walking together in the fellowship of the Gospel; for how shall two walk together unless they be agreed on these first principles? This is the unity of the Spirit which they must jointly and individually make it their study and constant endeavour to keep, in the bond of peace. The rule, government, and oversight of the church, was at first committed to the twelve apostles, who, besides giving forth divine revelation, discharged the various duties of the pastoral office, as well as looking after the poor of the flock. In process of time, however, the office of deacon was instituted, and "seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom," were appointed to attend to the ministration of the church's bounty, in supplying the wants of the poor, &c., Acts vi. 1-4. Afterwards, when the wisdom of God saw meet that some of the apostles should quit their station in Jerusalem, to forward the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom in other places, we find Elders appointed in that church to take the oversight in the Lord, and labour in the word and doctrine, ch. xi. 30, and xv. 4, 6, 23; and these two offices, namely, of Elders and Deacons, are the only standing, permanent offices in the Christian church under the Gospel dispensation. Accordingly we find the apostles pointing out the distinguishing qualifications of persons to be chosen to each of these offices, as well as the duties which are peculiar to them.*

To regulate the social intercourse of his disciples, in a church state, the Lord Jesus, during his public ministry, gave a law, which is of perpetual obligation, and obedience to which he makes essential to the Christian character; it runs thus ::"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another: as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one toward another," John xiii. 34. Under the influence of this principle, they are led to bear one another's burdens -take a lively interest in each other's welfare-exercise mutual forbearance-study one another's happiness, and be fellow helpers of each other's faith, and charity, and joy. And when differences arise, which will inevitably be the case,

* 1 Tim. iii. 1-13; Titus i. 5-9; 1 Pet. v. 1—4.

DOCTRINE OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM.

101

through the remaining depravity that is in them, he has appointed the means for removing offences and restoring the exercise of brotherly love. We find this recorded in Matt. xviii. 15-18:-"Moreover, if thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault, between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But, if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established: And, if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but, if he shall neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican."

This is the law of the Lord's house-the rule of discipline delivered to the churches, for the purpose of reclaiming offenders, recovering backsliders, and expelling incorrigible transgressors and manifested hypocrites. It is essential to the very existence of a Christian church; and wherever the faithful and impartial exercise of it is neglected they cannot long preserve their separation from the world, the purity of their communion, or the fervent exercise of mutual love for the truth's sake. As this discipline is intended by the king of Zion to preserve the pure and unfeigned exercise of brotherly love among the members, so the whole of it is to be conducted in love to the offender. All the admonitions and reproofs must be administered in love, and, when the offender proves irreclaimable, the only punishment which the church has the power of inflicting upon him is an exclusion from their fellowship-he must be cut off as a wicked person, and even this must be done with a view to the salvation of his soul, or "that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." I shall only add that it is very obvious, from the nature of this discipline, that it was never intended for the nations of this world assuming the name of Christian churches; it is impossible to practise it in any district called a parish; it is only applicable to single congregations of professed believers in the Son of God, such as the primitive churches all were; and hence we infer that no one nation, no one country, no one city, town, or parish, can, as such, be considered the kingdom of Christ, though the Lord may have his people in each of them.

Thus, then, to compress in few words the substance of what

has been said concerning the nature of the Redeemer's kingdom, and the doctrine on which it is established, I may say that it is an institution totally distinct from all the kingdoms of this world, and essentially different from them in its origin, nature, object, and design; its laws, immunities, and privileges —that it does not admit of the power of the sword, or the interference of the civil magistrate, either in promoting, establishing, or defending it—that it is not possible to incorporate it with the civil government of any country without first corrupting and perverting it from its original design-that it owns no earthly head, obeys no sovereign but Christ—that all its laws are of divine origin and authority-that its real subjects are born again of the word and Spirit of God, consequently are of the Truth, by believing, loving, and obeying it, which they can only do through the power of the Holy Spirit.

"Jesus Christ, while on earth, prayed that all his people might be one; that they might be united not only in oneness of heart and affection, but also of sentiment and practice; that they might appear as one united body, acting under one leader, influenced by one Spirit, acknowledging one Lord, presenting such an exhibition of union, combination, and strength, as should assure their own minds, and make it evident to the world, that they were all the disciples of Him whom the Father had sent, and invested with power to order and establish his kingdom.Now, that his people might thus be one, Jesus must necessarily have given in his word (for that is their only guide) such laws and instructions as are necessary for their direction in every age and in every nation, suited to their circumstances everywhere, even till the end of time. If he hath not done so, how is the defect to be supplied? Were it possible for circumstances to arise in which the wisdom of man was required to regulate the order or government of the church of Christ, then, it is manifest, from that moment, the church would be without an infallible standard-from that moment there must be an end of unity. Experience has shown this to be the result of the mistaken notion, that Christ hath left us an imperfect standard; for it is to the attempts of men to interfere in such matters that the names, and sects, and parties which prevail, owe their origin." Essay on the Nature of the Kingdom of Christ, &c. Edinburgh, 1830.

LECTURE IV.

History of the first propagation of Christianity—Accomplishment of Christ's Prediction-Rapid Progress of the Gospel among the Jews-Peter's vision--Conversion of Saul of Tarsus—His call to the Apostleship-His first and second Missionary Journeys-His manner of preaching the Gospel at Thessalonica.

THE rapid and unexampled progress which Christianity made, during the first century of the Christian era, is a fact that cannot be denied, and for which it has greatly perplexed the enemies of the Gospel to account. An attentive reader of the four evangelists must have observed that it is a subject on which the Son of God always spoke with great confidence during his public ministry. Adverting to the end of the Jewish state, he thus addressed his disciples, a little before his death:-" And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come." The end here referred to is the abrogation of the Sinai covenant, whereby the whole nation of the Jews was taken into a peculiar relationship with the Most High, and consequently it denotes the termination of their church state. The words must therefore refer to the interval between the delivery of the prediction and the subversion of the Jewish polity -a space of less than forty years, during which the Gospel was to be preached to all nations. And the Acts of the Apostles shows us the fulfilment of this prophecy, in recounting the multitude of early converts, the general dispersion of the Christians, and the success which crowned the labours of the apostle Paul and his companions in carrying the Gospel through every part of the Roman empire.

We learn from the historian Tacitus that during the reign of the emperor Nero, A. D. 63, or thirty years after the death of Christ, there was "an immense multitude," of Christians in the city of Rome. From the metropolis of the empire, there was the greatest facility of communication to all the provinces, and no country then discovered was too remote for the Gospel to reach. it. Accordingly it is generally admitted that, before the destruction of Jerusalem, Scythia on the north, India on the east, Gaul and Egypt on the west, and Ethiopia on the south, had received the glad tidings of salvation. And even the British isles, which were then regarded as the extremity of the earth, being frequently visited during that period by Roman emperors or their generals, there is no improbability in what is affirmed by Christian historians, that the Gospel was preached in this city-the British metropolis-about thirty years after the death of Christ. A considerable part of the Acts of the Apostles is taken up with an account of the labours of the apostle Paul; and we find this one apostle preaching the Gospel both in the east and to the utmost boundaries of the west, planting churches in Asia and Greece, and travelling from Jerusalem to Illyricum-a tract of country which has been computed at not less than 2000 miles. But, if such were the labours of one apostle, what must have been accomplished by the journeyings of the twelve, who, after settling the church in Jerusalem, taking different districts, went forth to execute their Lord's commission, and be his witnesses to the uttermost ends of the earth. The apostle Paul says, in his epistle to the church of Rome, that "their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world"-and to the Colossians, "that the word which they had heard was gone forth into all the world and preached to every creature," ch. i. 6, 23.

becomes an interestThat it is perfectly already shown—but

Such, then, being the indisputable fact, it ing enquiry, How it is to be accounted for. agreeable to our Lord's prediction has been what could have given rise to the confidence with which he spoke of the general prevalence of his religion in the world? It could not have been founded on any thing which he beheld during his public ministry. Numbers, indeed, then followed him out of curiosity, attracted by his miracles and his fame, but they were easily offended, and at length we see them eagerly demanding