Two birthdays, and two alone, are known to the Christian faith. As Christmas day is the birthday of Christ, so Whitsunday is the birthday of the Church, of that great society of men which He intended should in some sense present towards the rest of the world the image of Himself after He had ascended into heaven, and which the Apostles called His body.

This part of the message of Whitsuntide is commonly forgotten. In thinking of this season as speaking to us of the coming down of the Holy Ghost, we are apt to remember only the work which the Holy Ghost carries on in the hearts of each single man. It is well indeed that we should bear in mind always how every Christian has a right to look on the Holy Ghost as his purifier, his own comforter, his own guide. But it is not well that we should forget the yet greater work of His which is set before us in the story of His descent on the day of Pentecost, the work of binding men together in one Church, and teaching each not only to guide himself aright, but to fulfil his particular task for the good of all the rest.