periods of Christianity, and shew, that it is intended to describe the rapid and extensive progress of the religion of Jesus Christ in that remarkable age.—The hieroglyphic of the lion is not more generally applicable to the ministers of any age, than to that of the apostles. They were such lions in respect of courage, that they could not be intimidated by threatenings, or harsh treatment; even death itself, though armed with all the weapons of torture and cruelty which the genius of persecution could forge, was not sufficient to appal them. In the firm and heroic temper of John, and his companion Peter, before the Jewish council, we see the true spirit by which the ministers of the apostolic age were actuated. They were commanded not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you, more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.' Acts iv. 18-20. By such men, no sacrifices were accounted too liberal, nor any dangers too great and alarming, provided they might spread abroad the savour of the name of Christ, and bring perishing sinners to the knowledge and belief of the truth.*

* In the prosecution of this great and godlike undertaking they had many difficulties to encounter, and even apparent impossibilities to overcome. They had no commanding influence over others, either from their rank in society, or from the possession of wealth; nor did they receive any sort of patronage from those in power. The first ministers of the Christian church were Galileans; and prior to their being invested with public office, they had followed the humble occupation of fishermen. Their Jewish extraction was of itself sufficient to create a strong prejudice against their doctrines, in the minds of foreigners; as no people were more universally despised and hated than the Jews. And while prejudice against a speaker is a powerful obstacle in the way of a favourable reception of his doctrine, the scheme of proselytizing all nations never could have been undertaken by any set of men that were more unlikely to succeed. That twelve Galileans, selected from the humbler ranks of life, should have successfully combated the sophistry, the learning, the prejudices, passions, and interested views of the Heathen, and brought them over to the side of Christianity, can never be accounted for upon ordinary principles. To those who saw nothing but the hand of man in the work, it must have appeared to be the most foolish project that ever was conceived; especially when it is considered, that the Saviour whom they preached had been hanged on a tree, and that they were not to conceal this circumstance, apparently so disgraceful, and which, to sense and reason, was sufficient to render the whole scheme abortive, but were to take every opportunity of announcing the fact in the most public manner possible. It lay at the foundation of the system

It cannot be expected that I should here enter upon a detailed account of the propagation of Christianity; neither does

of Christianity; and therefore, Christ and his crucifixion were to be the constant theme of their discourses.

But many things also conspired to the success of the undertaking.-The apostolic age was distinguished for learning and a spirit of inquiry. These were peculiarly favourable to the cause of a religion which submitted its claims to the strictest investigation, and required no man to receive it but upon evidence.—The Greek language was studied by every Roman who made any pretensions to science, or elegant accomplishments: it was also very generally spoken in the East; and, therefore, served as a sort of medium for conveying the doctrines of Christianity to the different tribes of the human family. The Old Testament Scriptures had been translated into this language a considerable time before, and those of the New being wholly written in the same language, the attention paid to this branch of study in the Augustan age must have been peculiarly subservient to the propagation of the religion of the Sacred Scriptures.-In this enlightened age too, the different parts of the civilized world were united under one government, and an intercourse and correspondence maintained among them, beyond any thing that had happened since the times of the Grecian monarchy. If the world had been divided into a multiplicity of small independent states, like those which divided Europe before it was united into one body by the Romans, the progress of any system of opinions among them must have been very slow; but when they were united under one head, channels of intercourse were established between the head and the members; the way was prepared for the several parts being made acquainted with the opinions and the transactions of any particular region.

In the class of secondary means, few things hold a more distinguished place than the Babylonian captivity, and the conquests of Alexander the Great. The former had scattered the Jews over all the extensive provinces of the East; and the latter had been the occasion of vast multitudes emigrating into Egypt, and settling along the shores of the African continent. But wherever the devout Jews resided, they considered it to be their duty to go up to Jerusalem to the set feasts to worship. This brought them from all regions, on the memorable day of Pentecost, to the very city where the apostles were assembled, and from whom they could obtain the fullest information respecting the Saviour, and the cause for which he had been crucified. Of these foreigners, three thousand were added to the Christian church; who, when they returned to their homes, carried the doctrines and institutions of Christianity along with them; and, in proportion to the zeal with which they were inspired, endeavoured to gain others to the cause which they themselves had embraced.-Even the persecutions of Christians were greatly subservient to the propagation of their cause. The disciples seem to have forgotten that they were commanded to go and preach the gospel to every creature, till they were driven from Jerusalem by the violence of the persecution in which Stephen suffered martyrdom. This was the immediate occasion of their dispersion, and of their going everywhere preaching the word. And as severity never fails to excite a spirit of inquiry among spectators, respecting the cause of suffering, the means which adversaries employed to check the progress, were eminently subservient to the propagation, of the gospel.

But it is impossible to account for the success of Christianity, merely from the influence of second causes. The favourable circumstances just mentioned might all have met in the age of the apostles, and the cause of Christ might, notwithstanding, have been confined to the original disciples, and the few proselytes in Jerusalem and its vicinity,—if other and more effectual means had not been employed. The unfavourable circumstances first mentioned were more than suffi

this appear to be necessary, as you are already furnished by an inspired historian, in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, with an account of the great lines of Providence in that stupendous work. All that is proposed, therefore, is to remind you of a few of the principal facts recorded in that history; to which may be added, a few others selected from the history of the age which succeeded to that of the apostles. These will be sufficient to shew, that though the beginnings were very

cient to overbalance all the advantages which arose from the enlightened state of society, and other things supposed to be favourable to the work; especially if you consider the natural hostility of the heart, and the malice and rage of Satan, against every thing that related to the plan of salvation by the grace of God. A system of error and delusion, which flatters the pride, and gratifies the lusts and corrupt inclinations of men, finds many things in the human bosom to plead for its reception; but Christianity finds no advocate in the unrenewed soul; it is looked upon as an Ishmaelite, whose hand is against every man, and every man's hand is against it. Hence, when men were left to the operation of their own spirits, they everywhere rose up in arms against the preachers and professors of Christianity. Other means were necessary, and without them the cause of Christianity would have perished.

In the class of supernatural means, the extraordinary gifts of the first ministers must excite our admiration. They were qualified to speak to the people of every country in their own language; and, therefore, the diversity of tongues, which, in the present day, is one great obstacle to the speedy propagation of Christianity, could not be any obstacle whatever in the period to which the prophecy refers.— They were also endowed with the power of working miracles, to confirm the doctrines which they delivered. They could open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; they could heal the sick, cast out devils, and even raise the dead. Such miraculous operations were fitted to excite attention, and produce the belief, that those who performed them had a divine commission, and that their doctrines were of God.

But even these extraordinary qualifications were not sufficient of themselves to ensure success: for we sometimes find miracles wrought, and the enemies of the cross, instead of being converted, becoming the more enraged. Such was the moral influence upon the Jewish rulers of the miracle of healing wrought upon a lame man. 'As the apostles spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead; and they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day.' Acts iv. 1, 2, 3. Such also was the influence of the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus upon the minds of some that witnessed it: They went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. From that day forth they took counsel together to put him to death.' John xi. 46. 53. Arguments and miracles might put enemies to silence; but without another sort of influence, the enmity of the heart was never subdued.-It was by the copious effusion of the saving influences of the Spirit, that the labours of the apostles and other ministers of the church were crowned with success. The arrows of the King pierced the hearts of his enemies; everywhere the people were compelled to yield to the sceptre of his government. He is, therefore, fitly symbolized by a warlike chieftain armed with a bow, adorned with a crown, and triumphing over all opposition.

small, the increase was so rapid and so abundant, that any reasonable mind may see that the work was of God, and that the religion of Jesus Christ is the only true religion.

At the time of the ascension, the professed friends of Christ were a very small company. For thirty-three years and a half he had resided among men, the latter part of which was occupied chiefly in preaching the gospel and working miracles. When Jesus was the speaker, and the miracles which were wrought were done by an energy that proceeded from himself, we should have expected that, if ever the cause of Christ was to be triumphant, it would have been under the personal ministrations of the founder; but, at the time in which he left the world, it does not appear that the number of his converts exceeded a thousand individuals. After his resurrection, he shewed himself alive to five hundred brethren at once,' 1 Cor. xv. 6. It is probable, that this company composed by far the greater part of his Christian friends. The state of his abasement did not admit that he should be everywhere acknowledged to be the Messiah; for, had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The immediate service he had then to accomplish belonged to the purchase of redemption; and this could not be performed but in circumstances of deep abasement. But, as the application of redemption properly belongs to the state of his exaltation and glory, he had no sooner sat down upon the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, than he shed abroad the Spirit in the most copious effusion of his gifts and influences, to bring men to the obedience of faith.

Three thousand souls were added to the church in the space only of ten days after the ascension, Acts ii. 41. This auspicious beginning was soon followed by circumstances which were equally favourable: for in the account of Peter's next sermon, we find that many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand,' Acts iv. 4. Between these memorable sermons there were daily added to the church, by the ministry of other apostles, such as should

be saved. It may therefore be presumed, that, within fifty days after the ascension, the number of converts could not be fewer than ten thousand. These remarkable triumphs were not the termination of the progress of Christianity within the city of Jerusalem. The fifth and sixth chapters of the Acts contain numerous attestations to its progress in that place, subsequent to the period mentioned. In these chapters we are told, that believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women: that the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly and that a great company of the priests were

obedient to the faith.'

Between the ascension of Christ and the martyrdom of Stephen, a period which takes in about two years, the ministrations of the apostles were confined to the city of Jerusalem and its immediate neighbourhood. They met with little molestation, if you except the short imprisonment of Peter and John. During this season of tranquillity, the church of Jerusalem was organized, and the new disciples were confirmed in the faith, and fitted and prepared to withstand the violence of the storm, which broke out in the martyrdom of Stephen. In this persecution, the greater part of the public teachers were scattered throughout all Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Wherever they came, they preached the word; and the same success which had attended their ministrations in the city followed them in their dispersion. Within the space of three years from the time of their dispersion, churches were planted in all the different districts of country through which they travelled. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied,' Acts ix. 31.

6

For a considerable time the preaching of the gospel was confined to the Jews. Though some of them that fled from Jerusalem, on account of the persecution, travelled into foreign parts, they preached the word to none but the Jews