" (Acts ii. 41.)
But here, it is not, I think, to be taken, that these three thousand
were all converted by this single miracle; but rather that many who
before were believers in Christ became now professors of Christianity;
that is to say, when they found that a religion was to be established, a
society formed and set up in the name of Christ, governed by his laws,
avowing their belief in his mission, united amongst themselves, and
separated from the rest of the world by visible distinctions; in
pursuance of their former conviction, and by virtue of what they had
heard and seen, and known of Christ's history, they publicly became
members of it.
We read in the fourth chapter (verse 4) of the Acts, that soon after
this, "the number of the men," i. e. the society openly professing their
belief in Christ, "was about five thousand." So that here is an increase
of two thousand within a very short time. And it is probable that there
were many, both now and afterwards, who, although they believed in
Christ, did not think it necessary to join themselves to this society;
or who waited to see what was likely to become of it.
Pages:
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466