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apd C 61 . i . 15 . where he is said to be Ci the first . born among many brethren , '' and * the first-born of the whole creation /' The following reflections on Acts ii . 25—36 . are delivered with Mr . Kenrick ' s characteristic simplicity and animation : : u JLet Christians rejoice in the exaltation of their master . He who was
treated with contempt and scorn by the world , who was condemned and crucified as a malefactor , is raised to a post of the highest dignity and honour , the honour of bestowing upon men those miraculous powers by which superstition , idolatry and vice were to be overthrown ; and by which virtue , truth and
righteousness were to be established in the -world . A glorious prince , more honourable than any who occupied the throne of his father David I A nappy triumph , not obtained by blood and slaughter and the many evik of war , but by the sacred energy of truth ; the willing subjection of the mind to laws which it approves !
It is the emancipation of slaves from the tyranny of vice . Such a triumph is as honourable for the vanquished as for the victor . Let us rejoice that our master has obtained the joy set before him , the glory "which he desired , the only object worthy of the ambition of a truly virtuous and benevolent mind , that of
conferring upon mankind the most extensive blessings . He has now a name given him above every name ; he stands first in the list of virtuous characters and of the benefactors of the human race . And well does he deserve this distinction ; for although in the form of God , although possessed of a power of working miracles at pleasure , like God , he restrained the exercise of this power , and took upon himself the form of a servant , and
became obedient to death . > the death of the cross /* -Acts ii , 44 , 45 . Ci And all that believed were together , not in one JilacC y but united in different soci-Su * i , aixd had all things common ; * uui sold their possessions and
good 9 , and parted them to all xtietx , as every man had need *
> J * Mosfeejm ' sPiw * relating to £ ^ esu jii ^ on ^ hc C ^ nimu ^ Uy pf ( Cjft ^ f s ^» p JK the first Christiana .
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" This , * ' observes ouir author , « wag a remarkable effect of their faith in , Christ , and showed the little value they placed upon temporal possessions , when compared with the eternal inheritance promised to them in the gospel . Their joy in the clear evidence of a future state of happiness for good men , given them
by this new doctrine , was so great that their worldly property seemed of no value , any further than as it afforded them an opportunity cf dividing it with their brethren , and of administering to the wants of thsoe who were in
distress . This community of goods could not be the work of a day , but must have required some time to accomplish it . " We find a similar comment en Acts iv . 32 . " Ntirher regarded any of them the things which he possessed as his own , but they had all things common , "
Mosheim has rendered it at least highly probable that thrs community of goods consisted in a common use , arising from an unbounded liberality which induced the opulent to share their riches with their necessitous
brethren . * Hammond thus explains the passage : " they agreed in the same Christian designs , and the richer communicated their goods to the poorer as freely as if they were theirs '* His note on the
true import of the term koivowicc is well worthy of perusal . Whitby also views the passage in this ligh t * A form of speech very much resembling that before us , occurs iri the apostle ' s eloquent description of Christian Love , 1 . Cor . xiii * & i u she seeketh not her own /*
Contributions are expressly said ^ Rom . xv . 25 , 26 , to have been made in Macedonia and Achai * for the poor saints at Jerusalem : and Paul delivered directions con * cerning similar contributions t ^
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74 * Retiieti . ^ KenricKs ' Exposition .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1809, page 748, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1707/page/42/
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