2. Believed (vs. 30), in accordance with the apostle’s appeal to them, otherwise they would not have been pricked in their hearts. 3. They repented. 4. Were baptized in his name. Thus they entered through these divinely-appointed conditions into the enjoyment of the blessings graciously provided for them through the death and mediation. This was the first time the Gospel in its fullness was ever preached under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, leading men into the Church of God and into the remission of their sins, under the world-wide commission of Jesus, the Lord and Master; for Peter, in giving an account of the conversion of Cornelius, said: “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning” (Acts 11:15). On the first occasion, when the world knew not the way, there was of necessity a demand for a fullness and specificness of direction, a careful and distinct enumeration of the steps to be taken in their connection, and the agencies used, that was not needful in after references; after the steps to be taken and the order was once clearly made known, an allusion to one leading step or point or the order called up all of them. These were the steps to be taken, this the rule to be followed, the fixed directions of the spirit of God, sealed by the blood of Christ, worldwide in its application, and to stand to the end of the world. No human power can abrogate, change or modify this commission of the Lord Jesus, this guidance of the Spirit; and I feel sure that no one can have a well-grounded assurance of citizenship in that kingdom until he has complied with the conditions presented in the blood-sealed commission of Jesus Christ, given under the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit. This brings us to the discussion of the second division of the subject— CONDITIONS OF CONTINUED MEMBERSHIP