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th e )life to the will of God— a sacri ficial) offering o f.th e whole self for ser vice to- th e body of Christ and to the needs of th e world,-—and th is is to -be like Christ. ) It was a happy, joyful body of be lievers ; : love for God and for each other;, a h e a rtfe lt sym pathy for one another, expressed in deeds; songs of praise in place of sorrow ful com plaints; m inistering to one ano th er in the name of th e Lord; gathering at, the table of th e Lord as He had asked them to do, they remembered Him and His death on th e cross, and th e y looked forward w ith glad h earts to His coming again. They prayed, and God answered th eir prayer hy signs and wonders, as He always does for those who pray. He gave them favor w ith th e people also, for a holy fear fell upon th e commun ity, and daily th ere were conversions of others, and th e Lord added to th e body of Christ those who were being saved. This picture should be viewed in con tra s t w ith th e picture :of th e church today. In place of order,-—disorder; in place of fellowship,-—confusion; in place of the Lord’s table,-—a banquet for the world; in place of sacrifice of self,— the exaltation of man and glorifi cation of worldly achievements; and the risen Lord has to look upon it all from His Heavenly seat a n d ,to suffer hum il iation and sorrow over our unw illing ness to follow Him and to be satisfied to t e like Him.— T„ .C. H: ate ate The Hay of P en teco st marked a new era- in the history of the world and of God’s dealing w ith th e children of men. God covenanted w ith Abraham for an earth ly people, t h e HEART OF jews, and a heavenly THE LESSON ; people, th e church. T. C. Hoi*ton H is seed was to be as , , the sand of th e sea, and th e stars of heaven. The rejection of His Son by the earth ly people was t o ,
be followed by th e gathering of His heavenly people; which was to include both Jews and Gentiles, and th is He begins to do in Jerusalem , th e center of H is purpose Concerning H is dealing w ith th e children of men. ■The b irthd ay o f His church had come,---^predicted by th e Lord Jesus before His ascension—-now fulfilled. The c h u rc h is a heaven-born people, and on th e day of Pentecost th e Spirit of God descended upon th e waiting Delievers, and gathered them to H im self. H itherto, He had come upon the people of God; now He h as tak en pos session of th e bodies of believers, m ak ing them His temple, and the combined bodies of the members of H is church,* th e place of His m anifestation. Not a hand-made, nor a man-made, b u t a God-made in stitu tio n ., This organization of God was not left to itself to devise its own doctrinal statem en t. T h at was , also Heaven- given. The church was to be a rep re sentative of.heaven; to be heaven's am bassador, w ith its principles and prac tices ordered from the th rone of G.od. Its basic principles were the W ord'.of God as certified by His Son, th e Lord Jesus Christ, (Luke 24 :44 ) th e in spired, God-breathed Word. The in spiration of the Word of God is fu n d a m ental in th e stru ctu re of the church. Upon th is is bu ilt th e doctrine of the* Deity of Christ as God m anifest in th e flesh; H is atonem ent (th e sacrificial death of H imself as a sin-offering); and th e logical, essential doctrines; which follow: His resurrection,rfrom among th e dead, His ascension, and; His* coming again. And th e early chureh m anifested its faith by continuing in these apostolic doctrines. Notice, also, the Devotional L ife of the Church,-—th e m aintenance of the doctrines, th e gath ering of th e believ ers around th e tab le of th e Lord, and th e giving of them selves to prayer. This life of th e early believers was so m ani festly from Heaven th a t the world was
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