaven, The Church is "in Christ;" ita members must strive t.11 rcali,1e the blessedness of that holv fellowshin in tlleir own individual soulL 12 THE FlRS'l' ErISTLE TO 'l'Hl•: THESSA.LONIANS. [cH. 1. 1-10.
Outwani membe1'1!hip will not avail for our salvation, unless we abide in llvina spiritual communion with the Lord, " Ill. THE SAl,UTATION, 1. Graci!. I~ is one of those words which the Holy Spirit has ~aken from common use and filled with a sweet and sacred meaning. (1) It is the grac1011B favour of God which rests upon all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That favour is essentially free, spontaneous, flowing out of that eternal love which is intimately one with the very being of God. "God is love." It is given in and throuah the ~r? Jes~~; it is" the grace of 01;1r Lord Jesus Christ." (2) It is the gratitude, the spmt of Joyful thankfulness, which should be the happy temper of those who believe in the ~l'IM:e of God. (3)_ I~ sometimes (as in Col. iv. 6) expresses the ~wcetness, the wmnmg beauty, the digmfied gracefulness of the true Chl'istian character. The grace of God produces thankfulness, and gives grace and beauty to the life. 2. I ' - . It was the first greeting of the risen Lord to his apostles, " Peace be unto you." It became the apostolic greeting. The Macedonian Churches had little outward peace. they we.re early called to suffer. They needed that blessed peace which God alone ea~ give. (See homiletics on Phil i. 2 and iv. 7.) LEl!SON& L Imitate St. P!-u! in his humility. Notice every feature, every mani- festation of that great grace; 1t 1s hard to learn. 2. The Church, as a whole, is in God • in his guardianship, in his encircling love. We must stiive and pray to realize that loving presence individually, to be in God ourselves. 8. Pray that grace and peace may rest Oil all who bear the Name of Christ.-B. C. O.