The homily.
The first preached sermon was a great event in the history of the Church. When we recollect the enormous influence that preaching has had amongst mankind—the preaching of Peter and John, the preaching of St. Paul, the preaching of the Augustines, Chrysostoms, Basils of the Church; the preaching of the great monks, St. Bernard, St. Francis, Peter the Hermit, and the preaching friars; the preaching of the Reformers, Wycliffe, Luther, Tyndale, Latimer; the preaching of the Puritans, Knox, Calamy, Baxter; the preaching of the Methodists, Wesley, Whitfield, Fletcher; the preaching of the Evangelicals, Newton, Cecil, Simeon, Scott; the preaching of the Huguenots, Camisards, Lollards, Vaudois; the preaching of the great divines in the Church of England, and of the great pulpit orators outside her pale—we cannot but feel that a peculiar interest attaches to the first sermon preached in the Christian Church. It was a great occasion, and there was a great preacher raised up to profit by it. It will be interesting, as well as instructive, to mark some of the chief features of this primary discourse of the Church's inspired primate.
I. The first thing that strikes one is THE INTENSELY PERSONAL CHARACTER OF THIS SERMON: I mean its direct, pointed, personal application. The apostle is not reading an essay for the use of men in general; he is not beating the air with philosophical speculations or rhetorical flourishes; he is aiming a shaft straight at the mind and conscience of his hearers. He is speaking with impassioned fervor, albeit also with clear intelligence and logical precision, to the men who stand before him; speaking to them of things which concerned them specially and individually; speaking to them with a view to influence their conduct decisively, and to affect their condition presently and eternally. Almost everything in his sermon draws its propriety and its pungency from its close relation to the circumstances, the actions, the belief, the knowledge, the education, the whole character and condition, of those to whom he speaks. The sermon could not have been addressed to any other congregation than that to which it was addressed. Spoken to the Church of Ephesus, or Corinth, or Rome, it would have been out of place and without point. Spoken to the men of Judaea and those that dwelt at Jerusalem in those eventful days; to the men of Israel, who were his own brethren in the flesh and in the common hope of redemption; spoken to those who knew the voices of the prophets and gloried in David their king, who were expecting the advent of Messiah, and yet were partners in the guilt of crucifying the Lord of glory;—the sermon was a sharp arrow, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and discerning the thoughts and intents of their hearts. This feature in St. Peter's sermon ought to be noted and imitated by all whose office it is to "preach the Word." Thus much as to the manner of the sermon. But if we turn to the matter of it, we notice—
II. THAT ALL THE PARTS OF THE SERMON LEAD UP TO JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED, RISEN, AND ASCENDED. The statement of facts, the reasonings, the quotations from Scripture, the arguments, the reproofs, the exhortations,—all point to one central object, which is Jesus Christ the Lord. Without Christ as the subject-matter and end of the preaching, the sermon would go out in darkness. But in the apostle's skilful though simple treatment, the Lord Jesus stands out to the soul's view with great distinctness and with vivid delineations of his office and work. He appeals to the miracles done by Christ in the presence of his hearers, as proofs of his Divine mission. He points to his betrayal and passion; he proves his resurrection from the dead, from the united testimony of the jury of twelve whom they saw standing up before them, from the witness of their own prophets, and from the marvelous signs and sounds which they had just seen and heard. And then he brings home to them the awful guilt of his crucifixion, that, their hearts being pricked and pierced with penitential sorrow, they may turn to him for forgiveness of their sins and for the reception of his Holy Spirit. In this respect also St. Peter is to be imitated by every evangelist and preacher of the Word.
III. Another observable feature in St. Peter's sermon is THE DEEP ACQUAINTANCE WITH HOLY SCRIPTURE DISPLAYED IN IT. The descent of the Holy Ghost, the death of Jesus, his descent into hell, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension to the right hand of God, his office as Christ and Lord, his succession to the throne of his father David, are all proved and illustrated by infallible warrants of Holy Scripture. The hidden meanings of the Word of God, its prophetic wisdom, its most blessed revelations, are all brought forth from the treasury of the preacher's mind, to enrich his discourse and to give depth and solidity to his utterance; teaching us that a thorough knowledge of Holy Scripture is a necessary qualification of every successful preacher of the gospel of Christ, If we add to these the boldness and straightforwardness, the sincerity and the courtesy, with which the whole discourse was uttered, and the absence of the least appearance of egotism or vain-glory in the whole style of his preaching, we shall feel that we have indeed a good model in this primary sermon for us to copy, and that in proportion as we frame our own sermons upon this great example we may hope to be like St. Peter in the abundance and fullness of our success.
IV. AND HOW WONDERFUL IN THEIR QUALITY AND IN THEIR ABUNDANCE WERE THE FRUITS OF THAT PROTO-PREDICATION OF THE GOSPEL. The hearts of stone turned to hearts of flesh, and pricked to the quick with the stinging sense of sin; the bloodstained crucifiers of the Lord hastening to wash away their sins in the mystical waters of holy baptism; the bold deniers and blasphemers of the Lord confessing him to be both Lord and Christ; the scoffers who had said, "These men are full of new wine," now acknowledging them as brethren, and inquiring of them, "What shall we do?" and in one hour three thousand souls added to the company of the disciples. From that moment the Church stood out before the world as a house built upon an imperishable rock. It took its form and shape among men as a building of God, the habitation of his Spirit, never to be taken down. And it has stood ever since, defying the power of weather and of time; and it will stand through all the fluctuations of human opinion and the convulsions of human institutions, till he whom St. Peter proclaimed as Lord and Christ shall appear in his glory, and his Church shall be glorified with him. O Lord, add to thy Church daily, through the power of thy preached Word, such as shall be saved!