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B.

FORMATION OF MR. PIERSON'S CHURCH AT BOWERY HILL.

[The following is Mr. Pierson's account of the manner in which he and his associates constituted the Bowery Hill Church, under his own ministration, describing the forms and ceremonies observed.]

Sunday, Feb. 28, 1830. It was a very rainy day, and none of us contemplated going out. Mrs. P. was ill in her bed, but well enough heartily to unite in this transaction. We assembled in the back room down stairs, E. P., S. P., Catharine P., and T. G. Freeman.

After reading the 1st of Acts, and prayer, we were moved by the Holy Ghost to form ourselves into a Church, after the following manner :

In the first place, I (E. P.) was set apart by prayer and laying on of hands for the work.

Next, Sarah was set apart in the same manner for the same purpose. After, Timothy and Caty, in the same way, to join and receive the right hand of fellowship, when they were regularly dismissed from their present connexions.

I then gave the right hand of fellowship to Sarah, and greeted her with a holy kiss, and welcomed her to all the privileges and blessings of the Church of Christ.

During the exercises, we all enjoyed, in a remarkable manner, the presence of Jesus.

Sarah and myself had special witness from the Lord that we had done according to the mind of the Lord, and that he was well pleased with our faith and obedience in doing it.

When we had done, the Lord bade me write it in a book. I then wrote the covenant, which was signed by me and her. We used frequently to unite together in prayer concerning the Church, and it appeared as if the Lord was well pleased with us in the matter, and always gave us precious encouragement about its prosperity. Once he presented a Bible, all gold, opened to the Acts of the Apostles, to the view of Sarah's mind. To me Jesus appeared to come in kingly attire, with

a crown.

I was exceedingly desirous of being instructed in his word, that we might in every thing follow him. I heard a word saying, When he came he would teach us all things.

C.

[It will be recollected, that Matthews pretended to be a Jew; and Mr. Pierson, after he was transformed first into Elijah the Tishbite, and afterward into John the Baptist, imagined himself to have become a Jew also. Matthias preached, and Pierson then believed, that the Jews were guiltless of the crucifixion of the Saviour. The following is Mr. Pierson's argument upon the question, found by the writer among his papers.]

Who are legally accountable for the death of Jesus of

Nazareth?

It is written, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him, and shall Scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him. Mark x., 33, 34.

Matt. xx., 19. And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify.

Luke xviii., 32, 33. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on, and they shall scourge him and put him to death. Jesus delivered to the Gentiles.

Matt. xxvii., 2. And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

John xix., 10. Then saith Pilate unto Jesus, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

Luke xxiii., 24. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.

Matt. xxvii., 26. Then released he Barabbas unto them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto them the whole band. And they stripped him and put on him a scarlet robe; and when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put upon his head, and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee pefore him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews.

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And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after they had mocked him, they took the robe from off him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify.

Luke xxiii., 33. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors.

John xix., 34, 38. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side.

And after this Joseph of Arimathea besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave.

Comments.

From the above portions of Scripture we learn, that Jesus was betrayed unto the chief priests and scribes, and by them delivered to the Roman governor in Judea, Pontius Pilate, who gave sentence against him, and delivered him to his own soldiers, who put on him the scarlet robe, the crown of thorns, mocked him, spit on him, and crucified him, and pierced him in his side, when dead delivering his body to Joseph for interment.

This narrative in the Scriptures is so clear and conclusive, that no shade of doubt can arise against the conclusion that the Roman governor is legally accountable for the death of Jesus of Nazareth. And that when the Avenger of his blood shall come, it will be required of the Gentiles.

Again: long before the death of Jesus took place, the nationality of the Jews had ceased, and they were governed by governors put over them by the Roman emperors, Pontius Pilate being the Roman governor at that time.

The lawful rulers of a country are held accountable for the transactions done under their control; they only have a right to use force to prevent crime and to execute the laws.

Thus Paul was rescued by the Roman governor from the people, who were desirous of killing him. Acts xxi., 31, 32, 33.

The custom of the Roman government was to leave their conquered provinces the free exercise of their religious opinions and ceremonies, and this the Jews continued to do, with little interruption, till Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed.

The chief priests and scribes say, John xviii., 31, in an

swer to Pilate's request that they should take Jesus, and judge him according to their laws, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death."

Yet they say, John xix., 7, "The Jews answered him, we have a law, and by our law he ought to die."

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These show us, that the right to put persons to death had been taken from them by the Romans. Matt. xxvii., 25. 'Then answered all the people and said, his blood be upon us and on our children." When God makes inquisition for blood, he will seek for it where it is, in the hands of the guilty, and that upon legal principles, however men may determine to the contrary.

The position, that Gentiles are guilty of the blood of Jesus of Nazareth, enables us to determine the application of the parable of the vineyard and husbandmen, Matt. xxi., 32, 41, Mark xii., 1-9, Luke xx., 9, 16. It is said, "When the lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto these husbandmen? He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons." Matt. xxi., 40, 41. This parable had a partial application to those who heard it from the mouth of Jesus.

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But its grand application is to those who killed the Son, and the killing of the Son is the moving cause of the determination of the Lord to destroy them, and give the vineyard to others who will make a good use of it.

Thus we see that the ark is to be taken from the Gentiles, and to be restored to the Jews. Obadiah says, 15, 16, 17, "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen, as thou hast done it shall be done to thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

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For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, shall all the heathen drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness."

Paul, in Rom. xi., 20, says, "The branches were broken off, that the Gentiles might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded. For if God spared not the natural branches, lest he spare not thee.

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Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God: on

them which fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be cut off."

What application can be made of Paul's doctrine? Have the Gentiles stood in the faith? Is the institution called the Church now in the world like that established by the Saviour and his apostles? Do its present condition and character agree with the pattern left for their guidance and direction?

Are the people called Christians all of one heart and one soul? Have they all things common like those of old? Are their teachers filled with faith and the Holy Ghost? Do they heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils?

If these things have not been, and continued to be done, then the Spirit of Jesus and his apostles is not with them; they are bastards, and not true-born sons. Then the Gentiles have not stood in the faith, and God will not spare them, but will cut them off, and give the vineyard to others, bringing forth the fruits thereof. The inquiry may be made.

D.

AGAINST SHAVING OFF THE BEARD.

[The reason of wearing his beard long has been briefly noticed in this volume, in the manner stated by Mr. Pierson to a friend in conversation. Among his papers, the writer has discovered the following argument upon the subject, which is certainly entitled to the praise of ingenuity.]

Why should a man wear his beard?

Ans. Because God made him with it.

When God made man it is said, "So God created man in his image." Gen. i., 26, 27.

When Adam came perfect from the hands of his Maker, he had a full-grown beard. Does any one suppose he shaved it off while in paradise?

When God sent his Son Jesus into the world, he was seen with a beard according to his age.

Jesus said, John xiv., 9, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

In Adam and Jesus we have the two witnesses of God, declaring and confirming to men in all ages and to all the

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